As the last one wound down, we were back to Lucy's Mame, Colin's cock, Kate Miller's dead career, and Angie's high kicks.
Continue.
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As the last one wound down, we were back to Lucy's Mame, Colin's cock, Kate Miller's dead career, and Angie's high kicks.
Continue.
by Anonymous | reply 600 | August 23, 2019 9:18 PM |
That picture link would have, R1.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | August 8, 2019 1:06 PM |
You mean Kate Miller's dead body, don't you?
by Anonymous | reply 3 | August 8, 2019 2:18 PM |
Did Broadway dim for Hal Prince?
by Anonymous | reply 5 | August 8, 2019 3:17 PM |
I can't imagine what it must have been like to go on for Lansbury in such a mammoth role like Rose. No wonder she doesn't remember anything about it. She's probably still in shock. I really don't know how understudies or standbys do it.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | August 8, 2019 3:37 PM |
[quote]Not a trained dancer, but she moved well.
I'm pretty sure that Lucy was a "trained dancer" in the sense that she must have had some dance training -- and probably a considerable amount of it, if not as much as a Gwen Verdon.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | August 8, 2019 3:51 PM |
No, she really didn't, r8.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | August 8, 2019 4:25 PM |
How has Manhattan Plaza kept its Legionnaire's Disease outbreak a secret? It's been weeks now and not a peep from residents or news media?
by Anonymous | reply 10 | August 8, 2019 4:26 PM |
Just a comment early on: if this thread slows way down about halfway through, it's because TPTB lock the thread for only paying members aka subscribers. That's why the posts get less witty. Because all of the smart people realize that they shouldn't have to pay to generate the quality content they create (ie, this site generates hits because of a few witty people).
Intermission over, please return to your seats for Act 2!
by Anonymous | reply 11 | August 8, 2019 4:32 PM |
Brevity is the soul of wit, PrinCESS....
by Anonymous | reply 12 | August 8, 2019 5:12 PM |
[quote]Brevity is the soul of wit, PrinCESS....
Don't mess with me, commoner. My father was a Nazi and my mother was a hairdresser.
by Anonymous | reply 13 | August 8, 2019 5:44 PM |
Yes, the last two threads have been locked at some point. 363 was locked about halfway in and took for fucking ever to limp to the finish line. Thankfully it didn't happen with 364 until there were maybe 20 slots left.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | August 8, 2019 5:47 PM |
Something tells me threads aren't being locked on just Muriel's whim. I think the more site users kick up a fuss - greying out the OP is one such tactic, I assume - the more threads get locked. If that is the case, it's bizarre. Theatre Gossip threads are a mainstay of this site.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | August 8, 2019 6:14 PM |
[quote]Theatre Gossip threads are a mainstay of this site.
They are being locked because they are popular. TPTB have to give something to the paying customers, so they lock popular threads to all but payers.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | August 8, 2019 6:17 PM |
[Quote] TPTB have to give something to the paying customers
That makes little sense if the threads then slow to a crawl.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | August 8, 2019 6:20 PM |
[Quote] They are being locked because they are popular.
The Julian Morris thread was locked and they're not popular. He's on Part 5/6 after several years.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | August 8, 2019 6:21 PM |
Regarding Lucille's dancing ability: The social dances of that era required actual steps and moves. If one had a natural grace and aptitude, one could pass as a "dancer". Joan was known for her Charleston and Jazz Baby dancing, but she was no threat to Miss Anna Pavlova. Ruby Stevens was a chorus girl who was adept at the Broadway/Vaudeville choreography of the day, but I doubt Barbara ever did a ballet warm-up at the barre. Given she was a Ziegfeld chorus girl, she should have married Ben Stone instead of Robert Taylor! Can you imagine her Lucy/Jessie?
by Anonymous | reply 19 | August 8, 2019 6:33 PM |
[quote]r14 Thankfully it didn't happen with 364 until there were maybe 20 slots left.
i thought this said [bold]sluts
by Anonymous | reply 20 | August 8, 2019 6:39 PM |
Any of our London DLers seen the Nicholas Hytner Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge Theatre? If so, report back. I was sure I never needed to see another production of Dream (see also: Much Ado and Twelfth Night), but this one sounds pretty fab.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | August 8, 2019 7:19 PM |
Is r1 a picture of Lucy in her coffin?
by Anonymous | reply 22 | August 8, 2019 7:44 PM |
Any word on casting for The Inheritance? Is Vanessa doing it in NY?
by Anonymous | reply 24 | August 8, 2019 8:33 PM |
Thank God for Bea Arthur, Jane Connell and Robert Preston in that abortion of a movie. I do sometimes wonder if Angie could have saved it, but I have my doubts. The direction by Gene Saks is so limp, and Paul Zindel's script is in no way an improvement on the stage version. And as for Kirby Furlong, yuck!
by Anonymous | reply 25 | August 8, 2019 9:00 PM |
All the Moon Over Broadway talk made me want to re-watch it. Tom Moore and Ludwig are cringe-worthy and I'm only on the first clip! The play is so corny yet Moore and Ludwig think it's high art and are so condescending to Carol ('it's television'). When Tom Moore says they need to beef her up - did he mean make her role larger or beef up her performance. The fist time I watched it I thought the former, now I think it was the latter. What crust!
(I don't want to continue the Mame discussion (basta) but when I saw it on TV as a young gayling, Ball's age didn't matter - Mame was supposed to be an old broad - Lucille was an old broad! Like the movie - hate the musical numbers except the title song and bosom buddy.)
by Anonymous | reply 26 | August 8, 2019 9:23 PM |
[quote]The direction by Gene Saks is so limp
If Angie had done it, it would’ve been on schedule and filmed in 1972, and George Cukor would have done it. He had to quit because of Lucy’s delay.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | August 8, 2019 9:30 PM |
Lucy danced plenty well enough for that shitty Onna White choreography. Pavlova was not required.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | August 8, 2019 9:54 PM |
Sure, everything looked effortless when she opened the show in the sixties at the age of 40. But nothing was effortless when she revived it in 1983.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | August 8, 2019 10:19 PM |
Jason Moore: worst director in New York?
by Anonymous | reply 32 | August 8, 2019 10:42 PM |
No, R32. We are!
by Anonymous | reply 33 | August 8, 2019 10:55 PM |
Particularly the book, r31. Lansbury really was what originally made it a hit. Nobody expected her (based on her film work) to dazzle with her singing and dancing. It really wouldn't have run as long had Nanette opened it. Angela wasn't just good, she was surprisingly good.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | August 8, 2019 11:04 PM |
Would it have run with Dolores?
by Anonymous | reply 35 | August 8, 2019 11:05 PM |
I wonder.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | August 8, 2019 11:07 PM |
Of course, who the hell would they have gotten for Dolores' Vera? Angela just had a natural ebullience that Dolores didn't.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | August 8, 2019 11:10 PM |
Helen Gallagher.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | August 8, 2019 11:22 PM |
Helen Lawson
by Anonymous | reply 39 | August 8, 2019 11:55 PM |
Helen Gallagher actually went into the Broadway company as a replacement Gooch. I don’t know why they didn’t see her as a Vera, which seems like a natural fit for her.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | August 9, 2019 12:07 AM |
In addition to Gooch, IBDB also lists Gallagher as a Vera replacement. Other Veras: Anne Francine and Audrey Christie.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | August 9, 2019 12:27 AM |
Ken Ludwig just sounds/seems insufferable. And, all based off the success of ONE show, "Lend Me A Tenor"....none of his other stuff really matched it.
It takes a lot of gall to think you're better than an idolized comedic institution like Carol Burnett.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | August 9, 2019 1:22 AM |
I actually saw Mary Louise Wilson as Rose. It was in LA and since there was such demand for matinees, she did two Thursday matinees. Lansbury's performance wasn't yet so legendary so stepping in wasn't a big deal. Wilson was okay but Lansbury did such a great take on the character that Wilson's reverting to a monster Rose was a bit jarring. Zan Charisse was Louise was the worst Gypsy I've ever seen. No wonder her career never went anywhere. Rex Robbins was nothing much either but Bonnie Langford was already a megastar at what, 10? You just knew she had it.
by Anonymous | reply 43 | August 9, 2019 1:37 AM |
Of course, at some point Zan Charisse was replaced by her sister, Nana Visitor.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | August 9, 2019 1:43 AM |
It’s kind of amazing that Langford’s performance was considered so important that AEA allowed her to come over and do that long tour and the Broadway run.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | August 9, 2019 1:47 AM |
Zan Charisse did the entire tour and run, r44. Nana Visitor didn’t replace her.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | August 9, 2019 1:49 AM |
Lansbury did GYPSY for years. Nana played opposite her as Louise.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | August 9, 2019 1:58 AM |
[quote]r43 Bonnie Langford was already a megastar at what, 10? You just knew she had it.
Never heard of her. But here's her take on it:
by Anonymous | reply 48 | August 9, 2019 1:58 AM |
Bonnie Langford has never been a megastar. She's never even headlined a hit.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | August 9, 2019 2:01 AM |
[quote]Any word on casting for The Inheritance?
My friend's son auditioned for a role just a few weeks ago. I have to ask her if he's heard anything back from them or not. He's a sweet kid, so I have my fingers crossed for him.
On a separate note, I wonder if "The Inheritance" will be eligible for the Pulitzer. One of the rules for the drama prize is that a work be "preferably original" in its source and "Inheritance" was "inspired" by E. M. Forster's novel "Howard's End," so don't know if that would take it out of the running or not.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | August 9, 2019 2:01 AM |
Bonnie Langford started as Dorothy Brock in the closing cast of the huge hit London revival of 42nd Street, opposite DL fave Ashley Day.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | August 9, 2019 2:03 AM |
* Starred, not started
by Anonymous | reply 52 | August 9, 2019 2:04 AM |
The only one who headlined that production of 42nd Street was Lulu. I didn't see Sheena Easton or Bonnie Langford's name above the title.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | August 9, 2019 2:06 AM |
What years were those, r47?
by Anonymous | reply 54 | August 9, 2019 2:09 AM |
[quote]Lansbury did GYPSY for years. Nana played opposite her as Louise.
Visitor did not replace Charisse, who did the entire tour and Broadway run, as well as the Music Fair Circuit touring production in the summer of ‘75, with Lansbury, Robbins, and Charisse the three remaining members of the Broadway cast. That was Lansbury's farewell to the role.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | August 9, 2019 2:11 AM |
Nah. Lansbury returned to the role a number of times.
Here's a Washington Post review, dated 21 June 1978. Nana is namechecked.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | August 9, 2019 2:18 AM |
There's also an Out of Stock Amazon listing for a 1976 Fort Lauderdale playbill, with some of the following text:
[Quote] Product Description. This is a rare November 22nd, 1976 playbill from the Post-Broadway ... and featured GEORGE COE, NANA TUCKER, GLORIA ROSSI, MAUREEN MOORE, JOHN SHERIDAN, MARILYN COOPER, JOHN C. BECHER
by Anonymous | reply 57 | August 9, 2019 2:21 AM |
[quote]Ken Ludwig just sounds/seems insufferable. And, all based off the success of ONE show, "Lend Me A Tenor"....none of his other stuff really matched it.
And even that one hit is a piece of crap script that was made to seem funny by the brilliance of the original cast and director. Now the play is unrevivable, thank Christ, if only because of the black face element.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | August 9, 2019 2:23 AM |
Ovrtur listing. Lansbury's daughter played Electra.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | August 9, 2019 2:27 AM |
Rex Robbins was nude in "The Changing Room"; his bio for "Gypsy" even said that he had been in it, so he had recently taken up stripping. That show won John Lithgow a Tony (I believe the first time someone won for a role where someone was nude for part of the performance). Among others in the cast were Richard Masur and John Tillinger, who later became a director, as well as George Hearn. Any photos from back then, or recollections of how these guys looked nude and if anyone in particular stood out sans chemise?
by Anonymous | reply 60 | August 9, 2019 2:47 AM |
Re: GYPSY, I love hearing Laura Benati share how she ended up with her interpretation of the cow moos.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | August 9, 2019 2:54 AM |
Here's a pic from THE CHANGING ROOM with Lithgow and Masur.
Not finding anything naked online, which may be a blessing.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | August 9, 2019 4:56 AM |
Jakey G and his, um, good friend, Tom Sturridge, opened on Bway...
And the Times approves.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | August 9, 2019 5:16 AM |
R60, were all those actors nude in it? Sounds like it was an early “Take Me Out.” Surprising that it was that early, although I guess Hair opened the door and nudity on the NY stage flourished for about ten years or so.
by Anonymous | reply 64 | August 9, 2019 5:26 AM |
Thanks R50, let us know if you hear anything more about The Inheritance carting. It must be going into rehearsal soon.
To your question, just an example, but Ketti Frings won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1958 for her stage adaptation of Thomas Wolfe’s Look Homeward, Angel (starring the young Anthony Perkins). Don’t know if the rules have changed since then.
The Inheritance isn’t a retelling of Howard’s End so much as it just references it, though E.M. Forster is s character throughout. It has many original elements.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | August 9, 2019 7:12 AM |
I saw an early production of Lend Me a Tenor. It was set in the 19th century. I don't know if that was the original take or just a choice for that production. I thought the play was like one of those plays advertised at the back of a Samuel French script, e.g, Who Killed Santa Claus? The Broadway production really had Jerry Zaks to thank for its success. He did make a silk purse out of a sows ear.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | August 9, 2019 11:00 AM |
Did anyone see the musical version of "Lend Me a Tenor" in London?
by Anonymous | reply 67 | August 9, 2019 1:45 PM |
How did Seth Rudetsky become sort-of famous? He's very unattractive and annoying.
by Anonymous | reply 68 | August 9, 2019 1:53 PM |
I think he began as an accompanyist, which is a specific skill. Then he was in Broadway orchestras. He's very proficient when it comes to musical and vocal technique.
I think his videos are hysterically funny. (I believe he's also written a novel and some smaller shows, but he's not known for those.)
by Anonymous | reply 69 | August 9, 2019 2:07 PM |
One of those "smaller shows" he wrote was the execrable "Disaster!"
by Anonymous | reply 70 | August 9, 2019 2:16 PM |
Rudetsky became 'sort-of famous' because he is a respected expert at what he does and he relentlessly self-promotes.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | August 9, 2019 2:19 PM |
I still chuckle at his husband and daughter.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | August 9, 2019 2:22 PM |
And they chuckle right back.
by Anonymous | reply 73 | August 9, 2019 2:28 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 74 | August 9, 2019 2:45 PM |
Pulitzer Prize winners based on other works of literature: RENT, HAMILTON, DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, SOUTH PACIFIC. Just to name a few.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | August 9, 2019 2:58 PM |
Does Jonathan Cake show his buns in "Coriolanus"? He used to offer at least backal nudity in NY. I don't know if he ever has done full nudity on stage. Does anyone know?
by Anonymous | reply 76 | August 9, 2019 3:38 PM |
[quote]Pulitzer Prize winners based on other works of literature: RENT, HAMILTON, DIARY OF ANNE FRANK, SOUTH PACIFIC.
Was Rent "based on" La Boheme or just "inspired by" it?
by Anonymous | reply 77 | August 9, 2019 3:52 PM |
I get why you would find Seth annoying, but he's got an encyclopedic knowledge of musical theater, and he's funny.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | August 9, 2019 4:45 PM |
Oh yes, Seth's relentless five minutes of trying to make Juli a star in the charity video was the source of many good laughs in these threads.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | August 9, 2019 4:49 PM |
[Quote] And they chuckle right back.
