In my periodic Tivo search for “keyword: musical,” I stumbled across an airing of High School Musical on the Disney Channel. I admit to being out of the loop on this phenomenon, which aired originally January 20, 2006, so I sought to remedy my ignorance by commiting the movie to my DVR.

Said the Times of the film’s release in the UK in 2006, “The story might seem hackneyed to anyone over 20, but High School Musical has caught the imagination of an army of American kids and is about to sweep the world.” And sweep the world, it did, with a 2007 sequel , a third installment on the way (see below), a stage show, a concert tour, a book series and an ice show.

To this viewer, nearly twice the Time’s recomended viewing age, (but still a twentysomething at heart) the journey of Troy, the Montague’ish basketball star, and Gabriella, the Capulet’ish brainiac, breaking out of their individual high school cliques to be swept up by the magic of (pop-infused) musical theatre was rife with cheesey dialogue and rampant stereotypes of just about every inhabitant of an American high school.

But as students start to confess in song their secret desires and talents (the honor student who break dances, the jock who bakes, the skateboarder dude who plays the cello) I began to understand the appeal this film has had to teenagers enmeshed in the torture chamber that is high school peer pressure.

And a few days after viewing the “pop up” version of this film on the Disney Channel, I stumbled across this news of the sequel to the sequel, or HMS3, to those (like me now) in the know.

From E! online: “After months of playing coy and holding out for approval of a final script, [Zac Efron] has at long last signed on to reprise his tween heartthrob role in High School Musical 3 for a $3 million payday, per Entertainment Weekly.

For weeks it’s been reported that Efron, along with [on-screen] girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale, were all seeking pay hikes for HSM3, which, unlike its TV-movie predecessors, is targeting a theatrical release.

Cameras roll on HSM3 in March, with Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman and Lucas Grabeel also due back.”

In the immortal words of Richard Maltby, Jr. “The story goes on…and on…and on…and on. And on!”

It seems that Thursday’s link to USA Today’s “insiders guide” to Disney’s new film, Enchanted, has disappeared from the net, so I thought I’d publish it here in an easy to digest post. Hat tip to Susan Wloszczyna for doing the research (or copying the press release) originally.

Here are several of the sources from Disney’s animation history that are referenced in Enchanted. I love this kind of stuff and wish I’d read the article before I’d seen the film.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
® Prince Edward (James Marsden) and Giselle (Amy Adams) sing of True Love’s Kiss, which is similar to “love’s first kiss” that awakens Snow White (and Sleeping Beauty). The tune also is reminiscent of I’m Wishing/One Song and Some Day My Prince Will Come.

® Giselle tumbles into a well like the one used by Snow White.

® While in Times Square, Giselle bumps into a scowling little person and cries out, “Grumpy,” thinking it’s one of the dwarfs.

® Giselle tidies up Robert’s messy apartment while singing Happy Working Song, which has echoes of Whistle While You Work.

® Susan Sarandon’s evil Narissa disguises herself as an old hag and offers Giselle a poisoned apple, just like Snow White’s Queen.

® A candy apple offered to Giselle by Narissa’s accomplice Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) bears a skull mark like the one seen in Snow White.

® Edward mistakes a television set for the Magic Mirror.

® Giselle falls into a comatose state like Snow White (and Sleeping Beauty)

Cinderella (1950)
® The soap bubbles during Happy Working Song show Giselle’s reflection, just as they do when Cinderella cleans.

® Giselle’s knack for turning curtains into dresses is similar to how mice Jaq and Gus make over an old gown for Cinderella.

® The last name of Robert’s fiancee, Nancy (Idina Menzel), is Tremaine, like Cinderella’s stepmother, Lady Tremaine.

® Giselle must receive true love’s kiss by midnight, which is Cinderella’s deadline at the ball.

® Giselle loses a glasslike slipper.

® Edward stays at The Grand Duke Hotel, named for the royal character.

