1. art and entertainment
2. theatre

®
2008 KIDS’ NIGHT ON BROADWAY
A PROGRAM OF
THE BROADWAY LEAGUE
C O N T R U T O R S
Welcome
Rosie O’Donnell
SOME QUESTIONS FOR
Sarah Abdalla
Age 15
New York, NY
Kimberly Carpluk
Age 16
Laurence Harbor, NJ
Cameron Jordan
Age 14
Gold Hill, NC
Julia Keimach
Age 17
New York, NY
This year’s National Ambassdor for Kids’ Night on Broadway is Rosie O’Donnell, the 13-time Emmy Awardwinning comedian, television talk show host, author, and film, television, and stage actress. She’s also the
founder of Rosie’s Broadway Kids, an organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children through the arts.
We gave Rosie’s Broadway Kids the opportunity to ask Rosie some questions. Her answers are in bold.
Joseph Kopyt
Age 17
Brooklyn, NY
EDITOR: Ben Pesner
EXECUTIVE EDITOR: David LeShay
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Branden Huldeen
DESIGNER : Kathie Rokita, Blue Sky Design, Inc.
PRESENTED BY
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
SPECIAL THANKS: Sarah Aziz, Leslie Baden,
Bill Berloni, Wanda Caine, Caroline Chester,
Amanda Cooper, Arnold Corkill, Laura Ellis,
Jennifer Gallagher, Wendy Guida, TDF Education
Director Marianna Houston, Louise Howard,
Morenga Hunt, Kristian Kraai, Ben Kubie,
Britt Marden, Caroline Millimen, Sally Ann
Parsons, Greg Poplyk, Rachel Reiner, Kevin
Robak, Eleanore Speert, Jan Friedlander
Svendsen, Irene Wang, Michelle Youngs
DANIEL: Did you ever feel
overwhelmed being on
Broadway?
I felt pure joy.
Kids’ Night on Broadway
is a program of THE
BROADWAY LEAGUE,
the national trade association
for the Broadway industry.
Each year, League members
bring Broadway to 25 million people in New
York and on tour across the US and Canada.
MARY: What does it take
to become a professional
performer?
Dedication. Practice.
Persistence. Desire.
®
PARTICIPATING
SHOWS
ON BROADWAY
Avenue Q; Chicago; A Chorus Line;
The Color Purple; Come Back, Little Sheba;
Curtains; Disney’s The Little Mermaid;
The Farnsworth Invention; Grease; Hairspray;
Is He Dead?; Legally Blonde The Musical;
The Lion King; Mamma Mia!; Mary Poppins;
Monty Python’s Spamalot; The Phantom of the Opera;
Rent; Spring Awakening; Wicked; Xanadu;
Young Frankenstein
OFF BROADWAY
Altar Boyz; The Fantasticks; Stomp
KELLY C.: Do you prefer
watching a Broadway show
or performing in one?
ROSIE: Both. Being in a
Broadway cast is the best
part of show business,
and I would rather watch
a Broadway show than
do almost anything.
tdf
The 2008 Kids’ Night on
Broadway® Playbill ®
was produced by Theatre
Development Fund, the
nation’s largest not-for-profit service organization
for the performing arts. TDF’s mission is to foster works of artistic merit by supporting new
productions and to broaden the audience
for all the performing arts.
© 2008 Theatre Development Fund/The Broadway League
PHOTO CREDITS FOR CENTERFOLD: Monique Carboni, p. 14;
George Holz, p. 3; Paul Kolnik, p. 1, 6, 7, 11, 12, 18, 20, 25;
Henry Leutwyler Photography, p. 2; Joan Marcus, p. 3, 5, 7, 8,
9, 10, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23; Carol Rosegg, p. 4, 24;
Nick Reuchel, p. 15.
NICOLE: What’s your
favorite Broadway show
and why?
Les Misérables. The message has stayed with me
my whole life.
TAISHA: When you were
little and watching
Broadway shows, did you
ever think you would be
up there someday?
Yes I did!
ASHALAY: How does it feel
to know that so many people look up to you, because
of all the money you give
away to help people?
Hmmm. Well, if you
have a lot you should
give a lot.
CHRISTINE: What does
Broadway mean to you?
It reminds me of everything I love about life.
KIRRA: What does it feel
like at the end of the night,
after you’ve performed in
a show? What about when
a show closes and ends
its run?
You have a lot of energy
when the show ends. It
takes a while to calm
down enough to go to
sleep. The friends you
meet doing a show last
forever.
NIA: Did you ever have
stage fright?
Well, I am always excited
and a little nervous
before each show, but
not real stage fright.
