New York City Theater

The news has spread that this year's Tony Awards will open with THE LION KING, and also feature a segment from the current and original casts of RENT. Rumors also suggest that there might be a musical number from HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL.

So why are they doing this? Well, theoretically, RENT is closing, which is a sad, noteworthy occasion, and THE LION KING recently reached its 10th anniversary. But HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL?

The real answer is that CBS is attempting to pump up the Tonys telecast as much as possible, especially in a year where the only musicals with mainstream appeal like YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and LITTLE MERMAID were not nominated.

I wonder how this affect the eight musicals that rightfully deserve a shot at performing at the awards - PASSING STRANGE, IN THE HEIGHTS, CRY BABY, XANADU, GYPSY, GREASE, SOUTH PACIFIC, SUNDAY.

By allowing older musicals to perform, this makes the Tonys into less of a celebration of the 2008 Broadway season and instead a celebration of the Broadway shows that have already been celebrated.

But I understand the desire to draw in viewers. As Ulla would say, "if you got it, flaunt it." Make the show as entertaining as possible is the best medicine for the Tonys.

Do you look 17-21 years old? Can you sing "Tonight, Tonight"? Then you might be the next Tony or Maria in the new Broadway revival of WEST SIDE STORY. An open casting call is being held on Monday for the two roles, which means you don't need to be an Equity member to audition.

Listen to the character descriptions that accompany the casting notice. They give a good idea of what the new revival will be like:

Tony: Early 20s. Strong high baritone with tenor notes – he does not HAVE to sing the high b flat at the end of “Maria”, but it would be preferred. He is not an innocent virgin; he is anxious, doubt-ridden and frustrated.

Maria: Should look 17 - 21. Lyric soprano – she does not HAVE to sing the high C at the end of “Tonight Quintet”, but it would be preferred. Innocent, but sexual. MUST be fluent in Spanish.

The open call is on Monday, June 2, 2008. Auditions begin at 10 AM at Chelsea Studios, 151 West 26th Street, 6th Floor. Tony must sing "Maria" from WSS. Maria can sing any song from WSS.

This marks my second season as a Tony voter, a position that I am very honored to have attained. Though it is not a requirement, the producers of many of the nominated shows invite the critics to re-attend the shows prior to voting. Generally, all shows will re-invite the critics who vote except (a) shows that are Roundabout or MTC limited shows; (b) shows that opened only a few weeks ago like CRY-BABY or BOEING BOEING; or (c) total sell-out hits that are sure to win like SOUTH PACIFIC.

When the opportunity exists, I really appreciate the opportunity to re-attend. I actually consider the task of deciding what to vote for to be very distinct from attending as a reviewer. Once the nominations come out, you are then able to view all the nominees in perspective. (i.e. Kelli O'Hara is wonderful, but more worthy than Patti?)

Let's go over some of my impressions of what I've re-attended as far:

Tuesday, May 13: A CATERED AFFAIR. I re-attended this on the day that it was eliminated from the Best Musical race. I can only imagine the gloom backstage. I originally gave this a mixed two-star review. And I stand by my original opinions of the piece, which is too minimalist for its own good to be enjoyable. But it's nevertheless very unique and occasionally captivating, particularly thanks to its extremely dedicated cast. This is the only new musical that I'd consider to belong in the post-Sondheim canon of what we've considered serious musical theater over the past decade.

Friday night, May 16: SOUTH PACIFIC. No, Lincoln Center did not re-invite critics. On the morning the reviews came out, I bought a full-price ticket. And of course it was worth it. As everyone and his mother has attested, the show is unbelievably well-done. A miraculous, pretty perfect night at the theater.

Wednesday afternoon, May 21: THE 39 STEPS. This marked my first time seeing the show at its new home at the Cort Theatre. While I still do not find the play itself to be interesting, a mere adaptation of a musty 1935 Hitchcock film that has fallen into the public domain, the execution here is pretty extraordinary. 4 actors playing 150 roles. Their ensemble chemistry is extremely well-tuned and refined. This is more than a parody, but a celebration of theatermaking.

