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Entries tagged with 'Broadway'
Posted Jan. 25, 2010,
Scenes from the A View From the Bridge Opening Night Party
By Whitney Spaner
Last night, the revival of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge, starring Scarlett Johansson and Liev Schreiber, opened on Broadway . The play, originally produced in 1955, earned rave reviews, many of which highlighted Johansson's performance, an anomaly for Broadway reviewers who often go out of their way to criticize celebrities in their Broadway debuts. The party was held at Espace, way out on 42nd and Twelfth Ave., and Scarlett wore a cute D&G flowered dress, with her hair tied up in a beautiful wavy side bun. She seemed elated and said starring in the show was worth missing the Hollywood awards season for and there was nowhere else she'd rather be. The party included guests like Zachary Quinto, who chatted with Broadway star Christopher Haneke and Patrick Heusinger -- who you may remember as Blair's royal love interest on Gossip Girl last season, and who stars in the new play Next Fall this March. Naomi Watts was there to support her man -- walking the red carpet with Schreiber in a metallic trench coat and really cute shoes. And fellow Aussie Hugh Jackman also attended the performance and the party.
Posted Dec. 9, 2009,
Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta Jones Get Dolled Up for A Little Night Music
By Whitney Spaner
I thought that last year's production of Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward was the first and only time I would be able to see the great actress Angela Lansbury on stage. But now after winning her fifth Tony award for Blithe, she's back at it again starring with Catherine Zeta-Jones in the first revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. Based on the Ingmar Bergman movie Smiles of a Summer Night, the 1973 Tony-winning musical is about an adultery-filled weekend in the Swedish countryside. (Sidenote: The first production starred one of my favorite theater actors of all time Len Cariou, who played the Sweeney to Lansbury's Mrs. Lovett in the first production of Sweeney Todd). Posted Nov. 30, 2009,
Hot Guys Doing Good
By Whitney Spaner
Posted Nov. 30, 2009,
This Month in Theater: December 2009
By Tom Murrin
RACERace is a new play, written and directed by David Mamet, which announces its theme in the title; with the playwright further describing it as being about "Race and the lies we tell each other on the subject." There are four actors: Three men, James Spader, David Alan Grier and Richard Thomas, and one woman, Kerry Washington. The story is set in law firm, and the drama ensues when the firm is offered the opportunity to defend a white man accused of a crime against a young black woman.
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St., (212) 239-6200. Previews Nov. 16, opens Dec. 6.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
A Streetcar Named Desire is one of Tennessee Williams's most memorable plays, set in steamy New Orleans (where there really was a trolley with that name). Here it will get both a Down-Under and Scandinavian slant from The Sydney Theatre Company, with Liv Ullmann (known primarily as an Ingmar Bergman actor) directing. Cate Blanchett plays the troubled, needy Blanche Du Bois, with Joel Edgerton as Stanley, her hunky brother-in-law (this is the stage role that catapulted Marlon Brando to Hollywood), and Robin McLeavy as Stella, her sister.
Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, (718) 636-4100. Previews Nov. 27 & 28, opens Dec. 1-20.
SO HELP ME GOD
Back in the '90s, Kristen Johnson's force of being and sexy sense of humor took over every scene she was in during Jeff Weiss's Hot Keys, a late-night weekend serial that ran for months at Naked Angels Theater. That same presence and talent won her two Emmys on 3rd Rock from the Sun. Here she plays a demanding diva, doing battle with her understudy, Anna Chlumsky, à la All About Eve. Along with 13 other actors, the pair battle back and forth in Maurine Dallas Watkins's 1929 backstage comedy. Jonathan Bank directs.
Lucille Lortel Theater, 121 Christopher St., (212) 315-0231. Previews Nov. 18, opens Dec. 7-20.
Posted Nov. 19, 2009,
Alicia Keyes and Jay-Z Hanging Out at TKTS
By Whitney Spaner
Posted Nov. 2, 2009,
Brighton Beach Bummer
By Whitney Spaner
I was very upset to hear that the new Broadway revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs abruptly closed last night, a week after it opened to mostly very positive reviews. I saw the play last week and really enjoyed it. Sure, Neil Simon can be a little cheesy in that old-fashioned blood-is-thicker-than-water kind of way, but even though the play is 26 years old, and I'm only 27, I laughed audibly on several occasions and told anyone who asked what was good on Broadway this season to see it -- but unfortunately they won't be able to. I especially felt sad for the cast of Brighton as well as the overlapping cast of Broadway Bound, the third play in the Simon series about the Jerome family that was to open next month in repertory with Brighton. Santino Fontana, who played the older brother Stanley Jerome, really stuck out to me when I saw the show. He actually seemed to be laughing during conversations about sex and life with his brother Eugene (played by Noah Robbins) and I looked forward to his scenes. I interviewed Fontana last week in his dressing room (this was the first time he'd had his own dressing room), before anything had been decided and if he knew the productions were in trouble he didn't let on. He seemed so happy and passionate about the show, and excited to start Broadway Bound.
