As it was at the overture and shall be at the exit music, bliss without end. Amen.

Theatre Aficionado at Large

Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway

Hugh-Jackman-Back-On-Broadway-300x200

I’m sure there are some people in the world who have watched Hugh Jackman’s movies or have seen Hugh Jackman onstage and haven’t cared for him. I’m sure there are some who might think that he’s overrated or that Wolverine sings too much, or what have you. I personally have yet to meet an individual who meets this criteria, and frankly I hope I never do. In fact, I think Hugh Jackman haters are a myth; until I meet one in the flesh, I refuse to believe otherwise. Everyone I know who has seen Jackman onstage has fallen under the spell: the man is a triple threat who would make…

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Posted on November 20, 2011 at 1:18 am.
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“Chinglish”

If you find yourself in a foreign country unable to speak the language (as I have), it’s easier if you’ve got a really strong translator. Not only someone who can translate the words, but understands the idioms and colloquialisms of both your native language as well as the language of those with whom you’re trying to communicate. If not, you can find yourself getting into some very interesting situations like those experienced by Daniel Cavanaugh, the American businessman at the heart of Chinglish, David Henry Hwang’s new light comedy playing at the Longacre Theatre. Chinglish is a throwback to culture clash comedies of the 1950s and 60s, the kind we rarely see anymore, but with a contemporary edge. An American businessman goes…

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Posted on November 8, 2011 at 8:49 pm.
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Carole Demas: Summer Nights

carole demas

Last week, I dropped in at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in the West Bank Cafe (for the first time!) to see Carole Demas, Broadway’s original Sandy in Grease, sing “Summer Nights,” a “varied collection of music she has come to love over the years.” Ms. Demas, a petite blonde with large, expressive brown eyes and a smile that could melt the North Pole, is not unknown to me, but I have never had the opportunity to appreciate how multifaceted and compelling she is as a performer. The voice is in impeccable form, with a wistful head voice matched by an incredibly powerful belt. Ms. Demas looks and sounds so youthful that many in the audience gasped (yours…

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Posted on October 24, 2011 at 11:09 pm.
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“Matilda” – Original Cast Recording

Matilda Album

Every so often, I encounter a new score that captures my ear and imagination, and I find I myself listening to it ad infinitum. There’s something about the way the words and music hit me that I find that I compulsively want to hear the new work again and again. The last time this happened was six years ago on the release of The Light in the Piazza. There have been other scores in the years since that I have greatly admired, but none has bowled me over quite like the original cast album of Matilda. I’ve had this original cast recording for a month now, featuring the show’s original Stratford players, and have been…

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Posted on October 19, 2011 at 6:16 pm.
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Broadway Originals at Town Hall

On a spur-of-the-moment invite from SarahB, I found myself attending my first Broadway Originals concert today, which also marked my first time inside Town Hall. I’d heard of the concert, but had never gone. SarahB, on the other hand, has gone for several years and is always raving about it, so I figured, why not? It turns out to be a glorious afternoon celebrating those actors who introduced so many great songs to Broadway, as well as original cast members of various revivals. Each act started with a visit from The Manhattan Rhythm Kings (Brian M. Nalepka, Tripp Hanson and Hal Shane) revisiting their songs from Crazy For You. Lorraine Serabian sang two numbers from Zorba,…

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Posted on October 16, 2011 at 9:18 pm.
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“Give Our Regards to Broadway” – Manhattan School of Music

This past Monday marked my first trip to Morningside Heights. Admittedly, I rarely leave the Midtown/Upper West Side area when in town,  though I do occasionally shoot downtown for a Fringe or Off-Broadway show here and there. However, there was a special concert at the Manhattan School of Music that sounded like it was too good an opportunity to pass up. The school’s Chamber Sinfonia was presenting “Give Our Regards to Broadway,” an evening of Broadway music and overtures under the baton of Paul Gemignani, with special guest artists Kate Baldwin and Alexander Gemignani. The price of admission? $20. How could I resist? So SarahB, Follies enthusiast Tyler Martins, and I ventured up to the…

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Posted on October 12, 2011 at 10:55 pm.
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A Look at “Purlie”

Purlie, a musical adaptation of Ossie Davis’ 1964 comedy Purlie Victorious, is about a charismatic and enterprising black preacher who goes head to head with a bigoted plantation owner. The show, with a highly entertaining score by Gary Geld and Peter Udell, opened at the Broadway Theatre in 1970 and ran for 688 performances, winning two Tonys including one for star Cleavon Little. It was revived in 1972, for 14 performances and was ultimately taped for TV in 1981 with several members of the original company, which also included The Jeffersons’ star Sherman Hemsley. Starring in the TV version was Robert Guillaume, who replaced Little in the Broadway company and was making a name for himself as Benson. (The following clips…

