Saturday, November 20, 2004

[ CPD ]  Disney revue is too cute - way too cute by Tony Brown
"On the Record" is awful cute. Take your pick. Either way, you'd be right.
Thanks to American Theater Web for the link.

Features:

[ B ]  Stage Notes: Repeat After Me: Change Is Good by Paul Wontorek
Some notes on Broadway.com, Version 4.0 and Kelsey Grammer's musical Scrooge.

[ NYT ]  The Michael and Michael Shows By PHOEBE HOBAN
When the playwright Michael Frayn ("Democracy") found the director Michael Blakemore, he discovered the perfect partner for his ultra-cerebral conceits.

[ NYT ]  They Might Be Weekenders By KATHRYN SHATTUCK
"People Are Wrong!," a rock opera that was born in the Catskills, makes its way to Manhattan, with the help of a lot of wine (and an indie-rock hero).

[ NYT ]  Filtering Priests' Sins Through Two Prisms By DAVID COTE
New plays by Michael Murphy and John Patrick Shanley explore the reaction of church members to suspected sex abuse by priests.

[ ND ]  A writer�s actor by Gordon Cox
If Brian F. O'Byrne had his way, you wouldn't notice him at all.

[ ND ]  THREE STAGES OF THE UNPREDICTABLE BY GORDON COX
John Patrick Shanley brings a trio of very different plays to New York in a single month

[ WP ]  An 'Earnest' That Won't Go to Camp By William Triplett
Director Everett Quinton, Keeping His Wilde Side in Check

[ LAT ]  'Macbeth' with no lady? By Jan Breslauer
Stephen Dillane brings the tragedy to life as the only actor onstage, but it was a partnership with director Travis Preston that brought the studied staging to REDCAT.

[ B ]  PHOTO OP: A Vote for Democracy on Opening Night

[ B ]  Video: On the Scene: Phantom Film Stars Visit Bloomingdale's

[ P ]  PLAYBILL ON OPENING NIGHT: Democracy; A Brit Hit Yanked into Shape

[ RMN ]  Broadway actress finally gets Colorado break by Lisa Bornstein
Many Broadway performers have spent years hoofing it in the background before getting better roles in smaller towns.
Susan Dawn Carson isn't one of them.

[ SFC ]  'Chuck' Grodin all smiles as his play previews at the Magic by Jane Ganahl
Thanks to American Theater Web for the last two links above.

News:

[ B ]  Robert Sella and Chip Zien Join Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Cast

[ B ]  Jeffrey Kuhn to Take on the Role of Boq in Wicked

[ P ]  World Premiere Charles Grodin Comedy The Right Kind of People Opens Nov. 20

[ P ]  Penetration Play, a World Premiere About Two Friends, a Mother and Expectations, Gets NYC Run by 13P Troupe Nov. 20-Dec. 11

[ P ]  Wicked Cast Members � Past and Present � Sing for BC/EFA Nov. 22

[ P ]  Sing Hallelujah! Goodspeed Musicals Revives Earlier Hit, Abyssinia, for 2005 Opera House Season

Obituaries:

[ G ]  Obituary: Glyn Owen
Veteran television and stage actor
Thanks to American Theater Web for the link.

[ B ]  Glyn Owen's Broadway Credits

[ NYT ]  Cy Coleman, Composer Whose Jazz-Fired Musicals Blazed on Broadway, Dies at 75 By ROBERT BERKVIST
Cy Coleman was the debonair jazz pianist and composer of legendary Broadway tunes like "Witchcraft," "Big Spender" and "The Best Is Yet to Come."

[ LAT ]  Cy Coleman, 75; Tony-Winning Composer Also Wrote Pop Hits By Jon Thurber
Writer Larry Gelbart, who collaborated with Coleman on the Broadway hit "City of Angels," predicted that in the wake of Coleman's death, "they'll find any number of shows no one knew he was working on, like secret bank accounts. He was so prodigious. Music was his first language. If he ever had to stop writing, that would be the most stressful thing in his life."

[ DN ]  B'way big Cy dies BY HOWARD KISSEL

[ WP ]  Tony-Winning Composer Cy Coleman Dies By Matt Schudel

[ P ]  Gregory Mitchell, Broadway Dancer, Dead at 52

Reviews:

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE'
A Professional Failure Faces Certain Doom: Success By SARAH LYALL
Since Toby Young, by his own account, has made a career out of being a hapless loser, it is fitting that his play - about what a loser he is - is not so bad.

[ NYT ]  Theater Review | 'Dogugaeshi': The Veils Give Way to Veils as an Art Comes Into Focus

[ NYT ]  Theater Review | 'Stealin' Home (A Baseball Fantasy)': A Baseball Legend Playing a New Position: Flawed Human

[ LAT ]  'Lay-A-Way': See now, pay during By Daryl H. Miller
Toward the end of the 1 1/2-hour first act at Wednesday's problem-plagued first performance, a woman sitting near the front of the auditorium began to extemporize lines that were funnier than anything coming from the stage, and as the intermission curtain came down and the house lights went up, a nearby gentleman moaned, "This is horrible."

[ CST ]  John Mahoney brings life and liberty to 'Egmont' BY WYNNE DELACOMA

[ HC ]  Penetrating The Chancellor's Inner Circle In 'Democracy' By MALCOLM JOHNSON
posted at 11/20/2004 11:04:40 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Friday, November 19, 2004

News:

[ Y ]  Broadway Musical Composer Cy Coleman Dies By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Writer

[ TM ]  Broadway Composer Cy Coleman Dies at 75
Coleman attended the Broadway opening of the Michael Frayn play Democracy last evening and fell ill during the after-party at Tavern on the Green; his wife Shelby then accompanied him to New York Hospital, where he collapsed and died.

[ B ]  Award-Winning Composer Cy Coleman Dead at 75

[ P ]  PBOL'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, Nov. 13-29: The Life of Coleman

[ B ]  Douglas Sills Withdraws from Spamalot; Christopher Sieber to Play Galahad

[ TM ]  Douglas Sills Withdraws from Spamalot

[ P ]  Douglas Sills Leaves Upcoming Broadway Musical Monty Python's Spamalot

[ P ]  Mazzie and Danieley to Sing Harold Arlen in February 2005

[ P ]  Free Reading of Sheppard's Roommates Presented Nov. 22

[ P ]  Broadway's Thanksgiving Week Performance Schedule

[ P ]  Howard Zinn and Other Noted Guests Set to Appear in Off-Broadway's Guantánamo

[ P ]  John Landis to Direct Bat Boy: The Musical The Movie

[ B ]  Tommy Chong to Step into Off-Broadway's The Marijuana-Logues

[ B ]  Altar Boyz to Play Dodger Stages Beginning February 15

[ P ]  Altar Boyz to Arrive Off-Broadway in February 2005

[ TM ]  The Mambo Kings Announced for Broadway Opening in August 2005

[ P ]  The Mambo Kings to Heat Broadway in Summer 2005 After San Francisco Debut

Features:

[ B ]  Video: In Rehearsals: Little Women

Reviews:

[ B ]  CDs: Glocca Morra with Pianos by Ken Mandelbaum
FINIAN'S RAINBOW (Ghostlight)
IN YOUR DREAMS: CHRISTINE EBERSOLE WITH BILLY STRITCH (Ghostlight)

[ B ]  Were Critics Won Over by Michael Frayn's Democracy?

