I try not to discuss politics and religion on this blog, but dagnabit, I just have to shout it this to the cyber-heavens!

Stephen Harper, President of Canada, sent the Canucks who created THE DROWSY CHAPERONE a letter on opening night! I'm assuming it was a congratulatory letter, and not a reminder to pay the taxes on all the moulah they're making!

Well done Stephen!

From this recent The Leading Men column in Playbill:

Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone: Congrats on being the longest-running Canadian musical on Broadway!

"It's true. We beat Billy Bishop Goes to War, which ran for 12 performances in 1982. We had champagne on the day we passed that mark. We also got a letter from the prime minister of Canada on our opening night, and it was a real thrill."

Are you anything like your character, Man in Chair?

"We're all a little like him. I'm a chronically, marginally depressed person, though I'm very happy today. I also have a disdain for ringing phones and a desire to be transported by theatre and a disappointment with a lot of the theatre I see."

Your Man in Chair yearns for the days of the Gershwins and makes a wisecrack about Elton John ("Must we continue this charade?"). What do you think of Elton's musicals?

"I love his music. You know what? That line was written six years ago. It's not about Lestat. It was written in response to the more pop-oriented musicals. I still haven't seen The Lion King. But I'd love to see Billy Elliott."

What musicals do you obsess over?

"I'm more into jazz and Steely Dan, but I love The Music Man, Guys and Dolls and Gypsy."

Soon, your show will be the one that young fans obsess over.

"More than anything else, I dream this show will be done in high schools. Some kid will get to say, 'I want to play Man in Chair!'"

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I'm speechless...

From this article by Richard Ouzounian in the May 30, 2006 Toronto Star.

The 2,000 who entered the doors of Stratford's Festival Theatre last night for the opening performance of the season first had to pass through a gantlet of demonstrators from a coalition of groups organized by the Perth County Coalition Against Poverty.

The protesting groups referred to the opening night crowd in their advance publicity as "a who's who of the rich and vile" and condemned the festival as "a playpen for the rich."

Despite vows by the groups to shut down the production, the show went on last night.

Observers saw anywhere from a few dozen to 60 protestors, who tried without success to storm a fence separating them from the theatre.

There was a heavy police presence at the theatre, no doubt prompted by the participation of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, a Toronto-based group that has rallied in large numbers on other occasions and had skirmishes with police.

The ironic part of the situation is that the play the protestors were trying to stop people from seeing was William Shakespeare's Coriolanus, an exploration of what happens to a country when an impoverished mob sets out to overthrow the well-fed establishment.

Stratford's artistic director, Richard Monette, addressed that irony and several others in a speech he made to the Stratford Board of Governors on Sunday night. "Tomorrow night's protestors," said Monette, "will be picketing a play that, at the very least, raises uncomfortable issues surrounding poverty, and forces us to think about them in an even-handed way. Here's another irony. The Stratford Festival, which one of the coalition websites describes as 'an annual playpen for the rich,' wasn't actually founded for that purpose. To be honest, it wasn't even founded to further the cause of art. It was founded (by Tom Patterson) to keep the citizens of Stratford out of Skid Row," Monette said.

"Even when he was in high school, Tom could see that the decline of the railway industry in Stratford was going to destroy the town's economy. Jobs were going to disappear. People were going to lose their homes. Lives were going to be ruined. There was going to be serious poverty. Tom used to talk about this with his classmates, and they'd toss ideas around, trying to come up with something that could be brought in to save Stratford from becoming a ghost town. An international hockey school was one idea that came up. But Tom thought that a better bet, for a town named Stratford, on a river called the Avon, would be a festival of Shakespearean theatre."

"The festival saved Stratford, and it is now a major economic engine not just for this city, but for the entire region, generating $125 million worth of economic activity each year. Its presence directly and indirectly provides more than 3,000 full-time jobs that otherwise wouldn't exist. It generates nearly $56 million in tax revenues for all levels of government each year -- nearly 25 times the amount, by the way, that it receives in federal and provincial funding. Tom had the vision. But it took the backing of some very well-heeled people to turn that vision into a reality. So when the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty says, on its website, that the supporters of the Stratford Festival are 'experts in keeping us in poverty,' that is indeed an irony. And a very sad one."

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So, the British appear to know a thing or two about musical theatre after all...

My friend Nathan Matthews over at TheatreRadio (the UK's Only Internet Radio Station For Musical Theatre) sent me an e-mail about MUSICAL MAD, a new website that is being created to host a range of online concerts featuring some of the greatest performers in musical theatre today.

From the e-mail I got:

MUSICAL MAD

In Association with Creative Concerts Limited, TheatreRadio and Sonic Media

Broadcast Online at www.musicalmad.co.uk

BOX OFFICE IS NOW OPEN!

MUSICAL MAD has arrived! The Box office selling tickets giving instant access to on-line musical theatre events is now open for business!

Simply log-in now at www.musicalmad.co.uk and experience for yourself exclusive musicals and concerts online, watch video clips, enter competitions and get up-to-the-minute interviews with all your favorite West End performers. The first event has just been announced...

From Sunday 23rd July, from just 4.95 pounds, you can catch the very first online audio broadcast of the star-studded musical extravaganza Summer Showstoppers that was recorded live with Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. This unique two-hour medley features some of the best loved musicals from CATS, GUYS AND DOLLS, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, ANYTHING GOES, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and SINGIN' IN THE RAIN and sung by some of the hottest musical stars on the scene today.

The talented line-up of principal artists includes Earl Carpenter (The Phantom in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA), Anita Louise Combe (Roxie in CHICAGO), Kerry Ellis (Elphaba in WICKED), Chris Holland (DIRTY DANCING), Ramin Karimloo (Chris in MISS SAIGON) and Rebecca Thornhill (Julie in SHOWBOAT).

