THEATRE GOSSIP #295: “Bernie, Jeremy Jordan, and Tommy Tune Walk Into a Bar” EDITION

Mot to mention Bernstein's blotter.

And Bernstein's bladder.

From the last thread:

[quote]I'm not sure the blind is true. We know that SS is directing West Side Story, so we all assume it is about that. If you read the blind item, though, it said that the most recent revival is what led to the movie. There is no way that the last revival has ANYTHING to do with the movie. It is all but forgotten. I think this one is just made up, using the interest in the WST movie to get clicks to the site. I don't know of any other broadway property being made into a movie, but it definitely isn't West Side Store. Is an a-list director attached to Spring Awakening?

I was thinking that the most recent Broadway revival of WSS, awful as it was, might be said to have led to the upcoming movie in the sense that one of the producers of that revival, Kevin McCollum, has been announced as one of the producers of the movie. And who knows, maybe Spielberg saw that revival and it got him thinking about a new movie of WSS. Still, I'd wager you're probably right and the blind item is just BS.

What is the status of a movie of the musical SPRING AWAKENING? I just looked at imdb and found this weird item (see link). Does anyone here know anything about this?

That looks like it’s based on the original play, r3, and doesn’t have anything to do with the musical.

Spring Awakening is in development hell. The last word on it re: IMDB nearly 10 years ago was that McG (!) would be directing it. He dropped out and Sheik said a few years ago that Tom Hanks was looking to produce it. No director is currently attached.

R4, I know, but I've never heard of this SPRING AWAKENING movie. I guess it hasn't been released yet even though it has a 2017 date?

I wonder if songs from the SPRING AWAKENING musical being featured on RISE will spur production of a movie? Maybe if RISE turns into a hit, which doesn't look likely as of now.

Mean Girls made a fortune last week. I'm looking forward to years of people complaining about it here.

If Timotay wanted to do Spring Awakening, it would get out of development hell in an instant.

If "Wicked" goes anytime soon Fiyero is Zac Efron's to turn down. He's coming off his third hit musical movie.

That Sandy Duncan Peter Pan clip NEVER gets old.

What's the deal with the film of "Oliver Twist" that Marc Platt is co-producing with Ice Cube as Fagin? Is it a remake of Lionel Bart's "Oliver!" or an adaptation with a new score?

Maybe the BI refers to Patti LuPone?

WSS doesn’t actually begin filming until towards the end of 2019, according to an interview with Spielberg today. A lot will happen in terms of casting before then. I don’t think we’ll even get any casting announcements until a year from now at the earliest.

Spielberg just announced that he’s gonna start filming the new Indiana Jones film in April 2019. I doubt WSS gets done at all, frankly. He has a looooong history of announcing films and then not doing them. Robopocalypse, anyone?

The Ice Cube/Oliver Twist movie has nothing to do with the Lionel Bart musical. I believe Cameron Mackintosh is pursuing a remake of that separately.

R10 You know Sandy Duncan?

I saw Sandy Duncan as Peter Pan. She. Was. Fantastic. (And I still don't know the mechanics of how she flew out over the audience in the orchestra for her curtain call. Needless to say, the crowd went wild.)

Can 't see original post, so I'm posting to add this to my watched list.

I'm optioning the film right to R16's story.

Why does Sandy Duncan not work? No grandma gigs on sitcoms etc. Is her husband difficult?

THIS is how one does Ugg-a-Wug.......

Fabulous.

Not to beat the Larry Kert question to death but where the mystery lies to me is why didn't his career ZOOM in the decade between WSS and Company....not WHET after Company? He was a sexy young hottie staring in the edgiest Broadway musical of all time who could act, sing like an angel and (presumably) even dance a little. Everybody but everybody played that OBC recording of WSS in their dens and rec rooms, featuring his versdions of Tonight, Maria and One Hand, One Heart.

Looking at his IBDB credits, all he did after WSS in that decade was play secondary roles in 2 huge flops: A Family Affair, Hal Prince's first directorial effort starring those sublime singing and dancing stars Eileen Heckart and Shelly Berman; and the even bigger fiasco Breakfast at Tiffany's in which he played.....someone named Carlos. WTF?

The 1960s was the height of the Golden Age of the Broadway musical and yet, that was it for the original Tony of WSS??

Broadway, you are one cruel mistress.

Is this the first DL thread ever that doesn't have a title card?

No, THIS is how one does Ug Uh Wug

Maybe he made himself sufficiently unpleasant that nobody wanted to hire him. Whether or not there was a falling out with Sondheim and Prince (unclear from the last thread), there wouldn't have been anything especially suited to him in Follies, ALNM, PO or Sweeney.

I think you're overselling Larry's looks... It doesn't surprise me that he didn't become a star. I remember watching some of La Cage and enjoying Harvey Evans. Kert was charmless and a bad actor, as I recall.

He looked a bit like Jerry Herman, though I think Jer was cuter.

After WSS, Larry Kert could have been well cast in Carnival, I Can Get It for You Wholesale, No Strings, She Loves Me, Anyone Can Whistle, On a Clear Day..., The Apple Tree, What makes Sammy Run.....

What is your obsession with him, r27? He was a mediocre actor at best. So-so looks. Nice voice. And he was an attitude queen with a very unpleasant personality. I know this because I was acquainted with him in the late 1970s.

I also saw Larry Kert in "Rags." Granted, he was hardly the biggest problem with that show, but his acting was truly terrible.

Mean Girls is good?

Tommy Tune was supposed to bring Doctor Doolittle to Broadway from the national tour. They even had him on a float in the Macy's Parade. Then it never made it to Broadway.

Didn’t that Easter Parade with Tommy Tune get a production in Australia? But I don’t think Sandy Duncan did it.

Actually, THIS is how you do "Ugg-a-Wugg."

Whatever happened to the "Hello Again" movie with lesbians Audra McDonald and Martha Plimpton? I saw the original production at Lincoln Center and was so bored. It looks like the movie couldn't improve on the music, so they just turned it into a freak show.

Jerry Herman played and sang "Song On The Sand" on the stage of the Winter Garden at Larry's memorial service.

I think Broadway needs a revival of Mummenschanz.

[quote]Whatever happened to the "Hello Again" movie

Like everything else with Michael John LaChuisa's name on it, it came and went and no one really noticed.

[quote]Spielberg just announced that he’s gonna start filming the new Indiana Jones film in April 2019. I doubt WSS gets done at all, frankly. He has a looooong history of announcing films and then not doing them. Robopocalypse, anyone?

Actually it could be in theaters by Christmas if he wants. He streamlines now. He started shooting "The Post" in March and had it in theatres in December. He already has another coming out next week.

How long has Jerry Herman been living with HIV?

[quote]How long has Jerry Herman been living with HIV?

Everyone had him on his death bed when Carol Channing did the last Broadway revival of Hello Dolly.

Rigby's is good but nothing compares to Duncan's show choreography. The arm and leg movements are very cool. Has no one noticed that Duncan's John Darling is played by a young Alex Winter of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure.

And here’s the sexy hip-hop Brazilian version of Ugg-A-Wugg:

Did Alex Winter ever work with George Rose?

I thought the boy playing Michael looked familiar, too. Anyone know who he was?

Young Nathan Lane.

I still think Alison Williams was the best Peter Pan.

R28 and that's it. Case closed.

Let's not forget it was uberbitch Cindy Adams who announced Jerry's AIDS diagnosis in her daily column. Like there weren't enough reasons to hate the drunken cow.

Gather round children and let me tell you a Peter Pan story. Now I wasn't there per se, but it was told me by someone who was. During one fun show of Peter Pan, Miss Sandy Duncan flew out over the audience and out popped her glass eye and it fell into a patron's lap. Miss Duncan had to yell to the fly crew to fly her back out over the audience and she had to make a few attempts to try and find whose lap her eye fell into. I'm sure you can imagine being a Broadway patron and having Sandy Duncan come flying at you, squinty eyed, and grabbing at your crotch trying to feel for her glass eye. There were many a child at that performance who is in therapy today after being subjected to that! And THAT's why Broadway attendance has fallen off in the last 30 years. And on some dark and cold nights, if you search ebay very carefully, you will find some old fool selling marbles and pretending they are the Sandy Duncan eye.

There was NEVER a young Nathan Lane.

And Duncan never had a glass eye--she lost vision in one after she had surgery.

You know that’s all untrue, don’t you, r49? Duncan has never had a glass eye. She had a tumor removed behind one of her eyes, rendering her blind in that eye, but the eye was not removed.

But it’s a fun story. Might work better if her hunky hubby Don is the one who went into the audience feeling men,s crotches looking for the eye.

Noisy boys, long and lean

Giggles of girls in the mezzanine!!

Wow, that was Rumer WIllis in the trailer of Hello Again? She sounded fantastic. I'm kind of intrigued by it.

I saw Sandy Duncan as Peter Pan and she was indeed wonderful. So much so that I saw it twice after the first time. The last time, Christopher Hewitt had replaced the dull and safe George Rose as Hook and played him full out as a campy old queen, the way the part is written. It was just fantastic.

Also, I never saw Cathy Rigby onstage, but I have the DVD of her Peter Pan. She's exceptional and I love that her production restored tons of dialog from the Barrie original, including the Lagoon scene, that Robbins had deleted for Martin.

I think that when Rigby took on the part of The Cat in The Hat in the original production of Seussical and its national tour she saved it from financial disaster. I'm open to correction on this one.

[quote]He streamlines now. He started shooting "The Post" in March and had it in theatres in December.

And we all saw how that turned out. Call him Thanksgiving—cause he only delivers turkeys.

Don Correia, Sandy's hubby, is a real estate agent and he seems to be doing just fine. He was also in both Follies revivals. Stood by for Treat and Gregory Harrison in the first and did Rain on the Roof with Susan Watson in the second. When that production went to LA he was replaced by Sammy Williams. I saw Don in My One and Only with Sandy and Singin in the Rain and he was very good in both. Oh, and he was really really HOT.

Neither of his sons is anywhere near as hot as Don was back in the day. Michael, the straight son, is the better looking (and taller) of the two.

Rousing version of "Ugg-A-Wugg" with Jenn Colella as Peter Pan at the Sacramento Music Circus. The clip is a compilation of scenes and U-A-W starts at 3:07.

[quote]Tommy Tune was supposed to bring Doctor Doolittle to Broadway

DOLITTLE (one "o") as in "do little," get it?

One of the other dancers in that Anita Morris clip from the previous thread is the fabulous Bruce Anthony Davis.

For my fellow southern California DL'ers: I got a flyer in the mail today from REPRISE (the LA version of Encores that has been dead since 2011) with the words "WE'RE BACK!" printed on the cover. (Obviously not written by a Datalounger; then it would've been "WE'RE BACK-- BITCHES!")

Anyway, they're rebooting the whole thing (and calling it "Reprise 2.0") Same theater. First series of shows: "Sweet Charity" (directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall), "Victor Victoria," and "Grand Hotel."

No casting announced yet -- they used to get some decent people, since it's in LA and all of the shows are short runs.

And another LA area footnote: Gloria Loring is appearing in "Nice Work If You Can Get It" at Musical Theater West in Long Beach.

I first saw Don Correia as the first replacement Mike in ACL. He was sex on a stick. Correia in the Gene Kelly role of Twyla Tharp's Broadway version of Singing in the Rain a few years later was its only saving grace. I was so happy to see him in the lackluster 2001 revival of Follies.

Bruce Anthony Davis = pure magic on stage. Can't take your eyes off him.

Correia as Mike was also the saving grace of that first ACL replacement cast, which was otherwise dismal.

Correia wasn't in the first ACL replacement cast, he was in the first National Tour which featured almost every other Broadway cast member except Kelly Bishop and Wayne Cilento. Correia had the Cilento role and Charlene Ryan had Sheila. I think the only others who weren't from the original cast were Greg, Mark and Larry. although Clive Clerk would later play Zach in this same company and he was very good indeed.

R38, pay attention. Spielberg said in the interview today he’s taking the rest of the year off to prep Indiana Jones 5 and WSS, starts shooting Indiana 5 next April and WSS “toward the end of next year.”

And for the record The Post began shooting last May 30th, wrapped July 28th and was in theaters in December.

[quote]pay attention. Spielberg said in the interview today he’s taking the rest of the year off to prep Indiana Jones 5 and WSS, starts shooting Indiana 5 next April and WSS “toward the end of next year.”

I didn't say it WOULD be in theaters by December , I said it COULD be if he wanted. PAY ATTENTION.

R66, do you mean the cast that took over in NYC when most of the originals moved to California for the SF and the open-end LA run? As has been stated, Kelly Bishop and Wayne Cilento, Cameron Mason, Clive Clerk, and Thommie Walsh stayed with the Broadway company. Joe Bennett took over in NY as Zach, Ann Reinking as Cassie, Sandahl Bergman as Judy, Lauree Berger as Maggie. Barbara Luna (or BarBara Luna, however she was spelling it then) took over as Diana, but was fired pretty quickly, I think only a few performances in, by Bennett, who kept thinking she was marking and would get better, and finally realized she was giving all she had to give and it wasn't acceptable.

