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NOTE: This is an archived version of this newsletter.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

This winter, tickets are available for every budget. Buying tickets is easier than ever. Plus, go to ilovenytheater.com for special dining offers and more.

To get tickets:

• Click - ilovenytheater.com
• Visit - Broadway Concierge & Ticket Center (in the Times Square Information Center, east side of Broadway between 46th & 47th Streets) or theatre box offices.
• Phone - Telecharge (212) 239-6200 or Ticketmaster (800) 982-2787

As soon as we heard that Tovah Feldshuh would be returning to Broadway in the spring, we started thinking of questions for this four-time Tony Award®-nominee.  Feldshuh leads the cast of Dan Gordon’s play Irena’s Vow, which moves uptown in March after a successful Off-Broadway run.  She plays Irena Gut Opdyke, a Polish Catholic woman who secretly hid a dozen Jews for two years during the Holocaust, saving their lives while being forced to serve as head housekeeper for a Nazi officer.

Feldshuh’s past Broadway triumphs include creating the title role of Yentl, a memorable comic turn in Lend Me a Tenor, and her acclaimed portrayal of nearly 50 characters including former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in the one-woman show Golda’s Balcony.  She has also racked up many noted TV and film roles over the years.  We e-mailed Feldshuh last week, and here is what she had to say.

Q:  You have portrayed a number of "real" people over the years. Is that a coincidence, or do you have a special affinity for historical figures?

Tovah Feldshuh:  What artist doesn’t love a great role?  I was offered both Golda Meir and Irena Gut directly by the parties who were producing or wanted to produce Golda’s Balcony and Irena’s Vow.  I read both scripts, fell in love with both women, and took on the challenge of cloaking myself in their astounding mantels.  Above all, I wanted to find the truth for our beloved audiences of what made these women stretch on tip-toe to their individual dreams of redemption.  I am honored to be portraying both of these characters, even now.

How do you explain what makes Irena’s Vow such an extraordinary piece of theatre?

To me, what makes Irena’s Vow so extraordinary is: 1) Dan Gordon, our playwright, is a remarkable storyteller and has crafted this play to engage us breathlessly from beginning to end.  Michael Parva, our director, lifts Irena’s Vow off the page and paints a masterful canvas of her journey.  2) This is a true story of an ordinary person under extraordinary circumstances doing extraordinary things.  Irena’s actions inspire all of us to have the moral courage to do our best for the next fellow, even if he is a stranger.

You're spending some time this winter in Florida touring in Golda's Balcony. Is it easy to recreate that performance, or do you start from scratch each time? I start anew each time I return to William Gibson’s intricate, erudite material.  The key to Golda’s Balcony is making it personal.  The play, with all its historic

riches, still needs to reside in the innermost chambers of Golda’s heart and in her desperate vision for a Jewish state, where Jews could live in peace, in full celebration of their rich heritage.  2009 holds several “see-saw” months when I will be playing Irena Gut on Broadway and Golda Meir around the country on my nights off.  To have these choices at this stage of my life and career is a profound privilege. 

You've done many musicals, and you made quite a splash in Hello, Dolly! a few years back. Any more musicals in the pipeline?

My dream, after a long healthy run of Irena’s Vow, is to star in a Broadway musical.  I’ll take any great role any great producer wants to offer. 

Visit the official Irena’s Vow Website

West Side Story
Opening Night: March 19
Theatre: Palace
The Show:  The classic Bernstein/Sondheim/Laurents musical transports Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to the turbulent streets of the West Side of Manhattan in the 1950s. 
The Stars: Matt Cavenaugh as “Tony”; Argentine sensation Josefina Scaglione as “Maria.”
Did You Know: In the Heights creator Lin-Manuel Miranda has contributed new Spanish-language dialogue and lyrics for this landmark production.

Waiting for Godot
Opening Night: April 30
Theatre: Studio 54
The Show:  Samuel Beckett’s comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes and nonsense, which has been interpreted as a somber summation of mankind’s inexhaustible search for meaning.
The Stars: John Goodman, Bill Irwin, Nathan Lane, David Strathairn
Did You Know: This magical and beautiful allegory is considered a classic of modern literature.

