Broadway Update: 2015 Beckons

Airline Highway at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre
(Credit: Michael Brosilaw)

As 2014 winds down, it's time to look forward to 2015. As usual, the spring is crowded with openings in order to qualify for the Tonys. It's a little early, but the frontrunner for Best Play is still The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Dog's biggest threats are also from Britain--The epic Wolf Hall and Helen Mirren in The Audience, both featuring royalty (Henry VIII in Wolf and the current monarch in Audience.) Both have snob hit written all over them. Mirren will probably take Best Actress so she can have a Tony for playing a queen to go with her Oscar and Emmy. Wolf is a two-evening spectacle and could give Dog a run for its money as Best play--both are based on novels which never stopped The Grapes of Wrath.The design categories still belong to Dog, though Wolf will probably win for Costumes.My choice for Best Play so far is from off-Broadway: Samuel D. Hunter's Pocatello. Lisa D'Amour's Airline Highway looks fascinating and has received excellent reviews in Chicago plus Joe Mantello, of Wicked, Take Me Out, and Assassins fame, is at the helm. D'Amour's Detroit is one of my favorite plays and this one about displaced New Orleans residents celebrating the life of their dying den mother in a rundown motel could be a big winner. It's the last show of the season and will be fresh in voters' minds. But it's American and the Tony people love their British theater. 

What I'm Watching

In the science-fiction classic Childhood's End, author Arthur C. Clarke imagines mankind's last generation before reaching the next evolutionary level. As humanity discards the earth and is about to take up with extraterrestrial super-intelligent beings, there are tens of thousands of TV channels to amuse us as a sort of farewell present. I think we've reached that plateau since there are now literally millions of shows that can be watched anywhere anytime on hundreds of difference platforms. I am participating in this media frenzy like everyone else but I'm not as bad as the folks on The People's Couch who will watch anything their Bravo overlords tell them to. (But I do like them because they are the only people on TV were respond to my Tweets, especially the Zeno family.) Right now I am following animated original series on Netflix and Hulu as well as new shows on Amazon and Itunes (from Pivot). And let's not forget my standbys Doctor Who, The Amazing Race, and Project Runway.


On Hulu I recently started watching The Awesomes, the service's first original animated series. Its premise of a bunch of bumbling, second-tier superheroes attempting to break into the top tier has been attempted before. DC had a comic book in the 60s called The Inferior Five featuring a crowd of superpowered goof-ups. Seth Meyers of Late Night stars as the voice of Prock, Professor-Doctor Awesome whose only super power is his intelligence and the ability to stop time, but every time he does it, he gets a nosebleed. plus his arm is constantly in a cast. It's genuinely funny, and one of the few series on Hulu you can get for free without having to buy Hulu Plus. But they include commercials. I've grown used to living without these annoying ads so I turned on AdBlocker. But now I have a blank screen on my computer for four minutes during the breaks. It really interrupts the flow worse than the ads. I suppose I could turn off the Adblocker but I'm too lazy.

B'way Update: Holiday Shuffle

As the holidays loom, Broadway vultures are circling ailing shows in the hopes of plucking up the theaters they vacate. No sooner does Pippin announce it's throwing in the towel on Jan. 4 than The Heidi Chronicles dives in and snaps up its home the Music Box. Right now the only unclaimed house is the Jacobs which will be vacant

Will It's Only a Play move to the Jacobs?

when Once shutters on the same day as Pippin. But instead of a new show opening there, the word on the street is that the fabulously hot It's Only a Play will move there from the Schoenfeld which is promised to The Audience with Helen Mirren. Nathan Lane, the star of It's Only a Play and the best thing about it, is committed to play The Iceman Cometh at BAM, so rumors are flying that he will be replaced by Martin Short whose memoir I Must Say has just been released. There is speculation that The Last Ship, Sting's debut musical which received mixed notices, might not survive till New Year's and hovering over the desirable Neil Simon are The Visit, the musical version of the Durrenmatt play which has been on the regional circuit for decades, The Band Wagon, the stage version of the classic MGM movie playing at Encores this weekend, and Amazing Grace, a show telling the story behind the well-known spiritual, recently in Chicago. There's also The First Wives Club, also playing in Chicago in March, but it probably won't be ready for this season

B'way Update: 2015-16 and Twice-Told Tales

Andrea Martin at the 2013 Tony Awards

The trend for twice revived shows continues into 2015-16. The latest announced show for the next Broadway season follows the trend of plays or musicals receiving their second revival within the memory of old farts like me and which I have seen at least twice before. It's like I'm reliving my first few years in New York. Roundabout Theatre Company will be staging Michael Frayn's Noises Off which opened on Broadway in 1983 and was staged again in 2001. Andrea Martin stars in the Dorothy Loudon-Patti LuPone role. Among the other recent and current twice revived productions (original dates followed by their double restagings) are La Cage Aux Folles (1984, 2004, 2010), The Elephant Man (1979, 2002, 2014), A Delicate Balance (1966, 1996, 2014), Les Miserables (1987, 2006, 2014), The Real Thing (1984, 2000, 2014), Into the Woods (1987, 2002, 2012--Central Park, 2015--Laura Pels).

Additional announcements for 2015-16 include Al Pacino in a new David Mamet play called China Doll, Keira Knightley in a new adaptation of Therese Racquin (also from Roundabout), the revival of Fiddler on the Roof, and On Your Feet, the Gloria Estefan musical. 

