Rock Of Ages (The SOB Review) - Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York, New York*/12 (out of ****)I'll say one thing for the musical
Rock Of Ages. You have to give it credit for its massive cajones.
Despite some relatively decent performances from its hard-working cast who clearly don't stop believin', this completely lightweight, throwaway jukebox musical does its best trying to make you forget just how incredibly insipid it is by plying you with alcohol during the performance as if you're at a rock concert, as well as giving you clever tschotchkes like the little fake lighter you can wave during its über-amplified power ballads.
Oy. More like Schock of Ages ... cleft for me in a splitting headache when all was said and done. And no, it was not from a hangover. I should have had more to drink.
Mind you, I actually enjoyed many of the tunes on
Rock Of Ages' headbanging playlist when they originally ruled FM radio over twenty years ago. But I felt more than a little cheated each time a song was truncated and layered over another heavy metal hit.
Constantine Maroulis headlines as Drew, just a city boy born and raised in south Detroit who's trying to make it big in eighties LA among a crowded field of metal heads, including Stacee Jaxx (
James Carpinello). Drew meets Sherrie (
Savannah Wise subbing for the wisely MIA
Amy Spanger), a small town girl living in a lonely world, and she mistakes his midnight train of love for friendship going nowhere. Predictability predictably ensues, and --
spoiler alert -- Drew and Sherrie hold on to their feelings by getting together in the end.
While
Chris D'Arienzo's book provided me with at least a couple of laughs from the gut,
Kristin Hanggi's uninspired direction makes
Rock Of Ages bad to the bone.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Amy Spanger, Broadway, Chris D'Arienzo, Constantine Maroulis, James Carpinello, Jukebox Musical, Kristin Hanggi, Musical, Rock Of Ages, Savannah Wise, The SOB Review
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
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
Hatshepsut City LimitsMichael Riedel reports in this morning's New York Post that
Tina Turner may soon receive her
Four Seasons treatment.
No, I'm not talking about the gorgeous 68 years young überdiva relaxing in the renowned
hotel chain's
spa closest to her Swiss home.
No, I'm talking about a possible jukebox musical (a la
Jersey Boys) replay of her 1993 life-inspired Oscar-winning film "
What's Love Got To Do With It" that chronicles her early rise to fame, her tempestuous relationship with the
very recently deceased
Ike Turner, and her victorious 80s comeback without and in spite of him. The show is tentatively titled
Simply The Best, after her 1989 hit song, "The Best."
Oh, and there's apparently an additional layer of storyline that a stage incarnation might include.
Tina believes she's the reincarnation of ancient Egyptian
Queen Hatshepsut, who tried to prevent her nephew and stepson
Thutmose III -- considered the "Napoleon of Ancient Egypt" -- from claiming the throne upon her death, although he did anyway. According to Riedel, that would be Ike. In the London reading held last year, Riedel reports that Hatshepsut helps prevent Tina from becoming the most tragic kind of
domestic abuse statistic.
As a huge Tina Turner fan -- I've seen her perform more than once in concert, including one stellar performance around 2000 in which she was hoisted out over the audience and directly above me in my 10th row center seat -- I think her amazing life story could make for a very compelling stage show.
With the added ancient Egyptian elements, it will be interesting to say the least how this musical develops.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: First Word On New Show, Four Seasons, Jersey Boys, Jukebox Musical, London, Michael Riedel, Musical, Simply The Best, Tina Turner
Save A Prayer For The Morning After: Duran Duran "Opens" On Broadway TonightThis evening marks the Broadway debut for
Duran Duran: Red Carpet Massacre at the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The 80s supergroup will perform for over two hours a night on November 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13
Band members
Simon LeBon,
Nick Rhodes,
John Taylor and
Roger Taylor each collect a Great White Way credit as they "take audiences in this historic thousand-capacity venue on a musical journey, presenting their new record in its entirety, as well as classics such as ‘Rio,’ ‘Save A Prayer,’ 'Hungry Like The Wolf’ and ‘Ordinary World.’"
Promising "magnificent production values and a completely new stage show," this two week gig is in support of the band's new recording that comes out on November 13.
