THEATRE GOSSIP #289 — Lots of Clambake For Me To Eat edition

Meh. Points for waiting til the last one was finished, I guess.

From "trying too hard" to "meh." Is that a step up or a step down?

It's a step in the meh direction.

Spongebob the musical. I admit I was charmed by it, although some of the songs were completely unnecessary. The two I would have omitted are the Pirate song -- the whole pirate character, for that matter, should have been cut -- and the horrible Bikini Bottom Boogie. What? Were they afraid to tell Aerosmith that their song sucked?!? But: Ethan Slater. Adorable. He's not classically good looking, but he is adorable, and looks like he has a great little body. Any word or rumors?

Is The Band's Visit worth seeing? There is so much disagreement on this one.

[quote]where "they don't bother me" and "nowhere else on earth I'd rather be" rhyme in British pronunciation, but not American.

Uh ... I've always heard that the Brits make fun of that lyric, because in fact they do not pronounce "rather" to rhyme with "bother."

This is how it’s done boys

The Band’s Visit is subtle, wry, and very moving. There are actually a few good songs, and the female lead steals every moment she can get. She and the show, the score, and director Cromer should all win Tony’s.

Marvelous theatre piece for adults, for a rare change.

Who wipes better, Pasek or Paul?

"There are actually a few good songs"

Talk about damning with faint praise....

[quote]Uh ... I've always heard that the Brits make fun of that lyric, because in fact they do not pronounce "rather" to rhyme with "bother."

Maybe, but it's a lot more of a rhyme than the American pronunciations would be.

R7 - what a hideous dress and I had to chuckle with how EP had to lower the microphone stand.

Poor Elaine. Her voice is technically in better shape than Patti's is (and Patti's is in very good shape), but there's no excitement at all. A very dull reading of the song. One thing LuPone had was that, when she was done up in Evita drag, she actually resembled her (the only person to play it who looked more like Peron was Loni Ackerman, who was a dead ringer during Rainbow High etc). Elaine and her round little face can't compete that way.

[quote]This is how it’s done boys

If you enjoy community theater. Her "indication" acting makes her look like she's in high school. "Look, I'm dressed up to the nines."

But I think she has a more pleasant sounding voice than Patti. Her belt is a prettier sound than Patti's.

But Patti claimed the role when she started throwing her arms up in the V. The movement was genius and defined Evita and put a necessary exclamation point on the song. I think Elaine just reached her hands out towards the audience. Patti talks in her book about someone telling her to drop her head so that she would imitate classic "Jesus on the cross" artwork. I'm not sure about the head drop. I understand the purpose, but I think there could have been a more stronger movement following the arm V.

Wow!! Who is Patti's doctor? That hip replacement took YEARS off of her. Lorna, be a dear and call Patti LuPone and find out who her doctor is.

"The Band's Visit" is a great gem of a musical. The ending ("Answer Me") is one of the most beautiful moments I have ever seen on a stage.

I prefer this one....

Wish Barbra had recorded "Argentina."

I wish Barbra had played Evita.

Or vice-versa r19.

The Dolly bo dropping without Bette does not bode well for the notion that Ebersole could sell a tour

Bitch stole MY number!!!

Didn't Barbra not want to to it because she considered the Perons fascists?

The show considers them fascists too, so once again Barbra would be taking something of a non-stance.

For years I've wanted to see HELLO DOLLY and MY FAIR LADY.

I saw MY FAIR LADY when the NY Philharmonic did it with Kelli O'Hara in 2007--MEH

I saw HELLO DOLLY recently--MEH

Don't need to see any more old "classic" musicals.

Yes, that's very smart of you, r25, to judge based on two bad experiences. Save your money for the tour of Hamilton.

Classics are a bit MEH if you ask me too R25. But nothing is worse than Hamilton for pure boredom in a theater Dont save your money;)

Frozen hasn't made that many changes since Denver. Don't expect much. It's total big money theme park, not a Broadway musical. And it will run for decades.

To be honest, you really need a specialized director for a musical. I thought George C. Wolfe's "On The Town" in 1998 was deadly dull. It was so slow, he didn't know how to create excitement and move it along.

R13 The video is almost 20 years old. Her voice is not the same anymore. Patti’s voice is in excellent shape.

R25 R26 R27 R29 YES. It's dead. But they are pretending it's not. Maybe not financially but creatively. People rarely leave the broadway theatres truly moved. My boyfriend wanted to see once on this island so i went. I love the material, the music. I ended up really liking it. I was moved. Totally for the times with gender switching. Also, broadway doesn't really hold auditions for unknowns. They have to because of the union but usually the jobs go to names and their friends. It's all connnected. It's not old fashioned let's hold a casting call and really find amazing people with real life experience and feelings. No, they go for the super generic trained pretentious phony and it still fails. No one takes any real risk with their choices. Broadway really is still so stuffy and bigoted. I guess that's what the Hamilton movement is all about. Only a handful of the performers and producers today are truly good. That's not enough.

Perhaps, r31, you could put more contradictory ideas in your next post?

Hip-hop fans are prejudiced against melody.

Perhaps R32 you could stay out of it?

R31, not to mention Broadway treats it’s own execrably so that if a performer has even the ghost of a chance at a career in film and television or concerts, the ones with any self-respect GET THE HELL OUT. It’s not like the movies where the actors are treated very well. Broadway producers would throw shit in a star’s face if they could get away with it. And they definitely do it to new stars. This is one reason the ones who remain and persist are still there: they’re bland, they take abuse, or they’re not too ambitious. Most denizens of Broadway who’d get a taste for what it is to be treated decently would never go back if they had the choice. Can’t wait for that NYT expose to drop, if it’s real. I certainly could give some damning interviews.

[quote]This is one reason the ones who remain and persist are still there: they’re bland, they take abuse, or they’re not too ambitious.

We're not bland, we just haven't found our movie/tv niche.

Kristin Chenoweth

Nathan Lane

Sutton Foster

R35 do you work in theater? Loved your post. All too true. What was your feelings on the Hamilton producers?

R35 YES 💯

And that goes double for writers of any talent, r35.

The best thing I can say about Once On This Island is that it's the least bland show A & F have written.

So many nasty, angry people on this thread.

You can all come sit next to me.

r36 Sutton's been starring in a successful sitcom for the past four seasons, and it's not over yet.

The real Eva Peron made the same hand gestures of Elaine, not Patti.

Really, R7/42? Are you all that certain you know of all her fascistic hand/arm gestures? I think not.

Plus it's a musical not a documentary r42

[quote]The real Eva Peron made the same hand gestures of Elaine, not Patti.

Wait, the real Eva Peron also sang "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina"? Is it on YouTube?

Derin Altay groomed her pubic hair exactly the way Eva did, but Nancy Opel's vagina smelled more like the real thing.

R41 are you really going to talk about "Younger" ??????

Some would say Sutton is a PERFECT example of bland who could only get a show like that.

Even Cheno....

"Greatest Showman" coming to Broadway?

How would they stage “Rewrite the Stars” on Broadway? I sense a Spiderman moment happening.

R48 eventually

if Sponge bob can.....

Ramin's already auditioning for the lead.

But who for Jenny Lind and “Never Enough”?

Rick McKay has died. Reported on Playbill, ATC, BWW etc.

R54 oh no! 😢

only 57.

And you'll never see his second documentary.

Actually he was 62. What did he die of?

If he was really 57 or 62, he must have done a lot of hard living. He looked like he was 80.

ALW comments on Patti's Grammy performance.

R60 It is great they were able to work together. I wonder what he will write about Sunset in his book.

Ramin would be perfect in that role. Wearing a jock strap and baby oil.

Will anyone go see Burn This when it opens?

Shit, McCay really looked bad.

R63, no. It was a crappy play when it opened and it is a crappy play now. Seriously, I cannot imagine that it will hold up well today.

[R10]: The songs in The Band’s Visit are all character-driven. None of them is really any kind of breakout tune. Perhaps the most memorable is called “Omar Sharif,” which has almost non-popular built into even the title. But they are still very good.

I was surprised how the music seemed to have the very spirit of that desert area. I was in Egypt in 2008, at a dinner where these men played and sang original, but native-sounding songs. Listening to them, I could feel the languorous heat of the desert, and the rolling rhythm of riding g a camel. The songs in The Band’s Visit are like that, but belong entirely to the show.

r25 has no taste. And he proudly boasts about it. Amazing.

[quote]Actually he was 62. What did he die of?

Old age

Oh, sorry; all the theater sites have his age as 57--and I don't think any specified a cause of death.

"Burn This" is one of Wilson's best plays, and Driver is a much better choice than Jake would have been.

He was definitely 62. One site listed 57 and others picked it up. That’s probably from his sister Sandy, who shaved five years off as he would have wanted. She’s the one who announced his death.

[quote]his sister Sandy, who shaved

Pics please.

[quote]Perhaps the most memorable is called “Omar Sharif,”

“Omar Sharif” is beautiful, but “Answer Me” is the song that just knocked me out - absolutely stunning.

Why did Rosie drop out of the New Group play?

[quote] What was your feelings on the Hamilton producers?

Not R35, but Jeffrey Seller is kind of an asshole.

Taylor Trensch made an early debut in DEH.

R74-Because she doesn't belong on any stage?

I wonder how Amy Schumer is doing with her new live-in boyfriend. Do you think she knows he was Jake's long-time boyfriend? Interesting concept going on there.

Once On This Island is amazing. The score is among the most melodious ever (truly)--every song is a hummable gem. This revival is every bit as great as the original, which I saw about 25 years ago.

As for Frozen, when it played in Denver, people complained about the sets. There were some rumors they would be changed for Bway. Were they changed?

I've always been a big fan of Ahrens and Flaherty (yes, even "Seussical" -- so sue me) but I'd never had the chance to see "Island" until a regional theater near me did a terrific production of it a year or two ago. The songs "Some Girls," "Mama Will Provide," and "Waiting for Life" are all first-rate, in my book, and the story and the way it's told is lovely.

Jesus, ronnik and her alters are out in force.

R79 R80 i agree. I LOVE the music for that show. My boyfriend is a huge theater fan and loves ragtime and had never of once on this island until i told him about it. I didn't want to see the revival AT ALL because i love the original so much and i didn't like the idea of the gender switching but i went because he wanted to see why i loved the show so much. I was so surprised. I LOVED the revival. I thought it was beautiful and everyone did incredible. We are seeing it a second time next week now with the cast change. I can't wait.

Have we discussed the casting for the upcoming "My Fair Lady" revival? Both Harry Hadden-Paton and Norbert Leo Butz seem a tad young for their roles, but maybe that's because the guys in the movies just seem older.

I know HHP was in "Downton Abbey" as Mr. Edith, but he's also on "The Crown" as Martin Charteris.

R83 casting seems weird but it's Bartlett sher so it's probably fine i guess. I don't love that show so im indifferent.

Weird that Taylor stepped into Evan Hansen last night and will perform tonite, tomorrow night and Saturday matinee. Isn't that kinda screwing that Galvin kid over? This is his last week and they cut him down to four performances.

They tried to make her go to rehab, she said no no no

Make who go to Rehab? Noah Galvin?

Hasn't Noah Galvin been in that show for like a month?

Has Galvin not been doing well with the part?

[quote]Broadway treats it’s own execrably so that if a performer has even the ghost of a chance at a career in film and television or concerts, the ones with any self-respect GET THE HELL OUT.

I kinda think it has more to do with the generally MUCH higher pay for film and TV, and I would guess most concerts even pay more to the stars, depending on expenses.

Noah Galvin went in for a three month run in November. He did really well in the Thanksgiving parade. I had heard he might be heading up the tour. I'm surprised that they've divvied up his last week like this.

