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Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner


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On 9/28/2017 at 6:20 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Samantha Barks & Steve Kazee to star in Broadway musical verson of Pretty Woman

 

Producer Paula Wagner announced a new musical based on one of the most beloved romantic comedies of all time, Garry Marshall's Pretty Woman, which will arrive on Broadway following its World Premiere stage production in Chicago in the spring of 2018.

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL has original music and lyrics by Grammy Award winner Bryan Adams and his longtime songwriting partner Jim Vallance, book by Garry Marshall and the film's screenwriter J.F. Lawton, is directed and choreographed by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell and will begin performances Tuesday, March 13, 2018, for a strictly limited 5-week engagement at Chicago's Oriental Theatre (24 West Randolph Street, Chicago, IL).

PRETTY WOMAN: THE MUSICAL will begin performances on Broadway in the fall of 2018 at a Nederlander Theater to be announced.

Tickets for the pre-Broadway run of Pretty Woman (in Chicago) on sale now!

Get two seats for only $99 with code HEART:

2 middle balcony tickets for $99 to Pretty Woman. Offer is valid on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evening performances through March 25, Friday March 30 and Sunday April 1 performances. Tickets must be purchased by Wednesday, February 14 at 11:59pm.

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Katharine McPhee makes her Broadway debut in Waitress this April

Depending on your feelings about American Idol and Smash, your reaction to this may vary wildly.

In other news, To Kill a Mockingbird coming to Broadway in November:

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Jeff Daniels, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Will Pullen, Gideon Glick, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Stark Sands, Frederick Weller, Erin Wilhelmi, Dakin Matthews, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Phyllis Somerville, and Liv Rooth will star on Broadway this fall in Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin's new play, based on Harper Lee's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

The play will be directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, which is produced by Scott Rudin and Lincoln Center Theater (André Bishop, Producing Artistic Director), will begin previews Thursday, November 1 and open on Thursday, December 13 at a theatre to be announced. Additional casting will be announced shortly.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD will have scenic design by Miriam Buether, costume design by Ann Roth, lighting design by Jennifer Tipton, sound design by Scott Lehrer, and an original score by Adam Guettel. Casting is by Daniel Swee.

Edited by ElectricBoogaloo
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Two-show day at the Kennedy Center for me.  Matinee of Chess, then West Side Story in Concert with the NSO.  Hope the weather doesn't make the day too difficult.

 

I saw Something Rotten last week.  Thoroughly enjoyed it, but I wonder how people who don't get all the in-jokes enjoy it.  There are a lot of in-jokes...

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7 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

I saw Something Rotten last week.  Thoroughly enjoyed it, but I wonder how people who don't get all the in-jokes enjoy it.  There are a lot of in-jokes...

My guess is that it's like kids vs adults watching The Muppet Show. You can enjoy it for the surface level plot and hijinks all on their own, but you can also appreciate it on another level when you get all the references and allusions.

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The McPhee/Waitress rumor has been floating around for a while so I'm not surprised. I loved her on Idol. I was a fan for a while on Smash (mostly season 1) though she's never been a great actress. I thought she was a better Marilyn because Hilty was so much of a different type... more Ethel Merman than Marilyn despite her figure. Scorpion is an abomination. So I'm... meh on this. I don't know if I'm going to get to see Sara before March 11. http://www.playbill.com/article/sara-bareilles-extends-run-in-broadways-waitress But if I did go back to see McPhee, I would be willing to be won over again. I've listened to all of her (mostly not great) albums. I did love her on Idol. I'm just a bit doubtful that she could compare to Sara at all in terms of acting or vocals. If she had it, I feel like she's lost it. 

As for To Kill a Mockingbird, they're definitely making a play with Sher and Lincoln Center and that casting is notable... But Jeff Daniels (who I assume has to be Atticus unless they're saving that announcement) is a weak choice. Especially after Blackbird. Blech.

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I got my beautiful 2018-19 Met Opera brochure in the mail today. Thoughts...

Samson et Dalila... The staging looks like it's going to be weird but Elina Garanca is in it and I do like the story.

Aida... I might finally see it with some combination of Netrebko, Domingo, and Yonghoon Lee. (The brochure doesn't list who is doing which dates and I don't feel like looking it up right now.)

