THEATRE GOSSIP #302: "The Miraculous, Thicc Year" Goes to the Tonys" EDITION

Will Patti Murin have another sick day if the Tonys deny her a nomination?

Will Glenda Jackson even show up to accept her award?

Will Michelle Wolf make a joke about Robbie Fairchild and all of gay twitter explode?

I'd be surprised if Michelle Wolf evens knows who Robbie Fairchild is. Of course Glenda will be there to accept. She was there the last time she was nominated (and lost).

Here's one set of predictions. He has Patti Murin as an either/or with Taylor Louderman for the fifth slot in Best Actress. I think Jessie Mueller is going to be ignored and Murin and Louderman will both be nominated (along with Ambrose, Lenk, and Hailey Kilgore)

Do all you theaterinas type "thicc"?

In The Miraculous Year, who thought anyone would want to listen to Guettel's music?

Good thread title, OP.

From the last thread, I'd like to pay tribute to the dumbass who hasn't yet realized that yes, those of us who see the performances live (instead of televised) do have an advantage on judging a performance, cause that's the medium for which the performance was created.

And yes, Imelda was great in BOTH shows.

The Miraculous Year dialogue is bad? Not surprising considering it was written by that hack John Logan who was passed over by the Tony committee for that horrible Bette Midler one-woman show (charmingly titled "I'll Eat You Last) and who completely ruined Sweeney Todd. There's no there there

It’s ok to have poor judgment and taste, R7. I’d suggest drinking less before taking in these performances, though.

[quote]I'd like to pay tribute to the dumbass who hasn't yet realized that yes, those of us who see the performances live (instead of televised) do have an advantage on judging a performance, cause that's the medium for which the performance was created.

While I tend to agree with you, people can tell that something is wrong by not even seeing the show. Imelda Staunton was miscast as Sally. She may have acted it brilliantly, she was perfect in Vera Drake, but we're still stuck with Bilbo Baggins playing Sally. Imelda can never be considered as a 1940s Follies girl.

The Hello Dolly onsale, for all the talk of 'crashed telecharge' was a disappointment. Tons of seats available, and people (well, 1 person) isn't happy!

and if you don't believe me, just look at the late July / August tickets on telecharge

To be fair r10, Sally wasn't a showgirl in the follies. Perhaps Imelda's Sally was "tops in taps" or something back in the day.

No, r4. Some post-adolescent on the #301 thread mis-used the word (if you can call it a word) and then had a major hissy fit when he was called on it.

Saw Once On This Island last night. The Golden (Showers?) Gods have definitely, finally smiled down upon Michael Arden. This is the fourth show of his I've seen and the first where I can say- the man has some talent as a director. What a completely gorgeous production in every way, shape and form. And the cast was fantastic. Hailey Kilgore needs a Tony Award, and Isaac Powell is way too hot for old man Wes Tay Tay.

Congratulations to Scott Rudin for his record breaking 612 performance run of Hello Dolly!

Any behind the scenes scoop on Bernadette’s feelings about them announcing Bette’s return that will surely effect Peter’s box office?

Bernie tried to deliver a statement but her voice gave out so she resorted to crying instead

I didn't see it "live" in London, but did see the "live" performance in a U.S. movie theater. Expected to like Staunton based on past experience, but thought she was only so-so until her "losing my mind" scene in front of the dressing-room mirror. To my mind she was channeling both Lon Chaney and Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, and I thought it was a truly terrible interpretation.

Where are these bootlegs of Imelda in GYPSY? Are they video bootlegs or audio bootlegs? I've heard a few of the audio bootlegs and it's amazing how different she seemed to be live than she was in the BBC video. She honestly comes across as near definitive.

Speaking of GYPSY, Tyne Daly never sounds good on recordings. You really do have to see her live to appreciate their talents. Liza Minnelli is kinda the same way. Her only truly great recordings are live concert albums. She's not a very good studio singer.

Daly's performance owes a great deal to charisma. It doesn't transfer well, or at all, to a recording, but on stage she's a knockout.

Imelda definitely came across better in the FOLLIES video than in the GYPSY video. I have my minor quibbles, but I thought she was far more subtle in FOLLIES and at least wasn't playing the end at the beginning like she was in GYPSY. She was, perhaps, a bit too manic right out of the gate, but I took it as her playing Sally's bubbly excitement over being back at the theater. The key changes didn't bother me as much as I thought they would. Maybe I was just swept up by the production itself which, besides a less than stellar Loveland, is easily the best production of the show that I've ever seen. Going back to (mostly) the original book clarifies a lot of things and makes the characters a bit more interesting than I remember them being in the previous productions I'd seen. If they could find a way to make Loveland genuinely dazzling, I'd be all for this production coming across the pond.

[QUOTE] Some post-adolescent on the #301 thread mis-used the word

You mean some embarrassingly out of touch poster had never heard of "thicc" and accused the person using it (who used it correctly) of not knowing how to spell "thick" and got all pissy when it was pointed out how stupid they were.

It's true about Daly. I still think hers is the best Rose I've seen. I'd imagine only Merman was funnier, but Daly also got the darker elements of the show and ran with them. I recall her "Everything's Coming Up Roses" being bone chilling.

Another actress whose charisma makes up for some flaws is Melanie Griffith. I wasn't a huge fan, but I remember seeing her in CHICAGO and thinking "this woman has a tiny little singing voice and isn't a great dancer, but she has charisma for days. She's actually still one of my favorite Roxies. Her dumb blonde schtick worked very well for the character and she was genuinely funny.

[quote]You mean some embarrassingly out of touch poster had never heard of "thicc" and accused the person using it (who used it correctly) of not knowing how to spell "thick" and got all pissy when it was pointed out how stupid they were.

No, that wasn't was meant at all. Hardly anyone knows what the made-up word "thicc" means. Stop trying to make it happen. You sound like a childish idiot, r23. Any asshole can create an entry into Urban dictionary. For all we know, you rushed over to create that entry yourself after you were questioned about it.

[quote]It's true about Daly. I still think hers is the best Rose I've seen. I'd imagine only Merman was funnier, but Daly also got the darker elements of the show and ran with them. I recall her "Everything's Coming Up Roses" being bone chilling. Another actress whose charisma makes up for some flaws is Melanie Griffith. I wasn't a huge fan, but I remember seeing her in CHICAGO and thinking "this woman has a tiny little singing voice and isn't a great dancer, but she has charisma for days. She's actually still one of my favorite Roxies. Her dumb blonde schtick worked very well for the character and she was genuinely funny.

I agree on both counts. Another unlikely Broadway actress was Jasmine Guy. I haven't liked her in *anything* else, but she was compelling in CHICAGO.

Well, I just got an email offer for Bernadette / Hello Dolly tickets starting at '$39'... Oof, I feel bad for the poor assistants in Rudin's office this week! He must not be happy.

To say nothing of poor Bernie....

R8 You mean the hack who won the Tony for Best Play for "Red," three Oscar nominations, and a BAFTA Award?

Oh, THAT hack.

R28,

Logan is not a hack, not by any measure, but RED should never have won Best Play.

Logan has so received 3 or 4 Oscar nominations for Best Screenplay.

The Last Ship was another terrific effort by Logan.

R31, The Last Ship wasn't a bad play. It just never should have been a musical. The songs added nothing.

I want to see Bernie for $39.

[quote]I want to see Bernie for $39.

You can see her for free if you wait outside the stage door of The Schub, as we in the biz call it.

The ”thicc” person DID misuse it. It refers specifically to a woman’s ass. (He even provided the entry from the dictionary) so using it made no sense in the context in which he used it.

You can see Harry Potter on Wednesday in any section of the theatre- prime orch, orch, dress all have tons of tickets... So much for box office magic

Yeah, Harry Potter is dramatically underperforming here.

It's spelled Shoob, r34.

Thank you, r35!!! I thought that was the case but was too lazy to look for the post.

Who is the Harry Potter audience? Older people who matinee theatre are at Hello Dolly.

The cool kids are at Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen.

The queens are fighting over Lauren Ambrose’s voice at MFL.

The “Me too” crowd are dissecting Julie Jordan at Carousel.

So who is the Harry Potter crowd?

The Potter crowd are people who were kids when the series started and then grew up with it, and are now working professionals with the income to allow them to afford it. Not a huge subset. What it had in London that it doesn't have here is that sense of national pride, of supporting a "local" girl who made good in a big way internationally.

Someone mentioned that you can't get Hamilton tickets on ticketmaster and that's totally true- just so odd to see so many great Harry Potter seats avail and yet still see these big grosses

I really think the HP producers fucked themselves with the INSANE amount of online hoops they made people jump through to get tickets initially. You’re asking people to shell out a massive amount of money to buy tickets to two different shows. Why treat them like criminals on top of that? I really wanted to see it in London, but eventually gave up. I get that it helps keep the scalpers away, but life's too short.

R35 That's one way it can be used, but not the only way, as the other definitions at Urban Dictionary go on to prove. The most tedious part of all this is that the person who first used it was jokingly calling Jonathan Groff thicc - hence the use of the exclamation point. But at least you're not insisting it's just a misspelling of "thick" so we'll call that progress.

An exclamation point signifies a joke, r44? There's no part of this frolic and detour that isn't tedious, but your grammar lesson is notable in that regard.

In some contexts of course it can. Or perhaps not a joke, but something to be taken humorously, if you're going to force me to be pedantic.

[QUOTE]Jonathan groff is NOT fat! He's thicc!

Oh my gosh. I am the poster who used thicc. R23 R44 THANK YOU. To the other poster who is STILL so mad about it and anyone else of his ilk, please let it go. It is not that serious. You don't get it and that's ok. Let us be young and fun. The cool kids call anybody thicc. Not just a woman. It's fun slang. I really feel sorry for anyone who has to deal with you. Do you get told to shut the fuck up like all the time? You keep going until you are validated? Until you hear you are right? You are just miserable. Annoying as fuck. Please go the fuck some fucking where with your superior gay bitchy ugly attitude. We all would be much happier here having fun and jokes. Let me comment in peace you old haggard hateful sow. Thicc made that last thread and this one. So there! 😎 I run datalounge.

Thicc be thick. In the hedd. But not in the dicc.

....and as the sun sinks slowly into the sea, r47, young and fun, stomps her tiny foot and flounces off.

Thicc or thick - who gives a fuck.

Pics please.

Or as the young and fun call them, piccs.

[quote]Thicc or thick - who gives a fuck?

the thicc cuntt

that's who gives a fucc, lambchop.

thicc ass a bricc in the hedd

[quote]Let me comment in peace you old haggard hateful sow.

No. You’re an idiot, and too dumb to realize people are making fun of you when they reuse thicc. No one is laughing with you, we’re all laughing AT you.

Staaahp, r55--this creature RUNS the DL, doncha know.

A piece of unverified gossip- but I heard today that Rudin is the reason that Boys in the Band isn't opening this season (but starting previews tonight)- he made Mantello sign a contract saying that he couldn't direct anything else in the same season. The BiiB producers were furious but made it work!

[quote]Boys in the Band isn't opening this season

It isn't?

R58 Nope, season is over now. R%7 That makes a thicc load of sense, Rudin needs to calm the fuck down

Hey loon. If you’re not a troll, why do you keep clearing your cookies?

From the last thread, "IMDB says that "The Miraculous Year" has gotten 90 ratings. 90! How have 90 people been able to see it? (It/s only got 5.2)"

So which of you bitches has seen "The Miraculous Year"? Surely at least one of those 90 on IMDB is a DL poster!

And of course, people on IMDB always tell the truth.

So the "thicc" troll ("I own DL!") is the Loon? What about the anti-Fairchild Troll? Is he the Loon, too?

