New York City Theater

The cast of SHREK is quickly changing. For one, Daniel Breaker, Tony nominee for PASSING STRANGE, has taken over for Chester Gregory in the sidekick role of Donkey, voiced by Eddie Murphy in the film version. No word was released on why Gregory was released from the role, though the All That Chatters have commented that Gregory was one of the weaker cast members during the out of town tryout. In any case, Gregory was a superb replacement for Seaweed in HAIRSPRAY.

In another change, the role of the Dragon has been re-imagined to the point where soloist Kecia Lewis-Evans will no longer be a part of the show either. Instead, the Dragon will be played by the entire ensemble.

The show's opening date remains Sunday, December 14. It suffered an unnecessary, undeserved rash of bad publicity from Michael Riedel, who made negative comments on the score after attending a cocktail party to promote the show. I wasn't invited :(

I'll never forget the first time I saw a production of Noel Coward's comedy BLITHE SPIRIT. It was 2000 at French Woods Festival of the Arts. One of the actresses broke her nose when they tried to levitate a table as a stage effect. So instead of performing the final ten minutes, the uninjured remainder of the cast literally explained the end of the show to the confused audience.

As such, I am really looking forward to seeing a professional production of the play. A few weeks ago, prolific Broadway producer Jeffrey Richards (SPRING AWAKENING, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, SPEED-THE-PLOW, THE HOMECOMING) randomly announced that he would present a Broadway revival of BLITHE SPIRIT. Word now comes that Christine Ebersole, who wowed critics and audiences alike two years ago in GREY GARDENS, will play Elvira, the deceased wife who returns to haunt her husband. Sounds like a good time! Her last performance, in the pitifully bad Encores revival of APPLAUSE, was made even worse by her raging head cold.

One of the biggest losses of last fall's theater season was the fact that the Actors Fund did not produce another star-studded concert revival of a musical as a benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Past productions had included DREAMGIRLS, FUNNY GIRL, CHESS, HAIR, ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY and THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE. (In a related circumstance, Jamie McGonnigal didn't produce a similar concert, after having done CHILDREN OF EDEN, PIPPIN, THE SECRET GARDEN and RAGS.)

Word has now come that the Path Fund will produce a one-night concert of THE WHO'S TOMMY to benefit BC/EFA with the bulk of the original cast, many of whom have gone on to become Broadway stars: Michael Arnold, Anthony Barrile, Bill Buell, Maria Calabrese, Michael Cerveris, Tracy Nicole Chapman, Paul Dobie, Jonathan Dokuchitz, Tom Flynn, Cheryl Freeman, Jody Gelb, Christian Hoff, Paul Kandel, Donnie Kehr, Pam Klinger, Lisa Leguillou, Norm Lewis, Michael McElroy, Marcia Mitzman, Lee Morgan, Alice Ripley, Sherie Rene Scott and Timothy Warmen.

The concert will take place Monday night, December 15th, 2008 at 8:00 pm at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). For more info go to www.rockersonbroadway.com and www.thepathfund.com.

I didn't attend the Metropolitan Opera's opening night gala on Monday night, which was a tribute to the diva talent of Renee Fleming, showcasing her playing three roles from three acts of three operas by three composers. It's worth noting that new Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb, who opened the past two seasons with new productions of MADAME BUTTERFLY and LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, gave this tribe to Ms. Fleming only because it had been previously promised to her.

So, my new Metropolitan Opera season began this weekend with SALOME starring Karita Mattila on Friday night, followed by LA GIOCONDA starring Deborah Voigt on Saturday night.

New York Post columnist Michael Riedel has emerged as an avid cheerleader of FELA!, the new Off-Broadway musical about Nigerian music artist and political activist Fela Kuti. A month ago, while the All That Chatters described it being overly long and dramatically unsound, Riedel claimed that it was destined to go to Broadway. In his Friday article, he now reports that hip-hop star Jay-Z loves the show and wants to promote it. He even goes as far as speculating which Broadway theater would be best for FELA!

If PASSING STRANGE, another offbeat, acclaimed African-American musical, couldn't survive on Broadway, how can an even more risky show like FELA?

We all imagined that A TALE OF TWO CITIES would be the next show to shutter. or HAIRSPRAY. Why? Well, we all knew that LEGALLY BLONDE would be gone by the end of the season because the Palace Theater had been promised to the WEST SIDE STORY revival. But given the show's resurgence in attendance following its MTV reality show, I thought BLONDE would make it to January at the least. But Bailey Hanks' financial bump appeared to be short term. As a result, BLONDE will shutter on October 19. A national tour just opened, and it's bound to be extremely popular among high school and amateur productions.

