Issue #213: May 15, 2008

• Sex in the City star Cynthia Nixon will do a turn Off Broadway in February in the Roundabout Theatre’s production of Distracted.

• Brian Dennehy returns to Broadway following a January run at the Goodman Theater in Chicago in Desire Under the Elms.

• No grass growing under Jesse L. Martin’s feet since his departure from TV’s Law and Order. Look for the ex-detective to star in the revival of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, which goes into rehearsal this summer.

• Another face from television, Jeremy Piven (Entourage) makes his Broadway debut in David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow, which is scheduled to open on October 3.

• And another David Mamet play will be revived in the fall. American Buffalo returns with John Leguizamo in the starring role.

• The critically acclaimed play Frost/Nixon which will open in Vancouver in September and in Toronto in October will have Canadian Broadway veteran actor Len Cariou opposite David Storch. Presented by Toronto’s Canadian Stage Company and Vancouver’s Playhouse Theatre Company the production will have Ted Dykstra in the director’s chair.

• The Broadway mega-hit Jersey Boys opened recently in Las Vegas to stellar reviews. In attendance was the three remaining members of The Four Seasons which the musical chronicles their rise in the 60s and 70s with such hits as “Sherry,” and “Walk Like A Man.” This production is heading to Toronto in August for an extended engagement at the Toronto Centre for the Performing Arts.

• The trial has finally begun in Toronto for the two founders of the defunct Livent empire, which imploded in 1999. Facing charges of fraud, Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gotlieb, who pleaded not guilty, will have the accounting activities of the company finally unveiled. In a time when there is little tolerance or acceptance for the heads of companies claiming no knowledge of such doings it will be interesting to see how this case unfolds….think Conrad Black, Enron executives, etc.

• On The Boards Theatre Quiz:
  Does anyone remember Oliver? The musical adaptation of Charles Dicken's classic opened at the London Palladium in 1994. When and where did  super-producer Cameron Mackintosh open the Canadian Oliver?
  Send your answer to webcrone@ontheboards.com.