Steve On Broadway (SOB)

Scottsboro Boys Night Out In Minneapolis

Scottsboro Boys Night Out In Minneapolis

(Click here for The SOB Review of The Scottsboro Boys)

This evening, The Scottsboro Boys opens at Minneapolis' prestigious Guthrie for its pre-Broadway tryout. The tuner is billed as "the thrilling final collaboration between by musical theater giants John Kander and Fred Ebb," with the latter having died on September 11, 2004.

As noted here over three years ago, the musical was initially conceived as The Minstrel Show and was to be presented in blackface. The musical provides a minstrel-style depiction of racial inequalities in the deep south during the Great Depression that Kander describes as "vicious."

The Guthrie offers this set-up:

Based on the notorious "Scottsboro" case in the 1930s (in which nine African-American men were unjustly accused of a terrible crime) this daring and wildly entertaining musical explores a fascinating chapter in American history with brilliant originality. This critically-acclaimed production, directed by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers) and featuring a book by David Thompson (who adapted the script for Chicago's record-breaking revival), comes to the Guthrie following a sold-out run Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre.

It should be noted that not every cast member from The Scottsboro Boys that's opening tonight is necessarily making his way to Broadway. John Collum, who created the role of the Interlocutor at the Vineyard and who will reprise that turn on the Great White Way, has been replaced in Minneapolis by David Anthony Brinkley. Jeremy Gumbs, who will portray Scottsboro Boy Eugene Williams in Minneapolis, is not yet listed among the players who will make their way to New York.

The rest of the cast performing in Minneapolis are set for the Broadway berth at the Lyceum Theatre, where the open-ended run is set to begin previews on October 7 and open October 31. The cast includes Colman Domingo as Mr. Bones, Forrest McClendon as Mr. Tambo, Sharon Washington as the Lady, and the Scottsboro Boys will be portrayed by Sean Bradford (Ozie Powell), Josh Breckenridge (Olen Montgomery), Derrick Cobey (Andy Wright), Joshua Henry (Haywood Patterson), Rodney Hicks (Clarence Norris), Kendrick Jones (Willie Roberson), Julius Thomas III (Roy Wright) and Christian Dante White (Charles Weems).

Since Guthrie Director Joe Dowling has stated, "The production that people will see here is very much the production they'll see on Broadway," I'll be in the audience for tonight's opening. Expect to see my SOB Review shortly after.

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, Colman Domingo, David Thompson, Fred Ebb, Guthrie, John Collum, John Kander, Kander And Ebb, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Musical, Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, August 06, 2010 0 comments

The Addams Family (The SOB Review)

The Addams Family (The SOB Review) - Oriental Theatre, Chicago, Illinois

** (out of ****)

The pivotal clan on display in The Addams Family musical doesn’t exactly epitomize “all together ooky,” but they most certainly turn out to be more than just a little kooky.

No, I don’t mean the eponymous brood, portrayed by some major stars from the theatrical firmament, each practically begging for their turns in the spotlight in this new tuner. Rather, I’m talking about Mal and Alice Beineke, along with their son Lucas, who’s newly engaged to Wednesday Addams.

What? Never heard of them? Neither had I.

Suffice to say, I could not have cared less about them, either. In short, they weren’t the family I was paying to see. Talk about mysterious and spooky.

Nor was I paying to see a retread of La Cage Aux Folles. As in that work, conservative parents meet more flamboyant ones before their children marry, the child of the flamboyant parents tries and fails to rein them in, chaos ensues, everybody learns to love their inner freak, etc., etc. We’re seen this all before, but executed infinitely better. And with more verve and heart.

Therein lay the principal problems with this musical stage adaptation of Charles Addams’ famously funny and macabre New Yorker cartoons. What were the creative minds behind this show thinking?

Quite inexplicably, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice’s book and Andrew Lippa’s tunes have pushed the Beineke bunch forward complete with star turns for Terrence Mann (Mal) and Carolee Carmello (Alice). However, they come at the expense of a truly satisfying, original story, not to mention at the expense of those cast as the titular family.

Now please don’t get me wrong, I can’t blame Mann or Carmello. Both are actually pretty terrific. They imbue Wednesday’s would-be in-laws with a certain charm and ultimate giddiness that all but eludes Gomez (Nathan Lane) and Morticia Addams (Bebe Neuwirth). The Beinekes' very presence virtually sucks all the joy out of the two characters in whom the audience already has the most invested. And what are The Addams Family without joy? This should be fun, right?!

Lane and Neuwirth make due as best they can with the pitiable trifle they’ve been thrown, including a sidebar story in which Morticia misconstrues Gomez’s comments on youth and beauty as an ageist indictment on her. If this musical is to be true to Charles Addams’ original vision, as it claims, would this already ghoulish character really care about being one step closer to the grave? Wouldn’t that be viewed as a welcome departure for this family?

While we’re on the topic of Addams’ concepts, the advance billing for this musical also seemed to suggest that there would be no allusions to the television comedy and subsequent films. Rather than dispensing with any such nod to those works at the onset of the tuner and simply move on, directors Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch have inserted their impressive homage to the TV show’s snappy theme song about a third of the way into the first act. But it needlessly diverts focus away from whatever story has already commenced.

All is not lost in this Addams Family. No, I actually admire McDermott and Crouch’s evocative scenic design, rich in dark reds and the requisite blacks. Supplemented by Natasha Katz’s lighting, the stage is resplendent with a creepy vibe.

