Give It Up!

Via Musicals Bay Area:

It has only taken eight years, but local theatrical producer, Charles Hewitt, has finally come up with the follow-up to his previous musical, "Boo!"

"Expectations have been high," Hewitt said in a recent interview, "but I think we've finally hit on just the right concept.  This time, we're going even more literary.  We're talking Kafka, baby!"

The new musical will be based not just on one Kafka work, but several.

"The core of the piece will be 'The Metamorphosis,' but it will be combined with 'The Trial,' and 'The Castle,' plus some of the shorter works like 'In the Penal Colony' or 'Before the Law.'  Plus we'll be writing our own new Kafkaesque story that will link them all together into one narrative whole.  Then, the second act will show us what happens to all the characters after the end of Kafka's stories.  Well, maybe not all of them, but certainly those characters who were still alive at the end of their stories."

When asked if he felt this was similar in any way to "Into the Woods," Hewitt looked confused and said, "What is that?  Never heard of it."

Asked if he had actually read Kafka's works, Hewitt replied, "Well, to be honest, no, I haven't.  But I studied most of them in college.  Some of them.  I think.  I'm pretty sure.  I mean, I was supposed to read them, and I was assigned them to read, but, you know, the professor always tells you all about them in class and discusses the major plot points and the meanings.  And I still have all my college notes to refer to, so I don't even have to rely on my memory.  Plus this time I'll be working with some people who really did read these things.  I think.  I'm pretty sure.  Definitely.  Definitely pretty sure.  They said they read them, yeah."

"We're not stopping there, though.  We'll be throwing in little sly references to other classic literary works, like 'Crime And Punishment,' '1984,' 'The Bell Jar,' 'The Stranger,' 'No Exit,' and 'The Gulag Archipelago,' just to name a few."

Hewitt continues, "The costumes are going to be memorable.  Gregor Samsa wasn't really a cockroach, you know.  Not everybody knows this.  Did you know this?  Gregor Samsa wasn't a cockroach.  He was a vermin, a bug, but not necessarily a cockroach.  An 'ungeheures Ungeziefer' is what Kafka called him.  So we get to play with exactly what that means and make a costume that gives our interpretation of whatever the hell that's supposed to mean.  And that whole 'apple lodged in his back thing, we're thinking more 'Carmen Miranda fruit salad hat.'  It seems more appropriate for a musical.

"We've already finished some of the songs.  So far we've got 'Everyone Who's Guilty Says That,' 'We Didn't Tell Him He's Condemned,' and the title song, 'Give It Up!'  Toe-tappers, every single one of them."

Hewitt's harshest critics (who wish to remain anonymous) have provided the following reactions:

"If a man has his eyes bound, you can encourage him as much as you like to stare through the bandage, but he'll never see anything. "

"It's only because of his stupidity that he is able to be so sure of himself."

You Should Be On Broadway

You Should Be On Broadway

Flashback: Boo!

I originally posted this on April 1, 2009, as my April Fool's prank.  Seeing as "To Kill a Mockingbird" has reached the 50th anniversary of its original release, I thought I'd repost this.

Before you ask, yes, this is intended as a parody of the current state of musical theater, not as a parody of "To Kill a Mockingbird."

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Via Musicals Bay Area:

First-time theatrical producer Charles Hewitt has announced his plans to mount an all-singing, all-dancing adaptation of Harper Lee's novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," with the tentative title, "Boo!"

Hewitt says, "I was supposed to read the book back in high school, but I just watched the movie instead and still got a C on my book report that way. But from what I remember about seeing the movie when I was 16, I always thought that it would make a great musical. It has everything: human drama, and intense . . . human drama and lovable, cuddly characters and funny stuff and drama and, and, and action and mystery and, really, when you get down to it, when all is said and done, just good old human drama. And with the current trends in musical theater, I figured the time was right. The time was right to sell this as a high-concept kind of 'Tom Sawyer meets Spring Awakening' kind of thing. You know?"