DOUG: What was your first
experience of Broadway?
How old were you and
what was it?
I saw Bette Midler in
Clams on the Half Shell.
To read more questions
and answers from Rosie, visit
www.KidsNightonBroadway.com
and click on Rosie’s picture.
For info on Rosie’s Broadway
Kids, visit
www.RosiesBroadwayKids.com.
dicted
Adddicted
addicted to theatre because I feel
important knowing that I have
passed along the magical feeling of
Broadway to someone I love.
Children and teens need a creative outlet to show how we feel in
order to be ourselves. Whenever I
BY KIMBERLY CARPLUK
feel sad or defeated, I pop Cabaret into the
Why do I love Broadway? What makes CD player and belt along with Natasha
the theatre so inviting that I see the same Richardson, feeling every lyric of “Maybe
show countless times until I know every
This Time” flowing through my veins and
lyric, every line, every dance? Why do I get beating along with my heart. Whenever I
goose bumps during an overture, as I wait need an extra boost of confidence, I
impatiently for the show to start? Why do remember Laura Bell Bundy’s undaunted
I spend countless hours listening to cast
emotional revelation in Legally Blonde as
recordings and pestering my parents
Elle realizes she can do “So Much Better”
about seeing my 150th Broadway show?
on her own, and she doesn’t need anyone
The answer burns brightly in my mind
to help her succeed. Whenever a friend
like a marquee on the Great White Way:
needs cheering up, I tell them to “Always
I’m addicted!
Look on the Bright Side of Life” (Spamalot)
I have grown up in the theatre. Broad- and that “Gray skies are gonna clear up/
way has provided me not only with
Put on a happy face!” (Bye Bye Birdie).
memories of shows, but also with shared
A great director once told me,“We sing in
experiences that create permanent bonds
theatre when we can’t express our emowith my family and friends. I have been
tions by simply speaking.” I am addicted
“changed for the better” (to quote from
to theatre because I can fully express
Wicked) as a result of my Broadway
myself through inspirational characters
obsession, and I want to share these great
and truthful lyrics.
experiences with my loved ones. I want
Most important, Broadway is an
them to leave the theatre with a changed, addiction because it allows me to dream.
uplifted outlook. Last year, we took my
I imagine being the lead actress in a
reluctant 11-year-old brother to see Les
musical, winning a Tony Award® for my
Miz on Kids’ Night on Broadway. He loved performance. I imagine designing the sets,
the musical, and now he shares my
rushing to meet deadlines and leaving the
sacred love for Broadway. I am
theatre with paint in my hair. I imagine
being a playwright, creating witty banter
Kimberly (left) with
and dramatic monologues. Broadway is
Laura Bell Bundy from
Legally Blonde
my addiction because it allows me to keep
The Musical
dreaming, and maybe one day to make
my dreams come true.
Broadway is my addiction, my obsession, and my life. I have to keep coming
back. I have to dream. I have to aspire to
be more than I am, and to be inspired. I
have to see more shows. I am addicted to
Broadway, and I am thankful for it.
TO BROADWAY
Kimberly Carpluk is a 10th grader at Old
Bridge High School and a future Broadway star.
In her free time, she participates in countless
community theatre shows.
Sewing Broadway Together
BYJULIA KEIMACH
Deep in the Fashion
District, about ten blocks
south of Times Square, is
Parsons-Meares, one of the
shops that creates costumes
for Broadway shows. In
December, Kristian Kraai
gave me a tour of the shop,
explaining the variety of the
costumes they make, and
how it all gets put together.
Parsons-Meares builds
a huge range of costumes,
from characters that walk
around at Disneyworld to
the period clothing of plays
like last season’s The Coast
of Utopia. Their most interesting work is specialized
clothes for Broadway musicals, such as Carlotta’s opera
dress from The Phantom of
the Opera, and the electric
eels in the new production
of The Little Mermaid.
Kristian told me that
on any given day, the shop
may be making repairs to
Scar’s leather pants from
The Lion King, or re-creating
costumes to use in the
touring version of a Broadway hit. Or they might be
stitching clothing for new
actors who join the cast of
a long-running show.
Though most shows go to
several shops to build their
costumes, often each shop
will create all the clothes
for a single musical number.
When I visited, new costumes for “Under the Sea”
from The Little Mermaid
were in the process of being
adjusted in time for that
night’s performance, just
three hours later.
Parsons-Meares has a
fitting room that accommodates stage lighting, which
often has a great effect on
what a costume will actually
look like during the show.
