Recently in Times Square Category

Shine a Light on Camp Broadway!

My oldest daughter Myrna was lucky enough to attend Camp Broadway in New York a few years back and it was indeed a life-changing experience. Not only did she work with Broadway professionals, it was with Camp Broadway that she was able to attend the Tony Awards hosted by Hugh Jackman. And, her picture still comes up on the Camp Broadway website.

Camp Broadway has really grown over the years thanks to a dedicated and hard-working staff. So when I got this information from Susan Lee, I wanted to share it with y'all right away!

I wanted to make you aware of an exciting opportunity for Camp Broadway...

Later this afternoon Mrs. Patricia Smith (a mom whose daughter was given a scholarship to attend Camp Broadway this summer) is going to nominate Camp Broadway in American Express' "Shine A Light" Competition, a national search for a small business that has had a positive social impact on their community. To be eligible, (1) the company must be a private, independently-owned and operated business, (2) organized for profit and operates primarily in the US, (3) has less than 100 employees with revenues under $10 million and (4) accepts the American Express card. Camp Broadway is eligible.

The judging will be based on: An inspiring story about a small business that has devised a new way of working in order to survive tough times ("innovation"), still finds ways to give back to the community, even when staying afloat is a challenge ("community") and continually demonstrates a "customer first" mentality, and during challenging times recognizes that connections are more important than ever ("customer service).

Once the nomination is posted it needs to get a minimum of 50 votes NO LATER THAN September 13 at 11:59 PM ET to be considered by the judges. Our team is hereby requesting your support of our nomination... Please go to http://shinealight.ivillage.com/ later tonight or soon thereafter and vote for CB if you believe our work over the last 15 years merits consideration. We believe there is an opportunity for you to add your own comment about how we have helped you, your family, a person you know and/or the community at large. If you have something nice to say, we would appreciate your adding it to the nomination.

You might also take a moment to review the other nominations. I hope you agree that we are worthy to be considered in this group.

The winning small business will receive $50,000 and $50,000 in marketing support. Someone has to win...why not Camp Broadway? You can encourage your friends around the country to vote for us too if you believe that a little company that is dedicated to theatre arts education for kids, whether or not they can afford it, deserves a helping hand.

Our staff, teaching artists and all the kids we work with appreciate your support (now as always).

Love and thanks,

Susan

What are you waiting for? Vote!

One singular sensation of a movie!

Last night I went to the Landmark Harvard Exit movie theatre in Capitol Hill to see EVERY LITTLE STEP, the documentary about casting the revival of A CHORUS LINE.

FIrst of all, the Landmark Harvard Exit is one cool movie theatre! I'd never been before, and I almost drove right by it. The Landmark Harvard Exit is an old woman's club turned movie theatre.

From the theatre's website:

The theatre is located on a quaint, tree-lined street at the north end of Broadway, at Harvard and Roy on Seattle's Capitol Hill. The building in which The Harvard Exit currently resides was originally constructed as a clubhouse for The Woman's Century Club in 1925. The club continues to hold meetings in the lobby, although the building was sold in 1968 for conversion to a movie theatre. In the 1980s, a second auditorium was added in an unused ballroom space on the third floor of the building. One of the very first "art" theatres in Seattle, the Harvard Exit set the standard for the exhibition of independent film and foreign language cinema. Its large and glorious lobby retains a 1920s atmosphere, adorned with a fireplace, a grand piano and chandelier. A recent remodel adds a fully wheelchair accessible restroom on the main floor, expanded concession stand and an inside box office for those rainy Seattle nights.

I had seen the revival of A CHORUS LINE, so I was really excited to see the film. Also, a friend of a friend of ours, Natascia Diaz was figured prominently in the movie since it had come down to her and Charlotte D'Amboise for Cassie. I absolutely loved Natascia in JASQUES BREL at The Zipper.

What I didn't realize is how much footage we would get to see from the original 1975 production of A CHORUS LINE! As a "Hello 12, Hello 13" teenager I had lived and breathed that cast album (as a record of course) and sheet music when it was released, but had never seen the show until the revival in 2006.

Seeing Donna Mckechnie do The Music and The Mirror dance was unbelievable. She was other-worldly. Don't get me wrong, Charlotte D'Amboise was fantastic, but Donna Mckechnie defied description. You just have to see it. And she was just a wisp of a thing!

