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Friday, November 6, 2009

    From the ArtsBeat Blog:

    [ NYT ]  'Spider-Man' Musical Announces New Producers, Star By Dave Itzkoff

    [ NYT ]  Actor Fired From 'Orphans' Home Cycle' Is Compensated By Dave Itzkoff

    [ NYT ]  Not All Are Tapped to Move With 'Temperamentals' By Patrick Healy

    Reviews:

    [ TONY ]  Quartett
    Review by Adam Feldman

    When the piece isn't obsessing about death, it is delving into erotics, but Wilson's frigid aesthetic makes the enterprise about as sexy as a Popsicle.

    [ TONY ]  Idiot Savant
    Review by David Cote

    Idiot Savant is vintage Foreman: ravishing, perplexing, scary, a sensual and intellectual massage for those weary of causality and psychology.

  • Posted by Tim Dunleavy at 6:26 PM | Item Link


      • [ TM ]  The Marvelous Wonderettes to Close Off-Broadway January 3

      [ P ]  Marvelous Wonderettes Will Exit NYC in January; Wide Regional Life Begins

      [ B ]  The Marvelous Wonderettes to Close Off-Broadway in January

      Features:

      [ NYT ]  Playwright and Director in a Single Hair Shirt By PATRICK HEALY

      For Kenneth Lonergan, the last few weeks of directing his drama "The Starry Messenger" have included moments of frustration and hope.

      [ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Rebeck's The Understudy Opens Off-Broadway

      [ TM ]  PHOTOFLASH: New Broadway Cast of White Christmas Meets the Press

      "Finian's Rainbow":

      [ P ]  Playblog: Cheyenne on the Tube

      [ P ]  PLAYBILL.COM'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER With Jim Norton

      Any dedicated New York theatregoer knows that actor Jim Norton has been on a roll for some time.

      [ TONY ]  Finian's Rainbow
      Review by Adam Feldman

      None of the show's apples fall far from the twee.

      Other Reviews:

      [ TONY ]  The New Electric Ballroom
      Review by David Cote

      Such an expressionistic investigation of language and memory could be engaging and even affecting, but one never gets around to caring about Walsh's afflicted wraiths.

      [ TONY ]  Love Child
      Review by Adam Feldman

      Love Child is birthed before our eyes in a labor of love, and the labor pains are evident: By the end of their two-man show, Daniel Jenkins and Robert Stanton are both drenched in sweat.

      [ TONY ]  Nightingale
      Review by Helen Shaw

      This elegiac monologue, a dual portrait of Redgrave and her long-dead grandmother, burns with an unsteady flame.

      [ TONY ]  Americana Kamikaze
      Review by Helen Shaw

      Text and presence are supplied by live actors, but all the jump-scares come courtesy of William Cusick's ravishing, cinematic video.

      [ CU ]  Our Town Revisited

      A look at Jason Harner Butler as Our Town's Stage Manager

      News:

      [ TM ]  Hair Broadway Revival to Receive Vinyl LP from Ghostlight

      [ P ]  Hair Revival Recording Will Get Vinyl Release

      [ TM ]  Old Globe Announces Full Cast for Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

      [ P ]  Blackwell and Reichard Will Offer Sneak Peek of The Kid Musical

      [ P ]  Broadway's Cuccioli and Fraser to Sing for George Street Playhouse's Holiday Cabaret

      [ P ]  Mitchell's The Red Box Will Receive Montreal Reading

      [ P ]  Lark Names Playwrights for U.S./Mexico Exchange

      [ P ]  "Forbidden Broadway: Behind the Mylar Curtain" Available in Stores

      [ P ]  Glory Days Cast and Creators to Perform at Joe's Pub

      [ B ]  Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton to Star in Sweeney Todd; West End Transfer Expected

      [ B ]  Abili, Head and Manville to Headline Six Degrees of Separation at the Old Vic

      [ B ]  Tony Winner Jonathan Pryce to Star in West End Production of The Caretaker

    • Posted by Tim Dunleavy at 3:52 PM | Item Link


        • [ DN ]  Garbage truck hits Off-B'way actress Shami Chaikin in wheelchair by Matthew Lysiak, Robert Johnson and Wil Cruz

        [ NYP ]  'West Side' whack by Michael Riedel

        Director flip-flops, time for new Tony

        [ LAT ]  On Broadway, 'Spider-Man's' greatest enemy is the budget By John Horn

        Sources close to the production say the musical's producers need to raise as much as $24 million to cover a $52-million budget.

