La la la la la la, Smurf the whole link long.

/Film a remake of Citizen Kane? This satiric trailer savages our cinema today.
popbytes Hugh Jackman trains giant robots to box in Real Steel. This sounds so terrible that I desperately want it to be a Bad Movie We Love.
USA Today first look at The Smurfs (speaking of bad movies waiting to happen)
Movie|Line alerts us to a new Chen Chang movie on DVD called Parking. We love Chen Chang.
Towleroad something for the prurient among you: Kellan Lutz costume fitting for The Immortals.

CHUD & The Flick Filosopher are worried about movie geek tastes becoming so dull and unadventurous. What's happened? It's simple. Everyone became a geek. And once something's mainstream...
Silly Hats Only hosted a White Elephant blog-a-thon yesterday. Participating blogs gifted each other with odd movies to write about. See the results.
Low Resolution "She Should Work More Vol XXVI: Amy Madigan" Well stated, Joe. She should. My guess is she's not "soft" enough for what Hollywood wants even in "hard" women.
Broadway Buzz under the 'life is unfair' umbrella add: I missed this Sutton Foster show. Why must I love artforms that are beyond my socioeconomic reach?
Tabloid Prodigy an oral history of Showgirls. Heh. You said 'oral'.
popbytes Taylor Lautner wants to model his career on Tom Cruise's huh. I have a number of problems with this and they are 1) Tom Cruise 2) a role model??? 3) Didn't Taylor want to be Matt Damon last year? Make up your mind!
The Fug Girls commemorate the most awkward moment (ScarJo + Liev Schreiber and Ryan Reynolds) we saw at the Tony Awards with their infallible lip reading skills.
Movie Addict a radio discussion of the funniest movie actresses of all time. The assembled panel is a wide mix of age ranges and the list they come up with stretches over the decades too all the way from Myrna Loy (who gets a ton of love) through Madeline Kahn and on to newbies like Tina Fey. Fey as an all time movie actress? Er... I love Fey but she's very TV. Not that there's anything wrong with that. If you ask me, though, a list without Carole Lombard in the upper rungs is insanity!

Finally if you choose to click on this link, a warning. "Now a warning?" That link will take you to the most horrifying thing you will have seen in weeks months. It's like Nathaniel's nightmare film world, visualized. Proceed at your own risk.
**

Saturday Night Link

Moon in the Gutter uploads an Elisabeth Shue clip from 14 years ago (!) and reminisces about Leaving Las Vegas.
Fin de Cinema has a ton of Cannes 09 posters. Love it
/Film a glossary of terms to explain the new Alice in Wonderland screenplay
Screengrab kicks Winona Ryder when she's down (fearing that she might get back up)
Carpetbagger looks at spring's limited release sleeper success. Can you guess which movie? I haven't seen it yet but I did take note here.
Big Monster Cinema has awesomely weird posters and taglines. I wish movie marketing would go completely B-Movie again.


Bleeding Tree apologizes for his original support of the PG-13
Birth of a Notion gives update and personal notes on Farrah Fawcett and her battle with cancer.
Cinema Styles has a thought provoking post on acting and 'career-long characters'

ULTRA SPECIFIC POINTLESS RANT
Have you heard of the film The Tree and the Forest? It just won the Jean Vigo Prize in France. That award honors films of independent spirit and style... they don't have to be considered perfect, just passionate and original. I find it maddening that in 2009 in the magical world of the internets I can't find any info about this film other than the names involved in making it. Boo. There are so many creatives out there making movies, music or art or whatever who still haven't realized that you have to have an internet presence. I've bitched about this before with struggling actors... it's self-sabotage not to have a website in the new century. Even semi-successful people make this mistake. For instance: I was looking up Sutton Foster the other day online. The first website that comes up (underneath Wikipedia) claims to be official but it hasn't been updated since 2005. Meanwhile Sutton has a new album out but you wouldn't know it was available for purchase unless you were friends with her on Facebook or you happened to know the title of the album and you searched for that. Get it together people (Sutton's hardly the only minor celebrity failing in this regard). You can sell more records, movie tickets, merchandise, even (theoretically) get more jobs if you are easy to find / accessible.
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TONY Award Nominations / Movie Connections

The Tony Award Nominations are upon us. As is my inconsistent tradition, I thought I'd share a little bit about a movies you can rent or think about to create an unfulfilling celluloid guilty-by-association approximation of the Broadway experience of the 2008/2009 season before the TONYs roll around on June 7th. Not everyone gets to New York to see the shows. And even if you live here, like me, you don't get to them in your financially challenged years. Tony Winners Cynthia Nixon (who seems to be everywhere lately, right?) and In the Height's man Lin-Manuel Miranda are announcing them live any minute now.

