Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Random Theatrics

"Ballet and music fans at home and abroad are eagerly awaiting Thursday evening's premiere of the Alberta Ballet production set to the artwork and music of Joni Mitchell."
- CBC.ca Arts - February 8, 2007


"Canadian director David Cronenberg has teamed up with tenor Placido Domingo and Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore to create an opera based on Cronenberg's 1986 movie, The Fly."
- CBC.ca Arts - February 17, 2007


Today’s impresarios don’t wait for artistic minds to create. Instead they randomly generate ideas for new theatrical and musical creations. Check out these upcoming productions:


The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Broadway meets Wall Street in this highly entertaining musical version of everybody’s favorite self-help tome. Slated for a fall opening in the famed Gershwin Theatre, "7 Habits" features a storyline by author Steven R. Covey and a half dozen catchy tunes by the self-help composing team of Marvin Hamlisch and Barry Manilow. From the haunting "Time Management Matrix" to the show-stopping "Sell! Sell! Sell!", this soon-to-be-blockbuster will have patrons humming themselves to a brand new life.


Marley and Me
Not since "Cats" has there been an anthropomorphic animal production that touches the soul like "Marley and Me." This elaborate modern dance production features the steps and missteps of America’s favorite dog as presented by the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Backed by a twenty-member canine chorus, Marley sings and dances his way into your heart as the entire troupe does a marvelous job of portraying a dog’s life through dance. Eating, chewing, biting, barking and outright disobedience. They’re all brought to life on the dance stage thanks to the unique choreography of the soon-to-be-famous team of Fido and Rex. Opens October 5th for a limited engagement at the Tribeca Performing Acts Center and Animal Shelter.


Spaceballs
The Metropolitan Opera Company is thrilled to announce that it will be adapting the venerable film comedy "Spaceballs" to the stage for its upcoming season. "We have long admired the cinematic work of Mr. Mel Brooks," said the Met’s artistic director. "First with ‘The Producers’ and more recently with ‘Young Frankenstein’, he has demonstrated a proven track record when it comes to translating film to live theater. We anticipate similar success with our operatic version of one of the lesser known works from his oeuvre." Rick Moranis is expected to reprise his role as Dark Helmet. Sadly, Joan Rivers is reportedly unavailable for the part of Dot Matrix but negotiations are underway to engage Dom DeLuise to sing the role of Pizza the Hutt.


Harry Potter’s Planets Like Gustav Holst’s famed seven-movement orchestral suite, the seven books of the Harry Potter series lend themselves perfectly to a new symphonic work. The New York Philharmonic will perform the world premiere of this five-hour piece jointly conducted by Loren Maazel and Sting. J. K. Rowling composed the score which reportedly helped fill the empty days for the retired author after the self-inflicted death of her favorite character Dumbledore. Each movement is named after one of the seven Harry Potter books except for the finale which is called "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Unending Residuals."


The CBS Evening News
The story of the Tiffany network’s famed newscast told in dance by the Joffrey Ballet. The principal dancers play the roles of the CBS anchors from Edward R. Murrow to Katie Couric while dancing with portable teleprompters. Relive American history in the televised era through elaborately mimed renditions of everything from the Bay of Pigs fiasco to the fall of the Berlin Wall. It’s history like you’ve never seen it before and likely will never see it again.


Springtime for Hitler
This Broadway season promises to be wall-to-wall Mel Brooks with another celluloid to stage transformation. But instead of adapting another of Mr. Brooks’s movies, famed producer Harold Prince has captured the "play within the play", the unexpected smash musical at the heart of "The Producers." Not satisfied with simply staging the original Nazi-themed musical, Prince has rewritten the work as a serious drama. Look for either Richard Gere or Tony Danza to be cast as the misunderstood führer.

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