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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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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In what appears to be a growing -- and in my opinion, welcome -- trend among London shows, the West End revival of La Bête is offering a promotional trailer (see below).
While La Bête (or "The Beast") is set to play its final performance at the West End's Comedy Theatre this coming Saturday, the entire production will cross the pond in time for Broadway previews to begin September 23. The transfer will open at the Music Box Theatre on October 14, 2010.
As the official ticket vendor for the production, Telecharge touts La Bête as follows:
Every Broadway season, there is one ticket that you simply have to get. This season, that ticket is La Bête. Coming direct from a sold-out run in London, La Bête is already being hailed as an absolute must-see, with a once-in-a-lifetime cast giving performances to die for. Don’t miss this comic tour de force that boldly sinks its teeth into the debate over high art versus popular entertainment, and asks the age-old question, "For a play to sell out, does it have to be 'a sell-out?'"
Can Warchus' magic strike twice in turning a less than successful play into a true must-see? With Rylance once again serving as Warchus' ace-in-the-hole, all bets suggests he can.
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A nominee for the 2009 Best Play Olivier Award, The Pitmen Painters is being promoted by MTC as follows:
Direct from a sold-out engagement at London’s National Theatre, this funny and fascinating new play by Tony Award winner Lee Hall comes to Broadway with its entire original London cast intact.
The Pitmen Painters is based on the triumphant true story of a group of British miners who discover a new way to express themselves and unexpectedly become art-world sensations! An arresting and hilarious salute to the power of individual expression and the collective spirit, The Pitmen Painters takes you on an unforgettable journey from the depths of the mine to the heights of fame.
If you think you've already recently seen a Broadway show about miners colliding with the world of art, that's because you have. Indeed, The Pitmen Painters playwright Lee Hall also penned the blockbuster Billy Elliot - The Musical and its silver screen predecessor.
While you may be tempted to think Hall is merely writing what he knows, his own father was a housepainter and decorator in England's Newcastle upon Tyne. Hall's most recent work is based on "The Pitmen Painters: Ashington Group, 1934-1984 by art critic William Feaver.
Previews begin September 14, with an opening night slated for September 30. Since this play is part of MTC's subscription series, the limited run is only scheduled through December 13, 2010.
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Yesterday, it was announced that the current Off-Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder's classic Our Town will close September 12, 2010.
David Cromer's stunning revival has been nothing short of transcendent stage entertainment since it first arrived in New York City from Chicago in February 2009. Prior to its present incarnation at Off-Broadway's intimate Barrow Street Theatre in the West Village, Cromer first mounted Our Town during The Hypocrites' 2007-08 Season and then again from September 30 through October 26, 2008.
Once the production hit the Big Apple, the director became the toast of the town and the revival became an award-winning sensation. Our Town began previews at Barrow Street on February 17, 2009, and then opened on February 26. Cromer would earn Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Director, and the show itself would win the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Production in 2009.
This past December 16, after playing its 337th performance, Cromer's Our Town made theatre history by becoming the all-time longest running production of Wilder's enduring work.
Personally, I was absolutely blown away by the production when I first saw it a year ago last spring. Its mesmerizing images still linger in my mind. As a result of seeing this version of Our Town, a show that I admit to having long since dismissed after seeing it one too many times, I could not stop talking about how Cromer and his team had completely converted me to a believer in the play's unspoken charms. Seeing it also made me actively seek out other shows with Cromer at the helm.
On that point, there's another mind-blowing Cromer revival still playing in suburban Chicago. That's A Streetcar Named Desire. If you're anywhere near Chicago, you can't afford to miss this excellent production. Coincidentally, it too is set to close, in this case on August 12 after three extensions. Curiously, the production space at Glencoe's Writers' Theatre is not unlike that at Barrow Street, and high profilereviews would suggest that New York producers may have been contemplating a transfer, if not to Barrow Street, then to a venue very much like it. Personally, I would love to see Streetcar take Our Town's place.
Whatever the future holds for Streetcar, Our Town's life is drawing to an inevitable, yet celebratory close. Helen Hunt will serve as the stage manager through Sunday, August 1 (I'll be in the audience for the Saturday matinee). On August 3, Michael McKean will return to the role he first assumed earlier this spring. Then on August 24, David Cromer himself will usher out the show he brought to breathtaking life right through its September 12 closing.
