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Saturday, October 27, 2001 On this date in 1904, the first rapid transit subway opened in New York City. Today's birthdays include Nanette Fabray, Ruby Dee, John Cleese, Robert Benigni, Robert Picardo, and Theodore Roosevelt. In Scalping, Fighting Fire With Fire by Robin Pogrebin and Jesse McKinley The producers of "The Producers" defended their new ticket prices as an attack on scalpers, but the reviews of the plan were mixed. Run for Cover! by Michael Riedel In yet another sign that Broadway seems bent on pricing itself beyond the reach of all but the richest theatergoers, the producers of "The Producers" yesterday said they were jacking up their top ticket price to $480. Same Bucks, More Bang by Donald Lyons You can see a lot of theater for the price of a VIP ticket to "The Producers." A whole week's worth, in fact - both on and off Broadway. Theater Review | 'Proof': Equation Changes, Sum's the Same by Bruce Weber Jennifer Jason Leigh is the name-brand addition to the "Proof" cast, an inspired choice to follow Mary-Louise Parker in the central role of Catherine. DVDs: Hello Gorgeous by Ken Mandelbaum posted at 10/27/2001 07:48:45 AM by Matthew Murray | Item Link Friday, October 26, 2001 Okay, lets step back an analyze what is happening here. At current ticket prices, The Producer max gross is just over $1 million a week. With the increase of the select ticket prices, here is the math: 50 tickets per show x $300 (the increase above the normal $100/per, not including $80 commission) x 8 (shows per week) = $120,000 in possible additional gross per week. $120K per week is Much Ado About Nothing. The revenue to "the people who created the show" works out to a SHARED $14,400/sold out week between the creators. (Writers generally get 6% gross, various other percentages are given out for directors, stars, designers, etc... usually not to exceed 12%) So, what happens to the other approximately $105,600? It goes to the investors. I think that investors deserve whatever they can make on a Broadway show. But to mask it in a statement that is suppose to protect creatives, is amusing. If the theatre owners/producers want to really address scalping, go to the source, don't raise prices. Where the hell are the scalpers getting the tickets? You better start looking inward first before you make such self righteous statements and policy changes. Scalpers get their tickets from the same source. They buy them from the producers. LAWSUIT KOS NEW MUSICAL By MICHAEL RIEDEL LINCOLN Center Theater has pulled a promising new musical from its spring lineup because the writer's ex-wife has threatened legal action.Jason Robert Brown's "The Last Five Years," based loosely upon his short-lived marriage to Theresa O'Neill, is about an ambitious Jewish writer who weds a nice Irish-Catholic actress. Their marriage unravels when his career takes off and hers does not. I keep hearing that the delay has very little to do with JRB's ex. Photo Op: THOU SHALT NOT Opening - PHOTOS BY BROADWAY.COM Field Trip: A New Orleans Opening - THOU SHALT NOT (Video Feature) THOU SHALT NOT Faces the Critics Producers To Offer $480 Tickets As Max Bialystock says, "Wow-WOW-wow-wow." Bway's Producers Raises 50 Top Tickets to $480 Each posted at 10/26/2001 01:20:10 PM by James Marino | Item Link How Were the Reviews?: Thou Shalt Not on Broadway Theater Review | 'Thou Shalt Not': One Flew Over the Cuckold's Nest by Ben Brantley Two big talents, choreographer Susan Stroman and composer Harry Connick Jr., have produced a limp and lugubrious musical. When Cousins Marry by Ken Mandelbaum 'THOU' SHOULDN'T HAVE by Clive Barnes 'Thou Shalt Not' Write A Harry Connick Musical by Howard Kissel For the Asking, $480 a Seat for 'The Producers' by Jesse McKinley In an effort to cut into the market of scalpers, the producers of "The Producers" will set aside seats every show and charge an unprecedented $480 a ticket. Is any show, even The Producers, worth $480 a ticket? Take it away, James. Busy Esparza Starts Latest Job: Emcee Role in Bway's Cabaret, Oct. 26 posted at 10/26/2001 05:44:52 AM by Matthew Murray | Item Link Thursday, October 25, 2001 Brown's Last Five Years Removed From Lincoln Center Theater Schedule posted at 10/25/2001 04:41:52 PM by Matthew Murray | Item Link Latifah heads to 'Chicago' M'max rounding out cast of bigscreen version of B'Way play Queen Latifah will join the cast of "Chicago," the film version of the Broadway musical alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere and Renee Zellweger. Latifah will play matron Mama Morton. 