The other day, my co-worker Ari and I had a very important conversation. It went a little something like this:
Ari: “Remember Lauren Bacall in those funny beef commercials in the ’80s?”
Blake: “What?! Lauren Bacall was never in a beef commercial.”
Ari: “Oh yes she was! It’s the one where she’s laying on a couch and purring to a waiter about a burger.”
Blake: “You’re nuts!”
Ari: “I’ll bet you $5.”
Like any modern-day argument, a simple Google search was all that was needed to declare a winner. And, one minute later, I was five bucks poorer.
This got me thinking about celebrity commercials. Almost every celebrity today has been featured in an advertisement of some sort. It seems like everyone from Liza Minnelli to Brad Pitt to Catherine Deneuve to Bob Dole has, at one point or another, tried to sell consumers candy bars or beer or perfume or even that “little blue pill.”
For today’s WEBway Wednesday, we look at some of Broadway’s best featured in commercials.
Before he won a Tony Award, Nathan Lane was desperately seeking some NyQuil so he could rest.
Nancy Walker was in over a dozen Broadway shows in her day, and was nominated for two Tony Awards. She was also the “Quicker Picker Upper” lady in these old Bounty paper towel commercials from the ’70s.
What Wheaties are to athletes, Wheat Thins are to Broadway actors. Tony nominee Sandy Duncan was the face of the popular snack for years. Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz was later seen (but not heard) in a commercial for the chip. (more…)
Whistle, Snap and Sing your way into this WEEK AHEAD.
The Sondheim/Laurents cult-classic Anyone Can Whistle finds its way to New York…Lend Me a Tenor makes an unexpected opera star out of Justin Bartha …and Duh, nah, nah, nah — snap-snap, The Addams Family lands on Broadway.
Happy Easter!
Blake
Sunday, April 4 OPENING→ Broadway newbie Justin Bartha joins vets Tony Shalhoub, Tony winner Anthony LaPaglia and Jan Maxwell for director Stanley Tucci’s very funny revival of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me A Tenor. (Music Box Theatre, 239 W 45th St., between Broadway and 8th Avenue, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
BEFORE IT CLOSES→
→ A View From the Bridge: Tony winner Liev Schreiber and B’way newcomer Scarlett Johansson star in this Arthur Miller classic that has become a critics (and box office) darling. (The Cort Theatre, 138 West 48th St., btwn. 6th and 7th Aves.)
→ All About Me: Cabaret crooner Michael Feinstein and Tony winner Dame Edna share the bill to make up the oddest couple on Broadway this season. (The Henry Miller’s Theatre, 124 West 43rd St., between 6th and 7th Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
→ The Miracle Worker: Abigail Breslin and Alison Pill star (more…)
With the balmy breezes of spring comes flowers, greenery, Cadbury Creme eggs and almost a dozen Broadway openings!
This WEEK AHEAD… Laura Linney talks Time…Miranda Sings for real…Alfred Molina paints the town Red…and the Big GAY Sing gets down(town)
Where the neon lights are pretty…
Blake
Friday, March 26 GO→ The New York City Gay Men’s Chorus welcomes special guest Petula Clark for Big GAY Sing 2. The evening promises music from the Gay American Songbook (Lady Gaga, Cher, Broadway, etc.), drag numbers, a gay “Idol” competition and an all around “gay explosion of glitter.” (8pm, NYU’s Skirball Center for Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South, $38-$59, info/tickets)
.. Saturday, March 27
photo by Joan Marcus
BEFORE IT CLOSES→ Donald Margulies’ Time Stands Still features outstanding performances by its four-person ensemble: Laura Linney, Brian d’Arcy James, Eric Bogosian and Alicia Silverstone. This story focuses on a couple (she an injured photo journalist, he a writer) returning from Iraq and adjusting to life back home in Brooklyn. (Samuel J. Friedman Theatre box office, 261 West 47th St., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
Sunday, March 28
GO→ The aforementioned Laura Linney joins Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theatres, for the second installment of “Broadway Talks.” Upcoming spring talks from Roth include Sean Hayes (Promises, Promises) and Nathan Lane (The Addams Family). (7:30pm, 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd street, $27, info/tickets)
photo by broadwayworld.com
Monday, March 29
GO→ Ever since she screeched out the first notes of “A Whole New World” on YouTube, Broadway has fallen in love with the musically challenged and hilariously clueless Miranda Sings. Miranda performs live with Tony nominees Ann Hampton Callaway and John Tartaglia, Jersey Boy Jarrod Spector and Sam Tsui (another internet sensation that took off thanks to Oprah). (7pm, Birdland, 315 W. 44th St., btwn 8th and 9th Avenues, $25-$35, info/tickets) Tuesday, March 30
GO→ Tony winner Leslie Uggams wraps her caramel-coated voice around standards like “Summertime” and her signature “Stormy Weather” at the Café Carlyle. (Through April 17, The Café Carlyle, 35 East 76th Street, btwn. 5th and Madison Avenues, $45-$125, call 212.744.1600 for reservations)
…..
