Pal Joey Un"Zipped"

With the success of the revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, it's exciting to look forward to a revival of another Richard Rodgers musical Pal Joey opening in previews on Broadway November 14th, with the official opening slated for December 11th at Roundabout Theatre's Studio 54. This one, in collaboration with lyricist Lorenz Hart, includes Broadway songbook classics "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", "I Could Write a Book", "The Lady is a Tramp" and "My Funny Valentine". The original Broadway production of Pal Joey with book written by John O'hara opened on Christmas Day 1940 and starred Gene Kelly as Joey Evans, a brash scheming song and dance man with dreams of owning his own nightclub. A 1962 Broadway revival, which was actually more successful than the original, starred Bob Fosse as Joey, with Frank Sinatra playing the lead in the 1952 film. The 2008 revival will star Christian Hoff winner of a Best Featured Actor in a Musical Tony Award for his role of Tommy DeVito in Jersey Boys. Also in the cast is "friend of The Matinee" Stockard Channing playing former burlesque stripper Vera Simpson, a rich widow the conniving Joey takes up with in hopes of convincing her to finance his dream of owning a night club of his own "Chez Joey". The role of Vera Simpson was played by Vivienne Segal in the original staging and Viveca Lindfors opposite Fosse in the 1962 revival, with Rita Hayworth in the role in the 1952 film. Stockard Channing, for your information, played Rizzo in the movie Grease and was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Six Degrees of Separation. Stage and film veteran Martha Plimpton, last seen on Broadway in Top Girls for which she was nominated for a Tony, and 35 films including The Goonies, Parenthood and Mosquito Coast, will star as Gladys Bumps, a chorus girl with a dislike for Joey. The role was played by June Havoc (Gypsy Rose Lee's real life sister "Baby June") in 1940 and Barbara Nichols in the film. The Gladys Bumps character was a minor one but has been tweaked to be more prominent by playwright Richard Greenberg's adaptation, including Gladys singing the song "Zip" which has traditionally been Vera's song.

A great show, great music, great songs to bewitch us all. Another feather in the heavy plumage of Roundabout's Artistic Director, Todd Haimes' hat. Kudos to his brilliance and vision.

The Long Awaited West Side Story Revival

It was announced this week that the long awaited revival of West Side Story will begin previews on February 23, 2009 with the official opening planned for March 19, 2009 after an out of town engagement between December 16, 2008 and January 17, 2009 at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. where the musical made its world premiere in 1957.

This is the second revival endeavor in the past two years for nonagenarian Arthur Laurents who was nominated this past year for a Tony for his direction of Gypsy.

Mr. Laurents has stated, “This show will be radically different from any other production of West Side Story ever done. The musical theatre and cultural conventions of 1957 made it next to impossible for the characters to have authenticity. Every member of both gangs was always a potential killer even then. Now they actually will be. Only Tony and Maria try to live in a different world." The fact that he can still speak so eloquently for a man of 90 is impressive, but to still have a vision and the spunk to want to take on such a daunting task of reincarnating this musical classic is very inspirational.

Laurents, for those few who don't know, wrote the books for both West Side Story and Gypsy. West Side Story's score was created by Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) in his Broadway debut. The show was directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins whose original Tony-winning choreography will be recreated by Tony Award nominee, Joey McKneely (The Boy From Oz). This production with an onstage cast of 37 and 30 musicians in the orchestra pit, will introduce the unprecedented element of selectively weaving Spanish throughout the book and music.

The show takes Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the upper west side of New York City and the turbulence between rival street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds, the Jets and the Sharks in the 1950's. Two star-crossed lovers, Tony and Maria, find themselves caught in the middle of the rivalry. The Spanish dialogue will not only make the production more contemporary, but will emphasize the conflict and misunderstanding between the Sharks and the Jets.

The Bernstein/Sondheim score is considered to be one of Broadway's finest and features such classics of American musical theatre as "Tonight", "Somewhere", "America,"and "I Feel Pretty".

This is one to look forward to, even just to see what Arthur Laurents has up his sleeve and how well he can deliver. One good thing about West Side Story opening in the 2008-2009 Tony season, it won't have to go up against In the Heights (which won the 2007-2008 Tony award for Best Musical) with its very optimistic Latino perspective which could have had the potential of creating a whole new type of rivalry.

