Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals

Whoopi Goldberg? In Xanadu?

It just goes to show you, even the best shows can fall victim to the curse that is stunt casting. According to Playbill.com, Whoopi Goldberg will soon be joining the Broadway cast of Xanadu, filling in for a vacationing Jackie Hoffman as Hoffman heads off to promote her new CD.

Goldberg is certainly no stranger to stunt casting, having previously taken Nathan Lane's place as Pseudolous in the recent Broadway revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. As I've said before, I'm all for stunt casting if it keeps an otherwise worthy show running, but I can't help thinking that Whoopi will be more of a distraction than an enhancement to my beloved Xanadu.

Goldberg joins the Xanadu cast on July 29th, and will play the role of Calliope for six weeks thereafter. I've already seen the show twice, and happily so, but I can't really see myself taking the show in again just to see Whoopi. Then again, I'll be down in the city once a month until the end of the year, so it will depend on what else there is to see during my upcoming visits. 

Will Kelli O'Hara Reprise Eliza?

Despite my best efforts to appear subversive and shifty, I was in fact impaneled on a jury today. I can't talk about the case. (And don't particularly care to: Yawn City.)

But I had to pass on some inchoate yet intriguing news about the delightful Kelli O'Hara. She recently told Parade magazine (so it MUST be true), that she'd love to play Eliza Doolittle in a Broadway revival of My Fair Lady. In fact she even said that she'd gladly postpone having a family for the possibility.

O'Hara played the role last year with the New York Philharmonic, opposite Kelsey Grammer as Henry Higgins. I wasn't able to see it (Anyone?), but have no trouble imagining O'Hara in the part, and doing a bang-up job of it. O'Hara is currently playing to packed houses in South Pacific, and although I've made my views about the show plain, I remain an ardent fan of O'Hara and her numerous charms.

O'Hara's wish to reprise Eliza on Broadway is hardly a pipe dream, since there appears to be some definite talk about bringing the show back, despite the fact that the Lerner and Loewe classic played the Rialto as recently as 1994 with Melissa Errico and Richard Chamberlain.

Quoth O’Hara: "My husband and I have talked about this. As much as we want to have children, if I were offered My Fair Lady, then he agreed that I should do it. Any other show, we’d choose to have a kid.”

Wow. I say we give the gal a shot. Are ya with me?

Pal Joey Gets Super Cast

The upcoming Roundabout Theater revival of Pal Joey is quickly garnering must-see status by amassing a first-class cast.

As long rumored, Tony winner Christian Hoff will play Joey Evans, a role that he was truly born to play. The magnificent Stockard Channing will make her long-overdue return to Broadway as the bewitched, bothered, and bewildered Vera Simpson. Joining them will be two-time Tony nominee Martha Plimpton as Gladys Bumps, a role that will apparently be much more prominent once playwright Richard Greenberg is through with his adaptation.

Greenberg has his work cut out for him. As a show, Pal Joey is historically significant for numerous reasons, including using dance for dramatic purpose, as well as being the first significant use of an anti-hero (a main character who isn't exactly an angel) in a musical. Yeah, we see anti-heroes all the time now (Sweeney Todd, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Producers, Gypsy, etc.), but way back in 1940 it was a novelty, prompting critic Brooks Atkinson to famously ask "Can you draw sweet water from a foul well?" As significant as Pal Joey is, the book is creaky at best, and could certainly use a good tune-up.

The show will sport direction by Joe Mantello (Wicked, Assassins) and choreography by always-a-Tony- bridesmaid-never-a-Tony-bride Graciela Daniele. Performances for this limited engagement of Pal Joey begin in November, toward a December opening. As a Roundabout subscriber, I already have my ticket, and I'm greatly looking forward to seeing what this top-notch cast and first-rate production team are going to put together.

More Spamalot Stunt Casting

As if the Broadway production of Spamalot hadn't already jumped the shark with Clay Aiken, comes news that the long-running hit will soon star former 98 Degrees member Drew Lachey and "7th Heaven" star Stephen Collins.

Spamalot has so far racked up more than 1,300 performances, but is showing definite signs of winding down its run. The show regularly appears on the board at TKTS -- which explains why the average ticket price for the show has been hovering around $75 -- and has been playing at about 80% capacity since the first of the year.

