Theatre Gossip #351: Critics cain't say to new Oklahoma!

REVIEW Broadway’s Latest ‘Oklahoma!’ Revival Is a Gimmicky Travesty with Corn Bread By Rex Reed • 04/07/19 9:01pm

It had to happen. The miserable fools who are hell-bent on changing the theater world by destroying timeless classics in a misguided effort to make them relevant, trendy and politically correct (whatever that means) finally got around to screwing up Oklahoma!.

For reasons that make no sense whatsoever, the landmark 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein production that marked the beginning of a new era in American musicals has now been cheapened and vulgarized at New York’s Circle in the Square Theatre in a “modernized” version designed to appeal to kids who have never heard of Oklahoma! and ignorant ticket buyers who hate musicals in general and avoid anything categorized as “old-fashioned” in particular.

And so the lights go up on the farm owned by Laurey Williams and her beloved, no-nonsense Aunt Eller (both immortalized by golden-voiced Shirley Jones and legendary Charlotte Greenwood in the magnificent 1955 film directed by Fred Zinnemann) to reveal a set consisting of eight tables replete with Fiestaware you can buy at Bloomingdale’s and 16 crock pots you can order online. For the next 2 hours and 45 minutes, everything that can go wrong in a lunkheaded misguided musical actually manages to do so.

Laurey is now black, which is perfectly acceptable, if only Rebecca Naomi Jones were a better singer. There can only be one Charlotte Greenwood, but the ubiquitous Mary Testa, who has screamed her way through scores of shows to my astonishment, is the most charmless Aunt Eller it has ever been my displeasure to see (even worse to hear).

I’ve seen dozens of Curlys in my day, including Gordon MacRae, but the greatest was Hugh Jackman. Damon Daunno’s Curly is not for the history books—half rock ‘n’ roll, half hillbilly country-western—but he does grow on you when he’s given half a chance to sing a ballad slowly and melodically without yodeling, which he does on the sweet second chorus of “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top.”

Oversexed audience pleaser Ado Annie (physically handicapped Ali Stroker) now belts out “I’m Jes’ a Girl Who Cain’t Say No” in a wheelchair as a nod to disabled performers everywhere, but the comic relief that made Celeste Holm famous in the original production and provided Gloria Grahame with show-stopping dazzle in the movie is sadly missing.

Will Parker, who returns from Kansas City with enough money from a bull-roping contest to marry Ado Annie, stole the show dancing all over the train depot when Gene Nelson played him to perfection onscreen. The best thing that can be said about Jimmy Davis’ Will is that he’s no Gene Nelson. The scruffy, obnoxious farmhand Jud Fry, who competes for Laurey’s hand to everyone’s horror, is now Patrick Vaill, who looks like a long-haired member of a motorcycle gang.

Why is his most dramatic scene, when Curly encounters him in the smokehouse, staged in a complete blackout? There is evidence that the cast can sing, but everything has been done by director Daniel Fish to disguise the fact. The trend to deprive songs of their deserved appreciation is evident throughout. This is a heinous affectation initiated by the uneven director John Doyle, famous for killing off a performer’s best numbers with a fast, annoying insertion of dialogue at the end of a song before the audience can applaud. His was the only production of Sondheim’s Company I have ever seen where the rousing “Ladies who Lunch” ended with total silence.

Instead of the historic Agnes de Mille dream ballet that distinguished the original 1943 Oklahoma! and remains an integral part of every revival, we now get a half-naked girl with a shaved head prancing from one end of the stage to the other, imitating a horse while cowboy boots drop from the ceiling with noisy, clumsy thuds. Maybe that was really the sound of Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rodgers thrashing around in shock from their graves.

During intermission, the audience is served chili and corn bread. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization should be ashamed for giving permission to produce this gimmicky travesty. Its namesakes were catapulted to eternal prominence by Oklahoma! and they didn’t need corn bread.

Filed Under: Arts, Theater, Hugh Jackman, Rex Reed Review, Bloomingdale's, Broadway, Jimmy Davis, Rodgers And Hammerstein, Agnes De Mille SEE ALSO: Kiss #MeToo Kate: A Broadway Classic Gets Consent

The right-wing reactionary critic in the NY Post didn't like it either. Thought it was too anti-gun.

Oklahoma will justly win the Tony for Best Revival.

Look for many more reimaginings of your favorite classics in the years to come.

I look forward to a production of Cats, using real cats, not humans who are culturally appropriating feline culture.

r5, the Department of Redundancy Department would like a word.

Why aren't we talking about the Hungarian Porgy and Bess?

R6= ?

culturally appropriating culture?

Is Logan Marshall-Green still married to Marisa Tomei, or did he finally come out?

Never forget Logan Marshall Green's dick being pressed up against the glass right in front of me in that off-broadway play a few years ago.

Still pissed off about the Olivier Award’ horrible In Memoriam segment. Whoever directed that piece of shit should be fired. The segment was about those who’ve died, not Beverley Knight showing us how she would have sung fucking “Memory” in the film of Cats.

How's the chili?

the search feature for "theatre gossip #351" brings up NOTHING

And yet there are THREE 351 entries now.

Search is fucked, but try searching "gossip" and by date or Subject.

It is uneven but occasionally great. The dance sequence doesn't work, but the rest does. The lead is excellent. The chili is nice.

This was the first #351

Can we please just have ONE 351 thread.

This was the first but it probably wont be finished until we are on 7 #360s.

The real question is which one of these will devolve into being angry over diversity casting and which thread will end up being about dream casting Follies from the recently deceased...

I wanna see a Me & Juliet with blood and guts!

Amanda Plummer should do a one woman show as Kathryn Kuhlman....

I have seen the wagons.

This review is not meant to be brutal -- but it really is.

'Strange and confusing' indeed.

Perhaps Datalounge could scrounge up a scholarship to get this Buffalo writer a ticket to Broadway to properly describe what is going on.

The review seemed fair. It's not scathing, but says that some of the song choices didn't work as well as others. Of course, Broadway queens who worship at her altar would take offense at anyone having the opinion that she could misfire on anything.

Being Alive, Jonathan kissing his bf giving great speech and La LuPone taking her second Olivier and being very emotional

I'm watching the movie version of South Pacific and I'm wondermg why Rossano Brazzi, who was a singer, didn't sing the part of Emil but was instead dubbed...?

When was Rossano Brazzi ever a singer?

R28 No evidence he was; was he?

Ok, just got back from TOOTSIE. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. It was just whatever. The music is crap. I found myself dreading the musical numbers. The group numbers were a hot mess. Choreography was absolutely terrible. It only worked during the first rehearsal which they reprised during the curtain call because it was so funny. I liked Santino better as Dorothy Michaels. The girl playing Julie was a good actress but I could not stand her singing voice. Julie Halston is wasted. The writing was bad. Lyrics and book. They are pushing the whole metoo/feminist movement. The women kept cheering when they would reference how hard it is being a woman and equal pay blah blah blah. Two writing points were taken from memes that are like 3 or 4 years old. There was desperate moments to be relevant with millenials. The roommate did that stupid running man dance and said epic fail. Mark my words though, this will win BEST MUSICAL and Santino will win BEST ACTOR.

Just got back from BEETLEJUICE. Lousy score, tepid book, but a rollercoaster of fun. Leslie Kritzer will win her first TONY. The audience roared its appreciation at curtain call. And Alex will be missing lots of performances.

I love Rex Reed for keeping it real!

Alex is an asshole and no one likes him. Plus, he has a tiny dick.

yea I can't stand Alex brightman. R31 Leslie was fantastic as Miss Argentina.

Leslie's gonna have to push Ali's wheel chair down a steep ramp to get that Tony out of her hands.

Alex is so over the top, the TONY voters will shudder at the thought of voting for him. The audience loved him. If he couldn't sustain 8 performances a week for SOR, he'll never manage it here. Maybe that's why there are so many actors playing Beetlejuice on that stage.

You could bet your monthly salary that Rex Reed would hate this OKLAHOMA!

What is that alleged Alex Brightman photo from?

Some TV show. Not alleged.

I saw Gary with Nathan Lane itv was ok but the set design by Santo Loquasto was worth seeing.

Thanks, R39. That really clears things up.

R17 is it vegan?

OT but what was the understudy drama in the recent Boys in the Bank revival? Equity got involved according to someone I know.

Here’s the Alex Brightman pic with his head.

R43, didn’t it involve Matt McGrath having to go on suddenly for Jim Parsons before he had even really been rehearsed?

Saw Tootsie over the weekend. It really is a mess, but sometimes fun one. I can't imagine it winning Best Musical. They haven't really made it justify being a musical. For those of us of a certain age, I kept remembering the emotion and warmth of the film. This has none of that. Santino's performance is just not the star turn you're hoping for. They really needed Norbert.

I saw my first and last broadway show last year. My Fair Lady. It was so awful. I’ll never see a Broadway show again.

Two words, r47......

You hated it too R48? They made it very #metoo

It's impossible to call this year's Tony race yet, and it will be one of the strangest/toughest in years. With no clear favorite, the campaigning is going to be insane. Need to get Hadestown, Tootsie and Beetlejuice open to see who the Best Musical nominees will be. Everyone is vulnerable this year.

Nice bush on Alex!

Ali Stroker is like a poor man’s, handicapped Reba. Can you imagine if Reba had played Ado Annie? It would have been a historic Broadway performance.

[quote] [R43], didn’t it involve Matt McGrath having to go on suddenly for Jim Parsons before he had even really been rehearsed?

Yes, that's the one. McGrath subsequently left the production . Unclear if it was his choice or mutual or the production. You do have to have a rehearsal (according the union rules) but there is no specific rule about how long or extensive that rehearsal has to be. I heard equity got involved with this . Just wondering if anyone knows the goss

Matt won't even talk about it.

I'm seeing my fair lady next month, I hope it's not too heavy-handed

The reviewer in a.m. New York was not too hot about Fosse/Verdon, giving it only 2 stars out of four, said it was hard to like, and a bit disjointed

Much like Fosse himself.

Only the silly ending disappoints in what is otherwise an excellent production, r55.

I think Alex Brightman is fucking hot. Love that furry dad bod. Thanks for posting the photo. Of course, it's from SMILF so there's no way in hell I'd watch it.

I'm grateful for that Rex Reed review of Oklahoma! About time someone prominent pointed out the emperor is naked.

Reed may be prominent, but that's not necessarily the same as being respected.

The show's not for everyone, and not one reviewer is suggesting otherwise. If it's not your thing, go see something else.

R55 I saw it to see Diana Rigg. That was the only reason to go. I’m

How much is The Prom spending not to make any money?

When is The National Theatre's production of Follies coming to Broadway?

Christine Ebersole *IS* Sally Durant Plummer

I'm glad I read the Rex Reed Review the Times critic gushed about it and I was about to buy tickets for the show. The serving of chili and cornbread during intermission is a distraction to take your mind off the weaker parts of the show. I think I'll pass and wait for a better production of the show.

If they serve chili during intermission, is there a lot of farting during Act 2?

There's a lot of gas in the dream ballet

I love Rex Reed.

[quote]I love Rex Reed.

If you're under 21, he loves you too!

Wouldn't it be fabulous if his outlier review of Oklahoma actually brought Rex Reed some new interest and respect? I've always thought he was one of the most informed and intelligent theater and film reviewers we have.

I just know that FOSSE/VERDON will be nothing more than a lot of quick cuts and heavy breathing (plus a lot of cigarette smoke). I'm not expecting anything revelatory here.

r71: really? Why?

r71, that's hilarious. He has been a cranky outlier for decades. This is not going to return him to the spotlight.

Saw Fosse/Verdon Sunday night. The first episode is iconic film numbers ("Mein Heir," "Big Spender") shot from different angles without stars. Yawn. Sam isn't boyish and fun the way Fosse was. Everything is covered better in "All that Jazz." Audience was hashtag me too gasping at everything Bob did -- I was thinking -- oh wait, kids this ain't nothin'. That said, it sorta laid there with an unfunny heavy-handed script. Michelle was fine, but as of the first episode, Gwen comes off as a real doormat.

