THEATRE GOSSIP s299: “She is Risen! (In San Francisco)” Edition

Little over two weeks left of the season.

Is "s299" the secret evacuation code? Are we all supposed to leave? I lost my manual.

[quote]Isn't touring with Lea a step down for Darren Criss? I would assume he has a legitimate shot at an Emmy nomination next year, and her career is in the shitter.

This way if it bombs, he can blame it on her.

The “s” is for Shesus!

Ok. Now tell me what the phuck this is. Was Freddy gay in this one?

[quote]Isn't touring with Lea a step down for Darren Criss? I would assume he has a legitimate shot at an Emmy nomination next year, and her career is in the shitter.

I see your "shot" and I raise you actual Emmy, Golden Globe and Drama Desk nominations.

What is that Chess clip from? Raul can so easily go from hot af to gross. The wrong haircut, an unflattering outfit, a few extra pounds, and...yuck. That clip is a case in point. I also didn't see a bulge or any sign of his BFCUSMFSDDSAYUIERED.

How about an NCIS/CSI/SVU musical? With a heroic lead, a gorgeous secondary female and some wisecracking techs for comic relief. It can't miss. We can get the original franchise stars for cheap.

A very ill-conceived production in more ways than can be counted, r5. Freddy is not necessarily gay, just ferociously bi-polar and way off his meds.

At the Kennedy Center in February, r7. They wrote a new book and tested it in a week-long run in DC with an eye to bringing it to Broadway next season. I don't think they managed to pull it off. Critics were not thrilled, but the audiences were filled with Ramin fans and Raul fans who screamed the house down every time one of them twitched, so who knows what the producers are going to do.

Are you sure this isn't Darren and Meghan Markle before she had some more work done and realized she might do even better?

Lea looks like she's had a stroke in the picture at r11.

To the comments in the previous thread, I know plenty of women theater critics. I'd say I know as many women theater critics as I know men theater critics. But invariably the men are in senior positions/on staff if a staff position exists, and the women are freelancers, or run their own blogs. In terms of under/over 40 years old, I'd say probably a quarter to a third of the critics I know are under 40, and the rest are north of 40. The vast majority of critics I know are white, which is a shame.

The kinds of people who self-select to be theater critics do tend to fit into certain molds; they were likely exposed to lots of theater growing up, which means they had enough money to see lots of theater; they love theater and don't mind being made fun of for it, which tends to skew more towards women and gay men, I think, though there seem to be more straight male theater critics, proportionally, than there are straight male directors or performers; they think they have something important to say, and they're ok with alienating people by saying a show or the people who made that show aren't good at their jobs. And nowadays, they have to have some other source of income, because hardly anyone is able to pay their rent by writing theater reviews.

Jesse Green's hiring irked me. I like Jesse's writing plenty, my issue isn't with that. But the Times publicly announced in a few places that they were looking for a new critic, and specified that they wanted to hire someone diverse. Plenty of diverse people applied. The Times decided to hire Green, who did not apply for the job. Then, NY Mag had an opening, since Green had just left, and they decided to hire someone who seemingly also did not apply for the job, and had little to no history writing theater reviews (she is a woman, so she ticks one diversity box, but it was a strange hire from the outside looking in). Someone pointed out that apparently the best way to get a job as a theater critic in New York is to not apply for any openings.

I saw the Kennedy Center "Chess." Esparza had lost his voice by Friday. Olivo and Ramin were great.

I think Adam Feldman is a great writer. I wish NYT had hired him. (Also fun, smart, hard working.)

[quote]If "Angels In America" is struggling to fill the house, how will a 2 part play about gay men today, by an unknown author, survive on Broadway?

Because 70% of the prospective audience hasn't already seen the new play three times.

Weirdly none of these comments have mentioned that NYM did set out to hire a female theater critic after Green left, could barely find anyone, and wound up hiring someone totally unqualified, with no experience, who has made zero impact

When you say "who has made zero impact," how are you judging that? i.e. these days does ANY critic make an "impact"? Isn't it more to do with whether s/he can write well and knows the terrain?

Saw "Summer" last week. Now I can usually find something to like in a show but this was just terrible, How do you make disco music boring? No life to anything. Donna Summer's life really is not that interesting. Almost the entire ensemble is women playing men's roles. No eye candy at all. The audience is women and gay men. You should have shirtless guys in tight pants dancing behind her. I got a cheap ticket in the last row of the mezzanine. A group of older women came in and had the row on the side next to me. I heard them say that they were glad no one was behind them so they could dance. They never got up once, the show was that lifeless.

[quote] Almost the entire ensemble is women playing men's roles.

Why?

I guess to show female empowerment, I have no idea. Bad decision.

When Des directed the abominable Dracula he also had a female ensemble playing all of the men's roles (except for a few principals. It's his thing. And it hasn't worked twice now.

The Inheritance is far more accessible than AiA. There's a whole scene with the boys in speedos at Fire Island, for goodness sakes, that pours out into the audience! And emotionally moving to audiences whose lives have never been affected by AIDS.

It may take a few months for word of mouth to kick in over here, but once it does. it will be a very hot ticket.

Female ensemble playing men? Oh brother. I knew donna summer would be totally awful. Sorry lachanze, but no. You aren't right either. Stop casting that untalented lesbian! She fucking SUCKS. She ruined the part of Jane in A Bronx Tale. She's HORRIBLE. She has too much dyke energy. lin manuel is to blame for that career. Speaking of which, i caught the olivier performance of hamilton. Oh gosh. Just really shows how awful and amatuer that show is once again. Already looking like community theatre. Maybe in 10 years when the current lame brains get older, everyone will look back and realize how badly written and performed this all was.

OMG how many theater gossip threads are there? Is one filled up each day?

Tickets to Moulin Rouge previewing in Boston are selling like hotcakes.

Watching MFL, I couldn't help imagine seeing it fresh, when Ascot Gavotte must have struck audiences with the genius of the song and staging. Also, the original Rain in Spain was said to have brought the house down with screams and huzzahs aplenty. Now it seems like just another number, with no surprise or drama. Not really the fault of this production, but familiarity has settled in and made everything a bit dull. Still, I was very glad to see it all again.

Anything interesting going on with AiA?

R27 very different audience and time period then. The rain in spain? Nobody cares. That's not gonna do anything for anybody. Those days are gone.

Has the rain in Spain been affected by climate change?

R30 im afraid so. Haha. Clever. 😉

MY FAIR LADY has been affected by climate change. This isn't the climate for a musical about overbearing men trying to change a woman for "the better". They can have her walk out at the end, but everything that's come before it is cringe-inducing.

Screams and huzzahs aplenty??? What century are we living in

Sara Holden the new New York critic is an odd person. So pedantic and SJW ish plus she made such a point of saying how she is white in her take down of Admissions but her father is Asian so unless she was adopted I assume she is T least half Asian. Is the New York magazine job even a full time job anymore?

Because OP goofed the title, it doesn't appear in a Search. So I'm doing the Christian thing and bumping.

I always just search for “gossip” and whatever the current thread is is always the first listing, which is the case with this one, too.

R32, why is everyone so sensitive and self involved. The play takes place in 1913, not 2013. It shouldn't be relevant today. Christ, The Country Wife would really make your head explode. Is it so hard to look outside of one's self and see something as representative of another time and place?

Because Big Fat Stupid Heads, r37.

Ethel, Agnes..........

Aggie asked me out after the show. I told her "Honey, I can't even stand looking at it in the shower!"

r39 That looks more like Dick Cavett than Endora.

You've never seen them in the same room at the same time, have you r41?

Jennifer Simard is playing Miss Hannigan at St. Louis Muny this summer? I want to go to there.

"They can have her walk out at the end, but everything that's come before it is cringe-inducing."

Oh. for Sweet Gesu's sake...have you ever heard of "character?" You know, people with individual eccentricities? You don't think Shaw knew what he was writing or doing? Must everything subscribe to a pedestrian, politically-correct and eventually hoogenized world-view? If not, then all our society has lost is its humanity.

What are everyone’s thoughts on Lauren Ambrose’s performance?

CHESS has a dramatic score but the story is just stupid. Can they just start all over again with a completely different story?

[quote]Can they just start all over again with a completely different story?

Someone else's story, perhaps.

The new Charles Busch play is hilarious.

The Go-Go's mashup musical Head Over Heels starts in San Francisco tonight. I saw the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's premiere production of the show, and it was dreadful (I felt for the very hard-working cast). I notice on the show's site that Jeff Whitty, who wrote the original book, is mentioned only in passing. Maybe it's better now? I doubt it, though. You might as well mix chalk and cheese. You'd be better off staying home and lip-syncing Go-Go's songs into your hairbrush in front of your bathroom mirror.

I love the word “hoogenized,” r44! I must start using it at once!

Ooh, r49, there was major drama about Jeff Whitt getting dumped from Head Over Heels. He went on a FB rant when they disinvited him from attending rehearsals.

R45 Ambrose is giving a stunning performance. Her voice is gorgeous and her acting is incredibly detailed and fearless. She navigates Eliza's transformation in a way that no other Eliza I've seen has.

[quote] I think Adam Feldman is a great writer. I wish NYT had hired him. (Also fun, smart, hard working.)

Is that you Adam?

Agree that Ambrose is quite good. I think she just needs to relax a bit more into the character. A friend says that the role needs a star, but what production of MFL ever produced a star from an unknown? Other than the original, of course.

[quote]CHESS has a dramatic score but the story is just stupid. Can they just start all over again with a completely different story?

The new story is about Thai rent boys trying to outmaneuver one another for the affections of American businessmen on sex vacation. Into all of this mess, comes a sexy blond American male investigating whether there is any sex trafficking going on. He gets "sucked" into the world of these rent boys. He meets and falls in love with one of the rent boys named Anurak. He reaches his pinnacle of doubt when he realizes that his carnal desires are clouding his judgment. Will he take Anurak back to America with him? Can he prosecute with a clear conscience?

And they restore the fabulously gay and snippy "Embassy Lament" from the London production.

BBDC charter member Norm Lewis IS Harold Hill!

R53 Of all the tired tropes on DL, the "Is that you" in response to someone's praise of a writer, critic, performer is one of the most tired.

R55 That's what it looks like in that raul clip.

[quote] Of all the tired tropes on DL, the "Is that you" in response to someone's praise of a writer, critic, performer is one of the most tired.

Yeah, but c'mon. Feldman? He writes 250 word reviews for a magazine that is given out for free that somehow always seem to praise all of the people he's friends with.

And you think he should be the NYT critic and replace the guy who was ousted for being too friendly with producers?

I wonder if the Norm Lewis Music Man will be all black actors? I saw a wonderful all black version (done simply, a la Encores) done at 2 River Theater in NJ a few years ago and the energy the cast gave it was terrific.

Or does that go against the PC grain these days? Hard to know any more.

Cast it with the best actors for the job. There, problem solved.

Adam is extraordinarily intelligent. An excellent writer. True theater lover.

I have it on good authority DL fave Debra Messing is in talks for Marian opposite Norm in Music Man

I heard it was Laura Linney, r63......

The Coup De Theatre is that both Messing AND Linney are Marian

Brie Larson was a delightful Marian a few years back at the Boise Arts Festival.

Adam Feldman is a gift to the community...the scat community.

Marian? Julianne Moore, seriously.

