Year-End Musings and Follow Ups

It's been an especially dramatic, event-filled year in the theater -- and in real life. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to revisit or address for the first time some of the most interesting people, shows, and occurrences of 2008.

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You Can't Buy Love, But You Can Buy Rent
Few people realize it, but we are on the verge of a revolution that may shake up the theater industry in a tremendously positive way. The digital "cinecast" of the Broadway production of Rent that was seen in movie theaters all over the country was a stunning artistic achievement, and I believe it also did well at the box office. In one fell swoop, it demonstrated a thrilling, new, relatively low-cost alternative method of preserving and showcasing Broadway musicals (and plays) that, for one reason or another, might not work well in traditional film adaptations. If this isn't enough of a watershed in itself, consider: To date, the number of Broadway productions that have been seen on television and/or made available on home video is extremely small, mostly because it has always been considered a daunting challenge for producers to come to financial terms with the theatrical unions. But the way has been cleared for the Rent cinecast to be released on DVD and Blu-Ray in February, and I predict it will sell well enough to firmly establish a major, heretofore untapped revenue stream for Broadway shows. I'm telling you, guys, this could be the start of something huge.

I'm Just Wild About Harry Potter
Some film and/or TV stars come to Broadway and disappoint us because their work is not up to snuff, they never really become part of the theater community, or they just can't hack the eight-performance-a-week schedule. (I guess we can list the name "Jeremy Piven" in that last category.) Then there are people like Daniel Radcliffe. A major movie star for his title role in the Harry Potter series, Radcliffe has been duly praised for his performance as Alan Strang in Equus As far as I know, he hasn't yet missed a single show. (If he had, I think we all would have heard about it.) On top of all this, Radcliffe's tireless efforts during the recent Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraising campaign -- particularly his auctioning of several pairs of jeans he wore in the show -- helped the company of Equus raise more than $200,000 for that essential organization. The show is scheduled to run through February 8, and whenever Daniel Radcliffe chooses to return to The Street thereafter, he will be welcomed back with wide open arms.

Everything's Coming Up Karma
When the current Broadway revival of Gypsy opened in March, it had the air of a hit -- and indeed, Patti LuPone and her co-stars, Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines, all went on to receive Tony Awards for their efforts. But a certain cockiness pervading the production was evidenced by the appearance in the souvenir program of an article that regurgitates derogatory remarks made by the show's book writer, Arthur Laurents, and lyricist, Stephen Sondheim, about the star of the original production: the iconic Ethel Merman. Gypsy has recently been playing to one-third-full houses on occasion; the producers have announced that the show will close in January, less than a year after it opened; and the souvenir program, which had been selling for $10, may now be had for $5. "The economy," you say? I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. But maybe it's also the Theater Universe taking revenge on behalf of a wronged Merman.

Comedy is King!
It's great to experience a well-written drama, tearjerker, or thriller in a live theatrical situation. But I maintain that nothing is quite so exciting as the amazing sound and sensation of hundreds of people in the same room helplessly laughing their heads off at a great comedy. For those who agree with me, Boeing-Boeing is nirvana. Cheers to Mark Rylance and the rest of the company of this hilarious revival for reminding us that, in terms of feedback between actors and audience, Comedy is King. Cheers also to Shrek, Xanadu, and other laugh-filled shows for the same reason.

The Ballet Boy and the Vampire
With a score by Elton John, Billy Elliot opened in London in 2005 to well-deserved critical hosannas. That the show would eventually make it to New York was pretty much a foregone conclusion. In 2006, Lestat -- also with a score by Elton John -- bowed on Broadway to blood-curdling notices and was gone in little more than a month. Given that the show had been roundly panned during its tryout run in San Francisco, and given that the composer of The Lion King knew he most likely had another big Broadway hit in the pipeline with B.E, why do you imagine he allowed Lestat to come into town? Your guess is as good as mine.

