Check out this awesome birthday tribute to Stephen Sondheim from the cast of "Desperate Housewives" on YouTube! My eldest daughter, a huge DH and SS fan, sent me the link! The show's creator, Marc Cherry, is also a huge Sondheim fan and every episode is named after a Sondheim song.

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By Stephen Castle in Brussels for The Independent [UK]
Published: 28 April 2007

The curtain is about to come down on theatres that misquote reviewers on billboards or in other advertising, thanks to an EU directive which will outlaw misleading publicity.

The legislation, which will come into force in December, will make it illegal to extract a positive word or phrase from a theatre review if that paints a misleading picture of the article as a whole. Lawyers are already warning that producers will have to be more careful in the future when using selective quotes in publicity material.

The European Commission said that musicals and plays could fall under the scope of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, although it is a much broader piece of legislation.

Helen Kearns, European Commission spokeswoman on consumer affairs, said: "This is a very far-reaching set of new rules that comes into force in December this year to ensure that consumers can trust the things they are told by businesses.

"It is policed on a case-by-case basis by the Office of Fair Trading. It should apply to misleading advertising right across the board from airline tickets to theatre tickets."

The law bars any advert that contains "false information" or any claim that "deceives or is likely to deceive the consumer" so that it "causes or is likely to cause him to take a transactional decision that he would not have taken otherwise".

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The cast will be singin' in the rain!

I can't wait. I love to see shows in tryout and then catch them on Broadway to see how they change. I better grab my umbrella!

According to this article in Playbill:

Young Frankenstein, the eagerly awaited new Mel Brooks musical, will have a pre-Broadway tryout this summer in Seattle.

Variety reports that the Brooks-Thomas Meehan musical will play an Aug. 4-Sept. 1 stint at Seattle's Paramount Theatre. Although Chicago hosted the pre-Broadway tryout of Brooks' smash hit The Producers, the producer of Frankenstein have chosen the city that hosted the tryouts of Hairspray and The Wedding Singer; those musicals both played the Fifth Avenue Theatre.

Young Frankenstein, based on Brooks' 1974 film, has a score by Brooks, a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan and direction and choreography by Susan Stroman -- the same team that turned The Producers into Tony gold.

The design team comprises Robin Wagner (set design), William Ivey Long (costume design) and Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design). All three also designed The Producers.

The likely stars of Young Frankenstein are Tony Award winners Shuler Hensley (in the role of the monster, played by Peter Boyle in the film) and Sutton Foster (Inga, the Teri Garr role), along with the former "Will & Grace" star Megan Mullally (Elizabeth, the Madeline Kahn role).

Frankenstein is aiming for a Halloween opening on Broadway. A theatre has not been announced, although the likely suspects are the St. James Theatre, The Producers' long-time home, or The Hilton Theatre, where The Pirate Queen recently opened to mixed reviews.

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I imagine it's a lot easier to be naked when it's warm outside! The reason I'm imagining is that we're still using dressed talent at this reading -- but we're in L.A. now, so I'm hopeful that we'll get the nudity going soon...

Here's the exciting news: The Academy for New Musical Theatre (ANMT) is presenting a concert reading of NAKED IN AMERICA -- THE MUSICAL.

That's right! On May 21, 2007 at 7pm in North Hollywood, ANMT's Main Hall will be the sight of a concert reading of the musical I co-wrote with Greg Silva, NAKED IN AMERICA -- THE MUSICAL.

The Academy of New Musical Theatre was founded by John Sparks (also the Artistic Director) and exists "to foster and to advance the state of new musical theatre production."

From the AMNT website:

ANMT's roots go back 30 years to the teachings of our first mentor, Lehman Engel, a pre-eminent Broadway musical director. The Academy became a non-profit corporation in response to an ever-growing interest in the international musical theatre community. Our community includes writers of new works, and the producers, directors, choreographers, actors, and singer who make those works come alive.

Here's the info from the promotional flyer:

NAKED IN AMERICA -- THE MUSICAL

A Full-Frontal Assault

Book by Greg Silva and Suzy Conn
Lyrics by Suzy Conn
Music by Greg Silva

Monday May 21, 2007 (7:00pm)
The Academy for New Musical Theatre
Main Hall
5628 Vineland Avenue
North Hollywood, CA

Admission is free
For reservations e-mail gerg@mindspring.com
For more information, visit www.anmt.org.

NAKED IN AMERICA -- THE MUSICAL

This wry and sometimes shocking musical revue exposes the naked truth about our attitudes towards nudity, sex and violence in modern-day America.

NAKED IN AMERICA -- THE MUSICAL asks the hard questions: Where did these values come from? Where will they take us? How much is too much? What's the big deal?

Rated PG (Pretty Graphic -- Not Recommended for Prudes!)

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I saw this and at first I was horrified. Then, I thought, maybe this is what theatre is all about. This would never happen/have impact in a movie theatre. This stimulates discussion and highlights intolerance in a way that no amount of TV show letter writing campaigns could ever create. Yeah for theatre! Down with intolerance!

From this post on Boing Boing:

Josh says: Have you guys heard about the protest against Mike Daisey's monologue at the ART's Zero Arrow Theatre in Cambridge, Mass., on Thursday? A group of 87 Christian teens, parents, and teachers didn't like the language he used when joking about Paris Hilton so they poured water over his handwritten notes and walked out. I've blogged about it this morning. I don't see anything in the Globe or anywhere else -- except for in the blogosphere -- about what happened. There's an excellent video on YouTube of the whole thing.

I am performing the show to a packed house, when suddenly the lights start coming up in the house as a flood of people start walking down the aisles -- they looked like a flock of birds who'd been startled, the way they all moved so quickly, and at the same moment ... it was shocking, to see them surging down the aisles. The show halted as they fled, and at this moment a member of their group strode up to the table, stood looking down on me and poured water all over the outline, drenching everything in a kind of anti-baptism.

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I think I need my blue blankie!

Although I'm very excited about YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN coming in the fall, I'm bummed about THE PRODUCERS finally closing on Broadway after six years (but still On Tour). For me, THE PRODUCERS put the joy and fun back into Broadway. The lyrics and music and dialogue have become a daily part of my family's life! Not a day goes by that we're not quoting something from that show. Mel, it's good to be the King!

According to this article in Playbill:

The Mel Brooks-Thomas Meehan hit Broadway musical comedy The Producers -- like the titular Leo and Max -- will walk into the sunset after the 3 PM April 22 performance.

The record 12-time Tony Award-winning 2001 smashzilla closes three days after its sixth anniversary (which was April 19), following 33 preview performances and 2,502 regular performances at Broadway's St. James Theatre.

