Results tagged “London” from Blogway Baby

I was lucky enough to catch one of the last two performances of Taproot Theatre's ENCHANTED APRIL. Despite a devastating fire last week, Taproot Theatre, with the generous support of Seattle Children's Theatre, was able to mount two final shows on Saturday October 24.

However, the mad scrambling and exhaustion certainly didn't show in the performance, which was indeed, enchanted.

ENCHANTED APRIL, a play by Matthew Barber, from the novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim was directed by Karen Lund, and featured Charity Parenzini, Nikki Visel, Ryan Childers, Jerff Berryman, Anne Kennedy, Kim Morris, Aaron Finley and Llysa Holland.

I was originally interested in going to see this because of Anne Kennedy. Anne played Georgia (among other roles) in The 5th Avenue Theatre's Adventure Musical Theatre production of my musical THE MERCER GIRLS. She was fabulous in that, and in ENCHANTED APRIL. Wow, what a versatile, talented actress. And she totally rocked a bob wig and flapper dress.

From the website:

The enticement of an enchanting Italian holiday captivates the hearts of two British housewives on a drizzly London afternoon in 1922, and fills their imaginations with wisteria and sunshine. By the time they arrive at their Mediterranean villa, an aging matron and a young socialite have joined their quest for something more. The gardens, sea, cinnamon and macaroni are just the beginning of the transformation they discover.

From the program:

Enchantment and Femininity

In the spring of 1918, British women over the age of thirty were granted the right to vote. Later that year, the Great War ended with an armistice treaty declaring a ceasefire. Society was changing; many women were loudly asserting their right to equality while others asserted their right to remain invariable. In THE ENCHANTED APRIl, a 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim, this dichotomy becomes clear. Von Arnim, not a feminist writer per se, wrote astute and romantic novels for popular readership, with autobiographical bits snuck into the pages. Her own ideas of femininity did not always agree with the social norms, nor did she directly identify with militant feminism. Her unique perspective, that women can have simultaneous independence, equality and togetherness with men through cleverness rather than militancy, is apparent in the novel and the subsequent play by Matthew Barber.

As Taproot Theatre moves forward from this disaster, they will need all the help they can get. Please help out if you can. You can charge your donation by phone by calling 206.529.3672 or online. All gifts to Taproot are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

Road trip to London! Yeah, baby!

BIBA THE MUSICAL sounds ultra cool, I wish I could go to the London Showcase on October 25!

BIBA THE MUSICAL was written by Anthony Barry, David Foster-Smith and John Renoir, with set design and styling by Andrea Dunne.

Here's the 411 on the show from the website:

It’s the story of a fantasy that became a fantastic reality. It’s the story of fashion, of the Swinging Sixties, of beautiful people, of a musical and cultural coming of age. London 1964. Biba started as a tiny boutique in a Kensington sidestreet and grew to become a huge department store – unlike any that had been seen before or ever will again. Biba’s ethos was to be affordable but chic, to be so very very cool it almost hurt. All who were so very cool hung out there, from Brigitte Bardot to the Rolling Stones. Flamingoes strutted their stuff on the Roof Garden, while the louche and glamorous sipped exotic and often illegal cocktails in the Rainbow Room.

By the mid-seventies, Biba, by now an icon in its own time, found itself struggling to survive in a world that had turned cold and grey, a world of strikes, power cuts and recession. Glam was gone, and the angry voice of punk was on the streets. Suddenly it was all over, almost as suddenly as it had started. But the memories lingered in the minds of the tens of thousands who had been touched by the style, the music, the hedonism and the beautiful decadence that was Biba.

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!

From the article on Playbill:

Complete casting has been announced for the Broadway revival ofEquus, which co-stars the previously announced Daniel Radcliffe, Tony and Olivier Award winner Richard Griffiths and stage and screen veteran Kate Mulgrew.

The limited engagement of Peter Shaffer's Tony Award-winning play is scheduled to begin previews Sept. 5 at the Broadhurst Theatre prior to an official opening Sept. 25. The production will run through Feb. 8, 2009.

