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Issue #143: December 15, 2004
Holiday Edition -
next issue January 15
- The first show to close in 2005 looks like Bombay Dreams with
the curtain falling on New Year's Day. A visually lavish
production that opened eight months ago, to generally mixed
and negative reviews, never found an audience in New York even
though it was a big hit in London. The producers of the Bollywood
musical shelled out $14 million to mount the production only
to have it play to half houses in recent weeks. Even with
this response the producers are looking at touring the musical..
I hope they do more research before sinking any more money
into what looks like a losing proposition.
- The Broadway debut of Robert Harling's popular play Steel
Magnolias opens at the Lyceum Theater when previews begin
on March 15. The play proved to be a regional and off-Broadway
hit in the 1980s, then it found a much larger audince when
it became a star studded movie. Currently on board to play
a couple of the feisty southern women are Delta Burke and Christine
Ebersole. The role of beautician Annelle Dupuy Desoto,
played by Daryl Hannah on screen, will be played by Lily
Rabe (Mona Lisa Smile). Rabe has an impeccable
pedigree; her father is playwright David Rabe and
her mother is actress Jill Clayburgh. Auditions are
still continuing to fill the rest of the roles.
- To try to boost attendance and appeal to a younger, hipper
audience, the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, will
be presenting William Shakespeare's As You Like It with
five song settings written by the pop group Barenaked Ladies. The
production, part of the 2005 season, will be set in the 1960s,
to give it the rebellious feel of that generation while complementing
the additional music. Previews begin on April 27; it will
run until October 30.
- Mirvish Productions in Toronto aren't having much luck this
season with their roster of shows. Following the early closing
of The Producers and Hairspray, it was announced
that the London hit musical We Will Rock You featuring
music of the rock group Queen will not make the Toronto
stop they had included on their 2004/2005 season. However,
they will be replacing the run with a revival of the Andrew
Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice hit Evita. I know,
yet another revival, however this one will be worth catching
since original director Hal Prince mounted this 25th anniversary
production which is currently on tour. Evita opens
at the Princess of Wales Theatre on April 27 and will run for
just five weeks to May 29.
- The return visit of The Icelandic Vesturport Company's production
of Romeo & Juliet, currently at the Playhouse Theatre,
has the likes of Sean Connery, Jude Law, and Vanessa
Redgrave chomping at the bit for a cameo appearance. The
attraction seems to be the unique staging which has the cast
dangling in mid-air much of the performance. Others on the
roster to make an appearance include Joanna Lumley (Ab
Fab), Jonathan Pryce and Derek Jacobi. With
all this star power vying for a spot I suspect the production
is booked for a number of weeks.
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