For the same reasons?
by Anonymous | reply 80 | August 9, 2019 7:12 PM |
Cake does not flash his cakes in Corialanus, sadly.
by Anonymous | reply 81 | August 9, 2019 8:16 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 82 | August 9, 2019 8:18 PM |
That's too bad, R81. I hear they're spectacular.
by Anonymous | reply 83 | August 9, 2019 8:45 PM |
I remember Cake from the Robert Mosley tv miniseries. His looks made more of an impression than his acting.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | August 9, 2019 9:03 PM |
My niece was playing the lead in the high school play and she went to NY to have Seth coach her. That's his exact term. He did a great job, watching, analyzing, encouraging and pushing. Seth showed up to the show.
by Anonymous | reply 85 | August 9, 2019 9:33 PM |
[quote]r71 Rudetsky became 'sort-of famous' because he is a respected expert at what he does and he relentlessly self-promotes.
[italic]And[/italic] Patti loves him ... so any detractors here are cordially invited to just FUCK right OFF!
by Anonymous | reply 86 | August 9, 2019 9:43 PM |
Now I want someone to get in a tizzy over mlop.
by Anonymous | reply 87 | August 9, 2019 9:49 PM |
Is mlop still around? I never get to ATC anymore.
by Anonymous | reply 88 | August 9, 2019 9:57 PM |
[quote]r81 Cake does not flash his cakes
OT, but this suddenly made me think of John Costelloe, the SOPRANOS actor who shot himself in 2008. His character was called Johnny Cakes.
[bold]: ([/bold]
Such a strange thing about his death is he was appearing in a stage play at the time (GANG OF SEVEN). Stage actors are ingrained with the sense of "the show must go on." It's not like a movie or TV show where they can quickly recast, or delay shooting. It's not just etiquette, it's that your blood literally runs cold if you're late to the theater, let alone missing a performance! They're ensemble collaborations and to throw a wrench in the works is just a fundamental taboo.
I'm curious as to why he couldn't wait until the run was over - unless he knew he had a fantastic understudy.
It just doesn't make sense to me for an actor to kill themselves while appearing in a stage show. I don't think I've ever heard of it happening before. Maybe I'm naive...
by Anonymous | reply 89 | August 9, 2019 10:11 PM |
Mary Ure died on opening night (after the performance) of a play called "The Exorcism". Overdose.
by Anonymous | reply 90 | August 9, 2019 10:27 PM |
R90, Was she still married to Robert Shaw when she died?
by Anonymous | reply 91 | August 9, 2019 10:36 PM |
[quote]r90 Mary Ure died on opening night (after the performance) of a play called "The Exorcism". Overdose.
Eeeek! I didn't know that!
Margaret Sullavan died from a barbiturates overdose while trying out a play in New Haven. It's never been firmly established if it was intentional or not, though.
by Anonymous | reply 92 | August 9, 2019 10:42 PM |
C'mon, Helen. The reviews couldn't have been that bad.
by Anonymous | reply 93 | August 9, 2019 10:42 PM |
It appears they just quickly blacked out Ure's name and photo from the poster.
I wonder who went on for her. And if they were good.
by Anonymous | reply 94 | August 9, 2019 10:49 PM |
Well, they were alive at least.
by Anonymous | reply 95 | August 9, 2019 10:58 PM |
Ure had to be let go from a show a year or so before she died. Her understudy: Glenn Close.
by Anonymous | reply 96 | August 9, 2019 11:13 PM |
[quote]r91 Was she still married to Robert Shaw when she died?
According to this blog, anyway, Shaw was the one who found her dead in their home.
by Anonymous | reply 97 | August 9, 2019 11:14 PM |
Was Shaw shtupping someone else? Was that his MO?
by Anonymous | reply 98 | August 9, 2019 11:17 PM |
[quote] Ure had to be let go from a show a year or so before she died. Her understudy: Glenn Close.
Well, that's not suspicious. AT ALL.
by Anonymous | reply 99 | August 9, 2019 11:18 PM |
[quote] I was so eager that I sat in on all the rehearsals of “Love for Love,” which is a Congreve Restoration comedy. On the Saturday before opening, Hal Prince told me he was thinking of letting the leading lady go and would make his decision during the matinee. I hadn’t even had an understudy rehearsal. It was kind of a miracle that I was ready; I knew all the lines. They tried to assemble all the actors who had gone to dinner, to go through the show with me. Before the performance, Hal parted the curtains and told the audience I had gotten my equity card seven weeks earlier and this was my debut. I went on that night and I got through it OK.
[quote]A half-hour before that show, a note was delivered to me: “It’s a tradition in the British theatre for one leading lady to welcome the next. I welcome you. Be brave and strong.” It was from Mary Ure, who’d just been fired. That was an extraordinary act of — how would you even describe it — love, support. That meant a huge amount to me. It was a great chance but also a sobering lesson about what can be a very cruel profession. I felt elation, but it was tempered with the knowledge that this beautiful actress had been humiliated. And here I am, all these years later, playing Norma Desmond, a humiliated actress!
by Anonymous | reply 100 | August 9, 2019 11:27 PM |
R21, I saw Hytner’s Dream this week. It’s very, very charming, but Brantley’s review seemed bizarrely disconnected from the actual production. It’s fairly run-of-the-mill until the lovers’ scene in the forest . There is a LOT of ad libbing during scenes (e.g. after Demetrius’s line, Lysander said ”Dude!”) and it’s the ad libs that get all the laughs, so if you’re a purist the whole thing I say a little hard to swallow. But Hytner wanted to make it appealing to the Gen Zers and he unquestionably delivered that. Switching Titania and Oberon’s lines just meant that Oberon is now the one to fall in love with Bottom,p. It’s very funny, but a bit of a cop out.
By the way, I saw The Inheritance over here and think it’s vastly overrated as a play. I’m a Howards End aficionado and there are big sections which are lifted right out of the book. I also think its sentimentality runs over into schmaltz — plus the parallels between the book and the retelling don’t work. People just got excited about having a big play/event, in my opinion.
by Anonymous | reply 101 | August 9, 2019 11:32 PM |
Funny, Patti didn't observe that same tradition and welcome Glenn to SB.
by Anonymous | reply 102 | August 9, 2019 11:32 PM |
haha!
by Anonymous | reply 103 | August 9, 2019 11:38 PM |
R101, I sort of share your opinion of The Inheritance. I think the first part is vastly superior to the second part. Didn’t you find the conclusion of the first part tremendously moving like I did? It will be interesting to see how it’s recreated in NY. I hope Daldry...ummm...decides to reference the older generation who suffered and died in his coup de theatre, though, not just young men.
by Anonymous | reply 104 | August 9, 2019 11:39 PM |
Anyone here see Broadway Bounty Hunter? A friend thought it might be fun, but I'm unsure.
by Anonymous | reply 105 | August 9, 2019 11:46 PM |
When you say old men, you mean, like, 30?
by Anonymous | reply 106 | August 9, 2019 11:47 PM |
Mary Ure onstage with Viviene Leigh:
the gossip about this play is the producers had done up Leigh's dressing room in a very lavish, feminine style, with rose printed wallpaper, antique French furniture, etc. It was like a flowery bower.
The cast kept breaking out with flea bites (or maybe it was crabs?) and it turned out the stage manager was making money on the side by renting out this fancy star dressing room for street prostitutes to bring their johns to after the theater went dark.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | August 9, 2019 11:57 PM |
R104, I don’t mean to say that I disliked The Inheritance. I agree the first part was better, but both parts ended on such a treacly sentimental note that I found myself a little put off by it. So no, I didn’t find the ending moving because I thought it was manipulative. I was definitely in the minority though. The audience went crazy for it. I also thought the character based on Forster himself was the most moving.
I just remembered all the monologues!! I was puzzled by having great long monologues in scenes with so many characters on stage.
by Anonymous | reply 108 | August 10, 2019 12:33 AM |
R92, The play did continue after producer Martin Gabel cast wife, and DL fave, Arlene Francis in Maggie's role, but it never made it to Broadway.
by Anonymous | reply 109 | August 10, 2019 1:28 AM |
Has anyone ever been on one of Seth's Playbill cruises? I heard today he's doing one in conjunction with the NYTimes next year.
by Anonymous | reply 110 | August 10, 2019 2:24 AM |
We could torture the poster who doesn't like Seth R by getting them drunk, then having them come to on one!
by Anonymous | reply 111 | August 10, 2019 2:29 AM |
R101/R108 - I’ve posted about this before, but am of the same opinion about the two endings (however, while it is admittedly a skilled production and deftly performed, I pretty much loathed all of it). The ending of Part I is a cheap, cloying and unearned trick - and is offensively sentimental.
And I think this was my problem with it as a whole. Lopez mistakes sentimentality for profundity. It’s a dumb play for a dumb, uncritical age, filled with dumb, shallow characters, whose ability to know anything about recent history is contingent on inheriting an estate in Upstate New York.
by Anonymous | reply 112 | August 10, 2019 4:56 AM |
I don't understand what r111 is saying.
by Anonymous | reply 113 | August 10, 2019 8:16 AM |
R108 and R112, I guess I was moved by it because my brother died from an AIDS-related illness in 1992 and it just brought it all back to me. All those men cut down in that plague. I think it’s a stunningly effective piece of theatre. I didn’t care for the second play mainly because it focused on the hustler character and I didn’t give a fuck about him.
by Anonymous | reply 114 | August 10, 2019 11:33 AM |
I saw the Hal Prince documentary on PBS last night. I found it very odd. My partner and I could not figure out why Susan Stroman was included. I suppose it was because she was the only woman interviewed other than Angela Lansbury and they wanted a woman on the production side.
Also odd that there was no mention of costume design other than Angela telling the famous Frannie Lee story. Huge chunks were given over to set design and lighting design, but no mention of costumes. This is odd since he directed two of the biggest costume spectaculars of the late 20th century: Follies and Phantom.
Phantom was discussed and ALW was interviewed, but there was no mention of the fact that he was fired from the production at one point. It would have been interesting to mention that even an director of his stature could get fired.
It also seemed odd that they talked as if the MC in Cabaret was always a male role. I had heard that the character was female until Joel Grey audition.
by Anonymous | reply 115 | August 10, 2019 12:44 PM |
Susan Stroman was the choreographer of his production of SHOWBOAT.
by Anonymous | reply 116 | August 10, 2019 12:48 PM |
I detest everything Susan Surinam directs. When was the last time she actually had a successful show on Bway anyway?
by Anonymous | reply 117 | August 10, 2019 1:24 PM |
^Strohman
by Anonymous | reply 118 | August 10, 2019 1:29 PM |
While elements of The Inheritance parallel Howard’s End, the rest of it seems to parallel Jackie Susann. The end of the first part was moving but a bit of a lift from Craig Lucas’ Longtime Companion (1990) which I guess most people don’t remember. For that reason, I didn’t completely submit to it.
I’m sure they’ll make cuts in Part 2 which spends most of its time circling and looping around the inevitable. I never found the doppelgänger character very interesting and the actor seemed to have spent more time in the gym than acting class, and did little to illuminate the character beyond a wooden object of sexual desire.
It’ll be interesting to see how it fares in NY. It will pale in comparison to Angels but will likely hold its own against current offerings. It’s packaged as an epic but it’s contents are bit slight.
Who else can they get to play Vanessa’s role? Jane Fonda?
by Anonymous | reply 119 | August 10, 2019 1:44 PM |
Angie?
by Anonymous | reply 120 | August 10, 2019 1:45 PM |
R119, they don’t need a huge star like Jane Fonda. Someone like Margo Martindale or Ann Dowd would more than suffice.
by Anonymous | reply 121 | August 10, 2019 2:20 PM |
What about the August Osage woman? Dunagan?
by Anonymous | reply 122 | August 10, 2019 2:25 PM |
Julianne Moore. Seriously.
by Anonymous | reply 123 | August 10, 2019 3:10 PM |
[quote]It also seemed odd that they talked as if the MC in Cabaret was always a male role. I had heard that the character was female until Joel Grey audition.
You've got that all wrong about the MC. And in addition to SHOW BOAT, Stroman co-directed and choreographed PRINCE OF BROADWAY. Isn't that enough to warrant her inclusion in the doc?
by Anonymous | reply 124 | August 10, 2019 3:32 PM |
One of the original productions of CABARET had a female Emcee. Dutch, German, something like that.
by Anonymous | reply 125 | August 10, 2019 3:34 PM |
I think Susan S has gotten work at all and so highly (some might say unjustifiably) esteemed because she has been around so long, has paid her dues, and appears to be an exceptionally nice person. People seem to love her, and that goes a long way in such a collaborative medium.
OTOH, I've never been that knocked out by her talents. Even CRAZY FOR YOU struck me as cute but gimmicky and a bit cheesy all those years back, when everyone else was acting as if she re-invented the wheel of musical comedy.
by Anonymous | reply 126 | August 10, 2019 3:40 PM |
[quote]r126 Even CRAZY FOR YOU struck me as cute but gimmicky and a bit cheesy all those years back, when everyone else was acting as if she re-invented the wheel of musical comedy.
This was the best Broadway musical I ever saw. It wasn't exactly my style, but undeniably delighful. The dancing was GREAT.
In fact, the whole show was just kind of an excuse to allow for the dance numbers. They were inventive, adorable, and athletic. My favorite number was 'I Got Rhythm' ... and I don't even like that song!
by Anonymous | reply 127 | August 10, 2019 4:07 PM |
Bitch about the canned music all you like, but her CONTACT was a fun night in the theater. I thought it deserved its Best Musical Tony.
by Anonymous | reply 128 | August 10, 2019 4:36 PM |
[quote]I think Susan S has gotten work at all and so highly (some might say unjustifiably)
No. No one would say unjustifiably. You may be unable to appreciate her talents, but most Broadway pros and the public can see and appreciate what a clever, entertaining choreographer she is.
by Anonymous | reply 129 | August 10, 2019 5:26 PM |
[quote] 'I Got Rhythm' ... and I don't even like that song!
Fuck off, motherfucker.
by Anonymous | reply 130 | August 10, 2019 5:27 PM |
r127 = Benay
by Anonymous | reply 131 | August 10, 2019 5:30 PM |
Last year Hal Prince was working on 2 musicals - one based on the documentary "How to Dance in Ohio" and one set in the 19th century which he called "an old-fashioned musical done in a new fashioned way". Does anyone know how far these got in development and who else was involved?
by Anonymous | reply 132 | August 10, 2019 5:33 PM |
How does one make a musical about autistic teen girls? These days, you would have to cast people actually on the spectrum.
by Anonymous | reply 133 | August 10, 2019 5:46 PM |
Maybe they'll get away with casting people who merely suspected they might be on the spectrum...
by Anonymous | reply 134 | August 10, 2019 6:13 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 135 | August 10, 2019 9:03 PM |
The Inheritance makes me nervous because Matthew Lopez's previous play, The Legend of Georgia McBride is so shitty.
by Anonymous | reply 136 | August 10, 2019 9:11 PM |
[quote]The Inheritance makes me nervous because Matthew Lopez's previous play, The Legend of Georgia McBride is so shitty.
Really? I disagree. Matt McGrath won a well deserved Lucille Lortel Award for his performance in that show. His character in particular was very well written (and acted), but I loved the whole play.
by Anonymous | reply 137 | August 10, 2019 9:23 PM |
R117
Shrugs.
I thought it was gross and stereotypical and obviously written to amuse middle aged straight suburbanites.
Very "Amos & Andy" but gay.
Gaymos and Gandy?
by Anonymous | reply 138 | August 10, 2019 9:27 PM |
And so many people on the spectrum are just super interesting on stage. Every actor who's said to be on the spectrum have one thing in common - they're incredibly boring on stage. No life whatsoever and dead eyes. At best, they can pull off bitchy aloofness. Sometimes, they translate better to the screen, but the stage is usually not for them.
by Anonymous | reply 139 | August 10, 2019 9:41 PM |
[quote]r139 they're incredibly boring on stage. No life whatsoever and dead eyes.
