Fighting the Smoking Ban in MN, and More News of the Day

Blog entries have been scarce this week – I know. Lots of reviews and a couple of pieces for Back Stage - one on April Yvette Thompson and Liberty City and one on Joanne Camp and Ghosts, the 50th production that the Obie-award winning and Tony and Drama Desk nominated actress has done with the company.

I figured rather than letting the blog be silent while I work on my review for In the Heights and finish up listening to a couple of things that I need to review, I'll point you toward a few interesting articles from this morning's News Clippings on ATW.

First off, in USA Today, there's an article about a theater in Minnesota that's trying to get round the state's smoking ban. You'll find it at www.usatoday.com – direct link.

In Paul Hodgins' blog for the Orange County Register, there's an interview with Richard Maltby, Jr., who's hard at work on the musical version of the movie Mask at the Pasadena Playhouse. This one's at Orange County Register – direct link.

Similarly, there's an interview with composer/lyricist Jerry Herman in The Houston Chronicle, coinciding with the last few performances of Hello, Dolly! with Leslie Uggams at Theatre Under the Stars. You'll find this article at Houston Chronicle – direct link.

Finally, bunch of articles about things here in New York. Roundabout Theatre Company's plans to produce a revival of Pal Joey this fall and news of Lincoln Center Theater's new theater space. Of course, there have been plenty of reviews of the revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which opened last night on Broadway. You'll find the "scrapbook" of reviews on ATW at ATW News Digest

Have a great weekend.

QUICK LINKS:

Pasadena Playhouse: http://www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/
Theatre Under the Stars: http://www.tuts.com/
Roundabout Theatre Company: http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/
Lincoln Center Theatre: http://www.lct.org
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof website: http://www.cat2008onbroadway.com/

Rarities Coming to the NY Stage - 'White House Cantata' and 3 by Grossman

Late yesterday, there were announcements about how you can catch a handful of musical rarities here in New York over the next few months. First off, the Collegiate Chorale, led by Music Director Robert Bass, will present the New York premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s and Alan Jay Lerner’s A White House Cantata, March 31st at 8 p.m. at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater. The performance will be conducted by The Collegiate Chorale’s Music Director Robert Bass, with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.

Now then, for clarity's sake, here's some of the information from the press release about "Cantata":

Leonard Bernstein’s A White House Cantata is fashioned from the historically controversial and short-lived Broadway musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, which he wrote in collaboration with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. The latter premiered at the Mark Hellinger Theater in New York in 1976 and closed after its first week. The Estate of Leonard Bernstein later decided to adapt the musical into a concert piece. Kent Nagano conducted the Cantata’s 1997 premiere in London with the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Voices, and it was the same group that recorded the work for the Deutsche Gramophone label. Ninety minutes of the original two hours of music have been incorporated into the work.

The Cantata depicts the absurdity of period social hierarchies within the first 100 years of the United States’ executive mansion using 11 presidents, selected first ladies, and three generations of black servants while illustrating the exclusivity of the American dream amongst the white privileged class. Scenes explore issues such as Thomas Jefferson’s then-alleged affair with a black maid, James Monroe’s refusal to halt slavery in Washington, and Andrew Johnson’s impeachment, in an engaging and often witty way. Jamie Bernstein recalled, “My dad and Lerner both agreed…, that the issue of race is at the core of the American historical experience…It’s the heartache and unresolved trouble that we carry with us to this day.” She continued, “the piece was ahead of its time. They [Lerner and Bernstein] were hoping to challenge people... They were definitely pushing the envelope.”

Roger Rees returns to The Chorale as Stage Director for this semi-staged performance, which features the sopranos Anita Johnson and Emily Pulley, in the roles of Seena and the First Lady, respectively, tenor Robert Mack as Lud, and baritone Dwayne Croft as the President, as well as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. 2008 marks the 90th birthdays of Alan Jay Lerner and Leonard Bernstein. The Collegiate Chorale is presenting the evening in honor of Bernstein’s 90th birthday.

Subscriptions and single tickets may be purchased by calling The Collegiate Chorale at (646) 792-2373 or by visiting www.collegiatechorale.org.

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

Also, the York Theatre Company announced the shows that they'll be presenting as part of their next Musicals in Mufti series. The company, in June and July, will be presenting three musicals with books by Larry Grossman: Minnie's Boys (May 30-June 1), which tells the story of the Marx Brothers; Grind (June 13-15), about a Chicago burlesque house, and Goodtime Charley (June 27-29), focusing on Joan of Arc and King Charles VII.

