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DIVA TALK: A Diva Season Preview
By Andrew Gans
04 Jan 2008
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Sherie Rene Scott in The Little Mermaid
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| photo by Joan Marcus | News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.
ON BROADWAY
The Little Mermaid
Any musical that boasts a cast led by Sherie Rene Scott (as the evil sea witch Ursula) is off to a great start. Whether she's playing Off-Broadway (The Last Five Years) or on (Aida, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Scott always manages to impress, and here she's joined by Norm Lewis (as King Triton), who possesses one of the great voices of any musical theatre actor. I'm also looking forward to hearing newcomer Sierra Boggess, who stars in the title role of the Disney production at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. The Alan Menken-Howard Ashman-Glenn Slater musical, which is currently in previews, will officially open Jan. 10.
Sunday in the Park with George
It was Sunday in the Park with George that led me to my great love of the many talents of Bernadette Peters — I still remember listening to Peters' thrilling sound on "We Do Not Belong Together" over and over on my parents' stereo — so it may be difficult hearing anyone else but that two-time Tony winner portraying Dot. That said, the upcoming production of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine Pulitzer Prize-winner received such acclaim in London — including an Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production — that I'm more than curious to revisit one of my favorite Sondheim scores when the musical arrives at Studio 54 beginning Jan. 18. Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell — who starred as George and Dot, respectively, in London — will reprise their work for New York audiences, and the cast will also feature Michael Cumpsty as Jules/Bob, Alexander Gemignani as Boatman/Dennis, Jessica Molaskey as Yvonne/Naomi with Mary Beth Peil as Old Lady/Blair.
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Leslie Kritzer and Faith Prince in A Catered Affair
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| photo by Craig Schwartz |
A Catered Affair
It was the late, great Nancy LaMott who introduced me (via her cabaret performances) to the work of John Bucchino: She recorded the definitive version of Bucchino's "It Feels Like Home" on her final recording, "Listen to My Heart." Bucchino's songs have also been recorded by such theatre royalty as Patti LuPone, Barbara Cook and Kristin Chenoweth, and who hasn't been touched by Bucchino's beautiful ballad, "Grateful"? So, when it was announced that Bucchino was penning his first Broadway score — with multiple Tony winner Harvey Fierstein writing the book (and co-starring) and Tony winner John Doyle directing — A Catered Affair became the new musical I was most looking forward to during the 2007-08 theatre season. And, the production, which begins previews March 25 at the Walter Kerr Theatre, features not one, but two divas: Tony winner Faith Prince as Aggie Hurley, mother of the bride; and up-n-comer Leslie Kritzer as the bride.
Gypsy
After an acclaimed run at City Center this past summer, the latest Broadway revival of the classic American musical Gypsy is set to begin previews at Broadway's St. James Theatre March 3. Directed by Gypsy co-creator Arthur Laurents, the production will feature Tony and Olivier Award winner Patti LuPone as Rose, Laura Benanti as Louise and Boyd Gaines as Herbie — who all drew raves for their performances in the 2006 Encores! Summer Stars staging. Highlights of that production were numerous, including LuPone's "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and "Rose's Turn," which were as powerful vocally as they were emotionally; Benanti's surprisingly moving "Little Lamb"; and the Act II dressing room scene between the two leading ladies. LuPone and Benanti. Let the onstage fireworks begin again.
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South Pacific's Kelli O'Hara
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South Pacific
It's hard to believe that the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic South Pacific hasn't been seen on Broadway since it debuted in 1949 with Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza, but the upcoming production at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (performances begin March 1) will mark the musical's first Broadway revival. I've previously enjoyed two Nellies to date — Kate Baldwin in a production at Arena Stage and Grammy winner Reba McEntire in a one-night gig opposite Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell at Carnegie Hall — and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what gifted soprano Kelli O'Hara can do with the role and such R&H standards as "A Cockeyed Optimist," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" and "A Wonderful Guy." O'Hara was terrific in both Light in the Piazza and The Pajama Game, and she will be joined on the Lincoln Center stage by such Broadway favorites as Danny Burstein and Matthew Morrison as well as newcomers Loretta Ables Sayre and Paulo Szot; Piazza's Bartlett Sher directs.
OFF-BROADWAY
There's one Off-Broadway musical that's on my radar, mainly because of the return to the New York stage of Tony nominee and phenomenal belter (and actress) Alice Ripley. Next to Normal, which will begin previews Jan. 16 at Second Stage, casts Ripley opposite another theatre favorite, Brian d'Arcy James. The musical, which features book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by High Fidelity's Tom Kitt, asks, "How does an almost average family navigate today's over-stimulated and over-medicated world?" Michael Greif directs the new work about "one suburban household [that] confronts its past and its future . . . [and] explores how far two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their world intact," according to show notes. Continued...
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