THEATRE GOSSIP #351: "Gwen and Fosse Soon, TAKE ME OUT cumming next season, plus Patti LuPone to keep us COMPANY"

Hope there's some"Redhead" and "New Girl in Town" and Gwen' s"Can Can" opening night.

Wasn't Jussie auditioning for Take Me Out before the "assault"?

There was some OMG nude pic of him on one of the sites, if it's real...

Will Audra be naked in Frankie and Johnny? I sort of don't want to see that. I think of her as a good girl!!!

I saw the Falco/Tucci version. Did it always have that much nudity? Hard to picture F. Murray Abraham, Carol Kane, Bruce Weitz, Bonnie Franklin and Tony Musante being so naked onstage. Kathy Bates I believe since she was naked in films.

I saw Tony Musante's naked butt on Broadway in P.S. Your Cat Is Dead and quite a fine butt it was.

Ok, I'm super pissed. I started a #351 thread a few minutes ago. I swear to Christ I searched every possibility. I did Theatre Gossip #351, Theatre Gossip, Theatre Gossip 350. I clicked on all the boxes individually. Nothing came up. Why is this new search engine such a piece of shit? I don't care that I didn't start the thread, but it irritates me I'd rather just jump into the one that's going rather than start a new one (though I will say my title was better.)

Nice to see Patti winning another Olivier Award. Well deserved. Congratulations too to Johnny Bailey. Wonder if the show will transfer to Broadway.

R6 I hear you! Same shit happened to me on #350. The search engine is really awful.

It would be great if someone would start the new thread when the current thread gets to 585 or so and put a LINK in to the new thread instead of endless stupid and no longer at all funny "BAJOUR" jokes.

A friend of mine saw King Lear, said it was a mess. Not a fan of Daniel Fish either.

R4, I own the script for "Frankie and Johnny", remember that there's nudity in the stage directions, so I don't know what you mean by "that much nudity". The real burning question is, what did Stanley Tucci look like naked?" My mind reels at what he may have revealed.

Does anyone k ow if the Tucci/Falco version was recorded? Can it be viewed anywhere?

i think in the original the nudity occurred in the dark whereas with Falco the lights were on. Tucci was only able to be seen frontally if you were in certin parts of the audience

[quote]It would be great if someone would start the new thread when the current thread gets to 585 or so and put a LINK in to the new thread instead of endless stupid and no longer at all funny "BAJOUR" jokes.

It would be great if Matt the Loon didn't insist on killing threads by filling them up with BAJOUR references in an attempt to get people onto his new threads, you mean?

The Tucci/Falco version is at the TOFT Collection at Lincoln Center. You see quite a bit of her; he's naked though from some of the camera angles I think it's a bit difficult to see frontal (maybe with stop function), but you see the rest of him for quite a while.

So is "Love! Valour! Compasson" and "The Lisbon Traviata", the latter has John Slattery when he was still a brunette with a great yummy frontal nude scene.

Frankie and Johnny gets revived way too often. It's just an okay play

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

And yet there are THREE 351 entries now.

Only found this one. Gwen Verdon, Bob Fosse, full-nudity in Tony-winning baseball play, and Patti LuPone -- what's more DL than that?

How much do you want to bet that Redhead and New Girl in Town get very little, if any time in FOSSE/VERDON?

I have a feeling this will not be a miniseries for true fans of Fosse and Verdon. Which is not to say that I'm expecting a documentary....but I can well-imagine everything will be quite dumbed down.

And rewatching All That Jazz would be more entertaining and educational.

Since Fosse gets billing first, it's possible this is going to be more about his movie career with "Sweet Charity", 'Cabaret", "Lenny" and "All That Jazz", which by virtue of film, well-documented though here's the backstage story. But Gwen's shows and the atmosphere around them are more interesting since they were done during the Golden Age of Broadway. I hope there's some of that shown as well. Plus I'd love to see the scene of Gwen Verdon and Carol Haney in Hollywood, where they assisted Jack Cole and Gene Kelly, respectively, when they dubbed in the sounds of Gene Kelly's tap dance for "Singin' in the Rain".

I'l be disappointed (but not surprised) if they don't include a scene of Gwen teaching MM Jack Cole's choreography for Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend though I don't remember seeing MM's name as a character among the cast on IMDB.

I'd link a set shot photo of Gwen and MM if I had the time. It's out there.

Holy shit.

Part of the problem is the tendency to troll rush the end of a thread without creating a new one or adding a link -- but the last thread didn't end in Bajour/youtube spam.

But there you go.

Why do I think Fosse/Verdon is going to be short on choreographed scenes and long on dramatic ones? (And if the dance scenes are hyper-edited into a thousand disjointed shots of arms, wrists, shoulders and knees I will throw my jazz shoes at the screen. Show the entire dancer doing the entire dance. It was good enough for Fred Astaire.)

Didn't Gwen reveal many years ago at a Lincoln Center tribute to Jack Cole that he referred to Marilyn as"Bambi" and Jane as "Thumper".

[quote] It would be great if Matt the Loon didn't insist on killing threads by filling them up with BAJOUR references in an attempt to get people onto his new threads, you mean?

Umm, no. The Bajour joke (as well as calling out other flop musicals) pre-dates Matt the Loon by years. Don't be quite such a huge idiot.

[quote] Part of the problem is the tendency to troll rush the end of a thread without creating a new one or adding a link -- but the last thread didn't end in Bajour/youtube spam.

We don't usually link before the thread ends (though when that does happen, it has been Matt a handful of times). The problem with multiple threads seems to directly correlate to the new search engine. So perhaps we need to start doing it going forward.

Totally agree, r27.

Oh - I see what you are saying. Even if there HAD been a link, people use the search engine rather than the watched function to pick up where the thread ended.

Great to see another version of Gwen dancing that number, even though it’s the exact choreography used in the movie. Wonder why they didn’t finish the number. Too sexy for TV?

Jeremy Jordan does “Losing My Mind.”’ Piano arrangement apparently inspired by the stylings of Betty Buckley.

My god, that is just terrible.

Always great to see Gwen!

Jeremy, Jeremy, Jeremy... you're a talented young man, you've proven that you can work the stage, film, and TV. However, keep the "Losing My Mind" performance to the shower or the kitchen.

Gwen's feeling groovy....

I'm pretty sure I spotted eternal chorus boy Lee Roy Reams dancing with Gwen in that clip.

Was Lee Roy ever one of the Ernie Flatt dancers?

Oh dear.....

Oh, dearie one, she's adorbs!

Here's a classic one, one of her showstoppers from "Redhead", "'Erbie Fitch's Twitch", choreographed by Bob Fosse. Beyond brilliant.

Lee Roy was a regular dancer on Burnett's show for a while in the '60s, so I assume he was one of the Ernie Flatt dancers.

The lyrics to R43's clip! How does one learn them? Perform them? They're insane. Erbie Fitch's Twitch - I'll have to google the lyricist.

Lyrics are by the wonderful Dorothy Fields.

Well now.

Even Betty Buckley knew better than to do a version of Losing My Mind with that arrangement. Kenny Werner would even shake his head in disgust and he is the PREMIERE fuck up of Sondheim arrangements

I enjoyed Part 1 of FOSSE/VERDON, especially Michelle Williams' Gwen. The coming attractions look like fun, and it appears to go non-linear in terms of time and when things happen.

I trust Ryan Murphy to adapt THE PROM about as much as I trusted Chris Columbus with RENT, but I guess this news is a good publicity boost for the show?

Ugh.

I wonder why they had Gwen asking Bob Fosse if Liza could act when she hears that Liza has been cast in "Cabaret"? Liza already had an Oscar nomination for "Sterile Cuckoo" and had a Tony for "Flora the Red Menace" by that time.

Reinking's name was not in the credits. Valerie Pettiford was credited for the choreography reproduction in "Mein Herr" which she did in "Fosse."

Best line so far: Fosse: Name one thing you did for me. Feuer: I'll name two things. I hired you and didn't fire you.

Another string in the long line of what a misunderstood pussycat Fosse was.

I knew nothing about 'The Sterile cuckoo' so I googled it and came across this:

Both Pakula and Minnelli would go on to greater glory. Pakula's next film was the superb Klute, and he earned Oscar® nominations for directing All the President's Men and for his adapted screenplay for Sophie's Choice. Minnelli won her Oscar® for Cabaret (1972), and while her film career has not lived up to her early promise, she has become a legendary stage performer. Pakula later recalled working on The Sterile Cuckoo as "One of the happiest times of my life....mostly because of Liza. I've never seen anybody get more joy out of working, and it's contagious."

A lot of Liza's joy came in powder form

Liza has tons of infectious fun

The original manic pixie dreamgirl!!

After Goldie Hawn, that is.

Both Oscar winners

So is Roman Polanski

Yeah, so? What about Polanski?

Another manic pixie?

Is manic pixie in other words mean cokehead ? I’m from Kentucky and don’t understand such things.

Lots of articles about Fosse and Verdon, including an in-depth analysis of "Who's Got the Pain?" at the NY Times. There's a short clip of Fosse and Tommy Rall, though I think if you see the whole clip from that non-Bernstein "My Sister Eileen" (the one with Betty Garrett and Janet Leigh) that Rall wins the dance duet over Fosse; he was the better dancer (though Fosse was quite good). Also, even though Fosse and Verdon are doing a lot of the same moves, Gwen's dancing draws the eye to her, as she just has the magnetism, technique and star quality.

Ethel is kind of cute on the extra track from opening night of "Sweet Charity" on the CD where she's praising Verdon's performance, saying that in addition to her singing and acting that Gwen even does some dancing (or something to that effect).

So who do we think will be nekid in the upcoming "Take Me Out"? Any reasonably well-known names?

This thread has been awfully quiet. Is there another Theatre 351 thread that’s more active? I searched and couldn’t find one, but the search engine here has been wonky lately.

Here you go, R68.

I fear that this three-thread situation. like Trump's presidency, is something from which we'll will never recover.

Three threads to go with the third world status Trump is pushing on the country?

Here's a clip of Ethel singing "High and Low" from 1936 film "Strike Me Pink" which is shot in an almost Expressionist manner. You'll also notice that Ethel had a very fine head voice which she shows off here and didn't feature too much later in her career.

Hw do you link threads?

You don't, r74. You just let all but one thread die. This is one of the ones we're trying to let die. Please post here:

No -- what we need is for people to chill out and finish these threads rather than starting a new one.

[quote] Tovey’s jug ears are all wrong for Nick.

Well, at least they match the jug ears on the elf they cast to play Honey. Jesus, I haven't seen a husband and wife look so much like brother and sister since Kirk & Louann Van Houten.

r73: Thats one of the greatest musical numbers of the '30s. Staged by Robert Alton.

Alas, Merman didn't sing much Arlen.

I saw VW with Colleen Dewhurst and Ben Gazzara in the late 1970s and was rather disappointed, though that might have had to do with my young age at the time.

But then having passed on the Kathleen Turner and the Tracy Letts VWs, I'm finally ready to see the upcoming version next season. Glad I waited as this cast actually excites me. Also, I was never much of a Roseanne fan so I know Laurie Metcalf more through her theater and indy film work so I've not had too much of her.....yet.

There's a musical number that Merman did an early film, I think it was in Alexander's Ragtime Band, that was clearly copied in Funny Lady's It's Gonna Be a Great Day.

Does anyone know which number I mean?

Yes, the number r73 linked is that number.

Lazy Broadway endlessly producing A View From the Bridge, Virginia Woolf, Long Day's Journey and Gypsy over and over and over again.

Is "Take Me Out" and its full frontal penises coming back to Broadway?

It's in the title of the thread, so yes, it's been announced. Who will be cast? Anyone fairly well-known willing to shower on stage?

As was reported a few weeks ago, Jussie Smollett did a reading (I believe the very night of his attack), so maybe....

Alleged attack.

It wasn't a staged read though, I don't think, so no nudity at that. I think there are some nudes of him so maybe he would have been open to it. Now, everything has changed for him, and for goodness sake (ok, DL for fuck's sake), why?

Understood, r87. I thought it might mean he'll be cast, not that he did a table read nude. If he had any understanding of the play, he'd know nudity was in the mix.

Besides David Cromer, I must be the only person who doesn't like Laurie Metcalf. She seems angry and humorless, like she couldn't have fun if you paid her.

