'Follies' in Los Angeles will be without Bernadette Peters

When the revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Follies" comes to the Ahamanson Theatre in the spring it reportedly will be without one of its leading ladies, Bernadette Peters. Playbill.com is reporting that Peters wishes to honor her obligations for concert performances that conflict with the Ahmanson dates.

Peters had postponed some concerts when "Follies" moved to Broadway after a run at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The actress will finish with "Follies" on Broadway when it closes on Jan. 22.

One of her upcoming concerts will be at the Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge on March 3.

It's not yet known if the rest of the Broadway cast -- including Elaine Page, Jan Maxwell, Jayne Houdyshell and Danny Burstein -- will come to Los Angeles.

“Follies,” the 1971 musical by Sondheim and James Goldman, will play at the Ahmanson May 9-June 9 (with previews starting May 3), filling a gap in the season created when a planned revival of “Funny Girl” fell through.

According to Peters' website, she has performances that would conflict with the Ahmanson run in Indiana, Pa.; Boston; Burlington, Vt.; and Newark, N.J.

RELATED:

Ahmanson lands Broadway's 'Follies' to fill gap in its season

Whistle while you direct

'Follies' on Broadway: What did the critics think?

-- Sherry Stern

Photo: Bernadette Peters performs in "Follies." Credit: Joan Marcus

'Work of Art' recap: The wheels come off

In Wednesday night's episode of Bravo's "Work of Art," we learned that artists living in New York City are somehow immune to car culture just because they don't drive. The fact that New Yorkers spend their walking hours dodging traffic was somehow lost on several of the contestants.

So some struggled with finding inspiration in the challenge for Episode 7: creating a work of art from pieces of a deconstructed Fiat, with a $25,000 prize on the line. Performance artist and automotive designer Liz Cohen was the guest judge.

One artist who didn't struggle was Sarah, who quickly skinned a Fiat seat and mounted the material for a sort of schematic/Rorschach test.

Though Dusty and Young couldn't repeat their victory of last week, both created good enough works to move on to the next episode.

(Spoiler alert: Stop reading now if you don't want to know who won and who was eliminated in the  episode.)

A cheeky message from Elvis Costello says give the gift of jazz

Elvis Costello gives a tip of his fedora to an oldie but goodie, the inimitable Louis Armstrong. As our sister blog Pop & Hiss reports, Costello and his team recently objected to the $339.98 list price for his CD  package called "The Return Of The Spectacular Spinning Songbook." The message on www.elviscostello.com suggests that "the price appears to be either a misprint or a satire."

So where's a Costello fan to turn for gift-giving? The post has a suggestion:

If you want to buy something special for your loved one at this time of seasonal giving, we suggest, “Ambassador Of Jazz” -- a cute little imitation suitcase containing ten re-mastered albums by one of the most beautiful and loving revolutionaries who ever lived -- Louis Armstrong.

The box should be available for under one hundred and fifty American dollars and includes a number of other tricks and treats.

Frankly the music is vastly superior.

Read the full post here from Pop and Hiss.

RELATED:

Top 20 gift ideas for your favorite culture monster

Grammys: Jazz nominees mix fresh faces with familiar reliables

KCET's 'Live @ the Ford' brings the Angel City Jazz Festival home

-- Sherry Stern

twitter.com/sherrystern

Photo: Louis Armstrong 

 

A bit of schizophrenia caught on a Broadway marquee

[Updated 6:10 p.m. Friday] When we spotted this image postedby blogger Paul Winkler we first thought he had captured an image of the Imperial Theatre's marquee with an old logo for "Funny Girl" covered up by a new sign for "Nice Work if You Can Get It." 

But Winkler explains the image was of his own making and fanciful imagination, playing off last week's  abrupt  halt of "Funny Girl."

"The original photo of the Imperial Theatre marquee, which I did not take, actually had the 'August: Osage County' logo on it," Winkler writes in an email. "I added the 'Funny Girl' one FIRST and added the 'X' cause of the quick change. Then I put the 'Nice Work' title on top."

You might notice the "Nice Work' typography is borrowed from the signage for last season's short-lived "Catch Me If You Can."

