Last update: March 17, 2010

 

March 17, 2010 - LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Box Office Opens - "The box office at the Longacre Theatre, the home of the upcoming Broadway revival of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, opens for business March 16.

The theatre is located at 220 West 48th Street. Box-office hours are 10 AM-8 PM Monday through Saturday; Sunday hours (noon-7 PM) will begin April 11.

Stage and screen star Kelsey Grammer will eventually play both leading roles in the upcoming Broadway revival, which begins previews April 6 at Broadway's Longacre Theatre with an official opening April 18. Grammer will open the show as Georges opposite the Albin of Olivier Award winner Douglas Hodge. Five-time Emmy winner Grammer told the New York Post that six months after the show opens, he will switch to the role of Albin.

Grammer told the New York daily, "So the way we're doing this is, when we open I'm doing the role of Georges. In six months, I switch over to playing Albin. It really means I must memorize the whole show."

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES features music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play by Jean Poiret. This "freshly reconceived production" is choreographed by Lynne Page and directed by Terry Johnson.

The cast also includes Fred Applegate as Dindon; A.J. Shively, a recent University of Michigan graduate, making his Broadway debut as Jean-Michel; Tony nominee Veanne Cox (Company, Caroline, or Change) as Mme. Dindon/Mme. Renaud; Tony nominee Robin de Jesús (In the Heights) as Jacob; two-time Tony nominee Christine Andreas (My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, On Your Toes) as Jacqueline; Elena Shaddow (Fiddler on the Roof, Fanny at Encores!) as Anne; Chris Hoch (Beauty and the Beast, Spamalot, Shrek the Musical) as Francis; Heather Lindell (Hairspray) as Colette; Bill Nolte (The Producers, 1776) as Tabarro and David Nathan Perlow (White Noise) as Etienne.

Also starring as "the notorious and dangerous Cagelles" will be Nick Adams (A Chorus Line, Guys and Dolls, Chicago), Nicholas Cunningham (La Cage Aux Folles in the West End), Sean Patrick Doyle (Fiddler on the Roof national tour, Wig Out!), Yurel Echezarreta (West Side Story), Terry Lavell (Hairspray in Las Vegas, Smokey Joe's Café national tour) and Logan Keslar (West Side Story in the West End). The production also features Christophe Caballero, Todd Lattimore, Dale Hensley and Cheryl Stern.

In the Tony-winning 1983 show, "Georges (Kelsey Grammer) is the suave owner of a glitzy drag club on the French Riviera," according to production notes. "Partnered romantically with his high-strung star performer, Albin (Douglas Hodge), the pair live a charmed life — until Georges' son announces his engagement to the daughter of a conservative right-wing politician who's coming to dinner."

The new production played from Nov. 23, 2007 to March 8, 2008, at the Menier Chocolate Factory, earning raves and moving to the West End's Playhouse Theatre on Oct. 30, 2008, where it was nominated for seven 2009 Olivier Awards, winning for Best Musical Revival and Best Actor in a Musical for Douglas Hodge. It won the 2009 Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Musical.

The production is now on sale, tickets, priced $36.50-$132.50 with premium seats at $251.50, through Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200 or at www.telecharge.com/lacage. Also visit www.LaCage.com for a special video introduction from Kelsey Grammer and the Cagelles.

in Playbill On-Line by Andrew Gans

 

January 23, 2009 - MAME at "Broadway by the Year" - "The tenth anniversary season of the Broadway By the Year concert series begins Feb. 22 at Town Hall in Manhattan.

This season's star-filled shows will feature songs from the Broadway musicals of 1927, 1948, 1966 and a special concert featuring songs from shows from 1990-2010. Created and hosted by Scott Siegel, the concerts take the audience on "a musical journey through the best of the Great White Way, featuring show-stopping numbers as well as lesser-known gems and little-known facts and humor about our favorite shows." Siegel himself hosts.

