Last View

Went to pick up TT for dinner between his last two Sydney shows of AS YOU LIKE IT.

If this is to be my last glimpse of Sydney for the foreseeable future....

it remains very impressive.

The Dream is Over

And as the sun sinks slowly in the west....

we bid a fond farewell to the men and women of La Mancha

It was a truly joyous and unforgettable experience, and all too brief.

 But the good news is...I finally got to shave!!

Mambo

TT found this exhibition in a Sydney shopping centre.

I never had a mambo shirt but, of course, now that they're collector's items I desperately want one.

Great fun, and on for another month. Then on our way home we passed this splendid house.

Another work of art!

Broadway World announces full cast

Breaking News: Christine Ebersole, Tony Sheldon, James Snyder, Margo Seibert & More Will Lead All-Star Cast of EVER AFTER at Paper Mill Playhouse

March 20

3:16 PM2015​

Paper Mill Playhouse has announced complete casting for the world-premiere musical Ever After, directed and choreographed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall (Anything Goes, Nice Work If You Can Get It), featuring a book and lyrics by Marcy Heisler and music by Zina Goldrich.
Ever After will star two-time Tony Award-winner Christine Ebersole (Grey Gardens, 42nd Street) as Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent, Tony Award nominee Tony Sheldon (Priscilla Queen of the Desert) as Leonardo da Vinci, Emmy Award winner Charles Shaugnessy (Urinetown, "The Nanny") as King Francis, James Synder (If/Then) as Prince Henry and Drama Desk Award nominee Margo Seibert (Rocky) as Danielle de Barbarac.
Ever After will also feature Tony Award-nominee Charl Brown (Motown The Musical), Mara Davi (The Drowsy Chaperone), Annie Funke (Hairspray), Julie Halston (You Can't Take It With You), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies) and an ensemble including Jill Abramovitz, Ashley Blanchet, Nick Corley, Stephanie Elise Gandolfo, Gregg Goodbrod, John Hillner, Sean Martin Hingston, Gwen Hollander, Fred Inkley, Will Mann, Liz McCartney, Alison Morooney, Kevin Munhall, Kevin Michael Raponey, Rachael Scarr, Justin Schuman, Jonathan Shew and Aléna Watters.
Paper Mill Playhouse presents the world premiere of a new musical based on the 1998 film starring Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston. This is no fairy tale. Ever After sets the record straight on the fable of Cinderella. Her name was Danielle and it was always about her wit, her smarts, her strength and her good friend Leonardo da Vinci. She makes her own dreams come true. Warm and romantic, funny and smart, this is the musical you've been waiting for.
"We're thrilled to present the world premiere of this beautiful musical," commented Mark S. Hoebee, Producing Artistic Director for the Millburn theater. "I am delighted to showcase a new musical with strong, female leads, created by strong, female artists including Kathleen Marshall, Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich."
The award-winning design team of Broadway veterans will feature Derek McLane (scenic design), Jess Goldstein (costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design), Nevin Steinberg (sound design), Mary-Mitchell Campbell (music supervision), David Gardos (music direction), Leah Loukas (hair and wig design), Rick Sordelet (fight direction) and casting by Telsey + Company.
Ever After begins performances Thursday, May 21, 2015, and runs through Sunday, June 21, 2015.
Ever After is sponsored by J.P. Morgan. Paper Mill Playhouse's 2014-2015 Season is proudly sponsored by Investors Bank.
Ever After will be performed at Paper Mill Playhouse eight times a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Performance schedule: Wednesday at 7:00pm, Thursday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm, Friday at 7:00pm, Saturday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm and Sunday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm. Tickets are on sale now and range from $28 to $99. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973.376.4343, at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at www.PaperMill.org. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express accepted. Groups of 10 or more can receive up to a 40% discount on tickets and should call 973.315.1680. College students can order $20 rush tickets over the phone or in person at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office on the day of the performance.
Christine Ebersole (Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent), a Maplewood, NJ, resident and two-time Tony Award-winning actress, has captivated audiences on the Broadway stage, television series and specials, films, concert appearances and recordings. Ms. Ebersole is a Paper Mill Playhouse favorite who starred in several Paper Mill shows including Mame, Paper Moon and Shenandoah.
