He's No Theatre QueenSacramen-to's
Califor-nia Musical Theatre -- which is currently presenting the lesbian-themed
The Color Purple and is slated to run the gay-friendly
Avenue Q early next year -- found itself in a firestorm of controversy when
it was exposed earlier this week that its artistic director
Scott Eckern had financially supported the state's
Proposition 8.
That measure, which narrowly passed in last week's election, strips away the right to marry for the state's gay and lesbian population.
Of course, it didn't seem to matter to the majority of Californians that
straight people have long been undermining the institution of marriage or that the biggest proponent for the measure was a
church that formerly embraced polygamy or that the world
didn't end when the state's gays and lesbians began marrying or that voters were taking granted rights away from a select group of people who they deem not good enough to be allowed to marry, yet they're more than OK when it comes to paying taxes.
According to the Sacramento Bee, after Eckern's support for the measure was revealed, "Gay and lesbian artists called Monday for an artistic and audience boycott of California." Undoubtedly, that is what led California Musical Theatre Executive Producer Richard Lewis to convene an emergency meeting of the board of directors and issue the following statement:
Any political action or the opinion of Scott Eckern is not shared by California Musical Theatre. We have a long history of appreciation for the LGBT community and are truly grateful for their longstanding support.
By yesterday, Eckern, who had been with the California Musical Theatre for 25 years and professes to have a lesbian sister, resigned in midst of the maelstrom.
According to the Bee, the embattled artistic director released a statement in which he "said that he 'honestly had no idea' that the contribution would spark such an outrage and made the donation to act on his belief as the traditional definition of marriage be preserved."
His statement also said, in part:
...after prayerful consideration to protect the organization and to help the healing in the local theatre-going and creative community.... I support each individual to have rights and access, and I understand that in California domestic partnerships come with the same rights that come with marriage.... I definitely do not support any message or treatment of others that is hateful or instills fear.... This is a highly emotional issue and the accusations that have been made against me are simply not true.... I am disappointed that my personal convictions have cost me the opportunity to do what I love the most which is to continue enriching the Sacramento arts and theatre community.
Now, as regular readers know, I am completely and unabashedly a vigorous proponent of our First Amendment right to Free Speech. Make no mistake, I will defend Mr. Eckern's right to donate as he chooses, however misguided I happen to believe he was (I mean
really! What was he thinking?! Doesn't he realize he's biting the hand that has fed him for the past 25 years, as surely many within musical theatre's base are gay, including his top subscribers, donors, artists, casts and crews?!?!)
Having said that, I also must defend those who were exercising their right to vote with their pocketbooks against the theatre by boycotting it. Why would any of them want to continue supporting an organization that had as its artistic director, the individual whose vision is supposed to be open to all the possibilities, someone who would cash in on his gay base and essentially saying, "We'll take your dollars, including for shows like
The Color Purple and
Avenue Q, but you'd better not be married!"
In retrospect, in reaping what he has sown, Mr. Eckern was probably not best suited for the occupation he has abruptly left.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Avenue Q, California, California Musical Theatre, First Amendment, Musical, Proposition 8, Sacramento, Scott Eckern, The Color Purple
Saving Green On The Color PurpleYou read about its
closing notice here first. Now score two-for-one seats on
The Color Purple before it vacates the
Broadway Theatre on February 24.
Oprah's apparently going all out to sell the musical's remaining seats in advance. According to an offer I just received, if you buy one ticket, you'll get another one free.
To take advantage of the offer, click
here or visit
BroadwayOffers.com and enter code
CPEURWB (you may also call 212.947.8844 and use the same code). This offer is valid through the remaining lifetime of the show,
except for Saturday matinees and evening performances, as well as those scheduled February 15-17.
Each order requires a minimum
purchase of two tickets and is limited to four tickets (although the confusing disclaimer also says later "limit 8 tickets per order"). When I tried my hand at getting the best seats for the "random" date of February 24, I was able to secure four at a time -- Right Orchestra Row H, Seats 11-17 -- for a total price tag of $236.00 or $59 per ticket. With the added $26.00 in "service charges" and $2.50 "handling fee" for the entire order, the total came to $264.50.
So how does that compare to normal ticketing? Actually, I was able to find what I consider to be better seats for the same performance using the special offer, surprisingly enough. Using a regular search, I found four tickets in Center Orchestra Row R, Seats 102-105 for $466 -- almost twice the price, although with fees added in, the grand total came to $494.50.
