THEATRE GOSSIP #379: "Phone rings, door chimes, here comes an angry mob for Amar Ramasar" Edition

Time for a Roxie break and be surprised how genuinely great Melanie Griffith is.

I wish Melanie had done more Broadway. She really has an ability to make you feel protective and fascinated by her.

This is great fun....

Barbra Streisand - 1964 - Funny Girl Opening Night 03-26-64

[quote] wow that clip does not make it look good

That clip was done on the first day of rehearsals. They will undoubtedly be much better by the time the show is performed.

Streisand sounds like a real pill in that radio interview.

Agree, r5. I love Barbra but she sounds glum, charmless and miserable.

I've seen several Streisand interviews and talk show appearances, from all stages of her career, in which she comes off as annoyed, charmless, bored, weird, tremendously self-involved, or some combination of all of the above.

Just watched this. I saw Miss Kirsch in Chicago...in Chicago.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf was put up on TDF for basically every March performance. Wonder if this production will be a flop, since the advance is obviously weak.

I got tickets and am interested to see what Laurie Metcalf does as Martha, but I wonder if her doing a show every season has ruined any box office draw she had even if her performances are great. I know Hillary and Clinton was a flop, but I chalked that up to politics/Clinton fatigue (as well as it not being anything amazing).

Plays are almost always on TDF. The tourists want musicals unless it’s a play with Jake or Hugh or Nathan or...

[quote]I saw Miss Kirsch in Chicago...in Chicago

If you'd only held out till the final week, r8, you could have seen Chita. Gwen and Chita went into the tour the final week in Chicago and for both the Los Angeles and San Francisco engagements. Then they left and Carolyn Kirsch and Penny Worth went back in as Velma and Roxie.

Rub it in, r11. They went in the week after I saw it, but I'd left Chicago by then. The city....not the show.

Oh and during that couple of days I was there, I also saw Vanities with Elizabeth Ashley, Leslie Ann Warren, and Miss Barbara Sharma.

Ok. Michael Arden needs to be STOPPED immediately. He's calling JOSEPH the gay bible story and wants to make his staged concert at Geffen Hall the gayest thing ever. The brothers will be played by ALL genders and Alex Newell is one of the narrators. Stop him NOW.

Were you expecting good judgement and taste from someone who married Andy Mientus?

R15 haha. You got a point.

Any production of any show with Brooks Ashmanskas in it will be the gayest thing ever. The rest is just cherries on top.

Brooks can be quite straight acting if he has to be. Take SHUFFLE ALONG, for instance.

Wow, R1, Melanie Griffith really was magnetic as Roxie. Seemed effortless.

Every other actress in that video was trying so hard and coming up short,

But a fat gay guy will always get work.

[quote] a fat gay guy will always get work.

It’s compensation for the fact that they will NEVER get cock.

[quote]I wonder if her doing a show every season has ruined any box office draw she had even if her performances are great.

Excellent point. It literally has been a new show every season, for quite a few years now. She's very talented, but has turned into a real pig in terms of greediness and overexposure. And I'm sure you've read it has already been announced that she'll be back next season in DEATH OF A SALESMAN, opposite Willy Loman. I really don't think the world is clamoring to see either of them in those roles.

R22 Opposite Nathan Lane, ya drunk tart.

R14 your video made me want to kill myself

Far-left politics (i.e., SJWs) is a mental illness.. Seriously. There is such a thing as MiSCASTING.

Being in a production of "Joseph" must be humiliating

[quote]Melanie Griffith really was magnetic as Roxie. Seemed effortless.

Got terrific reviews too. She did "Chicago" the same time her husband Antonio Banderas was "Nine" right down the same street.

[quote]I love Barbra but she sounds glum, charmless and miserable.

Well give her a little break, as aloof as she wants to come off, she's not a fool and it was minutes before Opening Night of the biggest break of her life and she had to be nervous.

[quote]Ok. Michael Arden needs to be STOPPED immediately. He's calling JOSEPH the gay bible story and wants to make his staged concert at Geffen Hall the gayest thing ever. The brothers will be played by ALL genders and Alex Newell is one of the narrators. Stop him NOW.

How about just not going? Problem solved.

[quote] She's very talented, but has turned into a real pig in terms of greediness and overexposure.

She's dimming her box office clout, yes, but surely a talented major actress's interest, dedication and commitment to doing a substantial play every year on Broadway shouldn't be referred to as pig-like or greedy.

With Rebecca's illness made public, Danny is now guaranteed a Tony for Moulin Rouge.

very good point r30

R28 And how about you just not commenting? Problem solved.

I watched the promo for "Joseph", must have been open casting call for all fat people

It is fascinating how many people talk about Mame do not seem to understand why it would be so hard to produce today. It is as if they are writing from a long distant time.

A satiric work whose targets existed in the 50s and 60s is hard to revive when those targets are either absent or already so universally despised at to make the skewering pointless. (Notice how Mame and Auntie Mame avoid targets that would have been too specific to the 20s and 30s settings of the early scenes?)

A play who puts forward an image of genteel southern life as desirable does not work in a time when musical theater audiences are so far opposed to it.

A central character who is a white savior who is not in any way affected by anyone she helps other than her nephew. At this point our expectations for musical drama are such that this makes her seem heartless. That could work in a production of Auntie Mame, but in musicals characters open their hearts and this will be a stumbling block.

And yes, it does seem weird that there is only one minority person in Mame's world. Anyone with a historical sense will realize that is just not realistic for someone like Mame in the 20s and 30s. Read novels of that time (or even see films of the time) you will see how things were different. By imposing the mores of the 60s on earlier times, Mame becomes dated once the 60s were over.

If Mame had been written with a real sense of history and greater period specificity overall, it would have been as relivable as South Pacitfic, The King and I, My Fair Lady, or Chicago--endlessly renewable for future generations. But because it is stuck in a mid-60s ethos even when presenting earlier decades, it is hard to make it something that audiences can viscerally enjoy.. And without that, musical theater does not work.

^^ should be "revivable" not "relivable"

[quote]She's dimming her box office clout, yes, but surely a talented major actress's interest, dedication and commitment to doing a substantial play every year on Broadway shouldn't be referred to as pig-like or greedy.

That's my perspective on it. She doesn't have to do a new play EVERY season, she could leave love some of the plum older-women roles for other actresses. Anyway, even if you disagree that she's being piggish and greedy, I think there's a general feeling that critics, and also audiences who see pretty much everything, are getting tired of her. I've had several people tell me they're not interested in seeing her in VIRGINIA WOOLF, nor in SALESMAN, whereas I think they would have been very interested in either or both if she hadn't been on stage almost every season for the past seven years.

R34, your post was very cogent and well argued. It amuses me that some people, when they insist MAME could be successfully revived today, intimate that those of us who argue that it can't be revived don't understand that the show is a satire -- or, at least, has lot of satirical elements. I'm pretty sure we all realize that those lyrics of the title song are meant as a satire of Southerners, but that doesn't mean the satire has dated well. In retrospect, it's kind of hard to believe tha 1960s audiences accepted a group of people in the post-war but still segregated South singing "you've given us the drive again to make the South revive again" in what's supposed to be a big, happy, up-tune production number, no matter how satirical the original intent.

I saw Christine Baranski as Mame at the Kennedy Center in 2006, in a production that had its eye on Broadway. She wasn't ideally cast, and Harriet Harris was a surprisingly disappointing Vera, but the casting wasn't the problem and wasn't why the show didn't move to Broadway. It just hasn't aged well at all, and the strong score isn't enough to save it, given that it's a classic '60s book musical.

Not only is Melcalf doing a play every season getting tiring, but so is Joe Mantello's choice of material to direct. He needs to branch out and do something new and exciting, but at his age, that may be impossible.

R30-that is a supremely cunty thing to say, however true it may be.

Much like class act Jason Danieley, Danny will most likely finish his run in MOULIN ROUGE, then vanish for awhile. These insidious illnesses take their toll not only on the patient, but on their loved ones as well. Pray for Rebecca.

[quote]If Mame had been written with a real sense of history and greater period specificity overall, it would have been as relivable as South Pacitfic, The King and I, My Fair Lady, or Chicago--endlessly renewable for future generations. But because it is stuck in a mid-60s ethos even when presenting earlier decades, it is hard to make it something that audiences can viscerally enjoy.. And without that, musical theater does not work.

I saw Christine Baranski as Mame in 2006 at the Kennedy Center, in a production that had its eye on Broadway. She wasn't ideally cast, and Harriet Harris was surprisingly disappointing as Vera. But the casting isn't why it didn't transfer. As R34 pointed out, the show simply doesn't work for audiences today, despite its strong score, because it's a classic 1960s book musical.

Nathan Lane in Death Of A Salesman seems like a joke idea. You're sitting around with your friends saying "Name the worst casting you can think of. "

Nathan will be fucking awful as Willy Loman. Just as he was fucking awful as Hickey.

Mame has a brilliant score and I don't see how anyone could argue that, but the book was creaky then and it's creaky now.

Of course, to make it more diverse, you could always mix up the cast with more people of color as Mame probably would have had. Vera or Gooch could easily be black, but then some ignorant cunt would probably say "oh, so why are you making the black women the drunk and unwed mother?" Hell, make Mame black and really give the final scene of act 1 a little punch and suspense.

Still, I suggest doing none of these things until they update that godawful book.

Virginia Woolf is on TDF for nearly all of its first two weeks. At the Booth.

There was no need for this revival.

"Virginia Woolf" has been revived more than "Gypsy."

Great. So MAME is the new FOLLIES here?

Laurie Metcalf IS Sally AND Phyllis in Follies. Coming 2023!

In case you missed Imelda braying her way through Virginia Woolf.....

Sandy Duncan for Sally!

The Imelda production of Virginia Woolf was godawful. It basically proved everything people had been saying about Imelda onstage. No, Gypsy was not a fluke. She really is that loud and grating and desperate onstage.

Not really theatre-related, but I thought people here would enjoy the first paragraph.

R52 Haha. I love it.

Ben Platt is such a fucking terrible actor.

R44, actually you could not really make Gooch or Vera black characters. You could have black actresses play them--or Mame for that matter. But the characters would not be black.

So word on Arden's Atlanta try out musical is that its pretty good...Get ready.

Speaking of casting, I just saw a screening of the British production of Kinky Boots. I was amazed how changing the casting of Charlie Price changes the play. Instead of a light-weight, pretty boy Stark Sands, Killian Donnelly is slightly balding, potato faced schlub with a dad bod. He actually seems like someone who grew up at a factory, instead of someone who looks like a Yale grad with an Equinox membership. (Though Sands has the "waiting for everything to be handed him on a platter" quality of the character.) I think they were both the same age when playing the role, but Donnelly reads older.

R57 He was fat, useless with zero charm.

Where's the other part of Imelda's Virginia Woolf? I'm looking forward to her shrieking, clawing her hair and eyes out in the final scene.

R58, thanks for your two cents, Stark.

Wow that Joseph clip is a fucking nightmare. Joseph had 11 BROTHERS. I worked on the revival that wasn't so great but I'd rather kill myself than sit through that.

I really enjoyed Metcalf in both Three Tall Women and Hillary & Clinton, already have tickets for Virginia Woolf, and missed A Doll’s House Part 2. I grew up going to regional repertory theater, where part of the pint was seeing a company of actors and directors taking on different work. New York theater craves novelty over craft, so it doesn’t surprise me that they would get bored by excellent work.

[quote]Wow that Joseph clip is a fucking nightmare. Joseph had 11 BROTHERS. I worked on the revival that wasn't so great but I'd rather kill myself than sit through that.

Maybe it wasn't so great because of your work.

[quote]Ok. Michael Arden needs to be STOPPED immediately. He's calling JOSEPH the gay bible story and wants to make his staged concert at Geffen Hall the gayest thing ever. The brothers will be played by ALL genders and Alex Newell is one of the narrators. Stop him NOW.

Oh bless your jealous little empty heart.

[quote] Where's the other part of Imelda's Virginia Woolf? I'm looking forward to her shrieking, clawing her hair and eyes out in the final scene.

Why? She does that through the other three hours of the play. She does that standing backstage waiting to make her entrance.

Christ, I thought you were all kidding about Imelda's Martha in Virginia Woolf? I got 15 minutes in and wanted to kill myself, so I turned it off. That was worse than her Rose. They make her Sally look downright subdued.

Was she always this...much? I've liked a lot of her film work, but these recent theatre performances of hers are terrible.

I'm wondering just what kind of a shit show can we expect when WSS opens.

Well, r67, since 13,900 people saw it last week, and similar numbers in the prior weeks, why don't you ask one of them...?

R64 I'm not jealous. That's the best response you could come up with? I'm not in the entertainment industry. Not jealous of his looks or money. I have both. Joseph had BROTHERS and having a woman play Pharaoh is ridiculous. I loved the OOTI Revival. I saw it twice. But now he's going too far and it's annoying.