One of their specialties
involves creating a light
mesh fabric dyed to match
the exact color of the actor’s
skin, so it looks like they
are not wearing anything at
all. In The Lion King, for
instance, the actors do not
need to put on body makeup every night because it is
part of the costume,
designed to look like skin.
The all-important transition from a designer’s
sketch on paper to the
actual costume is a huge
changeover, and it’s
largely in the hands
of the costume shop.
They figure out
how to create
Ursula’s tentacles
in The Little
Mermaid, which
have to extend
eight feet in every
direction, and the
living statues in Mary
Poppins. However exciting building some of the
kookier costumes may be,
many at Parsons-Meares
also enjoy executing lush
“period” costumes, which
evoke particular eras in
history. But when I asked
the shop’s founder, Sally
Ann Parsons, what interested
her the most, she said, “My
favorite thing to do is always
whatever I am working on
at the moment.”
It was exciting to stand
between a rack of flying
monkeys from Wicked and
a half-completed gown
from The Phantom of the
Opera. Though many
people marvel at the costumes they see on stage,
they rarely appreciate the
number of hours and the
amount of genius that go
into creating the eccentric
and wonderful clothes. All
of them are hand-crafted
by talented tailors and
seamstresses. Sometimes
the most exciting work on
Broadway happens half a
mile downtown.
Julia and Kristian Kraai at ParsonsMeares with Carlotta’s gown from
The Phantom of the Opera
Julia Keimach is a technical
theatre major at LaGuardia H.S.
where she was the assistant
director this fall for City of
Angels. She looks forward to
stage managing in the spring.
She has been writing published
reviews since 2004.
We wanted to find out
what kids think is so
great about seeing a
live performance of a
play or musical. So we
asked the experts—kids
participating in Theatre
Development Fund’s
education and accessibility programs. Here’s
what they had to say.
MATTHEW GOTIANGCO (SD)
Midwood High School,
Brooklyn, NY
I first grew to like theatre
from watching the movie
High School Musical. It is the
classic story of a boy and a
girl from different sides of
the tracks,
trying to
make a
difference
in a society where
cliques
rule—and
trying, as
they sing, to break free. It is
like many theatre shows
that I can relate to and wish
could be reality.
People express so much of
themselves in the theatre,
whether it be through
acting or through singing.
I wish I could be one of
them. I am kind of a
shy guy myself, but when
watching High School
Musical or shows like Rent
and even Hairspray, I burst
out into song. Some of
my teachers and friends
can tell you that. Theatre,
for me, is a way of breaking
out of my own shell, and
breaking free.
JULIO PEREZ (TH)
New York School for the Deaf,
White Plains, NY
I enjoy going to Broadway
shows because it is fun. I
like going with my teachers
and friends. I have been
lucky to have seen many
shows. They have all been
cool. Last year I saw Tarzan.
The scenery and the action
were cool. My favorite part
was seeing the actors as
gorillas and picking up the
baby gorillas. The makeup
and the costumes all helped
to make the show. A few
weeks ago,
I saw
Dr. Seuss’
How the
Grinch
Stole
Christmas.
The show
was funny
and silly. I hope to go to
more Broadway shows.
SIMONE BART (SD)
Midwood High School,
Brooklyn, NY
“One picture! Just one
picture,” I cry out to my
friend, trying to persuade
her to
capture me
standing
next to the
life-sized
images of
the cast of
Rent,
painted on
the walls of the Nederlander Theatre. Muttering
that we look like tourists,
she takes the photo of me
with my mouth opened
slightly, pretending that I’m
singing with everyone else.
“That’s it,” she says, “no
more! You posed with the
Chicago dancers, you growled
with the face of The Lion
King, and you solemnly
stood next to Cosette from
Les Misérables!”
I just can’t help it.
The theatre opens up a
whole new world that
draws me into a life unlike
my own—sometimes
accompanied by an
amazing soundtrack.
Why do I take pictures in
front of theatres? Why is
my iPod filled with show
tunes? Why is my wall in
And I’ll take as many
pictures as I want, thank
you very much.
ANDREW MELO (RAP)
Bayard Rustin Educational
Complex, New York, NY
I go to the theatre to enjoy
myself and feel as if I’m the
guy on stage. When I go to
a theatre, it’s to see if it’s an
interesting
play and
tell people
about it. A
theatre, to
me, means
more than
plays and
people acting. It’s a fun time
and a time to be able to
analyze the entire play. A
play brings so much fun that
I wouldn’t mind going to it
over and over again. When I
go to a play, I don't only
visualize myself as one actor
or all of them, but I also
play the roles in my mind
to understand how they feel.