And now the Tony for Best Female Empowerment Exploitation Musical. The nominees are : All of them!

The Washington Post offers a much more mixed view...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/a-radical-new-broadway-oklahoma-says-its-not-such-a-beautiful-mornin-in-america/2019/04/07/9be337b4-5874-11e9-8ef3-fbd41a2ce4d5_story.html?fbclid=IwAR3HB6zEnBwKdJ51F2HDakXJoC4zNqudj5BPFNfJy-tr3lAVY8OvGPtHO-o&utm_term=.c1a077fa82fc

R76 ha! That’s great

[quote]the Times critic gushed about it

Of course they did! Are they still complaining theater *audiences* are not diverse enough?

Why chili? Isn't that a Texan concoction?

R67 LOL! I was thinking the same thing. Unless they don't use beans.

Best musical is between TOOTSIE and HADESTOWN. That's it. Maybe The Prom. That girl in the wheelchair is awful. Her voice is nothing, acting is nonexistent and she can only sit there and roll down a ramp. It's not relevatory or progressive. It's pandering and it's stupid. This season is so bad whoever wins is getting away with murder. Nothing is worthy.

" The women kept cheering when they would reference how hard it is being a woman and equal pay blah blah blah" As Danielle Pletka asked on Bill Maher (and I paraphrase), "Where have these women been for the last fifty years?"

My favorite OKLAHOMA review quote: "When he pipes up on "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," a cappella at first and then strumming his guitar, he's claiming ownership of the day, even before he gets to the suddenly ominous-sounding lyric: "I've got a beautiful feelin' / Everythin's goin' my way." He wears his badge of aggressive male entitlement with pride, making even a playful line like "Chicks and ducks and geese better scurry" sound like a warning of fowl carnage..."

So our charming hero is, in fact, an unregenerate asshole?? Just as Oscar intended, no doubt.

Bad enough that Broadway has lost the knack of creating literate musicals of quality. Now we have to watch classics get bowdlerized.

R84 so true! And all because Broadway will choose to take the cowardly way and bend to the left’s desire for political correctness.

Remember when it was the right who called for censorship and complained about content? It was so much fun seeing the right get riled up over nothing. Not so much fun now seeing the left acting likewise. *sigh*

When Rex Reed sounds like the voice of reason, we are boned and not in a good way.

What is a Oklahoma Hello when a girl is in a wheelchair?

Sounds pretty sadistic to me.

And I was wondering about the corn bread and chili too. The cast must have to smell it all the time they're in the theater. Maybe they've gotten used to it.

I can only imagine the smell of the bathrooms afterwards.

Is the guy who plays Curly any good? He looks kind of hot in the photos I’ve seen.

R89 how do you mean?

Beans, presumably.

R84, who wrote that drivel?

What's a warning of fowl carnage?

"I'm gonna getcha, I'm gonna getcha, look out, bird, cause I'm gonna getcha...."

Murphy to film 'The Prom'....Why?

It kind of makes sense to me...

Interesting profile of Rex Reed from the NY Times in January 2018

R71, The Daily News and the New York Post gave OKLAHOMA! negative reviews also.

The show is entertaining...fun! However, I don't think it's Broadway worthy. It originated off Broadway and worked perfectly, as a Broadway revival....I'm not sure it worked.

Reed is self-promoting and looking for clicks and press.

I don't think he has any idea what clicks are

"A Warning of Fowl Carnage" would make a great title for something. Almost sounds like a lost Tennessee Williams play.

It’s kinda sad about Rex Reed. Kids today don’t know him or care

He's spot on about NOKLAHOMA!

He provided his voice to an episode of the regrettably short-lived Jon Lovitz animated sitcom [italic]The Critic[/italic] that also had the voices Siskel and Ebert. And considering his other acting jobs include [italic]Myra Breckinridge[/italic] and [italic]Inchon[/italic], that might actually be his best on-screen work.

I’m so mad he didn’t like the Laurie. She’s black! Sick of these old White males!!!

[quote]"A Warning of Fowl Carnage" would make a great title for something.

Yeah. For a review of this show.

When did they ever cast a man as Laurey?

They did cast a man as "Ado Andy" in Oregon (and a woman as Curley, so there were two different same sex couples). Everyone I know who saw that production loved it (at the Oregon Shakespeare Fest in Ashland). Too bad Ted approved this piece of shit instead of that one. Or better yet, didn't approve either one.

[quote]Like everything else in our cultural moment, this transfer from St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn will sharply divide audiences. I found it fascinating and filled with metaphoric precision, isolationist creativity and the surety of its own conviction; but I felt profoundly saddened by its fear of vulnerability and ensemble connection, its disavowal of the power of love, and its cynical degradation of all-American optimism.

[quote]Some of Fish’s ideas are fun. The chili and cornbread doled out to the audience at intermission is tasty, and the women snapping ears of corn during “Many A New Day” gives the scene rebellious energy. But in putting his actors in modern dress, making guns his wallpaper and forcing every moment that a gun is brandished or even mentioned to have bombastic significance, Fish clearly is saying he’s not a great fan of the culture of the Great Plains — of yesteryear or yesterday. In a preposterously heavy-handed sequence, he even has Jud present Curly with a pistol, rather than the usual knife, which leads to a shocking but inane conclusion. All this, in a hokey old show that includes the lyric, “Gonna give ya barley, carrots and potaters.” Listening to the New York audience applauding their own virtuosity makes a guy want to put this “Oklahoma!” out to pasture.

Ouch. At least the chili was good.

The Prom has really pulled out a trump card for Best Musical ... this is like Avenue Q announcing its mythical tour

"Kids today" don't know about Rex Reed? What's to know? He's hardly the stuff of legend, except as a self-promoting mediocrity, and something of a camp joke.

Why has the word “revelatory” suddenly become de rigeur in every other damn post on this thread? Can’t a show simply be fun and entertaining anymore?

R108 LOL! Touche.

[quote]but I felt profoundly saddened by its fear of vulnerability and ensemble connection, its disavowal of the power of love, and its cynical degradation of all-American optimism.

That sounds like a terrible evening at the theater! Sounds so negative and Oklahoma! is so not.

The nicest thing I can say about BEETLEJUICE is that I am not their target audience.

Twenty minutes after I got home last night, my ears were still ringing. The show was loud, Loud, LOUD - even as the audience was walking in. The only parts of the show I enjoyed - and they're in the movie, so I don't think they're spoilers - were the pig and the shrunken head guy. And it's long. Looooonnng. I thought the show was never going to end.

Brightman won't have a voice in a week if he continues with that gargling with glass sound. Caruso as Winona Ryder has vocal fry, upspeak and sounded like the Panera Bread Crafted Foods voiceover person. I really wanted to punch her in the throat. She's terrible. Kerry Butler seemed embarrassed, at points, to be doing what she was asked to do. Rob McClure is the King of The Flops, but tries hard. Bless his heart. And Leslie Kritzer works overtime to make things funny. The show is excessively busy. I was exhausted by intermission.

The songs were all LOUD. There's no melody. You can't even tell which instruments are playing. I was surprised to see that there are three violins listed in the pit. With all the electronics, their sound was invisible. The lyrics are all forced rhymes and unfunny. Every time someone on stage said "Fuck!" the audience went wild with whoops and hollers and applause.

But they spent a lot of money on the scenery and effects. So you can easily see where your ticket $$$ went to.

If the producers saturate the television spots with high points from the production, it may make it to Labor Day. But BEETLEJUICE will still lose a ton of cash.

It might be fun to watch a kid in a wheelchair and a second banana slug it out for a TONY. Like a Jerry Lewis MD telethon at 3 in the morning.

R119 Well, at least they're retired "game changer" for a while.

[quote]Brightman won't have a voice in a week if he continues with that gargling with glass sound.

There was actually a very interesting video posted online showing Brightman at his throat doctor. They put a camera down his throat and showed the difference between making that raspy sound in healthy and unhealthy ways. Theoretically, I guess (and I know NOTHING about this sort of thing), if he works to produce that voice in a healthy manner, he should be able to sustain it.

Didn't Rex Reed get caught shoplifting at Tower Records ?

Yep, was it Eartha Kitt and Mabel Mercer CDs?

[quote]I'm watching the movie version of South Pacific and I'm wondermg why Rossano Brazzi, who was a singer, didn't sing the part of Emil but was instead dubbed...?

Brazzi was never a singer. The real question was why Juanita Hall, who created the role of Bloody Mary on Broadway, was not allowed in the movie version to sing the songs she had introduced. Her singing was dubbed by the woman who played Bloody Mary in London, whose voice Richard Rodgers apparently preferred to Hall's. Richard Rodgers was a mean ol' bastard.

But around this time Juanita Hall was on Broadway in "Flower Drum Song" singing live -- Ok, "Chop Suey" wasn't one of R&H's best songs, but she sang that and "The Other Generation", and they're on the cast album. She sounds fine.

Yes, r104, the "kids" don't know much, though, do they? So that's Rex Reed's fault? FOH.

My mom hates that "Chop Suey" song. She thinks it's like having Chicanos going around singing "Tacos! Enchiladas!"

It can also be thought of as an early version of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire".

Rex Reed, whatever you think about him personally, offers a well-rounded contrary view of a show, and you never get that from the shills at the Times, who are basically paid advertisers for whatever big show comes down the pike.

Especially if there's a star attached.

Sometimes I miss Frank Rich. At least he wasn't just a big diva worshipper like the current Dame.

[quote] The real question was why Juanita Hall, who created the role of Bloody Mary on Broadway, was not allowed in the movie version to sing the songs she had introduced. Her singing was dubbed by the woman who played Bloody Mary in London, whose voice Richard Rodgers apparently preferred to Hall's.

Didn't you just answer your own question?

The producer of Beetlejuice has produced nothing but flops and this is the crowning achievement. The show has no advance and if it doesn't get the reviews and/or Tony noms, may go down quickly. Why they hired the composer of "King Kong" is the biggest mystery.

The composer moved to the Upper West Side from Australia last summer to prepare for his 2 big shows. Guess they'll be an apartment available soo.

Reed was caught way back when admitting he didn't write his own reviews.

However, he was good on talk shows and The Gong Shows where he could spew bitchy one liners.

Address? I'm looking.

Where did he admit that, r136?

R110, I saw the Ashland production of Oklahoma with Ado Andy and the female Curley, and it really worked beautifully. It was fun. It was joyous.

Rex Reed’s apartment is my dream!

Juanita Hall.....

And Hall sounds fine in the wonderful film of FDS which is about as stereotyped as white light romantic comedy musicals of the old studio system. Older ethnic types cute and funny, young lovers wanting independence from old traditions.

In actuality quite progressive for its time. And that fabulous score magnificently arranged and conducted!

And worth it for the opening credit sequence alone. One of the best.

Where is the bluray?!

[quote]Guess they'll be an apartment available soon.

Meaning?

R143 The film has been on Amazon Prime lately.

There'll be an apartment soon, not they'll be an apartment soon...

That sucks for the Aussie composer. I suddenly feel bad for him. Imagine, two major flops in one season?

Even Flower Drum Song got a dream ballet......

Did the West Side Story creators steal the ballet concept from R&H?

Is there video cameras in Oklahoma? Video wasn't invented when Oklahoma takes place.

say what, r150?

King Kong is so bad they're not making a recording. If you want to hear how bad the Aussie composer is, here's a sample from Beetlejuice:

[quote]say what, [R150]?

I heard two women at work talking about Oklahoma and I thought one said that in this current production that they do video closeups of Curly and Jud.

I think the race for Best Musical will actually be between PROM and HADESTOWN. PROM is looking more and more like the little show that could, while HADESTOWN will be seen as the arthouse favorite.

Fontana will probably win his category.

