#TBT: OBCR: Finding Neverland

The Peter Pan story resonates with me much like Harry Potter resonates with the generations after mine (for the record, I love Harry Potter). And the Peter Pan story has come in many forms, from Disney to Hook to Peter and the Star Catcher to the sweet film Finding Neverland. So, when the stage version came to be, I was very excited to see it. Early reports were negative - plus a lot of grousing over the recasting of Jeremy Jordan to Matthew Morrison - but that didn't squash my enthusiasm. I have long since gotten past letting public sentiment determine how much I will like a show. And I saw the show during late previews, so I assume it was close to, if not already, set.

Well, I loved it. As much, if not more than the film. The creative staging by Diane Paulus and the fanciful Broadway meets modern/jazz choreography by Mia Michaels activated my imagination as any good spin on Peter Pan should. I remember vividly the theatricality "Circus In Your Mind" and the delightfully crazy dancing and sliding around the floor during "We Own the Night." Nothing prepared me for the visually stunning/emotionally devastating final scene. I gasped and sobbed. I was not alone.

So how is the cast recording? I love it as much as I do the show itself. The score, by Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy, is delightful from start to finish. I particularly enjoy the homage to the Broadway musical version of Peter Pan in the tarantella-esque style of the songs for Frohman/Captain Hook (Kelsey Grammer, in fine, bellowing voice), and the playful tones for the songs for the children. The ballads of both hope and despair for Sylvia (sung beautifully by Laura Michelle Kelly) are designed perfectly for full emotional impact, even by just listening to them. And the songs for J.M. Barrie run the gamut from emotional ballads to jaunty tunes of fancy mirroring the character's evolution. Matthew Morrison is ideally suited to the score - he has the pipes for such range. That said, I wish I had had the opportunity to hear what Jeremy Jordan sounded like. (Here, as in the theater, I wish Carolee Carmello had more to do.) My favorite numbers include "Believe," "We Own the Night," "Sylvia's Lullaby," "Circus of Your Mind," (great effects!), and "Stronger." Those are all in act one. I love pretty much every single track from act two.

The CD booklet is also first rate. Includes liner notes from Diane Paulus, Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy, and a full synopsis. There are full credits and lyrics, and more than a dozen full color production photos. I suggest giving this another listen. There is a lot to take in; the more you hear it, the richer the experience.

Grade: A+

Fun Facts about Finding Neverland...

• The original production played 33 previews and 565 performances, opening April 15, 2015 and closing on August 21, 2016 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
• Actor Bryan Cranston was a principal producer of both the Broadway production and the National Tour.
• Kelsey Grammer fulfilled his six month contract in two parts: opening the show and staying for three and a half months, then returning for an additional two and a half months later in the run.
• One of Carolee Carmello's replacements, legendary star Sandy Duncan, was with the show for four days. Days.
• The show's original "Peter Pan" was played by So You Think You Can Dance champion Melanie Moore. Her replacement was Amy Yakima, another SYTYCD champion.
• On Broadway, Porthos was played by a real dog named Jack. Pre-Broadway, Porthos was played by a human named by Thayne Jasperson. You may remember him from Newsies and Hamilton...
• The score was the first (and to date the only) for Brits Gary Barlow and Eliot Kennedy. Barlow was one the lead singer of the pop group Take That, while Kennedy has written songs with/for such pop stars as Bryan Adams and The Spice Girls.
• Finding Neverland received 0 Tony Award nominations.

📸: C. Rosegg
#2189

When the Show Goes On, But the Star Doesn't

Recently, fellow blogger and friend, Esther of Gratuitous Violins, posted a blog (click here to read her full explanation, and several responses) explaining her disappointment in a system where she found out well in advance that Kelsey Grammer would be out of La Cage aux Folles the night she would be attending, and was not informed of such by Telecharge. I will leave it to you to read her blog, but I thought I’d talk a bit about that subject here.