I know she and Cromer didn't not get along at all when he directed her in Brighton Beach Memoirs and I'd love to hear details about what happened.

She's very funny on "The Big Bang Theory" playing Sheldon Cooper's mother.

I like Metcalf.

I loved Metcalf on the HBO series Getting On. I recently did a rewatch of its three short seasons, and it's still painfully hilarious/hilariously painful.

R89 you don't like her because of the way she seems?

I posted this in the other thread as it was ending. She is an absolute delight.

I remember seeing Take Me Out during its original run.

What I remember most is, as soon as the nude showering started, a FURIOUS mother grabbed her pre-teen son and stalked up the aisle in a "Why, I've NEVER!" huff and exit.

The other thing I remember: The audience being lectured during intermission because a camera flash had gone off during the first act. We were told, "The cast is very, very upset about this outrage."

Perhaps r84 we could reasonably expect Richard Madden and that twinkette he seems to be walking out with - it would allow them some “quality” time together in full public gaze.

R96 reminded me of an "outrage" story that happened during the production of IN PRAISE OF LOVE. A melodrama loosely based on the story of actor Rex Harrison and his wife Kay Kendall, and written by Terrence Rattigan, it had a modest run on Broadway in the 70s. That was an era when lots of taboos were being broken, so many heretofore unpleasant topics were being addressed in Broadway shows. Well, unpleasant to some...

Apparently two older women sitting in the audience began to get upset with the topic of the play - not sure where it was going. They were talking between themselves, and being shushed by other members of the audience.

Finally, one of the women stood up from her center orchestra seats, pushed her way to the aisle, and then looked back to see if her friend was following her. To her friend, still seated, she screamed "It's CANCER, Dorothy!!! Come on!" They then proceeded to storm out of the theater, presumably to ask for a refund at the box office.

R96 That mother with the son would have already sampled the goods, since there's already been a nude scene between Dominic Fumusa (at the Public) or David Eigenberg (Steve from "Sex and the City") and Daniel Sunjata in the locker room before the first shower scene (there are two).

Yes, Jussie did a table read of Take Me Out. Yes, there are nude selfies of Jussie out there that show he is reasonably well hung and easily googled.

I don't think anything in your is in dispute, r100.

r94, thank you for posting that lovely interview with Maria Karnilova. I watched it in the earlier thread and loved it.

What a delightful woman she was! Very grounded and smart.

R99 It was such a forgettable show, I have no recollection of the exact order of nudity.

Indeed, r103. Much ado about not hung.

Loved the Karnilova interview, as well as the interviewer. Smart, informed questions. He has others posted on YT. Now if he only had asked her about The Kangaroo in Bravo,.Giovanni!

16 Lesser-Known Rules Broadway Actors Have to Follow:

That has to be one of the stupidest articles I've read in a long time. I had to check and make sure it didn't come from Buzzfeed.

They're mostly true.

Except the part about families.

They have gotten a LOT better about letting working actors have families since 9/11.

It wasn't instantaneous but JLT left Urinetown to pop out a baby and then replace Chenoweth as Glinda while she was still breastfeeding. Also gay marriage is now legal even in touring companies that go to Texas.

Is there a Theatre Gossip #352? I sure as hell can't find it. Once again, there was no link to it at the end of #351.

This is because we had multiple #351 threads, r109. We've just moved from the closed 351 to this one rather than start a new one and continue this nonsense with multiple concurrent threads.

Thanks, R110.

To the twit on the other #351 thread who questioned my logic about Karen Ziemba winning over Eartha Kitt:

Numbskull, no one liked Wild Party. Ziemba was in the hit of the season. And you're the one who is mistaken, historically and currently, as to who was the obvious favorite for that award. It's your "logic" that is comically questionable, as is your feeble memory.

PS. And for the record, I LOVED Kitt in the show. And I'd have been happy had she won. But it was Ziemba's moment.

R105, I guess ACL never heard about no mirrors onstage.

R113 nor Phantom.

Nor Follies.

The Producers also had that huge mirror that came down from the rafters so that the audience could see the swastika formation during "Springtime for Hitler." And yet they devoted an entire song to theatrical superstitions.

Will we see the Lens Dunham "Sweet Chairty" on Broadway next season?

The original "Cabaret" had a large mirror reflecting the audience. It did pretty well. I never heard the superstition about mirrors on stage. I've heard a lot of the others though. There's also an antidote for some, like saying the name of the Scottish play or whistling backstage -- you leave the room, knock, enter and swear. (Some may have you spit and/or turn around a few times as well). But yes, theater people are very superstitious -- it's such a crazy and capricious business that you never really know who fortune will smile upon.

Most theatrical superstitions are based on a truth, often involving stage safety.

Seamen were hired to work the flies in 19th century theater. As on ships, they communicated by whistling. If you whistled back stage, you could send a drop crashing to the floor, or at very least send a drop in at the wrong moment.

Mirrors reflect light and are difficult for the lighting designer. Also, until recently, there were no safety mirror; so they were dangerous if broken (Note: I never really believed this as mirrors were used on stage for numerous theatrical effects.)

Don't put a hat on a bed. Obviously, you may sit on it.

No real flowers. They wilt under the lights and the petals are slippery if stepped on.

Laurence Olivier hated the Scottish play's superstition and enjoyed freaking out other actors by running around backstage while screaming, "Macbeth!" Another superstition says one can recite any line from "A Midnight Summer's Dream" as an antidote for overhearing mention of Macbeth.

R120 'Angels, and ministers of grace, defend us', from Hamlet

Welcome to a show about death, is right - the death of Broadway or at least songwriting.

[quote]"A Midnight Summer's Dream"

Oh, DEAR!

While I don't think it needs to be staged at all, does Beetlejuice NEED to be a musical? The high points of the movie are Day-O and Jump In the Line, so just leave those in place and spend the rest of the producers' money on the sets and theatrical effects.

r105 Most of those things are not "rules."' "Most actors are broke?" How is that a "rule?"

Do properties like TOOTSIE and BEETLEJUICE get offered by producers to different writing teams and then "trickle down" the talent food chain?

TOOTSIE has David Yazbeck. He's very talented but not necessarily box office. I loved THE BAND'S VISIT but I wouldn't have thought he'd be the right fit for this material, at all. Doesn't sound like it's a good match.

BEETLEJUICE has... Eddie Perfect. (Who?) Who wrote KING KONG. And nothing else, apparently. You have to wonder about all the songwriters who passed on both those projects.

Or maybe the producers passed on songwriters. Does Stephen Sondheim have a KING KONG demo lying around?

r127 Yazbeck wrote Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Full Monty, both musical comedies.

King Kong has been through several other songwriters in earlier incarnations that by all accounts sucked too

R128, and DRS, FM, and TBV were adapted from films.

I usually don't wring my hands over these movie to stage adaptations. Broadway has always been a mix of high and low culture, and there's room for the crass and blatantly commercial alongside the artful. There are 41 Broadway theatres and one can easily skip the things that are a tourist cash grab. But my god, that Beetlejuice trailer is incredibly depressing. Lots of money, talent and ingenuity behind it, but ... those songs are bottom of the barrel.

It's getting brutal on the Broadway and producers are panicked! Betting right now is three shoo-ins for Best Musical: The Prom, Ain't Too Proud to Beg, and Hadestown. Who will get the fourth? Tootsie? Be More Chill? Beetlejuice? Cher? It's not an easy time to be Broadway musical producer. Place your bets!

A chorus friend of mine (now deceased) says that one of the best choreographed numbers he ever saw was "Sunshine Girl" from NEW GIRL IN TOWN and that it was basically dancers walking. Wish I had seen it, plus all of the other dances from that show and REDHEAD that haven't been preserved.

[quote]Betting right now is three shoo-ins for Best Musical: The Prom, Ain't Too Proud to Beg, and Hadestown.

The title of the show is AIN'T TOO PROUD (a really bad title) ,not AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG (even worse, far worse).

Even if it gets middling reviews, I think Tootsie gets in from that list, R131. If there's a fifth nominee, I think it would be Cher Show, over the other two.

Sunshine Girl

reprise

They really should give BE MORE CHILL a nom. Yes, I know--it's not a DL kind of show.

But it's not another movie adaptation (it's from a YA novel). It's not a jukebox musical. It's a completely original score, and a rather good one. And it's bringing in young, new audiences to see musicals on Broadway.

HADESTOWN didn't get an Olivier nomination, Probably won't get a Tony nomination either.

I would love to see Tootsie get snubbed and I hate myself for that

Aren't all new musicals produced to bring young people to the theater?

R132, I remember that number. It was the reprise of the song, for a set change after the big Check Apron Ball set, with chorus men sort of strutting and shambling across the stage before the traveler curtain.

Later, The Bum Won in Fiorello! was staged in similar fashion, but not as fanciful. There used to be a lot of these "in one" numbers in the old days when there was a lot of scenery that had to be moved around, drops let in, etc.

R112 Actually, I think the predictions were that Deborah Yates (the Woman in Yellow in Part III) would win, because her dancing was so terrific. So, I think Ziemba was a mild, but pleasant surprise--she created an endearing and sweetly sad character in that section. I think people just weren't that into The Wild Party and Eartha Kitt, while a superb performer, was not so beloved as to warrant a career award. (I never saw the show, so may have been fabulous for all I know).

Contact was as close as KZ came to a Gwen Verdon kind of role (though not as starry as Verdon was). I like Ziemba a lot (and her dancing was something to see in "And the World Goes Round," especially her version of 'Arthur in the Afternoon"), but her career didn't take off after the Tony as one might have thought. She has been steadily employed and always a pleasure (IMO) to see, but never a true breakout role.

Just to see LuPone have a volcanic eruption backstage I would totally tell “Good luck Macbeth” at her while I ran under a ladder with a smashed mirror

I don't think you have to go to nearly those lengths to get a volcanic eruption from our Patti.

Well my goodness, Julia & Easton were certainly no Kiley and Diener, were they?

[quote]"A Midnight Summer's Dream"

[quote]Oh, DEAR!

Oh, fuck me. Should've taken that coffee break before posting. That's almost a Spoonerism.

r144 she’s been really well behaved and adored in London. Must be New York gets her fired up.

Ethel probably felt like doing this to Fifi.......

I've heard this, r147 (well, everybody's heard it) and I wonder if she's just treated with greater respect there...or at least that she doesn't have the same baggage in London that she carries here. My snide comment notwithstanding, I think she's swell.

Oh nooooo. Georgia Engel has died at 70. They don't know the cause yet because she was a Christian Scientist and didn't go to doctors.

[quote]They don't know the cause yet because she was a Christian Scientist and didn't go to doctors.

Cause: Being a Christian Scientist.

This 351 has a lousy title. We should have gone straight to 352,

Oh, it got quite a few likes.

I can't believe Georgia Engel was only 70; it seems she's been around forever, but she clearly started young. R.I.P. -- and thanks for the smiles.

A friend of mine knew her from when she used to live on Governor's Island in NYC when both their dads were in the Coast Guard; she said that Georgia was the sweetest thing back then as well. She was Minnie Fay to Merman's Dolly on Broadway. So sad to hear of her passing, plus she was working quite a lot in recent years -- a recurring role on "Everybody Loves Raymond" and lots of theater. RIP

[quote]at least that she doesn't have the same baggage in London

I would think Patti's biggest baggage of all was her firing from Sunset Boulevard, which occurred in London.

But it's true, she's not adored by her co-workers in the US the way she apparently was during "Company." (But not, as we all know, during Les Mis).

R156 That's the tragically short-lived and wonderful film Barnaby, Danny Lockin to the left of Georgia, and it looks like Cornelius with the glasses is Merman friend Russell Nype. Not sure who the Horace or Irene Molloy are though. Georgia was so cute!

Georgia's death leaves Ed Asner and Betty White as the last core members of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Asner is 89, White is 97 and I bet she outlives him.

Gavin McCleod, Cloris Leachman and Lisa Gerritsen are still around, too, as well as Valerie Harper.

Wow, you goofed, r159! Did you think those other three were dead?

John Amos is still alive, too. He played "Gordy" on multiple episodes.