Who has seen Rebecca Luker lately? She mentions "getting well" in her Twitter post. If she is at the beginning of the disease, she may have many, many years left, and she may also have many years where the effects of the disease are minimal and don't radically affect her life. I don't know that she would be able to do another big Broadway musical, but if things are just beginning, she may be able to do recordings and 54 Below, that kind of thing.

Didn't she do a 54 Below thing with another singer last fall - so this came on after that?

[quote] Joseph had BROTHERS and having a woman play Pharaoh is ridiculous. I loved the OOTI Revival. I saw it twice. But now he's going too far and it's annoying.

I agree that that video looks flat out AWFUL, but casting women is the least if it. It’s not like Tim Rice was aiming for historical accuracy or biblical verisimilitude. It’s a pastiche cartoon.

“Joseph and the Amazingly Stupid Show that Should Never be Performed by Adults”

R59 I can if you really want

R64 Wait a minute. You're the same datalounge idiot that likes to post an obscene number of times in threads saying idiotic shit and whose parent's said they never wish they never had you. Yeah, now I know why. haha.

R64 *Your parents said they wish they never had you. You know what I'm talking about. haha. I can only imagine you as some dumbass annoying child.

“Joseph and the Amazingly Stupid Show that Should Never be Performed by Adults”

Although I am not a fan, and have never seen Joseph, I read ALW's memoirl. In it, he describes how Joseph was written for his high-school choral group to perform as a one-off, and was never intended to be performed by adults. Joseph wasn't performed on a legitimate stage until after the huge success of Jesus Christ Superstar.

ALW's memoir is well-worth reading for anyone who loves the theater, whether you like his work or not. He is surprisingly good company.

This is Sienna in the bizarre Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. I have no idea why Brick is played as if he is a chav from Manchester. But is a choice....

For no reason....

Audra for Mame with Brooks as Ito and Awkwafina as Gooch. Box Office Gold baby!

Has anyone watched the Netflix documentary about Wynn Handman? Wow is it terrible. Overlong and flabby with no story. I'm sure there IS a story but the filmmakers sure didn't find it. Someone at Netflix must be a massive theater queen to have not only picked this up but to have branded it a Netflix movie.

[quote]I agree that that video looks flat out AWFUL, but casting women is the least of it. It’s not like Tim Rice was aiming for historical accuracy or biblical verisimilitude. It’s a pastiche cartoon.

Stupid comment. As per the way the show was written, the brothers' jealousy of Joseph for being his father's favorite is a very male thing. It has nothing to do with "historical accuracy," you fool.

Casting men or women in Joseph is bad casting.

Joseph is a children’s show, written to be performed by children. It’s a very stupid show when adults do it.

R80 it is fucking terrible

R58 your taste level is low. Donnelly is a superb actor (and singer, for that matter). Just because you didn't want to fuck him doesn't make him wrong for the role. The role is working class England.

Why was Harris bad as Vera? It would seem like a role she could play in her sleep

R84, thank you, Donnelly is a much better actor than Stark Sands. I also noticed, going back to the videos of the Broadway company, that Stark Sands has to show off that he is a good dancer throughout. Donnelly made the choice to be awkward with the dance steps in the beginning and gradually "find his groove". This is a much more interesting choice. Aside from the actress playing Lauren, I think most of the choices in the West End Production were better than the Broadway production.

Why can’t someone incorporate more of the auntie mame script into the mame script. It is much sharper

Maybe combining e best of the two will fix the musical

You cannot fix a musical that died its natural death with the cultural change of the late 1960's. There is nothing left of MAME but some incessantly bouncy tunes and a lot of shoulders and elbows and eye rolls.

The mere act of championing MAME in 2020 is proof enough of one's shallow grasp of everything related to the theater. When the AT&T was broken apart by federal anti-trust law, Ernestine the Telephone Operator became pointless. Times similarly changed for Mame. She's now pointless.

Except of course, to those who do not get the point.

"...thank you, Donnelly is a much better actor than Stark Sands. "

But. I'd rather suck off Sands. Is that what life is about?

"Mame," coming to soon to a major regional theater near you! (Well, near me anyway.)

Wow. From that weirdo theater's web page about its production of MAME. I think people who would write and publish any of this should be banned for life from producing MAME. Feh! If you think you have to issue a trigger warning for the word "hussy," you should give up. Just kill yourself. Your thinking is too twisted and your integrity drained away.

Synopsis: Based off the Novel by Patrick Dennis and the play “Auntie Mame” by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. Set in New York City, it spans the and , it focuses on Great Depression World War II eccentric bohemian Mame Dennis, whose motto is “Life is a banquet and most poor sons of bitches are starving to death.” Her fabulous life with her wealthy friends is interrupted when her nephew arrives to live with her. They cope with the Depression in a series of creative adventures.

Theme: Letting go of your past and standing up for yourself.

Language: A few older curse words such as hussy used. Some derogatory language used.

Smoking, Drinking, and Gambling: There are many cocktail parties, where drinking is involved, bootleggers are mentioned, and characters act hungover.

Sex: Some suggestive language.

Violence: Some characters enter a Speakeasy, nothing overt results.

For Which Audiences? Recommended for 5 th grade and higher due to suggestions of violence.

Rating: If this was a movie, it would be rated PG.

[quote] I also noticed, going back to the videos of the Broadway company, that Stark Sands has to show off that he is a good dancer throughout. Donnelly made the choice to be awkward with the dance steps in the beginning and gradually "find his groove".

You do realize there is a director and choreographer and actors don't make their own choices willy nilly to do whatever they please right?

Kay Thompson was Liza's godmother. Enough said.

[quote]Why was Harris bad as Vera? It would seem like a role she could play in her sleep

I think maybe that was the problem. Again, I saw this production back in 2006, but, as I recall, she came off as an old lush, but not a "great lady of the stage" whom someone might have confused with Tallulah Bankhead. And no, I wasn't expecting Bea Arthur's performance.

The novel AUNTIE MAME was a satire, as were all of Patrick Dennis's works. The play and musical greatly de-fanged and diluted the book.

I hate the combination of Norah and Gooch in "Mame."

[quote]Synopsis: Based off the Novel by Patrick Dennis and the play “Auntie Mame” by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee.

Based on, not based off - this is driving me crazy and I see and hear it more and more.

[quote]The novel AUNTIE MAME was a satire, as were all of Patrick Dennis's works. The play and musical greatly de-fanged and diluted the book.

At the same time, Patrick Dennis himself credited Lawrence and Lee with giving the character of Auntie Mame "heart," something he admitted was lacking in his book, and something that was essential to a stage adaptation, especially the musical version.

That's what I always point out, r98. Read the original book. She's zany and madcap but no heart. It's a satire. The same problem exists with Little Me.

[quote] Why was Harris bad as Vera? It would seem like a role she could play in her sleep

Part of the problem was that Baranski's Mame was more Vera than Mame.

I've never seen a production of "Little Me," but the fact that the original was turned into a vehicle for Sid Caesar to play the various men in Belle Poitrine's life told me everything I needed to know about it. The men in Belle's life are mere props, and the humor in the book largely comes from reading between the lines and realizing the truth of Belle's life and career vs. her version of it. The book is hilarious, but a faithful stage adaptation would be difficult if not impossible. I remember thumbing through Joan Collins' memoir and looking at the photos. One was of a young Joan in a play somewhere, which she captioned " 'trading the boards' early in my career." Complete with quotation marks around "treading the boards." And I thought, "Wow. She's a real-life Belle Poitrine."

The book “Little Me” is a masterpiece. Dennis’ greatest work.

The musical bears little resemblance to it.

R92, you do realize that both productions were directed by the same person, and yet there are numerous differences in how Charlie Price is played? The changes had to come from somewhere, otherwise the West End production would be a carbon copy of the Broadway production. Some, though not all, had to have come from the actor.

I love all of this squabbling over Mame. Somehow, in the 1970s and 80s, we had no problem accepting the books to Very Good Eddie, Whoopee!, etc. , but Mame cannot be produced???? Are we so self involved that we cannot relate to anything outside of our own little world? Ernestine the telephone operator is only pointless to those with no sense of history beyond their own birth.

You think so, R104? Lily Tomlin stopped doing Ernestine when AT&T was broken up. And she has talked about the character being made pointless by the loss of that power AT&T gave her. But take it up with Lily.

I don't disagree with you, R104, but with shows like "Very Good Eddie," "Whoopee" and the 1971 revival of "No No, Nanette," there's an expectation of nostalgic pleasure from seeing a period piece. Even though "Mame" is more than 50 years old, and in fact older than the original "No No, Nanette" was in 1971, there isn't that same expectation. It's thought of as another golden age musical, like "Dolly" or "Fiddler."

R105, You can take that on face value, or you could read between the lines and consider that it was a was or retiring a beloved character that she was tired of performing, without pissing off her fans. Besides, about that time she fancied herself a *dramatic actress*, and you know how well that turned out.

As has been mentioned here, Bells are Ringing is not unproducible because nobody uses an answering service any longer. The audience accepts the convention is the same way the accept Prohibition or butter churns. You could not set Bells are Ringing in 2020, nor could you have a telephone operator in 2020, but they are not pointless *in period*.

Mame works as a period piece, a 60s musical.

R106, Dolly, is actually in the same boat (not so much Fiddler). There is a reason that the recent production was very much a 1960s production with slightly better technology. The period wasn't 1900. The period was 1900 as seen by the 1960s. The color pallet was very much that of a 1960s musical. The chorus costumes were very much 1960s chorus pairings (though it got pretty mucked up for the tour.) Mame need the same treatment: 20s bobs by way of Vidal Sassoon.

Down and out.....

Sur la plage....

Letch Feeley.....

One of my favorites: Belle "lunching with 'Roz.' "

^^ Sorry. "Luncheoning" with "Roz."

I'm pissed because I can't find a picture of me.

r113 Do you know there was a German woman in showbiz who renamed herself Magdalena Montezuma?

[quote] The color pallet

Oh, dear!

PALLET - on trucks

PALATE - in your mouth

PALETTE - what an artist uses

[quote]The book is hilarious, but a faithful stage adaptation would be difficult if not impossible

It's probably much too late for this now, but I'll bet a good movie, miniseries, or even a serialized program could've been made out of "Little Me."

Jerry really could only do Big Lady musicals. And they gradually reduced in book quality and length of runs until La Cage (a pretty big Big Lady musical). He was not the go-to for a Fiddler or Man of La Mancha. Mame is secondary to Dolly and look how long that took to get a non-Channing revival.

I would have liked to have seen a John Waters version, r116. Was she the meanest kraut in pictures, r114?

The problem is, r116, the source material for both Little Me and Mame is satirical. Satire doesn't age well for the general public. Little Me's dedication page alone is only funny to those of certain age who read (almost) all of those trenchant and moving "autobiographies".....

This feels like one person having a conversation with himself.

[quote] all of those trenchant and moving "autobiographies".....

And don't forget... wholly fabricated, entirely fictitious, and self-promoting.

Ain't that the truth, r121!

[quote]I hate the combination of Norah and Gooch in "Mame.

You can suck my dick, r96.

R86 AGREED.

Someone pepper sprayed the audience of Jagged Little Pill.

Her daughter, 21-year-old Alexa, said she and her mom thought someone might have been upset by the nature of the show.

“I thought maybe the emotions were too much for someone to handle or something like that,” she said.

There was a dispute earlier in the show (JLP) over cel phone use in a different part of the theater. Later came the pepper spray/mace. It is believed that it was accidently dispersed, but I'm not sure how that could happen.

I don't remember Harriet Harris being awful in Mame, she was just unsurprising. I felt the same way about LuPone when I saw her in Gypsy. She wasn't miscast and was even quite good, but she played it exactly as you'd expect her to from start to finish. There were never any daring or surprising choices that make theatre so exciting. When you saw someone like Peters, Daly, or Lansbury in the role, you were always on your feet, unsure of how they'd play certain scenes.

As for Harris, it also didn't help that Baranski was more of a Vera so you had a Mame with two Veras and no Mame.

R128, that really nails LuPone’s Rose. I think she was spontaneous from performance to performance, but always with really obvious, scenery-gnawing choices. When they ended the show with her literally clawing at the scenery, I thought “but, of course.”

By the time LuPone reached Broadway, she had already played Gypsy, so it was just laziness on her part for not turning in something more interesting.

I know we're getting a DEVIL WEARS PRADA musical, but what if we got a SAD FINAL DAYS OF VANITY FAIR? How's that for a Big Lady show?

The "Mame Can't Be Produced In This Day and Age" Troll is tiresome.

Well, actually you can with a good director and cast...and ideally, permission to make some book changes.

I like Beth Level and all, but I can't believe they're gonna hang The Devil Wears Prada on her name.

R130 LuPone played Rose; Laura Benanti was Gypsy.

There's more than one of us, r132. Book changes are not going to make a difference. Auntie Mame has never gotten a Broadway revival. There's a reason.

"There is nothing left of MAME but some incessantly bouncy tunes and a lot of shoulders and elbows and eye rolls.:

And that's more entertainment than any contemporary musical has to offer.