Posted Oct. 30, 2009,
Finian's Rainbow Opens on Broadway
By Whitney Spaner
Last night the cast and crew of the Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow celebrated their rave reviews at the Bryant Park Grill. David Hasselhoff, who is almost as familiar with Broadway as he is with a red bathing suit (having played Dr. Jekyll and Edward Hyde in Frank Wildhorn's 1997 production of Jekyll and Hyde), was one of the guests. The tall, dark and handsome star of Finian's, Cheyenne Jackson, said "Oh look, you're actually taller than I am," when posing for a picture with the Knight Rider star. Apparently, Hasselhoff loved the show, and his favorite song, funnily enough, is called "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love, I Love the Girl I'm Near." I think it might have hit home for him. Moving on from 2007's cheeseburger-in-a-Las-Vegas-hotel-room episode, he said he's been working with Wildhorn on a project for the stage. Posted Oct. 1, 2009,
This Month in Theater: October 2009
By Tom Murrin
THE ROYAL FAMILY
This is a welcome revival of a 1927 comedy, co-written by Marx Brothers’ scripter, George S. Kaufman, and then-popular novelist Edna Ferber, about the day-to-day, off- stage dramas of a famous acting family, very much like the Barrymores. Here, the cast of 16, including many familiar to Tony award voters, like Rosemary Harris, Tony Roberts, Jan Maxwell and John Glover, along with SNL alumnus Ana Gasteyer, carry on like roarin’ '20s pop stars, under the direction of the redoubtable Doug Hughes. (Ana Gasteyer and Tony Roberts pictured above.)
Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 W. 47th St., (212) 239-6200. Previews Sept. 15, opens Oct. 8–Nov. 22.
WISHFUL DRINKING
If you read Carrie Fisher’s Postcards From the Edge, you know she has a rewarding sense of humor about life’s ups and downs. Here the blessed and/or cursed daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, one time wife of Paul Simon, and most memorably, Star Wars’ Princess Leia, gives us a solo show based on her most recent memoir, directed by Tony Taccone.
Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St., (212) 719-1300. Opens Oct. 4–Jan. 3, 2010.
NIGHTMARES: VAMPIRES
Leave it to director/showman Tim Haskell to ratchet up his annual Halloween season walk-through haunted house with a focus on the current vampire craze. For the past six years, taking frights to new heights, Haskell and a group of devilishly inspired artists, Psycho Clan, have designed increasingly clever, and scary, environments. This year’s mecca for thrill seekers is set in a vampire museum; so expect some of the exhibits to do more than just lie there.
The Noho Event Center, 623 Broadway, (212) 352-3101. Sept. 25–Nov. 7. $30.
Posted Sep. 28, 2009,
A Steady Rain's Sex Appeal
By Whitney Spaner
It seems awfully early to be giving out awards for the 2009/10 Broadway season but after seeing a matinee performance of A Steady Rain on Saturday, I have an award I'd like to give out before the Spring Tony-rush. And the winner for Best Ass on Broadway is... a tie between Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman, the show's two blockbuster-quality stars. How can one really choose between Craig in gray, high-waisted suitpants with suspenders and Jackman in a classic workman's khaki? They're two completely different tastes.
I realize that this is not a nationally recognized nor legitimate award but sometimes shows come along that call for a change in the rules. (The short-lived Best Performance in a Re-Created Role Award, inspired by Reba McEntire's performance in Annie Get Your Gun comes to mind.) And I believe that once more people see A Steady Rain -- set to open tomorrow Sept. 29th -- they will understand the necessity for this new award as well, although the new play about two Chicago cops is already getting a lot of attention and fan appreciation. On Saturday afternoon the two very handsome and physically fit actors got a standing ovation and were greeted by a mob of female fans gathered outside the stage door and across the street as they hopped into their waiting black SUVs.
I can assure you that this is not the same scene greeting Philip Seymour Hoffman outside the NYU Skirball Center after Othello!
A Steady Rain will open on Sep. 29th at Gerard Shoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45th St.