One of her first jobs was as an understudy in the Broadway musical On the Twentieth Century, followed by her turn as Ado Annie in Oklahoma! From there it was on to Ryan's Hope, One Life to Live and Saturday Night Live before landing the high-profile role of Guinevere opposite Richard Burton in Camelot.
Ms. Ebersole then shifted her focus from stage to screen and soon headed to Hollywood, appearing in many hit movies, including Amadeus, Tootsie and Richie Rich. She added an extensive list of television credits as well, including The Cavanaughs, Valerie and the title role in Rachel Gunn, R.N.
Her ensuing New York stage performances include her Tony Award-winning performance as Dorothy Brock in the smash hit revival of 42nd Street, Steel Magnolias, The Best Man, and Dinner at Eight, for which she received both Tony and Outer Critics Circle nominations.
Ms. Ebersole received virtually every Off-Broadway award and her second Tony Award for Leading Actress in a Musical for her dual role as Edith Bouvier Beale and "Little Edie" Beale in Grey Gardens. Acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, the show was nominated for ten Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and its CD was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Ms. Ebersole's career continued to arc with her starring role in Blithe Spirit on Broadway with Angela Lansbury and her many guest appearances on innumerable popular television series, including her recurring role as Ms. "New Parts" Newberg in the hit cable show Royal Pains. Ms. Ebersole continues to appear in numerous concert halls and cabaret venues throughout the country, including performances in City Center Encores!, at Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, the Kennedy Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Feinstein's and Café Carlyle.
Margo Seibert (Danielle de Barbarac) is, according to USA Today, "a Broadway newcomer with a delicately compelling presence and a throbbing, textured singing voice that lets us hear the character coming out of her shell." Last season, she made her debut on the Great White Way singing the music of Ahrens & Flaherty as Adrian in Rocky, as well as giving a tour-de-force (and Drama Desk-nominated) performance in the original musical Tamar of the River. Across the board, she has been recognized for her depth of character and nuanced vocal performance.
James Snyder (Prince Henry) has been seen on stage and screen, notably in Broadway's If/Then and Cry-Baby, for which he received a Drama League Award nomination. His additional theater credits include Johnny Baseball at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Fanny at New York City Center, Broadway: Three Generations at The Kennedy Center, Rock of Ages (Los Angeles, Las Vegas), Oedipus the King, Mama (Troubadour Theater Co.), Happy Days, The Fantasticks (Sacramento Music Circus), Hamlet, Sneaux, Oklahoma! and Star Wars Trilogy in 30 Minutes. On television, he has appeared in Blue Bloods, Drop Dead Diva, CSI, Without a Trace, Cold Case, Gilmore Girls, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, among others. Mr. Snyder's film credits include She's the Man, An American in China, Anderson's Cross, Shuttle and Pretty Persuasion (Sundance Film Festival).
Charl Brown (Captain Laurent) received a 2013 Tony Award nomination for best performance by a featured actor in a musical for his performance as Smokey Robinson in Motown. Brown was also seen in the Broadway companies of Jersey Boys and Sister Act.
Mara Davi (Marguerite de Ghent) appeared in the Broadway productions of The Drowsy Chaperone, A Chorus Line and Irving Berlin's White Christmas. In addition to playing Dana on The Good Wife, Ms. Davi had recurring roles on Smash and Blue Bloods.
Annie Funke (Jacqueline de Ghent) was seen on Broadway in Hairspray and off-Broadway in Silence! The Musical. Ms. Funke has worked at regional theaters around the country including The Kennedy Center, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Stages St. Louis and Music Theatre Wichita.
Julie Halston (Queen Marie) was recently seen on Broadway in You Can't Take It With You. Ms. Halston's other Broadway credits include Anything Goes, Hairspray, Twentieth Century, Gypsy, The Women and The Man Who Came to Dinner. Ms. Halston was a guest star on Law & Order and had recurring roles on Sex and the City and All My Children.
Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Gustave) returns to Paper Mill Playhouse, where he previously appeared as Crutchie in Newsies. Mr. Keenan-Bolger's Broadway credits include Newsies, Mary Poppins, Seussical, Beauty and the Beast and A Christmas Carol. As a filmmaker, Andrew is co-creator of the web series Submissions Only, now in its third season.
Charles Shaughnessy (King Francis) was seen on Broadway in Urinetown. Mr. Shaughnessy starred in the successful CBS show The Nanny opposite Fran Drescher for six years. Mr. Shaughnessy's other television credits include Castle, Days of Our Lives, CSI: NY, Mad Men, Law & Order, Hot in Cleveland and more. He appeared in the feature film Denial with Jason Alexander and Patrick Dempsey, Second Chances, The Painting, and Kids in America as well as several TV Movies.