If you want a reminder of what's eligible which you can use to see who got snubbed check out this eligibility chart.

P L A Y R E V I V A L
Joe Turner's Come and Gone
This is the 2nd in August Wilson's famous 10 play decade by decade cycle of the African-American experience. The themes are identity and migration. There is sadly no great movie epic about The Great Migration (That's a missed opportunity A list writer/directors. Get on it!). The original production starred Delroy Lindo and Angela Bassett so you can rent one movie from each. Only one (!?!) of Wilson's plays has been filmed: The Piano Lesson with Charles S Dutton and Alfre Woodard in the lead roles.

Mary Stuart
Imagine a whole movie about Samantha Morton's doomed Mary Stuart instead of Cate Blanchett's cousin-killing Elizabeth in The Golden Age. Although maybe you wouldn't like to think about the Golden Age right now or ever again. My apologies!

A sampling of actresses who've played Mary: Helen Hayes, Vanessa Redgrave, Samantha Morton and Janet McTeer. Scarlett Johansson was set to play her in an upcoming film but that seems to be off her schedule now.

Better yet, rent Vanessa Redgrave's Oscar nominated turn as Mary, Queen of Scots (1971) with Glenda Jackson as her rival. Oscar nominee Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds) is Mary of Scots in the Broadway revival. Further reading about Bess & Mary

The Norman Conquests
This comedic trilogy by Alan Ayckbourn was filmed in the 70s for television but it's not on DVD.

Waiting for Godot
This Beckett classic has been staged countless times and filmed a few times for television. It's so theatrical and abstract by nature (two men wait in vain on an empty country road. The end!) that it doesn't really invite the screen treatment. The current revival stars Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin. When I interviewed Bill Irwin (who shoulda been Oscar nominated for Rachel Getting Married) last year we talked about this a bit. I figured he could handle Nathan Lane what with all that sparring with Kathleen Turner already under his belt. I heartily recommend renting Beckett on Film in which interesting directors interpret Beckett's work. At the very least you'll get to see Julianne Moore doing Beckett's insanely great monologue piece Not I (see previous post)

M U S I C A L R E V I V A L
Guys and Dolls
The 1955 movie version starring Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons isn't really definitive since it's not particularly well loved and there are some singing issues. The current revival stars familiar actors from TV mostly (Oliver Platt, Lauren Graham and Craig Bierko). When they revived this musical comedy in London 4 years ago the Brits got two actors who fill me with glee: Ewan MacGregor and Jane Krakowski. No fair!

Hair
I LOVED this production (see previous post) but if you can't get to NYC to see it, you can always watch the 1979 Milos Forman film version.

Pal Joey
This got the film treatment back in 1957 with Frank Sinatra as star, so you'll want to rent that. Here's two videos to give you a slice of musical heaven this fine Tuesday morning...



Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak. That combo is almost too beautiful to look at. Double mmmmm. Stockard Channing and 80s teen star turned ubiquitous Broadway player Martha Plimpton are the "mice" on Broadway.

West Side Story
I really want to see this rare revival of my favorite musical of all time. But I could always watch the movie a gazillionth time.

B E S T P L A Y
Dividing the Estate
This isn't a new play but this family drama from Horton Foote is having its first Broadway run, therefore eligible for "best play". Foote died just two months ago but in his long career he wrote many plays and screenplays, too (including that film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird which marked his first Oscar win). His most successful play-to-screen transfers happened in the 80s with the Oscar winners Tender Mercies and The Trip to Bountiful.



