AmericanTheaterWeb Original News & Reviews

Colm Wilkinson, the world’s original Jean Valjean, returns to the New York stage for one day more on Saturday, October 18th at 8PM in Broadway & Beyond. Presented by New York’s famed Town Hall (123 West 43rd Street), This one-night only event is one of three weekend concerts created, written and hosted for The Town Hall by Scott Siegel. The festival launches with A Tribute to Lerner & Loewe on October 17th at 8PM and concludes with Broadway Originals, where stars recreate the roles they originated in Broadway productions or revivals, on Sunday, October 19th at 3PM .

Wilkinson will sing an eclectic program ranging from Broadway favorites by Rodgers & Hammerstein and Andrew Lloyd Webber to popular standards by Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, Muddy Waters and John Lennon. Les Miserables’ Susan Gillmor will reunite with Wilkinson as his special guest star. Wilkinson will be backed by a nine-piece orchestra lead by music director Steve Hunter.

Beginning his career in his native Ireland in the 1970’s, Wilkinson has become an internationally recognized vocalist. The celebrated Broadway star has spent years on the stage starring in Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. His latest solo album Some of My Best Friends Are Songs (EMI Music Canada) is a selection of some of his favorite songs of all time. It includes three songs written by Wilkinson and a duet with his own son Aaron. Between musicals, solo albums, compilations and singles, Wilkinson has appeared in over 60 titles including Stage Heros (BMG), a solo album, where he performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded at the historic Abbey Road Studios, in London, as well as the celebrated Highlight album of Jekyll and Hyde (BMG). This concert marks Mr. Wilkinson’s Town Hall debut and his return to the New York stage.

The Town Hall’s Fourth Annual Broadway Cabaret Festival will take place from October 17th through 19th, with A Tribute to Lerner & Loewe on October 17th at 8PM, An Evening With Colm Wilkinson on October 18th at 8PM and Broadway Originals on Sunday, October 19th at 3PM. In the Town Hall tradition of affordable entertainment, concert hall tickets are $55 per show. Subscriptions for all three concerts are $150 and are available through mail order only. Single tickets can be purchased though Ticket Master (212) 307-4100 or buy visiting www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets can also be purchased at The Town Hall Box Office between noon and 6PM (except Sundays) at 123 West 43rd Street. For further information visit www.the-townhall-nyc.org.

Profiles Theatre in Chicago has announced the details of its 20th Anniversary Season, which will include five new plays — including a world premiere, a U.S. premiere and two Midwest premieres.

Profiles Theatre will present the first full Chicago production of Jason Wells’ Men of Tortuga (developed as part of Steppenwolf’s New Plays Initiative) as its season opener. Set in an undisclosed location, three men scheme with a weapons specialist to eliminate the opposition in Jason Wells' dark comedy of negotiation, conspiracy and assassination. "Tortuga" will run October 3 – December 7.

The second offering at Profiles will be the Midwest premiere of Adam Bock's The Thugs, a dark comedy about the mysterious things that are happening on the 9th floor of a big law firm. Feautring two of the company's ensemble members, Somer Benson and Tyler Gray, "Thugs" will play October 25 – December 14.

The new year will see another Midwest premiere at Profiles when Lee Blessing's Great Falls begins performances on January 9. Great Falls follows a stepfather and teenage stepdaughter on a road trip across the American West. The production will continues through March 1.

Profiles' fourth offering in 2008-2009 will be the U.S. premiere of Anthony Neilson's The Wonderful World of Dissocia. Scheduled to run from March 20 – May 10, Neilson's play is an off-kilter trip that follows Lisa Jones in search of one lost hour that has tipped the balance of her life.

The theater's season will conclude with the world premiere of Ellen Fairey's Graceland, a Chicago tale of loss, longing and high-speed fighter jets. The show is scheduled to play from May 22 through June 28.

Profiles Theatre is following up its celebrated, sold-out "Season of LaBute," which featured four premieres by Neil LaBute, with these five highly-anticipated new plays. "Last season was a milestone for us as it was the first time we spent a full season exploring the works and language of one renowned playwright. This season, we are thrilled to be presenting these unique new plays by five writers with their own very distinct voices," says Profiles' Artistic Director Joe Jahraus.

All productions are held at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway, Chicago. Performances are Thursdays-Sundays. The Thugs and Men of Tortuga will play in repertory Wednesdays through Sundays. For more information about Profiles and its 20th Anniversary Season, visit www.profilestheatre.org.

2008 Back Stage Bistro Award Winning Greg Purnhagen will perform Babalu-cy – the art of Desi Arnaz off-Broadway at the Actors Temple Theater, beginning August 23rd.

