All Entries in the "Stockard Channing" Category

WNYC Leonard Lopate Show — Stockard & Martha (Jan. 23)

Click on the play arrow to listen.

Today Show–Stockard (Jan. 27)

In case you missed it - here’s Stockard Channing on the Today Show, Tuesday, January 27. Enjoy!

Stockard Channing - Twice on Tuesday

Stockard Channing fans, set your DVRs! You’ll get a double-shot of the The Stockard on Tuesday, January 27th.
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First up is the Today show on NBC. The show runs from 7am to 11am, and the line-up reads “John Grisham,Tom Coliccio, going to school online, Stockard Channing”, so better tape the entire show to be safe.
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Then on Tuesday evening:

Stockard Channing narrates a film of breathtaking beauty, The Incredible Journey of the Butterflies, premiering Tuesday, January 27 at 8pm ET/PT on PBS. Click here to watch a 2 minute preview.

Pal Joey Curtain Call - November 18

I’ve said it before, and find it true again - you can find anything on YouTube! Here is video footage of one of the few curtain calls that included Christian Hoff.

Stockard Channing “Bewitches” in ‘Pal Joey’

Pal Joey’s Official Opening Night, December 18th

I’m just back from a fantastic trip to New York for the “official” opening night of Pal Joey at the Roundabout Theatre Company’s Studio 54. In case you’re wondering, the difference between the show on December 11th, which was the original opening night, and December 18th, the “official” opening night is that now the press is allowed to write reviews. That’s right, all that stuff you’ve read in the press the last month wasn’t “reviews”, but just “opinions” - officially.

I am not by any means, a Broadway critic. So the thoughts you are about to read are just that - my random thoughts as I watched the show. And as always, I invite, even encourage you to share your thoughts.

This was not my first visit to Studio 54, but it certainly wasn’t the same place I remembered. Well, it was 25 years ago and a very different venue! The theatre is gorgeous, with old ornate woodwork and a very intimate feel to it. The orchestra was located in balconies on either side of the stage and sounded beautiful. I don’t imagine there was a bad seat in the house.

I forced myself to put all thoughts of Christian Hoff out of my mind…no comparisons, no what-could-have-beens…just watch the show and enjoy. I thought it would be hard to do, but when Joey (Matthew Risch) entered (or was thrown onto) the stage, I was captivated by him. He’s good looking, sexy, and he could really dance. I noticed I had a huge smile on my face at the end of “Chicago”. Off to a good start. I even found myself believing he was falling for Linda (Jenny Fellner), and really enjoyed their duet of “I Could Write A Book”. Jenny’s voice is flawless, and I could sense the innocence, as well as the desperation, in her character.

Stockard Channing’s portryal of Vera Simpson was harder for me to categorize. Yes, Vera is supposed to by cynical and hard, but I couldn’t decide if Ms. Channing was playing the part to perfection, or was just a little bored with the whole thing. Either way, the audience loved her, and Joey’s first encounter with Vera in the nightclub was quite entertaining. I didn’t totally buy into her passion for Joey, but her rendition of “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” gave the audience a glimpse into her “troubled soul”. The talk-singing I had heard so much about fit beautifully with her voice and her character, and I thouroughly enjoyed it.

The audience favorite, by far, was Gladys Bumps, played superbly by Martha Plimpton. Her sultry, smoky voice and great comedic timing made for a terrific “Zip”. I only wish we could have had more Martha, as the second Act dragged a little bit for me. My husband was very entertained by the “chorus girls”, who I suspect were his favorite part of the show. And we both enjoyed the voice of Daniel Marcus (as Ludlow Lowell). Wish we could have had more Daniel Marcus. Besides “Zip”, my favorite song of the second act was “Take Him”, performed beautifully by Fellner and Channing.

The costumes by William Ivey Long were perfection. Linda English was suitable dowdy, the chorus girls were just tacky enough, Joey was smashingly handsome in his well tailored suits, and Vera’s gowns and pant suits were beautifully rich without going overboard.

