Issue #128: April 15, 2004

• The Broadway premiere of Bombay Dreams is currently in previews at the Broadway Theater.  When the curtain rises on opening night, April 29, there will be a significant Canadian contingent on stage.  Of the thirty-three cast members eleven hail from north of the forty-ninth parallel.  The Andrew Lloyd Webber production is also co-produced on Broadway by another Canadian, rock promoter Michael Cohl, who is the man behind numerous Rolling Stones concert tours.  Look out America, the Canadians are coming, the Canadians are coming!!! 

• The writing team for the new John Waters musical, Crybaby, which is based on his 1990 film, have been signed.   Hairspray producer Adam Epstein has given the nod to David Javerbaum (The Daily Show) and Adam Schlesinger (That Thing You Do!).  A reading of the musical is slated for late summer.

• Paul Newman plans to return to the boards when he stars in Westport County Playhouse's production of Trumbo this summer.  There will only be six performances though - all in benefit of the Playhouse, which coincidently is run by Newman's wife Joanne Woodward.

• Four years after director James Lapine staged Claudia Shear's Dirty Blonde on Broadway, the tribute to Mae West  finally opens early June at a yet to be named theatre.

• Pop musicals seem to be making it big down under where the theatre business has been less than stellar the past few years.  Disney's The Lion King is still packing them in five months into the Sydney run.  Mamma Mia! proved to be a virtual sell-out when it launched in Melbourne in mid-2001 and toured the Australian capitals before landing in Auckland NZ in March where it continues to play to capacity audiences.  Plans are in place for the production to head to the Asia/Pacific region and play until mid-2005.  Perth is where you can see the Queen musical We Will Rock You coming off of a hugely successful seven month engagement in Melbourne. 

• I had the pleasure of seeing the final dress rehearsal of the Toronto production of Hairspray.  It was an electric night with both director Jack O'Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell taking to the stage and welcoming everyone.  The production was absolutely delicious.  The music is fun and lively, the voices were all strong and the staging colourful.  Not having seen the Broadway production I don't have anything to compare it to, however given the enthusiastic audience and the overwhelming ovations I'm sure it is comparable to the Tony-winning Broadway show.  If you're making a trip to Toronto and need a musical theatre fix you can't go wrong with Hairspray.  Something tells me it will be running a long time.