Quiet Week

Well hello there. As the title says, it's been a quiet week. There hasn't been much happening in the world of theatre lately. It's the post post-Tony's-bloodbath lull. I've still got Shenandoah on my mind, that was such an awesome show. I've been listening to the cast recording all week. Hopefully it'll get a new life on Broadway sometime in the not too distant future, it really deserves it, and I think it would be just as much, if not more, relevant today than it was in 1975 and could easily find an audience. A week from tomorrow I see Gorey Stories at Theatre on the Lake, and a week from Sunday my companion and I are trekking out to Oakbrook for It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman. Superman got good reviews from both the Trib and Sun-Times, but while both were positive, neither were overtly enthusiastic. They did both say that Superman in tights is quite an eyeful, and that's enough for me!

The one recurring national story this week has been the preparation of Young Frankenstein for Broadway. Other than Sutton Foster, it's got quite a cast; Shuler Hensley (who sang the part of the monster on the Frankenstein: The Musical CD), Roger Bart, and, best of all, Megan Mullally. It's too bad they couldn't corral all this talent for a better project. At least I liked Young Frankenstein the movie better than The Producers the movie, so maybe the musical will turn out to be worthwhile, but for now it still seems at least partly like a cynical money grab. With this cast though, I'll probably for sure pick up the cast recording and then decide from there if it will be worth seeing or not. With my luck, Megan would be out the day I go anyways.

Speaking of cast recordings, even though the offical Broadway recording of Grey Gardens was released at the end of March, how come it's not in any stores or on amazon.com? Everyone's still only carrying the Off-Broadway recording. Curious. I would think there's be a rush on the Broadway one after the Tony's, and especially with the news that Mary Louise Wilson will not be renewing her contract and playing her last performance in just a couple of weeks. However, while that one still remains out of my hands, I went to BMG today to decline my featured selection (Corrine Bailey Rae, ugh), and as usual browsed through all the cast recordings. I have most of them, and don'twant most of the ones that I don't, but quite a few of the middle-ground ones are on clearance, so I picked those up, it won't cost much if I don't like them, and will be a great deal if I do. I ordered Brigadoon, Ain't Misbehavin' (there should be a law that Tony Winning Best Musicals should never go out of print, except for Jersey Boys which could disappear tomorrow for all I care), and the 2002 revival of Man of La Mancha with Brian Stokes Mitchell (I've got most of the Richard Kiley tracks on various compilations, so it will be nice to compare another performer, and since BSM did such a great job in Ragtime and Kiss Me Kate, I'm sure he'll be excellent here, and I love Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio). Hopefully I should be getting them in about a week.

So, that is all. If anything happens this week, I'll be sure to mention it, otherwise look for my reviews next weekend. Oh, and all thoughts and prayers go out to Beverly Sills, it's quite a blow for this to happen so suddenly.