Nuts 1980 - Articles Page 3

Christmas Day 2012 marks the biggest and best day of the year for many Broadway babies around the world, but the anticipatory fervor has little to do with the man with the beard in red and white from the North Pole - you see, the guy in question in this equation is more apt to be seen in red and black and his origins are decidedly a bit more Gallic than Jolly Old St. Nick. The man whom I speak of is, of course, Jean Valjean, the protagonist of Victor Hugo's spellbinding 1862 historical epic LES MISERABLES, a novel which was subsequently adapted into a 1980 concert spectacular and ultimately a 1985 full-fledged stage musical, painstakingly developed through the shepherding of uber producer Cameron Mackintosh, alongside the talents responsible for breathing song into the story - original French composer/lyricist team Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil (along with Jean-Marc Natel), to whom Mackintosh added English lyricist Herbert Kretzmer (and also contributor James Fenton). Through a special partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company, LES MISERABLES: THE MUSICAL premiered at the Barbican Theatre in the West End soon thereafter under the direction of Trevor Nunn and John Caird and opened to largely negative reviews, albeit ecstatic, ebullient audiences. Broadway was next, where it went on to win Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Actor, Best Featured Actress & Actor and even more (eight total). LES MISERABLES onstage was a hit like few others from then on and the rest, ze say, is history - or, in this case, l'histoire. Yet, on Christmas Day, the next step in the evolution of the worldwide phenomenon commonly and colloquially known as LES MIZ will occur - just days after the Mayan-predicted end of days, no less - and the movie musical adaptation of the stage show will finally become a reality, featuring an all-star cast comprised of Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Aaron Tveit, Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter, among others. The time has come to hear the people sing onscreen at long, long last. But, first, how is the film?

While many MIZ-heads may have assumed the film adaptation of their beloved musical would never actually come to fruition, here it really is, all too soon available for all to see - lo, more than twenty years after it was first announced byway of an official promo ad in a tour souvenir going as far back as the late-1980s. I was lucky enough to catch an advance screening during the dawning days of December and many small moments, full musical sequences and my first impressions themselves have filled me with a certain kind of inexpressible enrapturing ecstasy heretofore inexperienced, coming as a direct result, no doubt, of the sheer force of power the film exacts in its relentless, barreling, blazingly bravado-bedecked style - a style, I can firmly say, is completely unique in movie history. LES MISERABLES is a lot of things, but, first and foremost, it is that which it is unlike that makes it most remarkable of all; that is: it is unlike any movie musical ever made. And, it is a masterpiece.

Yesterday's MEET THE PRESS WITH DAVID GREGORY on NBC featured interviews with Romney supporter Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and White House senior adviser David Plouffe; a roundtable conversation with conservative activist and founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition Ralph Reed, Fmr. Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA), the BBC's Katty Kay, NBC News political director and chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd; and the latest live from Afghanistan with NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel.

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS, a comedy about family by Joe DiPietro, is the six offering of the 18th Season at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Theatre when it opens on Friday, February 24. Running Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Select Sundays at 2pm, the popular comedy will entertain through Saturday, March 24.

OVER THE RIVER AND THROUGH THE WOODS, a comedy about family by Joe DiPietro, is the six offering of the 18th Season at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Theatre when it opens on Friday, February 24. Running Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Select Sundays at 2pm, the popular comedy will entertain through Saturday, March 24.

Ed Shea, Artistic Director, announced that 2nd Story Theatre will return to the historic Bristol Statehouse, 240 High Street, Bristol, RI for a production of Nuts by Tom Topor. Nuts will be directed by Mark Peckham.

The 2010-2011 Season continues at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when 'new producers' Shirley and Joe Urkshus present THE BROADWAY ONSTAGE MURDERS opening on Friday, February 18. Running Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Select Sundays at 2pm, this audience-participation murder mystery will be pleasing audiences through its closing night on Saturday, March 19.

