THEATRE GOSSIP #307: "And the Tony Goes To ..." Edition

L:est we forget, the last thread had this tantalizing tidbit towards the end ...

"I heard Nathan was especially sweet at the DD’s, some other cast members NOT SO MUCH...that Limey Cunt has really be a horror..."

Which limey cunt? Andrew Garfield? Or Susan Brown? Or Denise Gough?

Has anyone tapped James McArdle yet?

Sad to report that Russell Nype has died at 98

RIP, Mr. Nype.

Now, about those gossipy hints.....

Denise Gough isn’t a limey, she’s a mick.

Maybe they all sound the same to the person who posted that original tidbit in the other thread?

I think Denise Gough gave the most heartfelt performance in AIA, in a production filled with some great performances.

I hope she gets a massive bump out of all this, once AIA closes.

How is A LETTER TO HARVEY MILK still playing?

Robert Mandan has also died.

Many here will remember him from the sitcom SOAP but I had a crush on him from APPLAUSE where he played the big Broadway producer who was sort of a mash-up of Addison deWitt and Max Fabian.

A hot daddy for sure! RIP

I thought is was lovely, R7. A genuinely original musical that was based on nothing except a lovely short story. Good writing, good performances, good score.

Why the hate?

From the last thread:

"Is the music good?"

A question no longer relevant to Broadway.

I dunno -- I think overall the music has been surprisingly relevant. Tina Fey's husband specializes in a type of pastiche -- which Lopes is the best at. There is nothing wrong with the fact they are both against a bunch of rock stars (spongebob) ...

The music is still very important.

The music in Spongebob is uneven. The good songs are great, the bad songs are unlistenable. The Aerosmith song should have been cut or improved, but they were probably too starstruck to tell them their song sucks. The songs in Mean Girls? Dear god they are beyond horrible. There is not one single song in the entire score that is memorable or even decent. Not one. There was such a great opportunity there, and they blew it. The book is not as bad as you'd fear, but the music drags the evening down. There is not one ounce of wit or cleverness or warmth or anything that can pass as talent. Even the final song, we're all stars or something like that, it comes out of nowhere. The theme and expression was not touched on before, so it has no resonance whatsoever. It could and should have been so much better.

I do like “Stop” from Mean Girls, but the rest of the songs are awful.

Who’s had the actor playing the gay guy?

Re Mean Girls. Am I being overly sensitive, or is the line "he's almost too gay to function" offensive? I remembered it from the movie, and it bothered me then, and it bothered me even more in the musical. I am usually not offended by comments like that, but they should have wit, and that did not. Further, the character -- other than wearing a Liza t shirt -- was hardly flamboyant. So what was the point of the comment? It pissed me off, and, once I was derailed by it, I found it hard to get back on board.

Any word on who Betty Lynn's Horace will be for the Dolly tour? I heard John Goodman is available.

Yes. The line is MEANT to be offensive.

Any scoop about what Roundabout’s final Broadway show of the 2018-2019 season will be? I’m thinking about subscribing but need a last show. I hope it’s not something dumb like watching John Lithgow read a book.

Max von Essen shopping for groceries in Food Emporium today. So cute.

Betty said in a recent interview that Horace has been cast and he's something like a "comic god" or something of that sort. That doesn't really narrow the field. I sure hope he's a comic god, because poor Betty sure won't be getting any laughs. She's about as funny as a heart attack.

Was Max squeezing the melons or fondling the nuts?

well, both Denise Gough and Andrew Garfield are cunts extraordinaire, so it's a tossup.

R9 well, i guess that answers my question.

mean girls was a crappy as u can imagine....fey is getting so middle class boring.

her narcisissism is sickening.

Cunts, cunts, cunts! All this talk of cunts is making me hungry.

R19 wanna bet it’s Martin Short?

I still have nightmares from seeing Betty’s psycho and humor-free Rose at the Paper Mil Playhouse Gypsy. What was Rudin thinking?

Has Rick Miramontez taken a lower profile lately? Usually you see him all over the place during Tony season

Kelsey Grammer would be a good Horace, but why would he want to do a tour unless he's desperate for money

Here are the two evil cunts now!

Lee Pace discusses being gay with the NY Times.

PS: He has a new boyfriend, a fashion executive!

R29, all this hatred for foreign actor's on Broadway.

And Garfield was born to an American fatherand British mother in LA, though raised in UK

[quote] And Garfield was born to an American fatherand British mother in LA, though raised in UK

He's still a cunt.

R32, how is he a cunt?

I'm sure r32 has no idea, or at least no personal knowledge, but it's fun to sling a little mud, isn't it?

Have you smelled him?

There’s already a thread about that R30. Do a search, cunt.

Someone posted that two of the Brits were being cunts at the Drama Desks, while Nathan was being atypically friendly. That's where that comes from.

Whoever posted that did not specify whom it was. Andrew Garfield and Denise Gough were, I think, just guesses, but then someone else mentioned they were both nasty backstage.

I guess it could be James McArdle or Susan Brown. Or the guy playing Belize, who should have been nominated but wasn't.

As if no one intuited Lee was gay. All I had to do was see him in "The Credeaux Canvas" back in 2001 and speak to him afterwards and I knew.

Thanks, r37.

Jesus, R36 always brings these threads down by being unnecessarily nasty. Why do you do that, r36? Does it give you a thrill?

Who cares if that article is posted in two places? It's certainly valid in a theatre thread.

Now go have a Liquid Plumber cocktail and shut up. Here's an idea, listen to your soundboard tape of "Via Galactica" while you're drinking.

Lee Pace deserves a special Tony for "Best Bouncy Cock".

You think that shit is easy? Takes a lot of practice and muscle control.

Reports Gough is hostile and neurotic, too bad - she's talented

So what's the consensus about Best Musical? Spongebob or Band's Visit?

[QUOTE]Jesus, [R36] always brings these threads down by being unnecessarily nasty. Why do you do that, [R36]? Does it give you a thrill?

It's because R36 also created the thread she refers to, so is obviously pissy about people not posting in her thread.

How do you pronounce "Gough"? Like "rough" - ruff - or "gog"?

goff

more like, gauff

I could not be less excited about the Tonys. I don't care about the outcome of any of the awards, and there is no one I'm rooting for. I thought the Drama Desks might get me more excited about the Tonys, but, alas, they did not. I've had the same reaction to the Oscars for years. When I was younger, I would be glued to my TV, eager and excited to see who would win, because, back then, they were celebrating ART, or at least I thought they were. It is clear to me now that movies and the Oscars now have nothing to do with artistic achievement, and, sadly, I feel the same way about the Tonys. Although I enjoyed Spongebob, in no way would I ever consider it to be a "best" musical. I just watched a copy of the recent revival of South Pacific, and it is so sad to see such a decline in quality. South Pacific touched on such big themes, all the while being entertaining and with one of the most glorious scores of all time. And what do we have now? Mean Girls? Yes it touches on a deep theme, but in the most inane and pedestrian way. I was at least entertained by Spongebob, but I was angered and bored by Mean Girls, even more so when it was nominated for any Tony. This year, I finally realized that Broadway, if not financially, was creatively dead. An interesting play might slip through here and there, but, for the most part, they are amusement park entertainments, without any deeper nourishment. That would be fine if they cost, say $50 to see then, but to have to pay a few hundred dollars to see cynical cash grab crap? I can't do it any more.

I thought Gough was dull in Angels (saw her in London) but thrilling in People, Places, and Things.

The fact of the matter is that you really need to get your fix of good theater somewhere other than the commercial tourist district. It now makes too much money to be adventurous.

[quote]Now go have a Liquid Plumber cocktail and shut up.

It’s Liquid-Plumr, you dummy.

Spongebob is winning- it has the road behind it...

[quote] I'm sure [R32] has no idea, or at least no personal knowledge, but it's fun to sling a little mud, isn't it?

Yes, especially considering we've all been making a joke about it in this thread, you humorless twat.

I think Spongebob will win. I loved it. Bands Visit is meh. Link is fabulous

I agree with R50 about Denise Gough. People, Places and Things blew me away, and it was all about Denise's performance and some really amazing staging. I love the character of Harper, but I didn't care for Denise's performance. I like some really Mormon nuttiness in my Harper.

I watched a bunch of YouTube interviews with Denise and she was a lot rougher and tougher than I expected. Judgmental and strident.

By the way, West Coasters should flock to the Angels in America at Berkeley Rep, staged by the original collaborator, Tony Taccone, and starring the original Prior as Roy Cohn. So different than the National Theatre production. So much more natural, heart felt, funny, and yes, Heaven is San Francisco! (You will be happy to know that the set portrayed SF as post earthquake rubble.)

And, the truly brave should also see Shesus Christ Superstar by Ray of Light at the Victoria. It is such a compelling, modern, and effective take on the musical and made the John Legend TV version seem like it was from the stone age. Beautiful voice had the black, pregnant Jesus.

Hmmm, I've heard nothing but terrible things about AiA in Berkeley. I will admit I am curious to see Spinella play Cohn. But Randy Harrison as Prior? I dunno.

Really? R57 The production is much quieter, not the musical scene changes of the National production which is jarring in comparison. Local reviews are very good. In the National AiA the actors seem to be acting against and not with each other, as it they are all in different shows. Did any one else feel this way? Especially Nathan Lane (although I loved him in Guys & Dolls.

And although the play is set in New York, the collective pain and memory of a San Francisco audience is profound, and although the characters are exaggerated, each actor had a persona that was familiar.

Almost everyone there had seen one or both of the early SF productions. It's a familiar and beloved play in SF, and the themes felt current and deep, having been lived through for the past 35 years. Everyone is missing many friends and several lovers from AIDS deaths.

From reading these threads, one good thing about SF theatre crowds is that tourists don't go to the theatre! Except for Beach Blanket Babylon which is still well done crazy fun.

Maybe Lee Pace's new fashion executive boyfriend is Kate Spade's husband. It would explain so much.

Did everyone turn Rudin down to tour with Dolly? Why Betty Buckley? I also remember seeing her in the Papermill GYPSY and, granted, the score has never been sung better, but she was dull as dishwater in the show. And I love Buckley, but musical comedy just isn't her thing. She sucked all the humor out of act I and it made for a very long evening. I can't even really describe her performance. She wasn't manic and psychotic like Imelda Staunton, but she seemed to...lack energy? Like her Rose was already defeated. She seemed more depressed than anything else.

Certainly there had to be someone better to tour with Dolly. Hell, even Loni Anderson or Suzanne Somers would have been better. At least they'd probably get a few laughs.

I listened to. Denise Brown NY’er podcast. I hated her by the tme it was over - so full of herself.

Musicals are for tourists and teenage girls. The future is now.

[quote]Whoever posted that did not specify whom it was.

"who it was."

Any idea of what name Nathan posts on ATC as?

This is rather fun......

Diana Rigg was gorgeous and I didn't know Norbert Leo Butz could look that traditionally handsome.

I give credit to those who sent cheesy early pics. Some clearly sent non embarrassing recent photos. Amy Schumer gets props!

With either Martin Short or Kelsey Grammer, Horace would be a bigger name than Dolly. Has that ever happened before?

I can't imagine Short or Grammar touring with Dolly, especially if the lead actress were not an A-level star.

I read the recent Rodgers and Hammerstein book, and it seems that a great many of the original leads toured with the show, and a replacement played Broadway. Mary Martin and Ethel Merman, for instance, played the provinces long after they were huge stars, while someone else continued with their role on broadway. When did that stop? Has it declined because back then there were few other ways for them to get exposure and build a fan base? TV was in its infancy, so maybe live shows were the only way to stay in touch with their fans? I can't imagine any A list actor touring like the old Broadway stars did.

Diana Rigg was the best.

I do think that the people who sent recent head shots may have only started later than those with awkward child actor pics.

Chits went on the road with Kiss of the Spiderwoman. Keith Carradine toured with Will Rogers Follies. There haven’t been a lot of star-driven shows since the 90s that I can recall. Of course Carol did her farewell Dolly tour that decade, too.

maybe Nathan is ryhog? as in wry (delivery, those slanted in different direction eyebrows) and hog as in ham, something Nathan can certainly do in his delivery. Ryhog isn't the most subtle in his posts either.

Idina toured with If/Then. But she isn't a TV star.

I agree with the notion that there is no way Martin Short would tour with Dolly with a B-lister like Betty B. It's probably Michael McKean.

Idina only did one or two cities, if I'm not mistaken. She did not do the entire tour of If/Then.

You are correct, r75.

Other than Bette Midler, who has originated a role in a Broadway musical in the last 20 years that anyone across America would even know?

