"Given the chance, would you see Daniel Radcliffe in his NEW play 'Equus'?" - America Online
Some ought to tell the editorial staff of America Online that EQUUS has been around longer than Daniel Radcliffe has been alive.
This always seems to happen when a celebrity takes a role in a play. Somehow, the play apparently never existed before Daniel Radcliffe decided to take off his undies.
Of course, the production did just receive fabulously good reviews in London and will probably move to Broadway this fall for a limited engagement.
Bob Martin Intro
Let's Do It - Leah Hocking
You Took Advantage of Me - Max von Essen & Nancy Anderson
Makin' Whoopie - Eddie Korbich
Ever Since the Movies Learned to Talk - Paul Schoeffler
Billie - Anderson
I Like You As You Are - Korbich and Joyce Chittick
Got Myself Another Jockey Now - Lumiri Tubo
My Wife Is On a Diet - Korbich, Essen, Schoeffler
Which - Hocking
Lover Come Back to Me - Lari White
You're the Cream in My Coffee - Jeffry Denman
Why Must We Always Be Dreaming? - Essen
Wanting You - (off mike) Schoeffler and Anderson
Act II
New York Serenade - the band
Southearted Men - all
Love Me or Leave Me - White
A Room With a View - Denman
Oh What a Night for Love - Chittick
I Wanna Be Loved By You - Anderson
Hooray for Captain Spalding - Korbich and all
St. Louis Woman - Tubo
I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Essen
Heaven Hop - Denman and Chittick
Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise -(off mike) Schoeffler, Villabon and Anderson
Crazy Rhythm - all
Hello, I Must Be Going - all
I highly recommend checking this out tonight if you're free.
Tony winner Bob Martin, currently featured as ‘Man in Chair’ in THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, will star in THE BROADWAY MUSICALS OF 1928, which kicks off the seventh season of The Town Hall’s acclaimed Broadway by the Year series. Broadway aficionados will recall that the fictional, Tony-nominated show opened on The Great White Way in 1928. On February 26th The Town Hall audience will hear the music that was born on Broadway in that illustrious year.
Some of musical theater’s most famous songs first came to light in 1928, such as Rodgers & Hart’s “You Took Advantage of Me” (Present Arms), the Dorothy Fields/Jimmy McHugh hit “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love” (Blackbirds of 1928), Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It” (Paris), Kalmar & Ruby’s “Hooray for Captain Spaulding” (Animal Crackers), Romberg/Hammerstein’s “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” (The New Moon) and so many more!
Conceived and hosted by Scott Siegel for The Town Hall, this one-night-only concert will feature a dazzling line-up including Broadway’s Nancy Anderson, Joyce Chittick, Jeffry Denman, Malcolm Gets, Eddie Korbich, Lari White, plus more stars soon to be announced. The cast is heavily honored with a Tony winner (Bob Martin), a Tony nominee (Malcolm Gets), Drama Desk nominees (Nancy Anderson and Eddie Korbich) and even a Grammy Award winner (Lari White). Direction will be by Joel Froomkin and the evening will feature musical direction by Ross Patterson.
It was a fairly strong concert, though director Gordon Greenberg's supposed Brechtian take was weak. It consisted essentially of a stage manager reading lighting cues for the first two minutes, after which the Brechtian influence thankfully disappeared.
It wouldn't suprise me if the main impetus behind this benefit concert was to see whether WORKING could be revived as a commerical revival. After all, this took place at the Zipper, where Greenberg's successful revival of JACQUES BREL will close this weekend.
For the most part, I find WORKING to be an intriguing but rather weak and depressing show. It's like a lackluster GODSPELL in a way. Both consist of some pretty great songs, intermixed between, in the case of GODSPELL, improvisational Bible sketches, and in the case of WORKING, depressing monologues about being an American worker in the 1970s.
To be revived, the show needs to be revised considerably not just in terms of text, but also conceptually. Frankly, I'd add new songs and axe the monologues altogether. But please, if Greenberg does a revival, tell him to drop that whole Brechtian gimmick.
Still, for the purposes of this Monday night benefit concert, I had a rather good time. The cast was quite decent, particularly Mary Testa performing "It's an Art" and Jeb Brown performing "Fathers and Sons."
Per Cindy Adams: Meryl Streep nailed Cherry Jones' Sister Aloysius role in the film version of the 2005 B'way hit "Doubt." It's John Patrick Shanley's exquisitely crafted story of a priest's did he or didn't he, was he or wasn't he . . .
Nothing against the incredibly talented Meryl, but how could they not give it to Cherry Jones?
HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?!? How could easily one of the most idiotic plays to hit New York in years turn into a commercial juggernaut?
