Follow Spot http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/ Follow Spot by Michael Portantiere en Copyright 2010 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:37:34 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Colored Lights Colored Lights Some shows, like Gypsy, Fiddler, and My Fair Lady, can be counted upon for frequent revivals. But how often can one expect to see a remounting of The Rink, the flop John Kander-Fred Ebb-Terrence McNally musical from 1984? Well, here's your chance, folks: Musicals Tonight! is presenting a staged concert version of the show March 9-21 at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre (2162 Broadway at 76th Street). The cast is headed by Mary Jo Mecca and Stacie Perlman as Anna and Angel, the roles originally played by Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli, with Danny Gardner as Ben, David Garry as Dino, David Brent Howard as Tony, Christian Marriner as Lucky, Brad Nacht as Buddy, David Shane as Lino, and Paige Simunovich as the Little Girl. Check out my pix of the final dress rehearsal, below. For more information on the production or to purchase tickets, go to MusicalsTonight.org. ************************

]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/03/colored_lights.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/03/colored_lights.shtml Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:37:34 -0500 Thinking About Yank

Thinking About Yank!

The shows that work like a charm aren't the only ones that stick in our minds. For the past week or so, I haven't been able to stop thinking about Yank!, the deeply moving but highly problematic musical by brothers Joseph and David Zellnik that's now playing at the York Theatre after years of development and at least two previous productions, one as part of NYMF and the other by The Gallery Players of Brooklyn. Yank! attempts to tell a gay love story about two World War II-era soldiers named Stu and Mitch (respectively played by Bobby Steggert and Ivan Hernandez, pictured at left) in the style of the stage and film musicals of the 1940s. It's a tribute to the Zellniks and their collaborators that they pull off this fascinating but tricky concept for much of the show's length, which makes the sections in which they stumble all the more disappointing -- and frustrating, given that solutions to most of the show's problems would seem to be quite obvious. Less than a minute of stage time passes before the first major misstep. On the plus side, the authors had the great idea to give context and add resonance to the story with a framing device: A modern-day gay man, also played by Steggert, reflects on what life must have been like for two men who fell in love with each other in the gay-unfriendly '40s and, even worse, while they were grunts in a virulently homophobic army. But then this nameless young man tells us he learned about Stu and Mitch via Stu's diary, which he found in a junk shop in San Francisco. The Zellniks proceed to show us just how rigid and brutal the U.S. military could be in dealing with homosexuals who didn't follow the then-unstated "don't ask, don't tell" rule. Yet we're supposed to believe that Stu would keep a diary explicitly detailing his feelings for and relationship with Mitch, this is an environment where there could no reasonable expectation that the privacy of said diary would be respected. Better to have had the present-day gay man come across a photo of two army guys in which a romantic relationship was implicit but not stated, with some sort of ambiguous inscription on the back. To instead have the guy find a diary that would never realistically have existed, unless Stu was a reckless fool, is a central dramaturgical blunder that undermines Yank! in a big way. Another huge miscalculation occurs at the end of Act I with the Mitch-Stu duet "A Couple of Regular Guys," in which they dream of someday living together in a little house somewhere in Middle America. It's an okay song and a lovely thought, the only problem being that neither of these men -- especially not the conflicted Mitch -- would ever be able to imagine such an idyllic situation, let alone express his feelings in song. Of course, the Zellniks needed for there to be at least one love ballad in Yank!, so how could they have handled it? One unexplored option is that the lyrics to the song could have been oblique. Alternatively, the authors might have written a scene in which Mitch would sing a full-out love song ostensibly to a pretty young lady from the Women's Army Corps but surreptitiously direct it towards Stu. (Now, wouldn't that have been something? I'm getting chills just thinking about it.) Yank! also veers off course in that the conventions of a 1940s musical often clash with the serious tale that's being told, as when Stu suddenly and incredibly slips into a pair of tap shoes and joins fellow gay serviceman Artie -- played by Jeffry Denman, who also choreographed the show -- in a number titled "Click." Then there's the unnecessary, smirk-inducing "dream ballet," in which Dream Stu (Joseph Medeiros) and Dream Mitch (Denis Lambert) dance a pas de deux that distills their ill-fated relationship. Word of mouth and Internet chatter indicate that even some of this show's staunchest admirers can't stand the ballet, but the Zellniks and director Igor Goldin have retained it nonetheless. One might admire them for their artistic convictions, but on the other hand, one might question their judgment in insisting on giving the audience something it doesn't want. There are many other flaws in the show. One of the most significant is that the Zellniks provide little opportunity for Stu and Mitch to really get to know each other during the first few scenes; so when Stu suddenly declares his love for Mitch in the middle of Act I and Mitch replies "I love you too, kid," the moment is believable only because of the talent and charisma of the actors, not because the writers have done their job well. Then there are those sections of the script where very strange things happen in order to move the plot along. For example, when Stu is outed as a homosexual, he's given a choice of five years in a military prison or going to fight on the front lines, where he'll presumably be killed. (Really? Wouldn't the brass view the front lines as the worst possible place for someone whose very presence is considered destructive to a fighting unit's cohesion? And, in any event, it is remotely plausible that the man in question would be allowed to choose his punishment?) Finally, there's the ludicrous scene toward the end of the show where Stu immediately forgives Tennessee (Andrew Durand), the redneck who told the brass about his diary and thereby caused him to be thrown into solitary confinement. Make no mistake: These and other problems notwithstanding, much of Yank! is wonderful. The scenes of camaraderie between the motley crew of soldiers, including the songs "Polishing Shoes" and "Letters/Remembering You," are neat. Act I includes a funny war movie parody starring the fabulous Nancy Anderson as an angelic army nurse. The crowning moment of the entire show is the heartbreaking scene in which Stu finally reconnects with the injured Mitch back home -- still hoping they can somehow have a life together -- and receives the devastating news that Mitch is married. But again, the effect of this and other scenes is due as much to the superb performances of Steggert and Hernandez as to the actual quality of the writing. Yank! is going over so well at the York that the run has been extended through April 4. My guess is that the brothers Zellnik now consider their work to be finished, especially given the mostly rapturous audience response. But in my opinion, this is one of those cases -- like Brokeback Mountain -- where people become so emotionally involved in a sad, beautiful gay love story that they choose not to notice or be bothered by major flaws in the storytelling. If the Zellniks ever do decide to take another pass at the show, here are my suggestions, for whatever they're worth: (1) change the diary to a photo; (2) amplify the interaction between Mitch and Stu in the early scenes; (3) rework the number "Click" so that Artie is the only one who taps; (4) figure out some way to make the Mitch/Stu love song indirect; (5) get rid of the dream ballet; (6) don't send Stu to the front lines; and (7) cut or completely rewrite the reconciliation scene between Stu and Tennessee. All of this would go a long way toward making Yank! the truly excellent, groundbreaking musical it wants to be. ********************* Finian's.jpg

