Cheap Broadway Shows

About two dozen high-ticket Broadway shows are dark due to the stagehands' strike, but there is no need for hysteria by theater fans.

Eight Broadway shows are still up and running — because of separate union contracts — including the sleeper hit "Xanadu," the new Mel Brooks musical "Young Frankenstein," and the well-received revival of "Pygmalion" featuring film star Claire Danes.

In Connecticut, a Broadway caliber revival of Arthur Miller's "The Price" opened recently at New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre, a venue which has sent many of its productions into New York in past seasons, including the Pulitzer Prize winners, "Wit" and "The Gin Game".

Now would be the perfect time for area theatergoers who head to New York for their stage fixes to discover the exciting — and much cheaper — alternatives available off-Broadway.

News Index

NEW YORK - With no 8 p.m. curtain, Owen Johnston won't have to eat and run this U.S. Thanksgiving.But while the "Rent" actor will enjoy spending the holiday with family, the Broadway strike that has sidelined him is "an ever present cloud.""There's no trips to Toys "R" Us," he said. "There's no planning for Christmas because we don't know how long the strike is going to last."Now in its second week with no negotiations planned, the strike by Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has affected thousands of actors, musicians, ushers, ticket takers, and concession sellers who work in the more than two dozen shuttered theatres.Theatre unions are honouring the picket lines and their members who work on the struck shows are receiving strike benefits that are a fraction of their regular pay."We're trying to scrimp and save," said Steve Armour, who plays the trombone in "The Drowsy Chaperone." "We're looking for the cheapest flight home for the holidays and looking to stay less time than we would otherwise."Armour, who lives in Brooklyn with his wife, said his normal take-home pay of $700 to $800 a week is down to strike pay of $30 a show."I'm putting off purchases like new clothes and music software that I had been planning on buying," he said.And though the producers of "The Drowsy Chaperone" say the show will survive the strike, Armour is planning for the worst-case scenario - that it will close."We're treating this as though I had suddenly lost my job, which in effect I have," he said.Fellow musician Steve Kenyon, who plays woodwinds, said this would have been his busiest week ever.

Leisure news in brief

Here are a selection of brief news items pertaining to arts, entertainment, culture and other fun things to do in your spare time:

Schroeder concerts mark re-release of Christmas collectionBrian Schroeder, a singer-songwriter who graduated from Holmen High School last spring, will give two concerts next week to celebrate the re-release of his Christmas CD, "I Heard the Bells," which sold out soon after its initial release a year ago.Schroeder will perform from noon to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 23-24, at Shepherd's Voice in Onalaska's Crosseroads Center, across from the Valley View Mall.Copies of the CD will be available during the concerts at a special discounted price of $10. They are on sale now at Shepherd's Voice for $12.99.People can also order them online at Schroeder's Web site, http://www.godscallisloud.com/.

Live Music Guide

ALLEY KATZ -- 10 Walnut Alley, 643-2816. Enemy at the Six, We Are Bears, Since 1913 and Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars, 5 p.m. Friday, all ages, $7. Wrinkle Neck Mules and Sons of Bill, 10 p.m. Friday, $8 in advance, $10 at door. Saint Diablo and Whipstitched, 9 p.m. Saturday, $5. Mike Gales & the Warriorz, Our City Sleeps, Identity, Quiet Eyes Road, Dear Diary, Alexinder Gunn and Kbabyray, 6 p.m. Sunday, all ages, $8 in advance, $10 at door. The Acacia Strain, Despised Icon, Full Blown, Chaos, Wake of Ruin and Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza, 6 p.m. Nov. 29, all ages, $12 in advance, $14 at door. ASHLAND COFFEE & TEA -- 100 N. Railroad Ave., Ashland, 798-1702. Rod Picott and Sara Arthur, Friday, $15 in advance, $20 day of show. Susan Greenbaum, Saturday, $8. Tim Grimm and Amelia White, Nov.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

This week in Arts Arena, join me Shereena Sajeed as we delve into the fantastical world of the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. This is the story of a magical flying car. David Henry and Louise Plowright play the Baron and Baroness in this multi-award winning musical, which is now showing at the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore till 9th December. I first asked Louise and David how the title Chitty Chitty Bang Bang originated. L: Well Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the name of the star in the show which is actually a car, an old car, which has been rescued from ruins. It�s an old racing car that was always winning and it crashed and fell to pieces and as a result of that, it landed in a scrap heap where two little children nearby in a local village loved playing on it and begged their father to salvage it and make it good again and that�s what it does.D: The name of the car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang comes from the sound that it makes when it first starts and you hear the engine going �cccchhhhchhhchhhhcchhh� and it turns into Chitty Chitty Bang Bang because there are several explosions from the exhaust pipe.

Bond, Jackson, Arden and More Join Almond at Joe's Pub Nov. 18

A host of Broadway favorites are scheduled to join singer-songwriter Todd Almond during his Nov. 18 concert at Joe's Pub.

The evening at the intimate cabaret will feature special guests Justin Bond, Cheyenne Jackson, Michael Arden, Jayne Houdyshell, Pamela Bob and Michael Slattery interpreting the works of composer Almond. Show time is 9:30 PM.

Todd Almond penned the musical People Like Us, which was recorded by Jay Records. He has written shows for NYU and Juilliard and was the first actor to regionally perform I Am My Own Wife. His song "We Laugh" can be heard on Brandon Cutrell's solo CD.

Joe's Pub is located within the Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Avenue. There is a $20 cover charge and a two-drink minimum; call (212) 539-8778 for reservations or visit www.joespub.com.

Web Exclusive: Bernadette Peters takes Touhill stage Nov. 10

Singing, acting, comedy: Bernadette Peters does them all with style.

The two-time Tony award-winning Broadway star with the signature long curly red locks, big soulful eyes and knockout figure has been melting hearts for years, while wowing audiences with her bold, brilliant voice and well-tuned sense of comic delivery. Bernadette Peters really is the whole package in entertainment.

Legendary star of stage and screen Bernadette Peters will grace the Touhill stage, Saturday, Nov. 10 at 8 p.m.

The Broadway babe sings the songs that made her famous, including Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Weber, backed by a 35-piece orchestra. Jim Richards, UM-St. Louis music professor, will be the concertmaster for the show.

Peters' voice still knocks audiences over, despite her impressive résumé of Broadway hits and long career, starting at an early age.

Gallery Stroll

'Chevalerie is Ceci ...'

Red Square Gallery

The Red Square Gallery is set to open in its permanent space on South St. Mary's Street in 2008, but director Ryan Leighton Whittington says he sees the gallery as nomadic, with exhibits hanging at satellite locations that suit the shows' themes. That's so central to the conception of Red Square that the first show is at a satellite location.