Wednesday, March 31 CHANGING OF THE GUARDS→ Melissa Joan Hart, Judy Gold and Shirley Knight take over at Delia and Norah Ephron’s hit Off-Broadway show Love, Loss and What I Wore. Doris Roberts will follow in April. (Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St., btwn. 9th and 10th Avenues, call 212.239.6200 for tickets)
Thursday, April 1 OPENING→ Another London import hits Broadway, this time, bringing Tony nominated actor Alfred Molina with it. Molina stars as larger-than-life expressionist painter Mark Rothko in Red. Set in the late 1950s (some 12 years before Rothko would eventually commit suicide), Red focuses on the tumultuous time when the artist was commissioned to do a series of murals for the famous Seagram Building. (Golden Theatre, 252 West 45th Street, btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
At 9:24PM last night, those of us inside Studio 54 witnessed a little bit of theatre history. Surrounded by colleagues, collaborators, friends and faithful fans, James Lapine and John Weidman announced that Stephen Sondheim would receive an incredible birthday gift courtesy of the Roundabout: his very own Broadway theatre. Upon hearing the news, Sondheim replied “Come on!” before bursting into tears.
Stephen Sondheim (center) with (l-r) James Lapine and John Weidman upon hearing the news. (photo by Joseph Marzullo)
Afterwards, the Roundabout threw Sondheim a birthday party fit for a king. Bernadette Peters (sporting straight hair!) kicked off the gala singing a song she only described as one that “was cut from one of Steve’s shows.” It was of course, lovely, and made me wonder what other masterpieces have been left on the cutting room floor? Oh, to be that floor.
Lonny Price came next reporting that he was there as a stand-in for Len Cariou, who was holed up on the set of “Damages.” Reminiscing about his first Sondheim show as a kid, Price joked, “It was Company…a great show for kids!” He then kicked off a round robin of accomplished composers (including Andrew Lippa, Tom Kitt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Duncan Sheik, Jeanine Tesori, David Lindsay-Abaire, Michael John LaChiusa, Robert Lopez and wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez) who were all too happy to sing for their supper…literally…by performing new songs they had written just for the occasion.
Price wasn’t the only one to get sentimental about the first time he was exposed to Sondheim’s genius. Duncan Sheik remembered going to see Sweeney Todd at the age of ten and becoming enthralled by Sondheim’s music. (more…)
OPENING→ Broadway newbie Justin Bartha joins vets Tony Shalhoub, Tony winner Anthony LaPaglia and Jan Maxwell for director Stanley Tucci’s very funny revival of Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me A Tenor. (Music Box Theatre, 239 W 45th St., between Broadway and 8th Avenue, 
GO→ The New York City Gay Men’s Chorus welcomes special guest Petula Clark for Big GAY Sing 2. The evening promises music from the Gay American Songbook (Lady Gaga, Cher, Broadway, etc.), drag numbers, a gay “Idol” competition and an all around “gay explosion of glitter.” (8pm, NYU’s Skirball Center for Performing Arts, 566 LaGuardia Place, at Washington Square South, $38-$59, 
CHANGING OF THE GUARDS→ Melissa Joan Hart, Judy Gold and Shirley Knight take over at Delia and Norah Ephron’s hit Off-Broadway show Love, Loss and What I Wore. Doris Roberts will follow in April. (Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St., btwn. 9th and 10th Avenues, call 212.239.6200 for tickets)
OPENING→ Another London import hits Broadway, this time, bringing Tony nominated actor Alfred Molina with it. Molina stars as larger-than-life expressionist painter Mark Rothko in Red. Set in the late 1950s (some 12 years before Rothko would eventually commit suicide), Red focuses on the tumultuous time when the artist was commissioned to do a series of murals for the famous Seagram Building. (Golden Theatre, 252 West 45th Street, btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave., 