My money's on Shirl Jones......

OMG could u imagine the boys at Broadwayworld with the headline

The Music Man

Starring

Norm Lewis and Julianne Moore

[quote]The Coup De Theatre is that both Messing AND Linney

The Messing is coming from inside the house!

ew

Doesn’t Harold Hill have to be a bit funny? Has Norm Lewis ever been funny? Beautiful voice, but when the character's big song is "Trouble In River City", who cares?

[quote]I wonder if the Norm Lewis Music Man will be all black actors?

I'm pretty sure the casting call will require Ethel Toffelmier to be transgendered.

Norm Lewis isn’t a leading man, strictly supporting.

What do people think of Rosalie Craig's BEING ALIVE now online, as sung this morning in front of Patti LuPone and Marianne Elliott?

Mientus is on twitter going all goosey about the number of celebs who have come out as bi. I suppose he counts himself among them which is ridiculous since he's neither bi nor a celeb.

Is Des McAnuff even a director anymore? Or is he just a consultant to aged rockers who hope to uncover new royalty streams? Why can’t he succeed with an original musical? Walter Bobbie can.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I could actually see Deb Messing being a very funny Eulalie McKechnie Shinn

I loathe Patti LuCunt more and more.......

It's sad that thge only way she can get attention is by bitching about someone more famous than her. She did it with Madonna to boost War Paint.

Am I the only one who thought Norm Lewis was kinda awful in Jesus Christ Superstar?

Do you think Arden has a shot at Best Director?

R83. I didn't think Lewis was awful in Superstar, but I also didn't think he was very good. He was badly cast; the vocal line calls for someone with a very deep low voice, and his voice simply didn't have the depth and weight it needed on those low notes. You can't hit notes that are outside your range, but he never should have been cast.

Patti is tolerable on stage (as long as she sings) but is dreadful on film. Her only close to decent film performance is in The Comedian opposite DeNiro and she's basically playing herself - a loud, crass, twat.

R83 no. He was bad as the phantom too.

Patti LuPone *IS* Shapoopi

LuCunt is right about those ovations though.

She comes across as very bitter. It's not a good look.

R81 I hear she's going to star in a remake of North by Northwest--there using one of her nostrils in the Mount Rushmore sequence.

She should never do film. And she should be the last one to cast stones about appropriate acting style for a medium.

I love that the bitter, angry queens on here is calling a diva a bitter, angry queen.

I love Patti's honesty and outspokenness. BRAVA!

She's only saying in public what everyone says in private.

Norm was also wanting in Porgy and Bess in which he basically "crooned" Gershwin. He was sexy though if that is even a desirable trait for Porgy.

Bingo, r93.

Norm Lewis is not an actor, but he gets by. He has a great voice, but his technique is not enough to power it consistently. His Sweeney was more disappointing for the uneven singing than for the paint by numbers interpretation of the Demon Barber. Super sexy, and it was neat to have him lunge about a foot away from my face.

Norm Lewis was a HORRIBLE Phantom, he couldn’t sing it, he wasn’t even able to complete the contract, and the box office TANKED, he’s a non-actor, sweet guy (unless your Groff’s pink hole...), well liked, NOT a star energy, Harold Hill is the LAST role he should take on! MARY!

Why couldn't he complete the contract r97?

(I took relatives to see it on a Monday night. During the show I kept thinking his hand look so white. Then at intermission I read they have a Monday night alternate in the role.)

Norm Lewis is the farrhest thing from a “personality performer” than I can think of. And Harold Hill is all personality. Horrendous casting.

If Norm Lewis is horrible casting, who should play Harold Hill?

DL fave Charlie Stemp?

just rent the movie and stay home.

What are the origins of the DL legend that Norm and Groff fucked? It's always casually dropped in these threads and never explained.

Norm is straight and I’m the dame who can prove it.

[quote]Do you think Arden has a shot at Best Director?

A strong yellow stream! I mean, shot!

[quote]What are the origins of the DL legend that Norm and Groff fucked?

The little butt-wiggle and big smile that Groff had whenever Norm’s name came up in conversation.

Thank you, R102. I was about to ask the same question.

So one of the greatest relationships in all of English drama that between Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle is called cringe inducing.

There is one on Datalounge at least every six months to say one of the most idiotic things you couldn't even imagine ever hearing in your life.

This one is for you R102, way back in 2009, Groff and Lewis were part of Wayman Wong’s The Leading Men IV at Birdland, at the after party, Miss Groff got messy, Herr Lewis swooped in, later that night lil’ JG had his hole dug out, was life changing, he’s been dreamy around Alpha Daddy Norm ever since...

"The Leading Men", also known as "Tender White Broadway Twinks I Regularly Stalk and Yearn To Suck Off (plus Norm Lewis)"

I’m surprised Groff could take Norm’s big dick.

R110 it wasn’t easy!

Wow, the fun old days, Groff was a hungry little baby, Tyler Hanes would sit on any pole, the cast of All Shook Up were barebacking 24/7 and Wayman had a byline to use on the unsuspecting twinks fresh off NJ Transit! Waaaaaaaaah!!!

Who is directing that Norm Lewis Music Man? Did I miss the info in the press release?

So odd they would put that out without the director's name.

[quote]Wow, the fun old days, Groff was a hungry little baby, Tyler Hanes would sit on any pole, the cast of All Shook Up were barebacking 24/7

And don't forget the other Tyler, Mr. "Stickyfingers-hide-your-wallet"!

[r113] Sam Mendes. It is revealed at the end Harold Hill was sent to a death camp.

Just watched all the clips from the Oliviers. Good Lord, but Catherine Tate has gained a whole other person. What happened?

And Tracie Bennett stomped all over "I'm Still Here" without having the least idea what the song is really about.

Yes, thank God that's now how TB delivered it during the actual production - in which she was tremendous.

Maybe Cheyanne Jackson can get Sarah Gettlefinger a job on AHS. I hear he's been casted in the new season.

casted

Cheyanne

It's such a comfort to know that even when I manage to control my impulse to line edit some of these posts, someone else will swarm all over them.

Gettelfinger.

What really is Wayman Wong's claim to fame?

[quote]What really is Wayman Wong's claim to fame?

Does he need one?

His wang.

Elaine May is coming to Broadway next season in Kenneth Lonergan's play "The Waverly Gallery," with co-stars Michael Cera and Lucas Hedges.

Waymon Wong, Julie James and Frank DiLella are theater journalism at its finest! Broadway’s brights faces and names!

Really?

Why does Michael Cera look completely different than when he was a kid actor?

^ The Really? Huh was in response to r125.

Does everyone win the lottery to Angels in America? Are they giving the tickets away at this point?

Now that's real news, [r125].

No one will beat Eileen Heckart in Waverly Gallery!

Wayman used to be a copy editor at the Daily News and also wrote headlines, I think. How he makes $$ right now I have no idea.

Tyce Green is to 2018, what Wayman Wong is to 2008

Am I the only one who finds the Broadway Debut concept really antiquated - like what difference does it make if a play is produced in one arbitrary geographical area vs. a different one?

If I were WW I would spend every cent I had getting those repulsive growths on my face removed ...and buy a mammoth bottle of Listerine.

Speaking of tender young white twinks, whatever happened to Bobby Steggert?

I'm fine girls!

dear god.

ps for anyone in DC, the Folger production of Winter's Tale advertised above on the BWW site is very good indeed, despite a lot of screeching from the purists.

Waymon Wong’s puns on ATC are unbearable.

So is Waymon's punim

They should rent an apartment and outfit it with cameras and invite Bobby Steggert; Hunter Ryan Herdlika, and all of the other hot bodies, no presence actors from the past 10 years to live there and fuck. And we can watch.

If you're struck blind, don't come crying to me.

Agreed, r132. She was very ill during the run and still managed to knock it out of the park.

The coup de theatre of Three Tall Women is when the mirror glass tilts, the reflection is Tovah “black panties” Feldshu last kicks during Rose’s Turn.

lol Wayman is on ATC hoping for Aaron Tveit to win a Tony for Moulin Rouge

We had rawther a good time at Roundabout's import of Stoppard's TRAVESTIES (in preview). DL faves Dan Bulter is Lenin, and Seth Numrich and his bulge play Tristan Tzara.

Vulva Toadstool’s Gypsy panties haunt my dreams.

Yes, love the fact that Moulin Rouge hasn't had a single performance and WW is Tony shilling for him.

I saw Aaron Tveit in "Catch Me As You Can" which WW still thinks should have gotten him a Tony. Tveit just seemed like a lackluster understudy in the role, having none of the charisma required.

"Catch Me If You Can", my mistake.

Loved Seth Numrich in Travesties.

Seth Numrich is actually a pretty good actor. Why didn't it happen for him?

Only compelling thing about Tveit in Catch Me If You Can were his bare feets.

[quote]How he makes $$ right now I have no idea.

Sells his ass on Bway and 43rd

I liked Catch Me if You Can

From the NY Times—

[quote]This year, the Olivier Award for best director went to Sam Mendes, for “The Ferryman.” He had been up against Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose production of “Hamilton” opened in London in December and scooped seven trophies at the ceremony.

I was unaware that Lin had pivoted to directing—must be news to Thomas Kail!

Equity wants the Tonys to add two new awards—for Best Ensemble and Best Chorus.

I can see why they want it, but it's not viable. It would allow all sorts of Joe Schmoes to describe themselves as Tony-winners.

The funny thing is Boyd Gaines, Patti LuPone and Laura Benanti won the Tony and yet that cast could have easily won best ensemble that year.

So you’d have “two time tony winner Laura Benanti” for the price of one.

And yet they still won't add a goddamn Best Replacement category? So many wonderful performances (some of which were better than the originals) that haven't gotten any recognition.

Here's a good Tony trivia question ... assuming NLB wins this year, how many other men have three tonies as a musical actor

Doesn't Boyd Gaines have three Tonys for musicals? (Although one of those is for "Contact.")

Ensemble and Chorus Tonys would just cheapen the award. They have them for SAGs because the SAG is already a cheap award so what does it matter. It has no prestige. The Tony Award does still carry with it a modicum of prestige.

A replacement Tony, however, I think is definitely worth exploring. It would also easily help attract more top talent into longer runs of shows when they know there's awards potential.

[quote]MY FAIR LADY has been affected by climate change. This isn't the climate for a musical about overbearing men trying to change a woman for "the better". They can have her walk out at the end, but everything that's come before it is cringe-inducing.

What a simplistic interpretation of the show. As originally written in MY FAIR LADY (and in PYGMALION), Eliza comes across as a very strong woman.

[quote]Tracie Bennett stomped all over "I'm Still Here" without having the least idea what the song is really about.

Like her performance as Judy Garland?

[quote]They should rent an apartment and outfit it with cameras and invite Bobby Steggert; Hunter Ryan Herdlika, and all of the other hot bodies, no presence actors from the past 10 years to live there and fuck. And we can watch

Strange that you place Bobby in the same category as HRH. Bobby has/had a lot more talent (hasn't he left the business?), and also his body is/was fine but not exceptional. Neither was HRH's when he first got to NYC. He was kind of a stick at the time, but then I guess he went on a workout binge.

[quote]And yet they still won't add a goddamn Best Replacement category? So many wonderful performances (some of which were better than the originals) that haven't gotten any recognition.

