Wicked Greetings From HEL!Greeting from Helsinki, Finland!
Yesterday afternoon, I touched down at a relatively chilly
HEL with the Love Of My Life (LOML) and one of our dearest friends. My LOML and I are still
trekking the globe in our continued quest to see
Stephen Schwartz's
Wicked around the world.
Regular readers know that for my LOML and I, this is "our musical." Some couples have their song, we have our musical. (And only our dearest of dear friends completely understand why this tuner has resonated with us since we first saw it two days after it opened on Broadway nearly 7 years ago.)
By the time this posts, I'll have just experienced the first "non-replicated" production of the musical at Finland's
Helsingin Kaupungin Teatteri (Helsinki City Theatre) during a Saturday afternoon matinee (there are no evening performances today). Non-replicated means that this
Wicked does not use the
original Broadway staging. Instead, it's been conceived with new creative designs under
Hans Berndtsson's direction. But glimpse through the
official program, and you'll see many familiar elements.
The Helsinki staging marks the fourth language and the sixth nation in which my LOML and I have seen
Wicked. What a wonderful journey it's been, particularly in experiencing such different cultures, sights, cuisines and best of all, the people.
Currently, this production of
Wicked is
selling tickets through December 31, 2010. I'll provide more insights on the show once I return home from this Oz next week.
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Broadway, Finland, Hans Berndtsson, Helsinki, Musical, Non-replicated, Travels, Wicked
How Hair Transformed London TheatreApart from live theatre, two of my other passions in life are traveling and history.
For me, London is one of those spectacularly thrilling destinations to visit on a routine basis because it's both steeped in history and has exceptional theatre. Every now and then, those passions dovetail nicely like they did last week when I took in a performance of the current
Hair revival.
While I don't think I'll ever quite get used to having to spend the equivalent of $5 simply for a stage programme (there are no complimentary Playbills to be found), better productions at least ensure that they're chock full of informative nuggets. Such is the case of the
Hair programme, which describes in great detail how the earliest transfer of this show nearly 32 years ago may not have occurred at all.
The programme describes how the show first opened in London on September 27, 1968, exactly one day after the formal abolition of theatre censorship in the United Kingdom by an Act of Parliament known as the
Theatres Act of 1968.
Prior to that, since 1737, the government mandated that scripts must be licensed for performance by the
Lord Chamberlain's Office, which could censor virtually anything it felt was against common decency, including -- initially -- political satire. The office exercised that power forcefully, prohibiting any play "for the preservation of good manners, decorum or of the public peace."
With such strict censorship maintaining a tight grip on British norms right up through 1968,
Hair could never have opened the way it did at the
Shaftesbury Theatre on that September night without that Act of Parliament. Indeed, the musical's opening -- with stars
Tim Curry,
Elaine Paige and
Paul Nicholas -- was delayed until the laws changed.
Hair forever altered the course for theatrical expression in the United Kingdom. Not only was it the first rock musical to ever freely discuss drugs and "Sodomy" on stage, but it was also the first with full frontal nudity and a mixed race cast. The show enjoyed 1,998 performances, and it only closed when the ceiling of the Shaftesbury Theatre collapsed.
And now you know the rest of the story on why
Hair remains a milestone in London theatrical history.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.Labels: Freedom of Expression, Hair, History, Law, London, Musical, Travels, West End
Happy Birthday, Esther (Gratuitous Violins)!It's not every day I use this space to wish someone a happy birthday -- of course lately it's not every day I post anything, period. But today I'm absolutely thrilled to wish my dear Esther at
Gratuitous Violins a very, very extraordinarily happy birthday.
I'm too much of a gentleman to reveal a lady's age, so let's just say that my dear friend is observing one of those major milestone birthdays on this May 5. And if you read
my post from last Wednesday, today you'll hear -- as the late broadcaster
Paul Harvey used to say -- "the rest of the story."
Last week, you learned how I was traveling to
Providence to visit Esther. To capitalize on our shared love of live theatre, as well as to mark the 30th anniversary of my having first seen
Annie, Esther purchased tickets for the two of us to see a Saturday afternoon matinee of the
touring production in Rhode Island's capital city.
But naturally, that was not all that was planned. There was a very special surprise awaiting Esther.
After enjoying my own brisk Saturday morning run from the
Capitol through the
Down City streets and up toward
Brown University and back to my
hotel across the street from the State House, Esther picked me up and we proceeded to the front door of the impressive
McKim, Mead & White-designed
seat of power for Rhode Island's government. The State House is inexpicably closed on Saturdays (unlike so many other State Capitols), but Esther -- demonstrating with tenacity that the name Gratuitous Violins is no fluke -- had pulled some major strings and arranged entry for us into the building. We essentially had it and all its majestic grandeur to ourselves.
