Breaking News, World News and Taiwan News.

Updated Saturday, September 4, 2010 8:46 pm TWN, By John Carucci, AP

Sponsors
▪	Save 75% for all hotels in Shanghai, Beijing and whole China. Lowest rates for Flights in China.
▪	Get the best deals for Guangzhou Hotels or choose from more than 10,000 hotels in 499 Chinese cities.
▪	Find great real time deals on China Flights. Book flights to China or China domestic flights 24/7.
▪	Buy china wholesale products from reliable chinese wholesalers on DHgate.com!

Movies dominate stage for new Broadway season

The cast once included Evan Rachel Wood, known as both Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq on TV's “True Blood,” and the on-again, off-again girlfriend of Marilyn Manson. Alan Cumming was slated as the villainous Green Goblin, but has been replaced by Patrick Page, the namesake of the Broadway version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

“Spider-Man” opens in the newly named Foxwoods Theatre. Perhaps the name change for the cavernous venue will bring a change of fortune, because until this year, the Hilton Theatre, as it was previously called, had been a place where shows went to die. “Young Frankenstein” played for a lackluster 485 performances, while other shows became more immediate casualties. “The Pirate Queen” (85 performances) and “Hot Feet” (97 performances) barely hit their stride. Interestingly, the theater's earlier moniker, the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, saw a successful revival of “42nd Street” that ran for 1,524 performances.

“Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark” begins previews on Nov. 14, and will open on Dec. 21.

“Elf: The Musical” begins previews Nov. 2 at the Al Hirschfeld Theater, opening Nov. 10 in time for the holiday season. Based on the 2003 comedy, the musical tells the story of Buddy, a human raised as an elf at the North Pole. Madness ensues after he is sent to New York to live with his biological father. After getting used his new world, the giant elf goes on a mission to save Christmas.

The musical stars George Wendt (“Cheers”) as Santa Claus. Tony winner Beth Leavel co-stars and is reunited with her “Drowsy Chaperone” counterpart, Bob Martin, who wrote the book with Thomas Meehan (“Hairspray,” “Young Frankenstein”). Matthew Sklar and Chad Beguelin (“The Wedding Singer”) supply the music.

Even foreign films are not outside the realm of what producers will adapt these days for the stage. “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” tells the story of a soap opera actress, her philandering boyfriend and the people who come in and out of her life. In some ways, it's like “Sex and the City,” though with less sex and a different city. (Is “Sex and the City The Musical” not far behind?)

The cast includes Tony winners Patti LuPone, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Laura Benanti, as well as Tony nominees Danny Burstein and Sherie Rene Scott.

1|2