First-time composer Marisela Eisenstein is excited about being attached to the project. Eisenstein, 22, says, "This is, like, mad cool. I've never actually written a song before? But my friend Julie has 'Songsmith' installed on her laptop, she says it's, like, really easy to use, and she'll teach me how to use it. She said I could totally borrow it from her."

The book and the lyrics are being written by Christopher St. Clair, whose most recent play, "I Once Killed a Man Just to Watch Him Die," was a lighthearted comic romp based loosely on "Crime and Punishment." The play was reviewed by several critics.

St. Clair says that he has written several songs already, including "He Done It! He Hit Me!", "Reading to Mrs. Dubose," "Rabid Dog Tango" and the show-stopping eleven o' clock number, "Bob Ewell's Lying Up There Under a Tree with a Knife Stuck Up Under His Ribs."

St. Clair spoke about the challenges of adapting the Pulitzer Prize winning novel. "It's an okay book, I guess. But it really needs some zazzing up. So we're expanding Calpurnia's role so that she's secretly a gospel singing star at night, and we're going to make Atticus more of a lovable goof, a kind of Gomer-Pyle-type character. And regarding Boo Radley, let me just give you this little hint: Think 'Shrek meets Mel Brooks.'

"And, while I don't want to give away any of the major plot points, let's just say I always thought it was kind of a downer that Tom Robinson was found guilty. I mean, it's such a blatant miscarriage of justice, and it just, like, totally brought me down, and that's just not what musicals are for, you know? And rape is such an ugly subject, we might just have to tone that down and make it, like, Tom Robinson borrowed the Ewell's lawn mower and forgot to give it back or something a little more family friendly like that. So we're fixing some little things like that."

Tickets go on sale today, April 1st.

"Hair" closing this Sunday

Hair highlights

These clips show the current cast, including Kyle Riabko as Claude, Diana DeGarmo as Sheila and Ace Young as Berger.

Of the four shows we saw last week, I think that "Hair" stuck with me most of all.

The original Broadway cast are performing the show in London.  Although the show has received broad critical acclaim, it still is not selling well in London and will close in early September.  And the show at the Al Hirschfeld Theater will be closing this Sunday, June 27.

Every show ends with the audience being permitted to join the cast on stage to dance.  And every show's "eParty" is posted on the show's website for people to watch later.  We were too tired to go onto the stage and dance, but this link will take you to the video from the performance we saw on Saturday, June 12 (which is still enjoyable even though I'm not in it at all).  But the camera appears to have virtually the same perspective as we had from our seats (front row mezzanine center).

Kerning Fail

Here's a screen grab from the SHN-SF (Shorenstein Hays Nederlander San Francisco) website (click on the picture to enlarge).

"Arts Exchange" is a service where SHN subscribers can sell their tickets that they can't use.

But I have no idea what "ART SEXCHANGE" is.

Provocative theater

Via the NY Times:

Neil LaBute, whose work always makes someone angry, has scored a new high.

In his current show, "reasons to be pretty," a character launches into a long tirade against her boyfriend, telling him everything she thinks is wrong with him.

This past Saturday night (April 4), during this monologue, an audience member got up from his seat, "called her a bitch twice, said a few other things that cannot be printed, and stormed out of the theater."

Security at the show has been increased.

To Kill a Mockingbird: The Musical

Via Musicals Bay Area:

First-time theatrical producer Charles Hewitt has announced his plans to mount an all-singing, all-dancing adaptation of Harper Lee's novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird," with the tentative title, "Boo!"

Hewitt says, "I was supposed to read the book back in high school, but I just watched the movie instead and still got a C on my book report that way. But from what I remember about seeing the movie when I was 16, I always thought that it would make a great musical. It has everything: human drama, and intense . . . human drama and lovable, cuddly characters and funny stuff and drama and, and, and action and mystery and, really, when you get down to it, when all is said and done, just good old human drama. And with the current trends in musical theater, I figured the time was right. The time was right to sell this as a high-concept kind of 'Tom Sawyer meets Spring Awakening' kind of thing. You know?"

