In Stage Door, our semi-weekly live performance column, we cover theater news that's directly or merely ever-so-slightly connected to film and television... mostly because theater is heaven. If you can manage to see it.
Photos from Sweeney Todd the movie ought not to be read as an endorsement of actors who can't sing starring in musicals.
It is this blog's policy never to endorse Kickstarter projects because if you start, where do you stop? But since this one is about to be fully funded, I have to share my excitement. The Tooting Arts Club, a site specific theater company in London had a brilliant idea. They're staging a full production (with Stephen Sondheim's blessing) of Sweeney Todd in an actual old pie shop with help from the barber shop across the street in October. There are only 32 seats in the shop so tickets will be hard to come by. I'm tempted to buy a plane ticket just to see how they pull this off.
Drag queens and old ladies after the jump...
I'll be reporting on a new Broadway show with an Oscar Best Picture connection soon but the only live performance I've been to recently was "Terminally Delightful" starring BenDeLaCreme. It was a fun solo show at the Laurie Beechman theater (through August 29th). The theater is underneath a restaurant but there are so many drag queens on its stages throughout the year that I've come to picture endless subterranean floors underneath it like a bedazzled Hellmouth spitting out only famous queens in full regalia. BenDeLaCreme featured a bit too much reliance on RuPaul's Drag Race referencing for my tastes (just perform!) but she was funny and the stuff that veered into the fully theatrical like a split-identity dance number was excitingly off its rocker.
And how's this this for a cross-media double dipping...
Israel Horovitz's My Old Lady which is coming to theaters in September 10th (we've already discussed the trailer) is also hitting the stage in Palm Beach from December 5th through January 4th. Oscar winner Estelle Parsons will play the lead role, the one everyone will soon refer to as 'the Maggie Smith part'. Parsons, who has always been a firecracker memorable actress for better (Rachel Rachel) and worse (Bonnie & Clyde), has been working a lot on stage recently including her Tony nominated performance in Velocity of Autumn and a touring production of August: Osage County (as awful matriarch Violet), is still going strong at 90 years young. Theater is not remotely as physically easy as acting for the camera so I don't know how she and Angela Lansbury do it but more power to them.
Have you ever seen a live performance of My Old Lady or Sweeney Todd ?