New York City Theater

I'm dreaming of a WHITE CHRISTMAS with a solid cast. Actually, not dreaming. It's real. It was announced today that the show's principal cast will be filled with alumni from previous regional productions, including solid performers like Jeffry Denman, Kerry O'Malley, Meredith Patterson, Stephen Bogardus, Charles Dean and Susan Mansur. The rest of the cast of 33 will be announced shortly.

I've yet to see a full production of the show, but have listened to its excellent cast album on numerous occasions. I did recently watch the film upon which it was based, and was surprised to find that it was not very good. Still, I can imagine how it could work as a stage musical comedy, especially with its jukebox score of Irving Berlin standards.

Many of us were hoping that Buffalo's Studio Arena, which shut its doors a few months ago, might soon breath again. Even such a faint hope doesn't seem conceivable anyway. Its artistic director Kathleen A. Gaffney, who as of late has still been on staff, was terminated without cause earlier this week. The president of the theater's board spoke with a local paper about the incident: "'Our primary goal at this point is to preserve the [Studio Arena] building so that it can continue to be available to this community as a venue for live theater. This is a cost-saving measure."

Meanwhile, things are looking up for NJ's Paper Mill Playhouse, which cried poverty nearly a year and a half ago. It will open its 70th anniversary season in two weeks with a new revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA, a perfect show for the theater's mostly geriatric audience.

Now that Labor Day is over, the fall theater season is officially here. Late August is a pretty dismal time for theatergoing. All you really have going on is the Fringe - for better or worse. And when that storm passes, you have nothing. In fact, finding something - anything - to review is pretty difficult. But only a few weeks later, Off-Broadway shows are suddenly opening day in and day out.

I noticed a New York Times article on Michael Feinstein this weekend, who will premiere his new cabaret show on Sinatra on Tuesday night at his east midtown nightclub. The article, by nightlife critic Stephen Holden, also mentioned that Feinstein will be marrying his longtime partner. Many congrats to him. I look forward to not only attending his Sinatra show, but several other Feinsteins at the Regency concerts this month including Ashford & Simpson and Nikki Blonsky.

In other news, SPRING AWAKENING Tony winner John Gallagher Jr. will headline the Atlantic Theatre production of FARRAGUT NORTH, a political comedy long in gestation that was inspired by life working on the Howard Dean campaign.

Casting has been announced for Project Shaw's reading of CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA on September 22. The cast includes Brian Murray, Madeleine Martin, Daniel Reichard, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Seth Rudetsky, Tim Artz, Todd Gearhart, Anthony Holds, Jack Koenig, Simon Jones, Jon Levenson, and Daniel Maarconi.

Nearly a decade ago, Haley Jole Osment won an Oscar nomination in THE SIXTH SENSE for freaking us all out with his "I see dead people" gimmick. Now he'll see Broadway. Now a 20-year-old NYU fine arts major, he will reportedly take a leave of absence to join the revival of David Mamet's AMERICAN BUFFALO, which also stars Cedric the Entertainer and John Leguizamo. It's interesting how nearly every other play revival on Broadway now looks more exciting than the Katie Holmes-spearheaded ALL MY SONS (who, by the way, isn't even the lead character of the play).

Just as one American Idol exits the Broadway revival of GREASE, another one will enter. Taylor Hicks, who has apparently done magic for the Rydell High School box office, will leave the show on September 7. And two days later, AMERICAN IDOL Season 5 finalist Ace Young will join the cast as Kenickie. Since I know absolutely nothing about him, let's just quote the press release.

"A native of Denver, Colorado, he began his career in the entertainment industry at the early age of nine performing at various venues all over the west coast. Following "Idol," Ace traveled the country performing in 60 sold out arenas across the nation as part of the "American Idols Live Tour." He has played guest starring roles on the popular television sitcoms "Half & Half" and "Bones." In 2007, Ace was nominated for a Grammy Award for his co-write on fellow "Idol" Chris Daughtry's quadruple platinum hit single "It's Not Over." In April 2008, Ace released a popular single entitled "Addicted," available in stores, on ITunes and Amazon. He recently formed a partnership with renowned record producer and songwriter Desmond Child, and together they co-wrote, recorded and funded Ace's eponymous debut album - a revolutionary combination of Rock, R&B and Funk which utilizes a 30 piece string section with live horns. The eagerly anticipated album was released on the Pazzo Music/Fontana label on July 15, 2008."

*AMERICAN PIE alumnus Jason Biggs, who appeared on Broadway in 2002's misguided film-to-stage adaptation of THE GRADUATE, will appear in Second Stage's revival of Howard Korder's male bonding comedy BOY'S LIFE. Also in the cast are Rhys Coiro, Peter Scanavino and Michelle Federer.

*After two straight weeks of postponing musicals, we now have a musical ready to announce that it actually will trek to Broadway. Variety reports that VANITIES, which is now trying out at the Pasadina Playhouse, will open on Broadway in February. Based on Jack Heifner's 1976 Off-Broadway mega-hit about onetime cheerleaders growing up, the cast includes Lauren Kennedy Sarah Stiles and Anneliese van der Pol.

