Davy Wins TVLand Award! Micky in “AIDA” Reviews!

The Monkees Memorabilia Price Guide & Reference 2003

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Please tell every Monkees fan you know!! Thanks!

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Happy 58th birthday to Micky Dolenz on March 8 and also to his new
wife, Donna, on March 17!

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From: Anthony

–The Monkeesrule43 Fan Site Mailing List=97-

March 5, 2003

***On TV / SSB Tour Dates***
“Tapeheads” is scheduled for airing on March 13 at 4:15am EST on
SHOTe. “Bubblegum Babylon” will be shown on VH1 on March 17 at
4:30pm EST. Also, Micky’s 1998 film, “Mom, Can I Keep Her?” will air
on SHOTe on the 17th at 11am EST. Peter Tork and Shoe Suede Blues
have recently added quite a few dates to their 2003 schedules. The
following is their full itinerary as of now: 3/8/03 Santa Barbara,
CA Dargan’s Irish Pub */*/* 3/28-29/03 San Diego, CA 4th and B Club
*/*/* 4/4-5/03 San Diego, CA 4th and B Club */*/* 7/16/03
Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Casino */*/* 7/17/03 Maynard, MA Sit ‘N
Bull Pub */*/* 7/18/03 Ft. Worth, TX 6th Street Grill */*/* 7/19/03
Ft. Worth, TX 6th Street Grill */*/* 7/20/03 Woodson Terrace, MO
John L. Brown Park

For more of this newsletter, visit The Monkeesrule43 Fan Site at
http://www.monkeesrule43.homestead.com – An official Monkees site
that is your one stop on the web for Monkees news, bios, history,
mailing list, rare MP3s & more!

+++++++++++++++++

From: “Jeff Gehringer”

Davy is the winner during the first annual TVLAND awards. The event
will air on TVLand on March 12th. Davy won the award for best guest
shot by a musician.

However, don’t hold your breath waiting for the award on the
telecast. Davy’s was one of a few awards that were only mentioned
on the telecast, and not awarded in the traditional manor (sort of
like the Grammys). Davy was in attendance and was a presenter along
with “Marcia Marcia Marcia” Maureen Mccormick. They presented the
award for best TV superhero. (Lee Majors won!). Davy & Maureen
played it straight. However, Davy did check out Maureen’s behind for
a quick laugh.

The special is a very cute affair, with an opening production number
that salutes great TV themes. (David Cassidy & Shirley Jones
perform “Cmon get happy”).

If you love TV, this is a great special for you. I only wish they
could have given Davy a platform to say a few words for his award.
The event was taped at the Hollywood Palladium for broadcast March
12th.

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From: “Videoranch Foreman”

Hi everyone,

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for $24.95 for one week!

Have a great weekend!

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+++++++++++++++++

From: “Al Bigley”

Copyright Infringement?

Monkee’s enters Atlanta market Monkee’s, a North Carolina women’s
shoe and accessory store, has entered into the Atlanta market.

Monkee’s of Buckhead, at 2140 Peachtree Road, Suite 232 in Brookwood
Square, carries designer shoes and is the first boutique in Georgia
to sell LuLu Guinness shoes.

“The Atlanta women’s shoe market has been dominated by stores found
in the mall and we saw an excellent niche for the woman who prefers
to shop in a more intimate and friendly boutique setting,” said
Christi Bennett, store owner.

The store plans to open March 1.

In addition Atlanta, Monkee’s stores are located in Wilmington,
Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Greensboro, Blowing Rock, Charlotte,
Chapel Hill and Southern Pines, N.C.

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From: Anthony

FROM POP TO OPERA
Micky Dolenz doesn’t monkey around
Donna Hartman
Herald Staff Writer

Sometimes art is subliminal. Or maybe it’s genetic.

Micky Dolenz fondly remembers listening to his father croon “Some
Enchanted Evening” as he puttered around the house. Dolenz was just
a kid and his dad’s singing was enjoyable background music.

But, years later, after becoming a pop star, Dolenz started to sing
a few bars of the Rodgers and Hammerstein tune whenever he was on
stage – as a tribute to his dad.

