Saturday, May 31, 2008

ATW NewsClips - Weekend Edition - Mountain, California, Pacific Northwest, South

Denver Post

What do these people get out of marriage?

Obituary: Joan Johnson: Boulder's Dinner Theatre publicist

Rocky Mountain News

Rising with 'Heights'
Breckenridge dancer catches thrill of Tonys

Los Angeles Times

Review: 'Love, Janis'

Review: 'Perform at Your Best, Acting Techniques for Business, Personal & Social Success' puts tips at your fingertips

Did you know?
Each of the dancers of 'A Chorus Line' (now at the Ahmanson) kicks his or her leg up 18 times during...

Review: 'Over There/Over Here'
The fledgling Relevant Stage company tackles the Iraq war but brings nothing new...

'Vanities' to play in Pasadena before heading to Broadway

Orange County Register

'Metamorphoses' in Fullerton needs a heavier classical dose
Review: At Stages Theatre, technical and visual aspects override the dramatic content of Mary Zimmerman's 2001 adaptation.

San Francisco Chronicle

Theater review: Chekhov sequel 'Yes to Moscow'
RATING: (WILD APPLAUSE) Yes, Yes to Moscow: Movement drama. Created and performed by Mark Jackson, Tilla Kratochwil, Sommer Ulrickson and Beth Wilmurt. Directed by Jackson and Ulrickson. ( T hrough Sunday. Art Street Theatre, San Francisco International...

San Francisco Examiner

Review: When positive thinking goes awry
"The Group" is one of those parodies that's so good, you almost don't know it's a fake.

San Jose Mercury News
'The Group,' a witty parody of self-help therapy
Ryan Eggensperger is cheesily charismatic as leader in memorable world premiere from Robert Quillen Camp

San Jose Mercury News - Karen D'Souza Blog

Delroy Lindo Q&A

Seattle Times

Performance art turns park visit into drama

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Musings on timepiece wind up nowhere
Its cerebral musings are as cozy as a midnight dorm-room bull session, and just as conclusive.

Miami Herald

Talented youth showcase the arts
More than 400 arts-loving kids will get the opportunity to perform on a high-profile stage when Growing Up With the Arts, a free program presented...

Miami Herald - Drama Queen Blog

(Mostly) new theater at New Theatre
As South Florida companies are assembling and announcing their 2008-2009 theater seasons, it is becoming clear that the bad economy and cuts in arts funding are affecting programming decisions.

ATW NewsClips - Weekend Edition - Mid-Atlantic, New England, Mid-West, Southwest

Washington Post

A 'Visit' With Very Familiar Faces of Broadway: Signature Plugs Into Star Power Of Rivera & Co.

For Actors and Audiences, Smoking Can Be a Drag
Shows Set in Earlier Eras Test Ban on Lighting Up

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

REP musical drama connects with many lives
"Eastburn Avenue," a new musical having its world premiere production by The REP, Point Park University's professional theatre company, is as intense as it is insightful.

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Cast goes crazy with 'Reefer Madness'

Providence Journal

Trinity gives itself an ovation with Pell Award
This is the first time that Trinity, which awards the prize every year, gave it to an organization.

Chicago Tribune

Let me tell you about this kid ...
If you're a teacher, if you have a friend who's a teacher, you know the hair-raising, heart-rending stories that all teachers seem to have up their sleeves. It's sort of a side benefit of the profession

Performances in 'Beggars' are rich; 'Doubt' fails to deliver much of it

Portraying Buddy Holly and the 'Lady' of letters

Stage ticker

Opening this week

Time Out Chicago Blog

Seasons of love for Season of Concern
Chicago promoter’s ordinance: Last day for public comment

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Review: 'Girl in the Frame' is a cute but uneven comedy

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Home is where the stage is
Theater troubadours are taking their families on the road. And it takes a lot of planning and family support.

Houston Chronicle

Sweeney Todd gets a new cut
Career of Sweeney director explodes

The Splasher explores urban art, vandalizing vandalism

John Cage performance is 'cheerful and strange'

ATW NewsClips - Weekend Edition - Tri-State, National, London

New York Times

Vengeance Revisited, With Singing
The macabre and the misty-eyed vie uneasily for supremacy in “The Visit” at the Signature Theater in Arlington, Va.

Questions For . . .
Martha Plimpton and Bobby Cannavale, who are nominated for Tonys this year, are taking readers’ questions.

Basking in a World Where Anything Goes
Jeff Harnar completes a four-night tribute to Cole Porter at the Metropolitan Room on Saturday.

City Opera Plans Different Programs for a Shrinking Season
The truncated 2008-9 New York City Opera season is even more reduced than expected......While its home is closed for renovations, York City Opera will shrink its main dramatic offerings next season to one lonely opera: Samuel Barber’s “Antony and Cleopatra.” For two performances. Unstaged.

New York Post

New voices
Teen playwrights command the stage

Star-Ledger

TeatroStageFest: A diversity of voices

Arts notes
Ticket dip on B'way: Broadway attendance and box office business dipped slightly during the just-ended 2007-2008 season....

Variety

Broadway rewrites role of scalpers
Legit learns to live with resale business

'Gone With the Wind' closes
Trevor Nunn's production played 79 perfs

Marathon's latest run yields winners
EST event, David Auburn return

Revisiting Minghella's dance pieces
'Self-Assembly' being presented

Ebb Foundation taking applications
Annual award comes with $50,000 cash prize

Review: House, Divided @ InterAct in Philadelphia
"This is not our country. It belongs to the anointed goyim." Although "House, Divided" seems to be about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, it's really about the America/Israel conflict over the allegiances of American Jews. Like so many American plays, Larry Loebell's drama is about fathers, sons and brothers. And being an all-male play, it's also about the very male issues of war and honor. Surprisingly evenhanded and satisfyingly complex, the drama doesn't waste our time in pushing our buttons, despite the number of hot-button topics it addresses.

Back Stage

That Dorothy Parker reviewed by Gwen Orel
"She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B," Dorothy Parker once said of Katherine Hepburn. Such is not a fault of Carol Lempert, who plays (and authored) the title role.

