Broadway Asia Entertainment

 Shanghai Grand staff, HAIRSPRAY star Brooklynn Pulver and BAE Producers Simone Genatt and Marc Routh pose for a celebratory picture during the HAIRSPRAY Shanghai press conference.

订票服务：800-820-4800，（021）6112-1255      网上订票>>

　　7月5日至7月20日，正热演于纽约百老汇、伦敦西区的欢乐励志音乐剧《发胶星梦》，将由上海大剧院、解放日报报业集团携手，同步推向申城。

　　绝活：“母亲”男扮女装

　 　《发胶星梦》取材于1988年的同名电影，2002年改编为百老汇版音乐剧。故事发生于1962年，巴尔的摩的胖女孩特蕾西·特梦想成为一个舞者。她在 当地的舞蹈节目《科尼·柯灵斯秀》中脱颖而出，凭着天分和努力从默默无闻的圈外人员变成了青少年的偶像。但是这个在舞池中体型超胖的冒失女孩，必须战胜几 乎已经内定的青少年女王赢得比赛，以及男一号的爱情。

　　剧中音乐以流行爵士歌曲为主，词曲创作旋律活泼语言机智。其中，特布拉德模仿小 孩子嗓音演唱的曲目诙谐幽默，而更让人叫绝的是，剧中母亲埃德娜的扮演者竟然是个男人，这位男扮女装的角色以其庞大的身躯、浑厚有趣的嗓音创造了奇妙的舞 台效果。同时，舞台设计还原了上个世纪的巴尔的摩城，光鲜艳丽的服装、场面庞大的舞蹈以及怀旧气息浓郁的音乐，都极力营造出1960年代的流行氛围。

　 　该剧获得2003年包括最佳音乐剧奖在内的8项戏剧托尼奖、10项戏剧委员会奖、格莱美最佳音乐奖唱片等无数荣誉。在美国热演4年之后，2007年《发 胶星梦》再次被好莱坞重新搬上大银幕，新版电影由国际巨星、一代舞王约翰·屈沃塔领衔，格外星光璀璨的演员阵营使影片成为2007年国际影坛的超级热门， 仅美国票房已突破1亿1千8百万，创造老片新拍的超级奇迹。

　　场次：仅演20场

　　这部音乐剧《发胶星梦》，2002年首演于纽约，2007年10月登陆伦敦西区，上海成为继两地之外唯一的演出城市，三地同步热演使得申城观众不出国门便能领略最新鲜的国际音乐剧风采，也将上海和国际音乐剧最新潮流的距离缩短到最近。

　 　与音乐剧《剧院魅影》、《狮子王》在沪连演百场不同，此次《发胶星梦》只在上海“逗留”两周半，共20场，周六周日演出两场。为了避免与8月的北京奥运 会“撞期”，在5月22日结束美国巡演之后，剧组6月底就将抵达上海，7月1-4日装台，7月5日－7月20日正式上演。
转载自《新闻晨报》    2008-3-5

Finding Lea’s Prince in New York City
By Bobby Garcia
Thursday, January 17, 2008

New York — Amidst the arctic cold weather and an approaching snowstorm, we found him. The man who will ultimately place the glass slipper on Lea Salonga’s Cinderella and find the true meaning of love. And we found him, where else, but in New York City.

The first set of auditions for the Broadway Asia Tour of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella was held at Telsey And Co. on 8th Avenue. Founded by Bernie Telsey, Telsey and Co. is one of the busiest casting agencies in the US. They have cast shows such as Rent, Hairspray, Wicked and Legally Blonde. Rachel Hoffman, our casting director, had it all set up for us. A full day seeing some of the finest theatrical leading men New York had to offer. With Lea, the producers and the creative team present, we began the auditions and saw one handsome man after another. I would ask Lea to read scenes with them and have our music director Michael Duff take them through some songs when I felt there was something worth exploring further. I would then scribble down notes on my casting grid so as to remember each person I saw.

And then Peter Saide walked into the room. Immediately I knew that there was something special here. He sang the Prince’s solo song The Loneliness of Evening flawlessly and so I asked him to sing Do I Love You with Lea. They sounded beautiful together. Pure synchronicity. I had them read a couple of scenes from the script and it became obvious that they had great chemistry together. Lea would later say to me that Peter was “swoon worthy.”

But we were not done. Many more Princes to see. Not a bad way to spend the day. Especially considering the freezing temperatures outside. But Peter became the one to beat as we continued our search. He set the bar real high. And at the end of the day, as Rachel, the producers and I gathered to discuss who would become Lea’s leading man, I simply said. “It’s Peter.” Everyone agreed.

And so negotiations began to hire the extremely talented Peter to join the Broadway Asia tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Peter hails from Australia and was actually only visiting New York when we were having the auditions. He stayed a few extra days to be around for the callbacks and then headed back to Australia after he got the news that he was cast as Prince Christopher.

New York is the shopping Mecca for musical theater talent in the US. You can find it all here. Any shape, size, height or sound you need, it’s all available. And chances are, if you can’t find it in New York City, it doesn’t exist.

But casting is far from over. We have many more roles to fill and an entire chorus of singers and dancers to find. Much of February will be spent finding those special people who will bring life to the timeless world where a young woman wishes for a new life, and with a mentor’s guidance, makes the choices necessary to attain her dreams.

Design meetings continue with our astonishing design team that includes Tony Award winning set designer David Gallo (The Drowsy Chaperone, Xanadu, Company), lighting designer Howell Binkley (Jersey Boys, Avenue Q, Xanadu, Kiss of the Spiderwoman) renowned costume designer Renato Balestra, inventive choreographer Vince Pesce, smart and clever Book writer Mark Waldrop and trusted musical director Michael Duff, whom I had so much fun working with on the Broadway Asia tour of The King & I. I’m also thrilled that Chari Arespacochaga, who has worked with me on everything under the sun, will also join us as my associate director.

What makes the journey even more exciting for me as director (aside from working once again with Lea) is that the brand new version of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella will premiere in Manila, before it embarks on a lengthy Asian Tour and later on a US National Tour. Manila audiences get to see it first before anyone else.

But that’s still several months away. Now, it’s back to warm winter wear, gigantic down jackets, gloves, scarves and a hot Grande Mocha to get me through meetings, auditions and even more meetings. It doesn’t matter though. This is the best part of directing a show. When the only thing that exists are all the possibilities. And if anything seems remotely impossible, I simply remember the wise words of Cindrella’s fairy godmother: ”Impossible things are happening every day!”

The Broadway Asia Tour of Cinderella runs from July 29 to Aug. 24 at The Cultural Center of the Philippines. For details, call Ticketworld at 891-9999.

42nd Street Shuffles Off to Korea! 

Click here for video footage and audience testimonies!

Broadway Asia Entertainment proudly presents Lea Salonga in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s CINDERELLA at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Main Theater on July 29 – August 24, 2008. This will be directed by Bobby Garcia. Tickets are now on sale at all TicketWorld (891-9999) outlets. Thanks to Ticket2Me for the price table below (inclusive of surcharges).

I know it’s like 7 months from now but I’m actually looking forward to this grand event. You see, I am such a huge Lea Salonga fan that I saw “Miss Saigon” three times and “They’re Playing Our Song” twice! Ok, i'm getting insanely excited now. I’ll just update this thread every now and then for more info…