Friday afternoon, May 23: PASSING STRANGE. The good news is that, after two previous viewings where I wanted to leave at intermission, I finally found the show somewhat tolerable. The bad news is that I still don't like it very much. I don't think there's a single "song" in the entire score, nor any coherent book scene. For better or worse, it's a giant rock-and-roll riff. (Have you noticed how most in the SPRING AWAKENING crowd hate PASSING STRANGE, and most who hated SPRING AWAKENING love PASSING STRANGE?) But whatever. I wish it the best of luck in finding an audience that responds to it. On a random note, I can't believe the show was not nominated for Best Lighting in a Musical.

Saturday night, May 24: GYPSY. This year's collection of musical revivals is an embarassment of riches. In any other year, GYPSY would win so easily. Or SUNDAY would win easily. However, SOUTH PACIFIC may just be the best musical revival ever. But don't feel too bad for GYPSY. Patti, Laura, and Boyd will all win Tonys, and those accolades will be a lot more marketable than a Best Revival tony. Remember, most tourists don't know what the word "revival" even means.

Note: these are preliminary Tony predictions. I say preliminary because we still have more than three weeks until the Tonys. They are also not necessarily indicative of what I myself will vote for. I will submit finalized Tony predictions a few days before the Tonys.

Best Play:
August: Osage County


Best Musical:
 In the Heights


Best Book of a Musical
: 
Xanadu, Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score: 

In The Heights, Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda


Best Revival of a Play: 
Boeing-Boeing


Best Revival of a Musical
: Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific


Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play
: Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing


Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Play: 

Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County


Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical
: Paulo Szot, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific


Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Musical: 

Patti LuPone, Gypsy


Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Play
: 
David Pittu, Is He Dead?

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Play
: Mary McCormack, Boeing-Boeing


Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Musical
: 
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Musical
: Laura Benanti, Gypsy


Best Direction of a Play
: Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County


Best Direction of a Musical: 

Bartlett Sher, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Choreography
: Rob Ashford, Cry-Baby


Best Orchestrations: 
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman, In the Heights


Best Scenic Design of a Play
: Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County


Best Scenic Design of a Musical
: 
Michael Yeargan, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Costume Design of a Play
: Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses


Best Costume Design of a Musical
: Catherine Zuber, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Lighting Design of a Play: 
Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps


Best Lighting Design of a Musical
: 
Donald Holder, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific


Best Sound Design of a Play
: Adam Cork, Macbeth


Best Sound Design of a Musical
: 
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific


We hear that the final Broadway performance of RENT on September 7 will be broadcast live in select movie theaters. This is an absolutely brilliant move. For one, I am sure that there is a large audience out there who'd love to see the final performance, including myself. And if we can't necessarily get into that final performance in person, seeing a live film could provide a pretty cool second-hand experience. And considering how important RENT is to many of us, myself included, I really like the idea that perhaps hundreds of thousands will be a part of that final performance.

I, for one, will never forget the first time I listened to the RENT score. I was at a shopping mall and heard a quick glimpse of the CD. Its trendy album cover made it look too rock-pop oriented for my taste at the time. But the humor of the first few tracks, even before I worked my way to the title song, immediately drew me in. For the next few months, I listened to that damn two CD-set just about every damn day. And that score has remained ingrained in my memory ever since.

Composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch made his debut on Tuesday night with the New York Philharmonic with a variation of a concert series he has already popularized at the Kennedy Center and other music halls. Titled "Broadway's Greatest Showstoppers," he conducted an intermission-less program of about ten Broadway showtunes and/or orchestral interludes.

He began with a very amusing yet awkward opening. The front of the orchestra was revealed to actually be young students, all of whom tap-danced for nearly five straight minutes far downstage while the real orchestra played "No Business Like Show Business." It was a nice surprise. But quite frankly, the tap dancing was not too hot. And it was rather awkward to see them try to tap with so little room onstage. In fact, I was scared that one of them was going to fall off the stage.

