It’s that time of year, when shows are starting rehearsal, full casts are being released and the Spring Broadway buzz is starting! It’s exciting!
Last year I posted the 2011 Spring Broadway Posters and it started a lot of interesting commentary in the comments, on Twitter and Facebook. After 192 votes, Born Yesterday and Wonderland ended up being everyone’s favorites from last year. (Interestingly enough, both of those shows closed early last season.)
Let’s take a look at this year’s posters. I’ve included every play/musical that is on Broadway this Spring season because a lot of the shows have changed their graphics like Chicago,Sister Act, and Memphis. Others like Wicked and The Jersey Boys are too iconic to change (though Phantom has varied it up).
My favorite poster of the new musicals is Newsies. I love the font, the background newspapers and how the star, Jeremy Jordan, is singing and dancing at the same time. The infectious energy is bursting from the poster. It’s gonna be amazing. My close second is Once. I love the simplicity of the poster and how the words come from the guitar. It’s perfect for that show!
My least favorite is Leap of Faith. It seems like a “mock-up”, instead of a finished product. It doesn’t show what the show is about. It doesn’t give us any clue to what we should expect and frankly, as much as I love Raul Esparza, his name is almost bigger than the title of the show. Most people are going to be like: “Who the hell is Raul Esparza?” I’m thinking that they pushed this show to open this Spring and it’s all too soon. (Have you seen their website? It’s terrible.) Hopefully, they will have a new poster before they open this Spring.
Overall, the best play poster is Peter and the Star Catcher. The font is magical, child-like but interesting and makes me want to see the show. It seems so inventive. I absolutely love it. One of my other favorites is A Street Car Named Desire. It’s beautiful.
I don’t really care for the other play posters — big block letters isn’t catchy, or original.
Which poster grabs your attention the most?
Check out all of the 2012 Spring Broadway Posters below… and don’t forget to vote in our poll below.
Now it’s your turn to decide… what’s your favorite new Broadway poster?
Vote below.
Make sure you comment and let us know your thoughts…
Last night, the first musical of 2012, Porgy & Bess, opened to great reviews. This upcoming six months on Broadway should be a very exciting. At least, it’s going to be a lot better than the 2010-2011 season, and the first half of this season. The 2011-2012 Broadway season started off with a few major flops: Bonnie & Clyde, Lysistrata Jones, and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Another revival, Godspell is doing fairly well but might be overlooked come Tony season, especially with the new revivals that are opening in the next couple of months.
There’s a few shows this Spring that you can not miss! Here are my top five Broadway shows that I’m most looking forward to this upcoming season:
5. Evita
Starting previews on April 10th, this is a musical revival that I’ve been waiting for an extremely long time. Out of all of the Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals, Evita is my absolute favorite. I fell in love with it a long time ago, and I’ve never seen it produced professionally. Pop star Ricky Martin and Olivier Award-winning actress Elena Roger portray Che Guevara and Eva Perón and it also stars Michael Cerveris as Peron — can’t get much better than that!
4. Leap of Faith
It has Raul Esparza in it. What else do you want? I’ve seen him in Tick, Tick Boom, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Company (twice). And luckily, Brooke Shields is not part of the project anymore!! Leap of Faith received mixed reviews during its out-of-town tryout, but it looks like they’ve revamped it for Broadway and they are ready to go. They only announced this Broadway production yesterday, when it was announced that On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is closing at the end of January.
3. Ghost
Straight from the wildly successful West End production, Cassie Levy and Richard Fleeshman are starring in this new musical. It apparently has some incredible stage illusions that I’m dying to see. Generally, I’m not too thrilled in seeing 80′s movies reimagined for the theatre but every once in awhile it works (like Hairspray). We will see though. This show’s success will come from two main things: brand recognition (just like how Addams Family ran on Broadway a lot longer than it should have) and reviews. Let’s hope they are good reviews, because if not, I could see it running through the summer months and dying off. I’m still very excited to see it.
2. Once
If you had to turn a movie into a musical, then Once is the perfect choice. Straight from its hugely successful, sold-out run at the New York Theatre Workshop, Once is going to be a huge hit on Broadway. I’m dying to see this for a number of reasons, but mainly because the music is absolutely fantastic. And from what I’ve heard from clips, the new arrangements sound gorgeous. Lucky for us, the cast recording is being recorded fairly soon and will be released this Spring. So even if you don’t get a chance to go to New York City, you’ll be able to get your hands on the CD. I have a feeling that Best Musical will either go to Once or Newsies – either way I’m happy.
1. Newsies
If you have read my review of Newsies when it premiered at Papermill Playhouse, then you’ll know that I’m absolutely crazy for it. The music, choreography, set, and performances were all sensational. I was on the edge of my seat the entire show. The audience was eating it up, clapping mid-number, and hollering like it was a concert! This stage adaptation is absolute gold! Currently, it’s being sold as a limited run, but after the reviews come out and winning a few Tony Awards (namely for Jeremy Jordan, choreography and score), this show will sell and sell and sell. This is going to be a huge hit! Make sure you get your tickets early, because it will sell out in the small Nederlander Theatre.
