Steve On Broadway (SOB)

Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going...Gone!

Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going...Gone!

Charles Isherwood's downright nostalgic piece in this morning's edition of The New York Times serves as an excellent reminder that today's your last chance to see nine of the thirteen Broadway shows slated to close during January 2009.

Boeing-Boeing. Going. But a 45-week national tour is planned for take-off sometime this year.

Dividing The Estate. Going. But subtracting Elizabeth Ashley from the cast, the ensemble will transfer to the Hartford Stage in Connecticut come May.

Grease. Going. But the ongoing North American tour with Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel is about to play Chicago's Auditorium Theatre.

Hairspray. Going. But the Award-winning London staging is going strong. Oh, and there's the sticky non-Equity tour that's about to play such markets as Terre Haute (IN), Kalamazoo (MI) and Wabash (IN) for one nights only, but it does not share the Broadway credits (including direction, choreography or elaborate set designs) or talent.

Irving Berlin's White Christmas. Going. But producer Kevin McCollum "would love to bring the show back to Broadway" in the future, and the show will continue to live on during future holiday seasons throughout North America.

Liza's At The Palace...! Going. What?! You expected more?! After two extensions??

Slava's Snowshow. Going.

13. Going. But there's "much interest in a national and international tour," according to lead producer Bob Boyett.

Young Frankenstein. Going. But a tour is planned for this fall.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: 13, Boeing-Boeing, Broadway, Closings, Dividing The Estate, Grease, Hairspray, Liza's At The Palace, Slava's Snowshow, White Christmas, Young Frankenstein

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Sunday, January 04, 2009 5 comments

Putting It Planely: And Another One Down

Putting It Planely: And Another One Down

This afternoon, the producers of the 2008 Tony Award Best Revival of a Play Boeing-Boeing announced that the show that's been pressurized for laughter will close its cabin doors for good. The show will close at Broadway's Longacre Theatre on January 4, 2009.

Personally, I found this show to be one of those rare, laugh-out-loud absurdly funny shows. Making it a joy to see was British actor and onetime Wisconsin resident Mark Rylance, who earned a very well-deserved Tony Award for his hilarious portrayal of befuddled Wisconsinite Robert. But it was Rylance who ultimately befuddled Tony viewers with what was surely one of the most unusual acceptance speeches in years.

Helmed by Matthew Warchus, the revival of Marc Camoletti's farce (translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans) first landed in London nearly two years ago with Rylance leading the cast. Then, the show opened on Broadway on May 4, 2008, with Rylance reprising his role, alongside Christine Baranski, Bradley Whitford, Gina Gershon, Kathryn Hahn and the Tony-nominated Mary McCormack. Rylance and Baranski remain in the show.

In recent weeks, Boeing-Boeing's box office has been in a holding pattern around the 60% capacity level. But with economy crashing and burning, and having recouped their initial investment, the producers are closing out the very successful revival on a high note, and plans are aloft for a 45-week national tour. When Boeing-Boeing finally closes, it will have played 280 performances.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: Boeing-Boeing, Bradley Whitford, Broadway, Christine Baranski, Closing Notices, Gina Gershon, Kathryn Hahn, Mark Rylance, Mary McCormack, Matthew Warchus, Play, Revival

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, December 02, 2008 5 comments

SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part III

SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part III

With just over one week to go before the American Theatre Wing’s 62nd annual Tony Awards ceremonies honor the best of Broadway's 2007-08 Theatrical Season, I'm in the midst of offering my own prognostications on whom I believe should win.

Yesterday, I provided my picks for the acting categories and before that my picks for best shows, as well as for musical book and score. Today, I tackle the creative direction categories.

As previously mentioned, this is the first year in which I've seen every nominated work and performance. So while I'm no theatre professional, I profess to having an opinion on every last category. Let me know if you agree on whom you believe should win (vs. those you think actually will).

Here are the nominees and my picks:

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

Should Win: Scott Pask - Les Liaisons Dangereuses

As evidenced this season by his work on The Ritz, November and Cry-Baby, Scott Pask has been one majorly busy man. But none of his set designs were more elaborate than the mesmerizing and sumptuous Versaillesque milieu he recreated for Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

Todd Rosenthal's three-story work for August: Osage County was pretty lofty in its own right, but Pask's set design effectively took me back to 18th Century France.

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

Should Win: David Farley and Timothy Bird & The Knifedge Creative Network - Sunday In The Park With George

In a field crowded with very worthy nominees (yes, including Young Frankenstein), one team stands brilliantly apart.

Initially, necessity became Sunday In The Park With George's mother of invention. In its earliest incarnation as the musical was strapped for cash, Tim Bird and The Knifedge Creative Network helped fill in the blanks of David Farley's effectively colorless set design with an enthralling, radiant projection design that is unequivocally the true star of the show. Together, they have made this tuner a gorgeous work of art worthy of a great master.


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

Should Win: Rob Howell - Boeing-Boeing

Pulling double duty, Rob Howell's ingenious and vibrant red, blue and yellow set and costume designs literally help set the stage for the three flight attendants served up in this tour de farce.

Even though Howell's designs go hand-in-hand, he's only been awarded one nomination. For all of his first-class work, he gets my vote as the best.


Best Costume Design of a Musical
David Farley - Sunday In The Park With George
Martin Pakledinaz - Gypsy
Paul Tazewell - In The Heights
Catherine Zuber - Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Should Win: Martin Pakledinaz - Gypsy

One of the key reasons why this Gypsy sparkles so brilliantly is because of Martin Pakledinaz's never-ending razzle-dazzling costume designs ranging from the frumpy to the fabulous.