Idina Menzel a/k/a Adele Dazeem

I don't think my 68 year old mother knows who Idina is, and my mother is the true standard I use for celebrity recognition.

In my day it was Liquid Plummer.

I wonder if part of the reason is the availability of other forms of work for the actors, or because so many touring productions are part of a subscription, so the theaters don't need the name recognition to drive ticket sales.

Garfield was fairly sweet backstage at the Drama Desks, seemed to relish the event and Gough was her usual sulking and nasty self, so it’s probably her...

non sequitur break

Well, if you go back about 30 years, there's Scott Bakula who was good in the rather drab "Romance/Romance" on Broadway.

R84 And '3 Guys naked From The Waist Down'...which I loved

That was off-Broadway though. It was ok, if I recall. Also had that scary guy who does scary voice-overs on some horror show.

R86 John Kassir?

Gough is indeed pronounced goff -- rhymes with "cough"

She's always been full of herself and her narrative is getting very old hat very fast about having almost quit the biz coz she couldn't get work etc etc

Garfield was very well liked during the National run and a real team player and was tremendously moving at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, so it's a shame if the bright lights of Bway have somehow changed him. Which I doubt.

[quote]Other than Bette Midler, who has originated a role in a Broadway musical in the last 20 years that anyone across America would even know?

That’s easy. Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz.

R89 Well, so few new Musicals for a start

And by the way, Bette Midler didn’t originate the role of. Dolly.

Saw ATC's 'Naughty Rob' on Extra tonight claiming to have been Kate Spade's former publicist... no wonder she killed herself after working with him

any other candidates who might be Nathan at ATC?

[quote]Any idea of what name Nathan posts on ATC as?

No, r64, but I know who KingSpeed is (the poster who is "%75 sure" that Nathan posts there) is, and that poster is unreliable. I doubt Lane posts on ATC at all, and if he does, I can't imagine he posts as frequently as ryhog.

Odd. That read "%75 sure" when I hit "post".

Fuck. How about "seventy five per cent sure", then?

r65 It's amazing how much Laurie Metcalf looks like her daughter, who's probably about the same age now as Laurie was in that photo.

[quote]In my day it was Liquid Plummer.

In my day it was Christopher Plummer.

I've always found Norbert kinda hot. He had a sorta squinty Christian Slater vibe I like. Seems like he could throw a mean fuck. I'm guessing he's around 5'6-5'8. That might explain why he tends to gain weight so easily. He can be incredibly sexy one month and then a porker the next. It's kinda like Jack Black or Johnny Galecki. When they were thin, they were actually very handsome, but weight is just attracted to some people.

Norbert was very sexy in THOU SHALT NOT... even though he was playing a sickly mama's boy (and, then, a ghost!). He totally stole the show (not too hard.

Craig Bierko was supposed to be the heartthrob but everyone who saw the show knows that if Harry Connick Jr. had played the part (he wrote the fucking show) it would've had a much different fate, 9/11 or not. Very bizarre they didn't go this route, but at the time all concerned were patting themselves on the back for being legitimate theatre artistes (Stroman hot off of THE PRODUCERS and Connick making his Broadway composing debut, in a Lincoln Center Theater production on Broadway).

I do wish I saw the first preview with the "dancing gurneys" ballet at which one point a soused Bierko fingered the nude corpse of DL Fav Rachelle "SAS" Rak.

The atmosphere in NYC at the time was chilling... it began previews in the days following 9/11 and a musical so pitch black was not appetizing to anyone.

The score had some good stuff in it, as the Connick/O'Hara duets album and the cast recording itself can attest. But, poor Deb Monk...

And, the staging was memorable and at times positively stunning. *THREE* turntables and Stro giving us Hal Prince darkness/adult/serious...

[quote]Mary Martin and Ethel Merman, for instance, played the provinces long after they were huge stars, while someone else continued with their role on broadway.

That’s absolutely correct re Mary Martin, who loved touring. But not so with Merman. She didn’t tour in Panama Hattie, and she only did the first stop in “Something for the Boys” and then Joan Blondell took over. Merman didn’t tour AGYG, Martin did the first national. Merman didn’t tour Call Me Madam, Stritch did that. Merman did take Gypsy out for six months, to the major cities (Chicago, LA, SF, Boston, St. Louis). The last time Merman was replaced in one of her NY shows was DuBarry Was a Lady.

ryhog is not Nathan Lane. I think he’s a lawyer or something like that. Ryhog’s posts sound like somebody behind the scenes and not an actor.

I hope Nathan Lane doesn’t win the Tony. Someone at ATC said that he is playing Nathan Lane playing Cohn, and that is exactly right.

I’m sorry to hear Denise Gough is so difficult to be around. I think she’s really talented.

I agree with you R49 with everything you say. I've been in this business for about 15 years and it has gone downhill so fast in the last 5 years. I don't even care about the Tonys this year at all. What the fuck happened? I'm going to the dress rehearsal on Sunday but to be honest I don't want to. I'm only going cause I'm bringing guests. I may just duck out after everyone is there and do laundry instead.

Did you like Hamilton R103?

R104. R49 here, and I thought I would throw my two cents in. I thought Hamilton was...ok. It was a little in love with itself, like someone you just met who managed to mention he went to Harvard three times in the first ten minutes of conversation. I appreciate that LMM tried something different, and he succeeded in getting something so off the wall produced. That is no small feat. He should have realized, however, that his presence was a big black hole in the middle of the production, as he had absolutely no charm or charisma, not did he display the intelligence that Hamilton possessed. I think what makes the whole play work is not what is written, but how it was directed. There is constant movement everywhere, all the time, so you're overwhelmed with motion, which makes you think you're seeing something brilliant. Also, the color blind casting gives it the illusion of being "important" and daring. The play would not have worked quite as well with, say, an all white cast, which makes you realize that it is, indeed, the direction and not the play that's the thing.

Marilu Henner touted in AGYG

What was she touting, r106?

Or was she tooting?

Whether or not Nathan posts on ATC, I can attest to the fact he knows all the monikers of those posting.

R108 Sorry what is ATC?

[quote]Whether or not Nathan posts on ATC, I can attest to the fact he knows all the monikers of those posting.

That I can believe.

R109, ATC is All That Chat, one of two major Broadway forums. The other is BWW, aka the forum at Broadway World. The posters at ATC tend to be older and often informed but silly, the posters at BWW, with exceptions, adolescents and rarely informed. The Broadway gossip and info here are still the best for however long that lasts.

[quote]She's always been full of herself and her narrative is getting very old hat very fast about having almost quit the biz coz she couldn't get work etc etc

Dumb bitch. All the years she spent struggling to make it and now that she's been handed this tremendous break that many people would kill for, she's likely going to squander it by acting like an asshole. And what will happen? No one will want to work with her stupid ass and she'll end up right back where she started -- on the unemployment line (likely bitching about how the business "mistreated" her).

I do not read the two Broadway chat boards mentioned. Am I missing anything? or does the good stuff end up on this thread?

[quote] Am I missing anything?

Not really.

[quote]or does the good stuff end up on this thread?

Yes,

Plus it's no holds barred on DL. You won't find out who's blowing who backstage on ATC!

and BWW is ridiculous now with its censoring.

This is the best place to get insider info.

THANK YOU 105. R104 here.

I agree with everything you said, though you seemed to have liked the experience more than I did.

I thought the movement was ridiculous.

Yet for me, what was shocking was not even the writing but the response of the world.

But I rack that up to social media,hunger, and Broadways decline.

AND an infantilized, feminized populace.

R100, Thou Shalt Not failed because it was horrible, not because of 9/11.

It was the only show I ever saw where, after the show ended, the entire audience stood up to leave without clapping at all.

BWW is strong on early reports of previews, but they can also be misleading, as recently with BITB

Nathan Lane is great as Cohn because he brings out the humor and humanity of such an evil man. Sure, Lane has a schtick that he includes in every character he plays, but he used it to great advantage here

How pathetic is Bway that the three in the running for Best Musical are Spongebob, Mean Girls, and A Band’s Visit?

This will be the worst watched Tonys ever.

Even Bway fans won’t watch

Anything Susan Stroman touches becomes crap

Can we at least take a minute to grieve the fact that my Stevie K is no longer coming to Broadway? Tickets bought, seats close enough to rush the stage and now to endure a replacement Stevie. Oh the humanity!

[QUOTE]You won't find out who's blowing who backstage on ATC!

You won't find that out here either. The closest we seem to get to gossip on here nowadays is someone making a vague reference to something maybe having happened, and then never bothering to give any more detail - likely because they're making it up and know that detail would prove that.

I wonder what caused the insides to stop posting here. Perhaps the lunacy with duelling threads (not 305/306 but before that, with the loon).

R124, what stopped insiders from posting here is the lunacy from any of the insider threads. Anytime an insider would post something, he would be attacked. We don't get inside dirt from film and TV either. It goes back way before the 305/306 threads.

Look at MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE in the New York Times, bitches!

I have a big crush on Steve Kazee too. I think he’s very cute, although he seems like kind of a mess personally. But he is cute. Has he ever taken his shirt off, either on stage or in TV or film?

That Roth photo looks like a Star Trek villain.

r127 you can fuck right off. He may be a mess but he’s my mess. As soon as I work out how to effectively drug and abscond with Stevie we are heading to Neiman Marcus to open our registry for our forthcoming marriage - you may contribute should you so choose. PS stop fantasising about my Stevie’s chest.

In news of other Stevies, the NYT this morning noted in passing that the Sondheim-Ives Bunuel musical will not be part of the Public's coming season. Just last week, Joe Mantello said in an interview that he expected to have the finished product by end of summer.

Is Sondheim ill, or just old and slowing down?

Sondheim has been old and slowing down since the mid 90's.

By his own admission.

It's who's blowing whom -- c'mon, team, grammar grammar (and, no, not Kelsey!)

I think you guys wanna see this. It's two of your favorites!!!

A Band's Visit is the exception to what's been happening on Broadway. It's one of the most artistic and interesting musicals in years.

r128 nailed it

Can you imagine going from BD Wong to THAT?

I would like to see this done for past seasons as well.

[quote] Merman didn’t tour Call Me Madam

Merman did the first stop on the MADAM tour, in Washington DC. It was after the show closed in New York in 1952 and MADAM was the first show to play the recently-integrated National Theater.

In 1967, Merman and Russell Nype did a US tour of CALL ME MADAM

When Merman stepped into the role of Dolly in 1970, Russell Nype played Cornelius. He was then 50 years old, a little long in the tooth for the part. Playing opposite him as Barnaby was Danny Lockin, who had already done the movie version.

R127 I think Steve Kazee goes shirtless on Shameless. With Fiona, unfortunately, not Ian.

That Jordan Roth article is fascinating if you read between the lines- its as if Michael Paulson wanted to be a lot more bitchier towards his odd subject but was held back for some reason...

There's a link in the right column to "vows" or whatever the Times is calling it these days, featuring the Jackson-Roth courtship and marriage. Interesting read.

Shirtless Stevie.

The copycat liquid Plummer queen can go fuck herself. I blocked her dumb ass.

Jordan Roth is clearly transitioning.

R132 you need a very simple chart to explain that.

[quote]It's who's blowing whom -- c'mon, team, grammar grammar (and, no, not Kelsey!)

Spelling, spelling, R132.

[quote]When Merman stepped into the role of Dolly in 1970, Russell Nype played Cornelius. He was then 50 years old, a little long in the tooth for the part.

Lee Roy Reams played Cornelius when he was 53, when the 1995 Channing revival went back out on tour after Broadway (44 year old Michael DeVries played the part pre-Broadway and on Broadway)

Steve K ONLY shirtless on Shameless? Most other male guest bare at least ass.

Steve K is one of the most ordinary looking people ever. My God, you people are desperate.

Agreed, a stage not TV face. Still no nudity on Shameless is odd though.

r139, it's OK you copied a post I made in the Merman thread point by point. Lockin, BTW, was playing Barnaby on Broadway before he did the film. After he did the film, he came back to Broadway and resumed the role in Merman's company with Georgia Engel as Minnie Fay.

Isn't wonderful that we have at least some filmed record?

My apologies, R152. I had no idea you had a copyright on that information, which, by the way, I did not see in the Merman thread.

R150 aren't they? Some lonely ass homos.

R153. Yes it is great that some archival footage is available for Mame. I have posted on here before that I get bootlegs on occasion, since I do not live near NYC and never visit, and got flamed for it. Those bootlegs are what make posts like 153 possible. If someone doesn't sneak a camera in to the theater to record the play, future generations will never get a chance to see some wonderful performances and plays.

