PDF: Read Applause Magazine, Issue 8, May 1997
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;w~!:l;\H t'a~!.:I!J!:1it: .~i.L:.'0 ~'!''!'JUrr .;.\ !:.rJ!JH!:.i.JJI.!. ' I';'J~\fjlE ':JH!:h\,~3J t'Jle !)!J!:rl~h' PREVIEWS FROM 14 APRIL· OPENS 17 APRIL -97 ------ NOW BOOKING! ----- Editor's Letter or [he las[ fif[\, years or so [he cinema's deb[ [Q [he srage has been incalculable A celebrared Broadway or Wes[ End hi[ was ins<andy bough[ by a major s[LIdio, whic h, in [ypical movie fash io n, would [hen des[[oy i[ by reworking i[ fo r [he screen Broadway musicals were particularly vulnerable (0 [hese warHon ac[s of vandalism and "lmoS[ as soon as H o ll ywood le<l rned w [alk and sing i[ was nO[ unus ual [() find a show like Cole PO[[er's Fi[l )' lvlillion Fre nchmen (1929) reac hing [he sc reen beref[ of irs emire score. O n The Town, [hough i[ became a classic MGM musica l in j 949, did so ",i[hou[ [he benefi[ of all [he o ri gina l Berns[ein-Comden and Green so ngs ; while [he flfsr Londlln appearance of Lady in th e Dark reminds us juS[ wha[ a naves[y the 1943 film version, starring G inger Rogers, was. The si[u3tion is very differem (Od ay. Escapis[ screen musicals are a lmos[ a [hing of [he past, and now i[ is [he [Urn of Broadway [Q ransack Holl ywood for irs class ic musicals radler [han dle o[he r way round . The li s[ of non-musica l films [ha[ have, in [he nor (00 dis[am pasr, become Broadway muslCa ls includes Pas sion (from [he film Passione dAmore), Vic wr/Vicwria (a cpmedy with songs), Some Like lr Hot (aka Sugar ), Nick and Nora (based on Th e Thin Man films), Big Deal (from Big Dea l On Madonna Stree t) , Nine (from Fellini', 8 1/2), Sunse t Boule vard , The Goodbye Girl, and , mosr recendy Big. O f [hese, only Nine found i[self in profi[ af[er irs 732 pe rformance run. With [he excep[ions of Victor/Vicro ria, which has so far had a ()mmercially successful run bur could still lose monel' when Raquel We lch rakes over from Julie A ndre ws, and 42nd Stree t, whICh had i[s score heavily augmemed by several Harry Warren -AI Dubin songs [ha[ weren 't in [he origina l fdm, the [rack record fo r H oll ywood musica ls [hat have been reinvem ed for Broadway and [he W es [ End is e ven worse. Think of G ig; , Singln' In The Rain , Seven Brides [or Seven Brothers, Meet Me in St LOllis, The Wizard o[ Oz, High Socie ty, and , mos[ recendy State Fair. Obviously, dle cinema's capaci[y w open out a play or a mus ical does nm work in reverse. The resources of [he smge are not as infini[e as [he screen. There is Simply no IVay [he [heau e can comfo rtabl y or convincingly replicare [he produC[io n va lu es of a film - especiall y a musical. The only case I can [ecall of a screen musical duplica[ing irs success on s[age is D isney's BeQl([), and th e Beast. By f1 eshing our a full -leng[h carroon, [he crea[i ve ream in volved have indefinite ly prolonged [he she lf-life of a show [hm J11i gh[ we ll e m er the hiswry books by making even more money in irs stage incarna[ion [ha n it has as a film. If [he London run repeal's dle success [he show is having in N ew York, i['s cerrainly possible. applause THE A PPLAUSE BUILDING · 68 LONG ACRE· LONDON WC2E 9JQ PUBLISHED BY APPLAUSE LTD ' MANAGING DIRECT O R PAUL BURNETT EDITOR CLIVE HIRSCHHORN EDITORIAL DEPUTY EDITOR PAUL RAVEN TElEPHONE01713128051 FAX 0171 312 8090 ART DIRECTOR TERRY SESSIONS ADVERTISING ASHLEY HERMAN ADVERTISING MARKETING APPLAUSE TELEPHONE 0171 312 8079 MARKETING DEPT. ISSN 1364·7636 FOUNDING EDITOR RAYNER BOURTON OI$lRIIU fON !l V CO ...... AG SPECi ALIS T DI VISI ON, MERCURY C: NTIi::. CtNH!.4. LWA Y f U itt A,'.\ . Mrt> DX. TW 1A OR X TeLE PH ON£ 01 !! 1 a 4~ 100 0 THEATRE BOOKINGS A f'I ~t;lU( l:" "'lit, ,,..: ;!,,, ImSJIICl I.:ti lt1dJ1 Wo1;"ril'" rmJ ph,*,pap/lS hili LONDON 01713121991 carm()f h-:- hdJ , o')/ \fIn'>lhlc rJf it ,, :> fo}J l1'f d.:l 1Til1, All Itt{orrruHio:1 Cl1nW /ll~J III A r rh ll~ (' m ,(, ~..;I~ i r \ ... is Il~ !fl<.' bt.) :10/ EVENTS BOOKINGS " :0 ~1I;' " !~JJ: l!" .m.:! bdlL'j t"UfW(: (U :}:•• rill!.! ,"I{ ~MTJ. !{ W 1m" T f..I: . 