Stritch, Ebersole, LuPone and LaChanze….ladies rule this WEEK AHEAD! So take this opportunity to witness the divadom that is these stunning Queens of the Night.
Of course, we do get some action from the fellas, namely an Off-Broadway offering from Ethan Hawke and a Blue Note special from Bill Cosby and Jimmy Heath.
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,
Blake
Friday, January 29 OPENING→ Ethan Hawke directs Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind featuring Laurie Metcalf, Marin Ireland, Keith Carradine, Josh Hamilton, Alessandro Nivola, Maggie Siff, Frank Whaley and Karen Young. (Through March 20, The Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, $61.25, info/tickets)
Saturday, January 30 WATCH→ The National Theatre’s production of Nation will screen around the world this Saturday. Nation (adapted from the Terry Pratchett novel by Mark Ravenhill) follows a young girl in 1860 stranded on a strange island that has been devastated by a tsunami. It features a wonderfully diverse cast set in a what some have likened to a type of Alice in Wonderland fantasy world. For ages 10 and up. (2pm, New York screenings include: Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYU’s Skiball Center and Time & Space in Hudson, NY, $20-$25. For a complete list of venues in the Unite States, click here)
Sunday, January 31 GO→ Tony winners LaChanze, Lillias White, Adriane Lenox along with Tituss Burgess, Bobby Daye and others join Lee Summers’ Just a Piano: Open Mic series launch, which will serve as a benefit for The American Red Cross and The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. (Triad Theatre, 158 W. 72nd Street, between Broadway & Columbus Avenues, $10 with a drink minimum, info/tickets)
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BEFORE IT CLOSES→ Off-Broadway’s Circle Mirror Transformation, a story set in a community center acting class, takes on some larger, deeper issues about life, delivered in a humorous package. After several extentions, this critically acclaimed show written by Annie Baker ends its run. (Playwrights Horizons Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 W. 42nd Street, $50, info/tickets)
WATCH→ The cast of the upcoming musical American Idiot will perform the song “21 Guns” (alongside Green Day) at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards. American Idiot, adapted from Green Day’s best-selling album of the same name, opens on the Main Stem April 20th at the St. James Theater. It is directed by Tony Winner Michael Mayer and features orchestration by Tony Winner Tom Kitt. (8pmET/PT on CBS)
Monday, February 1 GO (FREE)→ Miss Finian’s Rainbow? Well, here’s your last chance to see the residents of Missitucky live and in-the-flesh one more time, when they reunite to promote their cast album at Barnes & Noble. Expect cast members Kate Baldwin, Jim Norton, Cheyenne Jackson and others to perform. (5pm, Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle, 1972 Broadway at 66th Street)
Tuesday, February 2 GO→ Sax master and all around jazz great Jimmy Heath and the Jimmy Heath Big Band perform with special guest MC Bill Cosby. (Blue Note Jazz Club, 131 West 3rd Street, $20-$30, info/tickets)
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Wednesday, February 3 GO→ Fabulous songstress and two-time Tony winner Christine Ebersole returns to the Carlyle for a show described as “an eclectic musical evening on the subjects of sex, politics, religion…and weather.” But not before the Carlyle says a fond farewell (and a happy 85th birthday) to Elaine Stritch, whose show Singin’ Sondheim…One Song at a Time will play the room one more time on Tuesday, February 2. Of the added birthday performance, Stritch says: “OK, I’ll do it. But damn it if Christine Ebersole isn’t going to be up there with me!” (8:45pm, The Café Carlyle, 35 East 76th Street at Madison Avenue, For reservations call 212.744.1600)
Thursday, February 4 GO→ Patti’s back and dishing all about her life on Broadway! Miz Two-Time-Tony-Winning Lupone will join WNYC’s Leonard Lopate for a talk called “The Broadway Life.” (8:15pm, 92 Street Y, Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street, $27, info/tickets)
Patti LuPone…there is only one, and just like Barbra, Bette, Liza, Judy or Bernadette…Patti, in all her diva-like fabulousness, only needs the one name.
Sure she’s had her fair share of (ahem) “moments”—but sometimes, genius needs some room to breathe, ok?!
Patti will be out in all her glory next Thursday at the 92 street Y talking about “The Broadway Life.” And so, I thought it only fitting to make this Webway Wednesday an homage to Patti.