Posted Sep. 24, 2009,
Things Are Looking Good in Glocca Morra
By Whitney Spaner
I went to see a preview of the new Broadway revival of
Posted Jul. 16, 2009,
Shop of the Week: Guess
By Rebecca Prusinowski
There are more photos in this gallery. View them all
Guess who's sexing up Soho?? The clothing brand that brought you Anna Nicole Smith in the early '90s (and steamy ad campaigns ever since) is hoping to turn some heads with a revamped flagship on Broadway. Opened back in 1997, the Guess store was due for a little nip/tuck. The heavy oak and neutral tones have been scrapped for something more in step with the label's fresh edgy attitude. A shiny black tin ceiling is up, mirrored columns have been installed, and the landmark building's original brick work is exposed once again.
It's less glam and more grit here at Guess. Mics, amps, turntables and guitars are displayed around the 8,700-square-foot store, and the goods have undergone a bit of a rock makeover, too. You'll find plenty of shredded, studded and silk-screened attire, and in a back-to-basics move, there is denim galore. We also discovered a few hidden gems: a casual gray flannel dress for the girls is super-cute and there's some new footwear for the men that reflects a sharper sartorial stance (see pictures above). The store has an upbeat energy with thumping music and a staff that's all smiles, making it a fun stop on the Broadway shopping stretch downtown.
Guess
537 Broadway
(212) 852-0513
www.guess.com
Photos by Rebecca Prusinowski
Posted May. 20, 2009,
Brantley V. Isherwood?
By Angelo Pitillo
It was one of those perennial "roundup" type features we expect at regular intervals from the New York Times culture pages: A catchy (kitschy) title (“Celebroadway!”) introducing a slightly lame concept (lots of movie stars on Broadway!) fleshed out as a glorified listings sidebar guide featuring cutesy categories. Now, Times theater critic Charles Isherwood’s slightly snarky style is one of our own guilty pleasures, but his take on the universally-lauded revival of Eugène Ionesco’s surrealist classic Exit the King seemed harsh -- even for him: The “Highlight”? “The king dying” (i.e. The End). The "Guilty Pleasure"? “Extreme relief when the king finally dies” (i.e. Getting the heck out of the theater).
That was it? Really? Not Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush’s scenery-chewing star-turn that has him considered (even by Isherwood) a shoe-in for a Tony? Not Susan Sarandon looking and sounding drop-dead GORGEOUS in her historic return to Broadway after decades of movie stardom? Not Lauren Ambrose and Andrea Martin acting up a storm in smaller roles? Not even that sexy hunk playing the guard? Pondering these deeply existential questions, we recalled that the Times’ chief theater critic Ben Brantley had called this a “brutally funny” production marked by “genius” in his official review for the paper. This, in turn, took us back a year or so when Brantley himself had ripped into another show which everyone else, including, you guessed it, Isherwood had raved about. That show was August: Osage County. Many felt that Isherwood’s rhapsodic rave review of its original Chicago run almost single-handedly assured a New York transfer, which led to a raft of Tonys and a Pulitzer Prize. But Brantley sneered that it was “drenched in yesteryear’s conventions and an old-fashioned earnestness” and, compared it, we kid you not, to the Vicki Lawrence sitcom Mama’s Family.
Coincidence? Perhaps. There is of course no accounting for taste. It’s perfectly possible that each critic just happens to honestly loathe these shows which everybody else loves. But could it be that a wee bit of competitiveness creeps into the pronouncements of the dueling scribes when it comes to shows which the other has taken under his critical wing? After all, newspapers are closing left and right, and few of those left even have theater critics, so who else have these big guns got to duke it out with? And what’s wrong with that, you may wonder. True, it might be no more than a bit of insider entertainment for Stagedoor Sallies, except that there are folks out there for whom a negative word from the NYT might be just enough to keep them from plunking down several hundred smackers for a couple of tickets to a "difficult" play like Exit the King or August: Osage County. So come out fighting boys, we say, but keep it clean!
Posted May. 12, 2009,
Paul Rudd Makes a Special Appearance on Broadway Tonight!
By Whitney Spaner
Before actor Paul Rudd joined Judd Apatow's comedy click -- recently featured on the cover of Vanity Fair-- he was butt buddies with playwright and screenwriter Neil LaBute, starring in bash: the latter day plays, the debut of The Shape of Things and the subsequent film. Despite Rudd's ascent into comic stardom he hasn't lost touch with LaBute who is making his Broadway debut this season with the Tony nominated Reasons to be Pretty. Tonight Rudd will be in the audience of the new play about outer and inner beauty and afterwards will host a talk-back for tonight's ticket holders along with the Tony-nominated leads Thomas Sadoski and Marin Ireland. Also starring Piper Perabo and Steven Pasquale, Reasons to be Pretty is playing at the Lyceum Theater. Stop by the box office or the TKTS booth to see if there are any tickets left for tonight's special performance!