I saw the original Broadway production of Once On This Island as well. I got the ticket off TKTS because it was the only musical available. I went in thinking, "This sounds really boring." I came out weeping with joy it was so good and it's one of my favorite Broadway musical experiences. What I loved was how simply it was staged. And as others have mentioned, the songs are varied and wonderful. And I'll even forgive them that they put an upbeat ending on the story.

Someone on the last thread asked about "Jerry Springer The Opera." I saw it last night and loved every minute! In fact, it might be worthy of becoming the unofficial DL show since it takes on so many similar subjects: types of people (hot rednecks, hefty heifers, chicks with dicks....lesbians are gently thrown under the bus early on) and topics (religion). However, the theater thread regulars might be better off staying at home reminiscing about shows of yore because this one is very profane and celebrates trashiness. They push the envelope at least once or twice so it is not for the faint of heart.

Everyone in the cast has a great voice and they all look like they are having fun. The set is a facsimile of Jerry's; the direction/choreography are very well done considering the small stage.

Will Swenson deserves a special call-out because I have always found him to be a competent and pleasant performer in other shows, but not enough to buy a ticket solely because he was in it. Well, he is hot as hell playing Satan and I highly recommend everyone go see "JS: The Opera"for just that reason. This is the best performance I have ever seen out of him (and he looks like he is enjoying every second).

It is a very small theater with a limited run, so book soon. There may be some protests from religious groups, but I hope they don't affect the show negatively.

We now present......

My friend saw Hangmen last night. Martin McDonagh was sitting next to him taking notes. Bette Midler was in the row behind them.

I'm not the biggest ALW fan, but this was pretty cool and Lloyd Webber looks moved by the experience. Does anyone know what the estimates are on Phantom's current worldwide gross? It must be in the billions by now, right?

I hate that song from Jimmy. So overwrought. "That Charming Son-of-a-Bitch" is marginally better.

[quote]However, the theater thread regulars might be better off staying at home reminiscing about shows of yore because this one is very profane and celebrates trashiness. They push the envelope at least once or twice so it is not for the faint of heart.

What's next -- "I, Tonya: The Musical"?

Harriet Sansom Harris IS Lavona!

Any thoughts on Spongebob ? How as the bo been? And are there stories about Ethan Slater. He looks like an adorable pocket gay.

R81 grrrrrrrrrr!

I'd watch the musical version of "I, Tonya".

Was Rick McKay alone when he died? Sad.

[quote]How as the bo been?

The cast smelled fine the night I saw it.

"I, Tonya....on ICE"!!!

The Greatest Showman on Ice is far more likely.

"I, Nancy....laying on ICE"!!!

Who knows anything about Beautiful's beautiful Evan Todd? Total hottie. Who's had him?

Dreamy.

R102, someone didn’t want the next documentary to see the light of day.

Any word yet on how McKay died?

Rick McKay was helping the NY Times with their big exposé and Barry Weissler had him killed.

Evan Todd is openly gay . He's done a gay movie "Fourth Man Out"--on Netflix.

How wide open does he get?

Evan Todd is a terrible actor and 4th Man Out was a POS. He can probably be had for the price of a salted peanut.

What is that in american dollars r114?

Precisely please.

Will no one join me in sending prayers and love to the one and only Richard Con-Enema from ATC. He’s had a stroke! I struggled to see the difference. Just prior to his illness he posted at ATC that it was his birthday. 106 at least. Miss Minger is keeping us all updated on his recovery. Oh the humanity!

Let's all laugh at someone having a stroke

[quote]Any word yet on how McKay died?

Old age

Why was the general management team from the Marguerittaville fired?

LINE!!?!!?!?!?!??!

I saw Evan Todd in Beautiful and he was actually pretty good, not that the role requires much gravitas.

R107-Evan has a good heart.

He had an idea to start an art outreach group to Africa that Dick Scanlan co opted and now gets most of the credit for.

Which turned out to be a good thing for Scanlans image especially later when his hit Thoroughly Modern Millie turned out not to be so thoroughly modern and he was accused by many a school,and is to this day,of racism in his depiction of Asians.

And as part Asian I can tell you, racist he is.

And no amount of highly publicized globetrotting is going to change that.

And Evan if you see this, we know it was YOUR idea to start this African project no matter how Dick Scanlan tried to do the white man thing and claim credit for his own PR.

The Seafarer? Bring a pillow. What a fucking boring play.

I was just about to say roughly the same thing, R123, except to add that with one of the dullest stage actors starring in it, it will be more potent that Propofol.

The Broadway production was one of the worst nights of my life in the theater. I would have walked out, but I'd brought my ex-boss, who was in her 80s and would never dream of walking out on a play.

Speaking of "Millie," they're doing a reunion benefit concert soon. With Sutton and Gavin and much of the original cast.

Oh how clever.

Dress the leading lady in bright yellow and everyone else in boring beige. Did she really need that much help maintaining focus?

R126 = Erin Dilly

What about all the money Rick McKay kept raising for his two Broadway documentaries that he'd been working on for 10+ years?

Baz Bamigboye just tweeted that Caroline O’Connor will play Anna in The Rink in London this spring. Who for Angel...Linzi Hateley? Frances Ruffelle?

Re McKay's fundraising, I've heard from various sources that editing, etc will be completed on both films and they'll be released. His family evidently supports this.

[quote]Who for Angel...Linzi Hateley? Frances Ruffelle?

Angel’s not supposed to be in her 50s, is she? It need someone a good fifteen or twenty years younger than Ruffelle or Hateley.

[quote]Who for Angel.

Imelda Staunton, of course!

[quote]Who for Angel

I'm free.

JUS GOT MY TIX FOR BOYS IN BAND

CANT WAIT

TIX GOIN FAST

Laura Linney is in talks to play Angel.

Only if Alison Brie passes.

I saw Brie Larson as Angel in a production of THE RINK last year at the Wichita Performing Arts Center. She was magnificent.

As good as Brie was, Mo’Nique as Anna was even better.

Evan Todd for Angel!

What did Rick McKay die of? Old Queen Syndrome?

I don't know if it has been determined yet; it hasn't been announced. Probable heart attack.

I just want to say that these "jokes" about the death of Rick McKay are in disgustingly poor taste. Clearly, some people who post here have no limits when it comes to snark. Incredible.

Jenna Russell would be a good Angel in The Rink but she’s currently on the BBC soap EastEnders.

r98 You joke, but there is a Nancy and Tonya: The Opera, a burlesque rock opera from nearly a decade ago that is essentially I, Tonya the musical. Lavona is a main character and she basically just walks across the stage carrying an oxygen tank saying "Tonya, you're gonna fuck up your lutz!" at odd intervals. The show is a mess, but it is campy fun and would be great in a creative space venue. I saw it when it was workshopping and stood next to Diane Paulus (there were no seats) who seemed to be having a wonderful time.

The songs were all disposable except for a song sung by Jeff Gilooly after he changes his name to Jeff Stone that was actually quite good and moving.

[quote]some people who post here have no limits when it comes to snark.

Thank goodness for that!

the moderators at Bwy World regarding the "New York Times article on Bwy Sex Abusers" thread just said -

"we're going to lock this thread as theres nothing new here at the moment, but at such times when they're publicly stated allegations in the appropriate venue, we'll reopen."

So you cant have a thread with sex abusers on Bwy and The NYT in one sentence.

The MET Opera fired one of its most frequent house directors a day or two ago. He was recreating the staging for a revival of a production he did in 1990 and said something so suggestive or sexually inappropriate to one the chorus boys they let him go the same day.

The guy's 84.

Okay guys, you'll need to sit down for this.

Here's the wretched remark that got that Met Opera director fired.

And all I can say is we can all breathe a sigh of relief he's gone.

Here goes:

Exclusive: Why Peter Gelb fired Uncle John Copley

February 1, 2018 by norman lebrecht

John Copley, 84, is one of the world’s best loved and most experienced opera directors, a fixture at Covent Garden for more than half a century. When he turned up at the Met last week to direct a revival of Rossini’s Semiramide, singers vied with one another to have selfies taken.

So when a mole at the Met told us yesterday that Peter Gelb had called in John Copley and fired him for some remarks overheard in the rehearsal room, we refused to believe the whispers until we had three firm sources.

The New York Times has no further information and nothing more to say on the matter.

We do.

Here’s what happened. In a rehearsal, male choristers they were told to show different reactions to the ‘ghost’ of Assur (sung by Ildar Abdrazakov, who was not present). They were asked for a range of ideas. John Copley jokingly said ‘if it were me I’d like to see him naked.’

One chorus member reported this joke upward. Peter Gelb fired John Copley. He caught the next plane home.

The vast majority of the chorus, we are told, are horrified and upset at his dismissal. Other singers are posting sympathy messages and photographs of Uncle John.

Company members are saying that it is ridiculous that a single, unguarded remark by an elderly man should have got him railroaded out of town. No-one was being threatened, hardly anyone was offended. For most of John Copley’s long and distinguished life, a remark like this would have been considered a pleasantry.

At worst, he should have received a mild reprimand and told to get back to work.

Gelb’s panicky over-reaction is indicative of the poisoned atmosphere at the Met in the post-Levine climate. No-one admits that they saw or heard anything during 40-odd years of James Levine, so now the slightest misdemeanour by a harmless old man has been made into a hanging offence.

John Copley emerges from the incident without blemish.

Peter Gelb is left looking helpless and ridiculous.

You did not read this in the New York Times.

How is The Met still open? They protected a known pedophile for decades. They knew exactly what he was doing.

Ildar Abdrazakov

and to add to R148, this just released:

"more leaks have emerged from the chorus rehearsal room, none of them creditable to Gelb.

It appears that John Copley said jokingly ‘if it were me I’d like to see him naked’ about a singer who was not present.

One member of the chorus, who speaks poor English, somehow thought the remark was directed at him.

On this basis, and without further investigation or consultation with chorus members, Peter Gelb told one of best loved opera directors in the world to get out of his building."

[quote]I just want to say that these "jokes" about the death of Rick McKay are in disgustingly poor taste. Clearly, some people who post here have no limits when it comes to snark. Incredible.

Oh, please do fuck off to wherever you came from. We are not about to change for the likes of you.

Can Judith Light sing? Can’t she play Mame on Broadway? If shr can’t have Donna Murphy backstage and Judy can lip synch to Donna’s voice. Donna will do it if they let her kid hang out there.

Clearly, the opera director is senile if he wanted to see the thing at r150 naked.

I want to see Evan Todd in a jockstrap!

This will have to do for now, r155.

Evan Todd with Skivvies

R151 Well, it's not like there's a shortage of directors. Maybe he'll keep his fantasies to himself next time.

The idea of rehearsing performers' reactions to a cast member who isn't even there is kind of hilarious, tho.

(Maybe Kathleen Battle had her scenes rehearsed this way?)

So are the "skivvies" just an excuse for attention-starved musical theatre actors to sing at a mic AND show their bodies? It sounds like a performer's dream! I bet there are people who do funny songs, and people who do start-off-quiet pensive songs, and some who just 'rock out' am I right?

Evan Todd was in Heathers off-Broadway where he spent all of Act 2 in nothing but a pair of briefs.

Jesse Green in The New York Times slams Fire and Air.

"There may yet be a lively and moving work to be mined from Mr. McNally’s research and sympathy for Diaghilev ... But aside from a few golden moments, “Fire and Air” is inert. It has only partly emerged into life, like a statue still half-stuck in the marble, or a faun forever frozen in place."

Here's Marsha Mason interviewed about the play, and other stuff. She comments that she spends the whole play sitting down but the footage show her up and about.

