May 2007 Archives

When The Fantasticks was on its way to becoming a solid Off Broadway hit, composers Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt were dangled a carrot of another kind: Broadway. N. Richard Nash wanted to do a musical adaptation of his romantic comedy The Rainmaker, about a lonely farm girl reaching spinsterhood and yearning for love - which had been a 1952 TV special, a 1954 Broadway play starring Geraldine Page and Darren McGavin and a 1956 film with Katharine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster.

That Broadway musical, titled 110 in the Shade, came to be, but by a circuituous and torturous route.

The Roundabout Theatre Company's revival, directed by Lonny Price and which opened Wednesday at Studio 54, had a much more pleasant journey.

It also marks the return to the stage [and musicals] and confirms stardom for Audra McDonald, who's been absent from Broadway since her 2004 Tony and Drama Desk Award winning role in the revival of Raisin in the Sun, which she recently wrapped shooting for a TV special, directed by Kenny Leon, who helmed the play, and original cast members Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Sanaa Lathan and Bill Nunn.

As feisty Lizzie Curry, McDonald, a four-time Tony and two-time Drama Desk Award-winner [and multiple nominee], is receiving the type of critical acclaim, well, as she most often does.

Take this excerpt from Ben Brantley's NYTimes review: "Is it possible for a performance to be too good? Audra McDonald brings such breadth of skill and depth of feeling...that she threatens to burst the seams of this small, homey musical. Ravishing of voice and Olympian of stature, she's an overwhelming presence in an underwhelming show. Watching Ms. McDonald in this gentle, threadbare tale of a love-starved spinster in a rain-starved farmland...is like drinking rare Champagne from a plastic cup."

Also starring in the non-traditionally cast revival are two-time Tony and DD-winner [and multiple nominee] John Cullum as Lizze's father, Christopher Innvar as lonesome polecat Sheriff File and Steve Kazee as Starbuck. The featured players are highlighted by Chris Butler and, in one of the season's breakout roles, Bobby Stegert as Lizzie's brothers.

McDonald shows off her sly comic side in her Act One showstopper "Raunchy" and because of the anger she builds in "Old Maid" leaves the audience breathless at the intermission. At the blackout, the house erupts in a sustained ovation. In between those numbers, McDonald and Innvar create sparks in their duet, "A Man and a Woman."

The show marks the first starring role on Broadway for Kazee as the wandering dreamer and sometime scoundrel Starbuck, who in addition to claims that he can rejuvenate the parched earth by bringing rain also rejuvenates Lizze. His credits include Edward Albee's Seascape [u/s to Frederick Weller], being a later Sir Lancelot in Spamalot and the New York Shakespeare Festival's summer, 2005 As You Like It. He co-starred in the Kennedy Center 2006 revival of Frank Gilroy's Pulitizer Prize-winning The Subject Was Roses.

110 has been nominated for Outstanding Revival by Drama Desk, with McDonald receiving a nod as Outstanding Actress in a Musical. Now she and her cast members have May 15th to look forward to. That's the day the Tony nominations are to be announced.

To fulfill his dream in getting the original production to Broadway, Nash over several years approached a number of composers, including Rodgers and Hammerstein and Harold Rome, but couldn't find the right combination. Then he met with Jones and Schmidt.

[The book writer probably contacted Rodgers and Hammerstein before Merrick became producer. By the time Merrick optioned 110, he would have needed strong anger management to contain his disdain toward Rodgers, an immensely-gifted composer but not always the nicest of human beings, whom he felt had reneged on a cross promotion deal.]

"When he came to us," laughs Jones, "Richard said he wanted to work with some younger writers. We were in our thirties, so I figured we were at the bottom of his list and he got to us because no one else was interested. But The Rainmaker was the type of story we like to tackle."

It turned out the choice of composers wasn't just up to Nash. Producer Merrick, dubbed the "King of Broadway" because of numerous hits, had final say. "Out of the blue," recalled Jones, "the phone rang. It was Mr. Merrick, who loved The Fantasticks. We hadn't done anything on Broadway but he felt, since we were from Texas, that we'd be ideal."

Business downtown on Sullivan Street had started to finally build and The Fantasticks was finding an audience. Schmidt, however, was still working his day job doing commercial art. "The day Mr. Merrick called," he reports, "I was packing to go to Iran for Sports Illustrated to do a series of paintings of the Shah's tiger hunt. The tigers had to wait, but Mr. Merrick turned out to be as crafty as any wild animal."

Jones had seen the original play on a trip to New York and loved it. "And, on the last night before I was discharged from the Army, I had watched the TV adaptation and was impressed with it." Schmidt was a fan of the movie and "thought the story was a natural to make into a musical."

For their audition, they played and sang tunes from a musical they'd been working on that was set in Texas. Merrick and Nash were pleased. They were aboard.

Joseph Anthony, an esteemed director whose only musical staging was the original Most Happy Fella and who had directed The Rainmaker on Broadway, would be captain; "but, really, Mr. Merrick," says Schmidt, "a hands-on person if ever there was one, called the shots."

Inga Swenson won out over Streisand for the role of Lizzie, the young "old maid" whose rancher father is trying to marry off. She was a Shakespearean actress with only one music revue credit; however, notes Jones, "Ironically, Inga was too beautiful to be playing a gal who was supposed to be plain, but she had a great voice. Wigs and make-up accomplished the required look. [Swenson went on to other musicals and a TV career; Streisand recovered pretty well from the rejection.] Will Geer, who became a household name playing Grandpa on The Waltons, was cast as Lizzie's father. Leslie Ann Warren, straight out of high school, won the role of Jimmy's Cupie doll sweetheart Snookie.

Stephen Douglass of Damn Yankees! fame was cast as Sheriff File, the town's most eligible bachelor. Hal Holbrook won the coveted role of the mythic, wandering stranger Starbuck. But, by all accounts, he wasn't Merrick's first choice.

Details Schmidt, "In some derring do, all of a sudden Hal was out and Robert Horton, a TV heartthrob [from the classic series Wagon Train] was in the role."

According to Jones and Schmidt, Horton had been under contract to star in Richard Rodgers and Alan Jay Lerner's musical I Picked A Daisy, but when the production was postponed [because Rodgers grew uneasy with Lerner's writing pace] and then aborted, Merrick gleefully snapped him up. Holbrook, however, had a contract; but Merrick's out was that it didn't stipulate what role Holbrook would play! Instead of simply staying in the show in a lesser role, Holbrook walked - no doubt with a nice check from Merrick in this pocket. The Daisy project later became the 1965 Lerner and Burton Lane musical On a Clear DayÖ, which co-starred Cullum and Barbara Harris.

110 in the Shade has a rich score, and could have had a much, much richer one. In their eagerness to get their Broadway debut right, Jones and Schmidt wrote 114 songs before rehearsals ever began.

Their thinking, according to Schmidt, was "we wanted to be prepared when and if during tryouts Mr. Merrick or Joe wanted other songs. When that happened, we'd go to our room and pull another song from our suitcases instead of burning the midnight oil."

