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Today’s highlights:
* ‘Til Death Do Us Part: Late Night Catechism 3 opens at Pasadena Playhouse's Carrie Hamilton Theatre.
* Arts and Crafts: A New Musical, by Sandra Bernhard and Justin Vivian, at 7 and 9:30 PM at Joe's Pub.
* Things to Ruin: The Songs of Joe Iconis, at 6:30 PM at Le Poisson Rouge.
* Starry The 24-Hour Musicals presented at 8 PM at the Grammercy Theatre. 24hourplays.com/
* The Picture of Dorian Gray reading, at 8 PM at The Network NYC (242 W. 36th St., 3rd fl.). Industry only: jackie@onthesquareproductions.com
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Reviews for That Championship Season:
NY Times (Ben Brantley): “That Championship Season, Jason Miller’s portrait of morally bankrupt men remembering their glory days as a high-school basketball team, was never what you would call a shy play. Like its liquored-up, confession-prone characters, this award-laden 1972 drama states its intentions loudly, repeatedly and often embarrassingly.” Full review
NJ Newsroom (Michael Sommers): “For all of their at times strenuous emoting, the actors cannot shout down the drama’s heavy creaking. Give That Championship Season another few decades to, well, season, and perhaps it will improve with further age. Unfortunately for now, it’s a former winner that should have stayed in retirement.” Full review
Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney): “If they lack the cohesion and mutual understanding of an ideal ensemble, the actors do nail their characters. It's just that their characters are not very interesting. With all their self-pity about unfulfilled lives in a world that's no longer theirs for the taking, these Nixon-era bigots just come across as tedious whiners.” Full review
Associated Press (Jocelyn Noveck): “Though the play may disturb some with its stark expressions of racism and anti-Semitism, the action is absorbing and well-paced, directed with an expert hand by Gregory Mosher.” Full review
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Reviews for Little Miss Sunshine (La Jolla Playhouse):
LA Times (Charles McNulty): “This new version of Little Miss Sunshine, written by the Tony-winning team of James Lapine and William Finn (whose collaborations include Falsettos and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), doesn’t always seem convinced that it should be a musical. And the narrative journey of Michael Arndt’s Oscar-winning screenplay isn’t so much rediscovered as reiterated. But it’s hard not to want a show with such a charming plot to succeed, even though it’s clear early on that the odds of this happening are about the same as Olive’s chances of taking the crown in the kiddie contest.” Full review
BroadwayWorld (Jay Irwin): “With a book by James Lapine and music and lyrics by William Finn, you'd think this quietly charming story would be a no brainer. The problem is that the winning moments, while lovely, are surrounded by moments that tend to wallow in the subtlety of the piece. The opening number, for example, should have got all of us on board with this family, but instead we were regaled by Richard's mediocre life steps. It was a song that really didn't grab us or tell us what we were in for and failed to kick off the story as it should. That tone of mediocrity kept going throughout right up to the unfortunate final moment where they inexplicably felt it necessary to sing the title of the show. Like I said, there were moments that shown through but not consistently enough.” Full review
SanDiego.com (Welton Jones): “Lapine, a frequent collaborator of Finn’s, has set up this book deftly to hold both the songs and their singers without strain, while offering much wry wit. (There’s even a gag about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.) And Lapine’s staging, or somebody’s, is just clever enough to be fun without becoming tedious.” Full review
Theatermania (Rob Stevens): “The yellow VW bus! That's what many people will come out humming from Little Miss Sunshine, the wonderful new James Lapine-William Finn musical version of the Oscar-winning film, currently having its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse. Fortunately, the scenery -- by the brilliant David Korins -- is not the only thing worth humming. The show's creators -- aided by a star-studded cast -- have made dysfunction entertaining, endearing, and oh so much fun.” Full review.
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A March 8 private industry reading of Extremities will star Katie Holmes, America Ferrera, Pablo Schreiber and Kimberly Elise. The production could arrive on Broadway as early as next season, with Kenny Leon likely to direct.
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The Institute of the American Musical in Los Angeles is home to footage collected by one of the earliest pirates —Ray Knight of Jacksonville, Fla. Between 1931 and 1973, Knight would make trips up to Broadway and sneak a 16 mm camera into theaters. He eventually collected footage of over 175 musicals.
