NOVEMBER 2000 ----------------------------In this issue------------------------------------------ Techie's Corner: Platforms 5: Studwalls The Play's the Thing: Eleanora Duse: Powerful Stillness/Splendid Fervor Voices in Contemporary Theatre: Prolific South African playwright Athol Fugard recently spoke about the power of the arts in creating world peace before a production of Aristophanes' Lysistrata at San Diego State University. From the mailbag: Edward Albee Letter from London: Laurence Gibson investigates the other RSC, the Reduced Shakespeare Company Rubin's Corner: The Full Monty CyberTheatre Monthly : 'tis the season to start shopping. TRE looks at theatre-themed gifts at The Broadway Cares shop and the Broadway Theatre Archive Enter Laughing: A Fashion Intervention ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TECHIE'S CORNER Studwalls Welcome once again to the Techie's Corner. In Platforms III, we looked at stress skin platforms and the trisket. I mentioned then that the only way to support a triskit was with stud wall legging and that I would discuss that in the future. Well, the future is now. Stud wall legging is the blue-collar worker in the platform support business. It is elegant only in it's simplicity. It is uncomplicated, inexpensive, strong and reliable. So just what is Stud Wall Legging? If you have ever seen a house or small building being built, then you have seen stud walls. The walls in most of your houses are stud walls. In the building trade, a stud wall is a panel or wall segment made of 2x4 studs. The vertical members are usually placed on 16" centers and capped with a 2x4 plate on the top and bottom. The 16" spacing is to accommodate 48" building panels such as drywall, hardboard, plywood and insulation panels. In many theatrical applications, 24" or even 48" spacing of posts is adequate but in homes and other commercial buildings, it is not. The required spacing of the vertical posts is dependent on a number of factors including how stiff you need the wall to appear and with what the wall surface is covered. Proper spacing of posts will be discussed later in this article. This construction method supports houses and buildings all over the world and has done so for centuries so it ought to be able to support a few theatrical platforms for a few weeks. Stud wall legging is based on the principle that a wood column will support as much weight as wood beam the same thickness, as long as it remains straight and does not bend. That means that an eight foot long 2x4 will support as much weight as an eight-foot thick wood beam, ....... as long as it stays straight. Stud wall supports work because a group of studs work like a solid beam. A stud wall can be as short as 3" and as tall as you wish. Three inches is the minimum because that is the height of the top and bottom plates with nothing in between them. As far as how high can you go, in reality, the maximum height is limited only by the roof of your theatre. Wooden frame structures have been built all over the world over 100' tall. Practically speaking however, 16 and 20 feet tall are general limits because, again, those are the maximum lengths of readily available lumber. In the past I have seen stud walls up to thirty feet tall but in today's world, steel and aluminum trusses, scaffolding, and other methods are faster to build, cheaper, lighter and stronger. However, in the 2' to 12' height range, the stud wall is the best overall legging method when factoring time, cost and strength, for a single production. Two by four bolt on legs are the fastest/cheapest for a one-time use. Any of the re-usable compression legs, steel or wood, mentioned in my previous article, are the cheapest over a period of time, but the time spent disassembling and storing them between shows takes them out of the fastest category. Stud walls have another advantage over other legging systems. All other types of legs transfer the load of the platform to the stage in a pattern of "point" loads. Stud walls spread the load over a much broader area. For example, let's look at a 4'x8' platform with 6 legs made of 2x4 and a load of 600 pounds (4 actors at 150 pounds each) evenly distributed on the platform. Each leg has a load of 100 pounds, carried by 5.25 square inches (actual size of a nominal 2x4 is 1.5" x 3.5" = 5.25 sq. in.) or 19 pounds per square inch. As a square foot is 144 square inches, the floor directly under the leg is supporting the "equivalent" of 2736 pounds per square foot. Mathematically the number is correct, fortunately the design and construction of floors spreads and distributes the weight in a reasonable and acceptable manner. However, this article is about platforms not floors so let's get back to the subject. Now let us examine the same 4'x8' platform supported by stud walls. In the first illustration, we