Saturday, April 27, 2002 Los Angeles Times: Putting Him Together by PATRICK PACHECO An oral portrait of Stephen Sondheim, on the eve of the mammoth "Sondheim Celebration." THEATER REVIEW | 'SHOWING OUT': Stripping for a Peep Show Is a Job With No Future by NEIL GENZLINGER Stage a play as explicit as "Showing Out," a new work at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and you had better make sure you have something enlightening or unexpected to say. It's a test this show doesn't pass. SAMANTHA MATHIS CASTS HER LOT ON BROADWAY by MICKEY RAPKIN Philadelphia Inquirer: Theater's life may end in financial tragedy by Patricia Horn and Doug Keating Construction debts imperil Freedom Theatre, a respected African American cultural institution. It owes $4.2 million. This story made the front page today. Washington Post: The Western Lobby's Odd Brand Of Theater by Philip Kennicott Scrape off the gray multicultural gravy, and "The Soul of the West," a cowboy revue that ran for one night only at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium on Wednesday, is a big chicken-fried theater piece with a simple message: The West is all about private property and the government should keep its grubby mitts off. Talk Show Watch: Errico on 'Today', Leeves on 'The View' "Sweeney Todd in Concert" with LuPone & Hearn Arrives on DVD May 14 Rosie O'Donnell Honored With Montblanc Patronage Award for Contributions to Theatre Keen Company to Stage Howe's Museum with Matt Servitto Waite and Keith Enter Lucas and Schulner's Darkness at Atlantic, May 8 DC's Capitol Steps Return to NYC with When Bush Comes To Shove, May 8-Aug. 31 Reduced Shakespeare Company Are 2002's Reducers in LA, Cincy, Pittsburgh, DC Luckinbill Stars in Frisch's Firebugs, Off Bway, June 4-29 Today In Theatre History: APRIL 27 Full Cast of Joel-Tharp Movin' Out Announced Nemetz, Vichi and Ryall Expected to Join Tony Curtis for Some Like It Hot Tour EST's Secret Order Comes to an End April 28 Producers Official for Pittsburgh and Portland Into the Woods Costumes OK, But Sealed in Chelsea Building Musical Summer of '42 Will Tour Come Fall 2002 PBOL'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, April 20-26: Noble Gesture Costumes for Into The Woods Affected by Chelsea Blast Danieley, Kaye & Ward Added to Carousel Concert Field Trip: The Mystery of Charles Dickens Opening Night (Video) Tunes and Tomes Brooke Pierce takes a whiff of the Sweet Smell cast recording. Family Stories: A Slapstick Tragedy Reviewed By: Caroline Burlingham Ellis Battle of the Bands Reviewed By: Ben Winters Swing Cincinnati Review by Scott Cain Collected Stories Washington Review by Tracy Lyon Orange County Register: How hard is it to just read a script? by PAUL HODGINS For some, very. The Pacific Playwrights Festival at SCR can test the mettle of even experienced actors. Thanks to the American Theater Web for the above article. posted at 4/27/2002 10:08:16 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link Friday, April 26, 2002 DIVA TALK: A Chat with Karen Akers, Plus News of LuPone, Peters, Minnelli DC Studio Has Bat Boy, Runaway Home, Class Act, Play About the Baby in 2002-03 The Acting Company Launches Shrew and N.Y. Premiere of Pudd'nhead CDs: Mary and Shirley by Ken Mandelbaum Follow Spot Treat Williams spends his lunch hour reading Arthur Miller at the National Arts Club. Cabaret Notes Lennie Watts shares his Broadway dreams in a fabulous new act. The Mystery of Charles Dickens Reviewed By: David Finkle posted at 4/26/2002 03:42:42 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link Danieley, Kaye & Ward Join Jackman and McDonald for June 6 Carousel Into the Woods Loses Costumes in Chelsea Explosion THE MYSTERY OF CHARLES DICKENS Opening - Photos by Bruce Glikas The Mystery of Charles Dickens Faces Critics The Mystery of Charles Dickens Review by Adam Feldman The Mystery of Charles Dickens Review by Matthew Murray Sundown - Dallas Review by John Garcia Stones In His Pockets – San Francisco Review by Richard Connema Newsday: Mystery: Why Is Dickens in Overdrive? by Linda Winer Peter Ackroyd's one-man biographical play is new to New York, but Callow has been trundling around England with the old-fashioned showcase for at least two years. That he has not been exhausted by - not to mention really tired of - this overbearing display of overwrought verbiage may be the real mystery on the stage. Newsday: Seeing the Dark Side Of Life at the Office by Gordon Cox 3 Dark Tales Review Washington Post: Phoenix Puts Gender On the Agenda by Dan Via THE FOUR women at the helm of the aptly named Phoenix Theatre DC may be relatively recent