Most Anticipated Shows of Spring 2015

After a fall filled with star-studded plays and nary a new musical in sight (save The Last Ship), this upcoming spring on Broadway is practically overflowing with productions of all shapes and sizes. Things just keep getting added to the calendar, with the Kennedy Center's revamped revival of Gigi having just announced its impending transfer for this coming March. If anyone has any doubts about the health of the theatre industry, the fact 19 productions (20 if you count each part of the Wolf Hall double bill separately) are scheduled to open in the next 4 months shows there are plenty of shows waiting for their chance in the spotlight. And while all are exciting in their own way, here are the ones I'm most looking forward to:

The King and I

The key art for Lincoln Center's The King and I clearly evokes the same feel as the poster for their smash hit, critically acclaimed South Pacific. Coincidence? I think not.

Lincoln Center Theatre's upcoming revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I has me in a tizzy for several reasons. First and foremost, this revival marks the latest leading lady role for the positively sublime Kelli O'Hara, who at this point is second only to Audra McDonald in my personal pantheon of Broadway divas. She reteams with director Bartlett Sher, who helped shape her revelatory performances in South Pacific and The Bridges of Madison County. And like the aforementioned South Pacific, I fully expect Lincoln Center to pour every cent they have into what will surely be one of the most lavish physical productions in years, the mere thought of which has me giddy. Will this year be the one where O'Hara FINALLY wins her long overdue Tony Award? I can't say (only hope), but no matter what I'm sure O'Hara will be perfection in this. I've already got my tickets!

On the Twentieth Century

Roundabout continues its recent tradition of really unfortunate key art; Kristin Chenoweth is virtually unrecognizable despite being this revival's main attraction.

Like many theatregoers, I'm primarily looking forward to this Roundabout revival because it marks Kristin Chenoweth's first Broadway appearance in 5 years. Her last stint on the Great White Way was the horrendous Promises, Promises, a production that wasted Chenoweth's talents and ranks as one of the most frustrating shows I've ever experienced. But her performance in the original cast of Wicked remains a personal favorite, and as her extensive concert work proves Chenoweth is blessed with a formidable voice that can be light as air or shake the rafters. Chenoweth is in danger of becoming a caricature of herself, but this production should bring her back to her musical comedy roots in a role originated by the late, great Madeline Khan. Chenoweth has spoken about her desire to star in the show for years, and seeing a performer tackle a dream role is generally something worth experiencing, which makes me cautiously optimistic for her highly anticipated return.

The Heidi Chronicles

See Roundabout? Sometimes a simple high quality photo is all you need.

I'll admit to being entirely unfamiliar with Wendy Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize winning play, which put the pioneering playwright on the map; I don't even know the general premise beyond "career woman lives through 3 decades of feminism." But in a landscape dominated by celebrity fronted revivals of Great American Dramas that often feel dusty and dated, its nice to see someone tackle a play that isn't older than the average audience member. As a huge fan of Elisabeth Moss' sterling work on TV's Mad Men, I'm excited to see her make her Broadway debut in a female authored, female directed play about women's issues (a woefully underrepresented viewpoint). Moss may not have the same star power as a Hugh Jackman or Bradley Cooper, but she's every bit as good an actor, and I look forward to seeing her tackle this decades-spanning comedic drama.

An American in Paris

Robert Fairchild and Leanne Cope in the pre-Broadway tryout of An American in Paris.

There are some that question whether Broadway is big enough for this stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning film and the similarly dance-heavy On the Town. To these people I say "shut up," because there has been an alarming lack of high level dancing on Broadway in recent seasons. On the Town proved what a shame that is, with a stage full of carefully rehearsed dancers proving just as thrilling as any falling chandelier or flying magic carpet. Yes, this hybrid musical padded out with Gershwin trunk songs will see yet another permutation of "I've Got Rhythm," but considering the song's potential as a showstopper I'll give the creative team a pass. (This will also tide me over until we finally get that Crazy for You revival I've been hoping for). A runaway hit in Paris, I think this American could wind up being one of the highlights of the spring season.

