“Cats” will once again become just a “memory.” The first Broadway revival of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (which did not receive any Tony nominations) will close on Dec. 30, following 593 regular performances. Its box office grosses have been pretty good (if not spectacular) since it opened last summer. A national tour will launch in January 2019. The original production of “Cats” ran 18 years and was the longest-running show in Broadway history until that honor was taken by “The Phantom of the Opera” (also by Lloyd Webber) just a few years later.
‘Bandstand’ gets box office bump at Tony Awards
It pays to have a good performance on the Tony Awards broadcast. The musical “Bandstand,” which received mixed reviews and only two Tony nominations, enjoyed a $62,485 increase at the box office last week after a smashing performance at the Tony Awards and an elegant introduction from Dr. Jill Biden, who spoke of the musical’s emphasis on struggling military veterans. “Bandstand” won a Tony for Andy Blankenbuehler’s choreography.
Shalhoub, Lenk, Cariani to rejoin the band
Tony Shalhoub (“Monk”), Katrina Lenk (“Indecent”) and John Cariani (“Something Rotten!”), who appeared in “The Band’s Visit” when it premiered Off-Broadway a few months ago, will reprise their roles when the new musical (which is based on a 2007 Israeli film about an Egyptian police band that gets stranded in the Negev Desert) transfers to Broadway’s Barrymore Theatre. Preview performances will begin on Oct. 7. In recent weeks, the musical (which has a score by David Yazbek, “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”) has been honored by the Drama Critics’ Circle, Lucille Lortel Awards and Obie Awards.
‘Jerry Springer – The Opera’ to get Off-Broadway run
“Jerry Springer – The Opera,” a controversial London hit that was supposed to transfer to Broadway years ago, will be produced Off-Broadway by the New Group next season. In 2008, it was performed in concert at Carnegie Hall. The New Group will also present David Rabe’s “Good for Otto” with Ed Harris and Amy Madigan (who previously appeared in the company’s productions of “The Jacksonian” and “Buried Child”) and Lily Thorne’s “Peace for Mary Frances” with Lois Smith.
‘Government Inspector’ transferring to New World
Red Bull Theater’s acclaimed revival of Gogol’s 1836 Russian political satire “The Government Inspector (with an ensemble cast that includes Michael Urie, Michael McGrath and Mary Testa) will transfer to Off-Broadway’s New World Stages for a six-week run beginning July 5. Its current run at the Duke on 42nd Street ends on June 24. A play of mistaken identity, “The Government Inspector” observes the chaos in a rural Russian province when the local officials mistake a hapless nobody for an important inspector from the capital.
Wilson to replace Pasquale in ‘Brigadoon’
Very few people get to visit the lost Scottish village of “Brigadoon” (which comes to life just once every hundred years) and one of them will be Patrick Wilson, who is replacing Steven Pasquale (due to a schedule conflict) in City Center’s upcoming production of the classic Lerner and Loewe musical in November. Pasquale will lead Lincoln Center Theater’s Broadway production of Ayad Akhtar’s “Junk.” Kelli O’Hara and Robert Fairchild will also appear in “Brigadoon.”
Spotted…
Hillary Clinton at “Come From Away”… Bobby Cannavale at “1984”… Norm Macdonald at “A Doll’s House, Part 2.”
