A respectable six-month run at the Promenade Theatre will culminate with the Feb. 23 cast recording session that should spur interest in a big regional life for the marriage and-fidelity-minded musical comedy based on the German film, "Men."
Marc Kudisch, who originated the role of the cuckolded and philandering husband, Tom, left the show Feb. 8. Graham Rowat (Broadway's Beauty and the Beast and national tour of Les Miserables) plays the final week of the run with Jennifer Simard, Daniel Reichard, Ron Bohmer and Leah Hocking. Dan Cooney and Carter Calvert are understudies in the troupe (as was Rowat during the run).
Just before the Feb. 5 performance, producers told the company of the plan to close.
The DRG Records album release (with Kudisch in the role he created) date is scheduled for April 6.
Kudisch exited the production to focus on rehearsals for the upcoming Broadway revival of Assassins. Casting had been ongoing for his replacement, but the decision to close was made by Feb. 5 (the same week that closing was announced for no less than four Broadway shows; Gypsy has since taken down its closing notice). The Thing About Men did not make back its investment, but its afterlife in the stock and amateur market is expected to be fat. The show was, after all, written by the creators of the money-machine known as I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. *
Composer Jimmy Roberts and lyricist-librettist Joe DiPietro unveiled their newest work Aug. 27, 2003, after previews beginning Aug. 6.
Mark Clements (Speaking in Tongues) directs the production with musical staging by Tony Award-winner Rob Ashford (Thoroughly Modern Millie).
The show — once simply called Men — is based on the German filmmaker Doris Dörrie's 1985 movie "Männer" ("Men"). The plot finds a middle-aged ad exec (Kudisch) who moves out after discovering his wife (Hocking) is cheating on him. The spurned man then takes up residence with an artist (Bohmer) — who is "the other man." The interactions between the love triangle are accented by a male and female narrator-like duo (Reichard and the crowd-pleasing Simard), who also play all the show's other eclectic and eccentric characters.
The stock and amateur stage rights to the show are now represented by The Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatre Library — as is the songwriter's other show I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. R&H is the music publisher for the work of DiPietro and Roberts.
The Thing About Men plays at the Promenade, 2162 Broadway (at 76th Street). For more information, visit www.thethingaboutmen.com.
