THEATRE GOSSIP #290 — Let's Find a New Role For Reba This Year edition

Sigh. Now we have a Reba Loon.

And you're still speciesist and ableist, R1.

Shut up, Matt. You're toxic.

Maybe Reba can do "Colonel Sanders: The Musical."

Why did OP start a new thread when the other thread still had a ways to go? Don't be greedy in your rush to write a title. Soon, new threads will pop up when the old one is half full, just so people can show their cleverness. Please don't do that. Show some respect for the unwritten rules of the site.

Because the OP is Matt. Because Matt is obsessive beyond imagination. Because Matt hates everyone and everything.

Yes, you who must lose everything that you cannot control.

It begins with your family and later comes round to your soul.

That is the most trite, superficial, sanctimonious crap I've ever heard in my life, R6. You rejected me before I ever had a chance to reject you. Stop projecting YOUR personality problems and inadequacies onto me.

Show some respect for users of the site, R5, before you throw that word around like a Southern sheriff's beer-and-biscuit gut.

Pfft r7. Oh, Matt, everyone on the DL can now recognize one of your posts within the first few words.

It's pretty much a "Name That Tune" situation at this point.

So you don't mind other people repeatedly violating my anonymity and threatening me? Someone called me a fag and told me to kill myself in the same post in MY OWN THREAD, R9. And by attacking me, you're part of the problem, too. Respect is earned and you haven't, and everything you dish out to me you will get back. With INTEREST.

Your vile hate speech bounces off of me and sticks to you Matt.

Who's Matt?

Fuck off, Matt, you insane little prick.

For the love of God, will someone PLEASE shit in my mouth?!!

Fancy! The Musical

Will somebody PLEASE start another 290 a.s.a.p., and point people towards it?

Could someone please rape R16 with a porcupine quill?

This is R5. What word did I use that was offensive? I'm standing up for the rules and etiquette of the board.

"These type e of characters actors no longer exist."

But these type (sic) of characters DO.

I saw the Hello Dolly replacement cast. Victor Garber starts out with a Jewish accent, then in the middle of the show he drops it, only to pick it up at the very end.

Why didn't they go with Miss Raquel Welch for Queenie when they did The Wild Party on Broadway?

Okay, kiddies.

Reba as Martha, WAOVW.

These thread titles are so fucking awful. Not only is Matt a loon, he's not even a clever loon.

Not only is R23 a bigot, he's a stupid piece of shit.

[quote]Why didn't they go with Miss Raquel Welch for Queenie when they did The Wild Party on Broadway?

Because Miss Raquel Welch was 105 years old and Queenie was not.

Has anyone seen God's Own Country? What a piece of shit.

If it hasn't been done already, I'm going to write a play and title it That Piece of Shit.

What makes that piece of shit different from other pieces of shit, R27?

That Piece of Shit is......well.....absorbing and cathartic. How about that r28?

How come in the revival of Hello Dolly, Barnaby was directed to be so nellie? At one point, in the Harmonia Gardens, he lays down and goes into a fetal position.

[quote]Will somebody PLEASE start another 290 a.s.a.p., and point people towards it?

Okay, here it is. You know what will happen, what that monster will do to it because he can't handle anyone but himself starting threads, but have at it as long as you can...

Are you referring to the film, r26? Ironically, I came across it today on Amazon. and was interested....till I read your post. Please elucidate.

R30 Jerry Zaks is extremely particular in his direction to actors telling them exactly how to do things but he is generally spot on. Though I haven't seen this production.

Matt is filling up the other thread already. Let’s not give him the satisfaction of continuing this one. Perhaps we just post types of food instead?

Apple

You start a troll thread, you get shut down. It's as simple as that. Now let's get back to talking about Broadway.

[quote] Apple

Olive

Salinas Pear

Pearlie Mae was neither a Gallagher or a Levi and the show worked just fine so casting Reba and her hick accent would not be a problem.

Why are they waiting so long to announce Katharine McPhee for Waitress? She must have started rehearsals if she's taking over in March.

Cherry Pie

r40 Was that a comment on R39?

Are we stuck with this thread because of the (again) takeover of most of the other one by Himself?

This one started first. That other one was a troll thread borne out of a personal vendetta.

r42 needs to learn how to use the Ignore button.

Bernie's still showing off those eggrolls, Mr. Goldstone

I guess FOLLIES wasn't very memorable to her r45.

Matt the Loon is a toxic, vile and evil thing.

Matt the Loon is a disgusting turd. He thinks he owns the theatre threads. Guess what, piece of shit? You don’t.

Matt the Loon is a disgusting turd. He thinks he owns the theatre threads. Guess what, piece of shit? You don’t.

Matt the Loon is a disgusting turd. He thinks he owns the theatre threads. Guess what, piece of shit? You don’t.

Matt the Loon is a disgusting turd. He thinks he owns the theatre threads. Guess what, piece of shit? You don’t.

Matt the Loon is a disgusting turd. He thinks he owns the theatre threads. Guess what, piece of shit? You don’t.

R47/R48/R49/R50/R51/R52 is a psychopath who needs to be shot for his own good and ours. Use the theater threads IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY ARE STARTED.

Please please please someone shit on my mouth!

I am the king! Fuck all you ableist Nazis!

I am the king! Fuck all you ableist Nazis!

I am the king! Fuck all you ableist Nazis!

I am the king! Fuck all you ableist Nazis!

I am the king! Fuck all you ableist Nazis!

I am the king! Fuck all you ableist Nazis!

I am the king! Fuck all you ableist Nazis!

R54/R55/R56 is engaging in more PSYCHOlogical projection.

I am the king! Fuck all you ableist Nazis!

Please someone take R60/R61 out in the back and shoot him until there's nothing left. I beg you.

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Death by grease fire to R65/R66/R67/R68/R69/R70/R71/R72/R73 and all who challenge my authority and rights.

Spinach!

Roast duck!

How’s that church across the street from your place, Matt?

Raspberries!

Clam dip!

Roasted pig!

Loon on a spit!

Poutaine!

Chocolate cake!

Chop suey!

Ragout!

Jesus Christ, how many fucking browsers does this piece of shit use? Every time I block him, he shows up again.

HEY MURIEL- Until you ban this asshole, your company isn't getting another penny from me.

Lobotomy!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

I am still king you ableist fuckers!

Bye, R89!

I’m Matt, the Scat eater!

Hi, I’m Matt. I’m mentally ill. Fly me!

Hi, I’m Matt. I’m mentally ill. Fly me!

Hi, I’m Matt. I’m mentally ill. Fly me!

Hi, I’m Matt. I’m mentally ill. Fly me!

Hi, I’m Matt. I’m mentally ill. Fly me!

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I am still king you Nazi ableist fuckers!

R133 = psychological projection

I didn’t realize Matt was into scat. Does he eat it? Or just play with it while screaming “more fudge, Mary Poppins! More fudge?”

You need to do a better job of impersonating me. There is no such thing as m*nt*l *lln*ss; it's all a misogynistic homophobic racket that sent Vivien Leigh and Judy Garland to early graves. It is a waste of time and money.

The only one here into scat is R135.

Matt craves Ann Coulter’s shit. He. Conserviqueer you know.

Please ruin everything for everyone else, you fucking illiterate psychopaths. I'm so sick of this shit.

Then boycott bad shows, R139.

Fuck you, r139, you ableist Nazi POS. Until you recognize my superiority and authority you will have no peace. A new world is coming and only Jews and gays will deserve to live in it.

I'm confused, so Matt created this thread? I wasn't aware Matt was obsessed with Reba...it doesn't look like he created this thread.

I like Reba and I thought she made a great Annie Oakley, but I wouldn't say I was obsessed. But everyone in the last thread was arguing what roles were right for her, it was only fair I make a few suggestions.

Is R143 a new Troll "Sane Matt"?

Yes, Matt created this thread. He thinks he's the only one who should create threads, and has been going off on it off and on all night. Someone else created another thread to get away from the crazy, and he went and shit all over it. He's a disgusting thing, that Matt.

R143 is the same Matt who's been dumping here all evening. He's capable of imitating a sane person now and then, but he's easily triggered. Tell him how much you'd love to see Reba play Mary Poppins and see what it does to him.

Matt is also shitting all over CMBYN and Armie Hammer threads. He cannot allow anyone to have an opinion that's different from his own. I don't know why Muriel hasn't permanently banned him.

Why waste such a great voice on such shitty songs?

thats why she refused to do the Molly Brown revival R148

See, r144? I told you. It just can't help itself. It's a petty tyrant who thinks it's its divine right to control all content on DL. It has got something coming, that's for sure.

The Mary Poppins songs aren't shitty. But the Molly Brown songs are D- list with maybe one or two exceptions.

I wasn't talking about Molly Brown. Those were just plain old mediocre.

I think Reba should play Mary Poppins in a remake and also replace Angela Lansbury in Bedknobs. Do you agree, Matty?

[quote]The [anti-gay hate speech redacted] songs are shitty beyond belief and an insult to subject anyone with talent to have to perform.

Fixed, as you should be if you like that smarmy, saccharine, manipulative, offensive knockoff of the far superior [italic]Song of the South[/italic]. Guess which ones racists like better? I'll give you a hint. It isn't the one with the black man.