Like Madonna.
by Anonymous | reply 140 | August 10, 2019 9:45 PM |
Is Madonna on the spectrum? It would totally make sense.
by Anonymous | reply 141 | August 10, 2019 9:53 PM |
My sources are telling me that Madonna is being considered for a brief revival of "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas." The sticking point is if they will allow her to sing the song "Doatsey Mae".
by Anonymous | reply 142 | August 10, 2019 10:46 PM |
Nobody told me that Tom Hiddleston was coming to Broadway in Betrayal.
And this is the shittiest ad I've ever seen! NYC doesn't go for shitty ads like this one.
by Anonymous | reply 143 | August 10, 2019 11:02 PM |
Wasn't Betrayal done just a few years ago? I think Daniel Craig was in it.
by Anonymous | reply 144 | August 10, 2019 11:06 PM |
[quote]Wasn't Betrayal done just a few years ago? I think Daniel Craig was in it.
I think producers like to do it because it can be produced cheaply and they can turn a profit. The intellectuals come to see it because it's Pinter and the tourists come to see it because it has big stars.
by Anonymous | reply 145 | August 10, 2019 11:13 PM |
Why haven't I been cast in Betrayal yet? It sounds right up my alley, dolls.
by Anonymous | reply 146 | August 10, 2019 11:16 PM |
[quote]Why haven't I been cast in Betrayal yet? It sounds right up my alley, dolls. —Patti Lu
Because the audience has to believe that the female lead is sexually desirable to two straight men.
by Anonymous | reply 147 | August 10, 2019 11:20 PM |
[Quote] two straight men.
Kevin Kline and Glenn Close. Done.
by Anonymous | reply 148 | August 10, 2019 11:40 PM |
I think Betrayal should be done with a cast of three men.
by Anonymous | reply 149 | August 10, 2019 11:47 PM |
Two of whom are living as a couple on a college campus ruled by the father of one?
by Anonymous | reply 150 | August 10, 2019 11:49 PM |
[quote]Is Madonna on the spectrum?
No, she’s just a soulless bitch.
by Anonymous | reply 151 | August 11, 2019 2:23 AM |
[quote] The sticking point is if they will allow her to sing the song "Doatsey Mae".
Presumably, if this is a real item, she would be Miss Mona, the star role. “Doatsey Mae” is sung by the character of Doatsey Mae, and it would make no sense to have Miss Mona. In the film, Dolly Parton stole “Hard Candy Christmas,” and it stank.
Otherwise, Miss Mona would seem to be a good fit for Madonna’s bossy personality and limited acting and singing skills.
by Anonymous | reply 152 | August 11, 2019 2:30 AM |
I just finished thread 364, and I was particularly interested in the discussion about Ken Ludwig.
I will be seeing his (non-musical) adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express up at the Ogunquit Playhouse in a couple of weeks, and I'm now wondering what to expect...
by Anonymous | reply 153 | August 11, 2019 3:18 AM |
R152, the joke is that Madonna will steal all of the good songs from the other supporting characters, just like Another Suitcase in Evita
by Anonymous | reply 154 | August 11, 2019 3:31 AM |
I saw BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE as a teen--and loved it. The score is far from Sondheim, but the songs work incredibly well and are funny and stage-worthy.
The original Tommy Tune staging was outstanding.
But is this really a time to revive a musical comedy about a brothel? And please god, don't rewrite it into some feminist anthem of empowered sex workers.
by Anonymous | reply 155 | August 11, 2019 3:45 AM |
Anita Gillette is playing Princess Dragomiroff in the MOTOE at Ogunquit, and William Ivey Long is doing the costumes, so they spending some money on it.
by Anonymous | reply 156 | August 11, 2019 4:24 AM |
Has anyone ever attempted to musicalize MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS?
Or any other Agatha Christie?
Just a thought.
by Anonymous | reply 157 | August 11, 2019 4:37 AM |
[quote]I will be seeing his (non-musical) adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express up at the Ogunquit Playhouse in a couple of weeks, and I'm now wondering what to expect...
I saw it last year at a regional theater. It would probably be fine if you'd never seen or read the original, but I didn't like it because of the changes to the characters (and elimination/combination of some of them.)
by Anonymous | reply 158 | August 11, 2019 4:44 AM |
[R157] Thanks for that photograph. Wonderful image. That was such a stylish romp of a movie, and a great success. Hard to believe such a cast was actually assembled. Not to mention the brilliant score by Richard Rodney Bennett, in waltz time, no less!
Light years better than Branagh’s execrable remake.
by Anonymous | reply 159 | August 11, 2019 5:14 AM |
Funny coincidence, I'm in the middle of watching it right now on Amazon prime. It is truly luxurious, and so many real movie stars on board...
by Anonymous | reply 160 | August 11, 2019 5:19 AM |
The last "Betrayal" revival was supposedly directed by Mike Nichols, but it wasn't really, and he was way too sick to give a shit.
by Anonymous | reply 161 | August 11, 2019 5:19 AM |
R160, I remember even the lush opening credits were cited in some reviews.
by Anonymous | reply 162 | August 11, 2019 6:10 AM |
Also that all the actresses in it were so TALL.
by Anonymous | reply 163 | August 11, 2019 6:12 AM |
Has Ann Reinking been seen in public recently? She's really blown up. Her appearance at the NYCDA Awards was shocking and I suspect she would have rather not have been there but had to since she was being honored.
by Anonymous | reply 164 | August 11, 2019 6:12 AM |
Of all the cast in MOTOE, one was missing from [R157]’s photo. And the most obvious one, too...
by Anonymous | reply 165 | August 11, 2019 6:19 AM |
Jackie Bisset’s tits look really big in that pic!
They’re like, “HI!”
by Anonymous | reply 166 | August 11, 2019 6:23 AM |
R165, Richard Widmark
by Anonymous | reply 167 | August 11, 2019 6:44 AM |
Last week I saw the live Broadcast of The Lehman Trilogy from London in American movie theaters. It was fucking amazing storytelling.
Why didn’t this make a Bway transfer??
by Anonymous | reply 168 | August 11, 2019 12:09 PM |
[quote]Why didn’t this make a Bway transfer??
Because the theatre owners are saving their houses for great American works of art, like Barry Manilow On Broadway and the Britney Spears musical.
by Anonymous | reply 169 | August 11, 2019 1:38 PM |
[quote]like Barry Manilow On Broadway and the Britney Spears musical.
Pffffft. In your dreams. Now that Hamilton is a success, we're going for a more eclectic audience. Coming this fall will be "Cries Of Kanye: The Music of Kanye West" and A$AP Rocky's "Sweden Sucks." And Oprah is being a pain in the ass trying to get "Precious The Musical" into one of our houses.
by Anonymous | reply 170 | August 11, 2019 2:03 PM |
Yes, with the success of HAMILTON, it's a pluperfect time for a major revival of 1776. Shows about the founding fathers are hot right now.
by Anonymous | reply 171 | August 11, 2019 2:07 PM |
Well.....I haven't seen or read anything about Ken Ludwig's new play - but I will tell you how it begins:
A short prologue - with lots of furniture and items covered up by sheets behind the actors....
And then suddenly - the sheets are removed and we're in a completely unexpected place....although it seems as if the prologue was being watched by oddly shaped ghosts.
by Anonymous | reply 172 | August 11, 2019 2:30 PM |
[quote]B. Fossy.
Who?
by Anonymous | reply 173 | August 11, 2019 2:31 PM |
Indeed, r165....
by Anonymous | reply 174 | August 11, 2019 2:36 PM |
Just heard from an insider that the new 1776 will include a female John Adams and no cis-gendered man in the entire cast. Diane Paulus of course.
by Anonymous | reply 175 | August 11, 2019 2:37 PM |
Betty Lynn for 1776 (2021)?
by Anonymous | reply 176 | August 11, 2019 2:49 PM |
Looks like Reinking's weight gain is primarily in her upper body. Also looks like she may have had some facial work done.
Doesn't she have arthritis? Maybe this is all cortisone weight?
by Anonymous | reply 177 | August 11, 2019 3:39 PM |
LOCK 'ER UP!
by Anonymous | reply 178 | August 11, 2019 3:41 PM |
Yikes! Ann Reinking looks like she's transitioning to a man. That long hair does her no favors.
by Anonymous | reply 179 | August 11, 2019 3:43 PM |
[quote]Betty Lynn for 1776
As what? She can't get a laugh to save her life, so Ben Franklin is out, and she no longer has the vocal chops for Rutledge or Dickinson.
The best she can hope for is Andrew McNair, congressional custodian.
by Anonymous | reply 180 | August 11, 2019 3:46 PM |
That "Orient Express" picture was probably taken at the end of production, and Widmark was long gone by that point.
by Anonymous | reply 181 | August 11, 2019 3:46 PM |
Still fitting, r181....
by Anonymous | reply 182 | August 11, 2019 4:06 PM |
She needs a new hairdo as well, but she's a step away from wearing caftans.
by Anonymous | reply 184 | August 11, 2019 4:14 PM |
You wouldn't be able to see her still slim pins, r184!
by Anonymous | reply 185 | August 11, 2019 4:15 PM |
Ann appears to be inspired by Edina Monsoon, fashion icon.
"Slim ankles, sweetie!"
by Anonymous | reply 186 | August 11, 2019 5:07 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 187 | August 11, 2019 5:10 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 188 | August 11, 2019 5:16 PM |
1776 is a musical that just doesn’t need the songs. Take them away and the show has the exact same impact
by Anonymous | reply 189 | August 11, 2019 5:36 PM |
And you know this how, R189? You saw a 30 minute non-musical presentation of the book to 1776?
by Anonymous | reply 190 | August 11, 2019 5:39 PM |
R189, that's just not true. I like the entire score, but there are few songs in the musical canon that have the dramatic effect of "Molasses to Rum to Slaves." It's a stunning three minutes of theater.
by Anonymous | reply 191 | August 11, 2019 5:44 PM |
Am I the only one who finds 1776 a complete and utter bore? I saw the Roundabout revival in the late '90s and I nearly lost consciousness for good.
by Anonymous | reply 192 | August 11, 2019 5:48 PM |
You see we piddle, twiddle, and revolve....
by Anonymous | reply 193 | August 11, 2019 6:05 PM |
[quote]r192 Am I the only one who finds 1776 a complete and utter bore? I saw the Roundabout revival in the late '90s and I nearly lost consciousness for good.
The show itself indeed sounds torturous.
by Anonymous | reply 194 | August 11, 2019 6:20 PM |
It's nothing without a willowy blonde.
by Anonymous | reply 195 | August 11, 2019 6:22 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 196 | August 11, 2019 6:44 PM |
[quote] I thought it was gross and stereotypical and obviously written to amuse middle aged straight suburbanites. Very "Amos & Andy" but gay. Gaymos and Gandy?
What the hell are you talking about? The main plot of THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA McBRIDE is the pretty much the opposite of stereotypical.
[quote] “Doatsey Mae” is sung by the character of Doatsey Mae, and it would make no sense to have Miss Mona. In the film, Dolly Parton stole “Hard Candy Christmas,” and it stank.
In the actual film of WHOREHOUSE, "Hard Candy Christmas" is still sung by the girls of the Chicken Ranch, at least mostly -- Dolly Parton may have one line or two, I don't remember for sure. It's only on the "soundtrack recording" that she sings the whole song as a solo, maybe with the girls as choral backup, again I don't remember for sure.
[quote]Am I the only one who finds 1776 a complete and utter bore?
You're probably not the ONLY one in the entire world, but you're part of the infinitesimally tiny minority that somehow find their way to places like the DataLounge to express their idiotic opinions.
by Anonymous | reply 197 | August 11, 2019 7:58 PM |
It's the refrain that Dolly steals, both times, and makes her own "improvements" to the melody, rendering it almost unrecognizable.
by Anonymous | reply 198 | August 11, 2019 9:42 PM |
[quote] You're probably not the ONLY one in the entire world, but you're part of the infinitesimally tiny minority that somehow find their way to places like the DataLounge to express their idiotic opinions.
It must have taken you hours to type that with your pinkies sky high, dear. Good for you.
by Anonymous | reply 199 | August 11, 2019 9:45 PM |
Data Lounge. Where idiotic opinions are the coin of the realm.
by Anonymous | reply 200 | August 11, 2019 9:56 PM |
I wonder why 1776 hasn’t had a major revival in London, at somewhere like the National. I gather the original production wasn’t a big success but I can see someone like Steven Daldry casting it expertly and doing a great job.
by Anonymous | reply 201 | August 11, 2019 10:23 PM |
Because at the end, the Brits lose!
by Anonymous | reply 202 | August 11, 2019 10:27 PM |
Haven't been on ATC for ages...whoa -that "summertheater" character is quite unhinged....
by Anonymous | reply 203 | August 11, 2019 10:43 PM |
More so than usual?
by Anonymous | reply 204 | August 11, 2019 11:00 PM |
ATC. Everyone on that site is unhinged. And the management of ATC is worse than what we suffer at DL.
by Anonymous | reply 205 | August 11, 2019 11:00 PM |
Did Disaster! kill Roger Bart's Broadway career?
by Anonymous | reply 206 | August 11, 2019 11:34 PM |
[quote]It must have taken you hours to type that with your pinkies sky high, dear. Good for you.
When I'm dealing with someone who thinks 1776 is a boring, terrible show, my pinky isn't the finger that I'm sticking up.
by Anonymous | reply 207 | August 11, 2019 11:46 PM |
It was a joke R173 - remember those?
by Anonymous | reply 208 | August 12, 2019 12:06 AM |
I want to hear more about Rex Smith's cock.
by Anonymous | reply 209 | August 12, 2019 12:48 AM |
W/W, r207!
by Anonymous | reply 210 | August 12, 2019 12:49 AM |
R197, a straight guy becoming a better man by hanging around with two stereotypical is one of the most cliched stories around.
by Anonymous | reply 211 | August 12, 2019 2:07 AM |
[quote]A straight guy becoming a better man by hanging around with two stereotypical is one of the most cliched stories around.
A vert straight, good old boy Southern guy who realizes that he loves doing drag is hardly a cliche, you unmitigated asshole.
by Anonymous | reply 212 | August 12, 2019 3:16 AM |
[quote] A vert straight, good old boy Southern guy who realizes that he loves doing drag is hardly a cliche, you unmitigated asshole.
You really are an insufferable twat.
by Anonymous | reply 213 | August 12, 2019 4:20 AM |
I’m going to Hamburg in October and Carrie-Das Musical will have already closed, dammit. I never miss a Maya Hakvoort musical, too.
by Anonymous | reply 214 | August 12, 2019 4:40 AM |
[quote]Has anyone ever attempted to musicalize MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS? Or any other Agatha Christie?