La Fanciulla Del West... There's a Puccini Wild West opera??? Not excited about Jonas Kaufmann after that lackluster Carnegie Hall concert.

Marnie... New opera. Never saw the movie. But Isabel Leonard? Definitely intrigued. Any thoughts on Nico Muhly?

Carmen... I almost want to go back to see Yonghoon Lee undoubtedly be a better Don Jose but I don't think it's worth it.

Mefistofele, La Fille du Regiment, Falstaff... Thoughts? Nothing exciting here for me.

Il Trittico... In high school I saw a rehearsal of this opera. I'd completely forgotten which opera it was but I was recently cleaning and found the information packet. None of the casting jumps out at me... also Opolais.

La Traviata... Ooh... Diana Damrau? Beautiful new production? YES.

Otello... They're doing the Bartlett Sher production. 

The Magic Flute... Ooh, Erin Morley as Pamina. But I really don't need to see Magic Flute again for a while.

Adriana Lecouvreur... Another new one to me. Netrebko and Beczala who I loved together in Iolanta. Definitely intrigued.

Pelleas et Melisande... Hmn, Debussy and Isabel Leonard. Interested. 

Don Giovanni... Luca Pisaroni. Damn, I might have to finally see it. 

La Clemenza di Tito... Joyce DiDonato, Matthew Polenzani, Ying Fang, Mozart... Definitely interested.

Dialogues des Carmelites... Isabel Leonard and Erin Morley. I'm guessing it's about nuns?

Ring Cycle... I don't know if I've got the fortitude. Any thoughts? Do you have to see the whole thing? Is there one you would skip?

So far I'm thinking yes on La Traviata, La Clemenza di Tito, Adriana Lecouvreur, Marnie, Samson et Dalila, and Don Giovanni. Strong maybe on Dialogues des Carmelites, Aida, and Pelleas et Melisande. Likely pass on La Fanciulla Del West, Carmen, and the others unless someone's got a good argument.

Also, they finally put up the TV schedule. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/blog/great-performances-met-season-12/

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I’ve been (not at all anxiously) checking for when PBS would announce air dates for the four concerts they filmed for Live at Lincoln Center, and now we’ve got them!  Four Fridays in a row:  Sutton Foster on April 20th, Leslie Odom Jr. on April 27th, Stephanie J. Block on May 4th, and Andrew Rannells on May 11th.  So pumped!

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@Silver Raven Nope

I went ahead and just booked my Met season. One good thing about the Met is that they're really great about ticket exchanges if you're a subscriber. So far Dialogues des Carmelites is the only one I said I wanted to see that I didn't book.

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/191213/daphne-rubin-vega-and-gizel-jimenez-face-america-in-miss-you-like-hell/

This looks interesting. Too bad The Public doesn't do in person rush anymore. I don't know. I'm not really into online/TodayTix rushes and lotteries.

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7 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I'm not really into online/TodayTix rushes and lotteries.

I’m totally into online rush because it’s so much easier to deal with and I think the system ends up being fairer. I hated that the Rent rush was only in person back in ye olden days because camping out overnight was only feasible for some people, as was showing up at 7am to wait in line until 5pm. As someone who had a full time job, I just couldn’t do either. 

Even now, I love that the online rush allows me to plan ahead better. The online Hamilton rush will tell you on Wednesday at 10am if you have tickets for Thursday night’s show. Even though I live only 12 miles from the theater, it takes me a good hour to drive there because San Francisco traffic is THE WORST. It would be a total waste of my time to drive there, pay $20 to park, walk to the theater, and then find out there aren’t any rush seats left for that night. Some of the other online rush tickets are the same day as the show which is fine. I just want to know that I actually have tickets before embarking on a 2+ hour round trip sitting in traffic.

I remember having to camp out for concert tickets before the internet and it suuuuuucked to sleep behind a dumpster in the Tower Records parking lot only to get to the front of the line to be told the show was sold out. So yeah, I’m all for online everything! At least if you don’t end up with tickets, you didn’t waste hours of your life trying to get them!