Earl Carpenter, Artistic Director of Creative Concerts Limited and co-founder of MUSICAL MAD has become increasingly aware of the growing expectation for instant access to entertainment. Earl comments, "With the convenience and popularity of internet access at home, we can watch or listen to whatever we want at anytime. It struck me that as well as making entertainment more accessible, the Internet can sustain and deliver large-scale events that we simply didn't catch first time around or really loved and want to re-live. Just as we replay CDs of our favorite shows, MUSICAL MAD broadcasts will allow unique experiences to be played out, on demand, over and over again."

"In the West End at the moment, musicals are more popular than ever, with AVENUE Q, WICKED and SPAMALOT as good examples of what's attracting mainstream audiences. Similarly, if people can afford relatively inexpensively, the excitement and delight that only the magic of a musical can bring, then by logging onto MUSICAL MAD, we're doing our job and 'bringing the West End closer'."

For full information and further details of forthcoming events on-line, including an exciting cabaret season later in the Autumn, simply log on to www.musicalmad.co.uk.

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Last night we saw MARTIN SHORT: FAME BECOMES ME at the Canon Theatre.

We had a really nice evening -- my oldest was off to a sleepover, so it was just my husband, myself, and our darling cute 9-year old daughter. We don't get to do a lot of things with just the three of us, so it was a lot of fun. Trinity has a very sophisticated education in musical theatre, so she can always be counted on for insightful comments.

I haven't been in the Canon Theatre for a long time, and we had great seats, so that was fun too.

I particularly enjoyed Martin's Jiminy Glick segment with Ross Petty, and it reminded me that I still need to see the film JIMINY GLICK IN LALAWOOD.

After the show we went to Fran's for cheesecake, which we had never done before. Hey, it ain't Sardi's, but it was pretty darn special, nonetheless.

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OK, come and get 'em!

The fabulous marketing materials for THE TALE OF PIGLING BLAND are beginning to roll off the line.

Postcards are currently available at the world's best children's bookstore: The Flying Dragon.

Stay tuned for more co-promotion announcements with The Flying Dragon.

Next up: Posters and our exciting postering campaign. We want EVERY KID IN TORONTO to see this show!

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Oh good, finally we're starting to save money where it really counts...

From the May/June 2006 issue of The Dramatist:

National Theater of the Deaf in W. Hartford, Conn., and Deaf West Theater in Los Angeles have been told the US Dept. of Education will no longer support deaf cultural programs, the Hartford Courant reported. NTD, the oldest company of its kind, received a special 1977 Tony Award, while DWT garnered a Tony nom for its 2003 Broadway revival of BIG RIVER. Both companies had been receiving funds through the Education Dept.'s Office of Special Education Programs.

Gee...I wonder what they're spending the money on instead?

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Hey, this is pretty cool. The Tony Awards have a printable ballot that you can use to vote for your favorites, and then follow along during the show on June 11 to see how you're doing.

It's going to be a real horse race this year between THE COLOR PURPLE, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, and JERSEY BOYS, and DROWSY has all the momentum. Does its self-referential pastiche have enough heft to swing the Tony voters? I can't wait to find out!

All four of us are going to "vote" in advance and then see how we do...the winner gets a massage!

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Okay, now I'm officially pouting.

According to this article in Playbill:

The 2006 Tony Awards will not feature a host. Instead, over 60 stars will present awards at the annual ceremony, which will be held June 11 at Radio City Music Hall.

Among those scheduled to present awards include Oprah Winfrey, Glenn Close, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Liev Schreiber, Kyra Sedgwick, Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Eric McCormack, Ralph Fiennes, Cynthia Nixon, Martin Short, Alfre Woodward and Anna Paquin.

In a statement the executive producers of the Tony telecast, Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner, said, "The 60th Anniversary show is bigger than just one host. So we've put together a line-up of 60 stars from the stage to lead our celebration."

I miss Hugh. Sniff.

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As the world's biggest Matt Mason fan, my husband will enjoy this wonderful MM commercial on YouTube.

He has almost re-built his collection of MM toys, many now MIB...

I love my geek!

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WOW!!!!!!!!!!!

My childhood just came rushing back in a 7-minute explosion of phantabulous classic '70s TV advertising.

I'm in love -- I want to marry this reel!

I just recently bought a vintage Masterpiece game to revenge my forgery losses to my twin sisters at the cottage...damn them!

According to this post from Boing Boing:

Someone has uploaded a 7 minute reel of amazing 1970s toy commercials -- for Bing Bang Boing, SSP Pee Wees, SSP racers, Smash Up Derby, Screen-a-Show, Slip n' Slide/Water Wiggle, Bug Out!, Screech, and Masterpiece. These are commercials from an era of cheap plastic and no advertising-to-kids regulation, and as a result, the toys look incredibly fun, even today. Plus who knew buying fine art at auction could be fun for seven-year-olds? Link

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A friend of mine, Beth Blatt, who I met at NYMF 2005 (her show was THE MISTRESS CYCLE) is workshopping her new musical CARABOO with a staged reading at the Goodspeed Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, CT, a short drive from Goodspeed's home in East Haddam.

The Norma Terris Theatre was inaugurated in 1984 by the Goodspeed Opera House for the development of new musicals. The theatre is named in honor of the actress Norma Terris, star of Jerome Kern's SHOW BOAT and a devoted patron and trustee of the Goodspeed Opera House during her later years.

CARABOO, PRINCESS OF JAVASU, written by Marsha Norman (Book), Beth Blatt (Lyrics) and Jenny Giering (Music) was presented at NAMT last fall. This staged reading was directed by Gary Griffin.

So the day after I saw LI'L ABNER in East Haddam, I saw a 6:30pm performance of CARABOO in Chester.

First though, I went on a touristy visit to The Mark Twain House in Hartford. This was the house he built when he was 38, just before his first book "Innocence Abroad" was published.

He had moved to Hartford to be closer to his publisher and wasn't as yet "famous". The money for this huge and grand house came from his wife's family. They have done a splendid job restoring the house, complete with all the intricate Tiffany and Company stencils on the walls and ceilings. Only a small portion of the artifacts and furniture in the house are from the original house -- most are period pieces -- but they look so close to the photographs that they might as well be the original pieces.

