We hope you enjoy this issue and will invite your friends and family to join the Fan Club. Your subscription settings can be found below. See you on Broadway!

NOTE: This is an archived version of this newsletter. Not all shows and offers still apply. Some links may no longer be accessible.

We're looking for photos of Broadway Fan Club members standing outside a Broadway theatre in New York or around North America! These photos will be displayed in our new Broadway Fan Club Photo Gallery, and will be considered for occasional Member Spotlight features in this newsletter.

Send your pictures by clicking here!

Toronto-based comedian, performer, and Second City alum Bob Martin makes his Broadway debut this April in The Drowsy Chaperone. This completely original new musical premiered at the Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival and has recently concluded a hit run at The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Mr. Martin is the show's book writer and also a featured performer. The Drowsy Chaperone features Tony-winner Sutton Foster (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and is directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw (Monty Python's Spamalot). Mr. Martin spoke with Ben Pesner by phone from Toronto.

Ben Pesner: What is The Drowsy Chaperone about?

Bob Martin: It's about a man sharing his love of an obscure 1928 musical with the audience, about the joy he gets from a type of escapist musical that's a bit out of style now. He knows the show in great detail, including the backstory of the actors who play the roles ,and he shares all that information with the audience. He plays a record of the musical for the audience, and recreates most of the show either by describing it or actually showing it on stage.

How did the show come about?

I was getting married to my wife, Janet Van de Graaf, and [lyricist] Lisa Lambert was my "best man.” Instead of a stag party, she rented a small nightclub in Toronto and she and Greg Morrison and Don McKellar and a few other people created this homage to a 1920s musical called The Drowsy Chaperone. It was about 40 minutes long and was a series of songs about a show-girl bride leaving the business to get married. Janet and I were so excited that we decided to mount the show at the Fringe of Toronto festival and make it a more fully realized show. It was a huge hit. People were lining up scalping tickets and it was reviewed by Variety, which is very unusual for a Fringe show in Toronto. Then it went to an Off Broadway style theatre in Toronto, then the Winter Garden there, then to a festival in New York. Next thing we knew we were opening in LA. And now I'm getting emailed pictures of the marquee on Broadway.

What is it like working with a bona-fide Broadway star like Sutton Foster?

I can't say enough about Sutton. She's incredibly talented and it's really a thrill for me to be on stage with her. The way Sutton controls her body and her voice is just humbling to watch. She is a very subtle comic actress too. It's wonderful to have someone like that in the show because this show celebrates Broadway stars of the past, and here we have a contemporary star in the show.

And Casey Nicholaw, fresh off of choreographing Spamalot, is making his Broadway debut as a director.

How do you maintain the distance between being both a writer and an actor in the show?

It's actually very, very challenging. I have to turn off the writer part of my mind when I'm performing because often I will be performing something that I know we're going to cut in a couple of days. At the same time, I do have a kind of unique perspective on the show since I never the leave the stage. It's a bit crazy.

As a native of Toronto, what does Broadway mean to you?

Broadway has this mythic connotation for anyone in the theatre regardless of whether they are Canadian or Israeli or anything. I can't even really think about it too much because it's frankly scary. The comforting thing is that a theatre is just a theatre. You're sitting in a Broadway house and knowing that Barbra Streisand made her debut on that stage and that can really make you nervous. At the same time you look at the set and it's still painted wood. The rules are the same.

Visit The Drowsy Chaperone on-line.

After sitting vacant and unused for 18 years, The Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT has been reborn as a state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center with the glamorous feel of the past.

Built in 1922 as a vaudeville and movie house, The Palace featured grand staircases, ornate ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and beautiful marble-work. Over the years it saw a variety of performances and touring acts, from theatrical productions to silent films to Big Bands to major Rock and Roll concerts. In the mid-1980s, badly in need of restoration and repair but without the money to do it, the theatre closed its doors. The Palace remained shuttered until 2002 when a major investment by the state of Connecticut helped launch a comprehensive physical restoration, renovation, and expansion intended to return the theatre to prominence as a cultural center in the region. The Palace re-opened its doors in November of 2004.

“Tony Bennett was the last performer to play the Palace before it closed,” says Frank Tavera, Executive Director of the theatre. “What we did to celebrate the re-opening was to bring him back. I call it the book-ends of the dark days.”

The Palace Theater, less than 2 hours from Manhattan, now operates as a multi-discipline performing arts center featuring touring Broadway shows, concerts, and other special events. “There's a real sense of community around the theatre because of its beauty and history,” says Tavera. “People like getting together to celebrate their past. The entertainment itself is almost background music at times. I think historic theatres like this are worth going to just because of the theatre. It's like a museum. I would encourage anyone around the country to look for these hidden treasures around them, and to make an effort to visit. They'll be glad they did.”

Visit the Palace on-line for directions and more information.

Look for a hidden treasure near you.

On February 28th, the League of American Theatres and Producers launched the Brooklyn phase of Family First Nights, a national program designed for at-risk families to attend theatre together on a regular basis, with Coney Island's South Brooklyn Youth Consortium and the Broadway musical The Color Purple. Family First Nights provides prime-location tickets for families who may not otherwise be able to attend live theatre.

Present at the launch event were renowned choreographer, director, performer and past Tony Award® nominee Maurice Hines and seven time Grammy Award winner Maurice White of the band “Earth, Wind and Fire", both of whom are working on the musical Hot Feet which premiers next month. They were joined by New York City Councilman Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. (District 47 in South Brooklyn), League President Jed Bernstein, and Sheryl Robertson, director of the South Brooklyn Youth Consortium.