TheatreScene: March 14 - 20

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IN THIS MONTH'S NEW POLL (TO YOUR RIGHT)!
LIKE WHAT YOU SEE?  BECOME A 'FOLLOWER'!

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK:

• March 14: LOGOS: Catch Me If You Can
• March 15: Ms. Broadway March 2010: Julie Taymor
• March 16: Spider-Man, Mary Jane and Arachne Make Page Six
• March 17: BOOK REVIEW: At This Theatre (2010 Edition)
• March 18: Broadway on YouTube: 2 Star-Filled Shows
• March 19: LOGOS: Priscilla Queen of the Desert

TOPS AND BOTTOMS (March 7 - 13)

• Top Gross: Wicked ($1.5M)
• Top Attendance: The Book of Mormon (101.2%)
• Bottom Gross: Lombardi ($261K)
• Bottom Attendance: La Cage aux Folles (53.2%)
• $1M Club: Wicked, The Lion King, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
• SRO Club: The Book of Mormon, Wicked

BROADWAY BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK:

• March 14: Late Playwright Horton Foote (The Young Man from Atlanta, The Trip to Bountiful)
• March 15: Actor Judd Hirsch (I'm Not Rappaport, Art)
• March 16: Actor Victor Garber (original productions of Sweeney Todd, Lend Me a Tenor)

• March 17: Actor Gary Sinise (The Grapes of Wrath, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
• March 18: Actor Sutton Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Women, Anything Goes)
• March 19: Playwright Neil LaBute (Fat Pig, reasons to be pretty)
• March 20: Actor Chip Zien (The People in the Picture, Into the Woods - original)

IN MEMORIAM

• Beverly Randolph, who had a 30 year career as a Broadway stage manager, passed away on March 15 of cancer.  She stage managed some 20 Broadway productions, including the current run of The Addams Family.  Ms. Randolph worked with such directors as Harold Prince, Jerry Zaks and James Lapine, all of whom have been effusive in their praise and mourning of the loss.  Broadway lights were dimmed on March 16th in her honor.

Randolph (center( with jason Alexander

and Lonny Price at the Merrily We Roll Along runion.

She stage managed the original production.

• Probably best known as Alfred in the Batman movies, Michael Gough passed away at the age of 94 on March 17.  Gough won a 1979 Tony Award for his performance in Bedroom Farce, and was nominated in 1988 for his role in Breaking the Code.  His Broadway credits also include two plays in the 1950's.

BROADWAY IN PREVIEWS AND OPENING THIS WEEK:

• Anything Goes: Previews – March 10; Opening April 7
• Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo: Previews – March 11; Opening March 31
• The Book of Mormon: Previews - February 24; Opening - March 24
• Catch Me If You Can: Previews – March 11; Opening April 10
• Ghetto Klown: Previews - February 21; Opening - March 22
• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying: Previews - February 26; Opening - March 27
• The Motherfucker with the Hat: Previews - March 15; Opening - April 11
• Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark: Previews - November 28, 2010; Opening – June 14
• War Horse: Previews - March 17; Opening - April 14

COMINGS AND GOINGS
Shows:

• Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony closed March 19, after a limited engagement of 10 performances.
• Fat Pig will not open on Broadway until next season, due to lack of financing.  I really hope this show happens - the play is terrific.

Casting:

• Nancy Opel joined the cast of Memphis at the Shubert Theatre on March 15.  She replaced original cast member Cass Morgan in the role of Huey's mother.
• Judy Kaye is in; Betty Buckley is out.  Kaye will be part of the world premiere of the musical Tales of the City in San Francisco.

Recordings:

• Ghostlight Records will produce and distribute the Original Broadway Cast Recordings of The Book of Mormon and Catch Me If You Can, it was announced this week.  On March 15th they released the OBCR of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

BROADWAY-RELATED VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

This is the exact reason why Angela Lansbury was the superior Madame Armfeldt in the revival of A Little Night Music:

Comments?  leave one here, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me.

Jeff

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