Wilkes-Barre Native Douglas Carter Beane Recieves Tony Writing Nod for Broadway's Sister Act

We would like to wish a big congratulations and good luck to Wilkes-Barre native Douglas Carter Beane, who received a Tony nomination (his 3rd) this past Monday for Best Book of a Musical (shared with authors Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner) for the new Broadway musical Sister Act. Beane contributed additional text to the original book of the show, which originally debuted on London's West End in 2009.

Beane was previously nominated twice for Tony awards -- 2007's Best Play for The Little Dog Laughed and 2008's Best Book of a Musical for Xanadu.

The Tony Awards will air live on CBS on Sunday, June 12th at 8 PM.

For a complete list of this year's Tony nominees, click here.

For a previous blog entry on Douglas Carter Beane, click here.

www.tonys.org
www.SisterActBroadway.com

Scranton, Pennsylvanians, Begat! Finian's Rainbow Returning to Broadway This October

Scranton, Pennsylvanians, BEGAT!

After a 4-day limited run at City Center in New York this past March, the Tony-Award winning classic musical Finian's Rainbow is returning to Broadway this Fall for an open-ended run. The revival will celebrate its opening night on October 29th at the St. James Theatre in NYC, with previews beginning October 8th.

The revival's cast will include Christopher Fitzgerald (Wicked, Young Frankenstein), Kate Baldwin (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Chuck Cooper (Caroline or Change) and Cheyenne Jackson (Xanadu, written by Wilkes-Barre native Douglas Carter Beane).

The show originally opened on Broadway in 1947 and played for over 700 performances. It has also been revived in limited runs in 1955, 1960 and this past year as part of NY City Center's Encores! series. It was also adapted into film in 1968.

Towards the end of the show (and the film), Senator Billboard Rawkins and the Passion Pilgrim Gospellers break out into a song titled The Beget. Scranton is mentioned in the lyric section below:

The Lats and Lithuanians, begat.

Scranton Pennsylvanians, begat.

Strictly vegetarians, begat.

And honorary Aryans, begat.

Startin from Genesis, they begat.

Heroes and menaces, begat.

Fat filibusterers, begat.

To read the complete lyrics to The Beget, as well as the full score of Finian's Rainbow, click here. For the original blog entry for the film version of Finian's Rainbow, click here.

For tickets to the upcoming revival of Finian's Rainbow, visit Telecharge by clicking here.

www.finiansonbroadway.com/
www.twitter.com/Finiansrainbow

Video Clip of Vivien Leigh Singing "Wilkes-Barre, PA" from Broadway musical Tovarich (1963)

Here is an unexpected find from YouTube--A black-and-white TV clip of Vivien Leigh (with Byron Mitchell) performing the song Wilkes-Barre, PA from the 1963 Broadway musical Tovarich, for which Ms. Leigh won a Tony.
For the original blog entry on Tovarich, click here.