Happy Talk About South Pacific

The first ever Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific opened on Broadway this year and it swept the Tony Awards winning Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actor in a Musical and five other Tony's. But I have yet to see it. It garnered mostly rave reviews with perhaps the most important being that of Ben Brantley, chief theatre critic of the New York Times who said, "I know we're not supposed to expect perfection in this imperfect world, but I'm darned if I can find one serious flaw in this production." Hm, the next available tickets are for October 21st. But will Brazilian opera singer Paul Szot, who won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Emile DeBecque, and Kelli O'Hara as Nellie Forbush still be in it? Who doesn't love a Rodgers and Hammerstein score. "Bali Ha'i", "Some Enchanted Evening", "Happy Talk", "There is Nothing Like a Dame", "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair", and "Younger than Springtime" have become worldwide standards. I adored all of the Rodgers and Hammerstein scores as a child and knew every word to every song and still do. So why didn't I buy tickets as soon as I heard it was being revived? In case you didn't know South Pacific is based on two short stories by James Michener from his 1948 Pulitzer Prize winning book "Tales of the South Pacific".

The original Broadway production production opened in 1949 and closed in 1954 after 1,925 performances. It was nominated for 10 Tony Awards and won them all in 1950, making it the only show (play or musical) to win best musical, best direction and all four acting awards, Ezio Pinza as Emile DeBecque, Mary Martin as Nellie Forbush, Myron McCormick as Luther Billis and Juanita Hall as Bloody Mary with direction by Josh Logan who co-wrote the book with Oscar Hammerstein. (Mary Martin also starred in the original West End production which ran between 1951 and 1953.) It was a critical and box office hit and spawned many successful stage revivals as well as the 1958 film adaptation and a 2001 made-for-television movie.

The 1958 film starred Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor as Emile DeBecque and Nellie Forbush. Juanita Hall reprised her Tony Award winning performance as Bloody Mary. She also sang on the cast album but ironically her singing was dubbed in the movie. In fact, the only principal cast members whose own singing voices were used in the film were that of Mitzi Gaynor and Ray Walston who played Luther Billis.

In 2001 an Australian made-for-television movie was made starring Harry Connick Jr. as Lt. Cable and Glenn Close as Nellie Forbush. It was criticized for many reasons including changing the order of the songs, cutting out "Happy Talk" and casting Glenn Close who was felt by many to be too old to play the role of someone who describes herself in song as "immature and incurably green" in the song "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy".

I've seen both movies and the television film was okay but not nearly as good as the original 1958 film. Even though I'm a big Harry Connick Jr. fan, I just couldn't understand why they would remake the already wonderful film. Hopefully with Harry and Glenn in the movie, it turned viewers unfamiliar with Rodgers and Hammerstein on to the wonders of their music. Other than that, why bother?

If you listened to this week's Matinee show, you'll have heard my 13 year old niece, Mimi who's visiting from Tokyo, talk about how much she loved the show. Geeze, she came all that way from Japan and got to see it. How'd that happen? Really, I'm happy for her. She loves musical theatre as much as I do but I just have to see this show. As I've said here many a time, so many shows, so little time and money.

9 to 5 and More Dolly News

If you listened to last Sunday's Matinee show, you'll have heard me report that 9 to 5: The Musical with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton will open in previews on Broadway in March of 2009 and then officially open on April 23rd. It'll star Megan Hilty as Doralee which was played by Dolly in the 1980 movie, Stephanie J. Block playing Judy, the Jane Fonda role, and Allison Janney in the Lily Tomlin role of Violet. It will be housed in the Marquis Theatre located in the Marriott Marquis Hotel right across from Duffy Square on Broadway. Hilty and Block played Glinda and Elphaba, respectively, in Wicked. Allison Janney played CJ Cregg, the president's press secretary on tv's "The West Wing" and she has been seen in "Juno" as Juno's stepmother and as Prudy Pingleton in the movie "Hairspray". Mark Kudisch will play their lying, egotistical, sexist boss, Franklin Hart Jr., the part so sleazily played by Dabney Coleman in the movie. Kudisch most recently starred on Broadway in Roundabout Theatre's revival of The Apple Tree with his ex-fiance, Kristen Chenoweth. He also played a kinky lawyer in the HBO television series "Sex in the City". 9 to 5: The Musical will be directed by Wicked director, Joe Mantello, and choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler who won the Tony this year for Best Choreography for In the Heights. With Dolly's music, the great cast and all the connections to Wicked, how could this miss?