Wow, I saw that Ethel Merman HELLO DOLLY production. Had no idea that the Minnie Fay would turn out to be the MTM Georgia Engel, whom I adored. FYI, Merman's eating scene in Act II was probably the best version of that comic bit that I've ever seen. Who knew that Merman was such a good comedian?

Buck would have never forgotten my undead costars!

It might be Beth who's down there, but MTM is an angel, along with the new Engel, who always was one.

I saw Georgia Engel play deaf movie star Corinna Stroller in House of Blue Leaves way back when. (I think she may have usually played a smaller part as one of the nuns and was an understudy for this larger role.) She was hilarious and heartbreaking. Rest her soul.

We were talking about Alfred Drake in the other thread before it closed and several people pointed out that he was Rodgers' and Hammerstein's first choice to play the King in The King and I. He actually did play the part in the original production for about two months in 1953 when Brynner took an extended vacation. He didn't shave his head.

I just read that Patricia Clarkson was a replacement Corinna in the '86 Blue Leaves.

Drake and Roberta Peters do "Carousel".

Lee Venora sings one of the most gorgeously sung Tuptim's on the Rise Stevens' recording of "The King and I", up there with Doretta Morrow.

Tuptims (not possessive), that is

Lee Venora is even more glorious as Marsinah in the Lincoln Center 1960s revival recording of KISMET, also with Alfred Drake and the fabulous Anne Jeffreys.

R168, I have that recording of Carousel on vinyl and it's very, very good. I'd recommend it as a third or fourth recording after the OBC or the soundtrack.

r169, I also have both the vinyl and CD of that LC recording of the The King and I with Darren McGavin and the wonderful Risë Stevens from the Lincoln Center production. Other than McGavin it is very, very good.. Rodgers preferred to have his music in certain roles sung by large, trained voices (hence Muriel Smith rather than Juanita Hall on the soundtrack of South Pacific).

Rodgers also hired a professional opera singer as Bloody Mary in his Lincoln Center revival of South Pacific with Giorgio Tozzi as Emile. Opera singer Tozzi had dubbed Rossano Brazzi in the film. The recording of that LC production is marred by only by the obvious vocal problems Florence Henderson was having at the the time. She had a long association with both SP and other R&H shows (mainly The Sound of Music; she lead the first national tour). Obviously she was willing to put out for Rodgers, as both her personal interviews and his biographies imply.

That 1964 Lincoln Center stereo rerecording of the of the OBCR of Kismet is one of the few times where a later stereo rerecording of an OBCR is the equal of the original. (For example, the stereo recording of the London OCR of My Fair Lady with the same leads is distinctly inferior to the original mono OBCR).

That said, the original mono OBCR of Kismet is wonderful and has a few separate charms from the LC recording.

Another wonderful recording of Kismet is the Mantovani recording from the 1960s with his "1000 strings." He used a cast of professional opera singers, including Robert Merrill as Hajj, and it is so well sung and complete. The "1000 stings" only break forth occasionally but appropriately, such as during Strangers in Paradise and it's a lovely recording. Merrill is very good. I'd advise against the Samuel Ramey recording which looks great to read the credits but just doesn't work overall.

First choice: toss-up between the OBCR or the LC recording. How important is stereo to you?

Second or third recording: Mantovani.

The MGM soundtrack with Howard Keel, Dolores Gray, Ann Blyth and Vic Damon is pleasant but not essential.

[quote]The MGM soundtrack with Howard Keel, Dolores Gray, Ann Blyth and Vic Damon is pleasant but not essential.

Well, yes and no. In spite of the fact that they had to revoice Lalume to an alto range to accommodate her, Dolores Gray is pretty wonderful (both singing and acting) in the part. Ann Blythe is lovely, not quite on a par with Morrow and Venora, but good, and since the whole thing was restored for CD, now there's the complete "Rahadlakum" and the cut "Rhymes Have I" to help make it more complete (and remarkable that "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" was filmed in its entirety. It's truncated on the LC cast, perhaps to make room for the addition of "Bored"). It's a crime how "And This is My Beloved" was robbed of its counterpoint section, though. I suspect that's because Minnelli just couldn't figure out how to film it.

To me, it's a toss-up between the radiant Doretta Morrow and Lee Venora. For a kick, listen to Morrow using her very sexy alto range singing "Garden of Imagining" in the "Adventures of Marco Polo" TV recording.

It's telling of the quality of this season that it's two weeks before Tony nominations and we're discussing Kismet.

[r178] it’s scary how many musicals of yesteryear lost because of stiff competition (Ragtime, Wicked, ect) and this year it’s The Prom vs The Cher Show.

It’s sad

I want to like "The Prom," and the performances are great, but the songs just aren't. The only two I like are the "Dancing with you" one with the two girls, and Angie Schworer's big number, "Zazz," which makes me think of Kay Thompson and Audrey Hepburn singing "On How to Be Lovely."

The songs in "The Prom" are a hell of a lot better than the score for "Tootsie!" ugh.

Tootsie, Beetlejuice, Prom, Kong, sad year for songwriting, how come?

"Well, yes and no. In spite of the fact that they had to revoice Lalume to an alto range to accommodate her, Dolores Gray is pretty wonderful (both singing and acting) in the part. Ann Blythe is lovely, not quite on a par with Morrow and Venora, but good, and since the whole thing was restored for CD, now there's the complete "Rahadlakum" and the cut "Rhymes Have I" to help make it more complete (and remarkable that "Baubles, Bangles, and Beads" was filmed in its entirety. It's truncated on the LC cast, perhaps to make room for the addition of "Bored"). It's a crime how "And This is My Beloved" was robbed of its counterpoint section, though. I suspect that's because Minnelli just couldn't figure out how to film it. "

And let's not overlook the glorious Salinger et al orchestrations. The sumptuous arrangement for NIGHT OF MY NIGHTS is in itself an experience.

"Tootsie, Beetlejuice, Prom, Kong, sad year for songwriting, how come?"

Do you really have to ask?

Let's not forget Regina Resnik's terrific Lalume on the Mantovani recording.

And re Georgia Engel, wasn't she associated with a new musical about aged hoofers creating some kind of club? Kind of like Stepping Out? A friend insisted that it would open imminently, but haven'y heard anything about it.

Who are the Tony voters exactly?

R185, The show was called "Half Time" and was done last year at the Paper Mill Playhouse, directed and choreographed by Jerry Michell. In addition to Engel, the cast included Andre De Shields, Donna McKechnie and Liilias White.

In some categories like actors, directors and designers, the Tony voters are officers in their respective unions, so not necessarily those at the top of their craft.

This Eddie Perfect person in particular - has anyone ever had two new scores on Broadway with no shot at a tony nomination for either? Sounds like someone that some agent shoved down a team’s throat

Joan Diener's belt was no thing of beauty. I prefer Dolores as Lalume. I don't miss the soprano notes.

Florence Henderson ruins that recording of South Pacific. I think Dorothy Collins got close but didn't get the part in that production. It's a shame.

It was his wife, Lucy Cochran, who suggested that Perfect buy a ticket to New York to see what happens there. A light bulb went off and he rang up one of his old pals who had made it in America. Tim Minchin, the Tony-nominated composer of Matilda and Groundhog Day, was Perfect's piano player when they would play double-bills at small clubs in Melbourne and accompany each other. Minchin arranged for Perfect to meet with his agent, William Morris powerhouse John Buzzetti. They got along and started working together.

Perfect knew that a musical based on the 1988 Michael Keaton film Beetlejuice was in the works, and Buzzetti had informed him that big-name writers were pitching for it. Willing to do anything to get noticed, Perfect wrote three songs on spec. "I turned myself inside out writing these songs. I knew it was going to be the first and only chance I'd ever have to pitch on a Broadway show. I was going to kill myself to make it the best thing I could." He handed them over and months went by. "Out of the blue, I got a call saying I booked the gig and I literally fell over. I was an insane guy on the phone going, 'Oh my god.' It was amazing."

King Kong reared his head nearly two years later. Australian in origin, this musical adaptation of the 1938 film had undergone multiple revisions with multiple creative teams in the years since its 2013 premiere in Melbourne. Perfect, who saw it on opening night, booked the gig after he, director-choreographer Drew McOnie, book writer Jack Thorne, and music producer and composer Marius de Vries, were called upon to pitch their own version.

Has anyone been able to track down the original version of the "It's Always Fair Weather" on CD? I mean what was released on LP back then, not the fresh transfers/mix released in the 1990s. I have the "Kismet" CD from the 1980s, but "Fair Weather" eludes.

King Kong came out in 1933.

It's strange to think Georgia Engel was the same age as Lulu.

Georgia was older.

Let us not forget La Eden's Lalume....

Lulu and Georgia were born the same year.

It's a pity "The Lehman Trilogy" could not come to Broadway. One of the most incredible productions on stage I've ever seen, with 3 magnificent actors.

And speaking of magnificent actors, Michael Stuhlbarg in "Socrates" at The Public is breathtaking. The play is about 40 minutes too long, but Stuhlbarg's performance is one for the ages.

Has anyone seen the pictures of Michael Mayer in the "Burn This" opening night photos?????? He'd fit right in with the cast of "The Prom"!

Who is poor Zach Quinto going to bring to the Tonys now that Miles is gone from the picture?

Michael Mayer was never a beauty, and always a fat girl waiting to happen.

Well, it's happened. Big time.

What's that?

Barbara Eden really had a terrific singing voice. What a shame she never got to headline a Broadway musical.

A colleague of mine did a tour of "South Pacific" years ago with her and said that she was great and very nice lady.

I've wondered about that, r206. She did a certain amount of stock, so I assume maybe she didn't want to do a long run. She'd have been a great Mame.

She seems rather bargain basement to me.

And the Youtube clip of Marin Mazzie? No star command had she. No flair.

I wonder if that's really her taking the high notes at the end, or if the high notes were dubbed for her?

Seeing Georgia Engel in that clip from Half Time makes me wonder if she was ill. She's extremely thin in that tape, but not so long before that, she was much heavier - not fat, exactly, but dowdy.

R202 they broke up?

From Thread #180

[Quote] I did a summer tour of Woman of the Year with Barbara Eden who was just delightful. Her voice had a small range and yes it was low, but she knew how to put over a song and sold that pretty crappy show.

Was it a huge upset when Cheno lost the Tony to Kelli O'Hara? I just saw a video of her doing "Veronique" and she was fabulous.

Kristi Dawn should have won. She was terrific in OTTC.

R191 I still think Diener's Aldonza, at least on the recording, is the most exciting and gutsy, including the belt.

When are La Chenoweth & Kevin James hitting the road on "The Band's Visit" tour?

I was very disappointed with Chenoweth. She just played it like herself. Check out Marin Mazzie at the Actors Fund benefit. That was truly brilliant and she did it with far less rehearsal.

I love her Never, r220.

Incidentally, I've always thought that "Man of La Mancha" was such a dumb, uninspired title. They couldn't come up with something better? "Dulcinea" would've been a better and more intriguing alternative, for example.

DANCIN'

MERLIN

HELLZAPOPPIN'

The clip at R219 is interesting. The staging is pretty much opera park-and-bark. Yeah, a few of the guys run their hands up and down her body, but Diener is pretty static. Is the song that difficult that she couldn't move and sing?

R215 Her comedy with Andy Karl was absolutely awesome and deserved to be rewarded. But the songs seemed to be so rapidly paced that her voice was lost and I think the shock of seeing that the role was actually not a good fit after all made voters judge her harshly. I think Marin Mazzie's stronger version also worked against Chenoweth. Being a weaker Fran than Kerry O'Malley was easily overlooked in Promises, Promises because she was getting criticized for just being a poor fit altogether in that. But to come back with a weaker version of Mildred Plotka after Marin Mazzie may have worked in O'Hara's favor.

Well, one thing about modern musicals. We don't have to put up with sopranos scooping their notes, absolutely horrifying.

This is special? Not. A. Star. Points for an integrated sound - better than Diener on the OBC, who sounds like a legit voice slumming it on the belt, not even belt, bellowing parts - though.

Regina Resnik sounds so matronly.

Are there any pics of Dolores when she did Kismet in stock? Hal Linden was her leading man.

R226

That was nice. But yeah. Not something I want to hear again and again.

