THEATRE GOSSIP #363 - Cole Porter, Patti LuPone, Stephen Sondheim and Barbra Streisand Walk Into A Bar Edition

Today is Jerry Herman's 88th birthday. And he hates your title, Renee.

[quote]Today is Jerry Herman's 88th birthday.

Who would believe he would outlive Carol Channing?

[quote]I dare one of you bitches to criticize my title.

I'm last? What am I, chopped livvah?

[quote]Who would believe he would outlive Carol Channing?

Carol was almost ninety-eight when she died. Jerry ain't gonna outlive that!

spam posted by ip address 5.226.139.164 removed.

[quote]Carol was almost ninety-eight when she died. Jerry ain't gonna outlive that!

True, but we gave up on Jerry as being dead during the Plague Years. Do you know how many times I submitted his name and picture to the Tony Awards Too Soon Departed sequence?

[quote]Ethel Merman was 51 years old when "Gypsy" opened. I saw her a few years later on the national tours, Merman looked her age, but certainly younger than Streisand does now.

With movie magic they will make Babs look 20.

Only a time machine is going to make Barbra look 20. I say that with love.

[quote]I dare one of you bitches to criticize my title.

It’s too many people,OP, and there’s no funny connection, it should only be three people. Streisand just isn’t funny, nor is Porter, really, at least in this group. Sondheim, LuPone, and Glenn Close would’ve been funnier. Patti LuPone, Glenn Close, and Andrew Lloyd Webber would be even better.

James told Barbra not to do Gypsy.

[quote]Larry Kert is firmly ensconced in the Silver Screen's firmament for his appearance in Liza's Born in a Trunk!

Wasn't Kert cut from the final print of the original release, when a lot of "Happy Endings" ended up on the editing room floor?

Gary Morton, actually, told Barbra not to do Gypsy.

Shouldn't it be Cole Porter crawled into a bar?!?

R14 = Jack Cassidy.

Put out the cigarette, Jack.

Wow, that's the worst I've ever heard Patti do "Meadowlark" in that clip. Not only is her dress hideous, but she doesn't sound that great. There have got to be better videos of her singing it than that one. She was brilliant when she did it in the actual show.

From the previous thread:

[quote]Tell that to the old broad who starred in the commercial, you know-it-all know nothing.

Wait....it's sometimes hard to read tone in people's posts. Are you joking, or do you SERIOUSLY believe that parody commercial with Larry Kert was real?

"Roberta Kent has starred in several national commercials including one for the Gas Company's self cleaning oven where she sings and dances."

Do you have reading comprehension issues, R17?

[quote]I dare one of you bitches to criticize my title.

You misspelled my name, you fat stupid whore!

But I love you anyway.

Actually, serious question:

Why didn't Larry Kert have a bigger/better career?

He basically did nothing of note after West Side Story except replace Dean Jones in Company.

Did anyone see (or plan to see) PROMENADE at Encore's summer series?

An outstanding, engaging production of a very strange but winning little show. The cast was stellar and the direction and design (for the most part) were first-rate. Exactly the sort of commercially unrevivable musical that Encores should be exploring.

Many people will dislike it. I loved it.

OP, shouldn't it have been Patti LuPone, Sherie Rene Scott, and a rabid wolverine walk into a bar...?

Didn’t Larry Kert also do the lead in A Family Affair?

I always assumed it was his acting that held him back, but it might also have been that he was fairly open about his homosexuality.

[quote]Didn’t Larry Kert also do the lead in A Family Affair?

Excuse me?

Isaac Powell is going to crash and burn, and then Tay Tay will ditch him. With van Hove directing, the whole show is going to be a Hindenberg.

The atrocity at The Clare Tow Theatre will crash and burn and no one will escape with a career. Biggest POS I've ever seen.

Do you mean IN THE GREEN, R27?

The word-of-mouth has been... mixed.

Okay, to the know-it-all who keeps declaring that commercial a spoof: it’s not a spoof. I remember it quite well. It’s a commercial for gas ovens. This was right around 1967-68 or ‘69 or so, when commercials were just starting to get creative and humorous. Alice Playten’s giant dumpling Alka-Selzter commercial was the same time, and Ann Miller’s “Great American Soup” (in a similar vein to the gas oven one) came along a year or two later.

These days commercials are pretty sophisticated in their production values, but not back then.

Jesus, had no idea this happened, what an awful end of that awful fucking incident. I remember a friend of mine who lives in the neighborhood posting lotsa mug cradling frau shit about how horrible the driver was. Hope she is happy

Larry Kert also did RAGS. Not for long, though.

Larry also understudied Peter Allen in "Legs Diamond".

R28-And the fat-shaming pig Peter Filichia was there the night I saw it. Gained a bit of weight, Peter has.

You bitches don't get the connection of the title? It's six degrees of separation linking Cole Porter to B. Streisand.

Cole Porer wrote Anything Goes and Can-Can, two shows which Patti starred in. Patti starred in Sondheim shows Company, Sweeney Todd, the one about the ugly woman. Sondheim wrote Gypsy which Barbra wants to star in, although she should consider the musical about the ugly woman instead.

That's how Cole Porter is connected to Barbra Streisand.

r34 You're on notice. I no longer love you.

[quote]r16 Wow, that's the worst I've ever heard Patti do "Meadowlark" in that clip. Not only is her dress hideous, but she doesn't sound that great.

I'll take it from here - -

[quote]r12 Wasn't Kert cut from the final print of the original release, when a lot of "Happy Endings" ended up on the editing room floor?

Probably he wouldn't sleep with one of the Higher Ups.

That's Hollywood.

I'm fascinated by Barbra hinting that she still wants to do Gypsy during her concert. Girl, give it up. You weren't right for it 30 or 40 years ago and you sure as hell aren't right for it now. Wouldn't hearing that the project is continuing without you and with a different director be a reason to hang up your hat and call it a day? Is she camping outside of Amy Sherman Palladino's house and campaigning for the role?

At this point, it's become obvious the only movie musical role that Babs is right for is Norma Desmond. Talk about delusional. And she's even too old for that now, too.

Miss Streisand Regrets She's Unable To Lunch Today

Maybe Mandy Patinkin can play Herbie in Streisand Gypsy. Or maybe she'll do a Bette Midler and get an old lover to play the role? Elliott, are you free?

To be honest, I've never been able to picture Barbra playing Rose. She's not steamroller enough to do it the Merman way, she's not sexy enough to do it the Bernadette way. Angela Lansbury played it a bit kooky, but she had the chops to make Rose batshit crazy which Barbra doesn't have the acting chops to pull off. So, we'll get a passive-aggressive, kooky Rose with no payoff at the end?

[quote]I'm fascinated by Barbra hinting that she still wants to do Gypsy during her concert.

Either she's delusional, or she's toying with her fans. If the latter, she must think a lot of them are pretty stupid.

[quote]If the latter, she must think a lot of them are pretty stupid.

You've never met those Long Island women have you? If Barbra had a blog like Rosie O'Donnell has, you'd see how stupid her fans really are. They'd be kissing Barbra's ass over her dogs, hoping she would give them some attention.

R34 /OP, I'm exhausted having to read your explanation. No, none of that was obvious, the connections are tenuous at best, and it's still a lousy attempt with too many people that you could have aced if you had thought more carefully about whom to put in there.

Buckley's "Meadowlark" is dreadful. As is usual for her, she thinks she's a better composer than the actual composer, and sings whatever notes she wants.

R37, Larry Kert would sleep with anybody.

Back in the '70s, I actually witnessed him in the steam room of a midwestern bath house introducing himself to guys and telling them that he played Tony in the original Broadway production of West Side Story. It was so dire.

Sleep with someone for a good part in a movie? OF COURSE HE WOULD.

That's more like it, r44. Thank you.

I love anecdotes like the one at r45.

I recall reading about someone who was kept by Larry Kert for a time. I think it was around the time of COMPANY, or maybe a little before. Maybe the self cleaning oven money allowed Larry to splash out on a twink.

I met Larry Kert in his dressing room backstage at "Side by Side" in LA. He had a young man who was clearly a paid escort with him, and didn't make any effort to hide it.

This is a much better Patti version of "Meadowlark" than the one previously linked

A totally overacted presentation by Rannells

I hate when squeaky tenors try tor sing a belter's number.

Miss Ramirez.....

The Judy Kuhn version is really lovely, until a big flat piccolo ruins the ending.

Leave it to a big flat piccolo, r53.....

[quote]The Judy Kuhn version is really lovely

It's passable. She gets a bit shrill on the high notes. Her interpretation is a bit vanilla in the beginning, then she realizes and overcompensates in the last third with being overly dramatic.

No matter who sings it, it's a long ass song.

Piece of shit show Slave Play coming to Broadway:

“SLAVE PLAY” THE EXPLOSIVE NEW PLAY BY JEREMY O. HARRIS DIRECTED BY ROBERT O’HARA

TO PLAY BROADWAY’S GOLDEN THEATRE PREVIEWS BEGIN TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 OPENING NIGHT SET FOR SUNDAY, OCTOBER 6

I'll save everyone money: All white people are essentially racist, no matter how accepting they might seem. And black people cannot have a true romantic relationship with a white person, unless they accept the plantation mentality. But even then, they will always have deep-seated anger and ultimately unfulfilled relationships. Perfect show for all of the SJW white guilt theater goers. Perfect show for Oberlin.

Let's not forget its bookend song.....

I’m so exhausted by Broadway trying to lecture the audience. In fact, I’m just exhausted by Broadway. I wish there was one thing, anything, worth spending money on in NY. Especially at Broadway prices.

I love Judy Kuhn's voice. Distinctive and always recognizable. She also can do dynamics whereas Patti....well, that's not exactly her forte (so to speak). She's always at fortissimo.

Judy Kuhn has personality compared to Liz Whatserface (she has a lez sister). But that's a low bar.

Has this been discussed? Have Summer Strallen and Sally Ann Triplett moved to the US?

Callaway, R61?

Sally Ann Triplett did a nice job in the CSC revival of CRADLE WILL ROCK a few months ago.

I'm rarely moved to describe any theatre as unfairly underrated, but that revival fits the bill.

That is NOT a flattering photo of Christine Ebersole. I know we are all getting old it she looks like a whethered fortune teller in that satin caftan.

Her caftan itself is a theatrical experience.

But is her caftan a coup de theatre?

R65, you either want “withered” or “weathered,” but not whethered.

Interesting, R57. I wonder if that means "Slave Play" will now be the chief competition for "The Inheritance" for the Best Play Tony?

R69, knowing the new SJW Broadway, you can book it. The whites will decry their own race and show their version of reparations by awarding the Tony.

But Slave Play is a piece of shit, or as Goldman would call it, a snob hit.

But, the ultra-liberal theater crowd will hail it as a masterpiece, a cutting new look at the state of race relations. " Bravo, a Pulitzer!" " Stunning in it's honesty." " A brilliant new play forces us to uncover what is in our hearts."

^ They even use the incorrect form of "its" in their comments.

Then, next season, they can put "Daddy" into the Marquis.

You like to be lectured? Go see Slave Play.

Even Paul Nolan's impressive nudity couldn't save it.

Could someone who has seen Slave Play tell us about the extra lectury moments? I’m so curious.

reviewers: "It’s provocative and uncomfortable, pushing boundaries and buttons that are hidden within every single soul in the theatre, daring us with staggering urgency to take notice and check our own prejudicial thoughts and politics...