Updated rundown:
Oct. 29--Lips Together, Teeth Apart (Second Stage)

Oct. 30--The Real Thing (American Airlines/Roundabout)

Oct.--Father Comes Home from the Wars (Public); Grand Concourse (PH)
Nov. 3--The Oldest Boy (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)
Nov. 6--Sticks and Bones (New Group at Signature Center)

Nov. 11--Lost Lake (City Center/MTC)

Nov. 16--The River (Circle in the Square) 

Nov. 16--Our Lady of Kibeho (Signature)
Nov. 17--Side Show (St. James)
Nov. 18--By the Water (MTC/City Center Stage II)
Nov. 19--Allegro (CSC)

Nov. 20--A Delicate Balance (Golden)
Nov. 23--A Particle of Dread (Signature) 

November--Straight White Males (Public); Pocatello (PH);Punk Rock (MCC/Lortel)
Dec. 4--The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible (Marquis)
Dec. 7--The Elephant Man (Booth)
2014 (Sometime)—Dames at Sea, Liberace Musical, The Color Purple 
2015 (Sometime)--The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Jan. 13--Constellations (MTC/Samuel J. Friedman)
Jan. 15--Honeymoon in Vegas (Nederlander)
Jan. 22--Into the Woods (Roundabout/Laura Pels)
Jan. 2015--Hamlet (CSC); Hamilton (Public)

Feb. 23--Big Love (Signature)

Feb. 24--The World of Extreme Happiness (City Center/MTC)

February 2015--Placebo (PH); The Liquid Plan (Signature); The Nether (MCC/Lortel)

March 3--John and Jen (Keene Company)
March 5--Fish in the Dark (Cort)
March 12--On the 20th Century (American Airlines/Roundabout)
March 28--The Audience (Schoenfeld)

March--The Heidi Chronicles (theater TBA); The Total Bent (Public); Iowa (PH)
April 2--Skylight (Golden)
April 7--Hand to God (Booth)
April 8--Finding Neverland (Lunt-Fontanne)
April 9--Wolf Hall, Parts I and II (Winter Garden)
April 12--An American in Paris (Palace)
April 14--It Shoulda Been You (Brooks Atkinson)

April 15--The King and I (LCT/Vivian Beaumont)
April 21--Doctor Zhivago (Broadway)
April 22--Fun Home (Circle in the Square)
April 23--Airline Highway (MTC/Samuel J. Friedman)
Spring 2015--Amazing Grace

May 21--The Sound and the Fury (Elevator Repair Service at the Public)
May 2015--Dr. Faustus (CSC); What I Did Last Summer (Signature); Permission (MCC/Lortel)

Oct. 5--On Your Feet (Marquis)
Oct. 29--Therese Racquin (American Airlines/Roundabout) 
Fall 2015--China Doll, Fiddler on the Roof, American Psycho
Jan. 14, 2016--Noises Off (Roundabout)

2015-16--Children of a Lesser God, Houdini, Gigi, Night Mother

Future--Bandstand, Disney's Frozen, Soul Train, Pretty Woman, The First Wives Club, Magic Mike, Freaky Friday, King Kong, Miss Saigon, The Visitor 

B'way Update: Will 'Heidi' Take Over the Jacobs?

Will Elisabeth Moss in The Heidi Chronicles
move into the Jacobs once Once vacates?

Just felt like doing an update. Once has announced it will close at the Bernard Jacobs on Jan. 4, 2015. So what will go into that house? The only show announced for spring with no theater yet is The Heidi Chronicles with Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men. So I'd bet that revival will pounce on this desirable theater, right on 45th St....The new Birdman film starring Michael Keaton as a former action star headlining a Broadway show was filmed in the St. James. The trailer looks fascinating. Keaton had a similar real-life career track when he starred as Batman, but he has yet to tackle the Main Stem.

Updated rundown:
Oct. 14--Found (Atlantic)

Oct.16--On the Town (Lyric) 
Oct. 19--The Belle of Amherst (Westside)
Oct. 20--Billy and Ray (Vineyard)

Oct. 23--Disgraced (Lyceum) 

Oct. 26--The Last Ship (Neil Simon) 
Oct. 29--Lips Together, Teeth Apart (Second Stage)

Oct. 30--The Real Thing (American Airlines/Roundabout)

Oct.--Father Comes Home from the Wars (Public); Grand Concourse (PH); The Fortress of Solitude (Public Theatre)
Nov. 3--The Oldest Boy (LCT/Mitzi Newhouse)
Nov. 6--Sticks and Bones (New Group at Signature Center)

Nov. 11--Lost Lake (City Center/MTC)

Nov. 16--The River (Circle in the Square) 

Nov. 16--Our Lady of Kibeho (Signature)
Nov. 17--Side Show (St. James)
Nov. 18--By the Water (MTC/City Center Stage II)
Nov. 19--Allegro (CSC)

Nov. 20--A Delicate Balance (Golden)
Nov. 23--A Particle of Dread (Signature) 

November--Straight White Males (Public); Pocatello (PH);Punk Rock (MCC/Lortel)
Dec. 4--The Illusionists: Witness the Impossible (Marquis)
Dec. 7--The Elephant Man (Booth)
2014 (Sometime)—Dames at Sea, Liberace Musical, The Color Purple 
2015 (Sometime)--The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

Jan. 13--Constellations (MTC/Samuel J. Friedman)
Jan. 15--Honeymoon in Vegas (Nederlander)
Jan. 22--Into the Woods (Roundabout/Laura Pels)
Jan. 2015--Hamlet (CSC); Hamilton (Public)

Feb. 23--Big Love (Signature)

Feb. 24--The World of Extreme Happiness (City Center/MTC)

February 2015--Placebo (PH); The Liquid Plan (Signature); The Nether (MCC/Lortel)

