Showbiz411 » Theater

Broadway: $75 Mil “Spider Man” Box Office Fade As New Shows Arrive

Roger Friedman — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:46:15 +0000

Is it curtains for “Spider Man” on Broadway? Not yet, but things are looking a little scary for Peter Parker and Mary Jane. For the last several weeks, the Broadway box office for “Spider Man: Turn off the Dark” has been in slow decline. This past week the show’s gross was a little over $1 million– and that’s the way it’s been recently. Compare this week to four weeks ago, and the number is trending down by the tens of thousands. But that’s not good news. “Spider Man,” as we all know, cost $75 million. Its official opening was June 14, 2011–not quite two years ago. And that was after previews started in November 2010. The show had several missed openings, and even shut down for three weeks in May 2011 while it was retooled. Initially, the Julie Taymor show with songs by Bono and The Edge was taking in $1.5 to $1.7 million. All the heralded accidents in the theater drew curiosity seekers The flying and the costumes were also draws, especially for tourists who enjoyed the action and [...]

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Broadway Smash “Pippin” Will Be A Weinstein Movie

Roger Friedman — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:21:04 +0000

“Pippin,” just revived on Broadway after 40 years, and a smash hit, is going to the movies. Harvey Weinstein, unbeknownst to anyone, has owned the right for the last ten years. (Who knew?) So today he’s announced that James Ponsoldt (“Smashed” ) will write a screenplay. “Pippin” in its revived state features Cirque du Soleil type performers. It also comes with Bob Fosse choreography that is now legendary–it’s arguably where Michael Jackson got a lot of his moves. And the Stephen Schwartz score has a bunch of hits including “Corner of the Sky.” I wouldn’t be surprised if this were the Weinstein Company’s first 3D movie because “Pippin” is almost begging for that treatment. Stay tuned…And oh yes: you know Ben Vereen will make a cameo appearance. But start casting now…PS The show that just opened on Broadway, must-see, is playing at just about 100% capacity…

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Broadway: “Vanya,” “Matilda” Win NY Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, Musical

Roger Friedman — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:46:51 +0000

I am happy to report that Christopher Durang’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” has won Best Play from the New York Drama Critics Circle. They also chose “Matilda” as Best Musical. The Durang play is my favorite of this last year, a truly inspired, hilariously funny night at the theater. The play has been been nominated for Tony Awards and Outer Critics Awards as well. One thing I take exception to: all of the cast has been nominated everywhere save for Sigourney Weaver. This is what we call a shonda. Weaver’s Masha is the central force of the play, and she is simply outstanding. This has something to do with backlash against Hollywood stars. But ironically, Weaver’s career started with Durang. And the play gives her a chance for self-mocking. She’s equal to David Hyde Pierce and Kristine Nielsen. “Vanya,” I think, is on its way to the Tony Award. “Matilda,” however, is really a critics’ choice. The Tony should go to “Kinky Boots,” Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein’s extremely happy, great night.

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Tony Awards 2013 Nominations: Tom Hanks Is In, But Scarlett, Bette and Alec Are Snubbed

Roger Friedman — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:37:21 +0000

The Tony Awards nominees have just been announced. Among the Hollywood stars who came to Broadway, Tom Hanks is the sole winner. He was nominated for Best Actor in a play for “Lucky Guy,” the late Nora Ephron’s tribute to Mike McAlary. But Scarlett Johansson, Bette Midler and Alec Baldwin all got shut out. Baldwin was usurped by young Tom Sturridge in their play “Orphans.” Otherwise, the big nominees are “Matilda” and “Kinky Boots,” as expected. The latter is quite a nod for Cyndi Lauper, the pop star who turned her talents to Broadway and hit a home run. Cicely Tyson, 88, is on her way to a Tony for “The Trip to Bountiful.” Richard Kind is looking good for Best Supporting Actor in “The Big Knife.” Some nice nominees: Keala Settle for “Hands on A Hardbody,” and both Shalita Grant and Billy Magnussen for “Vanya and Sasha and Masha and Spike.” A little sad for Sigourney Weaver, who got caught in the spirit of the anti-Hollywood wave. She’s great in “Vanya,” but she’s the only main player not to [...]

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Tony Awards Announce Eligibility: They’re Giving the Matilda’s A Special Award

Roger Friedman — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:44:26 +0000

The Tony Awards committee has met. White smoke has come up out of their tower. And now we know a few things we didn’t before. Namely: the four young actresses who alternate as the main character in “Matilda” are going to bypass the nominations process and receive a special award. No fuss, no muss. That certainly sounds like “Matilda” is already on the Tony committee’s mind for lots of awards. Well, the girls are very good. So why not? The committee just discussed 18 productions. They are: Ann; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; Breakfast at Tiffany’s; Hands on a Hardbody; Lucky Guy; Kinky Boots; Matilda The Musical; Motown The Musical; The Nance; The Big Knife; The Assembled Parties; Jekyll & Hyde; Orphans; Macbeth; The Testament of Mary; The Trip to Bountiful; I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers and Pippin. Other shows that had opened earliert were already set up. One of the determinations is surprising. Kristine Nielsen, so good in “Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike” will go into Lead Actress, not supporting. Listen [...]

