Broadway Spotted Interview
Here's a Broadway Spotted interview with Cedric Yau, producer of the Off-Broadway production of Around the World in 80 Days, and Guy LeMonnier, the new Phileas Fogg.
The Amazing Race Meets The 39 Steps
The other day I posted how I'm not crazy about the press releases calling the Off-Broadway production of my script Around the World in 80 Days a "fun frolic." The show is a whirlwind comedy and the Off-Broadway production is a wild and exciting steampunk version. So imagine my surprise today when I read this in the BroadwayWorld article about Gary Littman and Matt Lutz joining the cast: "Combining 'The Amazing Race' with The 39 Steps, Around the World in [...]
Gary Littman and Matt Lutz Join Cast of Around the World in 80 Days
The Off-Broadway production of Around the World in 80 Days welcomes Gary Littman and Matt Lutz to the cast. They replace John Gregorio and Stephen Guarino (Do their last names sound like a Russian Olympic skating couple or is it just me?) in the roles of Passepartout & Detective Fix (respectively). The Russian skaters' last performance is Sunday September 1. The law firm of Littman and Lutz starts Tuesday September 3. John and Stephen, thanks so much for all of your wonderful work. Gary and [...]
Fun Frolic? How About A Fasten-Your-Seat Belt Comedy!
The website for the Off-Broadway production of Around the World in 80 Days has a new fancy logo. The site is still using the top hat but now instead of a static hat just sitting there, the new hat has motion and energy. It's a really nice make-over and fits the show. The show is fast moving. One might even call is a whirlwind. The show, however, is billed as a "fun frolic." That description has been in all of the press releases [...]
Opening Night of Around the World in 80 Days
Well my show Around the World in 80 Days opened last night Off-Broadway. I started my day with a wonderful lunch with good friends at the Friars Club. Had a few drinks. Played some pool on the pool table Jackie Gleason practiced on for the film The Hustler. Had pre-show sushi and drinks with my manager. Saw the show. Had champagne at intermission (Are you sensing a pattern here?). Went to the after-show party. Had a drink. Went out and [...]
Around the World in 80 Days Opens
My play Around the World in 80 Days opens tonight Off-Broadway. Thank you to everyone involved with the project and thank you to all my friends for their unyielding support. Fingers crossed.
‘World’ of Talent Brings Verne Novel to Stage
A lovely review in the Montgomery Advertiser of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's production of Around the World in 80 Days. "A production that demonstrates to a sometimes amazed audience how even stories of massive scope can fit the confines of a stage." You can read the entire review here. And evidently the play wrote itself. Sigh. Photo courtesy David Robertson/ASF
Hats and Mustaches
My play Around the World in 80 Days is not about a balloon. If I've said it once I've said it a thousand times, "Es gibt nicht ein ballon in dem buch und es gibt nicht ein ballon in meiner show." Well, I don't usually say it in German. The balloon is the most popular image associated with the story and I'm sure people are disappointed to discover there isn't a balloon in the show or the book. The same [...]
It’s Phileas, Not Phineas
Since the premiere of my show Around the World in 80 Days, I've had to constantly deal with two misconceptions about the play: 1. There's a balloon in the story. 2. The leading character's name is Phineas. It got to be so much for me that my playwright's notes for The Colony Theatre's production of the show addressed both of these misconceptions. So I was really excited to see a reviewer admit her naivete on both of these issues: [...]