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NEWS ABOUT: musical theater

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Coming Soon: Rocky, 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... More »

How Spider-Man Spent $75M

$9 million on sets, costumes alone

(Newser) - Amid injuries, delays, and firings, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark has managed to eat through $75 million, New York state financial statements reveal. To put that in perspective: The play The Book of Mormon cost $9 million, reports the New York Times . Here’s where some of the money—and... More »

Spider-Man Musical: 'Sheer Ineptitude'

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... More »

Sondheim: West Side Story Lyrics 'Embarrassing'

He should know ... he wrote them

(Newser) - When Stephen Sondheim thinks about the lyrics he wrote for West Side Story—for example, “It’s alarming how charming I feel”—he likes to “put my head under my wing and pretend I’m not there,” he tells Nightline . The universally beloved musical “embarrasses... More »

Spider-Man Musical Off to Tangled Start

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... More »

Promises, Promises More Problems, Problems

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
... More »

Chicago Outfit Readies Limbaugh Musical

Second City comedy troupe's kicks off Feb. 3

(Newser) - Chicago’s famed Second City comedy outfit might have just the cure for your winter blues (or reds, depending on how you tend to vote): Rush Limbaugh! The Musical. Opening next week, it will take “back to Rush’s humble beginnings and follows his ascent to conservative dominance buoyed... More »

Spice Girls to Get Mamma Mia! Treatment

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 ... More »

Obama Campaign Becomes ... a German Musical

And yes, there's a Sarah Palin character

(Newser) - Barack Obama's 2008 campaign is the subject of Hope!, a musical set to premiere Jan. 17 in Frankfurt. The production features musical-theater versions of the major players: Michelle, Hillary—looking quite young—John McCain and even Sarah Palin, who sings a solo surrounded by scantily clad dancers. Writer and composer... More »

Green Day's Rock Opera Hits the Stage

Multiplatinum American Idiot a coming-of-age story

(Newser) - Green Day’s multiplatinum album American Idiot is taking the stage as a 75-minute rock opera that will “challenge the very definitions of punk, theater, and musical,” writes David Downs in the East Bay Express. A 19-member cast will showcase a “Fight Club-esque story of self-discovery through... More »

Bye, Bye Birdie Scene Too Risque for Broadway

Revival will be even more PC than high school productions

(Newser) - High school drama clubs have been putting on Bye Bye Birdie for nearly 50 years—apparently they didn’t realize they've been staging a certain scene so risque it makes Broadway blush. The upcoming Broadway revival will cut a dance sequence featuring Rose cavorting on and around a table with... More »

Destiny's 'Third' Child Hits London's West End

Michelle Williams plays Roxie in Chicago

(Newser) - Often labeled “the third one” in Destiny’s Child, Michelle Williams is swinging the spotlight her way, the Independent reports, playing Roxy in a production of Chicago in London’s West End. “People just think I’m the quiet one. Or not talented,” Williams says of comparisons... More »

Blago to Appear in Rod Superstar Spoof

Ex-gov to take the stage to announce extension of musical mocking his career

(Newser) - The Second City revue's harshly critical musical send-up of Rod Blagojevich's rise and fall will have a special guest onstage Saturday: Rod Blagojevich. Producers of Rod Blagojevich Superstar say the impeached former Illinois governor will be on hand to announce the hit spoof's extension through August, and will join... More »

Billy Elliot's 10 Wins Include Best Actor × 3

(AP) - Billy Elliot, the British musical about a coal miner's son who burns to dance, won 10 Tony Awards tonight in New York, including best musical and a unique best actor prize for the three young performers who share the title role. David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish shyly thanked... More »

Lloyd Webber Eyes Boyle for Stage Role

Could even be Evita lead, originally played by Susan's idol

(Newser) - Susan Boyle’s dream might be coming true. The Britain’s Got Talent superstar—who elicited snickers from the audience when she said before her audition that she aspired to be like British stage icon Elaine Paige—has caught the eye of musical theater composer Andrew Lloyd Weber, who is... More »

New Bilingual West Side Story Tender, Uneven

Production can be uneven, but still enjoyable

(Newser) - The highly anticipated revival of West Side Story on Broadway opened last night to solid reviews, with critics applauding an unusually tender interpretation in which the women rule. Highlights:
  • “Even when they’re flashing switchblades and kicking people in the ribs, the teenage hoodlums who maraud through Arthur Laurents’
... More »

China Prepares for Das Kapital: The Musical

Marx's treatise gets some much-needed singing and dancing

(Newser) - Karl Marx's Das Kapital offers hundreds of pages of dense German prose on class struggle and modes of production—so why not add some singing and dancing? That's the idea of several Chinese producers who are mounting a Das Kapital musical, which promises a live band and Vegas-style theatrics to... More »

Stage Shrek Is Lumbering but Lovable

Show lacking in 'inspiration'

(Newser) - Shrek the Musical has its moments, but in the end, it contradicts its own message that substance trumps what’s on the surface, writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times. The “leaden” show presents a “cavalcade of storybook effigies” that “feels like 40 blocks’ worth of... More »

Parton Kicks Off 9 to 5 Premiere

Parton offers mini concert at debut show

(Newser) - Tuesday's premiere of 9 to 5: The Musical came with an unexpected treat when Dolly Parton leaped on stage and performed songs to cover up a technical glitch, says the Los Angeles Times Music Blog. She roused the audience into singing along to the "9 to 5" theme, and... More »

It's Curtains for Rent After 12 Years

Hugely popular musical takes a break from Broadway

(Newser) - Twelve years and 5,124 performances later, Broadway bids adieu today to Rent, the New York Daily News reports. The beloved musical, which follows a group of bohemians and street folk through AIDS-ravaged, early-1990s East Village, “speaks to people's hearts," an original cast members tells the AP. It... More »

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