[ SUN ]  The Triumph of "Democracy" by JEREMY McCARTER
Michael Frayn, the decent British playwright, puts me in mind of Harry Lime, the indecent American crook.
posted at 11/19/2004 02:43:44 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

[ P ]  Cy Coleman, a Master of the Show Tune, Is Dead
Cy Coleman, the Tony Award-winning Broadway composer who rose from child classical pianist to jazz player to master of the catchy show tune, died Nov. 18 of a heart attack, according to friends and colleagues in the theatre community.

[ IBDB ]  Cy Coleman's Broadway Credits
posted at 11/19/2004 11:02:12 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

[ STARS ]  DAME EDNA'S BACK WITH A VENGEANCE AND BROADWAY'S GOT HER
By ELLIS NASSOUR
The gladiolas are in bloom again as Dame Edna returns with a Vengeance.

News:

[ B ]  Broadway Actor Gregory Mitchell Dead at 53

[ WP ]  Actor Who Collapsed During Show Dies By Jacqueline Trescott
Chita Rivera said she rated Mitchell among the great Broadway dancers.

[ IBDB ]  Gregory Mitchell's Broadway Credits

[ NYP ]  DEATH TO SMOOCHY? By MICHAEL RIEDEL
THERE'S a red state-blue state battle going on at the revival of "La Cage aux Folles."

[ B ]  Mambo Kings Musical to Start on B'way in July 2005 After San Fran Tryout

[ B ]  Christine Ebersole Tapped for Broadway's Steel Magnolias Revival

[ Y ]  'Altar Boyz' to congregate Off B'way

[ Y ]  Smoking Off-B'way
Tommy Chong, recently released from jail for selling pipes that could be used for smoking dope, makes his Off Broadway debut in the long-running "The Marijuana-logues."

[ SS ]  Broadway tours exit Gleason for Miami Arts Center in '06 By Jack Zink
The City of Mexico Orchestra is being courted for a residency in the concert hall that would include Spanish-language concert versions of Broadway musicals with Latin singing stars, similar to New York's City Center "Encores" series.
Thanks to American Theater Web for the link.

[ NYP ]  FROM PRODUCERS TO 'ODD' FELLOWS
The play will open next August and will be directed by Joe Mantello, who won a Tony last year for "Assassins."

"Democracy" - Reviews:

[ NYP ]  A POWER PLAY By CLIVE BARNES
The performance is a good A-minus, but the play � a true-to-life version of a modern "Julius Caesar" with a touch of "Othello" thrown in � proves an A-plus, even though its subject seems unlikely.

[ WP ]  'Democracy': A Sunny Leader in The Wall's Shadow By Peter Marks
The production is a step off the thrilling pace set by its London predecessor. Yet "Democracy" remains, for the moment, a one-of-a-kind Broadway experience, a play that actually deepens your understanding of the world.

[ TB ]  Democracy
Review by Matthew Murray
Democracy is by turns compelling and comedic, incisive and insightful, and triumphant and tragic. Why then does the play's Broadway production, which just opened at the Brooks Atkinson, fail to satisfy?

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'DEMOCRACY'
A Torn Land of Torn Hearts Lost in a Mist of Deception By BEN BRANTLEY
Michael Frayn's glorious study of the mutations of politics and the men who practice them fully translates its high aspirations to the stage, with sharp style and thrilling clarity.

[ USA ]  'Democracy' resonates By Elysa Gardner
* * * 1/2 out of four

[ NJ ]  Civics lesson lacks urgency for Yanks BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
Cold War tale makes 'Democracy' a tough sell

[ Y ]  Democracy
Review by David Rooney, Variety
While "Copenhagen" made distinct gains in its transatlantic crossing, acquiring warmth and texture, the Broadway transfer of National Theater hit "Democracy" loses out on several counts.

[ DN ]  'Democracy' gets our vote by Howard Kissel
It is a study of the backstage machinations that make politics, if not farcical, at least wryly, sometimes poignantly comic.
This juggling act is what makes "Democracy" such a breathtaking play.

[ ND ]  Cold War, hot seat BY LINDA WINER
'Democracy': a gripping look at a West German chancellor

[ JN ]  Thud By JACQUES LE SOURD
Just when it seemed Broadway had been completely taken over by girly plays (like Eve Ensler's "The Good Body"), along come plays like "Twelve Angry Men" and now, "Democracy."
You can take your husband to this one, but he may fall asleep.

[ Y ]  Bland 'Democracy' Hits Broadway By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic

[ B ]  Democracy
Review by Eric Grode

[ BR ]  Gray characters, lack of drama overthrow new play By ROBERT FELDBERG

[ TM ]  The Siegel Column
Barbara & Scott on 'night Mother, The Good Body, Whoopi, and Democracy, plus cabaret reviews of Phillip Officer and a Judy Garland show.

Other Reviews:

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'FAUST/HOW I ROSE'
When Faust Gets Ahold of a Rock 'n' Roll Lyric Book By MARGO JEFFERSON
Plus 'In Bed With Regina.'

[ NJ ]  Devilishly ditzy diatribe BY PETER FILICHIA
Laugh all the way to purgatory at this one-woman show about Catholicism at Pax Amicus

[ INQ ]  Jackie Mason again: Smarter, sharper, still funny By Howard Shapiro

[ BH ]  'Burn This' has smoke, no fire By Terry Byrne

[ BG ]  In the search for passion, this 'Burn' makes its mark By Ed Siegel
If the Huntington Theatre Company folks wanted to raise some easy money, they'd start making copies of Michael T. Weiss's TV series "The Pretender" and sell them in the lobby. Given how people at the opening-night audience were swooning over Weiss, they would probably pay any price for the opportunity to take Weiss home with them, even if only on DVD.

[ ND ]  Mesmerizing puppetry with a modern Twist BY MARION LIGNANA ROSENBERG
Dogugaeshi is a splendidly meta-theatrical form of Japanese puppetry.

[ USA ]  The '04 'Whoopi' a lot like '84 model
* * �

[ DN ]  Patriot 'act' more like a little skit by Howard Kissel
A streak of adolescence runs though most of Sam Shepard's plays, but seldom has it been as pronounced as it is in "The God of Hell."

[ NYP ]  'BLUE SEA' LACKS DEPTH By FRANK SCHECK

[ ATW ]  Three Evenings of 'Bite-Size' Theater - Shows Running Under 60 Minutes
'ChekhovNOW', 'EATFest', Suspicious Package

[ NYT ]  CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
When Network Television Was Willing to Educate By ANTHONY TOMMASINI
Given television's current anemic involvement with arts education, Leonard Bernstein's historic Young People's Concerts, recently issued on DVD, seem more astounding than ever.

[ NYT ]  MUSIC REVIEW | ANDREA MARCOVICCI
A Tribute to Astaire From One Who Knows About Glamour By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Ms. Marcovicci has evolved from an A student of old-time glamour into its unofficial custodian in her years performing at the Oak Room.

[ NJ ]  From heads to toes, a winning combo BY ROBERT JOHNSON
Tap dancer Savion Glover makes an easy fit with his current touring partner, vocalist Bobby McFerrin.

Features:

[ TM ]  Peter Filichia's Diary
A talk with James Vagias, who's planning a Broadway revival of the Gary Geld-Peter Udell-Philip Rose musical Purlie.

[ P ]  DIVA TALK: Chatting with Mamma Mia!'s Judy McLane Plus News of Rivera, Krakowski, Foy and Leavel

[ DN ]  A wise 'Goy,' eh? By REBECCA LOUIE
Richard Chang pushes buttons, and gets laughs, in his one-man show 'Goy Vey!'

[ NYT ]  NYC
A Freedom That Rings Too Often By CLYDE HABERMAN
Cellphones.