Enjoy!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:The Color Purple Turns Pink, As In Slip (January 24, 2008)
End Of Purple Reign? (December 13, 2007)
Coloring The Town Purple With Discounts (December 1, 2007)
The Color Purple (The SOB Revisit) (August 11, 2007)
Curse Of The Understudy - Part III (July 23, 2007)
Winter Blues For Color Purple (February 5, 2007)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Musical, Oprah Winfrey, Special Offers, The Color Purple, Ticket Prices
The Color Purple Turns Pink, As In Slip
UPDATE (11:10 a.m. EST): I have now received official confirmation that The Color Purple has in fact, posted its closing notice for February 24.According to the news release I've received:
The producers of The Color Purple announced today that the show will play its final performance on Sunday, February 24, 2008 at 7:30pm, after playing 30 preview performances and 910 regular performances at the Broadway Theatre. Now in its third year on Broadway, The Color Purple recouped its entire $11 million investment in its first year on Broadway, having grossed over $103,000,000.
Overnight, I received a message from someon within the current Broadway production of
The Color Purple:
The Color Purple posted notice after tonight's performance. We will close February 24.
I'm currently seeking official confirmation, but if the production has indeed posted its closing notices for the end of next month, the Tony winning musical -- with book by
Marsha Norman and score by
Brenda Russell,
Allee Willis and
Stephen Bray -- will have ultimately played a total of 910 performances at the
Broadway Theatre. The incredible
LaChanze earned a Tony for her brave portrayal of Celie -- a performance I'll never forget.
Last week, the show took in $477,154 at the box office and was filled to 62.4% of capacity. That was up markedly from where it had been just a week earlier when the total take was a paltry $388,937 with just 45.9% capacity. Of course, some of its major mojo luster was gone as
Fantasia Barrino left the show on January 6, but
Chaka Khan joined
The Color Purple. on January 9, while another Idol alum
LaKisha Jones became part of the cast in December.
I'll let you know once I've had official confirmation.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
End Of Purple Reign? (December 13, 2007)
Coloring The Town Purple With Discounts (December 1, 2007)
The Color Purple (The SOB Revisit) (August 11, 2007)
Curse Of The Understudy - Part III (July 23, 2007)
Winter Blues For Color Purple (February 5, 2007)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Chaka Khan, Closing Notices, Fantasia, LaChanze, Lakisha Jones, Musical, The Color Purple
End Of Purple Reign?I really hate to say
I told you so (and I truly mean that), but I
told you so way back in July -- Hat tip to
The Playgoer).
Where are the
true professionals of the theatre, anyway? They're working hard on virtually every other show on Broadway.
On any other show, the grueling eight performances would be handled with great aplomb and professionalism by a performer without any excuses.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Coloring The Town Purple With Discounts (December 1, 2007)
The Color Purple (The SOB Revisit) (August 11, 2007)
Curse Of The Understudy - Part III (July 23, 2007)Winter Blues For Color Purple (February 5, 2007)The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)Labels: Broadway, Fantasia, Musical, The Color Purple, Understudy
Coloring The Town Purple With DiscountsPerformances for the Great White Way musical adaptation of
The Color Purple have resumed at the
Broadway Theatre.
"To celebrate" the resolution of the stagehands strike, the production is offering discounted seats for as little as just $60 through December 23.
All you need to do is click
here or call 212.947.8844 and use code
CPWEB77.
The fine print reads:
Offer not valid on Saturday performances. Offer valid through 12/23/07. Additional blackout dates may apply. Regular ticket prices $116.50 - 66.50. All prices include a $1.50 theatre facility fee. Subject to availability and prior sale. Limit 8 tickets per order. Normal service charges apply to phone and online orders. Offer may be revoked at any time. All sales final - no refunds or exchanges. Not valid in combination with any other offer. Casting and performance schedule may change at any time.
In other words, that means
Fantasia Barrino -- who graciously sang outside the Broadway Theatre for theatregoers disappointed to learn their show was closed during the strike, but has herself
earned a reputation for missing many performances -- could be out the day you go see the show.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:The Color Purple (The SOB Revisit) (August 11, 2007)
Curse Of The Understudy - Part III (July 23, 2007)
Winter Blues For Color Purple (February 5, 2007)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Fantasia, Musical, Special Offers, The Color Purple, Ticket Prices, Tickets
The Color Purple (The SOB Revisit) - Broadway Theatre, New York, NY*** (out of ****)When I revisited
The Color Purple again last month, I found myself eventually enjoying the performance -- despite all of the pesky problems I recalled from when I first saw the musical shortly after it opened in December 2005 that were still readily apparent.
