Samuel L Jackson to Broadway?

There have been multiple Internet reports that Jackson is in talks to play Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a new play called The Mountaintop. The show chronicles an imaginary exchange between MLK and a chamber maid on the day before his assassination.

Jackson's paycheck is reportedly in the $50,000 a week range. While that seems like an obscenely high number, you have to account for the fact it's only a two person show, so the other expenses can't be too exorbitant. Additionally, the recent box office success of Denzel Washington, Scarlett Johannson, and Catherine Zeta-Jones would lead one to believe that this show has the makings of a huge smash.

Perhaps the only question mark is this. Will the playwright adjust the script to accommodate an actor the caliber of Samuel L. Jackson?? Because I think you really open up a lot of new content when you hire him to play Dr. King

"I'm tired of all these muthaf***in' white supremacists in this muthaf***in' country"

"Can you hand Dr. King his wallet?? It's the one that says 'Bad Muthaf***a' on it"

Come to think of it, if this MLK show works, maybe someone will green light Snakes on a Plane: The Musical, with music by Marc Shaiman??? I guarantee it would be more entertaining than Reba McIntyre in Molly Brown

Why I Hate Alice Ripley- Exhibit B

Last month, in honor of Next to Normal's Pulitzer win, I posted the video of Alice Ripley's unabomber manifesto that masqueraded as a Tony acceptance speech. The moment may go down as the most awful, self indulgent, moment in awards show history.

Then as I was searching YouTube this morning to find Jason Danieley's amazing rendition of the song "What Kind of Fool Am I", this nugget showed up as a related video. Lock in your seat belts and be prepared to ride the Ripley crazy train




I have been breaking this video down frame by frame like it were the effing Zapruder film for the last 40 minutes and am left totally speechless. A few highlights for me

3:54- Was that a fart in the background
4:01- mumbling the line for the 82nd time as she puts on lip gloss
5:42- The creepy laughing
7:20- The eyes, ever so briefly, roll back into the head like the exorcist after she removes her glasses

Look, I studied acting with Kristen Linklater at Emerson College. i get all of the creepy acting techniques that are supposed to help you drill down to the emotional truth of the writing. What I don't get is posting a 10 minute video of it on a page that is supposed to be for your band. Interesting to note that I can't find any videos of Alice's band on this page because it's all videos of her doing weird stuff like this.

then again, I spent ten minutes on a Saturday watching it. So what does that say about me???

Tuesday Tidbits- "Night Music" set to close

After nearly six weeks of rumors regarding replacement casts, producers announced today that the first Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music will close it's doors on June 20, the same day that stars Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Landsbury's contracts are set to end. At it's closing, the show will have played 20 previews and 217 performances.

The show received tepid reviews (including one from this guy), but played to near capacity crowds throughout it's six month run at the Walter Kerr Theater. Certainly, the pairing of Jones and Landsbury was one of the most inspired casting decisions of the season and helped to overcome a rather bland directing job by Trevor Nunn, whose pacing of the first act was so slow that the show might as well have been moving backwards.

Over the last month, Gwyneth Paltrow, Blythe Danner, and Debbie Reynolds were all rumored to be replacements. In the end, none of it materialized, forcing producers to pull the plug earlier than they would have hoped on their reported $4.8 million dollar production.

Many Sondheim fans have been clamoring for a revival of Merrily We Roll Along. How long until someone loses money on that production?

Director Julie Taymor was honored with a lifetime achievement award today at a luncheon sponsored by the New Dramatists. Taymor's body of work includes the stage adaptation of Disney's The Lion King. She also glued a unibrow on Salma Hayak in the 2002 film Frida that nobody saw, despite getting nominated for a lot of awards. Perhaps one day she will best be remembered for singlehandedly setting $60 million dollars on fire in the soon to be disastrous Spiderman musical.

Taymor was hard at work defending the project today, saying "The audience won't get rooked, so they shouldn't be complaining. They'll pay about the same for this show as they would for a two actor, one set show."

Note to Ms. Taymor-- The audiences aren't complaining yet. You still haven't delivered a show for them to hate. The people who should be complaining are the investors and everyone at Hello Entertainment who have invested the gross national product of Malaysia into a show that will never recoup unless you charge five times the ticket price of that two actor show you mentioned.

Spiderman is still allegedly opening this fall.

Spiderman: Turn off the Lights... Please!

Spiderman's road to Broadway has not been an easy one. The show, originally scheduled to open earlier this year, was delayed due to money problems. The production team had already blown through the initial $20 million investment before rehearsals even began. Director Julie Taymor's special effects heavy production would have reportedly cost close to a million dollars a week to produce, making recoupment close to impossible.