Paul Rudd photographed for Paper Magazine's December 2008 issue by Richard Phibbs.
Posted May. 5, 2009,
A Broadway Baby's Dream Sequence
By Whitney Spaner
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Last Thursday was one of my favorite nights I’ve ever spent on Broadway, and it also happened to be the last night of the 2008/2009 theater season. The night started with a quick trip to H&M for a little black dress and then I headed off to Sardi’s to interview Pablo Schreiber, the very cute (and very tall) leading man of Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms. (There will be more on our intimate interview -- not as intimate as I might have liked since he is married -- later this week on PAPERMAG.com.) After dinner I rushed over to Studio 54 for the opening night of Waiting for Godot starring Nathan Lane, John Goodman, John Glover and Bill Irwin. It was a great revival of Samuel Beckett’s existentialist play, particularly when John Goodman -- in his Broadway debut -- was on the stage as an entrancing Pozzo. The Big Lebowski actor looked even larger than usual which was perfect for the part of the obese and overly chatty man with a human slave (played by Glover), but I was told that he’d actually lost 80 pounds! The crowds on opening nights are always the best, filled with lots of cuties from the theater community. At Godot I spotted Martha Plimpton, Elaine Stritch (wearing a big white hat in the front row that I could see from my seat in the mezzanine!), Denis O’hare and Mamie and Grace Gummer.
Posted Apr. 13, 2009,
Hair Wear: Levi's Teams Up With New Broadway Production of Hair
By Mickey Boardman
"Good Morning, Starshine!" Those words are music to the ears of Broadway lovers and hippies the world over and come from the seminal 1967 musical Hair which has just returned to Broadway after knocking the socks off theatergoers in Central Park last summer. Hair is legendary in theater circles not just for its rock 'n' roll score and progressive politics but also for changing the lives of the original cast members who are referred to as "The Tribe." Well Tribe members on Broadway will be giving some authentic '60s fashion as the costume designer Michael McDonald has dug through the archives at Levi’s to find some authentic '60s-era jeans for the stars of the show. McDonald says Levi’s "capture the essence of the era with stylish accuracy." Levi's are all up in showbiz of late -- Levi’s 501 jeans were the look of choice for the late Harvey Milk, who was played by Academy Award winner Sean Penn in last year’s critically-acclaimed Milk. Levi’s U.S. brand president Robert Hanson says the brand is attracted to “innovative and pioneering thinkers that are influencing culture." and that certainly applies to the creative team behind Hair. So the cutest kids on Broadway will be shaking their tuchases in Levi’s jeans as we welcome the return of the Age of Aquarius!!
Hair is playing at the Hirshfeld Theater, 302 W. 45th St. Select styles of Levi’s seen in the show will be available at Levi’s stores nationwide.
Posted Apr. 7, 2009,
Rock of Ages on Broadway Is "Actually Really Fun."
By Whitney Spaner
Big hair, heavy makeup and '80s monster ballads are aplenty in the energetic new Broadway musical Rock of Ages, which debuted off-Broadway last year. The musical stars Constantine Maroulis, the American Idol fallout who, after his Broadway debut in The Wedding Singer in 2006, has been much more prolific on stage than in the recording studio. Despite the lack of original songs and the sappy and predictable story, Rock of Ages is actually really fun, embracing its corniness with a humble hilarity. And it does have some pretty entertaining renditions of '80s tunes like "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "Hit Me with Your Best Shot". The middle-aged woman from Long Island sitting next to me was living for it!
One of the best parts of the show was Amy Spanger's performance as the female lead Sherrie, a midwestern girl trying to make it as an actress in Los Angeles. She's a new edition to the Rock of Ages Broadway cast and was featured in PAPER when she played Holly in The Wedding Singer (another ode to the '80s on Broadway). Since then she divorced her husband of four years Michael C. Hall and he married his Dexter co-star Jennifer Carpenter this past December. Hall might feel a bit of remorse if he saw Amy working it in an array of leather skirts, ripped T-shirts and thigh-high boots, but somehow I think he'll be left off the list for the opening night party.
Here is a photo of Maroulis and Spanger making a love connection in Rock of Ages. Photo credit: Joan Marcus
Posted Mar. 27, 2009,
God of Carnage -- Part Masterpiece, Part Roller Coaster Ride -- Now on Broadway!!!
