Wilkes-Barre Native Douglas Carter Beane Writes Two Broadway Shows Opening Spring 2013

Wilkes-Barre native and two-time Tony nominee Douglas Carter Beane will be having a busy Spring, as two shows penned by Beane (a musical and a play) will be opening on Broadway within the next 3 months.

Beane wrote the new book for the Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, now in previews and opening Sunday, March 3, 20013 at the Broadway Theatre (which recently housed the Broadway debut of Sister Act, also written by Beane). Click here for tickets. 

Beane also wrote the new play The Nance starring Nathan Lane, which opens Monday, April 15, 2013 at the Lyceum Theatre (previews begin Thursday, March 21, 2013).  Click here for tickets.

Click here for a list of previous blog entries on Douglas Carter Beane.

Scranton Natives Amy Wilson and Julie Kramer Write, Produce and Star in "The Best of Everything" in NYC

Opening tonight in New York is the theatrical adaptation of the 1958 Rona Jaffe novel The Best of Everything (later adapted into a film starring Joan Crawford).  Julie Kramer and Amy Wilson are Scranton natives who previously collaborated on Amy's one-woman show The Mother Load which has played both off-Broadway and Scranton.  Julie is the writer and director of the new production(which runs through October 20th at the HERE Arts Centre--145 6th Street; click here to purchase tickets), and Amy is playing one of the lead roles.   


Amy Wilson is also the author of the 2010 book When Did I Get Like This? (which features numerous references to Scranton).

Julie and Amy were recently profiled in The Times-Tribune.  Click here to read the full article.

Click here for an article from Playbill.com about the adaptation and opening of the new play.


Much thanks to Peter Cupple for this reference.

Free Tickets Now Available For Upcoming Library Lecture Tuesday, August 7th

Free tickets for the next Library Lecture are now available at all Lackawanna County Libraries.

John Anthony Gilvey, author of "Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City," will be the next presenter at the Matthew F. Flynn Library Lecture Series Tuesday, August 7th at 7 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center. 

Actor Jerry Orbach (1935-2004) was Baby's father in 1987's Dirty Dancing and the voice of candlestick Lumiere in Disney's Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast.  He was Detective Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law & Order.  And he was a Tony Award-winning Broadway star whose roles include Billy Flynn in 1975's original Broadway production of Chicago.

But did you also know his mother was a native of Plymouth, PA and he spent part of his childhood living in Scranton?

Gilvey's multimedia presentation will include clips and photos of Orbach's work on stage, screen and television, as well as information on Orbach's roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Hope to see you there. 

In the meantime, check out this wonderful essay by Dr. Gilvey about Jerry Orbach's childhood in NEPA.


Click here to place a hold on the book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City.

Click here for a previous blog entry on the book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City. 


Click here to like the Library Lecture Series on Facebook.

John Anthony Gilvey, Author of "Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City," To Speak at Library Lecture Series Tuesday, August 7th

Author John Anthony Gilvey, author of Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City, will be the next presenter in the Matthew J. Flynn Library Lecture Series on Tuesday, August 7th at 7 PM at the Scranton Cultural Center.  Tickets will be available the beginning of July and will be FREE with your Lackawanna County Library Card.

Actor Jerry Orbach (1935-2004) was Baby's father in 1987's Dirty Dancing and the voice of candlestick Lumiere in Disney's Oscar-nominated Beauty and the Beast.  He was Detective Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law & Order.  And he was a Tony Award-winning Broadway star whose roles include Billy Flynn in 1975's original Broadway production of Chicago.

But did you also know his mother was a native of Plymouth, PA and he spent part of his childhood living in Scranton?

Gilvey's multimedia presentation will include clips and photos of Orbach's work on stage, screen and television, as well as information on Orbach's roots in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit the Lecture Series's Facebook page.

To place a hold on John Anthony Gilvey's book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City, click here. 

Click here for a previous blog entry on the book Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City.

Wilkes-Barre Native Santo Loquasto Is Scenic Designer For Broadway's Relatively Speaking

Three-time Tony winner and Wilkes-Barre native Santo Loquasto is the Scenic Designer for Broadway's Relatively Speaking, which opened last night (Thursday, October 20th) at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre in NYC.

