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| Monday, April 9, 2012
Grace Notes
April 9, 2012
http://www.gracenotesstage.com/?p=4790
TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS:
* Julius Caesar tour opens at NYC's Baruch PAC.
* Celebrity Autobiography reading, featuring Mario Cantone, Gina Gershon, Darrell Hammond, Jackie Hoffman, Marsha Mason, Steve Schirripa, Jennifer Tilly, Alan Zweibel, and more, at 7 and 9:30 PM at NYC's Triad Theatre.
* Lysistrata Jones Broadway cast reunion concert at 7 PM at Joe's Pub.
* Sing Happy concert, with Karen Mason and Brent Barrett, at 7 PM at NYC's Birdland.
* "Glee" cast appears on "Inside the Actors Studio" at 8 PM ET on Bravo (check local listings).
* Encores! Merrily We Roll Along cast album recorded (released June 19). Pre-order the CD here.
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FUNDAY MONDAY!
This week's quiz – Harold Prince, by Laura Frankos:
1. Damn Yankees (1955) struggled out of town and Prince (a producer on this show) made a key decision regarding advertising that greatly helped. What was that decision?
2. Prince's first directing job was replacing Word Baker on A Family Affair (1962). Though it didn't run long, it marked the first time Prince worked with…. Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Bock/Sheldon Harnick, James Goldman/John Kander, Michael Bennett, or Cy Coleman?
3. In She Loves Me (1963), which Prince produced and directed, Barbara Cook ended up the perfect Amalia, but she wasn't the original choice. Who was?
4. In Fiddler on the Roof (1964), produced by Prince, director Jerome Robbins staged an elaborate fantasy ballet, which Prince dissuaded him from using, noting it wasn't right for the mood of the show. Which more modest number replaced it?
5. In Baker Street (1965), Prince's staging was praised, particularly the showstopping parade for Queen Victoria's Jubilee. How was it done?
6. In Cabaret (1966), where did the idea of the Emcee originate?
7. Follies (1971) began as a conventional show, a murder mystery about former showgirls. Prince saw the possibilities for a more surreal production, blurring the lines between past and present, framed in the metaphor of show business as life. To help get his creative in the mood, he screened a film for them. What was it?
8. Merrily We Roll Along (1981) faced numerous changes up to and including its final previews. which of the following was not replaced? The original Franklin Shepard, the original choreographer, the original opening number, the original costumes and sets or the original theatre?
9. How many Tony's has Prince won?
10. Which is the only show directed by Prince not to receive a cast album recording?
Scroll down for the answers…
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Sh-K-Boom Records will releases a three-song sampler of the Bring it On cast album on April 24.
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Christine Andreas will be part of the cast of York Theatre's upcoming production of Colette Collage, which runs April 27-29. The staging is part of the Musicals in Mufti: The Tom Jones Festival.
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Cast members from the national tour of Jersey Boys will perform a Motown concert April 30 at 7:30 PM at Chicago's Kimpton's Hotel Allegro to benefit BC/EFA.
The evening will begin at 6:30 PM with 1960s inspired cocktails and party hors d'oeuvres created by the top chefs at the Allegro. Following the show, the fundraiser will continue with dessert, dancing and a silent auction.
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Video: Highlights from Broadway's Magic/Bird.
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Article: Carolee Carmello, Alan Menken, Tim Rice and Glenn Slater talk about how musicals use faith and religion, preachers and followers, God and the Bible to make us understand ourselves.
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Tony Roberts and Richard Benjamin will co-star in a benefit reading of Neil Simon's comedy The Sunshine Boys April 22 at 7 PM at West Orange, NJ's Luna Stage.
James Glossman will direct the reading, which also includes Ami Brabson, Alexander Glossman, Paul Murphy, Michael Pollard, Max Shulman and Angeline-Rose Troy.
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Audio: Listen to the title track from Leap of Faith.
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Peter Dinklage and Lauren Worsham will be part of NYC's Play Company April 30, 7 PM, benefit Cabaret Gourmet 2012. Reservations: (212) 398-2977.
Held at the American Airlines Theatre Penthouse, the event offers culinary selections from chefs from such restaurants as Alison 18, Gramercy Tavern, Mehtaphor, Four & Twenty Blackbirds, Tacombi and Salumè, as well as items from Valrhona Chocolate and Guss' Pickles.
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Details have been announced for the York Theatre's upcoming readings of The Pigeon Boys and Jonestown, part of the Off-Broadway company's free Developmental Reading Series:
The Pigeon Boys (April 18 at 3 PM): Book and Lyrics by Anne Berlin, music by Andrew Beckner. Directed by Joe Barros, with musical direction by Cathy Venable, the cast will feature Leo Ash Evens, David Perlman and Josh Segarra, who will read the parts of the three pigeoneers. "The Pigeon Boys tells the story of the forgotten pigeoneers of World War II and explores the lives of three soldiers — an American, a Brit, and a German. As the boys face the harsh realities of war and one life-or-death mission, they reveal the mysteries of the 50,000 pigeons used to save the lives of soldiers and airmen. Their intertwined stories of love, hope and fear look at the struggles of becoming a man."
