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Monday, October 26, 2009

    [ STARS ]  Memphis and Birdie Choreography Soars; Star-Studded Galas; Bold, Daring Precious; ACL Documentary; Coming Soon; Last Chance; Boo!
    by Ellis Nassour

  • Posted by Tim Dunleavy at 1:22 PM | Item Link


      • [ TM ]  Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth to Star in Broadway Promises, Promises

      [ P ]  Promises, Promises to Return to Broadway With Hayes and Chenoweth Starring

      [ B ]  Director/Choreographer Kenny Ortega Departs Feature Film Remake of Footloose

      [ TM ]  Kenny Ortega Withdraws From Footloose Remake

      [ P ]  Emmy Winner Ortega Will Not Helm "Footloose" Film

      [ TM ]  UK Tour of La Cage Aux Folles Cancelled

      [ V ]  Digital Theater puts shows online By DAVID BENEDICT

      Legit productions to be available for download

      [ NOLA ]  Saenger Theatre renaissance is under way

      In September 2006, the Saenger Theater was in sorry shape. Damaged by the floodwaters after Hurricane Katrina, the grand building is finally getting renovations.

      Thanks to Paul for the link.

      Features:

      [ NPR ]  Carrie Fisher Finishes Our Sentences About Family, Work And That Bikini by Michael Portantiere

      [ STRANGER ]  Dan Savage Interviews Frank Rich

      Before Frank Rich Interviews Stephen Sondheim

      [ P ]  Playblog: "The Simpsons" Do Another Musical

      [ CST ]  In Memory: Lou Jacobi (1913-2009) BY ROGER EBERT

      [ P ]  ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Alan Cumming, Amanda McBroom and Hotel California By Seth Rudetsky

      [ B ]  Q&A: Michael McKean Savors the Taste of Superior Donuts

      [ P ]  Playblog: Doughnuts for Sale in Music Box Lobby

      [ P ]  A Life in the Theatre: George Spelvin

      In our Q&A of the imagination, discover the history of this theatrical nom de plume - a name seen in many a play's billing over the past 125 years.

      [ P ]  Curtain Up on Kate Hepburn's Cultural Arts Center

      The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, including a theatre and museum, offically opened with a gala. Playbill.com takes a walking tour of the party and complex.

      [ JSTGY ]  Quick Q&A: "Broke-ology" Brothers by Patrick Lee

      Alano Miller and Francois Battiste

      [ CFR ]  Will the Joyce Theater Turn Union?

      If the stagehands vote yes, will other unions try to conquer nonunion houses around NYC? Will producers fight back?

      [ CFR ]  5 Questions I've Never Been Asked: Stevie Holland

      Prepping to play Mrs. Cole Porter, Holland considers the life behind the songwriting genius.

      [ CFR ]  From the Blogroll XXV: "Butler and His Servants" Edition

      Highlights from the 140+ blogs on the CF Report, with commentary. This week: How to draw young audiences...to your blog.

      [ DN ]  Gatecrasher: Jude Law baby photos in Hello magazine to bring more than $300,000 for Sophia's mom, Samantha Burke

      [ NYP ]  PAGE SIX: Hey, Jude, stop!

      "Brighton Beach Memoirs":

      [ BR ]  From high school stage to Broadway lead role By ROBERT FELDBERG

      A funny thing happened to Noah Robbins on the way to college. He got the lead in a Broadway show.

      [ NYT ]  Audio Slide Show: Memories and 'Memoirs'

      Jessica Hecht talks about a family member who inspires her performance in the revival of "Brighton Beach Memoirs."

      [ TM ]  Play On! By: Joseph Marzullo; Text by Brian Scott Lipton

      Lorraine Bracco, Jill Clayburgh, Hugh Dancy, Claire Danes, Michael Feinstein, Nolan Gerard Funk, Carol Kane, Joan Rivers, and more stars come out for the openings of After Miss Julie and Brighton Beach Memoirs.

