Gigastar Dame Edna to Play Colonial Theatre

"You mean she's coming to Pittsfield?"
"Oh Possums, there's been a terrible mixup..."
Dame Edna Continues Her First Last Tour at the Colonial Theatre - in Boston

"Oh dear, possums! I had so hoped to play your tiny little Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, but I guess it was all an April Fool's joke. The rascals in my booking office were sure I didn't mean your beautiful old Berkshires, so they booked me instead in Boston. Well, you will just have to hitch up old Dobbin and clip-clop your way down the Mohawk Trail to the big city where you can really get scalped on ticket prices!"
Dame Edna with a Glady
Tony Award winner Dame Edna Everage — international housewife, therapist, gigastar, fashion icon, guru and swami — is sweeping into Boston with her latest touring show, direct from Florida where she has been avoiding our cold New England weather. Entitled Dame Edna - Live and Intimate in Her First Last Tour, the production is scheduled to arrive at Boston's Colonial Theatre April 16 for five performances, concluding April 19.

From Boston her tour will take her to Fort Worth, Los Angeles and San Diego. At no time will it pass through or near the Berkshires.

This is not her first visit to New England. She has traversed the USA (but not the Berkshires) in two previous Tony attracting shows, “The Royal Tour” and “Back with a Vengeance,” Dame Edna’s performances have won a Tony Award and a Tony Nomination plus countless critical awards. In fact, until now, they have received very little criticism.
"I had so hoped to have made the Pittsfield Fools Ball, I even had this simple little dress thrown together for the occasion."
Tickets for the Dame Edna Everage engagement are currently on sale through Ticketmaster, or better yet, save the surcharges and buy them directly at The Colonial Theatre Box Office, 106 Boylston Street, Boston during normal box office hours Monday through Saturday 10:00am – 6:00pm.

Dame Edna is currently on tour with her new and uniquely intimate offering which she created on her private multi million acre, possum-infested luxury estate in her native Australia.

On making the announcement, Dame Edna said: “I don’t do shows Possums, I make History!” “In a spooky way I am theater in the making. My shows are really not shows at all, they are not Events; they are MIRACLES which you can proudly tell your grandchildren you witnessed.”

We are pleased to share the results of a brief conversation with Dame Edna:
"Don't you think that question is just a little bit spooky?"
Q: Dame Edna what do you do on stage that is so special?
A: I sing, I dance, I give advice to audience members, I glimpse from the stage. It’s group therapy really, shrinks recommend me!

Q: Are you alone on stage?
A: Not exactly, the audience is my support act. I even invite selected audience members on stage, dress them up in more glamorous clothes than they ever dreamt of owning. I’ve also got my beautiful Ednaettes, scrumptious girl dancers and stunning costumes that the men folk would really appreciate if they could ever take their eyes off me. Then there’s Wayne Barker, my handsome award winning musical director on keyboards, who will send you out of the theatre singing.

Q: Will the show make us laugh?
A: We guarantee at least one major laugh per half minute and one falling off YOUR SEAT howling and crying every 3 minutes and 23 seconds. These statistics have been compiled by the Royal British Society of Theatrical Statistics.

Q: Is your show topical?
A: Every show I do is tailored to the city I am playing and audiences feel I’ve actually been living in their midst for years. I hit the nail on the head every time with zillions of up to the minute local references.

Q: Is your show suitable for the family?
A: There are no four letter words or gross obscenities in my show. It’s not for infants, but children love it, seniors adore it, gays revel in it, red-necks worship it, and nice people like you come back again and again. It’s intelligent, it’s caring, it’s funny and compassionate. It’s the show America needs more than anything else right now.
Dame Edna Wannabees
Q: What kind of people have enjoyed this show?
A: Do you know who I mean by Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, Henry Kissinger, Michael J. Fox, Steven Spielberg, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nelson Mandela and Cher?

Q: What is your message?
A: The message of laughter, which is the best weapon against world tension that was ever invented.

Q: How do you stay so beautiful?
A: A lot of people say I'm a beauty. I disagree. I'm not traditionally beautiful. I've got a lovely bone structure. I have a beautiful personality, some men find me raunchy. But I don't think of myself as a beauty anymore than I would have thought little Celine Dion is a beauty or Madonna. In many ways you can say they are plain, ugly even, hideous. But I'm beautiful inside. I think its what I radiate that people love. There's an inner beauty there, and it's recognized, and it's rare in a comedian because fundamentally I'm in the business of making people laugh and making people happy. I don't set out to do it. It’s people, they just can't help laughing when they see me and I'm not embarrassed by that. I think it's rather sexy. As a matter of fact, my husband used to laugh. In fact, on my honeymoon he never stopped laughing.