At a Teen Idol Tour show last year, an agent heard Dolenz
singing “Some Enchanted Evening” and approached him after the
concert.

“I didn’t know you had a legitimate voice,” said the agent, who
invited the singer to audition for the national tour of Elton John
and Tim Rice’s “Aida.”
Dolenz, known to most of America as a member of the 1960s pop group
The Monkees, landed the part of Zoser. He’ll star in the musical
love story when it makes its regional debut Tuesday at the Tampa Bay
Performing Arts Center.
“After The Monkees, it’s always been difficult to get juicy roles,”
said Dolenz, 57, in a telephone interview from Fort Lauderdale,
where he joined the tour in late February.

Most recently, Dolenz was seen as sleazy disc jockey Vince Fontaine
in a touring revival of “Grease.” He’s also starred as Pseudolus
in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.”

But, with Zoser, he gets to stretch his acting and singing chops.
“He’s the bad guy,” Dolenz said. “He’s not your classic mustache-
twirling villain. He’s the manipulative, controlling father.”

Based on the Verdi opera, “Aida” is the ancient story of two, star-
crossed lovers set on the banks of the Nile. Egyptian Army Captain
Radames returns from an expedition through the land of Nubia,
Egypt’s longtime enemy. When his soldiers capture a group of Nubian
women, Radames finds himself captivated by the fierce and majestic
Aida.

Aida is brought to Egypt as a slave and is a handmaiden for Princess
Amneris, the woman Radames is engaged to marry. Radames doesn’t know
it, but Aida is a princess, too, the daughter of the Nubian king.

Though their nations are enemies, Aida and Radames have a secret
romance, which can jeopardize Radames’ ascendancy to the throne of
Egypt.
When Zoser finds out about the romance, Zoser attempts to find Aida,
who has escaped, and have her killed.

“It a story of love, revenge and power,” Dolenz said. “For me, it’s
a wonderful opportunity to stretch as a singer and an actor. All the
dramatic moments turn on the songs and these are great songs.”

Dolenz, along with Peter Tork, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith, won
instant fame in the 1960s with the silly half-hour comedy show, “The
Monkees,” which aired for two seasons in 1966 and 1967. The group
also had several hits, including “Last Train to Clarksville.”

Now, decades later, The Monkees occasionally tour together or as
individual pop acts.

“It seems like one long reunion tour,” Dolenz said. “We can still
sell out some substantially sized venues. There are still young
teenage girls in the audience screaming. People bring their children
and their grandchildren to our concerts.”
Meanwhile, Dolenz has been working behind the camera on film and TV,
most recently directing a Lifetime movie, “Malpractice.”
Dolenz likes the challenge of the stage. Unlike TV, there are no
outtakes and no editing.

“You can’t fake it on stage,” he said. “You have to do it and do it
every single night. It gives you a buzz. I really enjoy it.”

+++++++++++++++++

From: “Al Bigley”

‘AIDA’ REWORKS GRAND OPERA
By JAY HANDELMAN

TAMPA — When Robert Falls was brought in to direct the Elton John-
Tim Rice musical “Aida,” he was taking over a show in trouble.

The show’s initial tryout in Atlanta in 1998 was embraced by
audiences, but criticism of the story, sets and costumes led Disney,
the show’s producer, to fire much of the creative team.

Falls brought along a new set of designers and hired Tony Award-
winning playwright David Henry Hwang to revise Linda Woolverton’s
book.

But the story, best known as an enduringly popular opera by Giuseppe
Verdi, remains familiar territory. It is the tale of a love affair
between Aida, the princess of Nubia, and Radames, an Egyptian army
captain who has been betrothed for years to Amneris, the daughter of
the dying Pharaoh.

Falls’ revised version opened on Broadway in 2000 to mixed reviews,
but the show has been drawing large crowds for three years on
Broadway and now on a national tour that comes to the Tampa Bay
Performing Arts Center for a two-week run beginning Tuesday.

Falls, the artistic director of Chicago’s Goodman Theatre who has
family ties to Sarasota, said he had been working on another project
with Disney when the idea of his taking over “Aida” came up.

