Broadway Boys: Mr. April 2011: Charlie Williams

WARNING: SOME PHOTOS BELOW MAY NOT BE WORK SAFE!

Mr. Broadway April 2011:

Charlie Williams

WHY HE'S MR. APRIL: Frequent visitors to this blog might be asking the more obvious question: why wasn't he Mr. Broadway sooner?  Well, as my followers know, Charlie Williams has been a favorite of mine since I saw him in Memphis.  But the Mr. Broadway for that show went to its star, Chad Kimball, and so it has taken Charlie's run in that show, along with a trip out west to premiere Leap of Faith, and finally a return to Broadway in the sizzling hot revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying  in order to be eligible for the honor again.  Of course, I'm sure I'd have named him this month anyway had I never seen him before.  That's just how great he is in this show.  What a dancer!  What an actor - yes, the ensemble acts!  And what a great, charming smile.  Then there is his kind, giving heart.  His Broadway castmates refer to him as "Charity Charlie," so often does he participate in charity events.  Who could forget his sexy turn in Broadway Bares XX: Strip-opoly?  Or the related photo shoots?  Or his being named Mr. Broadway 2010 in last year's Broadway Beauty Pageant.  The guy has it all - talent, good looks and sincerity. 

INFO:

• Currently appearing in: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Mr. Jenkins and u/s for Bud Frump.  He is also an assistant choreographer on the show.
• Birthdate: He's 23... as of March 30th!
• Other credits: Broadway debut in Memphis; nominated for an Astaire Award for his work in Memphis; appeared in The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular; regional/pre-Broadway Leap of Faith
• Website: http://www.iamcharliewilliams.com/
• Look for him here: www.HowToSucceedBroadway.com or here http://www.afterelton.com/people/2010/05/charlie-williams-memphis or at http://www.broadwaybares.com/

PHOTOS:

Headshots

 Memphis

(Top to Bottom)

Dancing in Memphis; Celebrating performance number 200;

Enjoying a slice of Memphis-inspired pizza with castmates

 Mr. Broadway 2010

4th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant

(Top to Bottom)

PR Shot; Talent; Swimsuit

The crowning!

Sex and Silly Sell:

Fun Photo Shoots

 

Serious Photoshoots

Broadway Bares XX: Strip-opoly

Poster Boy

The Broadway Bares/Next Magazine

Photo Shoot

No matter what the angle, this bellboy

can move!

Leap of Faith

Charlie is second from the left

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

"How To..": Charlie is to the right of Daniel Radcliffe,

in the front of the two rows of dancers

VIDEO:
Mr. Broadway 2010 Competition

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Charlie is featured in "How to Succeed," "Coffee Break, " "The Company Way," and "The Brotherhood of Man."


Who would YOU like to see as Mr. or Ms. Broadway in the coming months?  Leave your suggestion here, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff

2.213

CASTING: How to Succeed...

We've known about the lead casting of the 50th Anniversary production of How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying! for some time.  After all, one probably has to book someone of Daniel Radcliffe's stature far in advance, along with some guarantee that the production will happen.  When you've got  Harry Potter - an already proven stage presence - on board, you've killed two birds with one stone so to speak.

Naturally, I am very much interested in seeing the guy do something completely different than we are used to seeing - funny, devious, singing and dancing.  It's a far cry from cute little wizards, high drama and CGI.  No, this will be for real, and I am rooting for the young man to knock it out of the park!

But the rest of the cast ain't no slouch either, and as the complete casting was just fully announced, I thought I'd weigh in on the subject. 

John Larroquette and Rose Hemingway

Sure, it might have been cool to have Emma Watson, cutie patootie serious student play Rosemary, but that would be unparalleled stunt casting.  Thankfully, we have the lovely Rose Hemingway who will be happy to keep old Ponty's dinner warm.  And, if he's even half as good live as he is on television, John Larroquette should be a delicious J.B. Biggley.  One suspects that this multi-Emmy winner will bring much humor and a touch of depth to the leader of World Wide Wickets.

