Issue #239: April 1, 2010

•  Mel Brooks is at it again.  The comedy legend is looking to mount another new musical based on his 1974 film Blazing Saddles.   However he says if it all comes together that he may avoid taking it to New York right away…to avoid the comparison of his other two productions from film to stage.  

• Megan Mullally (Will and Grace) has abruptly left rehearsals for the revival of Terrance McNally’s Lips Together, Teeth Apart, which was scheduled to open on April 29.  No reason has been cited however sources mentioned that there was some tension between Mullally and director Joe Mantello.

• Mel Brooks’  Young Frankenstein is currently packing them in at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto.  The tour heads back on the road on April 18.  

• Producers of a new musical based on the life and music of George Gershwin will open on the Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto for a short run from May 1 to 9.

• Andrew Lloyd Webber’s  feline hit Cats does a “drive by” in Toronto from May 25 to 30 at the Canon Theatre.

• Sex in the City alum Kim Cattrall made her stage debut at the end of April in a revival of Noel Coward’s Private Lives.  Apparently she has won over the critics, which will probably mean big box office for the limited run at the Vaudeville Theatre.  

• Rupert Everett has surfaced on the circuit in the U.K.   He is on board to star in Pygmalion (July 9 – August 27) during the Chichester Festival.  

• Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) is trying his hand at theatre.  He will be directing the National Theatre’s production of Frankenstein next winter.