Does anyone know whether Ben Brantley will be reviewing this one?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Former Wild Boys Come To Broadway (September 28, 2007)
Labels: Duran Duran, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, First Word On New Show, Jukebox Musical, Musical, Opening Night, Special Theatrical Event
Former Wild Boys Come To BroadwayAnd now for something completely different....
80s pop supergroup
Duran Duran will play a series of "two hour" concerts at Broadway's
Ethel Barrymore Theatre for two weeks this November to "celebrate" the launch of their new album
Red Carpet Massacre.
According to their site, "Duran Duran are developing a unique show that will see them performing not only their innumerable hits from the past 29 years but also the whole of their new record and a special electro set that promises to delight their loyal army of fans."
Promising "magnificent production values," tickets will be offered first to Citi cardmembers on Monday. They won't be cheap, either. Tickets start at $75 and run up to $150 per seat, not including applicable fees).
Does this count as the ultimate jukebox musical? Please, please tell me now!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Duran Duran, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, First Word On New Show, Jukebox Musical, Musical, Special Theatrical Event
Did Critics Offer Xana-Dos Or Don'ts?Last evening,
Xanadu rolled into its Broadway opening as the first musical of the 2007-08 Theatrical Season. For the most part, critics largely enjoyed the campy ride.
Citing how "at least
Xanadu is in on the joke" of some of Broadway's more recent misfires,
Charles Isherwood of
The New York Times offers that "...there’s so much silly bliss to be had at the
Helen Hayes Theater, where the new, improved
Xanadu opened last night...[T]he creators and performers of
Xanadu desecrate the theatah with such sharp good humor and magnetic high spirits that you won’t have much time to weep for the cultural blight that too much of Broadway has become. And in fact, there is enough first-rate stage talent rolling around in
Xanadu to power a season of wholly new, old-school, non-jukebox musicals, if someone would get around to writing a few good ones."
Heralding it as a "guilt-free pleasure,"
Variety's
David Rooney raves: "
Douglas Carter Beane has taken the unpromising clay of
Richard Danus and
Marc Rubel's screenplay and molded it not only into an engagingly goofy spoof of the film itself but also a witty takedown of the Broadway creative climate. Sure, the book scenes occasionally stall, but what looked on paper to be one-note sketch fodder turns out to be an unexpectedly sustained and refreshingly unassuming crowd-pleaser....With a complicitous wink at the audience that's never overplayed, the creatives and cast at every turn cheekily point up the irony of charging Rialto prices for recycled trash."
Proclaiming that
Xanadu "must appeal to the 40-year-old gay people in us all,"
Newsday's
Linda Winer is also positive: "The 90-minute show, which kicked off the new season last night at the Helen Hayes Theatre, is a grand little piece of smart dumb fun. This is a takeoff that takes its craft seriously. The creators and cast of expertly good sports know precisely what they want to do, and they do it with breezy, self-referential humor and, of course, with roller skates....
Kerry Butler brings a devilish edge to the romantic absurdities of Kira."
Prescribing the show as a "summertime cure for the blues," New York's
Daily News critic
Joe Dziemianowicz "
Xanadu is 90 minutes of souped-up silliness and broad comedy....Kerry Butler...is simply out of this world as Kira. She has gorgeous pipes, great comic flair and puts on a fab faux Aussie accent that could make dingoes howl for more. The hunky
Cheyenne Jackson...pinch-hits for the injured James Carpinello as the dim-but-dreamy Sonny -- and he's excellent....In this story of a muse, the moment is eye and ear candy that's delightfully inspired."
Zeroing in on the show's "surprisingly agreeable flair,"
Eric Grode of
The New York Sun also seems game: "Mr. Beane's high-low collision relies heavily on bottom-feeding interpolations of slang along the lines of 'He my baby daddy' and 'Oh, snap!' He seems to grow more and more confident in the rightness of his approach, though, as the story becomes less and less comprehensible....Both in on the joke and completely in tune with Kira's burgeoning humanity, Ms. Butler pushes past the leg warmers and wooden dance moves to unveil a real character. Mr. Jackson, an eleventh-hour replacement, manages the near-impossible and turns the vapid Sonny into a charismatic, even adorable romantic foil."