First-time composer Marisela Eisenstein is excited about being attached to the project. Eisenstein, 22, says, "This is, like, mad cool. I've never actually written a song before? But my friend Julie has 'Songsmith' installed on her laptop, she says it's, like, really easy to use, and she'll teach me how to use it. She said I could totally borrow it from her."

The book and the lyrics are being written by Christopher St. Clair, whose most recent play, "I Once Killed a Man Just to Watch Him Die," was a lighthearted comic romp based loosely on "Crime and Punishment." The play was reviewed by several critics.

St. Clair says that he has written several songs already, including "He Done It! He Hit Me!", "Reading to Mrs. Dubose," "Rabid Dog Tango" and the show-stopping eleven o' clock number, "Bob Ewell's Lying Up There Under a Tree with a Knife Stuck Up Under His Ribs."

St. Clair spoke about the challenges of adapting the Pulitzer Prize winning novel. "It's an okay book, I guess. But it really needs some zazzing up. So we're expanding Calpurnia's role so that she's secretly a gospel singing star at night, and we're going to make Atticus more of a lovable goof, a kind of Gomer-Pyle-type character. And regarding Boo Radley, let me just give you this little hint: Think 'Shrek meets Mel Brooks.'

"And, while I don't want to give away any of the major plot points, let's just say I always thought it was kind of a downer that Tom Robinson was found guilty. I mean, it's such a blatant miscarriage of justice, and it just, like, totally brought me down, and that's just not what musicals are for, you know? And rape is such an ugly subject, we might just have to tone that down and make it, like, Tom Robinson borrowed the Ewell's lawn mower and forgot to give it back or something a little more family friendly like that. So we're fixing some little things like that."

Tickets go on sale today, April 1st.

American Idiot: The Musical

From this morning's SF Chronicle:

In the tradition of "Tommy," Berkeley Rep will be developing a stage adaptation of Green Day's 2004 hit album, "American Idiot."

The production will be staged by Michael Mayer ("Spring Awakening"). Its run is set for September 16 through October 11, with previews beginning September 4.

According to the Chronicle, "The band members had already been thinking about a stage version when Mayer approached them, guitarist-vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong says. Mayer's concept and a trip to see 'Spring Awakening' convinced them he was the man for the job, and what Armstrong calls Green Day's "hometown" theater would be a perfect partner. The Rep is 'very adventurous,' he says, 'and their willingness to take chances is in keeping with the spirit of the album.'

"The decision to go ahead with the project was made after a recent workshop in New York, produced by the Rep, with Mayer, choreographer Steven Hoggett and Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool, who founded Green Day at Berkeley's seminal punk club 924 Gilman in 1990. Green Day will not appear in the show itself. 'American Idiot' will be performed by a cast of 19, with an onstage band."

New Year's Eve Plans

Dame Edna interviews kd lang

For the first time ever, Chip and I have plans for New Year's Eve. We're going to see Dame Edna Everage at the Post Street Theater. Then we'll probably go down to the Embarcadero for the fireworks.

Compare and contrast

Elaine Paige - If You Love Me

Here's the same song in English performed by Elaine Paige from her stage portrayal of Edith Piaf.

Discuss.

Shades of "Slings and Arrows"

In the television series, "Slings and Arrows," Geoffrey Tennant goes to great lengths to ensure that Oliver Welles's skull is quietly used in the New Burbage production of Hamlet, as directed in Oliver's secret will left with his assistant.

This BBC story mirrors that story enough that I wonder if maybe it's more than coincidence -- that maybe the authors of "Slings and Arrows" knew this story and used it.

In 1982, Andre Tchaikowsky (a concert pianist) passed away from cancer and donated his body to science -- except for his head. He requested that his skull be donated to the Royal Shakespeare Company and used in productions of Hamlet.

The RSC has not ever actually used the skull in a production until recently. In their current production of "Hamlet" starring David "Dr. Who" Tennant, they decided to use Tchaikowsky's skull.

