THEATRE GOSSIP #361: The "Buck Would Never Do Community Theatre" Edition

Mary, I have a note for you from Neil.

Link to previous thread:

“Our Trans Town”

There, Thornton, fixed it for you. Now fuck off.

My community theatre troupe is doing FOLLIES!

Is Follies a musical? Been on DL for ten yrs and have never heard of Follies.

Oh my goodness! I am just so pleased, and humbled, to have inspired a Broadway thread title hereI There were so many other worthy nominees out there for this, and I don't know how OP even picked! Gosh. I guess this is just proof to all of us on DL, DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM! It could happen to you! Thank you, OP. Thank you. [italic]All[/italic] of you.

And really, who wouldn't like to see a rousing chamber opera of ORDINARY PEOPLE. Think of all the song possibilities! Solos, duets, trios ... a flashback to the storm at sea ... a group number out on the golf course ("Then You Come to Me and Tell Me How to be Happy!")

So rich. So very, very rich.

That gif is incredibly annoying, r6. Nauseating, even. Anyone with epilepsy should avoid the thread.

Just bought tickets for the Jake G London run of Sunday.

The whole announcement has been strange. The news apparently leaked on Twitter Sunday night, and a full website was up and tickets for sale in less than 24 hours.

To break things down a bit:

APAC produces Equity Showcases and is thus considered off-off-Broadway

The only real distinction between community and regional theatre is that in the latter, the actors are paid. Dinner theatre and summer stock, whether union or not, are almost always considered regional theatre because the actors are paid.

I have been in non-union regional and off-off-Broadway shows that were better than most Broadway shows I have seen. There is great parity in quality of performances; the biggest difference is in resources/budget.

How much is the advance for Moulin Rouge?

not as much as you'd think r10- prob in the $5 million range- but no one is worried (yet)

Any truth to the postings on the previous thread about Faye and Tea at Five not happening?

R12 She just needs to learn her lines, said the leaker

Matthew Lombardo Tea at Five playwright was just interviewed and he had this to say about Faye:

“The first time I met Faye Dunaway, I was with the director, John Tillinger, and Faye comes in with her hair up like Hepburn, wearing gabardine slacks like Hepburn, with a red sweater tied around her neck like Hepburn,” he said. “She sits down at the table and proceeds to recite the first five minutes of my play by memory in the Hepburn voice. Both our jaws dropped. We already thought she could do it, she can do anything,” he added. “But even after her long illustrious career, she came to the meeting prepared. It was old school.”

Sounds like it's happening, and good for Faye for being able to make their jaws drop with her dedication.

So Tea at 5 is about Katherine Hepburn?

R8, I’ve seen it described as a concert version. But didn’t they do a full production on Broadway?

OP fucked up the title by adding the article “the” to it, which it didn’t need. Kills the rhythm of it.

R17 As Zero would say, it is Tradition

R16 I think originally it was two acts, first young Katherine, second Old Katherine. But they have cut young Katherine??? Or another actress does Act One

She just plays old Hepburn, and some of the Act 1 material is apparently reconfigured...somehow.

The original Tea at 5 had Kate Mulgrew in Act I dressed and wigged as an elegant 30-something year old Hepburn reminiscing about her youth and early stardom. The act took place in 1938 when Hepburn had just been declared "Box Office Poison" and retreated to her family home in Connecticut. The act ended with the doorbell ringing with the delivery of the script for The Philadelphia Story, which eventually revived her career.

Act II was Mulgrew dressed and wigged as the 80-something Hepburn, again at her Connecticut home, reminiscing about the second half of her career after the highly successful Philadelphia Story comeback. Lots of talk about Spencer.

Mulgrew was sensational. She was young and slim enough to carry off Act I and wigged and costumed perfectly to convince as the elderly Hepburn in Act II. As DLers would say, it was quite the "coup de theatre" and Mulgrew's performance elevated a predictable and mediocre script to something very special.

The SUNDAY is not a concert version, and Ashford is revelatory, especially in the second act. Sorry that they couldn't get a Brit director to do it. Ms. Lapine was less than effective. (Also, look for AA in a new production of a famous off-Broadway musical, in a role she was born to play.)

Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, r21?

Well, now that we've seen the Cock of Micah Stock in the new Tales of the City, it's easy to understand why his dance card was always filled during "It's Only a Play." Very impressive.

I don't think I'd want to see the play without Mulgrew -- or someone else who surprises you with how good the Hepburn impression is.

Then again it almost seems like they cast the Cher Show against type so you wouldn't even be fooled into thinking you were watching a celebrity impersonator at work.

[quote] [R553], you must be new here. Blowjobs are the one consistent thing Brooks IS known for.

I'm new here. What is this about?

Agree, r21; Ashford was splendid (and for the poster who asked in the other thread: no accent that I can recall). So was Gyllenhaal. I thought Sarna Lapine did a reasonably good job. Anyone who's able to see this production should do so.

[quote]I'm new here. What is this about?

Um, a blow job is when someone's cock is getting sucked.

I am surprised at the prices for Moulin Rouge. I have never seen anything like that right off the bat. I saw it in Boston and it was great. You succumb to its craziness, adhd world and Karen Olivo and the rest of the cast are outstanding. The number that opened the second act ( a mashup of several good songs, no spoilers) was one of the best things I have ever seen. I was ready to hate it....but. It was way too long in Boston and several songs/numbers could have been trimmed but....youwza.

[quote] Um, a blow job is when someone's cock is getting sucked.

Buck would NEVER waste bandwith making such a stupid joke.

I meant what is the goss with Blowjobs as relates to Brooks

Idk that SJB is that far off for Cher ... it's not like they case Kristin Chenoweth

r23 I haven't watched the show yet but tell us more. Saw him in It's Only a Play and found him nerdy sexy

I'd imagine with so much else shuttering and Moulin Rouge being the only new Broadway offering this summer that it'll do just fine.

Why was the original production of Sunset Blvd so atrociously produced? The way Patti was handled, the way that Glenn was upset over Faye's firing, etc, etc. Unless I'm wrong but there wasn't so much drama on other ALW shows. What was different?

Good guess, r22.

R19, It's being advertised in Boston as 90 minutes without intermission.

I want Faye to go for the trifecta and play Bette Davis next!

[quote]Oh 581 - hold on to your hats !! The “Our Town” in the pride plays is all trans!!

From the previous thread. Not necessarily all trans. Non-binary and gender-non-conforming, also.

The Sunday wasn't quite a concert version, but it also wasn't fully-staged like previous versions. It was in the middle, and, although I missed the transformative scene that ended Act I in the original, the entire production was sublime. Ashford might have even been better than Peters. She had more grit and determination, She was amazing. I didn't love Jake -- it sounded like he grew up singing along to the Mandy versions of the OCR -- but he was still good enough. And I give him propers for doing this.

For someone who asked on the other thread: Although "Sunday" is probably the more beautiful song, the lyrics of "Move On" resonate in a way that those of "Sunday" do not. "Move On" gets at the heart of the matter: just keep moving ahead, and make the best of what you discover. And: "stop worrying if your vision is new. Let others make that decision; they usually do." That tugs at the heart, whereas "Sunday" tugs at the eye.

"Forever!" Sends chills through me every time I hear it. That's not the eyes, that's the ears hard wired to the soul.

Yes, me too, r42. I completely lost it in the theater a thousand years ago, and I have the same response today listening to the OCR. But Move On does something similar to me.

Steve gives good chorale.....

In the right frame of mind, I'm crying from We Do Not Belong Together onward. With a pause to catch my breath during It's Hot Up Here and Putting It Together.

I completely tone out Children and Art because otherwise I’d be a public disaster. I won’t watch it and I won’t listen to it.

I remember sobbing like a baby when I was first in a theater and heard Bernadette sing "Yes, George, there is. You could tell me not to GO! Say it to me. Tell me not to go!" It still gets to me.

How does/did the Jake/Annaleigh production deal with "that" dress?

More chorale music: (assuming the link works)

As the culmination of Act 1, "Sunday" is sublime and an emotional gut punch for me.

The original London cast of Les Mis at Royal Variety Show with Olivier winner LuPone

Me too, R45. I remember seeing the Evans/Russell production at the Menier Chocolate Factory at a particularly difficult time in my life. I began to cry during the ‘I could look at him forever’ bit in Color and Light, and didn’t really stop until the end of the second act. MARY!, indeed.

I maintain that the ending of the first act is one of the greatest moments of theatre of the twentieth century. Don’t @ me, as the kids say.

I don't see how anyone could disagree with that statement, r52. ( but of course someone will) I will never forget it, and never not tear up.

R19, you can search Google for old (and I do mean OLD) theatre gossip threads that go into detail about Brooks' infamous cock breath and summer stock shenanigans. I'm not sure any of it is still relevant. One assumes the only things that make it into his mouth these days are simple carbohydrates.

There was a discussion a few threads back in which people debated what would be considered a coup de theatre. I don't think the coming together of the painting at the end of Sunday's Act 1 would be considered such, but what would the right word be, when all the visual elements create something as otherworldly and breathtaking and inevitable but still surprising as that?

I'll be interested to see what others think. ^^ To my mind, anything that breathtaking and dramatic in is effect should be considered a coupe de theatre.

If that is not, I don't know what is. It's not just visual. It's music. It's acting. It's a metaphysical alignment of theatrical planets to create "Forever!" "on an ordinary SUNDAY!"

The original 1984 NYT review literally describes the Act One finale as a “coup de theatre.”

Well, Mulgrew coming out as an 80ish Hepburn in the 2nd act sure ISN'T a coup de theater. Maybe if she came out as an 80ish Hank Fonda you'd have something.

I thought the Menier production was Daniel Evans/Anna Jane Casey.

Are we mixing up tweeters? The hotel tweeter has Richard Madden in their... byline or whatever.

The Leicester Square tweeter doesn't.

Ah, yes - you’re right R60. I saw Casey at the Menier, and then also saw Jenna Russell during the subsequent West End transfer. I think the recording was made just prior to the transfer, when Russell hadn’t actually yet played the role.

Well, if you're going to consider a scrim a coup de theatre, then 1776 has one, as well.

I wondered how long it would take for the requisite arch comment to appear.

I thought coup de theatre referred to an emotional or plot change, when what we thought was true no longer is, and, not necessarily a set change. In that is the case, then, yes, Sunday would qualify as one. Same as When an Inspector Calls.

I tend to think a coup de theatre is something that happens with the physical production, but what do I know? I'm checking the TV Guide and this is on in a bit. Worth watching?

Season 1 • Episode 3 • Birds of a Feather

Jessica is introduced to her niece's fiance in a San Francisco cabaret where, dressed in drag, he careens across their table, fleeing the scene of the nightclub owner's murder. Freddy York: Gabe Kaplan. Candace Drake: Carol Lawrence. Mike: Dick Gautier...

I think the first act finale produces an emotional change in the audience; when you see the painting coalesce and understand what creation feels like, it's more than *just* a "set change,: it's the artist's struggle and triumph made visible. Impossible not be affected emotionally. Impossible not to be moved.

R67, except that anyone with half a brain knows it is coming. To me it is one of those things that is always unsatisfying, but would feel like there is a huge hole if it was not there.

