Word: landesman
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Fortunately for everyone, the Dodgers and their colleagues made four inspired decisions. One had to do with money, lavishly and well spent. Says Rocco Landesman, a Dodger partner who is also president of the Jujamcyn theater chain, which owns the Martin Beck: "We believe this is the most expensive revival in history. We spent $5 million because we approached the show as if it were new material...
...written for scenes alternating between full stage depth and a shallow space in front of a curtain while sets were being moved behind. Zaks thinks the appeal of the storytelling is eternal and views his choice to stage the show as a period piece as merely aesthetic. But producer Landesman says, "If you wrote Guys and Dolls now, people would find it silly. Critics would object to the dramaturgy -- the ending is abrupt, and all the important character changes take place offstage. The work needs to be given a historical as well as a geographical location, and this style...
Even the winners are queasy. Landesman's five theaters are bulging with hits, including two Tony nominees for best musical and one each for best play and best revival. Yet he frets, "This season had so much that shows cannibalized each other's audiences. And I don't see what's in store for next season -- I can't begin to guess where we will find four nominees for best musical a year from now." Other industry executives agree. Says Sabinson: "This business is cyclical." But then, just a few months ago, no one was so sure about Guys...
Burnett's novel is beloved by girls, although not so much read by boys, and it fittingly has been translated by what is believed to be a Broadway first, an all-female creative team. Producer Heidi Landesman also designed the allegorical, imagistic set, based on a child's toy theater. Director Susan Schulman has laced the narrative with ghosts and wraiths of memory. Composer Lucy Simon blended folk music apt to the Yorkshire locale with art songs fitting the moneyed manor-house setting. Librettist-lyricist Marsha Norman solved the self-containment of the three main characters by making their songs...
...opened off-Broadway last week, she is aided by a superb cast, including Jane Alexander and Harris Yulin as the parents and Bethel Leslie as the dying aunt -- all established stars who delicately avoid star turns -- and the exceptional Clayton Barclay Jones and Angela Goethals as the children. Heidi Landesman's brilliantly simple sets fill a postage-stamp stage with bits of cloth to create a mountain, a river, a campsite and a twinkling night sky, capturing not physical essence but distilled recollection. The entire event is ethereal yet spellbinding...