Blog Day AfternoonIt's no secret I love to talk about live theatre. In fact, aside from travel and politics, it's one of my greatest passions.
Yet despite the
great discussion from a couple weeks ago on the value of theatre, I find myself rarely discussing anything pertaining to the stage with friends or family. My discussions are largely relegated to
this forum.
Fortunately, over the weekend, thanks to Esther at
Gratuitous Violins, 11 bloggers who are predominantly focused on theatre
became friends and family as we joined together for a freewheeling brunch at
Angus McIndoe's -- one of the Broadway theatre district's more renowned hot spots.
While the group was just a tad too large for all of us to get to know each and every person assembled, I couldn't help but feel a special kinship with the intelligent, thoughtful, insightful, funny and genuinely nice men and women seated around our extended table. Sharing stories that ranged from our seminal theatre experiences to our favorite theatre moments, as well as glimpses into our own backgrounds that in turn precipitated our interest in the stage, made this a meal to savor in every respect.
There may be a preconceived notion out there that bloggers are wonky nerds. Well, that may be true depending on the topic being blogged, but given the very communal and experiential nature of live theatre, it came as no surprise to me that nothing could be farther from the truth when it came to this fine cross-section of the larger theatre blogging community.
Even better, when we invariably disagreed, the respect for each other's point of view was unassailable. Perhaps it's the realization that our divergence and diversity of opinions actually make live theatre blogging ever more relevant to anyone seeking to better understand the stage.
So to my new friends and family, Aaron at
‘kül That Sounds Cool, Alicia at
Things You'll Learn To Love About Me, Chris at
Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals, Jan at
Broadway & Me, Jimmy at
Third Row, Mezzanine, Kari at
Casual Heap, Mike at
The Lunar Gemini, Patrick at
Just Shows To Go You, Sarah at
Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment and of course, my dear "sister" Esther at
Gratuitous Violins -- as well as Bill and Kristen -- I'll not only raise a glass to each of you, but look forward to continuing to share live theatre experiences with each of you, be they in person or in our blogs.
I'm thrilled to have met so many others who share my passion. Here's to you!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Blogs, Broadway
Critics On Gypsy: Everything (Almost) Comes Up RosesLast night,
Arthur Laurents' miracle on 44th Street opened at Broadway's
St. James Theatre.
As one of
Gypsy's original creators -- a half century ago, he wrote the show's book alongside
Jule Styne and
Stephen Sondheim, who together wrote the score -- he now takes the helm in this fourth Rialto revival that stars
Patti LuPone,
Laura Benanti and
Boyd Gaines. The praise was mostly unequivocal, yet there were at least a couple dissents.
Raving that this
Gypsy is "this one that has definitive written all over it," Bloomberg's
John Simon, who has seen each Broadway incarnation including the original could not be more effusive: "No matter how many times you've seen
Gypsy, you arguably haven't experienced it as fully as you may now on Broadway at the St. James Theatre.... As director, Laurents has made some fussy changes of no great import, at least not lessening the overall impact. His not uninteresting effort is to heighten realism into expressionism.... But then how deftly LuPone makes Rose exude vulgarity without jeopardizing our basic sympathy; how touchingly Gaines underplays his leading-man dazzle for the most likable Herbie ever; how compellingly Benanti handles shy duckling Louise's transfiguration into Gypsy's preening swan."
Almost gleefully admitting "that quiet crunching sound you hear is me eating my hat,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley offers a flat-out rave: "[W]hen Ms. LuPone is truly focused, she’s a laser, she incinerates. Especially when she’s playing someone as dangerously obsessed as Momma Rose in the wallop-packing revival of the musical
Gypsy.... its raw power should be enough to silence any naysayers (myself included).... The 90-year-old Mr. Laurents, who directed two earlier revivals of
Gypsy...has had nearly half a century to ponder characters he helped bring to life. The accumulation of decades seems only to have sharpened his vision of the fractured family at the show’s center.”
Essentially admitting that only a critic could complain,
New York Post's
Clive Barnes offers three and a half out of four stars: "In truth, no one was ever born to do anything -- except bawl their lungs out -- but Patti LuPone comes pretty damn close as Momma Rose in Jule Styne's
Gypsy.... In her case, that 'gimmick' is an unassailable talent and showbiz genius. She brought both to the St. James Theatre last night.... And though this essentially modest production has the lingering scent of a summer stockpot, its virtues are such that few will care.... What's special about LuPone is the unexpected shading and nuance -- brassy one moment, grotesque the next, then pathetic, even tragic."
Concluding that LuPone is "beyond sturdy, she's beyond dreams,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News also showers laurels on the musical: "The show is sharper since then and seeing it again reinforces what we already know -- the score by Stephen Sondheim and Jule Styne is tuneful beyond belief and the story by Arthur Laurents is word-perfect.... LuPone, with her big personality, broad background ... and dynamic voice, is a natural to play the human bulldozer who drives daughters June and Louise toward vaudeville stardom at any cost. Under Laurents' savvy direction, she captures Rose's monstrous ferocity (body-checking Uncle Jocko, bullying everybody, even beating up on drapes) and her vulnerability, which peeks out humorously in 'Small World' and gushes poignantly in her finale, 'Rose's Turn.'"
Calling this revival "campy and clamorous, by turns brighter and less buoyant" than its summer 2007 precursor,
USA Today's
Elysa Gardner offers a three-star review: "In that production, LuPone lent a disarming tenderness to Mama Rose, disappointing some critics who view the role as a test for an actress's drama-queen aptitude.... Her epiphany, 'Rose's Turn,' is staged as a musical nervous breakdown, at once over-the-top and frighteningly convincing. Other performances also blend high-octane razzle-dazzle with a sort of hyper-naturalism."
Proving to be the party-pooper, asking "If only everyone would relax,"
Newsday's
Linda Winer offers a mixed review: "What defined her Rose last summer, however, was a marvelous new vulnerability and charm.... Missing now, inexplicably, is that sense of fun, an allure that went a long way toward explaining why Herbie and all the unpaid kids in her pathetic act would put up with her. We still get the ferocity of Rose's restless hunger, but LuPone has toughened her earlier uninhibited sexuality into something harder and less interesting."