I was in a very early audience, and neither my half a brain nor apparently the others in the theater that day knew it was coming.

R69, Seriously? Not being snarky. I first saw the one act version at Playwright's Horizons and I knew it had to be the final picture. It would have been a let down not to.

Seriously.

R67, that is an excellent description. I saw the OC several times, and, although I clearly saw it coming, i continued to be moved by the creation. And, yes, it might be obvious it is coming -- I don't remember if I knew the first time or not -- but it is done is such a glorious way, that it doesnt matter if it comes as a surprise; it still has an undeniable emotional pull.

You know an orgasm is coming too; doesn't make it any less visceral.

Thanks, r72. I wonder if part of what defines a coup de theatre is that it continues to exert that emotional pull even after repeated viewings. I was obviously not surprised when I saw the OC subsequently or the Daniel Evans/Jenna Russell production, but I was still moved.

Someone said upthread that "I could look at him/her forever" was the beginning of the waterworks: yeah. All of their feelings for each other are distilled in that one phrase; it's very powerful.

Not too many shows move me this profoundly; the only other one that had a similar effect was Light in the Piazza. Vicky Clark understood Margaret in her soul.

Bingo, r73.

You know that the painting will be finished but the way it suddenly does so is startling, unexpected and thrilling. A coup de theatre indeed.

The reason the Act One finale is moving is not simply because it is expected or not, or because it is a nifty theatrical trick. It’s because the creation of the painting is also the end of Dot and George’s story. We know they love each other deeply, but he loves his painting more and she needs to find a way to raise their child.

I think what makes the end Act I so great is because we all know, more or less, what the Seurat painting looks like, so when it comes together finally, we all have that recognition and it makes us feel smart.

Seriously.

But now we have a [imaginary] connection to the people in the painting--a kind of emotional ownership-- as well as to the artist. But mostly I think we connect with what it means to create.

I know everybody thinks Lapine is a putz, but he deserves credit for the story and the staging. This wouldn't have been Prince's vision.

Prince would never have allowed that wimpy second act.

[quote]r80 Prince would never have allowed that wimpy second act.

And Prince would never have done community theater.

Maybe the Faye as Bette play should be "Scotch at Four".

Is it going to be set at Bette's funeral so Faye can play the corpse?

How dead inside would you have to be to not be moved by the 1sr Act finale of Sunday? Why even bother going to the theatre?

[quote] And Prince would never have done community theater.

You obviously never saw the original production of Merrily We Roll Along.

That was a shambles, no doubt about it.

At the time I thought the Prince-Sondheim break was shocking and heartbreaking. But without that break, there wouldn't have been a "Sunday."

Scott Rudin closes three shows in two weeks. And the Shubert will give him four Broadway theaters next season for one good musical revival and three under developed plays

I’m confused. The gays LOVE me. The gays LOVE Hillary. The gays LOVE broadway.

Why was I not a hit?

Another "coup de theatre" as labelled by Frank Rich came in the second act of Lena Horne's one-woman show, when she sang "Stormy Weather" in Act One in a fairly conventional way. Then in Act 2, after chronicling decades of pain and resentment and prejudice, she sang it again with all of the fury and frustration in her arsenal. Stopped the show every time I saw it.

I'd also include the moment in Cromer's Our Town that revealed the working kitchen.

I think a coup is any bit of stagecraft, performance, writing or production that takes our breath away.

[quote]r86 the Prince-Sondheim break was shocking and heartbreaking. But without that break, there wouldn't have been a "Sunday."

Mama wash in[italic] EVERY SHUNDAY!

I would never do community theater.

I wonder if the big Cock of Micah Stock has ever been serviced in a community theatre?

So much applesauce upthread. One effective "coup de theatre" does not a show make. All it's wrangling about art can't disguise the fact that it has no second act, and whatever "truths" it has to offer are insular and esoteric (and the less said about a silly line like "What made it so right together is what made it all wrong," the better). There are properties about artists that truly make you care about the subject and their struggles because they're presented in very human terms with which an audience can identify, such as Huston's MOULIN ROUGE or Minnelli's LUST FOR LIFE. But this show isn't one of them.

While we're on the subject of that show:

What do you consider "very human terms", r93?

^^ To me, that would mean making esoteric or philosophical subjects emotionally approachable/identifiable/empathetic to outsiders by really locking in on how the subject was experienced by/effected a specific person, or people.

(Hmmmm....that was a bit of a mess. Oh, well.)

A google search turned up this, from a language forum:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[quote]What does "in human terms" mean? In human terms means in our human way, in our human way of thinking?

[quote]Yes I'd say you are thinking along the right lines. In the article, there's a comparison being made between the objective, philosophical, historical, religious, intellectual view of the sexual politics of the Church of England, and what it means in human terms, the subjective emotional, practical, everyday effect it is having on the lives of the people affected by it, which the author describes as tragic.

[quote]When you look at something in human terms, you are considering how the situation has affected the people involved; usually the victims of the situation. So, looking at the Anglican church sex scandal in human terms, you are considering the harm done to the victims of the crimes committed by church officials. These victims are not just the children involved, but the worshippers who have had their faith damaged.

Sorry I asked.

I've never bought the line that the second act of Sunday is some massive failure. Certainly, Putting It Together is a bit dated now... it's SO 80s cheesy. But, I still found much of Act II and the connection between Dot and the young George incredibly moving.

Speaking of which, here's Bernie doing this song for the first time outside of the show.

[quote]Another "coup de theatre" as labelled by Frank Rich came in the second act of Lena Horne's one-woman show, when she sang "Stormy Weather" in Act One in a fairly conventional way. Then in Act 2, after chronicling decades of pain and resentment and prejudice, she sang it again with all of the fury and frustration in her arsenal. Stopped the show every time I saw it.

WOW. That sounds amazing.

I saw Lena Horne's show. It was amazing. It was commercially taped and you can probably find it on line.

One of my favorite coup de theatres was the creation of the titular carousel in the Lincoln Center revival in the 1990s

I saw the OC of Sunday several times, and always hated Act 2. The first time I enjoyed it and thought it was necessary was the Jake G version. I don't know what made it seem essential in that version, but it was.

Has anyone had Daniel Evans? He's certainly a cutie. And openly gay, too!

For me, the Sunday ending is moving because for the first time, Seurat has control over the people in his life. I love how compliant everyone is as he moves then into place.

And in that last moment, he takes her glasses!

Cindy Adams offers some advice for the Tonys:

[quote]r104 And in that last moment, he takes her glasses!

a LOOKIST monster!

I'm not one of those self-hating gays who insists gay actors can't play straight characters -- especially not in the theatre. I never saw Daniel Evans in the part, but I've seen clips of him on the Tonys and at various televised events portraying George and... well... how to say this charitably. I just don't find him remotely believable as a heterosexual man. I didn't for a second believe he and Dot fucked.

I believed Mandy and Bernie fucked.

R105 Who turns on the computer for Cindy Adams?

That ancient cunt Cindy would know about history. She was besties with Imelda Marcos after all. I actually agree with her. Hopefully that was Cordens last Tony host appearance. He is awful. And please bury those over produced over choreographed homages to Broadway.as opening numbers. We get it. Although it is always a pleasure to watch Charlie Williams.

I like to call it the "annual salute to everything since The Black Crook" number.

I would have done such a great job hosting the Tonys. Much better than that blob Corden. Have you forgotten that I stopped the show with my Tony performance? I guess the network is still kowtowing to male privilege, which is the only reason I was not selected.

Cindy is a wonderful person and one of my best friends. I will gladly host the show if it will help her in her cause. We go way back and she voted for me.

Oh, yes, r100. There was a boot of the Opening Waltz from the Beaumont on youtube that was of course not as amazing as in the theater but that captured the effect wonderfully. And now it's gone. I have an old computer I refuse to get rid of because it's copied there. The comparable scene from the London boot fails.

DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES is one of the most notorious flops ever, yet it yielded at least three coup de theatre moments in the midst of muck and mire.

First, Michael Crawford’s grand entrance with a coffin expelled from below and floating in mid-air as the entire Mikskoff rumbled with bass, literally shaking the seats with a surround sound bellowing of “God has left the building.”

Second, the endless mirror effect in “The Red Boots Ballet” with Sarah dancing in mid-air as vampires encroached on her, unreflected.

Third, as the gargantuan bridge lowered down as snow fell and the villagers sung a cappella with candles for the first act finale. Of note, Ethan Mordden himself named this as one of the most gripping theatrical moments in recent memory.

An honorable fourth would be the gigantic wall of coffins lowering from the flies, then moving forward and leveling at a 45 degree angle with 20+ vampires emerging from each of the graves and joining at the lip of the stage to do “Thriller” and sing Wagner. No, it really happened.

If you weren’t there you wouldn’t even believe it.

r106 is an ASSASSIN!!!

[quote] Buck would NEVER waste bandwith making such a stupid joke. I meant what is the goss with Blowjobs as relates to Brooks

Buck would never have substituted non-word "goss" for "gossip."

The last good big Opening Tony number was the one where NPH did a magic trick and appeared from the back of the house. That was a great one.

This. James Cordden tried but just didn't have the "it" factor.

R93, the lyric "what made it so right, is what made it so wrong," clearly refers to Dot's willingness to submit to George's disciplined existence that so often excludes her or any thought of her other than a model. Her submission to a man who isn't capable of loving her. You must be a blast a parties.

While there are many reasons the Act One finale is so moving - creation, composition, George finishing something that we know will last beyond a century or more, ages - the most moving moment for me is when he puts the leash of the monkey in Dot's hand, thereby ensuring her a life and longevity that demonstrates his love and esteem for her.

Agree with R98, have never thought the 2nd Act was a failure. Children and Art is very moving but I guess you have to have achieved a certain maturity to appreciate it.

Can someone do a double bill, like the Albee plays, of the one-act Sunday should be with the one-act Into the Woods should be

When Cindy Adams finally croaks nobody will miss her.

Nobody will notice.

r93, no one participating in the discussion of "Sunday...." suggested that its coup de theatre was *the* reason for its success. We were discussing whether the first-act finale was, in our view, such a coup. But you know that. "Sunday"--all of it-- resonates with many of us, because of its humanity and because it invites us to experience the artist's complex relationship with love and art. "Children and Art" is essential to understanding those complexities--at least Sondheim's.

As r119 observes, it may take a level of maturity to appreciate this. (talking to you, too, r120).

[quote]DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES is one of the most notorious flops ever, yet it yielded at least three coup de theatre moments in the midst of muck and mire.

The European version is fantastic. When they moved it to Broadway the went for camp that didn't work. I would love to see Lincoln Center do the original version, on that massive stage with the sets and costumes.

R124, the video gives an idea of how bad the German Tanz was, but in the theater it was even worse.

I can understand why Broadway went for camp. It may not have worked, but the original kitchfest might have worked for Germans, but for the rest of us it was excruciating. They had to try something.

I wonder how much life The Prom has in it. It's run for almost a full season.

and r126 I wonder how many awesome things I could have bought with the money they've lost

I liked the Chatelet SITPWG more than the original Broadway production. Overdon may be straining for some of the notes but he’s a hell of a lot sexier than Patinkin. Love the actress playing Dot.