That award is a great idea in some ways, but there are big problems that go along with it. First of all, it's possible there won't be enough nominees in any single season, and the nominators will have to scramble to fill out the category. (Isn't that why the award was canceled the first time, before it was ever given out?) A related problem is that Tony nominators and voters have their plates full as it is, having to see every Broadway show once with the original cast, so making replacements in all Broadway shows eligible for nominations (and having voters see all of them so they could vote on them) would be a real bitch. And yet another problem, not as severe, is if an actor who originates a role does not win the Tony but his or her replacement in the role does, that can be viewed as highly embarrassing to the originator.

SAG has an Ensemble award but doesn't have overall best picture/show awards - their only awards are to the actors

Maybe the answer is to roll up the separation of Musical and Play acting awards.

Did Steggert leave the business?

No one from a musical will ever win if they do that

No one cares R166.

[quote] No one cares [R166].

I care. I adore him and would love to see him on stage and/or lick his shitter.

[R167] I absolutely care. I care about lots of things and one of them is where are those have been stage actors. Bobby S and Matt Cavenaugh's newly careers intrigue me.

[quote]Elaine May is coming to Broadway next season

I thought she was dead.

[quote]First of all, it's possible there won't be enough nominees in any single season, and the nominators will have to scramble to fill out the category.

That didn't stop Glenn Close from stealing my award in '95. And she already had two Tonys.

[quote]Bobby S and Matt Cavenaugh's newly careers intrigue me.

Their newly careers? Does that mean doing a show as Newley, or just singing his songs?

Matt Cavenaugh got FAT after 2013, what a tragic.

[quote]Matt Cavenaugh got FAT after 2013, what a tragic.

You would too if you were trying to erase the image of Arthur Laurents lifting his caftan and inviting you to audition for WSS.

Where is this "Bobby has left the business" coming from?

Good common sense and bad representation, R176?

There’s been two times in modern history where the replacement Tony was needed.

1) Reba in AGYG

2) Bernadette in ALNM

I’m sorry but Wendy Williams as Mama Morton in Chicago doesn’t count.

[quote]Norm is straight and I’m the dame who can prove it. —Nell Carter

You couldn't even prove it for yourself.

[quote]There’s been two times in modern history where the replacement Tony was needed.

Pardon me all to Hell, r178

[quote]Where is this "Bobby has left the business" coming from?

I could be totally, wrong but I thought I had read somewhere that he left acting and went into some field like counseling or social work. And when I just now Googled his name, the most recent credit I could find for him is a play called ADAM Off-Broadway in 2016.

Yes, Bobby went back to school.

[quote]There’s been two times in modern history where the replacement Tony was needed.

At least I could sing the notes.

Seth Numrich isn't a star, but he's worked steadily in the past few years.

Jonathan Pryce in DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS is another replacement who might have won a Tony. And there are lots of other examples. But, to repeat, I think such an award would be problematic in several ways.

They should just bring back the Special Tony and give it to Best Replacement, Best Concert/Special Event etc. But they don't need to use the latter terms. Keep it general as the former.

BP in ALNM? LMAO

EP in SB. SD in CTM.

And *I* didn't weep my way through Song & Dance

Actually Dixie Carter was a terrific replacement Callas in "Master Class".

[quote]Hunter Ryan Herdlika, and all of the other hot bodies

Hunter Ryan Herdlicka may or may not have a hot body, but that face is tragic.

The latest revival of Chicago in London starring Cuba Gooding Jr doesn’t sound so hot. Maybe they should have gotten Courtney B Vance for it to play Billy Flynn like Johnnie Cochran:

Betty Lynn could have gotten the replacement Tony for SB. Not SAD though. She was only in that one for 4 weeks after BP left.

Actually, I saw 3 time Tony winner Hinton Battle do it, and he played it just like Johnny Cochran and he was brilliant, the best I've ever seen in the role.

A Cuban sandwich would be better in the role.

He defined the term “black Irish,” I’m sure.

Sounds like Ruthie might be free to replace Lulu in 42nd Street...

I saw Cuba Gooding, Jr. onstage in The Trip to Bountiful. His was the one truly awful performance (and I saw Condola Rashad's replacement, and she was better than Gooding). He had no stage presence and no sense of projection (I don't just mean volume--he just seemed small and insignificant).

That's what I heard, r189.

r182: Thanks for that. Bobby is looking fine.

Saw Cuba tonight. oh dear. otoh Josefina Gabrielle is SENSATIONAL as Velma and the chorus is hotter than hot.

I went to see Josefina Gabrielle in a tour of The King & I but she was off. Matinee alternate. Who the fuck needs an alternate when playing Mrs Anna?!

Is Ruthie sounding like this, R200?

[r202] Jesus Christ

Hey, y'all. The community sing along is back in fashion!

You keep reading these threads and keep hoping they'll get better and they never ever do.

But occasionally you get a nugget like Steggert left the business or Matt Covenaugh got fat. Though I don't believe either.

R205 Then you're a fool.

Why is learning about Bobby Stegert leaving the business better than endless discussions about FOLLIES?

Because some thrill at finding out information about their favourite stars, no matter how banal.

[quote] There’s been two times in modern history where the replacement Tony was needed.

I'd add Michelle Lee to that for How to Succeed.

And Larry Kert almost did it. He was nominated for Company after replacing Dean Jones.

Steggert and Matt leaving the business is hardly banal. It just shows you theater today gets shittier by the second.

All the talk is about nice average looking mass produced chorus boys and City Center revivals of Carousel and My Fair Lady(aren't we do for another Guys and Dolls?)

Matt being a hot piece in his day does not make his exit from the theatre world any great loss.

Ugh.

Saw Frozen today. I enjoyed it, but that's testament to what a talented cast and professional writers and directors can stitch together without one ounce of theatrical originality.

Except for the Lion King, all of Disney's movie-to-stage musicals add nothing artistically--so, ultimately, why bother, especially at today's ticket prices? In fact, Frozen depends on having seen the movie. A talking snowman showing up in the middle of the action only makes sense if you knew it was coming. The final action of Anna protecting Elsa from the sword and becoming frozen was really confusing the way it was staged. Again, if you hadn't seen the movie, you may not know what exactly happened.

The most annoying thing was the blatant merchandizing. It was everywhere--huge booths with lines and in the aisles during intermission, like at the circus.

Disney has to pay for the disaster that is Shanghai and Mike Iger's bonus. I bet Paris isn't doing all that hot either.

Who the hell is Mike Iger?

Bobby Steggert was nothing approaching a star, dear.

[quote]There’s been two times in modern history where the replacement Tony was needed.

I remember raves for Vanessa Williams in "Kiss of the Spider Woman," so perhaps we should add her to the list, too.

Wow. He DID get fat!

[quote] I remember raves for Vanessa Williams in "Kiss of the Spider Woman," so perhaps we should add her to the list, too.

Vanni couldn't dance for shit. They had to dumb down the choreography from what Chita did.

[r218] Jesus christ

After all the fuss is Tom Schumacher back at Disney?

Such a waste.

He was probably just tired of working out 20 hours a day. He discovered carbs after being married and out of the limelight. It happens.

Can we try that again

Has Bobby Steggert left the business or he is just taking some non-theater related classes?

R108 R112 God, I miss the days of great DL gossip!

Matt C likes the beer, the bloat comes with that enjoyment.

[quote]Matt being a hot piece in his day does not make his exit from the theatre world any great loss.

Au contraire. The departure of hot ass from theatre world is always a great loss.

Cheer up. R226!

At least now we have the inside goods on freelance theatre critics and bloggers. Woo-hoo!

Do the Olivier's allow replacements to be nominated?

Betty Lynn got one for Sunset. Was that a special case since it closed and reopened with her and new material?

R228, Broadway may have lost WSS’s Cavenaugh but it GAINED WSS’s Lin-Manuel!!

The amount of hooking up in the mezzanine bathrooms during Angels in America is stunning! It's like the olden days up there

Is Lauren Ambrose singing the music in a twee manner, speaking notes that should be sung, like Julie Andrews did.

Julie Andrews was coached by the composer and lyricist themselves. If she spoke a note, it’s because they wanted it that way.

It’s the height of arrogance to declare you know how the notes “should” be sung, r233.

I 'm bored.

Rudolf Friml marched out of My Fair Lady during the first act, proclaiming loudly as he strode up the aisle, "NOBODY SINGS!"

Any particular Olivier Awards clips worth looking up? From this year, I mean..

Rudolf Friml is the man who gave the world “Totem Tom-Tom,” which tells you everything you need to know about him and his opinions,

How many chorus boys actually "make it"? Meaning they graduated from being a swing/chorus member to a successful leading man on stage?

R239 Jonathan Groff comes to mind.

I love Totem Tom Tom. The chorus girls were dressed as Totem Poles, wearing stilts under their costumes. You need to hear Dorothy Kirsten's recording on the highlights disc with Nelson Eddy.

Rudolf Friml was the poor man’s Sigmund Romberg.

And pretty soon each Injin

Was singin'

His throat with firewater gin-gin

As faster and faster

Round the totem they flew!

When MGM filmed Rose-Marie with Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald and a massively revised plot, they had the decency to include Totem Tom-Tom strictly as a dance number, without the racist lyrics.

To be fair to Hammerstein, though, who wrote the book and co-wrote the lyrics, he included miscegenation in the subplot, which stunned musical/operetta audiences several years before Show Boat. The wicked "half-breed" Indian maiden Wanda is in hopeless love with the white villain Hawley and abets him in his crimes. These were considered very adult themes at the time and even not suitable for a musical.

I can't believe I can't find an online version of the glorious Dorothy Kirsten singing Totem Tom Tom with something approximating the original orchestrations. Meanwhile here is big band singer Marion Keene in a huge, very souped up, jazzy arrangement.

BTW, Marion Keene's version above is, I think, from the Julie Andrews recording of Rose-Marie with Giorgio Tozzi. It's neither very good nor at all authentic.

And meanwhile, here's the wonderful Rosalind Elias giving it a try with Lehman Engel and more bad charts which she can't overcome.

Here's a "hot jazz" version from 1925 by the Savoy Orpheans.

I just found this one by some Russian opera diva and chorus in 1955. Wonderful!

I just found the complete show with dialog, in Russian with Russian opera singers from 1955! It's so fantastic! O the magic of youtube! Totem Tom Tom is 57 minutes in.

I can’t believe this thread has devolved to discussions of Rudolf Friml. That said, there is only one version of “Totem Tom Tom” worth talking about. I am speaking, of course, of the version recorded by Elaine Stritch for Ben Bagley’s Oscar Hammerstein Revisted. Stritch gives it all the respect it deserves - ie, none at all. She sings it in a bump-and-grind tempo, sounding like a drunk whore auditioning for one of the strippers in Gypsy.

I'm more a Romberg, Victor Herbert and especially Oscar Strauss person myself.

I happen to like rhyming Injin with firewater gin gin.

Oscar knew what he was doing and he wasn't pretentious.

Later on, all tired and sleepy,

They'd creep back home to their tee-pee --

Totem tom tome, totem tom tom!

Off Broadway Cavenaugh entered in the beginning of Grey Gardens as Joe Kennedy from the pool area barefoot. On Broadway he entered shod.

I don't know why they changed it. Great feet.

[quote] Equity wants the Tonys to add two new awards—for Best Ensemble and Best Chorus.