arrivals on the Washington theater scene, but it didn't take them long to recognize an unfortunate truth: Women generally get the short end of the theatrical stick. Washington Post: With A Spring In His Step by Sarah Kaufman Tapper Fayard Nicholas Still Has the Moves Washington Post: Donna McKechnie Takes a Bow by Nelson Pressley Star-Ledger: Loving look at city's past BY PETER FILICHIA Star-Ledger: N.Y. revue to spotlight Rutgers students BY BETTE SPERO Whatever Rutgers University's students at the Mason Gross School of the Arts in New Brunswick may accomplish in their show business careers, some soon can put a Broadway credit at the top of their résumés. On Sunday, Mason Gross students, along with fellow thespians from alumni to professors, will present "Rutgers on Broadway" at the Majestic Theater in New York. Los Angeles Times: Reese and Company Belt Out Joyful 'Message' by F. KATHLEEN FOLEY Della Reese testifies mightily unto the Lord in "The Message Is in the Music," her new gospel musical at Stage 52. LA Weekly: Steamy, Steamy Night The 23rd Annual L.A. Weekly Theater Awards by Steven Leigh Morris Winners include James Barbour and Austin Pendleton. People: Happy Annieversary! It has been 25 years since Annie's Broadway debut: Do you know where your favorite orphan is? The upcoming May 6 issue of People (with Robert Blake on the cover) will have an article (not available online) profiling Melissa Errico and husband Patrick McEnroe. Yahoo/Variety: Archerd: Happy 50th Anniversary -- to Me! by Army Archerd It's a GOOD MORNING for yours truly as I start the next 50 years writing the column. Did I ever tell you why I start each column with "GOOD MORNING?" Chicago Sun-Times: 'Damn Yankees' revival devilishly good BY HEDY WEISS The potent aroma of hot dogs, peanuts and beer may be missing in the Marriott Theatre revival of "Damn Yankees." But from the moment you enter the theater's in-the-round space you might as well be in a ballpark. With Mary MacLeod as Lola! I was in "Fiorello!" with her in high school -- my own brush with greatness... posted at 4/26/2002 12:52:02 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link DEVITO DOES MAMET By MICHAEL RIEDEL HERE'S a good lead: Danny DeVito closed the deal this week to star in a Broadway revival of David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" next season, sources close to the actor told The Post yesterday. Riedel also clues us in how to get free Urinetown tickets... But more importantly, does Riedel have a new crush? On Stage and Off: DeVito Is Cast in 'Glengarry' THEATER REVIEW | 'THE MYSTERY OF CHARLES DICKENS' Crash Course in Dickens, Going at Full Tilt By BEN BRANTLEY In Peter Ackroyd's play at the Belasco Theater, Simon Callow enacts both the life and the works of England's most beloved novelist. Simon Callow Acts Like The Dickens The 19th century was a time of giants in all of the arts, none more towering than Charles Dickens, whose colossal energy continues to galvanize readers even in a time as illiterate as ours. ENJOY THE BLUNDER YEARS By DONALD LYONS EVERY now and again, a pearl can be spotted on the shores of off-off-Broadway. 'MYSTERY' IS SOLVED By CLIVE BARNES BRITISH actor Simon Callow doesn't look the slightest bit like Charles Dickens.But that doesn't dimish Callow's adroit lead performance in Peter Ackroyd's one-man show, "The Mystery of Charles Dickens." HEY, GUYS! LAY OFF NAKED KATHLEEN TURNER! By BARBARA HOFFMAN THE play's the thing - or is it? Based on the reviews of "The Graduate," Broadway's retooling of a movie classic, it all seems to boil down to this: What does Kathleen Turner look like naked? TICKLED PINK OVER COUNTRY ‘WALL’ By MARY HUHN IT may just be another brick in the history of the wall, but Luther Wright & the Wrongs have made Pink Floyd’s "The Wall" an old-time country album. Report: Mamet's Glengarry to Return to Bway, with DeVito, in 2003 A Class Act Has Post-Bway Bow in CA May 3-June 16; Price Directs Picardo, Bullock Kristen Johnston Joins Stiles in Central Park Twelfth Night Two Plays, Two Venues, One Busy Cast: House and Garden Begin April 26 at MTC Stephanie Pope Joins Broadway Chicago June 4 PHOTO CALL: Gilman, Miner Bring Blue Surge to Wolfe's Public PHOTO CALL: Feel the Surge: Gilman's Latest Opens Off-Broadway McDonald, White, Luker, Testa and Sills Headline Upcoming PBS Broadcast Paper Mill Playhouse Season Complete: Blue Makes N.J. Premiere Producers Star Brad Oscar to Guest on April 26 'Theatre Talk' Rent Cheap! In Honor of Sixth Anniversary, Seats for April 30 Show Are $20 Love Changes Everything: Palo Alto Players Revives Revised Aspects of Love April 26 South Coast Rep's Pacific Playwrights Fest Reads Henley, Nottage and Jordan April 26-28 Today In Theatre History: APRIL 26 Tom Wopat and Amy Irving Lined Up for The Guys in NYC, May 14-June 14 Rubin-Vega to Star in Drama Dept.'s Free to Be You and Me, May 23 Johnston Joins Twelfth Night; Goodman Likely Broadway.com has learned Kristen Johnston will appear with Julia Stiles in the New York Shakespeare Festival prod...