Matt Sax The Merchant of Venice by Jay S. Jacobs Musical theater thrives on change and actor/singer/songwriter Matt Sax wants to help usher in a new generation of musicals. His first musical Venice is a collaboration with longtime friend Eric Rosen. (Sax wrote the score, Rosen handled the book.) Venice weaves traditional theatrical music with rock and hip … Continue reading
WEST SIDE STORY: 50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION (1961) Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, George Chakiris, Simon Oakland, Ned Glass, William Bramley, Tucker Smith, Tony Mordente, David Winters, Eliot Feld, Bert Michaels, David Bean, Robert Banas, Scooter Teague, Harvey Hohnecker, Tommy Abbott, Susan Oakes, Gina Trikonis, Carole D’Andrea, Jose De Vega, Jay Norman, … Continue reading
FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (40th ANNIVERSARY) (1971) Starring Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon, Paul Mann, Rosalind Harris, Michael March, Neva Small, (Paul) Michael Glaser, Raymond Lovelock, Elaine Edwards, Candy Bonstein, Shimen Ruskin, Zvee Scooler, Louis Zorich, Patience Collier and Tutte Lemkow. Screenplay by Joseph Stein. Directed by Norman Jewison. Distributed by United Artists … Continue reading
Duncan Sheik Bringing Down the Whisper House by Jay S. Jacobs It’s not a straight line to go from pop star to respected Broadway composer, but Duncan Sheik never believed in doing things the normal way. Sheik first exploded onto the pop culture radar in 1996, when his Gold-certified self-titled debut album yielded the mega-hit … Continue reading
CAMP ROCK (2008) Starring Demi Lovato, Joe Jonas, Meaghan Jette Martin, Maria Canals Barrera, Alyson Stoner, Julie Brown, Daniel Fathers, Anna Maria Perez deTagle, Jasmine Richards, Jordan Francis, Roshon Fegan, Jennifer Ricci, Kevin Jonas and Nick Jonas. Screenplay by Karen Gist & Regina Hicks and Julie Brown & Paul Brown. Directed by Matthew Diamond. Distributed … Continue reading
A Very Brady Musical Lloyd Schwartz and Hope Juber Reimagine the Family Business by Ronald Sklar For the producers of The Brady Bunch, it was more like Family Affair. Creator Sherwood Schwartz (who also gave the world Gilligan’s Island) worked closely with his son, Lloyd, and still does. However, for those five sunshine-day seasons on ABC, the Schwartz team lived, … Continue reading
ENCHANTED (2007) Starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Rachel Covey, Idina Menzel, Samantha Ivers, Matt Servitto, Joseph Sirvatto and the voice of Julie Andrews. Screenplay by Bill Kelly. Directed by Kevin Lima. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. 107 minutes. Rated PG. The idea of a post-modern fairytale has been done … Continue reading
Nikki Blonsky and Zac Efron Hair Raising Success in Hairspray by Brad Balfour What a way to kick off a career. From high school student to major motion picture lead, 17-year-old Nikki Blonsky’s star turn as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray, (the film version of the Broadway musical), deserves all the accolades the film has been garnering. In … Continue reading
CHICAGO (2002) Starring Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Lucy Liu, Taye Diggs, Colm Feore, Christine Baranski, Domenic West, Susan Misner, Deidre Goodwin, Denise Faye, Ekaterina Chtchelkanova, Chita Rivera and Mýa Harrison. Screenplay by Bill Condon. Directed by Rob Marshall. Distributed by Mirimax Pictures. 113 minutes. Rated PG-13. A film … Continue reading
MOULIN ROUGE! (2001) Starring Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, Jim Broadbent, Richard Roxburgh, Garry McDonald, Jacek Koman, Matthew Whittet, Kerry Walker, Caroline O’Connor, Christine Anu, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, Lara Mulcahy and Kylie Minogue. Screenplay by Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce. Directed by Baz Luhrmann. Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Pictures. 128 minutes. Rated PG-13. … Continue reading
PopEntertainmentblog.com 