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Red (The SOB Review) – John Golden Theatre, New York, New York
**** (out of ****)
Abstract paintings created by artists such as Mark Rothko used to leave me cold. But that's largely because I never took the time to really study them closely or scrutinize their fluidity in movement.
That's forever changed now that I've seen John Logan's magnificent Red, masterfully directed by Michael Grandage. Imported directly from London's Donmar Warehouse, Red intrigues and titillates the senses with its potent examination of the internal conflicts Rothko (an excellent Alfred Molina) may have endured in accepting a commission to adorn the walls of the (then) new Seagrams Building's Four Seasons Restaurant with his works.
Molina portrays Rothko with a tortured, self-conscious brilliance that turns ferocious on dime, including on his young protégé Ken (a captivating Eddie Redmayne, in an absolutely stunning Broadway debut). When Ken presses Rothko on whether he has compromised himself in taking the commission, Rothko seeks to redeem himself by declaring contemptuously that what he's creating is "something that will ruin the appetite of every son-of-a-bitch who ever eats in that room."
Resplendent with a mesmerizing recreation of how this artist may have placed paint brush to his canvas, Grandage cleverly leaves nothing to the abstract in framing Rothko's lasting artistic expressions. At that point, just as one of Rothko's works now has a power to do, this enthralling play suddenly snuck up on me and sent chills down my spine.
Red is a masterpiece -- far and away, the best new play I've seen all year. Don't miss it.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Sweet Charity (The SOB Review) – Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, United Kingdom
*** (out of ****)
So, let me get right to the point.
I don’t pop my cork for every production of Sweet Charity I see. Aside from Dorothy Fields and Cy Coleman’s wonderfully fizzy score, it’s Neil Simon’s clunky and largely unsatisfying conclusion that usually makes me wonder what’s going on in his mind.
Yet the minute the exceptional Tamzin Outhwaite walked in the joint, er, on the stage, I could tell Matthew White’s was a revival of distinction. Good looking, yet remarkably (and appropriately) unrefined in Menier Chocolate Factory's inherently gritty fashion. As Charity Hope Valentine, this charismatic triple threat has plucky charm to spare, making this Sweet Charity a sheer, shimmying delight.
Mark Umbers proves a quadruple threat in terms of effortlessly taking on Charity’s four (yes, four) romantic interests from start to finish. Josefina Gabrielle and Tiffany Graves turn in respectable trades as Nickie and Helene, respectively. Their breathtaking turn on "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This" with Outhwaite is a triple threat cubed. And unlike the last Broadway revival, there's no need to relegate this Charity almost entirely to the sidelines since Outhwaite is more than up to the choreographic challenge.
If you want to have fun, more than a few laughs and above all else a good time -- all while touching your heart -- you've got to get up, you've got to get out to London's Theatre Royal Haymarket and see this Sweet Charity live it.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Hair (The SOB Revisit) – Gielgud Theatre, London, United Kingdom
***1/2 (out of ****)
Fresh off a long overnight flight to London, hardly sleeping a wink, I did something risky I had never dared to do before.
Instead of going straight from the airport to my hotel to freshen up (or nap), I opted to zip directly into the West End and purchase a ticket for the Thursday matinee performance of Hair. All fears of dozing off quickly parted. With most of the original Broadway cast intact, Hair reinvigorated me like a desperately needed shampoo, leaving me tingling from my head right down to my toes.
Performing in the much more intimate Gielgud Theatre, the cast shines with more luster than ever. Aside from Will Swenson’s added riffing on the kinds of Berger he is near the top of the show -- fueled in part by a late comer in the audience -- I noticed very few differences from what I had seen on Broadway just a year ago.
However, seeing the show again has made me appreciate the incredible talents of Andrew Kober in his various guises throughout. This actor blew me away and left me wondering how I had neglected mentioning him in my review of the Broadway show.
As the Messianic yet conflicted Claude, Gavin Creel is as strong and astonishing as ever. I’m not sure if it was my jetlag, but his performance sent chills down my spine even more this time around.
After working together for well over a year as part of a true tribe, this cast is firing on all cylinders, making Hair even more powerful than I remembered it one year ago. Hair proved to be just the buzz I needed.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Earlier today, shortly after I landed at London's Heathrow Airport, I made my way almost directly to the West End's Gielgud Theatre so I could see the Broadway transfer of Hair, which just opened.
