Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks

http://www.falcontheatre.com/six_dance.html

I love going to the theater and getting a pleasant surprise. You're there because you know someone in the show who is very talented and want to support them but you're just not sure if the show will be any good. Well this show was... and Jason Graae was hilarious and charming... and Constance Towers also was a joy to watch. This is a very fun piece with heart and lots of laughs. The program notes say it has been optioned as a film so I wish the author great success in moving it to the screen. And I'll keep my fingers crossed for Jason to be cast in it.

Dreampeddler

Spring Awakening - Ahmanson Theater

Okay... I'm on the bandwagon. Big fan of this show. I haven't been taken away and washed over by the music in a musical in some time, but this score is like a pop CD. You can listen to it again and again and again...

Although this is is not a typical book musical, the exploration of teen angst is so vivid and well displayed through the outstanding direction of Michael Mayer. And the choreography by Bill T. Jones is also spot on.

This show is certainly a bit adventurous and not for the timid or repressed, but if you go you will definitely see the you you were, whatever that was, when your time for puberty came. Would never want to go back and experience it all over again, but it was sure a blast to go back there for two hours and watch it on stage. Perhaps I'm just getting old and nostalgic, but I still have a sneaky smile on my face and some pep in my step from seeing this show. In the vernacular of today's teens, it was TOTALLY AWESOME.

Dreampeddler

Smokey Joe's Cafe - The El Portal Theatre in NoHo

Hey all,

I've been doing some work for the historic El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood (Pegge Forrest manages the theater with Jay Irwin and I worked for her in CHESS at the Long Beach CLO for my second professional gig!). They are doing a version of SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE that will be directed and choreographed by Jeffrey Polk (who I used to work with at Miceli's as a singing waiter!). Oh the days.

It will be a great show. Click here to buy tickets!

Dreampeddler

Happy Days - The Musical

Went down to La Mirada to see the opening night on Saturday night. The cast was great, especially Felicia Finley (who I worked with at the El Captain Theater in Hollywood when she was a snowflake and I was a 4 part harmony boy in the preshow before 3 Musketeers and then again in the reading of "The Joys of Sex"). She plays the role of you guessed it, Pinky Tuscadero.

It was great to see all the legends of show business that are involved with the project including Garry Marshall of course, Paul Williams, John McDaniel (we did Grease! together way back when and he was the musical director when I played Jack in Into the Woods), Gordon Greenberg, Bob Boyett as well as Tom McCoy and Cathy Rigby.

If you are looking for a family friendly show with a heck of a production budget, this one is for you. It is certainly fun to remember all those great characters and how simple things seemed way back when...

Dreampeddler

The Upcoming Minsky's at the Ahmanson

So here's the next one on the slate worth looking at. They are doing a pre-Broadway run at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles beginning in January. I'll be watching it closely. This is off the CTG website:

A BRAND NEW MUSICAL!

Minsky’s is a big, racy, new musical comedy set in a time when entertainment was about legs and laughs, and you had to push the limits to keep the customers buying tickets. A rollicking backstage story, set in Prohibition Era New York City, that peeks into a world populated by comedians, con men and seductive, sexy women; a world reigned over by the king of burlesque himself, Billy Minsky — until the day he falls in love and the cops come banging on his door.
Writer Bob Martin and Director/Choreographer Casey Nicholaw (both of The Drowsy Chaperone fame) join forces with the legendary composer Charles Strouse (Bye Bye Birdie, Applause, Annie) and acclaimed lyricist Susan Birkenhead (Jelly’s Last Jam) for this world premiere.

The Big Broadway Show is Back - 9 to 5, West Side Story, Shrek, and Billy Elliot

9 to 5... what a way to make a living... Ain't it the truth. After seeing the show I came away thinking it will do well on Broadway. Very strong title, well staged and choreographed, good performances and productions values. This is a BIG show and it delivers what a Broadway show should, an entertaining evening. You see where you $110 bucks went... Is it inspiring, No. Will it get super reviews and word of mouth, I don't think so... but the tourists not sure about what to see will be drawn to it and with Dolly behind it, it will sell tickets. It just depends on what the net is for how long it will remain open.

I really do believe "small" shows on Broadway are going to find it a challenge to stay open in these economic times. Many might find that exactly opposite what you would expect. Smaller shows, smaller budgets and operating expenses. But shows like Wicked, South Pacific, and the upcoming Shrek, Billiy Elliot, and West Side Story all deliver a BIG BROADWAY SHOW. When you're asking for Joe Plummer's 110 bucks, they better get 110 bucks worth of costumes, orchestrations, sets and dance numbers. With that in mind, it will be up to the producers to find ways to make these BIG shows stay budget friendly, and that will be the trick.

Dolly and her producers are probably changing their tune now to, "Broadway, what a way to make a living!"

I Hate Great Potential

Went to the opening of Girl's Room on Saturday night. I have seen this show in various forms of development and it has consistently improved each time. It has reached the point now that with the performances given by Carol Lawrence, Donna McKechnie and direction by Lynne Taylor-Corbett it provides an enjoyable night in the theater. But it does make me want for more. The word that comes to mind is POTENTIAL. While I've always believed this show has great potential, I now believe it will never achieve the status of, "this show provides an exceptional theater experience." It has all the makings, but when you stir it all up and put it in the oven, you get a pie that tastes good, but won't win the coveted blue ribbon. And that is the struggle.

Over the past several years, the thing that keeps me intrigued about this business is that it is so difficult. It is so difficult to get everyone on the same page and somehow make that great script on the page become the award winning show on the boards. So many things can go wrong. Actors can help or hurt. Doug Sills' performance in Scarlet Pimpernel took an average show at best and made it fun to watch (and be in), while a new independent movie I saw recently had some of the best actors out there giving some of their worst performances ever! Same thing with designers and directors - they can help or hurt but ultimately, all the planets have to line up perfectly to hit it out of the park. But when they all do line up, it makes you want to stay in the business just from the goose bumps you get watching it all unfold before you. The last time I saw this happen was when I saw Wicked out here at the Pantages. Every part of that production lined up. The sets told the same story as the costumes and the orchestrations helped the amazing performers soar to new heights, and the story made sense from beginning to end. And I have to ask, "How did they do that?" And I guarantee any of the creators or producers involved probably don't have a clue. But somehow they were able to make that show with great potential, become "an exceptional theatrical experience."

Off to see 9 to 5 and The Women this weekend. Curious to see if the planets are lining up in those theaters.