My Broadway Review

ReWrite: A Musical Comedy Triple Feature is a great show, according to Variety. The composer, who the reviewer considers one of the best songwriters at the moment, has finally got a real production out. This isn’t actually a Broadway show at the moment, it’s just Off-Broadway for the moment. But apparently it’s a really fun show. There is a half-hour feature about a teenager who wants to ask out a girl to the prom. The second part is called “Miss Marzipan” which is apparently the best part of the show. It is a short musical about the Stockholm Syndrome. How interesting it sounds, and I wish it would come to one of our local theaters, because it sounds quite fun!

In March of 2009, the late 60s musical Hair will be making its big comeback on the Broadway circuit. Hair was one of the most controversial musicals in American history–openly challenging the Vietnam war, societal norms, drug use, and many other “fopahs”of that time. Additionally, this rock musical was backed by some of the most psychedelic music of that time. Click here to learn more about Hair’s origins, development, cancellation, and revival.

Slava’s Snowshow is back and better than ever. In 2004, the Russian clown and his offbeat show were off Broadway and it was a rather odd show. This time around, it’s much more clamped down and organized. People really like it too. It’s funny, entertaining and cute. Slava has been trying to get on American stages for awhile and now he’s finally got it! It’s exciting to see and we hope that he will be there next year too. The show runs until January 4th.

I’m a little behind on this news but it’s still definitely worth posting. Will Ferrell and Adam McKay have joined forces once more to put together a one-man Broadway play entitled “You’re Welcome America: A Final Night With George W Bush.” The play, obviously a farce on the presidency of incumbent president George Bush, will have a limited one month run in NYC. Get the full scoop by clicking here.

John Goodman and David Strathairn have been signed to play in the upcoming Broadway revival of “Waiting for Godot”. John Goodman has been in many films, television shows and other plays.  Strathairn is a regular for on and off Broadway productions. Other cast members include Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin.  Godot is always a favorite in the theater world, and the fact that it’s coming back to Broadway is going to be good. Hopefully it fares better than a lot of the more recent shows in NYC have. It has the right cast and the right show to do well, so here’s hoping.

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular has always delighted attendees who live in, around, or visit the New York area. However, as of a few years ago, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular program has taken its show on the road and is visiting more than a dozen major cities in the United States, bring Christmas cheer and the world-famous Rockettes with them. Get ready for good music, good dance, good times, and of course, Santa Claus himself.

Rent, the musical that had a very long run on Broadway and in travelling shows, has been revamped for use in high schools. Yes you heard me, high schools. The musical about aids, homosexuality and modern urban issues. This couldn’t have happened 10 years ago. I’m not saying it’s bad either, it’s just surprising. High schoolers, for their part, really like the music and have, apparently, learned a lot from the themes involved. Some of the songs, though, had to be changed, because there was some cussing and lyrics too explicit to use. The lyrics are too explicit to use in their original form, but the themes that the lyrics are talking about aren’t. Interesting. Anyway, listen to the story here.

In response to the closing of many Broadway shows due to a lack of “green,” one new show is planning to bring enough green to the stage for everyone. Shrek: The Musical is scheduled to debut on the Broadway stage on December 14th in New York City. Based on the spoof nature that the Shrek films were popular for, Shrek: The Musical will spoof the idea of the Broadway Musical. Poking fun at everything from “Evita” to “Gypsy” to “A Chorus Line,” Shrek: The Musical is looking to make a huge splash in the drowning world of Broadway.

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas has opened on Broadway for this year’s season. At a time when shows are closing right and left, this is a nice change in the right direction. I mean, I guess it’s not a surprise that lots of people want to see this classic at this time of year, and it has been long-planned to open at this point in time. The fact is that it will likely also close in January, but again, this isn’t an unplanned closing. People like this show and hopefully it will have a good run.