Readying For Broadway’s Red

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- As the new Broadway production of Red by John Logan sets to open, we thought we’d take a look at some other plays with painters or paintings front and center.

Red focuses on the life of the provocative painter Mark Rothko. The production comes from the celebrated Donmar Warehouse, and stars Alfred Molina as Rothko.

To celebrate the show, we offer this small gallery of other plays about painters, paintings, and the people who love them from our February Issue of Broadway Magazine.

Sunday In The Park With George- Stephen Sondheim’s sublime musical consideration of life and art begins with a painting by pointillist George Seurat.

ART is Yasmina Reza’s Tony Award winning play about a modern work of art and the havoc a painting creates in the lives of three men.

Vincent In Brixton is a Nicholas Wright play about the early days of Vincent Van Gogh which was a hit in London and at Lincoln Center.

Vincent is another Vincent Van Gogh play, which is built upon the artists friendship with his brother written by Leonard Nimoy. Paint long and prosper.

Six Degrees Of Separation is John Guare’s inspired play even includes a Rothko of its own.

Impressionism wowed Broadway last season visually. Unfortunately, the play was not as strong as the art work it presented.

After Magritte and Artist Descending a Staircase both by Tom Stoppard summon the spirit of Rene Magritte and Marcel Duchamp respectively and respectfully…in a Stoppard way. Remember, ceci n’est pas une list.

Tell us what we missed on Twitter, and get your brushes ready for Red.

Get Tickets To Red On Broadway

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and the luck of the Irish, we reached out to Spinner Quinn (pictured left) to name the greatest Irish plays ever written and toast the artists who made them happen. She knows them all.

While everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, these playwright’s have a more direct connection to the Emerald Isle on the other 364 days of the year. Only one play per playwright included please, Mr. Shaw. Top of The Broadway to you all, and thank you Spinner Quinn!

Playboy Of The Western World
by J. M. Synge: No one beats Christy Mahon (or his dad, for that matter). This classic Irish comedy has just the right touch of wild violence and genuine pathos that make it a world classic.

Juno And The Paycock by Sean O’Casey: Strong female characters and a powerful portrait of the fragility, failings, and true reliance of the human spirit. O’Casey deserves a greater appreciation and if you only read one Irish play today, make it this one.

The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: Trinty College, Dublin alum Oscar Wilde changed the world of theatre forever, and will forever hold a place at the table of great playwrights from any country. To honor him, pick up a handbag and leave it at the train station.

Waiting For Godot by Samuel Beckett: They don’t get any better or as important as this one. Sure Beckett wrote it in French and the show was first produced in Paris, but what could be more Irish than that. Nothing to be done. The production wowed Broadway with critical claim last season, and remains a staple of world theatre.

The Quare Fellow by Brendan Behan: Of course The Hostage is a great play too. Behan knew Irish prisons, and this potent play again strikes that magical note which rings both comic and tragic, as the story of a man about to be hung unfolds on the stage.

The Beauty Queen Of Leenane by Martin McDonagh: Sure A Behanding in Spokane is all the rage on Broadway now, but our pick to represent Mr. McDonagh would have to be Beauty Queen. Tough, funny, raw, tragic, and everything in-between. It remains our favorite play from Mr. McDonagh.

The Seafarer by Conor McPherson: Nominated for a 2008 Tony Award, this is our entry to represent McPherson, who continues to bring his own brand of Irish magic to Broadway. The Seafarer brought the devil to the stage on Christmas Eve…to play cards—and drink.

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw: While Shaw at heart feels so very English, there is no denying his Irish heritage. Actually, he’s from a planet all his own. Picking one play from Shaw to represent him is a bit lame…but we’ll do it anyway. Pygmalion is simply a great play, and recently enjoyed a Broadway revival replete with homo-erotic overtones and a very funny Claire Danes.

Dancing At Lughnasa by Brian Friel: Of course, Translations enjoyed a recent run on Broadway, but we’re opting for Dancing At Lughnasa as our favorite from Friel or our “Frievorite” as they say somewhere in the world. A memory play with both joy and pain—and a large Irish heart. Could a Broadway revival of this gem be far behind?

She Stoops To Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith: About as funny a play as you can get. Great lines, funny situations, and insightful characters. Goldsmith’s gem is an emerald classic, and to think he hails from Ireland too.