“They were having trouble with ‘Aida’ in Atlanta and they sent me a
script and score to get my opinions of it,” he said in a telephone
interview. “I was knocked out by the score. Of course, I was always
an Elton John fan.”

Falls said he was impressed by what John and Rice had done with
their earlier hit “The Lion King,” even though it was essentially
revised from the blockbuster animated film.

The score for “Aida,” however, “was cohesive, with a beginning,
middle and an end. The book, I thought, had a lot of problems, but I
had a clear idea reading it what needed to be done.”

He agreed to take over directing the project only if he had the
freedom to revamp the script and bring in his own design team and
collaborators.

The new team spent a year reworking and redesigning the show, which
he describes as an “archetypal love story that survives for the same
reason of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ ‘West Side Story’ or ‘Titanic.’
There’s always a hunger for a love story. It’s a transcendental love
story that pits two lovers against tremendous odds of getting
together. We root for them and want to see them together.”

Besides Hwang, Falls brought in Bob Crowley, a Tony Award-winner for
his scenic design, for new sets and costumes.

The show was a big departure for Falls, who has staged classic
plays, operas and musicals at the Goodman, but had never directed a
Broadway musical.

“I always wanted to do it and bounced around that possibility at
times, but at the end of the day, no one had ever asked me,” he said.

The biggest departure, he said, was “jumping into the high
expectations of big Broadway musicals.”

There was an extra pressure on “Aida,” not only because of the
failure of the Atlanta production, but also because it was the first
Disney stage musical not to originate as an animated film, and came
on the heels of the innovative success of “The Lion King” and the
company’s first stage hit, “Beauty and the Beast.”

The musical earned three other Tonys in 2000, for leading actress
Heather Headley, who played the title role; the score and lighting
designer Natasha Katz.

The touring production stars Paulette Ivory as Aida, Lisa Brescia as
Amneris and Jeremy Kushnier as Radames.

Kushnier, who starred on Broadway in “Footloose” and toured the
country in “Rent,” said he’s having a blast with the show because of
the people he’s working with, the score and “the way the show
touches the audience every night. People come in with preconceived
notions, how much they’re going to like it or not like it, but they
all walk out with tears in their eyes. It feels good to be part of
something special.”

Like Verdi’s opera, he said the musical makes the story
palpable. “It talks about a true love that can span race, creed and
political boundaries, and social boundaries and even time. That’s
reflected in the way our show can touch people.”

He describes Radames as “a bit lost, almost a bit spoiled. He’s
captain of his army and he enjoys this wanderlust for traveling and
exploring, and I think he’s never been in love or felt close to it,
even though he’s betrothed to Amneris. He loves her, but has never
been in love with her.”

His world is opened to new possibilities when he meets Aida, who he
first thinks is a slave he has captured. “But they are so alike. She
loves to travel and she has this strength. I like the fact that he’s
got this romantic side and I like the arc that he gets to take. It’s
not an easy one, but it’s definitely challenging.”

He feels the same way about singing the score. “You can really hear
Elton John’s voice throughout the show. Growing up being a big Elton
John fan, it’s cool to sing his music every night.”

The latest addition to the cast is probably its most famous name and
face, former Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz. He joined the company
last week in Fort Myers.

Touring is something Dolenz said that he’s gotten used to over the
years, first with the pop group and more recently when he played DJ
Vince Fontaine in a national tour of “Grease.”

While he’s not a big fan of traveling, Dolenz said, “The way I look
at it is they pay me to travel and I sing for free.”

He’s worked hard to overcome the typecasting and rejection he faced
after his two-year run on “The Monkees.” He moved to England, where
he directed movies and TV shows for about 15 years.

After a few months there, “no one ever mentioned ‘The Monkees.’ That
was a good sign for me.”

He’s kept ties to his old group, joining Davy Jones and Peter Tork
for reunion tours.

He worked hard in auditions for the role of Zoser, which he
calls “the best I’ve been offered in a long time. He’s a bad guy,
not a villain. I guess you’d say he’s the antagonist. This is a
legitimate play, a drama, a tragedy with its moments of lightness
and comedy. This is the real deal.”

