Cat is Hot, Streetcar Maybe Not

Today is the anniversary of Tennessee Williams classic A Glass Menagerie opening on Broadway. These are good times for Williams. The Broadway revival of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is winning audiences and generating award buzz for James Earl Jones. His play is as compelling today as ever. One bit of odd news from London’s Daily Star might give Tennessee Williams’ fans pause, there is a rumor that Britney Spears is considering a West End production of Streetcar Named Desire. While Spears is from the south, and has had her share of emotional troubles, it doesn’t seem like this production would serve the play or Spears…it is a challenging place to start a professional stage career. Perhaps if she wants Broadway, she should look to a musical like Chicago that would showcase her strengths and eliminate the need to tackle Williams poetry. Just a thought.

RENT may be extended until September, but the New York Times has run a brilliant item today that touches firmly on the beauty of Broadway culture…it is a wonderful mix of celebrity and non-celebrity, young and old, poor, rich, artistic, and more. The article focuses on the famous wall where fans have taken time to spill ink in admiration and appreciation for the Broadway magic of RENT. No Broadway show has tapped into the non-traditional Broadway theatre community in quite the same way, though many have tried. The loss of the wall is one of the impending sorrows that will come if RENT does close in September. Before that date, we’ll be sure to bring you another up close look at the wall, and in the meantime you can read Leora Kanner’s Forget Regret: Confessions of A Rent-Head…written prior to the wonderful Tina Kelly article in the New York Times. For anyone looking for a quick RENT fix, Broadway show video is always on at Broadway.tv.

Broadway Show Gypsy Is A Hit

It was opening night for Gypsy at the great St. James, where the even greater Patti Lupone took the stage to thunderous applause and will wake this morning to glowing reviews. The critics love the production with a unanimity that is unique for a Broadway show. Words like “definitive” are rare in looking at theatre productions, but with this revival it is a word that comes up time and time again. LuPone gets raves for her work and spirit, but it is clear that this is a golden ensemble under the steady vision of director Arthur Laurents. What remains clear in looking at the critical response is that the traditional approach to the musical served it better than a radical revision. With Sunday In The Park With George following a traditional revival route (although the production is visionary in its production and performances, read our review), could it be that the pendulum is swinging away from revisionism? Even productions like the all-black Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Come Back, Little Sheba, and the upcoming The Country Girlopt for finding their strength by mining and remaining faithful to the original vision of the text. New Brodway shows like August: Osage County, A Catered Affair and In The Heights have a nostalgic glow. Just a thought,but it does seem like a shift is happening. Everything is coming up roses for Gypsy, and everything old is good again on Broadway.

-Christopher Moore, Broadway Magazine, Broadway.tv

Hit Musical RENT Granted Stay

Big Broadway show news. It’s official, the hit musical RENT will get to celebrate the Summer of ‘08 on Broadway. The show was set to close on June 1, but demand and enthusiasm has kept the doors open for a bit longer. While the early closing announcement is seen as a marketing tactic, there is no reason to bemoan RENT’s stay on Broadway for a few months more. Like rumors of Nicole Riche in CHICAGO, K-fed in LEGALLY BLONDE, or any number of other attention getting tricks, Broadway often requires a little Barnum (as in P.T.) to reach the largest audience. Those hoping to share the final performance, and who already have tickets, can exchange for the new “final” performance date. Last summer, RENT was a top box-office champ, and there is every reason to think that magic will continue. Check out our review and show video here. Of course you can also enjoy Leora Kanner’s article Confessions Of A Rent-Head, as well. It is never too late to “forget regret” and join the Rent-Heads this summer. Rent photo by Joan Marcus.

-Broadway.tv, Broadway Magazine

Video Of Welles’ Voodoo Macbeth

Today’s feature article on the many curses of Macbeth comes on the heels of Patrick Stewart opening his celebrated production soon. The article captures many, though not all, of the strange deaths, accidents, and other activity associated with the production of the great Shakespeare play. We’ve been fortunate to be able to offer you a chance to see free newsreel footage of Orson Welles acclaimed production on our community video page . Welles was not 21 when he created the famous production, and made his name as a theatre genius. The video is of the stage production, not his later film version. Using actual Haitian artists, his production was a great sensation. Of course, a critic may have died due to a curse from Welles’ real witch doctor/drummer…but outside of that, everyone seemed to love the production. Read the full article here…and watch Orson Welles’ Macbeth here.

-Broadway.tv, Broadway Magazine

Broadway Gets Dickens Classic

The news get better and better with the announcement that the long journey of the new musical based on Charles Dickens’ “A Tale Of Two Cities” will finally arrive on Broadway. Show buzz has been positive from the Florida production, and few writers have achieved the kind of stage success that Dickens has found. With A Christmas Carol, Oliver!, David Copperfield, and countless other productions the former actor turned novelist has created works that sit nicely on the stage. Looking forward to the epic Tale of Two Cities on Broadway next season.

Speaking of Dickens…Is a Paul McCartney musical version of Great Expectations in the works as well? We can only hope. Using the David Lean edited version with songs by the former Beatle could make for even more Broadway gold. Apparently the novel is one of his favorites, and a musical of that classic would also be exciting.