We know, try to keep up Matt. We know you were talking about "Mary Poppins" when you referred to shitty songs. If you'd pay attention, instead of giving in to your illness, maybe you'd understand more.

You see? "Sane" Matt is just a thin veneer. The regular, viciously insane Matt is never far from the surface.

The day R155/R156 dies will be a zip-a-dee-doo-dah day and a Brazzle Dazzle Day all rolled into one!

Let him be. He likes what he likes.

Now if he would let us do the same and let us enjoy a varied thread on theater gossip.

She can play Miss Sally in [italic]Song of the South 2: The Bull's Revenge[/italic].

That's the point, r158. No one gives a shit what he likes. No one cares. It's the fact that he won't let anyone else have their own opinions, their own likes, that is so despicable.

It's clear why his family will have nothing to do with him (his sister cries when she hears from him), and why he has zero friends.

[quote]Now if he would let us do the same and let us enjoy a varied thread on theater gossip.

Being forced to tolerate bullshit is a form of fascism.

Oh dear God, someone please keep that monster away from me! The fact that that loon fetishizes the worst piece of shit film I ever made is proof of the extent of his mental illness. Do I need to take out another restraining order?

Is that Papi Raul, r161?

This will now be a Cumshot GIF Thread.

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Matt's big screen debut. Skip to about 28:00 to see Matt in his stunning cross-dressed glory!

Is there a way to point the Datalounge moderators to this thread and 290(a) so that they can see the Loon’s unhinged and destructive behavior? If a lot of us can do this, maybe then DL will finally ban him.

Grapes

Someone in charge do something about these two psychopaths! If they can't be thrown off this site, then you owe a lot of us a whole lot of refunds. I've had it with this bullshit.

I searched the Datalounge site on my desktop computer, and I can't find any way to contact them to complain about the Loon. The only recourse seems to be to tag him as a freak or ignore him...neither of which works because he keeps popping up again when I do that. Any computer nerds here know how to get in touch with the site administrator?

It seems as though complaining about this nonsense gets your threads banned on the site.

BEWARE!

It seems as though complaining about the two psychopaths gets your comments deleted, so some o is watching this bullshit.

The moderators don't give a crap.

boom...ditty...

What?

Oh, who the fuck cares.

Since last night, I've blocked him using six different browsers (or accounts). Who knows how many more he's got going.

Thanks for that info, r186. I wondered why he kept popping up, I thought my block feature was broken.

I'mmmmm innnnnn the mood for.......

It's The Mini-Merman. Thanks!

Disney plus deBlasio stopped NYTimes piece. Showed potential multi-decade impact of FROZEN. Also another long running show or three. Times and city have overlapping interest.

Muriel -- seriously. SOmethign has to be done about Matt. I will cease to log on here if he continues to derail and destroy the site. It's him, or us.

That number is great, r188, but I'll bet a little bit of Alice Playten went a long way.

Speaking of Miss Annie....o.k. fine, we weren't. Now we are. She seems really...um....not very special in this number. I don't know why. Is it the choreography? She certainly is capable of tap-less, ballroom-less choreography (see From This Moment On)....but here she's so...so....not very special.

And now, back to our normal programming.

ENOUGH!

Welcome.....

What the heck is happening?

Matt's insurance ran out and he's been off his meds for a month.

Why have I been banned from posting?

Let me show ya how it's done.....

Can someone lock Susan Haskins and Julie James in a room and let them talk themselves to death?

r201 Only if it's soundproof.

Actually, just lock Julie James in a room with a mirror.

Reba *is* Mrs. Lovett in the new country music version of Sweeney Todd.

Pecans are too expensive for Mrs. Lovett's pies until she meets Swanee Todd, a redneck, horse riding, gun toting cattle wrangler with a debt to settle. Could it be the man she pined for back in her cheerleadin' days?

Nothing's gonna harm you

Not like Chick-Fil-A

Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir

Not like Tammy Faye

I do hope the rumrs about Whoopi aren't true. I would think that she wouldn't want to take on that big a task.

That was pathetic, r204. Keep your day job.

Well The New York Times released that blistering attack on Woody Allen.

Cant be long now.....

Disney+deBlaz stopped story. Sorry, suckers.

R208 You are EXACTLY RIGHT!!!!

LIZA!

I really want honest opinions:

Is this good???

I feel like I did watching Hamilton!

Love,

Alice.

Keala Settle is loud and not much else. If you check out her videos on YouTube where she's backed by a smaller band or just a piano, you'll find that her pitch is really wayward.

Well, fuck me. I had never heard This is Me, but it is pretty powerful. It sounds like a generic christiany "i believe in me" power anthem, but..still. It works. They can turn the movie into a musical just on the strength of that song alone. It will be the next generation's Defying Gravity. I saw Settle in Waitress. Although she has her weaknesses, she is a very engaging performer.

Will that dreadful "Penny In My Pocket" be licensed for all future Hello Dolly performances?

R214. No. Tams is not including it

r211 It worked better when she had a full beard.

Sitting through Penny in My Pocket once live was mildly charming because I had never heard it before. Once it started on the Tony Awards, I started to FF through it even though my friend had never seen it. He asked if he could watch it and about 30 seconds into it, he picked up the remote and FF'ed through it himself.

Settle would make a great Bloody Mary, if/when they revive South Pacific.

Settle played Bloody Mary on the tour of the recent Lincoln Center South Pacific. I saw her in it in San Francisco. She was very good.

RIP

Wow, I actually gasped. That is shocking news about Jan.

I knew DL theater queens would be on the case re: Jan.

Shocking news....rent controlled unit or no.

Wow, Jan Maxwell was only 61.

Joking aside, very tragic news about Jan Maxwell, a truly talented woman of the theater. I worked with her several years ago on the workshop of a new musical and she was lovely and thoroughly professional.

I guess she COULD leave us......

R221 I gasped out loud too!

John Mahoney, John Gavin, Reg E. Cathey and now Jan!

Someone's working overtime.

That means an opening at Manhattan Plaza. Hubby will have to take a one bedroom now.

Keala Settle was a spectacular Tracey on the National tour of Hairspray. But she's gained a lot more weight, and she's in her 40s now. She needs to get the surgery or something, because that weight is not her friend.

As someone at BWW posted, Whoopi would be much better cast as Horace.

Out of town, David Burns closed Act I with Penny in My Pocket and by all accounts always brought down the house with it. But Champion and Merrick both wanted a big production as the first act finale so the parade number was written to replace it. We really don't have anybody today can deliver that sort of number effectively.

(And despite the widespread rumor that Charles Strouse and Lee Adams wrote Before the Parade Passes B7, Jerry Herman wrote all of the song used in the show. Merrick did commission Strouse and Lee to write a song of the same title for the spot but they ended up using Herman's number. Charles Strouse has confirmed this publicly several times.)

Ah, Jan, RIP.

^ big production - big production number.

B7 = By.

Sorry.

I thought it was "Elegance" that was rumored to have been ghostwritten by Strouse and Adams. It doesn't sound like one of theirs.

Sad news about Jan Maxwell. I only got to see her in one production, Follies (of course), but thought she was fantastic.

No, r233, Elegance and Motherhood March were long been correctly rumored to have been written by Bob Merrill. Herman finally admitted it (maybe in his autobiography?) but claimed he rewrote them. Most people think any changes he made were minor. And those two songs do sound like Bob Merrill.

Is that part of the reason the movie omitted the Motherhood March?

There has been speculation that Motherhood was left out of the film to avoid paying royalties to Merrill, R236. I suspect, though, that screenwriter Ernest Lehman and director Gene Kelly were just streamlining the show for Streisand. Who knows?

That wasn’t the reason Morherhood was cut. It was an artistic decision, and they were already giving Streisand a new song.

The movie still paid royalty to Merrill for “Elegance,” and to Strouse and Adams for “Begore the Parade Passes By.” (Strouse is quite open in private about what went down with that song, and how Jerry begged him not to admit he wrote it. In public, like his book, he toes the Herman line, but he and Adams wrote the song as it is)

They never actually filmed any songs that were cut, did they?

[quote]She needs to get the surgery or something, because that weight is not her friend.

Oh, I don't know about that.

[quote] That wasn’t the reason Morherhood was cut. It was an artistic decision, and they were already giving Streisand a new song.

New, r238? It was a hand-me-down.

It worked in the movie [italic]Dolly[/italic] for what it was, but it would have slowed [italic]Mame[/italic] to a halt.

I actually thought Jan Maxwell was younger. Isn't her son on the young-ish side? That was a real shocker. RIP, dear lady.

I’m quite aware of where “Love is Only Love” comes from. Lansbury singing it in rehearsal is on YouTube and, I think, on the last Mame CD reissue. Mame sang it to Patrick in Act Two. She also had an Act One number with Vera called “Camouflage” when she’s getting ready to meet Babcock the first time.

The point is that “LIOL” was new to “Hello Dolly” and to Dolly/Streisand.

Add me to the ones who gasped at Jan Maxwell.

Remember when she took on Alec Baldwin?

She was the lead in the only show I walked out on, some horrible off-Broadway monstrosity by The Potomac Theater Project.