Madame Aries, James and I also discussed another stage musical Dolly is writing based on her life, and some big names are hot to star as Dolly including Reese Witherspoon and Kristen Chenoweth. Dolly has been quoted as citing both as possibilities, however, she is a huge fan of Scarlett Johansson and thinks she would be perfect for the role. If you want my opinion, Chenoweth would be the best for the stage role. She has the right stature, the right vibe and the chops. I could see Johansson or Witherspoon in a movie version, with my preference being Witherspoon. I have to add that I am a fan of all three, in fact they are three of my favorite actresses.

And one more little Dolly tidbit: Dolly has ranked fifth in a nationwide British survey of single lesbians as the hottest female celebrity over 50. Helen Mirren, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn came in ahead of her. Joan Collins came in sixth. I can't believe Madame Aries didn't make the list. On the male side, single gay men chose Piers Brosnan as number one, followed by Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson and Sean Connery. The poll was taken by the LGBT dating site gay-PARSHIP.

Meryl Streep Stars in Mamma Mia......But Can She Sing?

I took Jade to see Mamma Mia the movie yesterday. We were anxious to see it because the Broadway production was one of our favorite musicals ever. Would the movie deliver? We waited on line for the 2:00 show. The mother and daughter ahead of us got tickets. We were next. SOLD OUT! A good sign for the movie but where did that leave us. I purchased tickets for the 4:45 show and we went around the block to get Italian ices then walked home. We left our home again at 4:00 because, although we already had our tickets, we wanted good seats. Good thing we did. Sold out again. But would the movie be as good as the show. I had purposely avoided reading any critiques because I wanted to form my own untainted opinion.

The movie takes place on a beautiful Greek island where Donna, played by Meryl Streep, has raised her daughter, Sophie, alone while running a small, rundown hotel. It opens with Sophie singing I have a Dream while mailing letters to her three possible fathers inviting them to her wedding. Her two best friends arrive on the island and she tells them she has found her mother's diary and invited three men, one of which might possibly be her father, to her wedding without her mother's knowledge. They sing Honey, Honey. It all seems so corny. It just isn't translating well. Yet! Enter Meryl Streep greeting her two best friends, once her backup singers in the musical trio Donna and the Dynamos, at the ferry. Tanya (Christine Baranski) and Rosie (Julie Walters) arrive and the fun begins. These three can do no wrong and as for Meryl Streep, well it's another Oscar-worthy performance and very different from anything you've ever seen her do. The Dancing Queen scene with the three of them and all the women on the island is worth the price of admission. Then the "dads" arrive and more fun. Sam (Pierce Brosnan) and Harry (Colin Firth) meet at the boat slip and find they've missed the last ferry until tomorrow. Then we meet Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) who is one of the possible dads and he just happens to have a boat. Serendipity. Mind you, they did not know each other before this. Their counter scene singing Voulez-vous with all the men on the island is another side-splitting scene well worthy of attention.

I won't give the rest of the story away but I will tell you Benny Andersson of ABBA, who wrote the music with Bjorn Ulvaeus, also of ABBA, and Stig Anderson, makes a cameo appearance as a piano player in one of the musical numbers. And I have to mention the indigenous inhabitants of the island who pop up as backup singers in almost every musical number. As for the singing of these fine actors who are not known for their vocal talent, I will rate them for you. Mind you, this is my opinion. Pierce Brosnan, I love you Pierce but, ugh, keep your day job. Stellan Skarsgard, not bad. Colin Firth has a pleasant voice. Julie Walters and Christine Baranski are both so funny who cares whether they can sing. Amanda Seyfried who plays Sophie is very appealing and has a lovely voice. And then there's Meryl Streep. Can she sing? You bet she can. She was wonderful. Not amazing but very, very good.

