On Aug. 25, 1944, Paris was liberated by Allied forces after four years of Nazi occupation.
Ever since then, the French have been so appreciative.

Today's birthdays include: Leonard Bernstein, Sean Connery (the best Bond), Tom Skerritt and Tim Burton.

No Lock On 'Passion'
The interesting section in this article is more than half way down when Michael Riedel mentions that The Visit is going to London with Diana Rigg. It of course does not rule out a Broadway run... has Shirley taken a pass?

Treat Williams Offered Part in Roundabout's Follies

Oh, the Places You'll Go! Boston Tryout of Seussical Start Aug. 27
Which brings up the question: who was once Seussical-ized and is now Seussical-less?

Streisand Won't Be "Mame," But Is Still Producing TV Musical Version

PBS Sets 'Dinner' Date. B'way prod'n to be broadcasted live.

SCENE AND HEARD: Come Inside The Rhythm Club

An Added Intermission? by Peter Filichia

Whaddya BLIND?! Blindsided by ICM

Imperfect Theatregoing by Ken Mandelbaum

Exclusive: Rocky Horror Photo Shoot

Broadway Bound Rhythm Club Swings Into Sneak Peek

Sally Mayes to Star in Comic Tuner, Pete 'n' Keely, Off-Broadway in December

Three Sides of Frank Lloyd Wright Seen in World Preem, Work Song, in WI, Sept. 8

A Noise Within Sues Cal State LA's Luckman Theatre

New OB Musical at Minetta Lane Displays imPERFECT CHEMISTRY, Aug. 24
Well, although the buzz is mixed on this new off-Broadway musical, Roger Gindi and Peter Press are running the show with a good cast and great promotion. Check out their website. Can Amanda Watkins be everywhere? Recently it seems like she is. And also of mention, Fraver (Frank Verlizzo) designed imPerfect's logo. It seems as though Frank is freelancing now, but I am not sure. He has a website at www.Fraver.com.

Baldwin Bows Gotham Voices! Production will focus on script, performers, actor says.
Encores! (without the music!) for those who love plays.

While or Vile? by Peter Filichia

Unrelated, sort of... Is it me or has the news out of Theatre.com been thin for the past two weeks? Peter Filichia's column is the only thing that is fresh consistently. Any word from over there about the new owners/management since Toby is gone? Do tell.

If I saw one more promo of NBC's Titans with Yasmine Bleeth last night... well, I just had to go to their website to see what all the fuss was about. Much to my surprise, I saw that Broadway buddies John Barrowman and Jack Wagner are gainfully employed. I was worried that Jack would not work again after J&H. Afterall, all the other Jekyll's never worked again. And John, with the double play of CBS's Central Park West and Cameron's Putting It Together, I thought he would look for a career in film...

Read on Broadway.com:

"Kennedy Center Honors Broadway Veterans. Angela Lansbury and Mikhail Baryshnikov among honorees"

Hmmm.....

Rocky Leads Announced

Another Pyramid by Ken Mandelbaum

Preview III: When You Think About Seuss by Ken Mandelbaum

Only the Strong Survive at Julius Caesar by Peter Filichia

On Aug. 23, 1912, Gene Kelly, the American dancer and choreographer, was born. Following his death on Feb. 2, 1996, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit.)

Wildhorn's Three-Year Plan to Include Havana, Dracula and Romantics

Herman the Hermit by Peter Filichia

Revival Cast On 'Rocky' Road. Jett makes B'Way debut, Cavett to narrate.
Oh look, Variety is talking about RHS's casting that was called a "fantasy" by a production spokesperson. (7/27) That's how to be a good press rep: offend the people who give you hits.

The Rocky Horror Show tickets: $79.50.

B'way Feels Doldrums; 'Cats' Flexes Its Claws. 'Real Thing's' demise brings summer numbers down.

The article in Sunday's Access magazine about theatre websites seems to have taken its toll on Talkin' Broadway. The non-commercial theatre website best known for its "All That Chat" message board, was overwhelmed by traffic causing its wwwboard to crash. As luck would have it, the webmaster is on vacation until this weekend -- thereby leaving the most popular feature of this award winning website temporarily unavailable. (Did I mention that Talkin Broadway is a labor of love?) But you know those theatre people, the show must go on! So V.J., one of the founders of TB had the Chat page redirected to a smaller, chat forum. They will survive until Ann gets back. That's show biz!

Warner Bros. Finds Its Harry Potter. Daniel Radcliffe, an 11-year-old British boy, has been selected to play the title role in Warner Bros. Pictures' upcoming movie adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."

