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Theatre Gossip #371: "The Season' Ends For William Goldman

So, was he a big homophobe? Or was his writing in The Season just reflecting the time?

William Goldman decided to write the book after making a large amount of money on the sale of his script for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the late 1960s. He wanted to attempt a non-fiction work and originally intended to do a piece on mental institutions such as Meninger's, but was worried about what would happen if the institutions did not co-operate. He then decided to do an article on Broadway instead as he knew there would always be someone who would talk to him

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by Anonymousreply 601November 27, 2019 4:32 AM

He didn't even try to hide his contempt for homosexuals, notable especially in his comments about Judy at the Palace (her 1967 engagement), and in reference to the gay boys loving Alice Playten in "Henry Sweet Henry." But there are other places in the book where he drops a comment here or there that are homo-digs, too.

I read that book when I was about fourteen, and I definitely came away with the idea that homos were disgusting, sick creatures. Which was distressing because by that point I'd already sucked dick a couple of times and wasn't about to give it up.

by Anonymousreply 1November 7, 2019 8:23 AM

He was both, a homophobe and typical of his time.

by Anonymousreply 2November 7, 2019 1:10 PM

Finally, a new thread and I can start posting again.

How come John Cullum is not known as a Broadway legend? I first encountered him as a teenager when I went to see "Shenandoah." But he's had a strong Broadway career, both in creating new roles and being a replacement in established hits. Was he just too generic to be a star?

by Anonymousreply 3November 7, 2019 1:42 PM

I saw A Chorus Line at the Signature Theater in Arlington last night. Now, this is one of my favorite shows so I have very high expectations for it and have seen some incredible productions in the past (most recently, the fantastic City Center production last November). I had never seen what I would describe as a “scaled-down version” of the show but that’s how I would describe what I saw last night. The stage was too small, so much so that the actors were almost bumping into each other during the bigger numbers. Best in show were Sheila, Val, and Zach (who, I believe, was in “Looking” on HBO). I also enjoyed Christine and her boyfriend (who was very hot).

The Cassie was simply not good. She was scarily thin, had limp, wet-looking hair that didn’t move and just sort of hung there like a corpse’s and she couldn’t pull off the solo Cassie dance. I wanted the ending to revert to the original where Cassie doesn’t make the cut at the end.

The finale costumes were silver, not gold and there was no periaktoi. The cast was enthusiastic, but I just couldn’t get into this production.

by Anonymousreply 4November 7, 2019 1:58 PM

R4 I saw the City Center production of A Chorus Line too it was amazing. I have tickets for their production of Evita I hope it will be as wonderful.

by Anonymousreply 5November 7, 2019 2:18 PM

What was good about the City Center production? I wasn't able to see it. The Broadway revival sucked big time.

by Anonymousreply 6November 7, 2019 2:22 PM

Pretty hard to scale down ACL. but I guess they did it.

by Anonymousreply 7November 7, 2019 2:22 PM

[quote]Pretty hard to scale down ACL. but I guess they did it.

Summer stock productions do it all the time. They combine the characters. I once saw a production where they didn't cut any of the dancers in the beginning.

by Anonymousreply 8November 7, 2019 2:26 PM

That City Center Chorus Line was as good as the original. The Cassie was better than the original as well. I never got the love for Donna.

by Anonymousreply 9November 7, 2019 2:27 PM

R6 They had people who were part of the original production advising them how the Chorus Line was staged, I was told by people who had seen the original that it was true to the original production.

by Anonymousreply 10November 7, 2019 2:31 PM

Not to quibble over the thread title, but "The Season" ended for William Goldman a year ago.

by Anonymousreply 11November 7, 2019 2:34 PM

[quote]They had people who were part of the original production advising them how the Chorus Line was staged, I was told by people who had seen the original that it was true to the original production.

But Baayork Lee has been going around staging productions for 40 years. And the Broadway revival was staged by people involved in the original.

by Anonymousreply 12November 7, 2019 2:38 PM

Baayork Lee is currently co-directing a production of "A Chorus Line" in Spain with Antonio Banderas at Banderas's new theater. Banderas is also playing Zach.

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by Anonymousreply 13November 7, 2019 2:46 PM

So now Zach is gay?

by Anonymousreply 14November 7, 2019 2:53 PM

Gay and hung, r14.

by Anonymousreply 15November 7, 2019 3:07 PM

Gay and hung, r14.

by Anonymousreply 16November 7, 2019 3:07 PM

Robin Hurder from City Center was probably the best Cassie I’ve ever seen. She was simply phenomenal. The Sheila from that production was also very good.

The Asian Val, on the other hand, was not.

by Anonymousreply 17November 7, 2019 3:33 PM

I saw the City Center A Chorus Line as well. For me, the best production i've seen (I saw the first time as a touring production in 1979). The casting seemed perfect, and by far the best Cassie i've seen - I believe the actress is now in Moulin Rouge. It was thrilling, but then again it's a musical that I saw in my formative years, so I guess it's my "Hamilton".

by Anonymousreply 18November 7, 2019 3:33 PM

Very cut down Chorus Line finale rehearsal.

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by Anonymousreply 19November 7, 2019 3:41 PM

And the finale on steroids.

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by Anonymousreply 20November 7, 2019 3:46 PM

[quote]How come John Cullum is not known as a Broadway legend? I first encountered him as a teenager when I went to see "Shenandoah." But he's had a strong Broadway career, both in creating new roles and being a replacement in established hits. Was he just too generic to be a star?

I suspect he didn't become a bigger star because people stopped writing shows that required gorgeous, legit voices like his. But I really don't think it had anything to do with the reason you suggested. I wouldn't say he's "generic" in any way. His voice was/is very distinctive.

by Anonymousreply 21November 7, 2019 3:48 PM

[quote]And the finale on steroids.

They had to reinforce the stage of the Shubert Theater for that production.

One thing about Michael Bennett - the man knew how to go big.

by Anonymousreply 22November 7, 2019 3:48 PM

The asian Val was an embarrassment. She should have been booed off that stage.

by Anonymousreply 23November 7, 2019 3:49 PM

[quote]But I really don't think it had anything to do with the reason you suggested. I wouldn't say he's "generic" in any way. His voice was/is very distinctive.

I've always enjoyed John Cullum (I've seen him live several times). But one of the critics for Shenandoah said they kept wishing for an Alfred Drake type. So I assumed he wasn't as commanding as his predecessors. And of course, they don't write scores for his voice anymore. He was really the last of the legit Broadway baritones.

by Anonymousreply 24November 7, 2019 3:53 PM

[quote]The asian Val was an embarrassment. She should have been booed off that stage.

Yes, and as I recall, the one unfortunate element in that otherwise excellent production. Shows what racial quota casting can sometimes lead to. You just KNOW there had to be a few white girls among the auditionees who would have fit and played the part much better, but somebody among the PTB must have insisted, "DIVERSITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

by Anonymousreply 25November 7, 2019 3:55 PM

I saw John Cullum in "Shenandoah." I thought that he was fine but that the show was derivative claptrap, with a cheesy and too-sentimental book (yes, I know it was based on a Jimmy Stewart movie) and songs blatantly ripped off from Rodgers and Hammerstein. Seen any revivals recently?

by Anonymousreply 26November 7, 2019 5:02 PM

As far as I know SHENANDOAH is very rarely revived, and I'm sure that's for precisely the reasons you mention.

by Anonymousreply 27November 7, 2019 5:04 PM

This new thread (title and all) is a DUD.

by Anonymousreply 28November 7, 2019 6:16 PM

Really, R27? I’ve actually been enjoying the ACL talk.

What exquisite and scintillating bits of gossip or theater lore have you added to the thread?

by Anonymousreply 29November 7, 2019 6:20 PM

Looking at your output over the past couple weeks, R29, I'd say you should adopt the old saying "Less is More."

by Anonymousreply 30November 7, 2019 6:23 PM

John Cullum was great in On the Twentieth Century. Beyond his singing voice (which one would naturally expect) he was truly hilarious as Oscar Jaffe.

by Anonymousreply 31November 7, 2019 7:28 PM

I would've like to have seen him in "The Scottsboro Boys." I enjoyed it a lot in LA with Hal Linden, but I think Cullum would've been even better (based on the OBC recordings, anyway.)

by Anonymousreply 32November 7, 2019 7:40 PM

Thanks R20. I always enjoy seeing that clip - it must have been a thrilling evening.

by Anonymousreply 33November 7, 2019 8:24 PM

Robyn Hurder is indeed in MR. She is spectacular. The opening of Act II should be enough for her to get a Tony nod.

by Anonymousreply 34November 7, 2019 8:41 PM

[quote]How come John Cullum is not known as a Broadway legend?

I think men in music theatre take a back seat to the women for several reasons. Collum is in good company: some other outstanding men his age come to mind--Len Cariou, George Hearn--who get reviews and awards but neither the love or attention that is heaped upon women in similar roles. (Do show queens not care about leading men?)

OTOH, I'm sure in their day, John Raitt and Alfred Drake generated ticket sales on their names alone. I'm hard-pressed to think of many contemporary men in musicals who can do the same. Nathan and (inexplicably) Matthew B, probably still. But how many others? I love Danny Burstein, Andy Karl, and Santino, but they're not selling tix with name value.

by Anonymousreply 35November 7, 2019 8:59 PM

Speaking of musical men we love, has anyone seen SEARED with Papi Raoul? I hear good things.

by Anonymousreply 36November 7, 2019 9:03 PM

Well, how much bigger of a "star" is John Cullum supposed to be? He's had a long, rich career as an actor with many awards, nominations, great reviews and recognitions and is much beloved by fans of live musical theater (and television for that matter).

He wasn't "matinee idol" handsome so he was never going to move into that persona.

And, yes, "divas" are more acclaimed than most leading men. Always have been. Male actors only get that kind of acclaim if they have a whiff of diva about them.

by Anonymousreply 37November 7, 2019 9:44 PM

Went through a box old Playbills and other assorted opera, dance, etc. programs earlier this week with eye to getting rid of a lot of them. And I did. I live in San Francisco, so we (usually) get the first national companies of tours and, back in the day, the occasional out-of-town tryout. I'd seen Joely Fisher and Norbert Leo Butz in the Mendes Cabaret tour (both good) and James Monroe Iglehart (late of Aladdin) as one of the lieder singers in a (not-great) production of ALNM. Also Jason Alexander and Martin Short in The Producers. Leslie Kritzer in the Urinetown tour. Keala Settle as Tracy in Hairspray and then a couple years later as Bloody Mary in the Lincoln South Pacific tour (Carmen Cusack was Nellie). For years I was certain I'd seen Anna Kendrick in the tryout of High Society here, but, alas, I had not. Ditto Elaine Stritch as Parthy in Showboat in Boston. I did see At Liberty here in SF, though. Mainly, I was left thinking, Where are all these performers now, especially all those kids in the chorus? They can't all be teaching jazz dance at suburban dance studios. (I wonder the same about non-big-name professional athletes once they age out. They can't all be selling cars or teaching P.E.)

by Anonymousreply 38November 7, 2019 10:10 PM

Would Anna Kendrick have been a good Bobbie in Company? She might be a little young, but she has the right amount of put-up and charm to make the role work. Plus, she's got a great voice, and could probably sell tickets.

by Anonymousreply 39November 7, 2019 10:31 PM

Too young. Plus she has a truly annoying speaking voice.

by Anonymousreply 40November 7, 2019 10:35 PM

She's actually 34 -- Bobbie is turning 35 in the play -- but she does read younger. He voice can be annoying, but it could work in the right role. I would love to see her as Bobbie.

by Anonymousreply 41November 7, 2019 11:03 PM

[quote] You just KNOW there had to be a few white girls among the auditionees who would have fit and played the part much better

Or it could be that she gave a great audition, and was not able to recapture it in rehearsal. I’ve seen that happen any times - actors who give a terrific audition, and are not able to bring it in performance. Sometimes what they give for an audition is all they’ve got, and it doesn’t work with the other actors.

by Anonymousreply 42November 7, 2019 11:10 PM

[quote] I'm sure in their day, John Raitt and Alfred Drake generated ticket sales on their names alone.

Alfred Drake, yes. Raitt, not so much.

by Anonymousreply 43November 7, 2019 11:28 PM

[quote]Or it could be that she gave a great audition, and was not able to recapture it in rehearsal.

I think that happened to Rachelle Rak in the revival of A Chorus Line. You can see it in the documentary. They said they really liked her audition. Then several weeks (months?) later she was called in for another audition and she couldn't remember what she did in the first audition that had impressed them so much.

by Anonymousreply 44November 7, 2019 11:40 PM

John Cullum had his lucky break when he replaced Louis Jourdan in the out of town tryout of "On a Clear Day" when I believe that composer Burton Lane wanted a real legit singer to sing the male lead, especially since he would be singing the gorgeous title tune. Cullum did so admirably, and then while not becoming really box-office, was then in consideration for lots of the bigger male roles -- though it really took "Shenandoah" and "On the 20th Century" to showcase him in role which won him well-deserved Tonys. Also saw him in "Doubles" (he might have been nude, though the scenery seemed to cover him -- though it didn't cover all of Austin Pendleton or Tony Roberts' ass), plus he was great in "Urinetown" singing about "Don't Be the Bunny" and continued to do plays like "August: Osage County" and the Neil Simon play where they canned Mary Tyler Moore. He's a fine actor as well as beautiful singer, very nice-looking but not particularly glamorous, though he did pull off a rather excellent turn as John Barrymore as Oscar Jaffe in "On the 20th Century".

by Anonymousreply 45November 7, 2019 11:55 PM

[quote]Gotta get this all in before they restrict this thread!

Or, you could just pay the $1.50 a month fr premium access, cheapskate.

by Anonymousreply 46November 8, 2019 12:37 AM

Kendrick would make a perfect Bobbie, if you like them with severe vocal fry.

by Anonymousreply 47November 8, 2019 12:48 AM

[quote] Or, you could just pay the $1.50 a month fr premium access, cheapskate.

If anything, DataLounge should be paying some of the people who post here. *Some* of the content is excellent and deserving of compensation.

by Anonymousreply 48November 8, 2019 12:50 AM

Thanks to everyone who’ve posted about the City Center ACL. I’ve never heard about it before — god, it looks FABULOUS. So wish I could have seen it. (I’m like you, R18; ACL was the first musical I ever saw at 16.) There’s such a vitality and joy in that cast. Amazing.

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by Anonymousreply 49November 8, 2019 1:11 AM

There is joy, but the cast is really unattractive.

by Anonymousreply 50November 8, 2019 1:20 AM

[quote]There’s such a vitality and joy in that cast. Amazing.

Easy to project that doing one number in a rehearsal hall in front of the cameras. But what about the whole musical in a 2,000 seat auditorium.

by Anonymousreply 51November 8, 2019 1:22 AM

And if we learn nothing else from the rather, ahem, soft sales of THE INHERITANCE on Broadway....

The cast must be HAWT.

by Anonymousreply 52November 8, 2019 1:23 AM

[Quote] Gypsy is not a perfect show for two reasons:

[Quote] that insipid Little Lamb

[Quote] During Rose's Turn, she sings "Momma's talking loud" However, that reference in the show got cut, so it doesn't really connect to what it was originally supposed to

Are you forgetting the "whole family shouts... it comes from living beside the railroad" (I don't have the playscript but that's pretty much the line...) in the dressing room scene, which is the scene that precedes Rose's monologue + Rose's Turn?

It's customary for Rose's to do a lot of shouting (e.g. giving Mr. T.T. Grantsinger's secretary what for). I don't think "Momma's talking loud" is a headscratcher at all.

by Anonymousreply 53November 8, 2019 1:28 AM

And "Little Lamb" was not inspid in Laura Benanti's hands.

by Anonymousreply 54November 8, 2019 1:28 AM

[Quote] And if we learn nothing else from the rather, ahem, soft sales of THE INHERITANCE on Broadway....

[Quote] The cast must be HAWT.

It serves them right. I'm sick of Americans coming from Britain and stealing our roles!

by Anonymousreply 55November 8, 2019 1:29 AM

Benanti

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by Anonymousreply 56November 8, 2019 1:32 AM

The controversial poet Anne Sexton wrote an off broadway play done in 1969, called MERCY STREET. It starred Marian Seldes. Did anyone here see it?

It was supposedly rewritten a lot in rehearsal, and at least one of the performers (M'el Dowd) felt it was better before all that. It had an avant guard style. Dowd felt a lot of the dialogue was very "actable" ... but I guess the dramatic construction of the piece didn't quite get worked out. But it sounds interesting.

One summary says, [italic]"Sexton was the poet [working at the American Place Theatre] who had drifted furthest from dramatic conventions, her play essentially a sequence of monologues and flashbacks from the perspective of an unreliable narrator."

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by Anonymousreply 57November 8, 2019 2:42 AM

Interesting piece about Anne Sexton influencing one of Peter Gabriel's albums.

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by Anonymousreply 58November 8, 2019 2:43 AM

This is the Peter Gabriel song [italic]Mercy Street,[/italic] which is kind of a tribute to Sexton. It also draws on some imagery from her collection "The Awful Rowing Toward God."

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by Anonymousreply 59November 8, 2019 3:26 AM

THR reviews "Tina: The Tina Turner Musical":

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by Anonymousreply 60November 8, 2019 5:25 AM

That sounds fucking awful. I'd be interested to see if it could be fixed as a movie, though.

by Anonymousreply 61November 8, 2019 5:41 AM

The show sounds a bit muddled (as the review points out) but Adrienne Warren's star turn in the lead role sounds unmissable. Unlike other muddled, earnest musicals on Broadway, at least we know that most of the songs are terrific (though I never want to hear 'We Don't Need Another Hero' again).

by Anonymousreply 62November 8, 2019 6:13 AM

[quote]Also Jason Alexander and Martin Short in The Producers.

R38, you must have seen the show the final week. That's all that Jason Alexander and Martin Short played. They were booked to play Los Angeles only, but decided they would like to join the company in SF to "break in" their performances, so they took over the final week of the SF run. Those of us unlucky enough to see it before that week got Lewis Stadlen and Don Stephenson. Stephenson was good, Stadlen wasn't, and Lee Roy Reems walked away with the show as Roger De Bris.

Joely Fisher and Norbert Leo Butz were outstanding in "Cabaret" - I was really happy to have seen them. Likewise Keala Settle and Bruce Vilanch in Hairspray - both very good, and Settle was outstanding, far better than Marissa Jaret Winokur. And we may not have gotten Elaine Stritch in Show Boat, but we got Karen Morrow, who was just as good (or better). Another performance I'm happy to have seen. We also got the first production of "White Christmas." I thought that "High Society" tryout was a stinker (not a Melissa Errico fan), but the SF critics raved. The NY critics weren't fooled, however. And of course, the pièce de résistance, the all time worst production of Pippin ever, staring Republican poster girl Morgan Brittany as Fastrada, and Nanette Fabray as Berthe. That had drama to keep us entertained for months (The second week, paychecks were bouncing, so Morgan insisted she be paid with a cashier's check, or she wouldn't go on. Oh, and the day Nanette Fabray arrived, they handed her a Muni pass. There was no coddling of stars in that production!

by Anonymousreply 63November 8, 2019 8:13 AM

[quote]"Or it could be that she gave a great audition, and was not able to recapture it in rehearsal."