You get an award! You get an award! EVERBODY gets an award!

[quote]Vanni couldn't dance for shit. They had to dumb down the choreography from what Chita did.

And Vanni sang it better and looked like what the beautiful glamorous movie star Aurora was. So what's your point?

Vanessa Williams can't act and doesn't have true "star" presence. Plus she can't dance for shit.

She's a triple threat!

I still can’t dance, peoples!

Oh, we get it: R257 and his gang just don't like Negroes on Broadway.

Or anywhere else, probably.

I miss Stegart’s performances at NYSC

I'm sorrry - being new to this sight and all, I'm not familiar with this Hunter Ryan Hardicka you speak of. What's he done?

That’s a ridiculous comment, r259, to brand someone racist just because they don’t care for Vanessa Williams. An offensive comment, too. It’s the kind of comment one would expect from someone mentally ill, or Aspie or something.

I wonder if Bobby Steggert is doing the Marcia Jean Kurtz route and getting a steady job so he can work when he wants in what he wants.

My favorite version of Totem Tom Tom.

Does Santino Fontana show off his big ass in Hello Dolly?

Yes, they've added a scene where Charlie Stemp is blowing Santino, and we get a quick glimpse of his ass.

To the "totem tom tom" troll - you sound obsessed. You are obsessed. And you sound ... not quite right.

I did the greatest of the offensive Indian songs, bitches, and I could dance, too.

[r266] and I thought Bernadette was the highlight. Clearly I missed the matinee you saw

Yeah I'm fascinated by the whole culture of swings on Instagram ... it seems like not a single one ever advances even beyond being a swing

One of the most notorious swings on Instagram

This thread proves, with finality, that Broadway is dead.

[quote]How many chorus boys actually "make it"? Meaning they graduated from being a swing/chorus member to a successful leading man on stage?

Scott Wise, bless his heart, tried his damndest. He hoofed it on Broadway and tours for years trying to break out of the chorus. Finally, he gets one shot in that severely misguided State Fair, in which they pulled a song from another show for him to sing, and everyone discovered he's not a good actor and has a lisp.

And thinking of that awful State Fair gives me the vapors and I must now retire to my fainting couch.

[quote]And Vanni sang it better and looked like what the beautiful glamorous movie star Aurora was. So what's your point?

Except that Aurora was conceived as a dancer role. That's why the role was written in Roz Russell keys with about a 1 octave range. It ain't Evita, singing wise.

And nobody can see her "looks" past fifth row center.

Bobby Steggert had limited talent and serious ambitions. He simply never really rose to the level of his hype. If he was unhappy with his career, I actually have a great deal of respect for him for looking to do something else with his life while he’s still young enough to do it.

[quote]Julie Andrews was coached by the composer and lyricist themselves. If she spoke a note, it’s because they wanted it that way. It’s the height of arrogance to declare you know how the notes “should” be sung, [R233].

That doesn't mean that she stuck with the coaching over the long run. You can listen to both the OLC and the OBC and realize that by the time Andrews got to Broadway she was doing more talk-singing, which she relied on the rest of her singing career. She became a very lazy singer with little technique and ruined her voice because she didn't have a good technique.

And she was "coached" in Victor/Victoria and could never reach what was expected of her in the Le Hot Jazz number, which is not her fault because they expected her to recreate on stage what she did in the movie and even the strongest singer/dancer didn't have the stamina to do in a 10 minute stage number what took days to film.

[quote]You can listen to both the OLC and the OBC and realize that by the time Andrews got to Broadway she was doing more talk-singing, which she relied on the rest of her singing career.

I meant to say that by the time she got to London. But you can hear her speak-sing on the OBC.

[quote]Oscar knew what he was doing and he wasn't pretentious.

Gurl, Oscar may have known what he was doing, but he was boring.

I would like to refer you to my masterpiece "Kiss Me Kate" which opened in the legitimate theater in 1948. In that show, I had a woman sing a song called "Tom, Dick or Harry". And in case audiences were too thick about what the girl actually wanted, I had her and three chorus boys scat "Dick-a, dick-a, dick-a dick" over and over for 30 seconds.

I loved hearing Totem Tom Tom sung by Ivana Hubytchakakov!

What happened to Jeffrey Richards? He usually produced 2 to 3 shows a season and he's gone silent this year- anyone know the scoop?

Oscar was anything but boring.

Listen to Surrey With the Fringe On Top and Many a New Day.

Both absolute perfection and not a drop of sweat.

As opposed to Sondheim whose every song is a marathon and a half and at the end requires a foil wrap and water with electrolytes.

Chorus boys better focus on marrying money. Bloom time is brief. Focus on real estate, not anatomy!

Steggart is pushing 40. Too late.

R274 and R256 both have points. i saw the first production of KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN at the doomed Suny Purchase musical theatre lab. Hal Prince was angrily tearing around in the back with a yellow pad for the entire 1st act. Lauren Mitchell originated Aurora in that production. It was minimal dance for her. It was her style, glamour and singing. She has an excellent voice. Original wicked step-sister in INTO THE WOODS, replacement luisa in the original NINE, and a replacement grace in the original ANNIE. Also she was gorgeous. Very sexy. She was very much like Sonia Braga in the film. And funny. The entire thing didn't work yet. At all. Tonally it was way off. The fantasy and reality didn't mesh and were confusing. The dark elements of the show seemed so violent and awful suddenly. Then campy soldiers were quickly dancing. Then the nurses doing a slow motion morphine tango. Augh! It was a mess. John Rubenstein was not good. And I had seen him a few years before in M. BUTTERLY and thought him excellent. They were smart to go the dance route with the role of Aurora. Chita brought such old time class and star power to it. And I heard Vanessa Williams was excellent in an entirely different way. She was at her most beautiful in those years. And she's still gorgeous now. I don't like the piece really. But it was amazing to see how they were able to salvage the mess I'd seen years before into something that worked. (kind of.)

Bobby Steggart is a social worker

Julie Andrews may have sung, spoken, or talk-sung. Who the fuck cares? No one has ever been a better Eliza.

Is there photographic evidence of Matt Cavenaugh now fat?

Bobby Steggert is a Tony nominee and a 4-time Drama Desk nominee. It's like he's some anonymous chorus boy.

I think he's talented, and I hope he hasn't given up on the business entirely.

r268 Oh shut up, Joanie! You were NO ONE at MGM!

Bobby is a Social worker? Does he also escort?

R288 should say "It's NOT like he's some anonymous chorus boy," obviously.

[quote]That doesn't mean that she stuck with the coaching over the long run.

You make no sense whatsoever. You have no clue what Andrews did or didn’t do over the long run. All you know is what’s on the Broadway and London albums, which she did to Lerner and Loewe’s direction.

I realize Julie Andrews is one of your bete noirs, but you won’t find anyone who agrees with your opinions about her or her performance as Liza. “Lazy singer” is bullshit. The movie version sucks because Hepburn couldn’t even come close to giving the kind of magical performance Andrews gave.

Bobby Steggert has fired his agent, has fired his manager, has left the business, and is becoming a social worker. He will not return to show business. Something really shitty must have happened.

I walked past a poster for Head Over Heels here in San Francisco yesterday and noted that Jeff Whitty does get a credit for "original concept and book" (or something like that). If the show makes any money (doubtful...) he'll get some sort of royalty, I guess.

[quote]Something really shitty must have happened.

Yes. It was called Big Fish.

R293 Steggert also had that horrible costume and makeup when he did Mordred in that Lincoln Center "Camelot" some years back. He could always take a few years off and reinvent himself as a more mature character actor.

Julie Andrews seemed to be imitating Rex Harrison's speak-singing more and more as she went from the OBC to the OLC of "My Fair Lady".

Talented chorus boys don't become stars. They become star directors:

Rob Ashford

Rob Marshall

Andy Blankenbeuhler

Christopher Gattelli

Sergio Trujillo

Joshua Bergasse

Lauren Mitchell....who married Dodger Michael David and became a multi-millionairess producer on Jersey Boys??

She did very well for herself.

Well if you're gonna do it, r298.......

Not if it means sleeping with that particular producer.

oh

I HATED Beth Malone as the Angel in Angels......it was like she was just saying words.....the production on the other hand- a once in a lifetime glorious experience. Exceptional marathon day at the theater which I will be thinking about for a long time.

[quote] Bobby Steggert has fired his agent, has fired his manager, has left the business, and is becoming a social worker. He will not return to show business. Something really shitty must have happened.

Or something wonderful such as he found a partner and wants to be able to spend time with him rather than tour and work every holiday.

Steggert is too old for the boy roles and looks too young for anything else. Moreover, he's only really talked about here on DL.

Does he still live in northern Manhattan (Washington Heights/Inwood)?

R303 He broke up with his boyfriend too.

[quote]Finally, he gets one shot in that severely misguided State Fair,

Uh ... Scott Wise got a shot a lot earlier than that, when he won the Tony for Jerome Robbins' Broadway. And he also had nominations for State Fair and Fosse.

I heard the problem with Scott Wise was that he is physically shot. Apparently, he wrecked his body pushing it farther than most people would or could and now he is paying for it. Severe joint problems, etc.

Scott Wise was cute and was a total star...when he was dancing. Unfortunately, as soon as he stopped, so did the charisma...

I guess he just didn't have what it takes to parlay his dance stardom into a real acting/singing career.

One of the things that really hurts the movie of "My Fair Lady" is that Marni Nixon had to record her singing tracks after the fact. With Deborah Kerr, she and Kerr got to work together, developing the character and rehearsing together. That's why it's probably the best dubbing job ever done. With WSS and Fair Lady, she had to go in after the songs were shot because the leading ladies had both been assured they would be doing their own singing. (One wonders how someone as astute as Audrey Hepburn could ever have deceived herself into thinking she could pull of the singing in "Fair Lady"). So Liza's songs in Fair Lady are perfectly sung and perfectly boring.

R232, The mezz??? I don't mix with POOR gays

True, r311. It makes for a disconnect.

[quote]Scott Wise got a shot a lot earlier than that, when he won the Tony for Jerome Robbins' Broadway. And he also had nominations for State Fair and Fosse.

Yes, he is a very good dancer. The point is that in State Fair he stepped out of the chorus and wasn't a strong enough actor to stay out of the chorus.

I wonder how many dancers in the original cast of Jerome Robbins Broadway ruined their bodies.

They had a six month torturous rehearsal period(I read that opening night felt like closing night they had been working so hard) and then were doing two hours of dancing that the original casts of those shows were only doing a fraction of.

Well r315, it was a wonderfully entertaining show and I would very much like to thank them for their service.

Six months of rehearsal? Did it recoup?

Also, who was the great love Jerome Robbins' life?

*love of

Jerome Robbins, r317.

lol r303 - is that like Paul Ryan spending more time with his wife and children

Matt Lucas is playing Bill in Me and My Girl in Chichester this summer? That’s like Rebel Wilson playing the lead in My Fair Lady.

Or Rebel Wilson playing the lead in GUYS AND DOLLS - which, alas, she has actually done. TRAGIC !

Rebel Wilson *IS* Magnolia in Show Boat

Jada Pickett Smith is Mammy

R317, JRB didn't recoup in New York. Incidentally, Black and Blue would end up closing a few months later.I think it was a victim of the Gulf War-era decline in tourism Not Since Carrie said held do-in Shogun's musical adaptation.

