Larry O'Connor - Page 21

DAMN!

I think Hugh Jackman is grabbing a nice, wark tuscan hummus from the CPK behind the Kodak…

For subject matter.

But that joke with Langella might have been too close to the edge for the PC crowd on Broadway… He sat on his lap and then got up quickly and said: “Woah! I know you do theatre but….” He didn’t

in getting me interested in seeing “The Reader”.

I feel compelled to point out that “Cop Rock” is not the best example of “Showtunes”… It’s like saying: “I love love films about the Middle East… “Ishtar” is my favorite!”

You better mention us on “The Dennis Miller Show” tomorrow! (I wish we could hear your music when you make an evil remark on the blog)

that Kate Winslet’s eyebrows drive here absolutely nuts! Anyone else have a problem with Winslet’s eyebrows? Anyone?

You film people aren’t gonna be surprised when you here Wolverine sing like an angel, are you? Jackman got his start doing legit theatre in Melbourne playing Gaston in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” and Joe Gillis in ALW’s “Sunset

This week’s Sunday Matinee is dedicated to Hollywood. Because it’s Oscar Sunday and the whole world is focused on the Kodak Theatre and the red carpet parade about to happen, it seems fitting that Broadway throws Hollywood a bone today.

1964’s Fiddler on the Roof (Book by Joseph Stein; Lyrics by Sheldon Harnick; Music by Jerry Bock) is a timeless classic of the traditional musical theatre format and reflects the tumultuous times of America in the 1960’s better than Hair

I saw a really solid production of the Stephen Schwartz’ musical “Pippin” at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. There was a sequence that made me think of our current political climate. The character of Pippin realizes that his

I knew Jane Fonda’s blog would be a treasure-trove of fun information! Last night was the first preview for “33 Variations” at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre, and to celebrate her triumphant return to the Great White Way, Blog-erella posted pics

Hollywood loves a sequel, and so does Big Hollywood. My post about Frank Rich and his penchant for repeating left-wing urban legends as fact garnered many comments from both sides of the issue asking for the post to be longer

Sunday matinee will be a weekly post focusing on an individual Broadway show. I’ll discuss some of its history, trivia and little-known anecdotes as well as analyze the political, social or cultural ramifications of the piece. In fact, let me

I know what’s going on in the advertiser’s office for “You’re Welcome America, A Final Night With George Bush“. Every morning after a show opens the producers assemble with the agency and dissect the reviews pulling out the best quotes

It’s no secret that Broadway theatre owners are generally members of the Democratic Party. The late Gerald Schoenfeld, long-time Chairman of the Shubert Organization had the honor of certifying the ballot for then-Gov. Clinton at the 1992 DNC in New

Before Frank Rich used his arrogance to tell us who we should vote for, he used it to tell us what plays we should see. Rich was, arguably, the last uber-powerful NY Times Theatre Critic. Unless a show had a

Just when I thought I might run out of ideas for blog posts, I get a gift from God… Jane Fonda has started a blog in conjunction with her return to Broadway in “33 Variations!” The play, by Moisés Kaufman,

Although Broadway – and by extension National Tours of Broadway shows – tend to be the showcase for the American theatre industry, the vast majority of the works that end up in that showcase are born and nurtured in the

Richard Dreyfuss and Elizabeth McGovern have travelled across the pond to star in a play about America’s torture of terrorist suspects. That’s right, not “alleged” torture. It’s a fact as far as this play is concerned. And, the funny thing

The recent trend of converting hit movies into Broadway musicals (“Shrek,” “Billy Elliott,” etc.) may have reached the point of ridiculous with today’s news that a stage musical of the Clint Eastwood film “Magnum Force” is in the works: Magnum

Contrary to popular belief the sky is NOT falling on Broadway. Yes, about a dozen shows closed after the holidays, but up until about 15 years ago, that was the norm. There have traditionally been three “seasons” for shows to

Playbill is announcing a revival of the musical “Ragtime” this Spring at the Kennedy Center. I love “Ragtime.” It’s a great piece of theatre. And it’s a completely, totally and entirely a left-wing wacko propaganda piece. “Ragtime” is based on

Variety is reporting that as part of a fundraiser for multiple same-sex marriage organizations, “Hairspray” composer Marc Shaiman’s satirical “Prop 8: The Musical” will be staged live. The event called “Defying Inequality” will be performed on a dark night on

Aaron Sorkin really pisses me off. And not for the reasons you might think. Yes, he’s a liberal’s liberal. And he epitomizes all that Big Hollywood rails against. He infuses his politics into everything he writes. He purposefully paints most

Wicked, the smash international stage hit, is a phenomenon and triumph of luck, pluck and virtue for it’s primary creator: composer/lyricist Stephen Schwartz. Schwartz made a revolutionary cultural impact on American Theatre with his 1971 Off-Broadway hit Godspell. He followed

While we’re in the business of revealing secrets from the entertainment industry, let me add a whopper for you all to chew on: Most people who work on Broadway hate Andrew Lloyd Webber. That’s right. Despite creating more employment and

The lights came up at the Nederlander Theatre at intermission. My girlfriend, at the time, turns to me and says, “Well, what do you think?”. We had just seen the first half of RENT, the groundbreaking, 1996 grunge-rock musical based

You hear the stories about the DMV worker asked to remove an American Flag from their cubicle, and the secretary forced to not have a bible on her desk, or the fireman who can’t have a Hooters calendar up at

The horrifying news that Susan Sarandon will make her Broadway debut this Spring (because Broadway isn’t left ENOUGH?) has gotten me to thinking… Instead of Ms. Sarandon, and Rosie O’Donnell and Alec Baldwin & Jessica Lange (in the SAME play,

I know that as the guy on the “Broadway Beat” I should have a take on the Will Ferrell one-man show due to start previews at the Cort on Inauguration Day, “You’re Welcome America, A Final Night with George Bush”,

Although Big Hollywood is still in its infancy, a recurring theme seems to be running through the posts and the comments: (paraphrasing) “Stop bitching about the left in show business, go out and make a new reality with your own

That’s what I felt like yelling during last November’s horrifying public shaming of a theatre executive in California. Scott Eckern, the Artistic Director of Sacramento Music Theatre, was forced to resign after the public revelation that he donated $1,000 to

It was a cold November evening in 1994 when I shut off my television and went to a board meeting of a Los Angeles service organization for theatre owners and producers. I had just heard the news that for the

The American Theatre world was rocked last year by playwright David Mamet’s confession in the “Village Voice” headlined: “Why I am no longer a ‘brain-dead liberal“. Some of us saw it coming. You need only recall Mamet’s 1992 masterpiece “Oleanna”