Kathie Lee Gifford's 'Scandalous' to Close - NYTimes.com

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/kathie-lee-giffords-scandalous-to-close/?ref=arts&pagewanted=print[12/5/2012 9:27:58 AM]

DECEMBER 4, 2012, 6:45 PM

Kathie Lee Gifford’s ‘Scandalous’ to Close

By PATRICK HEALY

The musical "Scandalous," Kathie Lee Gifford's Broadway debut as a lyricist and book writer, will closethis Sunday after 31 preview performances and 29 regular performances, the producers announced onTuesday night.

The show opened on Nov. 15 to largely negative reviews, although several critics praised the leadperformance of Carolee Carmello as the early 20th century evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson."Scandalous" was the latest attempt by theater artists to create a musical that explored spiritual themesand aimed for audiences who might be drawn to stories about religious figures; some of these showshave had a difficult time selling tickets lately, including the recent productions of "Leap of Faith,""Godspell," "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Sister Act."

Box office sales have been weak from the start for "Scandalous," so much so that two of its producers,Dick and Betsy DeVos, of the Amway family fortune, agreed last week to underwrite the show's financiallosses after its standard financial reserve had been depleted. The show, which cost about $9 million tomount on Broadway, will close at a financial loss. In addition to the book and lyrics by Ms. Gifford, theshow has music by David Pomeranz and David Friedman, and was directed by David Armstrong.

A Restaurant's Struggles Inspire a Musical With Book by Adam Gopnik - NYTimes.com

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/...-inspire-a-musical-with-book-and-lyrics-by-adam-gopnik/?ref=theater&pagewanted=print[12/5/2012 9:38:38 AM]

DECEMBER 4, 2012, 1:19 PM

A Restaurant’s Struggles Inspire a Musical With Book by Adam Gopnik

By ROBIN POGREBIN

Correction Appended

It's a quintessential New York story -- how a traditional family restaurant gets squeezed out by theexploding success of celebrity chefs - and a few prominent collaborators are making it into a musical.They include Adam Gopnik, a staff writer for The New Yorker (book and lyrics); David Shire, who co-wrote "Baby" and "Starting Here, Starting Now" (music and lyrics); and Gordon Edelstein, who willdirect.

The musical, "Table," has been in the works for more than a year, and a three-week closed workshop isscheduled to begin later this month. Mr. Edelstein said he hopes that the show will eventually have itspremiere at Long Wharf Theater, where he is the artistic director.

"It's about survival against the odds," Mr. Edelstein said in an interview. "How do you adapt to changingtimes?"

In writing the musical, Mr. Gopnik draws loosely on his 2011 book, "The Table Comes First: Family,France and the Meaning of Food."

Correction: December 4, 2012

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this post referred incompletely to the writers of thelyrics for the work-in-progress. In addition to Adam Gopnik, David Shire, the composer, is alsowriting lyrics.

Lincolns in Wartime Hope for a Midnight Clear - The New York Times

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December 4, 2012THEATER REVIEW

Lincolns in Wartime Hope for a Midnight ClearBy CHARLES ISHERWOOD

The divisions plaguing a strife-torn country are not the only ones depicted in “A Civil War Christmas,” abeautifully stitched tapestry of American lives in transition in the fraught winter of 1864. Although the holidaysare traditionally a time for festive coming together, most of the characters depicted in Paula Vogel’s song-trimmed drama, which opened on Tuesday night at New York Theater Workshop, are in search of loved oneslost in the fog of war or separated from family by the cruel finality of death.

Written with an embracing expansiveness by Ms. Vogel (a Pulitzer Prize winner for “How I Learned to Drive”),and featuring handsomely sung hymns and carols of the period, this unusual holiday pageant represents anilluminating alternative to the often garish or sentimental holiday fare foisted on theater audiences. Instead ofa stocking full of sugar-shock-inducing candy, the show offers some real sustenance, even as it gentlyaccentuates the spirit of hope and good will that even professional Scrooges try to embrace as the year windsdown.

It’s a particularly chilly Christmas Eve in Washington, and the chill does not derive only from the quicklydescending temperature. President Abraham Lincoln (Bob Stillman) has recently won re-election, andpreparations are under way for his second inauguration. But the country is still riven by war, and troops onboth sides are hunkered down for a frigid night with little hope of lasting peace ahead.

The spare wooden set, by James Schuette, emphasizes the hardship faced by most of the characters, whoinclude Robert E. Lee (Sean Allan Krill) and his dog-tired, increasingly disarrayed Confederate troops, andUlysses S. Grant (Chris Henry) and his only marginally better supplied Union combatants. One strand of theplot follows attempts to secure a Christmas tree, a new fashion imported from Germany. But there are no treesto be found; they have all been cut down for fires to warm the troops.

