Despite Mixed Reviews, Producers Eyeing 'Woods' Move to Broadway - NYTimes.com

August 14, 2012, 2:37 PM 1 Comment Despite Mixed Reviews, Producers Eyeing ‘Woods’ Move to Broadway By PATRICK HEALY

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times From left, Chip Zien, Josh Lamon and Amy Adams in the musical “Into the Woods” at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

Theater producers are pursuing a possible Broadway transfer of the Central Park staging of “Into the Woods” in spite of several negative reviews last week that would usually put a damper on such plans.

The commercial producer Joey Parnes said in an interview on Tuesday that he is developing plans for moving the Public Theater’s revival of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical, which is now running at the outdoor Delacorte Theater. Mr. Parnes previously collaborated with the Public on moving its park productions of “Hair” and “The Merchant of Venice” to Broadway; a spokeswoman for the Public said if this transfer happened, the Public would be involved creatively but would not raise money for it.

In the interview, Mr. Parnes said that he did not see the reviews as a death blow for a Broadway transfer, which, he estimated, would probably cost $6 million to $7 million and be aimed for late winter or spring of 2013. (As a whole the reviews were mixed, though critics from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were especially harsh.) Many of the reviews included fixable concerns, he noted, and added that there was unusually intense audience interest in the musical itself, a revisionist take on several Grimm fairy tales. Hundreds of people have been lining up for the free tickets to the park production in recent weeks.

“Some critics made good points about the park production that we would take to heart, and it’s worth remembering that when we moved ‘Hair’ from the park to Broadway, it changed, it got tighter, it got better,” Mr. Parnes said.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/despite-mixed-reviews-producers-eyeing-woods-move-to-broadway/[8/15/2012 10:09:12 AM] Despite Mixed Reviews, Producers Eyeing 'Woods' Move to Broadway - NYTimes.com

“The reviews might make my job a little harder. But I think a lot of the production’s issues would be assuaged indoors – the lighting and sound and staging focus issues would all change in an intimate Broadway house, and story-telling issues would be addressed with time and rehearsals.”

Still, Mr. Parnes emphasized that Broadway is far from a sure thing. Before he begins courting investors, he said, he needs to nail down parts of his sales pitch – chiefly, commitments from cast members; an available Broadway theater; and a budget plan, weekly running costs, and a timetable outlining when the show might turn a profit. Mr. Parnes said he is in talks with agents for a few of the show’s stars, including its marquee name, Oscar nominee Amy Adams, who plays the central role of the Baker’s Wife; Ms. Adams is booked with work through the rest of 2012, at least. Mr. Parnes has also been talking to theater owners since early summer. He said it may be weeks or even a few months before the decision on a Broadway move is made.

The Public spokeswoman said in an e-mail: “ ‘Into the Woods’ is having a very successful run in the park and we were able to extend one additional week. It must close on Sept. 1 but there is still tremendous audience demand for this production and we’re open to the possibility of a future life after the park.”

An earlier version of this post misstated the Public Theater’s role in a possible Broadway transfer of “Into the Woods.” While it would in fact be creatively involved, it would not be raising money for a transfer.

A version of this article appeared in print on 08/15/2012, on page C3 of the NewYork edition with the headline: ‘Into the Woods’ Eyeing Broadway.

Subscribe: Digital / Home Delivery

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/despite-mixed-reviews-producers-eyeing-woods-move-to-broadway/[8/15/2012 10:09:12 AM] 'Smash' Schedule Prompts Jeremy Jordan To Depart '' on Sept. 4 - NYTimes.com

August 14, 2012, 4:05 PM 1 Comment ‘Smash’ Schedule Prompts Jeremy Jordan To Depart ‘Newsies’ on Sept. 4 By PATRICK HEALY

Left, Sara Krulwich/The New York Times; Lorenzo Bevilaqua Jeremy Jordan, left, in “Newsies the Musical”; Corey Cott in rehearsal for the show.

Will the hit Broadway musical “Newsies” continue to flourish without its breakout star, Jeremy Jordan? Disney Theatrical Productions will soon find out. Disney executives said on Tuesday that Mr. Jordan, who has become an audience favorite as the brooding New York City newsboy Jack Kelly, would give his final performance on Sept. 4 so he can concentrate on his new leading role in the NBC series “Smash.” Disney also announced that a 22-year-old unknown, Corey Cott, who graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in May and joined the “Newsies” company last month, would take over the role of Jack on Sept. 5.