Broadway Magazine, Broadway.tv

-Broadway.tv, Broadway Magazine

West Side Story To Reclaim Broadway

When you’re a Jet, you’re always a Jet. When you’re an Arthur Laurents, you’re a Broadway god. The book writer for the ground-breaking musical, current director of the big-buzz Broadway revival of Gypsy at the St. James, and driving visionary force behind the forthcoming 2009 West Side Story revival on The Great White Way. Laurents is 89 years young, an apt cliché, and determined to reinvigorate the American musical once again. In today’s Bloomberg profile by Robert Hilferty, Laurents speaks candidly about the upcoming West Side Story revival. He wants the passion to be hot-blooded and the danger to be real, insisting that the Jets are not “adorable street kids”. The passion of Laurents for his productions is truly inspiring, and as next season shapes up to be as remarkable as any in recent years, the expectation is that Laurents’ West Side Story will stand out as yet another gem.

-Broadway.tv, Broadway Magazine

Why Does Theatre Matter? Recently Matt Slayer of Theatreforté declared March 19 International Value of Live Theatre Day (maybe change the name to World Theatre Daynext year?). The celebration? He has asked theatre bloggers around the globe to answer the question: What is the value of Live Theatre? A bit late, but here is our contribution to a great project:

Live theatre the only experience where we gather as a community to exercise our powers of empathy and compassion. Every live theatre experience, regardless of its quality, begins and ends with living, breathing human beings gathering to engage in an experience (however abstract) of another human being . Every actor on-stage, every member of the audience enters a theatre with a common commitment to connect (to the best of their ability) in a shared human experience. Our collective imaginations as artists and audience combine to consider what is beautiful or horrific in life, our best and worst traits, the comic and the tragic of being together on this earth. Where else as a society do we exercise our ability to feel for the experience of others in a collective way and on a truly human scale? Live theatre teaches our heart.

Regardless of where you live, what you earn, your level education, irrespective of age, gender, race, religion, politics, worldview or anything else, our ability to experience empathy and compassion is the greatest trait we have as human beings. Live theatre is the sole venue that truly exercises that most important quality.Broadway represents live theatre in its most commercial form, but even in grade school pageants, the core value is the same. We are better human beings when we have the ability to experience empathy and compassion for others. Empathy and compassion are complex qualities, but they are fundamental to creating a better life for all on this earth. Every live theatre performance enriches the quality of life for us all…even Cats!

Read more about this day and other posts on the always interesting Steve On Broadway blog. RENT photo by Joan Marcus.

-Christopher Moore, Broadway Magazine, Broadway.tv

There is a tremendous reward to be had for the creative team that produces the first successful Country musical on Broadway. Nationally, country music continues to be tremendously popular, and the live theatre experience that Broadway provides is naturally suited to the story-telling power of winning country music. Possibly, the new Conway Twitty musical “It’s Only Make Believe” will be the Broadway-bound show that will successfully bring country to Broadway and Broadway to country.The new musical’s creator, Randy Johnson, has already broken new ground by announcing the first ever YouTube casting audition for a Broadway-bound musical. “It is much better to audition in person,” remarks Johnson. “But if you can not make it to one of the three casting calls, we will be seriously considering those auditions posted on our YouTube audition site.” The musical will tell the colorful story of Conway Twitty, who has had 55 number one hits including It’s Only Make Believe, Hello, Darlin, (Lying Here With) Linda On My Mind, I Can’t Stop Loving You, and After The Fire Is Gone.

Born in Friars Point, Mississippi, Twitty was a part of the Sun Records Rock N Roll Revolution with Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash. Both Cash and Presley have seen unsuccessful attempts to bring their music to Broadway in “Ring Of Fire” and “All Shook Up”. The Twitty musical is billed as biography, and that may help its chances for success. Whether “It’s Only Make Believe” succeeds in becoming the country music “Jersey Boys” or just another juke-box musical remains to be seen. That said, the introduction of Broadway casting via YouTube is noteworthy and no doubt the start of a new trend. According to sources, the non-union show is planning to tour the country, and there is no Broadway theatre booked for the production. Of course, success on the road will no doubt result in speculation about a Broadway home. Would-be Twittys should click here to submit an audition.

Annette Bening achieved every Disney movie lovers dream of seeing Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke united again. Yesterday Dick Van Dyke, now 82, sang a rousing chorus of the Mary Poppins hit “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and even did some of the Broadway choreography with Broadway’s current beloved Mary Poppins, Ashley Brown. For good measure, The Little Mermaid star Sierra Boggess was also on hand, though there are no reports that Dick Van Dyke roller-skated (as they do in the Broadway hit show). The occasion was a tribute honoring Bening, a true product of New York Theatre and patron of the arts. Also being celebrated was acclaimed studio chief Robert A. Iger, who has continued to grow the Disney-Broadway connection. The evening was all in support of the Geffen Playhouse. No less a figure that the great Julie Andrews was the co-chair for the event, and the result was a chance to see the two Poppins stars side by side again. Hopefully, the footage of Dick Van Dyke singing will be on-line soon, meanwhile AP has the pictures. Check out the AP Story.
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