[quote]"I think that happened to Rachelle Rak in the revival of A Chorus Line. You can see it in the documentary. They said they really liked her audition. Then several weeks (months?) later she was called in for another audition and she couldn't remember what she did in the first audition that had impressed them so much."

Rak was an impressive dancer, and an ok singer, but never much of an actress. Deidre Goodwin was better as Sheila than Rak would have been.

by Anonymousreply 64November 8, 2019 9:50 AM

Not to excuse William Goldman, but much of the homophobia in The Season was at the request of the publisher. They wanted a book that would sell more than five copies and in 1969, all you had to do was mention the fags. So, it was not only homophobic, it was cynical and exploitative.

by Anonymousreply 65November 8, 2019 10:21 AM

If Goldman was homophobic, can someone explain the massive gay subtext in Butch Cassidy? Were Newman and Redford allowed to change the script? Is it in the chemistry and the direction only?

by Anonymousreply 66November 8, 2019 10:58 AM

William Goldman also wrote "Boys and Girls Together" around the same time. There were a number of gay characters in it, including one who was very sympathetic (though eventually tragic.) It was one of my favorite books in High School.

by Anonymousreply 67November 8, 2019 1:57 PM

Since you ask, R66...

BUTCH CASSIDY was one of the templates for the onslaught of insufferable "Buddy Movies" that would plague moviegoers for the next 2 decades. It's not much more than taking some of the tired tropes of Hollywood romantic comedy and applying them to platonic same-sex relationships: 2 strange men are on a quest: solve the crime, steal the diamonds, blow up the building, whatsoever, and discover each other along the way.

It's also, almost by definition, implicity homophobic and sexist,. While the 2 leads may be meeting cute and getting along against all odds, there's a burden on them to strenuously, repeatedly demonstrate their heterosexuality. Sometimes this takes the form of fag jokes, but not always. If gay male/nonconforming figures exist, they are targets of ridicule. Women rarely play active, interesting roles in buddy-land (and lovely Katherine Ross was no exception).

In case you hadn't guessed, I'm not a fan of Goldman (an enormously inflated talent) , BUTCH CASSIDY (similarly, a trendy at the time but essentially empty movie) , or buddy movies (RIP).

If Newman and Redford brought an extra wit, warmth, and I maintain, spark of sexuality to their performances together, well, that's on them.

by Anonymousreply 68November 8, 2019 5:06 PM

On Law & Order this morning, none other than.....Miss Eve Harrington!

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by Anonymousreply 69November 8, 2019 5:44 PM

R68 - "Women rarely play active, interesting roles in buddy-land (and lovely Katherine Ross was no exception)."

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by Anonymousreply 70November 8, 2019 5:54 PM

That website TodayTix sent out a mass survey today asking people why they haven't bought tickets to see Slave Play. They really have to ask?

by Anonymousreply 71November 8, 2019 6:19 PM

The Lincoln Center King and I with Kelli and Ken is on PBS tonight (11/8); check your local listings. I believe it's the filmed London production.

by Anonymousreply 72November 8, 2019 6:27 PM

R72 The kid needs to be punched in the face

by Anonymousreply 73November 8, 2019 6:34 PM

Speaking of Penny Fuller, she's 79, still working, and still looks pretty damned good.

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by Anonymousreply 74November 8, 2019 8:15 PM

I got to see the Alexander/Short production of "The Producers" (L.A. at the Pantages), and it was a lot easier to get tickets than for Lane & Broderick in New York. L.A. used to have a similar company to New York's Encores, so before I moved to NY, I saw their productions of "On the Twentieth Century" (my introduction to Carolee Carmello), "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (ditto for Alice Ripley) and "She Loves Me", the best of those three, with Rebecca Luker doing another Barbara Cook role. I had just seen her the year before in "The Music Man" on Broadway, so the love fest continued for her. The worst of all the Reprise that I saw was their production of "Follies" with a teeny weeny Patty Duke as Phyllis, nowhere near as commanding as any of the Broadway Phyllis's, even Blythe Danner from the Roundabout production from the year before which most "Follies" fans seem to hate. I saw later productions in NY of all the musicals I mention above, as well as the Encores "Do I Hear a Waltz?" which I saw in Pasadena in 2001 w/Alyson Reed, Anthony Crivello and a very sexy Carol Lawrence, not sounding at all like she did as Maria. (Karen Ziemba, who played her in the Encores production, was thrilling!)

by Anonymousreply 75November 8, 2019 8:25 PM

Is Penny Fuller the poor man's Anita Gillette or vice versa?

by Anonymousreply 76November 8, 2019 8:57 PM

R74. She was strong and touring in Jake's Sitpwg?

by Anonymousreply 77November 8, 2019 9:04 PM

She didn't tour in it, r77. She did it on Broadway, but it was a sit down production.

by Anonymousreply 78November 8, 2019 9:17 PM

can we just call it SUNDAY?

I'm always confused when people refer to "SITPWG,"

by Anonymousreply 79November 8, 2019 9:18 PM

[quote]The worst of all the Reprise that I saw was their production of "Follies" with a teeny weeny Patty Duke as Phyllis

Oh, r75, you missed out! There was quite a discussion of teeny Patty's terrible Follies, in just the last thread, I think. Someone even posted video clips, with Patty singing off pitch and everything! It looked just dreadful.

by Anonymousreply 80November 8, 2019 9:19 PM

Just saw a high school performance of "Spelling Bee." Now it was an Arts charter school, and the production was generally decent, but I wondered about the changes they made. I know some shows have different scripts for schools, and I know that "Spelling Bee" does allow for a bit of improvisation and ad libbing, but I thought some of the changes were a little weird. (Having seen the show five or six times in other theaters.) Naturally, they couldn't handle "My Unfortunate Erection," so it was changed to "My Unfortunate Distraction," which of course ruined the rhymes. It wasn't nearly as funny as it should've been, despite the best efforts of "Chip." Second, they added a HUGE number of additional spellers (not the ones culled from the audience, but additional students who were on stage from the beginning.) Many of these performers took on the roles that are usually handled by one of the regular spellers (e.g., Chip playing Jesus, Mitch and Leaf playing Logan's two dads). And they had females playing the vice-principal and Leaf.

by Anonymousreply 81November 8, 2019 10:30 PM

[quote]they added a HUGE number of additional spellers

High schools tend to do that because they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. It's strange though, they have no problem cutting kids from sports because they aren't good enough. But they won't cut kids from theater. I once saw a production of Godspell with a cast of 20.

by Anonymousreply 82November 8, 2019 11:39 PM

What's next for Our Miss Brooks? He's been MIA since Prom shuttered.

by Anonymousreply 83November 8, 2019 11:54 PM

I'd say they're on equal footing, r76. They should put a Side Show tour together.

by Anonymousreply 84November 8, 2019 11:58 PM

R83 Stress eating?

by Anonymousreply 85November 9, 2019 12:00 AM

Or you can pay for it, r46, since you insist.

"we know that most of the songs are terrific"

I needed a good laugh today. Thank you.

by Anonymousreply 86November 9, 2019 1:03 AM

Kristin Chenoweth is going to be fine, o.k.?!

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by Anonymousreply 87November 9, 2019 1:13 AM

"they added a HUGE number of additional spellers"

The way Gen- Zers spell, most would all be eliminated on the second word, so they need backups to finish the show.

by Anonymousreply 88November 9, 2019 1:47 AM

Has anyone taken a listen to Leslie Odom Jr.'s album? I guess it's mainstream/non-Broadway?

by Anonymousreply 89November 9, 2019 2:03 AM

The London King and I downsized the opening ship effect from Lincoln Center. Too bad. That was the best moment in the show.

by Anonymousreply 90November 9, 2019 2:45 AM

[Quote] That was the best moment in the show.

Did you wish you'd skipped the rest of the show?

by Anonymousreply 91November 9, 2019 2:55 AM

Is Netflix the new Broadway?

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by Anonymousreply 92November 9, 2019 3:57 AM

Any news on Malcolm Gets? Someone posted here that he was sick once. Is he better?

by Anonymousreply 93November 9, 2019 3:59 AM

Someone also wrote multiple posts suggesting that Boyd Gaines was quite ill but never mentioned specifics. It was pretty annoying.

by Anonymousreply 94November 9, 2019 4:23 AM

R92 Judging from American Son, NO.

by Anonymousreply 95November 9, 2019 4:28 AM

[quote] High schools tend to do that because they don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. It's strange though, they have no problem cutting kids from sports because they aren't good enough. But they won't cut kids from theater. I once saw a production of Godspell with a cast of 20.

Plus it guarantees ticket sales. Everyone's family comes to see them.

by Anonymousreply 96November 9, 2019 4:33 AM

R43, Alfred Drake fucked Nancy Davis (Reagan).

by Anonymousreply 97November 9, 2019 4:38 AM

Will Moulin Rouge finally earn Aaron Tveit his first Tony nomination?

by Anonymousreply 98November 9, 2019 4:40 AM

Who didn't, R97?

by Anonymousreply 99November 9, 2019 4:40 AM

Alfred Drake, though, is someone I never even contemplated seeing even bare chested, unlike say, John Raitt, though who did show off a nice build at the end of "Pajama Game".

by Anonymousreply 100November 9, 2019 4:48 AM

Here's John Raitt and Doris Day.

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by Anonymousreply 101November 9, 2019 4:50 AM

Drake was cute when he played Curley in "Oklahoma!".

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by Anonymousreply 102November 9, 2019 4:55 AM

And the Theatre Gossip thread continues with its contrary definition of "cute."

by Anonymousreply 103November 9, 2019 5:08 AM

Alfred was attractive.

by Anonymousreply 104November 9, 2019 5:11 AM

Alfred Drake’s brother, Met baritone Arthur Kent, was better looking

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by Anonymousreply 105November 9, 2019 6:10 AM

Is that the same Arthur Kent who wrote "The End of the World", a hit for Miss Skeeter Davis?

by Anonymousreply 106November 9, 2019 6:18 AM

I think Arthur Kent was Alfred Drake's nephew.

by Anonymousreply 107November 9, 2019 6:41 AM

Arthur Kent "The Scud Stud"?

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by Anonymousreply 108November 9, 2019 9:18 AM

Wasn't there a rumor floating that NETFLIX had filmed (or wanted to) the London COMPANY? I guess it was a rumor...

by Anonymousreply 109November 9, 2019 12:43 PM

[quote]Drake was cute when he played Curley in "Oklahoma!".

But those pants look ridiculous. I can't remember whether Curley was a farmer or a cowman, but surely, even when he dressed up for the box social, he didn't have anything so hideous looking. No wonder Laurey kept dreaming about getting raped. Whenever Curley came around, she would burst out laughing at those pants.

by Anonymousreply 110November 9, 2019 2:21 PM

I wonder if Drake showed his bare chest, or at least wore an open shirt, in any scenes in KISMET?

by Anonymousreply 111November 9, 2019 2:22 PM

I didn't realize that Alfred Drake was Italian-American. (Birth name Capurro.)

by Anonymousreply 112November 9, 2019 2:29 PM

You don't wonder, you know well...

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by Anonymousreply 113November 9, 2019 2:30 PM

The vertical stripes are to make him look taller, r110.

by Anonymousreply 114November 9, 2019 3:04 PM

[quote]The vertical stripes are to make him look taller

Well they just make him look like his trunk didn't arrive in time and he had to borrow the pants from the clown act in the vaudeville theatre actross the street.

by Anonymousreply 115November 9, 2019 3:08 PM

I know they always cast tony with a skinny queer who looks like he doesn't even know what a gang is, but this makes me laugh. I'm just not buying Isaac. haha.

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by Anonymousreply 116November 9, 2019 3:10 PM

I'm not buying him either -- but I would consider renting him for an hour or two.

by Anonymousreply 117November 9, 2019 3:12 PM

R76 Penny Fuller is actually a terrific actress. Always wonderful onstage and very funny and real as Helen Hunt's mother on Mad About You until they stupidly replaced her with Carol Burnett.

by Anonymousreply 118November 9, 2019 3:13 PM

[quote]I'm just not buying Isaac. haha

Plus, he doesn't look white. In a story about racial tension between whites and Puerto Ricans, maybe the whites should look "white"?

The casting looks like a high school production (all the white jocks went out for football, so we have to use a light skinned Hispanic theater nerd). Maybe that's the director's vision? That he's going to use a high school production as a framing device?

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by Anonymousreply 119November 9, 2019 3:19 PM

Looking at Isaac Powell, I wouldn't think his father was black or biracial. If I had to guess, I'd say Jewish.

by Anonymousreply 120November 9, 2019 3:27 PM

I think the casting of Tony is the least of it.

I predict that the "remix" of WEST SIDE STORY will have most DLer's heads exploding.

by Anonymousreply 121November 9, 2019 3:36 PM

[quote]As such, he’ll be rearranging a few numbers and is planning to use the version of “America” from the 1961 film rather than the original. More controversially, the show will be trimmed to run without an intermission by cutting the “Somewhere” ballet and—gasp—“I Feel Pretty.” The changes have not only been approved by the creators’ estates but, in fact, reflect the original desires of Sondheim, still going strong at 89, who candidly confessed in his 2010 book Finishing the Hat that he had long been uncomfortable with some of the lyrics of the latter song.

Yes, Sondheim has famously said that he doesn't like and is even embarrassed by some of the lyrics he wrote for "I Feel Pretty" because he feels some of that phrasing is too literate to be coming out of the mouth of an uneducated young girl for whom English is not her first language. But that certainly doesn't mean he feels the entire song should be cut, or that he thinks it serves no purpose. Of course, it serves a VERY IMPORTANT purpose, which Ivo van Hove is apparently too dense or insensitive to realize.

by Anonymousreply 122November 9, 2019 3:36 PM

I always hated Sondheim wringing his hands about "I Feel Pretty" as such a massive embarrassment. It's a charming moment in the show, giving Maria and Anita some humor and dimension.

Embarrassing? Versus, say, Act 2 of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE? Or BOUNCE? Or a lot of PASSION?

by Anonymousreply 123November 9, 2019 3:41 PM

The guys on the tv ads for WSS certainly look like a pretty tough crowd, not like the movie's kind of cute Baby John, Riff and others.

It would be kind of stupid to cut "I Feel Pretty" since its levity is such a contrast to what happened before and what is about to transpire.

I'm almost sure that jerk Singapore/Fling will find a way to love it, though.

by Anonymousreply 124November 9, 2019 3:47 PM

[quote]Yes, Sondheim has famously said that he doesn't like and is even embarrassed by some of the lyrics he wrote for "I Feel Pretty" because he feels some of that phrasing is too literate to be coming out of the mouth of an uneducated young girl for whom English is not her first language.

Which is a stupid thought. In musical theater, we must suspend disbelief. We're watching a scene and then all of a sudden people just break out singing? I Feel Pretty is a beautiful moment. A young girl is fantasizing about how she would like things to be, not about reality and the ugliness that surrounds her. (And Sondheim ripped it off from My Fair Lady's "I Could Have Danced All Night.")

And if you want to talk about literate things coming out of the uneducated? Let's talk Rose using the word "amigos" in "Together, Wherever We Go" from Gypsy. Where did she learn that word? From Pop's Mexican mistress?

by Anonymousreply 125November 9, 2019 3:50 PM

Well, you know best, r115.

by Anonymousreply 126November 9, 2019 3:50 PM

r118 penny fuller in The Elephant Man

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by Anonymousreply 127November 9, 2019 3:53 PM

[quote]I always hated Sondheim wringing his hands about "I Feel Pretty" as such a massive embarrassment.

Yeah, although I sort of see his point, I agree that he has made far too much of it. Many of his characters sing lyrics far more witty and literate than their education level would realistically allow. I think it's called artistic license. Also, another reason I've never had a problem with Maria singing those lyrics in "I Feel Pretty" is that she's supposed to be making fun of herself for feeling so grand and beautiful and acting pretentiously because she's so in love.

[quote]I'm almost sure that jerk Singapore/Fling will find a way to love it, though.

The reason he will find to love it is because the members of both gangs are multi-racial. Which, depending on how you look at it, either amplifies the point of the show OR completely destroys it. In this case, I would say the latter, as the "other" people in the show are VERY SPECIFICALLY referred to as Puerto Rican.

by Anonymousreply 128November 9, 2019 3:57 PM

A far bigger lyrical crime than "I Feel Pretty" is "The Miller's Son" from A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.

Yes, let's give one this moment of ironic self-awareness and rueful reflection to the uneducated (and possibly illiterate) maid (a character no one cares about anyway) filled with tricky inner rhymes and wordplay.... that advances the plot not at all.

So much better than "fuzzy and fizzy and fine."

by Anonymousreply 129November 9, 2019 3:59 PM

[quote]And if you want to talk about literate things coming out of the uneducated? Let's talk Rose using the word "amigos" in "Together, Wherever We Go" from Gypsy. Where did she learn that word? From Pop's Mexican mistress?

"Amigos" is hardly an obscure word known only by native speakers of Spanish. Like "siesta," it made its way into English long ago.

by Anonymousreply 130November 9, 2019 4:02 PM

"The Miller's Son" is very exciting musically, even if the words are really beyond what this simple, life-loving maid might be capable of expressing. It almost transcends the words with the way it builds; certainly it did with D'Jamin Bartlett's great performance of it in the original ALNM.

by Anonymousreply 131November 9, 2019 4:05 PM

[quote]"Amigos" is hardly an obscure word known only by native speakers of Spanish.

Now it is, yes. But not to a 1920s Midwesterner like Rose. She wouldn't use it in casual conversation. Sondheim put the word in just to show off.

by Anonymousreply 132November 9, 2019 4:06 PM

[quote]"The Miller's Son" is very exciting musically, even if the words are really beyond what this simple, life-loving maid might be capable of expressing.

I never understood the music of the song. Why does it end on such a forlorn note? Is she saddened that she is only marrying a tradesman?

by Anonymousreply 133November 9, 2019 4:08 PM

She comes back to reality and accepts it, after fantasizing about men beyond her class.

by Anonymousreply 134November 9, 2019 4:10 PM

R133, Exactly! It's one of the most ridiculously confusing songs. Sondheim says it sums up the show but no one seems to know what it's really about. Losing it from the show would be better than losing Little Lamb.

by Anonymousreply 135November 9, 2019 4:11 PM

[quote]"The Miller's Son" is very exciting musically, even if the words are really beyond what this simple, life-loving maid might be capable of expressing. It almost transcends the words with the way it builds; certainly it did with D'Jamin Bartlett's great performance of it in the original ALNM.