[quote]JRB didn't recoup in New York.

Does he ever?

There's no way it was going to with that running cost, r324.

Jerome Robbins' Broadway was *fantastic*. It was nearly one showstopper after another (I was completely unfamiliar with The Bathing Beauty Ballet from High Button Shoes and laughed my face off). I, too, would like to thank that tireless(-seeming) cast. And the producers as it must have cost a fortune to run.

To be fair to Andrews, she was very sick with the flu and running a fever when the OLC was recorded. You can hear her sniffle during Just You wait. I doubt that is the performance she was giving during most of the run.

Harrison is actually better on the OLC. He's settled into the role and gives it more nuance and subtlety. (He's become mannered and too old on the soundtrack.) Holloway is about the same. Everything else is inferior to the OBC -- the orchestra, the conducting, the chorus, the Freddy. The OLC was made because the OBC was one of the largest selling albums in history but it was in mono and the suits at Columbia wanted a stereo version in the catalog.

Trivia: Columbia recorded MFL and Candide within a few months of each other. As an experiment, Candid was recorded in early stereo but MFL was recorded only in mono. The stereo Candide wasn't released until 1959. Lovers of the score were delighted to find that some (not all) of the numbers were different takes from what had been released on the mono version.

I'm so curious about the Carousel reviews! I saw the show in its second week of previews and actually found it very emotionally involving in spite of the many peculiar directorial choices and horrible design......but most chatter has been hotly against the whole affair.

But somehow I think the reviews will be mixed to positive and very respectful.

We'll see soon enough.

Julie in New Haven

My question is why did Rudin cast bathwater Jesse Mueller as Julie when he could have cast me?

So far the CAROUSEL reviews are better than I had anticipated.

Actually, that film of Andrews is from 1960, after she had played it in NYC and London.

wow [R324] thanks for linking that article- really sad that we don't get smart analysis like that in the Times any longer about theatre. Say what you want about Alex Witchel, but she totally covered NY Theatre better than anyone else.

She was passable as Momma Morton but Wendy Williams and all her ""real" is for shit, always the fake hair, the fake boobs ,

Just reading here, how is it all you people who never seem to get out of the house always are so sure of gay gossip? And so full of it. As if you've been there, done that.

Hmmm...Carousel gets good reviews, and 1984 is again eligible for the Tony awards. Never underestimate the power of a Satanic producer.

R298 That Lauren Mitchell. She also became a producer herself when she stopped performing. She's very talented.

Why did Sara Holdren get that New York Magazine critic's job over more experienced writers? There must have been other women applicants that they didn't have to recruit someone who didn't even know they wanted the job?

Does it pay anymore? Would a more experienced journalist have turned it down? Is she a freelancer?

"Rebel Wilson *IS* Show Boat"

I fixed it

i saw carousel early in previews, it must have gotten a lot better when brantley review it.

Brantley is a Carousel Queen. Plus it has Jessie, who inexplicably gets raves every time despite looking like a dirty dishrag that always just wiped up milk.

The Carousel reviews are not all good.

Carousel was an awesome nap

[quote] Oh, we get it: [R257] and his gang just don't like Negroes on Broadway.

I do, but I just have a problem seeing them wasted in crap.

How that clueless production could get any good reviews simply beggars belief.

How do you fuck up heretofore un-fuckupable shows?

Brantley rarely hates anything these days. I'm not sure why, does he just want to be liked because he's getting old?

Sara Holdren is screaming about the patriarchy. Gosh she's tiresome.

Les and Kath to announce Tony noms:

The Bathing Beauty Ballet is certainly one of the great production numbers I've seen. The brilliant comic invention never stops.

I believe they were able to recreate it so faithfully(unlike the original On the Town choreography which is lost forever)because someone had made a silent film of the number when it was originally done.

Saw the show 3 times for that number alone. Hope the whole show was filmed professionally though I've read nothing about it.

The High Button Shoes ballet was recreated though a combination of the silent film (which was missing the middle of the ballet), memories from original cast members, and a former dance captain for a national tour who had kept extensive notes.

I'm good friends with one of the cast members from Jerome Robbins' Broadway, and through him have met many others. His body was not destroyed by the show, but I think he was younger than most in the cast.

Brantley raves about everything because a NY Times pan today will have no effect on a show and he does not want to appear irrelevant.

Also, beside some head scratching reviews for Carousel, WTF are those reviews for The Sting?!? The show needs some major work. Why are these dopey critics encouraging a move to NYC. It is almost as bad as Honeymoon in Vegas (which was rushed to Bway after a Brantley rave and deservedly became a MAJOR flop) Also the praise for The Sting's choreography is only proves critics know nothing about dance in a show. I guess if the dancers don't trip over one another, it registers as great choreography. The dancing in this show is headache inducing. There is so much superfluous dance. The show has potential, but it is not ready for prime time and the reviews suggest little work needs to be done. There is really no constructive criticism today. Broadway is not only dead but so is any kind of decent, thoughtful criticism. Everyone working in theater is a hack. The professionals have fled to cable television.

I remember the Bathing Beauty Ballet being the standout as well.

r354, I think that's the end result of the dumbing down of Broadway theater. It employs hacks because there is very little ambitious, thought-producing work presented anymore. When Broadway is just a tread mill for turning movies into stage shows, all the directors have to do is color inside the lines. They don't really have to put much ambition into it.

And even venues that were once good have turned to crap. Shakespeare in the Park has become tedious. It's just about directors trying to show how clever they are. The productions suck.

If we had truly great theater, then the sucky and pretentious crap wouldn't be so noticeable.

[quote]The professionals have fled to cable television.

Fiddle-dee-dee!

Productions I wish I had been able to see.

God, I bet this was good.

The end of Carousel always makes Brantley squirm?

Is Jordan Roth transitioning?

Ah! That Amadeus clip was heavenly!!! The voice, the language, the MAGNITUDE!

R360-Yes. Into a worm.

Jordan Roth *IS* the worm!

R197 yes he was absolutely TERRIBLE. R274 vanessa is truly beautiful in person and has tons of stage presence. The audience GASPED at her entrance in INTO THE WOODS when transformed from the witch. I never thought much about her before seeing her live. THANK GOD she elevated the material. I love chita but i cannot listen to her recording.

yes r197 Vanessa Redgrave is truly beautiful in person and has tons of stage presence.

^^^you're an idiot. Check the post you're replying to dumbass. Vanessa redgrave was pretty sure enough back in her day but never as beautiful as vanessa williams. Don't try it bitchy eldergay.

Vanessa Redgrave now has no stage voice at all. Very sad. But she's still luminous. Maybe Glenda can lend Vanessa some of her vocal heft.

And Vanessa Redgrave in her day was a gazillion times more beautiful than Vanessa Williams could ever hope to be -- or ever was. What a ludicrous comparison to even suggest.

Vanessa Redgrave is going to be in the next cast of Three Tall Women after Glenda leaves

At least Vanessa would be the right height. Glenda is itty-bitty.

[quote]Glenda is itty-bitty.

She is an itty-bitty tall woman

Vanessa Redgrave was stunningly beautiful in the movie of Camelot.

Franco Nero's pecs weren't bad either.

Speaking of Bobby Stegert, whatever happened to his hunky YANK! co-star Ivan Hernandez?

You may remember, we got to see his lovely butt in that show

^ Steggert

R366 is certifiably insane. Williams was very pretty. Redgrave was stunningly beautiful.

I saw Vanessa Redgrave in the street right after her daughter died. She looked sad and had zero makeup on. But still oozed charisma. She must have been a goddess when young.

Lindsay Mendez looks 45 years old in the Carousel pictures. The positive "professional" reviews are sure different from the pans Carousel received from DL critics.

I don't understand Lindsay Mendez in that role. She's not pretty.

[quote]The positive "professional" reviews are sure different from the pans Carousel received from DL critics.

Not quite sure why this would come as a surprise.

This is the DL.

Thanks for the Amadeus clip, R358. I saw the Broadway production with Ian McKellen, Tim Curry and Jane Seymour. It was enthralling, and McKellen gave a master class in acting.

The agenda-driven positive "professional" reviews are sure different from the pans Carousel received from DL critics.

Why does Carrie have to be pretty, [r377]?

[quote]Why does Carrie have to be pretty

In the first scene after the Carousel Overture, Carrie, Julie and Billy are standing there talking. He says something to the effect of "One of you has to leave" meaning he's looking for sex, but not a threesome. So Carrie has to be as appealing to Billy as Julie is.

Broadway has become the same animal as movies. In the 70's and into the 80's, movies were ambitious and smart and thought-provoking. In the advent of the blockbuster, however, producers and studios saw that there was less risk and more upside potential by producing blockbusters and sequels and comic book movies. And they were right: the goal of a movie studio is to make money, not to further art, and they are making more money than ever, but those wonderful quirky movies don't get made. Broadway has belatedly discovered that business model. They want to take the least amount of risk and make the most amount of money, so those wonderful little odd plays are not produced, and the big spectacles are. It's a shame that Off Broadway is no longer relevant, because they could still be producing the more interesting theater.

r366 Don't call be an idiot, please. You'll make me cry (after I stop laughing at your hideous comment comparing the two Vanessas. PS There is no comparison.)

R358 that Amadeus clip was terrific. Do you know if they recorded the whole show?

Anyone here ever had Andrew Veenstra, who’s playing the lead in Age Of Innocence at Hartford? He’s impossibly beautiful.

Vanessa Redgrave is the narrator on "Call the Midwife." Every year she sounds more and more frail.

[quote]i saw carousel early in previews, it must have gotten a lot better when brantley review it.

That Jesse21 at ATC HATED it.

Lindsay Mendez was charming in that role, and sang it beautifully.

[quote][R358] that Amadeus clip was terrific. Do you know if they recorded the whole show?

I don't know, but if someone knows, I'd love to see that original London production.

[quote]Ah! That Amadeus clip was heavenly!!! The voice, the language, the MAGNITUDE!

The magnitude, indeed. Writers are afraid of writing anything of size and ambition these days. It’s like they’re embarrassed by theatricality. Why? We're in a theatre, for God's sake.

[quote]Do you know if they recorded the whole show?

I seem to recall that this was from the Oliviers that year, or some sort of TV program about the theatre season. What I wouldn’t give for a film of that original production; the film is a pale imitation.

Bobby Steggert also kept a blog some years ago when he went to LA to break into TV and Film and it was very depressing. He sounded very discouraged. His Tony nom meant nothing out there, so forth. He's talented. I wish him well.

Is that the same production that Liz Larsen's hot son is in, r386

There is an audio version of the Scofield AMADEUS in circulation.

Ivan Hernandez was the wolf in Donna Murphy’s ITW. I was devesated to find out him straight. Same with Derek Klena and Ramin Karimloo. The hottest broadway dudes are straight.

R391,

Writers are not afraid of writing ambitious plays with real size. They just don't get produced unless: 1) It starts in the UK 2) Has a star attached.

Even the small, unambitious plays on Broadway this season that did not start in the UK or Off-Broadway decades ago have writers who already have great name recognition, AND a star.

Problem with #2 is that stars want to do short-run revivals of well-known classics.

Off-Broadway is what should be picking up the slack in this corporate-driven era, but nope, the numbers don't add up. Not with real estate what it is.

So why has Jeffrey Richards stop producing works on Broadway? Did the investor well dry up?