Like someone upthread said, the timing of PROM's movie announcement is the producers' attempt at a power move to curry favor with Tony voters. Not sure if it will work but I admire that they're willing to try. Regardless of what people here think of the show, it's encouraging to see that there are still producers who truly believe in and and will take chances on a new musical with no names in it.

The revival of "Mary Poppins" will now be forced to cast an black handicapped actress in the lead role. 'Twill be interesting to see a wheelchair-bound Mary fly!

[quote]'Twill be interesting to see a wheelchair-bound Mary fly!

Tommy Tune was going to do that with my last cabaret act, but I kept forgetting the lyrics to My White Knight. And then, of course, I died.

Two flop shows in one season, eh? At least mine had integrity!

What's next? A "Flower Drum Song" taking place in a nuclear waste dump site? Starring Andy Randells & Lens Dunham?

Boys in their bathing suits! What will they think of next?

If anyone knew Eric Summers from AIDA, MOTOWN THE MUSICAL, and KINKY BOOTS; He died yesterday from cancer. He was 36. I worked with him right before his big break in Aida. Sad.

[quote]My mom hates that "Chop Suey" song. She thinks it's like having Chicanos going around singing "Tacos! Enchiladas!"

Then your mom has never bothered to listen to the lyrics of "Chop Suey." The song is NOT a list of Chinese-American cliches. First of all, the lead-in to the song (at least, in the movie version) makes it clear that chop suey is actually an ersatz American take on Chinese food. And the point of the song is about how living in America is like chop suey because American life is a crazy melange of very different kinds of things -- "hula hoops and nuclear war, Dr. Salk and Zsa Zsa Gabor," and so on. There is literally nothing in the song that's stereotypically Chinese or Chinese-American.

Recently watched: Burn This -- very good. Driver great, Felicity solid. Gary: i loved so much of it - will not be for everybody King Lear: yes to Glenda & no to pretty much everything else Tootsie: not so much (My sister liked it) Oklahoma: horrid (My sister thought it was ok) have tickets for Frankie & Johnny & will rush seat Hillary & Clinton. Crazy amount of broadway lately

Some would say flower-like......

Chrissy Metz *IS* Kathy Kinney in "The Drew Carey Show Live On Broadway" Starring Seth Rogen as Drew Carey!

Yes, r153. So I guess your point is that they can't do that in a production of Oklahoma! because there were no video cameras at the time? I am dumbfounded by your reasoning.

[quote]So I guess your point is that they can't do that in a production of Oklahoma! because there were no video cameras at the time? I am dumbfounded by your reasoning.

With people riding around in horse drawn carriages, being impressed by 7 story skyscrapers and singing about Oklahoma being a brand new state, it is a bit of an intrusion to have video cameras.

Black girl looks old. Handicapped girl is bad. The boys are screaming queers. No set. Guns on the wall. A chili and cornbread gimmick.

If this Oklahoma! were predominantly white and all the roles remained hetero but it was still performed this way, there's no way in hell it would be getting anything near a rave.

^^^CORRECT.

[quote]And Hall sounds fine in the wonderful film of FDS which is about as stereotyped as white light romantic comedy musicals of the old studio system.

They made a musical about my pussy spray?

Speaking of Flower Drum Song -- the author of the book on which it was based just died last year -- at 102.

Speaking of Flower Drum Song -- the author of the book on which it was based just died last year -- at 102.

David Henry Hwang was 102? Gee, he only looked about 60.

Fosse/Verdon SUCKED

It would be nice to see a show that does not push a political or "woke" agenda.

Hazel Flagg!

R175

They are making the movie musical of CATS just for you.

Is Amber Gray from HADESTOWN going to be considered for lead or featured musical actress? Right now her name is below the title, but it's a leading role. Wherever she goes, she will be a major contender. She is KILLING it right now. She was excellent in NATASHA, PIERRE and also great in HADESTOWN OB, but the part has gotten bigger since it's done the rounds, and she has gotten better too. I am hoping she is considered a lead, where her only real competition would be Beth Leavel. Incredibly, that category might be easier for her to win than featured, cause of the OKLAHOMA gal.

There are no gay characters or themes or subtext in the current Oklahoma! even though Jud is supposedly gay in real life, the character is very straight in this production

Jud is gay? In real life? So you are reinforcing the stereotype that gays are violent misanthropes? Or are you assuming that every gay man desires a young woman?

Brooks might win over Santino, who some folks say perhaps whose role should have been cast with Norbert.

Is this the Oklahoma! with the tranny Aunt Eller?

[quote]Is this the Oklahoma! with the tranny Aunt Eller?

Yes.

"And worth it for the opening credit sequence alone. One of the best."

Aye, verily and Amen (starts at 1'08").

The actor who plays Jud, Patrick Vaill, is gay. He’s in a relationship with another actor named Nick Fitzer. There’s no “supposedly” about it, check their FBs.

The tranny Aunt Eller was in the gay Oklahoma in Ashland. Someone above said they saw it and loved it, that it was “joyous.” How dare someone present a musical that is joyous?

Then say the actor playing Jud is gay. One wondered if you actually thought that Jud was a real person. These days, you never know.

R187 I often see mainly young people online referring to actors by their characters' names. I think it's a type of shorthand for them, but it does sound weird.

I’m not the one who made the original comment. I was actually responding to the post that said Vaill is “supposedly” gay. He’s out and proud.

[quote]The actor who plays Jud, Patrick Vaill, is gay. He’s in a relationship with another actor named Nick Fitzer. There’s no “supposedly” about it, check their FBs.

Nick Fitzer was terrific as Lancelot in the Shakespeare Theatre Company's production of CAMELOT in DC last year. He would have been an interesting Curly.

It really bothers me that they use electric lights in Oklahoma. So out of period. They do that same kind of thing in Shakespeare and it always takes me right of the show.

And the programs on glossy paper? Does anyone really believe they had that in the 19th century?

Oh, good christ, r191, do yourself a favor and go see KMK instead.

I've heard from friends that Patti Lupone will head an all-female Broadway revival of Glengarry Glenn Ross but I haven't been able to find any confirmation on line.

Has anyone else heard or seen this news officially?

King Lear is a bad production, full of trendy, PC crap that amounts to nothing, an ensemble half of whom are unable to speak the language of the play, and obtrusive live Philip Glass music that only detracts from the two elements it should not--a play with some of the greatest poetry ever written, and the performance of Glenda Jackson. Director Sam Gold really is a hack and an idiot--he treated his directing duties here like he was directing another fucking Annie Baker play.

R179 (me) obviously meant that the actor playing Jud is gay in real life...

In the mid-1960s, when he was only in his twenties, Rex Reed was a very popular print journalist famous for his highly irreverent celebrity interviews, which he eventually published in several anthologies, the most famous of which was called Do You Sleep in the Nude?.

He really was able to get Hollywood and Broadway stars to reveal themselves as they never had before in print, often with outrageous yet truthful results (not unlike Dick Cavett on TV).

Please Google one of his most famous interviews with Ava Gardner, though admittedly with the passing of time and the complete breakdown of celebrity culture, the shock value might seem mild today to youngsters.

[quote]I've heard from friends that Patti Lupone will head an all-female Broadway revival of Glengarry Glenn Ross but I haven't been able to find any confirmation on line.

That was planned for this season, but it apparently fell apart.

I know, but not with Patti attached. It's being talked about again.

[quote]It really bothers me that they use electric lights in Oklahoma. So out of period.

So true. The whole thing should be lit by gas lamps and torches. And the actors and audiences should not be allowed modern plumbing, but should have to use outhouses on the sides of the stage. I mean, the line is "Walk to privies in the rain" and the audience should walk to the privies.

Patti's the one herself who announced it. But "left open the door that it might not happen."

[quote]King Lear is a bad production, full of trendy, PC crap

How do you mean?

"it would raise the question as to whether COMPANY would wait for her and then open in the spring, or if the production would proceed with someone other than LuPone playing the role."

I vote for the latter. Either Glenn Close or Bernadette Peters.

Patti tweeted about Glengarry the other day and I'm pretty sure she said it's on.

[quote]Leave it to Rex Reed to talk some sense about this misbegotten reboot...

Some 900-year-old showtune queen who hasn't been relevant since "Match Game '77" didn't like Daniel Fish's "Oklahoma" and I'm supposed to give a fuck?

Exactly.

r201, I mean having a deaf actor onstage whose dialogue was entirely signed/spoken by his "servant"--so if you were deaf in the audience, you got one minor part signed--and then he was killed off, so to what purpose was that for? Not for anyone who was actually deaf who might be there to see, oh, Glenda Jackson.

Frank Rich wrote a terrific piece about Fish's "Oklahoma" that digs into the history of the original.

(also has tons of spoilers in it...)

Deaf people like Glenda?

R202 Ha! My mother used to call that movie GLENGARRY GLENN CLOSE.

I'm confused. If Jud is gay, why the subplot of him wanting to take Laurey to the Box Social? Shouldn't he be wanting Curley?

The real person Jud's character is based on was gay, R211.

The character of Jud onstage is gay, but on video, he’s gay.

The real Jud was/is gay? Why would he bid on a box lunch for Laurey at the Box Social? Was he being set up by Aunt Eller?

See what you started, R179.

The Stupids Go To The Theater.

How is NANTUCKET SLEIGH RIDE selling?

FOSSE/VERDON is SHIT.

I liked the first episode, R218.

Brooks deserves to win, IMO.

A close second for me would be Derrick Baskin; he's excellent.

R220 Win what?

You're kidding, right? No one is that dense.

R222 I scrolled back up 20 posts or so and didn't see any mention of Brooks.

[quote] Some 900-year-old showtune queen who hasn't been relevant since "Match Game '77" didn't like Daniel Fish's "Oklahoma" and I'm supposed to give a fuck?

He's far more relevant than you, dear.

[quote]A close second for me would be Derrick Baskin; he's excellent.

Not in the acting department, he isn't.

Baskin won’t even be nominated and Brooks’ nomination will be his award.

Damon deserves to win and most likely will.

I saw the 1990s national tour of [italic]Oklahoma![/italic]. I wasn’t even 11 yet, I’d only seen the movie on a pan-and-scan tape, and they didn’t need these kind of gimmicks. I was still mesmerized nonetheless.

i would rather see Brooks waddle to the podium than Santino win the Tony for that completely shiteous performance in Tootsie.

[quote]He's far more relevant than you, dear.

Besides his street cred with other 900-year-old showtune queens? Seriously doubt it.

So what do you owe your relevance, r229? Do tell.

Please let's have more re-writes to show diversity in casting and more social justice messages. It's Broadway's way of saying, " See how woke we are?" I love going to a show and sitting through a lecture.

Reed was never on Match Game, he was on Gong Show. He told a woman who belched to music that he wanted to arrange a Thursday with her at Pismo Beach.

R231, What show are you talking about? Kiss Me, Kate is the only revival this year (as far as I know) that had any rewrites.

R231 not a play, but that's why Netflix's new movie THE HIGHWAYMEN, which just came out, was so refreshing. Not virtue signaling. No incongruous casting in the 1930s setting. They really went out of their way to make it look and feel like the Depression-era Midwest. It felt so nice not being lectured to.

I was surprised to see toward the end of #350 (I think it was the main one) that there was still a question as to who was the pseudonymous "Chekky," the vituperative (and some would say just downright nasty) critic....

Chekky is (or was, since the persona has been retired for some time now) John Weir, gay novelist and professor of literature and writing at CUNY.

[quote]Didn't Rex Reed get caught shoplifting at Tower Records ?

He wrote about the "shoplifting" and I believe him. He said he was at the age when he temporarily forgets things and he had put some CDs in his coat pocket because he had too much stuff to carry around. The CDs were easy to see; it's not like they were hidden. Anyway, the charges were tossed.

So - this is Chekky then?

When is the Tootsie press night? What are advance sales like?

r236 That's what all shoplifters say when they get caught

I saw Oklahoma. Meh. It does not belong on Broadway. The best part was the chili and cornbread. The woman next to me had three heaping bowls and then during act 2, begged me to pull her finger because she got it jammed in the seat. When I did , she ripped huge Vesuvius farts.