At that point, I called Spiderman's producers the most irresponsible in the history of American Theater. What producer in their right mind could so badly mismanage such a huge investment?? Little did I know back in February that the worst was yet to come. New producers were brought in, and the production expense has now tripled to over $60 million dollars. This despite the fact that there is no cast in place or renovations completed at the Hilton Theater. Potential investors are being solicited, at the low cost of ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS! What exactly does one get for that investment? Will Bono come play your kid's Bar Mitzvah?? Will Julie Taymor come dance in your living room while wearing wildlife headpieces left over from The Lion King?? Exactly what would possess even the most starstruck investor to pony up that kind of cash to a production team that has already proven that they are incapable of managing a multi million dollar budget??

The sad news is that some idiot is out there writing an 8 figure check because they feel Spiderman is the most important project in the world. Yet, imagine what that kind of money could do to save arts education programs across America. Did you know that right now, here in cash strapped California, the Los Angeles Unified School District will be cutting arts education by 50% next school year, at a savings of $14 million dollars? You want to find an artistic endeavor worth saving??? Help the LA schools... not Julie Taymor. Maybe your generous contribution will help cultivate the education of the next generation of Broadway actors and producers. I bet they would be a whole lot smarter than some of today's theater decision makers

Box Office Results- The Tony Aftermath

Now that the Tony nominations have been announced, it's interesting to take a look and see if there is any correlation to the box office receipts for last week. By and large, the answer is a resounding "no".

Of the 4 nominees for "best musical", only Fela saw a significant bump over the previous week, filling the Eugene O' Neill theater to 93% capacity (a 22% increase), and a $163,000 increase in gross. To me, Fela feels like the Passing Strange of the season in that it's been a far bigger critical hit than a commercial one, so hopefully the Tony buzz translates into business beyond the next few weeks. The producers (including Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith) are trying their best to capitalize on the momentum, announcing plans for a national tour in 2011.

American idiot and Memphis were essentially flat from last week's attendance, although their grosses were up a little (probably more to do with fewer discounts). The surprise nominee, Million Dollar Quartet was actually down 10% after it was nominated for best musical, taking in nearly $40,000 less and playing to only 57% capacity at the Nederlander Theater. Still though, the producers are soldiering on and have announced that they are selling tickets through November. Anyone care to wager as to whether the show actually lasts that long?

Of the two nominated revivals that are still open, only La Cage saw a spike, up $60,000 from last week and filling the Longacre to 88% capacity, which is more impressive when you see the overall anemic attendance across the board last week.

Which of this season's musicals ARE doing big business? The panned Addams Family and Promises, Promises, both topping the million dollar mark once again. Should we be surprised that this season's most negatively reviewed shows are grossing the highest?? Not really. All you have to take a look at last weekend's Hollywood box office, where the widely panned Iron Man 2 took in $133 million dollars to see the disconnect between critics and audiences. By the way, despite the negative buzz on IM2, all I read this weekend on facebook were status updates from moviegoers praising it as being better than the first one.

The bottom line?? Today's audience doesn't want to be told how they should feel about the product. They are happy to judge for themselves.... and isn't that what makes art great???

Why wasn't Broadway with "Coco"??

I just got back from seeing Conan O' Brien's Sacramento engagement for his "Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television" tour. It's a 32 city tour that lets Conan circumvent his NBC settlement, which prohibits him from performing on TV, radio, and the Internet until the fall. As you know, Conan recently signed a deal with TBS for a new cable program that begins at the end of his non-compete clause.

The show was an extension of his talk show including appearances from characters like "Triumph the Insult Comic Dog", the "Masturbating Bear", his sidekick Andy Richter, and more. The tour has been sold out at every date and has been met with wildly enthusiastic audiences.

As the night ended with Conan and his band performing a cover of "I Will Survive", I began to wonder if Broadway producers missed a huge opportunity by not signing Conan to a "smash and grab" limited engagement of his show. Given the success of previous limited engagements like Will Ferrell's George Bush Tribute, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, and to some extent, Carrie Fisher's recent Wishful Drinking, you would have to think that there could have been an audience for a 6 week Conan run.

Afterall, he has a long history with the city of New York, and was rumored to be angling to keep the Tonight Show there upon taking over the franchise last year. The location would have been conducive to booking a variety of surprise celebrity appearances (which he's been doing at many of his road dates), and his variety act of music and comedy would have just made sense in New York.

His Sacramento date had a ticket price ranging from $35-$75 in a 3200 capacity venue. My guess is that the gross of thee shows are in the neighborhood of $175,000 per night, more than he would take in for a single New York performance, but the production costs would also be reduced without having to travel from city to city. Surely this could have worked, right? Too bad the Roundabout couldn't have booked a lucrative Conan engagement instead of having to give away the house to see Everyday Rapture

Everyday Rapture-- The Wal-Mart of Broadway

While perusing last week's box office totals, I did a double take on Everyday Rapture.

The show played to about 81% capacity--- not bad at all.

The show grossed $136,000--- not good at all

The average ticket price--- wait for it.... $28.

Really?? I am currently performing in a production of Cinderella here in Sacramento that is a $20 ticket. So you mean to tell me for eight bucks more, I can go to New York City and see a beloved Broadway star in a Tony nominated musical???

Either one of two things is going on here.

A) The producers knew that they would get some Tony love and just needed to fill the house until the nominations came out and generated some buzz

B) Nobody in New York cares about this show.

Does anyone remember seeing a brand new show with ticket prices and grosses this low??? I realize it's a small cast and it's probably not expensive to produce... but that makes no sense??

The marquee should read "Everyday Rapture--- at everyday low prices"

We saw this coming

Over the last week, I've been playing the new game that's sweeping the nation, called "If I Were Michael Ridel", where we take a guess as to how he will go about buring The Addams Family in his latest column. As predicted, he used the Times Square bomber :

AND the Tony Award for Cowardice goes to Lucy Liu of "God of Carnage," the only
actor on Broadway who refused to go on Saturday night during the bomb scare.

She panicked after talking to police outside the theater. Her understudy
bravely went on with the show's other stars, Jeff Daniels, Janet McTeer and
Dylan Baker.

I'm told she feels "terrible" now about missing the
performance.

Well, Lucy, there's a saying in the theater: The show must
go on.

Take your lead from Nathan Lane, the star of "The Addams Family."

He's in a bomb every night, but he never misses!

Mr. Riedel is a little predictable, but I still love him.

The biggest losers on Tony nomination day....

The Tony committee giveth...and they also taketh away. By now, you have already read about the big winners (Fela, Memphis, etc), but let us take a moment to see who lost the most based on this morning's nominations.

1. Enron- On paper, this seemed like it was going to be a no brainer. The show was enormously successful in the UK, where the West End production is still running. The American cast was strong, the production was slick and stylized, and in the end, it didn't matter. Enron, which was not well received by critics, was playing to about 65 percent capacity at an average ticket price of $35. While it was nominated for 4 awards this morning, it was not included in the all important "Best Play" category, and the closing notice was posted just hours later, a mere 12 days after opening

2- The Addams Family- As I discussed in yesterday's prediction blog, the show has been the target of largely unjustified hatred by theater insiders. Ken Davenport may be the only person I know of to come out and say the show deserved a "Best Musical" nomination. While I figured the backlash would keep TAF of that category, there were enough strong performances by Nathan Lane, Kevin Chamberlain, and Carolee Carmello to merit multiple acting nods. I also figured that such a visually impressive show would be acknowledged in the technical categories. At the end of the day, it was only nominated twice, an acting nod for Chamberlain, and a surprising best score nomination for the heavily panned music from Andrew Lippa. The good news for Addams Family?? It's consistent seven figure weekly gross should keep it going strong for the time being, avoiding the fate that 9 to 5 suffered after last year's Tony snub.

3. Broadway stars- This year, many beloved Broadway performers were passed over in place of their Hollywood counterparts. Noticeably absent from the acting categories this year were Kristen Chenowith, Nathan Lane, and Bebe Neuwirth. In their place were Denzel Washington, Sean Hayes, Scarlett Johannson, and others. The only one of those omissions that I personally have a problem with is the extraordinary Lane, who single-handedly carries Addams on his back 8 shows a week. Broadway fans shouldn't be too upset about this trend as the Denzels and Scarlett's of the world do bring new fans to the theater, and legitimize Broadway to people who might not otherwise care.

The winners will be announced June 13th at Radio City Music Hall.

The Idol Broadway Takeover Continues...

But look on the brightside, at least the Weissler's aren't casting Taylor Hicks as Billy Flynn.

Former American Idol winner, Jordin Sparks, has been announced as the newest cast member of In The Heights, a show that is still bringing in big houses by putting teen stars on the marquee. She will takeover the role of Nina in August.

Those of us who have seen Jordin in person are not so much surprised that she's reinventing herself on Broadway as much as we were shocked it wasn't as the star of "Precious: The Musical based on the novel PUSH by Sapphire".

She's put on a few pounds since Idol... just saying.

