I
really had a lot of things to post about today but about 2 hours ago I
got an email that will change my life. Anyone who knows me knows that I
have been going to, and loving, theatre since the 1940s and one of the
rough things the past few years has been that I couldn't afford going to
see plays and musicals anymore.

Starting Wednesday I will be the official South Florida theatre critic for www.corinescorner.com
which gets over 58,000 hits a day. It means I will be going to ALL the
Broadway touring companies and events that come to Fort Lauderdale,
Miami, Miami Beach and Palm Beach. The first show I will be
seeing/reviewing is the musical version of Mel Brooks "Young
Frankenstein".

An aside:  on
September 27, 1963, at the age of 27, I took a vocational exam at New
York University and one of the highest recommendations was to explore
journalism and, in particular, a drama critic. Okay, so it only took me
48 years to get it.

These are a few excerpts from the press release I received:

AND ALL THE HILARITY THAT ONLY MEL BROOKS
CAN DELIVER, TO LAUNCH THE BROADWAY ACROSS  AMERICA-FT LAUDERDALE 2001-2011
THEATRICAL SEASON OPENING WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, PRESENTED BY FLORIDA THEATRICAL
ASSOCIATION CELEBRATING THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON OF THE BROWARD CENTER FOR THE
PERFORMING ARTS.
(I was there twenty years ago when the Browaerd Center opened seeing
both opening shows: "Phantom of the Opera" and my beloved "A Chorus
Line". The latter was the last show I could afford to go and see there
in 2008.)


BOOK by MEL BROOKS and THOMAS MEEHAN
MUSIC &
LYRICS by MEL BROOKS
DIRECTION and CHOREOGRAPHY by SUSAN
STROMAN

September, 2010

FORT LAUDERDALE— Spotlights will race
across the sky, ticket holders will arrive on a red carpet, and the celebration
of the Broward Center’s 20th anniversary year will be launched Wednesday,
October 6, at 8 P.M. with the season premiere of THE NEW MEL BROOKS MUSICAL
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN  marking the first salvo of the excitingly diverse 2010-2011
Broadway Across America-Fort Lauderdale 8-musical theatrical season, presented
by the Florida Theatrical Association at the Broward Center for the Performing
Arts.

Christopher Ryan and Preston Truman Boyd will star in the roles of
Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and The Monster in the first national tour of The New
Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein. The iconic roles of Igor and Frau Blucher
continue to be played by Cory English (who starred in the Original Broadway
Cast) and Joanna Glushak. They will be joined by David Benoit (Inspector Kemp/
Blind Hermit) Janine Divita (Elizabeth) and Synthia Link (Inga).

Released in 1974 to unanimous critical acclaim, the film received
two Academy Award nominations, including one for Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder’s
script, also nominated for a Writer’s Guild of America Award for Best Adapted
Screenplay.  Young Frankenstein was also the recipient of the two highest honors
accorded films of science fiction: winning The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic
Presentation and The Nebula Award, given by The Science Fiction & Fantasy
Writers of America, for Best Dramatic Writing. Since its release, the film has
become part of the national consciousness: in 2000, it was selected as #13
on AFI’s 100 Funniest American Movies of All Time and in 2003, Young
Frankenstein was chosen for preservation in the Library of Congress National
Film Registry. 


The production team includes three Tony Award
winning designers of The Producers: three-time Tony Award winning set designer
Robin Wagner, four-time Tony Award winning costume designer William Ivey Long
and Tony Award winning lighting designer Peter Kaczorowski.  Jonathan Deans is
the sound designer. 

Young Frankenstein is produced by The Frankel
Baruch Viertel Routh Group and NETworks Presentations LLC.

Planned as a
glittering Broadway opening, first nighters are in for happy surprises with random souvenirs and free gifts, and on site festivities including lobby
appearances by the Frankenstein monster and his bride who will be available for
toasting via free champagne served  in test tubes.

www.youngfrankensteinthemusical.com
******************************************************
I'll be there Wednesday evening and plan on blogging all about the
event though I don't know yet if I will be posting the review here.
Should Corine ask for exclusivity I owe her that--more about that
later--and hopefully it will give her site a bump as it is aimed at the
New York and Florida crowd!
******************************************************
I'm in Heaven folks even if I have to
change my shorts and flip-flops for trousers and, maybe, a jacket--ah
the sacrifices I am willing to make!!  LOL