[Read More] O'Donnell Honored for Contribution to Theater Rosie O’Donnell is being honored for her contribution to Broadway and theater. The talk show host/actress/activist/publisher has been selected to receive the 2002 Montblanc Arts Patronage Award. The a...[Read More] We Will Rock You Delays Performances Last night’s first preview performance of We Will Rock You, the new musical featuring the songs of Queen, had to be canceled because of technical issues. Tonight’s scheduled preview is also off...[Read More] Peter Filichia's Diary A crowd-pleasing line in Morning's at Seven prompts recollections of lines that have engendered applause in other shows. A Closer Look: Chicago by Ben Winters [the city, not the musical] Xtravaganza Reviewed by Dan Bacalzo posted at 4/26/2002 09:20:22 AM by James Marino | Item Link Thursday, April 25, 2002 Stephanie Pope Takes on B'way's Velma Kelly Thunder Knocks on the Minetta Lane's Door Julia Stiles to Star in NYSF's Twelfth Night Tonys '02 #12 by Ken Mandelbaum Liza Minnelli Tickets for Beacon Theatre Gig On Sale April 29 Janet Fox, Broadway Actress and Niece of Edna Ferber, Dead at 89 Gold Gets a Girl; Sondheim Musical Has New Female Character We Will Rock You Previews Canceled at London's Dominion Thunder Comes a Knocking at Minetta Lane's Door June 20 Report: Hollywood's Bard Girl, Julia Stiles, to Star as Viola in Park Twelfth Night PHOTO CALL: Turner, Crudup and Rosie Award Broadway's Best Bonnets PHOTO CALL: Brian d'Arcy James Sings 'Help Is on the Way' for Easter Bonnet PHOTO CALL: Metamorphoses and Mamma Mia! Win Bonnet's Best PHOTO CALL: Graduate's Turner, Biggs and Silverstone Help With the Bonnets PHOTO CALL: Bonnet's Fools Alan Bates and Frank Langella posted at 4/25/2002 02:44:48 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link "In New York City, the play 'Urinetown'was named the best Off-Broadway musical. That's the name of it. 'Urinetown' - now, wasn't that a remake of 'The Wiz'?" -Jay Leno, 4/24/02 CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK: Joy and Blues in Florida's Piney Woods by BRUCE WEBER Zora Neale Hurston's "Polk County" has been cut, shaped and wrestled into an uproariously gladdening production at the Arena Stage in Washington. Newsday: A Reunion Worth Its Wait in 'Gold!' by Patrick Pacheco HAROLD PRINCE said that when he read the script for "Gold!," the new Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical then called "Wise Guys," he had one question: "Where the hell are the girls?" Los Angeles Times: Musical to Strike Up a Band Without Union Members by DON SHIRLEY Touring "Music Man" production, also using non-Equity actors, has been beset by protests. Star-Ledger: Center stage by Peter Filichia "The World's Our Stage" is the theme of this year's Paper Mill Playhouse gala. It celebrates the musicals that the Millburn theater has produced -- ones that have been set in France ("La Cage aux Folles"), Japan ("Sayonara"), England ("Oliver!"), Thailand ("The King and I"), and even good ol' New York City ("Funny Girl"). Tim Rice Tribute Scheduled for London's Albert Hall May 5 Interview with Jana Robbins by Nancy Rosati Yahoo/Variety: Archerd: the Rock Conquers Europe by Army Archerd More on Liza Minnelli's return to showbiz -- thanks to a phone call from Ann Miller, who in turn was phoned by Liza, who just dined with Princess Caroline in Monaco. Now honeymooning in Cannes, Liza asked Miller to join her act when she bows for seven nights at the Beacon in N.Y. June 2. Yahoo/Variety: Archerd: Landis, Suzuki Pair on Pepsi Ads by Army Archerd More theater for L.A.: A second stage is planned alongside the Geffen in Westwood. It was part of the upbeat talk at the party following Monday night's terrific, all-star Backstage at the Geffen fund-raiser. Thanks to the American Theater Web for the following three articles: San Francisco Chronicle: Gaines falters at cabaret Broadway star's set a letdown by Octavio Roca Orange County Register: Four world premieres set at La Jolla Playhouse On Stage: Lots of us missed great performance by Christopher Rawson Pittsburgh's own Broadway Diva gives a performance as fine as you could see anywhere, Broadway included -- skilled, knowing, funny and full -- and how does