[quote]Rousing version of "Ugg-A-Wugg" with Jenn Colella as Peter Pan at the Sacramento Music Circus. The clip is a compilation of scenes and U-A-W starts at 3:07.

Never saw "Peter Pan" done "in the round" before, the flying over the audience was cool.

Isn't this Correia doing his flip in the commercial?

That return of Reprise is a misbegotten endeavor. Marcia Seligson is running it again. She started the first one and was fired about five or six years into it by the board which couldn't stand her. She doesn't want to rehearse her AEA actors more than a week, but expects them to be off book. She has all the taste of a cheap Israeli whore, as proved by her choice of "Victor/Victoria," a shitty show that no one wants to see. She's been trying for almost two years to put it together again, and I expect it to die again quickly thanks to her lack of brains in running it. The only thing worse than Marcia Seligson was Jason Alexander, who ran the company into the ground.

But it's sure not Encores. I saw just about every show there for the first ten years or so, and they were cheap-ass productions that showed the lack of preparation, thought, and talent that went into them.

Yes, that's Don Correia doing his Mike flip. Wasn't Wayne Cilento the first person of the originals to leave the show? I don't think he stayed with it in NY - I think Correia did take over, briefly, in NY and then went with the company to LA while someone else took over as Mike in NY.

Lots of weird shit happened in Jan 1976, when everyone came down with the flu. For a couple of performances Carole Schweid, who understudied both Donna McKechnie and Kelly Bishop, had to perform a hybrid of Sheila and Cassie as one character because McKechnie and Bishop both got sick and no one else knew both parts.

[quote]Lots of weird shit happened in Jan 1976, when everyone came down with the flu. For a couple of performances Carole Schweid, who understudied both Donna McKechnie and Kelly Bishop, had to perform a hybrid of Sheila and Cassie as one character because McKechnie and Bishop both got sick and no one else knew both parts.

Is this because they don't have enough understudies/standbys? The show had been playing since July 1975 on Broadway and had been at the Public Theatre before that. Was it just that it was hard to find people talented enough to cover so many different parts?

R74, I don't think that's Don. He did do the show in NY after SF and LA but did not replace Cilento before. Schweid was not the cover for Cassie/Sheila, it was Carolyn Kirsch and although they started having changed scripts if performers were out, at that time, they didn't. It must have been a mess because Chrissy Wilzak who also covered several performers said she was saying lines to herself and answering herself during those performances.

Whoever said that Tommy Tune stopped smoking weed in the last thread is wrong, he is still “the jolly green giant” and then some...

Carolyn Kirsch covered Sheila/Cassie, but she got sick as well, all three were out, so Schweid went on as the Cassie/Sheila character, and Chrissy Wilsack had to do both Judy and Bebe, which Schweid normally covered.

Nowadays every major role has a couple of covers, but it wasn't that way back then. I'm sure they never envisioned McKechnie and Bishop both being out at the same time, and certainly not when their cover was out as well.

R76, that certainly looks like Don Correia to me.

O I LOVE THIS THREAD. BEEN GOIN TO NYC/BWAY FOR 25 YRS TWICE A YR TO SEE THE SHOWS. all the way from west coast. my first 2 shows were the original boys in the band, and the great white hope with jane alexander and....I forget his name.

eager to see the new b in the band . and a few off bway things.

carry on...

R69/moron, there’s no fucking way SS COULD get WSS on screens in December if he shot it in the summer. It’s a musical. Musicals are a teensy bit more complicated to shoot than straight dramas like The Post.

I saw "Dr. Doolittle" in that out of the way barn in London. Julie Andrews was the voice of the animatronic parrot. Even if Tommy Tune had done it here, it still would have been a giant pile of shite.

Chris Durang's "Turning Off The Morning News" headed to Broadway with Kristine Nielsen and John Pankow. Unfortunately directed by Emily Mann.

[quote] [R69]/moron, there’s no fucking way SS COULD get WSS on screens in December if he shot it in the summer. It’s a musical. Musicals are a teensy bit more complicated to shoot than straight dramas like The Post.

Who gives a fuck?? Shut up already.

Wow, that first ACL commercial, when they get to the close up of Sammy Williams... he looked so OLD. I know he just died and was reportedly only 69, but that was NOT the face of a 28 year old.

Awesome

Lin miranda and ben platt have a song together? Could there be anything worse.

Two songs together....

Spielberg has said he plans to make WSS at the end of '19 - just by coincidence, it would then be released right in the heart of the next presidential election - this seems like a pretty clear plan/schedule, esp if you remember who is writing the movie

Maybe the Spielberg WSS could be a double feature at the movies with the Streisand Gypsy.

Spielberg definitely wants Platt for Baby John. Because of MeToo concerns, in this version, Baby John will be the one who gets gang raped in the drugstore. That’s why Ben is so anxious to play it.

[quote]O I LOVE THIS THREAD. BEEN GOIN TO NYC/BWAY FOR 25 YRS TWICE A YR TO SEE THE SHOWS. all the way from west coast. my first 2 shows were the original boys in the band, and the great white hope with jane alexander and....I forget his name.

James Earl Jones, Rose.

Not the original poster, but I'd like some more info/thoughts on Larry Kert. I've often wondered why he didn't make a bigger mark. He had lead roles in THREE of the most iconic musicals of the century, but is largely forgotten.

He was a non-actor. Nice voice but a total blank as a presence. He clearly had no idea who he was as a person except being a bitchy queen so was incapable of projecting anything like a personality onstage.

R84, I’ll never shut up as long as asshole know-it-alls here don’t pay attention and post shit they know nothing about.

[quote] He was a non-actor. Nice voice but a total blank as a presence. He clearly had no idea who he was as a person except being a bitchy queen so was incapable of projecting anything like a personality onstage.

Was he not a nice person?

In reference to his post-WSS roles, Kert did do WHOLESALE, on tour. Saw it in Detroit, Can't say I remember much about his performance. I was too bummed that I was seeing Carol Arthur, not Barbra, as Miss Marmelstein.

I think it's been established on these threads that no one liked him much.

Was Larry Kert the Andrew Keenan Bolger of his day?

[quote] Was Larry Kert the Andrew Keenan Bolger of his day?

No, he actually had speaking parts.

"Hello, Again" got 29% on Rotten Tomatoes and sank like a stone. Not surprising, since the original never worked, either.

Where is noted pussyhound Andrew Keenan Bolger’s MARIA YouTube audition? A strapping straight trimhunter like AKB would bring it some raw masculinity and with his vocal blessings a soaring performance.

AKB was cast in a pilot for ABC with John Laroquette and Annaleigh Ashford.

Is "cast in a pilot" a meaningful career achievement

For AKB it is.

I enjoyed his powerful work in Looking as Guy Who Gets Fucked

[quote] AKB was cast in a pilot for ABC with John Laroquette and Annaleigh Ashford.

Was the role as "Simpering, mincing queen #3" or did they actually bother to give the character a name?

Remind me to stay on R107’s good side.

This IS my good side, SUZANNE SOMERS!

I would assume that Larry Kert got the Tony nomination for Company instead of Dean Jones because Kert was the Bobby that the voters saw perform. Jones left the show just weeks after it opened.

Are there other such instances where a replacement came in before the original actor could be seen by Tony voters? I don't think so, so that precedent hasn't been tested since then.

Was Larry Kert really any less attractive than Robert Goulet, John Raitt, Stephen Douglass or any other Broadway leading man of his day?

[quote]Not the original poster, but I'd like some more info/thoughts on Larry Kert. I've often wondered why he didn't make a bigger mark. He had lead roles in THREE of the most iconic musicals of the century, but is largely forgotten.

WEST SIDE STORY, COMPANY -- and what's the third iconic musical? Are you counting his replacement stint in CABARET? I don't know how long he was in the show, but I think very few people associate him with that part.

R21, some people weather flops better than others, and A FAMILY AFFAIR and BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S were two huge flops. Plus you didn't mention that Kert was also in LA STRADA, which closed after one (1) performance in December 1969.

[quote]Tommy Tune was supposed to bring Doctor Doolittle to Broadway from the national tour. They even had him on a float in the Macy's Parade. Then it never made it to Broadway.

I don't remember for sure, but wasn't there also some talk of the Tune tour of BYE, BYE BIRDIE coming to Broadway? Seems like Tune was involved with quite a few shows that were supposed to come to Broadway but didn't, for one reason or another.

Re WSS: R81 is right. If Spielberg in fact doesn't START filming till "towards the end of the year" (2019), there is no way the movie could be released in December of that year. Especially because I think this movie (if it happens) will require lots of post-production. And on that note, do we think 1950s-era New York will be recreated with CGI? Or will they build old tenement sets on some back lot or sound stage somewhere? Or will they try to fine some actual NYC locations that could be made to look period?

[quote]Wow, that first ACL commercial, when they get to the close up of Sammy Williams... he looked so OLD. I know he just died and was reportedly only 69, but that was NOT the face of a 28 year old.

Agreed. When I saw that commercial again years later, I thought it looked like he had AIDS. But of course, 1975 was several years pre-AIDS, as far as we know.

[quote]I would assume that Larry Kert got the Tony nomination for Company instead of Dean Jones because Kert was the Bobby that the voters saw perform. Jones left the show just weeks after it opened.

No, he got the nomination because Prince petitioned the Tony Committee to allow it and they acquiesced.

[quote]Are there other such instances where a replacement came in before the original actor could be seen by Tony voters? I don't think so, so that precedent hasn't been tested since then.

Prince tried the same thing for Judy Kaye after she replaced Madeline Kahn just a month into the run of On the Twentieth Century. This time they said no and Kahn got the nomination.

For the poster who mentioned it in the last thread, the clip of Larry Kert singing "Something's Coming" in in the first 5 minutes or so of Six By Sondheim.

[quote] Agreed. When I saw that commercial again years later, I thought it looked like he had AIDS. But of course, 1975 was several years pre-AIDS, as far as we know.

I thought the same thing, R112, but even one can debate the beginning of AIDS (not the epidemic but the disease itself), Williams looked more like someone suffering from facial wasting brought on by the earlier medications and protease inhibitors. I wanted to make a similar comment but I thought I'd be dogpiled on for being insensitive (and I'm not saying you were).

I saw Williams several times in LA during and after ACL and he never looked that bad. Lighting and just being too skinny?

R111 umm yea. Robert Goulet was GORGEOUS. And john raitt is so so sexy to me. Damn. He can get it.

What exactly happened with Dean Jones and Company? He had a nervous break down?

Wasn't he having marital problems—and the show was hitting to close to home?

*too close

He asked to be released from his contract because of his pending divorce. Hal Prince agreed that he'd rescind the contract if Jones gave them a good opening night and stuck around for a month so that Kert could learn the role. I think the public story was hepatitis.

When ACL moved from the Public to broadway they added two additional covers but they should have added more. Why they didn't is a mystery and, by the time the show closed, there were at least three understudies for each role. Never mind the flu, dancers also get injured and they should have been covered. All of the understudies danced as cut dancers in the opening number and, sometimes, there was no one to cut. Not sure how they handled it but WTF. The performers in Dancin were always getting hurt and they sometimes cut numbers when too many dancers were out.

Don Correia seems to have turned into Chevy Chase.

Has the Bennett ever permitted the original ending where Cassie is cut to be performed?

How many DL faves can we squeeze into one photo?

This is horrible, when will Lin-Manuel accept he cannot sing? Act? Stay behind the scenes and create, step away from the cameras, his shark dead eyes lack of screen presence will doom the Mary Moppins sequel as all of his film work has done to various filmed entertainments, enough already. And Platt, well, there is nothing to say, his particular brand of performance has nowhere to go unless he’s playing “special needs.” Chilling.

Rare that Tony Roberts is the handsome one in a pic.

He'll never learn; he is the king of self-regard (which makes Platt the crown prince) and he's had plenty of support for his opinion that he's the best, smartest, most charismatic, most loved--so he's not likely to back down.

[quote]He asked to be released from his contract because of his pending divorce. Hal Prince agreed that he'd rescind the contract if Jones gave them a good opening night and stuck around for a month so that Kert could learn the role.

We saw who the favorite was. Jones recorded the OBC. They knew Kert wouldn't sell records.

[quote]All of the understudies danced as cut dancers in the opening number and, sometimes, there was no one to cut.

I think also the cut dancers come on at the end in the gold outfits to give time for the main dancers to get into the gold costumes for the "One" finale.

R129, the COMPANY recording was made before Larry Kert went into the show. When Kert opened the London production, he recorded his tracks and they were inserted in the original recording.

