Fame or Famine

I wrote a while back about the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s version of Willy Wonka. Thankfully not anything like the Tim Burton version, this one not only borrows from the 1971 Gene Wilder oeuvre but also draws from the books by Roald Dahl himself for inspiration – which makes it a darker, more intense experience.
While the staging looks minimal, I suspect that the lighting and other designers will have made the entire theatre into a magical candyland before the night is out. I’d especially love to see how they shrink Mike Teevee on the stage. Click past the cut for a …read more

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There’s a fascinating article in the Times right now about the closing of RENT. The writer, Campbell Robinson, talks about how he came late to RENT and late to the city, too, since the musical is set in a very narrow, very specific time and place.
Image details: Cast Members From "Rent" Perform At Broadway For Life served by picapp.com
The question becomes, then, why does it have such appeal outside New York? If it’s too unrealistic to people who live there now, what is it that makes it appeal so much to people like my daughters (who in fact introduced me …read more

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From the same city that banned foie gras recently (and then suddenly repealed it) comes the news that even in theatrical productions where cigarettes and other smoking is an “integral part” of the play – it’s not allowed.
That’s right. Jersey Boys, currently playing in Chicago, had portrayed the doo-wop singers accurately – that is, singing on the street corners with cigarettes hanging out of the their mouths. But since Chicago has a city-wide smoking ban, an “irate theatre goer” complained to…well, to someone, but no one seems to know who, or where the complaint originated. However, the play has removed …read more

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I’m afraid my internet connection punked out on me at the end of the Blog-Off, and I didn’t make all 24 posts in 24 hours. But I had a lot of help from guest bloggers, and here is one article by Dana Pellebon, an actor, writer, and producer from Madison, WI.
Writer’s groups are a dime a dozen these days and very few distinguish themselves.  Inkslingers, based out of Madison, WI, is one of the very few who do and manage to have their work produced.  I have been lucky enough to act for them on and off throughout the past …read more

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As we come back to following the progress of July 20th, the GREAT BLOG OFF around the globe, we come to Newfoundland, home of Artistic Fraud. Specializing in “chorus based work,” the group is directed by Jillian Keiley and Robert Chafe.
All About Numbers
As the video on their site will tell you, in the past 9 years Artistic Fraud has called for:

81 school desks
 32 flourescent semaphore flags
790 maps
36 vibraphone keys
2400 square feet of polyester wedding dress lining
Over 300 performers.

You can see a short film about the relatively small production Fear of Flight on YouTube now, and hear the ensemble as they …read more

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As we chase June 20th around the world, we find ourselves in Sydney, Australia, where the Belvoir Street Theatre is hosting Ride On company’s production of “An Oak Tree.” The creation of playwright Timothy Crouch, it’s an interesting exercise in the unknown.
Two Actors, One Script
The concept is as simple as it is radical: one actor ( in this case John Leary) is one character and the one who has actually seen the Obie-award-winning script. The other actor is the “guest” – drawn from Sydney’s dramatic community, people like Wayne Blair, Patrick Brammall, and Brendan Cowell. They have never seen …read more

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Broadway’s full of failures. Putting on a show, any show, is going to be a gamble. So it wasn’t terribly surprising when the original Suessical, based on the work of Theodore Geisl (Dr. Suess) failed to recoup its original investment. Unlike some other shows – like Donny Osmond’s Yankee Doodle Dandy, which closed opening night – Suessical had a good run, 198 shows in 2000. But a bad investment is a bad investment, and it was put away.
The Long Tail of the Cat in the Hat
However, being produced on Broadway is not the only way to make money from a …read more

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On my shelf sits a book, a black book with a picture of a curly-haired smiling lady on the back. It’s called “Improvisation for the Theater” and is written by drama pioneer Viola Spolin.
Her son, Paul Sills, died of pneumonia today at age 80, having continued his mother’s work and shaped theatre as we know it today.
Paul Sills, the “Orson Welles of Improv”
Maybe you’ve heard of some of the places Paul Sills’ influence was felt. Second City? The Kids in the Hall? OK, how about Saturday Night Live? 30 Rock? Broadway’s Ragtime? Or how about one of his students, a …read more

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I’m very excited to read that the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis is going to host the premiere of the new musical Little House on the Prairie. Directed by Francesca Zambello, it’s a re-telling of the classic 70’s television show.
Melissa Gilbert: Typecasting or Resource?
I find myself questioning the casting of Melissa Gilbert in the role of “Ma Ingalls” – not because I doubt her abilities as an actress, but more because there is quite a difference between acting – even on a stage – and performing in a musical. She has more than enough cred with “straight plays”: A Shayna Maidel …read more

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Image details: Opening Of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Woman in White” – After Party served by picapp.com

Trevor Nunn (director of Les Mis, among others) has set his sights on the American Civil War and a musical adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind. With an ensemble cast including veterans of Chicago and Guys & Dolls and a slew of other Broadway hits, it really seems destined for a fantastic opening tonight at the New London Theatre. No word yet as to when it will travel across the waves, but my girlfriend is going to the UK for a wedding …read more

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