THEATER GOSSIP #341: Idina Menzel InstaStory Live/Not Live from her Vagina

Stupid,shitty title

FOLLIES!

Except she really HAS just instagrammed from her OB/GYN apparently waiting for a pap smear. Maybe she is pregnant.

Really lousy title. Thanks, OP.

I do appreciate the spelling of THEATER vs. THEATRE.

When I see the spelling [italic]theatre,[/italic] I feel like we should all be wearing velvet capes.

True enough. Points for proper spelling, OP. "tre" always brings to mind Betty Bacall braying "Welcome to the thee-ah-tuh, you'll love it so."

No. No. I'm sorry. It was really wrong of me and I left out 'edition'

-- my sincerest apologies

That other spelling makes me zone back to reading about the Théâtre Libre in college.

I just want to SNAP out all the sylables: "Te-AT-ruh LEE-bray"

It's practically [italic]violent.

R6 'theater' is the original spelling. In other Germanic languages, like German and Dutch, it's also spelled 'theater.' For some stupid reason the Brits adopted the French spelling (théâtre).

I think "theatre" is still appropriate when referring to the physical structure.

The spelling of theater means that people searching for the latest thread won't find it.

Someone on the previous thread said people won't post if the theater thread has a shitty title. So this one should last for quite a while.

"Theater" refers to the structure, "theatre" to the genre.

R14 since when? In American publications like The New York Times, they spell it 'theater' whether it's the structure or the genre. Likewise, the Brits spell it 'theatre' at all times.

I think that at best r14 has it backwards. In any case, that's hardly the most egregious problem with OP's title.

I think someone should create a new #341 thread. The title of this one really fucking sucks.

R17 what's wrong with it?

The stunt casting at Waitress won't keep it running for much longer. Ogie from the movie who looks ancient and a new kid on the block isn't going to sell tkts. Plus the old reliable understudy who I understand is wonderful is stepping back into the lead until the end of Feb which means they must have someone else lined up to take over as Jenna.

It's worse than If/Then, R17

I wish OPs of new theatre threads would spend less effort on trying to be Funny or clever and actually suggest a new topic for discussion or introduce some theatre news.

Got nothing new to say? Don’t start a new thread.

Yikes this thread title is gross and I should know

You never see "musical theatre" written as anything but.

[quote]You never see "musical theatre" written as anything but.

You couldn't be more wrong. Are you Trump, pulling stuff out of your ass?

R21

The RENT live/not live discussion has been done - but still deserves more discussion than the usual Follies-fantasy casting. I assumed the Live/Not live hashtag suggested RENT as a topic.

Idina Menzel - who we have all agreed is not our breakout 21st Century Broadway Legend in previous threads - literally followed up her RENT live appearance Sunday with an instagram-pic of the Frozen$2 cast yesterday and then a follow up from her gynecologist today with an Instagram story video from between the stirrups.

Perhaps we should reconsider whether Idina is our generation's Carol 'when did I eat corn' Channing after all?

So, has there been a Fatal Attraction musical? Because I can actually see that working in the right hands. Maybe. The only issue would be the multiple locations and I don't know how you'd do the child kidnapping bit on stage.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a new musical NOT based on a movie? (Yes, I realize Evan Hansen and The Prom are original material, but I'm looking at Groundhog Day, Pretty Woman, Rocky, Chocolate Factory, Anastasia, etc.)

Are Idina and Taye on good terms? Or was it a messy divorce (ie she caught him with a cock in his mouth)

He cheated on her with women, R28. Quite often. They're amicable co-parents to their kid, that's the extent of it.

R29 why did he cheat?

How do you expect anyone other than Diggs to know the answer to that question, r29.

Can't help you there, R30.

In addition to less adaptations, I'd like to see less bio-musicals in 2019-20. That said, Ain't Too Proud intrigues me because The Temptations had YEARS of drama. Ditto Tina Turner.

[quote] Plus the old reliable understudy who I understand is wonderful is stepping back into the lead until the end of Feb which means they must have someone else lined up to take over as Jenna.

Now you know why I'm ditching Hoda!

What a wretched title! Whoever this OP is, he can’t come up with good titles. The other 339 is much better.

Oh, please, it's hard enough to adapt a musical from an extant property that already has a dramatic structure in place. The chances of an original musical are practically nil. And don't use DEH or THE PROM as examples of "successful."

[quote]r23 You never see "musical theatre" written as anything but.

Well, Yale spells it "musical theater". And they should know.

All the best people go there.

[quote]r2r The RENT live/not live still deserves more discussion than the usual Follies-fantasy casting ... Idina Menzel, who we have all agreed is not our breakout 21st Century Broadway Legend in previous threads ...

Is Idina more of a Sally, or a Phyllis?

R38

She is a Phyllis. But at the last minute the producers see the light and give the role to Stephanie J Block who is loads better.

Jennifer Laura Thompson as Sally.

The most appropriate Sondheim for Idina is a gender swapped 'The Frogs.'

[quote]Got nothing new to say? Don’t start a new thread.

The loon never has anything to say. Never stops him.

[quote]r26 So, has there been a Fatal Attraction musical? ... I don't know how you'd do the child kidnapping bit on stage.

Don't you know, the "Rockin' Roller Coaster of Revenge" number would be the[italic] evening's showstopper ? ! [/italic]

I see a power trio, the counterpoint building in intensity: Alex on the roller coaster, Beth in traffic, and Dan at the police station.

The little girl would just bleat in an atonal, discordant, John Cage style.

So what's Anna Deavere Smith been up to lately?

[quote]because The Temptations had YEARS of drama.

What drama did the Temptations have, other than who got to sleep with Mary Wilson that night?

[quote]r30 why did he cheat?

Because she looks like a harpy shrew?

A few of Betty Lynn's EIGHT IS ENOUGH co-stars............AND RUTA LEE!.............showed up for her Dolly opening in LA.

Oh and Nancy Allen (looking fabulous) was there, too. She threw Tampons on the stage during Before the Parade Passes By.

Lots of DL faves in that crowd!

And lots of Who the hell is thats

[quote]And lots of Who the hell is thats

Sorry, I thought you were whoozis. What ever happened to her?

R36 why not?

I believe you mean who-oo-oo-zis.

Why does Ruta Lee look like a drag performer's version of Debbie Reynolds?

[quote] That said, Ain't Too Proud intrigues me because The Temptations had YEARS of drama.

Perhaps, but when the show played in LA it got mixed to negative reviews, and the LA critics jizz over everything theater here, so if they were mixed, you know it's outright garbage.

Ain’t Too Proud is blah. No real drama. More of a haliography of the main guy. Everyone was was screwed up except for him.

R45 R52 I was just going to say God bless Ruta Lee! 83 and still showing up camera ready when so many of the folks decades younger look dreadful in those photos.

83? Come on. That bitch is 96 if she's a day!

There are no words....

Baz Bamigboye has tweeted that Anne Marie Duff was play the title role in Sweet Charity at the Donmsr Warehouse in London starting in April. An underwhelming casting choice, if you ask me. Arthur Darvill is playing Oscar.

Sorry for the typos above.

Next is LMM going to play Maria in [italic]The Sound of Music[/italic]?

Lin Manuel Miranda is Coalhouse Walker! One night Only

Cynthia Erivo is Mother!

Isn’t Anne Marie Duff a little old to be playing Charity?

[quote]In American publications like The New York Times, they spell it 'theater' whether it's the structure or the genre.

Not in the Theatre Directory. A.l of the NY theatres spell it “Theatre.” Which was the standard spelling US until around the 1960s.

How do you solve a problem like Miranda?

How do you stop a fad and shut it down?

He will not be stopped. I wonder if his now-ubiquitous dad will have a role in Camelot as well.

His awfulness in CAMELOT will be utterly delicious—and make his previous disastrous turn in MERRILY seem masterful...

And yet the press and social media will kvell and huzzah--LMM, you've done it AGAIN!

‘Theatre’ is the older spelling and closer to the original in both Greek and Latin. And some of us live in London and spell it that way only.

Have any of you watched this show with Wesley Taylor?

I try not to expose myself to Wesley Taylor’s modest talents and minimal looks.

Is Wesley still with the boyfriend who deserves better?

Lyn Emmanuel in 'Camelot', what a clever plan to show up his short comings as an actor and singer. Doing his cute puppy act will just be such a total disaster, and the dumb prick feel for the trap

His father worked for Ed Koch....fuck his Father

.....also satrring Jen Colella as Sir Dinadan!

They can rewrite the role of the little lad who runs up to King Arthur at the end for CZJ?

She'll be happy to lend her star power!

R72 Yes.

Am I the only one who thinks Camelot is a piece of shit? Lin can only make it worse. It's going to be a shitshow! So, how can I get tickets?

Elizabeth Ashley is really good in Russian Doll (new Netflix show) ... who ever expected that she would be one of the ones surviving and sustaining a career to almost 80

I thought the Eight is Enough cast look great at the Hello Dolly premier. Anyone know who the hot guy with Courtney Reed was ?

Who's this high school kid taking over the lead in DEH?

[quote]r79 I thought the Eight is Enough cast looked great at the Hello Dolly premier.

Why was our Susan Richardson absent?? Someone needs to check on her.

Halfway through the West End Company, and I like it a lot. A few of the lyric changes sound like dummies, but on the whole....

Damn, Ruta Lee looks fantastic for 83!

Adam Rich hasn't grown an inch.

[quote]r83 Damn, Ruta Lee looks fantastic for 83!

But, Republican. You can't change that.

Ben Platt comes charging out of the closet with his new music video, "Bad Habit".

R86 how do you mean?

R85 actually, you *can* change party affiliations.

[quote] Adam Rich hasn't grown an inch.

As long as he's alive, he's doing better than some of his former co-stars.

If Ben doesn't lay off the addy soon he will disappear

Promise?^^

[quote]There are no words....

Lincoln Fucking Center is dead to me if they put on this shit!

Evidence that the LMM aura is out of control, the NY Times actually says "The acclaimed creator of “Hamilton” has agreed to lead a one-night concert performance of “Camelot” to benefit Lincoln Center Theater, the nonprofit’s leadership said Thursday." Has agreed to lead? We are forever grateful, your majesty

[quote]His father worked for Ed Koch....fuck his Father

As what? Koch's eye candy?

Has deigned to leave Olympus to star for one night in Camelot

[quote]Has agreed to lead?

I noticed that, too. REALLY bad wording.

He should do [italic]Brigadoon[/italic] … and then come back again in a hundred years.

Did Betty use the tampons Nancy Allen threw onstage anally in honor of Carol Channing?

The NYT is unable to stop sucking up to LMM. I'm sure the words were chosen with care.

NYT is an SJW shitrag.

[quote]Did Betty use the tampons Nancy Allen threw onstage anally in honor of Carol Channing? —Edie McClurg

What else is she going to use them for at this stage of life?

[quote]The NYT is unable to stop sucking up to LMM. I'm sure the words were chosen with care.

If the phrasing was intentional -- and I think you're right -- then that's REALLY annoying and off-putting.

Ben sings a yearning love song, first to himself, then to another guy.

I don't think I can watch that.

It must be upsetting to him that this 16-year-old kid has the lead in Evan Hansen and is doing quite well. Ben's no longer the Boy Wonder of Bway.

And since there'll probably never be a Batman musical, you can bet on that, R104.

[quote]Am I the only one who thinks Camelot is a piece of shit?

"Camelot" has a wonderful score but the book is very weak, and falls apart completely after Mordred shows up. He's such a cardboard villain.

Ben Brays. And Lin Trans-Smell Esmerelda doesn’t have the necessary gravitas for Cameltoe.

[quote] "Camelot" has a wonderful score but the book is very weak, and falls apart completely after Mordred shows up. He's such a cardboard villain.

Alan Jay Lerner tried to fix it for the movie but didn't go far enough.

[quote]As long as he's alive, he's doing better than some of his former co-stars.

Even if he weren't, he'd be doing better than me.

That's Susan Richardson now? Oh my God! I thought Spielberg was doing a sequel to E.T.

R110 Spielberg has no future plans for an ET sequel. He's currently working on the West Side Story remake and I believe he said one more Indiana Jones movie.

And what does it say about LMM when EGOT and fellow Puerto Rican Rita Moreno would rather work with him and with nonagenarian Norman Lear, R111?

R112

Whua? Did Rita refuse to work with LMM in something?