But did love her in “Follies”

I thought she was awful in Follies, but I despised that production with the heat of a thousand suns and I don't blame her one bit for all of her missteps (literally and figuratively) as Phyllis, because she's a wonderful actress and the the director should have been taken out back and shot, as he was 100% to blame.

I'm trying to think what else I've seen her in besides Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (she and Kudisch were the saving grace of that borefest) and Entertaining Mr. Sloane. I guess nothing else. The bulk of her career came after I moved to Los Angeles. I would have loved to have seen her in the revival of Wings. I'm sorry I missed it.

Did anyone see the musical version of Wings done at the Public Theater in the 92-93 season? It was a really lovely show.

R246. SHe was wonderful in Wings, as well as in The Royal Family. I liked her more than you did in Follies, but I think the book is poorly written with ham-handed dialogue (I feel the same about The Lion in Winter).

I remember Maxwell saying that she didn't want Phyllis to be a bitch/ice queen (words to that effect). I think she erred too far in the other direction - the fun, almost screwball comedy heroine side of Phyllis. She had the audience in the palm of her hand. That was fine for a "star performance", play be damned. It fucked up the dynamic with Ron Raines such that he seemed an asshole of the highest order pre Could I Leave You. John McMartin found a pathetic quality in Ben, less a turd and more a lonely, self loathing drunk in that exchange. Alexis Smith gave a star performance but did not shy away from the cold side of Phyllis. I was glad that Janie Dee was more in the Smith tradition.

Ron Raines was also hampered by the fact that he cannot act and is dull as dishwater.

I won't make any great claims for Raines as an actor but he was much better opposite Vicki Clark than Bernadette in their scenes.

That's where I saw Raines, in the LA production with Clark - I thought he was dull and boring and bad there. If he was worse than that in NY, then he must have been transcendently awful.

Ken Fallin draws Bernadette as Dolly.

Well, he's no Hirschfeld, r252. Is he supposed to be talented?

It looks more like a pale imitation of Saul Bass than a pale imitation of Al Hirschfeld.

BROADWAY'S DEAD

JUST LIKE THOSE DRAWINGS!!

They should revive Annie Get Your Gun with Reba.

Then she can win the Tony she deserves for that role.

Here's Ken Fallin's Bette Dolly.

Seeing Fallin and Squigs makes one realize the greatness of Robert Risko and Glen Hanson.

They both look like cartoons for a high school newspaper.

I saw Dolly in its pre-Broadway run in Detroit and "Penny" was the first act closer. Pretty sure that it was something of a big production number, staged at a bazaar or something with tents. (That was a LONG time ago.) I think another reason they dropped it as they wanted the focus to be more on Dolly, not Horace.

Without "Elegance" or "Parade," it was far from the show that eventually opened in Detroit. A lot of us were surprised that it became the success that it was, after suffering recent disappointments with JENNIE and SOPHIE.

Maybe the moderators ARE the loons!!!

I'm not convinced I'm the least sane person here or even anywhere near the lowest percentile of sanity.

[quote]The [anti-gay hate speech] songs aren't shitty.

Yes they are. Even the name of that horrible film is one letter away from "poop," which it is.

I'm so upset about Jan Maxwell. I had no idea she was ill. I bet if that Alec Baldwin shit went down today the end result would have been different.

So what happened with Christine Ebersole and Dolly? It's Betty

Alliteration Alert! Any faults of her Phyllis in FOLLIES I hold the director and choreographer responsible for. Janie Dee did more with less. Miss Maxwell was totally capable of doing the same.

Looks like Batshit Betty Buckley is going to be Dolly in the national tour. That's going to be a train wreck.

With Grant Goodeve as Horace Vandergelder and Adam Rich as dinner at the Harmonia Gardens!

And Lani O’Grady in a hologram!

Though it's not her natural instinct, she can be funny. As much as I hated Triumph of Love, she had a final curtain line that made me fall out of my chair laughing, and almost saved the evening. She also had some comic moments in Drood. Yes, she went for psychology rather than humor when she did Gypsy. But she's smart enough to know what Dolly! requires. It's a surprising choice, and hope it works well for her and for the show. She deserves to work more.

BIll Smitrovich will make a great Horace Vandergelder. Scott Rudin is no fool.

The last line of Triumph Of Love (capping a terrific piece of staging and design) brought the house down. But her delivery of it wasn’t what made it funny. It was the writing and staging. Anyone could have landed that joke.

But yes, she had her moments in Drood.

Well, she certainly has the poitrine for the red dress.

[quote] Ron Raines was also hampered by the fact that he cannot act and is dull as dishwater.

He was and is dreadful. Many of us Guiding Light fans never understood how someone with the emotional range of a golden retriever landed an important role on our show, let alone was ever cast on other projects. And his voice, while proficient, was nothing to write home about.

[quote]Many of us Guiding Light fans never understood how someone with the emotional range of a golden retriever landed an important role on our show, let alone was ever cast on other projects.

Because Punky Brewster's dog wanted too much money.

I'm not so sure, R272. She had a kind of dry, deadpan delivery that really sold it, at least in my memory of that moment. I wouldn't deny her the credit for landing it so perfectly.

Betty Lynn: "I can't wait to hit the road and bring this happy show to all of America!"

Yes, because when one thinks "Betty Buckley" one thinks "ray of sunshine."

What was the last line of "Triumph of Love" that is so funny? Now I am dying to know.

Roundabout is doing "True West" next season at the AA, and "Merrily" at the Laura Pels.

Is anybody in charge over there?

I'll try to describe the set up, from my vague memory. The plot is that both Betty Buckley and F. Murray Abraham's characters are in love with Susan Egan's character. (One of the problems of the show is how Susan Egan could ever engender such devotion, but I digress). Betty and F. Murray end up on stage, both expecting to run off with Susan Egan, and are dressed in ridiculous frilly and foppish over-the-top costumes. Meanwhile, Susan's character runs off with Chris Sieber. There was a burst of scenic hysteria, bubbles, I think a miniature carriage(?) while Egan and Sieber make their getaway, leaving Betty and F. Murray looking like fools, facing upstage and watching the whole thing unfold. Long pause. Then Betty turns to F. Murray and says "...maybe we'll meet someone at the wedding."

That's an interesting idea that Betty went for psychology rather than humor in that Papermill production of Gypsy. I don't remember smiling or laughing once in any of her scenes. It's a shame the director (assuming the Papermill director's have any clout with performers) didn't suggest she try finding a laugh or two. She sure sang it well.

[quote]emotional range of a golden retriever

Arf?

The only reason she got any laughs in Gypsy was because the audience was laughing at Rose’s appalling behavior. Her singing was great but her Rose had zero charm. And I’ll never forget how her rendition of the line “Now GO” in Sunset Boulevard barely got a laugh by the packed audience at the Adelphi in London. Patti, Glenn and Elaine all got huge laughs from that line.

And Buckley isn’t loveable AT ALL. This is a huge casting mistake.

Betty - call me! I'm ready to make my musical debut!

At least the Susan Richardson troll is using a more up-to-date picture.

I think Brantley reviewed the Betty Buckley Gypsy and hit the nail on the head when he wrote something like she was giving an unconventional performance in what was otherwise a conventional Gypsy. I think Paper Mill only did it that season because they had an existing set for it. One wonders what she might have done in a freshly conceived production, and if someone had also encouraged her to nail a few of the laughs along the way. But vocally, she was in top form, and she was certainly the scariest Rose I've seen.

Well, I guess that explains why the LA run is only three weeks. They'll be lucky to fill half of that with Betty Buckley starring.

They might as well just get a drag queen to do it.

You see a performance by a drag queen or Betty Buckley as mutually exclusive r288?

Maybe Betty could play Horace and they could get someone actually exciting as Dolly. Just a thought.

I'll never forget Betty's Rose. I guess that's a compliment, but I'm not sure. Tovah Feldshuh's Rose was very much the same - no charm, just scary. REALLY scary. I mean, just check out this picture of her in action - terrifying. I had the good fortune of not seeing her as Dolly. I'm sure she was equally as charmless (but with an Irish accent to boot).

I will say this about Betty's Rose - she was easily the best sung since Merman. I could have gone for a cast recording with her, but I never want to see her play the book scenes again. It's not even that she was scary so much as she was a sad sack. Her Rose seemed to be suffering from some sort of depression or something.

I liked Betty's Norma Desmond, but I think this is EPIC miscasting outside of a summer stock tour.

I'm sad that I agree r292.

Betty's steely vibrato probably won't fit Hello, Dolly. She seems more miscast for Dolly than she did for Gypsy. Yes, Rose needs to be funny and charming here and there, but she also needs to be scary. Dolly's only ever warm, funny, and charming - 3 things one never gets from Betty.

Won't you DLers.......

That movie is dreadful, r295.

I adore it r296.....

It's like Ken Russell ate a can of technicolor stock and vomited out a movie. Just awful, and justifiably consigned to the trash heap.

Now Bette M has signed on for the movie version of "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife." You bitches who swore she would do the LA run of "Dolly" were LYING!

Well, aren't you just the poor little Pierette r298?

No doubt for the Michelle Lee role r299!