QUICK LINKS:

Collegiate Chorale: www.collegiatechorale.org
York Theatre Company: www.yorktheatre.org

Friday Miscellany - Mainly NYTW's New Series

So, two days without entries here. What gives you might ask? Well, with a partner who's not completely laid up, but bad enough to require a drive to the office every morning, and two shows on Wednesday, time just sort of flies. You can find the reviews of those shows, Crimes of the Heart and The Jazz Age on ATW and TheaterMania, respectively. (Also, there are quick links below.)

Today, I hope to get round to finally writing about The Slug-Bearers of Kayrol Island - a musical that's just opened at the Vineyard Theatre, and that's now been extended for a couple of weeks through March 2. I had a pretty complex reaction to this musical and with time constraints, I've just not gotten there. The other theatergoing of the week has been Catherine Filoux's Killing the Boss, which is reviewed in Back Stage.

Looking ahead, it's quite the musical weekend ….tonight's The Blue Flower, tomorrow's "Sunday in the Park…" and Sunday's Talking Band's Imminence at La MaMa. (Expect a review of the latter in "The Voice," the others will appear on the site.

In terms of other things, I will get to catch up to Patrick Stewart's Macbeth next week and I'm at work on a feature on New York Theatre Workshop's Liberty City for Back Stage.

And speaking of NYTW – I was thrilled yesterday to read about their new "Encores!"-like program for off-Broadway musicals. According to the "Times" yesterday, the first two shows for a three show series have been chosen: Al Carmines and Maria Irene Fornes' Promenade and "Iphigenia in Concert" from Doug Dyer, Gretchen Cryer and Peter Link. A third is still to be announced.

The announcement got me to thinking…..will NYTW dust of relatively recent off-Broadway shows? For instance, can we expect a concert version of The Knife seen at the Public the mid-80s, about a man undergoing a sex-change operation? It's an intriguing score. What about another show from the Public….William Finn's Romance in Hard Times. Looking back to the rock era, I'm sort of hoping that NYTW artistic director James C. Nicola will be considering Your Own Thing, that rockin' Twelfth Night.

Whatever the choices, the new series will be quite welcome on the horizon.

Have a great weekend.

Andy

Quick links:

Crimes of the Heart review: http://www.americantheaterweb.com/news/ind.asp?id=192863
The Jazz Age review: http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/12855
Killing the Boss review: http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/nyc/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003710811
New York Theatre Workshop: http://www.nytw.org/

A Taste of the Sound That Says Love...Applause

When Applause, the musical adaptation of the movie All About Eve bowed on Broadway in 1970, it starred screen legend Lauren Bacall. She played Margo Channing, a one-time screen star who had shifted her career to Broadway, and who found herself battling not only with fears of aging, but also a scheming would-be starlet, Eve Harrington. The role of Margo Channing (and it's a name that seems to warrant the use of both birth and surnames) in the movie, of course, was originated by Bette Davis, and even for those of use who grew up listening to the original cast recording of the Charles Strouse (music) and Lee Adams (lyrics) score, there seemed to be a certain juiciness to Bacall, with her deep smoky voice, taking on the role made infamous by Davis, whose clipped and vaguely British line readings have inspired generations of imitators, both male and female

For this past weekend's staging of Applause as the opener of the 2008 Encores! series, Christine Ebersole took on the role made famous by Davis and Bacall. Fresh from her Tony Award-winning turn in Grey Gardens, Ebersole is an interesting choice. She's done her stint in Hollywood, and has returned to New York to triumph not only in "Gardens," but in shows like 42nd Street (for which she also won a Tony) where she played Dorothy Brock, the aging musical comedy star whose broken ankle allows a completely unknown chorus girl to achieve overnight stardom.

Ebersole's work in these two shows, on certain levels, points toward certain success for her in assuming the role of Margo Channing. In both "Gardens" (in the first act in particular) and 42nd Street, Ebersole brought a larger-than-life imperiousness to the stage. Concurrently, Ebersole was able to communicate a certain vulnerability that made these characters human, and that's also a requisite for Applause and "Eve." We have to believe this queen of the theater is capable of loving her director Bill Sampson (Michael Park) and of being wounded by Eve's schemes.

