Ellis Nassour

Jonathan Larson's landmark Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning rock musical Rent will celebrate it's 10th Anniversary with a one-night-only benefit that reunites the original cast on April 24th .

To continue the celebration, the next night, producers Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum and Allan S. Gordon announced that tickets for the regularly scheduled performance will be drastically reduced.

The reunion performance will be followed by a gala at Cipriani 42nd Street, sponsored by Target. Honorary chairs are James L. Nederlander of the Nederlander Organization [Rent plays at the Nederlander Theatre on West 41st Street]; Jonathan M. Tisch, chairman of NYC & Company and CEO of Loews Hotels; and Gordon.

Proceeds from the benefit performance will be donated to Friends in Deed, a center for life-threatening illness co-founded by Mike Nichols; the New York Theatre Worskshop, the East Village theatre where the musical originated; and the Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation, which provides financial support to theater composers, lyricist and bookwriters.

Among those who originated roles ten years ago are Taye Diggs, Tony Award-winner Wilson Jermaine Heredia , Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal and Daphne Rubin-Vega.

Tickets range from $1,000 to $2,500; to purchase call (646) 505-5175 or go to http://[email protected]/.

But, wait, there's a way to avoid robbing a bank. Limited in the number of seats though it may be, there's a much less expensive way you can be there, too.

At 2 P.M. on April 24th there will be a registration in the Nederlander lobby for a lottery drawing of $20 tickets for the first two rows of orchestra seats for that night's historic performance. Cash only, of course.

And there's another bargain in store the next day.

On April 25th all tickets for that night's performance, featuring the current cast, will be $20. Tickets will go on sale that morning at 9 A.M. on a first-come, first-served basis. There is a limit of two tickets per person on a cash-only basis.

Rent, a modern-day interpretation of Puccini's La BohËme, tells the story of struggling artists in the East Village - some drug-addicted, some dying of AIDS. It is directed by Michael Greif. The show opened at the Nederlander on April 29, 1996 following a history-making, sold-out engagement at NYTW.

EILEEN HECKART SPOTLIGHTED

Oscar, Tony, Drama Desk and Emmy-winning actress and Theatre Hall of Famer Eileen Heckart, whose theater career began way Off Broadway with the now defunct Roman Catholic theater troupe, the Blackfriars Guild, and spanned from 1943-1990 on Broadway, is being celebrated in a touching memoir by her son, Luke Yankee, a West Coast-based director, actor and director.

Just Outside the Spotlight: Growing Up with Eileen Heckart [Back Stage Books; $25; 304 pages, hardcover; with 60 black & white photographs; Index] has a brief foreword by Mary Tyler Moore, recounting the time Heckart appeared on her show in the recurring role of Aunt Flo.

The gravely-voiced, thin-as-a-rail Heckart was known to be as generous as she was talented.

Besides countless films and TV roles dating back to the time of live, hour-long dramas, she appeared on Broadway in such hits as The Voice of the Turtle, Picnic [an award-winning role she didn't get to recreate onscreen], The Bad Seed [in a role she recreated onscreen], The View from the Bridge, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs [1958, Tony nominee, Featured Actress]; Invitation to a March [1961, Tony nominee, Featured Actress], You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running, and Butterflies Are Free [1970, Tony nominee, Featured Actress] .

She was a 2000 recipient of Tony Award Honors for Excellence in Theatre. She died December 31, 2001.

Yankee calls his mother a combination of Auntie Mame and Betty Crocker. The book - part memoir, part scrapbook, part scandal sheet - recounts warm friendships and often hilarious encounters with Marilyn Monroe, who used to baby-sit her children, and such show business royalty as Bette Davis, Ethel Merman, Paul Newman, Marlene Dietrich, Sophia Loren, Lucille Ball, Clark Gable, Thornton Wilder, Arthur Miller, Elia Kazan, William Inge, Bob Fosse, Ellen Degeneres [whom, it turns out, she inadvertently outted] - not to mention a Cardinal or two and a president or two, such as LBJ.

The book is a fun and often poignant read, but one thing that's missing is an index of Heckart's hundreds of theater, film and TV roles.

OF THEE I SING, YES, THEE

The first musical to win the Pulitzer Prize, George and Ira Gershwin's 1931 political satire Of Thee I Sing is next up at City Center Encores!, May 11 - 14. Four-time Tony Award-nominee Victor Garber, off for some time in LaLaLand co-starring in prime time TV, returns to once again captivate audiences as presidential candidate Jack P. Wintergreen.

In a forerunner of many presidential runs to come, Wintergreen is side-tracked by scandal. Yes, the female kind.

In its original Broadway run, the show, with one of the largest casts the main stem had ever seen, was a massive hit and played over 440 performances.

"Of Thee I Sing has one of the best overtures every written for a Broadway show," notes Encores! musical director Paul Gemignani. "Gorgeous music by George Gershwin. I'm looking forward to conducting that score with our orchestra."

In addition to the classic title tune and "Wintergreen for President," score highlights include "Love Is Sweeping the Country," "Who Cares?", "A Kiss for Cinderella," "Never Was There A Girl So Fair," "Because, Because," "Jilted" and a tune that received quite a bit of popularity in it's day, "Some Girls Can Bake A Pie."

Gemignani has enjoyed a long-time association with Sondheim musicals and conducted the the American Theatre Orchestra for Symphony Space's celebrated, marathon Wall to Wall Sondheim in honor of the composer's 75th birthday. His introduction to Encores! came in 1999 with Do Re Mi. He's music directed and conducted 35 Broadway shows, including On the Twentieth Century, Evita!, Crazy For You and the Kiss Me, Kate revival. In 2001, he was honored with a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Garber, who made his Broadway debut when he joined the cast of 1977's acclaimed drama The Shadow Box, went on to star in Deathtrap [Tony-nominated, Featured Actor, Play], the original Sweeney Todd, the 1982 Little Me revival [Tony-nominated, Best Actor, Musical], the original Noises Off, Lend Me A Tenor [Tony-nominated, Best Actor, Play], Damn Yankees [Tony-nominated, Best Actor, Musical], LCT's Arcadia and Art.

Of Thee I Sing's performance schedule will be: 8 P.M. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, May 11-13, with a 2 P.M. matinee on May 13; and at 6:30 P.M. on the May 14.Lead sponsorship for Encores! 2006 season is provided by Newman's Own. Single seats [$90-$25] for this last presentation of the season are available at the City Center box office, through CityTix at (212) 581-1212, or online at http://www.nycitycenter.org/.

FROM BROADWAY TO THE CIRCUS

Chuck Wagner, known for portraying larger-than-life characters on Broadway [Les Miz, Jekyll & Hyde and five years and over 1,200 performances as the beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast] and in the regionals has run away to join the circus. Through next Monday [April 17], you'll find him arena-center at Madison Square Garden as an Everyman ringmaster of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show On Earth.

"I've gotten to do what most of us only dream of doing," laughs Wagner. "Run away and join the circus."

He says the idea of preserving the past is very important "and Ringling Bros. is one of America's national treasures. That's one of the reasons I was attracted to this job. The other, to be perfectly honest, was the money. With the Special Equity Contract, it was the end of the world as far as making a living on the road for me and many actors."

Right now he's left family behind in Florida, where the kids are in school and his wife is supervising the reconstruction of their hurricane-damaged home, and living in his new home-away-from-home, a not-so-spacious compartment on the RBBB train. He's looking forward to criss-crossing the nation over the 10 months.