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@ElectricBoogaloo I think it's different in NY. In person rush favors locals and tourists. Online rush and lottery makes things less accessible by turning it into a very competitive game. Most of the in person stuff here doesn't involve camping out for that long. If you really want a guaranteed ticket some people will wait a few hours but if a lot of people don't show up, you could easily just get a ticket to most shows with in person rush/lottery by waiting an hour or two before the box office opens. 

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Damn. Sacramento only gets productions that are not national touring companies or on Broadway for their summer season.  This summer we're getting

Singin in the Rain

Gypsy

7 Brides for 7 Brothers

Little Shop of Horrors

Newsies

Mamma Mia.

 

We are, though, getting national tours of

Book of Mormon

Finding Neverland

An American in paris

in the upcoming winter/spring months.

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25 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

Damn. Sacramento only gets productions that are not national touring companies or on Broadway for their summer season.  ...

 

But that's so cool. You're not getting what everyone else gets, you have the equivalent of the old summer stock theaters, letting everyone see classic or at least not-quite-current shows. Every big city used to have one or two of those (often in tents or similar setups outside the city), and now there are maybe a dozen in the whole country. You're lucky.

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7 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

But that's so cool. You're not getting what everyone else gets, you have the equivalent of the old summer stock theaters, letting everyone see classic or at least not-quite-current shows. Every big city used to have one or two of those (often in tents or similar setups outside the city), and now there are maybe a dozen in the whole country. You're lucky.

Sacramento Music Circus used to literally be in a tent till about ten years ago, when they built an air conditioned theater.

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What would you call this? Like a falsetto...? It just sounds like he's testing it out, so I don't think this is a solid indication of how he's actually going to sing it. But it's definitely not full out screlting or belting. 

Edited by aradia22
I initially said it was straight tone but I listened again and there's a little vibrato
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Just got home from Hello Dolly!  I enjoyed Bette last summer and the show is lovely.  Tonight was the best version of this show I've ever seen (and I've seen it a lot).  Bernadette is amazing.  She's warm and funny and can dance and boy, can she sing.  I think I started crying at the end of Sunday Clothes and didn't stop for the rest of the show.  It was beautiful. 

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7 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

@ebk57 What did you think of Victor Garber? Word of mouth seems to be mixed on whether he's settled into the role yet. 

Funny you should ask, because he's the reason we went to see the show again.  Not that we don't like Bernadette, but I love Victor.  And he was wonderful.  I think he's settled in just fine - blustery and gruff, but lovable.  It's just that I was so overwhelmed by her, I forgot to mention him.  

Also, Gavin Creel's understudy was on and was totally charming.  And the new Barnaby is pretty good too.  All in all, a just-about-perfect evening!

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On 2/23/2018 at 1:27 PM, Silver Raven said:

Damn. Sacramento only gets productions that are not national touring companies or on Broadway for their summer season.  This summer we're getting

Singin in the Rain

Gypsy

7 Brides for 7 Brothers

Little Shop of Horrors

Newsies

Mamma Mia.

 

We are, though, getting national tours of

Book of Mormon

Finding Neverland

An American in paris

in the upcoming winter/spring months.

Did you see the list of shows for SHN's 2018-2019 season? (I posted it on the previous page) Come down to San Francisco and we'll go see a show together! I saw An American in Paris when it was here in SF and it was beautiful (if you like ballet). I wasn't a huge fan of the original movie so I wasn't sure whether I should bother seeing this version but I enjoyed it much more than the movie. The dancing was great.

Now that the Curran has split from SHN, not all the national tours and pre-Broadway shows are automatically going to SHN. Dear Evan Hansen is through the Curran (along with one pre-Broadway musicals, a new possibly pre-Broadway musical, and a local show) while Come From Away and Falsettos will be through SHN (along with Miss Saigon, A Bronx Tale, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Anastasia, and Hello, Dolly!). That means buying two subscriptions now instead of one and I don't know if I'm going to do it.

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On 2/24/2018 at 12:02 AM, Silver Raven said:

What's a screlter?

Jeez, nobody's going to answer?   Screlting is a combination of screaming and belting - meaning singing as loud as you can at the very top end of your natural vocal range and a few steps beyond.

