Tommy Tune brings Studio 54 to the masses
The New York Times reports: Tommy Tune was once the fleet-footed prince of Broadway, whose flair and Tony Awards triumphs put him in the company of musical auteurs like Bob Fosse and Michael Bennett. And then he disappeared. A pair of painful flops in the ’90s led to a self-imposed exile from commercial New York theater, which has not seen anyone quite like Mr. Tune — a triple-threat actor, director and choreographer — since.
Yet Manhattan was on his mind last week as Mr. Tune stood by a stage at the University of Miami, putting the finishing touches on his new musical, Fifty Four Forever, a valentine to the Studio 54 nightclub where he often mixed with Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli and other chic demigods of the 1970s. For the last year Mr. Tune has been developing this disco-standards show (though not performing in it himself) with an unusual team of collaborators, the university’s theater arts department and its corps of undergraduate actors, many of whom were born after his heyday, which included nine Tonys between 1974 and 1991.
Their trusting exuberance has been a tonic for Mr. Tune, awfully sprightly for 72, helping him find his younger, less jaded self.
The creators of Fifty Four Forever want the show to have a life after its run at the campus theater ends on Saturday; Mr. Tune, in an interview, allowed himself the hope of eventually mounting the show at the real Studio 54, which is now a Broadway house owned by Roundabout Theater Company. He has invited Roundabout executives here, as well as dozens of other New York producers, artists and press agents, though no deals have been made.
At the same time, Mr. Tune does not appear in any rush for an encore on Broadway, where he made his name in the 1973 musical Seesaw (winning his first Tony, for best featured actor) and going on to fame as the director of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Nine, Grand Hotel and The Will Rogers Follies.
More on Mr. Tune and this exciting show can be read here. A slideshow of the production, including pictures of the cute lead Kyle Axman, can be seen here.
--> UPDATE: Just got 2 tickets for the Saturday show! So excited that something cool is actually happening in Miami.
Yet Manhattan was on his mind last week as Mr. Tune stood by a stage at the University of Miami, putting the finishing touches on his new musical, Fifty Four Forever, a valentine to the Studio 54 nightclub where he often mixed with Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli and other chic demigods of the 1970s. For the last year Mr. Tune has been developing this disco-standards show (though not performing in it himself) with an unusual team of collaborators, the university’s theater arts department and its corps of undergraduate actors, many of whom were born after his heyday, which included nine Tonys between 1974 and 1991.Their trusting exuberance has been a tonic for Mr. Tune, awfully sprightly for 72, helping him find his younger, less jaded self.
The creators of Fifty Four Forever want the show to have a life after its run at the campus theater ends on Saturday; Mr. Tune, in an interview, allowed himself the hope of eventually mounting the show at the real Studio 54, which is now a Broadway house owned by Roundabout Theater Company. He has invited Roundabout executives here, as well as dozens of other New York producers, artists and press agents, though no deals have been made.
At the same time, Mr. Tune does not appear in any rush for an encore on Broadway, where he made his name in the 1973 musical Seesaw (winning his first Tony, for best featured actor) and going on to fame as the director of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Nine, Grand Hotel and The Will Rogers Follies.
More on Mr. Tune and this exciting show can be read here. A slideshow of the production, including pictures of the cute lead Kyle Axman, can be seen here.
--> UPDATE: Just got 2 tickets for the Saturday show! So excited that something cool is actually happening in Miami.
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