Noting that LuPone "gives and gives and gives until the only sensible response is to beg for no more,"
Eric Grode of
The New York Sun also pooh-poohs: "In one of the more puzzling and dispiriting developments to reach Broadway in some time, Arthur Laurents's staging of the acid-etched 1959 valentine to show business has managed to shed nearly everything that made its previous iteration -- a keenly anticipated three-week run last summer at City Center -- so cherished. That production, notable for finally unleashing Patti LuPone in the role of the comparably formidable Mama Rose, has grown in every possible direction -- and not in a good way.
So there you have it folks -- mostly raves from the critics whose notices typically mean the most and a couple mixed-to-negative reviews. After foregoing last summer's City Center Encores! presentation (I magnanimously decided to give others a chance to see LuPone after
catching her original Chicagoland Ravinia turn), I'll be in the audience in a couple days and will offer my SOB Review shortly thereafter.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Gypsy: Everything's Coming Up Opening Night (March 27, 2008)
Patti Preview: "Brought Down The Roof" .... Literally? (March 4, 2008)
Curtain Up! Light The Lights! (March 3, 2008)
Load-In's Turn (February 24, 2008)
Tag, I'm It! (February 4, 2008)
Laurents' Turn: First Gypsy, Then West Side Story (December 18, 2008)
LuPone's Mama Rose, Part 3? (October 3, 2007)
At 90, Laurents Has Still "Got It" (July 27, 2007)
Everything's Coming Up Patti! (July 9, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: LuPone's Triumph Earns Encores! (March 19, 2007)
Will Encores Mount All-Star Gypsy? (March 2, 2007)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #1: Patti LuPone (December 30, 2006)
Gypsy (The SOB Review) (August 14, 2006)
Labels: Arthur Laurents, Boyd Gaines, Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Gypsy, Jule Styne, Laura Benanti, Musical, Patti LuPone, Revival, Stephen Sondheim
Gypsy: Everything's Coming Up Opening NightWhat can I say that hasn't already been said?
Tonight, the revival Broadway could only
dream about two years ago is finally here. With
Arthur Laurents at the helm,
Gypsy starring
Patti LuPone as Mama Rose opens this evening at the Great White Way's
St. James Theatre.
Gypsy certainly ranks at the top of my all-time favorite musicals -- after I see this Sunday's performance, it will be among the stage shows I've seen the most. And for good reason.
Based on the memoirs of
Gypsy Rose Lee, features a hallowed score by none other than
Jule Styne and
Stephen Sondheim to match Laurents' masterpiece of a book. And despite the fact that the 702 performance run of original 1959 production with
Ethel Merman and
Jack Klugman failed to win a single Tony Award (it was nominated for eight), it has become synonymous with Broadway itself.
Now in its fifth Main Stem incarnation, the legendary tuner with LuPone also stars
Laura Benanti as Louise and
Boyd Gaines as Herbie.
Will this become
the revival to end all revivals? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Patti Preview: "Brought Down The Roof" .... Literally? (March 4, 2008)
Curtain Up! Light The Lights! (March 3, 2008)
Load-In's Turn (February 24, 2008)
Tag, I'm It! (February 4, 2008)
Laurents' Turn: First Gypsy, Then West Side Story (December 18, 2008)
LuPone's Mama Rose, Part 3? (October 3, 2007)
At 90, Laurents Has Still "Got It" (July 27, 2007)
Everything's Coming Up Patti! (July 9, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: LuPone's Triumph Earns Encores! (March 19, 2007)
Will Encores Mount All-Star Gypsy? (March 2, 2007)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #1: Patti LuPone (December 30, 2006)
Gypsy (The SOB Review) (August 14, 2006)
Labels: Arthur Laurents, Boyd Gaines, Broadway, Ethel Merman, Gypsy, Jack Klugman, Jule Styne, Laura Benanti, Musical, Opening Night, Patti LuPone, Revival, Stephen Sondheim
Rent: New Short-Term LeaseSo much for
one final
song glory.
This must be the Nederlander's
season of love. Although they could just as easily have said
take me or leave me, they're instead saying
I'll cover you for a little bit longer.
You'll see, if you're a
Rent fan,
I should tell you that I have
news today 4 U! The word
on the street out tonight is that the bohemian tuner is being temporarily taken off
life support to live
another day, although not quite through
Happy New Year or
Christmas Bells or even
Halloween. However,
without you, the show would have closed on June 1, but now it's been
tuned up through September 7.
No doubt
Rent fans are
over the moon, if not doing the
tango, after
contacting all their fellow fans leaving
voicemails shouting, "
La Vie Boheme"!
So now
will I have to ask all you
Rent fans, are
you okay, honeys? I'm sure with
what you own in your achievement in keeping the show going, you're thinking, yes,
we're okay. I'll just
light my candle in your honor.
Now, I'm off to
Santa Fe. With
Maureen.
This is
Your Eyes aka Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Rent's Nederlander Lease Expires In About 197,946 Minutes (January 16, 2008)
Labels: Broadway, Extension, Musical, Rent
Early Tony Handi-cappingTwo of Steve On Broadway's favorite "Must Read" blogs --
Full Force Theatre Musings and
ModernFabulousity -- have already begun handicapping the 2008 Tony Awards.
FFTM's CaraJoy, of course, first posted her mid-season musings
in 2007 and
last mentioned her early betting in January.
Last week, ModFab's Gabriel began
his discussion on plays and revivals of plays and
continues it today with the betting on musicals, new and otherwise.
ModFab picked up on
a comment I made last week in posting the news (
now confirmed) that
Glory Days would be heading to Broadway from the DC Area's
Signature Theatre (not to be confused with the Off-Broadway
Signature on West 42nd Street). I said that given the Main Stem's "disappointing big musicals" (
read: critical drubbing of both
Young Frankenstein and
The Little Mermaid), "this is quickly becoming the year of the little musical with oversized hearts." ModFab was quick -- and right -- to point out that two "big" tuners,
Cry-Baby and
A Catered Affair, have yet to open.
