President’s Day was a boon to the Great White Way as several Broadway shows saw an increase in gate receipts.

Five musicals, including juggernauts Wicked and The Lion King, topped the million dollar mark. Joining them in seven-digit land are Billy Elliot, Jersey Boys and West Side Story.

Wicked was wickedly good at selling ducats, the prequel to Wizard of the Oz summited the $1.6 million plateau.

The quintet that rules Broadway’s box office are quite well-known. However, the bottom five are somewhat of a mystery. Therefore, Land of Punt decided to take a quick look at Broadway’s five stragglers.

• Looped – Valerie Harper stars as actress Tallulah Bankhead. It’s 1965 and this washed up, drunk must re-record or loop one line of dialogue.

• Next Fall – This play, written by Geoffrey Nauffs, looks at modern romance through a gay relationship that spans five years. It stars a bunch of actors you would recognize but couldn’t name.

• The Miracle Worker – Set in the 1880′s, the drama features Abigail Breslin as Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan as Alison Pill. Also appearing in this Kate Whoriskey directed play are Matthew Modine and Jennifer Morrison.

• Present Laughter – Victor Garber is Garry Essendine in this Noel Coward revival directed by Nicholas Martin. This “high comedy” is supposedly semiautobiographical. It’s a great time for one-liner enthusiasts and fans of ridiculous situations.

• Time Stands Still Check this cast out: Laura Linney, Alicia Silverstone, Eric Bogosian, and Brian d’Arcy James (Shrek). This play is about two war correspondents who are forced to deal with issues after suffering injuries on the front line.

Figures for the week ending February 21st, 2010:

LEADERS (By Gross)
1. Wicked ($1,602,783)
2. The Lion King ($1,454,918)
3. Billy Elliot ($1,190,501)
4. Jersey Boys ($1,145,918)
5. West Side Story ($1,087,016)

LOSERS (By Gross)
1. Looped ($122,265)***
2. Next Fall ($102,609)**
3. The Miracle Worker ($256,258)*
4. Present Laughter ($296,348)
5. Time Stands Still ($329,808)

LEADERS (By Capacity)
1. A View From the Bridge (101.52%)
2. Jersey Boys (100.42%)
3. Wicked (100%)
4. The Lion King (99.68%)
5. Time Stands Still (98.58%)

LOSERS (By Capacity)
1. Looped (59.77%)***
2. God of Carnage (68.46%)
3. Race (70.42%)
4. Next Fall (78.07%)**
5. South Pacific (80.46%)

Numbers courtesy of the Broadway League
* Number based on eight preview performances.
**Number based on seven preview performances.
***Number based on four preview performances.

Young Frankenstein, the musical adaption of Mel Brooks’ 1974 film of the same name, is the bolted-neck stepchild of Brooks’ other, more successful musical, The Producers.

The original Broadway production of The Producers, itself an adaptation of Brooks’ 1968 film of the same name, won a record breaking 12 Tony Awards.

It starred the incorrigible Matthew Broderick and the incomparable Nathan Lane.

The Producers, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was a beloved and worshipped run-away smash hit.

Meanwhile, Young Frankenstein is just okay.

At least that’s what the critics say. It’s always compared to its more famous cousin and when it does it always falls short. However, it’s a thoroughly entertaining show that’s well worth the price of a Young Frankenstein ticket.

The most exciting aspect of this recently launched national tour is the cast. It features three members of the Broadway production including two actors who originated their roles.

Roger Bart reprises his role of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein and Shuler Hensley returns as The Monster. Joining them is Cory English playing Igor. Bart and Hensley have been with YF from the beginning while English joined the Broadway cast on Nov 25, 2008.

By the way, the Broadway production closed Jan 4, 2009 after more than 500 performances.

Early reviews of the tour mimic reviews of its Broadway predecessor, “it’s fun and campy but lacks the energy of The Producers…” blah blah blah.

Another criticism of YF is its music isn’t as memorable as the tunes from The Producers. Land of Punt begs to differ. We actually enjoy the music from YF much more than the music from The Producers. Of course that’s all subjective and a matter of one’s taste.

One thing that isn’t subjective is the show’s lack of taste. Brooks really turns up the smut level as he delivers one sexual innuendo after another. The musical may be based on a 35-year-old film but its humor reflects the zeitgeist of today’s lewdest comedies.

This leads us to YF’s only qualifications. If you don’t like Mel Brooks and/or you’re easily disgusted, avoid this show like the H1N1 virus.

