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Alumni Give Their Regards to Broadway
by Adrienne Onofri (J85)
Northwestern’s Broadway Weekend in New York City, an educational escapade sponsored by Northwestern Alumni Association, wasn’t just a chance to catch up on the latest Broadway musicals and meet some of the Northwestern alumni who star in them. It was a full-on immersion in the world of theater—featuring insights from designers and directors, some historical perspective, and a peek at NU stars in the making. And there was lots of theatergoing included too!
To see photos from the trip, click here.
More than 60 participants in the Northwestern Alumni Association’s March 17-20 trip saw four shows: the new musicals Little Women and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (the latter had opened just two weeks earlier); last year’s Tony-winning Best Musical, Avenue Q; and a drama, The Drawer Boy, that previously played at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre. Make that five shows—they were also treated to a revue by current Northwestern theater and music majors, The Broadway Musical–The Last 100 Years, to close out their busy but enthralling weekend (for more about the revue, click here).
Trip participants were honored to be joined on their “educational escapade” by two Northwestern deans, Barbara O’Keefe, dean of the School of Communication, and Toni-Marie Montgomery, dean of the School of Music. Both greeted the group at a welcome reception on Thursday evening and participated in all the weekend’s activities. Dominic Missimi, head of the music theater program at Northwestern, also spoke at the welcome reception, which was held at the Crowne Plaza, the hotel where the group stayed, located right on Broadway in the heart of the theater district. After their welcome dinner, NU-ers had to walk only three blocks to the theater where Little Women was playing.
Friday was the busiest day of the trip, with the NAA group covering ground from Times Square to uptown Manhattan to suburban New Jersey in their pursuit of theater and theater lore...and elbow-rubbing with Broadway-by-way-of-Evanston stars! As they enjoyed a buffet breakfast Friday morning at their hotel, Professor Virgil Johnson, an internationally known costume designer, spoke on “Dressing the Stage.” He introduced two other costume designers, Nancy Missimi, resident costume designer of the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire—and wife of NU theater prof Dominic, who directs many shows at the Marriott—and Jennifer von Mayrhauser, an alumna (C70) who’s costume designer for the TV show "Law & Order", as well a for theatre and film.
The clothing theme carried into the next activity: a special guided tour of the exhibition “Glamour, New York Style” at the Museum of the City of New York, located uptown on Fifth Avenue opposite Central Park. Phyllis Magidson, costumes curator for the museum, led the NAA group through the display of designer gowns, outfits worn by society figures and at historic events (like George Washington’s inauguration) and theater costumes (from such Broadway shows as Evita, Sunset Boulevard and Nine). Visitors then had time on their own to explore the museum’s permanent exhibition about New York theater, featuring costumes, set pieces, photographs, programs and other mementos.
Then it was back on the motorcoach to return to Times Square for lunch at Sardi’s, a legendary restaurant beloved by theater types and famous for the caricatures of theater personalities lining its walls. The lunch was attended by several Northwestern alums now working in New York theater, including Jenny Powers (Mu03) and Jim Weitzer (C96), whom the group had seen the night before as eldest sister Meg and her husband, John Brooke, in Little Women, and Stephanie D’Abruzzo (C93) and Tom Galantich (C83), whom they would see the next day in, respectively, Avenue Q and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Among the other special guests: Sheldon Harnick (Mu49), lyricist of the classic musical Fiddler on the Roof, which is now having a Broadway revival; David Ayers (Mu99), who plays the prince Fiyero in Wicked; Patrick Sarb (C00), who took over Ayers’ former role in the ensemble of Mamma Mia!; Ruth Hendel (GC75), producer of two of this season’s Broadway entries, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Steel Magnolias, as well as three of last season’s Tony nominees; Craig Shemin (C88), a writer for the Jim Henson Company, who’s married to D’Abruzzo; and composers Larry Grossman (C60) and Joe Thalken (Mu84).
“I think it is particularly nice for our travelers to get to know the performers at a more personal level,” Dominic Missimi later said about the luncheon. “The fact that we had 16 [Broadway] guests at our luncheon is a real testament as to how Northwestern is leaving its mark on the Broadway scene.”
Friday afternoon the group traveled to Millburn, N.J., for dinner and a performance of The Drawer Boy at Paper Mill Playhouse, one of the country’s preeminent regional theaters. The play was directed by Anna Shapiro, director of Northwestern’s graduate directing program, and starred John Mahoney, from TV’s "Frasier." After the performance, Shapiro and her cast of three held a Q&A with the Northwestern guests, who were particularly interested in how a rainstorm was effected on stage.
On Saturday, Dominic Missimi gave a talk on “The State of the American Musical,” discussing how it has evolved from the Rodgers and Hammerstein era to the present. Saturday’s schedule also included a matinee performance of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the new musical stage adaptation of the 1988 film, starring John Lithgow and scene-stealing Norbert Leo Butz; and an evening performance of Avenue Q, the hilarious hit musical with a cast of humans and puppet characters, directed by NU alum Jason Moore (C93), who held a Q&A with star Stephanie D’Abruzzo after the show.
Trip participants had the option of going to the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center instead of Avenue Q on Saturday night. The orchestra, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner, played Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream while scenes from the Shakespeare romantic comedy which inspired it were performed by such actors as Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden and indie-film faves Campbell Scott and Hope Davis. New York Philharmonic executive director Zarin Mehta had been a guest of honor at the Sardi’s lunch the day before, along with his wife, Carmen, who taught in Northwestern’s School of Music in the 1990s.
Sunday’s events took place at the at the fabled Waldorf-Astoria hotel: a sumptuous brunch, followed by the Broadway Musical–The Last 100 Years revue, directed by Professor Missimi. The cast included Devin DeSantis, Michael Kohn, Greta Lee, Alan Schmuckler, Jessica Shure, Charles Siebert and Morgan Weed.
After the trip, participants on the Broadway Weekend continued to rave about the insider’s view of theater they got. Marcie B. Weiss (C71) of Evanston said the postshow discussions with cast members “provided insight and information about the plays and the process that went into the productions, which made me appreciate the shows even more.”
Nancy Heggem (G67) of Palatine, Ill., agreed that “the postperformance discussions added real depth to the experience.” Overall, Heggem said, the trip showed her “that the NYC musical theater is very alive and well, and that there are quite a few NU grads working there.”
Missimi felt the travelers were able to experience a diversity of contemporary theater. “I was delighted by the mix of the shows we saw,” he said, “from the traditional Little Women to a heady contemporary play, Drawer Boy, to the twentysomething sensation Avenue Q.”
Many of the travelers picked Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as their favorite of the shows they saw. “Unquestionably I enjoyed Scoundrels the most. The two principal performances were outstanding,” said Missimi. Heggem remarked, “It has a nice classic musical style, great costumes, excellent casting. It can appeal to my older friends but is not too stuffy for younger playgoers.” Weiss’ review of Scoundrels: “It reminded me of the way musicals used to be—complete with big production numbers. I loved the Art Deco scenery and the cast, especially the two leads.” She added: “I laughed out loud through most of the show!”
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