Throughout the rest of the day, Esther served as expert tour guide, sharing not only her wonderful home town (including a terrific brunch at
Down City Cafe), but also aspects of her life that make her the cherished friend so many of us know and love. She provided me a chance to meet some of her co-workers, see her high school and junior high, and best of all, I had the opportunity to see her childhood home where I met her father.
Little did Esther know that once
Annie concluded, I began maintaining a close eye on my watch with great vigilence. You see, the minutes had started to count down to the impending moment Esther was to receive her surprise -- a celebration of her life from but a cross section of her friends, including
Chris,
Kari,
Roxie and
Sarah.
After a couple of false starts, such as Esther and I arriving at our appointed meeting place just a little too early ...
twice ... the surprise of these cherished friends traveling to Providence to join me in celebrating our honoree ultimately came off without a hitch. Esther was truly surprised, and clearly enjoyed every minute we shared, including a special Saturday evening dinner in her honor at one of Providence's marvelous Italian restaurants,
Siena, suggested by the birthday girl herself. Given how Esther had initially brought many of us together once upon a time for our very
first bloggers brunch, it seemed appropriate that many of us would come together in an
esprit de corps over her.
While Chris wasn't able to join us on Sunday, the remaining five of us drove to
Newport and enjoyed more conviality together -- well, minus the spirits of the alcoholic variety -- as we toured majestic mansions including the second
Cornelius Vanderbilt's
The Breakers and
Theresa Fair Oelrichs'
Rosecliff, not only where "
The Great Gatsby" was filmed, but perhaps more significantly (especially to theatre lovers like us) where
Cole Porter wrote
Anything Goes -- the gorgeous
Steinway he used to compose the musical is on display in the mansion's opulent ballroom.
Our time together culminated much too quickly, less than 24 hours after our celebration began, over a late lunch at one of Newport's seafood restaurants.
Now, as hokey as this may seem, I can't seem to get that tune
Carol Burnett used to sing at the close of
her show out of my head:
I'm so glad we had this time togetherJust to have a laugh or sing a song.Seems we just get started and before you know it Comes the time we have to say "so long."Esther,
so long as the stars are in the skies, I know we'll enjoy each other's company. It may not always be in person, but it most certainly will be in spirit. And so I not only send you my birthday wishes across the miles on this very special day regardless of how many
bridges we must cross, but I also give you the
rest of
Joe Hamilton's timely lyrics:
There's a time you put aside for dreamin'And a time for things you have to do.The time I love the best is in the evening I can spend a moment here with you.When the time comes that I'm feelin lonelyAnd I'm feelin' oh so blue,I just sit back and think of you only,And the Happiness still comes through.That's why I'm glad we had this time together'Cause it makes me feel like I belong.Seems we just got started and before you know itComes the time we have to say, "So long."Happy birthday with love, Esther. Keep rosining up that bow, and never lose sight of your dreams and the gifts they hold.
And now you know the rest of the story.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Anything Goes, Birthday, Cole Porter, Gratuitous Violins, Special Messages, Travels
Theatre Under The StarsTwo days ago, I arrived smack dab in the middle of the Australian continent in the Northern Territory community of Ayers Rock. But this international tourism mecca is also one of the most sacred places for Australian’s indigenous population thanks to the gorgeous focal point now known by its Aboriginal name
Uluru.
To say coming to the Aussie Red Centre is a religious experience is an understatement. For the past couple days, I’ve had opportunities to get up close and personal -- in a very respectful manner, of course -- with Uluru. In fact, just last evening, I returned from an amazing viewing of the setting sun against this most majestic mountain.
The photo I took doesn't even begin to do it justice as my personal experience was truly indescribable. Dense cloud cover gave way to what surely ranks as the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen, and it turned the rock, which is taller than the Eiffel Tower, from a deep red to an orange glow. It was absolutely breathtaking.
Two nights ago, I attended “
Sounds of Silence,” a spiritual experience if ever there was one. Seventy or so guests of Uluru’s nearby resorts at Yulara boarded two buses for a drive out on a red dirt road to a remote area where we could watch the sun set over both Uluru and the even larger
Kata Tjuta (a/k/a the "Olgas," another spectacular rock/mountain formation about 35 miles to Uluru's west.
We dined on unique Aussie fare under a clear sky of almost nothing but starlight. Once the meal concluded, we enjoyed the evening's true highlight when we were taken on a magical tour of the nightsky by a guide who pointed out one constellation after another. Among them are thousands of stars that are only visible from the Southern Hemisphere. We could also make out Jupiter, as well as the enormous expanse of the Milky Way itself.
