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The
Official
Live Broadway®
Newsletter
June
2005
As
a member of
the Broadway Fan Club, you will
receive periodic
e-newsletters with special insider
and show-related information, trivia, Broadway-related event invitations
and more, as well
as occasional offers for discounted
tickets and other special promotions.
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Search
Internet Broadway Database for information on your favorite
show
or star
Click
here!
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Welcome to the latest edition of the
Live Broadway newsletter, exclusively for members of the Broadway
Fan Club. We
hope you enjoy receiving this newsletter and will pass it on to
friends and family members. They
can join the Fan Club here. A link to our privacy policy and
unsubscribe information can be found below. See
you on Broadway!
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UPCOMING FREE BROADWAY EVENTS IN NEW YORK! |
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| Stars
in the Alley is an annual free Broadway concert in the heart
of the Manhattan’s Theatre District, featuring performances
and special appearances by stars of current shows. This year's
event will take place in Shubert Alley at 11am on Wednesday,
June 1. |
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| Click
here for more information and a list of participating stars! |
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Kicking
off New York's summer Outdoor Concert Season, Time Warner presents
Broadway Under the Stars, a free concert in Bryant Park
celebrating "summer in the city" Broadway style! This
year's event takes place on Monday, June 13, 2005.
Click here for
more information! |
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| IN
THEIR OWN WORDS - THE 2005 TONY NOMINEES |
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The 2005
Tony Awards® will air live on CBS on Sunday, June 5th,
from 8:00 - 11:00pm (ET/PT time delay). In preparation,
Tony hopefuls gathered at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times
Square at the Nominees' Press Event on May 11. Before heading
off to their Wednesday matinees, they took time to speak with
the media. Playbill's Robert Viagas spoke with many of them
on behalf of TonyAwards.com.
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James
Earl Jones Photo: WireImage
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, On Golden
Pond |
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Q:
What attracted you to doing this play on Broadway?
James
Earl Jones: It began as a staged reading and then
evolved from there. You know we actors never start out
to duke it out in these contests. We start out to find
a good play that we can serve and enjoy doing well in.
That's happening for me. I really enjoy doing this play.
I've been in spectacular things but I just really enjoy
this. I enjoy the people that I work with and I can't
wait to get to the theatre every night.
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Billy
Crudup Photo: Jemal Countess/WireImage
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, The
Pillowman |
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| Q:
What kind of feedback do you get from the audience? |
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Billy
Crudup: It's consistently inconsistent. They're quite
often aghast, quite often stuck for words. A lot of people
just find [The Pillowman] strictly hilarious and very
entertaining. The response that I get while I'm doing
it is quite different from the response I get after the
show, because after the show people don't really know
what to say about it for a while. It takes them time to
process. Which I think is a great thing, after a night
of entertainment to be able to carry some of the feelings
home with you. But while watching it, people are very,
very entertained. |
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Erin
Dilly Photo: Jemal Countess/WireImage
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical,
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang |
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Q:
What is it like to fly above the stage in the car every
night?
Erin Dilly: It's fantastic. Just the physics of
flying are great. It's kind of an unusual feeling. It's
pretty emotional too. We take this incredible ride, and
at that moment we see the entire audience, all the faces
of the children and the parents--and I feel lucky. There's
a 3-D moment when it comes right out at you. Shrieks!
Screams! [Laugh] We do break the fourth wall. We're hanging
out above the audience. It's a winner! An incredibly theatrical
moment! |
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John
Lithgow Photo: Jemal Countess/WireImage
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical,
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels |
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Q:
Do you have a favorite moment in the show?
John Lithgow: Well, there's a terrific number right
near the end of the show called "Dirty Rotten Guys"
that looks back and at what a great time we've had. It's
tinged with melancholy--it's all over. There is also this
feeling of "Thank God, we've gotten through another
show." I mean this show is exhausting and that's
where we blow all the gaskets. |
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Victoria
Clark Photo: Ben Pesner
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical,
The Light in the Piazza |
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Q:
Is it a difficult score to sing?