"But the songs seemed to be so rapidly paced"

"Rain tempos" are the scourge of contemporary Broadway (and beyond) when it comes to revivals (unless they're British Sondheim revivals). Faster is not better, not more exciting, not anything except frenetic, eliminating in the process breadth (for the melody) and breath (for the singers).

If I recall correctly, La Mancha was originally named I, Don Quixote.

I think Windmills of His Mind would have been a valid choice.

R225; Mazzie certainly did a better Veronique. This one is unnecessarily smutty and busy. My question though is what is the white patch on Chenoweth's left shoulder. Did she get a cyst removed?

This is a juicy read. I kind of want to see a musical about the "Nerds" fiasco.

Mike Faist cast as Riff in Spielberg’s SJWest Side Story. The only way I am seeing this is if he drops his pants and presents hole to Tony.

Forget these no talents. Time for RAQUEL!

[quote]The only way I am seeing this is if he drops his pants and presents hole to Tony.

Interesting concept but I feel like it's already been done.

R225

It was probably a pain patch because she broke some ribs again or something.

for r214

Is Kismet revivable in this day and age?

R239, only if you call it Timbuktu!

...which I saw in DC and loved (Eartha Kitt and Geoffrey Holder and some amazing sets/costumes). But nobody else did.

"Timbuktu," or as someone suggested it be called "The Unthinkable Mali - Brown."

LOL!

lol R242

Do you think Spielberg will recreate this scene betwixt Tony and Riff?

The famous "sperm-to-womb" scene?

I thought it was "womb to tomb"?

In the show, it's "Womb to tomb?" "Sperm to worm!" In the movie it's "Womb to tomb? Birth to earth!" They had to clean it up for the movie :-)

Aren't both phrases used in the movie?

Lots of former Newsies in the cast! Makes me happy.

R245 Only if they do it nude this time!

What is the derivation of "rain tempo?"

I don't see the connection between rain and speed.

Is this a current idiom among theatre people?

When shows played outdoor arenas like, say, Kansas City Starlight, and a storm was approaching, they'd plow through the show in order not to get caught in the deluge. Hence, "rain tempo." Whether it's in currency among young whippersnappers today, I wouldn't venture to say.

R123 Fuck you.

I'd rather sit through Beetlejuice any day then Come From Away.

cunt

What's wrong with Come From Away?

Jesus, r253, what's wrong with you?

[quote]Aren't both phrases used in the movie?

No, just "Womb to tomb? Birth to earth!." They say it twice, but the same way both times.

Anyone who hasn't seen "Hadestown" should get tickets asap. It's fantastic.

Hi, eddie @ r253 who knew you read dataloung??

Hopefully it will beat that shitfest called " The Prom."

[quote]16 Lesser-Known Rules Broadway Actors Have to Follow:

Don’t you know it’s bad luck to accept a rose from someone named Rose on opening night?

It was a caption joke, r 247...for what it was worth.

Wanted to despise Oklahoma going in as an R&H fan but thought it was brilliant actually.

Hadestown is fantastic - except the Wall song should be cut. But I think it will win Best Musical unless The Prom runs a better campaign which they probably will. At the show I was at, Hadestown company got a standing ovation mid-performance towards the end of Act 1. Haven't seen that happen before.

Tootsie - the book is extremely funny and the comedic performances are golden - the music is lacking horribly unfortunately.

The Prom was bearable only when the "adult" performers were onstage otherwise it was a snooze. Also....the music was lacking.

Be More Chill was mildly entertaining in Act One but Act Two it got to be grating and repetitive but the tweens and teens were eating it up all around me. Still haven't seen Ain't Too Proud. Beetlejuice was like a theme park show on acid. Loud, somewhat entertaining but again...music meh. Performances strong.

Oh and I thought Kiss Me Kate suffered terribly from several miscasts.

They could have easily cast Gwen Verdon with a woman of color. Totally missed opportunity. Great, another tv show with a white male and female lead. The privilege is showing.

Fuck off, R 264.

An amateur group in Australia have cast Lola in 'Kinky Boots' with a white actor. Shit has, of course, been lost.

why, r265? you think I'm wrong? Check your priviledge

KMK miscast or simply bad acting?

Raquel Welch at R235 answers the question, "What would Connie Stevens have sounded like singing 'Losing My Mind'?"

Thanks, R252. I wouldn't have guessed that in a million years.

I bet that phrase will come in handy someday. I'm going to save it.

I know you're trying to be amusing, r264. Try harder.

spell your privilege, r267.

and don't try harder, r264. just stop.

Fuck privilege, R 267. No one, of any color, could replace Gwen. Period.

[quote]What is the derivation of "rain tempo?"

I have no idea if this is right, but I always assumed it was for places like MUNY and San Diego Starlight, ie, outdoor amphitheater type places. When it rains, they speed up the tempos for everything to get the show over with more quickly. But who knows?

R273 has it. Gwen Verdon was unique and an undeniable star. She can't be duplicated, although so far Michelle Williams is doing a great job with the acting. I guess tonight we'll get to see if she can put over the song and dance numbers as well.

That's what another poster said, R274, so I guess that's what it means. It's a cute idea, sensible but also a little hyper.

R264 LOL! But show business does try to push interracial romances lately. The upcoming Lady and the Tramp live-action remake will have a white John Dear and black Darling. Okay.

Liza could, and did, replace Gwen.

I saw Oklahoma!. I thought Ali Stroker and - yes! - Mary Testa were great. The rest of the casting was terrible, even the supposedly sexy Damon Daunno.

But it's yesterday's news when it comes to Oklahoma! atrocities. Today's trades bring reports of an "Oklahoma!" TV series that will use some of the R&H songs, and intersperse them with "new songs that help tell the story."

The R&H organization has lost its mind. This sounds at least as bad as Diane Paulus' attempt to retell Porgy & Bess the way she just knew the Gershwins really intended.

An Oklahoma! TV series? How much money does the R&H Organization need?

Ted Chapin has apparently become a guy who cain't say "no."

I was really surprised Chenoweth lost the Tony to Kelli O’Hara. Chenoweth also hosted that year, and it was thought that would give her brownie points. I like O’Hara in some things, but she was very bland in The King and I. Chenoweth did her thing in Twentieth Century, but it works for me.

[quote]I was really surprised Chenoweth lost the Tony to Kelli O’Hara.

Really? This was O'Hara's sixth nomination in ten years, with zero wins to her name. Meanwhile, it was Cheno's third nod in 16 years, but she'd already won once before.

Chenowith already got an Tony for her performance as Lily Garland. Only then it was called Sally Brown. She gives the same performance and every role and does the exact same schtick everytime. (When she did her take-the-lyric-literally, reaching for the word "never" as is searching on a magnetic board, I gave up.

In the Veronique clip she does the same pointing-from-the-shoulder thing she did in My New Philosophy.

If she ever gives a new performance.....why even finish the sentence--she never will give a new performance.

R285, the same could be said for Merman, Martin, Verdon, etc.

I think Verdon was wildly different as Lola, Anna Christie and Charity Hope Valentine. That's range!

I never saw Merman and Martin, but I agree about Verdon. She may not have been a great actress, but unlike Chenowith she at least tried to may each performance distinct.

R288, every performance was Verdon. Charity, Lola, Roxie, even in roles on TV. I love Verdon but a versatile actress she wasn't. Ironically, that's why we loved her.

R285

She most certainly did not do the 'same schtick' each time.

Sally Brown required her to play an animated child with a slight nasty streak and that fit her. They also wrote a song for her which highlighted her blend with that yodeling thing she does so well and allowed her to pass off her weird belt as a masterfully controlled character voice. The show is also kind of adorable but too small to really fill a Broadway theater. Also her physical comedy in that was the brief and sweet natured hunting rabbits sequence which may very well have won her and Brad Oscar the Tony since both won for that.

Glinda was well played and complicated. Because the story is more or less supposed to be narrated from Glinda's point of view Kristin's tendency to mug for the audience was 'in character' as a wall breaking narrator-- but also, ironically, she benefitted from the concentration and acting choices of the other actors when she was off stage because theoretically those scenes were what Glinda was ruminating about. Speaking in her head voice was a direct reference to Movie Glinda and something she only did for effect. Musical Glinda is a fascinating and nearly tragic character if you buy the idea that the story told in the musical is the lie she is making up for herself to believe for the rest of the novels rather than another alternative version of what 'really happened'. Kristin pulled that off very well. Even if she was better than Idina (and benefitted from Idina's earnestness) when the show was in previews and early on when reviews came out, Kristin ditched a number of performances and did not deserve to win for Laura Bell Bundy's performance as her regular replacement during the Tony viewing weeks.

Lily Garland just wasn't as good a role as everyone had always told her it was. Her songs are far from classic, they don't really suit Chenoweth's voice, and the story itself doesn't quite hit that sweet spot of being a fun or interesting evening. Her scenes with Andy are hilarious -- but also clearly borrowed and improved from Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes in a way that showcases Andy better than Cheno. It wasn't as BAD as what is being written for women in the new musical category but when compared to The King and I it didn't look great. You had not seen Chenoweth play Plotka/Garland before. The reason it FELT as if you had is because the role itself is such a retro-mess of spoiled/oversexed diva tropes that really it didn't need to be played at all.

An [italic]Oklahoma![/italic] TV show. What’s next, [italic]The Happiest Millionaire[/italic] rebooted as an American version of [italic]Downton Abbey[/italic]?

Hadestown is great to look at but dramatically static and, frankly, rather boring for long stretches.

So much slow music, ballad after ballad. Page singing in a ridiculous low register. Carney singing in a ridiculous high falsetto. Eva Nosebleed is perhaps the world's least interesting actress. Ever.

Great set & lights but...

As I was saying before I accidentally submitted an unfinished comment, they tried that with [italic]The King & I[/italic] in the 1970s and it flopped, even with Yul Brynner. Incidentally, it aired before another adaptation of a Fox film that ran a little bit longer: [italic]M*A*S*H[/italic].

Anna and The King, the failed 1972 TV series with Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar, wasn't based on the stage musical though. It was based on the same source material, Margaret Langdon's novel Anna and the King of Siam, a highly romanticized account of Anna Leonowens' time in Thailand inspired by Leonowens' diaries. It was a dramatic series and there were no songs.

This proposed TV series of Oklahoma! occasionally featuring old and new songs sounds both weird and misguided. I'll be surprised if it ever gets green lighted.

Well, I have to correct myself. According to both Wikipedia and IMDB, the TV series was indeed based on The King and I. But I was correct that it was a dramatic series without songs.

Actually Gwen Verdon was considered an excellent actress -- she even studied with Sandford Meisner after she became a star to improve, same way that Shelley Winters kept going back to Actors Studio. Verdon is very different in her roles, though her singing voice is Verdon's, though less strong with each role. Interestingly, she did use a bit of head voice in her one singing number in "Can Can", "If You Loved Me Truly" on the OCR. Then she had strong belt in "Damn Yankees", but I think the smoking started to kick in on her voice by the time of "New Girl in Town".

I agree that Gwen Verdon was an excellent actress, and her characters were never "always Verdon." Probably Essie in Redhead was her most vulnerable, followed by Charity. Lola wasn't vulnerable at all, but she was sinful and cute. Roxie was out and out hard.

Her later work (post-musicals) in film and TV was very good, too, especially in "Marvin's Room." That's one of the things that was so unique about Verdon, that she was arguably the greatest female musical theatre dancer ever, but was also an outstanding actress who could sing (reasonably well in the early days, but always, even in "Chicago," with a sense of musicality.)

Verdon took off a few years after "Redhead" to have Nicole, but she also did some tv appearances. I think she turned down Tammy Grimes' part in "High Spirits". She'd have been fun, and I imagine the choreographer might have had a time of it with Gwen Verdon flying by Foy (or whoever did the flying). I wonder what other roles she turned down. Also, after "Sweet Charity" in 1966-67, there might have been some roles Verdon was offered before she came back to Broadway in 1975 to do "Chicago". She did the one-night flop "Children, Children" which was also kind of notable by being one of the first straight plays that had tv commercials advertising it in previews. By the time of "Chicago", she knew it would be her last starring role in a musical, though Chita Rivera' s role was expanded from almost a bit part in the film to someone who could share more of the dancing load, though Verdon's Roxie was clearly the lead character.