Here’s really wishing the McKay’s long gestating work gets finished and released by his collaborators and family, the first film is indispensable for theater buffs and the amount of interviews he did for the remaining chapters gives hope for some beautiful moments.

I think it's mostly musical theatre actors "rocking out," r159, singing the kind of thing they wouldn't get to sing in the theatre. And yes, they're always as close to nude as they can get (some more so than others) while wearing underwear. I remember - who's that Australian actor? - I think he was doing a show in Sacramento with James Snyder while the Skivvies were there - and he and Snyder appeared, wearing next to nothing, including being barefoot (usually people aren't).

Peter Saide, that's the hot, huge actor who sang in the Skivvies with James Snyder. He was truly a sight to behold.

Peter Saide

There is huge and there is huge.

No, Judith Light cannot sing. I saw her do Joanne in the Reprise production of Company and the two queens I was sitting next to kept referring to her as Judy One Note. And that was before she wrapped her hands around the throat of The Ladies Who Lunch.

Considering how many half naked and naked men there are on opera stages today, considering The New York Times protected Levine for 45 years, and considering that Gelb as GM has been protecting Levine for 11 years and considering the Met produces one lifeless opera performance after another why not just tear the place down and put in a Whole Foods.

It would actually be a greater contribution to New York culture.

[quote]Oh, please do fuck off to wherever you came from. We are not about to change for the likes of you.

Hey, R152, please follow the advice you gave me. If you are a person of note (which I doubt), and if anonymous people on a chat board make fun of your death when you die, think about how your friends and family will feel when they read that shit.

Okay, Pretty Woman the musical? Are they fucking kidding me.? There's literally no story there -- He hires her and then they fall in love. Wtf is there to sing about? Who's dumb idea was this? I assume a West Coast producer?

Also PW is so not PC in this climate. It will fail miserably.

[quote]think about how your friends and family will feel when they read that shit

Not a person of note, but if my friends and family decide to come to Datalounge to read about my death, I trust that they are intelligent enough to know where they are and what they are reading.

R172 Apparently, the are changing the story around to make it more PC. I don't know how you do that with a hooker, but whatever.

Maybe she will be a nun r174.

John Copley the fired opera director has been internationally infamous for decades for his naughty foul mouth. Whether he's ever acted on it or not I don't know but I can remember doing a production of La Rondine with him years ago and his biggest obsession was with the sock garters on the half-dressed men's chorus in the first party scene.

[quote]Who's dumb idea was this? I assume a West Coast producer?

Oh, it doesn’t need to be a West Coast producer. Broadway has plenty of horrible, home grown New York producers.

I doubt McKay's family has dropped everything to see what DL is saying about their dearly beloved. Carry on.

Pretty woman the musical with THAT cast. Yea ok. Lmao. Bitch please.

The plot thickens R176

How are you gonna have PRETTY woman the musical without a pretty woman and that leading man? Come on now. Why is broadway full of just average people? I really wanna know.

R170, Rick McKay was not a “person of note” by any stretch. He was a Broadway sycophant who played favorites. But if you insist, make it FOOTnote.

because for decades now BROADWAY HAS BEEN JUST AVERAGE!

R181, they run all newly-minted stars out of town. They don’t allow even tony winners to come back and walk the red carpet at the Tony’s unless they’re in a current show and they bump theatre denizens off the broadcast so minor CBS series regulars who have never treaded the boards can present Tony Awards. Broadway doesn’t nurture singular, interesting stars, they resent them and tell them to fuck off.

R184 if that's true that is so messed up.

[quote]I doubt McKay's family has dropped everything to see what DL is saying about their dearly beloved. Carry on.

What a pointless point. Making fun of RIck McKay's death -- or anyone's death -- on DL or anywhere else is childish and disgusting even if not a single one of his friends or family reads about it.

Fuck off, snowflake r186.

Pretty Woman is doomed. I live in Chicago where the try out is and all I hear is how no one wants to see it. It's just weird.

As an audience member, I couldn't care less about an actor's/director's/choreographer's, etc sexual proclivities, peccadillos, kinks, fetishes or private life---I pay to see the artistry they do or don't put before an audience. And I suspect most people feel the same way. To pretend otherwise is hypocrisy at its most telling.

DANG, R157. He is GORGEOUS. Who's had him??

[quote]why not just tear the place down and put in a Whole Foods.

Because there's a Whole Foods at Columbus Circle, six blocks away.

I always thought the movie "Breaking Away" would make a good musical. Did anyone ever attempt it?

R192 I can see it now -- "Starlight Express" but with bicycles!

How come we never talk about the shower scene from the movie Evita? The third guy in line is popping a boner.

R194 = Madonna, still trying to promote the idea that the movie of "Evita" is not just a dreary piece of shit.

For an ass that won't quit, I give you Travis Kent.

Oh say that’s not true r 188. I love me some Stevie K. I’d certainly pinch his buttocks.

Maybe Pretty Woman is going to reverse the genders of the two lead characters. Tough businesswoman and gay-for-pay escort.

R184 you always hear about the nurturing in the Bway community: is it a lie?

Why are they that way?

Darren Criss would have been perfect for the gender switch of Pretty Woman. But I’d cast Douglas Sills as the millionaire who falls for him.

The casting is so fucking unappealing. Steve Kazee looks like a homeless man and Barks body looks anorexic which makes her head look huge. Everyone knows you gotta have some meat on yer bones to be a whore, darlln! They should have done something interesting with the casting like Leslie Odom as Edward and Karen Olivio as Vivian.

Sorry, R201 babes, busy oiling up Ramin for his shirtless scenes in CHESS at the KenCen... jealous? Raul is. ha.

Karen Olivo as Vivian? They’d have to cut all the dancing numbers.

So I guess Karen Olivo has given up on the idea of an arts-and-crafts life in Wisconsin?

Can we please get back back to Peter Saide? Was that his name??

Who's had him?

Peter Saide looking very well packaged in his Skivvies show with James Snyder

I’m so delighted to see that discussion of hot Broadway bodies has returned to the Theatre Gossp threads!

Travis Kent is too weird to be hot. Is he still soliciting funds to help with his fire emergency?

I’ve worked with John Copley a few times. He’s always been a creep that did a few interesting productions in the sixties. He should have been put out to pasture a LONG time ago.

Opera in general needs a major housecleaning from top to bottom, and that includes everyone on staff at the Met (singers, chorus, administration, conductors, you name it,) and everyone who works on the business side as well. It’s a shithole of epic proprortions.

Why are we discussing opera in the theatre gossip thread? Isn’t there a thread for opera queens?

The Met should replace Peter Gelb with Francesca Zambello. She's not much of a director but she's a wonderful producer and leader.

Fuck that, R211.

So typically American...everything's either Puritanical or hedonistic, good or bad, black or white, no areas of gray, no allowing for human foibles...such simplistic, childish thinking...

R187, anybody who uses the term "snowflake" is scum by definition. Thanks for defining yourself. And please enjoy yourself in continuing to support the POS's who think they're being witty when they make fun of people dying.

I think we know who you are, r214. You ARE special!

James Snyder has a wonderful hairy chest. Why would he wax it all off?

What about cute li'l Adam Kantor, who sings the best song in "The Band's Visit" (Answer Me)? Is he gay? Who's had him?

R217 He's gay. He use to date Matt Doyle.

R218 they're ALL gay. I think broadway is always on a power trip. They wanna make sure actors know their place. I had a director tell me that. His exact words were "actors need to know their place". That's why they make them audition like 7 or 8 times dragging it out for a year. So unnecessary. It's all run by idiots.

Has anyone told Adam how fucking ridiculous that idiotic tattoo looks? Or how much it limits his casting choices by at least 50%?

That's not a tattoo, idiot.

Time is running out for Jerry Mitchell and little Ricky. His days of sexual abuse and harassment are coming to a close. WTF, New York Times?

R222, that’s what happens when a director is born from affirmative action for former chorus boys.

I hear that the UK tabloids will be after Jerry, specifically for how he’s “forced” certain dance personnel on Kinky Boots in London into three ways with him and the Ginger Prince.

A "Hamilton" sing-along? Kill me now.

R220, as R221 said, it isn't a tattoo. However, rarely is an actor asked about tattoos during the audition. Basically, it becomes the costume designer's problem.

Velcro doesn't solve everything.

[quote]Frozen hasn't made that many changes since Denver. Don't expect much.

It will be worth it just to feast my eyes on Adam Perry.

Michael Grandage finds Shakespeare in "Frozen."

I want some of what Grandage is smoking.

Does Birds Eye get product placement?

How dumb does one have to be to watch Adam Kanton sing a "Call Me" phone medley and not realize the phone on his chest was drawn on for the number?

I want to make sexy with Broadway chorus boy. Please how do I make sexy with Broadway chorus boy?

[quote] I want to make sexy with Broadway chorus boy. Please how do I make sexy with Broadway chorus boy?

Stand at the stage door with your penis hanging out. He'll notice you immediately amongst all the crazed fangurls.

Unless you are a crazed fangurl, which, in that case, you're out of luck

Evan Todd in Heathers

Michael Grandage revived Evita with an Eva who couldn't sing and a Che who couldn't act. 'nuff said.

The Jerry Mitchell rumors don't make sense to me. I know several people who have worked with him and he just doesn't sound like someone who would force himself on anyone. He's not a fugly Weinstein or Spacey. He's still a hot daddy. I don't get it.

What the hell is Evan Todd wearing under those briefs? It looks like another pair.

It’s possible, r238. If that was his costume for the show, I imagine they covered their bases, so to speak.

What Evan lacks in ass he makes up for in biceps

Fortunately, Evan doesn’t look like he’s lacking anything in penis.

Who keeps trying to make Evan Todd happen?

No one is trying to make him happen, dear. We're simply admiring his beauty.

Evan actually looked like he had plenty of ass in that striptease cabaret thing posted earlier.

Evan todd looks like a more refined josh groban to me. Jerry Mitchell is not a hot daddy. He's too nelly. He would have to force me and i wouldn't do it.

Someone here must have had Evan Todd and Adam Kantor, please tell us stories of same.

Do chorus boys still put rolled up socks in their crotch like they did during the Golden Age?

CBS is repeating part of last night's 48 hours right now.

^ Sorry, I posted that on the Robert Wagner thread.

R232-"And I drawed it myself"

Robert Wagner would have been perfect in DeathTrap.

I could easily see him in the same role Christopher Reeve played in the movie, but Reeve was a better actor.

If Simon Russell Beale couldn't pull off DEATHTRAP, then Robert Wagner would have surely been at a loss.

Sorry, guys-it looks like a Broadway stage version of The Greatest Showman is going to happen and could open as early as next spring. Hugh would be in it for first ten weeks but Jeremy Jordan would be in the Zac Efron role. And of course Keala Settle will be in it too in a built up role. I wonder how many reprises of “This Is Me” there will be?

Thank you Mr. Ryan!!!

So we need ANOTHER Broadway musical about PT Barnum?

Answer:no!

At least the first "Barnum" has some good songs.

I saw Greatest Showman last night and while it was not a good movie, some of the staging and music (Never Enough, the song Jenny Lind sings, in particular) and set pices were great. I knew they'd bring it to Bway and it could be fabulous.

No, r259, no it couldn't be.

[quote]Do chorus boys still put rolled up socks in their crotch like they did during the Golden Age?

I believe the stuffer of choice these days is slices of white bread.

Why must every fucking movie become a broadway show???? Why would anyone pay $200 to watch that shit again?

The Greatest Showman will be a smashing success! Bravo! Bravo!

[quote] Why must every fucking movie become a broadway show???? Why would anyone pay $200 to watch that shit again?

Disney made every other studio think they could just crank out shows with forgettable scores based on popular movies. The difference is that Disney's been working at live entertainment longer than they have, and their shows usually have more recognizable songs.