Victoria Clark: It's not just challenging, but
because the score is so varied and there are so many different
kinds and styles of music going on, it's more of a psychological
gesture. So the music is really an extension of the emotional
and psychological moments. Even though it might sound
difficult to the listener, what we're going through in
order to express it--that style of music, whatever the
moment is--is completely appropriate. It seems to really
match up with the acting beats. So it's challenging but
it's exactly appropriate for the moment. |
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Christina
Applegate Photo: Jemal Countess/WireImage
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical,
Sweet Charity |
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Q:
How's the foot?
[Ms. Applegate broke her foot during Sweet Charity's
out-of-town tryout in Chicago. She returned to the
show in time for its Broadway opening.]
Christina Applegate: It's still broken but it's
healing just fine. |
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Q:
What went through your head the night it happened?
Applegate: Oh, so many things. It happened in the
first five seconds of the show so I had 20 minutes of
the show that I did trying to figure out what was going
on. Then I walked off and thought, "That's it. It's
over. It's over. I'm done with this whole experience."
I was devastated. |
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Alan
Alda Photo: Jemal Countess/WireImage
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, Glengarry
Glen Ross |
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| Q:
So what kind of reactions do you get from the audience?
Do people talk to you about your character? |
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| Alan
Alda: No. What's interesting is when people try to
talk to me about my character, I change the subject. It's
really one of those strange things about playing a character,
at least for me, is if you talk about it instead of playing
it, you get an outside version of it. I need the inside
version to be able to play it. So I don't talk about it
with people. I find when people see the play they feel
a lot of compassion, even though everybody is trying to
do the other guy in, in one way or another, to use them
to their own |
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I think they feel compassion for these people. And that's
regardless of whether or not they might be going through
the same things themselves. Most people, if you've been
in business long enough, have been in that situation at
least once. |
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Tim
Curry Photo: Jemal Countess/WireImage
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, Monty
Python's Spamalot |
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| Q:
After the show, do people at the stage door ask you to
do Frank 'N' Furter or other characters you've played? |
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Tim
Curry: No, they don't actually. They're so thrilled
to have seen Spamalot and they're so into the moment that,
that's what they're most interested in, I think. It's
extraordinary to come out to so many people at the stage
door. I call it the petting zoo. I feel a bit like a llama
or something. It's a very, very nice thing that people
want to see you. |
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For
full Tony coverage, including more interviews and a complete
list of nominees, visit TonyAwards.com.
Don't
forget to tune in on June 5 as Hugh Jackman returns
to host the American Theatre Wing's 2005 Antoinette Perry
"Tony" Awards, with celebrity presenters including
Joan Allen, Angela Bassett, Matthew Broderick,
Don Cheadle, Marcia Cross, Laurence Fishburne,
Ethan Hawke, Sandra Oh, Tony Shaloub,
and Julia Stiles.
The Tonys are presented by the League of American Theatres
and Producers and the American Theatre Wing.
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STARS
AROUND TOWN
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With
the upcoming Tony Awards®, the first taste of spring weather,
and a nearly full slate of shows, May and June are great months
to catch your favorite Broadway stars out and about. Here's
some that we caught!
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Broadway
stars abounded on opening day of the Broadway Show Softball
League in Central Park on May 5. Anheuser Busch representative
Dennis Beresheim, surrounded by some of Broadway's finest,
presented a $50,000 check to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights
AIDS. Michelob ULTRA is the official sponsor of the Broadway
Show League. |
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Pictured from left: Tom Wopat (Glengarry Glen
Ross), Jeff Goldblum (The Pillowman),
Sherie Rene Scott (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels),
Jeffrey Tambor (Glengarry Glen Ross), Mr.
Beresheim, Richard Schiff (The West Wing),
Gordon Clapp (Glengarry Glen Ross), Jennifer
Gambatese (All Shook Up), Christopher Sieber
(Monty Python's Spamalot), and Christian Slater
(The Glass Menagerie). |
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At
the League's Spring Road Conference in May, playwright
Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)
sits between the shows' current stars, Kathleen Turner
and Bill Irwin, who joked about the pronunciation
of Mr. Albee's name (it's ALL-bee). The three delivered
the keynote address at the conference.