Honorable Mentions:
Rebecca - It has Sierra Boggess attached, so I am interested in seeing her once again. (I loved her in Love Never Dies in London.) But, I don’t know anything about the show besides there is suppose to be a huge fire on the stage. It seems to be an epic show like The Pirate Queen, but hopefully it will be a lot better.
Nice Work If You Can Get It - I love Kelli O’Hara and Gershwin’s music, but I’m not that excited about this one. Maybe after some word-of-mouth hits the blogosphere, I might jump on the bandwagon, but right now, I’m playing it safe and will wait.
Jesus Christ Superstar - If I had a 6th place, this is the show that would be in that slot. I’ve heard great things about this production and it’s gotten rave reviews! I just don’t have any personal attachment to this show, yet. Maybe after seeing it, I will see what all the fuss is about.
What musical are you most excited to see this upcoming season? Be sure to take the poll below.
Is it true? Will Andrew Lloyd Webber be taking over Broadway this season? It sort of looks like it’s gonna happen. If you love Andrew Lloyd Webber, it looks like you will have several musicals to choose from in the upcoming Broadway season:
The Phantom of the Opera - The longest running musical on Broadway. As of July 3rd, Playbill.com reports, that it has played 9,747 performances. It’s well on it’s way to hit 10,000 performances. It’s totally unreal and unimaginable how this musical from the 1986 season is still running strong after 25 years. Last week, it was at 90.3% capacity, grossing almost a million dollars. Incredible.
Love Never Dies - This sequel to Phantom of the Opera has been in the works since 1990, but it wasn’t till 2010, 20 years later, that Love Never Dies was produced in the West End. Webber’s plan was to open this production on three continents simultaneously and have it move to Broadway last season. In a bold move (even after securing a theatre), the plans fell through and was cancelled (mostly because of the mediocre reviews in London).
While it hasn’t been officially announced, AussieTheatre.com is reporting that: “This is only the second production of Love Never Dies ever to be staged in the world”, said Tim McFarlane [Managing Director of the Really Useful Company (Asia Pacific) and Producer of the hit musical Love Never Dies], “and Andrew has ranked it among the top three productions of his work that he has ever seen. It stands with Evita and the first ever production of Phantom of the Opera.” McFarlane also announced that: ”This is the production [of Love Never Dies] which Andrew [Lloyd Webber] wants me to take to the rest of the world”.
It looks like if Andrew Lloyd Webber has his way, than it will be coming to Broadway after all. And let’s face it, Webber usually gets what he wants. All I hope is that it’s the Australia version and not the updated London version of Love Never Dies that is going to transfer to Broadway. I absolutely loved the initial version (read review here), but the updated London version was terrible (read review here).
Evita - Months ago (February to be specific), NYPost’s theatre gossip columnist, Michael Riedel, reported that Evita will be revived in the 2011-2012 Broadway season at a Nederlander Theatre. “The revival, budgeted at $10 million, will be directed by Michael Grandage and choreographed by Rob Ashford. The producers are Hal Luftig (“Legally Blonde”) and Scott Sanders (“The Color Purple”).” But who’s going to be the stars? Pop star, Ricky Martin as Che Guevara and Elena Roger, who comes from Buenos Aires, will play the title role in this revival, first produced in London in 2006.
The question is, what Nederlander theatre, is going to be free to actually make this revival happen? Currently, all of the Nederlander theatres are totally booked except for the Nederlander Theatre, which might be a very interesting and intimate theatre for a production of Evita. Now, of course, Catch Me If You Can and The Addams Family could close, but based on their numbers (hovering around the 90%), these shows won’t close anytime soon. Priscilla Queen of the Desert is at the lowest capacity of any of the Nederlander shows, but I hope that Priscilla doesn’t close anytime soon and I would hate to see Evita in the gigantic Palace Theatre.
Photo: David Hou
Jesus Christ Superstar - Again, Michael Riedel is reporting that Jesus Christ Superstar is landing on Broadway in Spring 2012: ”It’s running at Canada’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival till October. The director is Des McAnuff, who staged the Broadway smash Jersey Boys. Lloyd Webber caught the show in June, just before the Tonys, and has been raving about it ever since. He was planning to produce his own version in London next year and went to Stratford on a whim to see how the show holds up.”
“Now he’s so enamored of McAnuff’s production that he wants it to come to New York, Stratford sources say Lloyd Webber could produce the show himself through his Really Useful Group, but I’m told he’d rather let some Broadway producers shoulder that responsibility. Dodger Productions, which produced Jersey Boys and has a longstanding relationship with McAnuff, is said to be circling. So, too, are the Mirvishes, a powerful theater family — the Shuberts of Canada.”
Interesting, right? I’m still waiting to see a production of Jesus Christ Superstar that I’ve actually liked.