I hesitate to use its name, since we've been told that if it gets mentioned three times in a thread, it will appear. We know from pictures that we definitely do NOT want it to appear.

Please make this stop.

NOBODY has seen The Miraculous Year except for Rudin, Baumbach and HBO executives.

Oops, I meant Bigelow, not Baumbach,

la mama getting the regional tony this year

So then 90 people on IMDB have rated “The Miraculous Year” without actually seeing it. I’m shocked, shocked, I tell you!

Time Heals Everything

-Judy sings Herman.

I’d love that more than Judy Sings Sondheim, r69.

In addition to the title track, which would kill, she would do If He Walked Into My Life, Before the Parade Passes By, That Was Yesterday, It Only Takes a Moment, My Best Beau, Open a New Wimdow, Shalom, No Tune Like a Show Tune, Let’s Not Waste A Moment, Marianne, The Best of Times, and close with a stunning “I’ll Be Here Tomorrow.”

Is there a recording studio in the great beyond? It probably won’t be too long that Jerry himself can be available for the sessions.

You could just ask Tracie Bennett to do it. The queens across the pond would claim it to be a triumph whether it was or not. "You had to see it in person!"

Actually, there’s one song missing. You just know that Judy would have relished the chance to sing the line “When a sky full of crap always lands in your lap, smile a big smile and Tap Your Troubles Away!”

That guy who did Judy for the Punchy Players - was it Jeff Marquis or Chris Tassin? - could do it. And he could have Judy do a duet with Dame Julie, too.

Judy's Kander & Ebb album ......

Jerry Herman has said that he wrote his songs with Judy in his mind.

I would like to give kudos to the thread starter. Excellent title.

Wasn't that just his MAME songs, r75? I can't quite hear her doing Hymn to Hymie.....though I'm sure she'd be wonderful.

Didn't Jerry Herman throw his body on Judy's casket and immediately seroconvert out of sorrow?

Here's an article:

Does anyone know if Bette is doing all 8 performances when she returns?

Ok bitches nominations are tomorrow. There are always a few snubs nobody saw coming.

Place your bets?

Betcha George Wolfe doesn't get a nomination. Nor does she deserve one.

Why fill up a thread with speculation? Go to sleep and find out tomorrow who the actual nominees will be.

What? Nothing about the first preview of Boys in the Band. It let out an hour ago!!

Angela Lansbury's electrifying surprise appearance was the grandest highlight of tonight's New York Pop's tribute concert to Alan Menken.

She sang a ravishing rendition of "Beauty and the Beast." Realistically it is could be among the last times to have seen her perform live and so it was a moment to treasure.

Thanks for sharing r85. Sounds like it was divine

R84 Apparently Matt Bomer gets down to his undies

Why not hire Tommy Femia to do a Judy album? Haven't heard him for a number of years, but he had Judy's voice down, including the laugh.

When you say he had Judy's voice "down' R88, do you mean down a major fourth?

Tommy sounded damn good belting out Judy songs.

R85 Bless the old love R86

Judy's "I Don't Want to Know" would have been definitive, surely.

Glenda Jackson and Andrew Garfield give THE performances of the season. Hoping for love to Sponge Bob, Mean Girls and. My Fair Lady. Love Jesse Mueller...but won't be surprised if her name is left off the list this year. She lovely as Julie, but does not shine like she has in her other Broadway performances.

George C. Wolfe is definitely getting snubbed. That will not be a surprise.

Denzel getting snubbed would be a lovely surprise... It's actually possible but, alas, unlikely, since there are so few people to choose from in that category.

Wow, the post-show reports on BOYS IN THE BAND's first preview are wonderful -- I wonder if Mantello has had that cast and his three tall women over for Sunday brunch?

Re: HARRY POTTER

I wonder if people are assuming it's impossible to get in, and possibly too expensive when they do?

It's such a crashing bore. I don't wish it ill will, but I don't wish it well either.

Best actor in a play is actually very competitive with Garfield/Rylance/Parker/Hollander as locks and I'd have thought Denzel didn't have a prayer until the reviews came out -- then again, he was snubbed in 2014 and is loathed in and around Bway, so maybe he will be snubbed again

Hardly Plotter is a complete dud to sit through, really just a slog!

[quote]Realistically it is could be among the last times to have seen her perform live

Catch me next year when I start the 40th Anniversary Sweeney Todd tour, followed by the 55th Anniversary Mame Tour in 2020!

Harry Potter doesn't feel like a hit... it's going to get more nominations this morning than anything else, but it still doesn't feel like a hit. Truly odd.

Does Harry Potter feel like a hit?

If they pass over George C Wolfe it will prove Broadway's racism. I hope the noms celebrate diversity.

It sounds like Liberace is typing on these threads sometimes i swear. Divine. Darling. A treasure. Lmao. Angela lansbury. I'm sure her singing sounded really pretty.

R102,

Sod off.

Wolfe already has a Tony, and a richly deserved one, but his work on ICEMAN is sub-par at best.

People crying diversity at every turn will backfire. In fact, with comments like yours, it's already starting.

[quote]I hope the noms celebrate diversity.

Rather than quality in the art of making plays?

anyone else having a hard time watching the nominations live online?

Where are you looking, r106?

Live on Tony Awards website

Has Scott Rudin ever sat down for an interview? I can't recall ever seeing either a filmed one or even an interview for publication.

Yes Rudin was interviewed on NPR and was very interesting indeed.

WHy can't anyone pronounce HAMMERSTEIN correctly !!!!

r110 "Steen" or "Stine"?

She pronounced it "Steen." Was that correct?

STEIN.

by which I meant STINE.

Any truth to Angie doing an encore of her recent #metoo victim blaming speech?

Just watched the Tony nominations announcement. Leslie Odom apparently does not know how to pronounce Oscar Hammerstein’s name. Katherine McPhee couldn’t pronounce anyone’s name correctly but somehow it was charming, I think because she was mortified but kept going.

Carousel got more acting nominations than any other show. Huh.

There was a celebrated deli in Pittsburgh, PA, named Weinstein's. The two "ein"s were pronounced differently. I, being from elsewhere, called it WINESTINE's, and was generally corrected.

[QUOTE]BREAKING: 'Mean Girls' and 'SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical' lead Tony Awards nominations with 12 nods each.

Well I'll just add that to my list of reasons to die.

TIME TO SAVE BROADWAY

Oh Broadway. Have you sunken so low?

Donna Summer got more acting nominations (2 )than Frozen (0).

Pathetic.

Well, the Twitterverse seem genuinely pleased.....oh, wait: WTF doesn't mean "why, that's fantastic"?

There were hardly any new musicals this year with all of the holdovers.

Poor Joshua Jackson - he should have been nominated instead of Jamie Parker or the overrated Mark Rylance who parlayed his usual tics in FARINELLI. The guy playing Farinelli was much better.

Oh come on, admit that you felt a bit of schadenfreude over Patti Murin not getting a nomination for Frozen. They even expanded the cateoto six noms. So much for that anxiety attack.

the attack came from seeing into the future

Pacey was in a play?

Im being lazy: was Wolf nominated?

So fetching.

Yes, he was.

thanks!

6 actress musical noms, and only 4 for the men? Lol. Hilarious Frozen was shut out. People HATE Patsy Urine.

Thought Jack O'Brian would be nominated just for being JO.

Same old people and their friends. Ashley Park and Taylor louderman over the other actors in once on this island? No nomination for belize in angels? What a joke.

Poor poor Patzi, they better lock up the Grey Goose and double the Wellbutrin!

It’s kinda sad that they expanded to 6 nominees and despite being nominated by Outer Critics, Drama Desk and Drama League, Patti Murin was STILL snubbed. They must hate her.

Also interesting that Amy Schumer received a lead Tony nomination whereas DL fave Laura Benanti was snubbed in supporting, despite getting the better reviews.

Have they ever expanded to six nominees before? It really is kind of stupid.

Frozen really wasn’t embraced, it’s so bad, but Mean Girls is worse, but they want that Tina Fey star power for season, I knew it, but The Band’s Visit will win.

Poor Harry Potter doesn't even get to say its the most nominated play this year!

The Band's Visit wins musical, book, score, Katrina Lenk, and maybe Tony Shalhoub. Also maybe David Cromer. Guaranteed four, possible 6 or 7.

Thank you and bless you, r105.

Time to declare a moratorium on the Best Score category until further notice.

Biggest snub was Seth Numrich for "Travesties", but I hope David Morse kicks Nathan's ass.

AiA isn’t getting anything. R139 is probably right.

Poor Allison Pill. Three Tall Women. Only 2 Tall nominees

And of course Renée Fleming was nominated despite very mediocre reviews. Poor Lea Salonga and Kerry Butler.

The lineup of best new musical nominees this year is really sad. Have no desire to see any of them except The Band's Visit.

Any speculation on why they had to expand the nominees to 6 in the best actress in a musical category? Was it to squeeze in another mean girl? Was there a tie?

With 6 Best Actress in a Musical nominations there must have been widespread agreement to shaft Frizen, despite our Patti’s very good reviews.

To piss off Patti Murin even more. “Poor dear didn’t even get nominated with a larger field.”

In all fairness, r143, Pill's role is the weakest writing in the play.

Will Patti Murin take a personal day to adjust to be being a non nominee?

And Colin Donnell has never been nominated either. Poor Patti.

Patti Murin will be fine, she’ll be hyperventilating over FaceTime with Colin’s swollen cock and a nice Pinot.

Must really kill Patti to see Lindsay Mendez, one her Nerds BFFs, get nominated for such a "meh" role.

Patti seems ok. Kind of.

Amazing that she thinks she’s entitled to a nomination.

Well, Broadway doesn't go for anxiety fueled sick days and message board censorship. Now you get outta my way, I got a Tony nomination campaign waitin' for me.

Public reaction is one thing. Closed door reaction is another. Not being snarky, but this has to be devastating for her especially with 6 nominees

For an egomaniac like Murin, this will send her into a Chardonnay sickday and then some.

It is sad tbh because I think her posting about her anxiety attack may have sunk her

R150-Do you mean the way NPH called out sick for the evening performance on the Tuesday he didn't get a nomination for "Assassins"?

Really who really cares who Patti M is or how she is feeling, she’s got three Broadway credits to her name and they were basically all duds, she’s a non-persona.

[r160] hmmmm see that’s the kind of gossip I miss on DL. What’s the story there?

Any WOM on first preview of "Boys in the Band"? Any nudity?

R150, Ann Crumb did.

Neil is not the "nice guy" he purports to be. Called in sick that morning right after nominations were announced. Was fine the next day.

I don't see how calling out relates to not being a nice guy. Because he disappointed fans? Did he have fans in the early 00s?

Benanti doesn't get Eliza and then gets snubbed for a Tony nom whilst her co-star Amy Schumer of all people gets nominated along with Eliza Doolittle herself Lauren Ambrose.

Ouch.

"Mean Girls" is like "Kinky Boots", not very good, but the pedigree must be rewarded.

Husband of Tina Fey is the same pedigree as Cyndi Lauper??

I saw a 1956 Rodgers & Hammerstein guest spot from What's My Line? on YouTube a while back. Bennett Cerf says "Poor Oscar's been trying to get that name pronounced 'Hammerstine' now for 15 years, and people still say 'Hammersteen'". Arlene and Cer had previously said "Hammersteen", whily Daly pronounced it both ways (I guess, influrnced by the other two).

So... did Hammerstein change the pronunciation? And if the What's My Liners couldn't keep it straight in the duo's prime, what hope do the rest of us have?!

The problem with this year’s Tonys? They haven’t really started much of a conversation.

The Schumer nomination is just mind-boggling. They’re basically admitting there were only three decent performances from Leading Actresses all season.

