http://www.bushnell.org/blog/ Welcome to The Bushnell Blog! en Copyright 2012 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:38:53 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss We're just a few short weeks away from Neil Berg’s 100 Years of Broadway Song and Dance on February 19, which will feature a 7p.m. evening performance with Broadway stars (!!!) David Elder, Ted Louis Levy, Meredith Patterson, Natalie Toro and Rob Evan. Earlier in the day there will be a STUDENT SHOWCASE featuring four of Hartford's premier dance schools all competing to be featured in the grand finale of the evening show! Videos of the competing dance studios are up on our YouTube, check them out here and tell us who is your favorite! http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE621DCEBB4C63E61&feature=edit_ok STAGE LEFT DANCE APRILLE'S DANCEPRINTS THE DANCER'S IMAGE DANCE ACADEMY DANCE 10 STUDIOS About the evening show: Neil Berg’s 100 Years of Broadway Song and Dance features the best-loved song-and-dance numbers from shows like Chicago, A Chorus Line and 42nd Street. Prepare to be dazzled by Broadway veterans David Elder (Curtains, 42nd Street, Kiss Me Kate), Ted Louis Levy (Black & Blue, Bring In ‘Da Noise! Bring In ‘Da Funk!), Meredith Patterson (White Christmas, 42nd Street, The Green Bird), Natalie Toro (A Tale of Two Cities, Les Misérables) and Rob Evan (Jekyll & Hyde, Les Misérables, Little Shop of Horrors). For more information visit Neil Berg's website: www.neilberg.com. About the student showcase: Neil Berg’s 100 Years of Broadway Song and Dance Student Showcase will feature some of Greater Hartford’s most talented student dancers, all vying to be voted to appear in the evening performance’s grand finale! Dancers will appear from four local studios, including Stage Left Dance, Aprille’s Danceprints, The Dancer’s Image Dance Academy and Dance 10 Studios. Ticket Info: Tickets for Neil Berg’s 100 Years of Broadway Song and Dance are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting The Bushnell Box Office at 166 Capitol Avenue in Hartford or by calling (860) 987-5900. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.bushnell.org. Tickets to the 7:00 p.m. performance are $35.00 - $45.00. Tickets to the 2:00 p.m. Student Showcase are $15.00 or only $10.00 with the purchase of a ticket to the 7:00 performance. Ticket prices do not include all applicable fees. http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2012/01/100_years_of_broadway_competit.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2012/01/100_years_of_broadway_competit.html The Bushnell Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:38:53 -0500 The Bushnell® is very proud of the one-woman play Warriors Don't Cry, showing tonight at 7:30 p.m. Not to be missed, this is a play depicting the Little Rock Nine memoirs by Melba Pattillo Beals, who integrated Central High School in 1957. The inspiring performance chronicles the arduous and violent year in which nine black students risked their lives for a good education. In the post-show Q&A, audience members explore themes of bullying, hate speech, and other issues of contemporary relevance. http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2012/01/warriors_dont_cry.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2012/01/warriors_dont_cry.html The Bushnell Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:21:24 -0500 How amazing is Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan?? We're dying to know what you thought of Pan, Hook, Wendy and all of your favorites. Let us know what moment made you believe in the magic! http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/11/peter_pan.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/11/peter_pan.html Broadway Shows Wed, 23 Nov 2011 09:23:48 -0500 Traces... WOW!! How exciting to have such a spectacular show here for two weeks, running now through October 9. We want to know what you think of the show! Post your review in comments-- let us know your favorite parts and what absolutely blew you away!! http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/09/traces_a_new_take_on_cirque.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/09/traces_a_new_take_on_cirque.html Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:03:23 -0500 We are thrilled that WICKED is here for the third time, running now through September 11 - and we want to know what you think of the show! Post your review in comments! http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/08/wicked_is_here_let_us_know_wha.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/08/wicked_is_here_let_us_know_wha.html Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:01:26 -0500 DVR ALERT! Get an exclusive sneak-peak behind the curtain of WICKED this Sunday, August 21, at noon when NBC Connecticut airs a 30-minute special on Broadway’s biggest blockbuster! The special presentation reveals never before seen back stage footage including actor interviews and a detailed look on how the Broadway spectacular came to be. WICKED’s creative team, including Academy and Grammy Award-winning Composer/Lyricist Stephen Schwartz, explains how the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire was brought to the Broadway stage. WICKED opens at The Bushnell next Wednesday, August 24, and runs through September 11! Good seats still available!]]> http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/08/wicked_dvr_alert.