Directed by John Turturro, Relatively Speaking is a series of three one-act plays written by Elaine May, Ethan Coen and Woody Allen (Loquasto was Production Designer on all of Woody Allen's movies from 1987 to 2003, and most recently worked with Allen on 2009's Whatever Works).

To purchase tickets for Relatively Speaking, click here.

Click here for a previous blog entry on Santo Loquasto.

RelativelySpeakingBroadway.com

Jerry Orbach, Prince of the City by John Anthony Gilvey (2011)

In a previous blog entry, I highlighted the local roots of the late Jerry Orbach--star of stage (the original Billy Flynn in 1975's Chicago on Broadway; the original El Gallo in The Fantasticks; 1969 Tony winner for Broadway's original production of Promises, Promises), screen (Dirty Dancing, Woody Allen's Crimes & Misdemeanors, the candlestick Lumière in Disney's Beauty & The Beast) and TV (Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street).

A recently published (and excellent) biography on Mr. Orbach also includes information on his local roots--to Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and even Plymouth, PA. The book is titled Jerry Orbach, Prince of the City: His Way from The Fantasticks to Law & Order, written by John Anthony Gilvey (with a Foreword by Jane Alexander).

Chapter 1 (Entrance, 1935-1955) features information on Orbach's parents residing in Plymouth, PA during the Great Depression, right before Orbach's birth:

p. 3 (description of Orbach's mother Emily)

"In 1932, Plymouth, a small town situated on the Susquehanna River four miles west of Wilkes-Barre in northeast Pennsylvania's Luzerne County, was not an easy place to earn a living, especially for a young woman."

p. 4

"Alexander (Emily's father), born in the village of Bartlovka, near the city of Bialstok in northeast Poland, immigrated to the United States as a young man...finally settling down in Plymouth."

p. 4

"Like Leo (Orbach's father), she (Emily) was fascinated by the stage and had already put her talents to the test as a singer on a weekly Wilkes-Barre radio program."

p. 4

"Unlike most Catholic parents of the day, Alexander and Susanne were surprisingly accepting of their daughter's Jewish boyfriend. There were two reasons for this: first, their own marriage ran counter to the bitter enmity between Polish and Lithuanian Catholics that dated back to the Middle Ages and as recently as 1889 had erupted violently on the streets of Plymouth..."

p. 5

"Weeks later, Jerome Bernard Orbach was baptized at St. Mary's Polish Catholic Church in Plymouth."

p. 7

"Months later, when he (Leo) returned, he took a position as banquet manager for the Sterling Hotel in Wilkes-Barre before landing what would be a permanent position managing lunch counters for Neisner Brothers, a national retail store chain. The nature of the job demanded that he relocates as the needs of the company demanded, so for the next seven years the family crisscrossed the country via stores in Scranton, Pennsylvania; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Waukegan, Illinois."

p. 7

"In Scranton, where the Orbachs' home sat atop one of the highest points of the city and across from a firehouse, seven-year-old Jerry immediately made friends with the firemen..."

p. 7

"Another significant experience came in May 1943, when he made his First Communion and Confirmation during Mass at St. Peter's Cathedral."

p. 8

"Back in Scranton, Emily put their furniture in storage and made preparations for the long train trek that would take her and Jerry to their new home where Leo waited...but before they could board the train, Jerry had to part with his first and only pet--a cocker spaniel that had been his constant companion during their time in Scranton. Brokenhearted, he returned the dog to the lady who had given it to him."

p. 8

"In May after an eight-hundred-route-mile, fourteen-hour train trip from springtime Scranton, they arrived in still-snowy Chicago..."

On p. 139 in Chapter 9 (Trenchant Defective/Living Landmark, 1944-2004), Wilkes-Barre, PA was a bonding topic for Jerry and fellow actor Ted Sod, when they appeared together on the TV drama Law & Order.

"Actor Ted Sod fondly remembers... :
'When I appeared on Law & Order...Jerry immediately made me feel as if I were welcome. He introduced himself and we spoke for a bit about my hometown, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where he had relatives.'"

Jerry Orbach, Prince of the City is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold, click here.

Click here to read the previous blog entry on Jerry Orbach.