Don’t agree with us. We’ll drink to you all the same, but do tell us what we missed. For more great Irish plays, we refer you to a list from Vincent Dowling, who even finds a way to get Hamlet into the mix as one of the greatest Irish plays ever written. Check it out here.

For More from Spinner Quinn visit us at Twitter…see how Green we are today!

Broadway’s Juke Joints

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- With the arrival of Come Fly Away, Million Dollar Quartet, and American Idiot by Green Day on Broadway this month, the army of Juke Box Musicals has swelled considerably. A Juke Box Musical (JBM) is a show that features a score made up of songs that are already extant: Mamma Mia! features the music of ABBA, for example. To prevent you from mixing up your Carl Perkins from your Fela Kuti, we offer this round-up of the current Juke Box Musicals wowing the crowds on Broadway.

Mamma Mia!: Features the hit music of the super-group ABBA, and continues to find a place among the top shows of the Broadway box office. No Waterloo here.

Jersey Boys: featuring the music of Frankie Vali and The Four Seasons, audiences can’t take their eyes off of this JBM. A global hit and still one of the most sought after tickets on Broadway.

Fela!: Featuring the music of Nigerian artist and activist Fela Kuti, this new musical features Kuti’s music and while not immediately familiar to all audiences, still qualifies as a Juke Box Musical.

Come Fly Away: Not only does it feature songs made famous by Frank Sinatra, but actually incorporates the vocals of Ol’ Blue Eyes.

Million Dollar Quartet: Featuring the familiar early rock hits of Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash, this Juke Box hero musical stays off of your Blue Suede Shoes.

American Idiot: Broadway gets punked with the new musical featuring a score by Green Day taken directly from their album American Idiot, with other material as well. This is a JBM with edge.

Sondheim On Sondheim: More of Juke Box Musical for Broadway fans, the Broadway Zeuss brings some of his existing songs together in a unique show.

Rock Of Ages: For those about to 80s rock, this JBM salutes you. Featuring the feel good and good feeling rock gems from the hair-band set.

This feature is from the March Issue of Broadway Magazine. Follow us on Twitter for more.

 Broadway Musicals With Murderers

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – With the return of RAGTIME on Broadway, it is interesting to remember some of the other Broadway musicals that are based on true crime stories. Of course, RAGTIME combines multiple narratives, but one of those is the story of “crazy” Harry Thaw, Evelyn Nesbit, and the murder of Stanford White. You can see the whole story right here. So, here is a look a few other musicals that feature real-life criminals or are based on actual murders. Let us know which ones we missed!

CHICAGO – While the Kander and Ebb musical is based on the 1920’s play by Maureen Dallas Watkins, also called CHICAGO. Watkins based the play on the real-life Belva Gaertner and Beulah Sheriff Annan, two real life merry murderesses. Take that, Jerry Springer! Get the full story here.

THE CAPEMAN – The Paul Simon musical generated some controversy as it was based on the life of murderer Salvador Agrón, who murdered two teen-agers in a 1959 gang fight. In interviews, Paul Simon said he was interested in the idea of forgiveness. Though Salvador Argon died at the age of 42 in 1986, protesters took issue with the 1998 Broadway musical because of its central character.

ASSASSINS – Stephen Sondheim brings the subject of murder and murderers front and center in his musical with a cast that includes John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, and John Hinkley. Speaking of Stephen Sondheim, check out our Stweeten Sondheim contest and join in.

RAGTIME – When the real Harry Thaw shot the real Stanford White, it was at a Broadway musical. Now the crime comes full circle, as the award winning musical is revived on Broadway this fall.

You are officially invited to join us on Twitter to see what other crimes have been turned into musicals.

Get Tickets To See Ragtime

Starting With #1

By Broadway Magazine Staff

To celebrate the arrival of Spike Lee’s film of Passing Strange, we offer you an eclectic list of some of the favorite Musical Movies of all Time.  Of course, no list can be definitive and with movies like Nine, Wicked, and a new Fame on the way, this list will be dated soon too. We’ve tried to tuck in some surprises to add a little spice. Take a look and let us know what we’ve missed. While we love all musicals more on-stage, we like these movies just fine too.

1. Singin’ In The Rain (1952) You were expecting something else?

2. West Side Story (1961) Perfect in every way.

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 Lights, Camera, Broadway!

