Issue #8: October 5, 1998

• There was a moment there that the much-anticipated production of Jane Eyre wasn’t going to make it to Broadway. The La Jolla Playhouse in California has snatched the musical from disaster and promises to scale down the original version that was staged in Toronto at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in November 1996. Even though the original producer, David Mirvish, has bowed out, new producers Annette Niemtzow, Pamela Koslow and Janet Robinson are committed to bring the newest incarnation to Broadway for the 1999-2000 season following its American premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse July 6 to Aug. 22, 1999.

• In a limited run, B.J. Ward introduces to you to some of the most beloved operas in her one-woman show Stand-Up Opera at the Lyceum Theater. Ms. Ward will give her own take on favourite arias beginning Oct. 18^th.

• Just announced–super pop singer Paula Abdul has inked a deal to revive the classic Fosse piece Sweet Charity. She has also been given the go ahead to introduce new choreography–which is very much her forte. This new version will do a first class tour beginning next spring before heading to Broadway in the fall.

• The Signature Theater (Arlington, VA) will feature this season the world premiere of a new musical by the masters–John Kander and Fred Ebb–called Over and Over. I’ll keep you posted on the dates, as yet not available, but given the composers' track record look for this piece to reach Broadway in the not too distant future.

• It also looks like Los Angeles is where to be to catch some great theatre. After Fosse vacates the Ahmanson for its stint on Broadway, Titanic will begin its national tour, or should I say voyage, through January and February. Following Matthew Bourne’s huge success with Swan Lake a few season’s ago, he will stage his latest production of the classic Cinderella also at the Ahmanson. With its setting in war-torn London I’m sure it will be another groundbreaking piece. You can catch the restaged fairytale beginning April 2, 1999.

• Star of stage, screen and television, actor Roddy McDowell passed away on Oct. 3 at the age of 70. After being diagnosed with cancer in April, it was his wish to die at home in the posh Los Angeles neighbourhood of Studio City. Many will remember him as a young boy who was groomed by the studio system at the same time as Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he remained close friends until his death. It was the war that brought Roddy to the U.S. when he was evacuated at the age of 11 during the blitz in London. His childhood films included Lassie Come Home and My Friend Flicka but it was his role in Planet of the Apes that he will most be remembered for. Mr. McDowell was also an accomplished stage actor. During the 50's he spent much of his time in New York where he made his Broadway debut in Misalliance in 1953. Along with Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet, he was in the pre-Broadway production of Camelot, which premiered at the sparkling new O’Keefe Centre in Toronto, Canada on October 1, 1960. He remained with the production for a year of its Broadway run before returning to film where he appeared in such epics as Cleopatra, The Longest Day and The Greatest Story Ever Told. He was also regarded as an outstanding photographer who had five coffee table books published over the past 30 years.