Stage Right is a veteran of the Broadway theatre industry. With a career dating back to the mid-80's, he was involved in management on Broadway as well as a major US city. He also worked for a very prominent non-profit theatre company in New York, has sat on non-profit theatre boards, as well as theatrical union boards. He has been involved with Broadway, Off-Broadway, and touring productions.
Stage Right posts at Big Hollywood and Big Government in anonymity not for professional reasons, but out of deference to his spouse who still maintains deep friendships with many members of the theatrical industry.
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Stage Right
More Proof That America is a Racist Country
by Stage RightAmerica is an inherently racist country.
Oh, sure, we elected a black President (or is this our second black President? That whole Clinton-as-first-black-President thing always confuses me). And yes, our biggest sports, TV, music and film stars tend to be black. And sure our past Secretaries of State, National Security Advisers and the current Chairman of the Republican Party are all black. But this proves nothing, NOTHING!
If you ever wanted more proof that America is, at its heart a racist society, Universal has provided us with the perfect smoking gun: They re-designed a film poster for overseas distribution and in re-designing it, they removed two black actors. I will let the horror of what they did soak in for a moment while you read the report from London’s Daily Mail: (more…)
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NBC’s ObamaVision: Green Week and Lousy Writing
by Stage RightNBC gives new meaning to the phrase “green screen” next week, spreading a pro-environmental message across five of its prime-time entertainment programs – AP News.
When Arthur Miller wrote “The Crucible” it was rightly seen as a brilliant allegory to the House Un-American Activities Committee. It was a brilliant piece of drama about the Salem Witch Trials of the late 17th Century with obvious corollaries to the political climate of post-World War II America. And no matter where you fall on the political spectrum you must recognize the play as a classic in the canon of American drama.
My admiration for much of Miller’s work gives me enough confidence to say that he would view the current efforts to ham-handedly inject political statements into television sitcoms as absolute crap. It takes a deft hand to send a message without it seeming like you are sending a message… and the writers of “The Office” and “30 Rock,” as glib as they may be, are no “Arthur Millers”.
I love “The Office.” I’m one of those apostates who actually like the U.S. version better than the original (must be my knee-jerk patriotism at work). But I saw my very first example of lousy (and I mean REALLY lousy) writing this season when they tried to force the issue of “Volunteer-ism” into the storyline. (more…)
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Green Push on ‘Sesame Street’: Programming Your Kids For ‘Sustainable Living’
by Stage RightThis week marks the start of Sesame Street’s 40th season. As announced in an article in National Geographic, the show will be focusing on a green storyline this year:
As another example of the show’s forward thinking, Davis said, the new Sesame Street season that begins next week will introduce children to the basic ideas of sustainable living. “It’s a curriculum about nature and caring for the world that is just right for today,” he said. ”This show continues to stay very current with ideas that are in the zeitgeist.”
Sustainability. Makes you feel smart just reading that word, doesn’t it? Who doesn’t want sustainability? This is a great new tactic of the Left; the raping of our language and the use of beautiful sounding, unassailable words to represent an agenda with far more controversial ideas. Sustainability.
Sustainability is not just about putting your empty beer bottles into a special bin to keep them separate from your other trash. It’s also more than driving a car with a giant battery in it (which will eventually poison our water system after all of these “Hybrids” end up in a landfill… didn’t think about THAT, did you Mr. Begley?). It’s also more than building giant solar panels which require preciously scarce water to stay constantly clean and efficient or giant windmills which end up killing endangered birds. No, sustainability is not any of those ineffective yet relatively benign efforts at “saving our planet.” Sustainability, as a National policy, is the most regressive and dangerous idea the Green-Left has ever put forth. Sustainability is the death of the West’s economic dominance. (more…)
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‘Sesame Street’: It’s About My Children, Not the Puppet
by Stage Right
Just as I suspected, it has happened. They are trying to “Falwell” me and my colleagues here at Big Hollywood for raising concerns about “Sesame Street’s” description of Fox News as “Trashy.” We are “stupid,” “idiotic” and we are whining and pathetic (impressive debate tactics there, Mr. Socrates). And, according to PBS’ own Ombudsman, Michael Gelter, we are…. right:
I don’t know what was in the head of the producers, but my guess is that this was one of those parodies that was too good to resist. But it should have been resisted. Broadcasters can tell parents whatever they think of Fox or any other network, but you shouldn’t do it through the kids
I was planning on letting the issue die after being romanced by Media Matters, but I noticed something fascinating. I’ve written here about a lot of subjects. Mostly about theatre and the arts, and I also defended that “racist-fascist” Rush Limbaugh, but, never has a post of mine gotten the kind of hate-filled comments this one did. Also, for the first time I started receiving hate e-mails… the long, rambling, Holden Caufield kind of e-mails (you can forgive me for feeling a little “Grouchy”). What gives? Why was this post different? (more…)
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INTRODUCING: ‘Yosi Needs a Hug’ by Gary Eaton
by Stage RightFellow Big Hollywood contributor Moxie and I have been in the process of developing a radio show over the past couple of months. Over the course of the development and rehearsal process, we’ve been focusing much attention on the NEA Conference Call story and the fall-out associated with it.