Lachey is no newcomer to stunt casting: he played Roger in Rent for seven months a few years back. Times Square had a big beefcake poster of him staring languidly at the camera. ('Cuz, that's what Rent is all about, right?) I'm not sure that bringing in Stephen Collins constitutes stunt casting, though. Sure, he's a TV name, but I can't imagine too many people are going to buy a ticket just because the dad from "7th Heaven" is in the show. (I could be wrong. It's happened before.) Collins actually has quite a few Broadway credits to his name, but anyone familiar with the cast recording to Putting it Together knows that his singing voice is...well...the less said the better, really.

It's no surprise that Collins will play the King Arthur role, but you'd think that Lachey would be Sir Lancelot, or even Sir Galahad. In fact, he's going to play Patsy. You know: the grubby guy with the coconuts, manservant to King Arthur. Hardly the glamor role one might expect for a former teen idol, although Patsy does get a couple big numbers in the second act, including "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." Perhaps there are some Mario Lopez-esque costume changes in store: Patsy in a tank top? Patsy in spandex shorts?

In other Spamalot news, the London company is engaging in a little stunt casting of its own by bringing in Sanjeev Bhaskar, better known to BBC audiences as the host of "The Kumars at No. 42," who takes over the King Arthur role later this month. (Could King Arthur have been of Indian descent? That's a provocative genealogical notion, but methinks it's really just an extreme case of color-blind casting.) The London production of Spamalot has also announced that it will close in January of 2009, and will have played more than two years at that point. It's not often you hear about closing notices that are that far in advance. And it's interesting that Spamalot would run longer in America than in Monty Python country.

Perhaps the Brits are used to the real thing, and would thus be less enamored with imitation Python. 

Harry Connick on Broadway: Act 2

More news on the hotties-returning-to-Broadway front. Tony nominee Harry Connick Jr. is planning his next New York theatrical outing in yet another "new Gershwin musical," this one called Nice Work If You Can Get It. Connick proved himself a fine comic actor as Grace's sometimes husband on "Will & Grace," although he was often a bit stiff in the recent revival of The Pajama Game.

Connick's PG director, Kathleen Marshall, will direct and choreograph NWIYCGI, which will hopefully help her atone for the sins of Grease. The book for will come from Joe DiPietro, who penned the long-running I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change and the not-so-long-running All Shook Up. At one point, the show was called Heaven on Earth, and was purportedly based on the original Gershwin musical Oh, Kay!, although it's not clear whether that remains the case. The show also appeared at the Goodspeed Opera House in 2001 under the title They All Laughed.

When I say "yet another" new Gershwin musical, I of course refer to the fact that everyone seems to think the Gershwin songbook is ripe for the picking when it comes to putting together a "new" show. You might think that the idea of a "jukebox" musical is a relatively recent invention, but people have been plundering George Gershwin's marvelous work ever since he passed away in 1937. My One and Only and Crazy for You are only the most recent examples. Hollywood also recycled Gershwin tunes for quite a few movies, including "An American in Paris" "Funny Face," "Rhapsody in Blue," and the disastrous "They All Laughed." 

Of course, there are many reasons that it's so tempting to appropriate Gershwin songs. Firstly, they're just so many of them that are outstanding. But it's also because most of them were written at at time when show songs didn't always have a tremendous amount to do with the show itself. Many of the songs were just written to be hits, and if the song happened to serve some purpose in the show, well, even better. It's interesting to note that you rarely see anything from Of Thee I Sing, Let 'Em Eat Cake, or Porgy and Bess in any of these compilation shows, because those three Gershwin shows were crafted post-Show Boat, a time when the creators of musical theater were much more interested in creating integrated works.

Nice Work if You Can Get It is currently scheduled for a February 2009 opening in New York after a December tryout at Boston's Colonial Theater.

Hugh Jackman in A Star Is Born?