While I would never want to count either one out, let's just say that how ever fair or unfair, the initial buzz I've been hearing on
Cry-Baby is not terribly favorable, and
A Catered Affair is further challenged both by the
stinging tryout review by
The Los Angeles Times 's Charles McNulty and the subsequent
kerfuffle, as well as the initial capitalization necessary for the Broadway incarnation.
Personally, I have high hopes for both.
As a big fan of
John Waters, I'm champing at the bit to see if
Cry-Baby can replicate some modicum of
Hairspray's universal success. I'm also rooting for
Harvey Fierstein and know that
he's pouring every last ounce of energy into making
A Catered Affair a complete delight. I hope both succeed.
While I agree wholeheartedly with ModFab that inevitably, the Tony focus turns to what shows can sell tickets on tour, if either of these shows is torpedoed by bad reviews, the Tony race just may become one big Cinderella story for this year's little shows. But I'm prepared to withhold my glass slipper fitting until
Cry-Baby and
A Catered Affair have had the opportunity to open.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Glory Days Yet To Come This Broadway Season? (March 19, 2008)
Heights Opens: Did Critics Offer High Marks? (March 10, 2008)
Did Critics Provide Passing Grades To Passing Strange? (February 29, 2008)
Did Little Mermaid Find Its Legs Among Critics? (January 11, 2008)
Did Critics Think Young Frankenstein Was Putzin' On The Shtick? (November 8, 2007)
Did Critics Offer Xana-Dos Or Don'ts? (July 11, 2007)
Labels: A Catered Affair, Blogs, Broadway, Cry-Baby, Full Force Theatre Musings, Glory Days, Modern Fabulousity, Musical, The Little Mermaid, Tony Awards, Tony Nominations, Young Frankenstein
London: Sister, Act III?Longtime readers may recall that when the Left Coast's
Pasadena Playhouse presented the world premiere of
Sister Act - The Musical, I provided a critics' capsule on the
mixed reviews it received.
But given that the
Los Angeles Times' Charles McNulty declared back then that the production "has Broadway blockbuster written all over it," it should come as no surprise that there would be yet another act in its development beyond the home of the
Rose Bowl and its subsequent stop at Atlanta's
Alliance Theatre.
Now, I've heard it on very good authority that this
Sister is most definitely getting its act together. The good
Sister has been "confirmed" for a London opening sometime this fall. I've also learned that 24 year old "powerhouse" singer/actress
Pàtina Miller (best known as Pam Henderson on daytime soap "
All My Children") will assume the
bad habits of Dolores/Sister Mary Clarence created on celluloid by
Whoopi Goldberg.
UPDATE (11.13.08, 5:30 p.m. EST): You can say you read the news about Sister Act going to London here first, but the timing was just a tad off. Now it's been announced that Whoopi Goldberg and Stage Entertainment are set to produce the show in London at the West End's Palladium Theatre. The opening (or first night) is currently scheduled for June 2, 2009; previews start on May 6.This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Did Critics Think This Sister Had Its Act Together? (November 6, 2006)
Labels: Film, First Word On New Show, London, Musical, Patina Miller, Sister Act, Transfer, Whoopi Goldberg
Producer's Perspective Is Sneak PeekThere's a relatively new entrant among theatre blogs out there, and it's from Off-Broadway producer extraordinaire
Ken Davenport, the mastermind behind such hits as the blissfully funny
Altar Boyz.
Called
The Producer's Perspective, it contains the impresario's musings on "everything related to Broadway and beyond." He's been blogging since October.
How did I find him?
While perusing through the
Chicago Sun-Times Web site, I spotted
a story on my favorite Broadway show of the season,
August: Osage County. The item, written by Davenport, focused on the inspiration behind the play's title. Turns out, the second city's second newspaper lifted the post directly from Davenport's blog.
The producer-cum-blogger (a progger? a blucer??) indicated that he had been provided a sneak peek at the script, which included playwright
Tracy Letts' dedication of what Davenport describes as "arguably one of the worst titles since
Flahooley for one of the best plays of the last decade."
Welcome to the blogosphere, Ken. I'm looking forward to more of your personal insights!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Altar Boyz, August Osage County, Blogs, Broadway, Off-Broadway, Producer's Perspective, Tracy Letts
No Glory In Crap ShootFirst things first.
Glory Days is most definitely coming to Broadway.
How do I know? Because I just received an e-mail message from
Broadway.com inviting me to get tickets in its one-week pre-sale.
Now, here's the rub. To get your tickets, you need to provide your credit card information and make the purchase
without knowing where your seats are. In other words, it's a free for all, except it ain't free. Although it states that tickets are $97.50 up front, it ends up costing $121.50 a pop.
As a rule, I
never buy tickets unless I know where I'll be seated. After inserting my credit card information, I clicked the little "proceed" button and next thing I knew, without any warning, I had a transaction in progress. Next thing that popped up on my screen said:
You will receive your confirmed seat locations by e-mail within one business day. If for some reason we cannot fill your request, we will send you a courtesy e-mail to follow up.
I would have preferred the
courtesy of knowing that the last of many "proceeds" actually meant "purchase."
Is this any way to sell tickets??
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Glory Days pre-sale.
Related Stories:Glory Days Yet To Come This Broadway Season? (March 19, 2008)
Labels: Broadway, Eric Schaeffer, Glory Days, Musical, Signature Theatre, Tickets, Transfer, Washington DC
The Trip To Bountiful (The SOB Review)
The Trip To Bountiful (The SOB Review) - The Albert, Goodman Theatre, Chicago IL***1/2 (out of ****)Finally, some truth in advertising.
That's right, a theatrical experience that plainly states exactly what it is, right up front, in its title.
Horton Foote's
The Trip To Bountiful is just that and so much more in the current revival now playing at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. The playwright's brilliance is more than proficiently realized by director
Harris Yulin through the incandescence of its performances.