Aren't there Equity rules about having performers doing roles they aren't contracted for? I know it's ACL, which was, in essence, a starless vehicle, but to have performers doing roles that they did not rehearse is ridiculous and if they had to change the show because of it, the show should have been cancelled and the audience given a refund. Yeah, like that would have happened.

R132 there are rules stating that, but ACL really threw much of that out the window during the early days.

That's also funny about ACL because it was one of the shows that had to hire a curtain puller and extra orchestra members even though they weren't needed.

[quote]Was Larry Kert really any less attractive than Robert Goulet, John Raitt, Stephen Douglass

In a word, yes. Goulet was ravishingly handsome in his 20s-30s before booze started taking a toll, and Stephen Douglass was quite handsome too. John Raitt had unusual looks, but a rocking body and he passed for handsome far more than Kert did.

[quote]Rare that Tony Roberts is the handsome one in a pic.

Oh, shut up!

Robert Goulet, Robert Goulet, Robert Goulet, my God, Robert Goulet.

Not. Hot.

Now, in retrospect, how does Cry-Baby hold up?

Yes, r131, but that that was released as the London cast recording. Kert, Stritch and several others had recreated their parts in London and the OBC with Kert's dubbed in vocals was released there as the OLCR. I think only Barcelona was re-recorded from scratch.

That recording didn't get a commercial release in the US and was much sought after by collectors because it was only available here as a pricey special import.

They could have held off the OBC until Kert was up to speed...and Elaine Stritch was sober.

I remember buying it in the early 1970s at that record store next to Nathan’s on the west side of Seventh Avenue/43rd Street. The guy behind the counter was a perv who would sometimes give me a discount. I forget what the store was called.

I wouldn't call Robert Goulet ravishingly handsome. The dimensions of his face were a little off. He needed careful photographing and could look plain odd without it.

John Raitt was extremely cross-eyed but he only approved release of photos where it ha.d been corrected in the dark room.

Yes, photo manipulation was available by various manual methods decades before Photoshop.

He looked hot here.

R125, there’s always room for one more honey.

I hadn't though about this before the comment above but Raitt does avoid looking at the camera head on, whereas Dolores Gray repeatedly plays to it (though not in Merman way, as if he weren't there).

Christian Borle doing Me And My Girl at Encores. Charlie Stemp on suicide watch.

I don't get the Christian Borle love. He's not attractive.

[quote]Robert Goulet, Robert Goulet, Robert Goulet, my God, [it's] Robert Goulet.

I was at the A Chorus Line revival and the actress playing Bebe (Alison Porter) , who sang that line, pointed in an odd direction. I turned to look, and there was...Robert Goulet. He came backstage afterwards.

Carol Lawrence's career never really took off after WSS either. And she was a true beauty, unlike Larry K. Chita really fared the best.

Call it the WSS Curse.

[quote]Carol Lawrence's career never really took off after WSS either. And she was a true beauty, unlike Larry K. Chita really fared the best.

Excuse me! I did better than any of them.

She played Samantha’s neighbor on SATC. A fellow tenant was raped after Samantha’s hookup let him in the door.

Martin Charnin played Samantha’s neighbor on SATC?

[quote]Charlie Stemp on suicide watch

I doubt it. For one thing, Stemp is at least ten years too young for the part. Bill's supposed to be at least in his mid-late 30s. On top of that, there is no way he ever would have been let out of Dolly only two months after opening. So I doubt he had any thought at all about doing "Me and My Girl."

"Barcelona" wasn't rerecorded in London. As with all the other songs, Kert just came in and laid down his vocals on a separate track. The reason the album was so highly prized is because you could hear Dean Jones' vocals bleeding through frequently throughout the album, and "Barcelona" is no exception. You can first notice it at the first "stay" - Jones holds the note longer than Kert does, and you can hear the echo of his track in the background.

Was "Company" Dean Jones's first professional singing role?

Yes, I'm also curious about how Prince and Sondheim came to cast Dean Jones in Company.

He's great on the album, of course, but it must have been an unexpected and unconventional choice at the time.

Carol Lawrence, R154

What is that photo from

Wasn't Carol Lawrence a big churchy-Christian type? I'm surprised she'd be on SATC.

Dare I say that it will be the most testicular Lambeth Walk....evuh?

Ugh....west side story??? really???? like who cares?

If anyone dares mention The Lambeth Walk again I will repost all the various youtube vids. The most irritating earworm of all.

"Strange how potent cheap music is."

Even churchy-Christian types have to pay the mortgage.

Where are the photos of Robert Goulet's and Carol Lawrence's sons? They must be gorgeous (if middle-aged). I think there were 2.

Christian Borle is positively ugly. Hideous.

Oh, I'm not crazy about Borle but he'll be fine. The Lambeth Walk is indeed an awful earworm but it can be fun.

But wasn't Encores response for years for declining to do things like Bittersweet and Salad Days that they were devoted to preserving the American musical?

^ Sorry, Bitter Sweet, a show I love dearly.

Christian Borle in a revival of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Now that's some good Broadway.

If they're going to start doing British stuff, I'd much prefer to see Coward's lesser known musicals like Bitter Sweet, Conversation Piece, Pacific 1860 (a West End hit with Mary Martin), Ace of Clubs. Sail Away would be great, which even started on Broadway but then moved to London. And Robert and Elizabeth, a wonderful musical adaptation of The Barretts of Wimpole Street, which everyone wanted to bring over after the success of Oliver! but which was tied up in the US for years over copyright battles but finally made it to Papermill. And the lesser known Lionel Bart shows like Lock Up Your Daughters. Even Salad Days.

Me and My Girl? Really?

Except Me and My Girl, unlike most (all?) of those other titles, was a huge Broadway hit.

Reviving hits was never supposed to be Encores' self-pronounced mission, r172.

Really? What was their “self-pronounced mission,” pray tell? And where did they pronounce it?

Looks like only one of Robert Goulet’s sons got the “looks” genes.

[quote]Really? What was their “self-pronounced mission,” pray tell? And where did they pronounce it?

Encores original mission was to produce musicals which would never see a Broadway revival, with the express intention of giving a listen to the music. After a few seasons of that, they dumped that mission and started producing Chicago and Bye Bye Birdie and made it into a star-studded concert series.

To keep alive American musicals that didn't have commercial prospects for revival, R174, preferably with their original orchestrations.

Their first seasons, Bitter Sweet was one of their most requested shows but the response was always that it wasn't a US musical.

In the first few seasons, I kept requesting Anyone Can Whistle. After the Saturday matinee, they usually have a talk back session and it would have been wonderful to hear Angela Lansbury and Sondheim come and talk about it. But noooooo, they ignored Sondheim for at least 10 years.

LOOM, after the decision to take it from a strictly G&S repertoire to G&S and operetta in general, had intended to revive Bitter Sweet It was one of their most requested shows. But the company, devastated by the plague, closed before it ever happened.

Bitter Sweet is a bore. I can see why Encores doesn’t revive it.

You have a cold heart, no musical appreciation and bad taste, r180.

Larry Kert lacked. Just that. Of course he was good. He could play a show. He just wasn't an actor to hang a show on. Able. Did the job. But a real stage animal,? No. Otherwise he'd have worked. Roles in Carnival, I Can Get It for You Wholesale, No Strings, She Loves Me, Anyone Can Whistle, On a Clear Day, The Apple Tree, What makes Sammy Run? He could well have auditioned, even got close, just didn't book. He was good enough to tour, do stock with other minor names, but you'd not hang a show on him.

Went to see "Once on This Island" tonight and Alex Newell mysteriously disappeared after the first half-hour or so and his understudy finished the show in his place. Don't know what happened there but she was very good in the role, too.

Any info on Tyler Hardwick? He's one of the show's storytellers (i.e., in the chorus) and he is hot hot hot.

Yes, exactly, r182. What is "E." short for?

Coward began writing Bitter Sweet for Gertrude Lawrence. Midway though he realized he realized she would never be able to sing what he was writing and wrote her a letter telling her she couldn't do what he was writing but that he would write another show just for her, something no one else would be able to do.

He then wanted popular London operetta star Evelyn Laye to do Bitter Sweet. She wasn't available. So classically trained American star Peggy Wood created the part in London. Yes, that Peggy Wood, of the hugely popular American TV series of Mama (I Remember Mama) and later the film of The Sound of Music as The Mother Superior (in which her voice eventually had to be entirely dubbed).

Evelyn Laye played the first New York production of Bitter Sweet and the new play Coward wrote for Lawrence was Private Lives.

Me, too, R169.

[quote]Yes, [R131], but that that was released as the London cast recording. Kert, Stritch and several others had recreated their parts in London and the OBC with Kert's dubbed in vocals was released there as the OLCR. I think only Barcelona was re-recorded from scratch. That recording didn't get a commercial release in the US and was much sought after by collectors because it was only available here as a pricey special import.

I've heard Kert's tracks on that recording, and he sounds really bad on it, because (a) he was not in good voice for the sessions and (b) the technical quality of the recording of his voice is surprisingly awful. The whole thing sounds like a rush job with little or no care or preparation put into it. As it turned out, Kert was done no favor by the recording being released at all. And I think it was actually a mercy that, apparently, not many copies of it were pressed and relatively few people ever heard it -- that is, until his "Being Alive" performance was unwisely included as a bonus track on one of the CD editions of the original cast album.

[quote] and later the film of The Sound of Music as The Mother Superior (in which her voice eventually had to be entirely dubbed).

Are you saying only Peggy Wood's singing voice had to be dubbed or that her speaking lines, as well?

^^ Jesus, her "speaking lines?" I meant her dialogue. My apologies. Been working since 7am and I'm fried.

Er, uh, I'm the one who posted about Peggy Wood's singing voice having to be dubbed in TSOM, R188. When she was cast, they expected or hoped only her high notes would have dubbed. That turned out not to be the case. Certainly not her speaking voice.

I think it's funny how so many actors in their Playbill bios advertise their Instagram accounts. Everybody wants to be an Instaho, don't they?

Margery McKay dubbed Peggy Wood's singing voice in TSOM. Supposedly Wood picked her herself because she thought McKay's voice resembled her own when she was young. Wood had been a trained singer and did musicals in her youth. Director Robert Wise and the Fox producers didn't realize when they cast her she would have be dubbed entirely. It all worked out fine except that during filming Wise wound up having to often film Wood in semi-darkness/shadows with lots of reaction shots back to Andrews because Wood couldn't match her mouth movements to the pre-recording.

Robert Wise found the perfect angle to shoot Peggy Wood's big number and still hide her poor lip-synching.

I've seen "Bitter Sweet." It's a snooze, totally. The book doesn't come close to working now, if it ever really did anyplace but London. It has two immortal songs, "I'll See You Again" and "If Love Were All" plus the fun novelties, the opening, "Bonne Nuit Merci" and "Green Carnation." Also "Dear Little Cafe," inferior in every way to its obvious inspiration, "A Room With a View."

The one big attempt at operetta at Encores, "The New Moon," isn't twee and precious like "Bitter Sweet" is. If Encores did the Coward piece, it would sink like a stone and that would be the end of Encores.

[quote]Encores original mission was to produce musicals which would never see a Broadway revival, with the express intention of giving a listen to the music. After a few seasons of that, they dumped that mission and started producing Chicago and Bye Bye Birdie

Both Chicago and Bye Bye Birdie fit perfectly in the Encores "mission," it it's really what you described. In 1996, "Chicago" was a dead show. It had the original production, which ran for two and a half years, then toured, then flopped in the UK. That was it. It was completely overshadowed by "A Chorus Line" and not just in the awards. It was seldom done in regional or community theatre. The production at the Long Beach CLO, which gave rise to the Encores production, proved that the show might still have some life in it. By the time it happened, the OJ murder scandal loomed large in the US, making the show seem timely, and it rode that wave to rave reviews and the Broadway transfer.

"Bye Bye Birdie" was much more popular on the school/community theatre circuit, but still wasn't going to inspire a big revival. The Tommy Tune tour had wisely bypassed a Broadway stint because he didn't feel like it could be a hit in NY again. No one could have foreseen, when Encores did it, that the Roundabout would try it a few years later, and kill the whole thing off with a really bad production.

How many times is Sean Grandillo going to play the gay high school bf on a bad TV show? And for that matter is anyone even watching Rise

Carol Lawrence always seemed to have close relationships with female friends. She was friends with someone I knew. I never got a straight confirmation, but I am pretty sure that they were more than just friends,

r195, while that may be true, we had excellent cast recordings of both Chicago and Bye Bye Birdie, and a perfectly good film version of BBB. Encores was originally supposed to be presenting the stuff we'd never hear again if it weren't for them, shows like "Sweet Adeline" "Out of this World" and "DuBarry Was A Lady." We would never hear these scores if it weren't for Encores.

that scene in sound of music where the nun sings, touched me so, very memorable....

love this thread, most informative, I'm a kid who wants to be on broadway, I love musicals.

thx

God, the LAST movie I’d want to see is a Spielberg version of WSS

Very excited by Encores’ upcoming Grand Hotel. Saw the original over 25 years ago and the Tommy Tune’s direction just blew me away. Played that OBC over and over!