Even though this is a revival, and we've seen variations on these designs before, Pakledinaz makes them all seem vividly fresh and real, whether it's the unholy trinity of Mazeppa, Electra and Tessie Tura or the metamorphosis of Louise into Gypsy Rose Lee. Stunning. Absolutely stunning.


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

Should Win: Ann G. Wrightson - August: Osage County

There's some serious competition here, but I have to narrow my choices down to Donald Holder and Ann G. Wrightson. My nod must go to the latter.

Whether it was the portentous flashes from the squad car or the flicker of the never-seen television set, Wrightson's subtle illuminations helped drive the drama and humor of August: Osage County even further.



Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington - Sunday In The Park With George
Howell Binkley - In The Heights
Donald Holder - Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Natasha Katz - The Little Mermaid

Should Win: Donald Holder - Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

There's also some stiff competition in this lighting category. Here, my choices come down to Howell Binkley and Donald Holder, both of whom expertly captured the movement of the sun into nighttime.

But Holder's artistry in evoking each blissful moment of this gorgeous revival with perfectly drawn brilliance makes South Pacific absolutely radiant. Close call here, but Holder gets my nod.

Best Sound Design of a Play
Simon Baker - Boeing-Boeing
Adam Cork - Macbeth
Ian Dickson - Rock ‘N’ Roll
Mic Pool - The 39 Steps

Should Win: Mic Pool - The 39 Steps

Finally, acknowledgement for the vital work that goes into providing essential sound designs for Broadway shows. This is the first year awards will be bestowed in this category.

While something tells me that the Tony voters will go with the more bombastic (read: LOUD) nominee, whose work often drowned-out the already difficult-to-hear language of the Bard, it was Mic Pool's integral sound design that enabled The 39 Steps' audience to sense where this comedy was going in spite of its simple set design.

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Acme Sound Partners - In The Heights
Sebastian Frost - Sunday In The Park With George
Scott Lehrer - Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Dan Moses Schreier - Gypsy

Should Win: Scott Lehrer - Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Two words: shower scene. Scott Leher somehow managed to mic Kelli O'Hara in such a way that she lathered up and effortlessly sang "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair" in a shower. Without getting electrocuted.

Oh, and the rest of his sound design was pretty fantastic, too.


Best Orchestrations
Jason Carr - Sunday In The Park With George
Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman - In The Heights
Stew & Heidi Rodewald - Passing Strange
Jonathan Tunick - A Catered Affair

Should Win: Alex Lacamoire & Bill Sherman - In The Heights

While you may have thought I'd be inclined to go with Stew and Heidi Rodewald yet again (given my love for Passing Strange) it's time to give due props to In The Heights.

Taking Lin-Manuel Miranda's exuberent score and turning it into an even hotter than salsa hip-hop funk, Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman not only succeed in turning up the heat, but they've single-handedly taken In The Heights to the heights I had hoped the rest of the show would be.


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

Should Win: Dan Knechtges - Xanadu

Without a doubt, Rob Ashford's work was the best thing about Cry-Baby, and Andy Blankenbuehler certainly provided one of the year's most exhilarating displays of dance on stage in In The Heights, surely making him a Tony favorite. But try doing all that on wheels, and backwards while you're at it.

An essential part of Xanadu's brilliant magic is derived directly from Dan Knechtges' daring roller-boogie choreography. When you consider the miniscule stage of the Helen Hayes Theatre and the injuries notoriously inflicted on certain cast members negotiating their way across it in good old-fashioned roller skates, Knechtges' choreography was clearly fraught with danger. But the very essence of live theatre is danger. And it dazzled all the way.

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

Should Win: Anna D. Shapiro - August: Osage County

When you direct the year's best show, it stands to reason that you'll be the person to beat for Best Director.

But Shapiro more than earns this honor as she's taken a superb script and excellent ensemble and directed them into something unique that is both heartfelt and visceral. Its dramatic punch hits every bit as hard as the humor. Credit Shapiro with sharpening this play into a razor-edged, whip-smart American classic.

Best Direction of a Musical
Sam Buntrock - Sunday In The Park With George
Thomas Kail - In The Heights
Arthur Laurents - Gypsy
Bartlett Sher - Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific

Barlett Sher - South Pacific

Here's the category about which I'm most conflicted. Make no mistake, I adore just about everything that Arthur Laurents has done to make Gypsy the absolute Best Revival of a Musical this year. But as someone who's now taken his third crack at the work -- and he's been nominated for the 1975 revival -- perhaps it's time to recognize someone else.

That someone else, of course, is Bartlett Sher, whose loving interpretation of South Pacific is both surprisingly innovative yet entirely natural, making his revival majestic. For a show in which racial bigotry is the issue, he also almost imperceptibly underscores the racial divide by slyly segregating what lonely African American troops inhabit this island to the sidelines.

As conflicted as I feel, I am compelled to give it to Sher.

Whoopi Goldberg hosts the 2008 Tony Awards on Sunday, June 15. The CBS broadcast begins at 8 p.m. EDT.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part II (June 5, 2008)
SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part I (June 4, 2008)
And The Tony Nominees Go To... (May 12, 2008)

Labels: August Osage County, Boeing-Boeing, Gypsy, In The Heights, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, South Pacific, Sunday In The Park With George, The 39 Steps, Tony Awards, Xanadu

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, June 06, 2008 4 comments

SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part II

SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part II

With less than two weeks to go before the American Theatre Wing’s 62nd annual Tony Awards ceremonies honor the best of Broadway's 2007-08 Theatrical Season, I'm in the midst of offering my own prognostications on whom I believe should win.

Yesterday, I provided my picks for best shows, as well as for musical book and score. Today, I tackle the acting categories.

