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Daly received accolades when she performed in this new Stephen Wadsworth-helmed revival first staged at Washington's Kennedy Center earlier this year. Since only a casting notice has been issued for Broadway, there is no further word at this time as to which, if any, of Daly's DC co-stars may make the transfer.
While Playbill has stated that the production will arrive on Broadway in late May -- too late for 2011 Tony nomination consideration -- it has only surmised that the play will be housed at Manhattan Theatre Club's (MTC) Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. There has been no confirmation by MTC.
The Kennedy Center described their 2010 production as follows:
Tony winner for Best Play, Master Class stars Emmy and Tony Award–winning actress Tyne Daly as Maria Callas. The play is a portrait of the opera diva told through her recollections of the glories, triumphs, and tragedies of her own life and career. Her voice is gone, her lover is long departed, and her sanity could possibly be next. All she has is a lonely itinerary of master classes and luggage packed full of the memories that are her only travel companion. Her students are the hapless targets of her sharp tongue, while she remains the picture of innocent aristocracy. Master Class shows that while the actress may have left the stage, she will never give up her audience.
As part of its promotion of the revival, the Kennedy Center offered the following video presentation with McNally:
Under Leonard Foglia's direction, Master Class first played Broadway in a lengthy 598 performance run, opening at the John Golden Theatre November 5, 1995, and closing June 29, 1997. Zoe Caldwell earned Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her turn as the opera diva. Audra McDonald won a Tony for her portrayal as Sharon, while Karen Kay Cody earned a Theatre World Award as Sophie -- her only Broadway credit. Other cast members included David Loud, Jay Hunter Morris and Michael Friel.
The $64,000 question is whether a revival presented as part of a subscription series (meaning it would have a limited run) and that opens after this season's Tony nomination cutoff will even be remembered a year later for the 2012 Tonys. If Daly provides a Master Class in acting, it just might have a shot.
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No sooner do I post my SOB Review for the outrageously funny La Bête than the revival announces an early closing for January 9, 2011 -- five weeks earlier than originally planned.
By the time the comedy closes, it will have played 101 regular performances -- 76 more than the original production that bombed back in 1991. The current production wasn't even attracting 60% capacity at the box office last week. Unbelievable given all the talent involved.
Personally, I'm downright disappointed that this play didn't do better. It was incredibly well-crafted by director Matthew Warchus and brilliantly acted, particularly by Mark Rylance, who deserves a Tony nomination for his virtuoso work.
If there is a saving grace, it's that Rylance has indicated that he's set to begin rehearsals for a Broadway incarnation of Jerusalem, a play that blew away virtually everyone who had a chance to see it in London earlier this year. Rylance would reprise his Olivier Award-winning turn as Johnny "Rooster" Byron, and quite possibly do it at the very same theatre where he's currently treading the boards for La Bête.
To get a taste of what else to expect from Rylance, here's the trailer from the London production of Jerusalem:
After seeing Rylance in La Bête, I'm already salivating for his next star turn. If you haven't already seen La Bête, do yourself a favor and get to the Music Box Theatre before it closes in January. You can thank me later.
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In one of this year's most inspired casting decisions, the producers of the current revival of La Cage Aux Follesannounced today that Harvey Fierstein will replace Tony Award-winning actor Douglas Hodge as Albin starting February 15, 2011, for twelve weeks.
Fierstein won his third Tony Award for writing the book for La Cage Aux Follesback in 1984. The tuner would not only win that year's Tony for Best Musical, but would go on to become the only musical in Tony history to win Best Revival for each successive production -- both in 2005 and again this year.
Surprisingly, for all his acting honors, Fierstein has never before acted in a production of La Cage. His presence come February will certainly make me want to return again.
The only question remains, who will replace Kelsey Grammer after he leaves the show on February 13? If the producers really want to carry their inspiration to the Nth degree, how about bringing on Arthur Laurents, director of the original production? He may be a cantankerous senior and may not have liked the current incarnation, but it would be a hoot to see him tackle the stage.
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So much for any additional life support for A Life In The Theatre. Sadly, it's time to write the obit as they're pulling the plug more than a month early.
Today, a closing notice was posted for the limited runrevival of David Mamet's slight, 33 year old work presented for the very first time on Broadway this fall. The show will close on November 28.
