Spring Awakening

People are probably sick of me pimping for Entertainment Weekly but last week’s issue included not just one but TWO articles focused on Broadway. A preview of Daniel Radcliffe’s opening in “How to Succeed in Business in Without Really Trying” might be expected (there’s an excerpt online here) but there is also a fairly thoughtful piece on Jason Patric appearing in “That Championship Season,” a play written by his father (an interview available online). I mostly mention things like this because all EW cares about is what’s stirring at the top of the entertainment stew and when that something is theater-related, I think it’s a good indication of the enduring popularity of live theater. It also gives me something to write about.

But while I’m promoting other media outlets, let me make a push for the soon-to-be unfunded NPR which regularly has new content under it’s Performing Arts section. It’s the kind of place you can find an alternative take on “Spider-Man” (the article entitled “Don’t be so quick to write off the dark”), not to mention coverage of the “Arcadia” revival and Chris Rock’s new Broadway show. Now THAT is fair and balanced.

And I’m making a preliminary request from both of you readers for help with a possible intervention. As if falling under some seasonal spell, my wife has become obsessed with the current national tour of “Spring Awakening.” She already traveled to North Carolina last weekend to see the show and is now talking about heading to either Pennsylvania or New Jersey to see it again. The only show I’ve been similarly smitten by is “Les Miz” which I have not only seen in NYC a couple of times but traveled to DC (twice) and Kentucky to see on tour. Do you have any show obsessions you’d like to share?

Spring is the season for obsessions, after all, so enjoy the turn of the seasons this weekend (and Purim, too) and prepare to be obsessed with a new flock of local openings starting next weekend!