At least no one pronounces it HammerSTONE.

Why does "Angels in America" have a nomination for Best Original Score?

I'm incredibly happy Pace did not get a nomination.

[quote]Why does "Angels in America" have a nomination for Best Original Score?

Because there was a dearth of musicals this season, so they had to grab at the incidental music from a play to round out the category. Plays have gotten Best Score nominations in the past, I think.

Everybody loves Tracie, but we did Judy too!

Michael Arden, two time Best Director nominee.

It needed to be said.

And he may be the front runner ...

R175 Someone 5'5" instead of Lee Pace's 6'5".

Speaking of call outs, Patti LuPone is the queen. One day in London, while she was doing her laundry, she turned on the radio and heard her own voice singing "I Dreamed A Dream." She called out sick for two weeks.

When London Sunset Boulevard opened the box office, the hold music was Barbra Streisand singing "With One Look." Patti nearly had a stroke.

Pass the smelling salts, Ma. They couldn't find a reason to give an award to Audra McDonald?

Wasn’t there also a rumor of her going into a rage when she wasn’t nominated for “The Old Neighborhood?”

R175 Does he owe you money or did your boyfriend scream his name in bed?

Pace could be petty in response and keep his clothes on all week.

How about adding a Tony category for best nude performance?

"The Schumer nomination is just mind-boggling. They’re basically admitting there were only three decent performances from Leading Actresses all season."

It was a comedy, not Macbeth and she got huge laughs. What's not to get?

La Mama gets a Tony? Is that flea bag even still open? Who voted for this? The stoners from the balcony of SpongeBob?

[quote]How about adding a Tony category for best nude performance?

That could be Angie Lansbury's final Tony!

I'm available!

Everyone's boyfriend has shouted Lee Pace's name in bed... he gets around

What a dreary Tony Awards ceremony it's going to be this year...

Everyone's nightmare is "The Best Musical is....Spongebob Squarepants!" You'll hear show queens jumping off the balcony of Radio City if that happens.

If WARPAINT has been this season, it would have gotten a lot more nominations, and maybe some wins.

If Hamilton was nominated it would have lost to Mean Girls

Timing is everything!

R190 Is that actual gossip or wishful thinking?

I liked ANGELS, and admired the acting across the board.

But nominating the "incidental music" (which was cheesy and terrible) for Best Score is just absurd.

I didn't like the sets very much, either.

[quote]The problem with this year’s Tonys? They haven’t really started much of a conversation.

Not gonna start much watching, either.

Spongebob is the best of the nominated lot. Mean Girls is DOA, Bands Visit is a great nap and Frozen is dreck. Spongebob has a great story and music.

NO desire to visit that band.

[quote]NO desire to visit that band.

You'd rather visit the Band with the Boys in it?

Oh god no!

The world has moved on while Broadway just repeats.

Schumer only got a nomination so they could have a little star power at the ceremony. same w/ Denzel. Schumer cannot act to save her life.

Really R186? “What’s not to get?” Apparently exactly what she didn’t get - good reviews!

Was Amy's/Steve Martin's play so bad it didn't merit a nom?

BEST PLAY is really... depressing. Particularly for anyone who cares about new American plays.

Schumer got the nomination because everyone knows the award already belongs to Glenda Jackson. They just had to round out the category with people who won't negatively affect the Tonys when they lose and since Schumer will never be on Broadway again, it's not a problem. Same with the "Lesser God" woman. She's not going to say anything when she loses.

It's ok. Next year, an American play, "The Inheritance", will beat the shit out of "The Ferryman", "Girl From The North Country" (once Oskar moves it) and "Ink". Unless Bart Sher actually gets to direct "To Kill A Mockingbird"., after the Harper Lee estate kicks his ass to the curb.

I think Ambrose may win over Lenk. I'd be happy with either of them.

Amy Shumer's nomination is there so she can add some star power to the broadcast. Which will get far fewer viewers this year - bank on it.

Sad when Amy Schumer is considered star power for a theater awards ceremony.

And now.......

Miss Kitt and her lofty goals

Charlotte St. Martin ALWAYS makes sure star Power is given a nomination, as she wisps, “its a commercial not a celebration”, Mean Girls doesn’t deserve anywhere near the amount of nods it received.

Spongebob is this season's STEEL PIER or SHUFFLE ALONG . Tons of nominations, no wins.

r211, you answered the second part of your response in the first sentence. Mean Girls = Tina Fey.

Jesse Green said there was a near tie for Best Actress in a Musical which led to the 6 nominees. He assumes Patti and Caissie split the vote and were both left out.

I just assumed the Tony nominating committee worried Patsy Murin would have a panic attack and so they called in for her.

It all just stinks.

The screening committe had a choice between Amy Schumer and a horse talking a big old dump. How did the horse lose?

On top of everything else that stinks, this particularly stinks.

Best Performance by A Leading Actress in the Fetal Position on a Two Show Day goooooooeeeesss to, Patzi Mornin!

Desperate Disney issues a press release bragging about Frozen's "3" Tony nominations. Embarrassing. They were lucky to get the 3.

Which one will take Tony home, Fleming or Rigg?

Interestingly John Leguizamo and Bruce Springsteen are getting special Tonys...yet the only other special event, Michael Moore Trump show didn’t get one.

Amy Schumer, what a fucking joke. Just keep the three or two whom deserved theirs.

But it says a lot about the current state of Broadway when SpongeBob Squarepants and Mean Girls get the most Tony nominations. No one has any right to criticize Hamilton again.

Lindsay Lohan is probably calling Tony producers right now asking for a slot on the show.

LaChanze will be getting her second Tony award for Donna Summer.

Glenda for Best Actress in a Play.

R177, yes, Isabel, you were much, much better than Tracie.

R141, Seth Numrich's performance was all surface in TRAVESTIES. He has a nice surface but he was the weak link in that cast.

[quote]Really [R186]? “What’s not to get?” Apparently exactly what she didn’t get - good reviews!

REVIEWS!?! How old are you Grampa? Do you still hang out at Sardi's waiting for the late edition while having drinks with Margo Channing? No one but old theater queens care about some stranger's opinion on a show anymore. By the time someone buys tickets, they've been to the website, saw footage from the rehearsal, backstage interviews, clips from scenes and sometimes even music clips and know they want to see it. No one has to rely on a full page Sunday Times full of reviews anyway. Critics are dinosaurs as apparently you are too..

But who will be receiving the coveted Sarah Siddons Award, r227?

Somebody get me Henry Hodges hole, I gotta get rid of this frustration before the Tony meet n’ greet!

Oh. He's back.

More low class proof of our times.....when the hosts of nominations cannot even pronounce simple 3 syllable names. Then giggle about their stupidity.

What? No discussion yet of Jake Gyllenhaal playing Lenny Bernstein, another faygele?

Tony winner Katrina Lenk just doesn’t feel right.

But then again Lead Musical Actress Lauren Ambrose doesn’t feel too good either.

Oops...LINK!

And on this day of the nominations--

the next generation

Singing the songs of today.

THOUGHTS?

Before I die, I am going to get to watch Jake Gyllenhaal conduct Mahler? Then I can go to heaven.

I didn't see the noms - can someone explain how it is possible to mispronounce Spongebob

Chita Rivera and Andrew Lloyd Webber are both getting special Tonys - I think lifetime achievement or something like that.

R235 Just kill me now.

R234 ....there better be anal

Try a different exhortation. That one has been overused.

So basically any of the also-ran Best Musical nominees from last year — Come From Away, Groundhog Day, The Great Comet — would have swept the board if they had opened this year.

It's all in the timing.

Any truth to the rumor that Chita will be stripped of her previous awards for not being Puerto Rican enough for WSS?

Is Murin calling out tonight?

Luke Evans at press night of CHESS tonight in London. He was having a pee after the show just along from me but I was too shy to sneak a peek. Was with the boyfie,

[quote]Michael Arden, two time Best Director nominee. And he may be the front runner ...

Michael’s “golden” reputation will never trump my thick nine inches!

I saw Once On This Island tonight. Great show. Could easily win Revival. Alex Newell was out. Wonder if he was pissed he wasn't nominated?

Oh, and Datalounge fave, Stephanie J. Block, was in the audience - with hubby Sebastian Arcelius from House of Cards.

Arcelus is on Madam Secretary now and he’s boring as hell.

[quote]Must really kill Patti to see Lindsay Mendez, one her Nerds BFFs, get nominated for such a "meh" role.

Meh? Julie Jordan should only have a solo as great as “Mister Snow”.

Whoa..........Joshua Henry HAS A WIFE? And she is white!!!! And a woman?!

I specifically remember when I saw him in The Scottsboro Boys off-Broadway - I was blown away by how talented and handsome he was and I swear I remember everyone here said he was gay. When did he get straight?

Joshua Henry wasn't in THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS Off-Broadway; that was Brandon Victor Dixon. Henry did the show on Broadway only because Dixon was scheduled to play Ray Charles in the musical about his life.

It's a good sized dick. The girth is more impressive than the length. I wonder if he's still smooth all over.

[quote]Amy Shumer's nomination is there so she can add some star power to the broadcast. Which will get far fewer viewers this year - bank on it.

I don't really think that the Tony broadcast will be short on star wattage this year. If CBS can bag them all, it should have Amy Schumer, Bruce Springsteen, Denzel, Nathan Lane, Andrew Garfield, and Tina Fey (who will likely win book of a musical), to name a few. That might be good for one or two extra ratings points, particularly if Bruce sings (and I'm sure CBS will spare nothing to make sure that happens).

It's bullshit that Nathan Stewart-Jarrett was not nominated for AiA. He is great as Belize and was much more deserving of a nom than Denise Gough.

[quote]Everyone's nightmare is "The Best Musical is....Spongebob Squarepants!" You'll hear show queens jumping off the balcony of Radio City if that happens.

Too funny and yet so true.

Whose dick are you talking about, r253?

Luke Evans'.

[quote] I saw Once On This Island tonight. Great show. Could easily win Revival. Alex Newell was out. Wonder if he was pissed he wasn't nominated?

I saw it Sunday night and Alex was out, so he may be sick.

Poor Lea Salonga. She gave interviews saying a reason she did the show was because she was original cast, she would be eligible for awards...and nada

Anyone doing a show so they can win an award is nuts. You know what they say about people who assume .....

Doesn’t Lea Salonga already have one Tony for Miss Saigon? Greedy bitch.

Really?!

Nothing about Jake playing Lenny?

In a "five part symphony," no less?

Maestro would salivate at the casting, natch...

But, the question remains: will the man go into the man?

No one cares, R263. Maybe once it gets made but what is there to talk about, really? Do you work for the studio?

There's never been a Bernstein biopic and he is an undeniable American icon of the 20th century... and, if they do it truthfully, a gay/bi hero, too.

Did you get fired by the studio, R264?

Here is a thread for you to discuss it with the other person who would want to.

Thanks, R266! I hope SPONGEBOB is headed for the screen next - what a hot season to discuss in detail!

r267 Which studio is Spongebob-worthy?

Weinstein Company, R268.

It's a sad day for Broadway when Mean Girls and Spongebob lead the way for musicals and Harry Potter leads for plays.

There seems to be clear consensus that The Children was the best new play on Broadway this past season. But it came and went, and why do I have the terrible feeling that most of the Tony voters will be filing into town over the next few weeks and didn't bother to see that play at all?

R184 Sweetie, we wouldn't miss anything. For someone 6'5, he has the dick of a man 5'6.

WOULD YOU PEOPLE GET IT RIGHT???!!!!

IT'S SpOOOONGE Bob! And HamerstEEN!

THANKS!

Speaking of Amy Schumer, how was it possible that Meteor Shower ended up losing money???