Interestingly, an illness that plagued Ebersole all last week – meaning that she had to miss a great many rehearsals and went on at less than 100% - led to a further parallel between her past work and the story in Applause. (Could there have been an Eve backstage waiting for her chance to blossom in this staging directed by Kathleen Marshall? Most likely not, but this is after all the stuff of theatrical fairy tales.) Illness or no, go on Ebersole did – and while the human side of Margo Channing shone through – beautifully throughout – some of the character's grandiosity and "Queen Bee" characteristics were not in evidence as much as one might have hoped. At times, in fact, one almost wondered how this woman might have survived in the studio system of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Still Ebersole gave a performance that truly did make one rethink not only the role of Margo Channing, but also the Strouse/Adams score. A torch song that Margo sings one night as she pines for her beau who's off making a film in Rome suddenly churned with emotion in a 70s pop-sound that was never heard in Bacall's original vocals.

For Marshall's production (which unfolded with ease on a clever set from John Lee Beatty that made it feel as though one were watching a show unfold on a Broadway stage peering out into the house), a host of Broadway veterans provided color and some choicely turned performances. Chip Zien and Kate Burton shone as Margo's nebbish-y playwright and his well-heeled Radcliffe-educated wife. Mario Cantone provided a beautifully muted turn as Margo's fey hairdresser. Tom Hewitt oozed charm and a bit of menace as the Broadway producer who sets his sights on Eve (a revision to the Addison DeWitt character from the movie) and Megan Sikora brought zest to the Broadway gypsy who delivers the show's title song.

As backstabbing Eve, Erin Davie (Ebersole's co-star from "Gardens") actually did convince as Eve – ever-so-retiring – first makes her appearance, and while Eve's transformation didn't always convince – Davie, too, seems just a bit too nice – Davie delivered her 11 o'clock with blistering intensity.

City Center's Encores! series will continue next month with a staging of Juno Marc Blitzstein and Joseph Stein's musical adaptation of Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock. It will play from March 27 through 30. Then, in May, No, No, Nanette will be featured, running from May 8 through 12.

I've already started thinking about these two, which will star, respectively Victoria Clark, and Sandy Duncan. During my recent move I made sure that Don Dunn's "The Making of No, No Nanette" made it to the top of a must-read pile (and if you're looking for a copy there are a few to be had on Amazon.com). Later this month, I'll start up my prep work for the two by listening to the Fynsworth Alley re-release of the original cast recording of Juno, which can still be purchased with a visit to Fynsworth Alley or Footlight Records online.

Quick links:

City Center: http://www.citycenter.org/
Fynsworth Alley: http://www.fynsworthalley.com/
Footlight: http://www.footlight.com/

It's Only February and Summer's Heating Up

Officially, spring doesn't begin for another 45 days or so, and summer's three months after that, but it's still not too early for announcements about summertime programming here in New York and beyond.

Just look at the announcement yesterday that the Public Theater would be presenting Hamlet and Hair in Central Park this summer. Michael Stuhlbarg and Richard Easton are lined up for the former, and Jonathan Groff, of Spring Awakening, is slated to star in the latter, the musical that opened the institution's downtown home over 40 years ago.

Another announcement yesterday came from Town Hall where we'll find a tribute to Cole Porter, on the occasion of his 117th birthday come June. KT Sullivan and Mark Nadler will be offering up A Swell Party: RSVP Cole Porter on June 9, an evening that will include such Porter hits as "It's Delovely," "I've Got You Under My Skin," "Let's Do It," "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," "Every Time We Say Goodbye," "Night and Day," "Begin the Beguine," and "Experiment."

As if this isn't enough activity in the city, today, Variety is reporting that Doug Hughes will direct Farragut North, Beau Willimon's play about a young man who is a staff member for a rising presidential candidate. No dates or theater are known yet for this Broadway-bound play, but it too is looking at sometime over the summer

Looking beyond the city, the Berkshire Theater Festival has announced its season that will include classics like Shaw's Candida and Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and new ones such as Karen Zacharias' The Book Club Play, currently being produced at the Round House in Bethesda MD, and Matthew Wilkas and Mark Setlock's The Pageant Play, which will be getting its world premiere at BTF.

Nearby, in Pittsfield, Barrington Stage Company will be offering up revivals of things like Noel Coward's Private Lives and a return of William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin's "Spelling Bee" (which began its life with the theater).

A note from the Weston Playhouse in Vermont has alerted me to the fact they've set their season. They've got two musicals on tap: Les Miserables and The Light in the Piazza and plays like Nilaja Sun's No Child… and John Patrick Shanley's Doubt.

I'm already starting to plan the swing through New England, but making sure I leave enough time for things here in New York too.

Have a great weekend!