Knight's family gifted the films — which, in many cases, are the only visual record of many of the earliest musicals — to the Institute of the American Musical when Knight died. But, there's a problem. The institute is a one-person operation that has been housed in a Los Angeles duplex for the past 30 years. The tiny nonprofit is having a hard time finding a way to preserve the Knight films — and the rest of its archives.
Audio: Listen to the NPR story here.
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Wonderland will get a cast album from Masterworks Broadway. The score by composer Frank Wildhorn and lyricist Jack Murphy was recorded March 6 for a release in May. Previews for Wonderland begin March 21 at the Marquis Theatre. It opens April 17.
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Interesting -- A history of star turns in La Cage: http://nyp.st/fzXjSB
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Pasadena Playhouse will present George Gershwin Alone, created by and starring Hershey Felder, beginning April 12, with an opening scheduled for April 17. The production will continue to May 8. A global live radio broadcast of the production on the WFMT Radio Network will take place on May 2nd.
The Playhouse will also present the popular Hershey Felder’s Great American Songbook Sing-Along, which is scheduled for April 25 and May 9.
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The Lion King will make its Spanish-language debut Oct. 21 at Lope de Vega Theatre on Madrid's Gran Via. The musical will be presented in Madrid by Disney Theatrical Productions.
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The new Court Theatre production of George Gershwin and DuBose Heyward's folk music Porgy and Bess has its title lovers. The all-Chicago cast will be headed by Alexis Rogers (The Piano Lesson) as Bess and Todd M. Kryger (The Lion King, Ragtime, Show Boat) as Porgy. The musical will run in Chicago May 12-June 19, with an opening of May 21.
This new intimate, 15-person cast also includes Karla Beard (Serena), Bear Bellinger (Peter), Sean Blake (Sportin' Life), James Earl Jones II (Crown), Brian-Alwyn Newland (Robbins), Harriet Nzinga Plumpp (Clara), Kelvin Roston, Jr. (Jim), Bethany Thomas (Maria), Travis Turner (Mingo), Adrienne Walker (Annie), Byron Glenn Willis (Jake), Matt Holzfeind (Ensemble) and Joelle Lamarre (Ensemble).
Porgy and Bess is directed by artistic director Charles Newell, with artistic consultant Ron OJ Parson and musical direction by Doug Peck.
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Video: Transport Group’s Hello, Again stars talk love, sex and LaChiusa:
Elizabeth Stanley: http://bit.ly/dGeGOG
Alexandra Silber: http://bit.ly/i1Oiaw
Nikka Graff Lanzarone: http://bit.ly/gplqbf
Robert Lenzi: http://bit.ly/f5KV62
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The Spidey Project: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility sold out its first show in under one minute. Due to such high demand for this event, a second show has now been announced by brain-child Justin Moran. "You've been such great supporters so far," Moran says to his fans, "and we want to get you in to see this show." The second performance is set for March 14 at 10 PM at The Peoples Improv Theater (The PIT), 123 East 24th Street.
Tickets for the second show, which are free, will be available here and here on Monday March 7 at exactly 12 PM (Noon). Each person may reserve up to two tickets. Tickets must be claimed Fifteen Minutes Prior to curtain at will call or they will be given away. If you are unable to obtain a reservation online, approximately 35 tickets will be made available at the door Fifteen Minutes Prior to curtain. thespideyproject.blogspot.com/
The cast features Liz Bachman, Michael Lutton, Ryan Nelson, Claire Neumann, Travis Nilan, Louie Pearlman, Robin Rothman and Jon Roufaeal.
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Patti LuPone will perform her concert, The Gypsy in My Soul, at Boston's Symphony Hall on Sunday, April 3 at 5 PM.
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Daniel Radcliffe will make a quick trip from the World Wide Wicket Company to the world of wizards this summer. The Broadway revival of How to Succeed will be dark for three performances in July (July 7 and 8 evening performance and July 9 matinee), representatives for the production have stated.
Radcliffe has a bit more magic to do with the release of the final installment of the "Harry Potter" film franchise and will be attending previously scheduled press commitments for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," which will arrive in theatres July 15.
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The 25th Annual Easter Bonnet Competition — benefiting BC/EFA — will be presented at the Minskoff Theatre, currently the home of The Lion King. The two-day spectacular will be held April 25 at 4:30 PM and April 26 at 2 PM.
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The Group Rep presents Wait Until Dark, directed by David Colwell, April 1 - May 8 at the Lonny Chapman Theatre (10900 Burbank Boulevard in North Hollywood). The cast features Liza de Weerd, Bert Emmett, Robert Gallo, Kaylena Mann, Leo Weltman, & Christopher Winfield.
