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Saturday, November 22, 2003

[ P ]  Kristin Chenoweth to Miss Wicked Matinee; Returns for Evening Perf.
posted at 11/22/2003 02:23:49 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



Features:

[ ND ]  New Girl In 'Town' by Blake Green
Jennifer Westfeldt has arrived in her Broadway debut

[ TM ]  A Fine Romance by: Michael Portantiere
Noah Racey and Nancy Lemenager invoke Fred and Ginger in Never Gonna Dance.

[ BS ]  Laura Breckenridge: One Troubled Teenager
Laura Breckenridge, though a sophomore at Princeton University, has appeared on Broadway in "The Crucible" and is currently the star of a new Off-Broadway hit, "The Moonlight Room."

[ TS ]  Mirror tells a better story by RICHARD OUZOUNIAN
Talking to Gregory Maguire is every bit as fascinating as reading one of his internationally best-selling brain-twisting novels.

[ B ]  Photo Op: A Jolly Visit to A Christmas Carol

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Wonderful Town Gears Up for Opening Night


Reviews:

[ BSUN ]  'Camelot' shines in shadows of war, love by J. Wynn Rousuck
At Arena Stage, with Kate Suber and Matt Bogart.

[ NJ ]  'Henry IV' a crowning achievement BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
One of the most satisfying Shakespearean productions in years, this fearless new version of the "Henry IV" saga is exciting to experience and a pleasure to recall.

[ ND ]  With a Touch of Gusto by Gordon Cox
'Cook' offers up a range of flavors, both strong and weak

[ TS ]  Beleaguered Bounce belongs on Broadway by RICHARD OUZOUNIAN
Sondheim dud needs work but deserves a second chance

[ TS ]  Broadway boys lack edge by RICHARD OUZOUNIAN
Musicals tell lives of '80s pop stars; Poor writing mars good performances

[ CU ]  Taboo
Review


News:

[ P ]  Megan Mullally Makes Chicago-Area Concert Appearances to Benefit Skokie's Northlight Theatre Nov. 22

[ P ]  Seth's Broadway Chatterbox Celebrates "Camp" Dec. 4

[ P ]  Friel's Fathers and Sons Finds a Home With TACT Concert Reading, Nov. 22-24

[ P ]  Naomi Wallace's Adaptation, Birdy, Gets Off-Bway Nest Starting Nov. 22

[ NYT ]  Mason's Broadway Revue Will End Run on Nov. 30 by JESSE McKINLEY

[ NYT ]  Patricia Broderick, Writer and Painter, Dies at 78

Patricia Broderick, a writer and painter who was the mother of the actor Matthew Broderick, died on Tuesday at her home in Greenwich Village.

posted at 11/22/2003 11:36:31 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Friday, November 21, 2003

News:

[ TM ]  Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks to Close on November 23

[ P ]  Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks to Close Nov. 23

[ B ]  Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks Retired 11/23

James predicted three weeks... sorry, it was four.

[ B ]  Panned Laughing Room Only to Shutter on 11/30

[ TM ]  Jackie Mason's Laughing Room Only to Stop Joking on November 30?

[ P ]  Jackie Mason's Laughing Room Only Closes on Broadway, Nov. 30

[ P ]  Kristin Chenoweth Still Out of Wicked

[ B ]  Complete Cast Set for B'way's Twentieth Century

[ V ]  McNally maps Chita bio
Tuner to workshop under Daniele direction next summer

Terrence McNally is at work on a new one-woman show for Chita Rivera. And it's all about Chita. "Instead of writing an autobiography, she should perform it," said producer Marty Bell.

[ P ]  Anne L. Nathan Expected to Join Bway's Assassins
Anne L. Nathan has been offered the role of Emma Goldman in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of Assassins, Playbill On-Line has learned.

[ NYP ]  LIZ SMITH
The fourth item, on Michael Nouri, mentions that Camille Claudel "opens next March." Where?

[ B ]  London's Les Miserables Set to Change Theaters

[ TM ]  Rent Announces Cast Changes, Seeks New Talent

[ BS ]  'Crowns' Rules Audelcos

Awards Embrace New and Old Companies Alike

[ R ]  Rosie O'Donnell Flips Off 'Taboo' Haters by Larry Fine
Rosie O'Donnell gave her opinion of theater critics by thrusting her middle fingers in the air while delivering impromptu remarks at Thursday night's performance of "Taboo," the widely panned musical she is producing.

[ V ]  Abbey marks 100th
Irish theater plans classics, int'l tours

[ P ]  Tracy Letts' Nebraska Debuts at Steppenwolf Theatre Company

[ P ]  Cast for Brian Bedford Moliere Comedies in Chicago Announced

[ P ]  Cast and Dates Set for World Premiere of The Architecture of Loss at NYTW

[ P ]  PBOL'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, Nov. 15-21: Bad News Broadway

[ P ]  Health Care System Is Setting for Love Story in Pyretown, a World Premiere at NY's Geva

[ P ]  Reva Rice to Depart Broadway Chicago for Swayze Tour

[ P ]  More Cast Hops Aboard Broadway's Twentieth Century, Set for Feb. 27-May 9

[ P ]  PBS Broadcasts Hugh Jackman Oklahoma! Nov. 22; Hensley, Rodgers and Chapin Chat

[ P ]  Broadway's Sly Fox Welcomes Scolari, York, Wyman to Cast

[ P ]  Holly Hunter�s West End Director Talks Screen-Stars With Playbill

[ P ]  Patricia Clarkson, Sally Field and Dana Ivey Set for Kennedy Center Williams Celebration

[ P ]  Arthur Miller's After the Fall Revived by Roundabout for 2004-2005 Season

[ P ]  Howard McGillin Bounces Back to Broadway's Phantom

[ TM ]  Singular Sensations to Close This Weekend


Reviews:

[ SUN ]  Fathers and Suns by JEREMY Mc CARTER
Last night, Kevin Kline walked a few steps further into stage history wearing a fat suit and a chaste nimbus of whiskers.

[ CU ]  The Cook
Review

[ ATW ]  Private Lives and History Collide in the Kitchen in The Cook
Review by Andy Propst

[ TM ]  The Siegel Column

Reports on Anna in the Tropics, Jackie Mason's (new?) show, Carole Bayer Sager at Feinstein's, and the recent Stella by Starlight benefit.

[ CU ]  Anna in the Tropics
Review

[ ATW ]  Apparition: More Scary Doings On 42 Street
Review by Andy Propst

[ PTR ]  Playhouse premieres �Red,� an appealing new musical by Alice T. Carter

Directed by Scott Wise.
Thanks to American Theater Web for the link!

posted at 11/21/2003 08:06:29 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



[ B ]  Glen Roven's Singular Sensations to Close 11/23

[ P ]  Off-Broadway's Singular Sensations To Close Nov. 23

[ P ]  DIVA TALK: Remembering Dorothy Loudon with Andrea McArdle Plus A Wonderful Town with Phyllis Newman

[ B ]  Looking Back: TV Musicals 2 by Ken Mandelbaum

posted at 11/21/2003 12:02:51 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



[ STARS ]  TWO-TIME TONY WINNER DONNA MURPHY LIGHTS UP BROADWAY IN THE NEW YORK MUSICAL: WONDERFUL TOWN
by ELLIS NASSOUR

The revival Wonderful Town recounts the misadventures of two sisters, fresh off a bus and filled with dreams of making it as a writer and actress. Donna Murphy, who plays Ruth, has fulfilled her musical theater dreams. But it was a journey filled with frustrations and self-doubt.

