Archive for November, 2006
Photo Tease: Broadway & Moore
November 30, 2006 11:59 pmDavid Hare’s The Vertical Hour opened on Broadway tonight with a redheaded fresh face talent in one of the leads. You may have heard of her. Broadway.com photographer Bruce Glikas sent over some teases for tomorrow’s Photo Op.
Welcome to the stem, Julianne Moore!
The full company of The Vertical Hour takes its opening night bow: Dan Bittner, Andrew Scott, Moore, Bill Nighy and Rutina Wesley.
Broadway newcomers Moore and Nighy arrive at the after-party at the Royalton.
The Vertical Hour director Sam Mendes and gorgeous wife Kate Winslet.
Legend Lauren Bacall hangs with Rufus Sewell (right) and his girlfriend, Alice Eve.
Paparazzi magnet Kate Bosworth makes a rare Broadway appearance as a first-nighter.
Wouldn’t I love to hear this conversation? Two of the silver screen’s biggest talents, Winslet and Moore, talk shop.
Two Broadway luminaries, Arthur Laurents and Bernadette Peters, took in the show as well.
Certainly “The Ladies Who Lunch” is one of those songs that is intimately linked to one performer: the unstoppable Elaine Stritch, who starred in the 1971 Broadway production of Company. Now, the very talented Barbara Walsh is offering her own take on the song in John Doyle’s brand-new staging of the show. Was she intimidated by the Stritch legacy? Has she met her? I found out on opening night.
John Doyle’s revisionist production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company opened last night with a party at the Copa, Copacabana. Here’s a peek at the festivities. Photos by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com.
Leading man Raul Esparza with some of Bobby’s babes: Elizabeth Stanley (April), Kelly Jeanne Grant (Kathy), Leenya Rideout (Jenny), Heather Laws (Amy) and Angel Desai (Marta).
Esparza with fellow Doyle dude Michael Cerveris, who earned raves last season for headlining the British director’s Sweeney Todd.
Doyle with Barbara Walsh, who has the showy part of Joanne, first played by Elaine Stritch.
Esparza with good friend Melissa Errico, who played Dot to his George in Sunday in the Park with George at the Kennedy Center.
Photo Tease: Bennettpalooza!
12:42 amLate, legendary Broadway musical man Michael Bennett is enjoying a healthy revival these days, with A Chorus Line selling out at the Schoenfeld and Dreamgirls finally arriving in movie theaters. Last night, two events only went to show how everything today is thoroughly Michael: a panel discussion at Sardi’s with some of the creators of A Chorus Line and a private screening of Dreamgirls for the New York theater community at AMC 34th Street hosted by publicists Chris Boneau and Adrian Bryan-Brown of Boneau/Bryan-Brown. I unfortunately had to skip the former to attend the latter (which was, yes, pretty terrific), but photographer Bruce Glikas made it to both…
Director Bill Condon and songwriter Henry Krieger have got good reason to smile: expect Dreamgirls to bring them both Oscar nominations (or better yet trophies!) come 2007.
Left: Liza Minnelli and Harvey Fierstein cheered on Dreamgirls.
Right: Gail Papp (widow of producer Joe Papp) and Chorus Line composer Marvin Hamlisch.
Some Americans Abroad
November 29, 2006 10:25 amCertainly seeing American stars take to the West End stage is nothing new, but a new romantic comedy has three of them (Neve Campbell, Kristen Johnston and Michael McKean), along with a foreigner who’s hotter than most in Hollywood these days (Cillian Murphy). Here’s a photo first look at Love Song, which opens next Monday at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London.
Murphy as outcast Beane and Campbell as his mysterious new love, Molly.
Davis and McKean play Beane’s baffled sister and brother-in-law.
One more look at Campbell in boho chic mode.
First Look: The Vertical Hour
November 28, 2006 9:52 pmPhotos have just been released of The Vertical Hour (not The Violet Hour, which I accidentally call it regularly), featuring the Broadway debut of Julianne Moore. Photos by Paul Kolnik.
The three leads in the show: Andrew Scott, Moore and Bill Nighy.
Despite this photo, this is not a romance. Rather, Nighy and Moore clash in the show over their backgrounds and political beliefs.
Moore and Nighy, again.
Dan Bittner plays a student who professes his love to Moore. Can you blame him?
Nighy and Scott contemplate The Vertical Hour in the shadows.
While on The Oprah Winfrey Show promoting her upcoming voice appearance in Charlotte’s Web, megastar Julia Roberts talked about her Broadway run in Three Days of Rain earlier this year:
On how husband Danny Moder helped her during the run:
“It was hard… Eight shows a week… We were in a theater of 1,100 people and we were sold out every night and there were some shows where you just go… Two shows a day, going into the second show… Trying to muster up that enthusaism and that stuff to make it really cook. Danny would say, “There are 1,100 people who are waiting. saying this is my day to get to go see the show and you can’t let them down.” and it really helped to get that encouragement because it became difficult. Show 84? Whoo. it’s tough to face.”
And on the less-than-kind critics:
“I didn’t really know what the critics said until… You know, I’d be at the stage door some nights and some sweet gal from Nebraska would be like, ‘Don’t listen to those critics and i’d be like, ‘You’re kind of giving it away!’ But still, the people came, we put on a show for them and that was the whole point.”
Kathleen Turner is congratulated by Kim Cattrall for her Evening Standard Award win for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at a reception in London yesterday. See more photos from the starry event (and read Matt Wolf’s recap of the awards) over on Theatre.com.
Photo Tease: Utopia Sails Into LCT
12:23 pmLincoln Center Theater welcomed the first third of Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia to the Vivian Beaumont last night with a bash at Tavern on the Green. Here are some teases from the upcoming Op.
The (almost) full cast poses with playwright Stoppard (2nd from left). The others: Richard Easton, Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Ehle, Amy Irving, Josh Hamilton, Billy Crudup, Brian F. O’Byrne and Jason Butler Harner.
Director Jack O’Brien (center) parties with Crudup and Hamilton.
Still together! O’Byrne and sweetheart Heather Goldenhersh (CBS’ The Class), who met on Doubt and are still going strong.
Leading hunks Hawke and Crudup.
Utopia sisters Martha Plimpton and Ehle.
All photos by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com.
Deena vs. Effie, Offstage
November 26, 2006 1:43 am
Sigh. Could it really be? Is there an offstage rivalry between Dreamgirls film stars Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson? Already, before Hudson even lands her Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations?! Yes, if you believe a site called Media Take Out, which reported of the feud last week.
According to the report, Beyonce and her ever-present parents, Matthew and Tina Knowles (left), are outraged that Hudson is getting all of the buzz for her work as Effie in the film. At the first cast screening of the film, the site alleges, Matthew ignored Hudson and went on to call director Bill Condon (right) to “let him have it” and ask for a 
re-edit of the finished piece that would showcase his daughter’s work as Deena Jones better. Media Take Out goes on to say that Beyoncé burst into tears when she saw the final cut. Then at last week’s Oprah Winfrey Show taping, the site goes on to say, the diva ignored Hudson backstage after greeting everyone else in the cast.
Is it true? Who knows. But it sure is a lot of fun, and will only help build buzz for the film (which is still a harder sell than, say Chicago, as it asks audiences to accept that characters actually singing TO each other to convey their emotions). What I find funny about all of this is that nobody explained to the Knowles clan ahead of time that Effie ALWAYS steals the show. Certainly original Broadway Deena Sheryl Lee Ralph—or ANY of my readers—could have filled them in!
All images by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com
Stage Notes