The Wizard of Oz – The West End production of The Wizard of Oz is looking to transfer to Broadway. Playbill.com outlines the details, “The Wizard of Oz currently holds the biggest advance of any show in the West End, and is grossing more on a week-to-week basis than any other show, Kenwright has told Playbill.com. “Since we opened, it has been difficult, if not impossible, to get tickets for any of the three weekend performances that always play to capacity; we’ve averaged just below 85 percent in a two-and-a-quarter-thousand-seat theatre, and returned a third of the capitalization just 12 weeks after the opening night. It’s a hit!” The producer also revealed that they are currently in negotiation with “a major star” to take the show to Broadway.”
So who’s going to be the big star? Do you have any ideas? As long as they don’t make it a TV reality series, then I don’t really care. This show would sell for years on Broadway!
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What Andrew Lloyd Webber musical are you most excited about? Take the poll.
Playbill.com reports that, “Next Fall, American playwright Geoffrey Nauffts’ acclaimed romantic comedy-drama that explores questions of love, sexuality, religion, family and tolerance, opens at Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theatre March 11 following previews that began Feb. 16.” So many new shows are opening or starting previews in the next few weeks (see list below). On Monday, Addams Family started previews and two other plays start previews tonight, Lead Me a Tenor and Red.
Rumor Alert: This has been speculated by everyone but I have an inside source saying he was let go from the Spiderman musical because the project is now defunct. Rachel Evan Wood, the leading lady – Mary Jane, has also bowed out from the project. Now, there’s talk of lawsuits! The Hilton Theatre is a mess! And Young Frankenstein was kicked out early from the The Hilton Theatre so they could start on the construction. Let’s see when this all hits the fan!
Rumor Alert: This “rumor” is pretty much confirmed. Alice Ripley will be touring with the Next to Normal cast. It’s been announced that it’s coming to San Diego and even though SHNSF hasn’t announced their season, I have a feeling that it will be coming to San Francisco as well. If you’ve been waiting to see this Tony-winning performance by Ripley, you might see it sooner than later! I’m mostly interested in who they will be replacing her with on Broadway.
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that Evita might be coming back to Broadway next season. Playbill confirmed that Ricky Martin is definitely interested. And I’m definitely interested in seeing this because #1: Evita is one of my favorite musicals of all time and #2: Ricky Martin is so 1999 and I love it. (Totally brings me back to Senior year of high school.)
There are some great pictures from the new Hairtribe up on Broadwayworld.com – I haven’t heard much about the new cast, except for reading some of the new cast members tweet about it! Sounds like everyone is having a fun-loving time!
The Bay Area Critic Nominations came out this week. I have to be totally honest and say that’s a RIDICULOUS amount of people that are nominated. It seems to lessen the overall “clout” of the awards. Cut down the amount of people being nominated, as well as the categories. Also, if you are going to call it the “Bay Area” then you better make sure that ALL theatres are being seen. It’s gotta be comprehensive. Just my two cents.
Last but not least, Fela! is getting a cast recording, but you won’t be able to buy it until June 9th. (Why so late? They recorded the album in a day!)
A bunch of new shows are starting previews & opening on Broadway in the next couple weeks:
The most exciting news (for me, at least) is that Evita might be coming back to Broadway. I would absolutely love to see a Broadway production of Evita. It’s actually the musical that got me hooked to musicals. Playbill.com says, “The New York Post reports that plans are currently underway to remount the Michael Grandage-directed production on Broadway next year at a Nederlander theatre-to-be-announced with Roger repeating her work for New York audiences.” And word on the street is that Ricky Martin might be playing Che. I would see this in a heartbeat!
Other big news in the theatre world: the first preview of Love Never Dies happened this week in London. There have been strong reactions to Andrew Lloyd Weber’s sequel to Phantom of the Opera and you can read a review here. If you would like to check out a few of the songs, then go here. If all goes well, I’ll be seeing this in London before it transfers to Broadway. And of course, I’ll post a lengthy review of it.
My Broadway twitter friends were tweeting yesterday about casting Lady Gaga in a Broadway role. They mentioned everything from Elphaba (bad idea) to Maureen in RENT. (Not such a bad idea!) But, frankly I want to see Lady Gaga in her own Fame Monster musical. That, I think, would sell tickets.
Come Fly Away opens previews next week. You can get a sneak peak of what the production looks like here.
The 1st ever Blu-ray release of The Sound of Music, which will include bonus and interactive material, has been released. Check out this beautiful trailer! The Sound of Music will be released on Blu-ray Christmas 2010.
And finally, A Little Night Music is selling tickets into August, but Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury are set to leave in June. Seriously? Who’s going to see that production without the two biggest stars? I don’t think very many. Also, I’m trying to see A Little Night Music on my NYC trip at the end of March and Telecharge.com keeps telling me that Zeta-Jones is out that week. I’m devestated.
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My least favorite is Leap of Faith. It seems like a “mock-up”, instead of a finished product. It doesn’t show what the show is about. It doesn’t give us any clue to what we should expect and frankly, as much as I love Raul Esparza, his name is almost bigger than the title of the show. Most people are going to be like: “Who the hell is Raul Esparza?” I’m thinking that they pushed this show to open this Spring and it’s all too soon. (Have you seen their website? It’s terrible.) Hopefully, they will have a new poster before they open this Spring.
