THE VISIT played Chicago's Goodman Theatre in 2001-02. The creators have hoped for a New York City run, but that has yet to happen. This DC-area staging would seem to be the next step toward a wider life.

Director Galati is a Tony Award nominee for his direction of “Ragtime”, and a two-time 1990 Tony winner for his direction and script of “The Grapes of Wrath”.

Reinking, the Broadway actress, dancer, director and choreographer, won a Tony for choreographing the popular revival of CHICAGO, and was Tony-nommed for her direction of “Fosse”. She was also a Tony nominee as Best Featured Actress (Musical) and Best Actress (Musical) for “Dancin'” and “Goodtime Charley”.

in Playbill On-Line by Kenneth Jones

Some minor amendments have been made to the script and score for this latest outing (song order, for example). As at Goodspeed, what remains is a more downbeat ending that was the original intent of Nash, Kander and Ebb. Gower Champion had turned the show into a sunnier experience, diluting Nash's theme of romance vs. reality. Is photographer Jacques a success or a flop? And what lasting thing can he leave behind?

Unger said that there is talk that this version may become the future and official licensable draft of THE HAPPY TIME.

THE HAPPY TIME’s creative team includes music director David Holcenberg, choreographer Karma Camp, costume designer Kathleen Geldard, scenic and projection designer Todd Edward Ivins (whose projected photos are sepia-toned and hand-tinted), lighting designer Mark Lanks, sound designer Matt Rowe and production stage manager Katherine C. Mielke.

Tickets to THE HAPPY TIME are $45 - $69 and are now on sale at Ticketmaster at (703) 573-SEAT (7328) or by visiting www.signature-theatre.org.

in Playbill On-Line by Kenneth Jones

March 16th, 2008 - KANDER & EBB Celebration at Signature Begins with KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN - "Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, launches its four-month Kander & Ebb Celebration March 11 with the Tony Award-winning musical KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN featuring Will Chase, Hunter Foster and Natascia Diaz.

"The tale of two persecuted men — a window dresser and a socialist rebel — who come to share a prison cell, the horror of torture, and the escape of movie fantasies," Kiss of the Spider Woman features Broadway's Chase as the radical Valentin, Diaz as the mysterious Spider Woman/Aurora and Tony Award nominee Foster as the gay, movie-obsessed prisoner Molina.

The creative team for the new production is Signature artistic director Eric Schaeffer, Signature music director Jon Kalbfleisch and Signature resident artistic associate choreographer Karma Camp, with scenic designer Adam Koch, costume designer Anne Kennedy, lighting designer Chris Lee and sound designer Matt Rowe.

I have to be honest, this is far from the best work of that musical team, so don’t expect a new CHICAGO, CABARET or even STEEL PIER. Keep your hopes a little lower and I’m sure you’re in for a good time. To begin with the cast is first rate; the orchestrations are true musical comedy (is there anything better?) and some of the songs are too good to be missed. It’s true, there isn’t much originality here, but who cares? We have a beautiful ballad, “I Miss the Music”, sung gorgeously by Jason Danieley; Karen Ziemba leads the company in the highly enjoyable “Thataway!”; Debra Monk’s perfect comic timing hits all the right notes of “It’s a Business”; David Hyde Pierce and Jill Paice have a lovely duet “A Tough Act to Follow” that ends as an exciting production number; there’s also the funny “What Kind of Man” and, my favorite, Pierce leads the entire cast in the new theatre anthem “Show People”.

If, like me, you’re a fan of conventional Broadway scores, the kind “they don’t write it like that anymore”, this one is for you and I bet you’ll play it again and again. This might not be musical heaven, but it’s better than most of the new musicals scores and at least you’ll have tunes to carry on. Don’t miss it!

by Jorge

March 28th, 2007 - KANDER Wants to Give Life to Three New Musicals by KANDER & EBB - "Will John Kander write a new show, with a new collaborator?

Asking this question of the Tony Award-winning composer, who lost his longtime lyricist Fred Ebb less than three years ago, is a little like asking a widow if she'll marry again anytime soon.

Kander and Ebb — who penned songs for CABARET, CHICAGO, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN and Broadway's current CURTAINS — had a 42-year collaboration that launched hits and misses, helped punctuate the chapter in musical theatre history known as "the concept musical," and were responsible for not a few pop songs ("My Coloring Book," "The Theme From 'New York, New York.'")

K&E mattered. So the question is a natural one: What's next for the 80-year-old Kander?

The short answer, he told Playbill.com, is that he's in a shepherding phase in which he's working toward giving life to the last four — or, now that CURTAINS has a commercial life, three — shows he and Ebb were working on before the lyricist died Sept. 11, 2004.

CURTAINS is now open on Broadway. Waiting in the wings are ALL ABOUT US, their musical of "The Skin of Our Teeth" (with book writer Joseph Stein), which will play April 10-28 at Westport Country Playhouse; their musical THE VISIT (with Terrence McNally), getting a revised production in the fall at Virginia's Signature Theatre; and THE MINSTREL SHOW, their "vicious" (his term) musical take on a slice of Depression-era American injustice, which is in limbo, but has collaborators David Thompson and Susan Stroman attached.

