China Prepares for Das Kapital: The Musical

Sylvester Stallone says he always pictured it as a musical

(NEWSER) - Can you picture Sylvester Stallone’s famous Rocky character bursting into song after winning a boxing match? Because that might just happen when Rocky: The Musical becomes a reality. “I always had the idea of Rocky as a musical,” says Stallone, who has teamed up with boxers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko to create the German stage show, opening next November. “At the end of the day, Rocky is a love story and he could never have reached the final bell without Adrian,” Stallone continues. More»

Problem-plagued musical not worth your time, money: critics

(NEWSER) - Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark hasn’t officially opened yet, but people are already shelling out up to $275 a ticket to see it—and considering its opening has already been pushed back five times, many news organizations “skirted Broadway protocol” and reviewed the show today, since its last official opening date was last night (before it was postponed). The verdict: not good.

• The only way to make the money they spend worth it for theatergoers is to let them in on “the national joke that this problem-plagued show has become,” writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times . “Stock the Foxwoods gift shops with souvenir crash helmets and T-shirts that say 'I saw Spider-Man and lived.' Otherwise, a more appropriate slogan would be 'I saw Spider-Man and slept.'" Everything, from the music to the sets and the plot, is “sheer ineptitude.”

But wowed audience loved 'heart-racing' stunts

(NEWSER) - Previews of Broadway musicals are rarely perfect, but last night's debut of the long-plagued Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was especially troubled. The start was delayed 24 minutes; the show was paused five times for technical problems; an actress hung upside down in the air for six minutes. Yet none of it was enough to dissuade many of the fans, who tweeted throughout expressing delight at the aerial stunts. Samples from the Wall Street Journal : "My heart was racing," said one audience member; "WOW on flying thru theater," said another. More»

Miscast and old-fashioned, revival falls flat

(NEWSER) - Back when it debuted in the late '60s, Promises, Promises was a critical darling. These days... not so much. Here's what the critics are saying:

• “Problems, like promises, abound,” writes John Simon of Bloomberg . Chief among them: “Musical comedy has evolved well beyond these cookie-cutter songs, however cute.” Kristin Chenoweth is also badly miscast as a sweet, innocent menial; she “oozes star glamor.”

Creator Judy Craymer back for similar musical

(NEWSER) - Mamma Mia! creator Judy Craymer has signed a deal to make a Spice Girls musical in the same vein as her ABBA-themed megahit. The new show won’t actually be about the British pop outfit; it’ll just link their greatest hits with an unrelated story, the same way Mamma Mia! raided ABBA’s songbook, the Times of London reports. More»