Mary Faber and Christopher J. Hanke

The supporting cast is, well, exceptional.  Truly.  And they really have me excited to see this production.  The always delightful Mary Faber (the best ever Kate Monster) is doing quite a departure from her recent American Idiot gig, as Smitty, the worldly-wise secretary that shows Rosemary the ropes.  Christopher J. Hanke a delight in the not so delightful In My Life, and a delight in the delightful and short lived Cry-Baby will go toe-to-toe with Radcliffe as office bad boy/kiss ass Bud Frump.  Daytime Emmy winner and Smokey Joe's Cafe alumni Michael Park will be the lascivious office manager Bert Bratt who reminds us all that "a secretary is NOT a toy."  Gypsy alumna Tammy Blanchard will don the stilettos and tight dress as object of desire and company dumb blonde Hedy La Rue.  Ellen Harvey as executive assistant Miss Jones and Rob Bartlett (a stitch as Amos in Chicago) will bring nerd-dom to front lines of big business as Twimble, mail room chief.

Megan Sikora and Charlie Williams

There is plenty of good old-fashioned song and dance in this chestnut, too.  It'll be great to see just what director/choreographer does here.  I loved his Promises, Promises work.  To do his dance work, Ashford has assembled quite an ensemble, many of whom have worked with him before, much in the tradition of Bennett and Fosse.  The ensemble includes: Cameron Adams (Promises, Promises, Cry-Baby, Shrek), Cleve Asbury (Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life, Annie Get Your Gun, Jerome Robbins' Broadway), Tanya Birl (Finian's Rainbow, Memphis), Kevin Covert (Memphis, Spamalot), Paige Faure (debut), David Hull (debut), Justin Keyes (The Apple Tree), Marty Lawson (Shrek, Cry-Baby, Movin' Out), Erica Mansfield, (Mamma Mia!), Barrett Martin (The Addams Family, Urban Cowboy), Nick Mayo  (South Pacific, The Ritz), Sarah O'Gleby (Promises, Promises), Stephanie Rothenberg (debut), Megan Sikora (Promises, Promises, Curtains), Michaeljon Slinger (West Side Story, Billy Elliot), Joey Sorge (The Drowsy Chaperone, Thoroughly Modern Millie), Matt Wall (Promises, Promises, Curtains, The Drowsy Chaperone), Ryan Watkinson (Promises, Promises, Xanadu), Charlie Williams (Memphis, Leap of Faith, Broadway Bares) and Samantha Zack (Wicked).

Here's the first commercial:



A classic musical comedy, an all-star cast, with an ensemble deep with talent... it has the look of nothing but success.  Let's see...and let's hope so!  Broadway needs a big giant hit.  This could be just the ticket.

(Photos from http://www.howtosucceedbroadway.com/)

Comments?  Leave one here, emailm me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.133

Bits and Pieces for 08.01.10

Be sure to vote in the new poll, to your right!

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED!
Click on the following links to read blogs from this past week:

Best of the Decade: The Best Musicals #5
The Public Theater: Off-Broadway to Broadway, Again
Best of the Decade: The Best Musicals #4
Another One Bites the Dust
Blogjack: The Responsibility Project
Broadway Boys: Mr. August 2010 (a whole day early!)

(Answers to last week's Broadway Game: Where on Broadway Am I? are at the very bottom of this blog!)

Jesus Christ GAY Superstar?

As you might have guessed, I am not much of a prude when it comes to the content of plays and musicals (or movie and TV for that matter).  But I am always interested in shows that try to stretch the boundaries of acceptability.  When it works in support of the authors' intent and/or the themes of the work, you will find no one cheering louder than me.  But when I doesn't work, I, like everyone else, scratch my head, then shake my head and ask, "why?"  Earlier this week, I came across an announcement for a "newrevisionist" production of Jesus Christ Superstar.  I was mostly interested in the fact that yet another American Idol contestant was attached to a show and being used as a selling point.  But further reading, and a look at the press photos, really gave me pause.  Modernizing?  No problem.  Associating modern themes to the Biblical?  No problem.  A non-white Jesus (Idol's Jose Candelaria is Hispanic)?  Again, no problem.

