Profile for PJ

Saw Jessica this evening as Louise. Nothing overly good, or bad about the performance. Just fine, I'd say. The only time I really missed Laura was during Louise's confrontation in the dressing room scene. And no, she doesn't yell the way Benanti does.

The Roundabout is reviving the show, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, and it's currently set to be the first production to play the new Henry Miller. And Donna Murphy was approached about starring as Reno, but she passed. Then there was the odd idea of Reba McEntire that they were tossing around for a while. Christine Ebersole asked if she could play Reno, and was politely turned down. And the last I heard was that they wanted Catherine Zeta-Jones.

She's definitely not doing it. She passed on the project immediately after it was offered to her.

Anika Noni-Rose is Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She will be joined onstage by the aforementioned Terrence Howard, Phylicia Rashad, and James Earl Jones.

The main difference between last summer and this one? Two words: Arthur Laurents. This man knows how to direct his Roses.

Oh! I completley forgot about the faux rape scene in the hotel room. I noticed when they didn't do the reprise of "Small World" after Herbie leaves, but forgot about that funny scene in the hotel. I wonder why Arthur made those cuts?

I saw the first preview performance this evening as well. -Patti is giving the performance of her career on that stage. I've never seen any performer be so undeniably perfect in every scene. She was funny, heart breaking, and a battle ax when she needed to be. And I never once thought that she needed to pull back. I loved Bernadette in the 2003 revival, but LuPone mopped the City Center stage with her curly red mop this evening. And luckily, will continue to do so for the rest of this month. ...

Double

I am thrilled for Carla Gugino. She was breathtaking in Suddenly Last Summer.

JLY has been contracted for 6 shows since Jersey Boys opened. Untrue. JB Fan was correct.

Nikkie Renee Daniels as Fantine.

Rumor has it that that Jib is making a return to the Neil Simon in April.

She's got her Bey-ounce back. She looked wonderful as usual, but I was underwhelmed by the performance.

Full scale or concert, I'll be there for several performances.

When the OBC was still at the Gershwin, the song ended after the dance between Elphaba and the Wizard following "Wonderful." When Idina left, and Shoshana Bean took over, they added even more dancing and a reprise of the song between the characters. It worked for Bean and Ben Vereen, but every other pair of performers looked absolutely ridiculous doing it. I'm interested in seeing these cuts. I may have to make a return trip.

She was in talks to host last year around this time. Since she has yet to appear, it must have fallen through. This was, of course, during her whole Old Navy commercial era. So she would have been more recognizable than usual.

Halle Berry was at Jersey Boys on Wednesday night. I bet she's replacing John Lloyd Young in April!

Goodness was she ever dreadful in Piazza. I saw her perform the role live, and then again on the telecast, and both times, she was painfully bad. The girl couldn't handle that score if she was carrying it in the palm of her hands. She actually made a large portion of the audience laugh during the title number. That's something that I'm fairly certain was not planned.

With the way Holliday has been behaving regarding Hudson and the film itself, I wouldn't have mentioned her in my speech either. I thought it was wonderful that Hudson dedicated her Globe to Ballard.

Best: Natasha Richardson...A Streetcar Named Desire Cherry Jones...Doubt Bernadette Peters...Gypsy Patti LuPone...Sweeney Todd Worst: Harvey Fierstein...Fiddler on the Roof David Ayers...Wicked