[ BG ]  Playwright takes attention in stride By Maureen Dezell
Boston playwright Ronan Noone says he's still bowled over by the plaudits he received for "The Lepers of Baile Baiste," which had its New York premiere in September.

[ BH ]  Life is but a drag for Charles Busch By Terry Byrne

[ HC ]  A return to stage and jazz for pop star Jon Secada By AMY ELLIS LUNA

[ LAT ]  Confessions of a character By Rob Kendt
Leslie Jordan's bumpy, offbeat life sets the stage for a wealth of material.

[ ATU ]  'Carol' Brady By MICHAEL LISI
Barry Williams heads cast as Dickens' classic comes to the Palace

[ PPG ]  'On the Record' opens the treasure chest of Disney songs By Christopher Rawson
Interviews with stars Brian Sutherland and Emily Skinner.
Thanks to American Theater Web for the two links above.

[ B ]  PHOTO OP: Phantom Film Stars Kick Off Holiday Season at Bloomie's

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Dame Edna Gets Vengeance on "Regis and Kelly"

[ BS ]  Making Alien Acting Styles Familiar
Director Milton Loayza knew from the outset that there would be some challenges in helming "Visit," by Argentine playwright Ricardo Monti, in its first-ever English translation.

[ BS ]  'Reporting the Arts II' Shows Stagnation, Decline in Coverage

[ ATW-XM ]  Broadway and Beyond: A Few Weekend Theatergoing Thoughts for the West Coast

Other News:

[ BS ]  Four Theatres in Business-Plan Contest Reach Semi-Finals

[ P ]  Today in Theatre History: NOVEMBER 19

[ P ]  Disney's On the Record � with Emily Skinner � Officially Opens Nov. 19

[ P ]  Donmar Grand Hotel Opens Doors in London Nov. 19

[ P ]  Nine Parts of Desire Extends to Jan. 23 Off-Broadway

[ P ]  Forbidden Broadway: Special Victims Unit Sets Dec. Opening Date

[ P ]  Googlewhack/ elongation: Dave Gorman's Googlewhack! Adventure Extends to Jan. 8

[ P ]  NY Fringe Play, Cycling Past the Matterhorn, Gets Michigan Premiere Nov. 18-Dec. 5
posted at 11/19/2004 08:55:25 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Features:

[ TM ]  All Over the Map By: Michael Portantiere, Adam Klasfeld, and Dan Bacalzo
White Christmas in San Francisco, Pericles in Washington D.C., and The Eyes of Babylon in Los Angeles

[ P ]  PLAYBILL ON OPENING NIGHT: Whoopi

[ B ]  PHOTO OP: Stars Welcome Sh-K-Label Ghostlight Records

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Launch of Ghostlight Records Doesn't Scare Away Ebersole, Errico and Other Celebrity Guests

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: A Legendary God of Theatre Offers Up a New Play from Hell Off-Broadway

News:

[ P ]  Roundabout Postpones Ed Harris-Directed Fool for Love to Fall 2005

[ B ]  Twelve Angry Men Extends Again; Fool for Love Delays Until Fall 2005

[ B ]  Shortlist for 2004 Evening Standard Awards Announced

[ P ]  Richard Griffiths, Edward Albee and Alan Bennett Among Evening Standard Theatre Award Nominees

[ P ]  Haymarket�s Becket, Starring Dougray Scott and Jasper Britton, to Close Early

[ P ]  Mary Poppins Composers Ready Several New Projects

[ P ]  Intimate Apparel and Caroline, or Change Among Winners of 2004 AUDELCO Awards

[ P ]  Richard Dreyfuss Considers Jerry Springer; BBC to Air Opera in January

[ P ]  Movin' Out's Twyla Tharp Among Eight Awarded 2004 National Medal of Arts

[ P ]  The Clean House Get Philly Premiere With Lizbeth Mackay and Gerry Bamman, Starting Dec. 1

[ P ]  David Loud Musical-Directs Land Where the Good Songs Go, a New Kern Revue, at Catholic University Nov. 18-21
posted at 11/18/2004 04:16:51 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Reviews:

[ B ]  Did Critics Warmly Welcome Whoopi Back to Broadway?

[ CU ]  'night, Mother

Features:

[ TB ]  Interview with Craig Lucas By Jonathan Frank

News:

[ BBC ]  BBC snaps up Jerry Springer opera
Jerry Springer The Opera - starring a baritone in nappies - is to be shown on BBC Two.
Thanks to Scottish_Highlands on All That Chat for the link!

[ P ]  Michael Hayden in Talks to Star Opposite Ashley in Looped

[ P ]  Oz's Block Reprises All Smiles on Valentine's Day

[ P ]  "Match Game" Favorite Brings Acclaimed Solo Show to the Duplex

[ P ]  Coup de [Jason] Graae! to Play NYC Dec. 6-18

[ P ]  Hairspray Star is Uncharted at the Ars Nova in December

[ P ]  Brooklyn Co-Stars Featured on TV's "Style" Nov. 18

[ P ]  Director Amanda Dehnert Fills in for New Public Theatre Head Oskar Eustis at Trinity Rep
posted at 11/18/2004 01:39:19 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

[ AICN ]  John Landis to direct new horror musical - BATBOY!
Thanks to leeinlondon on All That Chat for the link!

"Whoopi" - Reviews:

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'WHOOPI'
One Woman, Uh-Huh, but So Many Guises By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Whoopi Goldberg's intermittently funny but sluggish evening of comic portraiture is a show in desperate need of a stringent theatrical intelligence.

[ ND ]  She's no mellower with age BY LINDA WINER
If a Martian were to come to Broadway this week and see "Whoopi" and Eve Ensler's "The Good Body," the alien would conclude that at least half the earthling population cannot see beyond their own butts.

[ NYP ]  REMAKIN' WHOOPI BY CLIVE BARNES
Now the 20 years fall off the woman as if they were a cloak, and Whoopi seems exactly as she was on our first encounter with that strange, unique talent. Whoopi, indeed!

[ Y ]  Whoopi
Review by David Rooney, Variety
The comic brilliance is intact, but two decades of celebrity from film and television roles, a talkshow and a sitcom have taken their toll on Goldberg's humility, making her a far less giving performer, less willing to shed her own persona and slip seamlessly inside another character.

[ B ]  Whoopi
Review by William Stevenson
Having finally seen Goldberg on stage, I left feeling decidedly underwhelmed.

[ DN ]  Onstage: The Whoopi of old by Howard Kissel
If Whoopi felt compelled to make a comeback, perhaps she should have devised some characters as unusual as the ones she did back then, rather than just offering comedy-club riffs.

[ R ]  Review: Whoopi By Frank Scheck (Hollywood Reporter)
"Whoopi" is a bracing and hilarious evening that should do much to restore the reputation of a performer who has too often frittered away her talent on such projects as "Hollywood Squares."

[ NJ ]  Time can't change her BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
'Whoopi' keeps 'em laughing 20 years later

[ Y ]  Draggy Broadway Return for Whoopi By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic

[ TB ]  Whoopi: The 20th Anniversary Show
Review by Matthew Murray

[ TM ]  Whoopi
Reviewed By: David Finkle

[ SUN ]  Lucifer Is My Co-Pilot by JEREMY McCARTER
John Jesurun's metaphysical vertigo; Whoopi Goldberg's nonexistent fourth wall.

Other Reviews:

[ B ]  Did Critics Find a Slice of Heaven in Shepard's God of Hell?

