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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.
Link to this postTuesday, 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 2, 2009 10:27 AM
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.
Friday, October 16, 2009 06:38 PM
Aubrey Dan and Sergio Trujillo go walking in Memphis down in New York
If you're curious what Broadway hits will make it up north of the border, it's always worthwhile peeking at what rival Toronto impressarios Aubrey Dan and David Mirvish are investing in on Broadway.
Dan, of DanCap productions, has a busy season ahead of him in New York. First of all, he's one of 13 lead producers on Memphis, which is currently in previews and set to open on October 19. A love story about a white radio DJ and a black singer in the days of early rock'n'roll, the show boasts music by Bon Jovi's David Bryan and a book by Joe DiPietro, whose previous show, The Toxic Avenger, is about to open in Toronto, produced by DanCap. Oh, the circle of connections.
Friday, October 9, 2009 02:05 PM
The new next Drowsy Chaperone? Seeing Stars
A trio of Canadians have a knock-out hit at the New York Musical Theatre Festival , the Big Apple-based launching pad for many off- and on-Broadway shows.
Seeing Stars is an original musical - ie. not based on a film or with the music of Wham! - about two rival boxers in love with a feisty reporter in Hell's Kitchen in the 1930s. The music and lyrics are by brothers Don and Jeff Breithaupt and the book is by Shelley McPherson. Don is based in Toronto; Shelley and Jeff, who is the Cultural Affairs Counsel for the Canadian Consulate in New York, are based south of the border.
There are 30 new musicals getting productions at the NYMF this year (yes, they inexplicably drop the T from their official acronym), but Seeing Stars seems to be attracting the most attention so far. The two boxers are being played by known Broadway quantities Kevin Earley (Throughly Modern Millie, A Tale of Two Cities) and Michael Halling (Pajama Game, The Boy from Oz and, again, the flop A Tale of Two Cities ) and all six performances at The Theatre at St. Clement's have already sold out.
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.