News:

[ NYP ]  HEIR OFFENSIVE by MICHAEL RIEDEL
- WHEN last we checked up on bad-boy producer Eric Nederlander, he was said to be soiling his famous theater family's name...
- Jackie Mason's "Laughing Room Only" opened Wednesday - and looks like it will have to close by the end of the week.
- Dorothy Loudon's memorial service.

[ NYT ]  ON STAGE AND OFF
A Stage Mother Speaks by JASON ZINOMAN

Mali Chad, stage mother, spends a lot of time driving her son, Harrison, to his new musical at the Papp Public Theater.

[ ND ]  Disharmony Roils Manilow's 'Harmony' by Gordon Cox
"There is a flurry of activity trying to let this not be the end," said Bruce Sussman, the Long Island native who wrote "Harmony" with longtime collaborator Barry Manilow. "The two issues, really, are rights and production."

[ V ]  'Avon' looks to B'way
With a rare crop of strong reviews in its pocket, Amy Freed's comedy "The Beard of Avon" is a candidate to move from the not-for-profit New York Theater Workshop to a commercial run.

[ B ]  Scolari, Wyman and York Join Cast of Sly Fox

[ B ]  Clarkson, Field, Ivey Set for D.C. Williams Fest

[ B ]  Roundabout to Revive Miller's After the Fall

[ B ]  Frasier's Pierce to Host Starry Bernstein Salute

[ NYP ]  PROUD OF THE CROWD IN BROADWAY SURVEY

DESPITE a recent rash of quick closings, there may be some good news on Broadway: audiences are getting younger and more diverse.

[ USA ]  Theaters say tourists cruising back to Broadway by Elysa Gardner

[ P ]  Today In Theatre History: NOVEMBER 21

[ P ]  Bialystock, Eh? Canadian Company of The Producers Begins Performances Nov. 21

[ P ]  New Cy Coleman Musical, Like Jazz, Starts in Los Angeles, Nov. 21


"Henry IV":

[ B ]  Photo Op: A Majestic Opening for Henry IV

[ B ]  Critics Check Out LCT's Condensed Henry IV

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'HENRY IV'
Falstaff and Hal, With War Afoot by BEN BRANTLEY

The Vivian Beaumont Theater show, led by the formidable Kevin Kline, has a radiant cast and an unbroken emotional immediacy that never stoops to grasp for contemporary relevance.

[ ND ]  Heavy Role Worn With Ease by Linda Winer
Kline's Falstaff illumes 'Henry IV' without eclipsing it

[ NYP ]  HOT KLINE SPURS NEW STAGING OF 'HENRY IV' by CLIVE BARNES
WHAT a piece of work is Falstaff! And how wondrously does Kevin Kline play him!

[ HC ]  Kline As Falstaff A Tour De Force by MALCOLM JOHNSON
Grand Pageantry, Stirring Acting Mark Combined 'Henry IV'

[ USA ]  Full staff brews fun in 'Henry IV' by Elysa Gardner
This new production (***� out of four) runs 3 hours, 45 minutes with two intermissions. But thanks to Kline and an expert company vigorously directed by Jack O'Brien, the time disappears as quickly as a pint of ale before Falstaff's lips.

[ DN ]  Great Shakes, great Kline by Howard Kissel
Actor gives the performance of his career as the Bard's Falstaff

[ YN ]  'Henry IV' Proves to Be Stirring by MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic
O'Brien, a talented cast and an innovative design team have the ability to pull it off. And at the center of their heroic efforts is Kevin Kline, giving what most likely will end up as the best performance of the season.

[ B ]  Henry IV
Review by Eric Grode

Simply put, Lincoln Center's distilled Henry IV is cause for rejoicing.

[ TB ]  Henry IV
Review by Matthew Murray

From the start of the first scene to the end of the thrilling curtain call, Henry IV is a show that mostly works, giving it a significant - and very welcome - edge on its Broadway competition.

[ TM ]  Henry IV
Reviewed By: David Finkle

Strictly in terms of staging, Jack O'Brien's Henry IV may be the finest presentation we've yet seen at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont auditorium.

Other Reviews:

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'MERCHANT OF VENICE'
In Shylock vs. Antonio, a Ray of Hope for a Pitiable Soul by D. J. R. BRUCKNER

The focus on the tensions between these two characters in this production causes a dramatic spark that puts everyone else in the background.

[ NYT ]  CABARET REVIEW | CAROLE BAYER SAGER
Sequined Sincerity in the Lyrics, Famous Friends in the Crowd by STEPHEN HOLDEN

The show business socialite brought her magnetism, vaguely feminist lyrics, and a bevy of celebrities to Feinstein's at the Regency on Tuesday.

[ NYT ]  CABARET REVIEW | ANDREA MARCOVICCI
For an Optimist in Romance, a Salute From His Opposite by STEPHEN HOLDEN

The singer's spunkier side came out in her tribute to Frank Loesser, with talky, quick-witted songs that lent themselves perfectly to her new approach.

[ TM ]  The Radio City Christmas Spectacular
Reviewed By: Michael Portantiere

[ DN ]  Liza's funny - no joke by David Bianculli

Minnelli has a guest stint on the Fox sitcom "Arrested Development."

[ NYT ]  TV WEEKEND | 'A TIME TO REMEMBER'; 'ELOISE'
Seeking a Reconciliation While Racing the Alzheimer's Clock by RON WERTHEIMER

The Hallmark Channel's tear-jerker starring Doris Roberts earns its tears, while ABC's take on the classic children's tale has a clumsy plot.

Features:

[ DN ]  Comden reflects on 'Wonderful' partner by HOWARD KISSEL
For the first time in almost six decades, Betty Comden will attend the opening of a Comden and Green musical - a revival of the 1953 "Wonderful Town" - without her partner of 65 years, Adolph Green.

[ BG ]  Going from stage to screen and back again by Catherine Foster
Len Cariou has had a storied career on Broadway.

[ BG ]  Weber has a powerful presence in 'Butley' by Catherine Foster
Next to Nathan Lane, the person you can't take your eyes off of in "Butley" is a tall drink of water named Jake Weber. He doesn't come onstage until after intermission and then has only one scene.
But what a scene.

[ TM ]  Peter Filichia's Diary
Filichia raises a glass of elderberry wine to a few deserving people before heading off to Cincinnati.

[ NJ ]  Actor rises to challenge of 'Walk' role BY PETER FILICHIA
The play is called "A Walk in the Woods," but actor Mark Hammer is quite resigned to the fact that he'll have to take a liberty with that title.

[ SD ]  THE PRODUCER by Anne Marie Welsh
When Cameron Mackintosh 'experienced the buzz of a being in a great show,' that was all she wrote
Thanks to American Theater Web for the link!

[ LAT ]  The basement beat by Patrick Pacheco
In Tony Kushner's first musical, 'Caroline, or Change,' a maid rails against circumstance and her own failings, assisted by singing appliances and a moon.

[ LAT ]  In the hot (flash) seat by Don Shirley
'Menopause the Musical' is a show for women, by women, but it does need a few good men. OK -- one.

posted at 11/21/2003 08:22:12 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Thursday, November 20, 2003

Features:

[ B ]  Q&A: John Stamos by Cara Joy David

[ B ]  Fresh Face: Shakiem Evans by Neil Parmar

[ USA ]  Minnelli's charm is arresting: Liza is making the most of quirky role on 'Development' by Bill Keveney

[ YN ]  Guillaume's Career on Track After Stroke by LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer

[ B ]  Video: Opening Night of The Caretaker

[ B ]  Video: The Violet Hour Reopens the Biltmore

[ B ]  Photo Op: Movin' Out Searches For Next Big Shot Talent

[ BS ]  Puppets Abound on Local Stages: A New Aesthetic?

