Bergdorf Goodman Celebrates the 80th Birthday of STEPHEN SONDHEIM

Bergdorf Goodman is devoting five of its world-famous windows to pay tribute to the 80th birthday of composer/lyricist extraordinaire, STEPHEN SONDHEIM. Mr. Sondheim is considered by many to be America's greatest living composer and lyricist. The window display features memorabilia, photographs, posters, lyrics to all the songs from his major musicals, objects representing different musicals, as well as art of AL HIRSCHFELD depicting Sondheim's amazing musicals including Gypsy with Ethel Merman and Jack Klugman, Sweeney Todd with Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum with Nathan Lane and Mark Linn-Baker, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum with Whoopi Goldberg, Into The Woods with Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason, Sunday In The Park With George with Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin, Follies with Blythe Danner, Polly Bergen, Marge Champion, and Judith Ivey, West Side Story with Carol Lawrence, Larry Kert, and Chita Rivera, West Side Story with Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris. The Hirschfeld art from the windows will be auctioned by charitybuzz.com to benefit the New York City Center and the Animal Medical Center-Animal Bond Program. Bergdorf Goodman is located at 57th Street and 5th Avenue.

LA CAGE AUX FOLLES Has Arrived!

The photos above were taken outside the Longacre Theatre (220 West 48th Street) where the revival of the musical LA CAGE AUX FOLLES opened last night. Starring five-time Emmy Award winner KELSEY GRAMMER in his Broadway musical debut, and Olivier Award winner, DOUGLAS HODGE, this high-kicking musical comedy is a touching tale of one's family's struggle to stay together and stay true to themselves. La Cage features Jerry Herman's Tony Award-winning score, with such fabulous songs as "I Am What I Am," "The Best of Times" and "Song on the Sand," and a Tony Award-winning book by Harvey Fierstein.

Here is a review roundup:

From the New York Times (Ben Brantley)
Their plumage is wilting, their wigs are askew, and their bustiers keep slipping south to reveal unmistakably masculine chests. Yet the ladies of the chorus from “La Cage aux Folles” have never looked more appealing than they do in the warm, winning production that opened Sunday night at the Longacre Theater. Terry Johnson’s inspired revival ofJerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein’s musical, starring a happily mismatched Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge (in a bravura Broadway debut), delivers the unexpected lesson that in theater, shabby can be not just chic but redemptive. This deliberately disheveled show, incubated at the tiny hit-spawning Menier Chocolate Factory in London, is a far cry from the high-gloss original production of 1983 or the glamorous, soulless revival that opened less than six years ago.
The Riviera nightclub of the title — run by Georges (Mr. Grammer) and the setting for a popular racy transvestite revue starring his partner, Albin (Mr. Hodge) — looks as if it could do with a coat of paint and perhaps a delousing. Georges, whose dapper evening jacket is definitely not bespoke, has a worn-down, worn-out appearance. And no matter how much rouge and mascara Albin applies, the dumpy, jowly chanteuse he becomes onstage will never resemble the screen siren of his mind’s eye.
As for the Cagelles, the revue’s scrappy six-member corps de ballet (pared down by half from their last Broadway incarnation), let’s just say that even the most myopic club patron isn’t going to mistake them for real live girls. “We are what we are, and what we are is an illusion,” they sing in gravelly chorus in their opening number. But the deception being peddled so adroitly here isn’t one of mistaken sexual identity.
What makes this version work — transforming a less-than-great musical into greatly affecting entertainment — is its insistence on the saving graces of the characters’ illusions about themselves and, by extension, the illusions of the production in which they appear. As presented here “La Cage” is (you should pardon the expression) a fairy tale, a sweet, corny story that asks us to take people (the good-hearted ones, anyway) at their own valuation.
Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "Is there a more appealing, entertaining argument for motherhood than "La Cage aux Folles"? Especially when mother is a quixotic, neurotic but undeniably goodhearted drag queen played by Douglas Hodge, who, by the way, is giving the most exuberant musical-comedy performance of the season."

Steve Suskin, Variety: "Why bring back "La Cage aux Folles" -- a major hit musical of the 1983-84 Broadway season, but certainly not a classic like "Gypsy" or "Fiddler on the Roof" -- only five years after its first Broadway revival? Especially when that 2004-05 stint proved a tired and unnecessary affair, suggesting that the original production (with its six Tony Awards) was stronger than the material. The producers of this new edition, which premiered at London's Menier Chocolate Factory in 2007, have a convincing answer: It's funny, heartwarming and terrific."

Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly: "Hodge and Grammer provide a solid grounding for the show, but the rest of the cast offers all the flourishes you'd expect from a show rooted in drag performance. The six Cagelles are an impressively lithe and acrobatic ensemble (the choreography is by Lynne Page), and Robin de Jesus (In the Heights) is uproarious as Albin's devoted butler/maid who aspires to be Cagelle himself. By the end of this well-paced production, it's hard not to concur with the refrain of Albin's second-act number: The best of times is now. A-"

David Sheward, Backstage: "Why mount another Broadway production of "La Cage aux Folles" when we just had one in 2004? The answer is that Terry Johnson's London staging and its Olivier Award-winning star, Douglas Hodge, inject this 1983Jerry Herman-Harvey Fierstein musical version of the 1978 French film with ingenious razzmatazz and a heartbreaking humanity that its immediate predecessor lacked."

Michael Sommers, NJ Newsroom: "Brightly performed by a nine-member musical ensemble, Jason Carr's colorful orchestrations do well by Herman's happy, heartfelt score. It's easy to fall in love with this diminutive charmer of a production."

Scott Brown, New York Magazine: " Hodge adds something new: a touch of sputtering rage that's neither heroic nor pathetic. Too agitated to hold stage center, he jerks himself around, looking for release, but finding only an audience. And for once, the performer delivering this fight-song doesn't seem to assume his listeners share his feelings or his fight. For all the spittle and vibrato on display, Hodge's number feels strangely like a private moment. This Albin is not articulating a credo. He's simply furious."

Linda Winer, Newsday: "BOTTOM LINE seedier, funnier 'Cage'"

Jeremy Gerard, Bloomberg News: "Hodge, who is built like a long-haul trucker but still looks reasonably good in a gown, makes Albin vulnerable and a little pathetic, in addition to being endearingly funny."

FOREST - Miniature Landscape Made of Fabric

FOREST is an art exhibit at the World Financial Center Winter Garden featuring a landscape of "bonsais" created from used clothing by artists SUZANNE and MATHILDE HUSKY.  The miniature landscape "embodies the beauty and drama of nature." The viewer would be inspired to visually meander this forest, and discover peace and beauty in the fabric patterns creating textured foliage, tree branches, grass and rocks. FOREST is part of "NY's GREENEST," a collaborative effort by Battery Park City's cultural institutions to present Earth Day event and activities aimed at inspiring awareness, education and appreciation for our environment.

"This work replicates nature not only by creating an actual forest, but also in its ever cycling of materials into new life by reusing fabric, and in the uniqueness and singularity of each creation. The hand made piece is in direct opposition to the manufactured object. We choose to depict a place where biodiversity still happens, where seeds are not expected to perform like machines. Ironically, despite the wild subject, the fabrication process asserts an ephemeral and fictional control over nature similar to a formal garden. At the same time, the process of quiet, domestic activities like sewing, ultimately embody the seductive wildness of untouched land." - Suzanne and Mathilde Husky.

The exhibit runs through May 12.

The MOULD FOUNTAIN and Spring Flowers in City Hall Park

The Mould Fountain was originally installed in New York City Hall Park in lower Manhattan in 1871. Designed by Jacob Wrey Mould, the fountain features a broad, multi-colored granite basin with semicircular pools on both sides and a central cascade. The fountain was restored in 2000 when the City Hall Park was rededicated. It was recognized in award of Best Park Restoration. These photos were taken on April 15.

Site-Specific, Panoramic Staging of HAMLET at the World Financial Center

The New York Classical Theatre and Arts<World Financial Center co-present a unique staging of HAMLET Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare at the World Financial Center Complex in downtown Manhattan. The play was designed in such a way that audience members follow the actors from place to place throughout the sprawling World Financial Center, the set for the production. The play is directed by New York Classical Theatre’s founder and artistic director Stephen Burdman. Justin Blanchard plays the title role. The play runs through April 18 only. Audience meets outside of Starbucks, WFC Courtyard, 220 Vesey Street.

Broadway Cast of MAMMA MIA Performs Live in Grand Central

As part of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of Real Simple Magazine, the Broadway cast of the hit musical MAMMA MIA offered a free public performance earlier this evening at Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall. Leading the cast were Tony Award winner, BETH LEAVEL as well as JUDY MCLANE and GINA FERALL. Mamma Mia uses the infectious music of Swedish pop group ABBA to tell the story of a single mother planning her daughter Sophie's wedding on a Greek island, unaware that Sophie has invited three men from her past - one of whom might be the girl's father. Mamma Mia plays the Winter Garden Theatre, located at 1634 Broadway.