But one has to wonder about just far this "revisionist Superstar" is going when you look at the press photos that find Jesus in a sexally suggestive "sandwich" between an erotic Mary (Kate Peet) and a lusty Judas (Joel Bartlett), who is caressing Mary by way of Jesus, while in another, Judas looks ready to whisper sweet nothings - and more- looking into Jesus' ear.  "I Don't Know How to Love Him" might just have a different meaning here.  The show runs this weekend and next as part of the Old Library Theatre's season in Fair Lawn, NJ.

Maybe I am reacting incorrectly to this press announcement and accompanying photos, as I have not seen the production.  But one wonders what kind of reaction they are going for.  Isn't the show edgy and contorversial enough?  I certainly have no issue with gay themes, but am I to believe that Judas, according to these pictures, was at least bisexual, if not gay?  What about Jesus?  Mary?  Controversy for the sake of controversy bothers me.  Again, not having seen the show, let me say I am reacting to the pictures only.  Sex sells, and this certainly grabs the attention.  I noticed.  Now I hope the show makes a decent point.

TWITTER NEWS

According to his latest Tweet, Memphis hunk, Charlie Williams, played his last show today in the Tony-wininng musical.  He is leaving to work on the pre-Broadway production of Leap of Faith, starring Raul Esparza and Brooke Shields.  But if you missed Charlie in Memphis, no worries.  He returns to the show in November.  And who knows? Maybe Faith will be a hit, and Charlie will have his next show all lined up!

Happy Birthday last week to:

07/26: Kevin Spacey (Lost in Yonkers, A Moon for the Misbegotten)

07/27: Maureen McGovern (3Penny Opera, Little Women: The Musical)

07/28: Stephen Lynch (The Wedding Singer)

07/29: Lea Michele (Spring Awakening, Les Miserables)

07/30: Delta Burke (Steel Magnolias, Thoroughly Modern Millie)

07/31: Eve Best (A Moon for the Misbegotten)

ANSWERS TO BROADWAY GAME: Where Am I On Broadway?
To play the game before you look at the answers, click here.

1.  The Times Square Coca-Cola sign
2.  Come Fly Away marquee
3.  American Idiot marquee
4.  Subway tile sign (this one happens to point the way to Madison Square Garden)
5.  The store sign over the entrance to the Broadway Gift Shop (45th Street entrance)
6.  The front of the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, The Addams Family marquee
7.  The Imperial Theatre marquee on 45th Street, showing Billy Elliot
8.  Junior's on 45th Street
9.  The bottom of the Jacobs Theatre sign
10.  Promises, Promises marquee
11.  The famous Music Box Theatre sign
12.  The Memphis awning over the entrance to the Shubert on 44th Street

Bonus:  The Radio City Music Hall mural in the Edison Hotel lobby sitting area.

Broadway Bares: Click It and Strip-opoly

THIS BLOG IS NOT WORK SAFE!

 

Well, it is Broadway Bares Eve, and I thought I'd end this series of blogs with a look at the advertising imagery being used to support this year's edition, Strip-opoly, as well a look back at last year's computer-centric Click It! (19.0).  (To see the rest of this series of blogs, click on "Broadway Boys" above, then scroll down to the bottom of that page to find the links.  NOTE: None of them are work safe.)

 

As you know, I enjoy analyzing the advertisements and logos for shows.  So why should this be any different?  Well, it is.  Let's just say that in both cases, I give the advertising for both editions an A+. 

