Text Size:
A|
A|
A
Email
PrintFor more than 30 years the Post-Gazette has sponsored popular ShowPlanes and Critic's Choice theater trips to New York, London, the Canadian festivals and occasionally elsewhere (Dublin, Toronto).
Coming up is the early spring Critic's Choice tiour to London, March 4-11, 2012, featuring three comedies, time for several more, and all London (palaces, museums, street fairs, pubs, you name it) at your feet. Click here for details.
PAST
PDFThe Post-Gazette's 94th ShowPlane heads to Broadway Nov. 16-20. It features four musical comedies -- two classics, an infrequent revival and something new.
The two classics are Stephen Sondheim's "Follies," headlined by that great Broadway baby (all grown up), Bernadette Peters, supported by Jan Maxwell, Danny Burstein, Elaine Paige, Flo Lacey and others, and the Tony-winning revival of Cole Porter's "Anything Goes," headlined by the dynamic Sutton Foster, supported by Joel Grey, John McMartin and the direction and choreography of Pittsburgh's own Kathleen Marshall.
The less-frequent revival is of Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane's "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," enhanced by songs from their other shows and starring Mr. Charisma, Harry Connick Jr.
The new show is Frank Wildhorn's "Bonnie and Clyde," a new rockabilly-and-blues-infused musical about the Depression-era American outlaws, starring Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan.
The ShowPlane group stays at the Millennium Broadway Hotel, just off Times Square. The weekend starts with a welcoming dinner and ends with an optional farewell dinner. Included for all is a discussion about the plays and the Broadway theater scene over post-show drinks with Post-Gazette senior theater critic Chris Rawson, who is available to advise on other theater plans.
There is also an optional private tour of the United Nations, complete with professional guides and followed by a private lunch in the delegates' dining room.
Experienced escorts from Pittsburgh accompany the group and staff a hospitality desk at the hotel to offer guidance for additional theater, dining and touring.
Included in the package are the four shows, four nights at the hotel, dinner, discussion, round-trip airfare from Pittsburgh, transfers between the New York airport and hotel, gratuities and taxes. The basic tour price is $2,063 per person based on two people sharing a double room. The single supplement is $596.
A deposit of $500 per person is required to hold your reservation; your status will be confirmed upon receipt of deposit and reservation request form. All payments are to be made to Gulliver's Travels Inc., 460 S. Graham St., Pittsburgh PA 15232-1210.
For information on the trip, call Gulliver's Travels at 412-441-3131. For information on the plays, call Mr. Rawson at 412-216-1944.
• Fall Critic's Choice trip to Shaw Festival, Sept. 14-17 The Post-Gazette annual Critic's Choice tour to the Shaw Festival was Sept. 14-17. For details, click here.
• Shaw and Stratford Festivals, June 7-11, 2011.
For reviews of some of this year's Shaw shows, click here. For an interview with Jackie Maxwell, Shaw Fest artistic director, click here. For reviews of Stratford Festival shows, see the Post-Gazette of July 17.
Broadway Spring ShowPlane, May 18-22, 2011.
For Broadway reviews, click below:
Book of Mormon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Anything Goes, click here.
Jerusalem, Wat Horse, The Mother****** with the Hat, Intelloigent Homosexual's Guide, click here.
For more than 30 years the Post-Gazette has sponsored ShowPlanes and Critic's Choice theater trips to New York, London, the Canadian festivals and occasionally elsewhere (Dublin, Toronto).
ShowPlanes are conducted by experienced tour guides from Gullivers Travels in Pittsburgh and accompanied by PG senior theater critic Christopher Rawson, staying at premium hotels and often including extensive sightseeing extras.
Critic's Choice tours are smaller, with fewer frills, usually led by Rawson alone. They include plenty of time for individual options.
Rawson chooses the plays to be seen, provides background and leads discussions. Other arrangements are coordinated by Paul and Jackie Busang of Gullliver's Travels, 460 S. Graham St., Pittsburgh PA 15232-1210.
Trips are announced in the Post-Gazette several months in advance, followed by mailings to those who have expressed interest. To receive mailings or for detailed information on specific trips, contact Gulliver's Travels (412-441-3131; 1-800-848-4084; Jackie@gti.travel). For questions about the plays, contact Rawson (preferably by email at crawson@post-gazette.com, but also by phone, 412-216-1944).