March 3--John and Jen (Keene Company)
March 5--Fish in the Dark (Cort)
March 12--On the 20th Century (American Airlines/Roundabout)
March 28--The Audience (Schoenfeld)

March--The Heidi Chronicles (theater TBA); The Total Bent (Public); Iowa (PH)
April 2--Skylight (Golden)
April 8--Finding Neverland (Lunt-Fontanne)
April 9--Wolf Hall, Parts I and II (Winter Garden)
April 12--An American in Paris (Palace)

April 15--The King and I (LCT/Vivian Beaumont)
April 21--Doctor Zhivago (Broadway)
April 22--Fun Home (Circle in the Square)
April 23--Airline Highway (MTC/Samuel J. Friedman)

Spring 2015--Amazing Grace
May 21--The Sound and the Fury (Elevator Repair Service at the Public)
May 2015--Dr. Faustus (CSC); What I Did Last Summer (Signature); Permission (MCC/Lortel)

Oct. 5--On Your Feet (Marquis)
Fall 2015--Fiddler on the Roof, American Psycho

2015-16--Children of a Lesser God, Houdini, Gigi, Night Mother, Noises Off (Roundabout)

Future--Bandstand, Disney's Frozen, Soul Train, Pretty Woman. The First Wives Club, Magic Mike, Freaky Friday, King Kong, Miss Saigon 

B'way Update: Spring is Gettin' Springier

A scene from the Royal Shakespeare Company's
production of Wolf Hall
Credit: Keith Pattison

That title comes from the Blossom Dearie song "A Fine Spring Morning." As more productions confirm their openings, the warmer months of 2015 are filling up in a race to beat the Tony deadline. So far March has three definite shows while April has seven, eight if you can the separate evenings of Wolf Hall as two. Overall, 2014-15 has 30 definite productions, far short of last season's 42. There are still a few which might be coming in such as Amazing Grace. Let's take a look at some of the recently announced candidates for Tony glory. The aforementioned Wolf Hall, a two-part historical drama about Henry VIII and his devious counselor Thomas Cromwell, is based on a best-selling series of novels and was a smash hit in London--two factors which spell automatic snob hit. Finding Neverland has been in a holding pattern for months, but the musical about the genesis of Peter Pan has been cleared for a landing at the Lunt-Fontanne once Motown vacates. The knives are out for this show since producer Harvey Weinstein forced his way onto last season's Tony Awards with an excerpt featuring Jennifer Holliday in a sparkly gown singing to a bunch of little boys in Victorian pajamas. Weinstein garnered some publicity recently by subjecting New York Post theater columnist Michael Riedel to the ice bucket challenge. Doctor Zhivago is another musical which has been on the "Upcoming" list for years. The material sounds perfect for a Broadway musical--sweeping romance, epic revolutionary battles, a familiar title. Plus there has been a run on Russian shows lately with Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and the gorgeous Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. But great Slavic source material is no guarantee of success. Let's not forget the flop 1992 musical Anna Karenina which closed after only 46 performances. Fun Home was a hit Off-Broadway and may be the show to beat when it transfers to the Circle in the Square. It's subject matter of a lesbian coming to terms with her closeted gay father may be a bit much for family audiences, and Tony voters may want to go for the safer comedy of Honeymoon in Vegas or the nostalgia of An American in Paris.   

Directors Double--and Triple--Dip

Scott Ellis is one of three directors
 to have more than one show on Broadway this season

A former editor of mine used to say "Three times and it's a trend." So we officially have a new Broadway trend: directors having more than one show on in the same season. Anna D. Shapiro (August: Osage County, Of Mice and Men) staged the revival of This Is Our Youth which opened last night at the Cort to great reviews (here's my review roundup for NewYork.com) and will be helming Larry David's new comedy Fish in the Dark. Youth premiered at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company earlier this year so Shapiro has time to start planning for the Larry David piece. Pam McKinnon won a Tony for Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and gives her spin to the playwright's A Delicate Balance. She'll also be directing another revival this spring: Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles. Scott Ellis is staging You Can't Take It With You and The Elephant Man this fall, which played the Williamstown Theatre Festival two summers ago so Ellis had breathing room to work on the Kaufman and Hart classic starring James Earl Jones, Rose Bryne, Elizabeth Ashley and the always-hilarious Kristine Nielsen and Julie Halston. Ellis will be pulling triple duty this season since he'll also be directing Roundabout's revival of On the Twentieth Century opening in January 2015. It will be interesting to see who gets nominated for Tonys and for which show and if anyone will be competing against him or herself.

B'way Update: Season Starts

Tavi Gevinson and Micahel Cera in This Is Our Youth
Photo: Michael Brosilow

As Cole Porter wrote "Another Openin', Another Show/In Philly, Boston, or Baltimo'" (Did anyone call the Maryland city Baltimo' except for Porter just for a rhyme?). Those lines from Kiss Me Kate were going through my head as I got out of the subway last night and walked to the Cort Theatre for the press preview of This Is Our Youth, the first Broadway show of the fall season which opens tomight. It's always a thrill even though I've been going to Broadway as a critic for 30 years. Recent additions to schedule include Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan in a revival of Skylight; Airline Highway by Lisa D'Amour whose Detroit was a highlight of the Off-Bway scene two years ago; The Heidi Chronicles with Elisabeth Moss, Jason Biggs, Bryce Pinkham, and Tracee Chimo; Finding Neverland which is scheduled to fly into a Nederlander theatre this coming spring--theoretically without Jennifer Hudson in the sparkly gown she wore during the number from the show at the Tony Awards. Here is an updated rundown of 2014-15 and beyond: 

More Summer Stock and TV Memories

Peggy Cass

Since my last post, I've remembered more productions seen at the long-ago-demolished Philadelphia Playhouse in the Park: Tom Poston and Marian Mercer in Lovers and Other Strangers, Jean Marsh of Upstairs, Downstairs in Twelfth Night, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Meg Wynn Owen (also of Upstairs, Downstairs) in a musical revue based on the works of James Thurber called Out on a Limb, Peggy Cass in An Almost Perfect Person, and Steve Allen and Marcia Rodd in The Wake, a play by Allen about an Irish family not unlike the actor-playwright's own in early 20th century New York.