[ USA ]  Ensler shifts attention to entire 'Body' By Elysa Gardner
* �

[ ND ]  A timeless work that takes its time BY GORDON COX
Even before "Death and the Ploughman" begins, its three performers enact slow-motion tableaux

[ Y ]  Cam Jensen
Review by Chris Jones, Variety

[ Y ]  Svejk
Review by Marilyn Stasio, Variety

[ ATW-XM ]  Broadway and Beyond: Unofficial Shanley Fest Under Way in NYC

The Public Theater - News:

[ NYT ]  NEWS ANALYSIS
For Public's New Director, Big Shoes Loom By JESSE McKINLEY
When the Public Theater offered its top artistic job to Oskar Eustis, Mr. Eustis accepted it. That was the easy part.

[ P ]  Oskar Eustis, New Head of Public Theater, Speaks

[ VV ]  Flashback: A New Vision for America's Flagship Theater by Charles McNulty
Oskar Eustis talks about the future of the Public Theater

[ ND ]  Public Theater finalizes casting for artistic director by Blake Green

[ B ]  Oskar Eustis Named Public Theater's New Artistic Director

News:

[ HC ]  Goodspeed reviving 'Abyssinia' for third showing by Frank Rizzo

[ NYT ]  Norman Rose, 87, Stage Actor and Voice of 'Juan Valdez,' Dies By WOLFGANG SAXON

[ IBDB ]  Norman Rose's Broadway Credits

[ V ]  'Children' star pulling double duty By ARMY ARCHERD
Thanks to "All My Children's" exec producer Julie Hanan Carruthers, Tonya Pinkins says she can continue her role of Lydia Frye Cudahy on the soap by winging to N.Y. on Mondays from her starring role at the Ahmanson in Tony Kushner's "Caroline, Or Change."

[ NJ ]  Center stage by Peter Filichia
Frank Wildhorn, the man who set "Jekyll & Hyde" to music, has written a musical about an almost equally tempestuous pair.

[ B ]  Off-Broadway's The Immigrant to Close on November 28

[ P ]  Musical Immigrant Will End Off-Bway Run Nov. 28

[ P ]  Separate Disc of Brooke Shields' Wonderful Town to Reach Stores Dec. 13

[ P ]  Brooke Shields Extends Until Jan. 30 in Wonderful Town

[ P ]  Jerry Springer-The Opera Postpones San Francisco Run, Aiming for Broadway 2006

[ B ]  Jerry Springer - The Opera Delays Broadway Bow Until 2006

[ P ]  Colleagues Remember Sardonic, Truthful Fred Ebb at Broadway Memorial

[ BS ]  2004 Election Report: How the Arts Fared
Congress Should Keep Funding Level

[ BS ]  Randomly Mutating With Osseus Labyrint

[ BS ]  Ladd Encourages Actors to A.C.T. Up

[ P ]  Today In Theatre History: NOVEMBER 18

[ P ]  The Water, Georgia Stitt Musical About a Town in Peril, Sold Out in Nov. 18-21 Premiere at University of Michigan

[ P ]  Frayn Tells of Democracy, the Cold War Way, as New Play Opens on Broadway Nov. 18

[ P ]  Suskin's A Must See Gets Signing at Drama Book Shop Nov. 18

[ P ]  Simon Jones Stars in Max Frisch's The Firebugs, Ignited by The Actors Company Theatre Nov. 20-22

[ P ]  Robert Longbottom to Direct Kennedy Center Revival of Mister Roberts

[ P ]  Musical Theatre Murder Explored in New Tome, "Writer's Block"

[ B ]  Ivanek and Stuhlbarg Expected to Join Cast of The Pillowman

[ B ]  Producer in Talks with Broderick & Lane for The Odd Couple on Broadway

Features:

[ BG ]  Scene changes By Vanessa E. Jones
Latino playwrights and their diverse works are taking center stage in Boston and beyond

[ NYP ]  THE GANG'S ALL HERE By BARBARA HOFFMAN
WONDERING how you'll make it 'til March 2006, when the sixth season of "The Sopranos" finally gets going? Relax. The city is all mobbed up already.

[ NYP ]  BLOOMIES WINDOWS ARE 'OPERA' GLASSES By RUSSELL SCOTT SMITH
NOW opening on Lexington Avenue: "Phantom of the Opera."

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Little Women Getting Ready for the Big Time; New Musical Now in Rehearsals

[ B ]  PHOTO OP: Peeking in on Little Women Rehearsals

[ B ]  PHOTO OP: 20 Years Later, Whoopi Returns

[ B ]  PHOTO OP: La Cage Toasted by Mo�t & Chandon

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Broadway Legend Cy Coleman Honored by Mercer Foundation
posted at 11/18/2004 08:30:41 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

[ TB ]  ON THE SCENE: PHOTOS FROM FRED EBB MEMORIAL
posted at 11/17/2004 03:37:03 PM by James Marino | Item Link

News:

[ P ]  Hal Holbrook's Mark Twain Tonight to Return to Broadway in 2005

[ P ]  Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick Odd Couple Aiming at August 2005 Broadway Opening

[ P ]  Chita Rivera's One-Woman Show May Bow at Ahmanson; Daniele to Direct

[ P ]  Tony Winner Krakowski and Emmy Winner Mullally Join American Songbook Season

[ P ]  Ultimate Broadway Souvenir to Be Auctioned Nov. 29 in Manhattan

[ P ]  Jerry Springer Team�s New Show May Be a German Opera About London Comedy

[ P ]  Greene, Ripley, Callaway, Shaiman and Rodriguez Sing on New Concert DVD

[ TM ]  Dame Edna and Brooke Shields to Light 2004 Broadway Holiday Tree

[ ATW-XM ]  Broadway and Beyond: Chicago's About Face Preps 04-05, Featuring Unproduced Williams

[ B ]  Broadway's Ford Center to Change Name to the Hilton Theatre

[ TM ]  Broadway's Ford Center to be Renamed Hilton Theatre

[ P ]  Ford Center for the Performing Arts to Be Renamed in 2005

[ P ]  Oskar Eustis Is New Artistic Director of Public Theater

Features:

[ TB ]  Chicago's Leading Lady Comes Home for The Immigrant
An Interview with Hollis Resnik by John Olson

Reviews:

[ B ]  DVDs: Documenting the Glory Days by Ken Mandelbaum
BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE (RCA Victor)

[ ATW ]  Shepard's God of Hell - Terrific Performances, Less So Script
Review by Andy Propst

[ CU ]  The God of Hell
posted at 11/17/2004 01:14:53 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

News:

[ NYT ]  Arts, Briefly By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER
In the latest name change on Broadway, Clear Channel Communications, the radio and live entertainment conglomerate, announced yesterday that it had reached a 10-year sponsorship deal with the Hilton hotel chain for the Ford Center for the Performing Arts on West 42d Street. Starting in January, the Ford Center will be known as the Hilton Theater, complete with a new marquee.

[ NYT ]  Public Is Set to Appoint Providence Director By JESSE McKINLEY
The board of the Public Theater is expected to hire Oskar Eustis, the artistic director of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, R.I., as its next producer.

[ B ]  Will Andrea Martin Be Golde to Fierstein's Tevye in Fiddler?

[ NYP ]  BRUTUS FORCE By MICHAEL RIEDEL
IN an industry known to leak like the Titanic, it was quite an accomplishment to keep under wraps for so long the news that Denzel Washington will be starring in "Julius Caesar" on Broadway this spring.

[ NYP ]  CINDY ADAMS
ANYBODY GOT AN APT. FOR DENZEL?