Dunno, r112. What does it say about LMM?

She turned down the movie version of [italic]In The Heights[/italic] for the new WSS to play the role Ned Glass played in the original film.

Go Ben!

Wouldn’t it be karmic justice if Cheets got the movie Into the Heights? Payback’s a bitch you unworthy EGOT, Rita!

There actually is an official BATMAN musical and the score is surprisingly good. Tim Burton worked on it with DL Fave Jim Steinman back in the early 00s but Warner Brothers pulled the plug as it was being developed. Steinman wrote more than half of the score and put up the demos online a few years later along with several long blog posts about it all. It was based on the two Burton films. Catwoman’s Song in particular is pretty fantastic in an over-the-top Steinman way.

[quote]She turned down the movie version of In The Heights for the new WSS to play the role Ned Glass played in the original film.

How can a Latina woman play the role of an old, white man? Doc is old and white for a specific reason in the show.

Don't ask me, ask Spielberg and Sondheim.

I doubt this is Sondheim's idea. I'm surprised if it's Kushner's, but he must at least have acquiesced. I hope it's something more substantive than trying to get Puerto Ricans into the production.

Sondheim is signing off on it to cash the check. He's the last creator left alive, and he's resigned himself to the point where he's willing to let Hollywood do what they want with it. This is going to end up like the last revival, isn't it? With some of the lyrics in Spanish that used to be in English?

The new Company cast recording isn't half bad. There are more lyric changes than I expected and, in some ways, it really does feel like a totally different show at times. Rosalie Craig gives a hilarious reading of "what?" after "I'll stay" in "Barcelona" that made me howl.

I love the new Company recording. Rosalie has a lovely voice. I skipped Ladies Who Lunch.

[quote] I skipped Ladies Who Lunch.

Did Florence Henderson ever perform that song?

I love the new "You Could Drive a Person Crazy." Patti's solo is, for want of a better word, disciplined. There's nothing to fault, and nothing to get excited about. Rosalie Craig is terrific.

Overall, I like this new version, and this recording, a lot.

You're welcome to your opinion, r122, but I think it's silly to say that Sondheim's doing it (whatever it is) for the check. He has many millions and he is, as you note, an old man. I would guess that he's not heavily invested in WSS and never has been, but will work with Kushner because he enjoys collaboration--and will protect his lyrics, which is his right.

I read somewhere that Rita Moreno and Mark Rylance will play a married couple running the candy store. That makes more sense.

I wonder who’s playing Officer Krupke. I can see it being played by someone like JK Simmons.

Isn't Rita a bit mature to be married to Mark Rylance?

R129 Bet Rita can write better plays than the crap actual wife

Have you seen the new One Day at a Time, r129? Rita’s playing mid-70s and doesn’t look old enough, even ghough she’s really 87.

[quote]Why does Ruta Lee look like a drag performer's version of Debbie Reynolds?

Then she’s improved. She used to look like a drag performer’s version of Marie Dressler.

[quote]I read somewhere that Rita Moreno and Mark Rylance will play a married couple running the candy store. That makes more sense.

So are they going with a social justice theme of "Oh look, a Puerto Rican and a white person CAN be married in real life?" Because that sort of defeats the story. The whole point is that there is racism on BOTH sides which leads to the ultimate death. When that gets watered down, it misses the point of the story.

I think there's no way this film will succeed--but evidently there are myriad ways to screw it up. ^^

It's a period piece. They should leave it alone.

Laverne Cox IS Officer Krupke!

I’ve fucking loved Anne Marie Duff in everything I’ve ever seen her, even when the plays themselves have been less than interesting. I think she’ll make a gorgeous and heartbreaking Charity.

Here is the Ben video. The guy he sings to is himself in pictures at a gallery.

I can't. The guy makes my skin crawl.

David Ives was attached to a Batman musical as the book writer. I don’t know if it was the Jim Steinman one that WB killed. I saw the script but didn’t read it.

Glad to see this thread is outrunning the bogus #339 thread.

[quote]Glad to see this thread is outrunning the bogus #339 thread.

We're trying to fill it up to get rid of the shitty title.

[quote]So are they going with a social justice theme of "Oh look, a Puerto Rican and a white person CAN be married in real life?"

Yes, who would ever believe a white person married to a Latino back in the 1950s?

R141: That mental image will keep me from getting an erection for a week.

[quote]R118 Catwoman’s Song in particular is pretty fantastic in an over-the-top Steinman way.

Ick - me no likee. The slow part sounds like some lethargic, early version of “On My Own” and the fast part sounds like it should be in “Goddess” at the Stardust Casino.

What’s Bryan Batt up to nowadays?

Isn't he still in NOLA running his antiques/gift shop?

[quote] What’s Bryan Batt up to nowadays?

He should star in a sitcom called [italic]Up to Batt[/italic] about an ex-athlete turned blogger.

[quote]R129 Isn't Rita a bit mature to be married to Mark Rylance?

OT: but why was CZJ passed over for Maria??

Mark Rylance can definitely age up.

Camelot is a fantastic show. Great score and super touching ending. The end of act one is one of the best in any musical.

R150 Alan Jay, I thought you were dead?

If it had been written today, it would probably be obliged to have a rap called "Gwynnie Got a Big Ol' Butt."

Gwynnie Paltrow would make a very fetching Guinevere. Can the bitch sing?

R153 Bitch, don't make us link to her number one song 'Cruisin' from the karaoke film

Remake it with Gal Gadot and watch Vanessa Redgrave's head explode.

R155 Vanessa is happily at home with Franco, whilst Gal tries to reconcile her murdering of civilians with her current position

LMM in Camelot?!?!?! This shit is now insane, Broadway is dead. DEAD.

It is the End Times.

I love Camelot but having LMM in it will be a travesty.

I like the new Company recording, but some of those accents are awful, especially whoever is singing Another Hundred People (which is probably the worst track on the album).

Totally. At least he's not Lancelot, though.

What's odd, r 160, is that some of the cast have awful accents and others have none at all. And I agree about Another Hundred People.

Another Hundred People also suffers from a truly horrible arrangement as well as a performer who seems to not even be trying a smidge to have an American accent. It's embarrassing. The rest of the album is rather good.

The guy doing Another Hundred People is playing an Aussie, I think - either that or a Brit. So he's not supposed to have an American accent. Rosalie Craig's is excellent, and I think Richard Fleeshman, Matthew Seadon-Young and Alex Gaumond do okay, too. The rest are varying degrees of awful as far as American accents go.

Camelot is a pretty dull show, but has some emotion, intelligence and a few lovely songs going for it. I got to see Richard Burton do the 1980 revival with Christine Ebersole and Richard Muenz. Thinking I'll pass on this one.

I like it very much, and I was prepared to hate it.

So, the new "Marta" is supposed to not be American? That'd certainly make more sense. Still doesn't excuse the horrible arrangement. Maybe that song just doesn't work with a male voice.

Everyone's always talking about how if Mame is revived, it needs an overhaul on the book and I'd like to see that same thing happen with Camelot. Beautiful score, some stunning moments, and a whole lot of crap that should be retooled.

LMM as Arthur may not be your cup of tea, but he'll bring in big bucks for a good cause.

Well, that's a good thing, I suppose. And he's really not my cup of tea as anything at all.

[quote]So, the new "Marta" is supposed to not be American?

Correct. I guess part of making him quirky, as Marta was, was to make "PJ" (his new name) foreign (to Americans). George Blagden plays him.

PJ's an interesting choice of name.....

R165 Oh LMM is easily a great a Broadway talent as Dickie Burton......

😢 I Am Lés Miserable !

[quote]R163 Another Hundred People also suffers from a truly horrible arrangement as well as a performer who seems to not even be trying a smidge to have an American accent. It's embarrassing. The rest of the album is rather good.

That’s the hardest song in the score to sing. You’d think they’d get someone FANTASTIC.

Another Hundred People is definitely made for a true belter and I don't think this new guy is up to the task. No offense to him, as I'm sure he's lovely, but it needs a big voice. I hope that, if this does come to Broadway, they'll replace him. Hell, they'll probably replace just about everyone even if it means Patti won't do it since she loves the cast so much. I'm sure Bernadette would be happy to fill in.

Getting Married Today is a lot harder than Another Hundred People. And Little Things is a bitch to remember the lyrics in the right order.

I’m pretty sure Patti would be bitter to her grave if Bernadette replaced her on broadway for this role in this production

Promise, R178?

I think the Company recording has a little too much incidental music which really never comes across well on cast recordings in my opinion. The orchestra has this sort of bland MIDI track quality at times, but on the whole it's a nice record. Certainly a better album than the National Theatre Follies recording.

What would really chafe Patti’s hide is if she turned Company down and Bernadette did it, and then won her third Tony Award.

“Another Hundred People” didn’t work at all for me in the theater because PJ is an Australian and just not the right character to sing it. I did think the scene following the song with him and Bobbie was charming, though.

LMM doesn't sing any better than Richard Burton, so there's that.

If you're including the new "Tick Tock" as incidental music, r180, I'd agree that it falls flat. Ditto the bows and play-out music, but I guess it's nice to have them in the interests of completeness.

Can he at least sing "MacArthur Park"?

Another Hundred People from the new Company recording doesn't sound like a difficult sing because the tempo was considerably sped up.

Jonathan Bailey has great breath control on Getting Married Today. He takes breaths in all the right places and doesn't throw the rhythm out of whack by gulping for air. Maybe I'm just biased because he's my husband.

How many days of filming could it possibly take to film Doc's (or whatever Rita will be named) scenes in WSS??

4?

I really doubt she'd have to turn down In the Heights to do WSS. There's a bigger story there.

I like blue.

The guy in the sunglasses at the end of Ben's video is not Ben. And Ben looks longingly at him from his bed.

[quote]r117 Getting Married Today is a lot harder than Another Hundred People.

Mmmmmm ... it's not like you need a real voice to do it. Certainly Beth Howland was no vocal heavyweight. Just about anyone could sing that song, with practice. Fewer people can really sing "Another Hundred People," because they simply don't have the voice to support it..

[quote]r180 Certainly a better album than the National Theatre Follies recording.

[bold][italic] FOLLIES ! ! !

r191 I agree.

Where was my invite I’d like to know, R45???? Since this is LA, I’d be willing to bet $5 that Barbra Streisand had something to do with it. That woman still has it in for me.

And R110, HA!!! Like Steve Spielberg would ever keep his promises and cast me. He’s so jealous of me.

Can the little Asian boy from Falsetto's tour get the night off so he can play little 'Tom' at the end of Camelot?

Ach du lieber FOLLIES!

I really hate the National Theatre recording of Follies. Imelda sounds awful and should stay away from musicals.

Sondheim keeps saying how wonderful she is, so she's not likely to stay away from his musicals anyway. I know he intends to be kind/diplomatic, but jeez.

I have the video of the National's Follies. Imelda is the weak link in an otherwise excellent production.

Imelda who?

Imelda Marcos, Rose.

The National Follies even had Phyllis getting fucked by a black man. But they didn't say whether, at the time, she was Lucy or Jessie.

[quote]The guy in the sunglasses at the end of Ben's video is not Ben. And Ben looks longingly at him from his bed.

The guy who appears at the end of Ben Platt's video is homosexualist actor Charlie Carver.

I think Imelda would be great in a production of Ballroom. The NT should mount a production for her.

[quote]Can the little Asian boy from Falsetto's tour get the night off so he can play little 'Tom' at the end of Camelot?

I don't know, you can safely bet a million dollars that Tom will NOT be a white boy.

Friend of mine in L.A. told me he was thinking of buying tix to see Betty Buckley in "Hello, Dolly!" I said it was a wonderful production but I expressed my reservations about her suitability for the role. He replied, "Well, you and I don't share the same taste." So he went to see the show, and this is what he wrote back: "You were right. The production was great, a couple not that great actors and a few really good ones. Really nice show. But she has 0 comic skills. She was as dry as a rock and as straightforward as an arrow. I mean -- 0 sense of humor. She can act, she can sing, but she can't play a joke to save her life."

So with the dumpling scene, Betty gets no laughs? That's a built in laugh.

I always thought Katey Sagal would make a fabulous Dolly, but no one asked her.

[quote] LMM doesn't sing any better than Richard Burton, so there's that.