I heard that Howard Kagan has put in a 350 million bid to buy Harvey Weinstein's company. Where does all of Kagan's money come from and how can he have any left after his Broadway producing ventures?

r571 I'm just over 5 foot 6 and I'm hung over 8 and thick so there goes your theory

sorry meant r271

Two very lovely qualities, r275. You'd go in my reading pile.

Certainly she deserves a Tony. Or an Emmy. Or both?

[quote]yet the only other special event, Michael Moore Trump show didn’t get one.

That's because it was a shit show. You can turn on the tv and hear people bitch about Trump for free. Why would you want to go out to the theater, pay $150 and listen to someone complain about Trump? If he had used puppets or had something funny to say, then people may have been inclined. But it was just that fat fuck up there complaining.

I have it on good authority that Patti Murin has already telephoned the nominees and volunteered to accept their award in case they are not able to make it to the ceremony.

I also have it on good authority that Lauren Ambrose refused to take her call and Patti could hear Lauren in the background yelling at her assistant to "Hang up on that no talent loser."

R263, the Lenny B biopic was discussed upthread.

"a gay/bi hero, too."

Did the above poster actually call Leonard Bernstein a hero? In what universe?

Will DL fave Robbie Fairchild present at the Tonys this year?

Wait a minute- McPhee actually said Spoonge?

Let me tell you, Patti Murin was enraged she was passed over, make NO mistake, the woman is a handful of insecurity and bile behind closed doors...or the far corner of the rehearsal room. She’s also a well known fat shamer and enjoys the occasional “retard” joke. Not nice.

R285, then she shouldn’t have MARRIED a fat retard. Some people are such HYPOCRITES!

Patti M must have something because she survived a long Frozen gestation process and won a role that tons of actresses would have killed for. Plus, Betsy Wolfe was replaced because she and Patti didn’t have the right chemistry.

Plus, Patti got consistently very good reviews.

Betsy Wolfe has had several options announced only to suddenly dry up since then.

Is she under new management?

Here you go R284

SpOOOONGE Bob it is!

As well as HamerstEEN!

I haven’t seen Frozen but I assumed the role of Elsa would be a lock for a nomination.

Patti Murin is a “fat shamer”? Patti Murin is such a fat girl’s name.

Maybe she was a fat kid.

Elsa is sort of a supporting role. She gets the big song but Anna really has more to do. If they put Cassie in featured she might have gotten one.

R293, I don’t know. I liked the Anna from the movie better. She was more three-dimensional than Murin.

Oh, I thought you guys were saying she didn't know how to say the word sponge. She just had a mouth incident and realized it immediately and made fun of herself about it. Who hasn't done that? But yes, neither of them knew how to say Hammerstein. She also called Nell Benjamin "Neil" Benjamin, but corrected herself at the end of the category. I thought she was nervous and somewhat charmingly so. And this is from someone who has actively loathed McPhee since her American Idol days.

R287, Oh Patti knows how to play the game when it comes to ass kissing the creative team, and you can stuff all those “great notices” away for good because she didn’t get a Tony nod, so all else is now mute.

.......

oh, jesus. the malapropisms on this board never fail to amaze me.

[quote]Will DL fave Robbie Fairchild present at the Tonys this year?

Only his hole.

The Hammerstein pronunciation problem would not exist if his estate didn't insist on adding the name to the title of his works. It's not as if he was nominated for anything this year.

You're all missing the greatest bit of theater to hit this week

RONAN WINS PULITZER FOR WEINSTEIN SCANDAL EXPOSE!

It just doesnt get better.

That's because that news hit two weeks ago, R301.

thats the point!

We're doin it Broadway style---weeks and years too late

It's time for an all male revival of Oh! Calcutta!

R304, have Sergio Trujillo direct it with an all Latin cast. Oh Caluncutta.

R305, LMM can star...unless he’s been “Anglicized.”

Who cares about the Tonys?? I just love to dance and sing!!

R179 Whoever they are, they are suspiciously bitter.

I don’t have time for Tony awards. I’m too busy singing in concert “Fever” for the 80th “very first time”

[quote]It's time for an all male revival of Oh! Calcutta!

Directed by Michael Arden, revival expert.

Word to the wise: Don't sit in the Splash Zone without a poncho.

R310, Urinetown’s due for a revival... hmm...

Spongebob's worst nightmare is these nominations. They've been hemorrhaging money since they opened, and except for family vacation weeks, have lost hundreds of thousands per week. Their nut is at least $750,000. The night I saw it the theatre was half empty. Now they'll spend another million on awards they won't win, and do okay during the tourist summer but die big in the Fall. Welcome to Broadway, Viacom!

Every time some blowhard show queen Methuseleh talks about a show’s nut I literally want to jump off a roof.

I'll hold your coat, r313.

How sweet is this. 92 year old Angie singing at Howard Ashman's NY Pops concert.

Alan Menken's NY Pops concert, that should read. Though, of course, many of the songs were Ashman's as well.

Just lovely.

She walks like she's afraid of falling....I hope she's ok.

[quote]She walks like she's afraid of falling....I hope she's ok.

She's 92, r315. She should be afraid of falling. Having said that, she looked sure of herself to me.

[quote]Angie singing at Howard Ashman's NY Pops concert.

Beats singing at Howard Johnson's.

So it’s Katrina vs Lauren for the Tony?

No, it's Katrina vs Katrina. Lauren ain't getting nowhere near that trophy.

Just saw her on American Idol as a coach:

That Idina Menzel has some BEAUTIFUL eyes.

Stunning actually.

She's also a truly kind person.

I say this from having met her.

Not a bad bone....

She is a kind person r322 and beautiful. I didn’t see her on Idol. She used to have plain brown eyes. If she got herself colored contacts they must be good ones.

Idina is incredibly down to earth and shockingly normal, especially given her decades-long success...

She's still just the Jersey wedding singer at heart. Refreshing.

I mean, original lead of RENT and WICKED, plus the best parts of GLEE and FROZEN...

Nobody on Broadway has a resume to even come close, not even J Groff (yet) or LuPone.

And, yes, surprisingly striking and pretty in person. Sexy, too.

I'd call her a handsome woman, but that has iffy connotation these days (always?).

Um, ok.

Who gives a fuck about Idina? She's old news. And not in the "Follies" kind of way.

[quote]Nobody on Broadway has a resume to even come close, not even J Groff (yet) or LuPone.

This comment is so dumb, I'm not even going to "Sure, Jan" it. Idina does not come close to the work that Patti LuPone has done.

Not even counting the revivals, here are the shows that Patti originated on Broadway:

The Robber Bridegroom

The Water Engine

Working

Evita

Accidental Death of An Anarchist

The Old Neighborhood

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

The Anarchist

War Paint

[quote]Nobody on Broadway has a resume to even come close, not even J Groff (yet) or LuPone.

Really? Patti and Bernadette each have two Tonys and many, many starting vehicles to their credit. TV and films too.

Audra has six Tonys.

Idina’s take looks paltry next to those three.

Idina is a divine star. Rent, Wicked and Frozen are all juggernauts.

[Quote] Not a bad bone....

We've all seen her jawbone so we know that's a lie.

[quote]Beats singing at Howard Johnson's.

Not to mention staying there.

Patti LuPone hasn't done anything as big as Rent—or as big as Frozen—or as big as Wicked. Those are all cultural phenomena, and Idina is central to all three. I can see where the poster is coming from in saying Patti's resume doesn't stack up in terms of sheer cultural impact.

Maybe Evita comes close, but not really. Plus, most laymen would probably most associate Madonna with the role.

[quote] Patti LuPone hasn't done anything as big as Rent—or as big as Frozen—or as big as Wicked. Those are all cultural phenomena, and Idina is central to all three. I can see where the poster is coming from in saying Patti's resume doesn't stack up in terms of sheer cultural impact.

Honey, Idina was NOT central to Rent. She was a supporting player at best. And as far as Wicked, the show is the star. She may have won a Tony for it, but no one going to see it for the past decade + gives a shit about her.

It makes me sad to think Idina will be remembered as a Broadway diva of this era. "I am more than the notes I hit"

R332 is the Idina Troll who is well known to us under another name ...

[quote]It makes me sad to think Idina will be remembered as a Broadway diva of this era.

Don’t fret your poor little head about it - she definitely won’t be remembered as a Broadway diva. Her contributions in that area are minuscule,

I'm not the Idina troll, and I didn't know there was one. I was just giving my opinion on the topic at hand.

I know it's fun for some of DL to hate on Idina, but if any of you were present for the EFA Easter Bonnet event, you'd understand why the community (ie, people that work in and actually LOVE the theatre) continue to love her.

She performed "For Good" from WICKED with a physically disabled actress she had befriended. And she was generous enough to give her friend the spotlight, in every sense, despite her powerhouse voice and presence.

Love her or loathe her, Idina is a serious FORCE on Broadway.

The only reason anyone thinks of Idina Menzel (if they think of her at all) is because of two words.

Adele Dazeem.

That's basically one level up from reality show person.

I think Idina is fine. But Patti, like her or not, is a force of nature.

If musicals were included in BoxOffice Mojo's assessment of how major studios hits were ranked Lion King the Stage Musical would dominate Disney's chart with over 7 billion gross. Wicked would be Universal's number one hit with something over 3 billion.

The only woman who has really done better than Idina in these terms is Heather Headley. (Lion King and Aida.)

Chenoweth and Jennifer Laura Thompson are obviously quite close because they were Glinda to her Elphaba. (Unlike Cheno - JLT is now the bigger Glinda because she took 'smaller' roles in better projects so her Broadway career now includes Urinetown, Wicked and Dear Evan Hansen. Cheno burned off her star power with dreadful revivals while Kelly O'Hara did polished perfect revivals. Cheno wasn't really even 'best girl' any more when her elderly singing teacher visited Broadway to see how her sopranos were doing before retiring.)

Patti LuPone is much more of a diva and a Broadway legend while really being another first rate working actor who prefers theater -- but she didn't even technically originate her biggest original role.

It is really weird. Idina Menzel is really huge as a worldwide 'Broadway star' phenomenon but she does seem to present herself as a wedding singer who will also do bar mitzvahs, hospital fundraisers, random book signings, NFL national anthems, major career defining Broadway musicals and the occasional hail mary cash grabs by floundering movie studios.

[quote]She performed "For Good" from WICKED with a physically disabled actress she had befriended

Splatsy Urine?

Idina is fugly and has fucked up numerous live performances. She’s a party trick, at best.

Except it doesn't work like that, R341. And even when Box Office Mojo does that kind of ranking for actors it doesn't work, because they will factor in the box office of a huge hit for an actor who was possibly supporting or barely even in it and whose career that hit had little to no bearing on.

But that figuring especially doesn't work for theater actors because those shows go on to run years and years, with several touring and international productions that have nothing to do with the original cast. It's like saying Terrence Mann is a legendary Broadway player because he was in the original company of Cats.

Go ahead and hate, haters.

That appearance was memorable, heartfelt, and incredibly touching. I just wish I could find video.

Between RENT, WICKED, FROZEN, and her appearances on GLEE: do you have any idea how many young theatre fans Idina has reached?

Agreed r345

[quote] Between RENT, WICKED, FROZEN, and her appearances on GLEE: do you have any idea how many young theatre fans Idina has reached?

I'll bet Anthony Rapp touched more young theater fans.

No that would be Kevin Spacey r347

I'd bet you'd be wrong on that. Ask the backstage doormen during the run of Rent.

Here she is-49 seconds in.

Look at those eyes!

I'm not a HUGE fan, but I know she is one of the few from the NEWER (sorry Pattie) generation to become so well known.