[quote]There was a burst of scenic hysteria, bubbles, I think a miniature carriage(?) while Egan and Sieber make their getaway, leaving Betty and F. Murray looking like fools, facing upstage and watching the whole thing unfold. Long pause. Then Betty turns to F. Murray and says "...maybe we'll meet someone at the wedding."

I thought she said, "I wonder if we'll be invited to the wedding?" which I thought was more ironic because of what just went on minutes ago.

But I saw the show in previews, so the line could have changed by opening night.

And speaking of "Triumph of Love" Elayne Boosler was originally cast to play the role Nancy Opel played. My friend still has an advertisement from the show with Boosler's name on it. Then suddenly before it went before an audience, Boosler inexplicably was no longer in the show citing "creative differences". She had the last laugh and dodged a bullet because the show stank.

"Creative differences" = not wanting to deal with the combine lunacy of Betty Buckley and F. Murray Abraham anymore.

It's not a very good musical. Even Betty's "big number," Serenity, isn't very good.

God, I LOVE The Boyfriend. Brilliant! Gotta watch the whole thing now.

Thanks to whoever posted those clips.

Yup. Triumph Of Love was pretty lousy. But the last 60 seconds were good.

If only they’d fixed the previous two hours.

[quote]"Creative differences" = not wanting to deal with the combine lunacy of Betty Buckley and F. Murray Abraham anymore.

That might be true. I sort of thought that Boosler probably felt the director was restraining her too much and she couldn't be as funny as she wanted to be. Her role was only a small one and she probably didn't get the chance to shine like she wanted to.

[quote] Yup. Triumph Of Love was pretty lousy. But the last 60 seconds were good.

It was 60 seconds better than the Dutch produced "Cyrano the Musical" which was awful. I think they were hoping that it would turn into another Les Miserables, because everything in Cyrano was patterned like Les Miz. But gawd, it was terrible.

Betty was hysterical in "Old Friends" at Signature Theater. Read the reviews. This is great casting IMHO.

It's not great casting from a "selling" standpoint.

It's a big comedown, and I don't think Betty will sell outside the four major big cities, and maybe not even there.

I saw Old Friends at The Signature and don't remember Betty being funny at all.

I'm gonna learn to dance and drink and smoke a cigarette. I'm go'n as far from Dick Van Patten as a girl can get.

Betty was superb in old friends and she certainly did have comic moments. Maybe you shouldn’t drink before you go to the theatre, dear.

Rudin put Betty through her paces. She will be great as Dolly.

I'm intrigued by this Betty casting. I'd agree with the general sentiment, she does not seem right for the part, but I'll definitely see her. Perhaps she'll shock us all. Also, as for selling on the road, is it a different beast? Most of the stops will be at big subscription houses with built in audiences, right?

Also, can someone tell me about this Jan Maxwell / Alec Baldwin reference that keeps coming up?

They are adding a new song for Betty Lynn titled “This Fucking Purse is A Distraction”, because it’s going to stunt our ol’ gal, a prop comic she ain’t!

NYTimes article

[quote] Also, can someone tell me about this Jan Maxwell / Alec Baldwin reference that keeps coming up?

There's not much to tell. Jan and Alex were doing an off-Broadway production of Entertaining Mr. Sloane. Alex was being his usual dick self and Jan had had enough of it and walked from the production.

Let it be said: Jan Maxwell had spunk!

Always admired her after she took that stand against creepy Baldwin.

Alec tried too hard to get an invite to Jan's rent-controlled palace, high atop the Manhattan Plaza Building. The Kitty Carlisle of Hell's Kitchen was not having some low level Long Island guido dirty her carpets.

Is no one going to mention that possible DL fav contender Taylor Trensch is fucking his understudy?

Jesus, people still insist that "stars" matter on tours.

Broadway tours play the subscription circuit. A "name" can certainly help but since VERY few names do tours anymore, it's a moot point. Musical theater fans buy their 4 or 6 pack subscription series regardless if it's Betty Buckley or Christine Ebersole or Suzy No Name playing "Dolly". No one buying subscription tix for the Orpheum in Omaha or the Pantages in Pawtucket expects Bette Midler to show up playing that role.

All across the country right now, "Hamilton" and "The Book of Mormon" are selling out theaters without ANY major name in those casts.

[quote]DL fav contender Taylor Trensch is fucking his understudy

Which understudy? His Barnaby cover from “Dolly,” or his DEH understudy?

[quote]All across the country right now, "Hamilton" and "The Book of Mormon" are selling out theaters without ANY major name in those casts.

Those shows (like Les MIz and Cats before them) are not star vehicles. Dolly is.

R322. Standby or understudy? God bless because Taylor is packin.

If people want to see stars in Broadway shows, they come to NYC. If they don't want to see stars, they stay home.

THAT’s the hilarious, fall out of your chair, pee I n your pants funny last line of Triumph of Love?? I’ve heard wittier lines on any random episode of The Jeffersons.

So NYT story was bought off, is that what we’re hearing? They DEFINITELY had information from a current member of a running revival and it was scandalous...

Fuck off, r329. There was no article, and it's only your fevered imagination that's "hearing" that the story was bought off. The NYT doesn't operate that way.

We're all anonymous friends here, r329. You can name names. At least tell us the name of the revival.

Who was that comment really meant for, r331? What revival?

You're a fool if you think the NYT doesn't have its price. Remember who else they covered up for in the past. They did it before, they'll do it again.

How old are the people on this thread? Taylor and Ben Ross have been all over Insta for months. This is not even remotely secret or even gossip

For a mildly ugly chorus boy with an odd shaped body and a flat ass, Trensch sure gets a lot of dick.

[quote] Jan Maxwell had spunk!

I hate spunk.

Dolly needs to be a clown. Betty is by no means a clown.

Wonder how many actresses turned them down before they had to settle for BB.

I'd love to know who was on the list as well r337.

Trench deserves it!

Uhhh, Trensch.

[quote]if it's Betty Buckley or Christine Ebersole or Suzy No Name playing "Dolly".

Suzy No Name's Madame Rose KILLED, I tell ya.

I was just remembering that on the back of the Golden Rainbow original cast album there was a photo captioned "Eydie in the free-wheeling patio number". I've decided MY Broadway musical will HAVE to have a free-wheeling patio number.....

Buckley was AWFUL in "The Old Friends"!

How awful was she, r343?

Has anyone seen this rotten movie from last year called Opening Night about the goings-on backstage at a Broadway musical called One Hit Wonders? It stars Topher Grace, Taye Diggs, Anne Heche, JC Chasez and Lesli Margherita. What a stinking piece of shit. Diggs plays gay very poorly, Heche spends half the movie in a drugged state, so pretty much an average day for her and Topher looks both completely embarrassed and totally bored to be part of this, which is odd since he's also a producer.

This is not to be confused with the other rotten movie from a year earlier also called Opening Night starring DL faves Cheynne Jackson and Anthony Rapp.

I think casting BB as Dolly is far more interesting than any of the other possible choices I've read about. And won't Dolly sell on the road because it's DOLLY and, let's face it, there's not much else touring these days.

Bad idea to fuck your understudy

Did Nefertiti look like Andrea Marcovicci?

Nor to be confused with the 1977 Cassavetes film "Opening Night" with Gena Rowlands and Joan Blondell

Oh, THAT one r349!

R330 thats a parody post right?

NBC was paid off regarding Harvey.

ALL FUCKING MEDIA is paid off and always has been.

Just like America herself when we became a corporation in the 1700's.

But that article will come out. And once again the NYT will have to write the expose'

But this time, defending itself!!

Oh, let's get back to FOLLIES......

In Buddy's eyes....

I'm young.....

But she ain't beautiful r352.

[quote]The New York Post reported yesterday that Ms. Maxwell had quit because she no longer wanted to work with Alec Baldwin, her co-star, writing in an e-mail message to a friend that Mr. Baldwin "created an unhealthy and oppressive situation." She referred specifically to an incident in which Mr. Baldwin punched a wall because he was angry that the air-conditioning was not turned high enough.

I remember this quote from the Times article about Maxwell leaving MR. SLOANE. And I also remember that, the night I saw the show, it was so cold in the theater that I complained to someone on the house staff. So I guess that was at Baldwin's insistence.

[quote]THAT’s the hilarious, fall out of your chair, pee I n your pants funny last line of Triumph of Love?? I’ve heard wittier lines on any random episode of The Jeffersons.

You'd understand if you had to sit through two hours of the most boring musical starring two of the biggest hams, Betty Buckley and F. Murray Abraham. The audience was laughing with relief that the show was over!

[quote]incident in which Mr. Baldwin punched a wall

What a wimp. I had to put up with a lot worse from Mandy Patinkin.

I remember the Baldwin incident and I had no idea who this Jan Maxwell was at the time but I immediately fell in love with her for having the guts to walk out on a job because she was working with a lunatic. I loved Jan in Follies while I thought the other three leads + the munchkin from abroad were merely 'eh.'

R351 is LOONy.

add to the conversation R358 and stop being fascinated by OTHER peoples ideas.

You always give yourself away with your loony conspiracy theories and mental illness, r359.

But your time is coming, bitch.

we got a stalker folks^

And now for a veritable laugh riot......