This allows me to break the
play down easier and
understand everyone's roles.
to find yourself in characters
like you, and characters that
differ from you. Theatre is a
time to see
what one
desires and
what one
despises;
and to me,
theatre
means it’s
a time to
connect your life, the life of
the characters, and the life
of those in the real world
together.
CHERELLE YOUNG (OD)
Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom
High School, Bronx, NY
When I go to the theatre, I
can always find a way to get
away from the real world,
if only for those couple of
hours. This isn’t because life
is boring, but because life is
dramatized in the theatre.
In my opinion, a time to
be someone you’re not is
a moment that you will
enjoy and remember for a
lifetime.
When the word “theatre”
is said, it floats like a sea
breeze in and out of the ears
of those with the passion to
dream. The theatre is a
place were one can get lost
in pure ecstasy, a place that
is not theirs. Theatre to me
is a time to dream, a time
About TDF’s Education Programs and Accessibility Programs...
Open Doors (OD) features world-renowned theatre professionals who mentor groups of NYC
high school students through an introductory year of theatre.
Residency Arts Project (RAP) is an in-school intensive playwriting program which brings the
imagination and craft of theatre to NYC high school students.
Stage Doors (SD) introduces thousands of NYC high school students to live theatre through
in-class workshops and Broadway and Off Broadway theatre attendance.
Talking Hands (TH) brings students with mild to severe hearing loss to special open captioned
and sign language interpreted performances of Broadway shows.
For more information about TDF and its many programs, please visit www.tdf.org
Answer key to quiz on next page: 1. Shuler Hensley in The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein. 2. S. Epatha Merkerson from Come Back, Little
Sheba. 3. Norbert Leo Butz and Jenn Gambatese in Is He Dead? 4. Cast members from Stomp. 5. Thsidi Manye in The Lion King. 6. Mary Testa (left) and Jackie
Hoffman in Xanadu. 7. Tamyra Gray in Rent. 8. Jonathan Hadary and Marin Mazzie in Monty Python’s Spamalot. 9. David Hyde Pierce in Curtains.
10. Max Crumm and Laura Osnes in Grease. 11. The company of A Chorus Line. 12. Laura Bell Bundy in Legally Blonde The Musical. 13. Ashley Brown and
Gavin Lee from Mary Poppins. 14. Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele in Spring Awakening. 15. Christian Anderson with Nicky from Avenue Q. 16. Carolee Carmello
in Mamma Mia! 17. Stephanie J. Block in Wicked. 18. Fantasia Barrino in The Color Purple. 19. Jennifer Hope Wills and Howard McGillin in The Phantom of the
Opera. 20. Paul C. Vogt in Hairspray. 21. Sierra Boggess in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. 22. Tom Jones in The Fantasticks. 23. Jimmi Simpson (left) and Hank
Azaria in The Farnsworth Invention. 24. The company of Altar Boyz. 25. Brenda Braxton and the company of Chicago.
WHY THEATRE?
my bedroom taped up
with Playbill ® covers, show
posters, and tickets? It’s
straightforward, really:
Theatre is more than just
an interest or a job. It is a
lifestyle. It is a culture. It is
“a need” and not “a want.”
PRESENTS
HOW WELL DO YOU
KNOW BROADWAY?
All of the shows
represented on this page
are participating in
Kids’ Night on Broadway
2008 in NYC. Can you
match the photos to the
show names below?
(Answer key on previous page)
1
6
11
16
2
7
12
17
3
8
13
18
4
5
9
10
14
19
15
20
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
BROADWAY
Avenue Q
Chicago
A Chorus Line
The Color Purple
Come Back, Little Sheba
Curtains
Disney’s The Little Mermaid
The Farnsworth Invention
Grease
Hairspray
Is He Dead?
Legally Blonde The Musical
The Lion King
Mamma Mia!
Mary Poppins
Monty Python’s Spamalot
The Phantom of the Opera
Rent
Spring Awakening
Wicked
Xanadu
Young Frankenstein
OFF BROADWAY
n Altar Boyz
n The Fantasticks
n Stomp
21
22
To get tickets and information
about these shows, visit
www.ILoveNYTheater.com
23
Get info on seeing these and
other shows for $25 or less at
www.PlayByPlayOnline.org
24
25
Make your next trip to Manhattan’s Theatre District
complete with a visit to Madame Tussauds!
Check out www.NYCWAX.com for more information.
When a Broadway Show Comes to Town
down at half an hour before performance
Touring a Broadway show is more than time, just before the audience begins to
take their seats. Five minutes before the
just the acting, singing, and dancing. It
show starts he goes out into the house to
takes a lot of hard work by people who
see whether everyone is seated, and then
don’t get applause after a great performdoes the same thing at two minutes before
ance. I’m talking about the people behind
the show. Then he tells the stage manager,
the scenes, the “techies.”