Additionally, two of the Addamses are actually captured to absolute perfection. Kevin Chamberlin ’s Uncle Fester gleefully manages to steal the show with a glorious dream sequence number in which he’s courting the moon. And as Grandma, the woefully underused Jackie Hoffman may have found her solo tune cut on the way to opening night in favor of those star turns by Mann and Carmello, yet she manages the last laugh, almost literally, during the first act’s dinner sequence as she ad libs to hilarious effect -- during my performance, it was one incredibly funny, timely dig at Tiger Woods.

Do I think that this Addams Family can be salvaged? Absolutely. Not only because so much is at stake financially, but especially since it contains universally loved and established characters, a stellar cast and some exceptional design elements.

Yet in order to be Broadway ready, it will take more than just a tweak here and slight adjustment there. This demands a wholesale overhaul of focus and plot. Here’s a novel idea, why don’t Brickman and Elice give us a snappier story on how The Addams Family got to be so eccentric in the first place? Whatever they do, they need to re-center this musical on the folks in the title.

Then maybe, just maybe, it could be a complete scream when people come to see ‘em.

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. I paid my own way for The Addams Family.

Labels: Bebe Neuwirth, Carolee Carmello, Cartoon, Chicago, Jackie Hoffman, Kevin Chamberlin, Marshall Brickman, Musical, Nathan Lane, Rick Elice, Terrence Mann, The Addams Family, The SOB Review, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Sunday, December 13, 2009 0 comments

Did LA Critics Think Minsky's Worth Raiding For Musical?

Did LA Critics Think Minsky's Worth Raiding For Musical?

No doubt wistfully hoping for a Main Stem three-peat of sorts, Los Angeles' Center Theatre Group -- which hosted the launch of two would-be Rialto musicals that would go on to be Tony nominated for Best Musical: Bob Martin's The Drowsy Chaperone and John Kander and Fred Ebb's Curtains -- is currently producing the long-gestating, Broadway-aimed Minsky's.

With score by the venerable Charles Strouse and Susan Birkenhead, this new tuner is being touted as a good old-fashioned musical comedy. It also marks another collaboration for Bob Martin and Casey Nicholaw -- just as the former wrote The Drowsy Chaperone's clever book with the latter directing and choreographing, they possess the same credits for Minsky's.

If collaboration is the word, it may come as no surprise that their Tony-winning Best Featured Actress Beth Leavel is also cast in this production. Leavel is joined by a truly terrific-sounding cast, including Christopher Fitzgerald -- who is finally receiving his due as leading man in the eponymous role -- Kevin Cahoon, John Cariani and Rachel Dratch, along with two actors who made Hairspray's Edna Turnblad their own as major Great White Way replacements: Paul Vogt and George Wendt.

So far, so good, right?

Minsky's opened Sunday night and the reviews were, well, a bit skimpy on the praise. But as Michael Riedel points out, there's apparently enough, er, material there to keep moving forward -- albeit with some major tailoring -- to make it Broadway ready.

Leaving "Minsky’s not with the tingly sensation of having seen something exciting and maybe a little sinful, but with the feeling that you’ve attended a comforting church service," The New York Times' Charles Isherwood practically damns with the faintest traces of praise: "Minsky’s is a musical comedy that too often seems to be looking back to familiar formulas, dusting off and sprucing up clichés from the showbiz trunk for another repurposing.... Minsky’s seems content to do the old steps in the old style, on the assumption that sentimental escapism presented with gusto and polish can turn the trick one more time.... They call it burlesque, and the sequins are used a little more sparingly, but it feels a lot like plain-vanilla Broadway.... The short and slightly portly Mr. Fitzgerald makes an appealingly offbeat leading man in the tough-talking but soft-hearted vein.... Ms. Dratch and Mr. Cariani as the matched misfits almost steal the show with a sour-grapes duet, 'I Want a Life.'... On the whole the score is bubbly and pleasant, with an accent on brassy energy."

Calling the show a "nostalgic and not terribly authentic backstage musical," Los Angeles Times critic Charles McNulty also offers a mixed review: "[T]hough far from terrible, isn’t quite the electric crowd-pleaser they’re intending. Intermittently delightful, the musical is just as intermittently bumbling, coming alive mostly in the colorful burlesque sequences and taking a sharp nose-dive when attempts are made to contain the parade of skimpily clad dancing girls and shamelessly hoary gags into a traditional book musical.... There are plenty of nifty one-liners and deliriously silly shenanigans, but the book, which has been transplanted from the mid-’20s (in which the film was set) to the Depression-clobbered summer of 1930, has that lumpy look of a dish that’s been fiddled with by too many cooks. Even its dire economic relevance feels belabored.... But the tone of the show could have benefited from a few more grains of documentary truth and a whole lot less musical-comedy fraudulence.... Fitzgerald, who possesses a great trumpet of a voice, excels when a gaggle of leggy showgirls is circling him to the rhythmic bleats of the live orchestra. Leading man he’s not, but he more than compensates with an offbeat charisma.... Leavel ... can be counted on for oomph.... An eccentric constellation of supporting players distracts from the musical’s more threadbare patches."

Despite declaring, "Irresistible throughout is the tuner's cavalcade of song and dance," Variety's Bob Verini also gives the show a mixed critique: "The potential of a tuner titled Minsky's ... is partly realized in its Ahmanson Theater premiere thanks to a strong Charles Strouse/Susan Birkenhead score and state-of-the-art musical staging by helmer-choreographer Casey Nicholaw. On the debit side are a thin, uninvolving storyline and curiously antiseptic take on the raffish art form the tuner purports to celebrate.... Irresistible throughout is the tuner's cavalcade of song and dance.... Aside from Leavel, tuner is light on top bananas and comics generally, though Paul Vogt, John Cariani and Rachel Dratch are amusingly off-kilter zanies. Fitzgerald juggles Billy's machinations with Mike Todd's brash vitality until he's turned cute and doughy by the love plot, which practically evaporates even as he and (Katharine) Leonard speak the lines."

