New York City Theater

Ariel the Mermaid - Sierra Boggess, a former Christine in Phantom

Ursula the Sea Witch - Sherie Rene Scott, who originated Amneris in Aida

Sebastian the Crab - Titus Burgess, who is now in Jersey Boys.

Flounder the Fish - Cody Hanford

Possibilities for King Triton - Steve Blanchard, Norm Lewis

Let me know if I'm right or wrong and if you know more.

Well, the bad news is that Daphne Rubin Vega is still a very problematic Fantine. The good news is that she did get considerably better in the role since I first saw the revival two months ago. She seems more comfortable with the role vocally, able to belt when necessary rather than whisper the words, and her movement is generally less awkward than before. In any case, she leaves the show shortly for the Labrynth production of JACK GOES BOATING, first to be replaced by an understudy and then by Lea Salonga, and chances are that Daphne won't be returning to Les Miz Land.

What I did find rather intriguing is how, in spite of the less-than-its-best shape of LES MIZ, I enjoyed it tonight considerably more than TRANSLATIONS, which is a stellar production if a very frustrating, not so enjoyable play.

This weekend's theatergoing will include: a return to JACQUES BREL, now with Constantine Maroulis; FRANK'S HOME at Playwrights Horizons; and THE SPANISH PLAY at Classic Stage.

Kristin's one-night-only tryst at the MET began with her entering in a baseball outfit in her classic cartoony style. This introductory sketch concluded with music director Andrew Lippa informing her that she's performing at the "Met," not with the "Mets." A minute later, she's back in formal attire.

For the most part, it was a very well-done evening, with Kristin providing a very charming and entertaining persona and performance. Most puzzling and irritating, however, was the totally unnecessary use of two male dancers throughout the first act. Her song repetoire - which surprisingly did not include her hit-maker "My New Philosophy" - included show tunes, mostly from "The Apple Tree," "Candide" or "Wicked"; new songs by contemporary musical theater composers like Lippa; Ricky Ian Gordon and Adam Guettel, and some very varied selections including a Gilbert & Sullivan medley, some country stuff, some gospel, an old Stephen Foster song and her charming hit "Taylor the Latte Boy." Here is the full list in order:

Overture
Gorgeous
Popular
Goin' to the Dance with You (Dworsky)
Boy (Marr)
f You Hadn't But You Did (Styne, Comden & Green)
Taylor, the Latte Boy (Goldrich, Heisler)
You're Easy to Dance With (Berlin)
The Girl in 14G (Tesori, Scanlan)

INTERMISSION

Italian Street Song (Herbert, Young)
Gilbert & Sullivan Medley
Love Somebody Now (Lippa)
How Can I Lose You? (Guettel)
Run Away (Gordon)
Hard Times (Stephen Foster)
Show Me the Way (DeYoung)

Encores:
Glitter & Be Gay
What Makes Me Love Him

Olivier Award winner Eve Best, Academy Award and Tony Award winner Kevin
Spacey and Golden Globe nominee Colm Meaney will reprise their acclaimed
performances in The Old Vic Theatre Company production of Eugene O'Neill's A
MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre (256 W 47th
St) for 84 performances only. Directed by Olivier Award winner Howard
Davies and produced by Elliot Martin, Max Cooper, Ben Sprecher, Nica Burns,
Max Weitzenhoffer, The Old Vic with Spring Sirkin, Wendy Federman, Louise
Forlenza, Ian Osborne, Thomas S Perakos and James L. Nederlander, A MOON FOR
THE MISBEGOTTEN will begin preview performances on Thursday, March 29, 2007,
open on Broadway Sunday, April 8, 2007 and conclude its engagement on
Sunday, June 10, 2007.

O'Neill's only love story, A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN tells the shattering
story of Josie Hogan (Best), a towering woman with a quick tongue and a
ruined reputation who lives in a dilapidated Connecticut farmhouse with her
conniving father, Phil (Meaney). During one long moonlit night fueled by
drink and lust, Josie's softer side is exposed through her feelings for
Hogan's landlord Jim Tyrone (Spacey), and two implacable souls reveal to
each other the grief, longing and unrequited love they've hidden from the
world.