Always thought Bernadette sounded wonderful but thought “Children and Art” was a big snooze and the old lady completely beyond her acting abilities.

It wasn’t t until I saw Maria Friedman perform “Children and Art” did I appreciate the song and yes, she moved me to tears.

Bernadette is really limited as an actor, but Sondheim loves her, so.....And she was fine in the first act.

There was a Sunday in Chicago (Chicago Shakespeare) with Jason Danielle and Carmen Cusak that was superb. I wish it would have come to NYC.

Can someone explain to me the lurr of Jake Gyllenhaal? I mean, he's okay, but not all that IMHO. Please explain.

The biggest trick of NPH's career would be to disappear. For good.

explain his lurr? I couldn't even begin to do that.

I'm sure his lurr is hairy and lush r133.

Does he purr when you touch his lurr? Yes, sirr!

Annaleigh's Children and Art is also a masterpiece of performance.

And as for SITPWG's Act II, I wouldn't sacrifice It's Hot Up Here for anything.

R125, there are a lot of us who disagree with you. I have seen Tanz several times over the decades, most recently in November in Berlin. The German version has the same tone as the film... Polanski directed both.

I agree, I wish there would be an American production of he original, even if an opera company did it in German with supertitles.

Jake's lurr is as big as they say and really quite malleable. It's...wait for it....A-lurr-ing.

Unfortunately the video of the entire production has been posted to Youtube, so anyone can see Tanz for themselves.

The Chicago Shakes Sunday was really wonderful, a vast improvement from their previous staging featuring a stuffed dog. I was very moved by Cusack, who may have been the most intelligent Dot I have seen. Daniely was a standout, as was the second act finale. The actors returned in solid-white versions of their costumes. I loved that production.

What does Tanz have to do with Jake Gylennhaal's bush?

Really, does Faye still have fans who still remember her? I'd think most of them are dead or mummified. And the dead can't afford Bway prices.

I had also thought that a coup de theatre involved some element of the physical production. But apparently that’s not the definition. Is there a word or phrase for that kind of physical, usually tangible, change that is unexpected and revelatory?

This isn't the exact term, but I just use "production values."

"Production values" usually means the qualitative level of the physical elements of a production.

I have never heard any one to use the term "production value" to mean some kind of change.

Sshay, The Rink had one of thoshe thingamajigsh! Right at the end, the whole shet disshapeared with jusht Chits and me alone onshtage. It wash fabulous, honey, shimply fabuloush!

Mandy was pretty sexy in his nude scene in "Yentl", yet Barbra's editing didn't really let you see his bush.

Did Annaleigh perform Marie in the style of Kit Andrée ?

The last moments of "1776" was a coup de theatre. It's etched into my memory so I can see it whenever I want.

There is some great music in Tanz. I had the pleasure of seeing the Broadway version. It was a pleasure because it was so horrendous and jaw droppingly awful. One of the best flops ever. Max Von Essen was so cute and had a great voice. Crawford was embarrassing. The mirror ballroom scene was actually a showstopper

[quote]Can someone do a double bill, like the Albee plays, of the one-act Sunday should be with the one-act Into the Woods should be

Twenty or so years ago on rec.arts.theatre.musicals, someone suggested a Sondheim evening of Act I of Woods followed after intermission by Act I of Sunday.

Isn't Into the Woods Jr. just a lightly amended version of Act I?

Apropos of nothing...

lol R153

She is hilarious.

I’m sorry but Annaleigh is annoying. I saw her concert for Lincoln Center on PBS and it was shrill and nauseating. I also didn’t care for her on the Sunday recording. It must be just me bc everyone here says she’s the best thing since sliced bread.

yes, r152.

If you check around, anyone who gets involved with Mathew Lombardo inevitably ends up in court. Ask around.... The advance for Moulin is either at or just over $20 million... Look for another show to announce its closing in the next 24 hours...

Any hints on the show, R157? From this season or earlier?

Bullock's Wilshire......the Musical!

More Christine at the concert for Orlando.

I agree, r155. I can't stand her on the recording.

Is anyone going to see Candide with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan this week? I would like to go, not because of Bradley and Carey, but just to hear it in concert. Tickets are going for $395.

Are some posters confusing coup de theatre with deus ex machina?

No, but some are confusing it with coup de community theatre.

Viola Davis will star in a Netflix film of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

[quote] DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES is one of the most notorious flops ever

My colleague at work saw it during previews and came back gushing about how great it was.

After the horrid reviews came out, she admitted she was embarrassed that her taste was so bad

I had a friend who made a similar glowing recommendation about the original German production. After a bunch of us went to see it, he was similarly embarrassed and then confessed he was stoned when he saw it.

I loved the German production, but I think I would have liked it a lot less if it had been in English.

Great visuals and music, but the plot is pretty stupid.

Of course, so is the plot to Phantom of the Opera.

R168, the plot is supposed to be pretty stupid. It is a send up of all the German Vampyr movies of the 20s and 30s and, in the peasant scenes, Fiddler on the Roof. The big difference between NY and the German production is that the count is incredibly sexy in the German original, not the bloated buffoon played by Michael Crawford.

Viola Davis really is the African-American Meryl now ... does she have to be cast in everything ... she's really not right for Ma Rainey ... Octavia Spencer for one would be a better choice

German Vampyr movies of the 20s and 30s? How many were there?

The plot is pretty much the same as Fearless Vampire Killers, so I do not get what you are talking about.

[quote]r165 some are confusing it with coup de community theatre

Coup de community theatre.is the [italic]raison d'être!

The top price for SITPWG will be £200? Jesus.

so, any more word on the show that's announcing its closing tomorrow?

They're probably waiting to spring it on the cast and crew tonight before it's made public, r174.

Be More Chill, R175?

I wonder if it's King Kong?

Doesn’t Ma Rainey have to sing, even though it’s not actually a musical? Can Viola sing?

Well the pans for Bitter Wheat in London are pouring in: one and two star reviews so far with one stray three star review from The Independent. Interestingly many of the 2 star reviews read like 1 star: will David Mamet ever write a decent play again, and will this one make it to Broadway? I guess much depends on what the NYTimes says.. It feels DOA in London.

The thing about Ma Rainey is that despite the title, it's a supporting role. The play, at least, was really more about the men who are her musicians.

The thing about Ma Rainey is that despite the title, it's a supporting role. The play, at least, was really more about the men who are her musicians.

The ending of the first act of Sunday is the kind of shit they used to do in all the time in the Radio City stage shows in the 30s along with a Fred And Ginger movie. They just had the sense not to put all the pretentious crap in front of it.

And Move On would make Alexander Woollcott, George Kaufman and Dorothy Parker vomit.

I went to see it a second time only because it couldn't have been as bad as I thought it was. It was.

The closing show is ... The Prom

That's really a shame.

The reviews for the first London production of "The Light in the Piazza," with Renee Fleming and Dove Cameron, are mostly meh.

"I'm suppose to pick up two tickets for Night of the Pizza for my boss."

Okay, I never saw Dance of the Vampires on Broadway (live in Texas) but the whole show is on youtube in various clips (or was, I downloaded all of them) and I really like it and find it entertaining. I thought it would be boring (like Lestat turned out to be - both versions) but I watch it all the time. Do I have shitty taste? Cuz Sunday in the Park with George is one of my favorite musicals, Sweeney Todd is a masterpiece, love Kander and Ebb, and Grey Gardens blew me away (I prefer the off-Broadway score better).

I guess Dance of the Vampires is a guilty pleasure - but it sure is fun. And I'd rather have a funny Count than a sexy count.

Renee Fleming is totally wrong for that role.

r182, are you the poster who continues to remind us of your contempt for "Sunday...."? We get it.

Article about the closing.

I think The Prom could be embraced in the West End.

It’s launching a national tour in Feb 2021? Who will care by then? That’s a year and a half away!

Elaine Paige for Beth Leavel’s part in London! Michael Ball for Brooks Ashmanskas!

Perhaps the Netflix movie will make people enthusiastic for the national tour.

The Prom ran way longer than it should have. There's nothing to feel sorry about.

Wow a show just posted notice and it wasn’t produced by Scott Rudin

Can they do that?

r436 from the last thread:

Well, I wasn't going to post but back in the 1970s, our community theater did Guys and Dolls. That's not a hard show to cast, and we had some very good local singer/actors, except for Adelaide. As it turned out one of our local auditionees was a retired Equity performer who had understudied Vivian Blaine on Broadway. She was just as brilliant as Faith Prince was when I saw her on Broadway twenty years later. Our Adelaide had decided to leave the business and married a very successful professional engineer who had taken a local job for a major company.

I had five times more to post but won't because the board appears to be majorly fucked up tonight and my comment almost appeared in another thread. I will add that when I finally decided to get the Hell out of North Carolina and move to Manhattan with everything I could carry with a suitcase on a bus (call me Ruth Sherwood!), a decision I have NEVER regretted, all my friends said "You're moving to New York because you want to be a star." My reply:

"If I wanted to be a star, I'd stay in Winston-Salem."

—Haven't been onstage since though I miss it.

I always understood a coup de theatre to be a single moment in theater that deeply effects you. For example, the papers falling in Democracy.

I'll admit it: I love the second act of ITW, and I think that the second act of Sunday is also great and very, very touching.

Oh r192 Ms Paige would never get her fat ass outta bed for 8 performances a week. Are you posting from the 80s? Even then......

I think The Prom will have a strong life after Broadway.

r188, how can Renee Fleming be all wrong for her role in Light in the Piazza. She's playing an elegant middle-aged woman who wears pretty clothes.

She may be awful in the part but how do you think she's wrong?

I've seen Renee in Living in Love and Carousel and she was atrocious in both anytime she wasn't singing.

Renee Fleming is the greatest case against casting singers who think they can act as opposed to actors who can sing that I've ever seen. She sings the notes beautifully, but that's all you see in her eyes when she's performing - musical notes. There's no passion and she's not connecting to the lyrics.

I heard that one - actors who can sing connect to the lyrics and singers who think they can act connect to the music. Sometimes, you get both, but it's rare.

coup de thé·â·tre /ˌko͞o də tāˈät(rə)/ noun noun: coup de théâtre; plural noun: coups de théâtre a sensational or dramatically sudden action or turn of events, especially in a play.

The arrival of Perry's warship in PACIFIC OVERTURES, for example....

Dancers and choreographers should be banned from directing too

I wonder how much longer The Cher Show has left.

r201: r202 and r203 answered for me. But I'd add that I thought Fleming was atrocious when she was singing, too-- she oversings, she overacts. Part of what makes Margaret so affecting in Piazza is her fear and anxiety carefully masked by this outward serenity and poise. It's a difficult tension to play, and Fleming doesn't have the necessary restraint. I know Vicky Clark's not a DL favorite, but she was extraordinary in that role.

r198: I couldn't agree with you more.

The suggestion that "Sunday in the Park" should have dispensed with its second act altogether has become the conventional wisdom about the show over the years. One hears it again and again. Count me among those who think there is much to enjoy in it. I thought the 2008 Broadway production with Daniel Evans and Jenna Russell made the second act work better than any previous productions I had seen.

