Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup

• A Man of No Importance at 54 Below March 15
• Songwriter Jason Robert Brown and director Richard LaGravenese will offer post-screening Q&As at the Village East Cinema, where their film adaptation of The Last Five Years opens this weekend in New York City. Brown and LaGravenese will be on hand following the 7:40 PM showing Feb. 14 and the 5 PM showing Feb. 15; Brown will also be on hand following the 7:40 PM showing Feb. 13.
• John Cameron Mitchell, will take a week-long hiatus from Hedwig to recover from a knee injury he suffered during a recent performance. The revival's recent star, Michael C. Hall, will fill in during his absence. Hall will step back into the production Feb. 17-Feb. 21 in order to allow Mitchell time to attend to his injury. Mitchell is slated to return to Hedwig Feb. 24 to continue his extended engagement through April 26.
• Barry Manilow still hopes that his musical Harmony, which has previously played in Atlanta and L.A., will come to the Great White Way. Harmony tells the story of a group of young men in 1920s Germany who formed one of the world’s first boy bands and rose to superstardom around the globe.
• Principal casting is now complete for Lyric Opera of Chicago's new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, which will be presented April 11-May 3. Carousel will play the Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago. Tickets start at $29, and are now available at lyricopera.org/carousel or at (312) 827-5600.
• Casting has been announced for Signature Theatre's world premiere of the new musical Soon, which will be presented at the Arlington, VA, venue March 10-April 26. The new musical has a book and score by Nick Blaemire. It is described as such: "It is the hottest summer in human history and, in a few short months, all water on earth will evaporate. In response, twenty-something Charlie has taken to her couch with only her beloved possessions: peanut butter, Wolf Blitzer and Herschel, the fish. Her mother, roommate and sometimes-boyfriend all attempt to persuade her to leave her apartment and enjoy life. However, as Charlie’s memories take over, more complicated reasons for her self-inflicted hibernation emerge as she confronts her deferred dreams and considers the possibility of life and love just outside her door."
• Patti LuPone will star as a headstrong community theatre diva in the Off-Broadway world premiere of Tony-nominated playwright Douglas Carter Beane's semi-autobiographical play Shows for Days, which will co-star Michael Urie as the playwright's impressionable and wide-eyed alter ego.
• That Bachelorette Show!, which is billed as "a brand-new interactive parody of America's favorite reality romance shows," will begin performances March 21 at 42West. Created by Ken Davenport, the production will play Saturday evenings at 8 PM. At That Bachelorette Show!, according to press notes, "audiences will mix, mingle and dance it up to their favorite radio hits, spun by star Guest DJs, as the Bachelors vie for votes. Watch them compete in dance contests, ab-offs and more. And over the course of the show, they'll slowly be eliminated until only one remains, who will walk off into the sunset with Adriana. The rest are up for grabs."
• Rasheeda Speaking (Off-Broadway), Between Riverside and Crazy (Off-Broadway), The Price (LA), The Night Alive (LA), open tonight
• Complete casting has been announced for Kenyon Phillips' 90-minute autobiographical rock opera, The Life + Death of Kenyon Phillips, which will play a four-performance engagement at The Box beginning Feb. 20.

Edited February 12, 2015 by aradia22

[aradia22]

I listened to the cast album for If/Then for the first time last night. It made me want to see the show. Not because it was amazing but because I don't think there's any other way I'm going to be able to sort out the plot and there were some vocals that I think would be impressive in person. As for the score, eh. There were some high points but overall I thought a lot of the lyrics were real dumb. It just lacked a certain eloquence through most of it. The songs I liked best were mainly sung by Idina and James Snyder. There was this weird mishmash where different characters (mainly LaChanze and Anthony Rapp) had a different sound but it just made the score not seem as cohesive. Also, it was very contemporary musical theatre in parts where we say all the words we're thinking but it was repetitive and again, lyrics, real dumb at times. 

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup. Writing this while nervously thinking about my first voice lesson tomorrow. I've been singing for years but not recently and I've never had a real one-on-one lesson and I've never met this teacher before.  Encouragement would be appreciated.

• The Events, a new play by David Greig that was inspired by community violence, officially opens at the New York Theatre Workshop Feb. 12 following previews that began Feb. 4, featuring cast members from the London and touring productions. The Events plays a limited engagement through March 22. The play is fictional, but it was inspired by the real event of Anders Behring Breivik's killing of 77 people in Norway in July 2011. A bombing in downtown Oslo killed eight, and 69 more were killed in a shooting at a youth camp on the Norwegian island of Utoya. "Ramin Gray’s internationally acclaimed and theatrically inventive production features a soaring soundscape and a different community choir at each performance, drawn from diverse communities throughout the tri-state area."
• The controversial play My Name Is Rachel Corrie will return to the New York stage for the first time in nine years when it begins performances April 2 at Culture Project’s Lynn Redgrave Theater. Directed by Jonathan Kane, the limited engagement will continue through April 12. The production will star Charlotte Hemmings as Rachel Corrie.
• McQueen, a new work from playwright James Phillips that takes inspiration from late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, will premiere this spring in London. Here's how it's billed: "Set on a single London night, it is more than a bio-play. It is stepping into the fairy story landscape of McQueen's mind, the landscape seen in his immortal shows, where with a dress an urchin can become an Amazon, where beauty might just help us survive the night. A girl has watched McQueen's Mayfair house for eleven consecutive days. Tonight she climbs down from her watching tree and breaks into his house, to steal a dress, to become someone special. He catches her, but, instead of calling the police, they embark together on a journey through London and into his heart."
• Adorable photo of Stephen Sondheim at Honeymoon in Vegas
• Arena Stage world premiere of Dear Evan Hansen, which features a book by Steven Levenson, lyrics by Benj Pasek and music by Justin Paul. "After living in virtual obscurity, Evan Hansen is about to go viral. Not on purpose, but because of a private letter becoming much too public." Rest of the season schedule at the link as well.
• Gigi finishes it's run in D.C. tonight. Broadway performances are scheduled to begin March 19 at the Neil Simon Theatre. Opening night on Broadway is set for April 8.
• Performances of a two-year tour of the West End production of The Bodyguard begin Sept. 12 at Southampton's Mayflower Theatre. Alexandra Burke is reprising the role of Rachel Marron in The Bodyguard, which she previously played in the final months of the West End run at the Adelphi Theatre. (She was on the fifth series of X Factor but for some reason the person writing the article said she was on the 54th series. It hasn't been running for that long!)
• The Alan Zachary-Michael Weiner musical comedy First Date which played a five-month Broadway run in 2013, officially opens in Chicago Feb. 12 after previews that began Feb. 5 at the Royal George Cabaret.

[Sharpie66]

Aradia22, I love reading your roundups, even though I don't have the chance to go to any of the NYC shows. If you could keep on with them, and maybe include some more Chicago information, that would be great!!

 

Writing this while nervously thinking about my first voice lesson tomorrow. I've been singing for years but not recently and I've never had a real one-on-one lesson and I've never met this teacher before.  Encouragement would be appreciated.