Scranton Native Walter Bobbie To Direct New Off-Broadway Play The Submission; Opening Night 9/27

Scranton native and Tony-winning Broadway director Walter Bobbie is going to be quite busy this Fall. In addition to directing the recently announced Broadway transfer of the play Venus in Fur (opening November 8th), it has been announced that he will also be directing the Off-Broadway debut of actor/playwright Jeff Talbott's play The Submission.

The Submission begins previews at the MMC's Lucille Lortel Theater on Thursday, September 8th, with an Opening Night scheduled for Monday, September 26th and a Closing scheduled for Saturday, October 22nd.

Below is a description of The Submission from the MCC's website:

"Shaleeha G'ntamobi's stirring new play about an alcoholic black mother and her card sharp son trying to get out of the projects has just been accepted into the nation's preeminent theater festival. Trouble is, Shaleeha G'ntamobi doesn't exist, except in the imagination of wannabe-playwright Danny Larsen, who created her as a kind of affirmative-action nom-de-plume. But a nom-de-guerre may prove more useful as the lies pile up, shaky alliances are forged, and everyone dear to Danny must decide whether or not to run for cover as the whole thing threatens to blow up in his lily white face.

New York-based actor Jeff Talbott makes an auspicious play-writing debut with The Submission after taking home the first-ever Laurents/Hatcher Award for the play earlier this year. Walter Bobbie (School for Lies, Chicago) directs four of today's hottest young stars - Jonathan Groff (Spring Awakening, "Glee"), Will Rogers (When the Rain Stops Falling), Eddie Kaye Thomas (The Bachelorette, American Pie), and Rutina Wesley (HBO's "True Blood") - in this funny and furiously intelligent new play. "

Click here to purchase tickets to the limited run of The Submission.

It's Official! Lysistrata Jones, Written By Wilkes-Barre Native Douglas Carter Beane, Will Play Broadway This Fall

According to The New York Times, Wilkes-Barre native Douglas Carter Beane's latest musical Lysistrata Jones will transfer to Broadway and begin previews on Nov. 12, with an opening night set for Dec. 14 at the Walter Kerr Theater.

Beane, whose previous Broadway theater writing credits include Xanadu, The Little Dog Laughed, and Sister Act (each of which earned him Tony nominations), wrote the book of the new musical Lysistrata Jones, a modern day take on the classic Aristophanes play. The update, which played Off-Broadway at the Gym at Judson in New York City, tells the story of Lysistrata Jones, a spunky transfer student at the University of Athens, whose basketball team hasn't won a game in 30 years. In the name of team spirit, Jones dares the squad's fed-up girlfriends to stop "giving it up" to their boyfriends until they win a game so their legendary losing streak can come to an end.

The composer/lyricist of the show is Lewis Flinn (The Divine Sister), and it will be directed and choreographed by Tony nominee Dan Knechtges (Xanadu, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee).

Tickets will be available soon.

Click here to read the announcement from The New York Times.

www.lysistratajones.com

W-B Native Douglas Carter Beane's Hit Off-Broadway Play Lysistrata Jones May Transfer to Broadway

Three-time Tony nominee and Wilkes-Barre native Douglas Carter Beane may soon have another show on Broadway.

Beane, whose previous theater writing credits include Xanadu, The Little Dog Laughed, and Sister Act, recently wrote the book of the new musical Lysistrata Jones, a modern day take on the classic Aristophanes play. The update, currently playing Off-Broadway at the Gym at Judson in New York City, tells the story of Lysistrata Jones, a spunky transfer student at the University of Athens, whose basketball team hasn't won a game in 30 years. In the name of team spirit, Jones dares the squad's fed-up girlfriends to stop "giving it up" to their boyfriends until they win a game so their legendary losing streak can come to an end.

Lysistrata Jones has recently been extended Off-Broadway and is now set to close on June 24th (for tickets, click here). However, according to Playbill.com, the show is looking at a possible Broadway transfer and "is currently looking for a suitable Broadway theatre to house the production; possibilities include the Broadhurst or the Walter Kerr."

Let's keep our fingers crossed for one of our own.