Can the Bitter Sweet fans direct us to the best recording available?

Hard to fathom that Robert Wise and 20th Century Fox didn't request Peggy Wood to sing Climb Every Mountain before casting her. My guess is that they always knew she would be dubbed and didn't care.

I didn't see Encores' production of The New Moon but it produced one of the most glorious albums in Encores' history.

New Moon seemed like a perfect Encores vehicle; a largely forgotten (not without reason) piece given a first class musical treatment. The book was dreary as hell, but even that added to the educational experience. But there’s the problem. While we might enjoy the museum-y aspects of such a thing, I can’t imagine they can sell many tickets. Even with a starry cast.

I love how people declare they know what Encores was SUPPOSED to do. Now it extends to not doing shows that have cast albums, apparently (Out of This World has an OBC, by the way, and it's a hell of a lot better than the Encores CD, even with primitive sound).

Encores is a concert series of American musicals, period. Of the first three shows they did, two of them had OBCs (Allegro and Fiorello) and one (Lady in the Dark) had the original star doing excepts. The next three, Call Me Madam, Pal Joey, and Out of This World all had OBCs, and Call Me Madam and Pal Joey had movie versions, in the case of Madam, fairly faithful with the original star. One Touch of Venus, Promises Promises, Li'l Abner, Tenderloin, Do Re Mi, The Boys From Syracuse all had at least one cast album, and Abner has a faithful movie version.

As recently as last year, they did The Golden Apple and The New Yorkers, both shows that are rarely done. If "Big River" helped them finance it, fine. This season, the "Hey Look Me Over" revue didn't match their previous self-generated revue "Stairway to Paradise," but it still brought some full orchestra moments with things like All American and Wildcat that won't be seen otherwise.

Doing "Me and My Girl" and "The Pajama Game" are Encores! equivalents of "A girl's gotta eat." The series has to generate income, and that's no longer possible with a steady, exclusive diet of obscure old shows. In fact, it was never really possible, which is why they always have brought in at least one show a season that seemed to be a "sell." More power to them.

R140, Yes, dear, I know. That's why I said "When Kert opened the London production."

R149, talent is attractive. A pretty face can look nice but be worth nothing without the skill and talent necessary for a role.

[quote]Hard to fathom that Robert Wise and 20th Century Fox didn't request Peggy Wood to sing Climb Every Mountain

I doubt that. She was a beloved old star, the right age, more or less (older, really than other Mother Superiors), and she had a Broadway musical theatre history. Marnie Nixon had just finished recording Audrey Hepburn's tracks for MFL, so using a dubber wasn't a ridiculous idea at all if they needed it, and it turns out they did.

The 2-CDD complete recording of BITTER SWEET on Jay Records is one I can wholeheartedly recommend. The performance of IF LOVE WERE ALL is one for the ages, ineffably moving.

DEAR LITTLE CAFE is an utterly charming and distinctive song in its own right and needs no comparison to A ROOM WITH A VIEW, which, by the way, was also written by Coward, r194. The inspiration flows from the same pen.

R143, in his time, Robert Goulet was considered the epitome of handsome leading man.

I'm perfectly aware that Coward wrote "Room With a View," r210, that's why I mentioned it. It's quite obvious he was trying to duplicate its success with "Dear Little Cafe," which doesn't have half the charm and melodic invention of "Room With a View."

R144, John Raitt was not "extremely cross-eyed" or even cross-eyed at all. There are thousands of candid photos available of him plus plenty of video. Just watch PAJAMA GAME or the DVD of his Bell Telephone appearances.

[quote] Er, uh, I'm the one who posted about Peggy Wood's singing voice having to be dubbed in TSOM, [R188]. When she was cast, they expected or hoped only her high notes would have dubbed. That turned out not to be the case. Certainly not her speaking voice.

Gotcha. Believe it or not, I have never seen TSOM (the movie). Just never had any interest, and whatever curiosity was killed off after laughing through the NBC/Carrie Underwood version. But I know Wood was nominated for an Oscar for it so I had wondered if you were saying (for whatever reason) that she had been fully dubbed. Thanks : )

I wonder if Peggy Wood had to give Dick Rodgers head to get the role?

Or did Dick give her Wood?

How clever.

Encores! broke its pledge regarding U.S. musicals with IRMA LA DOUCE, a French musical, first produced in English in London. And the Encores! version one of the very worst of their efforts.

So if they're ready to go British in the future, I vote for MAGGIE MAY. I adore SALAD DAYS, but maybe 15 people would pay to see it.

Andrew Keenan Bolger is a really sweet guy, Looks great naked, Huge penis

R219 ewww. R191 how does that make you an instaho granny?

R219-Thank you, Celia.

Great. Now I'm picturing a naked capuchin monkey that can't sing, dance or act, but has a penis down to his knees.

The last good encores. Based on their mission was Juno. A show with a great score. Problematic book

It was well cast with Vicki Clark and John shuck. Wish they had recorded it

[quote] I vote for MAGGIE MAY. I adore SALAD DAYS, but maybe 15 people would pay to see it.

As opposed to the 17 who would pay to see Maggie May?

Why do people dislike Andrew Keenan Bolger? I had heard OF him, but the first time I saw him was in Tuck Everlasting. The show wasn't that great, but he was perfectly delightful. And he is cute. And he was very good in it. So why the hate?

And he DOES have a huge dick. God must have decided to compensate him otherwise when he made him a midget.

Two old queens, chatting about the old days.

[quote]Believe it or not, I have never seen TSOM (the movie). Just never had any interest, and whatever curiosity was killed off after laughing through the NBC/Carrie Underwood version.

Interesting perspective. I expect that if you ever do get to see the movie of TSOM, you will love it even more in comparison to that abortive TV version.

[quote]Why do people dislike Andrew Keenan Bolger? I had heard OF him, but the first time I saw him was in Tuck Everlasting. The show wasn't that great, but he was perfectly delightful. And he is cute. And he was very good in it. So why the hate?

I think jealousy is the explanation, and I'm completely serious about that. The few times I've met and spoken with him, he seemed like a very nice guy.

I never wanted to see the sound of music. One of my boyfriends favorite movies. Kept begging me to see it. So i did. It's a long one but by the end i had tears in my eyes. A very sweet movie. The carrie Underwood thing was some bullshit. Couldn't finish. Julie Andrews is perfect in that movie. A star. It made me a julie andrews fan. Just watched it last year. I had no idea.

Spielberg and Kushner-

Just the two to bring alive that smoldering sexual intensity of street gang angst.

Its true R229

I agree with you.

No matter how precious the material, its better than anything being done today.

See The Greatest Showman if you doubt me.

Or that AMAZING Beauty and the Beast live action version.

When will Encores be doing "Oh! Calcutta!"?

R225 Everyone hates everyone here

Why don’t the British have a version of Encores? There are so many fantastic English flops and forgotten shows. Not just the good ones, like those mentioned by r171. There are a lot of more modern bombs like Hunting Of The Snark, Metropolis and Fields Of Ambrosia that’s be a blast, provided everyone had a few drinks first.

TSOM is not only one of the greatest film musicals but greatest films of all time. Its sheer life-affirming joy and natural beauty illuminate an already wondrous show and resurrection myth. And, dear God, that glorious score!

seriously?

Yes Peggy Wood was just so god awful in TSOM that she received an Academy Award nomination creating one of the most iconic female supporting characters in film history, . Some of you queens are just too much,

I can't believe my eyes.

Oh, r237, what else can you expect from people who think LA LA LAND and THE GREATEST SHOWMAN are the epitome of musical moviemaking?

Aurora spiderwoman be on it. AMAZING.

I think Lauren Ambrose might be Tony bound. Not particularly thrilled about the production as a whole but she was superb.

r224, you're right—unless of course they could get two stars to do it justice. Jake G and Billie Piper maybe? Not likely, I know.

I don't really like Andrew Keenan Bolger. I'm not sure why. I don't think it's jealousy.

I say this as someone who has genuinely been impressed with his sister's work.

He has a nicely worked out body I guess but I don't think he's incredibly attractive, unless you're into small muscley guys and I am not. I don't think he's particularly talented (anymore so than 900 other people churned out of theatre programs) to be honest. His social media always looks so aggressively planned and staged although that seems to be a bad reason to not like someone it does make me think he's inauthentic. Look at this photo of him and his pals just casually hanging out. Was there an audtion for this photo?

I was surprised to see that I have never seen AKB on stage in anything. I can imagine that he fine on stage, but he seems tiresome in real life. All of the Youtube stuff is so manic and OTT. It is like he can't tone it down. Everything is played to the back of the house including his rubber-face facial expressions. He may be a perfectly nice person, but he reminds me of a yappy miniature dog.

AKB will always be Christine Baranski's gay son in the execrable Marci X to me.

That Grand Hotel footage is stunning. Some of Tommy Tune's best staging ever. God, I wish he hadn't stopped directing for Broadway after the flop of Whorehouse Goes Public.

[quote]God, I wish he hadn't stopped directing for Broadway

Who needs him? We have Rob Ashford now!

Subtle she ain’t!

and who needs The Sound Of Music movie when we have the new and improved West Side Story coming with the bright and breezy Kushner doing the screenplay?!!

(new lyrics to A Boy Like That/I Had a Love-")

“When your heart breaks,

you should die.

But there’s still the rest of you.

There’s your breasts, and your genitals,

and they’re amazingly stupid, like babies or faithful dogs,

they don’t get it, they just want him.

Want him."

[quote] Yes Peggy Wood was just so god awful in TSOM that she received an Academy Award nomination creating one of the most iconic female supporting characters in film history, . Some of you queens are just too much,

Loosen your girdle, honey. Not one person on here said anything of the sort. Don't insult us just because you can't read.

Sandy Duncan, her husband and John Raitt performed at the huge charity event "Our Hearts Belong to Mary" in New York in 1985 honoring Mary Martin. The only time people such as Helen Hayes, Nancy Reagan, Robert Preston, Josh Logan, Lillian Gish, Carrol Channing, et al were at the same event. Larry Hagman was directing an episode of "Dallas., " so Mary's daughter,, Heller, represented the family

Well, Mary Martin really deserves her own thread.

Not until [R237] gets one for Peggy Wood.

[quote] Larry Hagman was directing an episode of "Dallas., " so Mary's daughter,, Heller, represented the family

Sure, the only time they ever trot ME out is when that drunk is busy with "previous commitments" (glug, glug).

nothing like a Jesus getting down with his head voice

I really don't think Mother Abbess is one of the most iconic supporting female roles in film history. Birdie Coonan, yes. Sadie Burk, yes. Evelyn Harper, yes (all in 1949 and 1950). But Mother Abbess? In that film alone, the Baroness is more iconic. Peggy Wood was a wonderful actress and a fine singer in her younger days and does exude warmth in TSOM. But iconic she weren't.

Sadie Burke, that is. Sorry, my keyboard and I disagreed about the spelling.

Who is Sadie Burke?

I think the Mother Abbess has become iconic strictly on the strength of “What is it, you cunt face?” I mean, people watch the movie now and chime in on that line. Not the same as a beloved performance a la Thelma Ritter in everything, but iconic in its own way.

Can you imagine AKB and Brooks Ashmanskas in the same show?

[quote]Larry Hagman was directing an episode of "Dallas., " so Mary's daughter,, Heller, represented the family

He couldn't take 3 hours out of his busy schedule to come to a show that honored his mother?

We had reconciled.

I'm still salty that I missed out on the Theatre Talk video where Ernestina (Ermengarde?) outted Mary Martin. I remember it was even posted here but I slept on it.

It was Sondra Lee, the original Minnie Fay.

She was also Tiger Lily to Mary Martin's Peter Pan.

Well then, she would have known.

Ha ha Mary, everyone knew.

Dyke, ya know.

Ben Platt who already has a Tony and Grammy is on his way to the EGOT. Emmy next and then the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for West Side Story!

But does a daytime Emmy really count?

So he and Miranda will continue to give new meaning to the word "insufferable." Wonderful news.

What about his Emmy for will and grace?

[quote]But does a daytime Emmy really count?

Yes!

What is a Sadie Burke or Evelyn Harper? I looked up movie associations but only came up with television references. Stupid television sitcom characters are iconic? Please.

Ethel did say that but she eventually came to like Mary very much. They had things in common as the two Queens of Broadway that nobody else could share and at the end Ethel didn't really care if you were queer. She had certainly been around by then and like everybody, she loved to be loved.

The Mother Superior's role in the film of TSOM was reduced when they gave her duet with Maria of My Favorite Things to Maria and the kids. And that was one of the smartest things about the screen adaptation.

Daytime Emmy counts.

Producing a musical counts.

