N E W S flashes about THE FOOL :

April 2004 : *** Latest news from the USA : ***

Gino Vannelli resumed writing and re-writing His life's work : THE FOOL.
He is so dedicated to this project of opera, musical, novel or script that He takes time again after this very busy Quebec tour and musical period in Canada to go inside the sensational "old" world of THE FOOL.

Gino loves to visit His friends of THE FOOL project again even if they only live in his dreams !!! We hope that Gino's dreams about THE FOOL come true and that His friends become alive on stage somehow, somewhere on this planet or at least on cd or dvd... Very selfish of us both because our goal is to hear, feel or read and enjoy, deeply enjoy the creations and passions from Gino's heart, soul, spirit and mind.

THE FOOL will surpass art and the critics will praise Gino Vannelli's life's work one day!
Barend and Trees Verwaal.

July 2002 : *** Latest news from the USA : ***
Gino Vannelli learned a BIG lesson in New York last April 2002.

All kind of difficult, bad, arrogant, negative but also beautiful and positive things happened during the rehearsals and the reading of "The Fool" ! First "THE Betty Buckley" did not show up !!! Can you imagine ??? So they had to search for another person, in a very short time, to star in the reading of "The Fool" !!! Imagine the pressure and the stress !!!

Gino loves and enjoys to work with Don Sebesky and Glenn Morley who do the orchestrations. And Gino speakes very highly and full of deep respect about the performance of Phylicia Rashad and about her BIG talents........... The general atmosphere and feelings regardless that Gino composed all the music and wrote all the words in the script Himself.......... was a bit like : "Ohhhhh Gino Vannelli the popstar from the 70's......." After Gino's experiences on Broadway and after Gino listened to the beatings of His own heart several times ....... He had to think deep, very deep and decided to re-write the script of
"The Fool" but the very positive result is that there are more negotiations and meetings with playhouses in the USA and Canada.

These words are only Barend and Trees's humble opinions about the rehearsals and the reading of "The Fool". Unofficial words from our hearts !!! We keep our fingers crossed that Gino Vannelli's dreams about His life's work "The Fool" come true and that "The Fool" will go live on stage somewhere on this planet featuring great talented singers, players, actors and actresses who can feel, breath, sing and play the right emotions of the "The Fool". The rest follows......
Barend and Trees Verwaal.

31 May 2002 : *** An Email from the USA : ***
Re: The Fool :

Hi, My brother-in-law is in the theater, used to live in NYC but now is in Philadelphia. I sent him the article that was posted on your site about The Fool. I wanted to know if he was familiar with any of the actors. Thought I would pass this on to you or maybe you already know about the actors. Here are his comments. Take care, Cyndi :

The cast for The Fool is an all-star Broadway company. Betty Buckley originated the roles of Martha Jefferson in 1776, Carrie's mother in Carrie and Grizabella in the US production of Cats (for which she won a Tony Award singing the song Memory). She is probably best known in popular culture as the stepmother in Eight is Enough.

Terrence Mann originated the roles Javert in the US production of Les Miserables, The Beast in Beauty and the Best and many others.

Phylicia Rashad is best known as Bill Cosby's wife on the Cosby Show. She, too, has had a successful career in Broadway musicals, most notably as the Witch in Into the Woods.

The only one that I know personally is Eddie Korbich. He did a couple of shows in New York with Bruce Moore. I'm always thrilled to hear that he's working.

Let me know what you hear about the show. With a cast like that, it's sure to be a hit.

April 2002 : *** Latest news from the USA : ***

Betty Buckley to Star in April 29 Reading of New Musical The Fool.......
Tony-winning actress-singer Betty Buckley — who is currently starring in A.R. Gurney's Buffalo Gal at Buffalo's Studio Arena Theatre — will star in a staged reading of a brand-new musical on April 29 in New York City.

Canadian-born performer-composer Gino Vannelli — a recipient of multiple Grammy Award nominations — has written the book, lyrics and music for this new musical, which is entitled The Fool and described as a contemporary theatrical work. Joining Buckley for the all-star reading are Terrence Mann, Phylicia Rashad, James Barbour, Eddie Korbich and T.R. Knight. Marcia Milgrom Dodge will direct, and orchestrations are by Tony winner Don Sebesky and Glenn Morley.

Elizabeth H. Entertainment Inc. is producing, and she recently told us that she hopes to workshop the musical shortly after the by-invitation-only staged reading. "We are also looking into Equity theatres in North America and London to premiere the work," Elizabeth added. She described the new work as the "spirit of Shakespeare [melding] with the parody stylings of Monty Python. It's a musical endeavor fusing popular, jazz and classical music," she continued, "moving by turns from the farcical to the transcendental and dramatic." Healy also noted that two record companies are extremely interested in the piece.

Buckley, too, is very enthusiastic about this upcoming project.
"Gino called me here in Buffalo to sing a new song over the phone that he wrote for me, [and] it sounded really great," Buckley explained.
The actress has also signed on to continue her role in the acclaimed HBO series "Oz." Buckley played Suzanne Fitzgerald, the mother of one of the inmates of the gritty jailhouse series. Buckley is scheduled to appear in all eight episodes of the upcoming season.

Buckley continues in A.R. Gurney's play through April 21. John Tillinger, who directed Gurney's Sylvia and Love Letters Off-Broadway, is at the helm of this production, and there is word that the comedy may transfer to a commercial run in New York. Producer Julian Schlossberg is attached to the project and is scheduled to attend the Buffalo run this week. Buckley also performed a solo concert on April 8 at the Studio Arena Theatre to benefit the theatre company.