by Roy Proctor
Times-Dispatch
April 6, 2001

The 2001-02 "Broadway Under the Stars" subscription season will offer road versions of two current Broadway musical hits and two recent Broadway shows as well as a high-energy evening of ballroom dancing that originated in Australia.

All five will be Richmond premieres.

The current Broadway hits: "Beauty and the Beast," the long-running, $12 million Disney extravaganza, and "Fosse," which won the best-musical Tony in 1999.

The former Broadway shows: "Saturday Night Fever," a musical based on the 1977 disco movie starring John Travolta, and "Penn & Teller," a magic show with personality galore.

The dancefest: "Burn the Floor," which features champion ballroom dancing couples from 15 countries.

In addition to the five-show subscription season, which will be divided between the Carpenter Center and the Landmark Theater, the rock opera "Rent" will return as a subscriber option.

This time, however, "Rent" will check into the Carpenter Center instead of the Landmark, where it proved especially popular with young theatergoers in 1999.

"It was everyone's feeling that 'Rent' should have played the Carpenter Center the first time based on the size of the show," says impresario Nick Litrenta, whose Baltimore-based Baci Management has presented Richmond's roadshow series each year since the late'80s.

"But the way the show was constructed then, it was impossible to accommodate the lighting that was part of the set. It was a foot and a half too long. Now it's been modified so it'll fit."

In the case of the huge "Beauty and the Beast," which Litrenta considers his prime drawing card, Baci is planning to modify the Landmark's backstage area.

"I've been working on getting 'Beauty and the Beast' for a couple of years, and we're going to do some renovations to the Landmark stagehousing to accommodate it," he says. "We'll have to expand the backstage area on one side to make the wagons fit. . . . The Beast will levitate on cue."

Litrenta did some shifting of another sort to secure "Fosse," the homage showcasing the genius of the late choreographer Bob Fosse. It's coming here in the same company that played Washington's National Theatre to great acclaim last year.

"'Fosse' is a fabulous show," Litrenta says, "and we had to move some other [tour] dates to bring it into Richmond," Litrenta says.

Litrenta adds that he easily secured "Saturday Night Fever," which closed on Broadway Dec. 30 after a 14-month run, and that he has a good relationship with comedic magicians Penn and Teller and has presented them elsewhere.

Except for Penn and Teller, who are particularly familiar to Richmonders who watch TV late at night, the season will offer no names with star luster.

That doesn't faze Litrenta.

"I think I have star shows," he says.

"'Beauty and the Beast' never has had an over-the-title star, and 'Fosse' hasn't, either.

"In these cases, the show is the star."

. . .

Each attraction in the 2001-02 "Broadway Under the Stars" roadshow season, including the "Rent" option, will open Tuesday and run eight performances through the following Sunday.

Here's the lineup:

• Oct. 23-28: "Saturday Night Fever" (Landmark).

  This musical, which originated in London, was produced by Robert Stigwood, who also produced the film. It details the exploits of a talented Brooklyn youth, Tony Manero, who dances like crazy and has a burning but unfocused desire to make it big in Manhattan.

• Dec. 26-31: "Fosse" (Landmark).

  This dance evening showcases the sly, kinky, high-energy and, above all, stylish dances that made Fosse an American original on the musical stage. The large ensemble performs works ranging from the early "Damn Yankees" and "The Pajama Game" to the later "Sweet Charity," "Pippin" and "Chicago."

• Jan. 22-27: "Beauty and the Beast" (Landmark).

  The Disney organization's first Broadway venture spins the familiar tale of an enchantress who turns a prince into a hideous beast because he refused to give her refuge in a storm. The enchantress' spell will persist until a maiden tells the beast she loves him. "Beauty and the Beast" is chock-full of special effects.

• March 5-10: "Burn the Floor" (Carpenter Center).

  Baci, which likes to compare this show to Riverdance in its appeal, characterizes it as "a culture clash between the elegant sophistication of ballroom dancing and the sweaty sensuality of rock'n'roll." The show explores 10 standard and Latin dance styles and contrasts them with street and what Baci calls "industrial dance."

• April 2-7: "Penn & Teller" (Carpenter Center).

  Penn is the talkative, tall magician; Teller, the short, silent one. Together, they suggest silent-movie clowns and have developed a large following, especially among young people, who find them hip.

• June 4-9: "Rent" (Carpenter Center).

  Composer-lyricist Jonathan Larson, who died just before "Rent" opened in New York, transformed the young bohemians in Puccini's "La Boheme" into would-be-artists and down-and-outers huddling together to survive in the gritty Alphabet City area of New York's Lower East Side. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize posthumously for his efforts.

  Five-show subscriptions range from $159.50 to $259. Adding "Rent" ups the range to $196.75-$311.

  For more information, call (804) 780-0200 in Richmond or toll-free (888) 500-2929.