Summer Stock Memories

Lauren Bacall's passing reminded me I had seen her starring in a summer stock touring production of Wonderful Town at the Valley Forge Music Fair in about 1977. That type of show is pretty much gone. There are still summer stock productions, but not touring editions with stars from TV, the stage and old movies on their breaks taking out the latest hits from Broadway or old warhorses in one-week stands through the Northeast and New England. My parents used to take me to these at Valley Forge and the Playhouse in the Park in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. There we saw Maureen Stapleton in The Glass Menagerie, Sandy Dennis in The Royal Family and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Jan Sterling in The Hot L Baltimore, Lynn Redgrave in The Two of Us, a collection of one-acts, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara in The Last of the Red Hot Lovers and The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Tovah Feldshuh in Peter Pan, James Whitmore and Audra Lyndley in a play called The New Mount Olive Motel which never made it to New York, and Paxton Whitehead as Sherlock Holmes in The Crucifer of Blood. Vacant for 12 years, the Playhouse was demolished in 1997.

Thoughts on Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall

The deaths of Robin Williams and Lauren Bacall so close together had a stronger impact on me than most celebrity passings. Williams' suicide was so shocking, and though Bacall was 89 and her going was not unexpected, it was still very sad because she was one of my first Broadway crushes.

As with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, I had not really been aware that Williams was dealing with depression and addiction. So on Monday night it was a genuine surprise when my husband Jerry gasped as he was reading New York Times headlines on his I phone as I was driving and I said "What's the matter?" "Robin Williams died," he replied, "they think it was suicide." I had seen Williams live on two occasions, in the Broadway play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo in which he embodied the ferocious title animal in Rajiv Joseph's bizarre dreamscape of a play, and performing stand-up on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera for an HBO special. He performed for about 90 minutes without a break and was amazing. Friends I'd met on the Long Island beach that morning had an extra ticket and I gladly took it. I arrived on time, sandy and sunburnt, while they were all late (Williams called attention to their tardiness.)

B'way Update: 'Fun Home' Finds a Home

Obie winner Syndey Lucas and Michael Cerveris in Fun Home
Credit: Joan Marcus

There have been a lot of Broadway announcements lately. Love Letters and Side Show are getting revivals, Larry David will make his B'way debut as both actor and playwright in a comedy called Fish in the Dark, and Fun Home will move to the Circle In the Square one year after its acclaimed Off-B'way run at the Public. The oval space surrounded by audience presents interesting challenges for director Sam Gold. Fun Home will join other shows such as Urinetown, Next to Normal, Avenue Q, In the Heights, and Grey Gardens which played Off-Bway and on in separate seasons and were therefore eligible for Obies, Drama Desks and Outer Critics one year and Tonys the next. That leads to some weird differences in the awards, like Urinetown and Avenue Q getting a bunch of Tonys but no DDs. Fun Home did get the Lortel, Obie and NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical as well as the Outer Critics Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical, but lost the DD to A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. It's too early to tell what Fun Home's competition for the 2015 Tony will be. There will probably be a big push for Sting's The Last Ship and this year the Best Score category will definitely be on the air since the 16-time Grammy winner will be nominated. You'll recall that in 2013, Cyndi Lauper got to accept her Tony on TV for Kinky Boots, while Jason Robert Brown who nobody knows outside of drama clubs across the country, had to pick up his two Tonys for score and orchestrations of Bridges of Madison County during the commercials. Here's a rundown of the Broadway season on and Off-Bway so far: 

The 5th Annual David Desk Awards

Audra McDonald adds a David Desk to her numerous awards for
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill

Yes, I know it's July already and the season's been over for a month, but here they are--the David Desk Awards. For the fifth time, here are my choices for the top performances in New York theater during the past season. The classifications are my own. The Tonys and the Drama Desks decided Audra McDonald in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill was best suited for Actress in a Play while the Outer Critics put her in the musical category. I know the play choice would be in keeping with Jane Lapotaire in Piaf and Tracey Bennett as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow, with the musical numbers being part of the main character's performance in concert. But even the Drama Desk has not been consistent with this. Sian Philips was in the running for Best Actress in a Musical in Marlene even though her performance was largely dramatic. That year (1999) there were very few available nominees for the category--Bernadette Peters in Annie Get Your Gun and Carolee Carmello in Parade where the only other ones vying for the top award and they tied. I think that McDonald's performance was so dependent on the musical element, she should have been in that category and that's why I placed her there. (Plus when Lonette McKee played the original production in 1987, she was nominated as Outstanding Actress in a Musical). I also felt Marin Ireland in Marie Antoniette was ignored.

