New York City: April 2005 Archives

When I was down at the New York Musical Theatre Festivallast September I went to a reading of Captain Louie, a new family musical by Stephen Schwartz (Music and Lyrics) and Anthony Stein (Libretto) based on the picture book The Trip byEzra Jack Keats.

It is the story of Louie, who feels lonely in a new neighborhood. Looking for something to cheer him up on a Halloween Night, he returns to his old neighborhood friends in an imaginative journey on the wings of his favorite toy, a little red plane. If I remember properly it was described as being about friendship and the ability to make new friends and the importance of old ones.

It was a true reading, with all the kids sitting with music stands and just piano accompaniment. I was dazzled by the talent of the kids, entertained by the music (very easy on the ears), but underwhelmed by the story. Now there wasn't any choreography and I believe it was presented in a somewhat shortened version. So I promised myself I would go and see the full-up production if and when it came to be.

Good news! Captain Louie, opens at the York Theatre (NY, 54th St. off Lexington) on May 8 for a 6-week run. Captain Louie is directed Meridee Stein who co-produced with Pam Koslow and Kurt Peterson at the York (James Morgan, Producing Artistic Director).

Apparently, a tour is in the works for 2006-2007 and the Captain Louie CD will be available from PS Classics in May.

How did I not know about this?

Lyrics and Lyricists 2004-2005 35th Anniversary Season

Tickets/Registration: 212.415.5500

PAUL TRUEBLOOD ON BETTY COMDEN & ADOLPH GREEN / MAY 14-16

ABOUT "LYRICS & LYRICISTS"

The granddaddy of American songbook programs, Lyrics & Lyricists was launched in 1970 when longtime Broadway conductor Maurice Levine and lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg took to the stage of the 92nd Street Y to talk about the then unusual topic of songmaking. The series has featured every great Broadway and Hollywood lyricist and composer, laying the groundwork for more recent series like Lincoln Center's American Songbook, Carnegie Hall's American Popular Song Celebration and City Center's Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert.

Lyrics & Lyricists has been one of the most popular series at the 92nd Street Y since its inception in 1970, when Arthur Cantor, a trustee of the Billy Rose Foundation, approached Hadassah Markson, then the director of the 92nd Street Y Music School, about presenting a music series focusing on lyricists. Markson enlisted longtime Broadway conductor Maurice Levine, who in turn enlisted lyricist E.Y. "Yip" Harburg ("The Wizard of Oz") to launch the series on December 13, 1970. Eventually, the ries expanded to include composers, and in 1984 went from first-person histories of the American musical theatre to a series of narrated musical revues. The series has featured some of Broadway and Hollywood's greatest songwriters, including Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Johnny Mercer and Stephen Sondheim.

Andrew Gerle is the writer of the superb Meet John Doe, which was part of the inaugural 2004 New York Musical Theatre Festival.

Now he is directing a new concert series, called "ALLOY: Concert / Theater", which is a new fusion of American art song and theater featuring some of Broadway's greatest voices performing works by Ned Rorem, Jack Beeson, Charles Ives, and Samuel Barber in a dramatic setting. The show stars Rebecca Baxter, Suzzanne Douglas, Merwin Foard, Jenny Giering, Danny Gurwin, Rosena Hill, and Ryan Lowe.

The show is on Monday, May 2 at 8 pm, at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University.

All the performers and composers are listed on Andrew's Web site, and there are booking details at the Miller Theatre's Web site as well.

Check it out!

She's On Fire!

Wow, Kristin Chenoweth seems to be everywhere these days -- doing a Dolly Parton impersonation on Letterman, singing for Katie Couric, appearing in The West Wing, and filming the movies Bewitched,The Pink Panther, Asphalt Beach, Running with Scissors, and Stranger Than Fiction.

If that wasn't enough, according to this article in Playbill, she is now planning to star in the Universal Pictures biopic ofDusty Springfield's life.

Hollywood Reporter says that the biopic will be written and directed by Jessica Sharzer, the recipient of a 2002 student Academy Award for the movie "Speak," which she wrote and directed. The Springfield film, which will focus on the singer's life in the sixties and the recording of her classic album, "Dusty in Memphis," will be produced by Universal's Marc Platt, actress Chenoweth and Untitled Entertainment's Danielle Thomas. Springfield's manager, Vicki Wickham, will serve as a consultant for the motion picture.