Jetlag aside (I had virtually no sleep on the flight over), this was truly a Hair-raising experience, partly because most of the original Broadway cast transferred. But what truly made my experience complete was the chance to join the cast on stage for the rousing finale of "Let The Sun Shine In." Nothing like making my West End debut.
It gave me the needed jolt of adrenaline to make it through most of the rest of the day without even so much as one cup of coffee. As for my caffeine fix, I finally got it with Andrew of The West End Whingers immediately prior to taking in Love Never Dies tonight. Was that ever wise.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Well, not quite like this. Be careful what you wish for.
This nearly replicated staging, which worked extraordinarily well in that tiny black box in London, hardly fills the stage of the Walter Kerr. While the show is still good and very much worth seeing, the quaintness across the pond could have -- should have -- been scaled appropriately upward from enhanced orchestrations (Jason Carr) to set design (David Farley) in order to fit its new venue with the luster it deserves.
What I had really wished was that the Broadway transfer would bring with it Hannah Waddingham as Desiree and Maureen Lipman as her mother Madame Armfeldt. Instead, the only actor who has made the journey across the pond is Alexander Hanson, whose exceptional rendering of Desiree's one-time love is as tender and heartfelt as ever.
As truly enchanting as the initial Menier incarnation was, what made it all the lovelier was its superb cast headlined by Waddingham. While the incandescent Catherine Zeta-Jones doesn't hold a candle to Waddingham's nuanced portrayal, her megawatt star power does light up the stage, albeit with a similarly forced "I'll prove to them I'm up to the challenge" moxie she demonstrated in "Chicago." You can't help but admire her for trying, but subtlety is not one of her strongest suits.
Fortunately, the replacement of Lipman with Angela Lansbury works infinitely better. While Hugh Wheeler's book relegates Madame Armfeldt to a wheelchair, Lansbury commands the stage every time she's on it, whether in song or in her humor-filled chiding. It's pure bliss to see her return to Broadway in a musical role.
Then there's the splendid music. While not fully orchestrated for ultimate impact, Sondheim's score must be among his most beautiful. Coupled with Wheeler's ingenious storyline, it is what really makes this Broadway revival sing, even if not nearly as rhapsodically as it did in London.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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In my subsequent SOB Review, I waxed rhapsodic in my praise:
Isn't it rich?!
Who would have thought that a show staged in a style so deceptively simple could be so sublime, not to mention utterly romantic. Rich, indeed.
Now, if you're not a romantic at heart, you need not bother. But for the rest of us, Trevor Nunn's gorgeous revival of A Little Night Music is pure heaven.
So smitten was I that I closed my review rather wistfully:
There's little doubt that the bewitching allure of this excellent revival will follow other Menier productions to the West End, but how about to Broadway?
Well, maybe next year ... or so we can hope!
A little more than two months later, it was announced that the revival would indeed transfer to a West End berth. Then, just two months ago, came confirmation that the musical would be produced on Broadway with Catherine Zeta-Jones making her Great White Way debut in the coveted role of Desiree Armfeldt alongside Angela Lansbury as her mother, Madame Armfeldt.
Now, finally, we're but 24 hours away from the first preview and I know I'm not alone in anxiously awaiting my turn to see it fresh on the Main Stem after a long absence of more than 35 years.
Welcome back, A Little Night Music! This Thanksgiving, we're giving thanks that you're back on Broadway.
Finian's Rainbow (The SOB Review) - St. James Theatre, New York, New York
**1/2 (out of ****)
You have to hand it to Warren Carlyle for taking that inspirational tune "Look to the Rainbow" to heart. He's practically pulled out every conceivable stop for his enjoyable and entertaining Broadway revival of the Burton Lane-E.Y. Harburg musical Finian's Rainbow in the hunt for his very own pot of gold.
To say Carlyle comes up with a silver instead is not to denigrate his Herculean efforts that includes his mesmerizing choreography. It's just that silver is a tad bit tarnished with verdigris.
The good news is that on Broadway, his Finian's Rainbow is much more vibrant than the concert version he mounted earlier this year as part of New York City Center's Encores! series.
