A quiet october...........

It has been quiet in New York in the last week. Most new shows are just starting to open to previews with many officially opening in either November or December. This is typical for the theatre because the fall usually is more quiet than the spring. The spring is when most shows open to compete for the Tony Awards and the summer tourists. Ironically though New York's busiest weeks all occur in the fall; Thanksgiving week and New Years Eve, just to name a few.

Probably the biggest story going on right now is occurring between the Stage Hands and the Producers and this story could later on grow to become quiet big. Since July 31, 2007 the Stage Hands Union have been working without a contract. Since before that time the Union, Local 1, has been negotiating with the Producers for a new contract. After months of talks and rejected contracts the union authorized to strike last sunday, but has said that it will not do so till December 1.

What could make this story so big is that a strike could shut down Broadway and this would be the second strike in four years. The last strike occurred in 2003(see picture) when the musicians union struck. The problem is that December is one of the theatre's busiest months with regards to openings and tourists. A strike could paralyze the theatre and be even nastier to the fans. I can't recall who said, but imagine a strike, than imagine a little girl in green face paint crying outside the Gershwin Theatre, where Wicked is playing. She has waited for over a year to see this show and now what? This is bad PR and the theatre doesn't need, not now. Not as it is starting to comeback in the mainstream culture.

But for right now all is quiet and the November tea leaves will start to reveal more to us. Until them here is hoping for a great November and a working December.

For a list of articles relating to the strike, please the playbill.com link:

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/112233.html

The picture is from the 2003 Musicians strike and can be found here:

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/83397.html

Bloggers Note:

Again the Wicked example was not mine, but if anyone can remember who said it, I would be most grateful to post the story.

WE'RE A HIT!

While Legally Blonde may have standing room only at the Palace Theatre it was also a ratings winner for MTV. This past weekend's broadcast won the 1-4pm timeslot and scored high with the 12-34 age demographic according to playbill.com. What does this mean for Legally Blonde and MTV?

Well for the show it will obviously mean a boast in ticket sales. Viewers who saw the show on tv will now want to see the real thing. As for MTV, no one is quite sure what this means? It could be the start of seeing more musicals geared toward the 12-34 demographic on tv. It could happen. Think Legally Blonde is a new show with a small following and yet it still performed well. Imagine if a show like Wicked with a mega-following was shown on MTV? The word hype would only be one word to describe what I think could be a major tv event.

Anyway I'm excited that Broadway is starting to take steps back into main-stream America and I'm even more excited that such a young audience is taking an interest. Grant, while in my last blog I stated a preference for a different show instead of Legally Blonde to be seen, I still feel that any theatre is good theatre.

"Omi God You Guys" Broadway made it to MTV

If you turned on MTV this past weekend, you would be hard-pressed not to think that it was “Paris Hilton Tribute Weekend.” With pink skirts, little dogs and enough dyed-blonde hair girls shouting, “Omi God You Guys!”, one would think that MTV had changed its focus from music to the hotel heiress. In reality it was not Paris Hilton weekend and all those blonde haired girls were not Paris Hilton impersonators rather they were members of the chorus during the MTV showing of the musical Legally Blonde, currently playing on Broadway at the Palace Theatre.

Now before I begin this review I do want to throw some words of caution out there. This is not a full review of the show; instead overall I plan to review the show and MTV’s coverage of the show.

Legally Blonde is a musical based on the hit movie of the same name which opened on Sunday April 29, 2007 at Broadway’s famed Palace Theatre. It opened to lukewarm reviews which essentially stated that if you a re a musical theatre purists you’ll hate it and if you are someone wanting a good time or a tourist in New York City, you’ll love it.

In his opening night review New York Times lead theatre critic Ben Brantley described the show saying this, “This high-energy, empty-calories and expensive-looking hymn to the glories of girlishness, based on the 2001 film of the same title, approximates the experience of eating a jumbo box of Gummi Bears in one sitting. This may be common fare for the show’s apparent target audience — female ’tweens and teenagers who still believe in Barbie. But unless you’re used to such a diet, you wind up feeling jittery, glazed and determined to swear off sweets for at least a month.”

