Behind the Scenes Look at "Creating a Play in a Day" Coming to the Big Screen

I just got a notice from the American Theatre Critics Association's Jay Handelman, who wanted to share some information about Fathom's "One Night Stand" screenings. It's about one of the playwriting/playmaking projects that has been getting some traction in recent years, when everybody necessary to put on a show goes from zero to opening in 24 hours. But I'll let you read the press release:

"One Night Stand: Creating a Play in a Day” 

Cinema Event Takes Audiences Behind Curtain

of New York’s Theater World 

NCM® Fathom Events and Overnight Musicals Present

a Behind-the-Scenes Look into the Creation of Four 

Musicals from Blank Page to Live Stage in Just 24 Hours 

In Select Movie Theaters Nationwide 

on Wednesday, January 30 

Centennial, Colo. – Jan. 3, 2013 – Giving audiences an unbridled and candid look behind the scenes of the Broadway curtain, NCM® Fathom Events, Overnight Musicals and The Broadway League present “One Night Stand: Creating a Play in a Day,” a unique one-night event broadcast to movie theaters nationwide on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. local time. This fast-paced, hilarious and entertaining film follows some of New York's top actors, including Cheyenne Jackson (30 Rock, Glee), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) and Rachel Dratch (Saturday Night Live), as well as teams of writers, composers and directors as they are given 24 hours to write, cast, compose, rehearse and perform four short musicals. At the end of the 24 hours, the musicals make their opening, and closing, night at New York City’s Gramercy Theatre. The event will also present exclusive behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the stars of “One Night Stand” as they share intimate stories of life on Broadway.

Tickets for “One Night Stand: Creating a Play in a Day” are available at participating theater box offices and online at www.FathomEvents.com. For a complete list of theater locations and prices, visit the NCM Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).The event will be broadcast to nearly 450 select movie theaters across the country through NCM’s exclusive Digital Broadcast Network.

Likened to “‘A Chorus Line’ meets ‘Project Runway’” (BroadwayWorld.com), “One Night Stand: Creating a Play in a Day,” directed by Elisabeth Sperling and Trish Dalton, captures the excitement, anxiety, camaraderie and sheer panic that leads to the final thrill of the finished performance. From the blank page to the live stage, “One Night Stand: Creating a Play in a Day” unveils the magic as these talented artists take the dare to create something from nothing.

Four teams consisting of composers, writers, directors and actors use props to inspire the musicals: a zoot suit worn by Richard Kind (Argo, Spin City, Mad About You) on a children’s show in the 1970s inspires the “Islands” musical; a phobia pop-up book is the premise for “Multiphobia” and an 80s prom dress prop is used in “Dr. Williams” featuring Jackson, Ferguson and Roger Bart (Revenge, Desperate Housewives). Dratch brings her comedic timing to the fourth musical, “Rachel said Sorry.”

"I love the whole process of birthing a new musical, from the first rehearsal until opening night, and ‘One Night Stand’ shows it all encapsulated in one day,” said Ferguson. “It's just so exciting and really quite moving – a crazy birth in one night! You get to see some amazing New York talent on stage, me included.”

 Actors featured in the musicals include the aforementioned Bart, Dratch, Ferguson, Jackson and Kind as well as Mandy Gonzalez (Wicked, In the Heights); Capathia Jenkins (Newsies, Chicago, Nine); Theresa McCarthy (Queen of the Mist, Saturn Returns, Titanic); Nellie McKay (Home Sweet Mobile Home, Rumor Has It); Marnie Schulenburg (As the World Turns); Scarlet Strallen (Mary Poppins, The Witches of Eastwick); Tracie Thoms (Cold Case, Rent); Tamara Tunie (Law and Order SVU, Flight) and Alicia Witt (Two Weeks Notice, Urban Legend).

 “The excitement is palpable as these talented writers, composers and actors work against the clock to bring their musicals from their imaginations to the stage in record time,” said Shelly Maxwell, executive vice president of NCM Fathom Events. “Fans of live theatre will find this one-of-a-kind Fathom Event truly captivating.”

About National CineMedia (NCM)

NCM operates NCM Media Networks, a leading integrated media company reaching U.S. consumers in movie theaters, online and through mobile technology. The NCM Cinema Network and NCM Fathom Events present cinema advertising and events across the nation’s largest digital in-theater network, comprised of theaters owned by AMC Entertainment Inc., Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK), Regal Entertainment Group (NYSE: RGC) and other leading regional theater circuits. NCM’s theater advertising network covers 183 Designated Market Areas® (49 of the top 50) and includes over 19,300 screens (over 18,400 digital). During 2011, approximately 680 million patrons (on an annualized basis) attended movies shown in theaters in which NCM currently has exclusive, cinema advertising agreements in place. The NCM Fathom Events live digital broadcast network (“DBN”) is comprised of over 720 locations in 170 Designated Market Areas® (including all of the top 50). The NCM Interactive Network offers 360-degree integrated marketing opportunities in combination with cinema, encompassing 41 entertainment-related websites, online widgets and mobile applications. National CineMedia, Inc. (NASDAQ: NCMI) owns a 48.6% interest in and is the managing member of National CineMedia LLC. For more information, visit www.ncm.com or www.FathomEvents.com.

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Because the Fathom website uses Java, which is currently under assault from the security-minded who recommend disabling Java entirely, I decided to give the list here of theaters in Illinois which will be airing the film so that you don't have to try to find it at Fathom. You will notice that neither Bloomington nor Normal is participating, so B-N folks who want to see how you create a whole musical in a day will need to go to Peoria or Savoy (which is south of Champaign on Rte. 45).

