Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A Tempting Production Model? Not If You Ask the Ones Who Did It!

Here's an article from Variety.com about producing for Broadway.


New "Normal" For Plays? by Gordon Cox

With three Tony Awards and brewing plans for a national tour and a London run, Broadway revival "The Normal Heart" has done pretty well for a last-minute addition to the 2010-11 season.

Factor in the super-quick rehearsal period of two weeks and the low capitalization pricetag of around $1.5 million, and it all starts to look like a potential new model for producing plays.

But not so fast. According to those involved, "Normal Heart" came together with a serendipity unlikely to be re-created, especially given the unusual number of hurdles faced by the production.

"The logistics became more and more complicated as time went on," producer Daryl Roth said.

Roth decided she'd try to mount Larry Kramer's 1985 play, about the early days of the AIDS epidemic in 1980s New York, in the wake of a starry benefit reading she produced in October. She secured the participation of two of the reading's stars -- Joe Mantello, the legit helmer who stopped acting soon after he appeared in "Angels in America" in the early 1990s, and John Benjamin Hickey -- but as soon as she did, the benefit's director, Joel Grey, booked a role in the current Roundabout revival of "Anything Goes," complicating his attachment to "Normal."

Even once "Angels" director George C. Wolfe fell into place as the new helmer, the production still didn't have a theater amid a bustling spring 2011 season that saw 22 shows open.

A slot finally freed up when the revival of "Driving Miss Daisy" shuttered at the Golden Theater on April 9. "Normal" loaded into the venue the day after "Daisy" moved out. Previews began April 19 for an April 27 opening, just a day before the cutoff for the season's Tony eligibility.

In what seemed like an unusually coy PR strategy, producers and creatives initially wouldn't say for sure whether "Normal" would more resemble a reading -- like "Salome," the semi-staged Al Pacino topliner Roth produced in 2003 -- or a fully produced show.

That's because they didn't know themselves. With only a couple of weeks of rehearsals for thesps to memorize a wordy script, the team decided that remaining on-book was a real possibility, and David Rockwell's minimal set, dominated by a spare white box, was designed to accommodate whatever form the production assumed.

According to Wolfe, it wasn't until the tenth of the production's 12 rehearsal days that the cast decided to leave the scripts behind and fully stage the show.

The accelerated process was "unnatural," Wolfe said, but there was at least one advantage. "Because of the intensity of the time period, the actors didn't have the luxury to create their characters with their usual techniques," he said. "They're using their emotions in the rawest, most immediate way."

Along with the Tony for play revival, the show scored thesping trophies for Hickey and Ellen Barkin. Mantello was nommed as well. And since the awards attention, box office has jumped significantly. The week after the show opened, weekly sales came in at less than $250,000; for the frame ending June 19, B.O. rang in at $455,000 and attendance hit 99%.

Due to the skeds of all involved, the Main Stem production is slated to close July 10. Interest from other markets, however, has prompted Roth to expect future stints in other U.S. cities, including Washington D.C., and in London, where Elton John is said to be considering signing on as a producer.

Given the show's success, it's natural to wonder whether creatives or producers can imagine mounting another under such tight restraints.

"Two weeks? No," Wolfe said. "Hateful, horrible, never to be repeated. I wouldn't want to tempt the generosity of the theater gods by trying to do it again."

Also likely to put off producers: The show is far from guaranteed to make a profit given its brief run and the relatively low B.O. logged in its early frames on the boards.

Besides, some of that earned income is going to charities including amfAR, Friends in Deed, the Actors Fund and the Human Rights Campaign.

But according to Roth, turning a profit was never the guiding principle. "I wanted it to have a charitable component, and everyone involved is doing this in that generous spirit," she said.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Photographs in the Theater?

I just discovered this fascinating (and important) article on Playbill.com written by Robert Simonson about the issue of taking pictures in a Broadway Theatre. I hope this can shed some light on an issue that comes up a lot and that I have been asked about quite a few times!

Few activities are more frowned upon by theatre managers than photograph-snapping inside the auditorium. Every theatregoer is familiar with the pre-show announcement that the "taking of photographs and use of recording devices" is forbidden by law. This is owing to various union rules concerning the safety of the actors, as well as intellectual property issues with regard to the shows' creators.

But what's wrong with taking a shot beforehand as a remembrance of the occasion? Well, a lot, it turns out.

"There are several reasons" why photographs can't be taken prior to curtain, said Carol Bokun, a business agent for IATSE Local 360, the union whose members include many back- and front-of-the-house theatre professionals, including those shushing ushers. "First of all, we're instructed in some theatres that the actual curtain of the show is copyrighted."