It doesn't hurt that Finian's Rainbow consistently hits the jackpot with one of musical theatre's most divine scores. Apart from "Look to the Rainbow," it's nearly impossible to shake from your mind Lane and Yarburg's highly hummable "Necessity," "How Are Things in Glocca Morra" and the spellbinding "Old Devil Moon." It's easy to imagine that Robert Russell Bennett and Don Walker's full and lush original orchestrations (in the pit, no less) have never sounded better. Each gem is delivered with a flawless verve by the show's top-drawer cast.
In fact, if the luminescent Kate Baldwin could shine any brighter, her Sharon McLonergan would never be able to see that devil moon. Radiating warmth and grace, Baldwin possesses an exquisite voice perfectly suited to the magical score.
As her love interest Woody Mahoney, Cheyenne Jackson beguiles through silky-smooth vocals of his own. With guitar slung over his shoulders throughout, Jackson refreshingly imbues his Woody with a requisite innocence.
In the role of the transformed Bill Rawkins, a bigoted white southern senator who's become black by virtue of Sharon's ill-timed wish, Chuck Cooper soulfully finds the depths of the Deep South via his ironic tune "The Begat."
The impish Christopher Fitzgerald improves on the role of the leprechaun Og, which he's taken over since City Center and in the process manages to charm his ever-shrinking pants off the audience. With his commanding presence, particularly his hilarious rendition of "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love," it's a wonder Fitzgerald still hasn't lucked out with a leading Rialto role of his own.
Then there's the awe-inspiring Terri White. Blessed with a booming, yet beautiful voice, White makes a most triumphant return to the stage out of pure necessity, literally and figuratively. While her backstory is enough to have you cheering, it's White's ability to effortlessly hit this one so far out of the park that she comes close to stopping the show. Irish eyes are smiling on her as she follows an amazing personal arc of a genuine rainbow and realizes her own dreams in the process.
Special praise certainly must be reserved for the wondrous Jim Norton. This Tony-winning actor not only grounds the entire proceedings, but he does so with magnetic charm and easy humor. With rascally eyes twinkling throughout, you'd be forgiven for thinking him a leprechaun himself. You can't help but wish him good fortune for his contributions.
The same goes for Warren Carlyle, too. As I noted above, he's pulled out nearly every stop in making this Finian's Rainbow as good as a revival as this dated show can possibly get. Well, almost. John Lee Beatty's two-dimensional scenic design may be verdant as kelly-colored grass, but it's as if Carlyle spent all of his green on everything but the cheap-looking set.
Sad to say, there's also the book. The problematic, silly book. As magnificent as the score, cast and choreography make this Finian's Rainbow soar, the libretto originally written by Harburg and Fred Saidy that's been adapted by Arthur Perlman (the original adaptation for New York City Center Encores! was written by David Ives) remains as creaky as ever. By cramming in far too many disparate themes -- including a noble one on race that was once way ahead of its time -- the book remains quaint at best. It's so clunky that it threatens to fall under its own weight.
Thus it's a tribute to Carlyle and company that the overall production manages to stand, even if tilting a bit precariously. In their quest for gold, Carlyle and his cast's yeomen efforts have still managed to find something truly precious at the end Finian's Rainbow.
"Come for the music. Come for the dancing. Come awaken your soul."
So beckons Fela!-- a show that dares to call itself the "most original new musical on Broadway." The tuner begins previews tonight at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
Fela! is based on the life of the late Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer and political activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (who died in 1997) and features his provocative music, along with additional lyrics from Jim Lewis. Sahr Ngaujah recreates his Obie-winning turn in the title role, although he alternates performances with Kevin Mambo.
During its earlier 2008 incarnation at Off-Broadway's 37 Arts Theatre, Fela! won both critical praise and honors, including three Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Choregraphy for director Bill T. Jones (who earlier earned a Tony for his choreography of Spring Awakening) and Outstanding Costume Design for Marina Draghici.
Influenced by the Black Panthers during a late-sixties stay in the United States, Anikulapo-Kuti returned home to Nigeria and challenged the government's corruption through music the ruling party found highly incendiary. He also organized his own self-declared Kalakuta Republic, a commune which was later burned. After forming his own political party, Movement for the People, Anikulapo-Kuti tried putting himself forth as a presidential candidate, only to be quashed.
