Tommy Tune to play the Carlyle
Actor, dancer and director-choreographer Tommy Tune (“Nine,” “Grand Hotel”), who has been absent from Broadway for far too long, will make his debut at the Café Carlyle on April 22 for a two-week run at the historic nightclub. The show’s title, “More Taps, Tunes and Tall Tales,” suggests that it will feature song, dance and plenty of patter.
‘The Flick’ wins Pulitzer, set for comeback
“The Flick,” Annie Baker’s three-hour comedic drama about a group of young ushers who work at a rundown movie theater that received rave reviews but divided theatergoers when it premiered at Playwrights Horizons, has won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Once the award was confirmed on Monday, Variety reported that the play will receive a commercial Off-Broadway run next season at the Barrow Street Theatre in the West Village.
‘Soul Train’ musical being developed
A stage musical of “Soul Train,” the music-dance variety show that ran on television for 35 years, is in the works. It will be produced by Matthew Weaver (“Rock of Ages”). “Creating a live theatrical interpretation of this iconic franchise is an opportunity that could not be missed,” Magic Johnson, who is the chairman of Soul Train Holdings, said in a statement.
In support of ‘Yes, We Have No Bananas’
In my review of “Bullets Over Broadway” last week, I wrote that the novelty song “Yes, We Have No Bananas” served no discernible purpose as the musical’s finale. Reader Alan Medvin emailed me with his analytical take on the song: “Olive has just been blown to bits, and yet Nick does not seem particularly despondent. So when he’s asked how he can still be ‘up’ when his girlfriend has been murdered, he responds with the story of his Italian mother and her optimistic view of life, which is the point of ‘Yes, We Have No Bananas.'”
Topol joins ‘Fiddler’ reunion concert at Town Hall
To mark the 50th anniversary of “Fiddler on the Roof,” the National Yiddish Theatre will hold a benefit concert on June 9 at Town Hall that is being billed as the largest-ever reunion of actors who have appeared in the musical. Titled “Raising the Roof,” participants will include Topol (who played Tevye in the film version and subsequent revivals), Fyvush Finkel and Bel Kaufman, Sholem Aleichem’s 103-year-old granddaughter.
‘Strictly Ballroom’ receives solid reviews Down Under
The stage version of the 1992 Baz Luhrmann dance film “Strictly Ballroom,” helmed by the director himself, opened in Australia last weekend to pretty positive reviews. The Daily Telegraph called it a “big, bright, gloriously colourful and joyous affair.” Nothing has been confirmed but it is assumed that the show’s producers are eyeing a Broadway run.
RSC to bring more Shakespeare to the movies
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Live from Stratford-upon-Avon” series, modeled after the National Theatre’s highly successful program of broadcasting its productions at movie theaters, will continue this summer with “Henry IV Part I,” “Henry IV Part 2” and “Two Gentlemen of Verona.” There will also be some encore screenings of “Richard II” with David Tennant. For dates and venues go to onscreen.rsc.org.uk.
Spotted ?
Cast of “Matilda” marking the show’s one-year anniversary at Bowlmor Lanes ? Dianne Wiest, Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Berkley, Anna Wintour and Regis Philbin at opening night of “Bullets Over Broadway” ? Olivia Wilde at “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” ? Billy Crystal and Goldie Hawn at “Beautiful.”
