TheatreScene: June 20 - 26

BE SURE TO VOTE IN THE POLL TO YOUR RIGHT!

 

LIKE WHAT YOU SEE?  BECOME A "FOLLOWER"!

 

WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED!

• June 20: Drawing Broadway: One Line at a Time
• June 21: Broadway Games: A Logic Puzzle
• June 22: Broadway Bares XXI: Masterpiece: Record-Setting Fun!
• June 23: Looking Forward to Summer
• June 24: LEGEND: Harold Prince
• June 25: The Post-Tony Drop Off

The answer to the Broadway Logic Puzzle appears at the end of this blog.

 

TOPS AND BOTTOMS (June 13 - 19):

• Top Gross: Wicked ($1.77M)
• Top Attendance: The Book of Mormon (102.6%)
• Bottom Gross: Born Yesterday ($203K)
• Bottom Attendance: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (44.5%)
• $1M Club: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Jersey Boys, The Lion King, The Book of Mormon, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Wicked
• SRO Club: War Horse, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Anything Goes, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

 

NOW PREVIEWING ON BROADWAY:

• Master Class: Previews: June 14; Opening: July 7

 

CONDOLENCES:

• To the entire company of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying who lost a crew member just before the 8PM curtain on June 22.  The young man, just 29 years old went into cardiac arrest.  The circumstances of his death are still being investigated.  In what I am sure was a difficult and emotional speech, both Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette addressed the audience to explain why that performance would not go on.  It would have been the show's 100th Broadway performance.  The show continued the following evening, though without much celebration, I can only guess.
• To the family and friends of stage, TV and film actor Peter Falk.  Best known as TV's Columbo, he appeared on Broadway in three shows, Diary of a Scoundrel (his Broadway debut), Saint Joan, and Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue.  He was 83 years old when he passed away June 23.

 

COMINGS AND GOINGS:

Casting:

• Chris Sullivan of Lombardi fame began performances June 20 as Amos Hart in Chicago.
• Michael Park, currently in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying won the Emmy for Best Actor in a Serial Drama for his role as Jack in As the World Turns.  His was the last Emmy to be won by that now defunct program.
• Oscar nominee Angela Bassett will join Samuel L. Jackson in The Mountaintop this fall on Broadway.
• Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan will be Bonnie and Clyde, respectively, when it opens on Broadway this fall.

• Marlo Thomas, Julie Kavner and Steve Guttenberg are among the initial cast members announced for Relatively Speaking.
• Patrick Mulvey will take over the role of Tony on July 15 over at Billy Elliot.  Will Chase leaves the show July 10.

• Christopher Seiber began performances on June 23 as Billy Flynn in Chicago.  He was to have joined the show last spring, but instead closed La Cage aux Folles with Harvey Fierstein.
• Charlotte d'Amboise began performances on June 24 as Roxie Hart in Chicago.

Shows:

• The Prince of Broadway, a new musical revue celebrating the works of theatre legend Harold Prince was announced for the fall of 2012, to be helmed by Prince and Susan Stroman.
• The hopefully Broadway-bound show Tales of the City got its third extension at A.C.T in California.
• Bonnie and Clyde will play the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre this fall, opening December 1.
• Lysistrata Jones is apparently shopping for a Broadway home this fall, looking at the Kerr and Broadhurst, officially, though it is rumored that the Golden is where it will set up shop.
• A trio of one act plays by Woody Allen, Elaine May and Ethan Coen will play Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre this fall.  The show is called Relatively Speaking.

Milestones:

June 20:

• Broadway Bares XXI: Masterpiece announced its record-breaking total of $1,103,072 raised for BCEFA!
• The American Theatre Wing will receive a $40,000 grant from the NEA, it was announced today. It will be used for programs that help emerging theatre artists.

June 22:

• Billy Elliot celebrated its 1.5 millionth patron today. Ms. Caty Dougherty of Philadelphia and seat Q13 was that patron.

June 23:

• Sister Act's show tonight was a Whoopi Goldberg-sponsored fundraiser for the re-election of President Obama. The President spoke after the show and met with cast and crew members.

June 25:

• The House of Blue Leaves closes tonight at the Walter Kerr Theatre, after 21 previews and 72 performances.
• Jersey Boys becomes the 26th longest-running Broadway show following its 8PM performance this evening. At 2,328 performances, it passes Abie's Irish Rose to claim that ranking.

June 26:

• Born Yesterday closes this afternoon at the Cort Theatre, after 28 previews and 73 performances.
• The Importance of Being Earnest closes this afternoon at the American Airlines Theatre, after 30 previews and 189 performances.
• Bebe Neuwirth played her final performance as Morticia Addams in The Addams Family. Brooke Shields assumes the role on June 28.
• Jersey Boys becomes the 25th longest-running Broadway show following its 3PM performance this afternoon. At 2,329 performances, it passes the original production of Man of La Mancha to claim that ranking.

THE ANSWERS TO THE BROADWAY LOGIC PUZZLE:

Stephen and Angela...

...took a taxi...

...to see War Horse...

...and then went to Junior's for cheesecake after the show.

• Stephen and Angela took a taxi to War Horse, and then went to Junior's for Cheesecake after the show.
• Oscar and Donna arrived at The Book of Mormon by rickshaw, and went to Splash for a BCEFA benefit after the show.
• Peter and Edie arrived at The Normal Heart by limo, and went to Times Square to people watch after the show.
• Richard and Charlie walked to Catch Me If You Can, then returned to the Marriott Marquis and went to sleep.
• Tom and Bebe took the subway to see Anything Goes, and went to Bowlmor Lanes after the show.

Comments?  Leave one here, email me at jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com or Tweet me!
Jeff
2.302