Oh, Mamma Mia!

This week's From Screen to Stage kicks off with two of the biggest mothers to hit Broadway:

- Yes, that is the first look at Meryl Streep in the upcoming movie version of Mamma Mia! As for the other "mamma" pictured? It is none other then Michael Ball as Edna Turnblad in the long-awaited London production of Hairspray.

Speaking of Hairspray, the tuner just celebrated its fifth anniversary on the Great White Way, and current Corny Collins Lance Bass will host the annual "Broadway on Broadway" concert in Times Square.

- After Variety chipped in with its two-cents, the sharks (namely, the New York Post) started circling Disney's The Little Mermaid.

- Elsewhere on the road to New York, Young Frankenstein gets some love from the Seattle Gay News prior to closing its pre-Broadway run.

- In tour news, Chicago ends its long trek as The Wedding Singer begins theirs; and legendary movie muse Marni Nixon joins My Fair Lady.

- Broadway.com shines the spotlight on three recent hits: Legally Blonde, The Lion King and Monty Python's Spamalot.

- Can't make it to New York to see Cheyenne Jackson and Kerry Butler in Xanadu? BroadwayWorld.com has an exclusive video preview just for you.

- Start that clock: Dolly Parton herself says the 9 to 5 musical will hit Broadway in 2009.

- Harvey Fierstein talks all about his Catered Affair.

- Everyone's favorite 70's sitcom neighbor Valerie Harper stars in the movie adaptation of Golda's Balcony.

- All About My Mother premieres in London, while the American musical Chaplin finds new life elsewhere in England. Plus: is it rumor or real -- a Harry Potter musical to fly onto the West End?

- In the works: stage musical versions of The Three Musketeers, Mask (the Cher movie, not the Jim Carrey one), To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath, which is actually an opera.

- And finally: The latest incarnation of Forbidden Broadway (the twenty-fifth!), subtitled Rude Awakening, is now up and running, complete with spoofs of Grey Gardens, Mary Poppins, Legally Blonde and (easy target) Grease: You're The One That We Want.

Links via USAToday.com, MichaelBall.co.uk, Playbill.com, Variety.com, NYPost.com, SGN.org, Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld.com, SundayMirror.co.uk and Imdb.com.

From Under the Sea

Three major openings this week - but only one on the Great White Way:

- Disney's The Little Mermaid and Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein officially opened on the same day in different cities (Denver and Seattle). The local critics have spoken, all citing that both shows need work before they reach Broadway. Uh, isn't that what they're there for?

- After televised auditions, a rehearsal period and previews, the much-publicized revival of Grease has finally opened on Broadway ... and the reviews were pretty much what we expected. However, considering the advance sales due to the TV show, the producers should be crying all the way to the bank. Broadway.com has opening night photos and video, while Broadway World introduces you to the Thunderbirds.

- Good news for Billy Elliot fans (the movie is one of my all-time favorites): signs (literally) are pointing to a Broadway bow next year.

- Could Hairspray movie star Nikki Blonsky be eyeing the Broadway version for her next Tracy Turnblad tour de force? Meanwhile, Lance Bass is Corny -- Collins, that is; and meet the latest Edna, MADtv's Paul Vogt, who dishes on the real reason why the Las Vegas production of Hairspray closed.

- More casting buzz for Rob Marshall's Nine movie, including Oscar winners Sophia Loren and Catherine Zeta-Jones, Oscar nominees Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz and future Oscar nominee Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose).

- As Kevin Kline, Jennifer Garner and Daniel Sunjata prepare for a Cyrano de Bergerac revival, George Hamilton returns to Chicago. And could Patrick Wilson, Anne Hathaway, John C. Reilly and Debra Messing be the latest Guys and Dolls?

- See who will take on the iconic movie roles played by Madonna and Hayley Mills in the West End Desperately Seeking Susan and the US tour Whistle Down the Wind.

- Feel the rhythm of South Africa with Disney's The Lion King.

- Enter the Broadway World time machine for a look back at the Xanadu movie. Elsewhere, Broadway.com has a lively chat with that scene-stealing evil muse, Jackie Hoffman.

- Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps and Jane Austen's Emma hit regional stages.

- Frost/Nixon closes on Broadway. What's next for Tony winner Frank Langella and Tony nominee Michael Sheen? Filming the movie version with director Ron Howard.

- The West End musical epic stage version of The Lord of the Rings extends through the end of September.

- The Ritz star Seth Rudetsky discusses briefs, towels and robes.

- Holy stage faves, Batman! Take a look at the Batman musical that never was.

- And finally: Avenue Q star Rod (just Rod, like Cher) sits down for a "Cue & A" with Playbill.com.

Links via Playbill.com, GoldDerby.LATimes.com, Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld.com, AccessHollywood.com and FilmJunk.com.