As previously mentioned, this is the first year in which I've seen every nominated work and performance. So while I'm no theatre professional, I profess to having an opinion on every last category. Let me know if you agree on whom you believe should win (vs. those you think actually will).

Here are the nominees and my picks:

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Ben Daniels - Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Laurence Fishburne - Thurgood
Mark Rylance - Boeing-Boeing
Rufus Sewell - Rock ‘N’ Roll
Patrick Stewart - Macbeth

Should Win: Mark Rylance - Boeing-Boeing

Sure, another actor has received lots of acclaim for his performance in a Shakespeare revival, but it's the comic, farcical turn by one of the greatest living interpreters of Shakespeare who is keeping them laughing at the Longacre -- in his long overdue Broadway debut, no less -- who is far more worthy of this award. Mark Rylance is absolutely brilliant.

If there's a close race, it should be between Rylance and Rufus Sewell, who was by far the best thing going for the tedious Rock 'N' Roll. As a master of slapstick comedy, Rylance deserves the last laugh.

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

Should Win: Deanna Dunagan - August: Osage County

A very competitive category with Eve Best living up to her name, S. Epatha Merkerson turning in a surprisingly tender performance and the excellent Amy Morton going toe to toe with Deanna Dunagan in the year's best play.

Ultimately, it's Dunagan's breathtaking performance as the drug-addled matriarch Violet who should win the day. As I noted at the end of the last year, she gave one sensational, bravura performance for the ages.


Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Daniel Evans - Sunday In The Park With George
Lin-Manuel Miranda - In The Heights
Stew - Passing Strange
Paulo Szot - Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Tom Wopat - A Catered Affair

Should Win: Paulo Szot - Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

As wondrous a Broadway debut as Daniel Evans offered and as nuanced a performance as Tom Wopat gave, it was South Pacific's Paulo Szot who singlehandedly delivered one enchanted evening, bringing on the tears through his rendition of "This Nearly Was Mine."

As the consummate leading man, Szot also has proven once and for all that the world of opera isn't quite so far away from that of theatre. Let's hope he makes it a habit.

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kerry Butler - Xanadu
Patti LuPone - Gypsy
Kelli O’Hara - Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Faith Prince - A Catered Affair
Jenna Russell - Sunday In The Park With George

Should Win: Patti LuPone - Gypsy

What is it about the ladies, anyway?! And I mean that with the utmost respect.

By far the most competitive category with powerhouse performances through and through, all are deserving of the Tony. But this is no ordinary year, and since Gypsy is no ordinary musical, one performance managed to eclipse the rest: Patti LuPone as a Rose who was at once sympathetic, conniving, sexy, funny, tragic and repulsive all at the same time. Brava, Patti! Brava!


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

Should Win: Jim Norton - The Seafarer

I realize that there may be a sympathy vote out there for Raúl Esparza, whom many (including me) feel got gypped out of a Tony last year. Indeed, as great as his slithery performance in The Homecoming was, if Tony voters are serious about awarding the best performance of this year, they really need to choose between Conleth Hill and Jim Norton of The Seafarer.

My pick is the breathtaking Jim Norton, who more than convinced me he had literally drunk himself blind. There's a reason why his performance was earlier awarded with an Olivier. It was superb.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Sinead Cusack - Rock ‘N’ Roll
Mary McCormack - Boeing-Boeing
Laurie Metcalf - November
Martha Plimpton - Top Girls
Rondi Reed - August: Osage County

Should Win: Rondi Reed - August: Osage County

In yet another competitive category for actresses, it's easy to think that if Rondi Reed wins, it'll be because of the strong pull of the tide from the August: Osage County juggernaut.

But her Mattie Fae is so deliciously complex and real and flat-out funny thanks to Reed's outstanding performance that you'd be forgiven for thinking of her as your favorite crazy aunt. Reed offers one of the year's best performances.


Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Daniel Breaker - Passing Strange
Danny Burstein - Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Robin De Jesús - In The Heights
Christopher Fitzgerald - Young Frankenstein
Boyd Gaines - Gypsy

Should Win: Daniel Breaker - Passing Strange

Among the men, this should be the most competitive category -- I certainly enjoyed each of the outstanding performances offered by the actors above.

But one actor breaking away from the rest of the pack is Passing Strange's Daniel Breaker, whose astonishing breakthrough role of Youth blew me away. Breaker conveys volumes with a simple roll of his eyes and displays a natural presence found far too infrequently on the stage. He made Passing Strange come alive.

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

Should Win: Laura Benanti - Gypsy

Hands down, this award belongs to Laura Benanti in her best, most poignant performance yet.

As Louise, Benanti begins as a doe-eyed innocent, always eager to please, never fathoming her hidden talents or beauty. To watch her transition to the world's most famous stripper is to witness a major star claiming her rightful place in the spotlight.

Next up: my picks for the creative design awards.

Whoopi Goldberg hosts the 2008 Tony Awards on Sunday, June 15. The CBS broadcast begins at 8 p.m. EDT.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part I (June 4, 2008)
And The Tony Nominees Go To... (May 12, 2008)

Labels: August Osage County, Boeing-Boeing, Daniel Breaker, Deanna Dunagan, Gypsy, Jim Norton, Laura Benanti, Mark Rylance, Passing Strange, Patti LuPone, Paulo Szot, Rondi Reed, South Pacific, Tony Awards

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Thursday, June 05, 2008 5 comments

SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part I

SOB's 2008 Tony Picks - Part I

With less than two weeks to go before the American Theatre Wing’s 62nd annual Tony Awards ceremonies honor the best of Broadway's 2007-08 Theatrical Season, I'm going to offer a little bit of prognosticating on whom I believe should win.

