Broadway might be dark this month, but that doesn’t mean that theatre isn’t happening everywhere Below, check out where you can get your daily fix of Broadway today, April 2, 2020.
A host of Broadway celebrities and performers are taking to social media to spread joy when attending the theatre is not an option. The videos began appearing in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which is forcing nations around the world to self-quarantine.
To keep folks entertained, Claybourne Elder sang and played the fiddle; Marcus Mumford performed “You’ll Never Walk Alone” for Jimmy Fallon; Robyn Hurder shared some quarantine advice for couples; and Les Misérables national tour cast member Michelle Beth Herman sang from Children of Eden.
Check them out below, and keep coming back for more videos!
Company‘s Claybourne Elder was feeling stir-crazy while social distancing in upstate New York, so the Broadway alum performed “Lonesome Goodbye” by The Steeldrivers alongside his son and Rodney Bush.
Mumford and Sons frontman Marcus Mumford sang “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.
Robyn Hurder (Moulin Rouge!) reminded couples that communication—and dance—are keys to happiness during quarantine in a new video with her hubby Clyde.
Michelle Beth Herman (Les Misérables national tour) sang “Stranger to the Rain” from Children of Eden.
Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish alum Adam B. Shapiro shared a Wicked parody with “Defying Slavery” to celebrate Passover.
Looking for more videos? Check out Playbill’s Daily Distraction series here.
Lea Salonga will be streaming on Facebook Live tomorrow, April 2, at 10am EDT.
Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s 1988 musical Lucky Stiff, about a British shoe salesman who takes his dead uncle to Monte Carlo in order to qualify for his inheritance and becomes entangled with a wild cast of characters, received a film adaptation in 2015 and is now available to stream on Prime Video.
Book writer and lyricist Ahrens adapted the musical for the screen, and she and composer Flaherty wrote two additional songs. The duo are Tony Award winners for Ragtime.
The film is directed by Christopher Ashley with choreography by Joey Pizzi (Burlesque), the movie stars Dominic Marsh, Tony winner Jason Alexander (Seinfeld, Jerome Robbins Broadway), the late Dennis Farina (Get Shorty), and Tony winner Nikki M. James (The Book of Mormon), as well as Don Amendolia, Pamela Shaw, Kate Shindle, Jayne Houdyshell and Mary Birdsong, with appearances by Cheyenne Jackson, Jennifer Cody, Kevin Chamberlain, Wesley Taylor, and more.
Lucky Stiff premiered at Playwrights Horizons in April 1988 and was the first show of future Tony Award winners Ahrens and Flaherty to be produced outside a family-theatre arena (they had collaborated on a Theatreworks USA musical for kids).
Ahrens penned book and lyrics and Flaherty the music, drawing on the Michael Butterworth novel The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo. Lucky Stiff was the recipient of a 1988 Richard Rodgers Production Award and 1990 Helen Hayes Award for Best Musical.
On Thursday, The University of Michigan fired renowned countertenor and vocal professor,David Daniels, following 2019sexual assault charges brought againstthe singerand his husband, Scott Walters.
With Bombshell still in limbo, Eileen wants Tom and Julia to consider bringing on a dramaturg, which is the most horrifying thing either of them has ever heard. (Note: Dramaturgs working on a show are a pretty common occurrence.) Julia’s concern is that people hear about it and start gossiping about the show being in trouble. Or worse, the dramaturg sues for credit! (isn’t that what contracts are for?) Luckily, the dramaturg is played by Daniel Sunjata, so that should calm Julia down.
As Julia staggers under the weight of Eileen’s suggestion, Ivy is auditioning for casting director Bernie Telsey for a revival of a musical adaptation of Les Liasions Dangereuses (which originally starred Madeline Kahn as Cecile) and pushes for a chance at Cecile, despite them seeing Jen Damiano and Jessie Mueller. Across town, Veronica is singing “Home” from The Wiz for Derek (still fired), while Derek mocks the idea that The Wiz should be period and Dorothy should be innocent.
While Derek suggests he stage a scene with Veronica to prove to the producers that he can handle The Wiz, Karen is pitching Derek to Kyle and Jimmy. Jimmy is unconcerned about presenting to Derek (despite a lot of stuff being missing), which is probably because he’s a straight white man so he’ll obviously triumph here. The only thing that can defeat a straight white man is another straight white man, so obviously Derek stands them up.
In a meeting with The Dramaturg, he tells Julia that there’s no character development outside the songs, it plays like a shallow biopic, and her script is two-dimensional. Julia counters by pointing to the standing ovations in Boston. Then, Julia the Writer claims that it works better if you see it. That’s… not a great save, Julia.
At Eileen’s, Julia begins to throw a tantrum about having to work with someone who wants to rework her book and Eileen puts her foot down. If Julia doesn’t want to do the work, Eileen informs her, then she’ll find someone who will. So Julia confronts The Dramaturg in public… where was this drama when she was writing Bombshell? And then as The Dramaturg tells her she doesn’t know steamy sexual heat, he casually places his hand on her shoulder. Oh, Dramaturg. You fit right in with the men of Smash. (At least he does address the fact that Bombshell seemed to focus on Marilyn’s marriage to Joe DiMaggio.) At least he finally gets Julia down to work!
Tom is pulling double duty, writing Bombshell all night and working with Ivy on her upcoming audition during the day. He points out that innocent Cecile gradually morphs into a woman who knows how to manipulate men—just like Marilyn! And, he adds, Ivy. Weird comment from a friend, but OK. It works, because Ivy gets the part!
Julia’s having a worse day, because she walks in with a sexy JFK scene and song and thinks that will be enough for The Dramaturg to leave. Oh no, he says, she never would have written that without him pushing her. She’s stuck with him now! And that might be unfortunate, because his take on Marilyn is that she slept with powerful men to further her career, and maybe JFK and RFK helped hasten her death, but they also died, don’t forget. Well, they were assassinated, but OK?
That scene at least accomplishes one thing: It convinces Veronica Moore that she needs to be a sexy Broadway star and do a once-in-a-lifetime concert with Derek. Derek’s like, cool, but I have to head down to Greenpoint to hear a pitch for a new musical. And he likes it! Fade out on a girl…
