New York City: March 2005 Archives

Amazingly, Sweet Charity is back on. Quick, buy tickets before they change their mind again! Sounds like Charlotte d'Amboise will open the show and go until May 4, when Christina Applegate will return. I don't know about you, but I'm going in April to see Charlotte...assuming it's still on...

From Playbill:

It was on. Then it was off. Now it's back on again. Broadway will see Sweet Charity at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on April 11 with Charlotte d'Amboise in the lead, and Christina Applegate joining the show on April 18, producer Barry Weissler told Playbill.com.

Opening night will be May 4.

Barry Weissler said in a statement: "I spent the weekend on the telephone with Christina Applegate who made a passionate and compelling case for moving forward with our Broadway plans. Her doctor also confirmed this morning that she will be ready and able to resume performances on April 18th. I have approached my partners on the show and we have all agreed to put up the additional funds necessary to accommodate this new schedule. I guess the only thing left for me to do is ask everyone to please refrain from using the old showbiz adage, 'break a leg!'"

The quick change is only the latest for the show in the last two weeks. Producers announced March 25 that the revival would close with its final performance in Boston March 27. Charlotte d'Amboise was the actress performing the title role during that engagement. She began her surprise bout on March 18, subbing for Christina Applegate, who broke her foot during one of the final shows of the earlier Chicago stand.

Bobby Short has died.

Oh dear, I almost got to see him once, but the smoke and the crowd drove us out of the room. Now, too late.

How sad: He seemed like a timeless fixture of New York. The Carlyle will never be the same.

(via 42nd Street Moon Blog)

Spamalot officially opened on Broadway on Thursday, March 17, and it's being touted as the next The Producers -- certainly one of the most exciting openings on Broadway in a few years.

It was reviewed in the New York Times by Ben Brantley, and he gave it apretty good review, and with much of which I would agree. Although I saw the show a couple of months ago in Chicago, I think that he summed up my reaction to the show as:

Do these disparate elements hang together in any truly compelling way? Not really. That "Spamalot" is the best new musical to open on Broadway this season is inarguable, but that's not saying much. The show is amusing, agreeable, forgettable -- a better-than-usual embodiment of the musical for theatergoers who just want to be reminded now and then of a few of their favorite things.

Poor Christina Applegate...Lucky Charlotte d'Amboise. The announcements are coming in daily from the Weisslers, and it's looking worse and worse for Christina Applegate. Yesterday, she was going to be there for the opening in NYC. Today, hmm, who knows...

From today's Playbill:

Charlotte d'Amboise will be Charity Hope Valentine when the new revival of Sweet Charity opens in New York on April 21, producer Barry Weissler announced.

Charlotte d'Amboise was standby to original star Christina Applegate until recently. Applegate broke her foot during the March 11 performance in Chicago, two days before that second of three out-of-town engagements ended at the Cadillac Palace Theatre. Understudy Dylis Croman stepped in March 11-13. Soon after, it was announced that the show would arrive in Boston with Tony Award nominee d'Amboise in the title role March 18-27, at the Colonial Theatre.

The producers Barry and Fran Weissler and Clear Channel Entertainment plan to present Christina Applegate in her Broadway debut upon her recovery, a spokesman said.

Broadway is full of stories of last minute replacements who went onto glory. The most famous of course was Shirley MacLaine, who ironically played the lead in Sweet Charity, the movie. More recently, in Thoroughly Modern Millie. Charlotte d'Amboise has so often been a bridesmaid, but never a bride, a real classic Broadway gypsy, so this is a real chance for her to take and own this role. Good luck Charlotte!

Also, in an associated bit of weirdness, the other two leads have been replaced as well. Is this a bit of housecleaning?

It has been a whirlwind three days for the venture. In addition to the above, it was revealed that Krya DaCosta and Janine LaManna would replace Solange Sandy and Natascia Diaz, respectively, as Charity's best pals Helene and Nickie, who commiserate with Charity that "there's gotta be something better than this."

LaManna made a name for herself in another Weissler-produced show, Seussical (she was quirky Gertrude McFuzz) and has since appeared in The Look of Love. DaCosta was part of the cast of Aida.

I managed to overlook Roddy McDowell who played famously as Cornelius in The Planet of The Apes (and as Galen in the TV series) and in the orginal Broadway cast of Camelot, in which he played Arthur's bastard son Mordred.

I just signed up my oldest daughter, Myrna, for Camp Broadway. This will be her third trip to Camp Broadway: Myrna attended twice last year, once for "Show-by-Show", a weekend dedicated toWicked. The second was a week in the performers program, which was an amazing NYC trip. Camp Broadway is a wonderful opportunity for kids to work with real Broadway professionals and to experience the thrill of working on the stage. I only wish that I'd had the same kind of opportunity when I was a kid, but these kind of programs didn't exist in the early [ahem]...'90s...