Recasting stars can be fraught business on Broadway: Nick Jonas never really caught fire with audiences last spring after replacing Daniel Radcliffe in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” and ticket sales to “The Addams Family” fell off considerably when the hugely popular Nathan Lane finished his yearlong contract. But Disney has deep experience with recasting roles in long-running hits like “The Lion King” and “Mary Poppins,” and executives there expressed confidence that Mr. Cott had the tenor, training, and boyish charisma to help coax audience members to return to see “Newsies” over and over again, as Mr. Jordan did.

Thomas Schumacher, president of Disney Theatrical, said in an interview that he was not overly concerned that Mr. Jordan’s departure would hurt ticket sales, and noted that it would be hard to gauge since most Broadway shows have a seasonal dip at the box office in September and October.

“I don’t know if the broadest audience closely follows which actor plays which role, unless it’s a really big-name star,” Mr. Schumacher said. “What’s most important to me is having someone who can play the role beautifully. Jeremy

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/smash-schedule-prompts-jeremy-jordan-to-depart-newsies-on-sept-4/[8/15/2012 10:06:23 AM] 'Smash' Schedule Prompts Jeremy Jordan To Depart 'Newsies' on Sept. 4 - NYTimes.com

was sensational, and Corey is terrific.”

Mr. Jordan landed the role on “Smash” in late spring, relatively early into his “Newsies” run; most stars stay with new Broadway musicals for a year, but Mr. Jordan said the prime-time television opportunity “seemed too good to pass up.”

At the time he thought he could juggle both jobs, he said – but then came a week this summer when he put in three 14-hour days on the “Smash” set and then four performances of “Newsies” in 48 hours.

“I wasn’t getting enough sleep, I was never home, and I just started to feel the weight of everything,” said Mr. Jordan, who was nominated for a Tony Award this spring for “Newsies.” “I always knew ‘Smash’ would be a full-time job, but I thought – partly because TV is a lot easier than Broadway – that doing both would be manageable for a while. But I needed more balance – I’m getting married in September, too – and I didn’t think it’d be fair to ‘Newsies’ audiences if I started missing a lot of performances because of ‘Smash’ demands.”

Mr. Jordan had not been one to shy away from multitasking; last fall he performed in “Newsies” at the in Millburn, N.J., while rehearsing for “Bonnie & Clyde” on Broadway; when the latter show flopped, he rejoined the “Newsies” cast for its return to Broadway in the spring.

If the summer has been hectic for Mr. Jordan, it has been head-spinning for Mr. Cott. He quickly began auditioning after graduation, and said he was offered roles in a national tour of the musical “Wicked” and the coming Off Broadway musical “Bare,” while also planning to test for the television series “Glee.” (He is also getting married, in January.) Mr. Cott chose “Newsies,” he said, “because Jack is a great character that I’d be really, really proud to play, and because it’s pretty incredible to make my Broadway debut in a memorable leading role.”

“Newsies” began performances on Broadway in March; the show has been grossing more than $1 million a week since mid-June, around the time “Newsies” performed on the Tony Awards broadcast and won prizes for best score and choreography.

A version of this article appeared in print on 08/15/2012, on page C3 of the NewYork edition with the headline: Exit Jeremy Jordan, Enter Corey Cott.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/smash-schedule-prompts-jeremy-jordan-to-depart-newsies-on-sept-4/[8/15/2012 10:06:23 AM] ‘Harrison, TX,’ Three Plays by Horton Foote - NYTimes.com

THEATER REVIEW Where Small Talk Has Epic Meanings ‘Harrison, TX,’ Three Plays by Horton Foote

Ruby Washington/The New York Times Harrison, TX From left, Evan Jonigkeit, Hallie Foote and Andrea Lynn Green in “Blind Date,” the opening entry in this program of three one-acts by Horton Foote. By BEN BRANTLEY Published: August 14, 2012

For Mrs. Robert Henry, good conversation is sacred, something to FACEBOOK

put your faith in, along with God and country. A fanatically gracious TWITTER small-town matron, Mrs. Henry (Dolores to her friends) GOOGLE+ proselytizes tirelessly for this religion in the opening entry of E-MAIL “Harrison, TX,” an evening of three short, piquant plays by Horton Foote at 59E59 Theaters. And shame on those who dare dismiss her SHARE

as just a flibbertigibbet. PRINT

Dolores, you see, is played by Hallie SINGLE PAGE Foote, which guarantees that we fully REPRINTS Multimedia appreciate both the fervor and the blindness of her conviction, and the glimmer of real fear behind it. Ms. Foote is the daughter of Horton Foote, who died in 2009, and she has what feels like a genetically ingrained understanding of her father’s creations. In her fluttering hands, a character who might

Excerpt: 'Blind Date' have registered as a satirical quick sketch becomes the embodiment of a besieged code for living.