She's not referring to the red-velvet job we all associate with Broadway theatres, but the painted, decorative ones that have become common at some musicals and plays. Very often, these are the work of the show's scenic designer. Bokun works at the Ambassador Theatre, where Chicago has played for many years. That show has no curtain, but famously puts its orchestra on stage, surrounded by a large gilt frame. "We were told the frame is part of the show," and thus copyrighted, said Bokun. Thus: no pictures.

Laura Penn, executive director of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), echoed those contentions. "With the curtain, there are issues of intellectual property with the artists involved," she said. "As for someone wanting to photograph their grandmother, that is probably a theatre issue." Bokun said Local 360 gets its marching orders from each individual theatre owner regarding photographs, and often these dicta are made with an eye toward overall theatre security. "In some cases, there are security reasons for it," Bokun said. "It does vary from show to show." Bokun declined to elaborate about what those security concerns might be.

Penn suggested that the moratorium on pre-show photos might also be the theatre's way of enforcing a uniform, easy-to-understand policy. "Because it is completely not O.K. to take photos during a performance, we can accomplish that by encouraging people to not take photos inside a theatre at all. That is how we do it. It makes sense to say 'No photographer in a theatre.' Otherwise, how are you going to do it? Are you going to say, 'You can take pictures at this time but not at that time'? How do you control thousands of people in all of the theatres?"

Beowulf Boritt, a 2011 Tony Award nominee for his stark scenic design of the musical The Scottsboro Boys, told us, "The scenery is intellectual property, much like a book, or a song. While you may not be doing anything nefarious with your snapshots, if they end up on the web, that visual information is available to anyone with a quick Google search, and the designs can essentially be stolen.

"I just did a quick Google image search for productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Last Five Years. I designed the original productions of both shows, and my search yielded a pile of images that were clearly copies of my designs. It's hardly worth my time to start chasing down every high school or community theatre that does this. You might argue that my work being copied does me no harm, but it's work I have done that is being co-opted without my being compensated or asked permission.

"While these organizations presumably have paid the licensing fees for the rights to the scripts, I don't get a penny for their using of my designs. The prohibition on photos, at it's simplest, is an attempt to give the creative team a little protection from potential intellectual theft."

Alice Pleyton Dead at 63

Here's an article from Braodway.com about the death of Alice Pleyton.

Alice Playten, whose distinctive voice was put to good use in comedic stage roles spanning more than 50 years, died on June 25 of heart failure complicated by pancreatic cancer. She was 63 and lived in Manhattan.

Born in Brooklyn on August 28, 1947, the former Alice Plotkin studied at the Metropolitan Opera ballet school and made her Broadway debut as Baby Louise in the original production of Gypsy. In 1963, she played Bet, Nancy’s younger sister, in Oliver!, then created the role of Ermengarde, Horace Vandergelder’s niece, in Hello, Dolly! At age 20, the diminutive actress received a Tony nomination and Theatre World Award for the short-lived musical Henry, Sweet Henry. Other Broadway credits include Rumors, Seussical and Caroline, or Change (as Grandma Gellman).

Playten was a two-time Obie winner for National Lampoon’s Lemmings and First Lady Suite and appeared off-Broadway in Sorrows of Stephen, Spoils of War and A Flea in Her Ear, among others. After starring with Richard Masur in the Flea Theater’s The Oldsmobiles in 2009, Playten made her final stage appearance in the short-lived off-Broadway comedy It Must Be Him in September 2010.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Calendar Sneak Peek

Hi all. Though I usually wait until September to post the Broadway calendar, I did want to post a preliminary heads-up as to what productions we can expect to see in the upcoming season. A more comprehensive list can be found at the link below, but some highlights to look out for are: a return engagement of the 2009 Tony-Winning revival of Hair, Tyne Daly as Maria Callas in a revival of Terrence McNally's Master Class, and the 40th anniversary revival of Stephen Schwartz' Godspell, among many others. Check out the article below for more productions and come back in September for my full list.


http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/80060-Schedule-of-Upcoming-Broadway-Shows

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Spider-Man Opens on Broadway ... Finally

Well, all ... no sooner has the 2010-2011 Broadway season come to an end with this year's Tony Awards than the 2011-2012 season has begun with the opening of Julie Tymor's latest Broadway outing ... well, sort of.


The mega-expensive mega-musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has finally opened on Broadway and the reviews are in. To say that they aren't good is the understatement of the year. Though it is slightly more coherent than the previous incarnation, it is still not worthy of the price of admission -- valuable only to die-hard theater vultures and slightly less than prescient 10 year olds with money to burn. We shall see how this fares next year, by which time I believe the show will be mostly forgotten.