Burton was a limited singer, but that voice of his is so rich and sonorous. He's great to listen to. Plus, his magnetism was supposedly off the charts. A friend who was a chorus girl in the original Camelot said that all of the girls were absolutely crazy for him. Lin's voice, by contrast, is thin, adenoidal. It really holds him back as a performer.

On Another Hundred People, he really growls the word "stare" at the 2:06 mark. I wonder if Patti told him to do that?

I think Hamilton is pretty amazing (unlike most here) and am very happy it’s a blockbuster hit. That said, I’ve seem it three times, and the one time I saw LMM in the title role I thought he was the weakest one in the cast by far: minimal acting and singing skills

R212, I agree - I thought Corbin Bleu was better than Lin in In The Heights, and the same with Javier Munoz in Hamilton.

I have had the same experience R212, just as his later run in ITH, Lin’s love me/see me/my voice and acting is bad underwhelmed what subsequently became a thrill with other actors in the lead. He’s a fantastic creator of stage content but a truly mediocre vessel of performance, in every single thing he acts, MPR included, shudder!

The Razzies should be investigated for not nominating him.

I partly disagree about Lin. I think he's very charismatic on stage and in film, and his acting is fine when he's properly cast. He was great in "In the Heights" and very good in "Hamilton." He only stumbles when he's miscast or when the quality of singing voice required for a particular role is more than he's got to give. He had some really awful moments in "tick, tick....BOOM!" and he was not much better in "Merrily We Roll Along." In "Mary Poppins," it was quite obvious that his singing voice was processed to make it sound more steady.

A lot of the modern movie musicals seem to be relying on autotune. It alone made [italic]Glee[/italic] unwatchable and musically worthless. Disney seems to be a particularly bad offender and has been ever since the first [italic]High School Musical[/italic]. The singing in the new [italic]Beauty and the Beast[/italic] sounded most unimpressive compared to the original.

Lin is fascinating on stage but not talented, Unpack that.

LMM's performances clearly convey what is needed to make his own material connect with an audience. Burton may have been catnip for chorus girls but shows do not really thrive or fail based on backstage hookups.

Camelot is kind of a mess of a show but it does deserve to be revived with the pure affection and devotion that LMM does effectively convey whenever faced with anything musical theatre related.

Hugh Jackman might have made a more appealing Arthur. But even with him in the role the chances are it would still seem too awkwardly slow and dumb.

Camelot was following the My Fair Lady template. A leading lady who had a beautiful singing voice and a leading man who had magnetism but didn't necessarily have to sing well.

[italic]My Fair Lady[/italic] also had the stage and screen versions of [italic]Pygmalion[/italic] from which to draw.

Very true. Adapting a play by George Bernard Shaw vs. distilling a very long novel into the book of a musical.

Speaking of autotune, perhaps it should have been applied to the vocal at r211.

And between [italic]Camelot[/italic]'s stage and screen versions, Walt Disney manage to sneak in [italic]The Sword in the Stone[/italic] which at least managed to be shorter and less heavy-handed.

Betty Buckley in Dolly is a huge mistake. I saw her a little while back and she's really not meant for comedy. At all. I got flashbacks of her humor-free Rose at Papermill 20 years ago. She's just too intense. This works great if she's playing a character like Margaret White, but it doesn't work for Dolly or Rose who have to land more than a few laughs.

I actually think she's a much better film actress than stage actress, but that singing voice was born for the stage.

thanks for the insight, r220. maybe LMM will surprise that doubters among us (of whom I am one).

Imelda is wonderful in the right role, but she's not a great fit for Sally either vocally or personality-wise. She's petite, which is great, but she's too loud and brassy for the role. Sally needs someone a bit delicate and Imelda seems about as delicate as a truck driver. This worked great for Rose (yes, I saw her live and she was easily the best Rose since Tyne Daly), but Sally needs a different type.

Still, I do think she came across a bit better on the Follies video recording than in her Gypsy video recording where she, for some reason, decided to play the entire show as if she was ready to do "Rose's Turn." When I saw her play the role live, she actually built up to the mania in "Rose's Turn" and turned in a performance that was funny, heartbreaking, terrifying, and even warm at times. There's got to be a story about the video recording. It's like she was completely re-directed between the time I saw the show and the time of the recording.

In both Carrie and Sunset Boulevard the only laughs she got was when we were laughing at her humorless intensity. But both times I saw Sunset she didn’t get a laugh on “NOW GO!” Which is pretty remarkable.

Betty really excels at playing cold, humorless villains. She's the only highpoint of The Happening and deserves a much better film to be in. She's scary as shit in that movie, but I also remember her being so lovely and warm as Ms. Collins in the movie version of Carrie, so she can clearly do warmth, but she's just not funny at all.

R222 draw what?

[quote]Imelda is wonderful in the right role, but she's not a great fit for Sally either vocally or personality-wise. She's petite, which is great, but she's too loud and brassy for the role. Sally needs someone a bit delicate and Imelda seems about as delicate as a truck driver.

I'm not a huge fan of hers, but I disagree about her interpretation of Sally. I think she played the role as a terribly insecure, unhappy, unstable woman who comes across as loud because she's trying too hard to appear happy and bubbly and gregarious, which I think is entirely valid.

Why are we talking about Imelda for Sally? Are they really supposed to be in their mid 60s?

I think Jennifer Laura Thompson would be perfect as an actor and vocally and also fun to have involved in a production. She isn't a TV star or a movie star -- but shouldn't we be able to talk about people who aren't really known from their Harry Potter days?

Sally is in her mid-40s. When Dorothy Collins played her she was 45 years old.

Alexis Smith was 50 when she played Phyllis.

These are characters whose lives could still have a third act.

Jennifer Laura Thompson is 50.

Idina Menzel is 47.

Kristen Chenowith is 50.

Just for perspective.

Kristen Chenowith is the same age as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.

I would pay good money to see Kristin as Norma. That might be the funniest thing ever.

Goddamn, whoever shot that video for Ben must hate him. It looks horrible and he's lit atrociously.

Also, doesn't Daddy have enough money to throw at a better music video? It looks like it was made for 99 cents.

Terrible, overwrought song and singing.

Another Hundred People is a much more difficult song than Not Getting Married by the simple fact that no one has ever been able to perform A100P properly since Pam Myers and there have been several very good renditions of NGM- Madeline Kahn, Veanne Cox, Jean Louisa Kelly at the otherwise mostly dreadful LA Reprise production, etc.

Imelda made a great Baker's Wife in ITW back in the day.

Rachel Bay Jones would make a lovely Sally.

Wasn't Andy Williams fucking Kay Thompson for a time?

[quote]Alexis Smith was 50 when she played Phyllis.

49 when it opened. She didn't turn 50 till a few months into the run.

Let’s also face facts that unless Ben Platt was Tony, Emmy Grammy winner Ben Platt, Charlie Carver would only let Ben suck his dick out of pity.

And he'd insist he wear a bag on his head with a mouth hole.

[quote]Jennifer Laura Thompson is 50.

Not till next December, motherfucker.

Well this Camelot can't be worse than MGM's Knights of the Round Table.

Such a great story and yet it never really succeeds as entertainment. Only as legend.

Janie was on the FOLLIES possibility list.

Saw Manoel Felciano in Lynn Nottage's new play this week. Have not seen him in quite a long while. Still cute.

[quote]I love Camelot but having LMM in it will be a travesty.

But I have experience playing a Brit now!

[quote]What’s Bryan Batt up to nowadays?

He was a Special Guest Voice on "The Simpsons" a few weeks ago.

I loved Bryan Batt on Mad Men, was hoping he’d be brought back for the final season but Matt Weiner was more interested in Megan and her awful teefs.

Are the people declaring LMM is a good choice for Camelot posting from Earth 2? I cannot think of worse casting!

Mark Platt, as I'm sure we all know, was a producer of Mary Poppins Returns. Anyone got bets on which other stage performer he's going to try making a star? Or do we think he's going to keep devoting his efforts to Ben and Lin?

Jesus how old is Platt at this point? Well I guess if Ruta Lee can still be around. And so is Donen. I wonder if he and Lee got it on as she's also in Funny Face.

Next up for Ben Platt? A production of Harold & Maude co-starring national treasure Olivia de Havilland.

And if Miss de Havilland cooperates in that production, we may sign her to do Ben's other project, a remake of "Where's Poppa?"

[quote]Janie was on the FOLLIES possibility list.

One presumes for Phyllis. She had a great voice, but it didn't have the range for Sally.

[quote] we may sign her to do Ben's other project, a remake of "Where's Poppa?"

Fuck that shit. I'm a lady, and ladies do NOT kiss a man's bottom!

Not without dinner first.

I saw Bryan Batt play Joe Gillis opposite Betty in Sunset Blvd. To say he was flaming in the role would be an understatement.

When I saw Dolly, Betty totally destroyed the eating scene, because she was so out of breath from the Dolly number. She was panting and trying to get the dialogue out, but it was very sad to see. And this was in the first city on the tour.

R183 Burton had a musical speaking voice and he put over his songs. Oh, also, Richard Burton could ACT. Really well. Miranda can't act very well. You never know if he'll try to write a rap section for Arthur and have the Times creaming over it.

R256 how do you mean?

Very impressive for a school production and those sets!!!!! And, yes, Maria is black. This production got some attention because there were some objections to the use of the Nazi flag.

Has anyone else seen the DEH tour? I saw it early in the first stop in Denver and loved it.

One expects more from a professional performance (in all disciplines) than a community theater-level enthusiasm.

I read that "Come From Away" is coming to London this month. I'll be interested to see how the British react to it.

Will Chad Kimball be bringing his old toupee and new beard with it?

[quote]And, yes, Maria is black.

*eyeroll*

r264 And his beautiful ass

Do the VonTrapp children look like Mia's kids? Should it be called A Rainbow For Hitler?

[quote]r195 Can the little Asian boy from Falsetto's tour get the night off so he can play little 'Tom' at the end of Camelot?

That role has been cast!

[quote]Are the people declaring LMM is a good choice for Camelot posting from Earth 2? I cannot think of worse casting!

I can.

Adam Sandler

Jennifer Lopez

Donald Trump Jr.

Barbara Walters

I suppose the leading roles for Follies (and other shows) keep going to older actors because modern 50 year olds don't look like 50 year olds from the 70s. People just seemed to age quicker back then. Maybe it was the hairstyle or clothes. I'm assuming that, maybe since this is a period piece, they want people more late 50's or early 60's for the leads because they look more like a 50 year old in the 70s would look like.

I feel like that's why they always cast a woman over 50 for Rose in Gypsy, even though she was probably only in her early 40's by the end of the show. People just aged differently and I suppose they want to depict that.

R270 that didn't apply to everyone, though. Just like not everyone died relatively young in the old days. That's a myth. ,Many people lived into old age and beyond. However, many babies and young children died due to illness or diseases or whatever. But once you made it into adulthood, you could expect to live to old age.

[quote] I feel like that's why they always cast a woman over 50 for Rose in Gypsy, even though she was probably only in her early 40's by the end of the show. People just aged differently and I suppose they want to depict that.

No, it's just because the fucking Baby Boom generation can't die already. They have to keep going until they keel over dead. Bernadette and Patti were both ridiculous choices for Gypsy.

Tyne Daly was probably the most age appropriate choice and many think she was one of the best. Coincidence? Hm.....

And just like the real Rose, Tyne Daly wouldn't sing the score either.

wouldn't should be couldn't.

It wasn't just that Dorothy Collins, Alexis Smith and Yvonne deCarlo looked older than 45-50 year olds look today.

It was because we loved those 3 women in their youth at the height of their stardom; they had a history and had lived public lives we were aware of, which gave their performances the incredible and unique addition of a shared nostalgia that actresses today cannot bring to those roles.....no matter their age or talents.

Definitely r276. When Yvonne DeCarlo sang, "First you're another sloe-eyed vamp, then someone's mother, then your camp...." the audience knew she had lived it. From all those "lust in the dust" movies she did to Lily Munster. She was singing her life.

Let Follies go. It can't be done anymore. All the elements that made it unique in '71 can no longer be reproduced.

Not only the identification the actors had with their roles and the associations the audiences brought with them but the sheer lavishness of the production and the genius of Prince, Bennett, Aronson and Klotz.

It' finished. Accept it.

[quote]Maybe it was the hairstyle or clothes.

