Broadway Mothers by Peter Filichia

There is talk about the role of the Cat in the Hat (Seussical) casting... Forrest from Production Notes thinks it is Rodney Hicks. Over at Talkin Broadway, they think it is either David Shiner or Roger Bart. I personally am holding out for Brittney Spears.

Is Sally Murphy upset about the film clip of The Wild Party from the PBS section of the Tony Awards? Rumor has it that she was promised that it would not be used...

Mark S. Hoebee Named Associate Director at NJ's Paper Mill Playhouse
We like Mark. This is a good thing. The most important part of this article is that he reports directly to Angelo Del Rossi. Could this be the transition that Paper Mill needs to lead it into the 21st Century? Lets hope so.

Bomb-itty Drops June 18; Producer Roth Developing Tour to Follow
Seems like a smart plan. Bring it to the major cities and tour it to college towns. Perhaps a double bill to have son Jordan Roth follow with his DONKEY SHOW.

Paper Mill Pippin Performance Evacuated Due to Pyro-"Technical" Difficulty
Oops. I wasn't even near the place. (You burn down one house, they never let you forget.)

Isabelle Stevenson Undergoes Heart Surgery After Tony Night Collapse
I won't make the obligitory comments that some of the selections of the evening did this to her, or that if this year's Tony Awards didn't kill her, nothing can... I had no idea she is 84! I just want to wish Isabelle the best and hope this does not slow down the shoot schedule for her American Theatre Wing's "Working in the Theatre" Seminars.

By the way, I hear that Isabelle is in better health than Theatremania.com. I hope that both of them make a speedy recovery.

Brian Beacock Is Axl Rose in Musical White Trash June 9-10 at P.S. 122
First Sebastian Bach, and now Axl Rose (ok, it's not really Axl) what's next, Meatloaf?

Production Notes by Forrest

SAG Warns Agents About Blurb Scabs

Madonna Turns Down Vagina
Madonna Turns Down Vagina? Can we get a headline editor over to Broadway.com? This is a family website. (Besides, she would never turn it down.)

Say What? Soundbite city! Here are some of the night's most quotable moments.
Broadway.com has captured some of the best moments of this year's Tonys.

Producers Cancel National Tour of Selena Forever
Perhaps if Elian went out with the tour, the ticket sales would be better. Then he could stay in the US too. But then Equity would probably not let him do it. It's all very confusing.

Over heard in the elevator at Chelsea Studios:

"Legends can be so difficult. The director and producers like her [Faith Prince] for the role, but the damn creators [of BELLS ARE RINGING] don't think she is right for the role. I wanted to remind them that they wrote the role the way she did it"

Mandy and Toni Attendance. Some fans of Broadway's THE WILD PARTY feel as though Mandy and Toni should win the Audra MacDonald Attendance Award (AMAA). I don't know what the numbers are, but surely it is heightened awareness that puts the special spotlight on these two. From the anticipation of this show for months, them the New York Post article about Mandy storming out and missed performances by Toni for a movie commitment... it seems like a lot of people above the title were not there often.

RFI: A reader asked about a musical that played in Washington DC a little while ago called ELEANOR: AN AMERICAN LOVE STORY. Does anyone have any information about this production or creative team? If you do, please send it on this way by visiting our "contact us" page. Thanks.

BreakupGirl flashes out first five episodes. Lynn Harris and Chris Kalb, the creators of BreakupGirl.com, have launched their first online animated episodes. BreakupGirl.com was started as the first online love advice columnist and has now expanded to become part of the launch of Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Network. There is enough material on this website to make a really good musical. So all you writers out there looking for source, hop on over and get going.

Straight Jacket. Cool new website supporting a new show.

"Set in straight-laced 1950's Hollywood when Rock Hudson and Doris Day reigned as the King and Queen of filmdom, Straight-Jacket focuses on a leading man who marries a studio owner's secretary in order to conceal his sexual identity and retain his starring role in the upcoming film "Ben Hur." As they move hilariously through a world of Hollywood glamour, homophobia, and the red scare, the characters joust in a play for power, fame and their public reputation."

