Anything Goes To Stephen Sondheim
UPDATED September 30, 2010
Earlier today,
Roundabout Theatre Company announced that
Kathleen Marshall's upcoming Broadway revival of
Cole Porter's classic musical
Anything Goes would be staged at its newly rechristened
Stephen Sondheim Theatre.
As previously announced,
Sutton Foster will star as Reno Sweeney.
Joel Grey will portray Moonface Martin, it was announced on September 30. The rest of the cast is yet to be announced.
In addition to using the revised 1987 book from
Timothy Crouse and
John Weidman, this mounting of
Anything Goes will be produced in its full glory,
according to Roundabout's Artistic Director
Todd Haimes. (Is Haimes taking a cue from frequent criticism that too many recent Broadway revivals have been whittled down to chamber pieces that are spare on the orchestrations?)
Anything Goes made its Great White Way debut at the
Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre) on November 21, 1934. With original libretto written by
Guy Bolton and
P.G. Wodehouse.
Ethel Merman triumphantly led its titanic cast of more than 60 (which included a little known actress named
Vivian Vance, who'd later find fame as Ethel Mertz on "I Love Lucy"). The production would close nearly one year later on November 16, 1935, after 420 performances.
The
first and only Broadway revival of
Anything Goes was mounted in 1987 by Lincoln Center at its
Vivian Beaumont Theater. Using Crouse and Weidman's revived book, the show starred
Patti LuPone as Reno opposite
Howard McGillin as Billy Crocker, along with the late
Bill McCutcheon as Moonface Martin and
Anthony Heald as Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Together, they would earn four of this revival's 10 Tony nominations. In addition to McCutcheon scoring a win, the revival won three Tonys, including for Best Revival. The revival of
Anything Goes lasted nearly twice as long as the original, closing on September 3, 1989, after 784 performances.
Will today's audiences get a similar kick out of the upcoming revival? With one of Porter's best scores, count me among those hoping it's positively delovely.
Previews begin on March 10, 2010, with opening night set for April 7.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations 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: Anything Goes, Broadway, Cole Porter, First Word On New Show, Kathleen Marshall, Musical, Revival, Roundabout Theatre, Sutton Foster
Getting The Grease Out: And Another One DownWhat is it with this economy and Broadway shows? They don't seem to go together these days.
Today,
Playbill.com announced that
Kathleen Marshall's revival of
Grease is closing January 4, 2009. It will have played 554 regular performances.
Regular readers will recall that
I didn't have very many nice things to say about the show that had its dubious beginnings in a 2007 reality television show called, "
You're The One That I Want." The low-rated program launched
Max Crumm and
Laura Osnes into their fifteen minutes of fame. They were replaced this past July by runners-up
Derek Keeling and
Ashley Spencer.
Despite a bit of a boon at the box office last week, when its capacity skyrocketed to 85.6% -- no doubt thanks in part to the Thanksgiving holiday -- the show has been hovering, appropriately enough, between the mid-fifties to mid-sixties in other recent weeks.
For fans of
Grease, there's always the national tour, which launched just yesterday at the
Providence Performing Arts Center with
Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Ashley Spencer, Broadway, Closing Notices, Derek Keeling, Grease, Kathleen Marshall, Laura Osnes, Max Crumm, Musical, Revival, Taylor Hicks, Touring Production
Grease (The SOB Review) - Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York, NY*1/2 (out of ****)Turns out the reality show casting of
Max Crumm and
Laura Osnes was the least of
Grease director
Kathleen Marshall's problems.
Given the fact that the stage version of
Grease is really more of a vignette-heavy ensemble piece with nominal leads, the truth is, Crumm and Osnes are just fine.
While their talent suggests that they could very well be more than just a flash in the pan, the accompanying
Grease has lost its sizzle and relevancy.
Yes, Marshall has tried her best to give this a fresh kick. Her trademark choreography helps, especially in frenzied, spirited numbers like "Summer Nights," "Greased Lightning" and "Born To Hand Jive."
But in an age when messages are emanating throughout Broadway about the importance of being true to yourself and embracing who you are -- whether through the green power of Elphaba in
Wicked or the triumphant self-love of Celie in
The Color Purple or even in the omigod girldom ode of Elle in
Legally Blonde (not to mention throughout theatres nationally via the highly successful
High School Musical tour) -- the underlying message in
Grease sets women back fifty years.
And the worst part of all this? It's clearly being marketed as a
family musical. The SRO audience during my performance was about half pre-tween.
No matter that
Grease was written by
Jim Jacobs and
Warren Casey in the pre-AIDS hedonistic halcyon days -- Rydell High's students are freely imbibing, chain-smoking, graffiti-desecrating and backseat-carhopping without any consequence (in stark contrast to this year's Tony-winning Best Musical
Spring Awakening). Sure, there's the moment where Betty Rizzo thinks she's preggers, but it turns out to be a false alarm. When originally penned, the tuner was aimed squarely at those who lived through the period. Now it's aimed at those who aren't yet capable of having one.
