Longest running (time) shows

It's fairly easy to find a list of the longest-running shows on Broadway but finding the shows with the longest running times is another matter.

I was thinking about it because of this story in the Washington Post about the musical Giant, currently in the midst of its world premiere at Virginia's Signature Theatre. The epic tale of a Texas cattle-ranching family, based on the novel by Edna Ferber, clocks in at four hours.

Okay, you may be muttering to yourself, "What difference does it make how long the show runs? The only thing that matters is whether it's any good." Good point. But I am kind of curious. Could a show that long be viable on Broadway today?

I think August: Osage County is the longest show I've seen, and at just under 3 1/2 hours the play didn't seem long at all. The 1999 Broadway revival of The Iceman Cometh, with Kevin Spacey, Paul Giamatti, Michael Emerson (Benjamin Linus from Lost!) and Tony Danza ran for 4 hours and 20 minutes. I'm sure I would have sat there riveted the entire time.

I tried to think of other epic and not-so-epic musicals. The running time for the recent Broadway revival of Les Miserables was 2 hours and 55 minutes. The Producers' running time was 2 hours and 50 minutes.

You can find the running times of most current Broadway shows here. (Not every one lists the information.) A few musicals, like Mary Poppins and Billy Elliot, clock in at at 2 hours and 45 minutes. South Pacific runs approximately 3 hours.

While I haven't heard any of Michael John LaChiusa's score, Vance, from Tapeworthy, raves about the musical. And I really like the 1956 movie version of Giant, which starred Rock Hudson, Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean. I'm also a big fan of sprawling epics and stories that span the generations.

Personally, I would definitely be psyched for a musical as big as Texas. Just make sure there are two Texas-sized bathroom breaks!

Who should host the Tonys?

Okay, it probably doesn't matter all that much who hosts the Tony Awards, which air at 8 p.m. June 7 on CBS. I figure if people are interested in the theatre and in Broadway, they'll watch the show. If they're not, they won't, regardless of who's hosting.

But hey, it's Tony season and the Los Angeles Times blog Culture Monster is engaging in a little fun speculation about who should host. I haven't seen many of the nominated performances this year, so I figure I need something to speculate about.

Some of the names on their wish list are clearly meant to be funny: hunky Cheyenne Jackson, hirsute Jack Black. (He did star in Prop. 8 - The Musical!) The fishy Jeremy Piven. Also, Will Ferrell, Nathan Lane, Jane Fonda and Michelle Obama.

And apparently the New York Post's Michael Riedel is pitching Dolly Parton. (He also has a funny column today on actors supposedly campaigning for the Tony. Really? I'm shocked, shocked.

I'd like to see the cute and talented Neil Patrick Harris. Or, someone in the comments suggested Daniel Radcliffe, to make up for his being snubbed in the Best Actor in a Play category for Equus. And what about Kevin Spacey? The Old Vic Theatre, where Kevin is artistic director, originally produced The Norman Conquests. He'd be great.

I guess former Tony and Oscar host Hugh Jackman is probably busy. Too bad. I wonder if anyone has ever hosted more than one major awards show in the same year?

Annie

Gratuitous Violins rating: ** out of ****

Annie is definitely a four-star show. The original Broadway production racked up a slew of Tony awards in 1977, including Best Musical, and I can see why. All of the elements that stood out for theatre audiences in the 1970s still stand out - the score, the book, the choreography.

Unfortunately, the touring production I saw with Steve on Broadway at the Providence Performing Arts Center didn't quite seem like a four-star show.

Part of it, as I said in my previous post, was the audience. It's hard to enjoy the action onstage when it's competing with squirming, restless children in front of you. With a different audience, Annie definitely would have received higher marks from me.

It's really a shame because there were so many things I loved about Annie.

I loved the way Thomas Meehan's book, based on the comic strip Little Orphan Annie, creates such larger-than-life characters: the sweet and spunky Annie, played by Madison Kerth, the mean orphanage matron Miss Hannigan, played by Lynn Andrews, and the brusque and preoccupied industrialist Oliver Warbucks, played by David Barton.

And Annie does a great job evoking the 1930s - from references to historical figures such as crime-fighter Elliot Ness to showing us a Hooverville - the shantytowns built by the homeless during the Great Depression. I loved the scene at the White House with Annie, President Roosevelt (played by Jeffrey B. Duncan) and his Cabinet. So that's how the New Deal was created. Who knew?!

Plus, the score, by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin, is incredibly catchy. I can't even think about Annie without starting to sing "Tomorrow, tomorrow!"

And the songs fit the story so well, like the homeless people living under the Brooklyn Bridge facetiously singing "We'd Like to Thank You Herbert Hoover." (Which reminded me of the striking British coal miners in Billy Elliot singing "Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher.")

Peter Gennaro's choreography, re-created for the tour by his daughter Liza Gennaro, is just wonderful. How can you not feel for those bedraggled little girls scrubbing the floors of their orphanage in sync to the tune of "It's the Hard-Knock Life?"