        [ NYT ]  ArtsBeat
        Fate of 'Spider-Man' Musical Could Be Determined on Friday By Patrick Healy

        [ P ]  Update on Broadway's Spider-Man Expected Soon

        [ BN ]  Live Nation Theater Sale Creates West End Rival to Lloyd Webber By Jonathan Browning

        [ P ]  Heusinger, Breen, Corman, Dugan, Ray and Smith Set for Broadway's Next Fall

        [ TM ]  Patrick Breen, Patrick Heusinger, et al. Set for Broadway Production of Next Fall

        [ B ]  Original Cast to Return for Broadway Run of Geoffrey Nauffts' Next Fall

        [ TONY ]  Next Fall, next spring by Adam Feldman

        [ TM ]  Liam Redhead, Dayton Tavares to Play Title Role in Billy Elliot; Tommy Batchelor to Depart December 11

        [ B ]  Dayton Tavares and Liam Redhead Are Broadway's Newest Billy Elliots

        [ P ]  Tavares and Redhead to Join Billy Elliot in December

        [ NYT ]  Arts, Briefly: More Billy Elliots for Broadway Cast
        Compiled by DAVE ITZKOFF

        [ P ]  Jonathan Pryce to Transfer to Wet End in Liverpool Production of Pinter's The Caretaker

        [ TM ]  Jonathan Pryce to Star in The Caretaker at West End's Trafalgar Studios

        [ P ]  The Fantasticks, Staged by Japanese Director Amon Miyamato, to Play West End

        [ TM ]  Amon Miyamoto to Direct West End Production of The Fantasticks

        [ TM ]  Lesley Manville to Star in John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation at Old Vic

        [ P ]  Manville, Head and Abili to Appear in London's New Six Degrees of Separation

        [ P ]  Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton Expected to Star in Sweeney Todd at U.K's Chichester Festival Theatre

        [ P ]  National Theatre Wales Announces First Year's Work, Including "Lost" Osborne Play and Michael Sheen Passion Play

        [ TM ]  Michael Sheen to Stage The Passion Play for National Theatre of Wales

        [ TM ]  Cirque du Soleil's Viva ELVIS Begins Performances December 18 in Las Vegas

        [ LAT ]  Culture Monster
        Cirque du Soleil's 'Viva ELVIS' to open in December in Las Vegas by David Ng

        [ TM ]  Stew to Compose Songs and Music for Shakespeare on the Sound's Othello

        [ P ]  Settle and Stew Will Collaborate on Othello for Shakespeare on the Sound

        [ TM ]  Groovaloo to Play Union Square Theatre

        [ TM ]  Michele Lee, Debra Monk, Casey Wilson, et al. to Join Cast of Love, Loss, and What I Wore

        [ B ]  Michele Lee, Debra Monk and More to Join Love, Loss and What I Wore

        [ P ]  Monk, Lee, Ellis and Wilson to Recall Love, Loss and What I Wore Off-Broadway

        [ TM ]  Billy Elliot, Hair, Finian's Rainbow, et al. Set for Kids' Night on Broadway

        [ P ]  Kids' Night on Broadway, Slated for February 2010, on Sale Starting Nov. 9

        [ TM ]  Marcy Heisler, Zina Goldrich to Receive 2009 Fred Ebb Award

        [ P ]  Heisler and Goldrich Are 2009 Fred Ebb Award Winners

        [ P ]  Schwartz Contributes New Lyrics for Bernstein's Mass at Northwestern

        [ TM ]  Rue McClanahan Recovering After Heart Surgery

        [ MAIL ]  Bringing up Breakfast At Tiffany's! Anna Friel's performance interrupted by ill spectator

        Thanks to young-walsingham on All That Chat for the link.

        [ NYT ]  Art D'Lugoff, Village Gate Impresario, Dies at 85 By MARGALIT FOX

        Mr. D'Lugoff's nightclub, the Village Gate, was home to performers as celebrated, and diverse, as Duke Ellington, Allen Ginsberg and John Belushi.

        [ TM ]  Art D'Lugoff, Village Gate Owner and Off-Broadway Producer, Dies at 85

        [ IBDB ]  Art D'Lugoff's Broadway Credits

        Features:

        [ G+M ]  Tracy Letts on segregated theatre, Hilton Als and Hollywood actors who shouldn't be on stage by J. Kelly Nestruck

        Very interesting interview.
        Thanks to Chris Jones Chris Jones for the link.

        [ WSJ ]  A Musical's Celebrity Lobbying Campaign By ELLEN GAMERMAN

        The musical "Fela!" reaches out to Jay-Z and Will Smith to drum up buzz-and funds-at a jittery time for Broadway.

