My Broadway Review

“Dirty Dancing”- the Classic Story, is an international hit on the stage and is coming to Broadway in Chicago. The ticket sale to the public will start on April 4th 2008. The play will open at the Cadillac Palace Theatre from September 28th and will continue till 7th December, 2008. “Dirty dancing”- The Classic Story on Stage is an enthralling love story which revolves around the dancer Johnny Castle and Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman. The play is about the happenings in the life of Baby, who desires to join the Peace Corps. Later she meets Johnny who has negative shades in his character. Baby and Johnny falls in love as the fate would have it and the life of Baby gets upside down.

This play features many famous and favorite songs like “I’ve had”, the Academy Award winner, “Hey Baby”, “Hungry Eyes” and “Do You Love Me” etc. The tickets are available for individuals in price range of $35- $95 and the premium tickets are available for $125- $150. As, the play has got a good opinion from the press as well as the viewers, it is expected that more theatre loving people will come to watch “Dirty Dancing” in U.S.

Broadway’s musical comedy “Curtains” is running into the summer of 2008 with success. The book of this play is done by the multiple Tony Award winner Rupert Holmes and the melodious music is prepared by John Kinder. The “Curtain” gets unfolded at the Boston’s Colonial Theatre, where a new musical play is being staged. The leading lady of the play dies on the opening night of the play and Lt. Frank Cioffi was called on the scene as the investigating officer. Now, the Lieutenant falls into an unexpected romance and is determined to solve the mystery of murder.

The cast of this mystery comedy includes David Hyde Pierce, Debra Monk, Erin Davie, Karen Ziemba, Jason Danieley and many other capable artists. The original book and the concept of the play are done by Peter Stone and the director is Scott Ellis. The designing of the set is done, very aesthetically by Anna Louizos and choreography is by the well experienced Rob Ashford. This highly rated play will be staged at Al Hirschfeld Theatre, in New York. The running time for this play is 2hours 40 minutes and the audience can be assured of watching a thrilling mystery and pleasurable comedy which will make them relax.

Tranced is the new play created by Robert Clyman, which is a psychological thriller. The play explores the concept of persuasive art along with truth. In the story, a respectful psychiatrist uses a method of hypnotism called “trancing” on his patients to bring out their suppressed feelings and memories. During one of his trancing session with a patient called Azmera, the psychiatrist come across a major truth or secret which will have long term consequences on the lives of many people in Africa. Now the psychologist is in trouble as to what to do with the information he possesses.

The play directed by Jessica kubzansky has Thomas Fiscella as Dr. Philip and Erica Tazel as Azmera. This play is entirely different from the usual plays due to its rare theme and the casts’ ability to portray the characters true to their life. Jessica is successful in pulling the audience with the subtle but appropriate sound effects and the approach in revealing the plot. The theme is a real attention gaining one but is not fully explained and the some characters like that of Logan has treated half- heartedly. This reduces the enjoyment of the spectators to some extent.

“Next to Normal” directed by Michael Grief shows all the traumas that Diana (Alice Ripley) had to go through in her life. The drama deals with the problem of depression and the probable ways of treatment to overcome it. The character played by Alice Ripley suffers from Hallucinations due to a past traumatic incident and Dan, her husband (Brian d’Arcy James) take her to various doctors for treating her. She goes through tiring treatment regimes including electroshock therapy. The play shows how imprecise the medical science is in some cases and at the same time is glorifying the efforts of genuine medical practitioners.

Tom Kitt’s music and Brian Yorker’s lyrics has made the music very resonant and appealing. Ripley has given an extraordinary performance in humorous as well as tragic scenes. Brian James has done justice to his role but the duet with his son (Aaron Tveit) is areal flop. A subplot involving the love story of Diana’s daughter is utter failure as the couples portrayed by Jennifer Damiano and Adam Chanler- Berat lacks chemistry. Tveit has put his heart in to the play and is very vibrant in his songs. So, all the characters and the music make this play watchable but not a relaxing experience to the audience.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group is really strict about giving out performance rights. Starring Ely’s Lisa Bushell in the role previously taken by Denise van Outen on Broadway, the story follows the life of a young woman on the dating scene in New York and Hollywood.
First performed in the eighties, Andrew Lloyd Webber gave the show a modern twist when it was reworked in 2003 to include songs such as Speed Dating.
Tell Me on a Sunday is being performed at Needhams Hall, City of Ely Community College, Downham Road, Ely on February 14, 15 and 16, at 7.30pm. T Tickets for a one-off gala performance on Saturday are priced £10, to include Champagne and a buffet dinner. Guests are required to book in advance for the gala performance.

 “Cry-Baby” is the musical based on the 1990 movie by John Waters,  about greasers and squares in 1954 Baltimore, has announced its move into the Marquis Theater on Broadway. The musical, with songs by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger  and a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan (who wrote the book for “Hairspray”) is scheduled to begin previews on March 15, with an opening set for April 24. Mark Brokaw is directing, and Rob Ashford is the choreographer.

The producers of “Cyrano de Bergerac” announced that the Broadway play earned back its $3.5 million capitalization, the season’s first show to make its investors whole. “Cyrano,” which closed on Jan. 6 at New York’s Richard Rodgers Theatre, paired television and movie star Jennifer Garner with Kevin Kline, featured in films and a dozen Broadway shows.

A Broadway actor, James Barbour, confessed Thursday that in 2001 he seduced a 15-year-old girl, who visited him backstage. Besides, it has become known that the actor had criminal sexual contact with a high school student who was an aspiring actress also in 2001. Taking into consideration the social status of the actor and his merits on the stage (not to be confused with backstage), the judge agreed to make a deal, under which Mr. Barbour would plead guilty of two misdemeanors, in exchange for a promise that he would be sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years’ probation. Hopefully, Barbour’s overwhelming passion for young girls has come to an end and that the court’s charges won’t spoil the actor’s brilliant career on Broadway.

LaKisha Jones, the American Idol veteran, casted yesterday in the award-winning musical at the Broadway Theatre. Jones began her career singing in her church choir. Since then she has made much progress, though her singing talents will also be used on Broadway. Now she joined the Broadway musical of The Color Purple, where she will be covering the role of Sofia. The Color Purple currently stars “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino as Celie.

Salt Lake City Mayor Elect Ralph Becker claims that the location of a Broadway style theater will be determined only when a countywide cultural facilities master plan is completed. According to the words of Sandy City officials, they want to be home to the 2,500 seat theater. Becker emphasizes that for the successful activity of the theater, it needs to be in the right location and the facilities analysis should provide some direction.