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Welcome to The Genre Traveler! Please sign up using the form to the right so that you'll get all the latest updates to the site. You also might want to sign up for the RSS feed, which you can do via email or your favorite RSS Reader. Well, I guess the planets have aligned so rare, because I smell promise in the air. A stage version of Xanadu, the 1980s musical movie starring Olivia Newton-John, is coming to Broadway. Plans are for it to open in May at the Helen Hayes Theatre.

Featuring music from E.L.O., the musical will begin rehearsals today. According to Playbill.com, four by-invitation-only performances will be presented Jan. 20, 21, 26 and 27. A Broadway.com article mentioned that additional E.L.O. tunes, such as "Evil Woman," will be added to the stage production.

Christopher Ashley directs with musical direction by Eric Stern.

IN BRIEF

What:
Stage Musical: Xanadu

Where:
Helen Hayes Theatre
New York, NY

When:
Tentatively set for May.

The science fiction, fantasy and, yes, even horror, imagination is pervading the popular (read mundane) world. Take theatre for instance. I’ve written about a wide variety of genre plays and musicals in both The Genre Traveler and in this blog. Here are just a few that are opening soon in theatres across the U.S. I’m sure there are more in other countries, as well. In fact, if you know of any, please let me know at editor@thegenretraveler.com. I really want this to be a country-neutral resource for fans throughout the world.

MASSACHUSETTS
What: Wings of Desire
Based on Wim Wender’s 1987 film, this play tells the story of an angel that gives up its wings – and its immortality – to enjoy the human experience. American Repertory Theatre presents this stage adaptation in partnership with Toneelgroep Amsterdam, the Netherlands' premier theater company.

Where:
Loeb Drama Center
Harvard University
64 Brattle St.
Cambridge

When:
Nov. 25 - Dec. 17

For More Information:
www.amrep.org/wings
617-547-8300

COLORADO
What: tempOdyssey
This play tells the tale of a temp receptionist who believes she is the Goddess of Death.

Where:
1080 Acoma
Denver

When:
Nov. 17 - 19

For More Information:
www.curioustheatre.org
303-623-0524

What: Starship Troy
This children’s theatre presentation is about the captain of a galactic garbage truck and his conjoined twin sister. The show has multiple episodes and a character or two are picked out of the audience.

Where:
Buntport Theater
717 Lipan Street
Denver

When:
Dec. 5-6 and Dec. 19-20.

For More Information:
www.buntport.com/StarshipTroy.html
720-946-1388

CALIFORNIA
What: The Brain From Planet X
This sci-fi comedy musical spoofs the B movies of the 1950s.

Where:Camino Theatre
Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy
855 N. Vermont Ave.
Hollywood

When:
Dec. 8-9 and 13-16

For More Information:
www.lacitycollege.edu/public/news/planet_x.htm
323-644-2787

Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan completed the first draft of their musicalization of the 1974 film Young Frankenstein back in September, which they began work on early in 2003, and now casting is almost complete. This month, there will a reading of the new musical, directed by Susan Stroman, who also directed Brooks and Meehan's Broadway version of The Producers.

Taking over the role of Inga, originally portrayed by Teri Garr, will be Kristin Chenoweth. Shuler Hensley, from Broadway’s Tarzan, will play the Monster. Marc Kudisch, from Thoroughly Modern Millie, will portray Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friederich Kemp. Sutton Foster will take over the role of the doctor’s prim fiancée, created by the late Madeline Kahn. Roger Bart, from Broadway’s The Producers, will play the hunchback Igor (pronounced "EYE-gore"), originated by Marty Feldman. But best of all, Cloris Leachman will reprise her role of Frau Blucher. The role of the doctor has not been cast.

The musical will likely open in Chicago next summer 2007, moving on to Broadway in the fall.

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Looks like a lot of events are being announced last minute, so they didn’t get into the October issue of The Genre Traveler, which I’ll be posting today or tomorrow (I hope). Here are a few that are coming up in the next couple of weeks.