Pittsburgh respond? We filled the Byham Theater to 32 percent, both weeks, that's how. Includes an interesting tidbit on why Lenora Nemetz didn't get into the "Chicago" movie. posted at 4/25/2002 09:57:08 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link Artistic Director Leaving Royal Shakespeare By ALAN RIDING Adrian Noble announced on Wednesday that he would step down as artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company next March when his contract expires. Theater Review | 'Matthew and Stephen': Boys Face Questions of Life And Death Campuses Echo With the Sound of a Cappella By KAREN W. ARENSON From the Ivy League to Berkeley, a cappella groups are multiplying, even on campuses that have football teams and fraternities. Stiles tunes up Viola for fest Thesp returns for another of the Bard's plays After two free-wheeling film updates of the Bard, Julia Stiles is set to take her Shakespeare to the stage this summer in Central Park. The 21-year-old actress plays Viola in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "Twelfth Night" at the Delacorte Theater. Noble stages RSC exit A.D. goes out with a 'Bang' after 22-year stint with co. 'Thunder' strikes 'Years' at Minetta Tuner 'Knockin'' Off B'way Lortels give nod toward B'way fare 'Urinetown,' 'Metamorphoses' take prizes, eye Tonys Follow Spot Adrian Noble, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, announces that he will leave his post in 2003. Evil Depicted Badly The resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe is frightening — not because it is so unexpected, but because we thought the Europeans, who are so adept at moral preening, were better skilled at maintaining their facade of civilized behavior. Que Pasa? Contest Helps Hispanic Playwrights Raise Their Voices Richard Kind to Star in The Tale of the Allergist's Wife As Ken Mandelbaum mentioned on April 16, Richard Kind will indeed star in [Read More] Felicia Finley Headlines Spotlight Series May 6 Aida star Felicia Finley will be the next artist to perform as part of the monthly Broadway Spotlight Series at off-Bro...[Read More] Final Casting Announced for Long Island Sound Final casting has been announced for the Actors Company Theatre world premiere production of Noel Coward’s Long Island Sound. The play is scheduled to begin performances at the American Theatre...[Read More] NO QUIBBLE, THE WINNER IS 'TIBBLE' By DONALD LYONS '3 Dark Tales" is an English mime show - but performed with crazy sounds - in which three losers, one after another, find ways out of their oppression. New Comedy Sisters Grimm to Bow Off-Broadway in October Music from Metamorphoses to Be Released as CD June 6 Andersen and Blackhurst Join Steve Ross for "Strictly Rodgers, Mostly Hart" May 3 Ebersole, Gaines, Marcovicci & McGovern Set for CA "Singers" Series Spitfire Grill Cast Album Gets Exclusive Release Via Playwrights Horizons April 29 Roundabout to Read The Glass Menagerie May 6 Amateur Whorehouse Cast Quits TX Production After Board Asks for Cuts of Cuss Words Tickets On Sale for Bernadette Peters at Radio City Music Hall PHOTO CALL: On the Record: Thoroughly Modern Millie PHOTO CALL: On the Record: The Spitfire Grill Callow Reveals The Mystery of Charles Dickens on Broadway, April 25 Today In Theatre History: APRIL 25 Richard Kind, of TV's "Spin City," Is New Allergist in Bway Allergist's Wife, May 28 Andrew McCarthy, Campbell Scott Perform Millay Poems at MTC April 29 posted at 4/25/2002 09:26:00 AM by James Marino | Item Link Wednesday, April 24, 2002 PHOTO CALL: He Must Have Done Something Good: Andrews Congrats Plummer on Robards Award PHOTO CALL: Redford, Neeson and Richardson Honor Plummer at Robards Award Katie Finneran and Roger Bart in L.A. Shooting TV Pilot MTC's 2002-03 Season Has Polish Joke, Charlyane Woodard, Kimberly Akimbo Umoja Returns to West End June 4 HIT-TY 'CHITTY' TO CITY by MICHAEL RIEDEL THE next big blockbuster family musical: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," which opened last week at London's gargantuan Palladium Theatre. Broadway Grosses: Graduate is Head of the Class Adrian Noble to Step Down from RSC Photo Op: 16th Annual EASTER BONNET COMPETITION - Photos by Bruce Glikas Photo Op: Roundabout Presents Jason Robards Award - Photos by Bruce Glikas Field Trip: MORNING'S AT SEVEN Opening Night (Video) Blue Surge Review by William Stevenson Attempts On Her Life Review by Adam Feldman Morning's At Seven Review by Adam Feldman PLAYBILL ON-LINE'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Jeff McCarthy The Men Behind Sweet Smell of Success DC Arena Has South Pacific, Wilder's Theophilus