God of Carnage
A friend of mine has already seen this one three times. The play is about two sets of parents who meet to discuss an altercation between their childen. The civilized meeting goes haywire and everyone behaves very badly. The couples are film and tv regulars Hope Davis and Jeff Daniels and awards magnets James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden (yay! my love grows)

reasons to be pretty
This is the latest provocation from Neil Labute also from my alma mater BYU in which a boyfriend's offhanded comment about his girlfriend's beauty-deficiency gets back to her sparking much trouble in their social circle. Thematically this is supposed to close an unofficial trilogy which started with The Shape of Things (which was made into a film with its original cast intact: Rachel Weisz, Paul Rudd, Gretchen Mol and Fred Weller) and continued in Fat Pig. LaBute's film career started strong with the vicious In the Company of Men which introduced movie audiences to Aaron Eckhart (another BYU alum) but lately he's been sliding: Lakeview Terrace and Wicker Man? Really... that's what you got?

33 Variations
This is the play that brought Jane Fonda back to Broadway. It's a story of a mother and daughter relationship and also a story about a composer: it spans 200 years from contemporary New York to 19th century Austria... plays aren't as literal as movies, you know.

Fonda is a nominee for Best Actress. Why can't somebody give her another shot at a third Oscar? Streep shouldn't be the only one giving Katharine Hepburn a run for her 4 Oscar record.

<--- Here's a photo from Jane Fonda's blog of 92 year-old Oscar winning supporting actress superstar CELESTE HOLM (!) visiting her backstage. This photo makes me so happy.

B E S T M U S I C A L
Billy Elliott
You've already seen the movie but why not watch it again. I'm still confused about how it makes a stage musical. If everyone is singing and dancing what makes little Billy so special. He's no longer out of place which was sort of the whole emotional point. That said, reviews are strong so maybe they worked magic.

Oh and yes, this will easily be the Slumdog of TONY night. It's up for 15 prizes including a special 3-way nomination for Best Actor

Film to Stage: It takes three boys to fill Jamie Bell's talented shoes

Next to Normal
A family in crisis (the mother is bipolar)... sings. More than 30 original songs. Alice Ripley (Side Show) headlines.

Rock of Ages
This is a head banging musical comedy (lots of famous songs from 80s radio) which unfortunately continues the trend of putting American Idol stars in Broadway roles -- this time it's Constantine Maroulis. Since this is a send up I guess maybe This is Spinal Tap! could be a vaguely connected movie rental choice. Or, go see Anvil! The Story of Anvil in theaters. It's a goodie even if its comedy is less intentional.

Shrek the Musical
I am in the tiny .001 percentile of the population that finds the whole Shrek phenomenon completely overrated and disheartening. I still think it's embarrassing that the movie beat Monsters, Inc to the Oscar . This musical doesn't have a prayer of accomplishing a similar feat, thank goodness. Small comfort because I am tremendously annoyed that my beloved Sutton Foster keeps wasting her bankability and starpower playing roles in mammoth productions that don't need a star of her calibre to sell tickets and for which no one will remember her. If your name alone can generate press and sell tickets why not harness your power for good and support new composers and smaller shows?

Here she is yukking it up at Joe's Pub last year and on Rosie O'Donnell in 2002 when her star first exploded in Thoroughly Modern Millie


(sigh) I love her so. It's so weird to me that she's never made a movie though she has finally done a bit of TV (Flight of the Conchords)

That's it! Whew. I'll talk about the actors and actresses soon (in brief) Have you seen any of these productions? If not, what's the last Broadway or touring show you saw?

Red Carpet Lineup

a random sampling of actresses working red carpets this week


The Lovely Laura Linney has been absent from (big) screens this year. I kinda miss her, though having her at the Oscars last February was more than I could have asked for in a way so it's all good. Maybe The Other Man will get a real release next year? This getup makes Katharine Heigl look more matronly than her 30 year old self should look I think. She's not one to hold her tongue so do you suppose she has a few words for the Alliance of Women Film Journalists who recently gave her 27 Dresses their "Hall of Shame Award" for 2008? Speaking of weddings... is Goldie Hawn finally getting hitched after 25 years of...? No, it's just a white dress. All the same Jennifer Aniston is purposely not looking at her whilst putting on her "I'm so happy! I'm really so happy!" face in this imaginary red carpet lineup. You can't see her other hand but I have it on good authority that it was used to send a private yet easily decipheral signal to Joe Reid after this weekend's Podcast.

