I'm back from my long weekend way off-off-off-off-Broadway in Pennsylvania where we celebrated my daughter and her Chinese cousins' tenth "gotcha day". A fun time was had by all and it was so wonderful to see how those beautiful Chinese babies blossomed into even more beautiful all-American girls. Meanwhile, I'm getting antsy since I haven't seen any musical theatre in weeks, but next Tuesday we have tickets for Young Frankenstein and I'm so psyched. It stars two of Broadway's most popular actors, Sutton Foster and Roger Bart. It also stars Megan Mullaley, who you might know as Karen from Will and Grace, and Andrea Martin from SCTV and many other television and movie appearances including "Hedwig and the Angry Inch". I once met her at the Bronx Zoo. She was there by herself, a fellow animal lover, and we exchanged some small talk and went our separate ways, but I was impressed with her earthiness. By the way, she is nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in her role as Frau Blucher, as is Christopher Fitzgerald who plays Igor for Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
Although Young Frankenstein was overlooked for a Tony for Best Musical, everyone I know who has seen it loved it. I think many people were turned off by the original ticket prices of $450 for the best 100 seats and $375 for the next 120 seats. I paid $65.00 (about 35 pounds) for our tickets which is a real bargain for Broadway. So next week my family and I will be "puttin' on the ritz" and heading back to Broadway where we long to be. Well, at least I do.
Tuesday 27 May 2008
Tuesday 20 May 2008
Marti Pellow
Launching the UK tour of the hit musical Witches of Eastwick over the weekend at swish eatery Nagressco, were Michael Harrison, Kenneth Wax & Paul Elliott in arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh, Starring Marti Pellow. The actual show runs from 13 to 18 October with matinees on Friday and Saturday at the Palace Theatre. For those who know nothing of the plot three recently single middle American women from the bible belt conjer up there ideal man. He appears in the form of Darryl van Horne then the fun begins. From being needy to being in power, its a journey of discovery for all three women. With a great score by John Dempsey & Dana P Rowe the Macintosh hit machine & Mr Pellow, Manchester can look forward to another sure fire hit.
Marti was in excellent form throughout the presentation, always smiling and joking, even through the two hours plus round of interviews. His enthusiasm for the roll is obvious listen to the interview James and I did with him over the next couple of weeks.
The full tour runs into from October 2008 into 2009 so plenty of opportunity to see this show.
Marti was in excellent form throughout the presentation, always smiling and joking, even through the two hours plus round of interviews. His enthusiasm for the roll is obvious listen to the interview James and I did with him over the next couple of weeks.
The full tour runs into from October 2008 into 2009 so plenty of opportunity to see this show.
Eurobeat
A musical based on the Eurovision? How would that work? Sounds unlikely but it does.
It's all there the costumes, the dance routines, the corny songs,the presenters being over the top.Audience participation,its all there.
I would warn you this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a show for the prudish, the innuendos fly thick and fast, its all good fun though, and I defy you not to come away humming at least one of the tunes on display. If you get the chance grab a ticket or two and get to the Lyric Theatre @ the Lowry. Shows on till Saturday including a matinee show on the final day.
Don't forget if you are a Eurovision Fan The Semi Finals Start tonight at 8pm. With another on Thursday and final on Saturday night.
It's all there the costumes, the dance routines, the corny songs,the presenters being over the top.Audience participation,its all there.
I would warn you this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a show for the prudish, the innuendos fly thick and fast, its all good fun though, and I defy you not to come away humming at least one of the tunes on display. If you get the chance grab a ticket or two and get to the Lyric Theatre @ the Lowry. Shows on till Saturday including a matinee show on the final day.
Don't forget if you are a Eurovision Fan The Semi Finals Start tonight at 8pm. With another on Thursday and final on Saturday night.
Monday 19 May 2008
Broadway's 2008 Tony Nominees
This year the 62nd annual American Theatre Wing's Antoinette Perry (Tony) Awards will take place on June 15th in New York's Radio City Music Hall hosted by my good friend (in my own mind) Whoopi Goldberg. Since The American Theatre Wing has not extended me a ticket, I must observe from afar, although not as far as most of you. Alas, I am a loyal Broadway afficionado and am happy to be in this position, wherever it may be. The following musicals and plays have received nominations and I will put them in order of the number of nominations received:
In the Heights 13
South Pacific 11
Sunday in the Park with George 9
August: Osage County 7
Gypsy 7
Passing Strange 7
Boeing Boeing 6
MacBeth 6
The 39 Steps 6
Les Liaisons Dangereuses 5
Cry Baby 4
Rock and Roll 4
The Seafarer 4
Xanadu 4
A Catered Affair 3
The Homecoming 3
Young Frankenstein 2
The Little Mermaid 2
Come Back Little Sheba 1
Cyrano de Bergerac 1
Grease 1
Is He Dead? 1
Mauritius 1
November 1
Thurgood 1
Top Girls 1
I've seen Cry Baby, A Catered Affair and Grease, and have tickets for Young Frankenstein. I really know how to pick 'em. But I like what I like and rarely go by critic's reviews. I think critics look at different things, maybe more technical things, than the general public. I prefer to go by recommendations from friends and gut feelings and my instincts for me are usually good.