Thx, r235.

r240, your post reflects your taste and sophistication in all things.

" Chili" and " Cornbread"? Those are the names I have given to my Mexican maid and my black doorman. I'm rich;I've earned that right.

Maybe you remember the stories of Lenny and Felicia Bernstein getting Latin/South American maids for their friends--they called themselves the Spic and Span Employment Agency.

WHat kind of chili and cornbread is served? Do they give you a bowl and silverware? Red bean or black bean chili? How spicy?

Haven't seen this production of OKLAHOMA but IF the stunt casting this production works it will be one of the few times stunt casting has ever really worked artistically. Have social justice warrior fetish prototypes become the new "celebs" of the theater world ? Pursued only for their "celebrity" with little to no regard to their actual talent? It sure seems that way in this instance. Producers saw an oppotunity to exploit the SJW movement and jumped on it knowing that SJW's and those that love AND hate them would be inspired to plunk down the cash just to weigh in on the controversy.

While some of these performers might be wildy talented, are their talents really being served stuffing them into what is essentially a period piece with the agenda of proving some worthless agiprop self soothing production that everyone secretly knows is not performed as well as it has been or will be.

There are lovely Africa Amercian ingenues who can play the lead in Oklahoma but if she is saddled with a half wit director who thinks serving corn bread and chili is a "fun idea" what hope can she have of giving a great, confident performance? Serving food at a Broadway show ? It sounds like a joint production of the PTA and the local "Friends of the Library" or some such bullshit.

NO QUESTION casting should make every effort to seek out and include talent that comes in different bodies and colors than the caucasion default we are all used to but this sounds like something like a minstrel show.

I don't like Rex Reed's nastiness in his reviews and I think he is a very limited observer but because there are so few theater critics anymore and so few with any background or context for what they are writing about crap like this has a greater chance than ever of getting a toehold and gettigng to Broadway.

Trump got into the WH because nobody was watching or paying attention. THIS stuff gets legs because of the same reason. The NY Times does fewer theater reviews than ever, there is never a credible dissenting voice in ANY of hte NY daily papers and Theater is sufferig for it

They were giving away free bags of cat litter during the last few weeks of CATS.

[quote]Serving food at a Broadway show ?

They had concessions at BetteDOLLY, but nothing better than what a movie theater would have except for wine.

What’s next, [italic]Carousel[/italic] with an actual clambake at intermission? [italic]The King & I & Pad Thai[/italic]? [italic]Annie Get Your Gumbo[/italic]? How about they actually sell beer and peanuts during [italic]Damn Yankees[/italic]? Or baubles, bangles, and beads during [italic]Kismet[/italic]?

Just imagine the food service at BLAZING SADDLES: THE MUSICAL.

I’ll be served on a plate of chips if Disney ever brings [italic]Bedknobs and Broomsticks[/italic] to the stage.

Fart jokes. Yes, that's what I come to the DL theater threads for. Fart jokes.

[quote]The NY Times does fewer theater reviews than ever, there is never a credible dissenting voice in ANY of hte NY daily papers and Theater is sufferig for it

All the papers are thinking about the paid advertising from the shows that gets butts the seats. A full page ad in the NY Times is $150,000 not exactly chump change.

Not just any farts, R250, but Vesuvius farts. At least he tried to appear literate while making a vulgarism.

Really, by the end of 6th grade one ought to have told his last fart joke.

The only food-themed tie-in I want to see is authentic cuisine at Sweeney Todd.

Everyone farts. Even celebs. What's the big deal?

For a gay black man, Hilton Als is curiously homophobic and racist in his reviews. WTF is his problem?

R238 I believe the Tootsie advance box office is fine, not bad, not spectacular. Opening night is Tuesday, April 23.

r245, you start your comments by saying you haven't seen the show, but then proceed to dissect it and trash it. What a loon.

This OK! will be a cause celebre and will win the Tony and by July 4 will be discounting the entire house. To the general public, it feels like nonsense.

Tootsie just sent out a new round of discount codes.

[quote]To the general public, it feels like nonsense.

That's how tone-deaf the far left (aka SJWs) have become. It's scary.

I think that's likely, r260. But that's fine. A lot of Sondheim's stuff wasn't well received by the general public (and some still isn't), but I wouldn't say it wasn't worth doing, or worth seeing to the people who were interested. Everybody else can go see KMK or Prom and we'll all be happy.

I thought/hoped The New Yorker had taken Hilton Als off the theater-critic beat, but, alas, he reviewed Kiss Me, Kate and White Noise.

I hope James Corden comes out at Radio City in a wheelchair belting out “Oh, What a Beautiful Tonys.”

Nothing that the new Oklahoma! is doing would be considered particularly remarkable or unusual were it staged in a German or Dutch theatre (which are increasingly staging musical from the American canon).

Sure, one can critique that some directorial decisions don’t work. But the fact that it’s caused such a stir speaks a lot of about the conservatism of mainstream American theatre.

If they were going to have a really out-there "Oklahoma!" I would rathe they hired Calixto Bieito from the opera world, known for have the male chorus of "A Masked Ball" singing the opening chorus while sitting in toilet stalls with their trousers down while reading newspapers, or an "Armida" with naked chorus boys groveling around the soprano as she sings, or "Wozzeck" with the naked chorus entering for the finale. He could have shown the privies that Will Parker was referring to, shown Curley by the "short and curlies", had a nude after party for the box social, etc. It would have been more fun.

I wonder what percentage of people here complaining about the new Oklahoma have actually seen the new Oklahoma?

At least some of them are complaining that it's being done at all.

What the raves are saying in their description in its defense is as much of a turn-off as what the naysayers are saying.

i saw oklahoma & didn't like it a friend saw Kiss Me Kate & said it has also been changed. I remember the Sally Fields Glass Menagerie where the actress playing Laura was handicapped. I didn't mind it-- thought it made better sense then a mild infliction. Explained more of the willful cluelessness of Amanda & a real reason for Tom to split. My partner hated the extreme. (There were other problems with the Sally Fields version)

[quote]I remember the Sally Fields Glass Menagerie where the actress playing Laura was handicapped. I didn't mind it-- thought it made better sense then a mild infliction. Explained more of the willful cluelessness of Amanda & a real reason for Tom to split. My partner hated the extreme. (There were other problems with the Sally Fields version)

No, it makes NO sense according to the script, because the author purposely wrote it as a minor handicap, basically just a limp. If the author had wanted the character to be severely handicapped and in a wheelchair, he would have written it that way. P.S., it's affliction, not "infliction." And, for crying out loud, it's Sally Field, not "Fields."

Your life seems difficult r272.

Nonsense R273

That was required editing. You should be grateful.

Every every new musical opening sucking so bad, this Tony season will be pathetic.

This is the theater you get when you let political correctness run rampant. It does nothing but constrict creativity.

And yet, when somebody does exhibit a little creativity, everybody screams "it's a scandal! it's an outrage!"

I'm not surprised Tootsie is sending out more discounts. That's actually smart, and the new way of pricing. All your advance tickets are face value or cheaper, so you can really hike up the "premiums" the week of. Its what the airlines have been doing for years.

R277 that's forced creativity. It's not natural. And it reeks of inauthenticity.

I 'd respond, r279, but I have no idea what you mean by any of those descriptors.

R279 is perfectly clear and correct. " Let's do something outrageous so everyone will be talking about us! Doesn't matter if it makes sense. Some "intellectual" critics and theater dilettantes will declare it "groundbreaking." That's not creative nor authentic. For example, the reworking of King Kong is disgusting. While the puppet is great, nothing about the book is in any way genuine. It's " Let's make this about female empowerment. That seems to be popular; let's use it." So obvious and smarmy. Talk about exploitation.

This is bewildering. King Kong may or not be exploitative; I know nothing about it so I guess I have to take your word that it's disgusting, obvious and smarmy. If we're talking about eliminating the slap in Carousel in the name of social justice, I'd agree.

On the other hand: Oklahoma!, whether or not one finds it enjoyable, seems to me about as creative and imaginative as it gets; is it not authentic because you don't care for it? Wouldn't it be a pleasure to have a theater district that celebrated the traditional and the experimental?

R281 that's exactly what I meant. Thanks.

R282, Broadway is not suitable for experimental theatre. It wouldn’t survive if it tried to be. That’s what the Public Theatre and Off-Broadway is for.

With all the crap on Bway. King Kong will win Best Musical

From what I'm hearing, Hadestown has a lock on Best Musical.

KK is a dream play for an SJW.

1. The main character is a strong woman who refuses to scream. When she does, it's to lead the male to his capture so she can have a career.

2. No natives on the island - that would be offensive and racist. So, she is tied up by strange plant people in a semi-orgasmic bondage ritual.

3. All men are crooked and exploitative, except the old man and the ape. This , despite the fact that she betrayed Kong.

4. When Kong is dead and she is left alone on the Empire State building, she gets to sing a female anthem about how she is now stronger for the experience, ready to take on the world, because she has empowered herself. One might say that it is racist because the black male dies, but she's conveniently black, so no racism can be levied.

How could that not appeal to the "New Broadway Community"?

Everyone here needs to Be More Chill.

[quote]One might say that it is racist because the black male dies, but she's conveniently black, so no racism can be levied.

Dude: did you seriously equate Kong, the enormous black ape, with "the black male?"

This kind of theater was being done at regional theaters when I was in college in the early 90s. Almost 30 years ago. If you don’t like it, fine, but don’t act like this is some frightening new trend.

What's with the FOSSE/VERDON hater? It may not be great, but it's got some good things in it. And you don't get a lot of shows tailored to Broadway fans. I'll watch.

I found "Fosse/Verdon" a little disjointed, at least in the first episode, but I'll certainly keep watching, for the reasons given by R291.

Are we ready to continue this conversation with Chester Gregory cast as Papa in High Button Shoes

R290 it is a new trend on Broadway. That's the point. It belongs off-Broadway or elsewhere.

I don't remember anybody complaining when they served meat pies at Sweeney Todd two years ago.

I want a Sondheim miniseries on Netflix just for the scene where Sondheim and Laurents nearly came to fisticuffs at a fancy dinner party over which one got to spend the night with the hustler du jour.

Here's a Calixto Bieito opera staging; perhaps he can be persuaded to do the next revival of a beloved musical. Here's what he did with Handel's "Armida". I think the Met Opera was on the verge of hiring him a few years ago and the chickened out though I'm not sure I want to see too many of the Met's choristers naked.

He can always use some of the guys who aren't cast in the upcoming "Take Me Out" but who can sing and/or dance

Go to about 0:57-- sorry, it's in German, but you probably won't mind the visuals.

HADESTOWN is the only respectable choice for Best Musical. OKL! will win revival to make a statement. My friend saw Kong and said other than the part where Kong captures the girl, it's pretty forgettable. R288 That joke was used like five threads ago. R273 Difficult? That post was a hot mess. Thank god he corrected it.

R289. I did, If you see the show, he is treated pretty much as a person. She scolds him and tells him he has to stand up for himself and fight back. More than any of he movie Kongs, this one is much too anthropomorphic. I realize that some might be screaming," racism," because I equated an ape to a black male, but that is the way the story is laid out, which coincides perfectly with the theme of female empowerment and the conquering of the males' looking at women as helpless beings who need protection.

Laurents brought the hustler, r296, but I think it was Sondheim's birthday so he felt entitled. And I think one or the other of them actually landed a punch. I would watch this miniseries.

Encores! is doing High Button Shoes in May. Will they recreate the hilariously inventive Bathing Beauties Ballet? (And good luck with that. It was one of many high points of Jerome Robbins' Broadway.)

[R245], you start your comments by saying you haven't seen the show, but then proceed to dissect it and trash it. What a loon.

Nonsense! He's just triggered by Daniel Fish's radical SJW assertion that black people existed in 19th-century Oklahoma.

