2011 Broadway Chorus Boys and Girls: The Report Card, Part I

At the beginning of the "Spring" half of the 2010 - 2011 season, which was really mid-winter, I blogged about chorus boys and girls (archaic terms, I know) for each of the remaining musicals to open that season.  I promised to watch them carefully and report back to you on these budding Ann Reinkings and Rob Ashfords.  The first part of those blogs is HERE.  And the second part is HERE.

Before I talk about how they did, a few notes and changes:

• Since Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark did not open yet, I will not be discussing my choices, Collin Baja and Dana Marie Ingraham.  Both remain in the cast, and I will be sure to report on them when it is appropriate.
• Sarah O'Gleby is a dance captain and swing in How to Succeed... so I didn't see her perform.  Instead, I'll discuss Cameron Adams' contributions to the show.
• Similarly, Nick Kenkel is a swing and associate choreographer for Catch Me If You Can, and I did not see him perform.  Instead, I'll talk about Charlie Sutton.
• Allison Cimmet is a standby in Baby It's You!; I will talk about Kelly Barrett instead.

Today, I'll talk about them in reverse order, talking about the show that most recently opened.

"Blow, Gabriel, Blow"

Anything Goes: Adam Perry and Joyce Chittick

Both ensemble members are consummate professionals, with dancing, singing and acting skills.  I a show rife with stereotypes and old school "bits," it was nice to see them create characters beyond just being in the background.  Ms. Chittick is featured as Virtue, one of Reno's Angels.  As such, she is pointedly un-virtuous and quite funny as a sassy dame.  Mr. Perry, one of the sailors aboard ship, is a bit player as an FBI Agent, playing the role with the requisite style, getting the necessary laugh and getting off stage.  Somewhat tall and blonde, he was easy to notice throughout the performance, though, appropriately, he never pulled focus.  Ms. Chittick needs to be in bigger roles, period!  She is a riot to watch, and she is one of those people your eye is drawn to.

The White Knight and the Knights

Wonderland: Derek Ferguson and Sae La Chin

Because Mr. Ferguson is featured as one of the White Knight's knights, it was easy to follow him.  And because every time they were onstage, the show was at its full potential, I'd have to say he did a terrific job, especially with the "boy band" style of mugging and posturing.  Ms. Chin, I'm sure did a great job with whatever she was given to do - none of the ensemble made mistakes, nor did any of them stand out inappropriately.  But hidden in a wide array of costumes and face obscuring makeup, I couldn't follow her too specifically, either.  I hope they both find better and more successful shows in the years to come.

The Sisters of Sister Act

Sister Act: Blake Hammond and Christina DiCicco

The ensemble in Sister Act probably functioned the most traditionally of any musical this season:  background and scene fillers, all.  That is not to say that their work went unnoticed.  Mr. Hammond, not being in a featured role still had scenes to play, and he is interesting to watch.  A full character was there every time he was on, and his sense of humor and understanding of the piece and his place in it were evident.  Ms. DiCicco had more to do as one of the nuns, and as I said in my review, each and every one of them had characters to follow, if you so choose.  That said, appropriately, she did not stand out in the chorus numbers where singing and unison movement were key.  I have seen both of the actors in much larger roles, he in Hairspray, and she as Glinda in the National Tour of Wicked.  Both were spectacular, and I look forward to seeing both of them more prominently featured now that they've broken through onto Broadway!

Baby It's You!

Baby It's You!: Brandon Uranowitz and Kelly Barret

Neither Mr. Uranowitz nor Ms. Barrett are really ensemble members, as every cast member plays at least a supporting character in Baby It's You!  Still, they come the closest, both playing more than one role.  He plays the blind son of Florence Greenberg (Beth Leavel), and several other smaller roles, including the funny bit as the singer from the Kingsmen doing "Louie, Louie" including being unintelligible with the lyrics.  Ms. Barrett actually was part of the most dramatic moments in the show: a showdown between Florence and her daughter Mary Jane.  But she also did great by the Lesley Gore standard, "It's My Party," another of the few highlights.  Here's hoping both get better material to work with in their next Broadway outing.

The People in the Picture

The People in the Picture: Jeffrey Schechter and Megan Reinking

These are two of my favorite Broadway babies ever.  They never disappoint.  Both are terrific triple threats, and in The People in the Picture, they do wonderful work, yet again.  They are both excellent dancers, and do well with Andy Blankenbeuhler's intricate blend of stylized Broadway dancing and traditional Yiddish styles.  Both have featured roles in addition to their ensemble duties.  He plays one of the hoodlums implicit in the bigoted taunting of one of the key members of the Yiddish theatre company, and ultimately plays a role in his death.  Above, Ms. Reinking is featured as a woman who agrees to save Raisel's (Donna Murphy) daughter from certain death by taking her from the ghetto and raising the daughter as her own.  The penultimate scene, featuring both Ms. Murphy and Ms. Reinking, was powerfully moving, leaving not a dry eye in the house.