Sixteen songs made the cut. In addition to those mentioned, they include "Another Hot Day," another Lizzie's showstoppers "Love Don't Turn Away" and "Simple Little Things," "Is It Really Me?" and the finale number that aptly sums up Jones and Schmidt's score, "Wonderful Music." Starbuck's Act Two solo "Melisande" is a beautiful bit of magical thinking that could easily fit into The Fantasticks.

But, on it's way to Broadway, there was tension between the composers and Merrick.

"Mr. Merrick was a double-edged sword," claims Schmidt. "Because of his mega successes, doors opened for record deals and theater parties. Early on, we could tell he wanted something that wasn't there. He saw 110 as a big dance show. We didn't. We knew we were in trouble when he brought in Agnes DeMille."

The composers didn't want 110 to be a warmed-over Oklahoma! [which won DeMille critical acclaim for her choreography], but something more earthy. "We told Mr. Merrick and Miss DeMille how we felt," says Jones. "She replied, ëGreat. That's exactly what I want.' Then, I guess obeying orders from Mr. Merrick, proceeded to make it a dance show!"

"A couple of numbers ran over ten minutes," laughs Schmidt. "They were wonderful ballets, but not much room remained for the story and songs."

"It was a tumultuous time!" Jones explains, cringing at the memory. "There were all sorts of shenanigans and yelling over casting. For instance, here was a show about the dust bowl and Mr Merrick was screaming for a chorus of pretty girls."

Worst than the undercurrent of mistrust, Jones and Schmidt reported that Merrick kept shifting back and forth on creative decisions. After Boston, where the musical got mixed to positive reviews, he decided the musical, like the original play, would have three acts.

"I was close to suicidal!" exclaims Jones.

"Mr. Merrick wanted a superhit," says Schmidt, "and didn't react too well in Philadelphia when the reviews were negative."

"In fact," relays Jones, "he threatened to close the show. Harvey and I said, ëGreat!' We were relieved. It would be better than to go on like that. As we were about to walk, he said, ëWait. I'll give it one last chance.' We went back to two acts and put in other changes. It made a huge difference. Things started to click. Audiences were loving it."

However, according to Jones and Schmidt, by the time the musical arrived in New York, the show was beset with rumors of impending doom.

It was a nervous opening night at the Broadhurst Theatre on October 24, 1963. As the dailies rolled off the press, there was hope. The newspaper critics found much to cheer about, especially in Jones and Schmidt's surviving score. That is, except for the NYTimes.

"Confound that damn Times review!" exclaims Jones. "Then and now, their critic established a show as a box-office bonanza or an also-ran." Adds Schmidt, "It was a weird, strange review, calling the musical everything but the dirtiest show on Broadway."

It didn't help that the nation was thrown into a collective depression the following month with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Then, when business picked up, Swenson slipped in the pouring stage water, injuring her ankle. She was out of the show for several weeks.

In spite of that review and events, points out Jones, 110 did modest business. It received four Tony noms, including one for Jones and Schmidt's score, Swenson and Anthony. However, it never became a must see.

"Mr. Merrick didn't market the show," notes Schmidt, "because his energies were more focused on Dolly [which was in out of town tryouts and, hard to believe now, having a difficult time]. He never got behind us. He made our lives and the lives of everyone involved a living hell."

In addition to Dolly, which opened on Broadway three months later, the season was soon to see another blockbuster in Funny Girl starring Streisand.

110 ran just over nine months, 330 performances. Thanks to the RCA original cast recording, the musical wasn't forgotten. There were Off Broadway and regional revivals and, in 1992, an acclaimed revival by New York City Opera, which co-starred Karen Ziemba and Richard Muenz [the 1979 Most Happy Fella and original 42nd Street,].

In the intervening years, several songs - including "A Man and A Woman," "Simple Little Things," "Wonderful Music" and "Love Don't Turn Away" - had a life of their own.

The composers are "more than pleased" with the first ever Broadway revival of 110 and have special praise for veteran Broadway and Encores! musical director Paul Gemignani and the "outstanding" orchestrations of Jonathan Tunick. The Roundabout production can only breathe new hope into a round of regional productions.

Jones and Schmidt never stopped writing for musical theater. "In spite of our duels with Merrick, our love of musical theater never diminished," states Schmidt. "It's always been our life."

There was to be another hit, I Do, I Do starring Mary Martin and Robert Preston and an innovative but devastating failure, Celebration, which came out of their Off Off Broadway workshop. More recently, there's been Grover's Corners, their musical adaptation of Our Town, and Mirette, an adaptation by Emily Arnold McCully of the Elizabeth Diggs book, Mirette on the High Wire.

"We've had tremendous career highs and lows," says Jones, currently appearing Off Broadway as the Old Actor in the duo's world-wide classic The Fantasticks. "The old way of doing Broadway musicals has changed. Almost none are created on Broadway. They come from regional theaters, workshops and Off Off Broadway experimental spaces.

"Then you have to consider our ages," he continues. "When we were young, we were a success because we were daring and innovative. Today, especially with our first show still running after forty-seven years, we're considered the past. It's harder to get considered for projects."

He explained that their interest in certain themes hasn't changed. "We're still writing about time and seasonal changes. All said and done, our career has been marked by some notable benchmarks. And, to be blunt, I never believed anyone would pay us to do what we most love to do."

"We never made a lot of money," adds Schmidt, "but we've made a living. In theater, that's something!"

According to Schmidt, neither he nor Jones have changed much from when they met in college in Texas and during their early New York days. "Working with Tom is certainly no different. We discovered a long time ago that collaboration is like a marriage. It just took years to figure out the best way to make ours work. Sometimes we want to strangle each other, but we've never been unfaithful!"

Jones and Schmidt are inductees into the Theater Hall of Fame. A retrospective of their work, The Show Goes On, was produced by the York Theatre. The CD of that revue is on DRG Records.

Legends Volley in Deuce

On opening night of Deuce, the latest play from Pulitzer Prize and Tony and Drama Desk-winner Terrence McNally, Marian Seldes sidestepped the showering accolades being heaped on her and co-star Angela Lansbury, who's making her return to Broadway for the first time in nearly a quarter century, to say, "If I wasn't in this play, I'd certainly buy a ticket. It's that good!"

Well, some critics didn't quite share that sentiment, but everyone's welcoming the ladies back to the stage with open arms. Friends and peers were on hand for the opening Sunday. Getting backstage was like those lines just prior to the 7:30 opening of theatres.

The ladies' dressing rooms were so overflowing with every manner of floral arrangement, some of course designed like tennis rackets, one might wonder if there wasn't a shortage of flowers on Monday.

Audiences long ago showed their loyalty. Reviews, be damned, the show has a large enough advance to be around for a long, long time. Is anyone really coming to the Music Box to do anything other than to celebrate the careers and lives of these leading ladies? One gentleman behind me kept saying, "Go Angela! That's a girl!"

How can the Tony nominating committee not acknowledge the work and stage presence of Misses Lansbury and Seldes on May 15, when the nominations are announced?

[Deuce and the ladies will be eligible for Drama Desk honors next season because the show's producers couldn't accommodate the org's nominating committee before their 2006-2007 season cutoff date.]