Dame Edna's Busy Tour Schedule:

6 April to 7 April
 - Sarasota, FL
Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

10 April to 11 April - 
Naples 
Philharmonic Centre for The Arts



16 April to 19 April
 - Boston, MA
Colonial Theater

2 June to 7 June - 
San Diego 
Civic Theatre



9 June to 21 June - 
Los Angeles, CA
 Ahmanson Theater



23 June to 28 June - 
Fort Worth, TX
Bass Performance Hall

Dame Edna's Tour is funded with support from Friends of the Prostate and Ednacare Switzerland.

The World Tests the “Young and Brilliant” President

Remember I quoted a remark by current Vice President Joseph Biden during the last election campaign on this blog.

Mark my words: It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Watch, we’re going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. He’s going to have to make some really tough - I don’t know what the decision’s going to be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it’s going to happen.

Since the inauguration, President Barack Obama has been focusing on domestic economy. However, he is going to make a real debut in international politics in early April. The young and brilliant president is popular but inexperienced in foreign affairs. If he fails to manage numerous agendas on his trip, the world will regard America as weak.

Obama will attend G20 London Summit and NATO 60th Anniversary Summit. Moreover, Obama will attend the EU Summit in Prague, Czech, and visit Turkey after NATO Summit (“Obama Prepares for European Trip”; VOA News; 30 March 2009). During this long trip to Europe, Obama will face the North Korean Missile Crisis between April 4 and 8. This subsequence will be the first test for the young and brilliant president.

In London, President Obama will discuss the financial crisis and economic stimulus with industrialized and developing nations. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said "The president and America are going to listen in London, as well as to lead" (“A busy agenda fuels Obama's first trip to Europe”; AP; March 31, 2009). However, European leaders are critical to the Obama administration’s stimulus plan for fear of further economic crisis associated with severe inflation (“Ahead of G20, Europe Rebuffs Stimulus Spending”; NPR; March 29, 2009). The London Summit is not just a conference on the global economy. This is the first face to face meeting for Obama with Russian and Chinese leaders.

NATO Summit in Strasburg and Kehl is a landmark to develop the trans-Atlantic alliance as France has come back to NATO command structure at the 60th anniversary of the organization. As Obama has announced a new strategy in Afghanistan the other day, this will be the primary agenda at the summit, and he will demand allies to make further contribution to US operations. In addition, Ukraine and Georgia will continue to be key issues. Both are related to Russian resurgence, and intertwined with the Missile Defense issue to be discussed in Prague.

Helene Cooper of the New York Times points out that Obama will confront resentment over American styled capitalism and have to persuade reluctant European allies to make further commitment to Afghanistan. She says his popularity does not help him deal with such a defiant world (“Obama Will Face a Defiant World on Foreign Visit”; New York Times; March 28, 2009).

While President Obama is on a busy diplomatic tour in Europe, he is expected to face another problem in North East Asia. It is utterly important to stop North Korea from launching missiles. Even if Kim Jong Il fires the missile, the United States must make him understand that his expansionist ambition is completely intolerable to the global community. Also, it is necessary to curtail Chinese and Russian influence on the Korean Peninsula while exploring common ground for non-proliferation.

Mark the words by Vice President Joseph Biden, to see what happens in April. Will President Barack Obama pass the first test by the world? We can see the result not immediately but in a few months.

A New Initiative against American Isolationism

Worldwide criticism to the Iraq War has led American public opinion to an isolationist direction. Leftists fell into Chamberlainian little Americanism, while rightists receded into America first. In view of challenges posed by global network of radical ideologues, rogue states, and the Russo-Chinese reemergence, the United States must be firmly committed to defend our liberal world order.

In such a global political environment, a new initiative for active interventionism in US foreign policy has been launched. The Cable, a blog published by Foreign Policy, keeps an eye on this movement led by Robert Kagan, Senior Associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, William Kristol, Managing Editor of Weekly Standard, and Dan Senor, former Iraq Provisional Authority Spokesman (“PNAC 2.0?”; The Cable; March 26, 2009). This group named the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) will hold the first public event on March 31 to discuss the strategy in Afghanistan. Top policymakers attend the conference as guest speakers. They are Senator John McCain; John Nagl, President of the Center for a New American Security; Democrat Representative Jane Harman; Republican Representative John McHugh; Ashley Tellis, Senior Associate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Lieutenant General David Barno, former commander in Afghanistan.

Although a well known neocon watch blog called Lobelog compares the FPI to the now -defunct PNAC (Project for the New American Century) in its recent post (“Neo-Con Ideologues Launch New Foreign Policy Group”; Lobelog; March 25, 2009), this is neither partisan nor anti-Obama advocacy. Democrat policymakers also come to speak in the first event.

