Theater

[Detective Jim McLeod]

The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie is supposed to be coming to Broadway, finally but I cannot find any dates of performance yet. I had heard that it would be in 2023 but we only have a few weeks left.

I heard of this running continuously in London for 70 years, I have wanted to see it for a long time and will be first in line when the box office opens.

[txfilmfan]

The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie is supposed to be coming to Broadway, finally but I cannot find any dates of performance yet. I had heard that it would be in 2023 but we only have a few weeks left.

I heard of this running continuously in London for 70 years, I have wanted to see it for a long time and will be first in line when the box office opens.

Almost continuously. COVID interrupted the run in 2020. But it is by far the world's record holder for longest running play, as it's considered the same production as originally mounted in 1952. 29,000+ performances thus far...

The official US production's website is https://www.mousetrapbroadway.com/.

I don't think a cast has been announced (or venue, or dates, for that matter). Hope that's not an omen. My understanding is that the NYC production would be a limited run. When this was announced last year, the NY Times said there had been an off-Broadway production back in 1960, but this will be the first time for a Broadway run.

[BagelOnAPlate]

Once
You won't remember
If you said Hollywood, hers was the face you'd think of.

Her face
On every billboard
In just a single week she'd get ten thousand letters . . .

It has been announced that Jamie Lloyd’s acclaimed London revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Blvd will be transferring to Broadway some time in 2024!
In addition to Nicole Scherzinger reprising her role as Norma Desmond, the other three principal members of the London cast will be going with her to New York: Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, Grace Hodgett-Young as Betty Schaefer and David Thaxton as Max Von Mayerling.
(Some kind of deal must have been reached with Actors Equity.)

This is exciting news!
I'm especially interested in seeing David Thaxton as Max.

No dates or venue have been announced, but many are speculating that it will premiere in the fall.
I can't wait!

[Swithin]

Once
You won't remember
If you said Hollywood, hers was the face you'd think of.

Her face
On every billboard
In just a single week she'd get ten thousand letters . . .

It has been announced that Jamie Lloyd’s acclaimed London revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Blvd will be transferring to Broadway some time in 2024!
In addition to Nicole Scherzinger reprising her role as Norma Desmond, the other three principal members of the London cast will be going with her to New York: Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, Grace Hodgett-Young as Betty Schaefer and David Thaxton as Max Von Mayerling.
(Some kind of deal must have been reached with Actors Equity.)

This is exciting news!
I'm especially interested in seeing David Thaxton as Max.

No dates or venue have been announced, but many are speculating that it will premiere in the fall.
I can't wait!

David Thaxton was great!

[BagelOnAPlate]

Once
You won't remember
If you said Hollywood, hers was the face you'd think of.

Her face
On every billboard
In just a single week she'd get ten thousand letters . . .

It has been announced that Jamie Lloyd’s acclaimed London revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Blvd will be transferring to Broadway some time in 2024!
In addition to Nicole Scherzinger reprising her role as Norma Desmond, the other three principal members of the London cast will be going with her to New York: Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, Grace Hodgett-Young as Betty Schaefer and David Thaxton as Max Von Mayerling.
(Some kind of deal must have been reached with Actors Equity.)

This is exciting news!
I'm especially interested in seeing David Thaxton as Max.

No dates or venue have been announced, but many are speculating that it will premiere in the fall.
I can't wait!

David Thaxton was great!

It's rumored that there's a cast recording of Jamie Lloyd's London Sunset Blvd revival in the works.
I hope the rumor turns out to be true!

In this revival the original key was restored to the end of "With One Look," the first big Norma Desmond song in the show, so audiences are hearing the final note of that song in the correct higher key for the first time since the world premiere production, which was also in London.
The key was modulated down two or three steps to accommodate Glenn Close in the American premiere production in Los Angeles. That's the production that ultimately transferred to Broadway, so we've been stuck with that awful modulation ever since.
Until now!



This time I'm staying.
I'm staying for good.
I'll be back where I was born to be.
With one look
I'll be me!

[Swithin]

Once
You won't remember
If you said Hollywood, hers was the face you'd think of.

Her face
On every billboard
In just a single week she'd get ten thousand letters . . .

It has been announced that Jamie Lloyd’s acclaimed London revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Blvd will be transferring to Broadway some time in 2024!
In addition to Nicole Scherzinger reprising her role as Norma Desmond, the other three principal members of the London cast will be going with her to New York: Tom Francis as Joe Gillis, Grace Hodgett-Young as Betty Schaefer and David Thaxton as Max Von Mayerling.
(Some kind of deal must have been reached with Actors Equity.)

This is exciting news!
I'm especially interested in seeing David Thaxton as Max.

No dates or venue have been announced, but many are speculating that it will premiere in the fall.
I can't wait!

David Thaxton was great!

It's rumored that there's a cast recording of Jamie Lloyd's London Sunset Blvd revival in the works.
I hope the rumor turns out to be true!

In this revival the original key was restored to the end of "With One Look," the first big Norma Desmond song in the show, so audiences are hearing the final note of that song in the correct higher key for the first time since the world premiere production, which was also in London.
The key was modulated down two or three steps to accommodate Glenn Close in the American premiere production in Los Angeles. That's the production that ultimately transferred to Broadway, so we've been stuck with that awful modulation ever since.
Until now!