Patti met Tony for the first time in 1979 with the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical Evita.
For Patti-philes everywhere, the 1987 revival of Anything Goes with Patti as Reno Sweeney is a favorite.
Patti brought the house down (and scooped up her second Tony) as Mama Rose in the 2008 revival of Gypsy.
Helping others is big on this WEEK AHEAD’s agenda. We kick-off with a massive telethon to help the victims of the Haiti Earthquake. For information on how to donate your time, money or give blood, go to www.redcross.org, www.unicefusa.org or text YELE to 501501 to donate $5, or text HAITI to donate $10.
Blake
Friday, January 22
WATCH→ Dozens of channels will broadcast “Hope for Haiti,” a telethon to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake. All donations will go directly to Oxfam, The Red Cross, UNICEF, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Foundation. George Clooney and Anderson Cooper join Haitian-born Jean as co-hosts. Artists such as Fela! Producer Jay-Z, Bono and The Edge (composers of the upcoming Spider-Man:Turn Off the Dark), Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Hudson, Madonna, and a host of others are lined-up to perform. (8pmET, airs on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, CW, BET, CMT, HBO, MTV, VH1, Oxygen, Style, Comedy Central, Bravo, Showtime, PBS, TNT and National Geographic channels. Also streaming on http://www.youtube.com/hopeforhaitinow)
BEFORE IT CLOSES→ After two-and-a-half years, Off-Broadway’s My First Time will play its last time at New World Stages this Friday. As the cheeky title suggests, this play (which pulls from real-life stories acquired from the site myfirsttime.com) explores the awkward, absurd, and sometime ridiculous stories of loosing one’s virginity. (New World Stages, Stage 5, 340 W. 50th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, tickets/info)
Saturday, January 23
GO→Tony-winner Sutton Foster performs songs from her debut solo album Wish at Joe’s Pub this Saturday. (11:30pm, Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, $30, info/tickets)
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WATCH→ The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards airs. Stars set to present and attend include the biggest names from both screen and stage, including Alec Baldwin, Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, Anthony Mackie, Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Huffman and others. (8pm ET/PT, TBS)
Sunday, January 24
OPENING→ The revival of Arthur Miller’s 1955 drama, A View from the Bridge, starring Tony winner Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson opens this Sunday. (Cort Theatre, 138 W. 48th Street, between Eighth Ave. and Broadway, For Playbill Club discount tickets click here)
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BEFORE IT CLOSES→ Broadway will get its last taste of Sweet Apple as it says “bye bye” to Bye Bye Birdie on Sunday. The first Broadway revival of the classic musical stars John Stamos, Gina Gershon and Tony-winner Bill Irwin. (Henry Miller’s Theatre, 124 West 43rd Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, For Playbill Club discount tickets click here)
Monday, January 25 GO→ Funnyman Bruce Vilanch (last seen on Broadway in Hairspray) hosts the Eighth Annual Nightlife Awards, which honors the best of New York cabaret, comedy and jazz. This year’s winners include Christine Ebersole, Michael Feinstein, Cheyenne Jackson, Baby Jane Dexter, and Louis CK. Honorees perform in lieu of acceptance speeches. Other performers include Tovah Feldshuh and Nellie McKay. (7pm, The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, $25-$75, info/tickets)
Tuesday, January 26 GO→ Tony-winner Tyne Daly, most recently seen in Off-Broadway’s Love, Loss and What I Wore, takes up residency at Feinstein’s with her show Second Time Around, featuring Broadway standards from Jerry Herman and Irving Berlin as well as popular songs made famous by Al Jolson and Bessie Smith. (Through January 30, Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency, 540 Park Avenue at 61st street, call 212.339.2095 or click here for tickets)
Wednesday, January 27 GO→ Media mogul Tyler Perry brings his popular alter-ego Madea to New York as part the national tour of Madea’s Big Happy Family. The tour will make multiple stops in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, etc. (Through January 31, Madison Square Garden, $59.50-$129.50, 4 Penn Plaza, entrance on Seventh Avenue, tickets/info, full tour details)
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GO→ Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series continues with performances by Rufus Wainwright, Bill Frisell, Van Dyke Parks and others exploring the contributions of Jewish songwriters like Berlin and Gershwin. Conceived by producer Hal Willner, the show promises “mash-ups” of well known songs from the American songbook that “challenge, shock and inspire.” (8:30pm, The Allen Room at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th street, 6th floor, tickets/info)
Thursday, January 28 GO→ Time Stands Still, a new play by Pulitzer Prize-winner Donald Margulies, opens this Thursday on Broadway. Starring frequent Margulies collaborator Laura Linney, Alicia Silverstone, Brian D’Arcy James and Eric Bogosian, Time centers around a photographer (played by Linney) facing the realities of her stateside life after being wounded covering a war abroad. Also returning to work with Margulies is Tony-winning director Daniel Sullivan. (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47th Street, For Playbill Club discount tickets click here)
“And so, Patricia, as I was telling you, that deluded rector has, in literal effect, closed the church to me.”