 

Ooooh, good luck to you!!  I have always wanted to take voice lessons, but never had the time or money for it. I was a band person in school, not chorus, so I've never been through any singing lessons at all. The one time I actually got cast (in the chorus) in a musical in high school after trying out every year, I was completely lost when I got to the first rehearsal, since I didn't have any idea what to do with the warm-up routines. I picked it up by just following everyone else, and even got the musical director to ask me "How low do you go?!?" when I was the only girl left on the "ah-me-ah-me-ohs" as we went down the scale.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Sharpie66

[aradia22]

Hello my loves,

 

No theatre roundup tonight as I'm sure you've realized already. I'll catch you up on any Friday stories during the Saturday roundup. OK, story time. My voice teacher is amazing. She was really warm and sweet and approachable. Which is kind of awful because the lessons are expensive but otherwise wonderful. Speaking of wonderful, the first song we're working on is They Say It's Wonderful from Annie Get Your Gun. I'll keep you posted.

 

So after my voice lesson I decided to putt around. I had something to return to a store but I was really just wasting time because I wanted to try the If/Then lottery since I was in the area. I went at 6pm and there were maybe 10 people in line. I came back for the drawing at 6:30pm and there were so many people! I was one of the last names called but I got it! I sat in the second row to the right, ridiculously close to the stage. Sometimes the actors were turned away from me but otherwise it was a fantastic seat and I got the full impact of the vocals. I still have the same opinion of the show from the album though the lyrics work better in context. There's still a pop-y kind of repetition that does feel uninspired and I did still think that the Kate songs in particular stuck out awkwardly. The performers were all great. The biggest negatives were the ensemble with the dancing that felt out of place a lot of the time and the blend. There are a lot of big voices fighting each other in this production. I thought the bare staging was creative but again the dancing ruined some of that. 

 

I may have more to say tomorrow but I'm still defrosting after an hour at the stage door.

[aradia22]

OK, a few more things on If/Then. I feel like Liz's storyline and the songs in it were greatly superior to Beth's storyline and the only selling point for Beth's story was that I like Jerry Dixon's voice. There's a way to fold "You Don't Need to Love Me" sung by Anthony Rapp into Liz's story. I think the device and the story their constrained to tell because of it holds the audience at a distance. Hey Kid is sweet and Idina does her best in the second half of the story but the show has to reach for high melodrama because otherwise it'd feel a little emotionally barren with the way it's sketched out. I won't go so far as to call it emotionally manipulative but I do think you could tell a stronger story by removing the Beth storyline and spending that time really developing the characters. Because taking away the power of her big songs and the tragedy, you don't have much there. Oh, and last night LaChanze was out so Tamika replaced her and someone else replaced Tamika playing Elena. I enjoyed Anthony Rapp's vocals but not his acting because he closes his eyes a lot. I am very glad that I finally got to see Idina perform live. I think she's hit or miss in televised appearances but she was flawless in person. 

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: Valentine's Day Edition (2/13-2/14)

• On the 20th Century began previews February 13. On the Twentieth Century will officially open March 12 for a limited 20-week engagement through July 5 at the American Airlines Theatre. Still unsure if I should listen to the album before seeing the show. Will I enjoy it more or less if I do? Will it help to know the lyrics? Is the plot that hard to follow? Is it different from the movie? 
• Emma Thompson is in negotiations to star as Mrs. Potts in Disney's live-action film remake of the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast.
• New York Health and Racquet Club has joined forces with the Broadway revival of On the Town — now playing the Lyric Theatre — to offer a new dance class, "Dancin’ on the Town." The class will include music from the show and a 1940’s-inspired routine as led by former Broadway dancer and NYHRC instructor, Alicia Harris. "Dancin’ on the Town" launches Feb. 14 at 9:45 AM at NYHRC’s 13th Street club. Each week until the series ends on March 14, new dance elements will be added, and students will learn a complete performance-ready routine.
• Just a reminder to fire up the DVR for the NJ American Songbook series concerts which I already posted about in a preview TNR post. The evening with Grammy nominee and Broadway star Maureen McGovern premieres Feb. 18 at 8 PM on NJTV and April 11 at 1 PM on THIRTEEN. The concert with Hairspray Tony winners Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman premieres Feb. 25 at 8 PM on NJTV and April 18 at 1 PM on THIRTEEN.
• The Audience, which features Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in imagined meetings with each of her Prime Ministers, will offer $39 student rush tickets beginning with the first preview Feb. 14.
• The (so far) four reviews for Tuck Everlasting. Also, the many more reviews for The Last Five Years.
• An Octoroon, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' widely acclaimed piece begins performances Feb. 14 at Theatre For A New Audience in Brooklyn. The play was originally produced by Soho Rep in 2014, where it had two extensions and a sold-out engagement.
• Wendy's Shadow, a musical based on the novel "Peter and Wendy" by J.M. Barrie — which had a reading Nov. 24 at the Irvington Town Hall Theater — will be presented in concert Feb. 23 at The Cutting Room in New York City. This is officially too much Peter Pan. Peter and the Starcatcher, the NBC live musical, Finding Neverland, two movies, plus I'm sure there have been other stories on TNR. Enough already.
• The New York Times reports that the planned $25 million sale of Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre to the Off-Broadway non-profit Second Stage, may be in peril.
• An exhibition celebrating theater will be shown at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in February 2016 before transferring to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in September 2016. The New York Times writes that the exhibition is provisionally named Curtain Up! and will be designed by Tom Piper.
• JumpStart Theatre Program
• The Songs of Jacob Yandura & Rebekah Greer Melocik will be held Feb. 16 at 54 Below.
• Carrie: the Musical is to receive its London premiere, beginning performances May 1 prior to an official opening May 6, for a run through May 30.
• High Society will begin performances at London's Old Vic April 30 prior to an official opening May 14. Casting announced.
• I might not be a Follies superfan but I still know the casting for the 2 night London concert is crazazypants. 
• American Conservatory Theater production A Little Night Music will play the Geary stage May 20–June 14. The cast will be headed by Karen Ziemba as Desiree Armfeldt; Emily Skinner as Charlotte; and Patrick Cassidy as Federick Egerman.
• Sinatra: The Man & His Music will begin performances at the London Palladium July 10, prior to an official opening July 20, to mark the centenary year of his birth. The only show officially endorsed and supported by Sinatra's family
• Cinderella's Lily James & Richard Madden to Headline Romeo and Juliet in the West End

[Rick Kitchen]

I still wonder if the characters in the live action Beauty and the Beast will be CGI dishes and furniture, or people wearing costumes.

[aradia22]

This should probably be in Movie Musicals but I can't see them doing the costumes from the stage show. I'm thinking either CGI or a different kind of costuming/makeup. It might have worked on stage but it's not going to read well in a movie if they go with the original costumes.

[aradia22]

Tweet from James Snyder about Lincoln Center archival taping of If/Then. Is this standard for shows? 

[Rinaldo]

...Lincoln Center archival taping of If/Then. Is this standard for shows? 

Pretty much, though not every single show gets it. They can do only so many in a year, plus if something closes quickly they won't get to it in time.

 

There are certain restrictions, some of which may possibly have changed since I read about it last. The performance is captured with a single camera, mostly a static full-stage picture, though it may be allowed to zoom in for solo scenes. To get permission to watch at the Lincoln Center archives, you must fill out a form stating your research purposes -- the Equity waiver that allows it to be taped specifies that these are for historical research only. It's played for you in a viewing booth with a control panel, the physical object (DVD, these days) being handled elsewhere. For some shows (e.g., one with nudity), pause and rewind are disabled.

 

Again, I may be out of date on one detail or another. I've never watched one (though some friends have).