We've been hearing so much lately about Hugh Jackman returning to the Broadway stage, so it would behoove us all to take this latest possibility with an entire lick of salt. In recent months, the criminally hot Mr. Jackman has been said to be considering a return to the New York in Pal Joey (true, but plans fell through), Leap of Faith (true, but just in a workshop production), and Stop the World - I Want to Get Off (not true, and we can all be thankful for that).

The latest purported vehicle for The Return of the Jack Man, according to Michael Riedel of The New York Post, is a stage version of the Judy Garland movie A Star Is Born. No, Jackman won't be playing the Judy role in drag; he's considering the role of Norman Maine, played in the movie by James Mason. Michael John LaChiusa will adapt the book from the original screenplay (by Moss Hart and Dorothy Parker, no less). The production will also feature the original Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin songs, including "The Man That Got Away" and the "Born in a Trunk" sequence. Presumably, LaChiusa will also supply any addition songs that the show requires.

I don't know about you, but Michael John LaChiusa is the LAST person I would expect to be working on a project like this. I've always admired his shows (Hello Again, The Wild Party, Marie Christine, See What I Wanna See, Bernarda Alba, First Lady Suite, Little Fish, etc.), but I've never really enjoyed any of them. They usually seem to me like master's theses set to music: lots of clever ideas, but not a lot of palpable human emotion. But perhaps this will be the show in which the Tin Man finds a heart.

Anyway, back to Hugh Jackman. The last time I was in London, I stayed with a friend who lives one street over from Jackman's London flat. In fact, you can see Hugh's bedroom windows from my friend's home office. (See photo left: they're the ones in the middle, top floor, with the shades drawn. Sigh.) Alas, Hugh was not in residence while I was in London. So I guess I'm going to have to wait to see if this A Star Is Born production ever comes to fruition. Either that or I could offer my houseboy services to my London friend in exchange for stalking privileges.

[NOTE TO INTERPOL: Kidding.]

More Shrek Casting - James and Tartaglia

More casting info for the upcoming Shrek musical has emerged, including news of who'll be playing the central roles of Shrek and Donkey: Broadway vet Brian d'Arcy James will take on the title role, and Chester Gregory II will be his four-legged sidekick. Tony nominee John Tartaglia will play Pinocchio, a tiny role in the movie that will apparently be larger in the stage version (else why bring in Tartaglia?). 

As previously announced, Christopher Sieber will play Lord Farquad (leaving his Sir Galahad role in Spamalot to one Bradley Dean), and Sutton Foster will be Princess Fiona (and will likely be well rid of her role as Inga in the floundering Young Frankenstein). Kecia Lewis-Evans will play the Dragon, which was a non-speaking role in the movie, but that will presumably change on stage.

I've heard from numerous sources that the score needs work. Yes, one of those sources was Michael Riedel, who's been making some snarky comments in his New York Post column that the songs "weren't tuneful" and the lyrics "weren't clever." But I've also heard from other people who've attended the workshops that things weren't quite where they needed to be if this show is going to be a crowd-pleasing money machine.

As Young Frankenstein proves, there's got to be some thought and effort behind even the most seemingly sure-fire hits, or else the word gets around, and the advance gets thinner. The producers of Shrek are assembling a strong cast of Broadway pros, but the cast of Young Frankenstein aren't exactly amateurs, and it ain't making up for the lack of quality in the book and the score.

Jeanine Tesori, who's composing the music for Shrek, is an immensely talented musician, and has proven herself adept at both light-hearted fare (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and more high-minded offerings (Caroline, or Change). David Lindsay-Abaire, who's doing the lyrics and the book, may have won a Pulitzer Prize (in 2007 for Rabbit Hole), but he has only one previous musical under his belt, the flop High Fidelity. That's gotta give the folks at Dreamworks some cause for concern. Director Jason Moore did a bang-up job on Avenue Q, so maybe he'll be able to pull everything together during the show's Seattle tryout in time for its Broadway bow in November.

Kevin Federline in Legally Blonde?

Another sign of the impending apocalypse: US magazine reports that Kevin Federline may be joining the cast of Broadway's Legally Blonde. Presumably as Warner, the part originated by Richard Blake? Or perhaps as the UPS guy that Paulette falls for? Or maybe even the "Is he gay or European?" dude at the trial? Certainly not as Emmet, the good guy who gets the girl, a part originated by the talented Christian Borle?

