TheatreScene: March 28 - April 3

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WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK:
March 28: REVIEW: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
March 29: REVIEW: Priscilla Queen of the Desert
March 30: Masterpiece Theatre: Broadway Bares XXI and More Bares News
March 31: Poll Results: Merch Madness!
April 1: Mr. Broadway April 2011: Charlie Williams
April 2: REVIEW: Arcadia

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TOPS AND BOTTOMS (March 21 - 27)

• Top Gross: Wicked ($1.63M)
• Top Attendance: The Book of Mormon (101.9%)
• Bottom Gross: High (4 previews) $58K
• Bottom Attendance: Million Dollar Quartet (59.5%)
• $1M Club: Jersey Boys, The Lion King, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Wicked
• SRO Club: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Sister Act (3 previews), The Book of Mormon, War Horse, Wicked

BROADWAY BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK:

• March 28: Actor/Singer Reba McEntire (Annie Get Your Gun)
• March 29: Actor Megan Hilty (9 to 5: The Musical, Wicked)
• March 30: Actor John Astin (Original Cast - Threepenny Opera)
• March 31: Actor Shirley Jones (Original/Replacement - South Pacific, Maggie Flynn)
• April 1: Actor Debbie Reynolds (Irene, Woman of the Year)
• April 2: Actor Linda Hunt (Ah! Wilderness! (revival), End of the World)
• April 3: Actor David Hyde Pierce (Spamalot, Curtains)

BROADWAY IN PREVIEWS AND OPENING THIS WEEK

• Anything Goes: Previews – March 10; Opening - April 7
• Baby It’s You!: Previews - March 26; Opening - April 27
• Born Yesterday: Previews - March 31; Opening - April 24
• Catch Me If You Can: Previews – March 11; Opening - April 10
• High: Previews - March 25; Opening - April 19
• The House of Blue Leaves: Previews - April 4; Opening - April 25
• Jerusalem: Previews - April 2; Opening - April 21
• The Motherfucker with the Hat: Previews - March 15; Opening - April 11
• The People in the Picture: Previews - April 1; Opening - April 28
• Sister Act: Previews - March 24; Opening - April 20
• Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark: Previews - November 28, 2010; Opening – June 14
• War Horse: Previews - March 17; Opening - April 14
• Wonderland: Previews - March 21; Opening - April 17

COMINGS AND GOINGS
Casting:

• Luke McFarlane (TV’s Brothers and Sisters) and Patrick Breen (Next Fall) have joined the cast of The Normal Heart.

Brooke in Chicago...

• Brooke Shields will replace Bebe Neuwirth in The Addams Family starting June 28.

Shows:

• Looks like the In the Heights film isn’t going to happen - at least not with Universal Studios. It would be a shame to not have a film version of this great, upbeat show.
• Kathy Griffin will not get her wish: Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony has been deemed ineligible for that award by this year’s Tony Awards Committee.
• When The Phantom of the Opera hits the road again - you surely didn’t think it was over last October, did you? - it looks like it will get a staging re-do like the current North American tour of Les Miserables. I hope it is better than the Les Miz re-do, about which I’ve heard nothing positive.

Milestones:

• On March 30th, Broadway lights were dimmed to honor the late Lanford Wilson.

• The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown will be released on May 10, and will include the original opening of the show “My Crazy Heart.” This is cool for me, since that’s the opening I saw!
• On March 30th grandmothers from all over helped Grandma Addams celebrate her Sweet 116th birthday! You go, girl!

BROADWAY HISTORY: MAJOR OPENINGS OVER THE YEARS

March 29:

• 1951: The King and I, St. James Theatre, 1,246 performances.

March 30:

• 1970: Applause, Palace Theatre, 896 performances.
• 1980: Children of a Lesser God, Longacre Theatre, 887 performances.
• 1982: Agnes of God, Music Box Theatre, 599 performances.
• 2000: Contact, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, 1,010 performances.

March 31:

• 1945: The Glass Menagerie, Playhouse Theatre, 563 performances.
• 2005: Doubt, The Walter Kerr Theatre, 525 performances.

• 2009: Hair, The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, 519 performances.
• 2011: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo opened at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on March 31, 2011.

April 1:

• 2010: Red, John Golden Theatre, 101 performances.

April 3:

• 2008: South Pacific, Vivian Beaumont Theatre, 996 performances.

BROADWAY VIDEO OF THE WEEK 

A presentation by the Handspring Puppet Company, makers of the puppets used in War Horse.  This is fascinating.  A little creepy, but fascinating.

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Jeff