Blithe Spirit Returns with an All-Star Cast and We Have DIscounts!

Noel Coward wrote the play which first debuted on Broadway in 1941.

Announced to begin previews on February 26 and open March 15, Noel Coward's timeless Blithe Spirit is going to be the hot ticket on Broadway this Spring. With an incredible cast of previous Tony Winners, my prediction is that it will sweep up most of the Tony's in 2009 too. Just look who has been signed for the revival of this Noel Coward classic comedy:

Christine Ebersole plays Elvira
Christine Ebersole plays Elvira, the Blithe Spirit who is invoked at a séance. Not an etherial or floaty kind of ghost, but more of a petulant brat, she does not float gracefully about, but delights in teasing her now remarried husband Charles (Rupert Everett) and antagonizing Ruth - the current wife - to be played by Jane Atkinson.

Jayne Atkinson plays the current wife Ruth
I saw Atkinson this past summer as Candida in the superb Berkshire Theatre Festival production of the GBS play which is reviewed here. If you are near the Berkshires where Atkinson resides, she will appear at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, MA on January 31 at 3pm as part of Symphony Space's Selected Shorts program. “Starting Over: Stories for a New Year.” This hit radio series will be presented live on the Mahaiwe stage with host Isaiah Sheffer, and actors Jayne Atkinson and David Strathairn reading funny and moving stories by Susan Sontag, Laurie Colwin and Percival Everett, about making a new start.

Angela Lansbury as Madame Arcati might look a little like this...
Madame Arcati, who loses control of the session with the spirits is, of course, played by the fabulous Angela Lansbury. Michael Blakemore who directed Lansbury in 2007's Deuce, directs. The only relatively calm and sane characters are the Bradmans, neighbors and friends of the Condomines played by Simon Jones and Deborah Rush.

The Noel Coward story is a classic. Novelist Charles Condomine, living with his second wife, Ruth, invites a local medium, Madame Arcati, to his house. His intention is to do some research into the spirit world for his new book. But he gets more than he bargained for when Arcati conjures up the ghost of Charles first wife, Elvira. Caught between one live wife and one dead wife — both jealous of the other — Charles thinks matters couldn't be worse.

Rupert Everett makes his Broadway debut as the husband Charles, confronted with two wives.

This production will be housed at the historic Shubert Theatre at 225 West 44rd Street just off Broadway. This link to Blithe Spirit discount seats - as low as $36.50 - must be ordered ASAP since they will go fast. This offer is good through April 12. On sale are Orchestra and Front Mezzanine seats at $59.50 for Tuesday to Thursday performances. These same locations rise to $69.50 for weekend performances. Rear Balcony seats for all performances are just $36.50.

To order you can call 212-947-8844 and mention the code BSNYTW6. You can also visit BroadwayOffers.com and use the same code.

Finally the Truth: Inauguration Quartet was Faking It

Not real music.

When Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Gabriela Montero and Anthony McGill began playing "Air and Simple Gifts" it was clear that this was a fake performance - the sync of the vibrato and rubato were off. From the sham "piece written for the occasion by John Williams" which was more like a copied and cribbed version of the Aaron Copland ballet, Appalachian Spring, to the quartet itself, it was all fake and phony.

Turns out that all the intense feelings on the faces of the players was nothing more than acting. The inner workings of the piano had been disassembled, and Yo Yo Ma had silenced his cello by putting soap on the hairs of his bow. All of this trickery is detailed in an article by Eric Felten in the Wall Streeet Journal.

"They were forced to perform to tape because of the weather" said Carole Florman, a spokeswoman for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. Yet the Marine Band and chorus that performed that day played without needing a recorded backup. The quartet had recorded the music the previous Sunday at the Marine Barracks in Washington, and those who run these kinds of events would have you think it was used as a "last resort". The players weren't exactly lip synching, but timed their bowing, blowing and pounding to complete the effect.

Yo Yo Ma put soap on the hairs of his bow to make sure no sound at all came from his "pretend" playing.

Now, having played a violin outdoors a few times myself, I know how quickly strings can go sour under such conditions. Then there is the huge disappointment I felt when after hearing that John Williams had composed something for the inauguration, and expecting perhaps something like Fanfare for the Common Man we get a rehash of a rehash. After all, even Aaron Copland had cribbed his melody from an old Shaker hymn.

What we were left with was fakery, and I guess, a nod to classical music. But even CNN decided to talk over the performance, philistines that they are. Or maybe they knew it was not real music.

