ScheckOnCulture

Helena Blackman's debut solo CD The Sound of Rodgers and Hammerstein has recently been released by Speckulation Entertainment. The 12-track recording features the singer delivering such classics as "I Enjoy Being a Girl," "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair," "Some Enchanted Evening," and "Climb Every Mountain." In addition, Jonathan Ansell and Daniel Boys join Blackman for duets of "I Have Dreamed" and "People Will Say We're in Love," respectively.

Blackman may be best known as runner-up from the BBC's reality show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. Her stage credits include a UK tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, and the West End première of Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night. as well as The Wizard of Oz and Gypsy, among others.

Recently, Blackman agreed to do a quick Q&A for ScheckOnTheArts to talk about the disc:

ScheckOnTheArts: Do you remember the first time you heard a Rodgers and Hammerstein song or saw an R&H musical?
Helena Blackman: I can't remember which one it was. I remember watching The Sound of Music, The King and I, and Carousel but I'm not sure which one was first.

SOA: Asking you to pick a favorite song on the disc is a bit like asking a parent to pick a favorite child, so in lieu of that, am curious if there is one song on there that speaks to you more personally or deeply than the others.
HB: Hmmm. 'I Have Confidence', certain lines in that, particularly "I must stop these doubts all these worries". The song is very appropriate for my journey through my career so far, wanting to be positive and learning how to be. 'It might as well be spring', is lyrically wonderful. So many images conjured up and comparisons to everyday things, it's so descriptive and it's a joy as an actress to play these in my mind.

SOA: What are the R&H songs that "got away" on the disc? The one(s) that you wish there had been room/time for?
HB: 'You'll Never Walk Alone' is the one that always springs to mind. It's epic but so is Climb Every Mountain. It made more sense to use 'Mountain' but I think the other speaks to me a little more.

SOA: The orchestrations on the disc are particularly fresh. What can you say about their genesis? How much input did you have?
HB: I had a general idea for the feel of them and the team and I discussed this and gave a broad brief to the arrangers. I think a lot a lot of the freshness is a natural response, influenced by the way people are writing now, what's in and fashionable and what we wish we knew many years ago and maybe how the songs may have been orchestrated had they been written now.

SOA: If you could pick only one, which of the R&H leading ladies would you want to play?
HB: One day I would like to play Anna in The King and I. It's a lovely role, a feisty soprano which I .think I am.

SOA: Looking beyond the disc, and in a similar vein, what are the musical theater roles that you're yearning to play?
HB: I'd love to play Eliza Doolittle and Mary Poppins.

SOA: Any plans for a 'sophmore' recording? And, even if not, which songwriter or songwriting team would you want to explore on a single disc?
I'd quite like to do a Disney album, or rather the sound of animated movies and touch on my childhood and everyone else's. Singing the songs of Alan Menken...amazing.

SOA: And finally, what have I’ve missed? What are you up to these days and projects that you'd like to share?
HB: I'm still promoting the album and am back auditioning. I would really like to do some new and contemporary work as I haven't had the opportunity to touch on this yet and I'd like to tick that off.

For further information, visit:  www.speckulationentertainment.com

If the one-act play form is an endangered species, the folks at Applause Theatre & Cinema Books don’t seem to know it. They’ve just released The Best American Short Plays 2008-2009, the latest annual edition of their invaluable long-running series. Edited by Barbara Parisi, this reasonably priced ($18.99) collection includes sixteen works by playwrights both well known (Neil LaBute, David Ives, Murray Schisgal) and obscure.  While not every piece is a winner, there are enough gems here to make one wonder why so few theaters—the Ensemble Studio Theater’s annual one-act play marathon being a notable exception—are willing to take a chance on producing short works.

The same publisher has also issued three new installments of their Applause Libretto Library Series, comprised of trade paperback versions of notable Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals. Designed for general reading rather than production purposes, these versions feature the complete dialogue and lyrics to each show, plus (in most cases) an introduction by a notable theater expert, and a selection of color photos.

The current crop includes two Rodgers & Hammerstein classics, Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music (the latter with an introduction by Timothy Crouse, son of co-book writer Russel Crouse) and the rather more contemporary Avenue Q, the long-running Tony Award-winning musical featuring hilariously profane puppets and such irreverent musical numbers as “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist” and “The Internet is for Porn.”  

The Best American Short Plays (Applause Theatre & Cinema Books, $18.99)

The Sound of Music, Avenue Q, Oklahoma! (Applause Theater & Cinema Books, $16.99 each)

The television theme music swells, the video montage begins, and the audience delivers the predictable swooning response. But the glamorous star onstage is quick to remind us of one important fact.

 “There was life before Dynasty, announces Joan Collins at the start of her one-woman show One Night With Joan at Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency.

Delivering the sort of autobiographical evening that such stars as Gregory Peck and Cary Grant, among others, have performed late in their careers, the still glamorous 77-year-old reveals herself to be an engaging raconteur, delivering the dish if not quite the dirt.

She looks stunning, clad in costumes designed by Nolan Miller that included tight spangly pants with an off-the-shoulder blouse and a gorgeous sequined dress. And just to prove that she’s still limber, she does a split.

“I was born in the second third of the 20thcentury,” she begins, signaling that the evening will be truthful if not quite fully informative. In the course of the following hour or so, she regales us with her life story, including her early days in Hollywood as a young starlet signed to 20th Century Fox; her five marriages (after each husband is discarded, an “X” crosses his face on the video screen); her encounters with such celebs and co-stars as Marilyn Monroe, Bette Deavis, Joan Crawford and Gene Kelly; her erratic film career, which includes such camp classics as Empire of the Ants; her triumphant resurgence with Dyansty; and her high-profile and ultimately triumphant legal battle with Random House.

Convivial without quite losing the haughty demeanor that has marked so many of her screen performances, she also displays a winning self-deprecating humor that gives the evening a fun breeziness.  

Feinsteins at Loews Regency, 540 Park Ave. 212-339-4095. www.Ticketweb.com.

The invaluable Applause Theatre and Cinema Books has just released two new indispensable releases for theater lovers.

The Playbill Broadway Yearbook, now in its sixth edition, provides a comprehensive summary of the 2009-2010 Broadway season. Edited by Robert Viagas, the handsomely bound tome provides extensive documentation of the nearly 75 shows that opened or continued to run from June 2009 to May 2010, augmenting its voluminous production details and copious photographs with engaging backstage “scrapbooks” detailing everything from “most memorable ad-lib” to “busiest day at the box-office. Included are sections devoted to special events and awards and a memoriam to theater notables who passed away, as well as the amusing, high school yearbook-style faculty photo spreads devoted to important theatrical groups.

Also receiving updated and expanded treatment is Louis Botto and Robert Viagas’ gorgeously illustrated “At This Theatre,” previously issued in 1984 and 2002. Detailing the histories of Broadway’s 40 current operating theaters—from the New Amsterdam, built in 1903, to the newest, now known as the Foxwoods, opened in 1998--and featuring a wealth of backstage anecdotes and archival photos, it’s a fascinating expansion of the popular feature of the same name that you’ll find in your Broadway Playbill. This edition also features a new forward written by actor/singer Cheyenne Jackson.  

The Broadway Playbill Yearbook (Applause Theater and Cinema Books, $35.00)

At This Theatre (Applause Theater and Cinema Books, $38.99)