Don’t get me wrong, by the time the show soars (and it does so beautifully) to its tear-inducing, breathtaking climax, all those issues could be easily forgotten. Yet they are far from inconsequential problems all the same.
Despite those tribulations, it bears noting that the acting and singing are superb throughout. Even though
you-know-who was not there the night I was, the cast is uniformly excellent, headed by understudy
Saycon Sengbloh (Celie) and featuring such standouts at
Elisabeth Withers as Shug Avery (yes! she’s still in the show),
NaTasha Yvette Williams as the courageous larger than life Sophie who isn’t afraid to say no, and certainly
Alton Fitzgerald White as Mister, the wicked scoundrel of a husband who finally gets his comeuppance near the end.
His unrelenting sheer brutality of Celie really hit me between the eyes throughout most of the first act, indeed much more so this time than my first viewing. I grasp that the tyranny Celie faces is pivotal to the entire narrative, but quite frankly, it’s extremely difficult to endure. However, so real is Celie’s suffering that the audience feels her anguish and pain; on this point, it actually serves to strengthen our empathy for her and our willingness to cheer when she vanquishes her nemesis.
But, oh, those pesky problems.
First remains the hyperkinetic supersonic speed in retelling major portions of
Alice Walker’s groundbreaking novel. Certainly when an epic book is dramatized, it cannot drag on too long. Yet under
Gary Griffin’s uneven direction of
Marsha Norman’s libretto, context is often missing. To fully appreciate the gravity of some situations, a reading of the original source material or viewing of the film might prove beneficial to fill in the blanks.
If you’re not paying especially close attention, you may miss the subtle graying on the actors’ wigs from scene to scene meant to convey epoch lapses in time. Most jarring is the realization that little Harpo is suddenly all grown up; somehow – quite thankfully – he manages to turn into a primarily decent soul despite the despicable nature of his father. However, we miss the perspective of Celie’s guiding hand, which makes such maturity possible.
Second, while the score by
Brenda Russell,
Allee Willis and
Stephen Bray is truly memorable -- and I confess that it’s among a very limited number of cast albums from recent years that I’ve consistently listened to repeatedly -- it’s as if we’re getting mere snippets, or at best, edited versions of the top songs. Just as I start losing myself in a tune, it abruptly screeches to a halt, either to further speed the story along or enable deep passages of time to go by. The confounding effect has me pining for a cast album with fully realized extended versions of most songs.
Finally, as artistic and beautiful -- and yes, as moving -- as the sidebar journey to Africa is, the flow of the story is seriously impeded. Yes, it is a sight to behold, but since this is ostensibly Celie’s journey, it’s one scene that unnecessarily slows the momentum at a crucial moment when the tuner actually needs to chug along toward its second act climax.
Thankfully, midway through that act, there’s a noticeable shift in clarity and focus. Call it a harmonic convergence in which the direction, book and score all crystallize to become a powerful force that holds firm until the last note is sung.
It succeeds in building toward the triumphant “I’m Here,” which erases any lingering doubt that this is a good, worthy show. The song provides more than an ample crescendo to underscore just how far Celie’s journey has taken her -- without ever having traveled too far in real miles except via her soul. It’s at this moment when her self regard and esteem ultimately win the day – and the hearts of the audience. It’s also a testament to the enduring appeal of the material, almost in spite of itself. In Sengbloh’s heartfelt delivery of this song, I witnessed an understudy who made the most of her moment in the spotlight by indelibly searing her place in my heart.
Talk about great theatre. If only the rest of the show could match that last 45 minutes, it would be nothing short of a miraculous. But fortunately for the audience, just like Celie herself, the show’s indomitable spirit wins the day.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Curse Of The Understudy - Part III (July 23, 2007)
Winter Blues For Color Purple (February 5, 2007)
The Tonys: If I Could Vote...for Best Musical (May 31, 2006)
Labels: Alice Walker, Broadway, Film, Musical, Saycon Sengbloh, The Color Purple, The SOB Revisit
Curse Of The Understudy - Part IIIForget
Fantasia.
Who needs her when
Saycon Sengbloh is living up to her
own name by blowing the roof off the
Broadway Theatre as Celie in
The Color Purple?!