Springsteen’s performing on the Tony Awards. I wonder if it will help the ratings.

It will get me to watch, r157. Well, that and Andrew Garfield.

I wonder whether anyone calls Garfield "Andy."

I call him "Fuck you, pretend queer."

Didn’t Jordan have some sort of drug fueled psychological breakdown about four or five years ago? Can his current state of terrifying weirdness be the post traumatic reality of that? In person he also wears a horrific perfume that smells like Tang and death.

The day Andrew Garfield is called Andy is the day someone calls Nathan Lane Nate .....

just call Nathan "Joe", see how he reacts. (It's his real name.)

Rudin got his way and the NYTimes article is dead- look for a plethora of Rudin ads in this weekends Arts & Leisure section... you'll see Saturday morning if you still get the print edition

Wow -- R163. So is that why Rudin pulled his ads from the Times? I have a hard time believing that the advertising department could so blatantly control the editorial size, especially considering that theater ads run just in the NYC edition, which probably has miniscule circulation compared to national and online readership. If they did, indeed, cancel it because of ad revenue, it will leak out, and the paper will lose all credibility. I'm not sure some theater ad money is worth that. But, if the ads appear this weekend, hell, you might just be right.

Theater ads also appear in the national edition. Maybe there's not as many, though.

So what was the Rudin article about, anyway? Sexual misconduct, robbing investors or something even worse?

Speaking of Georgia Engel, how did anyone hear her on Broadway in the old days before body mics? You can barely hear her on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and you can hear that they turn the mics way up when she speaks.

The cover of this week's Time Out NY magazine has old headshots of all the Tony nominated actors.

We know.

I didn't realize how much dancing Mame had in How Young I Feel, r156. I know they added tap to it for Annie, but Angie really dances up a storm in it. Was Jane Morgan a dancer?

Kelsey Grammar isn’t available for a tour as he is starting shooting the third season of BOSS in Chicago

I thought Boss got canceled last year?

[quote]I thought Boss got canceled last year?

Sssssshhhhh! Nobody told Kelsey.

Oops 172. It’s not BOSS but the Fox drama PROVEN INNOCENT, Also shot in Chi.

Yes I did see Hamilton R104 at the Public. I have friends that are part of the creative team. However, to be honest all the ensuing hype before and after the move to Broadway ruined it for me. NO ONE should have to pay $800 to see a show ever! Oh I forgot, Jeffrey Seller needs to buy another mansion and Jimmy Junior's wife needs another facelift. Silly me, what was I thinking?

R163, do you know this as fact that Rudin killed the Times piece? I will check my sources too. If so, the Times is in trouble. After all, its the digital age And the People are on it! And in a small way, DL is playing an important part.

R175, I have a friend involved in Hamilton too and we have shared feelings about Lin and the show. But besides the HYPE ruining it, what was your feeling about the show itself? I loved moments but absolutely hated the show as a whole.

[quote]The day Andrew Garfield is called Andy

How does he feel about "Drew?"

Are we allowed to call Mr. Rannells "Andy?"

To R177 Like you I enjoyed moments and some of the music. But it certainly wasn't the life changing experience it believes itself to be. I didn't feel the need to see it a second time or hear the music again.The political posturing, the tweeting, the curtain call speeches, it's all just too much. Face it people, it's a Broadway show not nirvana.

[quote]The copycat liquid Plummer queen can go fuck herself. I blocked her dumb ass

Well. You certainly showed HIM, r144!

It’s kind of pathetic, though, when someone has to announce that they blocked someone, I mean, no one cares about what you have or haven’t done, but thanks for keeping us updated!

I'm watching a bootleg of West Side Store, with Matt Cavenaugh playing Tony. I know he's been mentioned before, but it didn't register with me because I had not seen him in anything. He is hot af, a decent actor, and a fantastic singer. I remember hearing he has left the industry. How difficult must it be to have the leads in two big broadway shows, but yet still not want to continue doing it? I'm stunned.

R182 When I first saw him on the Sondheim special I also wanted him balls deep in me, beautiful man

[quote] I remember hearing he has left the industry. How difficult must it be to have the leads in two big broadway shows, but yet still not want to continue doing it? I'm stunned.

If you had Arthur Laurents trying to suckle you every night, you'd get depressed and leave too.

R184 ...leave? You'd fucking RUN from Arthur

[quote]Merman did the first stop on the MADAM tour,

Only the first week. Then Stritch took over.

There was no 1967 US tour. Merman and Nype played the Kenley circuit (five theaters in Ohio at that point) and a week at the St. Louis Muny. It was 1968, not 67, and that’s the one where Donna McKechnie played the princess.

R143 , thanks for the shirtless pix of Steve Kazee! I think he is adorable.

The choreography in West Side Story is incredible. The dvd of the most recent revival is the first time I'm seeing the show in any form. I have not even seen the movie. (I know, MARY!)

i've got a question for dancers or actors out there. Karen Olivo is incredible; she's got spunk and charm and is an amazing dancer. In the formation dances, like America, she just seems better than the other dancers. Is that because she IS a better dancer than the others, or because the other dancers might be choreographed to be imperceptibly tighter, and she a little more flamboyant, what with a slightly more dramatic flair. I guess the question is: When the lead stands out in the crowd in formation dancers, is it because they have been choreographed that way, lit that way, or they are much better, which is why they are the lead in the first place?

R188, are you typing from Mars? KO a great dancer?! Huh?!

R188 I am kinda new here (hello boys) but even I, in a short time know DL does not think Karen is a good dancer. So good luck with the replies darl

We could dance circles around Karen Olivo!

[quote]We could dance circles around Karen Olivo!

So could I! Even my wheelchair could, too!

[quote] So could I! Even my wheelchair could, too!

Shut up, you fat, dead bitch.

Really? Wow, I thought she was pretty great in the video I saw. But the question still remains: do the leads stand out in formation dancing because they are choreographed to be slightly more dramatic, lighting, or just because they have that it factor? Or all of the above.

Did Matt Cavenaugh play Doc? Because I don't know who else would be minding the West Side Store.

Was there supposed to be humor there, r195?

[quote]If you had Arthur Laurents trying to suckle you every night, you'd get depressed and leave too.

Tell me about it.

Laura Linney getting 5 star raves for her radiant solo performance in London in MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON -- is Broadway due to follow? (The show would be perfect for the Booth.)

Laura Linney/Lucy Barton has Manhattan Theatre Club written all over it.

Starring in 2 Broadway musicals and NOT having a good time would seem to me a pretty good hint to leave show business.

Matt reached the "pinnacle" and realized that, at least for him, it was not all it was cracked up to be. I called that sanity.

[quote]Laura Linney getting 5 star raves for her radiant solo performance in London in MY NAME IS LUCY BARTON -- is Broadway due to follow?

I heard she was coming to Broadway in a revival of Gypsy.

R195 made me chuckle.

#metoo

Arthur was 145 when he did that revival. It was not a great feat to get away from him. Matt likely grew tired of the grind of getting the next job (especially as a “star” in the current slip that passes for Broadway) and knew from the family business that it was easier money to sell cars.

^slip = slop

Linney’s shooting Tales of the City from July to November so I guess she’ll take Lucy Barton to Broadway in the spring.

When will Andy Randells be acknowledged for his exceptional work and receive his well-deserved Tony?

never

As soon as he’s off book

From the Merman thread. DuBarry Was a Lady moved theaters and Gypsy assumed the role?

Like Michael Arden, the behind the scenes folks don't seem to like Andrew Rannells

It’s because he’s a smug little bitch who thinks everything he says is hilarious, that’s why.

Broadway A lister will not being attending the awards with the significant other. The person asked the intended to leave their residence, and they did- 2775 miles away. On Sunday it will become clear they no longer together. If voters were made aware of what A-lister was put through (A-lister doesn't even know the full extent of it) they may have actually picked up some hardware.

It's an anonymous gossip site, R213, so why is your post so cryptic?

That BI is overly confusing to the point where I lost interest.

[quote]I'm watching a bootleg of West Side Store

A new Lin-Manuel Miranda musical about the life a bodega owner.

So, someone associated with Broadway asked his intended to move out because he was throwing wild meth parties somewhere near California, so the voters would have given him a TONY if they knew how badly he was being treated by the tweaker.

Is that pretty close? Not that anyone really gives a shit.

R217 Impressive.

The might get some hardware also implies this A-lister is nominated but will not win or was eligible for nomination but did not get nominated (but will still attend.)

A-lister for Broadway can include writers, directors and producers and the blind item is carefully vague about everyone's gender.

R219

A-lister is nominated but will not win- this

A-lister for Broadway can include writers, directors and producers and the blind item is carefully vague about everyone's gender. - Yes. I reread it several times to make sure I hadn't slipped up.

People who play close attention to these sorts of things will likely notice something is amiss.

[quote]Andy Randells

Pronunciation: RANdls or ranDELZ?

The 'intended' language implies this is not about a married couple. This rules out people like Shaloub or Patti Murin.

But we are still supposed to assume that the Broadway-A lister is supposed to be seen with who-ever it is that has been kicked out of the West Coast abode. Also calling the BI person a Broadway-A lister implies they are NOT an A lister in Hollywood in spite of the implication they have a home there they can kick their intended out of. Also there is no indication that the 'intended' is anyone we should know.

Yeah -- limiting the mileage so we couldn't include Londoners was useful. Otherwise I would be wondering who Diana Rigg is breaking up with.

R222 You're good.

One correction-

They were not kicked out of a West Coast abode. They were kicked out of an East Coast abode, and hopped on a plane.

The next day, intended's East Coast belongings were all hauled out and put in storage.

Nobody breaks up with Dame Diana, r22...

^for r222

Also, would someone dumped by Dame Diana Rigg really be able to hop a plane to LaLaland after the traumatic event?

I think not.

What's Lauren Ambrose's setup?

And I'm not up on Glenda's domestic situation.

Nobody but Broadway queen's know who the Tony nominees are. Matt Bomer and his son will get more attention.

My picks for the BI- Norbert Leo Butz, Joe Mantello, George C. Wolfe and Michael Arden as the dark horse (as he's not really a Broadway A lister just yet)

Of the three, Mantello has the best chance of winning regardless of anything else. My feeling is Marianne Elliott will win for her awful direction of Angels, but Mantello deserves it more. Butz, Wolfe and Arden have no shot at winning, rhough Arden really should. Once is magnificent and really the reason why revivals should be done.

Arden's would be the juiciest- poor little bisexual Andy Mientus cheating on him with a... woman. Or if Mantello's current partner was caught in bed with Andy Randells.

[QUOTE]Arden's would be the juiciest- poor little bisexual Andy Mientus cheating on him with a... woman

Someone posted somewhere - maybe in one of the Broadway sex threads - that they have an open relationship

Butz is married. The blind item implies that the couple that broke up isn't a married one.

Also the Broadway-A lister does narrow things down a LOT. But with stories of the stress Caissie Levy faced (she literally left the ICU and her newborn son to audition for Frozen, and was noted for going above and beyond when Patti Murin had her first panic attack) having zero effect on the Tony nominating committee -- why the hell would a bad boyfriend/girlfriend break-up push an A-lister Broadway star from also ran to winner?

[quote] Butz is married. The blind item implies that the couple that broke up isn't a married one.

No it doesn't. Everything is put in totally generic terms to leave it open. They, them, significant other (which could mean boyfriend, girlfriend, partner, spouse...) The BI writer was trying to leave the sex of the objects completely obscured since there's such a small pool to choose from already between Tony nominees and Broadway A lister.

Matt Kavanaugh married Jenny Powers (Little Women, Grease) years ago and they have a few kids, I think. I think he got his MBA and has moved on...

The BI makes it clear that everyone EXPECTS A-lister to show up with an intended partner who has just been kicked to the curb. Also BI's reply that corrects 222 over the confusion about whether the fight happened on the east coast or the west coast did NOT correct a statement about this relationship not being marriage.

So I think Butz is ruled out. Also who the hell would give him a Tony for having a fight with Michelle Federer? (No one. Did we see Idina Menzel win a Tony for finally divorcing Taye Diggs? No. Straight marriages breaking up does not win anyone sympathy votes.)

This is more fun than I thought it would be.

I don't actually want to reveal who it is, but I can tell you that no one has mentioned the person as of post #233

The only other thing I will say is that I choose my words carefully. There is one word I used that clarifies the situation between the two parties. Everything I'm saying has meaning.

If you watch the Tonys, and pay attention, I think you'll figure it out. The second it becomes public, I'll come back here and say.