*rolls eyes*

R300 what happened to the hustler? Anyone ever interview him?

*grammar alert* r302: there *were*

Oh, come on. Who brings a hustler to a "fancy dinner party"? This belongs with the rest of those apocryphal Sondheim stories about dinner guests like (Barbara Cook and Angela) finding twinks handcuffed in Sondheim's linen closet.

Smell YOU, R305. It was a fancy GAY dinner party. So it’s not like Arlene Francis or Kitty Carlisle Hart were in attendance. Go fuck yourself.

R227, if that tour was based on the NT/Broadway production it overhauled the script with a large number of cuts and insertions from Green Grow the Lilacs.

At least the current production reinterprets the script as written rather than rewriting the parts that are inconvenient.

What did you and your sister think of Hillary & Clinton?

Settle down, r306. You're going to give yourself a nasty rash.

[quote]it’s not like Arlene Francis or Kitty Carlisle Hart were in attendance.

I was actually at a party where Kitty Carlisle Hart was in attendance. This was mid-90s when I was living in NYC. I got to spend about fifteen minutes chatting with her, but I didn’t have the guts to ask her about the rumors that she was a nudist at home.

R310 why not?

[quote]I don't remember anybody complaining when they served meat pies at Sweeney Todd two years ago.

That’s because they didn’t want to end up in one.

Brooks is too lazy to campaign for a Tony anyway. I don't blame him. It's stressful and political and he's been around long enough and worked steadily enough to where he doesn't really have anything to prove. A nomination will be great for him.

The opera is R297 is not by Handel. It's Gluck's Armide.

Handel's version of the story, by the way, is Rinaldo.

All those naked boys got him confused about the composer. Understandable. Understandable. Yes, it's perfectly understandable.

No one's mentioned the most prominent recent instance of food being served at a Broadway show?

BTW, are they charging for the chili and cornbread at OK? They certainly charged for the pies!

Since when are waitresses responsible for cooking at diners? It's enough to have to trot out the blue plate special. Oh, my feet, my poor, poor feet!

Well, the big sonuvabitch hurts the most

R317

I haven't even seen Waitress -- but there is a clear indication that the plot involves an unhappily pregnant woman contemplating a career change among other things.

Is she starting a pie business on the side and selling or giving samples at the diner?

I didn't see the show because I have no interest but I love the movie. She makes the pies at the diner where she is also a waitress. She puts her feelings into her pies and then names them after what she is going through. Customers think her pies are delicious. She is contemplating a new life. Leaving her job as a waitress at the diner and leaving her abusive husband. She's pregnant and starts an affair with her doctor.

I've only seen the movie, and I recall Keri Russell saying that she makes up a brand-new pie recipe every morning. How is that possible? Wouldn't she run out of concoctions soon enough if she created one every day?

The musical is a lot better than the movie. She has one of the best 11 o'clock numbers of all time.

Hilton Als always errs on the side of giving every person of color a huge break--even a no-talent like Thomas Bradshaw.

Can someone educate me why the Tonys ruled that the leads of KK could be considered as leads? What else would they be? TIA.

is that KMK? I guess the committee has to talk about something as they go down the list of shows to consider.

What are they going to feed you at intermission? A wunderbar?

Spot on, r305. No one ever has proof of those apocryphal stories.

[quote]Oh, come on. Who brings a hustler to a "fancy dinner party"? This belongs with the rest of those apocryphal Sondheim stories about dinner guests like (Barbara Cook and Angela) finding twinks handcuffed in Sondheim's linen closet.

Or Jerry Herman putting his hand in Charles Nelson Reilly.

[quote]That’s like imagining the night Fred and Wilma conceived Pebbles

Pics please.

R325 - I assume as none of the performers were billed above the title on opening night (which would automatically mean they would be considered as leads), a ruling had to be made to denote which below-the title performers are to be considered in the Best Actor and Actress in a Musical categories.

As if the TONYs really matter when they award lesser performances for career achievement or are afraid to not give awards in years when it's not warranted. Even worse when someone in a terrible show gets an award of any sort. Looking at you, Heather Headley.

[quote]Looking at you, Heather Headley.

So true! Aida was excruciatingly terrible. Toni Collette was robbed that year. The Wild Party has some flaws but is miles beyond Aida in quality.

Heather Headley won the Tony primarily because of her race, and partly because her show was not a flop. She then went on to try to become a pop star, and she basically abandoned the theater, with only occasional returns. Toni Collette deserved the Tony that year, but lost it for two reasons: (1) her show didn't run, and (2) she was a white woman up against a black woman.

I'd like to think it was more for reason #1 than reason #2

Voters hated The Wild Party. I think that is more the reason for Toni Collette not winning.

I don't even recall the 2000 Tonys. I started watching in '94 because of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and I remember every year after that but 2000. Even 2001, I recall THE FULL MONTY strip performance and THE PRODUCERS sweeping. Did I even watch 2000?

No, r357. You did not.

R338 that was rhetorical, Rose.

I can't wait to see what r357 writes!

Saw Burn This last night. Driver has a lock on the Tony. He dispenses with the ghost of Malkovich. A strong production of a very good, but not great play. I liked it a lot.

Should we start posting outlandish things leading up to R357?

Say, did you know I have an extensive collection of -- and have been photographed in -- Gwen Verdon's girdles?

I was not enthused about seeing the national tour of Waitress but a friend's daughter was cast (Kind of a spoiler, I guess), so I went. I really enjoyed the show. Don't know the movie but the musical is a very thoughtful look at unremarkable, flawed people who have just as much going on in their lives as the more advantaged (prettier, richer, fancier) folks that usually dot our musical theatre landscape. And no, it doesn't feel like a lecture when you watch it, but you get that appreciation for these people out of watching them. I'm happy that the show exists. The music is enjoyable and the sets and lighting were beautiful.

Yeah AIDA sucked big time. HORRIBLE. Heather was the best thing about it. That's probably why she won. "Easy as Life" brings down the house.

"Should we start posting outlandish things leading up to [R357]?"

Why stop now?

Holy shit - you seriously are being racist about Heather Headley? She is amazing.

Even if you consider Amneris to have been the real hero of the show. (Amneris definitely the best Disney Princess.)

[quote]Yeah AIDA sucked big time. HORRIBLE. Heather was the best thing about it. That's probably why she won. "Easy as Life" brings down the house.

I think she's pretty but not very talented. Her acting is passable at best, and she sings everything with those same, annoying, showy mannerisms but no real heart. People are trained to respond to that kind of singing, but I think it's all shine and no substance. Give me a real singer like Lillias White any day -- and there are lots of other examples, she's just the first one who comes to mind.

The options were Heather, Audra, Toni Colette, Marin Mazzie and Rebecca Luker. Looking back of course Marin Mazzie deserved all the Tonys.

Even for shows she didn't get to do....

Here's the deal. Did I hate Fosse/Verdon? Yes. Can I wait for next week's episode? No. And I thought Herb Gardner was best buds with Fosse and ghost wrote most of "Chicago?" Why he no there, Missy Nicole?

R349 yeah, Mazzie in KISS ME KATE was the best of them all.

R351 There are eight episodes, stay tuned!

I remember the time leading up to the 2000 Tonys as I was still living in NYC and working in theater, and Headley was a LOCK that year. She was all anyone was talking about. Well that, and the fact that Contact wasn't really a musical.

I think the big surprise that year was Ziemba winning the Tony over Eartha Kitt, who was also assumed to be a sure thing.

So speaking of Tony award determinations, why is no one talking about the fact that playwrights are now allowed to win Tonys if their shows have never played Broadway before? And even worse, they're letting Fierstein be eligible for Torch Song because he "substantially rewrote" the show. No he didn't. He cut one scene. Big fucking deal. He already won a Tony for it. What a crock of shit.

R354, could you shine some light on why Aida didn't get more nominations? Was it as sense that they didn't want to reward Disney that much?

So, I totally was balls deep in Aaron Tveit once.

R348 Ok but I didn't say I liked Heather, because I don't. I agree with you actually. I can't stand the tone of her voice and I don't really think of her as an actress. THANK GOD she did not do THE BODYGUARD here. Pure ear torture. I was saying she was the most memorable thing in AIDA and that's probably why she won. Everyone walked away remembering her as the sassy black woman singing "Easy as Life". She didn't bother me in that role. It worked for the character. Anyway, WHY didn't they give Marin the respect she deserved. She was an incredible talent. I saw her replace Kelli in "King and I" and her acting was far better. Her performance in RAGTIME is PERFECTION. No one will ever. R357 Who hasn't?...

[quote]So speaking of Tony award determinations, why is no one talking about the fact that playwrights are now allowed to win Tonys if their shows have never played Broadway before? And even worse, they're letting Fierstein be eligible for Torch Song because he "substantially rewrote" the show. No he didn't. He cut one scene. Big fucking deal. He already won a Tony for it. What a crock of shit.

I agree with you, but if it makes you feel any better: TORCH SONG might possibly get acting noms for Urie and/or Ruehl, but I highly doubt the production will be nominated, hence Harvey will not be nominated.

[quote]Could you shine some light on why Aida didn't get more nominations? Was it as sense that they didn't want to reward Disney that much?

Where's the mystery? It's a lousy show, and the fact that the book and the songs are so bad is one more reason why Headley didn't deserve her Tony. She was much better in DREAMGIRLS, partly because -- duh! -- far better material.

Marin Mazzie was a once in a century talent. And she was a complete class act. It's so terribly sad that she's gone.

Yes, she was. The loss feels personal.

Fuck cancer.

Aida couldn't hold a candle to the real thing.

[quote] [R354], could you shine some light on why Aida didn't get more nominations? Was it as sense that they didn't want to reward Disney that much?

That wasn't me that answered upthread, though he's not necessarily wrong. I do remember there was definitely shock that Sherie Renee Scott wasn't nominated for featured actress. She was getting buzz similar to that of Rachel York in V/V. Not quite a slam dunk for a win, but definitely the front runner along with Eartha. So how Ziemba snuck in there is a mystery to me, because after Scott was left off the ballot (for some pretty anemic performances- I'm looking at you Benanti and Hampton Calloway), the race was Eartha Kitt, maybe Deborah Yates as a dark horse, and everyone else. Ziemba was quite good, actually, so you can't say she wasn't deserving, but so was Kitt and it was an opportunity to give an award to a legend and reward her for a good performance.

I don't think there was a Disney backlash at that point because The Lion King had come in two years prior and reinvigorated Broadway, so whatever bad feelings had been engendered by the Times Square cleanup and Beauty & The Beast had been mostly wiped away by 2000.

I remember people really just not liking at AIDA as a show. The Lion King had set a standard and this didn't live up to it, so they may have been punishing Disney for slapping out some crap and expecting to be rewarded, but that's just theory. I remember no one was too thrilled to give Elton John the Tony for Best Score, but the combination of him NOT winning for The Lion King and the dearth of any real competition (La Chiusa was nominated for two different shows) made it a fait accompli.

I hadn't seen AIDA before I moved to LA and I wound up seeing the tour at the Ahmanson in 2001 when I took my mom for Christmas. I thought it was deadly dull. I remember Warren Beatty and Annette Bening were there with their kids and we were seated not too far from each other. Intermission came around and I happened to lock eyes with Beatty for a moment (didn't know him). I think we both had the same bored expression on our face and we both rolled our eyes at each other at the same time and then we both laughed. And then I took him into the men's room and blew him. (Ok, I made up that last part, but I found myself signing You're So Vain to myself through the entire second act.)

R364 tl;dr

I did, r365, and r364 pretty much summed all of that accurately.

R345 Actually Sherrie Renee Scott was the best thing in "Aida"; Heather sang her awful songs pretty well and looked stylish in her costumes.