[quote]It’s launching a national tour in Feb 2021? Who will care by then? That’s a year and a half away!

Like said above Ryan Murphy is doing the movie for Netflix and it will have huge exposure by then. Anyone know of a bootleg online? Just watched the Go Go's musical "Head Over Heels" and it was pretty weak but the bootleg was gorgeous, one of the best shot, not like the idiots that put their cameras down to applaud each song and we get a great shot of the floor.

Frankly, I prefer [italic]Passion.

Love seeing all the NY Stage actors on "BULL" which I just started watching.

Geneva Carr is fantastic, R211. I wish she did more theater.

Remember: The Germans liked Rocky The Musical. #neverforget

Aren't the Germans also the ones who loved "Rebecca, the musical" as well? And we know what happened with that piece of shit.

germans love starlight expreeeeeeeeeeeeess, starlight expreeeeeeeeeeeeeees. starlight express. STARLIGHT EXPRESS!

I’m reading a fun new book on Comden and Green. Was surprised to read that among the casting choices considered for the original On The 20th Century were Alan Bates and Meryl Streep!

Alas, I was busy with The Deer Hunter (or was it Manhattan?) so I could not oblige the request. Although starting out in stage musicals worked out well for Glenn, so they say. Some talents are best left to the stage, it seems.

I’m also reading “They Made Us Happy: Betty Comden & Adolph Green's Musicals & Movies”. Yes, it’s a fun read but I wish it dug a little deeper into their work process. My guess is that Betty did most of the work, including all the typing, while Adolph contributed to things that had a classical bent to them.

[quote]Love seeing all the NY Stage actors on "BULL" which I just started watching.

Ahhh hum

John Collum just misses the star power his roles required. He was always very good. But he wasn't an exciting performer. Kline should have graduated eventually to that role in 20th Century.

Someone mentioned Candide in Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Bradley Cooper as narrator. I am seeing it Friday night. I did not mind the very highly priced tickets because I have good seat .

" Deer Hunter, the Musical"? Make it happen.

I'm still grateful for John Cullum's voice on the OBC recording of On a Clear Day......

One of my fave recordings ever.

Could Alan Bates sing?

No, but neither could Roz Russell and look how that turned out.

Not to mention Lauren Bacall.

Alan Bates, while maybe he couldn't sing, would make up for it by brilliant acting and a willingness to appear fully-frontal naked.

LMM is directing TICK TICK BOOM? UGH. I wonder who he's gonna play. Also, WHY? That show is not even that good from what I remember. I saw with Joey McIntyre. Molly Ringwald was out that night. Lazy bitch.

Because it’s LMM and you’re a racist if you object to anything he does, even though I’m tired of heterosexuals and gentiles such as him dragging down the curve for Broadway with the same shitty Top 40 trash I turned to musical theatre to get away from.

As opposed to the psychotic haters who throw a fit over everything he does.

While the idea of Meryl in On the Twentieth Century intrigues me, I'm glad we even briefly got Madeline Kahn singing the hell out of that score.

R230: That’s because everything he does sucks and has been as harmful to musical theatre as a bastard love child of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Frank Wildhorn would be. All he did was take everything stupid and obnoxious about rap and hip-hop and synthesize it with everything wrong with modern musical theatre.

It’s the fans who are the ones with problems which they gleefully project onto those who can see the emperor’s lack of clothes.

[quote]the emperor’s lack of clothes.

Pics please.

Here you go, r234

Michael Ball’s doing a revival of Hairspray in London next year so probably won’t be available for The Prom. He’d be great in Brooks’ role, though.

Did Michael Ball ever come out?

Does he have to? haha

When is American Son airing on Netflix?

r229/r232: you're a real pleasure. Kindly vent your hostility somewhere else.

An English version of [italic]Hairspray[/italic] is the perfect payback for everything we Americans have done to mangle the English language and the way they actually speak it in England.

Renee Flemington was wonderful as Nettie Flower in Carousel. She can do anything.

wut?

Anyone know why Kiss Me Kate is now on its third Second Gangster? Tom McGowan quietly replaced Lance Coadie Williams, who opened in it. And now Richard Kind is replacing McGowan for the last week of the run. Seems unusual for a four month limited engagement.

[quote]I wonder how much longer The Cher Show has left.

If I could turn back time and stop Chastity from becoming Chaz, it might run another six months.

[quote]Anyone know why Kiss Me Kate is now on its third Second Gangster?

Ya got me.

Tempted to go back to KMK just for Richard Kind....

It's a Mad About You reunion!

R229 and r232, you are my frickin' heroes.

I enjoy the music of Tick Tick Boom. I saw the original production and listen to the album occasionally over the years. Granted it wasn't a great production but I was surprised at how vacuous it comes off when they did the production a few years ago, was it New Group or something? I don't think it really works as a production, but I'm sure Lin will fix it...

R249 = r229/232.

So obvious.

So pathetic.

I listened to the OBC of The Prom. basically mediocre. Can’t remember 1 Song. No desire to see it. Do Beth Leavels throat veins stick out while she sings? I found Brooks’ voice obnoxious. I think I disliked the score almost as much as the score to Something’s Rotten.

Woo.....

It's all vacuous and been vacuous for decades.

Good god. I can’t bear Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, but I’ve never heard Laurie Beechman sing before. What a marvellous voice!! Gave me chills!

My heartfelt rendition of God Bless America at the end of The Deer Hunter is often cited as the moment in which we finally healed as a nation after a decade of social conflict over the Vietnam War. This musical legacy seems to me more important than whatever joy I might have brought Broadway audience by appearing in "On The Twentieth Century".

And where else can you experience an entire Polish wedding at full tilt?

I read that too fast.

Wow. Andrea McArdle sounds great there. That was just lovely.

How does Roger Bart keep getting work?

Joking aside, The Deer Hunter could be a riveting adult musical in the right hands. There is ample material that would lend itself to musicalization (the aforementioned Polish wedding and “God Bless America” as well as the Russian roulette sequences). Guettel could make it work, I have no doubt. But, alas, serious adult musicals don’t reallt exist anymore.

They don't really run, r263.....

Perhaps for the Russian roulette sequence, a musical of "The Deer Hunter" could incorporate a song that was cut on the road from "A Little Night Music." It was called "Bang!" and was sung by the quintet (complete with sillly choreography) in the duel scene.

I think the Deer Hunter wedding was Ukrainian Orthodox not Polish.

His big dick, r262.

It is thick

I never saw BILLY ELLIOT on Bway. It was a huge success, correct?

I'm listening to the OCR now online... and I'm not impressed. Frankly, I'm kinda cringing.

Does it get better?

No, it doesn't, R269. The movie was great but the musical is definitely not.

Seriously: the score for HANDS ON A HARDBODY was a lot better than BILLY ELLIOT.

BMC clsing

Doe,

A deer,

A big, dead deer...

What's up with August 11th? Two shows closing on that date.

How do you write a song around Russian roulette?

Di Di Mau!

Oh noes!

Dee di mow! Dee di mow!

POW!

WAS MORE CHILL...

CHILLY WILLY!

When I went to see Billy Elliot I was baffled. I mean, we were told it was a huge hit, but I’ve never been so bored. Any time the miners came on it was instantly dull. I have no idea what people liked about it. Watching the boy playing Billy dance was impressive though.

Newsies was like that too. Oh, God, the boredom.

Was Billy Elliot the film that much of a slog? I know Newsies was.

The movie of "Billy Elliot" wasn't a slog at all.

I tried getting through Billy Elliot on PBS but....

Sometimes garbage sinks.

Like The Deer Hunter movie

Talk about dated and boring!

BE The Musical needed an hour cut, the Grandmother needed smothering, and the cop.miner scene would seemingly never fucking ned

I always presumed nobody would say NO to man baby Elton so it was just that rambling lost beast of a show

[bold]LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA IS THE SOURCE OF ALL EVIL IN THE UNIVERSE!!![/bold]

(to paraphrase a dead gay playwright)

[quote]Like The Deer Hunter movie

Reminded me of a (pretty bad) joke, that sort of ties in with our thread title:

What's the difference between Beer Nuts and Deer Nuts?

Beer Nuts cost $1.95, but Deer Nuts are under a Buck.

Billy Elliott the musical was torture. I couldn't get through Newsies. I was bored out of my mind.

watched the "interviews" with the Anastasia actor and they did nothing but make me think he has a convoluted way of seeing things.

A lot of people loved [hit musical] but I hated it, because I’m smarter!

But Billy Elliott flew

Billy Elliott in London was brilliant, but agreed, it was a bore in NYC... don't know what happened in transferring it over here, but the magic of what was onstage in the West End in 2005 was completely missing in NYC

The Prom and Be More Chill sounds like Saturday morning TV.

Two problems with Billy Eliot:

1. The stage show basically covered all of the movie by intermission; so the second act was padded out. It was a really bad choice. They either should have moved the place for the intermission to an earlier point or dispensed with the intermission entirely.

2. The show was hyped based on the house set, which was a real letdown once you saw it. I suppose An Inspector Calls was also hyped based on the set, but it at least had some meat to back it up.

[quote]seemingly never fucking ned

Need a picture of ned before I will commit either way.

Billy Elliott is a major downer of a show but the dvd/Blu-Ray makes a very strong case for the material. Perhaps since Daldry himself supervised the filming and adjusted as such it shines as a filmed performance. It is riveting and makes Wicked, Frozen, Hamilton (yes even that) and so many other shows seem like theme park rides. Real human drama and engaging musical content derived purely from story and characters. “The Letter” and “Electricity” are two of the most powerful moments in theatre history, certainly beyond anything in the last 20 years. Rip me apart, but it’s a powerful show if done right and the filmed performance captures that.

I follow theater pretty avidly, but I never heard Billy Elliot hyped for its set.

R301, It was for the NY production. Not the set, but the house specifically. The house broke down during previews and at least one performance was cancelled. I guess it was during the period when stage mechanics were supposed to be a big thing. Helicopters, etc.

So, official announcement on Slave Play today?

I didn't understand Billy Elliot either. At. All.

Slave Play was inadvertently announced via a casting notice, which seems idiotic.

If the musical version of the film you're musicalizing is significantly longer than the film itself, something needs to be cut or changed. The score probably isn't telling as much story as it should, it's probably just commenting on the action or telling plot the book has already told. Even with intermission, there's no reason for a 90 minute film to become a 2.5 hour musical.

Going in reverse, one thing I love about many of the Golden Age film musical versions of Broadway shows is when they get all the story in there and most of the score in a much shorter running time: Damn Yankees, Pajama Game, Show Boat (1951), Kismet, Kiss Me Kate, Silk Stockings, etc. Once you get past the two hour mark, especially with a musical that is essentially light content, the piece starts to sink under its own weight unless the work is truly compelling and extraordinary.

Word of mouth on Billy Elliott was never gangbusters. Everyone I know who saw it was bored by it.

it ran for over 3 years, toured etc

All the people carping about BE seem to forget it was a huge hit on both continents.

jinx, r309

Slave play is just 2 hours of evil white people who don't like role playing where they treat their black partners like shit. Don't waste your time

BE was a hit. Not a huge one, but a respectable one.