There are worse things the show can do, and it does. It tells the prepubescent girls in attendance that if you want to keep your guy, you must conform to your boy's ideal as epitomized when Sandy relents to peer pressure in becoming the antithesis of
Sandra Dee. What may have seemed satirical just a few short years into the
women's liberation movement when
Grease first debuted on Broadway back in 1972, now rings hollow.
Contrary to
Ben Brantley's brilliantly funny review, the show doesn't look as cheap as he claims (
Derek McLane's set design is much more innovative than that offered in Kathleen Marshall's acclaimed retelling of
Wonderful Town, and the costume and lighting designs created by
Martin Pakledinaz and
Kenneth Posner, respectively, serve to enhance the production). It's just that the characters actually are. Cheap, that is. They're all drawn so narrowly that nuance is most definitely not the word for the show.
The largely capable cast does what it can given the material. That includes Crumm and Osnes, who at least look like they could be high school students and hold their own among a sea of decidedly grown-up, standout faces, including
Jenny Powers (Rizzo),
Matthew Saldivar (Kenickie),
Kirsten Wyatt (Frenchie) and
Robyn Hurder (Marty).
As noted above, the original
Grease was written as more of an ensemble piece. I dare say that without the additions of the film's score -- "Sandy," "Hopelessly Devoted To You" and "You're The One That I Want" -- the characters of Danny and Sandy would essentially have been marginalized.
Regardless of those additions,
Grease just doesn't seem worthy of being revived. And that's the word from SOB.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Grease tickets.Related Stories:How To Get Out Grease (August 24, 2007)
Grease: Slimed By Critics (August 20, 2007)
Tonight, Grease Is The Word (August 19, 2007)
Starring Roles Whether Or Not They're The Ones You Want (August 16, 2007)
Hairspray's Stunt Casting Sticks (August 14, 2007)
Broadway Grosses: Greasing The Skids (August 7, 2007)
Which Upcoming Broadway Musicals Will You See? (June 15, 2007)
Max And Laura Go Together (March 26, 2007)
Behind The Grease Paint (March 24, 2007)
Grease: The Ones That I Want (March 22, 2007)
Apparently Grease Is The Word At Ticketmaster (January 9, 2007)
Sandy And Danny: Who Are The Ones You Want? (January 6, 2007)
The Sound Of Praise (November 16, 2006)
It's A Reality: The Sound Of Music Revival Comes Alive In London Tonight (November 15, 2006)
I've Got Chills, They're Multiplying: NBC Reality Show to Cast Grease (August 8, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Film, Grease, Kathleen Marshall, Laura Osnes, Max Crumm, Musical, Revival, The SOB Review
Tonight, Grease Is The WordThirty-five years ago,
Grease -- a slightly raunchy little musical about high school lovin' -- opened at Broadway's now defunct
Eden Theatre. Now, a second revival is about to open on the Great White Way at the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
This is no longer the same
Grease as the one that opened nearly two generations ago. While the major difference getting the most attention is the method used to cast the 2007 incarnation via a reality television show ("
You're The One That I Want"), the larger departure from the original is its incorporation of music written especially for the
1978 film version.
Among the musical additions are three major hit songs from the summer of '78: "Grease," "Hopelessly Devoted To You" and "You're The One That I Want."
The latter two tunes were written by
John Farrar, who's suddenly enjoying quite a summer on Broadway. While he never had a Rialto credit to his name prior to this year, earlier this young theatrical season, he literally scored success with his contributions to
Xanadu.
But as noted, expect most of the critical response to focus on
Grease's unconventionally cast Danny (
Max Crumm) and Sandy (
Laura Osnes), as well as whether director/choreographer
Kathleen Marshall suffered a major misstep or engineered a stroke of genius. It was just over a year ago when it was first announced that the
Grease revival would be cast via a reality show.
Stay tuned as I provide a critics' capsule tomorrow.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Grease tickets.Related Stories:Starring Roles Whether Or Not They're The Ones You Want (August 16, 2007)
Hairspray's Stunt Casting Sticks (August 14, 2007)
Broadway Grosses: Greasing The Skids (August 7, 2007)
Which Upcoming Broadway Musicals Will You See? (June 15, 2007)
Max And Laura Go Together (March 26, 2007)
Behind The Grease Paint (March 24, 2007)
Grease: The Ones That I Want (March 22, 2007)
Apparently Grease Is The Word At Ticketmaster (January 9, 2007)
Sandy And Danny: Who Are The Ones You Want? (January 6, 2007)
The Sound Of Praise (November 16, 2006)
It's A Reality: The Sound Of Music Revival Comes Alive In London Tonight (November 15, 2006)
I've Got Chills, They're Multiplying: NBC Reality Show to Cast Grease (August 8, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Grease, John Farrar, Kathleen Marshall, Laura Osnes, Max Crumm, Musical, Opening Night, Reality Television, Revival, Televsion, You're The One That I Want
Broadway Grosses: Greasing The SkidsSay what you want about the dubious manner in which
Grease cast its Danny (
Max Crumm) and Sandy (
Laura Osnes), but it doesn't seem to matter at the box office.