R84 Oh goody. Realism in musical theatre casting. Just what we need. You must have hated Hamilton.

Anyone else just watch the 60 Minutes behind-the-scenes story on WSS? It's definitely a different take on it.

I don't watch it, R138. What was the gist of it?

Video has no place in the theatre, especially when the same gimmick has been used by the director before. Yawn.

On the other end of the spectrum, I saw The Unsinkable Molly Brown "revisal..."

[quote]Someone pepper sprayed the audience of Jagged Little Pill.

Why? That show certainly isn't the audience's fault.

Who could forget Belle Poitrine's version of "The Scarlet Letter"?

R140, tell us about the new Unsinkable Molly Brown. Is she Unbearable? Or Unmissable? Has the new creative team succeeded where the old one failed? Looking forward to a detailed DL analysis, as I will not get to see the production.

Stephen Sondheim tries to hide his true feelings but you can read between the lines. My favorite part is when the interviewer says it's a WEST SIDE STORY for the 21st century. Check Sondheim's response and tone. lmao.

I hope this WSS flops.

R133 Have they announced who is playing Andi yet? I think the name value of the movie and Elton John should be enough for it to be successful if it gets good reviews, it doesn’t need a huge name. Beth Leavel at least has a few Tony noms, so if they pair her up with another semi-known actress I think they’ll be fine unless the show itself is awful.

I gotta hand it to Sondheim - he always seems up for any new interpretation of his work even if he has a feeling it won't work. He let's people do what they want and, if it fails, it fails. He gets a check either way.

[quote]This is a particular directorial style, that Ivo has used before, applied to this piece

I'm not sure you even need to read [italic]between[/italic] the lines, R144!

In previews it is selling out every week, although I do not know what the advance is or how this bodes for the future

West Side Story or Company ... which one closes the week after the Tonys?

[quote]Beth Leavel at least has a few Tony noms

I WON one, too, goddammit!

Sooooo.....did Annie call Liz and say "Hey hon, in case you win and can't accept...."?

I thought Lupone actually was rather surprising as Rose. She played Rose younger and sexier that I’d ever seen her. So much of the play made more sense because of that choice

Encores should do Mame so that NYC could at least hear the score and get off that fantasy of doing a full scale revival

R146 Andi is being played by a black girl. Of course. She was in HEAD OVER HEELS.

[quote]Andi is being played by a black girl.

*eyeroll*

Why always black? Why not Asian or Latina if they don't want to cast white?

Oh, God, R155...you've woken IT up again.

R156 I agree. It's VERY frustrating. R157 haha. They asked.

R155 So no star casting for that role... But still the cache of the movie + Elton should be enough to get it to run for a while if the performances/reviews are good.

[quote]But still the cache of the movie

Oh, dear.

R154 Mame would be perfect for an extended Encores! run. Surprised it hasn’t happened by now but I’d guess that might come down to Jerry Herman and the rights. Could definitely see it happening now that he’s dead and if Mack & Mabel is a success for them.

For anyone who hasn't seen any Von Hoe productions, and may not understand the total loathing of him, I present....he shitty...

All About Eve

Cameras have no place on the stage.

So Van Hove has one gimmick, and it's cameras on stage? It reminds me of John Doyle and his one gimmick, actors playing instruments.

R163 Now, it seems to be an obsession. I have his Hedda Gobbler as well and that is just dumb.

the woman playing Karen is a 55 yr old white woman and the guy playing her husband (the playwright) is a 28 yr old black man.

The woman playing Birdie doesn't have a humorous bone in her body.

R165 The Lily James breakdown is so bad. And the George Sanders is just awful. Funny thing, the stage Birdie, who is famous in England, was fucking brilliant in Troilus and Cressida.

Yes, Lily James is terrible, too. The whole cast is playing this like they're doing Spoon River Anthology.

The stage Birdie is absolutely terrible. I kind of like Julian Ovenden, and Monica Dolan is a refreshing change from grand lady Celeste Holm.

But Gillian Anderson - ugh. Her accent is so flat, it's impossible to believe that's a great actress. More like a midwestern housewife who's been given the lead in the PTA fundraising play.

Re: DEVIL WORE PRADA... Taylor Iman Jones, who plays Andi, has a lovely singing voice. I saw her in GROUNDHOG DAY and SCOTTLAND PA, where I though she was fine. Charming, but not spectacular. Perhaps stronger material (and more to do) will inspire her to greater heights.

Beth Leavel, if anything,radiates too much warmth and earthiness for Miranda, but maybe she'll fully commit to playing her as a sacred monster. That's where the humor in the show lies. Could be swell.

I've always liked Paul Rudnick and am hoping he brings his A-game topical bitch wit to the book. (I follow him on Twitter and his recaps of Ivanka's fashion foibles are a riot.) The movie treated Andi's climb as an existential crisis: more FUN, please. I don't know much about Shaina Taub, but she sounds like a cool and unexpected lyric partner to Elton's music. Fingers crossed.

It's a new, contemporary show that's NOT a jukebox musical. With actual jokes. For adults, even. I'm looking forward.

R77 Do you have a link to the rest of that Cat on a Hot Tin Roof production? Even though it's bad I feel the need to finish it. Sienna Miller is doing far too much as Maggie but the show seemed like it was starting to improve some in the 2nd act before the video cut out.

People harping on about this WSS need to give it a rest. Of all the musical theatre works of the past century (with the exception of Sweeney Todd, perhaps), WSS's place in the canon is assured - not only will it continue to be performed in the way it was originally envisioned by its creatives, but dance companies will continue to perform the Robbins choreography, and Bernstein's score has already entered the opera canon.

Right now, I doubt anybody would have much interest in seeing another solid but traditional Broadway production. WSS is a masterpiece, no doubt, but it is also resilient enough to withstand an attempt at reimagining the work - whether that be successful or not.

I hope the WSS guy sues the people harassing him

R170 Here you go, is missing the first 5 minutes....is a long story.

That 60 minutes segment on WSS showed me all I needed to see. The choreography looked like IN THE HEIGHTS. Barf. Can't compare at all to the original Mambo/Gym Dance choreo. I was already getting a headache with the screen in the back playing stupid shit. AWFUL. So it's part live movie part live theatre. Staging key scenes on the big screen. Just stupid. And Belgium people telling an American story. Yea ok. 👌

On what planet does it make sense to have Betty Buckley play Dolly and not Miranda?

[quote] I've always liked Paul Rudnick and am hoping he brings his A-game topical bitch wit to the book. (I follow him on Twitter and his recaps of Ivanka's fashion foibles are a riot.)

I’m not on Twitter, but it seems like the perfect platform for Rudnick. All bitchy punchlines, no character or plot development.

Betty Buckley is too old for Miranda. Playing Dolly almost did her in. The old gal ain't what she used to be, and neither is her voice.

Rudnick on Twitter is hackneyed

They needed to have Isaac Powell not speak in that 60 minutes segment ... he seemed more like he was playing Anita

^^^Not to mention his vocals. Awful.

R179 He's terribly miscast as 'Tony.' Unfortunately, the far-leftists white liberals that now control the entertainment industry care more about living in a fantasy than casting correctly. You have to suspend ALL disbelief to stomach this new production -- or pretty much anything on Broadway these days.

I HATE WOMEN IN POSITIONS OF POWER!

R181 R182 Yup. AGREED. But gay fems are just as bad as women.

[quote] It reminds me of John Doyle and his one gimmick, actors playing instruments.

At least r163 Doyle often gives it a rest - eg, The Color Purple, his recent Macbeth, etc. and only trots it out when he feels it might work Hove seems to do video every single time lately

Thanks, r171, at last a voice of reason this subject. Marry me (a little).

The 60 Minutes WSS made me want to see it a great deal more than I did before.

I'm sure sales went crazy last night. It looks both better and worse than I'd expected.

[quote] Right now, I doubt anybody would have much interest in seeing another solid but traditional Broadway production.

Exactly. Which is what's wrong with Broadway right now. We DON'T want to see the umpteenth revival of some classic show. You would think that since Aeschylus, only 15 shows had ever been written.

Bonus points for mentioning Aeschylus

Beth Leavel would be the perfect MAME!!

Not any more perfect than Zombie Maria Ouspenskaya.

Well, Maria had that dry, deadpan delivery so maybe for Zombie Vera..?

Fine. Zombie Judith Lowry for MAME!

[quote]He's terribly miscast as 'Tony.' Unfortunately, the far-leftists white liberals that now control the entertainment industry care more about living in a fantasy than casting correctly. You have to suspend ALL disbelief to stomach this new production -- or pretty much anything on Broadway these days.

Dude just stop. These people are breaking out into song and dance, there is no belief-disbelief, just people telling a story. If you think for a second that those are real gang members on that stage conflicted you have a huge problem.

Jesus Christ, was Richard Greenberg paid by the word for his new 2 hour 45 minute play “The Perplexed” at MTC? Sadly, most of those words fail to make an impression. The absolute low point is when Zane Pais, playing a young rent boy, has to explain what water sports is to a character played by Gregg Edelman. Margaret Colin and Frank Wood manage to rise above the flabby script, but this is not one of Greenberg’s better efforts.

R173 Thanks!

r194 - You mean Margaret (Jackie on Assistance) Colin.

This WSS is for ADD millennials, who can't focus on the action on stage, but need video to help keep their attention. It's a new Broadway, not for older people.

So I'm unclear why some folks here are telling me I should see or support this production of WSS, when it's not an accurate rendering of the actual show, but some cartoonish video-game abortion with new choreography, but minus entire songs and scenes....

And the popular wisdom is that a sincere. more traditional rendering of the entire show wouldn't run...

But yes--it's the non-traditional casting that's the problem. Yes, that's it.

[quote]The stage Birdie is absolutely terrible.

I don't doubt it for a moment, but how could anyone hope to compete with the wonderful Thelma Ritter?

[quote]Dude just stop. These people are breaking out into song and dance, there is no belief-disbelief, just people telling a story. If you think for a second that those are real gang members on that stage conflicted you have a huge problem.

If I may combine two subjects of this thread, I'll quote George Sanders in ALL ABOUT EVE in regard to your comment above: "You have a point, my dear. A stupid one, but a point."

The fact that WSS is a musical, and stylized or "unrealistic" in that sense, doesn't mean that credibility can be completely abandoned in terms of casting, direction, etc. In the show AS WRITTEN, the Jets are white Americans of European descent, and the Sharks are Puerto Ricans recently arrived in NYC. There are references to this in the dialogue and the lyrics, so it doesn't make sense if you keep those references but have both gangs be multi-cultural. And Tony is supposed to be a white guy who is heterosexual (or at least comes across as heterosexual), but the current actor playing him is neither.

R200 THANK YOU.

I remember sitting in the front row of the orchestra at the St. James to see Lupone in Gypsy and was surprised to see a rather large varicose vein in one of her legs.

[quote]If I may combine two subjects of this thread, I'll quote George Sanders in ALL ABOUT EVE in regard to your comment above: "You have a point, my dear. A stupid one, but a point."

R200, if you're going to "quote" George Sanders as Addison DeWitt on a site frequented by eldergays, at least quote him correctly: "You have a point. An idiotic one, but a point."

I did my best, r199.

R203, thanks for the correction. I will snip off a corner of my eldergay card :-)

If we're being honest, Beth Leavel is perfect for all those classic "broad" roles like Mame, Rose, Dolly, etc. It's a shame that truly gifted, exciting performers like her won't be asked to headline a huge revival due to her not being a "star" in the Hollywood/TV sense. If she'd come around in the 40's or 50's, I'm sure most of middle America would know who she was just like they knew Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, and Carol Channing.

Maybe Prada will finally give her a big, mainstream audience. She deserves it. I've never seen her turn in a lousy performance. She's electrifying on stage.

Beth Leavel is not a star in ANY sense.

I prefer this Addison DeWitt quote: “You’re too short for that gesture.”

I prefer this Addison DeWitt quote: “You’re too short for that gesture.”

I prefer this one: "you have a point, but you're an idiot."

I prefer this one from DeNiro.

Hugh will be 62 when he does Music Man. Preston was 39.

Hugh Jackman is 51.

The new Molly Brown is actually quite good, much better than I expected. It's still a mostly old-fashioned musical, but the book rewrites are good, and there's a point to the whole thing (unlike the goopy original) and Beth Malone is exceptional. Definitely worth the trip way, way, way, way, downtown.

Ugh. Michael Arden is directing a movie.

Hope they don't go overbudget on the porta-potties.

R215 Finally! Someone is telling the Christian side of the plague years. They were so...

Preston was 44 by the time he did the movie version of MM, which is what most people know.

[quote] but the current actor playing him is neither.

What his sexuality is in real life doesn’t matter, as long as he can convincingly was play straight.

R206 I love Beth but her general style/way is unfortunately not in fashion on Broadway/in popular culture these days. I do think if Prada is a big hit and gets her another Tony nomination/win she could headline a big revival. She responded positively to someone yelling out about Mame when she was talking to the audience at one of her 54 Below shows, so she might be interested in doing a revival but at the moment she isn’t a big enough box office draw for it.. Coming off of a big hit show I could see it happen although it’d still have an uphill climb to success.