I think Christine Taylor should be in more movies. Sometimes I imagine Ben Stiller keeps her locked up in their mansion in Beverly Hills only letting her out for his film premieres or for cameos in his movies. I don't understand her career... or lack of. She can definitely deliver the chuckles --even in brief bits like the one she had in Kabluey. Sutton Foster is a rarity. She's a genuinely photogenic stage star who doesn't really dabble in TV or film. If you ever get the chance to see her perform: do so! Here's my two absolutely favorite Foster numbers: "Forget About the Boy" and "I Don't Wanna Show Off"



She's "Astonishing" to borrow the title of her show stopper in that Little Women musical a few years back. Lately she's only been doing big budget screen-to-stage transfers (Young Frankenstein in the Terri Garr role / Shrek in the Cameron Diaz role) which is a shame because she's an actual Broadway draw. These projects don't need stars to sell tickets. It seems like such a waste of her considerable gifts. Meanwhile Julianne Moore was seen on the red carpet looking defiantly and enigmatically wrapped in thought. Was she dreaming up new ways to abuse her screen children? (They have it so rough). Supposedly we'll see Julie in at least three new movies next year. It might be a great year for Moore maniacs if the roles are any good.

Tony Watch: BEST ACTRESS in a Musical

Previous Categories Investigated: Lead Actor, Featured Actor and Featured Actress. Watch the TONYs tomorrow night (Sunday, June 11th) on CBS! Read these entries first and you'll know more than all of your friends...

AND THE NOMINEES ARE...

Sutton Foster as "Jane Roberts" in The Drowsy Chaperone
If you've been reading the Film Experience for the past couple of years you know how I feel about Ms. Foster. I'm a fan. She was great gangly fun in her TONY Winning role in Thoroughly Modern Millie and undervalued as Jo' in the musicalized Little Women but her performance here may be favorite yet. She plays a spoiled star who is threatening to retire from showbiz. The best number in this show "I Don't Wanna Show Off" is hilarious and the choreography and Sutton herself keep extending and upping the joke which is that she doesn't mean it at all. Whenever Sutton shows off, I'll buy a ticket. Strangely for such a young and talented beauty she hasn't done any television or film. I'm glad to have her on stage but it's odd considering the general pattern of how stage careers work.

LaChanze as "Celie" in The Color Purple
This is LaChanze's sixth Broadway show and her second nomination. She's been mostly OffBroadway for the last several years having success in shows like Dessa Rose and Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin and benefit concerts. She also does frequent TV guest work.


Patti LuPone as "Mrs. Lovett" in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Patti is one of two true Broadway legends nominated in this category this year. This is her umpteenth Broadway show and her fourth nomination. Her Broadway career started in the 70s. Her one and only TONY award came for her star-making role in Evita in 1980, sixteen years before Madonna won the Golden Globe for the film version. She has worked often in TV and Film. Her most famous film appearances are arguably her brief appearance as Harrison Ford's sister in Witness or her part in the award winning ensemble of State and Main. Her new 14 song CD is called The Lady with the Torch.

Kelli O'Hara as "Babe" in The Pajama Game
This is O'Hara's sixth Broadway show and is coming right on the heels of her biggest success, last season's The Light in the Piazza which you've heard me rave about endlessly. [PLEASE NOTE: Piazza without O'Hara but still starring its headlining TONY winner Victoria Clark will be broadcast live on PBS on June 15th. If you love musical theater you'd be crazy to miss it -ed.] This is O'Hara's second consecutive nomination. I'm not impressed with her as a headliner and leading lady (too bland) but her voice is clear and beautiful and, to her credit, this performance surprised me. I think it's her best.