Harry Connick Jr starring in The Sting musical Paper Mill! Yeah!

He didn't go shirtless at the end of Pajama Game? Coward.

I hope Harry gets some help with his wig on this one.

Myriad, starving Broadway gypsies were denied shelter in Manhattan Plaza because of Queen Jan’s stranglehold on her glamorous, subsidized digs. Now will deserving future Tony Award nominees from Kansas finally get their chance at the brass ring of NYC prime theatrical real estate?

What happens to her husband and son? Must they be turned out in the cold now?

[quote]Now will deserving future Tony Award nominees from Kansas finally get their chance at the brass ring of NYC prime theatrical real estate?

No, because there's a 10 year waiting list. Manhattan Plaza is now ringing Sutton Foster to see if she's ready to move in.

On the other hand, Harry did the finale barefoot, whereas John Raitt wore bedroom slippers.

I guess there was only so much flesh Harry was willing to show.

There's definitely a clip of Harry shirtless in the finale of PJ Game on youtube. I was just looking at it the other day! But I remember hearing something about a clause in his contract that forbid any stills of the moment in the publicity.

Which is just weird.

Jan Maxwell was married to actor Robert Emmet-Lunney so he and the son will be allowed to stay put.

Only my wife Jill, Kelli O'Hara, and jailbird/meth-head Tyler Maynard) are allowed to see my naked chest.

Not in that order.

[quote]Only my wife Jill, Kelli O'Hara, and jailbird/meth-head Tyler Maynard) are allowed to see my naked chest.

Excuse me?

I guess maybe Harry and/or the PAJAMA GAME producers wanted to save the sight of him shirtless for the paying customers. He did look great.

[quote]Jan Maxwell was married to actor Robert Emmet-Lunney so he and the son will be allowed to stay put.

They would be allowed to stay put anyway. But their rent would go up to market value if they didn't meet the income conditions of Manhattan Plaza.

There are no “market value” apartments in Manhattan Plaza despite what people who live there with their Tony Awards claim. They are all way below what any other apartment in the neighborhood rents for.

[quote]There are no “market value” apartments in Manhattan Plaza despite what people who live there with their Tony Awards claim.

Yes, there are. Rent is paid on a sliding scale. If a tenant has a full year's worth of work, then that tenant is expected to pay full market value. Some have to pay full market value so that others can live there at a reduced rate. It's not a rent stabilized building. Manhattan Plaza gets their pound of flesh.

Did Bernie not like Jan? She hasn't posted a thing about her passing on Twitter.

So many Broadway types keep showing up on "Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Carolee Carmello! Mary Testa! Max Casella! Dee Hoty!

[quote] So many has-beens keep showing up on "Marvelous Mrs. Maisel." Carolee Carmello! Mary Testa! Max Casella! Dee Hoty!

fixed that for you

[quote]I think casting BB as Dolly is far more interesting than any of the other possible choices I've read about

Who were the other choices?

He's probably referring to the rumors of Reba or Christine Ebersole doing the tour.

I think Reba would have been spectacular and sold tons of tickets.

Oh well. With no stay longer than three weeks, Betty will probably be fine.

Topless Connick

[quote] Who were the other choices?

Jan Maxwell and Betty White.

Harry Connick shirtless in "The Pajama Game"

Anyone else think Jon Groff will be in the Broadway version of Dream Lover, between shooing for Mindhunter that is. He is currently in Melbourne, AU and stopped in to visit the cast of the AU version. Snce it seems to take David Finch a year between each season to get everything together, Jon should have plenty of time.

However, is he right for the part?

And, other than the Glee/Looking/Hamilton fans, will anyone go to see it? Sometimes I feel he gets parts because he is such a sweet farmboy than because he is actually right for the part.

Really? Is that how you think Groff gets roles?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahha

[quote]Anyone else think Jon Groff will be in the Broadway version of Dream Lover, between shooing for Mindhunter that is. He is currently in Melbourne, AU and stopped in to visit the cast of the AU version. Snce it seems to take David Finch a year between each season to get everything together, Jon should have plenty of time.

I assume they won't move it to Broadway without him. To those who think he's "not right for the part," he doesn't actually play Bobby Darin in the show, which is done in concert style with narration. At least, that's how they did it at the 92Y. And Jon and the rest of the cast there delivered the songs really well.

I never heard of any problems r378. I wonder how Bern feels about FOLLIES in general. She didn't bring it up in that interview when they were listing her Sondheim shows and she didn't do LA.

A Helen/Neely moment?

DREAM LOVER will need LOTS of work before it is Broadway-ready.

They can always bring in Kevin Spacey as a consultant.

Did anyone see Noah Galvin in his brief DEH stint? I know he looks like a lesbian but did he at least sweat less than Platt?

Alec Baldwin running 5k in a full body sweatsuit in August would sweat less than Ben Platt.

w&w R394. I love you.

Danny Burstein didn't post anything about Jan either. Bernie was dreadful in Follies. Sorry, but she was (and I'm a fan).

Jonathan Groff is in Australia and was spotted attending the Bobby Darin Dream Lover musical, so it looks like Timbers is serious about bringing it to Broadway.

Danny Burstein posted a brief but sweet goodbye to Jan Maxwell on Facebook. You shouldn't have written otherwise if you didn't know for sure.

Brief is right. All he Saadi was “RIP, Jan”

Jon Groff begins shooting for Mindhunter in Pittsburgh in 2 months. He's then there for 10 months. No time for a Broadway for at least a year.

Sad to me that he's devoting so much of his prime years to a TV series that could be cast with so many others. If he's going to do film, he should be more particular.

More particular? I've only seen a little of MINDHUNTER, but it has gotten great reviews and response and is a hit. Aside from the salary. And Groff seems devoted to continuing liver performance work on his off-time, which is considerable.

Jonathan Groff and Darren Criss in Steven Sondheim's musical "Bounce!" Call Tele-charge today!

Raul Esparza, in DC to do Chess, is interviewed by the DC LGBTQ magazine, MetroWeekly. He does not pull any punches.

[quote]devoted to continuing liver performance work on his off-time,

So few stars continue liver performance work after they become stars. Kidney work, yes, but not liver.

R403

Slay them, Papi!

R383 -- Harry Connick looked ridiculously sexy there, but, I have a question -- is that production number representative of the whole production? The ensemble sounds almost painfully bad when singing in unison, the choreography looks so slapdash and amateurish and the whole thing seems so dull and lifeless.

It's not representative of the whole production. For Roundabout and Kathleen Marshall, it was better than average and Harry Connick and Kelli O'Hara were good together. Marshall didn't fare that well with "Steam Heat," where it's just impossible to top or match Fosse's original, but her "Hernando's Hideaway" was a lot of fun - even the shameless way they found a reason for Connick to play the piano.

Connick and O'Hara had, um, great chemistry, which is the big reason that production worked so well

um what happened with Neil Labute?

How about the one who marries "Mr Snow" in Carousel

i thought kelli was a Lez

Only when she visits the DL r411.

LInk re Neil LaBute...

I wonder if this is because some kind of sexual misconduct thing is about to break with LaBute? It would not surprise me if it did.

Broadway still getting a pass. Too much money at stake. Too many jobs. Sex crimes given a pass. NYTimes complicit. Governed by almighty Disney dollars.

Shut up, Matt.

Charlotte St. Martin fucked me with her wigstand!

BAJOUR!

Too early?

I know a lot of women found issues with Labute's plays, but it sounds like it goes deeper.

Broadway still getting a pass. Too much money at stake. Too many jobs. Sex crimes given a pass. NYTimes complicit. Governed by almighty Disney dollars.

TRUE! R415 is right!

[quote] I know a lot of women found issues with Labute's plays, but it sounds like it goes deeper.

Oh, I'll bet it doesn't.

R415 and r420 are both Matt the Loon..

No, R422. I am not.

Now stay on point. We were talking about big media in NYC being bought out.

Have you any further info to offer besides falsely identifying posters?

To think media in this city cant be bought is as crazy as anyone you call loon.

You can't hide, Matt, by pretending to be other people. We know who you are.

According to Baz Bamigboye Ruthie Henshall will be playing Mama Morton in Chicago this spring with Cuba Gooding Jr as Billy Flynn. Two nobodies are playing Roxie and Velma.

How old is Ruthie Henshall now? Her career certainly fizzled out.

MCC abruptly canceled a Neil LaBute play without explanation. As they discuss this on ATC, someone got too melodramatic for Mockingbirdgirl's taste, and she handed him his head.

I normally don't like her attitude, but she was actually pretty funny.

It's completely bogus of MCC not to give any explanation. Probably every theatregoer can figure it out, given the nature of LaBute's writing, but he is still owed an explanation.

As are we.

Riedel writes a love letter to Bernadette and “Dolly.”

R428. How funny. I was literally about to post that same Riedel column. Do we think Riedel has his finger on the pulse? Should we expect rave reviews for Bernie's official opening next week?

I'm going to try to make it back to NY over the spring to see her performance, but I snuck a sneak listen in to a couple of excerpts from bootlegs and, at least at the performance these clips were captured from, she sounded great -- her vocal adlibs in the title number were quite endearing, too and the audience response was deafening.

I saw Bernie. She's very hoarse. But at least she didn't weep through this one.