Photo: Melanie Seinfeld |
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Les
Cagelles of La Cage aux Folles hosted a reception
at the Hilton Hotel in New York City for Road Conference
attendees.
Photo: Melanie Seinfeld |
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(left
to right) Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kate Burton,
Lynn Redgrave, and Alan Cumming at the Tony
Awards Nominations Announcement. These four Broadway luminaries
read the list of the 2005 nominees.
Photo: Melanie Seinfeld |
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| (left
to right) Broadway veterans Jerry Herman (composer/lyricist
of Mame, La Cage aux Folles, Hello Dolly!) and
Robert Goulet (currently appearing in La Cage
aux Folles) are shown shortly after Mr. Goulet presented
Mr. Herman with The League of American Theatres and Producers’
Distinguished Lifetime Service Award for Touring Broadway.
Photo: Melanie Seinfeld |
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In
Kansas City, MO, Kristin Chenoweth (original cast
of Wicked) received the 2005 Star Award at the
Starlight Theatre's 19th Annual Gala. This year's black-tie
fundraising event was the highest grossing in its history.
The event was hosted by Sprint Chairman and CEO Gary Forsee
and his wife, Sherry. Pictured from left:
Gary Forsee, Sherry Forsee, Gala co-chair Jed Bernstein
(president of The League of American Theatres and Producers),
Kristin Chenoweth, Lisa Rohlf, and Bob Rohlf (president
and executive producer,Starlight Theatre). |
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ON
THE ROAD: THE TOURING BROADWAY AWARDS
Click
here for information on touring Broadway in YOUR city!
On May
10, The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc. announced
the recipients of the 2005 Touring Broadway Awards
(formerly named the National Broadway Theatre Awards) at a
ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in New York City. The Touring
Broadway Awards, established in 2001, are the first national
awards to recognize Touring Broadway. This
year's recipients are as follows:
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Composer/Lyricist
David Yazbek presented the Musical awards.
He is currently represented on Broadway by Dirty
Rotten Scoundrels.
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Best
New Musical: Movin' Out
Producers: James L. Nederlander, Hal Luftig,
Scott E. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Clear Channel Entertainment,
Emanuel Azenberg
Best
Long-Running Musical: Mamma Mia!
Producers: Judy Craymer, Richard East and Björn
Ulvaeus for Littlestar in association with Universal
Best
Musical Score: Chicago
Music: John Kander, Lyrics: Fred Ebb
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Best
Play: The Graduate
Author: Terry Johnson, Producers:
Jon B. Platt in association with Nancy Rose
Best
Production Design: Little Shop of Horrors
Best Scenic Design: Scott Pask, Best Costume
Design: William Ivey Long, Best Lighting Design: Donald Holder
Best
Direction: Susan Stroman for The Producers
Best
Choreography: Twyla Tharp for Movin' Out
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William
Ivey Long has designed the costumes for six
of Broadway's current shows.
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Touring
Broadway Career Achievement Award: Alan Ross Kosher
Company Manager, The Lion King
Click
here to visit the Touring Broadway Awards website.
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| ANNOUNCING
ILOVENYTHEATER.COM |
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We are
pleased to announce a new website designed to provide a comprehensive
guide to everything there is to know about Broadway –
in six languages! The site is focused on making it easier
for theatergoers and out-of-towners to buy tickets, even if
they don’t speak English. Click
here to visit ilovenytheater.com.
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| FAMILY
FIRST NIGHTS IN NEW YORK |
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| On
May 24th, more than 30 at-risk families were introduced to live
theatre at the evening performance of Brooklyn The Musical
as part the New York City pilot for "Family First Nights,"
a national program designed for at-risk families to attend theatre
together on a regular basis. The families sat in orchestra seats
and afterwards attended a discussion with staff from The League
and members of the production. 100 families in total will participate
in the program and will see 3 different shows. The Harlem Children's
Zone is identifying appropriate families, coordinating family
participation, and organizing transportation and other logistics.
Time Warner is the corporate sponsor for the New York City pilot.
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