“It’s showtime!”
This fall, The Drowsy Chaperone
Bill said the
played at the Blumenthal
best part of his
Performing Arts Center’s Belk
job is when
Theater in Charlotte, North
something goes
Carolina, for a week as part of its
wrong, but they
national tour. I had the opportuare able to pull
nity to talk to the Center’s techit off in the last
nical director, Bill Dantos, to see
minute. “If
what goes on behind the scenes
everything went
when a show comes to town.
according to
Bill explained that he works
plan then my
with the touring companies to
job would be real
make sure they have everything
boring!”
they need when they arrive
I also got to
in a new theatre. He said that
talk with Paul
a Broadway show normally
Riopelle, one of the
actors in The Drowsy
Chaperone. He plays
Paul Riopelle
Gangster #1. This
(right) and
his twin brothe
r Peter in
is
his first Broadway
the national to
ur of
tour. I was surprised
The Drowsy Ch
aperone
to know that he
does more Shakespeare than musicals. He
was eight when he first started doing theatre with his twin brother, Peter. He said,
“I love doing The Drowsy Chaperone with a
Cameron (left) with Bill Dantos
touring company, because it’s probably
travels with most of what it needs, so it’s
going to be the first time America will see
the little things that he has to focus on.
the show, if they didn’t go to New York.”
When a touring company arrives, Bill has
His least favorite part of touring is having
to take down all of the Belk’s technical
to adapt to a new city every two weeks.
equipment, because the show brings its
I had a great time meeting with Bill and
own. He makes sure to stay in close comPaul and seeing this hilarious show. The
munication with the touring production.
Drowsy Chaperone is a great family musical.
“If a show doesn’t ask for it, then they usu- I recommend it to everyone!
ally don’t get it!” He said, “Normally it’s
nothing major, just something small.”
Cameron Jordan is an 8th Grade student at
Before every show, Bill has a long list of Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte, North
things to do. He has to contact the show’s
Carolina. For more information on the Blumenthal
Performing Arts Center’s Education Institute, visit
stage managers to make sure everything is
wwwBlumenthalCenter.org/education.
going smoothly. He brings the curtain
BY CAMERON JORDAN
BILL BERLONI:
Broadway’s Resident
Animal Trainer
BY JOSEPH KOPYT
At the Palace Theatre,
which currently houses the
immensely popular Legally
Blonde The Musical, two
unlikely stars steal both the
spotlight and the hearts of
audience members on a
nightly basis. They are
Chico, a chihuahua who
plays Bruiser; and Chloe, a
bulldog who plays Rufus.
The two dogs and their
understudies (two for Chico
and one for Chloe) were all
rescued from shelters by
veteran animal trainer Bill
Berloni, who has been rescuing and training animals
for television, film, and
theatre for over 30 years.
Berloni got his start
when he was 19 years old
as an apprentice at the
Goodspeed Opera House
in Connecticut. Eager
to become an Actors’
Equity Association
member, Berloni
Bill Berloni with (l. to r.)
Chloe (“Rufus”), Teddy,
Chico (“Bruiser”), and
Boo Boo (“Bruiser”
understudy)
jumped at the chance to
acquire his Equity card in
exchange for finding and
training a dog for
Goodspeed’s new show.
After paying seven dollars
for a dog from the pound,
Berloni earned his Equity
card and became the proud
trainer of the original
Sandy in the original production of Annie.
When he began working
on Legally Blonde The Musical,
Berloni allotted six months
of prep work with the dogs
in order to teach them the
behaviors needed for the
show: how to listen to
humans and to respond to
basic demands, such as
staying, coming when
called and walking on a
leash. Next came barking and running on
cue. That’s the easy
part. “I do it in my living
room at home,” he said.
Once rehearsals for the
show started, Berloni had
eight weeks to teach the
actors how to handle
the dogs. “Through
the rehearsal process
I have to teach these
dogs to love and
trust another person,” he said. “I’m
also teaching
the actors
how to be
trainers,
so that
the
dogs
have
the
same
respect and
love for the
actors as they
do for me.”
When they are not performing, the chihuahuas
make their home with
Berloni, and the bulldogs
live with his assistant, Rob
Cox. At the Palace Theatre,
the five dogs share one
dressing room. They arrive
at the theatre about one
hour before each show and
stay for at least an hour
afterwards. Every Monday
and Tuesday, when there is
no performance, the dogs
enjoy a day of rest. “On
days off they live a very
quiet, anonymous life,”
said Berloni. “Three or four
walks a day.”