Edited February 16, 2015 by Rinaldo

[aradia22]

Thanks for the insight, Rinaldo. I imagined it was something like that but it incited a bit of a frenzy on twitter as fans assumed it might be available to the public. Having just seen If/Then, I think it's a show that works a lot better in person. Filming it would just make it seem even more like a concert.

 

Theatre News Roundup

• Marie Antoinette, David Adjmi's comedic take on the young queen of France, makes its Chicago premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, officially opening Feb. 15 following previews that began Feb. 5.
• The Rockettes debut the opening number from their all-new live theatrical production, New York Spring Spectacular, at the 64th NBA All-Star Game. The game airs live at 8 PM ET on TNT.
• Sienna Miller takes over in Cabaret Feb 17
• Also, a reminder that the Oscars are February 22 on ABC. NPH is hosting so there'll most likely be at least an opening song.
• Playwright David Ives and director John Rando team up once more to present a collection of short comedic plays, Lives of the Saints. The evening begins in pre-historic times with Babel's in Arms, in which two men contemplate the pros and cons of building an infinite tower to the heavens; and it ends in a nursing home in Chicago with Lives of the Saints, where a couple of elderly Polish ladies prepare an intricate funeral breakfast.

[aradia22]

[Amello]

I just saw that one of my favourite actors in recent years, Jason Tam, is in If/Then as 'David'. For any of you that have seen it, what did you think of his performance? Is he in a significant part of it?

[aradia22]

 

I just saw that one of my favourite actors in recent years, Jason Tam, is in If/Then as 'David'. For any of you that have seen it, what did you think of his performance? Is he in a significant part of it?

He doesn't have the biggest part. In Liz's storyline, David is Josh's (James Snyder) best friend and a fellow doctor. Josh and Liz introduce David to Anthony Rapp's character and they have a relationship. (I'm not going to spoil how it develops.) They get one nice song, Best Worst Mistake and then later Jason gets a solo song, What Would You Do?. As far as I can remember, he doesn't appear in the Beth storyline besides bumping into Lucas (Anthony Rapp) once as a little hint about the whole alternate storylines thing but he gets folded into the ensemble. As I said, this is show that keeps the ensemble on stage a lot of the time (to its detriment, in my opinion. Really not a fan of the spinning choreography. It makes it feel more false and constructed.) I thought his performance was fine. He doesn't have much to do and again, the show itself is pretty cold and holds you at a distance aside from those moments of melodrama. If you're going just for him, you might be disappointed. He's not bad but it's a star vehicle for Idina. He spends a good amount of time on stage for a supporting character but he's not really asked to get to the same emotional highs and lows that she is and he doesn't.

[Rick Kitchen]

 

Also, a reminder that the Oscars are February 22 on ABC. NPH is hosting so there'll most likely be at least an opening song.

 

The opening number is written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and is called "Moving Pictures".

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup. Super slow news day.

• First of all, the very sad news that Lesley Gore passed away. I don't know her entire catalog but I love the songs I do know. You Don't Own Me. She's a Fool. It's My Party.
• First commercial for The King and I
• The one-night only concert presentation of Parade at Lincoln Center is taking place tonight. Is anyone attending?
• Kid Victory, the world-premiere musical from famed composer John Kander (Chicago, Cabaret) and playwright Greg Pierce (Slow Girl), begins performances Feb. 16 at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA.
• Tickets Now Available for Doctor Zhivago. The production will begin previews on March 27. Opening night is set for April 21 at the Broadway Theatre.
• Rumor(?) that MCP is doing The Secret Garden next year

 

Questions:

(based on this broadwayworld thread). If you collect Playbills, how do you store them? If you don't, why not? 

Also, specifically for Rinaldo, but anyone can answer... I've heard that On the Twentieth Century spoofs opera a bit. I'm listening to the OBC album and having a bit of trouble getting into it. Any insight you can offer on how to approach it?

[Rinaldo]

I'm not a good person to ask about On the Twentieth Century. I saw the original production and bought the original cast recording, and did enjoy the original production, which was cleverly staged and designed. But the score seems infantile to me. (This is clearly a minority opinion.)

 

Cy Coleman is one of my favorite show composers in general, particularly for his command of popular jazz-like idioms and his versatility. But he chose to subtract all that for this show and restrict himself to what he called a "comic opera" vocabulary -- but it isn't really, it's just very simple harmony and rhythm. (And texture -- the sextets and so on really have only one or two melodies going.) And the Comden & Green lyrics are among their worst (which is mighty low; I'm not a fan of most of their work, though they've done nice simple words for a few ballads). This is the show that contains the immortal lyrics "She's a nut, she's a nut, she's a crazy crazy nut." "But but but but but but butbutbutbutbutbut but." not to mention "Sign it Lily, signitLily signitLily, sign it Lily." "Don't sign, Lily."

 

I won't be going to this one unless the reviews are such as to convince me that it's of such sterling quality as to be unmissable.

[aradia22]

 

This is the show that contains the immortal lyrics "She's a nut, she's a nut, she's a crazy crazy nut." "But but but but but but butbutbutbutbutbut but." not to mention "Sign it Lily, signitLily signitLily, sign it Lily." "Don't sign, Lily."

LOL. I guess we can both be in the minority. Nothing really even made an impression until "Together." I don't really have favorite songs from the score. "Never"'s not bad. "I've Got It All" was alright. "The Legacy" wasn't that great even as a list song but if not exactly catchy it was at least kind of bouncy. I can't say I genuinely liked anything else. I purchased a Hiptix ticket as soon as they were available despite not enjoying the movie that much. I just can't miss another chance to see Kristin. I'm hoping it's more fun in person. The score itself is not that hilarious but it leaves a lot of room for mugging and posturing and the like that could be entertaining. It does seem like it's really up to the actors to elevate the material.

[ancslove]

That's really sad about Lesley Gore, I used to play It's My Party and You Don't Own Me all the time.  

 

Hey, Aradia, have you heard any official news about the next Hedwig?  

 

(BTW, thanks for the theater roundups!  They're great fun to read!)

[Rick Kitchen]

Darren Criss will be playing Hedwig from April 29 - July 19

[aradia22]

Getting frustrated with myself. My voice is out of shape after not singing regularly for years. Next lesson at the end of the month. Going to see Iolanta tomorrow night. Anyway...

 

Theatre News Roundup time!!! I'm listening to The Apple Tree while writing it, if you're curious.