Edited by ratgirlagogo
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Wonderful Piotr Beczala concert tonight. Without question, my favorite in this Carnegie Hall opera subscription. I got a refund on one ticket, Renee Fleming was fine but mixed and Jonas Kaufmann was a bust. Piotr sang full out. What can I say? I have somewhat populist tastes. It was a lovely program with some Italian and lots of love songs. Very impassioned. There was a same-y-ness after a while. He chose to put in a lot of money notes (though they didn't seem that high in pitch all the time) even in songs that didn't seem like they were written that way. I'd be interested in looking at some of those pieces of music and seeing if there was actually an instruction for "forte." Anyway, I don't think he's one of my opera favorites but as a concert performer he was decent at emoting. He has a very infectious joy on stage. And while I think he lacks a sort of resonance and richness (I'm not great at the subtleties of male voices), I still enjoyed his vocals. His voice reminded me of Mario Lanza and Alfred Drake and the prince in Snow White. 

I LOVED his Iolanta (he has a great voice for a fairytale prince) and was so-so on his La Boheme. I am greatly looking forward to Adriana Lecouvreur. I don't expect it to be as sexy as that Romeo and Juliet with Damrau and Grigolo but after this concert I'm expecting a good night. 

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(edited)

Ruthie Ann Miles hospitalized after car crash that killed her four year old daughter

According to another article, Ruthie is seven months pregnant with her second child. The driver claims she was having a seizure when she ran a red light, hitting five people total before crashing into a row of parked cars. Her friend’s one year old son was also killed. He was in hia stroller which was dragged down the block by the car that struck them.

GoFundMe campaign for Ruthie Ann and her family has been set up if you want to donate. 

ETA: According to this article, the driver has been cited four times in the last two years for running red lights. She has also been cited four times in the last two years for speeding in school zones. This article has video footage of the car going through the intersection just before it hits them. It's just a snippet but according to the news station, the footage "shows a white Volvo stopped at the intersection. Then the sedan creeps forward, missing pedestrians crossing on the near side of the road and a car that had the right-of-way. It then appears to speed up somewhat as it slams into the man, women and children in the crosswalk across the intersection." One of the witnesses said that the driver looked both ways before blowing through the red light.

ETA 2: A separate GoFundMe campaign has been set up for the family of Lauren Lew (the mother of the one year old boy who was killed).

Edited by ElectricBoogaloo
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Finally saw “The Band’s Visit”.  It reminded me of “Fun Home” in that it was on the surface a quiet, small musical but it built and built until it ended and you had tears streaming down your face.

Highly recommend.

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I saw Beautiful at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney in early February. It was a highly enjoyable show and the lead actress, Esther Hannaford was incredible. However, theatre audiences, especially for musicals in Sydney are the worst. I live in Melbourne and I usually see shows in Melbourne, which is the biggest theatre city in Australia. Audiences in Melbourne are typically pretty well-behaved but in Sydney, oh boy. At Beautiful, a group of approximately five middle-aged women sitting behind us talked through the whole show and continued to do so even after an usher, following several complaints came over at intermission to tell them to STFU. Several members of the audience loudly booed the actor (can't remember his name) who played Jerry Goffin during his curtain call because they decided they didn't like the character. My parents said that the same thing happened when they saw Beautiful too. My mom and a friend went to see Mamma Mia and she had to tell her friend, a guy in his 50s not to sing along. As someone who loves theatre, it is extremely frustrating. I am going to be seeing Book of Mormon in Sydney in July and I am hoping that I'll get a better audience this time around. End rant.

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Today's Broadway Sacramento production was The Book of Mormon.  I saw the show live once a couple of years ago and loved it, and I've watched a lot of productions, professional and high school, on YouTube, so I know it pretty well.  It's probably my second favorite musical after Les Mis.

The leads were Kevin Clay as Elder Price, Conner Peirson as Elder Cunningham, and Kayla Pecchioni as Nabulungi.

Kevin Clay was very much an Andrew Rannells clone.  He did the job well.

Conner Peirson was spot on, very funny, as well as sad when he needed to be, and all of his songs were spot on great.

Kayla Pecchioni has a beautiful voice, she did the comedy and the sadness well.  I really loved her.

