| Focus on Broadway returns to final revue at Quality Hill
The last revue of the Quality Hill Playhouse's current season completes its chronological journey through the pop music of the 20th century. "The American Songbook: Music of the 1980s to the Present" also brings the focus back to the sound of Broadway.Vocalists Julie Taylor, Stacey Uthe, Charles Fugate and Ken Remmert join director/pianist and emcee J. Kent Barnhart as some memorable tunes from the Great White Way are presented, along with some pleasingly unfamiliar melodies.While this particular revue seems ballad heavy, the songs are presented with conviction, and, as Barnhart smartly directs, they usually build to a rousing "ta-da!" climax.This time out, Taylor seizes upon the showstoppers. A perky mix of Shirley Temple and Jennifer Garner, the diminutive Taylor has a big, pleasing voice that she puts to good use here.She starts things out agreeably with the tongue-in-cheek but moving ballad "Somewhere That's Green" from "Little Shop of Horrors." She also does a terrific job with the clever and catchy "Popular" from "Wicked" and an amusing cabaret tune, "The Girl in 14G."Uthe ably handles some intricate pieces, including Stephen Sondheim's "Move On" from "Sunday in the Park With George" and "Think of Me" from "Phantom of the Opera."Both Fugate and Remmert are skilled actors, and this talent helps them work their way through some difficult numbers.
TARZAN A LOSER ON BROADWAY
Disney's strategy of turning hit animated features into Broadway musicals has encountered its first setback. Thomas Schumacher, Disney's head of theatrical productions announced Friday that the company's ambitious stage version of its 1999 film Tarzan will shut down on July 8 -- "earlier than any of us had hoped" -- as a result of falling ticket sales. In an interview with the Associated Press, Schumacher said that after examining the show's advances, he concluded, "I am going to have a summer where I am going to be losing a substantial amount of money. ... And I don't artificially keep shows going." However, he noted that the show's Dutch production has been a big hit. "I would have loved for [the Broadway production] to have been as successful in New York as it now is in Holland," where it is playing in The Hague, Schumacher said.
'ShowBusiness' details Broadway's backstage drama
NEW YORK -- A sort of cinematic equivalent to William Goldman's classic nonfiction book "The Season," Dori Berinstein's documentary chronicles the stories of four Broadway musicals during the 2003-04 season. Filled with an insider's perspective and access -- the filmmaker is a three-time Tony-winning producer, with "Legally Blonde" her most recent credit -- "ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway" will be necessary viewing to anyone interested in the current state of Broadway theater. The shows in question -- "Wicked," "Avenue Q," "Taboo" and "Caroline, or Change" -- received greatly varying responses on the Great White Way. The filmmaker, who shot footage of these and many other productions of the season, clearly has concentrated on these four because each was nominated for that Holy Grail of theater, the Tony for best musical.
|