I know she’d love to do Gypsy but that’s been done so frequently and with such big stars recently that it would never be a success with her as Rose

[quote]I prefer this Addison DeWitt quote: “You’re too short for that gesture.”

"Besides, it went out with Mrs. Fiske."

R191. Well, Maria certainly would have set the stage on fire!

Her Vera would've wiped up the floor with anyone playing Mame. I can almost picture her quips and ripostes in my mind's eye... with that middle European accent, no less…!

"These people are breaking out into song and dance, there is no belief-disbelief, just people telling a story."

Yes, and stories have to be told truthfully. Sure, everybody may have their truth...but is it a VALUABLE truth?

r214, your sense of irony is delightful!

That version of All About Eve is surprisingly enervating. And the constantly-droning music makes it feel like it is even more listless and draggy than it is. How could such a great script have such a misfire of a production?!?!? I know that Lily James is an it girl, but I have not liked her in anything I have seen her in. She seems to be more interested in showing off her personal charm than the internal truth of her character. She might be a great actress, but I have yet to see it. Thank you for posting the video, whoever did it.

Monica Dolan was the only good thing in that adaptation of All About Eve. It was a bumpy night all right.

terrible acting by the men in that All About Eve production. Just amateurish, loud, theatrical nonsense.

I got so sick of Robins gimmick of having women dance on their toes that I have skipped WWS in its original production and every revival.

Just like that weird gimmick musicals had of flat backdrops going up and down. I got sick of it.

And that staging gimmick of having the singers stand facing the audience. I know that musicals require a suspension of disbelief but can we have at least some modicum of realism!

"Applause" isn't a very good musical, but at least it tried to do something different with the story. Adapting "All About Eve" as a straight play strikes me as utterly pointless when the movie is readily available. I felt the same way about "The Graduate."

And why do they have spotlights following the actors? That never happens in real life.

We get it, r229. You are obsessed with musical theatre schtick.

So Laurie Metcalf is the only American in Virginia Wolfe? Jeez.

When are we gonna get a Mildred Pierce musical?

Todd Hayne's incredibly earnest and diligent but ultimately dreary TV version of MILDRED PIERCE demonstrated to me: don't try to improve on perfection. Meaning the Joan Crawford movie.

The miniseries was incredibly faithful to the James M Cain novel, , the gender politics, and socio-economic realities of the period.... and a complete bore to watch.

I cannot imagine a stage play or musical that could equal the original movie, much less improve on it.

There's an opera of Postman Always Rings Twice....

The "wink" at the end of All About Eve was particularly egregious. If you don't trust the material, why direct it? It could really be a wonderful play if performed with a little life. I never saw Applause, but, wow, wouldn't the story make a great musical, if Applause wasn't it.

It seems the protestors outside of west side story are all out of work actors with a need to belong. Somehow.

There is nothing wrong with APPLAUSE. The score is fun. The book moves right along. But the story is pretty light stuff. And it gets lighter if you musicalize it. APPLAUSE is utterly lacking in gravitas, but so is the story.

I suppose an opera would be possible, but who would want to see it?

[quote]There is nothing wrong with APPLAUSE. The score is fun.

But has it ever been sung by a real singer? I know audiences adored Bacall by c'mon she just massacres those songs.

Backstage Babble!!!

[quote] But has it ever been sung by a real singer?

Fuck, yeah. Patrice Munsel sang 225 performances at the Metropolitan Opera and she also did the Bus and Truck Tour of APPLAUSE (with Pia Zadora in the role Bonnie Franklin did on Broadway and Leland Palmer did in the National Tour.)

The problem with shows such as Applause, Mame, etc. is that they are Star! vehicles and we don't have stars nowadays.

I have a copy of Mary Martin's contract for Jennie. Part of her contract was two dozen roses each night- to be passed out to those waiting at the stage door, I limo to take her to her apartment, and a new evening gown each month- to be worn when exiting the theater. She was on-stage until she entered her apartment. We don't have stars such as that, who are bigger than life and on-stage 24/7, except Lady Gaga, and even she seem to have gotten tired of it.

Munsel!

Broadway was robbed of this.

Did they cast every student who tried out in that high school APPLAUSE clip? Never seen such an onstage crowd.

All we can say, r244, is a heeby deeby deeby deeby dee! A heeby deeby deeby deeby doo!

Lots of thoughts here:

THE PERPLEXED at MTC is astonishingly bad. Why is MTC producing such tripe? The water sports conversation was lethally unfunny and unbelievable, as was 97.5% of all the dialogue. Great set though!

I love Danny Burstein but hated every second of MOULIN ROUGE. I'd love for him to win a Tony, but not for this crapola. MOULIN ROUGE is corporate capitalism writ large on stage: heartless, cynical, dull. And the two leads have zero chemistry, though Karen O. is working hard to manufacture some. Aaron T. is giving what I think may be the worst lead performance in a huge, successful Broadway musical that I've ever seen. I liked him in NEXT TO NORMAL and thought he was okay in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, but now it's clear that he is really not leading man material. He is pretty and can sing, but damn, he cannot act. Great set though!

On a more positive note, Katori Hall's THE HOT WING KING at Signature is very good (and is about four gay black men in Memphis), and UNKNOWN SOLDIER at PH has some lovely songs (RIP, Michael Friedman, you are missed) and Perry Sherman playing the eponymous war veteran. Sherman has the chops to go far, a beautiful young man with an amazing voice and major presence. Hope he gets that lucky break. And Lauren Yee's CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND is everyone's opportunity to embrace a feel-good genocide musical! Snark aside, the playwright has her cake and damn if she's not going to eat it too, insisting on making the audience feel good after watching an entire second act dedicated to torture.

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA doesn't need a "name" beyond its composer and its title. It was a best-selling book and a hugely successful film, so if they don't fuck it up, it should be fine. And Beth Leavel will be superb. She's great.

I saw VIRGINIA WOOLF on TDF and thought: Nah. And I see everything. I was excited to see Eddie Izzard play George, but when he dropped out, my enthusiasm dipped. Laurie Metcalf is a treasure but yes, I do wonder if it'd have been better if she'd taken a season off. Plus, how many productions of this play do we need?

Elizabeth Stanley is killing it in JAGGED LITTLE PILL. Say what you want to about that show, but it felt like a tonic after the insistent cynicism of MOULIN ROUGE. Way too many principal characters, way too many issues, way too woke (those Playbill bios with the genders!) and way too many placards, but it at least tries and is often successful.

Finally, THE HEADLANDS at LCT3 is pretty good (and has some of the most amazing projections I've ever seen) and is worth seeing if you like murder mysteries, and ANATOMY OF A SUICIDE at the Atlantic is ambitious but exhausting.

I saw a bootleg of Jagged Little Pill, R246, and thought it was a million times better than it had any right to be. And I could not get over how wonderful Elizabeth Stanley is. I had not heard of her before -- or at least not have noticed he before -- but she is absolutely amazing in JLP. I hope she gets a Tony for it, or, at lest, a nomination. I don't see how she can't.

Miss Elizabeth Stanley LIVE at Barnes & Noble!!!

[quote]The problem with shows such as Applause, Mame, etc. is that they are Star! vehicles and we don't have stars nowadays.

So true, which is why the producers of "Applause" begged me to take over the role of Margo Channing, I gave a performance! Fully equipped with fire and music!

Elizabeth Stanley was great in the ON THE TOWN revival but faggot little pill is a NO.

Have you seen it, R250? I was expecting it to be overly-woke and nothing more than a check list of hot-button topics -- racism, homosexuality, porn, opioid addiction, entitlement, et al -- but it was a lot more than the sum of its parts. I think it had unexpected wit and heart. And Stanley is brilliant.

I was on Facebook and a WEST SIDE STORY ad came up. I went to the comments and ooo wee. EVERYONE hated it. Saying if there was an intermission they would have left. Ivan Hoe knows what he's doing locking the audience in. haha. Go read them if you can. haha. R251 It was everything you just listed. haha. I almost got a headache from rolling my eyes so much. It was ultimate cringe. And Derek Klena is too old to STILL be playing a teenager. It was next to normal meets Dear Evan Hanson with stupid gender woke lesbian bullshit and corny as fuck. Especially that dad. Yuck.

"Who's taking your shift at Olive Garden?"

Triumph, the insult comic dog to Donna Murphy at the Tony Awards.

[quote]Part of her contract was two dozen roses each night- to be passed out to those waiting at the stage door, I limo to take her to her apartment, and a new evening gown each month- to be worn when exiting the theater. She was on-stage until she entered her apartment.

I demanded--and received--exactly the same when I was starring in SEAWALL/A LIFE.

Because--standards.

Elizabeth Stanley as Mame?

NOBODY as Mame. No More MAME!

It sounds like you liked UNKNOWN SOLDIER a good deal more than I did, R246. There are a few lovely musical moments. It's skillfully performed. (Estelle Parsons has a minute at the beginning, disappears for over an hour, then comes back and gives you the price of the ticket near the end.) I wanted to love it but it just didn't add up to very much for me. Just my two cents. Perry Sherman is.... pretty.

I completely agree about MTC. Good for them for producing new American plays, but do they go out of their way to find bad ones? It often feels that way.

Thanks for posting. I'm always cheered to swap notes with DLer who actually support and attend new theatre.

ANATOMY OF A SUICIDE is like a frantic ping pong game. Was it done this way at the Royal Court, because it was 45 minutes longer in London. But Carla Gugino is magnificent. She's been away from the stage too long.

R249-OMIGOD, is that Miss Reams with Miss Baxter?

[quote]I could not get over how wonderful Elizabeth Stanley is. I had not heard of her before -- or at least not have noticed he before -- but she is absolutely amazing in JLP. I hope she gets a Tony for it, or, at lest, a nomination. I don't see how she can't.

Agreed. I've loved her since the first time I saw her, in COMPANY. She is great.

[quote]OMIGOD, is that Miss Reams with Miss Baxter?

It certainly is, R259!

Miss Reams created the Thelma Ritter role in the musical APPLAUSE.

Anatomy of a Suicide at the Royal Court was astonishing. Moving, profound, and uncompromising. I think of it often.

Thanks, R246. Good recommendations there.

Word from Boston where PLAZA SUITE revival with SJP and Matthew Broderick is previewing is.... decidedly mixed.

It sounds like audiences are more ambivalent about the dated, sexist, and at times, no longer funny source material than they are about Mr. and Mrs. B. Some have even singled out SJP for being funny and making the script feel fresh.

It's gonna sell on Bway, anyway, no matter how awful it it. But I'll pass. Elaine doesn't need any more of my money.

Plaza Suite was dated, sexist and unfunny the day it first opened in the 60s.

JOSEPH!

Can we expect a Bway revival?

Could that look more annoying? Noah Galvin should never be hired again.

R257,

Thank you, and the feeling is mutual, as I too am very appreciative of like-minded folks who attend and support new work, and interested in their thoughts.

I didn't love UNKNOWN SOLDIER, and I agree that it didn't really build to a totally satisfying conclusion, but I loved Parsons, who made the most of her too-limited stage time, and, yes, Perry Sherman. (And I'm not one who just goes gaga for pretty boys. Or at least don't think I am.)

What have you liked recently? I need to see the new Charles Busch play.

It's very weird to hear a real singer sing (and hold) the notes. I'm so used to Bacall's speak singing and foghorn notes.

Re R269

I hear good things about the Busch play. I'm a fan but haven't gotten a ticket yet. I got a kick out of the Drew Droege one-man at Soho Rep, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUG. Very slight but very very funny. He's a good writer-performer.

Am looking forward to MACK AND MABEL at ENCORES later this week.

And yes, I liked THE INHERITANCE. Both parts. Shoot me.

I also liked DARLING GRENADINE at Roundabout.

I see as much as I can... on a budget.

For no reason......

R272 is lowkey one of the most brilliant SNL sketches of the last decade.

Galvin was cringe-worthy in an otherwise exhilarating evening. Just an iddy biddy lady in waiting.

The JOSEPH....DREAMCOAT rehearsal video that I saw was really off-putting. Galvin's singing and acting were annoying, and in "Those Canaan Days" -- which shouldn't have had a woman singing the lead anyway -- Bonnie Milligan not only screeched that long-held high note twice, I'm pretty sure she hit the wrong note, and it wasn't even a note that fit the chord. One of the ugliest notes I've ever heard sung by a musical theater professional.

Dear god, that clip at r267. I know it’s just the curtain call and it was probably put together that afternoon, but still. All those not-quite-divas trying to out-riff and out-screech each other. It is to weep.

Painful. So much dress-up and shrieking non-binary mediocrity posing as talent. Not a clue as to what makes compelling, exciting live performance.

R274 He was even doing the "choreography" like an old woman

Seems like there are poor souls here that don't have joy in their life. That is not an insult, just and observation. That Joseph clip was fun. It was a concert version and they are notorious for being free wheeling and fun.

