Author: Chris Van Patten

The Final Tony Eligibility Rulings

With the 2008-2009 season officially over, the Tony Awards Administration Committee met today for their final deliberation over the eligibility of a whopping 17 productions for the 2009 Tony Awards. Here’s what was decided:

Matt Cavenaugh and Josefina Scaglione will be considered eligible in their respective Best Performance by a Leading Actor/Actress in a Musical categories for their performances in West Side Story.

Gavin Creel will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical category for his performance in Hair.

Constantine Maroulis and Amy Spanger will be considered eligible in their respective Best Performance by a Leading Actor/Actress in a Musical categories for their performances in Rock of Ages.

Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block and Megan Hilty will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical category for their performance in 9 to 5: The Musical.

Bruce Coughlin, Stephen Oremus and Alex Lacamoire will be considered jointly eligible in the category of Best Orchestrations for 9 to 5: The Musical.

Thomas Sadoski will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play category for his performance in reasons to be pretty.

The three parts that make up The Norman Conquests will be eligible as a single play in the Best Revival of a Play category.

Brian Dennehy will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play category for his performance in Desire Under the Elms.

Jonathan Cake and Steven Weber will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play category for their performances in The Philanthropist.

David Hyde Pierce will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play category for his performance in Accent on Youth.

John Goodman and John Glover will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play category for their performances in Waiting for Godot.

Everything else has either been previously decided or is concurrent with the opening night credits. The nominations will be announced Monday morning by Cynthia Nixon and Lin-Manuel Miranda at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Quote of the Day: "One of the Boys" Edition

The invaluable Janney juggles acerbity and warmth with flair in the Lily Tomlin role. She’s no great singer but is frequently buffered by the superior pipes of her co-stars and handles solo duties with assurance and decent pitch. Violet’s splashy “One of the Boys” is a knowingly cheesy late-’70s-style showstopper that recalls Lauren Bacall sashaying and barking through numbers in “Woman of the Year.”

– Variety on 9 to 5

The comparison seem to make sense… Janney could do well in a series of musical theatre acting roles that require less in the singing department. But does anyone recall the title of Lauren Bacall’s act one showstopper in Woman of the Year, which also served as the show’s Tony performance? That’s right. “One of the Boys.” Just thought I’d draw attention to that. Meanwhile, Janney would be a perfect choice to headline a revival of Woman of the Year.

Princess Leia & Atticus Finch for the ’09-’10 Broadway season?

It’s being reported today that Carrie Fisher’s autobiographical solo show Wishful Drinking will open on Broadway at Studio 54 this October. Fisher leaves no stone unturned about her life as she delves her razor sharp wit into every aspect: from being the child of two major stars (Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher), to pop culture icon/nerd sex symbol as Princess Leia in Star Wars, through her battles with drugs, alcohol and depression. Carrie’s evening has also been published in book form, and her story is so hilarious to read, I cannot wait to see it live. The show has been touring various venues throughout the country to considerable success, with the hopes of coming to NY. This will mark Fisher’s first appearance on Broadway since a replacement stint as Agnes in Agnes of God back in 1983. Carrie made her Broadway debut as a teenager in the chorus of her mother’s revival of Irene in 1973. Flop enthusiasts will remember Fisher from the 5-performance bomb Censored Scenes from King Kong in 1980. Fisher has gone to a stellar career as a writer and actress, including her recent Emmy-nominated guest spot as Liz Lemon’s idol on 30 Rock. It looks as though we’ve got our first serious contender for next year’s Theatrical Event awards!

Also, a small item in Playbill on Opening Night’s first night account of Desire Under the Elms mentions that Matthew Modine hopes to play Atticus Finch in a Broadway production of To Kill a Mockingbird. The article mentions Jeffrey Richards as producer, but there has been no other word about this play. The play itself was originally adapted by Christopher Sergel for use on an academic level; however the writer has frequently revised the work and it is a staple of stock and regional companies throughout the country. It has yet to be performed on a Broadway stage. However, given the definitive nature of the Oscar winning film, it feels as if a stage version isn’t entirely necessary. As it is one of my top three favorite books of all time (and one of my favorite films to boot), I’ll definitely be there if and when it happens.

Not "Today"

You gotta take the rough with the smooth…so here goes. We looked at Seth Rudetsky’s fantastic deconstruction of Angela Lansbury leading the company in “It’s Today” from the original cast album of Mame last week. Well, I just stumbled on this clip of the same number from the notorious film version starring Lucille Ball. The film does everything it can to cater to its highly miscast star, who apparently put up the money for the project. The keys have been dropped, the tempo is erratic and the orchestrations have been muted from their brassy highs. The emotions are forced, the energy lacking, plus Onna White’s choreography seems a bit much for such a cramped looking apartment. (I wonder how many people got kicked in the head during rehearsals/shooting). The most criminal thing: there is absolutely no joy. The only thing impressive about this entire mess is Lucy’s hitch kick toward the end of the number (well, she was 62 and recuperating from a broken leg…)

While I’ll always love Lucy, it will never be for Mame.

