The legacy of “Xanadu’s” Broadway run is the touring show coming to the Benedum Center Tuesday and the Tony campaign videos that became a viral sensation.
The stage show did get four nominations — for best musical, book of a musical, actress and choreography — but the Tony winner in 2008 was “In the Heights,” whose touring company occupied the Benedum a few weeks ago.
“Xanadu’s” campaign videos are here to stay.
They introduce the legendary Cubby Bernstein, with teenager Adam Riegler portraying the immortal manager and adviser to Lerner & Lowe, Moss Hart, producer Marty Richards and countless Tony winners. Cubby decides to take on longshot “Xanadu” as his latest client.
The idea came from Drew Hodges of the ad agency SpotCo, but “Xanadu” book writer Douglas Beane ran with it, said producer Rob Ahrens.
“Drew thought, ‘What does the show have going for it? They have Doug, a great comedic writer who can poke fun at the industry.’ Why don’t we have a kid do this — that was Drew’s idea. Then Doug fleshed out the name, the character. Casting was a big deal. Adam was ultimately someone Douglas Beane felt strongly about.”
That one of the eight videos (all fewer than four minutes) has been viewed nearly 650,000 times on YouTube “is beyond our wildest dreams,” Mr. Ahrens said.
If he were a man of a certain age, Cubby Bernstein could have been a character in Woody Allen’s “Broadway Danny Rose.” In this fictional campaign, he’s seen, Zelig-like, with stage legends past and present. The best of Broadway swear by him — and many are in these videos:
Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, Cynthia Nixon, John Cullum, Julie White, Carole Shelley, Beth Leavel …
Ms. Leavel, who recently portrayed the Witch in Pittsburgh CLO’s “Into the Woods,” won a Tony as the lead in “The Drowsy Chaperone.” In one episode of “Cubby Bernstein,” she credits the manager with steering her away from another role and picking the boozy chaperone.
Cubby tells her, “Doll baby, what are you, a meshugana? Nothing’s funnier than a woman battling her addictions!” Cubby’s always making pronouncements like that.
The collected videos are available as a DVD at cubbybernstein.com, where all proceeds go to Broadway Cares: Actors Equity Fights AIDS.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10052/1036898-325.stm#ixzz0gNUJJEfA
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