Things better left unsaid

May 24, 2009

Forget the Ingénues; Cue the Grown-Ups
By PATRICIA COHEN

HOLLYWOOD has always been a man’s world, but as Pink might sing, so what? On Broadway at least, women can still be rock stars. Among the big-name talents from film and television who have appeared behind Broadway marquees this season are Joan Allen, Jane Fonda, Allison Janney, Susan Sarandon and Kristin Scott Thomas. Along with more than a dozen other equally renowned actresses on New York stages, they have been playing rulers, heroes, scholars and terrorists. As lovers they have been pursued rather than pursuers; as angry combatants they have been the first to resort to violence. Once in a while they even get to sing. And they are all over 40.

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April 29, 2009
An Out-of-Town Overhaul Helps a Musical Find Focus
By PATRICK HEALY

Michael Greif sensed something was wrong. It was February 2008, and Mr. Greif — the director of the Tony Award-winning musicals “Rent” and “Grey Gardens” — was watching his latest production, “Next to Normal,” night after night during its Off Broadway run at Second Stage Theater. In a recent interview he recalled feeling that many audience members were not gasping or flinching at a pivotal revelation in Act I: the main character had just tried to kill herself.

“Everything on stage looked pretty — people weren’t getting that Diana had just bled out all over the living room,” Mr. Greif said, referring to the character Diana Goodman, whose struggle with bipolar disorder is at the heart of this musical. “It was one of several moments where the tone of the show was off. Big moments just weren’t landing.”

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Next to Normal, with Entire Arena Cast, to Play Broadway's Longacre

By Andrew Gans
February 17, 2009

Next to Normal, the acclaimed new musical seen Off-Broadway at Second Stage and more recently at Arlington's Arena Stage, will arrive on Broadway March 27 at the Longacre Theatre, most recently the home of the Tony-winning revival of Boeing-Boeing.

Opening night is April 15.

Michael Grief, who directed both the Off-Broadway and Arena Stage productions, will direct on Broadway as well. The Broadway production will also boast the entire Arena Stage cast: Alice Ripley, J. Robert Spencer, Aaron Tveit, Jennifer Damiano, Adam Chanler-Berat and Louis Hobson. (Ripley, Tveit, Damiano and Chanler-Berat were also in the Second Stage Theatre production.)

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Sh-K-Boom Series at Joe's Pub Will Launch with RIPLEY; Pritchard and TASTiSKANK Follow

By Andrew Gans
August 20, 2008

The Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight concert series at Joe's Pub, which will present a mix of Broadway performers and composers Mondays at 11:30 PM, will kick off Sept. 8 with RIPLEY.

The rock band RIPLEY comprises songwriter/guitarist/lead singer Alice Ripley (Side Show, Next to Normal), drummer Shannon Ford and keyboard player Christopher Schelling. RIPLEY can be heard on the CD "Outtasite."

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James, Kudisch and Murney Will Sing 1965 Tunes; Ripley, Skinner and Klausner Will Tackle 1979

By Andrew Gans
April 22, 2008

Initial casting has been announced for the next two concerts in Scott Siegel's acclaimed Broadway By the Year series at Manhattan's Town Hall.

The Broadway Musicals of 1965 — featuring songs from musicals that bowed on Broadway during that year — will be presented May 12 and will feature the vocal talents of Brian d'Arcy James, Gregg Edelman, Marc Kudisch, Mandy Gonzalez and Julia Murney as well as the dancing of Kendrick Jones, Shannon Lewis, Melinda Sullivan and Lorin Latarro. The latter will also choreograph and stage the concert.

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So... I was rambling on about Sondheim's A Little Night Music and how Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley did a great version of Every Day A Little Death in their concert...

hence, sharing here:

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