Yes. Christie's "And Then There Were None", or "Ten Little Indians" ("Ten Little Niggers" was the original UK title!) was the basis of a Broadway musical titled "Something's Afoot" in 1976, which ran for two months. Jerry Seinfeld's tv mom Liz Sheridan, Gary Beach, and Tessie O'Shea starred. I have seen two college productions and loved them both. It is a very funny show and I recall enjoying the score. Due to its flop status I don't think it is revived often.
by Anonymous | reply 215 | August 12, 2019 6:00 AM |
R215 Somethings Afoot is a comedy, mocking Christie, affectionately
by Anonymous | reply 216 | August 12, 2019 6:11 AM |
Yes, saying "And Then There Were None" was the "basis" of Something's Afoot makes it sound like it's based on it. As has been pointed out, it's a spoof, of many aspects of detective novels, including Christie. It's finally getting a CD, a studio cast album recorded in London, coming out for Christmas, I believe. I personally have found the songs pretty mediocre. It was done as a TV special back in the 1980s, and that used to be on YouTube, not sure if it still is. I only remember Pat Carroll played the "Miss Marple" substitute, who sings "I Owe it All to Agatha Christie." Tessie O'Shea played that part for the abbreviated Broadway run.
by Anonymous | reply 217 | August 12, 2019 8:03 AM |
R217 Jean Stapleton played Miss Tweed.
by Anonymous | reply 218 | August 12, 2019 10:08 AM |
R214, I love Maya Hakvoort . Much better than Pia Douwes in Elizabeth das Musical.
by Anonymous | reply 219 | August 12, 2019 10:16 AM |
Pat Carroll did the original, pre-Broadway LA run of the show,
by Anonymous | reply 220 | August 12, 2019 3:31 PM |
Ohhhh....I just turned the TV on and Nancy Marchand's face appeared on a L&O. Wasn't she a wonderful actress?
by Anonymous | reply 222 | August 12, 2019 4:00 PM |
'Two Ton Tessie O'Shea', as she used to be billed. 'Autre temps, autre moeurs', as the phoenix said in E Nesbit..
by Anonymous | reply 223 | August 12, 2019 5:04 PM |
Now you've done it! Mention her name and....
by Anonymous | reply 224 | August 12, 2019 5:11 PM |
Perusing TV Guide to plan my viewing schedule for this evening. Perhaps.....
Bizarre Murders
TONIGHT, 9:30 PM ON JN 34.4, 30 MIN 2018
The Luchalooters
Twin Mexican little people wrestlers are murdered by fake prostitutes.
by Anonymous | reply 225 | August 12, 2019 6:08 PM |
A friend was in A TIME FOR SINGING with Tessie and said she was incredibly vulgar, not above opening her legs to show her cooch backstage.
by Anonymous | reply 226 | August 12, 2019 6:11 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 227 | August 12, 2019 6:15 PM |
It may be vulgar, but that's exactly what made a star out of Sharon Stone.
by Anonymous | reply 228 | August 12, 2019 6:18 PM |
Did Tessie ever work with Rex Smith and Patty Lapone?
by Anonymous | reply 229 | August 12, 2019 6:44 PM |
Tessie was on Ed Sullivan the first time he had The Beatles on in February of 1964.
by Anonymous | reply 230 | August 12, 2019 7:36 PM |
Aww....look what somebody has on Craigslist for $30.00.....
by Anonymous | reply 231 | August 12, 2019 8:03 PM |
Who drew up the contract and agreed to that size font?
by Anonymous | reply 232 | August 12, 2019 8:07 PM |
And lowercase.
by Anonymous | reply 233 | August 12, 2019 8:14 PM |
To my shame, I've never seen AGYG, not a high school, community theatre, regional theatre or Broadway production. It's a gap I should fill in my Show CV and yet no one ever seems to do it. Is there a reason for that?
by Anonymous | reply 234 | August 12, 2019 8:30 PM |
AGYG has dated in many ways. The sexual politics of it and the representation of Native Americans make it hard to do straight. Even the wordplay of the title referencing a popular recruiting slogan does not work anymore since that slogan is long forgotten.
Also, it is essentially a one-woman show with the title character singing in most of the songs. So if you do not have an Annie you do not have a show.
That said, it has an amazing score.
by Anonymous | reply 235 | August 12, 2019 9:21 PM |
R235 Exactly, you have to cast an incredible woman as Annie, and as Reba McIntyre proved with how shit she was in the role , being a kinda name means nothing, you have to be an amazing triple threat
by Anonymous | reply 236 | August 12, 2019 9:30 PM |
I will always think of Tessie O'Shea getting big laughs.
by Anonymous | reply 237 | August 12, 2019 10:06 PM |
[quote]Exactly, you have to cast an incredible woman as Annie, and as Reba McIntyre proved with how shit she was in the role
Shit? Reba was amazing in that role! She and Brent Barrett turned a second-rate production into the hit of the town. Bernadette had been miscast, but Reba was on the money. She's a good comic actress, and the songs fit her like a glove. She was shit in the South Pacific concert (more from being ill-prepared), but she was fantastic in AGYG.
by Anonymous | reply 238 | August 12, 2019 10:38 PM |
Pat Carroll. Tessie O’Shea. Jean Stapleton. Maya Hakvoort. Nancy Marchand.
Really, how old are you gals?
by Anonymous | reply 241 | August 12, 2019 11:18 PM |
OLD!
by Anonymous | reply 242 | August 12, 2019 11:33 PM |
Let me tell you about Marilyn Miller, r241......
by Anonymous | reply 243 | August 12, 2019 11:43 PM |
R241 Exactly, lets talk about all the amazing broads starring on Broadway now.....
by Anonymous | reply 244 | August 12, 2019 11:55 PM |
Marilyn was lovely, but no musical comedy tart can displace Charlotte Cushman's place in my heart. Her performance as Meg Merilees moved me so.
by Anonymous | reply 245 | August 12, 2019 11:57 PM |
[quote]Really, how old are you gals?
Old enough to have seen a lot of theater.
You?
by Anonymous | reply 246 | August 12, 2019 11:59 PM |
Maude Adams. Peter Pan. Boys in the Band. Octopussy.
by Anonymous | reply 247 | August 12, 2019 11:59 PM |
The original production of The Wiz, Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls and hundreds of shows in NYC and London since then. I'm old but some of you girls must be ancient.
by Anonymous | reply 248 | August 13, 2019 12:43 AM |
Miss Jeanne Eagels in a public service announcement for safe sex.....
by Anonymous | reply 249 | August 13, 2019 12:44 AM |
" I'm old but some of you girls must be ancient."
And that's a problem for you, r248....
by Anonymous | reply 250 | August 13, 2019 12:49 AM |
Hearing first hand accounts of things like Mack & Mabel or Sweeney Todd or Angie’s Gypsy is much better than just reading about it in a book. (Has there ever been anyone who saw Ethel Merman in Gypsy who has reported about it? I guess someone could have seen her in the post-Broadway tour in 1961 and still be in heir 70s).
by Anonymous | reply 251 | August 13, 2019 1:12 AM |
[quote]Really, how old are you gals?
I was an usher at "Our American Cousin" in 1865.
by Anonymous | reply 252 | August 13, 2019 1:52 AM |
[quote]A friend was in A TIME FOR SINGING with Tessie and said she was incredibly vulgar, not above opening her legs to show her cooch backstage.
Tessie was the Irish Sophie Tucker.
by Anonymous | reply 253 | August 13, 2019 1:52 AM |
I got to see “The Black Crow”
Didn’t like it very much.
by Anonymous | reply 254 | August 13, 2019 2:09 AM |
R254, by any chance, did you mean The Black CROOK? The joke works then.
by Anonymous | reply 256 | August 13, 2019 2:46 AM |
Back to Important Topics: Did everyone here know that the soap actress Finola Hughes (who played Anna Devane forever on GENERAL HOSPITAL) was in the original cast of CATS?
I knew she first got attention in the U.S, playing a dancer in the awful STAYING ALIVE ... but I didn't know she was a real, actual dancer. I just imagined they kind of faked it.
by Anonymous | reply 257 | August 13, 2019 2:55 AM |
by Anonymous | reply 258 | August 13, 2019 2:55 AM |
by Anonymous | reply 259 | August 13, 2019 2:55 AM |
I thought they did a really good production job with that Bernadette peters/Reba McEntire/Susan Lucci (??) version of Annie get your gun, especially by opening the show with "there's no business like show business," and introducing the cast of characters. Really well-thought out and well-produced.
by Anonymous | reply 261 | August 13, 2019 5:05 AM |
[quote]especially by opening the show with "there's no business like show business," and introducing the cast of characters. Really well-thought out and well-produced.
Which is exactly how Gower Champion opened the Debbie Reynolds AGYG, except he didn’t have anyone sing; the orchestra played it as the cast came on and created the Wild West Show. It was smart choice not to sing the lyric, since it didn’t ruin it for when it appears as an actual book song midway through Act One.
by Anonymous | reply 262 | August 13, 2019 5:55 AM |
HEY 261. The revival sucked due to the horrible rewriting.
It made no sense to start with frank and have a show within a show
Diminished the overall flow
by Anonymous | reply 264 | August 13, 2019 12:42 PM |
Yes, R264 is correct. Why give away the biggest song in the show as the curtain comes up? Ridiculous. Doubly so, since Berlin wrote a rousing opening musical number that introduces the setting and the characters. Re-write a few lyrics and it will continue to open the show with a bang.
The entire show impossible to present in the current political climate. Between all the problematic issues related to how the Native Americans are presented and the fact that the title role requires a stage star the magnitude of which we don't really have anymore, this one is best enjoyed with one's favorite audio recording.
by Anonymous | reply 265 | August 13, 2019 12:53 PM |
Hello, R 265 No star of any magnitude?
by Anonymous | reply 266 | August 13, 2019 12:54 PM |
I saw Reba in Annie Get Your Gun. Yes, she was miles and miles ahead of Bernadette, who really was miscast. But Reba was not a musical comedy star and it showed. She sang the ballads beautifully, but the comedy was extremely forced. She didn't have the comedy chops that every Golden Age musical theater star had.
For example, in "I Can Do Anything Better Than You" she sings, "Can you bake a pie? Neither can I." On the "Neither can I" she puts on her "aggravated face" and does this huge finger snap. It looked hokey as hell.
by Anonymous | reply 267 | August 13, 2019 1:33 PM |
Barbara Cook described Reba in AGYG as one of the finest musical comedy performances she'd ever seen.
by Anonymous | reply 269 | August 13, 2019 1:44 PM |
[quote]Barbara Cook described Reba in AGYG as one of the finest musical comedy performances she'd ever seen.
Barbara also said that she stalled and stalled going because she didn't think Reba was going to be any good and finally went to the very last performance.
by Anonymous | reply 270 | August 13, 2019 1:57 PM |
Cook said the same thing about Hugh Jackman in The Boy From Oz. (This from a woman who night after night watched Robert Preston in The Music Man.)
But what else could she say?
by Anonymous | reply 271 | August 13, 2019 2:08 PM |
[quote]But what else could she say?
That really must be difficult for an actor. You go to a show and then someone sticks a microphone in your face and says, "How did you like it?" Patti LuPone is the only one bold enough to say, "It sucked."
by Anonymous | reply 272 | August 13, 2019 2:12 PM |
What are you talking about? Cook complimented Reba in her act. Cook went to see Jackman in THE BOY FROM OZ multiple times. Neither of them were paying her bills. She was justn't "being kind."
by Anonymous | reply 273 | August 13, 2019 2:14 PM |
*She wasn't just "being kind."
by Anonymous | reply 274 | August 13, 2019 2:15 PM |
Or was she losing her mind?
by Anonymous | reply 275 | August 13, 2019 2:16 PM |
You are stupid and unsophisticated about public life, R273.
by Anonymous | reply 276 | August 13, 2019 2:16 PM |
[Quote] You are stupid and unsophisticated about public life
You can't reconcile Cook's opinions with her talent or stature, which is rather silly of you.
by Anonymous | reply 277 | August 13, 2019 2:20 PM |
Her opinions are not likely to be shared freely in front of a camera. No one who survives in show biz as long as she did would be so unfiltered. Not even Miss Lupone.
by Anonymous | reply 278 | August 13, 2019 2:24 PM |
Negative opinions are not likely to be shared freely. Cook didn't trash talk Elaine Stritch though she had plenty of ammunition. She enjoyed Reba and Jackman in their respective shows. Deal with it.
by Anonymous | reply 279 | August 13, 2019 2:30 PM |
Of course she enjoyed their work. Everyone did. They did fine work.
Were these the greatest performances she ever witnessed, as intimated by R269? We won't know that from public statements.
by Anonymous | reply 280 | August 13, 2019 2:34 PM |
[Quote] Were these the greatest performances she ever witnessed, as intimated by [R269]? We won't know that from public statements.
You'd have a point if Barbara Cook was given to saying "[Insert Broadway Newcomer's name] has given the finest performance I've seen..."
by Anonymous | reply 281 | August 13, 2019 2:37 PM |
Did you not read R269?
by Anonymous | reply 282 | August 13, 2019 2:38 PM |
[quote]No one who survives in show biz as long as she did would be so unfiltered. Not even Miss Lupone.
Miss LuPone has never held back a negative opinion. I remember at New York Times interview where she said that tourists got in the way of her trying to get to the theater. Now all New Yorkers joke about tourists, but you expect tourists to be slow in the theater district because they all congregate in Times Square and that's the point of Times Square, to stop and gawk.
by Anonymous | reply 283 | August 13, 2019 2:42 PM |
Lupone also trashed Sherry Rene Scot to a cabaret audience in London.
by Anonymous | reply 284 | August 13, 2019 2:56 PM |
[quote]Lupone also trashed Sherry Rene Scot to a cabaret audience in London.
Just to a cabaret audience? In London? She trashed me to the entire universe. And then put it in her autobiography.
by Anonymous | reply 285 | August 13, 2019 3:03 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 286 | August 13, 2019 4:56 PM |
Nothing about Ben Sprecher? Somewhere, Marc Thibodeau is laughing his ass off.
by Anonymous | reply 287 | August 13, 2019 5:19 PM |
He has his own thread, R287
by Anonymous | reply 288 | August 13, 2019 5:22 PM |
[quote]r285 She trashed me to the entire universe. And then put it in her autobiography. —Glenn Close
What did Cook say about Close?
by Anonymous | reply 289 | August 13, 2019 5:48 PM |
[quote]What did Cook say about Close?
Her exact quote was, "I don't know why that bitch thinks she can play a silent film star. She has the face of an old man. The lyric should have been "With one look, they will rush the door, with one look and they want no more."
by Anonymous | reply 290 | August 13, 2019 6:02 PM |
R289, The funniest anecdote was the incident that caused Mary Martin to never speak to Barbara again.
by Anonymous | reply 291 | August 13, 2019 6:39 PM |
[quote]The funniest anecdote was the incident that caused Mary Martin to never speak to Barbara again.
Do tell it!
by Anonymous | reply 292 | August 13, 2019 6:41 PM |
She forgot Mary's husband's name backstage.
by Anonymous | reply 293 | August 13, 2019 8:54 PM |
Cook said Fantasia's performance in "The Color Purple" was the most thrilling experience she'd ever had in the theater.
by Anonymous | reply 294 | August 13, 2019 9:12 PM |
Lucy was going to say that Barbara Cook was the most thrilling performer she ever saw, but Gary talked her out of it
by Anonymous | reply 295 | August 13, 2019 9:14 PM |
Man, that Barbara Cook knew how to work the conversation at a buffet!
[quote] Best performance I ever saw. Are you gonna eat those shrimp?"
by Anonymous | reply 296 | August 13, 2019 10:18 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 297 | August 13, 2019 10:20 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 298 | August 13, 2019 10:34 PM |
Cook said Helen must eat a mean cunt, because she had a face like a garbage can lid
by Anonymous | reply 299 | August 13, 2019 10:54 PM |
That’s only because Barbara told her Carnegie Hall audience that Mary was “a cunt-lapping lez who can’t sing on pitch to save her life.”
by Anonymous | reply 300 | August 13, 2019 11:01 PM |
R298 Sad.
They should have done a GoFundMe to get out of that ratty town.
by Anonymous | reply 301 | August 13, 2019 11:05 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 302 | August 13, 2019 11:07 PM |
I know I post this video every 6 months or so, but re: Barbara Cook, her voice really was exquisite.