As a college student, I saw "A Little Night Music" during its Boston tryout, with Garn Stephens playing Petra. I recognized "The Miller's Son" as a standout song, but couldn't understand a damn word she was singing during the uptempo portions. I turned to my friend and said, "She's going to be replaced before this opens on Broadway."

by Anonymousreply 136November 9, 2019 4:11 PM

Was it her diction that was the problem? I guess I thought it was that she couldn't hit the notes.

by Anonymousreply 137November 9, 2019 4:15 PM

The original actress was apparently much loved by the rest of the cast, who despised D'Jamin Bartlett (and her stupid name, no doubt).

Did Bartlett ever go on to do.... anything?

by Anonymousreply 138November 9, 2019 4:17 PM

I saw the original ALNM as a kid -- our daycamp in NYC got tickets, since the row or two were going for only $2. As for 9 years olds, it was much too sophisticated. Still, what I remember most were the beautiful sets, and a few numbers which really stood out. "You Must Meet My Wife", because even kids could pick up how funny and catty Glynis Johns was being during her lines to Len Cariou regarding his new wife, "Send in the Clowns" for its simple beauty of melody and lovely lyrics, "The Miller's Wife" for its very infusion of excitement towards the end of the show, and the first act's extended "A Weekend in the Country" for its staging which was again exciting and well-done example of stagecraft at its best at that time. Otherwise, the show was pretty but a little over our heads.

by Anonymousreply 139November 9, 2019 4:22 PM

since the "last" row or two in the rear mezzanine was only like $2!

by Anonymousreply 140November 9, 2019 4:23 PM

Garn was replaced because she was a singer who could act and Mr. Sondheim preferred actresses who could sing.

by Anonymousreply 141November 9, 2019 4:24 PM

r132 Rose was not a "midwesterner."

And if Sondheim thinks the lyrics of "Pretty" are too much for non-native speaker, why don't they use the Spanish lyrics that were used in the recent revival?

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by Anonymousreply 142November 9, 2019 4:32 PM

That little Taylor troll would have to join in as a referee.

by Anonymousreply 143November 9, 2019 4:32 PM

If you rented Isaac.

by Anonymousreply 144November 9, 2019 4:34 PM

R138-yes, she went on to get fired from "Working". Then she disappeared up in Cape Cod somewhere.

by Anonymousreply 145November 9, 2019 4:36 PM

[quote]Rose was not a "midwesterner."

Yes, she was.

by Anonymousreply 146November 9, 2019 4:37 PM

R146 Rose was from Seattle, which is not the midwest of anywhere.

by Anonymousreply 147November 9, 2019 5:08 PM

R127 Penny Fuller also did the tv production of Elephant Man and won a Best Actress Emmy for it.

by Anonymousreply 148November 9, 2019 5:12 PM

[quote]Was it her diction that was the problem? I guess I thought it was that she couldn't hit the notes.

[quote]Garn was replaced because she was a singer who could act and Mr. Sondheim preferred actresses who could sing.

For a "singer who could act," Garn Stephens was incapable of delivering the lyrics to "The Miller's Son" and making them understandable to the audience. I was always sure that was the reason she was replaced. As for not hitting the notes, I was not aware of any pitch problems, but keep in mind that I was hearing the song for the very first time.

by Anonymousreply 149November 9, 2019 5:14 PM

INHERITANCE has just released an instagram post with quotes claiming that Part 2 is great. Are people only going to Part 1?

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by Anonymousreply 150November 9, 2019 5:16 PM

R132 I’m already regretting getting sucked into a Gypsy debate, but they’ve also been doing a Toreadorables Spanish-themed number so ‘amigos’ is consistent. 🤦🏻‍♂️

by Anonymousreply 151November 9, 2019 5:22 PM

You'd a thunk Rose and Herbie might have tried to package Tessie Tura, Electra and Mazeppa into a "4, Girls, 4" touring package with Louise/Gypsy as a centerpiece. What a lost opportunity!

by Anonymousreply 152November 9, 2019 5:29 PM

R151, wow, I never even thought of that but of course, it makes total sense in that context since the "Together" follows the Toreadorables.

by Anonymousreply 153November 9, 2019 6:05 PM

[quote] So much better than "fuzzy and fizzy and fine."

“Fizzy and funny and fine”

You can diss Sondheim all you want to, but don’t you dare misquote him.

by Anonymousreply 154November 9, 2019 6:19 PM

I love the fact that some of you don't think Sondheim should have an opinion of his own work.

by Anonymousreply 155November 9, 2019 7:20 PM

Sure, but Bernstein and Laurents, as well as Robbins had a say in molding the whole entirety of "West Side Story" and they approved what Sondheim wrote.

by Anonymousreply 156November 9, 2019 7:38 PM

D'Jamin Bartlett is a prickly cunt and the entire cast hated her.

by Anonymousreply 157November 9, 2019 9:56 PM

Why do y'all refuse to discus Anne Sexton's play [italic]Mercy Street[/italic] ? ? ?

I'M TALKING TO YOU!

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by Anonymousreply 158November 10, 2019 12:05 AM

D'Jamin's only other Broadway credit is Boccaccio (Nov 24, 1975 - Nov 30, 1975).

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by Anonymousreply 159November 10, 2019 12:18 AM

r110, after I posted this morning I went to the swap meet. Saw these and thought of you.

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by Anonymousreply 160November 10, 2019 12:23 AM

“The Miller’s Son” was added late in the rehearsal process. It wasn’t in the show when Garn Stephens was cast; at that point, the “servant number” was Frid’s “Silly People.”

Len Cariou and Laurence Guittard both felt that no one really worked with Garn to help her get on top of the song.

by Anonymousreply 161November 10, 2019 2:23 AM

Homophobia, before Stonewall? I am SHOCKED!!!

by Anonymousreply 162November 10, 2019 2:35 AM

[quote]I love the fact that some of you don't think Sondheim should have an opinion of his own work.

Of course he's allowed to have an opinion on his own work, and other people are allowed to disagree, even if it is his own work. Especially in this case, since his stated reason for disliking his lyrics for "I Feel Pretty" could apply to his lyrics for several other songs, so the inconsistency of his standards is hard to figure.

by Anonymousreply 163November 10, 2019 4:02 AM

This West Side Story revival sounds like a mess. The cut "I Feel Pretty" they cut the ballet and they're going to use projections.

And why did they choose a midget to play Tony?

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by Anonymousreply 164November 10, 2019 4:10 AM

I don't know why but I feel compelled to chime in about the idiot who insists that Rose wouldn't ever use the word "amigo" in the 1920s...I guess because when stupid people say stupid things with such conviction, I feel like I'm obligated to point out said stupidity. Especially when they follow up with more stupidity like she was "midwestern" when of course she was from Seattle and middle class and traveled extensively with show biz types from all walks of life in a time when "amigo" would have been a word familiar to quite a few people.

by Anonymousreply 165November 10, 2019 5:44 AM

Mexico has been next to the US for our entire history. Of course people knew the word "amigo" in the 1920s.

by Anonymousreply 166November 10, 2019 5:58 AM

Well, someone in the last thread suggested that "Momma's Talkin' Loud" made no sense...

by Anonymousreply 167November 10, 2019 7:14 AM

There are two reasons Sondheim goes on about I Feel Pretty more than any later song. One was that when he was young it was a big part of his project to have people in musicals sing as they would have spoken - it was Verboten to reverse words or to put the emphasis on a syllable it wouldn't have fallen on in speech, and likewise they were supposed to talk in character. No doubt he talked a lot about this intention, because Reason 2 is that the flaws in I Feel Pretty were pointed out by a friend he invited to opening night, who (when prevented from leaving without a comment) quoted it ironically at Sondheim to show how it undercut his aims. He remains embarrassed because he actually WAS embarrassed, and on one of the most important nights of his life.

If it makes you feel any better, he also hates "Today, the world was just an address".

by Anonymousreply 168November 10, 2019 11:36 AM

Who cares what he thinks? He's wrong about so many things.

by Anonymousreply 169November 10, 2019 12:54 PM

Speaking of Sondheim (and when aren’t we?) I must’ve read the story dozens of times of how Merman refused to perform an angry introductory verse he wrote for “Some People.” She felt it would make the audience dislike her if Rose berated her father too much. Sondheim went to Equity, who told him that it wasn’t worth the fight. My question is, why didn’t he ever restore the angry verse for any of the subsequent revivals?

by Anonymousreply 170November 10, 2019 1:29 PM

Maybe he ended up agreeing with Ethel.

And r169, we should care what you think? Why?

by Anonymousreply 171November 10, 2019 1:41 PM

And now for a palate cleanser.....

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by Anonymousreply 172November 10, 2019 1:44 PM

Re: the WEST SIDE STORY remix: theater folk are all over social media, using the news about cutting out two musical numbers and the intermission for a 90-minute one-act to comment, eg

[quote]but it still won’t move faster than their Bernardo can book a Broadway show after sexual harassment allegations.

Between the notorious casting of known sexual assailant Amar Ramasar, dislike for van Hove, and other bad press, a lot of people are waiting for this show to fail epically. It's not just the theatre traditionalists--it's the younger theatre community as well who are prepared to hate this production. Van Hove did not handle criticism of the casting well.

I'd love to know how their advance sale looks.

by Anonymousreply 173November 10, 2019 2:42 PM

In ALNM, the moon smiles three times: the young, the old and the fools. Why would Petra be an exception? It's a misperception that THE MILLER'S SON depicts her as some kind of life-affirming Sage of the Scandinavian Isles. She is a social-climber, with aspirations outside her station in life. This is made clear in SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT when the cook chastises her for messing around with Henrik, the implication being that Petra is angling to get pregnant by him and, thus, be set up for life. That's why you have the ascending hierarchy of fantasy husbands in THE MILLER'S SON--until she comes crashing back to earth at the end. She's as much a fool as anyone else in ALNM.

by Anonymousreply 174November 10, 2019 2:51 PM

If you listen to the live recording from the (I think) Boston tryout, THE MILLER'S SON is an utter mess. The vocalist fails to keep up with the orchestra and is out of sync for most of the choruses. It's not hard to understand why Bartlett was brought in.

by Anonymousreply 175November 10, 2019 2:56 PM

Here's D'Jamin on a show (Johnny Carson?), although the tempo is slowed down.

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by Anonymousreply 176November 10, 2019 3:04 PM

I have a feeling that the tempo on Carson is what was used in the theater and the album sped it up.

by Anonymousreply 177November 10, 2019 3:10 PM

Wasn't that the practice, r177? It added excitement and you could fit more on the vinyl.

by Anonymousreply 178November 10, 2019 3:16 PM

It was often done, R178

by Anonymousreply 179November 10, 2019 3:23 PM

Yes, the tempi had more breadth in live performance, particularly noticeable in A WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY. Otherwise the rapid patter of lyrics would have been unintelligible in the theater. Would that contemporary conductors had the same approach, instead of banging out everything at "rain tempo."

by Anonymousreply 180November 10, 2019 3:24 PM

I always thought "Mama's talking loud" could have also been related to her first line in the show "Sing out, Louise".

by Anonymousreply 181November 10, 2019 3:39 PM

Thanks, R172, but that was more of a palate scraper. Who thought that album would be a good idea?

by Anonymousreply 182November 10, 2019 3:43 PM

WSS by Ivo can only be an epic fail or a masterpiece. I think there's no place in between. We will see shilling as we have never seen, I believe. I will go the second week of previews. It is a truly risky proposition. It would have made a lot more sense if it had started in Europe and then brought to the BAM or St. Ann's. But to open cold on Broadway....it takes cojones (my own little homage to the Amigos discussion above). This is our Christmas present, dolls!

by Anonymousreply 183November 10, 2019 3:48 PM

[quote]If you listen to the live recording from the (I think) Boston tryout, THE MILLER'S SON is an utter mess. The vocalist fails to keep up with the orchestra and is out of sync for most of the choruses.

I can vouch for this, having seen the show in Boston. And yet a previous poster claimed Stephens was replaced by Bartlett because Stephens was a "singer who could act" and Sondheim prefers "actors who can sing."

by Anonymousreply 184November 10, 2019 3:49 PM

[quote]Bartlett because Stephens was a "singer who could act" and Sondheim prefers "actors who can sing."

That was a joke, as evidenced by the signature "Cute Boy Hanging In The Cellar".

by Anonymousreply 185November 10, 2019 3:58 PM

Who’s producing the van Hove WSS?

by Anonymousreply 186November 10, 2019 4:13 PM

Show running times are shorter because millennials and Gen-Zers ( if they even go), can't sit for extended minutes without going into phone withdrawal tremors.

by Anonymousreply 187November 10, 2019 5:21 PM

Tempi...

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by Anonymousreply 188November 10, 2019 5:26 PM

[quote]But to open cold on Broadway....it takes cojones

Especially in one of the largest theaters, which lately has seemed like something of a white elephant whenever it doesn't have a huge hit in it, which is most of the time.

by Anonymousreply 189November 10, 2019 8:14 PM

There are a few surviving danvers from the original cast of WSS, and they're already saying they won't be attending.

by Anonymousreply 190November 10, 2019 9:24 PM

DANCERS

by Anonymousreply 191November 10, 2019 9:24 PM

MRS DANVERS: "You thought you could be Jerome Robbins, direct his shows, choreograph his steps, take the things that were his! But he's too strong for you. You can't fight him - no one ever was better than him. Never, never, NEVER!!!"

by Anonymousreply 192November 10, 2019 9:35 PM

Has everyone purchased their copies of "A Is For Audra"? It will make a lovely Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa gift for the queeny gay man or teenage theater nerd in your lfe.

Get them while supplies last!

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by Anonymousreply 193November 10, 2019 10:41 PM

Watched THE KING AND I with Ken and Kelli on PBS this afternoon. It was beautifully done, especially the "Small House" ballet. AND it reaffirmed to me that Rodgers and Hammerstein were the greatest composer and lyricist Broadway has ever had. That score is SO beautiful, one lulsh song after another. They really were remarkable.

However, after it aired, there was a commercial for something called "Rodgers and Hammerstein Goes Pop!" or some shit, and I sat there completely APPALLED watching clips of a bunch of no names bawling out "updated" versions of R&H classics. Whoever set this travesty in motion should be arrested, along with the no talent "performers" who were slaughtering these songs. Unbearable!

by Anonymousreply 194November 10, 2019 10:52 PM

I had pretty much the same reaction to the R&H pop album promo. But they weren't all no names. Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan are among the guilty parties risking arrest.

by Anonymousreply 195November 10, 2019 11:10 PM

Ken Watanabe seemed to do an awful lot of yelling as the King. That might have worked better on stage than on the TV screen. I felt it was the interpretation of the role we might have gotten from Gale Gordon.

by Anonymousreply 196November 10, 2019 11:14 PM

I thought Hoon Lee was fantastic in the role, while Watanabe felt both over the top and underpowered. I loved the production, but Kelli O’Hara was out both times. Based on the video, I think she really won that Tony to make up for not winning for Bridges. That was a truly stunning performance.

by Anonymousreply 197November 11, 2019 1:35 AM

Lun Tha didn't come across as very Asian. Also his tatas were bigger than Tuptim's.

by Anonymousreply 198November 11, 2019 1:47 AM

Huge Broadway style number on John Oliver’s show on HBO. Broadway has been Andy Einhorn glimpsed at the piano.

by Anonymousreply 199November 11, 2019 4:17 AM

Does he hate the many other examples in his lyrics of his failing his own strict standards?

by Anonymousreply 200November 11, 2019 5:15 AM

[quote] ) I must’ve read the story dozens of times of how Merman refused to perform an angry introductory verse he wrote for “Some People.”

I’ve never heard that. Is it in one of Sondheim’s books?

by Anonymousreply 201November 11, 2019 6:01 AM

GROSS: So I'm going to play "Some People." Just tell me one more thing here. You talk about in your book how writing into a song, you know, from the dialogue, that transition into the song is the most difficult part. How did you solve the problem with "Some People"?

Mr. SONDHEIM: I wrote a verse well, actually, I didn't solve it, and the speech that leads into it reaches a high pitch, and then she starts it on a low note.

And so I wrote - in Philadelphia when we were trying the show out, I wrote a verse for Ethel to sing that would take her from a high pitch to a low pitch so that she could start the song properly. And she wouldn't sing it because in that verse, she, meaning Rose, tells her father to go to hell because she's trying to get $88 from him, and he won't give it to her.

And so she tells him to go to hell, and Ethel said her public would not tolerate telling her father to go to hell. So what happens now is she reaches a high pitch, and then she starts on a long note, and I think it's a real clunky connection, a real clunky transition.

GROSS: So you were never happy with it?

Mr. SONDHEIM: No, still not.

by Anonymousreply 202November 11, 2019 7:54 AM

R202, Yet, she thought her public would tolerate her marrying Ernest Borgnine?

by Anonymousreply 203November 11, 2019 7:56 AM

Telling her father to go to hell at the top of the song is a terrible idea. Much of the song is passive aggressive - even the title. Open aggression would render the rest of the lyrics useless.

by Anonymousreply 204November 11, 2019 8:09 AM

For those wondering how Jana was....

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by Anonymousreply 205November 11, 2019 1:49 PM

[Quote] For those wondering how Jana was....

You're dyslexic, yes?

by Anonymousreply 206November 11, 2019 2:20 PM

That Bartlett/Lincoln Center is the best production of King and I hands down. I saw it 4 times on stage. That recording is not it. It needed Hoon Lee as the King, The Prince form the Broadway production, and the Lun Tha understudy from Broadway. Then it would have been perfect. Ruthie's performance is different in the recording than what I saw her do on stage 4 times prior to the tragedy. God bless her. I agree about that R & H pop album. HORRENDOUS.

by Anonymousreply 207November 11, 2019 2:32 PM

[quote] I felt it was the interpretation of the role we might have gotten from Gale Gordon.

With Lucille Ball as Anna!

by Anonymousreply 208November 11, 2019 2:35 PM

"Waaaah!! You promised me my own house!"

by Anonymousreply 209November 11, 2019 2:38 PM

I agree about Hoon Lee, R207. He was terrific in the role, and of the actors I've seen play the King (Yul Brynner, Rudolph Nureyev (if you can believe it), Lou Diamond Phillips, Ken Watanabe, Daniel Dae Kim), I thought he was the only actor to rival Brynner. Actually, it would have been even better had Hoon appeared opposite the late Marin Mazzie, who I thought was superior to Kelli O'Hara. Mazzie even made "Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You" work.

by Anonymousreply 210November 11, 2019 2:50 PM

r206, I'm dyslexic, no.

by Anonymousreply 211November 11, 2019 2:58 PM

Sondheim also hated what he wrote for "Ah, But Underneath" the song for non-dancers playing Phyllis in Follies.

