The Reviews Are In: Mamet is a ‘Sexist’

Last 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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Tags: anita hill, backstage, ben brantley, bill pullman, broadway
Posted Oct 12th 2009 at 4:34 pm in Featured Story, Politics, Theatre | 24532231 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/10/12/the-reviews-are-in-mamet-is-a-sexist/The+Reviews+Are+In%3A+Mamet+is+a+%27Sexist%272009-10-12+23%3A34%3A05Stage+Right

‘Non-Liberal’ Mamet In For Big Year on Broadway

“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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Tags: broadway, david mamet, NY Times, oleanna, race
Posted Oct 9th 2009 at 2:55 pm in Politics, Theatre | 24145440 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/10/09/non-liberal-mamet-in-for-big-year-on-broadway/%27Non-Liberal%27+Mamet+In+For+Big+Year+on+Broadway2009-10-09+21%3A55%3A02Stage+Right

How to Get Your Play Produced on Broadway

Playbill 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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Tags: Atheists, bigotry, braodway, Christians, Naked Angels
Posted Oct 4th 2009 at 6:51 am in Featured Story, Politics, Religion, Theatre | 23481885 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/10/04/how-to-get-your-play-produced-on-broadway/How+to+Get+Your+Play+Produced+on+Broadway2009-10-04+13%3A51%3A04Stage+Right

Latest NEA Controversy Isn’t the First

The 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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Tags: Andres Serrano, Jesse Helms, Karen Finley, National Endowmen, national endowment for the arts
Posted Sep 26th 2009 at 5:31 pm in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 22737084 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/09/26/latest-nea-controversy-isnt-the-first/Latest+NEA+Controversy+Isn%27t+the+First2009-09-27+00%3A31%3A39Stage+Right

Honoring September 11th: I’m Just Pissed

I’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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Tags: 9/11, broadway, muslim-american, September 11, the domestic crusaders
Posted Sep 11th 2009 at 6:41 pm in Politics, Theatre | 22289876 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/09/11/honoring-september-11th-im-just-pissed/Honoring+September+11th%3A+I%27m+Just+Pissed2009-09-12+01%3A41%3A12Stage+Right

Broadway Too PC for ‘Bye, Bye, Birdie’ ‘Rape’ Scene?

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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Tags: "Annie Get Your Gun", broadway, bye bye birdie, chita rivera, dancing with the stars
Posted Aug 25th 2009 at 6:51 am in Culture, Politics, Theatre | 21053441 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/08/25/broadway-too-pc-for-bye-bye-birdie-rape-scene/Broadway+Too+PC+for+%27Bye%2C+Bye%2C+Birdie%27+%27Rape%27+Scene%3F2009-08-25+13%3A51%3A46Stage+Right

Top 10 Things for Conservatives to Look for in the Upcoming Broadway Season

Summer 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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Tags: a steady rain, Ana Gasteyer, anita hill, barrymore, bebe neuwerth
Posted Aug 16th 2009 at 9:14 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 20520626 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/08/16/top-10-things-for-conservatives-to-look-for-in-the-upcoming-broadway-season/Top+10+Things+for+Conservatives+to+Look+for+in+the+Upcoming+Broadway+Season2009-08-16+16%3A14%3A15Stage+Right

Broadway Rejects Conservative Plays

The 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.

(more…)

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Tags: "Girls in Trouble (Formerly Three Abortions)", "Tales of an Urban Indian", "The Good Negro", abortion, and the People Who Love Them"
Posted Jun 28th 2009 at 6:57 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics, Religion | 1667425 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/06/28/conservative-plays-get-noticed-in-new-york/Broadway+Rejects+Conservative+Plays2009-06-28+13%3A57%3A38Stage+Right

This Just In: Broadway Not Dead

Back 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.

