While the University of Utah presentation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" is scheduled to run for 56 performances at Kingsbury Hall, Jan. 12-Feb. 28 - five of those performances will NOT have Donny Osmond starring in the title role.
Due to a previous commitment, Osmond will not be on stage at Kingsbury Hall Jan. 19-22. (Actually, tickets for the five performances have not yet gone on sale - awaiting an official decision on just how these non-Donny performances are going to be handled.)Who'll be taking Osmond's place in the five shows? I have no idea. Since this is a professional Actors Equity production, the company - currently performing at the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver, British Columbia - undoubtedly has a very fine, experienced understudy waiting in the wings.
Some folks have suggested that the producers should temporarily hire Donny's nephew, David, who performed the role last fall in the August Night Productions version on the same stage.
The range of ticket prices for this rare touring treat ($25 to $65) hardly fall into what most local theatergoers consider "family rates." But if you feel these are a bit steep, you could take your entire family across town to Salt Lake Community College's Grand Theatre where a non-Equity, "community theater" version of "Joseph" will be playing Jan. 23-Feb. 7. It won't have hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of flashy scenery and glitzy costumes, but the script and Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's fun and funky songs will all be there.
(And if you think Josephmania will be waning, think again. Diehard "Joseph" fans - and they are legion in Utah - could overdose on "Dreamcoat" from mid-January through the end of August all over the state. At least seven productions of the same show are scheduled during this time frame, most of them overlapping . . . and three in Utah County alone.)
- THE BEST - I've been sorting through the titles of the 275-plus productions that opened on stages across the state during 1997, attempting to come up with my annual "best five" list.
It's not easy.
It is easy to dismiss the fluffy musicals and silly comedies that make up most of the "community theater" calendars. (Hale Centre Theatre did a terrific job with "My Fair Lady" and "She Loves Me," but they don't quite match the rich dialogue of "Arcadia" or the potent drama of "Alienation Effekt.")
Even in the nonprofessional arena of community theater there are occasional pockets of excellence that deserve to be mentioned . . . shows like Rodgers Memorial Theatre's dark and moody "Phantom" and StageRight TheaterCompany's delightful production of "The Rainmaker" (N. Richard Nash's lusty 1954 comedy about a spinster finding love in the drought-plagued Midwest - not John Grisham's blockbuster crime novel).
For me, personally, what makes regional theater exciting is the magic blend of a finely written script, superb talent and professional (not amateur) staging.
Pioneer Theatre Company, Salt Lake Acting Company and the Utah Shakespearean Festival consistently deliver first-rate shows, professional quality.
The stark reality of "The Diary of Anne Frank," the off-the-wall humor of "Incorruptible" and the unbridled energy of "Charley's Aunt" and "The Boy Friend" will linger long after one more humdrum night at a mediocre "Fiddler" or tedious, roadshow-caliber versions of "The Sound of Music."
Here's a list of some of my favorite productions for 1997, in no particular order.
- Ed Gryska's wild and funky "The Rocky Horrow Show," staged in the perfect local setting: the Institute of Terror theater.
- Plan-B's production of Tobin Atkinson's original drama "Alientation Effekt," dealing with political and social issues most locals would prefer be swept under the carpet. (If we don't talk about them they don't exist, right?)
- Atkinson and Trevor Williams' knock-out performances as two lost soldiers in the jungles of North Vietnam in SLAC's production of Al Brown's "One Last Dance."
- Other outstanding fare at SLAC included Richard Kalinoski's poignant"Beast on the Moon," Michael Hollinger's hilariously irreverent "Incorruptible," Julie Jensen's "Last Lists of My Mad Mother" and the delightful "Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)"
- Pioneer Theatre Company's elegantly staged "Arcadia" . . . plus such other PTC gems as "The Diary of Anne Frank," a beautifully mounted clasic; "An Ideal Husband," Stephen Sondheim's deliciously dark "Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street" and "The Miracle Worker," which just closed last night.
- Paul Larsen's "The Raid" was revised - and restaged - on the University of Utah campus. This well-written piece about one segment of Utah's early history needs to be staged occasionally as a dramatic reminder of our pioneer past.
- TheatreWorks West produced its usual array of not-quite-mainstream works, including the powerful "Kindertransport," about young Holocaust survivors (adopted by the British instead of being sent off to the camps with their families); "Frankie and Johnny at the Claire de Lune" and the rarely mounted classic revue "Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris." The latter closed in midstream when the Wooden Dog, site of TWW's Upstage Center space, was closed to make room for a new Eddie Bauer store at Trolley Square.
- Like Pioneer Theater Company, you can expect nearly everything on the Utah Shakespearean Festival lineup to be nothing less than top quality. My favorites in 1997 included the light and bubbly musical "The Boy Friend," the classic comedy "Charley's Aunt," the rarely done Shakespearean adventure "Pericles," the unique prewar German spin on "Hamlet" and a rollicking "Twelfth Night," the latter nicely directed by former Utahn Bruce Sevy.
- This year's Greek Theatre Festival production, "Hippolytos," was beautifully staged - as usual.
- Exceptional "community theater" fare ranged from Hale Centre Theatre's "She Loves Me" to Rodgers Memorial Theatre's "Phantom," "Forever Plaid" and "The Servant of Two Masters."
Now, if I can just pare some of these memorable evenings (and afternoons) at the theater into just five.