Given the cloud cover the following evening, we realized how incredibly fortunate we were to view a clear sky and truly enjoy the sounds of silence in the Aussie outback. It's an experience I won't soon forget and would heartily recommend.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Australia, Ayers Rock, Special Messages, Travels, Uluru
Feeling A Little Wicked: On The Edge Of OzAs regular readers will recall, the love of my life and I have more than just "our song." We have our musical. And our love affair with it began just months into our relationship -- now five years strong.
That show is
Wicked, which we've now seen at least fifteen times ... not only on Broadway or in its sitdown production in Chicago, or on its North American tour, but also in such far-flung places as London, Stuttgart (Germany) and Tokyo. We realize how extremely fortunate we've been to take in this production all over the world.
Now, the two of us find ourselves a bit like Dorothy in "
The Wizard Of Oz" en route along our very own yellow brick road known as A1 or the
Princes Highway. After a long and winding journey of over 950 kilometres from Sydney to Traralgon, we're finally on the cusp of our own Emerald City, anxiously looking forward to celebrating more than one fine day in it.
Our destination is the bright and glittery
Melbourne, where the eighth incarnation of the 21st Century's most popular new stage musical has recently opened. We're currently just 100 miles or so from Melbourne, and this Sunday, we'll be seated in this most Oz-some audience for
Wicked.
Making the trip even more exciting is that we'll be visiting our favourite Aussie friends, who have become family. And better yet, we'll all be in the audience for
Wicked together. It doesn't take a wizard to tell you that having friends like these make it easy to use our brains to recognize our hearts have the courage of their convictions.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for Wicked (Melbourne) tickets.Related Stories:Something Wicked This Way Opens In Australia (July 12, 2008)
Wicked To Finally Land In Oz During 2008 (May 16, 2007)
Labels: Australia, Melbourne, Travels, Wicked
Getting My Theatre OnEver go through withdrawals when you don't take in your favorite activities? Such is the case whenever I go too long without two essential passions: travel and theatre.
Fortunately, this week and next, I'm most certainly taking care of the first by virtue of my journey to Australia. This island nation/continent certainly ranks among my personal favorite places to visit, not only because of its sheer natural beauty, but especially because of its amazing people.
I even had a funny anti-American moment two days ago when a small group of U.S. youth, which had clearly gathered here for
World Youth Day, was embarrassing itself with an impromptu dance on the street. A woman standing next to me at the street corner said derisively, "Must be an American thing," to which I replied, "Oh trust me, we're not laying claim to
that." When she realized I was a Yank, the two of us had a great laugh. No worries, mate, we get that we're no longer admired quite the way we used to be, but more and more of us are in on the joke, too.
As for that other passion desperately in need of a fix, last evening, I had a chance to take in the Sydney production of
Billy Elliot - The Musical at the stunningly over-the-top Capitol Theatre. After seeing it in London nearly three years ago, I was glad to be able to see a performance again prior to it opening in New York, particularly since this mounting includes the immensely talented Genevieve Lemon as Mrs. Wilkinson. She did not disappoint.
While I'll have my SOB Revisit sometime relatively soon, let's just say that this incarnation that's already been around Sydney since December, and will be mounted soon in Melbourne, didn't exactly "Shine, shine, shine" or seem filled with quite the requisite amount of "Electricity" I experienced in London. But it was entertaining, nonetheless, and gave me an opportunity to get my theatre on.
William Shakespeare's
As You Like It introduced the phrase, "All the world's a stage." I realize how extremely fortunate I am to experience that in every sense of the world.
Post script: If you find no further postings through the rest of this week, it's because I'll be driving along the Australian coast for the next three days en route to Melbourne.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Australia, Billy Elliot The Musical, Genevieve Lemon, Sydney, Travels
Greetings From SydneyTwo nights ago, I arrived in gorgeous Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, for the first leg of my two week holiday Down Under.
Substantially easing the jet lag was simply taking a look out my hotel room window. I mean, how can you not love the view above? The
Sydney Opera House is there in all its glory. Not bad, eh?
I had not anticipated the streets of this city being so incredibly packed yesterday, but it was the final day of
Pope Benedict XVI's visit here for the World Youth Day, and his second to last speaking engagement was within a few mere blocks of my hotel.
But I zeroed in on that iconic Opera House, where I've previously seen two performances on earlier visits. This time, I settled for an actual tour of this fascinating facility that was originally supposed to be built in three years and less than $10 million. The actual time spent on construction would be closer to six times that number at a cost of over $200 million. Nevertheless, you just won't hear anyone here complaining about the delay and cost overruns now. If ever anything placed Sydney on the world stage, this performing arts facility was it.