I can only assume that after his last several flops, even a sure-fire Fiddler, Jeffrey Richards lost his major investors.

Jeffrey Richards is also a horrid human who is toxic inside and out, so there’s that...

Lindseye Mendez is a breath of fresh air in Carousel,. Her comic timing is impeccable and she never resorts to being the usual ditsy soubrette. She makes a very cliched role real.

[quote]Broadway is not only dead but so is any kind of decent, thoughtful criticism. Everyone working in theater is a hack.

Oh please. You fucking negative nellies, who are able to contribute NOTHING to the theatre but your constant carping. Yeah, there's a lot of shit. There has ALWAYS been a lot of shit. All that survives are the hits, so no one remembers the crappy little shows that stank up the place in 1964 alongside Funny Girl and Hello Dolly and Fiddler.

There are still talented people working in the theatre. Much more so in England, where theatre is still considered vital to the culture, than over here, but Broadway does have real talent that's devoted to working in theatre. Joe Mantello, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Jerry Zaks, to list four off the top of my head. Broadway isn't thriving, exactly, but it's also not dead.

I've been involved with a number of pre-Broadway musicals in last 20 years and I can tell you that the biggest problem is once the creative team gets the show to 80%, they don't know what to do next. They can't really see the problems. So nothing changes and 4 weeks of previews or even an out of town try out is wasted.

Fair enough, but in the old days, show doctors the likes of Jerry Robbins, Mike Nichols, Neil Simon and Gower Champion would be called in regularly as show doctors.

I've never had the experience of producers bringing in fresh eyes to insist on changes. And even if they did, could Kathleen Marshall really solve Des McAnuff's problems? Could Rob Ashford advise Casey Nicholaw?? Would Terrence McNaly improve Tina Fey's libretto??? I guess it could be a big financial issue but it was certainly accomplished with regularity in the old days.

Where are today's show doctors?

I think we ought to go back to show doctoring.

[quote]Could Rob Ashford advise Casey Nicholaw??

On which chorus boys had the biggest, most suckable dicks and pillowy asses? Yes, he absolutely could.

Show doctors for musicals are superfluous because every writer working today knows that, if the show doesn't land, it's the AUDIENCE that's wrong. They're unappreciated geniuses, don't you see, throwing pearls before swine.

How does one become a show doctor? Because there are a lot of shows that I could fix.

[quote]Oh please. You fucking negative nellies, who are able to contribute NOTHING to the theatre but your constant carping. Yeah, there's a lot of shit. There has ALWAYS been a lot of shit. All that survives are the hits, so no one remembers the crappy little shows that stank up the place in 1964 alongside Funny Girl and Hello Dolly and Fiddler.

December 1964.....

Fred Clark "Absence Of A Cello", Terence Stamp "Alfie", Sandy Dennis "Any Wednesday", Cjita Rivera & Nancy Dassault "Bajour", "Beyond The Fringe", Robert Reed & Mildred Natwick "Barefoot In The Park", Robert Preston, "Ben Franklin In Paris", Victor Borge "Comedy In Music", Zero Mostel "Fiddler On The Roof", Streisand " Funny Girl", Sammy Davis Jr., "Golden Boy", Carol Channing "Hello Dolly", Tammy Grimes & Beatrice Lilly "High Spirits", "How To Succeed In Business..." , Buddy Hackett "I Had A Ball", "Arthur Miller's Incident At Vichy", Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson & Alan Arkin "Luv", "Never Too Late", "Oh What A Lovely War", Alan Bates "Poor Richard", Julie Harris "Ready When You Are C.B.!", "Slow Dancing On The Killing Ground", "The Changeling", Diana Sands & Alan Alda "The Owl & The Pussycat", Rita Moreno "Lorraine Hansberry's "The Sign In Sidney Brustein's Window", Jack Albertson & Martin Sheen "The Subject Was Roses", John Gielgud & Irene Worth edward Albee's "Tiny Alice", Steve Lawrence Sally Ann Howes & Robert Alda "What Makes Sammy Run?", Zizi Jeanmarie in "Zizi"

It's Zizi Jeanmaire, not Zizi Jeanmarie

please try to get it right if you're going to be pedantic

Who is Cjita Rivera?

[quote] Joe Mantello, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Jerry Zaks

Ages 55, 68, 70, and 71, respectively, R401. And yes, they are major talents committed to working in theatre, bless 'em all.

But the age thing doesn't bode entirely well--where are their 30-ish and 40-ish counterparts? Who will take the baton?

The answer is that most actors, singers, writers, and directors of note cannot make a serious living working exclusively (or even mostly) in commercial theatre. And that's part of the problem.

Ben Platt will save us!

sorry R408, but R407 is absolutely right as is R402.

The "doctors" of Motown told Barry Gordy and others around town that the only reason the revamped show they "fixed" got bad reviews was RACISM !

So youre right R405!!

[quote]Who is Cjita Rivera?

Your Special Ed teacher, remember?

Go R407 Bring it on! Yes and yes!

Is a pillowy ass a good thing? Asking for a friend...

Now I'm in the mood for un soupcon of Zizi.....

Remember as well that not only did you have so many interesting plays and great performers on stage in Dec of '64(personally I would like to see every one of those shows, I even have a weakness for lame 60s comedies that were hits because I like to wonder why) but Fiddler, Dolly, and Funny Girl were 3 spanking new musical hits that as they would say at the time set New York on its ear.

So R401 you positive Polly you have no idea what you're talking about unless you genuinely enjoy enormously all around mediocrity and shit.. You genuinely believe what we're dealing with today is comparable? I mean not rhetorically speaking, really?

My mother was a young women in NY in the 50s and saw the original productions of Guys and Dolls, Pajama Game, Can Can...and she said that you just expected that if you were going to see a hit it would simply be that good. I mean you were paying money for the best and you damn well got it. If a show was lousy it wasn't lying in hospice for months and sometimes years like today.

WHT Ron Boehmer? He did lots of leading roles on Broadway and tours. Great voice , handsome and a prize winning ass. He is straight and i only saw him in pants....which he filled out beautifully.

I began seeing Broadway shows in 1965 as a teen and saw all the big hits of the time: Dolly, Funny Girl, Oliver, Apple Tree, Clear Day, 110 in the Shade, High Spirits, Golden Boy, Mame, Hallelujah Baby, Fiddler.

It wasn't until I saw Illya, Darling that I realized a Broadway musical could be bad. It's been downhill since then.......

there is an audio version of Ian McKellin doing Amadeus on youtube.

Zizi should duet with Zaza!

Hell R418 I am even jealous of you for having seen Ilya Darling!

Zaza could never keep up with Zizi in the plume number......

I love Illya Darling!

Show doctors came and rescued AN AMERICAN IN PARIS when it landed on Broadway...

It should be obvious that the nut who listed every show that was playing in Dec 1964 is the same nut who listed multiple YouTube links of that wretched Totem song. Actually, maybe loon is a better word than nut.

I posted all the Totem Tom Tom links. I am not the person who posted about the 1964 season but I loved the post. So you're a liar, r425.

I wasn't trolling. I love Totem Tom Tom and someone posted slamming it. I wouldn't have done it in the middle of other conversations but it was the middle of the night, no one else posted for a long time before and after I made the posts. The thread was dead at the time. If you didn't want to read or hear, why didn't you just keep scrolling?

[quote]The thread was dead at the time

And you made it even deader.

We know exactly who the liar is, r426. You can't hide anymore.

What am I hiding or trying to hide? I freely admitted I posted the Totem Tom Tom links. I did not post the 1964 season post but I loved it. What is YOUR problem?

Zizi Jeanmaire bombed with an embarrassing thud when she tried to revive Cole Porter's "Can Can" on Broadway. She just didn't have what it takes.

I liked the Totem Tom Tom links. DL has never discussed that musical tidbit before.

And with good reason, if those links are an example. It's embarrassing, racist, and has the stupidest lyric Oscar Hammerstein ever wrote.

And the first Totem Tom Tom link I posted was to the MacDonald/Eddy film version which used it strictly as a dance number without the lyrics, which I said was a wise move because by contemporary standards they are racist.

Long ago you used to see

A tribe of Indian smarties throwin' their parties here....

[quote]Anyone here ever had Andrew Veenstra, who’s playing the lead in Age Of Innocence at Hartford? He’s impossibly beautiful.

A question better left for Darko Tresnjak, I'd say.

[quote] And you made it even deader. We know exactly who the liar is, [R426]. You can't hide anymore.

Hey Shithead, I posted the shows of '64 and I never even clicked on the links about "Totem Tom Tom", let alone posted them. You're a bore.

[quote]It has the stupidest lyric Oscar Hammerstein ever wrote.

Hey, what about me!

Back to Lee Pace’s cock. From row G in the orchestra, I had a nice view. Sorry, I was too nervous to film it. It appears to be about 5-6”, cut, plump, and resting against big balls. He runs around on stage naked and it bounces up and down nicely.

That '64 season was tremendous. Even you know it. And I wasn't even around for it(curse you God)You're just embarrassed by admitting your laughable ignorance even anonymously.

R427 and r428 Ladies Puleeeze! Civilized people do not hiss like Egyptian asssps!

[quote]Back to Lee Pace’s cock. From row G in the orchestra, I had a nice view. Sorry, I was too nervous to film it. It appears to be about 5-6”, cut, plump, and resting against big balls. He runs around on stage naked and it bounces up and down nicely.

5-6” flaccid?

I love R429

That's a lotta flaccid, I must say! How was he in the part? Russell Tovey at the National had an ass to die for -- and was very good, as well. Pace seems too old for the role - and too tall (!)

I think the biggest difference between the 1964 season and now is that the supposedly mediocre shows were at least aimed at adults and had some sophisticated thought and execution, not to mention established star power.

To me there is a world of difference between the flops What Makes Sammy Run?, Ben Franklin in Paris, Bajour and Oh What a Lovely War and today's hits.....Frozen, Mean Girls, Harry Potter and probably Pretty Woman.

I mean, even I Had a Ball had the sensational Karen Morrow.

The target audience is what's changed the most. When I was a kid I was brought to the theater by my parents to see mature sophisticated shows that shaped my taste. These days kids drag their parents to see kiddie fare based on recent blockbuster films.

Cottage small or wall to wall, r442!

What's next for DL fav Andy Randells? Once BITB closes will hear head into Carousel? Kinky Boots? School of Rock? The revival of Warpaint?

Carousel has a bunch of hot guys who are shirtless for just a few seconds. Joshua Henry, Amar Ramasar, Ryan Steele, Jess LeProtto, and couple of other guys take off their shirts, but could they do it for longer?

Joshua Henry and Lindsay Mendez got a lot of good reviews but their facial expressions are straight out of community theater. But they can sing so no body cares

Lindsay Mendez can't help it. She has a face made for community theater.

Two words r429.....

POUSSE CAFE

[quote]What's next for DL fav Andy Randells?

Word on the Rialto is that Dandy Andy will be replacing Denzel in The Iceman Cometh!

Well since the subject is new adult musicals here is a peak at Tesori's new musical

Only saw Tovey in the screening, but Pace was much better. Helped that he actually looks like the “Marlboro Man,” as Prior describes him. He didn’t seem too old to me, and he’s got a great ass too. Wonder why Tovey didn’t come to Broadway. In the screening, he spent less time nude onstage than Pace does. Hopefully someone will take a few pics or a quick video.

and one song in its entirety

Oh that Karen Morrow, r442.