Comments?  Leave one here, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.276

REVIEW: Wonderland

NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITES FOR THE 1ST ANNUAL AWARDS THAT TONY FORGOT AWARDS! CLICK HERE FOR INFO AND LINKS TO THE SURVEYS. BE SURE TO DO BOTH PARTS OF THE SURVEY! AND TELL YOUR FRIENDS!

Review of the April 30 evening performance. At the Marquis Theatre on Broadway, New York City. 2 hours, 10 minutes, including an intermission. Starring Janet Dacal, Darren Ritchie, E. Clayton Cornelius, Jose Llana, Karen Mason, Kate Shindle, Carly Rose Sonnenclar, Edward Staudenmayer and Danny Stiles. Book by Gregory Boyd and Jack Murphy.  Music by Frank Wildhorn.  Lyrics by Jack Murphy. Choreography by Marguerite Derricks. Direction by Gregory Boyd.

Grade: F

It has been my experience that shows are never as good as their highest praise, nor as bad as their lowest pan.  I wish that were true of Wonderland, the messy musical that opened recently at the can't-find-a-hit Marquis Theatre.  Not only is it as bad as its lowest pan, it is worse.  By far.  This show commits the biggest sin of them all: it is so bad that you laugh AT it and don't feel bad doing so.  And the laughs, for this viewer, were plentiful throughout.  I must admit that I feel kind of bad for the show.  Everyone involved is working so hard (too hard, really), and I feel like I'm kicking a dog when it is already down (1 Astaire Award nomination total out of every award it was eligible for is a dog that is down).  But let me be plain: in 28 years of attending Broadway theatre, this show ranks amongst the worst I have ever seen.

Alice, meet Alice.

My grandmother used to say, "too many cooks spoil the sauce." (Didn't everyone's grandmother used to say that?)  And Wonderland is a prime example of just that.  While the book is credited to only Gregory Boyd and Jack Murphy, it is widely known that others have stepped in to doctor the script.  One can only imagine what they started with, but what they ended up with is a sloppy, nonsensical mish-mash of Alice Through the Looking Glass and The Wizard of Oz.  It tries to be all things to all people.  It tries to be a fresh take on a classic - and an adult going through Alice's adventures could have been interesting had maybe Stephen Sondheim taken a crack at it.  It tries to be a big family show - swearing and adult themes are kept to a minimum, but let me give them a hint: instead of knocking the king of family shows, Disney, every five minutes, embrace the king of family shows; even their worst is way better than this.  And perhaps saddest of all, it tries to be a mega musical of the order of Wicked, but in copying its original story, The Wizard of Oz, this show comes off like an ugly stepchild; Elphaba would even have thrown in the towel at this.

Out of some sort of respect for those involved, I'll try my best to be more brief than usual.  And I'll even start out with some praise:

What is "good" about Wonderland:

• The show's logo is brilliant.  Really.  Not a hint of sarcasm here.  For sarcasm, read on.
• The show curtain, with its interesting projections from classic Alice in Wonderland swirling about the scrim, coming and going like a drug-induced hallucination, is the visual highlight of the evening.

"Through the Looking Glass"

• The lighting (designed by Paul Gallo) is bright and very colorful.
• The projection screens/scenery (designed by Sven Ortel) are enormous, bright and colorful.
• The costumes (designed by Susan Hilferty) are very plentiful, very bright and very colorful.

Carly Rose Sonnenclar

• As Chloe, Carly Rose Sonnenclar is the perfect mix of precocious smarty pants brat and world-weary adult covering a scared child.  And she sings like an adult - off putting and odd, but good.
• All three adult female leads, Janet Decal, Kate Shindle and Karen Mason, can hold notes, stand perfectly still center stage and sing loudly.  They are everything an audience apparently wants in this age of American Idol, as the audience seemed to lap up each trill, slide and power note like cats to cream.

"One Knight": Jack and the Knights

• Darren Ritchie as Jack, the White Knight, is the only one in the cast who seems to get the joke.  And there really isn't a "joke." (And his backup Knights sure look hot in those skin tight polo pants, for real.)
• Three songs, "Through the Looking Glass," "One Knight," and "Together," hint at what the score (by Frank Wildhorn and Jack Murphy) could have been.  The last two, clever numbers done a la The Backstreet Boys/New Kids on the Block, are comfortably en vogue again, and the first is a catchy thematic anthem that brings the Alice story into the 21st century.