North and Culture Clash in 2002-03 Tom Stoppard Busy with Harrison Ford Film Projects George C. Wolfe Sings Harlem Song at Historic Apollo Theatre July 6 Side Man's Warren Leight Draws on Teaching Experience in China for New Play Producers Star Brad Oscar to Guest on April 26 "Theatre Talk" New Play Anthology to Be Read in Bklyn Barnes & Noble, April 24 Today In Theatre History: APRIL 24 Easter Bonnet Competition Raises $1,826,392 Craig Carnelia Featured in Goodspeed's Actor, Lawyer, Indian Chief May 15-June 9 Report: Cast Forming for Joel-Tharp Movin' Out Sweet Smell, Millie, Topdog Among Drama League Nominees; Awards Presented May 10 Czech Scenographer Josef Svoboda Is Dead at 81 One More Hand: Second Stage Extends Ricky Jay's On The Stem to July 21 Sarandon and Robbins Play Guys May 1-8 and AFL-CIO Perf at Tully Hall April 28 PHOTO CALL: Morning's People: Piper Laurie, Elizabeth Franz, Estelle Parsons PHOTO CALL: Two of Seven: Christopher Lloyd and Daniel Sullivan PHOTO CALL: Campbell, Stroman Make Contact With Morning's PHOTO CALL: Sister Elizabeth Franz Explains Morning's to Durang Broadway Grosses: April 15-21 South African Umoja Returns to London Stage Royal Shakespeare Company's Adrian Noble to Step Down Private Eyes - San Francisco Review by Richard Connema Romeo and Juilet Review by Matthew Murray Hot Mikado - Washington, D.C. Review by Tracy Lyon Spotlight on Lortel Winners Newsday: Boys Won't Always Be Boys: Off-Broadway Review by Gordon Cox 'MATTHEW and Stephen" is a delicate and ambitious undertaking: It's a children's show about death. Newsday: Shulman's Theater Stage by Corey Takahashi Queens Theatre in the Park, the borough's premiere outlet for live performance, is celebrating Mother's Day early. Tonight at its home in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the institution will honor former borough president - and chief supporter - Claire Shulman, granting its main stage with her namesake. Chicago Sun-Times: Director finds warmth in 'Summertime' BY HEDY WEISS Ask Joy Gregory what lured her away from her work as a writer in Los Angeles--and back into the director's chair at Chicago's Lookingglass Theatre Company, of which she is a founding member--and she will talk about the "the humor, the tenderness and the sly irony" of Charles L. Mee's play "Summertime," which will receive its Midwest premiere this weekend at the Ruth Page Center. Yahoo/Variety: To Speak or Not to Speak? That Is the Question by Claire Soares To be or not to be? That is the question that never gets voiced in the latest production of "Hamlet" to hit the nation's capital. A silent version of Shakespeare's classic revenge drama, is the brainchild of a husband and wife acting duo from the Republic of Georgia. Irish Echo: Rep stalwart Rusty Magee stays upbeat in fight against cancer by Joseph Hurley Profile of music man Rusty Magee, husband of Alison Fraser. Thanks to Ann on All That Chat for the link. posted at 4/24/2002 01:49:04 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link "The King" and I by Peter Filichia Complaints over a negative review of Kevin Gray in The King and I at the Paper Mill Playhouse bring up an intriguing question. THEATER REVIEW | 'KILT': The Go-Go School of Scottish Country Dancing By BRUCE WEBER THEATER REVIEW | 'JOHN GABRIEL BORKMAN': Faces Saying as Much as Ibsen's Words By D. J. R. BRUCKNER CDs: Maureen Goes to India by Ken Mandelbaum The Last Five Years to Shutter May 5 2002 Easter Bonnet Competition Raises Big Money 2002 Drama League Nominees Revealed Stritch, Arthur, Cook and Leguizamo Ineligible for Tony Acting Noms Report: Jason Alexander in Talks to Star in L.A. Producers Brown: Last Five Years in Last Two Weeks; to Close May 5 Hats Off: The Easter Bonnet Competition Clowns While Raising $1,826,392 PHOTO CALL: Stamos, Leeves Beckon 'Come to the Cabaret!' PHOTO CALL: Those Beautiful Bonnets: The Producers PHOTO CALL: Those Beautiful Bonnets: Urinetown PHOTO CALL: Those Beautiful Bonnets: Elaine Stritch At Liberty PHOTO CALL: Those Beautiful Bonnets: Metamorphoses, Beauty and the Beast PHOTO CALL: Those Beautiful Bonnets: Sweet Smell of Success, Chicago posted at 4/24/2002 11:55:03 AM by Matthew Murray | Item Link The Last Five Years, Jason Robert Brown's new off-Broadway show starring Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott, will close in two weeks (May 5). posted at 4/24/2002 06:37:29 AM by James Marino | Item Link Tuesday, April 23, 2002 Disney Stage Version of Dead Poets Society on Back Burner Alan Cumming Joins Starry Cast of "Nicholas Nickleby" Film Prince, Murney, Sills Tapped for Leads in New Disney Workshop Frayn's Benefactors