It was nice to hear how much happiness was in the house that he shared with his wife and three little girls, Suzy, Jean, and Clara. It was during this period that he wrote his most famous works. Sadly, his wife and two of his girls (Suzy and Jean) would die before him, and he would suffer financial difficulty later on in life. The house was totally worth a visit, and we picked up a nice bag of Huckleberry jelly beans in the gift shop!

Then we went shopping in Chester and had an early dinner at wonderful French restaurant called Restaurant du Village, where my youngest daughter Trinity actually had "lapin" for dinner (we had to promise not to call it "bunny").

Richard Todd Adams happened to be appearing in CARABOO so it was fun to see him perform again (he was Brett in the NYMF 2005 production of PLANE CRAZY).

Richard was in fine form, as was the entire cast. They were really outstanding. The creative team rehearses for two weeks and then puts on performances over the weekend. Then, they work on it for another week and then do a final weekend of performances. The musical numbers were done as an insert in the program -- I'm guessing that is done because they'll change over the course of the workshop! It sounds like a great environment to really work the piece.

No costumes, minimal props and sets (including one VERY shaky ladder...gulp), but the show really came to life. It is based on a true story about a very poor woman in the early 1800s who pretends to be a foreign princess and manages to wend her way into British society (remember the movie with Phoebe Cates?). Kathy Voytko played Caraboo, and Richard Todd Adams played Eyenesso, her partner in fraud.

At the end of the performance, Beth hosted a "talk back" in the lobby to get feedback. Quite a few people stayed to ask questions and give comments, but my nine-year old daughter Trinity definitely had the most insightful and constructive comments of the bunch! Way to go Trinity!

I wish I could see it again this weekend to see how it is has changed!

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Musical comedy's in the very best of hands!

Road trip to Connecticut! W00h00!

Well, I packed the whole family into the car and off we went. As everyone knows by now, LI'L ABNER is one of my fav musicals!

I love the score and I used to read old Andy Capp comic strips when I was a little girl, sitting on the terlit in the outhouse at our cottage. I had heard so many good things about Goodspeed, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to venture forth!

First, let me say that ordering the tickets over the phone from Goodspeed was by far the most pleasant and enjoyable telephone ticket buying experience I have EVER had. The lady was helpfully, funny and felt like a real person on the other end.

We had dinner before the show at a wonderful Italian restaurant across the street called La Vita Gustosa.

The waiter there had also been in a high-school production of LI'L ABNER and had been on the football team when duty called for him to be one of the post-yoakum berry tonic husbands. This was hilarious since our school also recruited from the football team for the exact same purpose! Small world.

LI'L ABNER is based on the characters created by Al Capp, with Music by Gene de Paul, Lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and Book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank. It opened on Broadway in 1956, ran for nearly 700 performances, won two Tonys, but has never had a Broadway revival (fingers crossed!).

The Goodspeed Musicals production of L'IL ABNER is directed by Scott Schwartz and choreographed by Patti Colombo, with musical direction by Michael O'Flaherty.

What a fabulous job they did! I loved it! (But then you knew I would!).

It's a great theatre, not only on the picturesque outside, with its own private dock and airport, but on the inside too -- very intimate!

The first thing you see is a large reproduction of a black and white newspaper from 1956 with headlines not all that different from today. The show is further framed using the comic strip device -- the colorful characters literally step out of a frame of the strip. What a great set. The black and white comic theme is used throughout to depict Dogpatch as well as Washington D.C -- sometimes as a backdrop and sometimes as pieces used in the action.

From the Director's Vision:

It is a place where many strange people live and all sorts of people drop in. In a way it's like Springfield of "The Simpsons": A timeless world where anything can happen. In contrast, throughout the show we visit Washington, D.C., a place which surprisingly reads as contemporary, even in the original script. The issues raised in 1956 still ring true today: political corruption, big business and scientific advances.

It's a big, bright, funny show with heart.

Fab score, fab lyrics and the dancing was amazing. I love musicals like this that have big production dance numbers. Not only were the dance numbers in LI'L ABNER exciting to watch but they told important parts of the story. Stupifyin' Jones played by Sarrah Strimel was unbelievable. Actually the whole cast was great, as was the casting. General Bullmoose was played as Dick Cheney and the likeness was scary! I had to take a moment to explain to my kids why General Bullmoose was shooting everyone...

It was also interesting trying to figure out whose breasts were real and whose were "augmented"!

Watching the show brought back great memories of doing the show in high school. It was so much fun and rewarding to see it done with professionals this time (no offense to my fellow Haigers...)

I want to go back and see it again!

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Now kids, don't make me come back there!

From the May/June 2006 issue of The Dramatist:

On January 26, the Tony Awards rules subcommittee announced two new policies on campaign practices. The first forbids swag, i.e., distributing "promotional materials to voters, other than a script or a cast recording that replicates the onstage performance."

The second forbids negative ads, i.e., making "any public communication, oral or written, that promotes a particular production...by disparaging or casting any negative or derogatory light on a competing production."

So now what am I going to do with all those PLANE CRAZY Faberge eggs?

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From one Queen's grad to another -- Congrats!

From the 2006 Issue 2 of Queen's Alumni Review magazine:

Judith Thompson, Artsci '77, was invested into the Order of Canada on Feb. 17 at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. Her citation noted that "Her works are known for their masterful dialogue and characterization, and the darkness she explores is treated with such exuberance, intelligence and even humor that one is left with a profound sense of hope.

She has been called a jewel in Canada's crown and has made a powerful and lasting contribution to theatre in this country and abroad."

Judith was accompanied by her husband, Gregor Campbell, mother Mary Thompson, mother-in-law E.M. Campbell, brother-in-law Archie Campbell, and daughter Grace, 16. Judith's new play, PERFECT PIE, will be produced on the Firehall stage at the Thousand Islands Playhouse this season from Sept 14 to Oct. 14.

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Well, it looks like I won't get a chance to see WELL, which closed last week, but my trusty "Masked Theatregoer" managed to score a ticket on the last Friday night. And here's his "review", and, um, thanks again...I guess:

THE MASKED THEATREGOER ON WELL

I saw WELL on Friday night, two days before closing. Someone asked me how I would rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, and I must say: THE MASKED THEATREGOER DOES NOT RATE THEATRE ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 10. Begone my poor SAT-obsessed countrymen!

Seriously, if there's one thing I've learned over the last couple of years, rating and criticizing theatre is a mug's game. Let's face it, the democratization of media, such as blogging, is not filling the world with creatives as all the utopians like to imagine -- it's filling the world with CRITICS!!! Like we needed more of those!

I lie awake at night fearing a new technology that will fill the world with LAWYERS...

And some of these new critics are oh - so - dreadfully CLEVER. Well, bravo for you chuckles. What have you written lately?

So here's how I approach shows. Two simple questions: Did I enjoy it? And, am I glad I spent the time to see it?

For WELL, the answer to both questions is YES!

It's a very interesting piece, and it falls into this new class of fourth-wall busting theatre (see THE DROWSY CHAPERONE) that comes from a new era of self-aware theatre.

I believe that this type of self-referential playwriting is a natural outcome of theatre's declining importance in people's lives. As theatre becomes a more "unusual" experience, the implicit contract between the audience and actors is breaking down. It's like a Silent Movie -- virtually unwatchable today because we no longer know the performing conventions into which we are supposed to buy.

There is a great article by Ken Bloom in the Sunday, May 14, 2006 issue of The Los Angeles Times called "Are you talkin' to me?" which addresses this theatrical evolution. Ken is the co-author of the book "Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time", which is a fantastic resource.

Read this:

ARE YOU TALKIN' TO ME?
The imaginary "fourth wall" separating actors from audience is more porous than ever.

By Ken Bloom
Special to The Los Angeles Times
Sunday, May 14, 2006

NEW YORK -- A few minutes into the musical "The Drowsy Chaperone," the character known as Man in Chair confides to the audience, "I didn't pay $100 to have the fourth wall come crashing down around my ears."

From that point on, that's exactly what happens.

In fact, up and down Broadway, actors are breaking out in seemingly uncontrollable fits of self-awareness, addressing the audience directly or acknowledging their own artifice in what is known as "breaking the fourth wall."

That breach of the proscenium arch can be accomplished in two ways: when actors step out of character to acknowledge that they are really actors performing for the audience, and when the characters themselves refer to the artifice of the theater.

This is not a new phenomenon; it started with the Greek chorus acting as annotators to the action on stage. From the asides of Restoration dramatists to vaudevillians commenting to audiences in sketches to Eugene O'Neill's "inner monologues" in "Strange Interlude," the audience has always had some sort of direct interaction with the dramatic proceedings.

Craig Jacobs, a production stage manager who has worked on Broadway for more than 30 years with such shows as "Phantom of the Opera" and revivals of "Gypsy" and "Grease," notes that in musicals, interaction has always been present, if not always so direct. "When you had Ethel Merman and company perform 'Anything Goes,' they acknowledged applause from the audience in encores and so broke the fourth wall in that way. Cole Porter would often write a series of encores just in case the audiences demanded additional choruses before the show could continue," he says. "Until the 1960s, book musicals were locked into what took place behind the proscenium, but directors like George Abbott and Bob Fosse broke the mold in shows like 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' and 'Chicago.' In 'A Chorus Line,' the auditioners, in essence, gave their monologues to the audience, but ostensibly were speaking to the stage manager who was out in the house."

It's not just musicals that sometimes eliminate the invisible wall. Many of today's Broadway plays also have characters acknowledging the audience. In "Well," playwright Lisa Kron portrays the character of Lisa Kron. Interacting with Lisa Kron, the character, is actress Jayne Houdyshell, who plays Lisa Kron's mother. At the end of the play, which closes today, Houdyshell steps out of character and questions the lines the playwright Lisa Kron has given her.

For actors, crossing that imaginary line between performer and audience can be tricky. "It's a high-wire act you cannot stop," Kron says. "It has to be real, but then you have to assert your authority enough to say we're all here together but you're coming with me."

Alan Bennett's "The History Boys," which takes place in a boys' school in Britain, features many of the students and the teachers stepping out of the action to examine their thoughts with the audience. For veteran actress Frances de la Tour, one line she utters in the play marks the first time she's been asked to break the wall. "It's rather lovely and seductive. You just grab the audience and say, 'I'm going to make you my friend. I'm going to flirt with you now,' " she says.

"When we said it in rehearsal, it wasn't funny. When I came out with that line in the first preview, the audience went balmy," de la Tour adds. "I really didn't know what the animal was 'til I rode it. Then you have the awesome responsibility of hitting the bull's-eye every night."

Audiences seem thrilled when performers include them in the evening's drama. "The first time I saw it happen was in 1962, when I was just 16," recalls author and critic Peter Filichia. "At the end of the first act of 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,' Pseudolus turned to us and said, 'Intermission!' I remember adoring that.

"I think the reason people really like it so much is that it acknowledges them," he adds. "It makes people feel more a part of the experience."

"Well" and "The History Boys" may be unusual because of the naturalistic aspects of straight plays. In musicals, it's a different story. Take, for example, "The Producers," the Mel Brooks musical that lovingly mocks theater and its conventions. At the start of Act II, "Producers" writers Brooks and Thomas Meehan have Max Bialystock and Leo Bloom stunned as they return to their office to find it covered in white paint. "When did you do all this?" Max asks his blond-bombshell secretary. "Intermission," she responds.

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," the musical based on the film of that name, breaks briefly through the wall when globetrotting divorcee Muriel Eubanks wisecracks that she might be needed in the second act.

More surprising is "The Light in the Piazza," a serious musical concerning an overly protective mother taking her mentally challenged daughter to Italy. While there, the daughter falls in love with an Italian boy. From the beginning of the show, Margaret, the girl's mother, directly addresses the audience.

