Can-Can Revival 1981 - Articles Page 28

Seventy-three years after its Broadway premiere, Kurt Weill and Maxwell Anderson's Knickerbocker Holiday can finally be heard in its first full recording, released on CD by Ghostlight Records on June 28, 2011.

"I can tell you that sometimes you have to wait fifty years and sometimes it comes in a year, but whenever it comes," then, the most dramatic pause imaginable - and the smile. That's a quote from Lena Horne on the occasion of the legendary actress and singer winning her Special Tony Award for her one-woman-show LENA HORNE: THE LADY & HER MUSIC at the 1981 Tony Awards. Lady, indeed - and a tune or two, too (maybe even a song from THE WIZ!), is on the Tony Awards menu today!

On May 11th, 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber first brought his magical musical, CATS, to a theater in London's West End District where it promptly made itself at home - for the next 21 years. It hit Broadway the following year and now, "the mystical divinity of unashamed felinity" that is CATS will be celebrating its 30th anniversary this week at San Francisco's Orpheum Theater, now through May 15th. BWW sat down with Jason Wise, who plays Tumblebrutus, to talk about the magic of CATS, his character and what's next for him.

With only a week to go, The Make A Difference Trust is proud to announce the spectacular line up for its 4th annual West End Eurovision event at the Piccadilly Theatre on Thursday 21st April. The show, which is now almost completely sold out, will be hosted by Ms Gaby Roslin. We are further pleased to announce that our celebrity judges for the night will be Graham Norton, Sheridan Smith and Justin Lee Collins. In addition, Heart FM?s Toby Anstis will be providing VIP and Backstage interviews throughout the event. This year the Trust is excited to have The Original Bucks Fizz performing their 1981 Eurovision winner „Making Your Mind Up? as a part of their 30th anniversary celebrations.

With only a week to go, The Make A Difference Trust is proud to announce the spectacular line up for its 4th annual West End Eurovision event at the Piccadilly Theatre on Thursday 21st April. The show, which is now almost completely sold out, will be hosted by Ms Gaby Roslin. We are further pleased to announce that our celebrity judges for the night will be Graham Norton, Sheridan Smith and Justin Lee Collins. In addition, Heart FM?s Toby Anstis will be providing VIP and Backstage interviews throughout the event. This year the Trust is excited to have The Original Bucks Fizz performing their 1981 Eurovision winner „Making Your Mind Up? as a part of their 30th anniversary celebrations.

Today we lost one of the greats: the gentle giant of directors, Sidney Lumet. What a resume! Just to pick seven of perhaps the best known of the bunch, the bunch in question being over 100 titles strong: 12 ANGRY MEN, LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT, SERPICO, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK and BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD - the films spanning fifty years from MEN in 1957 and DEVIL in 2007 - it is clear to see why Lumet was one of the most cherished and celebrated directors in Hollywood, especially known for his tough, gritty New York stories and his pristine stage-to-screen transfers. For an excellent example of the latter (in addition to LONG DAY'S JOURNEY and the others) check out DEATHTRAP - based on Ira Levin's play, the longest-running thriller in Broadway history - featuring Michael Caine in one of his best roles and Christopher Reeve and Dyan Cannon in their finest performances on film. For an example of the former genre, look no further than NETWORK, containing one of the strongest screenplays ever penned, from the fiery and ferocious pen of Paddy Cheyefsky, and Faye Dunaway in her Oscar-winning performance for all the ages. As far as theatrical screenplays on screen, Lumet would be hard-pressed to even come close to the power, prescience and transformative brilliance at the core of the conceit of that film - yet he did just that; with his final, 2007 film no less. I am speaking, of course, of the underrated and riveting BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Marisa Tomei, with Albert Finney and Rosemary Harris. Taking an original screenplay that could just as well have been written for the stage - shades of 12 ANGRY MEN, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK and SERPICO, certainly - Lumet made a bristling, biting brilliant work of staggering craft and ingenuity - all with verve, energy and drive of a man a quarter of his age at the time (80). His films were classics in his own time and, now, in his passing, they are just as timeless - if not more so. With each passing year, new layers of truth, beauty, sadness and soulfulness can be found in the countless frames in the innumerable unforgettable scenes in his many masterpieces.