For a complete listing of the nominees and everything else you ever wanted to know about the Tony Awards, go to TonyAwards.com where on Tony night you can watch Broadway and Hollywood celebrities walk the red carpet. Their arrivals will be webcast live from the sidewalk of West 50th Street beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET (11:30 p.m. UK time).
In the Heights 13
South Pacific 11
Sunday in the Park with George 9
August: Osage County 7
Gypsy 7
Passing Strange 7
Boeing Boeing 6
MacBeth 6
The 39 Steps 6
Les Liaisons Dangereuses 5
Cry Baby 4
Rock and Roll 4
The Seafarer 4
Xanadu 4
A Catered Affair 3
The Homecoming 3
Young Frankenstein 2
The Little Mermaid 2
Come Back Little Sheba 1
Cyrano de Bergerac 1
Grease 1
Is He Dead? 1
Mauritius 1
November 1
Thurgood 1
Top Girls 1
I've seen Cry Baby, A Catered Affair and Grease, and have tickets for Young Frankenstein. I really know how to pick 'em. But I like what I like and rarely go by critic's reviews. I think critics look at different things, maybe more technical things, than the general public. I prefer to go by recommendations from friends and gut feelings and my instincts for me are usually good.
For a complete listing of the nominees and everything else you ever wanted to know about the Tony Awards, go to TonyAwards.com where on Tony night you can watch Broadway and Hollywood celebrities walk the red carpet. Their arrivals will be webcast live from the sidewalk of West 50th Street beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET (11:30 p.m. UK time).
Saturday 10 May 2008
......And Why is it Called "The Country Girl"?
I went with my husband last week to see The Country Girl starring Morgan Freeman ("Driving Miss Daisy", "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Power of One", Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Million Dollar Baby"), Frances McDormand (Academy Award for Best Actress for "Fargo") and Peter Gallagher ("While You Were Sleeping", "American Beauty", "Titanic") and directed by Mike Nichols ("The Birdcage", "Charlie Wilson's War" and Academy Award for Best Director of "The Graduate", Tony Award for Spamalot, as well as Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple). With this superb cast and director, how could it miss? The critics didn't like it. Felt it lacked passion. Come on guys. Morgan Freeman? He could just stand there and I'd be entertained. So what if he missed a few lines. Who cares that he called the character Larry by the actor's real name, Lucas, and in the last scene forgot to zip up. He was playing an alcoholic after all. (I'm sorry Mr. Freeman if I have embarrassed you. It is not my intent). He has such a presence. He's very tall and in wonderful shape for a man of 70. He changes clothes several times in the play so we see him in his undershirt and boxers and wow, ugly he ain't. And McDormand and Gallagher are no slouches either.
My husband and I both liked the play which is a drama about a has-been actor, Frank Elgin, who lost his dream and his sense of self many years earlier to alcohol after a personal tragedy and has been given the chance by director Bernie Dodd, played amusingly by the stunning Peter Gallagher, to star in a new play much to the resistance of the producer and playwright who feel he is too big a risk. Frank's wife, Georgie, played subduedly by Frances McDormand refers to herself in an amusing, self-effacing way as the country girl. There is a psychological mystery in play here when we hear Frank and Georgie's opposing perceptions of what their life together has been. And Dodd perceives Georgie as an obstacle, albeit an enticing one. In this role Freeman plays a lost and uncertain man which is against type for him because he rarely, if ever, embodies uncertainty. He usually plays very stoic, all-knowing characters, even playing God in "Bruce Almighty" and again in "Evan Almighty". The critics are right in that it is not a passionate play, and if anything Freeman does underplay it, but the touching scenes between Frank and Georgie show us that although she has thought of leaving him because Frank's self-doubt has cost them both so much, there seems to be a loving bond and a need to stay with him to protect him from himself. The question is who needs who more, Frank or his country girl?