No one remembers the songs. It does not get produced much.

South Pacific combines a serious story lite moments two love stories and one of best chances for the female star to shine.

MGM's Show Boat (1951) hardly gets the whole story in.

Billy Elliot and An Inspector Calls were both designed by the same set designer Ian MacNeil, who I believe was partnered back then with Stephen Daldry, who directed both. MacNeil is the son of Robert MacNeil of PBS's old news program The MacNeil Lehrer Report.

I saw Billy Elliot in London. Even though it was a couple of years into its run and seemed a little tired to me, the matinee audience was filled with families and kids who hooted and hollered over every Thatcher reference and miners' issues that went a bit over my head. But the show clearly meant a lot more to cheering British audiences than it ever could on Broadway.

Interesting (to me, anyway), that Billy Elliot won in almost every category it was nominated in ... except Best Original Score.

[quote]Slave Play was inadvertently announced via a casting notice

Shall we infer James Cusati Moyer isn't going to Broadway?

R316, It lost that Tony to Next to Normal.

A newbie producer mistake on the “Slave Play” announcement. A casting announcement need not mean anyone is being replaced. It is an equity requirement and might be used to cast understudies.

I will go see it if JCM is still in it. Thanks, r319.

Billy Elliot is one of the most consistently produced shows at regional theatres right now, especially since a majority of cast members still jump from production to production to re-set the choreography. MTI has a listing of all upcoming productions, there's no shortage of people who love it.

If you look at the MTI page for upcoming productions, it is surprising how few professional productions it has coming up. Part of it may be the difficulties in casting, but still it is not many when you compare it to other shows.

Someone must have an active tie to Billy Elliott to be building it up so much. Every person I know (dozens, including many industry vets) who saw it were less than impressed. A couple a good moments surrounded by tedium. That was a very weak season for musicals (Next to Normal, Shrek, Rock of Ages).

The only person I know who waxes on poetically about it is that Teacher64 guy on All That Chat who follows any show that includes child actors with a creepy obsession.

I think BE is the only musical I have ever left at intermission

If DL wrote a musical, it would be called “Bea, More Cheesecake.”

I saw BE on my first trip to London at the Victoria theater. A dreary score, to be sure, but some of the conceptual staging was well-executed. Most fascinating of all, however, was the behavior of the children and the families (I sat in the mezzanine, so I was amidst them). They sat rapt and well-behaved throughout, with nary a peep to be heard from any of them. They leaned forward, sometimes gripping the balcony railings, hanging on to every word. Theater is obviously a part of their blood and cultural heritage, and a refreshing change from New York audiences, to say the least.

I also saw Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Yes, some of the political stuff to non-Brits was tedious but it was also quite moving at times. I sat right behind a middle aged man and who I assume were his daughter and her bf/husband. When the “ghost” of Billy’s mother appeared onstage the father in front of me lowered his head and the daughter put his hand on his shoulder and gently patted his back. It wasn’t too hard to realize what that was all about. That was very touching. The show was powerful to a fair amount of people.

Next To Normal should have won.

Yes, r328.

[quote]The Prom and Be More Chill sounds like Saturday morning TV.

If you mean they are aimed at those young enough to be your grandchildren, you're right.

Why would any producer think "Slave Play" is going to appeal to a Broadway audience? Do they think people are going to pay top dollar for brief nudity or to appear "woke"? Certainly not tourists.

I'd like to see a City of Angels revival with Aaron Tveit, Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes.

[quote]MGM's Show Boat (1951) hardly gets the whole story in.

No doubt because MGM wanted a happy ending in which Magnolia and Gay are reunited when they're still young. The 1936 version with Irene Dunne, Helen Morgan, Paul Robeson and Hattie McDaniel, directed by homosexualist James Whale, gets the whole story in and is superior in every way.

I bet her Guenevere was particularly trilly.

Katie Grayson had the biggest tits in Hollywood!

The Prom lasted nine months longer than it should have. Broadway is just that desperate.

[quote]Katie Grayson had the biggest tits in Hollywood!—Ava Gardner

"Max Factor even invented a special shade of makeup for me, called Light Egyptian. I had been led to believe I would be playing Julie in 'Show Boat.' But then MGM took my Light Egyptian and slapped it all over Ava Gardner!"

Why was Be More Chill at one time being heralded as the next hot thing on Broadway. It sounds like something created by a Buzzfeed “writer.”

Oh, MSW looks good today.......

Season 1 • Episode 12 • Broadway Malady Jessica suspects there's more there than meets the eye when a budding stage actress is critically wounded during a mugging. Milton Berle has a cameo. Rita Talbot: Vivian Blaine. Barry Bristol: Gregg Henry. Marc Faber: Robert Morse. Patti Bristol: Lorna Luft.

[quote]r314 MGM's Show Boat (1951) hardly gets the whole story in.

And thank (the) god(dess) for that! That stage show is seemingly endless, and the 1951 movie is hard going enough as it is.

My friend calls it SLOW BOAT.

Let's go!

R340 and his friends are such cut-ups! Do tell: What do you call The King and I???

I think Show Boat is pretty glorious on stage, actually.

The critics went out of their way to praise Billy Elliot. How could they not...it was a hit in London and they had to embrace anything British. I thought it was so mediocre and the opening number of the second act had to be the worst production number ever seen. The music stunk and it was a bore. And giving the boys the Tony was so wrong.

A new batch of Broadway belters screamers and yellers to appear Monday at the Jimmy Awards!!!! I love when the finalists strike poses as their characters before singing. And they are singing songs from Be More Chill and The Prom in the opening number. Tween Power!!!!!

Kathryn Grayson was a total bore in the first nat'l tour of Camelot. And her Arthur, William Squire, was no better. I was a kid and SO disappointed.

I'll pay good money to see "Slave Play" on bway just to watch the tourist's reactions.

"Honey you told me there'd be nice Negroes in this play!"

No tourist is going to see Slave Play.

[quote]No tourist is going to see Slave Play.

If they market it as a minstrel show they would.

So now we Want Broadway to be full of tourist fodder. I get so confused.

Other marketing idea: market it as a British revival of "Porgy and Bess". Totally made-up afro-British names for the cast. Audience comes in and gets 15 straight minutes of master-slave kink.

I'd pay money to see that.

(and yeah you could only do it once, so not practical from a producing perspective. still.)

An idea for the title for the #362 thread:

The "Buck Wouldn't Blather Endlessly About Billy Elliot the Musical" Edition

I think Buck actually would be a big fan of Billy Elliot.

Buck would never return as an apparition.

Carole Lazenby loved Newsies.

Does Jennifer Tepper ever stop pontificating? Who gave her the impression that every single memory she has of the theatre is worth sharing with the public?

She’s a deluded meeskite...

Actually, I'm hoping for "Mary, I have a note for you from Neil" as the title of the next thread. (It's r1 on this thread. Not mine, but it made me laugh).

Please forgive this stupid question, but who is this Buck in the thread title?

Re: Buck

R255, you made me listen to JOSEPH...with Laurie Beechman. That voice was incredible. Such a joy to hear.

Buck would never have seen a version of Billy Elliot that did not include Jamie Bell.

And he would have been so smitten with Slave Play (read: with JCM) that he would have seen it ten times at NYTW.

Does anyone else think Cal was fucking Carol Lazenby?

They were saving it for the sequel, r362.

Has anyone seen safeword, the "sequel" to afterglow? I don't know who the writer is but his plays are so vapid, so undeveloped, so poorly cast, it just seems like a lot of money to throw away.

Buck would have seen Grand Hotel two more times, r361.....

Considering Hamlisch did the score to Ordinary People, and there is that brief "What I Did For Love" singalong, it'd be kind of a hoot if Conrad randomly had a poster for They're Playing Our Song in his room.

Who is Carole(e) Lazenby?

Someone in BEETLEJUICE died??

[quote]Who is Carole(e) Lazenby?

Joe(e) Lazenby's mother.

Why the parenthetical e(e)?

Re Lena Horne's The Lady and Her Music: Is there anyone today who could do a similar solo retrospective show? Her decades-long career covered nightclubs, stage and screen. Off the top of my head, I honestly cannot immediately think of anyone. (And I'm including men and Brits.)

And, yes, I saw Horne's show. I burst into tears when she came on stage at the beginning (she hadn't sung so much as a note yet -- my biggest MARY! moment ever) and again when she reprised Stormy Weather in the second half.

Didn't she ruin a song in The Wiz movie?

Buck would have loved The Greatest Showman (especially the Jackman/Efron duet) and would have invested in a Broadway stage version. He’d be one of 22 “producers” onstage at Radio City Music Hall when it won Best Musical.

I’m also thinking of Elaine Stritch at Liberty. Who could pull off a show like that these days? Is anyone interesting enough to hold the audience for 2 hours of life stories in song

Neil Patrick Harris

With her bulging neck veins and her teeth-baring grimaces, Lena Horne's self-satisfied style make her perhaps the most grating performer of the 20th century.

[quote]r370 Re Lena Horne's The Lady and Her Music: Is there anyone today who could do a similar solo retrospective show? Her decades-long career covered nightclubs, stage and screen. Off the top of my head, I honestly cannot immediately think of anyone. (And I'm including men and Brits.)

I'd like to see Lindsay Lohan in this format.

I'd go.

NPH could do it in another twenty years if he reinvents himself a few more times. He's been in the public eye since he was a teen in the 80s and has had an extremely varied career. Daniel Radcliffe is another one that might be able to do it but he's way too young yet. Hugh Jackman could also and he'll be about ready in another decade.

If Madonna would allow herself to age, she might be able to, but she's still trying to be relevant rather than embracing the fact that she's in a new phase of life.

Betty Buckley, Bernadette Peters, Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera all have interesting career trajectories and stories to tell. Not sure any of them would have the stamina to pull off eight shows a week.

I'm turning in my gay card. I just realized I don't know the difference between Chita Rivera and Rita Moreno.

I saw Slave Play. It was the biggest piece of shit, which covers a lot. Basically, no matter what relationship a white person has with a black, the white person is ALWAYS inherently racist. It might play well with the NYC pseudo-intellectuals, but no one, other than the "woke" SJW crowd will be able to stomach it. Of course, it will get great reviews by the ultra-liberal faction of reviewers and presented as a daring new look at race relations. But ultimately, it is just another entry into the current garbage can of lecturing the audience into feeling guilty for existing, which is what NY theater is quickly becoming.

The nudity in Slave Play was hawt

[R370] Re Lena Horne's The Lady and Her Music: Is there anyone today who could do a similar solo retrospective show? Her decades-long career covered nightclubs, stage and screen. Off the top of my head, I honestly cannot immediately think of anyone. (And I'm including men and Brits.)

Ahem. Excuse me.

[quote]The nudity in Slave Play was hawt

JCM?

dong?

JCM? Jesus Christ Muperstar?

JCM is James Cusati Moyer, who was in Slave Play.

Careful, r381! Mention her name.....

Who is the hottie who plays Buck in the flashbacks in Ordinary People?

[quote] Betty Buckley, Bernadette Peters, Rita Moreno, Chita Rivera all have interesting career trajectories and stories to tell. Not sure any of them would have the stamina to pull off eight shows a week.

