Brian Stokes Mitchell is a favorite here at Playbill…and pretty much everywhere else in the theatre loving world. (Consider this your disclaimer for the gooey holiday cheer to follow.) Stokes lent his incredible pipes to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for their annual Christmas show (filmed in front of 80,000 people!) which will air tonight on PBS.
Now, if anyone knows how to do Christmas music justice, it’s the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. And if anyone knows how to melt hearts , it’s Stokes. Perfect combo!
On this WEBWAY WEDNESDAY: A taste of the holiday goodness airing on tonight’s special along with some other Mormon Tabernacle Choir Chirstmas favorites. Now, if this doesn’t get you in the Christmas mood…nothing will!
PBS will air the one-hour holiday concert tonight at 8pmET on New York’s Channel 13 and across the country on PBS affiliates. Check local listings at www.pbs.org — many affiliates will re-air the special on Christmas Eve.
Stokes and 360 Morman Tabernacle carolers singing “Sleigh Bells”
The story of the classic Christmas tune “Silent Night” told through the immortal voice of Walter Cronkite.
Ed Herrman (also included in the Stokes special) and “Longfellow’s Christmas”
Here we go, sports fans. The Yankees take on the Phillies tonight in Game 1 of the World Series. Many New Yorkers are hoping the Phils fall to the same fate they had the last time they went up against the Yanks in the World Series 59 years ago.
Some of you theatre fans might be wondering if there’s really any connection between the Yankees and Broadway (besides, of course, a Tony Award winning musical with “Yankees” in the title!) As it turns out, we have more in common with the boys in pinstripes than you may think.
Yankees broadcaster, Suzyn Waldman, became the first woman to hold a full-time position as a broadcaster in the Major Leagues, after spending 15 years in theatre in shows like Man of La Mancha. Legendary Yankees color man, John Sterling, is a notorious Broadway fanatic and even joined Neil Berg for a special Thanksgiving concert a few years ago at Irvington Town Hall called Baseball and Broadway. And of course, Marilyn Monroe was married to one of the greatest Yankees of all time, Joe DiMaggio, before marrying Arthur Miller, a Broadway legend.
See? We’re not that different after all. So, in honor of tonight’s game, this week’s Webway is dedicated to the good ol’ game of baseball. Good luck tonight, boys!
Damn Yankees (a phrase most New Yorkers hope Philadelphians will be mumbling tonight) is the most famous sports musical. Here’s a number from the last time Damn Yankees was revived on Broadway in 1994.
You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, based on the beloved Charles Schultz cartoon of the same name, featured the song “T-E-A-M: The Baseball Game”. The show was most recently revived on Broadway in 1999 winning both Roger Bart and Kristin Chenoweth their Tony Awards.
Last year, Tony-Award winner, Billy Crystal, signed a contract with the Yankees for one day and trained with the team during spring training.
Tomorrow is National Punctuation Day, which I guess is like Christmas for Editors! Yep, it’s true…a whole day to celebrate the period, comma, semi-colon, exclamation point and my personal favorite, the question mark.
In celebration of National Punctuation Day, here’s a clip of Dean Martin and Victor Borge performing one of Borge’s signture routines “Musical Phonetic Punctuation”.
On the day that Michael Feinstein announced he’d be making a comeback on Broadway, myself and a few dozen other “Fansteins” turned up at the house that Michael built to see him and Christine Ebersole put on (and this is no exaggeration) one of the best shows I’ve ever seen at Feinstein’s. Together or solo, there was something about this pairing that made the whole room hum with energy.
For today’s Webway Wednesday, some vintage Feinstein and Ebersole to sustain you until you make the trip over to the Regency!
Through September 12th at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, 540 Park Avenue at 61st Street. For tickets call (212) 339-4095 or click here.
If you haven’t already heard…Glee is coming, Glee is COMING! Not since the footage of Brett Michaels getting bopped on the head wore out our TIVOs have theatre people been so excited to sit home and watch TV instead of going out to the theatre.
So what is it about this show that has us all acting like we are giddy schoolgirls waiting for a phone call from Quaterback McCoolguy? Is it because we’re all excited to see Broadway’s own Matt Morrison and Lea Michele rock it out on the small screen? Perhaps. Is it because most theatre lovers are ex-glee clubbers and we are now finally getting our chance to shine as the “cool kids”? Maybe. Is it because hearing songs sung by a glee club is awesome? Most definitely!
This just debuted on a recent episode of The Simpsons. Even if you aren’t a grown-up who is still watching cartoons (aka: ME), you can still appreciate this rendition of The Simpsons’ theme song.
If there is anyone in this country that still believes arts education isn’t worth saving, please watch these kids from PS22 in New York City!
And finally, a great song from one of Broadway’s most beloved choirs, the Broadway Inspirational Voices!
To borrow a line from Heidi Klum, on Broadway (much like in fashion): “One day you’re in…the next day, you’re out.”
Case in point: Gina Gershon, who will be playing Rosie in the upcoming revival of Bye Bye Birdie, recently revealed in the Daily News that this newest version of Birdie will not include the Shriners’ ballet number because it “seemed a little too gang rape-y”.
I did a little digging to find out what other numbers have made their way in and out of shows over the years (for better or for worse). Here were some of my favorites that thankfully got heard, whether on Broadway or another stage.
“Marry Me A Little” was cut from the original Broadway version of Company but was reinserted in later versions. The song served as inspiration for a 1980 musical review by the same name that featured a number of songs cut from several Sondheim musicals. Here is Raúl Esparza’s version from the 2006 revival.
“I Saw Him Once” was included in the London Original version of Les Misérables but didn’t make it when the show moved to Broadway. This is the version sung by Rebecca Caine.
“Come Down from the Tree” was cut from Once On This Island. Audra McDonald later recorded it.
This week, thousands of well heeled hopefuls auditioned to be extras in the new Sex and the City movie. These women, dressed in their finest Carrie-esque outfits, waited for hours in the heat and humidity for their chance at one second of screen time. They found out the hard way what actors in this town have known for years–yeah…auditioning is hard!
Here’s a tiny, pre-Tony Lea Salonga auditioning in front of powerhouse Cameron Mackintosh for Miss Saigon.
The documentary Every Little Step explores the making of A Chorus Line–the ultimate depiction of the open casting call, and just how painful it can be. The film, which came out earlier this year, also includes clips from the audition process for the most recent Broadway revival. Notice the tear-your-heart-out line at the :24 mark: ”If you’ve been cut, can you please…get out.” Ouch.
As Ken Jones reported yesterday, FOX’s Glee will premiere September 9th and will feature Broadway stars galore (including Lea Michele, Matt Morrison, Kristin Chenoweth, Victor Garber and Debra Monk). FOX gave a sneak speek of September’s hour-long episode below and it looks amazing!
And in real-life glee club news, a bunch of kids in Sacramento responded to recent budget cuts made to their arts program with a musical called Dear Mr. Schwarzenegger. Way to go, kids! Are you listening, Gov?
Now a days, connecting with the players in your favorite Broadway shows is easier than a trip to the stage door. Some shows are getting creative and expanding the theatre going experience by way of the web. Two such creative casts are the fun kids at Rock of Ages and In the Heights.
The cast of Rock of Ages expands their “good time” with a web series called the “Haunting of the Brooks Atkinson Theater”. Mwa ha ha ha.
A spoof on MTV’s “Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods”, “Legally Brown: The Search For The Next Piragua Guy” is a web series from the Heights players about casting the part made famous by Eliseo Roman. Allison Janney, Cheyenne Jackson, Hunter Bell and Eliseo himself all duke it out for the part.