I saw her last weekend. She was brilliant, and sounded great. Maybe the hoarseness comes and goes, but she definitely didn’t have it on Saturday.

R429, are there any bootlegs on Line? I know someone on Tumblr had posted audio clips of most of her songs the day after her first preview, but those got taken down almost at once.

I guess the cast announced for Grand Hotel at Encores is too boring to warrant a mention? I like James Snyder in David Carroll’s role, but the rest are snoozeworthy.

R432 - right now there's a wonderful performance of the title song up there. Of course, it could be taken down at any moment. It's very sweet to hear the audience cheer and stop the song at the line "back where I belong" and Bernie sounds great.

[quote]Two nobodies are playing Roxie and Velma.

Don't you mean two OTHER nobodies?

Is that on tumblr, r434?

yes, r436

Hello, DL!

Lackluster^

Channing was unique.

Midler was warmer.

Shes okay.

[quote]Dolly's only ever warm, funny, and charming

To the contrary, to paraphrase something Steve Newport said years ago on Rec.Arts.Theatre.Musicals, the essence of a good Dolly is that you never know whether you want to hug her or slap her. Remember it opened out of town as "Dolly, a Damned Exasperating Woman."

No it didn't, r440. It opened out of town as "Hello, Dolly!," which had been its title since rehearsals. It did have a song, "You're a Damned Exasperating Woman" when the show opened in Detroit. It was the first song in Act Two, sung by Horace. But the idea of calling the show "Dolly, a Damned Exasperating Woman" was dropped early on.

There is some person on one the FB Musicals pages who swears he saw the show in Detroit with the "exasperating woman" title, but he's been proved wrong (by people with proof) every time he mentions it.

[quote]the essence of a good Dolly is that you never know whether you want to hug her or slap her.

What a stupid comment. Not true at all. The audience has to be behind Dolly the whole way. Even the least warm of the Dollys (Ethel Merman) was only adored by the audience.

The show was originally called "Hello Dolly, Damn Yankee" Horace was a Southern gentleman. Then Jerry Herman decided there were actually two musicals in that idea and so split them apart and rename them "Hello Dolly" and "Mame."

The title was originally "A Trip to Chinatown," but then the restaurant scene was changed from the Cathay Gardens to the Harmonia Gardens, and they had to change the name.

Mockingbirdgirl is such a cunt at all times.

Originally, it was called "Shuffling Dolly Along".

Truth be told, wasn't Hello Dolly's source material The Merchant of Yonkers based on an old English play A Day Well-Spent in which the Cornelius and Barnaby characters were the leads and the Dolly character only peripheral or absent?

Crazy as it sounds, I once heard that when the musical of Sugar was first being conceived they had played around with the idea of making Sweet Sue the lead and the entire story enfolding from her point of view.

That makes me really sad to hear about Ruthie Henshalls career. I’ve seen her in a few things and she was always great.

Now she’s reduced to playing a role also played by legendary chanteuse Wendy Williams.

I also saw Dolly! in Detroit, pre-Broadway, and it was ALWAYS Hello, Dolly! by the time it opened. The previous season, the program had small items forecasting the next season, and one or two said: Coming attractions: Ethel Merman in a new musical, "Dolly, A Damned Exasperating Woman." But as stated above, that was dropped for HD along the way.

R46. For the last time, it was called SHUFFLE Dolly Along. Re the Bernadette clip. I could only listen to a little bit. She sounded great, but the audience's adoration of her was a little annoying, especially after the line "it's nice to be back home where I belong." THey're reacting too much to the actress, and not the character, which bugs me. Maybe the audience will settle in a little once all the die-hard Bernie fans have already seen it, but , now, it felt like I was listening to something that everyone likes much more than I do. Bear in mind, I DO like Bernadette -- I thought she was brilliant in Sunday in the Park -- but I'm not someone who leaps to their feet just because I'm in her presence.

The conductor stops the orchestra...totally staged “spontaneity.”

And anyone who has been on stage in the last two decades or so knows that modern audience reactions are “bigger” because shows like American Idol have conditioned them to be that way. I’ve noticed it more in the last 5 years, personally. Lots of whooping and hollering for things that would have only received polite applause in the past.

Yeah R450! Fuck those paying customers for cheering someone they like! They should think just like you do about everything!

Is there such a thing as impolite applause?

Not exactly, R447. "The Merchant of Yonkers" was Thornton Wilder's Americanized version of an Austrian play, which itself was based on an early English one-act play called "A Day Well Spent." Wilder later revised his play and renamed it "The Matchmaker," in which Dolly is indeed the central character. "The Matchmaker" was the basis for "Hello, Dolly!," not "The Merchant of Yonkers."

[quote]It's completely bogus of MCC not to give any explanation.

Why? Why is it anyone's business why they made a business decision that doesn't affect anyone but them?

Reidel is making amends for trying to destroy her career when she was genuinely ill as "Gypsy" was beginning and she was missing shows and he was keeping track. Reidel was is and will always be a Jackass.

Actually, it also affects audience members who subscribed for a specific season that included LaBute’s premier of his second sequel to his biggest hit.

An ALW revue called Unmasked will premiere at Papermill in September.

[quote]They're reacting too much to the actress, and not the character, which bugs me.

You really would have hated Ethel Merman in the part then. It was the same reaction and then some.

I think it's just an appreciation for a New Yorker who has always stayed true to the theatre, no matter whatever successes she's had in other fields (in Peters' case, TV, movies, and especially concerts). Same with Merman. In Merman's case she had "been away" from the Broadway stage for almost ten years when she did the part, in Peters' case - what, five years, maybe? But the response to "back where I belong" is a grateful audience telling the performer thank you for not deserting the stage like some people (hello, Meryl Streep) did.

At the first couple of previews, the orchestra didn't pause. I guess now they figure it's better than trying to continue over the ruckus. Hopefully the super-freaky fans will get it out of their systems and it will go back to normal soon.

[quote]An ALW revue called Unmasked will premiere at Papermill in September

Well that's totally unnecessary.

"An ALW revue called Unmasked will premiere at Papermill in September"

Why not call it "Unwanted"?

Well, maybe I'm super freaky, but I hope some of the Bernadette stans are still there when I get to see the show later this spring. I'll be cheering right along with them. I don't see what's so bad about an audience giving Bernadette a loud, warm welcome back to Broadway. I mean, it's Hello, Dolly! It's a lady of a certain age in a red dress, walking down a staircase and reminiscing with some waiters. I don't think a loud 30-second ovation is going to ruin the continuity or something so old-fashioned and stagey (not said derogatorily).

John Doyle is directing the ALW revue? So who’s playing the tuba; the Phantom or Rumpleteazer?

Unmasked is magnificent theatre! Bravo! Bravo!

The weird thing about that Hello Dolly applause is that the number is in the second act. Such applause is proper on an entrance. Not when you’ve already been watching the show for over an hour. It’s self-indulgent audiences inserting themselves in the show, much like whooping for any sustained note.

[quote]Not exactly, [R447]. "The Merchant of Yonkers" was Thornton Wilder's Americanized version of an Austrian play, which itself was based on an early English one-act play called "A Day Well Spent." Wilder later revised his play and renamed it "The Matchmaker," in which Dolly is indeed the central character. "The Matchmaker" was the basis for "Hello, Dolly!," not "The Merchant of Yonkers."

Correct, but Wilder himself said the changes he made to The Merchant of Yonkers were "minor revisions" made at the suggestion of Tyrone Guthrie when Merchant was produced at the Edinburgh Festival in the 1950s under the new title,

But as someone pointed out above, the similarities of Merchant/Matchmaker to A Trip to Chinatown are so obvious they can't be ignored. Chinatown was a huge Broadway hit in the 1890s. It was the longest running musical up to that time reaching nearly 700 performances. It toured and was revived constantly through the early part of the 20th century. It was enormously popular and Wilder saw it in his youth.

Here's a plot summary from the NYPL with a few details from Wikipedia:

Two young men tell their crotchety guardian Uncle Ben that they are going sightseeing in Chinatown. They really plan a night out on the town. They have engaged a chaperone, the widowed Mrs. Guyer, but her letter of acceptance is received by Uncle Ben, who misinterprets it as an invitation to a rendezvous. The young men, together with their female romantic partners and Mrs. Guyer, go to a fancy restaurant where, through a somewhat improbable chain of events, Uncle Ben is also present and expecting to meet Mrs. Guyer as a potential romantic partner for himself. A scuffle breaks out at the restaurant, and at the conclusion of the scene the old man is left with a bill for the whole party — which he cannot pay because he has lost his wallet.

Wilder loved Hello, Dolly! and adored Channing in the role. Whenever he was in New York, he would attend performances, even standing in the back if necessary. He said the show reminded him of the theater of his youth.

R465, I'm the one who mentioned "A Trip to Chinatown" and I thought I was making a joke! I had no idea that there really was a connection there - thank you for that fascinating info!

[quote]Such applause is proper on an entrance.

It's because she sings "it's so nice to be back home where I belong." Peters belongs on a Broadway stage.

I personally dislike it, but I understand why it's happening.