"Traveling with Ringling Bros.," Wagner claims, "is not unlike being on the road with a show. It's like a bus and truck tour, but instead of staying in a different hotel room every stop, I've got a train!"

Examing his options, after a visit town to audition for Bosco in The Woman in White and Arthur in the Spamalot tour, "and none of that happening, the opportunity came to audition for the circus. I went for it."

RBBB impresario Kenneth Feld also went for Wagner, saying "Not only does Chuck have acting chops and a commanding presence, but he possesses a voice that can fill and captivate any arena."

"There's never a dull moment," reports Wagner, "with two and sometimes three shows a day. And there's no shortage of traveling companions: artists from all over the world, a herd of elephants; Andalusian, Arabian, quarter and Canadian pacer horses [ridden by the Cossack troupe]; and my little dog."

Wagner, who began his career in 1976 in a production of 1776, co-starred as Athos in the short-lived Tom O'Horgan/Joe Layton The Three Musketeers [produced by Feld's father, Irvin]; as the original Prince in Sondheim's Into the Woods and, most recently, in the Kiss Me, Kate tour.

He doesn't plan to stay with the circus forever. Theater is in his blood. His next ideal option, he says, is to audition for the national company of Disney's Tarzan, when time comes for it to hit the road. He's friends with Olivier, Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning Shuler Hensley [Oklahoma! revival] and says his name is written all over the role of Kerchak.

ANIMATION GENIUS AT WORK

Long, long ago before there was that galaxy far, far away and animator Ray Harryhausen was Hollywood's human CGI genius.

Cinema buffs of a certain age and sci-fi fans who've discovered Harryhausen's brilliant work on DVD have vividly etched memories of his prehistoric creatures, mythological monsters and aliens - especially the fighting skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts, the angry T. Rex in Island of the Gwangi. and Joe, the huge, friendly gorilla of Mighty Joe Young.

The Art of Ray Harryhausen by Harryhausen and Tony Dalton [Watson-Guptill; $50; 240 pages, oversized hardcover; 211 color and 75 black & white illustrations], a companion book to 2004's Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life, gives a fascinating frame-by-frame behind-the-scenes look at the fantasy world created by the critically acclaimed master of stop-motion animation.

The book is lavishly illustrated with huge reproductions of film cells and storyboards. Peter Jackson, the Oscar-winning director of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the King Kong remake, has written a laudatory Foreword tribute.

EXPECT FAN GRIDLOCK UPTOWN AND DOWNTOWN

Look who's in town to act! Has there ever been such a celebrity-studded season? Have there ever been such mobs at stage doors?

Harry Connick Jr. in Pajama Game; Ali McGraw and Julianna Margulies in Festen, Maxwell Caulfield in Tryst; Cyndi Lauper in Threepenny Opera opposite Alan Cumming, Julia Roberts and Paul Rudd in Three Days of Rain and, soon, Ralph Finnes, opposite Cherry Jones, in Faith Healer.

Downtown, in June, in Neil LaBute's Some Girl(s) you'll have everyone's favorite nanny, Emmy and Golden Globe-winner Fran Drescher returning to the stage Off Broadway and joining TV's favorite supposedly-gay [what no Emmy and Golden Globes for that run on Will and Grace?] hunk Eric McCormack and the stunning Maura Tierney [ER].

Over at Festen, audiences have been quite abuzz, buzz, buzz about this adaptation of a cult Danish film - especially abuzz, buzz, buzz about McGraw's Broadway debut.

At Wednesday's matinee, in spite of fight director Terry King's well-rehearsed choreography, in a particular heated Act Two moment [onstage], Michael Hayden banged his head quite badly. After many applications of ice cubes to reduce the swelling, ever the trouper, he went on that night.

[Rent photo: JOAN MARCUS]

--------

Posted by Ellis Nassour at 11:58 PM | Permalink

Could anyone play an aspiring Mr. Charm with a hidden agenda better than suave Maxwell Caulfield? He opened last night Off Broadway at the Promenade as Victorian Age George Love in the American premiere of Tryst.

Playing opposite Amelia Campbell, the 46-year-old actor who began his show business career as a male stripper, acquits himself well - displaying powerful acting chops that may surprise you if you only know him as Michael Carrington in Grease 2.

Putting aside the long roster of TV roles he's done and My Night with Reg, his nude romp Off Broadway, directed by his mentor, Tony-winning director Jack Hofsiss, Caulfield did take over the featured role of Gerald Croft in the Royal National Theatre's production of J.B. Priestly's An Inspector Calls [1994]; portrayed John Merrick on tour in Bernard Pomerance's 1979 Tony-winning Best Play The Elephant Man [directed by Hofsiss]; and, 20 years ago, portrayed the demanding role of lustful drifter Sloane in Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane Off Broadway.

Tryst marks his return to the New York stage after what he considers a much too-long absence. It's the American title for English author and former actress/director Karoline Leach's play The Mysterious Mr. Love, which had a successful 1997 premiere at London's Comedy Theatre.

"When I saw it on the West End," recalls Caulfield during a break from rehearsals, "it came over as an unconventional thriller. George was a role that fascinated me. Then [producers] Morton Wollowitz and Barbara Freitag approached me out of the blue. Fate! I have to tell you, George and Adelaide are two cherry roles and Amelia and I are mining them for everything in the lode."

He's in wild admiration for his leading lady, who first impressed Broadway with her Tony-nomiated role in the, sadly, shortlived Our Country's Good. "She's a spitfire! I've been a long-time fan, since catching her in Translations [1995; with Brian Dennehy, Dana Delany, Rufus Sewell and Michael Cumpsty] and Waiting in the Wings [1999; opposite Lauren Bacall, Rosemary Harris, Dana Ivey, among others]. In those plays, she was so overshadowed by the stars."

Nor does Caulfield hide his enthusiasm for director Joe Brancato [Cobb, From Door to Door], the founder and artistic director of Stony Point's Penguin Repertory Company [now in it's 28th year]. "He never stops brainstorming, and is so inclusive. There's a wonderful duality to George and Adelaide and Amelia and I were, shall I be polite and just say, pushed constantly by Joe to discover new facets. It was amazing what we unearthed."

An interesting aspect of Leach's play is that in the beginning one character comes over as stronger than the other, then the tables turn and the balance of power between George and Adelaide shifts drastically.

"Not only does George find himself being drawn to Adelaide in ways he didn't anticipate," Caulfield explains, "but they also discover a common bond - parental abuse. It takes a while for Adelaide's penny to drop; but when it does, she's on to George. What George hadn't reckoned on was how this woman would get to him. For the first time, he's forced to confront feelings he's never had."

In charting the course of their characters, explains Caulfield, there were challenges. "It was important for me to maintain a comfortable, charming exterior while still trying to hoodwink Adelaide. In Amelia's case, it was in how she segues from an awkward, innocent shop girl after George does a Svengali thing on her - when he's finally able to exert control over her and make her look at herself in the mirror and see this vibrant woman."

Caulfield says he relishes creating characters far afield from what he's done "and George, this diabolical character, has been fun. I drew on things in my personal life. After all, we all put on a mask of some kind in our daily lives. Maybe we're not necessarily trying to be duplicitous, but just acting that we are in a better mood than we are or that we're more confident than we are.

"In George's case," Caulfield continues, "it's an extreme version. He's not homicidal. He's merely aspiring to be something that he's not - to be in a class that he wasn't born into. That blind ambition brings out this dark personality lurking within that gives him that alter ego he uses to seduce and rob women."

