Issue #127: April 1, 2004

• The Food Network is Broadway bound!  Food seems to be the latest fare at two off-Broadway venues these days.  A recent production Chef's Theater - a Musical Feast at The Supper Club combined meals prepared on stage with musical performances between courses.  Playing now at the Minetta Lane Theater you can catch Cookin' where Associated Press says, "Stomp meets Jackie Chan meets I Love Lucy!" Four Korean chefs combine precision sounds with cooking utensils while preparing a meal on stage.   If food's your thing you can catch it at a theater near you!

• Peter Krause, star of Six Feet Under, makes his Broadway debut this summer in a revival of Arthur Miller's After the Fall.  No confirmation on the female lead, although Hilary Swank read the role in a recent workshop.

• The long road of the latest Sweet Charity revival is set to open April 21, 2005 after playing Chicago and Boston.  This will also be the Broadway debut for Christina Applegate in the lead role.  No theater has yet been confirmed.

• Look for this Broadway season's biggest hit musical Wicked to anchor Toronto producer Mirvish Productions 2004-05 season.  It will mark the launch of Wicked's North American tour when it opens in April 2005.  Also on the musical bill will be The Rat Pack, a tuner based on the nightclub performances of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. As well, the Korean-language musical The Last Empress, with subtitles and a cast of 80, and the huge London hit We Will Rock You based on the music of Queen are included.  Two other less familiar pieces slated are A Couple of Blaguards; a collection of stories and song based on McCourt brothers Frank and Malachy's early lives in Limerick, Ireland.  And the last piece, Da Kink in My Hair, rose through the Toronto festival ranks to a main stage presentation and now  transfers to the commercial stage.

• A legend, an icon, a renaissance man - Peter Ustinov was all of these and more to the world of not only theatre, film and comedy but literature.  After an illustrious career that spanned more than 60 years, it is ironic that Sir Peter considered himself a failure.  And his peer Lord Richard Attenborough claimed that when he was nearly 70 he felt "he hasn't yet written what he is capable of - largely due to the diversity of talent."  At 18 Ustinov made his London stage debut and is remembered 60 years later when he had audiences and critics alike laughing hysterically in a brief sketch.  A playwright, film director, novelist, newspaper columnist and an Academy Award winning actor were among his achievements during his lifetime.  He published 21 books and received 23 awards and honourary degrees.  In 1977 he wrote his autobiography Dear Me, which sold over a million copies.  But his greatest contribution was his ability to make people laugh.  As a humourist Sir Peter's genius is compared to the likes of Spike Milligan and Tony Hancock.  In 1979 and 1980 Sir Peter appeared at the Stratford Festival in Stratford Ontario in the role of King Lear.  Months before the scheduled run tickets were sold-out making Canadian theatre history.  His long relationship and love of the city of Toronto resulted in the most repeated quote by those who live there - in 1985 he said, "Toronto is New York run by the Swiss."  The world of entertainment is richer for his wit, charm and endless talent.