Follow the Fellow

It's sad, confounding, and kind of scary that the recent Broadway revival of the evergreen Burton Lane/E.Y. Harburg musical Finian's Rainbow had such a brief run despite receiving almost universal acclaim from the critics. But the pot of gold at the end of this evanescent rainbow is the recently released cast recording from P.S. Classics. In one sense, this CD wasn't vitally necessary, as Finian's already had a legacy of four excellent recordings: (1) the exciting Original Broadway Cast album, featuring the strange but bracing vocal embellishments of Ella Logan in the leading female role of Sharon McLonergan; (2) the 1960 Broadway revival album, highlighted by Jeannie Carson's lovely, more straightforward renditions of Sharon's songs; (3) the 1968 film soundtrack with Petula Clark and Fred Astaire, a wonderful presentation of the score even if the movie itself doesn't quite work; and (4) the recording of the Irish Rep's delightful 2004 Off-Broadway production, commendable for the performances of Melissa Errico, Max Von Essen, Malcolm Gets, et al., even if the accompaniment is limited to two pianos. But the new cast album is a worthwhile addition to the library if only because it captures the vocal performances of Kate Baldwin, Cheyenne Jackson, et al., and it also gives us Robert Russell Bennett's and Don Walker's gorgeous original orchestrations in state-of-the-art digital stereo sound for the first time. The recording starts unpromisingly with a somewhat stiff account of the overture; I assume this is because the full piece was not played in the theater, and when the cut sections were reinstated for the recording, the performance suffered because music director Rob Berman wasn't used to conducting the whole thing and the musicians weren't used to playing it. But, thereafter, all is more than well in terms of both orchestra and singers. Baldwin is terrific as Sharon, one of the most refreshing aspects of her performance being that she "belts" a good deal more of the role than her recorded predecessors. Only momentarily does this turn out to be an unwise decision: When she goes for the high note on the last word of the phrase "and he's not the hero" in "If This Isn't Love," it sounds less than pretty. Elsewhere, she expertly mixes chest and head voice, and the warmth of her middle register is greatly appreciated on such ballads as "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" and "Look to the Rainbow." As Woody, Jackson displays a warm, rounded baritone and has a warm, friendly presence. Jim Norton's Finian gets more lines to sing on this recording than this character is usually allotted (the film soundtrack is a major exception), and he delivers them with great verve, humor, and authenticity. Christopher Fitzgerald is a pixified delight as the leprechaun Og, charming and tickling us with some of Harburg's cleverest lyrics. Which brings me to an oddity in this otherwise virtually complete aural document of the score. As originally written by Harburg, a section of the song "That Great Come-and-Get-It-Day" goes as follows: "Bells will ring in every steeple; come and get your test on the movie screen. Come you free and you equal people, come and get your beer and your Benzedrine!" For the new recording and the production it documents, the lyrics of this quatrain and the previous one were rearranged and the line "Come you free and you equal people" was cut. It's hard to guess why this happened or who's responsible for it, but there were a few other weird little cuts made for the show and the CD—some of which may have been the doing of David Ives, who's credited with having adapted the show for the City Center Encores! presentation that yielded the Broadway revival. Or maybe the person responsible is Arnold Perlman, who adapted Ives's adaptation for Broadway. Whatever, these excisions are unfortunate, even though they represent only a few seconds in a generally respectful revival and recording of one of the most beloved musicals in the canon.]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/03/thinking_about_yank.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/03/thinking_about_yank.shtml Sun, 07 Mar 2010 09:22:16 -0500 I'm Getting Temperamental Over You I'm Getting Temperamental Over You

Jon Marans's The Temperamentals, one of the very best of the bumper crop of new plays dealing with gay subject matter, opened Off-Broadway at New World Stages last night following a highly successful showcase run last year. It tells the based-in-truth story of two men -- the communist Harry Hay and the Viennese refugee and designer Rudi Gernrech -- as they fall in love while establishing the first gay rights organization in the United States pre-Stonewall. After the show, the company gathered with friends, fans, and photogs for a celebration at The Palm restaurant. Here are my pix from that event. Thomas Jay Ryan, a.k.a. Harry Hay.
Michael Urie, a.k.a. Rudi Gernreich, with David Hyde Pierce.
Arnie Burton (left), who plays several roles in the show -- including Vincente Minnelli! -- with Yuki Lim.
Friends of the production: Actors Jeffrey Kuhn and David Turner.
Vince Gatton (right), who understudies several roles in The Temperamentals, with his sister Barbie.
Playwright John Marans (right) with one of the show's producers, Stacy Shane.
Stage and TV star Judith Light.
Film producer Neil Meron with actor/author/director Bob Balaban.
Daryl Roth (center), another of the show's producers, with David Hyde Pierce and his partner, TV executive Brian Hargrove.
This handsome portrait of the Temperamentals cast is now displayed on one of the restaurant's walls. ]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/im_getting_temperamental_over.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/im_getting_temperamental_over.shtml Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:32:11 -0500 Boyz Will Be Girlz (and Vice-Versa) Boyz Will Be Girlz (and Vice-Versa)

The fifth annual edition of Broadway Backwards, the wildly entertaining benefit concert in which men sing songs traditionally performed by women, and vice-versa, exploded onto the stage of Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre last night -- Monday, February 22. And wouldn't the Father of Our Country have been proud! Created, directed, and choreographed by Robert Bartley, the event -- which this year raised funds for both New York City's GLBT Community Center and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS -- was a roaring success. Here are some of my pix from the show. ********************

The opening number featured appearances by Robert Cuccioli (left) and Valerie Harper, the latter soon to return to Broadway as Tallulah Bankhead in Looped.