And the cigarette smoking and drinking. Cigarette smoking aged a lot of people beyond their years.

Dorothy Collins and Alexis Smith both looked pretty good at 50-ish, likewise Yvonne De Carlo. But the older women who were in their sixties and early 70s (Shutta was the oldest at 75) all looked like the modern-day equivalent of late 80s.

So, you mean to say you have to grow up with the people playing the leads in Follies for it to really work? Why didn't the Blythe Danner/Treat Williams revival work then? Or the Bernadette Peters one? We certainly grew up with them and saw them rise from youth to middle age. Do you think the entire cast needs to be recognizable names for it to work?

I did not grow up with the leads of Follies watching them on TV and in films. And I was never in the Roxy. Exactly how old do you think I am?

R252, you're probably joking, but just in case you're not: It's not the same Marc Platt, even though they both spell it the same way.

Enough with the CAMELOT crap. It's one night, for Christ's sake.

How is your son doing, Mr. Miranda at R283?

R283 is right. Who cares what he’s doing? It’s not like this is going to be the definitive production. It’s not even being recorded. The theatre world will survive this one-night event.

George Blagden, who sings ANP on the new COMPANY album, is a Brit playing a Brit (not an Australian, which his accent isn't, in any case). The whole idea is that he is the English hipster ex among Bobbie's catalog of boyfriends -- and his song was the first to be recorded at the session, or so he tells us in a video about it online. He's a good actor, not at his best in this production.

Matthew Seadon Young is a cutie pie whose brother David was the second male lead in AN AMERICAN IN PARIS on the West End.

Is Matthew Seadon Young gay? Or is Jonathan Bailey the only gay in the cast?

United Artist Theatres in the 80's was the largest movie theatre chain in the world. They were based in East Meadow Long Island. East coast chain Edwards was Theatres too. They are now part of Regal Cinemas.

After reading this thread, I was determined to clap back at these Betty Buckley haterz, so I went over to the other site and listened to a few of the boots (including the dinner scene)...and my goodness me y'all were right. Not a laugh to be heard. She sings thrillingly and nails some fabulously poignant acting beats, but all the laughs are gone!

I think Matthew S Y is gay but that is just supposition; his brother David is definitely straight (and also very talented)

Not sure if Jonny B is the only gay in the cast -- I haven't done a sexual inventory of the entire company of COMPANY

[quote]So, you mean to say you have to grow up with the people playing the leads in Follies for it to really work?

Apparently, yes. The biggest stumbling block seems to be Phyllis. Actresses of today just do not understand the character. The worst was Jan Maxwell. She looked like a scrub woman and acted like one as well.

Phyllis is a type of hard-as-a-diamond society woman that does not exist any longer. She does not reveal emotion. It may not be fun for the actress because she cannot let loose, but that is the character. I have not seen anyone bring that kind of control to the role since Alexis Smith.

Sally, has similar issues. Actresses today seem to want to play her as actually crazy.

To a large degree, the play is about repression. A type of repression that does not exist in the world any longer. Remember, these people lived through the 1950s and McCarthy-ism. They lived in a world where men wore nearly identical suits and women had very strict roles. (Both men would have been in the military as well). I think it is nearly impossible for most actors to understand that world. I

[quote]Enough with the CAMELOT crap. It's one night, for Christ's sake.

That WSS story concert where Sierra Bogges was going to sing Maria's song last summer was just a one-time event, too. Yet Bogges was eventually forced to step down because SJW//Twitter demanded a Latina sing the part. But it's perfectly all right for LMN as Arthur and Norm Lewis as Javert to sing in the concert versions of their respective musicals.

because they're not white. Theater is becoming a huge haven for the PC crowd.

What I don’t understand is in concert and in interviews Betty can bring the house down with funny stories, and she was funny on Gettinh On opposite DL fave Laurie Metcalf.

Why is it on stage in a role, she becomes a funeral director stuck in a ditch?

You mean it's going to be a one night atrocity. To have a professionally performed concert version even for one night of such a magnificent score and it is one of the greats well just imagine Dick Van Dyke doing this. Just without any humor or charm. The amateurishness of this is crushing as it is so typical of what we expect today from our musical theater.

[quote]To a large degree, the play is about repression. A type of repression that does not exist in the world any longer. Remember, these people lived through the 1950s and McCarthy-ism. They lived in a world where men wore nearly identical suits and women had very strict roles. (Both men would have been in the military as well). I think it is nearly impossible for most actors to understand that world. I

I think you've really hit on something here, except I disagree that repression "does not exist in the world any longer." It still exists in certain communities and areas of the world, including places that are still dominated by religion, whether it be Christian or Mormon or Muslim or whatever. But I do agree that repression is less common among the general population, and you're probably right that a lot of actors simply don't understand it. Of course, a good director should be able to help them with that.

[quote]What I don’t understand is in concert and in interviews Betty can bring the house down with funny stories, and she was funny on Gettinh On opposite DL fave Laurie Metcalf. Why is it on stage in a role, she becomes a funeral director stuck in a ditch?

It's not uncommon for certain people to be very funny onstage but not funny at all offstage, or vice-versa. Some people are better playing a character and delivering prepared material, others are better off-the cuff as themselves.

[quote]You mean it's going to be a one night atrocity.

The upcoming CAMELOT is a fund-raiser for Lincoln Center Theater. LMM "agreed" to play Arthur because he will help sell out the place at high prices, regardless of his suitability or unsuitability for the role. Some of the other casting seems fine, and Jordan Donica will sing Lancelot's songs beautifully even if he's more a tenor than a classic Broadway baritone.

'LMM "agreed" to play Arthur because he will help sell out the place at high prices,' Which is why it's an atrocity.

I mean it might as well be Justin Bieber who might even get higher prices.

Don’t worry, you won’t be able to afford to see it anyway.

There is nobody alive today performing that could do justice to the role so even with a free ticket there is no way I am sitting through Camelot.

Even the lousy film is a better option because it has Truscott's designs and Newman's magnificent musical genius.

Why do people get so upset over performances they’re not even going to see?

What a fucking control freak.

I think we just need to vent our outrage over every little thing that LMM does right now because he is relevant to theatre today and it keeps us current to have an opinion.

But the real issue is that Camelot the musical gained a surreal level of political importance during the Kennedy Administration which played out painfully on an emotional level for people who remembered where they were when Kennedy was shot but never politically processed what all those violent assassinations of the idealists of the day really meant.

LMM is right to present the musical because his Hamilton stands in contrast to the current political drama. When he wrote the thing - it was literally introduced as a strangely camp absurdly ironic streetwise take on the author of the Federalists papers for washington insiders, Obama especially, to laugh over. He was poking fun at himself for 'keeping it real' and keeping it historically nerdy -- but now we have devolved into Idiocracy and Obama's administration is rapidly becoming our Camelot-Camelot.

well, that's one way to tart it up.

R300 what an fucking asshole comment. You can only criticize casting in a performance you intend to see? How much more stupid can people get?

Yes, asshole. Why would you possibly care otherwise?

Oh, yeah, ‘cause your a control freak. It’s all about controlling what others see.

R301 = LMM's press agent

R286, have you seen the show? George Blagden is playing PJ as a backpack toting Aussie. I saw it on New Year’s Day and that is undoubtedly what he is playing.

The NYT isn't even in it with Playbill where it comes to LMM coverage. I swear just about every time you log on to Playbill's site, there's a story either about LMM or "Hamilton" on the front page and it's been that way now for the past couple years.

Playbill succumbs to peer pressure more easily.

Norm Lewis playing Harold Hill would probably ellicit the Iowan equivalent of Mel Brooks' Indian in "Blazing Saddles".

Stratford had a black Harold Hill this past season; it didn't work. Everyone, including the reviewers thought that the guy playing Marcellus would have made a better Hill. But, Stratford was going for alternative casting in pretty much all of their shows last year, which is one of the reasons some of their excellent performers have defected to Shaw. This year they came to their senses and have done more traditional casting.

For the new generation of theatergoers, LMM has been the introduction into the world of musical theater. Hopefully, with many of them, this will not just be a fad, but will result in more of an acceptance amongst the younger crowd, who will be the patrons of the future. Go to show today and you will see an older audience - very few younger people. So, if he can get some interested in going to shows, then he deserves some credit. So, all of you oldsters can bray on about Patti LuPone or Follies or what barely-breathing fossil would be best to sing " Broadway Baby," but the truth is that a new generation of theater-goers must be cultivated. So, if it's LMM or Disney, if it sparks interest in the future audiences, then that can only be a good thing.

R311 But it's not a good thing if performing standards are lowered. While he can write, he can't act, sing or dance - almost a Lina Lamont triple threat -- remember, she was good at writing her own publicity too!

If mediocre performers performing the same overhyped, overprocessed schlock that makes top 40 radio unlistenable is what it takes to keep theater alive, the battle has been lost already.

Betty Buckley takes herself way too seriously and it shows in most of her stage performances. She's much more relaxed on screen. She gets very grand on stage. That kinda worked for Norma but it didn't work for Rose (I can't comment on her Dolly because I haven't seen it).

Betty Lynn has a robotic series of rituals and structures she does when performing in a book musical, it’s harrowing to observe, she does it because she has memory problems (no pun intended) and gets herself in a rigid state of mania to get through a performance. She is the exact opposite in concert.

Betty Buckley's very good in the seldom-mentioned film "Tender Mercies" (which Robert Duvall got a well-deserved Oscar for), and she also comes across as rather warm in the film of "Carrie", something usually not thought to be in her wheelbarrow.

[quote]r276 It was because we loved those 3 women in their youth at the height of their stardom;

No being snarky, but I never heard of Dorothy Collins before or since.

[quote]r278 Let Follies go. It can't be done anymore. All the elements that made it unique in '71 can no longer be reproduced.

But you are being snarky. If you grew up in the 50s, r318, you knew who Dorothy Collins was; she was televised every week on "Your Hit Parade." In 1972, pretty much everyone in the audience for Follies would have known. You don't get to claim cultural superiority, or whatever it is you're trying to signal, based on the year you were born.

My god the pearl clutching over the success of LMM. 'The battle has been lost already' -- what fucking battle? Who the hell is fighting to maintain standards just like they always were where leading men had to be white stalwart Broadway-bari-tenors or movie-stars who couldn't even choke out their lines in speech-singing?

You do know NYGASP still produces shows. If you need that 'rock solid singers who can do this shit' itch scratched go see Pirates or HMS or Ruddigore or whatever they are doing.

LMM is white. Puerto Rico is a product of Spanish imperialism.

This has nothing to do with his heritage. Nothing.

Considering how the H show skirts over the slavery issue…

Boy, and to think Jonathan Larson was white. If LMM had died before the opening of "Into The Heights' there would have been a 10 years plus article on him every week in the NY Times.

He gets that kind of coverage now.

Is someone paying them off to do so, or are their editors mainly SJWs? David Yazbek's a better composer and writer, and he doesn't get a fraction of LMM's press. I surprised, as he'of Lebanese heritage, another under=presented minority on Broadway.

that should read: I'm surprised, as he's of Lebanese descent, another under-represented minority on Broadway.

Dorothy was also known for Candid Camera.

Here’s Dorothy playing young Sally for a change, still pining for Ben.

I don't know who handles LMM's PR. It may be just Lin and his daddy; both are shameless self-promoters with lots of energy. What's impressive is that outfits like the NYT buy into the hype.

I think those society women like Phyllis still exist, especially in the south. Think of all those Junior League women who put on all those galas and fundraisers. I know quite a few real life versions of that character. Sally, too. But yes, it does seem like this doesn't exist as much in the big cities. Most women are more independent and don't feel the need to commit themselves to loveless marriages or stick around when things go sour. If any of them are bitter, it's because they're not getting equal pay for equal work, not because they've been trapped as a housewife.

[QUOTE]I don't know who handles LMM's PR

He has two publicists from Sunshine Sachs

R331 What's galling about LMM's foray into King Arthur in "Camelot" is the amount of text he has. Plus it's not a very good script on the whole anyway, needing lots of pruning. A really good actor has some work cut out for him. A less-than-good actor.... I supposed someone will have evidence of it within hours of this coming performance. There's no place to really hide when you're doing that role -- your acting ability (plus singig) is pretty exposed to what you can or can't do.

singing

Miss Phyllis knew damn well what she was getting into. She married Ben Stone because he could raise her up out of the chorus and make her respectable. She got a beautiful house and beautiful clothes and her ennui is her own doing. But we both know who Ben really wanted, as is played out before that old lady sings that screechy song about Goodbye to Love.