I hope they do some kind of tribute to Jan Maxwell. I wish I could've seen that play she did with Rosemary Harris.

When you chose your words carefully, did you intend to say "Broadway A lister will not BEING attending the awards with the significant other'? Because it makes no grammatical sense. Furthermore, it implies that the Broadway A lister is the person NOT attending, not the nominee.

[QUOTE]The person asked the intended

So someone dumped their fiancé or fiancée?

For someone who chooses his words carefully, the BI is a convoluted mess.

R235 A typo. Sorry. It should say "will not be attending"

Who are the Broadway A listers up for hardware anyway?

Bway A list producers:

Marc Platt -- probably going to win for The Band Visit. Thomas Shumacher -- not going to win for Frozen not likely to get any screen time on TV anyway. Jordon Roth -- married and possibly going to win for Angels -- or maybe this is our BI? He is going to show up without Ritchie Jackson and we are supposed to notice? Yeah - nah. Scott Rudin -- probably going to win for 3 women and Carousel anyway

Bway A list actors (not the same as Hollywood A listers)

Tony Shaloub (mentioned and excluded) LaChanze Taylor Louderman Jesse Mueller Nathan Lane Laurie Metcalf Norbert (mentioned and excluded) Lindsay Mendez Diana Rigg (mentioned and excluded)

Broadway A-list composers

David Yazbek (expected to win) The Lopezi (excluded for obvious reasons) Sara Barielles as the writer of one Spongebob song?

A-list directors/choreographers does Marianne Eliott count? Joe M -- mentioned and excluded Tina Landau (gonna win) Casey Nicholaw (probably will get choreo) Bartlett Sher

Any other A-listers who have not been excluded that could be added?

Yikes. Formatting. Sorry.

Seems like no one is mentioning Amy Schumer who is (shockingly) nominated... is her new marriage already a mess?

Amy isn't a Broadway A lister. She is an A lister in Hollywood. It also seems possible that the BI excludes married couples and she did marry the guy. Also aren't they based in CA anyway?

It's sad that this blind item (whether it be true or not) is the only exciting thing around this years tony awards

Thank to the person who recommended “No Pickle No Performance.” I’m halfway through it, and it’s a hoot. There’s a story about Judith Anderson that made me laugh out loud. I can’t wait to get to the chapter on Tallulah.

Condola Rashad was engaged to Sebastian Vallentin Stenhøj -- but his instagram implies he has been on a motorcycle for months now. She is a Broadway A-lister, having been nominated for lots of Tony Awards. I guess they could have broken up -- but I would be surprised if Dataloungers noticed this at the Tony Awards.

Nathan Lane is the only REAL Broadway A-lister amongst the acting nominees, and with a capital A, but I very much doubt it is he.

Glenda Jackson is 82 and lives with her son and his family in Blackheath, south London.

My money is on Richie Jackson who has an, um, interesting professional history.

Hmmm, have Nathan and Devlin hit a snag? La Ms. Elliott is QUITE the panic if you knew him when...

R232, I peeked in on their wedding reception a few years ago when I happened upon it at Boston's Seaport Hotel. Jenny is the granddaughter of the late Dave Powers, who was JFK's wing man for years, arranging his extra marital trysts.

oh r247 seems we both know about his email history! or his request for pictures history!

So that is two votes for Jordon Roth?

I saw Richie and Jordan at the opening night of Boys in the Band holding hands and snuggling in the audience and at the after party. They didn't show signs of an imminent break up. Though R247 hits it on the head about Richie's professional history. I remember ten years ago when he was scrounging for money to produce "A Catered Affair" while he was still Cyndi Lauper's manager. I doubt it's Nathan and Devlin. Devlin has had to put up with a lot over the years. If there was a break up it would have come a long time ago. Devlin once asked me out on date (before the marriage) I almost said yes but was afraid of the potential fireworks from "Mostel" if he found out. I think at the time Devlin was just feeling lonely and pushed into the background.

Baz Bamigboye has tweeted that Come from Away will be at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin December/January and open in the West End at the Phoenix Theatre in February.

[quote]his instagram implies he has been on a motorcycle for months now

Seems like that would chafe.

Clearly the BI is about Broadway A-lister and Tony nominee Tina Landau and her intended Miss Joan Allen.

Why would anyone here care about the intended if the intended is not also someone we would know?

That's why I'm going with r255.

Does Lee Pace have a known intended?

Is Jordan Donica gay?

Gurls, please….the ATC people who post most often, the two dozen or so, are all old and fat and single nab live in basements. Those that aren't upstate teachers in bad colleges trying to get to NYC as often as they can with the fatter husbands. Sometimes fatter, sometimes not. iIve read that here, so it must be so. Read closely, many eventually say some stupid things you know they are fan-gurls more than knowledgable people. Nathan Lane does not post. Look at the times; he does a few scenes in AiA and runs offstage to post? Of the forums, BWW is very teeny-bopper, soooooo in luv/w the theater, what tattoo should I get? ATC is much older, mostly retired, a few bored people posting at work when they should be working.

R132, STAIRS, I must have STAIRS!

R194, it's a plot point in A Chorus Line …. back up a star, don't pull focus. Let the star shine.

R234; perhaps they will do a live remote from the late Jan Maxwell’s palatial digs at Manhattan Plaza where she apparently gamed the system for years depriving starving Midwestern chorus girls and boys with stars in their eyes of subsidized NYC shelter.

Nathan Lane, John Lloyd Young, Laura Benanti and the cast of Fosse were all BWW message board addicts at one time, and they engaged with everyone. Rosie posted for a bit but was run off by the then “Mean Girls” crowd that ruled it in 2004-2006, that crew was diabolical.

I was just looking what was on TV tonight. Dick Cavett's guests are:

Gore Vidal

Robert Klein

Ethel Waters

Willie Mosconi

Will this thread last until Sunday night?

if we continue to pretend that Lee Pace is A List Broadway, then yes

Mia's Mamma

If the BI is to be believed, then Jordan Roth and Nathan Lane are out of the running since they are both the frontrunners in their respective categories. The BI said the person might have had a chance to win if the scandal had been public knowledge since it could have garnered them votes. Then again, the BI was so poorly written, who knows what the fuck is going on.

Imagine being the woman that gets to say “Yes I was nominated and I lost to GLENDA JACKSON - OK?” Or the woman that gets to say “I was so honored to be nominated and I LOST TO DAME MRS. EMMA PEEL!”

[quote] Who will go home a newly anointed King or Queen of Broadway?

Isn't Lee Pace the new Queen of Broadway?

R269 They should start practicing now.

R234 what is the matter with you? Maxwell was a very talented, kind and extremely well liked performer - and so what about MPLaza? Oh yeah, I forgot people like you are here to bring the gutter you occupy in your own life.

R272 is both a MARY! and a Connie Casserole.

[quote]Nathan Lane, John Lloyd Young, Laura Benanti and the cast of Fosse were all BWW message board addicts at one time, and they engaged with everyone. Rosie posted for a bit but was run off by the then “Mean Girls” crowd that ruled it in 2004-2006, that crew was diabolical.

Marc Shaiman also posted there. He was a minor Patti Murin. You couldn't say one bad thing about anything on Broadway and he would be lecturing the person on how that artist gave their soul to their craft, etc etc. Never mind the poor person who had to pay for inferior product. Any negative opinion was made to feel low, no matter how right the poster was. And one poor teenager said they didn't like one of the songs in Hairspray and Shaiman had a bitch meltdown. That was at the time when Rob, the owner, was employing moderators who were ass kissers. It was pretty bleak because some people had some legitimate comments about shows, but they were always shut down. But Shaiman could post whatever he wanted and was never censored. And he posted some really dumb shit about his dog, which had absolutely nothing to do with Broadway. And one time he posted a pic of him in a sleep mask because he was having trouble snoring. Oh, but you say one bad thing about Hairspray and it was like someone had just served bacon at a bar mitzvah!

Marc Shaiman is a hack

This is probably not the answer to the BI, and yet DL would heave a hearty chuckle if it was.

Laura Benanti was not nominated for Meteor Shower when many assumed she would be. She is definitely a Broadway A-Lister. Given her marital track record, she could very well be breaking up with her current husband, just unexpectedly since the husband is not famous. Is she scheduled to attend, even present, since she has some TV credits (and would, of course, make a joke about not being nominated, as she joked in song about her TV shows being cancelled a few years back). If so, she would be expected to attend with hubby. Would she have been nominated (and thus potentially "picked up some hardware") if people had known the marriage was in trouble?

A bit of a stretch, but thought it was worth thinking slightly outside the box.

Benanti gave high praise to the staff at a Verizon store on 125th Street today on Twitter so how upset could she be?

Thank you for thinking outside Laura’s box, r276.

Oh gawd, what was Laura Benanti doing way up on 125th Street?

Did they rescue her from a mugging? Was she lost? Did she take the A-train?

I think Laura had a yen for the Pepperoni Supreme at Little Caesars up there and did a little shop hopping.

R273 I knew Maxwell, she was a PRO - a terrific talent and very kind hearted woman that had stood up to bullies on behalf of her cast members. She had the courage of her convictions - unlike some anonymous ass hiding on the web taking potshots at someone that would be kind even to a lowlife like you.

Wait, did Landau send Allen packing? Or did Allen send Landau packing?

And wasn’t Joan Allen married to Peter Friedman? When did she switch to da pussy?

Landau’s been muff-diving since her Yale days with Jodie Foster.

So is it safe to assume that Leading Actor in a Play will be between Andrew and Denzel? If so, who do we expect will make it to the podium?

Unless the “hardware”comment refers to something else, it can’t be Condola Rashad because there is no way she would ever have won this year. No one was going to win against Glenda Jackson,

If it is her, the whole thing is a letdown because no one had a clue she had a significant other in the first place.

There have been rumors of Joan Allen leaving Peter Allen to be a lesbian on here before. Not sure if I had heard she was with Landau. Landau is not a Broadway A-Lister by virtue of directing a single cash grab musical that the industry not-so-secretly likes even though it's not a hit. She's a darling of the avant garde (Remember she used to be with Anne Bogart) who got lucky here and maybe once or twice before with higher-profile projects. And isn't David Cromer (another one who went from avant-garde, kinda, to bigger fame) going to win? Joan Allen is certainly not a Broadway A-lister these days; she won her Tony 30 years ago and has only been back once, in a big flop with Jeremy Irons, and otherwise has nothing to do with this season. I guess if they were together, people would expect the Hollywood B+/A- lister (as they say in Hollywood gossip, and that's being a bit generous) s/o to support her lady at the Tonys, so it would be shocking if she didn't, and obviously Allen, at least, would have a West Coast house, but I don't think it quite fits somehow.

Did Tina hook up with Jodie Foster at Yale? Definitely never heard that before, but she is certainly known to be a lesbian!

Peter ALLEN??? Oh, my sides, and oh, DEAR all at once. Peter FRIEDMAN, of course.

R279, her dealer must live up there...

I will not be surprised to see Amy Schumer unaccompanied at the Tony's which she is sure not to win. She is an A-list performer (in LA) performing on Broadway, therefore A list on Broadway.

Her marriage had to be a ticking time bomb since she barely knew the guy.

I saw Maxwell just yesterday on a L&O rerun, guest starring as a corrupt judge. Her performance was perfect but her face was a bit, um, hard, for a leading TV performance.

Well, then I guess it's good she's dead now, r290. Life with a face that's a bit hard for TV is no life at all.

[quote]Or the woman that gets to say “I was so honored to be nominated and I LOST TO DAME MRS. EMMA PEEL!”

Yeah, that doesn't sound like it'd be much fun, actually.

Laurie Metcalf?

No, r291, its horrible that she is dead now. I used "hard" as a euphemism for weathered and unphotographable. Such a shame she didn't get more TV work, which was/is often the sustenance of New York actors.

^ It's not its, I know, a contraction of it is. Can't edit typos. Avaunt grammar nazis and r290.

Reposted from another thread:

Why was Mama Mia a hit and Carmelina a flop when they are both closely based on the same source material and Carmelina has the far superior (Burton Lane) score?

I finally saw My Fair Lady last weekend while in NYC. I thought it was excellent, and was very surprised at Claire Fisher's abilities, though I had heard she studied opera.

Jodie Foster and Tina Landau's Yale romance was evident to all to see who were in New Haven at the time - they would appear in matching army fatigues. Jodie did her one and only ever play there and she was AMAZING in it -- Marsha Norman's Getting Out.

Tina Landau's father was producer Ely Landau who produced all those amazing plays for television in the 1970s, like A Delicate Balance with Katharine Hepburn.