Radcliffe and Griffiths — who played to sold-out crowds in the London Equusrevival — will reprise their work for Broadway audiences. Radcliffe will star as Alan Strang with Griffiths as Dr. Martin Dysart. Ever-busy stage and screen actress Mulgrew will play Hesther Saloman, the role created on Broadway by Marian Seldes in 1974.

Newcomers to the cast include Anna Camp (The Country Girl), Carolyn McCormick (The Dinner Party, "Law & Order"), Lorenzo Pisoni (Henry IV), T. Ryder Smith (Dead Man's Cell Phone, She Stoops to Comedy), Graeme Malcolm (Translations, Aida) and Sandra Shipley (Pygmalion, Retreat from Moscow) with Collin Baja, Tyrone Jackson, Spencer Liff, Adesola Osakalumi and Marc Spaulding.

So this looks interesting. I mean, everybody loves Daniel Radcliffe. Pshaw! =D It's nice that they're sharing the London Equus revival love with the American audience in New York. However, this Broadway revival starts pretty soon and only plays until February 8, 2009, (okay that's a pretty long run, but time goes by quite quickly these days) so if I were you I'd get my ducks in a row... :-)

I finally went to The Polish Tea Room on 47th between Broadway and 8th. I tookMichael Rubinoff and Kendra Bator (the producers on Plane Crazy) out for dinner (woohoo, big spender!). What a great coffee shop! Tons of Broadway posters, cool vaulted ceilings that look like iced wedding cakes (blue and pink) and inexpensive, good food.

As soon as we sat down Kendra spotted Jamie Bell who starred as Billy Elliot in the movie Billy Elliot, sitting at a nearby table. I love celebrity sightings!

And of course, Billy Elliot is now Billy Elliot The Musical, playing in the West End. The creative team includes:

ELTON JOHN - COMPOSER
LEE HALL - WRITER
STEPHEN DALDRY - DIRECTOR
PETER DARLING - CHOREOGRAPHER
IAN MACNEIL - DESIGNER
MARTIN KOCH - MUSICAL SUPERVISOR
PAUL ARDITTI - SOUND DESIGNER
RICK FISHER - LIGHTING DESIGNER
PHILIP BATEMAN - MUSICAL DIRECTOR
JULIAN WEBBER - ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
NICKY GILLIBRAND - COSTUME DESIGNER
WORKING TITLE - PRODUCERS
OLD VIC PRODUCTIONS PLC - PRODUCERS
DAVID FURNISH - EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Yeah, Sir Elton John!

We left determined to put a Plane Crazy poster up in this venerable institution.

Here is some info from L.A. Splash Magazine on the Hotel Edison:

The hotel was opened in 1931, just a few months after the opening of the present incarnation of the Waldorf Astoria...another art deco masterpiece, and Radio City Music Hall. Due to the Depression and World War II, the Edison was the last hotel to be built until 1957 When Loew's Summit opened on Lexington Avenue. So for all those years the Edison was New York's newest hotel!

The most prominent feature is the famous Art Deco Lobby and it's grand murals depicting New York Scenes as they once were. But don't just look up; look down at the beautiful inlaid tiles and around at the walls. Notice over the check in/out counter the clocks displaying time in various global zones, a subtle indication of the worldwide clientele this hotel serves.

There are several restaurants and a bar attached to the hotel. The loan-shark murder scene in The Godfather was shot in what is now Sophia's restaurant. The pink-and-blue (wedding cake looking filigree and plaster) of the Edison Cafe is a theater-crowd landmark consistently recognized as New York City's best coffee shop.It is a famous meeting place of Broadway producers and cast members, (Neil Simon has a regular), so much so, that it was nicknamed the Polish Tea Room. Playing on the fact that a lot of business deals were made at the Russian Tea Room and those that weren't willing to pay the high prices there would meet, eat and deal at the Cafe Edison and thus came the name, the Polish Tea Room.

The Russian Tea Room is gone, but the Polish Tea Room lives on...

I love it when two of my favorite things combine -- TV and musicals, and now Star Wars and musicals!