"Moulin Rouge" on GMA. Where is Karen Olivio? A question heard a lot a the Hirschfeld nowadays apparently.

Behind the scenes of Broadway’s ‘Moulin Rouge’ on GMA

So only you have the correct opinions on things, R279? And anyone who doesn't share your opinion is joyless?

YES.....NEXT!

[quote]I liked THE INHERITANCE. Both parts. Shoot me.

Your address?

Wow, what a difference hearing Debbie Gravitte sing “Welcome to the Theatre”. Too bad she’s too old now to do a revival of Applause (although she looks great, doesn’t look her age at all).

AKB looking bulg’tastic!

Are there any tapes of Anne Baxter in Applause? How was her voice?

AKB may be short, but he’s got a hot body and a super-duper bulge.

R288 But that bulge smells of mustard and ketchup

those skivvies things are so fucking tiresome

R282 I couldn't have said that any better myself. R279 is the same idiot in every thread saying stupid shit like that. His parents couldn't stand him. Told him they wish they never had kids and he sometimes agrees. And I definitely agree. He thinks everyone needs to think like him and if they don't then they are jealous and miserable. He's an immature freak.

Someone upthread commented on the unusually civil and supportive tone of this thread. That seems to be dissipating. I guess it only takes one poster.

^^Sorry! That was meant for a different thread. ^^

RIP Zoe. I saw her live a couple of times.

She'll be missed.

Pleasant enough radio interview with SJP and Broderick about PLAZA SUITE. I only took umbrage once, when it sounds like SJP sounds as if she and SEX AND THE CITY invented female friendship in Manhattan. (I think Kim might disagree.)

I can't help wondering if she will swan into NYC when PLAZA opens, acting the First Lady of American Theatre. She's done a couple of off-Bway things, but her last Bway performance was 24 years ago.

I understand how some find her charming. I think she's pretty intelligent but absolutely calculating, more so even than Broderick. Who is also not as nice as he seems, apparently.

sorry...

"... when SJP sounds as if she and SATC invented..."

And Matthew? That moustache better be for the role.

R293 Obviously! No-one in the history of DL has ever described a Theatre Gossip thread as civil and supportive!

[quote] And Matthew? That moustache better be for the role.

No, Rose. He grew it for fun and takes it off every night when he goes onstage.

I have to admit, I just love the Skivvies concerts. Some pretty reliable sources of spank bank material over the years.

I love this! Where you eldergays madly in love with John Davidson? He seems like the prototype for a DL crush. He's fantastic in this. (no pun intended) He's perfect. Only thing I dislike is the set. The damn 60s. They could totally do this as a live musical today. Aurora Spiderwoman is a gift from God.

Once again, women in power are ruining the arts! They're like you're mother hovering over you, dictating what is right or wrong to say or do. Until a few years ago, I was a big proponent of women in high places (I voted for Hillary), but now I see that they're just detrimental to the art culture. Men are just better leaders. But the far-left wants you to pretend that there are no differences between the sexes -- or the races. I mean how many black or women storm chases or rock climbers or daredevils do you know? Saying so isn't racist; it's just facts. Yes, we all need equal protection under the law, but we are not all built the same.

'Your mother' not' you're mother.' :-/

R301 DUH. The bible clearly says women should never have authority over men. It's not bullshit. They are filled with drama and nonsense. All the shit mess in this world I am convinced is because of a woman. Why do you think some girls don't even wanna fuck with girls. They are cursed. Only a very few women recognize this. They are the good ones. The rest are looking for Lilith to cause trouble and take control. There's always a weak dumb man that let's them too. It's annoying. I agree they should be treated with respect but never EVER in control. Never. Not EVER.

R303 Most black people can't swim or cringe at having to do stuff like sailing out to sea or chasing after a storm. Is that racism or just nature?

For example, if the movie TWISTER was released today, that group would be made up of white, black Asian, and Hispanic people even though that is totally unrealistic.

I've avoided everything Moulin Rouge-related until the GMA appearance. Apart from the set, it's so ordinary, even amateurish. It's about as continental as Branson, Missouri. And of anything, it reminded me of Golden Rainbow, though not nearly as insane and entertaining.

R304 I don't know what that is about. Maybe an ancestral curse from trauma? From the slaves being thrown overboard and being on the slave ships. I have no idea. White people are definitely the thrill seekers chasing storms and stuff.

R307 I know you are being sarcastic, but you have to agree that white people are wont to explore and seek out stuff beyond their origins. But can you name several black/women thrill-seekers?

On the other hand, black people are better jumpers and runners than whites. That got Jimmy the Greek fired for stating that thirty years ago, but there is much truth in that. Many black people would attest to that. I mean, a movie titled WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP was released without any scandal.

I miss the Follies discourse.

Back to stuff that has to do with theatre ... I wonder if Girl From the North Country will end up closing in previews.

r311 are you the same person who tries to bring up how bad North Country is every few days? Is it personal?

Awful race baiting in the previous threads. Awful. Shame on all your bigoted asses.

I am WELL ACCUSTOMED to blinding ignorance being paraded around, even flaunted, in these Theatre Gossip threads, but it's usually about things related to the theater. Stupid people saying stupid things about a subject they will never understand. It's disappointing, but doesn't matter.

This straight-up racial hatred is a new low for a series of threads that has been crawling in the gutter for the past 20 years.

You mean roles, r296.

[quote]Back to stuff that has to do with theatre ... I wonder if Girl From the North Country will end up closing in previews.

Yes this North Country troll is tiresome. It did play downtown, it's not a show that is opening cold at all.

R313 It's a conversation some of us want to have. Just stay out of it then. What the fuck is race baiting?

[quote] It's a conversation some of us want to have.

Then take it to Breitbart, or Free Republic, or Stormfront where it belongs.

Otherwise, sign your real names to that shit.

What exactly are you on about, R301? Or is it just free-floating sexism?

In other news: PLAZA SUTE has now topped $10 million advance. Almost sold out for the length of its run, so if you were on the fence, you're probably not getting to see SJP and Matt.

Please ignore my question at R318. I don't really want to know that poster's thoughts, and my PC wasn't showing the subsequent responses.

What is it about these threads?

Anyway: PLAZA SUITE.

R311 keeps caterwauling about how boring and bad Girl From the North Country is - what a disaster, will close before it opens. Is it personal? Did you not get cast? Or are you a Follies/Gypsy/Mame queen?

Moulin Rouge was fun but a completely empty experience—no depth at all. It’s forgotten the second you leave the theatre

or did Todd Almond and Mark Subias not invite you to a threeway?

"A New 'Frozen' Comes to Broadway"

This is pretty uncommon -- right?

Good for them for trying to improve the show, R323, but it might be too little too late.

It's still selling tix, but given how huge the movie was, the stage show shoulda/coulda/woulda been another LION KING. And it's not.

When Beauty & The Beast moved from The Palace to the Lunt Fontanne they streamlined sets and such from the tour also.

Too bad the Lopez's can't go back and revise FROZEN II. Uggh.

Lopezes

Lopi

R317 You're not in charge. Shut up.

R325

Anyone know when The Boys in the Band is going to drop on Netflix? IMDb just says it's in post-production and "expected 2020." How much post can it need?

I have a feeling Boys in the Band will debut this summer. The great thing about Netflix is that they don't really have to market like a traditional movie. They'll announce a release date, drop a trailer a few weeks later, and the next week, it's already available to stream.

A friend of the family was a Home Economist for JC Penny. Every year she would bring a gaggle of gals to NYC and every year they would see Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. I was invited each time. Every time I saw it, it was different.

They added "A CHANGE IN ME" into "Beauty and the Beast" when Toni Braxton joined the cast.

The Frozen changes seem pretty minor. Certainly not a Scarlett Pimpernel or Martin Guerre-level reworking.

I have heard that Boys in the Band is getting an end of the year release in theaters first and then Netflix (akin to what they did for The Irishman, Marriage Story, etc.). They're going to push it for awards attention.

I hope they’ve recast the role of “Cowboy” in The Boys in the Band because he was awful.

Company. West End production had better looking guys. Sorry. But maybe these are fine actors who can sing which is the most important thing.

R331, Have they not included Matt Bomer's naked shower scene?

[quote]I hope they’ve recast the role of “Cowboy” in The Boys in the Band because he was awful.

Yes, he was awful, but unfortunately, they did not recast the role for the movie.

R337 They haven't

I must be in the minority, because I liked the Cowboy on Broadway. He did what he needed to do - look dumb and cute and seem like a naive idiot. It's not like it's a demanding role. He got pretty big laughs the night I saw it.

The only person they should be recasting is Jim Parsons. I never bought him in the role and he seemed like he went from totally sober to drunk in about 2 minutes.

[quote]I hope they’ve recast the role of “Cowboy” in The Boys in the Band because he was awful.

Most people hope for world peace.

[quote]I must be in the minority, because I liked the Cowboy on Broadway. He did what he needed to do - look dumb and cute and seem like a naive idiot. It's not like it's a demanding role. He got pretty big laughs the night I saw it.

Agree.

Frozen on Bway was terrible. It sort of assumed you were familiar with the movie.

The only way the appearance of the snowman makes any sense whatsoever is if you accept the movie version.

I’m amazed this piece of shit musical with absolutely no Bway craft is still playing.. just shows the amazing power of Disney marketing

[quote]absolutely no Bway craft

Did you watch a bootleg?

Frozen vs. Mean Girls ... which one has more life in it?

This is stage craft, Babe

How do they picket and make a big protest for Amar Ramasar for sending photos while no one has ever made a big deal over Matthew Broderick's killing two woman years ago in Ireland? Did they at least take away his drivers' license in the US?

He sent photos of his ex girlfriend who has come out publicly saying she has forgiven him and denounced the attacks against him, right? What do these protestors want, besides the satisfaction of destroying someone's livelihood and reputation? He isn't a "threat". The protestors' arguments are so weak and insane.

He didn't seem to mind destroying the reputations of the women whose photos were being posted in a group chat without their knowledge. But because one of those women said it was fine, everyone else just has to accept it, do they?

I watched that clip from Frozen. I'm curious: I know it goes against the concept of theater being live, but why do they not auto-tune vocals for recordings that will be used for promotional purposes, like that one was used on The View? Audiences are far more forgiving of a flat note here and there in a live performance, but I think performances are judge differently when seen on film. It surprises me that vocals for clips like that aren't auto-tuned, but, I suspect, it will happen soon. And, after that, it is probably a matter of time before live performances are auto-tuned, which won't be quite as seamless or easy, but it is possible. (And that scene where the dress changes is magnificent!)

Is the Frozen audience generally as obnoxious as they are in that View clip? Or is that just an especially hyped-up group?

[quote]Most people hope for world peace.

World peace is not the subject of this thread, you annoying cretin.

[quote]I must be in the minority, because I liked the Cowboy on Broadway. He did what he needed to do - look dumb and cute and seem like a naive idiot. It's not like it's a demanding role. He got pretty big laughs the night I saw it.

I don't know if you're in the minority, but I disagree. Most of the humor surrounding the Cowboy is not in what he says, but in how people react to him. Still, I think that actor somehow missed everything about the character that's necessary to set up the humor. Also, the actor may be cute, but he's not hot in the way the Cowboy is supposed to be. And he wasn't even good at playing dumb, in my opinion. Well, when the movie is released, everyone will be able to judge for themselves, although maybe his performance will come across better on screen.

I wonder if there's ever a wardrobe mishap, r353. Yes, it's pretty incredible.

If Plaza Suite’s advance is now at $10M, as long as the performances go off without a hitch, they won’t have any problems. It’s great, popular material and audiences love it.

Plaza Suite is a resonant play with more depth than most comedies from that era. From the start it has always been a "personal appearance" play that attracted serious actors who weren't thought of as comedians first (George C. Scott, George Kennedy, Howard Keel, Barbara Bel Geddes). Though its focus is small, it's very sharply observed when it comes to the timeless aspects of heteronormative relationships: new and old marriages, affairs, mid-life crisis, relationships with one's children, the one that got away, young love, it's all in there. Certainly the northeastern audience for the original production must have felt it hit close to home.

If there really is a tepid response to the current production, something that might make it play better to a closed-minded 2020 audience that's itching to take offense and label it sexist, slow, sitcommy, and dated, R265, is to make the cuts that Simon himself made in the play when he was writing the screenplay. If more radical surgery is needed, use some of the cuts from the Carol Burnett TV version which he must have at least approved. It would lighten up and brighten up the evening by simply eliminating some of the verbal redundancy that many plays from that era seem to have and get the running time well under two hours, inclusive of the intermission.

R343 AGREED. I thought Jim Parsons was the weakest one. He never reached the level of anger needed for Michael.

