Miscellany: Hudson in 'Songs', Yoba in 'Lesson', A Hip-Hop-Anime Pippin, Scott's "Worship Me' Video, NYC Extensions

Culled from various releases

Jennifer Hudson, the Oscar ® winning musical star of the hit motion picture “Dreamgirls,” has been confirmed to topline the cast of Songs For A New World. Hudson will be appearing in this song cycle from Jason Robert Brown at Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica from April 18 through May 24.

Malik Yoba, best known for his roles in Cool Runnings, Fox's television series New York Undercover, and most recently in Tyler Perry's film Why Did I Get Married?, is set to star as Boy Willie in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, playing April 9-27,2008 at the Delaware Theatre Company.

East West Players in Los Angeles is describing their production of Pippin as being an "anime/hip hop revival of the Tony Award winning musical." The show, directed by Tim Dang, will feature choreography by Blythe Matsui, and Hip-Hop choreography by "consultant" Jason Tyler Chong. The production runs May 8 - June 8.

Sherie Rene Scott, a self-proclaimed “Broadway semi-star” and “one time Tony Award® loser,” recently allowed a camera into her dressing room to share a little insight into You May Now Worship Me, her one night only benefit for the Phyllis Newman's Women's Health Initiative at the Actors Fun on Monday, March 31 at 8 PM at The Eugene O’Neill Theatre. You can find the promotional video Scott has created at: http://www.bcefa.org/media/WORSHIPMEvideo/WorshipMeVideo.cfm

There are now two more chances for folks to catch Sarah Ruhl's Dead Man's Cell Phone at Playwrights Horizons in New York. The show will now close on March 29 - and the two additional performances are both on that final March Saturday. Also extended: Jez Butterworth's Parlour Song at the Atlantic Theater Company. This dark look at the interconnected lives of three neighbors will now run through April 6.

QUICK LINKS:

Edgemar Center for the Arts: http://www.edgemarcenter.org/
Delaware Theatre Company: http://www.delawaretheatre.org/
Playwrights Horizons: http://www.playwrightshorizons.org/
Atlantic Theater Company: http://www.atlantictheater.com/
East West Players: http://www.eastwestplayers.org/

A Birthday Event (and CD) for a Special Cause

Brian Gari, the composer/lyricist of Late Nite Comic, will celebrate his birthday today with an evening of song at "Don't Tel Mama." Gari will be joined by Liz Larsen (Tony nominee for The Most Happy Fella) and there's a low cover for this annual event – it's just $5.00 with a 2 drink minimum. I'm imagining that you'll hear some selections from "Late Nite" should you drop by Don't Tell Mama….he's just released a new recording of the now-infamous show – one that features Larry Hochman's original orchestrations.

I've not had a chance to take a listen to the new "Late Nite" – which has been released to coincide with the show's 20th anniversary, but the disc (which Gari's produced) features some pretty incredible talent including: Liz Callaway, Brian D'Arcy James, Larsen, Howard McGillin, Julia Murney, Mary Testa, Karen Ziemba and Chip Zien. The 20th Anniversary recording of Gari's musical is another way Gari is working to raise money for the Actors Fund. All proceeds from sales of the disc (from Original Cast Records) will go to benefit this worthy organization.

Expect a review of "Late Nite" later this week or early next….tomorrow, some news about some Broadway rarities on CD.

Andy

Quick links:

Actors Fund: http://www.actorsfund.org/
Don't Tell Mama: http://www.donttellmama.com/
Original Cast Records: http://www.originalcastrecords.com/

It's Springtime for ....Kander and Ebb

Reading through the announcement of casting for much of the Kander and Ebb celebration that will be kicking off shortly at the Signature Theatre in Virginia, I started thinking about there other shows, and how, during the next few months, one could catch not only the shows that are playing at this acclaimed Virginia theatre, but also in New York and elsewhere in the country.

Consider this: you could start off in New York and see two of the famed duo's shows. There's the long-running revival of Chicago at the Ambassador and Curtains (with contributions from Rupert Holmes) at the Al Hirschfeld. Also this later month, you'll be able to see a concert incarnation of Flora, the Red Menace at the Duplex Theater – a show produced by Opening Doors Theatre Company that's going to run February 24 & 25, and March 2 & 3.

Now, that pulls us pretty close to the start of the celebration at the Signature which gets underway on March 11 with the first performance of Kiss of the Spider Woman, which will continue through April 20. The show's going to star Natasha Diaz as Aurora, the Spider Woman of the title, and Hunter Foster and Will Chase as the cellmates who both fall under her spell. While "Kiss" is running, the theater will start up a second Kander and Ebb collaboration, The Happy Time, their 1968 work about a worldly photographer and the influence that he holds over his young nephew. When the show first played Broadway, it starred Robert Goulet. For the Signature revival, that role will be played by Michael Minarik. Also in the company – George Dvorsky and David Margulies. The production will run April 1 through June 1.

The final entry in the Signature celebration will be the team's long-in-development musicalization of Durrenmatt's The Visit, a show that was produced several seasons back at the Goodman in Chicago. In Virginia, the stars will be Chita Rivera and George Hearn, and the production's scheduled to run May 13 through June 22.