It is always a risk, of course, with live theatre that the cast members may, for whatever reason, be out for a given performance. It is particularly regrettable when the performance has been critically acclaimed and/or award-winning. And it is even worse when it is someone of a certain status that would make missing said actor a long-term disappointment. No offense to their understudies, but I’d feel extremely disappointed if Angela Lansbury or Bernadette Peters or Patti LuPone were out when I had a ticket. So I can totally understand Esther’s disappointment about Mr. Grammer (especially since I think his is the performance that makes the show, not the odd Douglas Hodge, who only impresses me in Act Two).

All of that said, I have over the years encountered the upset of understudies, and so far, I haven’t been disappointed, and in most cases leave the theatre thinking, “is so-and-so really that much better?”, and in one case, I actually preferred the understudy.

In previous blogs I’ve mentioned some of these folks, so please forgive the repetition!

I have managed to miss Gavin Creel in both shows I went to see him in specifically! That’s right, I saw his understudy - a young guy named Brandon Wardell - in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Mr. Wardell was terrific. But my most pleasant surprise was during one of the first previews of Hair, when his understudy took the stage for the very first time - and apparently before he ever had a put-in rehearsal. That young man, Jay Armstrong Johnson, was superb. Do I regret missing Creel’s Tony-nominated performance? Sure. But I am really glad I saw this great new talent, and with a cast extra energized and pulling for him!

Alice Ripley in a Hollywood revival of Tommy, as Mrs. Walker

Back in the 90’s, shortly after it opened, Marcia Mitzman began to miss performances in The Who’s Tommy. The matinee I attended was one of them, and the understudy was so new to it that they had to hand us slips with her name on them; they weren’t even inserted in the Playbill! Sure, she seemed a touch young for the part to look at her, but the minute she opened her mouth, she WAS Mrs. Walker! Her name was Alice Ripley and the rest is history.

Interestingly, this past year, I went to the city to specifically see Kyle Dean Massey in next to normal, who at that point, was just a temporary replacement for Aaron Tveit, so the urgency was there. It turned out even better than I thought, though, when I saw that Alice Ripley would be out and Jessica Phillips (left) would be on. I was crushed, as I loved Ripley’s performance. So I texted a good friend and complained, and he convinced me to stay, reminding me that Ms. Phillips could turn out to be a great new discovery, and that they wouldn’t hire just anyone to cover a Tony-winner. And besides, I was there for Mr. Massey. So I sucked it up and went in. I’ve never been so glad I stuck with it. Ms. Phillips was mesmerizing, and played the role so well and so differently. I was moved, as with Alice, but in a much different way. I got to meet her after the show, and I told her how glad I was to have seen her. The look on her face made it all worth it.

Esther is going to see Christopher Hoch (at the top of this blog) as Georges in La Cage, and he was another of my understudy “finds.” I am a huge Christopher Sieber fan - I’ve never missed a show he was in, until this one. And aside from really wanting to see Sutton Foster in Shrek: The Musical, Mr. Sieber was the draw for me. So, I was terribly disappointed to find that nasty little white square of paper in my Playbill announcing that “at this performance…” Sieber was out and Hoch was in. You know what? He is a great actor/singer! And the audience ate him up. Glad I saw him, too!

And so, the show must go on, even if the star doesn’t. Most of the time, it has been a great experience for this theatre-goer.

 
 
Comments?  Leave one here or email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com.

Jeff

Bits and Pieces for 03.14.10

Two things, first!  One, did you remember to change your clocks?  Two, don't forget to vote in this month's poll!

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED THIS WEEK

• Find the Darkness Off-Broadway
• LOGOS: The Addams Family
• CD Review: Glory Days
• Broadway Crossword II, Part 2
• Family-Friendly: What is Broadway's Obligation?
• LOGOS: Million Dollar Quartet

TWO 'ON THE RADAR' SHOWS HAVE BROADWAY FUTURES

Looks like both Bonnie and Clyde and The Scottsboro Boys, both of which were featured in "On the Radar" blogs (click above for more), have their eye on the Broadway prize.