Also the best productions always nail the 1968ness of it all. The time period fuels the comedy so the play becomes a kind of 1968 version of "OK, boomer." It's a play written by a middle aged man about (to repurpose a Sondheim turn of phrase) "the dinosaurs surviving the crunch". Three couples staying in a hotel that remains a vestige of the old world are trying to get with it and unclench as the counterculture creeps into mainstream life. Their present world isn't turning out the way these characters were promised it would in their post-WWII younger days. Each play, in its way, is about a)the permanence/impermanence of marriage, b) looking sexual freedom in the face, and c) letting go of the old and giving way to the new.

Spoilers ahead: The first play is so touching as Karen bursts in at the top with full faith that if she just recreates the scene of their honeymoon exactly, the feelings from that time will also return to her marriage. The higher she starts, the farther she can fall as the truth comes out. But the best choice I’ve seen an actor make with the ending is not to play the final line as self pity at all, but to suddenly have the realization that if Sam has stepped out on her, she could do the same thing to him. With "never mind, I love surprises" we think she's devastated, and she is. But then, she takes a long look at the attractive middle aged Puerto Rican waiter, looks at the open door where her husband has just left, considers her options, gets the idea, and says the final line to the waiter, which the audience can interpret in a number of ways, one being that she might get the waiter to fuck her brains out and then she'll sue Sam for all he's got.

The second play, always cited as the most sexist, really isn't if it's played that Muriel and Jesse are both lying and manipulating to get what they want. Both say they want what the other one has, she's as eager to starfuck as he is to hook up with her. They both want to do it with each other for different reasons. She's trying not to throw herself at him too obviously, lest he say 'no'; he thinks he has to play a scene for her to get her, when actually she's there all the time. They do their dance and then they both get what they want in the end anyway.

The third act is the funniest, and even that placement shows Simon's genius. Many a playwright would've put the light, funny play as the curtain raiser and saved the heavier play for the middle. But Plaza Suite ends with the play that has us laughing the most often and the hardest. It's a generation gap play with a huge streak of cruelty that has to be played straight as the Hubleys are more and more humiliated by each calamity that arises, all because they fail to truly communicate with their child and they've forced their will on her. So Mimsey takes control in her own way. The grander Mrs. Hubley is, the more Big Man In Charge Mr. Hubley thinks he is at the top, the farther they fall. If we could really see stars like SJP and MB put through a series of successively more dreadful humiliations (like the "audience member" in One Man Two Guv'nors, or the stars in the film It's a Mad...World) that would have the audience in stitches.

There's plenty on the page that's still relevant in a crowd pleaser like Plaza Suite and I'm hoping people will put aside their preconceptions and evaluate the play for its merits. And hopefully open the door for more well-cast, well-produced Neil Simon "event" revivals. I'm very much looking forward to seeing it and snagged tickets a while ago.

[quote]hopefully open the door for more well-cast, well-produced Neil Simon "event" revivals.

Oh dear God, please no. Neil Simon was of his time only. He doesn't need anymore revivals.

MACK & MABEL has landed at Encores! I'll be there this weekend.

Looking forward to it, and exchanging notes with others.

[quote]MACK & MABEL has landed at Encores! I'll be there this weekend.

Close relative was in the original cast. Too young to see her but grew up with the cast album.

Annaleigh Ashford gets a Chuck Lorre sitcom!

(Well, a pilot anyway.)

Krysta Rodriguez IS Liza!

The one at 2:40 is pretty zippy, as well, r353.

oh dear

Doug Sills seems a little ... florid ... in those Mack & Mabel clips. I like Socha, though.

R365 I like her little glance down to make sure it's all done properly. You'd think they could've come up with a better lighting effect than a brief blackout though.

Did Douglas Sills always look like a dead ringer for Steve Martin? He's kinda hot.

You should have seen him in Pimpernel.

I'm all for some Neil Simons shows getting star studded revivals, but please stay away from Fools. I had to sit through a community theatre production of that once and, for the first time, it wasn't the actors who were to blame for a miserable evening. The script is one of the lightest, stupidest duds I've ever seen.

I wonder if anyone would ever be brave enough to try and make The Dinner Party work.

Doug Sills was sex on a great big fucking stick in The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I would love to see a revival of Rumors. It's one of Simon's most consistently funny plays.

Went to Unknown Soldier tonight. I wanted to like it but it felt like one big shrug to me. I was never terribly invested in the story, most of the main characters were unpleasant and strident (actually, all of the women) and the mystery was no mystery because basic biology and logic helped you solve it well before the playwright did.

The score is very average. There are some clever lyrics, but I'm starting to wonder if Michael Friedman's reputation has been burnished by his untimely death. I saw BBAJ and was not impressed, and I've seen a couple of his productions with the Civilians, which were hit and miss, but what I'm not seeing (or hearing) is this genius everyone raves about.

Also (and this is something very minor, but drives me up the wall whenever I see it), the timeline was completely off. Parsons' character meets her husband in 1918, she has a baby within the next 1-2 years (let's say 1920 for argument's sake), that daughter grows up and has her own daughter and dies in childbirth in 1963 and they make mention that the daughter who dies hadn't even begun her own life before she died, so you figure she was anywhere from 16-20 when she gave birth, which means she would have given birth anywhere between 1936-1940, not 1963. It's small, but it's super glaring and easy enough to fix.

Oh, and when I was walking to the theater, I passed the Signature. How the FUCK is BobCarolTedAlice extended????

Friedman was a great guy and very smart. But not a genius composer by any stretch.

Doug Sills pushed his voice and overacted like hell in "Scarlett Pimpernel". He also pushed his voice in his one number during the 2003 "Mack and Mabel" concert at Lincoln Center that featured, among others, Jerry Orbach in his last live singing appearance. Hopefully, Sills might tone down his performances.

Over acted in Scarlet Pimpernel? There was not a subtle moment in the entire evening, either version.

Christine Andreas singing was subtle. Douglas Sills performed to the Japanese tourists who had already seen "Oh! Calcutta!" by waving his hands, grandstanding his voice and doing almost everything they gave the Tony award to Christian Borle (whose performance in that "Peter and the Starcatchers" was intended to be overacted) to make up for Sills not taking his clothes off for same Japanese tourists in this show.

Originally, there was a fourth act in "Plaza Suite", which was basically a monologue for the husband while his wife soaked in a tub. Simon cut it on the road and turned it into the movie "The Out Of Towners".

I wonder how The Prisoner of Second Avenue plays today?

Probably better than "Plaza Suite", though the 3rd of act of that is very funny.

I just read an interview with Lee Grant. She said she totally went up in the second act of Prisoner of Second Ave during its final week. Totally blanked. Peter Falk was freaked and didn’t know what to do other than making sure the audience knew she was the one who was screwing up. They finally had to bring the curtain down.

R374, I'm one of the people upthread who commented on UNKNOWN SOLDIER. I agree with virtually everything you said, but I was especially confounded by the timeline. I sat there (particularly when I was bored) doing math and trying to figure out how the WW1 lady could be present day lady's grandmother--it didn't add up.

And I kept hearing pretty melodic moments that almost turned into real songs.... but with a couple of exceptions, didn't. (I did love a moment for all the women near the end). Friedman's premature death is a loss and a tragedy--I wish he could have lived to help this show evolve more.

Do you dig young Doug?

I dug young Doug.

Howchamagowcha!

Is he family?

[quote] (I did love a moment for all the women near the end).

Yes, this was the one moment for me where the show and the score really felt like something special.

Friedman's greatest strength was pastiche (Bacharach, et al). Otherwise the songs/scores are meh.

One only needs to watch the two cable production of PLAZA SUITE to understand what is required in a Neil Simon play. The first, produced by HBO in 1982, stars Lee Grant and Jerry Orbach. It is beautifully acted and directed for its hilarity-in-truth. Five years later, Carol Burnett starred in a television movie of the play--and it's all shtick and mugging and terribly unfunny.

I think Plaza Suite presents a wonderful opportunity to film and broadcast to theaters across the country. The cast is small, so blocking it for film will not be difficult; the play relies more on dialog than atmosphere or set to set the tone; and it features two married stars, so it could be marketed as an event. I would like to see it, and I wish that they filmed more Broadway plays for theater broadcast, the way the National Theatre does. When was the last one, Bandstand, maybe?

[quote]Friedman's greatest strength was pastiche (Bacharach, et al). Otherwise the songs/scores are meh.

Which show were you thinking of, R387? I saw BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON and SOLDIER and don't remember anything like Bacharach in either.

[quote] Is he family?

Yes. Doug was in a long time relationship with cabaret singer Todd Murray, but they ended it (amicably) about four or five years ago.

I'm a choo-choo Charley and a class act.

There was a dismal revival of PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE in London's West End about 8 or 9 years ago, but the direction was horrid, even though Jeff Goldblum and Mercedes Ruehl (totally wrong) did their best. With the right director, it could still work.

Ewww. Doug could do so much better.

They seem nice.

For some reason, I have always liked Prisoner of Second Avenue. But both the husband and wife have to be extremely charismatic because the show deals with the husband having a midlife crisis and the wife having to take over and support him. There's a lot of "complaining humor" in the script and that has to be directed carefully or it comes across as people being angry and bitter, not funny. It really has to be performed by someone who can do the same shtick that Woody Allen does. That "New York is driving me crazy" humor.

Agree 100% R387 and R388.

One thing that always bugs me is those annual lists of "Most Produced Plays in America" that aren't really that at all. They're the most produced plays in TCG member theatres. The lists give a false impression that those plays are the most in demand, and what American audiences like and want to see. It's more that these are the shows the Artistic Staff picks. Are regional American audiences really lining up for Oslo, Cost of Living, Sweat, et al? These shows had trouble drawing audiences in New York, even housed at NFPs propped up by a subscriber base.

Musicals are their own thing and deserve a separate list.

There's no shortage of playwrights in this day and age, with more support and subsidy and encouragement than ever. It's that there's a disconnect between what they write and what an audience cares about and wants to pay money to see. Very few of the anointed playwrights today would write a Barefoot in the Park or a Mousetrap or a Driving Miss Daisy or a Steel Magnolias. If anything, they'd look down on it.

The Schools and the rise of not-for-profits as mills of new work encourage this attitude of the audience serving the playwright, instead of the other way 'round. Today, if the audience doesn't get it or like it, it's because they're stupid, not because you've failed to engage them as a writer, whereas old-school playwrights (Williams, Miller) knew they were dead in the water if they wrote plays that didn't click with ticketbuyers.

Recent titles (past 20 years or so) that seem to have some staying power include: Doubt, One Man Two Guv'nors, Outside Mullingar, Pride and Prejudice. It'll be interesting to see if Curious Incident, Georgia McBride, and Dolls House 2 join this list on a permanent basis. The new To Kill a Mockingbird almost certainly will, as will The Play That Goes Wrong.

Vanya and Sonya and Buyer and Cellar seem to have wound down from being done everywhere a few years ago.

The real truth about the most produced plays in America, gleaned from the websites of the licensors, paints a very different picture. Neil Simon is probably the most produced playwright in America overall. Rumors continues to have an extraordinary life, with 40 productions on the books. Even lesser works like Laughter on the 23rd Floor and Fools have 13 or so upcoming productions. The Dramatists website lists 35 upcoming productions of Alfred Uhry's Driving Miss Daisy and 192 upcoming of Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias (did he just never write another play because he doesn't need to?). The Concord website lists 36 upcoming Barefoot in the Park. All these plays continue to satisfy generation after generation of theatergoers, but they'd get you nothing but eyerolls and disdain in New York today (they wouldn't get produced in NYC if they were new work, either commercially or NFP) and that's the problem.

r399: I don't know what you mean about 'doing better' - Todd is a handsome man with a silken voice. They made a very hot couple and remain the closest of friends.

Oh, dear - I meant r393.

People can shrug off Simon for being "sitcom-y", but that's what a lot of America wants. If they had the choice between seeing some awful lecture play like Slave Play or Barefoot in the Park, they'd easily choose Barefoot. It's just a much more interesting and satisfying night in the theater.

I feel bad for any young comedic playwrights, because unless they shoehorn in some big political soapbox moments, they're not getting produced. Their shows aren't considered "important" enough. Yet I feel like Broadway musicals are getting dumber and dumber.

Some good points here. But it raises one question: are NYC audiences like mainstream American audiences? Even now?

The revival PLAZA SUITE is already a financial success before it opens on Bway, but it's important to remember that revivals of Neil Simon work have not been successful for more than a decade here in NYC. Not one that I know of, at least.

I attribute the huge advance for PLAZA to the 2 leads, not so much to Simon and his type of plays.

The apparent success of the "Plaza Suite" revival before it even opens will no doubt lead to other Simon revivals . . . that will bomb.

I'm much more afraid that PLAZA SUITE will be the second coming of SJP, just when her latest series had been canceled and it looked like we were relatively free from her.

[quote]Ewww. Doug could do so much better.

He's a fat old ham actor who isn't aging all that well. He's lucky he did as well as he did.

But what about his lovely wife, Beverly?

Beverly couldn't please him the way he needed to be pleased.

[quote]Todd is a handsome man with a silken voice

Plunigs a hot body and a huge dick. Don't forget about those sterling qualities.

