Neo-soul artist India.Arie is the latest in a long line of talented R&B singers bit by the acting bug. Arie, 32, is set to star in a Broadway revival of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. The play, based on the book of poems by Ntozake Shange, was nominated for a Tony award in 1977. The book, a women’s studies classic, presents several women of color discussing their experiences at a certain time in the United States.

It’s a bold step for Arie, but she’s in good company. In fact, I’m having a tough time thinking of an R&B artist who hasn’t tried her hand at acting on stage or screen. Some of them gave such good performances, they got in the running for Hollywood’s biggest honor, the Academy Award.

One of them actually won it. Of course, I'm talking about American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson, who brought home the Best Supporting Actress award for Dreamgirls. Hudson is the biggest success story on our list, although her castmate Beyonce, (Carmen: A Hip Hopera, Austin Powers: Goldmember) isn’t exactly hurting for parts. Alicia Keys (The Nanny Diaries, Smokin’ Aces) seems to record an album and film a new movie every other year. Keys just finished shooting another: The Secret Life of Bees.

Let’s not forget those ladies we don’t hear on the radio every day: Erykah Badu appeared in The Cider House Rules way back in 1999 and later, House of D; Macy Gray guest starred on Spin City and Gilmore Girls; Angie Stone appeared on an episode of Roswell. … continue reading

I wince a little whenever I see the Tony Awards tagline, “There’s a little bit of Broadway in everyone,” but I can live with the discomfort because it is my favorite awards show. I always watch the Academy Awards, I often watch the Emmys, and I’ll never forget when Christine Lahti was in the bathroom when she won the Golden Globe for Chicago Hope in 1998; but the Tony Awards feature big song and dance numbers. They’re the gayest awards show out there, with all the men (and the occasional woman) thanking their same-sex partners, and the acting awards winners give good speeches because they’re comfortable in front of a live audience. So really, they’re just great.

Speaking of great, there are a couple of really great things about this year’s nominations, which were announced earlier this week. Most importantly, The New Mel Brooks Musical: Young Frankenstein did not get nominated for Best Musical or for Best Book of a Musical. In fact, the show only got a couple of reasonably well-deserved acting nominations and a scenic design nod. Now, I might have picked Megan Mullally over Andrea Martin for Best Featured Actress, but I take no issue with the strength of the performances.

The issue I take is with the never-ending comments about how well-endowed the monster is. (You may have guessed that I did not love Young Frankenstein and that I am so over Mel Brooks.)

The other really great thing is that two of the four Best Director of a Play nominees are women — that’s a full one-half, people! (At the Academy Awards, it’s still fairly rare to get one female nominee, and I’m still stewing that Kasi Lemmons didn’t get nominated last year for Talk to Me.) … continue reading

Patti LuPone is the toast of Broadway right now, and with good reason.

Her turn as “Mama Rose” in the current revival of Gypsy is drawing comparison's to Ethel Merman's original characterization of the stage mother of all stage mothers. I've always been envious that my mother saw the original run of Gypsy, but not anymore. (Well, at least not as much as before.) I think Ben Brantley of The New York Times summed up Lupone's performance beautifully.

“When Ms. LuPone delivers “Rose's Turn,” she's building a bridge for an audience to walk right into one woman's nervous breakdown. There is no separation at all between song and character, which is what happens in those uncommon moments when musicals reach upward to achieve their ideal reasons to be.”

And that's what I love so much about musical theater – those moments when the actor, the character and the song all merge together into one utterly captivating entity. It's a combination of the strength of the performance and of the material. (For the record, I did not experience any moment like that when I saw David Hasselhoff in Jeckyl and Hyde.) These moments are why I rail against stunt-casting. I don't want to see performers who are a curiousity; I want to see performers who make me get lost in the show.

I had been wanting to see Patti LuPone in a Broadway show for ages. I saw 12 zillion Evita commercials when I was a kid, and she was always this Broadway great that I had never seen.

So, I'm thrilled to have finally seen her in all her greatness. Of course, over the years I've seen my fair share of great performances. And I'm going to indulge myself by reminiscing about a few of them. … continue reading

It's still a year or two down the road, but a musical version of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City is slated to head to Broadway — with a possible stop in San Francisco along the way.

The Tales of the City series, which spanned seven books and three miniseries, began as a serial in The San Francisco Chronicle in the '70s. It told the story of Mary Ann Singleton, a secretary who never returned to Cleveland after a vacation in San Francisco, and the “family” she found in her new digs at 28 Barbary Lane on Russian Hill. Her family members included Michael “Mouse” Tolliver, her gay best friend; Mona Ramsey, Michael's sometimes-lesbian roommate; Brian Hawkins, '70s straight guy on the prowl (and her future husband); and Anna Madrigal, the transgender “mother of them all” who grew pot in her garden and taped joints to apartment doors as gifts for her “children.”

