THE spring theater season is about to start, so let’s examine the terrain, handicap the contenders, fan some rumors and raise expectations so we can dash them later.
On the musical front there has been a seismic shift: “Sweet Smell of Success,” once the show to beat, is now the show to fix.
The $10 million musical – about power-mad gossip columnist J.J. Hunsecker and sycophantic press agent Sydney Falco – is undergoing a fairly major overhaul after Chicago critics gave it a lukewarm reception.
There’s a tussle going on over how to end the show. One camp is pushing for a darker denouement (i.e., Hunsecker wins); the other wants Hunsecker to get his comeuppance.
Here’s my advice: Stop being so namby-pamby about Hunsecker. Embrace his glorious cynicism. Sept. 11 notwithstanding, audiences can be pretty cynical, and they love – even root for – a villain who is polished, witty and clever.
“Sweet Smell’s” troubles have opened the way for less hyped shows to come to the fore.
The obvious beneficiary: “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” which is based on the 1967 movie of the same title about a Midwestern girl who becomes a Manhattan flapper.
The show bills itself as the “only new musical comedy” of the season.
There is, of course, a vast audience for musical comedies, and if “Millie” is any good, it could do quite nicely for its investors.
But with no stars in the cast, the $10 million show will be at the critics’ mercy.
The danger is that they will find it hopelessly old-fashioned, comparing it unfavorably with “Urinetown,” whose smug self-consciousness some of them find hip and edgy.
A sleeper to keep your eye on is “One Mo’ Time,” the New Orleans jazz musical conceived by the talented song-and-dance man Vernel Bagneris.
Originally produced at the Village Gate in 1979, “One Mo’ Time” technically qualifies as a new musical, since it has never been performed on Broadway.
It’s certainly a long shot for Tony glory, but a dog-and-pony show staged for the theater press this week was great fun.
Bagneris and his co-stars – Rosalind Brown, B.J. Crosby and Roz Ryan – joyously performed some of the standards, such as “There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight” and “Down in Honky Tonk Town.”
Any blockbusters on the horizon?
Yes: “Oklahoma!,” which has quietly racked up a $15 million advance.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, brilliantly staged by Trevor Nunn and Susan Stroman, was a triumph in London a few years ago and will no doubt repeat its success over here.
Nunn’s staging is so fresh, so inventive – he mines the show’s surprisingly dark and erotic side – that this “Oklahoma!” almost feels like a new musical.
Another revival – “Into the Woods” – is generating some good buzz in La Jolla and might give old Stephen (“I’ll See You in Court”) Sondheim something he hasn’t had in years: a hit.
On the play front, there’s not a lot to jump up and down about.
I think Edward Albee’s “The Goat” will be controversial and exciting, and surprisingly funny, given its subject matter (bestiality).
The big hit will be “The Graduate,” starring Kathleen Turner.
Advance sales are approaching $4 million, which should insulate the play against any negative reviews.
“The Crucible,” starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, is also selling tickets, though not as many as “The Graduate.”
With a budget of $2.2 million and a 16-week run (Liam has a movie), it’s hard to see how it will make any money.
Another challenge: squeezing all of the 200 or so producers billed above the title into the Virginia Theater on opening night.