I hope he doesn't try to play Arthur as cute and endearing.

Society women continue to exist everywhere, r332, and they're chairing galas and Central Park hat lunches and performances/concerts benefiting whatever, and god knows what else. Just follow New York Social Diary for a few weeks.

You're my hero, r313.

Gisele's version, r330.

[quote]that should read: I'm surprised, as he's of Lebanese descent, another under-represented minority on Broadway.

Only because they REFUSE to cast me as Dolly!

Do you think any of these Broadway actors have farted on stage?

r349 That artwork looks more like Dolores Gray than it does Gisele.

R328 I thought he was a lesbian and they're not underrepresented.

[quote]Do you think any of these Broadway actors have farted on stage?

Angela Lansbury talked about doing it in Sweeney Todd.

R342 There's a famous story of Rex Harrison farting on stage during "My Fair Lady" recounted here.

" LMM is taking all the publicity away from our goddess Patti LuPone."

David Yazbek would definitely get more press if he had NOT written 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels' 'Women on the Verge' and 'The Full Monty'

The Band's Visit was an obscure enough movie for Yazbek's hack habit of only working on converting movies to Broadway to get a pass. But fucking 'Tootsie'?

The problem with Yazbek is that he hasn't created an original property -- so what is there to say about him?

Gisele was a sweater girl, I see.

Gisele's version of "Unchained Melody" was . . . sweet. Dorothy's rendition was really quite moving.

What's Little Charlie Stemp up to these days?

He’s doing a UK tour of Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing before playing Bert in Mary Poppins this fall in the West End.

Last I heard, he was playing Sally in Follies with a really awful blonde wig. Oh, wait! That was Imelda.

ATC had a fun thread yesterday about bad spoken dialogue on cast albums. For me it’s Constance Towers in Anya-“But I can’t remember. I can’t REMEMBER THE RESSSSSST.”

I always chuckle at Bernadette's clunky line reading of "I. Don't. Want. To. Fight. With. You. Phyll. I don't have to." on the last Broadway Follies recording. It's very Shatner-esque.

R356 as in William Shatner?

Is there another Shatner?

" Betty White just Shatner pants."

I listened to as much of Ben Platt’s new album as I could take. He needed a better musical director who could get him to cut out all the vocal yips and yodels at the beginning and end of every note. Why do young singers do that? It’s a bizarre and ugly affectation. Maybe they think it sounds like deep emotion?

He's really an embarrassment. I didn't make it through the first song.

[quote]I always chuckle at Bernadette's clunky line reading of "I. Don't. Want. To. Fight. With. You. Phyll. I don't have to." on the last Broadway Follies recording. It's very Shatner-esque.

That's the way she does every line reading. Go back and watch the video of "Sunday in The Park With George." She was never a competent actress.

Ben Platt came out?

"The problem with Yazbek is that he hasn't created an original property"

Oh, please, neither did Shakespeare, and Sondheim's two personal projects were also adaptations. It's a lame argument.

[quote]Angela Lansbury talked about doing it in Sweeney Todd.

No she didn’t, that’s not true.

Rex Harrison, on the other hand, had quite the flatulence problem in both the original and especially the early 1980s revival of Fair Lady. At one performance it happened quite loudly during the scene with Eliza and Cathleen Nesbitt as his Mother. There was complete silence for a moment, then Cathleen Nesbitt, who was 90 at the time, turned to the Eliza and said “well, I can see why you’ve decided to leave him.”

[quote]Go back and watch the video of "Sunday in The Park With George." She was never a competent actress.

Bullshit. She was brilliant in Mack & Mabel, and is still the best and funniest Witch I’ve ever seen in Into the Woods. And she was great in Gypsy, which I saw late in the run. The only thing I’ve seen her in that didn’t work was AGYG. I give her a pass on Follies because she wascworking with Eric Schaeffer and he’s a hideous director.

[quote]Sondheim's two personal projects were also adaptations.

What in the world does that mean? Anyone Can Whistle, Company, Follies, Pacific Overtures, Sunday in the Park, Into the Woods, Bounce...none of those were adaptations.

[quote] No she didn’t, that’s not true.

Yes, she did. It's in one of those books where actors talk about performances.

I'm a 69 year old eldergay.

So I didn't really know that much about Collins, Smith and deCarlo in 1970.....but I certainly was aware of their past glories and that brought great resonance when I saw their performances in Follies. Young gaylings back then cared about history.

It was the same with seeing Ruby Keeler and Patsy Kelly in No No Nanette. Their past history made their performances all the nore fun and powerful.

[quote]Bullshit. She was brilliant in Mack & Mabel,

Believe what you want to believe, but it's on video for Janus and the entire world to see. Her "acting" is speaking like she's in a Shakespeare play pretending that she has to emphasize every word for effect.

Sondheim initiated two projects in his career (hence, personal): Sweeney and Passion

Just back from Network. Sorry, Jeff. Tony is going home with Cranston this year. Dynamic performance.

And both were adaptations.

R371, he also initiated Wise Guys/Bounce/Road Show. And it was original. You could also argue he initiated Sunday and Into the Woods. All originals.

R669 Forget trying to explain it to them. They don't get it. Even those of us who were young at the time understood it. It's just too complicated for them. We understood a larger context and the nuances. Today everything has to be taken literally or else their brains explode and they lash out.

[quote]Believe what you want to believe

I saw her live in the theatre in pretty much everything she’s done in NY starting with On the Town, except for “Sally and Marsha.” She’s a wonderful theatre performer. I saw her in Sunday in the Park twice and she was great, easily the best NY Dot, although I’ve never seen the video.

What did you think of that '71 On the Town especially compared to the most recent revival?

[quote]So I didn't really know that much about Collins, Smith and deCarlo in 1970

You were 18 or 19 in 1970 and didnt know much about De Carlo? You would have been just the age to enjoy her in “The Munsters” six years earlier.

Well, I was in my early teens when I saw that On the Town, and Broadway was magical to me. But it was much much better than the one with Lea DeLaria. And felt more “starry” than the recent one, although that had the splendor of Tony Yazbeck’s ass.

I don’t know why it didn’t run. I think maybe it just didn’t have the camp appeal of Nanette or the artistic cred of Follies and Company, all of which were running when OTT opened.

Sorry to disabuse the above poster about George Blagden in the London COMPANY, but Mr Blagden is playing PJ as English (which Blagden himself is) and as a downtown hipster. He's obviously not playing the character as Australian because, well, he isn't using an Australian accent, for one thing (not that most Americans can tell the difference between Australian, South African, and most varieties of English accents). If you want to verify this at the source, I suggest you message the show's producer on Facebook and ask him yourself. He is easily located.

The video of Sunday is a disaster. I don’t know if it’s the taping (the constant cutting really hurts the presentation which is meant to be composed and painterly) or what, but it wasn’t a good representation of what was onstage at the Booth. Mandy and Bernie were terrific onstage.

Sunday might have been the last good Mandy Patinkin performance. After that he started doing that clipped, yelly thing. You can see the seeds of it in that awful video.

I asked about that OTT because I saw it and loved it. Beautiful sets, costumes and fabulous staging. Yazbeck is a wonderful dancer but he didn't have Hussman's looks or voice.

Peters was hilarious. I'll never forget the beauty of the Coney Island playground of the rich ballet. I saw it at a packed matinee and the audience was a New York Broadway audience in musical comedy heaven. At the most recent revival the audience was all tourists in a I guess this is what they call a Broadway show mood. And Jackie Hoffman chewing the scenery like a beaver gnawing on wood. Not funny.

I was shocked when that '71 revival closed. It played so beautifully. Kerr complained that there were too many sets! Well it takes place all over NY and they unfolded beautifully one after the other. God that man was an idiot. I know people have great affection for him but I thought both he and Barnes were a disaster. Especially at a time when it mattered what Times' critics thought. They sure torpedoed Follies.

[quote]but Mr Blagden is playing PJ as English (which Blagden himself is) and as a downtown hipster

Is he supposed to be playing an American? If he is, he's not coming down hard enough on his "R" sound. He sings "pahks" instead of "parrrks".

I liked that On the Town, but as I said, I was young and I loved everything musical in those days. I think I liked "Nanette" better just because of all the tap dancing, but I had seen that several months before On the Town. I loved Peters in On the Town, my favorite Hildy of the three I've seen, and began to really look for her in her occasional appearances on The Carol Burnett Show. Actually, most of the 1971 cast were, in retrospect, better to me than the two later revivals, though I absolutely liked Tony Yazbeck in the last one. I don't remember Ron Hussman dancing like Tony Yazbeck did, but it's a nearly 50 year old memory, so maybe I've forgotten.

To be honest I don't remember Hussman dancing much at all. It's really a singing role. When you sang like Hussman you weren't expected to dance. I think Gene Kelly turned it into a dancing role. And he doesn't sing either Lonely Town or Lucky to be Me in the movie. Yazbeck sang them competently but listen to Reardon on the studio recording. You're like oh yeah this is what it's supposed to sound like.

That Nanette was great. I saw it again when Raye came in.

Yazbek is literally adapting SHIT movies. The Full Monty was a clever idea -- because the movie was gritty and unexpected and very theatrical. The Band's Visit IS a wonderful show partially because the movie is so obscure that it feels genuine.

But Yazbek other work is just more movie adaptations and following The Band's Visit with Tootsie is just demoralizing.

Sondheim adapted from a variety of source materials. I am not complaining that Yazbek adapts -- just that he only adapts MOVIES. I think 3 movie adaptations and maybe ONE show based on a book or something is all Yazbek needs to get people obsessing over him like he was the next LMM.

I am not saying this out of hate because I don't want to discuss Yazbek more than LMM -- because I literally TRIED to get more Band's Visit discussions going before the Tonys because I found everything about the musical to be wonderful.

After Tootsie I think he is going to be responsible for the lyrics to the Tammy Faye Project which isn't supposed to be an adaptation of The Eyes of Tammy Faye. So there is that I guess.

Cheno’s in a Super Bowl commercial-for avocados from Mexico? Now I’ve seen everything.

[quote]Cheno’s in a Super Bowl commercial-for avocados from Mexico? Now I’ve seen everything.

A girl's gotta eat. And how many roles are there for short, helium-voiced anorexics over 40?

Anorexia, midget, and obese Skeletor, perfectionist, and bulimia girl

[quote]After reading this thread, I was determined to clap back at these Betty Buckley haterz, so I went over to the other site and listened to a few of the boots (including the dinner scene)...and my goodness me y'all were right.

What other site?

[quote] The problem with Yazbek is that he hasn't created an original property -- so what is there to say about him?

R349 neither did R&H for most of their career.

If Lincoln center really needs dough might we suggest an all male "Gigi" called G.G. directed by Bryan Singer? We could open at a suburban mall arcade and Kevin Spacey singing, "Thank Heaven for little boys." Perhaps a mash up with the upcoming Michael Jackson musical "Don't Stop!" Its not pedophile, its pedoFINE!

True. R&H's two originals, Allegro and Me & Juliet, were among their least successful (Pipe Dream being the third), and Me & Juliet is arguably their worst score.

Oh fuck off, r393. Very possible variation on this has been wrung already. Don't you have some medication you need to take or something, Pajaro?

R360 American Idol, at least in part. Barbara Cook lamented it in a podcast interview. (Howard Sherman, I think?)

'he also initiated Wise Guys/Bounce/Road Show. And it was original. You could also argue he initiated Sunday and Into the Woods. All originals. "

Yes, he was in early on the gestation of SITPWG and ITW but, by all accounts, the ideas were Lapine's. As for Wise Guys/Bounce/Road Show, SS has gone on record to say: "It's 56 years since I first read Alva Johnston's book (i.e. THE LEGENDARY MIZNERS)," he laughs. Hence, an adaptation, at least in its initial conception.

Will his Bunuel thing ever get done?

In fairness, r397, I think he and Lapine developed both those concepts together. Sondheim has spoken/written a lot about their early meetings and how the idea for Sunday evolved. But I think, strictly speaking, and regardless of the original source material, Sweeney, Passion and Bounce, etc. were the only three that he initiated.

The last I heard about Bunuel was that they were aiming for September 2019. Who knows....?