A brilliant choice, r274, as you noted, since they had Bill Baird's Marionettes to take on Lonely Goatherd later in the film. I don't think that's any reflection on Miss Peggy Wood.

So we've had Chicago, Rent, Into the Woods, Mamma Mia, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Beauty and the Beast, La La Land, Les Miz, and now Greatest Showman.

Do you think we will ever see a great movie musical in the modern age?

Peg 'n Merv........

Merv was so slimy.

Evelyn!?! Don't make me laugh! Harper's first name is filth!

Sadie Burke? Mercedes McCambridge’s part in All the King’s Men? That’s hardly an iconic role, and as good as Holland Taylor is, I don’t think Evelyn Harper is either.

I thought we were talking about operetta goddess Evelyn Laye.

Holland Taylor!?! Fuck you!

From the discussion it seems like Once on this Island and My Fair Lady are the two best shows currently running (or at least the least divisive shows) and Margaritaville and Frozen are the worst. Is anything else opening before Tony season?

I have heard only raves for THREE TALL WOMEN.

Dear Peggy Wood had the patience of a saint in that interview with Merv. I don't remember him being so unprepared and rude, especially with a grande dame type.

Who will be Lauren Ambrose’s competition for the Tony? DL fave Patti Murin? One of the “Mean Girls”?

[quote]Who will be Lauren Ambrose’s competition for the Tony? DL fave Patti Murin?

Woe to the world, if Lauren Ambrose wins a Tony over Patti Murin. Patti will grab Hunter Foster and Jen and the three will go on a BWW tirade about how Hollywood is taking over Broadway again and poor Broadway hoofers are being snubbed.

Katrina Lenk is the most likely to win the Tony for Leading Actress in a Musical, although Lauren Ambrose might win the Drama Desk because The Band's Visit was eligible last year.

Would Katrina Lenk be Best Actress, or Best Featured Actress?

Who is Katrina Lenk?

When Encores first started, they signed all of their actors to a Cabaret contract. What was it that made them shift up to an AEA contract?

R272 You really are a ridiculous (and ignorant) person!

Considering what Merv Griffin did for a living, it's kind of incredible that he still hadn't seen the movie of THE SOUND OF MUSIC one year after it opened.

It would've been so much more fun if Peggy had asked Merv, "What is it, you cuntface?"

I would think Merv had invited Daniel Truhitte (Rolf) over to his for cocktails, though.

Screw you, r293.

Love, Sister Helena

The first London Chicago wasn't a flop, R195. It was a cheap production brought in from the provinces, but it ran a year and a half.

Considering those Merv did for fun, it's incredible he hadn't seen The Sound of Music.

[Quote]“When your heart breaks, you should die. But there’s still the rest of you. There’s your breasts, and your genitals, and they’re amazingly stupid, like babies or faithful dogs, they don’t get it, they just want him. Want him."

Can we all just stop and talk for a minute about how PERFECT this is? I love you, R249.

This is the worst TGT in the history of TGT history right? Jeeeeeeeezus Baranski Christ, are most of the posters 200 years old, gay vampires begone!

R300, in case you didnt know, and at risk of losing your love you DO know I lifted that directly from Angels in America, right?

I hope you can still love me as you did back then.

Love, the writer of The Shape of Water

Katrina Lenk is great but Lauren Ambrose carries a three hour show.

[quote]Lauren Ambrose carries a three hour show.

But from what I hear, she leaves the theater before the show is over. Is she like Cynthia Nixon and has another show to do?

love this thread, keep the love goin....

The Band's Visit is a bore. Katrina Lenk isn't winning anything even if all the other Tony Nominees decide to white-out their name from contention.

If Katrina Lenk is put into supporting, then she’ll have to go up against Diana Rigg. I haven’t seen MFL yet, and I have no idea if Diana Rigg is any good in it, but...Diana Rigg!

Diana alwys good. The gal has charisma in spades...

wish I could get to ny to see the faboo Glenda Jackson in Three Tall Women. I saw it long ago with , o I cant remember their names, that one tall old maid type one was sooo good. such an eloquent voice and diction. u must know who I mean...

MARIAN SELDES !

r309 Taylor Swift?

The All-Brit Tony Awards! Glenda Jackson! Andrew Garfield! Denise Gough! That guy who isn’t Jewish who's playing Louis! Diana Rigg! Whoever’s playing Henry Higgins!

I could listen to marian reading from the phone book. awesome delivery...

r313 They tried that once. It was called Deuce. It didn't work.

I've never got the "Oh I could watch them read the phone book" thing. I wouldn't last five minutes, and I would ask for a refund!

If this were truly a Gossip Thread we'd be hearing about all the strife over at Carousel. How is Rudin behaving, knowing that his revival is being thoroughly ridiculed?

Somebody should stage an all-star marathon reading of the phone book

How am I only just learning that there was someone named Martha Stewart who played Adelaide in the OBC of Guys and Dolls ... and then apparently did nothing else for the rest of her life? Any wise eldergays want to illuminate ...

After a string of unsuccessful auditions post-"Guys and Dolls," she got bored with trodding the boards, so she went to culinary school. She came up with an absolutely killer recipe for a butter scotch cake. It was the talk of the town in 1956. She was poised for big success, about to start her own baking company, when a sixteen year-old girl—the woman you know as Martha Stewart—killed her, stole her secret recipe, and the rest is history.

Supposedly a lot of changes are going in to Carousel. The wings on the Starkeeper are already gone. No word on restoring "Geraniums/Stonecutters," but everyone involved knows that they are in a big fat artistic flop, and they need a miracle to pull it through.

[quote]That guy who isn’t Jewish who's playing Louis!

James McArdle. Broadway hasn't had such an available actor/whore since the days of Russell Tovey and Sam Barnett in "History Boys."

I don't think that the role of Mrs. Higgins has ever been an award-winner for the actress playing her. So a nod to Ms. Rigg is highly unlikely,

R317, they are doing it at 54Below, music and lyrics by Joe Iconis, starring understudy #5 with special guest Lauren Molina.

Encores does well by "Grand Hotel" - one of their better efforts.

So who’s gonna transfer Grand Hotel: Roundabout or Barry Weissler?

Between Denzel's incapability to remember lines, the cast ready to revolt over George Wolfe, and the sorriest production of "Carousel" (hey, let's do what "Seussical" did-throw out all the costumes and just use street clothes!) ever seen anywhere, Rudin must be stuffing his face with enough carbs to barely get out of his seat to scream at everybody.

"I'LL NEVER DO BROADWAY AGAIN"!!!!!!!

A Rudin meltdown on 45th street! Now, that, I'd pay to see.

And, oh yes, Virginia, there is an actor playing Rocky in "Iceman".

Hopefully she'll at least get a Theatre World Award, r322......

Peg had been in the biz for a lo-o-o-ong time, r286. Dealing with twits was just part of the job description.

What's the issue with Wolfe

Someone escaped from his asylum and is starting a petition to rename the Booth Theater the Lin Miranda. If this is not pure satire, someone quickly get the net!

We are clearly in the End Times.

[quote]We are clearly in the End Times.

It took forever.

What's the issue with Wolfe? His talent for changing his fucking mind about everything every 20 minutes.

Just wait until the Denzel fans and fraus sit down to Iceman and realize what they're in for for the next 4 hours.

4 hours? Try 4 hours and 30 minutes until Denzel learns his lines. That should happen by May.

[quote]Someone escaped from his asylum and is starting a petition to rename the Booth Theater the Lin Miranda. If this is not pure satire, someone quickly get the net!

Well that's just silly. BUT no matter what you think of him, when are the Shuberts going to do the right thing and rename The Majestic after Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. Come on, record breakers Phantom & Cats, Evita, now School Of Rock, all Schubert houses not to mention all the tours around the country. How many asses did Shubert pencil pushers Bernard B. Jacobs or Gerald Schoenfeld ever put in seats?

[quote] How many asses did Shubert pencil pushers Bernard B. Jacobs or Gerald Schoenfeld ever put in seats?

All of 'em! We did something none of those artists could do. We paid 'em.

If you want to go complain about a theater name, go picket the Sam Friedman, for fuck's sake!

Is Denzel the new Andrew Rannells?

Broadway in its current state DESERVES a Lin M theater.

[quote]How am I only just learning that there was someone named Martha Stewart who played Adelaide in the OBC of Guys and Dolls

Vivian Blaine was the original Adelaide. "Martha Stewart" was a replacement, so she was not in the "OBC."

Is there anything that lady HASN'T done?

Fine, r339--she was "OBC Adjacent." Okay?

You said it, r338.

Who advised Michael Riedel to step away from the rarified air of his NYPost mantle and become the second banana for the WOR radio am show? Len Berman is about 100 years old and clueless about almost everything, I listened couldn’t believe this was a morning program in NYC, a huge market. Riedel is a right wing-lite jokester and devoid of any personality, what the what?!

She said she could listen to them sing all day. Is she just kissing ass? I don't get it. Lmm CANNOT sing! It's torture. Both of them!

“What’s playing at the Lin-Manuel, I’ll tell ya what’s playing at the Lin-Manuel...”

Good one, R345! Ah, Guys and Dolls -- perhaps the perfect musical.

Until Des McAnuff gets his hands on it, that is.

I hate guys and dolls

It's three different musicals that aren't really very well joined together.

And then cause it's been droning in for what feels like hours. The two leading ladies who have barely met Sing a song and get their men to convert when the whole show is about those men not commiting.

How did they do it? Disney magic?

Anybody post this yet?

Everyone is now saying that Grand Hotel's director/choreographer is the Great White Hope for the Broadway musical.

I remember everyone said that when Rob Ashford choreographed Cry Baby.

And when Andy Blankenbeuhler choreographed Bring It On.

And when Joshua Bergasse choreographed On the Town.

And when Christopher Gattelli choreographed....oh wait, nobody ever said that.

Saw Frank Dilella on TV the other night sporting a nice bulge. Definitely made me stop and take notice. Which one of you bitches has had him?

Speaking of WHET Next Big Things, where is Savion Glover? He did a flop Broadway show a few years ago but otherwise, his resume is almost empty for the past few years. I knew he was said to be hard to work with.

People come

People go

People move chairs

R351, helllllllllo? Who hasn’t had sweet Frankie’s sauhseeega!

Who was the last big choreographer to director move? Casey?

I still can't figure out if ATC's "summertheater" is real or a parody.

I cant figure out the same about Hamilton.

Someone upstream mentioned the movie of Hello, Again, and I'm trying to watch it. It just..sucks. I'm about 20 minutes in, and it seems badly and boringly written. How on earth did this get made, and with that cast?!?!?

Variety reviews "Frozen":

THR reviews "Frozen":

Does Grand Hotel also open tonight?

yes

I saw TBV tonight. Wouldn't say it's a bore but would say it's part of a distressing trend that is the ne plus ultra of oxymorons: the non-emotive musical, targeting audiences who hate the form but love non-events like...do I really need to mention them?. One can note the show's experimental aspects, its playing against expectations, like the mutual conducting scene acted in silence, or the finale concluded on a downbeat...but to what end? What is gained? No score or drama to speak of, nor much chance of engagement, one's interest only sustained by occasional aspects of the production or the cast. Meh.

Times does NOT like Frozen.

the ne plus ultra of oxymorons

In English, please!

is brandon uranowitz going to make a career of playing roles he’s 10-20 years too young for?

ugh. that boring big assed Denzel stuttering out his lines again?

nope.

I just can't see what Frozen's appeal is. It's the worst story of any Disney property ever written.

loved R363 review and agree COMPLETELY!!

And glad Disneys taking a hit for that piece of

I gotta give kudos to Denzel. He keeps coming back to the theatre again and again. He could easily coast by doing 1 middle of the road biopic a year and spend 9 months on a beach somewhere. And he's clearly not afraid of big, ambitious work. I know that doesn't make him necessarily a great stage actor, but, still, the dude's probably put tens of thousands of first-time theatre goers in Broadway seats over the years.

Lol, AKB’s dick is huge only in his mind.

And in his photoshopped profile pic

His profile pic is his dick? Usually people just have their faces or upper bodies.

Lady Brantley continues to demonstrate her tin ear for musicals in her quasi-praise for GRAND HOTEL. Unable to intelligently assess the book and the score, or even the merits of this version, she'd rather reminisce about the original Tommy Tune production.

This Encores production is gorgeous. The score and the book are both a mixed bag, but after almost 30 years, the highlights shine much brighter. It's not my dream cast, necessarily--some roles really need more starpower--but the supporting ensemble and orchestra are both stunning. And hell yes, what a calling card for Josh Rhodes, the director/choreographer.

We'll Take A Glass is a poor facsimile of the original, but a poor facsimile of a masterpiece is still a decent work of art. The rest of it looks lovely. I never cared much for Jane K on the stage. I thought she was crass and ordinary in 9 and a bit wanting and just indicating in Grand Hotel.

