The SF Bay Area Theatre Blog

And it looks like a good 'un:

Eliza Doolittle: Mindy Lym
Freddy Eynsford-Hill: Mike Early
Colonel Hugh Pickering: John Musgrave
Henry Higgins: Kit Wilder
Alfred Doolittle: Todd Wright
Mrs. Pearce: Linda Piccone
Mrs. Higgins: Jane Seaman

I don't have any more info than that...anyone know more about the ensemble etc.?

Got this notice from Carly Ozard (Foothill, 42nd St. Moon, Lamplighters):

WHAT: Benefit Concert for Habitat for Humanity.
WHERE: The Empire Plush Room (which is closing in December...did you know that? Because I didn't.
WHEN: November 5th and 6th.

Featuring, among others:
Carly Ozard, Mr. Jonathon Reisfeld, Conrad Frank, Tom Orr, Meg Mackay, Brian Yates Sharber, Katya Ludmilla Smirnoff Skye and Connie Champagne.

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $40

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

CONTACT: www.theempireplushroom.com or 1-866-468-3399 for tix.

Caroline Altman, with whom I've worked a few times at 42nd St. Moon, has joined the cast of the California Cabaret production of Ruthless! The Musical.

There are only two weeks left, so if you're interested, you better skedaddle.

WHAT: Ruthless! The Musical
WHERE:
The Purple Onion
140 Columbus Ave
San Francisco, California
WHEN: thru November 3, 2007 only
HOW MUCH: $35.00 - $50.00 (A $10 food/beverage minimum per person)
GET TICKETS: CALL (415) 979-0777 or www.CaliforniaCabaret.com

CAST:
- CAROLINE ALTMAN is an award winning bay area actress playing the role of the split personality Mother "Judy Denark / Ginger Del Marco".
- DONNA SACHET joins the SF cast as “Sylvia St. Croix”. Donna is an award winning performer and the Empress of San Francisco.
- HANNAH ROSE KORNFELD, who plays “Tina Denmark” has been called a “marvel on stage” by the San Francisco Bay Area Critic’s Circle.
- PAT CHRISTENSON as the critic named "Lita Encore"

I was given a copy of the documentary Show business - The Road to Broadway by the film's PR firm, and I have reviewed it over at my personal blog.

Bottom line: I have no idea how folks outside the theatre world will like it, but for anyone in it...involved in theatres big or small, local, regional or national...it is a celebration of our theatre geekiness.

Check out the review for more info.

OK, the first Sweeney trailer had but a smidge of singing (from "Epiphany".) this trailer has exactly NO singing. It's not that I think the trailers are bad. It's not that I think that people who might go to see a Tim Burton/Johnny Depp collaboration a la Sleepy Hollow have no chance of liking Sweeney. I'm just a tad concerned that completely obfuscating the fact that it's not only a musical, but a nearly sung-thru musical, might, well, set the wrong expectations. And you know unhappiness is all about unmet expectations. What do you think?

Labels: Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton

Couple of shows to tell you about, featuring Foothill Alums:

1. Dee Bailey (Brigadoon) is tackling her first NON-musical, playing Ouiser Boudreaux (the Shirley MacClaine part) in Steel Magnolias this November.

WHAT: Steel Magnolias
WHO: The CCSF Theater Department in the historic Diego Rivera Theater on the campus of the City College of San Francisco.
WHEN: Fridays and Saturdays, November 9, 10, 16 and 17th at 8 pm.
Sunday matinees, November 11 and 18th at 2 pm.
WHERE:
Diego Rivera Theatre
50 Phelan Avenue (corner of Phelan and Judson)
San Francisco, CA 94112
HOW MUCH:
General Admission $15.00
Students, Seniors, and TBA members $10.00

Tickets available for purchase at the door only; no advance sales. No reservations needed.