Limits to Loyalty
Manhattan Theatre Club had a huge hit with John Patrick Shanley's Doubt a few seasons back. This year, the company gave us Romantic Poetry, a musical co-written by Shanley. The show received some of the worst reviews in recent memory, with several critics finding it so insufferable that they wondered openly how it could ever have been produced. Meanwhile, Craig Lucas's Prayer for My Enemy is baffling audiences at Playwrights Horizons, which previously presented Lucas's far superior Three Postcards and Small Tragedy. These are only two recent examples of how an understandable desire to continue a relationship with a talented artist -- and a sense of obligation? -- can sometimes result in the production of a play that does credit to no one. Lesson to be learned by not-for-profit theaters and commercial producers: When your favorite established writers come up with plays that don't deserve to be staged on their merits alone, take a pass and give those slots in your schedule to worthy works by newcomers. I'm pretty sure they're out there.

The Casting's the Thing
Horton Foote's Dividing the Estate has its nice moments, but in my opinion, the piece is marred by its contrivances, clichés, and repetitions. (In one variation or another, the title phrase is repeated what seems like 50 times during the course of the action.) So, how does one explain the overwhelmingly positive reviews that greeted the current production? I say it's largely due to the stellar work of Elizabeth Ashley, Hallie Foote, Penny Fuller, Devon Abner, Arthur French, Gerald McRaney, and the rest of the cast. Not even the finest actors can completely mask major flaws in a script; but they can make those flaws far less obvious -- and that's exactly what happened here.

I'm Gonna Buy a Paper Mill That I Can Call My Own
For decades, the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey has been one of the most impressive regional theaters in the Greater New York area, regularly mounting shows that rival Broadway in terms of star power and production values. The theater has recently fallen prey to financial woes that threatened to close it forever. So, what happened? The powers that be in Millburn, realizing that Paper Mill's presence is of enormous value to the town both culturally and financially, made the bold but wise decision that the township itself should purchase the theater and keep it running. Coming up at Paper Mill: The Importance of Being Earnest (starring Lynn Redgrave, Jeffrey Carlson, and Wayne Wilcox), Master Class, 1776, and The Full Monty. See you in Jersey!

Unkind Cuts
I like to think I'm pretty savvy about most aspects of the theater industry, but it wasn't until this year that I learned about "the cut list" from a Broadway musician who was only too happy to fill me in. Here's my understanding of how it works: If a Broadway musical opens with more musicians in its orchestra than the minimum number required to be employed in that particular theater, the producers can submit a list of musicians or "chairs" that it may choose to cut during the production's run. As long as the number of players doesn't go below the minimum, these chairs can be eliminated at the producers' discretion. Of course, such cuts don't receive any publicity except in rare cases like Young Frankenstein, which made the news last summer for reducing its actors' salaries and downsizing its orchestra in order to trim running costs. But do people who are now attending Gypsy realize that they're getting four fewer violins in that show's onstage, sometimes visible orchestra than were there when the show opened? I doubt it -- but the cuts seem especially galling in this case, since much of the justification for the show's minimal sets was the fact that the orchestra was (initially) so large.

The Winner Takes It All?
The enormous, inconceivable financial success of the film version of Mamma Mia!, on top of the worldwide phenomenon of the stage version, proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the market for schlock masquerading as musical theater is limitless. As I've said before: There's nothing inherently wrong with the concept of jukebox musicals if they're done well, but when they're created with such witlessness as MM!, they denigrate a beloved art form. The saddest thing about the whole affair is that through-the-roof box office receipts for the stage and film versions of this atrocity guarantee more of the same. Thank heaven we have real musicals like In the Heights, Passing Strange, and Spring Awakening to slow if not stop the insanity.

Screen to Stage
Several people whom I respect greatly have stated flat out, either verbally or in print, that "Movies Make Bad Stage Musicals." All you have to do is think of Singin' in the Rain, Meet Me In St. Louis, Mary Poppins, and a host of other disappointments and disasters to find strong support for that argument. But the trouble with such blanket statements is that even a few notable exceptions give the lie to the general rule. Certainly, The Producers and Hairspray are among the best musicals of recent years, and they of course were adapted directly from films. If one insists on making a generalization, perhaps it should be that "Movie Musicals Make Bad Stage Musicals." But don't be surprised if a show eventually comes along to break that rule as well. When all is said and done, doesn't it really come down to the quality of the execution?

