Culture Fiend

The Book of Mormon, War Horse Coming to the Paramount

Be still our Trey Parker-lovin’ hearts.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Mar 13, 2012 at 01:30PM 2 Comments

The Book of Mormon: funnier than the actual Book of Mormon.

Mormon missionaries are hitting the road, and it’s not to stump for Mitt Romney. Seattle will be the lucky host to The Book of Mormon—the foul-mouthed, warm-hearted musical by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone—when it embarks on its first national tour this winter. After winning nine Tony Awards in 2011, including best musical, BoM became the biggest thing on Broadway since The Producers. I tried to buy tickets for my family this past Christmas, and the best I could do was a show in January… 2013. Ironically, opening night at the Paramount Theatre is January 8, 2013.

On the whole, the 2012-2013 Broadway-in-Seattle season is the most exciting it’s been in years; subscriber tickets are currently on sale, with single tickets available at a later date.

Wicked
Oct 10–Nov 17, 2012
Still one of my favorites. The witches of Oz return after a hugely successful Seattle run in 2009. As Elphaba (aka the Wicked Witch of the West) will likely tell you, it’s not easy being green—but it’s profitable.

The Book of Mormon
Jan 8–20, 2013
From the twisted minds of the makers of South Park and Avenue Q, the year’s best musical (about Mormon missionaries in Africa) is going to sell out in seconds, so keep an eye on this blog for ticket announcements. See the comment section below for an update.

War Horse
Feb 13–24, 2013
Seattle Repertory Theatre teamed up with Seattle Theatre Group to bring the Tony-winning play—complete with its original, masterful puppetry—to the Paramount for its Seattle premiere. The story of a boy and his horse on the Western Front is based on the same children’s book as Spielberg’s recent blockbuster.

Flashdance
Apr 16–21, 2013
What to expect from this musical remake of the 1980s film: Spandex. “Maniac.” 16 new songs. A girl with a dream (to leave her day job as a welder in Pittsburgh to be a ballerina). More spandex.

Fela!
May 28–June 2, 2013
This pulsating, gyrating musical by Bill T. Jones explores the life of Fela Kuti, the Nigerian bandleader and rebel who gave birth to funk-jazz hybrid Afrobeat. Two words: dance party.

Sister Act: The Musical
Aug 20–25, 2013
Fans of Whoopi Goldberg’s ‘90s movie Sister Act will recognize the story in this adaptation, about a sassy showgirl hiding out from hit men in a convent, but the music by Alan Menken is brand new. It’s irreverent, to be sure, but more importantly, it’s a glitzy, disco-fied tribute to the ‘70s, complete with sequined nun habits.

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Tags: Paramount Theatre, Broadway, Theater, Season Announcement

West Side Story, Now En Español

Songs and sneers are partly in Spanish in the touring Broadway revival.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 12, 2012 at 12:50PM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Joan Marcus.

Jerome Robbins’s choreography translates well anywhere.

Here come the Jets: The Broadway revival of West Side Story snaps, kicks, and Krupkes its way into Seattle this weekend, but not without some added drama. When the show first (re)opened in New York in 2009, critics and purists had mixed reviews about its new bilingual score and book by Arthur Laurents (with the blessing of Stephen Sondheim). Maria sang “Me Siento Hermosa” instead of “I Feel Pretty,” and the Sharks rumbled and jeered predominantly in Spanish. The production has since pulled back on some of the translation, from 18 percent of the dialogue and lyrics in Spanish to 10 percent, director David Saint recently told The Seattle Times. And after attending opening night in Seattle, I can say that what I lost in translation was minimal—nothing I couldn’t infer from repeated viewings of the movie and musical. The show feels authentic, grittier, more sexual, though the thugs are still too pretty. It’s a 21st-century West Side Story that’s carried by Jerome Robbins’s timeless choreography.

West Side Story
Paramount Theatre, through Jan 15

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Tags: Paramount Theatre, Broadway

Today’s SIFF Pick: The Importance of Being Earnest

A classic Broadway play shows up on screen.

Posted by: Annie Rose Favreau on Jun 06, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

I say, a small popcorn costs what?!
Photo courtesy Joan Marcus.

Anyone who’s seen the inside of a high school has probably read The Importance of Being Earnest. Oscar Wilde’s razor sharp lines are so well-known that audiences can feel deja vu. (Remember this one? “All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.”)

This familiarity means many an Earnest production has fallen into the dark hole of predictability. But Roundabout Theater’s Broadway version —filmed in HD and screened as part of the Seattle International Film Festival—keeps things lively. And not just because actor/director Brian Bedford is wearing a dress.

Yup, Lady Bracknell’s played by a man. And he steals the spotlight. Lemon-faced, stiff-backed, and swathed in brocade, Bedford’s fabulous pomposity elicits applause at each entrance, an end-of-show standing ovation, and belly-laughs with single words (“Exploded?”). He cites Margaret Thatcher as a major artistic inspiration.