My recollection is that Sondheim went to Weidman about Assassins after reading an unproduced script.

I don't think that's exactly right He had seen the script but was only interested in the title. He contacted the playwright to ask permission to use just the title, and I guess he then went to Weidman who jumped at the idea of writing the book.

You beat me to the punch, r401. Strange, if honorable, that he requested permission to use the title since they are not copyright-able.

Bernadette can either be awful or brilliant depending on the role. I have a feeling that she gets better throughout the run of a show, especially if Gypsy is any indication. She was really stinking up the place in previews and was easily one of the worst Roses I'd ever seen. I saw her later in the run and she was totally brilliant.

She was one of the best Dollys I've ever seen in Hello, Dolly last year. Warm, hilarious, and still quite sexy. I also saw her later in her run.

I thought her Sally in Follies was...odd. It's hard to put my finger on it, because, on paper, she sounds ideal for the role. She's petite, cute, and cheerful. There was just something that didn't fit.

r402, I may have this muddled, but I think Sondheim asked permission (even though he didn't need it) because the playwright had sent him the play in the hope of interesting him in a collaboration; maybe he felt he couldn't just appropriate the title without saying something. Plus he is usually decent about things like that.

I thought there was some type of legal action over Assassins because the credits state: "Based on an idea by Charles Gilbert, Jr." They wouldn't have given the credit for just the title.

[quote]because, on paper, she sounds ideal for the role

For Sally? Really? She doesn't have the whole "matronly, faded beauty" thing going on. And vocally she wasn't ideal at all. I don't think she's tried squeezing out her high soprano notes since she sang "Star Tar" in Dames at Sea 50 years ago. What would have been really interesting would be for her to go against type and try her hand at Phyllis. I'll bet she could have made it work, though I always picture Phyllis as being tall, I guess because of Alexis Smith.

Bernadette is neither a Sally or a Phyllis. She had the naivete for Sally but didn't have the dramatic chops to show the decline into fantasy madness. She really can't be hard enough to play Phyllis. She's not tough enough for Carlotta. The most she could hope for is Stella or Hattie.

[quote]The most she could hope for is Stella or Hattie.

Not in that revival, honey.

Love, Terri and Jayne

R402 five years ago, the Weinstein Company's "The Butler" was retitled "Lee Daniels' The Butler" because Warner Bros. owns a silent film from the 1910s called "The Butler" and made a big fuss.

Jayne Houdyshell was terrible as Hattie. Mugged her way through the entire song. She gives Jackie Hoffman a run for her money in indicating acting.

They may have made a fuss, but you still can't copyright a title, especially one as generic as "The Butler."

[quote]I hope he doesn't try to play Arthur as cute and endearing.

Actually, Arthur is actually supposed to be cute and endearing in the early scenes of the show -- throughout most of Act I, in fact. The character is nicknamed "Wart," and he's supposed to be very boyish and naive and endearing at the start. He doesn't really start to mature until the end of Act I. That said, although I am a huge LMM fan, I don't think he's right for Arthur. His style of speech and his on-stage personality are just wrong for it. But of course, his casting has nothing to do with his suitability or non-suitability for the part.

If you thought Jayne was bad, you should have seen Linda Lavin in the D.C. tryout. She came out dressed like a GMILF and sung the finale all by herself and the others never joined her like they usually do. Some say it was because she couldn't learn the music, but I have a feeling it was a diva move.

All I really remember about Bernadette as Sally was when she said "have you told Phyll yet?", she got a HUGE laugh. She said it so dry and matter of factly that it was hysterically funny. Maybe it was more of a nervous laugh a la when Rose in Gypsy says "And I can make you now" right before Everything's Coming Up Roses. That almost always gets a huge laugh unless the actress playing Rose doesn't take a pause and breezes past the rest of the monologue so the audience doesn't have a chance to laugh.

R390, in what world do those lyrics scan with "Alouette"?

What was the story around 1975-76 or so when Bernadette Peters and Nancy Walker were arrested for being in some kind of cult with some guru type leader? I think they were arrest for drug possession or something like that. I recall it being in the papers.

[quote] And Jackie Hoffman chewing the scenery like a beaver gnawing on wood.

Please don't ever use "Jackie Hoffman" and "beaver" in the same sentence again. My digestive system and my brain both thank you in advance.

I don't know about Nancy Walker. Is this the same guru followed by Neil Simon, Marsha Mason, Carol Burnett, et al.?

It's possible.

Bernadette was ill during the Sunday,,,, taping and she had to dub some of her songs when she was fully recovered. She was doing Song and Dance and filming Sunday during her illness. The Sunday producers or PBS or somebody bought out 3 performances of S&D so they could have Bernie all to themselves.

Rancid.

[quote]She was doing Song and Dance and filming Sunday during her illness.

She had two scripts memorized, simultaneously?

It's not that uncommon. Maybe she had stepped out of Sunday to do Song and Dance and rejoined for the filming. I know she did that for the taping of Into the Woods. She'd left for the show for a at least a year or two by the time they were ready to film it. All it takes is a few rehearsals and you'd be surprised by how fast a show comes back to an actor.

I've. Been. Memorizing. Scripts. Since. I. Was. Five. Phyl.

I've. Been. Memorizing. Scripts. Since. I. Was. Five. Phyl.

Is Phantom on its last legs? The % capacity and average ticket price are both some of the lowest on Broadway for the past week. I thought that show was pretty much still invincible, especially seeing that the other spectacle-driven war-horse (Lion King) still seems to be packing in crowds paying top dollar.

R427 Well, Yaah, if it does close they can do 'POTO - Live'.....finally

r428 LMM can sing all the major roles, like in a Tyler Perry movie.

It is the unceasing Jonestown cult leader quality of Lin's gargantuan global GLOBAL popularity that I find so galling. The world it seems has drunk this Kool-Aid, and they keep going back for more. (Though it was actually Flavor Aid not Kool Aid. But let's face facts--would the phrase "they've drunk the Flavor Aid" have ever caught on? I think not.)

No Broadway star has ever been elevated like this. One weekend he's dining with the Clintons. Then the Obamas. Then he's at the Oscars. Then he's in George Clooney's jaguar racing to an Italian Villa. George is driving. Then getting his star on the walk of fame. And it's all real. It's not a joke or an exaggeration.

I know celebrity/talent/stardom etc. makes no apparent sense. Follows no rules. Constantly shocks and surprises. But my god. This is like watching a parody of someone's over the top outrageous fantasy of becoming the literal "toast of the town" but the town is now the entire planet. And everyone in the entire planet is ravenous for a piece of him. And this is totally real life. It's not an exaggeration.

Lin has been plunked down into one of the highest positions in the ranks of celebrity ROYALTY ever. Full-on royalty. With as much clout and attention that would befit a Cary Grant. He is treated like John Travolta was in the 70's. And it seems WAY outsized considering Lin's talents and his body of work.

Nathan Lane became the public darling of Broadway at his highest moments and it was nothing like this. And though Nathan for me was never the be all and end all--some performances I loved, while some I felt were just showy and vain--I did understand the excitement around him. This I don't understand at all. It seems like a cynical manufactured thing in a cynical manufactured time. It is a cynical and manufactured move by Lincoln Center to propose this idea to begin with. And then to read that Lin has deigned to agree to do it--my head reels.

Sweet that his mother loved the old cast album. Adorable. But this is yet another absurd moment where it is clear to me that it is Lin's world. I just happen to be living in it.

Lin has not one quality that makes him even in the running to play Arthur. It was written for a classically trained actor evidenced by the elevated language. It is a role written for an actor who has specific vocal command and specific vocal skills. And while Lin has many skills, these specific ones are in short supply in him. There is a reason Richard Burton and Richard Harris are the 2 actors identified with the role.

But it does not matter that Lin's talents and skills are entirely mismatched for this role. And it is a long and lousy show even when appropriately cast. No, no. Remember his mother loved that old cbs cast album. So-- LET'S DO IT! It's Lin's world now, remember? We just live in it.

You see-- this is what i find--quite frankly--so gaslighty about the whole Lin phenomena. I feel like I'm being gaslighted by the Lin and the entire Hamilton moment we've been living in for the past several years. Gaslit is how I feel. But without the comforts of Angie's saucy maid.

Geez, r430, you gotta let it go, for your own sake if not for ours. The easy solution is just don’t see his shows & movies, and don’t buy his CDs.

But you can’t change popular culture. LMM has struck a chord, especially with younger folk but with quite a few oldsters as well. He’s a star, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

I can’t fathom the stardom of Britney Spears or Justin Bieber but obsessing about it gets me nowhere.

Tra.....

[quote]I can’t fathom the stardom of Britney Spears or Justin Bieber

They're famous for being pop stars.

I'm completely with you on this, r430. The worst LMM moment for me was in a recent NYT piece, which I now can't find, in which he said with great faux modesty "oh, please, don't make me go into politics" (the implication being that of course if he ran for anything at all he would win and be brilliant but exhausted).

There is a name for this kind of shared adulation. Anyone remember what it is?

R431 You are right. My obsession is out of control. Thank you for the check in. You can't know how much you've helped. Peace.

PS. R431 My "obsession" is not about someone achieving stardom or not. To use your example--Britney Spears at her height was a celebrity force. Everywhere. More more more. I wasn't interested in it, per se but it made a kind of teen-age pop star insanity sense to me.

However--If I'd seen in photos Britney at a lunch with Maya Angelou one week in the columns. Then Britney out shopping with Helen Mirren--both of them laughing when she dropped her ice cream cone crazily the next week. And then a week later read in variety that Britney was going to star in a new contemporary film of Ibsen's A Doll's House opposite Liam Neeson.

And nobody seemed to think any of this was odd. Or noteworthy other than noting the thrill of it. The stuff here would make sense. But hmm. My "obsession" here is not about Lin as much as it is about everyone else and what they see or don't see. I've never seen a disconnect like this.

But you're right. What can I do? It's not like these types of disconnects are rampant right now in our culture in general. It hasn't hit other things, important things like how our country is run or anything. Or what truth is or not. It's not like this is part of a bigger thing I see in our culture happening in a lot of other areas. It's just my obsession with who gets to be a celebrity. Which is probably about my own issues and being jealous or something. I get it. Thanks for the help here.

Why don't you all talk about colorblind casting instead?

Let's make it a Varla Jean Monday!

R437 you make me think of a comedian who told a joke at the height of Paris Hilton's fame, "I see Paris Hilton's pussy more often than I see my parents in Ohio. And I'm not looking to see pictures of Paris' pussy. And I love seeing my Mom and Dad. But it's there, it's there all the time, getting out of cabs, on the red carpet..." the joke went on and on but it was funny.

I think I'm quite culturally aware, but have not seen half of the coverage that r430 mentions. If I see a piece on LMM, I generally give it a pass. Not because I hate him, but because I'm just not interested. I adored HAMILTON, but beyond that, not interested. So one can live a very happy and fulfilling life without being aware of a Miranda overload. If I had oodles of money. I'd buy a ticket to CAMELOT because it's a good cause. Those who go just to hatewatch, more power to you. You'll still be donating to a worthy endeavor. Getting yourself tangled into a foaming froth over his stardom seems like such a waste of energy.

The only thing I wanna know from the insufferable gasbag at R430 is whom he would cast in Follies today.

Lin LOVES Lin, always shall it be, he’s someone who both earned and believes his OWN hype, but after his less than stellar turn in Mary Poppins Returns there will definitely be a cooling down, it at the wildfire height of HAMILTON it was quite stunning to watch the coronation. At least privately Sondheim proves his supreme intellect by knowing the guy’s number and expertly puts it in perspective.

Can you explain your Sondheim statement, r443?

Someday, Lin will play Ben, after rewriting the role either in Spanish or rap or both,

Aaaaaand another theater thread goes down the shitter.

and yet on DL we bemoan that Broadway doesn't create stars anymore. When it does, he hate him.

Alex Lacamoire Is the REAL genius behind both of LMM’s Broadway successes, ESPECIALLY Hamilton.

Gisele MacKenzie didn't just fart onstage. She once told the story of having diarrhea while doing a number on "Your Hit Parade" (can't remember if the song was "This Old House" or "Shrimp Boats" - one of those songs that played week after week). She someone got the message across to the chorus, who circled around her, while the cameras rolled and she shat.

Live television could certainly be dramatic!