Hand to God

Obie Award winner Stephen Boyer (right) and his foul-mouthed hand puppet Tyrone are just waiting to take Broadway by storm.

This little play that could is coming to the big leagues after critically acclaimed Off-Off-Broadway and Off-Broadway runs. A self-described "hilarious and provocative" dark comedy, the show is about a teen who joins the Christian Puppet Ministry only to have his hand puppet Tyrone take on a vulgar, dangerously irreverent personality seemingly all its own. Foul-mouthed puppets can be comedic gold (Avenue Q continues to run Off-Broadway, even though most predicted it would struggle to last one season back in the early 2000s), and both Hand to God's synopsis and snarky, tongue in cheek marketing campaign have definitely piqued my interest. One can only see The Book of Mormon so many times, and Hand looks poised to strike a similarly comedic/satiric sensibility.

Fun Home

The three different Alisons of Fun Home in the musical's much lauded run at the Public Theatre last winter.

I'm still kicking myself that I didn't make the time to see this critically acclaimed musical during its extended Off-Broadway run back in 2013, so I'm especially excited it's being given a full scale Broadway production featuring almost the entire Off-Broadway cast. One of the rare musicals to make the short list for the Pulitzer Prize, the show is based on the graphic novel memoir of famed lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel, which explores her experience coming out and her relationship with her troubled father. Composer Jeanie Tesori hasn't always written my favorite musicals, but she has consistently written interesting ones, with her more dramatic works pushing the boundaries of what a modern musical can be. Fun Home sounds like the perfect opportunity to explore a host of timely LGBT issues from a perspective that is virtually non-existent in contemporary theatre. I expect this to be the critical darling of the spring season and a major competitor come Tony time.

The Visit

Living legend Chita Rivera can't be bothered during the Williamstown Theatre Festival's recent production of Kander & Ebb's The Visit.

One of the last collaborations between the legendary Kander and Ebb, The Visit sounds like just the kind of darkly theatrical show that has always been the pair's bread and butter. Crafted specifically as a starring vehicle for the incomparable Chita Rivera, it's a match made in theatrical heaven (both of Rivera's Tony Awards are for Kander and Ebb roles). Adding to the allure of this production is the fact it's being billed as the 82 year old Rivera's final Broadway appearance, and is therefore likely the last chance I'll ever have to see one of Broadway's all time great actresses in action. I doubt the show has many commercial prospects, so this is definitely one I plan on seeing sooner rather than later just in case its run is as criminally short as the pair's brilliant Scottsboro Boys.


The above list by no means represents all of the shows I'm interested in. I'm certainly curious to see how Doctor Zhivago turns out, but I'm concerned this sweeping literary adaptation will feel like a bygone relic of the 1980s. The insane amount of buzz around Something Rotten certainly demands a closer look, as word of mouth is so strong it convinced producers to skip a planned out of town tryout and open cold on Broadway. The musical's director Casey Nicholaw is one of the best around, but then again the equally talented Susan Stroman's equally buzzed about Bullets Over Broadway disappointed in the exact same theatre a year ago, so I have some reservations. And while I desperately want Finding Neverland to be good, the more I hear about it the more I think producer Harvey Weinstein will ruin it with his misguided, business-oriented meddling (in no universe is Matthew Morrison an improvement over Jeremy Jordan, in either talent or box office drawing power).

Be sure to keep checking this very blog throughout the coming months to see my reviews of the spring Broadway season, and of course my annual and exhaustive coverage of the Tony Awards (which is starting up sooner than you think).

Most Anticipated of Spring 2014

Idina Menzel and the cast of If/Then.  You just *know* she's belting her face off.

Now that we are officially in 2014, it is time to start looking forward rather than back (which I did in my two Best Of 2013 posts as well as my Worst Of list).  There are 20 new productions opening on Broadway this coming spring, and somewhat surprisingly they are evenly divided between plays and musicals.  Any new Broadway show is cause for celebration, but naturally there are some shows that I'm looking forward to more than others.  So here, in no particular order, are the productions I'm most excited to see in the coming months.

