WEHT Rosie O'Donnell's "Taboo" from 2003-04 ?

I actually liked the show quite a bit. It had a very strong score and some great performances. Yes, a lot of it was messy, but it was messy in the best of ways. I saw it twice during its short run, and I RARELY return to shows.

Rosie is a nightmare to work with. She micromanages everything. Boy is nothing like that. He got Taboo on the west end and Rosie saw it, loved it and decided to fund it to move it to broadway. She decided all sorts of things needed to be changed, Boy felt it was fine the way it was as it was good enough that she liked it. In the end it all sort of fell apart and Boy threw up his hands and said well you fucked that up. Wasn't it McCalls that Rosie took over into Rosie Magazine and micro managed that into the ground.

Judge for yourself.

Raul and Rosie got into a screaming match and he walked off the show and almost quit.

He came back but he and Rosie were never the same.

Neither was the roast beef sandwhich, with no mustard

Yes, Rosie thought she was the next Oprah, and took over the magazine (which she ruined). It was horrible.

So Rosie and Boy George never patched up their differences ? They're still no longer friends ? I guess that's the first and last time Rosie took a chance on being a producer.

All I remember is people complaining that Raul Esparza was walking around in his underwear.

"I always think: Go big or go home," O'Donnell said during a September news conference to promote the show. "Taboo," the producer said, was "a legitimate, knock-'em-down, leave-'em-screaming, worth-a-$100-a-seat Broadway show" and predicted it would win the Tony Award for best musical.

O'Donnell was a hands-on producer for the musical, which has a mostly original score by Boy George. It tells the story of the 1980s English pop star, played by Euan Morton, as well as that of performance artist Leigh Bowery, portrayed by Boy George himself.

During the musical's turbulent preview period, O'Donnell brought in Jeff Calhoun as a "choreographic consultant" to help director Christopher Renshaw. The producer also reportedly battled with Raul Esparza, one of the performers in the show. He reportedly walked out of a rehearsal, but later returned.

[quote]All I remember is people complaining that Raul Esparza was walking around in his underwear.

Who in the world would complain about *that*?

R8 I’m gonna guess Rosie?

Did Charles Busch catch any of the flak this bomb generated? He wrote the book for the Broadway version.

The big mistake was opening in the winter time. It was up against "Wicked" and "Avenue Q" Now with the success of RuPaul's Drag Race acceptance, if it were summertime, they could have had drag queens parading around Times Sq promoting. It also should have won the Tony for Best Score over those silly Sesame Street "homages" of "Ave Q".

Great cast album, also paid for by Rosie.

R11 The problem is that productions which open in the summer usually don't fare well with Tony noms the following Spring. I'm sure Rosie thought this would sweep the Tonys.

Isn't his hairdo called 'The Tornado' ?

Rosie always thinks everything will win all the awards because she won 50 Emmy’s for TROS.

Everything since then has been a huge mistake.

2 failed marriages

2 failed View runs

1 failed tv comeback

2 failed podcasts

1 failed television series

2 failed movies

1 failed abortive return to the stage

Rosie's just fine, r15, she sends her love.

Rosie’s quietly done some nice work in supporting roles on various shows.

The article in the Post placed some of the blame on everyone.

Who in the US was clamoring for a Leigh Bowery musical?

Not many.

r18 Sounds like the real villain was whoever decided to cast Boy George, which I guess would've been Rosie

Charles Busch gingerly talks about his Taboo! experience in his memoir.

In "The Producers," Nathan Lane inserted a line that got laughs:

"You never invest your own money. That's taboo."

R18 great article. Thank you for sharing

I saw it in London. It was pleasant fluff. Threadbare charm. Rosie probably thought she had the next Rent. A show I hate by the way, but overproduced maudlin crowd pleasing treacle. Taboo needs to be tattered.

Christopher Renshaw, who directed the show never worked again in New York City.

There was that documentary that chronicled that particular Broadway year. Wicked and Avenue Q were the focus but there was a lot of Taboo in there. What I most remember was the real fanaticism of their fans. They just LOVED Taboo.

[quote]They just LOVED Taboo.