In rehearsal, another challenge Caulfield and Campbell faced was that often, while in the midst of quite intimate conversation and combustible moments, they would break the fourth wall. "That took time to get right. The hardest part was to do it in such a way so that the audience doesn't get comfortable with it and think we're doing some sort of cabaret."

Maxwell Caulfield, born in Scotland, has an American connection in his stepfather, who was a Marine D.I. at Parris Island, SC, and who, when he couldn't stick with the discipline at home, kicked him out at age of 15.

Three years later, he got a Green Card and relocated to the States, where, admittedly, he used his good looks and sex appeal to make money as an "exotic dancer." That somehow led him into acting.

On the road in Elephant Man, he met his wife Juliet Mills, 18 years his senior, who played Mrs. Kendal. They married a year later and he became fiercely devoted to her daughter Melissa. [Mills plays the more than slightly unhinged, wicked and very funny 300-year-old-witch Tabitha Lenox on the NBC daytime drama Passions.]

In 1981, he made his Off Broadway debut in EMS. That netted him the plum starring role in the 1982 sequel to Grease, one of the most successful musical films of all time, playing pposite Michelle Pfeiffer.

Both were being groomed for Hollywood stardom, but in it's initial release, the film took a critical drubbing and was a box office bomb [a bomb that went on to reap great profits on video and in numerous primetime TV showings].

Caulfield's greatest body of work has been on TV: numerous roles in soaps, voice-overs for animated features, guest roles, recurring roles, series and miniseries. Highlights among those are his portrayal of bad boy Miles Colby on Dynasty [1981] and The Colbys [1985]. He also appeared in the first episode of Beverly Hills 90210 as a suitor interested in much younger Shannen Doherty.

He worked Off Broadway in several short-lived plays, then in 1985 he appeared opposite Jessica Tandy, David Strathairn and Elizabeth Wilson in Salonika at the Public Theatre. Other credits include a national tour of Sleuth opposite Stacy Keach, Sweet Bird of Youth at Williamstown, Paradise Lost with Geraldine Page and The Woman in Black with Roy Dotrice.

How much of his new acting chops were influenced by his father-in-law, Oscar winner Sir John Mills who appeared in over 100 films and who began his career on the English stage as a song and dance man in 1929?

"Where do I begin? Sir John [who died in 2095 at 97] was the quintessential English gentleman and the consummate pro. I was always impressed with what an innovative actor he was. His interpretation of working class men and British military officers was groundbreaking. He showed their vulnerability in a way that hadn't been done before. He brought a new sense of realism.

"I recall once Michael Caine, a sort of professor of acting, speaking in reverential terms about Sir John and the influence his work had had on him. He was a true national institution. One reason he was so beloved in England is that he didn't attempt to become an international star. He was loyal to his roots. He never went Hollywood. That really endeared him."

Caulfield says that Mills was not only a true family patriarch but also "one of the most generous-hearted men I've had the privilege to know. Even right at the end, his spirit was absolutely dazzling. He urged me to take care of Juliet, and we had a laugh because, all these years, she's been taking care of me!"

In addition to numerous films, Caulfield caught Mills onstage as the retired general in Brian Clarke's The Petition [1986] at the National, which co-starred Rosemary Harris; Little Lies, an adaptation of The Magistrate; Goodbye, Mr. Chips at the Chichester Festival Theatre [1982]; as Doolittle in Pygmalion [1987]; and he saw his one-man show, An Evening with John Mills, countless times.

"Sir John didn't look too kindly on primetime telly and resisted taking roles on it for years," recalls Caulfield, "but I almost had him talked into doing a guest bit in the hit BBC medical drama, Casualty, which I did for two seasons."

In 2004, Mills, then deaf and legally blind, was invited to do a double episode and Caulfield read him the script. "Even though he was somewhat infirm," says the actor, "he was still mobile as long as someone was on hand. The character he was to play is ailing in hospital and, in the end, dies. I almost had Sir John there. ëYes, yes,' he'd say. ëI can see this working.' I didn't want to read him the ending, but I had to. He said, ëOh, that's in such poor taste, the poor man dying. Tell them I'm not interested.'"

Caulfield sadly concludes, "I only got to watch him. That would have been my opportunity to work with him."

Though he's kept busy the last two years, he hasn't been onstage. "I'd be lying if I didn't say the living isn't easy at home in Santa Barbara. I committed a huge blunder in not coming back [to the New York stage] sooner. I saw how ultra competitive it had become and wasn't fond of all the stunt casting that was going on. But when the script for Tryst arrived, Juliet read it and got very excited. She has great instincts and told me I should do it."

Caulfield says that he and Campbell are so happy to be in such a sumptuous production. "Our producers have pulled out all the stops. David Korins [Bridge and Tunnel; Blackbird] has designed a magnificent set and we couldn't have asked for a better lighting designer than Jeff Nellis. Joe's orchestrated the music really creatively. It's eerie and foreboding, but also pushes the plot forward. The Promenade is one of the sweetest houses I've ever played.

He adds, "I was thrilled the other day when Joe referred to me as a ëNew York actor.' I took that as a very high compliment. And I intend to do more. Lots more. There's nothing better than playing to a live audience!"

Caulfield reports that the original aspiration for Tryst "was to go in for names and to be done on Broadway. Some that have come up are Kevin Bacon and Helen Bonham Carter. It's ended up being Campbell and Caulfield uptown, but we won't disappoint you. Tryst's become quite a sensual piece."

He adds, "Joe's taken this rather conventional type thriller with the handsome bounder and the vulnerable wallflower and given it quite a jolt. and we're kicking the crap out of these roles. We're aiming this show for the matinee ladies and the midnight men!"

STARS SHINE ONSTAGE

There are certainly more than two must-see performances currently on the boards in New York, but two of the most impressive are currently Off Broadway.

Consider Tony Award-winner [42nd Street revival] Christine Ebersole [Steel Magnolias revival; Tony-nominated for LCT's Dinner at Eight revival] in one of the most mesmerizing and all consuming characterizations of her career - and one of the most acclaimed performances of the season, the dual roles of Edith Bouvier Beale and "Little" Edie Beale in Grey Gardens.

The musical on the Mainstage at Playwrights Horizons is by Scott Frankel, Michael Korie and Doug Wright [I Am My Own Wife]. Mary Louise Wilson co-stars in Act Two as the older Beale. The director is Michael Greif [Rent].

Catch GG quickly, as it comes to an end on April 23.

Can that really be Jan Maxwell as loopy Kath in Roundabout's revival of Entertaining Mr. Sloane at the Laura Pells Theatre? Since there's only one female role in Joe Orton's black comedy, it must be. But it may take you a while to register that this is the same Maxwell, 2005 Drama Desk Award winner [Outstanding Featured Actress] and Tony Award-nominee for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and, among a llist of memorable portrayals, the icy Elsa Schraeder in the 1998 Sound of Music revival. But this is Maxwell as you've never seen her: lusty, sex-crazed, dizzy, canny.

Alec Baldwin, Chris Carmack and Tony Award winner Richard Easton [Invention of Love], co-star. EMS plays through May 21.

Surely, these are two actresses that will make the nominations cut in the upcoming weeks.

STARS SHINE ON CD RELEASES

Patti LuPone, currently portraying Mrs. Lovett in one of the season's most acclaimed performances in Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, has a new CD, The Lady with The Torch [Ghostlight Records] which she developed through a series of East Coast/West Coast concerts and last March's sold-out Carnegie Hall show.