Director-choreographer Susan Stroman is expected to be on hand at the Sunday curtain call.

Mel Brooks' new musical, Young Frankenstein, with a score by Mel Brooks, a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan and direction and choreography by Susan Stroman -- the team that turned The Producers into gold -- will likely play the coveted St. James Theatre next. A further announcement about the production (including dates, casting and more) is imminent.

P.S. Uh guys, what's with the scorched earth policy on Web sites for closed shows? THE PRODUCERS' "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access / on this server." sets a new standard in mothballed shows, originally set by SWEENEY TODD's "RIP Sweeney Todd" title bar message over a blank page. Can't you sell some CDs or something? The show may be off the stage, but it lives on in the minds of fans, and the Web can keep that alive. How about links to the Tour, CDs, DVDs, books -- THE PRODUCERS generated an amazing amount of swag. Geesh.

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To my Queen...the Shakespeare poem on the back of an envelope
by DAVID WILKES, London Daily Mail
20th April 2007

A 'new' poem by William Shakespeare has been published for the first time. He was our greatest dramatist, but even William Shakespeare wasn't above buttering up his sovereign. That was the intention of an 18-line poem addressed to Elizabeth I which has been officially attributed to him for the first time.

The verses, called "To the Queen by the Players", are thought to have been written as an epilogue for a Royal command performance of AS YOU LIKE IT given at court on Shrove Tuesday in February 1599. The poem was found 30 years ago in a manuscript collection of Elizabethan court poetry, but its authenticity has been disputed ever since.

However, Shakespeare scholar Jonathan Bate, of the University of Warwick, has decided to include the poem in the latest edition of the writer's collected works. He said: "Some people believe it is by Shakespeare, some people do not. I am now 99 per cent certain it was written by Shakespeare. We know from records that Shakespeare's company played at court on the day the manuscript refers to, but unfortunately we don't know which play they performed.

However, the allusion in the first line of the poem to the 'dial hand' of a clock chimes with some of the language in AS YOU LIKE IT, which was new in 1599.

"When plays were put on at court, it was a requirement that there should be a prologue and an epilogue tailor-made for the occasion. Shakespeare was probably in the habit of dashing some lines down on the back of an envelope and then chucking them away. By chance, this one example has survived."

A Royal Shakespeare Company spokesman said the poem, which could well have been spoken by Shakespeare himself, is written in the same style as the epilogue to A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.

The verses, called To the Queen by the Players, are thought to have been written as an epilogue for a Royal command performance of As You Like It. "In its command of language and rhythm, it has the utter assurance that is unique to the mature Shakespeare," she said. "Though only 18 lines long, it's a precious addition to the canon."

American scholars William Ringler and Steven May came across the poem three decades ago in the notebook of a man called Henry Stanford. He is known to have worked in the household of the Lord Chamberlain, who was in charge of court festivities.

The editors of the last Complete Works of Shakespeare to be published, the 1986 Oxford edition, decided to omit the poem. But it appears in the RSC Complete Works of Shakespeare, edited by Professor Bate and Eric Rasmussen of the University of Nevada, which was published on Thursday.

Professor Bate added: "This poem has been known to scholars for many years and has previously been published in an academic journal, but this is the first time it has been included in a Complete Works." The poem is due to be read today -- the present Queen's birthday -- on Radio 4's Today programme by actor Geoffrey Streatfeild, who is a member of the RSC.

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MIA, MAMMA MIA!

I was thrilled to hear that joining Meryl Streep in the film version of the musical MAMMA MIA! is Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, and Christine Baranski. And they're all in London now recording the film's soundtrack. Bloody marvelous!

But can Colin and Pierce sing? I guess my answer to that is WHO CARES!!! Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bond in the same film? Be still my foolish heart! And of course I love Baranksi -- she became one of my favs wheh she was on the Cybil Sheppard show "Cybill" back in the mid '90s.

According to this article in Playbill:

Tony Award winner Christine Baranski, who was back on the New York stage earlier this season in Regrets Only, will join the previously announced Meryl Streep for the film version of the international hit musical Mamma Mia!

Liz Smith confirms previous reports that Baranski will be part of the movie musical. The cast, now in London to pre-record the film's soundtrack, will also feature Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan.

Baranski will play the role of Tanya in the motion picture, which is being directed by Phyllida Lloyd, who will be making her feature-film debut. Lloyd helmed both the London and Broadway mountings of the long-running musical.

London's Daily Mail also recently reported that three songs from the stage show have been dropped: "Thank You For the Music," "Under Attack" and "Knowing Me, Knowing You." The movie, however, introduces another ABBA song to book and screenplay writer Catherine Johnson's storyline, "When All Is Said and Done."

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Hollie Howard stars as a Thoroughly Marvelous Millie!

There's still time to catch the fabulous Hollie Howard (who played Holly Banks in the 2005 NYMF production of PLANE CRAZY) as Millie Dillmount in the Carousel Dinner Theatre's production of THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE. Directed and choreographed by Marc Robin, THORUGHLY MODERN MILLIE plays until April 28.

Hollie has garnered great reviews during this run, like:

In Carousel's production, Millie is played by the delightful Hollie Howard. Howard's vocals are wonderful, and she’s particularly suited to the song "Jimmy," one of the few from the movie that survived in the transfer to the stage. The other is the title tune, "Thoroughly Modern Millie." Howard is also a talented comedic actress.
-- By REX HUFFMAN, T-R Entertainment Editor

It sounds like it's a fantastic production. Don't miss it!

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You can take the man out of OH! CALCUTTA!, but you can't take the OH! CALCUTTA! out of the man!

My fabulous husband gave me Season One of MAUDE, one of my favorite TV shows from the 1970s, starring Bea Arthur, Bill Macy, and Adrienne Barbeau (among many others). I loved the theme song, which was written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Dave Grusin:

Lady Godiva was a freedom rider
She didn't care if the whole world looked
Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her
She was a sister who really cooked

Isadora was the first bra burner
And you're glad she showed up (Oh yeah)
And when the country was falling apart
Betsy Ross got it all sewed up

And then there's Maude
And then there's Maude
And then there's Maude
And then there's Maude
And then there's Maude
And then there's Maude
And then there's

That old compromisin', enterprisin', anything but tranquilizing,
Right on Maude!

I miss those great TV show themes! Here is a handy website that has all the lyrics to shows from the '50s, '60s and '70s.