The first song selection was also the weakest - longtime "Les Miz" actor Mark McVey performing "Bring Him Home." Divorced from the context of the show, the song lacks power and passion, turning instead into merely another slow, mellow ballad.

Next was Michael Bell doing "Old Man River." Again, outside of the context of "Show Boat," the number lacks intensity, but Bell's performance managed to draw us in for the first time that evening. This was followed by orchestral selections from "My Fair Lady," which was played quite nicely.

But the evening really began when Raul Esparza and Kristin Chenoweth arrived. Raul was pretty f-cking amazing with "Soliloquy" and "Being Alive," making the place go wild. Too bad he didn't perform "Oh What a Circus," which had apparently also been planned. Chenoweth, to no surprise, was also a comic gem with "Ice Cream" and "Glitter and Be Gay," in the later basically repeating her performance as Cunegonde from four years ago.

Hamlisch ended with his long-lost overture to "A Chorus Line." No encores. Overall, a pretty fun evening. Maybe this could be an annual thing?

Harvey Fierstein writes on his blog, which is featured at the top of BroadwayWorld: "A Catered Affair continues to do terrific business and garner standing ovations night after night. And our matinee audiences are actually my faves. There there so many tears... It's most rewarding. Wish we could add another matinee, but I don't know how."

I have very mixed feelings on allowing writings that come directly from performers and creative team members to be featured on our sites. On the good side, they give us direct feedback from great personalities like Harvey. Who doesn't like his writing?

But the problem lies in the fact that Harvey, like anyone else would, has an agenda - to promote his show as much as possible. Therefore, I see his blog as less of a source for personalized writing and more as an extended press release-cum-propaganda. Broadway.com does the same kind of thing, and those pieces read in the same super sanitized way, as if every piece has been edited and pre-approved by press agents.

That is why the proper place for this kind of writing is in the midst of a feature article or interview. The fact that Harvey keeps a blog is fine, and he can say whatever he wants. But when theater news sites start promoting the blogs along with their original news and reviews, we have a problem.

Let me start off by noting how thoroughly varied this year's Best Musical picks are. Drama League voted for "A Catered Affair." Outer Critics voted for "Young Frankenstein" and "Xanadu" in a tie. Drama Desk voted for "Passing Strange." And the Tony will likely go to "In the Heights." Why such disparity? Cause the other theater award shows considered "In the Heights" last year, so it was ineligible this year. Had that not been the case, I imagine it would have won everything else.

This year's Drama Desk Awards had a mission - to make the show three hours or less long. In past years, it's taken about 3.5 to 4 hours in length. So not only was there no intermission, there were no musical numbers at all - except for an original opening number from the "title of show" cast, which was hosting.

I hear the lack of musical numbers was also due to the fact that WNET did not broadcast this year's awards. That left only Theatermania to "webcast" it. So in response, the producers of the nominated shows didn't want to pay the actors to perform, and neither did the Drama Desk. The result: a lean, mean and boring show.

To make the show even shorter, MANY of the winners didn't show up. So when this happens, it's like this: a winner is announced, the lights come up, a brief pause, the presenter says he/she will accept it on the winner's behalf, and we move on. Not a single producer from "Boeing Boeing" came. STEW, who won both Music and Lyrics, didn't show. WTF? Celebrities came. And he couldn't?

It was rather sad that "A Catered Affair," which received 12 DD nominations, received no awards. I thought it was going to win Best Musical. In fact, I was thoroughly surprised at how well "Passing Strange" did. Throughout the ceremony, I continued to confess to people that I didn't like the show and didn't understand its appeal.

Will this build up momentum for "Passing Strange" to win the Tony over "In the Heights"?

And what of the DD controversy? Prez William Wolf did not bother to directly address the scandal. Instead, he took the stage and praised the nominating committee one by one. That was probably the smartest thing to do.

I hear that 'Cubby Bernstein,' the 11-year-old Tony Awards campaign manager, is in reality a creation of "Xanadu" scribe Douglas Carter Beane.