Dusty Springfield was born Mary O'Brien in the U.K. in 1939. Her many hits included "I Only Want to Be With You," "I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" and "Son of a Preacher Man." The latter was released on her album "Dusty in Memphis," which is often regarded as her finest release. Springfield battled substance abuse and faced financial difficulties, although she did have another hit in the nineties when recorded the duet, "What Have I Done to Deserve This?," with the Pet Shop Boys. Springfield died of cancer in 1999. She was 59.

Now that sounds right -- acting and singing. I love Kristin, so don't get me wrong, but she's just not working for me on The West Wing. I saw her in Epic Proportions, a not-so-great play that opened on Broadway in 1999. She was very funny and she always exudes that special star quality, but I love her best when she acts and sings: Then she's totally unstoppable!

Even more exciting (for me at least) is that according to this article from Broadwayworld, Kristin will star in the final City Center Encores! production of the 2004/2005 season: The Apple Tree in May.

Kristin Chenoweth is set to star in The Apple Tree, the final Encores! presentation of the 2004-5 Season, it was announced by Artistic Director Jack Viertel and Music Director Rob Fisher. The engagement, which runs May 12-16, 2005, also marks Mr. Fisher's final production as Encores! Music Director - a position he has held for Encores! entire 12-year history. The production is directed by Gary Griffin.

The Apple Tree features music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof, She Loves Me, Fiorello!); and a book by Messrs. Bock, Harnick and Jerome Coopersmith.

The Apple Tree is a unique and innovative evening of three one-act musicals about men, women and a little thing called temptation from one of Broadway's most beloved songwriting teams. Act I is based on Mark Twain's "The Diary of Adam and Eve", Act II on Frank R. Stockton's "The Lady or the Tiger?", and Act III on Jules Feiffer's "Passionella". Notable songs include "What Makes Me Love Him?"; "Go To Sleep Whatever You Are"; and "Oh, To Be A Movie Star".

Under the direction of Mike Nichols in his first musical outing, The Apple Tree opened at the Shubert Theatre on October 18, 1966 where it played for 463 performances. The original Broadway cast featured Alan Alda and Barbara Harris. The show was nominated for seven Tony Awards including Best Musical; with a win for Harris as Best Actress in a Musical.

I saw an old excerpt from this musical on Broadway's Lost Treasures.

It was an adorable scene called "Passionella" about a woman (Ella) who works as a chimney sweep during the day, and dreams of being a movie star at night. Then, one day her Fairy Godmother (on the TV) transforms her into a Marilyn Monroe-type gorgeous voluptuous blonde (Passionella).Barbara Harris played the role of Ella/Passionella and she was amazing. She also won the Tony for it.

I can totally see Kristin Chenoweth doing it. She certainly has the figure to pull off the voluptuous side of the character...I know that Letterman would agree based on the way that he ogled her the other night!

I'm wishin' and hopin' that I can see it!

The Howard Johnson's at 46th and Broadway in Times Square is finally being torn down.

The land is being sold for over 100 million fried clams! I can't tell you how many times I've walked past that restaurant and smiled at the "cocktails" sign that encouraged you to come in and have "a decanter of Manhattan, Martini or Daiquiri". Of course I never went in because it looked a bit too seedy, a bit too 1970s Times Square for me. And I guess nobody else did either, not even the Broadway actors. Although this article inPlaybill says that the restaurant once employed Lily Tomlin as a Waitress andGene Hackman as a Maitre'd:

Howard Johnson's, one of the last functioning remnants of the rough-and tumble, Runyonesque Times Square of yesteryear, will be torn down sometime this year, the New York Post reported April 19.

The restaurant and the land it sits on, a prime site on the northwest corner of 46th Street and Broadway, was recently sold for "more than $100 million" by longtime owner Kenneth Rubinstein to Jeff Sutton's Wharton Acquisitions. Sutton plans to flatten the four-story edifice and replace it with a gleaming new retail outlet.

The Howard Johnson's was built in 1955 and is the oldest, continually operated business facing directly on Times Square. Its squat dimensions once fit in nicely with the low-scale, slightly down-at-heel architecture that for a long time characterized the area. But the real estate revival of the late 1990s saw it dwarfed by glass towers and glossy stores like Toys 'R' Us and the Virgin Megastore. Increasingly, the venerable old institution looked like an anachronism.