How did Rex Reed make enough money to afford to live at the Dakota? His writing gigs don't play anything like the royalties Yoko Ono must collect or even Lauren Bacall's star salary from her Broadway days or advertising gigs when she was alive. Reed didn't make money from "Myra Breckenridge". Did he have a sugar Daddy when he was younger? He was cute, though he didn't have a very butch voice, quite the opposite.

Martin: typical parts were South Pacific and Annie Get Your Gun, but not One Touch of Venus.

Martin spent most of the 1950 (starting in 1949) basically playing three parts -- Nellie Forbush in "South Pacific", Peter Pan and Maria in "The Sound of Music" on stage with quite a bit of tv work, including 3 different versions of her Peter Pan.

Martin was apprehensive about playing Venus, but was convinced by other that she could pull off the goddess-like beauty with the costuming by Mainbocher. She looks lovely in the photos. Plus she sounds very fine in her recordings of the music. But yes, not a typical role, but a big hit in its time. Watch the Janet Blair tv version -- it's on Amazon Prime -- Blair is great, lovely and has an excellent singing voice.

of the 1950s, that is

[quote]Anna and The King, the failed 1972 TV series with Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar, wasn't based on the stage musical though. It was based on the same source material, Margaret Langdon's novel Anna and the King of Siam, a highly romanticized account of Anna Leonowens' time in Thailand inspired by Leonowens' diaries. It was a dramatic series and there were no songs.

Audiences must have been disappointed not to have any R&H material there especially when M*A*S*H could keep “Suicide is Painless” as its theme.

The TV show [italic]Mr. Belvedere[/italic] also credited the book and not the movies.

What was odd with Anna and the King was that they did many of the same scenes as King & I, and you kept expecting the appropriate song to start.

It's gonna be especially annoying for Cheno if Kelli wins a second Tony undeservedly this year just for lack of competition ....

R295, Wikepedia and IMDB are incorrect. Of course we all know the musical was on the minds of the series creators, but at the time it aired everyone took great pains to state that it was NOT based on The King and I.

If it were officially based on The King and I, you know they would have retained the musical's well known title and used something from the musical as theme music.

I want a mashup TV series, Anna And The King Kong. Think of the synergy!

Where does my movie fit into all of this?

That Anna and the King TV series couldn't have been adapted from the Margaret Landon novel because the king scarcely appears in I at all.

The King and I, in 1951, also claimed to be based on the novel, but was in fact drawn very closely from the Rex Harrison movie made a few years before. All the King's idioms (such as "etcetera, etcetera") came from that movie, because the King not only is almost nonexistent in the novel: he doesn't say anything at all.

However, presumably because of contractual requirements set up by Landon's agent, the adaptation credit had to go to her novel. So what these adaptations are based on and what they say they are based on are two different things.

Speaking of THE KING AND I and R&H selling out lately, I think this was their worst offense -- and it was 20 years ago!

So, does Nathan Lane have any chance of even getting a pity nomination this year?

This year's winner for that Tony will be Stephanie Block.

Nathan is terrible in GARY. No nomination. Early closing.

Janet Blair had all of the things you say she did, but she wasn't really a star.

The competition in the leading actor/musical category may actually be between Damon Daunno and Brooks Ashmanskas. It's funny how things pan out vs. predictions at the beginning of the season. Based on buzz alone I was certain Santino Fontana had it in the bag, but now I'm hearing a lot of "meh" about his performance (and the show).

Daunno. Is. Not. Good.

And OKLAHOMA is shit.

The Drama Leagues are virtually meaningless, right?

NOKLAHOMA! will probably be awarded up the wazoo and we all know it's not because of the quality.

Which means it will run through Christmas and then disappear.

Although as bad as Daunno is, Rebecca Naomi "Deena" Jones is a million times worse.

For reasons that are impossible to figure out, Santino was more interesting as the Prince in Cinderella that he is in TOOTSIE. It's a good performance, but not a star performance, and the show needs that energy from him. Not sure what happened because most of the tools are there.

I bet Beatrice Lillie would have been a fun dining room Dolly, considering that this still from the 1957 "Ziegfeld Follies" is humorous even just as a picture. As Bea & Carol crossed paths just a few years later, Bea could have told her that the corn was in the dumplings.

We don't *all* know this, r319.

Gwen was a bit stymied when people expressed surprise at her acting in non-musical roles. She said, "What did they think I was doing between the songs and the dances?".

Or what she was doing when she was singing and dancing -- that's called acting / being in character as you sing and dance.

one of you posted some Sheena Easton Man of La Mancha upthread and made me listen to this again. Sure sounds like it was an intense effective perofrmance,, and love that chest sound in the lower register, did anyone see her in the original?

I saw Maura K. Wedge.

How did they manage to do KMK without a shrew? Should have called it KISS ME ANNA. Great talent, wrong role.

Jesus fucking christ.

What is it? Kill it now before it spreads.

[quote]Kill it now before it spreads.

R331, How do you think "it" got her roles.

I agree, r329. I haven't seen this production, but Kelli struck me as totally miscast. She's too sweet and bland--a 'nilla wafer.

Why was Diener fired from the London production of Kismet?

Her Wiki entry doesn't mention it, r334. It does mention she didn't get a Tony nomination for Aldonza.

What year do you think Encores! will do this? 2067?

There's pic of her replacement, Sheila Bradley, that's captioned with the info of Diener's firing.

Miss Marin....

[quote]Not sure what happened because most of the tools are there.

I'd like to hear more about Santino's tool.

What about ME?

Encores! can't do Lute Song, because it isn't a full-scale musical. There are about seven songs plus orchestral bits.

Matt Bomer just revealed on Instagram that the entire cast of Boys in the Band will reunite for a filming of the play for Netflix. God bless Netflix!

R344 We know Rose, there is a thread on it

The downside of star casting... a less than stellar production gets recorded for posterity.

R345, but had it been mentioned here yet? Pay attention, bitch.

R342 I love MEM--and saw her play Aldonza both in our high school production (she was all of sixteen, I think) and on Broadway where, the night we were there, she burned up the place. (She was amazing in the high school production too and that's not just rose-colored glasses of nostalgia--she had done Liesl and Laurie, so we knew she could sing beautifully, but her Aldonza was in another stratosphere). Dan Castellaneta played the Innkeeper (the role I wanted--well, if I knew he was going to become Dan Castellaneta, I wouldn't have felt so heart-broken). I wish the recording with her and Stokes Mitchell were better--I don't think it captured the power of either performance as much as I experienced them in live performance.

Jesus Christ!

Charity Hope Valentine in a jean jacket!! Wtf?

Is that even a 1960s do? It looks early '70s to me. It reminds me of a Tracey Ullman character.

Sutton Foster is such a hard case. She’s ugly no matter what wigs she wears, she sounds like her voice is in a vice and she’s Katie Couric/Anne Hathaway perky/annoying.

Yet she’s a stah

[quote]Martin was apprehensive about playing Venus, but was convinced by others

One of the main convincers was super-dyke producer Cheryl Crawford, who undoubtedly helped Martin put a finger on the source of her reticence.

Oy

Joan Diener was actually a blonde - she wore a wig when she first played Aldonza, and decided she liked the look, so adopted it privately as well.

There is a more detailed description somewhere, because I've read it, but basically, Joan Diener missed a couple of performances of "Kismet" in London to take a quick weekend visit to the South of France for a vacation, and the producer, Jack Hylton, fired her.

Middle-aged Joan Diener and writer Jackie Susann = separated at birth??

When Sheena Easton collapsed during a performance of "Man of La Mancha" in 1992, Joan Diener took over for her. She was 62 at the time.

Poor Sheena. What happened there?

She missed the morning train and ran all the way to the theater.

R358, why didn’t Matinee Aldonza take over for Sheena?

Diener probably didn't live far way from the theater, and she was ready to have her name added to the marquee.

Better publicity for the show.

I don't remember the details. A friend of mine was playing in the pit when Diener took over.

Diener recalled her part on command after all these years?

Apparently she still had most of her voice in that very difficult role. She knew the role backwards and forwards, plus she was married to the producer.

r268 Perhaps my memory of the last KMK revival had me disappointed in this production. Will Chase acted the role wonderfully but vocally he was not the right type and it showed while singing with Kelli. Kelli was vocally superb (her So In Love was best I've ever heard) and I found her charming actually but Marin's broad comedy in I HATE MEN worked much better than Kelli's. Bianca was very one-note and seemed like a mediocre college student. Again I'm spoiled because I am remembering Amy Spanger's take on the role. Corbin Bleu was actually charming and did quite well - possibly the best casting. The gentleman playing Lilli's fiancé (the general) was also very miscast as he did not seem like a general whatsoever and seemed too contemporary. Brush Up Your Shakespeare duo were completely unfunny. Just a miss in the casting IMO.

I know a couple of different people who saw Diener when she took over for Easton, and both said she was terrific, spot on with her acting and still sounding and looking great.

I knew nothing of Corbin Bleu before I saw the "Holiday Inn" recorded for PBS and I came away VERY impressed.

I saw and loved the Marin KMK and have passed on this one, largely because I assumed Kelli would be too bland in the role. Somewhere on YouTube there's a clip of Kelli singing "So In Love" and I have to agree with r367--she was extraordinary.

Joan's return -- don't call it a comeback! -- to La Mancha makes me wonder if anyone thought of having her finally play Grand Hotel on Broadway.

All we know for sure about Corbin Bleu is that he used to play Sticky Biscuit with Zac Efron in his trailer.

Corbin Bleu? Isn't that a stuffed chicken dish?

and for the return during the Easton run she was billed as THE ORIGINAL JOAN DIENER or JOAN DIENER THE ORIGINAL or something like that

The former Mr. Mamie Gummer, Benjamin Walker, is the cast stand-out in All My Sons. I guess he can act after all.

She wasn't a ballerina in her version, r371.

What in the world happened with the Gummer-Walker marriage. Wasn't it less than a year

Nancy Reagan and Mary Martin sang "Mountain High Valley Low" at a benefit concert on Broadway in 1985. Actually, Mrs. Reagan mostly listened.

[quote]What in the world happened with the Gummer-Walker marriage. Wasn't it less than a year

I'm usually not curious about such things, but on this matter, I am VERY curious. It must have been something huge and horrible to end the marriage so quickly, which I assume is why they kept it quiet. Of course, someone must know (other than the two of them). Anybody?

Do you suppose Streep was involved in the dissolution of that marriage?

I think the four nominees for Best Musical are fairly obvious at this point: HADESTOWN, THE PROM, AIN'T TOO PROUD and TOOTSIE.

Yes, Tootsie. It's hilarious. I was stunned at how gleefully funny the show manages to be, from start to finish. And I even liked a few of the songs, just as I liked a few of the songs from The Prom. Tootsie is an adult musical that is brilliantly performed, with a handful of supporting performances that are stellar. Audiences are SO hungry for comedy, and Tootsie delivers.

And Santino Fontana is excellent. I really liked his performance, though I will admit that it hasn't stuck with me much since I saw the show, and it's been less than a week.

But HADESTOWN has this one in the bag. That score has some thrilling moments, and the work the show has done since OB is truly impressive. And I want Amber Gray to get that Tony, and she certainly will get it before Kelli O'Hara for KMK. I just hope she gets put in the lead category where she belongs. Her major competition will be Stephanie J. Block.

The play categories are far more interesting and competitive this year. INK is stunningly good. And with INK and THE FERRYMAN, we're about to see the Brits walk away with a LOT of Tony nominations again this year.

Adam Driver certainly got the notices for BURN THIS, did he not? He's a very interesting actor, very intense. I saw him do

I want to also raise a glass to Michael Stuhlbarg's brilliant performance in SOCRATES. I was at the show for the first preview, and even then he was superb. The feckin' play is WAY TOO LONG though.

Also too long, even while coming in at 85 minutes, was THE MOTHER at the Atlantic. So damn indulgent. It's interesting that none of the early awards are even tossing Isabelle Huppert a bon bon nomination for her scenery chewing. She's fearless, but the play is a ponderous mess. Quite a few people didn't even make it through the 85 minutes, but I wasn't going to insult any of those actors by departing before the end.

Poor Laura B could have gotten her lead Tony if she had done She Loves Me or opened MFL this year

I agree, r379, someone here knows. The axe fell so swiftly and absolutely and yet not a word was leaked. What could have happened?