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE at The 5^th Avenue  Theatre

Putting It Together (and by “it” I mean a fabulous show!)

I was lucky enough to attend opening night of The 5^th Avenue Theatre's production of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (April 21 – May 10). Written by Stephen Sondheim (Music and Lyrics) and James Lapine (Book), directed by Sam Buntrock with musical direction by the 5th Avenue's resident musical genius Ian Eisendrath, this is a not-to-be-missed, only-in-three-cities-ever (London, New York, Seattle), stuffed-to-the-celing-with-talent-cast event!

From the 5^th Avenue Theatre website:

Only three cities in the world will experience this exciting new production of Stephen Sondheim's musical masterpiece Sunday in the Park with George. Developed in London and transferred to Broadway, this Pulitzer Prize-winning love story (inspired by the life and work of impressionist painter Georges Seurat) comes to Seattle April 21-May 10. Featuring revolutionary state-of-the-art scenic design the New York Post hailed "Unmissable! One of the most visually amazing shows ever!" this moving story answers the question: What does it take to create a masterpiece? Everything you have.

In a Parisian park on a Sunday afternoon in 1884, artist Georges Seurat does a study of his model and mistress Dot. He is obsessed with how the eye translates points of individual color into different hues, but his work is decried by critics and other artists as having "no life." For her part, Dot is obsessed with Georges, and frustrated that he's more connected to his studies of people in the park—a nurse, a servant, a fellow artist—than her. The scene shifts to Georges' apartment, where Dot powders her face for a trip to the Follies, and Georges paints her, enraptured by her beauty. But she's shocked when he announces he can't go out: he has to finish his painting. She leaves, and the scene returns to the park, where Georges does other studies: a boatman, a pair of soldiers, some dogs. Dot arrives with her new boyfriend Louie, hoping to make Georges jealous, but he ignores them and continues with his painting. Still later, Dot comes to Georges at his studio, pregnant with his child. She again entreats him to tell her not to go, but he won't, and she announces that she and Louie are emigrating to America. Later in the park, the dramas and conflicts of the people George has been sketching come to a head, with arguments and recriminations flying. Then Georges' mantra is repeated: "Order. Design. Tension. Balance. Harmony." With that, the artist moves each of the figures into position—the masterpiece is complete, and before us is "Sunday in the Park of La Grande Jatte."

As the second act begins, a century has passed, and we see the painting on the wall of a museum, where the figures are caught in a perfect moment forever. Georges' great-grandson, also an artist named George, presents his multimedia sound and light art piece, "Chromalune #7." At the cocktail party afterwards, George engages in the real "art of making art:" high-powered cocktail schmoozing. As the crowd leave, George's grandmother Marie reminds him that the true legacies in life are children and art. Weeks later, George is in Paris in the Park of La Grande Jatte, commissioned to create another art piece. But his heart's not in it; Marie has died, and in the dark lonely park, he feels no inspiration. A woman approaches as he sits reading his great-grandmother's notebook—a woman wearing a distinctive and familiar dress...

The cast includes Hugh Panaro as George and Billie Wildrick as Dot. They were absolutely magnificent! The supporting cast is phenomenal and includes (to name a few) such Seattle luminaries as Carol Swarbrick, Rich Gray, Anne Allgood, Chad Jennings, Allen Fitzpatrick, Patti Cohenour, and Keaton Whittaker.

The set really is stunning. Watching the show unfold with moving animation behind, and around it, is thrilling. You literally have to see it to believe it! And if you are a high school student, that means you can see it for ten dollars!

I also had the pleasure to participate in the “connect the dots” cross promotion with local galleries! The opening night gallery was SAM Gallery, located at the corner of 3rd and University. The reception started at 5:30pm and I had a chance to meet the artists who had been commissioned to create new works based on Seurat's "Sunday in the Park of La Grande Jatte", see other new work, and drink wine and eat cheese catered by Le Pichet. It doesn’t get much better than that. Each night has a different gallery reception, so check the website!

My oldest daughter is involved with a great theatre group at The Village Theatre in Issaquah (not as far away as it sounds, and home of the awesome XXX Root Beer diner and Boem's chocolates; well worth the drive!). As a result I went to see a really fun show, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, that played at the Village Theatre from September 19 through October 28 at the Francis J. Gaudette Theatre (that's what the mainstage is called).

