Issue #61: February 15, 2001

• TV’s Sex in the City star Sarah Jessica Parker is considering David Lindsay-Abaire’s new play Wonder of the World as a summer hiatus project at The Manhattan Theater Club.

• Rosie O’Donnell’s (she’s currently in Seussical) charming bandleader, John McDaniel, is also moonlighting on Broadway these days. As musical director for Annie Get Your Gun, McDaniel has had his hands full readying the string of leading ladies for the hit revival, most recently Reba McEntire. This isn’t his first gig as MD on Broadway. He and Rosie first crossed paths in the mid 90s when she did her star turn in Grease prior to her television talk show success.

• At long, long last a legitimate touring production of Disney’s The Lion King will hit the road — starting at the Denver Center in the spring of 2002. This long awaited tour will be booked around North America with runs of six to eight weeks. The sit-down production in Toronto is probably going to move to Chicago some time in 2002 with the newest production currently in L.A. most likely heading north to either San Francisco or Seattle at a later date. That would make three productions of the mega-hit filling houses and moving around — the likes of which haven’t been seen since the heyday of The Phantom of the Opera in the early to mid 90s.

• Toronto audiences just can’t get enough of the hit off-Broadway show The Vagina Monologues. After a sold-out run in December the local producers struck a deal to present a sit-down open-ended Canadian production which is currently running at the New Yorker Theatre. Using the formula of rotating stars in the third chair, they have confirmed the real Erin Brockovich from February 26 to March 3.

• The brother/sister team of Corin and Vanessa Redgrave starring in Trevor Nunn’s The Cherry Orchard is currently on hold. The 61-year-old brother is currently recovering from surgery in his battle with prostate cancer. The operation was a success and all going well; he’ll return to the Royal National Theatre production soon.

• The 50th Anniversary of the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario will be celebrated in 2002 with the publication of a coffee table book, the traditional galas and a 13-week television series to air on CBC-TV. The program will feature interviews with former actors including Christopher Plummer, William Hutt, Hume Cronyn, Alan Bates, Zoe Caldwell, Len Cariou, Eric McCormack, Paul Gross and former artistic directors Robin Phillips, John Neville and the current one, Richard Monette. The series will honor the pioneering spirit of the festival and present highlights from the past 50 years.