Its name is a bit of a misnomer as there are currently five performance spaces in the building. Each year, the Sydney Opera House hosts over 1,700 different types of concerts, plays, circuses, competitions, musicals, and even the finale for the Australian Idol television show. The two most famous spaces include the actual Opera Hall (on the right), which seats 1,500, as well as the massive and acoustically sound Concert Hall (left) that seats 2,700.
On this visit to Sydney, I tried getting tickets for a performance of a new staging of
My Fair Lady, but they're all sold out. Another option would have been seeing
The 39 Steps, which enjoys its Sydney premiere here at the Opera House's small Playhouse Theatre on July 31. As much as I enjoyed the show on Broadway, I think I'll spend my time doing something else in terms of exploring and seeing friends. But if you live in Sydney, make every effort to go and see this wonderfully inspired show.
Fortunately, I have had two previous opportunities to take in performances in this wonderful entertainment center. Way back in 1992, I caught a musical revue of Cole Porter works called
Swell Party at the Opera House's Playhouse Theatre, but sadly, I no longer have the playbill, so I can't tell you who was in that performance. Then in 2001, I saw a wonderful concert performance of Rodgers & Hammerstein tunes with one of Australia's favourite musical singers (I'm sorry I can't recall her name at the moment). Unfortunately, when I inquired yesterday as to whether the Opera House maintains a data base of all previous shows, I was told that they only keep information going back to 2005. For such an iconic and truly historic venue, I would have expected more.
Well, since I'd rather be outside enjoying Australia's Emerald City, I'll sign off for now. More to come from Down Under.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Australia, Musical, My Fair Lady, Play, Sydney Opera House, The 39 Steps, Travels
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Passing Through ParadiseAloha!
Late yesterday afternoon, I touched down in Honolulu, where I'm now more than halfway to Sydney, Australia. I'll be departing for Down Under in just a few hours.
The photo is the view from my hotel room looking out toward Waikiki Beach and the storied Diamond Head.
The second photo is the view from my room looking out toward the Pacific Ocean, which is literally just outside my room. All throughout the night, I could hear the sound of the waves crashing on shore, making me feel quite peaceful.
The final shot is of my wing of my hotel, which is called the First Lady of Waikiki since it is the oldest hotel here, dating back to 1901. The photo includes my room, which is on the right hand side of the second floor. What a wonderful place to refresh en route to Australia.
Aloha!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Hawaii, Special Messages, Travels
Merry Christmas From TokyoGreetings from the incredibly vibrant, yet surprisingly
quiet city of Tokyo, where I'm spending this Christmas holiday catching a little theatre, but also getting acquainted with this magnificent city.
In seeing our show, it appeared we were the only westerners in the audience. I'll write more about the actual performance of the Japanese language version for this Broadway hit later, but I was struck by how incredibly polite the audience was. They hardly laughed or applauded during the performance (and you could hear a pin drop whenever the stage was quiet). But they clearly loved the show considering the six curtain calls.
After the fourth call, the orchestra started to play familiar strains. But it wasn't anything from the show itself. Instead, they played "White Christmas" with orchestrations lifted right from the show's familiar score. The two lead actors began singing -- in English -- and were soon joined by the entire cast. It made for a very moving experience. It was beautiful.
The rest of my Christmas Eve (it is Christmas Day here thanks to the 14 hour time difference) navigating the complex subway system before walking around (and walking and walking and walking). After toasting Chrismas with a glass of champagne in the
bar of the city's renowned
Imperial Hotel -- the Old Imperial Bar is the only remaining room with
Frank Lloyd Wright's original design -- we took in the 50 year old
Tokyo Tower (pictured), which purposely resembles Paris'
Eiffel Tower and affords some of the best views of this immense city. And strangely enough, with one Christmas hymn after another being piped out of the tower's sound system, it was easy to remember which holiday was upon us.
Please accept my personal best wishes for a very Merry Christmas. Here's wishing you and yours nothing but peace and love.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Christmas, Frank Lloyd Wright, Japan, Special Messages, Tokyo, Travels, White Christmas
New York Has Broadway, China Has Er Ren ZhuanA week ago today, as I was flying within China from beautiful
Nanjing to big, bustling
Beijing while reading my gratis edition of
China Daily,
a revealing column by Raymond Zhou caught my eye.