Olivier Award winning director Howard Davies originally mounted this
production of A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN at The Old Vic last fall. He last
teamed with Spacey on the 1999 Broadway smash, The Iceman Cometh.

The New York Philharmonic presents Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady in four semi-staged performances, March 7–10, 2007. The musical — a New York Philharmonic premiere — will star Kelli O’Hara (Eliza Doolittle); Kelsey Grammer (Professor Henry Higgins); Charles Kimbrough (Colonel Hugh Pickering); Brian Dennehy (Alfred Doolittle); Marni Nixon (Mrs. Higgins, Henry’s mother); and Tim Jerome (Professor Zoltan Karpathy), all of whom will perform the musical along with the musicians of the New York Philharmonic on the stage of Avery Fisher Hall. Award-winning Broadway conductor Rob Fisher will lead the performances. Thomas Z. Shepard is the producer. My Fair Lady replaces Company, which was previously announced for these dates. Additional casting and production credits will be announced.

A bittersweet play about adolescence, masculinity and conformity,
this Broadway sensation from 1953 concerns a lonely and misunderstood
17-year-old boy in a New England boarding school. Presumed to be gay
by both his peers and teachers, Tom is mercilessly ridiculed by both
cruel classmates and callous instructors. As his world turns against
him, his only kindness comes from the wife of his chief accuser.

Jonathan Silverstein, who directed Keen Company’s critically
acclaimed production of The Hasty Heart, returns to Keen Company to
lead a stellar cast, including Heidi Armbruster (Sea of Tranquility
at Atlantic Theater Company, Keen Co’s Good Morning, Bill) and Dan
McCabe (Pen at Playwright’s Horizons).

TEA AND SYMPATHY was a Broadway hit, running for 712 performances.
It starred Deborah Kerr as Laura and John Kerr as Tom, and was
directed by Elia Kazan. MGM secured the rights for the film version
and Mr. Anderson adapted it into a feature film that was directed by
Vincente Minnelli. Several changes were made to the film script so
that it would be approved for release by the office of the Hollywood
Production Code of 1930.

TEA AND SYMPATHY was considered an important cultural milestone as a
representation of homophobia, and over the years was included in
several anthologies as a seminal gay play. At the time, playwright
Robert Anderson wrote TEA AND SYMPATHY as a veiled attack against
McCarthyism, during a period in where fear and exclusion raged in
popular culture. "This play still resonates because it shows that
homophobia and fear of 'otherness' has not been erased from our
culture," says director Jonathan Silverstein. "Despite how far we
have come, societal pressures to be 'normal' still rage,McCarthy-like
witch hunts have not gone out of style, and the courage to be one's
true self is continually a heroic struggle."

Well, I guess I won't be leaving law school for "Grease Academy" anytime soon.

"You're the One That I Want," at least the premiere episode, made "American Idol" look like "Sunday in the Park with George." And what exactly is Billy Bush doing there? Kathleen Marshall looks awkward on camera, Ian David seems determined to pull off a Simon Callow impression and Jim Jacobs seems determined to act as if the late Warren Casey did not co-author the show. The sense of drama they're trying to pull off is both awkwar and idiotic. And why in the world are they only showcasing the worst actors?? I went as a reporter to the open day of auditions in NYC. And though the focus of tonight's episode was LA and Chicago, there seriously had to be better people out there than the ones actually shown. And no offense, but why did they even bother to "callback" the overweight girl? Did they really believe that they could cast her as Sandy?

In which case....if the show bombs in terms of ratings, will it be cancelled? And if the TV show is cancelled, will the Broadway revival be cancelled too?

Just got this release with the full cast of the upcoming Kevin Kline KING LEAR at the Public. Along with the full cast details, including the already known fact that Michael Cervis is Kent, it says that Stephen Sondheim's music will be used. Does this mean he's written new music for it? Though surprising, it's not a totally unbelievable idea. After all, Lapine directed SUNDAY, INTO THE WOODS and PASSION, in addition to writing the books of such musicals. This could be similar to when William Finn composed music for the Public's production of AS YOU LIKE IT two years ago.