Andy

Quick links:
Public Theater - www.publictheater.org
Town Hall - www.the-townhall-nyc.org
Berkshire Theatre Festival - www.berkshiretheatre.org
Barrington Stage - www.barringtonstageco.org
Weston Playhouse - www.westonplayhouse.org

The Chicago Trip with Music from PS Classics

Well, the trip to Chicago was exceptionally enjoyable all the way around – even managed to make it there before O'Hare essentially closed down on Friday.

That night caught Hephaestus at Lookingglass Theater's very handsome home in the Water Tower on North Michigan Avenue. Will be posting a full ATW review of this show later today. On Saturday night, it was Talking Pictures at the Goodman Theater. You'll find my TheaterMania review as well as the two from the Chicago dailies here:

http://www.americantheaterweb.com/news/pressbook2.asp?id=5818101

Now, on the flights back and forth (don't ask about the return flight or you'll get a screed on rudeness), I did listen to a handful of CDs. I concentrated on releases from PS Classics which has been so prolific in the past few months. Among their releases late in 2007 – Victoria Clark's lovely "15 Seconds of Grace" and Andrea Burns' exceptional "A Deeper Shade of Red." I have reviewed both of these for the next issue of The Sondheim Review - so I'll leave the commenting on them to a minimum here. Basically, if you don't have these yet, you're going to want them.

Late last year, PS Classics also shipped Xanadu - The Original Cast Recording and Take Flight. As the latter deals with aviation and the former contains music that takes me back to high school days, they seemed like the ideal options for the jaunt to Chicago, and neither disappointed me.

Obviously, Xanadu the stage version of the cult-hit, but commercial flop, 1980 movie of the same name, has proven to be quite the success on Broadway this season. The unlikely story of a muse who comes to earth to inspire an artist – who ends up wanting to build a roller disco – features a score from Jeff Lynne and John Farrah. Hits from the movie include "Magic", "Suddenly" and "All Over the World," and they're all here, plus some others from Lynne and Farrah (a.k.a. Electric Light Orchestra). For some, like this writer, these tunes were part of growing up, and there's something pleasant about revisiting them, particularly when performed by such Broadway talents as Kerry Butler (Clio, the muse) and Cheyenne Jackson (the artist).

Both of these performers – along with Mary Testa, Jackie Hoffman, and Tony Roberts – deliver the pop/disco score with panache in the theater, and their performances sound great on the disc. Butler – who's morphed from Belle to Bat Boy's love interest to Penny in Hairspray and Audrey in "Little Shop" – is particularly appealing, channeling her inner Olivia Newton-John and bringing some decided Broadway flair to the songs. Jackson, who imbues the artist with a deft level of cluelessness, retains that quality in the small amounts of dialogue that are included on the disc and his smooth vocal stylings, as always are a pleasure. Testa and Hoffman shine particularly when they imbue "Evil Woman" with a healthy dose of comedy. Roberts shines in the more traditional "Whenever You're Away From Me."

As with all of the company's releases, Xanadu has been packaged beautifully. The CD is accompanied by a full-color booklet that is awash with pictures from the show. Who knows? The disc might even inspire you to pull out your rollerskates and take a spin.

Now, the musical Take Flight is something in an entirely different vein. It's a new musical fantasia of sorts about aviation from the songwriting team of Richard Maltby, Jr. (lyrics) and David Shire (music) and bookwriter John Weidman. In it, the stories of Orville and Wilbur Wright, Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart all converge with German aviator and inventor Otto Lilienthal acting as the audience's guide.

What you'll find on this disc – which is the premiere recording of the show and features the original London cast from the Menier Chocolate Factory production – is 18 tracks of probably the most complex music that the team of Maltby and Shire have ever devised. In "Flight" they play not only with the grandly varied sounds of American popular music in the first decades of the twentieth century and embellish the melodies so that it often sounds as if the songs are soaring off into the distance themselves. At other times, they work in what I've come to think of as Sondheim's "Sunday in the Park" pointillist mode – providing characters with quick staccato melody lines that – if you listen real hard – can sometimes sound like the sputtering of early aircraft. In other words, this is a show that bears more resemblance to another musical for which Weidman provided the book - Assassins - than many of Maltby and Shire's previous collaborations – things like Baby and Big.

The British company – led by Sam Kenyon and Elliot Levey as the Wright Brothers, Michael Jibson as Lindy and Sally Ann Triplett as Earhart – handles the music with flair, delivering the lyrics with almost always perfect American accents.