The rest of the cast was strong, if not flawless. You might recognize the men—Santino Fontana (Algie) and David Furr (Jack)—from their Jersey Shore Gone Wilde YouTube parodies. They’re just as fun on stage, even if Fontana, bursting with the boyish delight of Ferris Bueller, was occasionally overpowered by Furr’s effortless delivery. He could make an insurance company’s rejection letter sound sincere.

The women were less balanced. Next to the wide-eyed charm of Charlotte Parry’s Cecily, Jessie Austrian’s Gwendolen is studied, every sweep of her skirt looking relentlessly practiced. And her voice! “Shrill” would be an understatement. She should take a cue from the better-endowed Bedford, whose best comic moments are the few times he lets his voice fall into it’s deeper natural register.

One more point of contention: the world’s dreariest set. While the cartoon-like design was engaging, the color was not. The words “dishwater grey” come to mind.

Initially, I was doubtful about filmed theater, but the multi-camera filming was surprisingly satisfying. The production, still running live in New York City while showing on screen, also took advantage of its new medium: Three mini-segments presented by David Hyde Pierce show snippets of life backstage, a time-lapse look at Bedford’s transformation from a “man about town to a scary old lady,” and a brief Wilde analysis with Alfred Molina and Michael Hackett. It all feels a bit staged, but it’s an interesting idea. There’s also a ten minute intermission to make you and your box of popcorn feel like you’re at a real, live theater.

SIFF’s The Importance of Being Earnest plays thru June 12.

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Tags: reviews, Broadway, Theater, SIFF 2011

Billy Elliot By the Numbers

Breaking down the Broadway musical one pirouette at a time.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Mar 25, 2011 at 12:00PM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Michael Brosilow.

Mrs. Wilkinson (Prince) teaches Billy (Ishimoto) and a gaggle of preemie ballerinas to “Shine” in Billy Elliot.

4. Number of boys who play Billy—the son of a coal miner who braves some serious razzing to dance ballet—in the touring Broadway production.

13. Average age of the Billy boys.

12. Age of Lex Ishimoto, a Southern California native who starred on opening night. He swaps opening nights with 13-year-old Giuseppe Bausilio of Switzerland.

16. Pirouettes in a row required of Ishimoto in second-act number “Electricity.” (Roughly.)

7. Estimated number of child labor laws the musical would break if it had one kid doing 16 pirouettes in a row, every night, for months.

1984. Year the musical takes place, in a village in Northern England where everyone’s either a coal miner or a cop.

363. Days of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) strike—one of the longest national strikes in the UK’s history and the central conflict of Billy Elliot. NUM went up against then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who wanted to close the state-owned industry and referred to the striking miners as “the enemy within.”

98. Percent of coal used in Britain today that’s imported.

11. Estimated number of Margaret Thatcher jokes in the play.

19. Estimated number of Northern British accents attempted on stage on opening night.

0. Accents that actually worked.

1. Nutcracker joke. Billy’s best friend Michael (Griffin Birney) goes into a split, groans, and goes “That must be why it’s called the Nutcracker.” Woman behind me goes, “That must be British humor.”

4. Men in tutus spotted at intermission.

1. Broadway superstar in the touring cast: Faith Prince as Billy’s cantankerous ballet teacher Mrs. Wilkinson.

Countless. Moments in the show when you’re watching Ichimoto pop, spin, tap, and leap like a veteran dancer, and you have to shake your head and remind yourself he’s only 12.

20. Minutes of post-play discussion about unions, modern ballet, and the importance of musical theater that’s more than razzle dazzle.

Billy Elliot the Musical runs through Apr 3 at Paramount Theatre.

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Tags: Paramount Theatre, Broadway, Theater, Billy Elliot

Broadway in Seattle: Million Dollar Quartet, American Idiot Top 2011 Season

And some blue guys are headed our way.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Mar 17, 2011 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

There’s a whole lotta shakin’ going on Million Dollar Quartet returns to the Seattle area.

Broadway Across America just announced its upcoming 2011–2012 season, and the lineup looks strangely familiar. Compare it to the 2010 season: There’s a Disney show (Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast), a rock musical to tempt theatergoers under 40 (Rock of Ages, American Idiot), a revival (Hair, West Side Story), a Tony winner (Billy Elliot, Million Dollar Quartet), and a Cats, aka the show that will never die (Riverdance, Blue Man Group). Not that I’m complaining— I like to feel secure in my Broadway options.

Here’s the 2011–2012 season:

Blue Man Group
Oct 7–16, 2011

Saw this show when it first opened off-Broadway in 1991. Bald men painted blue spit marshmallows at the front row, shot rolls of toilet paper across the theater, and drummed infectious tribal beats. Ponchos were provided for people in the first few rows. (I mentioned the marshmallows, right?)