How come we don't give Jerry Herman a harder time for "and forsooth"

An article about David Cromer and his giant cock.

A Delicate Balance was not made for television. It was for American Film Theater, a program of stage adaptations that played in theater.

It was a much more innovative idea.

I don’t understand Tony producers. The only people who watch the Tonys are queens and the hags who love them and they invite Bernadette and Patti to present but won’t have them present together. Why?!??

[quote]they invite Bernadette and Patti to present but won’t have them present together.

Bernadette and Patti can't be in the same room together. Patti is still pissed off that Bernadette stole "Annie Get Your Gun" from her then had the audacity to do "Gypsy" on Broadway before her. If Bernadette gets the Encores "Call Me Madam" Patti will flip the fuck out!

R304 can we crowd fund Bernadette in Call Me Madam. Anything to fuck off Patti.

About time Patti did madam Arnfeldt, some of those grand 19th century courtesans came from the gutter and kept their rough accents. And then she can retire, having exhausted the repertoire.

I think David Cromer started the beer can cock rumor ... the hope of maying seeing it has kept him working all these years

If I can't see it. I don't believe it

R301 Dong not mentioned.

The weird thing is Mary Martin and Merman did tv specials and events ALL the TIME. Why can’t they put aside any career jealousies and give the fans what they want. Seriously if they did one Sondheim Tony Award Medley together it would be a legend DL would be discussing for the next 50 years.

Why would you believe some random DLer saying they would not appear together. I doubt either would care.

American Film Theater was a wondrous thing.

It kind of was, wasn't it, r311? I saw (on the BIG screen) :

A Delicate Balance

The Maids

Jacques Brel

It stunk.

Patti and Bernadette did Sondheim's birthday thing together. Stop trying to Idina and Kristin them

I heard that Cromer couldn't get the big thing to work when he was dating Jason Butler Harnar.

Perhaps poor Amy discovered her husband's lonnnnnng-standing thing with Jake G. That might kill a marriage.

I would imagine PattiLu is none too happy that Bernadette took her one shot of ever doing Dolly on Broadway.

I'm tired of having to pretend that anyone would care about Jordan Roth if not for his parents. He's not interesting, smart, talented, or attractive. He's lucky.

Richie might be gone of Jordan is indeed transitioning, which recent photos seem to prove.

Mientus is a major slut, so Arden could have kicked his ass to the curb.

What's David Yazbeck like? A friend met him and complimented Women on the Verge and David apparently apparently launched into a monologue about how awful the Broadway production was and how much better it was in London and so on. My friend was kinda flummoxed.

[quote] Mientus is a major slut, so Arden could have kicked his ass to the curb.

But Arden had to have known that when they got together. Although maybe Arden is maturing.

Patti as Dolly that would be interesting, certainly unlike any other interpretation. Maybe she can replace Betty on tour? Or do a German expressionist interpretation in a tin but somewhere, sagging panty hose and all.

R 285 I thought the BI implied that the person did not have a chance at hardware - but may have benefitted from a pity vote if his/her bad breakup had been more public. So Rashad's zero chances against 3 women makes it more likely to be her, not less.

I don't think it is her because as iffy as her A-list broadway status is (3 noms implies she must be) -- no one expects her boyfriend to be at the Tonys. And if motorcycle boy turned out to be bad news -- no amount of drama would gain her a sympathy vote because the Tonys don't award sympathy votes to women breaking up with men.

As for all the Joan Allen and Tina people, the blind item doesn't line up at all. Joan Allen has kept her own single bedroom apartment on the upper west side since she moved to NYC in 1983. Tina isn't putting any of her stuff in storage. They are not a couple in the public enough for a breakup to be a shock. (Not a couple at all, really) Joan just signed on to do another play here didn't she? That is hardly the dramatic flight to LA described in the blind item. Landau is also kind of a front runner who has maxed out on her Tony sympathy points for having worked on SpongeBob in the first place. And that got them some bling already.

Even so -- this was a FUN one and basing it all on the one picture of them together was kind of hilarious.

I think it looks more and more likely to be Ritchie and Jordan except the BI implied they were engaged and not actually married.

R322, you’ll probably get a Betty Lynn replacement sooner than you think...

Is Jordan Roth an only child? You never seem to hear about any siblings.

Isn't there a sister?

Lol, R315 I heard the same thing. JBH ran around telling that to everyone.

Is Cromer still dating that Judy Garland impersonator who sings in painfully high keys?

Well, r316, i guess that explains why Jake was at their wedding (which I found very odd to begin with)...

Amy probably didn't know anything about Chris and Jake at the wedding.

For me, the last West Side Stor did work at all. Matt Cavenaugh played Tony as if he were gay. The stage was so big, everything looked insignificant.

In fact, I came out of that show wondering why it’s considered a classic

It's no "Music Man"! "Music Man" is a much better show actually. Sorry, Chita Rivera -- don't be so dismissive.

R259 Just so you get it right. My husband is not fatter than I am, my college isn't bad (but it's not an Ivy), and yes, we are going to NYC this weekend.

All cleared up, asshole?

[quote]I would imagine PattiLu is none too happy that Bernadette took her one shot of ever doing Dolly on Broadway.

Bernadette didn't take Patti's one shot at "Dolly." Jerry Herman did that when he nixed her for the role. Plus, she couldn't have done it - rehearsals for Bernadette started in late December, while Patti was still recovering from her hip replacement.

Or should it be "All cleared up, Fred"?

Would Ana Gasteyer be a good Dolly?

Yes, but she wouldn't sell a single ticket beyond her family.

THE MUSIC MAN doesn't hold a candle to WEST SIDE STORY! Puh-leeze.

The Tonys got it wrong (surprise! some things never change) and WSS is a masterpiece that was way ahead of its time (and still is).

THE MUSIC MAN is fine but WEST SIDE STORY is a whole other ballgame.

r337, that makes sense, since it was told to me by a good friend of Jason.

[quote] WSS is a masterpiece that was way ahead of its time (and still is).

Just exactly when can we expect it not to be ahead of its time?

So Cromer is a bottom with a non functional soft big dick? Or a useless top?

I dunno, R340. I'm not a fucking oracle.

Please name a musical on Broadway that is more groundbreaking and influential than WSS (and, no, HAMILTON doesn't count).

I'm waiting.

I couldn't finish watching the taping of West Side Story. I got about halfway through Act2, then shut it off. Cavenaugh wasn't tough enough -- there was no menace in him at all, and he was supposed to be a gang member?!? --and I think that could be said of all the gang members. The characters were all too one dimensional, and I didn't care what happened to any of them. The dancing, however, was fantastic, but it was not worth sitting through the book to get to them. It did make me wish that choreographers of Robbins' caliber were still working. I'm so sick of the lazy athletic movement that now passes for choreography. There is no beauty in it anymore.

[quote] But Arden had to have known that when they got together. Although maybe Arden is maturing.

Of COURSE I'm maturing. I'm a director now. I won't let just ANYONE piss on me.

[quote] Isn't there a sister?

From the looks of it, there will be one in about 6 months.

Lol, r345

Can we take bets on Jordan's post transition name? I'm thinking Maxine

why not Jordana?

Is Angie a nominee this year.....

R342,

Showboat

[quote] Jerry Herman did that when he nixed her for the role.

Jerry Herman hasn't been seen in years, he's likely attached to a machine, if you think that he'd have the power to nix a Dolly that Scott Rudin wanted, then you clearly have no idea how things work.

Wouldn't it be a bad idea for an actor to run around town telling people how an influential and supposedly hung director couldn't maintain an erection?

Herman has all the power.

A Chorus Line was more influential than WSS. The gang members never looked tough in any WSS production, including the movie.

My first thought, r353, is that given they were dancing, how could they? But then I remember how butch the men were in 7 Brides....

Random, I know, but... what do DLers think of Maltby and Shire? I was listening to Closer Than Ever the other day, and there are some nice tunes. Richard Muenz, awful voice, but still...

This is a post on ATC. It also reads like a perfect fit here on DL.....

"Butterfly McQueen definitely sang. I saw her in summer stock as Queenie in Show Boat, with Ann Blyth as Magnolia."

I don’t think WSS was considered that influential until the hit movie

Nobody outside of theatre queens and musical theatre majors know what A CHORUS LINE even is, especially now. It was a popular thing in its time, but it has aged horribly and the movie is terrible. It's a brilliant show, but if we're talking most influential musical since SHOW BOAT and WEST SIDE STORY to the world at large, no.

WEST SIDE STORY won *10* Academy Awards, plus a special award for Robbins, and the soundtrack was #1 for more than a year (!). There's no competition as far as the most influential musical... its impact is incalculable and nothing since has touched it. The only show I could even make an argument for would be CHICAGO, but even then...

But whomever cited SHOW BOAT as the most influential musical ever is correct, but my question was what *SINCE* WSS (which came long after SHOW BOAT, natch) has been as impacting (I refuse to believe impactful is actually considered a word now; what a world).

HAMILTON seems like it will be another A CHORUS LINE, hugely popular and recognized in pop culture in its time but aging badly and losing its resonance precipitously as time goes on. We shall see.

R358, actually, you did not ask *since* WWS.

[quote]Please name a musical on Broadway that is more groundbreaking and influential than WSS (and, no, HAMILTON doesn't count).

However, post WWS, Hair is the obvious answer.

R358. I agree with what you said. Hamilton might be a huge hit, but it is of its time, and won't be important or significant in a few years. It will be remembered, for sure, because too many people spent too much money to see it, so they will keep the memory of it alive, but I don't see it being performed much after the current excitement dies down, which, it seems, could take years.

You might want to read Something Wonderful, the book about Rodgers and Hammerstein. Even though South Pacific is probably my favorite musical, I am not a huge fan of their musicals -- I think they can be too sentimental for my taste -- I thought the book was fantastic. While they were writing their ground-breaking shows, they had little thought that they would be remembered in 10 or 20 years. They would be happy to know that their plays are not only still remembered and revived, but continue to be amongst the best and most influential plays even today.

R359, if we're going to be picky then let's be picky.

I asked what musical *ON* Broadway, meaning currently in a Tony-eligible house, was more influential than WSS is. Some good arguments since we have CAROUSEL, MY FAIR LADY, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and HAMILTON all playing on Broadway at the moment. Not that it is a good season (it's not).

What musical CURRENTLY ON BROADWAY was more influential than WSS? That's a pointless exercise as it doesn't prove anything. But Lion King would definitely be one of them.

Wow Aaron Lazar and Christine Noll as the Murphys in the DEH tour ... how the mighty have fallen ... she can't even book the lead mom role (tho she must be the understudy)

R360

Which will close first, Wicked or Hamilton.

R239 This is an A-lister in the Broadway sense only. Not in the Hollywood sense.

To me, this means if you have this person in your play, you automatically have cache, pedigree, and ticket buyers who want to see this person.

R272 I don't follow you. I adore Jan Maxwell. I saw her in Follies many, many times. What did I say to make you think otherwise?

Men!

[quote]HAMILTON seems like it will be another A CHORUS LINE

"Hamilton" won't even be another "Rent."

Agreed R361, if Steven Spielberg actually got his film version of The Phantom of the Opera with Michael Crawford up and on screen in the early 90’s that cinematic event would have become a mega success, but due to the eventual tragic film adaptation it knicked the property a bit, it’s still a massive entertainment, one of the most profitable in history. The Lion King movie musical has the potential to be huge and hit another monster milestone.

WSS is known far and wide, Hamilton while super hot as far as cultural iconic media, just doesn’t have the core to last as long as a Wicked or Phantom and will become problematic once it’s open for schools and stock.

R365

Going by the BI hints, I was also assuming that it meant someone whose personal life DL Broadway fans would bother to know about. I formatted the list in a way that looked terrible once I hit send. Someone else should make a better version.

The original blind item reads: "Broadway A lister will not being attending the awards with the significant other. The person asked the intended to leave their residence, and they did- 2775 miles away. On Sunday it will become clear they no longer together. If voters were made aware of what A-lister was put through (A-lister doesn't even know the full extent of it) they may have actually picked up some hardware."

Going by nominated A-Listers the likely answer is Roth, assuming 3 Women is a shoe in for best play.

PRODUCERS: Marc Platt -- probably going to win for The Band Visit. Thomas Shumacher -- no one cares about him. Jordon Roth -- married and possibly going to win for Angels. Scott Rudin -- probably going to win for Carousel.

Are there any producers who should be added? Roth is a front runner with over 2 'votes' as the A-list producer whose love life falling apart with Ritchie would gain interest and sympathy and possibly have nudged him in the direction of winning rather than losing.