I wish I could tell you where the show is playing, but they have no theatre info on the site. You can buy tickets, but you won't know where to go to see it! Other than that, it is a really nice design. (Thanks Ann for the heads up!)

Avenue Q. Have you ever heard a muppet curse? There is something surreal and hysterical about it. You get to see that and a lot more with Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez's new musical TV project billed as "Children's Television for Twentysomethings".

Broadway.com is having a little item repeating problem. It seems as though their database is spitting out two of the same thing for news items when building the page. Do you think they are channeling Danny Kaye doing TWO BY TWO?

Here's a tidbit about this year's Tony Awards...
"Through a peculiar combination of circumstances, for the second time in Tony history the awards for best musical, score and book were split between three different shows." (Thanks to David L. Hobbs/ CastRecL for this bit of info.)

Tuner May Get Shot. Roundabout considers Sondheim's 'Assassins'.

Newsweek: Click Me, Kate. The Great White Way hits the World Wide Web.

Here is an interesting twist on theatre and technology. Writer William Mastrosimone has published his play "Bang Bang You're Dead" online and allows you to download and produce his show. Although this is far from being the first show to do this, the presentation is well thought out.

Philadelphia Inquirer: 12 Playwrights Collaborate on 'Stations of Desire' by Email

The Royal Couple of Broadway: Robert Whitehead and Zoe Caldwell by Kathy Henderson
This is a nice feature. But I was interested because former InTheater editor Kathy Henderson has resurfaced. She was at Broadway.com for a moment, way before their launch.

I had my doubts about the nature of Sebastian Bach taking over from Jack Wagner in Jekyll (he takes over next week). But since I visited Sebastian's website, all my fears have been assuaged. He will fit right in to Frank's little chamber musical...

Blind items and questions submitted, and answered...

Q: Why did the painted drop for the Kiss Me Kate number (at the Tonys) have the name of the FORD THEATRE on the wall?

A: Because that scene (Too Darn Hot) happens in the back of the Ford Theatre in Baltimore (thanks Jon!), according to the KMK script.

Another reader submitted:
George Wolfe... made theatre history... forget the flop "Kelly"... in a period of a year... As the producer / director his two flops combined lost MORE $$$ money that any other producer / director in the same time period... or even say with back to back shows.

And then we got this one:
Scott Rudin... had a good - bad season... He was NOT named in the same breath as the Shuberts... but he is a producer of "Ride Down Mt. Morgan"... he is also a producer of "The Wild Party" and he does have others...

But do you remember that Scott Rudin was one of the original producers of KISS ME KATE and pulled out to do THE WILD PARTY. Also, remember that the first Queenie was Vanessa Williams who pulled out to have a baby (I think it was a few weeks ago)

Paper Mill's Pippin Starts June 7, Featuring New Work By Schwartz
Rumor has it that this production is destined for a Broadway revival next season. Yeah, I know they say that about all the Paper Mill productions, but I really believe it this time. And this show marks Bobby Johanson's.... well, swan song...

H'W'D Clicks On Content
The wave of development and merging of the interactive medias may prove to be the long awaited bridge between Hollywood and Broadway. Or maybe I am reading too much into this.

Madonna: Into The Vagina? Rumors swirl of a possible guest slot for the superstar.
Does David Stone ever give up? NO! It is his destiny to kill Vargo.

A Girl Called Jo by Ken Mandelbaum
The history of LITTLE WOMEN. In case you could not sleep last night, this will surely do it for you.

Housing Speculations by Ken Mandelbaum
James Carpinello is leaving Fever? I guess that write-in campaign for the Tonys was the last straw.

Let the Sunshine In by Peter Filichia

Shut Out of Tonys, `The Wild Party' Is Over by Jesse McKinley
A board member from The Public Theatre threw his support behind Wolfe, saying that they do not expect George's status at The Public to change. If George Wolfe were in any other job, in the private or public sector, he would have been asked to resign, resigned voluntarily or been fired. If he was an independent commercial producer, he would be out of business. I will be very interested to see what The Public Theatre financial filing will look like this year. This is mismanagement at its worst.

Village Voice: BUBBLING UP: Kirsten Childs Joins the New Musical Elite

Village Voice: La Dolce Musto by Michael Musto

Cincinnati Post: Exploring the world of Cole Porter

LA Times: A Brand-New Life for Taper, Too. The developmental program of the Mark Taper Forum is back with a festival of productions.

Alex Cohen. I have not seen this reported by any of the typical journalists/press... maybe because they were in the press room and not in the house of RCMH the other night. The Tonys got off to an abrupt start as Jed Bernstein kind of walked on stage and said a few words. Jed said all the things that he is suppose to say as the President of The League. And then he said something else. He mentioned that this year we had a good number of people that passed away this year from our family. And he mentioned how important that Alex Cohen was to the theatre community and the Tony Awards in particular, and how Alex would get the Nederlanders and Shuberts together and make them shake hands. At this point, Jed asked everyone to look around at the people sitting near them and introduce themselves as we often see each other in the business, but never know each other's names. 6000 people at RCMH hesitated a New York Second and started to reach across the aisles and shake hands and exchange kind words. It was a real moment. Jed mentioned that he hoped this would be the beginning of a tradition.

The bottom line on the Tony Awards? Matthew Broderick knows: "It's fun when you win." (from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Note: people have emailed telling me that it is hard to read the italic comments on screen, so I have changed my comments to the purple color you see above. It is just that I want to differentiate my comments from those of exact quotes from headlines. Thanks for the feedback.

Tony Ratings Take a Dive “We were up against money, sex and sports,” a Tony spokesperson said.
Wasn't THE WILD PARTY (and in fact, all of Broadway) about money, sex and sports?

Tony Winners Mitchell and Headley Headline First You Dream Benefit June 12

Tony Award TV Ratings Down Again; Overnights Bested by Regis and B-Ball

Spring-Summer 2000 Broadway Season Schedule

Broadway B.O. Slips In Season’s First Week

Ratings Down for Tony Broadcast by Robert Viagas

Cheers for Tony Broadcast, Despite a Drop in the Ratings

Tony Looking Less Than Rosie to CBS.

Although television rating were down, I wonder what the web ratings were? Lets see some major hit reporting of the major websites like Tonys.org, Playbill and Broadway.com. The web traffic overwhelmed Talkin' Broadway prompting this message from their webmaster: "The Forum went into cardiac arrest during the flurry of Tonys posts." Talkin' Broadway averages 1 million hits per week. Not bad for a website produced by people who love theatre and have other jobs.

Tonys Up The Takes

'Contact' Hot Ticket on B'way. Three other shows get box office boost.

Tonys Tune Out New Music. Awards for revivals & recorded work show B'way settling for same old songs.

Tony Musings by Sean Patrick Flahaven

The 1999-2000 Season from A-to-Z by Peter Filichia

Why Must Tony = Broadway? The controversy over including Off-Broadway in the Tony Awards heats up, as usual.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: After the Tonys, Pittsburghers pop up at the parties

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: New CMU theater center is state of the art, sans soul

Heather's Kristin-effect. It has only been a day, but all the sudden everyone is developing a musical for Heather Headley. Not that she knows anything about these projects! I had three conversations about new projects where people are saying, "And we are going to give this to Heather..." Well, it is what I call the Kristin-effect, where the flurry of new projects are developed with the hope that a star is going to do the work rather than the writers. And besides, Heather said in front of millions of people that she is going to work for Disney forever. I think we can get that thrown out of court anyway under "temporary insanity".

Funniest thing I heard at the Tonys on the staircase on the way out: "Jesus Christ, he can't sing!"

I flipped through the Tony Playbill a few times and noticed some of the advertising. Noticeably absent: Theatre.com. I could have missed it... but I don't think I did. Noticeably present: new dot com companies geared toward the web such as The American Theatre Web and The Broadway Theatre Archive (in color, nonetheless!)

The winner of the BroadwayStars.com Tony Contest is: Julie Miller of NYC who got 17 of 21 correct answers! She wins a $20 Gift Certificate to Footlight Records and four tickets to the Off-Broadway show THE LARAMIE PROJECT.