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

"Star-Studded Cast Revives 'That Championship Season'" From CBS News (March 20, 2011)

Check out this video that was posted yesterday on CBSNews.com yesterday morning. It features a group interview of the the five stars of the Broadway revival of Jason Miller's That Championship Season. It also features Jason Patric, Miller's son and co-star in the revival) being interviewed strolling down the streets of Scranton, even visiting his father's bust on Courthouse Square.

Kiefer Sutherland on TCS: "I Would've Done This Play in Poughkeepsie or Scranton"

The cast of the upcoming revival of That Championship Season recently met the press at Sardi's in New York City to promote the play.

In a video posted by Broadway.com (which could not be embedded in the blog), at the 1:30 mark, Kiefer Sutherland states:

"As excited as I am to be doing something finally in New York on Broadway, I would've done this play in Poughkeepsie or Scranton, where it was originally done. The play is what's important, and it is a true American classic."

To view the video, click on the image above or click here.

www.broadway.com/shows/championship-season/video/153378/on-the-scene-meeting-the-stars-of-that-championship-season/

Also, on a side note, Alicia (aka kittybelle on Twitter) reminded me that "The greatest thing about that line is that we know Kiefer's actually been to Scranton and hung out for a little while."

And this also reminded me that Keifer Sutherland's band (it may have been Billy Boy On Poison) actually played in-store at Gallery of Sound in Edwardsville, PA (across the river from Wilkes-Barre, PA) several years ago.

Tickets Now Available For The Mother Load by Scranton Native Amy Wilson Saturday, February 19th; Includes Post-Show Meet-And-Greet

Author/playwright/actor and Scranton native Amy Wilson will be bringing her acclaimed hit show Mother Load to Scranton Cultural Center on Saturday, February 19th 2011 at 8 PM. To purchase tickets, which includes a post-show meet-and-greet, click here.

Wilson is also the author of the bestselling book When Did I Get Like This?, which features tons of references to Scranton. To place a hold, click here.

For more information on her Amy Wilson's upcoming return to Scranton, click here.

Click here for a previous blog entry on Amy Wilson.

http://motherloadshow.com/
www.AmyWilson.com
http://twitter.com/amywlsn

That Championship Season by Jason Miller (1972)

With all of the excitement about the upcoming all-star revival of Jason Miller's That Championship Season on Broadway, I decided to go back and read the actual play itself. I had only previously seen snippets of the film, so I wanted to go back and read the original Tony- and Pulitzer Prize winning play by Jason Miller, who was born in Queens, NY on April 22, 1939 and died in his adopted hometown of Scranton, PA (where he was raised and lived for most of his life) on May 13th, 2001.

That Championship Season tells the story of a tense reunion between a group of 4 former high school basketball champs and their coach at his home in the Lackawanna Valley in the early 1970s. Early in the text of the play, Miller includes brief references to both Scranton and Old Forge.

The Scranton reference appears on page 11 of the 1972 Atheneum edition of the play. The characters of Tom (a former member of the team who is now an alcoholic) and George (another member of the team who is now the town mayor--of presumably Scranton--and up for reelection) are having a discussion about former teammate and wealthy businessman Phil:

GEORGE
I cancel at least five speeding tickets for him a month. He's going out with this seventeen-year-old, believe that, up in Scranton.

On page 13 is a reference to James (another teammate, a school principal and Tom's brother) purchasing beer in Old Forge, PA:

GEORGE
Where'd you guys go for the beer, New Jersey?

JAMES
Phil wanted Schlitz. We had to go to Old Forge.

On a side note, I noticed that the text of the play does include seven instances of the dreaded N-word. With the recent controversy over sanitizing Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by replacing each use of the N-word with the word "slave," I can't help but wonder if the upcoming and highly anticipated Broadway revival (which officially opens March 6th and will run through May 29th, with previews beginning on February 9th) will keep Miller's original text intact or modify the use of certain controversial words. My colleague (and frequent contributor to this blog) Evelyn G.--who actually knew Jason Miller when she and her husband lived in New York in the 1970s--has tickets to an upcoming performance, so I will make sure to ask her if the producers made any changes to the text to suit modern audiences.

