Archive for November, 2007
Photo Tease: Back to Work
November 30, 2007 3:28 pmHundreds of Broadway stars went back to work last night, signifying the end of the 19-day stagehands strike. Bruce Glikas ran around from theater to theater, catching up with actors as they prepared to get back in front of their fans. Here are some highlights from the upcoming Photo Op! Photos by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com
Brand new Chicago stars Vincent Pastore, Aida Turturro and Maxwell Caulfield get ready to razzle-dazzle!
Curtains stars Karen Ziemba, David Hyde Pierce and Michael McCormick brush up the showstopping “Show People” number.
Annaleigh Ashford and Carole Shelley are a-OK over at Wicked.
Kate Monster signs in over at Avenue Q.
Fantasia is back to belting at The Color Purple.
Sketching in the Wings
November 28, 2007 2:16 pm
Actors, as you probably already know, often have skills beyond what they put out on the Broadway stage night after night. As is the case with Tim Hartman (left), a cast member of the Broadway-bound A Tale of Two Cities, which ended its Florida run last weekend. In fact, on his website, Tim lists his talents in this order: “Actor, Storyteller, Artist, Puppeteer, Singer.” Talent #3 (and a little of Talent #2) is currently on display above, in this clever drawing of the stars of Tale that he put together as a gift for the cast. Since many of the show’s fans read this blog, I thought I’d share. Tim’s not alone in doing this, by the way. A few years back, John Lithgow gave me a terrific drawing of the cast of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, which I’ve since framed and cherish! Illustration by Tim Hartman
Heights Bites
November 27, 2007 4:24 pmEven though we’re not waking up to a strike resolution tomorrow morning, there is something to look forward to here at Broadway.com: an exclusive world premiere of the hot, hot, HOT new commercial for In the Heights, coming to Broadway on Valentine’s Day. Produced by SpotCo., this ad (shot entirely in Washington Heights) is sure to get people talking when it hits the airwaves next year. Here are some stills to get you excited:
Read This: Turner’s Turn
2:38 pm
If you do nothing else on the site today, read David Turner’s First Person about The Ritz. David, of course, played that high-camp angel in In My Life a few years back and now teams up with Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as the bathhouse’s dating attendants. A delicious sample from the piece:
“Many of my fans write to ask me how I landed the role of Duff. The answer is this: The Roundabout needed beefcake and, simply put, Lucas and I are beefcake.”
Photo Tease: Inga’s View
November 26, 2007 7:48 pm
Tony winner (and all-around person we love) Sutton Foster graciously agreed to document her early, early Thanksgiving morning for Broadway.com. As one of the Young Frankenstein stars performing on NBC’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, she was up before the crack of dawn, getting into her blonde wig for a live version of “Transylvania Mania” on the highly-viewed telecast. The photos will be live on the site tomorrow, but here’s a Sutton’s-eye view of the company on the way to the big show. Photo by Sutton Foster for Broadway.com!
Photo Tease: Nathan & November
3:54 pmSet in the Oval Office of the White House, David Mamet’s November concerns the desperate actions of president who’s determined to get re-elected. The company of the show headed into rehearsals today at the New 42nd Street Studios and smiled for some nice-to-meet-you shots for the press. Here’s a peek. Photos by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com
November stars Laurie Metcalf, Nathan Lane and Dylan Baker.
Playwright David Mamet and director Joe Mantello. (Smile, guys… it’s a comedy!)
Mamet with the full cast: Metcalf, Ethan Phillips, Lane, Michael Nichols and Baker.
Homecoming Cast Gets Itchy
November 21, 2007 6:10 pm
Apparantly the stars of The Homecoming, who have been rehearsing with director Daniel Sullivan since October 22, are getting itchy to get the show on its feet. The first preview was scheduled for this Friday, but since The League went ahead and closed Broadway for the week, the cast is left without a theater. The solution? A free run-through reading open to the public (in hopes of raising money for BC/EFA) at New World Stages on Sunday, November 25 at 8PM. To get to see Ian McShane, Raul Esparza, Eve Best, Michael McKean, James Frain and Gareth Saxe take on the Pinter parts for the first time, head over to the theater at 6PM when the first 300 people will get one ticket each. Enjoy! Photo by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com
More Idina!
November 20, 2007 9:31 pm
It’s a good thing that you all care about her, because there’s a lot to say about Idina Menzel these days. Here she is stepping out a Saturday’s premiere of Enchanted, the new holiday flick which she plays snappy New Yorker Nancy Tremaine. Here she is with hubby Taye Diggs, looking hot on the El Capitan red carpet. By the way, Broadway babies (and former Disney princesses) Jodi Benson (Crazy for You, The Little Mermaid) Judy Kuhn (Les Miserables, Pocahontas) also have cameos in Enchanted, which opens everywhere tomorrow!
Sneak Peek at Idina’s “Hero”
10:08 am
As I mentioned last week, Idina Menzel is featured on the soundtrack for the #1 movie Beowulf, singing the end credits song “A Hero Comes Home.” The album is in stores today, but you can hear the song right here first. Now all we need is for the song to get a Best Song Oscar nomination and an Idina live performance on the show. No? Photo by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com
Photo Tease: Cry-Baby Bows in La Jolla
November 19, 2007 7:41 am
Cry-Baby, the new musical based on the John Waters flick of the same name, celebrated its opening at the La Jolla Playhouse last night. This Broadway hopeful, which reunites many of the same people who made Hairspray a smash, tells of the 1950s class war between the squares and drapes of Waters’ childhood. Broadway.com flew out to welcome the story to the stage. Here are a just a few opening night shots… More to come in our Photo Op section tomorrow. Photos by Bruce Glikas for Broadway.com
Moments after the curtain, leading man James Snyder, choreographer Rob Ashford, leading lady Elizabeth Stanley, director Mark Brokaw and featured player Christopher J. Hanke pose backstage.
Producer Adam Epstein (in blue tie) with creators Christopher Jahnke (orchestrations), Adam Schlesinger and David Javerbaum (songwriters) and Thomas Meehan and Mark O’Donnell (librettists).
Stanley and Snyder meet first-nighter
Katherine McPhee of American Idol fame.
Carly Jibson, Cristen Paige and Lacey Kohl play Cry-Baby sidekick bad girls Pepper, Mona and Wanda.
Hanke, Colin Cunliffe, Peter Matthew Smith and Nick Blaemire make up the show’s good-boy singing group the Whiffles.
Former Hairspray buddies Chester Gregory II (who plays
Dupree in Cry-Baby) and Matthew Morrison.
Speaking of Hairspray, here original film star Ricki Lake
(who played Pepper in the Cry-Baby movie) and original
Broadway star Marissa Jaret Winokur crowd in for a photo with
the man who created Tracy Turnblad, John Waters.
Stanley and Snyder with Harriet Harirs, who plays
prim and proper Mrs. Vernon-Williams.
Final look at Cry-Baby and Allison. See you on Broadway!
Stage Notes