On paper, it certainly sounded brilliant, particularly with Neil Pepe directing Patrick Stewart and T.R. Knight, both extraordinarily gifted actors in their own right. Yet, it seemed extremely tiny, even in its smallish Broadway house. It also seemed woefully thin, not only to me, but also to a hostofcritics.
Even worse, the show has been languishing near the bottom of the weekly grosses for the past coupleweeks (and I'm sure this week's box office totals will bear similar results). In fact, with one notable exception, A Life In The Theatre was not only the lowest grossing show on Broadway for the week ending October 31 ($218,150), but also at the bottom in attracting capacity crowds at 39.3%.
When the show closes, it will have performed 56 regular performances. As Ben Brantley of The New York Times has so eloquently stated, "And now when I see a good production Off Broadway, I shudder to think that it may soon be pushed onto a big, unloving stage where it may well die from exposure." As much as I love Broadway, not every play or musical -- including ones I love -- belongs there.
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Up until yesterday, Daniel Sullivan's revival of The Merchant Of Venice was scheduled for a November 7 opening on Broadway. But late in the day, it was announced that the play will not open as scheduled, and that an announcement will be issued next week on a new opening night for the show.
The delay is due to an unplanned temporary departure for "personal family reasons" by Lily Rabe, who plays Portia. Since the show must go on, Rabe's understudy, Kim Martin-Cotten, is set to cover Rabe's role in her absence. No word (yet) on whether press previews are continuing while Martin-Cotten performs.
Here's wishing Rabe and her family the best.
Update: It was revealed over the past week that Lily Rabe's mother Jill Clayburgh passed away after a long battle with leukemia. Rabe returned to the play on Sunday for the scheduled opening, but the press opening has now been scheduled for November 13.
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Early reports yesterday emanating from the usually reliable Deadline.com simply got it wrong. As part of its announcement that Sutherland would be making his Great White Way debut in the play, it said Schreiber would be part of the revival.
Within a relatively short period of time, The New York Times' Patrick Healy singlehandedly debunked that by noting:
The revival was also rumored to be reuniting Mr. Mosher with Liev Schreiber, his View From The Bridge star. Mr. Mosher said in an interview that he talked about the play briefly with Mr. Schreiber last spring, but they never discussed him joining the cast.
Healy broke the news that Jason Patric -- son of Championship Season playwright Jason Miller (who knew?) and friend of Sutherland -- would be starring in the revival, along with Chris Noth and comedian Jim Gaffigan.
The original production of That Championship Season was quite a winner itself starting with a cast that included Richard Dysart, Charles Durning, Paul Sorvino, Walter McGinn and Michael McGuire under A.J. Antoon's direction. After first opening at Broadway's Booth Theatre on September 14, 1972, the production would earn five Tony nominations. In addition to winning the 1973 Tony Award for Best Play along with the Pulitzer Prize, Antoon and Sorvino were honored with Tonys.
Will the 2011 staging, which is expected at a Shubert Theatre sometime in March, prove to be a champion as well? Or will it be viewed as too dated, as Michael Riedel suggests near the end of his column today in discussing why Schreiber passed on the project? Stay tuned.
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A Life In The Theatre (The SOB Review) - Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
** (out of ****)
In recent years, Atlantic Theatre Artistic Director Neil Pepe has been with his theatre's co-founder David Mamet through thick and through thin. And for that, I'm grateful, given the works Pepe has breathed exciting new life into.
But nothing has been nearly as thin as Mamet's A Life In The Theatre, a mildly amusing, intermittently humorous and even potentially poignant play about two actors at the opposite ends of their careers. If this work was a real life, you'd think it had overdosed on plavix, making its blood so thin that its veins are left as brittle as Mamet's surprisingly stilted dialogue -- an unfortunate coincidence that has rendered this inert revival as surprisingly lifeless.
How thin can this show be? Running at an exasperatingly long 90 minutes, A Life In The Theatre is divided into dozens of short, distinctive vignettes punctuated by what seems like at least 15 minutes worth of changes in scenery. In fact, Santo Loquasto's scenic design and the stage hands who move it essentially become this revival's third character.
All of what little action there is takes place in the same theatre. However, it's drawn out over an endless, if unlikely, series of plays in which both Robert (Patrick Stewart) and John (T.R. Knight) are continually cast opposite one another.