Will this move translate to big box office?? The "American Idol" alumni have an uneven record of moving tickets. Fantasia Barrino' s run in The Color Purple was a huge success, even if she missed a lot of shows. Constantine Maroulis' has been winning audiences over in Rock of Ages, although it's doubtful that people are paying to see him as much as they are the show itself. However, attendance at Hair has fallen through the floor since Diana Degarmo and Ace Young took over the starring roles. Taylor Hicks' run as the Teen Angel didn't translate into an extended run for Grease, and then there was Clay Aiken in Spamalot, which was just wrong on every level.

We'll see how the Jordin Sparks play works out. Until then, now that his solo career is going well, we can start the countdown to Adam Lambert's Broadway debut.

Tony Award Predictions

The Tony Awards are announced tomorrow morning, so let's take a minute to make some predictions.

This was an absolutely atrocious year for original musicals, especially on the heels of last season's slew of work like Billy Elliot and Next to Normal. Most of this year's likely nominees are shows that would have been featured in the "Theatrical Event" category last year.

Assuming that Fela, Memphis, and American Idiot are shoe-ins, that leaves one spot, and no strong contenders. The Addams Family seems to lack any goodwill among the New York insiders who are making this decisions, even if the hatred is somewhat unfair. Everyday Rapture only transferred to Broadway at the last minute after Megan Mullaly pulled a Jeremy Piven (enjoy that career as a butter substitute pitch woman, Megan!). Sondheim on Sondheim got love from the outer critics, but doesn't deserve a Tony nomination. That leaves us with Twyla Tharp's non-musical, musical, Come Fly Away for the last spot, in a move that will inspire a fair amount of debate in the coming weeks. The Addams Family will still settle for multiple nominations in acting and set design

The musical revival category seems pretty cut and dry, with A Little Night Music, La Cage Aux Folles, and the highly praised, but not well attended Finian's Rainbow all sure to get some love. The wild card here is Ragtime, which was snubbed by the outer critics, but the most nominated show of the season by the Drama Desk. I personally hated the production, but it seems like a show that will resonate more with the Tony committee than Promises, Promises.

The most wide open category this year will be for best play, where only Red and Next Fall are guaranteed to be nominated. I would have expected Time Stands Still to be on that list until it was snubbed by the Drama Desk. Still though, I think it has enough buzz to get a nomination tomorrow. From there, it's a toss up between Race, Superior Donuts, and Enron. Enron has the advantage of being the shiny, new toy, but the reviews might cool off the voters. I think you will see Donuts slip through, if for no other reason than love for the playwright.

And now... time once again for the game sweeping the nation.... "IF I WERE MICHAEL RIEDEL", where I try to guess how he will bury The Addams Family in his next coulmn.

"The Pakistani Taliban has still not take credit for last weekend's bomb in Times Square, but have said in a prepared statement that they would rather take credit for that mess than the one currently playing one block away at the Lunt-Fontainne Theater. Not even the Taliban will support The Addams Family".

When stunt casting goes bad....

This summer's production of Rent at the Hollywood Bowl is taking stunt casting to a whole new level, as it may be the first show in recent memory to hire a stunt director. The press release touted Neil Patrick Harris, who played Mark on Broadway, to make his musical directorial debut.

I have no problem with this decision at all. Harris is a smart guy, passionate about the show, and has directing experience from the TV world, so staging this production doesn't seem like a stretch.

However, like many fans, I hopped aboard the "WTF Express" when it was announced that High School Musical's Vanessa Hudgens would be playing the role of Mimi. You know you have made a questionable decision when you are already on the defensive in the press release, but here is the official statement:

Harris says "She seems really committed to honoring the somewhat iconic role of Mimi".

Not exactly a ringing endorsement, eh? He might as well have said "Bless her heart, the poor untalented thing. She's trying hard, but holy Christ, this is gonna suuuuuuuuck".

As to make it worse, Wayne Brady has been cast has playing Tom Collins. Yes, THAT Wayne Brady. The one hosting "Let's Make a Deal" right now. The one who has made a career being the likable improv comic. The guy who is about 15 years too old, and way too milquetoast to play this role.

What's next?? RuPaul as Angel?? Snookie as Maureen???

The whole thing sounds like it could be a delicious trainwreck....and I think I need to make the trip to LA to see it.

Now it's time to play my new favorite party game... it's called "IF I WERE MICHAEL RIEDEL".

This is where we guess how he will bury The Addams Family in his next column. Here is another prediction for next week.

"The Broadway community was paralyzed with fear after a Car Bomb was found in Times Square Saturday. Fire trucks and bomb experts were sent to the seen after smoke was billowing from an abandoned Nissan on 45th street. As it turns out, it was just the stench of The Addams Family, which continues to bomb one block away at the Lunt-Fontainne Theater"