We conducted an hour-long interview with Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen, the stars and authors of "[title of show]," on a wide variety of topics: their feelings on the show's imminent closing, what makes it so original, what lies in their future, what celebrities they'd cast in a film version, and so on.

Matt – So what is a truly original musical?

Jeff – It’s hard to say because what’s original is subjective.

Hunter – It can be an original idea that you adapt.

Jeff – “Avenue Q” is original, but they didn’t invent puppetry. “Sunday in the Park” was based on a painting, but it’s original. They were original to the stage.

Hunter – It’s original in that it’s not based on a pre-existing movie, book, screenplay or story. I like that aspect of our show. That it was truly fabricated from our brains for the stage.

Jeff – When we make the “[title of show]” theme park ride, that will be based on the Broadway musical. That’s our real goal. A ride. A 4-minute ride that tells the whole story. You know, “Phantom” opened Vegas and we thought they should just make a ride. The chandelier falls and there’s a music box. You can have a cocktail on the ride. And you can be say that you saw “Phantom” after just four minutes.

Hunter – You can buy a picture of you and the Phantom together at the end of the ride.

Matt – Well, right now. What’s the next step for “[title of show]”?

Marvel's Spiderman musical, long in development, is inching closer to Broadway. At a press conference on Sept 22, it was announced that the show will likely open on Broadway in 2009 - though it as not indicated whether they meant Spring or Fall 2009. The musical, to be directed by Julie Taymor, has a score by Bono and The Edge of U2 and, we expect, lots of high-flying stunts. Rumor has it that it will likely be housed at the Hilton Theatre, currently home to the awful disaster that is YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN.

-Matt Windman

Want to check out XANADU one last time before it shutters? Better move quickly. It was revealed today that instead of October 12, XANADU will instead close this Sunday due to our bad economic climate. In other words, the producers exclaimed that they didn't want to lose any more money. This unfortunately overshadows yesterday's more exciting XANADU news that the cast of its national tour will be led by Max von Essen and Elizabeth Stanley.

Oh. And if anyone cares, and I doubt that anyone does, the incredibly stupid geriatric Off-Broadway comedy FLAMINGO COURT starring Anita Gillette and Jamie Farr will also close on Sunday.

-Matt Windman

When an old Off-Broadway theater is put up for sale, we usually assume that once sold, the building and land will turn into something other than a theater. Look at the Promenade Theater, which is now a Sephora. Look at the Jean Cocteau, which is now some clothing outlet. So when it was announced one year ago that the Actors Playhouse in the West Village was next on the chopping block, we assumed we'd never step foot in there again.

But now word comes from Playbill.com that indie filmmaker Lawrence Page, whose work includes "Static" and "Blood of a Champion," has purchased the space and will indeed keep it a theater! After having renovated the interior, Page now plans to begin a reality series in which ten contestants will compete for opportunity to write, produce and star in their own Off-Broadway show.

-Matt Windman

Times are bad on Wall Street. So what does that foreshadow for Broadway? "Xanadu" and "[title of show]" have announced closing notices, and what's next?

Judging by their declining grosses, "Hairspray" and "Grease" are likely to be next on the chopping block. "A Tale of Two Cities," which opened on Thursday to unanimously negative reviews, has appeared destined to close even before it began previews. But even more importantly, what does this mean for shows that are only now about to open? Even "Equus," which opens on Thursday, hasn't been selling out. Only time will tell. In any case, it's bound to be an interesting fall.

-Matt Windman

Given its disappointing grosses since its opening in July, this is no surprise. But it is still sad to watch. In any event, the development of "[title of show]" remains an inspirational, real-life success story. From the beginning, its creators unapologetically fashioned an intimate, idiosyncratic destined to be "nine people's favorite thing," and not "a hundred people's ninth favorite thing." For the record, what exactly would be "a hundred people's ninth favorite thing"?

I certainly encourage anyone who hasn't yet seen the show to do so. Enclosed is a blog posting on the closing from the production's official blog that was written by the company.

"Beloved Tossers:

As many of you know, it was announced last night that [title of show] will conclude its run at the Lyceum on October 12th.

Thank you for all your support that each of continue to demonstrate, through buying tickets, listening to the CD, reading the blog, blogging, writing to us, sending us videos, taking your inspiration and creating your own work...it means the world to us.

Lots of feelings are being felt: sadness, pride, gratitude...and hope. Guess what: the story isn't over yet.