South Barrington 30 with IMAX (Barrington)
Randall 15 with IMAX (Batavia)
River East 21 (Chicago)
ShowPlace ICON at Roosevelt Collection (Chicago)
Showplace 16 (Crystal Lake)
Century 16 Deer Park (Deer Park)
Evanston 18 with XD (Evanston)
Lincolnshire 21 with IMAX (Lincolnshire)
Yorktown 17 with IMAX (Lombard)
Naperville 16 with IMAX (Naperville)
Niles 12 (Niles)
Orland Park Cinemas 14 (Orland Park)
Willow Knolls 14 (Peoria) 
Savoy 16 (Savoy) 
Cinemark Woodridge 17 with IMAX (Woodridge)

Unless you have plans to be in the Chicago area on January 30th, Peoria and Savoy are your most convenient options.

Looking for Rainbows: Two "Finians" for St. Patrick's Day

When Encores announced "Finian's Rainbow," a Broadway hit from 1947, as part of its 2009 season, I wasn't really sure what to think. Joy for an exciting new revival? Horror that they'd unearthed that old chestnut? Not really either. More curiosity, I guess.

"Finian's Rainbow" was a bit of a curiosity, even in 1947, mixing an old Irish gent with a stolen crock of gold, the leprechaun he stole it from, a mysterious girl who dances instead of talking and a bunch of poor sharecroppers in "Missitucky" who are looking to better their lives with a better brand of tobacco.

Like many people, I'd never seen a stage production of the show, and my only knowledge of it was the 1968 movie version, directed by a young Francis Ford Coppola. (Let's be honest here. It's a Fred Astaire movie. Of course I've seen it. I mean, duh. It's FRED ASTAIRE. Anyone who knows anything about me knows how I feel about Mr. Astaire.)

My main recollection of the film was Fred being charming and doing his best not to get sucked down by the creepiness of the subplot involving Keenan Wynn in blackface. But that's the thing about "Finian's Rainbow" -- the blackface that looks bizarre and horrific to us now was actually part of its message of racial tolerance. It's the bigoted cornpone senator who gets turned into a black man to show him what the racism he's been spouting feels like. It's still blackface, however. And that was problematic for me, even in 1968.

The weird thing is that I didn't remember much of the score from the Coppola movie, even though he included most of it. I'm used to Hollywood gutting the songs when they put stage musicals on screen, but "Finian's Rainbow" got a different treatment, what Coppola called the "road show" approach, where it played as much like a night out at the theater as possible. In fact, everything but "Necessity" seems to be there.

So how is it possible I had no memory of "Old Devil Moon," "Look to the Rainbow," "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" or "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love" as being part of "Finian's Rainbow"?

When I first played the cast recording from the Encores production that moved to Broadway, I kept saying "THAT'S from 'Finian's Rainbow'?" every few minutes. I think the difference is in who's singing these gorgeous songs and the overall style.

The movie has a 60s hippyish sort of feel in some places, especially when Petula Clark gets all folk-pop on "Look to the Rainbow" and when Dorothy Jeakins' costume design pulls in that seriously hideous wedding ensemble. I don't know who thought a veil made of fishnet trailing little daisies was a good idea. It wasn't.

And then there's Tommy Steele. Again, I don't know who thought it was a good idea to cast a cheesy pop, almost Music Hall performer like Steele as the show's sweet little leprechaun, but he is completely at odds with the more down-home, laid-back style of the rest of the film.

In contrast, the Broadway revival went back to 1947 in terms of the look and the sound. So Kate Baldwin's clear, bright soprano hits the perfect mood, as does Cheyenne Jackson's smooth baritone. Together, they make "Old Devil Moon" swoony and sexy and just plain beautiful. Sweeping me off my feet? You bet.

Kudos to Warren Carlyle, who directed and choreographed this new "Finian's," and also to musical director Rob Berman, for sticking with the 40s feel and making it sound so good. Carlyle's decision to cast a black actor as Senator Rawkins' double (avoiding the blackface problem) is also most welcome.

The funny thing is that even "Necessity" and "The Begat," the most old-fashioned songs in the score, sound fresh and new here. Even the "Dance of the Golden Crock," a total snoozefest of easy listening in the movie, is fun and engaging performed as a harmonica instrumental on this fizzy, fabulous cast recording.

It's tough for me to put aside my feelings for Fred Astaire and recognize that someone else fits the role better, but Jim Norton really does make a better Finian. I still love Fred, but Norton's "When the Idle Rich Become the Idle Poor" is more mischievous, more fun and more Irish.

Meanwhile, Christopher Fitzgerald's Og beats Tommy Steele's in so many ways it's not even funny.

When this new "Finian's" closed in January, I was dismayed that I hadn't managed to get to New York to see it in time. The good news is that PS Classics and executive producer Tommy Krasker recorded it for posterity. Krasker has not only brought the score to life, but he's included enough dialogue to make the story work and added a terrific little booklet offering pictures, complete lyrics, a synopsis and notes about the history of the show. PS Classics sweats the details and I couldn't appreciate that more.

So, no, I didn't get to see the revival. But I know what it sounded like, what it looked like and, yes, what it felt like. This cast recording is just that good.

To order the cd -- and you really should order this cd -- you can visit PS Classics. You might also want to take a look at some of their other offerings, including "Nine" done right and lesser-known gems like "Kitty's Kisses" and "Fine and Dandy." Yes, it's true. I love PS Classics. But they are completely deserving of that love.