Lots of love on Insta for Noah Galvin from his Evan Hansen co-stars. I guess he behaved himself. Still odd that they brought TT in to play half of Noah's final week.

[quote]Thank you Mr. Ryan

Just a minute. That song is advocating seven and a half cents per hour, which is a 30 dollar a week increase. No way will I support that kind of highway robbery!

Charlie Stemp with his legs in the air in "Dolly"

All I can see in that Charlie Stemp photo is the lazy choice of generic black socks! That costume is crying out for earth-toned argyles. I expect so much more from Tony Award-winning costumes.

Fuck no R211. Zambello is a cunt of the lowest order. She’s abusive and nasty. She’s lucky she still gets work in the current environment.

You're expecting somebody with the talent of Freddie Wittop in 2017?

I think all DLers were born too late. Even the eldergays if that's possible.

[quote]I think all DLers were born too late. Even the eldergays if that's possible.

For what, the Renaissance?

When did Sondheim start wearing a wedding ring?

A wedding ring goes on the fourth finger. It's not a pinky ring.

Don't you look at a woman's hand to see if she's already married?

It's a pinky ring if your ring finger got too fat for it.

He had no further use for Victor Garber's cock ring so he decided to wear it on his hand instead.

Looks more like it belonged to Nathan.

R272 - do we know when that photo is from? He looks more well groomed (and a bit trimmer?) than usual.

It's a still from 6 by Sondheim, and he's in costume. Possibly the ring's part of it. Or possibly he and whatsisname got married.

Or possibly he just wears a pinky ring.

What a fag

[quote]the lazy choice of generic black socks

The socks are brown, not black, and argyle would have been a nightmare when the costume itself is already so busy. The socks as is are perfect, as are the rest of the Dolly costumes.

Only known online picture of Freddie Wittop (far right.). His “secret identity” was as Federico Rey, Spanish dancer.

I saw JERRY SPRINGER THE OPERA as a local production in my town and was amazingly surprised by it. I thought it was brilliant and new.

BOYS IN THE BAND: I'm a bad gay, because I've never seen the movie. It looks so vicious and mean, filled with gay stereotypes from the 1970s. Seriously, elder gays --- why is this Broadway revival happening? What does it say about the gay movement today? Is it really a good piece of theater? I'm perplexed by the whole thing (I was going to say 'remounting' but ....)

Has anyone seen HELLO DOLLY with Bernadette? How have they changed the show? Certainly she does not recreate the eating scene in Act Two that Bette did so brilliantly ??

[quote]BOYS IN THE BAND: I'm a bad gay, because I've never seen the movie. It looks so vicious and mean, filled with gay stereotypes from the 1970s. Seriously, elder gays --- why is this Broadway revival happening? What does it say about the gay movement today? Is it really a good piece of theater? I'm perplexed by the whole thing (I was going to say 'remounting' but ....)

Stereotypes don't arise in the first place unless there's some degree of truth to them. At least in the past, stereotypes have been especially prevalent in the gay community because a certain percentage of gay men modeled themselves as a particular type -- hyper masculine leather men or effeminate queens, for example. Anyway, I would say that maybe only about half of the characters in THE BOYS IN THE BAND could really be described as stereotypes.

[quote]282 Only known online picture of Freddie Wittop

If he'd married Tom Wopat, he could have been Freddie Wittop-Wopat.

They they could adopt a daughter, Winnie Wittop-Wopat.

[quote] Certainly she does not recreate the eating scene in Act Two that Bette did so brilliantly ??

Ahem

[quote]r283 BOYS IN THE BAND: I'm a bad gay, because I've never seen the movie. It looks so vicious and mean, filled with gay stereotypes from the 1970s. Seriously, elder gays --- why is this Broadway revival happening? What does it say about the gay movement today? Is it really a good piece of theater? I'm perplexed by the whole thing

I have these questions, too. I've seen clips of the movie, and scenes from the play. It looks vile.

I think the original was a hit because there was a (at the time) "freak factor" to it....sort of a "let's go look at the animals in the zoo" element (?)

I've never seen Sondheim with combed hair.

I remember seeing the movie of BITB at the Tiffany Theatre. a revival house in LA, around 1990-91. My friend, who was ten years older than me, couldn't wait for me to see it, it was one of his favorite films. I was horrified by the negative, ugly depiction of the gay men in it. Not one positive character. I thought it's no wonder straight people had a negative view of gays for so long, when an actual gay playwright is presenting this mess as being representative of the gay world.

[quote]They they could adopt a daughter, Winnie Wittop-Wopat.

Not with Tom Wopat's reputation the couldn't!

R290 Oh dear. True!

The world will have to wait for little WWW [bold]: ([/bold]

[quote] Certainly she does not recreate the eating scene in Act Two that Bette did so brilliantly ??

Brilliantly? Bette was at her worst in that scene. It was so unbelievable and poorly done, and worst of all, not the least bit funny.

[quote]I remember seeing the movie of BITB at the Tiffany Theatre. a revival house in LA, around 1990-91. My friend, who was ten years older than me, couldn't wait for me to see it, it was one of his favorite films. I was horrified by the negative, ugly depiction of the gay men in it. Not one positive character. I thought it's no wonder straight people had a negative view of gays for so long, when an actual gay playwright is presenting this mess as being representative of the gay world.

I think you're looking at it backwards. The play and movie of TBITB have to be viewed in context. The play opened Off-Broadway in April 1968, more than a year before Stonewall. The unhappiness of the characters is a result of their being openly feared and/or hated by society at large. That's my interpretation, but there are a few lines in the script that I think make it pretty clear that's what the author was saying.

Anyone living today who has no clue of what it was like to be gay before Stonewall -- either because they're too young to have experienced it or because they're ignorant of history -- should probably refrain from criticizing THE BOYS IN THE BAND.

It's such an ignorant assertion that BitB is about a bunch of vile queens. There's ONE character who's vile in his behaviour: Michael. The rest have varying degrees of behaving badly.

I'm probably younger than some of the "perplexed" who've never seen the movie but I wouldn't dare to give an opinion (even if disguised as a question) without taking the time to watch the movie first.

I'd love to have an Emory as a friend, even if I don't eat casserole.

I take that back. The black guy and the cowboy don't really misbehave. Nor does Donald, who should be played by Jonathan Groff in the revival.

I'll admit, I'm not wild about the telephone game as a device. But it's really Michael's story, even if the title is in thr plural.

Speaking of not remembering the book seller's name. Have any productions had POCs in any of the other parts? It would obviously be too much of a stretch for Michael but...

So much dialogue is made of Bernard being the token black guy in their group of friends, it would defeat the purpose of the character of Bernard if there was another black actor in the cast.

The eating scene in HD has been present in the script and production since Carol Channing masticated before an audience.

Yes we know where that corn came from r298.

Wasn't it originally spun sugar which made Channing so sick they made it cotton balls that she then spits into her napkin?

The film eliminates the whole stuffing her face joke though she is clearly enjoying the food.

There was a huge LIFE Magazine cover story about Carol and the success of Hello Dolly! when the show originally opened and much was made in the article about the hot young genius prop guy who invented the recipe for the dumplings in the eating scene which were mostly composed of cotton corn.....er...candy. Odd, in that you'd think with Carol's weird diet she wouldn't want all that sugar in her system.

IIRC the biggest problem was keeping the substance from floating off the plates. What are the current dumplings made of? Surely not cotton candy!

Oh, that sounds familiar. Didn't he play a small role in the Merrily We Roll Alone section? The producer who rejects the songwriting duo?

HELLO, DOLLY! on Broadway in 2018 is so depressing... it's such a creaky, tired old warhorse. It has nothing to say to a modern audience.

Yes, it's classic musical theatre... but jeez.

It'll close after Bernadette. Just look at the grosses.

If not? Shortly thereafter.

Then, in 30+ years...

yes, 302.

(and his hair was combed front and back for that).

I can't imagine it had anything to say to an audience even in 1964.

It was propelled by its original brilliant Champion staging much like Bennett's Chorus Line which proved that the Pulitzer was always a crock of shit.

as Hamilton proved AGAIN!

[quote]Merrily We Roll Alone

Okay, that’s a new one.

I believe the Charlie Stemp pic is from Half A Sixpence and not Dolly. Production photos of the new Dolly cast have not been released yet. As a matter of fact, they still have photos of Bette and DHP on the website.

You think Bette ate her dinner brilliantly? Meh. It was tiresome, and she milked it for all it was worth. She would have chewed the scenery if it were covered in bernaise.

To me, bette copied carol channing during the dinner scene. She was bad in the role doing her usual bullshit. Why do you all worship her? I don't get it. She sucks. That voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

[quote]Merrily We Roll Alone

I preferred the sequel, "Shuffling Alone."

How many times have we had this discussion R311?!? It was SHUFFLE Alone!

It was Swiffering Alone.

I thought it was "Making Love Alone."

[quote] So much dialogue is made of Bernard being the token black guy in their group of friends, it would defeat the purpose of the character of Bernard if there was another black actor in the cast.

There are gay Asian and Latino actors, you know.

a gaysian for Emory would work

"It has nothing to say to a modern audience."

Come on, you can do better than that. THINK, for Gesu's sake: the entire show is a life-affirming resurrection myth (Thornton Wilder's great theme), one that has and will always have relevance as long as humans have souls. Who can NOT identify with wanting to make the most of the short time we have on earth? Or appreciating the miracle and wonderment of life: "It only takes a moment to be loved a whole life long"---WOW! Wilder even goes so far as to restate the theme in the subplot with having TWO widows in the piece eager to rejoin life. Just because the characters don't walk around with their noses buried in their phones or taking selfies or contemplating their navel doesn't make it irrelevant---in fact, it makes it ETERNAL.

Fun fact: In 1955, The Matchmaker played on Broadway. And who played Ermengarde? Mrs. Basil Fawlty and the mother of Samuel West, Prunella Scales.

YIKES. what the f*ck are they doing?

Papi needs to go on a diet! Or get some loser clothes.

LOOSER

lol!!

Wrong, r308, it’s Hello Dolly. Here’s a picture of Taylor Trensch wearing the exact same costume. (Google is your friend)

The New York backdrop is also evidence that it isn’t “Half a Sixpence.”

Will theater ever learn that rehearsal footage and photos make your show look like CRAP and sell zero tickets?

Wow, Taylor Trensch got fat. I remember him from about 4 years back in Matilda and he was a beanpole. Now it makes sense that he's taking over for Ben Platt.

I just wanna smack raul esparza across the face. So fucking annoying.

Any educated guesses as to Hello, Dolly! 's weekly nut? I probably won't make it back to NY until May, but I'm really hoping the show is still running then. Probably my last chance to see Bernadette in a Broadway musical.

R326 = dramedy, The fat king of weekly nut reports

Funniest dinner scene in dolly?

Joanne Worley!!!

Hands down

Is SpongeBob gonna make it to the Tonys?

Looking forward to seeing it tonight. Noticed its gross was down to 50% last week.

R328 no. The fat "king" is raul esparza. Hi Raul. 🖑 You suck. I wouldn't cast you in community theater.

Got the Mean Girls "discount" ticket mailer yesterday. $129 is what's considered a discount these days. Scary

How does Emory behave badly? How do Hank and Larry? Donald?

Michael is the only bitchy queen in the group, and he's white, Catholic, and from Mississippi. He accuses Emory of "Uncle Tomming" Reuben, then reveals himself to be not just racist, but antisemitic as well. And at the end, Donald gives him a valium after he breaks down.

Harold is the real hero of the play. He's the one who tells Michael — and an audience that needed to hear it then and needs to hear it even more now — the truth: homosexuality is incurable, not through medicine, not through therapy, and not through prayer. He's the only cannabis user and has none of Michael's rage issues.