Ironically, the play cleverly ensues with
John McKernon's dimly lit stage, the only hint coming from a lonely window where an aging Texan is quietly rocking in her chair. The light glows around Carrie Watts, aptly named thanks to the astonishing luminescence of
Lois Smith, and burns brighter as her yearning to return home to a place called Bountiful, one last time, becomes a transformative power.
Never mind that she's tried to get back there before. For 20 years, she's been cooped up in the same Houston flat with her passive dullard of a son Ludie (
Devon Abner) and his control freak wife Jessie Mae (
Hallie Foote, the playwright's daughter), who feigns being inconvenienced by anything that takes the spotlight off her. From time to time, Carrie tries her best to sneak off, but fails to get very far.
But that little light that's shining brightly within her very soul can't easily be extinguished. And when it burns hot enough, with each multiple henpeck and scolding from Jessie Mae, Carrie is set into motion yet again. This time, however, she gains just enough traction with an assist from the kindness of a stranger named Thelma (
Meghan Andrews), a fellow bus passenger who shares the ride with Carrie to a town near Bountiful.
That she gets so close is only half the story, but that she must also endure life alongside Ludie and Jessie Mae is most certainly the other in a classic example of children treating a parent as the child.
Abner's Ludie is so submissive, so fearful in his relationship with his wife that you just want to shake him, admonishing him to be a man. Jessie Mae, on the other hand, is so vainly narcissistic that she disparages Carrie, taking all her marital hostility out on the poor beleaguered mother-in-law. The acting was so convincing that just as I wanted to tell Ludie to snap out of it, I wanted to reach out and wring Jessie Mae's neck.
Allow me to pause here to salute Foote's magnificently haughty portrayal, serving as the perfect foil to Smith's impeccably drawn Carrie. Both actresses are nothing short of excellent.
After missing the
Signature Theatre Company's celebrated revival of Foote's gentle, yet powerful work about the indignities of aging, I couldn't stop kicking myself. Not only did the play receive
accolade after
accolade when it played Off-Broadway, but it also reaped
award after
award.
How absolutely fortunate for all of us who missed Signature's run that Chicago's
Goodman Theatre chose to honor the works of the great nonagenarian with a
festival. And that great fortune extends to transferring Harris Yulin and most of the exceptional Signature cast, as well as design team (including
E. David Cosier's marvelous sets), to Chicago.
This is one show that's definitely worth making the trip. I'm glad I finally did.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Labels: Chicago, Devon Abner, Goodman Theatre, Hallie Foote, Harris Yulin, Lois Smith, Off-Broadway, The Trip To Bountiful, Transfer
Sondheim And Webber: Separated At Birth?Incredible as it may sound, March 22 is the day that two of modern musical theatre's most renowned living composers were born.
That's right,
Andrew Lloyd Webber and
Stephen Sondheim share a birthday.
Although, let it be known that while Sir Andrew turns 60 today, the ever remarkable man who shares my first name is 78.
To see what brought Webber and Sondheim together, click
here for an amusing salute to
Cameron Mackintosh.
As if that weren't enough, my own blood sister (I'm now blessed with another three "adopted" sisters) celebrates her birthday today as well.
Happy birthdays all around!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Birthday, Cameron Mackintosh, Stephen Sondheim
The "R" WordWhat does the economy have to do with Broadway? Plenty.
And a quick read of Gordon Cox's
Variety story in which he examines the fortunes of the Great White Way during the last real r........ --
I can't actually say the word. We may already be in one, but you see I don't want to be accused by anyone of a self-fulfulling prophesy -- and you'll see that during the last r........
before 9/11, the impact meant:
...the number of new productions on the boards dropped to 30 (vs. 39 the season prior)
and
...ticket sales, which in 1989-90 tallied slightly more than 8 million, but then sank to about 7.3 million for the next two seasons.
and
...the 1989-90 cume of $282 million dwindling to $267 million the following season before climbing back up to $293 million in 1991-92.
Let's just hope that if we get in one, we get out quickly.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Attendance, Broadway, Grosses, The R Word
No Way To Mask My True FeelingsOK.
Honestly, when I first learned from frequent commenter Broadway Baby that "
Mask" was being made into a stage musical, I never doubted for one second that he had to be referring to the
Jim Carrey flick. Right?
Wrong.
Forget the ridiculous
1994 movie. We're talking the 1985 Cher/
Eric Stoltz tearjerker. I guess there are some eerie similarities.
VH1's "
The Best Week Ever" describes
Mask as:
...the most exciting thing to happen to the Theater World since Carol Channing hired a new wigmaker.
Right. With a book by Anna Hamilton Phelan and score by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Mask - A New Musical is being performed under Richard Maltby's direction at the Left Coast's Pasadena Playhouse through April 20.
Let's just say I'm not looking forward to seeing this advance to a theatre near you.This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Labels: Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Eric Stoltz, Film, Los Angeles, Mask, Musical, Pasadena Playhouse, The Mask
Paul Scofield - RIPRenowned British actor
Paul Scofield died Wednesday near his home in Southern England. He was 86.
Scofield is ranked among the best stage thespians of the past 100 years. If his name is not readily known by younger readers, perhaps it's because he largely eschewed the fame that routinely goes with the craft.
The Times of London today offers an outstanding tribute to Scofield in which theatre critic
Benedict Nightingale writes:
Why didn't most theatregoers think of Paul Scofield in the way they thought of Olivier, Gielgud and Richardson? After all, he had pretty well all the qualities, from Olivier's danger through Gielgud's grace to Richardson's soul, that we admired in the 20th century's most renowned triumvirate.
***
There were two main reasons for his relative neglect, the first of which is a terrible comment on our honours system. He refused a knighthood, later telling me that "if you want a title what's wrong with Mr?".
***
The other reason is that he didn't want to be a household name, let alone a celeb. He seldom gave interviews and never appeared on chat shows, but lived quietly and modestly in Sussex, taking the local train to London when work demanded and invariably returning the same night. It was the art, not the fame, that mattered to him. He was an extraordinary actor content to be an ordinary man.