Also, this was my first time seeing a dog on stage. (I missed Legally Blonde). I started smiling as soon as I saw Sandy, played by an adorable pooch named Mikey. I don't know what it was or why, but I was captivated. All I could think was, awww!

Still, as much as I enjoyed the story and the music and the choreography, the performances didn't really grab me. Yes, the orphans were cute but with the exception of Andrews as Miss Hannigan, the main characters seemed kind of bland and lacked pizazz, something that would have made them truly memorable.

But I definitely got a great sense of why Annie thrilled my friend Steve when he saw the musical during a high school trip to London 30 years ago. Annie set him on the course of a lifetime of theatergoing and I'm so glad it did.

Taking children to the theatre

Maybe because it was my birthday weekend and because I was sitting next to Steve on Broadway and I knew what a key role the musical Annie played in spurring his love of theatre, I wanted everything to be perfect at the Saturday matinee we attended.

Well, apparently not everyone at the Providence Performing Arts Center got the message.

I've sat through shows before with talkative adults and squirming children but this was without a doubt the worst theatre audience I've ever been in. (The child at the top is used only for illustrative purposes. As far as I know, she was not in the audience.)

The two adorable little girls in front of me, who couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 years old, spent most of the show standing up in their seats and climbing over their mother until I think they collapsed from exhaustion. (Their father, at least I think it was their father, seemed pretty oblivious to his daughters' inability to sit still.)

I don't blame the kids - they were much too young to be there. I saw many other very young children being carried out of the theatre by their parents. Rest assured, if I'd been disruptive in public as a child, my parents would have taken me out of there, too.

At the end of our row there was an older child who every so often would shout something so loudly everyone in the theatre could hear. I think the child had Down Syndrome or another mental disability, so I don't want to be insensitive. I'm not saying people with disabilities should stay home. But perhaps Annie wasn't the right show for this person.

I know what you're thinking: "Esther, what did you expect at the Saturday matinee of a children's show?"

Parents, despite the way Annie is marketed as "a delightful theatrical experience for the entire family" it is not a musical for children under age 5.

It says right on the PPAC Web site that the running time is 2 hours and 30 minutes, including an intermission. It is simply too long and there is not enough action on the stage at all times to engage very young children. (Interestingly, neither the PPAC site nor the tour Web site have a suggested age for the show.)

I know every child has a different attention span. I've been in audiences at Mary Poppins and The Lion King where young children did fine. There were kids in this audience who were fine. But this is something parents have to figure out before they plop down their hard-earned money for tickets.

If you're unsure whether your children have the necessary attention level, pop a 2 1/2-hour movie in the dvd player and see how they do.

Don't get me wrong, I want children to go to the theatre and fall in love with it. I want their first Broadway musical to be a thrilling, enchanting, memorable experience. But it's got to be the right show at the right time.

If your children cannot sit still and remain quiet and focused on the action onstage, please do not bring them to a 2 1/2-hour musical. You are wasting your money, your children will never remember the experience and you're ruining the show for everyone around you. Wait a few years.

In the meantime, take them to Dora the Explorer instead.

A very special theatrical event

You didn't hear Cynthia Nixon or Lin-Manuel Miranda announce this Tony nomination but if it were up to me the award for Best Special Theatrical Event of 2009 would go my surprise birthday party weekend!

Produced, directed and costarring the very talented Steve on Broadway, it also starred Chris, Kari, Sarah and Roxie. They were all wonderful! Plus, there were cameos from Angela Lansbury, Renee Fleming, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter and Dame Judi Dench.

And what magnificent sets - from the marble corridors of power to the glitz of a 1930s movie palace, from the gritty streets of an urban neighborhood that drew Italian immigrants seeking the American Dream to the opulent mansions of the Gilded Age where millionaire industrialists and their families whiled away the summer.

Really, it had everything I love about live theatre - it took me to places I'd never been before, there were plot twists I never imagined, moments of laughter and tears (of joy), an abundance of witty banter and an absolutely perfect ending. I wish it could have run forever.

To everyone who made the weekend possible, "Bravo!" Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for the best birthday celebration I've ever had. Please come back soon. It's never too early for a revival!

2009 Tony nominations

The 2009 Tony nominations were announced this morning at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

It's kind of hard for me to comment too much because I haven't seen anything that opened this spring. But I am a little surprised that 9 to 5 didn't get a nod for Best Musical, although Dolly Parton did get nominated for her score.

Also, as expected, lots of love for Billy Elliot. I am a little disappointed that 13, a musical I liked a whole lot more than Shrek, got left out completely.

I loved Raul Esparza's performance in Speed-the-Plow and wow, it's gotta be tough for him, nominated for a third year in a row and still waiting for his first Tony. This year he's up against some pretty tough competition. Poor Raul!