The arts community is in the midst of a major campaign to have a Cabinet Secretary of the Arts.

Are you kidding me?

Keep politics out of the arts. All it does is encourage mediocrity.

if you are curious as to what kind of music the new President really enjoys, and live music does seem to be in favor, you can read all about what music he and Michelle danced to on Inauguration Night, and employed around the city before and after his big day.

O.K. I'll shut up now.

Presidential Oath of Office, Take Two

Take Two

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts

...and it might also be said that they occasionally blow their lines, as President-elect Obama and Chief Justice Roberts did at the inauguration ceremony."Take One" was anything but flawless, they both stumbled over their script.

In the first go-around, Chief Justice John Roberts botched the wording, deviating from the language in the Constitution. Following along, Obama repeated the mistake.

The New York Times had fund with this, speculating: "How could a famous stickler for grammar have bungled that 35-word passage, among the best-known words in the Constitution? Conspiracy theorists and connoisseurs of Freudian slips have surmised that it was unconscious retaliation for Senator Obama’s vote against the chief justice’s confirmation in 2005. But a simpler explanation is that the wayward adverb in the passage is blowback from Chief Justice Roberts’s habit of grammatical niggling."
Take One
"Out of an abundance of caution," White House Counsel Greg Craig said in a statement, Obama decided to retake the oath Wednesday.

The world of politics is such that some evil soul somewhere would challenge the legitimacy of the inauguration. So Chief Justice John Roberts, black robe in hand, was ushered into the Map Room at the White House Wednesday night to re-administer the oath of office to President Barack Obama. All because one word was out of sequence.

"OK, Mr. President, that's a take!"

Chad Allen on "Save Me" DVD and in Person in "Looped"

The versatile Chad has been acting since he was five.

Chad Allen's film "Save Me" was released on DVD yesterday, while Washington, DC's Arena Theatre has confirmed that he will co-star with Valerie Harper in Looped. On its way to Broadway, Looped is the story of Tallulah Bankhead, the original celebrity bad girl, which begins as she enters a studio to re-record (or "loop") one line of dialogue for her final film. What ensues is a showdown between an uptight sound editor and the outrageous legend.

Valerie Harper and Chad Allen in Looped.

Four time Emmy winner Valerie Harper plays Talllulah, to Chad Allen's soundman in Matthew Lombardo's riveting new play. It is slated for May 29 through June 28, 2009 at Arena Stage's Lincoln Theatre. We will write more about this production closer to the opening.

Save Me comes to DVD at last.

Meanwhile, Allen's "Save Me" which had its premiere at Sundance in 2007 has finally made it to DVD. Save Me is a deft exploration of the controversial ex-gay movement. The story follows Mark (Chad Allen), a drug-addicted young man who overdoses and finds himself at the mercy of his disapproving family.

Their solution to Mark's problems is to check him into a Christian run ministry overseen by Gayle (Judith Light), who believes she can help cure young men of their 'gay affliction' through spiritual guidance. At first, Mark resists the efforts of Gayle and her husband Ted (Stephen Lang), but soon finds solace and brotherhood with several of the members, including Scott (Robert Gant), who is battling family demons of his own.

Chad Allen and Robert Gant in Save Me.

When Mark and Scott begin to find their friendship developing into an unexpected romance, both are forced to confront the new attitudes they're beginning to accept, and Gayle finds the values she holds as an absolute truth to be threatened.

Directed by Robert Cary, from a screenplay by Robert Desiderio, Save Me is a love story that offers a complex and timely examination of one of the most polarizing religious and sexual debates in America, while intricately showing the way love (for oneself, most importantly) can heal in all its various forms.

I just checked, and it is now available at Netflix.

Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance Next for Arena Stage

Illustration by Jim Salvati

A Delicate Balance is a searing play which won the 1967 Pulitzer Prize, and Edward Albee himself is helping guide the cast and creative team in this provocative new staging. Experienced Albee collaborator Pam McKinnon directs, and Albee himself has already made an appearance as the Arena Stage prepares the work.

Featuring Broadway stars Kathleen Chalfant (Wit, Angels in America), Terry Beaver (Henry IV, The Last Night of Ballyhoo), Ellen McLaughlin (Angels in America) and Carla Harting (Eurydice),joined by Helen Hedman and James Slaughter, A Delicate Balance runs February 6–March 15, 2009 at Arena Stage in Crystal City, Virginia.