'Summer' days at Variety Arts 'Madness' set to close on Oct. 28 Stroman/Connick Thou Shalt Not Opens on Broadway Oct. 25 Susan Stroman directed the musical version of "Therese Raquin" with a score by Harry Connick Jr. Downtown Theatre Artists Rise From the Ashes, Oct. 25-29 A monthlong memorial event for the survivors and victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attacks takes place at C.U.A.N.D.O., a community arts building that is itself in danger of demolition. Lauren Kennedy To Star in Trevor Nunn's London South Pacific She'll play Nellie Forbush in the Royal National Theatre production, starting previews Dec. 3 Topdog/Underdog Playwright Suzan-Lori Parks Wins MacArthur "Genius" Grant Don Cheadle (Traffic) and Jeffrey Wright (Basquiat) will star in the Broadway production of Topdog/Underdog. Nyack's Helen Hayes Debuts Rupert Holmes' New Thriller Thumbs, March 9 Thumbs is the latest work from the author of the Tony-winning musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Steppenwolf Grants Absolution, Oct. 25 Ensemble member Martha Plimpton makes directorial debut Goodspeed Is Next Stop for Walter Bobbie's Road To Hollywood Musical Developed at the O'Neill Center this past summer, the musical is headed up the Connecticut River, possibly en route to Broadway Modern Chinese Opera Floating Box Charts Chinatown Tale, Oct. 25 Floating Box's score draws from jazz, blues, rock, samba, Chinese opera, Gregorian chants and showtunes Cats Fight Brewing in Boston A battle is brewing over what Boston venue will get the Cats tour. The Wang Center for the Performing Arts, which is scheduled to present Cats at the Shubert Theatre in January, filed ch...[Read More] Broadway Biz Picks Up; Producers Return Funds Broadway producers are giving back some or all of the money they saved during these weeks of concessions. Accordin...[Read More] Summer of '42 Set for Variety Arts Theater After weeks of speculation (which Ken Mandelbaum reported on October 8), Summer of '42 is set to open at off-...[Read More] George C. White Honored at O�Neill Center Benefit, Oct. 29 Glover and Woodard to Star in Fugard�s Sorrows at Second Stage, Jan. 15 Foote to Receive 'Michaela O'Harra Award' from New Dramatists, Nov. 5 Los Angeles Hears of Holocaust Haven in New Musical Oct. 25-Nov. 20 Oct. 29-30 Columbia Panel Looks at New York Theatre Since the Attack Frank Rich to Appear on "Politically Incorrect," Oct. 30 Roach Clipped: OB's Reefer Madness Ends Oct. 28 Spalding Gray Goes Back to Swimming to Cambodia, Nov. 14-Dec. 12 OOB Town Hall Has Four "By the Year" Musical Theatre Cabaret Concerts in 2002 No Strings: Playwright Parks Proves Topdog for MacArthur Fellowship Long Wharf Has Gone Native With Drukman Reading Oct. 29 Goodspeed Expects DiPietro's Babes, a Baker's Wife and New Bobbie Project in 2002 De-Lovely: Red, Hot and Blue Plays NJ's Paper Mill Oct. 24-Dec. 2 Musical Summer of `42 Due at OB's Variety Arts, Dec. 11 Smoke Signals: Is OB's Reefer Madness Closing Oct. 28? posted at 10/25/2001 06:10:19 AM by James Marino | Item Link Wednesday, October 24, 2001 The Boston Globe: Wang sues over 'Cats' production