I think it was Rosie they loved. For awhile, she had a blog and her fans would write how they loved everything she posted (of course, she deleted any posts that were negative). The night “Riding the Bus with my Sister” premiered, you’d think it was Meryl Streep playing the role. Some of the blog talked about her children and RO would say things about her kids that were inappropriate (nothing illegal, just stuff that teenagers don’t want the world to know.) It caused a lot of trouble between her and the oldest boy, who joined the military the second he could get out of her house.

[quote] As he sat contemplating the large bowl of candy corn she kept on her desk – handfuls of which she often consumed during production meetings – O’Donnell burst into the room and pointed a finger at him.

Candy corn? ... BLECH!

R27, did you see the documentary? It's what I based this limited opinion on but I think one of the fans even noted that this particular show seemed to encourage obsessiveness. And there was the young back fan who had seen it numerous times and exclaimed "Isn't it GOOD!!!!". I think Rosie was mentioned by Boy George but I don't think she was mentioned by the fans.

Oh good lord, “Riding the Bus with My Sister” where Rosie mistook mentally disabled for “loud.”

Wasn’t this the era when Rosie was supposedly on DL?

“Riding the Bus…” has a 3.5 on IMDb.

I love Riding the Bus... It's that rare non-intentional successful camp.

If Rosie had any sense she would make musical of Riding the Bus. Make it outrageous and politically incorrect but with a good heart.

Enjoy! Directed by Angelica Houston

We saw it and enjoyed it, but it wasn’t great.

In a nutshell, it wasn't FOLLIES.

In a nutshell, it wasn’t In My Life, the Joe Brooks musical.

Rosie always reminds me of Lou Costello in drag.

It wasn’t even Pacific Overtures.

[quote] Rosie always reminds me of Lou Costello in drag.

Only [italic]mean.[/italic] Lou Costello was at least pretty nice.

Oh wow - I remember watching 'Riding the Bus' when it first aired on TV and laughing out loud at every scene Rosie was in. I know it was supposed to be a serious movie, but I couldn't stop laughing.

blue's tuh-boo

ooo'

Maybe the City Center can hire Billy Porter to reclaim Taboo.

[quote]Only mean. Lou Costello was at least pretty nice.

Actually, offscreen he wasn’t that nice.

I have the windowcard (poster) signed by Rosie, Euan Morton who played George and Raúl Esparza who signed it at the Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market. Never got Boy George because he snuck in a secret door, not the stage door or front door, or just came in after the show started because he wasn't on right away but they said he doesn't interact. Wonder if he signs at "Moulin Rouge" now?

'Taboo' is foolishly trying to tell the story of seven different people whose relationships become as entangled as those quaint things called phone cords used to. It's not a good sign when a main character returns to the stage, and it takes you a couple of seconds to remember who he is.

The show is a crazy, mixed-up mess in tone, structure and rhythm. Its first act inspires a kind of open-mouthed fascination, as such messes often do. By the second act, the numbness descends that comes from overdosing on plot lines.

[quote]Wonder if he signs at "Moulin Rouge" now?

Sometimes, seems to be the answer.

He somehow managed to do one show while still wearing his AirPods

I can’t wait for Rosies next project- “Once Around The Garden”, a trilogy about aging gay men, getting trapped in a bathroom stall with an overflowing toilet, and the latest shenanigans of a former Vanity Fair editor/ meth addict.

Hilarity ensues!

Boy George is starring in Moulin Rouge on Broadway ? I didn't know that.

We waited with bated breath here at the DL for the premiere of "Riding the Bus with My Sister" and live blogged it like it was the Oscars. It was glorious.

Does Rosie still live here in LA? She said she moved because she wanted more sunshine but whatever the case, she seems to have calmed down considerably. I don't know if she's happier or not, but when she stays out of the spotlight, things seem better for her.

They should have made "Riding the Bus" into a weekly sitcom. Rosie was hilarious in this ! It would have been ratings gold.

R54 I don't think it's sunshine, I think it's medication. Plenty of medication.

R56 it could also be old age.

This says Rosie now lives in Malibu and is trying again to unload her Manhattan condo at a loss.