Seeing her live at the Cafe Carlyle really was a highlight of my New York memories. She closed with "He was Too Good to Me" in this same style. I wish I could have seen her sing this, too.
by Anonymous | reply 303 | August 14, 2019 3:19 AM |
This must have been from the tour I saw... same period, I think.
by Anonymous | reply 304 | August 14, 2019 3:21 AM |
In the 1980s, I saw Cook at Michael's Pub. Bless her, she closed with an unamplified rendition of "If I Loved You." I felt like the luckiest person in the world at that moment.
by Anonymous | reply 305 | August 14, 2019 3:41 AM |
The "Stars" clip is from a PBS special taped in late 1980 or early1981. The Melbourne "He Was Too Good for Me / "Losing My Mind" is from a 1995 Melbourne concert.
by Anonymous | reply 307 | August 14, 2019 12:48 PM |
The price you pay for getting to work on Bat Out of Hell is that you have to work on Bat Out of Hell.
by Anonymous | reply 308 | August 14, 2019 1:23 PM |
Boy, the Tonys were pretty low rent in 1975.
by Anonymous | reply 310 | August 14, 2019 2:21 PM |
Did Cook see The Blonde in the Thunderbird?
by Anonymous | reply 311 | August 14, 2019 4:32 PM |
[quote]Did Cook see The Blonde in the Thunderbird?
She was the understudy.
by Anonymous | reply 312 | August 14, 2019 4:35 PM |
"Take Back Your Mink" was Cook's second encore number after the unplugged "Mister Snow".
by Anonymous | reply 313 | August 14, 2019 4:38 PM |
I think Suzanne should make her triumphant return to Broadway in the autobiographical show Tommy Tune planned for Cook. I need to see "Barbara" whizzing about the stage in her wheelchair, courtesty of those moving platforms.
by Anonymous | reply 314 | August 14, 2019 4:40 PM |
R309, Fosse often took shots at Michael Bennett's choreography saying it was a lot of "arm waving". Lucy and Jessie, Music and the Mirror and Tick Tock are good examples.
by Anonymous | reply 315 | August 14, 2019 5:11 PM |
[quote] Did Cook see The Blonde in the Thunderbird?
[quote] She was the understudy.
For the Thunderbird?
by Anonymous | reply 316 | August 14, 2019 5:24 PM |
To be fair, r315, T-T and MatM were for McK and I'd consider them more than arm waving. L&J was choreographed for an untrained dancer.
by Anonymous | reply 317 | August 14, 2019 5:27 PM |
They had a contest R308, Second prize was four tickets to Bat Out of Hell.....first prize was two tickets to Bat Out of Hell.
by Anonymous | reply 318 | August 14, 2019 5:39 PM |
Damn you all! You know when you mention her, she.....
by Anonymous | reply 319 | August 14, 2019 6:16 PM |
A friend dragged me to Barry Manilow last night. The audience was the biggest group of classic DL fraus I have ever seen.
by Anonymous | reply 320 | August 14, 2019 6:22 PM |
Was the performance well attended?
by Anonymous | reply 321 | August 14, 2019 6:45 PM |
[quote]A friend dragged me to Barry Manilow last night.
Did he talk about how much he hated Bette Midler?
by Anonymous | reply 322 | August 14, 2019 6:47 PM |
Why was that Follies number on the 1975 Tony Awards show? Follies opened in 1972. And the video clips I've seen of that number from the original production were MUCH more impressive, with lots of male dancers. And say what you will about Michael Bennett's "arm waving" choreography, but it's more exciting than anything that's been on Broadway for years. There's a reason the audience in that clips bursts into applause.
by Anonymous | reply 323 | August 14, 2019 7:31 PM |
Follies opened in 1971, r323. I don't remember if there was even a number performed on the Tonys.
by Anonymous | reply 324 | August 14, 2019 7:34 PM |
Thanks, R303. That Barbara Cook concert aired on PBS decades ago but I don't think it ever had a home video release. I've always wondered why she (or Wally Harper) chose to omit a big chunk of the song. I don't think she ever sang these lyrics:
But they'll never know the pain of living with a name you never owned or the many years forgetting what you know too well
The ones who gave the crown have been let down You try to make amends without defending
Perhaps pretending you never saw the eyes of grown men of twenty five that followed as you walked and asked for autographs or kissed you on the cheek and you never could believe they really loved you
by Anonymous | reply 325 | August 14, 2019 7:41 PM |
"Lucy and Jessie" from the original production. Sorry to make this into another Follies thread, but this number is just so damn great.
by Anonymous | reply 326 | August 14, 2019 7:45 PM |
R324, No musical number from FOLLIES was performed on the 1972 Tony Awards.
by Anonymous | reply 327 | August 14, 2019 8:50 PM |
The reason "Lucy and Jessie" was performed on the 1975 Tony Awards broadcast was because the show's theme that year centered on the Winter Garden Theatre. Angela Lansbury and her boys also performed the title song from "Mame."
by Anonymous | reply 328 | August 14, 2019 8:55 PM |
I do believe Patti sang the Sunset score in the original key, whereas Glenn poor dear was rather all over the place in search of a key.
by Anonymous | reply 329 | August 14, 2019 9:11 PM |
Follies was on the show in 1975 because the show was broadcast from the Winter Garden Theatre and celebrated the theatre’s history. So even though Bernadette was a performer that year, there was nothing from Mack & Mabel since it played the Majestic. Instead, she and Michele Lee did “Ohio” from Wonderful Town. Angie did Mame and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.”
by Anonymous | reply 331 | August 14, 2019 9:27 PM |
[quote]I do believe Patti sang the Sunset score in the original key, whereas Glenn poor dear was rather all over the place in search of a key. —M
At least I was actually singing, unlike a movie called Into The Woods where our dear Meryl had to be sweetened by Donna Murphy. Obviously Meryl was such a "See You Next Tuesday" that the sound mixer just said, "Oh fuck it" because when you listen to the song, you can hear which were Donna's notes and which were Meryl's. There was no attempt to blend the two voices into one sound.
by Anonymous | reply 332 | August 14, 2019 9:30 PM |
Barry did not mention Bette at all, he skirted around the time he played for her.
The house was almost full but who knows how much anyone paid for the seats. The whole thing felt like a low-rent Vegas casino show with sows waiting on the buffet line.
by Anonymous | reply 333 | August 14, 2019 9:40 PM |
What did Patti say about Sherie Rene Scott?
by Anonymous | reply 334 | August 14, 2019 9:47 PM |
[quote]What did Patti say about Sherie Rene Scott?
She sucked cocks in hell.
by Anonymous | reply 335 | August 14, 2019 9:49 PM |
She said she was miscast and implied she was incompetent in the role and one of the big reasons for its being a flop. And she’s actually said as much more than once.
by Anonymous | reply 336 | August 14, 2019 9:53 PM |
I saw Sherrie in "Women on the Verge" and she was miscast. She was underwhelming, but professional, when otherwise I've seen her be terrific in other shows ("Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", "Aida"). But seriously, it's the director and creative team who should have cast someone else in her role, which was the lead. That's who Patti should have ripped.
While the clip of the full "Lucy and Jessie" number is impressive as hell, Alexis Smith's vocals on the truncated number on the 1975 Tonys are much better, though the entire performance of everyone lacked somewhat the electricity of the full number.
by Anonymous | reply 337 | August 14, 2019 10:44 PM |
[quote]Alexis Smith's vocals on the truncated number on the 1975 Tonys are much better...
Of course, because they were pre-recorded.
by Anonymous | reply 338 | August 14, 2019 11:13 PM |
R325, I think she felt those lyrics did not relate to her life or experience.
by Anonymous | reply 339 | August 14, 2019 11:38 PM |
[quote]r320 A friend dragged me to Barry Manilow last night.
Friends don't drag friends to Barry Manilow.
by Anonymous | reply 340 | August 14, 2019 11:48 PM |
[quote]sows waiting on the buffet line.
Dinner theatre pics please.
by Anonymous | reply 341 | August 15, 2019 12:15 AM |
[quote]At least I was actually singing, unlike a movie called Into The Woods where our dear Meryl had to be sweetened by Donna Murphy. Obviously Meryl was such a "See You Next Tuesday" that the sound mixer just said, "Oh fuck it" because when you listen to the song, you can hear which were Donna's notes and which were Meryl's. There was no attempt to blend the two voices into one sound.
Murphy denied it.
Donna Murphy @DMurphyOfficial There’s not an ounce of truth to that .Meryl was & is, her own magnificent self.
by Anonymous | reply 343 | August 15, 2019 12:32 AM |
R343, Lauren Bacall's singing voice was "sweetened" by Andy Williams for "To Have and Have Not".
by Anonymous | reply 347 | August 15, 2019 1:22 AM |
Although this legend about Andy Williams and Lauren Bacall is so deeply entrenched that you'll find it repeated even in some film reference books, it's not true. Director Howard Hawks, when asked about this, explained that he had indeed planned to have Andy Williams sing for Bacall, but after hearing Bacall sing during the rehearsals for the scene he abandoned that plan and ended up using Bacall's own voice. (Source: Hawks on Hawks by Joseph McBride [Berkeley, University of California Press, 1982] p.130.)
by Anonymous | reply 348 | August 15, 2019 1:30 AM |
The vocal stylings of Miss Lauren Bacall in "To Have and Have Not."
by Anonymous | reply 349 | August 15, 2019 2:05 AM |
by Anonymous | reply 350 | August 15, 2019 2:09 AM |
That original singing voice sounds like a slightly younger Lauren. I don't think she was dubbed. Maybe that became a rumor before she sang in two Broadway shows and The Fan. It seems to match that voice. They're all equally low, sorta flat, and lacking in range and support.
by Anonymous | reply 351 | August 15, 2019 3:17 AM |
At 4:14 in this 1979 interview, Bacall admits that Andy Williams DID enhance her singing voice in "To Have and Have Not".
by Anonymous | reply 353 | August 15, 2019 3:38 AM |
[quote] She trashed me to the entire universe. And then put it in her autobiography. —Glenn Close
I simply MUST have that book! Sounds like a delightful read!
by Anonymous | reply 354 | August 15, 2019 3:59 AM |
R317 both TT and MATM climax with literal arm waving. The "handshake" finish is one of the biggest letdowns in Broadway dance history.
by Anonymous | reply 355 | August 15, 2019 4:24 AM |
[quote]At 4:14 in this 1979 interview, Bacall admits that Andy Williams DID enhance her singing voice in "To Have and Have Not".
There was probably talk of it at the time but I would go with the director's version as he would have the control and final say.
by Anonymous | reply 356 | August 15, 2019 9:30 AM |
Probably the worst performance ever released on an OBC recording.
by Anonymous | reply 357 | August 15, 2019 9:50 AM |
R356, Hawks may have abandoned his plan to have Williams sing entirely for Bacall, but he still might have used his voice on a couple of her higher notes, which is what Bacall states in the interview.
by Anonymous | reply 358 | August 15, 2019 9:57 AM |
One might thing Bacall's performance of "Hurry Back" is 'the worst,' but not after hearing Patrice Munsel do it up and octave, or two, in the Bus and Truck company.
by Anonymous | reply 359 | August 15, 2019 12:45 PM |
[quote] Fosse often took shots at Michael Bennett's choreography saying it was a lot of "arm waving". Lucy and Jessie, Music and the Mirror and Tick Tock are good examples.
M and M and Tick Tock are mostly head pops and layouts because it’s the only thing McKechnie could really do.
by Anonymous | reply 360 | August 15, 2019 2:04 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 361 | August 15, 2019 2:14 PM |
[quote]Murphy denied it. Donna Murphy @DMurphyOfficial There’s not an ounce of truth to that .Meryl was & is, her own magnificent self.
Of course Murphy denied it. Her contract forbids her from talking about it. It's not like in the day when Marni Nixon told all and sundry that she was the singing voice of famous stars.
And the one thing that I would definitely like to see is the footage that Meryl shot for the Evita movie. No way she could sing that score.
by Anonymous | reply 362 | August 15, 2019 2:15 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 363 | August 15, 2019 2:21 PM |
Fosse's one to talk. All of this choreography was hats, hands and knees.
by Anonymous | reply 364 | August 15, 2019 2:28 PM |
And gloves, r364.....
by Anonymous | reply 365 | August 15, 2019 2:31 PM |
Wow. Tick Tock at R361 is practically The Music and the Mirror step for step. Maybe not in the same order, is all.
by Anonymous | reply 367 | August 15, 2019 2:43 PM |
YES!!! Lois Smith playing the role In "The Inheritance" Vanessa played in London. Perfect.
by Anonymous | reply 368 | August 15, 2019 2:55 PM |
R368 Maybe it will get her an overdue Tony--it's the kind of small, but memorable role they like to put in Featured Actress.
by Anonymous | reply 369 | August 15, 2019 3:14 PM |
[quote]Wow. Tick Tock at [R361] is practically The Music and the Mirror step for step. Maybe not in the same order, is all.
Except Tick Tock came first.
It’s even referenced in ACL. It’s the show that Cassie had a featured solo in.
by Anonymous | reply 370 | August 15, 2019 3:41 PM |
So cool to see Tick Tock. Makes you realize how anemic all the versions to follow were. (Though I’m fond of what they did with it in the gender-swap version in London.)
And to see Donna doing this gives real power to Cassie’s story.
by Anonymous | reply 371 | August 15, 2019 3:59 PM |
[quote]Maybe it will get her an overdue Tony--it's the kind of small, but memorable role they like to put in Featured Actress.
Lois Smith should have won for Grapes of Wrath. She was perfect as Ma Joad. It was a tough year though for featured actress.
Margaret Tyzaack won for Lettuce & Lovage, and besides Lois, the other nominees were Polly Holliday in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and S. Empatha Merkerson in The Piano Lesson.
by Anonymous | reply 372 | August 15, 2019 4:14 PM |
Bullshit, r360.
by Anonymous | reply 373 | August 15, 2019 4:43 PM |
[quote]not after hearing Patrice Munsel do it up and octave, or two, in the Bus and Truck company.
I don’t even remember that. I was too thunderstruck by the sheer awfulness of Pia Zadora, waddling her way through Bonnie Franklin’s role. And speaking of waddling, there was also Diane McAfee, the original Eve who was fired out of town and replaced with Penny Fuller. She finally got her chance in that bus-and-truck tour, but she had clearly been doing a lot of comfort eating to deal with her despair over losing the Broadway gig. A few years later she started churning out babies and gave us Maude Maggart and Fiona Apple.
by Anonymous | reply 374 | August 15, 2019 4:54 PM |
I think Munsel's voice sounds really great in that clip of "If He Walked Into My Life." The HELLO, DOLLY! clip is ridiculous, because the song is in that weird key -- I think that's the original Channing key sung up the octave! Also, where the hell was that production of DOLLY! It looks and sounds so amateurish, and the Horace is abysmal in what little he has to do.
by Anonymous | reply 377 | August 15, 2019 5:49 PM |
[quote]Her contract forbids her from talking about it. It's not like in the day when Marni Nixon told all and sundry that she was the singing voice of famous stars.
Marni Nixon's original contract forbid her from talking about having dubbed Audrey Hepburn's songs in "My Fair Lady."
by Anonymous | reply 379 | August 15, 2019 6:11 PM |
Lisa Kirk wasn't credited on the Warner Bros. LP of "GYPSY".
by Anonymous | reply 380 | August 15, 2019 6:16 PM |
[quote]Marni Nixon's original contract forbid her from talking about having dubbed Audrey Hepburn's songs in "My Fair Lady."
