Pat Cerasaro - Page 193

Today we are kicking off the 2012 InDepth InterView Tony Awards Series with the director/choreographer of the hottest hit of the 2011-2012 theatrical season, NEWSIES, that was recently awarded with a boatload of Tony Award nominations, in addition to a short-running show that has a very vocal group of advocates and supporters that also received a handful of Tony noms, BONNIE & CLYDE - the passionate and visionary Jeff Calhoun. Discussing all aspects of his mega-hit with Disney's NEWSIES and his success d'estime with Frank Wildhorn's BONNIE & CLYDE, as well as all about his years spent developing both, Calhoun illustrates his process and sheds some light on many aspects of the creation of the wildly different vehicles, as well as his opinions on the theatrical environment of today. Additionally, Calhoun outlines his experiences working with NEWIES and BONNIE & CLYDE breakout stars Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes - both Tony nominees - as well as his many years spent as an associate choreographer for legendary Tony-winning master director Tommy Tune creating many remarkable musicals such as GRAND HOTEL and THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES. Plus, Calhoun conveys his infectious enthusiasm for his craft and discusses what drives him to create while also sharing his humbled appreciation for the recognition of both his new musicals this season by the Tony Award committee and reflecting on his vast multitude of experiences in the theatre so far in his career - everything from starring in SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS and MY ONE & ONLY on Broadway to choreographing THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES and BUSKER ALLEY with Tommy Tune and transitioning into directing/choreographing with the hit revivals of GREASE, BIG RIVER, PIPPIN, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (with Graciele Daniele), BELLS ARE RINGING, as well as GREY GARDENS and the rest. All of that and much, much more in this career-spanning conversation with one of Broadway's best!

Today we are tying together the 2012 Tony Awards Clip Countdown selection with BroadwayWorld's extensive and exclusive InDepth InterView Tony Awards Edition premiere entry spotlighting NEWSIES and BONNIE & CLYDE director/choreographer Jeff Calhoun by focusing on Calhoun's first major choreographic contributions showcased on a Broadway stage, as seen in the 1991 Tony Award-winning Best Musical helmed by multi-Tony-winner Tommy Tune, THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES.

Today we are kicking off the 2012 InDepth InterView Tony Awards Series with the director/choreographer of the hottest hit of the 2011-2012 theatrical season, NEWSIES, that was recently awarded with a boatload of Tony Award nominations, in addition to a short-running show that has a very vocal group of advocates and supporters that also received a handful of Tony noms, BONNIE & CLYDE - the passionate and visionary Jeff Calhoun. Discussing all aspects of his mega-hit with Disney's NEWSIES and his success d'estime with Frank Wildhorn's BONNIE & CLYDE, as well as all about his years spent developing both, Calhoun illustrates his process and sheds some light on many aspects of the creation of the wildly different vehicles, as well as his opinions on the theatrical environment of today. Additionally, Calhoun outlines his experiences working with NEWIES and BONNIE & CLYDE breakout stars Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes - both Tony nominees - as well as his many years spent as an associate choreographer for legendary Tony-winning master director Tommy Tune creating many remarkable musicals such as GRAND HOTEL and THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES. Plus, Calhoun conveys his infectious enthusiasm for his craft and discusses what drives him to create while also sharing his humbled appreciation for the recognition of both his new musicals this season by the Tony Award committee and reflecting on his vast multitude of experiences in the theatre so far in his career - everything from starring in SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS and MY ONE & ONLY on Broadway to choreographing THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES and BUSKER ALLEY with Tommy Tune and transitioning into directing/choreographing with the hit revivals of GREASE, BIG RIVER, PIPPIN, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (with Graciele Daniele), BELLS ARE RINGING, as well as GREY GARDENS and the rest. All of that and much, much more in this career-spanning conversation with one of Broadway's best!