My husband and I both liked the play which is a drama about a has-been actor, Frank Elgin, who lost his dream and his sense of self many years earlier to alcohol after a personal tragedy and has been given the chance by director Bernie Dodd, played amusingly by the stunning Peter Gallagher, to star in a new play much to the resistance of the producer and playwright who feel he is too big a risk. Frank's wife, Georgie, played subduedly by Frances McDormand refers to herself in an amusing, self-effacing way as the country girl. There is a psychological mystery in play here when we hear Frank and Georgie's opposing perceptions of what their life together has been. And Dodd perceives Georgie as an obstacle, albeit an enticing one. In this role Freeman plays a lost and uncertain man which is against type for him because he rarely, if ever, embodies uncertainty. He usually plays very stoic, all-knowing characters, even playing God in "Bruce Almighty" and again in "Evan Almighty". The critics are right in that it is not a passionate play, and if anything Freeman does underplay it, but the touching scenes between Frank and Georgie show us that although she has thought of leaving him because Frank's self-doubt has cost them both so much, there seems to be a loving bond and a need to stay with him to protect him from himself. The question is who needs who more, Frank or his country girl?
Sunday 4 May 2008
A Catered Affair - An Affair to Remember
I took my 12 year old daughter to see Harvey Fierstein's latest musical A Catered Affair which opened on Broadway on April 17th. I had asked her which show she would like to see and she chose A Catered Affair because she loves Harvey Fierstein. I really wanted to see it and I was surprised that she chose it over Legally Blonde and Xanadu. Lucky for me, I loved it. It was so poignant and addressed the many family issues that surface when a family plans a wedding. First of all, financial. Should the family spend their life savings on an affair that will be over in four hours or invest it in a new business which will keep on making money for the family? And the guest list. Immediate family only? What comprises immediate family? What we get from this is that you can't make everyone happy.
It's the Bronx, 1953. The daughter, used to taking a backseat to her brother who has recently been killed in Korea, has planned a small town hall wedding with immediate family. The mother wants her daughter to have a big lavish wedding, something she did not have because she was a bride "without a waistline", and she feels it is something to remember and hold onto once you've become an oppressed wife as she has. The father wants to use their savings to buy a share in a taxi medallion to insure their future.
It's not an extravaganza like Hairspray or Wicked. The music is not that memorable, although there were three songs that I really liked because of their message, "Don't Ever Stop Saying I Love You", "I Stayed" and "Immediate Family". The sets are minimal but effective, just a gray building which comes alive with scenes cleverly projected on it in sepia tones, and movable kitchen, living room and bedroom sets. What I loved about it was that it dealt with a real family with real problems that almost anyone could relate to. And the acting was superb with Faith Prince as the mother, Aggie, Tom Wopat as the dad, Tom, and Harvey as the "confirmed bachelor" Uncle Winston living with them on their couch until he realizes he is not considered immediate family and leaves to "keep house" with his long time companion, Keith.
Unfortunately, my daughter was bored and restless through the whole 90 minute play, and in fact I think annoyed the young man she was sitting behind who kept looking back at her. I kept whispering to her to sit still but I knew early on that this was not a show for kids. The highlight for Jade took place before the show when we ran into Harvey Fierstein on the street. He was deep in conversation and totally ignored us. What a cheek! Haar-vee, it's me, Suko, from The Matinee. It's a liberty!
It's the Bronx, 1953. The daughter, used to taking a backseat to her brother who has recently been killed in Korea, has planned a small town hall wedding with immediate family. The mother wants her daughter to have a big lavish wedding, something she did not have because she was a bride "without a waistline", and she feels it is something to remember and hold onto once you've become an oppressed wife as she has. The father wants to use their savings to buy a share in a taxi medallion to insure their future.
It's not an extravaganza like Hairspray or Wicked. The music is not that memorable, although there were three songs that I really liked because of their message, "Don't Ever Stop Saying I Love You", "I Stayed" and "Immediate Family". The sets are minimal but effective, just a gray building which comes alive with scenes cleverly projected on it in sepia tones, and movable kitchen, living room and bedroom sets. What I loved about it was that it dealt with a real family with real problems that almost anyone could relate to. And the acting was superb with Faith Prince as the mother, Aggie, Tom Wopat as the dad, Tom, and Harvey as the "confirmed bachelor" Uncle Winston living with them on their couch until he realizes he is not considered immediate family and leaves to "keep house" with his long time companion, Keith.
Unfortunately, my daughter was bored and restless through the whole 90 minute play, and in fact I think annoyed the young man she was sitting behind who kept looking back at her. I kept whispering to her to sit still but I knew early on that this was not a show for kids. The highlight for Jade took place before the show when we ran into Harvey Fierstein on the street. He was deep in conversation and totally ignored us. What a cheek! Haar-vee, it's me, Suko, from The Matinee. It's a liberty!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