posted at 10/24/2001 12:11:26 PM by James Marino | Item Link Reefer Madness to Close October 28 Reefer Madness, the campy off-Broadway musical based on the 1936 "scare film" of the same name, will play is final performance this Sunday, October 28, a box office representative confirmed to...[Read More] Broadway Grosses: Ibsen, Strindberg & ABBA With 25 shows now on the boards, Broadway box offices are going strong. As usual, serious dramas are a harder sell than feel-good musicals. The season�s two new revivals, Hedda Gabler and Da...[Read More] Sherie Rene Scott Inks Deal with NBC Broadway favorite Sherie Rene Scott has just inked a development deal with NBC. �I basically want the opportunity to...[Read More] Goodspeed Is Next Stop for Walter Bobbie's Road To Hollywood Musical Developed at the O'Neill Center this past summer, the musical is headed up the Connecticut River, possibly en route to Broadway Luhrman's Broadway Boheme Postpones to Fall 2002 The show will be presented under the auspices of the producers of Rent, which is based on the opera Debbie Gravitte to Star in Paper Mill Red, Hot & Blue! Oct. 24 She'll play the Merman role in the Cole Porter musical revival 'Car Man' brakes Post-attack climate puts kibosh on 3 dates "The Car Man" tour is about to run out of gas. Wrapping up a limited nine-week run at L.A.'s Ahmanson Theater, Matthew Bourne's retooling of Bizet's "Carmen" will play its final North American performance at UC Berkeley on Nov. 3. It opens there Tuesday. Top Oz stars back on the boards H'wood Aussies come home for shows Payback time for six tuners B'way producers refund concession coin It's Murphy to the max in Dublin Key stagings highlight Irish scribe's diversity MUCH TO DO ABOUT 'NOTHING' by MICHAEL RIEDEL MICHAEL Frayn, the celebrated British playwright, recalls "with appalling clarity" the first and last time he acted in a play. TWO PUBLIC BACKERS BACK OUT by MICHAEL RIEDEL THE two largest donors to the Public Theater have resigned from its board, raising questions about the tenure of artistic director George C. Wolfe. I had spoken about financial disasters at The Public under Wolfe and their ramifications back in January 2000. Susan Stroman Speaks at Lincoln Center, Oct. 24 Bromley's Burnt Woman to Light Up Off-Broadway, Oct. 24-Nov. 17 Princess Grace Foundation Announces Grant Awards Guggenheim Museum Offers Peek at Kushner's Homebody/Kabul, Oct. 28-29 Machado's Havana is Ready for OB's Cherry Lane, Oct. 24 PHOTO CALL: Thanks, Shakespeare: Turner, Shamos, Ackerman Air Complete Works NYC's Amas to Host Colby Birthday Party/WTC Benefit, Oct. 29 Abingdon Theatre Company Milks The Mooncalf, Oct. 24-Nov. 11 Broadway Grosses: October 15-21 - Part 1 Baz Luhrmann's La Boheme Will Waltz On Bway in Fall 2002 After Tryout Who Will Go Into the Woods w/ Williams on Broadway? Two Major Donors Resign from Public Theater's Board PHOTO CALL: Kaye and the Dancing Queens Take a Bow at Mamma Mia! PHOTO CALL: B ABBA: Benny And Bjorn Take a Bow at Mamma Mia!'s Opening PHOTO CALL: Mason, Pitre and Kaye Are Mamma Mia!'s Dancing Queens PHOTO CALL: Half an ABBA Picks Pitre as Their Mamma Mia! PHOTO CALL: Hello, Young Lovers: Machota and Maddigan Take a Chance on Mamma Mia! Julie Andrews Has "Conversation" with Bay Street Theatre Audience, Nov. 10 Jane Alexander Goes Into Mourning at Seattle's ACT NYC's Amas to Host Colby Birthday Party/WTC Benefit, Oct. 29 posted at 10/24/2001 08:47:15 AM by James Marino | Item Link Tuesday, October 23, 2001 Citing Financial Worries, the Public's 2 Biggest Donors Quit Its Board by ROBIN POGREBIN Resignations present the often turbulent Joseph Papp Public Theater with one of its most pointed crises in years. Chairman of Lincoln Center Redevelopment Resigns by ROBIN POGREBIN The executive, Marshall Rose, said he was stepping down because he had completed his work on a master plan. Cuff Me Kate? A Case of Fear on Broadway Great, just what Broadway needs now... (thanks to Tim and Catherine for the link) Gala to honor O'Neill Theater, founder Event to be Monday at Gotham's Union Club 10/22/01 5:39pm Waterford, Conn.'s 37-year-old Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and its founding executive director George C. White, who retired at the beginning of this year, will be feted at a benefit gala in New York Monday. 'Urinetown' splash Musicals help Broadway B.O. bounce back Gottfried Joins Roster of Narrators at Rocky Gilbert Gottfried will be a guest Narrator of The Rocky Horror Show from November 13 through November 18, a production spokes...[Read More] Guess that Up All Night gig did not work out so well... Goodspeed Goes Hollywood with New Season As Ken Mandelbaum mentioned on August 14, The Road to Hollywood will be presented by Goodspeed Musicals next...