What Price Premium Tickets?
I continue to hold the unpopular opinion that selling premium-priced tickets to hit shows is not a bad idea in theory. After all, if people are willing to pay through the nose to get the best seats to mega-hits on short notice, why shouldn't that money go to producers rather than scalpers? But the practice has been abused in that some shows (1) have set the premium price way too high, and/or (2) have held far too many prime seats in reserve to sell at premium, resulting in an unfortunate situation where good folks who buy tix way in advance end up sitting on the sidelines or in the rear. One silver lining of the current economic black cloud is that the market for premium tickets has been greatly reduced, thereby giving your average, non-millionaire theater lover better access to excellent seats.

Have Yourself a Very Barbra Christmas

Over the course of her career, Barbra Streisand has made some very odd choices of songs to record, from "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?" to "Guava Jelly." That said, the diva's first Christmas album -- released some 40 years ago -- still ranks as the strangest item in her discography. Sure, she sounds at home in such secular numbers as Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song," and her custom-tailored version of "Jingle Bells" is lots of fun. But hearing one of the world's most famous Jewish women sing about Jesus Christ and/or the Virgin Mary in "Silent Night," "Ave Maria," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and other religious songs remains a deeply weird experience.

So, which if any of these items has the ace Streisand impersonator Steven Brinberg programmed for A Simply Barbra Holiday Spectacular, the benefit concert for the Ali Forney Center that's set to unfold at Symphony Space on Saturday, December 20 at 8pm? "Well," he says, "I won't be doing any of the religious songs, mainly because I'm not that fond of them. But I'll be doing 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' and 'The Christmas Song.' There's also a pretty obscure Patti Labelle song called 'I'm Christmasing With You.' I include 'I Don't Believe in Christmas' as a sort of poisoned Christmas card to one of Barbra's exes, Don Johnson. And I'll be doing 'Another Winter in a Summer Town from Grey Gardens."

Brinberg's guest stars for the concert will also dip deeply into the holiday music repertoire: "I think Tituss Burgess is going to sing 'Christmastime Is Here' from A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Julie Wilson will be doing a funny holiday song." As a nod to the New Year, Brinberg/Barbra will duet with Will Taylor -- who has appeared on Broadway in the revivals of A Chorus Line and La Cage aux Folles -- in "The Perfect Year" from Sunset Boulevard. Last but not least, The Broadway Boys, justly billed as "a collection of the hottest male voices currently working on the New York stage," will sing 'Silent Night' and other season-appropriate songs.

If you attend this special event and notice that Brinberg's Barbra seems recharged, it may be due to the fact that he recently had a rare personal encounter with the icon. "Barbra was in the audience at August: Osage County when I went back to see it last week," he relates. "I'm not sure why she chose that particular show to see while she was in town. Maybe she wants to direct the movie, or maybe she wanted to marvel at her former co-star, 81-year-old Estelle Parsons, running up and down those stairs. Barbra looked great -- much thinner than in some recent photos -- and she seemed really friendly when she was talking about the play with the house manager afterwards. It's always a thrill to be in the same room with her."

For more information on A Simply Barbra Holiday Spectacular, click here.

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Smell Him!

People love bad musicals -- and I'm not talking about the shows that run for years. I mean the epic flops that tend to attract camp cult worshipers in direct proportion to how awful they are: Whoop-Up, Carrie, The Dance of the Vampires, and so on ad infinitum.

What's That Smell? The Music of Jacob Sterling is a witty Off-Broadway show about the oeuvre of the fictional, titular composer-lyricist, whose reach far exceeds his grasp. During the proceedings, we're treated to several samples of Jacob's output, one more frightening than the next.

When the opportunity came for me to interview the show's co-star and co-author, David Pittu, I initially thought it would be fun to talk to him in the guise of his character, the clueless Sterling. But then I realized -- that's exactly what the show is. So I addressed him as himself in our discussion of bad musicals, and I started by asking him what exactly makes Sterling so pathetic.