Monday, June 13, 2011

The Value of a Tony ... and a Blog

Now that the Tony Awards are over, for this year at least, it is time for some wrap up and to look forward to the next season (and next year's Tony Awards!). I found this article on the New York Times blog about the value of winning a Tony Award ... the extent to which a Tony win can increase a show's ticket sales. Check out the link below to read the article and let me know what you think.

And, with that, it is time to look forward to the next round of Tony Awards and the next year of this blog. I will be taking the summer away from this blog except to report about new openings (like Spider-Man, which opens tomorrow night) and other major news that can't go without reporting. Let me know what you would like to see more of this year and I will do my best to make it happen.


http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/09/just-how-much-is-a-tony-worth/?ref=theaterspecial

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Final Results

Now that all the awards have been given out, let's count up the final tally:

The Book of Mormon: 9
War Horse: 5
The Normal Heart: 3
Anything Goes: 3
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: 1
Jerusalem: 1
Good People: 1
Catch Me If You Can: 1
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: 1


Of the 26 categories, I correctly predicted 18 right out and 5 more as Dark Horses, with only 3 categories in which I was entirely off the mark. Given the large number of toss-up categories this year, I think I did pretty well.

Best Musical

To announce the last award of the night, the Tony Award for Best Musical, is actor and comic Chris Rock. The Tony Award goes to ... The Book of Mormon.

Leading Actor in a Musical

Catherine Zeta-Jones returns for the Leading Actor in a Musical. The Tony Award goes to ... Norbert Leo Butz for Catch Me if You Can (my dark horse prediction for this category).

Leading Actor in a Play

Catherine Zeta-Jones has come on in a gorgeous red dress to present the Tony for Best Leading Actor in a play. And the Tony goes to ... Mark Rylance for Jerusalem.

Lighting Design of a Play

The Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Play has gone to War Horse.

Lead Actress Awards

Danielle Radcliffe is here to present the two leading actress awards.

Lead Actress in a Play goes to ... Frances McDormand in Good People.


Lead Actress in a Musical goes to ... Sutton Foster.

(Both were correct predictions)

Revival of a Musical

Kelsey Grammer is nor here to present the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. And the Tony Goes to ... Anything Goes.

Lighting Design of a Musical

The Tony Award for Best Lighting Design of a Musical has been given to ... The Book of Mormon.

Scenic Design of a Musical

The Tony for Scenic Design of a Musical has gone to ... The Book of Mormon.

Another correct prediction.

Best Play

Samuel L. Jackson comes out to announce the Best Play Tony. The winner is ... War Horse. David Lindsay-Abair was just robbed, and I totally called this one wrong.

Best Revival of a Play

Patrick Wilson has come on to the stage to present the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. And the Tony goes to ... Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart.

Scenic Design of a Play

The Tony for Best Scenic Design of a Play has just gone to War Horse.

Another correct prediction.

Book of a Musical

Robin Williams (currently starring in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) has come up to present the Tony Award for Best Book. And the Tony goes to ... The Book of Mormon.

Another correct prediction.

Costume Design of a Play

The Tony for Best Costume Design of a Play has been given to The Importance of Being Earnest -- my Dark Horse choice.

Costume Design of a Musical

The Tony for Costume Design of a Musical has gone to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

Another correct prediction.

Featured Actor in a Musical

Brooke Shields came up to present the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. And the Tony goes to ... John Larroquette for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Another of my Dark Horses takes the prize.

Sound Design

The Awards for Sound Design were just announced.

The Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Musical went to ... The Book of Mormon.

The Tony Award for Best Sound Design of a Play went to ... War Horse.

A correct prediction for Book of Mormon, but incorrect on War Horse.

Featured Actress in a Musical

Harry Conick Jr. comes on to present the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. And the award goes to ... Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon.

Another correct prediction.

Directors

David Hyde Pierce is up to present the Tony Awards for Best Director of a Play and of a Musical.

Best Director of a Musical goes to ... Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker for The Book of Mormon.

Congrats Casey!!!
(Editor's Note: I took a workshop of Casey's a few years ago and he is really a great guy, but I wanted to provide full disclosure to the sight that we have worked together in the past.)


Best Director of a Musical goes to ... Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris for War Horse.


Correct prediction on Book of Mormon, incorrect prediction on War Horse.

Choreography

The Tony Award for Best Choreography was just given to ... Kathleen Marshall on Anything Goes.

Another dark horse prediction takes the award.

Featured Actor in a Play

Viola Davis has come up to present the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play. And the Tony goes to ... John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart.

My dark horse has taken home the prize.

Score

The Tony Award for Best Score was just announced as having been given to ... The Book of Mormon.

Another award, another correct prediction.

