Elf Spreads Early Christmas CheerNo doubt banking that the best way to spread Christmas Cheer, is singing loud for all to hear,
Warner Brothers Theatre Ventures is returning to the Great White Way with the musical version of one of my recent Holiday film favorites:
Elf (2003).
Elf - The Musical is set to play Broadway's
Al Hirschfeld Theatre beginning on November 2, 2010. The tuner will open on November 14, just in time for the Holiday season that begins in earnest over Thanksgiving.
The musical will star
Sebastian Arcelus as Buddy,
Amy Spanger as Jovie,
Marc Jacoby as Walter,
Beth Leavel as Emily, and the most natural actor I can think of to fill Santa's shoes,
George Wendt.
Currently scheduled through January 2, 2011, the limited engagement will get a boost this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. when
Arcelus officially opens the Hirshfeld box office with prize giveaways including chances for young audience members to win walk-on roles.
On the official
Elf - The Musical website, the stage adaptation is
described as follows:
One of the most beloved Hollywood holiday hits of the past decade is now a full grown Broadway musical! Featuring an all-star creative team led by three time Tony-nominated director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw (Spamalot), Tony-winning book writers Thomas Meehan (The Producers) and Bob Martin (The Drowsy Chaperone) and the Tony-nominated songwriting team of Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer), Elf is the one present everyone wants this holiday season.
Will audiences be willing to pass through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and perhaps even walk through the Lincoln Tunnel just to see this stage adaptation? As Broadway's only real Holiday show this season, the production just might provide the elfin magic Warner Brothers is hoping for.
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. Labels: Amy Spanger, Beth Leavel, Bob Martin, Broadway, Casey Nicholaw, Chad Beguelin, Elf-The Musical, Film, First Word On New Show, George Wendt, Marc Jacoby, Matthew Sklar, Musical, Sebastian Arcelus, Thomas Meehan
SOB's Theatrical Firsts Of The Noughties: My First Time On A Broadway Stage
Over the course of the last decade, I’ve been truly fortunate to enjoy a number of enlightening firsts in my personal theatergoing that have only served to increase my deep and abiding love for the art form known as live theatre. What follows is one of my ten favorite experiences of the last ten years.Although I have never had any designs on being an actor, I always wondered what the theatre looked like from on stage. If you read
this previous post, you'll know that my first time on the
Gershwin stage was compliments of one of
Wicked’s cast members.
But my first time
ever to set foot on a Broadway stage came about in 2006. Two of my best friends in the entire world happen to be friends with lyricist
Chad Beguelin, whom I met when he was putting the finishing touches on the book and score for his first Rialto effort,
The Wedding Singer.
After the musical debuted on Broadway, we went to see the show at the
Al Hirschfeld Theatre. Chad offered to meet us immediately after the performance. Although the show received mixed reviews,
we all had a great time, which was a bit of a relief as I’m not particularly good at lying about whether I’ve enjoyed a show. Fortunately, I didn’t need to.
So when we met up with Chad, we gave him our thumbs-up. In turn, he gave us a backstage tour, introducing us to the show’s star:
Stephen Lynch, as well as taking us onto the stage itself.
I couldn’t get over how much smaller everything seemed up close and personal. I found myself thinking, “Ah, the magic of theatre.” Perhaps even more thrilling than being backstage was being greeted by the throngs of fans lined up at the stage door. They certainly had no clue who I was, but it was fun seeing them try to guess.
Since then, I’ve been invited backstage at three other Broadway venues.
As
noted earlier, I have been on
Wicked’s stage at the Gershwin.
Additionally, just one year ago as
Harvey Fierstein was reprising his turn as Edna Turnblad in
Hairspray at the
Neil Simon, he personally provided me a rare opportunity to join him backstage. When he escorted us through the stage door into the theatre, little did I know I would be stepping directly onto the Neil Simon stage.
Then, this past summer, one of
Billy Elliot’s Tony winning actors graciously invited us to join him for a wonderful backstage tour in which he divulged many of the shows design secrets. That tour was capped off with an introduction to the musical’s Tony-winning director,
Stephen Daldry.
How many other Broadway stages will I someday find myself on? To be honest, what’s more important to me is cherishing each of my once-in-a-lifetime experiences I've already enjoyed in “treading the boards” of Broadway. Speaking of which, I made an unanticipated return to that Al Hirschfeld stage earlier this year, but that return deserves a post all its own.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post. I paid my own way for all performances above.Labels: Al Hirschfeld Theatre, Billy Elliot The Musical, Broadway, Chad Beguelin, Gershwin Theatre, Hairspray, Harvey Fierstein, Imperial Theatre, Neil Simon Theatre, Stephen Daldry, The Wedding Singer, Wicked
