'Dirty Blonde': Watching a New Mae West Try On That Sashay by Ben Brantley

Lessons of the Season #5 by Ken Mandelbaum

Carmen Jones is Comin' by Peter Filichia

On this date in 1784, Benjamin Franklin provided the basis for a joke in 1776. On this date in 1988, The Phantom of the Opera opened at Broadway's Majestic Theater.

Behind the Scenes at Ovations!

Behind the Scenes at Ovations!
A backstage diary (with photos) for next week's concert production of "Promises, Promises" with George Hearn and Jason Graae in Chicago.
The best thing about show websites are the production diaries.

Fynsworth Alley

Your fabulous interviewer is back with another piece for Fynsworth Alley - I spoke with Philip Bosco last week about his trip to Copenhagen. Check it out.

Archive Import - Comment

I'd forgotten James was attending the performance as well. We should have met up there! Maybe next time. I thought of a couple of more things I wanted to add. First, James's analysis of Reba is quite on the target. Reba is more than an acceptable replacement--someone who can act, sing, do comedy, and even dance when necessary. It's so nice to see that in a replacement star. Also, I feel I need to vent a bit. No matter who is onstage, and no matter how much you may want to, it simply isn't appropriate to take flash pictures during the show. It is, perhaps, understandable that there was a lot of it at the curtain call, but there were a fair number of flashes during the show as well. It really is distracting and potentially dangerous to the performers, especially during dance numbers.

Archive Import - Comment

I too have just come back from the opening night of Reba Get Your Gun. I had not seen this production before � I�m not a big Bernadette fan and just didn�t get around to seeing it with Cheryl Ladd.

This show holds some very nice memories for me. When I was growing up in Lon Gisland, mom and dad used to squeeze us into the Valiant and head to Eisenhower Park to see the musical produced there each summer. We�d have a picnic on the lawn and then, as the sun set, we�d see a musical�.the same one several times each summer. (Did I mention they were free?) The summer of Annie Get Your Gun must have been a nice summer, weather-wise, because we saw this one many times.

So how is Reba? She�s very very good. She sings the part well, she�s very charming and has good comic timing. Brent Barrett is the new Frank Butler and he�s very good too. I especially liked �..Wonderful� and �Old Fashioned Wedding.� The production is nothing special but, like Matthew said, if you want to see this production, see it with Reba.

Today's helpful theater-going hint....please, ease up on the Jean Nat�.

Archive Import - Comment

I just returned from Reba McEntire's first performance in Annie Get Your Gun. Basically, if you like Reba generally, you'll like her in this. She mostly does very well, especially in the bolder and brassier numbers, such as "You Can't Get a Man With a Gun," or "The Sun in the Morning and the Moon at Night." If you have interest in seeing the show, now would probably be a good time.

Archive Import - Comment

Regarding the blind e-mail below... Well, I'm sure everyone who has seen Rosie's appearance in The Seussical will have very strong feelings about that! I know I do!

Archive Import - Comment

Blind email received:
Fran and Barry took Rosie for dinner last night at Ruby Foo's restuarant in Times Square. They talked business, including having Rosie return to Suessical from early March through the Tonys. She is taking at least two weeks off from the show, in part to go to Florida with her TV show. She would NOT be a permanent replacement, though, and another star (i.e. not Herr Shiner) would take over for at least the summer. Plus, in all likelihood, she will reduce to 5 perfs a week. Not a bad gig, is it, Bryan Batt?

Maury Yeston's Next Musical: DEATH TAKES A HOLIDAY

"It's a beautiful love story," Yeston told Theatre.com, "about everything you wouldn�t expect from a story having that title: Love, life, romance and dreams. It's a story about life, and how wonderful life is."
Sounds very sweet : )

Original Oklahoma! Star Comes Out of Our Dreams and Into Follies by Michael Buckley

As if we needed another reason to see Follies!

Work Delayed on New Times Square TKTS Booth

John Lithgow to star in Hamlisch's Broadway Sweet Smell of Success

Revising Stewart by Ken Mandelbaum

Neil Simon may have a new play on Broadway as early as next year, 45 Seconds From Broadway!

The setting - based on the Cafe Edison, The Characters - drawn from the real life theatre community. This sounds like a great comedy and a MUST see. Can you imagine the talk of just "who" those real life theatre people are?

45 Seconds From Broadway, May open in Fall!

Ricky Ian Gordon Album, Featuring Audra McDonald, Due in Stories Feb. 20

Nonesuch records has released albums by Audra McDonald, Adam Guettel, and now Ricky Ian Gordon (not to mention the great series of Gershwin recordings from the early 90s). So why has their website been in a holding pattern for the last nine months or so?

All That Chat! - Mack & Mabel theatre situation

Interesting analysis of this mini booking jam here... I'm sure everyone has their own opinions about this particular dilemma--I know I do. Here's some more food for thought.

Reba McIntire Gets Her Gun

Ben Vereen Joins Cast of "Fosse"
Big day for replacements today, I guess. Rosie's not the only one being brought in to beat winter box office blahs ;)

Not exactly newsworthy, but a great story....

"The Manhattan Ensemble Theater opens its doors in SoHo with a completely overhauled 140-seat house --created with the help of a $500,000 nest egg -- and plans to give the literary classics a new adaptation and airing onstage."

On Stage and Off

Hedda, Simon, and a baby

The Full Monty Gives Its All for Actors' Fund, Feb. 25