Directed with an artfully light hand by Pam MacKinnon, “Harrison, TX,” a Primary Stages production that opened on Tuesday night, speaks softly but firmly to how people talk in Foote’s plays. Conversation isn’t just a way of

Audio Slide Show passing the time or swapping gossip for the denizens of Horton Foote: Dreams of Texas Harrison (based on Foote’s hometown, Wharton, Tex.),

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/theater/reviews/harrison-tx-three-plays-by-horton-foote.html[8/15/2012 10:10:43 AM] ‘Harrison, TX,’ Three Plays by Horton Foote - NYTimes.com

(2005) the place where most of his work is set.

To talk as Foote’s more garrulous characters do is to Related proclaim both personal and social identity, to assert an The Pleasure and Pain of Doing ironclad system of values and — perhaps most important Like Dad (August 5, 2012) — to keep at bay the silence that might call those values Times Topic: Horton Foote into question. Foote’s celebrated writer’s ear listened on two levels: for the surface quirks of a regional style and Connect With the anxious roar of emptiness beneath. Good conversation Us on Twitter Follow is a comfort, but it’s finally not much of a defense system. @NYTimestheater for theater news This awareness lends an almost tragic resonance to much and reviews from Broadway and beyond. of Foote’s seemingly inconsequential dialogue, making him one of the most eloquently vernacular playwrights in Enlarge This Image American letters. New York theatergoers had the chance to savor that gift in recent years with the Primary Stages production of “Dividing the Estate,” which transferred to Broadway in 2008, and his nine-part “Orphans’ Home Cycle,” seen in its entirety off Broadway in 2009 and 2010.

None of the plays in “Harrison, TX,” are on the level of those fuller, more ambitious works. But they reminded me of how much I had missed hearing Foote’s quiet, colloquial and ruthlessly perceptive voice. The opening plays on the bill, “Blind Date” and “The One-Armed Man,” first staged in the 1980s, are nicely matched studies — comic and Ruby Washington/The New York Times At front, Alexander Cendese and tragic — in what happens when words fail. Jenny Dare Paulin with fellow cast members in a Primary Stages The concluding play, “The Midnight Caller,” written in the production of Horton Foote’s “Midnight Caller,” set in Harrison, mid-1950s, is less successfully focused and less self- Tex., a fictional town. assured. But it, too, enjoyably considers the implicit sprawling dimensions of what we think of as small talk.

Set in a carefully arranged, floral-patterned room in 1928 (Marion Williams is the set designer), “Blind Date” initially suggests a folksy cross between Booth Tarkington’s comedies of courtship and Tennessee Williams’s “Glass Menagerie.” Like Williams’s Amanda, Ms. Foote’s Dolores is a former belle bent on imparting lessons in how to be popular to a reluctant pupil.

That’s her visiting niece, Sarah Nancy (Andrea Lynn Green), a sullen bookworm who has already alienated most of the eligible boys in Harrison. But Dolores, who refuses to concede defeat, has arranged for one last gentleman caller, an insurance salesman named Felix (Evan Jonigkeit, with brilliantined hair and a smile to match). She is determined to drill into Sarah Nancy the art of talking to, and listening to, a boy.

As she says to her husband, Robert (played with fine, exasperated amusement by Devon Abner): “I wasn’t born a conversationalist, you know. I was born as shy as the next one, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to converse. And so can Sarah Nancy.”

Sometimes, though, even the most irresistible forces founder against immovable objects, which Sarah Nancy definitely is. The great pleasure of “Blind Date” comes from watching Ms. Foote’s Dolores progress from determination to desperation and, finally, desolation, as her efforts at matchmaking go splat. The play ends in a significant — and not altogether unhappy — state of wordlessness.