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/08/wicked_dvr_alert.html Thu, 18 Aug 2011 15:55:02 -0500 How long did it take you to bring Wicked to life? Stephen Schwartz: We actually were working on the show about four years, which is pretty fast for a big Broadway musical…Once I had heard about [Wicked] from [my friend] Holly Near, it took awhile to secure the rights, because Universal had them – actually Demi Moore’s production company had them. I had to follow a trail through her production company to Universal to [producer] Marc Platt (who was in charge of the studio at that time). And then persuade him to consider doing it as a stage musical as opposed to a film. We spent a lot of time before starting to really write at all. We spent about a year at least – Winnie [Holzman, who wrote the musical’s book] Marc Platt and I – working on an outline. We went through several drafts of the outline, until we really felt we had the story telling right. It's a very complicated story to work out; there's a lot of plot, there are a lot of relationships between the characters that either had to be used or dropped, there are a lot of surprises and twists and turns to the plot that needed to be figured out so everything worked logically. It was almost like plotting a mystery novel. I remember reading an interview with J.K. Rowling who of course wrote the “Harry Potter” books and how she had spent a year working out the world – for example, the rules of Quidditch – before she wrote anything. We did a similar amount of work. Once we started writing, even though things have changed and will continue to change, songs get dropped or re-written, or scenes get combined, the essence of the show and the structure of it hasn't changed. When Joe Mantello came in as director, he of course had several ideas and suggestions, many of which we are doing because we thought they were terrific, but nothing of which I would call really substantially changing the structure. What actually attracted you to the project? SS: First, I’m often attracted to an idea that takes a familiar story and spins it, looking at it from another direction, like Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. For whatever reason, I like it when I see things like that, and I like to write them. For me, if you take a familiar story – whether it be the Book of Genesis or The Wizard of Oz – and you come at it from another point of view, the tension between the audience’s preconception and the approach you’re taking to the story adds an extra level of response, plus it helps to clarify the points you’re trying to make. Second, the idea of taking what is one of the iconic villains of American culture, the Wicked Witch of the West – so much “the villain” that we don’t even know her name – and looking at the story from her point of view, that seemed to me a brilliant concept. It was clear a show about her could explore some of my favorite themes: the difference between surface appearances and what’s really going on underneath, how life is more complex and has more ambiguity than we tend to be comfortable with and, certainly, than our public discourse admits to. When I thought I wouldn’t get the rights to Wicked, I started making lists of other famous villains whose stories I could spin – Iago, Judas, the wicked queen in Snow White – but none of them seemed as colorful to me, pardon the pun. There is something so ingrained in our consciousness about the Wicked Witch of the West that she was already beloved, in a strange way. Thirdly, the character and her world were obviously inherently musical. Oz is a fantastical, larger-than-life setting full of characters who almost demand to sing, and the witch herself is so full of big emotions – rage and ambition and longing – I just thought the idea was screaming to be a musical. Your score is very varied. SS: Actually, I hoped and meant for it – with the exception of “Wonderful,” which is obviously a deliberate pastiche number because it’s sung by the Wizard, who is not from Oz and therefore is meant to sound American. But for the rest of the score, I really did try to come up with a sound that you couldn’t quite place where it was from, that there was nothing that suggested a specific either American or sort of “Earth” genre. There were songs that were featured in the San Francisco tryout of Wicked that were subsequently cut from the Broadway production. Is there any chance of hearing them? SS: I’m actually thinking of doing a CD that’s called “Murdered Darlings.” I’m not kidding. I have this plan. I’ve put out a couple of CDs of just me singing and thought “Maybe I’ll do a CD with a bunch of people singing (like my friend John Bucchino’s ‘Grateful’ CD).” I thought, “What could I do?” and then I thought, “You know what? People are always asking me about this cut song or that cut song and between the shows and the Disney films, I have about a dozen cut songs that I think are worthy of hearing.” I don’t know that I’ll do that right away but I know for sure of two songs from Wicked that will show up. ]]> http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/08/check_out_this_interview_with.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/08/check_out_this_interview_with.html Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:51:44 -0500 Wicked and Jersey Boys are on sale now.) Click here to see what's in store for this amazing season! ]]> http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/07/tickets_for_the_20112012_seaso.