(more…)

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Tags: Arts & Culture section, broadway, health insurance, neil patrick harris, Philip J. Smith
Posted Jun 21st 2009 at 6:52 am in Entertainment, Featured Story | 164190One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/06/21/this-just-in-broadway-not-dead/This+Just+In%3A+Broadway+Not+Dead2009-06-21+13%3A52%3A00Stage+Right

Tony Award Aftermath

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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Tags: "You're Welcome America: A Final Evening with George W., alice ripley, billy elliot, bret michaels, brian yorkey
Posted Jun 11th 2009 at 6:43 am in Entertainment, Video | 1558624 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/06/11/tony-award-aftermath/Tony+Award+Aftermath2009-06-11+13%3A43%3A35Stage+Right

‘Nine’ Opens November 25th

Here 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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Tags: 8 1/2, broadway, daniel day lewis, federico fellini, fergie
Posted Jun 9th 2009 at 8:23 am in Entertainment | 153510No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/06/09/nine-trailer/%27Nine%27+Opens+November+25th2009-06-09+15%3A23%3A18Stage+Right

Tonight’s Tony Award Predictions

Join 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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Tags: 33 variations, alice ripley, allison janney, billy elliot, brian d'arcy james
Posted Jun 7th 2009 at 11:03 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Politics | 152962No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/06/07/tony-awards-predictions/Tonight%27s+Tony+Award+Predictions2009-06-07+18%3A03%3A09Stage+Right

42nd Street: Too Big to Fail?

- 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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Tags: "Chorus Line", 42nd street, Bill Clinton, broadway, Carter
Posted Jun 5th 2009 at 6:34 am in Political Humor | 149718No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/06/05/42nd-street-too-big-to-fail/42nd+Street%3A+Too+Big+to+Fail%3F2009-06-05+13%3A34%3A25Stage+Right

Ragtime: On Second Thought

Here’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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Tags: broadway, Canada, cineplex-odeon, doctorow, frank galati
Posted May 15th 2009 at 2:11 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 135350One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/05/15/on-second-thought/Ragtime%3A+On+Second+Thought2009-05-15+21%3A11%3A10Stage+Right

Andrew Lloyd Webber and His Amazing Technicolor Tax Logic

I’ve already risked losing any credibility I might have in the theatre community by defending Andrew Lloyd Webber and his conservative politics, but I have to go back to that well once again because Webber has written an op-ed piece for London’s Daily Mail that received international attention and a surprising lack of criticism within the theatrical community.  The hardest part of writing this post is condensing his article down to just a few pull quotes so I encourage you to follow the link and read the entire piece.  He starts off by confronting the typical banal argument he is so used to getting when he raises concerns over the Labour Party’s confiscatory taxation:  (more…)

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Tags: andrew lloyd webber, broadway, England, michael caine, Obama
Posted May 12th 2009 at 6:37 am in Entertainment, Politics | 130782No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/05/12/andrew-and-his-amazing-technicolor-logic/Andrew+Lloyd+Webber+and+His+Amazing+Technicolor+Tax+Logic2009-05-12+13%3A37%3A20Stage+Right

Tony Award Nominations 2009

In what is becoming an annual rite of self-destruction, Broadway has once again chosen to snub many of the big-name stars who have put their film careers on hold to trudge onto the boards eight times a week, take a significant pay cut, and run the risk of being ridiculed for being unable to cut the mustard as a theatre actor  (As Alan Swan famously said before having to appear on live television in “My Favorite Year”:  ‘I’m not an actor, damn you, I’m a movie star!’).  This week’s announcement of nominees for Broadway’s top prize, the Tony Award, was more newsworthy for the names left off the list than for the relatively unfamiliar names singled out for the honor. 

Nathan Lane and John Goodman are selling tickets hand over fist for their revival of “Waiting for Godot” but neither received the honor of a nomination.  Same with David Hyde Pierce, Frank Langella, Mary Louise Parker and Matthew Broderick. 

