Michael Dale - Page 142

The Palace Theatre.  An engagement to appear before an audience at that aptly named showplace, where the kings and queens of vaudeville would hold court on a 2-a-day schedule, was once the Holy Grail of show business.  'Playing The Palace' was the dream of every vaudeville performer and the term is still used today to describe someone who has reached the top of their profession.  And for those who headlined at The Palace… Well, having top billing at The Palace used to mean that you were among the best stage performers that American entertainment had to offer.

There's a great moment in Cecil B. DeMille's gloriously overblown epic, The Ten Commandments, when Sir Cedric Hardwicke, playing Pharaoh Sethi, upon discovering that his beloved son Moses is really Hebrew, makes a proclamation that the name of Moses must be stricken from the history books, despite his many heroic accomplishments for Egypt, and that his name never be spoken again.  Moses, as far as Egypt was concerned, will have never existed.

When a cabaret show is promoted as containing 'an eclectic mix of style and sound,' I generally don't expect to hear 8, count 'em 8, Rodgers and Hart classics, but who am I to question Christian Hoff's good taste in music?  Though never officially announced, Hoff was to star in a proposed Broadway revival of Pal Joey, and though that project has been placed on hold, his one-night gig at The Metropolitan Room this past Monday night, titled 'Exiled,' often seemed like a preview of how he'd play the title role.

Robert Patrick, that legendary pioneer of Gay Theatre, may spend most of his time on that other coast these days, but his heart always remains at a little storefront on Cornelia Street that once housed the birthplace of Off-Off Broadway, the Caffe Cino.  One of my first assignments for BroadwayWorld was an interview with that remarkably colorful playwright, where he shared vivid memories of that exciting time in American theatre when he and the likes of Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson and John Guare enjoyed complete artistic freedom in seeing their early efforts staged.  Bernadette Peters starred in the original one-act version of Dames At Sea on the tiny Cino stage.

They say there are three things a guy should never say to a woman on a first date:1)      I have commitment issues.2)      I have mother issues.3)      I really liked Neil LaBute's last play.No other playwright around is known for pushing angering buttons like Neil LaBute, yet both times I've reviewed one of his plays he's sent me a nice little complimentary email thanking me for my comments, so to me he seems like a sweet guy.His recent piece for 'The Guardian,' titled 'How American Theatre Lost It,' isn't exactly going to win him an invitation to present at the Tony Awards ('And now to present this year's Tony for choreography, let's welcome Neil LaBute and Sutton Foster!') but I found it an enjoyable read.  That is, until the last paragraph where he makes a blanket dismissal of musicals.  Maybe Michael John LaChiusa can introduce him to some good ones.

Shortly after word started spreading through the internet tonight about the announced June 1st closing of the Broadway production of Rent, BroadwayWorld's News Editor, Eugene Lovendusky, started a thread on our Broadway message board asking readers to share their experiences of seeing Jonathan Larson's breakthrough achievement for the first time. I'll be checking in on that thread and enjoying the stories but first I'd like to share my first Rent experience here. If you know me personally you've probably heard this one before. I've told it a lot in the past 12 years

Unless the painters have been around the past few days, a bit of graffiti on the Classic Stage Company's men's room wall reads, 'Good Theatre + Great Coffee + Clean Bathroom = CSC.'  While the lobby's Everyman Espresso Café and (I would assume) some eager young intern are keeping the latter two parts of that equation accurate, director Walter Bobbie's premiere production of David Ives' New Jerusalem is indeed providing some good theatre.

Teri Ralston's Broadway career may only consist of small roles in two musicals but those two musicals, as they say on the Brooklyn side of Shubert Alley, were cherce.  Her young soprano can be heard in scattered solo moments on the original Broadway cast albums of Company (as Jenny) and A Little Night Music (as Mrs. Nordstrom), but she's probably most known among musical theatre fans for her delicate and lovely performance of Stephen Schwartz's 'Chanson' in the original didn't-make-it-to-Broadway cast album of The Baker's Wife.

As foreign as the concept may seem to 21st Century playgoers, there was a time, so I'm told, when audience members freshly entertained by Gotham's newest theatrical endeavors would not rush home to discuss their reactions on the internet.  Instead, elegant couples, rowdy intellectuals and distinguished middle-aged gentlemen with their pretty young 'nieces' in tow would gather at one of Longacre (later known as Times) Squares' numerous emerging supper clubs and nightspots to mingle, refresh and perhaps even converse about the evening's entertainment.

Welcome to Showtime, my new little corner table of the blogosphere.  But I'm not the only one with a new blog.  David Mamet has one, too, and no, you don't have to turn off your Safe Search to log on.  Actually, it's a blog written in the point of view of President Charles H.P. Smith, the character played by Nathan Lane in Mamet's new play, November, including such nuggets of political wisdom as, 'America has trusted old white males for over 200 years.  Why stop now?'  (Not a bad campaign slogan for Mike Huckabee, I'd say.)

The ongoing steroid scandal that has rocked Major League Baseball apparently has Broadway connections. Nathan Lane has admitted to using the performance-enhancing drug during his Tony-winning run in The Producers. The admission comes after learning of an investigative report in the upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated that connects him with Yankee star and admitted steroid user Alex 'A-Rod' Rodriguez.

In response to ongoing complaints by ticket-buyers whenever top-billed stars miss performances, The Broadway League and The American Theatre Wing have announced that, beginning with the 2009-10 season, Tonys will be awarded in a new category, Perfect Attendance.

After seeing 210 live productions in 2008, Michael Dale picks ten memorable moments some readers may have missed.

New York Post Theatre Columnist Michael Riedel was among the first round of honorees announced for this year's Pulitzer Prize, winning the award for distinguished work in journalism.

According to the musical's bookwriter, Arthur Laurents, the Broadway revival of West Side Story projected for the 2008-09 season will feature a revised score with new songs by the Spring Awakening team of composer Duncan Sheik and lyricist Steven Sater.

10 moments that linger in my mind as the most memorable of 2007. Please share yours.

The Irish Rep puts up a smart and well-acted production of Shaw's American Revolution comedy.

The uneasy humor in Harold Pinter's 1960's drama eventually reveals a North London family that turns out to be discomfortingly functional.

Jordan Harrison's comedy on the power of music doesn't lack for imagination and high ambition while Conor McPherson's Christmas tale boasts an excellent ensemble.

David Henry Hwang's hilarious new play recalls the Miss Saigon controversy, Shakespeare's Cymbeline gets a gorgeous production at Lincoln Center and Barry Williams (a/k/a Greg Brady) shows off some impressive musical comedy skills.