The guy is too young for Otto and not likeable. The rest looks fine I guess.

Marian Seldes? I fucked her in the pink and the stink!

I gather it’s James Snyder and the ballerina who are lacking the requisite star presence?

I saw the original twice in previews, and I thought Liliane M was lacking.

But then I saw it again on tour, and playing opposite Brent Barrett (instead of Carroll), she was wonderful.

The tv show Rise, about a school doing Spring Awakening has to be seen to be believed.

Who the fuck is allowing this to reach the airwaves?

I feel both bad and embarrassed for Duncan Sheik

Has anyone read ALW’s memoirs already? This is the first part and the Sunset fiasco will be in the second part to be released maybe one day.

who is alw?

The hubris of Denzel thinking he can deliver the goods in such a complex iconic play.....damn

r381 Al Wilson, Rose

It's Andrew Lloyd Webber, R381.

Yea that show Rise is a joke. Picking up right where glee left off. So schmaltzy and corny. Same tired storylines. Recruit football player. Girl wants football player. He wants popular girl but secretly wants girl who wants him. Give me a fucking break. Promoting hamilton in the pilot go figure. Don't get me started on the trans shit.

These Ben Platt videos smell like the stuff methed out gay porn stars do when it’s close to the end, does this guy not have representation to halt these travesties?

R386 yea i dont get it. Why is he posting? That's for people trying to get discovered.

Rise is a huge embarrassment. rosie perez??? good god who hires her...

Rosie Perez has been working for what, like fifty years, and she’s as bad as her first appearance, one of the worst, a flat and totally clueless actor.

And yet she's still more talented and less annoying than Ben Platt.

Frozen will be filling the St. James Theater for years. It got the reviews it needed not to flounder. In a month no one will care or remember them. It's in everyone's best interest for this lumbering show to settle in, perceived as an audience pleasing hit.

^works for Disney

You'll notice several of the reviews mentioned the kids nodding off. The show is a fucking bore, without the requisite visual splendor that everyone was expecting. It'll eke out a couple of years, probably, but this isn't going to be one of Disney's juggernauts. They screwed up their precious property.

Wicked will still be pulling them in after Frozen shutters.

That is spot on R393, this should of been soaring and the heir apparent to last forever like Wicked, TLK and Phantom, but they fucked it up and made it a crashing bore, with wan leading ladies, too bland, too old, HORRIBLE new “songs” and shockingly cheap production values, classic Handsy Tom at his worst. It will run a few years and spurt out like the last few Disney stumbles.

Such vitriol for an assembly-line stage show. It doesn't purport to be Sweeney, or even Phantom, but if it gets kiddoes fannies in theater seats at a young age, it's a good thing.

[quote]run a few years and spurt out

Pics please.

It's not a good thing if it gets them in seats and then puts them to sleep, r396, as has been reported. And it's not even a good "E ticket ride" musical. Not enough of everything that makes theatre exciting for kids.

GRAND HOTEL is one of the most polished (and beautiful) Encores! productions ever, but the star is still Tommy Tune. The choreographer adapted and edited Tune's work brilliantly, but he just serves to remind us of the dazzling original. The songs are 85% mediocre, and the performances are ok-to-good. Last night the lion's share of the applause went to Uranowitz and the two fabulous Spanish dancers. Was happy not to have to endure Krakowski and the ever-glum Karen Akers. Naturally, some are already clamoring for a transfer.

Oh please spare us the measured tones R396, the show was hyped as a mega blockbuster and certainly not promoted as a fucking gentle puppet show at The New Victory, the puppet show would have been a evening at the theater.

*better evening

"The past is in the paaaaast!"

Ugh, these Ben Platt videos. His poor upstairs neighbors must think they live above a goat abattoir.

In the realms of hubris and (unmerited) self-adoration, Platt is second only to LMM, and LMM is second to none.

FROZEN was a juggernaut as a movie and could have made a fabulous stage show. The movie itself is wonderful, and the songs in it are the best thing Disney has produced in eons. This should have been a slam dunk but wasn't.

Part of being a star is mystery. Ben Platt and Lin and anyone else who constantly posts on social media from the mundane confines of their home, wearing sweats, erodes if not totally destroys that mystery. Attention for attention’s sake might feel good in the moment but it’s fool’s gold.

I think they both feel that their fans can't get enough of them. And judging by the responses they get, they're probably right.

Imagine Bernie posting the minutiae of her daily life. Imagine Sondheim. "Elegance is refusal."

[quote]The show is a fucking bore, without the requisite visual splendor that everyone was expecting.

Let it go.....let it go.

Frozen is basically Disney's weird attempt to make a Wicked movie and an X-men movie at the same time. It's awful.

Does Grand Hotel have walls?

AKB dick HUGE. Ive had it. Why all the hate?

Metaphorical ones, r410.

The Platt videos are disturbing, not good, creepy.

PLATT is disturbing,not good,creepy.

No?

And Lin is a sign of the times.

The King of the Over-sharers.

"Look at Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

If only what he shared was GOOD!

I don't care if akb has a big dick. He's gross. Stop it. Nobody cares. It's not gonna make up for anything.

Even if what LMM shared were good, there's still too much of it, His first college musical, for chrissakes? Am I not adorable singing so badly?

My hat's off to his parents for instilling in him this unshakable confidence.

and hats back ON for subjecting us to it!

I think the father may be another bombastic over-sharer. Maybe it's not confidence; maybe it's monkey see, monkey do.

[quote]this should of been

Oh, dear.

AKB does not have even a medium sized dick, but it is huge compared to something like Max von Essen’s tiny meat nubbin.

Isn’t AKB like five feet tall? Anything would look huge on that frame.

What about Will Swenson's hairy nutsack?

R418 totally

Doesn't Lin have some sort of business relationship with his father that allows the father a cut of Hamilton's profits?

Yes, R426. Lin's father was the show's "political advisor" and gets a percentage of the profits. He has probably made more than most of the original cast.

Just felt like watching this again.

What kind of dance was that?!? There were literally NO somersaults or flips.

What's another great Broadway earworm (I love The Lambeth Walk!)?

How about this one?

Boom Ditty Boom, r430.....

Thanks for that , Pia Z. So sad that Michael Bennett and Bob Merrill -even with a flop- outshine the mediocrity making hit musicals today.

[quote] Yea that show Rise is a joke. Picking up right where glee left off. So schmaltzy and corny. Same tired storylines. Recruit football player. Girl wants football player. He wants popular girl but secretly wants girl who wants him. Give me a fucking break. Promoting hamilton in the pilot go figure. Don't get me started on the trans shit.

Hold on a sec- you're saying they totally changed the teacher being gay and made him straight, yet wedged in a trans storyline?

Yeah, anyone saying we're not being erased by the tranny brigade is up their own ass.

Could someone technically savvy please post the London cast recording of Jule Styne’s Bar Mitzvah Boy on YT? TIA.

R427, not unprecedented by the way. The Lin-Manuel Miranda of his day, Tennessee Williams, gave 50% writership of his first Broadway play, The Glass Menagerie, to his mother. It made her a very wealthy woman, set for life.

R433, we’re not being erased, they’re just taking their turn. But now you know how the Deplorables felt under Obama.

Well frankly TW owed it to her; he turned his mother's legacy into an endless parade of community theater Blanche Deverouxs.

William Goldman in The Season said that Henry Sweet Henry played like a big hit in previews and then Clive Barnes who was probably the worst critic in Broadway history killed it.

I think it's interesting that Ed Sullivan who probably saw most of the Broadway musicals at least from the 30s on and all the great talent is genuinely delighted by it.

I believe you mean Devereauxes, r437.

R438, he is??!! #reanimation

The Andrew Lloyd Webber autobiography is a bit of a slog at 528 pages. The few juicy bits are his letters to Patti LuPone during Evita that she was slurring the words, the many battles between him and Tim Rice (he really glosses over the dispute about dumping RIce's lyrics for "Memory" in favor of director Trevor Nunn's lyrics...although I do think Nunn's lyrics were better), and in a coda he mentions that Sarah Brightman cheated on him by fucking the piano player in the Phantom orchestra. The book isn't too badly written, but it's way too long for the brief period of time it's covering. If he ever writes part two, it should be more interesting to read about all his flops and his Sunset leading lady problems.

I saw HENRY SWEET HENRY twice before it went to Bway. It was NOT a hit; the Don Ameche scenes (about 50% of the show) were DOA, largely because of his staggering lack of charisma). Nevertheless, the rest was a lot of fun, thanks to Playten and Bennett. You only need to listen to the OBCR to hear the wide range of quality in the score. I don't think you can entirely blame Clive Barnes, although he often had a lost to answer for.

So does ALW say who was the pianist for Phantom? (sorry, I just can't buy the book)

This really is a dismal season for new musicals. Thank God for the plays, OOTI and MFL.

That’s the first time I’ve realized Pia Zadora was in “Poor Little Person”!

Who's Blanche Devereaux?

Its been a dismal season for new musicals R444 for MANY a season now!

But thank god theyre on the right track with this masterpiece---

Excuse me, when WE were writing for the musical theatre, we wrote SONGS, not potato chip jingles....

[quote]I saw HENRY SWEET HENRY twice before it went to Bway. It was NOT a hit; the Don Ameche scenes (about 50% of the show) were DOA, largely because of his staggering lack of charisma). Nevertheless, the rest was a lot of fun, thanks to Playten and Bennett. You only need to listen to the OBCR to hear the wide range of quality in the score. I don't think you can entirely blame Clive Barnes, although he often had a lost to answer for.

If the ever revived it, there would be four girls and four boys in the chorus.

YES R448!!!

(And is The Hamilton a sandwich yet?)

R445, it also has Priscilla Lopez, the late Chris Bocchino (Diana replacement) and Ilene Kristen, the dastardly Delia from Ryan's Hope.

Goldman's chapter on "Henry, Sweet Henry" was interesting for a few reasons. He was writing at the tail end of the era where it was more than common for pop singers and musicians to cover Broadway. He was also writing about how a less than traditional Broadway singer (Robin Wilson) was being molded to deviate from her pop style. Finally, he wrote about how the gays ended up preferring the more traditionally-sounding (and more offbeat) Alice Playten, even if she never did reach the diva pantheon.

Don't forget Baayork Lee, R451.

R452, and I LOVE Baayork. I think Kristen would have been good as Val in ACL.

Is the Goldman book -- I assume it's "The Season" -- worth reading?

And where is that Hamilton clip from? The little kid has more charisma than LMM.

Yes and no. Be prepared for some old-school attitudes towards gays, and Goldman's not as clever as he thinks. But, and this is a big one, it's awesome to have commentary on all those obscure productions, plus the critics scene, vignettes of reactions from people as lowly as audience members and ticket-takers and some fun bitchiness. For my money, Carl Reiner comes out the best of anyone in the book.

I think I really would have liked The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake.

The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake is one I might reasonably enjoy on its own merits. Daphne in Cottage D would be interesting to watch for the trainwreck factor. Johnny No-Trump would be cool just to see baby Bernadette.

And Sada!

It was totally groovy, r457!

Someone in the previous thread asked me to find out about the origins of The Vocal Minority in Company. I had lunch with a friend today who was one of the original four singers and she said the idea was Tunick's, as he had used a similar group in scoring Promises Promises. Sondheim had no objection and Prince said fine as long as it was kept to four women and that at least two of them had to be able to understudy the female roles. (My friend Dona understudied and went on for Amy and Sarah).

[quote]Well frankly TW owed it to her; he turned his mother's legacy into an endless parade of community theater Blanche Deverouxs.

Oh, just shut up!

Dona D. Vaughn, R460? Didn’t she marry Ron Raines, who played Alan of Spaulding on Guiding Light in addition to Ben in Follies?

I was friends with Richard Chandler who wrote The Freaking Out of Stephanie Blake. Is that in The Season? I would love to hear another POV on the show.

Yes, it is -- and Richard is quoted, I think.

Speaking of Henry, Sweet, Henry I loved Neva Small and I'm surprised she didn't have a bigger career.

Okay, I see Pia Z and Baayork Lee in that Poor Little Person song. Is Priscilla Lopez the tallish girl in the plaid coat? And where is Ilene Kirsten?

I feel badly for poor Alice Playten, that she cracked so badly on the first couple of lines.

R466, correct. Ilene is wearing a maroon coat

According to the original credits. Priscilla Lopez was in the adult ensemble, not one of the girls.

Also one of the girls was Rebecca Urich, who became Rebecca York and was in the Alice Faye Good News, before going off to Hollywood and starring in “Movie, Movie” (along with Ann Reinking) and then completely disappearing.

Kim Milford, the original Broadway Rocky Horror, was one of the Knickerbocker Grey Boys.

Do you think that Martha Stewart who appeared in Guys and Dolls was friends with Elizabeth Taylor who appeared in the original West Side Story?

r469 No, but she was best friends with Doris Day from the Original Broadway Cast of "The Women."