Tony Sheldon (Leonardo da Vinci) was nominated for a Tony Award and won the 2011 Theatre World award for his performance as Bernadette in Priscilla Queen of the Desert. He also played the role in Australia, New Zealand, England and Canada. Mr. Sheldon has appeared in many Australian productions including Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Producers, Into the Woods, The Glass Menagerie and more.
Zina Goldrich (Composer), along with lyricist Marcy Heisler, is the 2009 winner of the Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriting. Last season, Ms. Goldrich earned a Drama Desk Nomination for Best Music for her work on the DR2 Theatre production of Dear Edwina. She also composed the score for Junie B. Jones, which completed three successful off-Broadway runs for Theatreworks USA and was twice nominated for the Lucille Lortel Award. Other scores include Allison Under the Stars and Adventures in Love. She has composed for Johnny and the Sprites and Pooh's Learning Adventures, and she was a staff songwriter for Walt Disney Feature Animation. Ms. Goldrich studied under Jerry Goldsmith in the USC Scoring for Motion Picture and Television program. She is the recipient of ASCAP's Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, the Seldes-Kanin Fellowship, a Jonathan Larson grant and numerous scholarships. On Broadway she played keyboards for Avenue Q, Bombay Dreams, Oklahoma and Titanic, where she also conducted. Currently, Zina Goldrich is scoring episodes of Wonderpets for Nickelodeon and Third and Bird for the BBC.
Marcy Heisler (Book and Lyrics) is co-recipient, with composer Zina Goldrich, of the 2009 Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theatre Songwriting. She earned a 2009 Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Lyrics for Dear Edwina and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Junie B. Jones, Other collaborations with Zina Goldrich include Adventures in Love, Allison Under the Stars, and The Marcy and Zina Show, which tours throughout the U.S. and Canada. As a lyricist, Ms. Heisler has contributed songs for many Disney projects, including Johnny and the Sprites, Pooh's Learning Adventures, and The D Show. As an adaptor, she wrote new versions of 101 Dalmatians, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and The Jungle Book for Disney Theatricals, and she collaborated with composer Michael Picton on songs for Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus 137th Edition. Ms. Heisler has collaborated with composer Zina Goldrich since 1993, and they are past recipients of ASCAP's Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award and the Seldes-Kanin Fellowship.
Kathleen Marshall (Director and Choreographer) has received three Tony Awards (out of nine nominations), three Drama Desk Awards, three Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Astaire Award, the George Abbott Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, the Pennsylvania Governor's Award for the Arts and was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania.
Ms. Marshall directed and choreographed the Broadway productions of Nice Work If You Can Get It, Anything Goes, Grease, The Pajama Game and Wonderful Town. She choreographed the Broadway productions of Boeing- Boeing, Little Shop of Horrors, Follies, Seussical, Kiss Me, Kate, Ring Round the Moon, 1776 and Swinging on a Star, as well as the West End revival of Kiss Me, Kate. She served as assistant choreographer to her brother, Rob Marshall, on the Broadway productions of Kiss of the Spider Woman, She Loves Me and Damn Yankees.
Ms. Marshall is an Artistic Associate of City Center Encores!, where she was the Artistic Director for four seasons. For Encores!, she directed and choreographed I'm Getting My Act Together . . . , Bells Are Ringing, Applause, 70 Girls 70, House of Flowers, Carnival, Hair, Wonderful Town and Babes in Arms.
For the New York Shakespeare Festival, she directed and choreographed Two Gentleman of Verona, and for Second Stage Theatre, she directed and choreographed Saturday Night, the New York premiere of Stephen Sondheim's first musical.
For ABC/Disney, she directed and choreographed Once Upon a Mattress, starring Tracey Ullman and Carol Burnett, and choreographed The Music Man, starring Matthew Broderick (Emmy nomination). She also choreographed the musical sequences in the film My Week With Marilyn.
She recently directed Joe DiPietro's Living on Love at the Williamstown Theatre Festival starring Renée Fleming, which is opening on Broadway this spring. Ms. Marshall is an Associate Artist of the Roundabout Theatre Company.
Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Music Supervisor) won the 2007 Drama Desk Award for outstanding orchestrations for her work on Company. On Broadway Ms. Campbell also served as musical director for The Addams Family, Big Fish and Finding Neverland.
 