What follows is discussion, debate, confrontation and apparently curative epiphanies, clearly meant to further explore issues of race and sex and gender, and drive home the central thesis of the play that all relationship and all individuals, black or white, continue to be affected by the racism that dates back centuries.

Some of what we hear is thought-provoking; there are a few laughs. But there is not as much insight or humor as the playwright seems to have intended. (Many theatergoers, though, are sure to find it just as uncomfortable as the playwright seems to want.) And, at two hours without an intermission, it’s simply too long, and too repetitive.

It's hard not to be excited by Harris' ambition and willingness to tackle the thorniest material, even as one is exhausted by his insistence on telling everything he knows, repeatedly. (Despite everything, I'm eager to see his next play, "Daddy", which opens at The New Group early next year.) There is an original theatrical mind at work here, but he needs to marshal his arguments with more discipline. Slave Play begins with shock-and-awe tactics, but ultimately, it nearly talks itself to death. -- David Barbour

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"Daddy" was a drama school thesis and it showed.

I, too, want to to know what Barbra's game with Gypsy is. Apparently, she turned down an offer to do it on stage with Scott Rudin and have it filmed. That was stupid. Even if it sucked, it'd be a huge event.

Are you kidding? Even an "GYPSY - In Concert" would be a terrible idea. Logistice aside, Streisand is not the most nuanced of actors. A readthrough performance would really expose her.

[quote]Apparently, she turned down an offer to do it on stage with Scott Rudin and have it filmed. That was stupid. Even if it sucked, it'd be a huge event.

Barbra has to work with someone who will let her call all the shots. She and Rudin would have fought for control through the entire project. She needs a producer who will put up the money and shut up until opening night and then show up and gush all over her.

*Logistics

Tweet by Betty B:

Thank you, God, for persons who are kind, who see, appreciate and love the World. Thank you for all those who know the Truth of our connected Humanity, our oneness with all of Life. Thank you for those who do not wish to cause pain for any living being.

That’s rich coming from someone who’s often caused pain for many of those she’s worked with.

[quote]Thank you for those who do not wish to cause pain for any living being.

Then you need to stop singing because your renditions of Sondheim songs are so awful that Steve told you to stop singing his material.

Alan Cumming's full-fledged nakedness is what made "Daddy" something I will for sure never forget.

Harris must have a naked white man in his plays. Although Nolan is much better to look at than Cumming.

Is Cumming well hung?

Does it matter, R88?

Yes, r89, it does matter. A big dick can ameliorate a multitude of unattractive sins.

Are you John Holmes?

Can Brooke handle the role of Rose, vocally? I've never actually heard her sing.

You be the judge, r92......

I like Brooke. As the saying goes: it's not the talent, it's the COMMITMENT.

That said, she looks very.... trans in that video clip.

Her height could make the overage "teens" playing Louise and June appear younger.

#Brooke4Rose

Another slow thread. It's post-TONYs and we're all a bit over it, yes?

Fun article about fictional musicals we know and love. Some of these are at least as worthy of Bway as, say, TOOTSIE, don't you think?

THE HIT LIST!

SONGBIRD!

THE RURAL JUROR!

OH! STREETCAR!

I hear George Salazar is having gay app dates in his dressing room on matinee days. Getting loud in there.

I saw Be More Chill last night. I am in the city for the weekend and there isn’t a lot I am interested in, I heard all the negatives but figured I’d give it a try. After all, at least it isn’t a jukebox show or a creaky retread of a popular movie. I guess I am old, because it did nothing for me.

And all the pre-Tony talk of George Salazar being nominated....really?

I am officially an elder gay.

The move to Broadway from off-Broadway destroyed BMC. The lyrics are heinous, the sound design is so bad, there are supertitles for the lyrics, so the morons in the audience can follow along. This is one POS that deserves to close. I feel sorry about the loss of jobs, but this was a disaster from the beginning.

I think part of Be More Chill’s problem was the hubris of the creative and producing team. Thinking it was Broadway caliber was a mistake. And the target audience can’t afford the prices of Broadway tickets today. They should have mounted it at a place like New World Stages where it probably would have had a longer and healthier run.

But it was supposed to be the Hair, Rent, Spring Awakening for a new generation. That's what we were told.

I haven't seen Be More Chill but the pictures make it look like a more expensive Pinkalicious or Junie B. Jones. Is it that kind of show but mysteriously on Broadway? It can't be THAT juvenile, but that is how it looks to me. Anyone?

And how old is George Salazar? If you told me he was 40, I'd believe you and yet that can't possibly be true. How old is he?

[quote]Very nice. Cast of @hadestown singing to the disappointed audience about the #blackout.

video at link

Love it, R104.

I just spent over two hours trying to get home tonight.

Can I assume nothing is playing tonight, at least nothing in the West 40s/50s?

Well, I was supposed to finally see Dear Evan Hansen tonight.

No one came out to sing to us.

This thread is deader than the Manhattan power grid.

RIP, Broadway

Oh....let's go off-topic.....

[quote]This thread is deader than the Manhattan power grid.

Broadway is dead in July, as is the golden age of summer stock, when we could see Eva Gabor in "Forty Carats" and Eve Arden in "Everybody Loves Opal."

If memory serves, r110, we got Ginger Rogers in 40 Carats and Martha Raye in Opal.

And how lucky we were, R111.

How lucky for Ginger, r112, that she got to do 40 Carats at......63!

Name the show and the burg and I am THERE!

After reading the comment about George Salazar’s questionable Tony buzz, I watched some Be More Chill clips. He acts like he is on a Disney Channel film. More than broad, he’s just bad. How did he get on Broadway? He’s awful.

[quote]How did he get on Broadway?

He's Filipino-Ecuadorian (i.e., minority).

How did Barbara Nichols get on Broadway?

Be fair, r117, how did that SONG get on Broadway?

You have to ask, r117?

R116, the minority quota only pertains to blacks.

[quote]Eve Arden in "Everybody Loves Opal."

Well, WE got Vivian Vance!

I know we got Miss Gale Storm in......something.....

I just saw a small theater production of "Ragtime." Overall, quite enjoyable --it's one of my favorite shows. (I admit to being a sucker for power ballads.) I saw the pre-Broadway run at the old Shubert in LA, and the most recent Broadway revival, as well as numerous regional and community theater productions.

This show had a strange framing device -- the set-up was that the opening was in a contemporary (2019) warehouse, and a bunch of random people working together decided to put the show on. The small cast was double- triple- and quadruple-cast (except for the three main protagonists.) I don't think I would've quite grasped what they were getting at without having read about in the program, as the opening was all wordless (I guess that was dictated by the rules about changing the script.)

Anyway, every time I see the show, I am reminded about how awful the original (non-musical) movie was. Not awful, exactly--just a letdown because it focused so much on the Coalhouse story and gave short shrift to the other two storylines. I guess it's too much to expect that there will ever be a full-fledged remake (with all three stories treated somewhat equally) or a film of the musical.

Los Angeles has no Shubert Theater ...

R115-He presented hole.

Not any more, r124. I saw Dreamgirls there.

The musical could make a great movie, I think, R123, as a lot of the storytelling is cinematic to begin with.

It's my favorite Ahrens/Flaherty score. I'm less of a fan of the Doctorow book or the McNally adaptation.

It would be, however, be enormously expensive to undertake.

"Ragtime" is such an interesting and entertaining novel, and the movie (with a script by the playwright Michael Weller) is flat and dull. Robert Altman was briefly involved with the film project, but his deal fell through. I wonder if the musical will ever be filmed?

Eva Gabor definitely did a “Forty Carats” in stock. She also did “Blithe Spirit” as Elvira a couple of times.

“Forty Carats” hinges on a woman having an affair with a significantly younger man as she is turning 40. Julie Harris was 43 when she originated the role. It was hilarious to see so many actresses signing up to declare they were 40 onstage even as they were really 50 and older.

And as I stated, r129, Ginger was 63.......!!! OMG, I just remembered. The season before or after that, Miss Lana Turner did.....drum roll.....

Speaking of Bway ladies of yesteryear, I give you.... Miss Betsy von Furstenberg.

[quote]Von Furstenberg, who studied acting in New York at the Neighborhood Playhouse under the renowned teacher Sanford Meisner, performed in a wide range of productions on Broadway for 25 years. She debuted there in 1951 in Philip Barry's Second Threshold, a performance that resulted in her being featured on the cover of Life magazine and being publicized as "the most promising young actress of the year". She went on to star or co-star in Oh, Men! Oh, Women! (1953), The Chalk Garden (1956), Child of Fortune (1956), Nature's Way (1957), The Making of Moo (1958), Step on a Crack (1962), The Frog Pond (1965), The Paisley Convertible (1967), Avanti! (1968), The Gingerbread Lady (1970), and Does Anybody Here Do the Peabody? (1976).

PS: I was sufficiently curious to investigate THE PAISLEY CONVERTIBLE, which co-starred Bill Bixby, in his one and only Bway appearance, along with DL fave Joyce Bulifant. Here they are, sharing a moment.

It ran a total of 18 previews... and 9 performances.

[quote]r131 The season before or after that, Miss Lana Turner did.....drum roll..... Bell, Book, and Candle!

Lana Turner, who's about the most boring actress ever, also did a tour of 40 CARATS. In her autobiography she's (rightly) terrified of appearing onstage, and approaches rehearsal of the play as if she's going behind enemy lines in a world war.

She needs so much hand holding during rehearsal it's kind of pathetically hilarious. But never fear, the costume designer makes her a special gown to wear exclusively during the curtain call, and order is restored.

Jeezy creezy, how much did the West Side Story producers pay for that multifold insert in today's Sunday Times?! Also: two months of previews?

I saw both Eva and Zsa Zsa in Blithe Spirit in Chicago at one of those many regional theaters—Pheasant Run, Ivanhoe, Drury Lane, etc.

Also, my friend the late Peter Coffield played opposite Lana in 40 CARATS. Predictably, she invited her to her room and put the clumsy moves on him. He had to patiently explain that he was gay.

[quote]r137 Also, my friend the late Peter Coffield played opposite Lana in 40 CARATS. Predictably, she invited her to her room and put the clumsy moves on him. He had to patiently explain that he was gay.

Was she okay to act with? She seems so dithering in her book.

Ah, Peter Coffield. He was such a lovely guy. He was also one of the very first actors to succumb to an AIDS-related illness. I gather one day he wasn’t feeling well and a few weeks later he was dead.

What did Peter Coffield expect would happen after accepting an invitation to her hotel room? That she'd model some Nolan Miller creations for him?

I suspect he planned on modeling them for her r140.

[quote]That she'd model some Nolan Miller creations for him?

All he had to do was ask.

Lana and her Forty Carats co-stars.

Maybe this makes me a dull traditionalist, but I don’t think I care to see West Side Story without the Robbins choreography. It had better be as electric.

[quote]Los Angeles has no Shubert Theater ...

That was a stupid lie! Easy to expose. Not worthy of you!

[quote]I’m so exhausted by Broadway trying to lecture the audience. In fact, I’m just exhausted by Broadway. I wish there was one thing, anything, worth spending money on in NY. Especially at Broadway prices.

I share your distaste for shows that lecture the audience. The worst parts of the rewritten TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD are the parts where some of the characters lecture the audience by lecturing Atticus. I recommend to you HADESTOWN, a wonderful new show that does not lecture the audience. Maybe that's one reason why it's so successful?