As long attend Young Frankenstein hoping for a few laughs and some airy tunes, you’ll be anything but disappointed.

In other touring company news, the North American Tour of The Lion King celebrated its 3,000th performance. The historic performance occurred on Oct 4 at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts in Anchorage.

In total, tickets to The Lion King have been sold in 56 North American cities. So far during its tour the Disney produced musical has grossed nearly $450 million and has been seen by over 7 million fans.

The tour concludes its Alaska engagement on Oct 11.

Rolling Stone has reported that the production released various contracted crew members due to decreases in cash-flow and increases in costs.

Reports indicate that in order for the musical to break even it will have to sell out the theater for five consecutive years—that’s Wicked and Jersey Boys type of success.

Regardless, the show must go on. Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is scheduled to debut Feb. 25, 2010. Spider-Man tickets are on sale now.

Artistically, the show’s composers, Bono and The Edge from the Irish rock band U2, are circling the wagons and doing damage control.

Edge: “We don’t really like musicals. Most musicals are really pants. They’re really not very cool.”

While that’s insulting to fans of the genre, like LOP, it’s probably true. Next To Normal is cool but it pales in comparison to the cool of Joshua Tree or Rattle and Hum.

Of course Edge said what he said to squash critics who are laughing at this idea of a singing web slinger.

Edge: “It is much more like opera than a straight musical. We’re actually not calling it a musical for that reason because we don’t want to put people off.”

What The Edge is trying to do is stop people from smirking when they hear phrase “Spider-Man musical.” He thinks “Spider-Man: The Opera” sounds more noble and sophisticated. He’s wrong. It doesn’t make the project appear substantial, it makes him appear like a pompous ass.

“Opera” connotes a lofty, artistic musical experience while “musical” evokes jazz hands.

Besides that implication, opera and musical are nearly synonymous terms and their basic differences are rather moot.

One of the historical factors that generally separate the two genres, spoken words, exists in both genres. For example, Jesus Christ Superstar has no dialogue and the opera Die Zauberflöte has spoken dialogue. So there!

There’s been a lot of ridiculous musicals but you can say the same about opera, i.e. opera buffa.

The Edge: “We made one rule for ourselves though that we would never have Spider-Man singing. A guy singing in tights can’t happen.”

Actually The Edge, guys sings in tights all the time. That’s kinda of the definition of musical theater.

Keeping Spider-Man out of the upbeat number that starts Act II has nothing to do with The Edge’s gallant artistic expression. It’s has to do with execution.

The show can’t have Spider-Man sing because his mouth is covered. Since his mouth is covered the actor inside the suit couldn’t sing the song. Since the actor inside the suit can’t sing the song he would have to pantomime to someone singing the song off-stage. The audience won’t buy it.

Bono: “Our Peter Parker is much more…not Kurt Cobain, but a kind of slacker, a more kind of shy sort of guy.”

Here Bono tries to associate the musical with someone “cool” like Kurt Cobain. Maybe he’s describing the character. We hope he’s not suggesting someone like Cobain will be portraying the role of Peter Parker because they just won’t work.

If Bono wanted to endear this musical to Broadway fans he would have mentioned names like Gavin Creel, Lin-Manuel Miranda or Aaron Tveit. Yet, he doesn’t care about Broadway fans. His goal is to lure his own fan base who think this is a crazy idea.

Speaking of crazy get a load of this:

Bono: “[Evan Rachel Wood is] the greatest actor of her generation, she’s the one to watch. She happens to sing like a bird, it’s like a true voice.”

Wood may have a great voice and she maybe a great actor but to proclaim her the greatest actor of her generation is too far-fetched to even entertain. It’s not hyperbole it’s nonsense and it makes Bono look foolish.

Bono: “We’ve got a new villain, it’s a girl. It’s a very extraordinary role. We’ve taken it to a much more dizzy place than you’d expect. We’ve got big tunes. We’re very proud of it.”

They haven’t announced the villain yet which leads us to believe they haven’t figure her out yet. They better hurry this thing premieres in six months.

They may very well be proud of their work but if they came up with one great U2 song, or even one mediocre U2 song, they sure as hell aren’t going to waste it on this dung heap.

What odd about U2’s damage control is the director of this musical is Julie Taymor. She’s the first woman to win a Tony for directing a musical. The musical she won that award for is the hugely successful The Lion King, the exact type of theatre The Edge thinks is “uncool”.

It’s clear that Bono and The Edge are reeling, this project is in free fall, and their reputation is taking a huge hit.