*Drew Lachey, the newest reality show actor to grace the stage of SPAMALOT, will host the annual BROADWAY ON BROADWAY concert in Times Square on September 14.

This year, I just didn't bother with the Fringe Festival. No stomach for it. But I did end up seeing one musical called GREEN EYES. To be frank, the main reason I set up seeing it was because a friend expressed interest. I later learned that it was being produced by a former theater camp colleague of mine, and that the cast's two singers were Nick Blaemire, composer of GLORY DAYS (or rather GLORY DAY), and Celina Carvajal, one of the LEGALLY BLONDE reality show finalists (Whenever I see one of these finalists around town, I can never remember where they're from. I keep hoping it's a really hot girl that I somehow know. I even sat next to one of them last week at SPRING AWAKENING.)

Though it's not saying much, GREEN EYES is easily one of the most professional Fringe show I've seen in the past five years or so. Instead of indulging in excessive, amateurish satire, like the other Fringe shows, it is an unabashedly simple boy-meets-girl story told through modern dance and soft pop songs. While Celina and Nick, meet, greet, metaphorically make out, and then break up, a male and female dancer mirror their emotions through long streaks of movement. Celina, in particular, is truly affecting in the female role. And while the folksy score was merely alright, one song where the boy and girl looked for words rhyming with "true" was really unique and authentic.

Does it feel rather derivative of Jason Robert Brown's THE LAST FIVE YEARS? Absolutely. But I suppose that any cycle of pop songs built around a boy-meets-girl formula would feel that way. The show's ending, where the story just kind of peters out, could use work. But overall, this definitely has potential. And it's simplicity could make this a very attractive property.

As of the time of this writing, it has one last performance on Saturday night at 7pm at Theater 80.

The new musical 13 will offer tickets for merely $13 to the first 100 people in line at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre on Monday morning. The box office opens at 10AM.

*Do check you this New York Times feature on the practice of professional "line-sitters" and the Shakespeare in the Park production of HAIR. The weird thing is, is the practice technically legitimate? Does the Public Theater have the right to turn a line-sitter away out of suspicion that he or she intends to sell the tickets? Here is the link

*In his Friday column, Michael Riedel suggests that the possibility of HAIR transferring to Broadway has increased due to the total downfall/cancellation of the GODSPELL revival. While I can understand his point of view that two hippie musicals on Broadway at once would have been a lot, HAIR already had Broadway buzz long before GODSPELL collapsed. Here is the link

My favorite new musical of last season was not IN THE HEIGHTS. It was NEXT TO NORMAL, which premiered Off-Broadway at Second Stage. I wish it had transferred straight to Broadway, but the rest of the reviews were too mixed, even though producer David Stone wanted the commercial transfer to happen. As a result, the show will now receive another "tryout" production, this time regionally, at Washington, DC's Arena Stage. We learned today that Alice Ripley, who was brilliant in the lead role of Diana, will join the DC cast.

While no press release has been issued yet to officially announce the cancellation of GODSPELL, I can no longer purchase tickets to the revival on Telecharge, whereas I was able to earlier today. That's a pretty definitive sign that the party's over.

So how I feel about this? To be very frank, the show's producer, Adam Epstein, randomly and inappropriately cursed me off a few weeks ago. You see, he also produced CRY-BABY, and was less than thrilled with my review of the show. Two years ago, I took an NYU seminar taught by him, so maybe he felt betrayed by my negative review.

But then again, having GODSPELL back would have been fun. I saw the Paper Mill production on which this was based. And though it still needed work at the time, it was a solid, moving production. But most tragic of all are the consequences for the cast, who are now unemployed. Who knows whether they gave up other jobs to join the show. Such is show business...the headaches, the heartaches, and everything else Irving Berlin described.

Update at 10:45 AM - the press release has arrived

Continue reading "No 'Godspell' for Broadway" »

Now don't me wrong... I love the Shakespeare in the Park production of HAIR. Not only is it the best thing I've seen this summer, it belongs on my all-time top 10 list. So why do I have such mixed feelings over its THIRD extension in the park, which means it will play through September 14?

Had it received no extensions whatsoever, it would have closed last night. Weirdly, this actually means that Christopher J. Hanke will play the role of Claude for just as long as Jonathan Groff.

But most importantly, what does this mean for the prospects of a Broadway transfer? Are they giving too much of the milk away before they try selling the cow? Or, will yet another extension build more buzz? After all, they are people who'd rather buy a ticket for $110 than wait on line for 6 hours.

In other news, Tony winner Cady Huffman (THE PRODUCERS) will headline WOOD, one of the many selections of the 2008 New York Musical Theatre Festival. WOOD is a modern NYC adaptation of Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.

You're not likely to recognize any of the names in the Broadway cast of 13 - they're all teenagers. And far, far younger than anyone in the cast of even SPRING AWAKENING.