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The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued three safety violations to the producers of Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark for violating workplace safety standards for four incidents that resulted in injuries to the cast last year, according to the Associated Press.
The citations for the injuries, which were incurred Sept. 25, Oct. 19, Nov. 28 and Dec. 20, 2010, carry $12,600 in proposed fines, according to AP.
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Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe, former artistic director of the Public Theater, will assist fellow Tony winner Joel Grey in the direction of the Broadway debut of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart. The acclaimed drama will make its Broadway debut this spring, using elements from a starry reading that was seen in October.
The New York Times reports that Grey, who will soon be seen in the Broadway revival of Anything Goes, has asked Wolfe to help out with the direction since Grey will also be busy with the revival of the Cole Porter classic. Wolfe will go unbilled in the production credits. Wolfe will help supervise through opening night, which is scheduled for April 27.
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Kathy Griffin has added two additional performances to the schedule for her upcoming limited engagement at Broadway's Belasco Theatre.
As previously reported, Griffin will play the Broadway venue March 11-12 at 8 PM, March 13 at 3 PM, March 15 at 7 PM and March 16-19 at 8 PM in a show titled Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony. Additional shows have been added for March 14 at 8 PM and March 19 at 2 PM.
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Writer-musician Kyle Jarrow's new play with rock music, Hypochondria, will debut in April at Columbia University. Jarrow, who penned the musical Whisper House with Tony and Grammy Award winner Duncan Sheik, wrote and composed the dark pulp comedy, which will receive a limited staging April 8-10 at Columbia's Shapiro Theatre (605 West 115 Street). More information here.
Jimmy Maize will direct a cast including Peter Balcke, Lauren Cipoletti, Will Dagger, Logan Hall, Leon Ingulsrud, Erika Rolfsrud and Margo Seibert.
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Colin Quinn Long Story Short will debut April 9 on HBO at 10 PM ET.
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Obie Award winner Eve Ensler will stage her theatre piece Swimming Upstream, about women in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as a one-night-only benefit March 21 at 7:30 PM at the Alley Theatre in Houston.
The writers include Carol Bebelle, Troi Bechet, Reverend Lois Dejean, Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes, Anne-Liese Juge Fox, Adella Gautier, Briceshanay Gresham, Herreast Harrison, Karen-kaia Livers, Tommye Myrick, Charice Harrison Nelson, Kathy Randels, Dollie Rivas, Dina Roudeze, Karel Sloane-Boekbinder and Carol Sutton.
Performing in the Houston engagement will be Fox, Livers, Ecclesiastes, Troi Bechet, Susan Wentz and singers Michaela Harrison and Leslie Blackshear Smith.
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Dallas Theatre Center’s 2011-12 season:
* The Tempest, Sept. 9-Oct. 9
* To Kill a Mockingbird, Oct. 21-Nov. 20
* A Christmas Carol, Nov. 25-Dec. 24
* Giant, Jan. 18 – Feb. 19, 2012
* Tigers Be Still, March 2-April 15, 2012
* God of Carnage, April 17-20, 2012
* Next Fall, April 26-May 20, 2012
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Brielle Silvestri and Ray DeJohn will present Love Me Like This: The Parachute Plays, an evening of theatre in support of of LGBTQ youth, March 14 at 7:30 PM at St. Luke’s Theatre. The evening, which will consist of original LGBTQ-themed works, will benefit The Trevor Project.
Audiences can expect short plays penned by Ian August, Ken Urban, J.T. Michael Taylor, Kevin R. Free, Joshua Conkel and Clay McLeod Chapman. Directors include Gretchen Ferris, Darren Katz, Scott Ebersold, Christopher Burris and Moritz von Stuelpnagel.
Among those actors who will bring these plays to life are Adam Chanler-Berat (Next to Normal, Peter and the Starcatcher), Andrew Kober (Hair) and three of Les Cagelles from La Cage aux Folles (Sean Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Cunningham and Logan Kesler) as well as Bobby Moreno, Andy Phelan, Romy Nordlinger, Christopher Stokes, Michael Sutherland, Logan Ford, Stacy Ayn Price, Erin Mallon, John-Andrew Morrison, Shydel James and Tracey Lee.
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Video: Seth Rudetsky is obsessed with Farah Alvin: http://bit.ly/gW2Ent
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Colt Coeur's Play Hotel reading series will continue March 7 at 7 PM with a staged reading of Molly Goforth's (Don't) Look at Me at the CoCo Studio in NYC. RSVP here for the free reading.
Directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt (Seven Minutes in Heaven), the cast will feature Katya Campbell, Curzon Dobell, Erin Felgar (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson), Meredith Holzman (After the Revolution), Eric Loescheider and Kate Roberts (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson).
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Tony Award winner Liliane Montevecchi will appear in a reading of John Meyer's Zazou, which is billed as a "comedy-thriller with songs," March 10 at 2 PM at the Manhattan Theatre Club Studios. A limited number of seats are available by contacting Mr. Meyer at jmeyr@earthlink.net.
Directed by John Znidarsic, the cast will also feature Robert Cuccioli, Christianne Tisdale, Roger Grunwald and Bruce Barton. Tex Arnold is the musical director.
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David Hyde Pierce will perform at the The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center's Center Dinner 2011, to be held at the Metropolitan Pavilion on Monday, March 21, beginning at 6:30 PM. Tickets here.
The evening will honor Tom Kirdahy, who has produced on Broadway and is husband to playwright Terrence McNally. Five-time Tony Award winner Angela Lansbury and U.S. Representative Barney Frank will present the award to Kirdahy, who has been a Center board member since 2005.
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Fascinating article! Sheldon Harnick reflects on his life in musicals: http://bit.ly/gDDgLW
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John Doyle, who staged the Broadway revivals of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd and Company, will take on the composer-lyricist's short-lived musical Merrily We Roll Along at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in March 2012. Doyle will again incorporate his directorial signature, the actor-musician conceit, into his staging of Merrily. Casting TBA.
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Hugh Jackman, Kristin Chenoweth and Andrea Martin recently took part in a reading of the award-winning musical On the Twentieth Century (book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Cy Coleman) for the Roundabout, according to Variety.
The industry paper also reports that Roundabout recently financed a reading of Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story, starring Jon Hamm, John Krasinski ("The Office") and Scarlett Johansson.
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Tovah Feldshuh will be the host and Rachel Dratch, Carson Kressley, and Bruce Vilanch will be the judges for the 5th annual Broadway Beauty Pageant!, to be held on Monday, March 21 at 8 PM at Symphony Space. Conceived by Jeffery Self and directed by Ryan J. Davis, the show will be musically directed by Christopher Denny.
Participants in this year's competition will be Matt Anctil (La Cage aux Folles), Mikey Cusamano (Chicago), Ray Lee (Anything Goes) Brandon Rubendall (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark), and James Tabeek (Mary Poppins).
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Christopher Jackson, Morgan James, Mykal Kilgore, Kevin Massey, and Antuan Raimone will perform at The Bridge: Where Hope and Respect Come Together, to be offered at New World Stages on Monday, April 11 at 8 PM. Wayne Barker will serve as the musical director of the event, which will benefit the Crime Victims Treatment Center (CVTC) at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
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Betty Buckley will offer a one-night-only performance of For the Love of Broadway at Municipal Auditorium Music Hall in Kansas City, Missouri at 8 PM on April 2. Seth Rudetsky will serve as the accompanist for the performance.
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Mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard has been named the recipient of the sixth annual Beverly Sills Artist Award for young singers at the Metropolitan Opera.
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Ann Harada and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell will star in a staged reading of Christine Toy Johnson's Internal Bleeding, to be held on the second floor of Actors' Equity Association (165 West 46 Street), on Tuesday, April 5 at 6:30 PM. Robert McQueen will direct.
The reading will be the culmination of a short workshop exploring casting an actor with a disability (Mitchell) in a role that is written as both disabled and non-disabled. Afterwards, there will be a panel discussion about the results of the workshop.
The play will also feature Eddie Aldrich, Helen Farmer, Jaygee Macapugay and Ariel Estrada.
Admission is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. RSVP to Pearl Brady: 212-869-8530, ext. 346.
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Details from an email from the Spider-Man's producers, Michael Cohl and Jere Harris, that went out to the cast and crew on Friday. The email thanked the cast for their patience, support and dedication during 'trying times' and notes that they are aware they're at a pivotal moment in the show's history and will be 'making some very difficult choices,' the results of which will be 'revealed by the middle of next week'.
After five delays, the show is currently scheduled to open on March 15, but rumors have said that the show will likely be delayed again, possibly to June of 2011. A delay past April 28 would make it inelligible for this year's Tony Awards.
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