The Post-Gazette's 92nd ShowPlane went to Broadway, Nov. 17-21. It featured three musicals and one comedy -- two all-new, one classic revival and one in-between: Stephen Sondheim's classic musical comedy, "A Little Night Music"; "La Bete," a modern comedy in the style of Moliere; "Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson", a slam-bang mix of historical fact and fiction; "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," -- as you can imagine, this was cancelled and ShowPlaners enjoyed a substitute.
Summer Shaw-Stratford Festivals and fall Shaw Festival trips.
Broadway Spring ShowPlane, April 28-May 2.
The Broadqway ShowPlane was a great success, except that the Times Square Bomber prevented some of the group from getting to the final show ("Lend Me a Tenor")! Otherwise, we had a great time at "The Addams Family," "Red" and "Promises, Promises," with a stimulating post-show discussion at the latter with director/cheoreographer (and Tony nominee) Rob Ashford, with most of the show's performers joining in.
Chris Rawson's reviews of these shows and others on Broadway appeared April 28 ("Fences"), May 9 (three musicals) and May 16 (four plays).
Trips Completed, 2009
(For Chris Rawson's reviews of shows seen on 2009 trips, use the Post-Gazette search box, above.)
• STIMULUS PACKAGE -- Broadway Spring ShowPlane, May 6-10.
An enthusiastic group had fun at four musicals: "9 to 5," "West Side Story," "Guys and Dolls" and "Billy Elliot."
Click here for Chris Rawson's Broadway Journal about his ShowPlane week in New York. For his reviews of the musicals, click here; for his reviews of some Broadway plays, click here.
Trips Completed, 2008
The annual Fall Broadway ShowPlane, Nov. 19023, completed a successful five days visit to NYC. Shows included were "Billy Elliot," "South Pacific," Arthur Miller's "All My Sons" and the new musical, "13." For reviews of these shows and others: 'All My Sons' and other dramas; 'Billy Elliot' and other musicals.
The annual four-day coach trip to the Shaw Festival alone was Sept. 10-13.
The annual (since 1981) five-day coach trip to the Shaw and Stratford Festivals, July 9-13, saw seven shows in all. You can read about it in Chris Rawson's online On Stage Journal: click here. There was also a review article on the three Shaw Fest plays.
The annual spring Broadway ShowPlane flew to New York City, April 30-March 4, featuring Christine Baranksi, Harvey Fierstein, Tom Wopat, Mark Rylance, Bradley Whitford, Kelli O'Hara, Faith Prince and Sutton Foster. Some reviews: 'Boeing-Boeing' and 'Macbeth'; 'Catered Affair,' 'In the Heights' and Cry-Baby'; 'Gyspy'. Here's Chris Rawson's informal journal on the trip.
Our early spring 2008 Critic's Choice theater tour to London, March 9-16, was a lot of fun. Here is Chris Rawson's informal journal of the trip, and here is his package of brief reviews.
The 86th PG ShowPlane went to Broadway, Nov. 14-18, 2007, under the flag, "Forever Young." It encountered the stagehands strike, but we had a good time anyway, filling in with the few continuing Broadway shows and with off-Broadway and the other delights of New York. Rawson wrote about the trip in his online On Stage Journal and in a Critic's Corner, Nov. 25 and also reviewed 'Xanadu' and 'Young Frankenstein.'
The July 11-15 coach trip to both the Shaw and Stratford Festivals included three shows at the Shaw and four at Stratford. Read Shaw Fest reviews here; read Stratford reviews of 'Merchant' and 'My One and Only' here and of 'Comedy' and 'Mockingbird' here.
The Spring Broadway ShowPlane, May 2-6, featured "The Pirate Queen," "Legally Blonde," "Frost/Nixon" and "Curtains". Read a review of the three musicals and another review of 'Frost/Nixon' and 'Deuce.'
• March 5-12, 2007, London Critic's Choice: A week-long trip to London including "Equus" (starring Daniel Radcliffe and Richard Griffiths), "The Tempest" (starring Patrick Stewart), "The Entertainer" (starring Robert Lindsay) and "Billy Elliot." Chris Rawson's first review was of 'Boeing Boeing,' with an interview with Mark Rylance. He posted daily reports, gathered as a London Journal, March 6-12.