Puppets of various types have been being used vividly, albeit differently, in several recent productions. In the 9/11-related "Recent Tragic Events," novelist Joyce Carol Oates makes an appearance as a sock puppet.

[ BS ]  "Emancipation" and Competitive Karaoke
What to Do This Week? Our Theatre Geek Has a Suggestion, or Five

News:

[ B ]  Patrick Swayze to Star in Chicago on the Road

[ B ]  Nottage Play to Bow at Roundabout's New Venue

[ BS ]  Cirque du Soleil Letter Irks Lambda Legal

Lambda Legal has criticized a letter allegedly issued by Cirque du Soleil saying it fired Matthew Cusick, an acrobat who had HIV, for safety -- not discriminatory -- reasons.

[ P ]  Upcoming Broadway Musical Assassins Has Its Hinckley
Alexander Gemignani will play Ronald Reagan's attempted assassin John Hinckley in the upcoming Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Assassins on Broadway, Playbill On-Line has learned.

[ P ]  Patrick Swayze to Join Chicago Tour in December

[ P ]  Full Monty Star De Shields Celebrates Jazzman in Ambassador Satch

[ P ]  Hugh Jackman to Sing with Peter Allen Collaborator Sager at Feinstein's, Nov. 22

[ P ]  Helen Gallagher Gets New Foil in William Gibson's Handy Dandy, Off-Bway Dec. 9

[ P ]  Intimate Apparel Opens New Roundabout Off-Broadway Theatre in March

[ P ]  King of Broadway, Again: Lane-Broderick Producers Return Run Sold Out; Standing Room Coveted

[ P ]  Obie Winner Ty Jones Debuts Own Play Emancipation, Nov. 23


Reviews:

[ CU ]  Laughing Room Only

[ CU ]  The Shaggs

posted at 11/20/2003 06:02:20 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



Features:

[ B ]  Random Notes on This and That: 11/20/03 by Ken Mandelbaum
I hear that next season, Graciela Daniele will stage for New York City Opera a production of The Pirates of Penzance, to be modeled after the smash Pirates production she choreographed for the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1980.

[ B ]  Q&A: Charlotte d'Amboise by Cara Joy David

News:

[ P ]  Taboo's Boy George and Post's Riedel to Stage "Battle of Wits" on"Theater Talk"

[ P ]  Nagarajan and Marayan Set for Broadway's Bombay Dreams

[ P ]  Gibson's Golda�s Balcony Published

[ P ]  Playwright Nilo Cruz to Appear at Barnes & Noble Nov. 21

[ P ]  Listen to My Heart Is "Crossing Over" Nov. 21

[ P ]  "Eloise at Christmastime" Features Andrews, Baranski, Monk and Creel Nov. 22

[ P ]  LuPone and McDonald Set for Ravinia's Sunday in the Park with George

[ P ]  It�s A Wonderful Life to Find Musical Heaven?

[ P ]  Wicked and Hairspray Celebrated on Nov. 21 "Theater Talk"

[ NYP ]  PAGE SIX

Carole Bayer Sager.

Reviews:

[ TM ]  Women on Fire
Reviewed By: David Finkle

[ TB ]  Thoroughly Modern Millie
Cincinnati Review by Scott Cain

posted at 11/20/2003 12:59:22 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



"Laughing Room Only":

[ B ]  Jackie Mason Sings; Critics Groan (In Harmony)

[ B ]  Jackie Mason: Laughing Room Only
Review by William Stevenson

Charging Broadway prices for this comic catastrophe is truly criminal. It's only worth paying if you want to be able to say you've seen the worst musical comedy on Broadway in recent memory.

[ NJ ]  Mason tries to mix music and comedy BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
"Laughing Room Only" is likely to appeal to Mason's big core of fans but won't win him any new converts among musical theater buffs. "Follies" it ain't.

[ NYP ]  'ROOM' TO IMPROVE FOR JACKIE by CLIVE BARNES
Jackie and his shtick are shtuck in between comic musical numbers of varying quality - some bad, some very bad.

[ ND ]  'Laughing Room' Not So Funny by Gordon Cox
What's most offensive about "Laughing Room Only" is that none of it is funny.

[ YN ]  'Laughing Room Only' Feels Familiar by MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic
Jackie Mason, we've heard this song before.

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'LAUGHING ROOM ONLY'
Recycling Endangered Species of Jokes by BRUCE WEBER

By conservative estimate, half of Jackie Mason's solo material, that well-known shtick, has made it into the exercise in redundancy now at the Brooks Atkinson Theater.

[ DN ]  Mason serves up stale Borscht by Howard Kissel

[ TM ]  Laughing Room Only
Reviewed By: David Finkle


Other Reviews:

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'WOMEN ON FIRE'
A Dozen Women With Plenty to Say, and Only One to Portray Them by ANITA GATES

The remarkable Judith Ivey covers 12 characters in Irene O'Garden's revelatory play about insight, or the avoidance of it.

[ ATW ]  Women on Fire Glows with Ivey's Radiant Technique
Review by Andy Propst

[ ATW ]  Two Comedies, 'Wedding' and 'Dead', Fail to Tickle
Review by Andy Propst

[ BG ]  Dazzling female voices enrich lively 'Follies' by Ed Siegel

[ TB ]  Dragons: World Premiere of New Sheldon Harnick Musical
Review by Bob Rendell

[ ATW ]  The Beard of Avon Rich in Comedy, Detail
Review by Andy Propst

[ LAT ]  Flying, flying and more flying by Don Shirley

"Born of a Dream," the Air Force-produced musical celebrating the centennial of the first airplane flight, remains doggedly earthbound.

[ DN ]  Jackman, yes sur-rey by David Bianculli
He's great in 'Oklahoma!'

Features:

[ B ]  Stage Notes: 11/19/03 by Paul Wontorek
Taboo; Anna in the Tropics.

[ NYT ]  This Crop of Broadway Shows Is Finding Dog Days in the Fall by JESSE McKINLEY
Bad reviews, sick stars and glut of offerings have made this one of the bumpiest fall seasons in recent memory on Broadway.

[ NYT ]  Hey, That Big Computer Is Really a Great Actor by JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
"Technology Plays," a theater experiment running at State University in Buffalo this month, features six playlets, but no human actors.

[ HC ]  Linda Eder: 'Star Search' To Star by AMY ELLIS LUNA

[ NYP ]  CINDY ADAMS

MTM: I DO WHAT SIMON SAYS

[ CST ]  Globe Theater reinvents Shakespeare's world BY HEDY WEISS
Mark Rylance, artistic director and leading actor with London's Globe Theatre, has a great deal to feed upon as he prepares to play his role in the company's production of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," the dark romantic comedy that will make its final stop on a U.S. tour next week at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre.

[ YN ]  JFK Assassination Center of New Play by MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Writer
A secret about the John F. Kennedy assassination in 1963 stands at the center of "Frame 312," a timely play by Keith Reddin opening next month at the Atlantic Theater Company.

[ INQ ]  Necessity was the mother of 'Urinetown' by Douglas J. Keating
There's just no telling where or under what circumstances artistic inspiration will strike, or what form it may take.
Look what happened to Greg Kotis.

[ B ]  Photo Op: A Child of Destiny Settles Into the Palace

[ B ]  Photo Op: A Gubernatorial Visit to Henry IV


News:

[ CT ]  'Sunday in Park' next Sondheim at Ravinia by Chris Jones
With Audra McDonald and Patti LuPone in two of the lead roles (the pivotal male lead has not yet been cast), the show will be presented from Sept. 3 to 5.