Chita already did one 15 years ago called A Dancer's Life. It was a fucking bore.

Tea at 5 starring Miss Faye Dunaway begins previews tonight in Boston!

Who's going?

"Tea at 5 starring Miss Faye Dunaway begins previews tonight in Boston!

Who's going?"

I hope Faye, but you never know

JCM - not nude. Paul Nolan - nude; great ass, but the glimpse not worth sitting through the rest of the overblown shit.

Does Faye even have an understudy, or is this one of those “cancel if the star can’t appear” kinds of shows?

R391, Kathy Griffin is the understudy.

I am so rooting for Miss Dunaway tonight. Lately, it's been "difficult for [her]".

Just got my copy of Making of a Musical: Fiddler on the Roof by Richard Altman today via Amazon. It was in good condition, it says DISCARD-Ipswich Library, Massachusetts on the binding so I guess it was bought at a sale or something. I first owned that book sometime in the 70s but it got lost in between sublets. It’s really good, goes into great detaii on all aspects of Fiddler’s road to Broadway, from the auditions to the Detroit try-out to the Imperial. And for $16 it was a great deal. The other book I used to own, Florence Rome’s The Scarlett Letters (about her composer husband’s experience mounting the world premiere of the musical of Gone With the Wind in Tokyo in 1970) is also on Amazon but I’m not interested in paying upwards of $500 for a copy.

[quote]r386 Who is the hottie who plays Buck in the flashbacks in Ordinary People?

Someone named Scott Doebler (?) Apparently died in 2013 (age 43)

He only has one other bit role listed on imdb

Sorry ... age 53! Math isn't my strong suit.

Walked past Sutton Foster today on Ninth Avenue. She had a grim look on her face. Very MTM as Beth in Ordinary People. Hey, she’d be great for the musical version.

How can you discuss SUTTON FOSTER when I just uncovered that BUCK'S DEAD ? ? ?

A little [italic]respect!

I would suspect that's why Sutton had a grim look on her face, r398.

I guess this proves she's a DLer.

RIP, real-life Buck : (

Buck was entranced by Richard Chamberlain when I took him to see The Slipper and the Rose. He liked the songs, too. Didn’t care for Gemma Craven. Fair enough.

Did you play this at the funeral, Beth? Or did it bring back too many memories?

I can’t recall anything more depressing than this “performance”.

So, apparently (according to some well-informed FB friends), Faye showed up tonight and is doing the show now. If she got through the entire first preview, it'll be coming down in about 10 minutes.

Can't wait to hear the reports! And it seems tomorrow is a two-show day.

Speakin of Ordinary People, I just google searched Dinah Manoff. She lost her college aged son to a road fatality a couple of years ago. Awful.

well, that's a bummer

Buck would never have gotten in a road fatality.

Elizabeth McGovern had to drop out of Juilliard to film it. They don't like students breaking up their education, but she was like, "I'm going to college so I can get work, and this is work, so...?"

Article about filming.

She should have stayed in school...based on her Downton Abbey performance she could have used the help.

I would say in hindsight, Yes. But how can you turn down a key role in a Robert Redford movie as a film debut? Very few performers would do that.

If I were to go back, myself, I'd have more appreciation for how one must seize big opportunities.

(ie, I should have moved in with that multi-Oscar nominee when I was 21. The fact that I didn't love him wouldn't have mattered so much, in hindsight. He wasn't asking me to LOVE him.)

R411, there was no Spacey in your heart for him?

McGovern did not drop out of Julliard to make Ordinary People. They were able to arrange the schedule so she would miss a minimum of classes.

By the way, her class also included Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, and Kevin Fowler.

I'm going to a community theater production of "Dames at Sea" in an hour. Pray for me!

R414. All productions of "Dames at Sea" are, by definition, community theatre, just as all productions of "Everybody Loves Opal" are dinner theatre.

I regret to inform you Buck will not be in attendance. Nor will Beauty, or Sublimity. There will be no "revelations" for this performance.

Who is Kevin Fowler?

Who was Kevin Fowler?

Who did she hope to be?

Kevin is Nettie Fowler's illegitimate son.

[quote] (ie, I should have moved in with that multi-Oscar nominee when I was 21. The fact that I didn't love him wouldn't have mattered so much, in hindsight. He wasn't asking me to LOVE him.)

Walter Brennan, dear?

Kevin Fowler changed his name and eventually ran a theater in London.

[quote]r413 McGovern did not drop out of Julliard to make Ordinary People. They were able to arrange the schedule so she would miss a minimum of classes. By the way, her class also included Val Kilmer, Kelly McGillis, and Kevin Fowler.

Wow! Thank you for the correction. I wonder WHO I'm thinking of? I know Lisa Pelikan had some situation like that with Julliard ... but I don't usually confuse the two.

For no reason.....

[quote]r419 Walter Brennan, dear?

No. You're all monsters!

He was in the design field.

REPORTS??

That artwork is all kinds of oh dear.

It [italic]is[/italic] good to see her get away from all the retouching

That's surprising to hear that Juilliard would allow McGovern to work. That's a big no-no with them. You're not allowed to take any acting work while you're studying there.

Is it a two year program? Because it's hard to pin down when she left. Did she quit in order to do RAGTIME?

New York Times 1981

--------------------------------------------------------------

THE story line reads like the highly improbable plot of girlhood fantasy. Aspiring young actress graduates from high school and moves to New York. She has barely begun her first year at Juilliard when Robert Redford casts her in his movie and structures his whole shooting schedule around her weekend availability.

On completion of the filming, the teen-ager tries valiantly to return to normal school life - only to land the starring female role in one of the following season's most heralded movies, beating out any number of envious luminaries in the process.

... After graduating from high school in North Hollywood, Miss McGovern attended acting school at Juilliard. Although landing the role of Jeannine in 'Ordinary People' was a coup, the effect on Miss McGovern was more troublesome than exhilarating.

'Actually, I was mostly just confused,' she said. 'It was such a dilemma of whether I should take the part or go to school. But Redford thought it was important I go to school, too, so I shot 'Ordinary People' on weekends. I would fly out to Chicago. It was exhausting; I was constantly getting a cold. I did that whole part on antihistamines. But Redford was very patient, gentle and warm, very helpful, and I learned a lot - mostly the importance of being simple.'

... In a way, Miss McGovern said, her ignorance protected her. 'The pressure at Juilliard was unbelievable, and my sense of perspective was so strange. It's phenomenal how distorted school life gets. Probably the reason I got the part of Evelyn Nesbit was that I was so worried about my final project at Juilliard that I just sort of breezed in and did Evelyn.'

She left school for 'Ragtime,' and since completing the film in December has concentrated on Off Broadway plays, including Lorraine Hansberry's 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black,' Wallace Shawn's 'The Hotel Play' and Michael Weller's 'Dwarfman, Master of a Million Shapes.'

'I feel like what I'm doing now, after all the good fortune, is going back and doing small showcase productions, which I really find the most satisfying,' Miss McGovern said. 'I think it's important to do stage acting, because you're allowed to do roles you wouldn't necessarily be right for in film, and you're allowed to do things that aren't indelibly imprinted for all time - so you can be bad. That's how you learn.'

Moulin Rouge! starts previews next Friday. Can't wait to hear all the reports.

[quote]Doebler, Scot K. Age 53, of Minneapolis. Before dawn on July 14, a great owl swooped down and carried the soul of our much-loved brother to the great beyond.

Oh, Jesus....

[quote]Before dawn on July 14, a great owl swooped down and carried the soul of our much-loved brother to the great beyond.

Beth, perhaps.

Where’s The f-ing FAYE REPORT?

She got off stage hours ago!

The idea of Liz McGovern at Juilliard is surreal since she must be among the worst actresses ever. Just ask Maggie Smith!!

So what's going on with the Ivo 'West Side Story'?

I can't believe that Maggie Smith would be so tacky as to comment upon Lizzie McGovern's acting abilities (or lack of same).

Aaron Tveit . . . Who's had him?

Few people make it to the end of the Juilliard program. It is a long program, and at that time there was no degree. So half the class left when they got work.

But it must be said that the entire FIRST graduating class of Juilliard became the first company of The Acting Company and they all went out on the road for over a year, bringing their classic repertoire to outposts all over the country. The 1972 class included Patti Lupone, Kevin Kline, David Ogden Stiers, David Schramm and Gerald Gutierrez, among others), who all could have begun lucrative commercial careers upon their graduation.

Elizabeth McGovern's very early career success was entirely based on her looks and she was a huge disappointment as Evelyn Nesbitt in Ragtime. Her lack of talent kept her from really making good on that early promise.

Is the upthread multi-Oscar nominee BOB MACKIE?? He's the only designer who never won an Oscar that any DLer would care about.

In the nineties it was explained to me by a then recent Juilliard drop out, it was a point of pride to drop out before graduating and becoming famous

R438, the problem with your argument is that Elizabeth McGovern would not have made it in to Julliard if she didn't have talent. If she was not performing up to standards, they could have easily released her to do the Redford movie with their best wishes and got her out of the program. The fact that they bent over backwards to make it work for her to stay in the program indicates that they saw something in her that was worth the upheaval.

Plus McGovern got an Oscar nomination for Ragtime. And she showed her cooch!

McGovern is divine in the original HANDMAID’S TALE as wry Moira.

In Downton she was a million times better than Shirley. It really makes you think MacLaine was never any good in the first place. And I'm a big fan.

Shirley's much-hyped guest appearance on "Downton Abbey" was one of the series' biggest letdowns. And I was always a fan of hers, too.

Downton Abbey was a fun ride, but between some truly shitty writing (remember that long-lost family member in the face mask?) and some bad acting, it was never more than a really mixed bag. Hardly a benchmark for quality TV.

The Perils of John and Anna Bates became tedious beyond measure.

Not to mention Lord Grantham losing the family fortune every few years or so.

I loved the first three seasons of "Downton Abbey," but the plots really started spinning their wheels after Dan Stevens left and Matthew Crawley was killed off.

"The perils of John Curry and Alan Bates" - that I want to see.

Proposed working titles for my musical adaptation, now in development. Which do you prefer?

AUGUST! A MUSICAL IN OSAGE COUNTY

AUGUST OSAGE COUNTY: A NEW MUSICAL

DEAR OSAGE COUNTY

OSAGESTOWN

Dan Stevens appears to be having fun now...

Is VIVIAN VANCE IN EVERYBODY LOVES OPAL a consideration, r451?

As revealed through the American Masters' tribute to Terrance McNally, he fucked Wendy Wasserstein and had an affair with her!

Big deal. Name a gay theater professional of a certain age Wendy DIDN'T fuck.

But who was the baby daddy?

Cloris....

Cloris is the baby daddy?

R446 Thank YOU!

Downton Abbey is the biggest piece of shitty soap opera.

The only part of the Downton Abbey "experience" that's ever been any good is the Red Nose Day parody with Jennifer Saunders as Dame Maggie and Kim Cattrall as Elizabeth McGovern. The parody ragged on all the show's weaknesses....the hammy music cues, weird shifts in tone, horrid acting and even worse writing and directing.