She was grand, bland, brave or brisk or brittle

AHHHHHHHHH, but underneath

She was coy, a boy, a goy but wouldn't screw Eddie Foy

AHJHHHHHHHH, but underneath

by Anonymousreply 212November 11, 2019 3:35 PM

[quote]Telling her father to go to hell at the top of the song is a terrible idea. Much of the song is passive aggressive - even the title. Open aggression would render the rest of the lyrics useless.

Not only that, but it's Rose's first song. Not a good way to introduce us to the character.

"Well, fuck you, Pop, you can go to hell." How does a character redeem their self after saying that 10 minutes into the show?

by Anonymousreply 213November 11, 2019 3:38 PM

R210 I completely agree. I wish I had seen Marin in "Kiss Me Kate" (I saw the terrific Carolee Carmello instead, not a waste of my time at all), but thought that Kelli's Lilli/Kate was not funny, just a raving bitch with violent anger issues. I can't imagine Patricia Morison doing the hard kicks and slaps that Kelli did with the venom that came out of her. Marin made that funny from what people have told me, and Carolee was hysterically funny. The kicking and slapping was done with humor, not anger, and when she sang "I am Ashamed" at the end, there was a sly wink to the audience that indicated a subtle hint of the opposite that even the men in the audience could appreciate rather than the ridiculous lyrics changed for the last revival that really made no impact unlike the wink of the previous revival. I got to see Marin in her last play at the Classic Stages Company ("Fire & Air") as well. I like Kelli in general, but I wish she had been the replacement, not Marin, so Marin would have gotten the Tony she deserved.

by Anonymousreply 214November 11, 2019 3:50 PM

[quote] Sondheim also hated what he wrote for "Ah, But Underneath" the song for non-dancers playing Phyllis in Follies.

Then how come we didn't get to sing it?

by Anonymousreply 215November 11, 2019 4:46 PM

Over the top anger has been a problem with many Roses recently. I've seen so many incredibly angry Roses who seem ready to start "Rose's Turn" from the moment they walk on stage. Making "Some People" even angrier is such a bad idea. It's an angry enough song to begin with. I always thought it'd play more interesting as a wistful, dreamy song where Rose is frustrated, but not about to rip someone's head off if she doesn't get her way. I like my Roses to build into their anger and insanity. It makes more a more interesting evening if it's not all one-note anger from start to finish.

by Anonymousreply 216November 11, 2019 5:38 PM

A wistful, dreamy song with a lyric "they can stay and rot!"? These threads have taken a strange turn lately.

by Anonymousreply 217November 11, 2019 5:46 PM

Linda Lavin, weirdly enough, made a good case for a slightly softer "Some People" in this clip. It pains me to say this since I'm not a big fan of hers, but she's wonderful here.

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by Anonymousreply 218November 11, 2019 5:50 PM

Something happened to Linda's interpretation of Rose when she actually played the role on stage, though. Here she is from the actual production where she replaced Tyne Daly and the song is being sung in a more or less traditional way. I find it far less effective than the previous clip. Makes you wonder how she would have been if she'd been better directed perhaps.

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by Anonymousreply 219November 11, 2019 5:53 PM

It's fascinating to watch both of those clips. The performances are completely different from one another. Has anyone ever seen an actor play the same role in a different production of the same show? Do they usually change up their performances this much based on the director?

by Anonymousreply 220November 11, 2019 6:00 PM

[quote]Telling her father to go to hell at the top of the song is a terrible idea. Much of the song is passive aggressive - even the title. Open aggression would render the rest of the lyrics useless.

Agreed. Rose tries to get the $88 from her father DURING the song, so she's sucking up to him in a nice way to try to get it until he refuses and leaves the room. As the song now stands, It would make no sense at all for Rose to tell her father to go to hell before the song even begins. I wish Sondheim would have explained better, or maybe an earlier version of the song was very different? Actually, I think a recording of Merman singing an earlier version with a piano and some different lyrics is included on the CD of the cast album. I'll have to listen to that again.

Regardless, as the show stands, even when Rose's father does say "You ain't gettin' 88 cents from me, Rose" and leaves the room during "Some People," she doesn't tell him to go to hell, she just says "Then I'll get it someplace else, but I'll get it, and get my kids out." Telling someone to go to hell is still very shocking and powerful, and Rose doesn't say that to anyone until Herbie walks out on her towards the very end of the show. That moment would have been a lot less powerful if she told her father to "go to hell" much earlier over a less important matter.

by Anonymousreply 221November 11, 2019 6:06 PM

I think part of the reason for the profound difference is that the first clip is not from a production. Lavin is singing an arrangement never heard in a stage production and singing the song out of context. She is not creating the "I want" that will drive the action for the next two hours.

by Anonymousreply 222November 11, 2019 6:07 PM

Lavin's delightful and very winning in that first clip. I'd root for that Rose, but I wouldn't root for the shrill, angry mess that she was serving up in the second clip. No wonder her reviews weren't good. She lost them within the first 15 minutes of the show. Who'd want to watch that for another 2 hours? I know people always say you can't play Rose for sympathy, but you have to give her something that makes her watchable for 2 1/2 hours.

by Anonymousreply 223November 11, 2019 6:18 PM

I guess R223 is saying that Lavin can sing songs from Gypsy well, but that does not mean she can play the role of Rose.

This is a mistake often made with revivals and especially revival replacements--they think that just because someone can sing the songs that means they can play the role.

In Lavin's case, she could not. Her Rose was sociopathic rather than driven.

by Anonymousreply 224November 11, 2019 6:22 PM

[quote][A wistful, dreamy song with a lyric "they can stay and rot!"? These threads have taken a strange turn lately.

I think that line should be more sarcastic than angry.

And in the film version, wasn't "Some People" the song where Roz said she stuck the hatpin into the hat too hard and jabbed herself in the head with it? It shouldn't be an angry song.

But I think that all the Roses had to sing "Some People" angry because it was Arthur Laurents being angry at HIS father, so he directed all the Roses to be angry.

by Anonymousreply 225November 11, 2019 6:23 PM

I think it's more than just Lavin being able to sing the score. I still don't think she has a great voice, but her first interpretation of Rose seemed different, but still valid. Her second is the way we've always seen it played, but with an extra dose of shrill just like when Imelda Staunton played it.

You're right, though. Just because someone can handle the score, doesn't mean they're the right type of actor for the role. It's simply fascinating to me that Lavin, at some point, seemed to have the right instincts to put her own stamp on the role before doing whatever it was she did once she stepped into the role for real. They're both such wildly different interpretations. Her first Rose is rather calm, sweet, and really trying to butter up her father. She's dreaming of a great new life and only turns bitter when he denies her the $88. There's more of an arc to the song instead of her just screeching for 3 minutes.

by Anonymousreply 226November 11, 2019 6:28 PM

Laurents probably loved all the angry approaches. He'd have loved Imelda, too. He kept trying to make the show darker and darker with every production.

Didn't June Havoc say the two Roses closest to her actual mother were Linda Lavin and Bernadette Peters? Funny that the two most controversial Roses are the ones her daughter thought really nailed her mother. I don't remember much about Bernadette's performance, but I saw her early in the run and wasn't impressed. She seemed a little screechy, too.

by Anonymousreply 227November 11, 2019 6:31 PM

Years ago, there was an authorized version of "Gypsy" where "Mama Rose" became "Papa Rose" done as a fund raiser for AIDS in L.A. One of the male characters asked Louise about her mother who ran off on them. She said, "She was a combination of Ethel Merman, Rosalind Russell and Tyne Daly." The young man asked, "But why did your father hate her?" "Well, there was a bit of Linda Lavin in her too", which brought the house down.

by Anonymousreply 228November 11, 2019 6:37 PM

Addition to #227, Angela Lansbury (who was in the audience that night) was part of the Merman/Russell/Daly line as well.

by Anonymousreply 229November 11, 2019 6:39 PM

It's a matter of demeanor, r227. Rose Hovick's demeanor was more feminine wiles than bulldozer. The show would have been truer to the real Rose had it been written for Mary Martin instead of Ethel.

by Anonymousreply 230November 11, 2019 6:39 PM

I ran across this. I know it's old, but I thought it was well done.

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by Anonymousreply 231November 11, 2019 6:43 PM

And both Rose and Mary Martin were rumored to be lesbians. Hm...

by Anonymousreply 232November 11, 2019 6:54 PM

[quote]R213 “Well, fuck you, Pop, you can go to hell." How does a character redeem their self after saying that 10 minutes into the show?

Her dad just told her she wasn’t worth 88 cents. What’s she supposed to say?

(I suspect he sexually abused her, too. The REAL villain of the piece!)

by Anonymousreply 233November 11, 2019 7:10 PM

[quote]It's simply fascinating to me that Lavin, at some point, seemed to have the right instincts to put her own stamp on the role before doing whatever it was she did once she stepped into the role for real. They're both such wildly different interpretations. Her first Rose is rather calm, sweet, and really trying to butter up her father. She's dreaming of a great new life and only turns bitter when he denies her the $88. There's more of an arc to the song instead of her just screeching for 3 minutes.

As someone else here posted, it's completely ridiculous to compare those two clips of Lavin doing the number, as the first one was not only done out of context on a TV show, but also, the first part of the song is a major rearrangement with just piano and a much slower, ad lib tempo than what's written in the score. No one -- not Lavin or anyone else -- could deliver the beginning of that song that way in the show, with the arrangement and full orchestrations as written. So please stop comparing these performances, okay?

by Anonymousreply 234November 11, 2019 7:21 PM

MAKE me!

by Anonymousreply 235November 11, 2019 7:24 PM

I think that's what you need, someone to "make" you. If you know what I mean...

by Anonymousreply 236November 11, 2019 7:27 PM

'Some People' should be feisty, not angry. Rose is telling everyone to get out of her way because she's coming through. The dreamy beginning of that first Lavin clip is totally wrong for the character and the show. Rose isn't wistful - she has no interior life (or at least, not one she would ever acknowledge). That's what makes 'Rose's Turn' so powerful - she starts to crack at the seams and has to confront her suppressed fears.

by Anonymousreply 237November 11, 2019 7:43 PM

[quote]The dreamy beginning of that first Lavin clip is totally wrong for the character and the show.

Thank you. I wonder who even had the idea of doing it that way? But regardless, anybody who thinks that kind of performance would be right for that song in the show doesn't know what they're talking about.

by Anonymousreply 238November 11, 2019 7:52 PM

[quote]Then how come we didn't get to sing it?

Because it's a lousy song. No director in their right mind wants to use "Ah, But Underneath" if it can be avoided at all. Even bumping into chorus boys is better than having to sing that dreckish song.

by Anonymousreply 239November 11, 2019 7:58 PM

[quote]Because it's a lousy song. No director in their right mind wants to use "Ah, But Underneath" if it can be avoided at all. Even bumping into chorus boys is better than having to sing that dreckish song.

Agreed. And the fact that, at least at one point, Sondheim insisted it be used in place of "Lucy and Jessie" is yet another indication that he's not always the best judge of his own work.

by Anonymousreply 240November 11, 2019 8:10 PM

Are you sure he insisted? I took the inclusion at Papermill to be due to Bobby Johannson pushing it through because he thought it was superior. It was one of the holdups on the recording of the CD, Sondheim only approved it if they also recorded Lucy & Jessie (as it happened, they came up with the "all the songs" hook and also recorded "Uptown Downtown."

by Anonymousreply 241November 11, 2019 8:15 PM

I'm probably the only person that prefers "Ah, But Underneath."

"Lucy/Jessie" is too confusing. What the hell is she talking about? "Ah, But Underneath" is simple and easy to understand, even if the rhymes are silly.

by Anonymousreply 242November 11, 2019 8:15 PM

I just watched this. She was a lovely Sally, wasn't she?

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by Anonymousreply 243November 11, 2019 8:16 PM

R243, she sang it better than anyone except Dorothy Collins.

by Anonymousreply 244November 11, 2019 8:18 PM

Ahem....

by Anonymousreply 245November 11, 2019 8:24 PM

[quote]Are you sure he insisted? I took the inclusion at Papermill to be due to Bobby Johannson pushing it through because he thought it was superior. It was one of the holdups on the recording of the CD, Sondheim only approved it if they also recorded Lucy & Jessie (as it happened, they came up with the "all the songs" hook and also recorded "Uptown Downtown."

I was told it was Sondheim who wanted it. Hard to believe Bobby Jo would have pushed for it if Sondheim didn't want it also. But who knows.

by Anonymousreply 246November 11, 2019 8:34 PM

That Victoria Clark performance of "In Buddy's Eyes" is really extraordinary. Gorgeous singing, and it may be the best acted version I've ever seen. So subtle but so powerful.

by Anonymousreply 247November 11, 2019 8:44 PM

Dee made a persuasive case for it, but she could have just as ably danced L&J....

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by Anonymousreply 248November 11, 2019 8:45 PM

Dame Di's........

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by Anonymousreply 249November 11, 2019 8:46 PM

If Sondheim wants to start criticizing his own lyrics, he might start with "Lucy is juicy and Jessie is dressy."

by Anonymousreply 250November 11, 2019 8:48 PM

In an interview years ago, Sondheim said he still cringes every time he hears . . .

Today the world was just an address A place for me to live in No better than all right

by Anonymousreply 251November 11, 2019 9:36 PM

Is "Seared" any good? It has Raúl Esparza, a DL favorite.....he even had an acronym that I have forgotten.

by Anonymousreply 252November 11, 2019 10:05 PM

Looks like The Inheritance will be another brilliant play that will run and not recoup. What the fuck is wrong with every gay man on the Eastern seaboard. This play is UNMISSABLE!

by Anonymousreply 253November 11, 2019 10:06 PM

[quote]This play is UNMISSABLE!

Cue the "fugly cast" troll.

by Anonymousreply 254November 11, 2019 10:09 PM

[quote]In an interview years ago, Sondheim said he still cringes every time he hears . . . Today the world was just an address A place for me to live in No better than all right

I always assumed those were some of the leftover lyrics that Bernstein wrote, but I guess not.

by Anonymousreply 255November 11, 2019 10:17 PM

Those are lyrics by Bernstein. Sondheim has said he thought Bernstein's lyrics were not very good.

by Anonymousreply 256November 11, 2019 11:23 PM

[quote]That Victoria Clark performance of "In Buddy's Eyes" is really extraordinary.

I agree, and sorry, but I think she's better than Barbara Cook. Of course, she had the advantage of a longer rehearsal period than Cook, who had, what, two days?

by Anonymousreply 257November 11, 2019 11:32 PM

Well, now it's official...

Toot..

Toot..

TOOTSIE....

Goodbye.

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by Anonymousreply 258November 12, 2019 1:21 AM

Well, now it's official...

Toot..

Toot..

TOOTSIE....

Goodbye.

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by Anonymousreply 259November 12, 2019 1:22 AM

Cook talks about that in the documentary, r257, not having ample time to explore.

by Anonymousreply 260November 12, 2019 1:28 AM

Couple of thoughts on the PBS KIng and I: I saw the tour here in San Francisco and enjoyed it (we also got the cut-down boat in the opening since it played in a proscenium house). *Some*thing was wrong with Anna's skirt in the first palace scene in this production, though. It looked flat (color-wise) and cheap and too short; I don't know why it was so distracting to me, but it was. And her wig throughout looked like it was carved out of brown styrofoam, it was so tightly curled and set. I thought Ken W was basically fine; he may have been shouty and broad, but his diction had improved since the CD was recorded. The Prince Chulalongkorn was awful; Ruthie Ann Miles (bless...) was fantastic. So was The Small House of Uncle Thomas, always the best part of the show, I think. (But, man, I cannot imagine having to sit onstage and watch that 15-minute spectacle every night as Anna, the King and several others have to do. After about the 50th time I'd be eating my head from boredom, no matter the spectacle.)

Has there always been just a couple of lines of dialog for Tuptim and Lun Tha before they launch into We Kiss In a Shadow? The song seems to come out of nowhere (Lun Tha was rather wooden, but I was hypnotized by his hair). And I always forget that Shall We Dance? is so short, even with an interrupted coda. But because the remainder of the show is a bit of a slog (to me), I turned it off after the coda, so I missed the misguided R&H tribute (happily!).

by Anonymousreply 261November 12, 2019 1:31 AM

RENT's Anthony gets same-sex married.

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by Anonymousreply 262November 12, 2019 1:38 AM

Anthony Rapp, that is.

Anyone else experiencing DL glitchiness tonight?

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by Anonymousreply 263November 12, 2019 1:41 AM

I just started experiencing glitchiness. Photo previews don't appear.

by Anonymousreply 264November 12, 2019 1:58 AM

[quote] Anthony Rapp, that is.

The Anthony Rapp that "Me Too'ed" Kevin Spacey!

by Anonymousreply 265November 12, 2019 2:12 AM

If they bring over the NT FOLLIES (and improve the Loveland physical production + some of the costumes), Vicki Clark should play Sally opposite Janie Dee as Phyllis.

by Anonymousreply 266November 12, 2019 2:20 AM

I think Victoria Clark is more interested in directing shows than acting in them lately, though she hasn't given that up.

She was so wonderful in LADY IN THE DARK.

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by Anonymousreply 267November 12, 2019 2:29 AM

"...the groundbreaking psychological thriller Lady in the Dark"????

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by Anonymousreply 268November 12, 2019 2:35 AM

Vicki Clark was good on "Buddy's Eyes" but Sada Thompson reinterpreted the song and gave it new meaning.

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by Anonymousreply 269November 12, 2019 2:39 AM

Sada Thompson is busy with the CHARLIE'S ANGELS reboot.

by Anonymousreply 270November 12, 2019 2:42 AM

Miss Friedman....

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by Anonymousreply 271November 12, 2019 2:47 AM

Something about.....

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by Anonymousreply 272November 12, 2019 2:51 AM

Why is Mrs. Lovett in a scene with poor Jud?

by Anonymousreply 273November 12, 2019 3:00 AM

Maria Friedman, pfffffft. She was a second rate Ute Lemper.

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by Anonymousreply 274November 12, 2019 3:20 AM

Remember when Maria Friedman announced on TV that she was playing Sally in the Kennedy Center FOLLIES?

by Anonymousreply 275November 12, 2019 3:39 AM

R210 AGREED.

by Anonymousreply 276November 12, 2019 3:45 AM

Ann

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by Anonymousreply 277November 12, 2019 2:41 PM

I have that Ann Sothern "Lady in the Dark", and she is fabulous in it! Also great are Carleton Carpenter in the Danny Kaye role, probably the first gay role in a major musical and James Daly, Tyne and Tim's father, as one of the other important men characters in the show. It's cut down into 80 minutes, and the producer insisted on having dances for his team of dancers under contract, but when one of them is Bambi Linn, the original Louise from "Carousel" and the movie Dream Laurey from "Oklahoma!", it's a pleasure. I saw Victoria Clark do "Lady in the Dark" recently, and she was very good, but she could't really pull off the glamour part of the character that came quite easily to Sothern. Plus Sothern does one of the best and sexiest "Saga of Jenny" I've ever seen. Actually so does Lynn Redgrave in one of those Sylvia Fine Kaye musical specials from the 80s, too.

by Anonymousreply 278November 12, 2019 4:49 PM

Here's Lynn Redgrave doing "Jenny".