%CODE1%

"A Little Night Music" Revival Likely This Fall

The import of Trevor Nunn’s hit London revival of A Little Night Music looks like it might be back on track for an unspecified opening date in December. According to Playbill, a casting notice has gone out from producers specifying that all roles are open, though it insists that dates are “tentative.” The musical was last seen in NY this past January in a gala concert for the Roundabout Theatre Company starring the late Natasha Richardson and Vanessa Redgrave. Both actresses were poised to star in the planned full-scale revival until Richardson’s tragic death last month, when the production was put on hold. No official announcement has been made, but it appears from the casting call one might not be far behind. The article lists as producers: David Babani for Chocolate Factory Productions, Andrew Fell and the Frankel, Viertel, Baruch, Routh Group.

Doris Eaton Travis Still Hoofing at 105

The last living performer from the original Ziegfeld Follies, 105 year old Doris Eaton Travis has become a perennial fixture at the BC/EFA Easter Bonnet competition where she offers a brief tap routine that is one of the highlights of the annual event. Travis, in remarkable health and high spirits, was profiled in Sunday’s New York Times by Ralph Blumenthal.

Everything’s bigger in Texas, y’all.

The first time an Edna Ferber novel was adapted into a musical the genre was changed forever with Kern & Hammerstein’s Show Boat. The libretto marked a huge departure for Hammerstein, who had written many operettas up to that point. He found a way to tell the story onstage as a musical, while establishing a structure out of the sprawling scope of the original novel. His adaptation of the novel was a major stepping stone for the musical as a serious art form as it marked the first time that darker themes permeated the American musical with characters dealing with miscegenation, alcoholism, failed marriage, etc.

Lightning didn’t strike twice, however, when Ferber’s novel Saratoga Trunk became the Harold Arlen-Johnny Mercer-Morton da Costa musical Saratoga in 1959. Starring Howard Keel and Carol Lawrence, fresh from her success in West Side Story, the show received poor notices and closed after 80 performances.

Then there’s Giant. The story is probably best remembered in its Oscar-winning film adaptation starring Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. It tells of Jordan Bick Benedict, a Texas cattle baron who brings his Virginia socialite to live on his ranch in Texas and their ongoing battle with jealous handyman turned oil tycoon Jett Rink over several generations. It’s got everything you can think of: romance, drama, racial and sexual tensions, etc, all set against the sweeping backdrop of the Texas landscape.

Now fifty years following the failure of Saratoga on Broadway, a musical version of Giant, with a score by the Michael John LaChiusa, book by Sybille Pearson and the direction of Jonathan Butterall, receives its world premiere at the Signature Theatre today. The new work is the first presentation in the American Musical Voices Project sponsored by the Shen Family Foundation and stars Lewis Cleale, Betsy Morgan, Ashley Morgan, Judy Blazer and John Dossett. The show isn’t shying away from its status as an epic: the show’s website says it runs three and a half hours, divided into three acts (and is also where I got the title for this entry). According to a post on All That Chat, an email is going around letting ticketholders know that the running time is now approximately four hours, with two 15-minute intermissions. Curtain times are nightly at 7PM; matinees at 1PM. The post also says that the the lobby is offering a three course “Taste of Texas” meal. The first course, served preshow, is chowder and corncake. The next course is quesadilla with salsa at first intermission and a pecan tart is served at the second intermission. It may not be a marathon of The Norman Conquests, but it certainly seems like a full event.

It should be interesting to see how the new show is received. Larger scale musicals based on large-scale novels tend to vary in their success. Of course, there has been Show Boat, Les Miserables and Ragtime. But then again there has also been Here’s Where I Belong (East of Eden), Ari (Exodus), Gantry (Elmer Gantry), Shogun – the Musical, Angel (Look Homeward Angel), the aforementioned Saratoga, and Jane Eyre. Plus there have been two versions of Gone with the Wind. Harold Rome’s adaptation was a major success as Scarlett in Japan and a minor success under the original title in London. However, the American production flopped out of town. The second adaptation by Margaret Martin opened in London last year to blistering reviews and shuttered after 79 performances.

As a fan both the original novel and film adaptation of Giant, I’m looking forward to the reactions of both the audiences and critics and am almost nuts enough to consider traveling down to DC to see it.

Kritzerland Does It Again!

Following the highly successful limited releases of Anya and Illya, Darling on CD, Kritzerland is bringing us their next offering: the first ever CD issue of the 1968 off-Broadway revival of Harold Arlen and Truman Capote’s House of Flowers. The original 1954 Broadway production struck out with critics (mostly over the book, of course) and lasted 165 performances. Saint-Subber, the original producer and Capote felt that the production was too big for such an intimate story, so they reworked the show for a smaller venue. However, this production at the Theatre de Lys in 1968 proved even more shortlived than the original, lasting only 57 performances. The recent concert at Encores! also proved the book was mostly unworkable in spite of the phenomenal Arlen-Capote score (which gave the world such great songs as “One Man (Ain’t Quite Enough),” “A Sleeping Bee,” “I Never Has Seen Snow,” “Two Ladies in de Shade of de Banana Tree,” and “Don’t Like Goodbyes”).

Having never heard this particular recording, I would find it hard to believe it will live up to the essential original Broadway cast album with Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll and Juanita Hall. However, this particular album is essential for my fellow aficionados because it has several songs not present on the original cast recording as well as different, more authentically Caribbean orchestrations from Joe Raposo, who would later find great success for his musical contributions to “Sesame Street.” Kudos to Bruce Kimmel and the folks at Kritzerland for giving us yet another long forgotten album (and with this the third United Artists LP being put on CD, I hope it’s not long until the London Promises, Promises with Tony Roberts and a sublime Betty Buckley comes to disc). This will be another limited release of 1,000 copies only.