R396 Harling only wrote one play because he only had one sister die of diabetes.

Harling wrote some films.

"are NYC audiences like mainstream American audiences" - the NYC audience is over 60% tourist (though many are international) but I'd still say that yes, a nice big segment of the NYC audience by definition is a mainstream American audience.

Those recent Simon Broadway revivals had fundamental errors in the way they were put together that kept them from success before they even got out of the gate.

Of his shows, I'd say the ones that were still Broadway viable would be: Barefoot, Plaza Suite, Odd Couple, Prisoner, Sunshine Boys, Biloxi Blues, and maybe Lost in Yonkers.

On the second shelf (you'd have to have star casting that would really blow it up): Come Blow Your Horn, California Suite, Red Hot Lovers, Chapter Two.

New York won't see the likes of Star Spangled Girl, I Ought to Be in Pictures, God's Favorite, Fools, Good Doctor or many of the other non-starters in major revivals, or any of the later work (see below).

Other than Biloxi Blues which works as a standalone, I can't see NYC getting excited about the other two Brighton Beach trilogy plays either, despite their acclaim. Part of the reason for Simon's decline in reputation is the quality of his last 8 plays in New York: Jake's Women, Goodbye Girl, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, London Suite, Proposals, The Dinner Party, 45 Seconds from Broadway, Rose's Dilemma. Though he was still actively writing, these shows weren't hits in the way his 1960s-90s output largely was. Throughout those decades there was always a Neil Simon play or musical running, or wrapping up a long run, or a movie, or a revival or tour. He dominated successful commercial Broadway playwriting for decades, and the idea that after such success today's Broadway should turn its back on his work is hard to fathom.

Of his musicals, Charity and Promises and even They're Playing Our Song could easily return to Broadway. Little Me has always flopped.

And what of his stage work that went unproduced in New York (Actors and Actresses, Rewrites - the play, etc.)? Will Concord Theatricals have someone adapt all his original screenplays into plays for the stock and amateur market?

I know Robert Harling wrote the movie Soapdish, but does he have anything to do with the musical version of it (featuring songs by that wonderfully acerbic American songwriting team, Stiles & Drewe)?

Yes. Harling has written the book for the stage adaptation. There was a recent reading/presentation of the show at some festival in England.

What about The Gingerbread Lady? That's lesser known Simon and it's more of a drama, but I saw a community theatre production once that was very effective. Guess it's too much of a downer for the mainstream matinee crowd, but it has a great leading role for a woman over 40, so maybe with the right star, it would sell.

[quote]New York won't see the likes of Star Spangled Girl

I think Star Spangled Girl could have a short run in one of the smaller Broadway houses if they had a star cast (it's only 3 people) and an excellent director. All three actors would have to be highly charismatic. I'm surprised that when Kristen Chenoweth first hit Broadway that somebody like the Roundabout didn't try to mount a production with her. It's not one of his best, but in the right hands, it could be a breezy night at the theater.

I've seen the film version of GINGERBREAD LADY, called ONLY WHEN I LAUGH with then-Mrs. Simon, Marsha Mason and Kristy McNichol. It's not especially good, although I can see where it might work better onstage.

Simon was not exactly a feminist. While he did write some great roles for women, they were fairly traditional even in their day, so I can see where they'd feel horribly dated by current standards. At least GINGERBREAD has a working woman (an actress) who is also a divorcee and an alcoholic in recovery, so that's something to play.

[quote]hough he was still actively writing, these shows weren't hits in the way his 1960s-90s output largely was. Throughout those decades there was always a Neil Simon play or musical running, or wrapping up a long run, or a movie, or a revival or tour. He dominated successful commercial Broadway playwriting for decades, and the idea that after such success today's Broadway should turn its back on his work is hard to fathom.

But it was a different time, before Mel Brooks came and changed Broadway forever. Making it for the elites where most of the orchestra and half the Mezz/balcony are now hundreds of dollars. Theater was affordable and a nice night of laughs were within reach. Tickets might have been hard to get but they didn't break the bank.

Guess which Broadway show will be announcing its end date tonight?

Sadly, it can only be THE INHERITANCE. Sales keep dropping every week.

Am I right, R416?

Or do you know something about WEST SIDE STORY (official opening is tonight) that none of us do?

I can see Olivia Colman playing the Maggie Smith role in California Suite.

[quote] Making it for the elites where most of the orchestra and half the Mezz/balcony are now hundreds of dollars. Theater was affordable and a nice night of laughs were within reach. Tickets might have been hard to get but they didn't break the bank.

For the youngergays on this forum, there used to be several price points for a Broadway show. I've just pulled out my Evita program and this is what is listed for Evita. This was probably 1981. Patti was still in the show, James Stein was Che and David Cryer was Peron.

Mon-Thurs - 8 pm - $25, $20, $17, $14

Friday-Saturday - 8 pm - $30, $25, $20, $17.50

Saturday - 2 pm - $23.50, $18.50, $15.50, $12.50

Wednesday - 2 pm - $21, $16, $13, $10

If you run this through an inflation calculator, the top ticket price would be $88.96.

Also, TKTS was running in Times Square by that point, so you could probably see Patti's understudy on Wednesday matinee for $5. You would have been in the last row of the balcony, but by today's prices, it would have cost you $14.83.

I had to ask my parents to subsidize my $100 (!!!) ticket to the Royal Shakespeare Co.'s "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" on Broadway in 1982. Still, for $100 you got eight and half hours of theater with 48 actors playing 150 characters. It was worth every single penny, I wanted it to go on for another eight hours and to this day it remains The Best Thing I've Ever Seen On Stage.

Don't forget Standing Room. It used to be $5.00 0r maybe $10.00. "Dear Evan Hansen" SRO is $42.00 "Moulin Rogue!" is $50.00

[quote]I've seen the film version of GINGERBREAD LADY, called ONLY WHEN I LAUGH

ONLY WHEN I LAUGH is only really a film version of THE GINGERBREAD LADY in the sense of being "inspired" by it. The movie uses the same leads, Evy, her caustic pal Toby, her gay friend Jimmy, and her daughter Polly (Evy is renamed Georgia in the movie, and changed from an alcoholic cabaret singer to an alcoholic actress), but the plot is mostly new. There is one scene where Georgia (Marsha Mason) is rehearsing a scene from her latest play, and the scene is from "The Gingerbread Lady." Most of the rest of the movie is pretty different from the play.

I think Pauline Kael made a very astute observation about Simon's work. She hated that in his film adaptations, the audiences are told what happens rather than see it. Younger audiences today, especially, have made the jump where they're used to seeing it rather than just hearing about it. She said some things might have been necessary for the stage but in the movies, you were denied seeing Maggie Smith lose the Oscar in California Suite and the sets event up the entire rent of her arc.

Oh the rogue, r421.....

[quote]and the sets event up the entire rent of her arc

??? One more time, in English, please?

And the movie R422 has Joan Hackett, with her mid-Atlantic dialect, her fast rate of speech, her funny inflections, and everything crisply hyperarticulated right on her lips for clarity.

[quote]the entire rent of her arc

Pics please.

At the Oscars, Joan was complimented on her earrings. She replied that she'd made them out of Christmas decorations.

Joan Hackett's crypt n Hollywood Forever Cemetery

According to Baz Bamigboye Leslie Bricusse has written the book, music and lyrics for Sammy, a musical about Sammy Davis Jr. opening in July in London. Giles Terrera will play Sammy and Clarke Peters will direct. Sounds like a winner, huh?

R410 Are they anything like Wallace and Davis?

R419 WOW. Thanks for the info. What a bunch of scumbags.

[quote] According to Baz Bamigboye Leslie Bricusse has written the book, music and lyrics for Sammy, a musical about Sammy Davis Jr. opening in July in London. Giles Terrera will play Sammy and Clarke Peters will direct. Sounds like a winner, huh?

This was done about ten years ago at the Old Globe in San Diego. Obba Babatunde played SDJr.

Leslie Bricusse was evidently a bit of a nightmare behind the scenes and his work, frankly, was awful.

Inheritance closing in March

Joan Hackett--what a talent! And presence. I can't believe she was only 49 when she died.

It's to her credit as as actor that she so convincingly played an aging beauty queen when she was fairly unconventional looking.

I intend that in the best way: I cannot take my eyes off her when she's on screen. She should have had a bigger film career.

It's official.

Does this mean Mathew Lopez will go back on drugs and then write another play?

Well, we probably won't see another new 6 and 1/2 hour play for a while, at least not on Broadway.

OTOH, I'm getting really pissed about the decline of the intermission, on Bway and off: plays in excess of 90, 100, 120 minutes with no intermission. This is a really shitty trend. Some of us like an act break.

I'm not disagreeing with you, R438, though it does beg the question why people need a 15-minute break for a 2-hour play but don't for a 2-hour movie (or even movies that are longer than 2 hours). I've always thought intermissions were more for the actors than the audience, though I could be wrong about that.

Movies used to have intermissions too -- at least the longer ones that were presented as "roadshow" attractions.

Why not bring back the standard three-act play and have TWO intermissions! More opportunities to sell overpriced drinks and snacks.

Movies are not the immersive, collective shared experiences that good plays/musicals are, R439. At not least to me. And they're not structured the same way.

There's nothing like the curtain coming down (or the equivalent) at the end of Act 1 and asking your friends, "OMG--what will happen next?"

Not "Okay. Where do we eat?"

That’s the “experience” you are clinging to?

Actually, ONLY movies have Intermissions. It means "a break in transmission". Plays have intervals. They are not being transmitted.

THR reviews "West Side Story":

[quote]What about The Gingerbread Lady? That's lesser known Simon and it's more of a drama, but I saw a community theatre production once that was very effective.

Maureen Stapleton won the Tony Award for it, but "The Gingerbread Lady" was one of Simon's least successful Broadway productions. There's a reason it's never been revived. And as someone already pointed it, the play doesn't bear much resemblance to "Only When I Laugh."

Jeremy O Harris gets feedback on his play from a former hookup:

[quote]Actually, ONLY movies have Intermissions. It means "a break in transmission". Plays have intervals. They are not being transmitted.

How are movies being "transmitted?"

R444:

intermission (n.) early 15c., "fact of intermitting, temporary pause," from Latin intermissionem (nominative intermissio) "a breaking off, discontinuance, interruption," noun of action from past participle stem of intermittere "to leave off, leave an interval," from inter "between" (see inter-) + mittere "let go, send" (see mission). Meaning "lapse of time between events" is from 1560s; specifically of performances (originally plays, later movies, etc.) from 1854.

"Interval" is what an intermission is called in England. They're intermissions in the U.S. Yes, even for plays, whatever the origin of the word.

R447 What are the chances that both the former hookup and the roommate are nothing but figments of JOH's imagination - and publicity-seeking ego?

Brantley wrote a non-money (a "save your money") review of WSS.

And souvenir books, r440.....

How do the videos in WSS work when there are replacements in the cast?

God, I fucking loathe Jeremy Harris. He doesn't have an ounce of talent and is succeeding purely through white guilt.

I saw Hadestown tonight. I enjoyed some of the music and thought the staging was fantastic, but the story was stretched a bit thin and I found myself getting bored in a few places.

And I must have missed something because I didn't know why Hades recognized Orpheus' song (a not very good song as it was) and was so angered/moved by it.

I'm assuming Andre De Shields' Tony was for career longevity because he really doesn't do much in the show, and while he gives it his all, the role isn't flashy enough. Patrick Page ran rings around him and should have won instead.

I guess I don't really know the story as well as I thought I did because I didn't realize Orpheus was one step away from I Am Sam. Reeve Carney nearly went full retard and I didn't get it. And while he can sing, I find his voice unpleasant.

But whenever I got bored, I just turned my eyes towards Timothy Hughes, who really should do us all a favor and start an OnlyFans page.

I watched the NT Cyrano with James McAvoy and you bitches never told me that he kissed by Eben Figueiredo (actually Eben kissed Mc). Funny enough, during intermission or interval, I mentioned that there was more sexual chemistry between Cyrano and Christian than with Roxanne. And then a very hot kiss. McAvoy was very good indeed. The production was okay but the translation/adaptation had a few clunkers.

I enjoyed reading Brantley's review of WEST SIDE STORY, but there is one very strange line in it: "I was more than ready for a brash, new WEST SIDE STORY,”especially after the anodyne sweetness of its last Broadway outing in 2009, staged by Arthur Laurents, who wrote the show’s original book."

That last revival was horrendous in many ways, but I don't think there was anything "sweet" about it. More the opposite, actually. Laurents, who had apparently lost his mind by that point, did weird things like removing all of the comedy from "Gee, Officer Krupke" and, in the last scene of the show, having Maria brandish that gun as if she was going to pistol-whip Chino. It was awful, and there was nothing "sweet" about it.

Laurents loved to remove the comedy from his shows as he felt it was too "old fashioned musical comedy" for a modern audience. Notice how each revival of Gypsy has gotten darker and darker until you had Imelda Staunton literally having a nervous breakdown upon her first entrance. He'd have probably fucking loved her.

