The Year of Tracy Letts Continues

As I reported a few days ago, 2010 is officially the year of Tracy Letts as far as I can tell.  With Superior Donuts finishing its run back in January and buzz about the upcoming stars in the film adaptation of August: Osage County, there is now MORE Tracy Letts news to report.  Thomas Hayden Church (of Sideways fame) will star in the film adaptation of Letts' Killer Joe with filming set to start in New Orleans on November 8th.

The Reviews Have Begun to Be Painted

The reviews are in for the first Broadway production of the season.  The show is The Pitmen Painters, a British import being presented by the Manhattan Theater Club.  Ben Brantley of the New York Times has said that the show, while well acted and designed in a particularly admirable way, the show feels rather academic and stuffy.  Marilyn Stasio of Variety absolutely LOVED the whole experience and noted in her review that at "the beginning of a new theater season, and Broadway already has a feel-good -- make that feel-great -- hit in The Pitmen Painters."  Based on other reviews in addition to these, the reviews seem to be mixed-to-positive.  While not an all-out hit, this show seems like a good bet for ticket buyers.

Edie Falco and Ben Stiller to Turn Blue

Ben Stiller and Edie Falco will be joining a busy Broadway season this year.  The pair will star as a zookeeper and his schizophrenic wife in the Broadway revival of John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves. The play, which is aiming for a spring 2011 opening, will be produced by Scott Rudin and directed by David Cromer, who is also on tap to direct a production of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth next fall, with that production to star Nicole Kidman.

The Love That Could Never Die Did

Love Never Dies, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to his massively popular The Phantom of the Opera, will NOT be transferring to Broadway any time soon, according to a recent press release.  Though the London production will continue to run at the Adelphi Theatre as long as the market will allow, the transfer will not occur due to a combination of Lloyd Webber's poor health and its creative team (most notably director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell) being attached to the upcoming Broadway production of Catch Me If You Can, as well as that show having booked Broadway's Neil Simon Theatre before the Love Never Dies team, which wanted that space, could book the space.

August: Osage County Film in Works

This has been an uptick year for Tracy Letts, at least in my world.  He followed his smash hit, Pulitzer and Tony winning play, August: Osage County, with a more modest (but also, for me, more poignant and better written) play, Superior Donuts.  Then, his adaptation of Three Sisters is having its East Coast debut, and its second ever production after its world debut in Seattle, at my alma mater, Brandeis University, through their professional company, The Brandeis Theater Company.  (For more information about this production, see this article http://www.brandeis.edu/now/2010/september/lettssisters.html).


News has also just been released that the film version of the play, set to begin production in the summer of 2011, has some major stars in talks.  Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep are in talks to star as eldest daughter Barbara Weston and her drug addicted mother, Violet, respectively.  If Streep does sign on to star in the project, this would continue her streak in film adaptations of Broadway hits, following Mamma Mia! and Doubt.

Stars Invading Broadway

Broadway is a famously expensive, economically tricky place.  That is why, often, star casting has been such a major presence on the Great White Way.  But, in terms of a show's longevity, star casting can actually do more harm than good.  Without stars, some shows just die.  The Producers is a great case in point.  Once Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick left the show, audience interest in the show left with them.  There are other shows that don't even try to continue after their star leaves the production.  The Boy From Oz suffered this fate a few years back after the departure of Huge Jackman, and the current revival of Promises, Promises will have a similar fate when, after Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes' contracts expire, the show will close.

There is a great article expanding on this theme in the New York Times today.  The link is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/theater/27recast.html?_r=1

Joel Grey to Join Revival of "Anything Goes"

The upcoming revival of Anything Goes at the Roundabout has just gotten a new star.  Joel Grey will be joining the cast as Moonface Martin alongside Sutton Foster's Reno Sweeney.  The production will be directed by Kathleen Marshall and will begin previews on March 10th, 2011, with an opening date set for April 7th at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway.

Acting Legend Tony Curtis Dead at 85

Tony Curtis, the heartthrob of many a film of the 1950s including The Sweet Smell of Success, The Defiant Ones, and Some Like It Hot, died last night of cardiac arrest at his home in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nevada.  He was 85.

Catch Me If You Can Books Neil Simon Theatre

The musical adaptation of the film Catch Me If You Can has booked the Neil Simon Theatre.  The show has a book by Terrence McNally (the book writer of Ragtime) and a score by Mark Shaiman and Scott Whitman (the composers of Hairspray).  The show will be directed by Jack O'Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell.  Previews will begin on March 7th and opening night is set for April 10th.

Also, Jerry Mitchell has spilled some details about the show to Broadway.com.  Follow the link below to find out more.

http://www.broadway.com/shows/catch-me-if-you-can/buzz/153715/catch-me-if-you-can-books-neil-simon-theatre-jerry-mitchell-spills-details/

David Cromer Wins MacArthur Genius Grant

Though the headline says it all, go to the article linked below at Variety.com for the full story.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118024791.html?categoryid=15&cs=1&ref=vertlegit