[ CST ]  At Ravinia Festival, Sondheim's 'George' really will visit the park BY HEDY WEISS

[ ND ]  Mother of Matthew Broderick dies

[ NYT ]  Decades Old Cabaret Law Faces Repeal by MICHAEL COOPER

The Bloomberg administration said it would move to repeal a Jazz Age law that prohibits dancing in bars and nightclubs that do not hold special licenses.

[ NJ ]  Center stage by Peter Filichia
Hilary Kole remembers those days in 1998 when she was singing in the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center and living in Jersey City.

[ ATW ]  Penny Arcade Joins Forces with Chris Rael for 'Rebllion Cabaret' Dec. 5 & 6

[ ATW ]  Isabel Rose Sings "Anything But Love" at Joe's Pub Nov. 24

[ P ]  Today in Theatre History: NOVEMBER 20

[ P ]  Stoppard�s Jumpers Jumps Into West End

[ P ]  Machado's The Cook Opens at Intar Nov. 20

[ P ]  Lincoln Center Hears the Chimes at Midnight as Ambitious Henry IV Opens

[ P ]  Saucy Musical, Café Puttanesca, Revised Since Philly, Plays Pittsburgh Starting Nov. 20

[ P ]  Tom Kneebone, Canadian Actor Who Worked at Shaw and Stratford Fests, Dead at 71

[ P ]  Galati Creates and Directs Oedipus Complex, a World Premiere, for Oregon Shakespeare in 2004

[ P ]  Mint to Tell The Truth About Blayds in March 2004

posted at 11/20/2003 07:54:33 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Features:

[ P ]  PLAYBILL ON-LINE'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Tony Kushner
This holiday season, Tony Kushner is coming to a screen, stage and book store near you.

[ B ]  First Person: The Road to Love and Happiness by William Nicholson

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Avon Calls as Beard Opens at NYTW


Reviews:

[ SUN ]  Pop Musicals: The Interview by JEREMY McCARTER
It�s rare to get an entire musical genre to sit for an interview, especially with a print publication. But late one night last weekend, The New York Sun wedged into a corner table at Angus McIndoe�s restaurant with Pop Music.

[ B ]  DVDs: AFT Tuners by Ken Mandelbaum
LOST IN THE STARS/ JACQUES BREL.... (Kino)

[ B ]  The Beard of Avon
Review by William Stevenson

Amy Freed's comedy about whether William Shakespeare really wrote his plays is witty, smart and fun.

[ TM ]  The Beard of Avon
Reviewed By: David Finkle

The Beard of Avon is a thoroughly engaging play that has been given a thoroughly engaging production.

News:

[ B ]  Children of Eden to Commemorate World AIDS Day

[ B ]  Patti LuPone Considers Can-Can at Encores!

[ B ]  Sherman to Head American Theater Wing

[ B ]  Broadway Grosses: Bumper Crop

[ B ]  Anika Larsen is in the Spotlight on December 1

[ P ]  Ed Asner Is God to Rex Smith and Krista Allen's Adam and Eve in World Premiere Comedy, Nov. 28-Jan. 11

[ P ]  Memorial Service for Dorothy Loudon to Be Held Nov. 20

[ P ]  Christmas Comes Early as Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol Spirits Stages Across the States

[ P ]  Craig Wright's Melissa Arctic, a New Take on Winter's Tale, Premieres in DC in 2004

[ P ]  Kristin Chenoweth Out of Wicked November 19

It's been a difficult season for leading ladies.

[ P ]  Broadway Producers and Wardrobe Union Sign New Pact

[ P ]  Hear Patrick Stewart and Little Shop Songs on "Radio Playbill" Nov. 17-29

[ P ]  Blackout, New Musical by Radiant Baby Composer, Workshopped Dec. 5-6

[ P ]  The Golden Girls Silenced; Hit Production Closes Off-Broadway

[ P ]  "The Today Show" Welcomes Broadway Inspirational Voices; Concert, Too

[ TM ]  Cast of Harmony to Perform at Drama Dept. Event

posted at 11/19/2003 05:30:43 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



News:

[ NYT ]  Gene Anthony Ray, a Dancer in 'Fame,' Dies at 41 by KIMETRIS N. BALTRIP
Like his character in the film, Gene Anthony Ray had never had professional dance training but had a raw talent that dazzled choreographers.

[ IBDB ]  Gene Anthony Ray's Broadway Credits

[ MY ]  Grammy-Winning Composer Kamen Dies

Michael Kamen, the Grammy-winning and Oscar-nominated composer who fused hard-rock riffs with classical styling in albums for Pink Floyd and provided music for the "Lethal Weapon" and "Die Hard" movies," has died at age 55.

[ IBDB ]  Michael Kamen's Broadway Credits

[ NYP ]  KISS OF DEATH by MICHAEL RIEDEL

"THE Oldest Living Confederate Widow" turned out to be one of the shortest living Broadway shows.
Yesterday, the day the reviews came out, the box office took in just a little over $2,000.
Plus Nichols and Charnin on Dorothy Loudon.

[ NYT ]  'Widow' Closes After One Night
The show's one-night run was the shortest on Broadway since "The Apple Doesn't Fall...," a critically maligned comedy that closed on opening night in 1996.

[ B ]  Confederate Widow Closes On Opening Night
This season just keeps getting stranger.

[ WP ]  'Bounce': Plop. By Michael Dirda
Producer Won't Take Sondheim Musical to N.Y.

[ NYT ]  Confirmed: No 'Bounce' to Broadway This Season by JESSE McKINLEY

[ NYT ]  Arts Briefing by LAWRENCE VAN GELDER

Howard Sherman, a veteran of the nonprofit theater world, has been named the executive director of the American Theater Wing, which owns the Tony Awards and produces the Tony Awards show with the League of American Theaters and Producers.
Third item.

[ NYP ]  LIZ SMITH
Paul Newman visits "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"; memories of Dorothy Loudon.

[ P ]  Marin Mazzie Guests on CBS Sitcom Nov. 24
Three-time Tony Award nominee Marin Mazzie will guest on the CBS comedy "Still Standing" in November.

[ P ]  Melissa Errico Offers Valentine's Day Concert Feb. 14

[ P ]  Today in Theatre History: NOVEMBER 19

[ P ]  Jackie Mason Produces a $19.99 Musical in New Comedy Laughing Room Only, Nov. 19

[ P ]  Epic Family Epic Presents a Not-So-Happy Thanksgiving, Nov. 19-29

[ P ]  Judith Ivey Lights a Fire Off-Broadway Nov. 19

[ P ]  Judith Ivey May Be Watergate�s Martha Mitchell in New Off-Broadway Show

[ P ]  Off-Bway's Golf: The Musical Tees Off Nov. 19


Features:

[ NYT ]  Intrigued by Characters With Dark Mysteries by RANDY KENNEDY
Aiden Gillen, an Irish actor largely unknown here, may be stealing the show from Patrick Stewart and Kyle MacLachlan in "The Caretaker" on Broadway.

[ TM ]  Peter Filichia's Diary
Filichia talks to Randy Ellen Lutterman about Springboard NYC, a program to help aspiring actors.

[ ND ]  Memory Play From a Crowded Backseat by Karin Lipson
Paula Vogel uses puppets to help capture drama of a hellish holiday ride

[ ND ]  No Holds Bard by Blake Green
Jack O'Brien dances with Shakespeare

[ LAT ]  The blue brothers by Erika Schickel
A good man is hard to find, especially if you're casting for the ever-expanding Blue Man Group franchise.

Thanks to American Theater Web for the following features!