Chita Rivera in Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life
Patti Lupone is not the only true legend nominated this year. 73 year-old Chita has been a prized hoofer on Broadway since the mid 50s. This is her 9th nomination for her 15th Broadway run. Her resume is astonishing. She originated two roles which went on to be Oscar winning ones for others: "Anita" in West Side Story before Rita Moreno and "Velma Kelly" in Chicago before Catherine Zeta-Jones. In addition to being a trailblazer for Hispanic actresses, Chita has won two TONY Awards. The first came starring opposite Liza Minelli in The Rink and her second was for the Sonia Braga role in the Broadway adaptation of the Oscar-nominated Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Sadly, this revue of her career was not a hit with auds or critics. If it had been she would probably be a sentimental threat for the win. I saw her three years ago in Nine for which she was also nominated. And even @ 70 that woman could high-kick. She floored me.

WHO WILL WIN?: It's between LuPone and LaChanze for the prize. I think the 26 years since Patti Lupone's one and only win will tip the scales in her favor. The Color Purple is not a sure thing in any category (though certainly a threat in several) and could theoretically go home empty handed after 11 nominations... just like at the Oscars.

Tony Watch: FEATURED ACTRESS, Musical

Previous Spotlight on the TONY AWARDS: Featured Actor.

FEATURED ACTRESS in a MUSICAL
Know more than your friends when you watch the TONYs this year by reading this.

Carolee Carmello as "Gabrielle" in Lestat
This is Carolee's ninth show on Broadway since her debut in 1989 in City of Angels. This is her second nomination and only the third time she's originated a role (the only way you are eligible for nominations). She seems to be a permanent replacement type: a Broadway trouper they can always count on but they don't trust to sell tickets. Her husband is Gregg Edelman who is also a Broadway regular. You may remember him as Peter Parker's doctor in Spider-Man 2.

Felicia Fields as "Sofia" in The Color Purple
She's a well awarded stage star in Chicago...a true pro. You'd have to be really when you're playing the Oprah Winfrey role in a new musical produced by Oprah Winfrey. An amateur would collapse under the weight of that pressure. This is her first Broadway role and first TONY nomination.

Megan Lawrence as "Gladys" in The Pajama Game
The second I started typing her name I was flooded with joy. Seriously. She is terrific as the shy secretary who starts to tear the place up once she's got a little liquor in her. The place in question is "Hernando's Hideaway" and Lawrence makes that famous number the absolute peak of the show. She used to be on One Life to Live. This is her third Broadway show (after replacement stints in Les Miz and Urinetown) and first Tony nomination. If it were my choice third time would be the charm and she'd stagger away with the trophy.

Beth Leaval as The Drowsy Chaperone
It's probably thrilling to play a title character. The show isn't about her but she handles her comic bits very well as the drunk (and therefore sleepy) companion to the show's star (Sutton Foster --more on her in a later post). Leaval is ModFab's choice for will and should win. But I'll take the other drunk lady in this lineup. The one I just got done talking about above. This is Leaval's sixth show and first nomination..

Elisabeth Withers-Mendes as "Shug Avery" in The Color Purple
Remember crazy Margaret Avery who wrote that letter to God as her For Your Consideration AMPAS ad in 1985? OK well some of you don't (too young) but it was one of the more infamous Oscar campaigns of the 80s and it was for this role in the movie (the chanteuse who has the hots for Celie) . Anyway, my point --and I do have one is that the Tony voters followed the Oscar voters and gave nominations to Shug, Celie, and Sofia. Elizabeth had a club hit "Emotions" a few years back too apparently.

My prediction for the win: Beth Leaval, The Drowsy Chaperone

TONY Noms Next Week (Pt 2: Musicals)

(pt 1: the plays)
I'll have a full discussion of the TONY Nominations after they're announced on the 16th (filtered thru the lens celluloid) But until then...

MUSICALS and MUSICAL REVIVALS
There was a glorious time not so very long ago when I saw virtually everything. No more *sob* but I have seen enough to have some favorites this season. The race for Best Musical will be a showdown between Jersey Boys (which I have not seen) and The Drowsy Chaperone (which I have and which is a blissful hoot for musical theater lovers since it's about irrational obsession with musical theater). In the revival category it's a war between --oh who am I kidding. It's a (deservedly) done deal. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street won this prize the day it opened. (my best of year list in December) It doesn't matter who else gets nominated. It's a sensational rethinking.