Readies for the West End Tonys '02 #11 by Ken Mandelbaum Blue Surge Reviewed By: Ben Winters Morning’s at Seven Reviewed By: David Finkle Mercy of a Storm - Pittsburgh Review by Ann Miner posted at 4/23/2002 02:45:16 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link THEATER REVIEW | 'BLUE SURGE' A Play Luxuriates in Its Own Sense of Doom by BEN BRANTLEY "Blue Surge" seems to keep turning into a grainy black-and-white film before your eyes, evoking one of the grittier American movies from the Depression era. Hookers and Cops in Love by Robert Dominguez In the sharply written, well-acted drama "Blue Surge," playwright Rebecca Gilman turns to the subject of teen prostitutes as fodder for her latest issue-driven work. VARIOUS ARTISTS: "WHEN LOVE SPEAKS" by DAN AQUILANTE There's a couplet in William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 that explains why his beloved is still alive - after all these years: "So long as men can breathe or eye can see. So long lives this, and gives life to thee." That sonnet and more than 45 others by Willie S. are presented on "When Love Speaks," an album that attempts to unify music and drama through these 14-line poems. Leigh & Weber Announce Tony Noms May 6 The Smell of the Kill to Close on Sunday I'm Not Rappaport Sets Broadway Dates Field Trip: Thoroughly Marvelous Millie (video) Photo Op: MILLIE Recording Session - Photos by Bruce Glikas Photo Op: MORNING'S AT SEVEN Opening - Photos by Bruce Glikas Helen Gallagher Stars in George Street's Public Ghosts April 23 Jennifer Jason Leigh and Steven Weber to Announce Tony Nominees May 6 More Casting Announced for Paper Mill's June My Fair Lady NYC's Lark Is Nor'mal With Walsh, Heller in Eating Disorder Musical May 5-13 David Henry Hwang Opera Premieres April 23 Shirley MacLaine Live at the Palace Gets CD Release April 23 Meeting of Minds: Guare's Few Stout Individuals Premieres April 23-June 12 Off-Bway Today In Theatre History: APRIL 23 Fiesty Smell of the Kill to Sniff Its Last April 28 Musical Little Ham Will Heat Up at Houseman, Beginning Sept. 10 Hirsch & Vereen Rappaport Expected at Bway's Booth July 12; Opens July 25 Seussical Creative Team and Tour Dates Announced; Colombo Choreographs Frayn's Benefactors Set to Play West End in June An Inspector Calls Leaves London Stage June 1 London's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Extends Palladium Engagement Night Heron Heralds Butterworth's West End Return A Chat with UK's Soho Artistic Director Jonathan Lloyd Special Headphones to Be Available at Mackintosh's West End Shows Spotlight on Alison Fraser Blue Surge Review by Matthew Murray Much Ado About Nothing Review by Matthew Murray Follow Spot The winners of the 2002 Lucille Lortel Awards, announced today, will receive their honors in a ceremony on May 6. My Lord, What a Morning Reviewed By: J. Cooper Robb Chicago Sun-Times: 'Salao: The Worst Kind of Unlucky' BY HEDY WEISS One indication that you are in the presence of a great work of theatrical art is that it imperceptibly alters your sense of time and place. By that criterion alone, Redmoon Theatre's "Salao--The Worst Kind of Unlucky," now in its world premiere in the intimate upstairs space of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, is a masterpiece. And of course, there is much more at work in this endlessly ingenious, exquisitely hand-crafted, profoundly moving 90-minute piece. Abundant choices for Jeff Citations BY HEDY WEISS The 2001-2002 season was an exceptionally strong one for the Chicago area's non-Equity theater companies. And this was recognized Monday as the Citations Wing of the Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee announced an unusually large number of nominations in the category of outstanding production. Los Angeles Times: Old Wicked Songs This expertly-staged drama turns a music lesson into a timely reminder about the importance of reconnecting to one's emotional self. Boston Herald: Harris to guest at Norton awards Award-winning actress Julie Harris will appear as special guest at this year's 20th annual Elliot Norton Awards, to be held May 20 at the Stuart Street Playhouse. Thanks to American Theater Web for this link. Yahoo/Backstage: 'Popular Demand' Revivals: Not Just Broadway Beings Yahoo/Backstage: Equity Looks to Up Tours, Dues Saddam's Romantic Novel to Hit the Stage Apparently they have vanity productions in Iraq, too. posted at 4/23/2002 11:27:44 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link THEATER REVIEW | 'THREE DARK TALES': Behind That Cool, Professional Gaze, Terror Lurks By BRUCE WEBER posted at 4/23/2002 10:37:18 AM by Matthew