So here are my picks for the tops of 2013-14:

Play

All the Way (Robert Schenkkan)

Domesticated (Bruce Norris)

The Night Alive (Conor McPherson)

Nikolai and the Others (Richard Nelson)

Outside Mullingar (John Patrick Shanley)

B'way Update: 'King and I,' 'Illusionists'

Oscar nominees Ken Wantanabe and Sally Hawkins in
Godzilla or We Need a Paycheck

As summer progresses, more Broadway shows are announced for the fall and winter. One of the most anticipated will be Lincoln Center Theater's revival of The King and I starring Kelli O'Hara and Ron Wantanabe, directed by O'Hara's South Pacific and Light in the Piazza stager Barlett Sher. We just saw Wantanabe in Godzilla on a double bill with Edge of Tomorrow at the Coxsackie drive-in last weekend. I'm still itching from the mosquito bites. I thought Edge of Tomorrow would be as bad as last year's Oblivion because both involved Tom Cruise going through some kind of time-loop or multiple-identity crisis. But it was actually pretty entertaining. 

B'way Update: Tony Aftermath, New Season

Jennifer Hudson at the Tonys:
What is that lady in a silver nightgown doing in our bedroom, boys?

With the Tony Awards handed out, the 2013-14 New York theater season is finally over. There have been a deluge of closings in the wake of that ceremony. Mothers and Sons and After Midnight posted closing notices while big winners All the Way and A Raisin in the Sun will end their limited engagements as scheduled. In a moment worthy of the NBC's crazy Smash, Jennifer Hudson showed up just before the Best Musical category to sing a song from a show she won't be in that hasn't even opened yet (Finding Neverland), dressed totally out of sync with the other characters, all because producer Harvey Weinstein didn't want Sting to be the only one to tout an upcoming production. BTW, next year, I guarantee the Best Score category will be given out on the air because the aforementioned multiple Grammy winner will be a nominee for his The Last Ship (another BTW, did they know that show would have the same title as a sci-fi TV series?)

2014-15 Broadway/Off-B'way Season Update

Glenn Close will star in
Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance this fall

Theater awards for 2013-14 are pouring in and so are announcements of new shows for 2014-15. In addition to This Is Our Youth with Michael Cera and Kieran Culken, there are several revivals of plays of which I have strong memories. It's Only a Play is Terrence McNally's inside-baseball comedy set on the opening night of a huge flop. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick will reunite as a bitter actor and nervous playwright. I saw an earlier version of it called Broadway, Broadway during its out-of-town try-out in Philadelphia just before I went away to college in 1977. It starred James Coco and Geraldine Page, and closed out of town. I do remember one joke about Beatrice Straight doing a cabaret act. It resurfaced as It's Only a Play Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club in 1986, again with Coco and Christine Baranski, Joanna Gleason and Mark Blum.

Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance is also coming back, this time with Glenn Close, John Lithgow, Lindsay Duncan and Martha Plimpton, directed by Pam McKinnon who staged Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf for Steppenwolf and on Broadway. When I was in college in Pittsburgh, there were two simultaneous productions by different groups. I must be getting old because the 1996 revival seems like only a few months ago to me.

B'way Season Winds Down; New One Takes Shape

Michael Cera and Kieran Culkin in This Is Our Youth

As the 2013-14 Broadway season winds down, 2014-15 begins to take shape. Definite productions include Holler If Ya Hear Me, the Tupac Shakur musical; the revival of This Is Our Youth with Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, (pictured in an Australian production of the play) and fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson, all making their Broadway debuts along with playwright Kenneth Lonergan; Sting's The Last Ship; and Ewan McGregor, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Cynthia Nixon in The Real Thing. Shows which have announced but don't have a definite date yet include Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man, and the revival of On the Town which is definitely going into the Lyric (formerly the Foxwoods) knocking out the previously-announced King Kong. 

Here's a rundown of the remaining openings and award events in 2013-14 as well as what's up for 2014-15 and beyond.

April 16--Of Mice and Men (Longacre)
April 17--Act One (Vivian Beaumont)

April 20--Violet (American Airlines/Roundabout)

April 20--The Cripple of Inishmaan (Cort)

April 21--The Velocity of Autumn (Booth)
April 21—Your Mother’s Copy of the Kuma Sutra (PH/Peter Sharp)
April 22--Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Belasco)
April 22--Outer Critics Nominations Announced by Cicely Tyson and Vanessa Williams (Friars Club)
April 23--Casa Valentia (Friedman/MTC)
April 23--Drama League Nominations Announced by Christopher Seiber and Judith Light (Sardis)
April 24--Cabaret (Studio 54/Roundabout)
April 25--Drama Desk Awards Nominations  Announced by Fran Drescher, Robert Lopez and Kristin Andersen-Lopez (54 Below)

April--Annapurna (New Group/Acorn)
April 29--Tony Award Nominatons Announced by Lucy Liu and Jonathan Groff (DIamond Horseshoe Night Club/Paramount Hotel)
May 4--Lortel Awards Hosted by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman (NYU Skirball Hall)
Nay 5--NY Drama Critics Circle Awards Announced.

May 5—The City of Conversation (Mitzi Newhouse/Lincoln Center)
May 16--Drama League Awards Hosted by Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Marriott Marquis)
May 19--Obie Awards Hosted by Tamara Tunie and Hamish Linklater (Webster Hall)
May 22--Outer Critics Circle Awards (Sardi's)
June 1--Drama Desk Awards Hosted by Laura Benanti (Town Hall)
June 8--Tony Awards Hosted by Hugh Jackman (Radio City Music Hall)

June 9—Fly By Night (Playwrights Horizons)

June 17—When We Were Young and Unafraid (MTC/City Center Stage I)

June 19--Holler If Ya Hear Me (Palace)
June--Macbeth (Kenneth Branagh) (Park Ave. Armory)
Sept. 11--This Is Our Youth (Cort)
Oct.--On the Town (Lyric)
Oct. 5--The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Barrymore)
Oct. 26--The Last Ship (Neil Simon)
Oct. 30--The Real Thing (American Airlines/Roundabout)
2014 (Sometime)—Dames at Sea, Liberace Musical, Titanic, The Elephant Man, The Color Purple

Fall 2015--Fiddler on the roof
2015--Winter--Noises Off, The River
2015-16--Houdini, Night Mother, The King and I (Lincoln Center)
Future--Disney's Frozen, Soul Train, Pretty Woman

On the Job Search Part 5: You Never Know

New lesson on the job search: even if an interview doesn't seem exactly right for you, do it anyway. This weekend I had a job interview with a major retail chain. I have very little retail experience, but I did have some client relations on a previous job, so I figured I'd play that up. The interviewer was the store manager for the franchise. I was up and positive and he said he liked my energy. He didn't think I was the right fit for an in-store position, but he thought there might be something for me in marketing which would employ my writing skills. I also commented that I had some event planning on my resume. He responded there was community outreach and event planning involved  I had gone into the interview prepared to take on a job in which I had little experience, but it turned out there was a possibility for a position employing my skills.Even if nothing comes of it, I'll have made a connection.

So it only shows to go you (as they sang in that song from Movie Movie), take an opportunity for an interview if it comes up.

After this interview I had a life coaching session at a community center. While they were playing Hitchcock's The Birds in the large gathering room next door as part of the afternoon movie program, the coach dispensed some useful information:

Build your connections on LinkedIn and find people who work for the firms you want to apply to. Then ask if they have a employee referral bonus program.

Because of rapidly changing technology, people will have to change their careers--not just their jobs, but careers--three to five times in their working life. As old skills becomes obsolete, new ones are created. A few years ago, who even heard of SEO. (That's Search Engine Optimization, grandma.) Now it's a requirement for any media-related job.

On information interviews, ask What do you like about your job, what do you NOT like, What do you recommend to someone who wants to get into your field?

Take a look at any previous jobs you enjoyed and break them down into the elements you liked doing. The find positions which contain the most number of elements that made you happy. We call it "work" rather than "fun" or "play." But that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy it as much of it as possible.

On the Job Search Part Four: Elevator Pitch

In an interviewer with a recruiter, I received this advise on networking:

1. When you meet a potential contact at a networking event, at a party, or even on the bus, have your elevator pitch ready. If you haven't heard of it, the "elevator pitch" is your presentation speech which can be spoken in the time it takes ride an elevator. Also, it's gotta be interesting enough to distract anyone from those newsflashes now in all elevators. I actually look forward to reading those headlines, recipes, and advertisements for MeTV. But I digress--Your elevator pitch should say Who You Were, Who You Are, and Who You Want to Be, all in about 30-45 seconds.

2. If the pitch leads to conversation, don't say "I need a job, help!" Try finding common interests to discuss such as what was on TV last night. Then...

3. Have a business card ready and when you present it say, "I would appreciate 20 minutes of your time to help me on my job search." Then see if you can give them a call to set up an information interview. You aren't asking for a job, but for information. This person may not have a job, but they may someone who knows someone who does.

4. Don't spend more than 30 mins. a day on your computer. The recruiter said that according to a survey she saw in the New York Times, about 60-70 percent of those asked found their jobs through networking, 20 to 30 percent through agencies and placement services, and only 5 percent through postings on the Internet. 

On the Job Search, Part Three: Interviews

In going over my notebooks from attending employment workshops, seminars, and job fairs, I came across these points about interviews

1. This is probably the most important lesson of all: NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR YOUR SAD STORY. Yes, it's fun to vent during job interviews or recruitment events or when anyone asks you to "say a little sometime about yourself," but do NOT dwell on the negative. If you've been dealt a bad hand on your last job, boo-hoo. Everyone has been in that boat. Mention if briefly in a positive way (as in "It was a learning experience") and move on.

2. All job interviews are really about three questions--1) Can you do the job?; 2) Will you do the job?; 3) Will you fit in?

3. The interview is about the company, not you.

4. Have several copies of your resume at the interview.

5. Have specific examples of your problem solving ready and your stories to illustrate your point should not be more than four sentences long. Don't drone on and on.

More to come as I find them.

Ellen and the De-Glamorization of the Oscars

The Oscar selfie retweeted by several million people
 including me.

Right after the Oscars, I received several Facebook posts from detractors of this year's host Ellen DeGeneris. I absolutely loved her. I thought she hit exactly the right note between cynical debunking of Hollywood and acting as a surrogate for crazed movie fans. It was clear she loved being there close to the stars and enjoyed kidding them gently. Her whole shtick was to tell the audience, see these big film people are just like you and me. They get hungry, they eat pizza, they pose for selfies. It was a big improvement over last year's snarky Seth McFarland who was determined to be as nasty and lowbrow as any of his Family Guy characters. I'm still cringing from the "We Saw Your Boobs" choral number and the endless, unfunny opening bit with William Shatner.

On the Job Search, Part Two

Here are some more job search tips I've picked up:

1. Always have ten leads or searches going on at the same time, because six of them are not going to lead to anything.

2. On the flip side of number one, don't apply for just anything. The principle of throwing spaghetti and seeing what sticks to the wall does not apply in job hunting. Make sure it's something you can tolerate doing, also if you do get an interview for a job you wouldn't normally do, the interviewer can always tell. Recently, I went on a group recruitment event. You could tell who was really interested, who was faking it, and who just walked in off the street. The recruiter asked everyone the same questions "Why do you want to work for this company? What are its competitors? Why should I hire you?" One guy, who was constantly fidgeting in his chair and combing his hair, forgot the questions when it was his turn. When he was reminded, he answered "I need a job" and he couldn't think of anything to say beyond that.