[ OCR ]  A bittersweet 'Sugar Plum Fairy' by PAUL HODGINS
In her latest one-woman show, Sandra Tsing Loh takes a humorous swipe at Christmas in Southern California from the viewpoint of a kid who didn't fit in.

[ BR ]  Politically incorrect with a wink by BRIDGET BYRNE
Harriet Harris and "It's All Relative."

"The Beard of Avon" - Reviews:

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'THE BEARD OF AVON'
Cutting Shakespeare Down to Size at His Own Game by BRUCE WEBER

Delivered with genuine delight, Amy Freed's vamp on the Bard is a clever, thoughtful and entertaining farce.

[ NJ ]  'Beard' tickles but could use a trim BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
Amy Freed's new play grows overlong and cumbersome, but it's entertaining whenever the script sticks to the lighter side of her yarn.

[ YN ]  'Beard' a Funny Vision of Shakespeare by JUSTIN GLANVILLE, Associated Press Writer
The performances are without fault, especially what should be a star-making turn by Kate Jennings Grant (formerly of "Proof" and "Radiant Baby") as Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway.

[ DN ]  It Shakes with laughter by Howard Kissel
Amy Freed's "The Beard of Avon" is an extended in-joke about the authorship of Shakespeare's plays. But you don't have to be a Shakespeare scholar to enjoy its rollicking humor.

[ NYP ]  GOOD WILL FRONTING by DONALD LYONS
"The Beard of Avon" offers an enormously funny - and, toward the end, surprisingly sad - production of an enormously funny play.

[ CU ]  The Beard of Avon
Review


Other Reviews:

[ NJ ]  Redeeming Oedipus: African Globe stages spirited revival of Greek tragedy BY PETER FILICHIA

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'BAD GIRLS'
Keeping Mom's Suitors at Bay With Attitude and Deceit by MARGO JEFFERSON

Joyce Carol Oates's play, based on her short story, tells a familiar story but with enough twists to make good drama.

[ BG ]  A quick-witted gift for the Majestic's 100th by Ed Siegel
It's hard to say whether the play has life beyond Emerson. Kaufman and Hart are not really in the limelight these days, but the production makes a case that we're not necessarily the richer for that.

[ BH ]  Beautiful girls steal the show through Sondheim's glorious songs by Terry Byrne
Len Cariou may provide some high-profile glamour to Overture Production's concert version of "Follies," but it's the girls, those "Beautiful Girls," who bring down the house.

[ BH ]  Cab's daughter hails less-famous Calloway by Robert Nesti

[ LAT ]  Fast and furious by Reed Johnson

Tim Robbins takes the White House and the media to task in the rowdy, unapologetic 'Embedded.'

[ TM ]  Where We're Born
Reviewed By: David Finkle

[ CU ]  Where We're Born
Review

[ TM ]  The Siegel Column

Ashley Judd's Cat falls off the roof and Patrick Stewart stumbles in The Caretaker, but cabaret's Jeanne MacDonald and Mychelle Colleary dazzle.

[ TM ]  Tunes, Tomes, & Videos
Matthew Murray marks Hugh Jackman Day with reviews of the new Oklahoma! DVD and the Broadway cast album of The Boy From Oz.

[ VV ]  Taboo Ought To Be Better, But It Could Be a Whole Lot Worse by Michael Feingold

[ TIME ]  Rosie�s Bum Rap: In Defense of Taboo

Broadway and Beyond: Richard Zoglin on why the embattled musical isn't as bad as everyone says
Thanks to LC_London on All That Chat for the link!

[ VV ]  Nursery Crimes
Parents throttle it out at murderously selective pre-school by Francine Russo

Eric Coble's Bright Ideas

[ VV ]  Darkness Risible
Wicked wordsmith Anne Washburn rouses campfire chills by Alexis Soloski

Anne Washburn's Apparition

posted at 11/19/2003 10:07:28 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

[ P ]  Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells No More; Show Closes on Broadway
Following only one official performance, the Broadway staging of Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All at the Longacre Theatre has closed Nov. 18.

[ TM ]  Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All Closes After Opening Night

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Ellen Burstyn Tells All as Widow Opens on Broadway

[ VV ]  Southern Discomforts
Maybe the South shall rise again, but not as a result of this week's Broadway openings by Michael Feingold

Anna in the Tropics; Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All

[ P ]  Harmony Troupe Will Sing Its Own Elegy at Drama Dept. Thanksgiving Benefit, Nov. 24 in NYC
The eclectic Drama Dept. Thanksgiving Special Nov. 24 will include a visit by the refugee cast of Harmony, the Bruce Sussman-Manilow musical whose plug was suddenly pulled Nov. 13 by its producer after four weeks of rehearsals.

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'ENCORES!'
Broadway Triumphs, Revisited by BRUCE WEBER

The Encores! series of musicals in concert, a popular feature at City Center over the last decade, generally focuses on works grown dusty in storage. But at three omnibus performances on Sunday and Monday some of the American musical's best-known songs were featured in a very happy celebration of City Center itself.

posted at 11/18/2003 05:22:02 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



[ STARS ]  The Bottom Line: Scalpers and BroadwayStars by James Marino
posted at 11/18/2003 05:13:24 PM by James Marino | Item Link



Features:

[ NYT ]  PUBLIC LIVES
Still Carrying a Torch for AIDS Prevention by ROBIN FINN

Kate Shindle, the 1998 Miss America, is now a militant AIDS activist.

[ P ]  Fathers & Sons
Lincoln Center Theater's Henry IV combines two of Shakespeare's finest history plays � Henry IV Parts I and II � into a monumental account of power, passion and the boy who would be king.

Reviews:

[ B ]  NYC Critics Consider Burstyn's Confederate Widow

[ B ]  Random Notes on This and That: 11/18/03 by Ken Mandelbaum

Recent plays.

News:

[ P ]  Everyone Wants Answers to The Story, Urban Newspaper Drama, Starting Nov. 18 at The Public

[ P ]  Musical Assassins Sets Broadway Dates; Tickets on Sale Feb. 23

[ P ]  Patti LuPone May Star in Encores! Can-Can

[ P ]  Donna Murphy Back in Broadway's Wonderful Town Nov. 18

[ P ]  Lithgow and Kitt to Light Holiday Tree Dec. 10; Hairspray Performs

[ P ]  Sondheim, Cook, Broderick, Lane and More Part of Times' Arts & Leisure Weekend

[ P ]  Berlind: Bounce Will Not Come to Broadway

[ P ]  Fame Lives Forever on New CD, Now in Stores

[ B ]  Roundabout's Assassins Announces Dates

[ TM ]  Drama Desk to Host Luncheon Honoring Sam Norkin

[ TM ]  Sondheim, Cook, Kushner, Cruz, Lane, Broderick, and Others Set for New York Times Talks

posted at 11/18/2003 12:55:13 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



[ V ]  Berlind won't bring 'Bounce' to B'way
Producer bows 'Tropics,' preps 'Town'

"Bounce" is no. And "Town" is a go. New musical "Bounce" by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman will not make the jump from the Kennedy Center, where it closed Sunday, to Gotham.

[ NYP ]  PAGE SIX
ROSIE FACES $20M 'TABOO' LOSS

[ NYP ]  LIZA HIT$ GEST BACK by KATE SHEEHY
Accused punch-drunk diva Liza Minnelli is taking a very public swing at estranged hubby David Gest, slapping him with a lawsuit for at least $2 million for allegedly ripping her off.

"Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All":

[ B ]  Photo Op: Burstyn's Back on B'way as a Confederate Widow

[ YN ]  'Widow' Makes Stodgy Impression by MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic

This one-woman show is a meandering memory play, delivered by Ellen Burstyn in a quaint, folksy manner that suggests a Norman Rockwell portrait by way of a kinder, gentler Granny Clampett.

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'OLDEST LIVING CONFEDERATE WIDOW TELLS ALL'
That Spunky Old Belle Isn't Just Whistlin' 'Dixie' by BRUCE WEBER

Ellen Burstyn's energetic take on Lucy, the narrator, neither physically nor temperamentally represents the supine character in Allan Gurganus's book.

[ ND ]  Big Work in a Biddy Play by Gordon Cox
Burstyn's skill almost smoothes the wrinkles in 'Widow'

[ DN ]  Burstyn's effort 'All' for naught by Howard Kissel
Burstyn has employed everything she has learned as an actress to make a drama from a rambling, largely comic narrative.

[ HC ]  Burstyn's Art Of Storytelling by MALCOLM JOHNSON
Her new solo show reveals the dimensions of Burstyn, in a multiple characterization far different from her caustic, secretive, failing Mary Tyrone in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" at Hartford Stage.

[ NJ ]  Ponderous script drives ol' Dixie down BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
Having witnessed poor "Bobbi Boland" in its off-off-Broadway staging early in 2001, it's safe to say that everyone -- Farrah Fawcett included -- was spared a Broadway nightmare when the play's producer pulled the plug after seven previews last week.
But who anticipated that Ellen Burstyn would come riding in on a deep-fried turkey?

[ NYP ]  DIXIE CHICK BLABS ON by CLIVE BARNES
Despite the sterling efforts of an elegantly passionate Burstyn and the caring direction of Don Scardino, this strange, spunky old lady never really came to life.

[ USA ]  'Oldest Living Confederate Widow' is a deadly dull affair by Elysa Gardner

[ TB ]  Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
Review by Matthew Murray

Burstyn triumphs over a so-so script by giving an excellent, truly memorable performance.

[ B ]  Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
Review by William Stevenson

Burstyn is a superb actress, but she's not at her best here and isn't able to rise above the so-so script.

[ TM ]  Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
Reviewed By: David Finkle

Tahse's play is an anemic edit of an eminently worthwhile piece of writing. Those genuinely intrigued by the idea of Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All are encouraged to check out the Gurganus original.

[ SUN ]  Songs & the South by JEREMY McCARTER
"Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All," "Encores! Bash," "Apparition."

Other Reviews:

[ NYT ]  Theater in Review
Reviews of 'The Lady Next Door' at Folksbiene Yiddish Theater; the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall; 'Like I Say' at the Flea Theater; Big Apple Circus at Damrosch Park.

[ CU ]  Like I Say
Review

[ NYP ]  FROM SHTETL, THEY SHOW METTLE by DONALD LYONS

THE Folksbiene Yiddish Theater, one of the city's most remarkable cultural institutions, is entering its 89th season. Now it's reviving a comedy almost as old as it is: "The Lady Next Door, or Temptation in the Tenements."

[ CU ]  The Lady Next Door
Review

[ BH ]  Emerson conjures up spirited update of 'Fabulous Invalid' by Terry Byrne

With Alice Ripley.

[ TB ]  Design for Living: Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne
Book Review by Alan Gomberg

[ ATW ]  CD Review: Decca Broadway's Recording of The Boy from Oz


Features:

[ NYT ]  Well-Observed Waiting, and a Fruitful First Play by ROBIN POGREBIN
Tristine Skyler's "The Moonlight Room," which opened to good reviews, is based on her own encounters with dysfunction as a teenager living in New York City.

[ USA ]  Michelle's destiny is written in the stars by Elysa Gardner
Michelle Williams is about to become the second R&B star to step into the shoes of a certain Broadway princess.

[ HC ]  Legit, At Last? by FRANK RIZZO
'Chicago' Just The Latest Of Many Serious Roles For Gregory Harrison

News:

[ B ]  New Dates Set for Fiddler on the Roof Revival

[ P ]  Surrey with the Fringe: Oklahoma! Starring Jackman Released on DVD, Nov. 18

[ P ]  To Beard or Not to Beard: Nelson Opens Shakespeare Comedy Beard of Avon, Nov. 18

[ P ]  Destiny's Child Michelle Williams Plays Title Role in Bway's Aida, Nov. 18

[ P ]  Broadway Grosses: November 10-16

[ P ]  Premiere of Joanna Glass' Trying, With Fritz Weaver, Replaces Julie Harris Vehicle at Chicago's VGT

[ P ]  Friel's Fathers and Sons Finds a Home With TACT Concert Reading, Nov. 22-24

posted at 11/18/2003 09:06:19 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Monday, November 17, 2003

Reviews:

[ TM ]  Encores! Bash
Reviewed By: Michael Portantiere

[ ND ]  The Smoky Nostalgia of a Cigar Town by Linda Winer

"Anna in the Tropics," for all its superficial modesty, manages to be a nostalgic cultural tone poem, wrenching labor history and a full-blown old-fashioned bodice ripper.

Features:

[ TM ]  Photo File by: Joseph Marzullo and Michael Portantiere
Our photogs focus on Rob Marshall, Tommy Tune, Patrick Stewart, Jane Krakowski, Hugh Jackman, Jimmy Smits, Ra�l Esparza, and other stars at recent openings and celebrations.

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Anna in New York; Pulitzer Winner Opens on Broadway

Thanks to American Theater Web for the following features!

[ NY ]  Open Fawcett by Ada Calhoun
Farrah spouts off about her Broadway un-debut.

[ NYer ]  THE BOARDS: CLOSED by Jeffrey Frank
Fawcett has tried to be staunch, but it is clear that the early death of �Bobbi Boland� is a torment.

News:

[ P ]  Angela Lansbury to Tour U.S. In A Royal Christmas

[ P ]  Bergen's Back at the Belasco in Six Dance Lessons Nov. 18

[ P ]  Aeschylus Meets the Mummy: 2,500-Year-Old, Lost Greek Trilogy Found Under Wraps

[ P ]  Movin' Out Crowns a "Big Shot" Nov. 18 as Contest Finalists Vie to Play on Broadway

[ P ]  The Songs of Ethel Merman Sung Nov. 17 in Musicals Tonight! Concert; Ella Celebrated Dec. 8

[ P ]  Jack and Jill Meet Dick and Jane in New Musical, Fetching Water; NYC Reading Is Dec. 15

[ TM ]  Kitt and Lithgow to Light Broadway Holiday Tree

[ TM ]  Tony Award Winner Dorothy Loudon Dies at 70

[ TM ]  James Earl Jones to Introduce August Wilson Reading on December 3 at the 92nd Street Y

[ B ]  Mamma Mia! to Change West End Venues

[ B ]  It's a Wonderful Life Heads to the West End

posted at 11/17/2003 05:35:38 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



Reviews:

[ B ]  Were Critics Enamored with Anna in the Tropics?

Features:

[ B ]  All of My Laughter by Ken Mandelbaum
Memories of Dorothy Loudon.