At one time, Anikulapo-Kuti also had 27 wives, although he later declared "marriage brings jealousy and selfishness."
Sadly, the musician-activist would ultimately die of AIDS in 1997. His funeral would attract over 1 million mourners.
Bill T. Jones was clearly inspired, thus conceiving and writing the book for this musical. The Fela! Web site described the production as follows:
If you like soul-stirring rhythms, compelling real-life stories and passionate choreography, you will love Fela!
Fela! is a new musical directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones, with a book by Jim Lewis and Bill T. Jones, in which audiences are welcomed into the extravagant, decadent and rebellious world of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti. Using his pioneering music (a blend of jazz, funk and African rhythm and harmonies), Fela! explores Kuti's controversial life as artist, political activist and revolutionary musician.
Featuring many of Fela Kuti’s most captivating songs and Bill T. Jones’s visionary staging, Fela! is the most original new musical on Broadway.
Currently slated with an open-ended run, the intriguing Fela! opens on November 19.
Way back in July, I first reported that the originalAugust: Osage County would be trekking Down Under to Sydney, Australia. Now, the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) has made it truly official.
This monster of a production from Steppenwolf cleaned up at last year’s Tony Awards, taking five gongs including Best Play, Best Direction of a Play, Best Leading Actress and Best Featured Actress. This is a unique opportunity to see the legendary American ensemble deliver what might well be the next American classic.
While casting is yet to be announced (more on that in a moment), the original stateside creative team will be Australia bound. The limited run is now slated to begin previews on August 13, 2010, with an opening scheduled for August 17. August: Osage County will run through September 25, 2010.
As for the cast, in addition to the above notes from Blanchett and Upton, the official STC Web site adds that this production will be "Featuring Steppenwolf ensemble members from the Chicago and Broadway companies." Expect to see most of the familiar names you know and love recreating their roles in Sydney.
I'll reiterate my question from nearly four months ago: Anyone game for going Down Under?
There are precious few plays that have graced a Broadway stage as many times as William Shakespeare's Hamlet.
While it's not known precisely when Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, historians believe The Bard wrote this play circa 1601, and it's known that the work was mounted in New York City as early as the following century.
According to the Internet Broadway Database (IBDB), my go-to source for all things Rialto-related, this tragedy has been previously presented in New York City at least 65 times. IBDB's earliest recorded performance took place back in November 1761 with Lewis Hallam as the Danish prince. That Hamlet was mounted at the Chapel Street Theatre, which stood on the corner of what is now Beekman and Nassau Streets in lower Manhattan.
Most of the other recorded 65 revivals have been staged in Broadway theatres. The last, performed at the Belasco Theatre as recently as 1995, earned a Tony nomination for Best Revival. Its Hamlet, Ralph Fiennes, took home a Tony for Best Actor in a Play.
Now, for at least the 66th time, Hamlet is being revived in Manhattan. Once again, Shakespeare's tragedy is being staged at the Broadhurst Theatre, this time via the transfer of a highly acclaimed production from the formidible Donmar Warehouse in London. Directed by the estimable Michael Grandage, this revival stars Jude Law as the eponymous prince who exacts revenge for his murdered father.
Personally, I've only seen Hamlet performed once on stage, and tedium set in quite quickly. Same went for my experience in watching the Academy Award-winning Best Picture of 1948, even with the late, great Laurence Olivier as the prince. So while I am sincerely looking forward to seeing Grandage's interpretation of this work, I'll go in with just a little trepidation as I normally do whenever I see Shakespeare.
Whether audiences share my apprehension remains to be seen. Or not to be seen.
This limited run of Hamlet opens October 6 and is currently slated to close December 6.
Today, at long last and after what seems like months of endless speculation came confirmation that what is arguably Stephen Sondheim's greatest lifetime triumph -- A Little Night Music -- is finally coming back to Broadway after a long overdue 35 year absence.
I'm truly not sure what is more remarkable about this Trevor Nunn-helmed import from London.
On the one hand, you have Academy Award-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones making her Broadway debut in the coveted role of Desiree Armfeldt. While a Rialto novice, a very young Zeta-Jones made her West End debut in Annie. She also appeared in the London production of 42nd Street-- incredibly, she was cast in the leading role of Peggy Sawyer after both the regular actress and understudy already filling the part fell ill! The rest, as they say, is history. After wowing us as Velma Kelly in the film production of "Chicago," Zeta-Jones indicated shortly thereafter that she would someday love to tackle a musical on Broadway. That day is soon to come.
