Revivals – Better the Second Time Around

Producing a Broadway musical is risky business. Producers have spent and lost millions of dollars trying to create the next big sensation. Mounting a full-stage musical is no easy task and trying to guess what audiences will want is daunting at best. Shows like DIRTY DANCING, XANADU and LEGALLY BLONDE succeed by tapping into an existing audience—fans of the film version—without jeopardizing the creative spirit necessary to pull together a brand new musical. Standing alongside the next new sensation on Broadway is the revival. Surprisingly, a well thought-out revival, re staged for a new generation of theatergoers, can on occasion eclipse the success of the original and out-live and out-gross many brand new musicals.

The musical CHICAGO, based on the 1926 play by Chicago Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, opened on Broadway June 3, 1975, and ran for a total of 936 performances before closing in August of 1977. Conceived by the legendary Bob Fosse, the show played to mixed reviews. Fosse reinvented the contemporary Broadway musical, adding vaudevillian flair. This interpretation pulled down the “fourth wall” between performers and the audience. This made audiences accustomed to more typical staging’s uncomfortable. Fosse was impeded further by the sudden illness of his star, Gwen Verdon, and by a new musical--A CHORUS LINE--which opened the same year.

In 1996, a stripped-down version of CHICAGO opened on Broadway to critical acclaim. Audiences were no longer shocked by the theme of criminal as celebrity and were more accustomed to the concert style of the show. In 1996, CHICAGO The Musical won 6 Tony Awards®, more than any revival in the history of Broadway at the time. It is the eighth-longest running musical of all time and is the longest running revival ever mounted. Since its opening in 1996, the show has had more than 5000 performances and is considered the most successful revival in Broadway history.

Some musicals see new life in revival in very unique ways; one such show is JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. Created by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber as a double album, the show was first staged in 1971 at Southold High School in New York. At the same time “unauthorized” versions of the show were being produced, prompting Rice and Webber to work through the courts to shut down nearly 100 different productions before the show premiered on Broadway later that same year.

SUPERSTAR ran on Broadway until June of 1973, a total of 711 performances, and received five Tony Awards, including Best Original Score and Best Featured Actor. It was revived in 1977 and again in 2000 with an updated look targeted toward a new generation. Neither revival achieved the same level of success as the original production. A National tour in 1972 featured Ted Neely in the role of Jesus. Neely went on to recreate the role in a 1973 film version and has since become synonymous with not only the show, but the role of Jesus. A total of five National tours have been hugely successful. SUPERSTAR enjoys a following many producers dream of and its story continues to be as relevant and thought-provoking now as it was nearly four decades ago.
A show that seems to be more successful with each revival is SWEENEY TODD. The story of SWEENEY TODD began as a Victorian melodrama entitled String of Pearls, but the modern take on the story is based on the 1973 play by British Playwright Christopher Bond. The well-known musical adaptation of the original play was created by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler. It opened on Broadway in March of 1979 starring Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou in the title roles of Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd. This incarnation of the story ran for a total of 557 performances winning nine Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score.

A National tour in 1980 introduced the show to a larger audience, as did a filmed broadcast for PBS in 1982. SWEENEY TODD was revived on Broadway in 1989 and then again in 2005 starring Patti LuPone and Michael Cerveris in the lead roles. Re staged by director John Doyle, the 2005 version was notable in that the actors were also the orchestra, playing their own instruments on stage. Doyle’s 2005 revival won six Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Direction and Best Orchestration.

The golden age of Broadway saw shows produced by Rogers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, Lerner and Lowe and Irving Berlin. In recent history, blockbusters like LES MISERABLES, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, THE LION KING and THE COLOR PURPLE have ushered in a new age of creativity and imagery, but the revival is still king. Currently revivals of GYPSY, GREASE, GUYS AND DOLLS and SOUTH PACIFIC treat audiences to a taste of what made Broadway great and play to sold out houses. Many look at the Broadway revival as a visit from an old trusted friend and sometimes, what was old can be new again.

Broadway Buzz - Billy Takes On Broadway

BILLY ELLIOT The Musical opened to rave reviews at the Imperial Theatre in New York November 13 after breaking box office records in London and Sydney. The show is based on the 2000 film and features music by Elton John, with the book and lyrics by the films writer Lee Hall.