The Boss to the Beatles to Madonna to Rod Stewart, GLEE's emotional and invigorating season finale was pretty much everything a gleek could have asked for in a grand send-off to the original crew of McKinley High's New Directions - at least insofar as we have seen them thus far - as the musical dramedy series ends its third season and heads into uncertain new terrain with Season Four and the purportedly revolutionary new dual-show concept GLEE mastermind Ryan Murphy and company plan to incorporate while bringing in guest stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Kate Hudson and THE GLEE PROJECT winners. As seen in "Goodbye", the future looks quite uncertain for many of the McKinley graduates - Rachel (Lea Michele) may have gotten into NYADA at the eleventh hour and arrived on Broadway to fulfill her theatre dreams, but Finn (Cory Monteith) and Kurt did not get into their performing arts academies of their choice. So, what now? So, too, will Quinn (Dianna Agron) assumedly head for the East Coast and Princeton, while Santana (Naya Rivera) will apparently be joining Rachel in New York - but, to do what? The future is evidently more promising for some than for others, but what we will see play out is infuriatingly indeterminable at this stage of the game. Anticipation is building, in any event - and GLEE continues to entice. What's next for the rest of the glee club we will have to wait until next season to witness, but we can rest assured that Blaine (Darren Criss), Sam (Chord Overstreet), Joe (Samuel Larsen), Sugar (Vanessa Lengies) and Artie (Kevin McHale) will be around, with the fates of some of the original glee clubbers who graduated a little less cut and dry as far as their character's trajectories are concerned - particularly Puck (Mark Salling), Mike (Harry Shum, Jr.), Tina (Jenna Ushkowitz) and Mercedes (Amber Riley). And, as for Mr. Shu (Matt Morrison), Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch), Coach Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones) and Emma (Jayma Mays)? We will definitely be seeing much more of them in September. While we can always rely on GLEE to provide us with outrageous jokes, outlandish characterizations, unexpected dramatic and thematic twists and turns, shockingly touching domestic drama and many incredibly heartwarming moments and socially progressive messages, the music - more importantly, the musical numbers - is what makes GLEE stand out from every other serial television series before or since and why the show will unquestionably be remembered as something revolutionary and indisputably idiosyncratic in the scheme of TV history.

With music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, the grandson of Richard Rodgers, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA fulfilled its great promise by becoming one of the most enchantingly romantic and melodically moving musicals to come about in the new millennium and its Tony Awards for Best Score, Best Actress In A Musical, Best Orchestrations and a trio of technical prizes go a long way in justifying the notable place the Italianate musical has in American theatre history. Plus, what an original cast - besides Tony-winner Victoria Clark, THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA also featured fellow nominee Kelli O'Hara, who appears this season in a leading role in NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, as well as crossover GLEE superstar Matthew Morrison, who would go on to make another strong impression in a pivotal role in a musical at Lincoln Center soon thereafter (also under the direction of Barlett Sher) - SOUTH PACIFIC.

Today we continue the 2012 Tony Awards Clip Countdown - culminating in the final entry on June 10, aka Tony Sunday - with a focus on two tremendous theatrical talents who have crossed over from Broadway fame to international acclaim on Fox's hit musical dramedy series GLEE, which ends its third season tonight: HAIRSPRAY's Matthew Morrison and SPRING AWAKENING's Lea Michele.

RENT owned the 90s. No other Broadway show managed to have the dual impact on society by becoming not only a pop culture phenomenon, but also changing perceptions of what a musical on Broadway could be - and, most importantly, how it could sound. Contemporary, cool, caustic and engaging, RENT updated LA BOHEME to the East Village just as Jonathan Larson updated the way the general public looked at Broadway at a time when musicals had fallen farther out of fashion than they had since their early years approaching the turn of the last century. Yet, at the end of the millennium - to quote one of the show's lyrics - RENT represented the hopes, dreams and desires of many Broadway babies and what we hoped would be achieved on the Great White Way in the new century. While SPRING AWAKENING, AMERICAN IDIOT and NEXT TO NORMAL certainly stand as solid continuations of the rock musical formula recalibrated and made anew in the mold made by RENT, no show since RENT has quite managed to have the cultural impact and win over audiences and critics alike in as major a way as that Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical has - with the exception, perhaps, of WICKED, which obviously owes a debt to its Oz-ian source inspiration and the built-in audience that comes along with that. Yes, indeed, RENT represents an entire generation in its sound, style, ideals and overall feeling, mood and tone and the subsequent success of the many members of the simply astounding assortment of talents that comprised the original cast acts as evidence that the show may have had the cast of the decade, as well.