It was no surprise that Jeremy Piven was included out of the Best Actor category after his famous sushi defense for missing performances in David Mamet’s “Speed-the-Plow,” but not honoring John Lithgow’s brilliant turn in “All My Sons” in the same category is a crime against humanity!  It ranks up there with the snub of Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman in the 1984 revival of “Death of a Salesman.” Brian Dennehy was honored with the Best Actor award when he did Willy Loman in 2000, but that goodwill did not anoint him worthy of a nomination this year for his turn in “Desire Under the Elms.”  (more…)

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Tags: Angela Lansbury, Brian Dennehy, broadway, Christine Ebersol, Daniel Radcliffe
Posted May 9th 2009 at 6:15 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Featured Story | 129722No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/05/09/tony-award-nominations-2009/Tony+Award+Nominations+20092009-05-09+13%3A15%3A30Stage+Right

Sunday Matineé: ‘Sunday in the Park with George’

1984’s landmark musical “Sunday in the Park with George” was one of the most polarizing and debated shows to reach Broadway in the past thirty years.  It marked Stephen Sondheim’s first collaboration outside of the watchful artistic and commercial gaze of his long-time director and producer Harold Prince.  It also served as the inspiration for a whole new genre of introspective concept musicals which are hated and loved by theatre-goers and theatre professionals alike.  (more…)

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Tags: "Finishing the Hat", A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Bernadette Peters, Booth Theatre, broadway
Posted Mar 8th 2009 at 1:16 pm in Entertainment | 7326626 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/03/08/sunday-matinee-sunday-in-the-park-with-george-3809/Sunday+Matine%C3%A9%3A++%27Sunday+in+the+Park+with+George%272009-03-08+21%3A16%3A53Stage+Right

A View From Stage Right; Part 2

Part 1 of what I half-jokingly called my “Manifesto.”

In a fiscal conservative’s utopian dreamworld, there would be no federal funding for the arts (or so many other government agencies or programs for that matter).  This has been our position since the inception of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in the early 1970’s.  We’ve been saying that if elected, we would abolish these misguided programs and departments and bring our government back to the bare-bones constitutionally described role that it has and leave everything else to the states.

We’ve held the influential bully pulpit of the presidency for twenty of the past twenty-eight years, and what has happened to the NEA?  It has grown.  While we have stood on principle,  we have also stood on the sidelines.  The founding fathers would be outraged that the federal government is funding art with taxpayer money, but because we are on the sidelines standing on our principles, all of that money is going to the people creating art with messages that undermine our very existence. (more…)

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Tags: "And the Band Played On", "Angels in America", abortion, AIDS, Andre Bishop
Posted Mar 4th 2009 at 5:50 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 7162661 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/03/04/a-view-from-stage-right-part-2/A+View+From+Stage+Right%3B++Part+22009-03-05+01%3A50%3A22Stage+Right

A View From Stage Right; My Manifesto.

There is a problem with the American Theatre.

The vast majority of plays produced on our stages are intimidating, antagonistic and often downright offensive to 50% of Americans.  I know this because I am one of them and I see that half of the country votes like I do.

This is not to say these plays aren’t entertaining; many of them are.   The actors are often terrific–one of this country’s rich artistic resources is its acting community.  Ditto for our directors, designers and the crews who execute these artists’ visions. (more…)

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Tags: artistic director, broadway, Craig Wright, dramaturg, funding
Posted Feb 26th 2009 at 3:33 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 65966114 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/02/26/who-picks-these-plays-a-manifesto/A+View+From+Stage+Right%3B+My+Manifesto.2009-02-26+23%3A33%3A03Stage+Right

Sunday Matinee: Oscar Special… “The Sound of Music”

This week’s Sunday Matinee is dedicated to Hollywood.

Because it’s Oscar Sunday and the whole world is focused on the Kodak Theatre and the red carpet parade about to happen, it seems fitting that Broadway throws Hollywood a bone today.  Also, considering every other Broadway show these days seems to be a staged version of a popular movie, (”Shrek”, “Wedding Singer”… Really?) it seems appropriate to shine a little light on a Broadway Musical that has been adapted to film.  (more…)

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Tags: Andy Griffith, anne bancroft, broadway, Carol Burnett, chicago
Posted Feb 22nd 2009 at 11:40 am in Entertainment | 5707016 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/02/22/sunday-matinee-oscar-special-the-sound-of-music/Sunday+Matinee%3A++Oscar+Special...+%22The+Sound+of+Music%222009-02-22+19%3A40%3A56Stage+Right

Pippin: The Original Obama?