Puttin' on the Ritz

All the scoop on everything from screen to stage:

- Yep, that's the first real look at Shuler Hensley as Young Frankenstein's monster above, with Roger Bart as the good doctor. For more official pics from the Seattle pre-Broadway engagement, including Megan Mullally in a fabulous red dress and Sutton Foster in a shocking blonde wig, head over to Broadway.com.

- Sutton's brother Hunter is keeping it in the family ... the Frankenstein family that is. He will play Dr. F in the Off-Broadway "serious" musical take on the story.

- Film and TV faves are popping up on stages all over the place: former Falcon Crest hunk Lorenzo Lamas is the King of Siam in The King and I, and Law and Order vet S. Epatha Merkerson will try to fill the house slippers of Shirley Booth in a revival of Come Back, Little Sheba.

Following his Tony win for Monty Python's Spamalot, Mike Nichols looks to be making a full-on comeback to Broadway with two star-studded productions in the works: a revival of The Country Girl starring Oscar-winners Morgan Freeman and Frances McDormand and the debut of Farragut North with our guy Jake Gyllenhaal.

- Grease: You're the One That I Want continues to sprout success stories. First, "Ambitious Danny" Chad Doreck will join the Altar Boyz as Matthew.

Austin "Hot Danny" Miller and Kate "Serious Sandy" Rockwell will appear in the musical drama Tully (In No Particular Order).

And my personal favorite Danny, Derek "Wholesome Danny" Keeling is set to co-star in the new musical version of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities with James Barbour. With those two onboard, maybe they should call it A Tale of Two Hotties.

Meanwhile, "Slacker Danny" Max Crumm and "Small Town Sandy" Laura Osnes recently hit the studio to record the new Grease cast album.

- Fresh off the one-night wonder that was the American Idol musical (proof that there is a god) comes news that another Fox TV favorite, Family Guy, is hitting the stage.

- If you didn't get enough of High School Musical from this weekend's Disney Channel blitz for the new sequel (which was excellent, by the by, better then the original), then take a look at Broadway World's look backstage at all the various stage incarnations of the teen phenomenon that just keep coming (High School Musical on Ice, any one?).

- Get a double dose of Xanadu cutie Kerry Butler over at Playbill.com, with a Seth Rudetsky chat and a "brief encounter".

- For more diva darlings, see Broadway.com's interview with Legally Blonde's Laura Bell Bundy and another behind-the-scenes video for Disney's The Little Mermaid.

- Paging would be Inspector Clouseaus: Oscar-winning songwriter Leslie Bricusse is working on a Pink Panther stage musical.

- The new TV movie version of the Tony-winning revival of A Raisin in the Sun will air on ABC the day after the Oscars, while the Tony-winning The History Boys returns to the West End - with a new cast.

- Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story on Stage (yes, that's the title) has announced its first American tour.

- And finally: Charles Busch and Julie Halston, together again! The two cult superstars are back onstage in The Lady in Question.

Links via Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld.com and Playbill.com.

Now Part of Your World

With Beauty and the Beast now behind them, Disney Theatricals turns it attentions to the next fairy tale to make the leap from screen to stage, The Little Mermaid. The tuner, based on the 1989 animated classic that revitalized an interest in the medium that continues to this day, recently opened in Denver in preparation for its November bow on Broadway.

With its Oscar-winning score and songs, music was very integral to the success of the movie. The show will include all seven of the original Howard Ashman and Alan Menken songs, with twelve new songs penned by Menken and his new lyricist Glenn Slater. Slater proved himself a perfect successor to the late great Ashman with his songs for the Disney toon Home on the Range. In addition to that movie, Slater also collaborated with Menken on the stage musical versions of two other movies, Sister Act and Leap of Faith. Needless to say, I am anxious to hear the new stuff to see how it sits with the originals, but with Menken onboard with Slater, I am extremely optimistic.

In addition to the new music, the whole look of the show has left many curious, particularly in regards to how the undersea sequences will be handled. Moreover, with the failure of Tarzan and the closing of Beast, all of Broadway is scrutinizing this, Disney's next move on the Great White Way.

However, if the positive reactions in Denver so far is any indication, it appears this Mermaid will indeed have legs when it opens in New York this Fall.

Click here to purchase The Little Mermaidon DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via Disney.go.com, Playbill.com, OrlandoSentinel.com, SisterActTheMusical.com, Broadway.com, Variety.com and DenverPost.com.

Tale as Old as Time

After 13 years on the Great White Way, Disney's first foray into legitimate theater, Beauty and the Beast, has closed. Although still raking it in at the box office, the show packed up its dancing silverware and magical roses to make way for the next Disney fairy tale extravaganza, The Little Mermaid, currently playing in Denver in preparation for a November New York debut.

