Rent ClosesIt's not every day I write about a Broadway show that's just closed, but then
Rent was not your average Broadway show.
After 5,124 performances, the late
Jonathan Larson's little tuner that infused the Main Stem with an amped up downtown mojo finally closed at the
Nederlander Theatre Sunday evening. Credit the cast with dedicating their final performance to Larson.
All is not lost for those mourning the loss of
Rent from the Great White Way. First, there's the
2005 film version that forever immortalizes most of the original Broadway cast on celluloid. Then, there's a
Sony Pictures'
The Hot Ticket film version of the final performance that will be shown in select movie theatres for a special limited engagement September 24, 25, 27 and 28.
And then there's the
touring production of
Rent that begins anew this January in Cleveland. Headlined by
Adam Pascal and
Anthony Rapp in a bit of a farewell victory lap, the tour will crisscross the United States for 30 weeks before heading to Japan's Akasaka Act Theatre and then to South Korea.
The Tony-winning Best Musical of 1996 is now history. But I'm sure it will live again another day.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Broadway, Closings, Japan, Musical, Rent, South Korea, Touring Production
Something Wicked This Way Comes...In The MailIt's not unusual for American collectors of original cast recordings to buy London versions of their favorite shows. But have you ever purchased a cast recording in another language?
If you're a regular reader, you know by now how much I enjoy -- OK,
love -- the Broadway musical
Wicked. I saw the original production on the Great White Way just two days after it opened and have since seen it at the
Gershwin Theatre at least another three times. I've seen its sitdown incarnation in
Chicago another four or five times (with another viewing coming there in April), as well as the North American
tour in both Chicago (prior to the city's sitdown) and Minneapolis.
Last year, I even went so far as to travel to
London,
Stuttgart and
Tokyo to see the first three international stagings of the show. And I already have my tickets to see
Wicked when it finally touches down in
Melbourne, Australia in July.
I've already worn out two of my original cast CDs and am now on my third. So when I learned that the German cast would come out with their own recording, how could I resist? A couple months ago, I ordered my copy from the German-language version of
Amazon, and once I had translated everything from German into English (courtesy of
this site -- the same one I used to maneuver through the German ticketing site to get my front-row seats for
Wicked - Die Hexen Von Oz), I was all set.
Over the weekend, I began to wonder if I'd ever actually receive the CD. But then when I arrived home last evening, I had a real thrill. There it was in its plain brown
Amazon.de wrapping.
Without missing a beat, I immediately put the disc on, feeling a bit like a little kid at Christmas. When I listened to the absolutely breathtaking vocals from its two stars,
Willemijn Verkaik (Elphaba) and
Lucy Scherer (Galinda), I found myself soaring yet again. To see what I mean, click on the
site and tell me if you're not impressed when listening to "Heißgeliebt" ("Popular") or "Frei und schwerelos" ("Defying Gravity").
What do I care if I don't exactly remember the German I learned in high school? With this CD, I just might learn it all over again.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:Wicked - Die Hexen Von Oz (The SOB Revisit) (December 2, 2007)
Some Of The Names May Have Been Changed To Protest Das Wicked (November 15, 2007)
Labels: Australia, Broadway, Germany, Japan, London, Musical, Original Cast Recording, Wicked, Wicked Die Hexen Von Oz
Merry Christmas From TokyoGreetings from the incredibly vibrant, yet surprisingly
quiet city of Tokyo, where I'm spending this Christmas holiday catching a little theatre, but also getting acquainted with this magnificent city.
In seeing our show, it appeared we were the only westerners in the audience. I'll write more about the actual performance of the Japanese language version for this Broadway hit later, but I was struck by how incredibly polite the audience was. They hardly laughed or applauded during the performance (and you could hear a pin drop whenever the stage was quiet). But they clearly loved the show considering the six curtain calls.
After the fourth call, the orchestra started to play familiar strains. But it wasn't anything from the show itself. Instead, they played "White Christmas" with orchestrations lifted right from the show's familiar score. The two lead actors began singing -- in English -- and were soon joined by the entire cast. It made for a very moving experience. It was beautiful.
The rest of my Christmas Eve (it is Christmas Day here thanks to the 14 hour time difference) navigating the complex subway system before walking around (and walking and walking and walking). After toasting Chrismas with a glass of champagne in the
bar of the city's renowned
Imperial Hotel -- the Old Imperial Bar is the only remaining room with
Frank Lloyd Wright's original design -- we took in the 50 year old
Tokyo Tower (pictured), which purposely resembles Paris'
Eiffel Tower and affords some of the best views of this immense city. And strangely enough, with one Christmas hymn after another being piped out of the tower's sound system, it was easy to remember which holiday was upon us.
Please accept my personal best wishes for a very Merry Christmas. Here's wishing you and yours nothing but peace and love.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Christmas, Frank Lloyd Wright, Japan, Special Messages, Tokyo, Travels, White Christmas
Wicked World
While I had been predicting an expansion into the lucrative Australian market -- and
that apparently is now a certainty for 2008 -- little did I realize that the production would first be ready to branch out into non-English speaking countries. In fact, the team behind
Wicked has now announced plans to expand with new productions in both Japan and Germany.
In Deutschland, look for the German-language Wicked: Die Hexen Von Oz (rough translation: "The Witches of Oz") to land at Stuttgart's Palladium Theatre on November 15.
All of which makes me continue wondering when Universal Studios, the film studio bankrolling this theatrical juggernaut, will finally announce firm plans for a silver screen version. If Wicked succeeds in both Tokyo and Stuttgart, I'm hazarding a guess that the announcement will come by the beginning of next year. Any other guesses?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Wicked Broadway tickets.Click here for Wicked Chicago tickets.Click here for Wicked London tickets.Click here for Wicked Los Angeles tickets.Click here for Wicked U.S. Tour ticket information.Related Stories:For Good: Wicked Wins LA Critical Praise (March 1, 2007)
Hollywood Becomes Wicked (February 27, 2007)
Were London Critics Mourning West End Wicked? (September 28, 2006)
West End Wicked Opens Tonight (September 27, 2006)
Wicked Witch of the West End Takes Flight Tonight (September 7, 2006)
Jaaku or Neikan? Wicked Set for Japanese Translation (July 24, 2006)
Five Times More Wicked (July 17, 2006)
Wicked's West End Witches Update (May 17, 2006)
Worldwide Wicked Casting News (May 5, 2006)
Encore: Spotlight Week Ending April 30, 2006 (April 30, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Chicago, First Word On New Show, Germany, Japan, London, Los Angeles, Musical, Touring Production, Universal Studios, Wicked