One of our ongoing segments has been to read aloud (in suitably dramatic fashion) Yosi Sergant’s twitter feed. (It really is quite entertaining). It became such a popular segment with the handful of friends who listen to our practice shows that Moxie decided we needed a “Yosi Update” theme song. She “Volun-Told” our friend and musician, Gary Eaton to write the diddy and within twenty four hours he had completed his masterpiece.
We hope that you, our the loyal readers of Big Hollywood, who are well-versed with the players involved in this story, will appreciate our “Yosi Update” song: (more…)
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‘Sesame Street’ Trashes Fox News
by Stage RightAdd one more soldier to the Left’s war on Fox News: Oscar the Grouch.
Last week, in a re-broadcast of an episode that originally aired two years ago, Oscar starts his own news network, GNN (Grouchy News Network). An irate viewer calls in to berate him that the news is not grouchy enough:
“I am changing the channel. From now on I am watching ‘Pox’ News. Now there is a trashy news show.”
–
Later in the episode, Anderson Cooper from 4th place CNN, guest stars as a reporter for GNN. He interacts with “Walter Cranky” and “Dan Rather-Not” — Muppets representing real-life liberal news personalities — and they talk about “Meredith Beware-a” and “Diane Spoiler.” But no affectionate nicknames for Fox News personalities; no Spill O’Reilly or Brittle Hume — nope, and the only disparaging characterization of real-world news is reserved for Fox: Fox is a POX. It is trashy. They didn’t even attempt to try “MessyNBC.”
If Mom and Dad watch cable news, it’s better than 50/50 they watch “POX News.” So what gives? PBS — a network partially funded with my tax dollars — has the right to tell my kids that their parents watch “trashy” news? The message is clear, I can’t even sit my kids in front of “Sesame Street” without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority. And don’t tell me, “If you don’t like it change the channel.” There are no channels left! It’s everywhere. Just last week I had Obama’s service and volunteerism promoted on every single major network, including Disney and Nickelodeon. (more…)
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Big Hollywood Report Card: NEA Chairman Landesman’s First 12 Weeks
by Stage Right
When Broadway Producer/Theatre Owner Rocco Landesman took the reins of the National Endowment of the Arts last August, he told the NY Times:
“I wouldn’t have come to the N.E.A. if it was just about padding around in the agency,” he said, and worrying about which nonprofits deserve more funds. “We need to have a seat at the big table with the grown-ups. Art should be part of the plans to come out of this recession. If we’re going to have any traction at all, there has to be a place for us in domestic policy.”
An odd assertion considering the job description of the role he’s filling at this non-partisan, independent, government agency is, basically to “Worry about which nonprofits deserve more funds“. Seriously, that’s the job, always has been. And when one reads the original legislation creating the agency Landesman now runs, there is nothing to be found about being a part of domestic policy. But, the same party who can read “Promote the General Welfare” in our Constitution and re-interpret it to mean that Barbara Boxer can decide which doctor I can visit, can easily over-reach with the NEA legislation too, I suppose. (more…)
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Broadway’s ‘Avenue Q’ Follows Obama’s Marching Orders
by Stage Right
Back in February, my Big Hollywood colleague and super-funny-dude Tim Slagle wrote a series of posts on the Broadway musical “Avenue Q”. The show was going through a mini-crisis/publicity stunt because one of the big punch lines to the song “For Now” was no longer valid:
A song called “For Now” has the puppets reassure each other that most things in life are temporary, like hair and sex. Until recently, one of those temporary things was “George Bush.” Knowing that Obama was to be shortly inaugurated, the producers and writers were perplexed for a replacement. I know it should be obvious to everyone else, but Broadway producers don’t think like you and I. So they threw a contest to decide a better verse.
