Issue #49: August 1, 2000

• It looks as though New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s estranged wife, Donna Hanover, will take to the boards after all in The Vagina Monologues. Ms. Hanover was previously scheduled to appear in May but dropped out due to family circumstances — the revelation that the mayor was dating another woman may have had a something to do with it! Now that all the laundry has been aired, the mayor’s soon-to-be-ex will begin her limited run on October 16 and wrap-up on November 5. If you can’t wait ‘till then to see the show, you can see Teri Hatcher, Ricki Lake and Regina Taylor currently at the Westside Theatre until August 6.

• Producer Daryl Roth (Wit, How I Learned to Drive, De La Guarda) has picked up a hot Canadian property; the off-Broadway production of Daniel MacIvor’s Never Swim Alone. It opened recently at the SoHo Playhouse and as the Daily News predicted it would, has settled in for a long commercial run. Never Swim Alone was first performed in 1991 in MacIvor’s hometown of Toronto where it was nominated for four Dora Awards (Canadian equivalent of the Tony). This is not the first New York production; last summer a local trio performed it at the New York fringe theatre festival where it won the best play award.

• The Broadway debut of the musical Little Women has been postponed until spring. Originally scheduled for the fall, the production, based on the Louisa May Alcott classic, is being retooled by composer Jason Howland and lyricist Mindy Dickstein. Tryouts will probably take place in Boston before heading to Broadway.

• Another travelling incarnation of the classic musical The Sound of Music is touring with none other than L.A. Law alum Corben Bernsen. I suppose this is what he does between guest appearances on the hot TV show JAG.

• A revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, is planned for a limited three month run at The Donmar Warehouse beginning December 1, 2000. Merrily We Roll Along will join previous Sondheim revivals that have graced the Donmar stage, Assassins (1992), Company (1995) and Into The Woods (1998).

• Proof that the stage is where it’s at — Hollywood superstar Kevin Spacey has launched a new theatre production company in London — Old Vic Productions. The company plans to produce plays at the Old Vic Theatre and is in fact a re-launch of Criterion Productions, which was set-up in 1994. Almost half of the 30 plays the company invested in so far, including The Weir and The Graduate, have made a profit. Spacey’s goal is to become a magnet to attract great writers, actors and directors back to the theatre. He has four films currently on his plate but is committed, once they are completed, to heading straight back to the theatre where he feels he belongs. We’ll be waiting in anticipation of that opening night.