R430

I don't get you. You are outraged that LMM has become a breakout sensation from Broadway when we live in a world where Kardashians help Donald Fucking Trump decide policy in the White House (on a good day)?

Yikes.

I admit that I prefer "Ah, But Underneath" over "The Story of Lucy and Jessie". Yes, the lyrics are trite, but I like the smooth, sleek sound of the music.

[quote] What was the story around 1975-76 or so when Bernadette Peters and Nancy Walker were arrested for being in some kind of cult with some guru type leader? I think they were arrest for drug possession or something like that. I recall it being in the papers.

That also happened to be the time they both did flop sitcoms for Norman Lear on different networks. Bernadette was in CBS's [italic]All's Fair[/italic] as the more conservative half of a Mary Matalin/James Carville-style Washington duo, and Nancy had an eponymous ABC show that IIRC had a gay character in it.

Whatever drugs they got into they must have gotten from Mackenzie Phillips if they were on the same soundstage as [italic]One Day at a Time[/italic].

I seem to recall the arrest being in NY, but I could be misremembering. It was in the papers though at the time.

Are you guys serious about Bernadette Peters and Nancy Walker being in a cult and arrested?

Yes, Bernie was arrested for indecent exposure.

Was Peters' sitcom the one with Richard Crenna?

I recall one episode where she bought him a shoulder bag and he thought it was too gay.

There was some arrest; I don't know if they were sitting around some room getting stoned, but there was some guru authority figure involved.

Yes it was, R458, and so far all the internet has turned up is the theme music:

Poor Bernadette. I would have turned to drugs too if I had to service Carol Burnett in exchange for the numerous appearances on her show.

My ex-husband could have hooked you up with some.

Not doubting the poster, but I do find this guru/cult thing a bit hard to believe. It sounds like a sitcom episode, particularly given the presence of Bernie and Nancy Walker.

But r453, with Uptown/Downtown you get the lyric:

With a Schlitz in her mitts down at Fitzroy's bar

There's mention of an arrest here (doesn't mean it didn't happen). But it does mention the guru, Oric Boyar (other sources spell it Bovar). He tried to resurrect a body for two months until he was finally charged with not reporting the death. He committed suicide by jumping from the 10th floor (he wasn't a Cole Porter fan) shortly before he was due in court.

[quote] Not doubting the poster, but I do find this guru/cult thing a bit hard to believe. It sounds like a sitcom episode, particularly given the presence of Bernie and Nancy Walker.

It was an episode of [italic]What's Happening!![/italic] in 1978. Rerun shaved his head and joined the lettuce-worshiping Baba Ram Baba cult. This new real-life one is something I've never heard of. It's actually very interesting to me how a decade that started with hippies ended with disco, and both the 1960s and 1970s had California-based cults (Charles Manson vs. Jim Jones) at the tail ends of them undermining a lot of potential social progress.

His name was Oric Bovar. Here's an article which mentions Bernadette, Neil Simon, etc.

I can imagine Bernadette being easily led into a cult. But Nancy Walker seemed sharper than that. Then again, there was "Can't Stop The Music" so maybe Nancy's judgment wasn't as sharp as I thought.

LOL at Richard Gere talking about "holiness."

Also from the Times (Dec. 1976) According to the sources, one of Mr. Boyar's most devoted followers was Bernadette Peters, the television actress, who reportedly took her friend, Carol Burnett, to at least two of Mr. Boyar's Los Angeles seminars held at the home of Miss Peters's manager, Thomas Hammond.

Speaking through their mutual spokesman, both Miss Peters and Miss Burnett acknowledged knowing Mr. Boyar, but said they had broken off contact with him.

Though Mr. Boyar had reportedly been telling followers for more than a year that he was Jesus Christ, it was not until his recent rites to raise a believer from the dead that many of his followers, including Miss Peters, defected, the former adherents said."

Maybe Nancy Walker was just arrested for having drugs around the same time as the cult story hit the papers?

Did they confiscate her bounty, r471?

R472 Whatever she was taking, it was thought to be "the quicker picker upper"!

That would put [italic]Can't Stop the Music[/italic] in perspective.

What do the simple folk do? These days they vote for unqualified, incompetent morons for president.

Dance, Lin, Dance!

He's not that good a dancer, so he surrounds himself with those who are.

Dance, Girl, Dance

King Arthur in "Camelot" is kind of like a musical theater's equivalent of opera's "Norma" in that the latter's bare bones orchestration exposes a singer's technique. Arthur has a lot of monologues and text and, being that beyonds some good scenes it's not that good of a libretto anyway, it gives excellent actors a workout to make it come over. Lin hasn't those skills and it'll be interesting if reviews will try to be kind or if they will judge him for what he actually does. I mean, to be fair, he could get an acting coach to help him, and maybe he'll be good, but based on his past work, he's way over-parted here.

Will this be filmed? Oh, I hope it will.

I think the Lin overexposure will backfire in a bit. Even Meryl fucking Streep has had moments of ridiculous overexposure which made people turn against her for a bit. Notice how she's mellowed out on grabbing every single Oscar worthy role for a woman over 50 in the past year or so? Even the genuinely talented have moments like this where you go "christ, are they in that movie, too? Give it a fucking rest!"

I think Lin will have that moment soon. Everyone in the public eye does - sooner or later.

But Meryl is genuine talent as an actress, even if she sometimes overdoes it, like her overacting in "August: Osage County". Lin can write, but he behaves like his performing in on par with someone who really can do it at a top level.

So Candice Bergen?

The press does love to build someone up and then tear them down at some point. They are always looking to something to write, and of course, on their salaries, they get jealous of the people they write about who make a whole lot more.

I found LMM terrible on the recent Kennedy Honours, his performance reminded me of the school produxtions posted here, he looked totally out of place and childish

Just watch any of television appearances R485, especially on House, yikes!

The Lin backlash is going to be something to behold.

Well at least I was never in a cult

There was never any backlash against me getting every role for the past 30 years. Of course, my only competition is Liv Havilland, and with her numerous lawsuits, nobody is gong to hire her now.

[quote]Well at least I was never in a cult —Patti Lupone

Actually, Patti, in your autobio, you tell us that all of you at Juilliard were given the same mantra by some guru. So you had to believe in some mumbo jumbo somewhere along the way.

And I can't imagine any cult would keep you as a member for very long.

[quote]Aaaaaand another theater thread goes down the shitter.

R446, what's so bad about the content of this thread? Other than you annoying, stupid, condescending comment?

R452, thanks for that valuable corrective. Whenever I start to feel that maybe the hype over LMM is a bit much, I just think about it for a minute to put it in perspective, and you know what? There are many other things to be FAR more concerned about. And I think he is a major talent, even if the hype is sometimes annoying.

Saw a local production of A Little Night Music yesterday. Blessedly, there were 21 musicians in the pit, and the show was largely well-sung and acted. However, the physical production (other than the costumes) was awful -- what looked like a couple of pieces from unit sets repurposed from other shows (a broad curved staircase stage left and a two-section ramp perfect for a children's dance academy's production of the Kingdom of the Shades scene from La Bayadere stage right), some lampposts, some Italianate pillars, two beige flats (everything was beige, actually) clouds and a moon on a scrim at the back, odd lighting changes, etc. ALNM is in my top-five favorite shows, and I've never seen a production that did it justice (no one ever knows what to do with the lieder singers). The best production really is in your own head. I wish there were more photos of the original Broadway production because that or something close to it is how I'd like to see the show done. (I wish Bart Sher would do it at Lincoln Center.)

This thread is all FOLLIES and dumping on LLM. Super boring. I'm out.

[quote]This thread is all FOLLIES and dumping on LLM. Super boring. I'm out.

Bye, Felicia

How about a revival of the Female Odd Couple? Amy Sedaris as Florence and Edie Falco as Olive.

See ya, r493.

Somebody, probably Sondheim, once described Bernstein as having a bad case of Important-itis. That's the principal thing wrong with LMM, That, and this emperor's new clothes syndrome. Someone who really wished him well might counsel him to sit down and shut up occasionally, but that is clearly not happening.

R492, You have described a perfect example of bad physical theater design. The order of importance should always be as follows:

1. What the actors wear (or don't wear. Nudity is a design choice.)

2. What the actors hold.

3. What the actors sit on, stand on, etc.

A set piece that does not directly relate to the actors is unnecessary.

FYI, The original design for ALNM was not all that special. The main thing that I remember is that they used new technology to print the birch trees on acetate, consequently; the audience spent the entire show having the lights, the actors, and sometimes even the audience, reflected in the acetate.

[quote]what looked like a couple of pieces from unit sets repurposed from other shows (a broad curved staircase stage left

Wasn't I brilliant in Mame? Nobody could work that staircase quite like I could.

[R467]: I was slightly connected to Oric Bovar. In the summer of 1969, when I was an apprentice at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Patricia Lens, the girlfriend of one of the actors, visited one weekend, and encouraged me to get my horoscope done by Bovar, who was living in Genoa, Italy at the time.

I did this, beginning a correspondence with him, which lasted, on and off, for a couple of years. I never met him, though I did attend a meeting at an apartment on the UWS of my friend and others who had been in touch with him. At the time, it seemed kind of like a lunatic fringe. I was in my early 20’s, closeted, and very unsure, and, since the other men attending seemed very gay, I got scared.

That was the only meeting about him that I attended. Over the next few years, I stopped corresponding, and let my contact with Ms. Lens lapse. (I had seen her in the obc’s of Celebration and Ari, for which, at Bovar’s behest, she had changed her name to Patricia Noal.) It appeared a lot of aspiring actors were seeking career advice from him.

I was later shocked to read of his arrest, and subsequent suicide. It was very sad, though more than a little indicative of the temper of the times. NYC in those days seemed to be awash in alternative spiritual cults of one sort or another. You couldn’t walk through Times Square without somebody trying to give you a leaflet about their own path to revelation.

Poor deluded Oric. I often wondered what happened to Patty, or her actor bf Christopher Wines. I’ve never been able to find mention of them online.

[quote]How about a revival of the Female Odd Couple? Amy Sedaris as Florence and Edie Falco as Olive.

Because it's worked so well in the past?

[quote]Because it's worked so well in the past?

It didn't work because Sally Struthers was half the team. Sally Struthers.

I thought it did work. That production was a hit.

R499-Jimmy Coco is posting from the great beyond.

r501 Thus leaving no room for the other half?

Neil Simon needs just the right actors. If they're a few beats behind, the show never gets back on track. Sedaris would be fun. Has she ever done Broadway?

I've really enjoyed Jonathan Bailey's performances on various TV shows, but, oof, his Getting Married Today... Yes, he gets all the words in clearly, but he's kind of barking them (or ruff-ing them, really). There's not much a melody in that song, but there is one and he just talk-sings his way through it. Plus, his British accent slips out more than once. Granted, I'm basing this on one listen on Spotify. Maybe he's like Imelda's Mama Rose (which I saw!) -- better in person.

Jesus Christ I can’t post a pic cuz I’m at work but Jonathan Roth just upload pics of himself on Instagram accepting a prize and he has completely TRANSformed into Serena Joy from Handmaids Tale

Jordan Roth not Jonathan

Is Jordan still in a throuple with BD Wong’s ex and that TV/film extra?

[quote]It didn't work because Sally Struthers was half the team. Sally Struthers.

Don’t knock Sally Struthers. She’s fun onstage, if not exactly subtle. If she was doing the Dolly tour instead of Batty, it might actually be entertaining.

Did the cult leader kill himself in order to also raise himself from the dead?

Oric the cult leader jumped from the building where he lived a few days after being arrested for trying to resurrect the corpse of a follower. I believe he did it to escape the hysterical publicity about him in the Daily News and the Post, both of which were braying his situation.

Curiously, I don’t recall any complaints from his neighbors about any noxious smell from his apartment. Also, as far as I recall, he was the only one indicted, not any of his followers.

It was all very sad.

R513 why sad? And for whom?

r514 It was sad for the bear because he lost his button, Rose.

Rosalie Craig out of COMPANY tonight on the West End -- only the second performance she has missed since the run began. When she is out, they don't perform Tick Tock.

Why do they cut Tick Tock if Craig is out? Is she in the dance?

Her understudy, Jennifer Saayeng, is black. Would that have any bearing?

Yes it does, once you see how it is staged.

Patti was very generous to her at the bows, all but coaching her through them.

I find this 1970s Bernadette cult thing to be utterly fascinating.

I guess all of that has been replaced with politics and autism nowadays.

Hair Live! ain’t happening.

[quote]Hair Live! ain’t happening.

Hair was never going to happen on broadcast tv. Possibly on Netflix or Hulu or one of the pay channels, but never on NBC.

There isn't actually that much content in HAIR that would not be presentable on one of the major networks. In fact, I'm pretty sure that similar content is seen in some major network shows nowadays. But it is true that HAIR is certainly not your typical "family show." So if that's what they wanted, it was a ridiculous choice. More evidence of incredible stupidity on the part of TV network bigwigs -- like the asinine decision not to have understudies for RENT.

How about a revival of Lettice & Lovage? Zoe Wannamaker as Lettice and Imelda Staunton as Lovage?

Jesus if they are looking for family shows here comes the 4th version of Music Man!

Taylor Swift is Marian

The backlash against Hamilton seems to be rising at least a little. Now here come the academic critiques.

How about we give Imelda a nice long break from the theater, like fifty years.

They should do The Secret Garden. Family friendly and beautiful.

The original Broadway production of Night Music was stunning(I disagree with the other poster) and better than anything you could imagine in your head. The staging of the lieder singers was beautifully threaded throughout.

Though I will agree with the other poster concerning the birch trees painted on acetate which was a bad touch. Wasn't it Sondheim's last commercial success? I mean we're talking 45 years ago was the last time a paying audience wanted to see one of his Broadway shows so that it would actually be considered a success.

I wish they didn't have to do family friendly shows all the goddamn time. Why not do something with a little edge, but something that stays away from graphic sex or f-bombs like Sweet Charity, Gypsy, A Little Night Music, or Company? Hell, I'd even settle for Chicago. Is there a rule that they can't be above TV-PG? How about a nice TV-14 rated show?

I agree, R530. Something that's racy but not raunchy.

NBC could do Funny Girl. Especially if they hired a real Jewish girl to do it. I hear that fat British girl didn't do such a good job with it.

The female Odd Couple was hilarious. Saw it with Sally Struthers and Brenda Vaccarro. MaryLouise Wilson was one of the poker buddies. Tony Shaloub and Lewis Stadlen were the male version of the Pidgeon sisters. Amy Sedaris would be hysterical.

Wasn't Jenny O'Hara, the first person to ever be fired from [italic]The Facts of Life[/italic], also in that production at some point?

Exactly. Shows like Sweet Charity, Chicago, Gypsy, etc. are done in high schools and community theaters everywhere (as to whether or not that's appropriate, that's a whole other debate), so they're fairly well know and, with the right cast, I think they'd do really well and bring in a slightly more mature audience. Even something like Anything Goes or Annie Get Your Gun.

Chenoweth wants Neil Meron to produce 'Hello Dolly' Live and to play Dolly in that.

This is exactly how things don't happen, people.

Chenoweth in Dolly would be fun. I'd definitely see that.

The only way that's happening is with Bette, and only then if Jerry Herman says yes. The attempt at a [italic]Mame[/italic] TV remake fell through years ago, and from what I heard Jerry hated all the script changes offered.

Avocado will be served at the Harmonia Gardens.

ITW was big hit for SS.......attributable to the big boot atop the marquee...

Yes, the sliding panels that reflected light in ALNM were a blemish on the production (which I believe even Prince acknowledges in one of his books). But the abstract staging a la Matisse was beautifully conceived and contributed mightily to the mysterious, perfumed and very continental atmosphere of the original production.

Wasn’t Cher gonna do a live tv Mame until like the 11th hour? I know Streisand was attached too.

I’m sorry to say I see Hello Dolly going on tv forst

[quote] Bernadette was in CBS's All's Fair as the more conservative half of a Mary Matalin/James Carville-style Washington duo,

Completely wrong. Richard Crenna played a conservative journalist, and Peters played “Charley” (short for Charlotte), his younger girlfriend who was liberal and fun and wacky and kept trying to loosen him up (like the episode with the “male purse” which was mentioned earlier. I think her character might have been a photographer, that part I can’t recall.

Herman needs to be more like Sondheim and allow new interpretations of his work. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't, but at least Sondheim is trying to keep his work alive. I have a strong feeling that Herman will probably put something in his will that says one most use all the original sets, costumes, choreography, and orchestrations of all of his shows from now on.

Why in the world wouldn't they do Dolly with Bette on TV? They've got all the sets and costumes and it would be perfect family fare.

I bet they will after the tour finishes up.

Remember that scene in I Love Lucy where Lucy is making a movie and everytime she descends the stairs, she can't support the head piece she's wearing? That's what I imagine will happen to Kristin Chenoweth when she does the infamous entrance in Hello Dolly.

[quote]Why in the world wouldn't they do Dolly with Bette on TV?

Because we saw her Gypsy on tv. Her performance was so big, they could see it from space. Talk about "From A Distance!"

All the more reason to green light it. LOL!

It would be fun for them to do Drood and have everyone vote via their cell phones.

r386 Why didn't Sandy Duncan become the next Bonnie Franklin?

The wind beneath my wings was from her yelling the lead-in to "Rose's Turn"!

[quote][R386] Why didn't Sandy Duncan become the next Bonnie Franklin?

Because "I Hate To Exercise, I Love To Fly" just didn't have the same ring to it.

Promises, Promises would be fun-not quite family friendly, though.

[quote]r394 R&H's two originals, Allegro and Me & Juliet, were among their least successful.

My mom saw all the pre-broadway out of town tryouts back in that era, and as a young teen, that show was her FAVORITE.

Wouldn't it have to have some charm to it?

They should do Nine. They could bring in the songs from the movie.

Patti LuPone could play Liliane Le Fleur

R552: Even with having the legacy of the source material to live up to, I was always surprised that didn't get a movie version. I guess [italic]Lost Horizon[/italic] torpedoed the chance for that just as it broke up Bacharach and David. I heard UA had the rights but let them lapse even though they later brought [italic]Hair[/italic] to the screen seven years after the dust from the failure of [italic]Man of La Mancha[/italic] cleared and after the Sherman Brothers' two Mark Twain musicals came and went.

Oh, God...NBC will show Camelot with LMM. It's all a conspiracy.

Promises, Promises is a pretty great show with the right actors. The score is excellent and Simon's book is pretty good.

Alexander Hamilton was white!

[quote]r450 Gisele MacKenzie didn't just fart onstage. She once told the story of having diarrhea while doing a number on "Your Hit Parade" (can't remember if the song was "This Old House" or "Shrimp Boats" - one of those songs that played week after week). She someone got the message across to the chorus, who circled around her, while the cameras rolled and she shat.

And after? Straight, Down. The. Shitter.

But did she eat corn?

It has to be a show in which the producers can import mindless teenaged girls who will scream through the entire show.

What a mess. HAIR could have worked but obviously NBC got cold feet after the RENT LIVE (?) debacle on FOX. They wanted to do THE MUSIC MAN with Neil Patrick Harris, so I'm surprised they aren't pursuing that in its place. Interesting that ALW didn't offer them JOSEPH, but supposedly there is a CGI movie in the works for that from Elton John's company. Why not do EVITA? Actually, Glenn in SUNSET could be good for live TV treatment (even though a film is what they intended). I guess not "family friendly".

It has to be a show where Eve Plumb can fall out of something and nearly splatter her brains on the sidewalk.

They should do 42nd Street. Everybody loves the Rockettes, so the synchronized tapping in 42nd Steet will be a great hit.

[quote] It has to be a show in which the producers can import mindless teenaged girls who will scream through the entire show.

Then go back in time and get the studio audience from [italic]Happy Days[/italic].

NBC Presents Lucie Arnaz *IN* Wildcat!

[quote]Why not do EVITA?

Because Patti will just call her "a piece of shit," too.

They should do an original musical like Dreamgirls 2 where Deena becomes a huge diva bitch, Mary, er I mean Lorrell will fade into obscurity and Effie will drink herself to death.

[quote]They should do The Secret Garden. Family friendly and beautiful.

That would be a great choice for several reasons, including the fact that there isn't even one film or TV version of the musical -- as compared to RENT, for example, which already had a movie version and a commercial video of the Broadway production before they did the recent TV version.

They should do The Wild Party

The only thing the original production of The Secret Garden had going for it was its set design. Everything else was/is unremarkable.

The music is also really good and the story is super touching.

I think the writing is on the wall for the TV musical. By all reports the response to "Rent" has TV execs damned scared.

Then pick quality material.

[quote]Herman will probably put something in his will that says one most use all the original sets, costumes, choreography, and orchestrations of all of his shows from now on.

He doesn’t have the final say on using anything but the written show. And Dolly used new set and costume designs. New orchestrations, too, although they were “adapted” from the Phil Lang originals.

If Giselle McKenzie were around today she be starring in all the John Doyle musicals, since she played the violin.

Do "New Girl in Town" with Lady Gaga

or "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" with Bette Midler in the Shirley Booth part

There are plenty of fun musicals with good songs people could discovery if someone produced them and let them see them.

Encores did A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Emily Skinner played the Shirley Booth role, but I can’t remember what kind of reviews it got. I think there was an off-Broadway rewrite, too, about five or six years ago with Shirley Booth expert Klea Blackhurst.

Emily Skinner is the quintessentially a “Frau.”

NBC should do 'Ragtime', or 'Parade', that would be cool

Not for a long time, r579. She lost all the weight and has looked terrific for some time now.

Ragtime would be great. Topical, huge diverse cast, melodious score!

Let’s do it!

[quote] They should do The Secret Garden. Family friendly and beautiful....That would be a great choice for several reasons, including the fact that there isn't even one film or TV version of the musical -- as compared to RENT, for example, which already had a movie version and a commercial video of the Broadway production before they did the recent TV version.

Cue the big crepe paper flowers! Please people would be sound asleep by the second BORING song. People want to hear songs they know. There's a reason there isn't even one film or TV version of the musical...it sucks.

R529, I believe both of those posts were by me.

R571, The set for Secret Garden suffered from a similar problem as ALNM. OOH! We can have everything laser printed rather than painted. Lets do more and more.

Sweeney Todd had a similar, but more cynical problem. Ming Cho Lee. had patented technology for doing brickwork for the stage. That was the reason for the unnecessary Victorian warehouse surround. He thought he was going to make a fortune on the touring companies. Instead, the producers just cut it.

Would have loved to see what Boris Aaronson would have done with Sweeney. Or Merrily, for that matter. Oy, those noisy rolling bleachers.

Sweeney and Merrily needed Boris badly.

[quote][R450] Gisele MacKenzie didn't just fart onstage. She once told the story of having diarrhea while doing a number on "Your Hit Parade" (can't remember if the song was "This Old House" or "Shrimp Boats" - one of those songs that played week after week). She someone got the message across to the chorus, who circled around her, while the cameras rolled and she shat.

Didn't something similar happen to John Barrymore, except he managed to squirt at the first row?

I thought it was John Barrowman.

"John Barrowman's shart is fabulous, wonderful. I'd like to see it two more times!"

R588 you're right! LOL! I don't know why I typed 'Barrymore.'

Lettice and Lovage is unfunny dreck. English humour at its worst - repeat something unfunny and repeat. It was only bearable because of Maggie Smith.

[quote][R588] you're right! LOL! I don't know why I typed 'Barrymore.' —R587

Bury-more dick up my ass?

New cast recording

PROMISES has a lot of sexist and non-PC content that will keep it off the TV screen. Even in 1969 there was a lot of tsk-tsk-ing about the dirty old men.

Those live broadcasts need to ditch the screaming fat girls in the front row.

[quote]Those live broadcasts need to ditch the screaming fat girls in the front row.

How rude.

Bajour!

There was a RAGTIME concert staged in Cardiff which was broadcast in the UK. They should follow that model. I think RAGTIME would be a really good choice.

What surprises me is how ubiquitous live theater broadcasts were in the 50s and how these things are over thought now and how they seem to fall flat.

It seems to me every one has had sound issues, WTF? Every award show manages to get that right but a production planned for months and rehearsed can’t?

[quote]What surprises me is how ubiquitous live theater broadcasts were in the 50s and how these things are over thought now and how they seem to fall flat.

The networks weren't extensions of movie studios back then, and movie studios weren't part of massive corporate empires but entities unto themselves.

Bajour!