A friend of mine actually befriend Boy George when he was in NY for the show. My friend only had positive things to say about him. On the other hand, I've never heard anyone say a positive thing about Rosie. A friend who lives in Nyack told me that everyone in town knew to avoid acknowledging her when they saw her in public.

Here is my brief experience with Rosie when I was in NYC...

On April 11, 1999, I was visiting a friend of mine in Manhattan. We were walking near the Cort Theater and noticed all the limos and cameras outside, so we moved our way up to the crowd. Turned out it was opening night for the musical "Marlene", starring Sian Phillips (who I love). We saw a number of celebrities get out of their limo and be photographed on the red carpet. It was an exciting moment because it was not planned - something we fell into as we were walking around the area.

At one point, we turned around and we were starting to walk in the opposite direction when Rosie O'Donnell got out of a car which wasn't a limo. She was with a guy who was saying something to her as they were coming closer - she was dressed in black leather (leather pants and leather jacket). She looked good. As we got closer, she called out to my friend and I and asked her if we would walk her to the theater (the guy she was with went back to the car). She asked each of us to walk on her left side to block her from the paparazzi. We said fine.

When we got to the red carpet she kept whispering to us how to maneuver around her to keep her blocked (she obviously did this before), while she was holding us by the arms. "There ya go, move this way...", she kept whispering. None of the paparazzi could get a good photo of her because we were in the way, and she was happy about that. When we got to the doors, she thanked us and then said, 'Do you guys want to see the show ? My treat.' We said yes, and she brought us to the box office and told the agent to give us whatever seats were the best seats in the house. We got two in the front row of the balcony (excellent seats). She thanked us again, told us to enjoy the show, and then walked ahead of us and joined Regis Philbin and his wife who were standing in the lobby about ten feet away. From our balcony seats we saw her and the Philbins walk down the aisle to the front of the house (center orchestra) and take their seats next to Joan Rivers in the same row. I think they were in the fifth or sixth row.

The show was very good, but only lasted a few weeks before it closed due to poor ticket sales.

thanks for sharing ^^^^^

Why were there still two seats on opening night?

[QUOTE]The problem is that productions which open in the summer usually don't fare well with Tony noms the following Spring. I'm sure Rosie thought this would sweep the Tonys.

"Hairspray" had no problem with it. It was July and so hot the producers treated the line waiting to enter for the matinee free water.

R62 I think because the show got very negative reviews in London, where it premiered. From what I remember reading in the reviews the next day, there were doubts it was ever going to open on Broadway because of those reviews. I'm sure with that advanced word of mouth, they had little to no pre-sale at the box office (even for opening night), and it had no choice but to close three weeks later (25 performances).

[quote]"Hairspray" had no problem with it.

Coming out of Seattle, Hairspray had *hit* written all over it.

Where did she get all this money and how does she have any left?

Talk show money is ENORMOUS

[quote]Why were there still two seats on opening night?

There were a few shows that just didn’t have publicity to bolster them. I got opening night tickets through TDF to the Barrymore play that Nicol Williamson did. At the current call, he apologized to the audience.

[quote]Where did she get all this money and how does she have any left?

Rosie used to post on her blog about getting residuals. One time she posted, “I just got a check for five million dollars for Riding the Bus With My Sister.” She then had the audacity to say that that was an obscene amount of money and nobody needed to make that kind of money. I sometimes think the character she played in Riding the Bus was the closest to her own true personality.

Rosie has said more than once that she has more money than she or her family will ever need. This is why she is able produce a bomb and not care too much.

Does she still own the gay cruise line with Kelli ?

No one gets residuals for any TV production in that amount. No one.

Rosie was a producer on Riding the Bus. Maybe it was a sponsor returning the money and saying, “I want nothing to do with this turkey.”

THISISMYSISTAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk about taboo. If you saw this without context, you’d probably think it was a skit from Mad TV.

Directed by Anjelica Huston.

I am not a Howard Stern fan generally, but I have heard his commentary the next day after "Riding the Bus with My Sister" was pretty hilarious.

[quote]I guess that's the first and last time Rosie took a chance on being a producer.

She's very quiet about some of it. She was a semi-silent backer when Grey Gardens moved from Playwright's Horizon to the Walter Kerr in October 2008.

