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Monday, August 3, 2009

    [ DN ]  Rush & Molloy

    Broadway's hit musical "Rock of Ages" could be in jeopardy now that former "American Idol" finalist Constantine Maroulis is feeling underappreciated.

    [ TM ]  John Gallagher, Jr., Michael Esper, Rebecca Naomi Jones, and More Set for Green Day Musical, American Idiot

    [ P ]  Gallagher, Faber, Caplan, Esper, Vincent and More Will Bring American Idiot to Life

    [ TM ]  Dame Edna To Embark on Last Night of the Poms Tour

    [ CT ]  Washington pols showing up at Second City show in D.C. by Chris Jones

    [ B ]  Steven Spielberg to Direct Film Remake of Harvey

    [ TM ]  Steven Spielberg to Direct New Film Adaptation of Harvey

    [ P ]  Spielberg Will Direct New "Harvey" Picture

    [ THR ]  Does Universal believe in 'Jesus'? By Steven Zeitchik

    The studio and producer Marc Platt are in active development on a remake of "Jesus Christ Superstar."

    Features:

    [ P ]  ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Between Texas and England By Seth Rudetsky

    [ JN ]  35 years of Broadway, close to home By Peter D. Kramer

    Thirty-five years ago this summer, Bob Funking and Bill Stutler, two former ad men, brought dinner theater to an office park in Elmsford.

    [ NYT ]  Warning Signs Before the Wreck By KARIN LIPSON

    In the long-archived "The Day on Which a Man Dies," Tennessee Williams explores the final moments in the life of an artist he identified with.

    [ BG ]  Centuries come and gone, and he's still hot By Sam Allis

    William Shakespeare is the American summer phenom. You can't get away from the guy.

    [ G ]  Why some of the best theatre is all foreign to me by Andrew Haydon

    You don't have to understand the language a play is performed in to be moved by the visual and emotional spectacle of theatre

    [ LAT ]  B.D. Wong's pursuit of 'Herringbone' By Karen Wada

    The actor has long been drawn to the challenging play and its bizarre developments. He is performing it at La Jolla Playhouse.

    [ CT ]  'Spring Awakening' is Duncan Sheik's wake-up call; 'Nero' may be next by Chris Jones

    [ KL ]  David Hyde Pierce: guest blogger by Ken Levine

    [ B ]  Q&A : Sebastian Arcelus

    [ NYP ]  PAGE SIX
    LIZA MINNELLI NOT ON 'UGLY BETTY' YET

    [ TONY ]  A vote for Rocco: Nominated NEA chairman gets vote of confidence from Brooklyn bigwig by Helen Shaw

    [ CFR ]  Are there too many arts-related studies? And what if there are? By Leonard Jacobs

    How are the arts debased or devalued by studies noticably skewed toward a particular viewpoint?

    [ CFR ]  Jude Law and the Law -- Well, Factoids -- of the Hamlets By Leonard Jacobs

    Only the most recent Hamlet on Broadway, that of Ralph Fiennes, won a Tony for the actor essaying the title character.

    [ CFR ]  5 Questions I've Never Been Asked: Nick Brennan and Luke Jones By Leonard Jacobs

    Members of the creative team behind the twice-extended Thank You For Being a Friend talk about parody laws and Estelle Getty's hemorrhoids.

    [ CFR ]  From the Blogroll XVII: Enraging Engagement or Engaging Enrangement? By Leonard Jacobs

    A selection of selections selectively selected from The Clyde Fitch Report blogroll, with commentary.

    [ JSTGY ]  Quick Q&A: FringeNYC #4 by Patrick Lee

    Three playwrights whose dramas will be seen at this year's Fringe Festival

    [ WE ]  'Chaperone' a valentine to show business By BOB CURTRIGHT

    A vintage musical comes to life in the fond spoof.

    [ PPG ]  Beth Leavel expects 'Woods' and Pittsburgh to be magical By Sharon Eberson

    [ PTR ]  'Into the Woods' is one in a long line of skewed versions of classic fairy tales By Alice T. Carter

    [ BE ]  Reunion and revival in Williamstown By Jeffrey Borak

    'Torchbearers' reunites longtime WTF actors in a 1920's farce about a theater company trying to put on a show

    [ P ]  SHELF LIFE: Playbill Staffers Pick Their Favorite Books

    This month's column offers a change of pace from the usual roundup of new publications, as we share some of our staff's all-time favorite books about this business we call show.

    [ P ]  Cocktails for 2,000: Mixing Drinks for the Main Stem

    It's not just an Old-Fashioned, please, but Cole Porter would be happy. Specialty cocktails inspired by plays and musicals are enlivening lobbies of Broadway's not-for-profit theatres.

    [ BR ]  Making his play for the stage BY BILL ERVOLINO

    More than 80 singers and dancers turned out in Fair Lawn last month to audition for the upcoming Old Library Theater production of "Rent," the gritty smash musical that centers on seven impoverished artists and musicians, coping with love, AIDS and life on the streets. And yes, that was me, third vagrant from the left - otherwise known as Auditioner No. 44 - even though I can't sing. Or, dance.