On the other hand -- and this is a mighty huge hand -- you have the legendary Angela Lansbury. The beloved five-time Tony-winning veteran of 11 Great White Way shows over the last 52 years is defying all odds by agreeing once more to one last crack at a Main Stem stage. This time, she'll be portraying Madame Armfeldt. Could it be that she'll earn her sixth Tony?
Also particularly noteworthy is that this production marks only the very first time A Little Night Music will have been revived on Broadway. Hard to believe for a musical that inspires swoons from virtually all comers who have ever seen it performed.
Regular readers will note that even I was swept away. After seeing Nunn's earliest incarnation of A Little Night Music in London last November, I summed up my rapturous SOB Review by pining:
There's little doubt that the bewitching allure of this excellent revival will follow other Menier productions to the West End, but how about to Broadway?
Well, maybe next year ... or so we can hope!
According to the announcement made today, my complete wish is coming true. A Little Night Music will begin previews at the Walter Kerr Theatre on November 24. Opening night is currently scheduled for December 13.
While complete casting has not been announced, we do know that Alexander Hanson will reprise his London role as Fredrik Egerman. Lansbury, Zeta-Jones and Hanson will be joined by Erin Davie (Countess Charlotte Malcolm), Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (Henry Egerman), Leigh Ann Larkin (Petra), Aaron Lazar (Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm) and Ramona Mallory (Anne Egerman).
The first Broadway production of A Little Night Music was directed by the great Harold Prince. The musical opened February 25, 1973, at the Shubert Theatre. Not only would the show earn a whopping 12 Tony Award nominations, but it would reap of six of the top honors including Best Musical, Best Original Score (Sondheim), Best Book of a Musical (Hugh Wheeler), Best Actress in a Musical (Glynis Johns), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Patricia Elliott) and Best Costume Design (Florence Klotz - a Tony that I have had the thrill of holding myself).
Just seven months after first opening, the tuner transferred to Broadway's Majestic Theatre, where it played until August 3, 1974. All totaled, A Little Night Music enjoyed 601 regular performances on the Great White Way.
While I for one would have loved to have seen both Hannah Waddingham and Maureen Lipman recreate their roles from the London stage, you can bet that as the casting of Zeta-Jones and Lansbury will make this one of Broadway's most sought-after tickets of the year, I will be cueing up enthusiastically. To put it simply -- I can't wait.
First musical to host an online contest to change lyrics (President Barack Obama's inauguration necessitated a change from the show-closing line "George Bush is only for now").
During yesterday's Broadway closing, producer Kevin McCollum made the surprise announcement that the little tuner that could would in fact move just a tad more than five blocks from the Great White Way's John Golden Theatre at 252 West 45th Street to Off-Broadway's New World Stages at 340 West 50th Street. According to The New York Times:
[T]he Off Broadway production would likely use a smaller group of musicians, as when it was performed at the Vineyard Theatre in 2003, and that some reorchestration of the music might be needed. Otherwise, it will use the same sets (and same puppets), and the show’s creative team, including its director Jason Moore and book author Jeff Whitty, will remain with the show. Casting for the Off Broadway production was not announced.
It should be noted that by vacating the Golden Theatre, Avenue Q was already leaving one of Broadway's smallest theatres, which has a capacity of 805. But for fans, this was very welcome news.
While Avenue Q made its initial debut during the 2002 National Music Theater Conference at Connecticut's Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, the show's first New York production came in March 2003 at the tiny 120 seat Vineyard Theatre on East 15th Street. Just four months later, Avenue Q made the highly successful leap to Broadway, opening on July 31, 2003. Talk about a quick ride to the Great White Way.
Later that same fall, I saw Avenue Q and enjoyed myself, even though I have to admit being caught a little off-guard by the level of delight the show took in "Schadenfreude." But the original cast -- John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Ann Harada, Jordan Gelber, Lyon, Barnhart and Carmen Ruby Floyd as Gary Coleman (Natalie Venetia Belcon was out the night of my performance) -- possessed such a sweet sincerity that I rolled along with it. It wasn't until I took in the first national tour in early 2008 that I was really put off by its overly cynical, mean-spiritedness. In retrospect, I chalk it up to being in too large of a venue with a cast that could not deliver irony quite the way the original did.