• Hamilton opens Off-Broadway. Word of mouth has been incredibly positive. The official reviews will be posted here as they're posted on their respective websites. Little Children Dream of God, Abundance, Liquid Plain, and Bright Half Life also open/begin performances tonight. 
• premiere of the new Broadway-bound musical First Wives Club, which begins Feb. 17 at Broadway in Chicago’s Oriental Theatre prior to an official opening March 11.
• As I reported last night, The Secret Garden will be the next large-scale Broadway musical to be staged in concert at Avery Fisher Hall by Manhattan Concert Productions. The Secret Garden will be presented Feb. 22, 2016. Casting and creative duties will be announced at a later date.
• As previously reported, The 39 Steps will begin performances April 1, prior to an official opening April 13, at the Union Square Theatre.
• Two-Disc Cast Album of On the Town Sets March Release Date; Track Listing Announced. The revival cast album of Side Show is also available now (digitally and in-stores). I think you should have also received it if you pre-ordered it. 
• As Rick and ancslove pointed out (thanks, guys!) Darren Criss will be taking over in Hedwig. I'm not precious about the role or show but knowing what I know of his voice from Glee I'm still going to be trying to see JCM. 
• If you were a fan of Rocky, get ready for more boxing. Vertigo Theater's site-specific production of The Living Room Series: Barenuckle, an evening of short plays about boxing, will take place inside Gleason's Gym in Dumbo. All performances are set to open with fights amongst some of the top athletes in amateur boxing. Performances will take place Feb. 20-22, 28 and March 1, 6-8.
• Iowa, written by Jenny Schwartz with music by Todd Almond and lyrics by Schwartz and Almond will begin performances on March 20 and continue through May 10 at Playwrights Horizons’ Peter Jay Sharp Theater. "Mom (Quackenbush) found her soul-mate on Facebook, and he (Sellars) lives in Iowa. So Becca (Shackner) says goodbye to her beloved math teacher (Sellars), bulimic best friend (Sanchez), neighborhood pony (Sellars) and her mildly deficient teenage life, and she follows her wayward mother to a new, uncharted beginning."
• The Public Theater has announced that its 5th annual Public Forum Drama Club Series will feature a unique line-up of one-night-only readings and discussions including a Shakespearean performance starring Cynthia Nixon.
• Sienna Miller takes over as Sally in Cabaret for the last 6 weeks. I think I've mentioned this but I don't think she's a great actress.
• The Undeniable Sound of Right Now about rock-club owner Hank, who is struggling with his daughter's new relationship with rising star DJ as well as keeping his business alive amid the changing times will begin performances March 19 at the Rattlestick Theatre, with an official opening night set for April 2.
• Composer Larry Grossman will take part in a developmental workshop of Snoopy! The Musical in March in collaboration with the Texas State University Musical Theatre program.
• Musical theatre licensor Theatrical Rights Worldwide will present an industry reading of the Broadway musical Saturday Night Fever Feb. 19 in Manhattan.
• The film adaptation of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years, starring Tony Award nominees Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, ranked No. 1 for its opening weekend on the iTunes Independent Film chart and No. 8 overall.

[aradia22]

Just back from the Iolanta/Bluebeard's Castle Met Live in HD double feature. I would have been back sooner if I'd known how badly I'd react to the latter. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

 

The staging of Iolanta threw me off at first. I did not get the symbolic meaning of the deer. After musing over it during the intermission I eventually settled on it representing Iolanta's innocence or maybe the king's. The deer was feeding peacefully then it was hunted and then it was killed. But from that death change came into the world of the story. I also didn't love the way they showed the deer. It looked like a deer/donkey hybrid. I wasn't really in love with the staging in general with the small revolving box and the projected images. I found it unintentionally hilarious in the middle when Iolanta and Vaudemont both discovered that she was blind. No one else laughed but I think that's just because it was opera and people were being a bit too self-serious. I did enjoy the story a lot and I think it would make a fantastic musical (Broadway-style, I mean) or novel. The vocals were fantastic (I especially like King Rene, Iolanta, Vaudemont, and Robert.). The music was at times harsh and chaotic which didn't seem the gel with what the characters were actually singing which also made me chuckle at times. I still don't know why the maids were mocking her in the beginning.

 

Bluebeard's Castle was awful. German expressionism. Noir. Modernism. I don't know what you call it but I hated the staging and I hated the story. Maybe it's interesting on a metaphorical level but on a literal level it was awful. I felt like I was watching 50 Shades of Grey. Judith was a real dum-dum. I can't sympathize with her or even care if she's going to be that stupid. The nicest thing he said to her to a certain point was "fear no more." Before that it was all, "are you coming" and don't open those doors. And he was hitting her and she was crawling over the floor. I don't mind a gothic romance now and again but he had zero redeeming qualities. He got a little better by the 5th door but by then it was too late. And she was awful. Naive and trying to fix him and honestly kind of shrewish and nagging and then to compound it all, worrying if she was prettier than his other wives? Ugh. I wish I'd left after Iolanta.

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup. Speaking of the Metropolitan Opera...

• The Metropolitan Opera’s 2015-16 season will begin on September 21 with a new production of Verdi’s Otello. The rest of the season's productions can be found here.
• Something Rotten video preview. Warning! It starts playing immediately.
• The Denver Center for the Performing Arts has announced complete casting for the world premiere of the new rock musical The 12. The 12, according to press notes, "follows the disciples as they face the ultimate test of faith in the wake of their leader’s unthinkable death."
• The York Theatre Company's Developmental Reading Series will continue Feb. 19-20 with two performances of the new musical Cheer Wars. It is inspired by Henry IV, Part 1 and the true story of the Texas-cheerleader-murdering mom.
• The world premiere of a new adaptation of The Nutcracker will be presented at Chicago's Joffrey Ballet. Created by Christopher Wheeldon, the ballet will premiere in December 2016. It marks the conclusion of the traditional production of Robert Joffrey's Nutcracker, which has been performed in Chicago annually since 1995. Wheeldon is directing and choreographing the Broadway premiere of An American in Paris, which will begin at the Palace Theatre March 13 prior to an official opening April 12.
• The 26th Annual New York Cabaret Convention, celebrating the best in the cabaret world, will be held Oct. 13-16 at The Town Hall.
• The dramatic comedy "Mozart in the Jungle," which features multiple Tony winner Bernadette Peters, has been renewed for a second season, according to EW.com. (Is anyone watching this?)
• Churchill, a new play adapted and performed by Ronald Keaton, officially opens Feb. 18 at New World Stages.

[aradia22]

This Theatre News Roundup is brought to you by a very congested and grumpy sick kitten.

• The world premiere of the new musical The Nomad by Tony nominee Elizabeth Swados (The Runaways) and Guggenheim fellow Erin Courtney, begins performances Feb. 19 at the Flea Theater. The Nomad follows the adventures of young iconoclast Isabelle Eberhardt into the Sahara desert, with performances  running through April 6.
• Final casting has been announced for the Goodman Theatre's 2014-15 season.
• Coinciding with the World Day for Social Justice on Feb. 20, female actors from around the globe are gathering at Soho Playhouse for three special performances of Breaking the Silence with Girl Be Heard. Running Feb. 19-21, the show, which is told through a series of monologues and songs, is based on real reports and experiences and highlights the global issues faced by millions of women daily.
• 54 Sings Mack & Mabel, featuring tunes from the Jerry Herman musical, will be presented March 8 at 54 Below. Directed and hosted by Phil Geoffrey Bond, the evening will feature the talents of Brent Barrett, Carole J. Bufford, Beth Leavel, Sean McDermott, Molly Pope, Brian Charles Rooney, Kelli Rabke, Lee Roy Reams, Emily Skinner and Donna Vivino with Natalie Arneson, Stephen Orr, Michael Ruocco, Lisa Sabin, Charlie Stevens and Caleb Teicher. Show times are 7 PM and 9:30 PM.
• The new Broadway musical Finding Neverland will host an inaugural fundraiser to benefit Alliance To Rescue Victims of Trafficking (ATRVT) March 21.
• Tony winner Victoria Clark chronicles her experiences in the out-of-town run of the Broadway-bound musical Gigi for Playbill.

​And now for the things that are just in the works.