ACTORS and DIRECTORS:

Excluded by the BI poster as mentioned but wrong: Tony Shaloub, Norbert L Butz, Diana Rigg, Patti Murin, Joe Mantello, George C Wolfe, Michael Arden, Marianne Elliot.

Still in the running;

Amy Schumer, LaChanze, Taylor Louderman, Jesse Mueller, Condola Rashad (who is engaged to Sebastian Vallentin Stenhøj), Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf, Lindsay Mendez, Tina Landau, Casey Nicholaw, Bartlett Sher.

Amy has been ruled out as 'not Broadway A-list. Lane has been ruled out because Delvin is the nice guy in that relationship. Condola has been ruled out because straight people breaking up does not garner the kind of sympathy that would give her an edge over Jackson. It has been hilarious talking about Tina Landau -- but she isn't actually 'with' anyone we know about.

[quote]n 1967, Merman and Russell Nype did a US tour of CALL ME MADAM

If Russell Nype married Nipsey Russell he'd be Russell Russell

If Nipsey Russell married Russell Nye he'd be Nipsey Nype.

If Tamara Tunie married Rooney Mara, r371, would they be Tamara Mara and Rooney Tunie?

Aaron Lazar as the dad in DEH? That puts a totally different spin on it. Hell, I would have lied to have gotten close to him and fooled around. He is -- or was, I haven't seen him in a while -- haf.

[quote]assuming 3 Women is a shoe in for best play.

Oh, dear.

lol - sorry.

r370, you can cut your list of possible BI suspects in half as most them are in relationships that nobody cares about and wouldn't even notice were amiss.

And Tina Landau mentioned Joan Allen quite lovingly and publicly in her thank you speech at the OCCs. They were photographed together there and at the Drama Desk Awards.

And WSS: When seen on stage, it's NEVER as great as the show you imagined in your head. A lot of the Robbins choreography holds up beautifully but not much else. And have you really watched the ENTIRE movie recently? It's horribly dated except, again, much of the choreography..

R376 do you really need much more than that brilliant, alive, electric choreography and those timeless classic songs?

The movie is wonderful, despite the two leads being pretty bad. The other elements overcome it.

Disagree, R376. The WSS movie is easily as good as THE SOUND OF MUSIC, the gold standard for perfect movie musicals (with same director/screenwriter).

The gigantically successful Fathom Events of the 4K WSS showing repeatedly every year prove people still want to see it on the big screen and love it. Of all ages. They even did the whole show (more or less) on GLEE. It's a time capsule, perhaps, but transcendent because the material and rendering of it is so strong. And, since it's about teenagers, it will never age because every high school forever will want to do it (again and again and again).

ROMEO & JULIET is the greatest love story ever written and the team of Bernstein/Sondheim/Laurents/Robbins reinvented it in a way that did something different and many would argue better than Shakespeare himself. It's one of, if not the, greatest musical ever done. And, the movie is incredibly powerful, even now (brown-face included).

I agree-- WSS is horrible and lame and stupid, but THAT DANCING! It is beyond glorious. Why can't anyone do anything quite like that now? I did not see an American in Paris, but I presume the dancing was lovely in that. The last time I saw a fantastic dancing was Matthew Bournes Swan Lake. I can't remember the last time I saw fantastic Broadway dancing.

R 376

I agree that the married people should be cut -- but left them there because they haven't been ruled out by the person who posted the BI yet.

Tina Landau and Joan don't fit the blind item because Joan has her own apartment in NYC and she has not fled town. The person up for an award has supposedly kicked the 'intended' out of their residence and this person went all the way to California. Joan Allen has literally just announced she is doing a Broadway play this fall. So I think it is still fun to speculate Tina has scored with Joan (good job, Tina, she's hot!) we can assume that this particular ugly break-up blind item doesn't apply.

OH I wonder if it's casey's boy. The hair half of the Marquette twins from Wasila. Plenty of meth in Wasila.

....and you can see Russia from the back porch.

R380 cut the marrieds.

The name has been mentioned.

I don't understand why the BI poster doesn't just say it.

I think the BI did answer, "Cut the marrieds."

So not Roth.

It is Casey. Well hell. I thought he was a lock for choreography.

Today's Broadway choreography looks like aerobics. I guess musical theater programs don't train their students in dancing anymore.

Newly excluded: Amy Schumer (married), Lindsay Mendez (married), Roth (married), Nathan Lane (married) Bartlett Sher (married).

Single women: LaChanze, Taylor Louderman, Laurie Metcalf, Tina Landau.

Women in established relationships that wouldn't trigger a bump in award voting: Jesse Mueller (her partner Andy Truschinki is in Florida at a film festival with his movie.), Condola Rashad (engaged to Sebastian Vallentin Stenhøj).

Casey Nicholaw.

:(

[quote]Jerry Herman hasn't been seen in years, he's likely attached to a machine, if you think that he'd have the power to nix a Dolly that Scott Rudin wanted, then you clearly have no idea how things work.

LOL at the “you have no idea how things work” Troll.

I know more about Herman than you do. He is NOT on a ventilator, but he is in a wheelchair and it’s permanent now. He doesn’t travel because flying is a hassle when you’re wheelchair bound, even if you’re rich. And he just simply doesn’t want to be seen in public in a wheelchair. He’s fine on the phone, and he uses it a lot. Ask Lee Roy Reams, he just saw Jerry last week.

Is it terrible to say that I think Joshua Henry is good in Carousel, because at the time the action took place, black men were feared, so he seems to be more of an honest menace? I've seen it with white guys, and Billy just didn't seem to have the element of danger and the threat he needs to be. Mueller was completely miscast. She is way too old and projects far too much intelligence and gravitas for the character. Julie Jordan should be rudderless and impulsive; Mueller project neither trait.

Carousel sucks and won't win anything.

Someone married Lindsay Mendez? Whoever he is, HE deserves a Tony.

He is a jazz musician. They 'met cute.'

I thought LaChanze was married, no? First husband tragically died on 9/11 but she remarried.

DL fave Mindy Paige Davis Page as.....................Mame????? Was Molly Ringwald busy elsewhere?

I'm surprised Aaron Lazar is doing the DEH tour. I thought he was on a tv show or somethin. And, yes, still hot. Noll won't be understudying Heidi. Coleen Sexton from that dreadful J&H vid with David Hasselhoff will cover Cynthia and Heidi.

LaChanze was widowed in 9/11 and remarried in 2005 but that marriage ended in 2014, right before she started If/Then.

Wow, Mendez is a hog and her husband has gayface for days. Who wants to tell her?

Why don't you write a musical about it, R397? It is really the most tactful way to discuss delicate issues with a Broadway diva.

DL fave Robbie Fairchild danced in London with also ran Leanne Cope this past week

Any news on Fairchild these days

Ashley has gone dead silent on Insta. Robbie mostly posts pics of his dog. Tiler, on the other hand, is doing another Little Dancer workshop, works quite a bit and looks very, very happy which is nice.

Paige Davis as Mame has to rank in the top 5 miscastings of all time....she is way too sweet, too young looking, is not tough enough , and well- she is soooooo wrong for it. There are a few chorus people who can barely dance...embarrasing. Guess no star wanted to do 2 weeks in the round. I saw a version with Patrice Munsel who changed in the aisles and said SHIT a lot when she didn't finish the costume change in time.

R400 --Is Little Dancer the musical about Degas? I read so much about it a few years ago, then...nothing. What is happening to it, do you know? It sounded flawed but interesting, from the things I read about it. Although the stories are different, I wonder if there is room for that and Moulin Rouge. Both have an artist as a character -- Degas and Lautrec -- so they might seem to be too similar in people's minds.

A friend hooked up with LeRoy Reams in the 90s. He said all LeRoy wanted to do was talk about Hello Dolly or have my friend fart in his mouth. 💨

WHAT?????

West side story is always cast with the blandest of the bland. The movie is boring as fuck. Don't get me started on Carousel again. The show itself is crap. Mueller does absolutely nothing in it. And Joshua henry was just weird. Lindsay mendez? Bottom of the cast. Jigger was the best. His number was the only one i enjoyed. What happened to Aaron Lazars career? Noll was always kind of low budget to me.

Lazar still has time to become a porn star.

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

I notice Ashley unfollowed both Fairchild siblings on Instagram as well as Robbie unfollowing him. Ashley had still been following Megan as late as a couple weeks ago, but he unfollowed her last week, and had unfollowed Robbie a bit before that.

That coupled with Ashley’s lack of new updates probably isn’t great news.

R371, If Totie Fields had married Truman Capote, she would have been Totie Capote.

R351, Jerry Herman is rumored to be in NYC while the house next door to him in Florida is being imploded and rebuilt.

R394, George Dvorsky used to be hot.

R397, Not to mention his disturbing looking teeth in that close up photo. Who supplied the tiny wedding cake, Entenmann's?

Do they have a castle at Windsor, R412?

The other Wasila twin was also a mess and screwed over another lovely older theater pro. I wonder if the twins party together. Maybe the sunless winters made them go nuts like Bristol and her wackadoo siblings.

[quote] Jerry Herman is rumored to be in NYC while the house next door to him in Florida is being imploded and rebuilt.

He’s not. He’s in Florida, which is where Lee Roy visited him week before last.

The funny thing is Bernadette had gone on record saying she had never seen Evita before. She also went on record saying she didn’t see Gypsy with LuPonez She also didn’t see Anything Goes because of ITW. I doubt she flew to London to see Sunset. So really her understanding of Patti’s career is probably limited to the Sondheim concert and possibly only. Sweeney

[quote]I notice Ashley unfollowed both Fairchild siblings on Instagram as well as Robbie unfollowing him. Ashley had still been following Megan as late as a couple weeks ago, but he unfollowed her last week, and had unfollowed Robbie a bit before that.

You stupid fuck. How did you “notice” it? Names of followers aren’t listed alphabetically. Did you go through thousands and thousands of names to try to ferret that out? You’re a freak and a liar, you’ve proved that over and over. You’re the boy who cried “broken up” so often. What kind of sick thrill do you get from the notion of them breaking up? You certainly don’t care about either one.

[416] Hi Ashley! Break a leg tonight in 42nd street

Rudin's shows are all over the weekend NYTimes again...

Can we stop wit the Robbie Fairchild/Ashley/Who the fuck ever drama??? It’s tedious a.f.

The thing is for [r417] you can search every profiles follow list for specific names and if you follow both people they pop up first...so he obviously has no idea how Instagram works or is Ashley Day himself. Or Robbie. Or Tiller Peck on the downlow. Super lipstick

Interesting that this thread claims to want actual gossip but then when there IS some, everyone goes nuts. Can't have it both ways, my chickadees.

I know it’s gossip, but it’s boring gossip. I don’t care if Ashley eats the nuts out of Fairchild’s shit while Ethan Slater and LaChanze make meat loaf for the cast of CAROUSEL. It’s still boring gossip, sweetie pie

Maybe Bernadette saw Noises Off or Woman on the Verge.

I would bet that the only thing keeping Patti and Bernadette from publicly singing some glorious medley of Broadway songs (a la Merman and Martin) is Bernadette's lack of a voice. She's smart enough not to sing a duet with Patti because she'd be blown off the stage.

r318 say what you will but Jordan is smart

Casey is a good guess for the blind item. Among Bway A-listers, what other well known partners aren't yet married?

Paige looks like she did a terrific job. Saw Lansbury do it in the round at Westbury, Long Island as a kid. In the round is a tough gig, no sets and no room to dance. North Shore handles it well. But Angela wasn't any older than Paige is when she started. No one says "Mame" needs a walker.

So, after all that the BI was about Casey Nicholaw breaking up with someone from Alaska that no one here knows?

Why is that such a delicious scandal? I really don't get it.

[quote]She's smart enough not to sing a duet with Patti because she'd be blown off the stage.

Anyone who sings with Patti would be blown off the stage. Patti has only two settings: loud and off.

Paige Davis is dull as dirt in that "Mame" montage. She has zero star quality, and that's one of the main requirements for Mame.

Too bad they couldn't get Paige O'Hara, she'd have been better.

*There's* an idea for a between-shows theater filler ... an evening of Disney princesses. Would Benson, O'Hara, etc. be up for it?

O'Hara just passed the "Belle" mantle to someone new - who will be doing the voice and appearances from now on. She's pretty open about her age (62) and I guess she just figured it was silly for her to keep playing the ingenue. (Or Disney figured it, but O'Hara seemed really happy to be handing it over and talked about her age). The poor dear is doing "Menopause the Musical" in Las Vegas. I bet she'd love to do something higher profile.