see the platform supported by bolt on 2x4 legs. The second, shows a stud wall with 4' spacing between legs, the third with 24" spacing and the last with 16" spacing. As you can see, stud walls distribute loads over a broader footprint and quickly reduce the stress on any given area of floor. You may wonder why the weight bearing area isn't the entire area of the bottom plate that is in contact with the floor. That would make the supporting area 336 square inches and the load would be .89psi. While that would be nice, it just isn't the case. First of all the bottom plate can flex. In between the stud legs, the bottom plate will lift just enough to take the weight off the floor. Second, all materials have some degree of flex but will transfer weight through their thickness at some degree of spreading angle. A wood plate, plywood, 2x4 etc., will transfer the weight downward at a spreading angle of about 45 degrees, (note the red lines on the illustrations), and that is how we arrive at the square inch weight bearing areas beneath the stud legs. As pointed out in the first drawing, diagonals and cross members were not shown for clairity. So, how do we add diagonal bracing to stud walls and how do we cross brace between studwalls? The easiest way to brace a studwall is to simply cover it with luan or 1/4" plywood. The result is similar to a hollywood flat with 2x4 as the framing members. The panel not only adds a very high degree of diagonal strength but can also serve as a show face. If the platform is to be built in place on stage or if it is of a size that can be transported from the shop to the stage, the panel can be extended to cover the platform edge as well as the studwall. The panel can also serve as the method of attaching the platform to the stud wall if the unit is built in place on the stage. If the unit has to be transported however, screws through the top plate or bolts through the platform and top plate should be used as the connecting method. Other methods of diagonal bracing include simple surface mount diagonals, inset diagonals and interior truss type bracing. Surface mount diagonals are nothing more than 1x3 or 1x4 boards attached to one side or the other of a studwall. This is a quickest and easiest method of bracing interior studwalls in a platform layout or stud wall that face off or up stage. The disadvantage of this type of bracing is that it is not flush with the studwall. Surface mount bracing must also be spaced to allow other bracing or stud walls to butt up to the first wall. Inset bracing looks almost the same. The difference of course is the studs are mortised out to allow the diagonal to sit flush with the surface allowing other stud walls, flats etc to meet up flush with the first wall. The disadvantages are the additional time it takes to do the mortising and the fact that you have reduced the load bearing capability of the studs. The strength of the studs is reduced by the cross section of the material removed. For example, instead of a 11/2"x31/2" (2x4) cross section, each stud is 11/2"x 23/4". The last method, interior truss type bracing, is far stronger than either of the other two methods. However it takes the most time to construct and it's effectiveness is limited in effectiveness to studwalls 4 feet tall or less. Exactly how much weight or how long a span can be supported by the studwall truss shown in the last illustration, is part of the "Structural Design for the Stage" graduate level course taught at Yale University and is far beyond the scope of this article. Up to now, we have only been dealing with single platforms. One of the advantages of the stud wall system is the way it works in areas that are larger than single platforms, and that is what we will look at next month. Next month I will also be covering how to use stud walls with weight bearing window and door openings and methods of attaching platforms to studwalls. However if any reader has a specific application or need, please feel free to contact me and I will be happy to help you. For now, Have a very Happy Thanksgiving, don't sweat the small stuff and remember, .... It's all small stuff! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE PLAY'S THE THING Hello TRE readers. Well it is November and the smell of turkey and pumpkin pie is just around the corner of the kitchen. If you are an actor, from the youngest to the oldest, you are probably involved in some kind of upcoming holiday show or Christmas pageant. Soon some little boy will have to play Joseph to a Mary, who happens to be one of the cutest girls in church and the one he has a crush on. Oh gosh, how will he survive the taunts of the other boys? Why does he have to wear that silly costume that looks like a dress? Why can't he just play Joseph his way...you know, wear a leather jacket so he looks cool and make an entrance on roller blades so that he can impress Mary? Just this one time can't he show his own style? Well, in many ways the performance style of Eleanora Duse was like that little boy. She dared convention and did things her own way. She created a style of her own that distinguished her from most other actors and at times alienated her from critics and audiences. By understanding a bit of her performance style, actors can look to themselves, as she looked to herself, to define a personal style of acting. I hope you enjoy this style portrait of one of the finest actors of her time! Eleanora Duse: Powerful Stillness/Splendid Fervor In a recent issue of Time magazine, Patrick Smith was addressing a question regarding the identity of the first woman to appear on Time's cover. He replied that is was the Italian actress Eleanora Duse's portrait that appeared on the July 30, 1923 cover page, making her the first woman to grace the front of that magazine. He commented that, "She preferred to make entrances unnoticed in the crowd, suddenly o step forward and carry the play away with the splendor of her fervor," (Smith, 1999). E. A. Rheinhardt likened Duse's acting to " . . . a game of chess: the opening moves are always the same," (Rheinhardt, 1930). Duse's entrances on stage were always consistent. In most cases she would appear quietly, not in the grand style of a diva, but as a small breeze that would suddenly turn into a howling storm. Her hair was generally wild and unrestrained with the only exception being those times when she played repressed and neatly coifed characters like those in Ibsen's plays. Her entrances were just one of the trademarks of her performance style. Two other major trademarks of her style were her vocal quality and her ability to control and subdue her physical body and movements on stage. Her physical and vocal style has been called "quiet acting" which required no shouting or aggressive movement. She employed economy of voice and gesture in order to bring a character to life. Yet economy does not imply a loss of powerful presentation. Duse refused to give into the vocal histrionics of the other actors of her time. She felt that in order to give a more realistic performance she must dispense with the acting style of the period. While other actors bellowed and wailed, Duse chose the path of eloquence and style beauty of the text by making her delivery sound like she was ordering tea or asking a favor of a friend. She invented her own style that seemed to pour out from her soul. Giovanni Pontiero opens the first chapter of the book Duse on Tour: Guido Niccioli's Diaries, 1906-07, with a section of Rainer Maria Rilke's Portraits of Eleanora Duse (1907), which clearly draws the line between her and her contemporaries. The poem reads: And she speaks ficticiousness, wherein some too common lot is made to moan, and she makes it with her soul akin, till it sounds like something all its own: like the crying of a stone - Her physical movements resulted from her ability to control her body at will which allowed her to place emphasis on the individual parts or sections of her body as opposed to the whole-bodied grand gestures of the other actors of that period. Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello recounted that Duse's was "a technique of movement" that would flow, unable to stop or to be forced into a predetermined gesture or mannerism. She shed the conventions of the time of staged posing that expressed certain emotions. She downplayed the grand gesture in order to allow her own psychological emotions to guide her physical movement. A slight turn of the head, downward cast eyes, touching the hand of a fellow actor -- each reflected her psychological connection to the character instead of being tied to a book of predetermined stances in order to telegraph to the audience the actor's mood. Duse left it to the audience to discover her subtext through her mannerisms. If you study the photographs of Eleanora Duse as Hedda Gabler, like the one in the book Berhardt, Terry, Duse: The Actress in her Time one can clearly see contrast between Duse's extended arm and her facial expression (Stokes, Booth, Bassnett, 1988). While her arm seems relaxed and delicate, her mouth seems drawn and heavy. Her hand appears to be ready to float away from her body while her head appears anchored to her shoulders. The lightness of her hand and arm can barely counterbalance the weight that is pressing her head and smile downward. Yet, here is a case of her use of subtext through the smallest gesture. The heavy frown and the light hand signal that all is not right with Hedda. Try as she might to bear the weight of her household and personal anxieties, her soul is calling out to lift up and fly away. Duse did have her critics. One of her many critics felt that the actress was