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DIVA TALK: The Joys of Divas
By Andrew Gans
28 Dec 2001
Hello, diva lovers. Since this is my last diva column of the year, I wanted to wish everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful, diva-filled New Year!
Hello, diva lovers. Since this is my last diva column of the year, I wanted to wish everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful, diva-filled New Year! THE JOY OF THEATRE: WHAT’S TO COME
What is it about the theatre that is so rejuvenating and life-affirming? I can be in a not-so-great mood when I enter a theatre, and if the show is a moving, wonderful one, I can leave feeling on top of the world. I know performers often talk about the healing powers of the theatre -- you can feel awful, have the flu or what have you, and once you stand onstage, you’re almost magically healed. Karen Akers once referred to the stage’s powers as “Dr. Footlights.” And, what’s more, just the prospect of good theatre is enough to put me in a good mood. Example: Last week, I received a copy of a press release from Barlow/Hartman Public Relations, which is quickly becoming the most successful Broadway press agency in town, owned and run by two nice, hard-working guys, John Barlow and Michael Hartman. The mailing listed all of the new shows they will be representing this spring, and I’m genuinely excited about each one.
First up is Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends, which begins previews at the Booth Theatre (222 W. 45th Street) on Tuesday, Jan. 29. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve been a huge Bea Arthur fan for years, mostly from her TV work on “All in the Family,” “Maude” and “The Golden Girls,” which thankfully all continue to live on in syndication via Lifetime, Nickelodeon and TVLand. When I originally heard about the tour of Arthur’s one-woman show, I hoped it would make its way to Broadway, and now, finally, it has. Described as a “warm and funny musical evening in which Bea Arthur tells of the triumphs and tribulations of her celebrated career,” the evening also features 17 songs from the former co-star of Fiddler on the Roof and Mame, including such gems as “Bosom Buddies,” “It Never Was You,” “Some People” and the Ballroom torch song, “Fifty Percent.” Bea Arthur on Broadway: Just Between Friends (with Billy Goldenberg at the Piano) officially opens on Feb. 17 and runs through March 10; call (212) 239-6200 for reservations...
Next on the Barlow/Hartman schedule is an Off-Broadway offering at the Minetta Lane Theatre, which is located at 18 Minetta Lane. Entitled The Last Five Years, it is the new musical from Jason Robert Brown, the composer/lyricist of Parade. Brown is probably the most exciting young composer on the scene, the only new blood (along with the late Jonathan Larson) who has a gift for melody that rivals the masterminds who have come before him. Parade, which closed much too soon after its Broadway premiere, contained some glorious music and offered many moving moments, and one can only hope The Last Five Years will offer at least a few of those exhilarating moments. The new musical is much smaller in scale, however, a two-person production that explores the intense relationship between a young married couple, who will be played at the Minetta by Thou Shalt Not’s Norbert Leo Butz and AIDA’s Sherie René Scott. The Last Five Years, which features direction by Daisy Prince, begins previews on Tuesday, Feb. 12 with an official opening on Sunday, March 3; call (212) 307-4100 for tickets . . .
Another new musical follows, this one on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre, 302 W. 45th Street. It boasts music from A Chorus Line’s Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by one of cabaret’s finest composer/lyricists Craig Carnelia. (If you’re a cabaret fan, you will know many of Carnelia’s marvelous tunes, which have been sung by the likes of Karen Akers, Andrea Marcovicci, Betty Buckley and others. Some of his better-known works include “The Picture in the Hall,” “Flight,” “I Met a Man Today,” “Just a Housewife,” and “The Kid Inside.”) The musical also features a book by John Guare and a cast that includes John Lithgow and Brian d’Arcy James, the latter one of the few male singers whose singing I find almost as thrilling as my favorite gals. Brian d’Arcy James, you may remember, was a standout in the musical Titanic, and it still irks me that he didn’t receive a Tony nomination for his stellar performance in that show. Hopefully this season’s nominations will right that wrong. In any case, the musical is Sweet Smell of Success, and it reaches the Martin Beck on Saturday, Feb. 23 with an official opening on Thursday, March 14; call (212) 239-6200 for tickets to this musical, which features direction by Miss Saigon’s Nicholas Hytner...
Then comes the stage version of The Graduate featuring an all-star company: Kathleen Turner, Alicia Silverstone and American Pie’s Jason Biggs. The Graduate will have its first preview at the Plymouth Theatre (236 W. 45th Street) on Friday, March 15 with an official opening on Thursday, April 4. Adapted and directed by Terry Johnson, The Graduate promises to be an amusing evening of star-gazing and a welcome return to an American classic, this time in a different medium...
The final offering is a new musical comedy, Thoroughly Modern Millie, based on the acclaimed Hollywood film. Starring Sutton Foster, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Harriet Harris and Marc Kudisch, this musical features a book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, new music by Jeanine Tesori, new lyrics by Mr. Scanlan, choreography by Rob Ashford and direction from You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’s Michael Mayer. Millie will play at the Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway at 46th Street, beginning Tuesday, March 19. It’s official opening is scheduled for Thursday, April 18, and tickets can be purchased by calling (212) 307 4100. Continued...
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