Best Orchestrations

It has just been announced that, earlier this evening (during that Creative Arts Tony segment I mentioned earlier) that the Tony for Best Orchestrations went to ... The Book of Mormon.

Another award, another correct prediction.

Featured Actress in a Play

Alec Baldwin just came up to present the award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. And the Tony Award goes to ... Ellen Barkin for The Normal Heart.

The first Tony of the evening results in my first correct prediction.

Tony Awards Opening Number

Neil Patrick Harris, TV's Doogie Howser, just delivered a hilarious opening number -- "Broadway's Not Just For Gays Anymore". It will probably be on Youtube soon enough.

Creative Arts Tony Awards

I've been trying to find the creative arts section of the Tony Awards on television and the internet with no luck. I will do my best to find information about who won these awards in order to report on the winners and see how these compare to my predictions. The Creative Arts Tony Awards are given out in the hour before the main broadcast (which begins at 8 pm EST, by the way) and are awarded to the designers of both plays and musicals, the writers of the best book and score for a musical, and often the directors, choreographers, and orchestrators of Broadway productions. The winners of these awards are often acknowledged briefly during the main ceremony, so, if worse comes to worst, I can fill these in "in bulk" during that announcement.

Tony Preparations

Well, I didn't get to updating my predictions one last time since last night, so last night's predictions will have to suffice as my final set. Let's see what happens tonight!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

4th Tony Predictions

Well, the Tony Awards are tomorrow, so you know what that must mean! If your guess was something along the lines of "one more set of predictions", you'd be right!


Best Play:
Will Win: Good People
Should Win: Good People
Dark Horse: The Motherfucker With the Hat

Best Musical:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Scottsboro Boys
Dark Horse: Scottsboro Boys

Book of a Musical:
Will Win: Book of Mormon
Should Win: Book of Mormon
Dark Horse: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Score:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Women on the Verge of a nervous Breakdown
Dark Horse: Scottsboro Boys

Revival of a Play:
Will Win: The Normal Heart
Should Win: Merchant of Venice
Dark Horse: The Importance of Being Earnest

Revival of a Musical:
Will Win: Anything Goes
Should Win: Anything Goes
Dark Horse: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Lead Actor in a Play:
Will Win: Mark Rylance, Jerusalem
Should Win: Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
Dark Horse: Bobby Cannavale, The Motherfucker With the Hat

Lead Actress in a Play:
Will Win: Frances McDormand, Good People
Should Win: Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice
Dark Horse: Hannah Yelland, Brief Encounter

Lead Actor in a Musical:
Will Win: Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Tony Sheldon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Dark Horse: Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can

Lead Actress in a Musical:
Will Win: Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Should Win: Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Dark Horse: Patina Miller, Sister Act

Featured Actor in a Play:
Will Win: Mackenzie Crook, Jerusalem
Should Win: Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Dark Horse: John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart

Featured Actress in a Play:
Will Win: Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart
Should Win: Judith Light, Lombardi
Dark Horse: Judith Light, Lombardi

Featured Actor in a Musical:
Will Win: Coleman Domingo for The Scottsboro Boys
Should Win: Coleman Domingo, The Scottsboro Boys
Dark Horse: John Larroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Featured Actress in a Musical:
Will Win: Nikki James, The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Dark Horse: Patti LuPone, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Scenic Design of a Play:
Will Win: War Horse
Should Win: War Horse
Dark Horse: The Merchant of Venice

Scenic Design of a Musical:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Scottsboro Boys
Dark Horse: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Costume Design of a Play:
Will Win: Born Yesterday
Should Win: Born Yesterday
Dark Horse: The Importance of Being Earnest

Costume Design of a Musical:
Will Win: Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Should Win: Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Dark Horse: The Book of Mormon

Lighting Design of a Play:
Will Win: War Horse
Should Win: War Horse
Dark Horse: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Lighting Design of a Musical:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: The Scottsboro Boys
Dark Horse: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Sound Design of a Play:
Will Win: Jerusalem
Should Win: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Dark Horse: Brief Encounter

Sound Design of a Musical:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: The Book of Mormon
Dark Horse: Catch Me if You Can

Director of a Play:
Will Win: Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart
Should Win: Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherfucker With the Hat
Dark Horse: Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherfucker With the Hat

Director of a Musical:
Will Win: Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys
Dark Horse: Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

Choreography:
Will Win: Casey Nicholaw, The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Casey Nicholaw, The Book of Mormon
Dark Horse: Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes

Orchestrations:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Anything Goes
Dark Horse: Catch Me if You Can

Friday, June 10, 2011

Tony Awards Drinking Game

The editors at Broadway.com have come up with what is possibly the funniest drinking game I have ever heard of. Here it is in all it's glory. Just remember ... drink responsibly!