(It seems like a lot of positive doesn't it?  Look closer...)

What is "not good" about Wonderland:

• The direction by Gregory Boyd.  Just think, they ran Julie Taymor out of town and let him get away with this.  Greg, you are one lucky man.
• The not even good enough for 80's MTV choreography by Marguerite Derricks.  Well, it does match the rest of the mess on stage...

The Mad Hatter and the March Hare have Chloe

• The rest of the set (designed by Neil Patel) is so busy trying to be clever - is it Disney?  Is It Wicked? Is it industrial?  Is it futuristic? - that it never gels, and quite frankly looks like an explosion at the Crayola factory.
• The enormous projections don't help.  The enormous back wall creates dizzying, hazy effects, and the side panels have so much movement on them at all times that they need to sell motion sickness pills in the lobby.  Seriously, they warn you when strobes are being used; they should do the same here.  And for all the movement and color, by about scene three, it is boring and repetitive.
• For shame, Susan Hilferty.  You seem to have infringed on your own copyright with this mess of Wicked wannabe clothes.  Of course, you can be forgiven some of it.  I mean you HAD to show us a traditional Alice outfit at some point, right?  And someone told you that The Mad Hatter's minions were supposed to look like the Tomorrowland street cleaners at Disney World, right?  And thank you for ensuring that every shred of material with a playing card design is off the shelves in the entire tri-state area.

The Caterpillar and his, er, "legs"

"El Gato"

They're off to see the Wizard... uh...

• As the Caterpillar, "El Gato," aka the Cheshire Cat, and the White Rabbit, E. Clayton Cornelius, Jose Llana and Edward Staudenmayer do everything they can with what they are given.  But as stand-ins for the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion (they all utter such gems as "Alice, I'm scared," "If I could only think for a minute," and something or other about a broken heart) they pale in comparison.  And as representatives of the globally inclusive world of Wonderland, they are a shocking and, quite frankly, offensively racist trio.  Every sad stereotype of the African-American pimp daddy (the Caterpillar talks to his legs, all girls, like they are hookers), the smooth, gold-toothsome, heavily accented Hispanic (complete with pimped out junk car graffitied and stocked with an equally offensive gang), and the nervous nelly Euro guy (effete, with pseudo-lisp, twitching gestures and ridiculous vest) is played here.  I was offended on behalf of people everywhere.
• Danny Stiles as the March Hare is creepy in that keep-your-kids-away-from-the-weird-guy-in-the-park kind of way.  And he seems to enjoy it.  A lot.  Ick.

Don't play with the Queen of Hearts

• Then there is Karen Mason as the troubled mother-in-law in the reality scenes (don't ask) who tries so hard not to be her Wonderland counterpart that she barely registers.  This is bad because she is part of the reason there is trouble in New York City.
• Then there is Karen Mason as the Queen of Hearts, a real "show queen," boys, who belts out hints of Gypsy, Evita and even The Music Man.  Can someone PLEASE find this woman a decent show to be in?  Sure she can sing, but "Off With Their Heads"?  Really, Captain Obvious?  And how demeaning that she has been directed to hold a note and beg for applause with a hand gesture.

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

(insert political joke here)

• Another actress with potential in search of a great show is Kate Shindle, who as the New Mad Hatter (don't ask), tries too hard to have fun with the villainess role, where she comes off more like a scenery chewing dominatrix than a bad lady with evil to do.  (So much for the family show aspect.  I guess they are counting on the horny tired business man looking for a diversion he can tell his wife about later.)
• Saddest of all, though, is Janet Decal, as Alice.  She sings well, and can act (she was great in In the Heights) but she is simply not leading lady material, unable to carry even this trifle on her small shoulders.  She is the prime example of why just singing loudly and belting out long held notes is not enough.  I give her a lot of credit for going out there night after night.  But what does it say when you are married in real life to the knight in shining armor and have zero stage chemistry with him as his damsel in distress?

There is plenty of blame to go around here.  The book scenes are derivative and trite (and the scene with "The Victorian Gentleman" is achingly bad and literally laugh-at-able, screaming, "we couldn't figure out how to get Alice to the final confrontation scene!").  The characters make even less sense than they are supposed to - I mean Alice was notoriously written in a drug-induced, drunken state by Lewis Carroll as it was, but this is beyond belief.  Let's just say, my mouth dropped to the floor when The Mad Hatter, after kidnapping Alice's daughter and trying to have Alice killed several times, turns to Alice and says, "I am your alter-ego."  Huh?  And I hate it in books, movies, and now musicals, when convenient plot twists just pop up to get us out of a jam - the white rabbit's watch is a time machine? Ugh.