Ms. Vogel has taken particular care to salvage from the margins of history the experience of African-Americans. The production’s ample cast of characters includes Decatur Bronson (K. Todd Freeman), acomposite figure inspired by two black soldiers who were awarded the Medal of Honor for their service in thewar.

Bronson has given up his charge of a regiment of black soldiers to work as a blacksmith at a Union Armysupply depot. He is still tormented by the kidnapping of his wife by Confederate soldiers fleeing the Gettysburgfield of battle. Bronson has determined that should he ever again find Confederate prisoners in his power, hewill seek vengeance by taking their lives.

Elizabeth Keckley (Karen Kandel) was an actual figure: a slave who purchased her freedom, using her gifts as aseamstress, and went on to dress the cream of Washington society, including the first lady, Mary Todd Lincoln,played by the musical theater veteran Alice Ripley. (Their friendship also figures significantly in the current

Lincolns in Wartime Hope for a Midnight Clear - The New York Times

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movie “Lincoln.”) Like the first lady, who still wears mourning for the death of one of her young sons,Elizabeth is haunted by loss: her beloved son abandoned his college studies to join the Union Army, and waskilled.

Visited by his ghost — “A Civil War Christmas” is peopled by almost as many ghosts as “A Christmas Carol” —she finds herself touched to the point of anguish when she learns that a young African-American girl, Jessa(Sumaya Bouhbal), is wandering the streets of the city on this frigid night. Jessa lost touch with her mother,Hannah (Amber Iman), as they fled across the Potomac to find freedom in Washington.

With a deftness that is surprising, given the breadth of experience she has chosen to include in her panoramicview of American society, Ms. Vogel links these stories together cleanly and efficiently. There is a sense ofpoetry, too, in her suggestion that the lives of Americans on both sides of the Civil War were so deeplyintertwined that, despite their differences and sometimes fierce enmity, the country and its people share aunited destiny: unseen filaments tie together all the lives of the characters. Eventually the angry Confederateboy who dreams of joining up with a band of marauding raiders finds himself staring down Decatur Bronson’sgun barrel, praying for his life.

The president’s journey through the story is, like that of many of the characters, solitary. Finding he has left hiswife’s Christmas gifts at their summer home, he decides to escape his minders — who have been apprised thatassassins are lurking nearby — on Christmas Eve and venture forth on horseback to retrieve them.

Free from the burden of his fractious cabinet, and his emotionally unstable wife, he rides through the nightwith a sense of happy freedom on his shoulders. Mr. Stillman’s austere, dignified performance is enlivened byappealing touches of dry humor, while Ms. Ripley’s Mary is depicted as both a nervous shopaholic and atroubled but humane woman who visits wounded soldiers incognito.

Directed in brisk story-theater style by Tina Landau, with minimal props and simple costumes used to movethe story quickly from one location to another, “A Civil War Christmas” is rich in precise historical detail, butit never feels like a series of talking dioramas in a history museum. Even the most quickly sketched charactersexude the warmth of real human beings, thanks to vivid performances from the cast. (Children mayparticularly enjoy the brief romance between a horse and a mule, amusingly conducted to the strains of aseductive duet from “Don Giovanni.”)

And when the actors’ voices rise together in song — in well-chosen spirituals, along with war songs, hymns andcarols like “Silent Night” and “O Christmas Tree” — there arises from the dark history being told an ineffablesense of wonder at the survival of faith and humanity even in hearts ravaged by loss.

“The hope of peace is sweeter than peace itself,” one character remarks, an observation that speaks to theshow’s clear-eyed but compassionate view of history. A lasting peace may be forever just over the horizon, butthere is solace in our ability to keep believing that it may one day come ambling along.

A Civil War Christmas

By Paula Vogel; directed by Tina Landau; musical supervision, arrangements and incidental music by DarylWaters; musical direction by Andrew Resnick; sets by James Schuette; costumes by Toni-Leslie James; lightingby Scott Zielinski; sound by Jill B C Du Boff; dialect coach, Deborah Hecht; production stage manager, LoriLundquist. Presented by New York Theater Workshop, James C. Nicola, artistic director; William Russo,

Lincolns in Wartime Hope for a Midnight Clear - The New York Times

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managing director. At New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village; (212) 279-4200,ticketcentral.com. Through Dec. 30. Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes.

