While you were opening all your Christmas gifts, here’s what was happening this week In the Wings.
Barbra Streisand visits old friends at “I’ll Eat You Last.” When Bette Midler’s “I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers” played Broadway last spring, every interviewer asked Midler whether Babs, a longtime client of Mengers, would attend a performance. She didn’t. But last week, Streisand stopped by to see the show at its L.A. run at the Geffen Playhouse. “It was a wonderful performance,” Streisand said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “Bette made me laugh in the same way that Sue did, and she touched my heart as Sue did. It isn’t the whole story of course. Some of the facts are not true, but it was a very enjoyable evening.”
Midler, meanwhile, tweeted about the experience before the show closed last Sunday. “Barbra Streisand came to the show,” she said. “And she liked it!! I was so thrilled. AND relieved!!” Perhaps Babs will make a trip to “Buyer and Cellar” when the Michael Urie show heads to L.A. this summer? [More info]
Hugh Jackman drops out of “Houdini.” Now you see him, now you don’t. Hugh Jackman has dropped out of the new musical based on the famed magician’s life, citing time conflicts. Jackman’s not the first to depart the long-in-development project. Since first being announced in April 2008, composer Danny Elfman, lyricist David Yazbek and librettists Kurt Andersen and Aaron Sorkin have all departed the show. Currently, composer Stephen Schwartz and director Jack O’Brien are still attached. [More info]
Andy Kelso and Jeanna de Waal replacing Stark Sands and Annaleigh Ashford in “Kinky Boots.” Kelso steps into the show on Jan. 6, and de Waal stars on March 4. And don’t worry -- Billy Porter, who won a Tony for his portrayal of drag performer Lola, will remain in the show through July 14. [More info]
Take a peek at "Bronx Bombers." The new Broadway play, about the legacy of the New York Yankees as seen through the eyes of their most iconic players, begins performances Jan. 10 at the Circle in the Square Theatre. But no need to wait that long to see what the show's all about -- you can catch their new TV spot now! See what Yogi Berra and the rest of the gang are up to below:
