Issue #139: October 15, 2004

• The late Man in Black will be getting his own musical when Ring of Fire, the story of Johnny Cash, hits Broadway in 2006.  Directed by Tony winner Richard Maltby, Jr. (Ain't Misbehavin'), the musical will feature more than 40 songs by Cash and his late wife June Carter Cash.  Look for this new show to hit a few select cities before taking its Broadway bow.

• You can currently catch the revival of Melvin Van Peebles' 1971 musical Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death at Harlem School of Arts Theater.  The musical about black street life and ghetto agony revived by Classical Theater of Harlem continues until October 31.

• Jessica Lange heads the cast of the latest Tennessee Williams revival The Glass Menagerie.  Along with Ethan Hawke and Natalie Portman the play will follow Dame Edna: Back With a Vengeance at the Music Box Theater in March.

• A casting call went out recently in Toronto for the upcoming sit-down production of Blue Man Group.  The producers have secured The New Yorker Theatre on Yonge Street and plan extensive renovations to the theatre to house the cult performance theatre piece.  At the moment the opening is set for May 2005.

• The Toronto producers of Hairspray announced on October 7 that the curtain falls for the last time on November 28.  At that time the show will have played 264 performances.  Slow ticket sales with no hope of recovering were cited for the early closing. This is the second time in less than a year that Mirvish Productions have closed a major musical before it had run the length of time they had hoped for.   In the summer they folded up the set of The Producers after just eight months.   You would think that the lack of ticket sales would be sending a message to the local and New York producers of these productions so they realize that maybe, just maybe, it's the ticket price that is the problem.  With the top ticket hovering around the $100 mark (not including service charges and taxes), it might be wise before venturing into the high-cost of producing and/or securing the production rights to these works to check the climate of the theatre-going audience and find out what the market will bear.  In Toronto there's no lack of alternative theatre available and it seems the smaller venues with productions with lower production costs seem to be thriving -- it's a matter of economics.  And although an attempt at packaging tickets with dinner/hotel was made to lure audiences, it is clear that the people have spoken.  Lower the ticket prices or we'll find alternative entertainment.