While American theatregoers had but one opportunity to see him perform on a Broadway stage -- in 1962's
A Man For All Seasons for which he won the Tony for Best Actor -- his work, thankfully, is forever immortalized on celluloid.
In fact, I first became aware of Scofield for his magnificent turn in the excellent film adaptation of "
A Man For All Seasons" that not only took home the 1966 Academy Award for Best Picture, but it also afforded the actor with that rarest of rare opportunities to win two of acting's highest honors for the same role. Scofield portrayed
Sir Thomas More -- the man who dared challenge
King Henry VIII on his decision to break from Rome over divorce and was ultimately executed for doing so.
Scofield began his acting quest in the 1930s and became affiliated first with the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre before moving in 1946 to
Stratford-upon-Avon to perform in many of
William Shakespeare's works. And despite his long and illustrious stage career in England, his enduring legacy in the United States will be his film career spanning five decades and included memorable turns ranging from
Scorpio (1973) to
Quiz Show (1994) for which he received a second Academy Award nomination.
While he may have chosen to think of himself as an ordinary man, he was anything but.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: A Man For All Seasons, Broadway, Film, In Memoriam, London, Paul Scofield, tribute
Value Of Theatre ReduxAs
part of yesterday's
extraor-dinary online discussion of the value that theatre represents, I failed to mention that
I love theatre.
It's fun.
It's exhilarating.
It's magical.
It's three dimensional.
It's the one opportunity where you can come eyeball to eyeball with your favorite actor, or discover a new one before they flit off to television or the movies.
It's a bridge to expanding your imagination.
It's unlike anything else.
It's live.
It's a powerful community unlike any other:
Theater For The Future,
Rat Sass,
Theatre Ideas,
Parabasis,
The Next Stage,
Theatre is Territory,
Freedom Spice In the New Mash-Up World,
Mike Daisey,
An Angry White Guy In Chicago,
Bite & Smile,
That Sounds Cool,
A Rhinestone World,
GreyZelda Land,
On Theatre And Politics,
The Devil Vet,
Play Out The Play,
West End Journal,
Gratuitous Violins,
Adventures In The Endless Pursuit Of Entertainment,
About Last Night,
All About Musicals,
Artsy Schmartsy,
Broadway & Me,
Broadway Undercover,
City Slicker,
Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals,
Full Force Theater Musings,
I'm Ted Green,
Interval Drinks,
Just Shows To Go You,
Man In Chair,
Mid Hudson Valley Theater Blog,
Modern Fabulousity,
Pixeltheatre,
Show Showdown,
Stage Notes,
The Clyde Fitch Report,
The Lunar Gemini,
Theatre Snobbery At Its Finest,
The Playgoer,
The Stephen Mosher Blog,
The Theatergoer,
The Wicked Stage,
Things You'll Learn To Love About Me,
Third Row, Mezzanine,
West End Whingers,
What's Good/What Blows In New York Theatre,
among what I'm certain is many, many more!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:"What Is The 'Value' Of Theatre?" (March 19, 2008)
Labels: Blogs, Special Messages, Theatreforte, Value of Theatre
Glory Days Yet To Come This Broadway Season?Word is that the Washington DC-area
Signature Theatre is "aiming" for its first-ever transfer to Broadway.
Earlier this year, Signature's artistic director and founder
Eric Schaeffer helmed
Glory Days, a little musical by real-life buds Nick Blamiere and James Gardiner about four friends' experience one year beyond high school.
Now, barely a month after its one-month world premiere Signature engagement concluded,
Glory Days could be resurrected for a Broadway berth at the
Circle in the Square just in time for the final days of the 2007-08 Theatrical Season and possible contention in the Tonys.
Clearly proud of the young talent behind the show, Schaeffer affectionately wrote
this about the musical:
Broadway is overcrowded with movie and book adaptations, with barely an original musical in sight. I am proud of Signature's commitment and support of new works and young writers. Too often in today's world of theater, few are given the chance — or the encouragement -- to find their own voices. I am proud to have encouraged and inspired the talent you will be witnessing.
So tonight, enjoy these fresh, new voices as we keep original theater alive. I could not be more proud of the exciting work that has been produced on the Signature stages this season.
So now in a season originally hamstrung by disappointing big musicals, it turns out that with
Xanadu,
Passing Strange,
In The Heights and now
Glory Days, this is quickly becoming the year of the little musical with oversized hearts. And for three out of four to be completely original, suddenly creativity is alive and well
and welcome once more.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Eric Schaeffer, First Word On New Show, Glory Days, Musical, Transfer, Washington DC
Final Curtains Call SetJust last week,
it was reported that
David Hyde Pierce and other principals from the Broadway musical
Curtains had extended their contracts with the show through August. But today, proving yet again that ultimately "It's a Business," the harsh reality of sluggish ticket sales forced
a closing notice.
The good, old-fashioned
John Kander/
Fred Ebb/
Rupert Holmes backstage musical murder mystery is now scheduled to close at the
Al Hirschfeld Theatre on June 29. When the curtains fall on the tuner, it will have played 511 performances, as well as many more during its 2006 world premiere engagement at Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre.
Regular readers will recall that
I loved the
Scott Ellis-helmed show from the moment I first saw it on the Left Coast. It left me humming a few of the tunes, including its valentine to live theatre, "Show People." I also believe the production only
got better on Broadway.
I'm truly sorry to see
Curtains go, but it's at least going out on a high note. Last week, it's box office take was $556,398 with a capacity of 74.9% -- far from shabby for a
critically underappreciated show already into its second year.