Can someone really be so sour that a sustained ovation for an adored and legendary star upon her return to the Broadway stage in a showstopping number in a classic and beloved musical triggers him? The mind truly boggles.

I'm the one who complained about the sustained applause. Wow. I didn't think it would elicit so many comments. It's not as though Bernadette has been away for very long. She was in Follies just five years ago, and her performance in that was savaged, so it's not as though she's a performer whom no one has seen in a lifetime, or someone who rarely treads the boards. Also, as someone else pointed out, it would have been more appropriate at her entrance, not in the second act. Further, as someone else pointed out, it is the audience trying to insert themselves into the show, trying to show that they are "with it" and culturally astute, that they are applauding themselves applauding. It really has nothing to do with Bernadette, and everything to do with them trying to show off. The loudness and length of the applause and guffaws is off putting. It's like being, say, in a comedy movie that you find slightly amusing , but the entire threatre is peeing in their pants. You wonder: are they seeing the same movie I'm seeing? Am I not getting something? And then you realize that people are just too willing to applaud something that, really, just doesn't require or deserve that much applause. There's too much "look at me, I'm applauding for a LEGEND!", and no real sincerity to it.

I’m assuming Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess will be in Unmasked before starting rehearsals next winter for The Greatest Showman.

If that's how the audience reacted to Bernadette and the title song in Hello, Dolly! imagine how they reacted when she entered on "I Put My Hand In"? Does anyone know the story of why Jerry Herman rewrote that song as "Just Leave Everything To Me" which the film opens with? Oh wait, the wiki page says he wrote it especially for Streisand.

I could be wrong but I don't think Paper Mill's press release about Unmasked states that John Doyle will direct, only that he wrote it. I've heard that they're hoping Jerry Zaks will direct it.

Of course, in the end, Doyle probably will direct it.

I heard that Reba was going into Dolly once Betty Midler leaves it.

They give Doyle the ambiguous "co-creator" credit with Richard Curtis (Is he the BRitish film director who's married to Elizabeth McGovern, or is that Simon Curtis?). I guess co-creator means they wrote/arranged it, yes. I'm surprised Doyle isn't set to direct it, so maybe they are looking for somebody else, and he wants to get into more of the writing/"curating" side of things?

[quote]I heard that Reba was going into Dolly once Betty Midler leaves it.

You heard wrong.

John Doyle is dir3cting a musical version of “August Rush” later this year.

“Just Leave Everything to Me” was the movie’s attempt to give Babs S a “driving” number a la “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” It was the only place in the film such a number could have gone. Too bad, because “I Put My Hand In” in a better song.

Isn't "So Long Dearie" a driving number or was it sped up for Streisand?

Hard to tell, currently, R478. As soon as Bernadette starts with “goodbye,” the audience begins wailing and moaning and sobbing so loud that it’s impossible to hear the rest of the song

There's nothing quite so delightful as a Jerry Herman fisting song.

Republican cunt.

The reprise of I Put My Hand In isn't on the OBC so a lot of people don't remember it:

And when my little pinkie wiggles

Some young maiden get the giggles.

Then I move my index digit

And they both begin to fidget.

Pressure with the thumbs,

Matrimony comes when

I put my hand in there!

I'm so stupid, I left out:

Then I make my knuckles active,

My. he says, she's so attractive.

[quote]There's too much "look at me, I'm applauding for a LEGEND!", and no real sincerity to it.

Citation needed.

Betty Midler?

Is that like Patty LuPone? Judy Dench? Betty Davis?

By the way Betty M got the same appluse during the title number as Berny Peters, so everyone just Needs To Chill. My prediction, though, is that Bette Buckley will get none at all.

R458 It's a lovely theory but Merman had only been off a Broadway stage for a little over 3 years. She debuted as Dolly on March 28, 1970.

Her prior B'way run was in a revival of "Annie Get Your Gun" which closed Nov 28, 1966.

That was the infamous "Grannie Get Your Gun" revival since Merman was pushing 60 by the time it closed.

R482, Carol Channing does sing "Pressure with the thumbs, matrimony comes" on the OBC. They cut the little interlude dance music, and they don't do the reprise, but she does sing that lyric at the end of the song.

It's still the same thing, though. Merman wasn't doing Broadway shows regularly by the time she did Dolly (though she did do a summer stock Call Me Madam - with Donna McKechnie as the ingenue - the year after Granny Get Your Gun, but NY didn't see it). She was effectively retired from Broadway after Gypsy (AGYG was just a few weeks at Lincoln Center originally, but she had a good time and agreed to tour it briefly to DC, Detroit, and Philadelphia and then bring it back to NY for two months) - all told, six months out of her year, a far cry from her previous long runs.

The NY audiences adored her, and were happy to have her "back where she belonged" and they showed it to her with their loud appreciation.

Who cares how the audiences respond? I can't believe all this petty carping about an audience showing its appreciation to a performer. Were you bitches both abused in childhood, is that it?

R478, yes, the way Streisand sang "I Put My Hand In" in the movie is not the way it's sung in the show. The show arrangement is more typically show-tune-ish, almost dixielandish, not with the beat it has in the movie.

Um, r489, Streisand sings I Put My Hand In differently in the film because it's a different song.

WTF isnt this story about KIDS growin up???

Breaking: Jeff Daniels, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Gideon Glick & More Will Star in Aaron Sorkin's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD on Broadway!

Jeff Daniels, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Will Pullen, Gideon Glick, will star on Broadway this fall in Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin's new play, based on Harper Lee's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning novel TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

The play will be directed by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, which is produced by Scott Rudin and Lincoln Center Theater

R480, my mistake, I meant "So Long Dearie," which is what the other poster asked about, whether it was the same way in the film as it is on stage, and it's not.

Also re "So Long Dearie", on the Midler recording she sings "I'm gonna learn the hoochie-coo and smoke a cigarette", and not "I'm gonna learn to dance and sing and smoke a cigarette".

[quote] An ALW revue called Unmasked will premiere at Papermill in September... Well that's totally unnecessary.

Always get a kick out of old theater queen's aversion to ALW .

The original "So Long Dearie" lyric that Channing sings is "learn to dance and drink and smoke a cigarette" - the "hoochi-cooch" lyric started with Mary Martin, and Pearl Bailey sang it, too. But Ethel Merman went back to "dance and drink," and so did Streisand in the movie (and Channing still sang that in the 1990s revival that was recorded).

The "learn to dance and drink" lyric is weird anyway, since in Act One we've had a whole number where Dolly teaches everyone else to dance.

The title number in Hello, Dolly! is designed to get that audience response. It's not only about a beloved actress of a certain age showing she's still got it, it's also about audience members of a certain age celebrating the fact that they have lived and they're still here.

It has become that but it was not written that way. It makes no sense.

When Dolly premiered, standing ovations weren't even as common as they are now. I saw the show with Pearl Bailey and as enthusiastic as the audience was, nobody stood at the curtain call.

The I Put My Hand In reprise is on the Mary Martin recording.

Missing lyrics from R482/R483 are "Then I clench my palm/Preacher reads a psalm."

Jeff Daniels was all too predictable casting for Atticus Finch but I’d much rather see Michael Shannon in the role.

Reba for Atticus Finch!

In her Col. Sanders drag r502!

So Merman finished a show. Merrick had an idea working up a new show, one'd be great for the reigning Broadway musical star Merman. She didn't want to work. Ok. They looked around, cast Channing. The show turned into the blockbuster it was. In time every woman who could move played Dolly. In essence they did not write that show for Merman. But it was good theater to have Merman come in years later when the show was closing. For the film they stuck in a fresh song for Oscar best-song contention. For Merman's closing they stuck in two "Merman-type" songs for her. Big deal. The show plays best as originally written.

Oh yeah Michael Shannon would be as perfect for Atticus Finch as he was in Our Town when he played the folksy, all-American Narrator like Jeffrey Dahmer.

Labute is tiresome to deal with. They got rid of him.

Labute is tiresome to deal with. They got rid of him.

Dolly has been so warm throughout the first act, as the second act goes along you may realize you haven't seen her for a while, then there is the dancing build-up and There She Is, at the top of the stairs! Warm applause. You're glad to see her again. As written it's a killer role, a killer spot.

Dolly has been so warm throughout the first act, as the second act goes along you may realize you haven't seen her for a while, then there is the dancing build-up and There She Is, at the top of the stairs! Warm applause. You're glad to see her again. As written it's a killer role, a killer spot.

R505/6/78 its L, learn to use it or stay away!

OOPS, too many morning mimosas. It is DL, as in DataLounge.

Don't overthink the Dolly entrances. How do we get Our Star on stage? I know, let's have her ride in on a wagon, face hidden by a newspaper, she can put it down on the lyric with her name. Get off the wagon, come down center. And remember, it's in all the books … in tryouts they just had it as the second-act entrance for the star character, were surprised at audience reaction as the star came down the stairs. Hell, it happen to Sylvia Sidney, Eve Arden, Mary Ellen Ashley, Danny LaRue. It would happen to Minnie Mouse.

Dolly, Dolly, Dolly, goodness no, it's Horace finding "Dolly, a Damned Exasperating Woman", not the audience.

[quote]I saw the show with Pearl Bailey and as enthusiastic as the audience was, nobody stood at the curtain call.