• A workshop of the new play with music Whisper House, which is currently being held at Arts Emerson in Boston, will culminate with a private industry presentation Feb. 20. Whisper House is written by Kyle Jarrow, composed by Duncan Sheik with lyrics by Jarrow and Sheik and conceived with Keith Powell. Whisper House, according to press notes, is described a such: "It’s 1942 – at the height of World War II– and Christopher, an imaginative young boy, is sent to live with an aunt he’s never met: Lily, a reclusive woman who serves as the keeper of a remote New England lighthouse. Not yet comfortable in his surroundings, Christopher begins to hear strange music no one else can hear seeping through the walls. It doesn’t take long for him to suspect the lighthouse may be haunted, and these ghosts tell him that Yasuhiro, a Japanese worker that Lilly has employed, should not be trusted. Is Christopher’s imagination getting the best of him or are these ghosts warning him of real dangers that lie ahead? The result is a touching and beautiful story about how we should embrace, rather than fear, the unknown."
• Industry reading of Brave New World: A Brand New Musical on February 23 and 24. Directed by Sheryl Kaller, the adaptation of the Aldous Huxley classic features a book by Ben Andron, music by Jonnie Rockwell and John McDaniel and lyrics by Bill Russell. The show tells the story of a future in which everybody is happy...because anything that could cause pain has been eliminated.
• new one-man musical DIVA, featuring a score by composer-lyricist Alexander Sage Oyen. DIVA features a book by Sean Patrick Monahan, who also stars. According to press notes, "The show is about Desmond Channing — a high school Drama Club President who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. When the new kid, Evan Harris, starts to muscle in on his territory, Desmond decides to mow him down with a minivan. The action of the show takes place as Desmond is about to be punished for his crime, when his life flashes before his eyes as a glitzy cabaret act in which he acts out the events that led to his downfall and plays all of the parts." Private reading presentations will be held Feb. 26 and Feb. 27 in Manhattan.
• An industry reading Ted Malawer's new play Daddy Issues is presented in Manhattan Feb. 19. Daddy Issues is billed as a "fast-paced, dark comedy set against a historical re-imagining of the early-to-mid twentieth century. Von Blergh is an aspiring Jewish artist in New Rochelle. Adolf Hitler is an aspiring artist in Germany. As they mature, their lives intertwine in ways neither of them thought possible, leading to the discovery of love, the pursuit of passion, and their own coming-of-age and ultimate destruction."

[Rinaldo]

The label PS Classics has made a live recording of the recent Texas production of The Golden Apple. (Scroll down slightly to see the "Notes from PS Classics" about the show and production, which haven't yet migrated to the separate "notes" page.) Pre-orders are already being taken. This through-sung musical from 1954, words by John Latouche and music by Jerome Moross (an Americana-style retelling of the Homeric sagas) is the last remaining unrecorded musical from the Golden Age of the form, so this recording will fill a huge gap. It's a delightful piece that everybody should know.

 

Everybody should know about PS Classics, too. If you don't already, please browse the website a bit. Run by Tommy Krasker and Philip Chaffin practically out of their home, PS Classics produces first-class recordings and practically single-handedly keeps the idea of the cast recording and the traditional vocal album alive. I can recommend every one of their titles that I'm acquainted with.

Edited February 20, 2015 by Rinaldo

[Milburn Stone]

The label PS Classics has made a live recording of the recent Texas production of The Golden Apple.

 

Huzzah!

[DisneyBoy]

Wow...DIVA sounds....interesting/crazy?

 

I'm really bummed out that I didn't get to see Emma Stone in CABARET.  Hoped to get to NY, but it didn't happen.  If anyone knows of a bootleg vid lurking about somewhere online please Private Message me!  (Ditto for the La Jolla Side Show - I seriously need to see that!)  No interest in Sienna.

 

When does Tony Yazbeck end his run in On The Town?  It seems like a performance not to be missed...

 

What are your opinions on The Visit?  Are there memorable songs or an overall moving score?  If this is Rivera's Swan Song, I might want to see it, but it depends on how she fares in the role she's playing.  If this is a big singing role, she might not be that up for it.  I had the pleasure of seeing her in Edwin Drood a few years ago, but I don't remember her range or tone being all that great.  She seems to fare best in speak/singing roles, so hopefully someone who knows the score can guess as to how she'd manage in the part.

 

I have been avoiding spoilers for the stage version of Hunchback, but I have heard the set currently being used is a bit underwhelming.  I hope when this does get to Broadway that they upgrade it - spectacle is the name of the game with Hunchback!

 

I'm somewhat excited for The King and I, but there are two problems - 1) I don't know if I can accept Kelli O'Hara in any role other than Francesca after her brilliant work in Bridges of Madison County and 2) Ken W makes me giggle.  I couldn't take him seriously in Batman Begins and now he's going to be singing?  That could be tricky.

Edited February 20, 2015 by DisneyBoy

[aradia22]

If there are any bootlegs for Cabaret, people are keeping them to themselves or they've been taken down. I already put up my thoughts. It was a great performance to see as a fan of hers but not the best that role could have been performed either acting-wise or vocally. I've heard nothing about Tony Yazbeck leaving On the Town and I vaguely remember hearing they were selling advance tickets for a few more months in spite of the constant message board rumblings about them not being able to fill the theatre. Still, I'd go sooner rather than later. I've heard very mixed things about Hunchback. I agree they should go all out. Not a Lion King/Aladdin spectacle but more of the 80's British musicals... Les Mis, Phantom. Hunchback has always struck me as that kind of show. Go see The King and I! I missed her in Bridges but I think her voice will suit this beautifully (I honestly can't see her in Bells Are Ringing) and Ken Watanabe will barely have to sing. And even then it will probably be Rex Harrison talk-singing.

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup. I am still very sick.

• Tonight's premieres: Playwrights Horizons presents the world premiere of Melissa James Gibson's Placebo, about a female arousal drug. Claybourne Elder stars in the Kansas City Repertory Theatre production of Angels in America. Home Street Home, a new musical written by Jeff Marx, punk rock musician Fat Mike (NOFX) and writer Goddess Soma, premieres Feb. 20 at Z Space in San Francisco. The Life + Death of Kenyon Phillips, plays a four-performance engagement at The Box beginning Feb. 20.
• Some names announced for Broadwaycon. They're going to have to do better than this before tickets go on sale March 15.
• The Public Theater kicks off the return of Public Studio Feb. 20. Now in its second year, the program presents two new plays in repertory, Fidelis by Christina Gorman and Ping Pong by Rogelio Martinez. The plays run through March 1 in the Public's Shiva Theater and are presented as pared-down productions with all tickets priced at $10.
• Finding Neverland collaborators Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy are at work on their next musical venture for Harvey Weinstein, a stage musical adaptation of "Around the World in Eighty Days," according to the Daily Mail. The Daily Mail also revealed that the concept album for Finding Neverland, which features Jessie J, Rita Ora, Paloma Faith, among others, is aiming for an April release. Rita Ora will take on a number called “Play,” while Paloma Faith sings “Circus Of Your Mind.” As previously reported, Jessie J will belt “Stronger.” The musical officially opens on Broadway April 15. Also on Barlow's plate is a musical adaptation of the film "Calendar Girls" for producer David Pugh, which he is co-writing with playwright Tim Firth.
• Upcoming Movie/TV broadcasts of plays and musicals. I'm too sick to sell this. Just click the link. Mainly Shakespeare. Also Billy Elliot, Driving Miss Daisy, and Act One.
• Speaking of Bells are Ringing, Kate Baldwin is planning to star with previews beginning July 9 at The Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield Campus prior to an official opening July 13. Performances will continue through July 26. Sounds interesting but I'm sure as hell not going to MA.
• Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'Neal, who co-starred in "Love Story," will star in an upcoming national tour of Love Letters, A.R. Gurney's romance about first loves and second chances. Following the Broadway revival, the national tour of Gregory Mosher's production will launch in summer 2015.
• The forthcoming production of Hamlet, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, that will run at London's Barbican Theatre from August to October, has announced that it will be broadcast to cinemas around the world Oct. 15 as part of National Theatre Live.