Something tells me that one day, when the incredibly smart
Curtains is ultimately revived -- and make no mistake, it will be -- critics and the public alike will "discover" its brilliance in much the same way they did when
Chicago was revived over a decade ago. And almost in spite of
Curtains' old-fashioned motif, Kander and Ebb (and this time Holmes) will once again be touted for being way ahead of their time.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:This Goes Out To All The Lovers (Of Theatre) (February 14, 2008)
Curtains (The SOB Revisit) (October 12, 2007)
TONYS: SPRING HAS SPRUNG WHILE COAST REALIZES UTOPIA (June 11, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Top Ten Of The Year (June 4, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best New Musicals (May 22, 2007)
Amazing Candor From Amazing Kander (March 28, 2007)
Did Curtains Rise On Critics' Reviews? (March 23, 2007)
Curtains Finally Open On New Kander & Ebb Tuner (March 22, 2007)
Honorable Mentions: SOB's Singular Sensations Of '06 (December 30, 2006)
Curtains To Rise At Al Hirschfeld Theatre In March (November 3, 2006)
Curtains Meets the Critics (August 10, 2006)
Curtains (The SOB Review) (August 10, 2006)
Curtains Set to Rise on Curtains Tonight in LA (August 9, 2006)
Curtains Pulls Advance Buzz (August 1, 2006)
Curtains' Calling on Broadway? (July 24, 2006)
Kander and Ebb's Curtains Set to Rise in LA This Summer (May 11, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Closing Notices, Curtains, David Hyde Pierce, Fred Ebb, John Kander, Musical, Rupert Holmes
"What Is The 'Value' Of Theatre?"Did you know that today is the International Value of Live Theatre Day?
Well, not because of any proclamation from the
United Nations or individual governments around the world. It's because Matt Slayer of
Theatreforté has reached around the globe to at least 40 theatre bloggers in Australia, Europe and North America,
asking us to join in solidarity today and write about the value that theatre affords individuals who wouldn't typically identify themselves as theatregoers.
My personal value statement regarding theatre has been posted on my home page ever since I began writing Steve On Broadway (SOB) nearly two years ago. And it's relatively simple:
As someone who has been involved in both politics and public relations, it's no wonder I love watching theatre. Good or bad, it's the raw energy of seeing a live performance that gets my adrenaline pumping. From the moment I saw my very first Broadway show (Annie in London in 1979), I was hooked. Now I see as many as 70 shows each year ranging from soaring musicals to two-hander plays. And these eyes just may be in an audience near you!
Whether you identify yourself as a theatregoer or not, I would bet money that you enjoy being entertained. Right? I mean, who
doesn't? Entertainment is one of life's greatest pleasures.
Most of us have our own favorite television show. Just about everyone can identify their most beloved film. And a sizeable number of us remain mesmerized by a fascinating book. They all entertain and inform us with their storytelling genius, making our lives a little richer for the experience. In that regard, theatre is in the same league.
But the beauty of live theatre is the communal aspect of the shared entertainment experience. Sure, we can sit down to watch television with our friends, and we can certainly enjoy the same movie with an audience of strangers. But live theatre is the one singular opportunity we have to enjoy the telling of a story that evolves from one night to the next, often due to the audience's response to the magic and artistry being performed
live and in front of us.
When I recently saw
August: Osage County for my second time, I had an opportunity afterwards to chat with
Amy Morton,
Rondi Reed and
Mariann Mayberry. Separately, each told me how well my audience responded and helped fuel their performances even further. There's an unbelievable amount of power that resides with the audience that simply doesn't exist in television, movies or books.
There's also the air of danger in seeing a live performance. As much as the cast and crew hope and pray nothing goes wrong, the mere possibility that it could simply takes my breath away. And when something indeed happens, such as a missed cue or a flubbed line or a
flipped wig, well, isn't that what ultimately transforms our unique experience into something all the more memorable?
Sure, live theatre may be one of the oldest forms of entertainment, but it also remains the most vibrant, innovative and daring.
It's why when given a choice, I'll happily make my way to a live performance any day. There's nothing else quite like it on earth.
UPDATE (March 19, 2008, 4:45 p.m. EDT): It should be noted that the following bloggers around the world are participating in this incredible discussion. I invite you to visit their sites as well to learn what they believe the value of theatre is:Theater For The Future,
Rat Sass,
Theatre Ideas,
Parabasis,
The Next Stage,
Theatre is Territory,
Freedom Spice In the New Mash-Up World,
Mike Daisey,
An Angry White Guy In Chicago,
Bite & Smile,
That Sounds Cool,
A Rhinestone World,
GreyZelda Land,
On Theatre And Politics,
The Devil Vet,
Play Out The Play,
West End JournalGratuitous Violins,
Adventures In The Endless Pursuit Of EntertainmentAs I learn of other bloggers posting on this topic, I'll add them to this mini-blog roll.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Blogs, Community Experience, Theatreforte, Value of Theatre
Did London Critics Find Jersey Boys Too Good To Be True?Last evening, the Tony Award-winning Best Musical of 2006 enjoyed its first night -- or as we Yanks would say, "opening night" -- at London's Prince Edward Theatre.
Lest any Brits think this is some pastoral show about farm boys growing up in the
Bailiwick of Jersey,
Jersey Boys instead tells the story of
New Jersey's fifties pop sensations,
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Reviews ranged from praise to borderline pans.
Complimenting that "
Jersey Boys is a blue-collar, meat-and-potatoes, straight-up-no-chaser kind of show,"
Charles Spencer of
The Telegraph offers the most unqualified praise: "It has a quality you rarely find in musicals -- gritty honesty -- as well as the best collection of pop hits since
Mamma Mia!... [T]he story is fascinatingly told through the eyes of each of the original band members, so that the audience gets a range of viewpoints.
Jersey Boys superbly captures the thrills and tensions of four testosterone-charged young men discovering fame and fortune after years of dogged failure."
Despite his admission that "Compendium shows...aren’t my favourite tipple,"
The Times'
Benedict Nightingale applauds with four out of five stars: "It has the character, the narrative interest and the sense of place -- as the backcloth indicates, the industrial badlands west of the Hudson River -- to rise way above its genre.... Indeed, there were times last night when I felt the performers were making even
The Beatles sound somewhat lacking in musical texture. Since when did John, Paul or George have the soaring falsetto that
Ryan Molloy’s Valli effortlessly produces?...
Marshall Brickman and
Rick Elice, have a fine eye for what’s unusual and extreme."