"I guess it's the sense of desperation that clings to him," Pittu answers after a moment's reflection. "That plus his lack of awareness of what the world really needs, as opposed to what he thinks it needs. Jacob is working for an audience that may or may not exist. He sifts through all the clichés -- what it means to be in love, to live in New York, to be Jewish -- and he still insists on writing about them. They've been done to death, but he just has to put his stamp on them.

"Jacob is not intelligent in the way of a true artist, but I think his type of writer is a lot more common than we want to admit. Look at Broadway today. The same emotions get sung in each new musical, to the point where the audience checks out and they just watch the color and movement. Nothing is really being said."

In What's That Smell?, we get to hear a number from a show that Jacob has written about 9/11. Of course, it's appalling. But would it be possible even for a genius like Stephen Sondheim to write a worthy musical about that unforgettable day? "I think the question is why you would want to do it," Pittu responds. "Unless you have a particular story to tell, why make the attempt? You can make a musical about anything, but if the story is a true tragedy, it might be better suited to opera. Jacob's mistake is that he co-opts a major world event and tries to interpret it for the masses. I find that endearing on one level, but also rather cringey."

What's does Pittu consider to be the recipe for a really bad musical?. "Some of the worst ideas are when people take something like Gone With the Wind, which is perfect as it is, and try to adapt it as a musical. Why set yourself up for failure? I loved the movie 9 to Five when I was a kid, but I don't want to hear those characters sing. I think there's a place for something like Xanadu, but not necessarily on Broadway. Put it in a cabaret! I'm reminded of Pauline Kael's famous piece about trash art in the movies. You have to have lowbrow entertainment, but when everything goes in that direction, there's a terrible imbalance."

Art often imitates life, even in the case of intentionally bad art. Says Pittu: "Since I started writing this show in 2003, I've had to take out some of the material about Jacob's bad musicals, because they became real. For example: Fight Club: The Musical, and Jacob's show about Princess Diana. I would Google these things and, sure enough, I'd find that they were actually in development. Recently, there was an announcement of American Psycho: The Musical. My first thought was, 'I can't believe this isn't a Jacob Sterling show!'"

Jacob may be a mess, but Pittu feels that playing him has its compensations: "The best thing is when people come up to me after the show and say, 'Thank you so much. This world is insane, and you made me feel sane again.' That's very heartening to me."

The Robe Must Go On!

The 20th annual Gypsy of the Year competition, which raised an amazing $3,061,14 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, was held at the New Amsterdam Theatrer -- and we've got the pics to prove it!

The opening number was a colorful tribute to one of Broadway's most beloved traditions, The Gypsy Robe.

Tyne Daly and Jonathan Hadary, who hosted the initial Gypsy of the Year event 20 years ago, returned to host this one. They were helped in their duties by the indefatigable Broadway maven Seth Rudetsky.

Our good friend Sarah Palin made an appearance at the event, courtesy of the company of Grease.

The cast of The Little Mermaid did a presentation titled "Key West Side Story."

Frankie James Grande of Mamma Mia! played Daniel Radcliffe in an Equus spoof.

The company of The Lion King always offers a beautiful performance at Gypsy of the Year, and this year was no exception; their dance won the afternoon's presentation award.

The gang from Spamalot offered an anthem of hope in this era of the new depression.

"The Day Goes By," a gorgeous song that was cut from In the Heights, was sung and danced by members of that show's cast.

The real Daniel Radcliffe turned up and did a number with the Equus horses.

The kids from 13 told us that, if you want to be on Broadway these days, you've got to be under 18.

Urinetown's Officer Lockstock and Little Sally made their much-looked-forward-to annual appearance. Their targets this year included Christian Hoff, the economy, and Rosie O'Donnell's TV variety show.

Past and present members of the company of Hairspray raised the roof with one of the best songs from that show, "I Know Where I've Been."

The cast of [title of show] offered an alternately hilarious and moving presentation about their first theater experiences.

Harvey Fierstein, John Lithgow, and Christine Baranski announced the winners of the competition. Equus took the prize in the fundraising category, having raised more than $200,000!