[ NYP ]  LIZ SMITH
Word comes that Richard Dreyfuss is being considered to play Satan in the Brit hit "Jerry Springer � The Opera."

Features:

[ TM ]  Peter Filichia's Diary
Have you longed for a complete recording of Babes in Toyland? So has Filichia.

[ TM ]  The Hart of the Matter By: Brian Scott Lipton
Kitty Carlisle Hart on her love affair with Moss Hart and the upcoming Metropolitan Opera Guild benefit celebrating their marriage.

[ DN ]  Playing possum By BEN WIDDICOMBE
Don't ask Dame Edna about her love life

[ NYT ]  Murder Most Foul (Would the Court Consider Insanity?) By ADAM LIPTAK
Hamlet was judged on Monday night at the Kaye Playhouse in Manhattan, in the case of the State of Denmark v. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.

[ NYT ]  BOLDFACE NAMES
The NeoCon Column By JOYCE WADLER
Is there any glamour anymore?
Oh, yeah, absolutely. Consider the JOHNNY MERCER Foundation Awards, held at the Rainbow Room, high above the Rockefeller Center skating rink.

"The God of Hell" - Reviews:

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'THE GOD OF HELL'
That's No Girl Scout Selling Those Cookies By BEN BRANTLEY
Sam Shepard's robust new farce, which he has described as "a takeoff on Republican fascism," is neither a smooth nor subtle play.

[ WP ]  Milking America's Angst By Peter Marks
The play capably conveys Shepard's anxiety. But the alarm bells it rings make more loud noise than good theater.

[ USA ]  There's hell to pay in Sam Shepard's latest play By Elysa Gardner
* * * � out of four

[ NJ ]  American Satan BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
Shepard's cynical drama portrays government as ultimate evil

[ NYP ]  SHEPARD'S PLAY 'HELL' GOD-AWFUL By FRANK SCHECK

[ Y ]  The God of Hell
Review by David Rooney, Variety
Perhaps somewhat hastily hustled together to hit the boards during election season, the play trades knowingly in the current climate of fear. While its political satire is blunted by unsound plot logic, the vigorous staging and performances nonetheless make for dynamic theater.

[ Y ]  Shepard Creepy in 'God of Hell' By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic
The play is quite a jumble, a black comedy that probably should have been put away in a drawer for six months and then given a second look by its author.

[ SUN ]  Sam Shepard's Failed Experiment by JEREMY McCARTER
We are all Randy Quaid now.

[ ND ]  Irresistible satire, by the grace of 'God' BY LINDA WINER

[ R ]  Review: the God of Hell By Alexis Greene (Hollywood Reporter)
"Sam Shepard's Warning to America" might very well be the subtitle of his new play, "The God of Hell," which is receiving its world premiere off-off-Broadway.

[ TM ]  The God of Hell
Reviewed By: Dan Bacalzo

"The God of Hell" - Features:

[ VV ]  Patriot Acts by Don Shewey
Back in New York with a new play and starring in another, Sam Shepard reflects on the dangerous farce of contemporary politics

[ NYer ]  THE TALK OF THE TOWN: THE BOARDS
RESONATING
Lillian Ross visits Randy Quaid on the set of Sam Shepard�s new play.

Other Reviews:

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'A HEARTBEAT TO BAGHDAD'
The Thrill of Killing and Building By JASON ZINOMAN
Glyn O�Malley�s "Heartbeat to Baghdad" proves a point that is easy to forget in a polarized climate: political art does not need to be polemical to make an impression.

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'CAM JANSEN'
A Kid Detective Who Never Forgets By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER
Theaterworks/USA has taken the adventures of a popular children�s heroine from page to stage with "Cam Jansen," a colorful, well-acted show at the Lamb�s Theater.

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'RISK EVERYTHING'
Street Life and Lowlifes Meet to Scheme in a Grubby Motel By JONATHAN KALB
"Risk Everything" is the rising Polish star Grzegorz Jarzyna's freewheeling, multimedia reinvention of a 1997 play by the Canadian George F. Walker.

[ NYT ]  CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK
The Model of a Soldier (but No Model Soldier) By CARYN JAMES
The 1920's novel "The Good Soldier Svejk," by the Czech writer Jaroslav Hasek, continues to have an astonishing afterlife, including the new stage production "Svejk."

[ DN ]  Having a ball at 'Cinderella' by Howard Kissel

[ TM ]  Tunes, Tomes, & Videos
Stout-Hearted Marc Miller looks to the rainbow and finds three wonderful new items from Ghostlight Records.

[ TB ]  Two For Two: Rounding Third Comes "Home"; Durang Tries Laughing Wild
New Jersey Reviews by Bob Rendell

Other News:

[ BG ]  Two local theaters face financial setbacks By Catherine Foster and Geoff Edgers

[ Y ]  'Illyria' comes to N.J. Shakespeare

[ LAT ]  Best musical '1776' tops Ovation Awards By Don Shirley
Baz Luhrmann's "La Boh�me," the Fountain Theatre's "Exits and Entrances" and "Intimate Apparel" at the Mark Taper Forum are among the runners-up.

[ Y ]  'Exits' enters winner's circle with Ovation

[ P ]  Today In Theatre History: NOVEMBER 17

[ P ]  "All My Children" Anniversary Concert�with Pinkins, O'Donnell, Brier and Lucci�to Benefit BC/EFA

[ P ]  Re-Makin' Whoopi: Revising Characters and Scenes After 20 Years, Goldberg Opens on Bway Nov. 17

[ P ]  Roy Cohn Sings! Tony Kushner's Angels in America To Debut as Opera in Paris; Julia Migenes Is Harper

[ P ]  Bogart and Ripley Sing Sondheim in Orchestra Underground Nov. 17

[ P ]  Nederlanders Pluck Duck Hunter From Purple Rose Garden; Mitch Albom Comedy Sits Down in Detroit Nov. 17-Jan. 2

[ P ]  Will Goldblum, Ivanek and Crudup Star in Broadway's The Pillowman?

[ P ]  "Regis & Kelly" Welcome a Dame, Edna Everage, Nov. 17
posted at 11/17/2004 08:17:43 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Features:

[ B ]  First Person: A First Hand Memory by Beth Fowler

[ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Chenoweth Applauds Pinkins, Tony-Winner Rose at L.A. Opening of Caroline, or Change

[ TM ]  Photo File By: Joseph Marzullo and Michael Portantiere
Cy Coleman, Edie Falco, Brenda Blethyn, Eve Ensler, Alan Cumming, and Jeffrey Seller are only some of the notables featured in our latest photo roundup.

[ B ]  Video: On the Scene: Whoopi Meets the Press

[ B ]  Video: Opening Night: 'night, Mother

"The Good Body":

[ B ]  Were Theater Critics Good to Eve Ensler's Broadway Body?

[ P ]  PLAYBILL ON OPENING NIGHT: Eve & Jane & Sally & Moi at The Good Body

[ B ]  Video: Opening Night: The Good Body

News:

[ B ]  Broadway Grosses: Billy Crystal Begins with a Bang
In just four previews at the 1186-seat Broadhurst Theatre, the autobiographical piece took in $492,475--that is more than three different musicals (Brooklyn, Dracula and Rent) made during eight regular performances.

