Head Over Heels

Take one 16th century play. Add one 1980's pop group. Sprinkle some genderqueer aesthetic. And voila! Head Over Heels was considered too slight for Broadway but it's the ideal fit for a black box theater during Pride season. One caveat: if you're not a fan of the Gogo's going in, the repetitive song arrangements won't change your mind here. The clowns belt and the sexy chorus dances but the plot stops dead every time there's a song.

The Chicago premiere runs July 1-August 25. Details are here.

Teddy and Alice

Irving Berlin's fictional president was immersed in a light family sitcom. Teddy and Alice puts historical figures in a light family sitcom, then dials up the creepy.

The New York Times wrote:  "Teddy sees his daughter as the reincarnation of his beloved first wife and refuses to share her with others - never mind that such monopolistic practices are in violation of the newly passed Sherman antitrust act. A happy ending can arrive only when Alice's mother returns from the grave to encourage Teddy to give up the ghost. This exorcism, unfortunately, takes considerably longer to accomplish than the charge up San Juan Hill."

Only in the theater folks. Only in the theater.

Bite: A Pucking Queer Cabaret

Midsummer Night's Dream lends itself well to a queer narrative. The fairy potion allows lovers to mix and match in any combination. Directors can paint the show light and spunky or dark and erotic. Still there's only so dark it can go. Midsummer pairs off all the pretty young things. Some of us relate better to the handful of bitter singles at the end of Twelfth Night.

Bite sets the fairies and lovers in a contemporary gay bar, swapping Shakespeare's prose for modern slang and pop hits. It works. Love and lust, requited and unrequited, are universal. Unlike Shakespeare, Bite has Titania take over the narrative midway. She wants the lovers to share her pain and disillusionment. For some love is the sense of being understood. Of being known. It all ends happier than I expected but gave me plenty to ponder.

All Shook Up

Since I've posted two Elvis-themed musicals this week, I figured I'd add a third.

All Shook Up didn't bring much new to the table. Twelfth Night has already inspired a rock musical and a jukebox musical. Hairspray handled inter-racial teen dating better two years prior and Broadway critics were tired of jukebox musicals in 2005.

It is refreshing, and still rare, to see a bisexual leading man in a musical comedy. Chad's coming out ballad was played for laughs but the feelings were sincere. Unlike most adaptations his bisexuality didn't vanish when he learned Ed's true identity. The role wasn't great but it launched the career of Cheyenne Jackson. He would go on to better things.

Return to the Forbidden Planet

Few works symbolize the affection Britons hold for the period more than "Return to the Forbidden Planet." This West End hit, scheduled to open in New York next Sunday at the Variety Arts Theater Off Broadway, is based on the 1956 sci-fi movie "Forbidden Planet" and relocates the plot of "The Tempest" to outer space. But its pulling power derives principally from its exhortation to the audience to sing, clap and dance to vintage hits such as "Great Balls of Fire" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll."... In London, to the disgust of the impresario Cameron Mackintosh, "Forbidden Planet" beat his production of "Miss Saigon" for the 1990 Olivier Award for Best Musical. ~ New York Times. 1991.

When I wrote it, it was the plot that came first and then the songs suggested themselves. I didn’t try and write a scene around Great Balls of Fire. I took Shakespeare’s actual tempest scene in The Tempest and thought “What’s the obvious song?” If you’re in outer space it’s going to be an asteroid storm so therefore it’s obvious to use Jerry Lee Lewis’s Great Balls of Fire, which is cut around Shakespeare’s tempest scene. ~ Bob Carlton Interview. 2015.

Tony Awards 2015 : The Nominees Aren't...

It's Tony season! Before I look at the nominees for best musical I wanted to take a quick look at the new musicals that weren't nominated in this category.

Were they robbed or was justice served? Sound off in the comments.

Bullets Over Broadway

Let's get caught up on the new musicals before Sunday's Tony Awards!

Woody Allen adapted his 1994 film faithfully for the 2014 musical Bullets Over Broadway. Rather than an original score they opted for 1920's standards... a choice that proved controversial.

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Nominated for 6 Tony Awards including Best Book of a Musical.