At first, budding thespian John seems eager to accept the sage advice of Robert, an actor in the twilight of his career. The interplay between Stewart and Knight is at its best when the two are backstage, even if most of the play's funniest moments are reserved for the mishaps onstage.
What makes A Life In The Theatre particularly thin is that Mamet never seems interested in going beyond the superficial relationship between the two actors. Beyond painting one actor's ascent and the resulting jealousies of the other, Mamet misses the opportunity to explore who these men beneath the greasepaint are. Leaving them rather one-dimensional, Mamet deprives the audience the chance to become invested in who Robert and John are.
There is A Life In The Theatre lurking somewhere in this revival, but it's pulse is just too faint.
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Up until yesterday, all we knew was that Brian Bedford would reprise his turn doing double duty directing and starring as Lady Bracknell. Bedford's production of this social farce involving mistaken identities and love was first performed north of the border at Canada's Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 2009.
Roundabout's upcoming production will mark the eighth Broadway revival for the comedy first produced in 1895 and then again in 1902, both at the Empire Theatre. While Bedford is not the first male actor to portray Lady Bracknell, he is the first on Broadway, following a long line of actresses including Estelle Winwood (1936), Margaret Rutherford (1947) and Elizabeth Wilson (1977).
Perhaps the most revered Broadway revival of Wilde's classic work came from stage icon John Gielgud, who initially directed and starred as John Worthing in a British version staged in 1939. It took him eight more years (and World War II) before he mounted his 1947 revival on Broadway in which every cast member earned the Tony Award for Outstanding Foreign Company.
The Importance Of Being Earnest will begin previews at the American Airlines Theatre on December 17, with an opening date set for January 13, 2011. The limited run is currently scheduled to close on March 6, 2011.
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But the gasps may have been further induced by something beyond just that simple announcement. Countless tweets in the twitterverse were incredulous about Hoffman's casting, saying he is too young to play Willy Loman, the titular salesman.
Nonesense, I immediately retorted. Hoffman is an actor who is wise beyond his years, and to be honest, has an appearance that can easily belie his 43 years. And just as fast as I could say that, my friend with the encyclopedic mind -- the ever resourceful Kevin Daly of Theatre Aficionado At Large -- quickly pointed out that the legendary Lee J. Cobb was a mere 37 years when he created the iconic role in the first Broadway production in 1949.
While Cobb didn't even receive a Tony nod for his Willy, that premiere production would sweep Tonys in each of the six categories for which it was nominated. First opening at Broadway's Morosco Theatre on February 10, 1949, Death Of A Salesman would win Tonys for Best Play, Best Author (Arthur Miller), Best Director (Elia Kazan), Best Featured Actor (Arthur Kennedy), Best Scenic Design (Jo Mielziner) and Best Producers (Kermit Bloomgarden and Walter Fried). Perhaps even more prestigious was that the production -- which closed November 18, 1950 after 742 performances -- was honored with the 1949 Pulitzer Prize.
Little wonder this is among Miller's most revered works. And little wonder that so many other great actors hold out no greater hope than to sink their enterprising teeth into Willy Loman.
Yet surprisingly, the first Broadway revival didn't come for another 25 years when George C. Scott took on the role at age 47. With Scott also directing, Death Of A Salesman opened at the Circle in the Square Theatre on June 26, 1975. Although the cast included James Farentino as Biff and Harvey Keitel as Happy, the production would earn exactly one Tony nomination: for Scott's acting. The production closed after 71 performances.
The second revival came about just nine years later, opening at the Broadhurst Theatre on March 29, 1984. A then 46 year old Dustin Hoffman portrayed Willy alongside John Malkovich as Biff and Stephen Lang as Happy. The revival would earn the Tony for Best Reproduction. While it closed on July 1, 1984, after only 97 performances, the production would enjoy a return engagement at the Broadhurst for another 88 performances (September 14-November 18, 1984).
Perhaps the reason why so many think that Willy Loman is a man closing in on the twilight of his years is because of the last exceptional actor to make the role his own, Brian Dennehy. When the last Broadway revival of Death Of A Salesman was mounted by Robert Falls in 1999, Dennehy was already 60. But that didn't stop the theatre world from showering his performance with praise and accolades. Dennehy would win both the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his portrayal.