In the wake of all the great reviews the former American Idol star has garnered, I revisited
The Color Purple in hopes of seeing yet another
Reba McEntire-like performance where the replacement star was actually better than the original. And although Fantasia was a no-show -- creating havoc outside the theatre as scores of disappointed fans demanded their money back -- the audience that hung around was treated to exactly that: a bravura performance by an absolutely gorgeous actress who is making a name on Broadway as its most dependable standby.
I first caught Sengbloh a couple years back when I returned to
Wicked on Broadway. At that time, my heart sank when I found that dreaded slip in my program that carried the words, "At this performance, the role of Elphaba will be played by..." The name attached was Saycon Sengbloh, who not only managed to lift my heart with her touching performance, but made it soar.
So as much as I was naturally disappointed last night when I learned that Fantasia was out, after I saw that
other unusual name on the board, I reassured my friend that all was not lost. And by the time the last strains of the pivotal "I'm Here" was sung, Saycon Sengbloh had not only won over my heart once again, she brought tears to my eyes. She triumphed over the audience as well.
I certainly hope we'll be seeing this gifted young actress in a role of her own. Enough standing by, already. This lady's deserving of the real deal!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:The Curse Of The Understudy - Part II (January 15, 2007)
The Curse Of The Understudy (October 2, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Curse of the Understudy, Fantasia, Musical, Saycon Sengbloh, The Color Purple, Understudy
Winter Blues For Color Purple
With temperatures finally heading south to bear some semblance to the season -- take that, Global Warming! -- so were last week's Broadway box office receipts. Only ten of the Great White Way's current offerings managed to improve on the previous week.
Perhaps the biggest chill has come for
The Color Purple, which despite drawing a slightly larger crowd over the week before, appears to be among the bluest of all productions. For the third straight week, the tuner's gross sales have been
under the half million dollar mark -- unthinkable just a month ago. Capacity hovered below 60% again this past week, but that's nothing compared to the 24% drop in capacity it experienced three weeks ago when some, no doubt, were fearful of a freefall.
Naturally, tongues are wagging about what this all means for the future of
Oprah Winfrey's production. If the assertion by
Michael Riedel of the
New York Post that most of the fan base has now seen this show has any merit, what then does that say about the future of the
soon-to-be-launched tour?
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Box Office, Broadway, Musical, The Color Purple
Is It Just Me, Or......Are there more theatre afficionados out there now than ever before? Broadway topped the 12 million attendance mark for the first time in its long, storied history. Grosses for the year grew 12% to $861.6 million. CBS estimates that its Tony Awards television audience attracted 7.79 million viewers, up 1.29 million from last year and it's the second consecutive year with an increase. Each of the major winning productions received sizable bumps in box office success as of Monday morning. What's more, even touring productions have enjoyed a successful year overall.
...Were Bruce Vilanch and Allee Willis (pictured above) separated at birth? I've met and love them both. But after seeing Willis -- nominated for a Tony as part of the songwriting team for
The Color Purple -- on the Tony Awards, I was struck by just how much she resembles a beardless Vilanch. Just curious!
...Would you send a note to a performer prior to buying tickets to see if he/she is actually planning to be in his/her role the night you're planning to attend? I'd really like to see
The Drowsy Chaperone but am nervous that Sutton Foster will stiff me for the third time (she was a no-show just a couple weeks after she won her Tony in
Thoroughly Modern Millie and then again last year when I saw
Little Women).
...Isn't Barbra Streisand being just a tad bit greedy asking $350 and $750 for tickets to her tour?
...Don't Tony Awards count for anything? Months after it was announced that John Travolta got Harvey Fierstein's Edna Turnblad role in the new movie version of "Hairspray," I'm still scratching my head, especially since Travolta hasn't had a decent film since his
last comeback in "Pulp Fiction." It's a shame that Hollywood couldn't stick with Fierstein, who made us all but forget Divine from the original movie version and earned a Tony to boot.
...Didn't Sunday's Tony clip of Jennifer Holliday and the commercial for the movie version of "Dreamgirls" get you excited to see this show on the silver screen later this year?
...Isn't it a little insulting to American audiences when London productions get rewritten for the Broadway stage? I saw
Taboo and
Bombay Dreams on the West End and thought they were great, but then saw them desecrated here. Why must producers mess with success? I shudder to think what they'll do to poor
Billy Elliot - The Musical!
Tell me what you think!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Allee Willis, Bruce Vilanch, Dreamgirls, Jennifer Holliday, Sutton Foster, Television, The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone, Tony Awards, Understudy
