Patrick Healy in the New York Times is now reporting that lead producer Michael Cohl has 'told at least two investors and one other person involved with the Broadway musical that its director Julie Taymor, will step aside once negotiations about complex contractual matters like her creative legal rights and her considerable financial stake in any profits are concluded.'
Patrick Healy in the New York Times is now reporting that lead producer Michael Cohl has 'told at least two investors and one other person involved with the Broadway musical that its director Julie Taymor, will step aside once negotiations about complex contractual matters like her creative legal rights and her considerable financial stake in any profits are concluded.'
Now, others are adding to the trickle of information leaking out of the production, with Michael Riedel in the New York Post reporting that Christopher Ashley (Memphis, Xanadu, All Shook Up, The Rocky Horror Show) is likely to take over direction duties from Julie Taymor. Riedel reports that it's unknown if she will continue with the production in some capacity, take a break and return or what as negotiations are still ongoing. He pegs the hiatus as 4-6 weeks, to begin at the end of April, but also notes that the sheer technical complexity of the production will make large scale changes difficult.
Theater Talk, the series devoted to the world of the stage, is co-hosted by Michael Riedel, Broadway columnist for the New York Post and series producer Susan Haskins.
BroadwayWorld.com is excited to unveil Episode 3 of its newest ongoing video blog - IN THE PAPERS with Julie Halston. In this series, the hilarious actress and comedienne will talk about all the issues of the day as she goes through the latest celebrities magazines and more! Check out Episode 3 below, which also co-stars the voices of Paddle Henson and James Steele. Here, she talks about BOOK OF MORMON, Bono returning to SPIDER-MAN, Chris Sieber in LA CAGE, Kelsey Grammer getting married on the stage, Douglas Carter Beane signing on to SISTER ACT, Cybill Shepherd playing HELLO DOLLY!, Michael Riedel, Dancing with Stars and more!
Theatre critic Michael Riedel of the New York Post recently chatted with IMUS about the best and worst shows on the Great White Way, in his opinion. Hear what he has got to say about such shows as: AMERICAN IDIOT, BILLY ELLIOT, MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET, and more!
Theater Talk, the series devoted to the world of the stage, is co-hosted by Michael Riedel, Broadway columnist for the New York Post, and series executive producer Susan Haskins.
The hits just keep on coming for SPIDER-MAN, but some help is on the way to the show. The New York Times is reporting and we've confirmed that the show has officially brought on Paul Bogaev, a multi-award winning music director-producer, arranger and composer to work on improving the show's many sound issues, including to 'help improve the performance, vocal and orchestration arrangements, and sound quality of the songs and numbers'. Word has also been coming from multiple sources that it's expected that the production will officially announce another delay later in the week (it's sixth) that might push the official opening as far forward as AFTER this year's Tony Awards. The Times is also reporting that 'Bono and Edge are writing new music for 'Spider-Man' now, but Mr. Miramontez said that Mr. Bogaev's role was far greater than adding that music once it is ready. No significant additions have been made to the score so far.'
It's Roger Friedman at Showbiz411 vs. Michael Riedel at the New York Post today. Friedman writes that 'I spoke to Julie Taymor this morning. She was working on some changes with her own co-writer, Glenn Berger. She told me she's had lots of input about changes from friends and colleagues. 'No one has been hired or is being hired,' Taymor said. 'The director they mentioned is a friend of Michael Cohl's. I'm sure he asked his opinion. When a show's in previews, everyone gives their opinion. Try this, that. And the other guy, I've never even heard of him.'
Lahr writes 'Taymor has a dynamic, painterly sense of space; she can marshal all the sensual elements of movement, light, and perspective into amazing stage pictures. (Two minutes after the show had ended, I couldn't recall a line of dialogue, a song lyric, or a melody, but I do remember any number of the show's images.) Before our eyes, for instance, the New York sky line is tipped ninety degrees, so that what begins at street level ends up a bird's-eye view, with buglike yellow cabs skittering below; in another scene, the spider chorines dance before us, with their eight syncopated limbs. In these moments-and there are plenty of them-the audience finds itself exactly where Taymor wants it to be: in a waking dream. The technicians of wonder are the real stars of 'Spider-Man': George Tsypin and his ravishing angular cityscape, with its monumental Cubist and Constructivist touches; Kyle Cooper and his ingenious projection design; Eiko Ishioka and her witty, beautifully made costumes (I loved Swarm, a one-man killer-bee hive, and the Green Goblin's scaly carapace). The stagecraft is about as good as it gets: all 'Spider-Man' needs now is a new book and new songs. Call me, Mister Mercury, this show will never be frozen.'
Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, February 20, 2011 - Sunday, February 20, 2011.
Michael Riedel reported this morning in the New York Post that SPIDER-MAN producers had reached out to Philip Wm. McKinley to potentially join the production as co-director along with Julie Taymor. In response, a production spokesperson for SPIDER-MAN has issued a statement that 'There is no truth to the rumor of a co-director. The production has not brought anyone on and the original creative team remains firmly in place, with Julie Taymor at the helm.'
Some have compared the situation of SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK to that of a circus, so perhaps it's fitting today that Michael Riedel reports in the New York Post that the production has reached out to Phil McKinley, who has a background directing the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He is also known however, for directing THE BOY FROM OZ on Broadway along with THE DESERT SONG at the New York City Opera, THE MOST HAPPY FELLA and more.
Michael Riedel reports in the New York Post this morning that Love Never Dies star Sierra Boggess will headline the 16 million production of Rebecca, The Musical, based on the eponymous Daphne du Maurier novel. Boggess also lead a recent industry reading of the show.
According to a report byBaz Bamigboye for Daily Mail, THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, starring Keira Knightly and Elizabeth Moss has brought in £1.8?million. With a successful run at the Comedy Theatre, now the show might be heading to the Great White Way by early next year.
F. Murray Abraham will appear on Thirteen, Friday, February 18th at 12:30 AM. He will also appear on CUNY TV Saturday, February 26th at 8:30 PM, Sunday, February 27th at 12:30 PM and Monday, February 28th at 7:30 AM, 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM.
From the Cast of ANYTHING GOES and SPIDER-MAN, to the Ladies of THE VIEW, Raul Esparza, Barbra Streisand, Alan Menken, Bernadette Peters, Susan Boyle, Kelsey Grammer, GLEE and everyone in between...it's the BroadwayWorld.com 2011 Valentine's Day Special! Its Biggest Ever!
Barbra Streisand has confirmed to the LA Times that she will indeed star in a new film version of GYPSY. The news leaked 'a little early, because the deal wasn't finished,' Streisand said. 'I am not sure about directing it. It may just be too much. I know I will be playing the part. It's like a bookend starting with 'Funny Girl.'
In USA Today, Elysa Gardner bucks the trend thus far and writes that 'And while the state-of-the-art visuals can be stunning - not just the aerial sequences, but Kyle Cooper's blazing projection design - some of the most affecting touches are low-tech. Before Spider-Man first takes flight, the dancers doing his stunts leap and twitch like giddy children perfecting a new trick. Bono and Edge's songs aspire to the same emotional sweep. In a USA TODAY interview in November, Bono described the 'operatic' scope of U2's music. There are tunes here, melodic and undeniably theatrical, that confirm that determination to transcend sentimentality that links them to tunesmiths from Bruce Springsteen to Rodgers and Hammerstein. For more, tune in again in March. But know this for now: Spider-Man's creative team is trying to bring musical theater back to the future. And that's a mission worth rooting for.'
In the Hollywood Reporter David Rooney writes that 'But mostly, Spider-Man is chaotic, dull and a little silly. And there's nothing here half as catchy as the 1967 ABC cartoon theme tune. The absence of the word 'musical' from Taymor's definition of the show seems key. The songs by Bono and The Edge display minimal grasp of music's function in goosing narrative or illuminating character. And despite all the wailing-guitar attitude, they only squeak by as atmospheric enhancement. Aside from one or two stirring anthems in familiar messianic U2 mode, this is strictly album filler, with echoes of everyone from T. Rex to Alice Cooper, plus an occasional nod to The Who's Tommy. The lyrics - when you can decipher them - are either too vague or too literal. But an underwhelming score is the least of the show's worries. What really sinks it is the borderline incoherence of its storytelling. ' Click Here for His Full Report.
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