That Death Of A Salesman first opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on February 22, 1999. Packing a punch at the box office, the revival would enjoy 274 performances before closing on November 7, 1999. Its cast included Kevin Anderson as Biff, Ted Koch as Happy, Elizabeth Franz as Linda, Howard Witt as Charlie, and also Kate Buddeke (The Woman). All totaled, the revival earned six Tony nominations and scored wins for Best Revival, Falls, Franz and Dennehy.
Since that landmark production has become the gold standard by which most contemporary audiences judge Miller's play, it stands to reason that many can't conceive of Philip Seymour Hoffman as Willy Loman. Also, considering that Death Of A Salesman will herald Hoffman's first time back on Broadway's boards since earning a Tony nod for his effective portrayal as Brian Dennehy's son, James Tyrone, Jr. in 2003's Long Day's Journey Into Night, and it's no wonder the theatre world was gasping.
Of course, since that appearance, Hoffman has gone on to win an Academy Award for his breathtaking work as Truman Capote. I have little doubt he'll do just fine with Willy Loman.
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The proverbial pound of flesh now being paid for tickets is particularly ironic given how Daniel Sullivan's revival was first presented in Central Park this summer by the Public Theater for free.
It's been seven years since Pacino was last on Broadway's boards in another Jewish role as Harod in Salome, one I thought bordered on vile stereotypes. Pacino will be joined in The Merchant Of Venice by a large cast including Lily Rabe as Portia, Byron Jennings as Antonio, Jesse L. Martin as Gratiano, Christopher Fitzgerald as Launcelot and Charles Kimbrough as the Prince of Aragon.
The official Merchant Of Venice website describes the show as follows:
The Merchant Of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s most thrilling and controversial plays, rich with love and betrayal, forgiveness and revenge. The Jewish moneylender Shylock makes a loan to Antonio, a Christian merchant. Their loan contract, steeped in prejudice and centered on the play's infamous “pound of flesh,” sweeps the two men and everyone in their worlds into chaos. Only the insightful Portia can imagine a way forward, but for her and those she loves, even “the quality of mercy” has its limits.
Despite the lingering controversy over the work, just try getting a decent seat. And with only 78 performances scheduled, you may as well forget about any discounts for the production.
The Merchant Of Venice opens on November 7 and runs through January 9, 2011. (I'll be seeing the show not long after it opens.)
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So goes "And The Money Kept Rolling In," from Evita. It's an appropriate metaphor for the breathtaking, rapid-paced revival currently being mounted by the Twin Cities' Theater Latté Da.
Helmed with muscular invention by estimable director Peter Rothstein, Evita could very well be his most ambitious work yet. Evita not only steams across the stage like a speeding locomotive, but it also manages to soar to high-flying heights for this highly innovative theatre company.
Never one to rest on his laurels as one of the Minnesota theatre's premier directors, Rothstein doesn't seem content to let his audience rest either. Indeed, Evita zips by in a quick two hours and twenty minutes (intermission included). Much of the breathtaking propulsion is set by choreographer Michael Matthew Ferrell's entrancing tango, in which every actor is summoned to partake.
Fortunately, Rothstein has found exceptional talent to keep up with nary a breath.
As Evita herself, Zoe Pappas offers a towering if often overpowering performance. But that seems completely justified given Eva Peron's own commanding reach for fortune and fame. Pappas invites them in as a first-rate triple threat. She demonstrates enormous confidence and competence in finding the Argentine First Lady's subtle shadings. Pappas' vibrant singing voice could easily fill an auditorium ten times the size of the McKnight, and her dancing prowess is one rarely seen in leading ladies.
Yet it's the enormously charismatic Jared Oxborough whose little touch of star quality grabs hold of you long after you leave the theatre. As Che, Oxborough infuses his narration with so much star power that it's a wonder he's not performing on a Broadway stage. Blessed with natural charm and an intoxicating singing voice, Oxborough makes it seem so effortless. It came as a shock for me to learn that this gifted actor recently graduated from college where he was better known for his agility on the ice (as in hockey). He practically skates circles around the rest of the cast.
While not perfect, there is much to adore about this Evita -- arguably the best and most satisfying of musical collaborations between Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Musical director Denise Prosek manages to make her quartet sound like a full orchestra. Rick Polenek's monumental scenic design sets a new benchmark in excellence for the company, supplemented handsomely by Paul Whitaker's wonderfully evocative lighting. And Rich Hamson's impeccable costume design ensures that this Evita is dressed to the nines.