Concluding that "the outlines of a well-shaped musical shine through," The Orange County Record's Paul Hodgins nevertheless lays bear what he sees as the show's shortfalls: "There are moments of great fun, inspiration and even brilliance in this show.... Indeed, on the level of simple entertainment it succeeds just fine. But in its present form, Martin's contributions to Hunter's original book result in touches of whimsy (mostly welcome) that don't always gibe with other parts of the tale.... The songs are one of Minsky's strong points.... They smartly capture the sass and verbal adroitness of the time and place.... Nicholaw captures the libertine spirit of classic burlesque with a few elaborately choreographed breast-baring (but not nipple-revealing) moments. Nicholaw shows us that Golden Age burlesque was primarily spectacle and as much a comic as an erotic diversion. I suspect Minsky's creators know there's plenty of work to be done.... The talented Beth Leavel is given too little to do as Billy's worldly sidekick, Maisie. Fitzgerald's performance is somewhat monochromatic."

I'll be keeping a close eye on this show as it continues making its long journey to Broadway. But right now, the Los Angeles production perhaps seems as far away from its end goal as possible.

UPDATE (2.13.09, 1:45 p.m. EST): According to Playbill, Minsky's will bow on the Great White Way sometime during the 2009-10 Theatrical Season.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: Beth Leavel, Bob Martin, Casey Nicholaw, Charles Strouse, Christopher Fitzgerald, Critics' Capsule, John Cariani, Kevin Cahoon, Los Angeles, Minsky's, Rachel Dratch, Susan Birkenhead, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, February 11, 2009 6 comments

Broadway Preview: 9 To 5

Broadway Preview: 9 To 5

As regular readers will recall, I've sounded some squeals of delight at the prospect of Dolly Parton writing a musical for the Great White Way. What a way for her to make a living!

As previously noted, her musical stage adaptation of 9 To 5 is a go for September 2008 mounting Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre. But now it's been announced that the tuner will play Broadway's Marquis Theatre beginning March 24, 2009, with an opening slated for April 23.

The cast, of course, will include Stephanie J. Block as Judy Bernly, Allison Janney as Violet Newstead and Megan Hilty as deluxe Dolly doppelgänger Doralee Rhodes. Marc Kudisch will play that evil boss man.

Helmed by Joe Mantello, the musical's book will be provided by the film version's screenwriter, Patricia Resnick. Choreography comes from recent Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler (In The Heights).

Almost in spite of the fact that it's based on a movie, this, my dear friends, is the new musical of the 2008-09 Theatrical Season I'm most anxiously awaiting. I'm placing this squarely in the top three shows I want to see over the next year.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for 9 To 5 Los Angeles tickets.
Related Stories:
Broadway Preview: Mary Stuart (July 15, 2008)
Broadway Preview: The American Plan (July 14, 2008)
Broadway Preview: Shrek The Musical (July 13, 2008)
Broadway Preview: Waiting For Godot (July 12, 2008)
Broadway Preview: Pal Joey (July 11, 2008)
Broadway Preview: Dividing The Estate (July 10, 2008)
Broadway Preview: 13 (July 9, 2008)
Broadway Preview: Speed-The-Plow (July 8, 2008)
Broadway Preview: Billy Elliot - The Musical (July 7, 2008)
Broadway Preview: Godspell (July 6, 2008)
Broadway Preview: All My Sons (July 5, 2008)
Broadway Preview: A Man For All Seasons (July 3, 2008)
Broadway Preview: To Be Or Not To Be (July 2, 2008)
Broadway Preview: The Seagull (July 1, 2008)
Broadway Preview: Equus (June 30, 2008)
Broadway Preview: A Tale Of Two Cities (June 28, 2008)
Broadway Preview: for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf (June 25, 2008)
Broadway Preview: [title of show] (June 24, 2008)
Broadway: What's Next (June 20, 2008)
Workin' 9 2--8 (November 16, 2007)
2009 To 5? (August 29, 2007)

Labels: 9 To 5, Broadway, Dolly Parton, Film, Joe Mantello, Los Angeles, Marc Kudisch, Megan Hilty, Musical, Nine To Five, Stephanie J. Block, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, July 16, 2008 4 comments

Workin' 9 2--8

Workin' 9 2--8

The musical stage adaptation of 9 To 5 is a go for September 2008.

The Broadway-bound tuner will enjoy its world premiere tryout in LA at the city's Ahmanson Theatre, which helped birth the current Broadway hits Curtains and The Drowsy Chaperone. According to Variety, the show will open September 21, 2008.

There's definitely a lot of interest here. In a recent SOB Poll, I asked, "Which previously announced stage adaptation of a movie would you most like to see on Broadway?" By a wide margin, a plurality of you (40.9%) said your choice was 9 To 5 -- the next closest vote was 18.2% who said "Enough with turning films into musicals!"

Stephanie J. Block, who let's face it was the only reason to plunk down money to see the disaster known as The Pirate Queen, may finally have a role that makes her a bona fide Broadway star. Don't get me wrong, I loved her as Liza Minnelli in the mildly entertaining The Boy From Oz and think she does a mean (and that's good) Elphaba in Wicked, but this exceptional actress deserves a high profile role that can really grab Broadway's attention. This could be it as Block is set to take on the role Judy Bernly, originally created by Jane Fonda in the film version.