• Nov. 15-19, 2006, New York ShowPlane:
Four days in New York based at the Marrriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square included the hit London musical comedy, "Mary Poppins"; the 2006 Tony-winner for Best Musical, the charming and comic "The Drowsy Chaperone"; Disney's excitingly staged "Tarzan" musical; and "Gray Gardens," a comedy-drama about the Bouvier family, starring Christine Ebersole and Mary Louise Wilson, which won rave reviews last year off-Broadway. (Reviews of these three are here.)
• Sept. 12-15, 2006, Shaw Festival, Ontario, Canada: Included Michael O'Brien's "The Invisible Man" (after H.G. Wells), Arthur Miller's "The Cruicible," Lilian Groag's "Magic Fire" and Ruth and Augustus Goetz' "The Heiress" (after Henry James). The optional extra was Chekhov's "Love Among the Russians." For reviews, click here.
• July 12-16, 2006, Shaw and Stratford Festivals, Ontario, Canada: A bus tour that included two comedies and a musical at the Shaw, two comedies and a musical at Stratford and two optional extras. At the Shaw: Shaw's "Arms and the Man," Noel Coward's "Design for Living," Cole Porter's High Society." At Stratford: Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," Dion Boucicault's "London Assurance" and Lionel Bart's "Oliver!" Plus backstage tour, welcoming dinner, picnic in the park. For Shaw Festival reviews; for Stratford Festival reviews.
• April 26-30, 2006, New York ShowPlane: Included "Ring of Fire," new musical with more than 38 songs made famous by Johnny Cash; "The Pajama Game," charismatic hit revival starring Harry Connick Jr. and Kelli O'Hara; "Tarzan," newest musical from Disney, with a score by Phil Collins; and "The History Boys," Alan Bennett's funny, moving drama about politics, class and growing up. Read reviews of these N.Y. shows and others by searching on the PG homepage and in Rawson's On Stage Journal.
• March 5-12, 2006, London Critic's Choice: Such stars as Diana Rigg, Jeremy Irons, Matthew Modine, Maximillian Schell, Neve Campbell and David Suchet appeared in "Honour," "Embers," "Resurrection Blues" and "Once in a Lifetime." Read news from this trip on Rawson's On Stage Journal and London reviews here.
Note that more New York reviews can be found using the search box on the PG home page.
'Mary Poppins,' Webber's 'White' grace London's West End, April 3, 2005
All's well in the West End: Dench, Bourne and Gambon offset dreariness of 'Chitty Chitty' musical, April 4, 2004
Stage Review: Strindberg wouldn't recognize 'Dream Play,' April 2, 2005
Stage Review: Bennett's 'History Boys' is a class apart, March 28, 2005
Stage Review: Spacey stages 'National Anthems,' with Pittsburgh links, at Old Vic, March 21, 2005
Theater Review: Schiller's tragedy of Spanish empire is classic play, March 19, 2005
Reviews: 'Jersey Boys,' 'Light in the Piazza' have their charms: Musical showcases, Dec. 11, 2005
On Stage: Broadway teems with Pittsburgh talent, May 08, 2005
Broadway Review: 'Spamalot' achieves its quest to become a rare delicacy, May 1, 2005
Stage Review: 'Wicked' and 'Never Gonna Dance' mix familiar and new in entertaining fashion, Feb. 8, 2004
Theatrical treats: Shaw Festival continues to delight with four plays, Oct. 9, 2005
Stage Reviews: Families in turmoil dominate Shaw trio, July 3, 2005
At Shaw, 'Gypsy' is part of widening focus, continental appeal, April 24, 2005
Shaw Festival marches on toward the future, Oct. 10, 2004
Stratford Fest hits stride in Shakespearean woods, July 10, 2005
At Stratford: Sondheim performed side by side with Shakespeare, April 24, 2005
Stage Reviews: Shakespeare ties bind Stratford's eclectic mix, July 18, 2004
In Dublin, troupes from all over the world tussle with passion and betrayal: A Challenging Festival, Oct. 16, 2005
On Stage: Truths revealed in Irish theater are often painful, Oct. 16, 2005
