* A few quick hits today:
THE Nederlanders recently announced that they’ve teamed up with Gloria Estefan and her husband, Emilio, to bring the couple’s life story to Broadway.
The Estefans raised themselves up from poverty in Cuba to become two of the musical world’s hottest sensations. Gloria has sold more than 100 million records, and Emilio, as a producer, shaped the careers of Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.
There was talk that Gloria herself would appear in the show, but by the time this thing comes together — there’s no writer or director yet — I doubt she’ll be keen to clock eight performances a week.
The trick with this sort of musical is to tell the truth — warts and all. The gold standard is “Jersey Boys,” the story of the Four Seasons.
Not long ago, Frankie Valli told me that he never thought of “Jersey Boys” as a musical. He thought of it as a play that happened to be about four guys who formed a singing group. He believes the show works so well because he spoke candidly to writers Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman about the group’s feuds, financial problems and mob connections.
Berry Gordy’s going through this right now over at “Motown,” which begins Monday at the Lunt-Fontanne. I’m told his first draft was a bit tame, but now, with an assist from writer Dick Scanlan, he’s trying to address some of the more controversial aspects of the Motown story.
We’ll be watching.
Everybody agrees that the best part of this year’s Oscars was the great Shirley Bassey belting out “Goldfinger.”
Which got me thinking: Why doesn’t she come to Broadway for a limited engagement? After all, Barry Manilow just cleaned up at the St. James in just six weeks.
Bassey’s audience is certainly the Broadway crowd, and she hasn’t appeared on the Great White Way since a concert at the Marquis back in 1986.
At 76, her voice is in fine shape, as she proved at the Oscars. She still has an immense theatrical presence, and she’s got a fantastic repertoire, from Bond to Broadway to “I Capricorn” (one of my favorites).
Bassey on Broadway.
I’m there!
Here’s a fun detail making the rounds about Shia LaBeouf’s rehearsal antics at “Orphans”: He showed up one day carrying a knife. And I don’t mean a Swiss Army knife. It was more like a hunting knife, a source says.
For some inexplicable reason, he thought his character would carry a hunting knife, and he insisted on rehearsing with it in hand.
Alec Baldwin was alarmed, to say the least. And director Dan Sullivan was unnerved. It was shortly after the knife incident that Sullivan gave LaBeouf the hook.
“Orphans” has pushed back its opening date to give Ben Foster a few more weeks to get up to speed. It will open April 18, the same night as the revival of Frank Wildhorn’s “Jekyll & Hyde.”
I’m told the “Jekyll & Hyde” producers don’t mind sharing the date. They’re expecting a bloodbath from the critics — anything with Wildhorn’s name attached to it makes the critics reach for their Shia LaBeouf knife — and they welcome the distraction of “Orphans,” which will probably get bigger play that day.
As a “Jekyll & Hyde” source says: “We’re not going for an audience that reads critics.”
Actually, with a Wildhorn show, it’s best to go for an audience that can’t read at all.
Good word-of-mouth is already starting to pour forth from the Shubert Theatre, where “Matilda” has played a handful of previews. I’m told the show, which got raves in London, is sharper and leaner on Broadway.
Director Matthew Warchus, who staged the excellent revival of “The Norman Conquests” a few seasons back, is in total command.
In fact, he’s got a portable command station — complete with several computer screens — that’s set up for him each day at rehearsal.
The cast has dubbed him “Captain Kirk.”