The stage was dark and smoky, which I suppose was appropriate for the gritty Chicago setting, but was a bit disctracting to me. And I thought the cast managed the stairways with great agility - not an easy feat. And Chez Joey was just tacky enough!

The show is helped along by a very strong supporting cast. Robert Clohessy and Steven Skybell (Mike and Ernest, respectively) could have handled parts with a little more meat to them, but both actors got the most out of their characters, and gave terrific performances.

I give Matthew Risch a great deal of credit for coming as far as he has in such a short time. He wasn’t quite the “leading man” this show needed, but I can certainly see it in his future. I found myself singing several of the songs in my head the next day, which is a good sign. I suspect that Pal Joey will have a great run, despite (or perhaps because of) all the drama surrounding it.

Jimmy Merrill Interviews Chita Rivera, Nathan Lane, Rachel Dratch, Cherry Jones and Stockard Channing

The third installment of interviews from the Opening Night Celebration features Broadway legend Chita Rivera, The Producers’ Nathan Lane, TV and film comic actress (and former Saturday Night Live cast member) Rachel Dratch, multiple Tony winner Cherry Jones and Pal Joey’s very own Vera, Stockard Channing. Contributing correspondent Jimmy Merrill is your host.

Bewitched, Bothered and Opening

The story of Roundabout replacing Christian Hoff as Joey continues, this time in the more staid New York Times (vs the freewheeling New York Post). Following is an excerpt from the article.

Bewitched, Bothered and Opening
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: December 17, 2008

After months of backstage turbulence, capped by the loss of its leading actor and the ascent of an understudy into the title role, the Broadway revival of “Pal Joey” opens on Thursday night with hopes of defying the problems that have clouded the show since previews began on Nov. 14.

Several people involved with the Roundabout Theater Company’s production at Studio 54, members of the creative and financial teams as well as actors, said in interviews that this “Pal Joey” seemed destined to enter theater lore as one of the more artistically troubled experiences of Broadway in recent years.

Just as Gene Kelly struggled to make audiences fall in love with the antihero club impresario Joey Evans in its premiere in 1940, and a 1976 revival was marred by recasting, the convulsions in this latest production have largely involved the cast and the tricky story of a bad-boy huckster who treats women shabbily.

Pal Joey Opening Night Celebration

Although the official Opening Night for Pal Joey isn’t until next week, the “Opening Celebration” was held last night. Pal Joey Blog contributing correspondent Jimmy Merrill covered the event, and we will have video up soon. In the meantime, here are some pictures from last night (December 11th).

Great Pal Joey Show Pictures!!

Thank you “mrmidwest” for posting these great photos on livejournal.com.

Delightful NY Times Interview With Stockard Channing

I hope you enjoy reading this interview as much as I did. It shows a softer, more personal side to Stockard.

Bewitched, Bothered and Back
By ERIK PIEPENBURG
Published: December 3, 2008

HOW you know the name Stockard Channing may depend on how you’re entertained. She was the naughty bun-in-the-oven Rizzo, with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, in the 1978 movie adaptation of “Grease.” Theater fans remember her as Ouisa Kittredge in John Guare’s play “Six Degrees of Separation” in 1990 (she reprised the role in the 1993 film adaptation, which also starred Will Smith and Donald Sutherland). And for several seasons she was Abbey Bartlet, the wife of the president on the NBC series “The West Wing.”

“It’s interesting to be known as an errant teenager or the first lady of the United States, depending who you’re talking to,” Ms. Channing said.

Last seen on Broadway in the 1999 revival of “The Lion in Winter” opposite Laurence Fishburne, Ms. Channing, 64, is returning as Vera Simpson in the Roundabout Theater Company’s production of the Rodgers and Hart musical “Pal Joey” at Studio 54. The show, with a new book by the playwright Richard Greenberg, is directed by Joe Mantello, with musical direction by Paul Gemignani.

The title of Vera’s big number, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” is an apt description of the backstage dramatics that unfolded shortly after previews started. Christian Hoff, 40, who was to play Joey Evans, withdrew from the show after a foot injury and was replaced permanently by his understudy, Matthew Risch, 27. The show’s opening was pushed back a week, to Dec. 18.