Among the performers lined up for this season's concerts are James Barbour (A Tale of Two Cities), Stephanie J. Block (9 to 5, Wicked), Ron Bohmer (Ragtime), Tony nominee Liz Callaway (Baby, Miss Saigon), Quentin Earl Darrington (Ragtime), Jeffry Denman (Irving Berlin's White Christmas), Max von Essen (Les Misérables), Tony nominee Christopher Fitzgerald (Finian's Rainbow, Young Frankenstein), Alexander Gemignani (Sunday in the Park with George, Les Misérables), Cheyenne Jackson (Finian's Rainbow, Xanadu), Kendrick Jones (Stairway to Paradise), Chad Kimball (Memphis), Norm Lewis (The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Side Show), three-time Tony nominee Marc Kudisch (9 to 5, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Tony winner Beth Leavel (Young Frankenstein, The Drowsy Chaperone), Julia Murney (Lennon, Wicked), Christiane Noll (Ragtime), Noah Racey (Curtains), Tony nominee Emily Skinner (Side Show), Bobby Steggert (Ragtime), three-time Grammy winner Lari White and many more to be announced.

The season’s concerts include:

Broadway Musicals of 1927 - Monday, Feb. 22 at 8 PM
Songs from Show Boat, Rio Rita, Hit the Deck!, Ziegfeld Follies of 1927, Good News.

Broadway Musicals of 1948 - Monday, March 22 at 8 PM
Songs from Kiss Me, Kate, Love Life, Where's Charley?, My Romance, Lend an Ear and more.

Broadway Musicals of 1966 - Monday, May 10 at 8 PM
Songs from Sweet Charity, MAME, Cabaret, I Do! I Do!, The Apple Tree and more.

Broadway Musicals of 1990-2010 - Monday, June 14 at 8 PM
A special concert to celebrate the series tenth anniversary, with an all-star cast will perform one song from each of the last 21 years of Broadway history. Songs from Aspects of Love (1990), Falsettos (1992), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993), Ragtime (1998), Wicked (2003), Jersey Boys (2005) and many more."

To order season tickets for the Broadway By the Year series, available by mail only, visit townhallnyc.org for a printable order form. Single tickets are currently on sale at the Town Hall box office (123 W. 43rd Street), (212) 840-2824, and online at ticketmaster.com.

in Playbill On-Line by Allison Klamkin

 

January 1, 2010 - Whatever Happened to MISS SPECTACULAR? - "Chances are you've never met Sarah Jane Hotchkiss, or heard her singing about her dreams of "the audience roaring, the people adoring me so ... "

But someday, Jerry Herman hopes, you will.

That's because Sarah Jane Hotchkiss is none other than "Miss Spectacular." And "Miss Spectacular" boasts the most recent score by the Broadway legend who brought you, among other musicals, "Hello, Dolly!" and "Mame."

In June, Herman won a Tony Award for lifetime achievement. He'll be back on Broadway in April with a transfer of the hit London "La Cage aux Folles" revival. (The original earned six Tonys when it debuted in 1983.)

And while some think "Miss Spectacular" also should be on Broadway, Herman maintains that the Strip is exactly where she belongs.

Like its title character, "Miss Spectacular" has yet to realize her Vegas dreams -- even though, in the beginning, the show seemed poised to hit the equivalent of a first-pull Megabucks jackpot.

Curtain up: Las Vegas, in the last few years of the 20th century.

Spotlight on: Steve Wynn, casino magnate.

Then as now, Wynn rules a casino empire. As our story begins, however, that empire is Mirage Resorts: Bellagio, Treasure Island and The Mirage, which feature a gallery showcasing Wynn's art collection, an exploding volcano and battling pirate ships.

But there's no all-singing, all-dancing Broadway musical to wow the crowds -- which is exactly what Steve Wynn told Jerry Herman.

"He gave me this whole list of things he owned," Herman, now 78, recalls in a telephone interview from his Beverly Hills home. "And then he stopped and looked at me and said, 'The only thing I don't have is a Jerry Herman musical.'"

Not surprisingly, Wynn's pitch worked.

