Back in 2002, Kristin Chenoweth had a difficult decision to make.  She had to choose between being in a musical by Stephen Sondheim and one by Stephen Schwartz.  The Sondheim show was Bounce (previously called Wise Guys).  The other turned out to be Wicked.  She made her choice, and Sondheim wrote her the following.  “Thank you for the thoughtful and generous note.  I, too, was disappointed, but I understand completely.  I hope that Wicked turns out to be everything you want it to be (and that Steve wants it to be, too).”  The rest is history.

Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford are set to leave this terribly misguided revival of Sweeney Todd on January 14^th.  One would think that the show would simply shutter and slink away; left to become a sad, little footnote in some Broadway annals.  But, no – the show must go on (must it?).  If you thought Josh Groban was a curious choice for the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, what do you think of Aaron Tveit?  Should a Sweeney have abs of steel?  His Mrs. Lovett will be the fantastically talented, and yet equally miscast Sutton Foster.  I know there are roles Sutton covets – like Mama Rose.  But did she learn nothing from The Music Man?

What about a musical staring John Travolta and Katherine Heigl?  And again, I know what you’re thinking – did he learn nothing from Hairspray?  Or those T-Mobile commercials?  And who has Heigl on their radar?  If there’s anything less plausible than a musical starring this pair, it’s that the name of it is…and I couldn’t make this up if I tried…That’s Amore!  The writer says, “John and Katherine are fantastic together, and during rehearsals they had so much chemistry.  We’re not breaking into big production numbers, but I wanted to try something a little different.  We’ve recorded about seven songs so far with a full orchestra, and he’s just a magical person.  One of the numbers is a real throw back to Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.”  I don’t look at Travolta and immediately think of Astaire or Kelly.  But another classic image does spring to mind – those dancing hippos in Fantasia.

Someone who would like to return to Broadway is newlywed Chris Evans.  He told the crowd at New York Comic-Con that he hopes to find a project soon.  “I’m looking.  I’d love to actually try and find something next year, but it’s tough because you find something that you are kind of into that could be cool but like I said, once you’re in it, you are in it.  It usually runs three, four or five months.  So, it’s got to be something that you don’t just love, but it’s got to be something that you’re ready to explore from different angles every single night for a very long time.”  How amusing that he considers 3-5 months to be a long time.  After 3-5 dates, I’m bored and have forgotten their names.