Knowing every generation would eventually discover the Beatles—they are the greatest band of all-time after all—and knowing they had a finite catalog of media, the group devised a business plan to keep the Beatles money machine churning for decades to come.

The Beatles products that resulted from this meeting include Beatles CD’s, Beatles DVS, The Beatles Anthology, a Beatles website, The Beatles Love and The Beatles: Rock Band.

Okay, we made this meeting up. Obviously, no one back then could foresee the future of technology, the advent of the internet or the rise of video games.

However, The Beatles are not only popular music’s greatest and best band they are also the industry’s best businessmen.

It seems like every couple of years, The Beatles release a new product that not only captures the imagination of their current fans but captures the attention of a whole new generation.

The next project apparently born from their mythological business plan is a remake of Yellow Submarine.

Director Robert Zemeckis and Disney are currently undergoing the Byzantine negotiations to turn Yellow Submarine into a performance-capture 3-D production. The goal is to premiere the movie for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The key for Disney is to acquire the licensees for all The Beatles songs from original movie: “All Together Now,” “Baby You’re a Rich Man,” “All You Need Is Love,” “When I’m 64,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band” and of course “Yellow Submarine.”

Also included in the negotiations are the rights to a future Broadway stage musical (ala The Lion King). You gotta love Disney, they know how to wring every last cent out of a franchise.

The idea of a Yellow Submarine remake is one thing. The idea that the Yellow Submarine remake is in the hands of Zemeckis is another. The idea that Disney is ultimately behind the Yellow Submarine remake is anathema.

Also on the horizon for the Beatles, is their own video game. The Beatles: Rock Band is scheduled for release on Sept. 9. Fans will be able to play as anyone of the Fab Four.

Land of Punt is literally dying to get their hands on this game. And that’s saying something since we’re a quasi-mythological land mass.

THE BEATLES ROCK BAND SETLIST

I Saw Her Standing There
Boys
Do You Want To Know A Secret
Twist And Shout
I Wanna Be Your Man
I Want To Hold Your Hand
A Hard Day’s Night
Can’t Buy Me Love
I Feel Fine
Eight Days A Week
Ticket To Ride
Day Tripper
Drive My Car
I’m Looking Through You
If I Needed Someone
Paperback Writer
Taxman
Yellow Submarine
And Your Bird Can Sing
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
With A Little Help From My Friends
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Getting Better
Good Morning Good Morning
Within You Without You
I Am The Walrus
Hello Goodbye
Revolution
Back In The U.S.S.R.
Dear Prudence
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Birthday
Helter Skelter
Hey Bulldog
Don’t Let Me Down
Come Together
Something
Octopus’s Garden
I Want You (She’s So Heavy)
Here Comes The Sun
Dig A Pony
I Me Mine
I’ve Got A Feeling
Get Back

Also on Sept. 9, The Beatles will release a stereo box set of all their studio albums in a hard black glossy lift top box with magnet clasp. The CDs come packaged in three panel digi-pak replete with a digital mini documentaries.

Released concurrently is a limited edition mono box set (only 10,000 released in the U.S.). This set comes in a hard white glossy slip box and the CDs are packaged as mini LP replicas (replica artwork, sleeves and gatefolds).

Both sets were remastered by Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, Sam Okell with Paul Hicks and Sean Magee.

STEREO BOX SET

Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day’s Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Let It Be

MONO BOX SET

Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day’s Night
Beatles For Sale
Help! (CD also includes original 1965 stereo mix)
Rubber Soul (CD also include original 1965 stereo mix)
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles
Mono Masters (features all of the mono tracks that appeared on singles, EPs. or that never made it onto the 13 albums)

The article, which was all about current musicals and plays, was incredibly well-written. Surely the author must be one of the best practiconers of the English language in the world as well as the voice of his generation. But we digress…

A billboard promoting some of Broadway's biggest shows.

The exquisitely composed article has inspired LOP to list some of our favorite musicals currently running on Broadway. For those who don’t have the access to the Great White Way (sadly, that’s most everyone), we’ve also listed our favorite songs from the show’s score. Perhaps these suggestions will inspire you to download the tracks or better yet, acquire the entire soundtrack.

WICKED

Wicked is Broadway’s number one show. It’s also Broadway’s most entertaining production. From the first note to the last, Wicked is pure fun. Not only that but it features a green chick.

Wicked’s story is set prior to, and then congruent to, the events in the Wizard of Oz. The plot revolves around the friendship of witches Elphaba and Glinda.