Before it even opened, The Scottsboro Boys was generating a ton of buzz and got an extension before it even opened.  It was praised by all of the critics, except notably, La Brantley of The New York Times.  Tongues are a-wagging now, folks... can this controversial show make the trip uptown without the blessing of one newspaper?  If it does, just much power does it still have?  (Not as much as they think it does is my bet...)

And earlier this week, Frank Wildhorn, composer of Bonnie and Clyde, announced the future of that show.  Looks like it will play in Florida, pre-Broadway.  But not before there is a talent search for new leads.  Apparently, original leads Laura Osnes  and Stark Sands are otherwise engaged, she with the remainder of the South Pacific run, and he with the impending opening of American Idiot. 

Best of luck to everyone involved in all of those shows!

HARD TO SAY GOODBYE...

...but we must, to Kerry Butler and Tom Lenk, who depart Rock of Ages (it's still running...).  Emily Padgett (long time understudy in the role, and cutie Cody Green's girlfriend) will play Sherrie, while Derek St. Pierre will play Franz.  When does Constantine Maroulis go?

...but we must, to the original revival tribe of Hair, most of whom are London-bound to "let the sunshine in" on the West End.

...but we must, to the National Tours of The Phantom of the Opera and Spring Awakening.  The former will close this September, the latter at the end of May.  Not to worry, fans of both.  Looks like Love Never Dies will make Phantom look like a masterpiece, and add years to the Broadway run.  And Guilty Ones, as soon as the Equity tour closes, a new non-Equity Awakening will start, just in time for you to get your blogs and facebooks and whatever else ready and re-set to talk about who is the best ever Melchior and Moritz... (it will always be Jonathan Groff and John Gallagher, Jr.)

...but we must, to Rachel Evan Wood (or Evan Rachel Wood, depending on your source), who leaves Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark due to "scheduling conflicts."  Does that mean that if the show started previews last month like it was supposed to she's be dropping out of the show?  Or does that mean that the show will be even later than announced?  I wonder who will be left once the show actually starts?

BROADWAY BOYS IN TV PILOT

Looks like Broadway Hot Boys Cheyenne Jackson and Christopher Sieber are both cast in the TV pilot It Takes a Village, a comedy about all of the people who come together to raise a 15 year old boy.  Good luck with that, guys.  But don't forget us stage folk. ok?  Actually, the pilot only postpones by a few days the new musical which Siebert will star in, The Kid.  Maybe they can do both!  Maybe the show will be New York based...

  

SHOCKING (LOL) NEWS!

The producers and creatives of the Broadway-bound and London-snubbed Love Never Dies have officially announced that the show will "likely undergo some changes prior to its New York opening."  Likely?  DUH.  NOTE TO SELF:  Get tickets fast for previews!  This will either be a hot mess I won't want to miss or a miracle transformation I don't want to miss!

SHOCKING (KINDA) NEWS!

The lone reason I'm hesitant about the new revival of La Cage aux Folles has now become a reason that I'll need to see it twice!  In an amazing - in that why didn't anyone do this before kind of way - announcement, Kelsey Grammer tells the press that for the first 6 months, he'll play Georges, followed by 6 months as Albin/Zsa Zsa.  Now THAT I gotta see... of course, who knows if it'll make it that long...  and I nominate David Hyde Pierce as Georges.  At least we know they have chemistry!

FELA! IS GOING TO BE RECORDED

Fela! is getting a cast recording.  The only question is how much will media hogs above-the-title-in-huge-letters producers Will Smith and Jay-Z  have to say about it.  I mean, at least there both have some expertise to share.  I'm just saying...

