Category Archives: Broadway
A tale of two (fair) ladies
New York theatergoers have a rare chance to see two distinct versions of a time-honored tale with Lincoln Center’s My Fair Lady running concurrently with Bedlam’s Pygmalion. (Fair warning: Pygmalion only runs through April 22nd while My Fair Lady is in previews until the 19th but has an open-ended run.)
Having caught a glimpse of Bedlam’s production at an invited dress rehearsal, I was struck by how relevant the story still is today. I could go into great detail about what I saw in that production, and how it surprised me and what I think makes it so poignantly relevant today. I was also intrigued by how differently the story plays compared to the musical I remembered. But I’d rather wait until you see it and see what you found in them as well.
Seeing both gives oneself a rare glimpse into the choices Lerner & Loewe made to turn the story into a palatable (if not delicious!) musical as well as get a great look at George Bernard Shaw’s underlying story still so powerful on it’s own.
See both! And tell me what you think.
NYC Producing Workshop – April 21-22
Learn how to create a business plan for your own show with Tony Award-winning producer Meredith Lucio (Bedlam’s Hamlet & Saint Joan, The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess). The class will help you determine your show’s mission, marketing plan, operational plan, management and organization, revenue streams, start up and capitalization and financial planning. Register at http://bit.ly/Produce2018
What people are saying:
“Lucio’s Producing Workshop provides an in-depth survey of the theatrical producing process. Her extensive professional experience and winning personality make the sessions both informative and enjoyable. She is creating a community of aspiring producers and continues to provide resources for her alumni even after the workshop. I don’t think there’s a better option for someone who is interested in producing theater for the first time.”
– Kimberly Pau Boston, Managing Director, Bedlam
Schedule
Saturday, April 21
10AM – 1PM Morning Session
1PM – 2PM Lunch Break
2PM – 5PM Afternoon Session
Sunday, April 22
10AM – 1PM Morning Session
1PM – 2PM Lunch Break
2PM – 5PM Afternoon Session
$375 (Workshop Fee)
$335 (Early Bird Pricing thru 4/18/18)
About the Producer
Meredith Lucio made her Broadway producing debut with the TONY award-winning Best Revival of 2012, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess starring Audra McDonald, and Norm Lewis. Other productions include the critically acclaimed Bedlam productions of Hamlet and Saint Joan (Best Revival, OBA), The 39 Steps (New World Stages) and Rooms: a rock romance. She was a member of the producing team of From Broadway with Love: a benefit for Sandy Hook. Most recently she capitalized the New Broadway Cast Recording of Hello Dolly! starring Bette Midler. She’s currently developing new work for Broadway and Off-Broadway including Brendan Hunt’s Absolutely Filthy, and D. Tucker Smith’s Roof of the World.
Meredith currently tours the country as a speaker and teacher of Produce your Art Like it’s Your Business; a producing workshop she created specifically for artists and students (both young and old). She has served as a Program Director for the TRU’s Producer Development and Mentorship program, is an adjunct professor at Scottsdale Community College and has spoken at the Commercial Theatre Institute, the International Thespian Festival and The Educational Theatre Association National Conference about the business of producing.
For more information contact Meredith at WildBirdPro (at) Gmail.com.
Overheard at Sardi’s
Sardi’s, where the magic happens.
Trying to recoup on Broadway is like reaching the Emerald City. Dorothy had a well-paved road to get there but she never would have made it without the tornado and a dead witch.
Smash Down
This season's Smash.
On Smash, Workshops (with a capital “W”) get produced without a script or all the songs completed. Who cares if the show’s not ready, you don’t have a title or couldn’t likely take any investors because you don’t know where you’re going much less if you have a show or not? On Smash money (or at least really expensive art) hangs on walls just waiting to be taken down and sold to the nearest rock star standing next to you. It doesn’t matter that you may be adding 200K to what will become an oversized budget. Who cares if that two hundred thousand dollars might have been put to better use enhancing a development production…or sending the writers to a remote cabin in the Poconos and telling them not to come out until they’ve written an actual musical.
Ok. Ok. I’ll admit it. I think one of the reasons I love this show is because at least once in every episode there’s a plot element or assertion that is, quite frankly, completely ass-backward. I love seeing the characters do something that brings the whole “reality facade” come crashing down.
Don’t be fooled. Smash is fun. Smash is entertaining but it’s not Broadway. It’s Dallas meets Melrose Place meets All About Eve meets insert-your-favorite-musical-here. No, Smash isn’t real Broadway. I like to think of it as “broadway” with a little “Smash-magic”.
So far it’s been fun. And the creators do a fair job of hanging their melodramatic flag high and then pulling it back without getting too out of control. (I like that they’ve pulled back a little from making Jaime Cepero’s character too terribly dastardly. Oh that Ellis is still a piece of work, and he might go all “Alexis Carrington” on us yet. But Angelica Huston’s producing maven “Eileen Rand” keeps him in his place quite nicely.)
Have fun with Smash. Enjoy that “Smash magic”. Spend an hour a week living that dream. And then go and treat yourself to a real Broadway show.
Theater Zen 