3. Don't spend too much time on the Internet. It's isolating, less effective and more competitive. For every job posting on search engines like Monster.com, Indeed, Craig's List, etc., there are at least 400 applicants. You should spend 10-15 percent of your job search time in front of your laptop. Only target one job a week found on the Internet, one that you have seriously thought about, rather than blindly applying to everything (see number 2).

On the Job Search, Part One

I've been going to various job search seminars and workshops in my hunt for full-time employment. I've been taking notes on helpful tips, and thought it would be neat to share some with you. Also, it would be helpful for me to have all this stuff in one place so I'm putting it on the blog. Here are some ideas based on what I've learned:

1. When applying for a position online, follow directions. You'd be surprised how many candidates eliminate themselves by skipping over the instructions. If the potential employer wants a separate cover letter attached with your salary history, and you don't provide one, your resume goes straight to the virtual trashcan.

2. Send Thank-You notes and be specific in them. Handwritten thank-you notes are imperative after every in-person or phone interview. All you have to do is find a pack of these cards at the CVS. They're only about $10. Enclose your business card, and be specific in your note. Don't just say, "Thanks for the giving me your valuable time." Make references to what was discussed, possible connections and networking opportunities, etc.

3. At the end of the interview, ask for the interviewer's business card and also ask what is the best way to contact them (Email, regular mail, LinkedIn, etc.) I sent a Thank-you card to a recruiter and she emailed me back saying she loved getting actual physical cards.

4. Volunteering is a good idea. It may not lead to a paying job, but you might learn a new skill and meet new people who will lead you to one.

That's all for now, but I will continue posting these as I hear them.

A.O. Scott and 'Morning Joe' Crew Are Nuts

Cate Blanchett in 'Blue Jasmine'

New York Times film critic A.O. Scott made Oscar predictions on Morning Joe today and it was so weird. The crew--Joe, Mika and my dreamboat Thomas Roberts--asked Scott who he thought should win and will win. First it all started out OK. Scott's assessment of the Best Picture race was reasonable, though I don't agree--he picked 12 Years a Slave for should and Gravity for will. I can see that, though I think Gravity will be honored with all the tech awards, but Slave will take the top prize. So far, ok. Then Scott said he thought DiCaprio deserved to win over McConaughey because Leo was so energetic or something while Matthew only lost some weight, played a character with a fatal disease who transforms from a bigot to a nice guy. Never mind that Matt's role in Dallas Buyers Club was more demanding than Leo's (IMHO).

Then when they got to Best Actress it got crazy. Scott actually predicted Amy Adams of American Hustle not only should win over Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine, but that she deserved to. WHAT? Then Joe and Mika started piling on about the Woody Allen scandal and how Hollywood would not want this controversy near "their party." Joe opened his big mouth and made the bizarre claim that Blanchett's character in the movie--a widow whose disgraced husband cheated clients in a Madoff-like scheme--was based on Mia Farrow. Again, WHAT?

Oscar Predictions: 'Gravity' Has Pull, But '12 Years' Takes Top Prize

I just don't get the swooning over Gravity for this year's Oscars. Special effects, fine, but not Best Picture. I don't even think it should get Best Director, but I am predicting it will take that category. The story is straight out of a 1950s sci-fi B-flick that I would see on MST3K. (You'll notice it has no screenplay nomination.) I can't imagine it winning over 12 Years a Slave for the top prize. In another weird twist I can't phantom, I'm encountering a lot of people who are afraid to see 12 Years because of all the whipping and torture of the slaves though they think it should win Best Picture. So Gravity will probably clean up in the tech categories, but hopefully Slave will triumph at the top.

Here are my predictions for this Sunday's awards. I am looking forward to the show because at least Seth McFarland will not be hosting.

Picture: 12 Years a Slave

Actor: Matthew MacConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

(Leonardo DiCaprio is the other possible winner since the ads for Wolf of Wall Street are screening 24/7, but MacConaughey's physical transformation should trump Leo's macho swagger.)

Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts

"Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall"

After viewing the Oscar nominated Live Action and Animated Shorts at Time and Space Limited in Hudson, NY, I was determined to see the nominated Documentary Shorts. Last year I tried to, but it didn't work out. The five films are divided into two programs and Upstate Films screwed up the order so I wound up only see two of the five. So this year after two attempts to get into sold-out screenings at IFC Center in Manhattan, I finally succeeded. (The programs were shown in a tiny screening room which only sat about 75 people, so on a weekend it tends to fill up pretty quickly.)

Oscar Nominated Live Action Shorts

A scene from "That Wasn't Me," nominated
for the Best Live-Action Short Film Oscar

The five films nominated for the Best Live-Action Short Academy Award run the gamut from hilarious comedy to intense drama and interestingly, none are from the U.S. I recently caught all of them at Time and Space Limited in Hudson, NY in order to increase my odds for winning the pool at a friend's Oscar viewing party (the prize is usually about $20.) The program ran just short of two hours and the shorts were interspersed with interviews and observations from filmmakers including Steve McQueen and Matthew Modine.

Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts

Last Sunday instead of watching any of that Super Bowl crap, I took in the Oscar Nominated Animated and Live Action Shorts at Time and Space Limited in Hudson, NY. As I have previously stated, the sure way to win the Oscar pool at your office or viewing party is to see all the nominated short films. Quiet often, people outside the film world don't even know about these categories. At last year's party, some people actually complained when I revealed I had taken the time to do so, whining about "unfair advantage." To which I responded, "Hey, these films are open to the public. They were just shown just a few blocks away at IFC. It's not like I'm an Academy member and I have secret access to these things. You knew what you were getting into, now fork over your dollar, you big babies."