Of course when I was watching the show as a kid, I didn't know that Bill Macy had bared it all in the original cast of OH! CALCUTTA! Well, it didn't take long for Bill to start stripping down again on MAUDE. That's right, in the second episode entitled "Doctor Doctor", Carol's young 7-year old son Phillip is caught "playing doctor" behind the garage with a young female neighbor. The girl's conservative father, Dr. Arthur Harmon (played by "Different Strokes" actor, Canadian Conrad Bain) is livid and an argument ensues between him and Maude about sexual freedom. Of course Maude's position is that the naked body is beautiful and the kids shouldn't be ashamed.

Later in the show, Bill Macy gets totally drunk and proceeds to strip down to his underwear in front of Carol and Maude, and both the women are horrified. I thought it was great that not only the conservative guy was shown to have "hang ups", but even liberals can harbor some hang ups about nudity as well. We actually address that very point in one of the scenes in NAKED IN AMERICA -- THE MUSICAL.

Needless to say, since it was primetime, Bill Macy kept his boxers on!

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Do I hear a reunion? Jaimibeth and Seth together again!

Jamibeth Margolis and Seth Weinstein who directed and musical directed (respectively) PLANE CRAZY at NYMF 2005, are working together again. This time they've teamed up for a production of the Rodgers/Sondheim/Laurents show, DO I HEAR A WALTZ at the Arvada Center just outside Denver (which looks gorgeous, BTW).

Here's the e-mail I got from Seth:

I am currently the musical director of "Do I Hear a Waltz?" at the Arvada Center, just outside Denver. We start previews tonight and open on Tuesday. If you're in the area between now and May 13, please come see the show!

More information click here.

Previews April 13 to 15 and Runs April 17 to May 13

Music by RICHARD RODGERS - Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM
Book by ARTHUR LAURENTS
Directed by JAMIBETH MARGOLIS
Musical direction by SETH WEINSTEIN

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I just received word from Seth Weinstein, composer of HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD AND FIND TRUE LOVE IN 90 MINUTES, informing me that the official Off-Broadway cast album is now available! I really enjoyed this show when I saw it in December, and I'm excited to finally get the CD. Congrats Seth!

Here's the e-mail from Seth:

I am delighted to announce the release of the cast recording of "How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes." The recording contains 19 tracks from the show, including these favorites:

"Why Are All the Good Men Unconscious?"
"I'm in Love With a Terrorist"
"When the Music Played" (The Celine Dion Song)
"Save the People"
Bonus track: the sassy female trio "Love Is," cut from the Off-Broadway production.

The CD comes with a 16-page booklet containing lyrics and color photos. It is available on-line for $14.95 and will soon be available at Colony Music in New York City.

Please click here to purchase your copy!

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by Dave Munger, scienceblogs.com
Posted on: April 12, 2007

Cognitive decline as we age is all over the news lately. "Brain fitness" products are available for cell phones, Game Boys, and Xboxes, all designed to prevent the natural decline in cognitive ability as we age. There's even a significant body of work suggesting that this sort of product really can work.

But some of the brain games can be dull, repetitive work: memory tasks, number games, and optical illusions, while endlessly fascinating to cognitive scientists, might be less appealing to the general population.

Researchers Helga and Tony Noice believe that training in the theater arts has similar cognitive benefits, with the added benefit of actually being quite enjoyable to its participants. Together with Graham Staines, in 2004 they developed a controlled study to test their idea. They recruited 124 older adults, age 60 to 86, to participate in one of three study groups, by posting notices in senior centers in DuPage County, Illinois, offering a chance to participate in "arts training":

Ah, but which art? Will you be learning about painting landscapes, playing the oboe, reciting Shakespeare, or writing verse? Only those who sign up will find out.
After everyone agreed they could attend all nine 90-minute sessions over the course of a month, one group was assigned to participate in a theater workshop, one group studied visual art, and one group received no training at all. Each group took a variety of cognitive tests at the beginning and end of the month. Everyone was paid $50 after completing the study. Here are the results:

The theater group improved significantly more compared to the control group in each of the measures (there was much less variance in the psychological well-being scores than in the other tests, so those small gains are significant). For problem solving and well-being, the theater group also improved significantly more than the visual arts group. The theater group also had the lowest drop-out rate of any group: All theater participants attended all 9 sessions, while 8 of the 44 visual arts students dropped out, despite the fact that all participants said they enjoyed the sessions.

Noice et al. continued to study the theater students for four months after the study, and found their performance on all tests was maintained for the entire post-study period.

The team argues that their results demonstrate that theater training -- even over a relatively short time period -- can help prevent cognitive decline associated with aging. They even speculate on some of the reasons why it is effective: Theater, they claim, requires sustained attention to the task in a way that other activities do not. Actors must stay in character for the duration of a scene, unlike studying visual art, where viewers might "rest" in between viewing different images. Also, the participants consistently remarked that theater was "new" to them, and novelty appears to be a key component of brain fitness.

The team says it would like to try other types of training in the future to see if they can find similar effects. We've reported on a study conducted that same year which showed IQ gains in children who studied music compared to kids who studied drama or nothing at all. This suggests that musical theater might beat music or theater alone as a brain fitness product!

(Noice, H., Noice, T., & Staines, G. (2004). A short-term intervention to enhance cognitive and affective functioning in older adults. Journal of Aging and Health, 16(4), 562-585.)

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Hallelujah!

I am very excited, happy and otherwise overjoyed to announce that four selections from [tos] can be purchased through the mail. Yes, for the outrageous-but-totally-worth-every-penny price of $10/song you can order "A Way Back To Then", "Two Nobodies in New York", "What Kind of Girl is She" and "Secondary Characters". I wonder how they came up with those four? Three of those are sung by Heidi and/or Susan. Why not "Part of it All" or " An Original Musical"? And unfortunately my fav song, "Die Vampire, Die" isn't available...yet. Sniff.

Oh well, my kids are still uber-excited. Myrna is thinking "A Way Back to Then" would be a killer audition piece for her. I asked Vince Scuderi, who is responsible for handling this financial transaction over at Williamson Music (a division of The Rogers & Hammerstein Organization) when the rest will be available and he said, and I quote, "I have no ETA at this time for a vocal selections publication from this show". I also asked if he could send the stuff to Canada and he most graciously replied, "I guess it's OK that you're in Canada. Haven't had any Canadian problems, yet."

Yet?

Yikes! Better make sure the ol' check-a-roo doesn't bounce or Vince will come looking for me.

Here's the link with all the info for sheet music requests.

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Congrats to [tos]ser Heidi Blickenstaff!