Sleeping Beauty (1959)
® Giselle builds her dream prince with her animal pals, much like Princess Aurora’s forest friends use Prince Phillip’s clothes to pretend to be her imaginary beau.

® Giselle’s ability to sew a dress from curtains is the opposite of the fairies, who fumble about while creating a gown for Aurora.

® Narissa transforms into a fire-breathing dragon, just like the bad fairy Maleficent.

® Prince Edward’s appearance and demeanor are modeled on Prince Phillip.

The Little Mermaid (1989)
® As Giselle studies the fish tank at Robert’s workplace, Part of Your World is heard in the background.

® That’s How You Know features a calypso beat, just like Under the Sea and Kiss the Girl.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)
® A bell jar with a rose sits atop a table in Giselle’s cartoon tree house.

® While Giselle tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood to Robert’s daughter, Morgan, a Belle doll with sunglasses sits in a chair.

® Giselle and Robert waltz at the ball under a chandelier.

® Robert’s ball outfit recalls the Beast.

Rapunzel (2009)
® In a nod to the upcoming computer-animated fairy tale, a group of children in a Central Park band shell perform a stage version of Rapunzel during the song That’s How You Know.

And for the diehard Disney-philes:
® The troll who chases Giselle is modeled on the giant in the 1947 short Mickey and the Beanstalk. His loincloth is patched together with remnants of dresses worn by Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, and he’s wearing earring made of Ariel’s shells from The Little Mermaid.

® The restaurant where Giselle and Patrick have a “date” is called Bella Notte, after the song during the spaghetti-eating scene at Tony’s restaurant in Lady and the Tramp.

® The divorcing couple’s last name is Banks, like the family in Mary Poppins. The old lady feeing pigeons in the park is another Poppins reference.

® During some TV soap opera dialogue, the characters mentioned–Angela, Jerry and Ogden–refer to voice actors from Beauty and the Beast: Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Potts), Jerry Orbach (Lumiere) and David Ogden Stiers (Cogsworth).

® The journalist who interviews Giselle on TV is Mary Ilene Caselotti, named for the voice actress who did Sleeping Beauty (Mary Costa), Cinderella (Ilene Woods) and Snow While (Adriana Caselotti).

I’m not ashamed to admit that since moving to within a couple of hours of Orlando, I have spent a good deal of my vacation days at Disneyworld. On one visit there, I bought an “insiders” book that details little secrets that are hidden throughout Disneyworld, including hundreds of three-circled Mickey Mouse motifs that the original designers snuck into the architecture throughout the park.

Last night, I saw Disney’s latest film, Enchanted, and then stumbled upon a similar guide in USA Today that lists all of the little hidden treasures throughout the film, most of which went completely unnoticed by this usually observant moviegoer.

The film, about animated Disney characters running amok in New York City had incredible potential, but in this viewer’s opinion, it failed to rise to its premise. I wanted Disney to spoof itself in a way that didn’t require a insider’s guide to follow. I wanted to see the myriad hilarious situations that could have been created from a Disneyesque Princess and Prince being lost in New York. I wanted a belty Alan Menkin tune with waves that crash behind the mermaid just as the music swells, that I would be singing to myself for the next week or year.

Apparently the music in the film was meant to spoof other Disney film music, but it just didn’t occur to me that the “Happy Working Song” was meant to echo “Whistle While You Work.” And the calypso beat in “That’s How You Know” was not enough to summon “Under the Sea” for me.

And small details like Giselle’s reflection showing up in the cleaning bubbles like they do in Cinderella and the fact that Idina Menzel’s character’s last name is Tremaine, just like Cinderella’s stepmother eluded me.

Without the insider lowdown, the movie I experienced was a tepid version of Sleepless in Seattle with some cartoon characters thrown in to distract me from its formulaic construction. And I REALLY wanted to like it.

The film has all the stock characters of animated films (the evil queen, the wide eyed princess, the broad shouldered, prince with perfect teeth, the bumbling Englishman with bad teeth, and the talking chipmunk) and date films (the single dad, the lonely daughter seeking a surrogate mother, and the sensible career-oriented fiance, whom the dad thinks he loves until the spunky oddball who is immune to big city cynicism drops into his life).