News:

[ P ]  Producers Sells Like Hotcakes in First 12 Hours of Box Office for Lane and Broderick Run

[ P ]  Wonderful Town Understudy Linda Mugleston Releases CD

[ P ]  Mack Will Be Back: Jean Cocteau Rep Threepenny Opera to Return in June 2004

[ P ]  Minskoff Box Office Opens Nov. 17 for Fiddler on the Roof; New First Preview Date Is Jan. 23, 2004

[ P ]  Drama Desk Panel Honors Caricaturist Sam Norkin, Dec. 5

[ P ]  Felicity Kendall Up to Her Neck In Hall�s Happy Days

[ P ]  Sony Releases Jerry Springer Complete Recording

[ P ]  She Loves to Hear the Music: The Boy From Oz Cast Recording Released, Nov. 18

[ P ]  Take Me Out Tony Winner Denis O'Hare Reads Virginia Woolf in Boston, Dec. 8

[ P ]  Richard Dreyfuss to Star in London�s Producers?

posted at 11/17/2003 12:27:22 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link



"Anna in the Tropics":

[ B ]  Photo Op: Pulitzer Champ Anna Lands on Broadway

[ HC ]  'Anna' Is Passionate, Predictable by MALCOLM JOHNSON

Nilo Cruz's romantic, fatalistic "Anna in the Tropics" won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for drama, but its incarnation at Broadway's Royale Theatre too often feels like an also-ran.

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'ANNA IN THE TROPICS'
The Poetry of Yearning, the Artistry of Seduction by BEN BRANTLEY

Jimmy Smits and Daphne Rubin-Vega bring a glow of sexual chemistry to Broadway in the warmly acted but poorly staged production at the Royale Theater.

[ NYP ]  'TROPICS' SMOKIN' by CLIVE BARNES
Should this play have won the Pulitzer Prize? There have been worse winners - and better ones.

[ DN ]  'Anna in the Tropics': Close, but no cigar by Howard Kissel
Nilo Cruz's "Anna in the Tropics" won the Pulitzer last spring, when the judges made their decision simply by reading it. But its production often falls short of its poetic images.

[ NJ ]  'Anna' smolders on Broadway BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
Nilo Cruz's graceful romance fulfills all expectations.

[ YN ]  'Anna' Finds Life, Art in a Factory by MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic
Expectations were high for "Anna in the Tropics" because of the Pulitzer, and director Emily Mann's version, first seen earlier in the season at the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, N.J., fulfills them admirably.

[ USA ]  'Anna in the Tropics' smolders with smoky sentimentality by Elysa Gardner
Freud would have had a field day with the parade of images in Anna in the Tropics (**� out of four). Cigars are licked and puffed, guns toted and fired; there's even a giddy cockfight. You half expect a woman to come galloping in on horseback with a Popsicle stick in her mouth.

[ TB ]  Anna In The Tropics
Review by Matthew Murray

The script and the production it's received here casts an aura of being both too slight and too overblown to be completely effective.

[ TM ]  Anna in the Tropics
Reviewed By: David Finkle

If the judges had experienced Anna in the Tropics in performance rather than on the page alone, they might have recognized that this is a play of modest virtues.

[ B ]  Anna in the Tropics
Review by William Stevenson

Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics, a surprise winner of the Pulitzer Prize last spring, is a beautifully written play that's been given an outstanding production by director Emily Mann with an ideal cast.

News:

[ CST ]  Julie Harris bows out at Victory Gardens
Abiding by her doctor's orders, actress Julie Harris, who has been in frail health since suffering a stroke several years ago, has decided to withdraw from her planned return to Victory Gardens Theatre this spring in the world premiere of Claudia Allen's play "Hanging Fire."

[ NYT ]  For 'The Producers,' Another Box Office Bonanza by JESSE McKINLEY
Who says theater is dead?
Thousands descended on the St. James Theater to buy � or try to buy � tickets for the return engagement of Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane.

[ DN ]  Long Lane line at 'Producers' by DEREK ROSE
Nobody delivers Broadway lines quite like Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick.

[ P ]  It's a Smash (Again) as Ticketbuyers Storm The Producers Box Office

[ P ]  Broadway's Thanksgiving Week Performance Schedule

[ P ]  Today In Theatre History: NOVEMBER 17

[ P ]  Gypsy's Bernadette Peters Chats on Radio Nov. 17

[ P ]  Feinstein to Sing at Feinstein's, Nov. 24- Dec. 27

[ P ]  Laughing Room Only's Johanson to Direct It's a Fabulous Life Musical

[ P ]  Burstyn Retells Life Stories as Oldest Living Confederate Widow Opens on Broadway, Nov. 17

[ P ]  Real Exonerees Perform in Off-Broadway's The Exonerated, Nov. 18-23

[ P ]  Dorothy Loudon, Miss Hannigan of Annie, Is Dead at 70


Features:

[ TM ]  Peter Filichia's Diary
Can Filichia find musical theater references to all 50 states? Need you ask?

Reviews:

[ NJ ]  This'll slay you BY PETER FILICHIA
'Dragons' has a lot to say about dictators and the abuse of power

[ TB ]  We're All Dead
Review by Matthew Murray

[ CU ]  Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman
London Review by Lizzie Loveridge

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'BRIGHT IDEAS'
Scandal for School (Don't Try This at Home) by BRUCE WEBER

This black comedy about a couple trying to get their child into preschool may be overzealous, but it should still be commended for its social commentary.

[ NYer ]  BABY, REMEMBER MY NAME by HILTON ALS
How to become a star, nineteen-eighties style.
"Taboo" and "Fame."

posted at 11/17/2003 07:44:01 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Sunday, November 16, 2003

News:

[ DN ]  Dorothy Loudon, 70, 'Annie' Tony winner
Visiting will be 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel, 1076 Madison Ave. A service will take place there at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

[ NYT ]  Dorothy Loudon, 70, 'Annie' Tony-Winner, Dies by JESSE McKINLEY

[ B ]  Tony Winner Dorothy Loudon Dead at 70

[ NYT ]  Stephen Bates, 50; Theater Conductor, Is Dead

[ IBDB ]  Stephen Bates' Broadway Credits

[ YN ]  Manilow Musical 'Harmony' in Jeopardy

"Other than the death of my mother, this is probably the most devastating day of my life," Manilow told the New York Post. "Maybe even more so, because it affects so many other people."
Still waiting for that Riedel article from Friday to be available online...

[ NYP ]  LIZ SMITH
THAT JAI IS OK
Plus "Taboo" and Carole Bayer Sager.

[ P ]  Talk Show Watch: Jerry Springer, the Opera on "Sunday Morning", Stamos on "Leno" and "Degeneres", Wicked on Letterman

[ P ]  Today In Theatre History: NOVEMBER 16

[ P ]  Porter and Murney to Sing Marzullo at Duplex Nov. 23

[ P ]  Tolstoy and Tobacco: Anna in the Tropics Brings Cruz to Broadway, Nov. 16

[ P ]  Cast Set for Long Wharf Theatre's News-War Satire A New War

[ P ]  Fiddler on the Roof Phone Sales Start Nov. 16; Minskoff Box Office Opens Nov. 17


Features:

[ ND ]  The Ones And Only by Blake Green
A number of plays on and off Broadway have actors strutting the stage solo portraying everyone from Yogi Berra to a famous German transvestite

[ NYT ]  DEBRIEFING
Farrah Fawcett's Early Exit by EMILY NUSSBAUM

In an interview, Farrah Fawcett talked about her disappointment at the decision to close the Broadway play "Bobbi Boland" after only a week of previews.

[ NYT ]  Men Are the Real Dolls in This House of Ibsen by RON JENKINS
In Lee Breuer's new version of "DollHouse," the female characters tower over the male characters, creating a visual commentary on sexual politics.

[ NYT ]  Where There's a Will, or Two, or Maybe Quite a Few by WILLIAM S. NIEDERKORN
In "The Beard of Avon," Amy Freed dives into the arcane Shakespeare authorship debate and turns it into a satirical play.

[ NYT ]  Angels, Reagan and AIDS in America by FRANK RICH
HBO's film version of "Angels in America" could detonate a debate bloody enough to make the fight over "The Reagans" look like an exhibition bout.