As a play and a movie, [italic]The Boys in the Band[/italic] has already passed the test of time. With a cast like this, if it fucks up, it will be Ryan Murphy's fault and no one else's.

Boys in the band is not that serious. Get a grip. The mark of the beast is coming. Discuss that.

[quote]Boys in the band is not that serious.

Better than anything by that self-hating Jew Tony Kushner, and it'll likely age better than its post-AIDS spiritual successor [italic]Love! Valour! Compassion![/italic] which nonetheless still managed to outdo this show's sequel.

At first I thought Raul has been working out and bulked up. Then I realized it was just fat. What a crappy cast. That's the best they could do?

Broadway grosses. It's just two weeks into Broadway legend Bernadette Peters' Great White Way return in Hello, Dolly! and audiences are flocking to the Shubert Theatre to experience the Tony winner's thrilling performance. This past week at the box office served as proof. Hello, Dolly! took in a hearty gross of $1,012,052.96, with delighted theatergoers filling the Shubert to 91.71% capacity. Clearly, the star power of stage great Peters and her co-star Victor Garber paired with Broadway newbies Charlie Stemp and Molly Griggs are keeping the Tony-winning revival on the road to long-running perfection.

[quote] Just because the characters don't walk around with their noses buried in their phones or taking selfies or contemplating their navel doesn't make it irrelevant---in fact, it makes it ETERNAL.

I love you R317

R336 i agree. R337 RIGHT! WTF.

Bernadette in conversation.

No gay playwright has had as inconsistent an output as Terence McNally. His best work is genuinely good, but his worst is dull and self-indulgent.

I'm afraid to ask, but Kushner as "self-hating Jew" = refuses to acknowledge the divine infallibility of Israel?

But he can spell his own name.

He did more than just that, R343. How could a gay Jew sell out his fellow gay Jews to a bunch of homophobic Nazi camel fuckers?

R344 is in response to R342.

R345. you and Mamaleh need to get a room and hate fuck while shouting out the names of all the people who have questioned, even mildly, Israel's policies. By your definition, all of us who criticize Trump are self-hating Americans (gee, didn't he even jet say something like that?)

He said he didn't want it to exist. Kushner is an Uncle Tom. He's no better than David fucking Duke.

Cannabis has been shown to help people with HIV. Israel is leading the way in getting it legal and seeing how it works. By attacking the existence of Israel, not just its actions, he is hurting gay people.

Meanwhile, name one good thing Islam, the PA, or any majority Muslim country on Earth has done for gay people.

Cannabis is medicine. It helps ALL things.

So Kushner's a "self-hating Jew" by Likudnik standards? Got it.

Kind of what I expected in this snake pit.

No, just by the standards of any gay Jew who's NOT self-hating. Israel was the first country I traveled to after I came out as gay at 15, and I was treated very well there.

My friend Barry liked Israel but felt more welcome in Berlin.

Ok enough of the jew shit. Let's get back to the theatuh.

Without Jews, f@gs, and gypsies, there is no theatre.

Williamstown season looks lily white. Pushback against diversity?

R356 ain't that the truth

Matt Anscher, the Loon, is stinking up the thread again with all his self-hating Jew bullshit. Matt, go watch Mary Poppins and shut up.

R357 everything is ALWAYS lily white. Don't ever be fooled again.

No, R358, you watch [italic]Bedknobs and Broomsticks[/italic] and [italic]God's Own Country[/italic] and shut up.

Bernadette absolutely nails the dumpling-eating scene, and got more laughs from it last Sunday than Bette ever did. Midler was begging for laughs, Bernadette just plays the scene, stuffs her mouth, plays it like a silent film star, and is brilliant. No overacting from Bernie!

That old-time movie quality was part of why she was so well-cast in [italic]Annie[/italic], no matter how many liberties Huston took with the source material.

Matt, your mother is calling you. She says don't come home, and remember to play on the freeway.

No one who hates a classic like [italic]The Boys in the Band[/italic] but likes a shitty movie whose name means "beat up gay men" has any business projecting THEIR self-loathing onto anyone.

You're not funny anymore, Matt. You're just tiresome. Insane and tiresome. No one will pay attention to you anymore. You're worthless to DL.

Not funny anymore? When was Matt the Loon funny?

He's a plague.

No matter how you cast it, Boys in the Band is a pretty ugly experience. I had never seen it until the offbway revival a few years ago. I know its landmark because its "the first" but that doesn't mean its good or necessary. It's just mean and ugly for the most part. In a weird way, it's like also fundi-Christians who celebrate the old testament and ignore the new. There's a reason they want to dwell in the ugly -- not one I understand. I think this production will sell huge, however. That's a "to the bank" cast.

I've had my privacy threatened for defending the artistic merits of two movies set in England, one with a gay cast member, the other is actually about a gay romance, but THEY'RE mean and ugly?

And Robert LaTourneaux was hot, I don't care what anyone says. And Cliff Gorman and his wife took care of him when he was dying of AIDS. That sort of bond won't be there in the new cast.

[quote]No overacting from Bernie!

So, she's trying something new?

[quote]That sort of bond won't be there in the new cast.

Who gives a shit, fuckhead?

Why would that bond be there with the new cast? They're doing this for a limited run. The original cast was together doing the show for a couple years, then they all did the film together.

I just expect them to be good at the jobs they are hired to do.

I'm surprised Spongebob is not doing well. Only 50% capacity? Wow. I've seen a bootleg -- I don't live in NYC, and have no plans to visit -- and thought it was adorable and wonderful. Some of the songs are fantastic. The opening number is beyond infectious and I could listen to it on a loop for days. Some of it was awful; that Aerosmith song? HORRIBLE. Were they afraid to tell Steven Tyler "no"? It is really a great musical, and I have never seen the tv show. And the guy who played Spongebob is beyond adorable, and has a killer body. Anyone had him?

I loved Spongebob! I walked in expecting to hate it. I has having nightmares of Shrek before hand.

It's gotta sting that Spongebob is such a massive flop. They were touting that show for close to two years before it opened as being the new savior of Broadway. I'm glad it's tanking. Christ, you can see that kind of crap on ice at any convention center across the country.

Do they not realize that these need to be better than just feature-length theme park shows in order to be worth the time and investment? And a theme park also comes with rides, food, and the ability to actually interact with Spongebob.

Close spongebob and shut the fuck up about boys in the band. Next topic please!

Why not just combine the two and have Spongebob and Patrick as Michael and Donald?

I wouldn't mind a few more thought on spongebob's demise before we move on. It is a despicable effort at branded entertainment. And missing the point that the audience is tween girls who need their class-hopping princess fantasies.

[italic]Beavis and Butt-Head: The Musical[/italic]

"class-hopping princess fantasies. "

Great phrase R380

[quote]And missing the point that the audience is tween girls who need their class-hopping princess fantasies.

And Broadway had none of those back in the Golden Age.

I hated Spongebob. It's targeted to 5 year olds.

Never judge a show by its intended audience, R384. If that were always the case, nobody but gay people would watch gay movies, plays, and TV shows.

I think Jackie Hoffman just tweeted that she’ll be in To Wong Foo...with Ann Harada. Talk about random.

Spongebob will tour like a champ.

Santino is doing the Patrick Swayze part for the reading, isn’t he? Or is he doing Leguizamo’s role?

To Wong Foo was behind the times as a movie and it'll be the same as a musical. No one wants to see this.

To Wong Foo- the film was a cynical, commercial, ripoff of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. It will be ironic if it makes a better musical that Priscilla did, at least on Broadway.

Re Spongebob. I'm usually very dismissive of those shows, but I loved it. Yes, it sounds like a horrible, cash-grabbing idea of a musical, but it is done with heart and no irony, and is really wonderful. It's not going to change the world, but it was a wonderful night out. As for To Wong Foo? I will completely contradict what I just said, and will dismiss this without even seeing it. I know it has nothing to do with Priscilla, but, for some reason, I always lump the two together, and the Priscilla musical was terrible. Who needs to see that? Are they just going after the La Cage crowd?

[italic]Priscilla[/italic] bothered me because only the tranny actually got a man, and that sends the message that men have to destroy their bodies to get a man.

[italic]To Wong Foo[/italic] at least bothered to distinguish between drag and trans.

[quote]Are they just going after the La Cage crowd?

Is there such a thing? Who in god's name would make up such a "crowd"?

[quote] Are they just going after the La Cage crowd?

If you want to do that, then learn to write better songs.

[quote] To Wong Foo at least bothered to distinguish between drag and trans.

I'd be willing to bet that won't happen in the musical. The ONLY reason this is going forward is because they've somehow figured out how to shove the tranny agenda into it.

Even Max Bialystock had his limits.

During rehearsals and early previews, Channing ate actual dumplings but they stuck in her teeth and around her gums. They tried mashed potatoes, and then beets, but they presented the same problems. Same with ice cream and that also melted quickly under the lights. It was the prop man who finally thought of spun sugar, aka cotton candy, and for years Channing used that. A cotton candy machine was kept backstage or in the wings and the prop man spun a new batch every night. There some publicity spun around it.

In later years, both Channing's blood sugar levels and her waistline were aggravated by the sugar. Another prop man took thin tissues, soaked them in tea for the proper color and dried them around light bulbs. Channing just kept stuffing them in her mouth and at the end when she made a big production of wiping her mouth, she spit it all out into the napkin.

Rice paper balls are sometimes used. I don't know what they are doing in the current revival.

Don't forget the KINKY BOOTS niche. Drag must make tourists giggle.

Can someone explain why DEH needs two people to cover Even and the mom? Genuine factual question, not being snarky - why isn't one enough? It looks from Insta like the understudies/standbys/alternates have to go and hang out at the theater every night.

Miss Sally Struthers used my sister's hair for the "eating scene".

All my sisters' hair, actually.

I only have 32.

[quote]Rice paper balls are sometimes used. I don't know what they are doing in the current revival.

Tovah used Rice paper at Paper Mill.

Very wise reply, R317.

The central marketing challenge is that if you're adult, you feel like you need a kid to see it. It doesn't make sense as a "night out" and the purist Broadway crowd is going to take its time seeing it for the same reason. Disney gets away with it because "Disney presents" has generations of marketing and personal power behind it. "Nickelodeon presents" doesn't have the same heft.

[quote]To Wong Foo- the film was a cynical, commercial, ripoff of Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Stop spouting things that aren't true. "To Wong Foo" started shooting at the beginning of July, 1994. "Priscilla" wasn't released until two months later in the US, and several months later everywhere else. "To Wong Foo" is not a ripoff of it.

Good point, R403, although it never occurred to me that i needed a kid to see SPongebob, but that could be because I never watched it as a kid -- I was an adult before it started airing -- so I don't associate it as a kids' show.

When I saw SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, the kids around me did not seem very interested in the show.

I was a teen when it premiered and I thought it was funny. The early years when creator Stephen Hillenburg was involved were pretty well-written, then, after he left, it just turned into a farrago of face-ripping gags propping up stock storylines.

[R390] [R404] I don't believe Wong Fu is a rip-off of Priscilla, but the perception that it is has been out there for a long time. After Priscilla's successful runs in Australia, the West End and on Broadway it's going to be very hard for a musical of Wong Fu to appear to be anything other than a copy-cat.

It will be more likely to be negatively compared to [italic]Kinky Boots[/italic].

To Wong Foo isn't an actual rip off of Priscilla, it's just vastly inferior to it as a film.

For those speculating that Bette would do "Dolly" in LA: The new Pantages season was just announced, and it includes "Dolly" next January-- but no mention of who might be playing the title role. And given that it's a full year away, it seems unlikely that Bette would do it. Thoughts?

