It’s quite a difference from the AIDS-fueled fear that ruled “Rent,” the Great White Way’s previous runaway hit.

Curtain Call is now the first local community theater group to stage the musical, which follows the travails of a down-and-out Broadway producer who connives with his new accountant for a sure-fire way to financial success by overselling shares in a show that is guaranteed to fail.

“The Producers” has songs that entered the popular culture as much as show tunes can in the 21st century, since this form of music hasn’t seen popular radio play since the golden age of the 1950s, when “The Producers” takes place. Barbieri has noticed that many actresses have been using the Ulla-introduction vehicle “When You’ve Got It, Flaunt It” as their audition song.

“Mel Brooks was a drummer,” Barbieri says. “From the comedy to music, everything he does has rhythm. Comedy is hard. You can’t play funny. They all have to be real characters in real situations. The situation has to be funny, not the character.”

Funny was far removed from “Rent,” the Jonathan Larson 1990s New York theater phenomenon. But “Rent” in the 1990s and “The Producers” the following decade helped reclaim the Broadway musical as an American art form. If that statement seems a given, consider the pre-”Rent” box office success stories. More than likely, Andrew Lloyd Webber or Cameron Mackintosh was involved and the shows were imported from Europe.

“Broadway hit a stale patch,” Barbieri says. “There were the shows that came over from England, like Phantom of the Opera’ and Les Miserables,’ and we had nothing. Suddenly there was Rent’ and New Yorkers were hungry for their own stuff. It became a cult phenomenon because it spoke to them on every level.”

Politkovskaya, who was slain in her Moscow apartment building in 2006, reported on human rights abuses in Chechnya, embarrassing the Kremlin. Her killing sparked international outrage and demands for an independent investigation.

The man accused of shooting Politkovskaya, Rustam Makhmudov, has fled the country, prosecutors say. His mother, Zapla Makhmudova, said outside the courtroom she didn’t know where her son was and refused to comment when asked about the last time she spoke with him.

The defence also said that the investigation had been deliberately undermined, but expressed surprise at Judge Yevgeny Zubov’s decision to allow the open trial that it and Politkovksaya’s family had requested.

Prosecutors had requested a closed trial because they say some of the potential evidence is classified.

They hope to upgrade, conserve and restore the 70-year-old art deco landmark to create an improved “cultural resource” in the heart of the city as a legacy of Capital of Culture year.

Fifty leading architect firms from as far afield as Brazil, New York, Rotterdam and Paris pitched for the work after the proposal was publicised in a European Union journal and on the internet.

Judges, led by architect Roger Stephenson, spent more than three hours this week whittling down the submissions to a shortlist of seven.

They include two Liverpool architects, three London-based firms, one Scottish contender Nord, and Paris-based Studio Andrew Todd whose founder has relatives in Liverpool.

Many have experience of working on arts projects including the RSC, Almeida Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, the Globe in London and Sheffield Crucible.

The shortlisted architects will now be given more details about the issues which need resolving and asked to work up designs for the building by the New Year.

They are expected to go on show to the public in February.

But any proposals for the grade II listed Roe Street theatre depend on the newly-formed Royal Court Liverpool Trust winning a long lease from owner Liverpool council.

“There were people dressed up as Klansmen, riding through the streets to help promote the film.”

While that story is well documented, many urban legends have debuted in the last nine decades. According to Ioka’s Web site, Exeter Judge Edwards Mayer was inspired to build the theater by his uncle, Hollywood giant Louis B. Mayer of the MGM fame. But, Historical Society curator Barbara Rimkunas says there is no proof of that lineage. Old newspaper articles show Mayer secured financing from local investors, built the theater and defaulted six months later and skipped town.

“The Ioka has been at the brink before, and in fact has closed its doors on several occasions over its long and storied history,

Theater Director David Young said the musical is about a prince, the son of a controlling, overbearing mother who devises outra- geous tests for prospective princesses to beat.

The students have put a lot of hard work into the upcoming program, Young stated, and have practiced long hours every night to bring the storytelling to perfection. In addition, they have learned challenging dance routines and are eager to show what they’ve learned.

In addition, parents of theater students have put time and effort into bringing the musical plans to fruition, working on costumes and constructing the set.

Loren Lieberman and his partner, Colin Lapsley, bought 434 King St. W. in the fall of 2005 and turned it into an entertainment centre.

But a zoning issue has left them unable to secure alcohol permits, which is hitting their bottom line.