Set against the backdrop of the coal miner’s strikes of Northern England in the eighties, the new musical tells the story of young Billy Elliot who discovers a talent and love of dance and follows his struggle for happiness and self-acceptance. But this version of the story has as much to do with the problems facing Elliot’s community as it does about his journey. The musical is more than just a carbon copy of the film, it is a reinterpretation and the producers, while hopeful fans of the film will come to the musical, aren’t counting on their attendance. Unlike many adaptations of film to musical, the creative team behind BILLY ELLIOT believes the musical stands on its own.

Living in Wichita and Looking For Something Cool To Do Before Thanksgiving?

Meet and interact with cast members of STOMP when they make a very special FREE pre-show appearance at Exploration Place Wednesday, November 26 at 1:00 p.m. Make sure and catch the "OUR BODY: The Universe Within at Exploration Place" exhibit and Save $5 on your ticket purchase for STOMP when you present your ticket stub from Exploration Place at the Century II Box Office!

Cynical 'Chicago' is my kind of town

Lawrence Toppman
From charlotteobserver.com
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008

A new national tour begins at the PAC, with Tom Wopat headlining and the terrific ensemble dominating the show.

When “Chicago” premiered on Broadway in 1975, Richard Nixon had recently made his humiliating exit from Washington.

During the 1996 revival, Bill Clinton was turning the White House into a hot-pillow motel.
A fresh national tour began Tuesday night in Charlotte, exactly one week after the last sleazy exchanges of the nastiest political season in recent memory.

Whatever the bizarre link between “Chicago” and politics may be, the musical’s sardonic outlook always seems to be timely. The new touring version, which is shiny and hard as a diamond, seems even colder and less sentimental than the New York productions I’ve seen.

Maybe the bleak world view of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb (who wrote the book with original director Bob Fosse) applies even more to the 21st century, where we seek tawdrier titillation in the media to avoid the harsh realities of life. The show seems more than ever about us, the gullible and easily diverted public, than the connivers who are misleading us rubes.

If you, too, have long been familiar with the show, what will surprise you about the Charlotte run is the importance of the ensemble. Glittering stars Chita Rivera, Gwen Verdon and Jerry Orbach dominated the ’70s production. But strong as the leads are in this show, it’s the crackling precision of the chorus that immediately shifts you to the edge of the seat. Fosse’s hip-thrusting, pelvic-locking, derby-snapping choreography, now in its third generation, comes at us with the fast, clean sweep of a slicing razor.

That praise also applies to the crisp, robust, 13-piece orchestra, mounted on a stage platform like a band in a 1920s speakeasy. (And how satisfying it is to hear a stage orchestra with no synthesizer in it!) The musicians cluster around a set of steps that lead down and out of sight, possibly to a smoky basement where all illicit desires will be fulfilled.

From out of that darkness come Velma Kelly (throaty Terra MacLeod), the veteran murderess expecting to claim the attention of the Windy City with her upcoming trial; Roxie Hart (pert Bianca Marroquín), the newcomer who steals the attention of the press; Mama Morton (growly Roz Ryan), the warden who manages publicity campaigns for inmates; and Billy Flynn (genial Tom Wopat), the attorney who can’t be a shyster because there’s nothing shy about him. Oops – I almost forgot Amos, Roxie’s forgettable husband (played by Ben Elledge, who’s worth remembering for his one big number, “Mr. Cellophane”).

Old elements of the show still look fresh. Rock Hill native William Ivey Long got one of his 11 Tony nominations for the sexy costumes, and they always knock the eyes out. John Lee Beatty’s simple set, surrounded at the proscenium by a frame – justice is all a frame-up, right? – still raises a smile.

The tour needs tweaking in small ways. That fine orchestra occasionally covers the singers; the women cut through it, but Wopat’s agreeable baritone can get lost. The interaction between the stars and the conductor onstage seems a bit hokey, like something added to bring extra smiles to the provinces. (On the other hand, Ryan’s confident ogling of the audience in “When You’re Good to Mama” seems right.)

Overall, though, the show seems tuned up and ready to charge around America for many a year. Both sides of the political divide may have voted with fresh hope in this month’s election, but the nation’s deep-rooted vein of cynicism should survive for decades to come.