LuPone sings an eclectic array of torch ballads by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler, "Ill Wind"; Billy Barnes, "Something Cool";George and Ira Gershwin, "The Man I Love"; Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, "Early Autumn"; and, among several others, Arlen and Truman Capote's "Don't Like Goodbyes" from House of Flowers.

The Lady with the Torch was conceived and directed by Scott Wittman. Orchestrations are by Sondheim musicals veteran Jonathan Tunick with musical direction by Chris Fenwick, who for the studio recording, conducted a 10-piece orchestra. Joel Moss and label prez Kurt Deutsch produced.

+ + + +

All is not lost if you weren't among the lucky 1,000 + at the one-night-only June 2005 Carnegie Hall concert of Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic South Pacific starring Reba McEntire as Nellie Forbush, Brian Stokes Mitchell as Emile de Becque and, in a bit of most unsual casting, Alec Baldwin as Luther Billis. Decca Broadway has released a CD souvenir.

Lillias White as Bloody Mary, Jason Danieley as Lieutenant Cable and Dylan Baker and Conrad John Schuck are among the co-stars.

One of the very positive pluses of the recording, produced by multi-Grammy-winning Jay David Saks, is Sondheim master musical director and City Center Encores! musical director Paul Gemignani conducting the 45-piece Orchestra of St. Luke's. The production boasts the type of ensemble probably only the original production could afford: a chorus of 50. The package contains notes by R&H Org prez and exec director Ted Chapin.

Want more? The concert will be broadcast Wednesday, April 26 on PBS.

+ + + +

Just out from Ghostlight, is Songs From an Unmade Bed, lyrics by Mark Campbell and music by 18 composers - one per track.

Michael Winther starred in the New York Theatre Workshop's innovative song cycle musical as a smart, and ultimately resilient gay New Yorker on a journey through the pitfalls and triumphs of romance and heartache.

For those awaiting the CD of the Public Theatre and Ted Sperling's production of John LaChiusa's two one-act musicals under the title See What I Wanna See, it's here - with original stars Marc Kudisch, Aaron Lohr, Idina Menzel, Henry Stram and Mary Testa. Ghostlight has put together an innovative package with a slightly unusual booklet, that includes a very helpful synopsis and all lyrics.

PARTY

Jim Caruso's Monday night Cast Party at 9:30 P.M. on April 17 at Birdland [315 West 44th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues] will feature Streisand impersonator Steven Brinberg in Simply Barbra! celebrating "the ultimate diva's birthday" with signature songs and special guests from Daniel Reichard, Jersey Boys; David Burnham, Light in the Piazza; and Matt Cavennaugh, Grey Gardens. For reservations, call (212) 581-3080.

UPPER WEST FEST

Symphony Space [Broadway and 95th Street] and its numerous Upper West Side partners will present the First Annual Upper West Fest from Friday, April 28th - Sunday, May 14th. It's being billed as the largest collaborative arts event ever held on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Programs will celebrating music, dance, film, literary, theatre and visual arts. In addition, there'll be numerous family programs.

The more than 50 scheduled events will take place not only at the Peter Norton Symphony Space but also from 59-116th Streets. They include SS's Dance Sampler, a 12-hour marathon on Saturday April 29, showcasing the depth and breadth of contemporary movement, featuring children's dance, world premieres from Sync and the Melting Pot Theatre Company, works in progress by MOMIX and Complexions and a screening of Walt Disney's Fantasia.

The Upper West Fest is sponsored by Zabar's, the landmark gourmet food emporium at 80th Street and Broadway with promotional support from NYC & Company, New York's official tourism marketing organization.

The Fest is offering a $25 pass which entitles holders to purchase one ticket for any Upper West Fest event and receive a second ticket to the same event free. For full programming and event times, visit www.upperwestfest.com.

SYMPHONY SPACE GALA

Alec Baldwin will be among the honorary chairs of the May 1 Symphony Space gala A Celebration in Story and Song, which, among others, will honor Marian Seldes and filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker. Chris Hegedus [Elaine Stritch At Liberty].

There'll be a silent auction, cocktails, dinner and live auction, all starting at 7 P.M. at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers.

Event tickets are $600, if you want to be a Headliner, to $10,000, in case you want to be a Legend, for a table of 10. To purchase or for more information, contact Mary Hedahl, SS's associate director for Development for Individual Giving, at (212) 864-1414 X. 229.

Posted by Ellis Nassour at 8:46 AM | Permalink

Robert Cuccioli is back from his voyage of self discovery after taking Broadway by storm in Jekyll & Hyde and he's landed in Paris...the Off Broadway one of Jacques Brel.

Though he's been away - and sometimes not that far away - for almost six years, he returned quite invigorated about his life and career. He's starring with Natascia Diaz, Rodney Hicks and Gay Marshall in the revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at the kinky Zipper Theatre [336 West 37th Street].

Brel's songs have been enthralling audiences for over four decades. The Zipper production, directed by Gordon Greenberg [Floyd Collins; Paper Mill's Baker's Wife], is the first major revival since the acclaimed original in 1968 at Greenwich Village's famed Village Gate nightclub [now the Village Theatre], where such artists as Woody Allen, Nina Simone, South African trumpeter and jazz musician Hugh Masekela and controversial apartheid activist, actress and unique song stylist Miriam Makeba were introduced along with fiery Latin jazz nights.

Cuccioli's sporting a new look with his cropped hair, but the voice hasn't changed. It's still a stellar attraction.

He became the toast of Broadway and a hugely popular matinee idol in 1997 in the starring role in Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bricusse's Jekyll & Hyde.

In recent years, he's spent a lot of time shaking off that image. Other than a brief run in an Off Broadway play, this is New York's first opportunity to see the new Cucc.

"What really attracted me to the production was that it's an ensemble piece," he says. "I'm getting to work with three other actors. The ensemble environment is something I'm drawn to."

The other attraction, he admits, are the Brel songs: "Amsterdam," "Madeleine," "Marieke," "Brussels," "Alone" and, among the nearly 30 tunes featured, "Carousel" and "If We Only Have Love."

"Each song is a gem within a gem," states Cuccioli. "As a singer, I connect with them because they are a challenge. They're perfect for an actor because each one is like a play. They're story songs with a beginning, middle and an end. For that reason, they fit very well into a revue format because, even if taken out of context, they hold their own weight."

The repertory of the Belgian Brel, who made his home and fame in France, are a blend of ballads, tangos, boleros and rock. They examine themes of war, adventure, broken dreams, people from all classes, being young, growing old and, of course, love. With his concentration on scamps, sailors, vagabonds and the complexities of life, Brel's work is also not without its sense of humor.

Thanks to lyricist Mort Shuman, who co-created the original, and poet Eric Blau, the majority of the songs featured are in English.

"Translations are tricky," says Cucc. "You have adjectives, verbs and nouns misplaced, so the ideal is to get the meaning as close as possible to what Brel is saying in French." And Cuccioli and company ran into several different translations. "We looked at lists of them," he explains. "In some, the lyrics just don't flow well; so we kept at it to find phrases that fit better."

He notes that this production can't be called an exact revival. "Songs have been rearranged for dramatic and theatrical context and some new tunes have been added. It's a complete rethinking. As I understand it, the 1978 production was more concert. Everyone stood and sang. Gordon has given the show a through-line to connect the pieces. It's impressive how everything flows."

Many of the tunes Cucc sings, like "Jackie" and "Amsterdam," were performed by Shuman in the original, but there are some changes. "A song that may have been sung by a man is now sung by a woman," he points out and several tunes are brand new."Songs heard here onstage for the first time include "Ca Va," "A Song for Old Lovers" and "Ne Me Quitte Pas" are among the Brel compositions making their debut.

