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Tags: Broooaaadwaaaaaaay / Broadway Shows / Culture Travel / Hugh Jackman / Daniel Craig / Celeb Travel / Theatre Travel / → All Tags
Proof That Hugh Jackman And Daniel Craig Are Really On Broadway Together
Having trouble distinguishing between movies and plays? In a movie, the characters don't berate you if your cell phone goes off, as one Broadway audience member found out this week while watching Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig tread the boards together.
Jackman and Craig are currently starring in "A Steady Rain," a Chicago-imported drama about two cops who get into some off-duty trouble. Last Wednesday, they didn't even break accent (Jackman's is better, for the record) to call out an etiquette-challenged patron who didn't turn off a ringing cell phone (which proceeded to go off again). Thanks to TMZ, you can watch the video here, and we beg you, do not be that guy. Or, for that matter, the guy videotaping an entire show from his seat—this isn't U2 at Giants Stadium!
Tags: Broooaaadwaaaaaaay / Broadway Shows / Culture Travel / Theatre Travel / → All Tags
Hugh Jackman And Daniel Craig On Broadway Makes For A Theatre-Crazy August
The glitz and the glamour of the Great White Way has dazzled many a visitor to New York CIty, but you want something... more. You don't mind seeing a little of the magic dissipated if it means you get a glimpse into what goes on when the show must go on. Prove you're not the average Playbill-collecting fan with these New York theater excursions:
Tags: Broooaaadwaaaaaaay / Broadway Shows / Culture Travel / Dolly Parton / → All Tags
The Show Can't Go On: '9 To 5' Joins Musical Closures On Broadway
Now they can stay in their pajamas all day: The cast and crew of Broadway's movie-to-musical version of "9 to 5," cowritten by Dolly Parton, will be out of work by Labor Day as the poorly attended musical is scheduled to close. Based on the 1980 female-empowerment comedy costarring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, "9 to 5" opened April 30 but never found its audience, failing to break 70 percent capacity in the house this past week.
Our recessionary theory: A depressed job market has no place for fantasies about getting revenge on your sexist boss. After all, he could read your mind (or your tweets) and fire you, and then where would you be? More likely, the show's producers wildly overestimated the popularity of the movie (and Parton's drawing power when she's not onstage) when they sunk $14 million into the show; without marquee names either for Broadway or the movies—Allison Janney, we still love you—tourists steered clear.
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Recession Hits Disney as Broadway's 'Little Mermaid' To Close
The Mouse just couldn't mint that money fast enough: The Broadway production of "The Little Mermaid," one of three Disney shows currently running on the Great White Way, will close August 30 and seek its fortunes on a national tour.
"The Little Mermaid" opened in November 2007 after a very mixed out-of-town try-out in Denver and never gained the hearts and minds of critics, while its siblings were either mostly ignored ("Mary Poppins") or unduly celebrated ("The Lion King"). Stung by the stagehands' strike and widespread mockery of the production's use of rollerskates to make its actors "swim" about the stage, the show nonetheless outlasted box office predictions and as of last week was still at 85 percent capacity, while the critically acclaimed play "Mary Stuart" languished at 55.3 percent. (The second-last show in grosses, "Blithe Spirit," is closing this week.)
Tags: Broooaaadwaaaaaaay / Broadway Shows / Musicals / NYC Travel / → All Tags
If You Could Only See One Broadway Musical Right Now, What Would It Be?
It's summer in New York and tourists are descending in droves, including us. Kind of. While we're here on a three-week tour to visit family in the Jerz, we've been spending quite a lot of time in the city. One thing we've yet to do however is see a Broadway musical.
As a kid, our school classes took regular field trips to NYC to take in Broadway shows and plays. (There are some advantages to growing up Bridge and Tunnel.) Later on in life, we worked in Times Square (not that kind of work) and we could see a show whenever we and our wallets felt like it. But now that we've moved away, seeing shows is not as easy as it once was. We're here for one more week and we can't decide which show to see. So we thought we'd ask you guys.
Tags: Broooaaadwaaaaaaay / Broadway Shows / Will Ferrell / George W. Bush / → All Tags
Will Ferrell Brings Back Bush Impression in "You're Welcome America"
Jaunted's Ellen managed to score a ticket to the new Will Ferrell show on Broadway while it's still in previews. Here's her review.
One of the first entries on the blog at WhiteHouse.gov yesterday was President Barack Obama's call for "A National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation" on the occasion of his inauguration. As Will Ferrell took the stage last night at the Cort Theatre and, as former President George W. Bush, basked in what he mistook for enthusiasm about his two terms, we wondered if it was such a good idea to go back into the past.