"Those shows were unfinished, just as [CURTAINS] was," Kander said. "[CURTAINS] has five new songs…since Fred died. And there will be some changes in the score of ALL ABOUT US and I haven't visited the THE VISIT yet, but I know there are at least two chunks that need to be rewritten."

THE MINSTREL SHOW, a musical that uses blackface to tell the story of the "Scottsboro Boys," black men in Alabama wrongly accused of raping white women, "was almost complete at Fred's death," Kander said. "I've added a couple songs to it."

CURTAINS has songs by Kander and Ebb, with additional lyrics by Kander and Rupert Holmes.

Will revisions and additions to ALL ABOUT US and THE VIIST have new lyrics by Kander? "At the moment, yeah," Kander said. "I mean, I have no pride about all this. I'm enjoying the lyric writing that I'm doing — that I do with much less confidence [than the music], of course. I would have no compunctions about asking somebody for help."

Is there a future writing partner for Kander, a future show beyond those already conceived?

Kander observed, "I've said this before, and to myself also: 'I have to get these four pieces done.' When they are done, I will be very curious to find out what I feel like writing. This is a commitment now — it's where my energies are going."

The path could be lonely, but Kander said he knows he's part of a community of other theatre artists — collaborators — who bring shows to life.

"On CURTAINS I've had this incredible support from both [director] Scott [Ellis] and Rupert," Kander said. "We function as a collaboration. I try not to think back a lot. This is now. Fred is omnipresent, God knows, in this piece. In terms of the work that has to be done, you just have to do it. You can't grieve or become self-pitying, or anything like that. Whether he would've liked what I've written or not, he would have approved of the idea of us proceeding and proceeding this seriously."

He mimics the salty Ebb's tone of voice: "Do it or not! Are we gonna do this or not?"

in Playbill On-line by Kenneth Jones

say, one of the last) of the collaborations from the songwriting team of John Kander and Fred Ebb is a low-key ballad called “Coffee Shop Nights.”
The song is performed, most engagingly, by David Hyde Pierce, who (this is the good news) steps into full-fledged Broadway stardom with his performance here.
Unlike “The Producers,” which ends its long New York run next month, “Curtains,” directed with a soft hand by Scott Ellis, fails to convey a passionate and bone-deep understanding of the shows it satirizes. What it really brings to mind is less vintage Broadway than vintage prime time.
It is a worthy tribute to the long and rich partnership of Mr. Kander and Mr. Ebb, one of the toughest acts to follow on Broadway."

That this determinedly old-fashioned murder-mystery musical actually comes out on top is a credit to the talented creative team involved, on- and offstage. Rarely does a show with such a meandering first act -- enlivened by low-key laughs but alarmingly light on momentum -- bounce back after intermission with such infectious, ingratiating spirit.
Its tunes are never going to challenge those of the darker-textured "Cabaret" or "Chicago" as musical standards, and Holmes' book is a joke-driven concoction that needs a sharper pen. Amusing when it should be uproarious, pleasantly tuneful when it should be transporting, the show diverts but never dazzles. Somewhere early in act two, however, it quietly builds charm, cheek and cleverness, making it register as satisfying entertainment by final curtain."

So, as they've been raising Curtains for Broadway consumption, the show's creators -- minus the late Ebb and Stone, but including director Scott Ellis and choreographer Rob Ashford -- have ladled on the razzle and the dazzle until they've fashioned a product that defies exiting consumers to say they haven't been entertained. Only a curmudgeon -- perhaps someone like this reviewer -- could walk away muttering about the substitution of craft for inspired musical comedy art.

Curtains operates according to an unwritten show-biz tactic: The Just-Enough Maneuver. There's just enough mystery story that makes sense. There are just enough witty wisecracks among the lame ones, and just enough songs (in William David Brohn's arrangements) that land before evaporating as the final note fades. There are just enough energetic dance numbers, including an Agnes de Mille send-up that younger patrons won't get, and just enough colorful sets (Anna Louizos), costumes (William Ivey Long), and lighting effects (Peter Kaczorowski). But there are more than enough adroit performances by a large contingent of proficient Broadway performers, all of them giving 110 percent."

in Daily News by Evan Henerson: "The musical "Curtains" is two plays in one. It's a curvy whodunit plot that book writer Rupert Holmes ("Accomplice," "The Mystery of Edwin Drood") has made his signature. And it's a sugar-and-spiced valentine to the men and women for whom show business really is "like no business I know."
As both mystery and musical, "Curtains" is hugely delightful, thanks in large part to a quite-savvy cast and the winning choreography of Rob Ashford. The score likely won't go down as one of Kander and Ebb's most skilled or profound (Ebb and original concept writer

Peter Stone died a few years before "Curtains" reached a stage), but there are some sparklers.
As for David Hyde Pierce, playing "Curtains' " solve-it-and-fix-it Lt. Frank Cioffi, the actor's clearly a creature of the stage who has blossomed since shedding the seasonal quirks of "Frasier's" Niles Crane.
The mystery? Oh, right. Holmes is apt to twist and plot his way into head-scratching oblivion. Still, you might well guess who's carrying the gun. During the final bow, the cast implores you — musically — not to give the secrets away.
And so we won't. Unlike the scrambling company of "Robin' Hood," the charming "Curtains" doesn't figure to have any comparable complications on its way to the Big Apple."

