More New Musicals and Plays

Ann Harada in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella
Photo by Carol Rosegg

My reviews of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Passion, The Revisionist, and The Madrid were posted on ArtsinNY.com. All were somewhat disappointing, particularly Cinderella. Book-writer Douglas Carter Beane and director Mark Brokaw overthought the material and couldn't decide between a Disney or a snarky approach. Ann Harada, our beloved Linda the Stage Manager ("I ain't makin' no smoothies, bitch") from Smash, stole the show as the wicked stepsister. (OK she didn't really say that to Uma Thurman, but she said it with her eyes.) The 1965 TV Cinderella is the one I remember best. It used to come on every year and was a huge deal because it was in full color and they didn't have many elaborate musicals made just for TV. I remember watching it with the whole family including my grandparents visiting from Maine and getting to stay up till it was over at 9 o'clock.

Also I did a piece on flop Broadway shows for NewYork.com. I only included ten, but I'm sure there are many more you can recall.

More new musicals coming in--The Public Theater will be presenting a tuner version of The Fortress of Solitude, Jonathan Lethem's novel about two comic-book-obsessed boys growing up in 1970s Brooklyn. Itamar Moses (Back Back Back, Completeness) is writing the book and the songs are by Michael Friedman (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson). The Public will present the musical during the 2014-15 season after it has played the Dallas Theatre Center. This is one of my favorite novels and it should be interesting to see how it translates to the stage with the comic-book elements.

The musical of Second Hands Lions, the 2003 movie starring Richard Harris and Robert Duvall as a pair eccentric Texas uncles raising their nephew, will play at Seattle's 5th Street Theater as part of its 2013-14 season. Rupert Holmes (Edwin Drood) is writing the book and the score is by Michael Weiner and Alan Zachary.

Idina Menzel (Wicked) returns to Broadway in If/Then, a new musical not based on something else (what a concept) by the authors of Next to Normal. It's expected on Broadway in March 2014 after a run in at Washington DC's National Theatre. Menzel will play a woman embarking on a new life as she turns 40 and moves to NYC.

Roundabout has announced it will present revivals of Dinner with Friends and The Real Thing next season on Broadway along with a transfer of Bad Jews.