Simple: it has a popular gimmick and easily appeals to a Jewish suburban, Jdate.com influenced audience.
That's how new Off-Broadway musicals and the occassional commerical play can survive. As Mazzepa told Louise, "IF YOU'VE GOT A GIMMICK, GYPSY GIRL YOU'VE GOT IT MADE." And just to note, when Charles Isherwood called Jewtopia UNSTOPPABLE, he didn't mean it in a good way.
Here's the release, in all of its depressing character:
Jewtopia, the long-running hit comedy written by Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson, is in its second smash year at Off-Broadway’s Westside Theatre. Jewtopia opened in New York on October 21, 2004 (performances began September 28, 2004) following a 16-month sold-out run at West Hollywood’s Coast Playhouse where it holds the record as Los Angeles’ longest-running comedy. The show celebrates 1,000 performances Off-Broadway on February 20, 2007.
Jewtopia tells the story of two single guys, Chris O’Connell and Adam Lipschitz. Chris, a gentile, wants to marry a Jewish girl so that he’ll never have to make another decision for as long as he lives. Adam, a Jew under tremendous pressure from his family to marry a Jewish girl, wonders what Chris is thinking. Before long, both find themselves tangled in a web of interfaith and internet dating. Customs clash. Stereotypes collide. Hilarity, madness and chaos ensue.
Written by Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson, Jewtopia is directed by Tony nominee John Tillinger. The cast includes Glynis Bell, Samantha Daniel, Lorry Goldman, Josh Heine, Rosanne Ma, Jeremy Rishe and Joel Rooks.
The Critics have hailed:
“Hilarious! Raucous! Merciless! …When JEWTOPIA hits its mark, which is frequently, it’s outrageously funny.” -The Los Angeles Times
"Entertaining! Wild! Raucous! Certain to hit home with ALL observers, whatever their religion.”
-Variety
“After a quarter century of Neil Simon and his imitators, the playwrights redeem the formula with edge. Displaying a commercial sensibility that is almost obscene, they combine the swaggering Generation Y sensibility with a more traditional borschtbelt approach, nailing two demographics at once. The result is irresistible.” -Time Out New York
Though it took 40 years for the Chosen People to reach the Promised Land, Jewtopia managed to recoup its entire investment Off-Broadway in just 20 weeks, before spawning productions in Chicago and South Florida. With the New York run going strong, productions are in development for cities around North America and beyond.
Jewtopia, The Chosen Book for the Chosen People is an over-the-top, four-color, fully illustrated “coffee-table book.” In September 2006, Warner Books released the book in hardcover nationwide.
A film adaptation of Jewtopia entitled Adam Lipschitz and Chris O’Connell Lose their Religion is in development. Additionally, Fogel and Wolfson just finished writing a TV pilot, “The Corporation,” and are writing another feature film.
Jewtopia plays at The Westside Theatre located at 407 West 43rd Street (between 9th & 10th Avenues) as follows: Tuesday through Saturday @ 8:00PM with matinee performances on Wednesday & Saturday @ 2:00 PM and Sunday @ 3:00 PM.
As WICKED continues to take over the world - a Republican congressman actually talked about it yesterday in the floor in his attempt to defame the Iraq opposition bill - the earlier works of Stephen Schwartz will steadily gain more attention. In fact, believe it or not, there has not been a single Broadway revival yet of a Stephen Schwartz musical, though one expects GODSPELL or PIPPIN to eventually be revived.
WORKING, Schwartz's 1970s song cycle based on Stud Terkel's opus about ordinary, everyday Americans at work, will receive an overdue revival - albeit in the form of the next of the never-ending line of one-night benefit concerts - this Monday night at the Zipper Theatre. Director Gordon Greenberg, whose production of JACQUES BREL... is about to end at the Zipper, claims that he'll have a Brechtian take on the musical.... Maybe Mother Courage will don a waitress uniform and sing "It's An Art."
The cast includes Jeb Brown, Mary Testa, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Ed Dixon amongst others.
Tickets ($55 and $30) are available through (212) 352-3101 or toll-free at (866) 811 4111. For more information visit actorsfund.org.
Friday Afternoon - Invited press run through of several numbers from THE PIRATE QUEEN, which begins previews at the Hilton Theatre in one month, at the New 42nd Street Studios. It was very professional presentation, with director Frank Galati providing narration in between five songs. As is the case with all Boublil-Schoenberg scores, one needs to hear the orchestrations before he can make a judgment call on its quality.