Jonestown (April 19, time TBA): Book by Carl Kelsch, Lyrics by Stephen Thompson with Kelsch and Music by Thompson. Director and cast TBA.
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Impetus Ensemble will present a semi-staged reading of Frank J. Avella's Vatican Falls, May 15 at 6:45 PM at NYC's National Comedy Theatre (347 West 36th Street), to benefit SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). Laura Caparrotti will direct. Musical director is Brad Gardner.
With songs by Claudio Procopio and Frank J. Avella, Vatican Falls is based on factual material and follows the life of one survivor who struggles with understanding how those closest to him could damage him the most.
The cast will feature Francesco Andolfi, Carlotta Brentan, Drew Bruck, Matthew Crooks, Carlos Dengler, Joshua Dixon, Kalen J. Hall, Liza Harris, Carmit Levite', Devon Talbott, and Rob Ventre.
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Video: Seth Rudetsky chat's with Anything Goes' Colin Donnell.
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Italian news anchor Claudio Angelini's Obama in Naples, translated by Angela Carabelli and edited by Olga Cortese and Michael F. Moore, will run April 25 – May 6 at NYC's Abingdon Theatre Complex (June Havoc Theater). Stephan Morrow will direct.
Obama in Naples is a play with songs that examines the dream of Neapolitan people to receive a visit from Barack Obama.
The cast features Beau Allen, Toby Blackwell, Brian Childers, Lin Tucci, John Fennessy, Scott Raymond Johnson, Lauren Maslanik, David Goldyn, Jenna Dallacco and Sam Charny.
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Highlights of the Boston Pops 2012 season:
Bernadette Peters (May 9), Gershwin Spectacular (May 10-12), Ann Hampton Callaway in A Barbra Streisand Songbook, with a special cameo performance from Alan Bergman (May 15-16); Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers in an evening of comedy and bluegrass (May 29-30), Jason Danieley and Marin Mazzie in A Tribute to Cole Porter (June 5, 6, & 8), Gospel Night featuring "American Idol's" Melinda Doolittle and gospel singer Crystal Aikin (June 9),
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Lorna Luft will receive the Frank Carrington Excellence in the Arts Award at Paper Mill Playhouse's Center Stage Celebration Gala Benefit, to be held on May 4 at the Hilton Short Hills. She will also perform at the event.
The event will also honor John McEwen and The New Jersey Theatre Alliance with the Byrne Kean Arts Advocate Award, and Charles Pascarella with the Antoinette Scudder Patron of the Arts Award.
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Princess Grace Award winners Christopher Ashley and Leslie Odom Jr. will join guests for a reception and dinner on Tuesday, April 24. The event will be followed by a preview performance of Leap of Faith at the St. James Theatre, which is directed by Ashley and features Odom. Tickets: (212) 317-1470.
The Princess Grace Awards recognize outstanding emerging artists in the performing arts: theater, dance, film, playwriting and choreography.
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Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch have announced that they will perform swinging standards together in concert, Sundays in June at Bemelmans Bar at NYC's Carlyle Hotel. Show times have not been announced.
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Lincoln Center's revival of South Pacific will not open at the West End's London Palladium this fall as previously speculated, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail. The production was hoping to reunite Paolo Szot and Samantha Womack, who starred as Emile de Becque and Nellie Forbush, respecitviely, when the production played London's Barbican Theatre in 2011. Szot however was unable to commit to the run.
Womack is currently starring as Nellie in the U.K. touring cast of South Pacific.
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Video: Evita's new promo ad.
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Our Name is Barbra 2012, a benefit for "Songs for Isabella," continues its annual event on April 23 at 8:30 PM at LA's Catalina Jazz Club. Hosted by Clifford Bell, Brad Griffith, Katharine "Kat" Kramer and Beth Lapides.
Performers (subject to change) include Mary Pat Bowe, Eydie Allison & Brad Ellis, Julie Garnye, Shelly Goldstein, Ilene Graff with Ben Lanzarone, Quinn Johnson, Katharine "Kat" Kramer, Kid Hollywood at Bedroom Volumes, Beth Lapides and Mitch Kaplan, Patty Reid, Shawn Ryan, Dolores Scozzesi, Alex Theodora Spurlock, Rick Starr, Joanne Tatham, Teresa Tudury, Lauren White, Autumn Witz, David Zack, David Zimmerman, and more, with musical directors, Jonathan, Dinerstein, Shelly Markham, Steve Rawlins and Peter Smith.
