Has anyone seen "Jerusalum"? Looks like it's gotten good reviews, but I'm curious what fellow Fodorites thought of it.

Iantana - you're welcome. The lead is adorable! Your daughter should love it.

hazel1 - I saw it. Mark Rylance gives an amazing performance. However, it's three hours of dialogue that at times is hard to fully comprehend because of the dialect and colloquialisms. And yet some of the character's tales were brilliant. If someone were visiting NY and this was their one opportunity to see a play and it was full price, I would say pass on it. Rylance was brilliant and yet it's hard for me to give it an unqualified recommendation. I have seen him twice before and I'm glad I got to see him again; however............

I'm in NYC now for the month and starting to see a ton of shows. Monday night I enjoyed the 28th Anniversary celebration at Carnegie Hall with lots of performers and last night saw Tyne Daly next to me at the Sardi's bar before a show and complimented her on her number on Monday night.
Last night was The Addams Family. I missed Nathan Lane. Roger Rees who has replaced him is a fine actor, but just plain NOT funny. Bibi Neuwirth was a delight, however, and Brad Oscar and Jackie Hoffman as well as the very funny Heidi Blickenstaff as the boyfriend's mother steal the show.

But I was surprised that no one yet has mentioned the Tony nominations which came out this week. Here's the full list:

http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/index.html

The biggest surprise may be the number of nominations for Scottsboro Boys, which may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but sure has garnered a lot of critical interest. Too bad it's gone (but not forgotten, with a West End opening coming up, and some discussion of a return to Broadway). I guess it sometimes takes a while for Kander and Ebb shows to gain audience recognition -- remember the first production of Chicago?

Quite an interesting article by Ben Brantley about the Tony nominations:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/20...t/?ref=theater

Yes, it is an interesting article. I especially like the part where he point blank admits it makes him "especially" happy that "big time movie stars" weren't nominated. Yes, Mr. Brantley, you've made us well aware that you don't like them taking over Broadway time and time again. Since the Broadway world almost revolves around Brantley as if he were a God, I wonder if his reminders of his dislike of performances by big time movie actors in the form of his reviews and articles actually helped make his wish come true.

On another note, saw the matinee of Good People today. Now that is a brilliant show -- great script, perfect dialogue (as David Lindsay-Abaire always gives us) and a wonderful cast and direction. Sad that it can't extend again due to Master Class coming in, but I look forward to that production starring Tyne Daly as well.

Patrick, I'm glad to see you agree with me about the brilliance of Good People. To me, it's what outstanding playwriting is all about and should be be Exhibit A in any playwriting class!
Patrick, however, I don't agree with your take on Brantley's comments about movie stars. He was not expressing a dislike for them. Rather, he was expressing pleasure that some top actors who are not big time stars did get nominated. Here's what he wrote:
"...There are a lot of them [male actors] who were not only eligible for Tony nominations but also worthy of them. I'm perfectly happy with the slate that made it, especially given that Joe Mantello (of 'The Normal Heart') and Bobby Cannavale ('Hat') aren't big-time movie stars like Ben Stiller and Robin Williams (who were not nominated, though they were just fine). Mark Ryland (of 'Jerusalem') and Brian Bedford ('The Importance of Being Earnest') aren't movie stars either, but they are something like theater royalty, albeit of different generations...."
I don't see that as him expressing a dislike of performances by big time movie actors, but rather citing pleasure at the recognition given four outstanding performances.

We saw 'The Book of Mormon' tonight - totally, over the top irreverent with a terrific cast. We all loved it. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it. (It makes 'Avenue Q' pre-school stuff.)

The playbill did not list any of the musical numbers; I never saw that before.

Howard, come on now. You read Brantley and KNOW that he has most often expressed his distaste of big name movie stars on Broadway. That's no secret. Read it again --he says he was especially happy that the ones who were nominated were NOT big time movie stars which really IS the same thing as saying he's glad the big name movie stars DIDN'T get nominated. He even mentioned two big time movie stars who weren't nominated -- clearly his way of saying "good, these guys weren't nominated".