Calling it an "absolutely ghastly show" over at the
New York Post, stuffy old
Clive Barnes is having none of it, as his one-star review attests: "The performers - all having to keep their tongues in their cheeks for so long it must give them earaches - do well, particularly the ultra-charming Jackson....
Christopher Ashley’s staging is precisely what you would expect from a man who claims to have seen the original movie 148 times. But in the end,
Xanadu reminded me of something, and it wasn’t
Starlight Express or even disco. It was “Ishtar.”
Last week,
Xanadu 's box office hovered just under 65% capacity and offered a steal of a ticket with average prices around $50. Mr. Barnes' comments notwithstanding, this could very well be the sleeper summer hit Broadway's been waiting for.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for ticket information.Related Stories:Xanadu (The SOB Review) (July 11, 2007)
No Khan Job: Xanadu Opens Tonight (July 10, 2007)
Broadway Can-Du? (December 18, 2007)
A Place Where Nobody Dared To Go...Until Now: They Call It Xanadu (July 18, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Film, Jukebox Musical, Musical, Xanadu
Xanadu (The SOB Review) - Helen Hayes Theatre, New York, NY**1/2 (out of ****)You've just gotta love a show that doesn't take itself too seriously.
And in the case of
Xanadu, how could it? It's based on what is widely considered to be one of the all-time worst movies.
Rather than take a straight approach, literally and figuratively, this
Xanadu revels and luxuriates in the extremely dubious nature of its source material about an Australian-accented mythical goddess who's brought to life by the clueless chalk-bearing mortal who drew her -- at
Venice Beach -- and flirts with her own mortality by falling in love with him.
Indeed, this is the campiest, most outrageous fun I've had
since going Down Under over the Holidays to see
Priscilla Queen Of The Desert - The Musical. All of which leads me to wonder: "What is it about the Aussies and campfests, anyway?"
Fortunately, as
Xanadu bears out, the score from the film was actually far better than it's credited for. Say what you will about the movie, but
John Farrar (who wrote some of
Olivia Newton-John's biggest hits) and
Jeff Lynne (of
Electric Light Orchestra fame) packed the original soundtrack with plenty of memorable tunes, including "I'm Alive," "Magic," "Dancin'" and "All Over The World." And credit director
Christopher Ashley and music director
Eric Stern with mining the tunesmiths' catalogues even further for other nuggets like "Evil Woman," "Strange Magic" and "Have You Never Been Mellow." All of them make this film-turned-stage musical into more of a jukebox variety than you'd expect.
That point is downright flaunted by
Douglas Carter Beane's super silly, yet surprisingly engaging book, which is simply too preposterous to describe. Between all of the libretto's winking and nodding, coupled with the dizzying pace of the Ashley's direction, you'd be forgiven for closing your eyes and missing the whole thing. But thanks to the tuner's eyepopping cast, that's not even an option.
As the muse Clio turned Aussie rollerbabe Kyra,
Kerry Butler proves a formidible force with a gorgeous voice coupled with plenty of comic timing. While
James Carpinello was on track to portray sidewalk artist Sonny until a nasty fall sidelined him last month,
Cheyenne Jackson more than ably stepped into his rollerskates with charm to spare. Stage and screen veteran
Tony Roberts gamely takes on dual roles of Danny Maguire and Zeus, and somehow manages to channel his inner
Keith Richards. Together as Clio's conspiring sisters,
Jackie Hoffman and
Mary Testa conjure up beguiling spells that are so over the top I found myself laughing harder than I have in a long, long time.
Then there's the brilliant magic, not only of
Dan Knechtges' dazzling roller-boogie choreography (especially given the
Helen Hayes' miniscule stage), but also of
Zachary Borovay's marvelously captivating and enchanting projection designs, which practically breathe life into Sonny's chalk drawings.
Is
Xanadu a great musical? Of course not, and fortunately, it doesn't aspire to be. But if you go into the show with an open mind, don't be surprised if you find this show working its way into your heart.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for ticket information.Related Stories:No Khan Job: Xanadu Opens Tonight (July 10, 2007)
Broadway Can-Du? (December 18, 2007)
A Place Where Nobody Dared To Go...Until Now: They Call It Xanadu (July 18, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Film, Jukebox Musical, Musical, The SOB Review, Xanadu
Take That, You Jukebox Musical!Way before the
'N' Sync and even before the
Backstreet Boys, there was a British boy band phenomenon called
Take That. If you never heard of them, it's likely because they only had one hit stateside back in 1995 with a tune called "Back For Good."