The "Robbie and Ashley have broken up" troll will be interested to learn that Robbie commented today on a short video Ashley posted by saying, "You couldn't be cuter if you tried."

That number is tragic. Pathetic.

[quote]Well since the subject is new adult musicals here is a peak at Tesori's new musical-thoughts?

Shit, like all the rest of Tesori's work. She's a musical arranger, not a composer.

And what is with all of these musicals having the chorus line of actors come downstage and confront the audience. Rent started that shit and it needs to stop. If you want the characters to confront the audience, find a subtle way to do it like Prince did with the mirrors in Cabaret. Everything doesn't have to be so in-your-face all the time.

What did Tesori do pull that out of a trunk from 1969?

Why do musicals these days have to lecture the audience? Can't we just have a nice mindless musical that lets the audience go out into the world singing a fun song?

There's no business like show business like no business I know.

Keep them singing a catchy tune!

Here's a better clip

[quote]Here's a better clip

Nope, not better. The shitty lyrics are still there.

Anytime they repeat lyrics, it shows a lazy lyricist.

We have the power, we have the power, we have the power is pure lazy and why should anyone spend money on that shit.

If you're going to repeat stuff at least be clever like Cole Porter:

"I'm a maid who will marry and will take double quick any Tom, Dick or Harry, any Harry, Dick or Tom"

[quote] The target audience is what's changed the most. When I was a kid I was brought to the theater by my parents to see mature sophisticated shows that shaped my taste. These days kids drag their parents to see kiddie fare based on recent blockbuster films.

Very interesting perspective. I guess that's why I haven't really felt the need to see many of the new musicals (although I did enjoy ALLEGIANCE and A GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER)

If women fifty years ago listened to the wit and wisdom of Martha Vail, there'd be no #metoo movement today!

Martha Vail: American Heroine.

Martha Vail and the Mystery of the Purloined Reticule

R438, how right you are, Alfred!

I just saw that Milos Forman died. He took that weird-assed musical Hair and turned it into a decent movie.

I have season tix for the Ahmanson which include that awful looking David Henry Hwang/Jeannine Tesori thing and I was going to thoroughly skip it and eat the cost. But I might be tempted if Conrad Ricamora is in it.

Has Hwang ever written a good musical? Has he ever written a good play? I loved M Butterfly back in the day, but with his recent rewrites, he shit all over it and trashed the one shred of artistic cred he had.

Lee Pace had a semi the night I saw AIA. Very nice. Big balls.

Lee Pace has a really thick bush. He needs a new head shot- he is better looking on stage. Excellent in the role of Joe.

Was LP's semi in reaction to seeing you in the house? I thought Tovey was great in the part but I have a feeling the production was under pressure to cast Americans somewhere besides Lane and Garfield (who is of course half-American) -- hence Pace on board, and Beth Malone.

Illya Darling has one of the best overtures ever.....and some pretty good songs- go Despo!

i believe i read somewhere that tovey had prior (no pun) commitments that precluded him transferring with the rest of the cast. plus he didn't show dong in NTL broadcast

Beth Malone is an understudy in this production.

2019 Tony Awards prediction - Aaron Tveit - Best Actor in a Musical - Moulin Rouge

To ey was locked in to do the third season that piece of shit Quantico on ABC.

I think Night Music looks better on Despo's resume, r471.

Singapore/Fling and LegitOnce are emerging as the Hedda and Louella of ATC. ryhog is the resident John Simon. All pretty insufferable.

I believe Mlop would be their Marion Lorne, r477.

R441 How can you be too tall for the role unless it specifies a short person? Besides, I always thought Joe was supposed to have those All-American good looks, and that kind of assumes tall & athletic.

[quote]Scott Wise was cute and was a total star...when he was dancing. Unfortunately, as soon as he stopped, so did the charisma...

Sad but true, r309. I was looking for some footage of him., when I turned up this little gem from Star Search in 1992. Randy Wojcik, Scott Fowler, Michael Berresse, Joey Pizza and Randy Bettis perform variations of a delightfully cheesy, athletic and occasionally sexy routine. Loved that 2 versions of their outfits suggested the LGBT flag. The video cuts off before the end of their 3rd routine, but since the clip is titled "BoysBackEast1992Champs", I guess they won.

[quote] It has the stupidest lyric Oscar Hammerstein ever wrote.

[quote] Hey, what about me! —Chop Suey

My song about Chinese food was better.

An imaginary feud between Zizi Jeanmarie and Lilo is pretty much the reason why I will never stop coming here to read this ongoing thread series. Keep it up, ladies.

I saw the Wednesday marathon of AiA and honestly, I totally forgot Lee Pace was naked until I read it on this thread. It was a very forgettable nude scene.

Tovey had a horrible relationship with one of the AiA cast members and declined to repeat his role in NYC. (And it wasn't Nathan Lane or Andrew Garfield!)

The David Henry Hwang clips depress me. There’s little personality in those performers. What has training done to actors? So boring.

[quote]There’s little personality in those performers. What has training done to actors? So boring.

I don’t disagree with you, but in this case, I’d blame the material. Those are some deeply uninteresting songs. Maybe context will improve them, but I’m betting not.

[quote] The David Henry Hwang clips depress me. There’s little personality in those performers. What has training done to actors? So boring.

In theory, training is supposed to make you a better actor. I seem to notice a kind of sameness in modern theatre performers that I never used to see. They focus on technique, which you need to know at least the basics of to even work as an actor, but too much focus on it and you lose the spontaneity of the moment.

Actually it was Gwen Verdon who Lilo was pissed at. Lilo saw that Gwen was stealing "Can-Can" from her. In France, Lilo's native country, there was usually only one female diva, and she had Gwen's numbers and her dialogue whittled down. Didn't matter -- Gwen's "Eve in the Garden of Eden" and the 2nd act Apache dances still made her into a big star.

Tovey couldn't do AiA in New York because his TV show has resumed shooting (Quantico).

Lilo couldn't begin to fill my pedal pushers.

R483 Too short?

Yes r488.....

Jesus, do you have to beat everything to death? No one cares anymore about Zizi. You’ve ruined it.

There’s something called timing, you know, as well as knowing when to leave the stage.

Mange merde, r493.

The Tesnori clip is bad bad bad. It sounds like warmed-over Pippin for chrissakes....

R471, R476, when I saw the name on the OBC album of Night Music, I thought Despo was an animal in the show. Like Nancy in "The Wiz".

R482, why do you think that it's an imaginary feud between Zizi and Lilo? They are both still alive.

ZZ was the second choice for Lola in Damn Yankees. Their first choice was Mitzi Gaylor. Verdon was third.

I love Verdon, but wow, that photo in R492 is saltpeter.

C’mon R484, spill. Who did Tovey dislike? He had most of his scenes with the actors Louis and Harper. One of them?

Is Pace getting along well with that person now?

Pins r498.....

Yes, Gwen had great pins.

Jeff Whitty is going off on Facebook again. ooh poppa Rooney we got us a loony.

Gwen's great gams.

I only hope the new Tesori musical has something to rival the magnificence of "I'm Changing My Major to Joan"!

I can't tell you how many times that has been covered in pop concerts and cabaret acts all over the world....

I only watched a little clip of the Tesori musical. Does anyone know what it is about? The cast appeared to be mostly --all? -- Asian, so I assume it has something to do with the Asian experience?!? And, if that is the case, why would they not try to find an Asian composer? It's not that Tesori is so brilliant that she was the only one who could do it.

So White It’s Wong: An Intimate Evening with Wayman Wong

Sum Ting Wong?

Can it Be Wong?

It can't be wong when it feels so white.

Actually, that's the way Marlene sang it, r510!

Granny sings I'm a Woman at 4:00.......

[quote]Illya Darling has one of the best overtures ever.....and some pretty good songs- go Despo!

Isn't Illya Darling the same situation as Flora the Red Menace, where they used the entr'acte as the overture on the album? There are really only two really good songs in the score, and one of them is indeed Despo's "I'll Never Lay Down Anymore." (The other is "After Love"). The Hello Dollyish title number isn't so good.

R500, I think that the person not getting along with Tovey was Denise Gough. I saw her in London in People, Places, and Things, and it was one of my favorite plays and performances ever, so I am a big fan.

I was watching some long interviews with her on YouTube, and she was talking about how she approached Harper in Angels in America. I saw the filmed version of the National Theatre and wasn't all that impressed with her performance. In the interview she said she loved working with Lee Pace in a way that seemed to be a comparison to a negative experience with the London actor. It may be in the clip below or may be in part 2.

Irene Ryan wants to take a little peek in her pot.

For those desperate for Despo.....

Irene Ryan was a cute little fashion plate back in the day.

I don't know, this number is making me laugh.....

Some would say LMM’s publicists are doing a great job. I’d say they’re beginning to do him no favors: headlines for having shingles and today an article in deadline because he’s going to voice one character in a single episode of Duck Tales. Of course, he says he’s doing it for his sons which is a disingenuous way of saying he’s gluttonously devouring every shred of a chance for publicity he can grab at. “I’m not gonna give up till I’m shot! I’m not gonna give up till I’m shot!”

Why is Javier Munoz going after this Chris Peterson guy on twitter? Anyone know?

Isn't Javier ALWAYS going after somebody on Twitter?

True, R521. He's tweeting up a storm today, he apologized for his last outburst, but of course claimed that people only took selective screen shots of his offensive tweets, and that people harass him and his followers all the time, I think he actually has some serious issues. Surely, there must be some gossip.

Despo was also in A Little Night Music.

Chris Peterson is a thoroughly vile person. He thinks it’s his duty to be Broadway’s moral compass. He’s sanctimonious and judgmental, and it’s time someone took him down,

Has anyone seen TINA in London? And? How does it compare to DONNA?

Chris Peterson is the asshole who went after Tyce Green for messaging teenage boys for voice lessons, none of whom were under 18.

Aaaaand once again, Javier Munoz goes on the attack on Twitter and returns to play the victim. This is what? His fourth or fifth time attacking his own fans? He went too far in latest incident involving the teenage boy. Chris is a pos, but so is Javier. They deserve each other, to be frank.

Javier’s tweets have gone private. What is he saying?

At least Javier Munoz is good looking. That guy Chris looks like a slug.

Lying about his tweets from a week ago, R528, claiming that there is more to the story, talking about all the work he's done, fake apologized for last week's twitter meltdown, claiming that people are coming at him on twitter.

He's an idiot and obviously unstable.

Did Russell Tovey go full frontal in the National Theater production on stage (I know he didn't in the filmed version.)

No, Russell did not in AIA but he absolutely did in the Royal Court play THE PASS (in which he was amazing)

how was the dong?

Did David Marshall Grant get naked in the original AIA? I don't remember hearing about that.

Hey r532 looks like a movie version of that is coming out next month. (I just googled it and found it) Funny. I wonder if he'll show the penis on film.

[quote]Did David Marshall Grant get naked in the original AIA? I don't remember hearing about that.