I was willing to cut the show some slack for its upcoming MTV reality show. (Especially when one of my recent Boston Conservatory students, Chloe Tucker, was chosen to participate. Break a leg, Chloe!) I mean, if some cheap publicity stunt keeps a bunch of worthy actors working, what's the big deal, right?

But Kevin Federline? The former Mr. Britney Spears? Come on. How much lower on the celebrity food chain can you go? Who else is on their list? Fabio? Kato Kaelin? Lyle Menendez? How's about we dig up Anna Nicole Smith and prop her up in the background? It would certainly garner some attention, and that's really what it's all about, right?

Perhaps the producers of this energetic but flawed show (see my review) should embrace the inevitable, let the show run its natural course, and then free up the venerable Palace Theater for a more deserving tenant.

[UPDATE: Call off the apocalypse. According to US magazine, the Federline deal fell through because of "money issues." Shucks and darn.] 

Mario Lopez as Zach in A Chorus Line

I actually laughed out loud when I read this.

Mario Lopez will join the current revival of A Chorus Line on April 15th. You know, Mario Lopez. He of "Saved By the Bell," "The Bold and the Beautiful," and the abortive male clone of "The View" called "The Other Half." He will take over the central role of Zach, the director, from Michael Berresse.

The paucity of his theatrical credits aside, will Lopez actually be executing the choreography? 'Cuz that's some pretty hard dancing that Zach has to do in the opening number. I know he was on "Dancing with the Stars," but this is Michael Bennett's A Chorus Line, not his Ballroom. Now, I'm willing to give almost anyone the benefit of the doubt, but this casting "coup" strains credulity.

The show has been playing to half-empty houses for a while, but it never occurred to me that the producers would engage in stunt casting to keep it going, let alone stunt casting this ridiculous and desperate. Somehow I must have instinctively felt that the producers of such an august show would be above that sort of maneuver.

Apparently not.

So, Mario Lopez, huh? Are they going after the gay audience? Or the swooning teenage-girl crowd? Not sure why: Zach is offstage 90% of the time. I know because I've played the part twice. So it's not like the audience is going to have much opportunity to stare at his ass.

Oh, and check out the head shot. Have you ever seen so much air-brushing? It looks like one of those velvet Elvis paintings or some misbegotten horror from Thomas Kincade, "painter of light."

Maybe they can bring in Elizabeth Berkley to play Cassie. Or Danny Bonaduce to play Connie. Or Wilford Brimley to play Sheila. Heck, it doesn't matter, as long as they sell a few tickets, right?

South Pacific's Paulo Szot on YouTube

I continue to come across images of opera star Paulo Szot. (All right, so I don't so much "come across" them as actively seek them out. What's your point?) Szot makes his Broadway debut this season with the current Lincoln Center Theater revival of South Pacific.

Those interested in previewing Szot's vocal style can check out a few clips of his singing on YouTube. Here's one of him singing something by Ravel. His lower register seems a bit thin, but his upper range appears quite strong. (Then, of course, there's the hair. Oh, my God, the hair. It's Billy Ray Cyrus in a fancy tux.) 

Another YouTube clip features Szot performing in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. I can't quite focus on his performance here because he just looks so friggin' hot. The hair is much better, and that costume is incredibly flattering. (But what's up with the shark-skin pants?) Forcing myself to see beyond the veneer, it appears that Szot has a very rich voice overall. The scene, however, seems rather static, so I'll be interested to see whether Szot is going to be one of those stand-and-sing opera-to-musical-theater dilettantes.

There was a time -- and, oh, what a time it was -- in the mid '80s when opera folk descended upon musical theater on studio cast recordings. The chief perpetrators here were Kiri Te Kanawa (My Fair Lady, West Side Story, South Pacific, et al), Jose Carreras (South Pacific, West Side Story), and Placido Domingo (West Side Story, Man of La Mancha). These recordings were almost universally dreadful, especially West Side Story. (Oh, the horror. I get PTSD just thinking about it.)

Let's hope Szot transcends that not-so-grand tradition and singlehandedly acquits past operatic transgressions. No, pressure, Paulo.