"Well, how can you not respond?" Herman says, chuckling.

Sparked by Wynn's enthusiastic invitation, Herman hatched an idea for "a musical with a thread of a story," one devoted to Midwestern dreamer Sarah Jane Hotchkiss' efforts to metamorphose from "Miss What's Her Name" to "Miss Spectacular" by winning a contest to represent the Strip's newest megaresort.

For the musical, destined for The Mirage, the composer wrote a bouquet of hummable melodies designed to accompany eye-popping production numbers, most of which were to unfold in Sarah Jane's vivid imagination, triggered by that patented Vegas sound of a slot jackpot.

Think "Jubilee!" with "a thread of a story," Herman says.

While the score sets the stage for "exciting production numbers," from ballads to bawdy comedy songs, the project also features the one ingredient "that's the secret of all my shows," Herman explains. "Somebody to root for." Somebody who follows in the iconic footsteps of Dolly and Mame, characters who embody the "strong need for an audience to connect to a great character."

Wynn's reaction to "Miss Spectacular" was everything Herman had hoped for -- and then some -- because he asked the composer to "put together a group of people who would be willing to record it," Herman says.

That preproduction "concept" CD, featuring Herman's handpicked lineup of singers, was recorded in a Southern California studio in 1999.

On the CD (released in 2002), veteran Strip headliner Steve Lawrence swings a Rat Pack-worthy "Las Vegas," saluting "Fantasy Island on land." When Lawrence first heard "Las Vegas," he was very impressed, he recalls. "I thought it possibly could become the unofficial theme song of Las Vegas," the way "New York, New York" has become associated with its title town. (Wynn was so enthusiastic about the number that he joined Lawrence in the recording booth during the session.)

Other featured performers on the CD included Christine Baranski, Michael Feinstein and Debbie Gravitte (whose credits include the London concert revival of Herman's "Mack and Mabel"), who gives voice to Sarah Jane herself.

After the "wonderful, joyous, exhausting" process of recording "Miss Spectacular," Herman "cried like a baby," he admits, because "I felt like I had a new score" -- his first stage musical since "La Cage" 16 years before.

In Wynn's view, producing "Miss Spectacular" was "like spittin' and hittin' the floor. That's how easy this show's gonna be in Las Vegas," Wynn said, as quoted in Wall Street Journal columnist Christina Binkley's 2008 book "Winner Takes All: Steve Wynn, Kirk Kerkorian, Gary Loveman and the Race to Own Las Vegas." (Repeated attempts to interview Wynn for this story proved unsuccessful.)

"I will always be grateful to Steve Wynn and to all the people on that album who gave their time and talent," Herman says of the "Miss Spectacular" CD recording. "It was quite a love fest."
But in Las Vegas, everybody knows love's no substitute for money.

In May 2000, Wynn sold Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand; while that sale is often cited as the beginning of the end for "Miss Spectacular," Herman also mentions another cause.

"At the very moment we were ready to do it," he says, "Cirque du Soleil fever came over the city." (Cirque now has six productions running on the Strip, with a seventh, "Viva Elvis," opening soon.)

Which may help explain why, for the next few years, Herman unsuccessfully tried to interest other casinos in producing the show, triggering periodic rumors that "Miss Spectacular" would be making her Vegas debut after all.

One rumor had multiple Tony-winner Tommy Tune (who once headlined "EFX" at the MGM Grand) directing, with Vegas veteran Paige O'Hara (the voice of Belle in Disney's animated classic "Beauty and the Beast," who's now appearing in "Menopause: The Musical" at Luxor) mentioned for the title role.

So far, however, the closest O'Hara's gotten to "Miss Spectacular" is one of its songs: the comic "Where In the World Is My Prince?," which she frequently performs as part of Herman's touring "Hello, Jerry!: Celebrating the Music and Lyrics of Jerry Herman."

Every time O'Hara sings "Where In the World Is My Prince?" the number "pretty much stops the show," she says.