Aladdin

Full disclosure:  Aladdin has always been my favorite Disney film.  I have been hoping for a stage adaptation for the last 10 years, and I will finally get my wish when the show arrives on Broadway in March.  I'm not sure exactly how they'll translate the film's magic to the stage (the Genie's mile-a-minute dialogue and transformations seem like a particular challenge), but 16 years ago no one thought they could make The Lion King work and that show has gone on to gross $1 billion on Broadway alone.  I have full faith in the technical prowess Disney's money can buy, and I also have supreme confidence in the musical comedy chops of director Casey Nicholaw, whose work on The Book of Mormon remains the greatest example of sustained hilarity in the new millennium.  Final bit of disclosure: I bought my orchestra tickets to this show last month. :-D

The Bridges of Madison County

I have zero knowledge or particular interest in either The Bridges of Madison County novel or the film version starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.  But I do have extensive knowledge and admiration for the musical career of composer Jason Robert Brown, who is scoring the musical adaptation set to begin previews on Broadway in a couple of weeks.  Brown is one of the smartest pop-influenced composers working in the theatre, and I have no doubt his score will be a marvel to behold.  The fact that he has enlisted Kelli O'Hara to take on the lead female role makes the entire enterprise even more exciting, as she is one of the most gifted singing actresses of her generation.  Add in the fact that Tony-winner Barlett Sher is at the helm and has described the score as the best one he's ever worked with (remember the Sher introduced the world to Adam Guettel's rapturous Light in the Piazza) and you have the makings of a theatrical event.

If/Then

10 years after her Tony-winning turn in the smash-hit Wicked, Idina Menzel finally returns to the Broadway stage in If/Then.  That information alone would be enough to pique my interest; the fact that the show is written by Next to Normal's Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, who crafted one of the most fascinating musical dramas of the past decade and wrote an incredible diva role for eventual Tony-winner Alice Ripley, shoots this towards the top of my must see list.  Menzel has some able-bodied support in costars like LaChanze (whom I adored in The Color Purple) and fellow Rent alum Anthony Rapp, and the incredibly talented Michael Grief directing her.  All the ingredients for theatrical magic are there, and I cannot wait to see what this team has come up with.

Violet

Two words:  Sutton Foster.  Foster is one of the select few performers who can prompt me to buy a ticket based on her name alone, as she has never been anything less than stellar in every show I've been privileged enough to see her in (even when the actual shows left me cold, as was the case with Little Women).  She has one of the purest belts in the contemporary theatre, along with the acting chops and sheer charisma to hold your attention even when she isn't singing.  And while I know almost nothing about Violet, which had a very brief Off-Broadway run in the 1990s, everyone I know who has actually heard the music raves about it.  Composer Jeanine Tesori also has the distinction of having written Thoroughly Modern Millie, the show that shot Foster to stardom and her first Tony Award, so seeing the two reteam on this new project is doubly exciting.

Rocky

I am in no way, shape, or form convinced that this adaptation of the Oscar-winning film will actually work as a musical.  In fact, it could be a disaster of epic proportions.  But Stephen Flaherty and Lynne Ahrens wrote one of the greatest musicals of all time (if not THE greatest) in Ragtime, and the rest of their catalogue is equally lovely.  The pair are also famous perfectionists, constantly rewriting and revising their shows in an effort to make them as good as they can possibly be, so I have to believe that there was something about Rocky that drew them to the project.  Good or bad, I think Rocky will be one show the entire industry is talking about come spring, and I want to see it firsthand.  Whether I leave praising its triumphs or deconstructing its missteps remains to be seen.


I wish I could say I was excited about the plays that are opening this spring on Broadway, but the truth of the matter is none of them grab me the way the above musicals do.  Like everyone else, I was blown away by Bryan Cranston's performance on Breaking Bad, and I fully believe he will make an excellent stage actor, but the out-of-town reviews for All The Way were lukewarm (many critics felt the play was too long and unfocused).  I personally thought Denzel Washington was overrated in Fences a couple of seasons back, so the idea of him doing A Raisin in the Sun doesn't thrill me.  And while I find the idea of Debra Messing starring in a comedy by Pulitzer-winner John Patrick Shanely appealing, it isn't a must see for me.  I *am* excited to see Alan Cumming reprise his Emcee in the Roundabout's remounting of their Tony-winning Cabaret (since I missed it the first time around), but at the end of the day they are just dusting off a production from 15 years ago that may or may not still feel relevant.

