Archive for July, 2009

Roberty Clohessy Cast in Revival of “That Championship Season”

Robert Clohessy, John Doman, Lou Liberatore, Tom Nelis and Skipp Sudduth have been cast in the Westport Country Playhouse revival of Jason Miller’s That Championship Season. The production, staged by the theater’s artistic director Mark Lamos, will run August 25 -September 12.

Clohessy’s recent Broadway appearances include Pal Joey and Twelve Angry Men. Doman played Deputy Police Commissioner William Rawls on the The Wire from 2002 to 2008. Sudduth’s Broadway credits include South Pacific, The Iceman Cometh and Twelfth Night, and was a series regular on television’s Third Watch. Liberatore received multiple award nominations for his performance in Burn This on Broadway and Nelis received an Obie for his work in The Medium.

That Championship Season which previously won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award and a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, tells the story of four high-school basketball players and their coach who, twenty years ago, brought home the state championship. Now the five men convene for their annual reunion. But the evening’s revelry turns dark as secrets are revealed, loyalties tested, and dreams diminished in this searing, knockout drama. That Championship Season brings savage humor and heart-rending compassion to its insightful exploration of a corrupted American dream.

For more information, click here to visit the Westport Country Playhouse website.

Martha Plimpton To Appear on Grey’s Anatomy

It really IS a small world, after all! Just last month we learned that Christian Hoff (who originated the role of Joey in Roundabout Theatre’s revival of Pal Joey) will be co-starring in the upcoming LA revival of Parade with former Grey’s Anatomy star T.R. Knight. (Hoff Set To Co-Star in LA Production of “Parade”). Knight, who was a fan favorite since the show’s first season, decided not to renew his contract at the end of last season. Now downhearted Grey’s fans can console themselves somewhat with the news that Martha Plimpton, who was nominated for a Tony award for her portrayal of Gladys Bumps in Pal Joey, has a (temporary) role in GA’s new Fall season.

Starting with the September 24th season premiere of the ABC drama, Plimpton will appear as the mother of a young patient in a multi-episode story line. I’ve never watched Grey’s Anatomy, but you can be sure I’ll tune in to watch Martha work her magic. What a treat!

Hoff Is A Hit In Guys and Dolls

When I learned last year that Guys and Dolls would be returning to Broadway, my first thought was that Christian Hoff would be a perfect Sky Masterson. Unfortunately, his schedule (Pal Joey) did not permit. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who could envision Hoff in the role. He is appearing right now in the Ogunquit Playhouse’s current production of the classic Frank Loesser-Abe Burrows musical. And he is a HIT!

***from Theatremania, Reviewed By: Sandy MacDonald · Jul 17, 2009 · Maine***

Tony Award winner Christian Hoff is a bantam, Cagneyesque Sky Masterson. Where many an actor tackling the role of the seemingly hard-hearted gambler might rely on broad shoulders and a matinee-idol profile, Hoff’s edge is intellectual. It’s smarts that earned this Masterson his peers’ respect. His ever-calculating brain is also his foremost means of seduction (although his warm singing voice doesn’t hurt).

***from seacoastonline.com, By Sharon Cummins, July 22, 2009 6:00 AM***

Christian Hoff, who won a Tony Award for his performance in the role of Tommy DeVito in “Jersey Boys,” is believable as the handsome high roller, Sky Masterson. His voice in “My Time of Day,” is as smooth as silk charmeuse…
…One of the better-known numbers from “Guys and Dolls,” “Luck be a Lady,” is passionately performed by Christian Hoff as Sky Masterson and a dozen other dancing gamblers in the city sewer.

The show goes on through Aug. 8. For more information, click here to visit the Ogunquit Playhouse website.