Broadway Backwards 5 was hosted by the fabulous Florence Henderson, here seen being arrested by Richard Kind for supporting same-sex romance in "Shipoopi" from The Music Man.

In another number from The Music Man, Becki Newton played a predatory traveling saleswoman (salesperson?), with Barbara Angeline as her prey.

Dan Butler (soon to return to the New York stage in The Irish Curse at Soho Playhouse) took the Nancy Walker role of cab driver Hildy in a number from On the Town, putting the moves on cute young sailor Hunter Ryan Herdlicka (a.k.a. Henrik in the current revival of A Little Night Music).

In the two photos above, Gary Beach and the male ensemble are seen performing "I'm Not at All in Love" from The Pajama Game.

Lee Roy Reams and Len Cariou, who appeared together on Broadway in Applause 40 years ago, sang "I Remember It Well" from Gigi. (You probably won't be surprised to hear that a Lauren Bacall reference creeped into the lyrics.)

In the three photos above, we see Tony Goldwyn (who'll soon return to Broadway in the revival of Promises, Promises) cavorting with the male ensemble in "Conga!" from Wonderful Town.

Three of Broadway's hottest dancers -- Timothy Bish, Adam Perry, and Nick Adams -- performed "There's Gotta Be Something Better Than This" from Sweet Charity

As seen in the two pix above, Douglas Sills musically declared, "I could have danced all night, and still have begged for more!"

Bruce Vilanch played Bianca (or was it Binaca?) in the "Tom, Dick, or Harry" number from Kiss Me, Kate, with (left to right) Ward Billeisen, Antuan Raimone, and Patrick O'Neill as his/her suitors.

Michele Lee sang "Secret Love" from Calamity Jane and "The Boy Next Door" (rendered here as "The Girl Next Door") from Meet Me in St. Louis.

Raúl Esparza channeled Judy Garland -- complete with frenzied arm motions -- in his searing rendition of "The Man That Got Away" from A Star is Born.

Flo Henderson was reunited with one of The Brady Bunch kids, Eve Plumb, in a women's prison takeoff.

Mario Cantone and the male ensemble stopped the show with "Where You Are" from Kiss of the Spider Woman.

For the show's 11 o'clock number, Florence and the women performed "Luck Be a Lady" from Guys and Dolls, after which Flo was hauled into court and brought before the judge -- played by another beloved TV mom, Marion Ross from Happy Days.

For the grand finale of Broadway Backwards 5, Tituss Burgess and the Youth Pride Chorus sang "Children Will Listen" from Into the Woods. ]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/boyz_will_be_girlz_and_vice-ve.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/boyz_will_be_girlz_and_vice-ve.shtml Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:55:40 -0500 Prepare for ReEntry Prepare for ReEntry ReEntry, a new play by Emily Ackerman and KJ Sanchez, is billed as an unflinching look at the lives of Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, based on interviews with privates and colonels, combat vets and clerks, and one particularly memorable family. Directed by Sanchez, the show opens at Urban Stages on February 11 and will play through March 7. Featured in the ensemble cast are Joseph Harrell, Sameerah Luqmann-Harris, Bobby Moreno, PJ Sosko, and Sheila Tapia. Here are my photos of the production, taken during the final run-through. ********************

]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/prepare_for_reentry.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/prepare_for_reentry.shtml Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:25:06 -0500 You're in the Armory Now!

You're in the Armory Now!

In what is sure to be the biggest theatrical event of 2011, the Lincoln Center Festival, in association with the Park Avenue Armory and The Ohio State University, will present the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) at the Armory for an unprecedented six-week residency in July and August next year. A joint announcement of this extraordinary endeavor was made this morning at Alice Tully Hall by Nigel Redden, director of the Festival; Reynold Levy, president of Lincoln Center; Rebecca Robertson, President and CEO of the Armory; and Michael Boyd, artistic director of the RSC. For this engagement, a full-scale replica of the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, where the RSC regularly performs, will be constructed in the Armory's 55,000 square foot drill hall (see rendering). The RSC ensemble will consist of 44 actors performing five plays that will be selected from the company's 2009-2010 U.K. repertoire of six plays: Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and The Winter's Tale. There be a total of 45 performances from July 6 through August 14, 2011. Opening this morning's press conference, Redden said: "When we began conversations with Michael Boyd, he not only challenged us with the idea of bringing a large group of actors to New York, he challenged us with the idea of bringing them to a theater that would reproduce the Courtyard in Stratford-upon-Avon in some way. We looked at various theaters, and could find nothing that would work. So we did the obvious, which was to agree to build a replica of the theater in New York. Of course, the only place that we could do this was at the Park Avenue Armory." Redden noted previous Festival presentations at the Armory, including Les Ephemeres and an extravagant production of the opera Die Soldaten; but he commented, "I don't think that we will do anything on quite so epic a scale as this residency of the RSC." Robertson said, "It's a huge thrill for the Park Avenue Armory to have the Royal Shakespeare Company in residence in New York. This role of co-presenter is new to us; it represents a recent commitment by our very dedicated board to invest more in artistic work that needs an unconventional space like ours. Completed in 1881 as both a military facility and a social club for the leaders of New York's gilded age, the Park Avenue Armory is one of country's historic treasures. Our soaring drill hall is one of the largest unobstructed spaces in the city, and it was designed to resemble a 19th-century European train shed, so it's a very beautiful structure. We believe that our space allows artists to create their own worlds and have audiences enter into them." Introduced to energetic applause, Boyd said, "It's a great honor to be given center stage in this city and in this Festival. You're going to have 44 very excited Shakespearean actors singing 'New York, New York' in just over a year's time. By 2011, [these actors] will have have been working together, fighting, hating each other, learning together, playing their roles, understudying for each other. Fifty-five-year-old, slightly grumpy actors will have learned to dance and do rope work, encouraged by their younger colleagues. In an age of rampant individualism, we are working hard to prove the virtues of collective theater-making." For more information on this and other Lincoln Center events, visit http://new.lincolncenter.org/live/.]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/youre_in_the_armory_now.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/youre_in_the_armory_now.shtml Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:20:34 -0500 Each Day is Valentine's Day