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET has a book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, with musical arrangement (of classic rock and roll songs) by Chuck Mead.

The synopsis from the program:

"This incredible musical, inspired by an actual event, will take you back to the place where rock-n-roll was born! On December 4, 1956 at Sun Studios in Memphis, a twist of fate brought Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Elvis Presley together for one night of music that made history. These four legends-to-be and the "Father of Rock-n-Roll", Sam Phillips, who discovered them all, united for an impromptu recording session that would be one for the ages. The musicians played, talked, played, joked, played, argued and played all night -- and were quickly christened the "Million Dollar Quartet". Part jam session, part bull session, and chock full of rock-n-roll classics from the 50s, this unforgettable new musical will have you dancing in the aisles."

In addition to those five men mentioned, Elvis's girlfriend, "Dyanne" appears, as does Jay Perkins (Carl's brother) playing the bass and "the Drummer" (poor drummers, they don't even merit a name! Quick question: What do you call a drummer who's broken up with his girlfriend? Answer: Homeless...)

What made this show fun was the music and the musicianship. Great songs played and sung really well -- hard to beat for a fun night. The characterizations were done (not overdone) nicely too. My favorite was Rob Lyons at Carl Perkins, probably the least well known of the Million Dollar Quartet. I've seen only a couple of 1990s country videos in which Carl Perkins performed, and Rob Lyons totally captured him. Levi Kreis as Jerry Lee Lewis was crazy fantastic on the piano, playing hits such as "Great Balls of Fire". Johnny Cash was played by Lance Guest, Elvis was played by Dane Stokinger, Sam Phillips by Matt Wolfe, and Dyanne by Jessica Skerritt. What a great ensemble!

The only negative of the evening was reported by my husband (after he took out his ear plugs) who sat on the other side of the theatre (we got last minute tickets) where the sound appeared to be amplified to an uncomfortable level. On my side of the theatre the sound was great. Go figure. This is the only show I've seen at the Village theatre so I don't know if it was a one time thing, or a chronic sound issue.

I wouldn't have predicted having such a good time, but I was standing and clapping by the end of it.

Those kids and their rock-n-roll!

 

It's alive!

I'm so excited cuz I'm going to be in Seattle in August so I can see the pre-Broadway tryout for YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN! Lots of my fav actors are in it - Roger Bart, Megan Mullally, Andrea Martin, Christopher Fitzgerald, Sutton Foster - I can't wait!

From this article in Playbill:

"Casting is complete for Mel Brooks' new Broadway-bound musical,Young Frankenstein, which will come alive in Seattle in August prior to a fall Broadway bow.

The production stars Roger Bart (Dr. Frederick Frankenstein), Megan Mullally (Elizabeth), Sutton Foster (Inga), Shuler Hensley (The Monster), Andrea Martin (Frau Blucher), Fred Applegate (Kemp) and Christopher Fitzgerald (Igor), with an ensemble to include Heather Ayers, Jim Borstelmann, Paul Castree, Jen Lee Crowl, Jack Doyle, James Gray, Amy Heggins, Eric Jackson, Kristin Marie Johnson, Renee Feder, Matthew LaBanca, Kevin Ligon, Barrett Martin, Linda Mugleston, Christina Marie Norrup, Justin Patterson, Brian Shepard, Sarrah Strimel, Craig Waletzko and Courtney Young.

The musical based on Brooks' Academy Award-nominated film comedy has book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan, music and lyrics by Brooks, direction and choreography by Susan Stroman.

Musical supervision is by Glen Kelly, who helped make Brooks' words and music in The Producers soar to Tony-winning effect.

Opening at Broadway's Hilton Theatre will be Nov. 8 following previews that start Oct. 11.

The world premiere engagement runs Aug. 7-Sept. 1 at Seattle's Paramount Theatre.

Robert F.X. Sillerman and Mel Brooks present new musical from the creative team of the 12-time Tony Award winning smash The Producers. They are obviously hoping lightning strikes twice.

