Two Weeks To Go

Well, it's been a pretty quiet week or so here. Things should stay fairly calm between now and the Tony Awards, no one wants to rock the boat. Of significant news on the local front, I got my tickets for Superman, for July 8 at 2:00 pm. I still have to order my ticket for Shenandoah, but I should do that Tuesday, and I've started working to get my companion to go pick up tickets for Light and DRS, it should only be about another 2 weeks before he actually does so.

I ordered several CD's from half.com: No Strings, the All That Jazz soundtrack, Dodsworth/Time After Time, and Shenandoah (I also saw the [non-musical] movie on Friday night to familiarize myself with the story. Good movie, but I understand the musical is even more strongly anti-war, which I'm looking forward to, the movie actually seemed to have a mixed message when it came to that). I got No Strings right away, but the post office is taking its time getting the other 3 here, and as Monday is a holiday, I'm not expecting any of them until late in the week or even next week.

In local theatre news, Ragtime is getting an upgrade, moving to the Apollo on June 9. It's a somewhat bigger space, but hopefully won't impact the show's intimacy and immediacy.

While things have been fairly calm on Broadway, it was announced that Coram Boy is closing, rather prematurely, which is too bad, I would have liked to have seen it. Hopefully it will tour or license to regional theatre. I would think the Goodman or Steppenwolf would snap it right up. Before playing it's first preview, Matthew Morrison's new show, 10 Million Miles, has already been extended. Good for him, he's hot and I can't wait to see him live (my companion got to see him in Light, and I am very jealous, at least he had bad seats). He deserves as much success as he can get, at least until he turns old and looses the hotness. Xanadu began previews last week, and while the snickers up and down 42nd street haven't quieted down, they haven't gotten louder either. The next big date between now and the Tony's is June 5, when the last two major contenders see their CD's hit the stores: Curtains and 110 in the Shade, I'll be taking a trip to Borders at lunch that day. Speaking of the Tony's, it was announced that like last year, the telecast is going hostless, which doesn't thrill me. Awards shows need a personality to drive them and keep the momentum going, otherwise they end up like the Golden Globes. The only GG ceremonies I can remember in recent years are when Jack Nicholson gave his acceptance speach out of his ass, and Liz Taylor announced best picture (Glaaaaaaaaaaaadiator!), and I don't think I'm remembering those for the reasons the Hollywood Foreign Press Association wants them remembered. Last year's Tony's Ceremony, in addition to being a free for all of undeserving winners (with the exception of History Boys and the Drowsy Chaperone), was also frightfully dull. Doesn't anyone remember how naughtily awesome it was when Nathan Lane pretended to be Julie Andrews at the start of the 1995-96 ceremony, or his commradery with Matthew Broderick when they hosted the WTTW portion of the cereomony in the years when the broadcast was split up between networks? It provides a context and lightens up the ceremonies, seeing these personalities on display is what theatre is all about. I strongly urge the Tony Committee to reconsider, hell, I'll even host it for free!

Lastly, Entertainment Weekly had their quarterly roundup of New York theatre, and other than Frost/Nixon, which got an A-, they were really negative about everything, although still kinder than they should have been to Legally Blonde, which despite being a cornucopia of product placement and ridiculous embellishment of the movie's more gimmicky moments (a whole song about "bend and snap"), still got a B-. They revisited The Color Purple, now with Fantasia in the lead, and raised it from a C- to a C, but not really because of what she added, more because the rest of the elements seemed to have gelled a bit better over the past year. Deuce (C+)was decreed to have no reason for existing other than to showcase Angela and Marion, and apparently the entire play takes place in their seats at the tennis match, there's absolutely no action. 110 in the Shade (B-) is only worth watching for Audra's performance, the men can't keep up with her, and LoveMusik (C-) is almost worth watching only because of Michael Cerveris and Donna Murphy. Lastly, Radio Golf got a B, for slightly boring. I guess if my upcoming potential trip on June 18-20 doesn't pan out, it won't be the end of the world. I'd like to see Deuce, but if it's not that good it might be worth waiting to see if, now that she's back on Broadway, Angela does another musical and going to see that instead, and still wait for Xanadu to officially open. Look for my Tony predictions starting later in the week. The countdown is on.