Put it this way. When Beane accepted the Drama Desk Award for Best Book of a Musical, he began by thanking Cubby. Though whenever I talk to anyone connected to "Xanadu," they are really adamant that Cubby exists. It's quite amusing.

This is a pic from "Twist," the Off-Off-Broadway musical based on "Oliver Twist" that is at the center of the current Drama Desk controversy.

I thought that this stuff had become old news. I had ridden off Tony Phillips' accusations against the Drama Desk a few weeks ago, as detailed in the New York Post, as unsubstantiated accusations. Now, an extremely long article at goldderby.com describes further field work and interviews attempting to support Philips' accusations.

Click here for the article.

I am only a Drama Desk member, and I have no familiarity with all of the accusations and issues that are now being waged. Therefore, I cannot comment on any of it. All I can say is I don't know Tony Phillips, never met him, and before this scandal I never knew who he was. I do, however, attend the Siegels' superb Broadway By the Year series as often as I possibly can, and think they are lovely people.

The Drama Desk Awards take place on Sunday night. I expect that the controversy will be addressed by President William Wolf directly to the crowd.

Continuing this season's trend of disparities among the theater awards groups, "A Catered Affair," which was snubbed for a Best Musical Tony nomination, received Best Musical from the Drama League. Of course, I don't take the Drama League too seriously. Anyone in the theater industry can become a member by paying dues. the other winners were no surprises: "Macbeth," "South Pacific," "August: Osage," and Patti.

The big surprise of yesterday morning's Tony nominations had to be "Cry-Baby" beating "A Catered Affair" for the fourth nomination slot. The show has not the slightest chance of winning, but this means that it'll receive a slot to perform on the Tonys broadcast - assumedly they'll do Rob Ashford's showstopping jailhouse number from Act Two.

We all knew that "In the Heights," "Passing Strange" and "Xanadu" would receive three of the four slots. In fact, I was surprised when people hinted that "Xanadu" had only a tenuous hold on a nomination. If not "Passing Strange," "Xanadu" certainly received the most positive notices of any new musical.

So what did that leave for the final remaining slot: "A Catered Affair," "Cry-Baby," "Young Frankenstein" or "The Little Mermaid." We all thought it would go to "A Catered Affair." But as yesterday demonstrated, "Catered Affair" really got slammed by the nominators. And while I am not defending it as a great musical, it is nevertheless a very ambitious and compelling one that deserved greater recognition.

But as it happens, "A Catered Affair" is apparently doing better commercially than the nominated musicals. And "Cry-Baby" is not likely to pick up commercially. It'll close soon enough. But due to the nomination, probably not in time for "No No Nanette" to move into its theater to play a short summer run on Broadway :(

Also interesting is how split the Outer Critics and Drama Desk nominations came out in how they favored these shows. (Note: "In the Heights" was ineligible this year for these awards since it was nominated last year.) Outer Critics really favored "Young Frankenstein," while Drama Desk really favored "Catered Affair." And so I wish "Catered Affair," which I caught last night and rather enjoyed, much luck for the Drama Desk Awards, which take place on Sunday.

Best Play:
August: Osage County
Rock 'n' Roll
The Seafarer
The 39 Steps

Best Musical:
Cry-Baby
In the Heights
Passing Strange
Xanadu

Best Book of a Musical
Cry-Baby, Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan
In the Heights, Quiara Alegria Hudes
Passing Strange, Stew
Xanadu, Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score
Cry-Baby, Music & Lyrics: David Javerbaum & Adam Schlesinger
In The Heights, Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda
The Little Mermaid, Music: Alan Menken and Lyrics: Howard Ashman and Glenn Slater
Passing Strange, Music: Stew and Heidi Rodewald Lyrics: Stew

Best Revival of a Play
Boeing-Boeing
The Homecoming
Les Liaisons Dangereueses
Macbeth

Best Revival of a Musical
Grease
Gypsy
Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific
Sunday in the Park With George

Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play
Ben Daniels, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Laurence Fishburne, Thurgood
Mark Rylance, Boeing-Boeing
Rufus Sewell, Rock 'n' Roll
Patrick Stewart, Macbeth

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Play
Eve Best, The Homecoming
Deanna Dunagan, August: Osage County
Kate Fleetwood, Macbeth
S. Epatha Merkerson, Come Back, Little Sheba
Amy Morton, August: Osage County

Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Musical
Daniel Evans, Sunday in the Park With George
Lin-Manuel Miranda, In the Heights
Stew, Passing Strange
Paulo Szot, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific
Tom Wopat, A Catered Affair

Best Performance By a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kerry Butler, Xanadu
Patti LuPone, Gypsy
Kelli O'Hara, Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific
Faith Prince, A Catered Affair
Jenna Russell, Sunday in the Park With George

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Play
Bobby Cannavale, Mauritius
Raúl Esparza, The Homecoming
Conleth Hill, The Seafarer
Jim Norton, The Seafarer
David Pittu, Is He Dead?

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Play
Sinead Cusack, Rock 'n' Roll
Mary McCormack, Boeing-Boeing
Laurie Metcalf, November
Martha Plimpton, Top Girls
Rondi Reed, August: Osage County

Best Performance By a Featured Actor in a Musical
Daniel Breaker, Passing Strange
Danny Burstein, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Robin De Jesús, In The Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines, Gypsy

Best Performance By a Featured Actress in a Musical
de'Adre Aziza, Passing Strange
Laura Benanti, Gypsy
Andrea Martin, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Olga Merediz, In The Heights
Loretta Ables Sayre, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Direction of a Play
Maria Aitken, The 39 Steps
Conor McPherson, The Seafarer
Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County
Matthew Warchus, Boeing-Boeing

Best Direction of a Musical
Sam Buntrock, Sunday in the Park with George
Thomas Kail, In The Heights
Arthur Laurents, Gypsy
Bartlett Sher, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Cry-Baby
Andy Blankenbuehler, In The Heights
Christopher Gattelli, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Dan Knechtges, Xanadu

Best Orchestrations
Jason Carr, Sunday in the Park with George
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman, In the Heights
Stew & Heidi Rodewald, Passing Strange
Jonathan Tunick, A Catered Affair

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps
Scott Pask, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Todd Rosenthal, August: Osage County
Anthony Ward, Macbeth

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network, Sunday in the Park with George
Anna Louizos, In the Heights
Robin Wagner, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein
Michael Yeargan, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Costume Design of a Play
Gregory Gale, Cyrano de Bergerac
Rob Howell, Boeing-Boeing
Katrina Lindsay, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Peter McKintosh, The 39 Steps

Best Costume Design of a Musical
David Farley, Sunday in the Park with George
Martin Pakledinaz, Gypsy
Paul Tazewell, In the Heights
Catherine Zuber, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Kevin Adams, The 39 Steps
Howard Harrison, Macbeth
Donald Holder, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Ann G. Wrightson, August: Osage County

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington, Sunday in the Park with George
Howell Binkley, In the Heights
Donald Holder, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Natasha Katz, The Little Mermaid

Best Sound Design of a Play
Simon Baker, Boeing-Boeing
Adam Cork, Macbeth
Ian Dickson, Rock 'n' Roll
Mic Pool, The 39 Steps

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Acme Sound Partners, In the Heights
Sebastian Frost, Sunday in the Park with George
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific
Dan Moses Schreier, Gypsy

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Stephen Sondheim

Regional Theatre Tony Award
Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Special Tony Award
Robert Russell Bennett

It's official. There is no longer any point or purpose to the Outer Critics Circle. For one, its members - of which I was once one - for the most part are not "outer" critics. They are just New York critics who happen to write for online publications, which they translate into meaning "national" publications.

We all remember how "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" receives 13 OCC nominations three years ago, but at least it didn't win much, if any, awards. Here, "Young Frankenstein," the worst show I saw this year, has won Best Musical - though it tied with the far more respectable "Xanadu."

I am, however, glad to see that "Next to Normal" received best score.