More trouble for the Scottish Play? During the loadin of MACBETH yesterday, a truck took a nice chunk out of the Music Box marquee. You know those buildings, always jumping out in front of trucks. Did the producers hire Big Apple Tour drivers?

Note to tech people at the main websites:

Playbill: The top banner graphic is having loading problems.

Broadway.com read this. Although your investment in Akamai notwithstanding, something needs to be done.

Egan On Fast Track For Cardinal: Church Insiders
(And I thought Susan was on the Left Coast shooting a new television show.)

Both Tonys for Directing Go to Michael Blakemore
(This is the NYTimes wrapup)

NYTimes slide show of some of the winners.
(What is Bernard Gersten wearing?)

BACKSTAGE NOTES: TONY AWARDS

TONYS SEE DOUBLE

"Inside the auditorium, O'Donnell and Lane tossed off a seemingly endless series of jokes aimed at the notorious parsimoniousness of producers Barry and Fran Weissler. Finally, when the show came in a few minutes early, they let the public in on the joke (Fran who? they were surely asking in Peoria), cracking that the Weisslers were prepping road tours of the shows 'Guy and Doll,' 'Cat' and 'Grand Hotel 6.'"

Playbill's entire Tony Award Coverage (too many to list)

Kristin Chenoweth May Do Mack and Mabel at Reprise!
(Kristin's NBC show is rumored to be a mid-season replacement -- hopefully. She is also rumored to have signed a record deal.)

Tony Awards Offer Few Surprises. Biggest shocker was how many walked away empty-handed from The 54th Annual Tony Awards.

Who Had A Clear Crystal Ball ? Time to check up on the reporters.

Last Dance for The Wild Party? Sans Tonys, sans future?

THE INSIDER: Ken Mandelbaum. Bebe Reaching for the Gun?

Readers React to the 2000 Tony Awards by Robert Viagas

Tony Notebook

The New York Post stayed true to Broadway in its own fashion, by having a 200 word re-cap and out of focus picture. The front page is about a country western star stealing a horse. That is way more important than a $1 billion dollar industry in NYC.

In the Tony Press Room by Peter Filichia

The Tony Show - A Delicate Balance or Conduct Unbecoming?

Pittsburgh Post Gazette: A Tony view from backstage and the red carpet

Okay, now my take on it: good show, better than last year. But could it have been worse? I would have liked to see the plays featured a little more. Rosie sells in Iowa, and Iowa is where it is at. I have been saying all along that THE WILD PARTY does not sell in Iowa, and the presenters from those theatres voted in a block and told George Wolfe so. What does this mean for Broadway? It means that OKLAHOMA can go into the Virginia if it wants... I was more than a little annoyed that Elton John and Tim Rice skipped the show. Although I did not expect AIDA to do so well, perhaps this is the reason that they are not so well received by Broadway insiders. Obviously Tim has a long history with Broadway, but not to show at the Tony Awards when your show is up can do nothing but foster ill feelings among the people in the trenches. After all the mixed notices, it would have been a PR triumph to have Elton John, Tim Rice and Heather Headley in a photo op in the back stage press area. But maybe they don't care because it is Disney and it just does not matter: they do not have to work to keep a show open like other writers.

101 Productions, who is the GM for KATE, PARTY and PRICE, among others, must be the definition of mixed emotions this morning.

Stokes. Congrats. Finally. Now, where is your CD? Lets finish it up as we have been waiting for two years, at least. My way out on a limb prediction for next year: Kudisch in 'Millie'.

I know you are probably wondering what the results of the Tony Contest are... suffice to say that we have a SIX-WAY tie! I am going to send out an email this afternoon to those who are among the tied. The first one to respond to the email will win. I am waiting for this afternoon because so many people were out late last night, and we have at least one person who is from the left coast, who is three hours behind us. It was fun. We came in with about 2500 entries into the contest. And now I am selling your email addresses to Broadway.com. Just kidding.

Broadway: Devil or Angel for Nonprofit Theater? by Rocco Landesman
Yes, that says "Rocco Landesman".