[ B ]  Jean Anouilh's Becket to Close December 11 in the West End

[ P ]  Frank Wildhorn's Scott and Zelda Musical, Other Side of Paradise, to Premiere in NJ Summer 2005

[ P ]  1776, La Bohème, Intimate Apparel Top 2004 Los Angeles Ovation Awards

[ P ]  Sirius Satellite Radio: Cast of Lone Star Love Sings on "Radio Playbill" Nov. 15-28

[ P ]  Seth's Broadway Chatterbox to Welcome Rosie O'Donnell

[ P ]  "House" � with Tony Winner Robert Sean Leonard � Makes TV Debut Nov. 16

[ P ]  Dame Edna and Brooke Shields to Light Holiday Tree Dec. 8

[ P ]  Cromwell Is Scrooge in McCarter Theatre's A Christmas Carol

[ P ]  "Food for Thought" Evening Features Two-Time Tony Winner Nov. 19

[ P ]  "Phantom of the Opera" Film Sets U.S. Release Date

[ P ]  Bloomingdale's Celebrates "Phantom of the Opera" Film Nov. 18

[ P ]  Martin Moran's The Tricky Part To Hit Stores as Play and Book in 2005

[ TM ]  Fred Ebb Memorialized at Ambassador Theatre

[ TM ]  Vallejo Gantner Named New Artistic Director of P.S. 122

[ P ]  Constant Star Wins Seven Barrymore Awards in Philly; Cy Coleman, Permanent Collection Also Honored

Reviews:

[ VV ]  Nora Gets Her Gun
Did Ibsen's A Doll's House need updating? Berlin's Thomas Ostermeier gave it a shot. by Michael Feingold
Nora (A Doll's House)

[ VV ]  Five Bits of Williams Make an Evening That's Both Too Much and Not Enough by Michael Feingold
Five by Tenn

[ VV ]  Sightlines by Michael Feingold
Some plays move you no matter who performs them, and it's just as well that Marsha Norman's 1984 spine-chiller 'Night, Mother is one of those, because its current revival is one of those solid, competent, uninspired events that might have produced, with a lesser script, only a damp fizzle.

[ VV ]  Ethnic Blending
Still hopeful, Shanley keeps romancing the blarney stone by Charles McNulty
Danny and the Deep Blue Sea; Sailor's Song

[ VV ]  The Grim Sleeper
Bogart tries to revive a theatrically comatose dialogue by Alexis Soloski
Death and the Ploughman
posted at 11/16/2004 05:37:29 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

News:

[ INQ ]  'Constant Star' shines at Barrymores By Desmond Ryan
The musical's seven awards for the Delaware Theatre Company eclipsed the area ceremony's high mark of five.

[ * ]  2003-2004 BARRYMORE AWARD WINNERS - Complete List
I'm very glad to see wins for Cy Coleman and Jennie Eisenhower.

[ B ]  John C. Reilly Tapped for Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire

[ P ]  John C. Reilly to Wail "Stella!" in Broadway's A Streetcar Named Desire

[ Y ]  B'way settles down as receipts rebound
(Variety) � No more excuses. With the Republican convention, September blues, Jewish holidays, daylight-saving time and the 2004 presidential election behind it, Broadway couldn't help but rebound. Finally. Gone are those recent weeks when "Wicked" accounted for 10% of all receipts.
[ P ]  Broadway Grosses: Nov. 8-14

[ NYP ]  LIZ SMITH
OSCAR BUZZ FOR 'PHANTOM'

[ NYP ]  PAGE SIX
An item on Kristin Chenoweth. Note that they misspelled her name again... although that will probably be the least of her objections to this article!

[ NYT ]  Arts, Briefly By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER
An Opera for 'Angels'

[ * ]  Obituary: Don Briscoe
While shooting "Dark Shadows," Briscoe acted in the off-Broadway play "Boys in the Band," and in the 1970 feature film "House of Dark Shadows."

[ NYT ]  Asylum Papers In, It's Back to Work for Cuban Dancers By NICK MADIGAN

[ BH ]  Hotline: Merrimack Rep confronts bottom line By Terry Byrne
Facing a financial squeeze, Merrimack Repertory Theatre has laid off managing director Lisa Merrill-Burzak and will raise ticket prices next season if operating costs cannot be covered through donations.

"The Good Body" - Reviews:

[ NYP ]  WEIGHTY MATTERS By CLIVE BARNES
For all its emphasis on weight, the evening is essentially slight. However, those men terrified by the V-word can at least relax.

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'THE GOOD BODY'
Our Bellies, Ourselves: Eve Ensler Talks Fat By CHARLES ISHERWOOD
Like "Vagina Monologues," "The Good Body" aims to uplift and to empower as it entertains, by softening the ever-fraught relationship between American women and their bodies.

[ HC ]  Eve Ensler's Flimsy 'Good Body' By MALCOLM JOHNSON
The theatricality and movement cannot save the intermission-less evening from sinking into a self-indulgent sameness.

[ SUN ]  Battle of the Bulge by JEREMY McCARTER
Eve Ensler flashes her bona fides.

[ NJ ]  Food for thought BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
Another 'Good Body' of work with social significance from artist Eve Ensler

[ Y ]  Ensler's 'Good Body' Entertaining By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic
Ensler may not be the most nuanced of actresses, but she has an appealing stage persona that lets her get away with only sketchy approximations of these commonsensical women.

[ ND ]  A new monologue on old body issues BY LINDA WINER

[ JN ]  Gut reaction By JACQUES LE SOURD

[ ATW ]  Ensler's The Good Body Strains Itself
Review by Andy Propst

[ TM ]  The Good Body
Reviewed By: David Finkle

[ B ]  The Good Body
Review by William Stevenson

[ CU ]  The Good Body

[ TB ]  The Good Body
Review by Matthew Murray

"Caroline, or Change" � Los Angeles Reviews:

[ LAT ]  In a time of change By Mark Swed
'Caroline, or Change' eloquently voices the hopes and frustrations of the early 1960s.

[ Y ]  Caroline, or Change (Variety Review)
Although Caroline is superbly played by Tony nominee Pinkins, and Kushner has written her with uncompromising honesty, she remains a remote, unsatisfying centerpiece for a musical.

[ R ]  Review: 'Caroline, or Change' By Jay Reiner (Hollywood Reporter)
Tony Kushner's "Caroline, or Change" is one of the strangest musicals you will ever see....
"Caroline" is also one of the most thrilling and moving shows ever presented at the Ahmanson Theatre.

[ OCR ]  Flawed 'Caroline' still fascinates By PAUL HODGINS
Tony Kushner's first musical, set in the '60s South, gives us a heroine who's hard to warm up to.

[ LADN ]  With 'Caroline,' Kushner changes musical theater By Evan Henerson
Thanks to American Theater Web for the last two links.

Other Reviews:

[ ATW ]  �vejk: An Official Idiot Goes Off to War
Review by Andy Propst

[ CU ]  �vejk

[ TM ]  Cinderella
Reviewed By: David Finkle

[ ATW ]  Filled with Broadway Veterans, NYCO Cinderella Has Charms for Young and Old
Review by Andy Propst

[ CU ]  Suspicious Package

[ Y ]  The Highest Yellow
Review by Robert Koehler, Variety
While the writing is at times crisp, it circles its themes repetitively and presents them with an irritating pretentiousness.

[ WP ]  A 'Pericles' With the Wind In Its Sails By Peter Marks
Director Mary Zimmerman clearly consults her own book of spells. She does achieve something miraculous with her deeply moving production of this rarely performed work: an evening of bewitching ingenuity and bountiful surprise.

[ R ]  Review: 'Night, Mother By Frank Scheck (Hollywood Reporter)
Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning play receives a strong revival in this production anchored by the star power of Edie Falco and Brenda Blethyn.