[DisneyBoy]

Sorry to hear you're sick!  Not a fun winter, this one....

 

I will try to catch OTT soon, but I doubt it will be before May.

 

I'm with you on Hunchback as a splashy '80s style musical.  We want a SET, Disney :)

 

Wonder what this new Marie Antoinette will be like....comedic is not a direction that's been done before from what I can tell.

[Charlie Baker]

Get well soon, aradia!  Thanks for soldiering on with the round-ups.

I wonder what will happen with Lafayette.  It's been extended at the Public.  Would they do an indefinite run at the Public like Here Lies Love?  Do a Broadway transfer next season like Fun Home?  With notices and word of mouth like what's it been getting, I should think there's an extended future for it.

Very much want to see On the Twentieth Century during the preview period.  Hopefully I can swing it.

Cumberbatch as Hamlet? OK, I think I'm in.

[Charlie Baker]

PBS' American Masters on August Wilson is excellent.  Wonderful excerpts from the plays.  Clear and concise biographical information and interviews.  My major issue is that his last play Radio Golf wasn't covered to the extent the others were. 

[aradia22]

Thank you, dears. Hopefully I'll be back to normal in a few days.

 

I wonder what will happen with Lafayette.  It's been extended at the Public.  Would they do an indefinite run at the Public like Here Lies Love?  Do a Broadway transfer next season like Fun Home?  With notices and word of mouth like what's it been getting, I should think there's an extended future for it.

Do you mean Hamilton? I feel like it would be a better fit at The Public like Here Lies Love and with all the great reviews and word of mouth it could sustain a long run. However, given how well it's selling they could be looking to move it to a bigger theatre so they can get the audience in instead of turning people away because it's sold out. There are pros and cons either way but my sense of the show (not having seen it, of course) is that it's a better fit off-Broadway in a smaller house. 

[Charlie Baker]

Of course, I meant Hamilton, not Lafayette.  Thanks for catching it, aradia.  I could say well, the Public is on Lafayette, I was confused, the brain is aging, you know.  So I won't edit it, because it is kind of amusing.  One must be able to laugh at oneself, mustn't one? :-)

[aradia22]

Haha. I thought you meant this guy. I haven't heard of him since middle school American History. Who knows? His life could be up next for a musical treatment. ;)

[Nicole]

I got to see Hamilton a couple of weeks ago and it lived up to all of the hype it's getting. I was so intrigued by Lin-Manuel Miranda's 2009 White House performance that I saw his American Songbook show in 2013 showcasing about five Hamilton Mixtape songs. I also listened to Ron Chernow's biography (upon which the show was based) a bit over a year ago. I became a member of the Public and bought my tickets for the show in July. Needless to say I was excited to see Hamilton and it exceeded my very high expectations. 

 

The Marquis de Lafayette is actually in Hamilton, aradia22, played brilliantly by Daveed Diggs (who does double duty as Thomas Jefferson in the second act). The acting is very strong across the board. Leslie Odom, Jr. is getting great notices for his portrayal of Aaron Burr with good reason, but I think I was most blown away by Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler. The song she sings about when she and her sister Eliza first meet Hamilton stands out among many great pieces.  The staging and choreography are also very strong. The book and music by Miranda are like nothing I've ever seen/heard before and, at the same time, closely aligned with much of the musical theater that I've loved over the years. It doesn't do the show justice to say it's a musical told in hip hop because, while that influence is strong (and many of the sung through parts are rapped), it's so much more musically complex than that label implies. I also think that The Public could have used a different song over the video clip they released. While the clip repeats an important refrain, it doesn't capture how great the music is. I can't wait for a cast recording. 

 

On casting from The New York Times:

The founding fathers were white, and many owned black slaves. The cast of “Hamilton” is mostly nonwhite. Can you tell me about your thinking as you wrote and cast the show?

Miranda: This was a constant conversation between me and Tommy. Our goal was: This is a story about America then, told by America now, and we want to eliminate any distance — our story should look the way our country looks. Then we found the best people to embody these parts. I think it’s a very powerful statement without having to be a statement.

Edited February 21, 2015 by Nicole

[aradia22]

Thanks for the update, Nicole. I'm glad you enjoyed the show so much.

 

Another slow day for the Theatre News Roundup. I may or may not do the write up tomorrow depending on how invested I am in the red carpet tomorrow night. If I'm out of my flu haze I will be snarking somewhere on previously. By the way, I'm not tied to the TNR name so if you have any suggestions, I'm open to them.

• Tickets go on sale for An Act of God, starring Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Jim Parsons, Feb. 21. Performances are scheduled to begin May 5 at Studio 54.
• The Week Ahead: The Heidi Chronicles in previews, Lives of the Saints opening, Brooklynite opening, John and Jen officially opening (John & Jen has positive word of mouth on BWW but I wasn't really sold on the promo videos.) 
• Friday, February 27 Josh Groban, Renée Fleming and Joshua Bell bring the songs of classic Italian cinema to life with La Dolce Vita, filmed live at Lincoln Center. Backed by the New York Philharmonic, the trio takes on the songs that brought Fellini and Sergio Leone films to life. (9 PM, PBS)
• Brooklyn's Kings Theatre Reopens Its Doors After 37 Years. The story was featured on NY1 on and off for a while. The theatre does look very beautiful after the extensive renovations. It's nice to know that there are still people capable of these kinds of restorations. In some cases they had to start completely from scratch because of the damage. 
• On March 9, composer Georgia Stitt reunites with Tony-nominated soprano Kate Baldwin (John and Jen) and violinist Victoria Paterson at SubCulture to perform Alphabet City Cycle. Originally recorded by the trio in 2009, the song cycle features lyrics by Marcy Heisler and is composed of five songs about women alone in New York City. With Rebecca Luker, Kate Baldwin, and Andrea Burns you're pretty much guaranteed a fantastic performance. ($40 general admission)
• Ma-Yi Theater Company has announced plans to continue its 2014-15 season with the world premiere of Soldier X by Rehana Lew Mirza. Preview performances are set to begin March 24 prior to an official opening on March 31 at HERE. The new play follows a young African-American military social worker who falls for a returning soldier. A love triangle that ensues when the soldier decides he is in love with his fallen comrade's Muslim sister. ($30 general/$15 students and seniors/$10 military)
• Zoe Perry is acting opposite her dad, Jeff Perry, in the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble production of Anna Christie in Los Angeles. Jeff plays Chris, a coal-barge captain who rediscovers his daughter Anna (Zoe), a reformed prostitute whom he abandoned years earlier.
• Review of You On the Moors Now with the characters of Cathy (Wuthering Heights), Jane (Jane Eyre), Lizzie (Pride and Prejudice), Jo (Little Women) in conversation. This sounds like it'd be right up my alley but the review isn't great. ($18 tickets, running through February 28)

•  

   

  The women speak elliptically in modern idiom (jarringly using the f-word now and then) about revolting against their suitors — and from that point, the play devolves into a largely incomprehensible series of scenes that employ other characters from these books in enacting a "war" against conventionality and sexist ways of wooing. The play also moves surrealistically back and forth from the past to the present. It's all capped off with Cathy seated and reading (for about 30 minutes) from a book about the aftermath of the war, in which all the characters have reconciled, and artifacts of their battles are housed in a museum. We learn also that Jane Eyre has become an astronaut.