+++++++++++++++++

From: “Wendy Patrick”

The Elton John and Tim Rice musical comes to the Mann, with former
Monkee Mickey Dolenz making his debut

Friday, February 21, 2003
By NANCY STETSON,

It’s very easy playing a Nubian princess, says Paulette Ivory, who
plays Aida, the lead role in Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Aida.”

“My mum says I’ve always been a Nubian princess!” the London native
says, half-jokingly. “I’m very similar to the character: strong,
passionate, outspoken, willing to stand up for herself. I’m very
much like that, so it’s easy for me to bring those qualities to the
stage, to have a bit of class about you. That’s what I try to bring
to the role.”

“Aida” runs at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort
Myers from Tuesday, Feb. 25, through Sunday, March 2, for eight
performances. Former Monkees singer Mickey Dolenz joins the cast
when the show opens Tuesday.

This version of “Aida” opened on Broadway in March 2000, and is
still playing there. It won four Tony Awards in 2000, for set
design, lighting, best score and lead female performance.

Ivory joined the national touring company a year ago.

“I love the show so much, the part I play is so rewarding and
fulfilling, that it’s easy to keep it fresh,” she says. “I can’t say
that for too many shows.”

She describes “Aida” as a “tragic kind of love story. She has to
choose between her love for her man and duty for the country,” she
says. “She’s a Nubian princess taken from her homeland. There are so
many different sides to her character. It’s challenging in every
way, and rewarding.”

If you’ve seen theater in London’s West End, you may have seen Ivory
as Nala in “The Lion King,” Brenda in “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” Yum-Yum
in “The Hot Mikado” or Maria in “West Side Story.” Or, you may have
seen her on TV in “EastEnders” or in Danielle Steele’s “The Ring.”
If you saw the film “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” you heard her
voice and saw her ankles.

“I sang in the second wedding,” she explains. “They kept both of the
songs in there, it’s my claim to fame. But they edited me out
(visually); they said they had too many wedding scenes. It’s great,
but not the visual side =97 you can see our feet!”

Theatergoers get to see a lot more than Ivory’s feet in “Aida” =97
she’s on stage for the bulk of the show and sings 11 songs each
night.

“Paulette is amazing, she’s just unbelievable,” Dolenz says. “She
has an incredible voice.”

Though Dolenz is probably best known as being part of the pop
singing group The Monkees in the ’60s, he’s always been involved in
acting.

“I’m an entertainer,” he says. “My parents were both actors and
singers. I’ve been singing at a very young age. My first job was as
an actor in ‘Circus Boy.’

“I think ‘Aida’ is just wonderful, absolutely wonderful. The score
is beautiful. There are beautiful songs by everybody. I think I have
two of the best songs. Everybody probably feels that. The character
I play, the villain, as it were, has a couple of very powerful
songs.”

Dolenz believes it’s easier to play a villain than a hero.

“All actors will tell you it’s always more interesting to play a bad
guy, because most of us aren’t bad guys in life,” he says. “A bad
guy has a driving hatred, or greed, jealousy, power. You can feed
off of that. The hero is trying to be a good guy.”

The character he plays is “power hungry =97 not for money, but for
ambition,” Dolenz says. “Ambition and power. He believes he’s doing
the best for Egypt.”
Prior to coming to Fort Myers, “Aida” is playing on the east coast
in Fort Lauderdale. Dolenz will do an unannounced performance there,
in order to have a dress rehearsal with the cast on stage.

For Dolenz, joining a national tour already in progress is somewhat
akin to jumping onto a moving train. “They’ve been so helpful and
cooperative,” he says. “They’ve bent over backwards to help me get
on that train. I also bring to my character, within boundaries,
limitations, my own take on it. I’m doing it differently than the
guy pursuing it now. We’ll both do it differently than the guy who
comes after us. There are subtle differences. I hope I’m bringing
some little beats and moments that will be unique to me.”

After touring with the national company through the summer, Dolenz
then plans to play the role on Broadway’s “Aida.”

“I will be with ‘Aida’ for quite some time,” he says. “I enjoy it.
It’s doing well. It’s a wonderful show.”

Ivory saw the opera “Aida” in London five months before she
auditioned for the role in the modern pop-opera version.