"Margaret has no one to confide in, isolated as she is in Italy, without her husband, with no English-speaking adults to help her work out her dilemma," explains book writer Craig Lucas. "So the audience becomes her confidante."

During the second act of the stylish, romantic musical, the fourth wall is broken again when Signora Naccarelli, the young man's mother, steps aside to translate an Italian lyric for the audience.

Though it elicits laughter, it also surprises. "It's one thing if it's a comedy when there's a free-and-easy, happy-go-lucky feeling," Filichia says. "But in a drama ... it ruins the illusion."

For Lucas, this conceit works. "I've used the device before. Of course, the entire convention appears throughout the Greek canon and all of Shakespeare's plays. Michael Bennett described the difference between a cool musical [with no direct address] and a hot one [with direct address]. It's a straight shot to the heart."

This trend hasn't escaped the attention of Bob Martin and Don McKellar, librettists of "The Drowsy Chaperone." The fourth wall is broken right off the bat. When the curtain rises, Man in Chair (played by Martin) is sitting in his living room enthusiastically playing his cast recording of "The Drowsy Chaperone" for the audience, which serves, in effect, as a guest in Man in Chair's home.

As the album plays, scenes and songs from the faux '20s musical appear before the audience's eyes. Meanwhile, Man in Chair starts and stops the action of the show within the show to gleefully share tidbits about the show, the actors playing the parts, the joys of cast recordings and a bit about himself.

"We scripted the show so I'm not really asking the audience questions -- though we did in previous versions, and people did respond," Martin says. "But you can't control it and the whole show becomes dealing with drunken patrons." Filichia thinks audiences tire of the gimmick. "It can be a cheap way to get a laugh, no question about it -- but it doesn't seem cheap the first time you see it, it seems delightful. In some cases, I feel it's an excuse for bad playwriting, the easy way out of dramatizing a situation."

Perhaps the technique will become overused and fade away. But will it spread to other areas of communication? Books? Magazines? Newspapers? Could be, but, unfortunately, this writer has just run out of space.

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"When Sid met Babe!"

(It was either that, or, "I'm Just Wild About Harry"!)

My friend Victoria over at Wiredset sent me some neato musical clips from Harry Connick, Jr.'s new Broadway CD called appropriately, "Harry On Broadway, Act 1".

Actually it's a two-CD collection which includes separate discs devoted to THE PAJAMA GAME Cast Album (yeah!) and THOU SHALT NOT (a Broadway show with music by Harry Connick Jr.)

I first became a Harry Connick, Jr. fan when I saw my favorite movie WHEN HARRY MET SALLY for the first time, back in the previous millennium.

A few thousand viewings later, and I have his rendition of "It Had To Be You" permanently burned into my brain. Other Harry Connick, Jr. CDs followed, but that movie soundtrack CD has always remained my personal favorite. And of course I thought it was cool that he had the same name as the character played by Billy Crystal (this is what it means to love chic flicks...)

So needless to say when Harry Connick, Jr. did THE PAJAMA GAME, my fav musical, I waited with bated breath for the CD.

From the "Harry on Broadway, Act 1" press release:

The first disc included in Harry On Broadway, Act I is devoted to the new Broadway cast recording of the Roundabout Theatre Company's critically-acclaimed revival of "The Pajama Game," starring Harry Connick, Jr. in his Broadway stage debut, Kelli O'Hara, and Michael McKean.

In addition to stellar interpretations of the musical's classic songs including "Hey There," "Steam Heat," and "Hernando's Hideaway," both the Roundabout Theatre production and The Pajama Game Cast Album feature three songs -- "If You Win, You Lose" and "The Three of Us," written by Richard Adler, and "The World Around Us," written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross -- not included in the original production.

Thou Shalt Not, the second CD in the Harry On Broadway, Act I collection, showcases "The Pajama Game" stars Connick and O'Hara performing jazz interpretations of songs written by Connick for the Broadway musical "Thou Shalt Not." The program includes songs featured in the 2001 Broadway production, which received a Tony nomination for Best Score, as well as music written for but not included in the production. With the exception of "The Other Hours," which Connick sang on his platinum-selling Sony/Columbia album Only You, none of the songs on Thou Shalt Not have been previously recorded in vocal versions or sung by Harry. The Harry Connick, Jr. Quartet, which features Charles "Ned" Goold (tenor saxophone), Neal Caine (bass), and Arthur Latin, II (drums), appear throughout the Thou Shalt Not album to provide Connick (who also plays piano) and O'Hara with swinging and sophisticated accompaniments.

Enjoy these clips from the CD, courtesy of Victoria at Wiredset!

THE PAJAMA GAME

HEY THERE

THERE ONCE WAS A MAN

A NEW TOWN IS A BLUE TOWN

>THE OTHER HOURS

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

According to this article in Playbill:

The 2005-2006 Tony Award nominations were announced May 16 by Tony Award winners Phylicia Rashad, Natasha Richardson and Liev Schreiber at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Bruno Walter Auditorium.

The Drowsy Chaperone, the new musical that pays homage to musical theatre lovers, received 13 nominations, the most for any production of the season. In addition to a Best Musical nod, Drowsy also picked up nominations for four of its actors: Bob Martin, Sutton Foster, Beth Leavel and Danny Burstein.

An interesting point -- Bob Martin is up for best actor in a musical and he sings only a few bars, if that, although he is on stage for pretty much the entire show! Compare that to John Lloyd Young who basically sings nonstop for two hours!

It looks like there are going to be some heated battles in certain categories, such as best revival -- Sweeney Todd or Pajama Game? Or how about best actor in a musical...let the games begin!

