Elaine Paige: Gossip Girl of the Month

THE Kennedy Center production of "Follies" opened on Broadway this month. The Bernadette Peters fans were happy. The Jan Maxwell fans were happy. (Note to teenage readers: It's sort of like Team Jacob and Team Edward.) But let's talk about Elaine Paige.

CURRENT GIG Knocking 'em dead with what has always been the "Follies" show-stopper: "I'm Still Here." A song about endurance, determination, ups and downs, and Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover.

AGE 63.

BORN AND RAISED North London.

ALMA MATER Aida Foster School.

AVAILABILITY Single.

REALLY BIG ROLES SHE ORIGINATED IN LONDON Eva Peron in "Evita" (1978), Grizabella in "Cats" (1981).

BROADWAY DEBUT "Sunset Boulevard" (1996). She had already played the role in London.

WEST END DEBUT "Hair" (1968). She was a member of the tribe.

NICKNAMES La Paige, First Lady of British Theater

WHY EVEN YOUR GRANDMOTHER HAS HEARD OF HER Because of Susan Boyle. When the smirky Simon Cowell asked Boyle, then an unknown, dumpy, middle-aged lady with scary eyebrows on "Britain's Got Talent," what her goal was, she said: "To be a professional singer. Like Elaine Page."

WHAT SHE LOVES ABOUT "FOLLIES" "It deals with things that have gone into the past, never to be retrieved. And it reminds you to live every day because: This. Is. It. There is no rehearsal. It's only once around."*

* The Washington Post, May 1, 2011, "Elaine Page Is 'Still Here' in 'Follies.' "


"Follies," book by James Goldman, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, directed by Eric Schaeffer, Marquis Theater, 1535 Broadway (between 45th and 46th Street), ticketmaster.com, (877) 250-2929. Opening night: Sept. 12, 2011. Opening night of original production: April 4, 1971.


WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll to read about a Jonas brother taking over in "How to Succeed" and Hugh Jackman back where he belongs. Then search to read about theater people from Sean Hayes to Katori Hall, as well as Stephen Sondheim, Jan Maxwell and Bernadette Peters.

When Stunt Casting Breaks Your Heart

OH, sure, that's the face of J. Pierrepont Finch.

It's always sad when a star who has given a terrific Broadway


THE REPLACEMENT Nick Jonas, almost 19, will take over the lead role in "How to Succeed" in late January.

production its red-hot center leaves the show. So the news that the adorable and mega-talented DANIEL RADCLIFFE will depart "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" at the end of the year was cause for regret. But it was also expected. Big stars signing a one-year-or-so contract, then moving on, is standard operating procedure in the world of New York theater.


Happily, though, the actor found to replace him was an intriguing choice: DARREN CRISS, 24, who plays the wise, confident, musically talented, proudly gay high school student Blaine Anderson in "Glee," the television series that has given Broadway its biggest prime-time boost since "THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW" used to feature numbers from the latest shows on Sunday nights in the 1950s. Criss should be interesting.

Then the other shoe dropped. It seems Criss is staying only for three weeks. And when he leaves, the spritely but demanding lead role of Finch, an ambitious WINDOW WASHER who climbs the corporate ladder with nothing but chutzpah, high self-regard and a self-help book, will be played by Nick Jonas.

Nick Jonas is 19. Or at least he will be on Friday. He is part of the TEEN-SCREAM musical group the Jonas Brothers. His casting is sure to bring teenage girls into the audience. And that will keep the show going for a while. But at what a price!

There is some hopeful news. Jonas has, at least, been in a big Broadway musical before. In fact, he made his Broadway debut at age 8 as Little Jake in "ANNIE, GET YOUR GUN" (as Nicholas Jonas), then did stints in two long-running shows, as Chip in "Beauty and the Beast" and as Gavroche in "Les Miserables." He even appeared in "Les Miz" in London. So maybe he'll surprise us.

Meanwhile, the great "How to Succeed" supporting cast isn't going anywhere (as far as we know, so far). So audiences will still get an evening with John Larroquette, ROSE HEMINGWAY, Tammy Blanchard, Christopher J. Hanke and Mary Faber. And Rob Ashford's amazing choreography to Frank Loesser's incomparable songs. It's just too bad they'll have missed Harry Potter.

"How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, directed by Rob Ashford, Al Hirschfeld Theater, 302 West 45th Street, (212) 239-6200, telecharge.com. Opening night: March 27, 2011.

WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll to read about Hugh Jackman's surefire fall hit on Broadway. Then search to read about Tracie Bennett, who will come to Broadway as Judy Garland this spring; John Larroquette, who'll stay in "How to Succeed"; Daniel Radcliffe, who won't; and other theater notables, including Geoffrey Rush, Colin Donnell, Laurie Metcalf, Julie Taymor and Edward Albee.

Hugh Jackman Is Back, Just the Way We Like Him

[Updated Oct. 11, 2011]

IT'S been only two years since the excessively handsome and charming Hugh Jackman was on Broadway. But he was disappointingly dulled down as a Chicago cop, starring with his fellow matinee idol Daniel Craig in the forgettable two-man drama "A Steady Rain." But now he's back to his old self, thank God.

There are few sure things in any Broadway season, but "Hugh Jackman in Concert" is one. It started in San Francisco in the spring, then turned up in a slicker version in Toronto this summer and was a huge hit. What more can we, his devoted fans, want? Jackman solo, singing his favorite tunes, telling amusing stories and knocking us dead by being all dreamy and stuff.

CURRENT GIG "Hugh Jackman in Concert" is scheduled to open on Broadway on Oct. 25, reportedly for an eight-week run.

[[UPDATE: Not long after this story was posted on theatergossip, the name of the show was changed to "Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway." Hmmm.]]

AGE 42.

BORN AND RAISED Sydney, Australia.

ALMA MATER University of Technology Sydney (he studied journalism), Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

AVAILABILITY Married, since 1996, to Deborra-Lee Furness, an actress he met appearing on an Australian television series.

BEST KNOWN AS Wolverine, arguably the hottest mutant in the "X-Men" movies. Also for being People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive in 2008.

BROADWAY DEBUT "The Boy From Oz," playing Liza Minnelli's favorite song-and-dance man, Peter Allen. He won the 2004 Tony and Drama Desk Awards for best actor in a musical.

NEXT BIG THING Starring in Tom Hooper's film version of the musical "Les Miserables." As the tortured, hunted Jean Valjean, of course. Anne Hathaway, they say, will be Fantine.

BIG BREAK The director Trevor Nunn saw him starring in "Sunset Blvd." in Sydney and cast him in the 1998 London production of "Oklahoma!"

WHY AUSTRALIANS ARE SO BIG IN HOLLYWOOD NOW "Despite having this reputation for being laid back, we're bloody hard workers. We don't put on airs and graces, we're very well trained, and we come over here desperate to work."*

*Reported in The Sunday Telegraph.

HUGH JACKMAN IN CONCERT, Broadhurst Theater, 235 West 44th Street. Opens Oct. 25, 2011.

WANT MORE THEATERGOSSIP? Scroll on to read about Tracie Bennett, who'll be playing Judy Garland on Broadway this spring. Then search to read about all manner of stage people, including James Franco (who just dropped out of "Sweet Bird of Youth"), Lauren Ambrose (who's going to star in "Funny Girl"), Julian Ovenden (who left "Death Takes a Holiday" early), and Sutton Foster and Christian Borle (but not together).