Is it not a little early for Encores to be announcing its new season, which will start in the fall instead of the spring? This is probably due to the planned renovations of City Center, which have been planned for some time.

The lineup includes -
1. "On the Town" - November 19 to 23 (We've known about this one for some time now. It was announced as part of the massive Leonard Bernstein fest six months ago.)
2. "Music in the Air" - February 5 to 8
3. "Finian's Rainbow" - March 26 to 29

All three are really great scores. And in spite of how much I enjoyed "No, No, Nanette," "Juno" and especially "Applause" were big disappointments during this past Encores season.

"On the Town" and "Finian's Rainbow" are very famous, rather revered 1940s shows, but not ones that are very commercially revivable. And while the Irish Rep did a very enjoyable two-piano staging of "Finian's Rainbow" two years ago, I really do look forward to hearing it with full orchestrations.

Can't help but wonder how they will deal with the racial politics of "Finian's Rainbow," or the demanding dance sequences of "On the Town."

Otherwise, if you still haven't seen "No, No, Nanette" at Encores, be sure to catch its last performance tonight!! I would totally go (it would be my third time), but I'm already set for Broadway By the Year 1965 at Town Hall.

CAMELOT happens to be a show that is near and dear to my heart. I played Merlin at theater camp. And though it wasn't too great of a production, the show's score continues to amaze and astound me. And that's what I really took away from the Philharmonic's concert - the glory of hearing its superb score performed under Paul Gemignani's conducting with a full orchestra.

But what the hell was up with Gabriel Byrne as Arthur? Talk about miscasting!

The trend has always been to cast Arthur much older than he is supposed to be. In the first scene, Arthur is supposed to be in his late 20s, and then we see him age gradually throughout the show.

But whatever. Byrne was fine dramatically, accentuating the fear, timidity and boyishness of Arthur. But then there were the vocal issues... Arthur was written to be played by a non-singer. And you can speak through about 90 percent of his songs. BUT YOU NEED TO SPEAK IT IN TEMPO!!! Byrne did not speak it in tempo at all. He was always at least five measures ahead of the orchestra. And it was damn painful to endure!! Seriously, how hard would it have been to say it all in synch with the orchestra?? Didn't Byrne bother to pick up the original cast recording?? It would not have been that hard to do. So the one to blame is Lonny Price, the director, for not properly fixing this issue.

But other than Byrne's singing, I thought it was a pretty well done concert. It was more than semi-staged. It was very intricately done. Of course, the lighting cues were sloppy and the exits were awkward, but the cast was making due with performing a big Broadway musical in a music hall venue, not a real theater.

As for the score, I was really surprised at how much of it was cut. "The Joust" was gone, but that was alright. It's a weird, long number. The film cut it too. But couldn't they put in "Fie on Goodness," a really fantastic number for the knights? Wouldn't that have given the underused Marc Kudisch, Will Swenson and Christopher Seiber something else to do? Most of the time, they looked like three stooges at the back of the stage.

Marin Mazzie is too old for Guenavere, but for the purposes of this concert, it didn't really matter. She really nailed the songs vocally, and brought humor and pathos to the role.

Bobby Steggert, who is on his way to becoming a Broadway mainstay, was fine as Mordred. He was dressed as a punk rocker, which was interesting. In fact, the costume design was extremely mixed - some in suggestive medieval garb, some in gowns, some in tuxes. It was weird...

Christopher Lloyd made the most of the comic relief role of King Pellinore, and I laughed quite a lot whenever he took the stage.

But the real victor of this concert was truly Nathan Gunn as Lancelot. What a voice! He's also set to be in the SHOWBOAT concert next month as Gaylord Ravenol. Here's a thought: when Paul Svogt leaves SOUTH PACIFIC, perhaps Gunn would make an ideal replacement as Emilie? He clearly can do the French accent.

Overall, this was a decent concert, but hurt almost beyond repair by Byrne's tempo deaf vocal performance.