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by Anonymousreply 279November 12, 2019 4:56 PM

I have always loved Georgia Brown's "Jenny". It's so suavely 1960s and Georgia is a bit bitchy in telling us about Jenny.

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by Anonymousreply 280November 12, 2019 5:10 PM

And then there's Ginger's version, which is . . . colorful.

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by Anonymousreply 281November 12, 2019 5:17 PM

r207 I thought the 96 revival was better acted, more beautiful and sexier. Sher's was pretty sterile and O'Hara was her usual impeccable but somewhat bloodless self. To each his own.

by Anonymousreply 282November 12, 2019 5:17 PM

I thought Lou Diamond Phillips was quite good as the King; I actually saw Faith Prince, who was very good and found some unexpected humor in her Anna. I actually liked her more there than in her over-praised Adelaide. I saw Hoon Lee and thought he was actually the best since Yul Brynner, opposite Kelli's very good, but very "correct" Anna. I saw Danie Dae Kim who was pretty good opposite Marin Mazzie, who was just wonderful, really playing for keeps with very high stakes. She did a terrific "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You" as well. Other Anna sI saw were Constance Towers, very underwhelming, and Angela Lansbury, quite good, who was a short-term replacement when Brynner went on vacation and they needed a star to fill in for one of the two stars, opposite a very good Michael Kermoyan.

by Anonymousreply 283November 12, 2019 5:38 PM

"Shall we screech.....?"

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by Anonymousreply 284November 12, 2019 5:47 PM

Anna is actually written in a fairly small range, so Stritchy certainly must have had the notes. What she did with them was another story!

by Anonymousreply 285November 12, 2019 5:49 PM

R285 I'll drink to that!

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by Anonymousreply 286November 12, 2019 5:51 PM

Kelli has such a lovely voice, but I sat there thinking of Gertie with half the voice but double the star quality.

by Anonymousreply 287November 12, 2019 6:01 PM

I remember really liking the Constance Towers-Yul Brynner production in 1977. Maybe my memories of Constance Towers are inflated. Nevertheless, I think they are both really good here in this "Shall We Dance" from the MDA Telethon, especially that dialogue scene before he grabs her waist. Brynner is still so sexy here, looking great in his early 50s.

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by Anonymousreply 288November 12, 2019 6:01 PM

Just watched American Son on Netflix. What a steaming pile of shit. Was Kerry Washington as awful onstage as she is in the film?

by Anonymousreply 289November 12, 2019 6:07 PM

Victoria Clark might be the best Sally I've seen. Granted, I never got to see Dorothy Collins, who was apparently definitive (along with the rest of that production). She really did move me in the role, which no one else has done. Sally is incredibly unlikable and borderline psychotic, so it's sorta hard to feel for her. She's the only Sally I actually liked and rooted for. I've still never found a Ben I liked, so I'm guessing that's just a horribly written role. Phyllis and Buddy are the two characters who have the most meat on their bones. I'd assume those are a joy to play, but Sally and Ben are tricky.

by Anonymousreply 290November 12, 2019 6:13 PM

R287 I saw Stefanie Powers as Mrs. Anna at the Pantages, and the best thing I can say about her is that her singing sounded exactly like Gertrude Lawrence on the cast album. It makes me wonder how her Margo Channing was.

by Anonymousreply 291November 12, 2019 6:13 PM

I saw Faith Prince in The King & I as well and I didn't like her (and I've liked her in everything). It was like she was treating everything she said as a punchline.

Think of Megan Mullally as Karen Walker playing Anna in The King & I and you won't be far off from the performance that Faith Prince gave.

by Anonymousreply 292November 12, 2019 6:16 PM

I have been on DL for over 20 years, and have posted my Yul Brynner story before, so forgive me if you've read it at some point:

Back in 1983, the touring company of THE KING AND I was coming to the Fox Theatre in St Louis. With Yul Brynner (and his wife at the time, Kathy Lee). My father, who knew how much I loved this musical - and who considered himself an expert in obtaining tickets of all types - somehow managed to score two tickets in the first row, on the aisle. They were right on the edge of the orchestra pit! (To this day I have no idea how he got these).

Anyway, at the time everyone already knew about Brynner's illness and that he was being treated for lung cancer, so I decided to bring a bouquet of flowers along, thinking that I would somehow get an usher to take them backstage at the end of the show. It was the closest I have ever been to a stage performance, especially in a huge venue like the Fox, this lavish movie palace that seats something like 4500.

The performance was wonderful (especially with the orchestra right at my feet!) but a few times it was clear that Brynner was a little short of breath, esp during the "Shall We Dance?" sequence. In the scene where he insists that Anna's head be lower than his, he was wearing one of those open jackets over his bare chest, and as he lowered himself to the floor, I could see black lines on his chest indicating where he had gotten, or was still getting, radiation treatments.

So at the curtain call, there was a thunderous standing ovation immediately, and I was bawling like a baby. There were no ushers around, so at the spur of the moment I got the attention of one of the orchestra members, shoved the bouquet at him, and said, "Can you get these backstage?" and the guy very kindly took them. When Brynner came out for his curtain call, the place went NUTS, and to my amazement the orchestra guy tossed the bouquet onstage - and it landed right at Brynner's feet!! Without blinking an eye, he looked down, swooped the flowers up, and held them aloft over his head while the crowd went absolutely crazy.

Yul Brynner died a little over a year later. It has been over 36 years since this happened, and I have been fortunate enough to have seen many great shows since then, but I have NEVER forgotten this moment, and was grateful to my father (who was thrilled to hear this story) until the day he died. It was one of the best moments of my life.

by Anonymousreply 293November 12, 2019 6:18 PM

R290 That's the great thing about "Follies". You initially think on first time viewing that Sally is the sweet, innocent lovable housewife/mother and that Phyllis is the snooty society bitch. But as you get to see who they are (and their husbands), you really root for Phyllis, so by the time she sings "Could I Leave You?", she really becomes the one of the foursome you root for. I certainly wouldn't think Dorothy Collins, Barbara Cook, Judith Ivey, Victoria Clark or Bernadette Peters to be as manipulatively kray-kray (Imelda Staunton is another story.....) at first glance, but that's the magic of the show if you get past the depressing aspect of the plot. I saw four different productions live, and each time, my friends and relatives individually told me that they loved the music but it made them feel like they've just witnessed four people commit suicide in public.

I'm wondering if anybody out there saw Selma Diamond play Hattie in a stock production in the 1970's. I believe that Vivian Blaine might have been Phyllis in that production, having already been Joanne in "Company" at the end of the run.

by Anonymousreply 294November 12, 2019 6:19 PM

I only just realised after watching R279's clip of Lynn Redgrave that Sondheim's 'The Story of Lucy and Jessie' is a pastiche (a loving tribute?) to 'The Saga Of Jenny'.

by Anonymousreply 295November 12, 2019 6:20 PM

pastiche of, I should have said.

by Anonymousreply 296November 12, 2019 6:21 PM

R293 I've never read that story before, and wow, all I can say is that's one of the greatest theatrical stories I've heard. If I had been you, I would have been shivering in my shoes just like Mrs. Anna, and my whole body would have quivered into near convulsions.

by Anonymousreply 297November 12, 2019 6:22 PM

Phyllis is a cold bitch at first glance, but that's the great part about the show. She ends up being the sanest one of the four leads by the end. You believe she'll carry on with or without Ben and will be just fine. The others...well, who knows what they'll do. I expect Sally to die of a pill overdose before 55. Maybe Ben will drink himself to death or something.

Christ, Follies really is depressing. No wonder Phyllis ends up being the audience favorite. She's the only light at the end of the tunnel all night. She actually has some semblance of a character arc.

by Anonymousreply 298November 12, 2019 6:32 PM

It was an amazing experience, R297, thanks to that orchestra member who decided to toss those flowers onstage with that perfect aim. I forgot to mention that the other ticket was my mother's - she actually thought it was kind of stupid for me to bring those flowers along, but I assured her I'd get them to an usher after the show. But she was every bit as thrilled as I was when it happened. And here I am, all these years later, remembering that same feeling.

by Anonymousreply 299November 12, 2019 6:32 PM

R299 Oh honey, you made me cry

by Anonymousreply 300November 12, 2019 7:21 PM

r292 that's pretty unfair. It's what I think we were afraid Faith would do but it's not at all what she actually did.

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by Anonymousreply 301November 12, 2019 8:18 PM

I can't even imagine hearing Elaine Stritch croaking out the score of "The King and I," however limited the role's vocal range is.

by Anonymousreply 302November 12, 2019 8:29 PM

I couldn't imagine Stritch pretending to like kids.

by Anonymousreply 303November 12, 2019 8:42 PM

Oh, R293 - what a lovely post. Much love to you.

by Anonymousreply 304November 12, 2019 8:48 PM

Great story, R293!

More generally now: Many years ago, I saw a King and I with Michael Kermoyan as the Kralahome. The character typically wears just a skirt, which probably has some technical term I'm not familiar with. And I have to say that the guy looked really good shirtless.

At least, that's how I remember it. (I was very young.)

by Anonymousreply 305November 12, 2019 8:56 PM

[quote]I couldn't imagine Stritch pretending to like kids.

Or dominant men.

by Anonymousreply 306November 12, 2019 9:44 PM

She auditioned her little heart out and failed to get the role.

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by Anonymousreply 307November 13, 2019 1:58 AM

I liked Faith's performance in THE KING AND I when I saw it live, but in that clip above, she's even better than I remembered.

by Anonymousreply 308November 13, 2019 3:08 AM

Dolores Gray also played Mrs Anna, at the MUNY, I think. She included "Shall We Dance" as part of a medley on a live album.

by Anonymousreply 309November 13, 2019 5:47 AM

Was it Dolores or her mother who slapped Michael Kidd during "Destry Rides Again"? I seem to believe that they didn't really get along too well with co-star Andy Griffith as well. Any stories with more detail? I love the CD - fun score and Dolores is great and Andy very good, too. Encore should do it.

by Anonymousreply 310November 13, 2019 6:28 AM

There's a better chance Encores will do DESTRY RIDES AGAIN now that Viertel is gone. He hates that show.

by Anonymousreply 311November 13, 2019 2:37 PM

Any word on City Center's EVITA?

by Anonymousreply 312November 13, 2019 4:07 PM

Am seeing EVITA tonight. Word of mouth on the adult EVITA is very strong: hope she lives up to it.

I have no idea how fully staged/produced this version will be.

by Anonymousreply 313November 13, 2019 4:16 PM

"Word of mouth on the adult EVITA is very strong"

It's true. Here is her official Playbill photo.

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by Anonymousreply 314November 13, 2019 4:20 PM

[quote]Any word on City Center's EVITA?

The reviews should be out tonight, I have tickets for Saturday the16th looking forward to seeing it.

by Anonymousreply 315November 13, 2019 6:13 PM

Does Imelda Staunton plan on playing/braying every major female role in the musical theater canon?

When will we see her play the title roles in "Annie" and "Matilda"?

by Anonymousreply 316November 13, 2019 7:28 PM

Imelda has a solid singing voice.

by Anonymousreply 317November 13, 2019 7:29 PM

There is a "scrappiness" in everything Staunton plays that I find annoying, She can sing well, but I find her unpleasant to watch, even in the Downton Abbey movie.

by Anonymousreply 318November 13, 2019 8:16 PM

^ She brayed lots in Virginia Woolf

by Anonymousreply 319November 14, 2019 1:23 AM

She did NOT....bray!!!

by Anonymousreply 320November 14, 2019 1:58 AM

Sooooo.... EVITA tonight, premiere gala performance at City Center. Spoiler alert, so if you don't want to know, don't read.

Gird your loins, kids, because people are going to be talking about this production. A LOT.

I liked it, didn't love it. My big takeaway: Solea Pfeiffer is a star, a big one. Or soon to be one. She is by far the best thing about this production, totally inhabiting the mature Eva Peron and making the role her own. (Nothing like Patti, so legendary but so different.) I loved her vocals, with the exception of "A New Argentina" which felt very strident and thin.

Really liked Enrique Acevedo as Juan Perón and Philip Hernandez as Magaldi, strong singers who bring an original take to those roles. I didn't get Jason Gotay's Che. I don't understand the concept behind this character (who is clearly not Che Guevara), dressing and behaving anachronistically. I enjoyed Gotay very much in CALL ME MADAME at Encores, but I think he's miscast here vocally and physically.

There are a lot of Big New Directorial Ideas here that I admire but that don't really come off, including the set, the choreography, and the use of the Younger Eva as recurring symbol--here she is again, trudging around with her damn suitcase. Oy.

by Anonymousreply 321November 14, 2019 2:39 AM

I meant to include the photo....

Pfeiffer is gorgeous to watch onstage. How tall is she?

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by Anonymousreply 322November 14, 2019 2:42 AM

Because there is so much dreck in our theater lives, we often need to be reminded of the great performances.

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by Anonymousreply 323November 14, 2019 2:54 AM

R321. There were no spoilers in your post at all. Did you mean to include them, but forgot? What were the new directorial choices? It has been years since I've seen or heard the show, but isn't the woman with the suitcase one of Peron's former lovers? Or am i misremembering that from the original concept album?

by Anonymousreply 324November 14, 2019 3:18 AM

R 323,Wonderful performance. But we still need to be reminded of Broadway's biggest bomb castings in order to appreciate the dreck. Here is one of the biggest disaster castings.

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by Anonymousreply 325November 14, 2019 3:19 AM

I just watched the Playbill "sneak preview" clip of Evita. So they're refashioning this, too, as a story about "a strong feminist woman"?!? Will the nonsense never end?@? And why did they interview every cast member except the actor who is playing Juan Peron?

by Anonymousreply 326November 14, 2019 3:25 AM

I saw EVITA tonight. For putting it together in 10 days, its well done. There's a lot of ideas that if they had more time, might become something. The second act plays better than the first in this production. The choreography tries to be "authentic" but its mostly boring. The guy singing Che sang the shit out of it. Adult Evita was good, could potentially be great. Imogene LLoyd Webber was there. Is this transferring?

by Anonymousreply 327November 14, 2019 4:38 AM

Well, I think it's fair to say that the actual Evita was a strong, feminist woman. An autocratic dictator and a crook, but a strong feminist woman.

I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell that the Encores! EVITA will transfer to Broadway, even if it's brilliant. (I haven't seen it.)

by Anonymousreply 328November 14, 2019 5:07 AM

I saw A CHRISTMAS CAROL if anyone gives a shit. I was bored out of my mind. They give you mandarins and Tate cookies. Is this the new trend? You're also immersed in their production at one point. But it was the best part. There was a handsome white guy in the chorus playing multiple small parts but for some reason they had a basic black boy playing Scrooge's nephew. Why? It's just so stupid. Those two need to switch parts. I thought I was seeing the Alan Menken version. I'm seeing EVITA tonight.

by Anonymousreply 329November 14, 2019 11:23 AM

The idea that an autocratic dictator and a crook could also be a strong feminist is a bit crazy.

But to be fair, not as crazy as the idea that a woman who uses her appearance and sexual favors to gain power could be a strong feminist.

I guess I am forgetting all the women Eva Peron put into power, the measures to protect women from domistic violence, her efforts to support education for young women. Oh, wait, I did not forget them---they did not exist.

by Anonymousreply 330November 14, 2019 11:32 AM

Welcome to "woke" musical theater, where every woman is a strong, independent pillar of courage and determination. After all, look what they did to " King Kong." I just wonder if future productions will have to eliminate certain songs ( " As Long as He Needs Me," etc) in order not to offend the woke generation, or to make every show have some element of women's struggle for equality and independence.

by Anonymousreply 331November 14, 2019 12:20 PM

[quote]r329 they had a basic black boy playing Scrooge's nephew. Why? It's just so stupid. Those two need to switch parts.

Actually, It's time you stop telling black people what to do.

by Anonymousreply 332November 14, 2019 2:30 PM

[quote]Actually, It's time you stop telling black people what to do.

He's not telling black people what to do, he's suggesting what directors and casting directors should and should not do. Of course, people of color have been cast in certain roles in A CHRISTMAS CAROL (and other shows) because of the unofficial quota system. At least, some of them have. This unknown person playing Scrooge's nephew has few credits and doesn't have any kind of a name, like La Chanze does.

by Anonymousreply 333November 14, 2019 6:24 PM

Evita wasn't a strong feminist. She used sex to get where she wanted to go. That's not feminism.

by Anonymousreply 334November 14, 2019 7:12 PM

I know The King and I is never performed in Thailand because it's considered sacrilegious. Is Evita performed very often in Argentina?

by Anonymousreply 335November 14, 2019 7:36 PM

[quote]I know The King and I is never performed in Thailand because it's considered sacrilegious.

Because Mrs. Anna was a liar. She wasn't the only teacher in the King's court and he didn't fall in love with her.

by Anonymousreply 336November 14, 2019 7:38 PM

[quote]I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell that the Encores! EVITA will transfer to Broadway, even if it's brilliant.

All the Encores! shows are short run with talented no name or up and coming performers, none of the shows are new which is why they are "Encores". They are usually excellent productions and usually sell out their short run.

by Anonymousreply 337November 14, 2019 7:57 PM

[quote]All the Encores! shows are short run with talented no name or up and coming performers, none of the shows are new which is why they are "Encores". They are usually excellent productions and usually sell out their short run.

That's not the way it started out though. In past decades, they've used Nathan Lane, Patti LuPone, Tyne Daly, Faith Prince, Vanessa Williams, Bebe Neuwirth, AnnE Hathway, etc

It used to be that they would use well known stars to draw people in to hear scores that weren't as popular.

by Anonymousreply 338November 14, 2019 8:01 PM

Evita is not an Encores production.

by Anonymousreply 339November 14, 2019 8:23 PM

[quote] I know The King and I is never performed in Thailand because it's considered sacrilegious. Is Evita performed very often in Argentina?

I'm told that it has NEVER been performed in Argentina. There is a home-grown Eva Peron musical that is apparently a much more flattering depiction.

by Anonymousreply 340November 14, 2019 8:51 PM

I think making a woman who used flattery and fucking to get ahead a feminist would be very funny. I guess Lady Macbeth was in her own way a feminist as well.

by Anonymousreply 341November 14, 2019 8:57 PM

Lisita!