[quote] afraid to not give awards in years when it's not warranted

r332 there's no such thing as the award is for the best OF THE YEAR. Even in a crappy year, something has to be the best relative to the other things that year

Not in the year "Grind" came out and they eliminated BEst Actor and Actress in a musical, among other awards. Leilani Jones, truly the lead of that show, was given supporting because she was the only one probably eligible for Best Actress who deserved it. But they didn't want to have only one nominee. It think that was like 1985?

R364 thanks for the recap. I'm the poster who couldn't recall the 2000 Tonys. Still doesn't ring a bell. I guess I didn't watch. Weird.

At the risk of offending the annoying “revelatory” troll, I saw Beetlejuice. And no it was not a revelation as every Broadway show is apparently supposed to be nowadays, but it was indeed a fun and rollicking good time. And the audience ate it up and applauded themselves silly. Tony may come a’callin!

[quote] [R364] tl;dr

Is this supposed to be some kind of a burn? Who gives a shit?

Sneak peek at THE WHO'S TOMMY in rehearsal for its staged concert at the Kennedy Center later in the month.

I was interested in seeing it until I saw who was cast. What sort of accent is Wes Tay-Tay putting on? And why is he doing that pointing to Heaven thing about 30 seconds in? He knows the song isn't about God, right? The choreography looks terrible, too.

That clip of Desi Arnaz singing in Too Many Girls - is he flat? He sounds flat whenever he sings "I want to go away."

[quote]So it’s not like Arlene Francis or Kitty Carlisle Hart were in attendance.

Although they both easily could have been. Arlene Francis, especially, loved partying with the gays. She also loved the dirt on who was sucking whose cocks.

Rex is king of the put down. Love love love him and have for eons.

Oy, R376.

Casey Cott (who I guess plays Tommy) should avoid horizontal stripes and skinny pants. Makes her look kinda.... fat.

Just saying.

How the fuck does Wes Tay-Tay get work? Not an ounce of talent and there are way better looking guys out there to be had for the price of a salted peanur.

Best. Musical. Ever.

"Grind" That show was painful. Sold bee great. But I heard that Fosse and Hal patched up some old differences and Bob came in did a number (something like "you wouldn't want to give me trouble" and the opening of act 2.

Shoulda been great. Sorry.

Wasn’t Grind originally called “Century of Progress”? It does have a handful of great songs in the score.

I believe "Grind" was an unproduced screenplay by "Fay Kanin called Century of Progress." A dear friend of mine came went to New York to work in the theater in production. Her three shows were "Dance A Little Closer" "Rags" and "Grind" She was back home in no time.

R386 how come?

Because she could live off the royalties.

Imagine having a resume of three Broadway shows, and “Grind” is your long run.

Grind was kind of fascinating. Interesting premise: an integrated burlesque house during a time of racial discord. It looked and sounded great - wonderful set, costumes, orchestrations, and a very good cast. I still recall the amazing reveal of the entire backstage of the burlesque theatre after the opening number. But in Act 1, almost nothing happened. Near the end of the act, some white thugs smash the bike of the little brother of Leilani Jones' character. And then Act 2 went absolutely insane. Stubby Kaye's character was losing his eyesight, so he shoots himself, in order for Carol Woods to sing a gospel number. Timothy Nolen's character turned out to be an IRA terrorist who had accidentally blown up his wife and child. Crazy stuff.

I know one of the Fosse numbers was "New Man," for Ben Vereen.

Saying tl;dr is a means of declaring your illiteracy.

Wes Taylor is always doing way too much.

[quote]Timothy Nolen's character turned out to be an IRA terrorist who had accidentally blown up his wife and child

That song he sings about it, "Katie, My Love" is really beautiful.

“Katie, My Love” is a lovely song. The title song was irritating beyond belief (“RISE! And SHINE! And GRIND!”) “These Eyes of Mine” is a good number sung beautifully by Carol Woods but rather insensitive since it was about a guy going blind.

Did anyone ever see Triumph of Love on Bway with Betty Buckley?

A friend said it was the worst thing he had ever seen but it had good notices out of town. I had met the composer a few years before— very nice gay guy.

Any reports?

Aida was only nominated for five Tonys but won four of the five. The nominating committee didn’t love it but the voters seemed fine with it.

Headley only seemed passable as an actress in Aida but I thought her acting in The Color Purple a couple of years ago was fantastic. If she had opened the show, she might have won the Tony, although it would have been a tough battle against Renee Elise Goldsberry for Hamilton.

I’m not sure how Headley learned to act in the meantime, since I think the only acting she did between Aida and The Color Purple was The Bodyguard. But she learned it someplace.

[quote] TORCH SONG might possibly get acting noms

Wow, totally forgot that show got to Bway. I saw it before the transfer and shouldn’t understand the buzz. All the cuts transformed it into an anemic little play. Urie was trying too hard to play it just like Harvey and it didn’t work.

I knew it would flop

I loved AIDA but only because I saw it with Deborah Cox, whose voice I loved

[Quote] Give me a real singer like Lillias White any day

I have always loved Lilias White BUT, for someone who does all those soul riffs so well, she just never has enough volume to really bring it home.

Laurents once said that Sondheim was the most asexual person he ever met

PROM? Hadestown? BE MORE CHILL?

wow, what a terrible bway season

R400, It's just as well. Personal hygiene has never been one of his priorities.

R357, Join the club.

Heather honoring the man who made her a star.

Maybe Laurents (in at least one of his memoir/rants) said that because Sondheim wasn't attracted to him.

Maybe that explains r402's comment as well.

I saw Aida and frankly, enjoyed it more than Lion King, which except for the opening and the visuals of some of the scenes, was a bore to me. That doesn't mean that Aida was good, but I enjoyed myself for the most part, and I loved Headley in it. I also saw Triumph of Love, which was minor but also enjoyable. (It was hardly the worst musical ever... the worst one I ever saw was The News.) However, Betty Lynn belting out the song, Serenity, was worth the price of admission. Gorgeous.

The mind reels at the Disney that could have been if Howard Ashman hadn’t died. If Alan Menken stuck around all these years, why wouldn’t he?

Laurie Metcalf, Eddie Izzard and Russel Tovey in Virginia Woolf next season. That play, again?

Metcalf will be definitive as Martha. Izzard is interesting choice.

The problem with Laurents is he was in love with Sondheim and Sondheim grew to hate him. That was the problem

TRIUMPH was fun but odd piece and utterly not very memorable. I remember really enjoying one number (at the time) performed by Nancy Opel, Roger Bart and Kevin Chamberlin but have never had the desire to pop in the cd.

unless the concept is for Nick to do the play like this, I'm over it

[quote]Laurie Metcalf, Eddie Izzard and Russel Tovey in Virginia Woolf next season.

[quote]Metcalf will be definitive as Martha. Izzard is interesting choice.

How do we know Eddie isn't playing Martha? Anything goes these days.

[quote]Arlene Francis, especially, loved partying with the gays. She also loved the dirt on who was sucking whose cocks.

Is she the one always demanding that someone start a Broadway Sex Thread?

[quote]Casey Cott (who I guess plays Tommy) should avoid horizontal stripes and skinny pants. Makes her look kinda.... fat.

Had the same thought. I asked my friend who watches Riverdale if Casey was muscular or fat on the show, and he said that it's all muscle. Definitely not a good look in the video. Won't take much to get fat, either.

I think we had an Arlene Francis thread not so long ago, but of course I can't find it now.

This may not be the most recent Arlene Francis thread, but it's the most recent one I could find.

Laurie Metcalf doesn't really project a sexuality, does she? I wouldn't have thought of her for Martha.

That's the one, r416--thanks!

You're most welcome, R418. I found it on Google, which is generally more effective than the DL search function now.

Absurd, but unfortunately true....

To get back to CONTACT, while that show and Stro took New York by storm back in the early 2000s, I don't think it's very well-loved in hindsight at all. What I don't understand now is what all the hoopla was about back then. Was even the choreography really that good?

I'm the OP of the Arlene/ilk thread!

My compliments, r422. That was a terrific thread.

I think that Damon Daunno will win the Best Actor Tony over Santino Fontana in a show of love for OKLAHOMA.

Daunno will be the breakout star this season.

I never have trouble finding the theatre thread. I just go to the main page and do a quick scroll down until I've gone back to threads where the last post was at least 12 hours ago. Then I used the Find option for the keyword "theatre". It doesn't take even 10 seconds.

Isn't Metcalf about 20 years too old for Martha?

I think Martha is 45 and George is 37 in the script.

At 63 years old, her father would have to be in his 80s or 90s.

And the imaginary son would have been born in her 40s--perhaps as a response to menopause?

I love you, R422.

[quote]Metcalf will be definitive as Martha.

Or maybe she'll stink up the joint. Who knows?

Metcalf won’t stink up the joint as Martha. But I don’t think it will be much of a revelation. She can do Martha in her sleep. As with Hugh Jackman in The Music Man, I feel like I’ve seen it already.

Time to post this DL perennial. Remind the young people of the fabulosity of Betty.

It's crap quality and only hints at how magnificent she was live.

The Jackmans should do George and Martha.

R405, Actually, it's Sondheim who has a history of being hygienically challenged, not the late Laurents.

Right. I wasn't clear. Maybe Laurents said Sondheim was asexual because Sondheim wasn't attracted to him.

As for cleanliness, never mind.

Why would Laurents be invested in whether or not Sondheim found him attractive. Laurents was a body queen.

Laurents was a drama queen. And an Alien Queen. And a supreme piece of shit.

Well, he helped salvage my career. Which needs salvaging, periodically.

Same plays revived over and over again. Broadway is such a has been.

He made me switch careers!

Here's a question: is an Amber Riley-led Dreamgirls run in NYC not happening after all?

I was so hoping it would transfer. She sounded amazing. But it's been over a year and I haven't heard anything.....

Call me when he's DEAD.

Oh, never mind.

Speaking of Heather, this vid (from about 6:20) never fails to amuse me.

Harvey Fierstein is such a douche. Very dismissive and high-handed. And that horrible, hideous voice. Yuck.

What's wrong with this voice?

To get back to CONTACT, while that show and Stro took New York by storm back in the early 2000s, I don't think it's very well-loved in hindsight at all. What I don't understand now is what all the hoopla was about back then. Was even the choreography really that good?

The hoopla was for several reasons: (1) everybody loves Stro, deservedly so; (2) the show was a new animal, so creative in that respect; (3) there was very poor competition. For all the hoopla, CONTACT was a controversial show, because there was no singing in it and, for that matter, all of the music was pre-recorded.

And it made John Weidman a zillionaire, deservedly so.

I hated Contact because it didn't employ a live band and there was no singing to speak of (a bartender at one point sang a bit of some old song a cappella).

I hated it also because of all the fuss it got, which I felt was way out of line even in a poor season.

I hated also the fact that they made the attempted suicide of the guy in the third and longest episode comic. There is nothing comic about suicide.

However, to answer one question fairly, yes, the choreography was for the most part very good. Tony-worthy. And there was at least an amusing twist ending for that third episode.

"There is nothing comic about suicide."

Tell that to Chekhov and Ingmar Bergman.

"Deservedly so"

For a scenario?

Grind was one of those musicals (along with Rags, A Doll's Life and others) that followed in the wake of the grand Sondheim-Prince decade of the 1970s when all of Broadway was aflutter to be arty and SERIOUS (how far we've come from those days!) .

Triumph of Love really only had one song, Serenity (I almost wrote Serendipity) of note, and Buckley landed it.

Agree with the earlier poster who said Headley was great in THE COLOR PURPLE but shit in AIDA. Honestly, I was blown away by her performance in TCP. She brought a lot of energy and charisma had excellent chemistry with Cynthia Erivo.

I think she worked well in AIDA because she and Adam Pascal were about equal in terms of (lack of) acting chops and their voices suited the music, so their shortcomings weren't as obvious.

R426 In the script, Martha is 52 and George is 46.

Was Roseanne Barr cast as Honey?

George and Martha should be Mario Cantone and Meghan McCain.

The Conways *ARE* George & Martha.

Why IS Harvey such an asshole? Because it's true. He's a miserable son of a bitch.

