The new teaser for the upcoming FX mini-series Fosse/Verdon is perfection.
Starring Sam Rockwell as Broadway innovator/director/choreographer Bob Fosse, and Michelle Williams as his muse/wife, Gwen Verdon, the series will “tell the story of these two brilliant, complicated individuals — the love they shared, the art they created, and the price they paid in the pursuit of greatness.”
Anyone who is a fan of the brilliant Broadway power couple will recognize the iconic style in the rapid-fire series of images including finger snaps, toe-taps, bowler hats, fishnet stockings, red/blue mood light and, yes, jazz hands.
The project has the blessing of Nicole Fosse, the daughter of Fosse and Verdon, who will also act as an executive producer on the series.
“My mother and father have one of the greatest love stories ever known,” Nicole Fosse said in a statement. “They were extremely complex people with an indestructible bond, loyalty and trust that endured both fantasy and reality. Finally, we have a creative team with the talent and wisdom to tell the story.”
In addition to being a longtime fan, as many readers know, I was a cast member of the Broadway revival of Chicago the Musical. The experience led me to study and revere (even more!) the genius these two brought to the Broadway stage.
Watch below. Look for the series to debut in April. I can’t wait.
• Handsome InstaHunk Jim Newman (above) has been running a fabulous “Days of Christmas” campaign over on his Instagram taking daily pics au naturel with items in his home blocking just the barest of body parts. Well-worth clicking over to as this was the most tame I can post here 😉
• An amateur photographer from England received a 16-year jail sentence for drugging and raping male models. “I get a kick out of robbing a straight guy out of his masculinity,” he shared in a conversation.
• Donald Trump, who promised his infamous wall along the Mexican border would be paid for by Mexico, now says “The wall will pay for itself.”
“The wall will pay for itself on a monthly basis,” Trump said, contradicting his previous claim that Mexico would pay for the border wall and threatening a government shutdown if a spending bill doesn’t include his $5B demand for funding it https://t.co/QTj5qScUCnpic.twitter.com/NUNy53tGWX
• Even though the play opened to very good reviews, the Broadway revival of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song, starring out actor Michael Urie, has announced it will close January 6.
• The stock market moved into bear territory this week as the Dow fell another 417.11 points today, closing the week with a loss of 6.75% – its worst weekly decline since October 2008. #ThanksTrump
• In a year of ups and downs, the world searched for “good” more than ever before — according to Google Trends. From the epic headlines to the everyday moments, here’s to all the good that people discovered in 2018.
Galt MacDermot, composer of the hit Broadway musicals HAIR and Two Gentlemen of Verona, passed away today, just one day shy of his 90th birthday.
Bombastic and timely, HAIR became a smash hit earning 2 Tony nods and winning the Grammy Award for ‘Best Score From an Original Cast Show Album.’
As an actor, I performed in a production of HAIR once, and surprisingly, loved it. It was incredible to see the power of the show reach out to an audience.
And some of the coolest songs in a Broadway musical ever.
“Age of Aquarius” rocks, and what is hotter than Treat Williams singing “I Got Life” in the movie?
The Cher Show, a new musical chronicling the life and career of the Oscar, Grammy and Emmy Award winner opened last night at the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway.
Starring Stephanie J. Block, Teal Wicks, and Micaela Diamond as the diva in different periods of her life, the production is directed by Jason Moore (Shrek the Musical), choreographed by Tony Award winner Chris Gattelli (Newsies) and features a book by Rick Elice (Jersey Boys).
The critics appeared to be mixed in their assessment of the production.
There’s a fine line between tacky and spectacular. In creating costumes for Cher over the years – costumes that often tell the story of a shy woman emerging triumphant from a chrysalis – the designer Bob Mackie has kept on the right side of the line by making sure the level of craft supports the extravagance of the gesture. Sadly that’s not the case with “The Cher Show,” the maddening mishmash of a new musical that opened on Monday at the Neil Simon Theater. Except for the dozens of eye-popping outfits Mr. Mackie gorgeously recreates for the occasion, it’s all gesture, no craft: dramatically threadbare and surprisingly unrevealing.
Is the show good? Certainly not in the sense of traditional musical-theater craft. Would I see it again? Duh, already planning on it. Director Jason Moore’s production, which breaks new frontiers on Broadway for bare midriffs, underboobs, wigs and paillettes, unashamedly embraces its abundance of trashy-flashy, tacky vintage-Vegas kitsch. But it’s also slyly fabulous and imbued with a plucky feminist spirit that’s quite stirring, basically recounting the story of how the innately shy Cherilyn Sarkisian stopped letting men tell her what to do and found the strength to run her own show.