Non-Broadway-Related Jokes
• Take a sip if someone mentions Alec Baldwin running for mayor.
• Drink if you hear the name Anthony Weiner.
• Chug if anyone alludes to tweeting their junk.

Camera Angles
• Gratuitous shot of How to Succeed star Daniel Radcliffe? Drink!
• If one half of a couple is on stage and the audience reaction shot is the other crying, chug! (Couples include but are not restricted to Laura Benanti and Steven Pasquale, Sutton Foster and Bobby Cannavale, Norbert Leo Butz and Michelle Federer, Trey Parker and Matt Stone—not a couple but valid for our purposes.)
• Did someone just look fake-shocked at those raunchy Book of Mormon jokes? Bottoms up!

Good Sports
• Take a shot if you see any of these non-nominees smiling like they are “just happy to celebrate Broadway”: Aaron Tveit, Daniel Radcliffe, Ben Stiller, John Leguizamo or Robin Williams.
• Chug if The Motherf**ker With the Hat’s Chris Rock starts trending on Twitter.

Insider Dish
• Did someone ask who the hell Kim Kardashian is? Drink! Was it Edie Falco asking? Drink again!
• Is Jerusalem star Mark Rylance spouting poetry? Chug!
• Did someone just say the word "Zarkana"? Pour yourself another glass!

• Obvious Jokes
• Is that Neil Patrick Harris in a dress a la Priscilla… or (eek!) The Importance of Being Earnest? Time for a shot!
• If you hear jokes about any of the following: boy wizards, tiger blood, sister wives, the word motherf**ker or Spider-Man, you know what to do: drink and rise above!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Labor Dispute at the Tony's

The show is only a few days away but there is already a potential labor dispute brewing for the Tony Awards presentation on Sunday. The dispute centers around the use of union labor on the red carpet portion of the ceremonies. Given that the awards show will be at the Beacon Theatre, a much smaller venue than the show's usual home at Radio City Music Hall, the red carpet section of the show will be held across the street from the theater. Since that space is not part of the Beacon Theatre's property, it is not covered by the same requirements for the use of union labor. In other words, for that space, producers of the Tony Awards are not required to use union labor (though they certainly may if they choose to), even though the awards show's producers MUST use union labor for everything on Beacon Theatre property. This has sparked concern for local one, the stagehands union. For further information, check out the article below from Variety.com.


http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118038270?refCatId=15

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Two New Shows Announced for Next Season

Broadway.com has announced two new shows for the 2011-2012 season, with speculation about casting and creative teams for both. The first is William Inge's classic play, Picnic. The other is a musical adaptation of the Tim Burton film Big Fish. Check out the articles below, quoted directly from Broadway.com, for more details.



Academy Award winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and Hayden Panettiere (TV's Heroes) recently participated in a reading of William Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Picnic, according to The New York Times. Producer Darren Bagert revealed he is planning a Broadway run for the show, but no casting is official. Sam Gold (Kin, Circle Mirror Transformation) is attached to direct.

In addition to Leo and Panettiere, Laura Innes (ER), Seth Numrich (War Horse) and The Illusion's Lois Smith and Finn Wittrock participated in the reading. Innes read the role of the schoolteacher Rosemary, which producers had previously approached Allison Janney to play.

"Mr. Inge is definitely a playwright that is undervalued still," Bagert said, "and there is a subtle strength in Sam Gold's direction that, I think, makes him a perfect match for Inge."

Picnic first opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre on February 19, 1953, and ran for 477 performances. The original production starred Peggy Conklin as Flo and featured Paul Newman in his Broadway debut as Alan. A 1994 revival starred Ashley Judd, Tate Donovan, Kyle Chandler, Debra Monk and Polly Holliday.




In other news:

A musical adaptation of the novel and movie drama Big Fish is set to open on Broadway in the spring of 2012. Five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman (The Scottsboro Boys, The Producers) has signed on as director and choreographer. The show will feature music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family) and a book by John August, who also wrote the screenplay. Casting and design team will be announced shortly.

A reading of the musical recently took place with Tony winners Hugh Jackman and Laura Benanti in the cast.

"John August and Andrew Lippa have taken inspiration from Daniel Walllace's book and Tim Burton's movie and completely re-imagined this ambitious story for the stage," producer Dan Jinks said in a statement. "They have created a musical that is enormously entertaining, hilariously funny and spectacularly moving."

"We are ecstatic to be working with this generation’s pre-eminent director/choreographer, launching Big Fish on the eve of her double Tony nominations for The Scottsboro Boys," said Bruce Cohen, who will join with Jinks to produce the new musical.