According to the producers, "Based on the Oscar-nominated smash hit 1974 film, Young Frankenstein is the wickedly inspired re-imagining of the Mary Shelley classic from the comic genius of Mel Brooks. When Frederick Frankenstein, an esteemed New York brain surgeon and professor, inherits a castle and laboratory in Transylvania from his grandfather, deranged genius Victor Von Frankenstein, he faces a dilemma. Does he continue to run from his family's tortured past or does he stay in Transylvania to carry on his grandfather's mad experiments reanimating the dead and, in the process, fall in love with his sexy lab assistant Inga?"

The show is set "in the forbidding Castle Frankenstein and the foggy moors of Transylvania Heights." The song titles include "The Transylvania Mania," "He Vas My Boyfriend" and the unforgettable treatment of Irving Berlin's "Puttin' On the Ritz."

Tickets for Broadway will go on sale July 15. For information, visit http://www.YoungFrankensteinTheMusical.com.

I'm so glad Jay Johnson's Tony-nominated show, JAY JOHNSON: THE TWO AND ONLY! is on tour (perhaps a Canadian date might be in the cards?) I still think about that show (see my previous posts here and here), and now at least I have a chance to take my kids to see it. What's also really cool is that the original "Bob" from Soap is now in the Smithsonian Institute along with Charlie McCarthy, Jerry Mahoney, and Kermit the Frog!

According to this article from Playbill:

Jay Johnson, whose solo show Jay Johnson: The Two and Only! was nominated for a 2007 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event, hopes to eventually bring his acclaimed production back to New York.

The show, which celebrates the art of ventriloquism, will kick off a national tour in Ithaca, NY, in October. "We're going to start in the fall, start small, work up," Johnson told Playbill.com at the annual Tony nominees press reception. "I hope someday to come back and play New York again for some time."

Johnson, who is perhaps best known for his several-year stint on the award-winning ABC series "Soap," says his Broadway run was something he never really expected. "It seemed to be out of my reach, just as a Tony nomination might have been at the time," he says. "I just wanted to perform in theatres rather than clubs. I wanted that theatrical experience rather than the supper-club experience. So that was my goal, [but] to get to perform at the apex of that venue was great.

"Just to walk on [to a Broadway] stage and to know how many people have walked on that stage [before you]," he adds, "there's nothing like that feeling, and you are absolutely a part of it."

The Two and Only!, which opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre in September 2006 after an acclaimed Off-Broadway run, featured several "co-stars": Amigo, Darwin, Long John La Feat, Nethernore -- the Bird of Death, Spaulding, Arthur Drew, Jackie and Ga Ga, Squeaky and Bob. The latter, the infamous sidekick of the famed ventriloquist, was recently acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

"There was an original Bob that we used on 'Soap,'" Johnson explains, "and later we had a duplicate made that was a little bit better, so that particular Bob was used for a couple of years on the show. You wouldn't recognize the difference because it's mainly mechanics that we changed, but that original Bob went into the Smithsonian Institute [May 15]. He will sit with Charlie McCarthy and Jerry Mahoney and Kermit the Frog. . . . That is -- as incredible as this [Tony] experience has been -- a whole other incredible experience."

Technorati tags: Broadway Musicals Musical Theatre Musical Theater Movie Musicals Theatre Theater American Theatre American Theater New York City The Fabulous Invalid Times Square

Whenever I'm in New York I love going toColony Records in Times Square (Broadway and 49th) to browse through the amazing CD, and more importantly, sheet music/vocal score selections. They have the best Broadway piano/vocal score selections I have ever seen (no disrespect meant to Song and Script in Toronto).

I just bought the piano/vocal selections to Schoolhouse Rock at Colony, which I've been looking for everywhere! The Broadway connection is that some of the tunes ("Interplanet Janet", "No More Kings") were written by Lynn Ahrens, whose latest Broadway effort was Dessa Rose.

They also have a great selection of Karaoke CDs of Broadway shows (they claim to be the world's largest karaoke dealer and I believe them!) I've always been curious about those CDs. Obviously the producers of these CDs have the rights to the music and the arrangements are pretty good (we have theWicked Karaoke CD), but the artwork on the covers is bizarre. All the CDs look like they held a high school drawing/art contest and the winner got to be on the cover. I understand why they want to make them different from the cast recordings, (So people won't get confused and buy the wrong ones...) but the artwork is so amateurish it really makes you wonder. For example, theChicago karaoke CD cover shows an amateur rendering of the Dreamgirlslegs! What's with that?

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.

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.