Back during the quick fifteen minutes that she had some heat off of BATB, her manager stole a couple of hundred thousand from her. So she took the first good-paying gig that showed up, which was a year long tour in Australia in "South Pacific." And then it extended about six months beyond its planned closing. By the time she got back to the states, she had no heat whatever, there was a new Disney animated flick (Aladdin, I guess) and there wasn't much interest in her for Broadway work. Too bad, because she really had the "it" factor.

On Ice!

Charlie Williams is whoring it up during "The Cher Show" rehearsals.

[quote]Ethan Slater and LaChanze make meat loaf for the cast of CAROUSEL

This was a real nice meatloaf

I'm mighty glad you came.

R434, Thayne Jasperson maintained that same position during Finding Neverland when it previewed in Cambridge, MA prior to Broadway and Porthos was being played by an actor, not a dog.

Unfortunately, Thayne was wearing briefs underneath his nearly sheer dog costume.

The Broadway Princess Party is already a thing, R431.

Laura Onses did get original Meg (who is also Broadway's Belle) at one point.

Am I a prude that I get so tired of all these Broadway boys having instagram accounts that are nothing but excuses to show off their bodies? Is that their "audition"?!? Do those with the hottest bodies get hired? It's tiresome as fuck, and reeks of narcissism and desperation.

R438

Hot bodies are required to get work until you've got experience. After getting their first break, talented men can let themselves go and keep working -- but they all have to look their best starting out.

It isn't easy looking awesome and it isn't going to last. Instagraming hot bod pics seems like a pretty reasonable thing to do IMHO. If it exhausts you you can always unfollow the hot-body instagrammers.

PRUDE |pro͞od| (noun) Prude is a person who is or claims to be easily shocked by matters relating to sex or nudity.

ORIGIN early 18th cent.: from French, back-formation from prudefemme, feminine of prud'homme ‘good man and true,’ from prou ‘worthy.’

Paige O'Hara was superb in the BAM "Of Thee I Sing"/"Let 'em Eat Cake" staged concerts years ago as the jilted Diana Devereux. She stole the evening with a combination of great singing, hilarious acting and great presence. I would have thought that would have led to some higher-profile gigs (other than "Beauty and the Beast")

The sad thing about Mientus' Instagram is he has more pictures of himself posing provocatively than ones of Arden. But maybe they're totally happy. I feel like I've lived that relationship and it didn't end well.

I still can't get over Stephanie Block cast as Cher? Maybe she'll blow everyone one away. Maybe. Would have been nice to find new talent for this though. Surely no one thinks she's a draw. I'm going to have trust Cherilyn on this one.

LaChanze ain't a draw either.

SJB has done Liza, now Cher. Next up, Season 11 of Drag Race?

R439. Thanks for the response. I don't follow any of the exhibitionists; I just see the occasional link posted on here. I understand that it is one way of getting noticed and roles, but having a hot body has nothing to do with your ability to act or sing or dance. They're being judged or hired for attributes that have nothing to do with a stage performance. I guess what bothers me a little about it, too, is that it makes me think that they just want attention, and being on a stage is another way of getting it. It has nothing to do with their desire to act or to hone their craft; it is just another way for them to be admired. I used to work in the music industry, and burned out of people who flock to the industry because they're narcissists, and not because of a love of music. Perhaps I am projected that onto all these muscle Broadway guys, but I think it might be the same.

Why can't they be both? It seems sort of strange to judge their motives for being performers from their Instagram.

Would you have judged Nathan Lane's commitment to his craft based on observing him cunting it up in a bar (or at a stage door) back in the day?

Having a hot body is a requirement for most dancing roles! Being a good dancer without a hot body is literally a character type. (Even then, 'fat' dancers are inevitably physically attractive bears when you see them IRL.)

(I used to work in opera -- even there the importance of body type wasn't ignored! Hotness is a major element of what a performer has to offer -- and because the appearance of physical fitness is something a performer 'can work on' by working out it is often seen as an outward indication of where a performer is mentally when they show up to audition.)

Going back a bit, why would Aaron Lazar and Christiane Noll agree to be the nobody adults in Dear Evan Hansen tour? Noll is more understandable but I thought Lazar still had some potential left. And he’s way younger than she is, too young looking to have a senior in high school. A real mismatched pair.

R447

How many opportunities to work do you think women GET in theater? Only 37% of this years principle roles on Broadway went to women -- and Broadway is the most estrogen rich corner of the industry.

This thread has a number of genuinely clueless posts about how baffled DLers are that women with loads of talent and a solid breakthrough performance (O'Hara, Noll, etc) don't somehow turn this into a huge career as if these women missed out on lots of opportunities to be in amazing vehicles.

DEH has two great roles for women who are prepared to play complicated mothers. What other shows running right now would be a better job opportunity?

First you're another sloe-eyed vamp, then someone's mother, then you're camp

I don't see it, fellas. Becky Luker and Kim Criswell made much stronger impressionsin the same concert.

R447, Think of it as a summer job.

Speaking of Instagram, what is the deal with Troy Britton Johnson? He seems like a terribly dim narcissist and isn't he getting a bit too old for this?

This is gorgeous, but, my, that audience is.....of a certain age.

Kim Criswell is no Karen Mason.

[quote]He said all LeRoy wanted to do was talk about Hello Dolly or have my friend fart in his mouth.

I certainly hope these 2 events happened simultaneously.

Good god, R453, what year is that clip from?

That hideously overdone DYNASTY styling of the performers is killing me.

When Ashley starts following Tiler then we'll know for sure that something is up.

All I know is Little Dancer is workshopping again but this time with Robert Lindsay replacing Boyd Gaines. But I think most of the DC cast is intact.

[quote] First you're another sloe-eyed vamp, then Evan Hansen's mother, then you're camp!

I thought I read somewhere that Jerry Herman was hoping to make it to NYC to catch Bernie as Mrs. Levi. If not, he'll just have to settle for the bootleg like the rest of us.

What's happening with the re-thought, revised TITANIC? Anyone?

THR reviews Tom Hanks in "Henry IV":

Charlie Williams is such a cutie pie and seems to have a lot of personality. I'm surprised he's never tried to break out of the ranks with some kind of starring role in something. I would gather he's perfectly content with just being a dancer.

He's been in a couple web series.

R463 Agree, adore Charlie, such a cutie, and delicious dancer

Yes, I'm sure you're right that he would not want to break out of the chorus into a starring role. You seem to have no idea how the business works.

Seeing Charlie Williams embarrassing instagram posts, I can see why Scott Rudin is smart enough to have his actors have a social media blackout when it comes to his shows

It was just a comment, R466, based on the fact Charlie has not done a lot over the years to assume the spotlight outside of the chorus. Get a grip, you fucking prisspot.

I can't remember which thread it was- this, flop musicals or Bway Sex Thread, but someone mentioned Chicago dancer Brian Spitulnik's series Confessions of a Chorus Boy. I looked it up and it's actually a series of pieces he wrote for McSweeneys. They're actually pretty good, even if he doesn't portray himself in the most flattering light (and I'm not certain how aware he is of just how badly he comes off). He's a decent writer.

R467 His Instagram is fine, actually very restrained, you jealous pissy pot

This is pretty awesome -- just heard on the news that they're giving a Tony award to the Parkland drama teacher who saved 65 students during the shooting by barricading them inside a classroom. Nice.

R471 ....Jesus that is random

Random? I think it’s great.

What a stupid thing to give a Tony award for. So if he was a math teacher, they would have said Fuck you, no Tony?

Story:

R474 Exactly, ridiculous

She's getting a Tony award for education. Why, did she teach them to play dead?

I don't get it.

The 19 times Tony has honored "couples":

How Many Tonys Did the Most Nominated Shows Actually Win?

Playbill forgot one quiz question- Will 2018 be the worst year for Tony Awards ever?

I think that may be a given, R480.

William Snowden and Joseph Stewart were nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

R478

Most of those couples were not couples. And considering they included non-couple pairs-- they should have noted Chenoweth's Sally was Roger Bart's Snoopy's actual best friend and that the two won supporting actor Tonys in 1999.

I doubt it, but is there any chance somebody acknowledges Spacey, etc. tomorrow? All that high-minded chatter about theater reflecting our times, but now they have a chance to publicly disavow what was and vow to do better.

[quote]What's happening with the re-thought, revised TITANIC? Anyone?

Nothing. That particular production has been sunk. Instead, the DC Signature/S. Korean production is reportedly coming in. I didn’t see it, but the production photos are pretty gorgeous.

And to think Spacey hosted that clusterfuck just a year ago.

Theater does reflect our time. For whatever reason Spongebob managed to accidentally be the most topical.

Spongebob the Musical is clearly designed to imply that the future 'life' under the sea is entirely made up of discarded plastic junk. It is cheerful and bright and fun - but also so damned disturbing.

Then the volcano plot -- as fanciful as it seemed even a few months ago -- it happening right now. Of course the musical has a happier ending than reality.

I've heard that the Dear Evan Hansen performance tomorrow is in honor of the shooting victims too. Really, a show that has dialogue referencing someone's hair being 'school shooter chic'. Perfect choice.

[quote]Going back a bit, why would Aaron Lazar and Christiane Noll agree to be the nobody adults in Dear Evan Hansen tour? Noll is more understandable but I thought Lazar still had some potential left. And he’s way younger than she is, too young looking to have a senior in high school. A real mismatched pair.

They are working actors. Christ they have rent and mortgages to pay. Who are these mythical actors do you know that can hold out for jobs you approve of? DEH is a Tony award winning musical on the first tour, a great gig.

Ok girls tomorrow is the Tonys. What upsets to u see?

R385 No.

There's a comment I made that that was more in a joking spirit. It's being used to cut people.

No one would actually win a Tony due to personal strife.

[QUOTE]I've heard that the Dear Evan Hansen performance tomorrow is in honor of the shooting victims too

Ugh, they're having a performance of that this year? Mind you, at least it'll be free from Ben Platt's borderline offensive portrayal of mental illness with verbal and physical tics. Or is that really how he behaves?

Sometimes actors have to take jobs to get enough weeks to qualify for health insurance.

Charlie Williams only knows how to be a whore. Trust me. I know. On his knees with his tongue out. The oldest climb up the ladder. Slurp slurp.

I saw Paige O’Hara in Side by Side by Sondheim with Kurt Peterson and Virginia Sandifur.

Paige was outstanding. She oozed star presence, had a great voice, and was funny to boot.

I know Nathan's ATC name. It's not ryhog.

R494 You say that like that is a bad things, or lessens him. Back to the fifties

Charlie Williams will never get off his knees or above the chorus...

R498 He has been working steadily for over a decade, more than you

Charlie Williams is very cute and (openly) partnered well. He'll never break out of the chorus (prob) but so what?

I don't believe either WSS nor A CHORUS LINE was truly influential. Bernstein hoped his masterwork would launch a new wave of American "opera" based on elevated popular song forms like WSS and TROUBLE IN TAHITI. But only Sondheim carried the torch forward...and we know how that turned out, commercially-speaking. And without commercial success, there is--regrettably--little lasting influence, as today's market demonstrates. A CHORUS LINE did not spawn a flurry of surrealist, one-unit, plotless dance musicals in its wake. It was sui generis, its own thing. Sure, there were revues like DANCIN', FOSSE and the like but none hit the mother-lode of a finely realized concept musical. DREAMGIRLS and GRAND HOTEL were certainly indebted to the bravura staging of ACL but didn't have the common touch (and a liftable song) to send it into the history books.

No, IMO, the only shows that truly influenced the genre were SHOW BOAT and OKLAHOMA. The first, because it was conceived as an unbelievably ambitious, decades-spanning epic, heads and shoulders above anything else of its day, which didn't shy away from controversial subject matter and opened the door to the future (the glorious score didn't hurt either). But Hammerstein really struck lightning with OKLAHOMA, because the book's structure (spiritual couple/carnal couple), adapted from Shakespearean forms, radicalized the libretto to such an extent that it became THE template for most book musicals for the next thirty years (FINIAN'S RAINBOW, which is closer in its symphonic structure to a Clifford Odets play than the Hammerstein model, is the only major exception I can think of).

Last, I would say the European mega-musicals were responsible for (re) introducing the pop-rock idiom into the musical vocabulary of Broadway (HAIR, for all its iconoclasm, was very shortly overshadowed by a decade of Prince-Sondheim collaborations), where, over-sung and over-amplified, it caterwauls to this day.

[quote]DREAMGIRLS and GRAND HOTEL were certainly indebted to the bravura staging of ACL but didn't have the common touch (and a liftable song) to send it into the history books.