First up are my picks for best shows, as well as for musical book and score.

As previously mentioned, this is the first year in which I've seen every nominated work and performance. So while I'm no theatre professional, I profess to having an opinion on every last category. Let me know if you agree on whom you believe should win (vs. those you think actually will).

Here are the nominees and my picks:

Best Play
August: Osage County - Author: Tracy Letts
Rock ‘N’ Roll - Author: Tom Stoppard
The Seafarer - Author: Conor McPherson
The 39 Steps - Author: Patrick Barlow

Should Win: August: Osage County - Author: Tracy Letts

Hands-down the best show I've seen on Broadway or anywhere else this past year.

With such an august ensemble, excellent writing and superb direction, the other three shows don't even come close.




Best Musical
Cry-Baby
In The Heights
Passing Strange
Xanadu

Should Win: Passing Strange

In a field crowded with plenty of heart, Passing Strange offers the biggest one of all in telling the infinitely smart and hip story of musician Stew's formative years all in his effort to be "real."

What can I say? I love this show and its gorgeous score still plays in my head long after I saw it.

Had A Catered Affair been nominated, it would have been a close call for me, but Passing Strange is my favorite new musical of the year.


Best Book of a Musical
Cry-Baby - Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan
In The Heights - Quiara Alegría Hudes
Passing Strange - Stew
Xanadu - Douglas Carter Beane

Should Win: Passing Strange - Stew

To anyone wondering whether this musical tells a story, the answer is "YES!" And a pretty profound one at that.

Lest the advertising and marketing campaign has soured you on this show before you even had a chance to see it, take note. This is a great musical with a great story.

Had Xanadu not been all muddled near the end, it could have skated by Passing Strange.

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

Should Win: Passing Strange - Music: Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Lyrics: Stew

I've had one dear friend question whether this is really a musical. Again, I fear that the ill-conceived marketing campaign has taken its toll at the box office.

But ostensibly, this is a musical through and through with the best new score of the year with lyrics that are among the most witty and intelligent offered by any show in years. Among its competition, In The Heights comes the closest.

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

Should Win: Boeing-Boeing

In a category in which three of my favorite revivals of plays were not even nominated (Cymbeline, Pygmalion, A Bronx Tale), I was heartened to see at least one of my picks up for the award.

Boeing-Boeing may not win due to a curse on comedies. But don't for one minute think these actors aren't working every bit as hard as those in the other shows. It is the funniest show currently on Broadway.

If I had to choose an alternate pick, it would be The Homecoming thanks largely to its top drawer acting.


Best Revival of a Musical
Grease
Gypsy
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific
Sunday In The Park With George

Should Win: Gypsy

In any normal year, you'd likely never have to choose among three truly outstanding revivals in this category. Grease is the only smudge on this astonishing category.

As beautiful as I found South Pacific and Sunday In The Park With George, I was completely swept away by the artistry involved in this latest revival of Gypsy. Maybe it's because I've now seen it more than any other musical, but I've also never seen each of its characters more fully realized than those in this amazing incarnation.


Next up: my picks for the acting awards.

Whoopi Goldberg hosts the 2008 Tony Awards on Sunday, June 15. The CBS broadcast begins at 8 p.m. EDT.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
And The Tony Nominees Go To... (May 12, 2008)

Labels: August Osage County, Boeing-Boeing, Gypsy, Passing Strange, Tony Awards, Tony Nominations

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, June 04, 2008 10 comments

SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best Revivals Of Plays

SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best Revivals Of Plays

Over the past year, I've had an opportunity to see 22 revivals of plays throughout the United States. Many tested the limits of my imagination, while others simply tested my nerves, but overall, there were many fine productions to be seen.

Here's my personal "5 Best" list of the revivals I'm thankful I had a chance to see:

5 - Boeing-Boeing (Longacre Theatre, New York, NY)

Looking for the funniest, laugh-out-loud comedy now on the Great White Runway? Look no further than the current Broadway revival of Boeing-Boeing. It's a mostly fantastic, high-flying farce. As absurd as the storyline is, Matthew Warchus portentously propels this first class flight to a new altitude with a turbocharged cruising speed that left me breathless from laughing. Much of the marvelous mirth comes from watching Mark Rylance, who proves even a great Shakespearean actor can be a worthy master of slapstick comedy. Nearly as wonderful is Christine Baranski's wickedly funny propensity for broad comic relief, whether it's with an exaggerated roll of her eyes or via her deadpan, droll response.

Boeing-Boeing is about the wildest ride on Broadway. Fasten your seatbelts!


4 - A Bronx Tale (Walter Kerr Theatre, New York, NY)

Chazz Palminteri's enthralling solo show A Bronx Tale arrived to well-deserved audience cheers from The Bronx and beyond when it was revived this season on Broadway. Palminteri vibrantly brought to life 18 different characters in an astonishing first-person account of his coming of age on some of New York City's toughest streets. A master storyteller, Palminteri succeeded in weaving a captivating ninety minute tale that built to a climax that can only be characterized as indisputably gripping theatre. I was in the palm of his hand.

Told from his heart, Palminteri's message was so powerful and breathtaking that it deserves to be heard far beyond The Bronx when the production begins its national tour this fall.