Everything You Wanted to Know About the Tony Awards But Were Afraid to Ask

With the Tony Awards coming up, I thought this article from Broadway.com was particularly timely. This article pretty well answers most of the major questions anyone may have about the upcoming awards, scheduling, hosts, performers ... you name it!

When are the 2011 Tony Awards happening?
Sunday, June 12, 2011, at 8pm.

Where will the Tony Awards ceremony be held?
The Beacon Theatre, which is located in New York City at 2124 Broadway between 74th and 75th Streets on the Upper West Side.

Why did the Tony ceremony move from Radio City Music Hall?
Radio City was been booked by Cirque du Soleil for its latest show, Zarkana, which began performances on June 9.

Who is hosting the 2011 Tony Awards?
Neil Patrick Harris. The How I Met Your Mother actor is no stranger to Broadway; he appeared in Proof in 2002, Cabaret in 2003 and Assassins in 2004. He also hosted the Tonys in 2009 and won an Emmy Award for his efforts.

How can I watch the Tony Awards ceremony?
Tune into CBS from 8-11pm EST to see the presentation of the major awards and performances from current Broadway shows. Or if you’re in New York City, head to Times Square, where they will be broadcast on the Jumbotron.

Who is nominated for the 2011 Tony Awards?
Check out this article to find out! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tony_Awards

What Broadway shows will be performing during the Tony Awards ceremony?
The ceremony will feature performances from nominated shows Anything Goes, Catch Me If You Can, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Sister Act, The Book of Mormon and The Scottsboro Boys, as well as Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark, Ghetto Klown, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Memphis. There will also be a performance from the all-star cast of Company, including host Neil Patrick Harris.

What are the Creative Arts Tony Awards?
The Creative Arts Tony Awards honor the people behind the scenes of Broadway productions. Awards included in this portion of the ceremony often include Best Score, Best Choreography and Best Lighting Design.

How can I see the Creative Arts Tony Awards?
Laura Benanti and Katie Finneran will host a 30-minute ceremony prior to the televised broadcast. No word yet if this presentation will be streamed online, but it is likely clips will be incorporated into the telecast.

Who are the presenters at the 2011 Tony Awards?
On the bill to present at the 2011 Tonys is Alec Baldwin, Christie Brinkley, Matthew Broderick, Harry Connick Jr., Viola Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, Kelsey Grammer, Joel Grey, Marg Helgenberger, Samuel L. Jackson, James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Robert Morse, Jim Parsons, David Hyde Pierce, Daniel Radcliffe, Vanessa Redgrave, Chris Rock, Brooke Shields, Robin Williams, Patrick Wilson and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Third Tony Predictions

As the Tony's approach this Sunday night, I thought it would be good to update my predictions again, and I will probably update once or twice more before the day of the event.

Best Play:
Will Win: War Horse
Should Win: Good People
Dark Horse: Good People

Best Musical:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Scottsboro Boys
Dark Horse: Scottsboro Boys

Book of a Musical:
Will Win: Book of Mormon
Should Win: Book of Mormon
Dark Horse: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson


Score:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: The Book of Mormon
Dark Horse: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Revival of a Play:
Will Win: The Normal Heart
Should Win: Merchant of Venice
Dark Horse: The Importance of Being Earnest

Revival of a Musical:
Will Win: Anything Goes
Should Win: Anything Goes
Dark Horse: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Lead Actor in a Play:
Will Win: Bobby Cannavale, The Motherfucker With the Hat
Should Win: Mark Rylance, Jerusalem
Dark Horse: Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart

Lead Actress in a Play:
Will Win: Frances McDormand, Good People
Should Win: Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice
Dark Horse: Hannah Yelland, Brief Encounter

Lead Actor in a Musical:
Will Win: Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Tony Sheldon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Dark Horse: Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can

Lead Actress in a Musical:
Will Win: Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Should Win: Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Dark Horse: Patina Miller, Sister Act

Featured Actor in a Play:
Will Win: Mackenzie Crook, Jerusalem
Should Win: Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Dark Horse: John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart

Featured Actress in a Play:
Will Win: Edie Falco, The House of Blue Leaves
Should Win: Judith Light, Lombardi
Dark Horse: Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart

Featured Actor in a Musical:
Will Win: Coleman Domingo for The Scottsboro Boys
Should Win: Coleman Domingo, The Scottsboro Boys
Dark Horse: John Larroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Featured Actress in a Musical:
Will Win: Nikki James, The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Dark Horse: Patti LuPone, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Scenic Design of a Play:
Will Win: War Horse
Should Win: War Horse
Dark Horse: The Merchant of Venice

Scenic Design of a Musical:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Scottsboro Boys
Dark Horse: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Costume Design of a Play:
Will Win: Born Yesterday
Should Win: Born Yesterday
Dark Horse: The Importance of Being Earnest