[ HC ]  A Shocking ''Night, Mother' Still Fails To Add Up By MALCOLM JOHNSON

[ ATW-XM ]  Broadway and Beyond: Roundabout's Two Current Hits - Twelve Angry Men; The Foreigner

[ ATW ]  Romance in the Air in Splendid She Loves Me
Review by Andy Propst

[ NYer ]  SOUL SKETCHES by JOHN LAHR
Tennessee Williams�s unknown one-acts.

Features:

[ NY ]  Overheard
What the audience really thought about Brooke Shields in �Wonderful Town�

[ NYer ]  SOMETHING BORROWED by MALCOLM GLADWELL
Should a charge of plagiarism ruin your life?
"Frozen."

[ B ]  Fresh Face: Kissy Simmons by Josie Garthwaite

[ INQ ]  'Cats'' latest life By Douglas J. Keating
The Walnut Street Theatre is staging the first local production of the lavish musical. For the director, it's right up his alley.

[ NYer ]  THE TALK OF THE TOWN
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY DEPT.
Michael Specter on the activist Larry Kramer�s latest speech.

[ NYT ]  GRASS ROOTS
New Roles on a Stage Without Pity By DAN CUFF
The True Story Project was created to help disabled artists who felt they were not taken seriously.

[ R ]  'Scrapbook' Delivers Real Minnelli Goods By Robert Osborne (Hollywood Reporter)
Liza Minnelli has certainly had her share of publicized woes of late, but something's on the horizon that should cheer her considerably.

[ BS ]  'Working in the Theatre': Nonprofits Creatively Challenge Broadway

[ P ]  PLAYBILL ON OPENING NIGHT: Starry, Starry 'night, Mother

Other News:

[ TM ]  American Theatre Wing Announces 2004 Grants Recipients

[ ATW-XM ]  Broadway and Beyond: Coward Rarities to be Produced Around the Country

[ P ]  Today In Theatre History: NOVEMBER 16

[ P ]  Sam Shepard � the Actor � Returns to New York Stage in Caryl Churchill's A Number, Nov. 16

[ P ]  Anne Runolfsson Has a Date With a Chandelier in Broadway's Phantom Starting Nov. 16

[ P ]  Sickness and Passion Are Partners in Baltimore Waltz, Beginning Nov. 16 at NYC's Signature

[ P ]  Amy Irving Is Celadine at George Street Playhouse Beginning Nov. 16

[ P ]  Ghostlight Label Releases New Moon, Finian's Rainbow and Ebersole & Stritch's In Your Dreams on CD Nov. 16

[ P ]  Denis O'Hare Expected as Sweet Charity's Beau

[ P ]  Fred Ebb's Will Creates Musical Theatre Awards for Rising Songwriters

[ P ]  Noah Haidle's Princess Marjorie Replaces Root of Love in South Coast Rep Season

[ P ]  New Concert Version of Tony Winner Musical Two Gentlemen of Verona Set for NYC

[ P ]  Et tu, Denzel? Oscar Winner Washington to Star as Brutus in Broadway Julius Caesar
posted at 11/16/2004 10:43:36 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Monday, November 15, 2004

[ B ]  Sebastian Arcelus Replaces Justin Guarini in Good Vibrations

[ P ]  PLAYBILL ON-LINE'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein on the roof! Sounds crazy, no?

[ ND ]  Jamming on a greased-up glass slipper BY GORDON COX
"Cinderella" lumbers onto the New York City Opera stage like a clunky theme-park spectacle. It's the kind of show that expects applause just for dragging on four live, uncomfortable-looking horses to pull Cinderella's pumpkin-carriage off to the ball.
posted at 11/15/2004 04:35:52 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

[ B ]  Sebastian Arcelus Replaces Justin Guarini in Good Vibrations

[ P ]  PLAYBILL ON-LINE'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein on the roof! Sounds crazy, no?

[ ND ]  Jamming on a greased-up glass slipper BY GORDON COX
"Cinderella" lumbers onto the New York City Opera stage like a clunky theme-park spectacle. It's the kind of show that expects applause just for dragging on four live, uncomfortable-looking horses to pull Cinderella's pumpkin-carriage off to the ball.
posted at 11/15/2004 04:19:21 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

[ B ]  Revisiting Two '50s Musicals by Ken Mandelbaum
Expected to appear in next month's Threepenny Opera Roundabout reading: Alan Cumming (Macheath), Deborah Harry (Jenny), and Christine Baranski (Mrs. Peachum). Roundabout is scheduled to produce the Kurt Weill-Bertolt Brecht show next season, directed by Scott Elliott.
Ben Vereen is said to be likely to take on the role of the Wizard in Wicked. Vereen won a Tony for another Stephen Schwartz musical, Pippin.
Plus reviews of Cinderella and Wonderful Town.

Features:

[ B ]  Q & A: Richard Thomas

[ TM ]  Loose Lips By: Brian Scott Lipton
Cherry Jones in Doubt, Kathryn Grody in The Penetration Play, and John Travolta at the Waldorf.

[ B ]  PHOTO OP: Mother Makes a Broadway Return

[ NYer ]  REVIVALS
CINDERELLA STORY by Nancy Franklin

Reviews:

[ NYT ]  MUSIC REVIEW | NEW YORK CITY OPERA
Glass Slipper. Stepmother in Drag. Recalcitrant Pony. By ANNE MIDGETTE
The score is rich and lovely. But there are reasons it is not as well-known as other works in the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon.

[ B ]  Were B'way Critics Impressed by Stars in 'night?

News:

[ B ]  The Roundabout's Twelve Angry Men Extends Through February 6

[ P ]  Tea at Five's Lombardo Writing Tallulah Play for Ashley

[ P ]  Sugar Babies Creator Ralph G. Allen to Be Remembered at Dec. 6 Memorial in NYC

[ P ]  "Six Feet Under" Actress in Talks for Broadway's Upcoming Fool for Love

[ P ]  Artists Showcase Series Features Evening of Song with Theatre Stars Dec. 19

[ P ]  Actors Touring Company Celebrates Jeff Koons Beginning Nov. 15

[ P ]  Feinstein to Play Feinstein's Dec. 7-31; Callaway Is Special Guest

[ P ]  P.S. 122 Chooses Australian Gantner for Top Post

[ P ]  Free Book Party and Signing Celebrates "Brilliant Broadway Artwork" Nov. 18

[ P ]  Uncle Jacques' Symphony Closes Abruptly

[ P ]  Rent Film to Be Shot in San Francisco

[ P ]  Today In Theatre History: NOVEMBER 15
posted at 11/15/2004 01:41:46 PM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Features:

[ TM ]  Peter Filichia's Diary
A chat with Amy Irving, who's about to open in Celadine at the George Street Playhouse.

[ HC ]  It's 'Tea' Time Again By FRANK RIZZO
A lot has happened since "Tea at Five," the one-person biographical show about Katharine Hepburn, completed its sold-out run at Hartford Stage in early 2002.

"'night, Mother" - Reviews:

[ NYT ]  THEATER REVIEW | 'NIGHT, MOTHER'
Mother-Daughter Angst, With Death in the Wings By BEN BRANTLEY
Actresses Edie Falco and Brenda Blethyn never seem quite at home in their roles in this strangely uninvolving new production at the Royale Theater.

[ ND ]  A daughter's ship passes in the night BY LINDA WINER
There is a mawkishness to the unsentimentality. We feel more manipulated than devastated, more impatient than persuaded.