But in the United Kingdom from 1990-96, their music was inescapable. Indeed, the
BBC heralded them as "The most successful British band since the
Beatles, beloved of young and old alike." They were so huge that when its "
chubby dancer"
Robbie Williams decided to go solo in 1996, he took the world (save the United States) by storm.
So
given the Britpop propensity toward turning every major musical artist catalog into a jukebox musical, a Take That stage show was inevitable.
Never Forget The Musical, which kicks off a UK tour
next month in Cardiff,
is described as thus:
...a brand new British musical about love, friendship, ambition and betrayal. With an original story written by Danny Brocklehurst (Shameless, Clocking Off and Sorted), and featuring the sensational songs of the multi award-winning Take That, Never Forget promises to be the most spectacular new musical in years.This fantastic, wildly funny show is packed withall your favourite Take That hits, including the Number One smashes "Relight My Fire," "Pray," "Back For Good," "Babe" and, of course, "Never Forget." Don't miss this rollercoaster story this Summer you can be sure that this feel-good musical will be one you'll NEVER FORGET!
Only trouble is, the actual group is
not authorizing it.
The Times' Victoria Segal quotes the nearly-middle-age-men band that has recently regrouped as saying on their Web site that:
There have been reports in the press today about a "Take That musical.”... The band would like to state categorically that this production is being undertaken with neither their involvement nor their endorsement. They would wish their fans and the general public to know that this production is absolutely and 100 per cent nothing to do with Take That.
Ouch! Could this spell the end of the jukebox musical genre? Don't count on it, especially since it actually helps the original artists and bands sell tons more of their music. But it does cast a wrinkle that it's best to line up the support of said artists in advance....that is, unless it's really a deceptively shameless plot to get people like me talking about it in the first place.
Take
that, indeed!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Labels: Jukebox Musical, London, Musical, Never Forget, Take That
All Shook Up (The SOB Review) - Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
*1/2 (out of ****)
Back in 2005, what was intended to be the "King" of all jukebox musicals opened on Broadway to less than regal reviews. Inevitably mining the pop music catalogue of
Elvis Presley, the
Christopher Ashley-helmed
All Shook Up was one show I deliberately avoided like a bad
Billy Ray Cyrus song.
So I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I decided to take in the touring production of the show. Like
Legally Blonde, the production begins with a bang -- in
All Shook Up, it's thanks to an electrifying "Jail House Rock." From there, it doesn't just coast, it goes strictly downhill largely because of an incredibly insipid-meets-corny book by
Joe DiPietro that lacks virtually any real wit.
The production relies almost entirely on the cocky sensuality of its charming lead
Joe Mandragona (as roustabout Chad) -- who's jostling with sexy self-regard as he gyrates his hips -- and the turbo-charged choreography by
Sergio Trujillo to power it along. Unfortunately, whenever the incredibly talented Mandragona is off the stage,
All Shook Up's tank teeters on empty.
The convoluted plot revolves around Chad after he motors into a nameless Midwestern small town during the fifties. No surprise, there's a general enforcement of boredom there (
read: no dancing or modern music) by the town's Mayor Matilda Hyde (
Beth Glover). Yet, over the course of 24 hours, Chad succeeds in infusing the community with a little excitement followed by a rash of unrequited love among its locals.
The line of lusts lost starts with town geek Dennis (played like a mensch by
Dennis Moench) who's forlorn over grease-monkey townie Natalie Haller (
Jenny Fellner), who in turn falls for Chad and the idea that she'll be able to see the world from the back of his motorcycle. But Chad doesn't even give her a second look, especially after eyeing the elusive, statuesque Miss Sandra (
Susan Anton), who's also the object of affection by Natalie's widowed father Jim (
Wally Dunn). Are you following?