BROADWAY BY THE NUMBERS

• 2: the number of different Playbills being distributed at All About Me.  One features Dame Edna, the other Michael Feinstein, but not both in either.  Collector alert! 
• 2: the number of rave reviews from The New York Times for Next Fall, which now looks like a shoo-in for a Best Play Tony nomination.
• 16: the number of additional performances (so far) added to the runs of off-Broadway's Yank!  and The Scottsboro Boys.

Broadway Birthdays Last Week:

• 3/7: Andy Blankenbeuhler
• 3/8: Lynne Redgrave
• 3/9: the late Raul Julia
• 3/10: David Rabe
• 3/11: John Barrowman (right)
• 3/12: Liza Minelli
• 3/13: Dana Delany

Comments?  Leave one here or email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com.
Jeff

UPDATE: Casting La Cage

Just when I was really settling into the obvious observation about the forthcoming Broadway revival of La Cage aux Folles: Why!?  There was just a revival of it and it FLOPPED, big time - 2005 Best Revival Tony or not.

And the addition of Kelsey Grammer as Georges (above, left) didn't really impress me, and I am still praying that he doesn't just do more "Frasier" here.  His name on the marquee of a Broadway theatre has yet to equal even a smidge of success.  I guess we will see.  And as great and awarded as the performance of Douglas Hodge (above, right) was in the London version, he isn't coming with the kind of buzz most London-to-we-gottta-have-him-on-Broadway-he's-so-good transfers have.  I mean everyone had heard of Michael Crawford's greatness in Phantom long before it got here.  Ditto Les Miz's Colm Wilkinson.  No, Hodge's arrival is more on par with Louise Pitre's in Mamma Mia!  Let's hope that he, like she, turns out to be a welcome addition to the Broadway family.

No, until today (I'm writing this on February 3), my chief interest in seeing this revival - aside from the need to see every new musical each year - was seeing how they strip down and "seedy up" a sweet Jerry Herman musical.  I mean what's next?  Dolly Levi chugging sliders at TGIFriday's?  But I digress.  Today, they announced most of the supporting cast, and when someone the caliber of Chris Hoch (FABULOUS as  inderstudy Lord Farquaard in Shrek) and Bill Nolte (wunderbar in The Producers, 1776 and Joseph...) (both above) are signing on as glorified walk-on actors, there must be something special about this show!

It doesn't really get much more exciting than the exquisite Christine Andreas (glorious in the national tour of Light in the Piazza, and heart-breakingly great in The Scarlet Pimpernel, above, left) as Jacqueline and the always terrific Veanne Cox, (above, bottom center) who I have loved ever since I saw her in Smile, as Mme. Dindon.  Then there's Elena Shaddow (who will be fresh off the title role of Fanny at Encores! and who co-starred in the Piazza tour with Andreas, above, right) as Anne.  And a newcomer always adds great fun to the mix, as in the case of A.J. Shively, (below, left) who will star as Jean-Michel.  Broadway debuts are such fun to watch - I always hope to see a new star born.  But the supporting character I can't wait to revisit is the hilarious Jacob, this time in the terrific hands of Robin De Jesus,  (below, right) who was (well, is since he's still in the show) wonderful as Sonny in In the Heights.  I have a feeling he will be terrific!  The rest of the supporting cast includes Heather Lindell (Hairspray) and David Nathan Perlow (White Noise).  (bottom, below - Perlow is in center of High School Musical picture)

Then there are the "Notorious Les Cagelles"(pictured below in this order): the delicious Nick Adams (A Chorus Line, Guys and Dolls, Chicago), Nicholas Cunningham (La Cage aux Folles - West End), Sean Patrick Doyle, Yurel Echezarreta (West Side Story), Terry Lavell and Logan Keslar.

The production also features Christophe Caballero, Todd Lattimore, Dale Hensley and Cheryl Stern.


The production will begin previews on April 6 and open April 18 at Broadway's Longacre Theatre. And now I am more than just a little interested in this show!


Comments?  Leave one here or email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com.
Jeff