(Other shows announced: Bronx Tale, Cats, Charlie/Chocolate, Les Mis, Fiddler, Saigon.)

I'm surprised by the lackluster schedule for Pentages. You would think that they would have a more eclectic and less family-oriented schedule. I can see that shit anywhere.

They want people to attend their shows R412. It's called Show BUSINESS.

Just saw Annie Baker’s John at The National in London. New Yorkers, why didn’t you warn us?!

Without the "show" in show business, you've got nothing.

It's possible to have successful season at a subscription house without pandering to the lowest common denominator, R413. I would think that audiences in a major city like LA would be more welcome to a challenge.

A lot of my friends in Detroit have complained of the quality of some of the subscription series. Apparently, the recent run of The Bodyguard was laughable even to typically enthusiastic audiences.

I saw THE BODYGUARD at papermill closing night. Better than i thought. I had very low expectations. It's a Whitney Houston jukebox musical.

Well, if that original rumor is true, the LA Dolly, the one who's doing the tour, is Reba McEntire, who will go in for a few weeks in NY and then take it on tour.

It would not be unlikely, though, that Bette could say "hold LA for me" - that's happened often in the past (Gwen and Chita going into the Chicago tour for LA, Anna Maria Alberghetti going into LA for the Carnival tour).

Yes, Williamstown is very Lily White. And I am playing Miss Lily White

[quote] Cats, Charlie/Chocolate, Les Mis, Fiddler, Saigon.

1990 called. It wants its season back.

The Ahmanson usually gets more of the "adventurous" choices.

I miss the Shubert.

Forget Bette, forget Bernie, forget Reba. The new gold standard for Dolly is here, accompanied by her crew of male & female-in-drag waiters!

It's the highlights, so naturally they left out her painfully unfunny reading of the book scenes.

Steve Wynn was offering Bette a ton of money to do Dolly at his hotel but that's out the window now.

Williamstown season like a klan rally. Don't tell Cynthia Erivo.

She had already turned him down for the Vegas gig, before his sex scandal broke. She has no desire to return to Vegas for any length of time.

She's not adverse to playing Vegas again but she turned it down because she detests Steve Wynn.

But she loves playing LA and might do that. She repeated that Sue Mengers play there.

The Pantages ad didn't actually mention stars for ANY of the plays. Maybe Bette is going to do the LA run of Dolly.

[quote]She's not adverse to playing Vegas again

The word you were looking for is AVERSE, not adverse.

r429 But do you think she'd do it again a full year after closing on Broadway?

R431 - I have no idea. But she has told people she's thinking about it.

r430 - Noted, thanks.

^ Should have signed the above R428, not429.

To Wong Foo on Ovation right now

Ovation is what Bravo used to be before Andy Cohen got to it.

Why would Dolly happening in as long as a year (or 2 or 3) in LA make Bette want to do it any less?

Of course, she will do LA. Can you really imagine her letting Reba or someone else take that part in the town that so used and abused her? She will want all the suits to see her triumph. And, obviously, now that she knows the show and what the production is all about, she has nothing to fear. I'm sure DHP will join her.

I was reading some article about yet another bullshit outrage on Twitter over something minor, and right there smack dab in the middle of all the tweets screeching and gnashing, was Miss Cynthia Erivo. Doesn't this bitch have anything better to do with her time than insert herself into every single faux outrage there is? This had zero to do with her, yet there she was. I never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather have Fantasia.

LA has never been a serious theater town, at least not since the early days of Gordon Davidson at the Taper in the 1970s.

I worked on several plays at the Taper and the Geffen in the 1990s that were the same huge hit productions in NY and we could never get an audience beyond the meager subscription crowd interested.

[quote] After Priscilla's successful runs in Australia, the West End and on Broadway

I can't speak for the other cities, but the Broadway run was hardly successful. The National tour was a bust, too.

It sounds like Wong Foo has a near operatic score -- the mention Aaron Copeland in the article. I think it sounds pretty far from a jukebox affair.

Ramin looks hot as hell in CHESS

Just heard on the 11:00 o'clock news that Wynn has resigned from his hotels.

Maybe Bette will reconsider Vegas.

[quote]LA has never been a serious theater town

Not true -- there are dozens of small theaters all over the area where you can see excellent productions, mostly due to the abundance of talented performers and behind-the-scenes people who live in the area and are always in search of work.

Saw “Anastasia” tonight through TDF and enjoyed it more than I anticipated.

Max von Essen is now in the Ramin role.

Cut all this SpongeBob crap. Who was at the dress of Hey Look Me Over and what's the song list like?

Doug Carter Beane & Husband are the hacks of all time.

It’s Audra who will be closing “Hello Dolly” on Broadway. Heard it from reliable source. You heard it here first

It’s a hard knock life INDEED!

Who will be the matinee Dolly, R447?

Poor Andrea. She was so wonderful as Annie. Really, she was. After that, she wasn't the equal of the young Garland but was still affecting in that well done TV movie.

But then she didn't make the transition.

Wanda Sykes, R449.

Of course Bette will play LA! She'll spend the next few months recuperating from her year on broadway then go back into rehearsals in November for a January opening. Please! what else has she got going on?

According to the original rumor, Audra is closing Dolly (“major Broadway star”), but Reba (major star who has done theatre and has a national profile) is going on for a few weeks after Bernie leaves.

Reba has just as much reason to want LA as Bette - would she really step out of the show for the LA run? Or will the Pantages run be its own sit down company, not part of the tour? Bette does three months, then Bernie or Audra follow?

R318 Yes : ) And Dolly was played by Maude (the other one) (aka Minnie Castevet)

Wasn't Bette going to be doing a national tour in which there would be a Hello, Dolly section? Or was that scrapped?

Puzzled by the above comment about Annie Baker's JOHN at the National in London -- a superlative production of a terrific play that, if anything, is even better here than it was Off Broadway. Marylouise Burke gives a performance for the ages.

[quote]I saw THE BODYGUARD at papermill closing night. Better than i thought. I had very low expectations. It's a Whitney Houston jukebox musical.

THE BODYGUARD was more or less just a Deborah Cox concert. She was the only one who sang. You like her, you like the show.

[quote]But then she didn't make the transition.

Good. Losing Bruce Jenner was bad enough.

R456 I'm talking about the material. The songs are Whitney. Deborah leaves and when the understudy goes on it's a whitney jukebox musical. Shut the fuck up. Trying to correct somebody about nothing. Always gotta be right huh? You must be EXHAUSTING.

Why doesn't M do Coco?

There would finally be something on Broadway for us DLers to see.

[quote] Not true -- there are dozens of small theaters all over the area where you can see excellent productions, mostly due to the abundance of talented performers and behind-the-scenes people who live in the area and are always in search of work.

Really? See, I have the complete opposite opinion and it's a topic I discuss with a lot of Angelenos. Yes, there are a lot of small theaters here, but the productions are usually one step above community theater in every way, shape and form. When I first moved here I used to go a lot because the prices were so cheap and I missed seeing theater in NYC, but after a while, I got tired of the poor quality and the idea of driving to see something I'd only watch if my 5th grader was doing it became massively unappealing. I am curious what you've seen recently (and where) that you would recommend if you're so inclined so that I might keep an eye on that venue and perhaps reconsider.

[quote] I saw THE BODYGUARD at papermill closing night. Better than i thought. I had very low expectations. It's a Whitney Houston jukebox musical.

[quote] THE BODYGUARD was more or less just a Deborah Cox concert. She was the only one who sang. You like her, you like the show.

[quote] [R456] I'm talking about the material. The songs are Whitney. Deborah leaves and when the understudy goes on it's a whitney jukebox musical. Shut the fuck up. Trying to correct somebody about nothing. Always gotta be right huh? You must be EXHAUSTING.

I'm not R456, but I don't know what you're getting all bent out of shape for. No one criticized you or corrected you. If anything, he was agreeing with you. You sound like the exhausting one.

I'm a former New Yorker who lived in Los Angeles for 10 years (2003-2013), and I'm with R460. There is lots of theater in LA but it mostly sucks.

R460, It has been a while since I was in LA, but that is exactly as I remember it. Lots of Equity Waver productions in 99 seat theaters. Sometimes with some pretty big name actors wanted to stretch themselves. Otherwise, it is basically commercial crap. And FYI, I don't remember the Mark Taper being all that great. Maybe by comparison, but basically it was Williamstown on the West Coast.

The Taper isn't that great. It's hit and miss. The Geffen is appalling. The Pasadena Playhouse used to have at least one decent show per season, but I can't remember the last time I went there. It's gotta be over a decade. When the Kirk Douglas opened, they had some really interesting material, and 2 1/2 years ago they did a production of Todd Almond and Matthew Sweet's Girlfriend that was amazing, but that theater is SJW central. All the productions there seem to be politically motivated.

I forgot to add a quick story about seeing a production of Bash by Neil LaBute at a small theater in Toluca Lake in 2004. I had seen the show Off-Bway and really was knocked over by it (and I'm not a LaBute fan). I had a friend visiting from NYC who had not seen the show so we decided to go see it. The production was godawful, the acting, the direction, etc. everything. But there was also something about the show that was off, really off. And it had been about 5+ years since I had seen it so it wasn't fresh in my mind.

We got back home and I had an old VHS of the production from when it aired on Showtime in 2000, so I put it on to show my friend that the play actually was good, etc... and we start watching it and immediately I realized what was off about it. The theater company had removed every mention of Mormonism. Don't ask me why, or how they could get away with it, but they did it.

Reba as Dolly? Yeah, no. Maybe if it's set in Yonkers, Oklahoma, with a side trip to the Harmonica Gardens. But I do wish I'd seen her Annie Getcher Gun.

You'd rather see someone meh play it Irish than a dynamic, talented, charismatic performer like Reba McEntire who could do everything the show and score needs, EXCEPT play Irish?

If Reba plays it country, it will be a hoot.

Reba should do the Susan Johnson role in Most Happy Fella.

[quote]a side trip to the Harmonica Gardens

LOL

Oh, her feet r468.......

Yeah, after headlining in Annie, she gets to play a supporting role.

Reba is great but wrong for Dolly Maker her Unsinkable!

In the musical that sinks like a stone?

Academy Award Winner Lee Grant added to the line-up...more to follow. I have met fellow Oscar winners Patty Duke, Ernest Borgnine, Cloris Leachman, Martin Landau, Richard Dreyfuss, Rita Moreno, Louise Fletcher, George Kennedy and Oscar nominees Ann-Margret, Piper Laurie, Tony Curtis, Linda Blair, Barbara Hershey, Burt Young, Sally Kellerman, Candy Clark at CHILLER.

R461 and it sounds like you should stay out of it then. So you can shut the fuck up too.

[quote] [R461] and it sounds like you should stay out of it then. So you can shut the fuck up too.

Yup, exhausting. The poor people who have to deal with you in real life.

R475 has major anger management issues. What a horrible person he must be.

He was already on my ignore list.

R477 Yes isn't it just awful? Next topic please!

R478 good for you snowflake. Stay in that safe space. Brittle spirit.

R481 is that coco peru?

The simple truth, regardless of Reba’s regional accent, is that her glorious voice will make it seem like the Dolly score is being heard for the first time. Save Streisand, hers will be the definitive recording. It was the same with AGYG. It was as if the songs were composed for her. Well Hello Reba!

They have to ask her. The worst that can happen is she says no.

[quote] [R475] has major anger management issues. What a horrible person he must be.

And he keeps proving it as evidenced by R479 and R480

R483, do you think they'd do another cast recording with Reba if she only goes into the show for a short time? I don't recall they even did one with Reba for AGYG (though I could be mistaken). I know there was a promo floating around with a couple songs.