In Praise of Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman

I just turned on my Kindle and there was a link to an article listing Philip Seymour Hoffman's greatest performances. I thought, that's nice, but why this special tribute? Did he die or something? Then I saw the awful news which is not a hoax. Hoffman was found dead this morning of an apparent drug overdose in a Greenwich Village apartment. He had been struggling with addiction for years. I had no idea. The drug and alcohol-related problems of pop celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton, and their ilk are splashed into our consciousness constantly. But if you're the greatest actor of your generation and you don't happen to be stunningly handsome, I guess your addictions don't make the headlines.

I first saw Hoffman Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in Caryl Churchill's The Skriker, directed by the brilliant Mark Wing-Davies. He was part of the ensemble, playing multiple roles. The play was about a demon, the skriker of the title, who takes possession of two ordinary English girls. Hoffman played a guy picking up one of the girls and a supernatural monster. I remember he seemed just like a real person,  not an actor, relating to this strange girl and asking her to explain sleep. It was only after a few telling moments that you realize he's the skriker in disguise. Then it was Defying Gravity at the former American Place Theatre, now the Laura Pels. It was about a tragic spacecraft accident, not unlike the Challenger disaster. He was a maintenance man from what I recall and as he recounted the explosion of the rocket ship with astronauts on board, you could feel the terror.

Binge-Watching 'Roseanne'

The cast of Roseanne

Cable networks are discovering the benefits of the binge-viewing craze. Since Netflix and Amazon started making every episode of their original series like House of Cards available at once and people have been watching all of them in a weekend, other outlets found that viewers have no problem gobbling up multiple episodes of their favorite childhood sitcoms for hours. A prime example is provided by WE and Logo which are running repeats of Roseanne and Will and Grace in four-hour blocks. I didn't watch these shows as a kid. I was in my 20s and 30s when they first aired and I did not follow them like I did The Mary Tyler Moore Show, All in the Family, and The Bob Newhart Show when I was in high school (when I wasn't in a play, I had nothing better to do at night). So it's fun to catch up with these shows.

Bruce Dern, the SAG Awards, and GG/NYFCC Aftershocks

Bruce Dern in Nebraska

Saw Nebraska last night. Touching little movie. Don't think Bruce Dern has a chance for the Oscar, since it's not a very showy role. But he might get the SAG tonight because the actors' union sometimes votes for those older performers such as Gloria Stuart in Titanic and Ruby Dee in American Gangster. Likewise James Gandolfini could be a surprise posthumous winner for Supporting Actor for Enough Said but Jared Leto will probably continue his winning ways for Dallas Buyers Club.

Speaking of Leto, he caught some heat for not being sufficiently supportive of the transgender and HIV community in his Golden Globes acceptance speech as did Matthew McConaughey. Likewise, Cate Blanchett was blasted for making a Judy Garland joke, Julia Louis Dreyfuss for making electronic cigarette smoking appear glamorous in a comedy bit with hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and Cecil B. DeMille Award winner Woody Allen was dissed by Mia and Ronan Farrow on Twitter. That's why the GGs are becoming more and more popular than the Oscars. The stars get drunk and you never know what they're going to say.

Oscar Noms: Snubs Are the Big News

Snubbed: Robert Redford in All Is Lost

The big news with this morning's Oscar noms is who wasn't on the list: Robert Redford, Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, and Oprah Winfrey. It turns out Redford didn't want to push for a nomination and so did no campaigning and there were no industry screenings or Q&As with the star, so it's not so surprising that Christian Bale got his slot. That Best Actor race looks to be the most interesting with Redford out of the picture and not as much enthuiasm for the other sentimental favorite Bruce Dern, that leaves Leonardo DiCaprio, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Matthew McConaughey. DiCaprio and McConaughey won at the GGs (the Hollywood Foreign Press Assoc. splits their leading categories between comedy and drama) and Ejiofor seems to be losing steam. The Academy will probably honor 12 Years a Slave with the Best Picture Award. It might actually be DiCaprio since he's grown into such a solid actor (particularly in Revolutionary Road and The Aviator). In Wolf of Wall Street, he does all kinds of crazy stuff and has those long monologues which are great for clips. Jared Leto will definitely win for Dallas Buyers Club, so voters may feel they don;t need to vote for McConaughey (drag beats losing weight). Cate Blanchett is also a lock for Best Actress.

B'way Update: Radcliffe and 'Titanic' Return to B'way

Pat Shortt and Daniel Radcliffe in the London production
of The Cripple of Inishmaan.
Credit: Johann Persson

This is a busy afternoon for Broadway with news that Daniel Radcliffe and Titanic are returning and lots more . First came the announcement that Roundabout Theatre Company will be presenting the NY premiere of Tom Stoppard's India Ink in their Off-Broadway Laura Pels space and a Broadway revival of the riotous farce Noises Off, both next season. Then we heard that Titanic will be sailing back to New York after a run in Toronto (this is a small-scale production which was a big hit in London last year). Just as I was ready to call it a day, another press release popped in my email proclaiming Daniel Radcliffe will star in a revival of Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan at the Cort, opening on April 20--the same night as Violet at the American Airlines--just in time for the Tonys. (Cripple has been staged Off-Broadway in 1998 and 2009.) This production was seen in London last June with the Harry Potter star who will be repeating his performance along with the British cast. But that leads me to speculate, where will The Realistic Joneses go now? The Will Eno comedy-drama with four stars has announced its opening date (April 6) but not the theater.  Here's an updated list of the season: