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Audra McDonald to Play in Spamalot at Hollywood Bowl

by Paul Mroczka

Audra McDonald 6 time tony winner concert tour

Audra McDonald 6 time tony winner concert tour

McDonald will make at least 50 appearances from Feb 13 through Sep 5.

Audra McDonald, who won her sixth Tony for her portrayal of Billie Holliday in Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar And Grill, performs at a pace that would be daunting to most. He schedule is all encompassing and diverse. McDonald has earned plaudits for her roles in various Broadway shows, including Ragtime, A Raison in the Sun, and Porgy and Bess. Here’s a look at a few of the appearances that are upcoming.

32-City Concert Tour

If you would like to see this great performer live on stage, you’ll have plenty of opportunities. She starts her winter tour, which will play Boston, New York, and Los Angeles, on February 13 at the University of Connecticut. Her final “winter tour” date is July 15, 2015 at Tanglewood in Lenox, MA.

Other Projects

Audra McDonald as Billie Holliday.

McDonald won her sixth Tony portraying Billie Holliday.

After her 32-city tour, McDonald will appear in Spamalot, which is part of the Hollywood Bowl’s 2015 summer season. She opens July 31 and closes August 2. After her run in Spamalot, she will appear at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in the Eugene O’Neill classic A Moon for the Misbegotten from Aug. 5-23. The six-time Tony-winner will star with Tony Award nominee Will Swenson.

Plus, McDonald will perform in a Sing-A-Long Sound of Music on June 26, which will pay homage to the 50th anniversary of the Academy Award winning movie starring Julie Andrews. On September 1 and 3, she will perform American Classics with the American Ballet Theatre and the L.A. Philharmonic.

Prolific Performer

The multi-award winning McDonald always seems to be involved in five or six upcoming projects. The ultimate performer, McDonald is equally at home in plays and musicals. Try to see her, as she will perform across America at least 45 times from February through September. She is one of out finest performers.

Broadway Grosses and Capacity for Week Ending February 8

by Paul Mroczka

Fish in the Dark by Larry David

Fish in the Dark by Larry David

Larry David should be smiling as his show is selling beyond capacity.

It’s been an interesting week on Broadway, as four of five top shows in terms of capacity were plays and not musicals. Musicals topped the list of grosses, with four of the top five being tuners, but that’s partly because musicals tend to be playing in larger houses and tickets to these shows are pricier. You might think that a majority of the plays at the top of the list would be comedies, but only one, Fish in the Dark, is.

Fish in the Dark

The play by and starring Larry David, Fish in the Dark, seems to be an instant hit with a ready-made cult following who love his show Curb Your Enthusiasm and are big fans of his co-creation Seinfeld. A Fish in the Dark grossed just under one million last week and filled the theatre beyond seating capacity, coming in at 101.05%. The River, which stars Hugh Jackman, sold at 102.42% capacity, leading all shows, as The Book of Mormon, which was second to The Lion King in gross, selling $1,455,237 worth of tickets, was also second in capacity at 102.19%. Fourth and fifth in capacity were The Elephant Man (100.15%) and Constellations (98.69%).

Top and Bottom Grossing Show

This week the top grossing show, The Lion King, brought in $1,463,314. As noted, second was The Book of Mormon, while Wicked was third at $1,262,017, Aladdin fourth at $1,203,871, and Fish in the Dark fifth at $993,940.

Shows that are struggling at the box office include the musicals On the Town, Mamma Mia!, and Honeymoon in Vegas. All of these shows offer fairly light entertainment. Disgraced, which had a solid Off-Broadway run, seems to be unable to find an audience, as it is last in grosses, selling $333,741. Finishing close to Disgraced is the classic American comedy You Can’t Take It with You, starring James Earl Jones. It grossed just $334,224.

Top and Bottom Five for the Week

Here’s a quick summary of high and low grosses and capacities.

Tops (Gross)

  1. The Lion King ($1,463,314)
  2. The Book of Mormon ($1,455,237)
  3. Wicked ($1,262,017)
  4. Aladdin ($1,203,871)
  5. Fish in the Dark ($993,940)*

Bottoms (Gross)

  1. On the Town ($379,914)
  2. Mamma Mia! ($362,236)
  3. Honeymoon in Vegas ($359,163)
  4. You Can’t Take It With You ($334,224)
  5. Disgraced ($333,741)

Tops (Capacity

  1. The River (102.42%)
  2. The Book of Mormon (102.19%)
  3. Fish in the Dark (101.05%)*
  4. The Elephant Man (100.15%)**
  5. Constellations (98.69%)

Bottoms (Capacity)

  1. Les Miserables (60.09%)
  2. Mamma Mia! (55.29%)
  3. You Can’t Take It With You (52.50%)
  4. Honeymoon in Vegas (51.63%)
  5. On the Town (36.15%)

Williamstown Theatre Festival Announces 2015 Season

by Paul Mroczka

Mandy Greenfield Williamstown Theatre Festival

Mandy Greenfield Williamstown Theatre Festival

Mandy Greenfield, Williamstown’s new Artistic Director, announces the 2015 season.