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All That Jazz

Sarah Aarthun

From charlotteobserver.com
Wednesday, November 12, 2008

I'd be lying if I said I came home from "Chicago" (the musical, not the city) last night and went to bed.

In fact, I put on a pair of tights and Mary Janes and tap-danced my way around my apartment -- much to the dismay of my dog and my neighbor below me.

But that's what the infectious music of "Chicago" does to you.

The show -- the first in the new national tour -- opened last night at the Belk Theater, bringing a wide range of ages to the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. I saw one man in his 60s snorting with laughter at the show's bawdy humor while another young woman was singing along to all of the songs and excitedly telling her husband when her favorite parts were coming up.

An audible murmur went through the ladies in the audience when the female castmembers started "Cell Block Tango." "This is my favorite song!" they all whispered to their dates for the evening. (Perhaps the dates should have been worried: the song is about women who murdered their husbands/boyfriends with the catchy chorus "He had it comin'.")

I had previously seen only the movie version of "Chicago," which, while entertaining, seemed to drag in spots. I was happy to find that the stage version moves along at a nice pace, and I wasn't ready for it to end.

Scarvey review of 'Chicago': 'A show so splendiferous...'

Salisbury Post (Charlotte, NC)
Thursday, November 13, 2008

"You've got to razzle dazzle them." So goes a classic line from the musical "Chicago," which opened Tuesday night at the Belk Theater — the very first performance of the show's new national tour.

A black comedy set in the 1920s that debuted on Broadway in 1975 , the show shows no signs of becoming irrelevant.

The opening night audience in Charlotte — many of whom had probably seen the touring production two years ago — gave the cast a standing ovation.

"Chicago" follows the fortunes of Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, both in the pokey awaiting trial for separate murders. With unrealized dreams of stardom, Roxie is basking in the white hot attention of the media, while Velma is conniving to regain the spotlight. Billy Flynn is the lawyer whose job it is to deflect attention from the women's obvious guilt.

During "Razzle Dazzle," which celebrates trial as tawdry theatre, a row of lights drops down on stage, so glaringly bright they have the effect of temporarily blinding the audience, i.e., the gullible public.

It's symbolic, of course, and stunningly effective — in a show that consistently entertains.
Tony-nominated actor Tom Wopat is the slick, cynical Billy Flynn, who knows a bit about flim-flamming a jury so it won't convict the cold-blooded trollops he's representing. Dukes of Hazzard fans may remember Wopat as Luke, the dark-haired Duke brother.

The set is simple and effective, dominated by the 13-piece orchestra that performs on the stage as though it's a smoke-filled speakeasy. The jazz music is fabulous, although at times the orchestra threatens to overwhelm Wopat's pleasant but less than muscular voice. Since Tuesday was the opening night of the tour, one assumes this is a sound glitch that can be remedied.

Roxie Hart is played by Bianca Marroquin. In such a big, electric cast, the petite actress manages to turn in a surprisingly nuanced performance, never overplaying her part. Her gift for physical comedy is immense, and she's particularly fun to watch as she flops around as a ventriloquist's dummy controlled by Flynn.

Terra MacLeod is appealing as the brassy Velma. She shines in "The Cell Block Tango," which features the incarcerated femmes fatale singing about how their male victims "had it coming" — for such unpardonable offenses as snapping gum after being asked to stop.

MacLeod wields her voice like a dominatrix brandishing a whip in this crowd-pleasing number.
Mama Morton, played by Roz Ryan (Queen Latifah in the movie version), is the warden who advises her inmates on how to parlay their sexy notoriousness to their advantage — for a profit, of course. Morton's performance of "When You're Good to Mama" is deliciously lascivious.
Ben Elledge is well-cast as Amos, Roxie's "cellophane" husband — who's so invisible that when he asks the orchestra leader to play his exit music, he's met with thunderous silence.

The chorus is crucial to the success of this show, and it's hard to take your eyes off these lean, sultry dancers, all thrusting pelvises and serpentine grace. They are remarkably in sync with one another, and the Fosse-inspired choreography is anything but stale.

"Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it/And the reaction will be passionate," sings Billy Flynn.
It's true — and fortunately, there's more than just flash in this production.