West Side Story
Jan 10–15, 2012

Can’t go wrong with the Bernstein and Sondheim score—the new cast won a 2010 Grammy for best musical show album. I like to be in America….

Beauty and the Beast
Feb 21–26, 2012

You tell people you’re going to this show “for the kids,” but really, you have a thing for big dance numbers and a certain suave French candlestick named Lumiere.

Mamma Mia!
Mar 20–25, 2012

This ABBA fest attracts the nostalgic thirtysomethings who know, just know, that “Dancing Queen” was written for them. It’s a campy jukebox musical that’s the guiltiest of pleasures.

Million Dollar Quartet
May 15–20, 2012

Issaquah’s Village Theatre hosted an early version of this musical—about the 1956 rock supergroup Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins and their legendary recording session at Sun Records—in 2007. Levi Kreis (as Lewis) went on to win the Tony for best featured actor in a musical. Village Theatre knows how to pick ’em.

American Idiot
June 5–10, 2012

Before Spider-Man was swinging around Broadway, the edgiest new musical was Green Day-penned American Idiot, a rock opera about three twentysomething’s suburban malaise. But honestly, the story doesn’t matter. You go for the faux Green Day concert.

Single tickets are not on sale yet for the 2011–2012 season, but current season ticket holders can renew by calling 888-451-4042 or going to broadwayacrossamerica.com/seattle.

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Tags: Broadway, Ticket Alerts, Season Announcement

6 Qs for ‘Rock of Ages’ Star Constantine Maroulis

The ‘American Idol’ alum-turned-Broadway star takes his rock on the road.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 10, 2011 at 04:30PM 0 Comments

I wanna rock! Constantine Maroulis (center) stars in Rock of Ages. Photo: courtesy Joan Marcus.

In the middle of the big-hair ’80s spectacle Rock of Ages —with its cadre of strippers and poop jokes and Whitesnake songs—stands Constantine Maroulis, the show’s rock savior. Gone is the moody pout from his days on American Idol. In its place: a shy smile and a big voice as the musical’s star Drew, the wannabe rocker from Detroit who’s all torn up about a small-town girl he met on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. (Did we mention Journey is a major influence here?) It’s a bit of a surprise that Maroulis is taking the role he originated on Broadway—that earned him a Tony nomination—on a national tour, but we’re lucky he did. He lends coolness to high campiness, and turns the musical into an all-out rock concert, complete with air guitar. (See samples from the song list below.)

Before Rock of Ages finishes up its run at the Paramount Theatre on Sunday, Maroulis chatted with me about being on the road—and antiquing. The man loves antiques.

What made you decide to join the national tour?

You know, I set out and did everything I wanted to accomplish with the show in New York. Taking it off-Broadway, opening it on Broadway, the nominations, a very successful run. I actually was sort of ready to walk away from the whole thing. But when they came to me with the tour idea, I was intrigued, definitely. I thought: This is a passion project of mine that I’ve worked so hard for. Why not? I love touring, so that just seemed right.

You just became a dad recently too, right? Is it too early for the family to tour with you?

Yeah, I don’t answer personal questions about my family, but we are very happy. The baby, she was born December 23, and she and her mom [girlfriend Angel Reed] are both happy and healthy.

How are you liking Seattle? Is it your first time out here?

Not my first time, but I love this city. It’s got a great vibe. I have a lot of friends that came here. There’s a great theater scene here, obviously great music. Great restaurants and antiques and cool buildings and stuff. Pretty girls. It’s a lot of fun.

Had any free time to explore?

Not yet, but I’m going to grab a lunch with a friend today, see some friends after the show tonight. Go to some antique shops and things like that… I love traveling; it’s a big part of what I do, my career and my life. The new people, audiences, energies—it keeps it interesting.

Were you a fan of ’80s rock growing up?

I was, I was. I’m 35, I was born in ’75, so 1985 to 1989—those were really crucial, crucial years for me as far as music.

Did you ever get into grunge?

Oh very much. I was way into Poison and Bon Jovi and Motley Crue and Guns N’ Roses, so it got progressively a little harder. But when I heard “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” it just kind of changed everything for me.

What you’ll hear at Rock of Ages: “Don’t Stop Believin,‘" “Any Way You Want It” (Journey), “Cum on Feel the Noize” (covered by Quiet Riot), “Just Like Living in Paradise” (David Lee Roth), “I Wanna Rock” (Twisted Sister), “Wanted Dead or Alive” (Bon Jovi), “Here I Go Again” (Whitesnake), "Can’t Fight This Feeling” (REO Speedwagon), “Every Rose Has its Thorn” (Poison), and more…

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Tags: Broadway, musical, Celebrity Interview

Coming to a Movie Theater Near You: Broadway’s Memphis

The 2010 Tony-winning musical will be broadcast in HD this spring.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 18, 2011 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

From 5th Avenue Theatre to a fistful of Tonys: Broadway musical Memphis.