[quote]Could someone technically savvy please post the London cast recording of Jule Styne’s Bar Mitzvah Boy on YT?

Bar Mitzvah Boy isn’t nearly as good as you’ve been led to believe. Very mediocre Styne, with maybe two or three okay songs and a bunch of clunkers. Look to the Lilies and Prettybelle are both vastly superior Styne flop scores.

And Martha, Liz, and Doris were all good friends with Capt. Lisa Minnelli from South Pacific!

[quote]The few juicy bits are his letters to Patti LuPone during Evita that she was slurring the words

Patti was such a liar. When nobody could understand what she was singing in Anything Goes, and Forbidden Broadway even mimicked her bad diction, she said nobody ever told her she had bad diction before.

[quote]That’s the first time I’ve realized Pia Zadora was in “Poor Little Person”!

How could you not notice her? She's the girl that's playing to the top balcony...in Hoboken.

Rebecca York and Ann Reinking flanking George C. Scott in “Movie, Movie.” If I remember right, Reinking had a big number called “Torchin’ for Bill.”

How odd to see York with dark hair and Reinking with that blonde fright wig.

Say what one will about Prettybelle r471, but that score is downright zippy.......

I thought York always had dark hair. They spotted her in LA in ACL and she was subbing for Lopez.

R476, Rebecca Urich/York had dark hair--I never saw her as a blonde. Are you thinking of Rachel York?

R474, I'll bet Bennett loved her for that. He always wanted show dancers who stood out and you can see he certainly gave her a prime spot in the chorus.

Yes, r479, I guess I was

Reinking's Movie/Movie number......

Alice Playten started out with a very good Broadway career. She originated Ermengarde in "Hello Dolly" and Bet in "Oliver" on Broadway. I wonder why in a musical about two girls, why Alice was reduced to a secondary role and didn't play one of the main girls?

R471, I used to own the cast album on vinyl. I think the score has lovely songs in it, especially “I’ve Just Begun.” It’s not available on iTunes either here or in the UK. I hope someone might post it on YT.

I assume it to be an homage to Dietrich, r476.

God that number from Movie/Movie sucked

Please tell me Fosse did not choreograph that

"Movie Movie" was notable for introducing us to the uber-hot (at the time) Harry Hamlin.

R468, I believe the girl in the plaid is Chris Bocchino.

Ah, Movie Movie. The Grindhouse of its day.

Poor Barry Bostwick didn't get Grease but got Movie, Movie instead.

Blessed to read these posts, informed, obscure, beautiful! They combat the horrors of the Platt splats and Andy Kweenin’ Burglar missives!

Movie/Movie Finale.....

Annie's screen test for Kiss of the Spiderwoman.....

Barry Boxwick’s massive tool would protrude too much in those tight jeans in close ups in Grease. Plus he was too fucking old by then.

[quote]Barry Boxwick’s massive tool would protrude too much in those tight jeans in close ups in Grease. Plus he was too fucking old by then.

Too old? He would have looked like a toddler next to Stockard Channing in Grease.

Miss Rivera, Mr. Cole, and......

Seems like Ben Platt is going into attention-withdrawal after DEH

I think you nailed it, r497. No more groupies at the stage door swooning.

The Season is one of the best books written about the theater. I don't think it has ever gone out of print.

Clive Barnes was taken to task for his review of Henry Sweet Henry. I'm paraphrasing here, but he wrote that he knew it was a bomb after the first eight bars of the overture, or something like that. I do think he made amends in some way for that callous critique, but the damage was done. Henry was a delightful show. By the way, it featured an absolutely hysterical Louise Lasser, in addition Bennett's exciting choreography and all those girls giving stellar performances. It deserved a much longer run.

R460, I posted in the last thread that Bachrach had wanted singers in the Promises, Promises pit and that since Tunick had orchestrated both shows, that's probably where the idea for the Company Vocal Minority came from.

Tommy Tune in Buskers Alley, with the late Marcia Lewis and "blink and you'll miss him" Michael Berresse.

I’m sure atoms Tune didn’t miss Michael Berresse off stage. Jeff Calhoun, too,

[quote] Alice Playten started out with a very good Broadway career. She originated Ermengarde in "Hello Dolly" and Bet in "Oliver" on Broadway. I wonder why in a musical about two girls, why Alice was reduced to a secondary role and didn't play one of the main girls?

Playten, from what I've read, stole the show out from everyone. I think Kafritz was a good role.

You read correctly, r503. With that belt, she was known as "The Mini Merman."

More thoughts about the NT's "Angels in America"? "Perestroika" officially opens tomorrow night.

Playten had no belt. She bellowed. More Stritch than Merman in that respect.

Yes [R462] - Dona D. Vaughn, also Mrs. Ron Raines. Now head of the opera program at Manhattan School of Music.

Yes there is a chapter devoted to Stephanie Blake and it is very entertaining. Also there is a chapter on Golden Rainbow called Washing Garbage.

Of course this is a Broadway that has disappeared so it has the nostalgia element too.

And his take down of Clive Barnes is a joy. Barnes existence at the Times is one of the papers great mysteries. And incredibly so that he stayed there for years after The Season.

Interesting you say Ameche had no charisma when he had a successful career during the golden age of Hollywood and made a couple of classics still watched today. I would assume he had drawing power for the middle aged Broadway audiences of the era.

This is really the worst of both worlds that we have eldergays being racist about Lin Miranda and saying there have been no good musicals since Naughty Marietta ... and yet they can't tell us more about OG Martha Stewart

R509, you don't understand the difference between a film actor and a stage actor. Ameche may have been fine on film, but you need to project that past the footlights. Great stage actors have big personalities that carry. Unfortunately, with university theater programs, this quality gets pushed out (and the directors coming out of the programs are just as much a problem as the teachers). We have very few great personalities on stage now, certainly few in the younger generations.

Don Ameche wasn’t a stage novice. “Henry Sweet Henry” was his fifth of six Broadway shows (four of them were also musicals) and he performed regularly in summer stock in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. If he was mediocre in HSH, look at the material he was given. Alice Playten, Robin Wilson, and Neva Small all had really good material to work with. Ameche had the awful “Pillar to Post” and “To Be Artistic.” He got to sing the show’s worst lyric, something about being a Lancelot but “I don’t seem to get out of my pants a lot.” No wonder he didn’t shine.

He’s quite good on the CD of Silk Stockings, and even better in Goldilocks.

By the mid-1960s, Don Ameche came off like someone's confused grandpa, not the sex object of 2 over-eager teenaged girls at a Manhattan prep school.

Didn't Peter Sellers play the role in the original film? Maybe Anthony Newley would have been better casting.

Eldergays being racist about LMM? So it's not possible to find him odious on the merits? You moron.

How did Busker Alley ever even go into production? That was horrendous.

exactly R514.

R510 please provide those racist quotes.

We're waiting.

And we're not talking about "good" musicals.

But GREAT .

Go ahead. Name them.

ask Hamilton^

[quote]How did Busker Alley ever even go into production? That was horrendous.

Tommy Tune was attached. Certain producers will give money to any project that has a high profile name attached to it. They probably thought that the material would be perfected on the road. And since the show went through about four name changes, they were changing a lot of the material.

What the producers didn't take into account is Tune's predisposition to carnal lusts. The guy he hired to be his understudy (and chief fuck toy) couldn't dance. And when Tommy broke (sprained) his ankle, the understudy had to go on, but the choreographer had to do the dancing. And I think that's when it all fell apart and the producers withdrew their support.

I don't think the current situation is that unusual. I am not saying that we should embrace it, though. Look at the 1930s. There are virtually no musicals from that period that have any legs, except for Anything Goes (I exclude Porgy and Bess as it really is an opera.) Some get the occasional novelty revival by a regional theater, e.g. Of Thee I Sing, but most are just footnotes. In fact, other than the yearly R&H musical, thing really don't pick up until 1946.

You forgot Show Boat, r519.

And there are a few - a handful, maybe - of shows from the 1930s that would hold up if anyone ever bothered to disinter them.

The problem with Buskers Alley was that the best thing was the puppet dog. It stole the show out from everyone. When that happens. you know your show is in trouble.

R520, I did not forget Showboat. It is a 1920s musical.

Don Ameche as the Stage Manager in LCT's "our Town" was one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen on stage. The man couldn't remember most of his lines. Even the prompter couldn't help.

R519, thanks so much! What do you think of musicals in the 21rst Century?

Ameche won a coveted Oscar fir his heartwarming portrayal of an elderly man returned to his youth so he couldn’t have been that bad an actor.

Even if the shows from those earlier periods don't hold up, the songs certainly do, regardless of decade, and are superior to 99% of what is being written today.

Why were there so many bad book writers for The Golden Age of Broadway? So many great musicals numbers interspersed with a mediocre to poor book.

How are people being racists to lmm? Im not eldergay and im puerto rican and the guy is fucking trash. I will say, he is like the only one producing original work with heights and Hamilton. I love in the heights and bring it on but i don't want to see him perform. He is crap. What are you people hearing and seeing?! Also gotta revert to racist accusations when someone disagrees with you. Fuck outta here.

Maybe because the books weren't very important--they were just a mechanism to hold the songs together. The Hammerstein musicals may have been the first to elevate the libretto and actually present a story with dramatic conflict/resolution.

R524, not much.

Back off, bitches. My face is the first face you see in the Mary Poppins Returns trailer. I have star quality!

That looks like fun. Who's playing MP?

Emily "Blander Than Bland" Blunt

On a slightly related note, I re-listened to Putting it Together last night. Having Julie sing "Getting Married Today" was a bad choice. And Stephen Collins singing "Hello Little Girl" has aged really awkwardly.

My LMM gripe isn't about his dubious talent as a performer (and I concede his talent as a--what? not really a composer. lyricist?)--it's his unrelenting self-promotion. Enough, already, Lin--sit down and shut up for 5 minutes.

Mary poppins returns. REALLY? Why? Emily blunt in place of Julie Andrews? Come on now. Don't get me started on shitface on the bike. This movie is going nowhere fast.

Lmm should have cut the carbs 2 weeks prior

[quote]Enough, already, Lin--sit down and shut up for 5 minutes.

The moment that Lin immediately popped up out of his seat when Jimmy Kimmel asked who else wanted to go over to the theatre—during the Oscars stunt where some celebrities crossed the street to crash a 'Wrinkle in Time' screening—was the moment I lost it. I just could not stop laughing.

The way that Jimmy said, "Oh, okay Lin you're coming too?" suggested to me he wasn't one of the pre-planned participants. It was just too funny at that point—almost beyond parody.

The man loves attention! God love him.

LMM is a talented composer and lyricist. In the Heights is completely overrated though. But he is NOT a good performer. He's a bland singer and he's a very basic actor. I'm always surprised when he gets hired for something he's not on the creative team for. With all of the talented actors out there, who would wake up and say, "Let's get Lin-Manuel Miranda for this part!" based on talent?

Yea he wanted to go to the theatre and say hey guys it's me! Lin manuel! National treasure and masterpiece composer! Here in person! Yes, its me. The one and only. Lmao. He is ate up.

Shortly after Hurricane Maria, Miranda posted a photo of himself with an expressionless Sondheim, accompanied by his announcement that the two had collaborated on a new song to raise funds for victims, based on "Maria." My guess is that this amounted to permissions/waivers of royalties by the Bernstein estate and Sondheim (generous, to be sure, but kind of a no-brainer). Then the "new song" is unveiled and it is the original lyric to "Maria" with the addition of a sung list of every town and village in Puerto Rico. From that day to this, Miranda characterizes this as a new song written by him--no mention of the actual lyricist or of the generosity of the Bernsteins and Sondheim in waiving royalties. Not one word to suggest that Lin isn't the writer of a NEW song.

Lin cannot write a ballad to save his life. BINGO!!

WOW R541. Thanks for that.

And R539,

I question his talent as a composer AND writer.

What he can do in short bits is create excitement, rhythms, beats, and clever lyrics.

But AGAIN , even that in but brief moments like the sisters songs in Hamilton and the home finale in In The Heights

All the rest is extraordinary inspiration,promotion, and politicking .

This takes place in England during the depression?

So in this one Mary gets everyone their job back?

Is Lin Manuel playing Bert? Shouldn’t he have aged if the kids have also? And why doesn’t Julie Andrews at least have a cameo in the film like Dick Van Dyke? She’s the whole raisin d’etre for this fool’s errand of a sequel!

Andrews was quoted recently as saying that she doesn't want to steal Blunt's thunder (that's a paraphrase; she was much more diplomatic)

The fact the Blunt is married to John Krasinski is a huge turnoff. You know he has to be a right-winger since he starred in that Benghazi propaganda film.

He's either rightwing, or cynical and soulless enough to play their game for fame—not sure which is worse.

[quote] Lin cannot write a ballad to save his life. BINGO!!