Today we celebrate Broadway's best and brightest moments at the Tony Awards - looking ahead the 2012 Tony telecast on June 10 on CBS - with this tremendous trio of triple-threat talents; all recreating the iconic roles and songs that brought them to Tony Award glory: Jennifer Holiday with "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from DREAMGIRLS, Patti LuPone with "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from EVITA and Betty Buckley with "Memory" from CATS. All original leading ladies; all performing the songs they introduced on the Great White Way - all as fabulous as always, if not more so.

While the Disney musical itself was suspiciously not nominated for Best Musical, the 2000 Tony Awards committee saw it fit to award Elton John & Tim Rice's stylish and emotional rock musical AIDA in four significant categories on June 4, 2000 - Best Actress In A Musical for Heather Headley charismatic lead performance, Best Score for Elton John and Tim Rice's moving and expressive music and lyrics, Best Scenic Design for Bob Crowley's stunning set-pieces and Best Lighting Design for Natasha Katz's enveloping illumination of the Palace Theatre's rightly famous stage. The show has gone on to a rich life around the world and in amateur productions, with generations of theatergoers hooked on the classic story once told in an opera by Verdi in a totally modern and dynamic new way - with some songs we are not soon to forget.

This weekend, BroadwayWorld will be presenting an illuminating InDepth InterView with legendary composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber all about the enchanting new performance capture film version of his PHANTOM OF THE OPERA sequel, LOVE NEVER DIES. Until that chat, let's take a look back at some of the finest Andrew Lloyd Webber-related performances related to the entertainment dynasty built upon his operatic pop musical version of the classic Gaston Leroux novel that is about to celebrate its 10,000th performance on Broadway later this month, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, as well as its continuation, LOVE NEVER DIES, and the two revivals of his two classic 70s hit stage collaborations with previous InDepth InterView participant Sir Tim Rice coming back to Broadway in a big way - JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and EVITA. Plus, a look at the new Simon Phillips-directed production of LOVE NEVER DIES coming to Fathom-equipped movie theaters nationwide on February 28 and March 7, with DVD & Blu-ray after that, as well as the PHANTOM 25 DVD & Blu-ray being released in the US on February 7. It's a busy time of year for phans, clearly! Fetch your favorite mask and check out these four Andrew Lloyd Webber delicacies before they arrive!

In honor of this week's US release of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL on DVD/Blu-ray - PHANTOM 25 for short - today we are focusing on the multitude of attributes that have made Andrew Lloyd Webber's unforgettable gothic musical the most successful entertainment of all time, now in its 25th year onstage and about to reach 10,000 performances on Broadway, where it is the reigning longest running show of all time. The gargantuan excitement generated by and the enthusiastic reception enjoyed by PHANTOM for audiences worldwide is unprecedented, yet, the new ultimate presentation of the show - PHANTOM 25 - is even more spectacular and thrilling than any iteration of PHANTOM on any stage or screen thus far. Bringing together the cast of a lifetime with the electricity of a live audience, the HD preservation of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL is positively peerless in its sleekness, precision and polish of presentation. Never before - not even in the vaunted hands and cords of original show stars Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford - has the show been this contemporary, sexual and hypnotizing. Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom brings a rawness and austerity to the role that commands attention and Sierra Boggess is, in a word, supreme, as the young ingenue under the Phantom's watchful musical tutelage. So, too, does Hadley Fraser's perfectly painted Raoul hit the right mark, as do the rest of the exceptional cast in their commitment to making clear-cut, strong and colorful impressions in their roles. The LED-enhanced set is an imaginative reworking of the designs by Maria Bjornson and the musical staging is smooth and assured thanks to original show choreographer Gillian Lynne. Yet, the star of PHANTOM 25 is, unquestionably, Andrew Lloyd Webber's rapturous, rich and enveloping score. Bringing together an impressive and inspired assortment of genres in creating the quintessential pop opera, Lloyd Webber employs elements of grand opera, opera bouffe, operetta and musical theatre, as well as incorporates a diverse range of musical styles - even a little heavy metal guitar in the title song, as we shall see (and hear). The score of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's finest achievements and stands tall alongside his other classic scores for JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, EVITA, CATS, SUNSET BOULEVARD among many other international hit shows. Indeed, the story and score of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is so very complex and decadent as to allow for a continuation of the story, score, characters and overall themes in the form of the new musical, LOVE NEVER DIES, which premiered in a new version in Australia last year and whose story traces the relationship of the Phantom, Christine and Raoul from the end of the original show all the way from Paris to Coney Island ten years later where PHANTASMA is the show everyone must experience thanks to a mysterious figure lurking in the shadows beyond the carousel. In today's celebration of PHANTOM 25, we will take a look at the original music videos, the legendary Hal Prince production on Broadway and in the West End, the forthcoming LOVE NEVER DIES - coming to Fathom-equipped theaters nationwide later this month - all with a special spotlight on the most phantastic anniversary concert of all time, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL.