According to the BBC story, "...the company says a fake skull will be used when ("Hamlet") transfers to London. Tennant was the first actor to use Mr Tchaikowsky's skull during Hamlet's famous grave-digger scene. Audiences in Stratford were unaware the skull belonged to the Oxford pianist, but the secret was revealed by Tennant. The RSC told Channel 4 News that now the secret was out, it would be 'too distracting for the audience' if the skull was used."

Rent Cinecast DVD

DVDPriceSearch shows a February 3, 2009, release date for the DVD and Blu-ray release of the cinecast version of "Rent."

DVDEmpire is taking pre-orders, also shows a release date of February 3, 2009.

DeepDiscount is also taking pre-orders, and also shows a release date of February 3, 2009.

Amazon is taking pre-orders, and also shows a release date of February 3, 2009.

As of this writing (1 a.m., December 3rd), the Wikipedia entry for "Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway" has not been updated to show a video release, but the IMDB entry was updated a week ago.

TKTS booth reopens

Just like all construction projects, it took longer than the original estimates ("eight years later and nine times costlier than originally estimated").

But the Theatre Development Fund's TKTS booth in Duffy Square (the place to get reduced price day-of-show tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows) is back open for business again.

The improvements: More windows; A huge set of steps for people to sit while their friends and family stand in line; Credit cards now accepted.

The NYTimes article has lots of pictures, as well as an interactive graphic showing just how complex the structure actually is.

And the webcam that shows Times Square/Duffy Square can be found here.

New Year's Eve

Possibly for the first time in my life, I have made plans for New Year's Eve.

Dame Edna Everage is coming to the Post Street Theatre from November 20 through January 4, and she's doing a New Year's Eve show.

When I first heard about the show several weeks ago, tickets were plentiful and very, very close to the stage, so I let it lie. When I checked this morning, the first tickets I was offered were in Row G about six seats in from the center aisle. I checked in another browser window, and I was offered tickets close to the outside wall. So I went ahead and grabbed the tickets closer to the center of the auditorium.

It's an 8:00 p.m. show, so it should be over well before midnight, leaving us free to go do what we do every other year -- go to the Embarcadero to watch the fireworks.

"Rent" cinecast

I went into the theater to watch the "Rent" cinecast with the assumption that it would be okay, maybe pretty good.

It was about ten times as good as I expected it could be. It was so good that it makes me wonder why they bothered to make a movie out of it. It worked so well as a filmed stage show that adapting it for the the same movie theaters seems kind of pointless.

We left the theater somewhat stunned and had trouble speaking coherently for about ten minutes.

We're even considering whether going back tomorrow would be excessive.

Please, please let there be a Blu-Ray and DVD release of this one. I've seen a couple of rumors online that there will be a DVD release at some future, undetermined date, and I sincerely hope that this is not just a rumor.

If you are somewhat inclined to go see it but aren't quite sure, just go. You won't regret it. There's one more show left, tomorrow, Sunday, September 28. Check your local listings for times. Here in San Francisco, the Metreon is showing it at noon, and the Westfield Centre is showing it at 2:00 p.m. (same schedule as today).

[UPDATE: I found this on IMDB: "At the moment, plans for a DVD are very likely. While in line for lotto tickets at the final performance of "RENT," some people had to sign a waiver so that they could be on a special feature. Currently, the plan with the DVD is to sell it on the 'Farewell Tour' and later distribute it to the public."]

[UPDATE: The DVD and Blu-ray disc are now available to order. More information here.]

Forbidden Broadway closing?

According to an article in the New York Times, Forbidden Broadway is taking a break in January with no immediate plans to start back up again.

"'When I look at the seasons coming up, I don’t particularly think we’ll have a great opportunity to have really funny numbers about "Shrek" or another "Guys and Dolls" revival or some of the stuff that’s coming out,' [creator Gerard] Alessandrini said by phone . . .'When Broadway becomes too theme-park-like, it makes it difficult, and it just looks like it’s becoming overly commercial the next couple of years,' he said. . . .

"Mr. Alessandrini said that 'Forbidden Broadway' might return to New York one day, but that, if so, it would be with a new format. 'We may think about doing "Forbidden Broadway: in the future, but not on an open-ended basis, but with one edition at a time,' he said."