Animal costumes from
Legally Blonde The Musical
Once they finish working
on the show, the dogs will
either live the rest of their
lives on Berloni’s farm in
Connecticut, or he will personally find each of them a
new home with a family.
Although he has
enjoyed much success over
his long career, Berloni still
keeps his start as that eager
apprentice dear to him.
“Here I was, a kid who
wanted to be in the theatre,”
he said. “That opportunity
has not only afforded me
a 30-year career in the
theatre, but also the
opportunity to have saved
hundreds, maybe thousands of animals.”
Joseph Kopyt is currently a senior
at Stuyvesant High School. He
hopes to study English and
Theatre in college.
PRESENTS
RESOURCES
Theatre at Your Fingertips
GRAB
A BOOK!
These titles are available at
the Drama Book Shop in
New York City
(www.dramabookshop.com)
and at many libraries,
including the New York
Public Library for the
Performing Arts at Lincoln
Center.
Best for
Younger Kids
Contemporary Scenes for
Contemporary Kids by
Kat Sawyer-Young (Baker’s
Plays). Original scenes using
issues, language, and settings
to fit the needs of young
acting students. The scenes
require little to no set,
making them great for use
in class and auditions.
Shakespeare’s Stories for
Young Readers by E. Nesbit
(Dover Publications). Short
stories depicting twelve of
Shakespeare’s plays, adapted
for a younger audience. The
stories simplify the plot, yet
keep some of the original
wording and lots of the
action.
NTC’s Dictionary of
Theatre and Drama Terms
by Jonnie Patricia Mobley,
Ph.D. (NTC Language
Dictionaries). An easy-touse guide to theatrical
terms, history, and forms of
drama. Entries are concise
and informative.
Shakespeare’s Globe—An
Interactive Pop-Up Theatre
by Toby Forward (Candlewick Press). A pop-up
model of one of the world’s
most famous theatres—the
Globe—as it was in Shakespeare’s day. Includes punchout characters and play
books to help you perform
scenes from Shakespeare’s
most celebrated plays.
Recommended
for Teens
The Ultimate Audition
Book for Teens, #12—
Just Comedy! by Kristen
Dabrowski (Smith & Kraus).
111 one-minute comedic
monologues for the teen
who likes to give them
something to laugh about
in an audition.
The Art of Comedy: Getting
Serious About Being Funny
by Paul Ryan (Back Stage
Books). An acting coach
reveals techniques to
build skills, develop
technique, and boost
confidence, in the
illusive art form of comedy. It’s more than a
pie in the face!
New York
Theater
Walks: Seven
Historical Tours
from Times
Square to
Greenwich
Village and
Beyond by
Howard Kissel
with photos
by Brent C. Brolin
(Applause Books). A
guide to districts in
Manhattan that have
housed theatre greats and
influenced theatrical productions, spotlighting some
of the history that’s so valuable to theatre lovers.
Shakespeare—The World
As Stage by Bill Bryson
(HarperCollins). A concise
biography of Shakespeare
that details the times in
which he wrote, where the
Bard is celebrated, and why
we don’t have to question
who wrote the plays.
The Rodgers & Hammerstein Musical Scene Study
Guide edited by Tom Briggs
(Applause). A useful tool
for musical theatre students
featuring 22 comic and
dramatic scenes and songs
from 10 musicals including
Oklahoma!, Carousel, South
Pacific, The King and I, and
The Sound of Music. Each
scene includes an introduction to the show
from which it is
taken, a description
of the characters involved,
and a note
about the
preceding
dramatic
circumstance. Dialogue, stage
directions,
lyrics and
piano/vocal
scores are
included.
Shakespeare’s
Words—
A Glossary & Language
Companion by David
Crystal & Ben Crystal
(Penguin). A comprehensive
guide to Shakespeare’s
words and phrases in a
dictionary format, including
symbols, abbreviations,
character names, and more.
A real Shakespeare companion for life.
For All Ages
How Does the Show Go
On? An Introduction to the
Theater by Thomas
Schumacher, with Jeff Kurtti
(Disney Editions). A behindthe-scenes look at several
Disney-inspired Broadway
shows. The authors explore
areas that theatregoers rarely
see, opening the backstage
door to aspiring actors,
directors and designers. The
chapter breakdown includes:
types of shows, styles of theatres, performing, backstage
procedures, lighting and
costume design, props, and
much more.
The Great American
Mousical by Julie Andrews
Edwards and Emma Walton
Hamilton (HarperCollins).
A humorous insider spoof
about the adventures of a
troupe of theatrical mice
who live and work in a
miniature world beneath
Broadway.