There have already been some honors: a Lifetime Achievement Award for both from the Outer Critics Circle. In addition, Miss Lansbury will be honored on June 15 at the Theater Hall of Fame's Fourth Annual Marian Seldes-Garson Kanin Fellowship luncheon at the Friars Club, at which grants are awarded to emerging theater artists. The ladies are, of course, inductees in the Hall of Fame.

In Deuce, the ladies are former champion tennis doubles, reunited at a tribute match. As old friends, more than merely watch the game, they volley back and forth about old times, old boyfriends that became husbands, old rivals, what ultimately broke up their winning partnership and, "Lord, have mercy!" about lesbians in the game.

It's a bit disconcerting to hear the F and C-word from both legendary ladies, and even a few well-placed gdamns and slightly risquÈ metaphors; but with not much else to dominate the stage for the 95 minute intermissionless running time, it's good that the Misses Seldes and Lansbury are the ultimate pros. They know a thing or 20 about timing, especially the comic kind, double takes and how to command the stage, even when mostly sitting the entire time.

Miss Seldes, often called the "First Lady of Broadway," is certainly no stranger to the stage. Miss Lansbury, after a superlative movie career, had a huge presence on Broadway in musicals and then TV beckoned. But now she's back for the first time since the short-lived 1983 revival of Mame. Deuce is only her fourth Broadway play.

The ladies were quite overwhelmed opening night. "I was so overwrought," said Miss Seldes, "I thought I'd faint." Miss Lansbury quipped, "Marian!", but did say that she would try to catch her if she went weak in the knees.

Both are a bit stunned at the adulation of standing ovations and having security guards hold back the fans seeking autographs and photos.

Miss Lansbury, noting the high expectations of critics and audiences on her "comeback" admitted to being more than a bit nervous. She said she was finally comfortable as Leona Mullen now that the show opened and was finally frozen. "Funny thing, I sort of missed an overture!"

There is a certain musicality to the ladies' volleys and with tennis balls going left to right at warp speed. Maybe, instead of the commentators commentating, there could be musical underscoring by Herman or Sondheim.

Miss Seldes, who plays Midge Barker, who had a definite admirer in Edward Albee, was raving about his new play she'd just read, Me, Myself and I., which she described as "delectable."

After her 1967 Tony and DD for A Delicate Balance [she was also a standby in the playwright's Tiny Alice] and her successes in Three Tall Women, Beckett/Albee and her 2001 DD-nomination in The Play about the Baby, she was asked if she might consider starring in it.

"Darling," as she often famously replies, "it's about Siamese twins and I'm much too tall to play Siamese."

Do You Have Your Tkts to Paradise?

For City Center Encores! 2007 season finale, they are celebrating the Broadway revue. Flourishing on the main stem from around 1900 until the early 50s, these shows had songs by one or more composer teams. Instead of a book, they presented comic sketches with everything including the kitchen sink thrown in.

The timing of STP is perfect, as it coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Ziegfeld Follies, the opulent series of revues that played the New Amsterdam with such comics as Fanny Brice, W.C. Fields and Bob Hope, such dancers as Bojangles and its parade of dozens of beautiful girls in rather flimsy clothing.

Providing the star vocals and some comic relief in the Encores! tribute is Tony and Drama Desk winner Kristin Chenoweth, who arrives at City Center fresh from her acclaimed performance in Roundabout's revival of Bock and Harnick's The Apple Tree, which began as an Encores! production.

Other Encores! appearances include On A Clear DayÖ and Strike Up The Band. She will guest star in the season finale of the hit TV sitcom Ugly Betty, and has been busy helping to plan the 2007 Drama Desk Awards, which she will host on May 20. In addition, there's an encouraging buzz about Chenoweth's upcoming TV series Pushing Daisies, written by Bryan Fuller and directed by Barry Sonnefeld. She also has three films in upcoming release.

Co-starring are the gifted Kevin Chamberlin in a series of hilarious comic impersonations, the loose-limbed Christopher Fitzgerald, Jenn Gambatese and Shonn Wiley [as America's singing sweethearts], Carpathia Jenkins, tenor J. Mark McVey and Ruthie Henshall, proving she adept at singing torrid torch songs.

Encores! artistic director Jack Viertel, since 1994, has presented the rarely-heard works of Broadway composers and lyricists in lavish concert versions, but Stairway to Paradise, which he conceived, is the first-ever specially-created production; and it's most expensive.

The 30+ cast includes Holly Cruikshank, Emily Fletcher, Michael Gruber, young tapper Kendrick Jones and J.D. Webster.

Chenoweth and company perform the very best material from a half-century of the once immensely popular staple of revues. There are numbers and sketches from such classic shows as As Thousands Cheer, The Band Wagon, Call Me Mister, The Garrick Gaieties, The George White Scandals, New Faces of 1952 Pins and Needles, The Seven Lively Arts and, among others, Two on the Aisle.

Songs are by a Who's Who of Tin Pan Alley: Berlin, Comden and Green, DeSylva, Dietz, Jimmy Durante [yes, that Jimmy Durante!], G Gershwin, Harburg, Hart, Jerome Kern, Jimmy McHugh, Porter, Rodgers, Rome, Arthur Schwartz, Styne and P.G. Woodhouse.

In addition to "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise," the classic songs include "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?," "Dancing in the Dark," "Every Time We Say Goodbye," "Guess Who I Saw Today?," "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan," "Manhattan," "Mountain Greenery," "Oh, How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," "This is the Army, Mr. Jones" and "Triplets," that showstopper from 1937's Between the Devil and so memorably reprised in the MGM musical The Bandwagon.

Four-time Tony and DD-winner Jerry Zaks, a former song and dance man, directed. Rob Berman is musical director, with choreography by Warren Carlyle. Encores! resident musical director Paul Gemignani waves the baton, but a lion's share of credit must go to Sondheim musical veteran and Tony and DD-winner [and multiple nominee] Jonathan Tunick for his original orchestrations.

The 2007 Encores! season sponsor is Newman's Own. Stairway to Paradise is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts with additional support from Roz and Jerry Meyer, the Ira and Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund, the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust and the Shubert Foundation.

Some seats are available for tonight, twice on Saturday, Sunday and the Encores! gala on Monday, May 14. Tickets are $25-$95 [not including the gala] and are available at the City Center box office, through CityTix at (212) 581-1212 and online at www.nycitycenter.org.

[Photos: 1, 4, 5 and 6) JOAN MARCUS; 2) LEO SOREL; 3) SCOTT SUCHMAN]

Recent Archive :

Wednesday, April 11, 2007
[ STARS ] Antoinette Perry's Daughter's Memories of a Theater Legend; Sondheim Remastered; Something New at the Met for Somethings Old; The Grandivas Return; An Off Broadway Milestone

Monday, April 16, 2007
[ STARS ] In Legally Blonde, Opposites Attract: Orfeh and Andy Karl Are a Real Life Duo; Celeste Holm Milestone; Cryer and Ford Return Big; Naked Angels One Act Fest; Rockin' Arias; Movies from Tribecca to Boxed Errol Flynn

Friday, April 20, 2007
[ STARS ] Remembering Kitty Carlisle Hart: Just Point Her in the Right Direction and She Would Be Off and Running

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
[ STARS ] Drama Desk Honors 2007 Nominees; Celeste Holm and Jane Powell Feted; Dreamgirls On DVD

Monday, May 7, 2007
[ STARS ] Donna Murphy: Singing in a Different Key in LoveMusik

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Donna Murphy, the award-winning actress who is one of theater's brightest talents, lights up the stage in the LoveMusik as Lotte Lenya in the semi-biographical musical about the rocky and open marriage of Lenya to composer wunderkind Kurt Weill, played by Tony winner and multiple Tony and Drama Desk nominee Michael Cerveris.

