Issue #167: March 1, 2006
- Christine Lahti heads the cast of Keith Bunin’s new
play, The Busy World Is Hushed, when it opens on June 20 at
Playwrights Horizons.
- Julianna Margulies joins cast members Ali
MacGraw and Larry Bryggman in Festen, which opens at the
Music Box Theater on April 9.
- The Las Vegas production of Avenue Q has stumbled
somewhat. After a much-celebrated opening in September, the producers
indicated it would run indefinitely. But alas, ticket sales have not been
what were anticipated. So after only nine months, Avenue Q will
pack up and hit the road. But don’t worry, you can still get your
Broadway fix in Vegas when the Tony Award-winning Monty Python’s
Spamalot moves in.
- Finally the revival of Sweet Charity hits the road
in the fall with Molly Ringwald (Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles)
playing Charity Hope Valentine. This won’t be her first time on stage -- Molly was previously on Broadway in productions of Enchanted April and
as Sally Bowles in Cabaret.
- The trio of boys who play the lead in Billy Elliott:
the Musical walked or should I say danced away with the best actor in
a musical award at the recent Olivier Awards. With music by Elton
John, the musical also picked up best choreography and sound design.
Plans are in the works to bring this hit musical to Broadway, Canada, Japan, Germany and Australia.
- Best known for his film direction, Canadian Atom Egoyan (Where the Truth Lies) will be directing his first stage play.
The offer came from the Barbican Centre in London and the Gate Theatre in Dublin to direct a little known Samuel Beckett play Eh Joe. This will be
part of a festival celebrating the 100th anniversary of the
playwright’s birth. And to add to the excitement, stage legend Michael
Gambon has agreed to the lead role.
- Two popular television actors died a day apart from one
another; both had connections to the stage. Dennis Weaver (81
years old) known in the 1950s for his role as Marshall Matt
Dillon’s sidekick on Gunsmoke and 20 years later in the series McCloud that ran for seven years, studied at the prestigious Actors Studio.
He appeared on Broadway opposite Shelley Winters in A Streetcar
Named Desire and even did a tour with Shirley Booth in the
award winning Come Back, Little Sheba. Darren McGavin (83
years old) had a seasoned career that included 173 movies and television
appearances. His most recognizable roles were the holiday favourite, A
Christmas Story, television series Riverboat, Kolchak: The Night
Stalker and Mike Hammer. In the early television days he
appeared opposite Charlton Heston in Macbeth with his stage
career including the role of Happy in the Broadway and road company of Death
of a Salesman.
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