Noting how he "thoroughly enjoyed it, despite some clunkingly awful lines,"
The Daily Mail 's
Quentin Letts is primarily positive: "There are two remarkable things about
Jersey Boys, the Frankie Valli bio-musical which had a splashy opening last night. The first is the fluting voice of Ryan Molloy who plays 1960s pop canary Valli and sings like a man possessed. The second is the fact that a show with quite so many cliches and such a humdrum plot still manages to elicit a tear or two."
Concluding that "This may be an American import too many,"
Evening Standard's
Nicholas de Jongh offers three out of five stars: "Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman...have injected regular slugs of trenchant truth-telling into their musical biography....
Des McAnuff's slickly animated production takes far too long to reach the glory days, having spent excessive time with Carter's DeVito, the tough-talking, self-admiring founder who recruits Frankie and song-writer,
Stephen Ashfield's oddly insipid
Bob Gaudio. The show does, however, at last fly high with some of those hit anthems, dynamically staged. (As Valli) Molloy exercises an arresting, powerhouse of a voice, that ascends from tenor to falsetto in emotional bounds..."
Criticizing
Jersey Boys as "a case of 'Oh What A Faintly Frustrating Night,'"
Paul Taylor of
The Independent offers a mixed review that ends on the downbeat: "The book by
Woody Allen collaborator, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice has a terse, savvy wit.... And in strong, soaring voice, Ryan Molloy skilfully intensifies the emotional power as the diminutive Frankie.... [T]he idea of Jersey and many of the cultural references fail to stir the requisite strength of emotion in a British audience. So here, much of the short-winded drama feels like an exercise in vicarious nostalgia -- a trip down somebody else's memory lane."
As of this writing, no review is currently posted on
The Guardian's Web site.
So it's a mixed bag for
Jersey Boys in London. Will ticket sales increase as a result? Well, coming too soon on the heels of that other, more-acclaimed
American export, that may be too good to be true.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Oh What A Night: Jersey Boys In London (March 18, 2008)
Go East, Young Musical, Go East (July 26, 2007)
West End Boys? (March 26, 2007)
BOYS' BIG NIGHT OUT: And The Tony Goes To... Complete List of Winners (June 12, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Jersey Boys, Jukebox Musical, London, Musical, Ryan Molloy, Transfer
Swinging For The Fences AgainAccording to Campbell Robertson of
The New York Times, a 20th anniversary Broadway revival is in the works for
August Wilson's
Fences.
Helmed by
Suzan-Lori Parks, the play will once again be produced by
Carole Shorenstein Hays, who produced the original that enjoyed a 525 performance run from March, 1987 through June, 1988. The revival is planned for the fall.
Set in the late fifties and early sixties, the Tony Award
and Pulitzer Prize-winning play falls squarely in the middle of the late, great playwright's renowned cycle of the African American experience during the 20th Century. Yet when it made its celebrated Rialto debut in 1987, it was just the second of Wilson's works to be presented on Broadway.
Fences followed
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1984), which so far is the only other Wilson work to be revived on a Main Stem stage.
While casting is yet to be announced,
James Earl Jones and
Mary Alice each took home Tony Awards for their efforts. With Parks at the helm, look for some major acting talent to be drawn to the production.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: August Wilson, Broadway, Fences, First Word On New Show, Play, Revival, Suzi-Lori Parks
Oh What A Night: Jersey Boys In LondonNearly 45 years after the storied
British Invasion of
The Beatles, which knocked
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons from their pop chart pedestal, a reverse American invasion begins this evening in London as the Tony-winning
Jersey Boys enjoys its first night at the West End's Prince Edward Theatre.
When I saw this jukebox musical shortly after it opened on
Broadway in 2005 (and prior to my ever writing SOB), I was left pretty dry. I thought, "Is that it?!" Don't get me wrong, I loved the music, but thought the show was mediocre at best.
While I could blame it on the fact that
John Lloyd Young (as Valli) was already skipping Friday night performances long before his Tony nod, I actually thought his understudy
Michael Longoria was the best thing about the show (Longoria officially replaced Young in the coveted role last November). In my eyes, Young certainly didn't acquit himself when upon receiving the 2006 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, he didn't even bother to mention Valli.
Another Tony issue that didn't help in how I still perceive the show is that it won Best Musical. My view is that your show shouldn't be eligible for the big prize if it can't even be nominated for "Best Original Score."
Most importantly, I found the story to be less than satisfying. And while I'm no prude, the show was unusually crass and unexpectedly vulgar for its 50s motif.
So how will British critics respond? More importantly, will the
West End Whingers be applauding? I hope to have answers to at least the first question in my critics' capsule tomorrow.
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Longoria To Formally Assume Lead In Jersey Boys (November 10, 2007)
Longoria Back To The Peak As Valli (October 20, 2006)
The Curse Of The Understudy (October 2, 2006)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Jersey Boys, John Lloyd Young, Jukebox Musical, London, Michael Longoria, Musical, Opening Night, The Beatles, Transfer
Broadway Estate PlanningEver since
Horton Foote's acclaimed
Dividing The Estate enjoyed its Gotham premiere last fall at Off-Broadway's
Primary Stages, a Broadway transfer has been rumored. Now it's a reality.
According to Variety, the play will be mounted by Lincoln Center Theatre beginning in October at a Shubert Theatre to be announced.
Gordon Cox writes that
Michael Wilson (
Old Acquaintance) will once again direct much of the original cast, including
Elizabeth Ashley, (the playwright's daughter),
Arthur French,
Penny Fuller and
Gerald McRaney. Wilson worked with Ashley during her last Main Stem appearance in
Enchanted April five years ago.
And speaking of Horton Foote -- who just celebrated his 92nd birthday last Friday --
Chicago's Goodman Theatre is currently in the midst of its timely celebration of the great playwright with its own
Horton Foote Festival. Its centerpiece production is another critical darling from Off-Broadway,
The Trip To Bountiful. Look for an SOB Review of that show in the days to come.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Chicago, Dividing The Estate, Elizabeth Ashley, First Word On New Show, Goodman Theatre, Horton Foote, Penny Fuller, Play, Transfer
The 1,400 StepsAccording to
Gordon Cox of Variety, that wonderful little spoof of
Alfred Hitchcock films known as
The 39 Steps will move just
1,400 steps (0.7 miles) from its current Broadway berth at the
American Airlines Theatre to the considerably larger
Cort Theatre on April 29.