This was the line that, according to Looped, a new play making its way to Broadway this March, almost brought down Tallulah Bankhead’s last film, “Die! Die! My Darling!”
Multi Emmy Award-winning actress Valerie Harper brings Bankhead back to life. In this NPR clip, representing the earlier Arena Stage run of Matthew Lombardo’s play, we step inside the recording studio and get a taste of that infamous line.
While it’s easy to get lost in the hilarious antics that ensue between Harper’s Bankhead and an annoyed sound engineer (played in the above clip by Jay Goede), we also must remember that Bankhead was a legend in her own right.
So, on this WEBWAY WEDNESDAY, we take a look at some classic Tallulah Bankhead moments.
In the ’50s, Bankhead hosted a poplar radio program called “The Big Show,” which featured Bankhead bantering with celebrities like Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland and Ethel Merman. In this clip, Tallulah and Merman have a pretty funny exchange that ends in a glorious “Sing-Off” at around the 4:39 mark.
Bankhead shows off her comedic “chops” alongside Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz for the “Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”
Bankhead plays Mrs. Trefoile alongside Stefanie Powers as Patricia in 1965’s “Die! Die! My Darling!”
Sir Ian McKellen, (who was last seen on the London stage as Estragon in Waiting for Godot opposite another knight Sir Patrick Stewart), kept a diary of his life onstage as this critically acclaimed revival entered a new phase of its run. It was published in the Times UK. He’ll return to the Beckett classic on Thursday, this time opposite Tony-winner Roger Rees.
McKellen revealed some interesting tidbits about bringing Godot back to the stage: “When we’d suggested doing it, the Theatre Royal management had said, ‘Nobody wants to see Waiting for Godot.’ As it happened, every single ticket was booked for every single performance, and this confirmation that our judgment was right was sweet.”
And about Rees stepping in for Stewart (who can’t return to the role of Vladimir aka Didi because of a scheduling conflict): “I did ask Patrick if he was all right about it. He sent an email, saying that if anyone was to replace him, he would have chosen Roger, and there was absolutely no ill feeling at all, and he was going to creep in quietly and see the show.”
McKellen’s diary got me thinking about the interesting things actors say when you give them a pen. I love reading about a show straight from the horse’s mouth. It’s why we at Playbill have given actors a similar forum to share their inner thoughts with their audience with our “Day in the Life” feature. In “Life’s” relatively short life, we’ve had people tell us some pretty interesting things. Like in the diary of… (more…)
The rush of Broadway winter/spring show openings begins this WEEK AHEAD with a Coward classic… another classic (this time by the Bard) plays over the bridge…Constantine goes solo…Broadway auditions… and everything’s comin’ up Sondheim!