Here is the full Tony Nomination List from the Playbill article:

The 2005-2006 Tony Award nominations follow:

Best Play: The History Boys - The Lieutenant of Inishmore - Rabbit Hole - Shining City

Best Revival of a Play: Awake and Sing! - The Constant Wife - Edward Albee's Seascape - Faith Healer

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play: Ralph Fiennes, Faith Healer - Richard Griffiths, The History Boys - Zeljko Ivanek, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial - Oliver Platt, Shining City - David Wilmot, The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play: Kate Burton, The Constant Wife - Judy Kaye, Souvenir - Lisa Kron, Well - Cynthia Nixon, Rabbit Hole - Lynn Redgrave, The Constant Wife

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical: Michael Cerveris, Sweeney Todd - Harry Connick, Jr., The Pajama Game - Stephen Lynch, The Wedding Singer - Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone - John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical: Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone - La Chanze, The Color Purple - Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd - Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game - Chita Rivera, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play: Samuel Barnett, The History Boys - Domhnall Gleeson, The Lieutenant of Inishmore - Ian McDiarmid, Faith Healer - Mark Ruffalo, Awake and Sing! - Pablo Schreiber, Awake and Sing!

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play: Tyne Daly, Rabbit Hole - Frances de la Tour, History Boys - Jayne Houdyshell, Well - Alison Pill, The Lieutenant of Inishmore - Zoe Wanamaker, Awake and Sing!

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical: Danny Burstein, The Drowsy Chaperone - Jim Dale, The Threepenny Opera - Brandon Victor Dixon, The Color Purple - Manoel Felciano, Sweeney Todd - Christian Hoff, Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical: Carolee Carmello, Lestat - Felicia P. Fields, The Color Purple - Megan Lawrence, The Pajama Game - Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone - Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, The Color Purple

Best Direction of a Play: Nicholas Hytner, History Boys - Wilson Milam, The Lieutenant of Inishmore - Bartlett Sher, Awake and Sing! - Daniel Sullivan, Rabbit Hole

Best Direction of a Musical: John Doyle, Sweeney Todd - Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game - Des McAnuff, Jersey Boys - Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Choreography: Rob Ashford, The Wedding Singer - Donald Byrd, The Color Purple - Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game - Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Orchestrations: Larry Blank, The Drowsy Chaperone - Dick Lieb and Danny Troob, The Pajama Game - Steve Orich, Jersey Boys - Sarah Travis, Sweeney Todd

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre:
The Color Purple -- Music & Lyrics: Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray
The Drowsy Chaperone -- Music & Lyrics: Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
The Wedding Singer -- Music: Matthew Sklar; Lyrics: Chad Beguelin
The Woman in White -- Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics: David Zippel

Best Book of a Musical: Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy, The Wedding Singer -- Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, Jersey Boys -- Bob Martin and Don McKellar, The Drowsy Chaperone -- Marsha Norman, The Color Purple

Best Scenic Design of a Play: John Lee Beatty, Rabbit Hole - Bob Crowley, The History Boys - Santo Loquasto, Three Days of Rain - Michael Yeargan, Awake and Sing!

Best Scenic Design of a Musical: John Lee Beatty, The Color Purple - David Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone - Derek McLane, The Pajama Game - Klara Zieglerova, Jersey Boys

Best Costume Design of a Play: Michael Krass, The Constant Wife - Santo Loquasto, A Touch of the Poet - Catherine Zuber, Awake and Sing! - Catherine Zuber, Seascape

Best Costume Design of a Musical: Gregg Barnes, The Drowsy Chaperone - Susan Hilferty, Lestat - Martin Pakledinaz, The Pajama Game - Paul Tazewell, The Color Purple

Best Lighting Design of a Play: Christopher Akerlind, Awake and Sing! - Paul Gallo, Three Days of Rain - Mark Henderson, Faith Healer - Mark Henderson, The History Boys

Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Ken Billington and Brian Monahan, The Drowsy Chaperone - Howell Binkley, Jersey Boys - Natasha Katz, Tarzan - Brian MacDevitt, The Color Purple

Regional Theatre Tony Award: Intiman Theatre in Seattle, WA

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre: Harold Prince

Special Tony Award: Sarah Jones

Total Nominations by Production:

The Drowsy Chaperone - 13
The Color Purple - 11
The Pajama Game - 9
Awake and Sing! - 8
Jersey Boys - 8
The History Boys - 7
Sweeney Todd - 6
Rabbit Hole - 5
The Lieutenant of Inishmore - 5
The Wedding Singer - 5
The Constant Wife - 4
Faith Healer - 4
Edward Albee's Seascape - 2
Lestat - 2
Shining City - 2
Three Days of Rain - 2
The Threepenny Opera - 2
Well - 2
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial - 1
Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life - 1
Souvenir - 1
Tarzan - 1 (Ouch)
A Touch of the Poet - 1
The Woman in White - 1 (Ouch)

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

Don't touch that remote!

Elaine Overholt, "Vocal Coach to the Stars" is a very busy lady -- whether she's vocal coaching tomorrow's stars today (for example, my daughter Myrna), opening a new studio, releasing a new how-to-sing DVD, working on CANADIAN IDOL, or coaching Renee, Catherine and Richard (Zellweger, Zeta-Jones and Gere, that is).

Well -- she's off again! With two days notice, Elaine has flown to L.A. where she is taping the ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW. She will be teaching Ellen how to sing as part of an "Ellen The Musical" bit. It airs on Wednesday, yes TOMORROW, May 17!

Check your local time listings for the time. You won't want to miss this!

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

Wait...there's more!

According to this article in Playbill:

The Drowsy Chaperone and The History Boys top this season's winners for Outer Critics Circle Awards with four honors each. Other shows with multiple awards are Jersey Boys, Sweeney Todd and Grey Gardens.

The 55th annual honors will be presented May 25 at Sardi's Restaurant. The winners were made public May 14. The awards are decided upon by an group of writers "covering New York theatre for out-of-town newspapers, national publications and other media beyond Broadway."

The only show the committee did not consider for this year's nominations was Tarzan because they could not view the production prior to the eligibility cut-off date. The musical will be eligible for next year's honors. The collective also added a new award for Oustanding New Score (in which both Broadway and Off-Broadway productions were eligible).