What are you most looking forward to for the coming spring season?  Feel free to let me know in the comments.  And look for reviews of as many of the spring shows as I can get to in the coming months.

Podcast Episode 7: Spring Preview Part 2

Jared, Brian, and Christopher continue their discussion of this spring's upcoming Broadway productions, this time focusing on the musicals slated to hit the Great White Way in the coming months. Although at first glance it looks like slim pickings, a closer examination reveals a lot to get excited about. Which new show is the panel most excited about? Can Pippin continue Diane Paulus' Best Revival winning streak? Does anybody even remember that they're doing Pump Boys and Dinnettes?!?

Podcast Episode 6: Spring Preview, Part 1

Jared, Christopher and Brian get together to discuss this spring's upcoming Broadway shows. The first of this two part podcast centers on the plays, both new and old, scheduled to open on the Great White Way before April's Tony cutoff date. Revivals like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Picnic get discussed along with new works like The Nance and Lucky Guy. Find out what the panel thinks is worth checking out, and come back for the musical-centric part 2!

When It Rains, It Pours: Why the Glut of Spring Shows is Bad for Everyone

Peter and the Starcatchers, one of several Broadway shows I'd love to see but may not be able to this spring.

In another example of time flying, it is suddenly mid-March.  The days are getting longer, the temperature is getting warmer, and there are literally dozens of Broadway shows getting ready to vie for your hard-earned dollars in the coming weeks.  I’m already wondering how I will find the time and money to see even half of them, especially since limited runs and the uncertain nature of theatre reward seeing things sooner rather than later.  Wait too long, and that really good sounding show may not be around any longer.

This isn’t a surprise; it happens every year at this time.  And every year it sucks just as hard, because despite my best efforts I still do not have a stockpile of money secreted away that can finance almost-nightly excursions to Broadway.  In past seasons I’ve been able to make my peace with the process as an unfortunate fact of life, much like how I deal with paying taxes or the varied quality of SNL comedy sketches.  Yet this year, I find myself asking why it has to be like this, and thinking that there really is money to be made by bucking the trend.

Of course, I intellectually understand why the season always breaks down this way.  The Tony Awards, with their late April cut-off date and tendency to favor recent productions over those from earlier in the season (especially if said productions have since closed), are largely responsible for the glut of spring shows.  Although the financial gains from winning a boatload of Tonys is questionable, everyone still wants bragging rights, and I doubt winning the Tony has ever hurt a production.  The producers are also thinking about tourists, those strange creatures that comprise anywhere between half and two-thirds of any given audience, who are in short supply during the cold winter months but emerge from hibernation as the weather gets warmer.

But there is definitely a segment of the theatre-going population that is being hurt by this practice of cramming all Broadway openings into the months of March and April, and in my opinion it is a segment that is potentially lucrative.  You see, I love Broadway, and I am not the only New Yorker who does.  Since I live here, timing isn’t an issue for me, and I have braved the wind and snow to attend live theatre on many occasions.  If I could, I would go see everything.  But I am not made of money, and I do have a life with other obligations like a job, so I don’t have time to see 20-plus shows over the course of six weeks.  So every spring, there are shows I really would like to see – pay for, even! – that I don’t make it to because they close before I get the chance.

To put things into perspective, I would like to see twelve shows (Clybourne Park, Death of a Salesman, Evita, Ghost, The Best Man, Jesus Christ Superstar, Leap of Faith, Newsies, Nice Work if You Can Get It, Once, Peter and the Starcatcher, and The Lyons) slated to premiere between now and June.  Realistically, unless I discover the location of Scrooge McDuck’s Money Bin, I’ll only be able to afford tickets to maybe half of those.  But if they were more spread out throughout the year, I would happily attend all of them, even those that end up with mediocre reviews.  But under the current system, I have to prioritize, and the producers of half those shows will be out one paying customer.  If they simply spread out the openings, everyone would win.  I could go see all the shows, the producers would have more money, and they wouldn’t all be competing against one another for press time and advertising space.