Williamstown Theatre Festival’s, new artistic director Mandy Greenfield has announced the theatre’s 2015 season. The Tony Award-winning summer theatre, which is mounting its 61st season, has been responsible for sending many shows to Broadway, including the new Kander, Ebb and McNally musical The Visit, starring Chita Rivera, which will open this April.

Main Stage

As usual, the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s season includes a combination of new works and some classics. The season, which begins June 30 and ends Aug. 23, includes the world premiere of Off the Main Road (June 30-July 19) by William Inge. She play will be directed by Evan Cabnet and will star Kyra Sedgwick. Sedgwick is both a Golden Globe and Emmy winner. Another world premiere will follow the Inge play. The play, written by Dominique Morisseau, is entitled Paradise Blue (July 22-Aug. 2). Paradise Blue will be directed Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Santiago-Hudson, who is an actor, director, and playwright, won the Tony for his performance in Seven Guitars. The main stage will bow with a reimagined production of the Eugene O’Neill classic A Moon for the Misbegotten (Aug. 5-23). It will star Audra McDonald, winner of six Tonys, and Tony Award nominee Will Swenson.

The Nikos Stage

Less than a week after the first opening on the main stage, the Williamstown Theatre Festival offers the world premiere of Daniel Goldfarb’s Legacy (July 1-12) on the Nikos Stage. The show features Jessica Hecht and Eric Bogosian. Also occupying the Nikos Stage boards is the American premiere of Kinship (July 15-25) by Carey Perloff’s. Jo Bonney directs and Cynthia Nixon, who is a Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner, stars. Next up is another world premiere; this time of the musical Unknown Soldier (July 30-Aug. 9), which offers music and lyrics by Michael Friedman and book and lyrics by Daniel Goldstein. Trip Cullman directs the new show. The Nikos Stage season ends with the American premiere of various British works, including a one-hander by Michaela Coel entitled Chewing Gum Dreams and An Intervention (Aug. 12–23) by Mike Bartlett.

Greenfield Excited about Season

New A.D Greenfield said in a statement, “I am beyond excited for the upcoming summer at WTF – I am grateful to each artist who has committed to make bold, innovative work at the Festival this year” She also observed, “I imagine that the theater we’ll create, together with the devoted staff and the Non-Equity and Apprentice Companies, will engage and satisfy audiences hungry for artistic adventure, meaning, and fun.”

Greenfield announced the theatre’s season at it annual gala last night. Rebecca Naomi Jones, Katie Finneran and Martin Short were some of the stars who performed at the gala.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Scores Grammy Award

by Paul Mroczka

Jessie Mueller, in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, wins Grammy.

Jessie Mueller, in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, wins Grammy.

Mueller, in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, wins Grammy.

This time it’s a Grammy for Jessie Mueller and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Muellar, along with album producers Jason Howland, Steve Sidwell, and Billy Jay Stein, received the honor at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Mueller also won the 2014 Tony for her portrayal of King in the biographical musical.

Other productions nominated for the award were A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Aladdin, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and the San Francisco Symphony’s West Side Story.

Mueller received another honor of a different sort recently, as her caricature was hung on one of Sardi’s fabled walls on January 23, 2015. When she was nominated for a Tony for Beautiful that marked her second Tony nod, as she also had been nominated for her fine performance in the revival of On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.

Mueller, who will leave Beautiful: The Carole King Musical as of March 6, is next slated to work on Waitress, a musical Sara Bareilles. The Gammy winner has also appeared on Broadway in The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Nice Work If You Can Get It.

On Broadway

by Matt Kizer

Festus Claudius "Claude" McKay (September 15, 1889 – May 22, 1948)

Festus Claudius “Claude” McKay (September 15, 1889 – May 22, 1948)

About me young careless feet
Linger along the garish street;
Above, a hundred shouting signs
Shed down their bright fantastic glow
Upon the merry crowd and lines
Of moving carriages below.
Oh wonderful is Broadway — only
My heart, my heart is lonely.

Desire naked, linked with Passion,
Goes trutting by in brazen fashion;
From playhouse, cabaret and inn
The rainbow lights of Broadway blaze
All gay without, all glad within;
As in a dream I stand and gaze
At Broadway, shining Broadway — only
My heart, my heart is lonely.

Quotable

by Matt Kizer

    • Orson_WellesI want to give the audience a hint of a scene. No more than that. Give them too much and they won’t contribute anything themselves. Give them just a suggestion and you get them working with you. That’s what gives the theater meaning:  when it becomes a social act.

      – Orson Welles

    • 460px-Walter_Winchell_1960Broadway is a main artery of New York life – the hardened artery.

      – Walter Winchell

Musical Falsettos by Finn & Lapine Returns to Broadway

by Paul Mroczka

Falsettos back on Broadway spring 2016

Falsettos back on Broadway spring 2016

Tony winner Falsettos back on Broadway spring 2016.