Heidi, who is best known to me as "Heidi" in [tos], has been cast as Carlotta in Disney's THE LITTLE MERMAID, opening December 2007. I'm also specifically looking forward to seeing Tituss Burgess (JERSEY BOYS) as Sebastian, and Sherie Rene Scott (DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS) as Ursula!

According to this article in Playbill:

The ensemble has been announced for the new Disney musical The Little Mermaid, which will make its world premiere at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts' Ellie Caulkins Opera House July 26 with an official opening Aug. 23.

As previously announced, Sierra Boggess will head the cast in the title role with Sean Palmer as Prince Eric, Norm Lewis as King Triton, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, Eddie Korbich as Scuttle, Jonathan Freeman as Grimsby, Derrick Baskin as Jetsam, Tyler Maynard as Flotsam, Cody Hanford and J.J. Singleton as Flounder and Sherie Rene Scott as Ursula.

The remainder of the cast will comprise Adrian Bailey, Cathryn Basile, Heidi Blickenstaff (Carlotta), James Brown III, Robert Creighton, Cicily Daniels, John Treacy Egan (Louis), Tim Federle, Merwin Foard, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Ben Hartley, Meredith Inglesby, Michelle Lookadoo, Joanne Manning, Alan Mingo Jr., Zakiya Young Mizen, Betsy Morgan, Arbender J. Robinson, Bret Shuford, Jason Snow, Chelsea Morgan Stock, Kay Trinidad, Price Waldman and Daniel J. Watts.

After its Denver run ends Sept. 9, the musical will arrive at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, current home of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, Nov. 3 with an official opening Dec. 6.

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My kids and I were lucky enough to catch EDWARD SCISSORHANDS at the Hummingbird Centre during its brief four-night engagement in Toronto. Next stop for this show is Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre, April 25 to May 14.

The audience was the youngest musical-theatre crowd I have seen in a long time! It seemed that a lot of the audience was made up of "Edward Scissorheads" -- goth fans of the movie -- as they came dressed mainly in black with many buckles and zippers. There were a handful of the typical theatre-going adults, and a smattering of kids. The Hummingbird is pretty cavernous, so it wasn't full, but the audience made up in enthusiasm, what they lacked in size.

EDWARD SCISSORHANDS was devised, directed, and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, with music and arrangements by Terry Davies, including themes from the original motion picture by Danny Elfman. (Original story and motion picture directed by Tim Burton.) In the program the cast is listed and each role is shared by at least two people. Edward is played by Sam Archer or Richard Winsor, but since the Hummingbird didn't post the actual cast for that evening's performance, and they didn't include an insert of any kind, I don't know who to congratulate for an amazing performance! Way to go Sam or Richard!

I really enjoyed this show and would highly recommend it to adults and kids alike. The dancing was simply wonderful, a combination of many styles from ballet, to modern to "just movement" and back again. It reminded a bit of the Twyla Tharp choreogrpahy in MOVIN' OUT. It really was breathtaking, and surprising how much story can be told with just dance, costumes, sets and music (ie. no speaking or singing). It's a pretty intricate story with many characters and I didn't have any trouble following it. Of course, I've seen the movie, but that was a while ago.

One of my favorite aspects of the show was the brilliant set (set and costume designed by Lez Brotherston). Very true to the spirit of the film, it really completed the magical feeling of the story. I particularly liked the way the houses in the town were done with forced perspective. I also liked the way the dancing and costumes and set were used to make the audience laugh. Usually I associate laughing with witty dialogue or lyrics so it was really refreshing to laugh at a visual. I guess it's sort of like watching a silent film. My favorite musical moment was the memorable Danny Elfman movie theme.

From the 5th Avenue Web site:

"Matthew Bourne and New Adventures present their latest creation -- a magical new adaptation of the classic Tim Burton motion picture Edward Scissorhands.

A treat for the whole family, this touching and witty gothic fairytale tells the story of a boy created by an eccentric inventor who dies leaving him alone and unfinished. Left with only scissors for hands, Edward must find his place in a strange new suburban world where the well-meaning community struggles to see past his strange appearance to the innocence and gentleness within. London's theatrical dance sensation, Edward Scissorhands is a must-see event.

After global success with his inspired interpretations of Swan Lake, Nutcracker! Highland Fling and the multi-award-winning Play Without Words, Matthew Bourne has recently choreographed the hit musical, Mary Poppins, currently performing on Broadway. A five-time Olivier award-winner, he is also the creator of the world's longest-running ballet production and is the only British director to have won the Tony Award for Best Director and Best Choreographer of a Musical (1999 for Swan Lake).

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The saga continues from my previous post.

In the weekly ACLCL newsletter that I get, there was an interesting note from Mel Atkey, author of Broadway North, about the latest TheatreworksUSA production of ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford that is currently playing at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York:

MEL ATKEY (melatkey@hotmail.com)

This time it is I who have something to rant about.

I've you've read my book Broadway North, you will know how strongly I feel about Canadians telling their own stories and about not having our culture raped from outside. Well, recently a musical of Anne of Green Gables opened at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York (the same place that, many years earlier, played home to Billy Bishop Goes to War). But this was not the Anne we know and love -- it was by American writers Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford, who created "I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking it on the Road".

How could this happen, I wondered? It is not yet 70 years since L.M. Montgomery's death, and Campbell and Harron hold the exclusive rights to adapt that story for the musical stage. The answer is that, while the United States has, in theory, subscribed to the Universal Copyright Convention, they do not recognize any claims to a copyright on work published before 1923. (Even if the author is still alive!) So while Anne is protected virtually everywhere else in the world, in the U.S. it is fair game. What is the point of a copyright convention if it doesn't protect our copyrights universally? Of course, they may not get away with it: the Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority also protects Anne as a registered trademark, and it would appear that Cryer and Ford have not applied for a license. I've also discovered that there are at least a half a dozen other Anne musicals, all written by Americans, including one that even has a song called "Kindred Spirits". I wonder how they would feel if I wrote a musical based on Romeo and Juliet and called it "West Side Story".

I see nothing in their copyright law that could prevent it. I have admired Cryer and Ford's previous work, but surely this is morally wrong if not illegal. It may not be "piracy" but it is at least "privateering".

Hmmm, interesting! But lets put all the legal, and copyright issues aside for a moment. I guess the issue for me still remains...have we really run out of new material? Are there absolutely no new inventive stories that can be made into musicals? Are there absolutely no original musicals with new stories being written anywhere? Of course there are.