Winkler's final touch was adding "The Gershwins'" to the 'Nice Work If You Can Get It" logo since that 2012 new musical will feature the music of George and Ira. Winkler some had fun playing off the new version of "Porgy and Bess," which is officially called "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess."

 

RELATED:

Scramble to find 'Funny Girl' replacement

'Funny Girl' revival postponed indefinitely for L.A. and Broadway

Matthew Broderick, George and Ira Gershwin heading back to Broadway

-- Sherry Stern

twitter.com/sherrystern

Photo credit: Paul Winkler / PaulWinklerBlog.com

 

'Funny Girl' revival postponed indefinitely for L.A. and Broadway

Michael O'Keefe, Roger Bart join Whitford for Pasadena's 'Art'

It wasn't long ago that the Pasadena Playhouse was struggling to survive, and Friday it's announcing a solid team for its revival of Yasmina Reza's 1998 Tony-winning play, "Art." Michael O'Keefe and Roger Bart are joining the previously announced Bradley Whitford.

"With Bradley, Michael, and Roger I have what can simply be referred to as a director's dream,"  director David Lee said in the announcement.

O’Keefe is best known from his TV and movie performances, including in "Caddyshack," "Michael Clayton" and "The Great Santini." His television credits include a long stint on "Roseanne."  On stage O'Keefe has appeared in the national tour of the Aaron Sorkin play "A Few Good Men" and in the Broadway productions of "Reckless," "Side Man" and "The Fifth of July."

Perhaps Bart's most indelible role was as Carmen Ghia in the original Broadway cast of "The Producers." On screen he has appeared on TV's “The Event”  and “Desperate Housewives,” among many film and television roles.

Whitford is best known for his role as Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on TV's “The West Wing”  and recently may have been Red John in the series “The Mentalist.”  In 2008, he also starred in the Broadway production of "Boeing Boeing."

'Work of Art' recap: All the news that fits

Episode 5 of Bravo's reality show "Work of Art" was, as host China Chow explained, "ripped from the headlines." The nine remaining contestants were taken to the printing plant of the New York Times and given 10 minutes to rummage through piles of old newspapers. They were asked to find a headline to inspire and incorporate into their work of art.

Although mentor Simon de Pury announced that immunity would no longer be given to the winning artist, he had some good news: The winner of the challenge would receive $20,000. The stereotype of the starving artist was proved true as the contestants spoke emotionally of what the prize would mean to them.

The artists also were told the winning work would be displayed at the New York Times headquarters in Manhattan, though later in the show the winning work appeared to be in some kind of meeting room, not in the building's lobby.

Most of the artists were drawn to news stories, but the headlines they selected ran the gamut, including stories about the economy, the war in Libya, a serial killer, madness, health insurance, the nuclear meltdown in Japan and a review of "Sister Act."

When the judging began, the fashion forward Chow appeared in an on-the-mark black and white dress that looked like flowing newspaper pages.

Not surprisingly the judges pulled out countless newspaper puns, including saying of one artwork that "someone buried the lead on this."

(Spoiler alert: stop reading now if you don't want to know who won and who was eliminated in the  episode.)

Monster Mash: Christie’s auction breaks record; 'Spider-Man' suit

Auction turnaround: Christie's sold 82 works of art for $247.59 million on Tuesday, including a world auction record of $43.2 million for Pop Art by Roy Lichtenstein. (New York Times)

Turn on the lawyers: Director Julie Taymor, who was fired as the creative leader of "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark," has sued the show's producers. (Los Angeles Times)

Mother's pain: The mother of Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has accused officials of hounding her son, describing their approach as "creepy, crooked, evil." (Guardian)

Saving the day: Grants for the Arts -- a program funded by a small surcharge on every hotel bill -- is  keeping San Francisco culture afloat. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Taking a stand: The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art did something unusual: It effectively came out in favor of marriage equality. (Modern Art Notes)

New festival: The Segerstrom Center for the Arts is announcing its first "Off Center Festival"  with minimalism and eclecticism among the creative approaches. (Los Angeles Times)

Musically minded: Conductor Mark Wigglesworth on what makes some works more popular than others. (Gramophone)

Cheers: Who are the most influential people in London theater, dance, and art and design? (London Evening Standard)

Up and comers: Annaleigh Ashford and MJ Rodriguez of "Rent," Jennifer Damiano of "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" and Josh Grisetti of "Enter Laughing" are finalists for the Clive Barnes Award. (Playbill)

New world: Four ways that YouTube has changed Broadway. (Mashable)

Also in the L.A. Times: A review of "Hope: Part II of a Mexican Trilogy" at Los Angeles Theater Center, and catching up with computer music pioneer Carl Stone.