In the right role Betty can knock it out of the park.....

I love Laurie Metcalf but I don't want to see her or Eddie Izzard or Russell Tovey in Virginia Woolf. HARD PASS.

r456 Isn't Izzard full trans now? How can he play George if he is a woman?

Daunno is terrible in OKLAHOMA.

I'm hoping they'll get Francine for matinee Martha.....

Speaking of Laurents and Sondheim, with this announcement of another revival of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, can we expect a Gypsy revival announcement any day now? Hell, that last revival was in '08, wasn't it? It's been away from the boards for far too long if these Virginia Woolf and Glass Menagerie revivals are any indication.

Heather H and Adam Pascal ARE George and Martha!

^Would they dare change the title/marquee? The term 'gypsy' is taboo now.

They'll just call it "Rose!" which, honestly, makes more sense than the title "Gypsy" which was simply a contractual obligation. June will be in a wheelchair, Rose will be played by a trans actress of color, and Gypsy will be a former sex worker making her Broadway debut. There will be no set and everyone will just wear street clothes.

R463

If it stars Andy Karl as anyone who strips, I'm in.

If Roseanne plays Honey, they’ll have to change the character’s name to Vinegar.

Nick and his wife Douche.

Somethin' wrong with strippin'?

Herbie will be played by the cow, since every Herbie tends to be cowed by Rose until he finally leaves.

Contact was revelatory.

Whatever happened to the dancer who played the Girl in the Yellow Dress? She got a lot of press back then, and she was good and for our dear lesbian readers, very pretty.

All this Heather Headley talk is a good excuse to post this, which I love.

Jesus, that Heather Headley clip sucks.

Betty bats another....

Poor Charlie Stemp. This time last year he was the toast of NYC, getting raves in Hello Dolly while half the chorus boys in town were lining up to blow him. Now he’s just biding time till his Mary Poppins tour starts. What a comedown.

The Betty B queen can post all the clips he likes, but we’ve had ample evidence from Dolly that her voice now is just a tattered remnant of what it once was.

Why does Charlie Stemp look like such a narcissistic douche in every photo?

I have heard of resting bitch face, but never resting narcissistic douche face.

The voice has always been there for Heather - all things considered (her age/the production) I rather like what she does with the song.

"They'll just call it "Rose!" which, honestly, makes more sense than the title "Gypsy" which was simply a contractual obligation."

Which, of course, would make it literal rather than metaphorical, which is far more resonant and what the authors intended.

Good grief, that's wonderful singing for a high-school show!

We didn't have anyone like that in my school. (Though I modestly recall my own performance as Willie Baxter in Seventeen.) I like the surprise entrance, too, in Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat.

^^^Sorry, I forgot to say I meant HH in Funny Girl, two posts above.

Those fussing about Laurie Metcalf's age appropriateness for Martha might want to think back to Denzel Washington in A RAISIN IN THE SUN who was old enough at the time to play his character's father. Byt NY is in for a treat with Patsy Ferran as Honey -- she's the Real Deal. Too bad La LuPone never got to play Martha but her Shelley Levene this autumn should make up for it.

I bet in about 10 years we will see Lupone as Martha.

And I can say that be because I am thinking back to Washington's ridiculous casting.

And I have offered to play Honey in the Lupone revival.

HH in Funny Girl was awesome.

Mary Poppins will be in a premiere house (the Prince Edward). It won’t be touring. Charlie Stemp’s career is moving along quite nicely, thanks.

What a waste of Petula Clark.

Charlie Stemp has a huge ballsac

How do you know? Big todger as well?

[quote]Charlie Stemp has a huge ballsac

But DL calls him "Little" Charlie Stemp.

Rex Reed is a gem.

His masturbation scene in "Myra Breckenridge" was unforgettable. And I'm still trying to forget it!

Patsy Ferran is so overrated - just because she suffers from dwarfism. They’re all going to laugh at her.

Where are my tits???!!!

R492 She really is wonky looking

Fathom Events is bringing us the London "42nd St." in May. Worth seeing?

[italic]His masturbation scene in "Myra Breckenridge" was unforgettable. And I'm still trying to forget it!

That movie was secretly g*nd*r-critical, making it the only tr*ns-themed film you ever need to see. Ever.

[/italic]And that’s the truth.

[quote] Fathom Events is bringing us the London "42nd St." in May. Worth seeing?

If you like the show, I'd say yes. Very odd thing: it's almost exactly the same production that played Broadway in 2001 - same set, costumes. But it felt like a synthetic affair at the Ford Center, a little steely and distant. At the Drury Lane, where it looked at home and had more natural acoustics, I really enjoyed it. They were able to put all of the swings on for the big production numbers, so there are literally dozens of dancers on the stage.

Who is charlie stemp?

Charlie Stemp.

That Half a Sixpence on the other hand was a crime against humanity.

Stiles & Drewe haven't written a good song EVER...What the f*ck?

Why is it that Americans can write better pastiches of English music than the other way around?

Well, they wrote ONE good song, Never Land, for their Peter Pan. But that's about it.

R499 Poor Charlie, forgotten already

It’s not enough that they write their own terrible numbers. They also had to ruin the work of the Sherman brothers and David Heneker as well.

That show was ruined before the Shermans got to it.

Hi Matt.

Plenty of people are unimpressed with that manipulative pap.

Bye, R503. Consider yourself blocked.

I meant R508. Sorry.

I have a copy of the London stage version of 'All About Eve', but am to chicken to watch it as have only heard bad things. Did anyone like it who saw it?

Consider yourself at home, Consider yourself one of the family....

R492 that proposed 2020 revival sounds dreadful! Eddie Izzard?!

I know it closed, but is Head Over Heels eligible for Tonys?

Now and forever!

R515 Well, yes it is, but no, it is getting none

They HAD the beat....

The heavyset girl who played Pamela had a great voice in "Head Over Heels"; it was a fun show actually.

What about Charlie’s ballsac? Who has sampled it?

[quote]I bet in about 10 years we will see Lupone as Martha.

In 10 years LuPone will be 80, so probably not.

Deborah Yates was the Girl in the Yellow Dress in CONTACT. I think she married money and hung up those dance shoes. Also, she knew she'd never have a part like that again.

Yes, Stro's choreography for CONTACT deserved the Tony. Her work was fantastic on that show.

And Karen Ziemba was NOT a surprise winner. She'd been nominated multiple times before, and she was great in the hit show of the season. Eartha Kitt was wonderful in WILD PARTY, but no one liked that show. It had a sour feel to it, and that was even without knowing the dramatics happening backstage, which I've heard in great detail in recent years. I remember the audience being cranky and snarly upon leaving WILD PARTY, and that's not the kind of response that brings you a long run or awards.

Eldergays who saw GRIND... Ben Vereen wasn't nominated for a Tony despite it being a pathetic year. Was he bad in the show? And what happened to Leilani Jones? She won the Drama Desk and Tony that year and then... GRIND sounds absolutely fascinating. Now that's a show I'd like ENCORES to do.

Seeing that number from 1985 reminded me of BIG RIVER. I didn't know until just now that Ron Richardson died a short ten years after his Tony win for BIG RIVER. He has such an amazing voice and presence on the Tony clip. Did anyone here know him? His obit says he died of AIDS. What a loss to lose such talent at such a young age.

Patsy Ferran "dwarfism"? She's at least as tall as Patti LuPone -- or Tom Cruise.

Head Over Heels was terrific. Sad it didn’t find the audience to give it some time.

How embarrassing is this? Not even one award, nomination or achievement they could put next to Tovey's name? It's not like he is a theatre newbie. He has been on Broadway before, right?

Do you guys know how long this play will run? Previews start in March, opening in April. I'm in NYC often in June for a family meeting, any chance this will still be on in June? How long is a typical Broadway run for a play like this? Would love to see this.

R525 He stunk up 'AIA'

Tovey was miscast. But it was the Scot that really stunk up that revival. I'm surprised he got away with that performance in NYC of all places. Maybe Sheridan Smith should give Broadway her Fanny after all...

Sheridan Smith’s Fanny was an abomination.

I had a blast at Head Over Heels. It was fun and clever with all-around great performances (including the ensemble--wow). It's a shame it won't get recognized. At the very least the choreography deserves to be nominated.

The "greatest" moment in the Broadway theater year. Here is the finale of King Kong in which our heroine, who has been motivated by selfishness and guilt throughout the entire show, sings ( just after Kong takes the plunge) , a "tuneful" ditty about how he has helped her be a more independent, powerful woman. It's so nice to see the brilliance of new Broadway composers. They sure make everyone forget the masters.

HEAD OVER HEELS was fucking horrible. R527 Yes that scot was terrible. I was only a kid living in Kentucky when that WILD PARTY was on Broadway. What was so bad about it? I walk away from shows feeling cranky all the time. Most recently, I'm looking at you Beetlejuice.

R525, Three Tall Women ran until June 24 and Metcalf’s other recent appearances ran until July, so I think you’re probably safe.

Christiani Pitts is annoying as hell. I saw her in A BRONX TALE and wanted to punch her in the face. I can't believe she got the lead in KONG.

This King Kong musical is an abomination! I'm sure a decent musical could be made of the story, but not in today's 'political identity' climate. It's not a story suited for PC nonsense, especially if it's still set in the 1930s. You need island natives and a blonde heroine who is a bit of a damsel in distress for the story to work. And a score that evokes that era.

The modern R&B and hip-hop stuff in Kong does it no favors. Musically, the show is cynical, overproduced and massively misguided.

Oh, and the rest of it (except the puppet) sucks, too.

Head Over Heels certainly ran long enough to invite Tony nominators and voters. I suppose it's possible it could be nominated for some of the design awards and maybe even choreography in such a mediocre year. But I doubt it. Nominators usually like to reward running shows when they can.

Half of my FB feed is full of excitement about the Virginia Woolf casting and the other half is outraged that weasely Mantello cast 3 British actors opposite Metcalf in a classic American play. And no, the Hunter Fosters are not among my FB friends.

[quote] How embarrassing is this? Not even one award, nomination or achievement they could put next to Tovey's name? It's not like he is a theatre newbie. He has been on Broadway before, right?

I really don't think this is "embarrassing" because he got the job, didn't he? It seems a bit counter intuitive to conclude getting a part in a Broadway play would create embarrassment for an actor unless it was Blonde in the Thunderbird or something. Thousands of people come to NYC wanting to be actors, the very few that do get on Broadway are not embarrassed when the get that job and don't have previous tony or emmy nominations for advertisers to exploit.

Having said that I don't think Tovey is physically right for Nick but what the hell, maybe it won't matter. I think the real head scratcher is Izzard, but I love to be surprised so lets see.

I get why people are saying Metcalf is too old for Martha (I believe they are inferred to be around 50 in the play) but there is an " age blind " tradition with classics that permits and encourages actors much older than the written age to play them. Hamlet is supposed to be under 30 but is frequently played by actors well into middle age... Hedda Gabler is 29 but is often cast with actresses much older etc.

[quote] remember the Sally Fields Glass Menagerie where the actress playing Laura was handicapped. I didn't mind it-- thought it made better sense then a mild infliction. Explained more of the willful cluelessness of Amanda & a real reason for Tom to split. My partner hated the extreme. (There were other problems with the Sally Fields version)

Sam Gold was way off in this production. WAY off. Amanda cripples her daughter with her emotionally suffocating behavior and her obsessive focus on her BARELY NOTICEABLE limp. The audience should not be led to believe that there is anything really physically different about her save her mothers obsessive attention to a mild limp that most people wouldn't notice if such an issue wasn't made about it.

Metcalf reads younger than she is, and in physical terms Tovey is pretty much IDEAL casting for Nick. No probs there. Wonder if Mantello will encourage Tovey to bare his (lovely) tush (or, in Britspeak, arse).

I was wondering about the British casting, too. You also have a trans playing George, a gay playing Nick, and a dwarf playing Honey. WTF?! More non-traditional casting BS?