At least with Avenue Q's transfer to the intimate New World stages, its producers won't have to worry about it becoming lost in too large a house. The question will be whether its too-be-announced cast can deliver the goods.
* Thanks to Alicia for correcting me. Apparently there was another musical to go from Broadway to Off-Broadway, but it was no Broadway hit. This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Not only does it cut with remarkable, exacting precision, but it slices, it dices and it makes julian fries out of its six fully-rounded characters in this jujitsu of love. Just when you think you have the first portion of this trilogy figured out, it's as if the Ginsu announcer is ready to step in and proclaim, "But wait! There's more!"
There is so much more and getting there is half the fun.
Intriguing layer after intriguing layer is carefully stripped away to reveal more of Ayckbourn's intricately woven story (which, by the way, has nothing to do with theNorman Conquest of England, but has everything to do with a lothario named Norman and his lust for love from all comers). Each character's motives are eventually cut to the core. And they aren't necessarily what they seem.
Fortunately, Matthew Warchus' brilliant direction of each installment -- Table Manners, Living Togetherand Round And Round The Garden-- makes each story accessible and comprehensible in its own right. Yet it's only after seeing all three that all the complex pieces truly come together as an unequivocal masterpiece. That it's almost as if all a film's crucial deleted scenes have been fully restored is Ayckbourn's pure genius.
Warchus helms an excellent cast, all transferred from the original Old Vic production in London. They include Amelia Bullmore as the vain and nearsighted Ruth, Jessica Hynes as her sister Annie, Stephen Mangan as Ruth's straying husband Norman, Ben Miles as Annie's dim veterinarian neighbor Tom, Paul Ritter as Ruth and Ann's brother Reg, and Amanda Root as Reg's prudish wife Sarah. The Norman Conquests is a breathtaking master class in nuanced ensemble acting, almost in spite of being presented in the round. Each actor so fully inhabits his or her character that it matters little if they're facing away from you -- their exceptional use of body language is amplified just as effortlessly as their voices.
I couldn't help but marvel at Ayckbourn's amazing creation after sitting through the marathon of all three last Saturday. While I don't typically go in for long shows, not only did I find myself on the edge of my seat, but miraculously, I found myself not wanting it ever to end. It's every bit as funny as it is sublime.
The Norman Conquests is the best show on Broadway I've seen over the last year. Thanks to earlier reviews and great word-of-mouth, tickets are understandably getting harder to come by. Mark my words, when this ebullient work invariably wins the Tony for Best Revival of a Play, it will become even tougher.
So take my advice and do yourself the favor of booking all three. Today.
Great news for theatre fans eagerly awaiting Tracy Letts' follow-up to August: Osage County, the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Best Play from 2008.
Yesterday, it was announced that Next To Normal-- a musical from Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey -- will turn things upside down on the Great White Way when it lands this April 15 at the Longacre Theatre.
According to The New York Times, the production will take the unprecedented step of purposely reducing the number of seats to provide a more intimate atmosphere. The capacity will be reduced from 1100 to just 820. Producer David Stone says:
We want an 800-seat theater but none were available, and this is a very emotional play and I’m a big believer in creating the theater space you need.
Given this economy, you have to give the guy credit.
While Michael Greif (Rent and Grey Gardens) will once again direct the tuner, as he did Off-Broadway and at the DC area's Arena Stage, there's no word on casting other than a reference in the Times piece describing the musical:
The musical, budgeted at $4 million, centers on a woman with bipolar disorder (played by the Tony nominee Alice Ripley) and the impact of her illness and her treatment on her family.
Presumably, this will go on without Brian d'Arcy James, who's already appearing on Broadway in Shrek The Musical. Stay tuned for more details.
UPDATED (2.25.09, 9:10 a.m. EST): According to Playbill.com, the entire cast from Arena Stage -- Alice Ripley, J. Robert Spencer, Aaron Tveit, Jennifer Damiano, Adam Chanler-Berat and Louis Hobson -- will return to their roles at the Booth Theatre instead of the Longacre.
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!
