Issue #196: July 1, 2007
Next issue August 1.

Read the Toronto Star article on Camp Broadway!!
Read the Toronto Sun article on Camp Broadway!!

• Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch) stars in Theresa Rebeck’s Mauritius opening at the Biltmore Theater on October 4.

• Rosie Perez heads back to Broadway for the revival of Terrence McNally’s The Ritz opening at Studio 54 on October 11.

• Not a good sign that even in previews one of the leads bows out due to an injury…that is what happened recently with the new musical Xanadu. Cheyenne Jackson has replaced James Carpinello in what sounds like an already troubled production.

• The “By the Numbers” recently came out with the hits and misses of the 2006 – 07 season. The hits include; Butley, A Chorus Line, A Moon for the Misbegotten and The Vertical Hour. The misses include; High Fidelity, The Pirate Queen, The Times They Are A-Cangin’, The Little Doug Laughed and Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. This list is solely based on the financial success of the productions, not what the critics say.

• Annette Bening is set to star in The Female of the Species, which plays a limited run at L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse from February 13 to March 16.

• John Lithgow takes on the Bard when he makes his debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Twelfth Night on August. 30.

• The revival this month of David Storey’s In Celebration welcomes another West End debut…this time everyone’s favourite pirate Orlando Bloom.

• The opening of Lord of the Rings isn’t faring much better than the original that had a less than stellar run in Toronto last year. The reviews are very mixed with some predictions of a short run for the most expensive production in West End history.

• It appears that HBO has picked up the TV rights to air an adaptation o f The Year of Magical Thinking. Stage legend Vanessa Redgrave was nominated for her role in the one-woman play this past Tony season…and it looks like they have her on board for this small screen version.