| '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.
WEST 50S BLOCK BUSTER
May 29, 2007 -- THE wrecking ball - not the curtain call - is coming to the theater district block bounded by Broadway and Eighth Avenue and West 54th and 55th streets. The Eighth Avenue east blockfront and adjacent buildings on West 54th Street are being primed for demolition by Gladden Properties, a joint venture of Boston Properties and Robert Gladstone. Our roving tipster who calls himself "John Q. Public" reports "men working with sledgehammers bashing away at the interior of the old Tripple Inn at 263 W. 54th St." The development site, which also includes an empty lot and an office building on West 55th formerly owned by Hearst, "can support" a new office tower of 975,000 square feet, according to Boston's first-quarter SEC filing. That's even bigger than we predicted when we first reported the joint venture's purchases of the properties for around $200 million in January and March.
Mickey Rooney to Appear in Long Island One-Man Show
In "Let's Put On A Show," the legendary Mickey Rooney will offer a night of laughter, anecdotes, songs and a tribute to screen partner Judy Garland. The event will take place on Sunday, July 22, 2007 at 2pmand 6pm at the Bellmore Movies Theatre (222 Pettit Avenue) in Bellmore, NY, located in Long Island. Rooney will be joined by his wife Jan. The production is the inaugural event in Rooney's 85th Anniversary Tour.Following the Bellmore performance, Mickey and Jan Rooney will take the show on a 25-city tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland commencing August 25th. In October, they will begin a minimum 15-city tour of US Performing Arts Center. A four-time Oscar-nominee for Babes in Arms, The Human Comedy, The Bold and the Brave and The Black Stallion (as well as the winner of a 1939 Academy Juvenile Award), Rooney was American's biggest box office attraction at one point in the late 1930s.
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