So why is a shitty PBS soap opera so beloved? I get network TV but PBS? Along with the Harry Potter movies it has made Dame Maggie into some sort of superstar. I find all these PBS ongoing dramas tedious but I seem to be alone.

Everyone acknowledges it is just a soap with better production values. Even public TV viewers are entitled to some frivolity now and again

So... back to the legitimate theatre, if I may....

Just listening to songs from BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE. So fun, entertaining. Fond memories of seeing it as a teen (I didn't tell my parents--I thought the title alone would get me thrown out of the house).

Is a revival even conceivable in the age of Me-Too, etc?

The whores could be female, male and non-binary. Female cheerleaders could join in on 75 miles before we get to heaven.

One of the many abandoned projects for Kristin Chenoweth was a revival, although I'm 90 percent confident it would have been a production of the Parton movie rather than the stage show.

At the final show of KC's B-way Bootcamp, the girls did Hard Candy Xmas with Faith Prince as Mona and KC did a I Will Always Love You later in the show.

I'm picturing the sheriff as a POC lesbian lover of Mona in the revival.

All heterosexual intercourse is rape.

Will they call Miss Mona's girls "sex workers" in the revival?

I saw a WHOREHOUSE production a few years ago in DC (at Signature) and it was great. Funny show. The show doesn't delve into the "why" these girls are prostitutes. I suppose you could let that get in the way of enjoying a show if you really wanted to.

Sex work and pornography are both acts of patriarchal violence and oppression of women.

Women are economically disenfranchised, thus forced by the male powers that be to earn sustenance through sex work.

Viewing pornography and patronizing sex work is an act of rape.

All very original thoughts -

I'd like to apologize for all the raping I do on a daily basis. I'd like to apologize for all babies I murder into the tissues. I'd also like to apologize for all the skin cancer my carbon footprint causes. I'd like to apologize for the many animal deaths my omnivorous diet has caused and I regret I was ever born and didn't kill myself has soon as I realized the atrocities my mere existence would cause. Please forgive me.

R451, how about

OSAGELAHOMA!

THE OSAGE HOLE IN AUGUST COUNTY

r451 You need to add a subplot about Osage County's most famous gay couple.

Just happened to see the credits at the end of the (boring and stupid) PGA tournament for this weekend and one of the audio guys listed in the credits is named Victor Victoria. What sort of evil parents would do that?

Well, R472 has certainly livened things up.

Yes. The unmedicated sometimes do that.

Did Wendy Wasserstein die of HPV caused cancer? That durty irish peen....

No it was all the fertility treatments

For the record, I saw Billy Elliot when it first opened at the Victoria Palace in London (where I had then lived for about 8 years) and LOVED it. The score was fine, though obviously not on par with The Lion King. My only disappointment is that the father really wasn't anything like Gary Davis in the film, who gave a really moving performance. It was amazing to watch a young performer in the role of Billy carry the Act One finale of a musical, singing and doing a long dance solo, on his own. Unbelievable, really.

It was a great staging, a great story that was very well performed. I liked it so much I went back again about 18 months later with some friends and enjoyed it just as much.

BE was always going to have issues on Broadway, given the cultural differences, required knowledge of contemporary British history - for which there are still grievances in the North. It was a musical about a union strike, ballet and tolerance - exactly what was the appeal supposed to be for Americans, who typically hate all of those things? Set in a foreign culture.

I never saw it in NY so I have no idea what they did to it there but it was a major international hit. I remember thinking it closed rather early on Broadway but people here have fuzzy memories - it played over 1300 performances on B'way and recouped it's investment in 14 months and ran for 3.5 years. I think those are figures any musical on B'way would kill for.

Though it was adapted from the film, it was also a proper book musical - it wasn't just a cash-in a familiar brand name like Pretty Woman, Ghost or any number of recent musical adaptations.

Maybe some of the posters here were bored because it was primarily about children? Also, perhaps Americans didn't grasp the amazing trajectory of a young miner's son in a Northern town in the midst of debilitating strike, training with and eventually dancing with the Royal Ballet? Maybe the pop cultural iconography of Flashdance made that seem ho-hum? Billy Elliot remains one of the best staged musicals I've ever seen - and, kids, I saw the original production of Dreamgirls!

People are silly to write to it off. To do so suggest a kind of solipsism whereby one isn't capable of seeing beyond their own nose.

[quote]Also, perhaps Americans didn't grasp the amazing trajectory of a young miner's son in a Northern town in the midst of debilitating strike, training with and eventually dancing with the Royal Ballet?

I certainly grasped it in the film, which was brilliant. Nothing about the musical version - which I saw in London as well - was anywhere near as good as the movie.

[quote]All heterosexual intercourse is rape. —dead Andrea Dworkin

Girlfriend, you’re doing it wrong.

The UK can keep their musicals with children. BE, Matilda and Charlie were meh. And even with Hal Prince the helm, Whistle/Wind was a real stinker.

Because Annie was so much better. Right, R484?

Annie is objectively better than Billy Elliott, yes. Even the most recent revival was better!

“Annie”is better than “Matilda, “Billy Elliot” and “Charliie” put together you English git.

And “Oliver” is better than any of them.

Can we all just agree that the term “sex worker” is degrading because it emphasizes the sex above the very human person doing the work? Therefore, I suggest a title change about the LITERAL rape Broadway musical title “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” to the new and improved “Texan Workers of Sex” which is to ONLY hire trans performers of color in every role.

The very first show I ever saw in NY was, oddly, “The Life.” It wasn’t perfect. It was also WORLDS better than much of the overpriced crap Broadway tries to sell today.

Someone posted a review on Broadway World of Miss Dunaway in yesterday's performance of Tea at Five.

[quote] saw it last night. I was in the front row. It said the show was 90 minutes but it was actually only 75 minutes. Faye Dunaway obviously had ear phones on her ears to help her with the lines. She stumbled across much of the dialogue. I was excited to see the show beforehand but was extremely disappointed. I would be absolutely shocked if it makes it to broadway. The lady next to me is a major Faye Dunaway fan and she loved it. Different strokes....

“Annie” actually has a pretty clever and snappy book, and of course, a prime Strouse score. It gets a bum rap because of all those orphans and “Maybe” but it’s a really well-written show.

"Annie" is certainly well written and does have a prime Strouse score. But some of Martin Charnin's lyrics, to put it bluntly, suck.

[quote]r491 Someone posted a review on Broadway World of Miss Dunaway in yesterday's performance of Tea at Five.

Someone in that thread DARED to question if Faye was actually "a legend"!

THE UTTER [italic]GALL!

Big was awful. And it had kids. Maggie Flynn was awful but had a great score. It had kids.

I don't recall a single adult I know who wasn't disappointed by MATILDA on Broadway, particularly after some critical gushing.

It was odd. I was only mildly curious about it, as a bit of a Roald Dahl fan, but within weeks of the show opening on Broadway, dozens of people in my life--regular theatregoers all--were lining up to tell me how much they disliked it.

That, and that they couldn't understand a friggin' lyric when the children were all screeching in terrible stage accents.

Like BILLY ELLIOT, MATILDA came, scored big, but doesn't really seem remembered, much less missed.

[quote]“Annie” actually has a pretty clever and snappy book, and of course, a prime Strouse score. It gets a bum rap because of all those orphans and “Maybe” but it’s a really well-written show.

Did you mean "Tomorrow?" I think "Maybe" is a beautiful song, and I've never heard anyone trash it. (I think "Tomorrow" is a terrific song also, but I suppose a lot of people make fun of it because it became such a cliche.)

Maybe has one of those dreary, drippy Martin Charnin lyrics, in spite of Strouse's melody (which is okay, but not one of the best in the show). The whole theme of the song is a little drippy, in fact.

Well, your ASS is a little drippy!

R481 Oh Elton. love, your show sucked, you needed to cut an hour to have a vaguely workable show....

Now take your meds and slap around Furnish, as is your wont

No one cares for you a smidge when you're in an orphanage...

R501 , that line always makes me howl. It is really, really bad.

ANNIE was really the last gasp of the Golden Age musicals of the 1940s-1970s. Besides all of the wonderful performances beginning with Andrea McArdle and Dorothy Loudon, ANNIE was impeccably produced with first rate sets and costumes by David Mitchell and Theoni Aldredge.

To look at it another way, the show was like the best Shirley Temple movie ever, come to life on a Broadway stage. You understood why Shirley Temple reigned as the #1 star of the world.

I thought I should share this with you all. I saw Lucie Arnaz yesterday at church. Random. Apparently she goes to my church. It's a small intimate one too. I thought it was just some old lady alk this time and then our eyes met and I saw her name tag said Lucie.

[quote] I think "Tomorrow" is a terrific song also, but I suppose a lot of people make fun of it because it became such a cliche

O r497 for the days when a Broadway song became a pop culture cliche. Other the damn room where it fucking happened and maybe a little Phantom or Les Miz piffle, was Tomorrow the last Broadway song to break out?

I saw Matilda on Broadway toward the beginning of its run and thought it was great. The adult cast were turning out solid comedic performances.

Went back a year or so later and it was a sloppy bore. I have no idea what kind of half-baked Irish accent they'd taught the girl playing Matilda, but it was extremely grating.

MATILDA was a POS from the get-go. Those kids were abhorrent.

Rent, Hamilton and Wiked have all seen there songs used outside of their shows

It also had charm to spare, r503. None of the revivals re-captured it. Perhaps with the passage of time, it's just worn off the vehicle itself. I know my charm has waned through the years.

Billy Elliot and Matilda were two shows that I just didn't understand the hype. I was so bored at both.

That's because they didn't deserve the hype they got. Billy was much better than Matilda but they were both boring. The latter was also unintelligible because of the sound design.

Brits have horrible taste when it comes to musical theater. That’s why those shows came in and bombed

And yet... so many NY critics and theatre goers are predisposed to adore Brit musicals, and more so, British productions of American musicals.

Yet Americans can do better pastiche of British music than the other way around.

Yesterday was plain awful, You can say that again. Yesterday was plain awful, But that's Not now That's then.

“Tomorrow” is the most famous song from that show yet it sounds the least like a 1930s song.

I remember being very surprised when Billy Elliot beat Next to Normal for Best Musical. For all the issues Next to Normal had, it was objectively a better musical than Billy Elliot. I guess they got the last laugh when they won the Pulitzer.

[quote]“Tomorrow” is the most famous song from that show yet it sounds the least like a 1930s song

“Memory” is the [italic]only [/italic]known song from “Cats”, yet it sounds the least like T.S. Eliot poetry.

Bet they collect things like ashtrays and art.

[quote] The very first show I ever saw in NY was, oddly, “The Life.” It wasn’t perfect. It was also WORLDS better than much of the overpriced crap Broadway tries to sell today.

I liked THE LIFE as well. I was disappointed it lost to TITANIC, which was a tedious slog (Spoiler: the ship sinks).

(BTW: with reference to another thread. Having successfully avoided CATS AND PHANTOM, TITANIC was the first musical I went to where the audience was full of non English-speaking tourists. I was in the balcony with a bunch of German-speaking tourists. I know they were German-speaking tourists because they kept speaking German all through the entire show. They only stopped speaking German long enough to shove stinky junk food such as nachos and French fries into their gaping maws. By the end of the show, the theater smelled like a rancid food court. Do I even have to mention that they left all their used wrappers on the floor?)

