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.

Evita Comes to the Opera House in Manchester

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita makes a stop along its UK tour route at the Opera House tonight until Sunday, July 5th starring West End actress Louise Dearman in the role of Evita Peron, Seamus Cullen, a finalist from the hit BBC TV programme "Any Dream Will Do" as Che Guevara, and Mark Heenehan as Juan Peron.

The story of Evita, told entirely through song and dance, follows the life of Argentina's infamous Eva Peron. It begins in 1934 and follows Eva as a young girl from her small hometown to Buenos Aires where she uses her female wiles to climb the ladder of success, first as a model, then an actress, and finally as the wife of General Juan Peron. When Peron is elected president, Eva becomes the most powerful woman in South America.

Originally conceived as a concept album, Evita was destined from the beginning for the stage. It opened in the West End in 1978 and was so successful that a year later when it opened on Broadway, it was nearly sold out before it began. Patti Lupone who just won her second Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical, won her first for her role as Eva Peron in 1980. In her acceptance speech, she described her role as Mama Rose in Gypsy as "the performance of her life", but her role as Eva Peron was a career defining role and "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" from Evita became her signature song. In 1996 a film version starring Madonna and Antonio Banderas was nominated for five Academy Awards winning only one for Best Original Song "You Must Love Me" which was composed especially for the movie.

..........and the winner is

The Tony Award Ceremony was spectacular. It always is, but this year they really outdid themselves. My dear friend, Whoopi Goldberg, was a wonderful host and a good sport. As for the awards themselves, there really were no big surprises. The musical with the most nominations won for best musical, the play with the most nominations won for best play, the musical revival with the most nominations won for best musical revival, and the revival of a play with the most nominations won for best revival of a play. Patti Lupone won for Best Actress in a Musical, duh. In the Heights nominated for 13 Tonys won 4 including Best Musical. August: Osage County won 5 of the 7 categories it was nominated for including Best Play. South Pacific took 7 of 11 nominations including Best Revival of a Musical. And the British production of Boeing, Boeing won 2 of the 6 categories it was nominated for including Best Revival of a Play.

These winning plays win more than just the Tonys. They win larger audiences. Larger audiences mean longer runs. Longer runs mean bigger ticket sales. It's a win win situation. The after-parties were barely over before winners started reporting boosts in ticket sales. With all the wonderful choices on Broadway, this year has been a particularly weak year for ticket sales. I read that 18 of the 37 shows currently on Broadway play to houses that sell 70% or fewer seats for each performance. So sad when you think about all the blood, sweat and tears it takes to get a show on the Great White Way. The Tony Awards really help because they whet the appetite of audiences. For me, after seeing numbers from all 11 musicals, I want to see them all. I've said it before and I'll say it again, "so many shows, so little time and money".

The Tonys Are Coming, The Tonys Are Coming

Did I mention the Tonys are coming? Are you as excited as I am? The Tonys is the most spectacular award show of them all. It outshines the Oscars, Emmys (American's television awards) and Grammys in my opinion. The reason being, it showcases the musicals up for best musical with well chosen bits from each of the nominees. But this year there is more. This year the 62nd annual Tony Awards will showcase 13 shows. All of the 11 eligible musicals will perform this coming Sunday night in the gala hosted by my "good friend" Whoopi Goldberg. The extravaganza will be aired live from New York's famous Radio City Music Hall on CBS-TV here in America with a live red carpet preshow which will be webcast at TonyAwards.com at 11:30 p.m. (UK time).


Cry-Baby, In the Heights, Passing Strange, and Xanadu are competing for the Best Musical award; and Gypsy, Grease, South Pacific, and Sunday in the Park With George are all nominated for Best Revival of a Musical. We'll see musical numbers from all of these but the 3 other eligible musicals, A Catered Affair, Young Frankenstein and Little Mermaid, which were not nominated will also present performances. I'm so pleased about this because I saw A Catered Affair and Young Frankenstein and really enjoyed them both, especially Young Frankenstein. And as if this wasn't enough, we'll also be treated to performances by the long-running musical Rent which is scheduled to close in September after 12 years on Broadway and Lion King which celebrated 10 years on Broadway this past November.

Listen up this Sunday, June 15, to "The Matinee" for more information from me, "the fabulous Suko" (a legend in her own mind) about the 62nd annual Tony Award show.

Megan Mullaley Disses Suko

That cheeky Megan Mullaley decided not to show up the other night when I went to see Young Frankenstein. Do you think someone gave her a heads up telling her I was coming to see the show? Oh Ja-ames. Don't you know it's for the good of the show. Oh well, not to worry because the show didn't need her anyhow. It had enough wonderment to go it without her. And, in fact, her understudy for the part of Herr Frankenstein's fiance Elizabeth, Heather Ayers, looked and sounded so much like her that I just pretended it was her. The rest of the original cast was there, Roger Bart as Frederich Frankenstein, er that's Frunkensteen, Sutton Foster as Inga, Shuler Hensley as the monster, Andrea Martin as Frau Blucher (nei-ei-eigh), and Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor, er that's Eyegor. We, my husband, daughter and myself, were thoroughly entertained. There were some great special effects, and hilarious lines taken directly from the movie. And the music is very good, maybe not great, but really good, with several memorable songs, "Life, Life", "Transylvania Mania", "Together Again", "Listen to Your Heart", "Surprise", "Deep Love" and Irving Berlin's "Puttin' on the Ritz" done only as a monster could do it. Andrea Martin and Christopher Fitzgerald are nominated for Tony's for featured actors in a musical. They were both outstanding, but the whole cast was great, even the fake Megan Mullaley. Why it didn't get more Tony nominations, I don't know. I think the critics underrated it. One could only wonder if the original price of seats on the weekends ($450 for the best 100 seats, $375 for the next 120) left the critics expecting even more than they got. But the audience loved it. Madame Aries would have been roaring with laughter. My daughter put it up there with Wicked, Lion King and Hairspray. Just be warned if you ever have a chance to see it, the language is quite explicit and the sexual innuendos run rampant, both of which made me cringe sitting next to my 12 year old daughter but she had begged us to take her to see it and to be honest, I'm glad we did. So if this big green monster ever crosses the pond, it's definitely one to see.