      [ EW ]  Review: The Neil Simon Plays: Brighton Beach Memoirs By Thom Geier (A-)

      [ TM ]  Brighton Beach Memoirs
      Reviewed by: Brian Scott Lipton

      David Cromer directs a beautifully calibrated, superbly acted revival of Neil Simon's 1983 autobiographical play about a struggling Brooklyn family.

      [ TB ]  Brighton Beach Memoirs
      Review by Matthew Murray

      This production serves as a thrilling reminder that Simon's always been more than a pure funnyman, and that the pain, loss, and redemption Cromer so gently reveals have always been integral components in the laughter Simon has so freely mined.

      [ TS ]  Brighton Beach Memoirs - Review by Simon Saltzman

      Beautifully acted and directed production reminds us how good it is and how much better it seems now after 26 years

      [ NJNR ]  Neil Simon's beguiling 'Brighton Beach Memoirs' unfolds once more on Broadway BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

      Crafted by Neil Simon at his bittersweet best, "Brighton Beach Memoirs" returns to Broadway in a lovely new production at the Nederlander Theatre sure to beguile anybody partial to family stories.

      [ B ]  Our Word of Mouth Panelists Loved Looking Back with Brighton Beach Memoirs

      [ R ]  Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs" get darker reading By Frank Scheck (Hollywood Reporter)

      "Brighton," which opened Sunday night ("Bound" will follow in a few weeks), won't fully satisfy the director's fans in that he has imposed no new spin on Simon's nostalgic comedy-drama. But the production does illustrate Cromer's particular talent for getting to the emotional heart of whatever he tackles.

      [ OOB ]  Brighton Beach Memoirs - Review by Matt Windman

      The production makes a strong case for the show's relevance, especially during our current economic recession, but it's hard to believe that it'll make much of a mark again.

      [ BR ]  Tough 'Brighton Beach' memories leave little to laugh about BY ROBERT FELDBERG

      There's something sweet and touching about Simon going back and wrapping the Jerome family's struggles in optimism, courage and boundless love. I just wish that aspect of the play, celebrating the resilience of the human spirit, came across more affectingly.

      [ TNO ]  PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by JOANNE KAUFMAN

      This revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs is not very theatrical, certainly not diverting or very involving.

      "Ordinary Days":

      [ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Ordinary Days Opens Off-Broadway

      [ TB ]  Ordinary Days
      Review by Matthew Murray

      The evening as a whole, however, takes too few chances to ever completely cohere into anything truly transporting.

      [ TM ]  Ordinary Days
      Reviewed by: Brian Scott Lipton

      Adam Gwon's tuneful musical about four average New Yorkers is modestly engaging.

      Other Reviews:

      [ TM ]  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
      Reviewed by: Sandy MacDonald

      The Goodspeed Opera House offers a sprightly production of this great musical farce.

      [ CST ]  This monster's hard to follow BY HEDY WEISS

      In one way or another, director Sean Graney and his company, the Hypocrites, have spent the past couple of seasons exploring what the ancient Greeks called "hubris," and what we might term self-destructive pride.

      [ CT ]  On Broadway: 'Memphis' and 'Bye Bye Birdie' by Chris Jones

      [ NYer ]  Class Wars by John Lahr

      "After Miss Julie" and "Memphis."

      [ TNO ]  MASQUERADES AND MAYHEM by ALLEN ROBERTSON

      The plot may puzzle you, but this is a superbly acted piece of fantasy theatre from Spain's Golden Age.

      "Life is a Dream."

      News:

      [ TM ]  Marion J. Caffey's 3 Mo' Divas to Play Apollo December 27

      [ P ]  Little Miss Sunshine to Feature Bierko, Scott, Latessa, Winther and Moran at Sundance

      [ NYT ]  Arts, Briefly: Celebrating Clive Barnes
      Compiled by RACHEL LEE HARRIS

      [ P ]  Anna Deavere Smith Wins 2009 Moth Storytelling Award; Ball Set for Nov. 17

      [ TM ]  Anna Deavere Smith to Receive 2009 Moth Award

      [ CFR ]  Cuts to NYSCA Budget Coming, Fears Munn

      Midyear budget cuts may decimate the budget of the New York State Council on the Arts.