Murray | Item Link Monday, April 22, 2002 Metamorphoses Tops 2002 Lortel Awards CDs: J.J. and Sidney Sing by Ken Mandelbaum Star-Studded Chicago Film Set for Christmas Release Urinetown and Metamorphoses Win 2001-02 Lortel Awards PHOTO CALL: Kushner's Homebody Edmond Wins Lortel PHOTO CALL: Reg Rogers Dazzles Lucille Lortel? Annie's Martin Charnin and Tom Meehan Working on Robin Hood Musical Do I Hear a Waltz? Gets New Recording With Crivello, Lawrence posted at 4/22/2002 03:45:55 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link THEATER REVIEW | 'URBAN TRANSITION: LOOSE BLOSSOMS' Helping the Family, but Headed for Trouble By ANITA GATES Ron Milner has written an intelligent, incisive and all too believable new play about a black family in crisis. Peter Filichia's Diary The 438th birthday of the Bard of Stratford-on-Avon is celebrated in a season filled with productions of his plays. Measuring Up by Ben Winters and Michael Portantiere A brand-new, RADA-born company sinks its teeth into Measure for Measure. J.B. Priestly’s Inspector to Have Final Call June 1 Morning's at Seven Charms New York Critics Newsday: Laughter at Their Expense by Linda Winer The characters get no respect in this 'Morning' Newsday: A Surge of Ambiguity by Gordon Cox True commentary on class prejudice Seattle's ACT Has Goldberg's Katzman, Jensen's Wait! in Readings May 9-11 LuPone, Hearn, Caldwell & Ramirez Set for Chicago Little Night Music Nine, Chagrin, Lovechild Among 2001-02 Jeff Citation Noms in Chi Tony Kushner Discusses His Homebody April 22 at Berkeley Rep McKechnie, Feldshuh, Kazan & Pappas Headline Master Class June 10 PHOTO CALL: Beam Me Up, Naughton! PHOTO CALL: Not for Naughton: Bacall, Errico Catch James' Cabaret Talk Show Watch: Chris O'Donnell on 'Today', Silverstone on 'Regis' Bernadette Peters and Tyne Daly Pay Tribute to Arthur Laurents May 4 Lortel Award Winners to Be Announced Tonight Eric McCormack Joins Chenoweth for Hollywood Bowl Music Man Melba Moore and Marva Hicks are 'Black 2: Broadway,' April 22 at B.B. King's BC/EFA to Don Its Easter Bonnet April 22-23 at Bway's New Amsterdam Today In Theatre History: APRIL 22 Planet Rodgers by Robert Hurwitt With 'By Jupiter,' Bay Area kicks off centennial of composer's birth Thanks to Richard Connema on All That Chat for the information. posted at 4/22/2002 01:29:54 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link OH WHAT ADORABLE 'MORNING' By CLIVE BARNES BROADWAY'S old-fashioned and, like Jerome Kern, it "loves those old-fashioned things." Sometimes this works out, sometimes it doesn't.With Paul Osborn's 1939 play "Morning's at Seven" - which gracefully resurfaced at the Lyceum Theatre last night - it works out. Or at least, it works out more than it doesn't work out. A Gently Sublime Sisters Act by Howard Kissel Perhaps the reason Paul Osborn's "Morning's at Seven" flopped when it was first presented on Broadway in 1939 was that it seemed so ordinary. Morning's At Seven review by Charles Isherwood "Morning's at Seven," a comedy that leans gently over flower boxes to peer briefly into the abyss, is back on Broadway -- indeed back at the Lyceum Theater -- less than 25 years after the revival that inspired a reassessment of Paul Osborn's largely forgotten 1938 play. MORNING'S AT 1939 "MORNING'S at Seven" opened on Broadway in 1939. Here's what The Post's reviewer John Mason Brown said at the time... posted at 4/22/2002 06:28:31 AM by Matthew Murray | Item Link Update: Tour itinerary for THE PRODUCERS: PITTSBURGH, PA 9/10/02-9/29/02 3 weeks CLEVELAND, OH 10/01/02-10/20/02 3 weeks CINCINNATI, OH 10/22/02 - 11/10/02 3 weeks MINNEAPOLIS, MN 11/12/02-12/08/02 4 weeks ST. LOUIS, MO 12/10/02 -12/29/02 3 weeks SAN DIEGO, CA 12/31/02 -1/12/03 2 weeks TEMPE, AZ 1/14/03- 2/02/03 3 weeks SEATTLE, WA 2/04/03 -2/16/03 2 weeks PORTLAND, OR 2/18/03- 3/02/03 2 weeks SAN FRANCISCO, CA 3/04/03 - 4/27/03 8 weeks LOS ANGELES, CA 4/29/03 -1/04/04 36 weeks DENVER, CO 1/13/04 - 2/01/04 4 weeks HOUSTON, TX 2/03/04 -2/22/04 3 weeks (subject to change) AUSTIN, TX 2/24/04 -3/07/04 2 weeks (subject to change) SAN ANTONIO, TX 3/09/04 - 3/21/04 2 weeks (subject to change) NEW ORLEANS, LA 3/23/04 -4/04/04 2 weeks TAMPA, FL 4/06/04 -4/25/04 3 weeks FT.LAUDERDALE, FL 4/27/04 -5/16/04 3 weeks MIAMI, FL 5/18/04 -5/30/04 2 weeks ATLANTA, GA 6/01/04 -6/20/04 3 weeks WASHINGTON,D.C. 6/22/04 -8/22/04 9 weeks Also, John Treacy Egan (Jekyll & Hyde, When Pigs Fly) is joining the Broadway company as understudy for Max and Franz. He will be with the production for three months before joining the tour in the same capacity. THEATER REVIEW: 'MORNING'S AT SEVEN' Wry Smiles at