3 - The Trip To Bountiful (The Albert, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL)

A theatrical experience that plainly stated exactly what it was, right up front, in its title, Horton Foote's The Trip To Bountiful was just that and so much more in the wonderful revival playing Chicago's Goodman Theatre earlier this year. The playwright's brilliance was more than proficiently realized by director Harris Yulin through the incandescence of its performances. As the aptly named Carrie Watts, Lois Smith provided an astonishing luminescence, burning brighter as her yearning to return home to a place called Bountiful, one last time, became a transformative power. Never mind that she was trying to get there against the will of her control freak daughter-in-law Jessie Mae, magnificently and haughtily portrayed by the playwright's daughter Hallie Foote. Both actresses were nothing short of excellent.

With acting beyond bountiful, this was one show that was definitely worth making the trip to see.

2 - Pygmalion (American Airlines Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, NY)

Sure, some audiences may have been expecting My Fair Lady only to be disappointed by the lack of a score. But David Grindley's splendid five act revival of George Bernard Shaw's classic Pygmalion was practically pitch perfect nonetheless, thanks in part to a flawlessly superb performance by Jefferson Mays as Professor Henry Higgins and an equally compelling Boyd Gaines as the genteel Colonel Pickering. With aplomb and grace, Claire Daines proved a revelation as Eliza Doolittle. I adored this show and its genuine blissful humanity that echoed in the music of its lyrical spoken word.

Pygmalion is one period piece that remains timeless, and thanks to the Roundabout Theatre Company, audiences had another opportunity to revel again in the story that launched the famous musical.


1 - Cymbeline (Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York, NY)

Forget Macbeth. Broadway's far superior William Shakespeare revival of the year was Lincoln Center's underappreciated Cymbeline. Sending an unexpected, yet definable chill of delight shooting down my spine, I found myself utterly thrilled. Director Mark Lamos restored the work's long lost luster via his brilliant, sparkling vision, empowering his cast to maneuver through the Byzantine layers of plot unscathed, as well as to navigate through the cadences of Shakespeare's often difficult language with such natural precision, grace and gusto, that they never felt unnatural or forced. In fact, Shakespeare never sounded so crisp. She may have received a Tony nod for her amazing work in Top Girls for playing two very different roles, but in Cymbeline, the luminous Martha Plimpton moved every bit as skillfully from dazzled lover to forlorn royalty in hiding with unimpeachable ease that was equally moving.

Unquestionably, this was singularly the best production of one of the Bard's works I have ever seen.


So what were the best revivals of plays you saw over the past year? I invite you to join the conversation by sharing your own theatre experiences with me.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
SOB's Best Of 2007-08: Best Special Theatrical Events (May 24, 2008)
The SOB Five "Worst" Of 2007-08 (May 23, 2008)
SOB's Best & Worst Of 2007-08 Theatre Season (May 22, 2008)
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)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best New Plays (May 21, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Plays (May 16, 2007)
The SOB Five "Worst" Of 2006-07 (May 14, 2007)
SOB's Best & Worst Of 2006-07 Theatre Season (May 14, 2007)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #1 - Theater Of The New Ear (May 30, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #2 – Guys And Dolls (May 26, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #3 – Hedda Gabler (May 25, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #4 – A Blameless Life (May 24, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #5 – Reeling (May 23, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #6 – “MASTER HAROLD”…And The Boys (May 21, 2006)
SOB’s Best of 2005-06: #7 – Love Song (May 19, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #8 - Billy Elliot The Musical (May 18, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #9 - The Well-Appointed Room (May 17, 2006)
SOB's Best of 2005-06: #10 - Sweeney Todd (May 15, 2006)
SOB's Best and Worst of 2005-06 Theatre Season (May 12, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2004-05 (May 26, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2003-04 (May 25, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2002-03 (May 25, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2001-02 (May 24, 2006)
Flashback: Best of 2000-01 (May 23, 2006)

Labels: A Bronx Tale, Boeing-Boeing, Chazz Palminteri, Cymbeline, Lois Smith, Martha Plimpton, Play, Pygmalion, Revival, SOB's Best of 2007-08, The Trip To Bountiful

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, May 27, 2008 3 comments

Boeing-Boeing (The SOB Review)

Boeing-Boeing (The SOB Review) - Longacre Theatre, New York, NY

*** (out of ****)

Looking for the funniest, laugh-out-loud comedy currently on the Great White Runway?

Look no further than Broadway's Longacre Theatre where almost in spite of itself, Boeing-Boeing has touched down for what looks to be a lengthy layover. It's a mostly fantastic, high-flying farce.

In a season already filled with plenty of this genre, from the frivolous (The Ritz) to the fraught (November) to the fanciful (Is He Dead?), one would be forgiven for thinking audiences would have had enough of the fare. And to be frank, I wondered how New Yorkers would respond to a revival of such a dated show, which originally closed on Broadway almost as quickly as it opened back in February 1965.

But with Claire van Kampen's groovy selection of sixties tunes setting the mood, supplemented by Rob Howell's ingenious red, yellow and blue set and costume designs that are artfully augmented by Hugh Vanstone's complementary lighting, it's clear from take-off that this is going to be a first-class flight.

Written by Marc Camoletti (translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans), Boeing-Boeing has a fairly simple, silly plot. Bernard (Bradley Whitford) is a swinging American bachelor living in Paris who's simultaneously balancing three stewardess, er, flight attendant fiancées -- Kathryn Hahn as TWA's Gloria, Gina Gershon as Alitalia's Gabriella and Mary McCormack as Lufthansa's Gretchen -- all with the help of a good old-fashioned OAG (yes, they still print them). Bernard relies on the OAG's schedules to help him keep track of when his ladies would be in and out of his love nest.

Fortunately for Bernard, he has a cunningly complicit French maid Berthe (Christine Baranski). In a delightful shellgame, whenever it's time for a shift change, Berthe wheels out a special cart with three color-coded boxes to ensure that there's no trace of the last female companion left for the next one to find.