Costume Design of a Musical:
Will Win: Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Should Win: Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Dark Horse: The Book of Mormon

Lighting Design of a Play:
Will Win: War Horse
Should Win: War Horse
Dark Horse: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Lighting Design of a Musical:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: The Scottsboro Boys
Dark Horse: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Sound Design of a Play:
Will Win: Jerusalem
Should Win: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Dark Horse: Brief Encounter

Sound Design of a Musical:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: The Book of Mormon
Dark Horse: Catch Me if You Can

Director of a Play:
Will Win: Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart
Should Win: Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherfucker With the Hat
Dark Horse: Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherfucker With the Hat

Director of a Musical:
Will Win: Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon
Dark Horse: Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

Choreography:
Will Win: Casey Nicholaw, The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Casey Nicholaw, The Book of Mormon
Dark Horse: Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes

Orchestrations:
Will Win: The Book of Mormon
Should Win: Anything Goes
Dark Horse: Catch Me if You Can

Monday, June 6, 2011

Creative Arts Tony Hosts Announced

The Creative Arts Tony Awards, usually handed out in the hour before the televised part of the show in a segment that people in the building don't usually see, now has its hosts. Tony winners Katie Finneran, who won a supporting actress Tony in 2002 for the revival of Noises Off and another last year for the musical Promises, Promises, and Laura Benanti, herself a supporting actress winner in 2008 for Gypsy, will host the portion of the awards in which the design, directing, choreography, and book and score of a musical, awards are given out.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Champion Season Becomes a Champ

The Broadway revival of Jason Miller's That Championship Season, starring Mr. Miller's son, Jason Patrick, 24's Kiefer Sutherland, Chris Noth, Brian Cox, and Jim Gaffifan, has become a champion to the production's producers. Even though the show received relatively poor reviews overall and considering the current economy's tough implications on Broadway's profitability, the production did manage to recoup the show's $2.75 million initial investment. The show's producers credit this speedy recovery to the high-profile cast's willingness to promote the heck out of it in a number of publicity stunts.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Brian Bedford and A Moroccan Rug

Brian Bedford recently spoke with Broadway.com about his experience performing in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest -- one he compares to acting under a Moroccan Rug. Read on to see what that's all about!

http://www.broadway.com/shows/importance-being-earnest/buzz/156639/the-lady-of-earnest-brian-bedford-on-why-his-tony-nominated-drag-role-is-like-acting-under-a-moroccan-rug/

Friday, June 3, 2011

Interactive Set Design

Though this article is a few months old, I just came across this collection of videos on the New York Times website that talks through the process of putting together the physical production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and its rather atmospheric design that extended beyond the proscenium arch.


http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/10/10/theater/20101010-bloody.html?ref=theaterspecial

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Producer Phillip Rose Dead at 89

This article appeared on playbill.com about the death of Phillip Rose, a Broadway producer known for his groundbreaking work and championship of black actors and playwrights. The article was written by Robert Simonson and is titled "Philip Rose, Daredevil Broadway Producer Who Advanced Liberal Causes, Dies at 89".



Philip Rose, a Broadway producer who bet—and sometimes won—on unlikely theatrical projects, including several works that advanced the cause of African-American stage artists—most famously the original production of Raisin in the Sun—died May 31 in Englewood, NJ. He was 89.

Small, scrappy and politically courageous, Mr. Rose's producing ethos was aptly captured by the title of his memoir, "You Can't Do That on Broadway." Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun made history in 1959 as the first Broadway drama written by, directed by and mainly starring African-American artists. It astounded the theatre community by becoming a hit and running more than a year.

He went on to produce Purlie Victorious, a comedy by actor Ossie Davis, about a black Southern preacher in the Jim Crow South who wants to build a church for his congregation; The Owl and the Pussycat, a romantic comedy by Bill Manhoff that daringly starred the interracial couple of Alan Alda and Diana Sands; Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?, a drama that introduced a young Al Pacino to theatre audiences; Purlie, a musical version of Davis' play; and Shenandoah, a Civil War-set musical that starring John Cullum that ran for more than 1,000 performances.

Short and slight, Mr. Rose was nevertheless a man of driving confidence. "He never thought of himself as diminutive either in size or in ambition," said Merle Debuskey, his publicist of many ventures, including Raisin. "He would play tennis as if he were Pancho Gonzales and shoot pool with the confidence of Willie Hoppe." A gambler in outlook and in practice, he would have his stage manager call him at his weekly poker game with playwright Neil Simon to read off the grosses of whatever show he was producing at the time.