And yet, she did anyway, didn't she?
by Anonymous | reply 381 | August 15, 2019 6:16 PM |
Not at the time of the movie's release, R381. Years later, yes.
by Anonymous | reply 382 | August 15, 2019 6:19 PM |
Marni Nixon's contracts forbid her from talking about ALL of her big dubbing jobs -- for Deborah Kerr in THE KING AND I (and AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER), Natalie Wood in WEST SIDE STORY, and Audrey Hepburn in MY FAIR LADY. But the cat started to be let out of the bag when Deborah Kerr spoke to the press to credit Marni for that dubbing job. Kerr said she was partly dubbed, rather than fully, but it led to the whole truth coming out about that movie and, later, the others too.
As for whether or not Donna Murphy dubbed any of Meryl Streep in INTO THE WOODS: If she did, of course it's believable that she would have it in her contract not to talk about it, but she certainly wouldn't be required to make a statement denying it. That would have been her own doing, so I assume she's telling the truth. But who knows?
by Anonymous | reply 383 | August 15, 2019 6:24 PM |
100% correct R373.
by Anonymous | reply 384 | August 15, 2019 6:28 PM |
Close your eyes and you hear Donna Murphy's timbre all over this song.
by Anonymous | reply 385 | August 15, 2019 6:35 PM |
Any more news on Colin Donnell's sex pix?
by Anonymous | reply 386 | August 15, 2019 6:39 PM |
Unfortunately r386 you will just have to wank to a lesser mortal.
Could someone give r386 a link and a break for his poor, blue balls?
by Anonymous | reply 387 | August 15, 2019 7:24 PM |
R386 They are posted on the Colin Donnell thin dong thread. No wonder Patti is insane, not much to work with
by Anonymous | reply 388 | August 15, 2019 7:28 PM |
That's a problem with the Dolly score. It's published in soprano keys, while of course, Channing sang it down an octave (or maybe two). Everyone who does the show has to face that issue, especially if there's no one to transpose Dolly's songs for the company.
by Anonymous | reply 389 | August 15, 2019 7:42 PM |
I don't hear Donna Murphy at all in "She'll Be Back." But it does sound like she could be doing some patches in "Stay With Me."
by Anonymous | reply 390 | August 15, 2019 7:46 PM |
But Munsel keeps jumping down throughout the song. Was it too high for her in parts?
by Anonymous | reply 391 | August 15, 2019 7:46 PM |
[quote]Kerr said she was partly dubbed
Which was, technically, true. There are a lot of places where Kerr is doing the songs (but only speaking parts, of which there are several). Someone once put on YouTube a copy of "Shall I Tell You" with it indicated when it switches back and forth between Marni and Deb Kerr.
by Anonymous | reply 392 | August 15, 2019 7:49 PM |
R392 I don't believe "Shall I Tell You" was used in the film.
by Anonymous | reply 393 | August 15, 2019 7:51 PM |
[quote]That's a problem with the Dolly score. It's published in soprano keys, while of course, Channing sang it down an octave (or maybe two). Everyone who does the show has to face that issue, especially if there's no one to transpose Dolly's songs for the company.
After all these decades, have they STILL not made the piano/vocal score and the orchestra parts available with normal keys for Dolly's songs? If so, that's ridiculous, and the licensing organization should be ashamed of themselves. (I forget, which one is it? Tams-Witmark?_
[quote]There are a lot of places where Kerr is doing the songs (but only speaking parts, of which there are several). Someone once put on YouTube a copy of "Shall I Tell You" with it indicated when it switches back and forth between Marni and Deb Kerr.
Yes, Kerr does almost half of that song as heard on the soundtrack recording, but the whole song was cut from the film itself. Kerr also speaks the opening lines of "Getting to Know You," which were written to be spoken. And I think she MAY possibly speak/sing the first line of "Shall We Dance." But the rest of it is all Marni.
by Anonymous | reply 394 | August 15, 2019 8:15 PM |
Correct, but that means Deborah Kerr was being accurate when she said she was "partly dubbed."
And yes, Tams-Witmark still has Hello, Dolly. They have had the hardest time getting with the digital age. They didn't hire someone to come in and redesign their bare-bones website till about five years ago, and even now, it's still not as extensive or user-friendly as R&H and MTI and French.
by Anonymous | reply 395 | August 15, 2019 8:29 PM |
But aren't soprano keys "normal keys"? Most women don't sing baritone.
by Anonymous | reply 396 | August 15, 2019 8:31 PM |
[quote]But aren't soprano keys "normal keys"? Most women don't sing baritone.
Does anyone...
still sing...
High C?
I've got to pee!
by Anonymous | reply 397 | August 15, 2019 8:33 PM |
But some sing alto or mezzo, r396.
by Anonymous | reply 398 | August 15, 2019 8:33 PM |
Yes, but Dolly doesn't really work as a "soprano" role, and has traditionally been sung in an alto range. The problem is it doesn't work in the keys they give you to just drop it down, because that takes it into Channing's basement range.
by Anonymous | reply 399 | August 15, 2019 8:36 PM |
Marilyn Maye above doesn't sing it especially low. She did the show multiple years in stock. No one could get a copy of that sheet music?
by Anonymous | reply 400 | August 15, 2019 8:40 PM |
I wonder if Munsel favored singing it in those keys. She got to show off her broad range, even if it ended up sounding like two different and not complimentary voices.
by Anonymous | reply 401 | August 15, 2019 8:41 PM |
[quote]Correct, but that means Deborah Kerr was being accurate when she said she was "partly dubbed."
I would say she was mostly dubbed.
by Anonymous | reply 402 | August 15, 2019 8:43 PM |
Marilyn Maye’s company probably had someone on staff to transpose the songs for her.
by Anonymous | reply 403 | August 15, 2019 8:49 PM |
What keys did Pearl Bailey, Bette Midler and Bernadette sing in? TM couldn't get the music that the recent Broadway company used?
by Anonymous | reply 404 | August 15, 2019 9:16 PM |
Lend them your magic wand, R404. Otherwise, put up the money required to license other sets of orchestrations that are the intellectual property of other orchestrators. Tams has one set of materials. Take it or leave it. Or YOU pay if you want it to be some other way.
by Anonymous | reply 405 | August 15, 2019 9:42 PM |
R375 It sounds like Munsel is a soprano who is being possessed by Mercedes McCambridge from the "Exorcist" (if she could sing) at certain points during that song. She has her soprano register but apparently not willing to go higher than a certain note, then switches to a very low (for her) tessitura. Didn't Anna Russell used to say that coloratura sopranos, after their career in opera, used to switch to singing in a very low range, usually in bar rooms or cabarets? She did a whole number about it on one of her albums.
by Anonymous | reply 406 | August 15, 2019 10:10 PM |
What's next for the PROM leads? I went to the closing performance and it was a ball but very emotional, with Beth and Brooks in particular openly crying at several points. Must have been so bittersweet for them.
by Anonymous | reply 407 | August 15, 2019 10:46 PM |
[quote]it was a ball but very emotional, with Beth and Brooks in particular openly crying at several points.
They would burst into tears in the middle of a scene?
by Anonymous | reply 408 | August 15, 2019 10:49 PM |
Thanks to you bitches I've had The Story of Lucy and Jessie stuck in my head for days now. I couldn't listen to more than a minute of Munsel's addled So Long, Dearie so that's not going to cancel out L&J. Got any other Broadway earworms?
by Anonymous | reply 409 | August 15, 2019 11:14 PM |
[quote]Of course Murphy denied it. Her contract forbids her from talking about it.
But she talked about it Dear, she denied it. If she is forbidden to talk about it she never would have answered it. Damn.
by Anonymous | reply 410 | August 15, 2019 11:30 PM |
Marni Nixon on "To Tell the Truth" in 1964.
by Anonymous | reply 411 | August 15, 2019 11:36 PM |
I guessed it, r411. She looked the most like her son Andrew Gold.
by Anonymous | reply 412 | August 16, 2019 12:03 AM |
I correctly guessed No. 2, also, but because I recognized her from "The Sound of Music."
by Anonymous | reply 413 | August 16, 2019 12:07 AM |
R413 Marni Nixon didn't dub Julie Andrews. Julie did her own singing. In fact, she started out on Broadway. Rather, Marni dubbed Julie's rival Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.
by Anonymous | reply 414 | August 16, 2019 12:11 AM |
Marni Nixon played Sister Sophia in Sound of Music. She didn't do Julie Andrews' voice.
by Anonymous | reply 415 | August 16, 2019 12:15 AM |
I wonder if Julie made any of the other nuns.
by Anonymous | reply 416 | August 16, 2019 12:20 AM |
[quote]Marni Nixon didn't dub Julie Andrews. Julie did her own singing. In fact, she started out on Broadway. Rather, Marni dubbed Julie's rival Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.
Goodness! R414 is a font of commonplace knowledge!
by Anonymous | reply 417 | August 16, 2019 12:26 AM |
F414, you are out of your depth even on this pathetic thread.
Julie Andrews did not start out on Broadway.
Now, go do your homework or you cannot play with the big boys.
by Anonymous | reply 418 | August 16, 2019 12:27 AM |
[quote]Correct, but that means Deborah Kerr was being accurate when she said she was "partly dubbed."
Yes, but "partly dubbed" was my phrasing, not Kerr's. I can't find the quote right now, but it was in an interview with Earl Wilson, and I think Kerr implied that Marni only did the higher notes. In reality, Marni does all of the actual singing in the movie, and Kerr, as you mentioned, only did the parts that are spoken to music.
[quote]Lend them your magic wand, [R404]. Otherwise, put up the money required to license other sets of orchestrations that are the intellectual property of other orchestrators. Tams has one set of materials. Take it or leave it. Or YOU pay if you want it to be some other way.
Stupid comment. Do you or did you work for Tams-Witmark? The fact that the vocal score and the orchestra parts for Dolly's songs are written in Channing's keys has been a huge problem ever since those materials started to be licensed for other productions. Orchestrations for Dolly's numbers in singable keys would have been available ever since the first replacement for Channing took over on Broadway (I forget who that was), and all of the subsequent Broadway and tour Dollies performed the songs in normal alto-belt-range keys -- Rogers, Grable, Diller, Merman, and later, Midler and Petersl. But for some idiotic reason, I guest just cheapness, Tams-Witmark never bothered to make copies of and license those orchestrations., thereby making things extremely difficult for anyone who licensed the show.
by Anonymous | reply 419 | August 16, 2019 12:37 AM |
Did Lee Roy Reams sing Dolly in Channing's keys?
by Anonymous | reply 420 | August 16, 2019 12:43 AM |
Tams-Witmark does, in fact, offer transposed versions of Dolly’s songs. From their website:
Medium-Voice Transpositions for the role of Dolly
As sung on the original cast album by Carol Channing, the keys for Dolly Levi’s nine numbers are too low for many singers. The Medium-Voice Transpositions provide a comfortable range for most soprano “belters.” The computer-engraved transposition books contain complete musical numbers and playoffs, if necessary, to make rehearsals and performances as smooth as possible. The Medium-Voice Transpositions are specially made to accommodate Dolly’s role; all the other musical numbers remain in their original keys. The transpositions are carefully crafted to minimize range adjustments necessary for the other singers in ensemble numbers. Performing HELLO, DOLLY! with the Medium-Voice Transpositions requires both a complete set of the original performance materials and the transposition materials.
by Anonymous | reply 422 | August 16, 2019 2:06 AM |
R408, bursting into tears is a bit too dramatic. Brooks had tears coming out of his eyes before his big number in Act 2 and had to pause before he could continue singing. He broke during the confrontation scene with the homophobic mother too (who also could barely get out her lines). I've seen him in a handful of other shows and know a few people who've worked with him, and by all accounts he's a somewhat guarded person despite his gregariousness onstage. It was moving to see him be so openly vulnerable.
Beth cried during her entrance applause, and during the ovations she received before and after "The Lady's Improving," and during the moment between her character and Brooks toward the very end when she asks, "Is this what not failing feels like?" She even muttered "I'm a mess" and Brooks handed her a tissue and said "You actually look great." It was a sweet moment.
I believe they've worked on the show together for 7-8 years so these moments felt earned and added something special to the performance.
by Anonymous | reply 423 | August 16, 2019 2:31 AM |
Dolly and probably anything Bacall ever did on stage (Woman of the Year, Wonderful Town, and Applause) are probably some of the only examples where a drag queen could play the roles, keep the original keys, and just sing up the octave and it might just work. Those keys are insanely low.
by Anonymous | reply 424 | August 16, 2019 3:13 AM |
Dolly has been played by several drag queens (I think the first was Danny LaRue in London), and there has been at least one male Margo Channing (Charles Pierce In SF, of course playing it as Bette Davis).
by Anonymous | reply 425 | August 16, 2019 3:26 AM |
[quote] with Beth and Brooks in particular openly crying at several points.
You'd cry too if you suddenly got the craft services table rudely YANKED away from you, bitches!!
by Anonymous | reply 427 | August 16, 2019 3:58 AM |
Craft services tables are a film and TV thing, not theatre.
by Anonymous | reply 428 | August 16, 2019 4:11 AM |
[quote] Marni Nixon's original contract forbid her from talking about having dubbed Audrey Hepburn's songs in "My Fair Lady."
by Anonymous | reply 429 | August 16, 2019 4:13 AM |
R428 what do you they call it in theater?
by Anonymous | reply 430 | August 16, 2019 4:13 AM |
Why are you asking R428? He knows less than nothing.
by Anonymous | reply 431 | August 16, 2019 4:15 AM |
R428 what do they call it in theater?
by Anonymous | reply 432 | August 16, 2019 4:17 AM |
They call them snacks.
by Anonymous | reply 433 | August 16, 2019 4:42 AM |
[quote]R405 Put up the money required to license other sets of orchestrations that are the intellectual property of other orchestrators. Tams has one set of materials. Take it or leave it. Or YOU pay if you want it to be some other way.
Is this some kind of GODDAMN JOKE??!! When I order a burger, I want it MY WAY! Same with when I sing DOLLY! And no shady, flim-flam, double dipping hidden costs, either.
That’s not how we roll at the Little City Dramatic Society.
by Anonymous | reply 434 | August 16, 2019 4:47 AM |
The theatre doesn’t provide food for actors.
“Craft service or craft services is the department in film, television and video production which provides cast and crew with snacks, drinks and other assistance.”
Film, television, video.
I have never done a show where they provided us with food (or snacks) backstage.
by Anonymous | reply 435 | August 16, 2019 5:22 AM |
I think in the many professional theaters on the Broadway, "Pops" the lovable backstage door man will kindly sell you snacks and soft drinks and dolls and such.
by Anonymous | reply 436 | August 16, 2019 6:01 AM |
"Pops" only deals in hard drugs. That way, you aren't tempted to eat fattening snacks and soft drinks.
by Anonymous | reply 437 | August 16, 2019 7:56 AM |
... and little boys, R 437.
by Anonymous | reply 438 | August 16, 2019 10:21 AM |
Brooks has the same carbs-and-booze gut that pretty much every middle-aged man gets if they aren't starving themselves and living part-time at Equinox, but the rest of his body is pretty... average. You all talk about him like he's the size of a house.
by Anonymous | reply 440 | August 16, 2019 12:04 PM |
[quote][R428] what do you they call it in theater?
Nathan Lane’s Dressing Room
by Anonymous | reply 441 | August 16, 2019 1:31 PM |
Theaters only provide food for STARS! If you're not getting food, then you know you're not a star, toots!
by Anonymous | reply 442 | August 16, 2019 1:43 PM |
R439 did they reset the German Dolly to the 1940s? That definitely doesn't look like the 1890s.
by Anonymous | reply 443 | August 16, 2019 2:15 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 444 | August 16, 2019 2:20 PM |
Why doesn't Tams-Widmark include the Barbra Streisand keys?
by Anonymous | reply 445 | August 16, 2019 2:20 PM |
1950s, r443. I actually like it, though the setting is wildly at odds with the 1890s flavored music.
by Anonymous | reply 446 | August 16, 2019 2:24 PM |
[quote]Mein Lieblings Dolly Levi.
