What's New on the Rialto

What's New on the Rialto There's something special about opening nights. Electricity is in the air. Everyone is smiling, including these two. That's me, on the right, with Steve Schalchlin at the opening reception at the Laguna Playhouse.

Don't let the photo fool you. Both Steve and Jim Brochu, the writers of the musical, The Last Session, were a nervous wreck.

Upon arriving at the beautiful Laguna Playhouse facility, the first thing I noticed was a nice buffet set up for the arriving formally attired guests. The paparazzi were snapping their shutters and interviewing those involved with the production. Meanwhile, the cast were in their dressing rooms getting ready; equally as nervous as the writers for sure.

After the show, we had a little more champagne and chatted with the triumphant cast. Gone were the nerves. They knew they were in a hit show! They invited us to a cast gathering over in a local restaurant where we all ordered drinks and ate Bob Stillman's french fries. The kitchen was closed. Talk about feast to famine! It was a nice opportunity to get to know the cast and chat with everyone involved. Another openin', another show!

Well, it's bon voyage time for me. This will be my last column until the end of October. I've set a deadline to finish my novel by next June and I find I write best when I'm relaxed and nothing is more relaxing, to me, than a cruise. I'll be flying to Venice, Italy in a few days where I'll join Theater At Sea for an 18 day cruise to Miami. We'll be travelling with a select group of entertainers who will be performing on the cruise. So, it will be fun to rub elbows with Lee Roy Reams, Jean Stapleton, Eli Wallach, Zoe Caldwell and a whole bunch of other stars of stage and screen. I'm sure I'll have a whole lot of stories and interviews when I get back. I'll be keeping a journal of the trip and snapping photos so you'll get the lowdown.

In the meantime, we have some scheduled guest appearances here for you in the Rialto column, so make sure you tune in on Sundays and Thursdays.

This past week, we debuted our newest section of Talkin' Broadway, REGIONAL. What you will find here is theater news and reviews from various cities across the U.S. and Canada. It is our goal to establish relationships with professional theater companies to bring you the latest news, perhaps an interview or two, and then of course, skewer them on opening nights. ;) We'll be adding more cities as we develop this new area. If you've got a penchant for writing and would like to join the Talkin' Broadway family, drop us a note.

As our audience grows with millions of hits a year in over 60 countries throughout the world, we will look for other ways to expand this fanzine. We're currently working on three new projects which will debut in the next few months. Of course, the bigger we get, the higher the cost to produce, so we'll be actively looking for a corporate sponsor to fund Talkin' Broadway so that we can continue to grow.

Until the end of October...it's bon voyage!

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