Associated Press

Chita Rivera heads the fine cast of 'The Visit' at the Signature Theatre


Playbill

* Tickets for Shrek the Musical Go on Sale May 31
* Dog Sees God, with Porter, Bowen, Leigh, Ballard and Lakin, Begins L.A. Run May 31
* Rare Revival of Musical Jamaica Plays Philly's Prince May 31-June 22
* Shakespeare Theatre of NJ Opens Amadeus, Starring Cuccioli, May 31
* Secret Fall of Constance Wilde Begins Guthrie Run May 31
* Sherlock Holmes Launches Totem Pole Season in PA; Final Season for Artistic Directors
* Bonnie Metzgar Is About Face's New Artistic Director
* PHOTO CALL: 2008 Tony Award Preview — Best Leading Actress in a Play Nominees
* An Evening with Nellie McKay Plays the Zipper May 31
* Lentini's The Euthanasist Opens at PS 122 May 31
* Campbell, Hamilton, Warren and Weiss Cast in Barfield's Of Equal Measure
* Walnut Studio to Stage Tuna Christmas, O Captain, Honor and the River, Criminal Minds, Forbidden Broadway
* The Gershwins' An American in Paris Again Extends Houston Run
* Finley, Goldsberry, Harada and Luker Set for Sundance at BAM Concert June 2
* Dream a Little Dream, Mamas and the Papas Musical, Resurfaces in FL; Casting Announced
* Banjo Boy, New Musical About Life of Music Man Creator, to Debut in August
* PHOTO CALL: A Sneak Peek at Broadway Bares 18: Wonderland
* PHOTO CALL: A Catered Affair CD Signing

TheaterMania

* Colbert, Flanagan, McCourt, Seldes, et al. Set for Bloomsday on Broadway
* Finley. Goldsberry, Harada, Kornbluth, Luker Set for BAM's Sundance Theater Playlist

Broadway.com

PHOTO OP: A Catered Affair Has an Intimate Affair at B&N

Potomac Stages

'The Visit': Pure Star Power

The Times UK

The First to Go, Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh
Disabled actor Nabil Shaban's challenging new play provides a potent tribute to forgotten victims of the Holocaust

Julia Davis gets personal in Contractions
Nighty Night set the risqué benchmark for suicide and sex gags. Now Julia Davis is pushing boundaries again

The Guardian

What's the story?
Michael Frayn's new play begins with a real-life event, but goes on to explore the meaning of theatrical performance. He talks to Aida Edemariam

Upstairs, downstairs
Margaret Drabble on why there was more to Enid Bagnold than National Velvet - a play, for starters

The Guardian - Performing Arts Blog

Carrie Quinlan: Hay festival: Doing silly voices in a tent

Daily Telegraph

Ten Tiny Toes: shocking truths of modern war
A new play explores the conflicts experienced by returning soldiers. Dominic Cavendish reports.

Friday, May 30, 2008

ATW Newsclips - Late Day Links - All

DC Theater Scene:

Review: The Visit

Playbill

* Arizona Theatre Company Season to Include Hair, Lady with All the Answers and Raisin
* ASK PLAYBILL.COM: Merchandise
* Two-CD Annie Package Includes New Recording of Complete Score, Plus Obscurities

TheaterMania

* Alley's An American in Paris Extends Through June 22
* Chernus, Penn, Pill, Plimpton, et al. Set for New Georges' Barefoot in Tribeca Benefit
* Ireland, Marsh, Weller, et al. Set for Commonwealth Shakespeare's As You Like It

Broadway.com

* Broadway Regulars on Tap for WTF's Three Sisters and Broke-ology
* 2008 Audience Award Winners Announced: Young Frankenstein Tops List of Fan Faves
* Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles & Anneliese van der Pol to Star in Vanities

Talkin' Broadway

Orlando Fringe Festival Coverage

ATW NewsClips - Mid-day Collection - All

Orlando Sentinel - Attention Must Be Paid Blog

Theater review: Mad Cow's 'Assassins'

Chad Jones' Theater Dogs Blog

`Emmett Otter’ on stage

New York Magazine - Vulture Blog

Best Musical Ever: ‘Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas’ Coming to the Stage

Bloomberg.com

Seaside `Carousel' Finds Grace Notes on New Haven's Wharf: Jeremy Gerard
If you're unfamiliar with the phrase ``site-specific theater,'' a stroll outside New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre at intermission during ``Carousel'' will tell you all you need to know.

Playbill

* DeWitt, Drew and Hecht Are Three Sisters for Williamstown; Casting Also Complete for Broke-ology
* Cates, Pazakis, Simard and More Join Country Line-Up
* How the Grinch Stole Christmas! to Tour in 2008
* AMC Announces Second Season of "Mad Men" Will Begin July 27
* Avenue Q to Play Milestone Performance June 3
* PLAYBILL.COM'S THEATRE WEEK IN REVIEW, May 24-30: A Quiet Week
* Phantom Sequel Aiming for November 2009 Bow in London
* Daly, Cullum, Yazbeck, Fraser and More Set for June 23 Project Shaw Readings
* Baltimore Tony Event to Benefit Broadway Cares
* Broadway Producers Will Take Center Stage on June 1 "Working in the Theatre" Broadcast
* "Center Stage" Revue, Strouse's 80th Birthday and Arlen Tribute Featured on Playbill Radio
* Tony Winner Peters to Autograph New Tome June 2 in West Hollywood
* Von Essen, Wills, Anderson, Egan and Clayton Set for Radio Broadway at Town Hall

TheaterMania

Fiennes and Dandy
Ralph Fiennes, Janet McTeer, Jeremy Irons, Lindsay Duncan, Simon Russell Beale, Lesley Sharp, Tim Pigott-Smith, Helen McCrory, and Ruthie Henshall light up the London stage.

* Burton, Charles, Easton, Felciano, Finneran, Hecht, Nobbs, Scott, White, et al. Set for Williaamstown Season
* William H. Macy Joins Cast of Shorts Film
* Burch, Gifford, McArdle, Strouse, et al. Set for Annie CD Signing on June 4
* Full Casting Announced for Goodman's Ain't Misbehavin'
* John Cullum and Tyne Daly to Headline June 23 Project Shaw
* Anderson, Clayton, Egan, von Essen, Wills Set for The Hits of 1958

Broadway.com

Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles & Anneliese van der Pol to Star in Vanities

nytheatre.com

Review: The Great American All-Star Traveling War Machine

The Guardian - Performing Arts Blog

Lyn Gardner: What to see this week
Alfred Hickling: The worst audience member in the world?
Chris Wilkinson: Noises off: Should actors get a pay rise?
Maxie SzalwinskaThe greatness of Simon Gray


London Theatre Guide

Cusack and Hawke bridge transatlantic company
Sinead Cusack and Ethan Hawke are among those joining Simon Russell Beale in The Cherry Orchard and The Winter’s Tale, the first double bill in director Sam Mendes’s transatlantic venture The Bridge Project, which kicks off in January 2009.