Granted, the jukebox musical that opened on Broadway Monday night has some clumsy and dopey dialogue. The story – a 50-50 mix of narration (yawn) and not-quite-skin-deep dramatization – tracing the pop goddess’ personal and professional ups and downs won’t surprise those with even a passing knowledge of Cher. Or access to Wikipedia. Still, it’s thrilling watching the 72-year-old diva’s rags-to-riches-and-back-again life woven by wall-to-wall hits – “Bang Bang,” “The Beat Goes On,” “Half-Breed” and “Believe,” among them.
In addition to the drama onstage, there was also a bit of Twitter drama as well.
In attendance for the grand opening night were Kim Kardashian and hubby Kanye West, who apparently forgot that the actors onstage can see the audience.
Actor Jarrod Spector, who plays Sonny Bono in the show, took to Twitter to call out West for staring down at his phone during the show:
Hey @kanyewest so cool that you’re here at @TheCherShow! If you look up from your cell phone you’ll see we’re doing a show up here. It’s opening night. Kind of a big deal for us. Thanks so much.
For his part, West did respond directly to that tweet with kind words about the show:
the dynamics of Cher and Sonny’s relationship made Kim and I grab each other’s hand and sing “I got you babe” please pardon my lack of etiquette. We have so much appreciation for the energy you guys put into making this master piece.
That said, according to sources, the audience did have a fab time at the premiere. Not only did the attendees experience the storytelling of Broadway, but the diva herself got onstage.
Cher surprised the audience by joining the cast for the curtain call, and even sang with Broadway veteran Stephanie Block on “If I Could Turn Back Time.” Watch below.
The cast of Broadway’s ‘The Prom’ on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
While cooking our Thanksgiving Day celebration meal this morning, I had the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on the big TV, pausing each time a current Broadway show offered a performance for the folks at 34th Street and across the nation.
This year, television viewers were treated to numbers from My Fair Lady, Mean Girls and the most recent addition to the Great White Way, The Prom.
And so it was that I put the stove on simmer and poured a mimosa to watch “Build A Prom” from The Prom.
The show is about a group of Broadway actors who swoop into an Indiana town to save a young teen lesbian whose high school won’t let her bring a girl to her prom.
The show recently opened at the Longacre Theater on Broadway to rave reviews.
Upbeat, lively and full of energy, the musical number closes with two female leading characters, played by Caitlin Kinnunen and Isabelle McCalla, kissing.
We’re pretty sure this is the first same-sex kiss in the parade’s history.
Whoo-hoo!
“Broadway’s The Prom is grateful to Macy’s and NBC for their acceptance and inclusivity of a community and a story that is about acceptance, tolerance and love,” the show’s producers shared with EW. “These are some of the themes reflected in our musical comedy and we are very proud to be the very first LGBTQ kiss on the Thanksgiving Day Parade.”
Here’s the number:
Of course, the Twitterverse went insane (in good and bad ways) over the historic lip-lock.
Celebrated out director and playwright Tina Landau tweeted:
Two girls. Just kissed. On live TV. On the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I suddenly cried. Lovely. Thanks given to @ThePromMusical. (& Macy’s/NBC.) & lesbians everywhere. & turkeys. For their sacrifice. But esp. @ThePromMusical.
I’m most thankful for the #MacysParade performance from The Prom. It just warms my heart thinking of all the homophobic family members are out there pissing themselves over it. This is a win for all the queer kids who can’t come out to their families this Thanksgiving
Anybody in their feelings about The Prom, shut up and enjoy your turkey later. That was beautiful to see on national TV, and don’t blame your homophobia on being worried about what kids see. They only know what they are taught. Teach them love and acceptance. #MacysParade
Just got chills seeing The Prom on the #macysthanksgivingdayparade so important to see that kind of representation, especially on a holiday where many people are turned away from their family for who they are
#TheProm kiss means even more to me because it’s my first Thanksgiving with my LDR girlfriend of 6 years! I’m still crying and that kiss meant so much! #loveislove#pride Thank you @nbc and @Macys for showing that!
We were watching the @Macys Thanksgiving Day parade as a family (always do) BUT that lasted all of 5 minutes when they announced the second musical,The Prom…could do without the agenda this early in the morning. Not the family friendly programming we’ve come to expect.
I can’t believe how time goes by. Twenty-three years ago today, I made my Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade debut with the 1995 Broadway revival cast of Hello, Dolly! (including the incomparable Tony Award-winner herself, Carol Channing)!
I remember this like it was yesterday. We all had to get up waaaaaaaay early, get down to the Lunt-Fontanne Theater where we were playing to get into costume, then get on a bus to ride about 10 blocks down Broadway to sit in a trailer before we headed out to do “Before The Parade Passes By.”
And it was so cold! You’d never know to look at Carol, though. And what a thrill to be on the most famous and watched parade with the world.
