Monday, July 16, 2007

Take it to the Provinces

In Rick McKay's documentary, Broadway The Golden Age, Carol Channing said, "Lynn [Fontanne] said, I can hear her voice in my ear, 'it's your duty to the theatre to tour the provinces. If your show is enough of a hit then you can afford to take it to the provinces.'" When I watched this movie several years ago, this quote stuck in my head, probably because the first really big Broadway show I saw was in fact in the provinces and it was Carol Channing in Hello Dolly! at the Performing Arts Center in Austin. I'll never forget the sight of an ancient Carol tottering about in that giant hat and belting out those fabulous Jerry Herman songs. Sadly, the big stars rarely go out on the road with a show anymore. It's too expensive and frankly, they probably just don't have to. Recently, however, there was news that after closing, Grey Gardens would go on tour. It's Tony winning star, Christine Ebersole, is taking it to London, which isn't exactly the provinces. Although it hasn't been officially announced, word is that a certain Tony winning star is taking it on tour. Reportedly, she dropped out of Iphigenia due to a schedule conflict. She was seen in the mezzanine at the Walter Kerr on Saturday night taking notes and the rumor mill is starting to churn. I'm a little torn about it. I think she can do it because she has proved that she's a hell of an actress with a great soprano voice, but it pretty much means that she won't be in New York for the rumored revival of Follies. But that opens the door for another out of work actress.

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