Tuesday Tidbits- A "Little" Problem for "Night Music"??

If you and I were to put together a list of 10 musicals to revive that were certain to pack houses, we likely wouldn't have included "A Little Night Music". In fact, I doubt it would have made a top 25 list. However, through some very savvy and inspired casting decisions, the shows producers have done big business despite mixed reviews. The team of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Landsbury have overcome a rather shoddy directing job by Trevor Nunn, and have provided a formidable 1-2 punch at the box office. However, their contracts are up in June, and neither one is staying on with the production.

This creates a precarious situation for the future of the show, which probably needs around another 5 or 6 months of big houses to get closer to recouping. The production is good, but not strong enough to without a big name on the marquee. How do you replace an Oscar winner and multiple Tony winner?

According to reports yesterday on PerezHilton.com, the producers are negotiating with the real life mother/daughter team of Gwyneth Paltrow and Blythe Danner. It's certainly an interesting idea, especially if Gwyneth's role in the upcoming "Iron Man 2" revives a career that hasn't included a commercial, mass appeal project since 2002. It would seem to all hinge on whether people still care about Gwyneth? Or is she perceived as the "woman who is married to that guy from Coldplay"? Time will tell

In Other News:

What happens when the budget for your "Spiderman" musical matches the budget of the film franchise? You end up with a dark theater with lots of posters and no stars. Alan Cumming has officially dropped out of the show to take a role on an ABC TV Series. Spiderman is allegedly still opening next February at the Hilton Theater.

-Tony nominee J. Robert Spencer has announced that he is leaving "Next to Normal" in May. Perhaps this is wishful thinking on my part, but this seems like a perfect time for the amazing Brian D'arcy James to return to the show. He originated the role of Dan in both the Arena Stage and Off Broadway incarnations of the show, before leaving to play the title role in Shrek.

By the way, does Mr. James still kick himself over that decision? I'm in the minority of people who loved Shrek, and loved his performance in particular. Still though, one show went on to win a Tony Awards and a Pulitzer... the other lost the gross national product of Tanzania for it's investors.