| Something special for our aria as 'Phantom' comes to town
In January, Andrew Lloyd Webber's mega-hit "Phantom of the Opera" celebrates its 20th anniversary on Broadway, where it is already the longest running show ever. The musical has been touring America for nearly as long. So it's been a challenge for Bill Miller, "Phantom's" national marketing director, to keep the advertising fresh as the darkly romantic musical about a physically and emotionally scarred phantom haunting the Paris Opera House has crisscrossed the nation again and again. And again. In fact the two-month engagement of "Phantom" that opens to the press tonight at the Cadillac Palace marks the fifth time the show has played the Chicago market. So Miller felt it was definitely time to add some new twists to the show's advertising mix beyond the familiar shattered mask image that by now is at least as famous a theatrical marketing icon as "Les Miserables'" forlorn-looking waif.
Broadway Strike Survival Guide
Broadway stagehands went on strike Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007. Here are the details theatergoers need to survive the ordeal. List Of Impacted Shows List Of Shows Remaining Open Ticket Refund Information Strike Links Theatergoer Links All Off-Broadway Shows Are Open Off-Broadway Ticket PurchasesList Of Impacted ShowsAugust: Osage CountyAvenue QA Bronx TaleChicagoA Chorus LineThe Color PurpleCurtainsCyrano de BergeracDr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole ChristmasThe Drowsy ChaperoneThe Farnsworth InventionGreaseHairsprayIs He Dead?Jersey BoysLegally BlondeLes MiserablesThe Lion KingThe Little MermaidMamma Mia!Monty Python's SpamalotThe Phantom of the OperaRentRock 'n' RollThe SeafarerSpring AwakeningWickedList Of Shows Remaining OpenThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeCymbelineMary PoppinsMauritiusPygmalionThe RitzXanaduYoung FrankensteinTicket Refund InformationClick Here For Detailed Refund InformationTelechargeStrike LinksTheatrical Stage Employees Local OneThe League Of American Theatres And ProducersTheatergoer LinksPlaybillBroadway.comBroadway WorldAll Off-Broadway Shows Are OpenAltar Boyz The Awesome 80s Prom Blue Man Group The Brothers SizeCelia: The Musical Die Mommie Die! EdgeThe Fantasticks A Feminine Ending Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening Frankenstein FuerzabrutaGazillion Bubble Show The Glorious OnesGone Missing Hoodoo LoveI Love You, You're Perfect, Now ChangeThe Joy Luck Club Jump Make Me a Song The MisanthropeMy First TimeMy Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in Therapy!Naked Boys Singing! Ohio State MurdersThe OverwhelmingPerfect CrimePeter and JerryThe Piano Teacher PumpgirlQueens Boulevard (The Musical)The ReceptionistRichard III The Rise of Dorothy HaleThe Screwtape Letters The Sensuous WomanSiveSpain StompThings We WantThree Mo' TenorsTings Dey HappenWalmartopiaThe Wooster Group's HamletOff-Broadway Ticket PurchasesTheater ManiaBroadwayBox.Com (© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc.
A retooled "Birdie" flies home to the Rep
The last time Seattle-based writer Cheryl L. West had one of her plays done at Seattle Repertory Theatre was in 1998, when her Broadway musical "Play On!" ran there. Now she's back at the Rep, which is about to open a newish piece of hers, "Birdie Blue." The single-act play chronicles a lengthy marriage in the African-American community. It debuted Off Broadway in 2005 with S. Epatha Merkerson (a star on TV's "Law and Order") in the lead. Due to her TV shooting schedule, Merkerson was not available to play Birdie in Seattle. But West says she's very satisfied with the three-member cast here under Chuck Smith's direction. It includes Chicago actors Velma Austin and Sean Blake, and Seattle's own William Hall Jr. West was also happy for the chance to revise this impressionistic script about a middle-age woman who recalls her life as a transplanted Southerner in Chicago, while she bakes her son a birthday cake and tends to her ill husband.
Paige Davis returning to 'Trading Spaces'
Paige Davis is moving back to TLC's "Trading Spaces." The Broadway actress and TV host will return to the once-popular home makeover series beginning in January, the network said in a statement Thursday. In 2005, TLC announced Davis would no longer host ``Trading Spaces'' and transitioned the series to a host-less format. Davis had perkily hosted the show, which features neighbors swapping homes and redecorating a room, since 2001. Besides ``Trading Spaces,'' she's also appeared on Broadway in the musicals ``Beauty and the Beast'' and ``Chicago.'' ``Trading Spaces'' will now be produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions, the TV production company responsible for Fox's ``Hell's Kitchen'' and ``Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.'' The series was formerly produced by Philadelphia-based Banyan Productions.
Myths go musical in classical concert
A free classical concert of art songs based on myths and fairy tales by VOX3 will be held at 8 tonight at the Broadway United Methodist Church on the North Side. Myths & Fairytales will feature European and Middle Eastern folk tales in musical settings by composers such as Borodin, Schubert, Ravel and Liszt. One of the highlights will be Ravel's "Sheherazade" song cycle, inspired by "The Arabian Nights." VOX3 is a vocal group based in the Chicago area. Members of tonight's program include Brian Von Rueden, Ashlee Hardgrave, Kimberly Beasley, Rebecca Prescott and guest performer Angela Young Smucker. The church is at 3344 N. Broadway. Although admission is free, donations are welcomed. Call (773) 348-2679 or visit the Web site www.vox3.org. .
Today's top 10 nation stories
DETROIT | Detroit pushed past St. Louis and became the nation's most dangerous city, according to a private research group's controversial analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics. Kansas City ranked the 18th most dangerous city, and Kansas City, Kan., ranked 25th. | B2 2. MISSOURIANS MAKE RHODES SCHOLARS LIST CHICAGO | Two Missourians, from Columbia and Springfield, were among 32 Americans selected as Rhodes Scholars for 2008, the scholarship trust announced Sunday. | B2 3. PRESSURE ON FOR BROADWAY SOLUTION NEW YORK | Broadway stagehands and theater producers met again Sunday, the second day of intense negotiations to find a solution to a strike that has shut down 27 plays and musicals for more than a week. Pressure has mounted for a solution to the work stoppage, which began Nov.
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