I love Halloween.  Everyone gets dressed up and acts like they're someone else for the night and has a really good time.  Hey wait, that sounds a lot like doing theater.  No wonder I like it.  It is too bad that I can't take a pumpkin shaped pail to the theater and get free candy - that would make "The Broadway" perfect!  In honor of All Hallows Eve I am doing what I call "The Monster Mash"; a little round up of some gossip and news that you might enjoy on this scary day!

Terrifying Theater Treats:

Halloween is a scary holiday and if you are looking for some "frightening" entertainment you can include a stop on the Great White Way.  There are several spooky shows, most featuring monsters, which might enhance your Hallows Eve plans!  You could see Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein playing at the Hilton Theater.  The show isn't likely to induce screams of terror, but it may have you screaming with laughter.  I think the long running Phantom of the Opera with a masked man at the center and lots of candles and organ music qualifies as a scary Broadway entry.  This musical has been wowing audiences for years and might make a thrill-filled stop on your Halloween journey.   There is also a production of Frankenstein that has opened Off-Broadway with the B'way star Hunter Foster (Sutton's brother.  Yes, they are both doing Frankenstein shows at the same time!).  Hunter plays the mad scientist Victor Frankenstein in this musical adapted from the original Mary Shelley book.  This production is likely to provide the most Halloween bang for your buck when it comes to real screams.  Beware!

Bart is Back:

Speaking of YF (and everyone seems to be speaking about it).  The folks over at the Hilton Theater were getting pretty "scared" about whether their leading man was going be able to come back to show, following a pretty bad back injury.  Well, the good news is that Bart is Back!  Reports have it that Bart played the show on Monday the 29th.  We here at Two On The Aisle wish him the best of luck and hope that his back holds out for a very long time.

Wrong Holiday/Right Show?

Ok, so it is really a Christmas show but Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! can sometimes be a pretty scary show.  The Grinch does really horrific things.  He is a big monster.  Ok, I can see I am not going to really make this fit with the theme, but the show does start performances tomorrow November 1st at the St. James Theater.  For the second year in a row this holiday treat will wow audiences.  I love me some of that Cindy Lou Who.

Masked Man Rides Chandelier into Windy City:

The trick or treaters in Chicago have another stop this Halloween - the Cadillac Theater.  Cameron Mackintosh/Really Useful Theatre Company, Inc. production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, directed by Harold Prince, returns to Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre for a limited ten-week holiday engagement running Wednesday, October 31 through Saturday, January 5, 2008.  John Cudia will take the role of the masked man.  This is a well timed opening in my opinion.

The Other Frankenstein is Alive:

Opening in New York City tomorrow, November 1st, is the aforementioned Frankenstein at 37 Arts (450 West 37th Street).  The cast is lead by Hunter Foster and Christiane Noll.  I am very interested to read the reviews on this one.  The cast is great but there have been mixed reports around town.  Let's see if this new show is going to be a TREAT or merely a TRICK.

Old Men Like Halloween Too:

Broadway Producers will put a new musical to the test tomorrow when they have a reading of Grumpy Old Men: The Musical.  The reading is reported to star Christopher Lloyd (tv show Taxi and the movie Back to the Future) and George Hearn (La Cage Aux Folles) in the parts played by Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon in the original movie.  The reading will also host actresses Adrienne Barbeau and Carol Kane.  I will get on my "movie musical soapbox" now and say - really?  Really, do we need a musical version of this movie on "The Broadway"?  I can't say too much since I haven't seen it, but I am a skeptic.  That being said, I wish the creative composer Neil Berg, lyricist Nick Meglin, and playwright Dan Remmes all the best with the reading.

That is it for the Monster Mash.  Now, go find a scary costume, grab a pumpkin pale, go see a show and try to get the ushers to give you some snickers or blow pops.  Have a great Halloween and I will...

~ See You On The Aisle