Gary Griffin News

Musical theatre, at least in the popular denominations practiced here in Gotham, has long been known to preach a message of gay rights to an eagerly accepting congregation, and those who would deny the natural occurrence or the legal acceptance of homosexuality have been generally depicted as hateful, ignorant or, at the very gentlest, misguided. Now we have Saved, a buoyant new musical that tackles issues of friendship, trust and adolescent homosexuality among students at a Christian high school. And while I wouldn't say its message of 'love the judgmental, hate the judgment' would be completely appreciated by those who would fight for what they believe to be the sanctity of marriage, Saved removes the satirical fangs of its source 2004 movie and comes out a musical that can celebrate gay acceptance without making those who put their faith in a church that preaches otherwise look completely heartless or foolish. For all its snap and cleverness, Saved is refreshingly square in that, aside from a few spurts of adolescent nastiness, it depicts a community where everyone is truly concerned with what they believe to be the well-being of their neighbor.

The most successful rock 'n' roll musical of all time, playing to over 20 million delirious fans, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, will be presented at Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut Street Chicago, IL 60611. Following its sold out run at Drury Lane Theatre Oakbrook Terrace, the production will preview September 10 and run through November 2. First seen in London's West End in 1989, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, has since toured the world and continues to prove how irresistible Buddy Holly's songs and style still remain today.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) kicks off the 2008/09 Subscription Season with Peter Shaffer's award-winning drama, Amadeus…

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) kicks off the 2008/09 Subscription Season with Peter Shaffer's award-winning drama, Amadeus, staged by CST Associate Artistic Director Gary Griffin.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) Associate Artistic Director Gary Griffin returns to CST to stage Peter Shaffer's award-winning drama Amadeus, and brings us into the tumultuous lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his obsessively jealous rival, Viennese court composer Antonio Salieri. Overcome with envy of Mozart's divinely inspired music, Salieri believes God has bestowed genius upon an 'unmannered fool' and sets out to destroy his rival and take revenge upon an uncaring God. The original Broadway production received five Tony Awards, including Best Play, and its subsequent film adaptation garnered eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

KERRY ELLIS, the award-winning star of the London production of WICKED and Broadway's newest Elphaba, has recorded two songs from WICKED, Defying Gravity and I'm Not That Girl.

Review of The Color Purple at the Kimmel Center.

Mary Faber is currently starring in Saved, a new musical based off of the popular film of the same title. In Saved, Faber plays the popular girl Hilary Faye. Hilary and her best friend Mary (Celia Keenan-Bolger) are starting their senior year at the top of the social food chain at American Eagle Christian High School when series of events happens that throws Hilary's world into a tail spin. Here, Mary sits down with BWW and and talks about the important issues presented in this new adaptation and showing the good side of Hilary Faye.

SAVED features music & lyrics by Obie Award winner Michael Friedman (The Civilians' Gone Missing and the recent Paris Commune) and book & lyrics by 2-time Olivier Award nominee John Dempsey (The Witches of Eastwick) & Obie Award winner Rinne Groff (The Ruby Sunrise, writer on Showtime's 'Weeds'), based on the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture written by Brian Dannelly & Michael Urban.

Casting announced for the Atlanta date of 'The Color Purple' National Tour.

Previews for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) World Premiere production of the new musical SAVED, which were scheduled to begin tonight, Friday, May 9, have been postponed due to a longer than expected tech process. Tonight's 8PM performance has been cancelled and the musical will now begin previews tomorrow evening, Saturday, May 10 at 8PM. (Please note: a matinee performance had not been scheduled for Saturday afternoon.)

REVIEW: The First National Tour of The Color Purple lands for 3 weeks at Baltimore's Hippodrome Theatre.

Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, April 30 at 10AM, Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) will be accepting entries for its popular LIVEforFIVE online lottery for $5 tickets to its next production, the World Premiere of the new musical SAVED. A total of 50 tickets will be available via the online lottery.