Only For Now

Come September, another Tony-award winning musical will face the final curtain.

Playbill announced today that "Avenue Q," the irreverent look at life in an outerborough often called "the adult Sesame Street," will close Sept. 13th.

"Avenue Q" follows the adventures of new graduate Princeton, optimistic and buying his first apartment. He winds up on Avenue Q, where he meets a wide range of characters, including a closeted gay Republican, his suspicious roommate/object of his desires, a potential love interest and Gary Coleman. The show follows Princeton has he struggles with love, money and the Bad Idea Bears and tries to find his purpose in life.

Some well known songs from the show include "If You Were Gay" and the ever popular "The Internet is for Porn."

"Avenue Q" currently plays at the Golden Theater.

A Letter

Dear Broadway, 

Could you please find a vehicle for Will Chase that doesn't close within days or weeks? It would be much appreciated. He's a fine talent--a gorgeous voice, a great actor and has a good sense of comedy. I've loved him since the disaster that was Lennon--when bad musicals happen to a good cast. So please, please, let him have his own hit. 

Thank you. 

Sincerely,

Me. 

The Final Curtain Comes Down

Good bye to these Broadway shows: 

Spamalot

Hairspray

Spring Awakening

13

Boeing-Boeing

Grease

Gypsy

Tale of Two Cities

Young Frankenstein

The Great White Way will be a little darker next month. 

Graduation Day at Rydell High

Commencement exercises will be on Jan. 4, 2009 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre when the recently revival of "Grease" closes.

The classic musical tells the story of good girl Sandy and greaser Danny, two star crossed lovers fighting their places in high school society to be with them. With their colorful friends by them, will Sandy and Danny ever be together?

"Grease" is a nostalgic look back at the 50s and contains the songs "Grease," "Summer Lovin'," "Grease Lightning," "Hopelessly Devoted," "We Go Together," and "You're the One That I Want."

This revival was known for using television to cast its leads a la American Idol and the (more popular) British show "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" (which gave way to "Any Dream Will Do" and "I'd Do Anything"). Max Crumm and Laura Osnes sang their way into America's hearts and won the competition, aired on NBC. Currently, former contestants Ashley Spencer and Derek Keeling play Sandy and Danny. The show received mixed reviews and often turned to stunt casting (for example, American Idol winner Taylor Hicks as "Teen Angel").

The film counterpart is more beloved, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Rumors of a remake have been floating around for some time, with Michelle Pfeifer (who starred in the disasterous Grease 2--which is so bad it's good) attached as executive producer and rumored to be courting Jessica Simpson to play Sandy.

Prepare for Departure...

In another blow to Broadway, Tony Award-winning revival Boeing-Boeing will close shortly after the New Year. It will go on tour, but leave yet another theatre dark.


Boeing-Boeing tells the story of one man and the three women in his life, all flight attendants. This allows him to juggle his love life until it all comes crashing down on him.


The revival was part of a trend where the plays opening on Broadway were getting more buzz than most of the musicals that opened last season. It currently plays at the Longacre Theater.

Boeing-Boeing will close in the same month as hits Spamalot, Hairspray, 13 and Spring Awakening. The news also comes shortly after American Buffalo, starring John Leguizamo, Haley Joel Osment and Cedric the Entertainer, closed after only 8 performances due to lagging ticket sales.

Tickets are too expensive now and have been for quite some time. It's time to figure out a way to bring them down and maybe revive the failing Great White Way.

Pink Slips All Around!

Tis the season...to close up shop.

In the Broadway realm, 2005 Tony Award winner Spamalot has announced it will close up shop a week earlier than previously expected. The Eric Idle musical will now play its final performance on Jan. 11 rather than Jan. 18. The musical is "lovingly ripped off" of "Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail" and originally starred Tim Curry, Hank Azaria ("The Simpsons"), David Hyde Pierce ("Frasier") and Sara Ramirez ("Grey's Anatomy"). It plays at the Shubert Theater.

Likewise, new musical 13 will also close. The Jason Robert Brown ("Parade") offering will close on Jan. 4. The show tells the story of Evan Goldman as he turns that world-shaking age of 13, dealing with love, friendship and a new school. The principle cast is also comprised of teenage performers, many who were praised by critics in their reviews of the show. 13 plays the Bernard B. Jacobs theater.

Spamalot Original Broadway Cast recording is alreay out in stores; 13's will come out this Tuesday.

Theater isn't the only hard hit area. TV has been taking a bit of a beating as well. Last week, NBC cancelled Christian Slater vehicle "My Own Worst Enemy" and there were rumors that "Lipstick Jungle" was on the chopping block as well. However, Brooke Shields has said that nothing is confirmed about the fate of her show. In its daytime department, though, "Days of our Lives" has seen two surprise cuts: Marlena and John will be leaving Salem. Over at ABC, three shows have reportedly been told they will be shuttering: Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money. Looks like my plea at the end of my Top Model recap fell on deaf ears.

In regards to Pushing Daisies, I think one of its main problems was the Writers' Strike that gripped the industry this time last year. It finished up its remaining episodes by December and then ABC unwisely (in my opinion) did not rerun any episodes. If anything has been proved, expecting an audience to wait from December to September is quite stupid. Also, the reruns could've garned more of an audience for the premiere this year if done over the summer. I had been hoping for them while waiting for Top Model to start again because I knew my family liked the show. Plus, I love Kristin Chenoweth. Eli Stone had trouble finding an audience, ABC never let Pushing Daisies and Dirty Sexy Money keep theirs.

