4B - The Michigan Daily - WzAsie, c. - Thursday, January 18, 1996 X1-TECH ~hNT% On Broadway, the year of the diva By Melissa Rose Bernardo Daily Theater Editor If there was a trend to be found on Broadway this year, it was big, bold, and female. She wore everything from a tux- edo to a turban, descended staircases, waltzed with both men and women, went mad, proved her sanity, and rose to un- touchable heights. In her honor, I dub 1995 the Year of the Diva. diva (dee'va) From the Italian diva. Literally: goddess, lady-love, "fine lady." 1. A goddess, female divinity, fem. of the Latin divus: divine, god, deity. 2. A dis- tinguished female singer, a prima donna. Out with the old, in with the new, and that goes for divas too! On July 8 -just ;. K%$ t , A .x \NANNA BE A days after her 48th birthday - Betty Buckley began her own chapter in the "Sunset Boulevard" saga, as she moved intothe mobile mansion once calledhome by Glenn Close. And though a compari- son is tempting, no true diva-lover could do such an injustice to either Betty or Glenn (divas need no last names). In September, British diva Elaine Paige will cross the Atlantic to don the Norma drag. And speaking of former Normas, Patti (LuPone, that is) brought her one-woman show to the Walter Kerr for a few weeks oftake-that-Andrew-Lloyd-Webber bril- liance. La LuPone was in excellent voice, and showed us all how to be a diva. In Terrence McNally's"Master Class," Zoe Caldwell plays La Divina diva Maria Callas. This painstakingly detailed study ofa diva should snag aTony forCaldwell, who conjures Callas' spirit with astound- ing efficacy. Julie Andrews gets to play diva and deity in her cross-dressing role in "Vic- tor/Victoria." Directed by husband Blake Edwards, Andrews is packing 'em in at the Marquis in this stage adaptation of Edwards' film comedy. And hello, Carols! Carol Burnett made her long-awaited return to B'way in Ken Ludwig's theatrical fare"Moon Over Buf- falo," and Carol Channing - the most, ahem, mature diva of the bunch - is back where she belongs in "Hello, Dolly!" Something big is happening: The big- gest events of the year were, without question, musical. In its Encores! series, City Center presented a stellar concert version of Rodgers and Hart's rarely- produced gem "Pal Joey," starring Patti LuPone, Peter Gallagher and Bebe Neuwirth. And the Roundabout Theater Company, led by Scott Ellis, spottily staged the Stephen Sondheim gem, "Com- pany." A close runner-up, however, was the Almeida Theater's "Hamlet," in which Ralph Fiennes tested not only the Danish prince's conscience but also the speed at which he can soliloquize. Other conversation pieces: The 42nd Street Renovation, in which Disney and Li vent of Canada have pledged to trans- form the area from hooker heaven to a theatrical haven ... A radiant Eileen Atkins and a dimly-lit Kathleen Turner in "Indiscretions" ... the on-the-road closing of "Busker Alley," starring Broadway's tallest diva, Tommy Tune . Patrick Stewart as captain of "The Tempest" ... Oscar Hammerstein's 100th birthday... Plays on the big screen ("Death and the Maiden," "Jeffrey," "Othello," "Richard Ill") ... Musicals on the tube ("Bye Bye Birdie"; the forthcoming "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "The Music Man") ... a lovely Cherry Jones in an even lo'velier revival of "The Heiress." Replacement Casting Oddities: Thr what-were-they-thinking award goes to the producers of "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," who replaced Matthew Broderick with John "Full House" Stamos. Full Frontal Nudity: Between the skinny-dipping in "Love! Valour! Com- passion!," Jude Law bathing in "Indiscre- tions," and a naked Karen Carpenter trib- ute in "Party" off-B'way, everyone was baring it for art. Tony, Tony: Nathan Lane got shunne for"L!V! C!" but went down in history as one of the best telecast hosts ever. "Ac tors" Matthew Broderick andGlenn Close took home awards for leading roles in musicals; "Smokey Joe's Cafe," the Lieber and Stoller revue, got seven noms but no nods; Terrence McNally won for Best Play ("L!V!C!") but didn't get to make a speech; "Heiress" director Gerald Guttierez brought along his dog, Phyllis The Future's so bright: Or is it? Loo for these in 1996: "The King and I," starring Donna ("Passion") Murphy and Lou Diamond Phillips ... "Night of the Iguana" with Cherry Jones and Marsha Mason ... August Wilson's new play, "Seven Guitars" ... Jerry Zaks directs Nathan Lane in "A Funny Thing Hap- pened On the Way to the Forum" ... the Royal Shakespeare Company's "Mid- summer Night's Dream" ... Richard Maltby Jr. and David Shire' musicalization of the film "Big" ... the B'way premiere ofSam Shepard's Pulitzet winner "Buried Child," directed by Gary Sinise ... "Getting Away With Murder," a play by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth ... EugeneO'Neill's"Hughie"with Al Pacino ... "State Fair," the stage ver- sion of the Rodgers and Hammerstein film ... And this fall,out of Tony conten- tion: the musical thriller "Jekyll and Hyde"; Horton Foote's 1995 Pulitzo winner "Young Man From Atlanta." Broadway nay-sayers may dub 1995 a bad year, but there were plenty of events ifyou wanted to see them. Will1996bec "good" year? Well, with any luck Terrence McNally will get to make r Tony acceptance speech for "Mastei Class," and "Big" will turn out to be the one "big" new musical of the season. And we won't lose any more divas, like 43- year-old chanteuse Nancy LaMott,who untimely death rattled the walls of bo the cabaret and the theater-going world May the diva never say goodbye. 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