Opening during a less crowded timeframe has definitely helped shows before.  Take last winter’s revival of The Importance of Being Earnest, a show nobody was particularly interested in seeing before it opened.  It opened in early January to minimal competition and surprisingly strong box office, which prompted its limited run to be by almost three months!  I guarantee you that wouldn’t have happened if it had opened in March or April.  While it was the only new show in town, theatre fans like me went to see it, enjoyed it, and told are friends to see it to, thereby increasing its weekly grosses.

Follies is another excellent example.  While legendary among theatre folk and a favorite of Sondheim fans, the show has hemorrhaged money during past Broadway runs due to its massive running costs and middling ticket sales.  Yet the latest revival opened in early September to incredibly strong box office, breaking $1 million in weekly grosses on a couple of occasions, something practically unheard of for any Sondheim show.  No, it still didn’t turn a profit, but it came closer than any other production of the show ever has (and if Evita hadn’t booted it from the Marquis Theatre it might still be running and have become profitable).  Again, I think the key is that the show opened during a dry period for Broadway musicals, and thereby attracted the attention of every New York theatre fan who was desperate for a new show after the summer drought.

Now obviously there are other factors at work besides just timing.  The two shows mentioned above were known properties, and both productions were also excellent, which despite what the cynics may say still counts for a lot in this business.  But I really think that more producers should experiment with opening their shows throughout the calendar year, rather than only during October-November and March-April.  Smaller shows without big stars and name recognition have a better chance of gaining traction when there’s less competition, because if you give the public a choice between Evita and a musical adaptation of an obscure Steve Martin film (i.e. Leap of Faith), they’re going to choose Evita.  Hell, I would, and I consider myself a champion of new musicals.  And if you’re trying to court tourist dollars, why is no one opening their shows in the summer, when there’s such an influx of visitors that you can’t walk two feet in Times Square without running into an entire platoon of them?

Maybe there are factors at work that I’m not aware of, but I think right now the biggest deterrent to this idea is tradition.  Just because a lot of big successes opened in the spring doesn’t mean every show that opens in the spring will do the same.   Because Wicked was going to turn into Wicked no matter when it opened (it premiered in late October, if you’re wondering), but your show may just stand a better chance at turning a profit if you open it in July when there’s less competition.

Where Have All The New Musicals Gone?

Elena Roger, if you're going to kick Follies out of the Marquis, you better be spectacular!

I know, I know.  It’s been a while since my last blog entry.  In my defense, I have been busy with work and starting rehearsals for my production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  Plus, the winter is traditionally a slow time on Broadway and since the holidays wrecked my bank account, I haven’t been able to afford as many shows as I’d like.

Right now, most industry folk are busily preparing for the spring onslaught of shows, looking ahead to the ever-nearing Tony madness to come.  Unfortunately, I have also looked ahead, and I don’t like what I see.  Hence, the topic of this blog entry: the dismal slate of new musicals on tap for the spring.

I can honestly say the musical I am most excited about this spring is the revival of Evita.  Which wouldn’t be that odd if: a) I didn’t despise almost everything Andrew Lloyd Webber has ever written; and b) I wasn’t such a staunch supporter of new work.  I’m one of the ten people who actually paid to see Lysistrata Jones, for crying out loud!  And I didn’t do it because of glowing word of mouth (everyone warned me it was bad), but because I wanted to see something new.  But even my love of the new can’t override my complete lack of enthusiasm for this spring’s shows.

Part of this is a matter of timing.  Last season was a particularly strong one for new musicals; one of the best in recent memory.  Some were good, some were bad, and a couple were flat out amazing, but almost all of them were *interesting* ideas that were inherently theatrical.  The same cannot be said of these upcoming shows, which means a fourth trip to The Book of Mormon is likely in order.