TheatreworksUSA has a history of only making musicals out of well-known books, which appears to be a successful strategy because the material is proven and audience appeal is already there. Consequently, I imagine you can save on marketing dollars, which could definitely help the bottom line. But do we now have to resort to writing musical versions of famous books that have already been made into successful musicals in order to gain audience recognition?

And it's not like the book had great personal meaning for these writers. They state very clearly in their Broadwayworld.com interview that they hadn't even read the book when TheatreworksUSA commissioned them to turn it into a musical. As Nancy Ford states in that interview, "Well TheatreWorks drew us to it because I think Gretchen Cryer who wrote the book and I may be the only 2 women in the world who never read this book when we were growing up."

Hey, work's work.

Well, it's something to think about anyways. And I think I'm going to have some ice cream.

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By Shankar Vedantam, Washington Post
Monday, April 9, 2007

The Greek theater of Epidaurus has long been considered a marvel of acoustics. Over the years, people have come up with a number of explanations as to why those who sit in the back of the semicircular theater, built in the 4th century B.C., can hear performers on the stage with such clarity.

One theory was that it had to do with the wind patterns in the area, but modern actors performing on windless days sounded just as clear.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology this month showed that the secret is in . . . the seats. Nico Declercq and Cindy Dekeyser found that the seating, which is carved from limestone, creates an acoustic filter that screens out low frequency crowd noises and reflects higher frequency sounds from the stage.

In a paper in the April issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, the researchers said that while the filtering also suppressed part of the range of frequencies of the human voice, "the human nerve system and brain are able to reconstruct this fundamental tone by means of the available high frequency information."

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Proudly hanging in my kitchen is an "On Broadway! Theater Posters from the Library of Congress" 2007 Calendar.

Last year I had a beautiful MOMA calendar which was very stylish (yet not wildly functional), so this year I went back to the old fashioned "grid" style.

On the inside flap is listed all the Tony Award Winners for Best Musical (and the writers) from 1949 (KISS ME KATE) to 2005 (SPAMALOT). Very handy.

Every month is a full-color picture of an original Broadway musical poster:

January: MAME starring Angela Lansbury
February: SILK STOCKINGS starring Heldegarde Neff and Don Ameche
March: FADE OUT FADE IN starring Carol Burnett and Dick Shawn
April: WILDCAT starring Lucille Ball
May: FLORA THE RED MENACE starring Liza Minnelli
June: REDHEAD starring Gwen Verdon
July: WEST SIDE STORY starring Carol Lawrence, Larry Kert and Devra Korwin
August: PURLIE starring Cleavon Little, Melba Moore and John Heffernan
September: PAINT YOUR WAGON starring Eddie Dowling
October: CAN-CAN starring Lilo (in the air-conditioned Sam S. Shubert Theatre, no less! Costumes by "Motley"...hmmm, perhaps I should get a single name...)
November: A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM starring Zero Mostel
December: MAE WEST in person as DIAMOND LIL (with a "brilliant supporting company of 50"!). I love the media quotes on this one:
"A Triumph of Sex over sense" -- Robt. Garland, N.Y. Journal America
"Fabulous...it is Performing In The Grand Manner" -- Brooks Atkinson, N.Y.Times

There is also a little synopsis the show of the month, along with a few song selections.

In addition, sprinkled through each month are key historical Broadway dates. For example, today in 1971 FOLLIES opened at the Winter Garden Theatre. On April 6 in 1947, the first Tony Awards were held, at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel. On April 21 in 1949 Patti Lupone was born in North Port, New York. And on April 29, 1968, HAIR opened at the Biltmore Theare. On the same day in 1996, "its musical descendant, RENT, opened at the Nederlander Theatre."

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My Chicago-residing friend Greg Silva is looking for musicians for the production of PROMISES, PROMISES he is musical directing (see my previous post). Here's his e-mail:

PIT BAND (Grove Players in Downers Grove)

Pianist/Conductor, Bass Player, Drummer, Trumpet Player, Synth-Player needed!

For production of "Promises, Promises", by Burt Bacharach & Neil Simon!

Rehearsals: Sat. Apr. 21 (morning); Wed. Apr. 25 (evening); Thu. Apr. 26 (evening).

Performances: Fri.-Sun. Apr. 27-29, May 4-6, May 11-13. Fri.-Sat. (evening), Sun. (afternoon).

Pianist/Conductor needed for rehearsals starting Mon. Apr. 16.
Pay: $150; more for pianist/conductor
CONTACT: GREG SILVA, MUSIC DIRECTOR
H. 312-944-0302; C. 312-933-9145
E-MAIL: GERG@MINDSPRING.COM

Historic theatre company. Fun group!

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By Lyn Gardner, The Guardian [UK]
Wednesday April 4, 2007

In 1984, a survey found that only 12% of artistic directors in British theatres were women. Last year, 22 years on, another survey found this figure had risen - but only to 19%. In that same 22-year period, women have risen in the workplace, becoming entrepreneurs, leaders of companies, editors of national newspapers, yet the doors to British theatre buildings seem to have remained largely closed.
But it looks like change is in the air. While the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company are run by men, the appointment of Vicky Featherstone in late 2004 as the first artistic director of the National Theatre of Scotland was seen as significant. An increasing number of women are now easing themselves into jobs in major theatres. It seems that at long last in British theatre, the women are coming. Overleaf, we talk to seven artistic directors about the challenges they've overcome, the risks they've taken and their ideas of how the industry is changing.

Erica Whyman
Age: 37
Job title: Chief executive of Northern Stage.

Career: At Northern Stage in Newcastle since late 2005. Was associate director at English Touring Theatre, then artistic director of Southwark Playhouse. Became artistic director of the Gate in 2001.

"We live in a genius culture. It manifests itself as the all-seeing, all-knowing artistic director whom everyone serves. It's the idea of a visionary - untouchable and inevitably male. Women are uncomfortable about this image because it is not rooted in collaboration, or indeed reality.

Theatre has been slower to change than the rest of the world, but in the past 10 years things have moved quicker. There are women everywhere now, from people like myself running buildings, to those running touring companies: Emma Rice at Kneehigh, Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale at Shared Experience, Roxanna Silbert at Paines Plough. It changes the climate. It has to - because change is overdue.

Having more women running buildings means there will be a shift. The old-fashioned male style of leadership has the artistic director coming up with projects, and then everyone doing them. I don't work like that. I lead on the projects that I'd like to direct, but there are seven or eight different voices in there right from the beginning.

Talking to other women, I think they tend to work like that too. We're more comfortable with it; it's more effective and brings in new blood. This can only be a good thing for theatre, which is often seen as being rather closed and clubby.