[quote]I, too, want to to know what Barbra's game with Gypsy is. Apparently, she turned down an offer to do it on stage with Scott Rudin and have it filmed. That was stupid. Even if it sucked, it'd be a huge event.

I very much doubt Barbra in GYPSY will ever happen in any form, but it would CERTAINLY never happen as a stage production first. If she ever ACTUALLY, did the role, it would be for film only, and they would have to do endless takes of her pre-recordings of the songs to get them to sound decent, given her diminished vocal resources and that raspiness that keeps creeping it. (I don't know if it's acid reflux or something else, but that raspiness does keep surfacing.)

[quote]Barbra has to work with someone who will let her call all the shots.

Exactly. Just like a certain worm she has been working with for quite a few years now....

They wouldn't have to to endless takes. They could it piece it together relatively easily. The digital realm makes all that much easier than back in the analogue time of LucyMAME.

^^ would pay good money to see R147 lecture Babs with this

[bold]: o

[quote]They wouldn't have to to endless takes. They could it piece it together relatively easily. The digital realm makes all that much easier than back in the analogue time of LucyMAME.

I understand that, but they'd still have to do lots of takes, because BS now has no control over when that raspiness kicks in. Also, it's not just the raspiness. At her age, and in her current vocal condition, not all of the notes are there all of the time. Have you seen clips of her recent concerts? Sometimes she still sounds really good, and other times, not so much.

I think the raspiness kicks in at a certain part of her voice. I'm not sure there's much of a way around it.

[quote]I think the raspiness kicks in at a certain part of her voice. I'm not sure there's much of a way around it.

I don't think it's consistent, why is why I'm saying they might be able to avoid it if they did lots of takes.

The last, great Shubert Theatre in LA.

Why they tore this down, I’ll never know. Surely they could have incorporated it into the new complex.

I've noticed with some singers the rasp comes in when they go into upper chest/mix but they've retained a purer sound for the upper/head range. I don't know if that's the case with Streisand. I've seen clips from the Hyde Park gig and Streisand seemed underrehearsed and at some points inapproriately campy (e.g. Music of the Night).

Eighty year old Barbra Streisand starring in a role that she’s at least 30 years too old for is not gonna happen, and if it did, I can’t imagine what kind of audience there would be beyond a weekend’s worth of DLers.

GRAMMA ROSE: A NEW MUSICAL

[quote]Eighty year old Barbra Streisand starring in a role that she’s at least 30 years too old for is not gonna happen, and if it did, I can’t imagine what kind of audience there would be beyond a weekend’s worth of DLers.

Right. And on a related note, she is only doing one night at MSG, as opposed to multiple nights in previous stints.

"Ragtime" at the late, lamented Shubert. Featuring DL fave Miss Lea Michele!

The Gabor sisters didn't do Blithe Spirit in Chicago (though one of them may have). Even more improbably, they played the Brewster sisters (the aunts) in Arsenic and Old Lace, and insisted that the dialogue be reapportioned so they would have the same number of lines. It was at the Arlington Park theatre--near the racetrack. I can't recall if it was dinner theatre or not. Mortimer was played by someone like Tony Roberts (may not have been him). I remember because my high school did it around the same time and we were appalled by such non-artistes as the Gabors doing OUR show!

On Broadway....

Rick Lenz played Mortimer with the Gabors. John Carradine in the Karloff role (Raymond Massey in the movie)

This is from Rick Lenz, re rehearsing with Zsa Zsa and Eva:

“Rehearsals are a wearying nightmare of celebrity aggression. One day the sisters scream at each other in Hungarian, then Eva faints and the stage manager calls 911. A handsome young paramedic revives Eva, Under other circumstances she would no doubt be flirting with him. She regains consciousness and is beginning to lift herself to one elbow as she hears him say into his radiophone “White Caucasian female”. There’s a short pause, then everyone hears him say “Middle-aged.”

Not a smart thing to say about a Gabor sister, ever.

Eva swoons again.

I am later told the reason she fainted the first time was that she’d found out that Zsa Zsa passed herself off as Eva, then charged a few thousand dollars worth of clothes to her in a Chicago department store”

There are several press accounts that talk about Zsa Zsa opening charge accounts under Eva’s name.

What's the story behind the b/w portion of this number? I presume the section was cut and they cut footage only exists in that form.

You answered your own question, r164, that’s exactly what happened. The entire number was filmed and edited, but when trims were needed after the sneak preview, the introduction was cut so that the number began with the refrain. When it was restored for the DVD, the black and white print was all they could find.

Peter did die from AIDS, very early on, as you say, before there was a lot of information about causes, treatments, etc. Speaking at his memorial service were Frances Sternhagen, Sada Thompson, and others. Nicest guy in the universe.

As for Lana, when a big star asks you to her suit for a drink or to "run lines," you go. You wouldn't have a job without her. Whether he knew he was in for a attempted seduction, who knows?

Eva is not Zsa Zsa.

When Eva replaced Colleen Dewhurst in "You Can't Take it With You," she made a big hit in a small part and was well loved by eveyrone involved involved with the production. Hard working. Great in the role. Professional. Considerate. No diva fits. Better than anyone, she understood that generating publicity was part of her job and she took on the press opportunities as they were developed. It is true that she would always find a moment to mention Eva Gabor Wigs after she talked about "You Can't Take it With You," but never to excess. And in a very small role, the Grand Duchess Olga Katrina, she nailed her laughs and stopped the show at every performance.

DE PINNA: You know, Highness, I think you waited on me at Childs, once. The Seventy-second Street place?

GRAND DUCHESS: No, no. That was my sister... I vork in Times Sqvare.

After "That was my sister," came one of the biggest laughs I've ever heard in a theater. Eva just smiled and laid it out there. The house exploded. And then for it to be followed with... "Times Sqvare!" One would think the role was written for Eva Gabor. She was terrific.

Zsa Zsa, on the other hand, was a horror.

Zsa Zsa reveals her true feeling about Eva

R136-They need all that extra times to teach the Jets how to fly without crashing into the walls. van Hove doesn't want to be compared to Julie.

Eva also replaced Vivien Leigh in TOVARICH when the latter went cuckoo and quit the show. What a contrast those two performances must have been.

To think that Eva Gabor replaced both Vivien Leigh and Colleen Dewhurst in Broadway shows gives one pause. But she did!

But NO ONE ever replaced Eva!

I'm 90% certain I saw Eva (not Zsa Zsa) Gabor as Desiree in A Little Night Music on the Kenley circuit as a young gayling (I know for certain that Ethel Barrymore Colt was Madame Armfeldt; no idea who else was in the cast). She was... fine? I remember loving the show itself, though. And I still do.

A pity things like the Kenley circuit no longer exist.

With all the insane Broadway replacements there have been over the years, Eva Gabor doesn't sound that insane. If she were still with us and young enough, I'm sure she'd make a fine Roxie in Chicago.

We live in a world where Wendy fucking Williams is getting plugged into hit Broadway shows for God's sake.

Why hasn't Pia Zadora played Roxie?

Eva's IBDB page....

Zsa Zsa's....

Want to second the vote about THE GREEN ROOM being one of the worst shows to hit a New York stage in decades.

I saw it in previews and couldn't believe how godawful it was.

LCT3 has turned The Clare Tow Theatre into a real outhouse this season. There was that ridiculous transgender show which basically was about the trauma two lesbians were having about one of them wanting to use a dildo on the other (I wish I were kidding); then Marys Seacole, which wasn't as bad as the shows that bookended it but still got a loud verdict from an elderly male patron in the lobby that could be heard by everyone ("That was the worst play I've ever seen."); and now we have the Green Room, which makes Gettin' The Band Back Together look like South Pacific in comparison.

Who is choosing these awful, awful shows for LCT3, and why hasn't this person been fired?

Eva did a lot of productions of 'Night Music.' In the late 70s, she and Julie Wilson both toured in a Bus and Truck of Night Music, both put out by the same cheapskate producer. The sets were horrid. The quintet became a quartet. I think Frid survived the cuts, but I'm pretty sure Malla did not. The two companies rehearsed at the same time in the same studio. The choreographer would set one musical number of Eva's company while the director was working with Julie's company. Then they would run across the hall and the director would set the scene on Eva's company while Julie's company worked with the choreographer. Sadly, the finished product didn't amount to much. I saw Julie Wilson's company and many years later got to have a chat with her. She told me the back story of how difficult the rehearsal process had been.

By the way, Eva was actually hilarious in Green Acres.

I never really knew theatre until I experienced Eva's MEDEA. And LONG DAY'S JOURNEY.

Oooooh! Chills.

I was looking for a little history on the Kenley Players summer stock circuit and found the linked article. There's a poster for the 1976 season with Ann Miller in Panama Hattie, Henry Winkler in Room Service, Sonny Bono in ...Forum, Vincent Price in Damn Yankees, Carol Lawrence in Funny Girl and Ed Ames in Shenandoah (Mitzi Gaynor did an evening of just herself). Why can't we have things like this anymore? (I know: money.)

It's not just money. Star actors aren't really raised in the musical comedy tradition anymore.

[quote]Why can't we have things like this anymore? (I know: money.)

I don't think it's so much money is that today's stars aren't used to touring. Many of the old stars didn't need the money but they wanted to get out and stretch themselves as artists and performing short engagements in the hinterlands was a way to do that. Why else would you do outdoor theater in the middle of nowhere except to stretch yourself as an artist or because you were desperate for applause?

Saw the latest image of Ariana DeBose as Anita in the West Side Story film. Why doesn't it matter that Ariana DeBose doesn't look at all Puerto Rican? Doesn't representation matter anymore? That was quick.

Not sure I agree about her not looking Puerto Rican, R185, but let's share and let people decide for themselves.

[quote]Why doesn't it matter that Ariana DeBose doesn't look at all Puerto Rican?

A little bit of my Light Egyptian will take care of that!

But you could also find a white woman that LOOKS Puerto Rican. That would matter. Why doesn't this matter? She's not Puerto Rican.

[quote] Why doesn't it matter that Ariana DeBose doesn't look at all Puerto Rican?

It's the teeth. She's too beautiful to be believed as a Puerto Rican immigrant.

She is thoroughly appropriate as a Puerto Rican. The hair, the eyes, the beautiful skin. All entirely appropriate.

Anyone who wants to challenge this woman's appearance as a Puerto Rican is a troll out to cause trouble.

So now it is only appropriate that the actress APPEAR Puerto Rican? Then explain to me why the conversation about representation in the arts matters? DOES it matter?

There is some Puerto Rican ancestry in her father's side, but that didn't fly when Johnny Depp claimed to have some Native American history in his lineage.

So sorry... not good enough. Doesn't representation matter anymore?

Hmmm... I have a feeling some of you complaining would have stayed mute about Rita Moreno not being able to sing the role... but DeBose's looks... yes, you're sincerely outraged about that.

You are the only one that mentioned "outrage." I just want to know why it doesn't matter. If you cast an Asian woman to play a role in Raisin in the Sun, I have a feeling it would matter. It SHOULD matter. Why doesn't it matter here?

You really need to define your use of "Representation" for there to be any discussion of it.

Not screening out talented people in the casting process counts a great deal. Finding the best talent is what counts. Thinking broadly about casting counts. Representation for its own sake is a stupid concept. More so when applied to Puerto Ricans. The islands of the Caribbean are historic melting pots. A modern day Puerto Rican, as any Puerto Rican in West Side Story would most certainly be a mix of many, many, different histories and cultures.