Of course, as one would expect of any farce, all these best intentions come perilously close to crashlanding. Soon after Bernard's friend Robert (Mark Rylance) unexpectedly comes calling from Wisconsin, the women in Bernard's life, quite predictably, all end up back at the Paris apartment at the same time. Not even a schedule manifest can predict turned-around and canceled flights.

As absurd as the storyline is, Matthew Warchus portentously propels this Boeing-Boeing to a new altitude with a turbocharged cruising speed that left me breathless from laughing. Much of the marvelous mirth comes from watching Rylance do his best to create diversions for his buddy Bernard's girlfriends, finding himself mirroring his friend's lust for life just a little too closely. It's hard to believe that this Shakespearean actor could be so capable of slapstick comedy, but in his Broadway debut, he's proving to be a worthy master. This is truly his show.

Nearly as wonderful is Baranski's wickedly funny take as Berthe. In her first Broadway outing since 1991's short-lived Nick & Nora, this talented actress demonstrates a propensity for broad comic relief, whether it's with an exaggerated roll of her eyes or via her deadpan, droll response.

Regrettably, I can't say the same for Whitford. As a man wrestling to maintain his harem, he certainly gets all of the agitated nerves down pat. Yet they come along just a bit too soon, almost as if he's never flown before. And if you're going to have the testicular fortitude to balance three fiancées at once, you'd better have more than a bag full of nuts and nerves of steel before ever taxiing down the runway.

Among the array of assembled space waitresses, McCormack plays her Gretchen so over the top, I half expected oxygen masks to drop. As shockingly funny as she often is, I just wasn't buying her as a bona fide love interest for Bernard. Hahn's gumsmacking American is played much more credibly, but it's Gershon who wins the day with her glorious Gabriella -- this is the best I've ever seen her and it's hard not to fall for her.

Despite the wildly mixed performances, Boeing-Boeing is about the wildest ride on Broadway. Fasten your seatbelts!

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
And The Tony Nominees Go To... (May 12, 2008)
Whoopi! Tony Eligibility And More Handicapping (May 9, 2008)
Did Boeing-Boeing Have Critics Flying High? (May 5, 2008)
Opening: Boeing-Boeing Lands On Great White Way (May 4, 2008)
Is It Just Me, Or... (Part III) (January 22, 2008)
Boeing-Boeing To Touch Down On Great White Way (September 17, 2007)
Was De La Tour's Latest A Tour De Force With Critics? (February 17, 2007)
London's Boeing-Boeing Flies Into Opening Night (February 15, 2007)

Labels: Boeing-Boeing, Bradley Whitford, Broadway, Christine Baranski, Kathryn Hahn, Mark Rylance, Mary McCormack, Matthew Warchus, Play, Revival, The SOB Review

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, May 21, 2008 8 comments

Did Boeing-Boeing Have Critics Flying High?

Did Boeing-Boeing Have Critics Flying High?

Yesterday, the first Broadway revival of the sixties sex farce Boeing-Boeing opened at the Longacre Theatre. Helmed by Matthew Warchus, the play was written by Marc Camoletti and translated by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans. The show stars Christine Baranski, Bradley Whitford, Gina Gershon and Mark Rylance.

Most critics were flying high in their praise of the show.

Offering that the revival "soars right out of its time zone and into some unpolluted stratosphere of classic physical comedy," The New York Times' Ben Brantley is first in line for take-off: "Boeing Boeing, it turns out, has great bones.... It allows the cast members to cut loose like preschoolers on the playground of their dreams. And like fond parents, we can enjoy their shenanigans while knowing that the slides and swing sets are too well-made for anyone to get seriously hurt. Their performances are among the most one-dimensional and stereotyped that have ever shown up on a Broadway stage -- and that’s a large part of their roaring success.... At the performance I saw, the ensemble began a tad shakily, and I wondered if I had been a fool to enjoy the play as much as I did when I saw it in London last year. But as the show progressed, everyone shed self-consciousness and found a shared rhythm. The second act was unconditional bliss."

Concluding that "nothing sullies the enjoyment of Warchus' sprightly production or of the play's unexpected ingenuity," Variety's David Rooney also soars in his review: "It could have been a tired dollop of '60s camp in the wrong hands, but director Matthew Warchus and his sparkling cast fine-tune this fluffy French farce with clockwork precision, and the result is a riot.... [W]hile it usually requires more verbal complexity than physical dexterity to sustain this kind of featherweight comedy, Warchus and the ensemble do a remarkable job of keeping things at cruise speed for 2½ hours with no discernable lags.... [W]hile none of the women are slouches, the master of physical comedy here is Rylance, the one holdover from the production's London cast.... With inexhaustible inventiveness, Rylance gives shape to Robert's sly blossoming from a meek, unsophisticated bystander into a man eager to remedy his romantic inexperience and not shy about partaking of his friend's female smorgasbord."

Lauding that "it's nothing but blue skies and mile-high hilarity," Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's Daily News gives this ticket four out of five stars: "At certain points, the comedy becomes very broad, almost ridiculous. But it's such a blast, you don't care. Credit goes to director Matthew Warchus, whose jet-propelled production is filled with fantastic performances. Chief among them is one by Mark Rylance, who played the frazzled and lovable Robert in London. In his Broadway debut, he creates one of the funniest characters in memory.... Bradley Whitford makes a dashing and dexterous playboy who seems to have taken the "American in Paris" thing to heart.... As the exasperated maid, seasoned joker Christine Baranski lays on the French accent thicker than a sauce Béarnaise -- and it works."