Last week, for the second week in a row, the tuner -- which is still in previews -- was nearly sold out. Reaching 99.3% capacity,
Grease also had the second highest average ticket price at a whopping $104.21 -- second only to longtime champ
Jersey Boys. In total, the musical earned a very respectable $887,564, up about $5K from the week before.
Presumably, producer
David Ian is laughing all the way to the bank, while distinguished director/choreographer
Kathleen Marshall -- whose reputation is on the line -- is enjoying a laugh at all the naysayers' expense.
But will she also enjoy the
last laugh? Find out after
Grease opens at the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre on August 19 when many expect critics to inveigh with their reviews.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Which Upcoming Broadway Musicals Will You See? (June 15, 2007)
Max And Laura Go Together (March 26, 2007)
Behind The Grease Paint (March 24, 2007)
Grease: The Ones That I Want (March 22, 2007)
Apparently Grease Is The Word At Ticketmaster (January 9, 2007)
Sandy And Danny: Who Are The Ones You Want? (January 6, 2007)
The Sound Of Praise (November 16, 2006)
It's A Reality: The Sound Of Music Revival Comes Alive In London Tonight (November 15, 2006)
I've Got Chills, They're Multiplying: NBC Reality Show to Cast Grease (August 8, 2006)
Labels: Box Office, Broadway, Grease, Kathleen Marshall, Laura Osnes, Max Crumm, Musical, Revival
Max And Laura Go Together
As I revealed last Thursday, the
two were my personal picks for the upcoming $10 million
Kathleen Marshall-helmed
Grease revival that will land at the
Brooks Atkinson Theatre on July 24; opening night is currently set for August 16. For once, it appears that a production of
Grease will enjoy near age-appropriate talent -- for the first time, I'm actually considering buying a ticket for the show.
What do you think? Are you now compelled to visit Broadway this summer to see Max and Laura? Or will you avoid the show altogether? I invite you to vote in my latest SOB Poll on the right hand column of this site and then weigh-in with your comments.
So what were they saying in the hometowns of the dynamic duo this morning? Here are links to today's
Arizona Republic (Phoenix) and
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) stories.
Beyond the announcement of who captured the most votes to win the roles, one of the more interesting aspects of last night's show was the introduction of the new cast members. Unfortunately, we were only told the cast members' character names, so I'm still waiting to see the list of bona fide actors/chorus members who have been selected.
But a nice touch was showing the new stars their names in lights over Times Square. I'm genuinely excited by the selections of Max and Laura. Congratulations to you both!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, Grease, Kathleen Marshall, Laura Osnes, Max Crumm, Musical, Revival, Television
Behind The Grease Paint
As you might expect, local media from the contestants' hometowns are providing plenty of coverage of their favorite sons and daughters. Here are links to local stories that have been written about each of them on the eve of the big evening that will propel two of them to a Broadway stage this summer:
- Max Crumm, Arizona Republic (Phoenix) first and second stories, March 24.
- Laura Osnes, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), March 23, and Pioneer Press (St. Paul), March 19.
- Austin Miller, Houston Chronicle, March 22, and The Facts (Brazoria County, TX), March 8.
- Ashley Spencer, The Independent (Masillon, OH), March 18, and Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 18.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Grease, Kathleen Marshall, Laura Osnes, Max Crumm, Revival, Television
Grease: The Ones That I Want
OK, so the television show that's about to select Broadway's new
Grease stars -- Sandy and Danny -- was not quite the
electrifying experience I had hoped for. But I did find myself tuning in whenever I happened to be home.
And when I did tune in, I found myself rooting for the underdogs. I must not have been alone.
Max Crumm and
Laura Osnes have transformed themselves from longshots into finalists.
Sure,
Austin Miller is a great entertainer. His status as a veteran musical actor has been unquestioned from the start of the show. Indeed, he played the romantic lead role of Link in the original touring production of
Hairspray; when I saw the show, I was struck by his terrific on-stage presence. Yet his sparkle never quite translated through television.
And sure,
Ashley Spencer possesses that certain
Meg Ryan girl-next-door look. She even has pretty decent pipes on her.
But my votes go to Max and Laura.
Simply put, Max
looks and sounds like Danny Zuko. Plus he's age appropriate. I think he's the reality show's ultimate find and has the greatest potential for moving viewers to actually buying tickets to see
Kathleen Marshall's stage production.
As for Laura, she may not have Ashley's blonde mane, but she more than makes up for it in charm and innocence that her competitor just can't touch. Maybe it's the fact that she's not from LA. To me, Laura epitomizes Sandy.
Now, I realize that all this is a moot point for many of you. According to my recent SOB Poll, 38.2% of you either refused to watch any of "
Grease: You're The One That I Want" or it simply wasn't of any interest to you in the first place.
But to the 55.9% of you who either watch the program regularly or at least on occasion, as well as the additional 5.9% of you who said you'd finally succumb to watching when it came down to the final four, I'll be interested in hearing whether your picks match mine. And more importantly, do you see yourself buying a ticket to the revival that opens this summer?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:
Labels: Broadway, Grease, Hairspray, Kathleen Marshall, Musical, Revival, SOB Poll, Television