[ BH ]  Benson thrives in a 'Miserable' situation by Robert Nesti
When it comes to "Les Miserables," actress Cindy Benson has come full circle. In 1987, she was in the first Broadway company, understudying the role of Madame Thenardier, the show's coarse, comic villain.
Now 17 years later, she's back in the role in the touring company that plays at the Colonial through Dec. 7.

[ CT ]  Mullally's roots run deep in Chicago by Nina Metz
'Will & Grace' star got start at local theaters

[ HC ]  Will `Bounce' Bounce Back? One Can Only Hope

[ BSUN ]  A precocious grasp of identity by J. Wynn Rousuck

A young playwright grapples with who we are and how we're seen by others

Thanks to American Theater Web for the following features!

[ PP ]  Linda Gray relishes taking Mrs. Robinson on the road BY DOMINIC P. PAPATOLA

[ IS ]  Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson by Peter Szatmary

In 'The Graduate,' Linda Gray has a leg up on other actresses.

[ OCR ]  Shape shifter by PAUL HODGINS
A last-minute inspiration leads to an innovative and eclectic theater and gallery tucked into a corner of Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Reviews:

[ P ]  ON THE RECORD: Little Shop, Albertine and Zanna

[ TB ]  Machinal
Review by Matthew Murray

[ TM ]  As You Like It
Reviewed By: Sandy MacDonald

[ BG ]  A union of stage, screen brings out the worst of each by Ed Siegel

Producers Ely and Edie Landau had what seemed like a brilliant idea in the 1970s.

posted at 11/16/2003 10:51:29 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

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[Past News]
 
     
BROADWAYSTAR'S FIVE DAY FORECAST


2007-08
Broadway Season

June 28 - Old Acquaintance (AA)

July 10 - Xanadu (Hayes) [Robert Ahrens, Dan Vickery, Tara Smith/B. Swibel and Sarah Murchison/Dale Smith]

Aug 19 - Grease (Atkinson)

Oct 4 - Mauritius (Biltmore) [MTC]

Oct 11 - The Ritz (54)

Oct 18 - Pygmalion (AA)

Oct 25 - A Bronx Tale (Kerr)

Nov 1 - Cyrano de Bergerac (Rodgers)

Nov 4 - Rock 'N' Roll (Jacobs)

Nov 8 - Young Frankenstein (Hilton)

Nov 9 - Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (St. James)

Nov 10: Local One Strike Begins

Nov 28: Local One Strike Ends

Dec 2 - Cymbeline (Beaumont)

Dec 3 - The Farnsworth Invention (Music Box) [Dodger Properties with Steven Spielberg, Dan Cap Productions, Fred Zollo, Latitude Link and the Pelican Group]

Dec 4 - August: Osage County (Imperial) [Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler, Jerry Frankel, Steppenwolf]

Dec 6 - The Seafarer (Booth)

Dec 9 - Is He Dead? (Lyceum)

Dec 16 - The Homecoming (Cort) [Richards, Frankel]

Jan 10 - The Little Mermaid (Lunt)

Jan 15 - The 39 Steps (AA)

Jan 17 - November (Barrymore)

Jan 24 - Come Back, Little Sheba (Biltmore)

Feb 21 - Sunday In The Park With George (54)

Feb 28 - Passing Strange (Belasco)

Mar 6 - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Broadhurst) [Stephen C. Byrd]

Mar 9 - In The Heights (Rodgers)

Mar 27 - Gypsy (St. James)

Mar 29 - Macbeth (Lyceum)

Apr 3 - South Pacific (Beaumont)

Apr 17 - A Catered Affair (Kerr) [Jujamcyn Theaters, Jordan Roth, Harvey Entertainment / Ron Fierstein, Richie Jackson and Daryl Roth]

Apr 24 - Cry Baby (Marquis)

Apr 27 - The Country Girl (Jacobs)

Apr 30 - Thurgood (Booth)

May 1 - Les Liaisons Dangereuses (AA)

May 4 - Boeing-Boeing (Longacre)

May 7 - Top Girls (Biltmore)

TBA - Godspell

2008-09
Broadway Season

Oct 16 - Billy Elliot (Imperial)

Nov 08 - Dividing the Estate (a Shubert theater)

Dec 14 - Shrek: The Musical (Broadway) [DreamWorks]

Talked About
Not Scheduled Yet

TBA - 50 Words

TBA - Addams Family (Elephant Eye)

TBA - American Buffalo

TBA - An American Vaudeville [Farrell, Perloff]

TBA - The Beard of Avon [NYTW]

TBA - Being There [Permut]

TBA - Benny & Joon [MGM]

TBA - Billy Elliot

TBA - Brave New World [Rachunow]

TBA - Breath of Life [Fox]

TBA - Busker Alley [Margot Astrachan, Robert Blume, Kristine Lewis, Jamie Fox, Joanna Kerry & Heather Duke]

TBA - Broomhilda

TBA - Bye Bye Birdie [Niko]

TBA - Camille Claudel [Wildhorn]

TBA - Camelot

TBA - Carmen [Robin DeLevita and The Firm]

TBA - Catch Me If You Can

TBA - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon [Bob and Harvey Weinstein]

TBA - Cry Baby [Grazer, Gordon, McAllister, Epstein]

TBA - Designing Women [Alexis]

TBA - Don Juan DeMarco [New Line]

TBA - Dreamgirls [Creative Battery]

TBA - Duet

TBA - Equus

TBA - Ever After [Adam Epstein]

TBA - Fallen Angels (Shubert) [Kenwright]

TBA - Farragut North [Richards]

TBA - Father of the Bride

TBA - The Female Of The Species (TBA)

TBA - Fool For Love (AA) [Roundabout]

TBA - Girl Group Time Travelers

TBA - Golden Boy

TBA - Harmony [Guiles, Karslake, Smith, Fishman]

TBA - Hitchcock Blonde

TBA - The Importance Of Being Earnest

TBA - Jerry Springer: The Opera! [Thoday, McKeown]

TBA - Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train (Circle)

TBA - Josephine [Waissman]

TBA - Leap of Faith

TBA - A Little Princess [Ettinger, Dodger]

TBA - Midnight Cowboy [MGM]

TBA - The Minstrel Show - Kander and Ebb and Stroman

TBA - Moonstruck [Pittelman, Azenberg]

TBA - Mourning Becomes Electra [Haber, Boyett]

TBA - Monsoon Wedding

TBA - The Night of the Hunter

TBA - The Opposite of Sex [Namco]

TBA - Orphans

TBA - Pal Joey [Platt]

TBA - Paper Doll

TBA - The Paris Letter

TBA - The Philadelphia Story

TBA - Peter Pan

TBA - Porgy and Bess [Frankel, Viertel, Baruch, Routh, Panter, Tulchin/Bartner]

TBA - The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert

TBA - The Princess Bride

TBA - Princesses [Lane, Comley]

TBA - Poe the Musical

TBA - Rain Man [MGM]

TBA - Robin Hood

TBA - Secondhand Lions

TBA - South Pacific

TBA - Speed-the-Plow

TBA - Stalag 17

TBA - Starry Messenger

TBA - Syncopation

TBA - A Tale Of Two Cities

TBA - Torch Song Trilogy

TBA - Turn of the Century

TBA - West Side Story

TBA - The Wall [Weinstein, Mottola, Waters]

TBA - Will Rogers Follies [Cossette]

TBA - The Wiz [Dodger]

TBA - Zanna [Dalgleish]

This list is compiled from various sources. If you have corrections to the Broadway Season, please contact us.

 
   


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