Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going, Going...Gone!Charles Isherwood's downright
nostalgic piece in this morning's edition of
The New York Times serves as an excellent reminder that today's your last chance to see nine of the thirteen Broadway shows slated to close during January 2009.
Boeing-Boeing. Going. But a
45-week national tour is planned for take-off sometime this year.
Dividing The Estate. Going. But subtracting
Elizabeth Ashley from the cast, the ensemble will transfer to the
Hartford Stage in Connecticut come May.
Grease. Going. But the ongoing
North American tour with
Taylor Hicks as Teen Angel is about to play Chicago's Auditorium Theatre.
Hairspray. Going. But the Award-winning
London staging is going strong. Oh, and there's the sticky
non-Equity tour that's about to play such markets as Terre Haute (IN), Kalamazoo (MI) and Wabash (IN) for one nights only, but it does not share the Broadway credits (including direction, choreography or elaborate set designs) or talent.
Irving Berlin's White Christmas. Going. But producer
Kevin McCollum "
would love to bring the show back to Broadway" in the future, and the show will continue to live on during future holiday seasons throughout North America.
Liza's At The Palace...! Going. What?! You expected
more?! After two extensions??
Slava's Snowshow. Going.
13. Going. But there's "much interest in a
national and international tour," according to lead producer
Bob Boyett.
Young Frankenstein. Going. But
a tour is planned for this fall.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: 13, Boeing-Boeing, Broadway, Closings, Dividing The Estate, Grease, Hairspray, Liza's At The Palace, Slava's Snowshow, White Christmas, Young Frankenstein
Did Slava Have Critics Thinking There's No Business Like Snow Business?Yesterday, Russian clown
Slava Polunin -- known for his fluffy white stuff play -- finally had his Great White Way day. His
Slava's Snowshow opened at Broadway's
Helen Hayes Theatre under
Victor Kramer's direction. Reviews ran the gamut, with most criticism lodged against the steep ticket prices for the 90-minute show that includes an intermission.
Admitting that his "soul swooned slowly as I heard the snow falling faintly through the universe of the Helen Hayes,"
Charles Isherwood of
The New York Times was smitten: [T]he show has retained the feel of a handmade diversion, modest in its means but powerful in its ability to induce waves of giggles and sighs of pleasure.... Let’s just say if I were charged with the entertainment of children under 10 and had a Broadway budget at my disposal, this would be the show I’d favor. It does not stun children with spectacle but fires their imaginations and gives them a savory taste of the sensory pleasures of live entertainment without forcing too much unsettling clown intimacy on the adults in the audience."
Despite whispering that "some of the magic has evaporated" since it's Off-Broadway incarnation,
Variety's
Marilyn Stasio offers more than flurries of praise: "[F]or all the fun of dodging giant beachballs and pelting your neighbor with tissue paper snowflakes, something more is going on in this show, which Slava used to take into remote parts of the Soviet Union during the Cold War years. Something that has to do with the eternal power of laughter and the sheer endurance of the Everyman clown. To be sure, some of that existential humanism survives in this new, spiffed-up version of
Slava's Snowshow, often in quiet moments. Like the endearing old routine in which a lonely clown (the great Slava himself, in the signature yellow clown suit that makes him look like a big chicken) cuddles up to an empty coat hanging on a coatrack. Or the metaphysical moment of an angry clown contemplating his role on a silently spinning planet."
Calling "it an ingenious amusement" and "sure to bring out your inner child,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News nevertheless awards just three out of five stars: "It alternately makes you feel like you're in a fun house, shaken snow globe and a smooth-riding clown car.... This clutch of clowns is adorable, never scary, even when a tot with a loud laugh gets carried off.... Too bad the $111.50 price for most tickets -- twice as steep as the 80-minute show should charge -- brings out my inner Grinch."
Also complaining about the steep prices,
New York Post's
Barbara Hoffman gives the show just two out of four stars: "Back then, it seemed sort of charming. Back then, it wasn't $69 to $111 a ticket -- for less than 90 minutes, with an intermission. With apologies to Woody Allen -- the show is irritating! And so short!... Now and then, though, there are some beautiful images - fleeting, Fellini-like scenes that are at once funny and sad."
Concluding by noting how he's still asking himself, "omigod, what's going on here
?" Philadelphia Inquirer's
Howard Shapiro said this would have worked better in a Fringe Festival than Broadway: " So call me a banana-peel Neanderthal and send me to my cave (mind the peels), but while I admire the performances in
Slava's Snowshow, I found it strange and unconvincing in a Broadway house, even the smallish Helen Hayes Theatre."
A dear friend of mine, whose opinion I value, saw the show Saturday and told me that it is, "Charming, inventive, possibly unique. And funny, funny, funny."
Audiences will have to decide for themselves if the price is worthwhile, but they'll only have until January 4 to contemplate since the limited run ends then.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Revue, Slava Polunin, Slava's Snowshow, Special Theatrical Event
'Sno Clowning Around: Slava Opens On Broadway
'Sno Clowning Around: Slava Opens On BroadwayAfter enjoying an astounding 1,004 performance run at Off-Broadway's Union Square Theatre from September 2004 through January 2007, as well as being honored with the
1998 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment for his
Old Vic run in London, Russian clown
Slava Polunin has finally made it to the Great White Way. His
Slava's Snowshow opens this evening at
Helen Hayes Theatre.
Produced by
David J. Foster and directed by
Victor Kramer,
Slava's Snowshow is described by its
official site as thus:
There areas many descriptions as there are audience members. Snowshow is the beauty of a single snow flake as it gently falls and lands on your shoulder. Snowshow is the sound of an adult laughing uncontrollably at nothing in particular.
Snowshow is the joy of believing that anything is possible. Snowshow is the sadness of a wave goodbye from a train station platform. Snowshow is the realisation [sic] that life really is wonderful.
Will critics find the Broadway incarnation wonderful? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).Labels: Broadway, Circus, Opening Night, Revue, Slava Polunin, Slava's Snowshow
