Broadway Show Review

In a preview for an information-packed City Council meeting in December, city staff teamed with members of the arts community last week to present the latest vision for a regional performing arts theater.

The incarnation shown Thursday hadn't changed much since earlier versions. It would have 1,960 seats, making it the largest such venue in the Tri-Valley and much of the East Bay. Backers hope to bring Broadway acts that would interest the 750,000 residents of the surrounding area.

"You'll be able to go see 'The Little Mermaid' on stage and be home in 10 minutes," said Len Alexander, executive director of the Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center, which partnered with the city to build the new 500-seat Bankhead Theatre.

A similar arrangement would be used to finance the larger theater.

Bickford Theatre tips its comic hat to old movies

Staging a musical at this time of year can be murder. Instead, the Bickford Theatre will present "The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940," which opens Friday in Morris Township after a Thursday night preview.

While many musicals contain a "show within a show," John Bishop's 1987 comedy is more of a musical within a show, without the music. That's because a fictional creative team -- responsible for a recent Broadway flop -- is reassembling a backer's audition for their next big show. But before they get to their performance, a blizzard strands the assembly in a Westchester estate owned by a wealthy patron.

With no way to escape, bodies start to drop in plain sight and everyone becomes a suspect. Classic film fans will enjoy swiveling bookcases, secret passages, homicidal maniacs, bumbling detectives and other common features of the cinematic era.

Irish Play Suffers on Broadway

THE opening night of Irish playwright Conor McPherson's latest Broadway play The Seafarer, which was scheduled for Thursday, November 15, has been postponed until further notice because of the Broadway stagehands strike.

The Seafarer, which was already in previews before the strike hit, features well known Irish actors Ciaran Hinds, Conleth Hill and Jim Norton and is considered the season's highest profile play. Observers are now predicting that Broadway may be in for a long and costly dispute before McPherson's show gets back on the boards.

Over two dozen Broadway shows went dark last weekend as the stagehands, who are engaged in a long running and bitter contract dispute with producers, went on strike. The dispute is over long-established work rules, which the producers claim are out of date and expensive.

Vineyard Theatre to Bring Back God's Ear for Off-Broadway Run

The Vineyard Theatre has announced Jenny Schwartz's God's Ear will complete the company's Off-Broadway season; performances begin in April 2008. Dates for the Vineyard's mounting of the new musical, The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island, have also been set.

Anne Kauffman (The Thugs) will stage Schwartz's God's Ear, which debuted earlier this year at New Georges under the auspices of the Vineyard. Previews will begin in April 2008 on the company's mainstage.

Vineyard teams with New Georges for the new run of the drama that centers on a young couple who struggle with life after losing their son ��their only guides are their daughter Lanie, the Tooth Fairy and G.I. Joe.

The show earned critical acclaim for its May 2007 debut at the East 13th Street Theatre in a production featuring the music of Michael Friedman (Gone Missing).

Little Mermaid Postpones Broadway Opening

Due to the ongoing stagehands strike that has temporarily shuttered 27 Broadway shows, the new Disney musical The Little Mermaid has postponed its Broadway opening.

The musical, which began previews Nov. 3, was scheduled to officially open at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre Dec. 6. That date has been postponed; a new opening date has yet to be announced.

The news of the postponement was announced Nov. 20 in a press statement that reads, "As a result of the current labor dispute, the new Broadway production of Disney's The Little Mermaid has postponed its previously announced Opening Night performance on December 6th. Previews will resume when the dispute is resolved and a revised plan for opening night will be announced at that time."

Sierra Boggess heads the cast in the title role of Ariel, who longs "to be where the people are" (as the lyric goes), above the water's surface.

(AFX UK Focus) 2007-11-20 21:27 GMT: Producer keeps working despite strike

NEW YORK (AP) - Most of Broadway may be shut down because of the stagehands strike, but producer Jeffrey Richards still is juggling as fast as he can.

Tuesday should have been opening night of "August: Osage County," the critically acclaimed hit from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. This Friday, his revival of Harold Pinter's "The Homecoming" was to have started preview performances. And then there is Richards' production of David Mamet's new play, "November," starring Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf and Dylan Baker. It goes into rehearsal next Monday for a January opening.

The three shows together represent an investment of over $6 million, according to Richards, a producer of the Tony-winning 2005 revival of Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross."

"I just came back from a rehearsal of `The Homecoming,' so I am really fired up right now," Richards said Tuesday.

WHOVILLE SHOWS 'EM

It was enough to make the Grinch's heart grow three sizes.

Cast members of the holiday musical "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" put on a spirited performance outside the St. James Theater last night after they were barred from returning to the stage.

PEYSER: Vanishing Act By The Union Boss

RIEDEL: There's No Meeting Of The Minds

Some 30 performers, including a dozen kids clutching Grinch dolls, sang "Who Likes Christmas," one of the songs from the show, before leading some 200 spectators in shouts of "We want Grinch!"

People ran from Broadway to the theater on 44th Street to see the spectacle.

"We're being illegally locked out of the theater," said the show's conductor, Josh Rosenblum. "There's no legal reason why the show shouldn't be going on."

Lisa Cawiezell, 42, had driven from Eldridge, Iowa, with her daughter, Zoey, 16, to see "The Grinch."

"This is a preview of what we will see," she said.

The Big Apple Gets Spanked

Austin musical collective Asylum Street Spankers is readying a two-week run of its first musical revue in a New York City theatre.
The group has a bunch of dates on its schedule before and after its Off-Broadway run, including tonight at the Cultural Center in Minneapolis, November 30 at Sons Of Hermann Hall in Dallas, December 28 at the Saxon Pub in Austin, January 23 World Caf� Live in Philadelphia, January 26 at the Diesel Club Lounge in Pittsburgh, February 2 at The Kentucky Center in Louisville and May 10 at the College Of Santa Fe in New Mexico.
Asylum Street Spankers' revue, "What? And Give Up Show Biz?," previews at the Barrow Street Theater January 9-10, opens with two shows January 12 and runs through January 20.
Tickets for the New York show will be available through Telecharge.com.