[Read More] Debbie Gravitte to Star in Paper Mill Red, Hot & Blue! Oct. 24 She'll play the Merman role in the Cole Porter musical revival OB-bound Brutal Imagination Nominated for National Book Award It's the source of a new music theater piece from the creators of Running Man that debuts in December. Spalding Gray Reworks Swimming to Cambodia Nov. 14 In which the master monologuist reworks and returns to the solo performance piece that made him famous. Kate Blumberg Re-Opens Off-Broadway Hit Syringa Tree Oct. 23 Atlantic Theatre Company member Kate Blumberg takes over for actress/playwright Pamela Gien who has since brought the play to London and her native South Africa. PBS Gives Richard Rodgers American Masters Treatment Nov. 4 A film biography of the prolific Broadway composer includes a goldmine of archival footage Roger Bart Gives Voice to Macy's Holiday Puppet Percy, Nov. 13 Bourne's The Car Man Canceled at Three Venues Bway Stars' CD Comes "Home for the Holidays" For BC/EFA and Towers, Nov. 13 Great to see the holiday CD will once again be made. I hope the producers see fit to donate all the proceeds rather than make a huge profit for themselves and donate part of the proceeds as they have done in year's past. Will York Theatre's Good Companions Mufti Morph Into Mainstage Musical? Heiner M�ller Double Bill Opens in Times Square, Dec. 1 Syringa Tree Blooms Again Oct. 23 at NYC's Playhouse 91 Rivera, Ballard, Reinking Support Chicago Theatre Restoration NYU Students Go On a Field Trip to Bway � For Charity Hello, Gorgeous: 'Funny Girl' Gets Restored and Remastered DVD Release Oct. 23 Fynsworth Alley Loses Its Top Cat, Bruce Kimmel, But Owners Continue Show Tune Label Kirsten Childs Wins 2001 Gilman & Gonzalez-Falla Musical Theater Award Anyone heard rumours that Michael Ball with be Broadway Phantom ???? EVERYBODY INTO THE POOL... by DONALD LYONS THERE'S a humongous, 27-foot-wide pool in the center of the stage, around which - and, whenever possible, in which - characters cavort. It has no relation to the stories being told. It's big and it's there. IS THE PARTY OVER? by DON KAPLAN IF ratings are any indication, we seem to be witnessing the death of reality TV. RADIO TALK STARS WWW.FURIOUS by JOHN MAINELLI RADIO giant Premiere Networks is charging its listeners to listen to its biggest stars on the Internet - infuriating the likes of Art Bell and Dr. Laura Schlessinger. AMC SO SILLY IT'S SCARY by ADAM BUCKMAN THOSE aren't commercial breaks you're seeing during the movies on American Movie Classics - they're INTERMISSIONS. posted at 10/23/2001 08:49:33 AM by James Marino | Item Link Monday, October 22, 2001 Kimmel & Levy Depart Fynsworth; Future Uncertain Boheme Heads West by Ken Mandelbaum Bruce Kimmel Leaves Fynsworth Alley posted at 10/22/2001 11:27:42 AM by James Marino | Item Link Q: Have you heard what Osama bin Laden is going to be for Halloween? A: Dead. - Jay Leno (thanks Tim!) Buzz Lines How was Fynsworth Alley able to issue a CD of the original cast recording of Subways Are For Sleeping? And what will happen to Fynsworth now that its two chief officers are departing? I was wondering if websites that have Fynsworth Alley advertising would run a story about the record label's demise... Bravo to Michael Portantiere for getting the story out there. As you may have noticed, I have removed the links to Fynsworth Alley on the music navbar on the right. Now that Bruce Kimmel and David Levy have been removed from the company, I see no reason to support Fynsworth Alley. I hope you feel the same. In support of what Bruce (and David) have done, and I am sure will continue to do for the the theatre community, please do not purchase anything from Fynsworth Alley. Thanks. Charles Nelson's Casts and Forecasts: Back from Chicago, Mr. Nelson reports on seeing The Visit, South Pacific, and The Full Monty there. Anyone hear this? "Last 5 Years" canceled? Will ''Chess'' moves lead to another opening on Broadway? Moving with all due Goodspeed B'way-bound Urban Cowboy: The Musical Plans Oct. 22 Workshop Natascha Diaz plays the Debra Winger role of Sissy. Debbie Gravitte to Star in Paper Mill Red, Hot & Blue! Oct. 24 She'll play the Merman role in the Cole Porter musical revival