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – To celebrate the opening of Spike Lee’s film of Broadway’s Passing Strange, we are putting the finishing touches on our list of the Top 100 Movie Musicals of all time. Is The Muppet Movie in contention? Which Disney movie musical will be higher The Lion King, The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast? Did Chicago rate higher than Cabaret? Is the movie version of West Side Story higher than HAIR (no pun intended)? Which musical will be highest (still no pun intended)? We know these are questions you want answered immediately. Well, tomorrow, all shall be known. As we tweak the list, feel free to let us know what you think. Which secret Movie Musical treasure do you love and want to see included? Tell us here, or join us on Twitter to share your picks.

Also, please keep the Stweeten Sondheim entries coming. We’ve had some sweet tweets and will begin sharing shortly.

 Windy City Conquers New York

BROADWAY MAGAZINE—City of broad shoulders? Maybe, Mr. Sandburg. City of Broadway? You better believe it! There is no secret that Chicago is a theatre town, but this season Broadway is becoming more and more a Chicago town. The line-up this season on Broadway could have many Chicago theatre fans smiling and saying ‘already saw that when it played here last year.’ To celebrate and make our case for why Broadway is becoming the new Chicago, we offer these 7 reasons. We must’ve missed some, so tell us what you think. Also follow us on Twitter
to see which shows are coming out of Minot, North Dakota to Broadway this season too.

1. David Mamet’s Race – The dean of Chicago playwrights, Mr. Mamet has long been a fixture on Broadway. This season, his muscles are fully flexed both as playwright and director. Race will bring a new (and almost secret) Mamet play direct to Broadway, directed by the playwright. When we say Mr. Mamet has a pair, we don’t just mean two plays on Broadway (though he has that too).
2. David Mamet’s Oleanna – Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles star in a revival of this challenging Mamet play. The show has already generated strong reviews out of town.
3. Tracy Letts’ Superior Donuts – The Pulitzer Prize winning playwright brings his new play from Chicago to Broadway. Mr. Letts’ brilliant August: Osage County may have left Broadway, but the glow of all of Mr. Letts’ work is hard to deny and easy to welcome back to Broadway.
4. Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain – Sure some call it the Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman play, but it is really Mr. Huff’s play which has brought those two stars together. Set in Chicago, the police play represents yet another powerful Chicago voice on Broadway.
5. Billy Elliot The Musical Tour Starts in Chicago: With a basket full of Tony Awards, the National Tour of Billy Elliot could’ve started anywhere. It didn’t, it started in Chicago. It will be at The Ford Center.
6. Chicago The Musical still towers on Broadway. The production is the longest running revival in Broadway history, and with Jerry Springer in talks to take part in the Broadway run, it looks like the cheeky combination of celebrity-sass and Jazz Age sizzle will remain a hot ticket on Broadway for some time to come.
7. Jude Law in Hamlet by William Shakespeare. The show is one of Broadway’s hottest tickets. Sure the production began in London, but everybody knows that Shakespeare was born in Galena, Illinois. Of course, Galena isn’t quite Chicago, but close enough for our case to be made.

You can check out all the Chicago shows on Broadway right here.

 Nothing To Be Done

BROADWAY MAGAZINE- The successful revival of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot will end it’s Broadway run today. Starring Bill Irwin and Nathan Lane, the production was nominated for Best Revival at the 2009 Tony Awards, and was a dazzling diamond in the treasure of Broadway shows this past season. While Godot may never arrive, the production can’t wait forever. Here is our list of 7 Things we loved about this revival:

1 John Glover as Lucky. He earned a Tony nomination for his work as the salivating slave Lucky. Mr. Glover’s detailed and fluid delivery (no pun intended) of Lucky’s captivating monologue was a true Broadway treat.

2. It brought Samuel Beckett back to Broadway. In the Age of the Outlier, it seems only right that Ionesco and Beckett could unite on Broadway this season. The success of this production could mean more Beckett on Broadway. Will Endgame be next? Some might argue it is an even better play. Check out our review of this Godot production “The Audacity of Hopelessness” here.

3. John Lahr’s New Yorker piece on the play. As you probably know, the esteemed critic for The New Yorker John Lahr is the son of the legendary performer Bert Lahr, who brought Godot to Broadway for its initial run. What John Lahr wrote about this production is well worth reading. Check it out here.

4. Nathan Lane as Gogo. Comfortable in the uncomfortable world of the play, Mr. Lane took on a challenging role and admirably stretched himself in a new direction.