Oh, there's time to heal later. "You're Welcome America" is a ribald wound-salter and, in terms of the Bush legacy, everything Oliver Stone's tepid "W." wasn't. The largely solo show incorporates several of Ferrell's "SNL" impersonations as Bush, including the classic brush-clearing moment, but sandwiches it in between acres of new material -- like a slideshow rundown of the Bush administration's co-conspirators, none of whom come out remotely well. (But if anyone's going to sue it'll be Condoleezza Rice.)
"You're Welcome America" isn't perfect -- the five or so transitions where Ferrell isn't onstage are a drag despite the antics of his pet Secret Service agent (Patrick Ferrell). But if you're a fan, it's definitely worth your while. After all, Ferrell rarely performs live; he made an exception for last year's Funny or Die Tour, but that played to Radio City-sized crowds. At the end of the night, we were really ready to put the Bush years behind us.
Currently in previews; opens February 5, running through March 15. Prices range from $61.50-$116.50. If you go for the cheap balcony seats, try to get in the first four rows so you'll be able to see the video screens.
Related Stories:
· Last Chance For Several Mainstage Hits This Month [Jaunted]
· Lest We Forget: Ferrell Keeps W. Onstage [NYTimes]
· Broadway coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Harvard Gazette]
Tags: Broooaaadwaaaaaaay / Broadway Shows / Katie Holmes / Jeremy Piven / Daniel Radcliffe / → All Tags
Last Chance For Several Mainstage Hits This Month
It's closin' time! New York visitors hoping to catch up on some recent Broadway hits better hurry up in this record month of shuttering shows.
Already in January, top earners like "Hairspray" and "Spamalot" and seasonal hits like "Slava's Snowshow" and "White Christmas" have closed their doors. This week, the much-TONY'd "Gypsy" and the Katie Holmes vehicle "All My Sons" joins them; next week, it's time for Best New Musical winner "Spring Awakening." Judging by last week's grosses, Best Play winner "August: Osage County," Daniel Radcliffe nudie pick "Equus" and Piven's folly "Speed-the-Plow" will be next.
On the bright side, now that you know these are not long for this world, you can stop by the new TKTS booth--now accepting credit cards for the insolvent!--in Times Square for some last-minute sales. Given flexibility, theater crazies might indeed find it to be the most wonderful time of the year after all.
Related Stories:
· All Together Now: A Month of Big Finales on Broadway [NYT]
· Jeremy Piven Flees Sinking Ship [Jaunted]
· Broadway coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: somethingstartedcrazy]
Tags: Broooaaadwaaaaaaay / Broadway Shows / Celeb Travel / Jeremy Piven / → All Tags
Jeremy Piven Flees Sinking Ship
As show closings have rippled through the Great White Way this winter, one actor may have decided he's had enough. "Entourage" star Jeremy Piven got middling-to-good reviews in his role as a producer with a conscience in the revival of David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow," but Piven abruptly dropped out of the show this week, citing... high levels of mercury?
Was the travel show-making Piven really under doctor's orders to stop doing the show, for which he had signed a contract through February 22? Author Mamet apparently doesn't think so, joking to Variety that Piven "is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer." Producers are disappointed that Piven has been spotted partying around town and is chronically late to his own show--which would explain why the play started 20 minutes late when we attended.
"Speed-the-Plow" outlived the other Mamet revival on Broadway this fall, the doomed-before-it-started "American Buffalo" starring Cedric the Entertainer and Haley Joel Osment, but the loss of star power will undoubtedly hurt ticket sales. If you're holding tickets, you may be able to get a refund, but we'd actually urge you not to: **UPDATE 4:30PM** William H. Macy and TONY winner Norbert Leo Butz have stepped up to replace Piven through the run of the show. These guys may actually make better Mametians and more congenial sparring partners with costar Raul Esparza. (Macy, of course, cofounded a theater company with Mamet in N.Y.C.) Having seen the show back in the Pivenian days, we're considering seeing it again. Think of it as doing your bit for Broadway.
Related Stories:
· Piven Speeds Away from "Plow" [Variety]
· Star Power Boosts 2 Shows [Jaunted]
· A Journey of a Lifetime with Jeremy Piven [Jaunted]
· Broadway Shows coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: nyconstage.org]
Tags: Fall Culture Travel / Broadway Shows / Celeb Travel / Katie Holmes / → All Tags
Fall Culture Travel: On Broadway, Unhappy Families Are All Alike
The Arthur Miller revival "All My Sons" begins previews on Broadway today, starring John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest as patriarch and matriarch of a clan wrecked by the aftermath of World War II.