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Posted on September 30, 2011 at 9:42 pm.
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“Follies” on Broadway

Follies-poster

A timpani drumroll, a series of minor chords and then seemingly out of nowhere, a showgirl appears. This tall, lithe yet shadowy figure seems frozen in time and space, but as the music takes on a dreamlike quality, she starts to move. But slowly, ethereally; as if of another world. This is the first image of Follies and it seems that for the next two hours, I’m holding my breath in theatrical limbo. The evening is supposed to be a happy reunion of members of the Weismann Follies, but the stage of the dilapidated Weismann Theatre becomes an area for delusions to be exorcised, regrets to be revealed and for the uneasy acceptance…

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Posted on September 27, 2011 at 9:50 pm.
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“The Life and Death of King John” – NY Shakespeare Exchange

It’s not often that one gets to see The Life and Death of King John (by William Shakespeare, no less), so when I received the press invite for the New York Shakespeare Exchange’s production, I jumped at the opportunity. The play has a curious history. It’s generally believed to have been written in the mid-1590s and published in 1598. There are accounts of the play’s popularity in the 1600s, but the first known production was in 1737. King John reached its peak popularity during the Victorian Era and has since fallen into considerable obscurity, and makes for a great punch line in the uproarious The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). The play…

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Posted on September 18, 2011 at 10:33 pm.
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A place where I can rant and rave about theatre,
theatre history, plus books, film and anything
else that strikes me as entertaining, interesting
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director of the Independent Theater Bloggers Association.

Photo by Kari Geltemeyer

Walking Among My Yesterdays - 2011

1/19 - Avenue Q

1/25 - Knickerbocker Holiday (Collegiate Chorale)

1/30 - Chicago (Fan Day)

2/13 - La Cage Aux Folles

3/8 - Kate Baldwin & Sheldon Harnick: She Loves Him (Feinstein's)

3/12 - Kate Baldwin & Sheldon Harnick: She Loves Him (Feinstein's)

3/30 - How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

4/6 - High

4/20 - Born Yesterday

4/27  - The People in the Picture

5/4 - Sister Act

5/4 - The Normal Heart

5/11 - Lombardi

5/19 - Something Wonderful: An Evening of Broadway (Carnegie Hall)

6/3 - Marilyn Maye: It's Maye in May (Feinstein's)

7/14 - Kate Baldwin & Sheldon Harnick: She Loves Him CD release (Feinstein's)

7/27 - Around the World in 80 Days (HVSF)

8/2 - Hamlet (HVSF)

8/7 - Follies (first preview)

8/20 - Jerusalem

8/27 - Sammy Gets Mugged (Fringe)

9/4 - Master Class (closing)

9/11 - Mary Poppins

9/12 - Follies (opening night)

9/16 - The Life and Death of King John (NY Shakespeare Exchange)

10/10 - Give Our Regards to Broadway (Manhattan School of Music)

10/16 - Broadway Originals (Town Hall)

10/17 - Carole Demas: Summer Nights (Laurie Beechman Theatre)

10/26 - Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway

10/27 - Follies

10/30 - Chinglish

11/12 - Follies

11/18 - Annie Get Your Gun (Walter Panas Players)

Walking Among My Yesterdays - 2010

  • 1/3 - Ragtime
  • 1/20 - Tyne Daly: The Second Time Around (Feinstein's)
  • 2/6 - Betty Buckley: For the Love of Broadway! (Feinstein's)
  • 2/7 - Fanny (Encores!)
  • 2/27 - Yank!
  • 3/2 - God of Carnage
  • 3/8 - Kate Baldwin at Birdland
  • 4/3 - Lend Me a Tenor
  • 4/11 - Anyone Can Whistle (Encores!)
  • 4/23 - Collected Stories
  • 5/19 - Mitzi Gaynor: The Razzle Dazzle Years (Feinstein's)
  • 5/26 - Next Fall
  • 6/20 - A Little Night Music
  • 6/25 - The Bomb-itty of Errors (HVSF)
  • 7/31 - A Little Night Music
  • 8/21 - I Do! I Do! (Westport Country Playhouse)
  • 8/27 - Our Town (Barrow Street)
  • 9/25 - Brief Encounter
  • 10/7 - The Scottsboro Boys (first preview)
  • 11/6 - Lucky to Be Me: The Music of Leonard Bernstein (City Opera)
  • 11/19 - NY Pops' Stephen Sondheim Birthday Bash (Carnegie Hall)
  • 12/12 - The Scottsboro Boys (closing)

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