[quote]October 2008

November 2006. This place really needs an edit function.

R74 I can't stop laughing and I feel so guilty for laughing! I'm peeing my pants laughing every time I see these scenes.

On the other hand, I wish she hosted 'The View' in that character !

Rosie’s “Lou Costello” approach to the role made Andie McDowell look like Meryl Streep in the acting department.

I can’t figure out why this only got a 3.5 rating on imdb. Anjelica Huston worked really hard on this scene.

here you go

[quote] Howard Stern, Variety, and Opie and Anthony all commented that O'Donnell sounded like Pee-wee Herman.

^ Hey go with a winner!

I did.

Rosie's enormous wealth makes it perplexing to me that she's been doing those celebrity autograph conventions recently. I don't think her financial people would have let her go broke, but even if they did she could make a lot more money by taking some acting or stand up gigs. I can't imagine anyone would put themselves through two days of people vomiting their trauma all over you for $75 each unless they were desperate for quick, tax-free cash. I'm curious about what her need for the money is, and it's probably something wacky,

R84, it’s NOT money. I worked with a cunt that was just like Rosie. It’s the attention and the fawning and adoring crowd. Her children and everyone around her hate her.

It's just like doing a show!

In Rosie's case it's the attention. Unless something REALLY dramatic happened to her fortune. Which I kind of doubt.

R84, Carrie Fisher was also doing them and I would think she was financially set.

Rose enjoys her fans.

Didn't Rosie used to be a DL favorite?

Did Rosie ever reunite with the adopted daughter who left home, trashed Rosie on social media, sought out her biological mother and then got knocked up by some guy she barely knew?

Tee Hee Hee, 🤣🤣🤣 Karma is a bitch

Yes, Rosie has a relationship with Chelsea. Rosie generally seems in a much better place these days.

What should one expect? When the two most neurotic gay people in the universe try to collaborate on a business venture?

It was a bad year for Rosie when all of that happened with Chelsea Belle.

That was the same year she did a 10 minute interview with Ramin Setoodeh where she told him (a complete stranger) that her father molested her and she was in love with Elisabeth Hasslebeck and that was the source of their feud.

She then went on to trash the writer on social media for reprinting the words she said.

It was quite a spectacle

R95 She did say her father molested her ? I thought she was hinting it was her brother.

R82, The funniest Rosie segment on Stern was when Stuttering John invaded her trash bins at the Nyack house and brought the contents back to the studio for Howard and the gang to comment on.

Aside from what you think of O'Donnell, the show was quite good, but probably too quirky and out there for Broadway - I remember there was a cruising number set in a public men's room - all the men standing at the urinals singing. There may have even been a disco ball in that scene. But the one I really remember is Raul stopping the show with "Petrified". That song still can bring tears to my eyes.

R98 . . .

R96 yeah she outright named her dad. It was for that book about the view he wrote. Thats why she and Maureen no longer speak despite being super close for years.

Petrified is one great song.

R97, that’s a ridiculous invasion of privacy. Shouldn’t happen to anyone (except Trump).

R102 he and Rosie are good friends now. She's often on his show (or was) and she and Robin are often out to dinner.

R100 Her father wrote a book about 'The View' ?

How come she and her sister aren't talking anymore ?

My understanding is Rosie and two brothers are close but there is a sister and another brother who are estranged from the whole group.

Rosie was always very close to her sister Maureen.

If Maureen is no longer on speaking terms with Rosie, is it because Rosie named her father to that author or is it because Maureen doesn’t believe the father molested Rosie?

Rosie and Howard Stern should get together and do the Abbott &Costello routines.

Why are Christine Ebersole's 911 Conspiracies posting in this thread, instead of seeking adherents?

It was whilst he was in the US performing with Taboo that Boy George started his descent back into drug addiction. He admits to being high on Ecstasy most nights before going on stage, which led to his eventual return to Heroin.

Apparently he was fucking with the Ewan guy who played him in the show. Now that is weird.

[quote]Apparently he was fucking with the Ewan guy who played him in the show. Now that is weird.