I saw a really solid production of the Stephen Schwartz’ musical “Pippin” at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.  There was a sequence that made me think of our current political climate.  The character of Pippin realizes that his father, the King, is a tyrant and must be overthrown.  He delivers an eloquent speech to the people (book by Roger O. Hirson):

I think it’s time for a change. We’ve got to dedicate ourselves to a better world for all people. Peace and justice must be restored to this great land. The tyrant must be overthrown. Terror and bloodshed must be ended. We need a leader with the wisdom and the courage to seep out the old order and create a better world. Down with Charles! Up with ME!

Pippin assassinates his father and assumes the throne.  Immediately, he begins to implement the changes he promised: (more…)

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Tags: center theatre group, change, leadership, mark taper forum, Military
Posted Feb 12th 2009 at 11:40 am in Entertainment, Political Humor | 4779029 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/02/12/pippin-the-original-obama/Pippin%3A+The+Original+Obama%3F2009-02-12+19%3A40%3A01Stage+Right

NEA Grantees Should “Spread the Wealth”

Although Broadway - and by extension National Tours of Broadway shows - tend to be the showcase for the American theatre industry, the vast majority of the works that end up in that showcase are born and nurtured in the vast network of non-profit theatres stretched across the country. 

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco as well as smaller cities like Minneapolis, Houston San Diego and beautiful Costa Mesa (!) have major producing organizations that act as feeders for Broadway and the road.  New playwright programs designed to nurture writers and their works are a staple of most non-profit and institutional theatres.  And these theatres are funded, in part, by federal grants from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA).  (more…)

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Tags: a chorus line, broadway, national endowment for the arts, taxpayer money, Theatre
Posted Feb 3rd 2009 at 6:25 am in Entertainment, Politics | 3919425 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/02/03/nea-grantees-should-spread-the-wealth/NEA+Grantees+Should+%22Spread+the+Wealth%222009-02-03+14%3A25%3A41Stage+Right

Springtime For Terrorists, In Washington…

Playbill is announcing a revival of the musical “Ragtime” this Spring at the Kennedy Center.  I love “Ragtime.” It’s a great piece of theatre.  And it’s a completely, totally and entirely a left-wing wacko propaganda piece.  

Brian Stokes Mitchell and the original cast of "Ragtime"

“Ragtime” is based on E. L.  Doctorow’s 1975 novel of the same name which examines the cultural shifts in America at the turn of the last century.  It cleverly uses real-life historical figures and intertwines their stories with a fictional family in New Rochelle, NY.  The tensions between the influx of Jewish immigrants and the growing black population with the conservative white upper-class frame the plot and serve as representative of the integration of the culture in the 20th century.  If you’d like a taste of Doctorow’s opinion of America circa 1907, you should read this speech he gave reflecting on America of 2007. It will be enlightening, if you can get through it.   (more…)

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Tags: broadway, doctorow, kennedy center, ragtime, Theatre
Posted Jan 28th 2009 at 3:42 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 3368616 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/01/28/springtime-for-terrorists-in-washington/Springtime+For+Terrorists%2C+In+Washington...2009-01-28+23%3A42%3A38Stage+Right

“Prop 8: The Musical” on the Great White Way

Variety is reporting that as part of a fundraiser for multiple same-sex marriage organizations, “Hairspray” composer Marc Shaiman’s satirical “Prop 8: The Musical” will be staged live.  The event called “Defying Inequality” will be performed on a dark night on the set of “Wicked” at the Gershwin.  The star-studded Internet video was released in response to the Scott Eckern episode in which Marc Shaiman was a central figure. 