Jonathan Groff Moves Upstate

Jonathan Groff's fans must be bummed that their boy will not be transferring to Broadway with the Public Theater production of Hair, in which he so memorably played Claude this summer at the Delacorte in Central Park. But they can take comfort in the fact that J.G., who gained a loyal following (and a Tony Award nomination) for his beautiful performance as Melchior in Spring Awakening, is now co-starring in Craig Lucas's Prayer For My Enemy at Playwrights Horizons, under the direction of Bartlett Sher.

More in store: Come August, Jonathan will make his film debut with the release of Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock. His role therein? Michael Lang, one of the real-life architects of the 1969 music festival that changed the world. I recently chatted with him about these endeavors and asked him why, by his own choice, he is now disin-Hair-ited.

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BROADWAYSTARS.COM: From the blurb in the press release, it seems that Prayer for My Enemy is difficult to describe in brief. Will you take a shot at it?

JONATHAN GROFF: [pauses] What can I tell you without giving too much away? It's about a family living in upstate New York with an alcoholic father. It's about forgiveness. The characters are so complex and multi-dimensional that our rehearsals were almost like acting classes. The way Craig has written the play, there are so many layers and you can go in so many different directions. I hope it's as exciting to watch as it is to perform.

STARS: I understand that the script contains asides, in the style of Strange Interlude.

JG: Yes. At various moments, a character will break out of a scene and speak his inner thoughts, then jump back into the scene. But the play is not so abstract that the audience will be thinking, "What's going on?" It's definitely followable, though you do have to pay attention. It's eccentric and surprising.

STARS: How did you become involved with this project?

JG: Bart asked me to do a reading about nine months ago. After that, it was a no-brainer; I was begging him to be a part of it. The writing is so great, and to be in a room with Craig is an incredible experience. Then there's Bart. He's amazingly talented and has great ideas, yet he doesn't operate from an ego place. He sees himself as an interpreter. Some directors have personal faults you can excuse because they're so talented, but you don't need to do that with Bart. He's this impossible combination of everything wonderful.

STARS: There has been some speculation as to why you're not going to Broadway with Hair, especially since you don't yet have another project lined up.

JG: It was a really hard choice, because I completely fell in love with everybody in that company, and I believed so much in the show coming to Broadway. But I had been working on Claude for almost a year, since those first few concert performances in the park last summer. I didn't want to do the show on Broadway unless I could commit to it totally, and I didn't feel I could do that because I wanted to leave myself open to new parts and continue to evolve as a performer.

STARS: It would have been a nice combo with Taking Woodstock, since they're both about the counterculture movement of the late '60s. Tell me about the film.

JG: I'd never done a movie before, and I couldn't have asked for a better first experience. Ang Lee held my hand through the whole thing and showed me the ropes. We had a lot of rehearsal time before we started shooting, which was great. There was a real Woodstock vibe on the set; it was very easygoing and laid back, definitely not high-stress, as I hear a film shoot can be. Michael Lang is still alive today, and I got to spend some time with him and his family at their house in Woodstock. That was so freakin' cool.

STARS: Are you looking forward to seeing yourself on the big screen for the first time?

JG: Yes. You know, Phoebe Strole and Skylar Astin [from the cast of Spring Awakening] were in Hamlet 2, and Jonny B. Wright was in Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. I saw both of those movies twice. I was beaming with pride.

STARS: What are your goals for the near future?

JG: I have career A.D.D. It broke my heart to leave Hair early to do the movie. That was devastating. But when I was working on the movie, I loved it so much that I never wanted to leave the set at the end of the day. Now I'm obsessed with this play and I don't want to leave Bart Sher. But I'm always looking for the next challenge, something that's going to help me grow. I'm 23 and I didn't go to college, so I feel I still have a lot of learning to do.

STARS: Wow. I figured you must be a few years older than that by now. Are you really only 23?

JG: Yup!

STARS: Well, congratulations for having already achieved so much at such a young age, and for remaining grounded and focused despite the whirlwind.

JG: I just love acting more than anything extra, like being in magazines or on TV. Do you know what I mean? I love performing and working on projects. That's all I want to do.

[For more on Prayer for My Enemy, visit www.playwrightshorizons.org]

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