Tickets are on sale at Telecharge at (212) 239-6200, online at www.telecharge.com or in person at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre box office. For more information, visit www.curtainsthemusical.com

Not only does CURTAINS composer John Kander manage to explore character and plot in the number, he unknowingly paid tribute to his late, longtime lyricist Fred Ebb, who did not live to see CURTAINS come to commercial fruition at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

The lyric for "I Miss the Music" was written by Kander himself, about a topic so intimate and close that he said he did not immediately recognize the autobiography of it.

Kander told Playbill.com, "Jason [Danieley] said, 'You wrote that about Fred, didn't you?' I said, 'No, I don't think so.'"

A shorter version of the song was heard in the 2006 Los Angeles tryout of CURTAINS; at the time, "the number was less explicitly about collaboration," Kander said.

Is "I Miss the Music" a love letter to Ebb, the Tony Award-winning lyricist who, in a 42-year monogamous creative partnership with Kander, co-wrote songs for Cabaret, Zorba, Woman of the Year, The Happy Time, Chicago, The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman and more?

"That's what it turned out to be," Kander admitted. "I didn't know that's what I was doing when I was writing it. When we came to New York, I expanded it. First, I had to recognize that, yeah, it really was about Fred, and then I could write the rest of the song."

The lyric continues:
When you're writing a song
And you've a partner
The room is filled with jokes and chatter.
She says something.
You say something.
She writes a line.
You play a vamp.
But when you're writing a song
Without a partner
That's a completely different matter
No one tells you,
"That's not funny."
No one says, "Let's cut that bar."
No one makes you better than you are.

What would "Freddy" have thought of the song? Kander said with a laugh, "He would think I was being a sentimental fool. I don't know that he would have approved of it..."

Despite some famous, "directly emotional" lyrics by Ebb over the years (including the early K&E pre-Broadway pop hit, "My Coloring Book"), Ebb was much happier (and more famous for) writing salty, pungent, dirty lyrics such as "When You're Good to Mama" from Chicago or "Everybody's Girl" from Steel Pier. The latter was directed by Scott Ellis, who also helms CURTAINS.

Act Two of CURTAINS features a muscular song called "It's a Business," about commerce as the root of all showbiz, as told by a blowsy producer named Carmen Bernstein (played by Debra Monk). The lyric, Kander said, "is quintessential Freddy":

Shaw and Ibsen
Take 'em away
And don't bother me with Moliere
Those Russians never pay!

Act One's song about theatre critics, with a lyric by Ebb, was originally "much longer and much more disgusting," Kander said.

Dirtier?

"I would have to go back and look at it," he said. "I know it was pretty vicious."

Following the 2004 death of Ebb, CURTAINS moved forward with both book writer Rupert Holmes (who had already joined the project following the 2003 death of librettist Peter Stone) and Kander penning "additional lyrics." Despite the revelations of lyric credit here, the list of musical numbers in the Playbill does not indicate who contributed lyrics to individual songs (there were five post-Ebb numbers). Kander said the creative team wanted to speak with one voice. Thus, there is no published breakdown of lyric credit.

Georgia and Aaron, the estranged songwriting couple in the show, represent one of two romantic partnerships in the CURTAINS plot. The other is homicide detective Lt. Frank Cioffi (played by David Hyde Pierce) and ingénue Niki Harris (played by Jill Paice). He's star-struck and lends a hand at fixing structure and writing issues of Robbin' Hood, the show playing Boston's Colonial Theatre in 1959. Oh, and he's also present to solve the murder of its star.

Was romance a part of CURTAINS in earlier Peter Stone drafts?

The "seeds were there," Kander said, "but Rupert aided and abetted it. Let me put it this way: The show evolved without our ever saying, 'Gee there should be more romance in it.' Whatever's there came about as a natural kind of evolution and also through Rupert's wildly talented mind."

Romance tends to be the key to most successful musicals, right?

"I have no idea what the key to most successful musicals is, I truly don't," Kander said with a laugh. "I love the fact that both those relationships are all about the theatre. I'm glad people are finding the show touching as well as funny. There are moments in it that really touch me. I guess it sounds like an awfully tired cliché, but the piece really is a kind of a love letter to the theatre, or to musical theatre."

in Playbill On-line by Kenneth Jones