Block will be teaming up with four-time Emmy Award winning actress Allison Janney (who also received a 1998 Tony nod for A View From A Bridge) and a former Glinda, Megan Hilty. Janney will portray Violet Newstead (delightfully played by Lily Tomlin in the film), while Hilty fills the big, er, shoes of Dolly Parton as Doralee Rhodes.

Speaking of Parton, the beloved songstress has written the score to 9 To 5, while Patricia Resnick (who wrote the original story) is handling the show's book. Joe Mantello will be the boss man responsible for helming the play, while Andy Blankenbuehler (The Apple Tree and the upcoming In The Heights) will choreograph.

Visions of visiting LA next fall are already dancing in my head.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
2009 To 5? (August 29, 2007)

Labels: 9 To 5, Broadway, Dolly Parton, Film, Joe Mantello, Los Angeles, Marc Kudisch, Megan Hilty, Musical, Nine To Five, Stephanie J. Block, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, November 16, 2007 2 comments

Trying Times For Broadway Tryouts

Trying Times For Broadway Tryouts

Forget all my carping on the efficacy of Broadway tryouts in the age of the blogosphere.

According to Variety's Gordon Cox (with hat tip to The Playgoer), Broadway tryouts are here to stay because "most legiters wouldn't open in Gotham without one."

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Related Stories:
Once Again, I Have To Ask.... (September 20, 2007)
Are Blogs Making The Time-Honored Preview Obsolete? (August 20, 2007)

Labels: Blogs, Broadway, Off-Broadway, Previews, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, October 09, 2007 1 comments

Harvey Fiersback

Harvey Fiersback

In my PR world, I've always lived by the mantra that you never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.

But I've got to hand it to Harvey Fierstein for having the courage to fire back at his critics, particularly Charles McNulty of the Los Angeles Times for his savage review of A Catered Affair during its pre-Broadway engagement in San Diego.

On his MySpace blog, Fierstein also takes aim at those who had issues with what they viewed as his anachronistic characterization of a gay man living in the 1950s:

In A Catered Affair I have been accused, by a few well meaning critics who loved the show, of creating a gay character that is "post-Stonewall" and not true to the period of the piece. Once again I ask: What makes them so sure? Did they do any of the research that I did? Did they interview gay men who lived through the period as I have? Did they view documentaries telling stories of what it was like to be gay in 1953 as I did? Did they read books or personal accounts of gay life in 1953 as I did?

I doubt that one of those critics took the time to be sure they were correct before telling me that I was incorrect. Still they blithely and boldy state in print that I am wrong and they are right!!! I say that is simply outrageous. And I tell you ON RECORD that I did my research and I firmly stand behind my portrayal of that character as true and real. The funny part is that these opinions, like most advice, were not given to harm, but to help me make a better piece. So,I thank them for their advice, but encourage them to know whereof they speak before prescribing cures.

MAYBE I'M CRAZY, BUT...

...I go to the theater hoping that I will learn something new. I go praying that the playwright will inform my world, change my opinion, enlighten me, cause me to think, open my mind and heart. But it seems that some critics go to the theater only to validate their own predetermined opinion. What a loss for them! And what a loss for their readers.

One thing you can't accuse Harvey Fierstein of being is a wimp or a coward.

While I regret not having the opportunity to see this show in San Diego, now I'm really looking forward to seeing it on Broadway.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for tickets.
Related Stories:
Were Left Coast Critics Feting A Catered Affair? (October 3, 2007)
San Diego Opening Is Catered Affair (September 30, 2007)
Which Upcoming Broadway Musicals Will You See? (June 15, 2007)
Fierstein To Musicalize Bette Davis' Fave Flick (March 21, 2007)

Labels: A Catered Affair, Blogs, Broadway, California, Charles McNulty, Critics' Capsule, Film, Harvey Fierstein, Los Angeles Times, Musical, Paddy Chayefsky, San Diego, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, October 05, 2007 2 comments

2009 To 5?

2009 To 5?

Among all the films currently being developed for stage musical treatment, 9 To 5 is the one that you want most to see, according to your votes in my recent SOB Poll. Now it's looking likely to bust out on Broadway in 2009.

Earlier this summer, I posed the following via my SOB Poll: "A musical version of 9 To 5 is the latest stage treatment for a popular film. Which previously announced stage adaptation of a movie would you most like to see on Broadway?"

A very strong 40.9% of you indicated that it would indeed be your top choice. That was way ahead of the second top response: "Enough already with turning films into musicals!" at 18.2%.

Already the subject of plenty of press attention, 9 To 5 has all the makings of a double-barreled hit with Dolly Parton handling the score, Joe Mantello at the helm and a cast that could conceivably include Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block (who's about to return to Wicked), Megan Hilty, Bebe Neuwirth, Marc Kudisch and Andy Karl -- that is, if the recent reading was any indication.

Now, according to Playbill, the musically-endowed 2006 Kennedy Center Honoree has told listeners to Go Country 105.1 in Los Angeles that the tuner will hit the Great White Way in 2009:

People ask if I'm gonna be in the play. I say, "No, I think I'm a bit over the age of wantin' to be a secretary. But they asked me to write all the music for it, so I have written all the music. And it's supposed to open on Broadway in the spring of 2009. I believe they're gonna be doin' a workshop out here at the Shubert in the fall of next year.