The show is nominated for 12 2007 Drama Desk nominations, including Outstanding Musical, Director, Book, Actress, Actor, Featured Actor and Choreography. Will there be more to come? We'll know when the Tony nominations are announced May 15.

Two-time Pulitzer Prize, Academy and Tony Award winner and Drama Desk-nominee Alfred Uhry has written the book, based on the letters of Weill and Lenya.

Another aspect that comes into focus is the jealously and pettyness of Weill's early collaborator, the brilliant Bertoldt Brecht - who seemed to begrudge him for anything he did without him at his side [especially his amazing successes once he came to America on Broadway and in Hollywood].

It also comes to light how quickly Brecht assimilated here, and met the movers and shakers, no doubt with a little help from the vastly personable, witty and sexual Lenya.

David Pittu, the Drama Desk nominee, portrays Brecht. John Scherer, Judith Blazer, Herndon Lackey, Ann Morrison and Rachel Ulanet are featured.

The director is the legendary Harold Prince, a nine-time Tony and nine-time DD-winner for director [not to mention numerous other nominations] and the recipient of a 2006 Tony for Lifetime Achievement.

LoveMusik, an intimate musical or, as some are saying, a play with music, draws heavily in its staging on German expressionism, vaudeville elements and torch songs - the type Lenya was known for in her cabaret period. The story takes places as Germany is being swept up in anti-Semitism and Nazi fervor, areas familiar to Prince from his staging of Cabaret, which featured Lenya.

Of the woman who eventually became one of his closest friends, Prince said she was "a total delight." She was in life as she was in club appearances, irreverent. "But," explains Prince, "Lotte was very intelligent and had a marvelous sense of humor."

There's a ten-piece orchestra but no original music. Instead, LoveMusik is a "jukebox" musical, though of a very rarefied breed since the score is made up of songs Weill wrote with Bertolt Brecht, Maxwell Anderson, Howard Dietz, Ira Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein II, Langston Hughes, Alan Jay Lerner, Ogden Nash and, among others, Elmer Rice.

"And what songs they are," says Murphy. "There're really all classic, but some are classic classics."

They include "Speak Low," "Alabama Song," "It's Never Too Late to Mendelssohn," "I Don't Love You," "Surabaya Johnny," "It Never Was You" and, one of the most popular tunes ever written, "September Song."

Murphy has special praise for the orchestrations by Broadway veteran and frequent Sondheim collaborator Jonathan Tunick.

Since her triumphant turn in City Center Encores! production of Follies in mid-February, Murphy says, "I've been doing my homework, immersing myself in all things Lenya - the books, especially the book of the letters between Lenya and Weill, and her recordings."

Murphy went from Follies straight into rehearsals for LoveMusik. "We're all thrilled beyond belief," she says, "considering it's come together so fast. This being a Manhattan Theatre Club production [with special contracts], we only had five weeks of rehearsal. But working with Hal has been amazing. He's got a blueprint and everything began falling in place rather quickly. We opened last Thursday [May 3] and the critics started coming about a week earlier."

She reported that she, Cerveris and the company have quickly bonded into a tight knit family. On Friday, they were still riding the wave of excitement from the previous night's opening and their long list of DD nominations, with dressing rooms overflowing with floral arrangements and gifts and the backstage stairwells with baskets of bananas.

As the curtain rises, and Murphy duets on "Speak Low" with Cerveris, you might be taken aback for a moment. This isn't the Donna Murphy of Passion, Wonderful Town or Follies. Lenya wasn't a trained singer; and varied widely between being high-pitched and nasally.

Since her polished vocal styling is worlds away from the raw, unsteady vocals that emanated from Lenya, Murphy says, "I never dreamed I'd be asked to play her. Lenya had a very distinctive sound. I'm not looking to imitate her but to evoke her."

Weill and Lenya may have iginited sexual sparks when they met, but they were a mismatched pair if ever there was one. His father was a Jewish cantor in Germany. She was Austrian and goy, the daughter of an abusive, alcoholic father who, it's said, began pimping her on street corners as early as 13.

The couple met in 1926 in Berlin. Weill was an emerging composer, totally wrapped up in his music. Lenya was, among other things, a maid. He fell head over heels; it took some time before she was able to say she loved him. It was a passionate, often stormy union. Seven years later, when Weill decided to leave the politically-charged Germany behind for Paris, they divorced. Lenya, being of Christian background [a lapsed Catholic] didn't fear for her life. Both went on to many affairs, but eventually reunited and immigrated to the U.S., where they remarried in New York in 1937.

Murphy's amazing transformation into Lenya [who died in 1981] is that of a wide-eyed sprite, akin to Giulietta Masina's extraordinary interpretation of Gelsomina in Fellini's La Strada. Lenya had a rep for being quite sexy in spite of her plainness. She was also quite raw and outspoken even in polite conversation.

Murphy, who's speaking and singing at least an octave above her normal voice, thinks she's come as close as she can to capturing Lenya's key or keys, whatever they might be. "She sang as she spoke, in a very fast vibrato," says Murphy. "I won't be doing that. I tried to capture that and it just didn't work."

With age and because of she was a smoker, Lenya's voice grew deeper. "When you hear the early recordings," notes Murphy, "and compare them to how she sounded as Jenny in The Threepenny Opera [1955], when she was fifty-seven, and in Cabaret [1966], there's a world of difference."

[Trivia: Lotte Lenya portrayed the memorable villianess Rosa Klebb opposite Sean Connery as James Bond in From Russia, with Love in 1964.]

So Donna Murphy's back, happier, wiser and still incredibly talented. She's at another junction in her journey to fulfill her longtime dream of being in musical theater.

As far as her aspirations, Murphy drew an analogy to Wonderful Town, the musical revival she starred in for Encores! in 2000 and on Broadway in 2003. "You still have people getting off buses, trains and planes coming here to pursue their dreams. Especially those of us who want to be in show business. Like Ruth and Eileen, they have times that are wacky and scary."

Though Murphy's career has been filled with wonderful highs, there were frustrations and self-doubt.

In WT, Murphy, high energy all the way, sang her share of showstopping Bernstein/ Comden/Green songs and did amazing physical pratfalls [already svelte, she lost eight pounds coming into the opening], won the DD for Outstanding Actress and was Tony-nominated.

There was never a time when Donna Murphy didn't want to be "somehow connected to theater." She was bitten by the theatrical bug at the early age of five!

"I wrote shows," she recalls, "and put them on for my neighbors [and, eventually, her six younger brothers and sisters]." Through grammar school on Long Island and from junior high up in Massachusetts, she was involved in music and theater, then community theater."