Considering its disappointing grosses, I'm surprised that this didn't happen sooner. But it's still a shame. XANADU, which everyone originally imagined would be a total dud, turned out to be a damn enjoyable, very witty musical. And now that it is closing on October 12 after 528 performances, it will surely be missed. Following a month-long cameo from Whoopi Goldberg, the bulk of the original cast is now together again, including Kerry Butler, Cheyenne Jackson, Tony Roberts, Jackie Hoffman and Mary Testa. A national tour will begin shortly, followed by international productions.

Hard to believe. Apparently true. FORBIDDEN BROADWAY, that all but essential parody of Broadway musicals that has played various Off-Broadway houses for more than a quarter of the century, will shutter in January. Is this surprising? Yes and no. There is no place for commercial Off-Broadway musicals anymore. The only new ones play Off-Broadway only for the purposes of branding their shows as "Off-Broadway hits" and then tour them nationally. But no FORBIDDEN BROADWAY anymore?? That really blows. I will be attending the opening night of their new edition tomorrow night, which may be the last time I attend the show.

Forbidden Broadway creator Gerard Alessandrini said: “With the changing of the artistic climate on Broadway, I felt the next couple of seasons might be a perfect time to take a break. I’ve just put together a new edition that I feel succinctly encapsulates the last couple of years on Broadway and I thought this would be a positive and fun way to end our 27-year run. However, I do hope we might bring Forbidden Broadway back to New York at some point down the road when there will be plenty of new shows and stars to spoof.”

FORBIDDEN BROADWAY GOES TO REHAB features spoofs of South Pacific, In the Heights, Equus, [title of show], August Osage County, Gypsy, Young Frankenstein and Sunday in the Park with George, among others. Bernadette Peters, Patti LuPone, Liza Minnelli and Kristin Chenoweth all come under fire as well.

At one point FARRAGUT NORTH, a political comedy inspired by the Howard Dean campaign, was supposedly going to play Broadway with Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead. At another point, it was going to be a part of a Second Stage season. Didn't happen. Now it's finally set to play Atlantic Theater Company with a pretty fine cast including SEX AND THE CITY co-star Chris Noth, SPRING AWAKENING Tony-winner John Gallagher, Jr. and my former theater camp pal and current indie film star Olivia Thirlby. Also in the cast are Dan Bittner and Otto Sanchez. Doug Hughes, who is currently at work on A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, will direct.

The plot is described as follows: Stephen Bellamy is a wunderkind press secretary who has built a career that men twice his age would envy. During a tight presidential primary race, Stephen's meteoric rise falls prey to the backroom politics of more seasoned operatives. Farragut North is a timely story about the lust for power and the costs one will endure to achieve it.

I don't attend BROADWAY ON BROADWAY anymore. It's way too difficult to move through the security barriers to the press box. But I know how important the event is to mass-marketing Broadway to the general public. And it does offer a damn good deal - an hour of free Broadway performances in the middle of Times Square. Taking place this Sunday at 11:30 AM, here's the preliminary song list. Notice how SOUTH PACIFIC is curiously missing... And what exactly is PURE COUNTRY?

AVENUE Q
"It Sucks To Be Me"

BILLY ELLIOT
"Once We Were Kings"

CHICAGO
"All I Care About"

DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID
"Part Of Your World"

GREASE
"Greased Lightning"

GYPSY
"You Gotta Get a Gimmick"

HAIRSPRAY
"Run and Tell That" IN THE HEIGHTS
"When You’re Home"

IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS
"I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm/ White Christmas"

JERSEY BOYS
"Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You"

THE LION KING
"Can You Feel the Love Tonight"

LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL
"So Much Better"

MAMMA MIA!
"The Winner Takes It All"

MARY POPPINS
"Practically Perfect"

MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT
"Always Look On The Bright Side of Life"

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
"All I Ask of You"

PURE COUNTRY
"When The Getting’s Good"

SPRING AWAKENING
"Totally F%^&*d"

A TALE OF TWO CITIES
"I Can’t Recall"

13
"Brand New You"

[title of show]
"Montage"

WICKED
"The Wizard and I"

XANADU
"Don’t Walk Away"

THE NEW MEL BROOKS’ MUSICAL YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
"He Vas My Boyfriend"

Was there ever much of a question that this transfer was going to happen? At least after the reviews came out? Well, in any event, it's finally official. The Shakespeare in the Park production of HAIR, which closes on Sunday in Central Park, WILL move to Broadway after all in spring 2009, starting performances on January 2, 2009 at a theater to be announced.