Gushing that "gold is gold, and if slogging through the likes of Boeing-Boeing" is what it takes to mine it, so be it," Eric Grode of The New York Sun offers a review that's positivey upright and in a locked position: "Matthew Warchus and his rubber-limbed sextet of actors have somehow wrenched Marc Camoletti's musty effort out from its own 747-size languors. And once again, the salvage operation is led by a superb comic performance. This time it's Mark Rylance, taking a decided step away from his renowned Shakespearean diet ... and creating a staggeringly funny portrait of lust-deranged masculinity.... The usually dependable Ms. Baranski trips up repeatedly on her impenetrable French accent but handles Berthe's silent passages neatly, with a deceptively casual face-off between her and Robert serving as a giddy respite amid the slamming doors and flying bodies. Mr. Whitford, by comparison, starts out uncomfortably broad and has nowhere to go as the tension builds."

Fessing up that "I hate to be a buzz kill.... [A]nd I don't have a clue to explain the genuine mirth around me," Newsday's Linda Winer sounds as if the show lost her luggage: "Why the reception appears to be different now, I don't dare to analyze. Despite a dreamy hoot of a performance by Mark Rylance ... the director's comic philosophy is rooted in the bellowing, jumping around, hitting-with-a-beanbag-chair school of humor.... Please don't get me wrong. My problems is not prissy feminism, a modern distortion of feminism's joy and strength. Sure, women are plugged into the mechanics of the plot as if they were widgets in gumball-colored, miniskirted airline uniforms. But the women ... are at at least unpredictable. Warchus ... lets the women be sexual thugs-blowup dolls who are also action figures. The physical businesses -- the phony trembling fits, the floor rolling and the big leggy strides across the stage -- culminate, if that's the verb, with special 'curtain-call choreography' by Kathleen Marshall. Big strides for the theater, perhaps, are for another day."

Declaring that Boeing-Boeing "crash landed," New York Post' s Clive Barnes sounds as if he boarded the wrong flight in his one-star review: "When I saw this revival, staged by Matthew Warchus and designed by Rob Howell, in London last summer, I thought it was terrible, but Rylance had already left the cast, and I was assured by some that he had made a terrific difference. He does make a terrific difference. And it's still terrible -- as repetitious and as tedious as a flea circus.... But the whole cast, particularly the agile Whitford and a beautifully acidulated Baranski, as the game but aging French maid, prove to be accomplished farceurs."

With plenty of raves all around, this Boeing-Boeing looks like it can settle in for a reasonably long, comfortable flight on the Great White Way. I'll be taking in a performance this week and will provide my own SOB Review shortly thereafter.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Opening: Boeing-Boeing Lands On Great White Way (May 4, 2008)
Is It Just Me, Or... (Part III) (January 22, 2008)
Boeing-Boeing To Touch Down On Great White Way (September 17, 2007)
Was De La Tour's Latest A Tour De Force With Critics? (February 17, 2007)
London's Boeing-Boeing Flies Into Opening Night (February 15, 2007)

Labels: Boeing-Boeing, Bradley Whitford, Broadway, Christine Baranski, Critics' Capsule, Mark Rylance, Matthew Warchus, Play, Revival

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, May 05, 2008 4 comments

Opening: Boeing-Boeing Lands On Great White Way

Opening: Boeing-Boeing Lands On Great White Way

This week marks the final homestretch for Broadway's 2007-08 Theatrical Season. The last three shows open before this year's Tony Award derby shifts into high gear with its nominees being announced May 13.

The first of those three, Boeing-Boeing, opens today at Rialto's Longacre Theatre for an open-ended engagement. After this farce from Marc Camoletti and Beverley Cross (late husband of Dame Maggie Smith) and Francis Evans first opened in London during 1961, it became the West End's longest-running comedy. But amazingly, it crashed and burned when during its 1965 Broadway run of just 23 regular performances.

Now directed by Matthew Warchus, this Boeing-Boeing is taking off on the Great White Way with a stellar cast, including Christine Baranski (in her first regular Main Stem outing since 1991's Nick & Nora), Bradley Whitford in his first Broadway turn since serving as a replacement in 1989-91's A Few Good Men), Gina Gershon and Mark Rylance, who is not only reprising his Olivier-nominated role as Robert, but is finally making his Broadway debut.

I'm hearing that this version of Boeing-Boeing is played much more broadly than the acclaimed West End mounting. Will the second time be the charm for this play on the Great White Way? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Is It Just Me, Or... (Part III) (January 22, 2008)
Boeing-Boeing To Touch Down On Great White Way (September 17, 2007)
Was De La Tour's Latest A Tour De Force With Critics? (February 17, 2007)
London's Boeing-Boeing Flies Into Opening Night (February 15, 2007)

Labels: Boeing-Boeing, Bradley Whitford, Broadway, Christine Baranski, London, Mark Rylance, Matthew Warchus, Opening Night, Play, Revival, Transfer

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Sunday, May 04, 2008 0 comments

Is It Just Me, Or... (Part III)

Is It Just Me, Or... (Part III)

...Wouldn't it have been more appropriate for Matthew Warchus' upcoming Broadway transfer of the British sex farce Boeing-Boeing to be staged at the American Airlines Theatre over the Longacre? After all, the airline was the sponsor of the recently departed West End revival. I'm psyched that Christine Baranski will be joining Mark Rylance, and the possibility that Sarah Jessica Parker may be added the cast has me salivating.

...What happened to all those people barely one year ago who were sounding the deathknell for the play? With seven new plays currently kicking around the Broadway stage, coupled with a dearth of new musicals, the 2007-08 Theatrical Season must be the year that the straight play made its official comeback. As I said a year ago: "Personally, I believe everything is rather cyclical. And working in plays' favor is the simple cost factor, along with the wellspring of excellent playwrights out there today, as well as so many thriving, vital theatre companies where plays rule the roost. I’m confident they'll always have a place, even on Broadway."