Also, ABC--holding Life on Mars till near February? Not smart. You're suddenly losing your Wednesday line up (Private Practice is moving to Thursdays in the new year) and already admitted to moving the series to fill it somewhat. Don't hold it. It's confusing when watching from week to week, imagine what a near two month gap is going to do to the audience? It didn't work for Heroes and it didn't work for Lost. Learn from past mistakes! These are shows with season-long arcs, not episodic like CSI or ER--which can withstand such a break. Don't let the audience lose interest!

A Shadow Past...

The musical hailed as "the new Rent" will not enjoy the same long run of the ground-breaking 1996 show.

"Spring Awakening," the recepient of the 2007 Tony Award for Best New Musical, has posted a closing date of Jan. 18, according to Playbill.com.

The show is taken from an 1881 German play telling the story of teenagers experiencing love, sex and tragedy. The plot revolves around Melchior, a scholarly student who is more informed about relationships than his friends, including Moritz--who is facing difficulties at school. Melchior begins a love affair with local girl Wendla as a series of tragic events unfold.

The show features music by Duncan Sheik, known for his hit single "Barely Breathing," and lyrics by Steven Sater. Both won Tony Awards for Spring Awakening as well as a Grammy Award. Frank Wedekind wrote the original play.

"Monty Python's Spamalot" and "Hairspray" have also announced closing dates in January.

"Spring Awakening" plays at the Eugene O'Neill Theater.

The Knights Who Say "Closing Date!"

As the Broadway community prepares to bid adieu to the über-pink Legally Blonde the Musical tomorrow (Oct. 19), Monty Python's Spamalot has announced it will close this January.

Spamalot, as the playbill says, is "lovingly ripped-off" Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail. Original Monty Python member Eric Idle wrote the lyics and music with John Du Prez. The story retells the legend of King Arthur and his quest for the mystical Holy Grail--filled with Knights Who Say Ni, killer rabbits, and spam.

The show won the 2005 Tony Award for Best Musical and recouped its investment before its first year was out. The opening night cast included Tim Curry as King Arthur, Hank Azaria (The Simpsons) as Sir Lancelot, David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) as Sir Robin, and Sara Ramirez (Grey's Anatomy) as the Lady of the Lake. Other famous cast members include Stephen Collins (7th Heaven), Drew Lachey (98˚, Dancing With the Stars) and recently outed American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken.

In another sign of the economy, Spamalot's closing notice leaves me to wonder: Will ANYTHING be open come Tony time?

You Can Stop The Beat

According to this Playbill.com article, not only is original Edna Harvey Fierstein returning to the smash musical, he's returning to send it off. It looks like Hairspray is "likely" to be the next victim in the musical-closing marathon. Though the writer of this article makes a good point that it is just a ploy to buoy a sinking box office. When Rent announced it was closing, there was a rush on the box office which kept the musical open until last month. If the same thing happens, Hairspray could stay open another year. Though they can't just keep pulling the "We're going to close" card. Eventually, people will get suspicious and the show will have to close.

But if it's Hairspray's final bow, who will be next? I love Disney, but will they be the only shows on the Great White Way if the economy continues to go down the drain? Or will Disney have to give up its hold on Broadway as well?

Goodbye Love

Tonight, an era ended on Broadway.

After celebrating it's 12th anniversary this past April, the musical Rent performed for the last time. Groundbreaking and acclaimed back in 1996, the show grew to become a mainstay on the Great White Way. It' won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as the Tony Award for Best New Musical. Cast member Wilson Jermaine Heredia, the original Angel, also won a Tony--Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.

Rent had a meteoric rise to fame, from the brainchild of a waiter to its current status of beloved Broadway musical. Yet why has it endured? My hometown newspaper, the Staten Island Advance, called Rent a "nostalgic" look at life in the 90's East Village. It could be the lasting tragedy of creator Jonathan Larson, who died before the first performance of the show at New York Theatre Workshop. That in seeing the work of someone who was taken so young, he lives on or one can wonder what could've been.

It could be all the performers who graced the Nederlander's stage, the energy and talent they brought to the roles as well as the bright futures it lead to. There's the original cast--Anthony Rapp, Tony winner Idina Menzel (Wicked), Taye Diggs (Private Practice), Jessie L. Martin (Law and Order)--whose performances were nearly all captured on film in the 2006 movie version directed by Chris Columbus. And to all who followed, who made Rent an experience for each new audience, they live on as the rag-tag group of artists struggling to live.

And therein lies the magic of Rent. Everybody who has ever been apart of a group of friends knows how strong those bonds could be, particularly in bad times. Through death, disease and broken hearts, the eight central characters stick together and face life with a positive attitude. That message has attracted years of Rentheads (the ones in the front, singing along and often start moo-ing halfway through "Over the Moon" before Maureen even gets to that point).

As director Michael Greif wrote in his letter for the final Playbill, printed on Playbill Online: "That's a lot to celebrate. It has been a great run. Thank you, Jonathan Larson."