No matter that Parton most likely meant "tryout" rather than "workshop," I'm actually looking forward to see this one play out.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: 9 To 5, Andy Karl, Bebe Neuwirth, Broadway, Dolly Parton, Film, First Word On New Show, Joe Mantello, Los Angeles, Marc Kudisch, Megan Hilty, Musical, Stephanie J. Block, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Wednesday, August 29, 2007 5 comments

Seattle Times: Young Frankenstein's Shtick Gets Old

Seattle Times: Young Frankenstein's Shtick Gets Old

The first official "mainstream media" review of Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein is out from Misha Berson of The Seattle Times.

You may recall from my "preview" that I gleefully credited "Brooks and Thomas Meehan for embracing all of the signature lines and hysterical bits from the film and running with them."

Apparently, Berson is having none of that.

In fact, the review explicitly states, "[I]t has not yet escaped the looming shadow of its celluloid model and come into its own. Staged by (Susan) Stroman with impressive fluidity given its heft, Young Frankenstein has a cast of expert merry-makers, shtick galore, winning dance numbers, elaborate sets by Robin Wagner that are marvels of seamless stage technology, and all the explosions, fog, and wowie lighting effects (by Peter Kaczorowski) a rumored $20 million budget can buy. But the humor is choppy, and the one-liners repeated from the film script (by Brooks and Gene Wilder) can fall flat. The musical is freshest and funniest in the second act, when it stops doggedly aping the film, and lets the actors concoct their own comic chemistry."

Of the cast, Christopher Fitzgerald (Igor) is deemed "terrific," exuding "much goofy verve of his own" and the "incomparable" Andrea Martin gets well-earned praise ("her brooding Frau Blucher is a wacko joy").

However, the leads aren't registering with Berson.

Roger Bart is "the actor most burdened" who "overworks the exasperated shrieking he borrows from Wilder's Frederick. One hopes Bart finds his own groove soon." Megan Mullally "is amusing, but not virginal -- which undercuts the joke of Elizabeth's sexual awakening." Sutton Foster is "a fine singer, a champion yodeler, and a dexterous dancer. But she barely registers a personality."

In summary, I'll leave the final word to Berson, who concludes: "And though it may well draw crowds in any case, a less clonelike Young Frankenstein would be a better justification for all the expense and talent lavished on this celluloid spin-off when it lurches onto Broadway."

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Seattle).
Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Broadway).
Related Stories:
Riedel's Deep Abby Normal?(August 17, 2007)
Young Frankenstein (The SOB Preview) (August 13, 2007)
Will These Eyes Meet? Hoping For Better Than 75% (August 10, 2007)
Is Mel Worth It? (August 4, 2007)
Thanks, Mel! (July 6, 2007)
What Motivates You To See A Broadway Show? (July 5, 2007)
That's Franken$$$$$TEIN! (June 29, 2007)
Cloris To Mel: Put Up Your Dukes! (June 13, 2007)
Pirate Queen Set To Abdicate Hilton Throne (June 6, 2007)
Billion Dollar Broadway Baby? Almost. (May 30, 2007)
Mel Brooks: "It Looks Like The Hilton Theatre" (May 25, 2007)
End Of Plank For Pirate Queen? (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: Mullally Cast In Young Frankenstein (March 9, 2007)
The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Whither Goeth Chenoweth? (February 27, 2007)
Producers Out, Young Frankenstein In (February 22, 2007)
That's FrankenSTEEN: Just In Time For Halloween (January 24, 2007)
M-G-M: Movies-Going-Musical (January 3, 2007)
Young Frankenstein Workshop To Feature Monster Casting (October 11, 2006)

Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Film, Mel Brooks, Musical, Seattle, Tryout, Young Frankenstein

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, August 24, 2007 2 comments

Updated: One Rocky Review For The Little Mermaid; One Favorable Post

UPDATED: One Rocky Review For The Little Mermaid; One Favorable Post

Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Denver, Disney, Film, Musical, Sherie Rene Scott, The Little Mermaid, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, August 24, 2007 0 comments

A Tale Of Two Tryout Cities

A Tale Of Two Tryout Cities

Two of the 2007-08 Theatrical Season's most anticipated shows are opening this evening during their out-of-town tryouts: Young Frankenstein at Seattle's Paramount and The Little Mermaid at Denver's Center for Performing Arts Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Both represent ultra high-profile, high-stake mega-million gambits on former big screen favorites revamped as big Broadway musicals.

For Mel Brooks, the pressure's on in the Pacific Northwest to prove that he's not a one-hit wonder for his Rialto adaptation of The Producers (Brooks' other three outings on the Great White Way were way back in the fifties and sixties).

Just across the Rocky Mountains, Disney Theatrical Productions is out to prove that magic can strike twice via the very property that completely reinvigorated its languishing animation division; now, Disney sorely needs a critical Broadway smash.

Although blogosphere chatter (including here) has already reviewed both shows in advance of the openings, now comes the first test from the mainstream media as they'll now be able to weigh-in with their first official reviews.

Any bets on what we'll hear?