As for the tune referenced at the top?
Well, fortunately for Twin Cities audiences, there is no blink or you'll miss it. Excellent advance ticket sales already came rolling in, enabling Evita to extend its St. Paul engagement by another two weeks through November 14, 2010.
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Tomorrow evening (October 7), Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Driving Miss Daisyfinally makes its Broadway debut after first premiering Off-Broadway 23 years ago.
With David Esbjornson behind the wheel to steer the play, this production has already become a very hot ticket because of its three top-drawer, Tony-winning actors. Vanessa Redgrave will portray Daisy Werthan, James Earl Jones plays her chauffeur and friend Hoke Colburn and Boyd Gaines returns to Broadway as Daisy's son Boolie, who insists his mother's car keys be taken away.
A timeless American play, which inspired the beloved Academy Award-winning film, Driving Miss Daisy tells the affecting story of the decades-long relationship between a stubborn Southern matriarch and her compassionate chauffeur. Their iconic tale of pride, changing times and the transformative power of friendship has warmed the hearts of millions, and is being performed for the first time on a Broadway stage.
Before I ever saw that Oscar-winning film, I caught Driving Miss Daisy on a West End stage in 1988. I was fortunate to see the late Dame Wendy Hiller and a young Clarke Peters in the two primary roles. It didn't matter that the set design was incredibly spare because the two of them were simply magnificent. It remains one of the most memorable nights I've ever enjoyed at the theatre.
Previews for this new "strictly limited engagement" begin October 7 at the John Golden Theatre. The show opens October 25 and is only slated to run through January 29, 2011.
To see this trio of stage greats demonstrate their acting prowess, is it any wonder that many performances are already selling out?
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Mrs. Warren's Profession (The SOB Review) - American Airlines Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York City, New York
**1/2 (out of ****)
Call the cops!
For a play that was raided and shut down by the New York Police when first mounted on Broadway over 100 years ago, Mrs. Warren's Profession isn't just the oldest in the world, it may have been among the boldest as drawn by playwright George Bernard Shaw through Doug Hughes' revisionist direction.
As delivered in a bravura performance by the impeccable Cherry Jones, Mrs. Kitty Warren has rationalized her vocation to a degree that it's almost impossible not to give credence to her forceful if flawed logic. For Kitty Warren never seems to doubt that she's vanquished over the drudgery of working class labor, turning the tables on all who've second guessed just who's being exploited.
Indeed, the proud Kitty Warren is supremely confident that hers is a truly noble profession. She is particularly proud of its provision of the very best for her beloved, if rarely seen, daughter Vivie (a hardboiled yet shrill Sally Hawkins in her Broadway debut).
Kitty has been running a string of bordellos on the European continent. But ironically, Vivie has become accustomed to a proper upper class English lifestyle and has taken on an affected air of arrogance.and moral superiority all while Kitty has been plying her natural-born wares to ensure her daughter's very comfort and education.
However, Vivie's most volatile lesson is yet to come. She is about to learn that everything in her haughty existence has been made possible by her mother's very profession. And just when she's willing to forgive what she perceives as Kitty's past transgressions, she learns that the brothels still feature her mother as the star attraction.
As a harsh critic of capitalism's underbelly, Shaw offers Mrs. Warren's Profession as one of his most potent polemics against the clash of classes in Victorian society. As Hughes' interpretation here makes it appear that Shaw has overlooked the inherent exploitation of selling one's body, if not one's very soul, his reasoning is saved by the extraordinary talents of Cherry Jones.
It's to Jones' enormous credit that she imbues her Mrs. Warren with such warmth, passion, style and grace in making Shaw's arguments, that our hearts break for her as she faces potential rejection from her own daughter. But as Vivie, Hawkins offers a brittle performance as she rethinks her own moral code.
With ladies like these to fill your evenings, Mrs. Warren's Profession may turn tricks with everything you've ever thought about the demimonde.
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After a solid run in London that concluded earlier this month, the revival began previews at Broadway's Music Box Theatre just last week (September 23) and opens October 14 for a limited run through February 13, 2011.
