“Sa Long, Dearie”
Ladies and gents,
This evening, the ruby red Austrian curtain will fall for the very last time on A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, and I will have tears streaming down my face. Not tears of sorrow, you nincompoops! What’s to be sad about? A Tony win for Best Musical? Two-and-half-years on Broadway? Not one but two visits by Leonardo DiCaprio? If you think that’s a sob story, you should hear about my love life! No, dear readers, I’ll crying with laughter, because even though I’ve seen the show about a dozen times, every time I find a treasure trove of hidden material to guffaw over.
I’ll never forget Tony Sunday the night Gentleman’s Guide won the big prize. The producers took over a guest bedroom at the Empire Suite at the Carlyle, and had their own case of chilled champagne brought up to celebrate in style. The show’s devilish stars, Jefferson Mays and Bryce Pinkham, got the idea to fill the en suite bathroom’s tub with bubbly and toss in an unsuspecting Jane Carr (sort of a high class version of drenching your coach with Gatorade at the Super Bowl). Well, luckily Lisa O’Hare remembered that Jane was wearing a delicate and valuable vintage Dior gown, and the prank was called off. But knowing Jane, I bet she would have loved every minute!
Well, if you miss it on Broadway you can still catch it on the road, where it’s bowling over critics from sea to shining sea.
In other comedy news, I was at first confused, and then delighted, by a video that’s making the rounds which depicts a bunch of theater characters engaging in a presidential-style debate. The video is so convincing, I thought I was brushing up on my politics, but I can reveal exclusively that the whole thing is an elaborate spoof. That’s right – there is no such thing as President of Broadway. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t your civic duty to watch the video, which can be seen here:
http://on.fb.me/234aezT
Scoop got the inside scoop on the making of this video. It was conceived by none other than Jordan Roth, who co-wrote and co-produced the video with a team of writers in the Broadway community including John Walton West, Kevin Duda, Cody Williams, David McCall, John Bolton, Paul Moore, Bradley S. Hames, Rocio Gimenez, Eli Grober, and Jason Michael Snow. You’ll recognize many familiar faces in the video, including Wayne Brady, Richard Kind, Kyle Scatliffe, Nikki M. James, Laura Osnes, Andrew Keenan-Bolger, Frank DiLella, Sherie Rene Scott, Jack O’ Brien, Michael Riedel, Sydney Lucas, Ashley Park, Matthew Scott, Skye Scott, Rob Marnell, Dominic Scaglione Jr., Jeanna De Waal, Libby Servais, Emily Ferranti, Ginna Claire Moffett Mason, Lindsey Brett Carothers, Perez Hilton, Lou Liberatore, and Jordan Roth himself. What a hoot!
Frankly, we needed the laughs this week as we lost three huge talents. Instead of tidbits, I want to take a moment to acknowledge how deeply we feel the loss of David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and Brian Bedford. I can’t remember another time when so much potent life-force was snuffed out in such a short period of time. You will be missed for what you’ve taken with you, and remembered for what you leave behind.
As always, a toast of something sparkling to you and yours!
Kisses,