The lucky Broadway-bound youngsters include Al Calderon as Eddie, Eamon Foley as Richie, Caitlin Gann as Molly, Ariana Grande as Charlotte, Aaron Simon Gross as Archie, Elizabeth Gillies as Lucy, Malik Hammond as Malcolm, Joey La Varco as Simon, Delaney Moro as Kendra, Eric Nelsen as Brett, Graham Phillips as Evan, Allie Trimm as Patrice, Brynn Williams as Cassie.

And in New Jersey, Paper Mill Playhouse announced its cast for OKLAHOMA: Adam Monley (Curly), Brynn O'Malley (Laurey), Andrew Varela (Jud Fry), Beth Fowler (Aunt Eller), Megan Sikora (Ado Annie), Brian Sears (Will Parker), John Jellison (Andrew Carnes), Joseph Kolinski (Ike Skidmore) and Jonathan Brody (Ali Hakim).

And speaking of Paper Mill, the theater announced an extremely intricate procedure necessary to buy advance single tickets to its November production of HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL where buyers will need a bracelet in order to secure a spot on line. While I'm glad to hear that there'll be such a demand for tix, isn't this a little unusual, or rather extremely optimistic, for a theater that just emerged from the brink of bankruptcy? But then again, it's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL...

Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Bounce,” which will receive its New York premiere in October at the Public Theater, has experienced another change to its title. No longer “Bounce,” it is now “Road Show,” reflecting the fact that “Bounce” is no longer a song. When the musical was first developed, it was titled “Wise Guys.” I'd to propose the title of simply "New Sondheim Musical Forever in Development." Directed by John Doyle, the cast includes Alexander Gemignani and Michael Cerveris as the Mizner brothers.

Reports first began circulating on TalkinBroadway.com last night that the Broadway revival of GODSPELL, which was supposed to begin previews next month at the Barrymore Theatre, had been indefinitely postponed due to an inability to find investors. And while Michael Riedel alluded to this in his column today, no official press release has been delivered announcing a postponement or cancellation of the production. In fact, as of this writing, you can still buy tickets for the first preview on September 29.

A few weeks ago, word was released on Roundabout's website that a new production of Ibsen's HEDDA GABLER would likely fill the winter 2009 slot at the American Airlines Theater. But why HEDDA, we wondered. After all, we just received another Broadway revival starring Kate Burton a few years ago. If Roundabout were willing to do it again, it must have a damn good star. And the company sure does.

Mary-Louise Parker, who has yet to sink her teeth into any of the classics, will play Ibsen's shocking female. Ian Rickson will direct, with a new translation by Christopher Shinn.

Is there anything new in the New York theater scene at the moment besides HAIR? This morning the show announced a one-week extension to September 7. This comes on top of the two-week extension that HAIR received before it even began previews. Were there no extensions, it would be closing on Sunday, which would be heartbreaking. But is keeping it open Off-Broadway, for free, a good or bad thing in terms of moving it to Broadway?

And then there's more HAIR news. On Monday night the HAIR cast will move from Central Park to the Public Theater's home location on Astor Place for the BE-IN, a night of songs from the 1960s within the cabaret space of Joe's Pub. Here is a YouTube clip from the first BE-IN, which took place a month ago, where the cast sings "With a Little Help from My Friends."

The chances of HAIR transferring to Broadway have increased substantially tonight. As far, EVERY critic as far - myself included, of course - has RAVED for the Shakespeare in the Park production of HAIR.

amNewYork - While it would be a crime for this revival to not transfer to Broadway, the experience of seeing "Hair" in Central Park, exposed to nature and the elements, can never again be replicated. So, stop reading this review and start waiting on the line for free tickets. We're not kidding. Go now!

The New York Times - The pure hormonal vitality that courses through the Public Theater’s exuberant production of “Hair,” which officially opened Thursday night, is enough to make it the pick-me-up event of New York’s dog days this year. But middle-aged audience members who revisit this landmark work from 1967 in search of the feckless flower children they once were are likely to uncover more than they bargained for.

Continue reading "Hair Gets the Raves It So Rightly Deserves" »

For a sec, I thought that Cheyenne Jackson was doing today's Chatterbox. Then I reread Seth's website. It's Christopher Jackson of IN THE HEIGHTS, not Cheyenne Jackson of XANADU. Jackson plays the taxi driver Benny, who's in love with his boss's daughter Nina. I find it odd that no Chatterbox has been done yet on HAIR, but it'd probably be too difficult for Will Swenson or Groff to trek from Chatterbox to the Delacorte.

We now know the film that Jonathan Groff is leaving HAIR two weeks early to do. He, Liev Schrieber, Mamie Gummer and Dan Fogler will all be a part of TAKING WOODSTOCK, based on Ane Lee's memoirs of the famed 1969 event. How fitting that Groff is leaving one 1960s countercultural event for another one.

Just in case you were worried that Meryl Streep had verged too far into silliness with MAMMA MIA, check out this simple but effectively ominous movie poster for DOUBT.