And while WICKED is the star, SHE was AMAZING and her performance singular and definitive in it!

What other name is the Idina troll known as? (I am definitely pro- Idina but showed up late to this party after accusations of troll-dom had been leveled.)

R344 Idina's role in RENT WAS big. Musetta is not a minor nothing character and Maureen follows that. Idina was the LEAD in Wicked and no matter where they put her name on the DVD or how little they planned on paying her, the Snow Queen was the star of Frozen. I'm just pointing out that in actual financial terms she had made a LOT of money for the big studios. More than any movie star. She is a very big 'star' in terms of having had mega hits which is shocking because Broadway shows take a long time to develop. She has also managed not to punish many Broadway producers with underperforming flops or erratic behavior -- she stuck with If/Then until it recouped.

Someone on datalounge described her current 'look' (and persona) as "retired art teacher." I can see why that would upset some people. But it doesn't change what she is.

Stop trying to make Idina happen

Let's not forget Idina followed up her WICKED Tony win with the provocative Public Theater musical SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE, originally written for Audra, and, now, she is taking on a similarly low-key role as the lead of Josh Harmon's SKINTIGHT Off-Broadway for a limited run, fresh off her tour with Josh Groban that no doubt will be a gigantic money-maker for all involved. She obviously actually gives a fuck about doing new, interesting work in the theatre when she could be just coasting doing select TV/movie appearances and concerts (something Patti and Kristin would kill to do on the same level, roles reversed). Please don't compare Kristin's recurring roles on flops or Patti's one-offs on "prestige projects" in the same stratosphere as huge hits like GLEE and ENCHANTED. Actually, both Kristin and Patti appeared on GLEE, too, and does anybody even remember them? Yet, Idina's tracks are among the top Billboard songs of the last 20 years (GLEE is top-selling artist in history). All that aside, she clearly seems concerned with building a resume and a legacy... and, like it or not, she has already.

Someone “makes a lot of money” for a producer when he/she is the reason for people coming to see that show. Bette in Dolly qualifies, as does Jake in SITPWG. Wicked and Rent being successful has nothing to do with Idina. If/Then, yes, she’s the reason it didn’t close immediately, but she couldn’t make it a hit. And Frozen likewise was a huge hit but not because of Idina.

And now “enchanted” is Idina’s, too? That one is Amy Adams’ success, not Menzel’s, who played a decidedly secondary role as the vapid, ugly girlfriend. It could have been anyone.

I think we could use less of “Morito” on this thread.

Idina, IIRC, was pretty selfless about ENCHANTED. Yes, it was a secondary role (and Amy was adorable), but Idina promoted it, even after her one song got cut.

I love her, and she's clearly in this for the long haul.

Enchanted was entirely Amy Adams' success -- but if they really don't bring back Idina for Disenchanted as the new Evil Queen who also didn't happily ever after then they deserve to fail.

Idina as Mame...

Eisenhower

[quote]And Frozen likewise was a huge hit but not because of Idina.

No one is suggesting it was a hit because of her. But, because it was a huge hit, her voice was heard everywhere for over a year. "Let It Go" was inescapable. Pretty much every child in America would recognize her voice immediately if she started singing. She's gotten incredibly lucky, sure, and good for her.

I'm not the Idina troll but an older Millennial woman I work with is OBSESSED with her.

She does seem very grounded and approachable and I like that she tries out unusual material. I saw her at Vassar about 10 summers ago in a Duncan Sheik workshop that never went anywhere. And she only had one song.

I also have great sympathy for her because I think Taye Diggs and his relentless philandering put her through personal hell.

So what would the RENT doorman say about Anthony Rapp? Boys?

Idina is cool....

I saw aiding in her act about three years ago. She came out barefoot and sang a bunch of awful songs. (She did not do Let it Go). Just as boring as fuck. Not a fan.

[quote]No one is suggesting it was a hit because of her.

Yes you did. She said she made the big studios a lot of money and specifically quoted Frozen and Enchanted. She had literally NOTHING to do with all the money those two films brought in. They were not sold on her name and they were not money making hits because of her. SHE didn’t make anyone any money with those films.

Idina Menzel *Is* Sally Durant Plummer

Patti LuPone created the iconic Evita pose with arms held in a V. Nobody in the London production even grasped how theatrical Evita could be. Elaine Paige, by her own admission, couldn't even haul the dress up to the playing area, she had to be lifted up there. When Idina comes up with something so big that it redefines the character and is copied zillions of times over, then we'll talk about greatness.

But nobody under age 40 knew who Patti was at the Grammys this past year and they all know who Idina is.

It's the grammys, for godsake. that audience doesn't know from theater.

Ok so the bigger star is Idina and the bigger musical theatre star is Patti?

Was Patti a household name back in the day? Perhaps she was - Bernadette Peters certainly was.

Idina sings like a coyote howling at the moon, she's difficult to look at with that lantern jaw, and she can't act.

But if that's what qualifies as Stardom in the Kardashian era, then by all means, She's A Star!

In a world as rife with idiocy as this one, the Idina is The Greatest Star argument stands out. You're not even arguing the substantive merits of Menzel and LuPone; you're just stamping your little feets and shrieking "is not!" "is too" "I hate you, you stupidhead."

Jaysus.

All I know about Idina Mendel is when Amy Adams opened the door in Enchanted and people in my theater in NYC literally gasped and reared back in horror. A little girl sitting in front of me turned to her mother and winced “mommy?” as her mother clutched her protectively. I’m not joking.

She’s fine in the theater but on the big screen, she’s a terror.

omigod make it stop

Is this the role that will make Aaron Tveit a star? His hair looks awful.

He had his chance when he managed to steal the spotlight from Eddie Redmayne in Les Mis yet either him or his agent completely failed to capitalize on it correctly.

Aaron Tveit is such a bizarre case.

Straight...check

Handsome...check

Can carry a tune and act...check

Yet his career is not a one of note.

To quote HRC, “What happened?”

Went for mediocre TV when he should have stayed with theatre and film.

Now most of his fans have moved onto younger, hotter Broadway babies.

r376 It seems the chorus was told they were singing a dirge.

[r379] yeah but who replaced him? Who are the hot leading men in musicals today? (hence only 4 nominees)

I'd say Derek Klena is the main Tveit replacement. Doesn't mean he's getting Tony noms, but then Aaron never did either.

[quote]Was Patti a household name back in the day? Perhaps she was - Bernadette Peters certainly was.

Bernadette hit the culture wave at just the right time. She was on every variety show and her kewpie doll looks propelled her to be a household name. She was on everything from Carol Burnett to All In The Family.

Patti struggled along in theater. She didn't have a beautiful look for tv and movies. Evita made her a star in NYC. But it took her until 1987 - 1989 to begin to get recognized outside of Broadway. In 1987, she played Lady Bird Johnson on tv in "LBJ" and they played the commercial to advertise it constantly and she got recognition from her line "That's what I'd like to know every night at dinner, buster." Imagine watching tv for two hours per night and hearing that at every commercial break. Six-eight times per night.

And then in 1989 "Driving Miss Daisy" movie came out, and while that wasn't a blockbuster, it got her recognition. And she started to be considered for more tv and movie roles. So it took Patti a good 10 years from Evita to recognition.

R378, no actor becomes a star anymore. Reality TV personalities are our stars now. Water cooler conversation in 2018 is Trump Trump Trump, sports, reality TV, news about shootings and #metoo. The days of swooning over Tom and Nicole’s latest intrigue or even Brad and Angelina are over. It’s reality now: Megan and Harry, Kim and Kanye...etc. There are diminishing returns for actors every single day. It’s sadly, OVER.

r384 is right and I think that is why Hollywood is doing more crazy things. They feed on attention and when they don't get it in the positive, they start doing things to get negative attention. Like saying they will pack up and leave the US if Trump is elected or adopting 50 children or taking up a "cause" like global warming or gun control that they have no idea about and really have no concern about.

[quote]Straight...check

I thought Aaron Tveit liked twinks. That a new one fucked his hole every night in LIC.

Sports are having year over year declines, just like the arts R384. They’re in serious trouble and they don’t know how to reverse it. Only the bro-est of bros and straight douches talk about sports.

One issue with Tveit is that he's not the most compelling actor out there. I saw him in COMPANY at Barrington Stage late last summer and he sang beautifully (particularly SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE), but his acting was so-so at best. He made little impression with the televised GREASE. He did do well in NEXT TO NORMAL but that was a supporting role.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN was supposed to be his star-making vehicle but Norbert Leo Butz got the acclaim and the Tony. Tveit recently did an American Songbook concert, which is probably the sort of thing he would do best. He does have a gorgeous voice.

He's hit and miss. Great in Les Mis and Next to Normal.

Tveit is vanilla. Others have made comments about the cookie cutter process that acting schools use to churn out performers. There is no "personality" anymore.

Kind of ridiculous that Mike Faist got nominated for Dear Evan Hansen and Tveit didn't for Next to Normal despite it being basically the same character but better written and better acted.

[quote]yeah but who replaced him? Who are the hot leading men in musicals today?

Darren Criss

[quote]One issue with Tveit is that he's not the most compelling actor out there.

Every time I see or hear him, I feel compelled to go into action as his sperm-removal system.

Yeah; supporting roles are where Tveit stands out, it seems. His voice is amazing. I don't like the way the moulin rouge song was arranged because that damned choir drowns him out at the end.

[quote] Kind of ridiculous that Mike Faist got nominated for Dear Evan Hansen and Tveit didn't for Next to Normal despite it being basically the same character but better written and better acted.

Faist got nominated to fill out a category.

I didn’t like Tveit’s Come What May. I preferred Euan McGregor and he’s not even a singer.

By the way, did you know that Jake G. was the runner up to Ewan for the role in th movie?

What do we think of the “Denise Gough Visits AIDS Memorial” piece in The NYT today? Pass the barf bag or canny on brand self-promoter?

Now I'll have to watch. I hope Andrew wins.

R388, please excuse my ignorance: What is SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE?

I think he means someone is waiting?

Tveit does not have emotion nor abandon when he sings: like he's afraid to open up.

Get on it Moulin people.

I'm in the midst of reading Arthur Laurent's memoir, and there is a chapter about Streisand that illustrates why most performers on Broadway are bland and don't have that star quality. Streisand's first Broadway role was Miss Marmelstein in I Can Get it for You Wholesale, a part originally written for a late-middle aged spinster. When she auditioned anyway, they realized that she had something, so they rewrote the part, added songs for her, and increased her presence in the story. She was quirky and needy and idiosyncratic, and they took advantage of that, re-writing the role to suit her talents. Nowadays, they no longer do that, and most performers' edges have been sanded down in order to fit in as many slots as possible. it's a shame. We end up with competent performers, but not that have the larger than lifer personalities that stars need to have.

Idina owes her "fame" to the dyslexic John Travolta. If not for him NO ONE, other than tween girls, would know who the hell she is.

Thanks, r400.

anytime

r401, I was reading something about Barbra auditioning for Broadway. I want to say it was Richard Rodgers doing the auditioning, but I'm not totally sure. Anyway, they said that Barbra showed up and she was dressed in quirky vintage clothing and was wearing two mismatched shoes. She sat on stage on a stool and was chewing gum, which she took out of her mouth and stuck underneath the stool seat. When the audition was over and she left, the producer (Rodgers?) went up to remove the gum from underneath the stool and saw that there wasn't any gum and he realized that it had all been a well constructed persona.

R405 that was for Arthur.

R 374

You have told that story before and it is hilarious. She really does not try very hard to be photogenic and it shows. Many people tend to fall madly in love with her anyway.