I remember the 1994 revival of Grease. They re-recorded the cast album after Brooke Shields took over as Rizzo, and then I think a couple years later when Jon Secada took over as Danny. I could understand the latter, as he was big for five minutes, but Brooke Shields??

They also did a re-record of Kiss of the Spider Woman when Vanessa Williams took over. I was hoping to like that more than the original, but what Chita lacks in pleasant tone, she makes up for in performance. WIlliams was just dull, though I always like hearing Howard McGillin. I wish they would have re-recorded The Secret Garden when he took over for Mandy.

[quote]The simple truth, regardless of Reba’s regional accent, is that her glorious voice will make it seem like the Dolly score is being heard for the first time.

jesus, MARY! and Joseph...

The Vanessa Williams KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN was a completely new recording on a different label. The Brooke Shields recordings of GREASE and WONDERFUL TOWN were re-releases of the same recordings on the same labels (RCA and DRG, respectively) with Brooke's vocals substituted for the originals of Rosie O'Donnell and Donna Murphy. There was no GREASE recording with Jon Secada.

I don’t get the notion that Reba doesn’t play “Irish.” Who cares? Very rarely does a Dolly play with an Irish accent, and when they do, they bomb. (Hello, Tovah). Just because her maiden name is Gallagher doesn’t mean she was fresh off the boat.

Look at Ruth Gordon and Shirley Booth and Channing and Bailey and Streisand and Midler. Not an Irish accent to be had among them, and no one cared.

Clips from “Hey Look Me Over” are up. Bebe sounds so-so, and the lyric rewrites for her song are not funny at all.

If you're that serious about someone who can "play Irish," then you might just as well get Tommy Steele.

Gallagher is an Irish name and many, many Southerners are of Irish/English/Scots descent. Particularly the white trash like me (grew up in rural NC and have a lot of Irish in me on my father's side). Just change her name in the cast listings to Dolly O'Hara Levi if it bothers you that much. And when I was growing up Dolly was a popular white trash Southern name (cf. Dolly Parton).

That's why they just disregarded it for Streisand.

I think Reba would be wonderful. She'll nail the comedy and sing the shit out of the score. You can't ask for more than that. After seeing her Annie Get Your Gun, it was obvious that she was a true musical comedy star. Unfortunately, because of her accent (or her inability to get rid of it for a role), it limits her in her choices of roles. I don't see why Dolly couldn't have originally been from the south. There's nothing in the text that says she couldn't have been. It's like why you cast colorblind - unless there's a legit reason why the character can't be played by a person of color, who cares?

There was a rumor going around that Reba was in talks to replace Bernadette in Gypsy, too. I'd have loved to have seen that. Might have been a train wreck, but I don't see why Rose couldn't have a southern accent even if the show begins in Seattle. Maybe they moved there from somewhere else. It's not as if the musical really sticks to hard, cold facts about the life of Gypsy Rose Lee.

And Mr. Gallagher could have been her first husband before she married Ephraim. Maybe Dolly is a black widow, leaving behind a string of dead husbands. One word of advice: don't eat the chowder.

I feel bad for Andrea McArdle. Amazing voice that's still in excellent shape, but she seems to have absolutely no sense of humor or comic timing at all. Has she EVER been funny? I saw her as Rose in Gypsy over a decade ago and she was just terrible, playing the role a lot like Betty Buckley did - cold, with zero humor. Like Betty, she sang the shit out of the score, though..even with the tiny orchestra that seemed to be made up of some wooden blocks and two Casios.

I remember her complaining about not getting cast as Hannigan in that last revival of Annie. Girl, you just ain't funny. Not that it mattered. Lapine directed all the humor out of all his Hannigans anyway. The only one who seemed to rebel and let loose a bit was Jane Lynch, who was easily the best of the Hannigan trio.

[quote] The Vanessa Williams KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN was a completely new recording on a different label. The Brooke Shields recordings of GREASE and WONDERFUL TOWN were re-releases of the same recordings on the same labels (RCA and DRG, respectively) with Brooke's vocals substituted for the originals of Rosie O'Donnell and Donna Murphy.

And?

[quote] scott baio AND his wife are odious.

It doesn't get more Irish than Pearl BAILEY.

What does Pearl Bailey have to do with Scott Baio, r497?

Re Pearl: many slaves took the last names of their former owners on their emancipation.

It was in reference to this

[quote]Maybe Dolly is a black widow

Goddamnit, you are right about Secada. I would have sworn on my life that I saw the recording with him in the Virgin Megastore in Times Square back when I worked on Bway. We used to go in there all the time in between shows on bad weather days to kill time. But I sure can't find any evidence of it. This is gonna drive me crazy for an hour.

But why the reference to Scott Baio and his wife?

I like the notion of Dolly as a black widow who keeps killing her husbands. Maybe at the very end, they could all be gathering for Horace’s funeral! “Put On Your Funeral Clothes”!

Long sigh for Virgin Megastore.

OT: Very long sigh for the Tower Records on lower Broadway and the one a block up from Lincoln Center. Did you know that for years Cher owned the penthouse in The Silk Building, the downtown location?

Whoever that is singing Look What Happened To Mabel is terrible.

I like that, r503. Did you know that in the unused final scenes from My Fair Lady, Higgins' servants are seen six months later discussing the mysterious disappearance of Eliza followed by Higgins and Pickering trying to pick up another "flower girl" on the steps of Covent Garden?

It's Alexandra Socha, r506, who was pretty good in Encores' Paint Your Wagon. Wasn't she also the one who wasn't invited to join Fun Home when it moved from off-Broadway to Broadway?

You must contact Bart Sher and let him know your ideas, r507. I've always been bored with Fair Lady, but a "Jack the Ripper" angle (who is killing the great flower girls of London?) is just what it needs to perk it up.

[quote] I like that, [R503]. Did you know that in the unused final scenes from My Fair Lady, Higgins' servants are seen six months later discussing the mysterious disappearance of Eliza followed by Higgins and Pickering trying to pick up another "flower girl" on the steps of Covent Garden?

Beats what was supposed to happen to us when we realize we Climbed Ev'ry Mountain all the way to Berchtesgaden!

Alexandra Socha was one of the better things in this Encores! presentation. Douglas Sills was too.

Does anyone remember the mash up Forbidden Broadway did of Cabaret and The Sound of Music?

Maria (indicating the MC): Children, come stand here next to me, away from The Thing.

How is Judy Kuhn in new encores show? What does she sing?

She sings "Once Upon a Time" from ALL AMERICAN and "Shalom" from MILK AND HONEY--in a fluttery soprano perhaps in homage to Eileen Herlie and Mimi Benzell. I've liked her singing in the past and expected better.

[quote]Reba has just as much reason to want LA as Bette - would she really step out of the show for the LA run? Or will the Pantages run be its own sit down company, not part of the tour? Bette does three months, then Bernie or Audra follow?

The Pantages run is less than three weeks (1/29 through 2/17) so no one is going to be doing three months.

Is it possible that Reba can be trained out of her accent for Dolly! performances, or is it set in stone, like Sofia Vergara's?

R515, since nothing's been officially announced, how do we know?

I think Reba's accent is part of her charm. It gives her that down home appeal. I don't think for a moment that anyone would object to a southern accent in the roll; suspending disbelief is not that difficult in that case.

As far as new cast recordings. Now that most releases are digital-only, it would take one day of studio time for Reba to replace Bette's vocals on the album. The musicians are already recorded, and the record is already mixed. All they have to do is mute Bette, substitute Reba, and upload it. They don't need to release a physical product, unless the want something to sell in the theater lobby, but even that is so much easier to do now with digital technology than it was 15 years ago with analog and vinyl.

Reba's accent wouldn't get in the way. It's not as thick as Minnie Pearl who would have made a FABULOUS Dolly in her day!

How is it possible that Carolee Carmello actually sounds WORSE than Lucy Ball singing Hey Look Me Over??? Those Encores clips of the show (not rehearsal) are horrendous. If that's the best of the evening.....well, I don't know what to say.

Does anyone question the wisdom of continuing the Dolly ad campaign and commercials which don't show a glimpse of the production now that Bette has left? I'm not sure shrouding it all in mystery is wise at this point in the run.

R520 = Gregg Edelman

Pickings on the road are very slim these days. Everyone was more or less forced to take Cats because not much is touring.

R521: Agreed.

Hello Dolly is 54 years old.

If people haven't heard it by now well I just don't know what to say.

Like roaches it will outlive nuclear annihilation.

I think the problem with all the marketing for Hello Dolly is that they made Bette Midler the focus of all the ads, when the focus should have been on the show itself. Bette will sell tickets without the added focus, whereas, now, the show seems somewhat "less than" because it doesn't have bet, and SHE was touted as the reason to see the show. It was a mistake. if they had celebrated and focused on the show and it's glorious score, they might not have had to put big stars in the part, and it might have run for a long time. Think Phantom. They might say who is playing the phantom, but he is not the selling point of the show; the show itself is.

Hello Dolly always has been and always will be a star vehicle. The show itself is very solid and can still play well with a lesser-known in the role but that’s not what a professional production has been about since Channing rocketed to stardom.

r517 What's your definition of "officially announced?"

[quote]if they had celebrated and focused on the show and it's glorious score, they might not have had to put big stars in the part, and it might have run for a long time

The show wasn’t a huge hit because of “its glorious score.” It was a huge hit because Bette Midler was in it. Period. No one needed a revival of Dolly, but a revival as a vehicle for a revolving door of big Broadway stars like Midler, Peters, Reba, Audra - that’s what people want to see.

What’s the dirt on Broadway.com and Paul Wontorek? Is he a diva? I tried to watch that Live at Five thing but they all look miserable. No chemistry at all. It actually seems like they despise each other. Just hand it over to that Matt kid. At least he seems fun and enthusiastic. Poor thing.

That's bizarre about the Dolly run in LA. It seems like all the Pantages runs are three weeks, which is probably appropriate for something like "A Bronx Tale." But the current "Hello, Dolly" with a major star? Why even bother for only three weeks? Even Sally Struthers could sell out three weeks.

Clearly Bette is NOT doing LA, but I'm surprised it's so short if Reba is the star - she could easily have sold out two months in LA, or even more.

[quote]Ovation is what Bravo used to be before Andy Cohen got to it.

So true.

Bette will do LA and extend to 8 weeks.

Bette on it.

I have a Hello, Dolly! casting question. When Pearl Bailey played Dolly - and I am wondering about this too if Audra plays her - do they also cast Horace as black?

How can she "extend to 8 weeks," r533? The Pantages is already booked for its next show a week after the closing of Dolly. There's no way it would open at the Pantages and move somewhere else, either.

They did with Pearl, r534, because the whole company was black - Cab Calloway played the role.

Audra won't be heading up an all-black company, so who knows what they will do. It might be fun to get Brian Stokes Mitchell in with her, but I don't think they will feel they have to have a black Horace.

R511, don't stop there! Tell us more about "Hey Look Me Over"!

Donnybrook's Joan Fagan is on Twitter!

[quote]Ramin looks hot as hell in CHESS

I was standing in line in PAX deli on 42nd today and there was a guy in a black peacoat in line behind me. I didn't think anything about him until I paid and went to sit down. That was when I happened to look up and see that it was Ramin Karimloo. He had finished paying by the time I recognized him and was about to head out the door (he'd gotten his food to go).

For anyone looking to spot the occasional Broadway star, that PAX may be a good place to start by the way. (I go in there quite often as it's a few blocks from my job and the food isn't bad.) I was in there another day when Wesley Taylor came in and bought a salad as well as another actor whose name presently escapes me. It appears many come in to grab something quick while, I assume, on a break from rehearsal (the Wesley sighting happened just a few weeks before "SpongeBob" opened on Broadway).