By Mickey Boardman
Everyone knows Mr. Mickey is a hardcore Broadway baby! Well MM just saw one of the best plays he's seen in YEARS. Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage is such an amazing roller coaster ride that Mr. Mickey and his protégé (and Broadway Baby columnist Angelo Pitillo) left the theater giddy. People seated around us all turned to each other to ask if we could believe how good the show is. It's billed as a comedy of manners... without the manners, and that's just what it is. The entire cast -- Marcia Gay Harden, James Gandolfini, Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels -- pendulum swings from delightfully esoteric to full-blown hysteria and every second is spellbinding. Think Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Think August: Osage County. Think about getting tickets NOW because this is a fucking amazing show that must be seen to be believed!!!!
Posted Mar. 18, 2009,
Colin Hanks Is Too Cute!
By Whitney Spaner
It takes a lot of wattage to outshine Jane Fonda, but watching her new Broadway play 33 Variations, I couldn't keep my eyes off of her co-starColin Hanks. Sexy in an affable way -- much like his father, Tom, I immediately cast the Orange County star opposite me in the romantic comedy version of my life. I imagined dinners with Tom and Rita, meeting up at the Eugene O'Neill stage door after his show, laughing at Jane's stories over drinks at Angus McIndoe -- you know, the usual non-psychotic-in-no-need-of medication-type thoughts.
Hormones aside, I enjoyed the play written by director Moises Kaufman as well, and thought the less than optimistic reviews were a little harsh. I was leary of the subject matter at first. Fonda plays Kathryn Brandt, a musicologist obsessed with Beethoven's 33 variations of one mediocre waltz. Doesn't sound like an exciting two and a half hours, but in addition to the obscure music history, we watch as Brandt is forced to deal with her terminal illness and the relationship she has with her daughter (Samantha Mathis). Hanks plays a nurse who falls for Mathis when she takes her mother in for an appointment. It ended up being very entertaining and there were quite a few laughs.
If you love the two-time Oscar winner and Barbarella actress Jane Fonda, Beethoven (there's also an onstage pianist playing his music) or Colin Hanks with his shirt off (I love all three!), then you should give 33 Variations a chance -- despite its lackluster reviews.
Here's Colin looking dapper at the opening night party for 33 Variations. Photo courtesy of Broadwayworld.com
Posted Mar. 2, 2009,
Michael Cerveris Stands Up to the Hedda Gabler Haters
By Whitney Spaner
Tonight at 92Y Tribeca, Broadway star Michael Cerveris and playwright Christopher Shinn will be participating in a discussion about their current collaboration on Broadway, Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, starring Mary-Louise Parker in the title role. Shinn, who has written critically acclaimed plays like Dying City and On the Mountain, adapted the script about an unhappy woman (Hedda) trapped in a life with her dull and academically obsessed husband Jorgen Tesman, played by Cerveris.
Cerveris is the definition of a Broadway star. In the last decade he’s sang Sondheim, spoken Shakespeare and rocked out in what I would consider Broadway’s only true “rock” musical Tommy. It really seemed as if he could do no wrong in the eyes of critics, Tony voters and audiences alike. Until now that is. Hedda was critically panned after it opened on January 25th, and Cerveris took several jabs for his more genial portrayal of Tesman, who in many translations has no appealing qualities whatsoever. I recently got the chance to chat with him about what he and Shinn will be talking about tonight and how he’s pushing the negativity aside to perform in what he feels is a revival Ibsen would have appreciated – in part because of the backlash it has caused. The Norwegian playwright received much of the same in his day.
Posted Feb. 12, 2009,
Will Ferrell Yuks It Up on Broadway
By Whitney Spaner
The other night it became very apparent to me how much Ron Burgundy and Ricky Bobby there really is in our former President George W. Bush. Although the ramifications of the last eight years are not really funny, my cheeks still hurt from laughing at Will Ferrell's impersonation of the least popular president in U.S. history in his new Broadway show You're Welcome America: A Final Farewell to George W. Bush, which was almost like a culmination of all the hilarious characters Ferrell has ever played. There was even a part where he prays to the Lord Jesus Christ -- a riff on the dinner table scene from Talladega Nights.
One of the best parts of the show was when Ferrell gave out funny nicknames to people in the audience using their name and occupation. Last night a woman said she was an English teacher and Ferrell as W dubbed her "Unnecessary subject teacher." Another highlight was a skit which involved W getting trapped in an abandoned mine shaft with his father George H.W. and his brothers, Jeb, Neil and Melvin. George Sr. yells at Jr., "Why are you the only one in this family with a Texas accent!" I'd never thought of that before but it's true!