At 18, she entered NYU to major in theater and studied with Stella Adler. She made ends meet as a singing waitress, an elf in Macy's Toyland one Christmas. It didn't impress Murphy's instructors that she was more interested in open calls than attending classes.

However, it was an assignment for a course on survival in theater that led her to audition for They're Playing Our Song. Not only did she write a paper, she got hired as a understudy for the swings.

"I managed to balance being in the show with going to school," says Murphy. "However, it didn't take long before I became too distracted. At the end of my sophomore year, I took a leave of absence. I needed to audition without cutting classes. I would get my Broadway break and the rest would be smooth sailing. I had a rude awakening. I was just starting to learn a little of what my teachers had been warning me about. I was working, but developing performance tricks as opposed to a craft."

She decided to challenge herself. "I needed to really learn the ropes, so my goal was to get a job in a new show, even if it was in the chorus. I was able to join Zapata at Goodspeed. My thinking was that, at least, I had a small part. Unfortunately, it got cut."

There was an up side. She met actor Shawn Elliott, who became her husband [they've been together over 25 years].

Back in New York, she did a juggling act: trying to fine parts and work to pay the rent. Elliott, who was working steadily, was supportive. "He told me, ëDon't take the Fourth National of Annie. Stay in town, take classes and audition.' That began five years of understudy roles on Broadway and jobs in the regionals. I did everything from singing jingles to fronting a rock band - whatever it took for casting directors to get to know me."

In 1984, she was featured in the short-lived revival of The Human Comedy. Her big break came in 1985's The Mystery of Edwin Drood. "I was offered chorus/understudy," notes Murphy, "I said ëNo, I can't do that anymore.' It turned out that dear Rupert Holmes liked me and was planning to write a specialty number for me and Judy Kuhn. I agreed to do it in Central Park [also understudying Cleo Laine]. It was a job and I wanted to work for [late director] Wilford Leach, who I had auditioned for several times. I loved the show. I loved the company. But, it was too frustrating not getting to play a part. I decided not to go with it to Broadway."

Then fate intervened. Laine had committed to 20 concert dates and would have to be on the road. Murphy was guaranteed to go on. "That changed everything!" she said. "And what was fabulous about Drood is that I got to be in on the creation of a show from the beginning. That was invaluable. And it turned out to be a Tony-winning show!"

Murphy left to join Rags, only to find out Betty Buckley was leaving Drood. "Though he'd never seen me play the lead," she reports, "Wilford thought I could do it. I ran to audition, and I got the part, my first principle role on Broadway."

Next up was a TV soap and, in 1991, Song of Singapore. It was a fun, Off Broadway musical spoof that showcased Murphy's talents. While she should have been excited to be riding high, when the run ended, Murphy was overcome with self-doubt.

"I began to wonder if I'd ever get that great dream role. I was on the brink of leaving the business. The ups and downs, the physical demands made me question if that was what I was meant to do the rest of my life. I'd been blessed with wonderful opportunities, but it was like a double-edged sword. I knew how fortunate I'd been, but I wasn't enjoying the work. I lost sight of what I had to give. It was time to step back and discover what else there might be out there."

Nothing, it seems, but wanting to be an actress.

Before long, she was back with a renewed sense of purpose. Following satisfying work in the regionals, she landed in the workshop of Hello, Again at Lincoln Center Theater and, at the same time, was offered the challenging role of Fosca - talk about your dream role! - in not exactly your typical Broadway musical, Passion.

Murphy was faced with one of the most difficult decisions in her life, if not the most difficult. Does she take the prize behind Door Number 1 or the one behind Door Number 2. But, in one of those all-too-rare show biz moments, LCT allowed her to open in Hello, Again and leave a week later to begin rehearsals for the Sondheim musical.

Passion and working "for the theatrical gods at whose shrine she had worshipped" - Sondheim and director James Lapine - was a life changing experience. "It gave me the opportunity to utilize what I could bring to the table as an actress and a human being. Once in a blue moon, things really do happen in their time."

Murphy won her first Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, but, more than that, she says, "It was a sublime education."

Fast forward to the Encores! Wonderful Town. It was a smash. Theater lovers and theatrical insiders knowing Murphy for her work in Passion and, later, The King and I revival* and not having seen her previous work, could be excused "for being a little shocked when I was cast to do something comic. It's a side of me most people haven't seen."

* For TKAI, Murphy won another Tony. It was 1996 and Julie A. was back on Broadway, but not in the greatest of musicals. When Ms. A's was the only Tony nomination for Victor/ Victoria, she felt egregiously-wronged and withdrew her name from Tony consideration which left the door wide open for Murphy's win.

Plans were afoot by A-List producers for an imminent transfer to Broadway. Everything - financing, the theatre - was in place. Everything, that is, but Murphy. She wasn't ready to commit. After two miscarriages, she and Elliot were determined "to make a baby."

Sadly, that didn't happen; but eventually and finally Wonderful Town did. It was a joyous triumph. Murphy rode a wave of ecstatic acclaim for her knockabout comedy and effervescent singing and dancing.

But "flu" season arrived and, with it, what appeared to be a career fiasco. For two years, Murphy she was out of the Broadway limelight, occasionally doing a concert or benefit and trying to revive her film and TV career. But there was a lot of time out of town; out of the country, in fact. She and Elliott made several trips to Gutatemala to seek to adopt.

"On our second visit," explains Murphy, "we saw the most adorable child and fell in love with her." They were able to spend several days with her and a bond quickly ensued. In Murphy's dressing room, in a very prominent place, is a framed picture of Darmia Hope, "the love of our lives."

Then came Encores! Follies with Murphy as sassy, sultry Phyllis in a star-studded cast that included Tony and DD-winner Victoria Clark, Victor Garber, Michael McGrath, Christine Baranski and Philip Bosco, Robert Fitch, Mimi Hines, Anne Rogers, Arthur Rubin and JoAnne Worley. It was a theaterlover's dream come true. Some, especially those well-heeled and well-connected ones who attended every performance, said it was better than an orgasim.

Murphy strutted her stuff - in the company of some pretty impressive stuff strutters. In an instant, she was once again a darling of the critics - and, more importantly, even the doubting Thomases, who were suddenly slinging volumes of praise instead of dingbats. It was such a hot ticket, Encores! could have extended for a few months. There was talk of a reviving the musical on Broadway, talk that's now on a back burner but may get heated again when LoveMusik ends its limited engagement next month.

Murphy used some of her "free" time to make some movies. Upcoming are The Nanny Diaries, in which she appears with Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney, Paul Giamatti and Alicia Keyes; and Sherman's Way, co-starring James LeGros, currently in post production.

But right now Donna Murphy's back she wants to be, where she belongs, on Broadway, where we knew she would eventually return, and says, "I'm doing okay, feeling fine, fulfilled and very happy."

