Last Kander & Ebb musical?

[GhettoBway]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 5:28pm

Has anyone heard any new news about The Minstrel Show I thought it was opening this season?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 5:38pm

I thought there new one was called "curtains"

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 5:48pm

There's a show called Curtains. The Ahamanson theatre in LA is trying to gather the funding to do a pre-Broadway run in the spring.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 6:17pm

CURTAINS Reading 10/31

Updated On: 11/1/05 at 06:17 PM

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 6:39pm

Kander and Ebb apparently had several works-in-progress at the time of Fred Ebb's death (I've heard as many as 5 different titles, including Skin of Our Teeth and The Visit). It's unclear if any of them are even close to Broadway-ready. Probably not. I suppose it'll really depend on how much John Kander is willing and able to complete things on his own. But, given how beloved they both are/were in the community, I wonder if some of their old friends (Betty Comden? Herman? Sondheim?) might step in to help out with additional lyrics where needed.

Updated On: 11/2/05 at 06:39 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 6:42pm

CURTAINS had another reading, and they hope to premiere it in LA, Spring of 2006.

And Terrance McNally has stated he dosen't think THE VISIT will be scrapped forever.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/1/05 at 7:02pm

Ah, Freddy, we weren't ready for ya to go yet!!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 2:18am

More info on CURTAINS:

"THE best comic chemistry to be found in the theater this week isn't the "marriage" of Matthew Brode rick and Nathan Lane.
It's the "three-way" of David Hyde Pierce, Edward Hibbert and Debra Monk.

These performers had a rehearsal studio full of Broadway producers, investors and theater owners rolling in the aisles Monday during a backers' audition of a new Broadway-bound musical comedy called "Curtains!"

For theater people, the show's subject is irresistible: It's about a musical that's in deep, deep trouble out of town.

Monk, a three-time Tony winner, played a tough-as-nails, mercilessly funny producer who's modeled, so it is whispered, on Broadway's very own Fran Weissler.

"Put a red wig on her, and it's Fran," says a person who attended the the backers' audition.

Hibbert, the plummy restaurant critic on Pierce's show "Frasier," played a flamboyantly gay English director.
"He was channeling Maggie Smith," says my spy.

Pierce, a Tony nominee for "Spamalot," played a showbiz-obsessed detective, on hand to solve the murder of the tone-deaf leading lady but much more interested in solving the show's second-act troubles.

Other characters include a bald and bespectacled producer said to be inspired by Shubert chief Gerald Schoenfeld (who attended the reading); a sexy young understudy who's suspected of doing in the leading lady; and a very powerful drama critic, not modeled on anyone because, as my spy says, "he's too tall and handsome to resemble any critic we know."

"Curtains!" — which has a score by John Kander and the late Fred Ebb — isn't exactly new.

"I've been involved with it for three years," Hibbert says. "This was the final presentation we're doing, and I was just delighted with it."

The original script, by the late Peter Stone ("Titanic," "1776"), has been revised by Rupert Holmes, who won a Tony for his musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood."

The backers' audition went so well that Roger Berlind, the lead producer, is about to strike a deal with the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles to open "Curtains!" there this summer, and then on to Broadway a year from now.

Monk and Hibbert will definitely be in the show.

Pierce, who'll be sprung from "Spamalot" in April, has indicated that he, too, wants to star in "Curtains!"

This musical — completely original and not, thank God, based on a movie — sounds like an awful lot of fun.


http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/30526.htm

[pab]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 2:28am

Welcome back Margo!

[jimmirae]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 4:57am

Thanks Margo! That was an absolute delight to read. Just wanted to say "Well Done" and I love your style! Very Informative.. Thanks again!

[Smaxie]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 6:56am

With all due respect to Margo, that style belongs to Michael Riedel of the New York Post, who wrote the story that Margo linked.

And contrary to Riedel's story, David Hyde Pierce was just about the only Spamalot principal performer NOT nominated for the Tony Award.

[CaroleeFan]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 6:58am

I would love to see the great Debra Monk have a big triumph in a musical. I hope this happens.

[QueenS]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 9:01am

"Skin of Our Teeth" is still being worked on.

I was at the "Curtains" reading on Monday and will say that it was one of the funniest things I've seen. In addition to the brilliant 3 mentioned in the Post, the cast included Karen Ziemba, a very funny Laura Benanti, Michael McCormick, Megan Hilty, Noah Racey...).

Debra Monk (who has so often been seen making silk purses out of sows' ears) is given material worth her talent and shines as the tough, dry producer.

David Hyde Pierce was so charming, so funny and simply delightful as the homicide detective. His comic timing is utterly perfect.

The score is lovely, in the old musical theatre tradition. I actually left humming a couple of the songs. The script--which balances a couple of love stories, a murder mystery and a show in trouble plot line--weaves all the stories together to make a beautifully layered piece.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 11:05am

I think it would be news to Ms. Monk that she has three Tonys - she has three NOMINATIONS. One Tony.

And Carolee, absolutely - that is long past due!

QueenS, were Fran and Barry in attendance? Since she's working for them now...how interesting...and perhaps...awkward...

Updated On: 11/2/05 at 11:05 AM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 1:51pm

Has anyone seen SKIN OF OUR TEETH in any of its incarnations?

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/2/05 at 2:25pm

I hate theater about theater, sorry that just a pet peeve of mine, but i'm sure the show will be great. It sounds very "class broadway."

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/3/05 at 10:27am

Okay, I know I'm not the only person here who's seen some version of SKIN OF OUR TEETH.

And, had anyone seen any earlier incarnations of CURTAINS?

[QueenS]

Posted: 11/3/05 at 4:00pm

Rathnait-- I didn't see the Weissler's, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. It was PACKED and I sat near the door so that I could be one of the first out at the end. I've waited for that elevator before...

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/3/05 at 4:51pm

I'll find out.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 10:45am

Having brunch today with a friend who was involved, so this is my chance to find out if Fran Weissler was indeed in attendance.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 10:55am

Oh brother.

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 11:17am

these are the eyes, that watched him! as he walked awaaaaay.... color them- greeeeey

oops, sorry, wrong Kander and Ebb

[Sant]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 11:19am

THE VISIT was staged in Chicago's Goodman Theatre, where it ran 21 Sep - 3 Nov, 2001. Chita Rivera played the leading role.

http://www.chitarivera.com/productions/the_visit.htm

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 11:23am

my school JUST closed our production of the Frederik play. is there a recording?

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 11:25am

No.

How did you like the play, CQT?