Finally, you hear a lot about "Frank Wildhorn" shows, and how tacky they are, etc.  That is an awful lot of finger pointing for a guy who only provides the music, and not even the lyrics.  I enjoyed The Scarlet Pimpernel (all 3 versions) and thought The Civil War was a decent, conceptually artistic piece.  I'd put Wonderland in the same league as Dracula and Jekyll and Hyde.  All three have a lot of potential, and all three have at least pleasant, if unmemorable tunes in them.  I'm not sure why someone who is only the musical composer of a show is the one everyone identifies with this show and his others.  He does his job - whether you like them or not, his show tunes are what audiences ask for - creating toe-tapping, hummable tunes.  His downfall is that the majority are so generic sounding that you forget them as soon as you are done applauding them.  But Wonderland is just so bad in so many ways it seems unfair to say, "What do you expect from a Wildhorn show?"  His is the least offensive contribution to the whole thing. 

Unorganized and ugly, Wonderland is wonderless. 

(Photos by Paul Kolnik)
 
Comments?  Leave one here, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.248

LOGOS: Wonderland: A New Alice. A New Musical.

I think I should be upfront about something before I launch into any sort of analysis of the logo for Broadway's Wonderland, which began previews yesterday at the Marquis Theatre.  If you've read my blog with any regularity, it will come as no surprise, either.  But the truth is... I dislike any and every thing to do with the story Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass or whatever title you want to give it.  I had to read the book in college.  Hated it.  Sat through the Disney movie.  Hated it.  The miniseries (all three of them), the other (and apparently soon to be on Broadway) Disney version..hate, hate and REALLY hate.  You might be asking yourself, "Why, Jeff, if you hate it so much, why do you keep seeing different versions of it?"  Well, I figure if there are so many versions, there must be something to it that I am missing.  And so I keep trying.  And I am almost done.  I swear.  At least half the reason I'm seeing the new Broadway show is because I want to have seen every new musical that opens this season.  And the other half of me secretly wants to like it.  But I'm not counting on it.

I say all of the above as a preface to perhaps the most shocking - OK I'm being dramatic - bit of truth I am about to lay on you.  I think the logo/print advertising for this show is one of the two best of the entire season!  (I don't think anything will top the beautiful, haunting The Scottsboro Boys...)

First, let's take a look at the out-of-town tryout version:

Pre-Broadway

I'll be brief: it is ugly, too dark, even if it might suggest the hole Alice goes down, and the tag line?  "Follow your heart" under a glowing heart that appears to be descending down the dark hole?  Duh.  And lastly... the rabbit head in the New York skyline? CREEPY.  All I can say is that if the same care went into making changes between Texas/Florida and Broadway for the show as they did with the vastly improved logo, I have real hope for the show.

As much as the current tag line/"part of the title" pains me, it is a huge improvement over the schmaltzy "Follow Your Heart."  And at the very least "A New Alice.  A New Musical" completes the at-a-glance telling of the story of the show, and puts to rest any ideas that you will simply be seeing another film-to-stage adaptation.

In the title only version, it is easier to focus on the words.  I really like the simple, thin lines of the typeface of  "Wonderland," especially how the "W" and final "D" are lowered and allow the tag lines to snuggle in with the actual title.  The Victorian style of the letters and the vibrant, but not bright yellow, draws subtle attention away from the central image and yet seems to draw you back up to it, too.  I love the type style here...I have even found myself doodling it on not pads - sick, I know.

And what about that central image?  It is a brilliant combination of what we already know and how the show will be different all at once.  We have the ingenious black silhouette that wordlessly transports us back to the time of Lewis Carroll.  I'd venture a guess that a silhouette of the Mad Hatter has adorned many a nursery wall.  And there he is, at the head of the table, all three feet of him, lording over yet another tea party.  His gaze across the table brings us to a silhouette of a grown woman, standing up, and lording over him right back.  Which then makes you look at the title again.  "A New Alice" indeed!  No more the meek almost too good to be true well-behaved Alice of yore.  No, this Alice is all grown up and we'd better listen to what she has to say, tea party be damned.  And of course, we should note the color of the background of the silhouette.  Is it a sunset?  An impending summer storm?  The orange/yellow of the sky and clouds is an appropriately vague choice, because it allows the viewer to decide if the mood here is ominous or not.  No matter what, it should raise questions.

It is the full image, though, that really makes this the complete and well developed artwork that it is.  With the upside down New York skyline just below the title against a blue, lightly clouded sky, we find out so much.  Being upside down, we immediately get that Alice has gone back down that hole.  Being New York City, we know we are no longer in uptight England, but an urban, modern setting and sensibility.  And the bright blue sky full of cloudy wisps immediately tells us the things are good in today's New York, at least for this show.