Incidentally, Sylvia (
Jannie Jones) a requisitely sassy black proprietor of the town bar discovers she's got a thing for Jim, but only after putting her foot down when her own daughter Lorraine (
Tracee Beazer) finds true love with the mayor's white son, Dean (
Brian Sears).
Thinking her romeo will come to appreciate her if only he gets to know her as a guy (huh?), Natalie decides to hone-in on Dennis' inexplicable sidekick status to Chad by posing as Ed, only to find herself/himself being pursued by Miss Sandra. As Ed, Natalie attempts to get Chad to consider her virtues; but Chad advises Ed to go after Natalie instead. But after an episode where Chad is left to ponder a love that dare not speak its name, hilarity is intended to ensue and just as soon as you can say "wedding," suddenly three pairs of brides and grooms are lined up at the altar.
Give the cast credit for making the most of this ridiculous production. I'll also concede that it was clearly an audience favorite, even in its lame attempts to provide positive messaging around interracial dating (although if you're looking for a more substantive show dealing with race relations from a couple generations ago, I'd recommend seeing
Hairspray).
But by packing such a twisted story into its two-and-a-half hours, All Shook Up ultimately explodes like a shaken can of soda. It may appear to be forceful, yet when you look inside the can, there's not much left. I couldn't help but wonder, "What would Elvis have thought?"
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: All Shook Up, Broadway, Elvis Presley, Jukebox Musical, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, The SOB Review, Touring Production
Too Many Happy Returns?
Today came word that two musicals are making their way back to the stage --
Sam Mendes' critically-acclaimed, Tony-winning revival of
Cabaret is reportedly returning to Broadway while
Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story is set for an August return to the West End.
This morning's edition of
Michael Riedel's New York Post column mentions that the
Roundabout Theatre Company plans to restage
Cabaret complete with
Alan Cumming reprising his starmaking, Tony-winning turn as the Emcee. Riedel says that Roundabout is returning to a "cash cow" since none of the subsequent productions staged at
Studio 54 have demonstrated any staying power.
Cabaret finally closed at the theatre in January 2004 after a nearly six year run.
Riedel takes issue with Roundabout receiving grants and tax breaks as a non-profit theatre company if all they're offering is simply a retread... as opposed to, say, director
Rufus Norris' vibrant,
new revival of
Cabaret that opened to
mostly ecstatic reviews last fall in London. I have to say I agree with Riedel's point. So here's a "novel" idea for Roundabout: keep Cumming, but scratch the Mendes version that ran its course in favor of Norris' incarnation.
On the other side of the pond, one of the original jukebox musicals,
Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, is set for its second London revival. Billing itself as the "world's most successful rock 'n' roll musical," the musical also claims to have "introduced the concept of the rock ‘n’ roll musical to the West End."
After two earlier London berths, including one a mere five years ago -- coupled with the fact that a touring production continues to flourish -- I guess this is one production that just refuses to crash and burn.
All this news makes me long for a little originality. That'll be the day.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Cabaret (London) tickets. Click here for Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story ticket information. Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, Cabaret, First Word On New Show, Jukebox Musical, London, Musical, Revival
Thriller Live: What's Really, Really Bad?As noted a week ago, the British have a certain unbridled passion for jukebox musicals. After all, they practically invented the genre with the
ABBA-inspired
Mamma Mia! back in 1999 (the show continues to run in the West End and on Broadway, as well as nearly two dozen venues worldwide).
However,
as a story from Friday's edition of The Times suggests, London impresarios are simply catering to all those darned
German tourists since they could never personally love something so gauche, right?
Well, that same story, entitled "Just What The West End Needs - The Wacko Jacko Musical," tells us that it's now
Michael Jackson's turn in the jukebox spotlight as his foundering career is apparently being rehabilitated via
Thriller Live!Thriller Live! is described as:
"[A] stage and video spectacular celebrating the wonderful career of the World's Greatest Entertainer: Michael Jackson. This amazing show, featuring over 30 performers including a full company of singers, dancers, gospel choir and live band will celebrate the King of Pop like never before! With fantastic dancing (from the MTV award winning choreographer LaVelle Smith Jr.) and brilliant vocal performances, Jackson's amazing songs and videos are brought to life on stage in a spectacular and sensational way.