When was the last time that a new Broadway musical opened and closed on opening night? The last time, to my recollection, that any show did that was Ellen Burstyn in THE OLDEST LIVING CONFEDERATE WIDOW, a one-woman show from four years ago.

Were the critics (myself especially included) too harsh? Possibly. But I think not. Well, probably not. Clearly, that show did not belong on Broadway. But what if it had been at say the New York Musical Theater Festival. Would we have been kinder? Possibly. Well, probably. We might have wrote a supportive review, along the lines of the original Peter Marks/WASHINGTON POST review.

Should critics be harder/more lenient on a show based on WHERE it is playing? I don't know. That's a tough question. Should we really be paying attention to the price of the ticket, especially when we ourselves didn't pay anything to get in? Again, I don't know. Maybe it's a gut instinct. Maybe it just has to do with taking account of the environment in which the show is being produced, which of course is relevant.

In the end, I blame the show's producers. They really rushed the show into production following its regional premiere. I suppose they saw an opportunity to get the show to Broadway ASAP, and they took it.

How will this affect the futures of its 23-year-old and 24-year-old writers? Will they want to write musical theater again for any theater, be it Broadway or elsewhere? Might they bounce back, revise GLORY DAYS, and make it into a stunning musical that will leave all the critics who panned it originally eating our hats? One can only hope...

I'd like to end by reaffirming that I took no personal joy in panning Glory Days, in giving it a no stars rating, or in any similar language in which I destroyed the show and its commercial potential. I LOVE MUSICAL THEATER. I want to see good musical theater. And the greatest show for a critic is to tell people that there is a great show going on and that they should check it out. That's what we want. And that's why we keep going to the theater. Night after night. We're looking for something great. We, the critics, are cheering you, the creators, on. We are your biggest fans. Seriously.

Apparently the song "We Just Had Sex" in the new Broadway musical PASSING STRANGE is too risque for television audiences. The cast of PASSING STRANGE was planning to do the number for a Tonys preview concert that will film later this week. CBS, however, has decided to not allow the song to be presented. Weirdly, word on the street is that PASSING STRANGE claims it will not be able to prepare a new number in time. Really? How hard is it to do one of the numerous other songs from the show instead? I also hear that their number on the Tony Awards (I don't like the show, but it's sure to be nominated) will be a combination of "Keys" and "Amsterdam."

I had a thought today. What if PASSING STRANGE wins the Drama Desk Award for Best New Musical Over XANADU and CATERED AFFAIR? IN THE HEIGHTS, which is expected to win the Tony for Best Musical pretty easily, is ineligible for this year's Drama Desk Awards since it was nominated last year during its Off-Broadway run. If PASSING STRANGE wins, which I think it will, will that build new momentum for it to win the Tony?

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Alvin Colt, the Broadway costumer designer whose work included the original productions of ON THE TOWN, GUYS AND DOLLS, SUGAR and LIL ABNER.

Here is a link to an interview I did with him for Playbill.com one year ago

It's a sad occurrence to see a leading non-profit theater cancel the American premiere of a new musical due to budget concerns and replace it with yet another one-man show. Not that HERRINGBONE, which will star BD Wong, will necessarily be bad. And not that TAKE FLIGHT, the new Maltby & Shire musical, would necessarily be good, though it has already received an excellent recording on PS Classics.

Might one of our Off-Broadway theater companies pick up the slack and produce TAKE FLIGHT? I think it would fit in well with say the Playwrights Horizons or MTC schedule.

First piece of good news - the GYPSY revival will indeed get recorded.

Second piece of good news - Cheyenne Jackson will indeed play Joe Hardy in this summer's Encores revival of DAMN YANKEES, meaning that he and Jane Krakowski will finally play opposite each other.

Variety reports today that Javier Bardem has dropped out of Rob Marshall's upcoming film version of the Broadway musical NINE. While a heavy of B-stars are still supposedly onboard my confidence in the film is starting to quiver. Does this mean Antonio Banderas, who should have been awarded the role to begin with, will be next in line?

LINK TO READ THE VARIETY ARTICLE