Before a recent preview performance Erik Piepenburg sat down with Ms. Channing to discuss the challenges of a sudden cast change, her light-bulb moment with Brecht and Weill, and letting go of “Grease.” Excerpts from the interview follow.

Losing a Co-Star
It’s been hard on the company, any time you lose a member of the company so suddenly who’s been such an organic part of the creative process. … You can see how demanding the show is physically. I obviously wasn’t present for these conversations, but everybody had to make a quick decision. I think from his part, to bow out — he could injure himself permanently if he came back too soon. The temptation in any kind of athletic situation, I think, is “I don’t want to let the team down,” which is very much Christian’s way. … It was terribly dramatic because we had to cancel the Saturday matinee. …We’re blessed, and we also have a great loss at the same time, which is really stressful. I’m sure it was a very painful decision for him to make.

Old Joey, New Joey
I think we’re telling a slightly different story. There’s a much larger gap in age, which concerns me sometimes, that Vera Simpson is not going to be arrested for robbing the cradle. On the other hand there’s a great tradition that goes back to Colette, of an older woman and a younger man. It’s been going on for a long time.

Q&A With “Pal Joey” Pals

Conversation: The Pals of ‘Pal Joey’
By Jesse Oxfeld, Published Nov 30, 2008, nymag.com

The emphasis is on the female leads in this revival of the Rodgers and Hart classic. Never mind that neither has sung onstage in 25 years.

In the past few seasons, Martha Plimpton has played a female pope, a Shakespearean princess, and some Russian revolutionaries; Stockard Channing played First Lady Abbey Bartlet on The West Wing and, oddly, narrates Meerkat Manor. Now they’re both belting Rodgers and Hart classics like “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered” in the Roundabout revival of Pal Joey, which, with a new book by Richard Greenberg, makes its debut on December 18. (Opening night has been delayed a week, after the planned Joey, onetime Jersey Boy Christian Hoff, hurt his foot and left the production.) The two women spoke to Jesse Oxfeld.

This production is so much darker than the classic Frank Sinatra–Rita Hayworth–Kim Novak movie, which has a happy ending.
Channing: The movie was very sanitized. The play, the original play, was funky. The play was about, you know, a married woman and a young guy. In the movie, Rita Hayworth was a widow. And, a little bit conveniently, an ex-stripper.
Plimpton: So she could do [the striptease song] “Zip.”

Which Martha’s character, Gladys—who’s barely a presence in the movie—now sings. Had you read the original John O’Hara stories the play is based on?
Channing: I’d read other stuff by John O’Hara, so I knew the tone. And then Joe Mantello, our director, gave me a copy of the original play, and it’s very close in tone to this—but it’s very choppy in the second act.

So Greenberg’s work was fixing the story.
Channing: Yes. But the language is very fair—the rhythms and the bleakness of it are very, very close to the original O’Hara. Neither of you is known as a musical star …
Plimpton: It’s my first singing role as an adult. When I was a child, I did downtown musicals with the Public, and then I didn’t do another musical for 25 years, until now. This is my first [Puts on affected British accent] big Broadway show!
Channing: [To Plimpton] You told me you were doing a cabaret thing.
Plimpton: I don’t call it cabaret.
Channing: I’m outing her act!
Plimpton: I have done, you know, evenings of song. I have some friends…I did a show with Lucy Wainwright Roche and Dan Lipton at the Zipper in August. But I haven’t ever done it, you know, for money.

Stockard Channing Billed A “Comeback Queen” in Daily News

This Daily News article caught my eye, and not only for the obvious reason that it’s about Stockard Channing. Tina Turner, Liza Minelli and Stockard Channing are, you have to admit, pretty amazing (over-60) women who aren’t intimidated by a show biz world full of young hotties. They just keep on doing their thing, and doing it as well as ever. I do, however, have a problem seeing them labeled as “comeback” queens, as that implies they were once “gone”.