HERE Arts Center on YouTube

Well, one of the things I'm most looking forward to this summer is Arias with a Twist that begins on June 12 at the newly renovated HERE.

Last night got an email from the folks at HERE announcing that they had created a YouTube Channel for themselves, and there are a bunch of video interviews with Joey Arias and Basil Twist talking about the piece. Figured I'd share:







For more information about the show, visit: www.here.org and www.basiltwist.com

ATW News Digest - 'The Visit' reviews

A quick set of links to the reviews that have appeared online for the production of Kander and Ebb's The Visit, which opened on Wednesday at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia:

Reviews

* Review: The Visit - Talkin' Broadway
* Vengeance Revisited, With Singing - New York Times
* Chita's Worth A Visit To Signature - DCist
* Chita Rivera heads the fine cast of 'The Visit' at the Signature Theatre - Associated Press
* 'The Visit': Pure Star Power - Potomac Stages
* The Visit - DC Theatre Scene
* Freed from Sept. 11, Goodman’s ‘Visit’ regains its power - Chicago Tribune Theater Loop Blog
* Chita Rivera Astounds in Kander, Ebb's Tuneful `Visit': Review - Bloomberg.com
* Review: 'The Visit' - TheaterMania
* ATW Review: 'The Visit' - AmericanTheaterWeb.com
* Dancing in The Dark: 'The Visit' With Chita Rivera - Washington Post
* Review: The Visit - Variety

Post-Opening Feature

A 'Visit' With Very Familiar Faces of Broadway: Signature Plugs Into Star Power Of Rivera & Co.

ATW NewsClips - Southern Print

Orlando Sentinel

Slightly smaller Fringe Fest holds its audience
The Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival's offerings shrank a bit this year, but about 12,000 audience members still tasted the Fringe's theater, dance, comedy, music and art, the same number as last year.

Moonlight Players offer a taste of 'The Dinner Game'

Garden Theatre sets 2008-2009 season

Miami Herald

Summer Shorts: Popular theater fest hits a growth spurt
When it comes to City Theatre's Summer Shorts Festival, the numbers have always been impressive. A company of 10 actors (give or take a few) tackles 17 short plays ....

St. Petersburg Times

Show Palace brings back the forever popular Forever Plaid

ATW NewsClips - Pacific Northwest Print

Seattle Times

"Aida": pop-rock melodrama in ancient Egypt

"The Ten Thousand Things": Is it a play? A philosophy and science symposium?

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

'Namaste Man' is an 'artful memoir' of his life in Nepal
Andrew Weems shares his youthful experiences in the solo performance piece "Namaste Man," premiering next week at Intiman.

'Patriots' and politicians take the stage at two shows
The politics of theater gets a tryout in Seattle.

The Oregonian

'The Last 5 Years': Twice-told musical tale
Hindsight is 20/20. But there are two sides to every story. So how do you find a view that's true?

ATW NewsClips - California Print

Los Angeles Times

Theater Beat: 'i Gelosi,' 'Hiding Place,' 'Natural Selection'
Like the iconic theatrical masks, comedy and tragedy intersect in "i Gelosi," the immensely ambitious,...

'Norman's Ark' at John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
Despite an impressive creative team and a solid cast, amateurism holds back the play.

Steve Allen Theater (of the absurd)
Imagine a performance-art space located in the basement of the Hollywood offices...

Los Angeles Daily News

Stage Review: 'A Chorus Line'
Iconic 1970s Broadway hit lacks a certain urgency today

Orange County Weekly

The Chance Theater's 'Rabbit Hole' Is a Liberating Dose of Reality

San Francisco Chronicle

'Andersen Project': Once upon a time
RATING: (WILD APPLAUSE)The Andersen Project: Solo drama. Written and directed by Robert Lepage. (Through Sunday. Ex Machina at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Berkeley. Two hours. $62. Call (510) 642-9988 or go to www.calperfs.berkeley.edu. ) A man steps from the...

San Jose Mercury News

Theater review: 'Andersen' goes it alone
Solo production gets to the heart of loneliness

ATW NewsClips - Mid-West, Southwest and Mountain Print

Chicago Tribune - Theater Loop Blog

Freed from Sept. 11, Goodman’s ‘Visit’ regains its power

Chicago Sun-Times

A family affair
Tilson Thomas reveals soul of Yiddish theater through grandparents' lives

Landers play shows she was one cool 'Lady'

Daily Herald

Sweet 'Taste of Honey'
'Buddy Holly Story' actor returns to roots
Theater news

St. Paul Pioneer-Press

Melissa Gilbert Half Pint is Ma in Guthrie's 'Little House on the Prairie'
Melissa Gilbert is returning to the prairie, this time as a mother.

'Comedian's Tragedy' has powerful friends, veteran talent and buckets of sincerity
Here are the reasons Matthew Amendt's new play, "The Comedian's Tragedy," can't possibly work.

Ann Arbor News

Feel-good '110' a natural musical

Cleveland Plain Dealer

Cameri's Hebrew Hamlet' in-your-face in more ways than one

Cincinnati Enquirer

Entertaining, riveting, shaming
Peak performances by two actors at SCPA showcase our shameful blackface past during a Fringe production.

'Rehearsal' pays off for actress
Alison Vodnoy will be spending her summer on the road and on the stage.

Fringe Fest delivers 'Letters'

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Tru Enough: Readings of excerpts from Truman Capote's works

New Works Festival
Sometimes having your play performed in a staged reading at the National New Play Network's (NNPN) New Works Festival pays off.

The Music Man
In case you catch Artisan Center Theater's production of the Meredith Willson classic The Music Man and want to see it again, don't worry. Artisan has three actors playing Professor Hill.

Daily Camera

Review: 'Mamma Mia!'
No need to feel guilty about ABBA-fueled pleasure.

ATW NewsClips - Mid-Atlantic & New England Print

Washington Post

Look, Mom! We're Onstage.
A few years back, in a galling act of self-promotion, actors Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson blanketed New York with their mothers' phone numbers.

Solo Show Helps Build a 'Bridge' To Her Past
"The Bridge of Bodies," Kathleen Gonzales's one-woman play about an American trying to piece together the puzzle of her Haitian childhood, began as research for her master's degree in theater arts ....

Philadelphia Inquirer

Palestinian-Israeli fight brought home
Two different oy! feelings hit me during House, Divided, the often-smart play by Larry Loebell that opened Wednesday with a first-rate cast,

'Our Town' infused with Phila. flavor

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Stage Review: 'Bust' actress gives grand performance
Sometimes theater is all about the performer. ...