Excuse me? Liftable song?

Very insightful and thoughtful, R501. Thank you.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA may very well be the most influential musical on Broadway *OR* of the last 60 years (i.e. since WSS). JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR was really the first of the mega-musical format and EVITA cemented its ascendancy as an artistically and commercially viable format and then CATS only further proved it. Nonetheless, the apotheosis of the mega-musical format is undoubtedly PHANTOM and its continued and current popularity is solid proof - one need only check the weekly grosses to see it is always in the Top 15 shows, if not regularly breaking into the Top 10, lo, 30+ years into its run.

Yes, liftable song, r502. The kind that is covered in various arrangements by singers of all genres (other than as a gag). Was it ever utilized as a jazz selection, say, on saxophone? I'm really asking.

Charlie Williams seems sweet and is doing a career he loves. I don’t think many DL’s would say the same.

Today was DL fave Robbie Fairchild birthday. He’s 31 today

PHANTOM is not more influential than HAIR or WSS.

PHANTOM isn't more influential than CATS.

[quote]The kind that is covered in various arrangements by singers of all genres (other than as a gag).

I think some of the Dreamgirls music can be used for that. "We Are A Family" has shown up in tv commercials. I think "One Night Only" and "I Miss You Old Friend" are very adaptable. I think that people have been too lazy to bother using Dreamgirls music.

“Cadillac Car” was never used to sell Cadillacs? Sounds like a wasted opportunity.

31... what?

Flavors?

R501 may have been thoughtful but it sure wasn’t insightful

[quote]R501 may have been thoughtful but it sure wasn’t insightful

Thank you! I thought I was in an alternate reality there for a few posts.

For those of you in New York, CBS Channel 2 is broadcasting a special on the Tonys. Lots of good clips so far. Don't know if it's 30 minutes or an hour.

R497 ok harvey Weinstein

The Ch. 2 Tony show is over after 30 min. but I thought it was well done. It kept saying "Presented by Broadway.com", whatever that means and was hosted by ALW's daughter. She and the production team kept things moving right along and the show and interview clips and were face paced but smart and enjoyable.

Sorry, "the show and its interview clips were fast paced but smart and enjoyable," not "the show interview clips and were face paced but smart and enjoyable."

Well, if you're talking about Broadway shows that invented a successful genre look no further than Jersey Boys which spawned Beautiful which spawned Summer which spawned The Cher Show which spawned that Temptations thing which spwned the Tina Turner thing.

You may not like the trend but it's here to stay. Now, that's influential!

How do we know Charlie Williams hasn't auditioned for principal roles and not gotten them?

Exactly, r518. I assume that's what he was doing on his knees with his mouth open. Auditioning.

R519 Don't project love, he is a great dancer and cute as a button so no worries of not getting cast on his merits.

Was R503 an ambien post?

Nobody wants to know how two guys ended up with a nomination for Best Featured Actress in a musical, mentioned above?

Also mentioned above, pretty far back, is Jerry Herman putting the nix on Patti as Dolly. That's not exactly what happened. Roughly ten years ago Jack O'Brien wanted to do a Broadway revival of Dolly with Patti. She agreed and O'Brien raised some money on it and took the proposal to Herman. Herman refused but it had nothing to do with Patti. O'Brien didn't want to use the Gower Champion staging, He wanted to do a new staging with new choreography and even changes to the book and score. That's what Herman shut down.

Patti was never involved with Scott Rudin's production. That was always centered around Midler as Dolly, although I wouldn't be surprised if Patti was approached as a Midler replacement. Even Nathan was allegedly approached about that.

Bernadette Peters was the first and only person approached re replacing Midler in Hello, Dolly, LuPone wasn't approached, and contrary to the "alleged," Nathan Lane was never approached either. It's kind of naive to think he would be. No one, least of all Herman, wanted it turned into a drag show on Broadway (he didn't mind when Lee Roy did it because it was in small town Florida).

If LuPone had been approached, however, she never could have done it because of her hip replacement surgery.

Herman is not a huge LuPone fan, by the way.

The two guys weren't just nominated for Best Featured Actress in a musical, they won. They played Kurt and Friedrich in "The Sound of Music," (Snowden was Friedrich, and Stewart was Kurt) and the "Trapp Family Children" were nominated as a group for Best Featured Actress.

Oops, I'm wrong they didn't win. Patricia Neway won Best Featured Actress that year (for the Rev Mother).

The official Tony nomination was to: Lauri Peters and the Children (Kathy Dunn, Evanna Lien, Mary Susan Locke, Marilyn Rogers, William Snowden, Joseph Stewart), The Sound of Music

.r524, you're almost right. In 1960, a nomination went to "Lauri Peters and The Children" for Best Featured Actress in a musical for The Sound of Music. But they lost. The award went to the distinguished opera and Broadway singer Patricia Neway as The Mother Superior in the same show.

R523, I'll easily defer to your more informed knowledge about the current situation.

I have much more to say and I'll try to post it later but it's early morning and I'm falling asleep.

And Danny LaRue could do it in England which is a small country, and when Jack Benny was approached Broadway was a small street.

R520 I don't know who the hell you are looking at but charlie williams is NOT cute as a button. His own merits being his suck and fuck game, then yes. You clearly don't know him, rob ashford, or the business. R519 that is HILARIOUS and just about right. Show us how bad you want it Charlie! The whore in him gets turned on when you say that to him especially after a few shots.

Who is Charlie Williams well partnered with?

Who does Charlie Williams suck off to get jobs?

Who the fuck is Charlie Williams?

Bitch like, you're on a theatre thread and you really don't know who Charlie Williams is.

They also don't understand why a chorus dancer hasn't wanted to break out and become a big star, so this is a thread of idiots.

The thing about the chorus boys Instas is they need a ton of followers to prove they have a following.

You get a lot of followers by taking off your clothes.

My niece has a friend she grew up with. Nice kid, cute and smart. He started appearing in his undies on Instagram and now has over 6K followers. I feel gross for being turned on by someone I met when he was 11.

All these thirsty Instagram whores are just unseemly. Remember when talent was the requirement to appear on a Broadway stage?

I don't believe that Charlie has been partnered since breaking up with Ryan Sharpe.

R535, who's your niece's friend?

[quote]They also don't understand why a chorus dancer hasn't wanted to break out and become a big star, so this is a thread of idiots.

Uh, no, sweetie, the definition of an idiot is some troll who gets his blood pressure up over people asking harmless questions about a dancer in a theater thread and then scolding them on how they "know nothing about the business!" like you apparently think you do. Seriously, if this is all you have to get upset about, then your ass needs to get a fucking life.

In Memoriam 2018:

[quote] Rudin's shows are all over the weekend NYTimes again...

Did anyone else's home delivery of the Times have the Arts & Leisure section delivered today instead of yesterday?

Am I the only person left who still gets their paper delivered?

I find it interesting that Jesse Green says Bruce Springsteen should have been nominated for best actor in a musical for "Springsteen on Broadway." For what exactly? Bruce is just telling stories about his days in the music business, isn't he? (I haven't seen the show.) He's not acting out a role, so if Jesse was being serious, what a bizarre thought to express, but then I guess it would have made the category a lot more interesting, huh?

[quote]In Memoriam 2018:

Patricia Morison didn't merit a photo?

R537- Who the fuck is Ryan Sharpe? He was partnered with Ryan Steele, whom Charlie dumped so he could get fucked by everybody in the business. The adorable Ryan is currently appearing in Carousel.

^ “adorable” Ryan Steele

Yes, that was clear, R545

R542

Playing a remarkable version of his younger self, perhaps? I mean - his performance is not being laughed off the stage.

Why didn’t Jan Maxxwell demand to be photographed for that In Memoriam from her palatial, subsidized, Manhattan Plaza digs?

[quote]All these thirsty Instagram whores are just unseemly. Remember when talent was the requirement to appear on a Broadway stage?

Don't be bitter because no one ever asked you to take your clothes off, Ethel.

the slut generation has spoken

I haven’t seen the Springsteen show either, but I think there are only around 14 songs in two hours. There’s a lot of talking in between from a script. It’s not improvised patter.

No, Bruce Springsteen should not have qualified for Best Actor in a Musical, even in this shitty year. Come on.

Who knew that Charlie Williams would be the one to eventually rip apart datalounge

Dreamgirls--the camera test for the earlier, aborted, film version.

r553 calm down charlie. Nobody ripped ANYTHING apart. We're all still frenemies here. ❤ nice try bitch.

So was Charlie let go from Frozen or did they let him out for The Cher Show?

R556 If he had sense he would have run away. The important thing you funny bitches ripping on my Charlie seem to want to forget is he is a great dancer and looks fucking great onstage....and keeps getting cast. Notice he was with Travis Wall, they would be a terrific couple

He was the associate choreographer of Frozen. Apparently his work there is done.

Patricia Morrison died on May 20, after the cutoff for Tony eligibility for the year.

MORISON, not Morrison! Sorry, I DO know better.

I certainly hope so, r560.

This season was so bad that the Tonys are on tonight and no one cares. Not here, on ATC or on BWW. And the list of “stars”who will be there is pretty low on actual stars. It will be the lowest ratings in history.

NONE, OP …. WSS could stand alone just sung, danced or acted. Few others can.

If HAMILTON just opened with no cultural or gender bending, just had a routine Broadway-qualified all-white musical cast, maybe a few blacks, all this hoo-hah would be short lived. The eventual ruination of it in high schools and community theater will extend the run a bit, but this is no several-decades show.

R351 it is very easy, comfortable even, to travel in a luxury van that's wheelchair-access equipped. Just roll in, off. Chrysler makes a good one.

I do wish people on DL -- no, ALL fans -- would STOP watching a movie and think they know a Broadway show. Film, live stage, two different thing.

And stop thinking they know producers. Believe me, no producer is big enough … if Jerry Herman says no to a Dolly-idea casting, no show. Count on it.

[quote]I feel gross for being turned on by someone I met when he was 11.

Don't beat yourself up.

Fellas, you missed meeting dramedy and his spreadsheets at the ATC Tony party. The menu consisted of beef and chicken quesadillas, mini crab cakes, guacamole and crackers, cocktail franks and more.

Red carpet coverage has begun on NY1.

Oh Ann, you do know how to throw a party!

Well Andy and Michael Arden are now on the shitastic NY1 red carpet special so I guess they aren't the BI couple.

Just saw Jordan Roth on the red carpet coverage. Is he going the tranny route? Or just too rich to care how he appears?

Charlie was the Associate Choreographer for Frozen. He was never in it.

And Jordan Roth and Richie are there, is it just me or is this the BI item from a few days ago turning out to be bullshit?

Also why is Nikki James so bad at doing red carpet?

So are we keeping the Tony chat here or does it get its own thread.

I never understand why NY1 can't get a platform or a special space to do these Red Carpet interviews without everyone shouting.

The BI item is about Casey. Do try to keep up.

Since this thread will close shortly, should we start a whole new Tony thread or just continue to #308 with a bunch of Tony posts to kick it off? Anyone?

The CBS guy is beyond idiotic

Do the 2018 Tony Awards deserve or need a separate thread?

This CBS numbskull deserves a firing squad

Andy Mientus is wearing a dress or skirt or some kind of frock.

The Broadway.com special that someone mentioned upthread is now on their YouTube channel

Tony Awards thread.

[quote]Andy Mientus is wearing a dress or skirt or some kind of frock.

I was wondering what that was exactly, too. Too bad the camera didn't pan out a bit so we could get a really good look at it.

Are we really doing an Awards thread? After all this?

Tina Landau and Joan Allen doing the red carpet together on playbill.com live stream now

If Casey shows up with his hairdresser wont we all feel dumb!

[QUOTE] Too bad the camera didn't pan out a bit so we could get a really good look at it.

Actually, probably for the best that the television audience didn't get a good look at it.

Mientus isn't known as a cross-dresser, is he? Has he dressed in skirts in public before? I don't follow him, so don't know much about him.

I don't believe so, R589, but he is known as a massive attention-seeker.

There's Bruce! He cleaned up nice for the Tonys.

What in the fuck in Mientus wearing? He looks like an idiot. And Michael Arden is fatter than ever!

But they are together.

Please put this CBS moron out of his misery --- Tom Hollander looked as if he wanted to murder him --- and it was clear the CBS chappie had no idea who Tom is and REALLY no idea what play he is in. A travesty, truly !

He just asked Harry Hadden Paton WHAT SHOW HE IS IN .....

ON ...

TO ...

THE ...

TONY ...

AWARDS!!!

Oh dear.