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Friday, November 13, 2009 04:30 PM
After The Beatles and Elvis, will Cirque du Soleil tackle Michael Jackson next?
On his Showbiz 411 blog, Roger Friedman is reporting that Cirque du Soleil is "heavily courting" the Michael Jackson estate for the rights to do a Vegas extravaganza in the style of its Beatles show Love and its upcoming Elvis show, Viva Vega.
Writes Friedman: "The money involved is said to be astronomical." I'm sure it would have to be.
In more confirmed Cirque news , the Montreal-based circus company's upcoming touring show directed by Robert Lepage has its first dates nailed down. Tentatively titled Cirque 2010, Lepage's show will be presented in the Old Port of Montreal in April 2010. The show will also tour to Quebec City. No other cities or dates are yet announced. Tickets go on sale to the public on December 15.
Link to this postWednesday, November 11, 2009 04:04 PM
Topol to pull out of Fiddler tour, while Jocelyn's jostlin' towards Europe
You want the good news or the bad news first? Well, the bad news is that Chaim Topol has had to drop out of his farewell tour playing Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof due to a shoulder injury "requiring emergency long-term treatment," according to a press release that just landed in Nestruck on Theatre's inbox. Sadly, Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton audiences won't get a chance to see 74-year-old Topol back in the role he played so memorably in the 1971 film.
The good news is that none other than Harvey Fierstein has agreed to pick up Tevye's milk jugs for the rest of the North American tour. Fierstein, a four-time Tony winner, recently played that very role on Broadway to much acclaim. For Canadian tour dates, visit the website.
Friday, November 6, 2009 01:43 PM
Tracy Letts on segregated theatre, Hilton Als and Hollywood actors who shouldn't be on stage
My conversation with Tracy Letts - playwright of August: Osage County , currently on in Toronto, and Superior Donuts , currently on Broadway - was much longer than what's appearing in the paper tomorrow. Thanks to the wonder of the Internet, here are some of the outtakes I thought were too interesting for the cutting-room floor.
Once August went through a couple of cast changes on Broadway, African-American actress Phylicia Rashad took over as Violet Weston. Colour-blind casting is getting more common everywhere, but it's unusual for it to happen in the original run of a play. Whose idea was that?
It was our producer Jeffrey Richards. To tell the truth, my initial reaction was a little knee-jerk. Then I studied on it and I thought: this is not the right time to make a dumb decision. The fact of the matter is that Phylicia Rashad was great in the play, just great. If someone had any kind of preconceived notions that a black actor could not play Violet in that play with the rest of the cast being white, they were dispelled within minutes, if not seconds. I'm actually really proud of that. I think we just came down on the right side of that argument.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 05:52 PM
Aubrey Dan tries Garth Drabinsky's shoes on for size
Jim Ross for The Globe and Mail
Aubrey Dan, President of Dancap Production announces the 2009 season at the Toronto Centre of the Arts in Toronto on May 20, 2008.
We had a news story today about Toronto producer Dancap organising an industry reading of the Neil Simon/Marvin Hamlisch/Carole Bayer Sager musical, They're Playing Our Song, in New York on October 23. Tony winner Kathleen Marshall directed, while Broadway stars Christian Borle (Legally Blonde, Spamalot) and Sherie Rene Scott (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) played the leads.
Given that a Broadway revival of Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs has since belly-flopped - closing a week after it opened - investors will probably shy away from another Simon project in New York for a good, long while.
Monday, November 9, 2009 03:23 PM
Nikki M James pulls out of Stratford 2010 season
Just a few weeks ago, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival announced key casting for its 2010 season and Nikki M. James's name was right at the top of the press release.
Artistic director Des McAnuff had once again showed his faith in James as a Shakespearean actor - she played Juliet in 2008 - by casting her in major roles in The Tempest and The Two Gentlemen of Verona.
While I questioned that decision, I am now sorry to hear that James won't get a chance to prove me wrong. The American actor pulled out of the 2010 season for personal reasons this week. Those reasons are being kept private, understandably; I can assure you that they are serious and have nothing to do with critics' qualms.
Thursday, October 29, 2009 12:43 PM
Scarlett on Broadway
The parade of Hollywood stars on Broadway just never ends: Scarlett Johansson will be making her debut on the Great White Way in January.
Following in Katie Holmes' footsteps, she will be doing so in an Arthur Miller play. She'll be playing opposite Liev Schreiber in A View From the Bridge.
Celebrity casting is all the rage on the Rialto right now, so much so that you can't throw a rock without hitting Sienna Miller or one of her ex-boyfriends. (Miller's in After Miss Julie, while Jude Law is doing Hamlet and Daniel Craig is starring with Hugh Jackman in A Steady Rain. My reviews of the two latter productions are here and here .)
Monday, October 26, 2009 06:40 PM
Theatre calendar: What's opening in November across the country
One of the more tedious parts of my otherwise thrill-a-minute job as The Globe and Mail's theatre critic is putting together a calendar of official opening nights for most of the major theatres in most of the cities across the country. (These are the nights that theatres critics are invited to; often shows will have preview performances ahead of time.) I consult this list to plan previews and reviews.
It has just occurred to me that I might share this opening night directory here on the NoT blog once a month. This way, a) other people can enjoy the fruits of my compiling labour; and b) those of you who have opening nights that I've neglected (and I've neglected enitre cities) could add them in the comments below.
Working together, we will create the most comprehensive Opening Night Directory in Canada! What say you?
Monday, October 19, 2009 10:23 AM
Haunted houses: The Mill and Hippocampe
My review of the first two plays in The Mill, Theatrefront's new series that mixes history and horror, is up .
The first play, Now We Are Brody, involved a fair bit of technical trickery: A demon child climbing the walls, a woman communing with the dead while floating in mid-air, a man killed with an axe onstage.
As I said in my review, I didn't really find these effects particularly, er, effective. The psychological terror in the second play, The Huron Bride, was much more chilling.
Thursday, October 15, 2009 05:21 PM
Has Kristin Chenoweth delayed Minsky's Broadway bow?
Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
Actress Kristin Chenoweth from the TV show Pushing Daisies celebrates her win as the Best Supporting Actress award for a Comedy Series, in the press room at the 2009 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.
What's taking Minsky's so long getting to Broadway? Bob Martin's follow-up to The Drowsy Chaperone had its out-of-town tryout at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in February, the producers said it was headed to New York, but opening dates still haven't been announced.
The New York Post's Michael Riedel has the scoop on a casting battle that has left the show searching for a new female lead.
Kristin Chenoweth, the cherub-faced actress who recently won an Emmy for her TV show Pushing Daisies, was apparently being courted for Minsky's, but ultimately decided to star in the Broadway revival of Burt Bacharach's Promises, Promises instead, according to Riedel.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 10:57 PM
Stratford Shakespeare Festival: The return of Michael Therriault, Evan Buliung and... Nikki M. James?
Chilina Kennedy and Paul Nolan were knockouts as West Side Story’s star-crossed lovers Maria and Tony.
Stratford sent out information about "key casting" for the 2010 season today. We have some of the news in the paper, but I thought I'd post the whole press release here on the blog for those who want the full scoop.
Nestruck on Theatre Contributors
J. Kelly Nestruck
J. Kelly Nestruck has covered theatre in Canada, as well as in New York, London, Dublin, Edinburgh and other thriving international scenes. He joined The Globe in February of 2008 and has been blogging in some form or another since February of 2003.