For those curious about this and its eventual film adaptation: by all means try and see this production. When they finally make a movie of it they will not use this interpretation as a template --they'd be way too scared to go this weird and minimal. I'm sure the film version would 'go for ba-roque' if you know what I mean.

Actresses? ModFab predicted:
Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone
Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game
LaChanze, The Color Purple
Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd
Chita Rivera, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life

My feeling is that he is spot on except in the case of my beloved Sutton Foster who I think will fall to Maria Friedman for Andrew Lloyd Webber's failed The Woman in White. My reasoning is this: Ms. Foster has been amply rewarded already and her show is an ensemble piece. Maria battled cancer and still showed up regularly to perform a flopping show. The theater loves a trouper.

That said...I love Sutton Foster and would be happy to see her nominated for the third time. She was the breakout star and Tony Winner of the 01/02 season for Thoroughly Modern Millie, a better "Jo March" than Oscar nominated Winona Ryder in the 04/05 musical version of Little Women and now in the 05/06 season she's sassy, sounds great, and she's hilarious too in The Drowsy Chaperone. I cherish Sutton Foster more than I should. But love is like that; it make you blind & crazy. Despite being beautiful and a true triple threat (actor/singer/dancer) Sutton still has not done any film or tv. If it's because she only wants to tread the boards on Broadway than more power to her. If it's because Hollywood is still ignoring theater greats, shame on them. Shame on them.

Actors? Michael Cerveris will win the prize for Sweeney Todd. He was haunting and you know his voice is amazing. OK... well you don't know. But just pretend you're always at the theater and trust me on this. As for more famous men in the running? Alan Cumming and Harry Connick Jr could be up for the prize for The Threepenny Opera and The Pajama Game (Connick Jr. is surprisingly the safer bet). Someone you've never heard of that will be in the shortlist (and could provide the only threat to Cerveris) is Bob Martin who plays "man in chair" in The Drowsy Chaperone and is the true star of that well received show. We already discussed Tarzan but it doesn't look likely for Josh Strickland, the guy swinging on those vines.

Featured (Supporting) Actresses?
You all know who Cyndi Lauper is. But if you are less familiar with her discography than her persona you should read this earlier blog post. She's nearly the only thing worth raving about in The Threepenny Opera. The two other ladies I'm rooting for you probably won't know. There's Felicia Finley who completely elevates the comedy in The Wedding Singer in two scenes (previous post on her brilliance) and Megan Lawrence in The Pajama Game who has one of those numbers, "Hernando's Hideaway," that make you want to throw flowers and attend every show on Broadway for the chance of seeing such entertaining lunacy. (previous post exalting her name) I don't feel like any of these three are "safe" for nominations given internal competition from their own shows and lots of competitors in other shows but I want all three in the mix.

Featured (Supporting) Actors? I don't have strong preferences in this category. I'm thinking we'll see Jim Dale for The Threepenny Opera and a Jersey Boys player and one or two people from The Drowsy Chaperone. I have no clue.

Again, more on the actual nominations next week including DIY film festival suggestions to understand this year's race if you haven't made it to Broadway this season.

tags: Sweeney Todd, Drowsy Chaperone, Patti LuPone, Broadway, theater, musicals, Cyndi Lauper, Sutton Foster, Harry Connick Jr

Thursday Triple: Film to Stage

The Wedding Singer opens tonight. No, not the Adam/Drew romance sillies --that opened years ago, keep up! No it's the Broadway version of the same. This new entry into the rapidly expanding library of movies turned into Broadway shows has the same problems as the others: Blind adherence to the movie (in a stage show you don't need scene changes every two minutes, it's distracting) and a weak score ("Wedding Day," this show's main anthem, is fun but it's way too simple to be reprised continuously. It doesn't add any new flavors as it goes) and confusion about whether the actors should mimic the film versions or create a character.

This is not to say that people won't like this incarnation of the comedy. I bet it'll be a hit. The audience I saw it with went wild for its easy 80s gags. The best thing about the show is the supporting cast who are mostly better than their material. Amy Spanger makes the most of her stock role as "Holly" the best friend and Felicia Finley (remember the name, she's pictured to your left) absolutely rocks the house in her two short scenes as Robbie's skanky ex, "Linda". The leads are less enticing. Stephen Lynch is good but when in doubt he mimics Sandler. Laura Benanti is a mess and the score doesn't do her any favors. Her solos are all DOA. Following someone as effortlessly cutesy charming as Drew Barrymore has got to be a thankless task, poor thing.

