Sunday, March 27, 2011

TheatreScene: March 21 - 27

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IN THE FINAL POLL OF THE MONTH! (JUST TO THE RIGHT!)
LIKE WHAT YOU SEE?  BECOME A "FOLLOWER"!
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK:

DON'T MISS THIS WEEK'S BROADWAY VIDEO OF THE WEEK - IT'S FOR A GREAT CAUSE!  (IT'S ALL THE WAY AT THE BOTTOM!)

SPECIAL DISCOUNT CODE FOR HOW TO SUCCEED!: (Just click for details!)
http://howtosucceedbroadway.com/HSFAN105.php

TOPS AND BOTTOMS (March 14 - 20)
  • Top Gross: Wicked ($1.67M)
  • Top Attendance: The Book of Mormon (101.8% - 7 previews)
  • Bottom Gross: Lombardi ($263K)
  • Bottom Attendance: La Cage aux Folles (62.5%)
  • $1M Club: Mary Poppins, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, The Lion King, Wicked
  • SRO Club: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Lion King, The Book of Mormon, Wicked
BROADWAY BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK:
  • March 21: Actor Matthew Broderick (1995 - How to Succeed…, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Producers)
  • March 22: Composer Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story, Gypsy, Passion)
  • March 23: Actor Hope Davis (God of Carnage)
  • March 24: Actor Jim Parsons (The Normal Heart, TV’s Big Bang Theory)
  • March 25: Actor Lee Pace (The Normal Heart, TV’s Pushing Daisies)
  • March 26: Actor Jennifer Grey (The Twilight of the Golds)
  • March 27: Actor Quentin Tarantino (Wait Until Dark)

IN MEMORIAM:


  • Helen Stenborg, actress, passed away at the age of 85 on March 22. Her Broadway career spanned 5 decades. Her most recent appearance was in the 2002 revival of The Crucible, in which she played Rebecca Nurse. She is pre-deceased by her husband, Tony winner Barnard Hughes.
  • Elizabeth Taylor, actress, passed away at the age of 79 on March 23. On Broadway, this screen legend starred in revivals of The Little Foxes and Private Lives. She also co-produced a revival of The Corn is Green. The lights of Broadway were dimmed in her honor on March 25.
  • Lanford Wilson, playwright, passed away at the age of 73 on March 24. Among his many plays, he was most famous for The Hot L Baltimore and the Talley Trilogy, which includes Fifth of July and Talley’s Folly, 2 of the most produced plays in the late 20th century. He also wrote the Broadway play Burn This.

BROADWAY IN PREVIEWS AND OPENING THIS WEEK:


  • Anything Goes: Previews – March 10; Opening - April 7
  • Baby It’s You!: Previews - March 26; Opening - April 27
  • Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo: Previews – March 11; Opening - March 31
  • Catch Me If You Can: Previews – March 11; Opening - April 10
  • High: Previews - March 25; Opening - April 19
  • The Motherfucker with the Hat: Previews - March 15; Opening - April 11
  • Sister Act: Previews - March 24; Opening - April 20
  • Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark: Previews - November 28, 2010; Opening – June 14
  • War Horse: Previews - March 17; Opening - April 14
  • Wonderland: Previews - March 21; Opening - April 17

COMINGS AND GOINGS:

Casting:
  • Roger Rees has joined The Addams Family as Gomez Addams.
  • Richard H. Blake will replace Kyle Dean Massey as Fiyero in Wicked.
  • Victoria Matlock, Erik Hayden and Jared Mason have joined the cast of Million Dollar Quartet.
  • The Geek Chorus has been axed from Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. They will not return when the show re-starts in May, but will continue until the hiatus starts in mid-April.
  • Chase Brock has joined the creative team as the choreographer for Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

Shows:
  • Good news for 5 New York shows! Ghetto Klown (through 7/10), Good People (through 5/29), Dreams of the Burning Boy (through 5/15), Peter and the Starcatchers (through 4//24) and Hello, Again (through 4/10) have all been extended past their original limited runs! See what a good review or two can do?
  • March 24th saw the re-start of Rock of Ages, now at the Helen Hayes Theatre.

Milestones:
  • On March 21, Michael Cusumano aka Mr. Chicago, was named Mr. Broadway at the 5th Annual Broadway Beauty Pageant.  The pageant benefits the Ali Forney Center in New York City.
  • On March 25, Chicago became the 5th longest running show in Broadway history with its 5,960th performance. Only A Chorus Line, Les Miserables, Cats and The Phantom of the Opera have run longer.

BROADWAY HISTORY: WHAT OPENED THIS WEEK IN THE PAST:
  • March 21: Both The Wizard of Oz and Toto opened on this date; the former in 1904, that latter in 1921.
  • March 22: The Tony winning Best Play of 2009, God of Carnage, opened on this date.
  • Ghetto Klown opened March 22, 2011.
  • March 23: The 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opened on this date.
  • March 24: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened in 1955. It played 694 performances at the Morosco Theatre. It lost every Tony it was up for, but it did with the Pulitzer Prize.
  • The Book of Mormon opened March 24, 2011.


  • March 25: Come Fly Away opened at the Marquis Theatre in 2010. The Las Vegas production of this Twyla Tharp piece is a big hit, and the National Tour starts soon.
  • March 26: Funny Girl opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1964. It played 1,348 performances.
  • March 27: Dancin’ opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in 1978, Brighton Beach Memoirs opened at the Alvin Theatre in 1983, and Gypsy opened at the St. James Theatre in 2008.
  • How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opened March 27, 2011.

BROADWAY VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

Broadway Bares, the annual striptease burlesque show put on by the hottest dancers in the world - Broadway gypsies - is about to launch its 21st season of sexy fundraising, with Broadway Bares XXI: Masterpiece, Broadway Bares Solo Strips: Spring Break, and, with your help, the completion of a film documentary that chronicles  all of the first twenty editions of the show.  That documentary, compiled by Broadway Bares regular (and Mr. Broadway on this very site) Daniel Robinson and others, is in need of some final financing to be completed.  Once that is done, and the dvd is complete, all proceeds will go to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and its associated charities.  At the time of this writing, about 2/3 of the funds had been raised.  Let's see what we can do to help this worthwhile cause by April 1st - that's LESS than a week from now!  Even a dollar will help.  Donate more and earn a gift!


 If there is no video above, please click on this link to watch video and to contribute:

Comments?  Leave one here or email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff 
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