[ WP ]  For ' 'night, Mother,' a Too-Late Demise By Peter Marks
What once played as a harrowing look at unconditional surrender to emptiness and failure now proceeds as a rather desultory dance to the grave.

[ USA ]  An intense 'Night' for Blethyn, Falco By Elysa Gardner
* * * � out of four

[ JN ]  Carmela, where art thou? By JACQUES LE SOURD
Mayer cannot overcome the imbalance in the styles of acting here.

[ DN ]  'Night' isn't deep, dark enough By HOWARD KISSEL
Each of the women has powerful moments, but the overall feeling is flat and mechanical, an exercise in facile nihilism.

[ NYP ]  'NIGHT' BLINDNESS By CLIVE BARNES
There are times when superior acting doesn't save a play, but simply exposes it.

[ NJ ]  An off-'night, Mother BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
Falco gets into character's troubled soul

[ Y ]  'night, Mother
Review by David Rooney, Variety
In choosing to play the character as an emotional blank, Falco pushes Norman's intentions to unsatisfying extremes.

[ CT ]  Falco Too Tidy in "Night, Mother' By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic

[ TB ]  'night, Mother
Review by Matthew Murray

[ B ]  'night, Mother
Review by Eric Grode

[ TM ]  'night, Mother
Reviewed By: Dan Bacalzo

Other Reviews:

[ NYP ]  BIG STARS ALIGN FOR FAIRY TALE By SHIRLEY FLEMING
NEW York City Opera's dazzling production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Cinderella," which opened on Friday for a run of 13 performances, is aglow in sumptuous costumes and fairly dances off the stage. It's frothy, funny and endearing, and it boasts a cast made up somewhere in theater heaven.

[ NJ ]  No happy ending, or beginning BY MICHAEL SOMMERS
Great makers of musicals, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were also known to be exacting professionals whose shows were expertly produced.
So it's a wonder that their angry spirits did not materialize to smite the New York City Opera management that threw up the team's "Cinderella" in a careless revival at the New York State Theatre.

[ TB ]  Cinderella
Review by Matthew Murray

[ NJ ]  An Irish family deals with a 'tragedy' BY PETER FILICHIA

[ NYP ]  IN A WORD, 'GOOGLEWHACK!' WINS By FRANK SCHECK

[ TB ]  The Moonlight Room
Pittsburgh Review by Ann Miner

[ CU ]  A Heartbeat to Baghdad

News:

[ NYT ]  Members of Cuban Troupe Say They Will Seek Asylum By NICK MADIGAN
In what appears to be the largest mass defection of Cuban performers to date, 44 dancers, singers and musicians plan to seek asylum in the U.S.

[ NYT ]  P.S. 122 Names a New Director With an International Bent By JESSE McKINLEY
Vallejo Gantner, an Australian director with a sizable international r�sum�, has been chosen as the next artistic director of the East Village theater.

[ P ]  Coleman to Receive Mercer Foundation Award Nov. 15; Mitchell, Rivera, Bennett and Close to Perform

[ P ]  Café Puttanesca, The Great Ostrovsky, Permanent Collection Among 2004 Barrymore Nominees in Philly Nov. 15

[ P ]  Bitter Suite: Award-Winning Musical Mistress Cycle Gets Three NYC Readings Nov. 15-16 With Luker, Murney, Davis

[ P ]  Eve Ensler Delivers The Good Body on Broadway

[ P ]  Hector Elizondo and Garry Marshall Host 2004 Los Angeles Ovation Awards, Nov. 15

[ P ]  Julia Sweeney's Letting Go of God Extends World Premiere in Hollywood To Dec. 19

[ P ]  The New Group Gets (naked) in New York with David Cale's A Likely Story, Dec. 1-18
posted at 11/15/2004 07:49:28 AM by Tim Dunleavy | Item Link

Sunday, November 14, 2004

[ STARS ]  SHOWSTOPPING HOLIDAY GIFT SUGGESTIONS, Part One
by ELLIS NASSOUR
There's never been a holiday season with so much Broadway-related product in the market place. No matter your budget, you'll have no problem finding a theater or arts gift for that special someone -- or yourself!

[ Y ]  Blame Bush for this? by Robert Hofler, Variety
For the past five weeks, gross and paid-attendance numbers look frighteningly close to what Broadway produced post-9/11.

Features:

[ ND ]  Fast Chat: Whoopi Goldberg by BLAKE GREEN

[ Y ]  Whitty repartee by Robert Hofler, Variety
Jeff Whitty nabbed a Tony for his first book for a musical, "Avenue Q." Now the author of "The Plank Project" -- a parody of "The Laramie Project" about a 1,000-pound transvestite who falls down a well and succumbs to a liposuction accident -- has returned to his first love: playwriting.

[ ND ]  A LITTLE SIDE WORK FOR UNCLE JUNIOR BY BLAKE GREEN
'Sopranos' star Dominic Chianese isn't taking a break from the family quietly. He's singing. And he's center stage as a 'seething man' in Woody Allen's new play.

[ NYT ]  SQUARE FEET/TIMES SQUARE
Once and Future Tenant Flamboyant Enough For the Neighborhood By MERVYN ROTHSTEIN
A Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum will be left of the Virgin Megastore in the Bertelsmann Building, across Broadway from Ripley's site in the 1960's.

[ CT ]  Hal Prince's 'Evita' is timely once again By Chris Jones

[ BG ]  He's making noise with Deaf West's 'Big River' By Maureen Dezell
Director Jeff Calhoun breaks new ground in musical revival incorporating ASL

[ BG ]  Filling the seats By Geoff Edgers
With so many new stages, it's an exciting time for local theater. But can attendance keep pace?

[ HC ]  The Interlocking Circles Of Politics And The Arts by Frank Rizzo

[ P ]  PLAYBILL ARCHIVES: 'night Mother � 1983

Reviews:

[ P ]  ON THE RECORD: Barbara Cook's "From the Heart" and "Broadway: The American Musical"

[ Y ]  White Christmas
Review by Dennis Harvey, Variety
Bad news: Makers of this stage adaptation have kept the thing most disposable about the movie, the plot. Good news: This song pastiche is so packed with brightly staged, well-chosen Irving Berlin numbers that the storyline barely registers.

[ NYT ]  NEW YORK BOOKSHELF
A City of Writers and Actors

[ NYP ]  REQUIRED READING
It makes sense, once you've made your name as the author of "The Vagina Monologues," that you'd soon move on to the rest of the female anatomy.

News:

[ NYP ]  PAGE SIX
IT'S not all bad news about Liza Minnelli, who was just hit with a lawsuit by her former chauffeur.

[ Y ]  'Peter' pans out in Calif.
Road grosses rose 4.4% to $11,914,350 during Week 23 (Nov. 1-7).

[ P ]  Today in Theatre History: NOVEMBER 14

[ P ]  Dirty Rotten Tickets On Sale By Phone Nov. 14; Box Office Opens Dec. 27

[ P ]  Chicago Begins Ninth Year on Broadway Nov. 14

[ P ]  Falco Goes Gently Into That Goodnight as Norman's Mother Opens on Broadway, Nov. 14

[ P ]  13 Actors Play 44 Characters in Off-Broadway's Svejk, Opening Nov. 14

[ P ]  Wilson's Gem Has New Start Date of Nov. 23

[ P ]  Denzel Washington to Star in New Broadway Staging of Julius Caesar
posted at 11/14/2004 10:06:08 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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2007-08Broadway Season

2008-09Broadway Season

Talked AboutNot Scheduled Yet

2007-08
Broadway Season

2008-09
Broadway Season

Talked About
Not Scheduled Yet