Word: theaterland
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...Phantom II, but comparisons are inevitable, and unflattering. Phantom was about more than atmospherics: it had a focused narrative drive and a brilliant illusionist production by Hal Prince. Woman, by contrast, is often pallid and dramatically confused. This is a disappointment not just for Lloyd Webber fans but for theaterland as a whole. These are tricky times for musical theater: the genre seems unable to produce successful new material, and depends too much on yesterday's tunes - shows based on old pop songs (by Abba, Queen, Rod Stewart), old movies (The Producers) and old faithfuls (Mary Poppins). If it turns...
...that's not my aim. Some choreographers create works specifically for the purpose of movement invention. But I try to be inventive with the concept, to stretch what dance can do in the theater." It was this theatricality that attracted Disney to him for Mary Poppins, one of theaterland's most eagerly anticipated events of 2004. It will be the first time the choreographer has also directed a musical. For his admirers, that's a double treat. "Original theatermakers like Matthew aren't defined by those who came before them," says Disney Theatrical Productions president Thomas Schumacher. "They find...
London's West End, theater's most hallowed ground, has of late been long on celebrity and short on serious theater. A parade of Hollywood stars with minimal acting chops have invaded Theaterland - among them Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan, but most notoriously Madonna in the execrable Up For Grabs - many of them sellout performances in every sense of the phrase. After Matthew Perry (one of the Friends) began filling the Comedy Theatre with his lightweight turn in David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago, you began to wonder if schlock is the only way to sell tickets these days...
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