Each Day is Valentine's Day

I would describe Eric Comstock and Barbara Fasano as "The Lunts of Cabaret," except that they're much younger than my image of Alfred and Lynn. And I hesitate to label them "The Brangelina of Cabaret," given what's lately been happening with that union. So let's just avoid comparisons and say that Eric and Barbara are their own, unique selves. Over the next several weeks, this enormously talented couple will be offering all standards, all the time in two different venues: They'll be ensconced in the legendary Oak Room of the Algonquin Hotel, musically exploring the many sides of modern romance in a show titled This Thing Called Love, from February 9 through March 6; and they will do double duty on three manic evenings, performing in a Johnny Burke tribute as part of the 92nd Street Y's celebrated "Lyrics and Lyricists" series, February 20-22. I caught up with them last week at their publicist's office, and here's what they had to say. ******************** BROADWAYSTARS: Have you guys performed together at the Oak Room before this engagement? ERIC: Only for a one-night Noël Coward evening. But I've been there several times. STARS: I'm so glad that place is still open for business. ERIC: Yes, especially with things being how they are. Isn't that the line from Guys and Dolls? "Things being how they are..." BARBARA: We were just talking about roles I'd like to play, and I'd love to do Guys and Dolls. STARS: Which role, Sarah or Adelaide? ERIC: Sky. BARBARA: Yes, that would be more my temper! STARS: I missed the Nightlife Awards this year, but I know you guys won the award for best cabaret duo. BARBARA: It was a fun night, and we were thrilled to be a part of it. Bruce Vilanch was the host, and oh my God! He had a script, but he just kept going off. Every minute, something would trigger a story. He reminisced a lot about Reno Sweeney's. It was great. STARS: In your show at the Oak Room, you're going to feature songs by composers ranging from Cole Porter to Stephen Sondheim to Bruce Springsteen. Is it a challenge to perform such stylistically diverse songs and still make the program feel cohesive? ERIC: I think it's all in how we present it. If we set up each song properly, they will all seem part of the context. BARBARA: It also depends on the arrangements, if they're all of a piece. It's not like we do the Gershwin songs with a piano and a bass and then we add electric guitar and drums for the Springsteen. The fact that they're all shot through the same musical prism and sensibility makes for a seamless transition. I think it's important to include the music of our generation, but it's really no longer innovative to do that. When I put songs by Cyndi Lauper and Springsteen on one of my albums and mixed them with songs by Sondheim and Dorothy Fields, it was a little bit innovative then, but now every jazz artist is mixing the genres. STARS: What's the arc of your show? Does it trace the various stages of love? ERIC: Yes, but in a subtle way. Our opener is all about the search for love, because the last thing we want to look like is a happily married couple lording it over everybody. BARBARA: Because we're not! Our premise in the show is, basically, that we don't know anything about love. STARS: Can you name some of the musical theater songs in the show? ERIC: "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top" [from Oklahoma!], "Small World" [from Gypsy], "Tonight" [from West Side Story], and the title song from Guys and Dolls. In that one, we do some of the lyrics that Frank Loesser wrote for the sheet music but aren't in the show. They're from the woman's point of view, and people are always startled to hear them. They ask us, "Where did you find those lyrics? They're great!" STARS: What would you say are some of the most original love songs in your show? ERIC: Well, we might do some Yip Harburg songs. He had a great knack for not being literal. BARBARA: It's not an evening of the usual suspects; the repertoire is not necessarily what comes to mind when people think of an evening of love songs. We don't like to spoon-feed the audience. ERIC: "Surrey" is a great example. BARBARA: Yes, it's all about the coach -- but that's not really what it's about. It's a seduction. "Get in my car!" We also do "Joey, Joey, Joey" [from The Most Happy Fella], which is certainly not an obvious love song. ERIC: I think the classic songs can win a whole new audience, if they're well presented. Because they endure. The songs of Rodgers and Hart and Cole Porter are so smart and so universal. STARS: A big help in appreciating that kind of music is being exposed to it at an early age, but the chances of that are pretty low nowadays, given the current state of arts education. Maybe it should be done at home -- like sex education. ERIC: Exactly! BARBARA: We're really looking forward to this month-long engagement at the Algonquin. To make contact with the audience is always what's foremost in our minds. We're hoping that people come and have an evening of feeling and honest connection. There's so much out there that keeps us from having that kind of heart-to-heart human contact. STARS: That's the reason why cabaret will probably never die. BARBARA: Yes, because there's nothing else like it, when you're this close and somebody says, "I am now going to draw and quarter myself for you and your husband." ERIC: Night after relentless night! ]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/each_day_is_valentines_day.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/02/each_day_is_valentines_day.shtml Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:16:34 -0500 What A View From the Bridge Taught Me (and Re-Taught Me)

What A View From the Bridge Taught Me (and Re-Taught Me)