I'll admit that I was only listening to the disc while on the plane and that was foolish. It's rather important to have the booklet that accompanies the disc handy during your first and second go-rounds with "Flight" – Matt Wolf's liner notes and the stage directions that are interspersed with lyrics and dialogue – are rather handy to get a sense of some of what's going on in the musical – which I imagine is going to garner a large number of fans based on this release.

Andy

Reinvigorating (Resuscitating?) the ATW Blog

It's hard to believe that the last time I posted to this, was just as the Tony Award nominations were to be announced last May. How time flies. A trip to Beijing, a move out of the five boroughs, and so much more has happened since. We're actually well over half way through the new season and, in fact, the Tony Awards committee has met several times to determine eligibility for this year's awards.

So, a New Year's resolution (better late than never, right?) for myself and the ATW Blog….a post a day – a comment on the news clips or perhaps some thoughts on the disc (or discs) that are playing while I work.

Today, beyond the "I'm Back" aspect to this post …I was heartened to see not only the positive review in today's "Times" about Fabrik, playing at Urban Stages through February 17, but also the swell picture that, combined, I hope will get audiences to this show that I described as "must-see" when I reviewed it for Back Stage last week.

For those of you who've missed it – the "Times" review can be found here:

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/theater/reviews/30fabr.html?ref=theater

Here's my Back Stage review:

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/nyc/review_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=100370118

Thanks for your patience if you've been a subscriber to this and wondered what's happened. Remember – comments are always welcome.

Best,
Andy Propst

Tony Season Begins Tomorrow - Some Predictions

Well, I figured that I might as well join in on the prognosticating on who will be nominated for Tony Awards. This isn't a complete slate, but rather, a snapshot of whom I believe will be up for the top awards. As we barrel into the Tony Award season, remember you can always see a full selection of press about the 2007 Tony Awards at www.americantheaterweb.com/news/Tony2007.asp

Until next time,

Andy

PLAY
The Coast of Utopia
Coram Boy
Frost/Nixon
Radio Golf

MUSICAL
Curtains
Grey Gardens
LoveMusik
Spring Awakening

REVIVAL OF A PLAY
Inherit the Wind
Journey's End
A Moon for the Misbegotten
Talk Radio

REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
The Apple Tree
A Chorus Line
Company
110 in the Shade

LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Boyd Gaines – Journey's End
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Brian F. O'Bryne – The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer – Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber – Talk Radio

LEADING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Eve Best – A Moon for the Misbegotten
Angela Lansbury – Deuce
Vanessa Redgrave – The Year of Magical Thinking
Marian Seldes - Deuce
Julie White – The Little Dog Laughed

LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Christine Ebersole – Grey Gardens
Audra McDonald – 110 in the Shade
Lea Michele – Spring Awakening
Debra Monk - Curtains
Donna Murphy – LoveMusik

LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Raul Esparza - Company
Jonathan Groff – Spring Awakening
Gavin Lee – Mary Poppins
David Hyde Pierce - Curtains
Martin Short – Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me

DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Michael Grandage – Frost/Nixon
David Grindley – Journey's End
Doug Hughes – Inherit the Wind
Kenny Leon – Radio Golf
Jack O'Brien – The Coast of Utopia

DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
John Doyle – Company
Scott Ellis - Curtains
Michael Greif – Grey Gardens
Michael Mayer – Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell – Legally Blonde

An update from Andy / Reviews of recent openings

So what's become of Andy you might ask? The blog hasn't been updated in over a week and the reviews on AmericanTheaterWeb have been slight. All that I've written for the site itself is the review of Cymbeline that's playing at BAM through Saturday (Full Review). Despite what you might have read elsewhere, this is a truly effective and affecting production. If you've got time tonight or tomorrow, take the trip out to Fulton Street.

Meanwhile, an outline of some of my theatergoing and the reviews that have been appearing elsewhere: I quite enjoyed Memory at >59E59 (expect a full review in "The Voice" next week). This week, you'll find my thoughts on Harold Prince's excellent work on LoveMusik in the paper (Full Review).

Elsewhere, my review of Rachel Dickstein's Betrothed at the Ohio Theater has been posted this morning on backstage.com (Full Review). Also, while you're looking at that site, take a look at my review of Jenny Schwartz' God's Ear, this is one of the most exciting pieces of theater I've caught in a long time (Full Review). You should check it out. Finally, expect a review of An Octopus Love Story next week in Time Out. This quirky love story that's also a shrewd bit of commentary on what makes a marriage took me by surprise. It's funny and touching and well worth a look. (For quick reference - here's their website: http://www.kidswithguns.com/.

And with that, we're truly off and running in the 2007-2008 season.

Until next time,

Andy