Non-Equity Tour of The Music Man Launches Oct. 23 Click here for a list of stops. Actors' Equity Association urges boycott. Playwright Naomi Wallace Chats Online, Oct. 22 Wallace is the subject of a major retrospective in Atlanta, where twelve theatres will produce her works as part of the Naomi Wallace Festival October through mid-November Musical Theatre Greats Take Part in NY Symposia Starting Oct. 22 Musical Theatre Works presents Musical Theatre Month Elaine Stritch's At Liberty Kicks Off Public Theater for 2001-02 Season, Oct. 26 The Public Theater's new production of Othello begins Nov. 13 in the Anspacher Theater. Othello will mark Hughes' first major production since he left the Long Wharf Theater. Criss Angel Gets "MINDFREAK"-y at New WWF Theatre in NYC, Nov. 20 Another sign of the Apocalypse: WWF doing "theatre" in Times Square... Bway Mack & Mabel Still in the Works, But Not for January 2002 "Money makes the world go round..." Lohengrin and Bear It: Musical War Brides Unveiled in NYC Reading Oct. 22 Will Rain Reign or Will Wife Win at Philly's Oct. 22 Barrymore Awards? Star-Studded "Canteen" Will Entertain, Benefit Rescue Workers at TriBeCa Playhouse Beginning Oct. 22 Bolcom Out, Menken In for ART Lysistrata; Begins May 10 Taylor and Bologna, Post-Broadway, Talk of Broadway at 92nd St. Y, Oct. 22 Esparza to Be the Urban Cowboy in Westbeth Workshop, Oct. 22-Nov. 11 Playwright Chris Burns' Baby Births 2001 Oppenheimer Award QED, with Alan Alda, Begins at Beaumont Oct. 21 Steven Suskin ON THE RECORD: The Frogs, Evening Primrose, Subways College Daze: Playwrights Horizons Opens Light Years in Studio Season Oct. 21 Fonzie Sings!: Happy Days the Musical Has Industry Readings in L.A. Oct. 21-23 NYC's New Federal Theatre to Present 30 Readings in Tribute to WTC Victims, Oct. 26-Dec. 9 Turner and Silverstone Set for Bway Graduate in Spring 2002 Report: Nolte, Holm, Cox Looking to Become Taper Unknowns New York Press Calls Inverse "Best Downtown Theater Company" Classical Recording: Spinning Into Oblivion? by ANTHONY TOMMASINI The classical recording industry seems to be collapsing, and aggrieved music lovers are looking for someone to blame. This is from yesterday's Times. Although it is speaking of classical, it is very much similar to the story of musical theatre recording. New York City Heroes Steal Thunder From Stars by JON PARELES The performers got applause at "The Concert for New York City," but shouting and standing ovations greeted uniformed workers and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. WRITERS ON WRITING: Shattering the Silence, Illuminating the Hatred by ARTHUR MILLER "It's all a long, long time ago," writes Arthur Miller about "Focus." "Only now, after nearly 60 years, does some of the feel of that time begin to return." ABC Cancels a Planned Reality Show by BILL CARTER ABC's cancellation of "The Runner" suggests that such reality television programs may have run their course. Does this balance out the WWF thing? BENEFIT: A Rousing Rock Show for a Wounded City by JAYSON BLAIR Madison Square Garden played host to a virtual "who's who of the entertainment industry" during a concert benefit to raise money for relatives of the victims of the Sept. 11 attack. A Play That's Off the Wall Finds a Cast That Is, Too by ROBIN POGREBIN Amy Sedaris, Sarah Jessica Parker, Marylouise Burke and Kristine Nielsen are the fearless actresses in the dark comedy, "Wonder of the World." Paterno Ties Record as Penn State Wins Guy-Tip of the Day: Trying to iron a shirt while it is on you WILL NOT save you any time in the morning. posted at 10/22/2001 07:29:45 AM by James Marino | Item Link Sunday, October 21, 2001 Today's birthdays include Whitey Ford and Carrie Fisher. Why LaBute's Plays are no Beauts Anyone else afraid of this play? Good Golly Miss Molly Ringwald QED, with Alan Alda, Begins at Beaumont Oct. 21 McKellen, Mirren and Strathairn Appear on 'Theater Talk,' Oct. 21 College Daze: Playwrights Horizons Opens Light Years in Studio Season Oct. 21 posted at 10/21/2001 08:50:07 AM by the other James | Item Link BroadwayStars is powered by Blogger Pro! [Past News] |
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