The Public Theater’s Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Mara Manus announce casting for The Public’s new production of Shakespeare’s King Lear directed by Tony Award-winning James Lapine. King Lear will have a limited run from Friday, February 9th, 2006 through Sunday, March 18th. The press opening is Wednesday, March 7th. Tickets for the general public will go on sale Sunday, January 7th.

In addition to the previously announced casting of Kevin Kline in the title role, King Lear will feature Brian Avers (Edgar), Larry Bryggman (Gloucester), Kristen Bush (Cordelia), Michael Cerveris (Kent), Philip Goodwin (Fool), Piter Marek (King of France), Laura Odeh (Regan), Daniel Pearce (Cornwall), Michael Rudko (Albany), Logan Marshall-Green (Edmund), Ryan McCarthy (Ensemble), Angela Pierce (Goneril), Tim Stickney (Oswald), and Joaquin Torres (Duke of Burgundy).

King Lear will have scenic design by Heidi Ettinger, costume design by Jess Goldstein, lighting design by David Lander, sound design by Dan Moses Schreier and Philip Peglow, and music by Stephen Sondheim and Michael Starobin.

Here's the press release:

Douglas Carter Beane’s new play The Little Dog Laughed will close following the matinee performance on Sunday, February 18. The acclaimed Broadway comedy, which is currently the only new American play to have opened on Broadway this season, features Tom Everett Scott, Julie White, Johnny Galecki, and Ari Graynor. Upon closing, the production, which was directed by Scott Ellis, will have played 22 previews and 112 performances at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th street).

The Little Dog Laughed opened to rave reviews on November 13th – Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, “THEATERGOERS HAVE CAUSE TO REJOICE. The comedy of manners has resurfaced on Broadway with all its vital signs intact. DEVASTATINGLY FUNNY, with DIZZY, IRRESISTIBLE writing that BRINGS DOWN THE HOUSE.” Joe Dziemianowicz of the Daily News raved, "Shout hallelujah for two hours of DELICIOUS GOOD FUN and a dazzling turn by Julie White” and Michael Sommers of the Star Ledger called The Little Dog Laughed, “A LAUGH-OUT-LOUD lampoon of Hollywood humbuggery – SAVVY AND SAVAGE, with a wicked tongue!”

The comedy and its star, Julie White, were included on several “Best of 2006” lists from publications including The New York Times, Daily News, New York Post, and The Star-Ledger, among others.

Forget all the holier than thou Oscar speeches – what everyone really loves about Hollywood is the down and dirty dish. The players in Douglas Carter Beane’s deliciously biting farce, The Little Dog Laughed, include a screen idol hiding in the closet, an ambitious male prostitute and his naïve girlfriend, and a brash, driven Hollywood agent who can spin anyone and anything. Maybe. Now, darling, do not repeat a word of this, but what I heard is that…

The Little Dog Laughed is produced by Roy Gabay, Susan Dietz, Morris Berchard, Steve Bozeman, Ted Snowdon, Jerry Frankel, Doug Nevin, Jennifer Manocherian, and Ina Meibach in association with Second Stage Theatre.

When the Broadway revival of “Les Mis” opened in November, the critics almost unanimously agreed that Daphne Rubin-Vega was nevertheless very miscast as Fantine in spite of her raw and dramatic performance. However, it’s been known for a while that she would be replaced as soon as she left the musical to co-star with Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Jack Goes Boating.” It was announced Wednesday that Lea Salonga, who originated the role of Eponine, will join the production on March 6 as Fantine. Meanwhile, ensemble member Nikki Renee Daniels will play Fantine from Feb 20 to March 4.

My apologies for my lack of input over the past week, as I away on a Royal Carribbean Cruise. Excellent food, horrible nighttime entertainment which I will not even bother to get into. Anyhow, let's review the small quantity of theater news from that time.

1. The details are muddy, but there appears to have been a small fire in Shubert Alley on Friday afternoon which led to a disruption in a matinee performance of SPAMALOT and a full evacuation of the Shubert Theatre.

2. The cast and creative team details for TALK RADIO with Liev Shrieber were released. Robert Falls will direct. Also in the cast are Christine Pedi, Erik Jensen, Peter Hermann and Stephen March.