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for The Little Mermaid tickets (Denver).
Click here for The Little Mermaid tickets (Broadway).
Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Seattle).
Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Broadway).
Related Stories:
Riedel's Deep Abby Normal?(August 17, 2007)
Young Frankenstein (The SOB Preview) (August 13, 2007)
Will These Eyes Meet? Hoping For Better Than 75% (August 10, 2007)
Is Mel Worth It? (August 4, 2007)
Little Mermaid Begins Tonight (July 26, 2007)
Little Mermaid: No Treading Water Before The Boards (July 21, 2007)
Thanks, Mel! (July 6, 2007)
What Motivates You To See A Broadway Show? (July 5, 2007)
That's Franken$$$$$TEIN! (June 29, 2007)
Cloris To Mel: Put Up Your Dukes! (June 13, 2007)
Pirate Queen Set To Abdicate Hilton Throne (June 6, 2007)
Billion Dollar Broadway Baby? Almost. (May 30, 2007)
Mel Brooks: "It Looks Like The Hilton Theatre" (May 25, 2007)
End Of Plank For Pirate Queen? (May 18, 2007)
Mermaid Casting Anything But Little (March 20, 2007)
It's Official: Mullally Cast In Young Frankenstein (March 9, 2007)
The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Whither Goeth Chenoweth? (February 27, 2007)
Producers Out, Young Frankenstein In (February 22, 2007)
That's FrankenSTEEN: Just In Time For Halloween (January 24, 2007)
Beauty Out On Broadway (January 17, 2007)
M-G-M: Movies-Going-Musical (January 3, 2007)
Young Frankenstein Workshop To Feature Monster Casting (October 11, 2006)
Disney Moves from Continent to Continent (May 22, 2006)

Labels: Broadway, Disney, Film, Mel Brooks, Musical, Opening Night, The Little Mermaid, Tryout, Young Frankenstein

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Thursday, August 23, 2007 1 comments

Are Blogs Making The Time-Honored Preview Obsolete?

Are Blogs Making The Time-Honored Preview Obsolete?

Remember the "good old days" of theatre when bad news traveled at such a snail's pace that a stinker show could go through an out-of-town tryout and few in the Big Apple would pay any serious attention?

Time was when producers, directors, writers and the actors could work out all the kinks on the road, or at least during the all-important lead-up to the big Broadway opening night.

But no more.

Now, thanks to the blogsphere, the buzz (or its antithesis) begins almost as instantly as one audience member begins acting as scribe, letting friends and readers far and wide know exactly what he or she thought. Essentially, shows can run, but they can't hide, in part due to the global proportions of blogging.

For example, last week, I posted my SOB Preview of Young Frankenstein. It's the first time I've ever blogged about a show that had not yet opened -- including during its trial run in a city far, far away from the bright lights and glare of the Great White Way. Yet, simply because I could, I did. And my regular readers, along with those googling "Young Frankenstein Seattle Review," could easily find out my take on the unfinished product. Indeed, my statcounter has shown that this has been one of my top-viewed postings of late.

Already, according to a cursory search on Technorati, there are well over 100 individual reviews of the same show. This, despite the fact that it hasn't even opened yet in Seattle, let alone New York.

The net effect? It's further threatening the relevance of mainstream news media outlets all the more, as Seattle Times theatre critic Misha Berson all but acknowledges in her thought-provoking piece on why she's not able to weigh-in on the show. No matter that the Internet is already full of reviews -- both good and bad -- by amateurs like myself. It reduces venerable news sources to being also-rans.

I suspect that the other effect is far greater. Could it force productions to significantly pare back previews or scuttle them altogether? Ironically, in the aforementioned good old days, the typical number of previews prior to opening night was miniscule or non-existent.

Can you believe that the original production of Oklahoma! never had a single Broadway preview prior to its 1943 opening night? Contrast that with the most recent production -- which was imported from the British stage in 2002 -- that had 25 previews. That's up substantially from the 1979 production, which had a mere nine previews.

Consider that the original 1975 production of A Chorus Line, which transferred directly from the Public Theatre, had no previews. Yet the current production, known for being staged ostensibly the same as the first one, had 18 previews.

If you're thinking that a transfer mitigates the need for lengthy previews, think again. This year's Tony Award winning Best Musical Spring Awakening, which transferred from a highly successful run at the Atlantic Theatre (albeit with further refinements), still required 28 previews.

In fact, if you were to add up all the preview nights of all 21 shows currently running on Broadway, you'd have a grand total of 566 nights of previews, or just over 26 per show. That ranges from the inexplicably low 14 previews of Mamma Mia! to the outrageously long gestation period for Xanadu, which clocked in a whopping 49 previews thanks to injuries.

Even recent runs of acclaimed plays were close to the average in terms of previews. Frost/Nixon had 23 previews on Broadway, despite its critical success in the United Kingdom with the same two principals.

The History Boys, which had the exact same cast as its heralded National Theatre and West End runs, apparently still needed its 10 previews on the Great White Way.

Or did it?

In the age of the blogosphere, are previews now living past their shelf date? Since bad news travels faster than ever, almost with glee if the show's particularly awful (read: The Pirate Queen), would producers at the very least be wise to reconsider their liberal use of the preview?

You tell me! Vote in my latest SOB Poll and then weigh in with your point of view below.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: A Chorus Line, Blogs, Broadway, Frost/Nixon, Mamma Mia, Oklahoma, Previews, Spring Awakening, The History Boys, Tryout, Xanadu, Young Frankenstein

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Monday, August 20, 2007 9 comments

Riedel's Deep Abby Normal?

Riedel's Deep Abby Normal?

New York Post theatre gossip wag Michael Riedel's been having lots of fun with Young Frankenstein and its Seattle tryout by quoting a "Deep Abby Normal."