On this very day in 1943, Michael DiFiglia was born in Buffalo, New York, and the world of Broadway would simply never be the same. Cutting his teeth with the accomplished choreography for A JOYFUL NOISE, PROMISES, PROMISES, SEESAW and COCO was merely the beginning of a career that would virtually rewrite and revolutionize the ways and means by which a director could yield ultimate control over a project. With COMPANY and FOLLIES, the later co-directing with Hal Prince, Bennett solidified himself as one of the most talented and brilliant choreographers of his generation and, shortly thereafter, proved with A CHORUS LINE that he was a master theatrical engineer with few, if any, peers. Worldwide success, Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize were just the gravy. Who else but Michael Bennett would then, or ever, receive - or should I say, earn - the credit "Entire Production Conceived, Produced and Directed by," besides him? While BALLROOM failed to live up to A CHORUS LINE in mostly every way, he soon after reinvented the wheel yet again with DREAMGIRLS in 1981. We never got to see his productions of CHESS and SCANDAL, both of which he was in the latter stages of developing at the time of his death in 1988. Broadway has never been the same since he's been gone. So, today, on the day following a glittering new production of COMPANY at Lincoln Center - with the complete dance sequence "Tick Tock" fully restored, now with five dancers - we take a tip of the top hat to the tops in taps, temerity and truthfulness onstage - the one and only Michael Bennett.

Cats is best viewed through fresh eyes, probably, when the wonder of the spectacle is first encountered. The show's technical wizardry, in its time mind-boggling and perhaps even revolutionary, is now old hat (although I can certainly let go of my own cynicism long enough to appreciate the very theatricality of the show) and expected. But, imagine if you will, if you know nothing about the show at all and you settle into your seat and give yourself over to the experience. Chances are - no matter how worldly or sophisticated you are - you'll find yourself just a little awestruck by Cats. It remains an important milestone in musical theater history, despite the derision of theater snobs the world over.

To create discourse about sex and age, Brava Theater presents The Oldest Profession, written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive, Baltimore Waltz). Directed by Brava Company Member Evren Odcikin and musical arrangements by Angela Dwyer, this production recognizes the awareness of women playwrights and the men that support them. Vogel's commentary on aging and sex will come to life during Women's History Month and in correlation with Support Women Arts Now (SWAN) DAY on March 26th. The Oldest Profession runs March 12th through April 9th (press opening, Monday, March 14th) at Brava Theater in San Francisco's historic Mission District (2781 24th Street at York). For tickets ($10-25) and information, the public can call the Brava Theater Box Office at 415-647-2822 or visit www.brava.org.

Dundalk Community Theatre continues its 2010/11 season with Reginald Rose's stage version of Twelve Angry Men through March 6th. Individual tickets are $22 for adults, $19 for senior adults and $14 for students/DCT Actors/Children 12 and under. The CCBC Box Office between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday at 443-840-2787, or visit www.ccbcmd.edu/performingarts/dct.html . The CCBC Box Office is also open two hours before each performance for ticket sales.

Lanford Wilson's Tony-nominated Fifth of July, called the 'wisest and funniest play of its generation' by the New York Times, made its Lehigh Valley debut when it opened in Civic's 19th Street Theatre on Friday, February 18th. Fifth of July will close Sunday, February 27th, with eight total performances. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting www.CivicTheatre.com, calling 610.432.8943 or going to Civic's Box Office at 527 N 19th Street in Allentown between 10 and 4 on weekdays.

Dundalk Community Theatre continues its 2010/11 season with Reginald Rose's stage version of Twelve Angry Men from February 25th - March 6th.

Dundalk Community Theatre continues its 2010/11 season with Reginald Rose's stage version of Twelve Angry Men from February 25th - March 6th.

"Museum as Hub: The Accords" is a multipart project exploring new forms of curatorial practice and international collaboration. Building on experimentation, critique, and play, the exhibition proposes new terms for agreement and considers whether an "accord" can inspire new methods of communication and production, and perhaps lead to new approaches to exhibition making in the process.

Highlights Include the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Natalie Cole, Michael Feinstein, Dudu Fisher, Kathy Griffin, Shirley MacLaine, Jackie Mason, Peking Acrobats, Itzhak Perlman, The Temptations & The Four Tops, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, Spring Awakening, Tango Inferno, West Side Story & the World Premiere Screening of Steven Caras: See Them Dance

"Museum as Hub: The Accords" is a multipart project exploring new forms of curatorial practice and international collaboration. Building on experimentation, critique, and play, the exhibition proposes new terms for agreement and considers whether an "accord" can inspire new methods of communication and production, and perhaps lead to new approaches to exhibition making in the process.