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/07/tickets_for_the_20112012_seaso.html Fri, 15 Jul 2011 10:11:09 -0500 As a special thank you to fans everywhere, Amazon.com and the producers of Broadway’s THE BOOK OF MORMON are offering a digital download of the entire Original Broadway Cast Recording, released by Ghostlight Records, for only $1.99. This limited time offer will be available on Friday, June 10 at 12:00 AM PDT through Monday, June 13 at 11:59PM PDT at www.Amazon.com/BookOfMormon so don’t miss your opportunity to own the Original Cast Recording of the show Ben Brantley of The New York Times calls, “The best musical of this century.” http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/06/get_the_book_of_mormon_soundtr.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/06/get_the_book_of_mormon_soundtr.html Fri, 10 Jun 2011 11:38:37 -0500 West Side Story, we are happy to wrap up the 2010-2011 season! Before you start celebrating summer, we'd like to know - what was your favorite show in the 2010-2011 season here at The Bushnell? Was it one of our Broadway hits, like Blue Man Group, Hair or Next to Normal? Or maybe a Ha! Ha! Hartford! performance? Perhaps it was Warriors Don't Cry or Pilobolus? Whatever the case, we want to know! Let us know in comments. Happy Summer! ]]> http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/05/what_was_your_favorite_show_in_1.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/05/what_was_your_favorite_show_in_1.html Tue, 31 May 2011 10:35:55 -0500 Are you ready for a rumble? The greatest love story of all time, WEST SIDE STORY, opens tonight at The Bushnell and runs through Sunday. This new Broadway revival is as powerful, poignant and timely as ever, and the new Broadway cast album of WEST SIDE STORY recently won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. Will you be at the show? Let us know what you think in comments! http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/05/west_side_story_opens_tonight.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/05/west_side_story_opens_tonight.html Tue, 24 May 2011 14:55:10 -0500 We are thrilled to announce the seventh and final show in our 2011-2012 Bushnell Broadway Series! COME FLY AWAY will make its Connecticut premiere at The Bushnell May 29-June 3, 2012! COME FLAY AWAY is the new Broadway musical that brings together the legendary vocals of FRANK SINATRA and the creative vision of Tony Award-winner TWYLA THARP (Movin’ Out). This one-of-a-kind experience combines the seductive vocals of “Ol’ Blue Eyes” with the sizzling sound of a live on-stage big band and the visceral thrill of Tharp’s choreography. As 14 of the world’s best dancers tell the story of four couples falling in and out of love, you will experience the exhilaration of a first kiss, the excitement of a first dance, and the bittersweet moments of a first good-bye in a world of sparkling romance and astonishing beauty. COME FLY AWAY features a host of beloved Sinatra classics, including “Fly Me to the Moon,” “My Way,” “New York, New York” and “Witchcraft.” Will you be at the show? Let us know what you think! http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/05/come_fly_away_announced_as_sev.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/05/come_fly_away_announced_as_sev.html Mon, 09 May 2011 13:29:12 -0500 The Public Theater's Tony Award-winning production of HAIR is at The Bushnell this week! Join us for the dawning of the Age of Aquarius before this fabulous cast heads back to New York for a return engagement on Broadway this summer! Are you coming, Starshine? Let us know what you think of the show in comments! http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/04/let_down_your_hair_at_the_bush.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/04/let_down_your_hair_at_the_bush.html Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:42:37 -0500 We can't wait for the curtain to rise on tonight's performance of NEXT TO NORMAL! From the director of RENT, NEXT TO NORMAL is the winner of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three 2009 Tony Awards including Best Score. Alice Ripley, who received the 2009 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, will reprise her acclaimed performance in Hartford. Are you coming to the show? Let us know what you think in comments! http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/03/next_to_normal_makes_ct_premie.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/03/next_to_normal_makes_ct_premie.html Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:26:58 -0500 We are thrilled to announce that WICKED will be returning to The Bushnell for three weeks, August 24-September 11! Back by “Popular” demand. Entertainment Weekly calls WICKED "the best musical of the decade,” and when it first played Hartford in 2005, it broke box office records and sold out in record time. Winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy and three Tony Awards, WICKED is Broadway’s biggest blockbuster, a cultural phenomenon and was just named “the defining musical of the decade" by The New York Times. Long before that girl from Kansas arrives in Munchkinland, two girls meet in the land of Oz. One - born with emerald green skin - is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good makes for "the most complete and completely satisfying new musical in a long time" (USA Today). We can't wait for the return of WICKED - are you as excited as we are? http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/03/wicked_returns_to_the_bushnell.html http://www.bushnell.org/blog/2011/03/wicked_returns_to_the_bushnell.html Fri, 18 Mar 2011 10:51:09 -0500