That's because the average age was 82 and they couldn't get up.

R485 Betti Buklie will kill!

R420 is full of it! There is NO STORY to the NYTimes story. Hell, even in the Washington Bureau they don't care, so certainly no one in Alliance Nebraska cares. The Times knows its market. Besides, all you basement-dwellering "insiders" with information everyone knows, POST it here anonymously. It is easy to do.

[quote]Reba for Atticus Finch!

We're working on a musical version for her as we speak!

[R501] Soooo... Tom Hanks was unavailable?

Who the hell is Gideon Glick going to play? There was no super effeminate gay boy in To Kill a Mockingbird.

I doubt that Buckley will get that kind of applause on the road, mostly because the show will be playing to predominantly subscription houses, and that audience are more fans of "entertainment" then they are of broadway and its history. If it's not an A level or current tv star in the role, it could be anyone for all they care.

How old is scout supposed to be?

Isn't Celia about 40?

Hopefully they finally found a role to suit Celia's particular talents.

Head usher.

If Scout was born in 1930 and is recounting the events in 1960 ( the year of publication), then you would expect a Scout who is about 30.

The idea of Mockingbird as a memory play isn’t necessarily bad, but whose memory is it supposed to be? If the story is being told from Scout's POV, I could understand an adult playing her, but why is Dill also being played by an adult?

And as much as I enjoy Aaron Sorkin's writing, I genuinely don’t understand how he got the gig. (Other than a scenario where a producer looked at a list of potential authors and picked the most famous name.)

For my money Mary Martin reigns as the best Dolly, and that includes Carol, Ethel, Dottie Lamour, Betty G, Bette and all rest.

I found Agnes Moorhead's Dolly very endearing.

Poor Donna Murphy; she isn't even allowed to play Dolly on Tuesdays anymore because Bernie is hogging the whole role for herself.

Bernie needs the pay that 8 shows a week provides. You just can't rely on Social Security in old age.

Do actors do theatre for money???

In many plays children are played by adults. I cannot figure out this is so hard for people here to understand on DL.

Found a Peanut, Cloud 9, Pinkolandia, Blue Remembered Hills, Peter and the Star Catcher, etc.

Member of the Wedding

Donna got rave reviews and the opportunity to play Dolly on broadway in a first class production. I can't imagine she wanted any more than that.

A damn Tony Award would have been nice.

You mean a third to go with the two you already have?

Time for a quick visit to Bellevue, hon.

There already is a play of Mockingbird. Ran in London in the late '80s

I can't even find a picture of Donna and Bette from Hello Dolly! Better wouldn't even acknowledge that Donna was doing the Tuesday shows.

Bernadette attended Bette's annual Halloween party last year.

I'm not sure whether Bette and Donna ever even met. But Bette and Bernadette have been buddies since way back.

[quote]There already is a play of Mockingbird. Ran in London in the late '80s

They also do one in the small town in Alabama that was supposedly the inspiration for the story.

I'm sure I saw pictures of Donna at the opening night party for Bette's Dolly.

SJP was there.

with Matthew.

SJP's outfit looks like it was designed from a Hefty trash bag.

Andy Cohen looks scared to death in the background. God, he is a loathsome troll.

Nobody’s talking about the king and I actor caught in the sex sting in Naples or the accident on the phantom stage in Tampa that has the cast furious

I miss gossip

So do I, r545. Spill.

Not R545, but Patrick Boll is the actor caught in Naples (Florida). He was on tour in "The King & I" and was caught in a prostitution sting - along with a judge, a pastor, and three other men.

"The Phantom of the Opera" is playing at the Straz in Tampa till Feb 25. Nothing online about an accident.

What happened at Phantom?

Ask r545 - he's the one who mentioned it.

Why does Matthew Broderick still pretend to be straight?

Rumor has it that when Jerry Herman first wrote "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" that Cornelius and Barnaby sang "We'll see the 'mos at Delmonicos." Merman had read the script when she was still considering it and said, "That line is smutty. Take it out." So they changed it to "We'll see the shows...."

It was actually a triple rhyme.

“We’ll blow the mos at Delmonico’s ...”

[quote]We’ll blow the mos at Delmonico’s

“She thinks of the Ritz, oh it’s so schitzo.”

Put down that Schlitz in your mitts r554.

That's very sad about Patrick. I've known him forever and he's a good guy.

The return of the Artistic Company.

It amazes me how much traction Hwang has gotten from M Butterfly all these decades. And after the awful recent revival, you'd think it was finally over.

Does anyone know Hwang? Is he a nice guy? Good schmoozer?

[quote]It amazes me how much traction Hwang has gotten from M Butterfly all these decades.

He has a new musical with Tesori called “Soft Power” coming in May to the Ahmanson in LA, before making a lunge for Bway.

[quote]It was actually a triple rhyme. “We’ll blow the mos at Delmonico’s ...”

I never tried to be Sondheim.

Just as well, Jer.

From Broadway Worod: Lin Manuel’s clothing and merchandise company TeeRico has announced a partnership with Entertainment Earth to create a line of toys and collectibles. The first product that has been announced is Pin Mates™ wooden figurines of Miranda and his tog Tobi.

Is there ANYTHING this renaissance man can’t do?!

He has become really, really tiresome.

And really, really rich.

Yes to both.

Why can't Encores! be like this?

(and I loved "Hey, Look Me Over")

I've met Hwang, nice person to chat with. Truly godawful writer.

You've got to be kidding, r567. I love Wilson (who's he fucking again? A trombonist?), but this version of "Tap Your Troubles Away" can't begin to compete with the best of Encores. The song is too low for Anna Jane Casey, which leaves her underpowered vocally. The dancers look cramped on the stage - they could have done with at least two-four fewer.

I did like the two old men trying to get out of the theatre as the dancers started in the same door, though.

Anyone here still watching "On Stage"? I think last week may have provided some insight into why Donna Karger left the show. Her teenage daughter became ill and she had to deal with that, so perhaps that was when they decided to turn the show over to Frank. (Just an assumption on my part.) Thankfully, Donna's daughter is much better now.

Given that it's been about a year or so now, I've actually gotten used to the new "On Stage," though it did occur to me recently that Roma Torre no longer does theater reviews for the show. (Neither does the other guy whose name escapes me at the moment -- David something or other.) One can only imagine they got the boot.

[quote]The song is too low for Anna Jane Casey, which leaves her underpowered vocally.

Well, she's no Sandy Duncan.

I've always loved Mack & Mabel but thought that the Lottie character played by Lisa Kirk should have been played by Mary McCarty, fresh off her Follies success. She would have been perfect for Tap Your Troubles Away and would have evoked Marie Dressler, a star of Mack Sennett comedies and an even bigger star of the early Talkies.

Those John Wilson BBC Proms concerts are often more about that splendid orchestra than for the varying degrees of West End talent in the singers. I mean who else is performing Slaughter on 10th Avenue with such a big orchestra?

John Wilson is pretty damned cute. Who’s had him?

Can anyone identify this Evita? The video says it is Lupone but it clearly isn't.

That is LuPone, r575. The tape seems to be playing fast so it doesn’t immediately sound like her, but the more you listen, the more you realize it is, especially when she goes into the second verse - it’s all LuPone’s phrasing and tone. And it looks like her.

I want John Wilson inside me quite deeply.

good call r576

Now that I watch it again it does seem like her especially when she does the speech after the song. Those are Lupone gestures. Plus I think she was the only one to do the head tuck at the end.

I've seen John Wilson in concert several times and Kim Criswell is the only one of his singers who does the material justice. Julian Whatisname's placement always distracts me though he's quite a good interpreter, so maybe I should include him as well.

The slurred diction certainly sounds like LuPone. She sounds a bit British, though.

The second national tour of Hamilton opened in Seattle this past week.

The cast seems very.....collegiate.

Which is my nice way of saying "Bland" and "Lacking in Star Power".

But, hella cute with hot bodies.

I can't stand Kim Criswell. She's always been an obnoxious performer, and now she's fat and obnoxious.

That's definitely LuPone in the Evita clip. It sounds like her even from the beginning. It just sounds like she inhaled helium before she started singing.

How many US companies does Hamilton have now? Broadway, 2 national tours, a sit-down in Chicago still? More?

Two tours (the Philip company and the Anjelica company), the Chicago sit-down, Broadway, and London.

The Philip company is the one in Seattle now, and the Anjelica company is in Arizona. The only real "name" performers are in the Chicago and NY companies.

Having recently heard Betty Buckley’s album “Story Songs” I am astonished at the deterioration in her voice. Good luck on the Hello Dolly tour doll.

Why the hell would they waste time and money hiring a name for the Hamilton tour?

Bernadette Peters in Hamilton

That would be David Cote who used to review for OnStage. His wife recently died, of cancer I believe. Very sad.

Reba for Aaron Burr!

r575, it's definitely LuPone but the video is recorded or uploaded at a different speed therefore making her sound different. You can tell it's LuPone by the vibrato and the phrasing.

BAJOUR!

Shut up, Nancy.

What is the David Cote post in reply to?

Pickwick

Lock Up Your Daughters

The Mitford Girls

ah, hell, Bajour!

Moose Murders!

Whoop-Up!