You're in one the greatest cities in the world for food and you settle for "isn't bad"?

R540, "isn't bad" also means it doesn't cost a fortune (not to mention it's better than what they serve in our company's cafeteria). I don't go there every day, maybe 1 to 2 times a week.

[quote] For anyone looking to spot the occasional Broadway star, that PAX may be a good place to start by the way. (I go in there quite often as it's a few blocks from my job and the food isn't bad.) I was in there another day when Wesley Taylor came in and bought a salad

Lambchop, Wesley Taylor isn't a Broadway Star in anyone's book.

OMG, Wesley Taylor just walked in!

Who is he again?

Thank you, r543. Most of the second-and-third-tier "stars" that get bandied around here mean nothing to me...and I work in theater.

Who's responsible for those rewritten lyrics above, by the way?

A rather swell rendition.....

Wesley Taylor is a legend in his own mind.

I love how one idiot on ATC said Reba was doing Hello Dolly and now everyone’s accepting this as fact.

No one is accepting it as fact. It's all been speculation and wishful thinking.

I never quite got the love for Reba in Annie Get Your Gun. Yes, she was probably more appropriate casting and she's got a certain charm, but I find her such a stiff actress. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Bernadette was perfect casting, either, but, gosh, she sang that score so beautifully. I mean...

Kudisch sounds fantastic. Ditto Bebe in her SAIL AWAY numbers "Come to Me" and "Why Do the Wrong People Travel?" Clifton Duncan's "Never Will I Marry" was great ((through the book scenes from GREENWILLOW were unbearably twee). Sills nailed Mack Sennett in "Movies were Movies". Speaking of which, why has Encores! never done MACK & MABEL? Because Herman wants a full proper revival and nothing else?

Stop trying to make Wesley Taylor happen.

[quote]Stop trying to make Wesley Taylor happen

Said all of New York.

How long is running time “Hey look me over” at encores. Seeing it this weekend and want to make plans afterwards

[quote]It's Alexandra Socha, [R506], who was pretty good in Encores' Paint Your Wagon. Wasn't she also the one who wasn't invited to join Fun Home when it moved from off-Broadway to Broadway?

Apparently Socha disinvited herself. There was something of a kerfuffle about it and speculation on theater boards when it happened. Socha left the show "for personal reasons" when it was still playing at the Public. At that point there was no guarantee that Fun Home would transfer to Broadway. Indeed, conventional wisdom thought it would never find an audience uptown. Socha joined a television series which may have been the reason she left in the first place.

Fun Home went on to become a Tony-winning Broadway hit and the TV series is still meh if it's even still around.

I went to see Bernadette's Hello Dolly last night. Four things of note:

1. Bernadette's wig is atrocious. Whoever did it should be taken out and hung by it. There are little ringlets in the back that stick straight out when she has a hat on.

2. The directing is horrible. There are several gags that are lost because the actors don't "cheat out." And some of the gags go on for hours and lose their humor, like the purse gag in the end or the Dolly/Horace head jerk in the Mrs. Molloy's shop scene.

3. Some of the gags were designed for Bette Midler and they really don't work for Bernadette. Those two actresses have different styles.

4. Little Charlie Stemp is the best thing on that stage.

Lordy it must have been a night to remember in your company r555.

[quote]Lordy it must have been a night to remember in your company

There was an ancient queen who sat next to me and bragged that he had seen every show that Bernadette had ever been in. In a bag, he had this teddy bear that he had made of Bear-nadette (get it?) in the red Dolly dress. He bolted at the curtain call so that he could be the first at the stage door.

[quote]4. Little Charlie Stemp is the best thing on that stage.

So in other words, you watched with your dick. Got it.

You beat me to it, r558.

Who's had Charlie Stemp? Have the chorus boys had their turn with him yet?

Oh no! Papi Raul was written off "Law & Order SVU" tonight! He has to be free, or something like that! Well, at least he left with a bang, a major story revolving around him.

Was it his choice to leave? Maybe he wants more time to get back to theatre, and he's okay financially after doing a series for several years.

Farewell to Papi

IF an African American actress comes in as Dolly they will not replace the entire company like they did with Pearlie Mae. Would that even be legal? Horace doesn't have to be black but BSM would be an excellent choice.

Oh yeah BSM is so adept at playing those hilarious and irascible old codgers.

That second recording of Spiderwoman is better all around, speaking of BSM.

BSM is the new Nipsey Russell!

Jordan Roth is the new matinee Dolly, she’s transitioning right? RIGHT?!

Can't Richie tell Jordan how stupid he looks in that hairpiece?

BSM made a fool of himself in "Man Of La Mancha", shuffling around that stage like Tim Conway on the Carol Burnett show.

Ugh. That cartoon just took a year off my life.

Roth is trying to be Randy Raindow and Porter is trying to STILL be Billy Porter from 25 years ago, neither is succeeding at said goals. Horrrrrrrrrrrrible!!!!

Billy Porter seems so self-important.

Jordan Roth is transitioning into a man???????

At this point, Brian Stokes Mitchell IS an irascible old codger.

He wouldn't be a funny Horace necessarily, but he'd be the right age and appropriately cranky and he'd sing the two songs better than anyone else has. It would be worth it just for the sentimental value of him appearing with Audra again.

Didn't Audra just become a regular on that CBS Access thing with Christine Baranski, the sequel to The Good Wife? Is that going to leave her any time to star in Dolly?

I can't imagine actors today playing irascible old codgers like David Burns and Cab Calloway. Kind of like Grand Dames like Margaret Dumont. These type e of characters actors no longer exist.

How was Hyde Pierce in the role?

DHP was pretty good--he at least knows how the character is supposed to be played, though there remains a lightness to him that mitigates against it being absolutely authentic. But I was anything but displeased with the performance.

Alexandra Socha was on the Amazon series Red Oaks during the time of Fun Home. It's certainly possible that she left the show for the series, but it only had 26 episodes over 3 seasons (it was an Amazon series) and it filmed in New Jersey. Also, she left the show at the end of 2013, and the series didn't have more than a pilot until 2015 (they showed the pilot in early 2014 and it was voted on and picked up to series later that year). The show resumed production for season 1 in early 2015.

I remember there being a lot of rumors swirling around that there was friction between Socha and others in the production, so I don't think it had anything to do with her TV work.

R574, The Good Fight wraps their season in April and Audra won’t necessarily do the next season (if there is one) which would begin shooting again in the fall.

Someone suggested Nick Offerman for Horace. With or without his wife as Dolly, that would be fantastic casting. No one can deadpan grumpiness like him these days.

Socha is a mediocre talent.

R414, I DID warn my fellow DL gossipers about JOHN years ago, when it was running OB.

It's beyond pretentious, overwritten and so bloody damn long. Pause pause pause.

We stayed through both intermissions because we were sure that the play was going to pay off at the end of its three hours.

Lordy, Lordy.

This is Annie Baker and her usual director Sam Gold at their worst together. She'd won a Pulitzer for The Flick, and he had Fun Home. Nobody would call them out on their shit.

R414, how did the Brits take to JOHN? It's at the National, right?

And R455, why did you love it so much? I really would love to hear your thoughts.

The Flick was awful. And his Hamlet was atrocious.

Why is there a new fucking thread already?

R583, the Broadway sex thread has been around for a while.

R583, why are you such an old fart fart fart?

[quote] why are you such an old fart fart fart?

And why do you need attention so badly? Always last chosen for kickball when you were a kid?

Why do you need to be such a snotty asshole to people who only want to get to know you better?

r584 He's talking about this premature new thread.

Play nice, my little angels.

Let's leave the seventh grade insults to President Tweet Bird and his ilk, okay?

[quote] Why do you need to be such a snotty asshole to people who only want to get to know you better?

I'd rather you just killed yourself already, Matt.

Second r591.

Fuck Matt and his new thread. None of us use it.

Bad review for lousy encores, yawn. More mediocrity from Marc and Denis.

[quote]It's such an ignorant assertion that BitB is about a bunch of vile queens. There's ONE character who's vile in his behaviour: Michael. The rest have varying degrees of behaving badly.

I've always thought Donald is a very likable character. I think he refers to himself as being a bit messed up, but we don't see that in the play.

[quote]Will theater ever learn that rehearsal footage and photos make your show look like CRAP and sell zero tickets?

I don't know if that's always true, but I think it's largely true. Damn, the CHESS cast sounds pretty bad in most of the clips those clips in R319 's post. Especially Ruthie Ann Miles. And obviously, this version is going to differently apportion some of the music among the characters compared to what we've heard before.

[quote]No gay playwright has had as inconsistent an output as Terence McNally. His best work is genuinely good, but his worst is dull and self-indulgent.

And, except for some of his musicals, all of the good work was decades ago.

[quote]No matter how you cast it, Boys in the Band is a pretty ugly experience. I had never seen it until the offbway revival a few years ago. I know its landmark because its "the first" but that doesn't mean its good or necessary. It's just mean and ugly for the most part.

Whatever you think of the play, it's not mean and ugly “for the most part.” There's a tremendous amount of humor in the first two thirds of the play, much of it hilarious. It's fine if you don't like the play, but I don't see what you gain by mischaracterizing it so greatly.

[quote]THE BODYGUARD was more or less just a Deborah Cox concert. She was the only one who sang. You like her, you like the show.

I like her but I didn't like the show, because the writing (of the book) is crap.

[quote]I don’t get the notion that Reba doesn’t play “Irish.” Who cares? Very rarely does a Dolly play with an Irish accent, and when they do, they bomb. (Hello, Tovah). Just because her maiden name is Gallagher doesn’t mean she was fresh off the boat.

Reba's voice is great for country music -- and, I guess, for music that's supposed to sound like country music, as in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN -- but not for any other kind. Her renditions of the SOUTH PACIFIC songs were godawful, even though that character is supposed to be Southerner (from Little Rock).

[quote]And Mr. Gallagher could have been her first husband before she married Ephraim

No, for what it's worth, in the show she refers to herself as “Mrs. Dolly Levi, born Gallagher.”

[quote]Does anyone question the wisdom of continuing the Dolly ad campaign and commercials which don't show a glimpse of the production now that Bette has left? I'm not sure shrouding it all in mystery is wise at this point in the run .

And there's not even one photo of Bernadette as Dolly (or any cast photos at all) outside the theater, just as was the case with Bette. Obviously it didn't hurt ticket sales for Bette, but it's still very unusual.

But if she grew up in America why in the world would she have an accent? Maybe she had an Irish father off the boat or grandparents.

[quote]Her renditions of the SOUTH PACIFIC songs were godawful, even though that character is supposed to be Southerner (from Little Rock).

Reba McEntire IS Lorelei Lee!

I have posted this before, but most people just ignore it. The Gallagher line was added a the producers (of the Merchant of Yonkers) insistence because of the anti-Jewish/ America First sentiments just before WWII. This is from Thornton Wilder. He was a family friend. The line should simply be dropped at this point. It confused the issue because, as this debate proves, it simply has no point of being there. There is no reason for Dolly to mention her maiden name except to underline that she is not Jewish.

Yvonne De Carlo was one of the best Dollies I ever saw and she played the part with a convincing brogue.

[quote]I have posted this before, but most people just ignore it. The Gallagher line was added a the producers (of the Merchant of Yonkers) insistence because of the anti-Jewish/ America First sentiments just before WWII. This is from Thornton Wilder. He was a family friend. The line should simply be dropped at this point. It confused the issue because, as this debate proves, it simply has no point of being there. There is no reason for Dolly to mention her maiden name except to underline that she is not Jewish.

That's why they dropped it for Streisand: it was time to bring Mrs. Dolly LEVI out of the shamrock closet.