First the Metropolitan Opera got into the live broadcast business, beaming productions of Carmen and Turandot to movie theaters around the world. Then the National Theatre in London started sending Hamlet across the Atlantic. (Next month it showcases Bill T. Jones’s Fela, which screens at SIFF on February 7.)

Now Broadway is branching out: According to a New York Times Arts Beat blog post, 2010 Tony winner Memphis will be filmed this week in high definition, with plans to make it available in movie theaters later this spring. Last year’s top musical (with a score by Bon Jovi) got its start at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre in 2009. It’s a homecoming of sorts for the feel-good love story set in 1950s Tennessee, and for one of its stars, Roosevelt High grad Chad Kimball.

Times arts writer Patrick Healy has more to say about Broadway’s big-screen moment.

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Tags: Broadway, Theater, Film, Met Live in HD

Recommended: Fiddler on the Roof

Harvey Fierstein is an ideal match as raspy, sassy Tevye.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on May 26, 2010 at 01:00PM 0 Comments

Harvey Fierstein shrugs off life as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Photo courtesy Carol Rosegg.

Somehow, a man who won a Tony for his turn in drag was also born to play a traditional Jewish patriarch. Harvey Fierstein reprises his 2004 role as the fiery Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, now playing at Paramount Theatre through May 30, and it’s a performance you don’t want to miss. He struts, wags his tongue, flicks his wrist, and rasps his way through “If I Were a Rich Man,” but it’s his reinvention of the character that complements Jerome Robbins’s original Broadway direction and choreography. It’s one part “Tradition,” two parts sass: an even more impish version of the larger-than-life role originated by Zero Mostel in 1964. Admittedly, Fierstein delivers punch lines better than solos; his gravelly voice doesn’t lend itself well to rafter-shaking, but his co-stars and chorus boom on his behalf, particularly in a moving rendition of “Sunrise, Sunset” and the playful “Matchmaker, Matchmaker.” But no matter: You still feel for his lovable bear-of-a-Tevye, whose headstrong daughters are hell-bent on breaking tradition in 1905 Tsarist Russia, and all he can do is groan and wag a finger at the heavens. Some things never change.

Fiddler on the Roof is at the Paramount Theatre through May 30.

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Tags: Paramount Theatre, Broadway, Review, Theater

Review: Xanadu

What if all musicals ended with a roller disco scene?

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 20, 2010 at 11:30AM 1 Comments

Oh Xanadu. If only I was a 40-year-old gay man, I would have, could have loved you. I would delight in your sequins and disco balls, your glow sticks and roller skates. Giggled at the strutting “sisters” who offer plenty of finger wagging and “Uh uh, no she didn’t!”s. Because Xanadu—a Broadway musical about a boy and his muse making art and making out in 1980s Venice Beach—is camp of the highest order. The writers even admit to it in the best line of the show: “This is children’s theater for 40-year-old gay men.”

Xanadu bills itself as Broadway’s “surprise hit musical,” like even its creators are blown away by how well it’s been doing. Admittedly, when it opened in 2007, it benefited from the 1,000-watt charm of Cheyenne Jackson as Sonny, a bumbling Bill-and-Ted hybrid who wears scandalously short cutoff jeans and wants to build a place that celebrates art: a roller disco. Jackson has since gone on to star in hit Broadway revival Finian’s Rainbow and on NBC’s 30 Rock (he’s the robot), leaving the show wanting for star power.

In this national tour, under the direction of Christopher Ashley (La Jolla Playhouse), the cast is solid, but the jokes they deliver are practically vaudevillian. Some of the biggest laughs came when Kyra (Elizabeth Stanley), a rollerskating demigod who comes down from Mount Olympus to inspire Sonny, employs an outrageously exaggerated Australian accent (a nod to Olivia Newton-John, who starred as Kyra in the 1980 film version of Xanadu ). Other gags involved audience members—a select few sat onstage last night, including the Rat City Rollergirls. Cast members would nibble on their arms, give them massages, sit next to them and eat popcorn. It’s so silly, it makes Legally Blonde look like an Ibsen play. But the show got a standing ovation. Clearly, it wasn’t written for me—it was written for the girl next to me in leg warmers, a purple sweater, and a side-ponytail. And, of course, 40-year-old gay men.

Xanadu runs through January 24 at Paramount Theatre. For ideas on ‘80s attire to wear to the show, check out Style Editor Laura Cassidy’s blog Where What When.

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Tags: reviews, theater, Xanadu, Paramount Theatre, Broadway, musical, roller disco,