WITH: Sumaya Bouhbal (Jessa/Little Joe/Others), K. Todd Freeman (Decatur Bronson/JamesWormley/Others), Chris Henry (Chester Saunders/Ulysses S. Grant/John Surratt/Others), Rachel SpencerHewitt (Raz/Mary Surratt/Others), Antwayn Hopper (Walker Lewis/Jim Wormley/Others), Amber Iman(Hannah/Rose/Mrs. Thomas/Others), Jonathan-David (Ely Parker/Silver/Frederick Wormley/MosesLevy/Others), Karen Kandel (Elizabeth Keckley/Willy Mack/Others), Sean Allan Krill (Robert E. Lee/WilliamTecumseh Sherman/John Wilkes Booth/Others), Alice Ripley (Mary Todd Lincoln/Lewis Payne/Others) andBob Stillman (Abraham Lincoln/Raider/Others).

Insular and Torn, Straight From Hasidic Brooklyn - The New York Times

http://theater.nytimes.com/...theater/reviews/my-name-is-asher-lev-at-the-westside-theater.html?ref=arts&pagewanted=print[12/5/2012 9:26:37 AM]

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December 4, 2012THEATER REVIEW

Insular and Torn, Straight From Hasidic BrooklynBy RACHEL SALTZ

It’s a primal scene of American drama: The angry, uncomprehending father argues with his rebellious son. Theman’s wife — the boy’s mother — looks on, worried, her sympathy torn between the two.

Variations on that scene occur in “My Name Is Asher Lev,” Aaron Posner’s adaptation of Chaim Potok’s novel,now at the Westside Theater in a heartfelt production directed by Gordon Edelstein. Asher Lev (Ari Brand), aHasid growing up in Brooklyn in the 1950s, is marked by that conflict with his father, which shapes him as aman and an artist.

The young Asher — a “prodigy in payos,” as one character says — has a gift for drawing. It acts on him like acompulsion (“Gotta draw!”) and puts him at odds with his father (Mark Nelson) and community.

Not that the community abandons him. The rebbe finds Asher a teacher: Jacob Kahn (Mr. Nelson again), anartist who lives across the great divide — in Manhattan. As if to prove that painting is not a profession forJews, Jacob has Asher paint crucifixes. And then, gasp, nudes!

Both Potok’s novel and Mr. Posner’s adaptation have something old-fashioned about them: a high moralseriousness and an earnest intensity about matters like religion and art, faith and God, duty and calling. Mr.Posner embraces these elements: his “Asher Lev” feels like a well-made play from the era in which the storytakes place.

The first half is stronger. The Brooklyn Hasidim retain a kind of strangeness and complexity that makes themseem drawn from life and that makes the young Asher’s otherness potent. Mr. Edelstein directs with anattention to emotional nuance, keeping the exoticism at a simmer. Asher may be a prodigy in payos, but payos,or side-locks, are nowhere to be seen in this production, though as Rivkeh, Asher’s mother, Jenny Bacon doeswear the wig required of married women.

Asher’s apprenticeship with Jacob is less convincing, weighed down by moldy ideas — and too much discussion— about art and truth. Talent is a malady and a mystery: religion, with the artist as God. Best not to think toodeeply about why a Hasidic boy has to paint crucifixes or even nudes (Asher retains a presexual qualitythroughout) to be a Real Artist, all the while being chided to be true to himself.

The swoony intensity makes a certain sense in the context of Hasidic Brooklyn, but seems corny when exposedto the air of the wider world. Not surprisingly, Mr. Brand is at his strongest playing the young Asher, asensitive, willful creature whose drawing channels the vibrating world around him.

Insular and Torn, Straight From Hasidic Brooklyn - The New York Times

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The older Asher, searching for his true self, is a more notional character who never comes as clearly into focus.(Eugene Lee’s lived-in-looking set, which functions as an artist’s loft and a Brooklyn apartment, nicelyillustrates Asher’s double world.)

The versatile Mr. Nelson shines both as the father and as Jacob. As Aryeh Lev, he adds grace notes ofcompassion, underlining the father’s struggle to understand a son who doesn’t fit his idea of what a Jewishman should be. Ms. Bacon also handles multiple roles with skill. Her Rivkeh, the battleground for the warbetween father and son, makes a convincingly fragile anchor.

For all its sturdy theatricality, though, “Asher Lev” remains stagebound. You may respect it, argue with it andenjoy it, without ever being transported by it.