Curtain Up!,
Blake
Friday, January 15
GO→F. Murray Abraham brings his Oscar winning baritone to Carnegie Hall this Friday for a one-night-only performance featuring the poetry of Ilene Starger and the music of Eric Shimelonis. (8pm, Weill Recital Hall, 881 Seventh Avenue, between 56th and 57th streets, $35-55, tickets/info)
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GO→The Bridge Project is back at BAM with the Shakespearean classic As You Like It, directed by company head, Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes. Cast includes Tony Award-winner Stephen Dillane (The Real Thing), Christian Camargo (All My Sons), and Thomas Sadoski (reasons to be pretty). (Through March 13, Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, $25-$95, info/tickets)
Saturday, January 16 GO→ Feeling disgruntled by your devotion to the theatre? The Public’s Under the Radar Festival has you covered. A two-day seminar entitled “Devoted and Disgruntled” sets out to dissect the ups and downs of devoting your professional life to the theatre, and finding ways to prevail in the crazy biz of show! (Through January 17, The Church of St Paul The Apostle, 405 W. 59th Street, Entrance on 60th and Columbus, $30, info)
Sunday, January 17 BEFORE IT CLOSES→ Three notable shows are closing up shop this Sunday. They are:
Finian’s Rainbow→ This whimsical “oldie but a goodie,” featuring wondrous performances by Kate Baldwin, Cheyenne Jackson and Tony winner Jim Norton, is set in the magical, mystical world of Missitucky. (St. James Theatre, 246 West 44th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
Wishful Drinking→ This one-woman show features hilarious and sobering stories from the life of Carrie Fisher. From the dish on parents Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, to her own marriage to Paul Simon, to her ugly battle with depression and substance abuse, nothing is off-limits. (Studio 54, 254 W. 54th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
The Understudy→ Tony winner Julie White, Marc-Paul Gosselaar and Justin Kirk star in this onstage comedy about backstage drama. Written by the always sharp Theresa Rebeck. (The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre/Laura Pels Theatre, 111 West 46th Street, Between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
GO→Memphis and The Actors Fund—two of our favorite things! If you haven’t yet seen this new musical featuring the rocking tunes of Joe DiPietro and Bon Jovi’s David Bryan, performed by the amazing Montego Glover and Chad Kimball, then go on Sunday for a special performance to benefit The Actors Fund. (8pm, Shubert Theatre, 225 W. 44th Street, between Broadway and Eight Avenues, tickets)
Monday, January 18 GO→ With A Little Night Music killing at the BO and another show, Sondheim on Sondheim, up on the boards this spring, it’s hard to believe that Stephen Sondheim is celebrating his 80th birthday this March. The Manhattan School of Music will pay tribute to the legendary songs of the legendary song-man with Beautiful Girls, a showcase featuring tunes from West Side Story, Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Company, Sweeney Todd and more. Performing in the Lonny Price-conceived show is Zoe Caldwell, Jenn Colella, Marin Mazzie and Donna McKechnie; under the baton of Paul Gemignani. Sondheim leading lady Angela Lansbury is expected to make an appearance at the reception. (7:30pm, The John C. Borden Auditorium at the Manhattan School of Music, 120 Claremont Avenue at the corner of Broadway and 122nd Street, $12 seniors, $20 adults, VIP packages available, info/tickets)
Tuesday, January 19 GO→ Celebrated Hair director, Diane Paulus, brings her unique vision to a show of intergalactic proportions. The Gotham Chamber Opera will perform Il mondo della luna (The World on the Moon) “under the stars” at the Hayden Planetarium. (Through January 28, The Hayden Planetarium at The Museum of Natural History, West 81st Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, $30-$125, info)
Wednesday, January 20 GO→ Rock of Ages front man, Constantine Maroulis, takes a solo spin at the Highline Ballroom with A Night At The Rock Show. (8pm, $20, full dinner menu available, info/tickets)
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Thursday, January 21 OPENING→ Noël Coward’s Present Laughter returns to Broadway with Victor Garber as the silk-robed matinee idol, Garry Essendine. (American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
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AUDITION→ Ever dream of being on Broadway? Well Thursday may be your lucky day.The Tony Award-winning revival of Hair is on the look out for new tribe members. A non-equity open casting call is being held at the Public Theatre from 10am-6pm. Come prepared with 16 bars of an up-tempo rock or pop song (with sheet music) and bring a headshot/resume and some canned food for a tandem food drive for NY’s City Harvest. Break a leg! (Doors open at 9am, The Public Theatre, 425 Lafayette Street)
Altar Boyz, the hit show that recently claimed the spot as the 9th longest running Off-Broadway musical of all time, bid adieu to New York last night. Former Boyz of all shapes and sizes, including Cheyenne Jackson (who starred in the NYMF version), Andy Karl, Tyler Maynard and Ryan Duncan flooded the stage for the final number, “I Believe”.
Cast and crew then continued the party at a nearby Hooters for wings and beer (perhaps to make up for the lack of any actual hooters in the cast?)
Producer Ken Davenport (seen below alongside producer Robyn Goodman) closed the evening saying he hoped to see the Boyz back in New York for what he dubbed: Altar Boyz 2: The Resurrection. He also hinted afterwards at a possible film version of the show.
So have no fear, Altarholics. The Boyz may have left the building, but they aren’t gone for good!
The WEEK AHEAD features some Times to Talks with Tony winners Liev Shrieber, Alan Cumming and Angela Lansbury…last chance deals for a few Broadway favorites…a bye-bye to the Boyz…and a return to the playhouse for Pee-Wee Herman.
Connect the dots,
Blake
Friday, January 8 SEE→ New York shopping Mecca, Bloomingdales, will unveil a special window display dedicated to Delia and Nora Ephron’s Off-Broadway play, Love, Loss & What I Wore. The retailer is the official costumer for the play, which currently stars Debra Monk, Michele Lee, Tracee Ellis Ross and Casey Wilson. (The Lexington Avenue side of the 59th street Bloomingdales flagship store)
Saturday, January 9 GO→TheNew York Times’ “Times Talks” features a weekend filled with some theatrical heavyweights. Saturday’s calendar features talks with two Tony winners: current star of A View From The Bridge, Liev Schreiber and upcoming Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark leading man, Alan Cumming. Sunday’s (January 10) headliners include five-time Tony winner and current A Little Night Music star, Angela Lansbury, Wishful Drinking’s Carrie Fisher, and a roundtable of Pulitzer Prize Playwrights, Donald Margulies, John Patrick Shanley and Beth Henley. (The Times Center, $30/talk, 242 West 41st street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, click here for the full lineup)
Sunday, January 10 BEFORE IT CLOSES→ Four Broadway shows and one of the longest running Off-Broadway musicals will close this week. They are:
Burn the Floor→ Ever since it opened this past summer, Burn the Floor has seen a rotating cast of TV’s favorite reality-show dancers. Its final performance will feature “So You Think You Can Dance” judge Mary Murphy and “Dancing with the Stars” alums Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Kym Johnson. West End regular MiG AYESA joins the company as the show’s male vocalist. (The Longacre Theatre, 220 W. 48 Street, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
In The Next Room or the vibrator play→ The best-named play of the season, Sarah Ruhl’s In The Next Room or the vibrator play, features stellar performances from Laura Benanti and Michael Cerveris. Ruhl’s clever story line and punchy dialogue made this show (in my book) the unsung hero of the fall season! (Lyceum Theatre, 149 West 45th Street, Between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
Ragtime→This booming musical featuring a score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and a book by Terrence McNally, tells the story of the birth of the American dream through the eyes of three very different families. (Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52nd Street, tickets/info)
The 39 Steps→ The classic Hitchcock movie, The 39 Steps, received a hilarious makeover when it was adapted for the stage. Over 771 performances later (and a very tired cast—four actors play over 150 characters!), the show gets its last Broadway laugh this Sunday. (The Helen Hayes Theatre, 240 W. 44th Street, between Broadway and Eight Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
Altar Boyz→ Your favorite Christian boy-banders got their first taste of the limelight back in 2004 when it debuted at NYMF. It soon made it to Off-Broadway, where it stayed for over 2000 performances. (New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, tickets/info)
Monday, January 11 GO→Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words is back with a superstar cast reading the notorious autobiographies of other superstars. Monday’s show features Mario Cantone, Rachel Dratch, Kristen Johnston, Eugene Pack, Rosie Perez, Ryan Reynolds, Sherri Shepherd and more. (7:30pm and 9:30pm, Triad Theater, 158 W. 72nd Street, $35-$60, tickets/info)
Tuesday, January 12 GO (FREE)→The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players present a special kids-go-free performance of the G&S classic H.M.S. Pinafore, which includes a post-show backstage tour. This show is part of Family Overture, a series of kid-friendly, interactive performances playing throughout January. Other shows in the series include The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado and Ruddigore. (7pm, City Center, West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, tickets/info or call 212.581.1212)
GO→ Pee-Wee Herman has moved the playhouse to Los Angeles. Paul Reubens will brush off his grey suit and bowtie and let his famous alter ego loose at the Nokia Theatre all month long. (Through February 7, Club Nokia, 800 West Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 900115, $26-$65, tickets/info)