Besides two strong female characters, Wicked also features a sweet love story, humor and flying monkeys (who doesn’t love flying monkeys).

While Land of Punt thinks there are much better scores, Wicked does contain two great songs, “Popular” and “As Long As You’re Mine.” It also contains the chilling “Defying Gravity.” If that song doesn’t make your hair stand at attention nothing will.

Wicked can be seen (if you can get tickets) at the Gershwin Theatre.

THE LION KING

The Lion King is theater magic. It’s one of the most beautiful shows to ever grace the Great White Way. Based on the Disney movie of the same name, Simba and company are brought to life by breath taking costumes and puppetry. Visually, these lions eat the kitties from Cats for lunch.

Most of the Lion King’s music was composed by Sir Elton John and Tim Rice so you will get to hear the classics “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” and “Circle of Life”. Director Julie Taymor, who’s currently bringing Spider-man to the boards, won a Tony Award for directing this masterpiece.

Lion King tickets are sold for the Miskoff Theatre. Be warned, Lion King is one of Broadway’s most successful and popular shows. It may be a challenge to get your hands on pair of prime ducats.

If your kids can handle the movie they can handle the musical. If you’re an adult and you can’t handle the movie, don’t worry. There’s so much to see in the Lion King you won’t get bored. That’s saying something because this show is 2 hours and 45 minutes long.

IN THE HEIGHTS

In The Heights is the brainchild of Lin-Manuel Miranda. Winner of the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical, ITH tells the story of a group of colorful residents living in the New York neighborhood of Washington Heights.

Miranda, who wrote the show’s music and lyrics, mixes hip-hop, salsa and meringue to create a rather hip and contemporary score. While your aunt will light up at the mere mention of Wicked, you’ll get some serious “street cred” for saying you saw In The Heights (well, as much “cred” as you can get for watching a musical).

“In The Heights” is one of the show’s best numbers, too bad it’s also the first. Fortunately, the show’s other great song, “Carnaval Del Barrio,” is featured towards the end of Act II, so you have something to look forward too.

This high energy and Latin flavored show can be seen at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.

You have to love a show whose main character is named Usnavi, a role originated by Miranda. The character got his name from the first boat his parents saw on their way to America, U.S. Navy.

ROCK OF AGES

“I wanna rock!”

Rock of Ages, currently playing at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, is a cross between Rodgers and Hart’s Babes in Arms and MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball.

The musical features some of the best (“Just Like Paradise,” “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “Cum on Feel The Noize”) and the worst (“We Built This City”
and “Harden My Heart”) rock of the 1980’s. However, the bitchin cast makes even the worst songs from that era fun and enjoyable.

Rock of Ages, set in 1987, is about a group of head bangers trying to save a club on the L.A. Strip from turning into a strip mall. See what they did there with the word “strip?”

This show definitely caters to those who remember (and enjoyed) the big hair rock scene of the 1980’s. It’s deliciously tacky and outrageously fun.

This Tony nominated musical features former American Idol contestant Constantine Maroulis, Broadway veteran James Carpinello and Savannah Wise. However, Mitchell Jarvis steals the “frickin” show as Lonny.

Recently the cast, crew and audience set the world record for largest air guitar ensemble. How cool is that?

Since all the songs in this jubebox musical are so familiar, everyone will have their personal favorites, but the standouts include “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

NEXT TO NORMAL

Next To Normal isn’t about witches or lions or neighbors or hair bands. It’s about mental illness!

NTN stars the great Alice Ripley and the great J. Robert Spencer. However, Jennifer Damiano steals the show as Natalie, the eye-rolling, sardonic teenager (“whatever”).

This contemporary musical won three 2009 Tony Awards including Best Actress and Best Score. The music is rock oriented and the lyrics are challenging and strictly for adults. Over 30 songs fill this fast pace score with the best being “You Don’t Know,” “I Am The One,” and “I’m Alive.”

This summer Kyle Dean Massey plays Gabe, the dead son who expresses himself in song. He’s filling in for Aaron Tveit, originator of the role, who is off starring in the stage adaptation of Catch Me If You Can.

Fans can catch Next to Normal at The Booth Theatre.

In a recent production, Ripley knocked a prop phone off the stage and into the audience. She broke the fourth wall and asked the audience to find the phone. No one could, but someone in the crowd handed the Tony Award winning actress their cell phone.

Ripley took the cell phone, finished her lines, threw it back to the audience member and then continued on like nothing happened. Now that’s Broadway!