The Tonys will be handed out on June 7. Here's the list of nominees, from Playbill:

Best Play
Dividing the Estate
Author: Horton Foote

God of Carnage
Author: Yasmina Reza

Reasons to Be Pretty
Author: Neil LaBute

33 Variations
Author: Moises Kaufman

Best Musical

Billy Elliot, The Musical

Next to Normal

Rock of Ages

Shrek The Musical

Best Book of a Musical

Billy Elliot, The Musical
Lee Hall

Next to Normal
Brian Yorkey
Shrek The Musical
David Lindsay-Abaire
[Title of Show]
Hunter Bell

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Billy Elliot, The Musical
Music: Elton John
Lyrics: Lee Hall

Next to Normal
Music: Tom KittLyrics: Brian Yorkey

9 to 5: The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Dolly Parton

Shrek The Musical
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire

Best Revival of a Play

Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Mary Stuart

The Norman Conquests

Waiting for Godot

Best Revival of a Musical

Guys and Dolls

Hair

Pal Joey

West Side Story

Best Special Theatrical Event

Liza's at The Palace

Slava's Snowshow

Soul of Shaolin

You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Jeff Daniels, God of Carnage
Raúl Esparza, Speed-the-Plow
James Gandolfini, God of Carnage
Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King
Thomas Sadoski, Reasons to Be Pretty

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Hope Davis, God of Carnage
Jane Fonda, 33 Variations
Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage
Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart
Harriet Walter, Mary Stuart

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish ‚ Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gavin Creel, Hair
Brian d'Arcy James, Shrek The Musical
Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages
J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Stockard Channing, Pal Joey
Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical
Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical
Alice Ripley, Next to Normal
Josefina Scaglione, West Side Story

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

John Glover, Waiting for Godot
Zach Grenier, 33 Variations
Stephen Mangan, The Norman Conquests
Paul Ritter, The Norman Conquests
Roger Robinson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Hallie Foote, Dividing the Estate
Jessica Hynes, The Norman Conquests
Marin Ireland, Reasons to Be Pretty
Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit
Amanda Root, The Norman Conquests

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

David Bologna, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5: The Musical
Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical
Will Swenson, Hair

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal
Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Karen Olivo, West Side Story
Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey
Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Dale Ferguson, Exit the King
Rob Howell, The Norman Conquests
Derek McLane, 33 Variations
Michael Yeargan, Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Robert Brill, Guys and Dolls
Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Scott Pask, Pal Joey
Mark Wendland, Next to Normal

Best Costume Design of a Play

Dale Ferguson, Exit the King
Jane Greenwood, Waiting for Godot
Martin Pakledinaz, Blithe Spirit
Anthony Ward, Mary Stuart

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregory Gale, Rock of Ages
Nicky Gillibrand, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical
Michael McDonald, Hair

Best Lighting Design of a Play

David Hersey, Equus
David Lander, 33 Variations
Brian MacDevitt, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Hugh Vanstone, Mary Stuart

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, Hair
Kevin Adams, Next to Normal
Howell Binkley, West Side Story
Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Play

Paul Arditti, Mary Stuart
Gregory Clarke, Equus
Russell Goldsmith, Exit the King
Scott Lehrer and Leon Rothenberg, Joe Turner's Come and Gone

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Acme Sound Partners, Hair
Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Peter Hylenski, Rock of Ages
Brian Ronan, Next to Normal

Best Direction of a Play

Phyllida Lloyd, Mary Stuart
Bartlett Sher, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Matthew Warchus, God of Carnage
Matthew Warchus, The Norman Conquests

Best Direction of a Musical

Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Greif, Next to Normal
Kristin Hanggi, Rock of Ages
Diane Paulus, Hair

Best Choreography

Karole Armitage, Hair
Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical
Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin's White Christmas

Best Orchestrations

Larry Blank, Irving Berlin's White Christmas
Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal
Danny Troob and John Clancy, Shrek The Musical

PBS to air Passing Strange

Fans of Passing Strange who can't get to New York City this weekend will have to wait a bit before watching the film of the 2008 Broadway musical.

PBS has acquired the rights to Spike Lee's film and plans to show it in 2010 as part of the Great Performances series. But this Variety story says the producers are exploring a limited theatrical release in late summer or early fall.

Lee has been making the rounds of the festivals with his movie. Earlier this year, Passing Strange was shown at Sundance and tomorrow, it's being screened in New York as part of the Tribeca Film Festival.

At Sundance, the movie garnered a pretty enthusiastic review from film.com:

"Spike used 14 cameras at once to capture the action like it's never been done before. Amazingly, you never see a camera you weren't meant to see. Intimate shots were gathered in gorgeous high-definition over the course of three shows and seamlessly edited together. It's a technological triumph as well as an artistic one."

While I'm glad someone bought the rights, I'm a little disappointed that Passing Strange won't get a big theatrical release. Even though it's a fairly intimate show, I'd still rather see this rock concert/coming of age story at my local multiplex, larger than life.