Issue #6: September 15, 1998

• There have been a number of closings on the Great White Way lately. Three productions have packed up and loaded out,beginning with An Evening with Jerry Herman, which only played 28 performances before closing on Aug. 23. High Society, not a hit with the critics, packed up on August 30 after 144 performances. The producers of A View From the Bridge closed at the Neil Simon Theater on Aug. 29, which was a week earlier than the planned Sept. 5 date. It seems Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Swan Lake, which previews at the Neil Simon on Sept. 26, had unforeseen technical load-in demands. I guess that’s another way of saying ticket sales for View were not exactly booming!

• The highly successful 2 Pianos, 4 Hands will embark on a 45-city U.S. tour beginning in November. After more than 1400 performances since it opened in Toronto in May 1996 at the Tarragon Theatre, Toronto’s Mirvish Productions is also close to completing arrangements for a British stint. Creators Richard Greenblatt and Ted Dykstra have already enjoyed runs in New York and Washington as well as visits to France and other Canadian cities.

• Even though A View From the Bridge didn’t meet box office expectations on Broadway, the producers will likely mount a touring production starring Tony Danza, who has committed to an 18-week tour beginning in March.

• The two-year run of Smokey Joe’s Café will close at the Prince of Wales Theatre on October 3.

• Rumor is that An Inspector Calls, which opened on Oct. 24, 1995 at the Garrick Theatre will continue through to January ’99.

• Another Livent production bites the dust. ShowBoat, currently at the Prince Edward Theatre, will close on Sept. 19, well ahead of the expected long run the producer was looking for.

• The hit off-Broadway play, Full Gallop, is playing to full houses at the Marian St. Theatre in Sydney, Australia. The play is an endearing portrait of the late Diana Vreeland, high priestess of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar magazines. Ms. Vreeland presided over the fashion world for almost five decades determining styles and trends. Full Gallop premiered at the Westside Theater in New York, on Oct. 2, 1996. The Australian production, which closes Sept. 20, stars Amanda Muggleton as Vreeland.

• "Isn’t it rich…" the Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s classic A Little Night Music is currently playing at the Theatre Royal in Sydney until Oct. 3.

• Although his first movie role was in the classic To Kill a Mockingbird, Robert Duvall began his career in acting studying with Sandy Meisner in New York in the mid-50s. The recent revival of A View From the Bridge earned Anthony LaPaglia a Tony award, but it was Duvall in his first Broadway appearance who originated the role of Eddie. The Broadway community considers his performance, with co-stars Susan Anspach and Jon Voight, legendary. He returned to the stage in ’76 in David Mamet’s American Buffalo. His many films include; Frank Burns in Mash, Coppola’s Godfather and Godfather Part II, Apocalypse Now, The Great Santini, Tender Mercies, for which he won best actor Oscar in ’84 and his most recent, The Apostle.