World Premier of Going to Pieces
Next Thursday, Oct. 12, ScreamFest and Starz are co-hosting the world premier of a Starz Originals production: Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film at Mann's Chinese Theater #6 in Hollywood, Calif. If you’d like to go, you’ll have to make reservations by this Thursday, Oct. 5, by calling 888-514-7103. Seating is limited. The premiere will be followed by a "Pieces" party with cocktails and treats at the Hollywood Wax Museum.

IdeaFestival Starts Next Week in Louisville, Ky.
A wide range of speakers, covering diverse topics such as music, medicine, physics and film will be presenting at IdeaFestival, a four-day event taking place Oct. 11-14 that is focused on ideas. They will be addressing the power of ideas, with the hope of inspiring attendees to appreciate the true power of ideas in every day life. Speakers will include inventor and aerospace innovator Burt Rutan, writer Valerie Boyd, Middle East diplomat John D. Stempel, international landscape architect Adriann Geuze and composer/pianist Zade Dirani.

"This is a unique event to this state, this region, and really, this entire country," said Kris Kimel, founder of IdeaFestival. "We're constantly challenged by new ideas and high-speed innovations as they apply to business, science or the arts. IdeaFestival truly has an appeal beyond geography."

The festival, which started in 2000, is an "open source" experience, with many events free and open to the public. Opening ceremonies for the event will take place at Louisville’s popular multi-use venue, Fourth Street Live, on Wednesday, Oct. 11. Besides speaking and performance events, audience members will have the opportunity to interact with speakers and performers through signing events and on-site appearances. For ticket information and additional details about IdeaFestival, visit www.ideafestival.com.

Unique Art Museum Building Celebrates Opening
The Denver Art Museum (DAM) is celebrating the opening of the new Frederic C. Hamilton Building, a hyper-contemporary structure designed by the world-renowned architect Daniel Liebskind, this Saturday, Oct. 7. The building features more than 2,700 tons of steel and more than 9,000 panels of titanium, and it slices into the sky at a dizzying multitude of angles. Called "Hot DAM", the grand opening celebration will last 35 hours and include tours of the structure, family programming and live entertainment. For more information, visit www.denverartmuseum.org/utility/calendar/eventDetails/eventId--100984.

"Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination" Opening in Oregon
The Star Wars themed exhibit, about which an article appeared in the first issue of The Genre Traveler, October 2005, will be opening at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry on Oct. 11, 2006. It will remain there until to Jan. 1, 2007, when it moves on to the next venue. For more information, visit www.omsi.edu/starwars.

Surreal Futurist Play Opens in Cleveland, Ohio
Martin McDonagh’s play, The Pillowman, opens a the Dobama Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio, on Oct. 13, 2006, and will run through Nov. 5. The play takes place in a totalitarian society and asks the question "Where does imagination begin and suppression end?". Children are being murdered and a novelist who writes about the murder of children is charged with the murder. Reality and fantasy are mixed to the point where you can’t tell where reality ends and the novelist’s fantasy begins. For more information, visit www.dobama.org.

The Round Barn Theatre at Amish Acres Historic Farm and Heritage Resort in Nappanee, Ind., celebrates its 20th year of musical theatre this summer, Aug. 1 through Sept. 10. Camelot, the tale of King Arthur and his Knights is one of five musical to be performed this year.

“The curtain rises on Arthur as a young king awaiting the arrival of his betrothed, Guenevere,” states a press release. “He is counseled by his magical advisor, Merlyn, on how to treat his as yet unseen bride.”

The score is the classic written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, who also scored My Fair Lady and Brigadoon. Playing King Arthur will be Jason Lawergren, who is returning to the Round Barn Theatre after a six year absence. Guenevere is played by Heidi Ferris, who portrayed Princess Amneris in last summer’s Aida.

The Amish Acres Historic Farm and Heritage Resort is an historic eighty acre farm and is the home and farmstead of Indiana's first family of Amish settlers. Indiana has become the second largest Old Order Amish settlement in America and the first Amish settlers there settled on farms surrounding what is now Nappanee. The Round Barn Theatre has 400 seats and was created from a 1911 round barn. I was dismantled, reconstructed, and converted into a state-of-the-art regional theatre, home of the Joseph Stein proscenium stage, which is dedicated to the author of Plain and Fancy.

For more information, visit amishacres.com/index.html.