According to this article in Playbill:

As posters around London feature Ewan McGregor flashing his lightsaber in the recently opened "Star Wars" movie, the actor makes his West End musical debut May 19 when Guys and Dolls begins previews at the Piccadilly Theatre.

McGregor plays the gambler Sky Masterson, with Jenna Russell as Sarah, the doll he sets his heart on. Tony Award winner Jane Krakowski plays Miss Adelaide with Douglas Hodge as Nathan Detroit. Also amongst the line-up are Niall Buggy, Gaye Brown, Sevan Stephan and as Nicely Nicely Johnson -- the role which made Clive Rowe's career in the NY staging -- Martyn Ellis.

I'd love to see what Jane Krakowski does with Adelaide's Lament -- I loved her rendition of "Call from The Vatican" in the recent revival of Nine!

"I Got The Force Right Here..."

The other day, my friend Michael Rubinoff gave me a copy of the London Cast Recording of the new West End musical Mary Poppins. It might be one of the first copies in North America: It's not currently available in outside the UK, but Michael was able to get a copy from the Dress Circle Musical Theatre Shop, which is an unbelievably cool online musical theater store in the UK. They specialize in Stage Musicals, Cabaret, Nostalgia, Soundtracks, Karaoke, Comedy, Big Bands. From the Dress Circle Web site:

Dress Circle, nestled between Drury Lane and Leicester Square, in the heart of London's West End, is the World's best on-line store for Show CDs, Videos, DVDs, Merchandise, Sheet Music, Books and Gifts. If we can't get it -- No one can!

I looked for a copy of Lionel Bart's Twang!, which has been buried deeper than a Pharoah, and guess what...it actually returned a result! Now, this is a compilation of songs from British musicals between 1950 and 1975, but still, where do you find any Twang! recordings? From the site:

The soprano Gabrielle Bell and pianist Rex Walford open a portfolio of neglected songs from British musicals, including Twang!!, Grab Me a Gondola, The Buccaneer, Lady at the Wheel, Chrysanthemum and others. Gabrielle Bell’s freshness brings a breath of spring to 20 songs from a golden age.

Anyway, back to Mary Poppins.

I must admit I was a bit skeptical of the whole business. After all it is yet another film-to-stage production project, and a classic film with songs ingrained in my brain since childhood! But I am happy to announce I really loved it! The voices are amazing, and Laura Michelle Kelly who plays Mary has that same smooth, effortless quality of Julie Andrews' voice. Bert, played by Gavin Lee, has a completely different sounding voice from Dick Van Dyke, but I still love it.

The original Sherman Brothers songs are all there with new songs by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, who wrote the Olivier award-winning HONK!. Now I love HONK! (and so does my daughter), and I think their songs are, as Cameron Mackintosh says in the liner notes, a perfect complement to the Sherman Brothers' material.

Hearing those Sherman Brothers' songs again in these new orchestrations really emphasizes how truly brilliant they were and still are. The new songs don't stand out the way the old ones do, but still seem to fit seemlessly, holding the whole score together. I'm already starting to hum one of the new songs "Practically Perfect". That song was written on spec for Cameron Mackintosh by Stiles and Drewe in 1993 when they were first approached about writing the new material.

One small disappointment was "Feed the Birds". In the movie there is a great swelling instrumental interlude which always gave me chills. In the musical arrangement there are always voices singing and I don't get that same chill. Now I haven't seen the show so maybe they do it there at another time.

Needless to say, I'm looking forward to seeing the show when it hops the pond!

Finally, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is coming to Broadway! It's been playing in the West End since 2002.

Of course, this show is based on the classic movie, with songs by the inimitableSherman brothers and starring Dick Van Dyke.

Initially, I wasn't overly thrilled about the prospect of seeing the stage musical version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Of course that was back in my judgmental days. However, John Sparks, the director ofTheatre Building Chicago Musical Theatre Writers' Workshop, saw it in London and loved it.