As you may well know, I prefer the stage to stay legitimate. I prefer transfers to happen the other way around. But since Broadway shows costs millions and charge $100 a seat, known properties are practically the only way to go. But since I can't turn the tide, I'll at least offer some advice as to suitably transferrable properties.

Three Romantic Comedies Suitable For Broadway
Since it's Pfeiffer week here at the blog, we'll start with Married to the Mob, the wacky 1988 comedy. Mobsters have proven to be reliable comedy gold before (think Kiss Me Kate) and it's pretty easy to imagine a showstopping number with the big-haired mob wives (Joan Cusack and Mercedes Reuhl in the film version). For the Pfeiffer role, why not Broadway's own Sutton Foster who has alread proved thrice (Thoroughly Modern Millie, Little Women, and The Drowsy Chaperone) that she is an expertly physical musical comedy star.

I can't believe I'm mentioning it but What Women Want would also work. It's high concept, funny in that overarching all demographics way, and the 'hearing other people's thoughts' thing is easy on stage since the 4th wall is broken anyway. Top it off with that obviously transferrable intro number: the lead as a child / mommy and her friends as showgirls . The audience is already cheering the first "You Gotta Have a Gimmick" style opening dance number.

Replace Renee Zellweger with someone who can actually sing and dance and Bridget Jones's Diary seems like a Tony winning musical character. She's clumsy. She's funny. She's sassy. She dreams big. She falls in and out of love rapidly. And you know that the first act can close with a hot playboy bunny costumed solo.

Why is this so hard for Broadway? Multi-million dollar transfers are easy as pie.

tags: Sutton Foster, movies, celebrities, Broadway, musicals, The Wedding Singer, stage, Renee Zellweger, Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Michelle Pfeiffer,

Q & A (actor love)

from Dusty: I love the lists of your favorite movie actors and actresses. In fact, you (nearly) inspired me to compose my own. But I'm curious: If you hadn't limited your lists (actors & actresses) to only film, what other actors may have made the cut? Any TV stars? Any un-filmed Broadway talent?

The actors i most love who don't really touch the big screen are few. Eventually the ones I like seem to cross over. The ones I have trouble putting on lists though are the ones who seem uncategorizable due to their constant medium hopping. Like Sandra Bernhard, Alan Cumming, Sarah Jessica Parker, Harvey Fierstein, Sela Ward, Billy Campbell, Lauren Ambrose, and Mary Louise Parker for example. Love all of those actors but their film work doesn't come close to giving you the whole picture of their career. In most of these cases you have to add television or stage roles or even musical gifts into understanding my cup of love for them (which runneth over).

As for Broadway unfilmed talent? That is tough to say. It's really difficult to know if their stage charisma would transfer. It's a very different thing. I've always been crazy about Norbert Leo Butz & Sherie Rene Scott who are co-starring again on stage in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I also deeply dig Raul Esparza (currently in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang who is both an immensely talented musical actor and a fine dramatic one in non-musicals. Other Broadway stars that I wish would get a shot at the movies: Kristen Chenowith (her cameo in Bewitched you have to disregard) will get a shot opposite Annette Bening in Running with Scissors. I think Sutton Foster, Kerry Butler, and Audra Macdonald could be utilized in film. Audra is a vocal powerhouse but if all that's going to happen for her on TV is the boring assistant roles on political dramas I stay: Stay on Broadway! And of course my lovely naughty Jane Krakowski... but methinks she no longer needs (;) my push. She's onstage singing and dancing with Ewan MacGregor (Guys and Dolls)? Onscreen gettin' hot and heavy with Evan Rachel Wood (Pretty Persuasion)? She's doing just fine.

from Adam K: Given your love for the Beatty/Wood pairing and 'Splendor in the Grass', do you think Beatty would've been a better choice (chemistry-wise at least) for the Richard Beymer role in West Side Story or not really?