Fans of Brel's work know that some compositions have a lot of lyrics sung at breakneck speed. "Yes," laughs Cuccioli, "some are very wordy. It's a bit of a challenge when you're learning them. You've got to get really grounded in them so that they're totally in your body. You don't have a lot of time to think about them. Once you get in front of an audience, you begin to hear and enjoy them."

Long Island native Robert Cuccioli had appeared as Javert in the long-running Les Miserables, but on April 28, 1997, when J&H finally trucked in to make its New York debut, he was already a matinee idol from one of the lengthy tours.

The type of bedlam, especially after matinees, outside the Plymouth Theatre stage door was the kind that today would greet a member of a charted boy band, American Idol winner or a Brad Pitt.

Fans, mostly female, screamed at the top of their lungs for their Cucc to come out. The commotion, which went on for nearly four years, was so loud it wasn't such a pleasant experience for actors and audiences in longer nearby shows.

"The critics didn't jump to their feet," Cuccioli notes , "but we did get some good reviews. That season we were the longest running show of anything that got Tony-nominated or even won."
He was Tony and Drama Desk-nominated for Best Actor [winning the DD Award], and the show was nominated for Best Musical.

However, in an affront, it didn't receive a nod in the score department. And this was a Frank Wildhorn musical before there were Frank Wildhorn musicals to deride.

"Whatever else," says the actor, "Jekyll & Hyde was a crowd-pleaser. Before we got to New York, several of the songs were pretty much pre-sold. Frank was very smart. He had the music out there before the show came to town. I knew what we had, and certainly the audiences were responsive. In fact, they loved it. Many came back again and again."

J&H gave him many learning experiences. "One thing it taught me," he says, "was how to be a pop singer, which is something I'm more attracted to than Broadway legit. Some singers can naturally go to it because pop's what they've listened to all their lives; but, for me, it was another muscle I had to learn, another ear I had to go to. I listened to rock, but ended up doing Broadway-sound type shows."

Another lesson was the responsibility "of carrying such an enormous show on my shoulders. I hope I did it well."

Robert Cuccioli may have been an overnight sensation, "but," he smiles, "there were a lot of overnights. There were fifteen years of auditioning and working all manner of odd jobs to survive before Jekyll & Hyde."

Ironically, getting into theater was an accident. "I loved music and singing," says Cucc. " I was in the school glee club, had a rock band and played clubs. In college, I majored in finance. I did theater and people would tell me I was good. They would ask if I ever considered doing it as a career. It never occurred to me."

Instead, he became a successful Wall Street trader. When the bug did bite, he started going to auditions, "where it was all trial and error." He came to J&H in 1994, late in the game, after there had been two major regional productions and a New York workshop, which starred Terrence Mann.

After the run, "I had a difficult time finding things to inspire me," explains Cucc. "That led me to the challenge of directing, which I love. After the run, I was exhausted and I didn't want to sing anymore. Every note in my body had been expended. I began learning about myself - what I wanted, what I didn't want."

There was a brief stint Off Broadway in the Enter the Guardsman, then, attempting to take advantage of that blazing hot fame, Cucc became bi-coastal. "No matter how successful you are here, for the most part, the TV folks don't know about it. There are some casting directors who come to town a couple of times a year and check out what's going on onstage. A couple knew who I was and what I'd done; but, the majority, no."

He managed some TV episodic work, but it wasn't satisfying. He always found himself in a New York state of mind: "It's fine out there unto itself, but there's a different mentality. I found it a little destructive. The energy of New York is what I love. It's part of me and I didn't want to give up on me. There was one big negative. When I came back, it meant starting over again. That was hard for someone who'd been in the business twenty years!"

The last few years for this actor, who turns 48 next month, were "eclectic." Cucc's goal was "to shake things up a bit. People had a certain impression of me. For a while there, I was really pigeonholed. I needed to shake that up for the outside world and also for myself.

"I was trying to stretch myself," he continues, "break the stereotypes of what people thought and what I thought of myself." Two years on the road and two years on Broadway in J&H gave him the type of cachet where regional theatres risked hiring him for things they normally wouldn't consider him for. That's worked out pretty well. "I've been doing everything from Shakespeare to drama to comedy to Rodgers and Hammerstein."

There were straight plays in San Jose and at the McCarter, musicals for Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera and He musicals at New Jersy's Paper Mill Playhouse and classics the New Jersey Shakespeare Theatre, where recently he portrayed Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar.

Because he grew as an actor in J&H ó "it was the widest range of anything I've been asked to play - dramatically, emotionally, physically, vocally" - things are no longer as difficult. I still find challenges, but if I got through that I feel I can get through anything."

Cucc finds the kinky Zipper, with its variety of car seats and motley array of other types of seating, "perfect for Brel. The atmosphere is very Bohemian and you just might think you're somewhere on the Left Bank."

Tickets are $65. Purchase through Telecharge [www.telecharge.com or (212) 239-6200)]. For more information, www.jacquesbrelreturns.com.

ONE NIGHT ONLY: DIVAS WITH MUSCLE

Les Ballets Grandiva, a troupe that blends the beauty, physicality and grace of classic ballet but with men in tutus and toe shoes, will stage an outrageous evening of dance in honor of their 10th Anniversary at Symphony Space [2537 Broadway at 95th Street] on Monday, April 10, at 8 P.M.

Victor Trevino's comic ballet group, which has played to great acclaim and SRO in Japan and China, is the largest of its kind. The company, which originally consisted of 13 dancers and a repertoire of seven ballets, has grown to 19 dancers and 32 ballets.

Wherever they appear, critics hail Grandiva "as more than dancers en travesti, flitting and floating on pointe. The company transforms the male comedy ballet art form from mere sight gag to the height of technical precision and dramatic excellence."

Grandiva dancers have performed with such companies as the Kirov, ABT, Houston Ballet, National Ballet of Canada and the Royal Swedish Ballet.

Monday's program will include a world premiere: Nightcrawlers, choreography by Peter Anastos and music, performed live, by Chopin [but not performed live by Chopin] and Anastos' Serenadiana, music by Tschaikovsky [who also will not be performing]; as well as these "classics" from their repertoire: Dying Swan, choreography by Dennis after Fokine to music by Saint-Saens; and their most in-demand piece, Marcus Galante's Star-Spangled Ballerina to the music of, of course, John Philip Sousa.

Best of all, tickets [general admission] are only $10. Tickets are on sale online at http://www.symponyspace.org/ or through the box office, (212) 864-5400, through Sunday. For more information, visit http://www.balletsgrandiva.com/.

BROADWAY STAR TO BE EXPOSED IN TIMES SQUARE

Tuesday, May 2, not long after the Drama Desk nominations are announced, Alan Cumming, currently Mack in Roundabout's revival of The Threepenny Opera, will get what's coming to him: at least, on the walls of Times Square bistro Tony's di Napoli.

There he will join theater luminaries Chita Rivera, Hugh Jackman, John Lithgow, Antonio Banderas, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and, among numerous others, Robert Goulet, as his portrait will be unveiled for the Broadway Wall of Fame.

He'll be side by side his recently inducted Threepenny co-star Cyndi Lauper, who graciously paid tribute to her band members "who helped get me where I am," co-stars Cuming [for suggesting she come to Broadway in the show] and Jim Dale [just for being Jim Dale].

A few nights later, Harry Connick Jr. was inducted and, in spite of constant suggestions from Pajama Game cast and crew, resisted taking off his shirt.