Actually, I think it's more that he doesn't know how to bring to fruition a good idea.

"It's Quiet Uptown" is really a good piece when it starts out.

[quote]There are moments that the words don't reach. There is suffering too terrible to name. You hold your child as tight as you can. Then push away the unimaginable.

But then he starts in on all that whiny "I don’t pretend to know The challenges we’re facing I know there’s no replacing what we’ve lost And you need time" and it ruins the moment in the beginning of the song.

He has moments of brilliance. "Satisfied" is one of the best musical theatre numbers of all-time—brilliant in terms of music, lyrics, staging, story-telling, performance.

[quote]Is Lin Manuel playing Bert?

No. Mary has a new friend now called Jack, who is a lamplighter and an apprentice to Bert. LMM is playing Jack.

Marcia Lewis was no Tessie O'Shea. That Busker Alley clip looks like the show was shit. Tune as another straight romantic lead?????? Did he really break his toe or was that an excuse to close the show out of town?

R546 - agreed! He's either a right wing loon or a total ignoramus.

Heads here are gonna explode.

LMM and Ben just dueted at today's Washington march and clips of this will be repeated endlessly on all the major news programs all week.

I can't believe the amount of transparent jealousy there is on this--what is supposed to be a theatre gossip board.

So what was the "coup de theatre" at the end of the original production of Tommy Tune's Grand Hotel as referred to by Frank Rich in his review of it? Did anyone see the original?

[quote] [R546] - agreed! He's either a right wing loon or a total ignoramus.

He's been a total flop since The Office went off the air, so he's trying to reinvent himself as an action star. He bulked up and has an 8-pack now. He's also doing the umpteeth revisit of The Hunt for Red October/Patriot Games on Amazon.

[R553]: Please consider the possibility that these negative comments have their source in the subject's behavior or performance. They reflect sincere contempt, not jealousy. Please also consider that it's possible to separate the subject's art (oh, whatever) from his behavior, and to admire the one while disdaining the other. All this should become more apparent to you when you leave middle school.

I saw Busker Alley, not too far before Tune "broke his foot". The flaws are all there to see in that video. The cast (especially Tune) were about as authentically English as Keanu Reeves in Dracula. About a half hour in, you were praying that Dick Van Dyke would show up and teach them how to do a proper cockney accent. You got really tired of the lampposts, however pleasant the routines. And the story was very unsatisfying. She became a "legit" star and Tune returned to busking. It felt very iffy. But then I'd heard they changed the ending many times while on tour so it's possible what I saw wasn't the final product.

The marionettes were adorable, though.

Marcia Lewis was a cunt.

R543, I don’t think it takes place in London during the Depression, it takes place during the Blitz in 1940.

Was the puppeteer in Busker Alley also a ventriloquist? His lips don't appear to be moving when he can be seen during his number with Tune, but he is kind of in shadow so it's hard to be sure.

The Sherman Brothers did the score, right? I couldn't help thinking of their bad luck with Americans doing Cockney accents in their shows myself when I saw that reel!

How would Scott Baio know anything about Marcia Lewis?

The source material for Busker's is a rather depressing film with Charles Laughton and Vivian Leigh. I can't imagine that anyone would think that it would make a good Tommy Tune musical. The film is basically a loosely adapted, unauthorized English version of The Blue Angel.

The puppeteer is Phil Huber. To the best of my knowledge he is not a ventriloquist.

Doesn't Alex Lacamoire write all the music for LMM? I saw In the Heights recently and realized that "It Won't Be Long Now" is not a very good song. It doesn't seem to have an arc like a normal song. It's just 3 identical parts, and as Vanessa's big solo it doesn't really lead to a huge ovation... it kinda just peters out. I woulda been pissed if I were Karen Olivo.

Wait a second, [R553]--you think a theater gossip board is an inappropriate place for "transparent jealousy"? It's the official banner, coat of arms, and cri du coeur of any self respecting theater gossip site.

Lacamoire is a very well respected orchestrator and arranger, and I'm sure he composes as well, but if he's writing LMM's music, LMM is claiming credit for it--which, if true, would not come as a shock.

If Mary Poppins Returns takes place during WW2, why do the parents look like they are dressed in 1970s fashion? That's a 70s porn stache on the man if I've ever seen one.

Someone really hates LMM on this thread, even to the point of pretending to be more than one poster. Hmm, who could that possibly be?

I saw the original Grand Hotel seven times, but I don't remember anything that could be called a coup de theatre.

Maybe he means the drop that came down at the end of the story, a white drawing of (I think) the hotel façade against a light blue background. It was the only real piece of scenery in the whole show, so it was certainly a a surprise that we didn't see it till the show was over.

The role of Henry in HSH needs to be a kind of clown, a kook. Sellers was perfect. Ameche hadn't a kooky bone in his body. And whoever said his material was lousy is spot on. The "Lancelot/pants a lot" rhyme is like a parody of a bad lyric. When Bob Merrill was bad, he was very very bad.

No, I think there are several of us.

R568, I think he means the Grand Parade (?). The most of entire cast entering through the revolving doors and looping back in a figure eight to enter again. I say most, because I think the scullery guys rattling trays of silverware were on the side.

[quote]So what was the "coup de theatre" at the end of the original production of Tommy Tune's Grand Hotel as referred to by Frank Rich in his review of it? Did anyone see the original?

I sa the original three times. I honestly don’t remember anything special re the ending.

[quote]I don’t think it takes place in London during the Depression, it takes place during the Blitz in 1940.

Let's see. A family movie that takes place during the Blitz and also has Angela Lansbury in it. Where have I heard that scenario before.

And with the amount of high profile actors in Mary Poppins returns, why are they showing LMM? The movie also has Angela Lansbury, Meryl Streep, Dick van Dyke, Julie Walters, and Colin Firth in it. Couldn't they show a glimpse of any of them?

[quote]He's been a total flop since The Office went off the air, so he's trying to reinvent himself as an action star. He bulked up and has an 8-pack now. He's also doing the umpteeth revisit of The Hunt for Red October/Patriot Games on Amazon.

"13 Hours" had no politics in it, it was just the story of what happened that night. He was just a hired hand even if it had been political. John also has a new movie that he directed and co-wrote coming out very soon and it's going to be a HUGE hit.

Is that Maria video Ben Platt posted actually an audition?? Since when do stars have to post their audition videos publicly?

No, it's not--at least not one that was requested by anyone. I'm sure he expects Spielberg to see it and swoon.

It's only when the star is especially needy and narcissistic.

Whoever said Platt was going through attention withdrawal was right on the money. After months of weakly protesting that the stage door attention was too much for him (sob!), now he’s missing it.

R571, Rich referred to the opening as a "tour de force" and the ending as a "coup de theatre." Here's an excerpt:

[quote]Mr. Tune's restless manipulation of these resources is often inspired. In the opening number - a directorial tour de force to match the equivalent prologue, 'Wilkommen,' in Harold Prince's Weimar Berlin musical 'Cabaret' - phalanxes of performers crisscross the stage in ever-changing configurations, the characters individually singing of their lots, until finally the audience sees the panorama of lives, upstairs and down, intersecting throughout the vast hotel.

Though the effect is that of cinematic crosscutting, there's never an intrusion of scenic machinery to yank the characters about. 'Grand Hotel' finds its kaleidoscopic activity and churning pace in the constant rearrangement of the dozens of straight-backed chairs that are the set's dominant furnishing, or in the sudden appearance of a quartet of desperate phone callers in a cacophonous downstage tableau, or in the hallucinatory fragments of period dance steps along the shadowy periphery of main events. As in Mr. Tune's 'Nine,' the large cast is omnipresent and usually on the run. So dense is the atmosphere that finally it can be stilled only by eradication - an effect Mr. Tune accomplishes in the coup de theatre that brings the evening to a close.[/quote]

Sorry, fucked up the formatting on the quote.

Lin is like the 4th grade birthday boy who expects all the other kids to be delighted to watch him play with his own new toys the whole birthday party.

R523, Don Ameche should have made a wonderful Stage Manager in OUR TOWN but he was 80 tears old then and probably was thrown into the show quickly without adequare rehearsal time.

R581, but they’re getting tired and bored and can’t wait to go home

R184 Evan.

For those who saw it, was Paul Newman any better as the Stage Manager? I always thought it wouldn't have been a bad role for Julie Harris.

Rule number 1 in theatre is to know your type. Platt needs to revisit that.

[quote]For those who saw it, was Paul Newman any better as the Stage Manager?

He was average. No real new "take" on the role. Just sort of what you'd expect. I didn't like Jane Curtin. She was trying to capture that New England coldness and ended up like she was mean and bitter. No warmth to the character at all.

R538, omg, we all yelled out the same thing seeing Darling Lin-ME(!) leap up and join Kimmel, it was completely obvious he was not a scheduled person for the bit, and his cat that ate the ice cold canary expression was a hoot to behold, he’s insufferable.

Really interested to see what his next full bodied creation for the stage will be, there was a rumor of a collaboration with Common for a musical based on the famous Thrilla In Manila Ali fight.

His turn in MPR will confirm a deadly lack of screen performance abilities.

I still don’t understand what the coup de theatre ending was in Grand Hotel. WTF does eradication mean theatrically?

RE LMM. I have no horse in this race. I am not jealous. I am not in the theater, nor do I want to be. I have, however, seen enough to know what it good and what is not. Criticism of LMM is not always jealousy. As inventive as I thought Hamilton was -- you have to give him props for thinking of something like that -- I thought much of it's presence came from the staging and the choreography. It was a joy and wonder to watch. I thought many of the songs could have built a little better, but, as a writer, he doesn't seem to knwo how to build and sustain an idea, and I wish the characters all had distinct musical voices, which they did not. (For all the criticism of ALW, he is very good at giving his characters distinctive musical leit motifs.) I enjoyed Hamilton, but the big black hole in the middle of the show was LMM. He simply can not act or sing. He can't. He is adorable, but he is wooden, and his singing voice is terrible. If I wrote something like Hamilton, hell, I'd cast myself in the lead roll, too, but saying he has talent as an actor and singer is simply wrong. That's not jealous; it's simply fact.

[quote]Rule number 1 in theatre is to know your type. Platt needs to revisit that.

Nuh-uh! Daddy said I could be a movie star.

R589, I think what he is saying is that there was no button/end. The curtain came down as the cast was performing the "parade", implication being that it never ended. In this case, I think he meant blocked from sight.

I do have another memory of the ending. As I recall, there was a part before the "parade" started where the audience thought the show had ended. It was rather awkward. I think the audience thought the "parade" was the curtain call.

[quote] I don’t think it takes place in London during the Depression, it takes place during the Blitz in 1940.

No, it takes place in the 1930s. Michael’s wife has died, leaving him to raise his children on his own, with the help of their Aunt Jane, which is what precipitates Mary’s return. It’s all pre- WW II.

[quote]Let's see. A family movie that takes place during the Blitz and also has Angela Lansbury in it.

Yes, but hopefully this one will be good, as opposed to the hideous Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

[quote]I'd cast myself in the lead roll

Parkerhouse or dinner?

I assumed jelly, r595.

Always finishing up the jam, R596

Jam and bread.....

But never ever jam today.

Bitter Sweet

WHY OH WHY CAN'T WE EDIT OUR POSTS!!! : (

I hope the next thread will be better ... much better. *transforms into sheep*

R585, Paul Newman was very good in OUR TOWN. Understated, reflective, dignified. Not a performance to blow your socks off, but suited the material perfectly.

ANGELS IN AMERICA is outstanding. Wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, cause I'd seen the original on Broadway and at the National back in the day, and even the OB revival at the Signature, but the show is beautifully directed save for one major exception (the diorama scene, which is trampled on by speediness, killing all possible humor with great efficiency), and that lack of humor in Harper's scenes really doesn't help Denise Gough, who is a major performer (she was astonishing in PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS) who's clearly been directed to understate that part of the role. Without Harper's humor, it's hard to relate to her. Best I've ever seen is still Marcia Gay Harden. Nathan Lane is fine, though the first part seems far less about Roy Cohn than any other production I've seen. And unlike many on DL, I think Andrew Garfield is terrific in this. He's the glue of the show. The actor playing Belize is killing it as well. But I did miss the ladies from the original cast, though I'm not sure there's a lot one can do with that Angel. Lee Pace is great as the Mormon, and far better than Russell Tovey would have been, cause Tovey as Joe is just bad casting, and I like Tovey. Sadly, but effectively, much of the play still feels so incredibly relevant. It's a brilliant piece of writing, one that Kushner clearly had a lot of support and help creating. Also, he was taking notes then, which he no longer does in theater, according to a colleague who worked on that interminable and insufferable HOMOSEXUAL'S GUIDE to blah blah blah at The Public.

Anyone else see GOOD FOR OTTO? I had to leave at intermission. Even with that cast the whole enterprise felt so DOA. Major disappointment.