so imposing that the audience had no choice but to continually focus on Duse alone. She was to be intellectually admired instead of appreciated by one's soul. Duse's overuse of facial gestures indicated nervousness. The same critic called her movement "automated" and not that far removed from the stylized gestures that Duse considered so grand and overbearing. Another critic saw her style as "moping" about the stage. Still others noted that many times Duse was plagued by ill health and nervous tension during performances. On these occasions her performance would waiver and much of the self-control of voice and body that she fought to retain resulted in dull inconsistency on her part. Many critics and audiences alike complained that one never knew which Duse would been seen on stage on any given night. Whether or not critics and audiences agreed on Duse in performance, she is still considered one of the innovators of a new style on stage. She broke free from the standard mold that locked actors into posed expressions of emotions. Duse reached inside herself to find a connection to the inner truth of the character and reflected that truth in a bold new way. She sought realism in performance by breaking standard convention and led the way for others to discover that they too could find their own style of performance rather than being locked into restrictive techniques of the past. Through Duse, characters lived rather than merely existed ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ VOICES IN CONTEMPORARY THEATRE Words are Sacred Prolific South African playwright Athol Fugard recently spoke about the power of the arts in creating world peace before a production of Aristophanes' Lysistrata at San Diego State University. Fugard spoke for about fifteen minutes to an enraptured crowd of 500 students, faculty, and theatre professionals about how his art helped to abolish the apartheid system in South Africa. Fugard commented on how remarkable it was that his people, who had once faced atrocities far worse than the violence currently happening in the Middle East, "were able to sit down like civilized beings and use words to sort out our differences." He continued to comment that there was no doubt in his mind that the arts contributed significantly to the conscious decision to make peace in a country that had been ravaged by violence for decades. Fugard's plays, including Master Harold and the Boys, My Children! My Africa, Valley Song, and The Captain's Tiger, confront the civil unrest of South Africa during the time of apartheid, the system of enforced governmental segregation more radical than that of America through the 1960s. Fugard read a passage from his more recent play, The Captain's Tiger, which was produced at La Jolla Playhouse a few seasons ago. The passage was a professor speaking to a young man who was confronted with the choice of staying in school or fighting the oppressive government and becoming a criminal in the eyes of the state. Fugard stated that he faced a similar situation as a young man in South Africa. While his friends were rebelling with violence against the government, he chose to use his art for words to make a difference in a world of fear and hatred. Fugard's talk with the emerging theatre artists of the future was inspiring. It began a week-long celebration of world peace on the SDSU campus, which the Theatre Department contributed four productions: Lysistrata; Miles Gloriosus by Plautus; Amazwi Omoya by two current South African artists Pearson and Mkhwane; and The Happiest Girl in the World, a musical version of Lysistrata by Yip Harburg and Jacques Offenbach. Fugard's talk also fell on the heals of another La Jolla Playhouse production, Going to St. Ives by Lee Blessing, a play that deals with the conflict of the mother of an African dictator over her duty as a mother or as a human being. Blessing has also contributed successfully to the message of peace through theatre. His award-winning play A Walk in the Woods, about an American and a Russian arms negotiator becoming friends, toured successfully through the United States and Russia during the end of the Cold War. The power of theatre to affect the way people think about the world around them can be a positive force. Aristophanes used theatre 2500 years ago to plea for peace between Athens and Sparta, and the theatre has been used to create powerful messages to society ever since. Outside a professor's office door in the hallways of the San Diego State Theatre Department there is a picture taken of Athol Fugard during his talk. Under the picture the professor has written, "Words are sacred." We have a responsibility as theatre artists to use them wisely for the betterment of humanity. Athol Fugard is an inspiration for the power of the stage to create a better world. Rebecca Johannsen is a