In addition to these productions, you'll be able to catch a couple of special shows at the Signature during its celebration. Karen Akers will perform her cabaret tribute to the team from March 11 through March 16. And then, June 4-7, graduates from the theater's Musical Theater Institute will perform a revue of Kander and Ebb hits in "Kander and Ebb Overtures."

Now, just while Signature is presenting "Happy Time," you'll need to hop out to Minnesota to catch a production of Cabaret that will be playing at the Ordway Center in St. Paul (running May 2-18).

Finally, and just because this will take some planning …there's going to be a production of 70, Girls, 70 playing in August. It's in Gosford Australia. It will run August 1 through 22 at the Laycock Street Theatre.

Meanwhile, you'll want to keep in mind the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts's multi-media exhibit "Songwriters and the Tony Awards." Cabaret will be one of the show highlighted in this tribute that will be on display from February 26 through June 14.

Another tribute – this one to Ebb – will be taking place at the 92nd Street Y from February 23 – February 25 – "Life Is a Cabaret: A Tribute to Fred Ebb." Scheduled to appear: Brent Barrett, Judy Blazer, Diana Canova, Tyne Daly, and David Garrison.

Quick links:

Chicago: www.ChicagoTheMusical.com
Curtains: www.CurtainsTheMusical.com
Signature Theatre Company: www.Sig-Online.org
Opening Doors Theatre Company: www.ODTConline.org
Ordway Center: www.Ordway.org
Laycock Street Theatre: www.Laycock.com
New York Public Library: www.NYPL.org
92nd Street Y: www.92ndsty.org

Some Thoughts on the Paper Mill Situation

I'm stepping out on a limb here, but I want to say I'm really rather peeved by the dangerous crossroad that the Paper Mill Playhouse has reached. Mind you, I don't want the theater to shutter – far from it. I've spent many enjoyable afternoons and evenings there taking in the institution's often lavish productions. (I call it an institution rather than an organization because after 69 years the theater is an institution).

So, if I'm not rooting for the theater's demise? Why am I peeved? Well the thing is that I spent 8 years of my life working as a fundraiser – for one major institution – The New York Shakespeare Festival and also for two smaller non-profits, and know that the process by which a theater arrives at an annual operating budget is a carefully orchestrated tango between artistic staff, management and an organization's board of directors, trustees, or whatever term has been used in a group's bylaws.

The staff, starting with the artistic director, announces what his or her dream season will be. Management – by which I mean financial departments, fundraising, and general management – then estimates how much the season will cost, and also projects what sort of revenues can be expected at the box office and from private contributions. Normally there's a rather big difference between the expenses and the income side. It's why artistic directors are who they are…they get to dream big.

So, now, this is where the dance comes in. It's been my experience that before going to the board, the staff will attempt to minimize the gap between income and expense, examining how more money for a season can be found, and by trying to trim as much as possible from the expenses of a new season of plays and ancillary activities (like an education program).

With a shortfall still in place, the staff normally meets with the board – that must approve the budget as they are ultimately the fiscal guardians of the company. Now then, in some situations, the board will demand that the staff revisit the figures and come up with a balanced budget. At other times, the boards, like those with which which I've worked, will approve a budget with a shortfall that they feel, given historical fundraising capabilities, can be balanced during the course of a fiscal year.

Making sense? Anyway, for whatever reason, the board at the Paper Mill approved a budget with a $2.5 million shortfall. That's not insignificant for an organization with an annual $17 million budget where, according to reports, only 20% (or approximately $3.4 million) has traditionally been raised. In spite of this, the board felt that they would be able to raise the additional money before a crisis, such as the one the theater now faces, arrived.

Now then, look at those numbers. The board said that somehow, someway, it would be able to almost double contributed income in less than 12 months. Now I know the economy is healthy. I'd not realized it was that healthy. Making this situation more troubling are the facts outlined in a recent article in The Star Ledger that reports that up until this year, the board members for the Paper Mill had given or raised just under $120,000.

Optimism is one thing, but this is something else. And the reason for the strange sense of anger and sadness that I feel about what's going on over in Millburn. While the board is to be commended for its increased giving this year, they must also be condemned for allowing the theater to proceed with such unhealthy financial expectations. Maybe a show should have been dropped from the season – yes that means less ticket revenue, but it also means reduced expenses, which seem to be outpacing the box office anyway.

This is not unheard of. It's not only fiscally responsible: it sends an early signal to theatergoers, funders and politicians that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. Instead of sounding this alarm, the theater's staff and the board are scrambling to make sure the theater stays open on what amounts to a day-to-day basis. An unhealthy juncture both artistically and institutionally.

In all fairness, I should remember that board members are volunteers who donate not only their money, but also their time and varying levels of expertise to a non-profit. At the same time, they are, for all intents and purposes, the rather strict parents who must often have the unpleasant task of saying "no" to their offspring. It's not a pleasant thing to hear or say, but it's often necessary.

Similarly, the Paper Mill's staff should have looked beyond the Board's promises and exercised their own fiscal restraint, thus proving that sometimes it's necessary for children to raise themselves. Sadly, in theater, and in life, this should not be the case.

Until later next time,

Andy Propst

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For those who want the direct URL to the story mentioned:

Paper Mill's fundraising performance falls short - The Star-Ledger
http://www.nj.com/starledger/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1176006512185030.xml&coll=1