On Broadway

The entire thing is so smart.  It blends a lot of what we know, sets us up for a new take on an older work, and it pretty much tells the story at a glance.  The 30 second rule I always talk about really applies here.  That initial 5 second glance will easily turn into a 15 second look see - as the image and title make you pause, "something familiar, but different, what is it?"  And the eye is drawn downward... New show based on old, familiar story (literature/Disney/Alice fans are already hooked)...that takes place in today's New York City (New Yorkers are hooked) and the last few seconds left draw our eyes to the whole of the art work, and, hopefully, at least an "I'll add it to my list of  shows to see," if not an actual sale.  This logo got me to buy one.  No lie.

Grade: A+

Comment?  Leave one here, email me at jkstheatresene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.203

CASTING: Wonderland

Wonderland is the one show this spring that I hear little buzz about, and I'm not entirely sure why.  It has a composer that has a very intense legion of fans, Frank Wildhorn.  OK, so he's really only had 2 minor-ish hits with decent runs - Jekyll and Hyde and The Scarlet Pimpernel.  It has a really cool logo for use in all of its advertising - maybe the best of the season (more in a separate blog about that).  OK, but for all of its recognizability, there is just something inherently creepy about the whole Alice Through the Looking Glass thing.  Then there is the pretty slick website - easy to navigate, full of critical quotes and show info.  OK, but it also has tracks from its score, which are Wildhorn standards: belty anthems or clever on first hearing, banal on second hearings pop tunes.  From the samples alone, I can imagine that the fans of American Idol and its over-blown histrionic style will "whoo!" and scream after every over amplified tune in the show.  (For me, it is always the tunes that get the least "whoo"ing at a Wildhorn show that I like the best!)

OK, so far, there are only two things have even moderately upped my interest in Wonderland: A New Alice. A New Musical Adventure (and I HATE the sub-titles).  First are the pictures they've released.  OK, the pictures do show some very colorful scenery, costumes and cast poses - Kate Shindle's Mad Hatter intrigues me in the same way those Times Square costumed people do, and Darren Richie is simply a good looking man, though Janet Dacal's simple magenta frock is not what I'd have gone with as the ONE costume she appears to wear in the whole show.

The other somewhat interesting thing about the show is the cast.  Full of up and coming folks, and one or two seasoned vets, though, this cast suffers in the Broadway high wattage casting sweepstakes this year.  Last year, this would have rivaled The Addams Family in star-power.  This year? Karen Mason who?

Still, here's a look at who's who in Wonderland:

Let's start with the ensemble.  It is made up of: April Berry (Legally Blonde), Sae La Chin (White Christmas, Fosse, Sweet Charity), Dan Domenech (Rock of Ages -1st National Tour), Mallauri Esquibel (debut), Derek Ferguson (debut), Wilkie Ferguson (In the Heights -1st National Tour, Hairspray - 1st National Tour), Natalie Hill (Bye Bye Birdie), Lauren Lim Jackson (Finian's Rainbow), Morgan James (The Addams Family), Kate Loprest (Xanadu, Hairspray), Grady McLeod Bowman (Billy Elliot, South Pacific), Renee Marino (West Side Story), Heather Parcells (A Chorus Line), Stefan Raulston (AIDA, Tarzan), Julius Anthony Rubio (debut), and Tanairy Sade Vasquez (West Side Story).  Laura Hall (debut) and Ryan Link (Hair) are the swings.

The Principal Cast is comprised of: Janet Dacal (In the Heights) as Alice, Darren Richie (Bells are Ringing, Thoroughly Modern Millie) as the White Knight, E. Clayton Cornelius (The Scottsboro Boys, A Chorus Line) as Caterpillar, Jose Llana (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The King and I) as El Gato, Karen Mason (Sunset Boulevard, Hairspray, Mamma Mia!) as the Queen of Hearts, Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde) as the Mad Hatter, Carly Rose Sonenclar (Les Miserables - revival) as Alice's daughter, Chloe, Edward Staudenmayer (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me) as Rabbit, and Danny Stiles (debut) as Morris.

A decent, accomplished cast, to be sure.  And I understand this could make Ms. Dacal and Mr. Richie big Broadway stars.  I really do wish them all the best.  Really.

But the Marquis Theatre has a bit of a curse, you know.  Only three hit shows in its history: Me and My Girl, Annie Get Your Gun and Thoroughly Modern Millie.  Will Wonderland break that curse?  We shall see.  Of all the shows opening this season, this is the one I am least stoked about.  I'm not a fan of the Wonderland thing in any version, really.  And so the cheapest seat I could buy will have to do for now.  And who knows?  If it's any good, I can always go back down the hole again.  I hear tickets are pretty easy to get.