Wednesday, January 13 GO→ Marianne Faithfull defined the term “sex, drugs & rock ‘n’ roll,” leading one of the most documented and tumultuous lives of the swinging 60’s. An older and wiser Faithfull makes a stop in New York for an evening of tunes off her new album “Easy Come, Easy Go,” a disc of covers including “Down from Dover” by Dolly Parton, West Side Story’s “Somewhere” and the title track by Bessie Smith. Part of the American Songbook Series which includes performances by Rebecca Luker, Chita Rivera, Rufus Wainwright and Martha Plimpton. (8:30pm, The Allen Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, tickets/info or call 212.721.6500)
GO (FREE)→Killer B’s, an annual concert from the NY Festival of Song and Juilliard, features my personal favorite letter of the alphabet “B!” Expect songs from The Beach Boys, Berlin, Bernstein and Barber. (Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 155 West 65th Street, call 212.721.6500 for more info)
Thursday, January 14 GO→ Much buzzed-about playwright, Young Jean Lee, debuts a new piece, Lear, based on the Shakespearean. Staying true to the title, Lear focuses on the relationship of children who turn their backs on their ailing fathers. (Through January 31, 7:30pm, $20-$40, Soho Rep., 46 Walker Street, between Broadway and Church, tickets/info or call 212-941-8632)
Cartoons characters have proved to be pretty good musical muses. The legendary Harold Gray comic strip “Little Orphan Annie” gave birth to an even more legendary stage musical, Annie,written by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin.
You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, based on the cartoons of Charles M. Schulz, played on Broadway twice and helped Kristin Chenoweth win a Tony. In 2004, Martin Charnin tried his hand again with a musical based on the comic strip Broom-Hilda. It never made it to Broadway. There were rumblings of cartoons ”Dennis the Menace” and “Beetle Bailey” becoming musicals… alas, neither materialized.
Continuing the trend this year is The Addams Family, based on the beloved New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams. Hot on its heels are other cartoon-turned-musicals: Spiderman and Betty Boop.
And the love is mutual! Modern day cartoons like “The Simpsons”, “Family Guy” and even “South Park” have tipped their animated hats to the stage. This WEBWAY WEDNESDAY takes a look at some classic cartoon clips that made theatre fans stand up and cheer.
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“The Simpsons” have turned to the theatre for inspiration many times in the past 20 years. From Macbeth to A Streetcar Named Desire to Sweeney Todd, the lovable family from Springfield have proven their love of the theatre time and time again. Stephen Sondheim even appeared on an episode in 2007.
“The Family Guy” paid homage to the classic Music Man tune “Shipoopi”.
Last year, “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker announced they were writing a musical about the Mormon Church. Perhaps they got some counsel from one-time collaborator, Tony winner, Marc Shaiman, who wrote the score for their 1999 movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. Shaiman earned an Oscar nom for the song “Blame Canada,” featured in the film. (In true “South Park” style, note that there is some objectionable language in this clip)
Memphis Meets Broadway Guest contributor, Jay Landers (Senior VP of A&R at Columbia Records), takes an in-depth look at how the city that gave birth to rock ‘n’ roll became the new muse of the Great White Way.
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A Star Grows In Brooklyn
On making her Broadway debut in the Arthur Miller classic A View From the Bridge:
“Ever since I was a little girl growing up in New York, I’ve dreamed of being on Broadway. I’m finding the process incredibly fulfilling and I learn something new about Catherine as well as myself as an actor, everyday. She is a much more complex character than I originally read her to be – a revelation I believe Miller intended for the actress playing her would discover.”–Scarlett Johansson
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Garber & Martin: Victor Garber, Nicholas Martin, and a lot of laughs.
On his new role as egomaniacal playboy-thespian Garry Essendine in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter:
“You know the joke is, ‘A self-absorbed, self-pitying, aging actor who desperately wants to avoid getting any older? Why would you think of me for the part?’”– Victor Garber
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Happy 15th Birthday Playbill.com!
he season was 1994–1995. Smokey Joe’s Café, Show Boat and Sunset Boulevard all opened on Broadway. Also opening that season was Playbill.com (known then as Playbill Online).