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by Anonymousreply 342November 14, 2019 9:14 PM

Just saw Lightening Thief. Can some one please explain how this piece of dreck has gotten to Broadway? The sound was awful which didn't help the singing at all and couldn't understand any of the lyrics. Bad direction and choreography. I know it started as a Theatre Works tour...but seriously?????

by Anonymousreply 343November 14, 2019 10:07 PM

[quote]Lightening Thief

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 344November 14, 2019 11:28 PM

No one's mentioned this? I figured this would make the Theatre Gossip thread EXPLODE!

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by Anonymousreply 345November 14, 2019 11:29 PM

Eh, they’ll just fuck it up.

by Anonymousreply 346November 14, 2019 11:41 PM

Just spare us Shirley MacLaine doing I'M STILL HERE in it, and it might be okay.

by Anonymousreply 347November 14, 2019 11:48 PM

MacLaine might be a decent Hattie. Or Liza!

by Anonymousreply 348November 15, 2019 12:59 AM

Are they casting age appropriate with actual 50-somethings or will they be getting Meryl Streep as Sally or Phyllis? Or both and double her Oscar chances?

Can Julianne Moore sing at all? I keep picturing her as Sally. Guess it fits in with all those sad, deranged housewives she's used to playing.

by Anonymousreply 349November 15, 2019 1:00 AM

Idina Menzel for Phyllis!

by Anonymousreply 350November 15, 2019 1:02 AM

Menzel as a former showgirl turned trophy wife? On what planet?

by Anonymousreply 351November 15, 2019 1:06 AM

Faye for ... something. (Better start up those voice lessons again.)

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by Anonymousreply 352November 15, 2019 1:09 AM

The only person with the experience needed for such a film.

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by Anonymousreply 353November 15, 2019 1:29 AM

Is the movie version of "Follies" going to be filmed over 20 years, like the film adaptation of "Merrily We Roll Along," so that the same actors can play both the young and middle-aged versions of the four main characters?

by Anonymousreply 354November 15, 2019 2:05 AM

^ No it is not. Because it is a fucking stupid idea, and is not needed to convey the themes of the show.

by Anonymousreply 355November 15, 2019 2:29 AM

Kirstie Alley as Carlotta. Seriously. Does she sing?

by Anonymousreply 356November 15, 2019 3:40 AM

Fat ladies don't always sing, R356.

by Anonymousreply 357November 15, 2019 3:42 AM

OT: but I loved Kirstie Alley's series FAT ACTRESS. It was really funny, and she was superb.

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by Anonymousreply 358November 15, 2019 4:20 AM

Just got back from EVITA. You know, if I didn't know the story I wouldn't know what the hell was going on. A guy sitting behind me had to explain to his friend because at intermission she was completely lost. I liked everyone but Gotay. He is too weak for this role. No anger or intensity. I like the whole young Eva/older Eva thing. A lot of modern acting and pop inflections in the singing I didn't care for. The girl playing grown Evita is a hot spicy Latina FINALLY. Fiery. Nice pretty voice. My only complaint is that she could not convey any vulnerability or tenderness once she was sick and dying. Other than that, I think she could be the best to ever do it. The orchestra sounded weak too. It sounded low and slow. When I was leaving I heard an older Jewish lady say she thought the singing was extraordinary and that the cast took it to another level. She thinks it should go to Broadway.

by Anonymousreply 359November 15, 2019 5:14 AM

Diana Rigg and Rachael Stirling for FOLLIES!

by Anonymousreply 360November 15, 2019 6:06 AM

Is there a hope in hell that Cooke will use any of the NT cast? I'd love Josephine Bairstow to recreate her Heidi.

by Anonymousreply 361November 15, 2019 6:07 AM

[quote]Is there a hope in hell that Cooke will use any of the NT cast?

Ideally not, although it sounds like, the way the financing is set up, that it will probably film in England. I hope they'll be smart enough to get some genuine movie star glamour in there, though. Josephine Barstow as Heidi is fine, although I wouldn't be at all surprised if "One More Kiss" is deemed unnecessary and cut.

by Anonymousreply 362November 15, 2019 8:24 AM

I hope they don't jettison "One More Kiss." I wouldn't mind if they lost "Rain on the Roof" and "Ah! Paris" (and yes, I know that would ruin the montage and its significance etc.)

by Anonymousreply 363November 15, 2019 8:28 AM

I love "Ah, Paris!" But to get a starry Hattie type, they probably need to let "Broadway Baby" be a solo, rather than part of the montage.

by Anonymousreply 364November 15, 2019 8:43 AM

So who are some age appropriate movie names with real singing and/or dancing skills? Kate Winslet can sing, at least in a pop way.

by Anonymousreply 365November 15, 2019 8:54 AM

Actually, they could quite easily cast the leads from the British Empire: Kate Winslet, CZJ, Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor,

by Anonymousreply 366November 15, 2019 8:58 AM

Justin Timberlake has aged in such a way that he wouldn't look odd next to Kate Winslet. It would be nice to see a dancing Buddy. (I've only seen Timberlake in "The Social Network," admittedly.)

by Anonymousreply 367November 15, 2019 9:00 AM

Either Michelle Pfeiffer and Renee Zellweger could be Phyllis, though neither is particularly tall.

Bernadette could be Solange, and Patti could be Carlotta. She'd need to lose about twenty pounds, though.

by Anonymousreply 368November 15, 2019 9:14 AM

[quote]Actually, they could quite easily cast the leads from the British Empire: Kate Winslet, CZJ, Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor

Since the characters are all Americans, why would they do that? One or two, sure, but all of the leads?

by Anonymousreply 369November 15, 2019 9:16 AM

[Quote] Since the characters are all Americans, why would they do that? One or two, sure, but all of the leads?

Well, three of those have movie musical pedigree. Nicole Kidman is probably in with a shot for Phyllis, as well.

by Anonymousreply 370November 15, 2019 9:18 AM

I wonder if they'd try to star cast the young versions of the leads as insurance. It's not like FOLLIES has great name value as a property.

by Anonymousreply 371November 15, 2019 9:21 AM

That would kind of be a bait-and-switch, r371, since the young versions don't have all that much to do. No point in getting Harry Styles' fans in to see him sing "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow" with Demi Lovato.

by Anonymousreply 372November 15, 2019 9:28 AM

No point? Once you have their money...

by Anonymousreply 373November 15, 2019 9:30 AM

Did Harry Styles not play a small role in a Spielberg movie? Casting a name in a small part is hardly unheard of or a bad idea.

by Anonymousreply 374November 15, 2019 9:31 AM

Well, there goes this thread.

by Anonymousreply 375November 15, 2019 9:50 AM

R375 Yup. It's a mental disease with these people. Why don't y'all just start FOLLIES only threads. Y'all can keep jerking off to the memories, discussing the same things over and over and over and over AGAIN. UGH.

by Anonymousreply 376November 15, 2019 10:35 AM

I know that we, as a collective, tend to obsess about Follies -- and it can get tiresome -- but I pity those who are not immune to its charms and sadness. Everything wonderful and sad about life in that musical.

by Anonymousreply 377November 15, 2019 1:45 PM

Not sure if you actually meant that you "pity those who are not immune" r377.

by Anonymousreply 378November 15, 2019 1:54 PM

There IS a separate thread about the "Follies" movie.

by Anonymousreply 379November 15, 2019 1:54 PM

Since it's BBC, I say Maggie Smith for Phyllis, Vanessa Redgrave for Sally, Glenda Jackson for Hattie and Sian Phillips for Carlotta.

by Anonymousreply 380November 15, 2019 2:21 PM

With that cast, R380, they might as well cast Olivia de Havilland as Stella.

by Anonymousreply 381November 15, 2019 2:26 PM

I meant to say I pity those who ARE immune. Thanks for catching the typo.

by Anonymousreply 382November 15, 2019 2:29 PM

R381 And the ghost of Joan Fontaine as one of the "Follies" ghosts.....

by Anonymousreply 383November 15, 2019 3:03 PM

Why are there no Sunday performances for "My Name Is Lucy Barton"? Laura Linney can only manage 7 shows a week??? Wait until Mary Louise hears about this. She'll demand Sundays off for "How I Learned To Drive" and do only 7 shows a week, too.

by Anonymousreply 384November 15, 2019 3:58 PM

FOLLIES is about (among other things) a very AMERICAN style of show business that existed during the first half of the 20th century. If the cast and/or production staff of the movie version are all Brits, I think that could harm the style of the movie.

by Anonymousreply 385November 15, 2019 4:52 PM

And yet, the NT production was the best major production since the original...

by Anonymousreply 386November 15, 2019 4:59 PM

R386, even if one agrees with that, some of the style was off, not to mention the accents, and we wouldn't want that for a movie version. Of course, they REALLY should have made the movie 40 years ago, regardless of who's going to make it.

by Anonymousreply 387November 15, 2019 5:36 PM

What they should have done was the film the original production in a similar fashio to LIZA WITH A Z.

by Anonymousreply 388November 15, 2019 5:40 PM

*fashion.

by Anonymousreply 389November 15, 2019 5:40 PM

[quote]What they should have done was the film the original production in a similar fashio to LIZA WITH A Z.

Absolutely. That probably never entered their minds, but also, as we know, union rules are prohibitive for that sort of thing. Why is why most of the video versions of Broadway musicals that are show as Fathom events, etc. are from London.

by Anonymousreply 390November 15, 2019 5:44 PM

Bandstand was American. What kind of contract did they have?

by Anonymousreply 391November 15, 2019 5:48 PM

AnnE Hathaway as Phyllis - Sheridan Smith as Sally in F*O*L*L*I*E*S

with Mariah Carey as Carlotta and Jennifer Holiday as Stella

by Anonymousreply 392November 15, 2019 5:49 PM

I wonder if they ever explored updating FOLLIES: remaining true to the 4 main characters and their dynamics (but updating their names: eg, no woman under 100 is named Phyllis). Make them 50-ish people in the present day, nostalgic for their youth in the early 90s.

They wouldn't have been vaudevillians--perhaps they all met doing a skit comedy show, or something for MTV, along with for other performers of the same vintage. (Hattie and Carlotta as emo-rock girls, etc.) They're all assembed for a 25-year-reunion. A lot of the score could be revitalized with new, more contemporary arrangements. A little hip-hop?

Gen-Xers and older millennials LOVE 90s nostalgia--look at the FRIENDS phenomenon.

by Anonymousreply 393November 15, 2019 5:52 PM

Deborah Cox will provide vocals for Miss Mariah Carey.

by Anonymousreply 394November 15, 2019 5:53 PM

[Quote] nostalgic for their youth in the early 90s.

I can picture it now: "Waiting For the Girls Upstairs" in a New Jack Swing arrangement.

by Anonymousreply 395November 15, 2019 5:54 PM

[Quote] nostalgic for their youth in the early 90s.

I can picture it now: "Waiting For the Girls Upstairs" in a New Jack Swing arrangement.

by Anonymousreply 396November 15, 2019 5:54 PM

I mean, "I'm Still Here" was always kind of dying to be a rap, really. Just update the references.

by Anonymousreply 397November 15, 2019 5:55 PM

I'd rather they went country. Put some fiddle under "Could I Leave You."

by Anonymousreply 398November 15, 2019 5:57 PM

Yo dawg, I got through Shirley Temple, and I do mean tha-roooooo, and I am still fucking here!

by Anonymousreply 399November 15, 2019 5:57 PM

Either Ben or Buddy is a POC, and possibly bisexual. It would add layers.

by Anonymousreply 400November 15, 2019 6:04 PM

Clarke Peters alread played Ben in London years ago.

by Anonymousreply 401November 15, 2019 6:08 PM

I just want people who are right for the roles and can sing them. I know that's too much to ask for from Hollywood.

I'm sure at least two of the 4 leads will have to be "star cast." Phyllis is an easy sing, so someone like Kidman or Blanchett could be fantastic. Even Charlize Theron? It all depends on how close they're going to cast to the actual character ages. Robert Downey Jr would be a great Buddy.

by Anonymousreply 402November 15, 2019 6:20 PM

While I think Pfeiffer could do well with Phyllis, I don't want any of the lead to be in their 60s.

by Anonymousreply 403November 15, 2019 6:22 PM

I'd be shocked if Streep wasn't in this in some way. I just pray it's as a smaller role like Hattie or Stella. I want the leads cast in their late 40's/early 50's.

by Anonymousreply 404November 15, 2019 6:27 PM

Would DL be against Luke Evans?

by Anonymousreply 405November 15, 2019 6:30 PM

I think we found our Carlotta!

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by Anonymousreply 406November 15, 2019 6:32 PM

Madonna is actually the right age for some of the older roles, but since she's not amusing or fun to watch on screen, why bother? With her vanity, she'd insist on playing young Phyllis.

by Anonymousreply 407November 15, 2019 6:41 PM

I don't think I'm quite old enough for Young Heidi, but maybe with the right makeup ...

by Anonymousreply 408November 15, 2019 6:47 PM

Rene Z for Sally, CZJ for Young Sally!

by Anonymousreply 409November 15, 2019 8:00 PM

What did Alexis Smith, Dorothy Collins, Yvonne De Carlo, and Fifi d'Orsay have in common?

by Anonymousreply 410November 15, 2019 8:17 PM

Foreigners have always been stealing our parts!?!

by Anonymousreply 411November 15, 2019 8:34 PM

Jake and Ryan will be cast.

by Anonymousreply 412November 15, 2019 9:00 PM

John McMartin was in his 30s when he played Ben, right?

by Anonymousreply 413November 15, 2019 9:01 PM

McMartin was in his early 40s in 1971.

by Anonymousreply 414November 15, 2019 9:19 PM

Nobody cares about the men in FOLLIES!

by Anonymousreply 415November 15, 2019 9:21 PM

I cared about them!

by Anonymousreply 416November 15, 2019 9:25 PM

Lin Manuel-Miranda *IS* Buddy. Benedict Cumberbatch *STUNS* as Ben.

Ben Whishaw *is* Carlotta.

by Anonymousreply 417November 15, 2019 10:57 PM

I'M Carlotta!

by Anonymousreply 418November 15, 2019 11:04 PM

Toni Collette for Phyllis and Emily Blunt for Sally?

by Anonymousreply 419November 15, 2019 11:07 PM

Cloris Leachman for Phyllis. She has experience.

by Anonymousreply 420November 15, 2019 11:22 PM

Toni Collette for Phyllis? Are you insane? She can't play that kind of Park Ave polished elegance. Kristin Scott Thomas would be great, even if she is 60 rather than 50.

by Anonymousreply 421November 15, 2019 11:30 PM

[quote]Cloris Leachman for Phyllis. She has experience.

After the shit fit that she threw during Young Frankenstein on Broadway. No chance in hell.

by Anonymousreply 422November 15, 2019 11:33 PM

Cate Blanchett for Phyllis (if she can sing it).

by Anonymousreply 423November 15, 2019 11:46 PM

I think it's a safe assumption that she has Alexis' range, r423.

by Anonymousreply 424November 16, 2019 12:05 AM

R393, what a concept!

Carlotta can be "Carl," who was a star as an emo boy in the 80s, but has now transitioned and is a sexy trans siren. No one is name "Hattie" anymore, either. Since she is a little older than the others, perhaps she's "Kathy!," who was a teen pop sensation in the 1960s a la Lesley Gore. Instead of the Whitmans, we have Terry and Judy, who were a teen dance sensation like Bobby and Sissy. Stella and Heidi were Gold Diggers on the Dean Martin Show. And instead of appearing in a "Follies," Brittany (née Phyllis) and Sally were back up dancers on the earliest MTV videos.

It will be fabulous! No one will like it and no one will go to see it, but it will be fabulous!

by Anonymousreply 425November 16, 2019 12:12 AM

Cyndi Lauper as Phyllis (she can play her like a Queens version of Brooklynite Barbara Stanwyck) or as Carlotta

Paul McCartney as Roscoe

by Anonymousreply 426November 16, 2019 12:20 AM

Insiders say "Tootsie" was a Broadway flop because theater is fickle (Riedel's column):

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by Anonymousreply 427November 16, 2019 12:44 AM

Huh. Should I watch Dick Cavett?

The Dick Cavett Show

TONIGHT, 6:00 PM ON KTTVDT4 11.4, 30 MIN 1990

Janet Hubert

Janet Hubert talks about "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," her Broadway background, and standing up for her community...

by Anonymousreply 428November 16, 2019 1:03 AM

"I'm a fighter, I'm very much a fighter."

by Anonymousreply 429November 16, 2019 1:23 AM

[quote]Cate Blanchett for Phyllis (if she can sing it).

She doesn't have to sing it. That's what autotune is for.

by Anonymousreply 430November 16, 2019 1:31 AM

Phyllis is like Desiree in A Little Night Music - it's a role that anyone's aunt could sing well enough, but it needs star power and a strong actress with good comic timing. If they're going to cast any role in this with a star, Phyllis will be the one.

Like others, I'm more concerned with what they'll do with Sally - cast a star and transpose it to their smaller singing range/dub them or give it to someone less starry but with more musical theatre pedigree who could actually sing it. At first thought, Kristen Chenoweth comes to mind. She has a bigger fan base than most Broadway actresses and is around the right age/type for it and we all know she could sing it. Team her up with a Cate Blanchett or Nicole Kidman as Phyllis and it might just work.

by Anonymousreply 431November 16, 2019 1:40 AM

[quote]Kristen Chenoweth comes to mind.

Nobody wants to hear a pipsqueaked voice version of "Losing My Mind." If we did, Minnie Mouse would have recorded it years ago.

Plus, Chenoweth is such a midget, they would have to cast all the other actors shorter. Those gals can't be wearing high heels during the "Who's That Woman" number. And with Chenoweth in the cast, they certainly can't do a kickline.

by Anonymousreply 432November 16, 2019 2:02 AM

From Riedel's column:

[quote]Finally, the time for “Tootsie” may have come and gone. “It’s about a self-centered guy who dresses up as a woman to take a job from a woman,” says a source on the show. “Three years ago, it would have been hilarious. Today, I’m not so sure.”

I remember making a similar point here a couple of years ago when TOOTSIE was announced--that (IMHO) the idea was horribly dated and sexist--which was not a popular view on these threads.

I hope you all showed up to support it on Bway, at least.

by Anonymousreply 433November 16, 2019 2:37 AM

Get "Tootsie" out of here. From now on, all theater threads will be exclusively about Follies, even though there is a separate thread just for it.

by Anonymousreply 434November 16, 2019 2:54 AM

[quote]I remember making a similar point here a couple of years ago when TOOTSIE was announced--that (IMHO) the idea was horribly dated and sexist--which was not a popular view on these threads.

