IN DEFENSE OF GOING IN EARLY
This week I deal with a moderately controversial issue, at least among theatre press agents and the creative teams of Broadway productions previewing in New York, and it's one that requires some background and explanation.

IN DEFENSE OF GOING IN EARLY
This week I deal with a moderately controversial issue, at least among theatre press agents and the creative teams of Broadway productions previewing in New York, and it's one that requires some background and explanation.

Louis Botto, the dapper "At This Theatre" columnist, writer and editor for Playbill for more than 40 years, died Nov. 4, 2012, at his home in Cliffside Park, NJ, at age 88 after a long illness.

We listen to the original Broadway cast album of the Jule Styne-Bob Merrill "Some Like It Hot" musical Sugar, plus the first-time-on-CD release of the 1969 London cast album of Promises, Promises.

We listen to the original Broadway cast album of the Jule Styne-Bob Merrill "Some Like It Hot" musical Sugar, plus the first-time-on-CD release of the 1969 London cast album of Promises, Promises.

MTC, THE PLACE TO BE: Manhattan Theatre Club, the nonprofit resident Off-Broadway company that two years ago was bruised in a public relations nightmare over Terrence McNally's controversial Corpus Christi, is riding high as the hitmaker company of 2000. Both Charles Busch's The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and David Auburn's Proof started at MTC in 2000 and transferred to Broadway by fall, earning raves, and A Class Act, the intimate musical portrait of lyricist Ed Kleban, ended its run there Dec. 10 prior to a spring 2001 Broadway transfer. The U.S. premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's Comic Potential was embraced by critics and audiences and a commercial transfer was mulled, but a suitable theatre could not be found. Late in 2000, the troupe announced a plan with a developer to restore and take up residence at the dilapidated Biltmore Theatre, which would finally give MTC a home on Broadway. The multi-million dollar plan has some hurdles to jump, but an opening in the 2002-2003 season is planned.

We screen the almost astonishing appearance of Marilyn Miller in two Jerome Kern musicals from the 1920s, "Sally" and "Sunny"; the Blu-ray release of Broadway's "Victor/Victoria" starring Julie Andrews; and Kenneth Branagh's full-length "Hamlet."

We screen the almost astonishing appearance of Marilyn Miller in two Jerome Kern musicals from the 1920s, "Sally" and "Sunny"; the Blu-ray release of Broadway's "Victor/Victoria" starring Julie Andrews; and Kenneth Branagh's full-length "Hamlet."

This month we speak with Debbie Allen (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Scott Bakula (Dancing in the Dark), and Chita Rivera ("Johnny and the Sprites").

This month we speak with Debbie Allen (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Scott Bakula (Dancing in the Dark), and Chita Rivera ("Johnny and the Sprites").