ON-LINE
News,
Reference,
and Listings
Playbill® On-Line™
www.playbill.com
A major Internet resource
for theatre news, listings,
features, multimedia,
tickets, reference, and more.
Play by Play
www.playbyplayonline.org
TDF’s theatre magazine and
online Plog written by and
for teens. (See back cover.)
I Love NY Theater
www.ILoveNYTheater.com
The definitive Internet guide
to Broadway shows and theatregoing in NYC, accessible
in English, Spanish, French,
German, Portuguese, and
Japanese.
Internet Broadway
Database
www.ibdb.com
Database of more than
12,000 Broadway shows and
the people who worked on
them, from 1732 to the
present.
Internet Off Broadway
Database
www.iobdb.com
Information on Off
Broadway productions, past
and present.
Theatermania.com
Broadway.com
BroadwayWorld.com
Some of the best sources
for show information and
listings
OffBroadwayOnline.com
www.offbroadwayonline.com
All about what’s playing
Off Broadway.
Theatres for
Kids and
Families
NYC-area theatre companies
that stage works for family
audiences:
New Victory Theater
www.NewVictory.org
TADA!
www.tadatheater.com
TheatreworksUSA
www.TheatreworksUSA.org
Plays and
Playwrights
Plays Magazine
www.playsmag.com
The drama magazine for
teens.
Young Playwrights Inc.
www.youngplaywrights.org
Organization for writers
age 18 and younger, with
playwriting contests, afterschool workshops, summer
programs, and more.
Other
Resources
The Broadway League
www.BroadwayLeague.com
Information about Broadway special events,
programs, and services.
www.TouringBroadway.com
Spotlighting the Broadway
shows that visit as many as
240 North American cities
each year, and the theatres
that host them.
Generation Broadway
www.GenerationBroadway.com
A site for parents and teachers that provides tools to
introduce young people to
theatre, with show listings,
activities, links, and more.
Official Tony Awards® Site
www.TonyAwards.com
A multimedia site that’s all
about the American Theatre
Wing’s Tony Awards®.
Theatre Development
Fund
www.tdf.org
Up-to-the-minute info
about NYC theatre, dance,
and music productions, plus
info on school programs,
and TKTS discount ticket
booths—all you need to
plan your next theatre
outing. (See back cover.)
NEW SHINE FOR tkts
BY SARAH ABDALLA
This spring, a new TKTS
discount ticket booth will
shine at the center of midtown Manhattan’s Theatre
District.
As you may know, TKTS
has temporarily moved to
West 46th Street between
Broadway and Eighth
Avenue. The booth’s old
location is in Father Duffy
Square, the triangle opposite Times Square formed
by Broadway, Seventh
Avenue, and 47th Street.
Duffy Square is currently
being revitalized and we all
await its new design, which
includes a new TKTS booth,
larger plaza and an exquisite new piece of public
architecture.
The purpose of the TKTS
booth is to give people the
opportunity to see shows
that they wouldn’t be able
to see otherwise. You can
get discount tickets (50%,
35% or 25% off) to Broadway, Off Broadway, and
dance performances if you
are willing to stand on line
and buy tickets for sameday performances. This
makes the TKTS essential
to the theatre economy.
TKTS is a place where
you can explore the city’s
many theatrical offerings.
Theatre Development Fund
(TDF), the not-for-profit
organization which operates TKTS, is aware that
some shows have more
money for advertising than
others. So in order to create
a level playing field, they
do not allow any shows to
advertise. “The TKTS booth
tries to be fair to every
show,” TDF Executive
Director Victoria (Tory)
Bailey told me. “We don't
want to say, ‘Go see this
show,’ or ‘Go see that
show.’”Instead, when you
get on line, you will notice
that there is a lot of communication among people
who are waiting to buy
tickets. People are happy to
discuss what they plan on
seeing, and give their suggestions and opinions on
what shows to see.
Tory explained that
TKTS will both look and
function better when it
reopens in the spring. It will
not only be a place for
people to purchase tickets,
but its amazing new features
Sarah visits the TKTS booth
construction site in Duffy Square
Architect’s model of the new TKTS booth
will turn Duffy Square into
a destination that people
will be interested in checking out. The TKTS booth
will be placed underneath
a gigantic, red platform
with glass steps that people
can sit on. People can hang
out there, and maybe even
sit and have lunch. The
eco-friendly glass staircase
structure will give the plaza
a new look. It will give out
heat during the winter and
cool air during the summer.
At night the red steps
will glow. But compared
to all the other lights that
flash and blink on Broadway, TKTS will seem peaceful and quiet. It will be
a place where you can sit
and watch all that happens
in Times Square, and yet
remain a bit away from
everything. The new TKTS
booth will give Broadway
a new feel, and in turn,
develop additional audiences for the theatre.