Two weeks later, Slagle followed up with the big announcement of the new lyric: (more…)
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Shepard Fairey’s Piracy: Rank Hypocrisy in the Art Community
by Stage RightEver wonder why ushers on Broadway become “Camera Nazis” whenever they spot a still camera or video camera in the house?
Ever wonder why you can’t just skip over those FBI warnings at the start of every DVD?
Ever wonder why “piracy” is always such a big issue for Hollywood when discussing our economic relationship with China?
It’s because writers, actors, directors and producers all live and die from royalties and residuals (payments for the repeated use of a copyright protected piece of intellectual property). I know most people don’t want to hear this, but being a writer, director or actor is usually not a great life. Until (or unless) you are lucky enough to make it big, it is fiscally challenging to say the least. So many actors who are not stars are lucky if they get one or two weeks’ worth of work in Hollywood per year. How does an actor survive on only two weeks’ pay? They don’t. But, one thing that helps them is they get paid for every subsequent use of the show they were on. Same with the writer and the other creative folks working on the show. (more…)
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NFL Owners Who Use the N-Word and Wet Their Pants On Stage
by Stage RightAnd now a word from an NFL owner:
“And the game done chose me to bring pain to niggas and pussy holes, they one in the same.” - I’m Real, co-written by Jennifer Lopez, minority owner of the Miami Dolphins.
Amidst the uproar over Rush Limbaugh having to step aside from his participation in the bid to purchase the NFL’s St. Louis Rams over racially insensitive statements he never actually made, is the fact that current ACTUAL owners of an NFL team have said much worse than the false and the left says nothing.
Fergie: NFL Owner
Jennifer Lopez, whose Sondheim-like lyric genius is on display at the top of this post, holds the same status with the Miami Dolphins as Limbaugh would have with the Rams. And, not only does she have co-writer credit on this offensive drivel, she also recorded and performed it live. She continues to earn money in royalties for her genius use of the “N-Word.” My guess is that those who took issue with Limbaugh’s imaginary racial slur are OK with J-Lo’s actual racial slur because she looks a lot better in tight pants. (more…)
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Part II: Obama Controls Your Televison Set — Search and Ye Shall Find…Left-Wing Advocacy
by Stage RightMy ten-year-old daughter loves “So You Think You Can Dance.” I suspect most eight to eighteen-year-old girls do. So, my question to the producers of this hit show is: “Why are you pointing my daughter to a web page asking her to work at Planned Parenthood?”
Next week the networks will coordinate their shows’ story-lines to promote volunteerism. At the September 10 press conference in New York announcing this unprecedented message coordination, Ashton Kutcher got his famous Twitter feed displayed on the Times Square jumbo screen. It said: “2Day, I activate my citizenship by participating. I Participate! Do u? www.iparticipate.org.” (Damn he’s good at this whole “Under 14o characters” thing.)
In the press release announcing the initiative, all four network execs were positively boastful about their ability to inspire their viewers to ask “How high” when told to jump: (more…)
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The Reviews Are In: Mamet is a ‘Sexist’
by Stage RightLast night, David “I’m No Longer a Brain-Dead Liberal” Mamet’s “Oleanna” opened on Broadway. The production (a transfer from Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum) stars Bill Pullman and Julia Stiles. As discussed on these pages Friday, this play was originally produced off-Broadway 18 years ago and is now receiving its first, official Broadway production. “Oleanna” and the upcoming “Race” are two opportunities for Mr. Mamet’s work to be evaluated by the heavily-left-leaning theatre critics.