The creative team certainly has the credentials to keep the show gay enough. Tony Award winner Jeff Whitty is slated to write the book. If you're not familiar with his work in Avenue Q, check out the opening number.

(Whitty didn't write the music and lyrics, but he clearly had a lot to do with the campy gay sensibility.) The musical team will consist of John Garden and Jason Sellards (Scissor Sisters), so it's likely that the show will have some era-appropriate disco influences.

The story has so many intricate story lines that some will clearly have to go. Obviously I hope the lesbian plot remains. (Mona's ex-lover, D'or — a white woman who's passing as black for the sake of her modeling career — moves back to the Bay Area to win back Mona.) Perhaps they can do without the story of the closeted gay husband of the socialite (pregnant by the Chinese deliveryman) hooking up with the socialite's gynecologist at the baths. Or maybe they'll downplay Brian's endless quest to get laid. But they have to keep Mary Ann's doomed romance with the vitamin salesman/private investigator/child pornographer. (I won't tell you how that ends.)

I can imagine lots about the show: a set featuring the Barbary Lane steps with the Golden Gate Bridge and Transamerica building in the background, an opening number about Cleveland, perhaps a song and dance number with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. But what I cannot picture is the casting. The original miniseries was so perfectly cast that I cannot fathom seeing others in the roles.

First, there was Laura Linney as Mary Ann. … continue reading

UPDATED POST: This post was first published on Friday. But there's new news. Read on!

Last week, the rumor mill had Sarah Jessica Parker starring as one of the fiancées in the madcap comedy Boeing-Boeing — she was to play the Italian air hostess. Given that she has some solid Broadway history and even more interesting Off-Broadway history, that could have been fun casting. However, it seems the rumor mill was not correct this time. Alas. The latest casting news is not exactly depressing, though — Gina Gershon will be the Italian assistente di bordo.

You may know her better as Corky.

Gershon doesn't have a lot of Broadway history — just a stint as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. But apparently she was good. I almost wish Boeing-Boeing was a musical so I could see her sing live. (Although I suspect it would be different than this Prey for Rock 'n' Roll excerpt.)

The other actress recently cast in Boeing-Boeing is Mary McCormack (West Wing, K Street), as the German flight attendant. … continue reading

For the past few years, I've been studiously ignoring the fact that Shrek the Musical is in development and coming to Broadway this November. It keeps getting delayed (I believe it was originally projected to open in 2006), so it's been fairly easy to dismiss. And it's not a given that I'll hate it if I see it. The movie wasn't bad. It won't be a jukebox musical. And I haven't heard any stunt-casting rumors. Yet I find it difficult to get excited about a show starring an ogre and wisecracking donkey. Odd, that.

But it just got interesting. Tony Award winner Sutton Foster has signed on to star as Fiona, the princess who falls for the ogre. Sutton Foster is one of the best actresses in musical theater these days. And her story is great. She was an ensemble player in a number of shows in the late '90s and early '00s before she was plucked from the chorus of Thoroughly Modern Millie and cast in the starring role. She won Best Actress in a Musical for that performance and became one of the most bankable actresses on Broadway as a result. Her story could be the stuff of a corny Broadway musical (à la 42nd Street)!

I wasn't a huge fan of Millie, but I became a huge fan of Foster. Here she singing and dancing her heart out to “Forget About the Boy.” (An easy song to embrace.) … continue reading

A couple of nights ago at midnight, I watched fireworks from a friend's roof, kissed my girlfriend and thought about the career and personal changes I could make in the new year. Then I decided self-improvement was overrated, and it would be more fun and less work to make resolutions for others. I suspected that my girlfriend wouldn't let me make them for her, so I turned my attention to the powers-that-be in Hollywood and on Broadway. Here's what I resolve they do for women in entertainment in 2008.

Movies

I resolve that the Academy Awards will be less of a celebration of male accomplishment, and more of a recognition of the breadth of accomplishment in Hollywood. Last year, it was great that Ellen DeGeneres hosted the show, but the dearth of female nominees in the directing, writing and producing categories was a wee bit depressing. So I resolve that the Academy nominate at least two women for Best Director. If they need my help, I'll make suggestions: Kasi Lemmons (Talk to Me)

and Sarah Polley (Away From Her).