It remains to be seen whether the Obama administration is more isolationist than the Bush administration. President Obama’s foreign policy will be tested in the forthcoming subsequent events, i.e., G20 London Summit, NATO Summit in Strasburg and Kehl, and North Korean missile launch. However, some opinion leaders regard the Obama presidency as a symbol of a less interventionist United States. If authoritarian adversaries and challengers see America weak, this will endanger our liberal world order. Therefore, it is vital “to make alliances and attack isolationist positions regardless of political affiliations depending on the issue.”

I strongly agree to the following comment in FPI mission statement.

(In the post 9-11 global security environment), the United States cannot afford to turn its back on its international commitments and allies--the allies that helped us defeat fascism and communism in the 20th century, and the alliances we have forged more recently, including with the newly liberated citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan. Our economic difficulties will not be solved by retreat from the international arena. They will be made worse.

This is a critical advice to President Obama and leaders of preeminent industrialized democracies who are obsessed with the Global Financial Crisis. We should not spend another holidays from history.

"Hair" Opens Tuesday: We Have Newest Photos, Big Discounts

Just in: the first review I have seen and it's a gem! Check out Life's A Pitch Gavin Creel as Claude (center) and the cast of the Broadway revival of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical directed by Diane Paulus and choreographed by Karole Armitage. HAIR features a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot. Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street, NYC). All photos by Joan Marcus.

At the dawning of a new age in America, HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical returns to Broadway for the first time in over 30 years. cultural icon is a legendary show which changed Broadway musical theatre. This fresh new version of the counter-culture musical started its second journey to Broadway last summer in Central Park. There the Public Theatre presented it with Jonathan Groff, of Spring Awakening fame. Though he is not in the revival due to other commitments, but word is that the entire cast is first rate.
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Photos Joan Marcus.

Assuming good reviews when it opens Tuesday at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on 45th Street, tickets will become hard to get, especially at a discount, but here's a great deal. You can buy $112-122 Orchestra/Mezzanine seats for only $60 for the Tuesday to Friday performances, or Sunday evening. For the Saturday Matinee and Evening, and Sunday Matinee, they are $75.00 Jot down the code "HANYTW4" and call 212-947-8844 or go to www.broadwayoffers.com and enter the code when prompted. Currently, this offer is valid on all performances through May 10, 2009.
Will Swenson as Berger and the cast of the Broadway revival of Hair.

A celebration of life, a love letter to freedom, and a passionate cry for hope and change, Hair features some of the greatest songs ever written for the stage, including "Let the Sun Shine In," "Easy To Be Hard," "Good Morning, Starshine," "The Age Of Aquarius" and the rousing title song. Welcome to the curly, shaggy, gleaming, streaming, wonderful world of Hair!
Tommar Wilson, Will Swenson as Berger and Bryce Ryness as Woof in the Broadway revival of Hair.

Directed by Diane Paulus and choreographed by Karole Armitage, Hair features a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot.
Sasha Allen as Dionne (center) and the cast of the Broadway revival of HAIR. Photo Joan Marcus.

The full cast of Hair includes Sasha Allen, Ato Blankson-Woo, Steel Burkhardt, Jackie Burns, Briana Carlson-Goodman, Allison Case, Gavin Creel, Lauren Elder, Allison Guinn, Chasten Harmon, Anthony Hollock, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Kaitlin Kiyan, Andrew Kober, Josh Lamon, Megan Lawrence, Caissie Levy, Nicole Lewis, Ryan Link, John Moauro, Darius Nichols, Brandon Pearson, Paris Remillard, Megan Reinking, Bryce Ryness, Michael James Scott, Saycon Sengbloh, Maya Sharpe, Kacie Sheik, Theo Stockman, Will Swenson and Tommar Wilson.

The Wrestling Patient: A New Generation Revisits the Holocaust

The Wrestling Patient is a new play which receives its world premiere this weekend. It promises to be an important work since it revisits the Holocaust through the words of Etty Hillesum, much as the Diary of Anne Frank did on Broadway half a century ago. (In that famous production Susan Strasberg played Anne Frank.)

That a whole new generation of artists are returning to this subject is important. Sadly this genocidal event is but a footnote to history for most people. But we must never forget. Most Americans were born after the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust took place. Indeed the depth of the atrocities didn't become widely known until after WWII was over and the newsreel footage revealed their demented "final solution" to the "problem" of the Jews.
Will Lyman and Anne Gottlieb in a scene from THE WRESTLING PATIENT, running March 27 thru April 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Photo: Stratton McCrady. Tix/Info: 617-933-8600
Etty's story lends itself to dramatization. As WWII engulfs her native Amsterdam, Etty is confronted with a remarkable choice: to hold onto a kind of integrity, or to save her own life. With the help of a charismatic teacher, she enters into the emerging science of psychology and wrestles to answer the demons of her time by looking within herself. The Wrestling Patient brings to light Etty’s secret history of musical evenings, therapeutic wrestling matches, black-market strawberries, and midnight prayers. Her story is one of an amazing transformation during one of the darkest hours in history. You can learn more about The Wrestling Patient at www.wrestlingpatient.org.