 

Click It! has used a font that is reminiscent of both facebook and Twitter, and the tie-in is a well-placed, provocative "lap top" over a nearly naked Tommy Berklund.  Strip-opoly is a so-close-they-are-close-to-copyright-issues ad that immediately draws a certain other game to mind.  The background, the lettering and the colors leave little doubt that this will be "game night."  And the models represent that certain other game very well, too... a bellhop for those hotels (Kyle DesChamps), a nearly naked chorine showing off the um, luxury tax (Nina LaFarga), and young master money bags, complete with dice and a jaunty top hat (my current obsession, Charlie Williams).  The main posters of both editions advertise exactly what you are going to get at the show, a strip tease with a lot of the fun stuff showing, but the important stuff carefully covered with thematically appropriate props.

 

 

#19 - 2009

#20 - 2010

 

The auxiliary advertising is equally on-spot, featuring some of Broadway's hottest, freshest talent from Broadway's hottest shows.  Again, A+ work by the SpotCo people.  I think I'll let the images speak for themselves.

 

Broadway Bares 19.0: Click It!

 

 

Just the Boys!

(Rickey Tripp, Tommy Berklund, Sean Samuels

Stephen Hanna and Nick Adams)

 

 

 

 

Nick Adams and His "Cursor"

 

 

 

 

Is that a Netbook or Laptop?

(Stephanie Gibson, Nick Adams, Nina LaFarga)

 

 

 

 

That's DEFINITELY a Laptop!

(Tommy Berklund)

 

 

 

Talk about your "Chat Room"!

(Kneeling, left: Lou Castro; kneeling, right: Rickey Tripp)

(left to right: Sean Samuels, Tommy Berklund, Stephanie Gibson,

Nick Adams, Nina LaFarga, Stephen Hanna and Colin Cunliffe)

 

 

Broadway Bares 20: Strip-opoly

 

Here are a few "press shots":

 

 

Roll the Dice, Charlie!

 

 

Joshua Buscher's turn!

 

 

The "Community Chest" Girls

 

And these shots are "on rotation" at http://www.broadwaybares.com/:

 

 

Let's start with a roll of the dice!

 

 

Looks like Josh is up first...

 

 

Now it's Adam's turn, and then Charlie's...

 

 

Josh is up again...

 

 

Buy a hotel from Kyle and go for a swim in the pool!

 

 

Take a ride on the Reading or buy the B and O Railroad!

 

 

Did someone call a plumber from the Water Works?

 

 

Go directly to jail!

 

You might be thinking, "where have I seen these models before?"  Well...

 

From Click It!: Nick Adams (La Cage aux Folles, A Chorus Line, Guys and Dolls), Stephen Hanna (Billy Elliot), Tommy Berklund (A Chorus Line), Sean Samuels (Curtains, Tarzan), Rickey Tripp (In the Heights), Lou Castro (13, Chess), Colin Cunliffe (Cry-Baby, The Addams Family), Stephanie Gibson (A Chorus Line - National Tour),  and Nina LaFarga (In the Heights, AIDA, Sweet Charity)

 

From Strip-opoly: Joshua Buscher (West Side Story), Charlie Williams (Memphis), Kyle Des Champs (Billy Elliot), Gerard Salvador and Adam Michael Hart (Mamma Mia!), The Community Chest Girls are in the ensemble of Rock of Ages.

 

All of the photos on this page are by Andrew Eccles.

 

Look at "Bits and Pieces for 06.20.10" for even more Broadway Bares including the press shots for the Fantasy Football team from Click It! and a photo shoot for Next Magazine, featuring the Strip-opoly guys modelling swimwear!

 

• Information and photos for this series of blogs comes from http://www.broadwaybares.com/ and the book Broadway Bares: Backstage Pass from Universe Books. Absolutely no copyright infringement is intended. All photos and facts are from those sources only, and in no way is its authorship and photography implied to be by anyone else.
• For more information on the benefactors of Broadway Bares, go to: http://www.broadwaycares.org/.
• Broadway Bares: Openings a CD of opening numbers is available for pre-order at the Broadway Cares online store/Broadway Bares Collection at http://www.broadwaycares.org/.

 

 

Comments? Leave one here or email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com.
Jeff