Suggesting that this actress does not "look Puerto Rican" is just sophistry, an offensive use of stereotype.

I remember after Eva Gabor died, her best friend was on tv talking about her completely and visibly grief stricken.

Ava's best friend? Suzanne Pleshette!

Why did that surprise me?

R194 Sure... We all know why it doesn't matter in this case. Pathetic...

Chums...

Who wouldn't want to be friends with Eva Gabor?

When I saw the photo of Anita I thought she loved black, so went and checked and her Dad is afro Puerto Rican, so zip it Mr Complainy.

Listen to her singing and complain about that bullshit voice first love

Exactly. That jazzy interpretation of "No One Is Alone" was shit.

Speaking of Cleo, I was very disappointed that she didn't sing at that last Sondheim celebration the BBC did. It's probably too much to hope that she might be able to sing at his 90th.

Cleo is a zillion billion years old.

I took my partner to see her at a jazz club about 15 years ago in NY. (I can't recall when exactly but her husband was still alive).

I was worried about how she might sound but he was spectacular. Doubt she'd be able to do it now though

^ sorry, "she" was spectacular

Loved Summer Stock and wish somebody would bring it back. I remember being in high school and going to see a summer production of Sweet Charity staring Chita. My best friend's neighbor was in the cast and we met her after the show. We asked her if she wanted to go out to get something to eat and she agreed. Then she asked," Do you mind if I invite Chita?" Who would say," Yes, we mind"? So, after seeing summer stock, we had sandwiches with Chita Rivera. Great memories.

People lying out in the woods eating sandwiches?

I...I...I am appalled!

[quote]r175 Why hasn't Pia Zadora played Roxie?

Where is Pia's MADAM ARMFELDT??

From r182 's link, about Ohio's Kenley Players:

[quote]The stars had to adjust to life on the road in the Buckeye State. Ann Miller raised a ruckus while dining at the Jai Lai Restaurant. “She just gave this waiter the hardest time,” Anderson says. “This wasn’t right. That wasn’t right. The meat was too done. The potato wasn’t done enough. And finally she demanded to see the manager. And so the manager comes over and he says, 'Do you know who this is? Do you know who this is? I can’t believe you’re giving her such poor service. This is Ann Miller!' And the waiter - who’s like 18, 19 - turns to her, and he goes, ‘Oh my God, I thought you were dead.' ”

[quote]r195 I remember after Eva Gabor died, her best friend was on tv talking about her completely and visibly grief stricken. Ava's best friend? Suzanne Pleshette! Why did that surprise me?

OMG - such different types! They should have done a show together where they were divorcee roommates : ) Like KATE & ALLIE, but ritzier.

This Cleo vid from 2012 cracks me up. Her voice was still in good shape.

Broadway sucks these days! You know it’s bad when people start discussing the Kenley Players on Datalounge. Not only is there no gossip, there are no shows worth discussing.

Apparently Wesley Taylor's nudes have been leaked. Escandalo!

WHO???

Nobody wants to look at Wes Tay Tay nude.

Nobody.

What is Isaac Powell, chopped live?

Oh, I hope not! Sounds awfully painful!

Watching the cinema broadcast of Kinky Boots - available from reddit

The Charlie is fat and bearded, the Lola is not cinched and the score never changes . Why was it a success again?

The original Charlie was neither fat nor bearded. The original Charlie was the beautiful Stark Sands.

Kinky Boots is utter shite.

[quote] The original Charlie was neither fat nor bearded.

That sounds worse than the new Anita in Spielberg's WSS. Where do we picket?

Stark Sands stark naked.

This is the Charlie, Killian Donnelly, but the photo must have been from the start of the run cause he is a fat little hairy porker now

Here he is now, in all his porker glory.

And watching the end credits, Jerry Mitchell, boy he stinks

[quote]Kinky Boots is utter shite.

It really is AWFUL, and there are FOUR tuneless songs that end in a big raised fist gesture, so not only do all the shitty songs sound alike, they LOOK alike too!

It's sad that it ran longer than "Hairspray" which is a delightful show!

What is Cyndi Lauper's next musical ? Has she announced it?

Yes. Working Girl.

D'oh!

Memory Lane with Dame Judi

A bit more

And now...Dame Judi and Trees...

The lane of trees planted for friends, lovers and husbands, is quite beautiful

"Send in the Clowns," 2010.

"Waitress" will close Jan. 5, 2020.

Will they get a name to close out the run?

Will Dame Judi be singing anything in the CATS movie? I can’t remember if Old Deuteronomy actually sings.

He sings a bit, actually. He’s the cat that always has that old man, opera-ish quality to his voice.

By the way, it’s an affectation that I would say isn’t necessary to the character. I’m not sure why Cats always cast Old D. with that type of singing voice.

Dame Judi in WAITRESS!

What sort of pie would she be?

Fattening.

Saucy!

A Midsummer Night's Dench!

Jack Viertel is leaving Encores. Thank God!

The Cleo clip was priceless. Thanks to the poster!

[quote]Jack Viertel is leaving Encores. Thank God!

Will Walter "Murderer" Bobbie return?

Yup, just got his email, R242. Not a regular ENCORES subscriber anymore, but an attendee.

What's the real deal? He's staying at City Center (as "consulting producer") but was he forced to step down?

How is their subscription base? My (uncharitable) guess is that many are aging/dying out, and while I see younger people at the Off-Center summer series, I don't see them at the regular shows. (I usually pick up a discounted ticket for those.)

I know there's been some blowback about regrettable choices (Hey Look Me Over! comes to mind). Almost everyone I know was disappointed by the High Button Shoes production. And Thoroughly Modern Millie--why, god, why?

ENCORES has done some wonderful productions over the years, but it feels like some serious barrel-scraping lately. Time for Jack to go.

ENCORES should do more barrel scraping. Thoroughly Modern Millie has no place at ENCORES. Pajama Game. Bye, Bye, Birdie. Hair. Follies. These shows are very well known, have never been forgotten, and are regularly revived. Dig a little deeper... Scrape a little harder... Dance a Little Closer! Uhhh...No. No, that sucked.

Flahooley. Bajour. The Yearling. Donnybrook. Etc., etc, etc. There are lots of old musicals we know from cast albums... and little else. Let's find out more. There are many early Kern musicals that should be heard again.

If it can't fulfill its mission in that cavernous theater, then move to smaller theater. We do not need one more non-profit organization that justifies everything it does as necessary just to stay alive.

[quote]If it can't fulfill its mission in that cavernous theater, then move to smaller theater.

I think that was always an issue with their mission. People wanted to hear those old chestnuts but nobody really wanted to pay to hear all those old chestnuts.

Probably so. Certainly, no one was begging to see One Touch of Venus. But when they did a great presentation of it with what almost was a star-making turn, it was a huge success for them. When they do a show, they have to get it right.

[quote]But when they did a great presentation of it with what almost was a star-making turn, it was a huge success for them.

I think that's it. If they get the cast right, then the show soars, whether the score/book is any good or not.

They also do a good job with the musical preparation. They deserve credit for that. And, ostensibly, you're there to hear the score and get a taste of how it works in the show. But they often focus too much on the production. Quality score. Excellent musical preparation and performance. That's the bedrock.

Fuck the costumes.

I don't understand why ENCORES has such a difficult time casting leads in their shows. Most of the ensemble does a first-rate job (okay, not always).

I understand it's a challenge: only a few weeks to learn songs, staging, scenes, etc. and not that many "name" actors have those theatre chops. But it's also an opportunity to be astounding for just 7 (I think?) performances before a wildly appreciative crowd that includes some theatre insiders... who may be casting future projects.

How many "names" passed on CALL ME MADAME before poor (brave, unprepared) Carmen Cusack took it on? I heard it started with Cheno and devolved from there.

CMM should have been Caroline O'Connor!

Dolls, I had hoped to triumph in CMM at Encores, but I was too busy starring on the West End.

[quote]How many "names" passed on CALL ME MADAME before poor (brave, unprepared) Carmen Cusack took it on?

No stars wanted to do it because Tyne Daly had already done it for Encores. It's one thing to do a revival on Broadway, but how low do you have to be to do a revival at Encores?

And CMM needs brass, which Miss Kristin Chenoweth does not have.

[quote]Almost everyone I know was disappointed by the High Button Shoes production

But it was “I Married an Angel,” misconceived, misdirected, and miscast, that really stank up the place this season.

I've not heard anything about Shakespeare in the Park this year. When was the last time they did anything exciting?

Let's see.....

[quote]There are many early Kern musicals that should be heard again.

Be honest. How many people would come running to see “Oh Lady! Lady!!” or “Sitting Pretty,” or “Sunny”? This isn’t the late 1980s, when there was that brief flurry of interest in those long-forgotten shows. They would have to have a Kern show cast and directed brilliantly to make it work, and even then it might fizzle.

Possibly Roberta, if they could find a way to pull off the fashion show, because Roberta at least has some snappy lines, and the songs have more punch to them and don’t sound as quaint as early Kern does.

And yet MADAM is a perfect example - Klea Blackhurst would have knocked it out of the park, as she has when she played the role previously. But no, she's not a big ticket selling Broadway star like CC, so one presumes they didn't ask her.

They do a great job preparing and presenting the scores, even though they do more shows than ever. Everything is always well-played and conducted and the orchestra sounds so thrilling. It makes you feel what we're missing with reduced band sizes at so many current shows.

Casting is Encores! single biggest bugaboo of late. They tend to overvalue the appeal of certain Broadway people to such a degree that they miscast them, and ignore less famous stalwarts who could do the role better. The general public, even the Encores! public, wouldn't know the difference, they just want to see the role played well. Names that actually sell tickets are another matter and that kind of casting almost always involves some musical adjustments for the celebrity at hand.

They should probably avoid shows that are nothing BUT vehicles for larger-than-life stars though, unless they have an airtight commitment from someone.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is rumored for the title role in Encores' LEAVE IT TO JANE, R258!

[quote]Casting is Encores! single biggest bugaboo of late.

You'll never work in this town again!

[quote]They should probably avoid shows that are nothing BUT vehicles for larger-than-life stars though, unless they have an airtight commitment from someone.

It's the only way we got to see a decent Do-Re-Mi with Nathan Lane playing the Phil Silvers role.

[quote]Let's see.....

What the fuck is that thing getting it's hair done. It's like a Bergdorf mannequin come to life. It's so plastic looking.

Yes, the show I was most looking forward to this past season was I MARRIED AN ANGEl. and It was possibly was the worst I've seen there. (Tied with IRMA LA DOUCE.) And in the right hands it could have been great.

Yes R261 that's an excellent example of their star casting being exactly right. I'd add to that Carnival, St. Louis Woman, Chicago, Promises Promises, Patti in Can-Can. When they nail it like that, it only makes their audience tougher on the shows where it's not quite as successful.

They've also done several shows well with Broadway names who may not be marquee stars but were excellent choices for their roles and are known to the theatre community.

I thought LuPone was going to do Call Me Madame, before Company extended.

Will Patti choose Company or all female version of Glengarry Glen Ross? Or will Company wait till GGR has ended its run?

Who else is rumored for GGG? Patti can't carry a show at the box office.

[quote]Fuck the costumes.

Pics please.

If the London Company cast doesn't transfer, maybe Patti will do Glengarry instead and they can give Joanne to (gasp!) Glenn Close. Wouldn't that just be delicious? I guess Bernadette could pull it off, too. She still looks young enough that Bobbie could see some of herself in Joanne and be a little terrified of turning into her.