In the years following World War II, Times Square boasted not one, but three Howard Johnson's eateries (including one directly across the way, on Seventh Avenue). The restaurants -- one of the first to be franchised nationwide -- teemed with locals and tourists alike, and matched the homely qualities of other eating destinations of the era, such as Lindy's. In his recent book "The Devil's Playground," James Traub described how people would line up down the street to sample the trademark fried clams and ice cream.

Hey, how about a show about a bunch of old maitre'ds and waitresses coming back to the Howard Johnson's the night before it gets demolished, a la Follies? You could have songs like "Too Many Happy Hours", "Could I Leave You Without A Tip?" and of course, "I'm Still Here Waiting For My Fried Clams!".

A moment of silence, please.

I read an interesting article in The New York Times Arts and Leisure section last Sunday ("Spamalot Discovers The Straight White Way" by Jesse McKinley, Sunday April 10, 2005) about how Spamalot is bringing a new group of consumers to Broadway -- the "kinds of teenagers and 20-somethings who find jokes about fish, flatulence and the French absolutely sidesplitting and who normally wouldn't be headed to the theater unless dragged by a girlfriend, school trip, or court order."

Mike Nichols, Spamalot's director, is quoted as saying "They are what the movie preview experts call young males under 35...and we have them."

The article talks about how there are finally longer lines for the men's washroom than at the women's washroom. It goes on to say that groups of men without wives or girlfriends are going out for night of theater at the Shubert in New York. And industry officials say they ae impressed by the show's ability to draw men in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

First of all, I think anything that gets anyone to go to live theater for any reason is a good thing. So way to go Spamalot!

But this isn't the first time we've heard about how men generally stay away from Broadway shows, especially musicals.

Is this whole "real men don't go to Broadway" thing a recent phenomenon? Wasn't there a time when men went to see shows, be it play or musical? And weren't those shows more than just people covered in blue paint banging on garbage pail lids?

Weren't men just as in awe with Marlon Brando in Streetcar, or just as stirred at the opening of a newArthur Miller or Eugene O'Neill play, or perhaps just as inspired by Oklahoma! (before they went off to fight), as women were?

But why did these guys in this article seem to take pride in the fact that they have never seen anything on Broadway before this? There have always been a myriad of sexual preferences represented in the theater. Why is it such a problem for men now to go? And why doesn't it stop them from going to the movies or rock concerts, which as we well know also represent that same wide spectrum of sexual preferences! Why are they boycotting Broadway? Did they use to stay away in droves or is this a recent thing?

I mean, for crying out loud they all chant Queen songs at sports games...either "We Are The Champions" of "We Will Rock You".

Browsing through the same paper I also noticed an article in the Lifestyle section about what you call it when two straight male friends have dinner together. ("The Man Date", Sunday Styles, Sunday April 10,2005). Apparently there are rules. Meeting for dinner is OK. Brunch is not. A walk is fine -- as long as one guy carries a ball. Wine by the glass is fine. Sharing a bottle is not.

Sharing a bottle of wine? Is this for real? Are you kidding?

How awful to have to be so aware of what's acceptable and not acceptable when planning some time with a friend. Again I'll ask the question -- has it always been like this? Or have we Neanderthal-ized these poor guys into such rigid roles? So guys, loosen up. Call up a male friend and go kill a bottle of wine at a cafe and then walk over to the theater and buy a couple of tickets to The Producers, and learn about how real men bond...

I just found out that Plane Crazy has been selected out of over 300 applications as one of 36 finalists for the New York Musical Theatre Festival for 2005! Here is an exerpt from the e-mail:

Thank you for submitting Plane Crazy for consideration to the 2005 Next Link Project. As you may be aware, we received over 300 applications for this year's Festival, and the process of winnowing down the options has been exciting, enjoyable, and challenging.

We are pleased to inform you that after careful consideration the Reading Committee has selected your show as one of the 36 finalists for the Next Link Project. All 36 are now being evaluated by the Next Link Jury (comprised of leading theatre professionals Rob Ashford, Thomas Cott, Joanna Gleason, Kevin McCollum, Susan H. Schulman, and Jack Viertel), who will select the final line-up of 18 shows for inclusion in the Festival.