Comments?  Leave one here, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com, or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.170

WIN TICKETS TO HOW TO SUCCEED ON BROADWAY!  CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT HOW!

TRIVIA QUESTION #2:
Which musical was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein and won the Pulitzer Prize?

A.  The Sound of      Music
B.  South Pacific
C.  The King and I
D.  Flower Drum      Song
E.  Of Thee I Sing




Look for question #3 at the bottom of tomorrow's blog! And remember, you need to give the letter AND the answer on your entry!

(Christopher J. Hanke as Bud Frump in How to Succeed... Photo by Chris Callis)

2011 Chorus Boys and Girls, Part II

Late last month, I selected two cast members from each of the first five musicals to begin previews in this "second half" of the 2010 - 2011 season, the idea being that I'd try to focus some more of my viewing energy on the unsung heroes of the Broadway musical - the chorus or ensemble.  And specifically, I'd keep my eye on one guy and one gal in each show's ensemble.  My selections for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, The Book of Mormon, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert and Catch Me If You Can are HERE.

And here are my selections for the final 5 musicals to begin previews this season:

Anything Goes
Previews: March 10     Opening Night: April 7

Chorus Boy: Adam Perry (Ensemble)
Credits: A Chorus Line, Promises, Promises, Wicked

Chorus Girl: Joyce Chittick (Angel/Ensemble)
Credits: Cabaret, The Pajama Game

Why Them: He: Still somewhat new, but with a wide variety of experience in dancing.  She: Ms. Chittick is the very definition of "Broadway gypsy" and deserves my undivided attention.

Perry (center) in Broadway Backwards 5

Chittick in Broadway Musicals of '64

 

Wonderland
Previews: March 21     Opening Night: April 17

Chorus Boy: Derek Ferguson (Ensemble)
Credits: Broadway debut; We Will Rock You, High School Musical National Tour

Chorus Girl: Sae La Chin (Ensemble)
Credits: White Christmas, Fosse, The King and I

Why Them: Aside from a variety of credits, he has toured/danced with Miley Cyrus, Ne-Yo and Paula Abdul, and she has danced as a Radio City Rockette.  Both have made a career out of shining in the background without pulling focus from the front!

(Top) The National Tour of Disney's High School Musical

(Bottom) Broadway's Irving Berlin's White Christmas

Sister Act
Previews: March 24     Opening Night: April 20

Chorus Boy: Blake Hammond (Ensemble)
Credits: Hairspray, Elf: The Musical, Kiss Me, Kate

Chorus Girl: Christina DeCicco (Ensemble)
Credits: Broadway debut, Wicked National Tour as Glinda

Why Them:  Can these two, who have played major leading roles in two giant musicals, do good work in the background?

He was Pumbaa in The Lion King;

she was Glinda in the National Tour of Wicked

Baby, It's You!
Previews: March 26     Opening Night: April 27

Chorus Boy: Brandon Uranowitz (Ensemble)
Credits: Broadway debut; regional/tour credits: Brighton Beach Memoirs, RENT

Chorus Girl: Alison Cimmet (Ensemble)
Credits: A Tale of Two Cities

Why Them:  Two Broadway newbies...

Brandon was in Broadway Bound regionally with Karen Ziemba.

Alison has apppeard in Don't Quit Your Night Job with Marc Kudisch.

The People in the Picture
Previews: April 1     Opening Night: April 28

Chorus Boy: Jeremy Schecter (Ensemble)
Credits: A Chorus Line, The Pajama Game, Beauty and the Beast

Chorus Girl: Megan Reinking (Ensemble)
Credits: Hair, Lestat, Dracula: The Musical

Why Them: Can they go from featured roles to ensemble members?  You bet they can!

Both center: he in A Chorus Line; she in Hair

Any chorus folks you think I missed?  Let me know!  Leave your thoughts her, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.162

TheatreScene: October 11 - 17

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK!

 

On the Verge of a Review:  2nd Preview Musings

THEATRE BOOK REVIEW: Spring Awakening: In the Flesh
THEATRE LEGEND: Theoni V. Aldredge
LOGOS: La Bete
Ms. Broadway October 2010: Leigh Zimmerman
Broadway Crossword by Blog #3, Clues, Part V

 

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IN THIS WEEK'S NEW POLL!

 

OCTOBER 11:
HISTORY:

 

From the Original Broadway Playbill

• 1984:  August Wilson's first play to open on Broadway did just that.  Ma Rainey's Black Bottom opened on this date at the Cort Theatre, earning 3 Tony nominations, including Best Play and one for Charles S. Dutton.
• 2009: The controversial play Oleanna opened a year ago, starring Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles.  Audiences stayed away...

