It’s been a busy month for me having spent most of it on the road — a site inspection in London and then a Global Leadership Meeting in Bangalore.

London continues to be one of my favorite cities and spending time looking at all the incredible venue possibilities for events was great fun.  On my first day, I previewed a dozen venues in advance of my clients, so that I could show them the best of the best the following day, making good use of their precious time on the ground.  I like to move quickly during a site.

One of the advantages of having long term clients is that you really are able to get into their heads and show them things that you know are going to be solid options for them.  Therefore, I can pretty much tell in the first 5 minutes of a visit if a venue is going to work.  The next day, with clients in tow, we moved at a fast pace seeing the options I had screened, taking photos, notes, etc. and discussing the possibilities.

The site went well and as we said our goodbyes, we knew that we had several options for a successful program in London.

I had one more night in London prior to heading on to India, so I got a chance to go to dinner and theatre with one of my colleagues.

I had heard the buzz around the latest offering from the Menier Chocolate Factory — the little theatre near London Bridge that has been pumping out quality work — (most notably the scaled back version of “La Cage aux Folles,” that found its way to Broadway).

Currently on the bill is their new take on the Stephen Schwartz, musical, “Pippin”.  (He’s the composer best known for “Godspell” and “Wicked”.)  I still remember the original cast album of “Pippin,” which had its Broadway debut in 1972.  My brother and I played that record constantly and sitting in the Menier Theatre, I pretty much knew every lyric to every song.

Even as often as I’ve gone to the theatre this season, not many things have left a lasting impression on me.  Yet, I vividly remember the original 1970′s production of “Pippin” that featured brilliant Bob Fosse staging and performances by luminaries Ben Vereen, John Rubinstein, and Jill Clayburgh.

Coming to the theatre with that much baggage isn’t always a good thing. But, my guest wasn’t familiar with “Pippin” — so I limited sharing too much of my love for the original production until we got to compare notes after the show.

This production of “Pippin” updates the show by setting it inside the world of a video game.  It’s a bold concept and one that is fully embraced by the creative team and cast.  It doesn’t always land, but it is definitely a great example of a strong vision at work.  At times, the concept overwhelms the material and I felt unmoved.  And, while there’s plenty of Fosse choreography, it’s not executed with the precision of Fosse trained dancers and the cold video character styled costumes don’t help.  Yet, there is something compelling about seeing the show re-interpreted.  The use of projection, lighting and again, that commitment to the vision of the director, definitely kept me intrigued.

When you love an original cast so much, it’s hard to stop comparing performances while you’re watching the show.  And filling the shoes of the likes of Ben Vereen… not easy.

The standouts for me in this cast were Caroline Quentin as Berthe (at intermission my friend remarked — “I just love the grandmother!”…I did too) and Carly Bawden as Catherine… watching her flip from video game character on stage to video game player on screen was great.  And it was fun to see Frances Ruffelle (the original Eponine from “Les Miserables”) tackle the role of Fastrada.

I’m curious to see what happens with this production of “Pippin”.  There’s buzz that it will come to Broadway and I think with more development — it could work.  The score is one delight after the next and while it’s remarkable to see the technical achievements in the tiny Chocolate Factory theatre, I can only imagine the innovation that a Broadway production could bring to the concept.

Harry Hepple (Pippin) and Carly Bawden (Catherine) (c)Tristam Kenton

And, regardless of what’s on tap, I’ll return to the Menier Chocolate Factory during my next trip to London.  There are several great restaurants in walking distance – (we had a fantastic dinner at Roast and the theatre itself houses a funky restaurant in the building).  And, after two days of visiting venues and imagining how they can be transformed for events — it was inspiring to see how the creative team of “Pippin” transformed the Menier.

FAME — I’m gonna live forever! I’m gonna’ learn how to fly…HIGH! I feel it coming together, people will see me and cry….FAME!”

Do you remember the movie musical FAME? Irene Cara standing on top of a taxi as young hopefuls from the High School of the Performing Arts danced down the streets of Manhattan?

Well, FAME is back…and BKA is producing a large-scale production of the show for this fall’s Macao International Music Festival.

We have rehearsals here in NYC and then move the cast, creative team and musicians to Macao where we join our local crew and members of the Macao Symphony Orchestra to present a lavish production of this worldwide theatrical sensation.

The show will be presented in English with subtitles in Mandarin, Cantonese and Portuguese (though just an hour ferry ride from Hong Kong, Macao was originally a Portuguese colony and still has a small Portuguese population).

We auditioned hundred of actors, singers and dancers for this production and I couldn’t be more excited about the cast and the creative team we have assembled for the show.

First, the FAME creative team:

BKA’s Keith Marrapodi is our lead producer on this job. It’s always fun for me to work with Keith — but particularly fun to be together on this job. Keith has traveled the world and started his career as a dancer and then was a choreographer before moving into event production. He can relate to the characters of FAME — both the students and the teachers.