My Name Is Asher Lev

By Aaron Posner, adapted from the novel by Chaim Potok; directed by Gordon Edelstein; sets by Eugene Lee;costumes by Ilona Somogyi; lighting by James F. Ingalls; music and sound by John Gromada; wig design byDavid Bova; production stage manager, Cambra Overend; production supervisor, Production Core; associateproducer, Matthew Masten; general manager, DR Theatrical Management. Presented by Darren Bagert, MartinMassman, Ruth Hendel, Daryl Roth, Sharon Karmazin, Joan Raffe and Jhett Torentino, Highbrow, TedSnowdon and Jamie deRoy. At the Westside Theater/Upstairs, 407 West 43rd Street, Clinton; (212) 239-6200,telecharge.com. Through March 3. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

WITH: Ari Brand (Asher Lev), Mark Nelson (Aryeh Lev/Others) and Jenny Bacon (Rivkeh Lev/Others).

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Foreigners fuel Broadway - Entertainment News, Legit News, Media - Variety

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118063110?refcatid=15&printerfriendly=true[12/5/2012 9:45:08 AM]

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Posted: Tue., Dec. 4, 2012, 6:39pm PT

Foreigners fuel BroadwayTourists turned out for plays in 2011-12By GORDON COX

Broadway ticket sales to international tourists rose by a hefty half a million during the 2011-12season following a notable decline the prior season, according to a new report on Rialtodemographics issued by the Broadway League.

The findings also showed a notably strong percentage of play audiences were bolstered bytourists, who usually tend to overlook nonmusicals in favor of razzle-dazzle tuners.

Otherwise it was mostly business as usual for the League's annual breakdown of who comes toBroadway and why. In keeping with prior seasons, the typical Main Stem ticketbuyer was a white,wealthy, well-educated woman in her mid-40s. The Internet continued to grow as the Street'sprime sales portal, accounting for 47% of all sales, and word-of-mouth once again trounced critics'reviews as the most influential factor in ticketbuying decisions, particularly for musicals.

Among the most striking trends to be highlighted by the report is the remarkably consistentnumber of New Yorkers and suburbanites buying tickets each season. For the last decade, theaverage number of Gotham inhabitants who bought Broadway tickets hovered between 2 millionand 2.25 million, coming in at 2.11 million in 2011-12. Suburban auds have plateaued in recentyears around the 2.5 million mark, although there's more variation in the numbers prior to the2008-09 season. Last season the suburbs yielded 2.41 million ticket sales.

Such findings could imply that the pool of local theatergoers has been firmly tapped, with littleroom for growth. But that's disproven by earlier years, particularly 1998-99, which saw close to 3million New Yorkers buy tickets alongside 4.15 million from the suburbs.

Since then, though, numbers have been far more stable. One possible explanation: The lastdecade has cemented a trend that has seen shows, especially popular musicals, stick aroundlonger and longer as producers have become savvier about the run-lengthening benefits ofdynamic pricing. With less turnover for mass-appeal tuners, there are fewer new offerings to pull inlocal auds who may have already seen older shows.

New York City tourism in general has been on the rise, with 40.3 million domestic visitors and 10.6million from abroad reported during 2011-12. The prior season's drop in Broadway tickets sales tointernational tourists, down at the time to 1.77 million, was a surprise given the upward swing ofglobal visitors overall.

In 2011-12, the rebound in international tourists to 2.27 million was countered by a drop of about500,000 in purchases from domestic out-of-towners, coming in at 5.55 million. But the latterfluctuation seems more in keeping with the trend over the past dozen seasons, which have seen

Foreigners fuel Broadway - Entertainment News, Legit News, Media - Variety

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118063110?refcatid=15&printerfriendly=true[12/5/2012 9:45:08 AM]

the number of domestic visitor ticket purchases camping out in the 5 million to 6 million range.

Last season the composition of play audiences shifted, with the 65% of tourists accounting foraudiences at musicals nearly matched by 59% of out-of-towners at plays. That's a big change fromthe prior season, during which only 43% of auds at plays were tourists vs. 65% for tuners, afinding that more closely matches the conventional wisdom that plays are always more likely todraw Gothamites while musicals are tourist-magnets.

Uptick in 2011-12 could perhaps be explained by the increasing prominence of star casting inplays, which can draw an actor's fans to a title they otherwise wouldn't consider. Samuel L.Jackson ("The Mountaintop"), Alan Rickman ("Seminar"), Philip Seymour Hoffman and AndrewGarfield (both in "Death of a Salesman") were among the thesps with film profiles to appear onBroadway during the 2011-12 season.

The ethnic make-up of the Broadway audience remained mostly white, although the ratio of non-white theatergoers rose to 22% vs. the 17% logged in 2010-11. The average age of Main Stemtheatergoers downticked, just barely, to 43.5 years old.

Results were compiled from responses to surveys handed out 80 different perfs at around 30shows including "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," "Clybourne Park," "The Lion King" and "Wit,"with some 60% of 16,175 surveys returned.

Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

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