L-R) Ellen McLaughlin as Claire, Kathleen Chalfant as Agnes, Terry Beaver as Tobias, and Carla Harting as Julia in A Delicate Balance at Arena Stage in Crystal City February 6—March 15. photo by Scott Suchman

“Albee is fearless about writing stories that get us in the solar plexus, and he does so with his brilliant wit, dynamic storytelling and rigorous use of language,” shares Artistic Director Molly Smith. “His work draws the best artists, and with this production audiences are fortunate to have an enormously strong cast and creative team—approved by Albee himself.”

“A Delicate Balance is a mountain of a play, at once domestic and existential, both funny and harrowing,” says MacKinnon. “It is a true joy to come to rehearsal to wrestle with this potent classic that seems perfectly written for our precarious times and having Edward around is always a treat. The actors feed off his insights and it's a great shortcut to actually hear the author's intent.”

The play explores the complicated family life of Agnes and Tobias, a retired couple living in suburban America with Agnes’ alcoholic sister, Claire. Agnes and Tobias’ house becomes unexpectedly full when their daughter, Julia, returns home after yet another failed marriage and their friends Harry and Edna move in without warning. Free-flowing cocktails, secret histories and unspoken boundaries create the prickly climate of this American family.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.arenastage.org and by phone at (202) 488-3300.

A Raisin in the Sun set for the Guthrie March 12 to April 11

Franchelle Stewart Dorn in Penumbra Theatre's A Raisin in the Sun, coming to the Guthrie. Photo by Peter Jennings

The Guthrie will host Penumbra Theatre’s production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, directed by Lou Bellamy. A co-production with Arizona Theatre Company and The Cleveland Play House, the presentation marks the 50th anniversary of the show’s groundbreaking Broadway opening, and arrives at the Guthrie on the heels of two highly-lauded regional runs in Ohio and Arizona. A Raisin in the Sun previews March 12, opens March 13 and plays through April 11, 2009 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.. Tickets are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224.

A recent widow, Lena Younger (Franchelle Stewart Dorn) wants to use her husband's insurance money to buy a home for her family, freeing them from the cramped tenement in which she, her two children, daughter-in-law and grandson live. Her son, Walter Lee (David Alan Anderson), is determined to invest the money in a business - an opportunity for him to be his own man and not just the driver for his white boss. Lena refuses; in her eyes a house is a sturdy thing to build a dream on, one that can relieve the strains that poverty has put on the family. But when a white representative of the neighborhood "welcoming committee" presents the Youngers with an offer to buy them out of their home to prevent integration in their community, the dream of the house quickly becomes a nightmare.

The title comes from the opening lines of “Harlem,” a poem by Langston Hughes

“What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?”

David Alan Anderson plays Walter Lee. Here he is seen in a 2004 Berkshire Theatre Festival production of Blues for an Alabama Sky. Kevin Sprague Photo.

A Raisin in the Sun was nominated for four Tony awards when it opened on Broadway in 1959, lauded by The New York Times as a show that “changed American theater forever.” For the first time in history a production hailed an all-black principal cast, a black director and a black playwright. Its 29-year-old author became the youngest American and the first black playwright to win the New York Drama Critics’ Best Play of the Year citation. Marking its 50th anniversary, A Raisin in the Sun brings to life the inspiring classic story about a working class black family struggling to make it in America.

Frank Theater's By the Bog of Cats slated for the Guthrie

By the Bog of Cats is set in rural Ireland.

The Frank Theater's production of Marina Carr’s By the Bog of Cats, is slated for the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio March 12-April 5, 2009.

Set in rural Ireland, By the Bog of Cats is an uncompromising tale of abandonment and shocking self-sacrifice. Hester Swane is a woman born of gypsies and tied to the bleak landscape of the bog where she has lived her whole life. Her lover, Carthage Kilbride, with whom she has a young daughter, is about to be married to younger woman who will bring him land, wealth and respect. Discarded and ignored, Hester sets out with a reckless fervor to reclaim the life that she had.

Virginia Burke plays Hester Swane in Bog of Cats.

In this loose retelling of Euripides' Medea, Marina Carr blends the mythic with the modern, populating the Bog of Cats with misfits, witches, and ghosts. The stellar cast includes Virginia Burke, Anneking, Melissa Hart, John Catron and others.

Tickets are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224.