The book of Jason Miller's play That Championship Season is available to borrow from the Lackawanna County Library System. To place a hold, click here.

thatchampionshipseason.com
twitter.com/thatchampseason

Sets Arriving For Broadway Revival of That Championship Season

When I went to see Blue Valentine in NYC today (more on that next week when I return from StayCation), I managed to snap a couple of cell phone shots (poor quality) of the sets arriving for the upcoming Broadway revival of Jason Miller's That Championship Season at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.

Official Website for Broadway Revival of Jason Miller's That Championship Season

www.thatchampionshipseason.com

Limited Engagement of Jason Miller's That Championship Season Opens on Broadway March 6, 2011

The upcoming limited engagement Broadway revival of Jason Miller's That Championship Season begins previews February 9, 2011; the show officially opens March 6, 2011 and will close May 29, 2011 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in NYC.

This, the first major Broadway revival of Miller's Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play (set in Scranton, PA), features the stellar cast of Keifer Sutherland, Jim Gaffigan, Brian Cox, Chris Noth, and Miller's son Jason Patric.

To purchase tickets online, click here.

www.twitter.com/ThatChampSeason

Jason Miller's Son Jason Patric, Keifer Sutherland to Star in Broadway Revival of That Championship Season

Official casting has been announced for the Broadway revival of Scranton's Jason Miller's Pulitzer Prize/Tony Winning play That Championship Season...and it's impressive.

The revival, set in Scranton, PA and set to open in March 2011, is the first Broadway revival of That Championship Season since the original 1972 production.

According to Theatermania.com, as well as the revival's official Twitter page, the revival will star Jason Miller's son Jason Patric as Tom Daley, Keifer Sutherland (TV's 24) as James Daley, Brian Cox (Rushmore, RED) as Coach, comedian Jim Gaffigan as George Sikowski, and Chris Noth (from the TV/film series Sex and the City, written and directed by Scranton native Michael Patrick King) as Phil Romano.

www.twitter.com/ThatChampSeason

That Championship Season to Be Revived on Broadway in 2011?

UPDATED 11/2/10

It is being reported that That Championship Season, the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play by Scranton's own Jason Miller, is being revived on Broadway in 2011. Tony-nominated director George Mosher (2009 revival of A View From A Bridge) is reported to have signed on as director, and Tony winner Liev Schreiber is said to have been already cast.

This would be the first Broadway revival of Jason Miller's play, which originally ran for nearly 2 year and 700 performances from 1972-1974 on Broadway and is set in Scranton, PA.

UPDATED 11/2/10 It has been confirmed that That Championship Season will indeed be revived on Broadway in March 2011. According to the revival's official Twitter, the cast will include Brian Cox, Jim Gaffigan, Chris Noth, Jason Patric, & Kiefer Sutherland.

Scranton Native Amy Wilson Bringing Her Hit One-Woman Show Mother Load To Scranton Cultural Center Saturday, February 19th, 2011

Author/playwright/actor and Scranton native Amy Wilson will be bringing her acclaimed hit show Mother Load to Scranton Cultural Center on Saturday, February 19th 2011. To purchase tickets, which includes a post-show meet-and-greet, click here.

Wilson is also the author of the bestselling book When Did I Get Like This?, which features tons of references to Scranton. To place a hold, click here.

For more information on her Amy Wilson's upcoming return to Scranton, click here.

Click here for a previous blog entry on Amy Wilson.

http://motherloadshow.com/
www.AmyWilson.com
http://twitter.com/amywlsn

Broadway's "Next Fall" To End Run July 4, 2010; Includes Reference to Scranton

It has been announced that the Broadway run of the play Next Fall, which features a brief reference to Scranton, will end on Sunday, July 4, 2010 after 26 previews and 132 regular performances.

Next Fall, which opened on March 11, 2010, is a new play written by actor Geoffrey Nauffts (Broadway's A Few Good Men) and produced by Elton John and David Furnish. It tells the humorous and touching story of a gay couple whose five-year relationship is put to the test when an accident changes both their lives and the lives of those around them.

At some point in the play, one of the characters describes another's appearance as "looking like a lesbian from Scranton."

To purchase tickets, click here.

www.nextfallbroadway.com

www.twitter.com/nextfall