Encores should do PRETTYBELLE.

[quote]I thought LuPone was going to do Call Me Madame, before Company extended.

I thought the same thing, because I couldn't believe that even Jack Viertel would have been foolish enough to schedule a re-do of that show without a major star in place. But some people who claim to know it all have insisted that Patti was never set for CALL ME MADAM at Encores! And they say the Kristin Chenoweth rumor was not true, either.

Don't their shows have to have played on Broadway, r271?

I think, while he was alive, Bob Merrill would not let Prettybelle be done. I don't know if the estate still has that power over it. But the material is so over the top - Anyone Can Whistle seems tame by comparison.

I've fallen down an Angie wormhole....

Thank God Jack is leaving. Now we'll see all the shows he hated. And now maybe some names will come out of hiding to perform them. Fuck that narcissistic blowhard.

What is "Prettybelle" about?

About the worst idea ever for an Angela Lansbury musical.

Are you ready, r278? Well.........

***

A spectral Folksinger sings the ballad of one Prettybelle Sweet... In 1968: Prettybelle is writing her memoirs from an insane asylum ("Manic-Depressives"). She was the ladylike wife of Leroy Sweet, a bigoted sheriff in the Jim Crow South. He was blatantly unfaithful to her ("You Ain't Hurtin' Your Ole Lady None"), and when he suddenly dies, she ambivalently mourns him ("To a Small Degree"). Leroy's ghost returns ("Back from the Great Beyond"), and boasts of his hate crimes against African Americans. She is horrified ("How Could I Know?"), and attempts to make amends by writing checks to the NAACP and offering herself sexually to Mexicans and African American men ("I Never Did Imagine"). Prettybelle becomes involved with Mason Miller, a liberal lawyer ("I Met a Man"). As a result, the Ku Klux Klan attacks Prettybelle's house. However, the local hippies help her clean her house up ("God's Garden"). But, then, at the climax, Mason shockingly betrays Prettybelle and she goes into hiding at the state asylum ("Prettybelle" reprise).

Just for kicks....

There was also the John Sweet Ballet, where Prettybelle's son goes on a shooting spree, killing anyone who resembles his father.

Didn't ENCORES start as a showcase for bombs and very little produced shows?

Forget Encores. Let’s mount a Broadway production,

Manic depressives don’t do rewrites, don’t do rewrites, that’s a fact

But an alcoholic schizophrenic

Especially if authentic

Just might see that she can really write

Thanks, r280. That sounds like a truly bizarre plot and not just for a musical!

The novel that Prettybelle is based on (same title) is really funny.

And Suzanne Merrill would love it if someone could figure out a way to make it work, though she’d love a good revival of “Henry, Sweet Henry” even more.

Paint Your Wagon and Anyone Can Whistle are two more excellent Encores shows during Viertel’s tenure.

Prettybelle sounds fucking insane. Like a John Waters movie. Maybe they could bring him in for a rewrite.

I have been an Encores subscriber since the second season. It's my only luxury and I pay for two seats as my theater friend is now in his mid 70s and lives on very little so I treat him.

Being broke myself, I looked at next season and thought, "Thoroughly Modern Millie"? Are you FUCKING KIDDING? That show SUCKED BALLS in its original production! Then I thought of the mostly turkeys of the last four seasons and thought, "I think I'm done". It used to be the highlight of my winter/spring and after 20+ years my seats are in the fifth row orchestra, but it is too expensive for what it has become. I'm kind of sad, my friend and I have seen about every show together and it has been such great fun, but alas all things end, and Encores has ended for me.

[quote]Starring Ashley Park (Mean Girls, The King and I) with direction by Encores! Resident Director Lear deBessonet and playwright Lauren Yee working with the show’s original authors as creative consultant, the team will explore the work with a fresh perspective to deliver a thoroughly modern Thoroughly Modern Millie.

I can't help but think THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE is their giveaway to composer Jeanine Tesori, coincidentally the the founding artistic director of Encores! Off-Center. It's a testing ground for a more PC (and commercial) version of a deeply un-PC show with a lot of other problems. Not that anyone else was clamoring to see it again, IMHO.

Why is ENCORES using their limited resources in this way? How is this okay?

Tesnori. Her career is a mystery; her talent is so....small.

[quote]It's a testing ground for a more PC (and commercial) version of a deeply un-PC show with a lot of other problems.

Several years ago, they did Purlie, which I think was the suckiest show they've done. Imagine doing an anti-white show for a largely older, white audience!

Puerile isn’t anti white. It’s anti-racism.

But you probably don’t know the difference.

r291 FNF, your story is mine as well. I started a subscription very early on and took one of my good friends who loves music but can't afford extravagence. I moved my way from one of the high balcony seats down to center orchestra seats which were excellent. And I was a person who always attended the Saturday talkback sessions. But I finally dropped my subscription because the shows just weren't as great as they once were.

One thing was that it took them YEARS to do a Sondheim show. I kept waiting and waiting for them to do "Anyone Can Whistle". I kept hoping they would bring in Angela Lansbury to do the talk back session. (Maybe they couldn't do it because of Laurents?) I also kept suggesting that they do "Coco" with Dixie Carter.

I was told by an insider that 16 women turned down MADAME before they landed on Cusack. I can believe it.

If only they'd offered them MADAM......

Madame Rose!

[quote]If only they'd offered them MADAM......

I was available!

[quote] I can't help but think THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE is their giveaway to composer Jeanine Tesori, coincidentally the the founding artistic director of Encores! Off-Center. It's a testing ground for a more PC (and commercial) version of a deeply un-PC show with a lot of other problems. Not that anyone else was clamoring to see it again, IMHO. Why is ENCORES using their limited resources in this way? How is this okay?

It's not okay, but they're doing it anyway. And I'm sure you are correct that they are throwing a bone to Tesori -- who only wrote half a score for MILLIE, and some of those songs are really bad, for example, "Gimme Gimme."

A bone? Don't forget they also did Violet too.

Okay, another bone? VIOLET was a show that deserved to be done, as part of the Off-Center series. THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE doesn't deserve to be done at all, and whatever Encores! is supposed to be, it's definitely not supposed to be a medium for reworking problematic old shows to try to make them performable in the present day. Especially not when, in this case, several of the songs in the show were not original but were pre-existing.

Next up for Encores: "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical."

Such a terrible song. It has nothing to say after the first few seconds, and then repeats itself endlessly. And why is she screaming it at us?

Behind the scenes video for the upcoming [italic]Cats[/italic] movie; trailer is released on Friday.

Although I'm fully prepared for this to be a hot mess, I don't care what anybody says: I fucking love [italic]Cats[/italic] and I couldn't be more excited.

No one can say that Cats doesn't have a cast of heavy hitters.

Disappointed to see that Andy Blankenbuehler is involved. I don't what anybody says. I hate his choreography. I wish he'd go away, but that isn't likely since he's been touched by the holy greatness of Hamilton.

Who else spotted ballet hottie Robbie Fairchild?!

Have their been any Ashley/Robbie sightings? Or are they now sworn enemies?

Is Robbie down at the piers? Looks like it.

[quote]Have their been any Ashley/Robbie sightings? Or are they now sworn enemies?

Ashley is working on a show in New York now. But I think he and Robbie have been kaput for a while.

Of all the musicals crying out for a film adaptation, they picked Cats? Let that shit show die already.

Robbie and Ashley were kaput, but they've gotten together for reunion fucks here and there, so either it's amicable or the sex was so spectacular that neither one can quite let it go yet. Not sure what the status is now that Ashley's in NYC.

R309 is Rob Ashford.

Reading Anjelica Hustons autobiography, I was charmed by this one thing in particular:

When she came to L.A. after having been a model in NYC for a few years, there was no work for her in commercials or fashion in L.A., because she wasn't a beach bunny type. So she mostly lazed around with a gay friend from back east while she figured out what to do with herself.

[quote]Sometimes I would stay at Kenny's house, and we would enact scenes from [italic]A Little Night Music[/italic] for our own personal amusements. We liked to believe our version of "Send in the Clowns" was nonpareil, and our performances became something of a daily ritual that I greatly enjoyed.

I get a kick out of thinking of the basically unknown Huston singing along to a showtunes album with her best friend, like we all did in high school. The fact that she was in her 20s makes it even more endearing, somehow [bold]: )

I'd like to see Huston in a Broadway show. She's the right age for Madame Armfelt these days, isn't she? She sang a bit on Smash and could handle that role vocally I'm sure.

So it is written, R318. So it is done.

Brit cutie Jonathan Bailey has been cast in one of the leads in Shonda Rhimes’ new series “Bridgerton.” I wonder if that would affect his availability if the London Company were really planned for this coming season? He won the Olivier, and he, Patti, and Rosalie Craig got the lion’s share of the raves.

Quick follow up on Robbie... so I didn't know about him until An American in Paris, and I watched an interview with him and assumed he was gay right off the bat. Then I saw that he was married to Tiler Peck, I believe. Still thought he was gay. Then last I checked up on him they'd divorced and it seemed like he was living his best life. Was his story a tale as old as time? Closeted Mormon who went the traditional path and then ultimately couldn't continue with the facade?

Who's this Ashley everyone's talking about? Please get me up to speed, haha.

Ashley Day, friend of Lulu.

Ashley Day was his understudy in the London AAIP, and took over the role when he left. They fell in love and began a long affair. It cooled last summer (2018) and they are no longer together, although apparently they still have reunion fucks.

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

Hmmm... interesting. Thanks!

[quote]What sort of pie would she be?

Dropped.

[quote]Will they get a name to close out the run?

Why not get a real waitress?

Ashley Day, displaying assets

" Waitress" is a sexist term, coined by cis males, connoting subservience of women. We demand that the title of the show be changed to " culinary concierge."

"Waitron" has been doing fine for 20 years or so.

Speaking of Waitress, who's excited to see Broadway superstar Colleen Ballinger treading the boards?!

What's all this Ashley Day talk? Let's talk about *real* men. What's Little Charlie Stemp doing now?

Stemp's still panto-ing.

Guns.

R33, Isn't panto season over?

Yeah, that's a pic from December.

I'm going to get me a dressy dress, the one that I have is such a mess!

Why aren't there pantsy pants?

Huston is about as good as Jessica Lange was when she sung that same song on American Horror Story. Pleasant enough. Not belter material, but she could probably handle a role with a small range.

Angelica Huston looks like a man in drag. The best she could hope for is Victor/Victoria!

[quote]Was his story a tale as old as time? Closeted Mormon who went the traditional path and then ultimately couldn't continue with the facade?

Yes.

R317 I’ll bet Anjelica’s CLOWNS had nothing on Lani Hall’s interpretation!

So fresh, so new, so different!

"Beautiful" is closing in October.

It had a good run.

[quote]"Beautiful" is closing in October.

We'll always have the tour!

That was so sad what happened to the Gerry Goffin replacement. Was he bipolar?

[quote]That was so sad what happened to the Gerry Goffin replacement. Was he bipolar?

No, he was a Method Actor and just embodying Gerry Goffin.

[Quote] No, he was a Method Actor and just embodying Gerry Goffin.

Except Gerry lived to old age, Carol.

[quote]r337 Huston is about as good as Jessica Lange was when she sung that same song on American Horror Story. Pleasant enough. Not belter material, but she could probably handle a role with a small range.

