More than two decades since she won a Tony for her performance as the crazed silent film star Norma Desmond, Glenn Close will return to the part in a concert-style Broadway revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard” built around a 40-piece orchestra. The production, which premiered in the West End earlier this year, will have a 16-week run at the Palace Theatre beginning in February. No other casting has been announced yet.
‘Indecent’ set for Broadway transfer
“Indecent,” an experimental work by Paula Vogel about Sholem Asch’s 1907 Yiddish-language drama “God of Vengeance,” will transfer to Broadway this spring following an off-Broadway run over the summer at the Vineyard Theatre. Asch’s play, about a Jewish patriarch who runs a brothel and whose daughter enters into a romantic relationship with a prostitute, caused quite a stir in its day. When it premiered on Broadway in 1923, the police arrested the cast on charges of obscenity.
‘Burn This’ with Gyllenhaal is postponed
A Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson’s 1987 drama “Burn This,” which was to star Jake Gyllenhaal and become the first production to play the newly renovated Hudson Theatre, has been postponed due to scheduling conflicts on the part of Gyllenhaal. This week, Gyllenhaal led an acclaimed concert production of Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George” at City Center.
WW2 musical to be performed at the Intrepid
Ever hear of “Blueprint Specials,” a long-lost series of musicals commissioned by the U.S. Army and written by Frank Loesser (“Guys and Dolls,” “How to Succeed”) during World War II as feel good entertainment for soldiers? The first-ever revival will be presented at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in January as part of the Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival. Laura Osnes (“Cinderella”) and Will Swenson (“Hair”) will lead the cast, which will include military veterans.
‘Falsettos’ confirmed for two-disc recording
Ghostlight Records will record the new Broadway revival of “Falsettos” in its entirety on a two-disc cast album. The original Broadway production was not recorded, but separate recordings exist of the off-Broadway productions of “March of the Falsettos” and “Falsettoland,” which were eventually merged into “Falsettos.”
‘She Loves Me’ to play movie theaters
A live recording of the recent Broadway revival of “She Loves Me” (which earned a Tony Award for scenic design, and would have won more awards in a less competitive year) will be screened in movie theaters nationwide on Dec. 1. While still running, it became the first Broadway musical to be broadcast live on the internet. The cast included Laura Benanti, Zachary Levi, Jane Krakowski and Gavin Creel.
SPOTTED…
Anna Wintour at “Sunday in the Park with George” … Jon Hamm, Jeffrey Tambor, Matthew Broderick, Brian Dennehy and David Schwimmer at “The Front Page” … Angela Bassett at “The Color Purple” … Molly Ringwald at “Tick, Tick…Boom!“ … John Oliver and Whoopi Goldberg at “Oh, Hello.”