The season was 1994–1995. Smokey Joe’s Café, Show Boat and Sunset Boulevard all opened on Broadway. Also opening that season was Playbill.com. We look back on 15 years of life online for the oldest brand in theatre.
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A Day in the Life
Cassady Leonard is living every young actress’s dream, having made her Broadway debut at the ripe old age of 12. Cassady gives us a peek inside a day in the life of a kid on Broadway.
2:40 pm
“Class dismissed! Everyone is booking to their lockers and can’t wait for football practice, dance class, play dates… not me! I’m off to NYC, for what I call my ’seven-hour extracurricular activity.’ When the bus drops me off at home, I have an hour and a half to do homework. Whatever doesn’t get finished comes into the city with me, or is done the next morning.”
Plus…Tales from the Pit II with columnist Seth Rudetsky, Lincoln Center Theatre’s Bernard Gersten and a Life in the Theatre, Inside the Off-Broadway transfer of Avenue Q and more!
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Pick up the January issue of Playbill free in theaters this month or for a monthly subscription delivered right to your doorstep, go to the Playbill Store or emailsubscriptions@playbill.com
WATCH→ The National Theatre’s production of Nation will screen around the world this Saturday. Nation (adapted from the Terry Pratchett novel by Mark Ravenhill) follows a young girl in 1860 stranded on a strange island that has been devastated by a tsunami. It features a wonderfully diverse cast set in a what some have likened to a type of Alice in Wonderland fantasy world. For ages 10 and up. (2pm, New York screenings include: Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYU’s Skiball Center and Time & Space in Hudson, NY, $20-$25. For a complete list of venues in the Unite States, click here)
GO→ Tony winners LaChanze, Lillias White, Adriane Lenox along with Tituss Burgess, Bobby Daye and others join Lee Summers’ Just a Piano: Open Mic series launch, which will serve as a benefit for The American Red Cross and The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. (Triad Theatre, 158 W. 72nd Street, between Broadway & Columbus Avenues, $10 with a drink minimum, info/tickets)
WATCH→ The cast of the upcoming musical American Idiot will perform the song “21 Guns” (alongside Green Day) at the 52nd annual Grammy Awards. American Idiot, adapted from Green Day’s best-selling album of the same name, opens on the Main Stem April 20th at the St. James Theater. It is directed by Tony Winner Michael Mayer and features orchestration by Tony Winner Tom Kitt. (8pmET/PT on CBS)
GO→ Sax master and all around jazz great Jimmy Heath and the Jimmy Heath Big Band perform with special guest MC Bill Cosby. (Blue Note Jazz Club, 131 West 3rd Street, $20-$30, info/tickets)
GO→ Fabulous songstress and two-time Tony winner Christine Ebersole returns to the Carlyle for a show described as “an eclectic musical evening on the subjects of sex, politics, religion…and weather.” But not before the Carlyle says a fond farewell (and a happy 85th birthday) to Elaine Stritch, whose show Singin’ Sondheim…One Song at a Time will play the room one more time on Tuesday, February 2. Of the added birthday performance, Stritch says: “OK, I’ll do it. But damn it if Christine Ebersole isn’t going to be up there with me!” (8:45pm, The Café Carlyle, 35 East 76th Street at Madison Avenue, For reservations call 212.744.1600)
Thursday, February 4
TCH→ Dozens of channels will broadcast “Hope for Haiti,” a telethon to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake. All donations will go directly to Oxfam, The Red Cross, UNICEF, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund and Wyclef Jean’s Yele Haiti Foundation. George Clooney and Anderson Cooper join Haitian-born Jean as co-hosts. Artists such as Fela! Producer Jay-Z, Bono and The Edge (composers of the upcoming Spider-Man:Turn Off the Dark), Bruce Springsteen, Justin Timberlake, Jennifer Hudson, Madonna, and a host of others are lined-up to perform. (8pmET, airs on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CNN, CW, BET, CMT, HBO, MTV, VH1, Oxygen, Style, Comedy Central, Bravo, Showtime, PBS, TNT and National Geographic channels. Also streaming on 