And that description is exactly how I feel about the show. Now I am not calling myself a musical theatre purist by any means but Legally Blonde is the essence of playing to the crowd. It is about not taking a risk and it is about entertaining while failing to expand the art form in anyway. Normally I would not take issue with that, but that resolve seems to be the fate of the American musical currently. Shows are no longer about stretching the immigration or making ones heart feel alive again, rather they are about catering to the tourist and about producing who want a quick dollar. It juts saddens me that an art form which gave birth to such shows as Anything Goes, Sweeney Todd, Rent, My Fair Lady, A Chorus Line and Annie Get Your Gun are condemned now to the ranks of Legally Blonde.

I applaud MTV for be daring enough to showcase a musical in its entirety and for taking a chance on music that is rarely heard in the mainstream. In addition I am also very proud of Legally Blonde for seeing a new market of theatre-goers and tapping into it. I just wish that with new opportunities and the ability to once again bring America back into the theatre, that Broadway do so with more enthusiasm and less candy.

This program ran on MTV on October 13 from 1-4pm.

Legally Blonde currently is playing at the Palace Theatre, see show link:
http://www.legallyblondethemusical.com/

New York Times review:
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/theater/reviews/30blon.html

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda: A Concert by Patti LuPone

From the moment in Act I where she raises her arms into a “V” and the house lighting moves from the front to the back thus re-creating her iconic and Tony-Award winning pose from Evita, Patti LuPone wraps the audience around her finger for unforgettable evening of the songs she coulda, woulda, shoulda and did sing.

“Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda” is a evening of song and story where Ms. LuPone uses humor and heartbreak to talk about her career in the theater while singing some of her greatest hits. Obviously best known for being the first actress to play the iconic role of Eva Peron on Broadway, Ms. LuPone’s biggest applause break came after singing the shows anthem “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” shortly before the intermission on Friday night. Using quips about her diva reputation too introduce the song saying, “This was the role I wanted to play, but NO! I had to play this,” extending her arms into the role’s signature pose she easily got a two-minute applause break before being able to actually start the song. By the time she finished, half the audience were on their feet and the other half still amazed that thirty years later she can still define the role that brought fortune and fame.

From then on out the evening was hers and she leads the audience through her history as an actress and her love through the theatre performing such hits as, “How to Handle a Woman” from Camelot, the title track from Anyone Can Whistle and “A Wonderful Guy” from South Pacific.

Ultimately what makes Ms. LuPone such a great actress is that while her history in the American theatre is extensive, the stories behind each of her roles seem like the plot of a Broadway musical itself. She maybe most famous for Evita but she has made not secret that she herself hated the role. This however doesn’t stop her from flawlessly performing the shows anthem because she understands what her fans want and that as long as she performs for them they will never leave her side. In the end this trait only benefits Ms. LuPone because it allows her to takes risks that other actresses would only dream about.

Ms. LuPone's no risk attitude was most apparent during her second encore rendition of “The Ladies Who Lunch” from Stephen Sondheim’s Company. "The Ladies Who Lunch",most famously associated with Elaine Strictch, is rarely done because many fear the comparison between themselves and Ms. Stritch. This does not seem bother Ms. LuPone and as for the audience, well they I don’t think that they minded seeing as to how they rose to their feet for the countless time.

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda is based off another LuPone show, Patt LuPone: Live on Broadway which played the Walter Kerr theatre in New York during the spring of 1995. During this time Ms. LuPone was coming off a major blow after being famously dropped from her contract by Andrew Lloyd Weber and replaced by Glen Close for the lead the musical Sunset Boulevard. In order to once again prove her courage as an actress she compiled this show to show that no one should cry for her.

In their review of this show The New York Times said, “Clearly, Ms. LuPone's personal wounds from having been dumped from "Sunset Boulevard" after its London production, in favor of Glenn Close, have not all healed. But just as clearly, she has found a way to make effective use of them in spinning her own Broadway legend: the legend of the jittery, vulnerable diva from Northport, L.I., who wears her insecurities on her sleeve.”

While time has healed, Ms. LuPone still endears and after her most recent concert, she is sure to forever solidify herself a place in theatre history.

Patti LuPone in Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

Friday October 5, 2007

Strathmore Music Hall

The link for The New York Times review for Patti LuPone: Live on Broadway can be found below:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=990CE5DD163DF930A25753C1A963958260