Martin Short Is Coming Back to Broadway!
According to this article in Playbill:
The Martin Short solo show "If I'd Saved, I Wouldn't Be Here" will have a Boston tryout prior to its Broadway arrival.
The show is currently being advertised on the Broadway in Boston website for a Sept. 27-Oct. 9, 2005 engagement. The site indicated the show will then travel to Broadway in spring 2006.
The venture was created by Short and the "Hairspray" writing team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.
Shaiman told Playbill.com columnist Harry Haun that it would land on "Broadway next year" and is now being written as a "one-man show with cast." He said, "What do you call a one-man show that has four people helping out? They play the other million characters. Marty can only play a billion characters. We need others to help out. It's called "If I'd Saved, I Wouldn't Be Here: Martin Short on Broadway". Anyone who likes him will be a kid in a candy store.
I WANT CANDY! I've been a big Martin Short fan since I saw him on SCTV. One of my favorite skits is when he plays a guilty lawyer being interviewed 60 Minutes-style and he just sweats -- brilliant. Or the dancing executive of Scrapco -- "look at me, I'm Nureyev! [crash]" Not to mention all his billion other characters and Broadway roles.
He's just so darn watchable. Since I missed Billy Crystal in 700 Sundays [sob] I'll have to see Martin -- road trip to Boston!
If you're a Martin Short fan, you'll remember his 1993 star turn in The Goodbye Girl, 
, his 1999 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in the Broadway revival of Little Me, and his most recent starring role as Leo Bloom in the Los Angeles production of The Producers.
But what a lot of people DON'T know is that Martin Short got his start in musical theater in the original Toronto production of Godspell in 1972. Stephen Schwartz has a great article on that Toronto production here: That production of Godspell also included the talents of Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) Victor Garber (Titanic, Alias), the late Gilda Radner (Saturday Night Live), Eugene Levy (A Mighty Wind, American Pie) and even the musical director Paul Shaffer (The Late Show with David Letterman).
Hey, I've got a great idea...how about a musical version of Father of the Bride? I think that Martin Short would knock a musical version of Franck out of the park...
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I remember Gilda Radner in particular because she sang "Day by Day" and Eugene Levy because he had a "look".
It was a great ensemble and was probably the beginning of my love for musicals.
We should also recall that Jayne Eastwood was in the cast - she was wonderful and has alwasy been a very under-appreciated actor...
It's a shame that there was never a Toronto Cast Recording... I'd pay a lot for it now.
Oh, but as for Martin Short - he was great, too and I will make an effort to see "If I had saved, I wouldn't be here". He did mention on The Daily Show that he had considered other names for the show including: "Marty Christ Superstar"; "Sunny VonBulow unplugged" and "Stroke Me, Lady Fame"... tough call!