5. The final moment of the production. It is one of the best moments in the history theatre. Granted, it is in all productions, but the final moment of this production was tremendously effective. Beckett as a theatrical poet without words, the final image is a positive note in a bleak play.

6. Bill Irwin as Didi. A Beckett veteran, Mr. Irwin matched Mr. Lane in specificity.

7. John Goodman as Pozzo. Larger than life, Mr. Goodman’s Pozzo captured both the comedy and the tragedy of those in power.

Check out our on-demand issue of Broadway Magazine here and follow us on Twitter for more.

 List Celebrates Broadway Blog

BROADWAY MAGAZINE – It seems as though 1,000 is a big number, unless you are Phantom of The Opera and have logged several times that many performance. Still, as we mark our 1,000 Blog post, we thought it would be fun to look back and pick our 25 favorite blog posts of the past 1,000…in no particular order. From the silly to the sublime, here these are favorites for a range of reasons. Click on the links to enjoy, and thank you for sharing your time with us. Follow us on Twitter and see what’s next.

1. George Washington’s Teeth and Favorite Play
2. Wicked the Movie Coming Soon…in 3D?
3. List of 10 Greatest Political Plays Uncovered by Scout Troop
4. Adam Lambert From American Idol As Spider-Man
5. Montauk Monster Pictures Little Mermaid or Toxic Avenger
6. British Broadway Rebuttal
7. Avenue Q Rescues American Economy
8. Broadway Olympic Alternative: Play Show-lympiads
9. Famous Poets Write Broadway Valentines
10. 4^th of July Audience Pledges Loyalty to Taylor Hicks
11. Top 12 Broadway Quotations of 2008
12. Mark Rylance’s Tony Award Speech
13. Broadway Secret Tunnel
14. Stars, Comets and Meteors
15. Broadway Producer Starts Own Award
16. 2009 Live Tony Awards Blog
17. David Mamet Loses Clay Aiken Biography Contest
18. Artist Outrage Over Tony Category Retirement
19. Bailey Hanks American Idol Audition Story
20. Twilight As Musical: Top 6 Vampire Shows On Broadway
21. Nabokov’s Lolita Hits The Stage
22. Obama Broadway Visit Inspires Other Politicians
23. Drama Desk Nominations Curiouser and Curiouser
24. Stephen Sondheim Doing Groundhog Day Musical
25. Broadway Celebrates Clay Day : Clay Aiken Returns

Ashton Kutcher Against Jude Law? Neil LaBute against Shakespeare?

BROADWAY MAGAZINE –This coming Broadway season has rapidly become one of the starriest on record, with the Hollywood A-list swooping onto Broadway stages. Last week alone on June 30, overlapping announcements of Jude Law in Hamlet muted the announcement of Laura Linney in Time Stands Still which itself had dwarfed the announcement of Grey’s Anatomy star TR Knight star-turn in Lend Me A Tenor…and that was only the announcements on one day. Previous announcements of stars on Broadway this season include Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Julia Stiles, Evan Rachel Wood, Bill Pullman, Sienna Miller, John Stamos, James Spader, Richard Thomas, Kerry Washington, and the star of Star Wars—Carrie Fisher. Last season Brought Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe to Broadway, but this season is even more packed with stars.

Of course, the most recent meteor to cross the Broadway sky has been Ashton Kutcher who is reportedly in talks to star on Broadway in Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig…an interesting combination of play and performer which could well out perform Jude Law in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. No joke. Though the Broadway Ashton Kutcher tickets have yet to be printed, that rumor could soon be confirmed too. With more official announcements surely on the way, it would require a Galileo (or a Tycho Brahe, to be more accurate) to map the Broadway cosmos this season. Here is our rundown of which stars are shinning where on Broadway in the coming season. –Christopher Moore, Broadway Magazine.

Hamlet offers Jude Law.

Oleanna stars Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman.

Bye Bye Birdie charms with John Stamos and Gena Gershon, just to name a two.

A Steady Rain starring Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman does not have official dates announced yet.

After Miss Julie brings former Jude Law flame Sienna Miller to Broadway.

Race combines James Spader and Richard Thomas in a new David Mamet play.

Wishful Drinking has Carrie Fisher.

Time Stands Still features Laura Linney.

Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark brings Evan Rachel Wood and Alan Cumming.

Lend Me A Tenor has TR Night.

The Addams Family brings Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth together. Snap, snap.

Collected Stories brings Linda Lavin to Broadway.