Napster's Effect on Sales Unclear

Commercial Shoot to Close 7th Avenue Aug. 21-22

Travis & Julia's Broadway Adventure
Rocky Horror Contest Winners

Soap Bubbles Over Eder

Theatermania.com's front page has undergone a redesign. Looks like the new editor is putting it together pretty well.

Do I hear Wedding Bells for Broadway's Matron Mama Morton? (Marcia Lewis, the Tony nominated actress, has been with "Chicago," the revival since November of 1996.)

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly...

imPerfect Chemistry - Another Reason To Be Scared For The Future Of The Musical Theatre

New Directions Celebrating Memorial Days at OOB's HomeGrown Aug. 21-Sept. 18

Nirvana Fails Again. "Good thing Broadway.com is here to give you the real scoop."
If I didn't see that quote with my own eyes, I never would have believed it. Liz Smith, who works for Broadway.com, broke the news about Rex Smith as Frank Butler. Meanwhile, Ken Mandelbaum said that David Hasselhoff was going to be Frank Butler. Just to note: they were both wrong... Now Broadway.com news leads with Patrick Cassidy is doing it and then says that Broadway.com is the place for scoops. What about those other two on the payroll? Aren't they The Insiders?

Cuccioli is King

Dance with the Devil

Broadway, Here I Come! by Peter Filichia

Note: I have received a few emails about websites that were down. The websites for Christiane Noll, Darrin Baker and A Christmas Survival Guide were unexpectedly down because the service provider who hosts those domains (mydomain.com) went down last week taking 300,000 sites with them. (Do you think their phone was ringing off the hook?) Nevertheless, they are now back.

Boston Globe: Cutting loose with Seuss. The stories of 'Cat in the Hat' and 'Horton Hears a Who' make a musical trip to Boston, then Broadway.

Today's sunday newspaper national magazine supplement ACCESS has a section on "theatre websites" where it rates the best ones. Guess what came in 2nd to last and last? Theatre.com and Broadway.com. Heading up the list is Theatermania and TalkinBroadway. Although BroadwayStars didn't even merit a rating, neither did Playbill Online, so I am not so slighted as I am in good company... If you would like to see the listing for yourself, click here.

Nathan Lane Makes A Scene

Downtown NYC's Ontological Rolls Up The Blueprint Series, Aug. 20

Hard Times for London Shows, As Five Depart in Two Weeks
Now I will have *nothing* to see next week!

Remembering Rocky Horror by Peter Filichia

Blind Item Received:

Isn't Mary Steenburgen cast in the first show at Atlantic Theater Company? And no one's reported it?

Mary Steenburgen, who won an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress with her portrayal of Lynda Dummar in "Melvin and Howard"), is a star of Stage and Screen. She is also married to that thespian Ted Danson. Anybody know if the Atlantic scored this talented actress for their show?

Followup: Mary Steenburgen will be starring in The Atlantic Theatre's show will be THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST by Tom Donaghy, directed by Neil Pepe. It also stars Eddie Cahill, Garret Dillahunt and Mary McCann. Perfs are 9/26-11/05. (Thanks to Bobster for the info!)

Robert Nederlander, Jr., Expected to Assume Presidency of Broadway Tonight

Will the Dancing Hitlers Please Wait in the Hall? Producers Now Casting

PHOTO CALL: Noll And Cuccioli Reunited at Her Cabaret Opening Aug. 15

Attend the Tale of Sweeney Todd by Peter Filichia

Bryan Batt's last performance in SNF
Hey look, a Batt will play a Cat!

Too HOT for Broadway? Sizzle in Scotland . . .

The young and hip producers at The Araca Group (Matthew Rego, Michael Rego, Hank Unger) along with Arielle Tepper (who is kinda hip in her own way) have made their way from Broadway into the movie business with their very first independent feature film 30 DAYS, written and directed by Aaron Harnick. The website (www.30daysthemovie.com) will go live in the next few days. (Right now the website is not up, but I am leaving the link so that you can visit it next week.) In case you are not up on who Arielle, Matthew, Michael and Hank are, here is a short credit list. Arielle: The Dead, Freak, De La Guarda's Villa Villa. Araca Group: The Laramie Project, Love, Janis, The Vagina Monologues, and The Wild Party (MTC). All of them under 35. (I think)

Reminders: "A Shakespearean Tribute To the Late Sir John Gielgud" on September 18, 2000. Scheduled to attend are Edward Albee, Brian Bedford, Zoe Caldwell, Ralph Fiennes, Anne Jackson, Christopher Plummer, Tony Randall, Maria Tucci, Eli Wallach, and others. For more information click here.

The Harbor Theatre is gearing up for their second Off-Broadway production "Order Up Watch TV" at the Grove Street Playhouse. Opening Night is on Friday, September 8th. For more information click here.

The real James2die4