I don't think she'd want to put herself through that, because she's not confident as a singer. In her book, she said she auditioned for Tommy Tune's MY ONE AND ONLY, and even though they were polite she knew she was unprepared and AWFUL. So she took a singing class and spent a year there before she could get through the same song without breaking down. When she finally got through it from beginning to end the class erupted in support, and the teacher said, "Excellent. Now you never have to come back."

So, basically, she's not comfortable singing in public.

[quote]So, basically, she's not comfortable singing in public.

So, who is? In my first Broadway show, they had to put me in a chair and push me out on stage, I was so terrified.

[quote]r339 Angelica Huston looks like a man in drag. The best she could hope for is Victor/Victoria!

Wow. Such original humor.

I will say, though, I did initially think the Madam Armfeldt some people here like best, Regina Resnik, was a drag queen when I first saw this clip.

[R123]: I also saw Ragtime at the Shubert in L.A. I loved the book, and still consider the musical a far better adaptation than the movie.

Which I appeared in, by the way. I got 3 days’ work as a street cleaner in a big scene set at the Tombs prison, wherein Houdini, mobbed by reporters, claims he can escape from their most secure cell. He does, climbing out of a manhole in the street, only to be ignored by said reporters, who have all rushed to catch the arrival of Evelyn Nesbit.

The scene never appeared in the finished movie. Neither did Jeffrey deMunn as Houdini, who ended up only as glimpses in newsreel footage. When we were filming, everyone acted like this was going to be the next GWTW, but, as you pointed out, the movie was edited to emphasize the Coalhouse plot. Actually, a great deal of footage was cut, so much so that even the NYT published an article about it at the time, highlighting the actress who played Emma Goldman, whose entire role ended up on the cutting room floor.

Frankly, if you could find them, there are probably enough unused scenes to make any need for a remake irrelevant. It’s just too bad director Milos Forman isn’t around anymore to edit them.

[quote]r352 Which I appeared in, by the way. I got 3 days’ work as a street cleaner in a big scene set at the Tombs prison ... The scene never appeared in the finished movie.

#Justice4StreetCleaner!

[quote]Wow. Such original humor.

I save the best material for paying audiences.

[R353]: Reminds me of a funny Donald Duck comic strip, wherein he’s a street cleaner in front of the Duckburg Hall of Science. He sees a sign saying the new computer can determine your perfect occupation. So he goes in, has a metal dome placed on his head, and awaits the results, printed on a tape. And what does he read?

STREET CLEANER!

What happened to the actor who plays Gerry Goffin? I googled but could not find any information.

Who played Emma Goldman on the film of Ragtime?

Was she in the movie, R358? I saw it so long ago that I don't recall, and her character is not listed on the imdb page.

Emma Goldman does not appear in the film of Ragtime.

As R352 already mentioned, Emma Goldman's entire role ended up on the cutting-room floor. Hence no IMDB listing.

Well somebody played her in that cut footage. I'm assuming she was so distraught she later threw herself off the Hollywood sign.

Just google the Times article.

It says that actress was named Mariclare Costello.

The Hiltons' last public appearance was at a drive-in in 1961 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their tour manager abandoned them there, and with no means of transportation or income, they were forced to take a job in a nearby grocery store, where they worked for the rest of their lives.

Mariclare.....

[quote]r362 Well somebody played her in that cut footage. I'm assuming she was so distraught she later threw herself off the Hollywood sign.

Maybe it was R352 ? When his performance as Emma was cut, they tossed him the bone of "Street Sweeper." But then that was sadly cut, too.

[italic]Animals!

[quote]r363 Just google the Times article. It says that actress was named Mariclare Costello.

She played the school teacher for years on THE WALTONS.

It just goes to show, you can be a Big Fish on Walton Mountain, but NYC will eat you alive!

Oh. I guess instead of throwing herself off the Hollywood sign, she did the next best thing. Academics.

***

Costello was born in Peoria, Illinois. Her first film appearance was in The Tiger Makes Out (1967). In 1970, she appeared on stage in "Harvey" at the ANTA Theatre, in New York City. She is also well remembered for her role as a hippie-vampire in the 1971 cult horror film Let's Scare Jessica to Death.[2] In the 1981 Miloš Forman film Ragtime, she portrayed Emma Goldman in a scene that was ultimately deleted from the theatrical release, but still included on the DVD.

She was married to actor Allan Arbus until his death in 2013.[3] She now works as an acting professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.[4]

Okay, so at least some of the footage cut from the theatrical release of RAGTIME was included on the DVD? Was the footage edited back into the film, or just included as a bonus feature?

Heard a rumor TEA may go to London and not with La Dunaway! LOL

I just now posted an any news(?) question on the other thread, r370!

Who with, if not La Dunaway? And are they going to bother to announce that the show will NOT be coming to Broadway, or just kind of let it die as if the Broadway run was never announced?

R372 And will they put the first Act back?

[Quote] Who with, if not La Dunaway?

Valerie!

Valerie and the pustule known as the TEA AT FIVE playwright are not exactly closelikethis.

They're in talks with Martin Short.

[Quote] Valerie and the pustule known as the TEA AT FIVE playwright are not exactly closelikethis.

I mistyped. Valerie's FAMILY will alternate in the role.

I don't understand why they can't find anything in the 1980s or 1990s to do at Encores.

There has to be something worth doing a quality production of.

What about The Human Comedy? Or Grind?

[quote]I don't understand why they can't find anything in the 1980s or 1990s to do at Encores. There has to be something worth doing a quality production of.

Starmites! But they can't find a director who can stage campy fun, so they'll never do it.

What about Legs Diamond? Great vehicle for Harry Connick Jr.

Timbuktu!

Tap Dance Kid!

Teddy & Alice!

Ballroom!

Adele *is* Emma in Song & Dance!

Nick & Nora!

Of Infinite Playlist fame?!

What happened to dreamy Jonathan B. Wright from Spring Awakening???

Doonesbury!

Quilters!

The Life! and they could cast trans and drag queens to play the hookers with a heart of gold.

CATS trailer!

Wow, that looks both hideous AND bizarre!

It looks creepy.

I want dogs sicced on those awful creatures.

I can't stop watching the trailer. Shit's bold.

they look more like mice

[quote]CATS trailer!

So it looks like they are building the storyline around Victoria?

And I realize the credits are alphabetical, but if I were Judi Dench, I would be like: "I am fucking Judi Dench and I deserve star billing!" Her manager should have demanded "Special Appearance by Dame Judi Dench" as her credit.

[quote]r397 Her manager should have demanded "Special Appearance by Dame Judi Dench" as her credit.

[italic]Why Did Judi Dench's Career Go Straight Down the Shitter....???[/italic]

Is this our beloved Robbie Fairchild?

What part was given to Ouisa Kittredge?

Why the hell did they have to CGI the costumes?

[Quote] What happened to the actor who plays Gerry Goffin? I googled but could not find any information.

Scroll down to reply 476. The talk continues from there.

Here’s a direct link to an article about Scott Campbell, the actor from Beautiful who killed himself.

R401 It is a bold choice. And they look strange

R376, not true about Martin Short replacing Faye Dunaway as Katharine Hepburn. He’s taking his new one man show , Fosse/Verdon and Me to Broadway next season. He plays Nicole Fosse as he did on the acclaimed FX miniseries.

Steve Martin will be joining Short on the tour as Neil Simon.

Will Martin's lovely wife be joining him on tour?

I'm shocked at the Cat trailer. The sets looks great and imaginative and fun, but the costumes? Ay carumba. I didn't expect the cats to look like humans wearing costumes. I thought they would be more, well, like cats. It is an interesting and creepy choice to be able to see the actors; it looks like Kafka wrote the script to Cats, and the characters are halfway to becoming non human. And Hudson's version of Memories feels all wrong. She is a wonderful singer, but I don't think she was produced or directed well on that track. Her vocal feels strident and lacking in warmth or vulnerability. The movie looks like it could be one hella train wreck, and I definitely plan on seeing it.

[Quote] Her vocal feels strident and lacking in warmth or vulnerability

If they wanted something other than that, the producers shouldn't have called Jennifer Hudson.

[quote]Her vocal feels strident and lacking in warmth or vulnerability.

So, very much in the Betty Buckley mode.

Hudson's performance there is infinitely better than the shitty song deserves.

Thank God she dared to sing it a new way.

Jennifer Hudson certainly sounds strained on "Memory." It's as though she's singing outside her vocal comfort zone, which, I guess, would be belting to the back row.

Anjelica Huston's grandfather introduced "September Song" on Broadway (in "Knickerbocker Holiday,") so singing it is in her DNA.

R413. I am second to none in my admiration of Walter Huston as an actor (Dodsworth, All That Money Can Buy, Sierra Madre, to name three of the best film performances on record), but his singing was not unlike Lucy's in Mame, though he was SUPPOSED to be an old man (as opposed to Lucy, who just sounded like one). but I wouldn't assume Anjelica was ready to play Fosca (though she looks like her).

I think Fantastia would have hit Memories out of the park. She hits all the right emotional notes, and has a wonderful warmth to her.

Laura IS Fosca, r415!

The song is called "Memory," not "Memories." And, from what we could heard in the trailer, Jennifer Hudson's performance is all wrong in terms of style and acting, plus it just doesn't sound good vocally.

Shouldn't Grizabella appear older? Betty Buckley looked severe in footage from the original, and thin as a sheet of (tattered) paper, so she could give off a weary, fragile air.

Hudson hardly appears to be ailing, or on the way out.

It's interesting to hear how Betty Buckley arrived at her interpretation for that song, which she discusses at the [bold]15:00 mark[/bold]

She says she was almost fired because she couldn't really deliver it effectively all through rehearsal.

She was eventually inspired by homeless women in her neighborhood.

Betty Buckley does NOT own that fucking song!

Funny, of all the people that have sung that song Elaine's name never comes up. She can have "Don't Cry For Me Argentina".

I'm listening to the 2009 ROAD SHOW recording in preparation for the ENCORES production next week. I've never seen a production and have only heard this recording once or twice a decade ago.

Holy mackerel... this shit is bad. I mean, really uninteresting musically.

Any ROAD SHOW fans on here? Maybe DL fave Raoul Esparza can turn it all around for me.

Fingers crossed.

I am sure the homeless women in Betty Buckley's neighborhood were pleased to provide her with inspiration.

Betty was really inspired by the memory of our happy times together, working and playing!

[quote]She can have "Don't Cry For Me Argentina".

Like fuck she can! Do I need to remind anyone who was asked to sing the song when the Grammys saluted ALW? It sure as hell wasn't Elaine fucking Paige!

There’s a bit of backlash to the casting of Amar Ramasar as Bernardo in the Van Hove WSS. That’s due to the messy “MeToo” blowup at the City ballet that led to Ramasar being fired (and later reinstated).

R428 More of a problem is he is dot indian and doesn't look Puerto Rican

I'd call it more than a "bit," R428. The 20-somethings (okay, anyone under 45) in music theatre world are fairly politicized, very socially conscious, and they are FURIOUS about this.

And I agree.

Some background on NYCB and Ramarsar.

Ramasar is half Puerto Rican (via his mom).

And all douche.

I wonder what’s happened to Chase Finlay, the only one of them to permanently lose his NYCB position?

R432 As well he maybe, show anyone this picture and the race the see would never ever ever ever be PR

Let's face facts. van Hove is going to destroy WSS.

but de Keersmaeker is going to knock it out of the park.