Prior to attending Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge at the Cort, I had seen the first two Broadway revivals of the play, and I directed a community theater production on Staten Island in 1988. So I guess I went into the current View thinking I knew pretty much all there was to know about the play, and -- human nature being what it is -- I had certain expectations regarding this production, based on the personnel involved. As it turned out, my experience taught or re-taught me a lot about this work in particular and theater in general: **1) A View From the Bridge is a great play** Not a flawless play -- but really, how many works of art are flawless? In case you aren't familiar with View, it's a slice-of-life drama set in Red Hook, Brooklyn in the 1950s. The central character is a guy named Eddie Carbone, who lives with his wife, Beatrice, and his niece, Catherine. Trouble ensues when Eddie agrees to harbor Beatrice's cousins Marco and Rodolpho, illegal immigrants from Sicily. Catherine and Rodolpho quickly fall in love -- a huge problem, since Eddie has a deep-seated passion for the girl, though he can't bring himself to admit it. As the weeks and months pass, Eddie's jealousy reaches the boiling point, with deadly consequences. Some critics rate View among Miller's lesser works, coming down on its purportedly melodramatic aspects and considering it a noble but failed attempt at writing the modern-day equivalent of a Greek tragedy. But the way I see it, the play's great strength -- Miller's wholehearted understanding of exactly how these poor, decent people would behave in such a fraught situation -- far outweighs any weaknesses. The very fact that the current production marks View's fourth time on Broadway indicates that its power to move audiences is undiminished. 2) Liev Schreiber is one of the finest stage actors of his generation. The best compliment I can give to Schreiber's performance as Eddie Carbone is that I was riveted from start to finish even though I disagree with with many of his acting choices. When I directed View, I thought it was important for Eddie to appear very happy in the first couple of scenes -- almost jovial at moments, and with a great sense of humor -- in order to give the character a major arc and make his eventual deterioration into a desperate, rage-filled shell of a man all the more heartbreaking. Under the direction of Gregory Mosher, Schreiber takes another approach: He plays Eddie as almost taciturn, with bottled-up emotions that bubble to the surface only in extremis. It's not the choice I would make as an actor or endorse as a director, and it may sound like it wouldn't work at all -- but, somehow, Schreiber makes it work through sheer commitment and laser-sharp focus. 3) When a hot young movie star with little or no stage experience is tapped to play a major role on Broadway, the results aren't always disastrous -- and, sometimes they're fabulous. Scarlett Johansson gives a wonderfully touching and skillful performance in the tricky role of Eddie's niece, Catherine. De-glamorized with a dark, '50s-style brunette wig and light makeup, she's entirely credible as a 17 year old, mid-20th-century Italian-American girl who grew up in Red Hook, complete with a flawless Brooklyn accent. My theater companion remarked that she disappears into the role in the best sense possible; not having read the Playbill in advance, he didn't even realize the young lady playing Catherine was Johansson until several scenes had gone by and it dawned on him that it must be her, because it was getting way too late in the show for another major character to appear. So brava, Ms. J., and welcome to Broadway. 4) An excellent actor can play a problematic role so well that it doesn't seem problematic at all. Another element of A View From the Bridge that has often been criticized is the role of Alfieri, a lawyer who also functions as a sort of one-man Greek chorus. Looking back at the first two Broadway revivals, Robert Prosky was terrific as Alfieri in 1983, but the part defeated Stephen Spinella in 1997. (I didn't see his successor, Robert LuPone.) When I directed View, the actor who played Alfieri got away from me, falling into the trap of speaking his lines with ripe classical tone and heavy tragic import. At the Cort, Michael Cristofer succeeds by going in the opposite direction; his Alfieri is a fellow who was smart enough to earn a law degree but whose articulate speech nevertheless retains the rhythms, cadences, and accent of a Brooklyn street kid. As a result, even the purplest lines of the character's monologues sound quite natural coming from his lips, and don't seem like they were swiped from a 1950s adaptation of Oedipus Rex. 5) With any luck at all, a talented and well-respected actress will never be out of a job for long. Earlier this season, Jessica Hecht did beautiful work as Blanche in the short-lived Broadway revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs. Happily, she was snapped up by Mosher and company for View, in which she's perfection as Beatrice. If you see the show and you can manage to tear your eyes off of Schreiber and Johansson while they're speaking, note how much Hecht communicates with her eyes and body language alone. An outstanding performance. ]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/what_a_view_from_the_bridge_ta_1.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/what_a_view_from_the_bridge_ta_1.shtml Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:12:16 -0500 Richard Thomas Joins the Wall of Fame Richard Thomas Joins the Wall of Fame

Richard Thomas (above), one of the stars of David Mamet's Race, had his portrait by artist Dan May unveiled on Tuesday night, January 19 at Tony's DiNapoli on West 43rd Street, for addition to the restaurant's Wall of Fame. Thomas made his Broadway debut in 1958 at age seven in Sunrise at Campobello, and his credits also include Strange Interlude, Fifth of July, The Front Page, Democracy, and A Naked Girl on the Appian Way.

Here's Thomas with one of his Race co-stars, David Alan Grier...

...and here he is again with radio personality Valerie Smaldone.

Among the other notables on hand for the unveiling: Barry Wood (TV's Trading Spaces and Hidden Potential).

The great playwright Michael Weller with director Drew DeCorleto.

Oscar E. Moore (TalkEntertainment.com) with actor Bill Coyne (Superhero Celebrity Rehab).

The Richard Thomas portrait, by Dan May. ]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/richard_thomas_joins_the_wall.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/richard_thomas_joins_the_wall.shtml Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:47:39 -0500 Giving Carmen the Eyre

Giving Carmen the Eyre

In a program note for the new Metropolitan Opera production of Carmen, director Richard Eyre writes: "Coming late to opera, I heard [this] score for the first time in a re-orchestrated version in the film of Carmen Jones." Taking a cue from Oscar Hammerstein's Broadway musical adaptation of Georges Bizet's immortal opera, Eyre has moved the action of the piece forward in time roughly 100 years, from the mid 19th-century to the mid 20th -- although he has kept the setting in Spain, now in the 1930s, rather than placing it in WW-II era America. As it turns out, this is the least damaging conceit of the production. That Eyre is very confused as to how to deal with Carmen is evident in the edition (if that's the correct word!) of the work that he has concocted for this production. According to the program, "This version of Carmen uses, in part, the critical edition by Fritz Oeser." In part? Over the course of two hours and 45 minutes of music, I noticed only one 50-second passage taken from Oeser: Carmen's taunting repeat of Don José's "Il souffre de partir..." in Act II. Throughout the rest of the evening, Eyre frequently uses the recitatives that Ernest Guiraud composed for the opera after Bizet's untimely death; but he sometimes replaces the recits with a line or two of spoken dialogue drawn from the sung dialogue, and other times he completely eliminates the recits, replacing them with nothing at all. Never do we hear any of the spoken dialogue that was used in the original, "opera comique" version Carmen. In short, to call this "edition" an unsatisfying hodge-podge would be to put it mildly. The production, with sets and costumes by Richard Howell, and lighting by Peter Mumford, makes much use of a huge turntable. This allows for set changes within each act, which can be annoyingly intrusive if overdone, as here. The shifts back and forth from the inside of the guardhouse to the plaza in Act I are all well and good; but when, in the last 30 seconds of the opera, Eyre and Howell rotate the brutally murdered Carmen and the murderer Don José offstage to show us the interior of the bullring, with the animal lying dead and bloodied in the foreground and the crowd gathered in tableau around it, the only natural response is to let out with an expletive that conveniently begins with the word "bull." In confronting Carmen, one of the greatest artistic masterpiece of all time, Eyre seems to have said to himself: "I'm going to put my own stamp on this thing, even if that means I have to contradict the intentions of the authors." For every moment of intelligence or clarity in his direction, there's a moment of nonsense. To give only two more examples of many: The can be little doubt that, in real life, the soldiers' teasing of Micaëla in the first scene of the opera would more closely resemble sexual harassment than harmless flirtation, and that Carmen's smuggler cohorts Dancaïre and Remendado would be rough customers, not jovial comic figures. But Bizet and his librettists chose to present these scenes and characters as light and amusing rather than menacing, so Eyre's insistence on a grittier interpretation is counterproductive. On the plus side of the ledger, this production boasts a strong cast. Elina Garanca surely ranks as one of the sexiest, most physically beautiful Carmens in history -- not an unimportant attribute in the role of a woman whose allure is supposed to be off the charts. She is further blessed with a gorgeous voice that's perfectly equalized throughout its wide range; when she filled the auditorium with sound in the climactic section of the card aria and in the final duet, the sound was so powerful that I feared some more of that gold leaf on the Met ceiling was going to peel off. Although Roberto Alagna rather distractingly continues to employ various different techniques of vocal production, especially in his upper register, the basic sound is impressive -- and, as befits his Carmen, Alagna is one of the handsomest Josés you're ever likely to see. Barbara Frittoli's pretty, effortless soprano perfectly suits the role of Micaëla, and Mariusz Kwiecen is dashing as the bullfighter Escamillo. In the performance I attended, Ashley Tuttle and Keith Roberts danced beautifully at the top of Act I and Act II (choreography by Christopher Wheeldon), but whether or not dances by two nameless, symbolic figures should have been included as these junctures is another question entirely. Yannick Nézet-Sé conducts Bizet's masterpiece of a score with great élan. It's a pity that Eyre's direction so frequently works against, rather than with, the piece and the performers. ]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/giving_carmen_the_eyre.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/giving_carmen_the_eyre.shtml Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:33:02 -0500 The Altar Boyz Have Left the Building The Altar Boyz Have Left the Building