      [ TM ]  Dominic Chianese Set for Benefit Concert at Patchogue Theatre

      [ TM ]  Liam Neeson to Star in Unknown White Male

      [ P ]  "Nine" Soundtrack Will Hit Stores in December

      [ P ]  Yando Humbugs Again for Goodman's A Christmas Carol in Chicago

      [ P ]  Soloist Mike Daisey Tells A Story on Halloween in NYC Oct. 31 at Greene Space

      [ B ]  Boozy Cruise Film Cocktail To Be the Next Big Broadway Musical?

      [ B ]  Phantom Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer

      [ P ]  Andrew Lloyd Webber Undergoing Treatment for Prostate Cancer

      [ TM ]  Andrew Lloyd Webber is Hospitalized for Prostate Cancer

      [ NYT ]  A Composer's Cancer, a Singer's Collapse
      Compiled by RACHEL LEE HARRIS

      [ TM ]  Actor Lou Jacobi Dies at 95

    • Posted by Tim Dunleavy at 1:10 PM | Item Link


        • This morning's Peter Filichia:

        [ TM ]  middlemen OTBT

        There is theatrical life beyond Billy Elliot, God of Carnage, Jersey Boys, and A Steady Rain.

        This morning's news:

        [ P ]  Stars Will Sing Frank Loesser in Actors Fund Concert at Broadway's Minskoff

        [ P ]  Matthew Broderick is Lonergan's Starry Messenger Off-Broadway Oct. 26

        [ P ]  Parker, Alladin and Barron Begin What Once We Felt, for LCT3, Off-Broadway

        [ P ]  Audiences Will Walk Their Way Through Mee's Full Circle in DC, Oct. 26-Nov. 29

        [ P ]  Redgrave Recalls The Year of Magical Thinking in Manhattan Oct. 26

        [ P ]  Creel and Bareilles Play Feinstein's at the Regency Oct. 26; Lauper Hosts

        This morning's features:

        [ NYT ]  Four Writers Reunite in a New City, by Patrick Healy

        Four former Sex and the City writers have collaborated on a theater project, titled Cedar City Falls, that is a sassy, salty comic soap opera that will unfold in weekly episodes.

        [ NYT ]  Audio Slide Show: Memories and Memoirs

        Jessica Hecht talks about a family member who inspires her performance in the revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs.

        [ P ]  Today in Theatre History

        This morning's reviews of Brighton Beach Memoirs:

        [ NYT ]  Neil Simon's Jeromes, at Home at the Nederlander, by Ben Brantley

        In a Broadway revival of Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, two brothers share a world within a world.

        [ NYP ]  Simple Simon, Simply Said, by Elisabeth Vincentelli

        The only way Brighton Beach Memoirs could be any cozier is if we watched it in pajamas while sipping an egg cream.

        [ DN ]  Brighton Beach Memoirs is no titan, by Joe Dziemianowicz

        Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs is back on Broadway 26 years after its original run in a production that's warm and funny (which was expected) and uninspired (which wasn't).

        [ ND ]  Reviewed by Linda Winer

        Brighton Beach Memoirs is not as good as it was in 1983. It is even better. Neil Simon's coming-of-age autobiographical comedy is not as heartwarming as it was when the hit starred young Matthew Broderick and ran three years. It's now also a heartbreaker.

        [ USA ]  Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs will revive your spirits, by Elyse Gardner

        Under any circumstances, a revival of Simon's portrait of a thoroughly endearing Jewish family in late 1930s Brooklyn, would be a welcome diversion. But the new production that opened Sunday at the Nederlander Theatre is a lot more than that.