Mr. Rose was a music publisher with no track record as a producer when he attended a casual reading of Raisin in the Sun in the Greenwich Village apartment of Hansberry and instantly insisted on bringing the play to Broadway. He had one ace in the hole; he knew actor Sidney Portier, who agreed to take the lead role. Portier recommended an old acting school friend, Lloyd Richards, to direct. The cast was filled with actors who would become stars later on: Claudia McNeil, Louis Gossett, Diana Sands, Douglas Turner, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis.

Still, theatre owners and backers wouldn't touch the property. The only African-American shows to succeed at the box office until then had been musicals. With no theatre to put his play in, Mr. Rose took Raisin out of town. New Haven reviews were positive, and weekend sales were strong, particularly within the black community. A four-week stand in Philadelphia followed, again with great notices and strong box office. Yet, Broadway was silent. Finally, the Shubert Organization sent down a emissary, a man named Jack Small, to check the show out. Backstage, after the show, Small offered Mr. Rose the Barrymore Theatre, but only after another run at the Shubert Theatre in Chicago. Mr. Rose jumped on the chance. The drama was later nominated for a Tony Award as Best Play.

Bringing in the longest of long shots, Mr. Rose was thereafter addicted to taking chances. Often this resulted in a flop. His follow-up to Raisin, a play called Semi-Detached, ran less than a week in 1960. Also quickly forgotten were 1963's The Heroine and 1964's Nobody Loves an Albatross. But when he hit his mark, the results could be memorable. In the late '60s, he decided Purlie Victorious, the Ossie Davis play he had produced in 1961, would make a good musical. He tried to get Frank Loesser to write the score, but eventually hired one of Loesser's proteges, Peter Udell, and Gary Geld, with whom Udell had written the pop hit "Sealed With a Kiss." The show opened in 1970, ran for 688 performances, and made stars of Cleavon Little and Melba Moore, both of whom won Tony Awards.

Geld and Udell also wrote the score for Shenandoah, which opened in 1974 and was an even bigger success. Mr. Rose's decidedly liberal bent shown through in most of his productions—many of which he also directed—and the musical was no exception. Though set in the Civil War, many critics identified its subject as the Vietnam War. John Cullum played a pacifist Virginian who wants no part of the conflict. Nonetheless, the war tears apart his family. Cullum won a Tony Award for his portrayal, as did James Lee Barrett, Udell and Rose for the book, which was based on the 1965 film written by Barrett.

Shenandoah was Mr. Rose's last great success. Kings, The Trip Back Down, Angel, My Old Friends, and Comin' Uptown, all produced in the 1970s, failed to find an audience. Mr. Rose fared no better in the next decade, with Amen Corner, Late Nite Comic and Checkmates all closing quickly. In 1989, he revived Shenandoah, but it ran only a month. After Truly Blessed and The Cemetery Club in 1990, Mr. Rose's Broadway activity ceased.

Philip Rosenberg was born Jul 4, 1921, on the Lower East Side of New York to Russian Jewish parents. His family moved to Washington, D.C. during the Great Depression. There, he began working for many of the local stores in the area, and became acquainted with the black neighborhoods of Washington.

"I was only 16 with no skills and took this job of collecting 50 cents or a dollar a week for the credit department stores. They sold to the black community who lived in slums just blocks from the capitol," he later recalled. "So I ended up going into people's homes. Where I was born, I never had occasion to meet black people. In Washington, I was scared, but after a while I was accepted by some of the families and made many friends. I was from a poor background, too—one of five children—and we had discussions about our lives. I learned so much from them about gospel music and jazz. Washington was a very segregated city, but we found ways to go out together. That experience changed my life."

The experience would later inform which plays he chose to back. "Both in the theatre and in real life, Phil fought for what he believed in and believed what he fought for," said Steven Suskin, a theatre historian who worked as a stage manager on several of Mr. Rose's Broadway productions. "He was at the same time a fighter and a gentle man."

He moved to New York in 1945. While acting in a Gilbert & Sullivan company, he met actress Doris Belack, who became his wife. She survives him.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

NYLONS and the Theater?

NYLONS -- people who cross the pond between New York (NY --) and London (--LON) frequently -- have many unique traits. One of them (and the most relevant here) is the ability to compare New York versus London theater goers. This article on Playbill.com explains many of these differences and I thought you'd enjoy reading it!

http://www.playbill.com/features/article/151334-A-LETTER-FROM-LONDON-The-Brits-Vs-The-Yanks-Different-Approaches-to-the-Same-Passion-for-Theatre

A Record Year on Broadway

Broadway grosses were up 6% this year over last year's tally, according to the Broadway League, the New York Times reports. Shows grossed $1.08 billion this year abd played to over 12.5 million people -- a 5.4% increase over last year's number.