Issue #221: December 1, 2008

• Peterborough, Ontario native Graham Rowat will join the cast of Guys and Dolls when this latest revival opens on March 1. He will be in good Canuk company since the director is Des McAnuff and the choreographer is Sergio Trujillo….both Torontonians.

• Also heading to the Great White Way is Canadian Kate Hennig who will be taking over the role of Mrs. Wilkinson in this season’s huge hit Billy Elliot. Hennig slips into the role created by Haydn Gwynne, who will return to Britain, in June.

• There is a new Canadian musical, Rob Roy, making its way to Chicago and Toronto this winter. Based on the famous Scottish outlaw Robert Roy MacGregor, the music and lyrics are by David Warrack and will open at Chicago’s Arie Crown Theatre on February 3 then heads to Toronto’s Elgin Theatre for a March 23 opening. Tony Award-winning actor Len Cariou will direct the production.

• That delicious Auzzie Hugh Jackman now appearing on the big screen in Baz Luhrmann’s Australia has quite a stage background. Jackman’s musical resume consists of Beauty and the Beast and Sunset Boulevard. He was cast by Trevor Nunn as Curly in London’s National Theatre revival of Oklahoma! Jackman made his Broadway debut a number of years ago playing Australian showman Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz. And now there is buzz that he will return to Broadway in a musical about Harry Houdini sometime next year. I will keep you posted on that.

• It is not very often critics receive much attention upon their passing, however with the recent loss of Clive Barnes there is no doubt a huge whole is left by this larger than life theatre lover. The British-trained critic arrived in New York in 1965 to write for The New York Times where he was dance critic until 1977. He also served as the daily drama critic for the Times for 10 years. He moved to the New York Post were he was the paper’s chief theatre and dance critic for more than 30 years. Barnes also wrote for several British publications and was still writing reviews up to a few weeks before his death from cancer in late November.
  

• Legendary Broadway theatre executive Gerald Schoenfeld passed away recently leaving a memorable legacy. Gerry, as he was fondly known in the industry, was the chairman of the great Shubert Organization and was the go to guy for producers looking to bring their shows to Broadway. He dominated the theatre scene overseeing the seventeen Broadway theatres the Shubert organization either owned or operated around the U.S. His death at the age of 84 on November 25 closes a colourful chapter in the Broadway world.