Amazingly John is the only person in the free world who had never seen the movie! Good grief, I even had Chitty Chitty Bang Bang paper dolls and a car as a young girl (both of which I lost and both of which my husband replaced for me!). He said the theater was full of kids -- preteens mostly (which is an age group I've never really seen at the theater in great numbers) going absolutely ape with enjoyment. And he noted that London audiences are much more vocal and emotional than New York audiences -- go figure!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the musical based on the novel and film of the same name, begins previews at the newly renamed Hilton Theatre March 27 at 7:30 PM.

The "fantasmagorical stage musical," which originated in the West End in 2002 -- it continues to play the London Palladium -- stars Raul Esparza as Caractacus Potts, Erin Dilly as Truly Scrumptious, Philip Bosco as Grandpa Potts, Marc Kudisch as Baron Bomburst, Jan Maxwell as Baroness Bomburst, Chip Zien as Goran, Robert Sella as Boris, Kevin Cahoon as the Childcatcher and Frank Raiter as the Toymaker. The children are played by Henry Hodges (as Jeremy) and Ellen Marlow (as Jemima).

The nearly 50-member company features the talents of Ken Kantor as Lord Scrumptious, Dirk Lumbard as Phillips/Coggins/Inventor, JB Adams as Chicken Farmer/Inventor, Kurt Von Schmittou as Sid/Inventor, Robert Creighton as Inventor, Rick Faugno as Inventor, William Ryall as Inventor, Robyn Hurder as Violet and Michael Herwitz as Toby.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang features music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. Song titles include "Truly Scrumptious," "Toot Sweets," "Hushabye Mountain" and the Oscar nominated title song "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang." The musical will officially open April 28.

I just finished watching Stage Beauty, starringClaire Danes and Billy Crudup.

The story is quite interesting: Edward "Ned" Knyaston (Billy Crudup) is a beautiful man, and as an actor in 17th-century London that means he's quite popular portraying women, since females are forbidden to tread the boards. His mischievous air of entitlement, unfortunately, soon sets in motion a chain of events that will see King Charles II(Rupert Everett) lifting the ban on actresses, allowing Ned's devoted dresser, Maria (Claire Danes), to become the city's reigning theatrical diva. Director Richard Eyre (Iris) is still best known for his stage work, and it shows: Stage Beauty is rich in character and attention to detail.

It's reminiscent of the difficult transition from vaudeville to radio which was brilliantly profiled in the movie musical There's No Business Like Show Business; the heartbreaking transition from silent film to the talkies, which is profiled inSingin' In The Rain; and of course The Buggles classic "Video Killed the Radio Star"...

By detailing how the world changed OVERNIGHT for men who played women in the 1660s, the movie conjures up memories of stage actors who couldn't make the transition to film; vaudeville acts that couldn't make the transition to radio; and silent film stars and directors that didn't make the transition to talkies.

The last transition -- silent to talkie -- was particularly painful. So many of the silent stars and directors couldn't make the transition, and ended up NEVER WORKING AGAIN.

For example, DW Griffith, the director of Birth of a Nation, ended up dying penniless and alone in a Hollywood flophouse: Although his funeral was attended by greats of the silent era like Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford.

What was particularly interesting is that the "gesture approach" to acting was alive and well in the 17th century, and this continued until the invention of film. The greater intimacy of film made the stagey gestures that were popular on the stage at the time seem artificial and "wrong". Mary Pickford was one of the first to impart a "natural" acting style into her films, and worldwide success and fame soon followed (not many know that she was one of the original founder of United Artists, along with Douglas Fairbanks, DW Griffith, and Charlie Chaplin. She was known in the media as "America's Sweetheart", but when she became the first actor to make $1MM per year, Chaplin renamed her "Bank of America's Sweetheart").

OK, I've got another one:Ewan McGregor. Ewan is, of course, Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace and Star Wars II: Attack of the Clowns. And this fall in London's West End, Ewan is playing Skye Masterson in a production of Guys and Dolls. Ewan is also the lead in one of my favorite movies (and my husband's #1), which is of courseDown With Love. Although not a movie musical, it is achingly close to one...and the end musical number between Ewan and Renee Zellwegger is incredible. Every time I see that movie I wish they'd gone one step further and musicalized it. Perhaps it will appear on Broadway one day...