        [ NYM ]  Everyone's a Comedian, by Stephanie Zacharek

        This revival, directed by David Cromer, clearly tries to ease up on some of the play's aggressive broadness while preserving its raucous, slightly crude spirit. But that broadness, like a persistent jack-in-the-box, can't be tamped down for long, and the result is a wearying evening of squeezed-out laughs.

        [ NY1 ]  Reviewed by Roma Torre

        When I first saw Brighton Beach Memoirs by Neil Simon 26 years ago, it was a comedy with drama. In the current revival, it's a drama with comedy. David Cromer, fresh from his unique, naturalistic off-Broadway staging of Our Town, applies his now trademark directorial magic to the Neil Simon classic. The result is triumphant, as just as it was a huge hit back then, it deserves to be once again.

        [ AP ]  B'way takes a new look at Brighton Beach Memoirs, by Michael Kuchwara

        Brighton Beach Memoirs was first seen on Broadway in 1983 with Matthew Broderick as Eugene. Now it's returned in an enjoyable revival, which opened Sunday at the Nederlander Theatre.

        [ BLOOM ]  Neil Simon Alter Ego Fools Time in Brighton Beach, by John Simon

        Neil Simon's supposedly autobiographical comedy, Brighton Beach Memoirs is fundamentally feel-good stuff and, as such, intellectually suspect. Yet it is cleverly enough contrived to prove for a hefty majority pleasantly relaxing fare.

        [ V ]  Reviewed by David Rooney

        Hats off to the farsighted producers of "The Neil Simon Plays" for taking a risk on their choice of director. While David Cromer's most recent New York hits, Adding Machine and Our Town, mined piercing depths in timeworn texts, they did so in an austere presentational style that seemed a million miles from the warm-hearted humor of Brighton Beach Memoirs. The first installment of a Simon double that continues with Broadway Bound, opening Dec. 10, the revival strikes an exquisite balance between comedy and pathos, its impeccable ensemble landing every laugh while exploring every emotional nuance to build a tremendously moving portrait of family life.

        [ BS ]  Reviewed by Erik Haagensen

        Director David Cromer gives us a sparkling account of Neil Simon's autobiographical tale of growing up Jewish in Brooklyn in the 1930s.

        [ WaPo ]  Broadway uncorks some fizz with 2 vintage comedies, by Peter Marks

        Let's hear it for the boys! To get a most endearing glimpse into the fumbling rites of passage for guys on the verge of manhood, look to the terrific interactions of Noah Robbins and Santino Fontana in Broadway's handsomely crafted new revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs.

        Also discussed: The Royal Family

        [ CT ]  Brighton Beach Memoirs shines on Broadway thanks to Chicago director's deft touch, by Chris Jones

        In his distinguished and, frankly, very moving Broadway directing debut, David Cromer mostly does what he has been doing for years in little theaters all over Chicago. He tackles a tired, second-tier play that has become clouded with contrivances, cliches and the stamps of star actors, and, in this particular case, expectations over the efficient deliveries of iconic one-liners.

        This morning's reviews of Ordinary Days:

        [ NYT ]  Where Little-Town Blues Melt Away, So Can Dreams, by Charles Isherwood

        Ordinary Days, a new chamber musical that opened on Sunday night at the Black Box Theater, captures that moment in youth when doubts begin to cloud hopes for the future.

        [ V ]  Reviewed by Marilyn Stasio

        The problem with Adam Gwon's musical Ordinary Days lies in its central conceit of being about ordinary people expressing their ordinary thoughts as they go about their ordinary business on an ordinary day in New York. Neither New York nor the New York theater is especially kind to ordinary people—like the show's two young couples struggling to make meaningful connections in an uncaring city of strangers. For all the technical proficiency of Gwon's work and Marc Bruni's staging, the musical is buried under its own banality.

        [ BS ]  Reviewed by Erik Haggensen

        Before the first song of Adam Gwon's Ordinary Days has ended, you're aware you're in the hands of a talented composer-lyricist with an unusually fine command of craft.

      • Posted by Matthew Murray at 6:48 AM | Item Link


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