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In the Heights at the Kennedy Center (March 21-25)

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Anthony Ramos, who originated the roles of John Laurens and Philip Hamilton in the original Broadway cast of Hamilton, has taken on the role of Usnavi in the Broadway Center Stage production of In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda's debut Broadway musical with a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegria Hudes. Joshua Grosso, previously announced in the role, has withdrawn from the musical because of a minor foot injury. Presented as a part of the inaugural season of Broadway Center Stage, a Kennedy Center-produced series of musicals in semistaged concerts, In the Heights will run March 21-25 at the Kennedy Center in the Eisenhower Theater.

Vanessa Hudgens (Gigi) will take on the role of Vanessa, with Ana Villafañe (On Your Feet!) as Nina, local DC actor Mateo Ferro as Sonny, Eden Espinosa (Wicked) as Daniela, J. Quinton Johnson (Hamilton) as Benny, original Broadway cast member Blanca Camacho as Camila, Saundra Santiago (Nine) as Abuela Claudia, Broadway cast member Rick Negron returning to the role of Kevin, Virgil Gadson (After Midnight) as Graffiti Pete, Arianna Rosario (On Your Feet!) as Carla, and original Broadway cast member Eliseo Roman reprising the role of Piragua Guy.

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Finally saw “The Band’s Visit”.  It reminded me of “Fun Home” in that it was on the surface a quiet, small musical but it built and built until it ended and you had tears streaming down your face.

Highly recommend.

But also funny! I hesitate to tell people how much in case they go expecting a laugh riot but it really is a great time in the theater. I get what you mean but I think Fun Home is much more melodramatic while TBV is a small story with an intense focus. It's not high melodrama but it makes you invest in these people's lives for what they are. Dig back in the thread and I think I posted my thoughts from the off-Broadway production.

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Baz Bamigboye of The Daily Mail has reported that Academy Award winning actor, Cate Blanchett, has departed an upcoming stage adaptation of the classic film All About Eve.

According to Baz, Blanchett was forced to drop the project due to a scheduling conflict. Star Gillian Anderson is currently in talks to join the cast in the iconic role of Margot Channing.

The adaptation, which will be directed by Tony Award winner, Ivo van Hove is expected to arrive on the West End in early 2019. 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Cate-Blanchett-Departs-Ivo-van-Hove-ALL-ABOUT-EVE-Gillian-Anderson-in-Talks-to-Star-20180315

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I'm torn. I loved her when she was on Idol. I was still a fan for (at least season 1 of) Smash. And I've listened to all her albums. But she's terrible on Scorpion. To be fair, the whole show is garbage. It's hard to judge from this weirdly shot and edited video but she seems to be dreamy and disconnected. I'm kind of curious to hear first reports but I'm so in love with Sara's interpretation that it's going to take someone amazing to make me go back.

Current must see list: Anastasia before March 25. Jerry Springer the Opera since it's finally papering. 

Later I'll focus on Cinderella from Company XIV (should be an easy ticket), Bright Colors and Bold Patterns, Saint Joan (the gender imbalance is killing me but that cast is too tempting), Once on This Island (this time with Lea Salonga), Mean Girls, Carousel, and The Beast in the Jungle. But there's time for that. Also, it seems like Mean Girls is actually using their preview period to try things out and I like to see shows when they're locked. 

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I'm thinking Brandon feels too... vital for a dying man. Helene has the ambition but none of the joy or fun of Jane. It's tough. Jane is amazing. Whether she's Flaemmchen or Carla or Ilona I fall in love with the spirit she brings to her roles. But then I also don't want to judge too harshly because I know Encores gives them such limited rehearsal time that this isn't necessarily a great indication of what they'll be like next week. I wish they'd shown James. But right now I'm more interested in finding a way to snag a ticket to Anastasia than this. 

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Sammy Williams, Paul in the OBC of A Chorus Line, has died.  ACL was the 3rd show I saw on my first trip to NY way back in the Stone Age - Chicago, The Wiz, then A Chorus Line.  I bought a ticket on the street in front of the theatre (since you couldn't get one in advance to save your life in 1976...ish).  I sat in the last row of the balcony for $8.  It was a stunning evening. 

http://www.playbill.com/article/original-a-chorus-line-star-sammy-j-williams-dies-at-69

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