The stakes are raised for “The One-Armed Man,” also set in 1928. It, too, centers on a

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/theater/reviews/harrison-tx-three-plays-by-horton-foote.html[8/15/2012 10:10:43 AM] ‘Harrison, TX,’ Three Plays by Horton Foote - NYTimes.com

master of Southern loquacity, one C. W. Rowe (Jeremy Bobb), the prosperous owner of a cotton mill and a logorrheic cheerleader for can-do American capitalism. He rules his office with a strut, extolling his accomplishments and the culture that fostered them. Even alone and unspeaking, Mr. Bobb exudes the impregnable satisfaction of a lord and master of all he surveys.

He can’t begin to understand the defeatism of employees like the weary Pinkey (Mr. Abner) or the laconic McHenry (Alexander Cendese), an angry young former millworker who lost his job when he lost his arm ginning cotton. Like “Blind Date,” “The One- Armed Man” pits battalions of words against one person’s obdurate silence. And once again, it’s silence that wins.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/theater/reviews/harrison-tx-three-plays-by-horton-foote.html[8/15/2012 10:10:43 AM] ‘Harrison, TX,’ Three Plays by Horton Foote - NYTimes.com

Both these plays are satisfyingly taut and quick. “The Midnight Caller” meanders, though it has its own period charms. First staged in 1958 at the Sheridan Square Playhouse, “Caller” is set in a boardinghouse occupied by spinsters who must deal with two undesirable new tenants: a man (enough said), played by Mr. Bobb, and a local woman who has been involved in a scandalous love affair (Jenny Dare Paulin).

In its emphasis on the loneliness of small-town women without men, “Caller” directly brings to mind an earlier, much acclaimed play of the same decade, William Inge’s “Picnic.” One character — an old-maid schoolteacher, played by the sterling Jayne Houdyshell — even speaks with a wistful poeticism that I associate more with Inge than with Foote. And for a short play, “Caller” is exceedingly packed with incident and dramatic reversals (a flaw not unknown in Foote’s work).

But it’s fun to visit for a spell with a gallery of female types who showed up regularly in theater, fiction and film of the mid-20th century, like the morally righteous gossip and the bad girl who’s not really so bad. The entertaining cast includes Mary Bacon as a tart- tongued, quick-tempered busybody; Ms. Green as her teary friend; and Mr. Cendese as a ne’er-do-well rich boy.

And, oh yes, Ms. Foote, who plays the small role of the landlady, Mrs. Crawford. In this part she looks much the same as she did in “Blind Date.” And yet without noticeably changing her inflections or posture, Ms. Foote makes Mrs. Crawford a completely different but equally knowable character.

In both plays she emanates an incontrovertible authenticity of time and place and sensibility. She is, to put it simply, the spirit of her father’s artistry made flesh. That means that any chance to see Ms. Foote in Foote is not to be missed.

Harrison, TX: Three Plays

by Horton Foote

Directed by Pam MacKinnon; sets by Marion Williams; costumes by Kaye Voyce; lighting by Tyler Micoleau; music and sound by Broken Chord; production stage manager, Kyle Gates; production supervisor, PRF Productions; general manager, Toni Marie Davis; associate artistic director, Michelle Bossy. Presented by Primary Stages, Casey Childs, executive producer; Andrew Leynse, artistic director; Elliot Fox, managing director; in association with Jamie deRoy and Barry Feirstein. At the 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, (212) 279-4200, ticketcentral.com. Through Sept. 15. Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes.

“BLIND DATE” WITH: Devon Abner (Robert), Andrea Lynn Green (Sarah Nancy), Hallie Foote (Dolores) and Evan Jonigkeit (Felix).

“THE ONE-ARMED MAN” WITH: Jeremy Bobb (C. W. Rowe), Devon Abner (Pinkey) and Alexander Cendese (McHenry).

“THE MIDNIGHT CALLER” WITH: Mary Bacon (Alma Jean Jordan), Andrea Lynn Green (Cutie Spencer), Jayne Houdyshell (Miss Rowena Douglas), Hallie Foote (Mrs. Crawford), Jeremy Bobb (Mr. Ralph Johnston), Jenny Dare Paulin (Helen Crews) and Alexander Cendese (Harvey Weems).