R383, when marriages dissolve in less than a year, it is because of one of three things. One person cannot have children and did not make that known before the marriage. One person is gay. Or, there was physical abuse. Given that this was kept quiet, my money is on one being infertile or Mamie being physically abusive to Walker. If he was abusive to her, it probably would not have been kept quiet.

Walker looked at himself in the mirror, looked over at the ugly Streep spawn he married, looked back at the mirror and got the hell out of there.

He has since remarried and fathered a kid; she just produced a kid with some Indian director. So we're down to abuse.

R382 I'm confused. Didn't Benanti open the recent Broadway revival of SHE LOVES ME and was even Tony-nominated for lead?

How about fraud?

Why did some nobody from The NY Times review "Socrates", when it should have been Brantley or Green? Especially considering the quality of the actors on that stage?

From the Swoosie Kurtz thread.....

R388 LOL! I remember that. My sister-in-law momentarily hated you because she was obsessed with Chesney at the time.

[quote]He has since remarried and fathered a kid; she just produced a kid with some Indian director. So we're down to abuse.

Isn't infidelity another possibility? Or is that too old-fashioned to be a reason for divorce anymore?

R392, Generally, infidelity is not an issue in the first year. It isn't impossible, but it is not a common reason. I think if that was a reason it would not have been kept quit. Again, it is possible Gummer was the "infidel" and her family made a deal to keep it quiet. If Walker was the problem, I doubt it would have been kept quiet.

[quote]"infidel"

I love it! Whatever, I suppose we may never know what ended that marriage. And in a way, one could say it's refreshing that there are some cases where people's dirty laundry is NOT aired to the entire world through social media or whatever.

How about this? Streep's kids are loons.

Walker was screwing around on Mamie. Wouldn’t you if you were relatively hot and had to come home to someone like Mamie?

Another vote for Tootsie. Saw it last Friday. Very, very funny. Solid laughs from beginning to end. Solid performances. Great character songs and one dance number in particular was hilarious. Audience loved it.

I'm inclined to believe that Mamie was the bad actor here

Let's all think really, really hard and come up with a time Mamie was a good actor in something.

I thought Mamie did a fine job as "Baby" in Heartburn!

r389, I wondered the same thing myself. Maybe Jesse and Ben are somewhat overwhelmed by all the Broadway openings right now. To be fair, that critic isn't exactly a nobody. She reviews a lot of second- and third-tier productions, and she's pretty good.

R401 It's major play directed by a major director with an outstanding lead performance. A third stringer should not be the one to do the job of reviewing it.

R402, what's your silly hang-up with a "third stringer?" The reviewer in question is a very good reviewer -- far better than Green, in my opinion. And as someone else pointed out, there are SO MANY high profile openings on and Off-Broadway right now, there's no way Brantley or Green could get to all of them.

I wouldn't say TOOTSIE is an automatic at this point. I think for all its silliness, there's fondness for BE MORE CHILL from the nominators. Everyone I know who has seen TOOTSIE has said it's a solid B at best, Yazbeck's work is subpar, and when you're leaving you forget everything. Everyone thinks the jokes are funny, but that the story isn't really well told or moving, as the film was. Also fair to assume BEETLEJUICE is out, although industry word of mouth is very similar to Tootsie's. HADESTOWN is now the show to beat.

The reason a third stringer is insulting -- and it is -- is that everyone knows if you get the third stringer, you are telling all smart New York Theatre goers this play or musical doesn't really matter. Who remembers Enid Nemy?

Mamie is Enid Nemy to Meryl's Walter Kerr.

R405, you really are obsessed with this, aren't you? Again, THERE ARE TOO MANY OPENINGS ON AND OFF-BROADWAY RIGHT NOW FOR BRANTLEY AND GREEN TO COVER AND PROVIDE WELL-THOUGHT-OUT REVIEWS OF ALL OF THEM.

Happy to see Barbara Eden touring in 'Woman of the Year', but isn't she a bit long in the tooth for the roll? Are there plans to bring it back to Broadway?

Marilyn Cooper is tanned, relaxed, ready and dead!

We realize there are a lot of Broadway openings right now but there are 2 1st string reviewers and there are NOT Broadway openings every night, not by a long shot. Ben and Jesse certainly each had a few spare nights this week and last week.

Isn't Laura Collins-Hughes the reviewer who called out Alysha Umphress and her unflattering costume design (otherwise known as fat-shaming) and also the reviewer who questioned the validity of Big River at Encores because of its so-called racism? She's highly controversial.

She's also an average writer.

And an imbecile.

John Cameron Mitchell's latest....Wow, does this read tedious.

^^A singing brain tumor? What's not to like?

r408 that was from 1984

Redhead.....s

Marilyn.....

[quote]We realize there are a lot of Broadway openings right now but there are 2 1st string reviewers and there are NOT Broadway openings every night, not by a long shot. Ben and Jesse certainly each had a few spare nights this week and last week.

Brantley and Green review some major Off-Broadway shows as well -- and the show that some people here are complaining about not having a first-string critic assigned to it is an Off-Broadway show. If you add up all the shows opening on and Off-Broadway in April, that's a LOT of shows. I'm not saying that Brantley and Green have no "spare nights," but obviously, the Times is not going to assign them to review more than a certain number in one week.

R408, but isn't she a bit long in the tooth for the roll?

Oh, dear!

Rewatched (again) the Steve Martin-Bernadette Peters film version of Pennies From Heaven recently and continued to wish for someone to adapt it for the stage. It would take someone much cleverer than I am to pull off the instant transitions to the fantasy musical numbers. And, lord, the story gets bleaker and bleaker as it goes, which would be a hard sell for producers and audiences. I enjoy the original British miniseries, too, but the production numbers in the film are just fantastic hat tips to Busby Berkeley, vaudeville, etc.

And WHET Vernel Bagneris who performed the title number in the film?

But isn’t the whole point of Pennies From Heaven that the characters lip synch to standards of the time? I don’t think that would work onstage.

R344, Could this mean Netflix will also be filming Take Me Out? Netflix aired the recent Chris Pine movie, with peen.

They could just revive Steel Pier, R420 for the audience that wants depressing without catharsis.

They danced to a variety of styles of music in Contact, and that did pretty well with no one actually singing.

People want fun escapism. They don't want depressing nor a lecture.

I don't usually say something like this, but who are these morons who think Tootsie is anything but unmitigated garbage? Jesus Christ, stop going to the theater. You're the problem.

Dark can work too -- but there must be some catharsis. At least bake the bad people into pies or something.

HADESTOWN has Best Musical Tony in the bag. Count on it.

Doesn't really matter who else gets nominated.

I really think it's going to be King Kong.

What do we think will get the coveted first closing announcement after the nominations are revealed? My money's on either King Kong or Beetlejuice.

R427 =Brooks A.

My fair lady Freddy and Higgins must be smuggling trouser trout. Bulges galore

R433 how do you mean?

I think Kong is holding on not for nominations, so much, as the opportunity to be on the Tony telecast. They want that free national commercial. If the producers of the Tonys nix them, they’ll fold.

R416, I'd never seen that and it looks pretty real. Lucy could go ghetto with the best of them.

Best Musical is between The Prom and Hadestown. Hadestown has the momentum but there's plenty of time left for wheeling and dealing. It worked for Avenue Q and Gentleman's Guide. I personally enjoyed both shows quite a bit. They're apples and oranges in terms of their strengths. I do feel like Hadestown had something different to offer and I'd like to see it recognized.

Whoever said Stephanie J. Block is the frontrunner in her category is a tad delusional.

R437

Well one hopes she is at least nominated.

R434, hey dim-bulb how-do-you-mean troll, go get a clue or go back to elementary school if you need it all spelled out for you, you obtuse d-bag.

You have a great deal of charm, r439. Bet you have lots of friends and admirers.

R408, Is that really happening? Barbara Eden is 87.

Yes, it really happened, R441. In 1984, as someone already mentioned upthread.

[quote]He's a very interesting actor, very intense. I saw him do

Do what? Do what? Don't keep us hanging, r381!

R442, But R408 seemed to mean that she's doing it in 2019.

Yes, Rose.

[quote]isn't she a bit long in the tooth for the roll?

Not if it's a Porterhouse.

[quote]I think Kong is holding on not for nominations, so much, as the opportunity to be on the Tony telecast...

I can see the opening sequence of the Tonys, where there's a thick cloud of fog on the stage. Slowly, through the mist, the face of Kong appears (just like in the show), with a mighty roar. It's a spectacular effect.

Then out comes Kong's hand. Cradled in it is James Corden, with that damsel-in-distress look. Kong gently puts him down at the foot of the stage.

Corden: "Thanks Kong for the ride! This midtown traffic is a bitch."

[quote]Happy to see Barbara Eden touring in 'Woman of the Year', but isn't she a bit long in the tooth for the roll?

I think her teeth are nice, but I can't believe how old she is!

R447, which one of my fucking writers spilled the beans?

R408 is clearly making a cutesy joke referencing the post from the person who toured with Eden in WOTY in 1984. He knows she's not doing it now, but he thinks he's cute making that phony-dumb statement.

Don't forget about Joyce Bulifant, who played Murray's wife. She's still alive, too. And on Twitter.

[quote] isn't she a bit long in the tooth for the roll?

[quote]Not if it's a Porterhouse.

A Porterhouse is a kind of STEAK. The roll is PARKER HOUSE.

I wonder how many posters saw the mistake ^^ and let it pass without a correction......

Why are no actor nominees people of color???

I still can't get over that horrible wig and costume design in the Sutton Foster/Sweet Charity clip. Did anyone see the production? I remember them talking about bringing it to Broadway, but that obviously never happened. It looked like lousy community theatre.

I don't know if a revival of that could do decent business without a big star attached. I know some people go back and forth on her, but Emma Stone would be wonderful as Charity in a few years. Not sure if she could dance it, but I bet she could sing it and I know she could act it.

R454 to what are you referring?

So is the best revival Tony going to the dreadful NOKLAMOMA! or the mediocre Kiss Me, Kate production?

So glad I got to see the Stokes Mitchell/Marin Mazzie KMK revival. Not perfect but still wonderful.

I worked on Fosse/Verdon. Stand in for Evan Handler (Hal Prince). Must admit, I'm vaguely unimpressed with the show itself. The acting is fine, but, what are they going for? I'm just not getting it.

Sorry for the typo. NOKLAHOMA! of course. Does anyone remember the gay porno VHS version, OKLAHOMO!, about the gay cowboy Curley rivaling gay farmhand Jud to take the gay farmhand Laury to the "box" social? They replaced the musical numbers with sex scenes. It was sort of fun.

Not especially hot, mind you ^, but fun. I love that it's listed on IMDB because people have accused me of making this up.

I saw it. I own it.

I turned 18 in December '97 and began frequenting the local porn shop. I recall seeing it there a lot -- it stuck out because I grew up on the R&H movie musicals -- but I never rented it. I remember being turned off by the cover. Pretty ugly case, which is why I didn't pick it up to examine it further. But now I'm really curious. LOL

Times third stringer Laura-Collins Hughes is also the person whose accusation of a ‘lingering’ wet kiss at an opening night party was part of the ‘evidence’ that led to Gordon Edelstein losing his job as artistic director at Long Wharf Theatre. She’s an odd one.

Has anyone seen the new Donmar Sweet Charity? Anne Marie Duff apparently cannot sing at all.

To [R327]:

I saw Diener and the original cast of MoML on Saturday night of their first week of performances, at the Anta Washington Square Theater, in November of 1965. It was my first Broadway musical, and I loved it. Everyone was wonderful, but Diener and Kiley were stellar. I also was moved to see Robert Rounseville in person, whom I had heard on Candide.

It seemed a very movement-oriented show, along with some masks and minor props, with an ensemble cast. Not to mention a drawbridge lowering from the ceiling, creating a paranoid effect in the audience. (The Anta was a thrust stage in a semi-circular arena, very similar to the Vivian Beaumont, though not nearly as finished, with bare cement floors. But the staging used all that, a quality lacking in later proscenium productions.)

