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Do you have a photo of yourself that captures the magic of stage performance? It could be from a show you starred in, or a special moment backstage, or the time you stood out from the chorus. Submit your photo, and then, beginning May 18, tell all your friends and family to help us select the winners by viewing the photos and rating them.

With a Tony Award®-nominated score by Dolly Parton, the new Broadway production of 9 to 5: The Musical has been delighting audiences at Broadway’s Marquis Theatre since it began previews this spring. Stephanie J. Block plays Judy Bernly, the downtrodden secretary originated in the similarly titled film by Jane Fonda. Block is no stranger to Broadway audiences or to theatregoers across North America. She created the role of Elphaba for the first national tour of Wicked, a role she recently reprised in New York. On Broadway she has also been seen in The Boy from Oz and The Pirate Queen.

Isn’t that a blessing? Forty-six years [away from Broadway], and she’s literally a couple blocks up the road. She came to our opening night in Los Angeles. Dabney [Coleman] was there, Dolly was there, Lily was there, and Jane. It was a little nerve-wracking at first. These fabulous actors made the roles iconic, but we kept reminding ourselves that we were not playing these actors. We’re playing the characters of Judy Bernly, Violet Newstead, Doralee Rhodes, and Franklin Hart. When Jane Fonda came backstage after seeing that opening night, it was so important to me. For five minutes, we were connected. She looked at me, and she said, “You kept all the best bits and made the rest your own.” She seemed very pleased with the performance. What a relief! I went [to 33 Variations] on opening night. Oh my stars, genius, just genius. Gorgeous! SO beautiful! She’s the real deal.

My concept for the album was that if I ask a composer if I could use one of their songs, I also wanted them to perform on the CD with me. Each composer I asked said yes. At every session people would ask, “Are you singing something with Dolly?” I kept thinking that I admired and loved her so much and had built a really great friendship that I didn’t want to cross the boundary of asking her for…anything more than she already had given me. People kept saying, “You’re crazy, just go out on a limb and ask. See what she says!”

Q: What is the record for the oldest person who has performed on a Broadway stage? The youngest?

Cassandra
Galesburg, IL

A: We have to admit, this was a tough one! We can’t answer your question with absolute certainty. However, we can tell you that last month the 105-year-old Broadway treasure Doris Eaton Travis performed with dancers from Billy Elliot, The Musical at the Minskoff Theatre. The occasion was the annual Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS’s Easter Bonnet Competition event.

Ms. Travis made her Broadway debut in 1917 at the age of 13. A year later she joined the Ziegfeld Follies as the youngest Ziegfeld Girl ever cast in the show. In recent years she has returned to Broadway each spring to help support BC/EFA.

As for the youngest person, our friends at the Internet Broadway Database have a suggestion: The opening-night cast of the 1991 musical Miss Saigon featured 4-year-old Brian R. Baldomero, who alternated in the role of “Tam” with his slightly older colleague Philip Lyle Kong (age 5).

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!

For more than three decades, John Miller has worked behind-the-scenes on Broadway as a music coordinator. He is currently represented on Broadway by Jersey Boys and Rock of Ages. A bass player by training, he also has sat in the orchestra pits of many shows.

John has a new CD out this spring: Stage Door Johnny: John Miller Takes on Broadway. When we heard about the album, we e-mailed him with some questions about his role in bringing musicals to the stage, and how he got into the business. Here are his answers.

After getting my degree in the string bass at the University of Michigan in the mid 1960s, I returned to NYC and started working as a freelance musician. One of the artists I was lucky enough to record with was Cy Coleman, who asked me to be the music director and one of the performers of his show I Love My Wife, for which our four-piece combo won a Drama Desk award.

Then in the early ‘80s he asked if I wanted to be the contractor of his new show, Barnum, coming to Broadway. I said no. Cy looked at me and said, “I’ve got to give it to some schmuck, I’d just as soon give it to you.” So I decided to give it a shot. Cy was thrilled with the band; I took it very seriously but I was flying by the seat of my pants. To my surprise I dug it, and happily the phone kept ringing.

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A New Phantom

On July 27, Broadway will welcome a new Phantom of the Opera. John Cudia (pictured at left in a photo by Joan Marcus), who currently plays the Phantom in the national tour, will replace Howard McGillin, the world’s longest-running Phantom. McGillin, who has played the role on Broadway off and on for ten years, is leaving the production to pursue other theatrical ventures.

Cat on a London Roof

Broadway’s recent revival of Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, which featured an all-black cast, will be seen this winter in London’s West End. Stars James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad will reprise their roles, and Debbie Allen will again direct. Performances will begin December 1.

Broadway Across the Globe

In other international news, the Philippines will get to experience new English-language productions of Legally Blonde: the Musical and Xanadu. The shows, which appeared on Broadway in the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons respectively, will feature all-new creative teams from the Philippines.

Broadway Barks 11 Set for July 11

Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters will host the eleventh annual Broadway Barks!, a star-studded dog and cat adopt-a-thon benefiting New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies. The event will take place on Saturday, July 11th in Manhattan’s Shubert Alley (located between 44th and 45th Streets, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue).

Free tickets for theatregoers age 18 and under are available for select June and July performances of participating shows in NYC and around the US, courtesy of Kids’ Night on Broadway. Each child must be accompanied by a full-paying adult. Visit KidsNightonBroadway.com for details.

Casting News

• A Royal Cast - Stephen Collins, John Glover, Rosemary Harris, Jan Maxwell, Tony Roberts, and Reg Rogers will star in next season’s Broadway revival of The Royal Family by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.