Since I've already provided a snapshot of the play here, I'll simply leave you with the brand, spanking new trailer above, appropriately attached in part to a London taxi cab.
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Dearest Wheedle describes the choice role as "an aging, drunken and sexually voracious movie star. The character is one of Williams' great stage monsters."
Later yesterday, The New York Times' Patrick Healy (sorry, no new nicknames I know of for this reliable reporter as of yet) confirmed that the production would move forward in the fall of 2011, adding that it would be under the watchful eye of estimable director David Cromer.
This production will mark Kidman's first Broadway appearance since her notorious debut in The Blue Room(1998-99). If Yank!comes to fruition during Broadway's 2011-12 Theatrical Season, then Cromer will have two major works on the Great White Way next year. As Cromer proved to Chicago audiences earlier this year, he has a gift for pinpointing and illuminating Williams' emotional core.
The first Broadway production of Sweet Bird Of Youth in 1959 was directed by Elia Kazan and starred a 34 year old Geraldine Page opposite the similarly aged Paul Newman as Chance. That luminary cast also included Sidney Blackmer as Boss Finley and such future stars as Bruce Dern, Diana Hyland and Rip Torn. Kazan, Page and Torn would also receive Tony nominations (Torn received a Theatre World Award for his portrayal of Tom Junior). The mounting would enjoy a 375 performance run at the Martin Beck Theatre (now the Al Hirschfeld), opening on March 10, 1959, and lasting through January 30, 1960. Page would go on to earn an Oscar nomination for the 1962 film version.
The first and only Broadway revival of the work came nearly 35 years ago for a very brief 48 performance run at the Harkness Theatre (which was razed in 1977). Edwin Sherin's direction tilted the show with a lopsided disparity in its leads' ages, pitting the 61 year old great Irene Worth opposite a relatively youthful 32 year old Christopher Walken. While the show was short-lived, Worth would earn her second of three Tony Awards.
With such a plum acting role capable of attracting acclaim and laurels, could Kidman see a Tony in her future? Stay tuned around June 2012.
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Despite earning mixedreviews, Promises Promises showed enormous box office promise right up through two weeks ago when the tuner was still grossing over $1 million in ticket sales.
The only times those figures ever went south of a cool million were when its much-loved leads -- Kristin Chenoweth and the Tony-nominated Sean Hayes -- were temporarily away. Initially, contracts for the duo were through December 26 of this year. In their closing notice announcement, Promises Promises producers indicated that they were able to extend those contracts through the January 2 closing date (although Chenoweth will be out October 15-27 and December 29-January 1).
With the exception of Tony-winner Katie Finneran, who stole the show as the deliriously funny Marge and who is leaving the show October 10 due to a pregnancy, all other principals are remaining with the production until it closes. Finneran's replacement, Molly Shannon, takes over October 12 for the balance of the performances. This will mark Shannon's Broadway debut.
Early on, this revival of Promises Promises made headlines as Hayes seemed unnecessarily targeted by a Newsweek reporter, who asserted that the actor's sexuality made him unbelievable as a romantic lead. Chenoweth fired back, labeling the gay reporter as "knee jerk homophobic." Then, when Hayes hosted the Tony Awards, he and Chenoweth enjoyed perhaps the strangest televised liplocksinceMichael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley. But no matter -- both only seemed to fuel box office demand.
While I certainly didn't hate the show, I didn't exactly love it, either. I was somewhere in the middle with my two-star review, mostly because I found the first act so incredibly lumbering, yet surprised in my delight with the second, buoyed by Finneran's charms. But as a fan of "The Apartment," which served as Promises Promises' source material, I was disappointed by how flat the musical's story fell. And the shoe-horning in of songs like "I Say A Little Prayer For You" and "A House Is Not A Home" just didn't work for me.
Still, I had hoped for a second act miracle for the production itself. Just as Finneran lifted the entire musical after Promises Promises' intermission, the thought of an inspired recasting of the leads along the lines of what was accomplished with A Little Night Music intrigued me. But those hopes were dashed as it appears that the production and creative team gave up on finding anyone suitable as a box office draw that could replace either of them. Instead, that same team appears to be limiting its focus on prepping another upcoming 60s-era revival, How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, for Broadway in the Spring of 2011.
But suppose for a moment that the show were to receive an 11th hour reprieve, whom would you cast as Chuck Baxter and Fran Kubelik?