Much has happened since Altar Boyz opened at New World Stages in 2005. This terrifically entertaining Off-Broadway musical about a fictional Christian boy band has garnered multitudes of fans (known as "Altarholics") and has launched or boosted the careers of the scores of triple-threat young men who have appeared in the roles of Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan, and Abraham. And the theater complex on West 50th Street, once thought to be something of a white elephant, is now thriving. Here are some pix from last night's 2,032nd and final New York performance of the show, and from the after-party at (where else?) Hooters, where members of the current company were joined by alums and friends for a rousing farewell.

The finale of Altar Boyz, "I Believe," as performed by the final Off-Broadway cast: (l-r) Travis Nesbitt, Mauricio Perez, Ravi Roth, Lee Markham, and Michael Kadin Craig.

Post-curtain-call remarks were offered by the show's lead producers, Ken Davenport (second from left in foreground) and Robyn Goodman.

Among the dozens of former Altar Boyz who took stage for the curtain call were Tyler Maynard, Cheyenne Jackson, and Andy Karl.

At Hooters: Kevin Kern and David Josefsberg.

Ann Harada (of Avenue Q fame) with Michael Patrick Walker, one of the Altar Boyz songwriters.

Corey Boardman, Kyle Dean Massey (now co-starring in Next to Normal on Broadway), and Eric Schneider.

Landon Beard and James Royce Edwards.

Ryan Duncan, the original Juan, flanked by Altarholics Michelle and Lynette Michalos.

Michael Kadin Craig with the show's director, Stafford Arima.

Andrew C. Call, a former Luke, with Michelle Marmolejo.

Producer Kevin McCollum with Tyler Maynard. ]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/the_altar_boyz_have_left_the_b.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/the_altar_boyz_have_left_the_b.shtml Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:44:49 -0500 One More Week of Musical Theater Heaven

One More Week of Musical Theater Heaven

It was quite an emotional scene at Ragtime this past Sunday afternoon. The January 3 performance was to have marked the show's sadly premature closing -- until a one-week extension to the 10th was announced -- so the fans were out in force. Heartfelt cheers and applause were the rule throughout the show. At intermission, I saw André De Shields in the audience, with tears in his eyes. And I ran into a fellow journalist who said, "This is the first time in my life that I've paid for a theater ticket. I just had to be here." One could go on and on attempting to analyze exactly why this magnificent revival was unable to find an audience, with reasons ranging from a lack of star names to the argument that this production came too soon after the original. Of course, the generally high price of Broadway tickets enters into the equation, especially in the current economy. Whatever, I'm very sorry to see Ragtime go. I myself teared up at several points during the performance, and I can't honestly say how much of that was due to the emotional impact of the show itself and how much to my knowledge that it will be gone after this coming weekend. But I'm grateful that I got to see this production three times: once during its initial engagement at the Kennedy Center in D.C., and twice at Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre. Based on the epic novel by E.L. Doctorow, Ragtime has a gorgeous, sweeping score by Stephen Flaherty (music) and Lynn Ahrens (lyrics), and an exemplary book by Terrence McNally -- in my opinion, far and away that writer's best work of the past quarter century. Directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, the current production is a must-see for its grand, three-level unit set (love that cyclorama!), it's sumptuously huge orchestra (more than three times the size of the instrumental complement you'll hear if you attend the present Broadway revival of A Little Night Music), and a superb cast headed by Ron Bohmer, Quentin Earl Darrington, Christiane Noll, Robert Petkoff, Bobby Steggert, and Stephanie Umoh. I've previously extolled several of these performers, but I don't want to let Ragtime go without a special nod to Darrington and Umoh (pictured above), both of whom are doing brilliant work in roles previously thought to be owned by Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald. Darrington's Coalhouse Walker is a triumph, and I'm going to say without a moment of hesitation that Umoh's Sunday afternoon performance of the vocally and emotionally exhausting Act I aria "Your Daddy's Son" represented three of the most thrilling minutes I've ever experienced in a theater. Yes, the swift closing of this show is very sad, but something I noticed after Sunday's performance gave me hope for the future. While I was waiting at the stage door with friends, we noticed that the crowd of well-wishers and autograph seekers included lots of young people. It does my heart good to see theatergoers of that generation are able to appreciate Ragtime with its beautiful, traditional-style score. After all, there should be room on Broadway for every conceivable type of musical, as long as they're done well. If you haven't yet caught Ragtime, please do yourself a favor and get yourself to the Neil Simon before the closing this Sunday. It doesn't get much better than this.]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/one_more_week_of_musical_theat.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2010/01/one_more_week_of_musical_theat.shtml Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:02:28 -0500 Once in Love With Ernest

