Issue #88: May 15, 2002

• A revival of the one-man play Tru looks to be heading to an Off-Broadway venue in the fall. Talks are under way with actor Tom Frye, who has done nothing outside Wichita, Kansas and who strikes an uncanny resemblance to Capote. He has submitted a video to support his ability to take on the role – and Off-Broadway.

• The Harlem gangster musical Little Ham is set to open at the John Houseman Theater on September 12. Writers Dan Owens, Judd Woldin and Richard Engquist received critical raves last year when it played at the Hudson Guild Theater.

• The Tony Award nominations are in with nods for best musical going to Mamma Mia!, Sweet Smell of Success, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Urinetown the Musical. You can catch the broadcast on June 2 on your local CBS and PBS affiliates.

• On the festival front the 48th annual Williamstown Theater Festival in Williamstown, Mass. will launch with George Abbott and Frank Loesser’s Where’s Charley directed by Nicholas Martin, from June 19 – 30. The other main-stage offerings are Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s Once in a Lifetime from July 3 – 14; Joe Orton’s Loot, July 17 – 28; Donald Margulies’ adaptation of Sholem Asch’s Yiddish drama God of Vengeance, July 31 – August 11. A mini-festival of three works will wrap-up the main-stage season with French-Canadian playwright Michel Tremblay’s For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again starring Olympia Dukakis and Marco Barricelli from August 14 – 18. The other two productions are one-man pieces rotating in repertory August 20 – 25: A Distant Country Called Youth which is Steve Lawson’s adaptation of Tennessee Williams letters and Lackawanna Blues which is an autobiographical play written and performed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson.

• It was wonderful to read that successful British stage and screen actor Michael York put the full weight of his celebrity behind a struggling Montreal theatre company. York performed his one-man show Will and I as a benefit for the 15-year-old Repercussion Theatre Company, which is a touring Shakespeare-in-the-park troupe. York is known for his Shakespearean roles having performed the Bard both on stage and in films (The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, etc.) since the 60s. He wasn’t alone on the call for help; Canadians William Shatner and Christopher Plummer pitched in. As well, Sir Elton John allowed the company to use his song “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” to be used as the SOS campaign’s official theme song. Although the financial goal has yet to be reached to avoid an impending money crunch, with this type of star power on their side no doubt they will be performing this season.