Camp Broadway Mission Statement:

Camp Broadway is a theatre arts education company dedicated to helping students and families experience theatre in creative and meaningful ways.

Camp Broadway began as -- surprise -- a performing arts camp, founded in 1995. There are many, many "children's theatre" camps, but Camp Broadway set out to be different -- to open a door into the authentic world of Broadway traditions, bringing theatre-loving kids ages 10 to 17 together with Broadway professionals. Broadway theatre has a unique heritage. Around the world, "Broadway" means distinctive, theatrical excitement and magic. It's this one-of-a-kind spirit that drives Camp Broadway.

Now Camp Broadway is much more than just a camp. We bring the same energy and enthusiasm of our camp experience to all our other programs.

Our arts-in-education division, Stages-for-Learning, was launched in 1998, with the goal of introducing our particular brand of arts education into the curriculum of schools across America. Our Broadway spirit reaches into the classroom whether you're 45 minutes from Broadway or on the opposite side of the country.

Stages-for-Learning has hosted thousands of students at interactive pre-theatre workshops, where students learn as they role-play, guided by professional teaching artists. Students have become passengers on Titanic, members of the Continental Congress in 1776, townspeople in The Music Man. Each experience is unique, bringing students into the world of theatre in a memorable way.

Stages-for-Learning has sponsored the distribution of The New York Times into the public schools, and even helped hundreds of Girl Scouts earn their theatre badge. We've also created a series of curriculum guides entitled StageNOTES: A Field Guide for Teachers that incorporates the objectives of the United States Department of Education's National Standards for Arts Education.

The experienced Camp Broadway staff is committed to creating affordable and sustainable programs that present Broadway as a relevant and accessible art form for educators, kids, and families. In order to achieve this goal, we've developed working partnerships with Disney, Bravo Television Networks, Group Sales Box Office, Radio City Entertainment, the Educational Theatre Association, and the producers of such shows as 42nd Street, Kiss Me, Kate, The Music Man, Jane Eyre, Titanic, Footloose,Amadeus, and Copenhagen.

Camp Broadway: Inspiring the Next Generation.

Hey, finally, here's evidence that not everyone who loves musical theater is gay, contrary to the snide comments that come from popular media.Here's a great, romantic proposal story between two red-blooded heterosexuals in front on theTKTS booth in Times Square. Way to go you two!

Like many people, Betty Levy checks the ticket board at the Theatre Development Fund's TKTS Booth in Times Square nearly every weekend to catch the latest Broadway hit. March 6 was like many other Sundays for her—until she looked closely at the electronic board and her life was changed forever.

Levy's boyfriend, Aaron Winnick, had previously contacted TDF communications director David LeShay about flashing a marriage proposal on the TKTS board just as frequent customer Levy was looking at the listing of that's day shows. LeShay was able to work out a plan with the TKTS booth workers that day and Winnick proposed to a stunned Levy in front of all the eager ticket-buyers.

Levy accepted and was whisked away to a pre-planned engagement party, complete with a $100 TKTS gift certificate courtesy of TDF.

Above, Winnick and Levy are seen in front of the TKTS board just after the special moment. Below, Winnick's surprise proposal lingered on the board just long enough for a picture.

It was the first time in the 32 year history of the TKTS booth that it become the site for a marriage proposal.

I've received some comments on my tagline, "Medicine for the Fabulous Invalid" -- mostly, "what in God's name does that mean?"

Well, Broadway has always been known as the "Fabulous Invalid"...it's one of those industries that is perpetually in crisis, at least for the last hundred years.

The phrase is put to good use in a fantastic DVD called Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There, which, by the way, was ROBBED at the Oscars...

If you care about Broadway, at all, you have to get this DVD. It is simply fantastic. The filmmaker interviews a grab bag of classic Broadway stars, including many that are now deceased (Ann Miller, for example). It's a priceless capture of a time that is gone, gone, gone, but not forgotten.

Anyways, back to the Fabulous Invalid. Broadway is often referred to the "Fabulous Invalid" because, every year, it is constantly painted as being in crisis. Let's face it, in the 1970s, Broadway was generally in crisis. NO ONE was going to Times Square (after all, it was just Sondheim musicals and hookers). Then, in the 1980s, Broadway was in crisis because all the musicals were overblown British imports. In the 1990s, the crisis seemed to wane and flow with each year. In the 21st century, we're now saying goodbye to the off-Broadway play (at least from a financial standpoint). But at the same time, there is always a bright light. The Producers. Hairspray. Chicago. Wonderful Town. Urinetown. Big. Oops, scratch the last.

And so why is Blogway Baby "Medicine" for the Fabulous Invalid? Well, with all humility, I think that if enough of us care enough to keep the spirit of Broadway alive, care enough to train our children to love Broadway, care enough to write it, to see it, to buy it, to visit it, to live it, to love it...then goddamit, Broadway ain't going anywhere...

Medicine for the Fabulous Invalid. Take a whole spoonful: It's good for you.