GO→ Tony-winner Tyne Daly, most recently seen in Off-Broadway’s Love, Loss and What I Wore, takes up residency at Feinstein’s with her show Second Time Around, featuring Broadway standards from Jerry Herman and Irving Berlin as well as popular songs made famous by Al Jolson and Bessie Smith. (Through January 30, Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency, 540 Park Avenue at 61st street, call 212.339.2095 or 
GO→ Media mogul Tyler Perry brings his popular alter-ego Madea to New York as part the national tour of Madea’s Big Happy Family. The tour will make multiple stops in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, etc. (Through January 31, Madison Square Garden, $59.50-$129.50, 4 Penn Plaza, entrance on Seventh Avenue, 
GO→ With A Little Night Music killing at the BO and another show, Sondheim on Sondheim, up on the boards this spring, it’s hard to believe that Stephen Sondheim is celebrating his 80th birthday this March. The Manhattan School of Music will pay tribute to the legendary songs of the legendary song-man with Beautiful Girls, a showcase featuring tunes from West Side Story, Gypsy, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Company, Sweeney Todd and more. Performing in the Lonny Price-conceived show is Zoe Caldwell, Jenn Colella, Marin Mazzie and Donna McKechnie; under the baton of Paul Gemignani. Sondheim leading lady Angela Lansbury is expected to make an appearance at the reception. (7:30pm, The John C. Borden Auditorium at the Manhattan School of Music, 120 Claremont Avenue at the corner of Broadway and 122nd Street, $12 seniors, $20 adults, VIP packages available, 
GO→ Celebrated Hair director, Diane Paulus, brings her unique vision to a show of intergalactic proportions. The Gotham Chamber Opera will perform Il mondo della luna (The World on the Moon) “under the stars” at the Hayden Planetarium. (Through January 28, The Hayden Planetarium at The Museum of Natural History, West 81st Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, $30-$125, 
GO→ Rock of Ages front man, Constantine Maroulis, takes a solo spin at the Highline Ballroom with A Night At The Rock Show. (8pm, $20, full dinner menu available, 
OPENING→ Noël Coward’s Present Laughter returns to Broadway with Victor Garber as the silk-robed matinee idol, Garry Essendine. (American Airlines Theatre, 227 W. 42nd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, 
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GO→ The New York Times’ “Times Talks” features a weekend filled with some theatrical heavyweights. Saturday’s calendar features talks with two Tony winners: current star of A View From The Bridge, Liev Schreiber and upcoming Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark leading man, Alan Cumming. Sunday’s (January 10) headliners include five-time Tony winner and current A Little Night Music star, Angela Lansbury, Wishful Drinking’s Carrie Fisher, and a roundtable of Pulitzer Prize Playwrights, Donald Margulies, John Patrick Shanley and Beth Henley. (The Times Center, $30/talk, 242 West 41st street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, 
GO→ Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words is back with a superstar cast reading the notorious autobiographies of other superstars. Monday’s show features Mario Cantone, Rachel Dratch, Kristen Johnston, Eugene Pack, Rosie Perez, Ryan Reynolds, Sherri Shepherd and more. (7:30pm and 9:30pm, Triad Theater, 158 W. 72nd Street, $35-$60, 
GO→ Pee-Wee Herman has moved the playhouse to Los Angeles. Paul Reubens will brush off his grey suit and bowtie and let his famous alter ego loose at the Nokia Theatre all month long. (Through February 7, Club Nokia, 800 West Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 900115, $26-$65, 
GO→ Marianne Faithfull defined the term “sex, drugs & rock ‘n’ roll,” leading one of the most documented and tumultuous lives of the swinging 60’s. An older and wiser Faithfull makes a stop in New York for an evening of tunes off her new album “Easy Come, Easy Go,” a disc of covers including “Down from Dover” by Dolly Parton, West Side Story’s “Somewhere” and the title track by Bessie Smith. Part of the American Songbook Series which includes performances by Rebecca Luker, Chita Rivera, Rufus Wainwright and Martha Plimpton. (8:30pm, The Allen Room, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th Street and Broadway, 
On his new role as egomaniacal playboy-thespian Garry Essendine in Noël Coward’s Present Laughter:
Cassady Leonard is living every young actress’s dream, having made her Broadway debut at the ripe old age of 12. Cassady gives us a peek inside a day in the life of a kid on Broadway.