It is not just women like myself who help that change. Michael Boyd at the RSC has been fantastic at enabling women directors. When women in any number start directing at a national company such as the RSC, it shifts something in the consciousness and creates greater confidence. It's that old thing about men panicking if a woman is in charge. Every time a woman gets the chance to do the job and does it well, something changes.

Now, more and more women directors are contacting me with projects. It means that the pool is getting wider, where a few years ago it was just the same two or three names coming up. There's now a substantial number of women out there - and they won't be stopped."

Natalie Abrahami
Age: 27
Job title: Joint artistic director of the Gate, London (with Carrie Cracknell - see below).

Career: Her production of Alexandra Wood's The Eleventh Capital has just finished at the Royal Court. Won the James Menzies-Kitchin award producing Play and Not I at BAC in 2005. Was then director on attachment at the National Theatre Studio.

"The Gate didn't invite joint applications for the job of artistic director, but Carrie Cracknell and I knew we wanted to work together. Maybe that desire to collaborate is a female thing. We knew it was a risk to apply as a pair, but it worked. Carrie and I had met on the National Theatre studio directors' course in 2004. There were nine women and three men, so that shows how theatre is changing.

A lot of the directors I admire are women, but it's their work, not their gender, that interests me. I've always been aware of being a woman in a male-dominated profession, but I've never felt my gender was a problem. Plenty of male artistic directors have helped me along the way. But women who decide to become directors are a self-selected group. It is not an easy profession: you don't just have to be creative, you have to be pushy and able to sell both yourself and the work you want to make.

It's easy to say gender doesn't matter, but my generation is really benefiting from the women who went before us; people like Erica Whyman and Gemma Bodinetz. If you see those women in positions of power, you feel more confident about applying for jobs. You know that if they've done it, the path is possible.

It's not a surprise that the Gate has such a history of appointing women artistic directors. It is a place for emerging artists and is therefore probably more in tune with the idea of rising young female directors. It is prepared to take risks. What needs to happen is for those risks to happen higher up the ladder. The more established a theatre, the more conservative it often is. But I feel really optimistic that sometime soon a woman will run the National Theatre."

Josie Rourke
Age: 30
Job title: Artistic director of the Bush, London.

Career: A new-writing specialist, she trained at the Donmar, recently directing David Mamet's The Cryptogram. In 2005 she became an associate director of Sheffield Theatres. Last year she made her RSC debut with a highly acclaimed King John.

"I had never thought about being a director until I heard Deborah Warner and Katie Mitchell speak in Manchester while I was at college. They felt like kindred spirits. I thought: yes, directing is something I'd like to do.

I've never felt any gender bias, but I do sense a change. I've always been struck by how many really strong women work in theatre - people like Fiona Clark, the producer at the Bush - but few of them are artistic directors. Perhaps it's to do with women supposedly being organised and nurturing rather than creative.

Not that I've ever experienced any problems. People such as Michael Grandage, Michael Boyd and David Lan have been really generous. But maybe I've been lucky. What I have found is that getting the chance to work with other women directors is inspiring. When I did King John for the RSC, it shared a cast with productions being staged by Marianne Elliott and Nancy Meckler. The chance to discuss casting with them was fantastic. I learned a lot.

Women like Erica Whyman and Rachel Kavanaugh getting big jobs in big reps helps too. Without them, it would have been quite an imaginative leap for me to apply for the Bush.

What's happening now in British theatre has been a long time coming. Theatre will be different in the long-term. But we shouldn't forget the women who went before us. They struggled and made sacrifices to be directors. Now my generation is reaping the rewards. We're very lucky"

Gemma Bodinetz
Age: 40
Job title: Artistic director of Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse.

Career: Trained at the Royal Court Theatre under Max Stafford-Clark. Became associate director at Hampstead Theatre. Was appointed artistic director of then-failing Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse in 2003.

"When people imagine an orchestra conductor, they tend to think of a man with a shock of white hair. When people think of the artistic director of the National Theatre, they might imagine a man in an Armani suit with a shaved head. Those stereotypes still exist. As long as they do, it's harder for women to get those jobs. But we are moving on.

Vicky Featherstone at the National Theatre of Scotland is an inspiration. We need role models, although it never crossed my mind that being a woman would be an impediment to my career. I was always just worried about doing good work. But maybe I'm part of the first generation who can say that, because of the pioneers who came before us.

I don't think I run Liverpool theatres with a feminine agenda. But I do keep an ear out for those voices that have to be heard; 54% of the writers we have under commission are women. Subconsciously, I suspect there is a female sensibility. I'd like everyone to think I'm nurturing, supporting and developing; those are probably more strongly female characteristics.

Running a building is a real challenge if you're a mother. You feel pulled this way and that, but that's true of any woman in a demanding job. The delight of the 21st century is that fathers find it hard to combine being artistic directors and dads, too.

What has changed in the past few years is the economics of regional theatre. Once it was thought of as dusty and dull, now there's more money - and a younger generation of directors and writers have been enticed into the regions, knowing that the work they can do there is as exciting as anything they can do in London.

Inevitably some of those new opportunities have gone to women - writers and directors - so the pool is getting bigger. The more women there are running national institutions and buildings, the more will be doing it in the future."

Carrie Cracknell
Age: 26
Job title: Joint artistic director of the Gate, London (with Natalie Abrahami - see above).

Career: Did a Masters in directing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Winner of the Bruce Millar award for young Scottish directors. Founded Hush Productions which created the site-specific work, Broken Road, winner of a 2005 Edinburgh Fringe First.

"Men have always called the shots in British theatre; it must have an effect on what is seen on our stages. It's time we women got a little more angry and petulant. If we don't like what we see, we should do something about it. But it is happening, and it is not just to do with theatre, but with the fact that, generally, women in society feel more able to express their opinions and take control of their lives.

I find directing both thrilling and extraordinarily difficult. It is the hardest thing I can do, which was why I wanted to do it. It was only after I started that I realised how few women there are running theatres and in positions of power. Why is Vicky Featherstone the only woman running a national company? The women of my generation are lucky. We haven't had to have the energy, vision and endless pushing of the women who went before us. Even for women just 10 years older than me, it must have been much harder.

I do wonder about how women combine a career in theatre with motherhood. The two are not really compatible with the late hours. But we're seeing more and more women do it. Katie Mitchell, who I assisted on The Seagull, has a young child. I saw at close quarters how hard it was, but also how she rose to that challenge - to make exciting, ambitious work. So you can do both.

Increased funding for theatres has led to increased opportunities for women. It does worry me that if funding is hit, there will be fewer opportunities. And it will be the men that grab them. You need a lot of people on the vine, not a few, for something to flower."

