Broadway Magic
By Dale Dobson, www.daledobson.com

Sunday in the Park with George Costanza
Jason Alexander (Merrily We Roll Along) and Stephen Sondheim (every decent American show of the 1970's) reunite in this tour-de-force solo production. Alexander's venal George character from television's Seinfeld struggles to find artistic satisfaction and some sort of maturity, but is constantly distracted by stuck zippers, burned coffee, and irritating people.

DUMP!
Rhythmic, kinetic, high-energy flatulence and more. Fun for the whole coprophilic family. Bring da noize! Break da windz!

Avenue Q Junior
Produced for Southern Baptist audiences, this G-rated version of the Tony award-winning show features the same puppets, with all of the humor removed. Revised songs include "The Internet Is for News," "Everyone's Racist," and "If Noone Were Homosexual."

TITS
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Trevor Nunn, and Show World join forces to present this musical tribute to breasts. 42nd Street veteran Betty Bustley as Grizzeola sings the tuneful finale, "Mammaries."

Annie IV: Annie Meets Oliver and the Music Man and the Fiddler on the Roof and some Guys and Dolls in the South Pacific to the Sound of Music from Oklahoma
An extremely short Broadway run is expected, but canny producers predict significant royalty revenues from community theatre groups across the USA.

Frankenstein - The Musical
Frank Wildhorn brings Mary Shelley's classic novel to dark, romantic life, as Dr. Frankenstein's beautiful fiancee Elizabeth must choose between the man she has promised to marry and the shambling assembly of dismembered corpses that has stolen her heart. Songs include "Mmmm-buh," "Pieces of You" and the torchy "A Windmill, A Pitchfork, and Love." With Kristen Chenoweth as the perkiest Igor you'll ever see.

Can't Stop the Music - On Broadway!
Following in the footsteps of Mamma Mia! and Movin' Out, as well as The Producers and Hairpsray, producer Alan Carr presents a stage version of the 1970's movie based on the music of The Village People. With Terrence Mann as that Construction Worker dude.

Die, Die, Birdie!
Long-dreaded contemporary sequel to the classic musical portrays an aging Conrad Birdie, overweight, worn out, and coked to the gills, as he prepares for a big comeback TV special and resists his manager's entreaties to sober up. Recycled musical numbers include "The Cellphone Song," "One Last Sniff" and "Dave Letterman." With Paul Stanley as Birdie and Peter Albertson as Albert Peterson.

How to Succeed in Government Without Really Trying
Tim Robbins' highly politicized update of the classic musical sends up the presidency of George W. Bush. Features a chorus of imperialistic colonizing corporate pig-dog lackeys, and a President Bush puppet designed by the Henson Creature Shop and operated by Halliburton.

Amadeus: The Musical
Andrew Lloyd "The Laziest Man in Show Business" Webber takes Peter Shaffer's classic drama, adds two new melodies based on the original compositions of Mozart, and plays them over and over and over.

Disney's The Bean-Nighe
Tuneful family entertainment based on the whimsical Irish legend of the deformed phantom washerwoman who appears at the riverside whenever a family member is about to die. Hilarious complications ensue as the O'Tremens family tries to figure out who will go next, enlisting the aid of psychics, witches, and scam artists. With Nathan Lane as Pervis, the comical necrophiliac undertaker; Sonia Braga as Baba Yaga; and John Cameron Mitchell as Martha Stewart. Book by Tim Kelly and Michael O'Donoghue, with music by Alan Menken and the Sherman brothers.

reads since 10/18/2005