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"