Plenty of free street parking on Judson, Phelan, and surrounding streets; also on the circle on campus (accessible from Phelan Avenue). There is a campus map at: http://www.ccsf.edu/cgi-bin/Search/htsearch.pl

The Diego Rivera Theatre contains a famous mural painted by Diego Rivera himself. It's worth a trip to the theatre alone just to see this historic work of art! For more information on this mural (which covers the entire wall in the lobby of the theatre) see the website: http://www.riveramural.com/

2. Multiple alums are in Sunnyvale Community Players production of A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine

WHAT: A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine
WHO: Sunnyvale Community Players. Cast includes: Keith Pennings, Terri Wetize, Anna Traina, Michael Rhone, Aaron Weisberg, Kristin Brownstone and Molly Gazay.
WHEN: Opens Friday October 26th and runs for four weeks (Fri/Sat at 8 pm, Thursdays at 7:30pm, and Sunday matinees are at 2:30pm)
WHERE: Sunnyvale Community Center Theater at 550 E. Remington, Sunnyvale
CALL: The box office number is (408) 733-6611.

Our blog-buddy Ray Renati is treading the boards in a Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Driving Miss Daisy.

Here are the deets:

WHAT: Driving Miss Daisy By Alfred Uhry

WHERE: CTA Crossroads Theatre
1277 Boulevard Way
Walnut Creek, CA 94595

WHEN: October 19 - November 17, 2007

WHO: Directed by Marilyn Langbehn and featuring: Scarlett Hepworth, Darold Holloway*, Ray Renati*

* Denotes member of Actor's Equity Association

HOW TO GET TIX:
-Box Office Phone: (925) 944-0597
-Email: info@ctarts.com

MORE ABOUT DRIVING MISS DAISY:

Driving Miss Daisy is a 1987 play by Alfred Uhry about the relationship of an elderly Southern Jewish lady shares with her African-American chauffeur, Hoke Colburn, over the span of several decades.

The original off-Broadway production starred Dana Ivey and Morgan Freeman. Ivey's performance garnered her an Obie Award as Best Actress.

The play was the first in Uhry's "Atlanta Trilogy" dealing with Jewish residents of that city in the early 20th century. Uhry's most successful play, it won him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was performed in London's West End in 1988, with Dame Wendy Hiller as Miss Daisy Werthan.

In 1989, the play was adapted for a Warner Bros. film with Morgan Freeman reprising his role and Miss Daisy played by Jessica Tandy (who went on to be the oldest winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress for the role). The story defines Daisy and her point of view through a network of relationships and emotions by focusing on her home life, her synagogue, friends, family, fears, and concerns. Hoke is rarely seen out of Miss Daisy's presence, although the title implies that the story is told from his perspective.

The film won the 1989 Academy Award for Best Picture.

Thanks to Alicia for this link.

So here it is: The Sweeney Todd trailer

I realize I have fallen down on the job on this blog over the last couple of months. Life and all.

But Alicia knows how much I loves me some Johnny Depp and some Sweeney Todd. So, no way I wouldn't post this!

The trailer is pretty great...looking faithful to the original dark vision of Sweeney Todd. There's only a brief moment of Depp singing, and I wouldn't call it a basso profundo voice emanating out of him.

Do I care? Well, they wise chose to have "Epiphany" as the one song he has at in the trailer, mostly because much of it is actually spoken. So in this trailer, no I didn't care. We'll wait and see if his voice lets us down on more lyrical songs like "Pretty Women" or "My Friends."

But the trailer was creepy and gave me chills...reminding me why Sweeney is indeed my favorite musical ever. And that's a good sign.

And Johnny?

OK, I've said it before, and I'll say it again now: The original 1979 cast of Sweeney on Broadway featured Len Cariou as Sweeney, and to this 15 year old who barely knew what sexy was, he was scary and sexy, and that added a layer to the show that I've rarely seen repeated in the many many productions of it I've seen.

Johnny brings the sex back. Cue Justin Timberlake, oh yeah!

And me likey.

Labels: Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd