By Andrew Gans
Question: How have audiences been responding on Broadway? The night I went they were so enthusiastic.
Question: Will you be doing any concert work to promote the CD?
Question: So, you're busy!
22 May 2009
Stephanie J. Block, Allison Janney and Megan Hilty in 9 to 5
photo by Joan Marcus
Block: We're very lucky. I've been on both sides of the spectrum with huge hits like Wicked and other unmentioned, mentioned plays where you don't get the same response as one gets with Wicked. [Laughs.] I gotta be honest. There was not a dip in the response from our audience. After the reviews came out or after the Tony nominations come out, sometimes you'll feel a slight dip in the way the audience will respond. And, we've been very lucky. That hasn't happened. I don't think it's luck, I'll be honest. I'm probably taking some liberties saying that. There's great joy and great humor, and it's from a beloved movie with wonderful music from Dolly Parton and what I think are some tremendous performances happening up there onstage. The audience, I think, feel exactly what you mentioned early in the interview — the camaraderie that the three of us have for each other, and it's contagious. Audiences are so responsive and so into it, and it really is a spontaneous laughter and a spontaneous huge overwhelming applause at the end of the show. We feel great. That's giving us what we need every single night, letting us know that the audience is leaving happier than when they walked into the theatre, and I think that's very important in these days.
Block: I will. Thanks for asking. We're going to be doing Barnes & Noble probably in July. Also, we'll be doing a Birdland concert, hopefully with some of the composers joining me on the piano, on July 13.
Block: I'm busy, and I like it that way. These last couple weeks have been a little overwhelming because 9 to 5 did open so late in the season that everything was compounded with ten-out-of-twelve and press and photo shoots. So it has been go, go, go, go, go, but I usually prefer busy rather than easygoing! [Laughs.]
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DIVA TIDBITS
Due to scheduling changes, Barbara Cook has canceled her June 2 concert with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall. The Tony-winning theatre veteran, however, will still perform at the famed Manhattan venue May 30. The 8 PM evening will be conducted by Cook's music director, Lee Musiker.Cook previously played three sold-out evenings during the Philharmonic's 2007-08 season to celebrate her 80th birthday. Cook will perform several of the songs that she recently sang in her show, Here's to Life, at Feinstein's at the Regency, including "Hallelujah, I Love Him So," "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "What a Wonderful World" as well as "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "Send in the Clowns." Tickets, priced $35-$175, are available online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656.
A special Tony Awards-themed edition of Jamie deRoy & Friends, the MAC Award-winning variety show, will be presented June 2 at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan. The 7 PM performance at the New York venue will feature songs from a host of Tony Award-winning musicals. Currently scheduled to lend their talents to the evening are Loni Ackerman, Dee Hoty, Robert Klein, Michael Longoria, Karen Mason, Kerry O'Malley, Chip Zien and Tony Award-winning lyricist David Zippel. Barry Kleinbort will direct the evening with musical direction by Ian Herman. The Metropolitan Room is located in Manhattan at 34 West 22nd Street. There is a $30 cover charge and a two-drink minimum; call (212) 206-0440 for reservations.
Two-time Emmy Award nominee and celebrated TV personality Samantha Harris ("The Insider," "Dancing with the Stars") will make her Broadway debut this summer in the Tony Award-winning revival of Chicago. Harris will play a six-week run as Roxie Hart beginning July 7. She will continue in the role of the merry murderess through Aug. 16. Harris will also star as Roxie in the Greenville, SC, engagement of the Chicago national tour, which runs Aug. 18-23 at the Peace Center. Visit www.ChicagoTheMusical.com for more information.
Kristina — the new musical from ABBA songwriters Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson (with English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer) — will be presented in concert this fall at Carnegie Hall. Kristina: A Concert Event at Carnegie Hall is scheduled for Sept. 23 and 24. Show time both nights is 8 PM. Casting will be announced at a later time. Universal Music's Decca Records will record both evenings and will release a CD at a future date. Tickets for the fall concerts will go on sale May 31 at noon by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office (57th Street and Seventh Avenue), by calling (212) 247-7800 or by logging on to www.carnegiehall.org. For more information visit www.KristinaTheMusical.com.
The songs of up-n-coming composer Bobby Cronin will be recorded live at the Laurie Beechman Theatre Aug. 3 for an upcoming CD. Show times at the New York venue are 7 and 9:30 PM. Currently scheduled to be featured on the 14-track CD are Caissie Levy (Hair, Wicked), Marcus Paul James (In The Heights, Rent), Natalie Weiss (Wicked), Jared Gertner (Spelling Bee), Katie Thompson (Giant), Jenny Dinoia (Wicked), Ben Cameron (Aida, Wicked), Kate Pazakis (Jerry Springer), Anne Gallagher (Wicked), Jenn Furman (Wicked) and Brian Gallagher (European tour of The Who's Tommy). The Laurie Beechman Theatre is located at 407 West 42nd Street at the corner of Ninth Avenue. For reservations call (212) 695-6909.
Well, that's all for now. Happy diva-watching! E-mail questions or comments to agans@playbill.com.