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Weedman shows impressive range in 'Bust'
Alternately frustrating, annoying and hilarious, Lauren Weedman's "Bust" never fails to hold your attention.

Baltimore Sun

'Art' paints complex picture

'On the Town' is on the mark

Richmond Times-Dispatch

Thriller owes its success to all the parties involved - 'Veronica's Room'

Boston Globe

Stages: Tackling farce, full speed ahead
Annette Miller takes her comedy roles seriously

Berkshire Eagle

'What's true, and what isn't?' - 'I Am My Own Wife' tackles WWII story of lying to stay alive
'The Ladies' Man' - Laugh-out-loud farce to preview tonight
'The Caretaker' - Identity and manipulation

ATW NewsClips - NY Print

New York Daily News

The puppet's the thing in this 'Hamlet' with a Twist

New York Post

Riedel: Representing real life
As a rule, New York theater agents don't become celeb rities. But over the years, a few have become known to the public, usually by dint of their colorful personalities and famous clients...

Trenton Times

Actors' NET catches the drift of 'Big River' in Bucks

McCarter's 'Youth Ink!' play festival marks 5th year
McCarter Theatre's education department will presents its fifth annual "Youth Ink!" play festival 4 and 7 p.m. tomorrow and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Bergen Record

Onstage: Tragedy in a small town - 'The Laramie Project'

ATW NewsClips - National Print Pubs

Bloomberg.com

Chita Rivera Astounds in Kander, Ebb's Tuneful `Visit': Review

Wall Street Journal

The Most Sweetly Delectable Musical
"She Loves Me" is the most sweetly romantic musical imaginable, the theatrical equivalent of a hot-fudge sundae with two spoons, and the Huntington Theatre Company's new revival serves it up in a fancy dish. [Also, 'The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore']

Variety

'Lion King,' 'Rent' sing at Tonys
Musicals added to pull in audiences

'Vanities' will make fall bow
Musical sets date with Broadway

Cirque du Soleil swings into Asia
'Zaia' to premiere Aug. 28 in Macau

Muppet's 'Christmas' tunes up
'Emmet Otter' gets musical update

End comes for Tokyo's Koma
Theater will close at end of the year

Miranda in awards tug-of-war
Creator slated to be honored by two orgs

Hawke, Cusack, Hall join double bill
Sam Mendes to direct 'Cherry,' 'Winter'

Associated Press

Cirque du Soleil opens new show in Macau

Comic powerhouse Harvey Korman dies at 81

ibdb.com
Harvey Korman's Broadway Credits

ATW NewsClips - Online Sources

Playbill

* Minnie's Boys, with Myers, Walton and Zagnit, Begins York Run May 30
* Broadway's Rent Welcomes Eden Espinosa May 30
* DIVA TALK: Catching Up with Karen Akers, Tony Talk and News of Callaway and Errico
* Thoroughly Modern Millie Kicks Off 2008 Season at Stages St. Louis May 30
* Wong, Tam, Blair and Thompson Sing in the Spotlight May 30
* Three Cheers: Kennedy, Stiles and van der Pol to Star in Broadway-Aimed Vanities
* Beale, Cusack, Easton, Hall, Hamilton and Hawke Set for Bridge Project's Orchard and Tale
* Jones to Direct and Appear in The Fantasticks for Casa Mañana; Casting Complete
* Grays, Stockard, Mitchell and Portia Set for Hartford Premiere of No Child...
* PHOTO CALL: Amadeus, with Cuccioli, at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey
* South Pacific's Gattelli to Direct Stage Version of "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas"
* Inspired by the Bard, oph3lia Will Get World Premiere at Re-Opened HERE June 11-July 2
* McDonald's Posthumous CD, "True Love," Set for June 3 Release; Joe's Pub Celebration Planned
* Glover, Powell, Dahl, Berman and Tosun Join Astaire Awards Ceremony June 2

TheaterMania

* Ivey, Kennedy, Stiles, van der Pol Set for Vanities
* Beale, Cusack, Easton, Hall, Hamilton, Hawke, Mendes Set for Bridge Project

Peter Filichia's Diary: May Leftovers

nytheatre.com

Review: Spill the Wine @ The Arts Complex
Review: Marathon 2008 (Series B)

ATW NewsClips - London

The Times UK

Review: The Sound of My Voice, Citizens, Glasgow
Billy Mack gives a decent performance as Magellan, capturing all the destructive energy and nauseating self-pity of the drunk

The Guardian

Spontaneous compulsion
It's unreviewable, it's unrepeatable and it's too risky for many theatres. But, says Brian Logan, improvisation is finally catching on in Britain

Daily Telegraph

Shakespeare's ugliest play brought to bleak life Charles Spencer reviews Troilus and Cressida at the Barbican.

Jupitus stands up in West End drama Dominic Cavendish reviews Lifecoach at the Trafalgar Studios, London.

Whatsonstage.com

Mendes Crosses Bridge with Ethan Hawke in 2009

Thursday, May 29, 2008

ATW Newsclips - Late Day Links - All

Miami Herald - Drama Queen Blog

Funny Jewish girls and a moving Jewish woman
A frenetic summer theater season begins this weekend with a pair of festivals: City Theatre's popular Summer Shorts Festival at the Carnival Studio Theater in Miami's Arsht Center for the Performing Arts....

Orlando Sentinel - Attention Must Be Paid Blog

Visual Fringe scores big

Chad Jones' Theater Dogs Blog

Review: `Octopus’
Yockey’s Octopus explores inky waters of commitment

The Envelope - Los Angeles Times



Associated Press

Melissa Gilbert cast in `Little House' musical

Playbill

* Brendon, Broderick, Clapp, Pine, Sweeney, Thiessen, et al. Set for Blank's Young Playwrights Festival
* Hoffman Directs Original Cast of Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train for June 22 Reading
* Verina, Pees and Vega to Dish Five Course Love at Human Race
* PHOTO CALL: LaBute Gives Off-Broadway reasons to be pretty
* Public's Hair Cast Set for Be-In! Concerts at Joe's Pub

TheaterMania

* Brendon, Broderick, Clapp, Pine, Sweeney, Thiessen, et al. Set for Blank's Young Playwrights Festival
* Fishburne, Lopez, Martin, Metcalf, Stewart, Wopat, et al. Set for Visa Tony Preview
* Jackson, Massey, Michele, Rocca, Simard, et al. Set for Broadway Loves Country
* Grays, Mitchell, Portia, Stockard Set for Hartford TheaterWorks 'No Child
* Jennifer Dundas to Discuss Taming of the Shrew on June 2