The masculine jaw and her grumpy cat glower is part of the attraction. In RENT the manly jaw helped sell her as a lady loving/Mark rejecting lesbian/most masculine girlfriend Mark could find. It also ended up being the only hint that the subtext of the story is that Mark - not Maureen - is the bad bisexual and her unpleasant antics really symbolized his relationship with the closet and denial. In Wicked her chin jutting frown contrasted with Cheno's constant face splitting grimace and they both ended up seeming like the 'more attractive/more horrifying' one.

I'm BACK, bitches! (But I'm not singing this time.)

R383

Bernadette didn't just 'happen' to find herself a part of film and TV stardom at that point in her career. She deliberately left NYC and Broadway during her earning prime and pursued the right film roles and worked her way into TV talk shows and then stopped and went back to Broadway when she got as big as she was going to get.

Isnt Menzel going to be starring in the “Jagged Little Pill” musical after it returns from ART? Seems like Alanis is a good fit for her singing voice.

Bernadette became a Broadway star at the tail end of Hollywood going to Broadway to find its next stars. Today it is the other way around.

Menzel’s face Is striking and unique and beautiful as a result.

I couldnt have said it better myself R412.

And she's also a beautiful soul, so EVERTHING gets enhanced here.

I cannot fucking believe we have an Idina Menzel troll who is just as grating as Matt Anscher.

[quote]Bernadette didn't just 'happen' to find herself a part of film and TV stardom at that point in her career.

The point I was trying to make is that Bernadette was part of the last generation that could use variety shows to become noticed. Ed Sullivan promoted Broadway shows and Broadway people could get noticed on a national level. The Carol Burnett Show ended in 1978 and I sort of think that was the death of variety shows. Obviously Bernadette started as a child actress so she had a head start, but she appeared on Carol Burnett 10 times starting with the third season in 1969. So she was able to leverage exposure that others weren't in later generations. Up until her first appearance on Carol Burnett, she had only had Broadway success in George M!

Jeezy creezy, I know the convo will change organically eventually, but can we please stop talking about that cake?!?! I mean Idina.

[quote]Tveit does not have emotion nor abandon when he sings: like he's afraid to open up.

You mean, closet-y?

Tveit is straight.

Carol Burnett used to claim that she and her show discovered Bernadette.

Carol Burnett also thinks she can sing. Carol is a little delusional.

[quote]Carol Burnett also thinks she can sing. Carol is a little delusional.

Seeing as how she originated two roles in Broadway musicals, starred in a Sondheim revue on Broadway and was asked to be part of Follies in Concert, I think someone thinks she can at least carry a tune.

Carol Channing, Elaine Stritch and Harvey Fierstein have all starred on Broadway. Carrying a tune is obviously not a serious consideration for some. Carol Burnett sings the same way she does that Tarzan yell with that weird yodeling.

Carol Burnett taught Rex Harrison how to sing.

[quote]Carol Burnett used to claim that she and her show discovered Bernadette.

I wonder if Bernadette was in the Annie movie because of Carol?

In People Magazine, Bernadette said that Carol and Merv Griffin kept her career going because when times were lean, they would always have her on their show.

I wonder if Bernadette was up for the Sally Struthers role on All in the Family.

Katrina Lenk as MAME

Think of it.

Bohemian hauteur and warmth.

Katrina Lenk will be in the next two episodes of The Good Fight.

I don't get all the Katrina Lenk love. Then again, I don't get all of the Band's Visit love. Many other shows have done the 'small' musical much better. Katrina is essentially a supporting role. She has one good song and then fades away for the most part.

She's the easy highlight of The Band's Visit which is a slog so congrats to her for that but I agree she has very little to do in comparison to Ambrose, Kilgore etc.

R426, the original choice for Gloria on AITF was Penny Marshall but Norman Lear felt that Gloria should look more like Archie than Edith and cast Struthers. Peters did a guest spot on AITF as a student who had a crush on Mike and was also considered as a replacement for Gloria when Struthers went on strike for more pay.

Katrina Lenk was a revelation in last season’s Indecent which I think may contribute to the love this season.

Maybe, but while BAND'S VISIT is a lock to win multiple awards due to the obvious lack of real competition, Ambrose's turn is more fresh in voter's minds. It'll be close.

Agree about Link in INDECENT - she was excellent.

[quote]when Struthers went on strike for more pay.

Did she think she was so important to the show that the show couldn't do without her?

The Band’s Visit is a subtle tea you drink slowly to detect its delicate flavors. Spongebob and Mean Girls is guzzling down a super-sized Coke with a mouthful of pop rocks. Whatever floats your boat.

R434, the only character the show couldn't do without was Archie. It went on, albeit with a decided drop in quality, without Mike, Gloria and Edith.

R435 Neither.

Speaking of Suzanne Somers why didn’t Rudin go to her for Dolly? Flyover fraus would flock to see her and she could sell her creams in the gift shop

How hasn’t Dolly recouped when it pulled in 1-2 million a week ?

[quote]How hasn’t Dolly recouped when it pulled in 1-2 million a week ?

Because they were paying Bette 8-10 million a week.

r440 I doubt it was that much

It's true. Bette Midler made $400 million from 'Hello Dolly.'

Somebody should completely revamp Auntie Mame scrapping the book and half the songs to go back to the original story. Katerina Lenk would be great as Vera.

Let Cheno be Mame.

[quote]Let Cheno be Mame.

Oh, hell to the no!!! Mame had verve and style. All Cheno can play is chirpy.

Get Cathy Zeta Jones for Mame.

You're a dear, but I'm far too young to play Mame.

Just as when Idina’s face appeared onscreen in Enchanted, when Chita Rivera’s suddenly popped up in Chicago audience members were screaming and crawling backward over their seats as if to get away from King Kong.

Auntie Mame doesn't have songs, r443. Just sayin'......

I really wish you faggots would learn my name.

Cheno isn't 'chirpy' she is short; like a little person complete with the high pitched speaking voice and oversized head. She doesn't 'always play short' -- she just happens to BE short. Quit pretending that she is always the same annoying persona in every role she plays just because you've noticed she is consistently undertall.

Cheno can play Mame with verve and style but they totally have to rewrite the script and go crazy with the costume design.

(Good catch, R447. What I meant was that Mame needs to be revised to be more like Auntie Mame (and the original book) and most of the musical numbers jettisoned and replaced. Mame deserves a do-over that is completely unfaithful to the unworkable mess it is now.)

R401, don't blame the conservatory programs, blame the Casting Directors who consistently reject those of us actors with personality in favor of those who are conventionally attractive but bland. The programs are simply molding their cookie cutters to the form that they know will get work, which is unfortunate.

There are at least 3 fanzels in this thread (me, the person who appears to have fallen in love recently and another who appears to date back to Rent.)

I don't know if we are all lesbians -- but at least two of us are not the presumed 'Idina Menzel Troll.'

Kristin in MAME would actually be sublime. She was fabulous in ON THE 20TH CENTURY in a somewhat similar role.

But, Idina in GYPSY will sell tickets (not if, when).

If NBC or FOX was smart they'd throw Idina an Underwood/Legend-sized paycheck and make it happen LIVE!

And Lea Michele as Louise.

Idina Menzel as Rose

Lea Michele as Louise

Diana Argon as June

Robert Fairchild as Tulsa

Norbert Leo Butz as Herbie

Stephanie J Block as Mazeppa

[quote]Patti LuPone created the iconic Evita pose with arms held in a V.

Actually that would be credited to either Director Harold Prince or Choreographer Larry Fuller. It's not a free for all, with actors just winging it.

[quote]Kristin in MAME would actually be sublime.

You simply can't have a Mame shorter than Patrick!

Kristin as Mame and Lee Pace as Patrick. Because fuck you. Also figure out some reason why he needs to be naked.

This writes itself.

Bernadette also became famous in the 1970s when the nostalgia craze was at its peak. She had the perfect look and voice for songs from the 1910s to the 1940s and sang ALL of them with a vintage tear drop in her left eye.

Those of you who go on and on about a Mame revival have clearly not seen the show in recent years. Or ever. The show DOES NOT HOLD UP.

Besides The Book of Mormon & The Humans, has any of Rudin's shows recently made money? The idea that Hello Dolly isn't profitable just boggles the mind

Kristin Chenowith is the short female version of Jim Nabors (when he was alive); fine singing voice with charactery spearking voice. She'd make a good Gooch in the musical.

Bernadette Peters also used to appear regularly on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" - she'd do on cutesy up number and then she'd do a torch song like "Mean to Me" with teardrops falling.

Katrina Lenk would be good for the Stratas role in "Rags" if they ever revived it. Not for Mame, who is supposed to be a WASP, and it's such a hard part. Cher would have been great at one point. I'd love to see Harriet Harris do the non-musical version. Maybe Lee Pace could be Ralph Devine, with an expanded look at his naked progressive school.

Since when has Cher ever been considered a WASP, r460?

Put a blonde wig on her. She's already had plenty of plastic surgery to make her look less ethnic than she was.

R450 -- Why do you think that casting directors go for the traditional but bland actors? is it because they will be easy to replace if the show runs for a while, or for the road cast? or because too much money is at stake, and they want to have performers who have no chance of offending anyone? or is it because the writers and directors don't want to work with someone whose character might require extra work? I'm a former country songwriter, and i know that writers are partly to blame for how generic country music is: we write songs that the most number of performers can sing. If we wrote a song that is too specific to a particular act, then it won't get recorded if he passes on it. Is it the same with play writers? They write characters that are so generic, that any actor can play it?

Coming soon to a cinema near you ... "Spamalot: The Movie."

Will Sara Ramirez be playing one of the male roles now?

[quote]Patti LuPone created the iconic Evita pose with arms held in a V.

[quote]Actually that would be credited to either Director Harold Prince or Choreographer Larry Fuller. It's not a free for all, with actors just winging it.

Girls! Girls! You're both wrong.

That is the point R458

We are saying it needs to be gutted and redone from scratch. Starting with admitting that Patrick grows up to be a gay man and Auntie Mame was fabulously successful at not caving to convention but also probably a criminal sociopath. The characters and original story and some of the tunes still have resonance -- but all the filters they put on the story to make Mame a mainstream hit are unworkable. Patrick Dennis was hinting at a totally different narrative than what they showed in the Lucy version of Mame. The subtext was much more fun than what they put on screen.

The subtext of the story is what the actual story should be. (Mame and Vera are obviously lovers who hate each other, Mame probably kills her husband, they definitely pimped out Gooch, so many drugs, etc. Patrick is actually gay and toying with actual denial on top of an unworkable closeted lifestyle when he attempts to 'be conventional' and the dangerously inappropriate Mame who really didn't do a great job raising young Patrick comes back and forces him to at least be true enough to himself to marry a beard and tell the squares to fuck off.) And that would be kind of awesome.

R460 You're wrong about Cheno. She actually does worse when used like a stunt in material because she tends to end up being the most interesting person on stage or screen and her absence can become a major issue. I think the big failure that people have had casting her in TV is the theory that a little bit goes a long way. A little bit of her tends to make the rest of a show look creaky once she is gone. One of the reasons Wicked did well for her was that she was on stage a LOT and her character had layers and protagonist level development. Another issue she has is playing underwritten female characters. Cheno does project 'intent' pretty strongly and therefore she exposes poorly conceived roles where the writer never really considered women to need reason or agency to be 'interesting.' Whenever her character is left on stage or screen without a well thought out 'intent' from the writer, Cheno appears to choose 'I am here to learn more about how to appear human so I can better position myself to consume the souls of the living' as her default motivation. I personally love that aspect of her persona but i can see why others might not. That didn't work as well in Promises Promises as it did in Pushing Daisies.

r467 Kristi Dawn is awful on screen. She was ok in The West Wing, but she's been almost uniformly awful since then. Brian Fuller loves her but even he can't make audiences like her. She was never worse, however, than when she played Anette Bening's lover in Running With Scissors. She somehow managed to be the worst part of a heinously bad movie.

