IT'S OVER...and other important miscellany

Thank God. It's over. Finally sometime this evening it was announced (officially) after 19 days that the strike has ended. The producers and stagehands have come to terms that apparently seem fair to everyone. While the pact awaits a ratification in several weeks' time, all shows on Broadway shall be on tomorrow evening. I reiterate: Thank God. Now I can finally see August: Osage County, among everything else I'd been thinking about seeing this holiday season. Be sure check for discounts if there's anything you want to see. The megahits have nothing to worry about, but the underdogs, especially the plays, need as much support as we can give them at this time. I'm sure we'll soon get a notification of new opening dates for August, The Seafarer and The Farnsworth Invention.

In other major news, it's official. Patti LuPone is going to reprise her performance as Rose in Gypsy for the Tony voters this season. Musically, it's shaping up to be spectacularly promising; what with Jenna Russell in Sunday in the Park With George (for which she won the Olivier award), Kelli O'Hara in LCT's South Pacific, Faith Prince in A Catered Affair, among others that I'm sure I'm leaving out at this godawful early morning hour. The entire cast has been offered the opportunity to reprise their roles. Hopefully Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines will also come back aboard. For more opinions on the revival, please see my previously posted open letter to Mr. Laurents, who will once again repeat his direction.

There are clips of Sweeney Todd online. This has done nothing to assuage my anticipation for the upcoming film. The more I see and hear bits and pieces the more I want to plan an elaborate heist to get an early copy. Well, I settled for a mild-mannered countdown on my facebook. What is fascinating are those who are already criticizing the film. The singing is mediocre. It looks like a Tim Burton movie and not Sweeney Todd. Where is that harmony? What about this line? I've accepted that this won't be the Hal Prince Sweeney Todd with which we are so readily familiar while others haven't. It's a film adaptation that actually looks to be a promising entry in the year's films. December 21 cannot come soon enough for me.

To hear some of the score: http://www.sweeneytoddmovie.com

Enjoy.