After the show, as my mother, older brother and I were standing outside, Diener appeared nearby, to be greeted by friends. When they were enthusiastic about her and the show, her response was, “Did you really like it?” (The show took a while to catch on, at first mostly by word of mouth. It seemed that it took about six months before there was a cast album. Then the growing presence of “The Impossible Dream,” which I first heard that night as an inspirational anthem, eventually became so massively popular, blaring everywhere under the sun, about anything you can imagine, that you could hear it everywhere, and the show’s popularity soared. I eventuality got sick of it.)

But that night was indeed a magical experience.

I also saw Diener in the misbegotten Cry For Us All. But that, as they say, is another story.

[quote]So is the best revival Tony going to the dreadful NOKLAMOMA! or the mediocre Kiss Me, Kate production?

This will never happen, but -- they should eliminate that category this year. Neither of these productions deserves to be nominated for a Tony, let alone to win one.

How cute was Brooks Ashmanskas back in the day?

He looks like Paul Reiser there.

[quote ]...they should eliminate that category this year. Neither of these productions deserves to be nominated for a Tony, let alone to win one.

Agreed, The late 90s revival with Stokes Mitchell and Marin Mazzie wasn't perfect but was very, very good,

R465 what did you think of the movie?

A young Nathan Lane, for contrast.

Young Patti!

R467 he looks like that guy from Full House who broke Alanis Morrissette's heart and she wrote that mean song about it.

Rehearsing for EVITA.

She looks like Anne Hathaway's ethnic cousin from Valley Stream.

Diener was also in the notorious flop "Home Sweet Homer" Lord, it sounds like an SNL skit.

Joan Diener is bringing you full-on Smirky Blonde Glamour, people.

Did Miss Diener also go through a brief Diahann Carroll period?

I'm Joan Diener. This is my face.

And my bosom. This is my bosom and my face.

Cover girl!

I never understood that Aldonza costume with all of the fishnet around her cleavage. Did Aldonza work the docks of La Mancha?

I've not seen the Donmar Sweet Charity but the photos on BWW look horrendous.

I'm also not wild about the idea of Emma Stone or other ingenues playing her. I saw the original with Gwen and the national tour with Chita and what made that show hilarious was the utter hardness of the girls of the Fandango Palace (surely you've all seen the film?). They're not a bunch of LA cheerleaders at a mixer.

Did anyone see the Christina Applegate production? I was just getting into musical theater when that revival came around, so I missed it. I think it was nominated for several Tonys.

349 - I agree that the OBC Recording of the Stokes/MEM didn't begin to capture the magic of that revival. And Stokes admitted later he shit the bed by going for the High F at the end of the song on the recording (he said to hit the F is akin to reaching the dream...the D leaves it unresolved/open-ended -- I thought this was pretty insightful)

As I recall, that 2002 revival initially received pretty tepid/middling reviews -- and Stokes was meandering a bit in the role early on. That said, by the time I saw it in July 2003, with Marin opposite Stokes -- it was a *profoundly* moving theatrical experience. Going into it, I remember critics ragging on about the overbearing metal silo of a set -- but I thought it worked perfectly within the world established of that production. Magical really. And Stokes was truly masterful in the part. I was sitting next to two older ladies who had seen the original at the ANTA-Washington Square several times, and subsequent revivals. They were very reluctant going in as Kiley and Diener were admittedly peerless in those parts. But by the final reprise of 'The Impossible Dream', they were balling their eyes out. They grabbed me by the arm during the bows and said "This. THIS was even better." I had to agree (I know, Mary!)

If LuPone didn't get Evita, how long would it have taken her to get to the top? What could she have done. Would she have switched to Hollywood.

LEHMAN TRILOGY in talks to do limited engagement on Bway this fall--with original cast.

The Lehman Trilogy, Ink, The Ferryman and The Inheritance are the best theater I've seen in years. Now more than ever, the Brits are putting us to shame in the theatre.

R482 -- I saw the Applegate production at the Hirschfeld late in its short run. She definitely gave it her all, and I recall liking her in the part a lot -- even if her dancing and singing weren't relevatory. It was a similar reaction to seeing Melanie Griffith in Chicago -- though Applegate had far better dancing chops than MG. Denis O'Hare was the real standout in that strange production. Perfectly cast as Oscar and had great chemistry with Applegate. But the scenery and choreography by Wayne Cilento (IIRC?) was no great shake.

It was a very 'dark' production -- almost had the feel of a black box mounting of the show, given the minimal scenery. Compared to some of the shlock treading the boards now -- it probably would be seen as a first rate revival today, but at the time, it had lost its sheen during its out-of-town tryouts (what with Applegate breaking her ankle and D'Amboise stepping in, and the drama on whether she'd return). Applegate was VERY likeable however and gave it her all -- unfortunately, she was weighed down by an uncertain physical production, indecisive direction from Walter Bobbie and lame choreo. A shame as that brassy Cy Coleman score never sounded better!

True, R486. But if we nurtured our own playwrights and playwriting here like the Brits do, it would be different.

R483 wasn't that Marin/Stokes Mitchell KSK revival from 1999-2000?

R489 -- Sorry was talking about the Man Of La Mancha revival (2002-2003 season) You're correct the Marin/Stokes KMK revival ran from 1999-2001.

R469, A bootleg DVD recording exists. I've seen it.

Why did Patti sing "Ladies Who Lunch" sitting down in the London production?

R490 my mistake. If I'd read it more carefully, I would've figured it out.

I saw the Christina Applegate Sweet Charity. She was very charming and likable. Denis O’Hare was quite good.

With only two potential nominees for Best Revival of a Musical, the Tonys have the option of combining the category with Best Revival of a Play and only giving out one Best Revival award. But both potential nominees are plausible, and eliminating a category would mean one less production could trumpet a Tony win, so it will never happen. It’s a business in the end, after all.

I've always felt Charity works better in a smaller production. The storyline often gets gobbled up with those Fosse type production numbers. Tone everything down and the story and wonderful score comes through much more clearly.

She gives her junior sister the chocolate!

In regard to R 486's statement, who is America's greatest living playwright?

Seeing the Donmar Sweet Charity next week.

I’d watch Anne-Marie Duff in anything. She’s the real deal, and elevates everything in which she leads. I’m quite looking forward, even if the production turns out to be a dud.

[quote]But by the final reprise of 'The Impossible Dream', they were balling their eyes out

They were fucking? Right there in the theater?

The score to Tootsie is so substandard it’s hard to comprehend. Every song feels like a first draft. The Sandy number is a direct lift of Model Behavior. Yazbek can’t write a ballad to save his life. This one shows that he simply has no understanding of musical composition or craft. The lyrics are better, but display his over-used, over-stuffed “comedy” shtick.

Santino hits all his marks but still seems like a good performer with no star energy.

The love interest (Jessica Lange character) is played the most boring actress in the western world.

Michael McGrath and Reg Rogers are doing dueling Nathan Lane impersonations. Amusing, but times 2?

Super-ugly set and costumes that seem to SCREAM 1980s. Although the program says it’s NYC “today.”

Combing Best Play and Best Musical in one category? Has that ever been done before?

I’m wondering about acting nominations for The Prom cast? Could it get two Lead Actress nominations, two Features Actors and one Featured Actress?

R501 until 1994, musicals and plays were combined together to award Best Revival. After that, the categories were split into Best Revival of a Play and Best Revival of a Musical. Just for this season at least, IMO, they should combine the categories once again.

I certainly hope that when the Donmar production of "Charity" arrives on Broadway (and you know it will), that our own beloved Lens Dunham is cast as Charity Hope Valentine. If anyone can pull off the charm of the sad little ragamuffin who is Charity, it would be that dynamo Lens! Fingers crossed!!

The Play Revivals are not great either. King Lear is really disappointing. The Waverly Gallery, which was good but not great, could well win. My vote would be for The Boys in the Band, despite its flaws.

Does BOYS IN THE BAND have a chance at any nods? Since it played last summer, many at the time thought that the Tonys would overlook it, but since it's been such a lackluster season, will they reach back that far to nominate something/someone?

There were only seven play revivals this season, none of which got raves. Burn This and Waverly are getting in. I think Boys and All My Sons are the other two.

[quote] There were only seven play revivals this season, none of which got raves.

Looking at the critic breakdowns on Show Score, Waverly's reviews were almost entirely raves, save for a few outliers like AMNY and NJ.com. Boys in the Band also did well, but had some very significant detractors, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.

The Waverly Gallery https://www.show-score.com/broadway-shows/the-waverly-gallery

The Boys in the Band https://www.show-score.com/broadway-shows/boys-in-the-band-broadway

Will try that again...

The Waverly Gallery on Show Score

The four best revival of a play nominees will be: All My Sons, Boys in the Band, Burn This, and Waverly Gallery. No idea which will win.

The Boys in the Band on Show Score

I’m not sure if the Donmar production will transfer. Rourke is pretty done with theatre and looking to focus on more screen work.

Even though Glenda got strong notices, the tepid response to Lear overall must hurt her Tony chances. Everyone thought she had it in the bag, but its possible Elaine May takes it. There was a lot of love for that performance (and her career). I'd still vote for Laura Donnelly, she does a lot more than May with a much more difficult balancing act. Plus, Laura is what really made the last 10 minutes of that show simultaneously seem to flash in front of your eyes and last forever. I can't imagine a "big name actress" making those moments sing like Laura, they'd be pulling focus and breaking into histrionics.

Will Annette and Laurie both get in? They had buzz but nobody seems to care about the shows or the performances.

Those who want to combine the Revival categories seem to want to deprive Oklahoma! of a win. If it's up against KMK, it will win.

I liked Ferryman a lot and thought Laura Donnelly was very good, but haven't understood the fuss over that performance either. I felt Elaine May disappeared into that role, and it's a fiendishly difficult part. I thought it was one of the greatest performances I've seen in 40+ years of theatergoing.

"one of the greatest performances I've seen in 40+ years of theatergoing" -- oh MARY! So much for Judi Dench, Meryl, Maggie Smith ,Angela Lansbury...

TOOTSIE is one of those shows that you can tell that no one on the creative team was working on the same show. Tone/style/point of view is all over the place. It's not bad, it's just not good. It need a stronger directorial/writing hand. And between this and Pretty Woman, Rockwell should be ashamed.

Enough with the show score crap....That thing is a joke.

I saw Lear at the Old Vic and thought it was dreadful.

Do they still have those giant plastic sheets?

that was an entirely different production

FERRYMAN is a lock for Best Play. I should think Sam Mendes is, too.

A Charity who is a great actress but can't sing or dance? Jeez, just do Nights of Cabiria instead.

R467 People here like to drag him for his weight but Brooks still IS cute, IMO. I wish he'd smile more in photos instead of making goofy faces.

BTW he was still using that headshot in 2003, when he was in Mendes' Gypsy and not exactly fresh-faced anymore.

The 60s moved very fast, so the movie of Sweet Charity in 1969 seemed very dated the day it opened, only 3 years after the show. But in hindsight, it's a very good movie, and Shirley MacLaine really is superb.

Who did he play? Tulsa?

No, the Old Vic’s King Lear (with Glenda Jackson) is the production that has just opened on Broadway.

Oh you’re right, it is a different production, just starring the same actor. The production shots look extremely similar which confused me. Why do the same play in the same way twice?

R525, he played all of the character men; Mr Goldstone, etc.

Why aren't all of the actors in Oklahoma in wheelchairs?

[quote]Why aren't all of the actors in Oklahoma in wheelchairs?

R530, because some *can* say "no".

I thought Boys in the Band made a point of NOT inviting Tony voters because the season had already concluded. Did they invite them for consideration for this year? I'm not so sure.

Could it win noms without formally inviting the voters? Were the Tony nominators even invited?

Were rulings made about which actors would be considered Lead and which Featured?

There is NO question now that Elaine May will win the Tony. End of discussion.

Boys in the Band invited Tony voters. I am one. I saw it.

And I absolutely think Oklahoma will win Best Revival even if musicals and plays are combined. Daniel Fish will probably even win Best Director of a Musical. Certainly NONE of the others are worth awarding.

I don't care for this Oklahoma but it is an audacious achievement that will surely be recognized, even I can admit that.

One hand clapping.

That 2003 revival of La Mancha added an unnecessary modulation and second chorus to The Impossible Dream for the sake of grandstanding high notes. If there ever was a character that resisted showboating, it's humble Don Quixote.