Although he says today that he hinted last week who his mole is, in re-reading that column, I couldn't detect a trace of whom that might be. But his column today would suggest it's none other than Christopher Fitzgerald, or at least that's what I surmise by "I already hinted at this, but I'll refresh her (Susan Stroman) memory: He lives in Transylvania, and he has a hump."

By the way, Playbill has some halfway decent initial pics of the show, including one of Fitzgerald more than capably filling Marty Feldman's shoes as Igor. In case you missed my comments the other day, I said, "If there is just one Tony nominated performance from Young Frankenstein -- and I personally believe there could very well be at least four or five -- it will be Christopher Fitzgerald. He (is) exceptional."

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Seattle).
Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Broadway).
Related Stories:
Young Frankenstein (The SOB Preview) (August 13, 2007)
Will These Eyes Meet? Hoping For Better Than 75% (August 10, 2007)
Is Mel Worth It? (August 4, 2007)
Thanks, Mel! (July 6, 2007)
What Motivates You To See A Broadway Show? (July 5, 2007)
That's Franken$$$$$TEIN! (June 29, 2007)
Cloris To Mel: Put Up Your Dukes! (June 13, 2007)
Pirate Queen Set To Abdicate Hilton Throne (June 6, 2007)
Billion Dollar Broadway Baby? Almost. (May 30, 2007)
Mel Brooks: "It Looks Like The Hilton Theatre" (May 25, 2007)
End Of Plank For Pirate Queen? (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: Mullally Cast In Young Frankenstein (March 9, 2007)
The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Whither Goeth Chenoweth? (February 27, 2007)
Producers Out, Young Frankenstein In (February 22, 2007)
That's FrankenSTEEN: Just In Time For Halloween (January 24, 2007)
M-G-M: Movies-Going-Musical (January 3, 2007)
Young Frankenstein Workshop To Feature Monster Casting (October 11, 2006)

Labels: Broadway, Christopher Fitzgerald, Film, Michael Riedel, Musical, Seattle, Susan Stroman, Tryout, Young Frankenstein

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, August 17, 2007 6 comments

Will These Eyes Meet? Hoping For Better Than 75%

Will These Eyes Meet? Hoping For Better Than 75%

Apparently, according to both Playbill and Michael Riedel, Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan are sitting through every one of the Seattle tryout performances of Young Frankenstein to finish prepping it for Broadway.

Also, according to Riedel, Brooks thinks the show is "75% there."

Additionally, according to me, I'll be 100% in the audience this weekend.

Wonder whether these eyes will come this close.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Seattle).
Click here for Young Frankenstein tickets (Broadway).
Related Stories:
Is Mel Worth It? (August 4, 2007)
Thanks, Mel! (July 6, 2007)
What Motivates You To See A Broadway Show? (July 5, 2007)
That's Franken$$$$$TEIN! (June 29, 2007)
Cloris To Mel: Put Up Your Dukes! (June 13, 2007)
Pirate Queen Set To Abdicate Hilton Throne (June 6, 2007)
Billion Dollar Broadway Baby? Almost. (May 30, 2007)
Mel Brooks: "It Looks Like The Hilton Theatre" (May 25, 2007)
End Of Plank For Pirate Queen? (May 18, 2007)
It's Official: Mullally Cast In Young Frankenstein (March 9, 2007)
The Hits From Coast To Coast (March 8, 2007)
Whither Goeth Chenoweth? (February 27, 2007)
Producers Out, Young Frankenstein In (February 22, 2007)
M-G-M: Movies-Going-Musical (January 3, 2007)
Young Frankenstein Workshop To Feature Monster Casting (October 11, 2006)

Labels: Broadway, Film, Mel Brooks, Michael Riedel, Musical, Seattle, Thomas Meehan, Tryout, Young Frankenstein

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, August 10, 2007 2 comments

Little Mermaid Begins Tonight

Little Mermaid Begins Tonight

As noted last Saturday, the out-of-town tryout for Disney's The Little Mermaid begins this evening at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts' Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

While I won't be in the Mile High City audience until September, I'm looking forward to seeing how director Francesca Zambello's vision transports this fairy tale from the big screen to the stage.

In his Personal Canon #98 of his top 100 movies he thinks about when he thinks about the movies, Nathaniel R. from The Film Experience Blog details his adoration for the silver screen treatment of "The Little Mermaid." Nathaniel incisively points out:

"The Little Mermaid" is justly credited with reviving interest in the animated film but it's less often mentioned in discussions of the rebirth of the musical and there it also proved pivotal. In the dark ages of the movie musical (that'd be the 1980s, people) nearly every live action musical failed financially and artistically.

Say what you will about Disney (I am generally inclined to enjoy their stage productions), but they also must be credited with contributing enormously to the rebirth of the stage musical as well. No wonder I'm looking forward to my September visit to Denver.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for Denver tickets.
Click here for Broadway tickets.
Related Stories:
Little Mermaid: No Treading Water Before The Boards (July 21, 2007)
Mermaid Casting Anything But Little (March 20, 2007)
Beauty Out On Broadway (January 17, 2007)
Disney Moves from Continent to Continent (May 22, 2006)

Labels: Blogs, Broadway, Denver, Film, Musical, The Film Experience Blog, The Little Mermaid, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Thursday, July 26, 2007 0 comments

Little Mermaid: No Treading Water Before The Boards

Little Mermaid: No Treading Water Before The Boards

Despite the box office mojo Disney has enjoyed with each of its five Broadway musicals, it hasn't received uniformly lavish praise since its stage adaptation of The Lion King hit the boards of the New Amsterdam Theatre an astounding ten years ago this fall.