So for 108 minutes of pure light-hearted fun, don't miss Mamma Mia. You're sure to leave the theatre with an ABBA song in your heart.

A Wicked New Production of Godspell Finds It's Home on Broadway

The eagerly awaited revival of Godspell has found a home on Broadway. The Stephen Schwartz/John-Michael Tebelak musical Godspell will play the Barrymore Theatre, replacing David Mamet's comedy November which ended its limited engagement July 13. The first preview date has been announced as September 29th with an official opening October 23rd. Tony Award nominee Gavin Creel will play the Jesus role. Additional casting is expected shortly. Creel has been seen on Broadway in Thoroughly Modern Millie for which he was nominated for a Tony for Best Actor in a Musical and La Cage aux Folles. He was last seen as Bert in Mary Poppins on the West End replacing Gavin Lee who went on to originate the role on Broadway.

Godspell was conceived and directed by 22 year old John-Michael Tebelak as his Masters Thesis project at Carnegie Mellon University in 1970. Tebelak had had thoughts of someday becoming an Episcopal minister and he based the play on the Gospel According to St. Matthew and originally interpolated pop songs and Episcopal hymns set to music written by cast members. Stephen Schwartz was commissioned to write the music and lyrics that we know today when the show which had been very well received at Carnegie Mellon moved to off-off-Broadway theatre Cafe la Mama and was seen by producers who became interested in giving the show a commercial production. It opened at the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre in 1971 and later moved to the larger Promenade Theatre where it became one of the longest-running off-Broadway musicals. It moved to Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre in June 1976 and ended its run in September 1977.

Stephen Schwartz, composer and lyricist wrote some very memorable songs including "Day by Day", "All Good Gifts" and "Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord". He had previously written the music and lyrics for Pippin (although it did not open until 1972), and most recently the music for Wicked. A brilliant composer, obviously one of America's best.

Tebelak co-wrote the screenplay for the 1973 movie with David Greene. He wrote and staged liturgical drama for the famed St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in New York City. He sadly died in 1985 of a heart attack at the age of 36.

The Broadway Musical, They're Dropping Like Flies

Food prices are up, milk, flour, staple goods. Gas prices are exorbitant. Everything is more expensive than even a year ago. Oh sure, prices go up on a regular basis, but not at this rate. Unfortunately, the arts are affected too and so Broadway had a tough season. Yes, the biggest shows are still going strong, Wicked, Lion King, Mamma Mia, even Little Mermaid. But ticket sales are down for many shows and desperate measures are being taken to try to break even, but many just can't make it. Although entertaining, they need to be blockbusters, juggernauts, to survive these days. The first to close was Cry Baby which shut its doors on June 22nd. A Catered Affair is closing July 27th and A Chorus Line is closing August 18th. All these shows had relatively short runs. They were good. I saw them all. But they just were not good enough. It was curtains for Curtains which closed its doors on June 29th after playing 511 performances and 26 previews. And I had previously reported on The Matinee that Rent would be closing after a respectable 11 year run. It just ran it's course. Also closing this week is November the critically acclaimed comedy starring Nathan Lane. Lane had previously announced that he would leave the show on July 13th, but the production itself had not confirmed that it would close upon his departure.

Other shows are taking desperate measures to try and keep afloat. Case in point, Grease stars Max Crumm and Laura Osnes who won the roles of Danny and Sandy on the television reality show, "Grease, You're the One That I Want", are leaving the show and being replaced by two of the runners up on the show, Ashley Spencer (who I saw playing Amber in Hairspray) and Derrick Keeling who came in 3rd on the show. Both Ashley and Derrick look more the part and I think they'll do a fine job. I must admit I did vote for Crumm and Osnes, however, they got very mediocre reviews. I thought the show was very good and they were both decent, but I admit I was starstruck after seeing and following them on the television show. Grease also recently added Taylor Hicks, season 5 "American Idol" winner, to play Teen Angel. Looks like they're pulling out all the stops to stay on the Great White Way.

But for every show that is leaving Broadway, two or three are waiting in the wings to take a stab at being the next Broadway juggernaut. Stay tuned to The Matinee to hear what is in the offing. It's all very exciting albeit precarious.