recent graduate of the Master of Arts program in Theatre Arts from San Diego State University with an emphasis in Shakespeare. She is currently working at La Jolla Playhouse while she awaits her application period for her Master of Fine Arts in acting program. From the Mailbag: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee told up-and-coming dramatists yesterday they have a responsibility to "hold up a mirror" to society. "You can tell [fellow citizens], 'If you don't like what you see, change it.' All art is corrective," he said. Mr. Albee, 72, entertained guests with his speech yesterday at the Kennedy Center's luncheon to recognize new American plays. He is the recipient of three Pulitzers - for "A Delicate Balance," "Seascape" and "Three Tall Women." Mr. Albee, born in Washington, also was a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1996. "How lucky you are at the start of your career . . . how much trouble you can cause, how many truths you will tell - once you know them," Mr. Albee said with a twinkle in his eye. He also cautioned: "The theater is yours, young playwrights. Don't give it up. Resist the pressures. Everybody else will give in. The theater cannot exist without you." Mr. Albee noted that writers hired to do films don't hold the copyrights. Playwrights do, he said, and their work may not be changed without their permission. "If people want to tell your play, they should, but you must not allow directors to become authors," he said. "There are other people who have good ideas - directors, producers, producers' wives . . ., " he said, but the director should take the credit on the basis [that] the ideas bubbled up from the play's subtext. Playwrights, Mr. Albee said, also have a responsibility "not to leave your audience where you found it." Dramatists must shock, irritate, anger or engage other emotions to move an audience to a new level and introduce it to a new world. Playwrights also must "try to expand the boundaries of the art form," he said. Mr. Albee also complained about a published report that he was critical of the Kennedy Center for giving Honors this year to three foreign-born artists, actress Angela Lansbury, Washington Opera Artistic Director Placido Domingo and dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. Complaining that he was made to sound like a "jingoist or a Republican," Mr. Albee said Honors recipients should be American citizens but not necessarily U.S. natives. Among playwrights receiving awards from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays yesterday was D.C. native Michael Genet. Mr. Genet, who grew up for the most part in the Brookland neighborhood in Northeast and attended St. Anthony's High School, was honored for his mythical jazz fable, "Pork Pie." He received $10,000, and the Denver Center Theatre Company was awarded $43,000 in conjunction with the play, described as "the bebop cool storytelling of a young man's search for what turns out to be his father." In his remarks, Mr. Genet said he had "kind of grown up" at the Kennedy Center. When he was young, he had aspired to be a classical singer, he said, so he hung around the center. "Whenever a show had a predominantly black cast, the guys would assume I was in the cast and buzz me in," he said. He also picked up what work he could. He recalled that he was at the Kennedy Center when President Nixon resigned in 1974. "The Bolshoi was there. They stopped the show." Although Mr. Genet writes, he also has been an actor for "the last 23 years or so." He studied drama at the Juilliard School in New York City and the California Institute of Art in Valencia. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LETTER FROM LONDON Reduced Shakespeare Company Criterion Theatre, London, UK. Comedies come, comedies go. Seldom do they bask under the spotlight. Rarely do they receive more than an inch or two in column space. In fact, scarcely does anything witty run for more than a couple of weeks at any of the major theatres that configure the West End. Then there's Shakespeare. Hardly mainstream material. Naturally, there are the die-hard, antique theatregoers - those that can resist the pull of the ultra-trendy contemporary crowd pleasers that currently reign in London - who traipse to and fro Stratford and the Barbican Centre to pay homage to the Royal Shakespeareans. This antediluvian audience aside, the venerable Bard no longer has the weight to hold down a major stage. Maybe that is why England's most distinguished export has been put through so much in recent years. If Verona's most famous lovers can be teen heart-throb material and spend their time messing around in fish pools, and Hamlet reproduced in its full glory on the silver screen by peroxide upstarts, is there any boundary that cannot be crossed? That question should be put to the Reduced