The premise is that the evil queen (Susan Sarandon) banishes the potential princess (Amy Adams) from the animated world of Andalasia to New York City, (which is also animated but not in that way), in order to keep her from marrying her son (James Marsden) and inheriting the throne. Animated princess meets single dad (Patrick Dempsey) and both are changed by the interaction.

Of course it makes sense when she begins to doubt that Prince Edward (Marsden), whom she has known for a day, may not actually be her true love, but it was so darn predictable that I saw the end of the movie playing out an hour before it was over.

The cast is chock full of Broadway talent, which delighted the theatre geek in me to no end. Idina Mendel (Rent, Wicked) plays the jilted fiance, though she’s not given a whole lot to work with. Tonya Pinkins (Caroline or Change) even has a small role as one of Dempsey’s divorce clients. I didn’t recognize her until I saw her name in the credits. Marsden, who was fantastic as Corny Collins in the film of Hairspray, makes a charming Prince Charming, and Amy Adams (soon to be in the film version of Doubt) breathes life into what could have been a very two-dimentional character (pun intended).

Read more »

Maybe I’m behind the times, but I just stumbled upon this news, and so I feel I must share it with Man In Chair readers.

From monstersandcritics.com: “Taylor Hackford has signed on to direct the upcoming Broadway musical Leap of Faith, based on the 1992 film. The musical is set to debut in the 2007-2008 Broadway season [now 2009], and will feature a score by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, and a book by Janus Cercone.”

The musical, based on the film, starring Steve Martin as a fake faith healer, co-starred Broadway performers Liam Neeson (The Crucible), Philip Seymour Hoffman, (Long Day’s Journey Into Night) and LaChanze (The Color Purple).

Humpy Hugh Jackman participated in a workshop production, but as of yet, no casting is announced for the Broadway run.

From broadwayworld.com: “Nominated for Academy Awards for directing and producing Ray, Taylor Hackford is known for helming movies with strong musical elements; Leap of Faith represents his first legit musical.”

Says Playbill.com, “Leap of Faith would mark the first Broadway musical that composer Menken — of Beauty and the Beast and the upcoming The Little Mermaid — has penned directly for the Broadway stage.”

Hmmm…I hope it’s a good show. Otherwise it might start a trend of musicals of questionable quality being made based on hit movies. Well, with Menken, Hackford, [and Jackman?] involved, at least it’s got potential.

I’ve never been a big fan of reigning “America’s sweetheart,” Julia Roberts. I know there are people who think she can do no wrong as an actress, but except for her performance as Erin Brokovich, I just don’t ever really believe her on film. And ever since her “stickman” Oscar acceptance speech, when she completely dismissed conductor, Bill Conti as a fellow professional artist, I can’t be bothered.

Her Broadway debut, Three Days of Rain, was a commercial success and is a soon-to-be film, but I must admit, I was reveling in schadenfreude when she was not exactly hailed as the critics’ darling.

Richard Greenberg, who penned the play and holds a different view of Ms Roberts, writes in today’s Variety about working with this actress, whom he found to be impeccably professional and spot-on consistent in her performance.

“Such a quiet play and such a noisy event. In the rehearsal room, I lost track of what was going to happen. Things became so normal so quickly. Joe Mantello, the director, has a Henry Higgins-ish penchant for treating all people the same way. The cast was made up of charming people: Paul Rudd and Bradley Cooper in addition to Julia. The experience was more interesting than real life in the way it always is when talented actors gather to work on a script. Once I looked over to our leading lady and sincerely thought ‘God, she’s sensationally charismatic; she ought to be a movie star.’”

It’s an interesting “insider’s view” and worth a read. Repairs my image of her a little. Doesn’t convince me to see Charlie Wilson’s War, but it is an interesting vantage point from which to view Ms. Roberts.