The 2005-2006 Outer Critics Circle Awards nominees (*with winners in bold) are as follows:

OUTSTANDING BROADWAY PLAY: Festen - *The History Boys - The Lieutenant of Inishmore - Primo

OUTSTANDING BROADWAY MUSICAL: The Color Purple - The Drowsy Chaperone - *Jersey Boys - The Woman in White

OUTSTANDING OFF-BROADWAY PLAY: Beauty of the Father - In The Continuum - *Stuff Happens - Tryst

OUTSTANDING OFF-BROADWAY MUSICAL: Bernada Alba - *Grey Gardens - See What I Wanna See - Thrill Me -- The Leopold & Loeb Story

OUTSTANDING NEW SCORE: The Color Purple - *The Drowsy Chaperone - Grey Gardens - See What I Wanna See

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A PLAY: *Awake and Sing! - The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial - The Constant Wife - The Trip to Bountiful

OUTSTANDING REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL: Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris - The Pajama Game - *Sweeney Todd - Two Gentlemen of Verona

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A PLAY: *Gabriel Byrne, A Touch of the Poet - Zeljko Ivanek, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial - Ian McDiarmid, Faith Healer - David Wilmot, The Lieutenant of Inishmore

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A PLAY: Cynthia Nixon, Rabbit Hole - *Lois Smith, The Trip to Bountiful - Zoe Wanamaker, Awake and Sing! - Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: Michael Cerveris, Sweeney Todd - Harry Connick, Jr., The Pajama Game - Hugh Panaro, Lestat - *John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: *Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens - LaChanze, The Color Purple - Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd - Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY: Richard Easton, Entertaining Mr. Sloane - Peter Gerety, The Lieutenant of Inishmore - *Richard Griffiths, The History Boys - Mark Ruffalo, Awake and Sing!

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY: *Frances de la Tour, The History Boys - Hallie Foote, The Trip to Bountiful - Jan Maxwell, Entertaining Mr. Sloane - Lynn Redgrave, The Constant Wife

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: Michael Ball, The Woman in White - Peter Benson, The Pajama Game - *Jim Dale, The Threepenny Opera - Christian Hoff, Jersey Boys

OUTSTANDING FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: Megan Lawrence, The Pajama Game - *Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone - Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens - Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, The Color Purple

OUTSTANDING SOLO PERFORMANCE: Steven Fales, Confessions of a Mormon Boy - Margo Gomez, Los Big Names - Jack Holmes, RFK - *Anthony Sher, Primo

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A PLAY: *Nicholas Hytner, The History Boys - Wilson Milam, The Lieutenant of Inishmore - Bartlett Sher, Awake and Sing! - Jerry Zaks, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL: *John Doyle, Sweeney Todd - Michael Greif, Grey Gardens - Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game - Des McAnuff, Jersey Boys

OUTSTANDING CHOREOGRAPHY: Graciela Daniele, Bernarda Alba - *Kathleen Marshall, The Pajama Game - Casey Nicholaw, The Drowsy Chaperone - Sergio Trujillo, Jersey Boys

OUTSTANDING SET DESIGN: John Lee Beatty, The Color Purple - William Dudley, The Woman in White - *David Gallo, The Drowsy Chaperone - Allen Moyer, Grey Gardens

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN: *Gregg Barnes, The Drowsy Chaperone - William Dudley, The Woman in White - William Ivey Long, Grey Gardens - Martin Pakledinaz, The Pajama Game

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DESIGN: *Howell Binkley, Jersey Boys - Richard G. Jones, Sweeney Todd - Jeff Nellis, Tryst - Paul Pyant, The Woman in White

JOHN GASSNER AWARD (Presented for an American play, preferably by a new playwright): Rolin Jones, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow - *Danai Gurira & Nikkole Salter, In the Continuum - Adam Rapp, Red Light Winter - Rinne Groff, The Ruby Sunrise

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

Wow!!!

Way to go, guys!

Awesome news: THE DROWSY CHAPERONE wins the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical.

According to this article in Playbill:

The History Boys, by Alan Bennett, was named Best Play of the 2005-06 season by the New York Drama Critics' Circle, the membership announced May 11.

The Best Musical award was given to The Drowsy Chaperone (book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar, music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison).

The selections were made at the 70th annual voting meeting of the organization May 11 at the offices of Time Out New York in Manhattan.

And that's not all, Bob Martin won a Theatre World Award!

According to this article in Playbill:

Stars and stars-to-be were named winners of 2005-06 Theatre World Awards for Outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway Debut Performances.

The Theatre World committee announced the winners May 12. The are:

Harry Connick, Jr., THE PAJAMA GAME
Felicia P. Fields, THE COLOR PURPLE
Maria Friedman, THE WOMAN IN WHITE
Richard Griffiths, THE HISTORY BOYS
Mamie Gummer, MR MARMALADE
Jayne Houdyshell, WELL
Bob Martin, THE DROWSY CHAPERONE
Ian McDiarmid, FAITH HEALER
Nellie McKay, THE THREEPENNY OPERA
David Wilmot, THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE
Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, THE COLOR PURPLE
John Lloyd Young, JERSEY BOYS

The Awards will be presented June 6, 2006 at 2 PM ceremony at Studio 54, 254 W. 54th St.

Wow! Congrats! THE DROWSY CHAPERONE is racking up the awards!

Do I smell a Tony?

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

THE PAJAMA GAME is tops! And bottoms...

My friend Victoria over at Wiredset told me about this in-store event so I just had to pass it on!

Harry Connick Jr. and his costars Kelli O'Hara and Michael McKean, are going to be performing and signing autographs at the Lincoln Centre Tower Records (1961 Broadway; 66th and Broadway) in New York on Tuesday May 16 at 7pm.

Dagnabit, I can't be there! If it were just the autograph signing I'd be able to console myself with a bottle of Wild Turkey. But they are also going to be performing! Yes, you heard me -- singing songs from THE PAJAMA GAME.

And I won't be there...arghhh!

It was bad enough that I haven't been able to buy tickets to my favorite-show-of-all-time but now I have to suffer the indignity of missing the in-store event.

Goodbye cruel world...

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

We had our first Production meeting earlier this week and I met our new tech team!