Today we are talking to one of the stars of the hit revival of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING - which will be closing this Sunday after a 16-month run, so catch it while you can - who has also carved out an astonishingly accomplished resume on film and TV since her stunning, Emmy-winning small screen debut in a lead role as the young Judy Garland in ME & MY SHADOWS: LIFE WITH JUDY GARLAND - the beautiful and tremendously talented Tammy Blanchard. Touching on many of her most memorable big screen and small screen roles and sharing her experiences of working with many of her impressive co-stars and creative collaborators - Bernadette Peters, Jessica Lange, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents, Sam Mendes, and her co-star on two films, the late Brittany Murphy - Blanchard eloquently illustrates her rise to stardom and the roles and performances she has given that she is fondest of - GYPSY to BELLA to THE GOOD SHEPHERD and beyond. Additionally, Blanchard clues us in on what we can expect from her multi-episode character arc on Showtime's hit dramedy series THE BIG C and what it was like to play such a unique and unusual character - as well as her feelings on sharing the screen (and the onscreen bedroom) with previous InDepth InterView participants John Benjamin Hickey and Brian d'Arcy James. Plus, Blanchard shares how her new role as a mom has shaped her craft and career as well as future plans post-HOW TO SUCCEED, observations on GLEE and SMASH and much, much more!

Having more influence on subsequent seasons than many a Tony Award-winning Best Musical before it or since, the pioneering and trend-setting jukebox Four Seasons biomusical JERSEY BOYS in many ways bucked the trends of previous song-catalog shows by utilizing a dazzling set design, inventive staging and fast-paced direction by Des McAnuff to tell the more-or-less true tale of Frank Valli and the other boys who rose to the top ranks of pop music in the 1960s with their falsetto-outfitted pop anthems and what the price of fame ultimately cost. Not since DREAMGIRLS had a music industry story been told so compellingly and innovatively and the show went on to win four awards that night: Best Actor In A Musical, Best Featured Actor In A Musical, Best Lighting and Best Musical.

Today's memorable Tony Awards moment for the ages comes courtesy of a former AMERICAN IDOL contestant-cum-Broadway leading man - Constantine Maroulis, who was nominated for Best Actor In A Musical at the 2009 Tony Awards ceremony - leading a cast of 80s mall-hair-ed New Jerseyians all armed with a song a prayer in a performance from the Tony-nominated 80s stadium metal jukebox hit ROCK OF AGES.

On the edge of glory, GLEE momentarily brought back the ecstatic excitement and indescribably infectious joy which made the musical dramedy series a huge hit in its first and second seasons, then commanding upwards of twelve million viewers a week. Now sixty-plus episodes into the series, in a two-hour episode helmed by co-creator Ian Brennan, last night's two-episode gorge-worthy and gorgeous feast - 'Props' and 'Nationals', by the hour - was a reminder of everything that cynics have cited as lacking from episodes in Season Three, as flagging ratings and a general media lull plagues the once seemingly indomitable mega-show despite its continued inventiveness and dramatic daringness. It was fresh and sassy and outrageous, but touching and heartfelt - attributes ascribed to the best episodes of the show. Yet, it was so much more, too - and then there's the music! Both hours were a totally over-the-top tribute to all things big and wow-worthy, coming at just the right moment to pump some energizing lifeblood into the audience base - passing references to Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Marvin Hamlisch and Elton John as well as multiple winks at DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES songwriter and BAT OUT OF HELL mastermind Jim Steinman collectively pushing the theatre insider reference quotient into the stratosphere; and appreciably so. Yes, indeed, last night's double-dose of GLEE was an OD-worthy escapade worthy of returning to time and time again - Lea Michele's solo spots of Jason Mraz's 'I Won't Give Up' and Celine Dion's Grammy-winning 'It's All Coming Back To Me Now' alone were standouts of not only this or any season, but the series itself. With more than fifteen songs performed - everything from Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and The Who to STARLIGHT EXPRESS, TOMMY, FLASHDANCE and KISS ME, KATE - there was something for everyone in the two-hour GLEE extravaganza overflowing with the witty one-liners, out-of-this-world twists, outlandish characterizations, as well as the idiosyncratic theatrical reality that only GLEE can create. It was a true return to form to prove any and all naysayers wrong, and, this, coming after last week's Ryan Murphy-penned 'Prom-asaurus' season highlight, no less.