Financial Times

The bitter fruits of idealism
Simon Gray’s comedy of Cambridge undergraduates who found a literary magazine starts in 1968, but then skips forward to show their idealism eroding until, by 1986, they are left depleted, writes Lorna Dolan

Troilus and Cressida, Barbican Theatre, London
For much of the evening, it feels not unlike watching a tennis match, but one in which the players are only allowed to stand at the baseline or the net, writes Ian Shuttleworth

The Cherry Orchard, Chichester Festival Theatre, West Sussex
With a star-studded casting, it hardly matters that Philip Franks offers what would otherwise be a solid but unexceptional version of Chekhov’s piece, writes Ian Shuttleworth


The Times UK

Review: Troilus and Cressida, Barbican, London
Declan Donnellan’s production begins arrestingly, but goes on to suffer from uneven acting and iffy directorial choices

ATW NewsClips - Mid-day Collection - All

Playbill

"I'd Do Anything": Rudetsky Recap Eight
Rapp Stars in Developmental Staging of Nobody Suspects a Butterfly
"X-Factor" Contestant Quinn to Join London's Grease; Brazil Will Be New Sandy
Geffen Playhouse Managing Director Eich Resigns
New Summer Theatre Rises on Prince Edward Island, Celebrating "Green Gables" Writer
Bernard, Toro, Herrera and Hayden Set for Free Reading of Frida Kahlo Musical
Gypsy, In the Heights, South Pacific Featured on Tony Preview Concert; Broadcast Schedule Announced
Rent and Lion King Casts to Perform on 2008 Tony Awards
Sunday, Wicked and Jersey Boys to Offer Special Actors Fund Performances
Liz Callaway Will Feel The Beat at Feinstein's, June 17-28
Casting Announced for West Coast Premiere of Belber's Finally
Lentini's The Euthanasist Begins Performances at PS 122 May 29

TheaterMania

Review: 'The Visit'
Chita Rivera and George Hearn give grand performances in this must-see reworking of the troubled McNally-Kander-Ebb musical.

Hair Cast to Perform Be In Benefits at Joe's Pub
Galway, King, Minnelli to Be Inducted Into Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame
Rent and Lion King Casts to Join Goldberg on 62nd Annual Tony Awards
Jay Johnson: The Two and Only to Play West End

Broadway.com

FRESH FACE: Thomas Kail

Melissa Gilbert to Headline Little House on the Prairie Musical at Guthrie
Casts of Rent and The Lion King to Perform on Tony Telecast

Talkin' Broadway

Review: 'Richard III' in St. Louis
Review: 'The Pavilion' in Connecticut
Minneapolis/St. Paul Reviews: 'The Ugly One', 'Bulrusher', 'Spamalot'
Philadelphia Reviews: 'The Happiness Lecture' & 'Les Miserables'
Review: Avenue Q in Chicago

The Guardian

Troilus and Cressida, Barbican, London
A production that maps out the play with bold assurance, says Michael Billington


The Guardian - Performing Arts Blog

Michael Billington: The noble tradition of misleading theatre ads
Andrew Haydon: Don't let the middle man rip you off
Andy Field: The magic of location


Whatsonstage.com

Ventriloquist Johnson Premieres Tony-winning Two

London Theatre Guide

LaBute is a “believer” in British talent
Playwright Neil LaBute, whose play Fat Pig opened at the Trafalgar Studio 1 earlier this week, believes having his work staged in the West End is akin to competitive

AmericanTheaterWeb.com - why the changes? (repost)

I've had a number of people write and ask why there have been changes to the layout of AmericanTheaterWeb.com. The answer is that someone decided it might be fun to hack into the site and use it to spread a virus. Basically, any time a search was performed on the site, or I attempted to put in news or new information, the hack would try to replicate itself, not only across the 'net, but through the database. At this juncture, we've tried cleaning the database twice, and brought the site back, only to find that it's still not uninfiected. What this means for AmericanTheaterWeb.com as a whole, I don't know. There could be a lot of reprogramming and redesign involved in bringing it back as it was, and I am not sure that I will have the resources necessary to do that.

While we continue to work on the problem, I have wanted to make sure one section of the site - its most timely - the daily comprehensive newsclippings - have continued. Thus, I'm using the blog for the time being.

I will use the blog to keep you posted as to what's going on with AmericanTheaterWeb.com as a whole. If you have questions, suggestions, or moral support to send, please feel free.

Thanks a million for understanding and support.

Andy Propst

ATW Review: 'The Visit'

As the old saying goes, "Money makes the world go around." This phrase was immortalized in song by John Kander and Fred Ebb for the film version of their 1966 breakthrough musical, Cabaret. The team returned to the theme of the power and allure of cold cash for their musical version of Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Visit, which premiered in 2001 at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. For a while, it was rumored that the show, which reunited the team with bookwriter Terrence McNally and stage legend Chita Rivera, both involved in another Kander and Ebb hit, Kiss of the Spider Woman, would find its way to New York, but a production has never materialized on the East Coast, until now. Last night, The Visit, an ambitious and often quite satisfying enterprise, opened at the Signature Theatre in Arlington Virginia.

The musical centers on what happens when Claire Zachanassian (Rivera) returns to Brachen, the tiny European city that she grew up in, a penniless outcast. She's now the wealthiest woman in the world while Brachen, once thriving, is bankrupt and its citizens live in poverty. The townspeople of Brachen are, understandably, delighted by Claire's visit, reasoning that they might be able to persuade her to use some of her fortune on their behalf. What they do not anticipate is that she has come to town with the very idea of financially assisting them, but on one condition: they must take steps to avenge the wrongs that were inflicted on her when she was a teenager. Specifically, she wants the people of Brachen to kill Anton Schell (George Hearn), father to the illegitimate child Claire carried as a teen, and the man directly responsible for her leaving Brachen in disgrace.

While the good folk of Brachen – from the officious mayor (Mark Jacoby) to the town's moralist schoolmaster (Jeremy Webb) –scoff at Claire's request, they almost simultaneously begin to buy things on credit – primarily from the general store that Schell runs. The lure of the windfall proposed by Claire clearly has had its impact. The only remaining question is if her condition is to be met, how will it be carried out?

Dürrenmatt's play, and McNally's book, takes a dark look at human nature, hypocrisy, avarice and even love. Elements of the symbolism from the original remain here, including the chief purchase that's made by all of the Brachen citizens: yellow shoes. Also, many of the tiny details about the affair that sent Claire from Brachen remain deliciously in place.