  Experimental theater is one thing, but director Kurzynowski turns Backhaus' convoluted plot into an exercise in audience endurance — clocking in at nearly two intermission-less hours. The promising premise evaporates as the story twists and turns into a mass of confusing scenes and interludes that perplex more than they illuminate.

   

[SilverShadow]

Yeeeeesh with "You On The Moors Now." It sounds like it's been written by someone who read the Sparknotes for those books 10th Grade English and thinks they're being sooooo daring. Also Cathy being in the moral right on pretty much anything is bullshit. Everyone in Wuthering Heights (except the two surviving members of The New Class from the second half of the book that no one remembers) is a terrible human being. And this is coming from someone who thinks Cathy is an awesome character.

 

I just watched The Last 5 Years film and it was...interesting. I sort of almost judge it as a filmed performance of the play than as a movie. Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan were great and I still love the music. My one big gripe is that they waited until almost the end of "The Next Ten Minutes" to transition to the Wedding. It was weird.

[aradia22]

I checked and there's no real point in doing the Theatre News Roundup today.

• The one story of note is Peter Gallagher falling ill and a cancelled performance of On the Twentieth Century. It's a terrible winter. I hope he feels better soon and it's just germs floating around and not indicative of his ability to play the entire scheduled run.

[aradia22]

So the Oscars were fun. Well, I had fun. I really get off on all that sweet, sweet validation. But now it's time to get back to business as usual for our post-Oscars Theatre News Roundup!!! (Spoiler: It's exactly the same as the regular TNR.)

• Keith Carradine and Alexandra Socha will co-star in the New York City Center Encores! staging of the 1951 Lerner and Loewe musical Paint Your Wagon, which will be presented March 18-22. The cast will also feature Jenni Barber, Robert Creighton, Caleb Damschroder, Justin Guarini, Nathaniel Hackmann, Robyn Hurder, Melissa van der Schyff, Scott Wakefield, William Youmans, Darien Crago, Steve Czarnecki, Nicolas Davila, Casey Garvin, Shonica Gooden, Timothy Hughes, Naomi Kakuk, Justin Keyes, Jenny Laroche, Melissa Hunter McCann, Harris Milgrim, Kevin Munhall, Kristin Piro, Robbie Roby, Jason Simon, Kevin Vortmann, Nicholas Ward and Mikey Winslow.
• If you skipped the Oscars this year, here are the lyrics to the Oscars opening number with a video at the end of the article. This article also has the Jennifer Hudson video and The Sound of Music tribute.
• A photo of Lady Gaga as Adelaide in Guys and Dolls. She looks more like Audrey to me. Lady Gaga in Little Shop of Horrors as the next NBC live musical! Who's with me?
• Elaine Paige's sell-out 50th Anniversary Farewell Concert I'm Still Here, held as part of her national U.K. tour at the Royal Albert Hall last October in her eighth appearance there, is to be screened in cinemas worldwide April 23, including venues across the U.K., Ireland, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and the Far East. Tickets are now on sale. For details, trailer and further information, visit www.screenlive.com.
• Brooklyn's Gallery Players has announced casting for The Baker's Wife which will run March 7-29. The Gallery Players cast includes John Cardenas, Eddie Carroll, Samantha Cooper, Eyakeno Ekpo, Paula Galloway, Ashley Harris, Joe Joyce, Anthony Michael Lopez, Jesse Manocherian, Erin Maya, Angelo McDonough, Charlie Owens, Joshua Patterson, Adrian Rifat, Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld, Jim Roumeles, Adena Walker and Nikki Yarnell.
• The Heidi Chronicles begins performances at the Music Box Theatre Feb. 23. A limited number of rush tickets can be purchased at the box office of the Music Box Theatre when the box office opens for the day of the performance on a first-come, first-served basis. Rush tickets are $37 each and are limited to two tickets per customer.
• Casting has been announced for The Twits, a new stage adaptation by Enda Walsh of Roald Dahl's story, that will begin performances at London's Royal Court April 7 prior to an official opening April 14 for a run through May 31.
• Keke Palmer has teamed up with the the anti-bullying and girl-empowerment organization Saving Our Daughters for a new initiative, Saving Our Cinderellas, according to MTV.com.
• The American Masters documentary "August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand," which premiered on PBS Feb. 20, is now available for online viewing.
• Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw continues Feb. 23 with a reading of George Bernard Shaw’s 1892 comedy Widowers’ Houses at Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre. The season will continue March 16 with the annual gala, April 6 with Misalliance, May 18 with Overruled, June 22 with Fanny's First Play, July 20 with Man and Superman, Sept. 21 with a Chekhov Comedy Event, Oct. 19 with The Dr.'s Dilemma, Nov. 23 with John Bull's Other Island and Dec. 21 with The Shewing-Up Of Blanco Posnet.
• Free readings of Mr. Doctor, a new musical co-written by Tony winner BD Wong, will be presented Feb. 27-28 at 5 PM in San Diego State University's Experimental Theatre. The musical, according to utsandiego, centers on "the real-life story behind a production of the play The Post Office that was staged by Jewish children in the Warsaw ghetto just before the infamous Nazi 'relocations.'"
• The annual Broadway By the Year series kicks off Feb. 23 at 8 PM with The Broadway Musicals of 1916-1940. Other dates in the series include March 30 (The Broadway Musicals of 1941-1965), May 11 (The Broadway Musicals of 1966-1990) and June 22 (The Broadway Musicals of 1991-2015).
• Blue-Collar Broadway book spotlight.
• A production of Show Boat that had been slated for presentation by the National Asian Artists Project, has been canceled.

 

Question: If I've already been reporting about the shows do you need me to announce when they are in previews/officially opening/closing/when the box office opens, etc?

[Rick Kitchen]

Justin Guarini is still in the business?

[Rinaldo]

Very successfully so. I saw him in 2011 on Broadway in the musical Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. In a cast that included such talents as Sheri Rene Scott, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Patti LuPone, Danny Burstein, and Mary Beth Peil, he and Laura Benanti were the ones who made memorable impressions.

Edited February 24, 2015 by Rinaldo

[DisneyBoy]

Good for Justin.  There was no reason he needed to be the eternal butt of people's AI jokes.  Hopefully the hair has changed, though...

 

I had no idea Elaine Paige DID a farewell concert last year!  Is she really retiring?  Makes me even more glad I got to see her in Follies on Broadway.  That was one hell of a show...

[Rinaldo]

Here's the teaser montage for Women on the Verge. Justin's duet with Brian Stokes Mitchell (playing his father) is the last clip in the video.

 

 

He does have quirky hair here, but it's quite different from his AI hair, and it's in character as the awkward son (the role played by young Antonio Banderas in the movie). I'm guessing that in Paint Your Wagon he'll play the young romantic lead Julio, a Mexican prospector, who gets to sing "I Talk to the Trees."

Edited February 24, 2015 by Rinaldo

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup. I'm still not 100% but I'm feeling much better than I was at the low point of this cold. Thank you for all your kind words as I've been recovering.