I then headed to home on the Upper West Side for a most fab dinner with (then boyfriend, now husband) Michael and my bestie, Carlye.
During dinner the phone rang, and it was Vanessa Williams calling from the West Coast to say “Happy Thanksgiving!” – and since she was watching the parade in California – “you look like you’re freezing!” LOL
I still love my Broadway Dolly! family all these years later. What a great memory to find this video today.
I didn’t realize it had been a nearly a year since I’d visited New York City until I planned a recent trip back east.
My bestie for life, Carlye, was being installed as the new Episcopal Bishop for the Diocese of Newark. So I made sure I built in a day to catch up on some Broadway 🙂
And man, am I glad I did.
It took me a year to get to Circle in the Square on Broadway to see the Tony Award winning revival of Once On This Island, but it was definitely worth the wait.
Wow.
It would be easy to run out of superlatives that describe this gorgeous, delightful and supremely creative masterpiece running strong nearly a year after opening on Broadway.
But it’s also just as easy to pick one word to describe this theatrical experience: Joy.
In a world that seems turned upside-down at times, director Michael Arden’s grounded new staging of this musical fable about a boy and girl named Daniel and Ti Moune set in the French Antilles is a testament to the belief that that which lifts us up can conquer darkness.
In that this is theater-in-the-round, the entire show is an environmental experience from the moment you enter the space.
The show begins with the citizens of this island intermittently entering the sandy beach to begin their day. Along the way, there’s trash to pick up (guess where the cast’s props come from?), greetings to make, and goats (live ones) to walk.
But then, a storm frightens a small girl and the denizens of the island take on different roles to tell the story of Ti Moune, sharing the lesson that love can “withstand the storm, and cross the earth, and survive, even in the face of death.”
The winning score by musical theater veterans Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime, Anatasia) is easily one of the most melodic currently on Broadway. Kudos to music supervisor Chris Fenwick for the undeniably artful singing throughout the show. From lead vocals to the sung sounds of birds and frogs, this is high-end musicality.
And speaking of leads, the casting here is perfection as each actor steps forward to take their turn in the spotlight.
From Alex Newell’s “Asaka – goddess of the earth,” who brings down the house with an exuberant and effervescent “Mama Will Provide;” to Quentin Earl Darrington’s “Agwe – god of the ocean,” who sets the stage for Ti Moune and Daniel to meet with vocal power that’s truly a force of nature (“Rain”); Darlesia Cearcy’s “Erzulie, goddess of love” is delicious bringing the two young lovers together in “Human Heart;” and American Idol alum Tamyra Gray is stunning as “Papa Ge, god of death.”
Tamyra Gray as “Papa Ge” (all photos – Joan Marcus)
Oh yes, you’ll note Newell and Gray take on their roles through gender-blind casting, which works flawlessly.
In Michael Arden’s island world, the temperamental gods are gender fluid.
The beauty here is that once the story begins, the commitment to storytelling is such that we don’t think about gender, just the tale being told – to spectacular effect.
Alex Newell (L) as “Asaka” and Hailey Kilgore as “Ti Moune”
While gods have their power, Kenita R. Miller and Boise Holmes, who play “Mama Euralie” and “Tonton Julian” respectively, bring grounding, vulnerable humanity as the couple that adopts young Ti Moune.
Their goodbye to Ti Moune as she leaves them to journey to her destiny is a heartfelt, emotional highpoint.
Other intimate moments, like the lilting “Some Girls,” sung with charming warmth by “Daniel” (Isaac Powell), allows romantic respite from larger numbers.
And then there’s the fire and grace of Hailey Kilgore, whose Broadway debut as Ti Moune was fittingly honored with a Tony Award nomination for “Best Actress in a Leading Role” and a Theatre World Award.
Her vocal range and artistry, front and center in the joyful “Waiting for Life,” is only equaled by her earthy, ebullient passion on display in “Ti Moune’s Dance.”
And speaking of dance, choreographer Camille A. Brown (Drama Desk nomination) brings a physical vocabulary that provides a visual, human heartbeat throughout the evening in moments big and small.
You may remember the sexy, richly organic staging she brought to the Emmy Award-winning Jesus Christ Superstar Live! earlier this year on NBC.
This isn’t “TV dance competition high kicks and spins.” From storyteller to storyteller, every movement throughout the evening is borne out of characters living in the moment.
Quentin Earl Darrington as “Agwe”
I’m not the only one who’s smitten. The critics fell over themselves when the production debuted:
“A big, bold, ravishing delight! After seeing this imaginative and dynamic musical, you may feel once is not enough!”– New York Times
“Bewitching and beautiful!” – New York Daily News
“A place where magic is possible and beauty is apparent for all to see!” – The Huffington Post