[quote]I'm listening to the 2009 ROAD SHOW recording in preparation for the ENCORES production next week. I've never seen a production and have only heard this recording once or twice a decade ago. Holy mackerel... this shit is bad. I mean, really uninteresting musically.

Oh how the Sondheimites will rally, calling it a masterpiece and demanding an immediate Broadway transfer.

I watched that rehearsal video. Sondheim was really repeating himself in this. Whatever that duet is that Raul E and Brandon Uranowitz are singing, for t sound like something right out of Into the Woods, but not as good.

Maybe we aren’t missing much if that new Sondheim show never happens.

Remasar was the best thing in the Carousel revival. He can deliver the goods on stage.

[quote]Let's face facts. van Hove is going to destroy WSS.

He fucked up "The Crucible", but the play is so good it showed less. Still his clumsy directorial thumbprints were all over the place. I kept thinking "Spike Lee would have done something like that too!" as I watched it.

All About Eve was nonsense

Hedda Gobbler was stupid

I liked his Damned, but all his Englishy stuff has been fucking awful

Hedda Gobbler with Elizabeth Marvell or with Ruth Wilson?

So Hedda Gobbler was a turkey?

I saw the Hedda Gobbler with Ruth Wilson which van Hove directed. He had her staple flowers to the wall which was a very odd directorial choice.

It was better with Elizabeth Marvell. I think van Hove's work really is built on the actors which is why cast changes and restagings of his productions often lose something.

I know a Dutch actress originally played Hedda in this staging. Maybe Marvell was not as good as her, but she was still great. But by the time it went on to Wilson and the woman who played it on tour, it had declined.

I’m looking forward to seeing van Hove’s production of Lazarus in Amsterdam in October.

There's only one Hedda, cunts!

Fuck you R447 I’m the biggest Hedda and the biggest cunt!

I loathed van Hove's production of VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. I couldn't believe how some critics wet their panties over that shit show.

I wet my panties over Mark Strong and his bare feets-yummm. Not so much over Jug Ears and his relentless mediocrity.

R442 Ruth Wilson, her death was good, she shot herself in the face

R449 From the first scene with the two men wearing grundies in the shower knew it was going to be shit, and it so was.

[quote]He had her staple flowers to the wall which was a very odd directorial choice.

I hope they were artificial!

OMG, Russell Tovey was atrociously miscast--and atrocious--in VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, R450.

He was unconvincing as an Italian immigrant, as a stage actor, and most of all, as a blond. Uggh.

Alone in the world was poor Little Nell

Nell Campbell was in the 2003 revival of NINE, apparently.

Why didn't she have a bigger career after ROCKY HORROR?

R456 Didn't she open a cool nightspot, called Nells Place, in NYC

It was just called Nells.

It was very "colonial." The staff were all POCs. And the decor was 1940s British supper club. The dance floor was pitch black--no light at all.

[quote]It was just called Nells. It was very "colonial." The staff were all POCs. And the decor was 1940s British supper club. The dance floor was pitch black--no light at all.

I asked her if she missed it and she said very demonstratively "NO!, it was too much work, and all nights"

R460 Girl is ageing well, and demonstrates why it is good to keep some weight

Wow, Nell Campbell is quite charming and fun!

The entire London Kelli O'Hara KING & I is here. I went right to Ruthie's "Something Wonderful," which was just as stunning as I remembered from the theater. I am so moved by her performance and by the fact that she was able to rally after the personal tragedy in her life.

Oh, this is on in half an hour......

The Joan Rivers Show

TODAY, 3:00 PM ON KAZADT2 54.2, 1 HR 2019

Tyne Daly, James Earl Jones, Shari Lewis, and more

Tyne Daly talks about "Gypsy", and James Earl Jones jokes about his voice before being joined by his father Robert Earl Jones. Also, Shari Lewis and Jean Craig discuss sexism in the medical field...

On another thread, Ellen Barkin says that Shari Lewis was a real bitch.

R463 Gone already.......

Did any DLers catch BROADWAY RISING STARS at Town Hall tonight? From the same guy who produces BWAY BY THE YEAR every spring. Two dozen incredibly talented, attractive youngsters just graduating from AMDA and similar schools. Some terrific voices. And some interesting song choices.

It's almost enough to make one... optimistic about music theatre!

(almost...)

Shari Lewis was a doll, r465.

First day of rehearsal for Becoming Nancy, directed by Jerry Mitchell and featuring his grandson Ricky “I should have been cast as Cowboy” Schroder!

Is it a gay coming-of-age tale?

Well it ain't about me, bub!

Your aunt was a slut, r473.

Nancy 1

Nancy 2

Nancy 3

Thanks for ruining the thread, r477.

It’s this

"When frightened by Aunt Fritzi Ritz/ Nancy seems to lose her wits..."

Gossip starting about Faye being soon fired from TEA and producers looking for a new actor for West End and Broadway.

That bitch, wannabe

Nanchy, schmanchy.....

Little shop....

Little shop o' horrors

Little shop....

Little shop o' terror

[quote]Gossip starting about Faye being soon fired from TEA

Where did you hear that? They should just get Kate Mulgrew back.

Faye should do a gritty revival On Golden Pond on Broadway with her old Barfly co-star Mickey Rourke.

This theater thread is moving at a glacial pace.

Thank you for sharing, r478.

"This theater thread is moving at a glacial pace."

As is Broadway.

Confirmed that one performance of TEA AT FIVE towards the end of the run in Boston was canceled not long before curtain time due to a toxic and unsafe atmosphere backstage, or words to that effect. Seems Faye had a total meltdown over something, whether due to dementia or just plain craziness. This was the only performance actually canceled, but there had been previous reports of her doing a lot of screaming at people backstage and even DURING PERFORMANCES. She basically alienated everyone associated with the production, including the pathetic playwright. They grew to hate each other so much that they weren't speaking for most or all of the run.

That said, it's ridiculous to think they could find anyone else to take over the part for London and/or Broadway. Why the production isn't allowed to just die a swift, sad, embarrassing death is hard to comprehend.

Rather see Pasadena Little shop over NY one.

Have there been any major productions of LITTLE SHOP previously that had a woman, rather than a man, as the voice of Audrey II? It seems like such an obvious way to go, and a really good idea.

Time and again we see that the minute you put big $$ and production values behind "Little Shop" it exposes the rather threadbare charms of the show, which is a sketch/late-night parody kind of thing to begin with. I'd wager any $1.98 production of it would be as satisfying.

Not sure about a woman, R491, but the rather glorious Regent's Park production last summer had a drag queen, Vicky Vox, play the role.

I can't say I agree with that at all, R492. I think it's a very well-written show, with a delightful score. Some of the magic of the original production was due to its atmosphere. There was something about being at the ramshackle Orpheum Theatre in the East Village in the early 80s that was sort of perfect, and it can't really be captured again. The problem for me is that I haven't seen a production yet to top what Howard Ashman did in his direction of the original. It somehow navigated a place between outright camp and playing the stakes for real. That said, I do hope having it back in an Off-Broadway theatre will reveal its charms once more, though the choice of director worries me.

R493, I'm talking about the role of the voice of Audrey II -- that is, the plant -- NOT the role of Audrey.

TOLD YA!

Christian Borle seems more like a Seymour than Jonathan Groff to me. I think they should switch roles.

Yeah, R495 - that’s what I said 🙄

The insanely ripped Taurean Everett was also a gender-bending Audrey II in the Berkshires.

Wow, this thread really IS slow.

Who will be London’s Kate Hepburn?

Everybody’s over on the Faye thread at the moment.

I got to see Jake Gyllenhaal as Seymour!

Get Cate for Kate.....

Jakey G has his own SEAWALL play happening.

But you know that secretly he is burning to take over for Faye in TEA AT FIVE.

Burning.

Like, flames on the sides of his face.

Saw ROAD SHOW and it doesn't improve with age. Odd production—in the guise of a radio show, I guess to cover for the script-carrying. No one adores SS more than me, but this goes nowhere. Saw it as Bounce in Chicago, RS at the Public, and now this. Don't have any idea if there were rewrites, but it doesn't matter. It's still DOA. Raul has gained a bunch of weight and is directed to be coy and cutesy. Uranowitz is better and—spoiler alert—plays a gay guy! Very friendly audience, including Scott Rudin, John Weidman, Ted Chapin. Standing O, of course.

LINK TO NEW THREAD

For chrissakes, r508.....

r509 what post # do you think should be achieved before beginning a new thread?

Considering how slowly this thread has been filling up, we probably could have waited until September before starting #364.

r416

here's one of my top 5 versions

Little girls.....

Thank God this thread isn't all about Patti.

Thanks for the review, R507. I'm attending on Saturday night and not expecting much of a revelation. As I said upthread, I think it's probably SS' weakest score.

In this video, the show sounds better than it looks.

It looks like there was no real directorial inspiration, so he made it "a radio play."

Here's an, um, interesting choice in casting a classic...

I like him, but in small doses. And I like him better funny. A lot of his theatre roles have been heavy.

I also prefer her ins small doses, and not as a blonde. That's just wrong.

Good luck, anyway, you crazy kids.

I'm sure Dame Diana is sooooooo worried!

I think Bobby's slut son would make a great Medea.

What is happening?

Did anyone read Hilton Als' review of Hannah Gadsby's new performance piece in the New Yorker. His is one of the first voices I've heard who has not liked her show. I tend to agree with him. I think she focuses so much on her pain and her experience, and does not fit that into a broader perspective, which makes it hard, for me at least, to completely enjoy what she does. I'm glad she is experiencing success, but I do find that she is overrated. And I'm tired of people getting bonus points for using the word "patriarchy" in a sentence.

Just read it now, R521. I haven't seen [italic]Douglas[/italic] and despite being a bit of a pan, it is a great, complex review, and Als' response is serious and thorough.

Saw ROADSHOW last night. Putting whatever issues the show may have aside, the Director was the major culprit. Yes, it started as a radio play, but he abandoned that quickly in favor of inept, uninspired, overwrought staging. It looked like something from a high school honors project. The poor performers were doing ballads down front while the chorus was busy upstaging them pretending to smoke in synchronous movement. Unfocused, unmotivated crap Sondheim and Weidman didn’t stand a chance.

Fuck Hilton Als. Self hating homo.

I usually don't care for Als' reviews, R525 -- I think he makes everything more about himself than about whatever he is reviewing -- but his review of Douglas excellent. As R523 pointed out, it really was thorough and complex. He brought a lot of insight to the review, which helped me understand why it was that I have not enjoyed Gadsby's work. The review helped me put my finger on it.

Does anyone know Jordan Roth? I follow him on IG, and he seems either incredibly kind and sweet, or a raging narcissist who expects everyone to fawn over him. I suppose both can be true, but he has produced some brilliant plays, so I'm hoping that the former is more true. Does anyone know?

Hi R527 I’m better friends with his mom Daryl than with Jordan, but I know him.

He’s a paradox... on the one hand a good person with a conscientious approach to philanthropy and politics, a desire to use his money to better other people’s lives, and he’s genuinely nice.

But he is also very eager for attention and lots of fanfare which can make him tedious to be around for much more than a dinner. Having said that, he’s definitely not a classic narcissist is the sense of being an asshole or trying to gain attention for himself at the expense or ridicule of anyone else. He’s essentially a good guy, but the type of friend you would enjoy seeing once a month rather than once a week and would never want to travel with!

Daryl is wonderful, love her, love her , love her.

Neither of them can quite come to terms with Steven’s continued association with Trump.