To create discourse about sex and age, Brava Theater presents The Oldest Profession, written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive, Baltimore Waltz). Directed by Brava Company Member Evren Odcikin and musical arrangements by Angela Dwyer, this production recognizes the awareness of women playwrights and the men that support them. Vogel's commentary on aging and sex will come to life during Women's History Month and in correlation with Support Women Arts Now (SWAN) DAY on March 26th. The Oldest Profession runs March 12th through April 9th (press opening, Monday, March 14th) at Brava Theater in San Francisco's historic Mission District (2781 24th Street at York). For tickets ($10-25) and information, the public can call the Brava Theater Box Office at 415-647-2822 or visit www.brava.org.

Highlights Include the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra, Natalie Cole, Michael Feinstein, Dudu Fisher, Kathy Griffin, Shirley MacLaine, Jackie Mason, Peking Acrobats, Itzhak Perlman, The Temptations & The Four Tops, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, Spring Awakening, Tango Inferno, West Side Story & the World Premiere Screening of Steven Caras: See Them Dance

Since Oprah Winfrey just had her final 'Favorite Things' show (twice), I thought that I'd take an opportunity for those of you who have waited until the last minute to make suggestions for last minute gifts, which you can still get with a full range of prices for your budget. These are MY Top 10 favorite gift for this holiday season and please note that they are in no particular order, but BroadwayWorld.com has done all the research for quick, click-on shopping to make it easier for you.

Listening to the popular theatre critic/journalist Peter Filichia talk about musicals can be twice as entertaining as half the shows on Broadway.  Ever hear his story about the audience reaction at the first preview of Bring Back Birdie?  Or the way he one-upped David Merrick after being tossed out of a preview of 42nd Street?  Or the exact moment he could tell, while watching an out-of-town tryout of Company, that Dean Jones would not be playing Bobby for long?

Joan Rosenbaum, who has led The Jewish Museum since 1981, creating its innovative identity as a museum of art and culture and doubling the size of its home at Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, has informed the full Board of Trustees of her intention to retire at the end of June 2011 from her position as Helen Goldsmith Menschel Director of the Museum.

Sure, in America the guilty have just as much a right to a fair trial as the innocent.  But when someone you believe is guilty doesn't get one, is that a wrong you can be all that enthused about righting?  That's one of the discussion points that might be mulled over by leftist radicals downing shots of vodka after taking in Amy Herzog's After The Revolution.  Unfortunately, this tantalizing moral dilemma is regulated to a throwaway point in a play that teases us with its political content while contenting itself with being a rather formulaic family drama.  It's a good one, for sure; well-written (despite an unsatisfying ending) with absorbing conflicts and director Carolyn Cantor's excellent cast is always engaging, but every so often the play reminds us of an interesting direction the author decided not to take.

Kate Clinton The Lady HAHA Tour with Special Guest Roy Zimmerman will be coming to the Colonial on November 13, at 8PM. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased in person at the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street Monday-Friday 10AM-5PM, performance Saturdays 10AM-2PM, by calling (413) 997-4444 or online at www.thecolonialtheatre.org.

Based on Reubens' 1981 cult classic stage production, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, with new elements from the ground-breaking CBS show 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' added generously, this new production is written by Paul Reubens and Bill Steinkellner, with additional material by John Paragon. Directed by Alex Timbers (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson), The Pee-Wee Herman Show will feature music by Jay Cotton and the work of renowned puppetry artist Basil Twist. Direct from its acclaimed, sold-out run in Los Angeles, The Pee-Wee Herman Show began its 48-performance limited run on Tuesday, October 26, 2010 and officially opened on Thursday, November 11 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre (124 West 43rd street). The engagement will run through January 2.

The Pee-Wee Herman Show, now running a limited engagement at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Broadway, is not geared towards anyone who is currently a child. It is, however, very much geared towards the inner child inside any one who cheered for Paul Reubens' iconic man-child character as he entertained us for five years on CBS' 'Pee-Wee's Playhouse' or in the movies 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure' and 'Big Top Pee-Wee'. The show brings out the child inside all of the eager fans who comprise a cult following that began with the birth of Pee-Wee on stage at the Groundlings in 1981, even though some of the costumed-clad enthusiasts who attended the preview performance I saw this month were not even alive yet when Pee-Wee made that midnight debut.