The show, which was first presented at London's Dominion Theatre via one lone performance last summer, will now tour the U.K. for three weeks starting in Reading on May 6.
Reporter Jeremy Austin notes, "No doubt if it proves successful, it will be ushered into the first available West End theatre big enough to host it."
I don't
wanna be startin' somethin' and hate to
beat it without seeing it, but this
dangerous attempt at
one more chance seems completely
off the wall and makes me want to
scream. I'm sorry, Michael, but that's
the way you make me feel -- really, really
bad.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for U.K. tour information.Labels: Jukebox Musical, London, Michael Jackson, Musical, Thriller Live, Touring Production
West End Boys?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Jersey Boys U.S. ticket information. Related Stories:
Labels: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Broadway, Cameron Mackintosh, First Word On New Show, Jersey Boys, Jukebox Musical, London, Musical, Transfer
Out Of The Mouths Of Rockers: Flaming Lips Musical Headed For Broadway?
Of the source material, lead singer
Wayne Coyne told EW.com that "[I]t's not really a story. It's more like a mood...'There's a Japanese girl; she fights some robots; that's five minutes. After that I don't know.''
EW advises that the while the details of this anti-jukebox musical are not specific, expect a dystopian fantasy not unlike
Terry Gilliam's "
Brazil."
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Aaron Sorkin, Broadway, Des McAnuff, First Word On New Show, Jukebox Musical, Musical, The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
Toxic: Jersey Boys Will Be Boys
At issue is a
February 14 Chronicle story meant to
celebrate the first, lengthy leg of
Jersey Boys' national tour. McAnuff, clearly a legend in his own mind, is thus featured and quoted:
Director Des McAnuff explains why there are only three actresses playing so many roles. When writers Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice approached McAnuff with the idea for Jersey Boys, there was no script, just the idea.
"I didn't like it very much," McAnuff recalls by phone from San Diego, where he's in rehearsals for Aaron Sorkin's new play, The Farnsworth Invention, at the La Jolla Playhouse. "Marshall and Rick were very gracious about the rejection. And even after I turned them down twice, they were very persistent. So we came up with the outline together. I helped them with the structure.
"And at one point, they came up with a chorus of 16 Jersey girls. Frankly, I didn't think it worked. It was ridiculously extravagant considering the blue-collar nature of the group. So, simply put, the reason we have three girls is because I said we could have three girls -- and that's it."
Not so, says Brickman, who has been honored with Oscar nomination
s, even winning one for his screenplay of "
Annie Hall." Apparently not one to sit idly by while being trashed by the director, Brickman fired back, in part:
We can finally put to rest any lingering doubts about who is responsible for the success of our little offering, Jersey Boys, currently at the Curran Theatre. It is, of course, the director. Le spectacle, c'est lui. I see him now, goose quill in hand, fingers raw, eyes bloodshot from his tireless restructuring of our 72-page "idea."
Would that I had known him years ago so he could have restructured the screenplays for "Sleeper" and "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" and "Simon" and "Lovesick" and "The Manhattan Project" -- they might have won awards and gained some critical acclaim. Or instructed William Shawn in the proper restructuring of my New Yorker pieces.
But I was naive then and didn't know enough to be persistent. Twice we offered him the crown and twice he refused it, it says. Sheer modesty. We offered it to him 139 times. Only after we doused ourselves with gasoline and lit a match did he agree to interrupt his restructuring of the book for Dracula, The Musical to heed our pleas and, as a bonus, instruct us in the niceties of the musical theater: how to arrive fashionably late, how to humiliate the cast, how to create an atmosphere of collegiality rivaled only by a board meeting at Hewlett-Packard, how to give interviews that, for sheer fantastic invention, rival anything out of Lewis Carroll.
But why be churlish? I owe the man. He wrote our show, ate my dinner, married my wife and fathered my children. For all I know, he may have even written this letter.
Marshall Brickman
Co-author of
Jersey Boys
New York City
No word yet on whether McAnuff intends to claim songwriting credits for any of the Four Seasons' tunes used in the show.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, California, Des McAnuff, Jersey Boys, Jukebox Musical, Marshall Brickman, Musical, San Francisco, Touring Production