I actually saw this show twice (both on tour, once in Phoenix and again in Orlando) and I have always felt that it was a very good adaptation of the movie (one of my all-time favorites). The stage version successfully built off the original film, deepening the characters (especially, with "Human Again", the enchanted objects) without going too far down the dark side (reportedly why Mary Poppins has not been well received). Originally faced with lackluster notices and little Tony love (which I chalk up to typical New York snobbishness), the production endured its many critics to become the sixth longest-running show in Broadway history.

To celebrate the beauty that was this Beast, many online tributes sprang up recently.

• BroadwayWorld.com has a video retrospective of Beauty through the years.
• Another video feature, Broadway.com says 'goodbye' to the Beast. Also on that site: a host of pictures from the last performance.
• LaughingPlace.com gives us all the (fun) facts behind the show.
• Playbill.com, in addition to a "where are they now" feature on cast members past and present, was there on closing night.
• And for a unique perspective on treading the boards for a living, plus lots of backstage photos, head over to DailyKos.com.

As Mrs. Potts would say: "Goodnight, luv."

Click here to purchase Beauty and the Beaston DVD from Amazon.com.
Links via BroadwayWorld.com, Broadway.com, LaughingPlace.com, Playbill.com and DailyKos.com.

Xanadu Soars, Tarzan Falls and More

The big Broadway news lately is the phenomenal success story of Xanadu, the stage version of the camp flop movie we all secretly love. Not only has it received surprisingly great reviews, but it also set a record at the Helen Hayes Theater where it is currently playing to rapturous applause. Basking in the glow is our guy, Cheyenne Jackson, who tells AfterElton.com all about the ins and outs of roller skates and short shorts.

Also on that site, Michael Portantiere gives us a full review, while Steven Frank gives us his own hilarious (as usual) take on his experience at the show, including this bit overheard in the audience: "They made a musical from the book Wicked? Like, who doesn't know that?

And while we're in Valley speak mode, the cast album for the totally pink musical Legally Blonde (starring Laura Bell Bundy goes on sale today. And yes, there is a song titled "Bend and Snap". (Click the link to purchase the CD from Amazon.com.)

Miserably received, Disney's Tarzan, which starred hirsute hottie Josh Strickland, has closed, the first Broadway flop for the Mouse (but hey, it's HUGE in Holland). "Broadway Mouth" at the Broadway Blog provides an in-depth post-mortem on what went wrong.

Speaking of Disney, their first foray onto the Great White Way, Beauty and the Beast, is closing as well. But at least Belle, the Beast and all that cutlery were a little more successful. The long-running family hit will end July 29, to make way for the next Disney toon tuner, The Little Mermaid, which opens later this year.

Also closing on that day is the musicalization of the cult documentary film Grey Gardens. Rumor has it that they may film it for a future television broadcast and/or DVD release. That would be very S-T-A-U-N-C-H of them (I know that really doesn't make sense, but when you can quote Edie Beale, you quote Edie Beale).

Fantasia follows up her impressive Tony Award appearance with five more months in The Color Purple, while the tour for that show adds four additional weeks to their Chicago stay.

Hairspray the stage musical is benefiting from Hairspray the movie with a nice bounce in ticket sales. Celebs joining the cast include Jerry Mathers as the Beav ... oops, I mean Wilbur, Lance Bass as Corny Collins (starting August 14) and Grease: You're the One That I Want runner-up Ashley Spencer as Amber Von Tussle, effective July 24.

In other Grease news, the winning Sandy of that reality competition/casting session, Laura Osnes tells Playbill.com absolutely nothing about how disappointed I ... I mean, she was that total dreamboat Derek Keeler was not cast as Danny.

And here we go again: producers of the London run of Monty Python's Spamalot are planning another let's-let-the-people-(read: gay men)-decide television show to find their next Lady in the Lake.

In the latest screen to stage adaptations, we have Desperately Seeking Susan, All About My Mother, Ever After and Jane Austin's Emma, plus a new twist on the trend: musical stage versions of television shows. Yep, soon both Fonzie and Columbo will be warbling live on a Broadway stage sometime in the near future.

Rounding out the round up, we have:

• Stars on the boards: Orlando Bloom in London and Claire Danes in New York.
• Only in a musical could casting a male as Peter Pan be "untraditional casting".
• "Broadway Bares", the raunchy annual fund-raiser created by Legally Blonde's Jerry Mitchell, may find a permanent home in Vegas, baby.
• Whoopi Goldberg, of all people, will host the Fire Island Dance Festival.

And finally, Seth Rudetsky, our favorite musical/comedy guy, talks all about his trip on the Rosie Cruise, including a chat with original Annie Andrea McArdle, who discusses the pitfalls of M&M's and poppers on the Broadway stage.

Links via Playbill.com, AfterElton.com, BroadwayMouth.blogspot.com, SFGate.com, Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld.com, Derek-Keeling.com and RFamilyVacations.com.