On this day in 2011, the classic musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying opened on Broadway starring Daniel Radcliffe
Following its concert presentation at City Center Encores! in 2007, Gypsy returned to Broadway, opening at the St. James Theatre March 27, 2008. The revival, directed by librettist Arthur Laurents, played 27 previews and 332 performances before closing on January 11, 2008. The production garnered seven Tony Awards, winning three: Best Actress in a Musical for Patti LuPone, Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Laura Benanti, and Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Boyd Gaines.
Based on Gypsy Rose Lee’s memoirs, Gypsy tells the story of indomitable stage mother Rose as she chases vicarious success and stardom by pushing her daughters through the vaudeville circuit. When Baby June flees the act to elope, Rose vows to make introverted Louise into a star.
In addition to LuPone, Benanti, and Gaines, the revival starred Leigh Ann Larkin as Dainty June, Tony Yazbeck as Tulsa, Marilyn Caskey as Electra, Alison Fraser as Tessie Tura, Lenora Nemetz as Miss Cratchitt/Mazeppa, Bill Bateman as Mr. Goldstone/Georgie/Bougeron-Cochon, Jim Bracchitta as Uncle Jocko/Pastey, Bill Raymond as Cigar/Pop, Brian Reddy as Phil/Weber, Emma Rowley as Baby Louise, Mindy Dougherty as Geraldine, Matty Price as East St. Louis, and Geo Seery as Little Rock. Rounding out the cast were ensemble members Katie Micha, Beckley Andrews, Nancy Renée Braun, Kyrian Friedenberg, Sarah Marie Hicks, Steve Konopelski, Matthew Lobenhofer, Nicole Mangi, andy Richardson, Jessica Rush, Alicia Sable, John Scacchetti, Rider Quentin Stanton, and Pearce Wegener with Dorothy Stanley, Matt Gibson, Andrew Boyer, Rider Quentin Stanton, and Lisa Rohinsky as standbys.
Gypsy featured original direction and choreography by Jerome Robbins, reproduction choreography by Bonnie Walker, scenic design by James Youmans, costume design by Martin Pakledinaz, lighting design by Howell Binkley, and sound design by Dan Moses Schreier with stage management by Craig Jacobs, Gary Mickelson, Tom Capps, and Nancy Elizabeth Vest. Visit the Playbill Vault for the complete cast and creative team.
BroadwayWorld is saddened to learn of the passing of Emmy Award-winning actressJessica Walter. Walter was 80 years old. Walter was known for her appearances across both stage and screen.
Jessica Walter, the Emmy-winning performer who made several Broadway appearances throughout her career, died March 24 at the age of 80. Her daughter, Brooke Bowman, confirmed the news to Deadline.
Ms. Walter had reached the zenith of pop culture in the past two decades as the sharp-tongued and boozy Lucille Bluth in Arrested Development, for which she earned an Primetime Emmy nomination in 2005. She voiced a similarly quippy character in the FX animated series Archer, this time as the head of a spy agency and the mother to the title character.
The star made her Broadway debut in the early ‘60s as a replacement in Loring Mandel’s adaptation of Allen Drury’s Advise and Consent. In 1962, she appeared in Sidney S. Kingsley’s Night Life. Shortly after, she appeared in A Severed Head and Photo Finish, the latter earning her Most Promising Newcomer at the Clarence Derwent Awards. To close out the decade, she played Lois Lane/Bianca opposite Robert Goulet, Carol Lawrence, and Michael Callan in the 1968 TV movie musical presentation of Kiss Me, Kate.
The star made two more appearances on the Main Stem following her string of shows in the ‘60s: the 1988 Neil Simon comedy Rumors and the 2011 revival of Anything Goes. Beyond Broadway, the star appeared Off-Broadway with companies like Playwright’s Horizons, and in Los Angeles, where she played Elmire in Tartuffe opposite the late Ron Leibman, her Emmy and Tony–winning husband.
Born January 31, 1941, in Brooklyn, New York, Ms. Walter graduated from New York City’s High School of Performing Arts. While her stage career was her start, she found fame on screen after starring in a number of TV shows and films during the ‘70s, including Clint Eastwood’s directorial debut, Play Misty for Me. She won an Emmy in 1975 for her work in Amy Prentiss and followed it up with nods for Trapper John M..D. and Streets of San Francisco.
She married Mr. Leibman in 1983 following her first marriage to Ross Bowman, with whom she had a daughter, Brooke.
Ms. Walter is survived by daughter Brooke Bowman, who is SVP Drama Programming at Fox Entertainment, and grandson Micah Heymann. “Her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off,” said Bowman. “While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class, and overall joie de vivre.”
Check out this week’s list of new and upcoming releases, including Live Your Life My Story of Loving and Losing Nick Cordero, Once On This Island on orange vinyl, RH Goes Pop, and more
The original Broadway production of Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened at the Morosco Theatre March 24, 1955. The production, staged by Elia Kazan, played 694 performances before closing on November 17, 1956, and garnered four Tony Award nominations, including Best Play, as well as the Pulitzer Prize.
Williams’ drama tells the story of a wealthy Southern patriarch facing impending death and manipulating his family, as his children squabble and mislead in desperate attempts to secure the family inheritance.
Cat On a Hot Tin Roof starred Barbara Bel Geddes as Maggie, Burl Ives as Big Daddy, Mildred Dunnock as Big Mama, Ben Gazzara as Brick, R.G. Armstrong as Dr. Baugh, Janice Dunn as Trixie, Seth Edwards as Sonny, Maxwell Glanville as Lacey, Pauline Hahn as Dixie, Pat Hingle as Gooper, Brownie McGhee as Brightie, Darryl Richard as Buster, Madeleine Sherwood as Mae, Fred Stewart as Rev. Tooker, Sonny Terry as Small, Eva Vaughn Smith as Daisy, Musa Williams as Sookey.
The drama would be revived five times over the years (making it one of the most-revived plays in Broadway history). The first revival came in 1974 at the Anta Theatre, starring Elizabeth Ashley, Keir Dullea, and Fred Gwynne. The play would return 26 years later in a Howard Davies-helmed production starring Kathleen Turner, Charles Durning, and Daniel Hugh Kelly. In 2003, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof played the Music Box Theatre starring Ashley Judd, Jason Patric, Ned Beatty, and Margo Martindale. Shortly thereafter, the drama returned to Broadway, directed by Debbie Allen, starring Terrence Howard, James Earl Jones, Phylicia Rashad, and Anika Noni Rose. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof last played the Great White Way in 2013, starring Scarlett Johansson, Ciarán Hinds, Benjamin Walker, and Debra Monk.