Saturday, September 20, 2008

Theatrical comings and goings

I'm so sad that [title of show] will play its last performance on Oct. 12. Another one closes before I see it. I know a lot of people questioned whether it was too insidery to appeal to the Broadway tourist crowd. But from the clips I've watched, this little musical that could was a sweet story about chasing your dream, and it sounded like so much fun.

The Lyceum Theatre, where it's been playing, has 922 seats. I wonder if it would have had more of a chance for a longer run in a smaller theatre, like Circle in the Square, which only has 650 seats? Since it was only playing to 30 percent capacity, probably not.

Sigh. Why don't shows stay open until I have a chance to get to New York City? Is that too much to ask? Would it help if I had a couple million dollars to invest?

I watched an old episode of Theater Talk today with Patrick Stewart and Rupert Goold talking about last spring's production of Macbeth. A clip from the play confirmed how I felt about it: visually stunning but hard to figure out what was going on.

Listening to Goold, the play's director, and Stewart, who got a Tony nomination for the title role, actually made the play sound more interesting and accessible than watching it on stage. Maybe you have to be British and start reading Shakespeare in kindergarten to truly understand it?

More casting has been announced for the Manhattan Theatre Club's production of the comedy Accent on Youth, which begins previews on April 7. This is one I swear I will not miss. David Hyde Pierce, a Gratuitous Violins favorite, will portray a playwright who's about to abandon his latest script when his secretary offers him new inspiration.

He'll be joined by Charles Kimbrough - a Tony nominee for the original production of Company and an Emmy nominee for Murphy Brown - as the butler. I used to watch Murphy Brown all the time, but I have to admit, I don't remember Kimbrough from the show. Apparently he played stuffy anchorman Jim Dial. Maybe it's time for a little review?

Finally, thanks to The Homesteader for pointing me to this story from the Denver Post. The musical Little House on the Prairie, currently playing to packed audiences at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, will come to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts late next year, with Melissa Gilbert reprising her role as Caroline "Ma" Ingalls. The musical will stop in Denver from Dec. 22, 2009 to Jan. 3, 2010.

The producers had announced earlier that Little House would embark on a 40-city tour in the fall of 2009, but this is the first location I've read about. I'm a little surprised that Gilbert is touring, but good for her! She wasn't what I enjoyed most about the production, but it was nice to see her on stage.

4 comments:

Dale said...

I think you could solve the problem by simply packing up and moving to NYC Esther. I'll do it if you do it. This depends possibly on a large lottery win but I'm game if that happens! :-)

You don't remember Jim? Tsk tsk!

Esther said...

Oh Dale, if only I could! But what would Canada do without you? Not to mention Honeypot and Korean Bagel Lady!

They say short term memory is the first thing to go, but I think I'm losing short- and long-term memory! I need to go back and watch some Murphy Brown on dvd before I go see Accent on Youth. I'm sure it'll all come back to me.

Alicia said...

Sign the petition... You never know what the power of the masses can accomplish. :)

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/221/petition-to-get-title-of-show-on-ellen

Esther said...

Thanks, Alicia. I'll get on it! Although I think I'd have a better chance if I had, say, a couple million dollars to invest!