“In the month of October we lost 11 events,” he said. “Another month or two and we’ll be out of business.”

The building started as a movie theatre in the 1930s and was turned into a CHCH television production studio in 1960. It changed hands again in the 1990s and was bought by Lieberman and Lapsley from Big Bang Studios.

They invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to turn it into a popular scene for events from weddings to live theatre.

After applying for “dozens and dozens” of special occasion permits from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, they decided to cut the paperwork and seek a bar licence instead.

It was then, Lieberman says, he found out they could not obtain a licence because the building was not zoned as a theatre.

The site is zoned H district commercial, and according to Dio Ortiz, city manager of building engineering and zoning, the change in permitted uses that occurred with the purchase and conversion to a TV studio in 1960 means Westside cannot be used as a public hall.

Now Lieberman and Lapsley are left trying to change the allowed use and getting nowhere fast.

The earliest timeline for a rezoning is six months.

“You just can’t change the zoning overnight, it is a public process,” said Stephen Robichaud, manager of development planning.

Lieberman, who also organizes the Festival of Friends, said the delay has been devastating.

City officials say they were asked to assess the zoning last October and reported theatre use was not permitted. They call it a case of buyer beware.

Lieberman wonders why the city is enforcing its rules now. “Of course, everything falls back on my partner and I,” he said.

There are, of course, many ironies in this bizarre federal decision, one that played a roled in denying the Tories their majority thanks to Quebec. Not least is that Burkett, a Canadian name to be conjured along with Robert Lepage on international stages, is an artist at the top of his game who has never asked for federal funding in the actual creation of his sophisticated, highly original marionette plays. In fact, until Happy in 2002, the Medicine Hat native, who now works out of Toronto, always mortgaged his house to build Ronnie Burkett Theatre of Marionettes productions.

The dates for the U.K. tour in March, of course, had to be contracted long before the August application deadline for the final round ever of PromArt. It wasn’t until Nov. 1, three months later, that Burkett’s request was officially nixed. By then, programs for Billy Twinkle’s three-week London premiere had already gone to print.

Does it strike anyone as fair and reasonable that, signed contracts notwithstanding, co-commissioners may not be able to see the work they helped create, and for which they’ve shelled out? Especially since picking up the tab for cargo is standard practice, indeed the bare-bones minimum, in cultural reciprocity among G20 countries.

Ormsby, a tour regular, shot a final round 68 to finish at 17-under 413, four strokes behind Swedish winner Oskar Henningson (69) and equal with Spain’s Carlos Del Moral (71).

Henningson became the first golfer to go through all three qualifying stages and win the final stage.

Millar finished 19th on nine-under after a 74 while Curtain was 20th (69, eight-under).

Fellow Australian Tony Carolan came up agonisingly short when his closing 70 left him one shot outside the top 32.

In their season finale Thursday, Milton fell to the Pine Forest Eagles 48-0.

But while the game was one sided, the Panthers had a hard time holding onto the football.

“They are good,” said Milton head coach Mike McMillion. “But we made far too many mistakes tonight.

“For many players, especially the seniors, this is not going to be a fond memory.”

The game got off to an auspicious start for Milton as they were forced to punt and Pine Forest’s Jamarius Green did the rest.

For the Eagles, who finished the season a perfect 10-0, they just barely went over 200 yards of offense, but that was due to the short field they usually started with.

In the second half Pine Forest benefited from three Milton fumbles to start from the Panthers 3, 20, and 20 on consecutive possessions.

Pine Forest would turn two of those miscues into points.

This was just one more thing for a football team that experienced many things all season long.

This is the event’s 19th year, and “in retrospect,” says Arts and Culture Authority dance department head Nili Cohen, “the aim of Curtain Up has been achieved that of promoting original work by choreographers of already proven potential.”

Two making their Curtain Up debut are Rachel Erdos and Michael Getman. Erdos immigrated from the UK in 2002. Since then, her work has been seen at Shades of Dance, Intimadance and at festivals abroad. To Curtain Up she brings It’s Raining Inside, three people, four walls and frustration. Getman’s duet, Monday, explores connection. Getman, a former Batsheva dancer, has received prizes for his choreography.

The dances, each performed three times, are divided into four “curtains,” at Suzanne Dellal in Tel Aviv from December 3-13, and at The Lab in Jerusalem from December 14-18. Curtain Up will also go to the new Beersheba PAC and to Ga’aton in the North.