The presentation has been gestating for some time. Three talented theatre artists came together to
create this remarkable tale. It was Anne Gottlieb who first secured the rights to tell Etty’s story, and who,
in 2005 brought on playwright Kirk Lynn. Lynn is the founder and co-artistic director of the Rude Mechanicals theater collective in Austin, TX, where he has had 16 of his plays produced. Mr. Lynn has also had success in New York with productions of his plays Lipstick Traces and Major Bang. In 2006, director Katie Pearl joined the project, which received a staged reading last March sponsored by SpeakEasy Stage.
Anne Gottlieb takes a moment out from rehearsing THE WRESTLING PATIENT, a new play inspired by the life and writings of Dutch Jewish author Etty Hillesum. Photo: Stratton McCrady
The Wrestling Patient was selected as a finalist in the Outstanding New American Play competition administered by Arena Stage and sponsored by the NEA. The title role is played by Anne Gottlieb and also features Daniel Berger-Jones, Joel Colodner, Tom Gottlieb, Marya Lowry, Will Lyman and Will McGarrahan. Co-creator Katie Pearl directs.
Etty's Writings Dramatized.
The Wrestling Patient will be performed in the Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End. Further information and tickets can be had by calling 617-933-8600 or visit www.wrestlingpatient.org.

Toxic Avenger: The Musical Attacks New York City

"Better then Cats!"
I envy those of you who are in the NYC area, you can quickly get to the New World Stages on 50th Street to check out the hot new musical, The Toxic Avenger, directed by the immensely gifted Tony winner John Rando who has been lent to you by the Berkshires. Rando directed a hilariously funny A Flea in Her Ear at the Williamstown Theatre Festival last summer and we want you back ASAP. (Read my story on John and French Farce for some insights into his genius.)

Simply click to play. Find more videos like this on the Toxic Avenger site.

So what's the big deal? Well unless you have been in solitary, you must know that The Toxic Avenger is a 1985 classic cult movie, and has spawned several sequals. Now it is a hot new rock musical with music and lyrics by David Bryan - keyboardist and founding member of Bon Jovi. For show mavens, the book and more lyrics are by Joe DiPietro (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change).
Nick Cordero as Toxie
Photographed by Kelly Ryman
He’s New Jersey‘s first Superhero and he takes to the stage in this rock ‘n roll monster of a comedy. Thrown into a vat of toxic goo by two bullies, a mild-mannered science student named Melvin Ferd the Third is reborn as a one-of-a-kind environmental crusader, The Toxic Avenger! Armed with superhuman strength and a heart as big as Newark, he’s out to save New Jersey, end global warming and woo the prettiest, blindest librarian in town. He’ll leave you laughing in the aisles as he rocks the house and saves the earth for all of mankind.
Nick Cordero who plays Toxie greets the fans.
My spy in Queens tells me the show is fabulous, though in previews, and destined for great things. These days there are two kinds of musicals, one for older audiences, and one for younger crowds. The best summary is this one:

The Toxic Avenger is appropriate for audiences from 13 to 100+, although over 100, we're not responsible for death due to laughter. The show contains a monster that might frighten young children, and it also contains some words our mothers said we shouldn't use. If it was a movie, it'd be rated PG-13… but it’s not a movie. Children under the age of 4 are not permitted in the theatre.

And finally, want to have some fun? Go to the Toxic Avenger Interactive Street Scene and poke around.It will take a few seconds to start loading. High speed connection is best. Have fun at home, then go see this show in New York, or near you when your local theatre company gets permission to perform it. It is truly a musical for everyone!

Extreme Shepherding: Viral Marketing That Works for Samsung

Artistic Flock. Photo courtesy Daily Mail.
It took three hundred sheep, three dogs and one determined farmer three hours to assemble his herd into this Spring Awakening. David Kennard has a farm in Devon, and revealed his secret. It takes more than just sheep and dogs. He planted feed along the outlines of the letters, too.


This short video captures everyone's attention, from computer geek to visual artist. And proves that even the shepherds in the hills of Wales have time to think artistic concepts, and the tenacity to work all day, and long into the night, to make them come to life. It is now a Samsung viral video, with 2.5 viewers to date.

As I watched the finale, I wondered what Arthur Fiedler (founder of the Boston Pops) would have thought.

"Can we get more sheep for the finale?" would likely have been his response.