Sarah Abdalla is a sophomore
at the NYC Lab School for
Collaborative Studies. Besides
her interest in theatre, she
enjoys writing and looks forward
to a career in law or journalism.
A PUZZLE FOR PLAYGOERS by Frank Longo
ACROSS
1 “The ___ Purple”
(musical based
on an Alice Walker
novel)
6 Take place
11 Shakespeare’s
“Much ___ About
Nothing”
14 “The Phantom
of the ___” (longestrunning Broadway
musical of all time)
15 End of a
hangman’s rope
16 “___ I Have
Everything” (“Fiddler
on the Roof” song)
17 Thumbs-up
votes
18 “The Farnsworth
___” (Aaron Sorkin
play)
20 Strangle
22 Actor Cruise
23 2007 musical
by John Kander and
Fred Ebb for which
David Hyde Pierce
won a Tony for
Best Actor
27 Put on,
as weight
30 Far ___
(way off-track)
31 “___ Blonde”
(2007 musical that
was a 2001 Reese
Witherspoon film)
34 Bursts,
as a balloon
35 Capital
of Egypt
37 Observe
38 Broadway
musical based
on a 1988
John Waters film
42 Singer Yoko
45 Cuts, as hair
46 “I goofed!”
50 “Mary ___”
(musical about
a magical nanny)
52 Smeared, like
paper with lots of
erasure marks
54 Oak, elm or
maple
55 Mark Twain play
not published until it
was rediscovered in
2002: 3 wds.
57 Mouse’s
larger relative
59 Uproarious
commotion: Hyph.
60 “Spring ___”
(2007 Best Musical
Tony winner)
63 “Come Back,
Little ___”
(William Inge play)
68 Feline
69 Adjust
differently, in
British slang
70 “Death of a
Salesman” character Willy
71 “___ Lion King”
72 Perfectly all
right: Hyph.
73 “___ Frankenstein” (2007 Mel
Brooks musical
based on his 1974
film)
DOWN
1 Shy
2 Unlock, in poetry
3 “___ Misérables”
(musical based on
a Victor Hugo novel)
4 Iron ___
(stuff in a mine)
5 Troublemaker
6 Vegetable that
may make you cry
7 Bops on the head
8 Lagoon
9 Do something
with
10 Tony-winning
musical inspired
by Puccini’s “La
Bohème”
11 Zoos are full
of them
12 Scooby-___
(cartoon dog)
13 Possess
19 Ancient
Roman robe
21 Concealed
23 Twisted-off part
of a bottle
24 Ship piloted
by aliens
25 Split
26 TV host turned
New Age musician
John
28 French for
“island”
29 “Bill ___, the
Science Guy”
31 Things puckered
up for kissing
32 Make a mistake
33 “Don’t ___
step further!”:
2 wds.
35 N.F.L. wide
receiver ___ Carter
36 Snake that
killed Cleopatra
39 “Just ___
suspected!”: 2 wds.
40 Motel
41 “I thought ___
never ask!”
42 Make a choice
43 Neither here ___
there
44 Perform surgery
47 Poem of
high praise
48 Tiger
Woods’s org.
49 “Danny and
the Dinosaur”
author ___ Hoff
51 Mountain
high point
52 “Quiet down!”
53 Way too small,
as a restaurant tip
55 Ancient Greek
region, or a
Michigan city
56 Dripping wet
58 Computer prefix
meaning “trillion”
59 Letters
between G and L
60 Division of a play
61 Sound of a
crying baby
62 Keanu Reeves’s
role in “The Matrix”
64 “Yoo-___!”
65 Bird related to
the ostrich
66 Make illegal
67 “Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon”
director ___ Lee
You’ll Never Be Without a Clue. Where will you find the best reviews of all the hot
new shows — and movies, music … and so much more? In The New York Times.
Your family can order convenient home delivery of The New York Times by calling
1-800-NYTIMES.
For answers to the crossword puzzle above, visit nytimes.com/learning/broadway. To
challenge yourself with more puzzles and also share learning activities with your family,
visit nytimes.com/learning.
Two Web sites that’ll keep you
coming back for more...theatre!
www.tdf.org
TDF Membership
TKTS Booth Info
Interviews and Features
TDF Vouchers
Accessibility Solutions
Education and Training
tdf
Theatre
Development
Fund
Advancing live theatre
and dance
Play by Play is Theatre Development Fund’s quarterly
theatre magazine and Plog written by and for high school students.
Check it out online at…
www.playbyplayonline.org