Edith Heath is quite popular, r519!

Bringing up The Life always brings up the question, WHET Pamela Isaacs?

The Life is a musical that I think needs second look. I saw the workshop down at Westbeth. It was pretty ragged, but far better than what made it Broadway. Someone needs to get a hold of all of the old material and try to rework it.

People used to collect ashtrays from famous places. I actually have a copacabana ashtray.

I had a "21" ashtray and match holder. I sold them on eBay.

Some ashtrays doubled as objets d’art and are still quite collectible

Maybe the dummy trying to prove Annie is worse than Billy should give it a rest.

It's the hard knock row we hoe.

I don't think anyone is trying to prove that "Annie" is worse than "Billy Elliot," just giving examples of some of Martin Charnin's shittier lyrics. Obviously, there was a reason "Annie" was a huge hit.

ASHTRAY....the Musical!

It means the row they hoe in life is a.... hard knock row, r527.

I was in London some years ago after a horribly boring work conference. I just wanted to see a show and nothing else at the time appealed other than Billy Elliot (I'd loved the movie -- who hadn't?). I'd never been to the Victoria Palace, a gaudy old pile that had seen better days. I was entranced by the whole experience, just because I was in the mood for it. Was the show perfect? Hardly. "Expressing Yourself" should have been a little, throwaway tap number for the two boys, but somehow had dancing dresses. Forty-five minutes could easily have been cut out of it (and at least five from the endless curtain call). But, still, I enjoyed it because I wanted to. I gasped when Billy flew because I didn't see it coming. And the role of Billy is Lear for a child actor. All that said, would I see it again? Yeah, no. But I'm glad I saw it when and where I did.

I saw the cinema broadcast with DL fave Ruthie Henshall. It was enjoyable. Can I remember the score? No.

The song that jumps out at me is "Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher" and that's because it's so cheerfully angry.

To me, Next to Normal was like listening to garbage can lids being hit with a hammer for two hours.

[quote] To me, Next to Normal was like listening to garbage can lids being hit with a hammer for two hours.

I didn't know they give a Tony for Best Original Score AND for Best Orchestrations AND the Pulitzer for that.

What say we DL.

"After months of speculation, yet another musical based on a late 20th century comedy film, helmed by an all-white-male creative team, has announced a 2020 Broadway run. "

Was Cats good? I never saw it. Hated the song Memory. Loathed it. Until I saw the video of Paige singing it on youtube in what I guess is a video adaption of the show. I love that performance. I can hardly believe it because I'm not a fan of Lloyd Weber.

R534, interesting. It’s possibly my favorite musical of the last ten years.

The Brits and musical theatre are weird. On one hand, they gave us the best production of Follies I've seen since the original (the National Theatre one), but on the other, they gave us Imelda Staunton shrieking every line as Mama Rose in Gypsy and totally seemed to forget that act one is intended to be a musical comedy.

Aren’t ALW and Cameron Mackintosh the richest theatre artists in history? They’re both billionaires. Nothing “weird” about that.

[quote] To me, Next to Normal was like listening to garbage can lids being hit with a hammer for two hours.

You're funny. I didn't think much of the score either.

Aaron Tveit in blue boxers however...

Imelda was great in GYPSY. I liked her so much, I saw the production twice. Lonnie Price directed the unfortunate television broadcast, right? Who directed the (great) Follies broadcast?

That cunt at R536 purports to be an actress, though her resume is skimpy as fuck. She certainly hasn't done herself any favors in terms of getting hired. Of course if she had any talent she wouldn't have so much free time to write such drivel.

Earlier, I’d heard...Bet they collect things like X-rated art!!! Oh hahaha

I saw Rita Rivera as Roxie and Chita Moreno as Velma in a production of "Chicago" in Las Vegas. Truly remarkable, although the two female leads were interchangeable IMHO.

Alyssa LaVacca = Waddacunt

The Annie lyrics are great!

The "ashtrays and art" line is coming from an orphaned 10 year old. That's her idea of classy.

It's a funny line but also a bit sad.

Meanwhile, Matilda is 2 and a half hours of inarticulate screeching centered on a monstrous villain who runs away the second things get slightly rough for her. And, Billy Elliott is one gorgeous dance number surrounded by dreary soap opera and songs no one remembers.

R545 I believe you have misremembered the title--the show was "Chicano."

r524 = Minnie Finch

I want a Toots Shor ashtray.

To bring it all together, isn't "Merry Christmas, Margaret Thatcher" the same song as "We'd Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover"?

Spiro Malas, Broadway's Most Happy Fella and the star Bass of the Metropolitan Opera, has died at age 86. RIP.

I loved that MHF revival.

R531 Billy Elliot flies in the show? Is he Chitty Bang Bang?

never knew that

I think he dances with his older self to be (a grown man) and at certain moments they went up in the air. You could see the wires supporting them.

Was that goddamn Billy Elliott a fucking fairy?

They never attempted to hide the fly wires in BE. It was actually a very low-tech show which I took to be about the messiness of life.

THE LIFE was dreadful. Written by former hipsters in their senior years, it smacked of 60s Playboy sexism and an incredibly naïve imagining (The Hookers' Ball???) of the fleshpots of 42nd St and environs, pre-Disney (and the antithesis to THE DEUCE). The score can boast a coupla good songs but that's about it.

R550, Kathie Lee has about a dozen of them that Frank stole.

R557, you do know The Hooker's Ball is a real thing?

[quote]You could see the wires supporting them.

How tacky.

Next to Normal was not on the finalist list for the Pulitzer, but the committee was overruled by the chairman, who decided—for reasons many don't understand—that it should win. Maybe he liked boys in their underwear.

Aaron Tveit should have played Oliver.

Who was the chairman, r561?

Opinions on The Boys From Syracuse, please!

I was listening to the 1998 Encores recording and, except for the 3 standards Falling in Love with Love, This Can't Be Love and the ecstatic Sing For Your Supper, it seems to be a fairly mediocre to bad score, in spite of a cast including Rebecca Luker, Debbie Gravitte, Malcolm Gets (WHET?), Davis Gaines and Srah Uriarte Berry (WHET?). Maybe you have to see the comic numbers to appreciate them?

It doesn't surprise me there hasn't been a Broadway revival in many decades. Is the book too old-fashioned (I hate to say dated)?

Am I missing something?

Anyone watching the Jimmy Awards now on YouTube or Facebook? The first two sets were underwhelming.

holy moly is tootsie mediocre or what

R565, what the hell do you expect? They’re kids raised on Glee and shitty movie-to-musical adaptations.

R566, dopey, inane, Tony-winning book. Welcome to the Trump era!!

"Am I missing something?'

Good taste.

Discrimination.

Soul.

How do you hide fly wires?

Since we're reminiscing here (and aren't we always?)....

Tell me about THE FULL MONTY, eldergays. It ran over 2 years (Will Chase took over after sexy Patrick Wilson left).

I never saw it. And I never hear/heard any music from it. I only just found out that it's David Yazbeck, who giveth (BAND'S VISIT) and taketh (TOOTSIE).

I know there wasn't that much peen on display, or so I've heard.

It was relentlessly mediocre.

Full Monty was frustrating, and not for the lack of”peen”.

Fun overture and finale, but not much going on between them. (I love the movie).

I liked how they handled the strip. On film they show them from behind, but you had to show full frontal on stage or it would come off as stupid. So they just blinded you with a wall of light as the guys took off their g-strings.

Seats on the side got a very good view. In the middle, you couldn’t see anything.

Agree on Full Monty. Highly mediocre and disappointing. And it looked horribly cheap.

R564 I would say you are missing a brain.

R564, A score that includes "Falling in Love With Love," "This Can't Be Love" and "Sing for Your Supper" cannot possibly be described as "fairly mediocre to bad."

I saw a community theater version of Full Monty -- truly a community theater version; the JCC in Nashville, not even in a regular theater -- and I thought it was charming. Granted, Nashville has a lot of incredibly talented singers and musicians, so the score came over quite well. I don't remember how they handled the strip. It was too low budget to get the lights required to blind the audience.

So..was anyone sitting on the side when Will Chase was in it? Did anyone get a peek? He does it for me.

The Life was awful. From the poster of a foot in high heels to the low life characters. Only the fat black woman was fun to watch. I saw a recent picture of Sam Harris. He has grown to the size of that fat Black woman!

Next to Normal is approximately one thousand times better than Billy Elliot. It's very touching and I the music is very good.

BUCK never would have shown peen!

Buck had a cocklet.

The two Jimmy winners were both very good.

O sage one: it don't county that it's August, eat the fish, bitch!

Sam Harris was naked in "Hair" years ago, but videos never surfaced, though I think a few photos did. There were more of his co-star Steven Weber, but fortunately none of Marissa Jaret Winokur.

for those of you who've been wondering about Ms Dunaway as Ms Hepburn here are three photos of her sitting and grimacing

R561 Was the guy who liked boys in their underwear that guy who used to write show after show with a similar title at the old Sanford Meisner Theatre over near Chelsea Piers? Sometimes they weren't even wearing underwear. RIP.

R585, Steven Weber showed peen in "Single White Female".

R580, Alice Ripley's Tony acceptance speech for Next to Normal was one of the weirdest ever.

Does anyone else miss the anticipation of coming home to hate on another disappointing episode of FOSSE/VERDON?

Or just me?

Full Monty had Patrick Wilson and Jason Danieley. Lucky audiences on the side.

[quote]r586 for those of you who've been wondering about Ms Dunaway as Ms Hepburn here are three photos of her sitting and grimacing

The set looks awfully lonely : (

And did Hepburn ever sit that primly??

We got through (almost) all of this last thread...

And we're here.

[quote]Sam Harris was naked in "Hair" years ago, but videos never surfaced, though I think a few photos did. There were more of his co-star Steven Weber, but fortunately none of Marissa Jaret Winokur.

I saw that production. Seeing MJW nude turned me gay.

[quote]Opinions on The Boys From Syracuse, please! I was listening to the 1998 Encores recording and, except for the 3 standards Falling in Love with Love, This Can't Be Love and the ecstatic Sing For Your Supper, it seems to be a fairly mediocre to bad score,

With all due respect, you taste is in your ass. There are lots of other wonderful songs in the show, including "Dear Old Syracuse," "What Can You Do With a Man," "The Shortest Day of the Year," and "You Have Cast Your Shadow on the Sea." In fact, I'd say there's only one mediocre song in the show, "He and She."

[quote]It doesn't surprise me there hasn't been a Broadway revival in many decades. Is the book too old-fashioned (I hate to say dated)?

The original book is very funny and clever. It holds up beautifully. The Roundabout destroyed the show with a new book by Nicky Silver.

[quote]r593 We got through (almost) all of this last thread... And we're here. — Beebe's bathysphere

Time for #362?

Perhaps a FOLLIES theme ...

Was just kind of surfing around the net and found this.

"Kind of" surfing? What does that mean? Either you're surfing or you're not. What's "kind of"?

Oh, FU, r598. I was looking for porn and found a video about "Buck." Made me think of this thread. What do you think.... Oh, never mind. Idiot.

Flahooley!