[Photos: 1) BARRY GORDIN; 2) AUBREY RUBEN; 3 and 5) CAROL ROSEGG; 4) Weill Estate; 6) PAUL KOLNIK ; 7) ELLIS NASSOUR; 8) JOAN MARCUS]

Recent Archive :

Wednesday, April 11, 2007
[ STARS ] Antoinette Perry's Daughter's Memories of a Theater Legend; Sondheim Remastered; Something New at the Met for Somethings Old; The Grandivas Return; An Off Broadway Milestone

Monday, April 16, 2007
[ STARS ] In Legally Blonde, Opposites Attract: Orfeh and Andy Karl Are a Real Life Duo; Celeste Holm Milestone; Cryer and Ford Return Big; Naked Angels One Act Fest; Rockin' Arias; Movies from Tribecca to Boxed Errol Flynn

Friday, April 20, 2007
[ STARS ] Remembering Kitty Carlisle Hart: Just Point Her in the Right Direction and She Would Be Off and Running

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
[ STARS ] Drama Desk Honors 2007 Nominees; Celeste Holm and Jane Powell Feted; Dreamgirls On DVD

Monday, May 7, 2007
[ STARS ] Donna Murphy: Singing in a Different Key in LoveMusik
The actress makes an amazing transformation into Lotte Lenya in the intimate musical.

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Drama Desk is honoring their 2007 nominees with a cocktail reception today at the elegant and popular Upper West Side Arte CafÈ. The 52nd Annual Drama Desk Awards Awards, at Lincoln Center's LaGuardia School for the Performing Arts Concert Hall, are Sunday, May 20th.

Kristin Chenoweth will host. In addition to celebrity presenters, selections from nominated musicals will be presented. The Awards will be televised as a two-hour special on NYC-TV, Channel 25 on May 24 at 8 P.M. and May 26, at 10 P.M.; on Thirteen/WNET on May 27, at 12:30 P.M.; and on PBS stations nationwide starting June 1. They will be webcast live by TheaterMania.com and on XM Satellite Radio XM-28.

A sampling of the nominations:

Outstanding Play: David Harrower, Blackbird; Terrence McNally, Some Men; Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon; Tom Stoppard, The Coast of Utopia; Bernard Weinraub, The Accomplices; August Wilson, Radio Golf

Outstanding Musical: Curtains, In the Heights, Legally Blonde, LoveMusik, Mary Poppins, Spring Awakening

Outstanding Actor, Play: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jack Goes Boating; Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon; Br"an F. O'Byrne, The Coast of Utopia; Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind; Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio; Kevin Spacey, A Moon for the Misbegotten; Paul Sparks, Essential Self-Defense

[What about Hugh Dancy in Journey's End; Brian Dennehy, Inherit the Wind; Ethan Hawke, The Coast of Utopia and Michael Sheen, Frost/Nixon?]

Outstanding Actress, Play: Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten; Orlagh Cassidy, The Field; Blythe Danner, Suddenly Last Summer; Jennifer Mudge, Dutchman; Sandra Oh, Satellites; Annie Parisse, The Internationalists; Meryl Streep, Mother Courage and Her Children

Outstanding Actor, Musical: Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik; Raul Esparza, Company; John Gallagher Jr., Spring Awakening; Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening; David Hyde Pierce, Curtains; Martin Short, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me

Outstanding Actress, Musical: Ashley Brown, Mary Poppins; Laura Bell Bundy, Legally Blonde; Kristin Chenoweth, The Apple Tree; Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade; Lea Michele, Spring Awakening; Donna Murphy, LoveMusik

Outstanding Featured Actor, Play: Anthony Chisholm, Radio Golf; Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia; Boyd Gaines, Journey's End; John Ortiz, Jack Goes Boating; Andrew Polk, The Accomplices; Frederick Weller, Some Men

[How did Charles Weldon, Seven Guitars; David Greenspan, Some Men; and Arthur French, Two Trains Running, get overlooked?]

Outstanding Featured Actress, Play: Myriam Acharki, Woyzeck; Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy; Sarah Nina Hayon, Rearviewmirror; Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy; Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia; Rita Wolf, The American Pilot

[Isn't the exclusion of Michele Pawk in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs; Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia; and Brenda Pressley, Seven Guitars, a terrible oversight?]

Outstanding Featured Actor, Musical: Brooks Ashmanskas, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me; Christian Borle, Legally Blonde; Aaron Lazar, Les Miserables; Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins; Orville Mendoza, Adrift in Macao; David Pittu, LoveMusik

[Isn't Lee the co-star of Mary Poppins? How did Stephen Spinella of Spring Awakening get left out?]

Outstanding Featured Actress, Musical: Linda Balgord, The Pirate Queen; Celia Keenan-Bolger, Les Miserables; Debra Monk, Curtains; Orfeh, Legally Blonde; Barbara Walsh, Company; Karen Ziemba, Curtains

[Isn't Monk the co-star of Curtains? How could Christine Estabrook of Spring Awakening be left out of this category?]

Outstanding Director, Play: Declan Donnellan, Twelfth Night; Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon; Doug Hughes, Inherit the Wind; Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia; Ciar·n O'Reilly, The Hairy Ape; Tom Ridgely, Marco Millions (based on lies)

Outstanding Director, Musical: John Doyle, Company; Thomas Kail, In the Heights; Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening; Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde; Harold Prince, LoveMusik; Alex Timbers, Gutenberg! The Musical!

Among those receiving special awards are John Kander and [the late] Fred Ebb "for 42 years of excellence in advancing the art of the musical theater"; the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene "for preserving 92 consecutive seasons the cultural legacy of Yiddish speaking theater in America" and theatrical company Transport Group [the revival of The Dark at the Top of the Stairs; the original musical The Audience] "for its breadth of vision and its presentation of challenging productions."

For a complete list of the Drama Desk nominations and information on purchasing tickets for the May 20 Awards, go to www.dramadeskcom.

Legends Honored ~

Celeste Holm

Academy Award-winner and Theater Hall of Fame inductee Celeste Holm turned 90 Sunday, April 29 and the occasion was celebrated at a star-studded event at Times Square eatery Tony di Napoli, where Miss Holm was also inducted into the restaurant's Broadway Wall of Fame.

Miss Holm made her stage debut at 17 in King Lear in a cast headed by Leslie Howard. She was on Broadway two years later. After several bit roles, then a featured one in Saroyan's The Time of Your Life, she achieved star status as boy-crazy Ado Annie [who "cain't say no"] in Oklahoma! She went on to another 23 shows, including Bloomer Girl, The King and I, Mame and, most recently, I Hate Hamlet. She not only knew George M. Cohan, but performed onstage with him five times.

In her third film, Elia Kazan's blistering drama based on Laura Z. Hobson's novel on anti-Semitism, Gentlemen's Agreement [screenplay by Moss Hart], she won the Oscar and Golden Globe for Supporting Actress; and was Oscar-nominated twice again for Come to the Stable and All About Eve.

Though she made more films, including The Snake Pit, The Tender Trap and High Society [co-starring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly], it was TV that made her a beloved household presence. Miss Holm appeared on every conceivable type program, from the Golden Age of live TV and 1965's Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderalla to her series Honestly, Celeste!

Through the years she became intimately involved in child welfare issues as a United Nations UNICEF Ambassador. President Reagan bestowed the Medal of Freedom on her.