The play received quite positive reviews. Here are some interesting things I read in the reviews…
In Elysa Gardner’s positive review in USA Today, she refers to the contrasting times in which the play is now produced versus the original production:
When David Mamet’s Oleanna premiered in 1992, it was widely perceived as a response to the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in which Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by former assistant Anita Hill. It has been 18 years since that real-life drama played out. But as the very different controversy now surrounding David Letterman reminds us, the debate over what constitutes an abuse of power between a male authority figure and a female subordinate isn’t going away. (more…)
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‘Non-Liberal’ Mamet In For Big Year on Broadway
by Stage Right
“I took the liberal view for many decades, but I believe I have changed my mind.” – David Mamet
As I discussed in my very first post here at Big Hollywood, many in the theatre world were surprised to read David Mamet’s amazing article, “Why I am No Longer A Brain-Dead Liberal” in the Village Voice. In my post, I used the play “Oleanna” as an example of a conservative lean that I recognized in Mamet’s work when it premiered off-Broadway in 1992. I concluded with a couple of questions: (more…)
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How to Get Your Play Produced on Broadway
by Stage RightPlaybill announced that the very successful Off-Broadway play “Next Fall” will be transferring from its home at the non-profit theatre “Naked Angels” to the Helen Hayes theatre in the Spring of 2010. In many circles this is seen as a New York success story. A small, non-profit produces a new American play, it sells well after a glowing NY Times review and backers finance a move to the big time. So, let’s take this play as a “teachable moment,” if you will, and let’s discover what kind of plays get transferred to Broadway. This way, many of my readers who happen to be playwrights can also figure out a way to get their plays produced.
I always find it instructive to examine the press agent’s description of the play because the language is always carefully thought out. The thought process is always “don’t give away too much about the play so that we reveal key plot points, and also, make sure we don’t make the theme come across as too controversial so as not to alienate potential ticket buyers.” (more…)
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Latest NEA Controversy Isn’t the First
by Stage RightThe National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is always one of the hottest topics in the theatre community. A huge amount of theatre in the US is created or presented at non-profit theatres that operate under the protection of or were first started with grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The latest NEA controversy broken here at Big Hollywood by Patrick Courrielche has become a fascinating Rorschach test within the theatre community. The response has been disappointing yet predictable from the left-leaning proponents of the NEA and this administration.
Robert Mapplethorpe
To fully expose the inconsistencies and intellectually dishonest positions they have taken in their knee-jerk defense of everything Obama, we first need a little background for the Big Hollywood readers who might not remember all of the details in the recent history of controversies with regard to NEA funding in the theatre community.
NEA Primer: Now I don’t pretend to suggest that the following breakdown of the NEA struggles dating back to 1990 is a definitive or even thorough explanation of the recent history of left vs. right combat over the NEA. I encourage all of my readers to research and read about this issue. And, I especially want them to read the perspective of liberals/progressives/leftists who were in the middle of the struggle on the other side. It is informative and enlightening to read how they really feel about the subject. (more…)
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Obama’s ‘Arts Agenda’
by Stage RightDuring the 2008 campaign many of my earnest and passionate friends on the left kept bludgeoning me with the same mantra: ”Obama is the first Presidential candidate to have an ARTS AGENDA!” This fact seemed to make him immune from any other criticism with regard to minor issues like the economy or the war on terror. Whether the “Arts Agenda” was actually significant or effective or even a good idea seemed beside the point. Obama cared about artists and my friends in the theatre had spent way too long feeling neglected by their president.
To be sure, Candidate Obama did put forth an “Arts Agenda” which mostly consisted of increased funding for the NEA and health care for independent artists who work from project to project outside of a normal, W-2 type of job. At the moment, the all-important “Art Agenda” is no longer found on the still-active campaign website, but it did exist at one time, and you hear reference to this President’s “Arts Agenda” cropping up in all discussions in the artistic community including the infamous NEA conference calls from last month. (more…)
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Radical: Who is Yosi Sergant, Why Did the NEA ‘Reassign’ Him?
by Stage RightOther than the National Endowment for the Arts’ already tenuous reputation, the only casualty in the NEA conference call episode has been Yosi Sergant, the former Director of Communications for the public agency charged with funding arts organizations in America.