        [ WSJ ]  A Dressing Room of One's Own By ELLEN GAMERMAN

        Broadway actors like Carrie Fisher, Gina Gershon and John Stamos are getting dressing-room makeovers with their own interior designers.

        [ P ]  DIVA TALK: Catching Up with Tony Winner Chita Rivera Plus Baldwin, Callaway, Luker on CD

        [ WSJ ]  Cheyenne's Autumn-in Three Media By ELLEN GAMERMAN

        Cheyenne Jackson talks about his new gig on TV's '30 Rock,' his role as the love interest in Broadway's "Finian's Rainbow" and the release of his new album "The Power of Two."

        [ B ]  Ask a Star Video: What a Hoot! The Royal Family's Ana Gasteyer on Everything from Defying Gravity to Lindsay Lohan

        [ B ]  Fresh Face: Montego Glover on Her Roof-Raising Broadway Turn in Memphis

        [ B ]  Tony Winner Marissa Jaret Winokur Tests Panties for The New York Times

        [ TONY ]  New World Stages: Beyond tourist trash by David Cote

        [ P ]  Playblog: An Addams Family Portrait

        [ TM ]  The Off Switch! By: Joseph Marzullo; Text by Brian Scott Lipton

        Willem Dafoe, Dominic Fumusa, Penny Fuller, Victor Garber, Jonathan Groff, Hunter Parrish, David Hyde Pierce, and Vanessa Redgrave are among the stars who were spotted Off-Broadway this week.

        [ P ]  PHOTO CALL: This is Tisch! Gala

        [ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Public Theater Celebrates Contributions of Press Agent Merle Debuskey

        [ LAT ]  Photo Gallery: Films that jumped to Broadway

        Reviews:

        [ NJNR ]  Show biz egos collide in 'The Understudy' BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

        "The Understudy" is likely to be popular among regional stages in future seasons, but casting directors will be hard pressed to find other players so winning as this excellent threesome.

        [ BS ]  Quartett - Reviewed by DAVID A. ROSENBERG

        Though short on trenchant humor, Robert Wilson's take on Heiner Müller is nevertheless a stimulating and bruising dance of sex and death, highlighted by Isabelle Huppert's electric performance.

        [ NYT ]  A Minuet Between Sexual Predators By BEN BRANTLEY

        With a cast led by Isabelle Huppert in a magnificently mannered performance, Robert Wilson's "Quartett" is the very opposite of an aphrodisiac.

        [ NYT ]  Slide Show: 'Quartett'

        [ TONY ]  The Lily's Revenge
        Review by Adam Feldman

        In its bravery, scope, creativity, extremity and sheer generosity of spirit, The Lily's Revenge, to my mind, surpasses any American theater in New York this year.

        [ TM ]  Children at Play
        Reviewed by: Andy Propst

        Susan Louise O'Connor gives a captivating performance in Jordan Seavey's fascinating yet frustrating play about teenagers.

        [ BS ]  Little Tragedies - Reviewed by ROBERT WINDELER

        Instead of the translator-director-composer-actor serving the four short plays of Alexander Pushkin, it seems that Pushkin is serving the work of the translator-director-composer-actor in this overlong and overwrought production.

        [ NYT ]  Theater Review | 'Creature'
        Faith and the Tempted Woman of a Certain Middle Age By RACHEL SALTZ

        Saints can be hell to live with. That's part of the comedy of Heidi Schreck's absorbing new play.

        [ HC ]  Riz's Blog Review: "Mistakes Were Made" at Hartford Stage By Frank Rizzo

        [ LAT ]  Culture Monster
        Theater review: 'No Man's Land' at Odyssey Theatre by Charlotte Stoudt

        Harold Pinter named the four characters in "No Man's Land" after real-life cricket players, and in Michael Peretzian's assured revival, now at the Odyssey Theatre, the game is in full swing.

        [ LAT ]  Culture Monster
        Theater review: 'Just Imagine' at NoHo Arts Center by Charlotte Stoudt

        "Just Imagine," directed by Steve Altman, lives somewhere between real gratification and slight lull with its steady menu of Beatles and Lennon gems.

        [ LAT ]  Culture Monster
        Theater review: "All Cake, No File" at Actors Gang at the Ivy Substation by F. Kathleen Foley

        [ CST ]  Fresh life breathed into 'Young Frankenstein' BY HEDY WEISS

        More bubbly, faster pace than Broadway original

        [ TS ]  Masterful acting of an honoured script in August: Osage County by Richard Ouzounian (***)

        [ TE ]  Love, Linda - the life of Mrs. Cole Porter at the Triad - Review by OSCAR E. MOORE

        In this one woman, one hour, one sided biographical musical we get a rapid, superficial, speed dial version of their 35 years together - despite his being homosexual.