Proceeds from the evening will go to "Songs For Isabella," a grass roots fundraising campaign. Learn more about it here.
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Director Michael Wilson has lined up a cast of New York veteran and major regional performers for the preview presentation of a "new" William Inge play, Off The Main Road, on April 18 at 7:30 PM at Indepence, Kansas' William Inge Theatre.
The Inge work will be the opening night event of the 31st Annual William Inge Theatre Festival at the playwright's alma mater Independence Community College.
The cast features Annalee Jefferies, Nicole Lowrance, Barbara Dana, Asa Walker, Cynthia Hyer, Robert Clohessy and Joseph Gomez.
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Chris Peluso, Dennis Parlato, Whitney Bashor and more will bring the story behind the famed spiritual Amazing Grace to life at Goodspeed's Norma Terris Theatre May 17 – June 10. Music and Lyrics by Christopher Smith and Book by Arthur Giron and Christopher Smith.
Goodspeed bills the large-cast musical as the "stirring tale about a slave trader who sees the light and dedicates himself to ending slavery."
Gabriel Barre directs a cast that features Chris Peluso, Whitney Bashor, Laiona Michelle, Mike Evarsite, Dennis Parlato, Chris Hoch and Harriet D. Foy, along with Jonathan Burke, Merideth Kaye Clark, Rheaume Crenshaw, Andrew Crowe, Tyrone Davis Jr., Rachael Ferrera, Liam Forde, Logan Rose Nelms, Adbur Rahim Jackson, Olivia Bowman Jackson, Allen Kendall, Alex Krasser, Kate Marilley, Danny Rothman, Gavriel Savit, Victoria Thornsbury, Paul Michael Valley, Charles E. Wallace, Toni Elizabeth White and Noah Zachary.
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Jessica Hendy, Morgan James, Colleen McHugh, and Patrick Page will star in Broadway Ballyhoo at NYC's Feinstein's on Thurs. April 12 at 11 PM.
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Berkeley Rep has announced plans to launch a summer lab of artist residencies at The Ground Floor, the theater's new Center for the Creation and Development of New Work.
The lab will involve a four-week period during which dozens of artists will have residencies of four days to three weeks to dine, create, and collaborate at Berkeley Rep's new West Berkeley campus. Seed money for the project is provided by grants from the James Irvine Foundation's Artistic Innovation Fund and ArtPlace.
Those artists who have been awarded residencies include Julia Cho, David Edgar, Amy Freed, Marcus Gardley, Madeleine George, Jessica Goldberg, Rinne Groff, Lauren Gunderson, Danny Hoch, Naomi Iizuka, Erin Kamler, Kathryn Keats, Carson Kreitzer, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Dan LeFranc, Ellen McLaughlin, Michael Mitnick, Richard Montoya, Itamar Moses, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, Lynn Nottage, Dominic Orlando, Greg Pierotti, Amelia Roper, Erika Chong Shuch, Octavio Solis, Heidi Stillman, and Meiyin Wang.
The artists will be joined to work on projects by directors, designers, musicians, and performers such as Matthias Bossi, Dexter Bullard, Brian Carpenter, Nils Frykdahl, David Warren Keith, Leigh Silverman, Tony Taccone, Eric Ting, Mark Valadez, and Beth Wilmur.
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Joe Besecker's Tennessee in the Summer, will play Burbank's Sidewalk Studio Theatre, April 13 – May 20. Janice Allen will direct.
Based on the life of playwright Tennessee Williams, the cast will feature Jack Heller, Tamara Braun, Louise Davis, Robert Standley, Lisa Thayer, and Cindy Marinangel.
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Answers to this week's quiz – Harold Prince:
1. The original ad for Damn Yankees showed Gwen Verdon in a baseball uniform. Prince changed the picture to one of "Lola" in barely anything at all — and sales improved!
2. Prince worked with James Goldman and John Kander for the first time on A Family Affair.
3. Julie Andrews was making a film, but Prince chose to go ahead with Barbara Cook as Amalia in She Loves Me, rather than wait 6 months.
4. "Anatevka" replaced the far more elaborate fantasy ballet Robbins had devised for Fiddler on the Roof.
5. In Baker Street, Prince staged Queen Victoria's Jubilee using the Bil Baird Puppets, including a carriage from which a white hanky (presumably the queen's) waved to the crowds.
6. While stationed in Germany, Prince went to a nightclub hosted by a creepy dwarf, which apparently made a lasting impression on him for Cabaret.
7. Prince screened Fellini's "8 1/2″ to his Follies creative team.
8. Merrily We Roll Along kept its original theatre.
9. Hal Prince has won 21 Tony's (more than anyone else): eight for directing, eight for producing, two as producer of the year's Best Musical, and three special Tony's, including one for Lifetime Achievement.
10. Roza (1987) is the only show directed by Prince not have a cast album.
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