Herman believes that someday, some way, "Miss Spectacular" will find her way onto a Vegas stage.

"It does frustrate me that it's never been seen or produced," acknowledges Herman, who considers it "some of my best work."

He's received "lots of requests to think about it as the basis of a Broadway show," but "I know it belongs in Las Vegas."

Then again, the Las Vegas Herman had in mind when he wrote the show's score -- symbolized by sequined, strutting showgirls -- isn't what it used to be.

And despite the success of some musicals on the Strip (including "Phantom of the Opera" and "Jersey Boys"), Las Vegas has yet to become the "Broadway West" that Wynn envisioned when he presented the Tony-winners "Avenue Q" and "Spamalot" (both now closed) at his namesake casino.

Yet O'Hara still believes "Miss Spectacular" would "definitely be a huge hit," with "a wide range of appeal" -- in part because "it was written for Las Vegas by one of the greatest Broadway composers of all time," she says. "I think Vegas would really be sad if it doesn't get produced."

For his part, Herman's not sad, just resigned that he, and "Miss Spectacular," must wait to hear "the audience roaring, the people adoring me so ... "

But he remains confident that "there will be a place for 'Miss Spectacular,'" even if he's "letting fate take over" to determine when, and where, that place will be."

in Las Vegas Review-Journal by Carol Cling

 

October 2nd, 2009 - Portuguese Production of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES to Open in Lisbon in November - The Portuguese production of Jerry Herman’s LA CAGE AUX FOLLES will open in Lisbon next November.

The show played its 100th performance in Oporto last September and it’ll close on October 18th. Then, the entire production, will travel to Lisbon, where it’ll open in the Politeama Theatre.

This production of LA CAGE AUX FOLLES is directed by Filipe La Féria, a Portuguese theatre impresario who also produces his own shows. Previously, he produced and directed the Portuguese adaptations of MY FAIR LADY, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, A FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and, more recently, WEST SIDE STORY.

The show stars José Raposo, who recently played Tevye in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, as Albin/Zaza and Carlos Quintas, who played Prof. Higgins in MY FAIR LADY and Captain Von Trapp in THE SOUND OF MUSIC, as Georges. The cast also includes Rita Ribeiro (Golde in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF), Joel Branco (MY FAIR LADY), Helena Afonso (Mrs. Lovett in SWEENEY TODD), Hugo Rendas and Alexandre Falcão.

For tickets and more information on the show visit the official site by clicking here.

by Jorge / Photos © João Camilo & Marta Ferreira

 

June 6th, 2009 - JERRY HERMAN says "The Best of Times is Now"- “If Jerry Herman were to write a Jerry Herman lyric about what he's feeling at the moment — in light of his 2009 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement — he would probably steal a line from Jerry Herman: "The best of times is now."

The 77-year-old composer-lyricist who won Tony Awards for his scores to HELLO, DOLLY! and LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, and was nominated for MAME, THE GRAND TOUR and MILK AND HONEY, is more thrilled than Dolly, Mame and Albin combined. If a staircase happened to be handy, he might be strutting down it — beaming.

"It's the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me, it really is," Herman told Playbill.com. "It doesn't get any better than this. That's an award from the people that I've worked with all my life. It's beautiful."

Herman said his acceptance speech at the June 7 Tony Award ceremony will be short and sweet, and that there will be a little surprise surrounding the presentation. He gave no hints.

Will Herman be performing one of his favorite songs, "I'll Be Here Tomorrow," from THE GRADN TOUR?

"No," he said with a laugh, "my performing days are over."

That's not completely true. He makes appearances at concerts and has sat down recently for public conversations (with songs) with Michael A. Kerker, head of musical theatre for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

"We do something called 'The Red Chairs,' where we sit in two red chairs and he interviews me," Herman explained. "When we get to a specific song, a marvelous Debbie Gravitte or Jason Graae or Ron Raines comes out and sings that particular song with Don Pippin at the piano. It's a lovely format. Eventually, I get up and go to the piano myself."

