After a month in release Fireproof is still #11
Going into it's fifth weekend, Fireproof is maintaining it's place of #11 at the box office, and the film with a $500k budget has now crested $24M according to Variety.
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Going into it's fifth weekend, Fireproof is maintaining it's place of #11 at the box office, and the film with a $500k budget has now crested $24M according to Variety.
I'm glad to see there are others that share my thoughts about Tale of Two Cities. Here's what I blogged after seeing it:
Could Tale of Two Cities be the Next Les Miserables on Broadway?
Teresa Neumann (October 30, 2008)
"The musical...honors the central theme, taken from Christianity, of sacrificing one life to save others." After performances, audiences stand, cheer, and weep.
Sounding like shades of the French Revolution—oppressed peasantry vs. jaded royalty—World Magazine has published an article exposing the deep cultural divide in America as it relates to the new Broadway musical A Tale of Two Cities, based on Dickens' seminal masterpiece.
Writes reporter Marvin Olasky: "The [New York] Times sneered at the production based on Charles Dickens' novel...another reviewer, from Toronto, complained about the reaction of apparently ignorant theater-goers: 'The audience stood and cheered . . . some even wept.'"
"That's what happened the night I attended," Olasky remarks. "The singing and staging were excellent, and the colorful Dickensian plot moved along and moved attendees. Afterwards, I wasn't surprised to find that most of the 85 online responses to the Times review gave the musical five stars (out of five) and included comments like 'the best of times despite The New York Times.'"
Olasky wonders if the criticism from New York elites is due to the fact that Jill Santoriello, who wrote the new show's book, lyrics, and music is a self-taught novice (a threat to the inner circle of well-educated and well-groomed professionals). Or, muses Olasky, it could be that theology plays a role considering the main theme of Dickens' novel is self-sacrifice centering on the Scripture"I am the Resurrection and the Life."
Regardless, it seems the people have spoken, and in New York—as it is everywhere—if they continue to come, the play will go on.
Source: Marvin Olasky - World Magazine
We finished our documentary Olympic Hero in China: The Eric Liddell Story in time for the Olympics. I had opportunities to share before and after screenings in Hong Kong and Macao.
Last night I portrayed The Good Shepherd and Joyce preached on John 10 for the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (http://www.intervarsity.org) at Cooper Union. In the documentary Changing Lives: The Peter Cooper Story I got to do the voice of Peter Cooper, who founded the school. It continues to operate on his principal that the college should be free. I'm sorry to say they don't offer a degree in theatre! So that students appreciate the value of their education, they are each awarded a full scholarship, which declares it's value at $30,000.
In its fourth week in theatres, Fireproof has only slipped to #11 at the box office, and it has now crested $20M according to Variety.
I'm here near Kenosha for Salvation Army's Central Territorial Worship Conference: http://usc.SalvationArmy.org
The air's a little crisper here, the leaves are certainly more beautiful, and it's great to be among a people ready to worship!
I was delighted to see Fireproof stay in the top ten at the box office for it's third week. Their $500k investment has now made almost $17M.
The Daily Record, a British publication, just ran an article on a woman who was christened by Eric Liddell in a kitchen of the internment where she spent her first three years: 'Scots Olympic great Eric Liddell helped me survive concentration camp horror'.
The New York Times, had a very balanced review of Fireproof: Putting Out House Fires, Reigniting Passions.
Wow! Amazing!
1. Listen to each other. at least one of the actors we saw has been doing this show for 16 years, but it felt as fresh as if they were making their discoveries for the first time.
2. It's not about words. Words only make up 7% of communication, and these guys were communing volumes. Most intriguing was how they expressed their relationships to each other and to the audience.
3. Be as big as you need to be. Their whole schtick is based on subtlety, but when they need to be big, they don't hold back! Their energy is stupendous!
Another standout was A Man for All Seasons. Our friend, David Lander, who designed lights for Fire OffBroadway (my NYC run with Roger Nelson) lit this Roundabout production brilliantly...so to speak. It was so encouraging to see Broadway explore a man literally laying down his life for his beliefs. Frank Langella plays Sir Thomas More, who served as Henry VIII's chancelor, but resigned when Henry made himself the head of the church in England so he could annul his marriage.
My favorite theatrical hours of late were spent at the new musical, A Tale of Two Cities. While creating our documentary on Eric Liddell (details will be announced soon for our Western Hemisphere debut) we discovered that Liddell was meorizing the last three chapters of Dickens' masterpiece. It truly is worth meditating on the story of a man giving his life for another. The whole cast was great, but James Barbour, who played Sydney Carton, was extaordinary. Right from the start he was making choices that were absolutely captivating.