No, only Stephen Spinella

ILLYA, DARLING has many gems in its score: the OVERTURE (the final tutti, with bouzoukis a-blazing, is simply amazing!), the title song, I'LL NEVER LAY DOWN ANYMORE, HEAVEN HELP THE SAILOR...BOUZOUKI NIGHTS (or TAVERNA DANCE), YA CHARA...all terrific...not too mention that Mercouri is incandescent. Her affirmative "Yes!" at the end of MEDEA TANGO is glorious.

r535, are you posting from 2016?

As far as I'm concerned, those bloodsucking producers of the original PIPPIN murdered Irene Ryan. They worked her to death!

Poor tiny dead thing. She was like a little wounded bird, she was...

LOL r539, that picture looks like a still from an Alfred Hitchcock movie. "Young couples are being murdered in the neighborhood. What does Mrs. Ryan at Number 17 have to hide? Will John and Jill get caught up in Mrs. Ryan's web of deception?"

Jeremy Jordan in the extras in "The Greatest Showman". He lpayed Zac Efron's part in the workshops.

I have the OBC of Illya, Darling on vinyl and love it.

An another thread, here or elsewhere, people were speculating that Irene Ryan was lesbian because she died unmarried and was buried next to a woman. I did a little googling and found out that she was twice widowed and the woman she is buried (or interred) next to is her sister.

Broadway performers with bad intonation (they sang either slightly flat or otherwise off-key):

Jerry Orbach (great voice, but they had to re-master "Promises, Promises" to fix mainly his and the other male execs songs

Donna Murphy

Betty Comden - lover her writing, but if you listen to her on "On the Town" and additional tracks on "Subways are For Sleeping" she sounds flat at times - have others noticed this?

Sydney Chaplin - star of "Subways Are For Sleeping", "Funny Girl", and "Bells Are Ringing" does tons of scooping and trying the find the center of pitches

Elaine Stritch - maybe not as consistently as the others above, but she sustains a really flat note in the opening to "Company" recording

I'm sure others have their examples. This could have been a thread on ATC!

Janis Paige in "I'm Not at All in Love" on the THE PAJAMA GAME recording.

Often those older Broadway albums were recorded in one day on the first day off after the opening when the actors were exhausted from the stress of rehearsals, previews, and opening night. We're lucky that so many sound as good as they do.

Yep, they were usually recorded the first Sunday, which would usually be dark, after the opening. Everyone was stressed and exhausted.

^ And the recordings would be in stores just 3 or 4 weeks later! None of this 6 months to a year later for engineering and mastering.

no r538 Imdb says it is opening May 8th in the US.

Sometimes the shows would recorded on Sunday and be in stores by Thursday or Friday. The album jackets were printed ahead of time which is why there were some with wrong song listings as songs in the shows got changed late.

[quote]Did David Marshall Grant get naked in the original AIA? I don't remember hearing about that.

Boy, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I just googled and saw his last credit was on that TV show "Code Black" in 2017. Used to think he was such a hottie back in the day.

Was this already posted? It appears Nathan and Andrew may not be competing for the lead Tony after all:

[quote]Andrew Garfield will be considered eligible for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. Nathan Lane will be considered eligible for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.

Was The Plastic Alligator still in Here's Love when it opened? Was it recorded? It wasn't listed as an album track but there was a color photo of Fred Gwynne doing the number in the fold out album.

Likewise Come and Be My Butterfly in Dolly. There was a color photo of David Burns and the Butterflies on the first release album cover but it's not included on the recording. I know it wasn't replaced with The Polka Contest until the first national tour and stayed in the New York production until Ginger replaced Carol. Was it recorded?

THIS is what makes DL so valuable and interesting: chat about Illya and The Plastic Alligator, not talk about D.O.A. musicals no one will remember a year from now.

r550 He is a writer and producer mostly now. He did The Sally Field Programme and Looking.

David M Grant also played AnnE Hathaway's daddy in Prada, if that makes you feel any older.

Joe can be too tall and too old when playing against a 5'7"Nathan Lane as Roy Cohn who's supposed to be constantly intimidating, harrassing and flirting with him. Lee is 6'4" and also looks far too sophisticated and knowing for a Mormon boy.

Denise Gough is indeed the person Russell didn't get along with and I've heard from people backstage that she's rather bitchy. She was so upset when she saw the dressing room assignments (Nathan and Andrew were given the 1st floor suites) that she had the GM in tears.

R544, I might be the only one who thinks this, but Janis on the Pajama Game album always sounds a little like Jane Fonda.

[quote]no [R538] Imdb says it is opening May 8th in the US.

Yes, but it was already released in the UK in 2016 and was nominated for a BAFTA in 2017. The film is two years old already.

Denise Gough was amazing in the show

In spite of her missed notes, I adore Janis Paige's performance on the Pajama Game OBC. album. She's so ballsy and sexy.

[quote]Andrew Garfield will be considered eligible for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. Nathan Lane will be considered eligible for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.

Dear Producer of X Show:

Please let us know which categories you want your actors in. Our rules don't mean shit. Even though Nathan Lane is a Broadway star, we'll put him in Featured and knock out someone who is more deserving just so you can game the system.

Sincerely,

The Tony Nominating Committee (aka we love to eat producer's shit)

Denise G better be prepared to lose her Tony to Laurie Metcalf.

Dear R561: the Tony Awards are a marketing tool and nothing more. We bend the rules at our whim to please whoever needs pleasing.

I've got a great idea -- let's merge flop musicals of the past to see if we can make them successful at last!

My first suggestion: "Illya Darling of the Day"

Tovey’s hole: hairy or smooth?

[quote]Denise Gough is indeed the person Russell didn't get along with and I've heard from people backstage that she's rather bitchy. She was so upset when she saw the dressing room assignments (Nathan and Andrew were given the 1st floor suites) that she had the GM in tears.

Interesting. And not to suggest this isn't true, it just seems hard to believe given how humble she was in an interview I saw her give on TV not too long ago. She was still in that "People, Places, Things" play at the time and talking about how hard a time she was having in her career and that she nearly gave it all up when she finally got a break with the "PPT" part, which changed everything for her. Perhaps she was full of shit, who knows. Just saying she didn't come off like the type who'd turn into such a spoiled brat overnight.

As long as the Hwang borefest is not yet another unbearable attempt to musicalize the Japanese internment in the US which George Takei never tires of dining out on.

I Had a Ballroom

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Faces of 1968

A Little Night Music Is

[quote] I've got a great idea -- let's merge flop musicals of the past to see if we can make them successful at last!

Carrie: In My Life

Carrie, a girl who is bullied at school because of her weird ass mother, meets up with J.T., a boy with Tourette's Syndrome who keeps telling her to fuck off.

Anyone Can Whistle, Nick & Nora

Nick & Nora team up to investigate Cora Hoover Hooper.

Whatever drama went on backstage, Tovey didn't transfer to Broadway because he had to go back to shooting his TV show, Quantico, on the west coast.

Nicely done with the Arthur connection, R572! Hmm, how about a merger of Albee's Breakfast at Tiffany's rewrite and Smile? He's now imagining a whole bunch of girls.

r558 but your point is still bitchy. I'm not in the UK. I don't follow the Baftas. I looked up the play someone mentioned and that is what I found. No need to nasitly ask if I was posting from 2016. It is only opening here now.

[quote]Joe can be too tall and too old when playing against a 5'7"Nathan Lane as Roy Cohn who's supposed to be constantly intimidating, harrassing and flirting with him. Lee is 6'4" and also looks far too sophisticated and knowing for a Mormon boy.

Joe is actually supposed to be in his mid to late thirties.People often think he is younger but he and Harper have been together a long time and he has done quite well in his career. College, law school, the years has a lawyer. He's been at it a while.

Pace may look too sophisticated though. I could see that. Patrick Wilson had the perfect look for the role. Tovey read too young for me.

Foxy Miss Moffat.

Look to the Legs Diamond

Smile, Nefertiti!

Got To Go Disco in the Piazza!

Tonight is the 106th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. It has always disturbed me how much the fictional affectations of Stone's and Yeston's musical and Cameron's film pale in comparison to what actually happened that night. I'm about to watch Criterion's DVD of A Night to Remember.

R575, true about Quantico except it’s been shooting in NY for Seasons 2 and 3. It wrapped here a few weeks ago and seems extremely unlikely to get a Season 4.

R582, thanks for the correction about where Quantico has been shooting. But again, Tovey's obligation to the show is why he didn't transfer. I rarely watch the show but it's been nice in the handful of episodes I've seen they've always found a reason to make him shirtless.

Gough is a superb actress but her sense of entitlement about her ascending renown is pretty tough to talk. Her sob story routine has been trotted out ad nauseam in interviews, and what she says about having bottomed out several years ago is true, but my God is she relishing her fast-rising star. The result is not attractive, trust me.

She's an overrated cunt.

Denise Gough was pretty bad in AIA at the National. If she’s completely changed her performance for NY, maybe it’s better.

Irene and Tim Ryan were a popular husband and wife vaudeville team.

Replying to my own post, Irene Ryan was twice divorced, not twice widowed. She is indeed interred, not buried, next to her sister with a different last name, in a crypt in a mausoleum at Woodlawn in Santa Monica.

Since she died unmarried and was interred next to a woman with a different last name there was speculation on a thread either here or at BWW, I can't remember which, that she was buried next to her lesbian lover. Nope, she appears to have been straight and interred next her sister.

R496 You made my night. The fact that you brought in Nancy from THE WIZ. Well--there are no words. Wow. Truly, truly hilarious. Thank you.

Foxy Mack and Mabel

Grind Ballroom

Say Hello to Harvey Nathan Weinstein, Mystic, Connecticut

I must say I feel a tad vindicated as I stated weeks ago that I could see the producers of AIA jockeying to move Nathan and Andrew into separate categories to increase each one's odds at winning and another poster here said that I was "naive" to think either would allow himself to be placed in anything other than lead. Looks like that may be the case, however, at least according to the Tony committee's ruling this week.

That said, I think Nathan is a near lock to win while Andrew is more of a question mark.

I was just looking at some stuff about Nicky Silver and I saw T. Scott Cunningham's name. I couldn't remember how he died so I looked him up. Pneumonia and acute respiratory failure. Age 47. He died in 2009. Has to be AIDS related, no? Why not just say that?

Flahooley: A Doll's Life

A Time for Singin' in the Rain

Touch and Goldilocks

Baby Bajour

Woman of the Yearling

Sail Away We Go!

Not completely off topic since Maury Yeston did an over sentimalized version of the sinking of the Titanic -- tonight is the 106th anniversary of the sinking. Here is A Night to Remember, full, complete and in HD video. I know a few here will enjoy the link.

R556 Well yes, though I think Lee has a certain innocence to him, less now as he is maturing but he does vulnerable and human very well. And Roy just doesn't get the intimidating shtick, he appears more nervous and pushy than anything else.

I wonder how Denise is getting along with her new stage partner. She said many nice things about him in the interviews but I watched a video interview of the cast and I noticed she seemed tense. Lee sat with his arm along the back of the seat and she was kind of making a point of not sitting too close and moving her shoulder from under his arm.

Re: Angels Tony Categories

You have to remember, with the original B’way production, the two parts premiered in different seasons. If you just saw Millenium (w/ Ron Leibman’s titanic performance), Roy was the lead. Perestroika is much more dependent on Prior which is why Soinella won Featured one season and Lead the next.

Brigadoon I Hear a Waltz?

Number 300!

Which Broadway chorus boys are currently taking it up the Buttrio Square?