Herman also plays piano for joy at his two California homes, when he's not keeping tabs on his "kids," as calls them — productions of his many licensable properties, including the revue SHOW TUNE and the musicals MACK AND MABEL and DEAR WORLD, both of which, like THE GRAND TOUR, have been revised since they first played Broadway. (LA CAGE AUX FOLLES is an Olivier Award-winning hit in its current London revival.)

"I just find myself at the piano, playing everything that I can think of," Herman said. Does he play the work of his musical hero, Irving Berlin? "Oh, God, yes. And Kurt Weill and Porter and even some classical things. I just love to play. And at this age it's good for my fingers to keep busy."

At the Palm Springs, CA, home he shares with Terry Marler, his partner of 11 years, there is a 61-foot swimming pool. "That's my exercise," Herman said. "I'm there a great deal of the time; I swim and swim and swim as often as I can."

Palm Springs real-estate-broker Marler also keeps him young. "He gets me through all of this," the composer explained. "It gets harder every year. You don't like to think of age as being a problem, and it's not yet with me, but it does get more difficult. And boy he's keeping me fit. In fact, ten minutes ago he had me up doing balancing exercises… He keeps my life going. He's responsible for laughter and companionship. He's just a great, great partner."

Common interests help solidify their relationship. Marler is passionate about the music of Jerry Herman, and Herman is passionate about architecture, design and homes.

Herman observed, "He has his own world and career, but it's something that I'm very interested in. If he sees a great piece of property he'll say, 'Come with me, I want to show you this.' If he were a stock broker or an accountant, I would still have the same feelings for him, but to be able to share his work, as he shares mine, is really a wonderful and unexpected treat. When you meet someone and become close and want to share your life, you don't really have a choice of what that person does."

The Nederlander Organization said in recent years that it was planning to produce Broadway revivals of the three "major" Herman shows: LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (which they did in 2004-05), HELLO, DOLLY! and MAME. Herman said that there's no progress yet on the latter two productions.

"We really haven't had a chance to sit together, and that's when things happen — when we're in the same room," Herman said. "Maybe this trip, after the Tonys, we'll be able to put our heads together and come up with some exciting thoughts about the two of them."

He admitted, "They are very difficult to cast, especially MAME, because that woman has to do everything: She has to be a lady, she has to be funny, she has to be a terrific singer and a very experienced dancer — and the right age and the right tone. For the Nederlanders, or for any producer, she has to have a bankable name."

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES has been "my big surprise," he admitted. The romantic comedy about a showbiz family headed by two gay dads was not a sure thing when it was first produced in 1983, though it was a Tony-winning Best Musical smash on Broadway through 1987. The extraordinary social change — the exposure and acceptance of gay lives — of the past 25 years has helped the show to flourish around the world.

"Yes, I know that DOLLY! and MAME will go on forever, I know that, but LA CAGE has taken its place with them," he said of his last Broadway score, which includes that infectious anthem "The Best of Times," a number that would have made Irving Berlin proud."

in Playbill On-Line by Kenneth Jones

 

May 27th, 2007 - An Email from JERRY - When you’re passionate about something and willing to build a tribute to that, you do it out of love and not to, like they say in THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, “show off”.
I always loved Jerry Herman’s work and, when I decided to built a website about it, he didn’t have an official one. I thought he really deserved to have one and I did it for my enjoyment and because I thought there should be a place where people could find plenty of information about his work.
Imagine my surprise when, a few days ago, I received an email from Jerry Herman himself. I couldn’t believe my eyes and I was overwhelmed by his words. You don’t know how much it meant to me. Life is full of surprises and his email was one of the best I ever had.

With his permission, here is Jerry’s email:

“Dear Jorge,

I am absolutely knocked out by your tribute to me.

How can I thank you for the stunning visuals, the detailed and correct information, and your flattering and heart-warming words?

Just know that I am most grateful and honored to have a fan like you.

All my best,

Jerry Herman”

by Jorge

 

email me: jorge@jorgeplace.com