Focus Features’ upcoming film, Dan In Real Life, is headed to Broadway. Or I should say Broadway is headed to Dan in Real Life.

It is no surprise that Broadway casting director, Bernard Tesley is behind the casting of this film, which includes nine Brodaway veterans, including Alison Pill, currently starring on Broadway in Mauritius and Norbert Leo Butz, coming to Broadway in November in Is He Dead?

The film, starring Steve Carell, is about a columnist who specializing in doling out relationship advice, but struggles with familial relationships in his own life.

From Playbill.com, here are the amazing credits of this film’s cast: Juliette Binoche (Betrayal), John Mahoney (Prelude to a Kiss), Dianne Wiest (Salome), Norbert Leo Butz (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and Alison Pill (The Lieutenant of Inishmore). Also featured in the film are Jessica Hecht (Julius Caesar), Amy Ryan (A Streetcar Named Desire), Matthew Morrison (Hairspray) and Frank Wood (Side Man). Dane Cook, Marlene Lawston, Emily Blunt and Brittany Robertson round out the cast.

And just to tease you a little, here’s a promo for the film, featuring a tiny snippet of Mr. Butz’s Broadway vocal stylings. Enjoy.

Dan In Real Life is in theatres October 26.

I went to see 2 Days in Paris yesterday (which I would recommend. It’s like Woody Allen with tattoos) and saw a trailer for Harold Pinter’s film adaptation of Anthony Shaffer’s play Slueth, a dangerous game of wits between a detective novelist and the young actor who ran off with his wife.

As reported by Roger Ebert from a screening at the Toronto film festival, only one line of Shaffer’s original script is included in Pinter’s adaption, which is directed by Kenneth Branagh, and stars Michael Cain (in the role he didn’t play in the 1972 film) and Jude Law (in the role Cain did play in the original film).

The feel of the trailer in the movie theater was a little simpler and cleaner than the one I later found on the Sleuth website. The film seems to have a very stark and high tech look to it. The direction (and art direction) for the film looks to be as sparse as Pinter’s scripts often are. And from what we hear of the dialogue, it seems to be classic Pinter:

Wyke: I heard a rumor that you wanted to marry my wife.
Tindle: That’s right.
Wyke: I thought you might have denied it.
Tindle: Why would I deny it?
Wyke: Well, she is my wife.
Tindle: We’re in love.
Wyke: You’re in love?
Tindle: That’s right.
Wyke: (laughs) Sorry.

Enjoy the trailer. Thanks to Playgoer for the heads up on Ebert’s comments.

Sleuth trailer. In theatres November 23.

Here’s a first look at the trailer for Tim Burton’s upcoming (Christmas ‘07) Sweeney Todd film starring Johnny Depp as Sweeney, Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Sacha Baron Cohen as Signor Adolfo Pirelli, Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin, Timothy Spall as Beadle Bamford, Jayne Wisener as Johanna, and Jamie Campbell Bower as Anthony.

Visually, it looks incredible–as one might expect from Signor Burton. There’s very little singing in the clip, though; just a little bit of “Epiphany.” From a theatre geek’s perspective it seems like a very strange way to market the film, but I suppose the idea is to reach a wider audience, including those who will go for the dramatic story, and those who will go for the gore (and those just there to see Depp).

The little bit of Depp’s singing we hear is nothing to write home about. (Reminds me a little of Jack Skellington in its timbre). I hope that and the obvioius exclusion of musical exceprts in the preview doesn’t mean the singing will be subpar…

Anyway, enjoy the clip, and thanks to Chris at Everything I Know… for the tipoff.

Sweeney Todd trailer, courtesy of Yahoo! movies

® Theatre Geek TV: Check out the hotties in this backstage video peek at last June’s Broadway Bares 17, an annual fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

® Kenneth Branagh is directing a new film version of Sleuth with as many real-life plot twists as the original Anthony Schaffer play. Michael Cain is portraying the older novelist this time around and Jude Law will play the young actor (played by Cain in the 1972 film). To make the film an absolute must-see, the script is being penned by British playwright (pause) Harold (pause)…Pinter. Thanks to Playgoer for the heads up.