And still to come: A musical based on "Mrs. Doubtfire." Another show that will be seen as out of step with the times.

by Anonymousreply 435November 16, 2019 2:56 AM

ALL threads lead to Follies.

by Anonymousreply 436November 16, 2019 3:04 AM

We run the theater threads; no one else matters.

by Anonymousreply 437November 16, 2019 3:22 AM

[quote]r434 Get "Tootsie" out of here. From now on, all theater threads will be exclusively about Follies,

Correction:Get "Tootsie" out of here. From now on, All THEATERS will exclusively stage [italic]Follies.[/italic] And nothing else.

#OurTimeHasCome

by Anonymousreply 438November 16, 2019 4:11 AM

"They wouldn't have been vaudevillians..." They would not have been ballerinas, Shakespearean actors, or circus animals either for that matter. Just like they were not any of those things in the original.

by Anonymousreply 439November 16, 2019 4:22 AM

Sad last days??

Aaron Tveit was on Colbert tonight, looking 1986-era gaunt. He seemed very thin and perhaps unwell.

by Anonymousreply 440November 16, 2019 4:51 AM

Chenoweth's Fran in PROMISES, PROMISES should put paid to any idea of her as Sally Durant (Plumber).

by Anonymousreply 441November 16, 2019 6:24 AM

Hugh Jackman as Ben and Russell Crowe as Buddy.

Renee Zellwegger as Sally and Catherine Zeta Jones as Phyllis.

I mean...who else is there out there with "names", who are the right ages and can sing?

by Anonymousreply 442November 16, 2019 8:10 AM

Thank you for giving me a visual of Russell Crowe's gargantuan belly bouncing around as he "dances" The Right Girl.

Why not have Pierce Brosnan alongside him as Ben? Maybe Sondheim could write a new Ben/Buddy duet for their dulcet tones... it would shoot up the charts.

by Anonymousreply 443November 16, 2019 8:24 AM

It's strange how most of the names that spring to mind are non Americans, particularly the men. Singing actors with a screen profile that come to mind include Julian Ovenden, Luke Evans...

I guess there's Josh Gad. He's "only" 38 but... he certainly looks like a Buddy. Is he all schtick as a performer?

I think 34 year old Jonathan Groff might make an interesting Ben one day. He has that easy charm but there's also a reticence. He doesn't give you the whole picture.

by Anonymousreply 444November 16, 2019 8:30 AM

I guess Dmitri Weissman could be Christopher Walken.

by Anonymousreply 445November 16, 2019 8:31 AM

back to Tootsie if we may (please god no more Follies casting talk).

Riedel is praising it here like it was a truly unappreciated gem. It just wasn't good. And people LOVE show business musicals, from Kiss Me Kate to Gypsy to Dreamgirls to Jersey Boys and Beautiful ( know jukeboxes are something else, but still the show business story is part of the appeal)

by Anonymousreply 446November 16, 2019 1:28 PM

R435 - Mrs Doubtfire's story is a little sweeter than Tootsie's. It's about a guy pretending to the opposite gender as he's a father wanting to spend time with his children, whereas Tootsie is about a guy pretending to be the opposite gender for his own gratification, at the expense of somebody of that gender getting the job. I'm still unconvinced that Broadway or the world (at this historical moment) needs another cross-dressing musical comedy, but Mrs Doubtfire at least feels a little more palatable than Tootsie (which also wasn't helped by the fact that it was mostly a pile of dogshit).

by Anonymousreply 447November 16, 2019 1:52 PM

Sherry!

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by Anonymousreply 448November 16, 2019 1:55 PM

Speaking of Sherry...

[Quote] She's a woman of great vivacity and charm, yet frank and down to earth. She is of middle height, slim and willowy with blond hair of middle length and intelligent brown eyes ("call them sherry," she smiled. "sounds more glamorous") that stand out in a pale face of good bone structure and over a small nose. She was wearing multicolored toreador trousers, a mustar peasant-type blouse and tennis shoes. Her fingernail enamel was pearl. "I'm just an old-fashioned girl. Don't use gold."

[Quote] This fall she will do a film for director George Sidney.

[Quote] "It will be a musical with Debbie Reynolds, Dan Reynolds and a lot of guest stars," she said. "I'll play a sophisticated European star and Debbie will be my naive kid sister."

Was this movie ever made (with a different cast, director etc.)?

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by Anonymousreply 449November 16, 2019 2:08 PM

[quote]And people LOVE show business musicals, from Kiss Me Kate to Gypsy to Dreamgirls to Jersey Boys and Beautiful ( know jukeboxes are something else, but still the show business story is part of the appeal)

....and A CHORUS LINE, one of the most successful and longest-running musicals of all time. And please don't say it's not really about show business, because most of it REALLY is.

P.S. even PHANTOM is partly about show business, though obviously a lot less so than the other shows we're mentioning here.

by Anonymousreply 450November 16, 2019 3:16 PM

One of my two Tony Awards was for a musical about show business! It had flavah!

by Anonymousreply 451November 16, 2019 3:26 PM

The article about TOOTSIE is typically Riedel: pull "facts and theatre history" out of your ass if nothing real is available. Show biz stories aren't popular? He's really been pushing a conservative agenda more strenuously lately, with "acceptable" shows like TOOTSIE on one side and "bad" on the other: color-blind and non traditional casting, and provocative subject matter (eg, SLAVE PLAY) . It's fine if you don't like Jeremy Harris, or his work, but why lie about ticket sales? TOOTSIE was losing far more money every week it ran.

On a related note, how many millions of dollars have been lost this year alone on Broadway? Riedel says it lost $10 million but I suspect it's even more, with marketing costs.

by Anonymousreply 452November 16, 2019 3:52 PM

PS: TOOTSIE lost $10 million, not Bway in general.

by Anonymousreply 453November 16, 2019 3:53 PM

I presume Riedel's in the pocket of certain producers.

by Anonymousreply 454November 16, 2019 3:58 PM

I tend to doubt that Riedel is "in the pocket" of certain producers in terms of actually being paid off, but he certainly seems to be beholden to certain producers et al. in terms of professional relationships.

by Anonymousreply 455November 16, 2019 4:09 PM

They don't cover his booze bills?

by Anonymousreply 456November 16, 2019 4:16 PM

The Full Monty is about show business. I *really* liked that one.

by Anonymousreply 457November 16, 2019 4:32 PM

and tootsie cost more than $10 million. saw the papers. And the times article says $19.975M according to the SEC papers. they're trying to making it sound like less of a loss, which means Riedel is in someone's pocket as r454 says

who thinks that tour starting in Buffalo next Oct will happen? (Although apparently the Bandstand tour is actually happening right now and I thought it was fiction)

by Anonymousreply 458November 16, 2019 4:34 PM

[quote]On a related note, how many millions of dollars have been lost this year alone on Broadway?

Whatever amount, it's a drop in the bucket compared to what will be "lost" by all of the failed presidential candidates' campaigns.

by Anonymousreply 459November 16, 2019 4:59 PM

Agree that the article is crap, suggesting that Tootsie is one song shy of being a big hit. This ain't 1959. And as was suggested above, the whole thing just wasn't very good. And a "star-making turn by Santino"? Please. Had it had a star in the role, it could have been a much bigger hit.

by Anonymousreply 460November 16, 2019 8:36 PM

Santino was terrific in "Tootsie," but the effort of trying to push a dead horse up a hill showed. It just wasn't a very good show, and he didn't get the one good song.

by Anonymousreply 461November 16, 2019 8:55 PM

Tootsie can be laid at the door of Chicago - the city, not the musical. It tried out their, and people went overboard claiming it to be a new hit in the making. If they'd been honest about what a third rate POS it was, maybe it would have died there.

by Anonymousreply 462November 16, 2019 8:57 PM

[quote]And a "star-making turn by Santino"? Please. Had it had a star in the role, it could have been a much bigger hit.

Well, but come on. Yes, there's a very good chance the show might have run a lot longer if it had a major movie or TV star in it, but Santino's was a star-making performance in the sense that his reviews were great and he did win a leading-role Tony Award.

I loved TOOTSIE despite its big flaws, but I think Scott Ellis bears a lot of the blame for the show not being better than it was. A stronger director might have insisted that Yazbek come up with some better songs and also might have made Horn clean up some of those things in the book that don't make any sense.

by Anonymousreply 463November 16, 2019 9:03 PM

R174

[quote]In ALNM, the moon smiles three times: the young, the old and the fools. Why would Petra be an exception?

And I shall marry the miller's son...

When the summer sun smiles,

It smiles three times

Once on the young...

Once on the foolish...

Once on the old crawling back to the sea...

And the summer sun winks...

At me!

by Anonymousreply 464November 16, 2019 9:48 PM

I need answers about "A History of Violence" at St. Ann's.....about the rape. Please explain.

by Anonymousreply 465November 16, 2019 9:48 PM

R181

[quote]I always thought "Mama's talking loud" could have also been related to her first line in the show "Sing out, Louise".

Actually, there's a song that's cut from, Gypsy called "Momma's Talkin' Soft". I have the original handwritten copy by Jule Styne. I think it was sung by the June & Louise whne Herbie enters the picture.

by Anonymousreply 466November 16, 2019 9:55 PM

[quote]Well, but come on. Yes, there's a very good chance the show might have run a lot longer if it had a major movie or TV star in it, but Santino's was a star-making performance in the sense that his reviews were great and he did win a leading-role Tony Award.

C'mon all theses shows that come and go so fast are because the scores suck, not the actors. Yes, they have a melody and lyrics but they are totally forgettable song after song. That's why Jukebox' last longer than the originals, at least the songs are known or memorable. Sometimes they can run a little longer like "Beetlejuice" who has a weak score, but people appreciate the stagecraft but it will be gone in a year too.

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by Anonymousreply 467November 16, 2019 10:10 PM

R440, I thought he looked underweight during the Moulin Rouge previews in Boston last year, but not ill.

by Anonymousreply 468November 16, 2019 10:14 PM

R468 Check out his appearance on the talk shows this week, looks sick and thin as fuck.

by Anonymousreply 469November 16, 2019 10:31 PM

[quote]Actually, there's a song that's cut from, Gypsy called "Momma's Talkin' Soft".

Yes, we know. It was sung in counterpoint to "Small World." Patti LuPone and her two "daughters" recorded it on the OC of her revival of the show. It's had at least one other recording as well.

by Anonymousreply 470November 16, 2019 10:50 PM

R340

[quote]There is a home-grown Eva Peron musical that is apparently a much more flattering depiction.

I was lucky enough to see internationally known Argentinean performer Nacha (Nachos) Guevera play the title role in the musical "EVA" in Buenos Aires in 2008. Guevera was in her late 60s (or so she claimed) and wore more makeup than any actress I've ever seen. She was especially grating playing Eva at 14. The audience loved her, but it was more than a stretch.

Nach ES Eva!

It's not unusual for Latino stars to play roles for which they are much too old. In Barcelona in 2002, I saw 70's teen idol Raphael play the title role in Frank Wildhorn's Jekyll and Hyde. He wore the highest shoe lifts I've ever seen on a man, must have been squeezed into his costume using a giant shoehorn, and was constantly out of breath after a few steps. They had several slim actors doubling for him. Raphael would step behind a column and suddenly a much trimmer, taller actor would appear and do some stunt. After the double would finish, he retreated to the column and Raphael would step out with a flourish to the audience. The audience loved it.

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by Anonymousreply 471November 16, 2019 11:20 PM

Raphael in Jekyll & Hyde: "Hoy Es El Dia"

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by Anonymousreply 472November 16, 2019 11:21 PM

R472 BILLY BOY! Oh you darling, welcome back.

by Anonymousreply 473November 16, 2019 11:26 PM

From r449:

She studies a role, just doesn't learn it. As an example of her careful preparation, she went to the back of the huge Municipal Theater on opening night last week to see how it looked there. "The sound is fine," she said, "but you're so far away you don't know who is speaking. So I am making decisive gestures when I speak -- not hamming it up, but just enough to identify me for the audience."

by Anonymousreply 474November 16, 2019 11:31 PM

Audiences couldn't care less about political correctness. Shows flop because they're bad...and because audiences can smell a cynical cash-grab from miles away.

I'd rather discuss FOLLIES over and over and over again than waste a second scrutinizing the dreary contemporary Broadway scene.

Oh, these hilarious "woke" days! Only a critic would be "properly repulsed" that Evita is a "victim," since it is clear from the get-go that Ms Peron manipulated everything and everyone around her in her will-to-power.

by Anonymousreply 475November 16, 2019 11:34 PM

R469, I thought he looked fine on Colbert on Friday.

by Anonymousreply 476November 17, 2019 12:09 AM

Can't portray a woman as manipulative these days. They are strong and independent. Evita threatened toxic masculinity, which is why she had to be sacrificed.

by Anonymousreply 477November 17, 2019 12:24 AM

Let's wait and see if suddenly Santino is a star, a la Nathan Lane or even Neil Patrick Harris. Winning a Tony does not create a star.

by Anonymousreply 478November 17, 2019 1:56 PM

Santino Fontana is this season's Rob McClure.

by Anonymousreply 479November 17, 2019 2:00 PM

Broadway musicals definitely don't create MALE stars.

by Anonymousreply 480November 17, 2019 3:36 PM

[quote]Santino Fontana is this season's Rob McClure.

And Rob McClure will be starring in "Mrs. Doubtfire," this season's "Tootsie."

by Anonymousreply 481November 17, 2019 3:59 PM

If I were a MRS. DOUBTFIRE investor, I would be shitting right now.

The writers also did SOMETHING ROTTEN.

Like I said.... shitting.

by Anonymousreply 482November 17, 2019 4:06 PM

[quote]The writers also did SOMETHING ROTTEN.

A show whose very title epitomized Truth in Advertising.

by Anonymousreply 483November 17, 2019 4:11 PM

[quote] Audiences couldn't care less about political correctness. Shows flop because they're bad...and because audiences can smell a cynical cash-grab from miles away. I'd rather discuss FOLLIES over and over and over again than waste a second scrutinizing the dreary contemporary Broadway scene'

Not for nothing, but no production of "FOLLIES" has ever turned a profit since and including the original production.

by Anonymousreply 484November 17, 2019 4:43 PM

R484 It was so brave of the National Theater to bring back Follies for a second season after the first one was such a giant, money losing flop

by Anonymousreply 485November 17, 2019 4:50 PM

It wasn't a commercial run, R485. So the 'hit = profitable' equation doesn't apply.

However, FWIW, I'm a National Theatre member, and in the run-up to the first production they were inviting members to donate money towards the production costs, which is something that they don't usually do. I recall the leaflet that I got in the mail drew attention to the lavish costumes, and how expensive they were. It must have cost an absolute fortune to stage, much more than that the NT usually budgets for, and with an assumption that it could never be staged commercially or that the production would have a non-subsidised future anywhere else.

So I imagine that after the first run was such a critical and popular hit, that it made more financial sense to remount it in order to recover some of the initial costs, if not to actually turn a profit.

by Anonymousreply 486November 17, 2019 5:02 PM

I'm so fucking sick of this FOLLIES horseshit.

by Anonymousreply 487November 17, 2019 5:06 PM

Schöne Mädchen.....

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by Anonymousreply 488November 17, 2019 5:17 PM

[quote]I'm so fucking sick of this FOLLIES horseshit.

Best to avoid the theater gossip threads, then. As has been pointed out many times, they always come back to "Follies."

by Anonymousreply 489November 17, 2019 10:30 PM

For the brave little minority of us here who actually support contemporary theatre and see new shows (vs day-drinking to our Sondheim OCRs on vinyl).....

Did anyone see THE WRONG MAN at MCC? I did, and I'm so confused.

Great voices, great, energetic, sexy performances....

I have almost no idea WTF that was all about, though.

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by Anonymousreply 490November 17, 2019 10:37 PM

Ben's review of THE INHERITANCE is bitchy and incoherent. It's as if he were determined to dislike it and had trouble figuring out why.

by Anonymousreply 491November 18, 2019 2:56 AM

What do "The Wrong Man" and "The Inheritance" have to do with "Follies"?

by Anonymousreply 492November 18, 2019 2:57 AM

Notice how, as Ben gets older, he's taken to disliking plays with gay content more often?

by Anonymousreply 493November 18, 2019 3:33 AM

^^Ben must be a Datalounger.

by Anonymousreply 494November 18, 2019 3:55 AM

[quote]Ambition and achievement are not entirely commensurate in “The Inheritance.” Its breadth doesn’t always translate into depth. As fine as the acting is throughout — and quietly brilliant when the extraordinary veteran Lois Smith takes the stage, toward the very end, as the show’s sole female character — none of the characters here have the textured completeness of those created by Forster and Kushner.

Ultimately, the play twists itself into ungainly pretzels as it tries to join all the thematic dots on its immense canvas. Yet even by the end of the overwrought second half of “The Inheritance,” you’re likely to feel the abiding, welcome buzz of energy that comes from an unflagging will to question, to create, to contextualize, to — oh, why not? — only connect.

While not a thumbs down, this is not exactly what I'd call a "money" review.

by Anonymousreply 495November 18, 2019 4:39 AM

Oh yeah....

PS: Neil says if only the boys were hotter, they'd be selling better.

by Anonymousreply 496November 18, 2019 4:40 AM

This, from Marc Miller's review at Talking Bway:

[quote]Having put in three years with GMHC in the late '80s, I wasn't particularly eager to revisit the harrowing landscape The Inheritance travels, but it performs a valuable service—acquainting the younger audience with, and reminding their elders of, what we went through—and does so in a way that entertains and sometimes mesmerizes. Every gay male theatergoer will want to see it, and after that, who's the audience? Well, one hopes, anyone who relishes a good story imaginatively told, fine actors, and salient if sometimes overemphatic political arguments. It's an Event, a worthwhile one—relevant, touching, and full of ghosts who deserve a hearing. One of them, E.M. Forster's, is presumably smiling.

My question: lots of gay friends have seen it or are planning to. I have tickets in December. But I don't know of any straight friends/family/colleagues who are seeing it.

Are straight people seeing THE INHERITANCE?

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by Anonymousreply 497November 18, 2019 4:51 AM

Nope

by Anonymousreply 498November 18, 2019 6:24 AM

I have to confess--the more I read about THE INHERITANCE, the less I'm looking forward to sitting through it. I should probably stop reading the reviews.

We've gotta support gay theatre, though.

by Anonymousreply 499November 18, 2019 3:28 PM

I've asked before, but no one posted. I keep hearing comments about the end of act i of the Inheritance. Can someone spoil it for me, please? I have not seen Longtime Companion, so the reference is lost on me. Thank you.

by Anonymousreply 500November 18, 2019 3:46 PM

Towards the end, it is revealed that Paul (?) had been taken care of everybody he knew that was AIDS stricken. When they get to the house (Howard's End, in the movie), the ghosts of young people dressed in 80's shorts and T-shirts all welcome him. The young kids appear from all over the theatre and join Soller on stage. It is very moving but it is "Longtime Companion."

by Anonymousreply 501November 18, 2019 3:53 PM

What was the playwright thinking? That no one had ever seen "Longtime Companion?"