Friday Night - Jason Robert Brown concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Damn! Not only is JRB the most talented "New School" musical theater composer, he will also continue to stand out as the only contemporary theater composer whose is a truly exciting cabaret artist, in and of himself. His roundup of songs was similar to his recent concerts at Le Jazz Au Bar and Birdland, with a new song from the in-progress score of LEAVING LAS VEGAS. He noted that his new musical 13 has received rave reviews in LA, but did not say whether plans for moving it Off-Broadway are underway. It should probably go to Playwrights Horizons or Lincoln Center.
Saturday night - Adrift in Macao at Primary Stages. Eh..... Let's talk about that one later.
Sunday night - FOLLIES. This time, I was in the nosebleed section of the far back mezzanine. Nevertheless, I actually enjoyed it even more tonight than I had on Thursday night. As is the case with all Encores! shows, the quality increases significantly from its first official performance Thursday night to what is usually its last on Sunday night. FOLLIES, however, will receive a much warranted extra performance Monday night. As I write this, I contemplate whether I'll be attending tomorrow night as well.
The critics around me kept complaining over why FOLLIES was getting yet another production. Though it did receive its Roundabout Broadway revival six years ago, it had reduced orchestrations and it is generally agreed that it was a poor production. Otherwise, the only other major NY mounting of FOLLIES other than the original 1971 production was its sensational 1985 Lincoln Center concert, which was preserved on video. And last Monday night in London, another FOLLIES concert was performed starring Maria Friedman.
This easily stands out as the most dramatically and musically ambitious production that City Center Encores! has ever attempted. It was not perfect - not that I ever expected it to be - but I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to both Sondheim connoiseurs and novices.
Musical theater historian Ethan Mordden has said that the original FOLLIES, one of the most incredible Broadway productions of all time, can never be recreated in all its original glory. A spectacular Papermill Playhouse revival ten years ago came close and was worthy of moving to Broadway, but inner politics prevented that from happening.
Unlike the Lincoln Center concert, which cut all of the book, this production keeps the book intact, though that is essentially a mixture of the librettos of the original Broadway production and its subsequent revivals. The very strong cast nicely handled the score and the drama, but it still felt rather awkward. As is always the case with Encores, the production will probably get stronger as the weekend continues and the cast becomes more comfortable with the show. Assuming that I'd want to see this again, I bought an upper mezzanine seat for the Sunday night performance.
My actual review will run on Monday in AM NEW YORK. Meanwhile, I may continue to blog some more about the production and any thoughts that spring to mind.
Within the opening night crowd I noticed Clive Barnes, who reviewed (and panned) the original production, Mike Nichols, Ted Chapin, who worked as a PA on the original production and has gone on to write a wonderful memoir about the experience, and director Casey Nicholaw.
On Friday I'll be publishing a short Q+A that I did with Ben by phone on Monday rather than a review. Tonight was the opening night of his two week engagement at Feinstein's, which was easily one of the most entertaining and compelling cabaret acts I've seen at the prestigious venue.
Though very professional, Ben gave the evening a very light, improvised feel. Half the songs he performed were not even on the program. For the most part those included:
With a Song in My Heart
Magic To Do
Jesus Christ Superstar/I Don't Know How to Love Him
Memory
Frank Sinatra Medley
Sammy Davis Jr. Medley
Hair/The Age of Aquarius
Candyman
The Lady is a Tramp
If I Ruled the World
YOU TUBE MUSICAL THEATER CLIP OF THE DAY: "I'LL DO ANYTHING" FROM OLIVER
SPY KID JOINS HAIRSPRAY; DISNEY CHANNEL GIRL JOINS BEAST
ALEXA VEGA JOINS THE CAST OF HAIRSPRAYAS PENNY PINGLETON. SPY KIDS STAR BEGIN TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13
ANNELIESE VAN DER POL, STAR OF DISNEY CHANNEL’S “THAT’S SO RAVEN” BEGINS AS BELLE ON APRIL 3. DISNEY’S BEAUTY AND THE BEAST WILL TAKE ITS FINAL BOW ON SUNDAY, JULY 29TH.
Sorry for the caps. I copy and pasted from the releases.
My colleague Wayman Wong, who wrote Playbill's Leading Men column for the past five years, brought a triumphant end to that experience by producing a sequel to his May 2005 Leading Men concert. Hosted by John Tartaglia and music directed by Seth Rudetsky, it was a nicely entertaining at Birdland, a very sincere concert with a compact program, strong performers and a laidback environment.