On September 10, the NEA announced that Sergant would be re-assigned with this curious statement accompanying the move:
“On August tenth, the National Endowment for the Arts participated in a call with arts organizations to inform them of the president’s call to national service. The White House office of public engagement also participated in the call, which provided information on how the Corporation for National and Community Service can assist groups interested in sponsoring service projects or having their members volunteer on other projects. This call was not a means to promote any legislative agenda and any suggestions to that end are simply false. The NEA regularly does outreach to various organizations to inform of the work we are doing and the resources available to them.”
This statement leads any objective and reasonable observer to wonder why Mr. Sergant would be “re-assigned” if there was nothing wrong with this purely “information/outreach” conference call. As has often been the case with this, the most open and transparent administration in history, it is very difficult to get a straight answer. We can’t even learn WHAT Sergant’s new position is, let alone why he was asked to step down from his role as Communications Director. (more…)
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Honoring September 11th: I’m Just Pissed
by Stage RightI’m not sad today. I’m not melancholy. I’m not remembering the first time I saw a sunset reflected off the west-facing side of the towers. Today doesn’t elicit any of those feelings in me.
This day makes me pissed off.
And I’m not just pissed at the terrorists. I’m pissed at the panty-waist theatre community I am a member of.
Case in point: ”One of the first plays about Muslim life in the United States debuts in a time and place fraught with symbolism: Sept. 11th, in New York City.”
The two-act play which the playwright likens to a Muslim-American “Death of a Salesman” opens tonight at the Nuyorkian Poets Cafe, about 2 miles from ground zero. (more…)
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Broadway Too PC for ‘Bye, Bye, Birdie’ ‘Rape’ Scene?
by Stage Right
I bet that headline got your attention! But, as you’ll see a little later in this post, the scene in question is not really a “rape” at all. But that didn’t keep the NY Daily News from running this headline yesterday:
‘Bye Bye Birdie’ revival on Broadway drops scene for ‘gang rape’ concern
“Just a copy editor trying to get attention by over-exaggerating a story,” you think? That’s what I thought, too. But here is the story with Gina Gershon’s quote: (more…)
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NY International Fringe Festival: Already a Parody of Itself
by Stage Right
The NY International Fringe Festival is in full swing in New York. The festival runs now through August 30th. What is the Fringe Festival? Well, their web page helpfully describes themselves this way:
…the largest multi-arts festival in North America, with more than 200 companies from all over the world performing for 16 days in more than 20 venues – that’s a total of more than 1300 performances! FringeNYC generates an atmosphere of extreme excitement, and our energy is contagious!
That explains things, right?
Here is Stage Right’s description: (more…)
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Obama’s NEA Chair Is a Broadway Baby
by Stage Right
So Rocco Landesman is the new chairman of the NEA. The gregarious and outspoken producer and theatre executive has long been known for his bold risk-taking, his penchant for publicity and his leftward lean.
As it is no big surprise that the Obama administration would select a liberal to head up the endowment, the fact is it could have been a lot worse. And, his first interview with the NY Times (natch) he spoke of the arts as an economic engine and how he will implement his new “Our Town” program which would subsidize artists and institutions when they move into a downtown area:
“When you bring artists into a town, it changes the character, attracts economic development, makes it more attractive to live in and renews the economics of that town,” he said. “There are ways to draw artists into the center of things that will attract other people.”
If you close your eyes you can almost hear Jack Kemp cheering this supply-sider on! (more…)
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Top 10 Things for Conservatives to Look for in the Upcoming Broadway Season
by Stage RightSummer is the slow time on Broadway as theatre pros recover from their Tony Award hang-overs and try to rush out to the Island for a few days of R & R before the new season begins. This year it seems there are a few plays aiming for early fall openings hoping to ride a crest of popularity into the always-lucrative holiday season.