I created the iconic Jenny Stewart "pose"!

[quote]Kristi Dawn is awful on screen. She was ok in The West Wing, but she's been almost uniformly awful since then.

There are some pretty notable exceptions. She was absolutely sensational on Pushing Daisies (and won an Emmy for it, to boot) and more recently as Easter in American Gods.

Kristi Dawn is not awful on screen. On TV she is consistently the best thing in any thing she does. Go ahead and watch the scene in the post above R468 and try to say that the beautiful but vacuous woman she is playing against does not exemplify the 'bland but attractive' actor R450 is tired of seeing casting directors choose. If you want to consider that scene alone the leading actress's motivation is clearly 'to look like a Farrah Fawcett poster' while the dialogue is about her husband's death and her lack of connection to her own children. Chenoweth brought all the nuance and the fakeness needed to half humanize Farrah and still had time for the 'trying to look more life-like' zinger.

I don't really like the idea of Chenoweth in film either. Mostly because the roles that have been made available to her kind of suck. I don't expect that to change. In a call back to the 'is Idina the biggest star' debate' it is worth pointing out that Idina Menzel's earliest movies were lesbian themed woman helmed indie stuff like 'Tollbooth' and 'Kissing Jessica Stein' (which is surprisingly good) while Cheno rushed into stuff like RV, Nicole Kidman's 'Bewitched' and 'The Pink Panther' reboot.

[quote]There are at least 3 fanzels in this thread

And yet you all sound like the Loon, whose m.o. and quirks are well known at this point. You could substitute Angela Lansbury for Menzel and Bedknobs and Broomsticks for Frozen and have an exact loon post.

Patti says in her book that she was copying the real Evita with the arms-up V. What her unique contribution was, and she claims it was hers, not Prince’s, is turning her head sideways and leaning it against her upraised arm on the third swell of the music.

[quote]the original choice for Gloria on AITF was Penny Marshall but Norman Lear felt that Gloria should look more like Archie than Edith and cast Struthers.

No, the first choice for Gloria was Kelly Jean Peters, who did the original pilot. She was followed by Candice Azzara, who did the second pilot. Struthers (and Reiner) didn’t join the show till the third pilot, which is the one that sold. All three are on YouTube, the first being particularly interesting because Stapleton hasn’t found her “Edith” voice yet.

Hey you muthas- i starred in Broadway musicals too- once playing a Jewish Mama. That is called Acting when they hire an Irish Dyke to play a Jewess from the early 1900's!

Will Errivo take to twitter to protest the hiring of Chaz Palmieri instead of Oak in A Bronx Tale?

Oy Rosie, don't get me started on your husband!

Bernadette......

The 70s were such good crossover fun!! You really didn't need Broadway stars to make a movie musical awesome.

Why didn't they use Adrienne Barbeau in the movie? She was a pretty big co-star on a top ten show and still looked younger than Stockard Channing.

She was shorter but looked at least as old as Channing.

R478 that is not Bernadette singing On My Own that is Frances Ruffelle

Maybe she couldn't make her schedule work? Were her boobs contracted to be somewhere else?

She is really all kinds of awesome. What an interesting career as well.

R481, they are the same height but Adrienne's boobs might make her look shorter. She definitely would have brought a more sexual presence than Channing.

The future of musicals?

Watch the songwriters of tomorrow

I think Barbeau was under contract (still shooting Maude or something) when they made the movie. I am not sure, but I think she implies that it was hard once you had gone from Broadway to a Norman Lear TV role to then move into film. (There was snobbery but also scheduling conflicts associated.) So she went from TV into genre movies rather than getting the chance to play the role she had originated before signing on to be in Maude.

R485 Talented young writers obviously influenced by Dear Evan Hansen and Hamilton. That’s the sound I guess these days.

Cheno was one of the best things about American Gods on Starz. She made that finale. I hope they have her back.

Bette made 150k per week, plus a percentage of box office and merchandising.

R488

She wont be back. Fuller got fired and Anderson and Chenoweth announced they wouldn't return without him. She is replacing John Lithgow as the killer in NBC's Trial and Error for season 2. Steven Boyer, Sherri Shepherd and Krysta Rodriguez are in that.

That’s actually a great idea, Kristin C as the loony killer on Trial and Error.

Lucie Arnaz was supposed to be Rizzo in Grease, but Lucy talked her out of it.

The N.Y. Drama Critics’ Circle has declined to give a Best Musical Award this year (The Band’s Visit won last year).

R463 I think it's because they want the *show* to be the star instead of the actors, which means the actors have to be easily replaceable and interchangeable.

cheno is always the same to me. A squeaky nasally quivering voice I cannot stand. Almost like a midget bobble head with a really creepy face. Total ass kisser too. No wonder her career is so good. They love that shit. Adele Dazeem really is ugly and it's even worse when she performs. She can never sing good live. Only maybe a few times when she was starting out. I never thought she would have such a good career. Is it because she's Jewish? She has a very thicc jaw. Y'all better leave Chita alone. I like her look. Very rican. Mame and gypsy are so played out eldergays. Please move on. It's time to leave your childhood behind.

Katrina Lenk could play Mame or Vera flawlessly. She can play any role given to her. She's that good. I've known her a long time and worked with her way back when at a dinner theatre in the suburbs of Chicago. So happy she's getting recognition.

[QUOTE]She can never sing good live

She has asthma. Ask any of her fangirls. It just so happens that she has a really bad asthma attack before every one of her live performances, and actually she sings perfectly all the other times, it's just those pesky asthma attacks always hit before a recorded performance. It's a stunning coincidence.

Way back when r496? Like 1990s? Or like ten years ago?

Lenk would be perfect for Vera.

But they need to re-write the whole show for Vera to be worthy of her.

I'm watching the movie version of Hello Again. Is there a point to this thing?

Do you like LaChiusa?

I have not seen the movie (nor do I plan to) but IMDB says it is about lust and there will be male nudity (butts.) There will also be Rumer Willis and Audra but probably not together, so hooray?

Rumer Willis has a lovely voice. It's a nice surprise. Did anyone see her in Chicago?

That is a surprise. I guess not really, looking at the rest of the cast.

Audra is with Plimpton, so that should be cool.

i saw her concert at 54 below. She does have a good voice. She loves amy Winehouse so it sounds like that.

She doesn't sound like Amy Winehouse in this. It's a much more legit voice, but it works for the material. I'd like to see her in more musicals.

If Rumer Willis wasn’t Hollywood royalty spawn she wouldn’t be getting these career opportunities and it’s not for lack of talent - she’s actually a good performer and a joy to work with. But her look would’ve derailed her years ago sadly.

It's not like she's starring in Hollywood blockbusters or playing beauty queen characters (like the way everyone pretends Maggie Gyllenhaal is actually attractive in film). Her career isn't exactly going like gangbusters.

All she sang at 54 was amy Winehouse.

Oh christ, Cheyenne Jackson is in this. I'm out.

Whua? That is the deal breaker? Really?

Hinton Als's embarrassing fawning over a moderately talented tv actor playing Parritt in "Iceman Cometh" and writing his entire review centered around this creepy actor probably means the kid is a pass around bottom for Als and George Wolfe and Scott Rudin.. No, strike that.

A pass around top.

R498 Late 90s

Thank you, R364. She and the (super-gay) kid are both adorable.

How are you watching Hello Again? Where is it available?

aaron tveit will never EVER happen. Not ever. But i guess they'll just keep on trying. Haha. Not cute. Not a great singer. Not a good actor. Just nothing. But opportunities out the ass over and over and over and STILL can't breakthrough. How do you play danny zuko live to millions and don't go viral or cause hysteria? But yes let's keep casting him. Makes no sense.

i just looked at tveit's Instagram. He only has 268,000 followers. That is PATHETIC. There are tons of Instagram models with double that amount and they do nothing! No talent at all. At least he has some talent. Movies, tv, stage. Given so many platforms and can't even compete with social media stars.

How old is Lenk? Shouldn't Vera be just about over the hill?

Vera should be somewhere between forty and death.

yes, where are you watching Hello Again R500??

R515 r516 Thicc finds Aaron Tveit thinn.

But he has a nice dicc, right?

Everythingg is nicce on Aaronn.

Oh, you young and funn DL'ers.

Idina is thiccccccccccccc

[quote]Lucie Arnaz was supposed to be Rizzo in Grease, but Lucy talked her out of it

Wrong, that has been debunked here with Lucie's own words in an interview. Search it.

[quote]Wrong, that has been debunked here with Lucie's own words in an interview. Search it.

Of course Lucie is going to spin the story to protect her mother. Why didn't Lucie actively seek out a supporting role in one of the biggest movie musicals ever made? She would have done a much better job than Channing Stockard.

R520 Haha. Yes. Very thinn. 😉 saggy face, nasiolabial folds. The whole bit. Generic as it gets folks. How many tickets can you sell with 268k? No. He's just not good enough. I saw him in Company. 2nd row. I know what he looks like. And sounds like. And....

I tried to watch Hello, Again, too. (I don't remember where I watched it. Amazon, maybe?) I could not get through it. It is stupid and boring and I had no idea why or how it was made. And: a friend of mine saw Rumer Willis playing a small theater, and she sang mostly old jazz standards. My friend is a harsh critic, and she said Rumer was great. She doesn't have to be the pretty ingenue, and it's unfortunate that that is the benchmark everyone holds her against. Not every young girl has to be the pretty thing. Can't character actresses have more non mainstream beauty?

Agreed r528 I think she was judged harshly because she has a mother who was considered beautiful

R517 Lenk is most likely in her 40s. I would put her in the same age bracket as Carmen Cusack

Demi was so pretty everyone wanted another one. That didn't happen. People hold it against her and her sisters. How dare y'all not be pretty?! Haha. Awful. People just ain't no good. She is talented. I like her. Demetria was at 54 below and she is officially old. I am devastated. older than she looks on tv i think. A little old lady with long hair.

[quote]But they need to re-write the whole show for Vera to be worthy of her.

I'm rewriting the show to make Muriel Puce the central character.

Hey gays -- don't miss my concert on "Live From Lincoln Center" tonight on PBS!

Smooches!

BORING. 💤💤💤💤💤 They needed another Ewan McGregor. And instead we got....

The thing about Rumer Willis' looks is that she got all the wrong features from her parents. Two sexy parents can make an unfortunate looking child. Her parents passed on the wrong set of genes.

R532 Don't forget to include that wonderful musical number "I've Got No Ping in my Pong, Drop My Balls"!

I'm rewriting Mame to make Ito the central character. The things that young man must have had to endure!!

R537 = David Henry Hwang

That's gha-a-astly, r536!

R525, R526, the original post was obviously a spin on the old "Gary talked her out of it" DL legend. But in reality, Lucy did sort of talk Lucie out of it. Read how she said it happened. The Urban Legend stated that Lucy forbade Lucie from screen testing because she "built" Paramount, which Lucie laughed about. But Lucie was committed to Bye Bye Birdie in stock with Tommy Tune and was already paid and Paramount still hadn't made up its mind. Reportedly, Michael Eisner didn't like her but Randall Kleiser loved her so much and wanted her so badly in the movie that he actually auditioned with her. The time was coming for the decision, either return the BBB money or wait to see if they'll sign her for Grease. Lucy advised her that she has a definite offer and she should honor it.

That clip from Moulin Rouge is pretty dreadful. I'm surprised they have such full productions clips already, considering it hasn't even opened yet. Tveit is a handsome man, but that haircut does him no favors.

r527 is the "nasolabial folds" queen.