James Lapine, who directed the original 1992 Broadway production of Falsettos, will direct the show again. The musical, which is a combination of two one-act musicals, The March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, will be on a Broadway stage in spring 2016. The original production won the 1993 Tonys for Best Score (Finn) and Best Book of a Musical (Lapine and Finn).

The Story of Falsettos

Falsettos original Broadway cast.

Falsettos original Broadway cast.

Falsettos is the story of a family that is a mish mash of folks, including Marvin, who was married to Trina, but who revealed he was gay and left her to be with Whizzer. Marvin wants “A Tight Knit Family,” and the musical focuses on this simple but difficult to attain dream. Marvin must negotiate numerous relationships, including those with Whizzer, Trina, Jason, his 10-year-old son, and Dr. Mendel, a psychiatrist who Marvin is seeing and who, upon meeting Trina, is instantly attracted to her.

Some of the more memorable numbers from Falsettos include Four Jews in a Room Bitching, March of the Falsettos, Jason’s Therapy, and What Would I Do? Ultimately, the journey is Marvin’s. He eventually comes to grips with many of the challenges of his life, related to love, family, and responsibility.

More to Come

Producer Jordan Roth said, “I am part of a large club of theater lovers who were changed by this show, who passionately believe that Falsettos is ‘our show.’ I can’t wait to have our show on Broadway again.” Yet to be determined are the show’s theatre, dates, creative team, and cast.

Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical Premiere Set for Dallas

by Paul Mroczka

Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical Dallas World Premiere

Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical Dallas World Premiere

Owens and Clark

Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical will have its world premiere at the Dallas Theater Center this fall, running from September 2 through October 11. Hew Haw, the extremely popular country music variety show, which ran from June 15, 1969 to September 19, 1992, was set in Kornfield Kounty. It included some of the best pickers and grinners in the business, including Roy Clark and Buck Owens; comedy sketches, and many pretty ladies.

Hew Haw Musical

Moonshire: That Hee Haw Musical

2015 Grammy nominee Brandy Clark

Directed by Gary Griffin, Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical, the show features a book by Robert Horn and a score by two country music stars: 2015 Grammy nominee Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. Like the TV show, the stage musical takes place in present day Kornfield Kounty.

The musical tells the story of Misty Mae. She is a beautiful, hometown country gal who has very big dreams that reside in the big city of Tampa. She follows those dreams and then returns to Kornfield Kounty with a new heartthrob. Her slick boyfriend does not impress Misty Mae’s family or friends. Has love blinded this country girl; is the love of her life a fancy city grafter; will life ever be normal again? These are just a few of the pressing questions in Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical.

Is Broadway Possible?

There has been no formal Broadway announcement regarding Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical. The musical did have a reading in December 2013. But the creative are first class and include set design by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Mara Blumenfeld, and choreography by Denis Jones. Director Griffin made his Broadway debut in 2005 when he helmed The Color Purple.

First Wives Club Pre-Broadway Run Opens Soon in Chicago

by Paul Mroczka

New Musical First Wives Club premieres in Chicago

New Musical First Wives Club premieres in Chicago

New Musical First Wives Club premieres in Chicago

The new musical, First Wives Club, which is based on the hit 1996 movie and Olivia Goldsmith’s best selling novel of the same name, is now in rehearsals in Chicago. The show is slated to run from February 17-March 29 and then it has its eyes on Broadway. The musical stars Tony Award-winner Faith Prince, Christine Sherrill, and Carmen Cusack.

The Story

First Wives Club Faith Prince, Christine Sherrill, Carmen Cusack

Stars Faith Prince, Christine Sherrill, and Carmen Cusack.

The story in this musical comedy is one of revenge. The phrase “hell hath no fury as a woman scorned” certainly rings true in First Wives Club, as three former college friends reunite after each has been dumped by their respective husbands for young women. The three friends decide to make sure that they wreak revenge on the men they believed in, sacrificed for, and loved. Their vengeance is clever, motivated, and exacting. The relationships, situations, and characters collide for ongoing hilarity as the three divorced women are vindicated.

The Creative Team

There's a lot of energy, comedy, and drive that goes into their plan.

There’s a lot of energy, comedy, and drive that goes into their plan.

Those in charge of putting this show together artistically are premium players. The book for the musical is by Linda Bloodworth Thomason (Designing Women), the score, which includes originals and classics, is by Motown legends Holland-Dozier-Holland, and direction is by Simon Phillips who staged the stunning Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical. Thomason, who is a five-time Emmy nominee, has built her reputation by having created some of the most empowered female characters that have graced pop culture.

Producers Ready to Go

Veteran producer Elizabeth Williams heads a team that includes Paul Lambert and Jonas Neilson. Williams’ most recent Broadway efforts include Waiting for Godot and No Man’s Land, starring Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, and Catch Me if You Can. To get to Chicago for tech rehearsals, Williams, whose flight was cancelled due to bad weather, took a 24-hour train ride. The show will play its run in Chicago at the Oriental Theatre. The show is expected to go to Broadway.