If you're asking me if I would have liked to see Beatty in another movie in 1961 when he was the most clearly beautiful man on Earth the answer is a 'hell yeah'. If you're asking if I'd like to change anything about West Side Story in actuality the answer would probably be no. I mean all movies have imperfections but...no, never mind. I'll keep West Side Story as is. I love it so.

from darkcypherladDo you truly believe that Audrey Hepburn was the best actress for "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or do you agree with Truman Capote that Marilyn Monroe would've been better? (It would've been great to compare two separate versions!)

You answered your own question I think. I'd love to compare the versions and I think Monroe was a much better actress than anyone realized at the time (ftr my favorite Monroe performances are: The Misfits, Bus Stop, and Some Like It Hot.) but I don't really want Breakfast at Tiffany's changed... unless we can digitally remove Mickey Rooney's entire landlord character. That'd be swell.

TONY Nominations: The Movie

It's a very cinematic year for the Tony Awards with lots of plays and musicals with previous film incarnations in the running... If you've never seen a Broadway show but have seen the following movies Glengarry Glenn Ross, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sweet Charity, The Birdcageor La Cage Aux Folles, Little Women, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang than you've got half the categories covered. This is obviously not a good thing for the health of the theater BUT it will probably make the Awards show a lot more fun to play along at home with...


PLAY Doubt (7 noms) by John Patrick Shanley (known to filmgoers for his Oscarwinning screenplay for Moonstruck) and Glengarry Glen Ross (6 noms), the very well received revival of David Mamet's play, seem to be leading the play nominations. Rossbecame a 1992 film featuring Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon and is now, 13 years later, back on the Great White Way. The mixed-to-poorly received revivals of Tenessee Williams masterpieces A Streetcar Named Desire starring Natasha Richardson and the improbably cast John C Reilly and The Glass Menagerie with Jessica Lange were mostly ignored as was Denzel Washington's star turn in Julius Caesar--so the name recognition factor only went so far this year...


MUSICAL Spamalot!, the latest box office behemoth to hit Broadway seems to be sucking up a gargantuan portion of the nominations (14) in the musical category. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Light in the Piazza also did well. Not faring well at all was Little Women, one of the earliest entries which nabbed only a nod for cutesy Sutton Foster.

...now that the nominations are announced, watch for the closing notices to go up for the shows that didn't do well or were completely shut out. Goodbye Brooklyn the Musical and good riddance!

TONY Predix: Cross Your Fingers For...

TONY nominations are announced tomorrow.
When it comes to the actors I'm crossing my fingers for the following performers who are not "locks" so it could go either way:
Beresse, Morrison, and, most especially, the unsung Sarah Uriarte Berry in The Light in the Piazza, Adriane Lenox in Doubt who is iffy only because her part is so small... but she's great, that dynamic duo Norbert Leo Butz and Sherie Rene Scott in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Carla Gugino in After the Fall.

I've missed several of the late arrivals (little theater this past month for moi) -poor me. But in the major categories, I expect we'll see:

BEST PLAY -Democracy, Doubt, Pillow Man, Gem of the Ocean
I'm not confident about Gem of the Ocean given its short troubled run. Despite the oomph of being part of an acclaimed cycle, I could see GotO being replaced by Brooklyn Boy The other three would be absolute shockers if they were shut-out.

BEST REVIVAL -Glengarry Glen Ross, Twelve Angry Men, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf make up a very strong category. Then there's maybe Sight Unseen to fill out the category. More likely are On Golden Pond or A Streetcar Named Desire since they're more recent but I'm pulling for the better reviewed show to prevail despite having closed already.

BEST MUSICAL -Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Light in the Piazza, Spamalot! = locked up. Competing for the fourth spot are The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee (my guess), that beloved flying car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang , and Sutton Foster & Co in Little Women. If the ghastly Brooklyn: The Musical is selected I will wear ear-plugs on TONY night or possibly not watch at all because I couldn't stand the wailing for one second longer. What a hideous, hideous show.

BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL -Expect this to be a battle royale between Le Cage Aux Folles & Sweet Charity. Pacific Overtures could fill out the category but it's an acquired taste so I wouldn't be surprised if the Tony comittee didn't acquire it. Just to be different than other predictors let's say they choose The Frogs instead.