Q: Can you explain the details of an Equity card: Why it's important, when you need to get one, how you get one, how it's used?

A: We put your question to Maria Somma, spokesperson for Equity.  Here is how she responded:

Actors' Equity Association is the oldest performing arts union in the country and represents more than 48,000 professional stage actors and stage managers nationwide.  Membership in the union – having an Equity card – represents talent, hard work and the life-long commitment one makes to a career as a professional actor or stage manager.  It also provides contractually negotiated benefits such as salary and payment standards, pension and health plans, 401(k), audition and work rules, as well as nationwide network with members. 

When to join is a personal decision but once made, there are three ways to achieve Equity membership – auditioning for a role and being offered the job and with it, an Equity contract; as a member of one of our sister unions who has worked as a performer under that union’s jurisdiction, an actor or stage manager may be eligible to join Equity; and through the Equity Membership Candidate (EMC) Program, which allows an actor or stage manager registered in the program to join Equity after completing 50 weeks of registered EMC work. 

To learn more about how to join, and about the many benefits and opportunities of membership in Actors' Equity Association, go to www.actorsequity.org.

If you have a question for the Broadway Concierge, please

e-mail us at fanclub@broadway.org and we will answer it in an upcoming issue of the Broadway Fan Club Newsletter.  Don’t forget to include your name and city!

At any given time, dozens of Broadway shows are moving from city to city, entertaining millions of Americans every year. How does it all work?  Company managers travel with the shows to keep the productions working like well-oiled machines. Roseanna Sharrow, the associate company manager for the national tour of the hit Abba jukebox musical Mamma Mia!, gives us a behind-the-scenes look at her role during a week in the life of a Broadway tour.

Tuesday

These days Mamma Mia! usually spends a single week in each city it visits, with the show week beginning on Tuesday.

From the Tonys to the OscarsThree-time Tony Awards® host Hugh Jackman has been tapped to helm the 2009 Academy Awards telecast on February 22. Jackman won a Tony for his performance in The Boy from Oz.

Broadway’s Kids Advisory Board
The Broadway League’s new Kids Advisory Board is an integral part of our effort to create programs focused on bringing young audiences to the theatre.  This fall hundreds of kids age 11 to 16 applied to serve on the board.  The 30 selected kids will advise us on how to develop teen-oriented publications, websites, and special events including Kids’ Night on Broadway®, which now takes place on the first Tuesday and Wednesday of each month.  More…
http://www.kidsnightonbroadway.com

Chicago Talkbacks
The Broadway company of Chicago has announced additional offerings for its expanded "Talkback Tuesdays" program of post-show discussions.  Melora Hardin, Broadway's newest Roxie Hart and star of NBC's hit comedy "The Office," will take questions on January 27.

On the Record
Earlier this week the cast of the new Broadway musical Shrek recorded the show’s original cast album, which will be released in March.

Allegro – Con Brio!
A new complete recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1947 Broadway musical Allegro will be released on February 3 by Sony Masterworks Broadway. The all-star cast includes Audra McDonald, Nathan Gunn, Patrick Wilson, Judy Kuhn, Liz Callaway, Laura Benanti and Norbert Leo Butz.

Happy 21, Phantom!
The Phantom of the Opera will reach an unprecedented milestone on January 26 when it becomes the first show to celebrate its 21st anniversary on Broadway. Bravo!

Broadway Bookshelf
Alfred A. Knopf has published The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II, featuring hundreds of lyrics from such Broadway hits as Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music.

Learn About Broadway
Rosie O’Donnell and Rosie’s Broadway Kids are pleased to announce the opening of the new Maravel Arts Center just steps from Manhattan’s Theatre District.  RBKids is extending an invitation to all students for their first Spotlight on Broadway workshop: February’s Coming Up Rosie!  This week-long musical theatre camp is perfect for students who love Broadway.  More info at www.rbkids.org.

William H. Macy has taken over the role of Bobby Gould in David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow.

Laura Bell Bundy is reprising her 2007 Tony-nominated performance as determined Harvard Law undergraduate Elle Woods. She will star in the national tour of Legally Blonde the Musical for the next six weeks.

Elizabeth Ashley joins the cast of August: Osage County on February 3 in the role of Mattie Fae Aiken.