[More non-traditional casting BS?]

Please don't trigger the "BUT YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET" troll.

She is currently planning her all chicken production of " The long Christmas Dinner" Interesting twitter buzz about the show: All the chickens were rescues fromt he Perdue chicken farm and none have any performing experience acting but they are AUTHENTIC

How much does an actor get for a role like Virginia Woolf? It always puzzles me that all these well known actors choose a Broadway play over TV or movie jobs. Tovey and Metcalf are well known TV actors. Is a Broadway play better paid than guest appearances or a series regular job on a TV show? I know theater is probably a passion for some, but you also have to pay the bills and it seems most theatre actors are struggling financially.

One does it for the legitimacy, r542!

A friend of mine who works in accounting used to have a job with the firm that did the Shubert Organizations taxes. This is several years back, but he told me that Helen Mirren and Ian Mckellen were getting in the neighborhood of 50,000 dollars a week for their production of Dance of Death. This was like 2002 or 2003. They also got a percentage of the gate after a certain point.

Broadway does pay name actors quite a bit. The rank and file get less but its still more than most make

R537 Pretty sure Tovey is happy with his play and not embarrassed. I meant the poster was embarrassing for him. They could have added BAFTA winner/nominee or something. He already had a long theater career, he must have been nominated or won SOMETHING.

Metcalf is a very wealthy woman and could have retired some while ago but enjoys the work, and aren't we lucky? And as she has always said, theatre, not celluloid, is her passion (see her big interview with Maureen Dowd).

Thanks for that R544. $50.000 per week plus percentages is quite a lot. I was maybe expecting 50.000-100.000 for the whole run, but this seems quite lucrative for a theatre job. I guess though only the main cast make that much money and supporting cast members like Tovey significantly less.

"Too bad La LuPone never got to play Martha"

r481, doesn't she always play Martha?

[quote] Nonsense! He's just triggered by Daniel Fish's radical SJW assertion that black people existed in 19th-century Oklahoma. *rolls eyes* News flash there was

News flash

r245 IS ONE OF THEM

Check your assumptions, priv and the toilet paper that is no doubt stuck to your shoe

Sam Gold is an idiot, r538. He's a tone-deaf director.

I've asked this before but it elicited some interested responses on DL. Since we're talking about Oklahoma and KSM, why is Alfred Drake a forgotten figure? Looking at his credits, he was probably as close to a male equivalent to Merman or Martin as possible but he's never talked about. To tie in another thread, on "I Love Lucy", Lucy says she was once in "Oklahoma" and Ethel says "what was your name, Alfred Drake?" Despite the numerous responses on the thread about KSM and Oklahoma, I don't think Drake's name was mentioned once.

I understand that the Broadway diva concept dominates but are famous male musical comedy performers so easily forgotten. Drake did that dreadful Gigi revival in the 70s but it's hard to think of male performers who were on his level in the various eras after.

r545, this is r537. I misread your post. Sorry! Yes, they could have thought of something to put next to Tovey's name

LuPone was set to play Martha a number of years back, but the production never got off the ground

Drake was probably the leading male singing star on Broadway. He also did Kismet and Rodgers and Hart’s Babes in Arms. Rodgers and Hammerstein wanted him to originate the role of the King in The King and I. I agree he’s not as idolized as Merman, Martin and some of the other gals, but I don’t think he’s forgotten. Oh, and Hal Prince wanted him to originate the role of Oscar Jaffe in On the 20th Century. Too bad that didn’t happen.

I think I’d be more excited to see Laurie Metcalf’s take on George than Martha.

I for one am not chomping at the bit to see Laurie Metcalf as Martha. Do we need yet another production of this play? Seems like it gets revived every 6 months.

I find Metcalf to be something of a ham.

R558 you mean she overacts?

I found Metcalf to be extremely hammy on "Roseanne," especially in the later seasons. She played to a nonexistent back row instead of to the camera.

Is anyone else colossally irritated by this latest casting of VIRGINIA WOOLF?

An American play, with an American director, featuring Laurie Metcalf.... and 3 Brits. Playing Americans.

Eddie Izzard, may be a "star name" to some, but the other two? No way. Tovey is a wanna-be star on DL and nowhere else. (And he's a dreadful actor.)

This is standard Broadway practice, but it's unethical and unprofessional. Equity, why don't you concern yourself with finding work for your members and protecting their rights?

Tina: The Tina Turner Musical is coming to the Lunt-Fontanne on October 12 (previews) and will open on November 7. Adrienne Warren will play the lead, as she did in London.

How do we know Eddie ISN'T playing Martha?

Unethical and unprofessional, r561? Can you explain why, please?

That would be a laugh riot. Scott Rudin's ego up against Actor's Equity.

So the Albee estate won't allow people of color in the play, but don't object to 3/4 of the cast being Brits? Extremely logical of the old fart.

Alfred Drake also starred in "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Kismet". Huge star and yes, turned down "King and I" which was around the time of "Kismet", so maybe he did the latter instead? I saw him in "Gigi" when I was a kid, and it was actually a lovely production. He was great as was Maria Karnilova as Mamita kicking up her heels, a fine Daniel Massey as Gaston, and Arlene Francis having already taking over from the ill Agnes Moorehead. I remember when picking up the tickets someone in front said they were friends of Sandahl Bergman who was in the show. She later did "Conan the Barbarian" among other things. The sets and costumes of "Gigi" were lovely. People blamed Karin Wolfe a lot, but she was perfectly fine as Gigi. Her "sin" was that she wasn't Leslie Caron (or Audrey Hepburn). Alfred Drake commanded the stage and was a pleasure to see. There are some videos of him out there when tv used to do musicals and operettas, including the "Yeoman of the Guard" with him and Barbara Cook, the famous video of him and original co-star Patricia Morison in "Kiss Me, Kate", "Naughty Marietta" with Drake and Patrice Munsel, among others. John Raitt also was a big male star of the time, but Drake was probably the biggest in terms of box-office.

[quote]I for one am not chomping at the bit to see Laurie Metcalf as Martha.

“Champing”. Horse champ at their bits.

[quote]How do we know Eddie ISN’T playing Martha?

Laurie as George and Eddie as Martha sounds like great casting to me.

[quote]Sam Gold was way off in this production. WAY off. Amanda cripples her daughter with her emotionally suffocating behavior and her obsessive focus on her BARELY NOTICEABLE limp. The audience should not be led to believe that there is anything really physically different about her save her mothers obsessive attention to a mild limp that most people wouldn't notice if such an issue wasn't made about it.

Exactly. But, somehow, the asshole director misinterpreted the WHOLE FUCKING POINT of the play.

So they cast an openly gay actor, a trans actor and an older actress (sorry Mrs. Metcalf) and people still complain about equity......because 3 of the are BRITISH? Wtf?

Lots and lots of American actors work in the UK and no one complains.

It would be hysterical if we all expected Laurie to play Martha and Eddie to play George only to attend the first performance and see that they're playing the opposite roles.

I don't think we need another production of this so soon after the last one, but I guess Laurie wanted to play the role before she had to use a walker. I'm sure she'll be excellent. She's never been less than stellar in my eyes.

That Glass Menagerie was such an abomination. I mostly just felt bad for Sally Field who really seemed to be trying her best to make something out of a terrible production. Joe Mantello was also brilliant in the role (although way too old) and I felt for him. Finn was pretty good, too, but that girl playing Laura was awful and it felt a bit like exploitation to me. It was clear that she was cast for her disability and not her acting abilities.

With Virginia Woolf returning so soon, we really had better get ready for this year's annual revival of Gypsy. Who's taking on Rose this time? Will it be Sutton Foster? Catherine Zeta Jones? Will they skew younger and get Emma Stone, Anne Hathaway, or Michelle Williams?

I saw Sally Field play Amanda in a much more traditional, and much more effective, production at the Kennedy Center in 2004.

[quote] And Karen Ziemba was NOT a surprise winner. She'd been nominated multiple times before, and she was great in the hit show of the season. Eartha Kitt was wonderful in WILD PARTY, but no one liked that show. It had a sour feel to it, and that was even without knowing the dramatics happening backstage, which I've heard in great detail in recent years. I remember the audience being cranky and snarly upon leaving WILD PARTY, and that's not the kind of response that brings you a long run or awards.

Sure, dear. What was I thinking? Of course they'd all be wanting to reward an overdue veteran like Ziemba over, you know, Eartha Kitt.

Logic- not your strongest suit

Drake and Maria Karnilova did a lovely version of "I Remember It Well" from the revival of "Gigi".

Sondheim said that Drake's performance in "Kismet" along with John McMartin in "Follies" were the two greatest performances by men in the musical theater.

R575, of course Eartha Kitt was an honored theater veteran, BUT she had not done a show in 22 years when THE WILD PARTY came around, whereas Ziemba had been working constantly. Plus, as others have noted, THE WILD PARTY was not loved by the critics, and there was all sorts of negative publicity attached to it because of the mental case Mandy Patinkin's behavior. So the Tony Award to Ziemba makes perfect sense, even if it might have gone another way.

Love the tepid audience response at the end of Kong.

I've heard him comment on McMartin's performance, r576, but Alfred Drake is a new one.

[quote]Drake and Maria Karnilova did a lovely version of "I Remember It Well" from the revival of "Gigi".

It wasn't a revival. It was something that we are all very familiar with now: a stage adaptation of a movie. At least it was a movie musical in this case.

Just over two weeks until nominations day. Eight more shows to open. Any predictions on the reviews?

Sondheim said Drake and McMartin were his favorite performances along with Bernadette, Lansbury and Merman. Drake is the only one who got a mention without it being one of his own shows.

"Sondheim's own favorite star performances in musicals, his or others? Among male performances, he unequivocally cites two: Alfred Drake in 'Kismet' and John McMartin in 'Follies.' The list of women is longer, including Peters in 'Sunday in the Park,' Lansbury in 'Sweeney Todd' and 'obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.''"

When Drake won an Honorary Tony in 1990, they didn't even present it on camera. They had a little snippet on the show itself where he was introduced. Here is his acceptance speech.

"Sondheim said that Drake's performance in "Kismet" along with John McMartin in "Follies" were the two greatest performances by men in the musical theater."

And, damn, you can hear it on the OCRs.

Tovey is a star. He was much talked about around town during View From the Bridge. To imply otherwise is a lie.

Izzard is a name, even if it’s one that you know, but not sure from where.

It’s not like all four actors must be huge stars. Was Carrie Coon a huge star in the last revival? Tracy Letts and Amy Morton are certain stars of the theater community, but maybe not to outsiders.

Peter Stone called Drake "the greatest singing actor the American musical has ever produced" and they couldn't even put his award on TV.

Musical theater divas are always more lionized and idolized than the men. It's just that way.

Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel as George and Martha.

Laura Osnes as Honey

Sam Gold did a good job with FUN HOME. He's very inconsistent and seems to overcomplicate things.

What happened to Hunter Foster? Does he act anymore? His last few shows were flops but he was great in them. Did he burn out?

[quote]Prince wanted him to originate the role of Oscar Jaffe in On the 20th Century.

Drake would have been terrific, but I thought it was Danny Kaye that everyone wanted, but Kahn refused to work with Kaye based on her horrible experience with him in Two By Two.

No Awards But Hot Body and Big-Dicked

RUSSELL TOVEY

as “Nick”

There. That’ll bring in the crowds.

Gets me there

Tovey’s jug ears are all wrong for Nick.

R590

As Oscar Jaffe?

Can somebody please create thread 352 now and put a link here so we don't end up with multiples because the search function sucks?

Virginia woolfe? again? Who the heck wants to see that again?

How often do actors from closed Bway shows get nominated for anything?

Old work, new work, Hunter Foster now directs everything, everywhere.

Can we go to the Gwen and Fosse thread rather than starting something new, please.

I'd pay big bucks to see Eddie play Martha. Otherwise, we don't need yet another Virginia Woolf production.