"The success of Hair has been thrilling, proving that this show speaks as powerfully today as it did 40 years ago," said Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis in a statement. "Now our job is to give it a life beyond Central Park, where we can reach as large an audience as Hair deserves. We're moving the show indoors, but the celebratory joy of this production will remain intact."

The only show to have an all teenage cast & band and to offer $13 tickets, will now host the first ever open dress rehearsal for teenagers only on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 8pm. In addition to teenage students specially chosen from schools across the tri-state area, any fan ages 12-18 can sign up for a chance to receive a ticket by visiting http://www.13fans.com/ and following the instructions on the "Events" page. ID's will be checked at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 W. 45th Street). Seriously. Teens Only!

*HAIR attracts a hip crowd. Last night, Sunday, among the audience was no less than the entire Clinton family - Bill, Hillary and Chelsea. Will Swenson, as Berger, introduced Hillary as his mom during his opening bit. And I understand the family danced onstage at the end alongside everyone else.

*It's no secret that the reconstruction of the Theater Development Fund's TKTS half-price tickets booth outside Duffy Square has been nothing less than a disaster. What should have taken merely a few months and cost $12.5 million has instead taken more than twice as long at nearly twice the cost - now at a total of $19 million, according to the New York Post. I suspect that the new booth will look great, but was it really worth all this money and effort? Frankly, I think that the booth fits very nicely into its temporary home within the Marriot Marquis.

*How many more reality shows are ahead for Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber? None till 2010. Reports indicate that he has turned down an offer to star in another reality casting show for the BBC in order to concentrate on his sequel to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. It was suggested that he may do another reality show afterwards focusing on casting Dorothy (and Toto too) in THE WIZARD OF OZ. According to Playbill.com, Lloyd Webber is likely to come to a decision over whether to stage the new PHANTOM by January.

I'm dreaming of a WHITE CHRISTMAS with a solid cast. Actually, not dreaming. It's real. It was announced today that the show's principal cast will be filled with alumni from previous regional productions, including solid performers like Jeffry Denman, Kerry O'Malley, Meredith Patterson, Stephen Bogardus, Charles Dean and Susan Mansur. The rest of the cast of 33 will be announced shortly.

I've yet to see a full production of the show, but have listened to its excellent cast album on numerous occasions. I did recently watch the film upon which it was based, and was surprised to find that it was not very good. Still, I can imagine how it could work as a stage musical comedy, especially with its jukebox score of Irving Berlin standards.

Many of us were hoping that Buffalo's Studio Arena, which shut its doors a few months ago, might soon breath again. Even such a faint hope doesn't seem conceivable anyway. Its artistic director Kathleen A. Gaffney, who as of late has still been on staff, was terminated without cause earlier this week. The president of the theater's board spoke with a local paper about the incident: "'Our primary goal at this point is to preserve the [Studio Arena] building so that it can continue to be available to this community as a venue for live theater. This is a cost-saving measure."

Meanwhile, things are looking up for NJ's Paper Mill Playhouse, which cried poverty nearly a year and a half ago. It will open its 70th anniversary season in two weeks with a new revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA, a perfect show for the theater's mostly geriatric audience.

Now that Labor Day is over, the fall theater season is officially here. Late August is a pretty dismal time for theatergoing. All you really have going on is the Fringe - for better or worse. And when that storm passes, you have nothing. In fact, finding something - anything - to review is pretty difficult. But only a few weeks later, Off-Broadway shows are suddenly opening day in and day out.

I noticed a New York Times article on Michael Feinstein this weekend, who will premiere his new cabaret show on Sinatra on Tuesday night at his east midtown nightclub. The article, by nightlife critic Stephen Holden, also mentioned that Feinstein will be marrying his longtime partner. Many congrats to him. I look forward to not only attending his Sinatra show, but several other Feinsteins at the Regency concerts this month including Ashford & Simpson and Nikki Blonsky.

In other news, SPRING AWAKENING Tony winner John Gallagher Jr. will headline the Atlantic Theatre production of FARRAGUT NORTH, a political comedy long in gestation that was inspired by life working on the Howard Dean campaign.

Casting has been announced for Project Shaw's reading of CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA on September 22. The cast includes Brian Murray, Madeleine Martin, Daniel Reichard, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Seth Rudetsky, Tim Artz, Todd Gearhart, Anthony Holds, Jack Koenig, Simon Jones, Jon Levenson, and Daniel Maarconi.