Shakespeare Company, whose irreverent assault on the writings of the Bard produce 97 minutes of slapstick hilarity as they skid through every one of his 37 plays at break-neck speed. Some plays are credited with rather more time than others and Hamlet, for example, gets a positively thorough text. Nevertheless, Shakespeare was allegedly so repetitive that "all the 16 comedies could have just been one" and are , therefore, are given a rather short shrift. The R.S.C make the editorial decision to clump them together into one ridiculous monologue titled, for brevity's sake, Four Weddings and a Transvestite and claim that "basically, the comedies aren't nearly as funny as the tragedies." Naturally. Most of the jokes are older than the theatre itself, and about as subtle as a brick. The crew dish out a wholesome supply of puking, howling, groin-thrusting and cross-dressing. Then there's the audience degradation - slapstick is never complete without plenty of that. Curiously few children were present in the audience and, in reality, it was the adults (those that should know better, by now) who guffaw most at the jokes. Probably because the humour comes not just from the chaos and buffoonery, but also from the literary recognition. The Reduced Shakespeare Company is now in its fifth year in the West End, making it the longest running comedy currently playing in London, and was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 1997. But they don't stop there. Oh no. The R.S.C has two other troops of barbarians, one based in the U.S, proving they have appeal on both sides of the Atlantic. So why such a success? If, as we have already established, comedies are typically short-lived and Shakespeare usually has his own niche audience, why have this group received such acclaim from critics and audiences alike? Perhaps it is their breezy, brash American confidence; perhaps it is their flamboyant physical exertions, so clearly a derivative of the company's early days as street entertainment; perhaps it is their universal appeal or, dare I suggest, perhaps it is simply about time that someone poked fun at one of Britain's dustier establishments. Furthermore, the company, unhappy to just ridicule the great literary works of our time, have two other works currently "in repertory." The same team of cultural guerrillas that bring us The Complete Works of Shakespeare (abridged) also turn their sights to The Complete History of America (abridged) and even to The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged). God help us. So keep your eyes peeled. This group of 'Bard-busting' showmen, who justifiably claim to put the rattle 'n' roll between the Shake 'n' speare, are touring the globe - with a mission to prove that there is no abridgement too far. Be warned, blink and you will miss them. You can visit the R'dSC website at http://www.actwin.com/REDUCED/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ RUBIN'S CORNER The Full Monty The Full Monty is the story of a group of working-class guys who've we seen during better days and how they face their fears and come out winners. ...BOY do they come our winners. People think the full monty means taking off all your clothes. According to the show's public relations specialist the term is derived from General Montgomery who even on a day of battle would order a full breakfast of kippers and eggs and toast and juice and sausage before going into battle. The show is about a half-dozen guys taking off all their clothes for fun and profit. Primarily profit since they are laid-off factory works in upstate New York. Economic conditions are so desperate that only one of the six is marginally employed and he attempts the redundant suicide in Buffalo. This idea originated in the movie of 1997, which cost 3.5 million, to make and grossed 256 million. The entire production comes from the Old Globe of San Diego. Jack O'Brien has directed a wonderful cast using a book by Terrance McNally. The cast includes John Ellison Conlee, Jason Daniely, Marcus Neville, Patrick Wilson and Romain Fruge. Marcus Neville is the former foreman at the plant who is very straightforward in his life. Romain Fruge plays the most gifted of the strippers. Broadway veteran Andre De Shields, remember The Wiz, is a show stopper when he performs his "Big Black Man" number. Patrick Williams play a divorced man trying to earn his child support payments. David Yazbeck, a young singer songwriter who is in the pop-vein has written a score that reflect the blue collars workers of Buffalo. This show is not about nudity. This show is asoutely meeting the challenge and confronts your fears. This show is funny with wonderful moments of love and family. This show is a BIG hit.. The production is at the Eugene O-Neill Theatre, which is located at 230 W 45th Street. Performances take place at 8 PM every