Once in Love With Ernest

Some years ago, I was lucky enough to attend the Irish Rep's excellent production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, which boasted a dream cast headed by Eric Stoltz, Melissa Errico, and the great Nancy Marchand as a well-nigh-definitive Lady Bracknell. I'm happy to tell you that the company is now holiday-gifting us with an equally praiseworthy revival of Ernest in Love, the 1960 Off-Broadway musical based on the play. On the basis of this production, the musical deserves to be better known and more frequently revived than it is. Although the score (music by Lee Pockriss, lyrics by Anne Croswell) is not terribly distinguished, it's utterly charming and appropriate to the tone of the original. Croswell's book is exemplary in condensing Wilde's text while retaining all of his "greatest hits" bon mots, and the song placement is skillful. Rest assured, there is a song about the notorious "handbag" -- and the creators even found a place for an honest-to-goodness, non-ironic love duet in Act II! Considering the huge potential pitfalls inherent in adapting Wilde to the musical stage, Ernest in Love is an all the more impressive effort. The Irish Rep production is felicitously cast, with Noah Racey as Jack (a.k.a. Ernest), Annika Boras as Gwendolen, Ian Holcomb as Algernon, and the adorable Katie Fabel as Cecily. As the imperious but hilarious Lady Bracknell, Beth Fowler takes full charge of a role that's completely different from anything I've seen her do before. Charlotte Moore directs the proceedings with just the right touch; the four-piece chamber orchestra sounds lovely as led by conductor/keyboardist Mark Hartman; and the sets, costumes, and lighting, respectively by James Morgan, Linda Fisher, and Brian Nason, put the current Broadway revival of A Little Night Music to shame. **********************

Zero Hour, written by and starring Jim Brochu -- and directed by Piper Laurie! -- is just as great as I'd heard it was from everyone I know who saw it before I did. This little slice of the great actor Zero Mostel's life is tremendously entertaining, and it further proves my contention that one-person shows are almost always of the highest quality (because they're so difficult to pull off that they tend to be written and performed only by exceptionally talented people who REALLY know what they're doing.) Indeed, the only real question about Zero Hour is: Which is better, the writing or the performance? Let's call it a draw. Mostel was a larger-than-life presence in terms of both his rotund physique and his mercurial personality; Brochu is almost a dead ringer for the man as he looked in his later years, and his acting ability is such that he captures the man to a T. The piece itself is a fascinating, informative, alternately hilarious and moving monologue that recaps some of the high- and low-points in Mostel's life and career, including his suffering (and that of his friends) due to the heinous blacklisting of the McCarthy era, the horrendous bus accident that almost claimed one of his legs, and his brilliant comeback(s) in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Producers -- a movie he claims to have hated. Zero Hour continues in the Theater at St. Clement's through January 31. Don't miss it! ********************

I'm sorry I didn't catch up with the Mint Theater Company's thoroughly satisfying production of the obscure Maurine Dallas Watkins play So Help Me God! until very late in the show's limited run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, but I didn't want to let it go without saying "bravo" to the company. Written by the woman who is best known for having penned the play Chicago (upon which the world-famous musical is based), So Help Me God! was to have been produced on Broadway in 1929-30, but those plans were scuttled by the Depression (the first one). The plot has been compared to that of All About Eve, and there are definite similarities, but also major differences. For one thing, in this play, the stage star who's the Margo Channing counterpart is a hard-core evil, conniving, back-stabbing bitch, whereas the understudy is a far more sympathetic individual than Miss Eve Harrington. At any rate, Kristen Johnston was absolutely fabulous as the despicable star, and Anna Chlumsky was perfect as "the kid, junior." Other standouts in director Jonathan Bank's top-drawer, first-rate production were Catherine Curtin, John Windsor-Cunningham, Allen Lewis Rickman, and Brad Bellamy. Bill Clarke's sets, and Clint Ramos's costumes were far more elaborate than anyone would have dreamed to hope for in a production at this level. Cheers to everyone involved. ********************

"Well! Something light and joyful for the holidays!" Thus did a friend of mine comment sarcastically when I told him that I'd be attending the Metropolitan Opera production of Richard Strauss's Elektra just a couple of weeks before Christmas. Like the Sophocles play on which it's based, the opera features two murders, and it ups the ante by adding a massive, fatal heart attack (or something to that effect) for the heroine. Not your typical fare for this festive season of the year, when audiences are more inclined toward sugar-plum fairies, elves, leggy Rockettes, etc, But, of course, a superb presentation of even the grimmest piece is welcome any time of year, so I'm glad I got to experience Elektra as brilliantly conducted by Fabio Luisi, with the astonishing Met debutante Susan Bullock as Elektra and Deborah Voigt returning to one of her greatest roles, Chrysothemis. Add a magnificently sung, thrillingly acted portrayal of Klytamnestra by Felicity Palmer (pictured at left, with Bullock) and you have music drama of the highest order. A word about the brilliance of Jurgen Rose's set design for this Otto Schenk production, which debuted in 1992: Aside from evoking ancient Mycenae, the set is notable for towering walls that serve as huge sound reflectors, helping to project the singers' voices out into the house with such volume and clarity that they are never swamped by Strauss's often fierce orchestrations. Smartly done!]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2009/12/once_in_love_with_ernest.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2009/12/once_in_love_with_ernest.shtml Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:51:03 -0500 Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig: Gypsies of the Year Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig: Gypsies of the Year Wow! Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig, by literally selling the shirts off their backs in impromptu auctions following performances of A Steady Rain, helped raise so much money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS that a special award was created for them and presented at yesterday's "Gypsy of the Year" event at the Palace Theatre. The mega-stars led their company in raising a mind-boggling $1,549,952 for BC/EFA, a goodly portion of the all-time-record $4,630,695 total that was raised by the companies of dozens of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and touring shows. Here are my pix of this year's "Gypsy of the Year." ********************

Above and immediately below are three photos of the opening number, a wildly entertaining hommage to/spoof of "So You Think You Can Dance?"

Julie White and Seth Rudetsky were the event's fabulous hosts.

The company of Newsical offered their own take on the ridiculous "boy in the balloon" hoax.

Naked Boys Singing contemplated having Hugh Jackman join their company in order to keep the show running. (If only!)