Why does Reeve Carney get work? Everything he's in flops, and he's completely boring and wonder bread on stage. Someone explain, please.

He's Art (Norton!) Carney's grandson, and thus show biz royalty, R537. And some people find him hot.

I... do not.

My niece went to Hamilton High Performing Arts Magnet with him and I saw him in many productions. Truthfully, I would have laughed if you told me that he would be a successful working actor. There were a few other boys I thought would go on to big careers who didn't.

[quote]And I absolutely think Oklahoma will win Best Revival even if musicals and plays are combined. Daniel Fish will probably even win Best Director of a Musical. Certainly NONE of the others are worth awarding. I don't care for this Oklahoma but it is an audacious achievement that will surely be recognized, even I can admit that.

I really hate to say this, but I think you're right.

[quote]Why does Reeve Carney get work? Everything he's in flops, and he's completely boring and wonder bread on stage. Someone explain, please.

If you'll start by explaining what you mean when you say that "everything he's in flops." Has he been in shows Off-Broadway or in other cities that have flopped? Because, on Broadway, he has only been in SPIDER-MAN (which indeed must be considered a flop, despite a run of two and a half years) and HADESTOWN (which seems to be a hit, and at any rate certainly can't be rated a "flop" as of yet even if turns out to be one).

[quote]As I recall, that 2002 revival initially received pretty tepid/middling reviews -- and Stokes was meandering a bit in the role early on. That said, by the time I saw it in July 2003, with Marin opposite Stokes -- it was a *profoundly* moving theatrical experience. Going into it, I remember critics ragging on about the overbearing metal silo of a set -- but I thought it worked perfectly within the world established of that production. Magical really. And Stokes was truly masterful in the part. I was sitting next to two older ladies who had seen the original at the ANTA-Washington Square several times, and subsequent revivals. They were very reluctant going in as Kiley and Diener were admittedly peerless in those parts. But by the final reprise of 'The Impossible Dream', they were balling their eyes out. They grabbed me by the arm during the bows and said "This. THIS was even better." I had to agree (I know, Mary!)

Maybe Stokes got a lot better as the run progressed. At the beginning, he was using areally fake, ponderous voice for the Quixote scenes and his own very modern, slick voice for the Cervantes scenes. It was a not a good performance at all.

[quote]I agree that the OBC Recording of the Stokes/MEM didn't begin to capture the magic of that revival. And Stokes admitted later he shit the bed by going for the High F at the end of the song on the recording (he said to hit the F is akin to reaching the dream...the D leaves it unresolved/open-ended -- I thought this was pretty insightful)

At least he eventually admitted it was a big mistake. Too bad he didn't have that insight earlier, which would have kept him from adding that high note in the first place.

[quote]I've always felt Charity works better in a smaller production. The storyline often gets gobbled up with those Fosse type production numbers. Tone everything down and the story and wonderful score comes through much more clearly.

Oh yes -- all those awful production numbers with all that annoying Fosse choreography. Didn't miss those at all. (Are you insane?)

[quote]Until 1994, musicals and plays were combined together to award Best Revival. After that, the categories were split into Best Revival of a Play and Best Revival of a Musical. Just for this season at least, IMO, they should combine the categories once again.

Yes, they really should, and it's sad that they almost certainly won't.

[quote]Does BOYS IN THE BAND have a chance at any nods? Since it played last summer, many at the time thought that the Tonys would overlook it, but since it's been such a lackluster season, will they reach back that far to nominate something/someone?

I think it has an excellent chance of a Best Revival nod at least, though it may not get any acting noms because there's so much competition in those categories.

[quote]Even though Glenda got strong notices, the tepid response to Lear overall must hurt her Tony chances. Everyone thought she had it in the bag, but its possible Elaine May takes it.

You really think everyone thought Glenda would win her second Tony in a row over Elaine May? I don't agree at all. Seems to me Jackson made two big mistakes -- in choosing to come back to Broadwsy so soon (after such a long absence previously), and in deciding to come in a new (and apparently bad) production of KING LEAR rather than the production for which she was lauded in the U.K.

[quote]Those who want to combine the Revival categories seem to want to deprive Oklahoma! of a win.

Correct.

[quote]TOOTSIE is one of those shows that you can tell that no one on the creative team was working on the same show. Tone/style/point of view is all over the place. It's not bad, it's just not good. It need a stronger directorial/writing hand.

I haven't seen TOOTSIE yet, but when I read the first announcement of the creative team, the big red flag for me was the director, Scott Ellis. If what you say is true, I'd place the blame squarely on his shoulders. I think he's an untalented director who has lucked into a fair number of hits, or semi-hits. Though a lot of the shows he has directed have been for the Roundabout, so it's not always easy to say if they were real hits (because of the limited runs).

Every movie Reeve Carney has made has been a flop. What was that horrifying Beatles thing Taymor made with him? Ugh...

His "Penny Dreadful" series was dreadful and it flopped! Let's keep going with more Reeve Carney flops!

Hadestown will not win the Tony for best musical. It's too cerebral and cold. The voters always go for the shows with heart. That means either "Aint Too Proud" or "The Prom"

R544 PENNY DREADFUL was not a flop. It received favorable reviews and lasted 3 seasons. It ended because the creator felt the story had reached its conclusion. There's a spin-off in the works.

I saw the Applegate Sweet Charity as well and she really was wonderful in the part and I wish she'd come back to Broadway. She was incredibly funny and charming and her singing was no better or worse than anyone else who's played the role. The production itself was kinda weird, though. I didn't care for it as a whole.

I love it when pompous theatre queens make pronouncements like “Daniel Fish will win the Tony!!” as if they can will it into happening.

The only award he’s a shoo-in for is the fuggo oh the year.

I'm the housekeeper!

Please tell me Fish is not gay, because he's fugly...Let the straights have him and all his pretentiousness.

Wow. What is the deal with Scott Ellis? He has directed everything.

Have any of the musicals he has directed ever recouped? What rotten luck.

Does anybody remember that before Applegate, it was to be (if I remember the order) Krakowski, Elfman, then Tomei?

Speaking of the '05 Sweet Charity, WHET to Janine LaManna? She hasn't been on Broadway in over a decade.

R552, yes because Krakowski, refused to do the role unless the character of Charity was "empowered".

Was Elfman serious considered? Wasn't she bounded out of the "Nine" revival because at some point in rehearsal (!) they discovered she couldn't sing?

R554 empowered how?

Like go against everything the character of put-upon, dumped on, taken advantage of, etc. that actually is sweet Charity.

R525, Mr. Goldstone.

Tulsa was played by other DL fave David Burtka.

Applegate should return to play Roxie on Broadway. She still has fans from MWC and could be a very nice replacement.

David Burtka was only really a favorite when he bared his body in the "Play about the Baby" and Marian Seldes and Brian Murray still stole the show.

Theatre Twitter seems certain that Hadestown will sweep. I'm not so sure. Industry folks love The Prom; they respect Hadestown. I tend to agree that The Prom is the sentimental favorite.

Saw Tootsie the other day. The humor is fun in the moment, but ultimately forgettable. Couldn't they have found someone who could've turned in more of a star performance than Santino?

"Theatre Twitter"....No there's a reliable source....

[quote] Marian Seldes and Brian Murray still stole the show.

They'r'e both dead.

R563 Still better than Burkas' cock

That was the same reason they chose not to go with her for Charity, r555.

“Still Better than Burtka’s Cock” and Other Tales From My Crazy Life

By Neil Patrick Harris

Colin Donnell has been bumped from 'Chicago Med'.....suppose he can spend his time caring for Patti

Wait, what happened? I don't watch that show.

Am I the only one who thinks the book to Sweet Charity is bad? Dances work, but in terms of story nothing really happens until she meets Oscar. It’s all treading water till then and that’s almost the act break. The entire movie star adventure could be lifted with no harm to the story. The rest just seems like a bunch of mildly ( very mildly) amusing scenes around which dance numbers are built while a heroine learns pretty much nothing from her experiences.

I did the show last year, and I think you're being harsh. Is it A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC? Hardly. But bad? No. The book is vignette-episodic in its structure--Charity questions her life and aspires to something greater throughout and the audience roots for her. Her lack of education. poor choices and limited opportunities, however, continually thwart her, but she never flags in her quest for love. She's the Eternal Optimist. Sure, the book was built around its terpsichorean star and it's essentially a character portrait--but what's wrong with that? Would that a new show today had that much charm to offer.

Those of you think Daniel Fish doesn't deserve the Tony for Oklahoma....well, who do you think should win it?

The visionary director of King Kong. You know, what’shisname...

The book for ALNM isn't the greatest either. John Simon said that the wit in "Smiles of a Summer Night" was beautifully continental but the wit in ALNM would barely pass muster at the Continental Baths.

Did anyone else see the recent LA revival of "Charity" with Laura Bell Bundy, Jon-Jon Briones and DL fave Barrett Foa? I thought it was a lot of fun.

Has anyone ever proposed a musical about (and with the music of) Stevie Wonder? He has an incredible catalog of hits -- many more than some of the other performers whose works have been incorporated into a musical -- in either the jukebox or biographical format. I don't know that much about his story and whether it would make a good musical, but the music itself certainly would.

Spare me the received (and fatuous) opinion, r574. ALNM is not only a superb adaptation of a screenplay to a libretto for the musical stage, with several structural innovations throughout, but Wheeler fleshed out and added his own rueful ruminations on middle-aged ennui, replete with wisdom and, yes, wit (there are few scenes as scintillatingly adult as the Frederik-Desiree reunion in Act One). Listen to a live recording from the production and the audience vocally responds to the incisive dialogue and lyrics throughout. Unlike contemporary adaptations, Wheeler had something to contribute to the story, and he accomplished it superbly.

David Burtka was naked for a while, not just a minute or so. Too bad the play was somewhat interesting, so I have less time to watch David.

I think I like this

Beth's a treasure, R579. I don't think the song (or the moment in the show) would have half the impact it does without her comedic touch.

R559 Fred Applegate's busy in THE FERRYMAN, and, besides, he's more of a Nicki than a Charity.

The song at R579 isn't much. Leavel wrings every drop of blood from that stone.

Lyrically, it's kinda clever.... until it isn't. Don't strive for dazzling wordplay if you're not up to the task.

The music is worse. Where are the composers for music theatre?

Agreed, r577. It’s one of the best books ever, right up there with Gypsy.

[quote]John Simon said that the wit in "Smiles of a Summer Night" was beautifully continental but the wit in ALNM would barely pass muster at the Continental Baths.

WTF would John Simon have known about what could "pass muster at the Continental Baths?" Or was it just his gratuitous homophobia talking?

Theatregoers who resent the current age of enforced "political correctness" don't have to dig that far back to Simon and his endless litany of racism, sexism, and homophobia. Simon is still alive--and has wound up exactly where he deserves. Writing in exile and largely forgotten.

Best books of a musical, IMHO:

CABARET

GYPSY

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC

SWEENEY TODD

SOUTH PACIFIC

WEST SIDE STORY

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

1776

It's a hugely underappreciated craft.

Some contemporary musicals with good books: NEXT TO NORMAL and DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS.

I’m pretty sure Rachel Chavkin, the director of Hadestown, is going to win, even if the show loses to The Prom. She also directed Great Comet.

I think The Prom has a real chance to win Best Musical. But I don’t think Ain’t Too Proud does.

We are so deep into jukebox musicals. What makes AIN'T TOO PROUD such a standout?

I haven't seen Ain't Too Proud so perhaps I shouldn't comment but I bet its box office will quickly slip by the end of the summer. And that's true of The Cher Show, too. I don't think any juke box musicals will see the mega success of Jersey Boys any more. Audiences are tired of them.

Good God, Gary is a stinker. An excruciating evening of playwright-babble. Mac has no clothes...

First midnight!

R585 no British musicals on your list?

Seriously, R592? What would you add?

BITTER SWEET, r593. But that's about it.

Second Midnight!

Great shows, bad books (so many to choose from:

HAIR

COMPANY

SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE

PAL JOEY

RENT

Ok are we finishing up the other two 351 threads, or starting a new one?

I'm just along for the ride. I'm not masochistic enough to START a theatre thread.

THIRD MIDNIGHT!

For old times's sake....

Bajour!