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/theater/reviews/harrison-tx-three-plays-by-horton-foote.html?pagewanted=2[8/15/2012 10:11:24 AM] ‘Fried Chicken and Latkes,’ a Rain Pryor Solo Show - NYTimes.com

THEATER REVIEW Instead of a Bedtime Story, a Lullaby From Miles Davis ‘Fried Chicken and Latkes,’ a Rain Pryor Solo Show

By ANDY WEBSTER Published: August 14, 2012

Make no mistake: Rain Pryor, the star of the autobiographical solo FACEBOOK show “Fried Chicken and Latkes,” is not just defined by her father, TWITTER

the comedian Richard Pryor. She most definitely is her own woman. GOOGLE+ But she sure does one hell of an impersonation of her dad. E-MAIL

There are many dimensions to this SHARE Overview robust, ebullient performer, all PRINT Tickets & Showtimes evident in this trim production, which REPRINTS sails by in an effervescent 70 New York Times Review minutes. The daughter of Pryor (“a Readers' Reviews comic genius”) and a Jewish onetime go-go dancer, Ms. Pryor was raised in Enlarge This Image Beverly Hills, Calif., in a biracial household. Her show is a parade of friends, relatives and tormentors, in which she also sings — with impressive power — accompanied by a skilled jazz trio led by Charles Lindberg.

Her portraits include those of a slur-hurling elementary school antagonist; her hardheaded mother (“Joan Crawford in the ’hood”); her maternal grandmother and sagacious paternal great-grandmother; a tough black female classmate; a vapid 1980s Valley girl; and Miles Davis (who once serenaded her to sleep).

And she delivers a spot-on impression of her father, both Peter Zimmern Fried Chicken and Latkes Rain Pryor at his height (she summons bits of his routine about in her solo show at the Actors Temple shooting at his wife’s car) and, poignantly, in his decline Theater. (when he suffered from the multiple sclerosis that claimed Related his life in 2005). She acknowledges his flaws, like womanizing and drug abuse, but vividly renders his For Rain Pryor and Kelly Carlin, Comedy Is a Family Business (July tender paternal concern and honorable candor. 22, 2012) Ms. Pryor has had many television roles, perhaps most Connect With notably as a regular character on the ABC series “Head of Us on Twitter Follow the Class.” But she has an outsize presence built for @NYTimestheater Broadway; at times her salty banter suggests Bette Midler for theater news and reviews from without the camp. Now a mother, she abandoned Broadway and beyond. “Hollyweird” (her term) to adopt Baltimore as a base of operations. But she certainly seems right at home in Manhattan.

“Fried Chicken and Latkes” continues in an open-ended run at the Actors Temple Theater, 339 West 47th Street, Clinton; (212) 239-6200, Telecharge.com.

A version of this review appeared in print on August 15, 2012, on page C6 of the New York edition with the headline: Instead of a Bedtime Story, A Lullaby From Miles Davis.

http://theater.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/theater/reviews/fried-chicken-and-latkes-a-rain-pryor-solo-show.html[8/15/2012 10:02:58 AM]

'Potted Potter' hits road with U.S. tour - Entertainment News, Legit News, Media - Variety

'Potted Potter' hits road with U.S. tour Spoof traveling to Chicago and beyond following Off Broadway run By GORDON COX

"Potted Potter," the Harry Potter spoof that's currently playing a commercial run Off Broadway, has laid plans for a U.S. tour this fall.

The family-friendly, comic condensation of the seven Potter novels, "Potted Potter: The Unauthorized Harry Experience -- A Parody by Dan and Jeff" landed in Gotham in May following international stints in Toronto, London and Edinburgh, where the show played multiple gigs as part of the city's legit fringe festival.Summertime run in New York was timed to capitalize on the city's Daniel Clarkson and Jeff Turner in "Potted Potter" seasonal influx of tourists, including family auds that could be attracted by the show's link to the popular Potter franchise.

Starvox Entertainment and Potted Prods., producers of the New York staging, also produce the U.S. touring incarnation.

Performed by writer-actors Daniel Clarkson and Jeferson Turner, "Potted Potter" exits Gotham venue the Little Shubert Sept. 2 ahead of dates in Chicago, Detroit, Hartford, Conn. and Bangor, Maine, among others. Tour launches in Chi in a run that starts Nov. 13.

Contact Gordon Cox at [email protected]

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118057839?refCatId=15[8/15/2012 10:12:55 AM]