He did graciously sign autographs and pose with co-stars Kelli O'Hara, who not only kissed him but his portrait [tinkling the ivories in PJs and an athletic tank, you know, the kind they used to call "wifebeaters"], Michael McKean, Roz Ryan and event host Valerie Smaldone of 106.7 FM Radio.

The Wall of Fame oils, by graphic artist Dan May, are done in a quasi-art nouveau style - sometimes dark, sometimes bordering on caricature.

Connick hasn't just been starring in Roundabout's hit revival of PJ Game. He's busy in the recording studio readying his Columbia two-CD disc Harry On Broadway, Act 1 [in stores May 9] which will include the PJ Game cast in songs from the show and Connick and O'Hara in songs from his Broadway composing debut, Thou Shalt Not.

Connick fans should visit http://www.sonystore.com/ for 25% discounts on a number of his releases, including a pre-order bargain on the new set.

PEGGY LEE AND DISNEY CLASSIC ON DVD

Lady, a golden cocker spaniel, meets up with a mongrel dog - from the wrong side of town, of course. His name is Tramp, so what did you expect?

Disney's brilliant animators turned this fairy tale romance between two dogs into the first wide-screen [Cinemascope] feature, Lady and the Tramp, which enthralled children of all ages.

Now, Disney has brought the 76-minute animated feature back in a limited edition to celebrate the film's 50th Anniversary. It's being released on DVD for the first time [special two-disc edition, $30].

Unless you dig deep into the bonus material, you won't find Peggy Lee's name or the fact that she wrote the lyrics to jazz composer Sonny Burke's exquisite score, which includes five original songs - three of them quite memorable: "Bella Notte," sung over a candlelight spaghetti dinner outside a bistro, "The Siamese Cat Song" and "He's A Tramp."

Lee and Burke had forward thinking agents and their contracts stipulated royalties for reproduction "in any future format." They were at the top of their game and well paid by Disney, but they didn't participate in proceeds from later releases, TV showings and eventually video.

In a case that made show business headlines, Lee sued the studio for breach of contract, claiming she still retained rights. In 1991, after a lengthy, stubborn and puzzling legal battle, the courts awarded her a settlement of $2.3-million.

Now, back to the movie. In addition to Lee voicing four characters, there's Barbara Luddy as Lady, Larry Roberts as Tramp and veteran character actors Verna Felton [Aunt Sarah] and Stan Freberg [Beaver].
The DVD is a pristine remaster from original negatives of the theatrical release and a 1999 video restoration process that incorporated U.S. and international formats of the film. The soundtrack has been enhanced with a dynamic 5.1 Disney theater mix.

Bonus materials include never-before-released deleted scenes and a newly discovered alternate storyboard version of the film. In the doc, Lady's Pedigree: The Making of Lady and The Tramp, there's rare footage of Disney himself. There are games: a DVD-Rom where you can adopt one of the pups seen in the shop window and a 3-D virtual board game that tests knowledge of dogs seen in Disney films.

Walt Disney Records has released Lady and the Tramp and Friends, a nine-track budget CD [$10] that includes the five songs from the film along with Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's "Kiss the Girl" from The Little Mermaid and Something There, featuring Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts, from Beauty and the Beast. Two additional soundtrack songs from unidentified 1999 and 2000 films complete the line-up.

CALLING ALL RAY BRADBURY FANS

The limited engagement of Godlight Theatre Company's New York premiere of Ray Bradbury's stage adaptation of his cult classic novel Fahrenheit 451 ends on April 23 in Theatre C at 59E59 Theatres [between Madison and Park Avenues].

Bradbury is no stranger to adapting his works for the stage or screen. He has won an Emmy and been nominated for an Oscar for his animated film Icarus Montgolfier Wright.

Godlight is the company that brought us Bradbury's adaptation of A Clockwork Orange [2003]. Fahrenheit 451 is directed by Godlight's artistic director, Joe Tantalo, who also directed Clockwork.

The 90-minute stage adaptation has met with mixed critical reaction in productions around the country, but fans of the author's sci-fi imagination have flocked to see it.

Titled for the temperature at which book paper burns, Fahrenheit 451 is Bradbury's meditation on censorship and defiance. In a futuristic world where books are banned and TV rules, fireman Guy Montag [Ken King, who starred in Clockwork Orange] learns of a past where people were not afraid, where they were allowed to think.

Performances are Tuesday-Saturday at 8:30 P.M. and Sunday at 7:30. General admission tickets are $25 [$17.50 for 59E59 members] and available from Ticket Central, (212) 279-4200 or online, http://www.ticketcentral.com/.
--------

Posted by Ellis Nassour at 12:01 AM | Permalink

In a throwback to Broadway's Golden Years, two shows are offering discounted previews and ticket lotteries.

Tarzan, loosely based, we shall assume on the Edgar Rice Burroughs classics and Disney's own animated blockbuster, is opening cold on Broadway. The much-anticipated musical offers a straight-out, just-walk-up-to-the-box office cut-rate ticket.

Disney Theatricals chief Thomas Schumacher, whose idea the discounted previews were, explains, "As someone who grew up wanting to see as much live theatre as I could, it's such a pleasure to be able to make these reduced-price tickets available. This allows us to share this exciting theatrical experience with audience members who may not otherwise be able to see Tarazan, and that is invaluable to me."

The $111.25 orchestra and front mezz seats are now going for $76.25 - a savings of $35. Other tickets that will be $51.25 after May 10 are $38.75. All prices include a $1.25 facilities fee.

Tarzan, with music by Oscar and seven-time Grammy Award winner Phil Collins and book by Tony Award-winner David Henry Hwang, stars Josh Strickland, Jenn Gambatese, Tony/Drama Desk/Olivier Award-winner Shuler Hensley [Oklahoma!], Chester Gregory II and Timothy Jerome. Daniel Manche and Alex Rutherford alternate as young Tarzan.

Two-time Tony Award-winning set designer Bob Crowley has designed costumes and scenery and is making his directorial debut. Choreography is by Meryl Tankard.

Strickland, as Tarzan, who toured in Rent as Mark and Roger, was seen on CBS' Star Search [2003] performing Collins' "Against All Odds," and was a finalist on the Ruben Studdard/Clay Aiken second season of American Idol.

The Drowsy Chaperone, the musical-within-a-musical which reaped raves in Toronto, here at the 2004 National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals and L.A. arrives to, hopefully, find favor with New York critics and theatergoers. It offers discounted previews, but you won't find them at the Marquis box office. They're offered online via Yahoo and TicketMaster, but there's a catch: you have to purchase with an American Express card.

If purchased soon, tickets for evening performances and Saturday matinees through May 28 are $25, $45 or $65; Wednesday matinees, $25, $40 or $59. This offer excludes Saturday night performances. Go to broadway.yahoo.com, select Shows & Offers from the toolbar, then choose The Drowsy Chaperone, click on Buy Tickets. Under Promotions and Special Offers, pick your date and performance, then enter the discount code YAHOO. Prices include a $1.25 theatre restoration fee [does the Marquis already need restoring?] but not a $6.75 "convenience charge."

Drowsy, with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison and a book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, stars Martin, Tony Award winner Sutton Foster, Danny Burstein, Georgia Engel, Edward Hibbert, Troy Britton Johnson, Eddie Korbich and Beth Leavel. Spamalot's Casey Nicholaw is director/choreographer.

Martin, best known for his Canadian TV and film comic roles and from Toronto's Second City, and Leavel won L.A. Drama Critics Circle Best Actor and Feature Actress Awards.