“The music was fantastic, but I was disappointed,” she says,
explaining that in the opera, “Aida and her father were blacked up.
It was a blonde lady named Jean in chocolate make-up! The production
was international; they had singers from all over the world, so I
have no idea why they made that choice. It was not acceptable. I
can’t tell you how horrified I was. I couldn’t get into it, Jean
being in her chocolate make-up, melting. It was just inexcusable.”

But, Ivory did find it interesting to compare the various elements
of the opera and the Broadway show. She compared “how it’s set, and
how ours is set, how we’ve changed the ending. Ours is more
contemporary,” she says. “The American opera was hard, aggressive.
She’s screaming, wanting to kill someone. You have no sympathy for
her; you’re afraid of her. She was screaming out that final number.
(It was interesting) to see the things that Disney changed. (Our
version is) more accessible, it reaches an audience that the opera
didn’t reach.”

She loves singing music by John and Rice having performed their
music in “The Lion King” as well.

“Their collaboration is so wonderful,” she says. “The lyrics =97 ‘Easy
as Life’ is one of my favorites as far as their collaboration goes.
It’s so well written, you just have to turn up and sing, and it’s
going to work.”

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Reviews:
+++++++++++++++++

From: “Jeff Gehringer”

Here is the review from Micky’s first week in “Aida”.

Touring version of Aida lives up to expectations Cast offers a
powerful performance
By DENISE L. SCOTT

The musical Aida is everything you would expect from heavy hitters
Elton John, Tim Rice and Disney. Powerful music, creative
choreography, dazzling sets and costumes, and a storyline that
alternately makes you laugh and your heart ache. The touring
production burst to life Tuesday night at the Barbara B. Mann
Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers for the first of eight
performances running through Sunday. IF YOU GO =95 WHAT: Elton John
and Tim Rice’s Aida WHEN: 8 p.m. today and Friday; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Saturday; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday WHERE: Barbara B. Mann
Performing Arts Hall, 8099 College Pkwy., Fort Myers COST: $66, $56,
$46, $26 INFORMATION: Tickets can be purchased at the Mann Hall Box
Office or by calling 481-4849. For special group rates (20 or more
people) call 489-3033, Ext. 3122. Visit the Web site
www.disneyonbroadway.com

The modernized musical retells the classic opera about a forbidden
love between Nubian princess Aida, played by Paulette Ivory, and her
Egyptian captor Radames, played by Jeremy Kushnier. Ivory blends
Aida’s strengths and vulnerabilities into a believable character
torn between love and duty. Her biting sarcasm has a funny flat
delivery, and when she sings, the power is breathtaking. Kushnier
more than holds his own with plenty of feisty energy. The chemistry
is electric in romantic ballad duets with Ivory, such the Elaborate
Lives and Written in the Stars. Every song Ivory sings is a joy to
hear, but the soulful gospel The Gods Love Nubia is rousing enough
to make you want to jump to your feet. (The standing ovation came
later, sprinkled with shouts of Bravo! during Ivory’s curtain call.)
In the story, Radames is unaware that Aida is of noble blood, but is
impressed by her proud, defiant nature. He saves her life by giving
her as a handmaiden to his betrothed, the Egyptian princess Amneris,
played by Lisa Brescia. Brescia is a delight to watch as she
transforms Amneris from the bubbly, giggly, fashion-obsessed
princess into a strong, mature ruler of Egypt. Later, after
discovering that Radames is in love with Aida, Brescia gives a heart-
breaking rendition of the song I Know the Truth. Great comic timing
is provided by Eric L. Christian as Radames house slave Mereb, who
recognizes Aida as royalty in the song, How I Know You.

Micky Dolenz, famous for the 60s TV show The Monkees, debuted
Tuesday night in the role of Radames’ father, the villainous, power-
hungry Zoser. Despite the camouflage of a white wig, it was obvious
the audience recognized Dolenz’s famous face by the rise of murmurs
when he walked on stage. He belted out Another Pyramid and Like
Father Like Son while dancers swirled around him to the fast-paced
rock music with funky modern movements. Other dances reflected
Middle Eastern and African influences. The orchestra was conducted
in perfect sync with the action: by Steven Cosmo Mallardi

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