® Steve on Broadway wonders what will be the next Mel Brooke’s movie to be made into a giant Broadway musical. Should we prepare to see Megan Mullally as Lili von Shtupp singing “I’m Tired” to critical acclaim?

® Michael Cerveris is EVERYWHERE: This Tony Award winning actor will perform in Shakespeare Goes to the Opera in collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera beginning at 6:30 on Monday, September 17 and will also be seen in a reading of Shaw’s Man and Superman as part of the Shaw Festival beginning at 7:00 on the same night. Talk about a double-threat!

® A couple of benefits concerts that sound intriguing:

• Kevin Earley, Susan Egan, Thomas Griffith, Ty Taylor, Matthew Morrison, Cindy Robinson, and Tom Schmid will star in a special one-night performance of Chess on September 17 at Los Angeles’ Ford Amphitheater. Part of the evening’s proceeds will be donated to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
• Jason Alexander (Mendel), Malcolm Gets (Marvin), Vicki Lewis (Trina), Andrew Samonsky (Whizzer), Hudson Thames (Jason), Kathy Garrick (Charlotte) and Sue Goodman (Cordelia) are the cast for a benefit performance of Falsettoland at the Wilshire Theatre on September 8.

® Since I already gave you the low down on what will be opening on Broadway in the next few months, I thought I would travel a little south and give you a preview (via the Washington Post) of what’s going on in the Washington DC theatre scene soon. If you miss Michael Hollinger’s play, Opus, which was featured in today’s New York Times, it will be playing at the Washington Stage Guild Sept 6-30.

® Golda’s Balcony is Feldshuh-less: The film version of William Gibson’s play, Golda’s Balcony will begin it’s engagement at Manhattan’s Quad Cinemas on October 10, and will be released throughout the US later this year. The film stars Valerie Harper as Golda Meir. Harper played the role in the national tour of the show. Tovah Feldshuh was nominated for a Tony Award for playing the role on Broadway.

® May I Buy a Fork? The Royal Shakespeare Company will be selling over 7,000 Costumes, worn in shows from Beauty and the Beast to Merry Wives: The Musical.

“If you think you can do it, you can do it; Anything is possible if you think it is.”

This advice serves as both a thesis statement for Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man and a last bit of desperate advice from a stage director trying to keep Jeff Goldlum from destroying said production in a quirky film called Pittsburgh (playing on Starz this month and out on DVD next month).

The film is of that confusing genre labeled “mockumentary” to which I never know how to respond. Unlike a true documentary, like Roger and Me, where you know that the crazy characters and situations you encounter are really crazy, and movies like Best in Show, which are so over the top that you know none of it is real, Pittsburgh combines fact and fiction in a way that left me feeling confused as to what it’s intended message really is and how I’m supposed to identify with the characters.

The premise is that Jeff Goldblum (playing himself) has fallen in love with a Canadian stage actress half his age, Catherine Wreford (playing herself). Against his manager’s strong advice, they decide to audition for Harold Hill and Marian the Librarian in the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera’s production of The Music Man in order to secure Catherine’s work visa. Along for the ride come Ed Begley, Jr. (playing himself) and Illeana Douglas (you get the picture).

The piece, for me, ultimately becomes an examination of how the Hollywood set tends to view live theatre with a sort of “wicked stepsister” mentality. There is a theme throughout of Mr. Goldblum’s manager leaving him unanswered messages regarding a four million dollar science fiction film deal that is going to fall through if he doesn’t wise up and pull himself out of this “silly and trivial” regional theatre project. In another section, Mr. Goldblum falls to a secondary slot on Late Night with Conan O’Brien because he only has this musical to promote and not a big movie.

His redemption comes when Goldblum realizes that he really doesn’t have the chops to pull off playing Harold Hill. Of course this doesn’t stop him from performing the role anyway…
Read more »