Center Theatre Group's staging of Drowsy Chaperone won Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Best Production and Best Director nods. The story of a musical theater addict "who chases the blues away" by putting his favorite record on the turntable and - voila! - begins to live as it comes to life, opens May 1.

Tarzan, about that fabled Ape Man in the loin cloth, has the longest preview period. It's the last show of the season to open. It will be eligible for Tony Awards consideration; but since the Drama Desk nominations are to be announed on April 27, the musical will not be seen by the DD nominating committee and so will not be eligible for consideration until next season, when Disney Theatricals has plans to also have Mary Poppins on Broadway.

In the trailblazing path of Rent and Wicked, both new shows have announced day-of-performance ticket lotteries. These seats are more heavily discounted, but there aren't as many of them and, for both shows, they are on the front row.

Ninety minutes prior to each Drowsy Chaperone performance, you can be entered for one of 22 seats at the Marquis boxoffice. Tickets, two per person and on a cash-only basis, are $25. Names are drawn an hour later.

Two and half hours prior to each Tarzan performance at the Rodgers, your name's put into a pithelmet for one of 12 seats. Tickets, two per person and on a cash-only basis, are $20. Names are drawn a half hour later. Be sure to bring proper identification or you will be denied the thrill of seeing Tarzan meet Jane and Tarzan vine-swinging with abandon.

In addition, Tarzan is offering lower prices for obstructed view seats in upper reaches [last four rows] of the Rodgers' stadium-style orchestra [a sort of twin to the Majestic]. Patrons buying these tickets are told they will miss a few moments of action in the upper reaches of the proscenium.

THIS SEASON'S BIGGEST SCENE-STEALER

Lisa Kron's parental memoir, a "one person show with other people," Well, which has opened on Broadway thanks to an incredible list of A-List producers following its successful 2004 run at the Public, to considerable praise and a brickbat or two.

While not at all resembling a conventional comedy or drama, which is a very high compliment in my book, Well has been diagnosed as "the most daring Broadway offering of the season," "often hilarious, always clever and ultimately touching," with "an emotional depth, both murky and luminous, that goes beyond any tidy narrative" and having a "captivating air of reckless spontaneity." To one detractor: it possesses a "cartoonish tone" and being "ludicrous."

Audience reaction is about the same, with almost everyone saying the intermissionless, one-hour-and-45 minute tome would be fare much better shorn of about 15 minutes. But, as is, it's not quite in the ICU.

The one thing everyone agrees on is the breakout performance of Jayne Houdyshell [prounced Howdy-shell] as Mama Ann. Brantley, in the Times, wrote, "embodied onstage with majestic warmth and wearinessÖMom comes to the rescue. Ms. Houdyshell's performanceÖretains an anchoring authenticity that guarantees that Well opens doors of insight and emotion that no other play in New York is unlockingÖ Slovenly in her time-bleached housedressÖshe inspires immense affection and embarrassment at the same time. She pulls you, as well as Ms. Kron, into an inescapable emotional field."

Audiences arrive at the Longacre to find Houdyshell, a respected Off Broadway and award-winning regional character actress making her Broadway debut [as is the entire cast], snoozing in a La-Z-Boy. [Since she's in that recliner, eyes closed for at least a half hour, a backstage visitor the other night asked her if she ever has really fallen asleep and Houdyshell replied, "Not yet!"] When she's awakened, she reacts with some alarm to find she's being observed by an audience. Without skipping a beat, she greets them warmly and graciously begins offering them Cokes and bags of chips.

Has there ever been an actress whose talents and physical statue are so suited to a role? Everyone with a loving, much too smart and horribly irritating mother will find something in Houdyshell's performance that rings terribly true. At the every step of the way, she's the perfect foil for Ms. Kron, who, hardly offstage for even a second, gives a marathon performance.

Several critics are predicting that Houdyshell is a shoe-in for a Tony nomination. For Well's Off Broadway run, she did take home an Obie and a Drama Desk nom.

TALENT ALERT: MUSICIANS AT WORK

Every song Johnny Cash wrote may not have been brilliant; and, just about every one of them [well, 35 of them to be exact] is presented in Richard MaltbyJr.'s Ring of Fire, but you have to marvel at the magnificent musicianship onstage and in the wings. Has there ever been a show with so much incredible talent?

Co-star Jason Edwards, himself a mean-guitarist, says "Every time I step onstage, I'm in awe of these folks. They're amazing!" He's just not referring to co-stars Jeb Brown [Aida], Tony winner Jarrod Emick [the Damn Yankees revival], Beth Malone, Cass Morgan [a former B&B Miss Potts] and Grammy Award-winning gospel/country star Lari White.

He points to the amazing, multi-talented David Lutken, whom you may have caught on Broadway and on tour as Will in The Will Rogers Follies and Off Broadway in Woody Guthrie's American Song. He's adept on acoustic, electric and dobro guitar, banjo, mandolin, washboard, bottles, something called an evoharp and can play one helluva mean harmonica.

Then there's Randy Redd who's a master of keyboards and the mandolin; Jeff Lisenby, keyboards and accordion [he's also conductor]; Eric Anthony, mandolin, electric guitar; Brent Moyer, cornet, guitar; the amazing Laurie Canaan, fiddle and mandolin; Dan Immel, bass; and Ron Karsinksi, percussion.

But, wait, there are more. Standing in the wings, just waiting to go are are country vocalist and songwriter Gail Bliss, vocalist DeAnn Whalen and vocalist/songwriter and award-winning actor Scott Wakefield, who in addition to being a champion trick roper, plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, percussion and electric and upright bass.

VEGAS PHANTOMS

The City of Lights, the one in the Nevada desert, will also have the Paris Opera, but it will be located in the sprawling grandeur of the Venetian Resort, Hotel and Casino. Starting in June, not far from the shops along the all-weather Grand Canal, Broadway hunk Brent Barrett [Annie Get Your Gun, Kiss Me, Kate, Chicago] and Tony Award-winner Anthony Crivello [Kiss of the Spider Woman] will run amock as the stars of Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular.

The stars were hand-picked by multi-Tony and Drama Desk-winning director Hal Prince and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber to head the cast of what promises to be a jaw-dropping, awesome 95-minute edition of Broadway's long-run champ.

Performances begin June 4 with a star-studded, multi-million dollar Opening Night gala on June 24. The Venetian box office officially opens Sunday, April 9, but tickets can be purchased starting today via toll-free phone or website orders.

The musical will be presented in design visionary David Rockwell's breathtaking 1,800-seat replicia of the 1862 Paris Opera. Rockwell is the architect of Hollywood's Kodak Theatre and the man behind the Hairspray sets.

In a city where hyperbole and the word "spectacle" take on new meaning, Rockwell's $40-million theatre will be the buzz for years to come. It has depth, height and enough wing space so you never ever have to go outside to hike; has its very own lake; and the type of state-of-the-art production and special effects capability Broadway can only fantasize over.

Then there's humongous chandelier, which you can expect to do more than just crash! It will have an explosive, fiery descent.

Due to the challenging vocal score and sometime two-a-day performance schedule, Prince noted, other roles are also double-cast. Christine will be portrayed by Sierra Boggess [regionally: Les MisÈrables, West Side Story] and Elizabeth Loyacano [The Woman in White, Oklahoma!].

Broadway's current Raoul, Tim Martin Gleason, will repeat his role in Vegas. The Carlottas are Elena Jeanne Batman, who played the part on Broadway, and Geena Jeffries, who played the role in the San Francisco company.