Patrick Wilson ("Little Children" and Friday's "Lakeview Terrace") is their son, a vet in love with his MIA brother's girlfriend, played by that one TV actress who was on the WB in the '90s... what's her name? Surely it will come to us...
You can also put the "fun" back into "dysfunction" on Broadway this fall with Chekhov's "The Seagull," in which a famous actress (Kristin Scott Thomas) neglects her son in favor of her new lover (Peter Sarsgaard) and brand-new blockbuster musical "A Tale Of Two Cities," in which the French Revolution threatens to tear a young couple apart. If Mum and Dad can't handle it, take 'em to "Shrek"--as far as we know, he's an orphan.
Related Stories:
· Can Shrek Sing? Broadway Finds Out This Fall [Jaunted]
· Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes Feed Each Other at Wynn Las Vegas [HC]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: JustJared]
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Due On Broadway Travel: "Shrek" Opens In Seattle
And your ogre can sing: "Shrek: The Musical" takes the next giant, flatulent step towards Broadway tonight with its out-of-town world premiere in Seattle.
The adaptation of the DreamWorks children's movie stars Broadway vets Brian D'Arcy James ("Sweet Smell of Success," "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels") and Sutton Foster ("Young Frankenstein" and the VH-1 show "Flight of the Conchords"), with a book by David Lindsay-Abaire, is expected to siphon tourist dollars away from "The Little Mermaid" and other family faves, even if it falls flat on its green face. But the out-of-town tryout is crucial to developing the buzz that will fuel ticket sales--something "Young Frankenstein" never built last fall in its previews in Chicago.
"Shrek" runs through September 21 in the Emerald City and opens in New York in November. If you happen to be a Washingtonian who can get there, won't you drop us a line?
Related Stories:
· Seattle Goes Green: Shrek the Musical Makes Premiere [Playbill]
· Can Shrek Sing? Broadway Finds Out This Fall [Jaunted]
· Broadway coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: TonZ]
Tags: Celeb Travel / Kevin Federline / Britney Spears / Broadway Shows / → All Tags
Not Broadway Travel: K-Fed Won't Go "Blonde"
Hey, remember Kevin Federline? Seems like a year ago he had full custody of the sanity from the Spears-Federline marriage. But now the former Mr. Britney just got canned from his latest job as a bit actor on Broadway in "Legally Blonde."
What does one have to do to get fired from a show based on a Reese Witherspoon movie, for which MTV just cast the lead via reality show? Well... no one really knows, but we assume he wanted to introduce his own raps into the proceedings. In any case, "Blonde" is missing some of its actors and Federline, who recently assumed full custody of sons Jayden James and Sean Preston, will have more time to spend being a dad.
Other interesting stunt-casting news from this month: Aubrey O'Day of Danity Kane goes to "Hairspray"; Whoopi Goldberg steps into the shoes of a goddess in "Xanadu" and Jeremy Piven will take the lead in the revival of David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" alongside "Mad Men" striver Elisabeth Moss. Oh, and the winner of the MTV show was a preacher's daughter from South Carolina named Bailey Hanks who had never seen a Broadway show before.
Related Stories:
· Kevin Federline Dumped From "Legally Blonde" Musical For Diva Behavior [Celebitchy]
· MTV Winner Bailey Hanks Gets Her "Blonde" Moment [USA Today]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Hollywood Grind]
Tags: Celeb Travel / Broadway Shows / Theater / Antonio Banderas / → All Tags
Broadway Travel: Banderas Contemplates Return to Stage
Antonio Banderas will always be Che in the big-screen "Evita" adaptation to us, but the voice of Puss and Boots has set his sights on bringing "Don Giovanni" to Broadway.
The actor received a Tony nomination for "Nine," the Fellini-inspired musical whose own movie is currently filming, but apparently he won't go home until he gets the gold for playing the classical doomed rake.
He's going to have a lot of competition for those tourist eyeballs: Daniel Radcliffe bows this fall with his revival of "Equus" that played in London last year (complete with nudity!) and Katie Holmes will be appearing in an all-star revival of Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" with John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest and Patrick Wilson.
Josh Hartnett isn't even trying New York; he'll be debuting in the stage version of "Rain Man" in the West End. (He's playing the Tom Cruise character, not the Dustin Hoffman character.)
Related Stories:
· Antonio Banderas Returning to Broadway [NYM]
· Can Shrek Sing? Broadway Finds Out This Fall [Jaunted]
· Celeb Travel coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo from the Broadway production of "Nine": Gibbs Cadiz]
