January 2009 - Theatre Buff

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Theatre Buff - January 2009

Will Ferrell on Broadway

January 10th 2009 17:10

Saturday Night Live alum Will Ferrell is hitting Broadway later this month in "You're Welcome America. A Final Night With George W. Bush."

The one-man show begins previews on January 20th, the day the real George W. leaves office. The show officially opens on Febuary 5th for for a limited, 8-week run. The show is being directed by Adam McKay, who has worked with Ferrell on everything from SNL to Anchorman to Step Brothers, and just about everything else Ferrell has done, including FunnyorDie.com. McKay has said that this new collaboration aims "to be funny but also to hold the Bush administration's feet to the fire".

This will mark Ferrell's Broadway debut, though he did star in The Producers film, based on the Broadway show. Having seen Ferrell portray Bush for so many years on SNL, we all know he's got the character down pat. I'm curious to see whether he can strech it out into a full length show. On his recent press tour to promote the show, Ferrell said to "expect the unexpected" from his Broadway debut. HBO is already scheduled to air the Broadway show, giving America its chance to see "You're Welcome America" live on March 14, the night before the show ends it's Broadway run.

For more info, visit the shows website willferrellonbroadway.com

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2008 Obits

January 6th 2009 16:07

2008 was a sad year for Broadway. Not only did a large number of shows close, including long running productions like RENT and Forbidden Broadway, as well as newer productions like Xanadu, Legally Blonde, and Young Frankenstein, but the theatre community also lost many stars.

Tony award winners William Gibson (wrote The Miracle Worker), Eileen Herlie (best actress winner for Take Me Along), Luther Davis (librettist, Tony winner for Kismet), Alvin Colt (costume designer, Pipe Dream), and Paul Scoffield (actor, A Man for All Seasons) all passed away in 2008.

More recognizeable persons that we lost include Eartha Kitt, Harold Pinter, Paul Newman, Cyd Charisse, Sydney Pollack, Anthony Mingella, and Suzanne Pleshette. All well known, though not necessarily for their work in theatre. Eartha Kitt may have been best known for her portrayal of Catwoman on TV’s Batman, but she was also a Tony-nominated Broadway actress. Cyd Charisse starred in films like Brigadoon, only to later make her Broadway debut in Grand Hotel. Sydney Pollack, director of such films as Tootsie and The Way We Were got his start as a stage actor. Anthony Minghella, Academy Award winner for directing The English Patient, recently had his own stage production of Madame Butterfly early in 2008.

There were many other theatre notables lost in 2008. This is by no means a complete listing. For a complete listing, I recommend the obituaries section of Playbill.com

On a brighter note, RENT is (sort of) back. Having closed September 7th, after 5124 performances (making it the seventh longest running show in Broadway history), a new Broadway tour of RENT is opening, with original cast members Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp. Now as anyone who saw the RENT movie can attest, these guys aren’t really in the right age bracket for their roles anymore. But still, for people who missed the original Broadway production (I saw it!), it is still something to see.

To see if the RENT tour is coming to your city, go to www.siteforrent.com

And for any of you in the New York area, go see a broadway show. Spamalot and Gypsy are both closing on January 11th. Spring Awakening is closing January, 18th. In this economy, it doesn't seem to matter how many awards a show wins, it still may close quickly. So go while you can. Check out www.broadwaybox.com for discounted tickets (if you don't want to wait outside at the TKTS booth, that is).

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Theatre basics

January 5th 2009 16:21

Let’s go over some theatre basics. First, theatRE versus theatER. As a grammer nerd, it always annoys me when people use the wrong one. Its like their versus there. Some people would argue that it is semantics. That there is a geographical difference to the words. In England, the spelling is theatre. In America, it is theater. Amongst the theatre community, the difference between the two is more exact. A theater is a building, like a movie theater. Whereas theatre refers to the art of the stage.

Another theatre basic, the greenroom. While everyone can agree on what this is (the room you hang out in when not on stage) no one seems to agree on how it got it’s name. Some historians believe the term dates back to Shakespearean theatre. It was common practice in those days to fill the warm-up room with plants, as it was believed the moisture from the foliage would help an actor’s voice.

Another possible source for the term greenroom comes from medival theatre, which was performed on “the green”. Possibly the term developed over time from “the green” being the performance space to “the green room”. Others believe the name started as an insult. That green refers to inexperienced. Since the room is often used for production mettings and actor critiques that green refers to the newbies of a theatre company.

I have worked at many theatres, all of which had a green room. None of which were actually green. In college, however, we did paint our greenroom green. A hideous lime color. Suprisingly, most of the theatres I worked at has greenrooms that were yellow.

And one more theatre basic, always turn off your cell phone. Don’t be the inconsiderate audiance member whose phone rings during a performance. There are some people who have suggested movie theaters use cell phone jamming technology, maybe theatres should do the same thing. I myself prefer public humiliation as punishment for the opposing party. In a production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, I saw Nathan Lane stop in the middle of a performance to mock an audiance member who’s phone went off during a number. These days, with all the different ringtones, what better way to ruin a production than to hear Sexyback during King Lear.

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January 2009

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December 2008

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Older Posts

6 Posts dating from December 2008