The Vegas production, says Prince, "is a chance to revisit a work of art years after it was created."

According to Prince, the production will include every song from the West End and Broadway original. But you can expect special effects that weren't even dreamed of 18 years ago, when the show premiered on Broadway [where it continues to break records].

David Ian, chairman of co-presenter Theatre for Live Nation, says, "This will be a truly unique staging. One guaranteed to exceed everyone's expectations."

Phantom performs Wednesday-Monday at 7 P.M. and Friday-Wednesday at 10 P.M. Tickets are sold 90 days prior to the desired performance. [If you wish to go in September, book beginning June 1. ]

Tickets are priced "slightly" higher than on Broadway. There are 25 orchestra rows, with the "chandlier-friendly" first eight center ones, called the Golden Circle, priced at $157 per seat. Remaining orchestra and the first three rows of the mezz are $132. Balcony seating is $107 and $82. All credit cards accepted. To order call (866) 641-7469 or (702) 414-7469, or visit http://www.venetian.com/. The official website is www.phantomlasvegas.com.

DISCO'S BACK

The 1978 glitter and be gay disco cult favorite Thank God, It's Friday is just out for the first time on DVD [Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; $15]; but that's not the only news associated with the release. Broadway will soon be raining men! - more so than the deluge it's getting this season.

Jeff Goldblum, Debra Winger, the Commodores and disco-era diva Donna Summer co-star in TGIF along with Paul Jabara [Hair, Rachel Lily Rosenbloom on Broadway; Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar, West End]. The late composer/lyricist's body of work will soon be the basis for a Broadway musical.

Admittedly, no classic, TGIF is fun as it centers around Friday night's big dance contest at an L.A. disco. It has a certain cache in cinema history because Jabara won the Best Song Academy Award for "Last Dance," performed in the film by Summer. He also won a Grammy and Golden Globe.

Jabara, appearing as Carl, also performs the hilarious "Trapped in a Stairway," which he also penned.

The Brooklyn-born songwriter/singer/actor's myriad songbook will be the basis of a Broadway musical, at this time titled Last Dance, which will herald the glory days of disco. Philip McKinley [The Boy from Oz] will direct, with choreography by Tony Stevens [Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life].

Jabara's long song roster includes one of the biggest hits of all time, "It's Raining Men," co-written with Paul Shaffer [of Late Show fame] for the Weather Girls and later for Geri Halliwell; "No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)," a blockbuster duet for Summer and Streisand; "The Main Event," sung by Streisand in the film of the same name; "Work That Body," Diana Ross; "Two Lovers," Julio Iglesias; "Something's Missing In My Life," a Jabara/Summer duet; "Eternal Love," Whitney Houston; and the hilarious medley "Disco Wedding/Honeymoon in Puerto Rico/Disco Divorce."

As an actor, Jabara made international news when British Equity refused to allow producer Robert Stigwood to cast him as the lead in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In protest, he chained himself to 10 Downing Street!

In addition to starring in The Rocky Horror Show in L.A., Jabara was featured in such films as Midnight Cowboy, The Lords of Flatbush, The Day of the Locust and Pasoliniës Medea. Jabara co-founded the Red Ribbon Project in 1991. He was credited with conceiving and distributing the first AIDS red ribbons. He died at age 44 in 1992.

KATE'S BACK AND BUSH HAS GOT HER

Kate Baldwin, an original cast member of Joshua Rosenblum's hit revue Bush is Bad: The Musical Cure for the Blue-State Blues, has re-joined the production at The Triad Theatre [158 West 72nd Street].

Returning to the show after a leave of absence to star in the San Francisco edition of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, she joins original cast members Neal Mayer and Michael McCoy, who's just returned to the company following three weeks in Pittsburgh with the national tour of Phantom of the Opera.

Baldwin's Broadway credits include The Full Monty, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Wonderful Town as well as City Center Encores! Babes in Arms, A Connecticut Yankee and Bloomer Girl. In addition to numerous regional credits, she was also featured in Symphony Space's Wall to Wall Sondheim.

Rosenblum, no novice to theater, has served as conductor and/or pianist for 14 Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, including Miss Saigon, The Music Man, Falsettos, Wonderful Town and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Bush is Bad, described as a cross between Forbidden Broadway and The Daily Show, features not only songs but also "scathing impersonations of the president and his gang of conspirators." It plays Thursday and Friday at 9 PM, with occasional Monday night shows. Check http://www.theatermania.com/ or call (212) 352-3101 for information. Tickets are $25 with a $12 minimum.

SPEAKING OF SONDHEIM

It was 12-hours that passed by as if it was a 90-minute, intermissionless show. There were more stars saluting Broadway's great composer on his 75th birthday than there are in the sky. Now a souvenir highlights CD of that historic, memorable event, Wall to Wall Stephen Sondheim, is available from Satelite Radio and Symphony Space [$20].

The one hour and 20 minute CD features 17 tracks, including "Losing My Mind," Tony-winner Donna Murphy; "Broadway Baby," Tony-winner Judy Kaye, "I'm In Love With A Boy," Emily Skinner; "Anyone Can Whistle," Michael Cerveris; "No One Is Alone," Chip Zien; "What More Do I Need," Liz Calloway; "Marry Me A Little," Gregg Edleman; and "The Miller's Son," Kate Baldwin. Other artists include Laura Benanti, Carollee Carmello, John Dossett, Danny Gurwin and Sheldon Harnick.

Broadway and Sondheim veteran Paul Gemignani [now Encores! musical director] conducts the American Theatre Orchestra on the overture and five additional tracks.

The booklet has a full-page photo of the Sondheim being congratulated by Angela Lansburg, George Hearn and Michael Cerveris and notes by Frank Rich and SS artistic director Isaiah Sheffer.

To order Wall to Wall Stephen Sondheim, call (212) 864-1414, X. 502 or go online at www.symphonyspace.org.

SPEAKING OF SYMPHONY SPACE

The acclaimed New York cultural arts center at Broadway and 95th Street, Symphony Space is presenting celebrated and award-winning film programmer Fabiano Canosa in a multi-part journey through cinema history, Cinema 360∞.

Canosa terms the series, "A sweeping, unabashedly opinionated, charmingly personal, eclectic, romp through the international world of film."

Remaining programs run Saturdays through May 20 from 11 A.M. to 1 P.M. Content include acknowledged and unsung cinema masterpieces around such themes as "The Silent World," "Surreal Avant-Garde," "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talkin' - Hollywood Studios" and "The Hollywood Ten."

The next two programs should be exciting, insightful and fascinating to any cinema bufff.

On April 18, "The Magnificent Nine" will spotlight Renoir, Godard, Rossellini. BuÒuel, Ford, Welles, Hitchcock, Mizoguchi and Fassbinder.

On April 15, "The Waves and the Italian Case" covers Italian, Russian, French "waves" and neo-realism with focus on Truffant, Bertolucci and, among others, Italian Western pioneer Leone.

The series takes place in the intimate Thalia Studio. You can book as many programs, on a space available basis, as you wish for $25 each. Call (212) 864-5400 for multiple program pricing. For more information, go to www.symphonyspace.org.

If you attend Cinema 360∞ or other SS programming, such as the center's always-interesting art house classics in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre, check out the excellent brunch, sandwiches and soups and snacks offered at extremely modest prices in the Thalia Cafe by Giardino. If you have a sweet tooth, the pies are to die for, but this is one spot where you can leave home without it: cash only.
--------

Posted by Ellis Nassour at 12:01 AM | Permalink