Footage

Extra carricular

A post-show talkback with the audience. Can't believe we only have a week to go. (And thanks for the lovely card, Janet!)

We were also guests at the Glugs luncheon. With Laurence Coy (The Innkeeper), Ross Chisari (Sancho) and Marika Aubrey (Aldonza) representing Squabbalogic!

Committed to CD

So today we all came in to the theatre and our producer/sound designer Jessica Burns put us into our microphones...

And we recorded the cast album of LA MANCHA! We'll have a listen to it next week and (if we all agree we like it) then it will be released to an unsuspecting world!

The Marika Aubrey/Ross Chisari/ Old Fogey combination might shoot to Number 1 on the charts!!

Book Launch

The Algonquin Kid – the Book Launches April 2nd

March 8, 2015 -         

On Thursday, April 2, from 6-8 PM, New York’s Drama Book Shop, 250 West 40th Street, NYC will host the launch of the new book by Michael Elihu Colby: The Algonquin Kid: Adventures Growing Up at New York’s Legendary Hotel.

Published by BearManor Media, the book The Algonquin Kid covers the years Michael ‘s grandparents, Ben and Mary Bodne, owned the legendary Algonquin Hotel (from 1946-1987), spearheading a cultural renaissance there. Lerner and Loewe wrote My Fair Lady at the Algonquin. Marilyn Monroe flashed Mary Bodne on the corner. B ellmen scrambled to find an Oscar winner’ s missing bag of marijuana. And Michael would visit his grandparents (later moving into the hotel), encountering the glittering likes of Noel Coward, Ella Fitzgerald (who sang to him at breakfast) , Angela Lansbury, and Laurence Olivier.
The book also reveals how the Bodnes turned the hotel into a haven for victims of 1950 s McCarthyism and a home away from home for such Black Americans as Ella Fitzgerald, Roy Wilkins, and Maya Angelou. Amid the hotel’s parade of illustrious figures ( some on a meteoric rise, some in tragic decline) . Ultimately, Michael found his own place in the topsy-turvy world of the Broadway theatre and musicals.
Performing will be stars of the Algonquin’s Oak Room, ”Steve Ross (who opened the room), Broadway’s Tovah Feldshuh, and KT Sullivan (now head of the Mabel Mercer Foundation and Lincoln Center Cabaret Convention). Other guest stars (singing numbers from Colby shows) include Tony Sheldon (PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT), Klea Blackhurst (EVERYTHING THE TRAFFIC WILL ALLOW), Christina Bianco (FORBIDDEN BROADWAY), Jessica Grové (A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC), Michael Winther (MAMA MIA!) and Jack Urbont (Emmy winning composer). The musical director is Michael Lavine. And there will be refreshments, lots of Algonquin alumni, and book signings.
Also expected to attend are cabaret stars Julie Budd and Peggy Eason, as well as Larry Hart II (nephew of Lorenz Hart) and such Broadway luminaries (many who’ve appeared in Michael’s musicals) as Merle Louise (SWEENEY TODD), Michael McCormick (1776), Lori Tan Chinn (TV’s Orange Is the New Black) and Bethe Austin (WHOOPIE!).

The Next One

Paper Mill Playhouse is presenting the WORLD PREMIERE of this sparkling new musical of EVER AFTER based on the 1998 film starring Drew Barrymore and Anjelica Huston. Danielle is a strong-willed, independent woman who befriends Leonardo da Vinci and makes her own dreams come true. 

EVER AFTER, THE MUSICAL is choreographed & directed by three-time Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall.

 

Starring two-time Tony Award winner CHRISTINE EBERSOLE as the evil Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent,  with CHARLES SHAUGHNESSY as King Francis and TONY SHELDON as Leonardo Da Vinci.

Producer: Paper Mill Playhouse 
Director/Choreographer: Kathleen Marshall 
Book and Lyrics: Marcy Heisler 
Music: Zina Goldrich 
Music Supervisor: Mary-Mitchell Campbell Previews begin: May 21 
Opening night is: May 31 
Closing performance is: June 21 

This is no fairy tale.  EVER AFTER sets the record straight on the fable of CINDERELLA. It was never about fairy godmothers, talking mice, or magic pumpkins. Her name was Danielle and it was always about her wit, her smarts, her strength, and her good friend Leonardo da Vinci.  She makes her own dreams come true. Warm and romantic, funny and smart, this is the musical you’ve been waiting for.

Ever After will be performed at Paper Mill Playhouse eight times a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Performance schedule: Wednesday at 7:00pm, Thursday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm, Friday at 7:00pm, Saturday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm and Sunday at 1:30pm and 7:00pm. Tickets are on sale now and range from $28 to $99. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973.376.4343973.376.4343, at the Paper Mill Playhouse Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at www.PaperMill.org.