After three failed marriages, in 1961 Ms. Holm married veteran actor Wesley Addy, who died in 1996. In 2004, on her birthday, she married opera Frank Basile, 45 years her junior, who on her birthday and their anniversary serenaded her with "Some Enchanted Evening." They are a fiercely devoted couple. He helped pull her through the devastating effects of a stroke which affected her speech.

The event was hosted by Grey Gardens producer Michael Alden. Among those paying tribute were former Governor Mario Cuomo and Mrs. Cuomo, Walter Cronkite and his 25-years-younger main squeeze Joanna Simon [sister of Carly], Christine Ebersol, Michael Feinstein, , Joe Franklin, Angela Lansbury, Joyce Randolph, Marian Seldes, Elaine Stritch, K.T. Sullivan, Bruce Vilanch, Fritz Weaver and Julie Wilson.

As anyone in the know knows, you risk danger getting onto the path between Elaine Stritch and a live microphone. That was true Sunday with Stritch, well, being Stritch. She blew in almost an hour late, complained there wasn't a place set for her, then of having to be anywhere at that time on a Sunday and, as Miss Holm's portrait was about to be unveiled, hogged the mike. Then, really being Stritch, she promoted some writer she was fond of and preceeded to tell guests that at the end of a video tribute sent by a TV star who couldn't be present, Miss Holm asked, ëWho's that?" Not very classy. News for Stritch: you think Miss Holm even knew who you were when you plopped down next to her and gave her that pink rose?

Jane Powell

MGM musical comedy star Jane Powell, still a Size 2 and quite radiant at 78, was the subject of a SRO Friars Club luncheon salute where she was interviewed by Joel Siegel, who revealed that when they were both growing up in Hollywood they lived only a block apart.

Miss Powell starred in Royal Wedding, where she danced with Astaire, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, A Date with Judy, Hit the Deck and numerous guest stints on TV. Onstage, she appeared on Broadway in Irene, Off Broadway in Avow and regionally in the premiere of Sondheim's Bounce.

She admitted that she became a reluctant movie star "because my parents wanted me to. They had sacrificed so much, I didn't want to let them down."

Being famous at MGM wasn't a happy time. "I had no social life," she said. "I took classes on the set or in the ëLittle Red Schoolhouse' [with Liz, Roddy McDowall and Daryl Hickman]. But I was never there. I was daydreaming of being back home in Portland. I lived for the letters from my friends, who wrote and told me about their lives. When I wrote, I never said anything about knowing Fred Astaire or Clark Gable. I didn't want to brag. I didn't want them to think I was stuck up."

The event was produced by Randie Levine Miller. Fasten your seat belts, folks. Next up: Lanie Kazan, June 26. Columnist and theater critic Peter Filichia will be in the passenger seat.

The Dreams on DVD

Twenty-five years after first bringing audiences to their feet on Broadway, Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen's Dreamgirls arrived onscreen. David Geffen, who controlled the rights, was very protective and wanted to make sure he put the show in the right adapter's hand. He did. It was a long wait, but well worth it. Thanks to producer Laurence Mark and director Bill Condon, Dreamgirls is a dream! Michael Bennett would be proud.

Dreamgirls is officially released today on DVD, including a two-disc "showstopper" edition [Paramount Home Entertainment, SRP $35]. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, but puzzlingly wasn't nominated for Best Picture. However, it received that honor and won from the Golden Globes.

Dominating and stealing the film in her screen debut is Jennifer Hudson as Effie Melody White. For her performance she won Featured Actress Awards from the GGs and the Academy.

Hudson stars opposite Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, the stunning BeyoncË Knowles [in the role of Deena Jones], Eddie Murphy [perhaps the finest performance of his career] as James "Thunder" Early, Tony winner Anika Noni Rose [Caroline or Change] as Lorrell Robinson, Keith Robinson as Effie's brother C.C., Danny Glover, three-time Tony Award winner [and two-time Drama Desk Award nominee] Hinton Battle. Featured in a cameo is original Dreamgirls star Loretta Devine.

Hudson is nothing short of breathtaking. Her Effie is one of the most impressive motion picture debuts ever. She scores extraordinarily well in performance, in comic bits and especially when she lets go of the caged fury that's been building as she realizes the man she loves, group manager Curtis Talylor [Jamie Foxx, who makes a smooth slick "villain"] is pushing her into the background in the recording studio and onstage because he infatuated with Deena.

Mark and Condon conducted a six-month search for their Effie and Deena. [Disc Two of the DVD "showstopper" edition features screen tests and auditions.] They saw more than 780 women in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, L.A., New York and St. Louis, and here in before "finding the right combination of strength, passion and vulnerability to embody the characters" in Hudson and Knowles.

"Effie was so important," explains Mark, "because she's the heart of the movie. It was critical that we find exactly the right person."

Hudson states, "I had always told people that Effie was a role I would one day love to play. To have the opportunity to audition for such a high caliber project and then to get the role was just unbelievable. With everyone believing so strongly in me, my goal was just not to let them down."

Hudson not only can soar when she sings, but she has acting chops. She's surprisingly comfortable and capable of great depth in the multi-layered role of the Detroit R&B singer who struggles to get recognition, and when she's on the verge of stardom gets pushed aside in favor trio member Deena.

Knowles also affects an amazing transformation. "Fans are going to be very shocked," she smiles. "They'll be expecting BeyoncÈ, but BeyoncÈ is nowhere in this movie." For almost a third of the film, Knowles downplays her stunning voice and cover girl looks. "I thought it important to hold back, because Deena's performance style is so different from mine."

"Dreamgirls onstage," recalls Condon [Kinsey, Gods and Monsters; adapter of the 2003 Best Picture Chicago] , "was one of those experiences you never forget. It was thrilling, with a brilliant cast and Michael's legendary staging. With the passage of time, it was possible to take a fresh look at the material."

The film is brilliantly photographed, choreographed, costumed, edited and captures the sung-through aspect of the stage show. Condon was smart not to tamper with Bennett's blueprint. He dedicated the film to him.
Other than Hudson, the casting coup is Murphy as flamboyant R&B star James "Thunder" Early. He displays an incredible range of maturity and is a force of nature. In the performance numbers, he really lets go. Murphy also surprises with his vocals, all his. Nothing was dubbed.

Dreamgirls came to life on Broadway in December, 1981; and went on to win 13 Tony Award nominations. The show took six: Best Book - Tom Eyen; Outstanding Actor - Ben Harney; Outstanding Actress - Jennifer Holliday; Outstanding Featured Actor - Cleavant Derricks; Outstanding Lighting - Tharon Musser; and Outstanding Choreography - Bennett and Michael Peters. It was also nominated for 10 Drama Desk nods [winning only four, but not Outstanding Musical, Score or Director]. Maury Yeston/Arthur Kopit/Mario Fratti's Nine captured the top honors.

The show ran on Broadway for nearly four years, 1,521 performances, before touring the U.S. and traveling to France and Japan. There have been numerous overseas productions.

Bennett's Tony for his choreography would be his seventh and final honor. Dreamgirls was his final production before he succumbed to complications from AIDS in July, 1987 at age 44. He was to be the director/choreographer of Tim Rice/Benny Andersson/Bjorn Ulvaeus' Chess on the West End, and developed a concept. The reins were eventually passed to Trevor Nunn.

