Producer Tom Brocato's Butterfield Road Productions has announced a special three-week engagement of the comedy The Prisoner of Second Avenue by Neil Simon, starring Jason Alexander and Gina Hecht.
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It is practically impossible to get the images of Leslie Caron, Louis Jourdan, Maurice Chevalier and Hermione Gingold out of one's mind when seeing Gigi, as they, in the original film (1958) lifted the musical to a higher, more colorful level of interest. It's not that the musical isn't in some ways delightful, but it is certainly not on a par with Lerner and Loewe's triumph My Fair Lady. The stage musical came along long after the movie (1973), and this version has been scrupulously improved by director David Lee who bases the script on the 1985 West End production. All this considered, the current cast @ Reprise and director Lee are all top pros who do their best to make Gigi a pleasurable experience.
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It's the late 70s. Oversized mockup stereo speakers adorn both sides of the Freud stage as part of the set for They're Playing Our Song. At opening curtain Jason Alexander enters, not to start the scene, but to give the downbeat as conductor of the overture. The back part of the set that serves as a window and skyline of New York City converts to a screen and the audience is treated to a retrospective slide show of 70s pop culture. Redford and Newman, Sonny and Cher, Lee Majors and Farrah, Ron Howard and Henry Winkler as Fonzie, Charlie's Angels...the list goes on. A fun and flavorful beginning to a wonderfully nostalgic evening of theatre that marks the first production of Reprise's 14th season.
Thankfully director David Lee is giving us a presentation of Forum @ Reprise based on the 1972 Broadway revival. Why? Because it includes 2 delightful songs not in the original 1962 New York production: 'Farewell' and 'Echo Song'. These 2 numbers add that extra special touch to Lee's dynamically directed version, which puts the s in silly and could not possibly get any better.
Eric McCormack, Emmy Award winner for 'Will & Grace,' will play El Gallo, Lucas Grabeel from 'High School Musical' will play Matt, and Broadway star and Tony nominee Harry Groener will play Bellomy in 'The Fantasticks,' which concludes the 2008-2009 Reprise Theatre Company at the Freud Playhouse May 5-May 17 (press opening May 6).
Eric McCormack, Emmy Award winner for 'Will & Grace,' will play El Gallo, Lucas Grabeel from 'High School Musical' will play Matt, and Broadway star and Tony nominee Harry Groener will play Bellomy in 'The Fantasticks,' which concludes the 2008-2009 Reprise Theatre Company at the Freud Playhouse May 5-May 17 (press opening May 6).
Eric McCormack, Emmy Award winner for 'Will & Grace,' will play El Gallo, Lucas Grabeel from 'High School Musical' will play Matt, and Broadway star and Tony nominee Harry Groener will play Bellomy in 'The Fantasticks,' which concludes the 2008-2009 Reprise Theatre Company at the Freud Playhouse May 5-May 17 (press opening May 6).
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