How cool is it that one of my musical theater heroes, Joanna Gleason (another Canadian), will be reviewing Plane Crazy?

Keep your fingers (and stew legs) crossed!

Maybe I'll finally get to see Nathan Lane andMatthew Broderick on stage together...

I've always regretted that I wasn't able to scrape together the clams to see this dynamic duo in The Producers, during their original run or during their very expensive comeback run.

Now I've read in this article in Playbill that the Broadway revival of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, starring the golden duo of Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, will begin previews on October 4 at the Brooks Atkinson. Although Nathan will play Oscar and Mathew will play Felix, they plan to switch roles occasionally, which is pretty kewl.

The only time I've enjoyed the two of them performing together was in The Lion King movie, with Nathan voicing Timon and Matthew voicing the grown Simba. (And yes, I am on a first-name basis with both of them...)

The Blogway Baby ticket engine is powered by Broadway.com, so you can order your tickets from confidence with the largest ticket reseller in the world.

Today we are featuring Sweet Charity. Click here to get tickets.

From the Broadway.com Ticketing Center:

With a book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, Sweet Charity is a funny, poignant and tender look at the misadventures of Charity Hope Valentine, a dance-hall hostess who always gives her heart -- and her earnings -- to the wrong man.

Headlining this snazzy new production as Charity is Christina Applegate, best known for her hilarious portrayal of Kelly Bundy on ten seasons of the hit Fox series Married...with Children and her Emmy-winning turn on the hit series Friends. Denis O'Hare, who won a Tony Award for the Broadway hit play Take Me Out, will co-star as the lovelorn man who falls for Charity after finding himself trapped with her in a broken-down elevator.

The original Broadway production of Sweet Charity, which was staged by Bob Fosse and starred Gwen Verdon, opened at Broadway's Palace Theatre on January 29, 1966. Sweet Charity subsequently opened at London's Prince of Wales Theatre on October 11, 1967. The film version, with Shirley MacLaine in the title role, premiered in 1969 and received three Academy Award nominations. On April 27, 1986, the first Broadway revival of Sweet Charity opened at the Minskoff Theatre starring Debbie Allen, going on to receive four Tony Awards, including Best Revival.

The Blogway Baby ticket engine is powered by Broadway.com, so you can order your tickets from confidence with the largest ticket reseller in the world.

Today we are featuring Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Click here to get tickets.

From the Broadway.com Ticketing Center:

After delighting scores of West End audiences, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (the most fantasmagorical stage musical in the history of everything!) makes its American premiere at Broadway's Hilton Theatre, beginning previews on Sunday, March 27, 2005 and opening on Thursday, April 28, 2005.
The enthralling story of the adventures of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the magical car, as it sails the seas and flies through the air will bring back a host of memories for fans of the beloved 1968 film. In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty's eccentric inventor, Caractacus Potts, and his enchanting children, Jemima and Jeremy, join the truly scrumptious Truly Scrumptious and batty Grandpa Potts to outwit the dastardly Baron and Baroness in this non-stop adventure for all ages.

Based on the film and Ian Fleming's timeless original story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang features a beloved score, including memorable classics such as "Truly Scrumptious", "Toot Sweets", "Hushabye Mountain" and the Oscar-nominated title song "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

A lot of people don't realize that they can buy their Broadway tickets throughBlogway Baby. Hallelujah! The Blogway Baby ticket engine is powered byBroadway.com, so you can order your tickets from confidence with the largest ticket reseller in the world.

Today we are featuring Wicked. Click here to get tickets.

From the Broadway.com Ticketing Center:

Long before Dorothy drops in, two girls meet in the land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. Wicked tells the story of their remarkable odyssey and how these two unlikely friends grew to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch.

This fantasy-filled musical was the winner of three 2004 Tony Awards including awards for Best Costume Design and Best Scenic Design. From real flying monkeys to a trip to the Emerald City and a soaring, modern score by Stephen Schwartz, Wicked is a true spectacle for the eyes and ears.

The twists and turns in Gregory Maguire's incredibly imaginative back-story to The Wizard of Oz makes audiences literally gasp with delight. But not only that, Wicked is a truly heartfelt story of friendship and love. As Richard Zoglin of Time Magazine put it, "If every musical had a brain, a heart and the courage of Wicked, Broadway really would be a magical place!"