This time I'm staying.
I'm staying for good.
I'll be back where I was born to be.
With one look
I'll be me!

Bagel,

I don't know if you follow the UK TheatreBoard site, which is a prime site for discussion of mostly British theater. There's a whole long thread (runs from May 2023 up to right now) about Sunset Blvd. Here's a link to it:

https://theatreboard.co.uk/thread/10677 ... eatre-2023

[Swithin]

Speaking of intense women, I just booked to see a production of The Duchess of Malfi at Shakespeare's Globe/Wanamaker Playhouse in London in March. I've seen three great Duchesses: Eleanor Bron at London's National Theatre; Harriet Walter (RSC), and Eve Best at the Old Vic. What I had forgotten was that Eve Best (who was my favorite of those three great ladies) was directed by Jamie Lloyd, director of Sunset Blvd. I've seen a lot of his work: The Hothouse, Richard III, The Ruling Class, Betrayal, The Homecoming, The Pride, and Sunset Blvd., but I had forgotten that he had directed that brilliant production of The Duchess of Malfi. I'll never forget the endless strangling scene, the whole audience was on the edge of their seats!


Eve Best as the Duchess

[Swithin]

The Duchess of Malfi reads so well, but I've never been fortunate enough to see a production. Did not know that Eleanor Bron did serious roles like that. Have always thought of her as a comic actress.

Bron has had quite a classical career on stage. She played that Duchess in 1985. A few years later, also at the National Theater, she played Isabella in The White Devil, another Jacobean tragedy. Both plays are by John Webster.


Eleanor Bron, Ian McKellen in The Duchess of Malfi

[Swithin]

The Duchess of Malfi reads so well, but I've never been fortunate enough to see a production. Did not know that Eleanor Bron did serious roles like that. Have always thought of her as a comic actress.

Bron has had quite a classical career on stage. She played that Duchess in 1985. A few years later, also at the National Theater, she played Isabella in The White Devil, another Jacobean tragedy. Both plays are by John Webster.


Eleanor Bron, Ian McKellen in The Duchess of Malfi

With Ian McKellen as Bosola? Seems like a great part for him.

As I recall, McKellen played Bosola with a Scottish accent. It was a rather stately production, so perhaps lacking the power of the other two that I've seen, but still impressive, with great acting, and memorable because it was the first production of the play that I've seen. I'm a big fan of Jacobean drama, having also seen two productions each of The White Devil and Tis Pity She's a Whore, as well as productions of The Changeling (with Miranda Richardson); The Broken Heart; Bussy D'Ambois; as well as a few others. I like Shakespeare's Jacobean-type plays as well, particularly Pericles, Measure for Measure, and Othello.

[Swithin]

I'm intrigued by this new play and hope to see it. It will be finishing its run a couple of days after I get to London in March. The characters are Alfred Hitchcock, Tippi Hedren, Vincent Price, and Michael Reeves. The Hampstead Theatre is one of my favorite London venues, and I always enjoy Jonathan Hyde's performances.

https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats- ... e-feature/

[Detective Jim McLeod]

I'm intrigued by this new play and hope to see it. It will be finishing its run a couple of days after I get to London in March. The characters are Alfred Hitchcock, Tippi Hedren, Vincent Price, and Michael Reeves. The Hampstead Theatre is one of my favorite London venues, and I always enjoy Jonathan Hyde's performances.

It does sound interesting, though I wonder why they would combine the two stories. The Hitchcock/Hedren story has been gone over again and again, but the Price/Reeves one is not as well known. Price has said in interviews that the volatile young director really "got our backs up" during the shoot. Reeves did not want Price for the film (he preferred Donald Pleasence) and was did not hide his contempt for the veteran actor. Price was later understanding when he heard of Reeves' battle with depression and drugs.

[BagelOnAPlate]

David Thaxton was great!

It's rumored that there's a cast recording of Jamie Lloyd's London Sunset Blvd revival in the works.
I hope the rumor turns out to be true!

In this revival the original key was restored to the end of "With One Look," the first big Norma Desmond song in the show, so audiences are hearing the final note of that song in the correct higher key for the first time since the world premiere production, which was also in London.
The key was modulated down two or three steps to accommodate Glenn Close in the American premiere production in Los Angeles. That's the production that ultimately transferred to Broadway, so we've been stuck with that awful modulation ever since.
Until now!



This time I'm staying.
I'm staying for good.
I'll be back where I was born to be.
With one look
I'll be me!

Bagel,

I don't know if you follow the UK TheatreBoard site, which is a prime site for discussion of mostly British theater. There's a whole long thread (runs from May 2023 up to right now) about Sunset Blvd. Here's a link to it:

https://theatreboard.co.uk/thread/10677 ... eatre-2023

Thanks for sharing this link.
I don't follow this site.

It's amazing how dismissive the posters were of Jamie Lloyd and Nicole Scherzinger initially!
They both showed everyone!

[BagelOnAPlate]

"New Ways To Dream"
One of my favorite songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Blvd.
It includes a piece of music that is incorporated in other songs throughout the score.




Joan of Arc.
Look at my face!
Isn't it strong?
There in the dark
Up on the screen
Where I belong.
We'll show them all!
Nothing has changed.
We'll give the world
New ways to dream.
Everyone needs
New ways to dream.