In his opinion piece, carried on the English language newspaper's editorial page, Zhou talked about the rise in popularity within northeast China of the two-person show or
er ren zhuan, which blends standup comedy, singing and acrobatics. Zhou proclaimed this theatrical art form was becoming "as
de rigueur as a Broadway show is to a traveler to New York," even as it was trying to elude the strong arm of the state.
I don't know which surprised me more -- the fact that a popular form of entertainment was flourishing beyond the tentacles of the Chinese government, or that Zhou -- without government censor -- was able to so eloquently pinpoint and cite that as being one of the major contributors to its success.
Just two weeks ago marked the
18th anniversary of the Tianamen Square massacre of several hundred civilians at the hands of their own government, which sought to quell a seven-week old protest by students demanding democratic reform. This certainly was not lost on me as I strolled through the massive square just this past Sunday evening, ironically, just after attending a state-sanctioned run of Beijing Chaoyang Theater's
Acrobatics Macrocosm. The show was inescapably entertaining, yet hardly memorable. Or, to quote Zhou, "Truth be told, it is not devoid of artistic merit. It is just detached from the needs of ordinary people, including the high-brow ones."
Today's China is vastly different from the one I first visited back in 1989 -- just a month after the massacre. In Beijing, entire neighborhoods or "
hutongs" have given way to bright, shining -- make that gleaming -- architecture containing popular Western hotels, eateries, coffee houses and high-end shopping...just in time for next year's
Olympic Games. Save for the
Forbidden City and sacred sites like it around China's capital, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were in just about any other go-go capitalist Western metropolis.
Yet the ultimate authority of the state is one that remains absolute, and as Zhou's column so concisely reveals, popular entertainment is one facet of daily life the Chinese government still seeks to control:
Some officials have the mistaken notion that arts and entertainment are all about prettily decked-out singers warbling praises of the latest official slogans that are in fad. They present squeaky-clean images and simulated joys. Like postcard sceneries, they are better to be marveled at than embraced with your heart.
If the official entertainment is like the powdered face of an aristocrat, grassroots entertainment is like the sweaty face of a young man toiling in the field. It may be gritty, but full of vitality and closer to life as we know it. The Northeastern comedy draws much of its gags from daily life. Unfortunately, the show I caught has already been "purified" due to censorship pressure.
Contrast that to American theatre. Whether on Broadway or in the far reaches of regional theatre, live theatre has consistently served as an unrelenting bulwark in the defense of free speech, particularly when it freely challenges our government.
I recall seeing
Tim Robbins'
Embedded at
The Public Theater back in 2003 and thinking whether one agreed with its message or not, this is what democracy and freedom of speech are all about. Did that work challenge people to think, or rethink the war in Iraq? Without a doubt. Did it undermine our government? Absolutely not.
While the Chinese have made great strides toward economic freedoms, it's my profound hope that the Chinese will one-day enjoy
all the same freedoms of the West, particularly the freedom of speech and expression -- without a doubt, the proliferation of
er ren zhuan aspires toward that same dream.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Acrobatics Macrocosm, Beijing, Broadway, China, Embedded, er ren zhuan, Freedom Of Speech, Off-Broadway, Tim Robbins, Travels
These Eyes Just May Be In An Audience Near You!
These Eyes Just May Be In An Audience Near You!UPDATED: 9.9.10If you've ever clicked onto
my profile, you'll certainly have read that "These eyes just may be in an audience near you!"
Over the nearly one year that I've been writing Steve On Broadway (SOB), my travels have taken me far and wide. These eyes have had the great fortune to see and enjoy so much. You see, just as I'm passionate about theatre, I'm even more so about travel. It's my way of gaining a greater appreciation of the world, its cultures, its people and my tiny spec of a dot within it.
Plus, I'll go just about anywhere to experience great theatre!
Fortunately, my day job over the past fourteen years or so has been firmly rooted within the travel industry, allowing me to stretch my travel dollar to the max
and see the world.
So, with humblest apologies to Michael Baker at
The Lunar Gemini for copying his lead, I'm presenting my own personal travel maps to show where I've been.
First is the United States (yes, I've been to all 50 states as of November, 1986 -- Arkansas was my last state):
Next up, here's my map of Canada (I still plan to get to Saskatchewan and Newfoundland
sometime):
Just to show I'm not
too provincial, my map of Europe is next. It probably goes without saying that one can't be a serious traveler
or theatregoer without making at least one trip to Europe. Here's where I've been:
So what's my world view? Here you go:
With lots more travel planned both professionally and personally over the upcoming year, I'm looking forward to setting those eyes of mine upon many stages, both of the theatre and of life itself. A
Journey's End for me? Never!
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here to learn how to make your own personalized map!Labels: Special Messages, Theatre, Travels
