Paul's Theater Blog

Whether it's for-profit or non-profit, on Broadway or off, movers and shakers in the New York theater community are closely watching Wall Street developments, according to the New York Times.

The non-profits, who depend on raising funds to offset production costs, are reaching out to donors and board members alike to calm any fears. And in commercial theater, at least one Broadway show, Hairspray, linked its recent closing announcemnt to the economy, the Times said.

The TKTS booth in Times Square is changing more than locations this month. According to Playbill.com, the discount-ticket-selling arm of the Theatre Development Fund will begin accepting credit cards for day-of sales when it moves to the north end of Duffy Square on 47th Street between Broadway and 7th Avenue.

TKTS Times Square has been operating out of temporary quarters in the Marquis Hotel for two years during renovation and expansion of the Duffy Square location. And the TDF has been testing credit card sales at its South Street Seaport and Brooklyn locations. Previously, TKTS was cash or travelers checks only.

Photo by Paul Cozby

Two-time Tony-winning actor Matthew Broderick returns to Broadway next spring in Roundabout Theatre's new production of The Philanthropist.

The Christopher Hampton play debuted on Broadway in 1971, and, according to producers, is a "biting bourgeois comedy (that) examines the empty, insular lives of college intellectuals."

The show opens April 26 at the American Airlines Theatre.

Better move fast if you want your day in court.

Legally Blonde, which has been in the docket at Broadway's Palace Theatre since last summer, has announced its final performance for October 19, and great discounts are available.

Not coming to New York soon? Don't worry, the movie-turned-musical is touring now.

Theater companies and PR firms send a lot of emails my way with interesting news on openings, cast changes, milestones, etc. There’s too much information to run it all, so I thought I’d try a weekly (at least) News and Notes blog entry to hit the highlights. Let me know what you think about this.

• Birthday Boys: Jersey Boys will celebrate a year on the boards at Chicago’s Bank of America Theater on October 14.
• Good-bye, Mamma. Hello, Simba: On January 4, Mamma Mia! will end its six-year run at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and Disney announced The Lion King will take its place with a May 2 premier set.
• Attention Altarholics: Altar Boyz at New World Stages has hit the 1,500-performance mark, which, according to the show’s producers, ranks it as the 11th-longest-running off-Broadway musical.

If you're in New York on Monday, October 6, get a free drink from Starbucks and see the stars of Irving Berlin's White Christmas at the Marquis Theatre box office.

Just be at the box office on Broadway between 45th and 46th Streets between 11 a.m. and noon. You can't miss it, it will be the place where the actors are in costume lighting a Christmas tree.

And if you buy a ticket during that hour, you get a free cast CD as well.

Welcome to New York, Billy Elliot. The smash London hit has started previews at the Imperial Theatre, with a Nov. 13 premier slated.

Billy Elliot is the story of a boy who prefers ballet to boxing and how that affects his family, and it's set against the backdrop of the 1984 Welsh miners' strike during Margaret Thatcher's administration.

The show features music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall.

Photo by Paul Cozby

Casa Manana Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas, has named Wally Jones as its president and executive director.

Jones, a 20-year veteran of North Carolina Theatre, takes the reigns at Casa November 3, as the North Texas regional theater celebrates half a century of operation.

In the “Show Must Go On” tradition, not even a Hurricane Ike-related power outage could stop the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s production of Jane Austen’s Emma earlier this month.

With power knocked out by high winds just before a Sunday show, a hastily-arranged concert version took place by flashlight. The audience loved it, and so did the show’s creator.

“I’ve seen the show a number of times, but this would be my favorite performance,” said Paul Gordon, who wrote book, music, and lyrics.

The new musical, based on Austen’s classic novel of romance and manners, moves to The Repertory Theater of St. Louis October 8.

Read more about "Emma Unplugged."

Image courtesy Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park

It doesn’t much matter what your decade of reference is, Paul Newman has a touchstone there. Maybe it was Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the ’50s. How about the 1960s with Butch and Sundance? The ’70s? The Sting, of course. Absence of Malice, with the remarkable Bob Balaban, in the 1980s. And, one of my favorites, Nobody’s Fool in the ’90s.

But in the rush of praise for his film career, his racing adventures, his salad dressing, and philanthropy, let’s not forget the theater. Newman starred on Broadway (at the Music Box) in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Picnic in 1953 and won the Theater Award that year. He also was nominated for a Tony in 2003 for Our Town.

As for my generation, let me say thanks on behalf of every young man who wished he had the courage to look over the precipice, laugh, and say, “Why you crazy, the fall will probably kill ya!”