I’m sorry, but this is just bad writing.  I think I’ve been pretty fair on these pages about giving liberal writers their due when they are talented and create great work.  I’m glad Mr. Shaiman had years and years of royalties from the Broadway run of “Hairspray” (not to mention the modestly successful movie version) because I really think he’s jumping the old hammerhead with this thing.  At this point, Mr. Shaiman seems to be wrapping himself in a rainbow flag and beating the Prop 8 drum like Pete Best on a bad night at the Cavern Club.  (more…)

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Tags: broadway, marc shaiman, prop 8, scott eckern, Theatre
Posted Jan 27th 2009 at 9:10 am in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Politics | 31850108 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/01/27/prop-8-the-musical-on-the-great-white-way/%22Prop+8%3A+The+Musical%22+on+the+Great+White+Way2009-01-27+17%3A10%3A20Stage+Right

Life Upon the “Wicked” Stage

Wicked, the smash international stage hit, is a phenomenon and triumph of luck, pluck and virtue for it’s primary creator: composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz. Schwartz made a revolutionary cultural impact on American Theatre with his 1971 Off-Broadway hit Godspell. He followed quickly with his Broadway debut Pippin which was known primarily for the over-powering staging and choreography of Bob Fosse, but over the years, his score has gained new-found respect. A revival of Pippin debuts this week at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum. Then came his next musical The Magic Show with 70’s magician Doug Henning and with those three hits running simultaneously it seemed Stephen Schwartz was on track to be the next great American Composer.

But, even though he continued to write quality work, including scores for animated features like Prince of Egypt and lyrics for Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame, his Broadway bona fides faded away in memory as a relic of the 70’s. Those inside the industry know that Schwartz continued to be active and involved in the industry and tirelessly encouraged the development of new writers and new musicals through his work with ASCAP. He traveled the country and selflessly helped young composers with their dreams. He is a true hero of the American Theatre and you have to really search far and wide to find anyone who would say anything bad about him. Stephen Schwartz is a “mensch” and he deserves the success he is now enjoying with the mega-hit that is Wicked. (more…)

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Tags: broadway, stephen schwartz, Theatre, wicked
Posted Jan 20th 2009 at 12:00 pm in Entertainment, Politics | 2445718 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/01/20/life-upon-the-wicked-stage/Life+Upon+the+%22Wicked%22+Stage2009-01-20+20%3A00%3A48Stage+Right

In Defense of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber

While we’re in the business of revealing secrets from the entertainment industry, let me add a whopper for you all to chew on:  Most people who work on Broadway hate Andrew Lloyd Webber.

That’s right.  Despite creating more employment and wealth than any single person over the past three decades, the genius behind Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, Starlight Express and Phantom of the Opera is secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) reviled.

When I first experienced the anti-ALW bias, it was all about his music.  Just like being a PC person or a Mac person, or a Beatles person or a Stones person, you were either an Andrew Lloyd Webber person or a Sondheim person.  Within the snobby theatre parties his shows were labeled as too commercial or his songs too repetitive.  While ALW wrote a show about Jesus and Joseph and an adaptation of T.S. Eliot poems, Sondheim wrote about Georges Seraut, Sweeney Todd and presidential assassins.

ALW was too simple and accessible, Sondheim was challenging and esoteric.  While ALW was temperamental and demanding, Sondheim was friendly and engaging.  And, not coincidentally, while ALW’s shows ran for years and years and made fortunes and sold-out, Sondheim’s shows rarely recouped investment.  (more…)

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Tags: andrew lloyd webber, broadway, cats, phantom of the opera, sondheim
Posted Jan 16th 2009 at 4:00 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment, Politics, Uncategorized | 2108942 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/01/16/music-of-the-knight-in-defense-of-sir-andrew-lloyd-weber/In+Defense+of+Sir+Andrew+Lloyd+Webber2009-01-17+00%3A00%3A03Stage+Right

