Florenz Ziegfeld created his Follies in 1907, and the successful format continued on Broadway until 1931. The Ziegfeld Follies were extraordinarily elaborate revues inspired by the Folies Bergères in Paris. While being a high-class Vaudeville variety show, mixing comics, singers and speciality dancers, it was the Ziegfeld girls that made them a hit. That whiff of sex disguised as art presented by […]
Broadway theatre
Spider-Man the Musical’s firm grip sets Broadway record
Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, written by U2’s Bono and The Edge, has taken the highest single-week takings of any show in Broadway history. The musical, which was plagued with problems from its inception, took $2.9m (£1.8m) over nine performances last week, according to The Broadway League. The Edge said it was a “proud day” […]
Interview with Samuel Ramey as he makes his début in his home town
Samuel Ramey, a meat-cutter’s son, came from the high plains of northwest Kansas. Now he’s performing at Kansas City Opera, his début with the company which turned him down early in his career. Ramey, who will be 70 next year, talked to the Kansas City Star; here are his words: On his origins “I think about […]
Broadway’s Billy Elliot to close
The Broadway musical “Billy Elliot”, winner of 10 Tony Awards in 2009 and a hot ticket for much of its run, will close on January 8, 2012, after 3 years and 3 months of performances. The decision to close came after a somewhat precipitous decline in ticket sales that accelerated through the late spring and […]
Michael Jackson wanted to play Phantom in a film version
Andrew Lloyd Webber told CNN’s Piers Morgan that Michael Jackson wanted to play the title role in the film version of “The Phantom of the Opera.” According to Webber, the King of Pop came to see the Broadway show multiple times — years before the film came out — and he and Jackson had spoken […]
Avenue Q’s squeaky clean school edition replaces “Internet is For Porn” with “Social Life Is Online”, but “If You Were Gay” remains intact
Music Theatre International have had a problem with Avenue Q’s life after Broadway. Schools and amateur productions produce revenue for years, and with its cuddly puppets Avenue Q could be the perfect choice for the end of school show. Except for the dialogue. Oh yes, and the lyrics. And some of the subject matter. And, of […]
The Bizarre World of Showbiz: Joan and Jackie Collins backstage at Priscilla
Playbill, apart from having all the latest theatre news, also send photographers backstage to capture those fun moments when the cast meet some of the celebs who’ve come to see them. There is a wonderful collection now on-line of the two Collins sisters, Joan and Jackie, backstage at Broadway’s Priscilla. Cast and Collins Sisters – now who can tell […]
Mormon musical’s humour more English than American
Broadway’s hottest musical, which was garlanded last week with a pack-leading 14 Tony nominations, is to visit the West End. The Book of Mormon, written by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, and acclaimed by critics and rapturous audiences alike, will open “sometime next year”, in London, according to Sonia Friedman, its […]
Arthur Laurents, playwright and director, dies at 93
Arthur Laurents, the playwright, screenwriter and director who wrote and ultimately transformed two of Broadway’s landmark shows, Gypsy and West Side Story, and created one of Hollywood’s most well-known romances, The Way We Were, died yesterday in his home in Manhattan. He was 93. Laurents once described writers as “the chosen people” and said he […]
Julie Andrews’ three breakthrough moments
In the beginning, there are three main stepping stones that I remember very clearly. One was when I was 12 and made what I would call my official debut. I sang one song in a musical revue in London. At almost the last minute, I was nearly dismissed because they felt that in such a […]