Much has changed during that time. With few exceptions (like Wicked) large-scale spectacles are most definitely passé, tending to create a bit of a critical backlash, even if throngs of the theatregoing public takes it in. The Tony success of Spring Awakening, Avenue Q and even Jersey Boys serves to verify that point.

Against that sea change comes Disney's The Little Mermaid, which must either swim against that tide or ride the current. As yesterday's Variety reports, Disney is all too aware of the obstacles around which they must navigate. Indeed, Francesca Zambello is helming this expensive ship of a production without the use of some of the magic one might have expected in the retelling of the Disney film that was instrumental in restoring the House of Mouse's animation legend. Zambello is eschewing both water and wires and apparently will rely on the book, score and performances to capture the audiences' attention.

Will the simple, yet hardly inexpensive (thanks in part to various prototypes for what ultimately became a transluscent set design), approach satisfy not only the audiences who expect nothing less than bona fide Disney magic, but also the Big Apple critics? Sight unseen, the tuner -- which opens at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on December 6 -- has already raked in an $8 million advance at the box office with virtually no advertising.

With its Denver out-of-town tryout beginning Thursday, the buzz will begin soon enough. I'll be in the audience at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts' Ellie Caulkins Opera House for the production's second-to-last performance prior to swimming off in October to that island known as Manhattan -- I'll let you know whether this Little Mermaid has legs.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for Denver tickets.
Click here for Broadway tickets.
Related Stories:
Mermaid Casting Anything But Little (March 20, 2007)
Beauty Out On Broadway (January 17, 2007)
Disney Moves from Continent to Continent (May 22, 2006)

Labels: Broadway, Denver, Disney, Film, Musical, The Little Mermaid, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Saturday, July 21, 2007 2 comments

Lone Star Joins Crowded Field Of Musicals

Lone Star Joins Crowded Field Of Musicals

Former Off-Broadway musical hit Lone Star Love will ride again, this time on Broadway, after sauntering off to Seattle for a retooled tryout in September. Lone Star Love features a score by Jack Herrick and book by John L. Haber and Robert Horn.

Helmed and choreographed by Randy Skinner, the tuner -- described as The Merry Wives Of Windsor meets post-Civil War Texas -- will open at the Belasco Theatre on December 3.

Look for Academy Award-nominated actor Randy Quaid to make his Broadway debut alongside such sidekicks as Great White Way veterans Dee Hoty and Robert Cuccioli.

Sounds like a rootin' tootin' hoot to me!

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Labels: Broadway, Dee Hoty, First Word On New Show, Lone Star Love, Musical, Off-Broadway, Randy Quaid, Robert Cuccioli, Seattle, The Merry Wives Of Windsor, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, July 20, 2007 0 comments

It's Official: Mullally Cast In Young Frankenstein

Labels: Andrea Martin, Broadway, Cloris Leachman, Kristin Chenoweth, Megan Mullally, Musical, Roger Bart, Rumor, Seattle, Shuler Hensley, Sutton Foster, Tryout, Young Frankenstein

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, March 09, 2007 4 comments

Coming Of Age: Legally Blonde Opens In San Francisco

Labels: Broadway, California, Film, Legally Blonde, Musical, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Tuesday, February 06, 2007 0 comments

High Fidelity Catches Static From Boston Critics

High Fidelity Catches Static From Boston Critics

Last evening, High Fidelity -- the latest musical to be based on a movie -- opened during its Broadway tryout in Boston. Rather than help build buzz, the tuner caught nothing but static from critics from Beantown's two major newspapers. Additionally, one of the best theatre bloggers out there, Boston-based Chris Caggiano, weighed-in after seeing the show last Saturday.

Joan Anderman of the Boston Globe writes, "[I]n an effort to straddle the hip, indie world of its characters and the mainstream demands of Broadway, the show misses both marks....The sparks here, though, are too few and far between to ignite into an electrifying whole."

Over at the Boston Herald, critic Terry Byrne says, "[A]s a musical, the show doesn’t add up....The musical, making a two-week stop at the Colonial before heading to Broadway, is loyal to its sources but is missing an essential ingredient: great music....High Fidelity needs a tuneup before it tries to rock Broadway."

That thought is certainly shared by Caggiano, who in his always engaging, exceptional "Everything I Learned I Learned From Musicals" blog writes, "It needs work. Lots of work....High Fidelity is going to need some serious reshaping if it's going to have a chance at the Imperial....Numbers that on paper should stop the show sit limply and go nowhere. But the main culprit is Walter Bobbie's direction, which is flat and lifeless."

None of those assessments portend great things on the Great White Way. A story in today's New York Post by Michael Riedel certainly can't help, either. Riedel writes: "High Fidelity, which is based on Nick Hornby 's popular novel, is positioning itself to be the hipster show of the fall. But so far the hipsters aren't buying it. Ticket sales in both New York and Boston (where the show opened last night) are anemic."

Unless, the static turns into buzz, potential audiences may tune out this new show altogether (and this is despite an aggressive television advertising campaign in New York). In the meantime, perhaps the Imperial Theatre can begin scouting for another new occupant for early 2007 sooner than later.

This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).

Click here for High Fidelity tickets in Boston
Click here for High Fidelity tickets in New York.
Related Stories:
Two High Flying Broadway-Bound Shows Begin Tonight (September 29, 2006)
High Fidelity Tunes In To High Capacity Imperial (August 24, 2006)

Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Film, High Fidelity, Musical, Tryout

posted by Steve On Broadway (SOB) @ Friday, October 06, 2006 1 comments