    [ NYT ]  ArtsBeat
    At Glimmerglass, Jonathan Miller Explains Himself By Anthony Tommasini

    "Burn the Floor":

    [ LAT ]  'Burn the Floor': Not your grandmother's cha-cha By Patrick Pacheco

    The show continues Australian choreographer Jason Gilkison's family tradition of ballroom dance, sexing it up for Broadway.

    [ TM ]  Burn, Baby, Burn! By: Joseph Marzullo; Text by Brian Scott Lipton

    Susan Lucci, Samantha Harris, Carrie Ann Inaba, Tony Roberts, Ricky Paull Goldin, David Fumero, Melissa Gallo, Chrishell Stause, and Saundra Santiago celebrate the Broadway opening of Burn the Floor.

    [ EW ]  Review: Burn the Floor By Jennifer Armstrong (A-)

    [ BS ]  Burn the Floor - Reviewed by LISA JO SAGOLLA

    This dazzling Latin and ballroom dance revue is brilliantly performed by a cast of international dancesport champions.

    [ TB ]  Burn the Floor
    Review by Matthew Murray

    This oversexed and underwhelming - if surface-level-enjoyable - show that just opened at the Longacre has been so glamoured and glitzed à la Dancing with the Stars that it even incorporates two of that ABC megahit's most sinewy fixtures: its unquestionably gifted and blindingly sculpted (and incidentally engaged) champion celebrity partners, Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Karina Smirnoff.

    "The First Wives Club":

    [ SDUT ]  Who's on 'First'? By James Hebert

    Old Globe has lined up an all-star team for a musical based on 'First Wives Club,' including pop giants Holland/Dozier/Holland

    [ TW ]  Two whole new roles for Tulsan Sam Harris By JAMES D. WATTS JR

    [ SD ]  Payback can be brutal By Welton Jones

    Despite some really slick production values and a generally tight and perky staging by Francesca Zambello, this is still just another one of those six-finales-in-search-of-a-plot shows.

    "Guys and Dolls":

    [ A ]  A Guy and His Dolls By Brandon Voss

    Don't hate Broadway vet Richard Jay-Alexander for thinking Jessica Biel has the chops to pull off Guys and Dolls in concert. After all, he considers Barbra, Bette and Bernadette close personal and professional friends.

    [ USA ]  Jessica Biel marks major musical debut By Michael Cidoni, Associated Press Writer

    [ LAI ]  'Doll' parts By MARISELA SANTANA

    For young dancers Oskar Rodriguez and Angelo Rivera, landing in an all-star ensemble's revival of an iconic musical has given them further inspiration to pursue their dreams.

    [ LAT ]  Culture Monster: Theater review: 'Guys and Dolls in Concert' at the Hollywood Bowl by Charles McNulty

    "Guys and Dolls," a Broadway musical set in Times Square, filled with Hell's Kitchen riff-raff and their would-be reformers and subtitled "A Musical Fable of Broadway, seemed right at home at the Hollywood Bowl this weekend.

    [ V ]  Guys and Dolls
    Review By BOB VERINI

    Last weekend, Kevin Stites and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra did right by the evergreen Frank Loesser score for a pleasant night out, in the face of grievous miscasting and a total absence of drama.

    Other Reviews:

    [ CT ]  'Sex with Strangers' should be next breakout Chicago play by Chris Jones

    Laura Eason's smart and riveting "Sex with Strangers," the must-see show at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's First Look Repertory of New Work and, I'll bet, the next red hot Chicago play, is the best drama I've seen about the seismic changes in the arts-media landscape....

    [ CST ]  Three new dramas are off to a good start at First Look Repertory of New Work BY HEDY WEISS

    New works target real life in annual Steppenwolf showcase

    [ TE ]  Gentleman's Wish - Midtown Int'l Theatre Festival Review by OSCAR E MOORE

    [ BN ]  Chinese Romeo and Juliet Burn With Passion in Hong Kong: Review
    Review by Le-Min Lim

    News:

    [ P ]  Kramer, Rudnick, Davis and Marans Discuss The Temperamentals Aug. 3

    [ P ]  Cronin's Reach the Sky Concert Plays the Beechman Aug. 3

    [ TM ]  Linda Eder, Robert Cuccioli et. al. Set for Broadway Cabaret Festival

    [ TM ]  Little House on the Prairie Musical to Partner with Habitat for Humanity

    [ CFR ]  Want to Take the Mae West Walk? By Leonard Jacobs

    Go up and take the tour sometime -- August 16.

    [ P ]  Works by LaBute, Karam, Margulies and White on Phoenix Theatre's 2009-10 Bill in Indy

    [ TM ]  Betty Buckley to Perform at Fort Worth's Museum of Modern Art

    [ TM ]  Martin Short to Headline Casa Mañana Benefit in Fort Worth

    [ TM ]  Geoffrey Rush Honored by Australian Film Institute

    [ TM ]  Grey Gardens, Mad Men, True Blood, et al. Win TCA Awards

    [ TM ]  Carol Channing to Perform in Altadena and Sacramento

  • Posted by Tim Dunleavy at 12:07 PM | Item Link


      • This morning's Peter Filichia:

      [ TM ]  The 2009 Broadway University Entrance Exam

      The subject is lines and lyrics that use the names of our 50 states. I've managed to find one for each question without ever repeating a musical.