Sondheim appeared (briefly) with his collaborators for a Q&A session after ROADSHOW at ENCORES yesterday.

Whatever one thinks of the show (in my case, not so much), it was lovely to see him at 89 looking healthy, alert, articulate, and smart as a whip. The director made a joke about encountering a rat on the NYC streets that broke SS up.

Maybe he'll get around to one more show, even if it's not the Bunuel adaptation. Here's hoping.

R528, what’s your opinion of Anthony, the TV/film extra? Is he still in a throuple with Jordan and Ritchie?

Thank you for the info, R528. I was hoping he was a nice guy, because he is such a champion of serious and gay-themed theater. I'm glad that he is.

Can the two people remaining in this thread please load it up with anything at hand, so it closes out?

#MoveOn #ThankYou

Well, I usually save Barbara for closer to the end, but.......

Please maintain an orderly line as you depart - -

Herro Dolly!

Hollywood Reporter review of the H'wood Bowl "Into the Woods" (Whoopi, Sutton, Patina, Skylar, Cheyenne, Sierra, et. al.)

The Book of Mormon just passed 42nd St. to become the 14th longest-running show on Broadway. And the cast did this cool little tribute to 42nd St.

We shall not be going to the povo thread, we shall start the real #364, which will be behind the paywall.

We are not going to start having two theater threads going cause some here are cheap nasty little cunts

I'm pretending this is the one and only true theater thread until we close it out.

Cos' that's how I roll.

Here's the finale of the 2008 ROADSHOW: about 8 minutes long.

I didn't see this production. It sounds good. It looks like it featured a design concept only a bit uglier and equally as dumb as the ENCORES version.

Where is that video from R540? Is it available to stream or view somewhere? It is obviously professionally-recorded. I saw a bootleg of some version, I forget which one -- but it was not very well recorded. I did not like anything about it, but, given that it is SS, and given that, at least, is a good recording, I would be willing to give it another chance. Thanks.

[quote]I would be willing to give it another chance.

Why? He failed. He's human and not everything he does will succeed.

Bajour!

Too soon?

[quote]We are not going to start having two theater threads going cause some here are cheap nasty little cunts

And yet, that’s exactly what will happen if you or someone starts another #364. It exists because its asshole OP, a Faye Dunaway freak, was terrified someone might start it without acknowledging his goddess. But it exists beyond him now. Come join it when this one finishes.

Hit it....

[quote]R544 #364 exists because its asshole OP, a Faye Dunaway freak, was terrified someone might start it without acknowledging his goddess.

Faye should have revived APPLAUSE.....

Supposedly there’s some bootleg recordings of her rehearsals for SUNSET BLVD. Is this true?? Her singing couldn’t have been THAT bad, could it? She auditioned with songs from the show (in a lower key)

R544 No

r548

that would be a holy grail of bootlegs

I think they'd have surfaced by now. I still want to see Liza's Evita test for Ken Russell.

It is clear the warring theatre gossip threads must be sat down in mediation.

There is hurt and mistrust on both sides.

I think r364 was started by a 400 lb guy in his mother's basement.

[quote]Faye should have revived APPLAUSE.....

She'd have a better chance reviving Betty Bacall.

I am imagining Betty Bacall and Katharine Hepburn singing a duet together.

It is not pretty.

[quote]I think #364 was started by a 400 lb guy in his mother's basement.

I thought it was started by Matt. He's the Faye Dunaway nut around here. He used to be 400 pounds but he isn't anymore. On the other hand, the bitch threatening to start a different 364 is the racist, anti-trans loon, which also sounds like Matt. Of course, pretending to be different posters is a very Matt thing to do, so maybe he's both. But congrats on your massive weight loss, Matt.

The real holy grail of bootlegs would be Betty Hutton in "Fade Out, Fade In," followed by Patricia Routledge performing "Not On Your Nellie" on the Ed Sullivan show, which happened but appears to be lost.

Faye's singing of "Sunset" comes in a distant third to those.

And now the menthol-cool vocal stylings of......

[quote]r556 I thought it was started by Matt. He's the Faye Dunaway nut around here . .. On the other hand, the bitch threatening to start a different 364 is the racist, anti-trans loon, which also sounds like Matt. Of course, pretending to be different posters is a very Matt thing to do, so maybe he's both.

Don't overthink this.

Honestly,[italic]I [/italic]started the other Theatre Gossip thread, #364, and I'm not "Matt". I've seen people start a new thread before the old one was closed, but didn't know if that happened at 500 or 600, or what. This thread was 500+ when I started the other. I didn't know people would flock over there - and I didn't know this one was behind a "paywall" and that's why it's been filling up so slowly. I just expected this one to fill up quickly, at which point that new one would be waiting in the wings.

No one HAD to post in that new one ... it was just ready to go.

But I am sorry it has upset some.

Dear World....

I saw Dear World twice, first the Boston tryout, then not too much later in New York. I’d seen her peerless Mame, but what I loved about her in Dear World was her acting, playing a delusional old woman, who somehow manages to save the world.

And there’s the rub. Dear World is a brassy Broadway musical, patched together from a Gallic, actually light-hearted allegory. Oil and champagne. So they never got the tone, though they sure kept trying, especially with what seemed one rousing march after another.

Lansbury pulled it off, when she could. The rest of it was pretty inert. And the Tea Party scene totally got it right. An oasis.

It would be interesting to see what Encores! could do with it.

It looked gorgeous.

It was a performance, full of fire and music.

Could an ENCORES revival of DEAR WORLD be any worse than COCO sounds?

DEAR WORLD?

Dear God.

How about Pousse-Cafe?

[quote]r565 Could an ENCORES revival of DEAR WORLD be any worse than COCO sounds? DEAR WORLD? Dear God.

It says in that video that DEAR WORLD was originally written with Katharine Hepburn in mind.

[italic]DEAR COCO?

This has been posted before in Theatre threads, but for the fortunate few who've missed it previously...

Yup. This excerpt is 15 minutes long.

Maybe this would be a good time for ENCORES to bring back "Whoop-Up."

If, through some higher power, ENCORES feels compelled to disinter COCO, there's one age-appropriate actress with the theatrical chops and, ahem, limited vocal range that part requires....

Miss Glenn Close.

Think about it for a minute. She's even physically right for the part: small, sharp-featured, slight and rather birdlike, like Chanel herself. Not at all like the gallumphing Hepburn.

She would act the SHIT out of it.

I wonder, if an unknown came into a Broadway audition with Katharine Hepburn's "singing" voice, how many bars they'd be allowed to get through?

Three?

R560 Oh don't worry honey, I will go to the new thread, you just did start it very early.

The real loon is the fuckstick who constantly goes around accusing everyone of being Matt the loon and then listing his supposed sins, dude seriously needs to get a life, or at the least, pay for sex

Of course, Chanel also looks a bit like Martin Short in that photo, so....

I'm still starting a whisper campaign. Glen IS COCO!

In other news, Bway theatregoers have dodged a bullet.

Countess LuAnn de Lesseps of RHONY will NOT be playing Mama Morton in Chicago after all.

Rest easy, O Thespis.

[quote]It says in that video that DEAR WORLD was originally written with Katharine Hepburn in mind.

I don’t think that’s right. Jerry Herman and Lawrence & Lee specifically wrote Dear World for Lansbury after they all had the triumph of Mame. Maybe the poster is confused by the fact that Hepburn was filming the movie version of “Madwoman” at exactly the same time.

^^ I believe it is Lansbury in the r561 video who says the show was written for Hepburn.

I am reading the Wasson Fosse biography, that the blergh TV show was based on.

It really is fascinating/sad to see the choices the creative team made, of what events to cover.

Would have loved to have seen some of his out-of-town flops, especially The Conquering Hero

Coco would be almost impossible for Encores! to mount (pearls clutch).

It was essentially a fashion show, with a slew of models wearing an even bigger slew of stylish dresses, done with several moving platforms, including a narrow circular one in the middle of the stage, and a long, narrow one, coursing across the front of the stage.

(It also had three big screens, above the set, on which were shown films of the men in Coco’s life, including Jon Cypher as her father, all of whose recorded voices were accompanied by a live orchestra! Wonder how much they got for that gig.)

Encores! could figure out a workable set, but the cost of how they’d do all those fashion parades would be prohibitive. (And, did I say that all that was “choreographed” by one Michael Bennett? He used those moving platforms to present all those models in frozen positions, singly and in groups, just flowing by, wearing fabulous outfits. A real visual fantasia.)

The rest of it was rather plodding, with Coco occasionally moaning about the emotional cost of success, and her ingenue protege, worrying about her dullard boyfriend, who was usually seen wearing a trenchcoat. (That’s to show his male disdain for high fashion, I suppose.) Nowadays, Coco’s attention to her protege might seem more than a little pervy, and the bf would get booed, especially with his solo, “A Woman is How She Loves.”

The Previn score is the best thing in it, and Lerner’s lyrics certainly outshine his book. Encores! would need a star like Glenn to pull it off. (Apparently, Hepburn’s replacement, Danielle Darrieux, was far better, but the show soon closed without the Hepburn gloss.)

But they’d never be able to replicate the way Bennett made all those fashions swirl.

Actually, Lerner's script for "Coco" is a lot sharper and funnier than people give it credit for. Not really good, exactly, but funny. The two recordings Danielle Darrieux made (of the title song and "Always Mademoiselle") reveal them to be far more melodic than they had seemed when Hepburn "sang" them.

"A Woman is How She Loves" would have to be cut. That song would never fly in 2019-2020.

Andrea Marcovicci did it twice, including a very bare-bones but well-cast Mufti production. I have the feeling that's the best COCO is ever going to get as far as a revival.

Princess LuAnne IS Coco

[quote]Maybe this would be a good time for ENCORES to bring back "Whoop-Up."

or "Whoop-Dee-Doo!"

"Princess LuAnne IS Coco"

I"M the Princess!!!! She's just a fake Countess, who can't use that title anymore, since she married that serial cheater.... and sh'e a cuntess.

[quote] her dullard boyfriend, who was usually seen wearing a trenchcoat. (That’s to show his male disdain for high fashion, I suppose.)

I assumed it was because he was a flasher.

R574, I forgot Chicago is even still playing. Are they picking random people off the street to play the roles at this point?

And the actress playng the assistant was so terrible, one wondered how she was ever cast. (Frankly, in my opinion, Hepburn wasn't all that great either, despite the hype. I would have loved to see Darrieux.)

Is Mack and Mabel really as good as Jerry Herman thinks it is?

Mack is; Mabel? Not so much.

The Ed Sullivan "Not on Your Nellie" did indeed happen. A friend was in the cast and so I was glued to the set that Sunday evening. Really a mystery what happened to the tape.

What a miserable mess Daniel Sullivan has made of "Coriolanus" in the park. Louis Cancelmi is terrific; too bad he's not playing the lead. Kate Burton is terrible and badly miscast; I kept thinking what Streep could have done with the role. Jonathan Cake, though pretty to look at, seems to be in a different show than the rest of the cast. Mass walk outs at intermission, but the heat and humidity didn't help. Disaster.

"Why Andre, you've written a musical."

R589 you hate everything anyway.

This slow-moving theater thread is finally heading to the finish line.

Please use caution when opening the overhead compartments and removing items, since articles may have shifted during flight.

With all my heart I still love the thread I killed.....

It's alright to let go.

Just go into the light that's #364 - -

Here's to us, denizens of TG #363!

Bajour!

For shoo-wer!

This