Today we continue BroadwayWorld's extensive look at highlights from the sixty-plus years of the Tony Awards as we anticipate this year's ceremony on June 10 on CBS with the absolutely riveting final moment of last year's telecast, featuring peerless host Neil Patrick Harris performing a verbally dexterous and dizzying - and damn good - wrap-up/rap-up penned by Tony-winning IN THE HEIGHTS composer/lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda and director Tommy Kail.

The words we've all been breathlessly waiting to hear - "You're going on as Marilyn tonight," - were finally uttered by the director of the show-within-the-show, Derek (Jack Davenport), on SMASH's "Bombshell" season finale last night: Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee) nabbed the coveted role. Despite seemingly all of the bets being placed early in the season against Karen by viewers and critics alike insofar as her likelihood in donning the peroxide wig and beautymark - she seemed a Norma Jean but rarely an expected choice for Marilyn; certainly no match in the classic idea of the screen siren as far as the vivacious and curvaceous Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) was concerned. While many were quick in giving Ivy Lynn the upper hand - or upper skirt, as the case may be - it was evident from the first moment of the series that Karen, the underdog, is who we were largely meant to be rooting for above all others; the naive Iowa girl singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" on a stage of glitterring stars, so close and yet so far away. Ivy surely made a fast and furious impression soon thereafter with "The National Pastime" in SMASH's pilot, but Karen had already been quite clearly established as our most central protagonist - perhaps with Julia (Debra Messing) equally as prominent. As the fourteen subsequent episodes have progressed, SMASH has revealed itself to be a true ensemble piece with the emphasis on the collective journey of all of the characters and how that has had an effect on the burgeoning Broadway musical at the show's core, but Karen and Julia still have remained the two given the most screen-time and exposure. Megan Hilty has nonetheless emerged as a force to be reckoned with and her performance in the role is the finest of all on the series, outshining all in her songs and scenes. The various highways, byways and alleyways by which we have journeyed on the road of SMASH from the beginning to last night has unquestionably been leading to the BOMBSHELL first preview performances and the reveal of who would ultimately win the part of a lifetime in the show-within-the-show - and, on that count, the SMASH season finale bared all. And, as if all of that were not enough - cameos from Broadway heavyweights Bernadette Peters and Nick Jonas, too!

The impact of the influential 1969 rock opera TOMMY by The Who is incalculable insofar as its impact on perceptions of what modern musical storytelling could be and the way it shaped the way theatre music was received by audiences at large, and that is due in no small part to the awe-inspiring attributes of Pete Townshend's seminal, still timeless score. "Pinball Wizard" to "Acid Queen" to "Listening To You" and beyond, the multitude of strong melodies and potent messages in the psychedelic show continue to be compelling and absorbing - and the success of the show has continued beyond its multi-Tony Award-winning Broadway production: GLEE takes on the unforgettable Act One closer tonight, "Pinball Wizard".

Today we are continuing BroadwayWorld's month-long Tony Awards clip countdown - which culminates in the Tony telecast itself on Sunday, June 10 - with a handful of Tony moments featuring members of the awesomely talented cast of NBC's musical drama series SMASH - season finale airing at 10 PM tonight - years before their big TV breakthrough roles on the hit show, which has been officially renewed for a second season: Megan Hilty, Brian d'Arcy James and a Tony Award nominee this year, Christian Borle!

Today we are continuing BroadwayWorld's month-long salute to the 2012 Tony Awards - which will take place June 10 on CBS - with a spectacular performance captured only last year, featuring three generations of J. Pierrepont Finches - originator Robert Morse, revival Tony Award-winner Matthew Broderick and Hollywood/Broadway crossover superstar Daniel Radcliffe - with the former two introducing the latter as he leads "Brotherhood Of Man" from the Pulitzer Prize-winning HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, a true blue Broadway classic.