      This morning's news:

      [ NYT ]  In the Wings, by Rachel Lee Harris

      Casting news about Little House on the Prairie, the Musical at the Paper Mill Playhouse and the New Group's Starry Messenger.

      [ P ]  Muny Hairspray, with Mujica, Vogt, Teeter, Marino, Rousouli, Spencer, Begins Aug. 3

      [ P ]  In the Heights' Montalvo Makes Cabaret Debut Aug. 3

      [ P ]  Akinnagbe, Barnes, Bedi, Eskelson and Mosley to Read Ski Dubai at Ars Nova

      [ P ]  Cronin's Reach the Sky Concert Plays the Beechman Aug. 3

      [ P ]  Thierrée to Bring Aurélia's Oratorio to La Jolla in 2010

      This morning's features:

      [ DMN ]  Museum at Ford's Theater tells stories behind the Lincoln assassination, by Roger Rappaport

      Today more than a million visitors a year come to what is perhaps the most visited assassination site in the world and to the small room across the street where the spirit of Abraham Lincoln began its return flight home. The opening in July of a museum at America's most famous theater completes a $50 million restoration of this national landmark, which continues to stage musicals and dramas while answering many important questions about the most infamous crime of the 19th century.

      [ P ]  Today in Theatre History

      This morning's reviews of Burn the Floor:

      [ NYT ]  Shaking, Rattling and Shimmying, Under a Broadway Disco Ball, by Charles Isherwood

      The good news about this ballroom dancing extravaganza is that it is every bit as flashy and tacky as you would expect. Do I need to add that this is also the bad news?

      [ NYP ]  Rhythm and Shoes, by Elisabeth Vincentelli

      Burn the Floor consists of a breathless, plotless succession of ballroom routines. That's it, and it's either a lot or not very much, depending on your love for this type of dancing.

      [ DN ]  Talent to Burn, by Joe Dziemianowicz

      With its zero percent body fat and four-alarm sizzle, "Burn the Floor" is the stage equivalent of a fast, frisky beach read. With legs. Twenty pulsating pairs.

      [ ND ]  Reviewed by Linda Winer

      When the dance cannot turn a full evening into more than a series of strenuous effects, director-choreographer Jason Gilkison switches the lights from green to purple. When all else fails, we get the fog machine.

      [ AP ]  Burn the Floor brings ballroom dancing to B'way, by Michael Kuchwara

      Despite the overt sexiness, there's something bland about the evening, a generic eroticism that needs a dose of quirkiness during a surprisingly monotonous tour through the history of ballroom dancing.

      [ V ]  Reviewed by David Rooney

      While ballroom blitz Burn the Floor has been touring internationally for 10 years, its arrival on Broadway clearly aims to cash in on the resurgent popularity of dance on television reality shows. But if you're going to invade the turf of Bob Fosse, Jerome Robbins and Michael Bennett, you need to bring something beyond adrenaline and aggressive sizzle. Something like grace, style or wit. While there's only about 15 ounces of collective body fat onstage, there's also about 15 ounces of imagination.

      [ TM ]  Reviewed by Brian Scott Lipton

      Guest stars Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy provide most of the heat in this surprisingly tepid dance show.

      [ CU ]  Reviewed by Simon Saltzman

      Unless you are missing a chromosome or two, you should find Burn the Floor an invigorating and exhilarating entertainment. It is certainly the sexiest show on Broadway.

      [ TE ]  Reviewed by Oscar E. Moore

      It pulsates. It seduces. It is rock solid, pure entertainment.

      This morning's reviews of The First Wives Club at the Old Globe in San Diego:

      [ LAT ]  Reviewed by Charles McNulty

      If you can overlook the often generic R&B elevator music of Motown writing legends Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland, the cut-and-pasted and cursorily reimagined book by Rupert Holmes, and the fact that the three stars (Barbara Walsh, Karen Ziemba, and Sheryl Lee Ralph) seem like they barely know each other, you might very well have a night to remember—though you'll need plenty of aspirin and water the next day.

      [ SDUT ]  First Wives is a 2nd-act dazzler, by James Herbert

      The First Wives Club kicks off with more fits and starts than a dithering bridezilla in a dress shop. But that first half, when we meet the wives and their woes, is just a setup for the second, when they actually go into action. That's when First Wives and its new songs by the incomparable Motown team Holland/Dozier/Holland step up with a pizazz that befits a (potentially) Broadway-bound show.

      [ TM ]  Reviewed by Rob Stevens

      The new musical adaptation of the hit film about three scorned wives is a true crowd-pleaser, but would benefit from a stronger book and score.

    • Posted by Matthew Murray at 6:34 AM | Item Link


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