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The Producers' Leo Bloom famously sang, "I wanna be a producer on Broadway."
Now thanks to an announcement yesterday from producer Ken Davenport, you can do it for as little as $100 per unit with a "minimum investment of 10 units."
Yes, you read correctly.
For as little as $1000 -- essentially the price of a few of The Producers' infamous premium tickets -- you'll not only receive a limited liability company interest in The Godspell, LLC, but you can also have your name listed on the Broadway poster outside the theatre and on the show's Web site.
Although a revival for Stephen Schwartz's musical Godspellwas initially planned (and then dropped) for the 2008-09 Theatrical Season, it was announced last December that Davenport would bring that "postponed" version to Broadway sometime in the fall of 2010. Now the impresario is saying he will take it to the streets in mounting the tuner in the spring or summer of 2011 as the "first ever community produced Broadway musical."
Director Daniel Goldstein remains attached to the upcoming production with Christopher Gattelli as choreographer. (Click here for my SOB story from July 2008 with added background on the show's history.)
Neither venue nor dates have been announced for the "Crowd-Funded" production. But suffice it to say with these latest developments, I'll be watching for developments day by day.
So dear readers, are you in? Please take a moment to vote in the following poll:
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I've read it so many times that I was almost beginning to believe it was true: that revivals of David Mamet works have long since become perennial events on Broadway.
Well, it isn't necessarily so.
Sure there was that Tony Award-winning Best Play Revival of Glengarry Glen Ross in 2005. But it wasn't really until the very recent 2008 Broadway revival of Speed-The-Plow that the Mamet machine really swung into gear. And summarily got stuck. Just weeks later, the blink or you'd miss it revival of American Buffalo largely opened to pans. In 2009, a revival of Oleanna opened to more receptive acclaim.
Now comes only the fifth Mamet revival of the last decade.
Frequent Mamet collaborator Neil Pepe is set to direct A Life in the Theatre with Patrick Stewart and T. R. Knight star as Robert and John, respectively -- two stage actors in a power struggle. Stewart is no stranger to the play, having performed as Robert on the West End opposite Joshua Jackson in 2005.
Although it has seen life in London and Off-Broadway, A Life In The Theatre has never before been mounted on Broadway. Until now. The official Web site describes the 33 year old play as follows:
A Life In The Theatre will be making its Broadway premiere. The play made its world premiere at The Goodman Theatre in Chicago in February of 1977 with Mike Nussbaum and Joe Mantegna and was directed by Gregory Mosher. The play opened off-Broadway on October 20, 1977 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre and ran for 288 performances. That production was directed by Gerald Gutierrez and starred Peter Evans and Ellis Rabb.
Describing life in the footlights from an actor’s point of view, A Life In The Theatre focuses on the relationship between two thespians: Robert, an older, experienced performer; and John, a relative newcomer. Though Robert’s guidance is welcomed by John at first, as the play progresses Robert falters as an actor and mentor, and John emerges as a mature actor. Mamet was inspired to write A Life In The Theatre by what he had observed backstage as well as by his own experiences in his early career as an actor.
Stewart, of course, is one of the foremost actors on either side of the Atlantic, and his participation alone would be enough to entice me to see A Life In The Theatre. But having witnessed Knight's impressive acting range on stage as both an amazing Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus and as Tim in Noises Off! -- both before he ever became known to television audiences as Dr. George O'Malley -- I can honestly say that I'm every bit as anxious to see him perform as I am his co-star.
Previews begin at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on September 21, with opening night set for October 12, 2010. The limited run will conclude on January 2, 2011.
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Rain: A Tribute To The Beatles Limited run extended through May 31, 2011 (Show will go on hiatus starting January 15 and reopen at Brooks Atkinson Theatre on February 8)
Rock Of Ages - Open-ended run (Show will go on hiatus starting January 9 and reopen at Helen Hayes Theatre in March)
As someone who has been involved in both politics and public relations, it's no wonder I love watching theatre. Good or bad, it's the raw energy of seeing a live performance that gets my adrenaline pumping. From the moment I saw my very first Broadway show ("Annie" in London in 1979), I was hooked. Now I see as many as 70 shows each year ranging from soaring musicals to two-hander plays. And these eyes just may be in an audience near you!