Here's the songlist:
Telly Leung - "It's the Applause"
Tom Anderson - "Playing Right Field"
David Gurland - "Waiting for Life"
Adam Jacobs - "Maria"
Ben Strothmann - "Milwalkee"
Tim Di Pasqua - "You"
Daniel Reichard - "Torch Song"
Norm Lewis - "I'd Rather Be Sailing"
Perry Ojeda - "Lucky To Be Me"
Jim Caruso - "Tone Deaf"
Hugh Panaro - "Right Before My Eyes"
Seth Rudetsky - "Deconstructing The Sound of Music"
Jason Michael Snow - "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat"
Matt Cavenaugh - "I Take It Back"
This makes two shows that closed this year just weeks after Constantine Maroulis entered them. He's turning into the new Richard Kind. Hey Constantine, wanna play Tarzan? I wouldn't mind seeing that show disappear.
Here's the release:
The Off-Broadway revival of the landmark musical, Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris, will close after the February 25th performance at the Zipper Theatre, it was announced by Dan Whitten, the show¹s lead producer. The production opened on March 27, 2006, and will have played a total of 384 performances. There are plans to mount productions of "Brel" throughout the country (Boston, Cleveland, South Florida), as well as in Toronto and at The Chocolate Factory in London.
Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris is directed by Gordon Greenberg, with music direction by John O¹Neill and choreography by Mark Dendy. The musical is produced by Dan Whitten, Bob and Rhonda Silver, and Ken Grossman in association with Tiger Theatricals.
The current cast includes Robert Cuccioli, Constantine Maroulis, Gay Marshall and Jayne Paterson. The original production opened in 1968 at The Village Gate in Greenwich Village and ran for more than four years.
Though I could have suffered through four straight hours of YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I WANT on NBC (which has admittedly gotten better, but the marathon was of the terrible first few episodes), I instead used the night to see F. Murray Abraham in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE at Theater New for a New Audience, of which tonight also marked its opening night. I was supposed to attend THE JEW OF MALTA, also starring Abraham, last night, but I messed up my scheduling and double booked two shows to review last night. As such, I instead went to CAVALLERIA/PAGLIACCI" at the Met and will now review MALTA in two weeks. I will then write a review of both MALTA and MERCHANT together, though I'm happy to report back that MERCHANT alone was quite decent.
Any theater news? Not really, other than some more articles popping up here and there about Daniel Radcliffe/Harry Potter's promotional pics for the West End revival of EQUUS. I understand that they're surprising to the untrained eye, but it's certainly less shocking than the content of the play itself....
It was announced a few months ago that a Broadway musical of XANADU, the awful 80s musical film starring Olivia Newton John directed by Gene Kelly, was headed to the Helen Hayes Theatre. Though the idea of converting bad movies into new musicals is not so unforeseeable nowadays (THE WEDDING SINGER, EVIL DEAD, ECT), what really surprised me was the notion of doing a full-scale musical in the intimate Helen Hayes, which is used nowadays mostly for one man/woman shows with cheap production budgets.
Word has now spread that Jane Krakowski, who was expected to play the rollerblading lead heroine played in the film by Newton John, has pulled out both due to the popularity of 30 ROCK on NBC and the realization that the show most likely will/would not be a critical or popular hit.
It's not clear whether the show will go on without her. Though I'm intrigued to see it, as I would be for any Broadway musical in development, from a practical producer standpoint, I can't imagine how something like that could compete in this Broadway season. At the very least, it could not possibly be nominated for the Best Musical Tony, a field which will include SPRING AWAKENING, GREY GARDENS, CURTAINS and one of the following: MARY POPPINS, LOVEMUSIK or LEGALLY BLONDE. if LOVEMUSIK is good, it'll be nominated. If not, maybe MARY POPPINS.
The real race in any event will be between CURTAINS and SPRING AWAKENING. And considering the current SPRING AWAKENING media blitz, it's chances at the moment look pretty good...
Critics were not re-invited to attend THE LION KING when it moved from The New Amsterdam Theatre, making way for MARY POPPINS, to the Minskoff Theatre, where FIDDLER had most recently been. In prep for the move, the Minskoff received quite a cosmetic makeover to its exterior, making it seem like a more friendly locale.
To be honest, I hadn't seen THE LION KING since 1997. I attended not in an official critic capacity, but rather in preparation to interview one of the youngsters playing Nala the Lioness. Like nearly all critics, I am not an avid fan of the Disney Broadway musicals, though I am looking forward to at least seeing THE LITTLE MERMAID this fall. Still, I admit that THE LION KING is easily the best one to be put on Broadway as far, especially in a visual capacity.
But for those who really do enjoy THE LION KING, I can at least report that the show did not lose any luster or artistic impact in its move from 42nd Street to 44th Street. Also, Patrick Page, the original Scar and recently the title star of THE GRINCH, just re-entered the show last Tuesday.
I suppose that THE LION KING could still be running when RAGTIME, which lost the Tony to LION KING in 1998, is eventually revived.