        [ INQ ]  'Hunter Gatherers' is farcical frolic with friends By Toby Zinman

        [ PW ]  Rabbit Hole - Review By J. Cooper Robb

        [ PW ]  The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity - Review By J. Cooper Robb

        News:

        [ P ]  Pirandello Under the Lens of Classic Stage in November; Turturro Is Henry IV

        [ TM ]  John Turturro to Star in CSC's Henry IV Readings

        [ CT ]  Second City tickets sell out in 15 minutes by Chris Jones

        [ TM ]  Bette Midler to End Las Vegas Colosseum Run on January 31

        [ P ]  Inside Track Blog: The Divine Bette Midler Departs Vegas Jan. 2010

        [ TM ]  Laura Benanti to Play Kennedy Center as Part of Barbara Cook's Spotlight Series

        [ P ]  Understudies from Hair, Shrek, Rainbow and Pacific Set for At This Performance

        [ P ]  Mary Tyler Moore Will Be Into the Woods Narrator in Bernadette Peters Concert

        [ P ]  Maltby to Direct Clark, Hillner, Karl, Voytko, Fellner and Blaemire in Baby Reading

        [ P ]  Baby It's You!, New Musical About the Woman Behind the Shirelles, Premieres in CA

        [ P ]  Amaris' Swimming to Spalding to Play HERE in December

        [ TM ]  Lisa Banes, Jane Monheit, Burn the Floor Cast Members Set for Shakespearean Masquerade

        [ P ]  Monheit and Burn the Floor to Perform at Acting Company Gala

        [ TM ]  Glory Days Cast to Hold November 23 Reunion Concert at Joe's Pub

        [ TM ]  Eisa Davis, Ari Gold, Anika Noni Rose, et al. to Join Colman Domingo at Joe's Pub

        [ TM ]  Robert Cuccioli, Alison Fraser Set for George Street Playhouse Holiday Cabaret

        [ TM ]  Gerard Alessandrini Set for Forbidden Broadway: Behind the Mylar Curtain Events

        [ TM ]  Susan Blackwell, Daniel Reichard, et al. Set for New Group's Conceiving the Kid Event

        [ P ]  McKechnie, Hamlisch and "Every Little Step" Creators to Make Barnes and Noble Appearance

        [ P ]  Women's Event to Fete Goodman; Ringwald, D'Abruzzo and Barnhart to Appear

        [ P ]  Jarrow's 92YTribeca Concert to Feature Special Guests Frasier and Winters

        [ P ]  Billon, Clarke, Gall, Maggs, Placey Among Playwrights Heard in Tarragon's Play Reading Week

        [ CT ]  Attention theater-lovers: Keep your December nights open by Chris Jones

        [ CFR ]  Bill Pullman to Appear in Brent Rose's "50 Character in 50 Weeks -- If Rose Meets His Goal (One Day Left)

        [ TM ]  Charles S. Dutton to Perform From Jail to Yale in Fort Worth November 7

        [ TM ]  Neil Patrick Harris to Be Honored by Trevor Project at Holiday Gala

        [ TM ]  Susan Lucci to Serve as Grand Marshall for Hollywood Christmas Parade

        [ TM ]  Elliott Gould to Guest Star on November 20 Law & Order

        [ TM ]  William H. Macy Set for Dirty Girl Film

        [ TM ]  Green Day to Perform Live in NYC on New Year's Eve

        [ P ]  Reading of Jerusalem Syndrome to Feature Larsen, Zien, Craig, Reiber, Green and More

        [ P ]  Broadway's Present Laughter Tickets On Sale Starting Nov. 9

        [ P ]  Foote's Final Work, The Orphans' Home Cycle, Premieres Off-Broadway Nov. 5

        [ P ]  Today in Theatre History: NOVEMBER 6

        [ P ]  A New Iliad Emerges With Classic Stage's The Age of Iron, Nov. 6-Dec. 13 in NYC

        [ P ]  Playwrights Horizons Launches World Premiere of This

        [ P ]  Fiona Shaw to Reprise T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land at London's Wilton's Music Hall

        [ P ]  Temperamentals Will Return to Off-Broadway in 2010; Urie and Ryan Reprise Roles

        [ TM ]  Justin Bohon, Kathy Fitzgerald Head Cast of Goodspeed's Jim Henson's Emmet Otter

        [ TM ]  Actor and Magician Carl Ballantine Dies at 92

        [ TM ]  Angela Lansbury to Receive Signature's 2010 Stephen Sondheim Award

        [ P ]  Off-Broadway Will Be Schooled in Sister's Christmas Catechism

        [ P ]  Epic Theatre Ensemble's Shakespeare Remix Program Earns Coming Up Taller Award

        [ NYT ]  Theater Listings: Nov. 6 - 12

        Selective listings from theater critics of The New York Times.