'tln ~XF' I "c:~ .1 tn Lil I< lIla,t7d :;:IJ:t> (\Ii ,.,1l ~r"- l'l\(!r'l r~ UJrut" /.If ST ALBANS 01727 841115 {hI' o;Jl/('rr r~ r(,J;.j!dw ' applause OFFSTAGE 6 News and gossip fTOm aTOund the West End 8 THE MOUSE MUSCLES IN Matt Wolf looks at Disney's Broadway and West End ventures NEW FACES 12 Disney's Beauty and the Beast's Julie-Alanah Brighten 14 JOHN BARROWMAN wlking to Martin Stirling ONSTAGE 17 Clive HiTSchhorn reviews the West End's latest offerings 22 ACT OF COMPLICITE Clare Colvin wlks to Simon McBurne y about the work of Theatre de Co mplicite John [larrowman. p.14 APPLAUSE THEATRE CLUB 23 C hristopher Biggi ns brings you more g-reat money-saving offers on top West End shows 31 NED SHERRIN HAUNTED HOUSES 32 Linn Branson goes ghost-hunting in London's theatres 34 TERRENCE MCNALLY Patrick Pacheco on the American pla)"wright hoping to make his mark here wi th Master C Ia(; HAT TRICKS 36 San Francisco's cult caper Beach Blanket Babylon hits town. Sasha de Suinn goes shopping for hats 39 SUMMER FARE Michae l Coveney w/<es a look at this year's summer festivals BOOK REVIEWS 41 Rhoda Koenig on the lives of Ibsen and Pe&,ay Ashcroft 43 SPECTRUM Boolo. ".41 Opera, Dance, and TV reviews and previews by Max Loppert, Jeffer), Ta ylor and Ronald Bergan PEOPLE WHO MAKE 47 A DIFFERENCE Designer John Napier wlks to Nick Smurthwaite 49 OFFSTAGE BROADWAY Michae l Riedel with news and gossip from the Big Apple Some lhlllg gne s bltmp. 1'.32 QUIZ 50 50 SHOWS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE .. , Roy Hattersley, MP Mr Producer' ".A MAY 1997 A P/AUSE 5 stage AUSTRl\lIAN DIRECTOR Gale Edwards is going to ••• accus tomed [0 avoiding certain drinking dens he drafted in (0 direcr Whisrle Down th e Wind in populated by the theatre crowd - he has previously London this wimer. The initial American THE LONDON INTERNAT IONAL Festi va l of Theatre. found himself mer by a volley of redious ve rbal production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim which in rhe past has introduced Brirish aud iences assaulrs from less successful actors and writers, Steinman's new musical, directed by none other [0 the likes of Robert Lepage and the Mall' than Harold Prince, rece ived a critical roasting in Theatre of St Petersburg, promises to be more • •• Washington and a planned Broadway run had to eccentric than ever this year. It gets underway on RENT, WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY scheduled for this be abandoned. However, Lloyd Webber still has June 3 with Oracu/os, in which each member of Autumn, will now open in London next March, falrh in rhe show and belleves rhat Edwards may be the audience is invired to go alone into the unlit Plans to br ing the new Broadway tuner here had ro able ro do what Prince couldn't. She's no stranger basement of the Roundhouse for what is described be postponed partly because of the continued ro rrumping some of rhe world' s greatest directors as a 'sensuous assau lt', Other highlighrs include success of Smoke)' Joe's Cafe at the Prince of Wales Lloyd Webber is sa id to have preferred her Fair of [h e Five Senses in which Alicia Rios, J world - the venue being eyed by Rent's producers, Australian prodUCtion of Aspects of Love ove r the expert on olive oil, promises [0 entertain us with a origi nal show directed by Trevor Nunn. range of vegetables, • • • THE PRODUCERS OF DAMN YANKEE S, the Faustian • • • musical about baseball, have taken advantage of STEPHEN FRY 'S INFAMOUS EXIT from Simon Gray's OSCAR the closure of Srmsct Boulevard and plumped for an Cell Mates and the subsequent furore a few years WILDE'S CLASSIC ope ning ar the Adelphi rather than the Savoy, The ago would have made many playwrights crawl back al) 2 theatres are virtually opposite each other but the inro their shell. Not so Mr Gray. He wrote a play Of;/£ 'J COMEDY latter suffers from a complete absence of passing and a book immediately afterwards and is now trade. The venue was beautifully restored in 1990 ready ro venture into the West End once again. -JItd!Jdermeres bur has failed to have a major hit since it His latest play, Ufe SuPPOrt, will be directed by reopened , She Loves Me ran there for a year but losr Harold Pinter and star Alan Bates, an actor who (ffan . several million pounds, while Commu nicating Doors is not only sublimely talented but has never been struggled through six months playing to weekday known to abscond from the country halfway matinee audiences of just 20·30.