That Ewan guy is Euan Morton who is married to a woman and the father of Iain Armitage who plays "Young Sheldon".

R99 - I'm petrified to sing without vibraaaaaaaaaaaattoooooooooo.

This is better for Howard and Rosie.

R110 and he also has this to say about himself…

Morton doesn't identify with any particular label on his sexuality, saying "I wouldn't label myself any sexuality and I would prefer if you didn't. If I call myself straight then it turns into me being straight, or gay makes me gay, or transgender then transgender."

And guess what, and you’re never going to believe this, but some men who are married to women and have children also fuck with other men. It called bisexuality.

It's interesting that despite all the problems Rosie had with this show and Boy George, she never mentioned much of it once it failed. She hasn't really ripped him apart publicly (as she has done her former 'Vew' cohosts), as she has only mentioned a few times 'they had a falling out'.

Rosie doesn’t mention Taboo because most of the public doesn’t know what Taboo is.

They want to hear her trash Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg because the public know who they are

I met Boy George at the Slide one night after a performance of Taboo. He still had the weird paint drip makeup on his head.

There was a moment Boy George seems to have confused himself with Leigh and I saw him multiple times in private with that goddamned Bowery makeup.

Rosie used to say she’s never give autographs, except to children. She used to talk openly about how she didn’t understand why adults wanted her signature.

Now, she can’t sign enough of them.

R115 She never trashes Goldberg.

I'm not certain how scared she is of her, but Rosie knows she is no Hasslebeck or Walters - and has never trashed her in public (even though the tension between Goldberg and Rosie on television was far worse than Hasslebeck and Rosie). You could tell Goldberg absolutely hated Rosie, and has no tolerance for her. Walters and Hasslebeck were more forgiving of Rosie, which made them easier targets.

Same with Oprah (and everyone says the 'backstage tension between Oprah and Rosie was horrible when Rosie had her short-lived show on 'OWN'). She never trashed Oprah - she's afraid of her.

Remember when they stuffed her in leather?

R119 um…all she does is talk about how awful Whoopi was to her. Just Google Rosie and Whoopi and every article is her trashing Whoopi lol

[quote]even though the tension between Goldberg and Rosie on television was far worse than Hasslebeck and Rosie).

She doesn't hate her, when Rosie was on the first time, she moderator and when she came back she thought they would share and Whoopi was having none of it. and in her dotering old age Barbara was too busy having lunch with Judge Judy and Cindy Adams to do her job and straighten it out.

R122 Walters had left the show the season before the Rosie / Whoopi season. She was just getting royalties from the show since she was the creator (and kept the title exec producer when she sold her shares).

I saw Taboo and enjoyed it. I don't remember much beyond that except that Rosie's first wife, Kelli Carpenter, was sitting near us and she was much more butch IRL than I imagined. I've always like Rosie, flaws and all. She posts almost daily on TikTok now. She's renting a place in LA -- they left the Malibu beachfront rental and moved into another one nearby, I think. She mentioned recently that she just got cast in a new project (can't recall if it's a movie or TV) that starts filming soon. She's had pretty steady acting work over the years.

Rosie was on Chris Cuomo's show last night and made a million dollar bet with Bill O'Reilly (who I thought was long dead).

R125, Bill O’Reilly looks and acts much older than 74 on that video.

Is anyone aware of any productions of Taboo outside of the original runs in NY, London?

Greg wore it surfing and it almost killed him.

[quote]Is anyone aware of any productions of Taboo outside of the original runs in NY, London?

It's huge business for high school drama productions.

My local Mormon middle school did a knock-out production of this musical last summer.

Nothing screams secondary education quite like Leigh Bowery!

Hey kids, let's put on a show.

[quote]and in her dotering old age Barbara

Oh, [italic]dear.[/italic]

I saw Charles Busch talking about this show. Maybe it was in that documentary about him. He said the lead cast was always away on other projects so getting the original cast together for a performance was like the reunion of A Chorus Line.

The theatrical rights to Taboo were never released. I always assumed this was because Rosie was going to produce it again. I think it's a shame because out there somewhere a good theatre company might be able to do a decent revival of it.

George has hinted there is a new production coming this year.