      • Posted by Tim Dunleavy at 12:08 PM | Item Link


          • This Morning's Peter Filichia:

          [ TM ]  Peter Filichia's Diary: The Understudy and the understudies

          [ NJ ]  'Blood: A Comedy' at Mill Hill Playhouse in Trenton

          More on "The Understudy":

          [ NYT ]  Now Starring, Off Broadway and in the Peloton By JASON GAY

          It has been a decade and a half since Mark-Paul Gosselaar last roamed the halls as Zack Morris on "Saved by the Bell;" he has since developed another distinction: as perhaps the best celebrity-slash-bicyclist in America.

          [ BN ]  TV Star Gosselaar Falls for Kafka in Rebeck's Play 'Understudy' By Philip Boroff

          Director Scott Ellis said he hired Gosselaar with some trepidation even though the actor had aced a Los Angeles audition.

          [ WWD ]  Good Humor: Playwright Theresa Rebeck Pens a Comedy by Vanessa Lawrence

          [ NYT ]  Video: 'The Understudy'

          [ TB ]  The Understudy
          Review by Matthew Murray

          The words "laugh riot" have not traditionally been associated with Franz Kafka, but that may soon need to change.

          [ WSJ ]  Scenes From the Farcical Stage of Life

          Playwright Theresa Rebeck finally gets it right with "The Understudy," says Terry Teachout.

          Plus "Nightingale."

          [ TM ]  The Understudy
          Reviewed by: Sandy MacDonald

          The Roundabout serves up a superbly-acted production of Theresa Rebeck's backstage comedy.

          [ NY1 ]  Review: "The Understudy" By: David Cote - Time Out New York

          "The Understudy" is a bittersweet portrait of people forgetting who they are in the mad rush to become something else.

          [ NY ]  The Lady With (Almost) All the Answers By Dan Kois

          Sometimes a veneer of professionalism is the only thing masking all-out panic. Julie White, in The Understudy, gives us both at once.

          [ EW ]  The Understudy
          Reviewed by Melissa Rose Bernardo (B+)

          [ BS ]  The Understudy - Reviewed by DAVID SHEWARD

          Despite some structural problems and a few gaps in credibility, Theresa Rebeck's new play on the backstabbing backstage world of the contemporary theatre is a fast, funny 90 minutes.

          [ NYT ]  When a Star Takes a Turn Awaiting a Star Turn By CHARLES ISHERWOOD

          Julie White is fabricating bountiful laughs from a display of strained nerves in Theresa Rebeck's scattershot comedy.

          [ ND ]  A backup waits for the star to fall in 'The Understudy By LINDA WINER

          Theresa Rebeck's "The Understudy" is a slight but breezy and knowing backstage comedy that is cast, yes, with two TV stars.

          [ V ]  The Understudy
          Review By DAVID ROONEY

          Funny but slight, clever but without any real depth, the one-act gains considerable fizz from Scott Ellis' punchy production and from the bristling interplay of its three fine actors, each of them exposing different shades of a profession that ricochets between glory and rejection.

          [ YN ]  'The Understudy' revels in actors' insecurities By MICHAEL KUCHWARA, AP Drama Critic

          The play is slight and not as funny as it should be.

          [ NYP ]  Stand-in's tale won't stand out by Elisabeth Vincentelli (**)

          [ DN ]  'The Understudy' and 'Idiot Savant': a sketchy comedy, and 'Savant' garde by Joe Dziemianowicz

          [ BR ]  Review: "The Understudy," a new off-Broadway play BY ROBERT FELDBERG

          While it has a certain cleverness, "The Understudy" disappoints, in part due to the modest level of its ambition.

          [ OOB ]  The Understudy - Review by Matt Windman

          Scott Ellis' animated 90-minute production makes up for the underwhelming text by providing solid laughs, energized performances, and a strange scenic design that twists and turns to reveal ridiculously elaborate, Kafkaesque settings.

          [ THR ]  The Understudy -- Theater Review By Frank Scheck

          This intermittently amusing backstage comedy suffers from credibility problems.

          "Idiot Savant":

          [ P ]  PHOTO CALL: Foreman's Idiot Savant Opens Off-Broadway

          [ ND ]  'Idiot Savant' at Public Theater odd, not idiotic By LINDA WINER

          [ EW ]  Idiot Savant
          Reviewed by Thom Geier (C+)

        • Posted by Tim Dunleavy at 8:47 AM | Item Link


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