...When all is said and done, haven't critics been a little over the top in their criticism for Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein? I mean, I totally understand the venom directed toward Brooks' rather unorthodox practices, but when all is said and done, the show itself is actually better than OK, even if we don't have a clue what its weekly grosses are. But here's a news flash -- remember those $450 seats? I played around on Ticketmaster and found that I could get a second row center orchestra mid-week seat for just $130.

...Was there really any doubt that both Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton would each be eligible for the Best Actress in a Play Tony for their breathtaking work in August: Osage County? I know some folks I respect had expressed doubt that the lesser known Dunagan could be nominated in the category, but the Tony Committee has ruled that they both are. Now the question will be, "Which one will actually win the prize?"

...Don't London's theatre offerings sound tantalizing this year? Despite what the West End Whingers might think, there's plenty to have those of us on this side of the pond wistfully looking at their offerings. Just ask Rocco at What's Good/What Blows. I'm pondering an April visit myself.

...Do you wonder when stage musical adaptations of films will ever end now that Shrek The Musical is a go for later this year?

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
Is It Just Me, Or...(Part II) (February 21, 2007)
Is It Just Me, Or... (June 14, 2006)

Labels: August Osage County, Boeing-Boeing, Broadway, Is It Just Me, London, Musical, Play, Shrek The Musical, West End Whingers, What', Young Frankenstein

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, January 22, 2008 6 comments

SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #4: Elena Roger

SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #4: Elena Roger

Introduction: While others use the end of the year to provide their lists of the top shows of the past year, here at Steve On Broadway (SOB), I wait until the conclusion of the entire Theatrical Season to provide my official tally.

Instead, I'm once again devoting the waning days of the calendar year to celebrate SOB's Singular Sensations -- those magical live performances that have stayed with me throughout the year. During 2007, I have enjoyed, been wowed and ultimately inspired by a dazzling display of excellent performances from some of the theatre world's best actors, singers and dancers of our time.

Talk about more than just a little touch of star quality.

After appearing in countless Argentinean musical productions, including a variety of Spanish-language versions of Broadway and West End hits like Nine, Beauty And The Beast and Les Misérables, the diminutive spitfire known as Elena Roger took London by storm in her glorious portrayal of Evita.

To put it simply, I adored Roger's high-flying performance. In my SOB Review from April, I had nothing but praise:

Making her spectacular West End debut is an astonishing Argentine talent, Elena Roger, who offers an exceptionally nuanced performance as Eva Peron. The compact Roger evolves right before your eyes from the flirtatious young girl seeking her ticket to Buenos Aires stardom to her role alongside Juan Peron to a physically and emotionally impaired invalid. And what a powerful, beautiful voice!

I've seen memorable performances of Evita before (witness my history with SOB's Singular Sensation #5), but Elena Roger made her Eva Peron so intoxicating that it's easy to understand why her fellow countrymen fell under her spell. While Evita closed shortly after I caught it, London audiences have until January 5 to see Roger in the acclaimed revival of Boeing-Boeing.

Here's toasting the South American singular sensation, Elena Roger!

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #5: Raúl Esparza (December 28, 2007)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #6: John Gallagher, Jr. (December 28, 2007)
SOB's 7 Singular Sensations Of '07 - #7: Jennifer Holliday (December 27, 2007)
SOB's Best Of 2006-07: Best Revivals Of Musicals (May 18, 2007)
Evita (The SOB Review) (April 19, 2007)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #1: Patti LuPone (December 30, 2006)
Honorable Mentions: SOB's Singular Sensations Of '06 (December 30, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #2: Cate Blanchett (December 30, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #3: Chita Rivera (December 29, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #4: Barry Humphries (December 28, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #5: Kitty Carlisle Hart (December 28, 2006)
SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06 - #6: Meryl Streep (December 26, 2006)

Labels: Boeing-Boeing, Elena Roger, Evita, London, Musical, Revival, SOB's 6 Singular Sensations Of '06, SOB's 7 Singular Sensations of '07

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, December 28, 2007 0 comments

Boeing-Boeing To Touch Down On Great White Way

Boeing-Boeing To Touch Down On Great White Way

According to Playbill, Boeing-Boeing has been cleared for take-off on Broadway next spring.

The super hot, nostalgic revival by Matthew Warchus opened to rave reviews in London on February 15 and has been swinging ever since.

The sex farce from Marc Camoletti and Beverley Cross (late husband of Dame Maggie Smith) enjoyed a very healthy London run when it originally performed all the way back in 1961. However, Boeing-Boeing crashed and burned on Broadway after only 23 regular performances back in 1965.

Will the second time be the charm? And more importantly, will any of the London revival's starry cast fly over the Atlantic to reprise their roles? Personally, I'd love to see both Frances de la Tour and Mark Rylance again. But I'd be more than happy to have another go with Elena Roger as well.

Presumably, the Broadway revival won't be performed at the American Airlines Theatre space occupied by the Roundabout Theatre Company -- this despite said airlines' current sponsorship of the London production.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for London tickets.
Related Stories:
Was De La Tour's Latest A Tour De Force With Critics? (February 17, 2007)
London's Boeing-Boeing Flies Into Opening Night (February 15, 2007)

Labels: Boeing-Boeing, Elena Roger, First Word On New Show, Frances de la Tour, London, Mark Rylance, Matthew Warchus, Play, Revival, Transfer

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, September 17, 2007 0 comments