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“Pippin” Ends Broadway’s Tony Season, And Several Stars Are Born

Roger Friedman — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 04:25:48 +0000

“Pippin” was not such a great show back in 1972. Ben Vereen was terrific and the music and dance were always outstanding. But the show never came together. The story was weak. Forty one years later, “Pippin” is back. Ben Vereen was front and center last night to watch Patina Miller take his place as the Leading Player, the circus barker under the big tent. Diane Paulus has turned “Pippin” into the Big Apple Circus mixed with Cirque du Solei and finished with The Box, the raunchy burlesque club downtown (her husband is an owner). And it works! “Pippin” is poppin’. It’s better than ever now that it’s been given a reason to exist. And stars are born. Of course, the best star is already a Tony winner. Andrea Martin, famous for Second City TV, won a statue for “Young Frankenstein.” She has a habit of stealing shows. In “Pippin” she plays the grandmother. She stopped the show last night when, at age 66, she performs Cirque du Soleil like acrobatics with a net or a wire, looking fit as [...]

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Bette Midler On Broadway: A List Hollywood Comes East to Support One of Its Own

Roger Friedman — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:46:25 +0000

Hollywood came east last night and mixed with Broadway—a not always easy alliance. But they did it for their late pal Sue Mengers, and star Bette Midler who uncannily channels Mengers in a 90 minute one act monologue called “I’ll Eat You Last.” And what a group: everyone from Ali McGraw, Ryan O’Neal and Alana Stewart to Anjelica Huston and actor nephew Jack Huston, Marlo Thomas, Mitch Glazer and Kelly Lynch, not to mention newer stars like Mad Men’s Jon Hamm with Jennifer Westfeldt, plus Sandy Gallin, Susan Sarandon, Glenn Close and Sting. Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter held court later at the Russian Tea Room, where Midler was bowled over by Mengers’ good friends like super agent Boaty Boatwright and Broadway producer Francine LeFrak. The most unusual ticket holder: New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley, who never attends opening nights. But he had a rave review ready to go in the paper, and was greeted warmly by the show’s producers. One person who wasn’t there, and maybe should have been: Barbra Streisand. In a supreme irony, Streisand had [...]

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How Old Is Cicely Tyson? A Real Mystery Exists. Is She “Benjamin Button”?

Roger Friedman — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:30:42 +0000

How old is Cicely Tyson really? Her official age on the imdb.com and other sources puts her at 79. That would seem about right. An article from People magazine’s archives, published in 1974 when she was nominated for an Oscar for “Sounder,” would seem to agree. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20064128,00.html But today’s New York Times says she’s 88 years old. A publicist for “The Trip to Bountiful” tells me: “She doesn’t dispute it.” At the premiere last night, another sider said the cast of the play asked her, and again, she didn’t quarrel with 88. The publicist said that both the Times and CBS had done comparisons, looking at old stories to figure it out. I looked at this woman up close last night under photographers’ bright lights. If she’s 88, I want the name and number of everyone involved. She’s discovered the fountain of youth. So which is it? Seventy nine or eighty eight? I checked with some databases today that are based on census and tax records. I was convinced I would come up with 70. And lo and behold, I’m [...]

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Cicely Tyson, Age 79 (or 88), Rocks Broadway, in Return After 30 Years

Roger Friedman — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:40:56 +0000

There are a lot of good actors onstage at the Sondheim Theater in the revival of Horton Foote’s “Trip to Bountiful.” Cuba Gooding Jr., Vanessa Williams, Tom Wopat, Condola Rashad– all excellent. But let’s face it, the story is about Cicely Tyson. She’s either 79 (likely) or 88 (not possible) and hasn’t been on Broadway in thirty years. She picks up the role of Carrie Watts– for which Geraldine Page won an Oscar in the 1980s, and Lois Smith got accolades seven years ago on Broadway– and marches away with it like it was nothing. Tyson is on stage in almost every scene for two hours. At one point she’s supposed to be sleeping on a bench in a train station. She never shows fatigue. Her stamina and enthusiasm are unceasing. Think she won’t win the Tony Award for Best Actress? The standing ovation in Radio City Music Hall has already begun. How does she do it? At the after party last night at the “Copacabana” (I used quotes because the real Copa is long gone; this is just a [...]

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First Theater Noms: Tom Hanks is In, Alec Baldwin and Scarlett Johansson Are Not

Roger Friedman — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:11:01 +0000

The first important theater nominations are out, from the hard working Outer Critics Circle. They cover Broadway and off Broadway, so it’s pretty comprehensive. The OCC didn’t nominate Hollywood stars Alec Baldwin and Scarlett Johansson, the revival of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, or Motown. But they were fairly discerning in everything. I’m glad to see they liked Tom Hanks and “Lucky Guy,” really went for “Vanya Sonia,” and nominated a mother and daughter– Vanessa Redgrave and Joely Richardson– each for Best Actress in a Play. I was also happy to see two of my favorite performers, Keala Settle (Hands on a Hard Body) and Richard Kind (The Big Knife) got nods. The awards will be handed out May 23rd at Sardi’s. Outstanding New Broadway Play Grace Lucky Guy The Nance The Testament of Mary Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Outstanding New Broadway Musical Chaplin A Christmas Story, The Musical Hands on a Hardbody Kinky Boots Matilda Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play Bad Jews Cock My Name is Asher Lev Really Really The Whale Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical February House Dogfight [...]

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