BEGINNINGS:

• Dee Snider, lead singer of Twisted Sister, makes his Broadway debut in Rock of Ages as the club owner.  Rock on, Dee!
• Brent Barrett, perhaps the most underrated Broadway talent in recent years, returns to Chicago as Billy Flynn.  The man has a great voice and presence.  Have you heard him on the Cast Recording of Grand Hotel: The Musical?  Amazing.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Jane Krakowski, Actor (Grand Hotel: The Musical, Nine)

 

OCTOBER 12:
HISTORY:

 

Ben Vereen in Jesus Christ Superstar

• 1971: Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice's first collaboration to reach Broadway, Jesus Christ Superstar, opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, turning the Great White Way on its ear.  Rife with controversy and a pretty popular concept album, the establishement was still shocked.  By today's standards, it sseems pretty tame.  The original production ran 268 performances, and earned Webber/Ride their first Tony nod, and brought Ben Vereen much attention.  He was Tony nominated for this, but would go on to greater glory the following season in a little show called Pippin.
• 1995: My Patti LuPone streak continues!  Her one woman show, Patti LuPone on Broadway opened for a limited run at the Kerr Theatre.  It was pretty awesome!

NEWS:

• A Life in the Theatre opens today.  Starring Patrick Stewart and TR Knight, the David Mamet play runs at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre through January 2, 2011.
• Love Never Dies is reborn!  News that the show will be re-vamped by Lord Vader Lloyd Webber and rebuilt by a new Australian creative team should come as a surprise to no one.  Will this be the version that makes it to Broadway in a few years?  Who knows?  But this is not without precedent.  Sunset Boulevard received similar treatment, when the revamped LA version was a critical and popular (if not financial) success on Broadway.  The newer version soon replaced the older on the West End.
• Broadway's best friend, Gregory Jbara, announces that he will be staying with Billy Elliot through June 2011!  His Tony winning performance gets better with age.  If you get the chance to see it with him, take it!  You won't be sorry.
• Speaking of Billy Elliot, I forgot (shame on me) to talk about one of my favorite Broadway divas, Emily Skinner, who joined the cast on October 2nd as Mrs. Wilkinson.  She comes to the Broadway company directly from the First National Touring Company.

 

• And finally... even though it is probably the new musical I am looking forward to the least, the casting news announced to day does make Wonderland. A New Alice. A New Musical a little more interesting.  Janet Decal of In the Heights fame heads that cast as the grown-up Alice.  Joining her are: Darren Ritchie (Little Shop of Horrors, Thoroughly Modern Millie) as White Knight/Jack/Lewid Carroll, Tituss Burgess (Jersey Boys, Little Mermaid) as Caterpillar, Jose Llana (Spelling Bee, Flower Drum Song) as El Gato, Karen Mason (Hairspray, Mamma Mia!) as The Queen of Hearts, Kate Shindle (Legally Blonde, Cabaret, Jekyll and Hyde) as Mad Hatter and Edward Staudenmayer (Spamalot, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me) as White Rabbit.  The ensemble will include: April Berry, Sae La Chin, Dan Domenech, Mallauri Esquibel, Derek Ferguson, Lauren Lim Jackson, Morgan James, Stefan Raulston, Julius Anthony Rubio and Danny Stiles.  The show is the first production of the Broadway Genesis Project, an initiative by the Straz Center for the Performing Arts to develop and prepare new musical theatre for Broadway. From a show's inception to final staging, the Project "provides a safe and nourishing environment in a state-of-the-art complex with artistic, technical and administrative resources."  Wonderland begins previews at the Marquis Theatre on March 21,2011.

TOPS AND BOTTOMS:

• Wicked was the top grossing show last week, with $1.6M; Jersey Boys had the top attendance at 99.5%
• The Scottsboro Boys was the lowest grossing show last week, with just under $175K (6 previews); American Idiot was the least attended show at 55.6%.
• Memphis joins the millionaire's club this week, grossing over $1M for the first time this week at the B.O.

BEGINNINGS:

• Ryan Jesse begins performances as Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys.  He replaces Sebastian Arcelus, who is Elf - bound.  

 

• Molly Shannon makes her Broadway debut as Marge MacDougal in Promises, Promises.
• Priscilla: Queen of the Desert begins its pre-Broadway engagement in Toronto.  Keep your pretty fingernailed fingers crossed...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Hugh Jackman, Actor (The Boy from Oz, A Steady Rain)

 

OCTOBER 13:
HISTORY:

• 1834: The Oldest Opening of the Week: Mathews at Home!/The Comic Annual opened at the Park Theatre.  Subtitled "A Lecture on Men, Manners and Peculiarities", the show lasted 18 days.  Sounds like a show about some guys I know...
• 1962: The now classic Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opened at the Billy Rose Theatre, where it ran for 664 performances.  It starred Uta Hagen and George Grizzard.  It was notable for two other reasons: it had an entirely different cast for matinee performances, and it cost a then whopping $42,000.00!