Memo To ‘Rent’ Characters: Get a Job

The lights came up at the Nederlander Theatre at intermission.  My girlfriend, at the time, turns to me and says, “Well, what do you think?”.  We had just seen the first half of RENT, the groundbreaking, 1996 grunge-rock musical based on Pucini’s La Boheme.  For a synopsis, read this.  I gave her my usual response which she had learned to tolerate by now…  “Well, I think it’s brilliant.  I mean, there’s barely a set so the crew must be really small.  It’s a seven piece band.  The cast is about the same size as A Chorus Line so the payroll is nice and tight.  Those costumes look like they are dragged in the alley before the show so the wardrobe crew must be only three or four people.  Other than the drag queen, there aren’t any wigs to maintain.  And this thing they’re doing with same-day, $10 tickets is creating such an amazing “Event” atmosphere at the theatre… it’s a marketing dream!  The Nederlanders gave them this theatre for free, since it hasn’t been booked since Lena Horne in 1982…  They can run this thing for a decade and they’ll recoup in about three months.  I love it!”.

It’s true, I can’t see a show anymore without trying to figure out the capitalization and weekly running costs by mid-way through the 1st act… it’s a gift, and a curse.

So, she rolls her eyes and says, ”I mean, what do you think of the story, the music, the characters….  Are you enjoying the show?”.

(more…)

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Tags: broadway, giuliani, musical, new york, rent
Posted Jan 15th 2009 at 1:50 pm in Entertainment, News, Politics, Uncategorized | 2013369 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/01/15/memo-to-rent-characters-get-a-job-new/Memo+To+%27Rent%27+Characters%3A+Get+a+Job++2009-01-15+21%3A50%3A37Stage+Right

Actors Equity Association: Hostile Work Environment

You hear the stories about the DMV worker asked to remove an American Flag from their cubicle, and the secretary forced to not have a bible on her desk, or the fireman who can’t have a Hooters calendar up at the firehouse.  They all make the headlines and they contribute to the somewhat sanitized work environments now pretty standard in corporate America due to H.R. weenies scared of the ever-annoying “Hostile Work Environment” law suit.

It brings to mind the day I had to meet at the LA Actors Equity Association (AEA) offices to negotiate some special provisions for a show I was hired to manage.  AEA is the union for stage actors and for all you Hollywood types who just deal with SAG, consider yourself lucky that at least you deal with a PROFESSIONAL operation. 

To get to the conference room at the AEA office, I walked down the length of their front offices with a pool of desks on the left and a wall full of office doors down the right side of the corridor.  The offices were for various representatives hired to enforce different contracts based on size of theatre and geographic location this side of the Mississippi.
(more…)

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Tags: actors' equity, actors' union, broadway, hostile work environment, political cartoons
Posted Jan 14th 2009 at 11:50 am in Entertainment, Politics | 1845726 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/01/14/actors-equity-association-hostile-work-environment/Actors+Equity+Association%3A+Hostile+Work+Environment2009-01-14+19%3A50%3A49Stage+Right

Calling All Center-Right Playwrights: Put Up, Or Shut Up.

Although Big Hollywood is still in its infancy, a recurring theme seems to be running through the posts and the comments:  (paraphrasing)

“Stop bitching about the left in show business, go out and make a new reality with your own creativity and get those butts in the seats.  That’s the only way to change things!” 

And as a conservative, it’s hard to argue with that kind of “pull yourself up by the boot straps” kind of thinking. 

Now, I recognize that it’s difficult to just write a screen play and make a movie.  But, the fact of the matter is, theatre is much different.  It actually IS pretty easy to get something up on the boards and seen in an obscure venue.   Writers in LA have always known that the small, “99-seat” or “Equity Waiver” houses are a perfect venue for getting their ideas on their feet.  But, it’s also a labor of love and rarely ends up producing real, tangible dividends. 

(more…)

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Tags: broadway, conservative writer, leftist, Theatre, view-point
Posted Jan 10th 2009 at 2:30 pm in Entertainment, News | 1363316 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/sright/2009/01/10/put-up-or-shut-up/Calling+All+Center-Right+Playwrights%3A++Put+Up%2C+Or+Shut+Up.2009-01-10+22%3A30%3A05Stage+Right