Richard (Ricky) Hinds and I are sharing directing duties on FAME and Ricky will also choreograph the show. We got to work together for the first time on this year’s Drama Desk Awards. He’s a fantastic collaborator and a dazzling choreographer. FAME gives him a chance to show off his talents in ballet, jazz, street, Latin, hip hop….virtually all styles of dance are represented in the show.

He’s partnered with Andrew Turteltaub, a talented choreographer in his own right. Andrew has a long association with FAME having performed in the show on tour and during the NY run of FAME back in 2003. Andrew’s got a wicked sense of humor and moves at the speed at light. I’m glad we have him on the show.

BKA’s VP of Design and Multimedia, Michael Reese has created beautiful scenic designs for FAME and he’ll design the lighting for the show as well. We’ll be incorporating video projection into the overall production design of the show, allowing for added dimension to the visuals. In addition to the scenes set in the school — Michael has designed a stunning finale look for the show where the iconic taxi is positioned in the center of Times Square. FAME represents the 4th show Michael and I have done together in Macao. It’s always great to go back to Macao with Michael – he seems to quickly find the coolest places to go after the show and watching him lead the large tech crew in Macao is a blast.

Mark Fifer is our musical director — it’s a rare chance we get to work with Mark as he is always so busy! He’s a musical theatre expert with a real speciality in Rock and Roll and contemporary musical scores. He’s assembled a core of dynamic young musicians to take the journey with us to Macao and play alongside the incredible musicians in Macao. Mark has great ideas for infusing a more current musical sensibility into the show. Once we get to Macao, members of the Macao Symphony Orchestra will join us. Mark is going to be thrilled with the addition of their fantastic string section in particular.

Scott Westervelt has dozens of Broadway shows under his belt and has been with BKA for many years. Having him design the costumes for FAME means we’ll have our great looking cast in great looking clothes. Scotty is also one of the most positive people I’ve ever met. The travel to Macao is long and Scotty’s big smile and boundless energy goes a long way in getting everyone over their jet lag.

We got to work with Bess Fifer as our casting director on FAME and the cast we’ve assembled is extraordinary. We have a mix of Broadway veterans and fresh new talent in the show.

Meet the teachers:

Regina LaVert played strict English teacher Esther Sherman on the national tour of FAME, a role she will return to in our production. I literally got chills listening to her sing and I’m thrilled that she will be in our show.

Joan Hess plays dance instructor Greta Bell. We’ve worked with Joan frequently over the last several years and she’s one of my favorite performers. She and Regina have a big duet in FAME that is sure to dazzle.

Bruce Winant plays Mr. Sheinkopf in FAME. I just saw Bruce in the La Cage Aux Folles revival and I’m so happy he is joining us as the beloved music teacher. He’s a class act and an incredibly skilled actor.

Peter Reardon plays acting teacher Mr. Meyers, a role he created when FAME played in NYC. Peter and I go all the way back to college at Syracuse University. I was a fan back then and still a fan of this talented actor. Peter returns to Macao having played Sky Masterson when BKA presented “Guys and Dolls” at the festival a few years back.

Meet the students:

Lexi Lawson plays fiery Carmen Diaz and sings the title song. She’s absolutely dynamite. A true triple threat, she’s got the perfect combination of star quality and vulnerability so needed in this role.

Benjamin Mapp is the tormented dancer Tyrone Jackson in our show. He’s definitely got the wow factor. So glad we get to work with him!

Kelly Felthous plays Serena Katz. We knew we wanted Kelly after her first audition. She’s instantly likeable, a great actress, singer and dancer.

K.J. Hippensteel will be breaking hearts in Macao. He plays Nick Piazza in our show — he’s charming with mega-watt charisma.

Laura Volpacchio plays Iris Kelly. Watching this young woman dance, took my breath away. I’m eager to see her and Benjamin perform Ricky’s choreography on the great stage in Macao.

Joel Perez made us laugh so much during auditions — we knew right away we found our class clown, Joe Vegas.

Violin and piano virtuoso Robert Farruggia plays violin and piano virtuoso Schlomo Metzenbaum. They say that directing is 90% casting. Robert is the perfect fit for FAME.

Alissa Laderer plays Grace “Lambchops” our rock and roll student. Alyssa is a knockout — great talent AND she plays the drums.

We were charmed right off the bat by Richard Cerato who plays Goody in our show — he also plays the saxophone and has a great sense of humor.

Annie Funke plays larger than life dancer Mabel Washington. Annie played Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray on Broadway and she is a riot.

The competition for the 6 ensemble slots was fierce. We are thrilled to have Frankie Paparone, Naimah Saleem, Adam Rogers, Matthew Cullen, Jamie Markovich and April Berry as members of the FAME Company.

Check out the link to see the cast of FAME.  http://www.bka.net/whatsnewatbka.php