night, Saturday at 2 PM and Sunday at 3 PM Look What's Coming to Broadway I have not had a chance to outline the new shows that will be opening in the next year on Broadway. The season has just begun, but is off to a very slow start. Here's the listing of the plays and musicals scheduled to open during the new Broadway season. It's not too early to place you order for the listed shows. THE RHYTHM CLUB is set in the world of the swing music clubs of the late 30's in Hamburg. This musical tells the story of two young musicians, one Jewish, one Christian, and the female singer they hire to lead their band. They hope the band will provide their escape from Nazi Germany to a better life in New York. The production starts Jeremy Kushnier of Footloose and opens at the Virginia Theatre on January 26. 2001 THE PRODUCERS is the 1968 hysterical Mel Brooks film which starred Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. Who can forget the Broadway producer and his accountant who can have a financial success only if their show is a flop. Nathan Lane starts in this production, which is due at the St. James Theatre in March 2001. FOLLIES arrive via the Roundabout Theatre Company. They have engaged Matthew Warchus who directed Art to direct this production. Kathleen Marshall provides the choreography to this Stephen Sondheim revival. The production transports the audience to the Weissman Theatre, where on the eve of its demolition, ghosts from its glorious past return and showgirls from decades ago reunite one last time. The show plays a 12-week engagement at the Belasco Theatre beginning in March 2001. HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN will be based on the Hollywood musical classic movie. The film stared Banny Kaye and the score includes such Frank Loesser hits as "Thumbelina", "The Ugly Duckling", "Wonderful Copenhagen", and "No, Tow People". Danny Glover as Hans Christian Anderson will come to a Nederlander Theatre in March 2001. TULLULAH will arrive at a Nederlander Theatre on March 16, 20001. The sensational stage and screen star Kathleen Turner returns to Broadway as the flamboyant actress and personality Tallulah Bankhead. It's 1947 and Ms. Bankhead is hosting a und raising party for President Harry S. Truman. As she prepare for the party she slowly becomes increasingly intoxicated and shares the secrets, the passions and the regrets of her life. THE ADVENTURES OF TOY SAYER will come to a Nederlander Theatre in April. Ken Ludwig is adapting this Mark Twain classic for the stage. He has asked veteran director Scott Ellis to direct the production and composer Don Schlitz to give musical life to life on the Mississippi. MAMMA MIA is set on a Greek Island. It is the story of an English women and her soon-to-be-married daughter. It has 22 songs by the Swedish group ABBA. While the daughter plans her future, her mother is confronted by three men, one of whom may be her daughter's father. I have seen this show twice and high recommend it. It was a runaway hit in London, Toronto, and San Francisco. It will open at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 27, 2001 THE FULL MONTY is now in previews at the Eugene O'Neil Theatre. The Oscar nominated movie is about to strut its stuff on Broadway. When hard time hit Buffalo, six working class heroes come up with a daring way to meet ends meet. The script is by Terrence McNally and the music by songwriter David Yazbek. THE DINNER PARTY will star Henry Winkler, john Ritter, Len Cariou and Penny Fuller. Neil Simon's latest comedy has already garnered rave reviews out of town. It takes place in the private dining room of a post Parisian restaurant where six strangers have been mysteriously summoned to dinner. THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE received unanimous rave reviews off-Broadway. The plot concerns an Upper West Side maven and her distracted allergist husband. The production starts Linda Lavin, Tony Roberts and Michele Lee. Opens Oct 10 at the Music Box Theatre. PROFF starts Mary Louise Parker. She plays a young college dropout whose father has just died. This compelling drama revolves around her and her manipulative sister, their father and a mysterious suitor. It will open on October 10, 2001 SEUSSICAL THE MUSICAL is going to open on October 18. It will be delayed as a result of some problems. From the pages of Dr. Seuss and the creators of Ragtime, this show could be a family hit. THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW and JANE EYRE will also make their debut in November. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CYBERTHEATRE MONTHLY CyberTheatre Monthly 'tis the season to start shopping, and theatre-sites have begun early... Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS at Bloomingdale's Join Bloomingdale's in the fight against AIDS. Each time you make a purchase from their Broadway Cares collection, they donate a generous portion of the proceeds to Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids, the leading industry based, not-for-profit AIDS fund raising and grant giving organization in the United States. Visit the Broadway Cares shop at bloomingdales.com and you might just find an ideal theatre-themed gift for yourself or for your favorite Broadway fan, and make a difference this season. The Broadway Theatre Archive www.BroadwayArchive.com The Broadway Theatre Archive bills itself as "the most extraordinary Broadway plays and great literary classics produced over the past five decades captured on video." Well, yes and no. They do offer 'A veritable treasure trove of landmark theatrical events and legendary performances' such as Jason Robards, Jr. in "The Iceman Cometh," John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson in "Home," Rosemary Harris and Eva Le Gallienne in "The Royal Family." They have "the original career-making stage performances" by Glenn Close, Faye Dunaway, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford. These, we are told "have been digitally restored and are available to the public for the very first time." They also have some absolute turkeys passed off as "cult classics" - if there's a cult of Stephen Schwartz worshipers out there looking for the video of "Working" they might try taping it on PBS sometime. They might also consider...oh, never mind. I guess whether you're excited or peeved with The Broadway Archive pitch depends on your tolerance for hearing that old Columbia House spiel from the back cover of Parade magazine all gussied up in theatre-garb: Order three or more videos and we will send you absolutely FREE the special collector's video double-feature of Wendy Wasserstein's humorous hymn to the theatre, "Kiss Kiss Dahlings," starring Blythe Danner, Nancy Marchand and Cynthia Nixon, and Terrence McNally's "The Last Mile," a poignant backstage moment in an opera diva's life, starring Bernadette Peters and Nathan Lane. Whatever. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ENTER LAUGHING A Fashion Intervention Ladies, we have to talk. It's terrific that you're artsy and all. It's a very positive thing to be working in the arts, volunteering, or to just enjoy going to the theatre. But even positive things like your love for the arts can sometimes have consequences we don't foresee, and the thing is, you've developed a wardrobe problem. The black-on-black thing, it isn't working. I know when you wear it to the family picnic, despite the fact that it's 95-friggin-degrees in the shade, you look so svelt and sophisticated no one dared talk to you. And god knows we all look for ways to not talk to Aunt Bess, even if it means draping yourself in black when it's 95 friggin degrees in the shade. What you don't seem to realize is that when you attend an arts event, EVERYONE ELSE THERE is also either an arts-lover or works in the arts. And if you ALL wear black, it looks like the negative of a debutante party. It's not cool, it's not sophisticated - it looks like someone has died. Sheep in mourning is not really the image we want to be projecting, now is it. So, step 1 is admitting you have a problem. They say that the arts crowd doesn't have enough imagination to dress themselves. They say we're vampires. They say we look like the beatnik caricature in Archie's comics. We have a problem! Now the good news is, I have a solution. Everybody pick a number between 1 and 10. If it is odd, go out right now and buy something red. Right now. I'll wait. Good. Now put it on. Notice how the contrast between the the bright red and the deep black is still quite artsy. Now obviously you can't all go out like this, or instead of a funeral it will look like a Nuremberg Rally. Fortunately only half of you have chosen an odd number. If it is even, go out right now and buy something yellow. Right now. I'll wait. Good. Now put it on. Notice how the contrast between the the bright yellow and the deep black is still quite artsy. Now obviously you can't all go out like this, or instead of a funeral it will look like a cult of bee-worshippers. Fortunately only half of you have chosen an even number. If your number is divisible by 3, you've already replaced half your noir ensemble with either red or yellow, now comes the hard part, you must discard the remaining black garment, top or bottom, and replace it with a pattern. YES. I know it hurts, but believe me, you'll feel better. Tweed, Paisley or Plaid, it doesn't matter. Do it. Don't make me come down there. There, now can all get on with our lives. Next month we will discuss the proper use of eye-makeup for those not wishing to appear un-dead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright 2000, Mersinger Theatrical Services