Rachel Kavanaugh
Age: 37
Job title: Artistic director of Birmingham Rep.

Career: First female artistic director at Birmingham Rep. Worked at major rep stages including West Yorkshire Playhouse, Sheffield and Bristol Old Vic.

"I've never felt there was any glass ceiling in theatre or that I was denied jobs because of my gender. A lot of my chances have been given to me by men. But I did resist applying for artistic directorships for a long time. I don't know whether that was because I couldn't see other women around doing these big jobs. I like to think that it was just because I was enjoying my freelance career.

But seeing Gemma at Liverpool and Erica at Northern Stage did make a difference. It made me think I could do that too. Now I'm here, I'm too busy to be lonely, and there is a supportive network of other artistic directors. When I got the job, a lot of women rang me up to say how pleased they were.

It is not entirely accidental that, though there have only been 10 plays written or adapted by women on the main stage here in the past 10 years, in my first season there are three. There are plenty of fantastic women writers around; their place is on the main stages, not just in the studio spaces. I feel that very strongly, maybe because I've worked on those big stages so much. I can't say if a man doing my job would have thought the same. My thinking was that these were the best plays to do. The fact they're by women is great, too.

I've jumped in at the deep end. I haven't had experience of running smaller buildings first. Sometimes it's scary, particularly as there's public money at stake. But I don't see why I shouldn't learn on the job. I think women are often more cautious, whereas men just say: 'I know I can do that.' As more women take on these jobs and succeed, the question of gender in theatre will be a thing of the past."

Lisa Goldman
Age: 41
Job title: Artistic director of Soho Theatre, London.

Career: For 10 years ran The Red Room, whose successes include Anthony Nielson's Stitching. Initiated the Young Writers programme at Soho Theatre in 2000.

"I couldn't do this job if I had a family. It's too full-on. Running a theatre is time-consuming. You get obsessed. I recognise that as a danger. When it comes to management, men and women are perceived differently. Men are allowed many different styles of operating; woman tend to be thought of as either nurturing or a bitch. It is as true in theatre as it is in the business world.

I don't allow myself to get obsessed by the question of gender in this job; that's probably easier at Soho, as it has a tradition of women artistic directors. I certainly don't think there was a gender aspect to my appointment. I like to think I got the job because I was the best candidate. That's the only way it should ever be.

All the plays in my first season are about marginalised voices, but in fact none are by women. That will be addressed. But the issue I think British theatre in the 21st century has to face up to is less about gender than class. British theatre is still very white and Oxbridge-dominated. I worked for years for no money. That's what you have to do to get started, and it puts the middle classes at a huge advantage.

Women are certainly under-represented in theatre buildings. The recent little sweep-in of women means theatre is changing. We need a more representative landscape."

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If only my dad was still around to see this...

Yes, this video from the Hungarian production of ALTAR BOYZ certainly brought back memories from my childhood. No, I wasn't raised by singing Hungarian priests. My dad used to take us on trips back to Hungary (where he was born) and other European countries, and we'd spend all our time sightseeing from church to church to church to church!

So, enjoy the music, the lyrics, and the church.

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Newspapers are poised to claw back lost advertising by attracting big brands to their own online operations

By Richard Wray and Katie Allen, The Guardian [UK]
Saturday March 31, 2007

The migration of advertising spending to the internet is fast leaving traditional newspapers and even TV stranded.

Breaking through the £2bn barrier for the first time last year, online advertising now accounts for 11.4% of all ad spending in the UK compared with 10.9% for newspapers. The gap is getting wider, as growth in online advertising - at 41% in 2006 - far outstripped growth in national newspapers - at 0.2% - and TV, which saw advertising revenues drop 4.7%.

Credit Suisse, the investment bank, puts the unenviable position in which the newspaper industry finds itself in stark terms: "Overall, we believe 'money follows eyeballs' and that eyeballs will continue to decline in newspaper readership" as more and more people turn to the web. Among people aged 12-24, for instance, the internet makes up 30% of their media consumption.

People using search engines accounts for the largest portion of online advertising and is predominantly the domain of new media companies such as Google and Yahoo! Search advertising allows companies to vie for position on search engines, so when a user looks for cheap TV sets, a holiday, an iPod or a car, their brand comes out on top. Search marketing is the antithesis of traditional advertising. Traditional TV, radio and print advertising relies upon brands interrupting a connection between an individual viewer or reader and content meant to inform or entertain them.

"However, in search engine media, the advertiser is the content itself," according to Warren Cowan, founder and chief executive of Greenlight, a search-marketing group. He said: "In search engine marketing users request the advertising they see. No other type of advertising has been able to tap into this type of 'user solicited' advertising".

'Pay and pray'

Search also provides advertisers with a direct connection between the success enjoyed by their advert and the amount they pay. Traditional media, in contrast, works on the equivalent of "pay and pray".

Nick Hynes, chief executive of the search marketing agency the Search Works, said: "In search you only pay for the advertising when someone clicks on the search result. That process is measurable and trackable. You can tell exactly which key words, like 'cheaper car insurance', you should be listing on and you can see how many customers who click on the result will transform into customers. You don't waste any money. This is revolutionary in the world of advertising."

But advertising is not only about persuading a person to prefer a particular item. A lot of advertising is tied up with creating and sustaining brands. It is this aspect of ad spending that has been lacking in the rampant growth in online advertising, because building brands is an amorphous concept that is hard to quantify. Until recently, the internet advertising industry has sold itself as offering the ultimate in measurability.

Phil Georgiadis, chief executive of Walker Media, said: "The truth of the matter is that in many ways you could say search marketing and Google is the enemy of the brand. By definition, what they do is allow unheard-of brands, who have got a product or service to offer, to sit alongside [well-known brands] without any of the infrastructure costs of building a brand offline."

"We are in a phase where people have lurched into search because they deem it to be a market they have to be in, they have to explore and they have to understand in terms of its return. In the next few years different advertisers and brands will reassess the relative priority they place on different channels."

In the early days of the web, advertisers trying to build brand awareness through banner ads or pictures on other websites risked infuriating web users by making them wait while their slow internet connection loaded up an advert. The growth in broadband internet connections, however, means brand advertising becomes much less intrusive and can become more innovative. This provides a perfect opportunity for old media to get back into the digital game.

Companies such as MySpace, Bebo and Facebook have brought together huge online communities but the nature of those communities can make it hard to project brands because people consider their online space as their own domain. Innovative brand campaigns have been created by talking directly with bloggers and allowing people to incorporate brands within their own profile pages. But these campaigns are likely to always be aimed at niche audiences, albeit large niches.