It would be quite a different matter if he simply proclaimed his joy with the ones who were nominated, but by his specifically pointing out that they aren't big time movie stars it is clearly his way of saying that he's glad big time movie stars weren't nominated. It's kind of hard to ignore that. Otherwise what was the point in even mentioning big time movie stars?

cpg - thanks for the link. "...Hey, I like horses; I’ve even gone out with a couple..." ;)

So jealous that you saw "Book of Mormon"! I'm dying to go with my daughter during our trip (2 more weeks!) but I just can't justify the expense. $245+ per ticket. Guess I could try for rush/lottery tix~

have to add that the $245 "Book of Mormon" ticket is for an obstructed view seat!

At the Stephen Sondheim, is there a ramp to the Mezzanine or just stairs? DH can't do stairs very good - with a 47% frozen knee after operation that didn't work. But really have to see Anything Goes!

I believe there's no ramp to the Mezzanine at the Stephen Sondheim, but I can't say that with absolute certainty as my seats are down in the orchestra. There should be an elevator up to the Mezzanine level, though you might still have to negotiate fairly steep stairs to get to the seat. This might be worth investigating further, however, as this theater is a new-build and might be more fully accessible than in its prior life as the Henry Miller.

Actually, the website for the theatre says that the mezzanine is AT street level and you take an escalator down to the orchestra seating so it sounds like you could be in luck. I'll be going next Wed night and can check it out further. When are you going, Brahmama?

I'm amazed at how un-accessible theatres in NYC are. Yesterday for Good People I stood and waited while they found two security guards to lift a wheelchair up the four of five steps from the street lobby to the main lobby -- they don't even have a ramp there, which seemed amazing to me.

Doug,
Thanks for the reply - I guess a simple phone call might answer my question - or maybe not. Sometimes live people are a rarity on telephone lines.
Patrick,
Good to hear from you again and read your opinions! We are coming in on the 26th for 5 days. It would be great if you could check out the situation on Wed night.
Now that we need some basic accessiblity, esp while we are traveling, it is indeed amazing to see the lack of it. Before we needed it, I plead guilty to never noticing. But I still remember how grateful we were in Chicago when the buses "knelt" down for us and our bags!

Patrick, I think it's a matter of interpretation! Anyway, you know that we'll never agree about Brantley.....and I'll leave it at that!
Good to have to back in the city!

Yes, Howard. I was going to say that we are saying the same thing -- but in a different way. When a guy says I'm glad the guys who were nominated aren't big name stars -- I see it as he's glad that the ones who ARE big name stars weren't nominated. And you see it as he's glad the ones who were nominated AREN'T big name stars. But the bottom line is, isn't it really the same thing? Kind of looking at the glass as half full or half empty. I guess I tend to be the "half empty" observer in this case.

Brahmama, do you already have your tickets? If so where are you sitting and I'll check it out specifically. I'll be in front row Mezzanine on Wed. night. (my favorite seats for most musicals especially those with great choreography). And I agree with you about the difficulty of getting definite answers to such questions on the phone.

lantana - I'm baffled about the price of tix for Mormon. I paid $145 (inc those horrendous fees) and they were unobstructed - a regular orch seat. Are you talking about premium seats (front center orch)?

cpg - I guess word of mouth has been way too good ;)
I'm checking thru broadwaybox for a tight date range in late May.
Least expensive are $245 for obstructed view. There are mezz and orchestra seats for $700+ !!
Sadly, I'm out!

http://www.playbill.com/news/article...adc2340165%2C0

Arthur Laurents died.
Thanks to cpg I recognized him at West Side Story and got his autograph on my Playbill.

lantana - I looked on playbill.com and they offer premium seating at obscene prices for late May. There doesn't seem to be seats available at the regular (obscene price imo). I guess the producers have decided to scalp as well as produce. There is nothing that is worth $300 - $400 per seat for me.