-- Sherry Stern

Image: "I Can See the Whole Room … and There's Nobody in It!" (1961) by Roy Lichtenstein sold for a record $43.2 million. Credit: Christie's

Fifty years ago this fall, San Francisco leaders got a novel idea to put a small surcharge on every hotel bill to fund city arts programs. Grants for the Arts

'Funny Girl' will open on Broadway in April after Ahmanson run

We already have our Fanny Brice (Lauren Ambrose) and our Nick Arnstein (Bobby Cannavale). We have our opening in Los Angeles (Feb. 1 at the Ahmanson Theatre). And today we have our Broadway opening (April 2012) for the revival of "Funny Girl."

The new "Funny Girl" will be directed Bartlett Sher, who staged the acclaimed 2008 Broadway revival of "South Pacific."

It's common for a play to have a pre-Broadway run in Los Angeles (or Chicago or Seattle), but not as common for the Broadway date to be announced before the out-of-town production has begun. So that would imply obvious confidence in this production, even if Ambrose does not fit the Fanny Brice/Barbra Streisand mold of the original 1964 hit musical, with its music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Bob Merrill.

The new production, the first Broadway revival of "Funny Girl," will play at the Imperial Theatre on 45th Street.

While we wait, sample the video of Ambrose and her band singing “My Man” from "Funny Girl" at Joe’s Pub in 2010.

RELATED:

A Fanny Brice mini-tour of L.A.

Lauren Ambrose is 'Funny Girl' at the Ahmanson Theatre

Bobby Cannavale to join Lauren Ambrose in 'Funny Girl' revival

-- Sherry Stern

Photos: Lauren Abrose and Bobby Cannavale. Credit: Associated Press

 

Yo-Yo Ma, Barbara Cook tapped for Kennedy Center Honors

The 34th annual Kennedy Center Honors have announced this year's honorees and as always, arts A-listers will share the evening with pop culture icons. The Dec. 4 ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will celebrate singer Barbara Cook, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, saxophonist and composer Sonny Rollins, singer and songwriter Neil Diamond and actress Meryl Streep.

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will be seated with the honorees during the televised ceremony, traditionally a star-laden evening of colorful speeches and performances.

“This year, the Kennedy Center celebrates its 40th anniversary by selecting five extraordinary
individuals whose collective artistry has contributed significantly to the cultural life of our nation and
the world,” said Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein.

“With her sublime voice and rich performances, Barbara Cook has defined all that is best and brightest in the Great American Songbook. Neil Diamond’s songwriting genius has created one of the most enduring catalogs of American popular music and his live performances have captivated audiences for five decades.

"Yo-Yo Ma’s sterling musicianship makes him one of the most versatile and popular classical music performers in the world and his Silk Road Project has inspired students across the world to love and honor music. Saxophonist Sonny Rollins’ masterful improvisation and powerful presence have infused the truly American art form of jazz with passion and energy. The sheer brilliance and breadth of Meryl Streep’s performances count as one of the most exhilarating cultural spectacles of our time.”

Southern California audiences will have a chance to see Rollins this month at UCLA Live (Sept. 22) and Segerstrom Hall (Sept. 25). Barbara Cook will return to the L.A. area in May for a performance at the Valley Performing Arts Center.

-- Sherry Stern

Photo: Yo-Yo-Ma playing with the Silk Road Ensemble at Walt Disney Concert Hall in April. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

 

Opera rules to live by, according to Twitter

A lively hashtag on Twitter is #operarulestoliveby, instigated by the Twitter account of the Royal Opera House. Some of the most clever entries playfully tweak the predictably of opera's plots.

Below are some of our favorites, starting with two from Bob Kingston of Portland, who tweets under the name @operaskank.

Share your personal choices in the comments.

 

-- Sherry Stern

@sherrystern

Photo: The Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden. Credit: Reuters