Exhibit A in “Ill-Advised Ideas” is Ghost: The Musical, a show whose producers are clearly desperate to make into the big hit of the spring.  To which I saw “bleh.”  First of all, I cannot think of a single instance in which a show subtitled The Musical has turned out to be any good.  And not only is Ghost: The Musical based on a film – which like it or not has replaced the book as the go-to source material for Broadway – but it is based on a film that doesn’t lend itself particularly well to musicalization.  And thanks to the copious amount of promotional film available from the London production, it looks like Ghost: The Musical has fallen into all of the traps awaiting a film-to-stage adaptation, including generic music, pretty but bland leads, and an overreliance on high tech scenery in a desperate attempt to replicate film’s ability to quick cut from location to location.  I’m looking forward to it about as much as I’m looking forward to my next dentist visit.

The show that seems to be generating the most industry excitement, at least among the 30 and under set, is the quickie transfer of Disney’s Newsies, also based on the film of the same name.  Now maybe I’m a bad music theatre nerd, but I have never seen said film in its entirety.  I saw about 20 minutes of it in high school with a group of friends who clearly *loved* it, and couldn’t quite discern what all the fuss was about.  I suspect that if I were to watch it from beginning to end, my opinion would coincide more with the critics who panned it upon its release than with my peers who consider it a treasured part of their childhood.  Add in the fact that the show exists solely because it was the most-inquired about Disney property among amateur theatre groups (meaning Disney expects to make a mint from licensing fees), and I become even warier of the show.  The only reason I haven’t completely written it off is that Disney swears Broadway wasn’t originally in the cards, and that popular demand and the encouraging reviews prompted the transfer.

A great deal of positive word of mouth has also accompanied Once (again based on a film).  Like Newsies, it is something of a cult hit among my generation, and its earlier production was well-enough received by critics and the public to prompt the Broadway transfer.  But while the Oscar-winning song “Falling Slowly” is hauntingly beautiful, the thought of two hours of similar singer/songwriter hipster bait makes me vaguely nauseous.  I’m very afraid that outside of an intimate Off-Broadway setting, the entire endeavor will come across as pretentious and more concerned with being “art” than being “entertaining,” which despite what most critics would have you believe are not mutually exclusive pursuits.

Finally, we have three accomplished Tony-nominees returning to Broadway in two dubious sounding vehicles.  Raul Esparza, an interesting actor who has made some dubious career choices, is back in yet another film adaptation, this one based on a 1992 movie I’ve never heard of called Leap of Faith.  Oscar-winner and reliable songsmith Alan Menken is providing the music, although his recent track record (Sister Act, The Little Mermaid) leaves me skittish about the quality of Faith, especially since he will be splitting his focus between it and Newsies.  And golden-voiced Kelli O’Hara returns with Tony-winner Matthew Broderick in the new-ish Gershwin musical Nice Work If You Can Get It, which is suspect due to its pseudo-jukebox nature (it is made up of Gershwin trunk songs with a new book).  This is the one I’m stubbornly hoping will turn out amazing, if for no other reason than it will help ease the disappointment that Nice Work effectively precludes any chance of the delightful Crazy for You getting revived in the near future.

Making matters even worse for me personally is the fact that two musicals originally scheduled for the spring that actually looked promising have been postponed until a later date.  The Susan Stroman-helmed adaptation of Big Fish may be based on a movie, but it is a movie with a particularly theatrical premise that would benefit strongly from Stroman’s imaginative staging and inventive choreography.  It was also supposed to star my TV boyfriend Michael C. Hall taking a needed break from slaying serial killers over on Showtime, which made it all the more appealing.  And while I was suspicious of its Germanic origins (Germany, let’s not forget, loves David Hasselhoff as a *singer* and has an inexplicable fascination with Starlight freakin’ Express), I thought Rebecca sounded intriguing.  The gothic-tinged novel(!) it’s based on easily lends itself to musicalization, and as an entirely character-driven piece I think it would adapt to the stage quite well.  Plus, announced star Sierra Borgess has a ridiculously pure soprano that deserves to sing something other than sappy Lloyd Webber ballads.

So while I will likely end up seeing most of these new musicals, I am most looking forward to hearing Elena Roger recklessly belt her way through “Buenos Aries” and “A New Argentina.”  And if I don’t understand a damn word she says, at least I can blame it on the fact that English is not her first language, an excuse unfortunately not applicable to the otherwise divine Patti LuPone J