Holiday Stretch

Well, it's still going on. The New York producers are still refusing to hire stagehands willing to work. I respect them for sticking to their guns against unreasonable demands, but at some point they need to get the shows running again. Hopefully, with the end of the month approaching and credit card bills and rents coming due, the stagehands will start to exert some pressure on their union leadership to end this already. Still, it would make a visit to New York so much more pleasant to go there right after Christmas and not having to deal with the crowds. Too bad though that the producers of Mauritius decided they had enough money and closed the show yesterday. I guess I'll be going with Make Me a Song or The Receptionist to fill the non-Frankenstein slot on the trip. EW reviewed Young Frankenstein this weekend and while they didn't find it horrible, they weren't thrilled either. Still, the chance to see Karen Walker live is enough to get me into a seat.

I finally saw my first commercial for Sweeney Todd over the weekend and was less than impressed. Most of it focused on the backstory, which apparently gets greatly filled in. The only music was a brief clip of Johnny Depp walking down the street singing No Place Like London, and his voice was very thin, and it really wasn't so much singing as it was more speaking in sing-song, like a nursery rhyme. I am not filled with hope, although I strongly expected to dislike Chicago up until the minute it started, so there may still be a chance that this can be saved, although the cinematography also appeared to be a little too Burtonesque for my taste. I'm really worried this is going to be more of a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory sequel in which Willy Wonka bakes the oompa-loompas into candies than it is going to be the definitive version of one of the greatest musicals ever. Suddenly, the Muppet Into The Woods concept that was being thrown around 15 or so years ago doesn't seem so bad.