Just as last season brought a record number of plays as well as stellar gross sales (despite doom-sayers in the industry) this season already looks locked and loaded with a huge number of shows scheduled to open between October 1st and the first week of May (the traditional Tony nomination cut-off). So to help the readers of Big Hollywood plan their trip to the Great White Way (we can still say that, can’t we?), I submit the top 10 things to look for from the center/right perspective:
10. ”Superior Donuts” – A transfer from Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre (one of my personal favorite regional houses in America), the play stars “Spinal Tap”’s Michael McKean as an aging hippie who owns a donut shop in a largely black neighborhood and Jon Michael Hill (do all young Broadway actors HAVE to go by three names now?) as a 21-year-old from the neighborhood who talks his way into a job at the shop. From the New York Times review: ”In one of the play’s most amusing exchanges Franco challenges Arthur to name 10 black poets. Arthur names a few, then stands dumb, a look of deep concentration on his face. “It’s like watching George Bush on ‘Jeopardy!’ ” Franco cracks.” (more…)
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Broadway Rejects Conservative Plays
by Stage RightThe New York Post ran a story this weekend with a very encouraging headline: RIGHT TURN ON B’WAY? Michael Riedel’s article revolves around two new plays that are being shopped around for a home. One is a one-man play about Ronald Reagan.
“Reagan” is a one-man play that doesn’t portray the 40th president as a fascist. It’s by Lionel Chetwynd, whose scripts for television and film include “The Hanoi Hilton,” “Color of Justice,” “Kissinger and Nixon” and “DC 9/11: Time of Crisis.” …. Chetwynd declined to comment on “Reagan,” except to say with a laugh, “It will change lives and the course of history.” A copy of an early script portrays Reagan as thoughtful, determined, sly (when necessary) and winning. Talking to the audience from the main room of his California ranch, Reagan explains his journey from FDR Democrat to conservative Republican. Along the way, he offers a spirited defense of conservative principles. At least three top directors have passed on the play because, says a source, “They can’t stand Ronald Reagan.”
The other play cited is “Girls in Trouble (Formerly Three Abortions)” by Jonathan Reynolds.
In “Girls in Trouble,” Reynolds presents a balanced view of pro-lifers while taking some swipes at the NPR crowd. The play ends with a harrowing confrontation between two women — one pro-life, the other pro-choice — that’s not for the squeamish. “Thus far, its claim to fame is that it’s been turned down by all the theaters in New York,” Reynolds says of his play. “It was commissioned by the Long Wharf, but they wouldn’t put it on. There was a theater in the suburbs of Washington, DC, that said they wanted to present the ‘other side’ of the abortion debate. But when they read it, they said it would “infuriate our audience.” Oskar Eustis, the head of the Public Theater, told Reynolds that his staff “didn’t go for it,” but that he would take a look at it himself.
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This Just In: Broadway Not Dead
by Stage RightBack in January you couldn’t watch any entertainment “news” show or read any Arts & Culture section of a newspaper without seeing something about the death of Broadway. There were so many shows closing all at once that the imminent death of our industry was whined about not just from spineless actors, but from producers as well. It was so pervasive that Saturday Night Live utilized Neil Patrick Harris’ musical theatre ability to present a skit starring the characters of popular Broadway shows having a meeting at Sardi’s to try to save the industry.
Somewhere, out in the wilderness, on the pages of Big Hollywood, there was a lone voice of reason. A pragmatic and practical man laying out the facts for you, the ever-interested and conservative reader. That man, one Stage Right, was shrewd enough to label the producers as “panty-waste industry folk” and explained that their propensity to panic and pull the emergency brake is partly attributed to their liberal tendencies.
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Tony Award Aftermath
by Stage Right
I’m tempted to brag about how close I was with my Tony Award Predictions and make that the biggest story coming out of Sunday’s Tony Award Show, but instead I’ll stay humble.
From the perspective of the Broadway industry (the people and companies that represent the institution of Broadway and who work in the industry tend to think in terms of studios rather than production companies), the Shubert Organization was the big winner. The Shuberts are the happy landlord to Best Musical winner “Billy Elliot” and Best Play winner “God of Carnage.” The Shuberts also serve as co-producer of “God of Carnage.”
From an individual show’s perspective, certainly “Billy Elliot” was the big winner with a total of 10 awards. One major award they didn’t win was the Best Score of a Musical that seemed like a shoe-in for Elton John. Instead it went to Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey for “Next to Normal” that show also won the Best Actress award for its star, Alice Ripley. (more…)
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‘Nine’ Opens November 25th
by Stage RightHere at Big Hollywood, the film folks get all the fun by previewing film trailers in their posts. But, since the upcoming “Nine” is a film adaptation of a Broadway musical, I’m claiming this one!