Here is an excerpt from the Daily News article titled:

Comeback queens Tina Turner, Liza Minelli and Stockard Channing to play NYC shows
BY Patrick Huguenin
DAILY NEWS Staff Writer

…On Broadway, Channing gets in cougar character for “Pal Joey,” a revival of the Rodgers and Hart musical, now in previews, that opens Dec. 11. She plays money honey Vera Simpson, a rich older woman courted by the title character (Matthew Risch) with the hope that she’ll finance his nightclub.

The actress famous for belting as Rizzo in the movie version of “Grease” hasn’t tuned her pipes on Broadway since 1984, when she took over for Minnelli in “The Rink.” But, she says, the sexy role caught her eye.

“She’s a complicated woman,” she’s said of Vera, “probably a little ahead of her time. Very composed on one level, but clearly deeply passionate on another. And that passion is awakened by Joey.”

To read the entire article, click here.

Share Your Pal Joey Experience

One of our blog readers made a second visit to see Pal Joey, and here are her observations:
** The choreography may have been tweeked a bit…although I cannot say all the dancing was spectacular, it was quite enjoyable - especially dancing on the stairs. (Although I feel Christian Hoff was better on the stairs!)
** Costume glitches were all taken care of.
** The major improvement I was keenly seeking was the chemistry between ‘Vera’ and ‘Joey’…I felt that Stockard Channing did not feel comfortable with Christian…if Vera is supposed to be infatuated with this young song and dance man, I want to see that exhibited throughout the show…now seeing Matthew Risch & Stockard was a completely different FEEL..Stockard seemed to sincerely enjoy touching, embracing and kissing ‘Joey’…my personal thought was that Stockard feels much more in control with a very young protege, sort of a boy-toy!
** Matt’s dancing in the beginning was right on, but he does sweat profusely. The singing was much the same for ‘Vera’ and ‘Joey’.
** Martha Plimpton’s performance throughout the show is still very enticing…and Jenny Fellner still mezmerizing. They are both key characters to the success of this run of Pal Joey.
** Daniel Marcus’s (Ludlow) solo in the second act was a shining star.
** Matthew has clearly captured the “JERK” attitude that ‘Joey” is supposed to exhibit.
** I must say that the whole cast was more than gracious to pose for photos and sign autographs after the show.

The Pal Joey Blog invites you to share your Pal Joey experience! Leave a comment and let us know how you enjoyed the show. If you have pictures you want to share, send them to  admin at paljoeyblog.com, and include captions if you like.

A big thank you to Charly O’Clarit. She combined her pictures with those of Lucy Rochetti and Lori Leone to create this great slide show. Thank you, ladies!

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Shawna, a self-proclaimed Stockard enthusiast, shared this photo from her fabulous evening at Pal Joey. See comments below to read about Shawna’s experience.

First Impressions of “Pal Joey”, November 14, 2008 Preview

By Howard Tucker ( howardtucker3 at aol.com)

The Production

This production of Pal Joey, featuring a new book by Richard Greenberg, musical direction by Paul Gemignani, choreography by Graciela Daniele, and direction by Joe Mantello, brought to light new undertones not seen in the original productions, which certainly enhanced this show.

The plot focuses upon depression-era nightclub emcee Joey Evans (Christian Hoff) being torn between his innocent, naive girlfriend Linda English (Jenny Fellner) and wealthy but married socialite Vera Simpson (Stockard Channing). Joey romances Vera, who sets him up in his own club, Chez Joey. Along the way, Joey runs into an old acquaintance, Gladys Bumps (Martha Plimpton), with whom he has a very unpleasant history.

While there is a similarity to the Frank Sinatra movie in Joey’s and Vera’s characters, Jenny Fellner’s Linda English (a haberdashery clerk) is less worldly than the curvy and sensual Kim Novak (who was a showgirl type), and the Gladys Bumps character adds some new intrigue to the entire plot. Gladys and Joey’s history comes to light in the first act, and as Joey tries to show his power in the second act, we see that Gladys isn’t one to roll over and play dead. The ending was not the “and then they lived happily-ever-after” typical Broadway/Hollywood one, and that was a refreshing change.