Conceived & written by Purnhagen, "Babalu-cy" takes a look at Arnaz’ career from his tremendous success as a bandleader/singer to his relationship with America’s favorite red-head. Complete with a seven-piece Latin band led by Musical Director/Arranger David Cook, "Babalu-cy" is directed by Leonard Peters.

Purnhagen, a classically-trained singer, along with his long-time musical director, David Cook, has created several well-received shows at clubs in New York, As a cast member of Rendezvous - An Evening With Piaf, Brel, Aznavour& Friends (2008 MAC Nominee), he appeared at Feinstein's at Loews Regency & the Metropolitan Room. Babalu-cy – the Art of Desi Arnaz, debuted at the Metropolitan Room in July 2007, winning a 2008 Back Stage Bistro Award for “Best Theme Show.” In addition, Purnhagen has toured extensively in the US, Europe, the Far East, Australia & Russia, working with such avant-garde luminaries as Philip Glass, Mary Zimmerman, Robert Wilson, Meredith Monk & John Kelly.

"Babalu-cy" will play at the Actor's Temple (339 West 47th Street) with performances Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $55.00 and can be purchased by calling 212-239-6200 or by visiting www.telecharge.com

Tackling the topic of musical theater in its broadest sense – theater, film and television – in just over 2,000 entries seems to be a Herculean, if not fool-hardy, task, Yet in The Oxford Companion to the American Musical, Tomas Hischak undertakes this goal. The result is a grand tome, one that feels amazingly comprehensive, and at the same time, will have readers, scholars, and aficionados quibbling for some time to come.

Like many of the other "companions" from Oxford University Press, Hischak's book is arranged alphabetically, like a one-volume encyclopedia. The entries include ones for individual pieces (Broadway shows, movies and television productions), performers, major artists (performers, creators), genres and even some awards (primarily the Oscars and the Tonys). At the back of the book are appendices that detail the awards in more detail and there's also a guide to recordings provided by Catherine Hischak.

All in all it's an astounding reference, particularly when you consider the sidebars that accompany some listings. For instance, Hischak provides tables that list the actors who performed major roles in Broadway and movie versions of the same musical, or in cases where a show has had multiple Broadway revivals (like Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Company), there's a listing of the principals from the three Broadway casts. Alongside entries for specific musicals (stage or screen), Hischak provides listings of the show's major songs. Rounding out the entries are a generous supply of black and white photographs.

Now, as with any overview like "American Musical," what will set people to talking or carping are the inclusions and omissions. For instance, if you look through the book for listings of the new generation of composers for musical theater, you'll find entries for Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel, and Michael John LaChiusa, but Andrew Lippa and Ricky Ian Gordon are not to be found. Granted neither of the latter two men have achieved quite the recognition of Brown and LaChiusa, yet, at the same time, they are important forces in the American musical today.

Similarly, if you hunt up White Christmas, the listing includes no mention of the widely produced and toured theatrical version of this 1954 film, Irving Berlin's White Christmas. The stage show is also unmentioned alongside the movie that introduced this perennial favorite, the 1942 Paramount movie, Holiday Inn. This is not a critical omission, but it is important to recognize where space constraints, and perhaps personal interest or focus, have limited Hischak's work. At the same time, though, it's impressive how up-to-date the book is: it includes references to the just-released film version of Mamma Mia! and the current revival of Gypsy.

Hischak's commentary in the listings, too, will certainly get people talking. For instance, when describing Hairspray, he writes, "a strong cast…under the astute direction of Jack O'Brien and animated choreography by Jerry Mitchell, turned the cliché-ridden tale into a joyous romp." Quite a loaded statement and certainly one that may cause some to raise an eyebrow or two.

Also, in Hischak's excellent entry for "concept musicals," he writes, "Some techniques of the concept musical would work their way into even traditional escapist Broadway musicals, such as Barnum (1980), The Will Rogers Follies (1991), Jersey Boys (2005) and Tarzan (2006)." Again, a judgment call: this time on the construction of these four shows, which, depending on how one views this quartet, might cause a bit of agita. After all, putting Tarzan in the same entry as shows as Lady in the Dark, Cabaret and works by Sondheim?

Yet, despite these quibbles or points for potential debate, "American Musical" offers a vast wealth of information. There's a full entry, for instance, on The Firefly, Rudolf Friml's first Broadway outing (1912) and the subsequent 1937 movie version of the show. Ronald Reagan makes it into the book – not because he ever sang on stage or screen, but because he was featured in seven movie musicals. For those who may still be thinking about buying the soundtrack to Ruggles of Red-Gap, this 1957 television musical even has its own entry.

Overall, this new book from Oxford will be one that should be in theater lovers' collections – a valuable one-stop reference, and perhaps the ideal jumping-off point to more focused reference books, to everything from The Adventures of Marco Polo from television to Ziegfeld Girl on screen and Zorba onstage.

---- Andy Propst

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For further information, visit: www.oup.com