Kander's score for The Visit is a complex blend of sounds. At times, the music brings to mind composers like Kurt Weill and Jacques Brel; at others, Kander seems to be referencing traditional folk melodies and/or popular music from the first decades of the 20th century. Ebb's lyrics, written before his death in 2003, as always fit Kander's work flawlessly, even as they match the piece's overall bitter and rueful tone.

Unfortunately, though, even as the score impresses, The Visit, as a musical, doesn't always fully satisfy. Directed with efficiency by Frank Galati, on a dour set from designer Derek McLane that features two levels of archways, the production never quite finds an even keel where distant youthful romance and mordant humor can combine to electrifying effect. Periodically, this does happen, generally when Rivera, looking regal, leonine and ever-so misty eyed in Susan Hilferty's elegant couture ensembles, and Hearn, singing powerfully, even as he makes Schell something of a broken man, are together. Together, these two simultaneously are ex-teen lovers thrilled to be in one another's presence and two adversaries, who know that death lies just around the corner.

Elsewhere, though, success is sporadic. Choreographer Ann Reinking adds sparkle to "The One-Legged Tango" – a macabre sequence that Claire (who has a wooden leg) shares with her entourage: a manservant (Doug Kreeger), bodyguards (Howard Kaye, Alan H. Green), whom she dresses as 18th century footmen, and two eunuchs (Ryan Lowe, Matthew Deming), who are dressed as sort of erstwhile Charlie Chaplins. Here, glamour and gallows humor combine marvelously, but during the moments danced by D.B. Bonds and Mary Ann Lamb, who play the teen incarnations of Claire and Anton, one feels neither the surge of young love nor the ironic disdain that middle age can cast on such emotions.

Similarly, as the play moves toward its conclusion, Anton prepares to go to a town meeting. His wife (Karen Murphy), son (Kevin Reed) and daughter (Cristen Paige) ask if he'll need them there. If not, they'd prefer to go into the next town to shop. He assures them that they don't need to be at the gathering, and asks only that they share a family drive in his son's new car. It's a chilling moment – clearly Anton's been abandoned: financial gain has superseded familial love and duty. Yet, curiously, the ride does not propel The Visit toward its brutal and intricately layered ending, which artfully comments on the townspeople's greed and the love that Claire and Anton shared.

Audiences leave The Visit grateful for many things: Rivera and Hearn's beautifully crafted performances, the fine work from the ensemble surrounding them, and Kander and Ebb's lush – perhaps most ambitious – score, yet strangely unsatisfied by this darkly cautionary piece.

----------------------------

The Visit continues through June 22 at The Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA). Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30p.m.; Thursday and Friday at 8p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8p.m.; and Sunday at 2 and 7p.m. Tickets are $56.00 - $77.00 and can be purchased by calling 703-573-SEAT. Further information is available online at www.Signature-Theatre.org.

ATW NewsClips - Southern Print

Orlando Sentinel

Musical targets betrayal, needs
Mad Cow Theatre's Alan Bruun first directed the Stephen Sondheim-John Weidman musical Assassins in 1993 for the old Civic Theatre of Central Florida. He talks about returning to the controversial show after 15 years.

Mount Dora theater troupe to stage 'Willy Wonka Junior'

Orlando Weekly

LIVE ACTIVE CULTURES
Miss me? Sorry to disappear last week, but the perfect storm that was the 17th Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival blew my regular musings right off the map.

Atlanta Creative Loafing

Speakeasy with Judy Kaye
Tony-winning actress and singer Judy Kaye has performed in Stephen Sondheim's bloody, brilliant...

Charlotte Creative Loafing

Reggie Rose redeemed
Superior script gets its day in court

ATW NewsClips - Pacific Northwest Print

Seattle Weekly

Up From the Galley
He’s got crab legs, and he’s ready to pick up suburban trash.Longenbaugh on Theater

The Stranger

Time Bandit
Paul Mullin and His Self-Destructing New Play

Plus Ça Change
Circus Contraption Jets Forward into the Recent Past

Theater News
The Disappearing Critics

The Oregonian

No two ways about it, "Doubt" impresses on Center Stage
There is no doubt about where John Patrick Shanley stands on the subject of his Pulitzer-winning play "Doubt": He's for it.

ATW NewsClips - California Print

Los Angeles Times

Laguna Playhouse to reveal 'Alexandros'
The Miami-set play centers around dark family secrets, a dog and the day Nixon...

Los Angeles Daily News

Stage Preview: 'A Chorus Line'
You never forget your time on the "Line," especially if you were one of the pioneers

Orange County Register - Theater by Paul Hodgins Blog

‘Taking Steps’ missteps at South Coast Repertory

Back Stage

The Legendary Times of Bulgakov reviewed by Brad Schreiber
ARTEL took the persecution of Russian playwright-novelist Mikhail Bulgakov ('The Master and Margarita') and rendered it devoid of context and visceral power.

Manuscript reviewed by Eric Marchese
The San Juan Capistrano-based black-box theatre troupe, shuttering soon, could have selected a much stronger piece to go out on than Paul Grellong's 2005 thriller.

Hedda Gabler reviewed by Dany Margolies
It's not that two directors always spoil the soup. Trying not to prejudge, one hopes each has brought his considerable proven talents to the metaphoric table. Alas, each did not.

Tooth and Nail reviewed by Les Spindle
Director Lindsay Allbaugh's frenetic staging of Acosta's boisterously hilarious but insufficiently focused play offers intermittent fun.

Where's My Money reviewed by Jeff Favre
Shanley's storytelling may be flawed here, but as always it's inventive and thought-provoking.

The Good Hours reviewed by Melinda Schupmann
Encapsulating heartbreak into 90 minutes takes skill and a certain kind of courage, and playwright Todd Cunningham is mostly successful in his cathartic drama about his fiancée's death.

Chad Jones' Theater Dogs Blog

Box-office boom
Some good news from box offices both national and local today. First the local.

San Jose Mercury News

Trying to love below sea level
Couples grapple with modern relationships in Magic Theatre's 'Octopus'

Contra Costa Times

Masquers' 'Full Monty' musical packed with adult entertainment

Summer theater: From horror to high-tone
'Evil Dead' musical, 'Sacagawea' world premiere; Broadway musicals and lots of Shakespeare are on tap

San Francisco Weekly

SF Playhouse's Bug gets under your skin
At the top of the second half of Tracy Letts' 1996 play, Bug, Peter, a troubled young man who claims to have escaped from an Army hospital, squats...

Also Playing
7 Sins. Halfway through James Judd's entertaining 75-minute solo show, it dawns on you: Who the hell is this guy and why am I laughing so hard?...