• Peter Gallagher, who fell ill just prior to the Feb. 21 Saturday evening performance – prompting a last-minute cancellation of the show – will miss the Feb. 24 and 25 performances of OTTC. His understudy, actor James Moye, will perform the role of Oscar Jaffe the evening of Feb. 24 and for both performances on Feb. 25. Gallagher is expected to return to the production Feb. 26.
• Paper Mill Playhouse has announced its 2015-16 season, which will feature five musicals and two world premieres. (More details in article about: Bandstand, A Christmas Story, A Bronx Tale, Pump Boys and Dinettes, and West Side Story.) I've never seen A Bronx Tale and I have yet to really enjoy anything from the Menken/Slater collaboration. Also, do we now have competing West Side Story productions? I vaguely remember another one in a past TNR, maybe in Brooklyn?
• Alan Cumming, Sutton Foster, Donna Murphy, Bebe Neuwirth and Kelli O'Hara will serve as guest artists when the New York Pops honors Kathleen Marshall and Rob Marshall May 4 at Carnegie Hall. (Premier Parquet $160, Parquet $100, Dress Circle $65)
• Who had money on Hamilton taking over after If/Then closes? Well, you were right. Hamilton will transfer to Broadway beginning previews July 13 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
• The 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) announced the selections for the 2015 Next Link Project. (Songs for the Fallen is the only one that I like from the description with Foolerie, Manuel Vs The Statue of Liberty, and Acapella sounding like they maybe have potential. Someone needs to work harder on these pitches. Still wondering if anything ever came of Searching for Romeo from 2014.)
• Hooray! Jesse St. James is returning to Glee! I usually skip the Glee stories but I've loved Jonathan Groff on the show and always wished that he'd had a bigger part. Andrew Rannells will also appear on the finale. 
• Ghostlight Records has announced that the cast album of the world-premiere musical The Fortress of Solitude will be released online and in stores March 24.
• Tadeusz Słobodzianek's award-winning play Our Class will get its New York City debut during Holocaust Remembrance Week in a staged reading that will feature an all-star cast. Presented by the Temple Emanu-El Skirball Center and the Polish Cultural Institute New York and directed by Cosmin Chivu, the one-night-only reading will take place April 13.
• IN THE WORKS: A reading of Joker's Game, a new musical originally developed and produced in China, will be held Feb. 25 at noon at the Ripley Grier Studios. Joker's Game, according to press notes, was "inspired by the real experiences of a Chinese Canadian magician.
• OPENINGS: Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's The World of Extreme Happiness, officially opens Feb. 24 at New York City Center, following previews that began Feb. 3. Performances Off-Broadway continue through March 28. The Nether, a futuristic work that explores the implications of acting out our darkest fantasies in the online realm opens Off-Broadway Feb. 24 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The production began previews Feb. 4 and will run through March 15. Lives of the Saints, a collection of short plays by David Ives, officially opens Off-Broadway Feb. 24 following previews that began Feb. 3.

[aradia22]

I think this somehow fell through the cracks but is anyone planning to catch Ever After at Papermill? I hate the "what's your favorite movie" question but that's one of my go to easy answers. This has been in the works for years. I hope they've done right by the movie, or even better, improved on it. 

[DisneyBoy]

Ever After is a great movie.  Doesn't need to be a musical though....is this like the era of Cinderellas?!??!  Enough already, jeez....

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: I'm still sniffling and I cancelled my voice lesson this week. But to balance out that bad news, I was finally able to get a ticket to Constellations. I can't believe I'm seeing a play for $40 but I've only heard good things so fingers crossed, it'll be worth it. 

• The Brooklyn Academy of Music will present the U.S. premiere of Almeida Theatre's acclaimed production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, directed by Richard Eyre and featuring an Olivier Award-winning performance by Lesley Manville. Performances of Ghosts will begin April 5 and continue through May 3 at the BAM Harvey Theater. Opening night is scheduled for April 12. Ibsen's dark and humorous Ghosts tells the story of Helene Alving (Manville), a woman trapped in an emotional void after the death of her cruel but socially charming husband, Captain Alving. Determined to let go of the past, she sets out to teach her painter son, Oswald, the truth about his father. But when Oswald returns from France, it appears he may have already inherited the legacy of his father to devastating effect. (Gallery tickets start at $30)
• HOORAY! More time to see Aladdin. Adam Jacobs (Aladdin), Tony Award nominee Jonathan Freeman (Jafar), Tony Award winner James Monroe Iglehart (Genie) and Courtney Reed (Jasmine) have extended their contracts with the critically acclaimed Disney musical Aladdin through Feb. 21, 2016.
• I was confused about how this would work but the mystery's been cleared up. Jonathan Groff will assume the throne from Brian d'Arcy James as King George III in Hamilton so Brian d'Arcy James can do Something Rotten. Groff is expected to continue with the musical, along with other members of the original Off-Broadway cast, when the show transfers to Broadway this summer with performances to begin July 13 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.
• The classic novella "The Little Prince," by French writer Antoine de St. Exupery, is currently receiving an Off-Broadway staging by emerging theatre company Hang A Tale. Performances at the Pearl Theatre began Feb. 23 and will continue through March 22. Opening night is set for March 2.
• If you can't wait for the March 31 premiere of Younger, the pilot's streaming on Amazon.
• Robert Morse, Barbara Eden and original Kiss Me, Kate star Patricia Morison (who turns 100 March 15) are among stars scheduled to perform at a May 9 Beverly Hills, CA concert that will highlight "the most memorable musical moments created for America’s Great White Way that were derived from Hollywood films."
• The Red Bull Theater Company will continue its Revelation Readings series March 2 with a staged reading of John Marston's The Dutch Courtesan, directed by Michael Sexton and starring Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater.
• Disney has announced details of the special features that will be included in the Blu-ray, DVD and digital releases of Into the Woods.
• Nathan Lane will return to the role of James Wicker in It's Only a Play in late March, producers announced Feb. 25.
• Seven new works will be featured in the 18th annual Pacific Playwrights Festival, a showcase of new works held in California's South Coast Repertory theatre.
• Stephen Merchant is to make his stage debut in a new production of Richard Bean's play The Mentalists. It will begin performances July 3 at the West End's Wyndham's Theatre, prior to an official opening July 13, for a limited run through Sept. 26.
• OPENINGS: The Atlantic Theater Company's world premiere of Posterity, a new play by Doug Wright begins previews Feb. 25. Ralph Fiennes stars in a new production of George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman, officially opening Feb. 25 at the National's Lyttelton Theatre following previews that began Feb. 17, for  a run in rep through May 17. It will be broadcast as part of NT Live to cinemas around the U.K. and the world May 14. The Women's Project Theatre world premiere of Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield, officially opens Feb. 25 following previews that began Feb. 17. The world premiere of the musical Brooklynite officially opens Feb. 25 at the Vineyard Theatre Off-Broadway following previews that began Jan. 30. Performances continue through March 22.

[ebk57]

 

Theatre News Roundup: I'm still sniffling and I cancelled my voice lesson this week. But to balance out that bad news, I was finally able to get a ticket to Constellations. I can't believe I'm seeing a play for $40 but I've only heard good things so fingers crossed, it'll be worth it. 

 

 

 

Sorry you're not totally recovered, but glad you're going to see Constellations.  I know, I've been remiss in my posting here, but I did like the play a lot.  It's short, and you need to pay attention, but I thought it was a really interesting portrayal of a relationship.  

 

And just to fill you in on the other two shows we saw,..  loved Between Riverside and Crazy, and really really loved On the Town!