So brands are likely - so the theory goes - to return to the online operations of traditional media organisations because they can pull in a wide and general audience.

Growth hampered

Stefan Bardega, director of digital strategy at the media planning and buying agency MediaCom, said: "Where the change has happened in the last couple of years is that advertisers have realised the internet is just another media channel that can be used to generate awareness, stimulate purchase of a product offline as well as online. The money we are seeing coming in now is from brand advertisers like fast-moving consumer goods companies, who don't necessarily have a product to sell online but are using online to advertise the products they sell in the real world."

The growth of brand advertising, however, has been hampered by the inability of traditional media players such as newspapers to provide basic information - how many people are visiting their sites, for example. Different sites have used different metrics - produced by the likes of comScore and Nielsen - in different ways, creating confusion.

That situation is about to change. Earlier this week the Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic announced plans to publish the online equivalent of the newspaper standard circulation figures on a monthly basis, with the first set of figures coming out on April 26.

Next month, meanwhile, sees the first quarterly online population report from the Joint Industry Committee for Internet Measurement Systems.

Such information has been a long time coming, according to MediaCom's Bardega. Not having proper statistics has "hurt the whole industry", he believes. "There is no common currency for online and there is no doubt about it, that has hindered the growth of the advertising market."

Age of the viral video

As broadband connections become the norm in British households, advertisers can now reach customers with more than the hated pop-up. In fact, this week's Internet Advertising Bureau figures showed so-called "interruptive" formats made up just 0.7% of the £2bn of UK online advertising spending last year.

One of the important trends for advertisers now is the use of videos which comes in many forms. One method is the viral video campaign, which relies on internet users disseminating content containing a brand message. Dove's Evolution ad created a huge viral marketing buzz around a video showing a model being made up, photographed and then digitally altered. Advertisers have also tapped into the rise of user-generated content.

Lucozade Energy will next month roll out a campaign to drive customers on to GetYourEdgeBack.com, run by Fuse Digital, the agency behind online campaigns for Mates Condoms and Carlsberg. Customers can upload home-made videos about instances when they had a dozy moment. The best one will win £10,000 and the chance to star in one of Lucozade Energy's ads. Based on a more traditional film and television methods, product placement in online videos has been around for a while in the US and is now on the rise in the UK. Advertising group MediaCom has just set up a video series about cats for pet food specialist Masterfoods and posted it on MSN. The http://perfectfit.msn.com videos focus on cat health, but, of course, also mention why viewers should buy Perfect Fit. "[It] ... is all about generating brand awareness. All the things TV has traditionally been good for, we can now do that online as well," says Stefan Bardega, a MediaCom director.

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I've always felt Lucy Maude Montgomery's book "Anne of Green Gables" would make a really terrific family musical. Perhaps a song about, say, ice cream...

Well the wait is over because TheatreworksUSA is producing ANNE OF GREEN GABLES at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York.

Written by Gretchen Cryer and Nancy Ford (writers of the American Girl Revue shows) and directed by Tyler Marchant, the show stars Piper Goodeve as Anne.

Okay, okay, I know ANNE OF GREEN GABLES exists already as a musical, written by Don Harron and Norman Campbell, with lyrics by Elaine Campbell and Mavor Moore.

According to this post in Wikipedia:

The Confederation Centre of the Arts' annual "Charlottetown Festival" headlines Canada's longest-running mainstage musical production Anne of Green Gables -- The Musical. This show having run every summer since the Centre opened in 1964 has played to over 2 million viewers. Anne of Green Gables -- The Musical was composed by Canadian theatrical legends Don Harron and Norman Campbell, with lyrics by Elaine Campbell and Mavor Moore. The production has played to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and has also toured across Canada, the United States, Europe and Japan and has played to numerous distinguished figures in audiences every season.

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES is like a national treasure in Canada. Not a season goes by without some theatre or school putting on a production. Even my daughter's school does a scene from it every year! You're practically issued the sheet music along with your birth certificate.

So it was a little weird to read about the TheatreworksUSA production because it sounds like this is the first time the book has been made into a musical. It would be like suddenly seeing a new production of LES MIZ -- "Les Miserables -- The Musical! Finally Victor Hugo's epic novel set to music!"

I know it's not the first time public domain material has been duplicated, it happens a lot. For example, THE WILD PARTY (and I'm still wondering how the heck they both happened at the same time!) and TOM JONES. But the Harron/Campbell/Campbell/Moore version of ANNE OF GREEN GABLES has been around for a while, so it kind of feels "established".

Having said all that I'd love to see the Cryer/Ford version, to see how it is different. Did they musicalize the same stuff? Does it have the same tone? What is the American perspective? Actually I would have loved to have seen both versions of THE WILD PARTY. I had tickets to the one starring Mandy Patinkin, but it closed before I could go!

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I need more GREASE in my diet! (My television diet, that is)

Well GREASE may be the word, but America had the final "word" and voted Max Crumm as Danny Zuko and Laura Osnes as Sandy Dumbrowski. Congrats to Max and Laura after what must have been a very grueling process.

I have to admit I miss watching the show, even though it did get pretty humiliating near the end, what with Billy Bush's ... really ... slow ... announce ... ments ... of ... who ... was ... going, and making the losers come back and sing with the winners.

And of course I miss Seth's always-funny recaps on Playbill. But I certainly don't miss the crazy camera work! And I always thought it was a bit ironic that the whole show was called "You're The One That I Want" and that song wasn't actually written by the original Broadway musical writers, Jim Jacob, (and Warren Casey), who was a regular panel judge on the TV reality show.

Jenny Powers will be playing Rizzo. I saw Jenny perform in the NAMT festival production of DANGEROUS BEAUTY and as Meg in LITTLE WOMEN and she was totally unbelievable! I can't wait to hear her sing "There Are Worse Things I Could Do".

From this article in Playbill:

Robyn Hurder, Jenny Powers, Matthew Saldivar, Kirsten Wyatt, Lindsay Mendez and Jose Restrepo will be part of the cast of the upcoming Broadway revival of Grease, which will co-star reality TV winners Max Crumm as Danny Zuko and Laura Osnes as Sandy Dumbrowski.

Previews for the musical -- directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall -- will begin July 24 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

Crumm and Osnes will be joined onstage by Hurder as Marty, Powers as Rizzo, Saldivar as Kenickie, Wyatt as Frenchie, Mendez as Jan, Restrepo as Sonny and Broadway newcomer Dan