A performance by Dancers Responding to AIDS was one of the afternoon's highlights.

Here and below are two pix of "9th Avenue Story," a hilarious number by the men of Chicago in which some of the older guys warned one of their group not to lust after a "twink." (But lust triumphed in the end!)

The cast of Hair rocked the Palace, just as they rock the Hirschfeld eight times a week.

More awesome presentations came courtesy of the cast of Bye, Bye Birdie...

... the cast of West Side Story, performing on their own turf...

...and the combined companies of In the Heights and Avenue Q.

At the end of the show, Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman took the stage to accept the grateful cheers and applause of everyone in attendance for their superheroic efforts on behalf of BC/EFA. ]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2009/12/hugh_jackman_and_daniel_craig.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2009/12/hugh_jackman_and_daniel_craig.shtml Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:15:47 -0500 Show Me Christmas!

Show Me Christmas!

It probably has something to do with theater people really wanting to help bring audiences out of the doldrums engendered by the still faltering economy, but there seem to be way more Christmas-themed shows scheduled this year than ever before. Aside from the usual extravaganzas, such as the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, the New York City Ballet production of The Nutrcracker, and the return to Broadway of White Christmas, there are plenty of smaller-scale shows that promise loads of holiday cheer. Here are a few that are bound to make you merry. First out of the gate is The Joe Iconis Christmas Spectacular at Ars Nova, Dec. 5 & 6 at 8pm. Iconis is a songwriter of note, and the show will feature brand-new holiday songs as well as old favorites. And get a load of the cast: Two of the funniest women in the universe, Susan Blackwell and Mary Testa, will be on hand for this "insane celebration of all things red and green," along with Annie Golden as "The Rock and Roll Christmas Angel," and such other talents as Liz Lark Brown, Bill Coyne, Matt Hinkley, Lorinda Lisitza, Jason Tam, and Jason "Sweet Tooth" Williams (that's him as Santa in the photo at right). I'm told that both shows are practically sold out, but if you want to try to get in, visit www.ArsNovaNyc.com. Brent Barrett, one of Broadway's best singers, has a new Kritzerland CD titled Christmas Mornings, which you should definitely get a hold of -- and he's celebrating the album's release with two concerts at Birdland, on December 13 and 14. If you're smart enough to get yourself to the club on one of those evenings, you'll hear Barrett wrap his gorgeous pipes around such classics as "Winter Wonderland," "Christmas Waltz/It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Lovers on Christmas Eve" (from I Love My Wife), "O Holy Night," "The Christmas Song," and "A Place Called Home" (from the Alan Menken/Lynn Ahrens version of A Christmas Carol). For more info, go to www.birdlandjazz.com

The amazingly talented Daniel Reichard (Jersey Boys, Radiant Baby, Forbidden Broadway, etc.) will sing the hit songs of artists such as Bing Crosby, George Gershwin, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, and Paul Williams in his Christmas show, a benefit for the human relief organization International Partners in Mission. Cutely titled Gettin' on the Good List, the show is slated for December 12, 13, and 14 at the new Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater (405 West 55th Street, at Ninth Avenue). Reichard will be joined by surprise guests, including Broadway stars and New York City personalities, for what's billed as "a fully-realized Christmas extravaganza." Click here for more information or to purchase tickets. Another Broadway star with a great voice, James Barbour, will give a series of holiday concerts December 11-19 at Bill's 1890 Restaurant & Café (57 East 54th Street, between Park & Madison), with musical direction by the revered opera maestro Constantine Kitsopoulos. In addition to a slew of holiday songs, the evening will feature a reading of Clement Clarke Moore's classic 1822 poem "The Night Before Christmas," which Moore wrote for his nine children while they lived in the building that now houses Bill's 1890. (How's that for site-specific theater!) Barbour's special guest for this engagement will be stage veteran, recording artist, and concert Diva Stacy Francis. For tickets, go to www.smarttix.com If you're in the mood for a Christmas show quite a bit different from the norm, head on down to historic Judson Memorial Church in the Village and check out this year's revival of Al Carmines' Christmas Rappings, "a high-spirited, often hilarious take on the traditional Christmas story, based on the birth narratives in four gospels." A 100-member company including solo vocalists, a chorus, dancers, and a pianist will perform this "joyous oratorio," December 4-19. The show has been presented "frequently though intermittently" since its premiere in 1969, and has become a Greenwich Village tradition in and of itself. For more information and/or reservations, go to www.judson.org.

Marc Kudisch and Jeffry Denman -- the former a three-time Tony Award nominee, the latter a 2009 Astaire Award nominee -- will bring a brand-new Christmas show titled The Holiday Guys to the Gotham Comedy Club (208 West 23rd Street) every Monday evening this month, December 7, 14, 21, and 28, at 7pm. It's described as "a non-traditional, traditional holiday show complete with song, dance, and silliness." I'm here to tell you that when these guys duetted on "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" at the recent Broadway Unplugged concert at the Town Hall, the audience went nuts; so I for one am definitely going to attend their holiday show, with (Christmas) bells on! And I'm hoping that Kudisch will reprise his brilliant rendition of the (in)famous South Park song "A Lonely Jew on Christmas," which I was lucky enough to catch him performing several years ago in a holiday show at the no-longer-extant Sam's restaurant on West 45th Street. For ticket information, go to www.gothamcomedyclub.com or call 212-367-9000. On December 14 at 9:30pm, Joe's Pub will showcase the second annual New York City Christmas concert, featuring special guests Sherie Rene Scott and Raul Esparza as well as performances by Orfeh, Sally Wilfert, Sierra Boggess, Chester Gregory II, Andy Karl, Tyler Maynard, and other fun folk. Stafford Arima will direct the concert, which is being presented by ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty) and Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records. For more info, visit www.joespub.com. Last but decidedly not least, the long-awaited Off-Broadway premiere of Sister's Christmas Catechism, by the creators of the hilarious, long-running hit Late Night Catechism and starring everyone's favorite "Sister," Maripat Donovan, is playing through January 3 at The Downstairs Theatre at Sofia's (227 West 46th Street). To purchase tickets, go to www.entertainmentevents.com. Have a merry!]]> http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2009/12/show_me_christmas.shtml http://www.broadwaystars.com/followspot/2009/12/show_me_christmas.shtml Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:48:43 -0500