T. Edward Hambleton: A Producer Who Made a Dream Come True by Robert Simonson
Yes, that says "Robert Simonson"! (from Playbill)

Letters
The letters are worth a read as Jed Bernstein and Roy Somlyo go at it with A. R. Gurney.

It Shares Custody, but PBS Gets the Tonys First

A Special Theatrical Event by Peter Filichia

Weekend Updates by Ken Mandelbaum

Attended the Talkin' Broadway Tony Party @ Don't Tell Mama yesterday. In between matinee and evening shows, Marcia Lewis, Bryan Batt, and Mamie Duncan Gibbs were there pressing the flesh and admiting their addiction to online news. Alison Frasier sang a few songs, including Hold On (Secret Garden) and Breaking Down (Falsettos). Cabaret personality, Tom Anderson also did a host of numbers for the packed house SRO crowd. The event was sponsored by the BroadwayArchive.com. Broadway Archive is releasing their first round of videotapes for sale, including the musical less than performed regularly, 'Working'. They gave away pretty cool mouse pads too.

My mind is clearer now. At last, all too well, I could see, what Mr. Brantley could see. Jesus Christ Superstar. The show could have been great. Glenn Carter was a mistake as Jesus. Sometimes the hair does not make the man. There has to be *somebody* in the United States who could sing and act better than this guy. Infact, there is probably somebody within 10 blocks of The Ford Center who can do both. On a different note, Paul Kandel (Herod), Kevin Gray (Pilate) and Tony Vincent (Judas) rock. In fact, Tony Vincent should have gotten a Tony nomination. That's how good he is. And a great ensemble. Unfortunately this show crumbles around a Jesus who can't carry it. Watching Glenn Carter makes me long for the days that Bobby Johanson cast himself as Jesus at Paper Mill...

Neeley Faces Murder in the First w/ Hagman, June 3-25 in L.A.
Ted Neeley NOT playing Jesus! What's next? Will Zolli cut his hair?

Little Women Finds a Big Home, Bway's Ambassador, Opening Nov. 15

Impossible Things Are Happening: Carroll Confirmed for Cinderella Tour
This is interesting because it is being produced by SFX and NETworks. I may be wrong, but I thought NETworks did non-Equity tours. With Dianne Carroll headlining and Gabe Barre directing, it can't be a non-Eq, could it?

JUN IS BUSTIN' OUT OF SHADOW
MOST Americans have heard her lilting voice - yet virtually none know her name. That's because, despite nearly a half-century as one of Broadway's busiest singers, Rose Marie Jun is just releasing her own first album.

Adam Responds! (A Broadway.com interview)

From justin: Do you have a dream role? What is it?

Adam responds:
Interesting. I want to be Russell Crowe! That’s my dream role. Not really… I always wanted to play Frankenfurter [in The Rocky Horror Show], but I don’t think I ever will. I have always been a huge fan of that musical. That’s really it. I’m sort of ignorant when it comes to musical theater roles. Oh well, there’s another one. This is sort of funny. I always had a desire to play Mark in Rent, to get to play all of that from another angle. I know I never will though. Hedwig, too. I actually auditioned for it at a point when Michael Cerveris was supposed to leave, but he decided to stay.

Hmmmm.... wants to play Frankenfurter...

Tony Predictions by Sean Patrick Flahaven

Tony Predictions
Broadway.com has compiled all of the predictions. This is pretty useful. Hopefully the page will load before the event tomorrow night,

EVAN, NOLL, TORO, McLEOD, and SANTORIELLO Star In A TALE OF TWO CITIES Concert

SAG strike getting non-Union support. I am getting a lot of email from SAG members telling me that they are getting widespread support from non-Union performers, while the SAG members themselves are being apathetic about the strike. Non-Union performers are working the picket lines and getting credit toward their SAG membership at the same time. If a performer accrues 80 hours on the picket line, they can get a SAG card. The producers are crowing that this is unfair and unethical. It is just fighting fire with fire in my opinion.

I was over reading Catherine's website (www.suck-my-big.org) and just about died laughing when she pointed out the New Yorker had an article titled 'The Fall of Judas' regarding the current JCS revival. Although it is not original, we have all heard about it before, it is still humorous.

T-minus 1 and counting...