Question: I know that you are a big fan of musical theater, and I was wondering if you've had a chance to view the version of Company that will air on PBS Feb. 20th. Having seen the production last year, I really hope that the filmed version captures the amazing performance I saw from Raul Esparza. With the television season cut short by the strike and less heavy competition, might Raul Esparza have a shot at an Emmy?
Answer: If ever there was a star turn that lived up to the title of Great Performances (the PBS franchise that's presenting Company), it's Raul Esparza's brilliant Bobby. My review will be out later this week, in the magazine and online. I thought they did a terrific job of capturing the look and feel of this unusual revival, in which the cast doubles as the orchestra. (With a few really great payoffs, most notably the three girls tooting their saxes during the "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" number.) Esparza's charisma and intensity knocked me out when I saw the show in
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Some things we know:• Ned is Chuck’s boyfriend• Emerson’s ok with lying by omission (well, and outright lying)• Ned cleans when he’s upset• Dilly really does stutter when she’s upsetThere was a lot going on in tonight’s episode. We had the arrival of rival small business Balsam’s Bittersweets Taffy & Sweet Emporium and not one but two murder cases. And, of course, Ned’s confession to Chuck at the end of the episode. Let’s start with the highly anticipated (at least by me) arrival of Molly Shannon’s Dilly Balsam. Well, I guess I should really start with the arrival of Mike White’s Some Guy. I loved how he came into what would shortly be known as The Pie Ho to talk about the arrival of the new candy shop. Ned, Olive, and Chuck do the neighborly thing and offer a welcome gift in the form of one of Ned’s delicious and pungent pies. The only problem is that all the customers love the smell of the pie so much t...
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Lloyd Owen in Viva Laughlin by Robert Voets/CBS
Since almost no one watched the second and final episode of CBS’ misbegotten quasi-musical mess Viva Laughlin, let me share with you a headline that appeared at the start of Sunday’s episode: “Viva Craps Out.” I kid you not. (The headline was referring to the fictional casino, not the show. But really. Did they already know this was coming?)And then there was this bit of dialogue, as casino owner Ripley Holden (Lloyd Owen) surveys his customer-free casino (prophetic, that) and asks his mousy accountant, “How long can we hold out?” The answer: “A week, tops.”Viva Laughlin didn’t even last a week. Episode 1 crashed and burned Thursday with a plum CSI lead-in, and Episode 2 (which was of even considerably worse quality than the pilot) caused nary a ripple Sunday night. With the ever-fatal combo of lousy ratings and blistering reviews, CBS made the only logical move and canned it. After a CSI repeat this Sunday, The Amazing Race will return o...
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Chuck was bound to find out sooner or later that there’s a price to be paid for reviving and keeping her alive. I’m glad she found out tonight, although the way Emerson sprung Lawrence’s corpse on her and Ned wasn’t that nice. And the Darling Mermaid Darlings made another appearance. I, too, missed them in last week’s episode and was pleased to see them return. The funniest sight gag from tonight’s episode is their mermaid-fish-tail-shaped garment bags. I TiVoed back (well, really DVRed back; I don’t have TiVo) to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. I’m still totally enamored of this show.Let’s spend some time with the corpse, who we already met in the "Pie Lette." Lawrence Schatz (Brad Grunberg) was the dirty funeral director who unwittingly gave his life to bring Chuck back from the dead permanently. Ned felt he could justify Lawrence’s death because Lawrence was a grave-robber; he had been separating corpses from family heir...
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In honor of the Tonys, airing Sunday, June 10, on CBS, Live with Regis and Kelly will showcase a slew of Broadway babies next week. Monday brings a Spring Awakening; Tuesday finds David Hyde Pierce hawking Curtains; on Wednesday, Raúl Esparza makes for great Company; Thursday Christine Ebersole brightens Grey Gardens; and on Friday Mary Poppins goes "Supercalifragilisticexpidalidocious".... Cheers star Rhea Perlman makes her West End debut in Boeing-Boeing this summer, as per Playbill.com.... Broadway.com reports that the American classic Gone with the Wind is being turned into a British musical, set to hit the stage in spring 2008.... An actor in the problem-plagued production of London's Lord of the Rings was injured by a piece of hydraulic stage machinery. He was treated with medicine, not magic. — Reporting by Raven Snook
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