Shawndra White will be our stage manager and scenic designer, Melissa Joakim will be our costume designer, and Mark Lavell will be our assistant stage manager and props person.

Here we go again -- It's a Fringe Production so we have to be able to strike our set in 15 minutes! And, of course, store everything in my car. Our director, Marc Richard, and the tech team have some really cool ideas up their sleeves -- I can't wait!

I can already hear the sound of hammering and sewing machines...

Next up is our first read through with the cast next week! Oink!

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

"Miss Potter" to hit movie theaters in December 2006!

According to this article in Time Out London:

Renee Zellweger to play Beatrix Potter

The 'Bridget Jones' star will play the children's author in a forthcoming period biopic.

Renee Zellweger currently riding high at the London box office in 'Cinderella Man', is to star in a biopic of legendary author Beatrix Potter, for 'Babe' director Chris Noonan. 'Miss Potter' will explore the life and times of the writer of such children's classics as 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' and 'The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle', and the film will mix live-action with several scenes of animation.

Following her struggle for independence in Victorian England, the film will also chart Potter's romance with publisher Norman Warne, a role that Ewan McGregor is reportedly in talks with the film's producers to play. If he does accept, 'Miss Potter' will mark the first time McGregor has acted opposite Zellweger since they teamed up for 2003 romantic comedy 'Down With Love'.

Richard Maltby Jr, who directed the Broadway hit 'Fosse' and co-wrote the lyrics of 'Miss Saigon', is currently busy working on the script, with production set to start on location in the UK next March.

OK, OK, I know this isn't hot off the press or anything (it's dated September 2005) but now that I'm immersed in THE TALE OF PIGLING BLAND pre-production I'm more aware of Beatrix Potter news! And the fact that Ewan McGregor might (UPDATE: WILL!!!) be starring opposite Renee sends me swooning into nostalgic re-viewings of DOWN WITH LOVE!

I think Renee will be awesome as another Brit -- I loved her in BRIDGET JONES DIARY!

Gee, I wonder if Beatrix is related to Harry?

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"White Christmas," one of the best-selling songs of all time, was written by a man named Israel Baline, aka Irving Berlin. Born on this date in 1888, Berlin didn't even know how to read or write music, but he picked out tunes on the piano -- on the black keys only -- and became one of America's most prolific songwriters.

Of his some 1,000 songs, Berlin has said that his own favorite was "God Bless America." He donated all proceeds from that song to the Boy Scouts of America.

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

This series sounds awesome!

I recently received an e-mail from a Blogway Baby fan about a new Jazz series on PBS and since I'm always trying to raise my "coolness to dorkiness ratio", I just had to share it with my readers...

My name is Victoria and I work for Wiredset, a digital marketing agency that is working with the brand new PBS series *Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis*. Since great music knows no boundaries, it was important that we reach out to you and your website Blogwaybaby.com personally and let you know about the series as well as the Legends of Jazz CD and DVD release coming out on April 25.

The 13-week debut season is airing nationally on public television stations across America to coincide with Jazz Appreciation Month. This is the first weekly network jazz show in 40 years and will feature intimate conversations with and performances by some of the world's leading musicians such as Chris Botti, Marcus Miller and Pat Metheny.

From the Web site:

Ramsey Lewis will host a weekly radio show featuring landmark recordings from the legendary artists who defined the jazz genre. For more than 5 years, Ramsey has been bringing the legends of jazz to more than 5 million music fans each week. Listen to music from some of the most legendary artists who helped define the jazz genre making it America's one true art form. LEGENDS OF JAZZ with Ramsey Lewis is a complement to the television series, CD & DVD series, live tour and much, much more...

Plus there's a TV show:

LEGENDS OF JAZZ with Ramsey Lewis will commence its weekly run on PBS stations in April 2006. In each half-hour episode Ramsey focuses on a specific theme -- The Golden Horns, The Altos, The Tenors, Contemporary Jazz, Latin Jazz and The Killer B's are just some of the diverse topics that Ramsey explores with his guests. Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Al Jarreau, Clark Terry, Phil Woods, Lee Ritneour, Chris Botti, Roy Hargrove, Eddie Palmieri and David Sanborn are just a few examples of artists slated to appear.

Check out the series Web site -- it is really comprehensive and cool...and all that jazz!

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

According to this article in Playbill:

It was a good day for the Boys of Broadway. HISTORY BOYS by Alan Bennett and JERSEY BOYS won the Drama League Awards for Outstanding Play and Outstanding Musical.

The Lincoln Center Theatre production of Odet's Awake and Sing and the John Doyle staging of Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD got the nods for Outstanding Revival of a Play and Musical, respectively.

Christine Ebersole took the prize for Distinguished Performances for her work playing two roles in the Off-Broadway musical Grey Gardens.

The Drama League revealed the winners for its 2006 awards at its annual gala luncheon. Alan Cumming, who is currently in the Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera, hosted the annual event.

The complete 2006 nominations are (with winners in boldface):

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A MUSICAL
The Color Purple
The Drowsy Chaperone
Grey Gardens
Jersey Boys
[title of show]
See What I Wanna See
The Wedding Singer

DISTINGUISHED PRODUCTION OF A PLAY
Dedication, or the Stuff of Dreams
History Boys
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Stuff Happens
Measure for Pleasure
Rabbit Hole
The Ruby Sunrise
Spirit

DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
The Pajama Game
Sweeney Todd
The Threepenny Opera
Two Gentleman of Verona

DISTINGUISHED REVIVAL OF A PLAY
All's Well That Ends Well
Awake and Sing!
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Celebration and the Room
Faith Healer
Landscape of the Body
A Soldier's Play
Three Days of Rain
The Trip to Bountiful

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This cool post on Boing Boing links to an extensive gallery of "airline spoons"...

Sorta reminds me of a friend's "safety brochure" collection.

This Flickr user "airlinespoons" collects and posts photos of airline spoons, with insets showing the airline's logo and any logomarks stamped into the spoons. Link

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment

Swing Rosie will be doing a live-to-Web concert performance, Saturday, May 13, 7:30 PM, at