Mind-boggling.

by Anonymousreply 502November 18, 2019 3:56 PM

Yes, because tropes from other works never are borrowed or imitated. Please.

by Anonymousreply 503November 18, 2019 7:53 PM

"Stolen outright" is another word, R503. Not as elegant as "trope."

Has the original writer Craig Lucas weighed in on THE INHERITANCE? Would love to hear his POV.

by Anonymousreply 504November 18, 2019 9:29 PM

I saw both parts last week, but was disappointed in the absence of jockstraps onstage.

by Anonymousreply 505November 19, 2019 5:05 AM

Did you really see it [r505]? Part two might not have jockstraps but it has lots of thongs (some might say, oh my, revealing). And there's plenty of flesh

by Anonymousreply 506November 19, 2019 11:24 AM

Craig Lucas is a nasty drunk whose alcoholism has pretty much ruined what little was left of his career, r504.

by Anonymousreply 507November 19, 2019 2:00 PM

Good to know R507, but that's sad if it's accurate. Lucas was a major playwright in the 80s/early 90s.

I always thought he got a little lost in the indie film scene, like some other theatre writers. All for nought, as indie films are as dead as the dodo.

by Anonymousreply 508November 19, 2019 4:46 PM

This is on later. I should watch to see what Megan looked like 31 years ago....

Murder, She Wrote

Season 5 • Episode 5 • Coal Miner's Slaughter

A miner's daughter returns home to confront the mine owner she holds responsible for her father's death, and someone settles the man's hash with a rifle. Angela Lansbury. Molly: Megan Mullally. Sheriff Tate: Hoyt Axton. Carlton: Cliff De Young. Eben: Denver...

by Anonymousreply 509November 19, 2019 6:56 PM

I'm now watching Neil and Marsha Simon on Dick Cavett. They spent the first half talking about Only When I Laugh. Marsha has a really bad perm....

by Anonymousreply 510November 20, 2019 1:21 AM

Do you mean Marsha Mason, R510?

Or as I like to think of her, "the warm-up act."

Heh.

by Anonymousreply 511November 20, 2019 1:49 AM

Shouldn't that be the Last Of the Red Hot Mrs. Neil Simons?

by Anonymousreply 512November 20, 2019 3:03 AM

The new trailer for "Cats," featuring DL fave Robbie Fairchild, apparently doing a British accent. It's the most joyful event of the holiday season!

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by Anonymousreply 513November 20, 2019 3:35 AM

Well, THAT is about one thousand times better than the old trailer, R513!

by Anonymousreply 514November 20, 2019 3:38 AM

"Only one can win!" It's "Cats" retooled as a reality show competition.

by Anonymousreply 515November 20, 2019 3:41 AM

R514, it might be one thousand times better than the original trailer, but it's still godawful. What in the world were the creative (?) people behind this movie thinking? I predict this will be a bigger fiasco than Waterworld, Heaven's Gate and Prince of Persia combined.

by Anonymousreply 516November 20, 2019 8:48 PM

[quote] I predict this will be a bigger fiasco than Waterworld, Heaven's Gate and Prince of Persia combined.

I appreciate your not having included me.

by Anonymousreply 517November 20, 2019 8:53 PM

Lucy, is it true that Satan has your Mame running on a loop in hell?

by Anonymousreply 518November 21, 2019 1:41 AM

NPH in "The Hangmen" this Spring? Nice.

by Anonymousreply 519November 21, 2019 4:43 PM

OMG, this poor thread is dying of inertia. C'mon, kids, there's lots of theatre to discuss!

Anyone see Mary Louise Parker's new play? That little gal is intense.

THE INHERITANCE: worth my 6 hours or not? More important, will it still be loved by TONY time?

Those kids at ATC are asking if the Me-Too era makes reviving PLAZA SUITE an even ickier proposition. It already sounds pretty icky, IMHO! Hee.

Sound off!

by Anonymousreply 520November 22, 2019 3:29 PM

Here's the critical roundup on the new WIll Eno play that none of us were going to see anyway!

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by Anonymousreply 521November 22, 2019 3:32 PM

Will Eno is a crappy playwright who only gets produced because that idiot Isherwood anointed him the next big thing for "Thom Paine".

by Anonymousreply 522November 22, 2019 4:05 PM

Oh, boy! Let's all fly to London to see Imelda fuck up Dolly Levi!!!!!!

by Anonymousreply 523November 22, 2019 4:06 PM

Dolly will be very angry and bitter.

by Anonymousreply 524November 22, 2019 4:13 PM

I predict she'll be wonderful.

by Anonymousreply 525November 22, 2019 4:15 PM

I predict she'll be as joyless as Betty.

by Anonymousreply 526November 22, 2019 4:20 PM

What was the last successful new original musical to come out of the UK?

I don't mean Brit versions of American shows or American songbooks, I mean something homegrown.

Asking in anticipation (and also, dread) of SIX.

by Anonymousreply 527November 22, 2019 4:26 PM

R527 The book of Jamie has issues, but I like the score

by Anonymousreply 528November 22, 2019 6:03 PM

You read it here first: The Britney Spears musical is taking The Marquis. And Almost Famous is taking The Wilson.

by Anonymousreply 529November 22, 2019 7:31 PM

The Reidel article on Tootsie was his covering his own ass about touting from day one what a big hit it was going to be... Truth was it was an average show at best, and its Tony winning book was its biggest problem. It was just a series of jokes coming out of the mouths of Tootsie characters. Yazbeck's work felt totally "work for hire." He just wasn't into it. Santino was also a huge problem. He was just a wise guy.

by Anonymousreply 530November 22, 2019 7:34 PM

[quote]You read it here first: The Britney Spears musical is taking The Marquis. And Almost Famous is taking The Wilson.

Nobody wants The Marquis, it's cursed and where is "Mean Girls" going?

by Anonymousreply 531November 22, 2019 7:53 PM

I feel a little bad for Santino Fontana. Any number of people questioned his ability to headline TOOTSIE. Then he took the TONY and a number of people questioned that. Then he was unable to turn the show's fortunes around and sell tickets (which was, of course, well above and beyond his original job description).

I don't think anything about TOOTSIE has really helped him in the long run. I'm not sure starring on Bway is all it's cracked up to be.

Plus, he really looks more like Jackie Hoffman than Jackie Hoffman does once he's in drag.

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by Anonymousreply 532November 22, 2019 8:04 PM

[quote] The Britney Spears musical is taking The Marquis

Broadway is officially a toilet

by Anonymousreply 533November 22, 2019 8:08 PM

[quote] Murder, She Wrote, Season 5 • Episode 5 • Coal Miner's Slaughter

Please don't give Bway producers any ideas. After they run out of movies to bring to the stage, they will invariably start picking off TV shows to recreate

by Anonymousreply 534November 22, 2019 8:09 PM

Word from workshops has been that the Britney musical is an unspeakable catastrophe. Are we sure it will be seeing the light of day any time soon?

by Anonymousreply 535November 22, 2019 8:28 PM

Why hasn't someone musicalized this gem? Idina Menzel for the lead!

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by Anonymousreply 536November 22, 2019 8:52 PM

R527 -- I saw a preview of "& Juliet" in London last week. It is a Max Martin jukebox musical, in which Juliet decides to not kill herself. Hilarity ensues. Shakespeare's wife -- Anne Hathaway -- takes over the writing, and decides that Juliet should be a Strong Woman who gets to make her own choices! Oh, and her best friend is a gay man who might be on his way to transitioning. What tiresome tropes there have become already; they are pandering and predictable. I predict it will be a fairly good size hit. The songs don't seem to be as shoe-horned in as other jukebox musicals, the singing and choreography are good, and the actress who plays Juliet - a strong black woman! -- is spectacular. But it is unimaginative.

I also saw "The Watsons" at Menier, which is transferring to the West End next year. It is based on an unfinished Jane Austen novel. Once again, it is about a Strong Woman Who Wants Choices! Instead of marrying for money and status and security like in most Austen stories or other stories of that age, the lead wants to do what her heart tells her to do, because, well, she is a Strong Modern Woman! The writing was very good and much more intelligent and deeper than "& Juliet," but its theme was the same. I am tired of it already. Maybe I would feel differently if I weren't a white male, or if I had a daughter and wanted her to see stronger heroines? If the latter is the case, though, I would rather she watch, say, Mrs Masel, in which the lead character faces the hard challenges of trying to do something that most woman are told they can't do, but it shows us her determination and tenacity, which, I think is much more powerful and persuasive.

by Anonymousreply 537November 22, 2019 9:55 PM

Who will be Karen Olivo's competition for Best Actress in a Musical at next year's Tony Awards?

by Anonymousreply 538November 22, 2019 10:01 PM

Adrienne Warren and Sharon D. Clarke.

by Anonymousreply 539November 22, 2019 10:05 PM

Hi

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by Anonymousreply 540November 22, 2019 10:58 PM

R538 Katrina for Company

by Anonymousreply 541November 22, 2019 11:35 PM

I think either Katrina or Sharon D. Clarke will win.

And if it's Sharon, Tonya Pinkins is going to be PISSED.

by Anonymousreply 542November 23, 2019 3:49 AM

Adrienne Warren will win, without a doubt.

by Anonymousreply 543November 23, 2019 5:20 AM

R538, Will Aaron Tveit even be nominated, which would be his first nomination?

by Anonymousreply 544November 23, 2019 11:17 AM

Tonya Pinkins is ALWAYS pissed. It sustains her.

by Anonymousreply 545November 23, 2019 4:14 PM

Adrienne Warren already has a Tony.

by Anonymousreply 546November 24, 2019 12:20 AM

I'll just leave this here in case anyone is bored....

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by Anonymousreply 547November 24, 2019 2:11 AM

[quote] Adrienne Warren already has a Tony.

Adrenne Warren was nominated for Shuffle Along, but did not win. Are you thinking of Adriane Lenox, who won a Tony Award for Featured Actress for Doubt?

by Anonymousreply 548November 24, 2019 3:46 AM

"Good morning, Ethel Merman!"

by Anonymousreply 549November 24, 2019 5:04 AM

What’s wrong with this thread? Why has it slowed down to a tiny trickle here and there?

by Anonymousreply 550November 24, 2019 7:43 PM

Paywall, R550.

by Anonymousreply 551November 24, 2019 7:44 PM

No Follies discussion; theater queens have nothing to say.

by Anonymousreply 552November 24, 2019 8:06 PM

Oh well, let's just fill it up then....

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by Anonymousreply 553November 24, 2019 8:06 PM

1986

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by Anonymousreply 554November 24, 2019 8:17 PM

[quote]Paywall

It's fucking $1.50 A MONTH. Less than a cup of coffee.

by Anonymousreply 555November 24, 2019 9:57 PM

I don't understand the paywall. Does that mean people who don't "contribute" can't post? I mean, it's not like it's expensive.

by Anonymousreply 556November 24, 2019 10:06 PM

It makes you wonder, doesn't it, r555? Well, whatcha gonna do?

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by Anonymousreply 557November 24, 2019 10:22 PM

It's a pittance, r556. I could understand if one was an absolute pauper, but we know even Darfur Orphan can post during prime time. The service Muriel provides is priceless. I do not begrudge her a sous or care what product she needs to push....

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by Anonymousreply 558November 24, 2019 10:31 PM

The people who complain about the paywall take umbrage at the idea of having to pay $1.50 a month. These people are called "cheap."

by Anonymousreply 559November 24, 2019 10:42 PM

Yes....

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by Anonymousreply 560November 24, 2019 10:55 PM

[quote]The people who complain about the paywall take umbrage at the idea of having to pay $1.50 a month. These people are called "cheap."

Maybe they a re saving for their MAGA hats.

by Anonymousreply 561November 25, 2019 12:15 PM

What the hell are we going to fill the rest of the 38 responses with? Let's go out with a bang!

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by Anonymousreply 562November 25, 2019 3:19 PM

Three DL faves do homage to Angela... and the intro is by Glenn.

I can't believe this was 19 years ago....

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by Anonymousreply 563November 26, 2019 12:58 AM

I'm ISO a really great cover version of this. Here's the songwriter Craig Carnelia's own version of it. I like his vocals--not everyone does.

A number of women have covered it, but there's something indefinably male about this song to me.

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by Anonymousreply 564November 26, 2019 1:18 AM

R564, here you go :-)

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by Anonymousreply 565November 26, 2019 1:34 AM

I feel like listening to the DeCastro Sisters....

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by Anonymousreply 566November 26, 2019 1:38 AM

More on the DeCastros....

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by Anonymousreply 567November 26, 2019 2:05 AM

No one's going to mention John Simon's passing in this thread?

by Anonymousreply 568November 26, 2019 3:25 AM

John Simon was a schmuck.

by Anonymousreply 569November 26, 2019 3:30 AM

He actually liked Paper Mill's FOLLIES but also wrote "Phyllis Newman would have to do as Stella".

by Anonymousreply 570November 26, 2019 12:47 PM

Anyone remember the trio Gotham? They used to open for Babs Cook a lot during the 70's and early 80's. They liked to describe themselves as a cross between The Mills Brothers and The DeCastro Sisters.

by Anonymousreply 571November 26, 2019 2:08 PM

A question for the technologically savvy here. I'm a dues paying Datalounge customer, and I can post on thread only on my desktop computer. When I try to post using my phone I get a Datalounge error message. This is the only thread I have trouble posting with using my phone. I assume it has something to do with Muriel slowing this thread down, but that shouldn't apply to paying customers, right?

by Anonymousreply 572November 26, 2019 2:12 PM

I think it has more to do with it nearing 600 posts.....maybe? I dunno.

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by Anonymousreply 573November 26, 2019 2:16 PM

Workin' those cocktail length fishtail skirts!

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by Anonymousreply 574November 26, 2019 3:42 PM

Katherine Dunham stages a negro ballet....

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by Anonymousreply 575November 26, 2019 3:56 PM

Any word on the reading of the new Jeanine Tesori/David Lindsay Abaire musical last week? Apparently the Atlantic is doing it next summer and then straight to Broadway. What is it about? Is it any good?

by Anonymousreply 576November 26, 2019 4:23 PM

I can't find anything.....

by Anonymousreply 577November 26, 2019 4:30 PM

70 pork sausages for Sir Noel....

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by Anonymousreply 578November 26, 2019 6:58 PM

Glamour Girls 1920-1929

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by Anonymousreply 579November 26, 2019 7:23 PM

Is Jeanine Tesori incredibly prolific as a composer? Does she just write fast? Is she easy and pleasant to work with? Anyone got any insight?

I ask because I'm not a fan of her music (despite repeated effort on my part) and she's so ubiquitous in new musicals. Tesori just isn't very good, and there are so many lesser-known writers with real talent.

by Anonymousreply 580November 26, 2019 7:52 PM

You're most likely not going to get those answers until thread #372.

by Anonymousreply 581November 26, 2019 8:05 PM

R580 Isn't Caroline, or Change coming back to Broadway?

by Anonymousreply 582November 26, 2019 8:16 PM

I was just reading John Simon's obit in The Washington Post but was unable to link it here. He could be a little catty, especially when describing the physical appearance of actresses whose physiognomy offended him: "He became especially known for his insulting descriptions of performers’ physical appearances and was frequently accused of crossing the line into sexist personal attacks. Mr. Simon likened Liza Minnelli’s face to that of a beagle, called Kathleen Turner 'a braying mantis' and wrote that Barbra Streisand’s nose 'zigzags across our horizon like a bolt of fleshy lightning.' "

by Anonymousreply 583November 26, 2019 8:25 PM

Simon was an overt racist, sexist, homophobe, and anti-Semite. Astonishing that he had as long a run reviewing theatre in NYC, given his biases.

Some of his barbs were funny, but mostly he was a hateful, willfully destructive POS. The karmic payback was that he witnessed his own erasure from the landscape. Once NEW YORK mag finally dismissed him, he ceased to matter at all.

Good riddance.

by Anonymousreply 584November 26, 2019 8:40 PM

When I was growing up, I simply could not wait until the mailman delivered New York, and the first thing I did was read Simon's reviews. I did not live in NYC and did not see theater growing up, but his reviews made me feel connected to that bitchy, artistic community I assumed was everywhere in New York City. I loved his reviews, and recognized the meanness for the show it was.

by Anonymousreply 585November 26, 2019 10:14 PM

Why did Lia Vollick leave Sony? Or did Sony leave her? And why is that Michael Jackson musical still happening?

by Anonymousreply 586November 26, 2019 10:40 PM

[quote] And why is that Michael Jackson musical still happening?

It's never a good sign when a show changes its title to distance itself from its subject.

by Anonymousreply 587November 26, 2019 10:50 PM

Oh, c'mon kids. For corn's sake....

13 posts left in this sad, flaccid tool of a thread.

by Anonymousreply 588November 27, 2019 2:46 AM

Theatre kids.

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by Anonymousreply 589November 27, 2019 2:53 AM

Life is a banquet, and this poor thread it starving to death.

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by Anonymousreply 590November 27, 2019 3:22 AM

^^ is starving to death.

by Anonymousreply 591November 27, 2019 3:25 AM

I had forgotten about those "Lucy as Mame" fake-Klimt portraits on the set. Nice period detail!

Also, the handful of notorious theatre thread racists should take note of the non-white dancing/singing performers in that scene... in a Hollywood movie from 1974. Please discuss the historical accuracy therein (or lack thereof) until your tiny pinheads explode.

by Anonymousreply 592November 27, 2019 3:37 AM

Well.....uhhh....Oh! I had to stop at Vons on my way home and I noticed this in the checkout line. I had my camera with me and I thought "What the heck?", DL is gonna wanna know about this!

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by Anonymousreply 593November 27, 2019 4:04 AM

Portrait of the artist as a young Vance.

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by Anonymousreply 594November 27, 2019 4:14 AM

Not to mention wanting to know about Kathie Lee Gifford's first date in 35 years, R593.

by Anonymousreply 595November 27, 2019 4:15 AM

Third midnight!

by Anonymousreply 596November 27, 2019 4:20 AM

Ol' Kathie Lee was on the cover of the Globe as well.

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by Anonymousreply 597November 27, 2019 4:21 AM

More than you deserve. But ultimately, I am filled with love.

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by Anonymousreply 598November 27, 2019 4:25 AM

THIS should have been the art for the new thread.

Damn!

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by Anonymousreply 599November 27, 2019 4:28 AM

[quote]r513 The new trailer for "Cats," featuring DL fave Robbie Fairchild

Why didn't they use MORGAN Fairchild ? ? Then I might SEE the piece of shit - -

by Anonymousreply 600November 27, 2019 4:31 AM

BAJOUR, dammit!

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by Anonymousreply 601November 27, 2019 4:32 AM
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