San Francisco Guardian

Mixed doubles
Yves Jacques talks Robert Lepage and The Andersen Project

ATW NewsClips - Mid-West, Southwest and Mountain Print

Chicago Tribune

No 'High School Musical' kids in 'Chill'
In high school, every move is scrutinized and analyzed to determine social rank. Judging by the giddy success of Griffin Theatre's "Be More Chill," that premise still has legs...

Artistic Home's 'Juno' fills the house

Chicago Tribune - Theater Loop Blog

Wanna be in 'Mary Poppins'?

Chicago Sun-Times

Artistic Home team takes Bait
Couple stages a luminous 'Juno' in new space

Time Out Chicago

Ann Landers
Judith Ivey plays The Lady with All the Answers at Northlight.

Review: Avenue Q - Cadillac Palace Theatre
Review: The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Bailiwick Repertory Theatre
Review: Juno and the Paycock - The Artistic Home
Review: A Taste of Honey - Shattered Globe Theatre
Review: Boys & Girls - Theatre Seven of Chicago
Review: Lipstick Traces - Pavement Group
Review: Sweet Confinement - SiNNERMAN Ensemble
Review: Be More Chill - Griffin Theatre Company
Review: The Other Side of the Elephant - Curious Theatre Branch
Review: On the Verge, or the Geography of Yearning - Remy Bumppo Theatre Company
Review: Doubt - Redtwist Theatre

Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Goofy, irreverent 'Spamalot' is a show audiences will like a lot
The actors ham it up during this round of shows, as much fun as during last year's run here.

St. Paul Pioneer Press

'Spamalot' Wacky musical still inspires laughs a lot

Minneapolis City Pages

No Answer
The ambitious Q&A can't solve its unwieldy plot

Theater Spotlight: The Ugly One

Detroit Free Press

Five questions with Lee Meriwether, Miss America 1955 and Catwoman

Ann Arbor News

'Baltimore Waltz' so funny you could easily cry

St. Louis Riverfront Times

Richard the Turd: Beware the company that dares to stage The Tragedy of King Richard III
I have never seen an audience quit a show so readily. When, midway through the opening night performance of The Tragedy of King Richard III, the...

St. Louis Stage Capsules
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife The pretentious art museum-opening, foreign movie-going, existentialist novel-reading world of our heroine...

Cleveland Scene

In Cleveland Public Theatre’s Two Plays by Gao Xingjian, the exiled playwright stretches your mind
If you ponied up for a fitness club only to find it was equipped with a one-pound dumbbell and a jump rope, you'd demand a refund. When it comes to...

The cards are marked, but the enjoyment is real in the Cleveland Museum of Art’s The Gamblers.
If the very thought of attending a play written by the 19th century's "father of modern Russian realism" fills you with dread, fret not: This...

Capsule reviews of current area theater presentations

Cincinnati Enquirer

Out-of-towners kick off Fringe
The fifth Cincinnati Fringe Festival opened strongly Wednesday night with a couple of enjoyable entries from Minnesota and Canada.

Shape of things to come
Ah, Cincinnati Fringe Festival, where absolutely everything is new; productions, venues, even some of the performers. This "new" is a 10-year-old company facing an unknown audience.

Cincinnati City Beat

Curtain Call: Show Up
In case you need another heads-up about the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, I urge you to drop in between now and June 7

Dallas Morning News

Which musical will prevail at Tonys, 'In the Heights' or 'Passing Strange'?

Charm carries lightweight 'A Texas Romance,' but it lacks psychological nuance

Houston Press

Isn't It a Pity: The Gershwins' An American in Paris
The Alley Theatre presents a plodding world premiere

Capsule Stage Reviews: The Drowsy Chaperone, The Heiress, Mr. Marmalade, Present Laughter, Time of My Life, The Vagina Monologues

Denver Post

Palminteri brings "A Bronx Tale" to Denver in 2009

Hitler as '30s Chicago gangster

ATW NewsClips - Mid-Atlantic & New England Print

Washington Post

Dancing in The Dark: 'The Visit' With Chita Rivera
You get Chita Rivera, you expect a bit of razzle-dazzle. For the longest time in Signature Theatre's austere musical adaptation of "The Visit," the show obscures this essential facet of its star's appeal -- until partway into Act 2, when she's allowed to shed some of the production's stony resolve...

Washington City Paper

Curtain Calls
Glen Weldon reviews Closing Time at Theatre on the Run

Philadelphia City Paper

Glad All Over
Bill Irwin's dazzling, joyful The Happiness Lecture grabbed me (and I'm known to be unrepentantly mime-averse and clown-o-phobic), and kept me spellbound for 80 minutes.

Two's Company
The joys of William Mastrosimone's The Woolgatherer lie not in where it goes — we can all guess where a two-person romance is headed — but in how it gets there.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Stage Preview: Public Theater's Ted Pappas sings the praises of 'The Odd Couple'
Why "The Odd Couple"? Hasn't everyone already seen Neil Simon's 1965 hit comedy on stage? Apparently not. ...

Stage Review: 'Shear Madness' curls into permanent tease of silliness
One of the champions of interactive theater/cabaret is "Shear Madness," a comic whodunit that's been ensconced in other cities for two or three decades and has finally made its professional ...

In the Wings: 'Two Trains' extends?
As I'm putting this column to bed, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre is trying to extend August Wilson's "Two Trains Running" another week, through June 8.

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Public breaks new ground with Simon classic
Ask Ted Pappas why he chose Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" to close the Pittsburgh Public Theater's 33rd season, and he quickly reels off three reasons.

'Don't Say Goodbye' pokes fun at mortality
Facing mortality isn't usually a laughing matter. But the cast who will bring the sensitive subject to light on the Saint Vincent College stage will keep audiences laughing.

Boston Phoenix

Gone but not forgotten
She Loves Me at the Huntington; plus Way Theatre Artists’ The Memory of Water

Providence Journal

Ain’t Misbehavin’ arrives in Matunuck
Matunuck’s Theatre by the Sea opened its 75th season this week with Ain’t Misbehavin’, the musical revue based on music written and made famous by jazz great Thomas “Fats” Waller...

Berkshire Eagle

A light shines on 'Caretaker'
It begins with a simple gesture. A man, a retiring, gentle man named Aston, holds out a sack of freshly acquired clothing to a homeless man, Davies, who has, by invitation, become a live-in guest in Aston's attic room in an abandoned house that may or may not be owned by Aston's brother, Mick.

Portland Phoenix

On the verge: A very busy Roadside

ATW NewsClips - NY Print

New York Times

An 18th-Century Satire Gets a 21st-Century Spin
The Magis Theater Company’s production of “The Witlings” has only one thing on its mind: laughs.

