5/18/2011 Wonderland

Went to see Wonderland last Saturday before it closed on Sunday. A new actress, Morgan James was playing the lead that night. I must say that I enjoyed her performance almost better than Janet Dacal's performance which I had seen in previews. Bill tells me that when a show closes that it is a tradition that the understudy goes on for a performance. I had never heard this before. I think this is an extremely generous proposition, unlike the Eve Harrington situation in All About Eve.

I heard that on Sunday's performance that Darren Ritchie, the male lead proposed to Janet Dacal at the curtain call. How nice is that!

I am and have been a fan of Frank Wildhorn's shows for a long time. I feel that the critics are extremely harsh on him. I find that he writes very melodic melodies and although some of the lyricists that he works with don't always come up to his caliber, he will someday write a musical that people will take notice of. He has been extremely successful in Europe and I hope that we will see some of those shows being done in the U.S. at some point in time. At the preview of Wonderland, I approached Frank and had a nice chat with him. Back in 1995, I met him several times (mostly through his relationship with Linda Eder), and was a regular fan of his musical Jekyll and Hyde. I saw the Houston initial production, the pre-Broadway tour in New Haven and Baltimore, and on Broadway at least 5 times. I wish him continued success.

Gary