The 2010-2011 Season continues at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when 'new producers' Shirley and Joe Urkshus present THE BROADWAY ONSTAGE MURDERS opening on Friday, February 18. Running Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Select Sundays at 2pm, this audience-participation murder mystery will be pleasing audiences through its closing night on Saturday, March 19.

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13, a world premiere mystery by John Arden McClure, continues the 30th Season of Dennis Wickline Productions, Inc. at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when it opens on Friday, January 7.

Ed Shea, Artistic Director, announced that 2nd Story Theatre will return to the historic Bristol Statehouse, 240 High Street, Bristol, RI for two special events in 2011.

THE PROBLEM OF CELL 13, a world premiere mystery by John Arden McClure, continues the 30th Season of Dennis Wickline Productions, Inc. at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when it opens on Friday, January 7.

Back by popular demand for the Tenth Holiday Season in a row, Broadway Onstage Live Theatre is again pleased to present the Holiday Comedy by Dennis Wickline, THE NUTCRACKER'S NUTS.

Back by popular demand for the Tenth Holiday Season in a row, Broadway Onstage Live Theatre is again pleased to present the Holiday Comedy by Dennis Wickline, THE NUTCRACKER'S NUTS.

Popular KNBC meteorologist/funny man Fritz Coleman brings his new show An Evening with Fritz Coleman/On the Fritz to the El Portal Theatre in NoHo August 19-22 only. Coleman certainly needs no introduction to Angelenos as he has been reporting the weather three times daily in his own inimitable style for the past 27 years on Channel 4. In our talk, he discusses the new show, his roots, his favorite comics and even explains a little about the whys of the fantastic summer weather we've been experiencing.

In May 1977 three artists--Robin Hirsch, a writer and director; Charles McKenna, an actor; and Raphaela Pivetta, a visual artist--stumbled across a tiny storefront on Cornelia Street in the heart of Greenwich Village and thought it the perfect place to open a café.

MURDERER, by Anthony Shaffer, is the fifth show of the season at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when it opens on Friday, January 8, 2010.

Back by popular demand for the Ninth Holiday Season in a row, Broadway Onstage Live Theatre is again pleased to present the Holiday Comedy by Dennis Wickline, THE NUTCRACKER'S NUTS.

MURDERER, by Anthony Shaffer, is the fifth show of the season at Eastpointe's Broadway Onstage Live Theatre when it opens on Friday, January 8, 2010.

Back by popular demand for the Ninth Holiday Season in a row, Broadway Onstage Live Theatre is again pleased to present the Holiday Comedy by Dennis Wickline, THE NUTCRACKER'S NUTS.

Back by popular demand for the Ninth Holiday Season in a row, Broadway Onstage Live Theatre is again pleased to present the Holiday Comedy by Dennis Wickline, THE NUTCRACKER'S NUTS.

Tony® Award-winner Liev Schreiber and Golden Globe nominee Scarlett Johansson, in her Broadway debut, will star in Arthur Miller's A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE directed by Gregory Mosher on Broadway at the Cort Theatre (138 West 48th Street). Performances begin Monday, December 28, 2009 and the official opening is Sunday, January 24, 2010. The limited engagement will run for 14 weeks only.

The Sixteenth Season of Broadway Onstage Live Theatre, and the Twenty-Ninth Season of Dennis Wickline Productions, opens on Friday, July 24 with a new version of the Renee Taylor/Joseph Bologna comedy Lovers and Other Strangers. Playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Select Sundays at 2pm, the hilarious comedy will run through Saturday, August 22.

The Sixteenth Season of Broadway Onstage Live Theatre, and the Twenty-Ninth Season of Dennis Wickline Productions, opens on Friday, July 24 with a new version of the Renee Taylor/Joseph Bologna comedy Lovers and Other Strangers. Playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Select Sundays at 2pm, the hilarious comedy will run through Saturday, August 22.

Schwartz on Los Angeles theatre, his new opera and the future of Broadway.