Dimmer Lights on Broadway?
Paid attendance at Broadway shows, at 12.2 million, was down slightly from last season’s record of 12.3 million, according to a new report.

Time Out NY

2008 Tony Nominations: Musicals
TONY's David Cote and Adam Feldman quiz the 2008 Tony nominees on their shows.

2008 Tony Nominations: Plays
More awards-season commentary by Cote and Feldman, inteviewing the 2008 Tony Award nominees.

Annie Baker - The up-and-comer makes her quirk-free Off Broadway bow with Body Awareness.

Review: Prisoner of the Crown reviewed by Adam Feldman
Irish Repertory Theatre takes up the 1916 case of Sir Roger Casement, accused of treason as well as homosexuality.

Review: The Great American All-Star Traveling War Machine reviewed by Adam Feldman
The unwieldy title of Irondale Ensemble's antiwar satire belies its scattershot approach to battle.

Review: Oedipus Loves You reviewed by Helen Shaw
Greek tragedy. Punk rock. Mock psychobabble. Standard-issue madness at P.S. 122.

Review: Brits Off Broadway Artefacts reviewed by Rob Kendt
The Iraq War has a lot to answer for: carnage, waste, instability—and tons of cheap political theater.

Hartford Courant

Rizzo: 'Frankie And JohnnyÂ’ Star Returns To Hartford
Portia, the actress who starred in Hartford Stage's "Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune," will join the cast of TheaterWorks' production of Nilaja Sun's off-Broadway hit "No Child..."

Hartford Advocate

Theater: Best of the Last
Mortality and eccentricity blend memorably in the final play of Hartford Stage's Tennessee Williams marathon

Stage: She's So Heavy
She's So Heavy Henrik Ibsen, considered the father of modern drama, wrote several controversial...

Fairfield County Weekly

Karp Talk
Celebrating STW's Steve Karp; The Pavilion redeems WCP

Valley Advocate

Going Greek
If you've ever wondered if there was more to sorority life than pillow fights, sweater sets and...

Bergen Record

Wyckoff's "Soccer mom" breaks out in new role

Princeton Packet

Review: 'Footloose'
Review: 'Big River'

Albany Times Union

'I Am My Own Wife' a fluid, complex portrait

ATW NewsClips - National Print Pubs

Bloomberg.com

Frankenstein's Fuzzy Numbers Help Spike Broadway's $937.5 Million Season
Besides selling $450 tickets and mounting a Broadway musical comedy that most critics found mechanical, the producers of ``Young Frankenstein'' have something else to answer for: muddling the season's box-office statistics.

Toilet-Paper Satire on Business Rivals Touches French Nerve: Paris Theater
A 5-hour play about toilet paper seems a tad excessive. Michel Vinaver's ``Par-dessus bord'' (Overboard) at Paris's Theatre National de la Colline is nevertheless one of the hits of the season.

Variety

Melissa Gilbert back on 'Prairie'
Actress set for musical version of 'Little House'

Broadway box office stays strong
Total sales for season hit $937.5 million

Funnymen line up for comedy festival
Short, Fallon, Alexander to host Just for Laughs

Career rose in stalled elevator meeting
Hunter and Henley's collaboration lasts 25 years

Holly Hunter finds 'Grace'
Role latest in career spanning film, TV, theater

Review: Romeo and Juliet
Anything Des McAnuff directed would be expected to have a certain air of razzle-dazzle about it, but it's unlikely anyone in the opening-night audience at the Stratford Festival -- where he took over this year as artistic director -- was expecting his "Romeo and Juliet" to pack quite such a Red Bull-and-vodka feeling into its attention-grabbing start.

Review: The Visit
Call it "The Visit" revisited. The final production of the Signature Theater's Kander and Ebb festival is an extensive overhaul of the 2001 tuner that premiered at Chicago's Goodman Theater to mixed reviews and little follow-up interest. New contributions from the reassembled creative team include a modified book by Terrence McNally, reconceived staging by director Frank Galati, new choreography from Ann Reinking and even some original numbers written prior to lyricist Fred Ebb's death in 2004. The result is a deliciously dark and presumably more fluid tale that deserves renewed attention from the Broadway powers being eagerly courted.

Back Stage

A Political Party! reviewed by Paul Menard

Perhaps it's appropriate that the vapid political revue, A Political Party!, attempts to satirize current events but fails dismally to offer either laughs or insight.

Reuters

Strike stops Broadway from setting records
New York City's Broadway productions would have set box office and attendance records during 2007-08 if there had not been a 19-day stagehand strike in November, the Broadway League said on Wednesday.

ATW NewsClips - Online Sources

Playbill

Fame Finds Steppenwolf Ensemble Member and 2008 Tony Nominee Rondi Reed
Djerassi Comedy Three on a Couch Gets U.S. Premiere May 29 in NYC
Night Job, with Cavenaugh, Crumm, James, Murney and Pierce, Presented May 29
Pittsburgh Public's Odd Couple, with Scherer and Polk, Begins May 29
Xanadu Taped for Lincoln Center Archives May 29; "Regis" Appearance in June
Davies, Ryan and Mitrovich Star in L.A. Premiere of Love, Janis, Beginning May 29
PHOTO CALL: 2008 Tony Award Preview — Best Leading Actor in a Play Nominees (
Lentini's The Euthanasiast Begins Performances at PS 122 May 29
Immediate Family: A Catered Affair Performs at Barnes and Noble May 29
"Louie, Louie"-Inspired Stomp and Shout Begins Performances May 29
Gilbert, Blanchard, Lindsay, Gambatese, Ford and Massey to Star in Guthrie's Prairie
Tickets for Shrek the Musical to Go on Sale May 31; Casting Now Complete
Williamson, Evans, Rodriguez, Crawford and Dilellio Set for Oklahoma! at Theater of the Stars
MARQUEE VALUE: Billy Elliot at the Imperial Theatre

TheaterMania

Blanchard, Gambatese, Gilbert, et al. Set for Guthrie's Little House on the Prairie
Lamas, Piccininni, Spangler, et al. Set for Casa Manana's The Fantasticks
Anderson, Barrett, Hoty, McCarthy, et al. Added to Cape Playhouse Season

nytheatre.com

Review: 'A Political Party!' @ the Sage Theatre

CurtainUp

Review: 'Blink' @ Brits Off-Broadway

Potomac Stages

Review: 'The Oresteia: A Virtuous Work On A Very Large Scale Production By A Precocious Theater Company