Oh, those wacky Germans! Looks like they hired Swoosie Kurtz to mug her way through Dolly. And is she wearing a wedding dress in the finale?
by Anonymous | reply 447 | August 16, 2019 2:32 PM |
Patrice Munsel was a mezzanine soprano.
by Anonymous | reply 448 | August 16, 2019 3:15 PM |
Indeed,no craft table in the theater. You get a break. 15 minutes to go get your own damned coffee and don't be late about returning, either.
by Anonymous | reply 449 | August 16, 2019 3:28 PM |
R21 - I loved the Hytner MIDSUMMER. The line swap for Titania and Oberon was a hoot - seeing Oberon fall for the ass really brought the house down. Yes, the whole thing is pandering to the Gen Z crowd, but I still loved it. It was great fun and the Bottom was the most endearing and original one I have seen.
by Anonymous | reply 450 | August 16, 2019 3:34 PM |
"15 minutes to go get your own damned coffee..."
Not true, r449.
by Anonymous | reply 451 | August 16, 2019 3:38 PM |
LOLOLOL @ R451.
Sure, Ted Chapin will do it for you. IF you have a big name.
by Anonymous | reply 452 | August 16, 2019 3:40 PM |
Ted Chapin always provided me with the best service!
by Anonymous | reply 453 | August 16, 2019 5:02 PM |
Behave yourself Yvonne!
by Anonymous | reply 454 | August 16, 2019 5:05 PM |
[quote]Ted Chapin always provided me with the best service! —Yvonne De Carlo
I thought Ted Chapin was gay.
by Anonymous | reply 455 | August 16, 2019 5:08 PM |
Ted isn't a fag and I'm the dame who can prove it. Now go kick your cat, Ethel.
by Anonymous | reply 456 | August 16, 2019 5:10 PM |
[quote] I thought Ted Chapin was gay.—Ethel Shutta
He is. You flashing your beaver at him turned him that way.
by Anonymous | reply 457 | August 16, 2019 5:10 PM |
Says the dame wearing a feather duster and bedroom slippers!
by Anonymous | reply 458 | August 16, 2019 5:17 PM |
I'm glad I was only a replacement and was spared witnessing Ted's vulgar toadying.
by Anonymous | reply 459 | August 16, 2019 5:22 PM |
Ladies, Ladies.... you ALL turned me gay.
by Anonymous | reply 460 | August 16, 2019 5:22 PM |
Was EBC hired purely for her name? Wasn't Hal Prince adamant that she never be allowed on as Sally?
by Anonymous | reply 461 | August 16, 2019 5:22 PM |
[quote]Ted isn't a fag and I'm the dame who can prove it. Now go kick your cat, Ethel. —Yvonne
Oh, Yvonne. You couldn't even make it through the "Who's That Woman" segment without losing your breath. Nobody believes you could go one round with Ted Chapin.
by Anonymous | reply 462 | August 16, 2019 5:24 PM |
[quote] Oh, Yvonne. You couldn't even make it through the "Who's That Woman" segment without losing your breath. Nobody believes you could go one round with Ted Chapin.
None of us could, Ethel. That was about the time in the show when you would let one loose in your adult diaper. We all held our noses and hoped for the best.
Except for Fifi. She's used to smelling shit.
by Anonymous | reply 463 | August 16, 2019 5:29 PM |
I can't imagine that Ethel Barrymore Colt's "name" had any cachet in 1971. And what was Prince's plan if Dorothy Collins ever had to call in sick?
Colt's replacement was Jan Clayton - now, she could definitely have played Sally.
by Anonymous | reply 464 | August 16, 2019 7:01 PM |
[quote]I can't imagine that Ethel Barrymore Colt's "name" had any cachet in 1971.
Well, Dorothy Collins was no Madonna either.
by Anonymous | reply 465 | August 16, 2019 7:05 PM |
[quote]Nobody believes you could go one round with Ted Chapin.
But I could! I would have loved to have gone one round with Ted Chapin, if he hadn't been so busy "taking care of" all those old broads.
by Anonymous | reply 466 | August 16, 2019 7:05 PM |
Ethel Barrymore Colt did some minor roles in a handful of Broadway plays in the 1930s. That was it for her "credits."
Dorothy Collins was a star of the Hit Parade, and had been working steadily in stock, regional, and TV throughout the 1960s.
by Anonymous | reply 467 | August 16, 2019 7:09 PM |
Why was EBC cast then? Was she Hal's dealer?
by Anonymous | reply 468 | August 16, 2019 7:13 PM |
[quote]Ethel Barrymore Colt did some minor roles in a handful of Broadway plays in the 1930s. That was it for her "credits."
She was a fucking BARRYMORE!!!!! They didn't need "credits". It's like saying Little Edie Beale needed "credits".
by Anonymous | reply 469 | August 16, 2019 7:17 PM |
For a modern musical play in the 1970s, the Barrymore name didn't mean shit. Colt's famous uncles had been dead for decades, and her mother had been gone for 12 years. The fact that she was in Follies in a minor role meant next to nothing as far as any glory or box office clout for the show.
by Anonymous | reply 470 | August 16, 2019 7:33 PM |
I know I'm from another generation, but the only time I've ever heard Ethel Barrymore Colt's name was as part of the Follies cast. But then again, I'd never heard of Ethel Shutta or Fifi D'orsay or Dorothy Collins. However, after researching them, I understand the casting. I still don't get EBC.
by Anonymous | reply 471 | August 16, 2019 7:35 PM |
R470 Drew was alive in the '70s.
by Anonymous | reply 472 | August 16, 2019 7:37 PM |
I guess there's nothing specific in the script about the time period of Hello, Dolly in terms of dialogue (besides the talk of money and the Harmonia Gardens), but it is weird seeing it take place in the 50s. Guess it's probably cheaper, though. Looks like a neat production though. I'd be interested to see a guy in drag playing Dolly. Looks like the creators have no issue with it since it's apparently been done several times.
by Anonymous | reply 473 | August 16, 2019 7:47 PM |
R361 clip of TICK TOCK is missing one important element that made the number really special. In the OBC of Company, the scene takes place on a series of rather steep platforms, with each couple in their "bedroom" on one of the platform levels. So Donna did the number up and down the platforms, dancing over each of the couples and seamlessly maneuvering the steps. The overall effect was spectacular. And of the trio that performed "You Could Drive a Person Crazy", it was Donna's big moment, matching April's "Barcelona" and Marta's "Another Hundred People".
by Anonymous | reply 474 | August 16, 2019 8:37 PM |
[quote] it was Donna's big moment, matching April's "Barcelona" and Marta's "Another Hundred People".
April's butterfly monologue. Barcelona is Bobby's song.
April does the monologue, Kathy does the dance, Marta does the song.
by Anonymous | reply 475 | August 16, 2019 8:40 PM |
You're right R475. I should have said that April's scene was the Barcelona one, Marta's was the Another Hundred People, and Kathy's was Tick Tock.
by Anonymous | reply 476 | August 16, 2019 8:50 PM |
The casting was all purposely second-tier for the show biz veterans, r471. EBC 's value was the Barrymore name (which fit in with the glory of the Follies' heyday), plus she was a trained singer.
by Anonymous | reply 477 | August 16, 2019 8:51 PM |
Is there any nudity in "The Inheritance"? Which actor/role features this? Thanks.
by Anonymous | reply 478 | August 16, 2019 9:21 PM |
Lois Smith shows full cooter. Most of the second play is just her flashing the audience. It’s a real crowd pleaser.
by Anonymous | reply 479 | August 16, 2019 9:24 PM |
Was any nudity written into I Do, I Do for Rex Smith in that NJ production with Andrea McArdle?
by Anonymous | reply 480 | August 16, 2019 9:27 PM |
No nudity to speak of in The Inheritance, sorry.
by Anonymous | reply 481 | August 16, 2019 10:09 PM |
The guy playing Adam is nude several times in the play. Great body, looks amazing in tiny shorts then reveals a pretty nice cock
by Anonymous | reply 482 | August 16, 2019 10:32 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 483 | August 16, 2019 10:35 PM |
How Playbills became social media must-shares:
by Anonymous | reply 485 | August 16, 2019 10:58 PM |
I saw Ethel Barrymore Colt on the Kenley Circuit as Madame Armfeldt in ALMN in... 1973? 4? She was terrific and got a huge laugh on "Not even figs/Raisins." Christ, I'm probably as old as her now as she was then.
by Anonymous | reply 487 | August 16, 2019 11:59 PM |
[quote]I guess there's nothing specific in the script about the time period of Hello, Dolly in terms of dialogue (besides the talk of money and the Harmonia Gardens),
Of course there is. There are lots of period-specific references, but more importantly, I really don't think there were any matchmakers operating in that way in NYC in the 1950s. And, of course, that's the WHOLE POINT of the show.
by Anonymous | reply 488 | August 17, 2019 12:15 AM |
Ms. Barrymore Colt died fairly young, in 1977 when she was 65. Her mom and Uncle Lionel lived much longer. John, of course, was only 60 when he died of alcoholism.
by Anonymous | reply 489 | August 17, 2019 12:24 AM |
[quote]Drew was alive in the '70s.
What's your point? Drew was born in 1975. She has nothing to do with the discussion of Ethel Barrymore Colt and Follies.
by Anonymous | reply 490 | August 17, 2019 12:50 AM |
Drew is a Sally.
by Anonymous | reply 491 | August 17, 2019 12:53 AM |
OH, BROTHER!
by Anonymous | reply 492 | August 17, 2019 4:21 PM |
r492 = Thelma Ritter
by Anonymous | reply 493 | August 17, 2019 4:32 PM |
Miss Ethel Barrymore Colt.
What a looker she was...
by Anonymous | reply 494 | August 17, 2019 6:43 PM |
It's nice that the theater threads have turned into a " Let's try to remember " thread for theater queen fossils. It gives them a good mental exercise before senility.
by Anonymous | reply 495 | August 17, 2019 7:16 PM |
[quote]Was any nudity written into I Do, I Do for Rex Smith in that NJ production with Andrea McArdle?
Just boxers and black socks. In great shape for 62.
by Anonymous | reply 496 | August 17, 2019 7:20 PM |
So that's what McArdle wore, but what about Rex Smith?
by Anonymous | reply 497 | August 17, 2019 7:45 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 499 | August 17, 2019 9:23 PM |
It's rarely noted that the one element that any revival of COMPANY is lacking is the original Boris Aronson set. It did wonders for the production.
by Anonymous | reply 500 | August 17, 2019 9:33 PM |
Hal adored Boris
by Anonymous | reply 501 | August 17, 2019 9:43 PM |
R500 the same is true for FOLLLIES.
Although the recent revival at the National Theatre in London was pretty amazing.
by Anonymous | reply 502 | August 17, 2019 9:45 PM |
...another pic from the NTC FOLLIES production.
by Anonymous | reply 504 | August 17, 2019 10:01 PM |
The NTC production was marred by those hideous costumes.
by Anonymous | reply 505 | August 17, 2019 10:06 PM |
R505 It was marred by Loveland being subpar and Imelda being a horror show. The rest of the staging was excellent.
by Anonymous | reply 506 | August 17, 2019 10:14 PM |
And the costumes. Especially the costumes of the females, not the showgirls but the older ladies.
by Anonymous | reply 507 | August 17, 2019 10:21 PM |
R507 Yes true, Phyllis and Sally looked fucking awful
by Anonymous | reply 508 | August 17, 2019 10:36 PM |
R508, She wore green the last time . . .
by Anonymous | reply 509 | August 17, 2019 10:45 PM |
Just came back from Hello Dolly! in Boston. Lewis Stadlen was the only actor giving a Broadway level performance. Granted, it was a collage of classic comedians: a little Jimmy Durante, a little W.C. Fields, a little Phil Silvers, a little Ed Wynn, but it worked.
Betty Buckley was odd. After her big reveal at the beginning of the show, I thought she was a chorus member. It wasn't until she came downstage for her monologue that I realized it was Betty Buckley. Throughout the show, I kept thinking of Elizabeth Ashley doing Dolly. (Granted a much thinner Elizabeth Ashley.) Not just because of the hoarseness of her voice, but because her performance was that of an actress who can carry a tune, move a little, but not actually dance. I am not musical, but my partner said she was constantly flat. It was clear that she cannot dance. There were several times that she was clearly supposed to do a simple dance step, but all she did was put her foot out. During the see-saw extended arm movements at the end of the Hello Dolly! number, she was way off (both times). Also, she did not or could not extend her arms out to the side. The fact that they were slightly forward, made her look like a drunken Frankenstein's Monster.
Everyone, except Stadlen, had trouble getting started. The first ten of fifteen minutes, everyone, including Buckley, was declaiming their lines and not connected to the character. Buckley would go in and out. She found her stride during the monologue that precedes Before the Parade Passes By and was great during that number. However, she went in and out during the second act.
As to her getting the laughs, the two times she really hit the mark, she delivered the line in a Carol Channing voice. The rest of the time, she may have hit the mark, but it was more of a bunt than a home run.
The costumes are horrible.
My partner loathed the new vocal arrangements with a passion.
by Anonymous | reply 510 | August 17, 2019 11:26 PM |
R510, I was debating whether or not to purchase a ticket. Thanks for helping me decide. After seeing Faye in Tea at Five last month, I don't want another disappointment.
by Anonymous | reply 511 | August 17, 2019 11:34 PM |
I should also add that there is no real passerelle for the touring company. They just paint one on the stage floor. Weirdly, the stage floor is red linoleum which makes THE red dress disappear.
by Anonymous | reply 512 | August 18, 2019 12:13 AM |
Unless the vocal arrangements are different from what was heard during the Bette-Bernie-Donna run, they aren’t much different from the originals. I can think of only one time when there was something I look for vocally and it was no longer a part of the arrangement. Same with the orchestration. It’s not that different.
by Anonymous | reply 513 | August 18, 2019 12:52 AM |
When is Betty’s last town?
by Anonymous | reply 514 | August 18, 2019 12:55 AM |
[quote]r511 After seeing Faye in Tea at Five last month, I don't want another disappointment.
But you witnessed what may be a landmark - Dunaway's last professional job!
by Anonymous | reply 515 | August 18, 2019 1:01 AM |
[quote]When is Betty’s last town?
Boston, where the show is now, is Betty's last stand. Carolee Carmello takes over next month in Kansas City.
by Anonymous | reply 516 | August 18, 2019 1:14 AM |
I hear everything's up to date there, r516.
by Anonymous | reply 517 | August 18, 2019 1:29 AM |
Yes, R517, they've gone about as fer as they can go.
by Anonymous | reply 518 | August 18, 2019 1:33 AM |
That was rather tasteless, R499.
And delightful.
by Anonymous | reply 519 | August 18, 2019 1:47 AM |
Bette trips and brings down the house and I love the train. I want to know how they do it. It takes up most the stage across yet the Shubert Theater isn't that wide on either side of the stage, but there it goes.
by Anonymous | reply 520 | August 18, 2019 1:52 AM |
I'm catching up on all the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend numbers, r519.
by Anonymous | reply 521 | August 18, 2019 2:36 AM |
After that clip in R520, I am shocked. Midler really could not sing her part in the song.