Just last week, the
hilarious and
well-reviewed comedy enjoyed an incredibly robust week at the box office, climbing to 96% capacity (although it should be noted that its average ticket price was a mere $50.83).
Nevertheless, with the show currently hampered by the need to close at the subscription-based
Roundabout Theatre Company venue -- it must make way for the upcoming revival of
Christopher Hampton's
Les Liaisons Dangereuses with
Laura Linney that already begins performances on April 11 -- the low-budget
39 Steps is making a dramatic leap onto the other side of Broadway, thus ensuring it's still around come Tony time.
Talk about a step in the right direction!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:The 39 Steps (The SOB Review) (March 8, 2008)
Did 39 Steps Benefit From Critical Leap? (January 16, 2008)
"39" Steps Into Broadway Opening (January 15, 2008)
39 Steps To The Great White Way (September 6, 2007)
Sunday At The Grosvenor House With Laurence (February 19, 2007)
Labels: Box Office, Broadway, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Play, Revival, The 39 Steps, Transfer
How 'kül Is This? Strange $25 Rush Ticket OfferMajor tip o' the hat on this fine St. Patrick's Day to Aaron Riccio of
‘kül That Sounds Cool and
MetaDrama and Show Showdown for being among the first to report something that not only sounds cool, it actually
is!
Aaron reports that the überkül musical
Passing Strange will now offer same-day $25 rush tickets for anyone wishing to see the show. Aaron writes:
In other words, now you have no excuse for not seeing Passing Strange. It's already clear that Passing Strange is a young, hip, vibrant show, unique in its stubborn charm to Broadway. This incentive carries that energy on by making Broadway really accessible to anyone passing through -- in the neighborhood and want to see something? For little more than twice the cost of a movie ticket, now you can.
My one and only concern: Broadway musicals need a consistent advance box office business and more than an average ticket price of $49.91 -- let alone $25 -- to remain open. When the last box office scores were posted a week ago,
Passing Strange had increased its capacity significantly ... but only to 49.3%.
UPDATE (3/17/08, 3:39 p.m. EDT): Last week for the first time in its relatively brief Broadway life, Passing Strange broke through the 50% capacity mark as it reached 55.5% with average ticket prices barely increasing to $50.89.
Will this
Strange gamble pay off for the
best new musical on Broadway? I sure hope so.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Did Critics Provide Passing Grades To Passing Strange? (February 29, 2008)
Passing Strange (The SOB Review) (February 29, 2008)
Broadway's Strange Opening Night (February 28, 2008)
Strange Stagefellows (February 20, 2008)
Passing Strange Jersey Boys And Rock 'N' Roll: Downbeat Box Office (February 19, 2008)
Stranger Things Have Happened! (October 19, 2007)
Passing Strange To Broadway? (October 16, 2007)
Labels: Blogs, Box Office, Broadway, kul That Sounds Cool, Musical, Passing Strange, Ticket Prices
Where Irish Eyes Are Smilin'... In The TheatreSince today's the day when everyone and everything is a wee bit Irish, it's time to take a stroll down the Great
Green Way.
Even though Monday's are the day when most of Broadway is dark -- and certainly all eyes, Irish and other, will instead be focused on New York's new
Governor David Paterson -- perhaps it's just as well. Despite the abundance of Irish playwrights hitting Manhattan in recent years, it's a bit surprising that only one of them is currently represented among the Main Stem theatres:
Conor McPherson via his superb
The Seafarer., playing at the
Booth Theatre through March 30.
Here's
what I had to say in January about the performance:
In his mesmerizing new and often funny morality play set on Christmas Eve -- in a hellhole of a home (courtesy of Rae Smith's shambles of a set design) in Baldoyle, a tiny town north of Dublin -- McPherson proves he's all aces. Both writing and directing this cautionary tale, he magnificently weaves a harrowing, on the edge of your seat nailbiter that's as much about giving the devil his due as it is about the potential for redemption for two card-playing good-for-nearly-nothing drunks for brothers.
If tomorrow comes and you're still in the mood to get your Éire on, consider taking in this terrific show. After all, the Irish are known for keeping the party going and this one is hot.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Seafarer Set To Sail Out Of Broadway Berth (January 30, 2008)
The Seafarer (The SOB Review) (January 28, 2008)
After Seeing, Faring With Critics (December 7, 2007)
Seafarer Opens Sail On Great White Way Tonight (December 6, 2007)
All Of Great White Way Gleams Tonight (November 29, 2007)
Add August To The List? (November 14, 2007)
Strike Fallout, Part Two? Opening Nights In Question (November 12, 2007)
McPherson's Seafarer To Navigate Broadway In Fall (June 14, 2007)
Sunday At The Grosvenor House With Laurence (February 19, 2007)
Laurence Olivier Award Nominations Announced (January 18, 2007)
Labels: Broadway, Conor McPherson, Play, Special Messages, St. Patrick's Day, The Seafarer
As I Was Saying....Can it really be that two long weeks have gone by and
nobody picked up on
my story that Broadway's
Young Frankenstein quietly discontinued its
obscene premium ticket pricing until
now?
I mean, it's not as if
respected newspaper writers avoid reading blogs!
The very capable Campbell Robertson
finally reports in yesterday's issue of
The New York Times what I wrote about two weeks ago today!
Frankly, this is why it's important to
never discount the ability of the dedicated portion of the immense blogosphere to scoop mainstream media.
But two weeks? Wow.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:There Will Be Violins: Frank Talk (March 11, 2008)
Young Frankenstein Discontinues Premium Ticket Prices (March 2, 2008)
Labels: Blogs, Broadway, Campbell Robertson, Ticket Prices, Young Frankenstein
Blog Day Afternoon