the Pitfalls of Closeness By BEN BRANTLEY Paul Osborn's "Morning's at Seven," which has been given a wonderful new revival at the Lyceum Theater, surprises Manhattan theatergoers every time it comes around. Theater Chief Opens (Again) in New Haven By ROBIN POGREBIN Gordon Edelstein, previously artistic director of A Contemporary Theater in Seattle, will take over this title at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, where he worked earlier in his career. Josef Svoboda, Stage Designer for Hundreds of Productions, Dies at 81 AP: 'Morning's At Seven': Homely Comedy by MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic Morning's At Seven Review by Adam Feldman Tonys '02 #10 by Ken Mandelbaum Morning's At Seven Review by Thomas Burke Measure for Measure Review by Matthew Murray Kept Review by Richard Connema Hair in Seattle Review by David-Edward Hughes Palm Springs Desert Sun: Broadway’s original doll to check out local ‘Guys’ by Bruce Fessier An update on Isabel Bigley, the original Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls. Thanks to Katie on All That Chat for the link to this article from February. posted at 4/22/2002 12:15:17 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link Sunday, April 21, 2002 Reginald Rose, 81, TV Writer Noted for 'Twelve Angry Men,' Dies Los Angeles Times: Dancing to Miss Barstow's Misstep by TINA DIRMANN Students craft a musical based on the beauty queen's loss of her crown. Thanks to the American Theater Web for these articles: The starry cast of 'Chicago' follows Rob Marshall's lead in his big-screen directing debut by Christopher Rawson Great, informative article. Detroit Free Press: What's next, Neil Simon? BY MARTIN F. KOHN He's updating 'The Odd Couple' and in town to pick up another award. After that, he's ready to take his chances Seattle Times: A new 'Mourning': ACT stages epic O'Neill play by Misha Berson AP: Busy actor assumes the weight of a film and 'Oklahoma!' revival by Matt Wolf posted at 4/21/2002 11:17:24 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link Newsday: Small-Town Sister Act by Blake Green Four veteran actresses form a familial bond as aging siblings in 'Morning's at Seven' Los Angeles Times: Bare Truths of Character by REED JOHNSON While nudity in other areas of our culture has become ho-hum, on the stage it still holds the power to shock, amuse, titillate and make us think. Los Angeles Times: RECORDINGS: What You Hear Vs. What You Saw by DON SHIRLEY The leap to CD can mask or enhance flaws, as two production albums show. Reviews of new CDs, including solo discs by Susan Egan and Louise Pitre. Star-Ledger: Flapping her way to Broadway BY RANDY GENER A stage door storybook ending brings 'Millie' star to the Great White Way Philadelphia Inquirer: So bad, they're good by David Patrick Stearns Long after the stage has gone dark, there's brisk business in recordings of Broadway's musical bombs. Philadelphia Inquirer: Picking the best of Broadway's worst on CD Can flops be improved? What happened between Heisenberg and Bohr? by Douglas J. Keating 'Copenhagen' a success, even with open questions Stars Bid Farewell to Robert Brustein at A.R.T. Event in Boston, May 6 Steven Suskin ON THE RECORD: Mary and Bob and Maureen O'Hara James Lapine Take Radio Playbill Into Woods April 23-29 Today In Theatre History: APRIL 21 NYC's Lark Is Nor'mal With Walsh, Heller in Eating Disorder Musical May 5-13 posted at 4/21/2002 08:44:40 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link To Be a Shape-Shifting Cast of One By SIMON CALLOW A one-person play can be theater in its purest form, an echo of ancient practices. The Feel of Real Life Working Its Magic By MARGO JEFFERSON A CRITICAL POINT: HE SEES, SHE SEES By CLIVE BARNES OK, so we know that when it comes to relationships, men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Ayckbourn's Double Whammy; The English dramatist presents two plays — with only one cast — all at once; By CELIA McGEE In Alan Ayckbourn's England, sunny country days are even more infrequent onstage than in reality. Threatened by disappointments and rain, servants talking back to their masters, and farce tripped up by sorrow, they have made him England's most popular playwright — and the favorite of the late Queen Mum. It's Morning on Broadway: LCT Osborn Revival Open April 21 Gilman Cops an Opening, as Blue Surge Is Donned Off-Broadway, April 21 PHOTO CALL: Three of Seven: Mornings Gets Outer Crix Nods posted at 4/21/2002 06:35:55 AM by Matthew Murray | Item Link BroadwayStars is powered by Blogger Pro! [Past News]
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