The stage musical adaptation of the Bill Murray film “Groundhog Day” opened last week in London to rave reviews, which should remove any doubt that it will transfer to Broadway. “This one will run and run. And run. And run …” Variety wrote. The Daily Telegraph even claimed that the musical is better than the movie. It reunites director Matthew Warchus and songwriter Tim Minchin, who worked together on “Matilda.” Andy Karl (“Rocky”) plays weatherman Phil Connors.
Pie shop ‘Sweeney’ to play Off-Broadway
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is set to make another appearance in New York. An environmental production of the Sondheim operatic thriller “Sweeney Todd” that originated at a London pie shop will play Off-Broadway’s Barrow Street Theatre beginning in Feb. “Sweeney Todd” involves a barber who kills his clients and grinds them into meat pies. The pie shop milieu will be recreated for the occasion, and audience members will be served pie and mash. I intend to ask for a list of ingredients.
‘King and I’ returning to movie theaters
The lavish 1956 film version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “The King and I,” which preserved Yul Brynner’s iconic performance as the King of Siam and Jerome Robbins’ choreography, will be screened in movie theaters on Aug. 28 and 31 as part of Turner Classic Movies’ TCM Big Screen Classics series. Tickets can be purchased at FathomEvents.com. The recent Broadway revival of “The King and I” closed earlier this summer after a Tony-winning run at Lincoln Center Theater.
Shakespeare goes nude in Prospect Park
Shakespeare plays tend to be performed either in period-specific costumes or modern clothing. But what about no clothes at all? A nude, all-female, free production of “The Tempest,” which previously ran in Central Park in May, will receive an encore run at the Music Pagoda in Prospect Park in September. It is being produced by Torn Out Theater in association with the Outdoor Co-Ed Topless Pulp Fiction Appreciation Society.
Melissa Errico returning to Glocca Morra
Melissa Errico, who headlined a scaled-down, concert-style revival of the whimsical 1940s musical “Finian’s Rainbow” at the Irish Repertory Theatre back in 2004, will return to both the Off-Broadway venue and “Finian’s Rainbow” in October when artistic director Charlotte Moore remounts the production. Errico scored lead roles on Broadway in the 1990s while she was still very young, including Eliza in a short-lived “My Fair Lady” revival. Before “Finian’s Rainbow,” she will appear at Feinstein’s/54 Below in September.
Spotted …
Natalie Portman at “An Act of God” … Tina Fey at “Avenue Q” … Zac Posen at “Cats”… Bonnie Raitt at “Something Rotten!“