NEWS:

• Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson opens tonight at the Bernard Jacobs Theatre.  The off-Broadway transfer is the first new musical to open this season.  If rumors are to be believed, it might not last too long.  I hope it makes it to the 23rd...I have great seats...
• Rumors were confirmed today as it was officially announced that James Lapine would be directing the 2012 revival of Annie.

 

 

Priscilla meets the North American Press!

• And people wonder why the gays love her so much... today, Bette Midler was announced as a co-producer of the Broadway mounting of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.

MILESTONE:

 

The Current Jersey Boys

• The 8 PM performance of Jersey Boys will mark a new record for the history of the August Wilson Theatre.  It will be the longest-running show to ever play that space with 2,037 performances.  The previous record holder, Smokey Joe's Cafe, closed after 2,036 performances.  Interestingly, Matt Bogart will have been in both performances.  He was in the closing night company of Smokey Joe's Cafe, and he is currently playing Nick Massi in Jersey Boys.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Marie Osmond, Singer/Actor (The King and I)

 

OCTOBER 14:
HISTORY:

• 1929: Could this be a play from today?  The Nut Farm  opened at the Biltmore, lasting just 40 performances.

 

 

• 1961: How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying! opened at the 46th Street Theatre, starring eventual Tony winners Robert Morse and Charles Nelson Reilly.  The show itself eventually won 7 Tony awards, including Best Musical, and the Pulitzer Prize.

NEWS:

 

• La Bete opens at the Music Box Theatre for a limited engagement through January 11, 2011.

 

• The stars of this year's Best Musical, Memphis, Chad Kimball and Montego Glover, have extended their stay through September 2011.  Talk about loyalty...and job security!
• Mary McColl was named Executive Director of Actors Equity.  Her term begins in the new year.
• As the Witch warns in Into the Woods, "be careful the things you say..." Xanadu and Wicked star Marty Thomas filed papers in court to expose the name of "bwayanonymous" on Twitter for defamation charges.  Seems this tool idiot individual thought it would be fun to start some gossip about Thomas and "a star of Avenue Q" and an STD!  You know, it is one thing to criticize an actor's work on the Internet, another entirely to personally attack them.  It is amazing that we don't hear about more of this... even more amazing is the fact that certain message boards are allowed to continue for doing this and worse to people.

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Lillian Gish, Late Actor and Usher Raymond, Singer/Actor (Chicago)...better known to music fans by just his first name.

 

OCTOBER 15:
HISTORY:

• 1938: Abe Lincoln in Illinois opened at the Plymouth Theatre.  The Pulitzer Prize winning play starred Raymond Massey, and lasted 472 performances.
• 1953: Another Pulitzer Prize (and Tony Award - Best Play), The Teahouse of the August Moon opened at the Matin Beck Theatre and ran an impressive 1,027 performances.  John Forsythe and David Wayne were in the original cast.
• 2009: A star-filled revival of Bye Bye Birdie re-opened the newly re-constructed Henry Miller's Theatre.  It seems so long ago, doesn't it?

NEWS:

 

 

• The Scottsboro Boys television commercial makes its debut.  It is exciting and spectacular...more in a later blog!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Gavin Lee, Actor (Mary Poppins)

 

OCTOBER 16:
HISTORY:

• 1939: The classic comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner debutes at the Music Box Theatre, where it ran for 739 performances.
• 1967: Rosencrantz and Guildendstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard's avante-garde play opened at the Alvin Theatre, running 420 performances, earning 8 Tony nods, and winning 4, including Best Play.

 

 

• 1997: The cult favorite musical that made Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner tops on the Broadway divas list, Side Show opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, lasting a mere 91 performances.

NEWS:

• The Chicago engagement of Billy Elliot is ipulling up stakes a little earlier than anticipated, closing at the end of November.  I bet little Billy is doing the Angry Dance and Michael is raiding his sister's closet in anticipation of the move.

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Angela Lansbury, Actor (Mame, Sweeney Todd)

 

OCTOBER 17:
HISTORY:

• 1965: The musical On a Clear Day, You Can See Forever  opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, running 208 performances, and earning John Cullum a Theatre World Award.
• 1972: 6 Rms Riv Vu, a constant regional and community theatre staple, opened at the old Helen Hayes Theatre, starring Jane Alexander and Jerry Orbach.  The play ran 247 performances.

 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Rob Marshall, Actor (The Mystery of Edwin Drood), Choreographer (Victor/Victoria, Damn Yankees), Director (Cabaret (co), Little Me)