I also looked at http://www.forbiddenbroadway.com/, but most of the pages return "not found on this server" errors.

Manilow Jukebox Musical

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the theater.....

Here's how the story is described by one of the directors: "...the story centres around an aspiring young band who, on a visit to New York, come across an opportunity not to be missed - auditions for the latest reality TV show to find the next pop music sensation. When the TV company offers lead singer Tony a chance to appear on the show, the other band members give him their unconditional blessing. But before Tony can realise his dream, he is caught up in a tragic sequence of events which leaves him fighting for his life.

"Left with no memory his dreams are all but shattered. His only hope lies in the power of the music he loves and his feelings for a girl he once knew called Mandy… "

La Princesse summary videos

Day One


Day Two


Day Three (Finale)



YouTube has tons of videos by people in the crowd -- just search for "La Princesse," and you'll find many of them.

Here's the ever-changing Wikipedia entry on La Princesse, including several links to various stories about the event, including a BBC page linking to all their stories and videos about all the "Capital of Culture" events.

Spring Awakening national tour

The national tour of "Spring Awakening" is about to open in San Francisco. Official opening is Sunday, September 7 -- the first three days are previews.

The two biggest things not related to tonight's performance but pertinent to the theater-going experience were: (a) Steven Sater (who wrote the book and lyrics) was two rows in front of us and across the aisle, sitting with a legal pad and taking notes; and (b) there was a 4-point-something earthquake late in the first act. At first I thought it was someone kicking the seats, and then I wasn't sure that it might not have been an earthquake. Then at intermission, the woman sitting behind us said, "Did you feel the quake?" So I guess that answered THAT question.

The show itself is very cool. It stays reasonably true to its source material, Franz Wedekind's play, "Spring's Awakening" -- it has no bizarre plot additions or omissions or alterations. Oddly enough, my only minor problem with the show was actually more a problem with myself -- for some reason, I felt that I would have enjoyed the show more if I was not familiar with the source play or with the songs. Knowing the material, I had some expectations. And whenever you have expectations, there's a strong likelihood that some of them won't be met. Which is not fair to the performers, because it means you're sometimes judging them based more on your expectations than on what they're actually doing.

The kids in the cast are terrific, both as singers and as actors. The two male leads have both performed these roles on Broadway, but most everyone else is either fresh out of school or "thrilled to be making their national tour debut."

The character who came across the most child-like was Moritz. Both Melchior and Wendla had a slightly more adult demeanor and self-awareness, but Moritz had a kind of innocent, sheltered, "growing up with a narrow world view that he hasn't quite figured out is so narrow" quality about him.

For the tour (or at least for the San Francisco run), the onstage seats sell for $30 each and are made available two hours before the performance each day, first come, first served. For more info, see the SHN website.

Spider update - "La Princesse"

This video gives some of the backstory of the spider (known as "La Princesse"), stating that the "scientists" are going to wake up the spider using music, movement and light.

Here's additional backstory from another YouTube video:

"Yesterday commuters arrived at Liverpool's Lime Street Railway Station to find a gigantic mechanical spider clinging to a derelict building next to the station. A group of French specialist researchers announced that they have been observing the creature, apparently made of steel and wood and a thousand times the size of anything in nature. It appears to be female, around 13 metres tall, and has been dubbed 'La Princesse' by the team. The scientists believe the creature may be about to hibernate, and are attempting to prevent it falling into an inert state, as they are concerned at the potentially catastrophic results of the spider laying up to 1000 eggs. Scientists have therefore removed the spider from the building and taken it to a research base established at the ACC, at Albert Dock in Liverpool. On Friday 5th September it is expected that they will attempt to wake it, under controlled conditions, at 11:30am."

And here is video from the BBC of La Princesse starting to walk through the streets of Liverpool (which can be linked to but not embedded). Here's the same video on the BBC player (better quality picture, but the player doesn't work for everyone). Here also is another BBC story from earlier today.