Jeff Blumentkrantz is Killing Again in "Murder for Two"

The prodigiously talented Jeff Blumenkrantz returns this week to the off-Broadway musical Murder for Two. Which is great news for anyone looking for an evening of great fun. I somehow never got around to writing about this hilarious show when my theatergoing buddy Bill and I saw it at Second Stage Uptown last summer.  But I should have—and I'm jumping on this chance to give it a shout-out now.  

As the title hints this is a two-man show: Brett Ryback plays an ambitious young cop who is investigating the murder of a famous but not-much-loved mystery writer who is offed during a weekend house party; Blumenkrantz plays all of the murder suspects. Joe Kinosian, who filled in for Blumenkrantz while the actor was off on other assignments, wrote the show's perky music and Kellan Blair the clever book and lyrics. The actors take turns accompanying themselves on piano.  

 

There’s no time for costume changes as there is in Broadway's similarly-themed and also-funny A Gentleman’s Guide to Murder so Blumenkrantz contorts his rubbery face and adjusts his lanky body to switch from one suspect to another, ranging from a southern belle to a trio of Dead End Kids-style newsboys. The resulting mayhem is now playing at New World Stages.  It'll slay you.

Happy 50th Birthday...

...to London's National Theatre!
And all of us theater lovers can celebrate with the terrific new app that spotlights 50 landmark NT productions with photos, cast lists, set and costume design sketches and even images of prompt scripts.  You can find it all by clicking here.

Want to Know How Tough It Is To Be A Working Playwright Today?

Page 73 Productions, an off-Broadway company that specializes in works by early-career playwrights has just announced the 26 semi-finalists for its annual fellowship. The eventual winner will get $10,000 for him or herself and an additional $10,000 in development support for the play.  The runner-up prizes are the chance to participate in either Page 73's writers' workshop or its summer residency program, which includes "a week of writing or workshop time at Yale University."  But here's what really got me: 400 people applied.

Second Thoughts on My Summer Festival Fatigue

I’ve been feeling badly all week about the grumpiness of Saturday's main B&Me post on summer theater festivals, particularly that line where I said " there are too many people doing theater in New York and many of them should be doing something else."  

I still think the shows I saw were weak but I do recognize the value of the festivals. There are some truly talented artists who participate in them and the festivals provide a place for those theatermakers to hone their craft and for theater lovers to discover them.  

That case has been well made in a few pieces I’ve read, including this one and this one.  Plus, you can find reviews of all the this year's Fringe shows here.

Getting Ready for National Dance Day

Tomorrow, July 27, is National Dance Day, a fun fitness event started and promoted by Nigel Lythgoe, the producer of TV's "So You Think You Can Dance." He and his team have put together two routines for people to learn. Click here for more info. And then, get out there and shake your booty.

What are the Greatest Plays of the Past 100 Years?

It’s always great when theater gets to play with the pop culture big boys and so I was delighted to see that Entertainment Weekly's current issue on “The 100 All-Time Greatest” cultural events has ranked not only movies, TV shows, record albums and books, but plays too. 

But I'm not totally surprised they did it because my old friend Jess Cagle edits the magazine and he was a one-time theater reporter himself. Jess and his staff at EW anointed 50 plays the greatest of the past 100 years. And it’s hard to complain about their top 10:

1. Death of A Salesman

2. A Streetcar Named Desire

3. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

4. Long Day’s Journey into Night

5. Fences

6. Angels in America

7. Waiting for Godot

8. Pygmalion

9. A Raisin in the Sun

10. Our Town

And the other 40 make sense too; among them are: Glengarry Glen Ross, August: Osage County, True West, Look Back in Anger, Master Harold and the Boys, The Homecoming, Ruined, Top Girls, M. Butterfly, Topdog/Underdog, The Orphan’s Home Cycle and Uncommon Women and Others. 

Still, lists are designed in part to get us arguing and what kind of theater lover wouldn’t have at least one gripe?  Here’s mine: how could they have left off Paula Vogel’s remarkable How I Learned to Drive?   

Now what’s yours?

Happy Birthday to TKTS, Which Turns 40 Today

Is there any theater lover who doesn’t love TKTS? Or who hasn’t at some time in their life bought one of its reduced-priced tickets to see a show?

The Theatre Development Fund, which operates the ticket booth that sells same-day seats to theater and dance performances both on and off-Broadway, estimates that TKTS has sold 58.5 million tickets since it first opened its windows on June 25, 1973.    

Plus, over the past five years, its Red Stairs have served as an anchor point and meeting place for the entire Theater District.

Now, to celebrate its 40th anniversary, TKTS is throwing a party that starts at 11 a.m. tomorrow, June 26, at its iconic booth on Broadway and 47th Street.

Leading the festivities will be Harvey Fierstein, Gerard Alessandrini who has created a special Forbidden Broadway-style tribute; and Julie Halston who is scheduled host a karaoke featuring Broadway songs from the past 40 years and to interview people on the ticket line.

But if you can’t make it, you can still join in the celebration by watching this video feature by local CBS News anchor Dana Tyler,  which you can see by clicking here.