To those wanting to see Hello Again, Amazon just put it on their Prime service a couple days ago.

Vera and Ito

The Musical

My only regret is that Spongebob made it on Broadway first.

Yes, R544, but SPOONGE Bob made it there first.

Let's be real: HELLO AGAIN is never going to be a crowd-pleaser in any form, but I have to admire the audacity of the director, Tom Gustafson, in actually getting it made... and made well.

It was actually excellently cast, too... Rumer Willis was a revelation and Nolan Funk was appropriately sexy and appealing, especially, I thought.

Also, Jenna Ushkowitz was fantastic. I thought Audra was very good but her new EDM song was a little too over-the-top. Cheyenne was fine and his 70s scene was done well, though his scene with Audra was a little too much. Martha Plimpton was phenomenal and gave the whole thing a dramatic syllogism with her interstitial sections throughout (and, of course, the final song). No weak links.

God knows the budgetary limitations they had to deal with, but the movie looks like a million bucks (well... you know what I mean).

That said, I've always been a big fan of the score and to be honest this will probably not convert many to LaChiusa's unique style, but it's a commendable effort and I wish there were more indie movie musicals of this quality in the world. Sue me.

Actually, SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE would be spectacular if done in this format, especially with this director (and even a lot of the same cast). Criminally underrated score, just like LaChiusa's WILD PARTY.

The most mesmerizing things about Hello Again were Al Calderon's nipples. They were the size of pencil erasers.

R546, I agree with you to a point, but why go through all of that just to make a two hour music video, because that's really what the end result was. There was no real characterization (and you can blame that on LaChiusa but here was a movie, and a way to expand upon it so Gustafson and Kreuckerberg have to shoulder some of the responsibility). I didn't know why I was watching these people, why I was expected to care about or invest in them (I mean one vignette was simply about an older woman giving head to her younger lover in a cinema- who cares?). It was pretty, it was flashy, there wasn't one bad performance in the whole bunch (even Cheyenne didn't stink), but ultimately a waste of time. if you're going to go to battle to get something uncommercial like that made, have a reason. Otherwise, you're just going to make it more difficult for the next person with an uncommercial passion project who's actually trying to say something.

Oddly enough it seems like Hello Again does serve the purpose of having presented Rumer Willis as a notable talent.

R534 i think Tveit sounds like a dream. We needed to see Satine though to make this exciting.

[quote]I didn't know why I was watching these people

To demonstrate that sex and singing go together.

[quote] Oddly enough it seems like Hello Again does serve the purpose of having presented Rumer Willis as a notable talent.

Then what a shame no one who matters has seen it. I'd love to see Rumer in a musical.

[quote]Oddly enough it seems like Hello Again does serve the purpose of having presented Rumer Willis as a notable talent.

Didn't "Dancing With the Stars" do that?

Skyscraper, r552!

Friedkin/Reidel/Boys/Band

The Moulin Rouge team did themselves no favors trying to make a Baz L. video without Baz. It looks like a pale imitation and cheapens the whole enterprise.

How many times can Friedkin dish on the BITB film? He's done umpteen interviews, written an autobiography and done commentary for the DVD. What new is there to say?

Agreed, R556.

I wonder why Baz passed on directing this? After all, he just did the STRICTLY BALLROOM stage version in Australia in the last few years. He has no announced projects lined up at the moment and his Netflix series is cancelled. After the tepid reception of FROZEN and that half-assed adaptation, powers that be must be very nervous that this will suffer a similar fate... just a pale imitation of the far superior cinematic version. I wonder if Luhrmann will become more involved as it develops or if he really will be hands-off. Doesn't seem his style at all to be "uncle" or whatever he magnanimously calls himself. Tveit and Olivo aren't bad choices, but the video was just OK at best. We'll see.

[quote]How many times can Friedkin dish on the BITB film? He's done umpteen interviews, written an autobiography and done commentary for the DVD. What new is there to say?

I don't think he was trying to say anything new. The Post called him to get his comments on the revival. He didn't call the Post.

[quote]I wonder why Baz passed on directing this? After all, he just did the STRICTLY BALLROOM stage version in Australia in the last few years. He has no announced projects lined up at the moment and his Netflix series is cancelled. After the tepid reception of FROZEN and that half-assed adaptation, powers that be must be very nervous that this will suffer a similar fate... just a pale imitation of the far superior cinematic version. I wonder if Luhrmann will become more involved as it develops or if he really will be hands-off. Doesn't seem his style at all to be "uncle" or whatever he magnanimously calls himself. Tveit and Olivo aren't bad choices, but the video was just OK at best. We'll see.

Baz didn’t stick with Strictly Ballroom, though. He either didn’t enjoy doing a stage musical and walked or he was replaced by the odious head of Global Creatures (Carmen Something Or Other) who goes through creatives like tissues. Just ask the half dozen directors and platoon of writers hired and fired from King Kong.

[quote]How many times can Friedkin dish on the BITB film?

As many times as he can go over the same things he does about the Exorcist. Every year or two, like clockwork, he revisits it....

Carmen Pavlovic?

How did a toy/puppetry company end up in charge of Murial's Wedding?

I looked at the web site of Global productions. They have a lot going on! it is rather alarming, though, that Carmen whats her name's name was all over EVERYTHING. Instead of just saying "Global Production announces..." the site says Carmen whats her name and Global Productions announces.." On everything. I can tell she has an unhealthy ego just from looking at the site.

Has anyone noticed that no one on Broadway misses Reidel? The man had a reign of terror -- and error -- for decades, and poof, one day gone, and no one gives a fuck. At all. So he comes back to have Friedkin tell stories he's told thousands of times?

This global creatures exec is one of those types who sits in a room and acts knowledgable but she's just a suit. I've been in the room with her. And she's raising $20 million for King Kong and another $20 million for Moulin Rouge, for the same season in New York. You don't just wake up Scott Rudin...

I'm sick of these trust fund douchebags pretending they can direct. So dreary.

[quote]Of course Lucie is going to spin the story to protect her mother. Why didn't Lucie actively seek out a supporting role in one of the biggest movie musicals ever made? She would have done a much better job than Channing Stockard.

Honey, no one, NO ONE thought"Grease" was going to be anything than a low budget summer trifle.

Non-starter scores, r546, with zero musical, emotional or dramatic payoffs.

So what's the background with the Boys in the Band producer situation- it was originally David Stone and Ryan Murphy, but now Scott Rudin is an above the title producer, and seemingly not just an investor. Did Mantello demand he be involved?

What's the story? Lets get just real industry gossip here for a change.

[QUOTE]Lets get just real industry gossip here for a change

You'll need to build a time machine first

Strictly Ballroom -- a B-movie but a treat -- would seem to be a cinch for the stage. Why can't someone make it work? "I've Got My Happy Face On" is a killer song for an actress of a certain age just waiting to happen.

R570, where did all the insiders scurry off to? Because you know those queens have got to vent SOMEWHERE.

The latest (and seemingly final) iteration of Strictly Ballroom just opened in the West End and weirdly, it’s not even a musical now. There’s a bandstand singer played by Will Young who sings a bunch of songs throughout the play.

I wonder if Baz Luhrman turned down the chance to direct Frozen on Broadway. Maybe he’ll do The Greatest Showman.

Brilliant idea, R574! I sorta get the feeling Bill Condon will get the first shot though since he wrote it/shepherded it through all the drama (wasn't it supposed to be Stephen Schwartz writing the score and John Logan scripting it originally?)... but, maybe since SIDE SHOW was such a flop he won't even get a shot.

Luhrmann would actually improve on the film (not too hard) and obviously secure Hugh and probably Michelle Williams (though Laura Michelle Kelly would likely be better). Jeremy Jordan already played Zac's part in workshops so that's a given, casting-wise.

I'd actually most want to see GREATEST SHOWMAN onstage above any of the current/upcoming film-to-stage cash grabs.

R575, I don’t think Hugh will star on Broadway, I think it will be someone like Raul Esparza or Ramin Karimloo. Keala Settle would definitely repeat. Zendaya wouldn’t do it. Jeremy Jordan is obvious for Philip. I see Sierra Boggess as Charity and Willemijn Verkaik as Jenny Lind. She’d knock “Never Enough” out of the park,

Lots of backlash against Greatest Showman because the real person was so problematic.

and it was a movie for little kids

What did everyone think of Stephanie j blocks concert on pbs?

I cannot fucking believe we have an Idina Menzel troll who is just as grating as Idina Menzel.

I fixed it for you R414.

R569 has interesting gossip. Rudin and Stone together sounds like hell.

Let it go R580. There is more than one fanzel here. Lesbians like Broadway gossip too.

R577/R578, a Broadway stage version of The Greatest Showman is definitely happening, either here on Broadway or in the West End. The film has made over 400 million worldwide. Do the math.

A Broadway version of ANYTHING dont mean shit no more

This is what happens when you call someone a fatty to their face

especially if,like Broadway, theyre really full of fat

Davey Stone is the very embodiment of charm. I'm sure he and Scotty Ruin [sic] are wonderful as a duo.

R587=Sure they are. Just like George and Martha.

With Joe Mantello as Sonny Boy.

Is Playbill trolling with the thumbnail?

The decision to pretend Elsa is a lead was inappropriate. Poor Caissie. She has to act as Patti's emotional support soprano while simultaneously filling Betsy Wolfe's heels and Idina Menzel's tiara-wig and she didn't even get a certificate for participation.

"Emotional support soprano"? Sounds very counterintuitive, like a comfort wolverine or cactus therapy.

I remember first seeing Idina screeching her way through the off-Broadway “Wild Party.”

My opinion has not changed.

R590

I know, right?!

But here is Patti's description:

"Murin: Oh yes. Oh my gosh. That show I did in Denver. Caissie (Levy), she took care of me that day. She drew me a bath. She made me soup. She let me sleep in her bed. I told the other people I was on stage with – Greg Hildreth (Olaf) and John Riddle (Hans) and Jelani Alladin (Kristoff) – this is what’s happening, I had a massive panic attack, you might have to pull a little bit more weight tonight because I might not be able to...."

If you're that freaked out to be on stage, find another career.

What a fucking attention whore. It must be KILLING her that she didn't get a Tony nod.

Good.

How much do you want to bet Murin quits show business after her Frozen contract is up? She'll probably become a life counselor.

[QUOTE]you might have to pull a little bit more weight tonight because I might not be able to

Something tells me her co-workers are pretty happy when she takes a day off for her anxiety attacks.

R595 That totally is untenable, not their jobs to carry the stupid slut

Patti Murin is this year's Wanda Richert

Anxiety attacks are a lot like vaso-vagal syncope but without a complete loss of consciousness. They can be caused by anti-depression medication and they really do suck.

Women are prone to survive vaso-vagal syncope. It is very rare for young women to die of it. Young men -- especially dehydrated men (which includes athletes as well as alcoholics and drug abusers) sometimes DO die. It is called 'sudden death' and it isn't the same as a heart attack it is an anxiety attack that keeps going.

(This was something I learned about when I went from coaching women to coaching men in a sport with weight classes. Boys are generally so much tougher than girls until they literally drop dead.)

So on one hand that means you queens should have more empathy for Murin, because what she is going through is actually quite terrifying and disruptive (and probably triggered by medication and not stage fight or stress.) On the other, you should clutch those pearls because there is such a very fine line between a harmless anxiety attack and 'the vapors' and actual sudden death. She can calmly tell her castmates to throw water on her face and slap her wrists until it is over -- but when it happens to YOU it could be the real good-bye.

So because some of the symptoms of an anxiety attack are similar to an entirely different condition, you think you can claim anxiety attacks can be lethal? Stick to teaching PE.

I don't think this choreography looks good on Annie......