… continue reading

Oh, Happy Day! Or Oh, Happy Night as I'm writing this. I just watched Charlotte St. Martin, the spokesperson for the League of American Theatres and Producers, announce that a tentative deal has been reached to end the Broadway stagehands' union strike. Shows are reopening immediately, and happiness reigns in my home and in midtown Manhattan. (You can read a good timeline of the strike here.)

And the end of the strike is not the only good Broadway news these days. I just read that Patti LuPone will be reprising her role as Mama Rose in Gypsy next March.

This summer, the Encores! Summer Stars production of Gypsy at New York City Center was the hot ticket. (I certainly couldn't get my hands on one.) Everyone I know who saw it loved it, despite the tepid New York Times review. … continue reading

By now you've probably heard about the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. And you probably know that Ellen DeGeneres is catching hell from WGA East. Some of you are thinking, "Well, TV is not looking so good these days; perhaps this is an opportunity to get out of the house and catch some live theater."

Which is a great idea. Unless your plan is to see Broadway theater.

Local One, the Broadway branch of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, went on strike Saturday morning, effectively shutting down most of Broadway.

… continue reading

I haven't been to the theater for about a month and am starting to experience withdrawal. In an effort to stave off physical symptoms, I searched the arts section of The New York Times for interesting theater articles. I came across this one by theater critic Charles Isherwood. Without rehashing the entire article, it's basically Isherwood observing that while actors used to go from Broadway to Hollywood, it's now more common to go from Hollywood to Broadway. He highlights Claire Danes as an example of the new trend and Amy Ryan as an anomalous exception.

Three guesses which model I prefer.

I had actually been thinking about these two actresses prior to reading the article, so I found it particularly interesting. I've been following the coverage of Claire Danes in Pygmalion — because I like her and I because I feared it was poor casting.

And less than an hour before I read the article, an actor friend had been raving about Amy Ryan's performance in Gone Baby Gone. … continue reading

T-minus one week and counting to my favorite psuedo-holiday of the year. I love Halloween. Think about it. It's the only time of year that it's OK to accept candy from strangers. In fact, soliciting candy from strangers is expected. It's also the only time of the year it's socially acceptable for those of us who aren't paid actors to dress up in costume and pretend to be something or someone we're not.

For more than a decade, Bette Midler has been throwing one of the best Halloween bashes around. I say best not because it's the biggest or the scariest. I say best because she throws the bash to raise money for New York Restoration Project, a nonprofit founded by Midler to clean, restore and revitalize New York City's parks. The group reclaims abandonded parks, plants community gardens and offers youth education programs aimed at greening up New York City.

In conjunction with the annual bash at the Waldorf-Astoria, the group also holds an online auction. Among the items available for bid this year are a day on the set of Wolverine with Hugh Jackman and tickets to Jessica Alba's next movie premiere. Sign me up for that one.

This year, they're also having "Wicked Day" on Oct. 28, complete with block party, performances by the cast of Wicked and a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Friendship Gardens. … continue reading

In the final episode of the first season of Friends, Ross has to go to China, and Joey tells him to go to China and eat Chinese food. Chandler then quips, “'Course in China, they just call it food.” That kind of sums up how I feel about Chicago stunt-casting. It's just “casting” now because it's the norm, not the exception. (Of course, that doesn't stop me from commenting on it.)

But, amazingly, the latest Chicago casting news is actually pretty good. At least it's not really bad, and that's about as much as I can ask. Former Sopranos stars Aida Turturro and Vincent Pastore will be taking over the roles of Matron “Mama” Morton and Amos Hart in the Broadway production beginning November 13.

From a strict Broadway perspective, the casting is a little flawed. Aida Turturro has some stage chops — in 1992, she performed on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire — but she's never had a singing/dancing role. And Vincent Pastore has not been on stage since his early community theater days.

But from a character perspective, this makes more sense. Janice Soprano as Mama Morton works. … continue reading

Last week was an especially Chaka-licious week: as though her well-received new album (blogged about by roc in August) and AfterEllen.com shout-out weren't enough, producers also announced that Chaka Khan is about to join the Broadway cast of The Color Purple, along with American Idol finalist LaKisha Jones.

The show may have gotten a mixed review from AfterEllen.com Contributing Writer D. Williams for its handling of Celie and Shug's relationship, but folks haven't much complained about the singing and it looks like they aim to keep it that way with these additions.

While Khan has done theatre in the past, Jan. 9 will be her debut on the Great White Way. Perhaps she's looking to add a Tony to her lengthy list of awards; the role of Celie's neighbor Sofia (with gospel star BeBe Winans as husband Harpo) should allow her to be as fierce as can be. … continue reading