All these years later, Krieger is reliving the dream. "The show has been faithfully kept intact and yet given its own vibration. Credit goes to Bill's screenwriting and direction, along with those who worked on Harold Wheeler original orchestrations. It offers its own interpretations of the original material, including the raw, emotional Act One finale show-stopper ["And I Am Telling YouÖ"] that always brought the house down. In the film, it's also sort of an Act One finale."

The movie has four new songs composed by Krieger and the DVD features 12 "never before seen" extended musical numbers and alternate takes, a disco version of "One Night Only," and Knowles' "Listen" music. Disc Two features much of the "blueprinting" of the film [costume design and sketches, lighting design, etc.] and a behind-the-scenes doc, Building the Dream.

Movie News

Just as the DVD of Dreamgirls is being released, comes news that the film's Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson has graduated to her next acting gig, playing the daughter of fellow Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker in Winged Creatures. This is no musical, but the screen adaptation of Roy Freirich's crime novel about survivors bonding after witnessing a brutal murder. Co-starring are Guy Pearce, Kate Beckinsale, Dakota Fanning, Oscar-nominee Jackie Earle Haley and Jeanne Tripplehorn.

The Danes Are Coming, The Danes Are Coming

Experience whimsy, mystery and delight May 4-13 as the New Victory Theatre presents five of Denmark's acclaimed performing arts companies in the first New York festival of Danish theater for children. Produced in conjunction with the Danish Arts Council's DaNY Arts, the works, featuring puppetry and interactive programs, will be showcased in various intimate settings at the Duke on 42nd Street and the New 42nd Street Studios.

The works will include Hans Christian, You Must Be an Angel, Elephant and Crocdile, Songs from Above, The Attic Under the Sky and Diva. Tickets are $12.50 [with a savings of 20% with the purchase of two or more of the five shows] and are available the New Victory and Duke on 42nd Street box offices, online at www.df42.org or by calling (646) 223-3010.

The J.A.P.s Are Here! The J.A.P.s Are Here!

Cory Kahaney's J.A.P. Show, Jewish American Princesses of Comedy celebrates the ribald comedy Pearl Williams, Belle Barth, Totie Fields and Jean Carroll along side some of today's comic Jewesses at the Actors Temple Theatre [339 West 47th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues], which doubles as a synagogue by day.

Along with Kahaney, Jackie Hoffman, Jessica Kirson and Cathy Ladman do zany stand-up on how the Jewish female comics of yore pioneered their way to top billing. The show includes vintage footage of veteran comediennes.

Kahaney was voted New York's Best Comedian by Backstage and has been seen on NBC's Last Comic Standing and her own specials on HBO and Comedy Central. Hoffman created a sensation in the original cast of Hairspray and has appeared in clubs and made numerous TV appearances. Ladman, awarded the American Comedy Award for Best Female Stand-up Comic, and Kirson are TV veterans.

Presented by Foster Entertainment and Maximum Entertainment, Dan Fields directs. Tickets are $49.50 - $65 and are available through Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

Choice Programming ~

The Record Producer Who Changed the Course of Rock

Don't miss tomorrow's PBS broadcast at 9 P.M. of The House that Ahmet Built, the video homage to music mogul Ahmet Ertegun whose revolutionary "Atlantic Sound" changed the course of music. Produced by Thirteen/WNET and Warner Music Group, the film follows Ertegun's remarkable career and its impact on the evolution of the world's most popular musical genre.

The House that Ahmet Built features rare, private and classic clips [such as from the 2006 Montreux Jazz Festival's Tribute To Atlantic Records], performances and studio sessions of Atlantic Records R&B, jazz and rock artists.

Bette Midler narrates. Solomon Burke, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin, David Geffen, Taylor Hackford, Mick Jagger, Ben E. King, Leiber And Stoller, Wynton Marsalis, Midler, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Kid Rock and Jerry Wexler are among those interviewed.

Flight of Fancy Sunday, May 6, at 9 P.M. PBS will broadcast the acclaimed 90 minute 2002 Oscar-nominated documentary Winged Migration, directed by respected French actor/producer Jacques Perrin. The film will be presented in High Definition. There's little narration, allowing the visuals - stunningly shot primarily from a bird's perspective - to tell the story of the lives and habits of migrating birds. To accomplish this feat, Perrin and his crew of more than 450 employed a variety of "aircraft" [planes, gliders, helicopters and balloons] to capture flight and bird migration from the Eiffel Tower and Monument Valley to the Arctic and the Amazon. In all, shooting took place in 40 countries on the seven continents.

Classical Theatre of Harlem Benefit

May 7th is the date of the Third Annual Classical Theatre Of Harlem gala to benefit the not-for-profit theatre "dedicated to theater that reflects New York's diversity of ideas and racial tapestry." It takes place at Columbia University's Low Memorial Library, with lead sponsorship from Mo"t Hennessy.

To be honored are two-time Tony-nominee AndrÈ De Shields, star of HBO's The Wire, Wendell Pierce, New York Lieutenant Governor David A. Paterson. Actor/director Mario Van Peebles will host. The event, starting at 6 P.M., will feature an auction, cocktails, dinner and entertainment. Tickets are $250. To order, call (212) 868-4444.

[Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7) JOAN MARCUS; 6) CAROL ROSEGG; 8) PAUL KOLNIK; 10 and 11) ELLIS NASSOUR; 13 and 14) Paramount Pictures/Dreamworks]

Recent Archive :

Monday, March 5, 2007
[ STARS ] A Banner Season for All-But-Forgotten Playwright Harley Granville-Barker; Voysey Inheritance's Designers; Philharmonic's Fair Lady; Metropolitan's Gaud" to Dal"

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
[ STARS ] Curtain Up on Kander & Ebb's Curtains; Harvey Fierstein Back to Broadway in New Muscial; Recalling Broadway 1938; A CD of 1929 Broadway Classics; Encores! Restores Berlin and Hart's Face the Music

Monday, April 2, 2007
[ STARS ] Kristin Chenoweth to Host Drama Desk Awards; Another Phantom Milestone; A Passion Play; The Balcony Returns; At the Ballet; Choice TV and Film Programs

Wednesday, April 11, 2007
[ STARS ] Antoinette Perry's Daughter's Memories of a Theater Legend; Sondheim Remastered; Something New at the Met for Somethings Old; The Grandivas Return; An Off Broadway Milestone

Monday, April 16, 2007
[ STARS ] In Legally Blonde, Opposites Attract: Orfeh and Andy Karl Are a Real Life Duo; Celeste Holm Milestone; Cryer and Ford Return Big; Naked Angels One Act Fest; Rockin' Arias; Movies from Tribecca to Boxed Errol Flynn

Friday, April 20, 2007
[ STARS ] Remembering Kitty Carlisle Hart: Just Point Her in the Right Direction and She Would Be Off and Running

Tuesday, May 1, 2007
[ STARS ] Drama Desk Honors 2007 Nominees; Celeste Holm and Jane Powell Feted; Dreamgirls On DVD; More