Was she that bad all the way through?
by Anonymous | reply 523 | August 18, 2019 12:30 PM |
R523, Listen to the cast recording, she avoids all higher notes.
by Anonymous | reply 524 | August 18, 2019 1:16 PM |
I never want to hear Midler attempt to "sing" anything, not ever again.
by Anonymous | reply 525 | August 18, 2019 1:51 PM |
It’s Broadway Massacre Sunday!
by Anonymous | reply 526 | August 18, 2019 2:59 PM |
What becomes of the theatre house staff when a show closes? The ushers and usherettes? Are they unemployed, or still drawing a salary? What do they do with themselves between shows?
I grew up here seeing shows with some stereotypically rude and nasty Bway ushers, but I've had nice experiences with a few of them, including a long subway ride uptown with an older woman whose whole family worked ushing, box office, backstage. She was one of the most enthusiastic and cheerful theatre fans I've ever met.
by Anonymous | reply 527 | August 18, 2019 3:09 PM |
[quote]r523 I am shocked. Midler really could not sing her part in the song. Was she that bad all the way through?
She really is awfully lackadaisical (!)
by Anonymous | reply 528 | August 18, 2019 4:18 PM |
Unemployed.
by Anonymous | reply 529 | August 18, 2019 4:39 PM |
Two cuties sing about what happens after a show closes.
by Anonymous | reply 530 | August 18, 2019 5:28 PM |
[quote] After that clip in [R520], I am shocked. Midler really could not sing her part in the song. Was she that bad all the way through?
She earned her Tony. She was wonderful and sang it just fine. You think Carol Channing was a great singer?
by Anonymous | reply 531 | August 18, 2019 6:23 PM |
Having seen two full performances of DOLLY! with Bette, and clips of several other performances, I would say she has reached an age where her voice is much better some nights than others. Nor surprising, especially since the voice itself was never that solid or special. She became a star because of her personality, her comic talent and energy, and her ability to sell a song.
by Anonymous | reply 532 | August 18, 2019 6:28 PM |
Too cute not to share....
[quote]Service dogs in Canada caught a performance of “Billy Elliot: The Musical” as part of their training last week.
And cute images of the pooches peering over the backs of seats at the Festival Theatre in Stratford, Ontario, are now going viral.
by Anonymous | reply 533 | August 19, 2019 2:41 AM |
What would they have thought of Faye in TEA AT FIVE?
by Anonymous | reply 534 | August 19, 2019 2:43 AM |
I assume they're not seeing CATS.
by Anonymous | reply 535 | August 19, 2019 2:45 PM |
Uh ... it says right there that they are seeing Billy Elliott, r535.
by Anonymous | reply 536 | August 19, 2019 10:40 PM |
[quote]What would they have thought of Faye in TEA AT FIVE?
Faye was one of the options, but we voted and no one wanted to see that old bag.
by Anonymous | reply 537 | August 19, 2019 10:42 PM |
Has Aaron Tveit resumed his habit of taking a stage door twink home with him?
by Anonymous | reply 538 | August 20, 2019 12:37 AM |
Yes. He puts them in a cabinet next to his Hummels.
by Anonymous | reply 539 | August 20, 2019 12:42 AM |
R536 = a Cats fan.
by Anonymous | reply 540 | August 20, 2019 1:21 AM |
Theater gossip threads don't seem to get much traffic these days. I guess there isn't much to talk about in August.
by Anonymous | reply 541 | August 20, 2019 2:48 PM |
No one wants to talk about "Caroline, or Change" and "A Soldier's Play" coming back?
by Anonymous | reply 542 | August 20, 2019 6:02 PM |
R542, Or how Moulin Rouge is a thrilling theatrical experience?
by Anonymous | reply 543 | August 20, 2019 7:57 PM |
How about a new musical about famous people who took LSD. Pity it's directed by James alpine. That kills it for me. Even with Tony Yazbeck as Cary Grant. I wonder if Ryan Cannon is a character and whether she'll be suing.
by Anonymous | reply 545 | August 20, 2019 11:19 PM |
James Lapine. But he directs like a tree.
by Anonymous | reply 546 | August 20, 2019 11:20 PM |
[quote] I wonder if Ryan Cannon is a character and whether she'll be suing.
Dyan Cannon? It takes place in the '50s.
by Anonymous | reply 547 | August 20, 2019 11:29 PM |
I never miss a Sharon D. Clarke musical.
by Anonymous | reply 548 | August 20, 2019 11:49 PM |
Dyan claimed she divorced Cary Grant because he forced her to try LSD.
by Anonymous | reply 549 | August 21, 2019 12:13 AM |
They married in 1965 after a 5 year courtship. Close enough?
by Anonymous | reply 550 | August 21, 2019 12:35 AM |
Link re: FLYING OVER SUNSET. The concept is so insane.... I really hope they can make it work.
It's coming to Lincoln Center after a couple of staged readings... on Martha's Vineyard.
Now that's balls.
by Anonymous | reply 551 | August 21, 2019 12:43 AM |
Link re: CAROLINE, OR CHANGE.
I'm sure Sharon D. Clarke is wonderful in the role, and all. I'll be sure to check her out.
But there's something kind of depressing to see yet another iconic lead role in an American musical story created by American writers inhabited by a Brit actor... on Broadway. Again.
To me, at least. We don't do enough to nurture our own talent.
by Anonymous | reply 552 | August 21, 2019 12:52 AM |
My last link, I promise (for now)... because there shouldn't ever be a shortage of POV on a theatre thread.
The NYT and Jesse Green get called out by one of the BROADWAY BOUNTY HUNTER folks.
Worth a read.
by Anonymous | reply 553 | August 21, 2019 1:07 AM |
[quote]How about a new musical about famous people who took LSD. Pity it's directed by James alpine. That kills it for me.
Same here. A friend once described Lapine as talent-free, and I would say that's maybe only a tiny bit of an exaggeration.
by Anonymous | reply 554 | August 21, 2019 1:56 AM |
How to explain Sondheim's and others' love for Lapine? He's one of those anointed few who have been steadily employed in theatre for decades now, and seemingly adored by TPTB.
I don't think much of him as a director or a writer, but I'm not one of TPTB.
by Anonymous | reply 555 | August 21, 2019 4:09 AM |
The more successful someone is in theater the Queens hate them. Always remember a Theater Queen can always sing, act, direct choreograph, and paint sets better than any professional. Just ask one.
by Anonymous | reply 556 | August 21, 2019 9:09 AM |
Does this LSD show really need that huge Vivian Beaumont Theater stage? This seems on paper to be a tiny show.
by Anonymous | reply 557 | August 21, 2019 9:10 AM |
I would never, ever have thought of Tony Yazbeck to play Cary Grant, but I can kind of see it.
by Anonymous | reply 558 | August 21, 2019 10:23 AM |
Let’s hope he gets naked while he’s tripping and Imagines that he’s having sex with Randolph Scott.
by Anonymous | reply 559 | August 21, 2019 11:16 AM |
John Behlmann for Randolph Scott!
by Anonymous | reply 560 | August 21, 2019 11:26 AM |
Betsy Drake was his 1950s wife.
by Anonymous | reply 561 | August 21, 2019 11:47 AM |
I love Annie Golden, but what is up with her choice in musicals? I just found my Mimi Le Duck promo CD. What a turkey that show was. Has she done anything good since The Full Monty?
by Anonymous | reply 562 | August 21, 2019 11:54 AM |
Her choice? She's a working theater actress. You think she has a choice to turn down work?
by Anonymous | reply 563 | August 21, 2019 12:05 PM |
R563, most actresses her age have a choice. They get a teaching job, have a husband, sell jewelry, do real estate, etc.
But since you apparently live in a bubble, she has been in Orange is the New Black since 2013.
by Anonymous | reply 564 | August 21, 2019 12:27 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 565 | August 21, 2019 1:19 PM |
r552 = Tonya Pinkins
by Anonymous | reply 566 | August 21, 2019 1:26 PM |
[quote]But since you apparently live in a bubble, she has been in Orange is the New Black since 2013.
Oh I forgot about that million dollar an episode paycheck for being a twelfth billed supporting player on a streamimg channel.
by Anonymous | reply 567 | August 21, 2019 2:13 PM |
[quote]The more successful someone is in theater the Queens hate them. Always remember a Theater Queen can always sing, act, direct choreograph, and paint sets better than any professional. Just ask one.
Ah, that old nonsense line. You don't have to have the talent to write a play or direct one yourself to recognize if someone else can do it well. Lapine has minimal talent as a writer, and zero talent as a director. Despite disasters such as that ANNIE revival he "directed," he will always continue to be hired and produced because of the name he earned doing the Sondheim shows, even though those shows worked in spite of, rather than because of, his books and his direction.
[quote]I love Annie Golden, but what is up with her choice in musicals? I just found my Mimi Le Duck promo CD. What a turkey that show was. Has she done anything good since The Full Monty?
I liked a lot of BROADWAY BOUNTY HUNTER, but also, the role was written for her AND about her. I really don't think she was going to pass on that one.
by Anonymous | reply 568 | August 21, 2019 2:20 PM |
That song Annie Golden is singing is from "Starmania."
I wish she'd sing "Ziggy" from the same show.
by Anonymous | reply 569 | August 21, 2019 2:31 PM |
I didn't get to see Broadway Bounty Hunter, but if it was as verbose and unfocused at the blogpost R553 linked to, I'm not surprised it got middling reviews.
by Anonymous | reply 570 | August 21, 2019 3:40 PM |
Oh! This just came on. We shall see.....
Law & Order
TODAY, 9:00 AM ON BOUNC 34.3, 1 HR 1992 TV-PG
Season 3 • Episode 9 • Point of View
A murder probe by Logan and his partner, Det. Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), leads to a suspect whose lawyer (Elaine Stritch) knows Stone from law school. Mary: Lisa Eichhorn. Scanlon: Alan North...
by Anonymous | reply 571 | August 21, 2019 4:11 PM |
[quote]Ah, that old nonsense line. You don't have to have the talent to write a play or direct one yourself to recognize if someone else can do it well. Lapine has minimal talent as a writer, and zero talent as a director. Despite disasters such as that ANNIE revival he "directed," he will always continue to be hired and produced because of the name he earned doing the Sondheim shows, even though those shows worked in spite of, rather than because of, his books and his direction.
The twelve Tony nominations and three wins, ten Drama Desk nominations with five wins and not just for Sondheim shows plus the Pulitzer Prize might contradict you but of course you'll argue that the Tony, DD and Pulitzer committees are all wrong too. You proved my point.
by Anonymous | reply 573 | August 21, 2019 11:08 PM |
What point did I prove? I stand by my opinion that Lapine is virtually talent-free, and the things for which he has won nominations and awards for were mostly cases of reflected glory where he happened to be working with great talents. That even applies to shows like ACT ONE, in which case he worked with a great talent who has been dead for decades. You are free to disagree. You probably loved that ANNIE revival, didn't you? I know you did. Come on, admit it.
by Anonymous | reply 574 | August 22, 2019 1:05 AM |
How the hell was Lucy the third guest?
by Anonymous | reply 575 | August 22, 2019 1:51 AM |
They saved the best for last, r575.
by Anonymous | reply 576 | August 22, 2019 2:04 AM |
You save the best for last, r576.
by Anonymous | reply 577 | August 22, 2019 2:05 AM |
The Lehman Trilogy is coming in for the Spring rush. Going to be a tough one between this and The Inheritance come TONY time.
by Anonymous | reply 578 | August 22, 2019 4:24 PM |
I saw "The Lehman Trilogy" at the Armory. I thought that it was a bore. Great acting and a great set but the play was boring... It is all tell, tell, tell. Maybe if it had not been so darn long, I might have enjoyed it a little bit more. I also notice that the play is cast with more actors in italy and Spain....does anyone know the reason?
by Anonymous | reply 579 | August 22, 2019 4:44 PM |
I loved BROADWAY BOUNTY HUNTER and loved Annie Golden in it. It was energetic, fun, and mostly mindless in the best possible way. Broadway material? Not at all. But it deserved to find a bigger audience.
by Anonymous | reply 580 | August 22, 2019 5:15 PM |
I saw it with Anne L Nathan and I really enjoyed it too. Silly but fun.
by Anonymous | reply 581 | August 22, 2019 5:51 PM |
Alan Green is sexy and has a big hot ass.
by Anonymous | reply 582 | August 22, 2019 6:26 PM |
and not SLAVE PLAY R578?
by Anonymous | reply 583 | August 22, 2019 6:36 PM |
“Overt appropriation”? That’s a new one. Two prominent Jewish actresses call foul over the lack of Jewish performers in a production of Falsettos.
by Anonymous | reply 584 | August 23, 2019 3:31 AM |
" Slave Play " is a piece of shit, but will be very popular amongst New York theater white apologists who believe that they are oh so much more intellectually advanced than anyone else. Expect to hear a lot of bullshit from white people who want to start discussion groups to discuss why all white people are inherently racist. A half hour of lecture, repeated over and over until you want to scream, " Stop!" Then you get to see a naked Paul Nolan and it makes it better. But, not enough to save this drivel.
by Anonymous | reply 585 | August 23, 2019 3:50 AM |
I hope Slave Play crashes and burns.
by Anonymous | reply 587 | August 23, 2019 4:36 AM |
Who's the guy to Miriam's left?
by Anonymous | reply 588 | August 23, 2019 1:56 PM |
Slave Play will be the subject of articles in the pseudo-intellectual publications and will be the favorite topic of the New York theater "intelligentsia" who will make it the topic of conversation at their boring society gatherings, theorizing about all of the subtle nuances of inherent white racism and decrying how terrible white people have been to blacks over the years. Then, they'll scream at their black maid for not supplying clean wine glasses and complain that the black butler had the nerve to ask for the night off so he could visit his sick mother, which would leave the party butler-less.
by Anonymous | reply 590 | August 23, 2019 2:36 PM |
I hate preachy, SJW screed plays as much as anyone, but I wouldn't say that SLAVE PLAY falls into that category. I found it very well done and thought-provoking when I saw it at NYTW.
On a somewhat related note, casting has been announced for the tour of FROZEN, and guess what? As on Broadway, the role of Hans, the gorgeous prince who turns out to be evil, is going to be played by a white guy, and the role of Kristoff, the sweetheart good-guy, is going to be played by an actor of color. Aside from the fact that a dark-skinned actor is distractingly incongruous in a show set in Norway, I guess this proves that, henceforth, black people will never be cast to play villains in anything, and the villain will always be played by a white guy. Good job, Disney.
by Anonymous | reply 591 | August 23, 2019 2:40 PM |
I don't see what's wrong about that, r591. You sound racist-ish.
by Anonymous | reply 592 | August 23, 2019 4:09 PM |
You can thank Tom Schumacher for that.
by Anonymous | reply 593 | August 23, 2019 4:22 PM |
Speaking of Tom Schumacher, whatever happened to the accusations of his abuse (of males) during the "Me Too" craze?
by Anonymous | reply 594 | August 23, 2019 5:10 PM |
Slave Play keeps failing upward. Yale hated it. The O'Neill hated it. NYTW hated it.
And now Broadway.
by Anonymous | reply 595 | August 23, 2019 5:44 PM |
We can't wait to hate SLAVE PLAY!
by Anonymous | reply 596 | August 23, 2019 6:24 PM |
Wow. And STILL this thread isn't over!
by Anonymous | reply 597 | August 23, 2019 8:53 PM |
White liberal guilt = Slave Play. "It was written by a black man from Yale, who says over and over again that whites are all racist, no matter how they treat blacks. Oh my God, that means I'm racist. What can I do to make up for my wrongdoings.. That means my black spouse and friends subconsciously hate me, but need to become woke to the truth. This play will do it." It's not thought-provoking as much as it should have been. It's bullshit.
by Anonymous | reply 598 | August 23, 2019 9:05 PM |
Bajour!
by Anonymous | reply 600 | August 23, 2019 9:18 PM |
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