We had our first preview performance of ON THE TOWN this past Saturday!
One of the wonderful things about live theater is that each audience member's experience is different. For me, a favorite aspect of live theater is its ability to suspend disbelief and to transport the audience to the world being presented onstage. When it's done well, immersion into the story-telling and production can make the audience forget, at least for a moment, that they are watching a bunch of actors in a play. The experience envelopes them, and before long the audience is crying and laughing along with the characters on the stage.
This fall, one of America's classic musical comedies is back on Broadway - On The Town, featuringTony Yazbeck, Jay Armstrong Johnson and Clyde Alves. ON THE TOWN, the classic musical comedy love letter to New York City, will return to Broadway this fall in a critically acclaimed production directed by John Rando (Tony Award® for Urinetown) and choreographed byJoshua Bergasse. On The Town will begin previews on Saturday, September 20, 2014 and officially open on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at Broadway's Lyric Theatre (213 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036).
The cast of ON THE TOWN just reopened the Lyric Theatre with a special ribbon cutting ceremony on this afternoon, September 19th, along with producers Howard and Janet Kagan, in advance of the show's first preview performance tomorrow, September 20th. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the special event below!
I experienced my first Broadway Sitzprobe this past weekend! The nerdy Asian boy in me needs to explain what a sitzprobe is, for those who don't already know. Sitzprobe (pronounced zits-probe) is a German-derived term literally meaning 'seated test or seated trial.' Of course, the sitzprobe process is widely used across the various performing arts. In the musical theater world, it is when the orchestra members and the actors meet for the first time and do a seated run-through rehearsal of the show. Up until Saturday, we had been listening to our rehearsal pianists and drummer. From what I understand, the score is tremendously difficult to play on the piano, as it was written to be performed by a huge orchestra. So here's a shout-out to our talented rehearsal musicians who have been holding down the fort for us during the past several weeks.
Things are moving along so quickly as the first preview performance of On The Town (September 20) approaches. We have completed teching almost half of our show. One of my favorite songs in the show is 'Lonely Town', performed by Tony Yazbeck (as the sailor Gabey). Tony's voice is hauntingly gorgeous, and the accompanying duet danced by Kristine Covillo and Stephen Hanna is stunning. On The Town is such a comedic show, so it is a refreshing change of pace when we get to the 'Lonely Town' number. I dressed up my dogs, Hugo and Banjo, in sailor outfits and took pictures of them. Enjoy. I imagine them howling out this tune while they are home alone.
Along with my Broadway debut in 'On the Town', I'm thrilled to be making my blogging debut. You can expect to hear about all the exciting happenings with our show leading up to our big opening night on October 16th. This has been an incredible journey. An exhilarating three-week whirlwind of rehearsals has led us to our first week of tech! We pretty much attempted our first stop and start run through of our show by the middle of our second week of rehearsals. The remainder of the time, our director John Rando and choreographer Josh Bergasse chipped at the bit, getting the show in tip top shape before we got into the theatre.
This fall, one of America's classic musical comedies is back on Broadway - On The Town, featuringTony Yazbeck, Jay Armstrong Johnson and Clyde Alves. ON THE TOWN, the classic musical comedy love letter to New York City, will return to Broadway this fall in a critically acclaimed production directed by John Rando (Tony Award® for Urinetown) and choreographed byJoshua Bergasse. Bergasse makes his Broadway debut as a choreographer with the production. On The Town will begin previews on Saturday, September 20, 2014 and officially open on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at Broadway's Lyric Theatre (213 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036). Tickets for the new Broadway revival of On The Town are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
The cast just met the press and below, you can check out photos from their special performance preview!
From the bustling streets of "New York, New York" comes the first major Chicago production of the iconic musical comedy, ON THE TOWN, which started previews August 13 and opened August 20, running through October 12 at The Marriott Theatre, 10 Marriott Drive, Lincolnshire, IL.
This fall, one of America's classic musical comedies is back on Broadway - On The Town, featuring Tony Yazbeck, Jay Armstrong Johnson and Clyde Alves. ON THE TOWN, the classic musical comedy love letter to New York City, will return to Broadway this fall in a critically acclaimed production directed by John Rando (Tony Award® for Urinetown) and choreographed byJoshua Bergasse. Bergasse makes his Broadway debut as a choreographer with the production. On The Town will begin previews on Saturday, September 20, 2014 and officially open on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at Broadway's Lyric Theatre (213 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036). Tickets for the new Broadway revival of On The Town are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com. Check out photos of the marquee at the newly named Lyric below!
We couldn't think of a better way to celebrate today than joining the cast of On The Town to celebrate Independence Day at Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest with a special performance. On The Town stars Clyde Alves, Jay Armstrong Johnson, and Tony Yazbeck performed the famous opening number 'New York, New York', posed with fans (and hot dogs) and more...
ON THE TOWN, the musical comedy love letter to New York City, is set to begin previews on Saturday, September 20, 2014 and officially open on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at Broadway's Lyric Theatre (213 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036). Check out the just-installed marquee below!
ON THE TOWN, the musical comedy love letter to New York City, is set to begin previews on Saturday, September 20, 2014 and officially open on Thursday, October 16, 2014 at Broadway's Lyric Theatre (213 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036). The show's star trio Tony Yazbeck, Jay Armstrong Johnson and Clyde Alves has disembarked in New York City and took to the streets today in uniform -- check out photos (via Instagram) of their tour of the city below!
Videos