Directed by Rob Marshall, who did a pretty good job adapting a little show called “Chicago” to film, “Nine” is set for a Fall opening which usually means the studio has Oscar hopes. “Nine” was a musical adaptation of Federico Fellini’s masterpiece “8 1/2″ and was staged by Tommy Tune in 1982 starring Raul Julia as Italian film director Guido Contini. For that incredibly demanding role in the film, we get Oscar winner Daniel Day Lewis. The cast includes Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Fergie, Judy Dench and none other than Sophia Loren! (more…)
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Tonight’s Tony Award Predictions
by Stage RightJoin Gary Graham, Tim Slagle, Moxie X. Cathedra, Stage Right and many more as Big Hollywood live-blogs the West Coast feed of the Tony Awards.
Tonight, 8:00 PM Pacific Time, Telecast on CBS.
It’s often said during Oscar season that there are two sets of predictions: Who WILL win, and who SHOULD win. It’s the same with Broadway’s Tony Awards but I often like to add a third prediction: What would be the best for business. Believe it or not, often times the Tony Awards seem to take into account the shows that “need” the award for marketing purposes. Even though one show stands out and seems to be the obvious choice to win the top prize, a surprise occurs and a David beats a Goliath thus ensuring a longer run for David. I will list a few examples for Best Musical travesties from the past that many might quarrel with in terms of the validity of the show that won, but the commercial outcome of the shows involved can’t be argued. You have a right to your own opinion, but not to your own facts.
1991: “Miss Saigon” has a multi-million-dollar advance, leads nominations with 11, wins Best Actor and Best Actress. Best Musical that year? “The Will Rogers Follies.” Without the award, “Will Rogers” would have not made it another six months. After winning the prize, it ran for two more years, had a successful tour and might still be running in Branson, MO. “Saigon” ran for a decade. (more…)
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8pm PST Sunday: Live Blogging the Tonys — Well, Sort Of
by Stage RightPop some popcorn, tune in to CBS, and fire up the laptop… We’ll be live-blogging the Tony Awards during the West Coast tape delay starting at 8:00 PM Pacific Time, tomorrow night!
Come and join me, Stage Right and a whole host of Big Hollywood contributors as we keep a running tally of all the same-sex marriage references, rate the pretentious hyperbole on a scale of 1-to-10 and hold our collective breath when Jane Fonda is given an open microphone!
Since the Tony’s will be on live in New York three hours ahead of our blogging session, I have a suggestion for those of you in the Eastern zone: TiVo the Tonys and watch the Laker game! Then, when the game is over, start your playback at 11:00 PM Eastern and jump on to Big Hollywood for all the live-blogging hilarity! Otherwise, don’t jump in and spoil it for the rest of us!
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42nd Street: Too Big to Fail?
by Stage Right- Summer, 1987: In a stunning and unprecedented move, President Walter Mondale has stepped in and saved the Broadway musical “42nd Street” from eviction at the Majestic Theatre. The theatre’s owners had earlier announced that they were using a standard clause in the production’s booking agreement and had given an eviction notice to the show due to low ticket sales. Subsequently, the theatre owners have also announced that in January of next year, the Majestic will be the new home to British import “The Phantom of the Opera.”
But, in an effort to “save American jobs” and keep an American musical from having to make way for an imported show, President Mondale has deemed “42nd Street” “too big to fail”: “This show has been running since 1980 and has been providing jobs for hundreds of working families in New York. My administration is determined to keep this production running and to keep these long-suffering, union workers on the job,” the President said. (more…)
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Ragtime: On Second Thought
by Stage RightHere’s something you don’t hear from bloggers very often: “I was wrong!”
Back in January I wrote about the announced revival of “Ragtime” at the Kennedy Center. I described the extreme leftist views of E. L. Doctorow upon whose novel the musical is based. I also described the central character’s story arch which follows his path from hopeful, young and talented African-American to spiteful, vengeful domestic terrorist.
A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to see the production and I was delighted that although the script remains unchanged form the original, some slight nuances in staging, focus and character inter-action has softened the radical nature of Doctorow’s dogmatic cynicism and has illuminated truly hopeful and inspiring visions of an America to be proud of. (more…)
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