And this from David Rooney's HOLLYWOOD REPORTER review of WEST SIDE STORY:

[quote]The attempt to transform the shticky "Gee, Officer Krupke," via video elements, into an unflinching depiction of police brutality, racial profiling, the prison pipeline and Black Lives Matter unrest feels intrusive. The lyrics remain comedy lyrics, and the song's repositioning to later in the show is awkward; the Jets would hardly be pausing to joke about the callousness of a local beat cop after their leader has been killed and the former member who stepped up to avenge his death is on the run.

I guess he doesn't know that the song is positioned exactly where it was in the original production. It was moved to an earlier slot for the movie.

Rooney also makes it seem as if this production is the first to suggest the Jets might try to rape Anita in the scene where she goes to Doc's. That’s always been there, fairly explicit in the original choreography.

[quote]Rooney also makes it seem as if this production is the first to suggest the Jets might try to rape Anita in the scene where she goes to Doc's. That’s always been there, fairly explicit in the original choreography.

Yeah, I noticed that too. i guess he was just reacting to the fact that apparently the attempted rape is FAR more graphic in this production.

The movie's placement of "Krupke" makes much more sense than the theater version's. Why are they singing such an upbeat song right after their leader is killed?

The sheer pretentiousness of every "improvement" mentioned above makes me yearn for a Broadway where Ethel Merman sings "Ah!" for 16 measures while I GOT RHYTHM plays underneath.

Was that not a myth? It seems strange that there's no recording of it - and I don't just mean original 1930s recording. It seems the kind of show off moment that an artist would keep in their repertoire.

Dusty Springfield made "But Alive" her opening concert number for a while.

[quote]The movie's placement of "Krupke" makes much more sense than the theater version's. Why are they singing such an upbeat song right after their leader is killed?

The film also moves "I Feel Pretty" to earlier in the show, before events turn tragic. Whatever one thinks of the movie, the screenplay makes several improvements on the book of the stage show (including having the Sharks and not just the Sharks' girls perform "America").

R171 - A voice of reason. Look at you being all non-hysterical. Is that even allowed on here?

R216 - are you for real? Ruth Coker Burks is one of the heroes of the AIDS crisis. So what if she was motivated, at least partly, by her faith? And, I say that as a lifelong atheist.

R456 I think this is as close as we're getting to a Timothy Hughes OnlyFans for the moment

I'm sick of fucking AIDS dramas. But straights love to cry over this shit, especially if there's a straight savior in the mix.

Yea I need my intermission to go smoke some pot usually.

r469 - LORD, how tall is he? These videos are best when muted, but, DAMN, Evan Todd looking THIC

No recording, r465? The Merm trotted it out every chance she got!

Why do Broadway singers tend to sound so off when singing pop music? They're too legato?

[quote]Anyone know when The Boys in the Band is going to drop on Netflix? IMDb just says it's in post-production and "expected 2020." How much post can it need?

R331 According to one of the cast members (Tuc Watkins) it will air on Netflix in October of this year over a year after they shot it.

I guess they don't want Ryan Murphy programs competing with Ryan Murphy programs on Netflix since he has other projects airing before then.

(Tuc also said that yes that shower scene is in the movie.)

[quote]According to one of the cast members (Tuc Watkins) it will air on Netflix in October of this year over a year after they shot it.

Why are you emphasizing when they shot it? Most movies are released a year after principal photography ends.

Except when they need to be rushed out for Oscar nomination consideration.

R413, only on Datalounge would someone suggest reviving Neil Simon's one flop play of the 1960s. Famous for disparaging reviews and only eking out a modest run.

Well, it may have been a flop, but a DL Theatre fave had her eye on the property and it was made into a movie.

It was made into a flop movie.

Morning at Seven is probably the only time a failed Broadway play came back decades later to great success. But that one at least had good reviews the first time around.

Actually, my favorite of the later Simon plays was I OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES. A lot had to do with the cast. Ron Liebman and Dinah Manoff were great and Joyce Van Patten almost walked away with the show. The movie sucked, unfortunately. And, although I never saw THE GINGERBREAD LADY, I really love ONLY WHEN I LAUGH. A guilty pleasure. And I don't like most of his movies, with the exception of BAREFOOT and ODD COUPLE.

R469 No need for an Onlyfans, there are plenty of Timothy videos out there already

I think I'd find Timothy sexier if he didn't move. (And if his singing was less boring.)

[quote]I think I'd find Timothy sexier if he didn't move.

I dunno. Watching his bulge bounce definitely brightened my morning.

WSS reviews are qualified to bad.

Closing date?

Summer is coming. Tourists, too. WSS will run AT LEAST through Labor Day and, if it does that, then through the Sunday matinee on January 3, 2021. Past that... no.

r480 - Morning at Seven did have quite the cast:

Nancy Marchand

Maureen O'Sullivan

Elizabeth Wilson

Teresa Wright

Oh dearing myself. It's Morning's at Seven.

Has this been here already? Some clips from West End productions including very hot man in underwear. Saw it loved it.

Thanks, r420. NicNic was the high point of my theater-going life

[quote]I'm all for some Neil Simon's shows getting star studded revivals, but please stay away from Fools.

Huh? I'm sorry it wasn't a good production. I saw the original in its pre-Broadway tryout still titled "The Curse of Kulyenchikov" and it was freaking hilarious. It had one of the best overall casts I've seen to date. I remember being surprised it flopped, as it is a very "popular" type of comedy, you know, with actual laughs!

[quote]The movie's placement of "Krupke" makes much more sense than the theater version's. Why are they singing such an upbeat song right after their leader is killed?

What is missing from every single production of this show is that these are KIDS. Teenagers do stupid stuff. I always looked at it that they don't know how to handle what's going on around them, so they try to generate humor. Teenagers joke off serious subjects.

Technically, it makes sense in its original placement in Act 2 because Act 2 doesn't have a lot of upbeat music. It has to be squeezed in among "I Feel Pretty" "Somewhere" "A Boy Like That" and "I Have Love". They needed an upbeat song for the guys, otherwise half the audience will either be asleep or bored.

[quote]The movie's placement of "Krupke" makes much more sense than the theater version's. Why are they singing such an upbeat song right after their leader is killed?

I agree, but regardless, my point was that the reviewer does not seem to know that "Krupke" is slotted in the same place in the show for the current production as it was in the original.

[quote]The film also moves "I Feel Pretty" to earlier in the show, before events turn tragic. Whatever one thinks of the movie, the screenplay makes several improvements on the book of the stage show (including having the Sharks and not just the Sharks' girls perform "America").

Apparently, having the Shark men join the women in "America" was the original idea for the original production, but it was changed because Robbins didn't feel the men he had cast as the Sharks were up to the kind of choreography he wanted for that number.

I wonder if this WSS is critic-proof. It may be. Big advance sale, selling at 100% capacity through previews...

I loathe the marketing for this show, but it's exactly the kind of thing that grabs tourists (English speakers or not) and shakes money out of their pockets.

I predict WSS will be with us through the end of 2020, and then some.

and remember the avalanche of advertising Rudin will ejaculate all over the tristate media

[quote]Rudin will ejaculate all over

Pics please.

[quote]Morning at Seven did have quite the cast: Nancy Marchand, Maureen O'Sullivan, Elizabeth Wilson, Teresa Wright

Saw this revival and got to meet them all

[quote]a DL Theatre fave had her eye on the property and it was made into a movie

Well, I thought that was a clever and amusing comment even if no one else did, r479. Bravo!

[quote]WSS reviews are qualified to bad.

Brantley's review aside, more qualified to really quite good, from what I've read on the Playbill website.

[quote]Morning at Seven is probably the only time a failed Broadway play came back decades later to great success.

There are actually a few more.

"An Inspector Calls" returned in the 1990s and was a brilliant production (the set brought people to the theater, but the acting and overall production was really good). The revival ran for a year, where the original ran for two and half months.

And of course, "Chicago," while not a flop, wasn't really a smash in its original production, despite having Gwen and Chita as its stars, but the stripped-down revival has been running since the Clinton administration. It was definitely ahead of its time, as everyone realized when it was done at Encores!

That's interesting, R493, but it's good to remember that Robbins didn't choreograph America.

Other than MORNINGS AT SEVEN, the only real flop that came back as a hit was BOEING BOEING. AN INSPECTOR CALLS wasn't really a flop either. Had a three month run when three month runs were considered decent. That saying, I hated that revival. It was all about the house, they basically threw the plot out. No real character development at all.

LA Times review of WSS is a rave.

R501, it was ahead of its time, but Fosse did it no favors with his overstaging. The stripped down version brings the plot front and center. They did a revival at the LBCLO that was cancelled for a few nights because of the Rodney King riots, so the show had great relevance and the staging was definitely Fosse-esque. I think all of Fosse's shows suffer from that, like Sweet Charity. He's so unsure of the material that he throws everything at you hoping something would stick. In a bizarre way, the approach taken by the Chicago revival is exactly like ACL. Unlike ACL, Chicago is a much better show.

[quote]Unlike ACL, Chicago is a much better show.

Not it's not. ACL won a Pulitzer. Plus, audiences connect with ACL more closely than Chicago.

R506, bullshit. Audiences thought much of ACL at the time but because every attempt at a revival has been, at best, a middling success, it really suggests the ideas aren't as universal as originally thought. Chicago is the show that really connects with audiences because it's so contemporary.

I think Bennett's staging was brilliant his choreography not so much. Book wise and score wise, I think it's Chicago in a knock out.

Chicago does actually have a pretty good book for a musical. It's not quite Gypsy, but it's very, very close. And both do share some thematic overlap. Roxie is probably what Rose would have been if she'd never had kids.

I'm trying to imagine Ethel Merman as Roxie Hart.

R502, thanks for that important clarification. In my defense, I didn't actually say that Robbins CREATED the choreography for "America." But he obviously wanted the number to be fully choreographed -- by Peter Gennaro, with I imagine some tweaks and edits by Robbins -- and that's why he took the men out of it, because he felt they couldn't handle it. When the movie was made, obviously they had a much larger talent pool to choose from, so they could find enough guys who were Latino or looked Latino and could handle the dancing. Someone who should know told me that, for the most part, the women's choreography in "America" in the movie is by Gennaro and the mens' choreography is by Robbins.

[quote] Fosse did it no favors with his overstaging. The stripped down version brings the plot front and center.

That is complete and utter bulshit. The original production was magnificent. And no, it never got in the way of the story. Never.

That the Weisslerized version of Chicago is better is press agent bullshit designed to sell the show. And no one who ever saw the original production I thought that was true.

Maybe Merman as Mama Morton, but did she ever do a supporting role?

And if she was to do Roxy, who would play Velma? It wouldn't work if it was lopsided…

Mary Martin as Velma!

Mary is obviously the right star for Roxie. Merman is perfect for Velma.

Pearl Bailey for Mama.

I'd pay $4.40 to see that…!

Maybe even $6.60.

What's the tea on Sophia Anne Caruso exiting BEETLEJUICE? Word is she was fired after a big fight with Alex Brightman. She posted on her Instagram story about an hour ago confirming her last performance was on Wednesday.

[quote]Mary is obviously the right star for Roxie. Merman is perfect for Velma. Pearl Bailey for Mama.

The DL theater thread posters do enjoy playing casting director ("Toni Collette for Mame!"), but casting shows with dead people does seem rather pointless.

R511, Many saw the original and were not impressed, and Fosse threw so many cheap gags in, it was obvious he didn't like the show. He's admitted as much in every interview. He did the show for Verdon. There was a lot of stagecraft in the original, lots of neon, lots of noise. But it stole from the story. I saw the show several times, with Verdon, Rivera, Reinking, Nemetz and on tour. I enjoyed it greatly but the revival pulls the story centerstage, not the staging, which is what Fosse always does.

[quote] Unlike ACL, Chicago is a much better show.

[quote] Not it's not. ACL won a Pulitzer. Plus, audiences connect with ACL more closely than Chicago.

Why does one have to be better than the other? Both are great shows PERIOD. Each have their strengths. I think "Chicago" revival took off because they sexed it up and the movie was a smash. ACL doesn't have that luxury.

Here's the official word on Caruso's exit. What's the real story?

[quote]Many saw the original and were not impressed, and Fosse threw so many cheap gags in, it was obvious he didn't like the show. He's admitted as much in every interview. He did the show for Verdon. There was a lot of stagecraft in the original, lots of neon, lots of noise. But it stole from the story. I saw the show several times, with Verdon, Rivera, Reinking, Nemetz and on tour. I enjoyed it greatly but the revival pulls the story centerstage, not the staging, which is what Fosse always does.

In your opinion. If nothing else, I would say the lack of costumes in the current production very much works against the storytelling, even if you think the lack of sets isn't a problem.

[quote]Sophia Anne Caruso has departed Beetlejuice on Broadway, according to the show's representative. She played her final performance February 19, after deciding to exercise her contractual out to pursue television work.

That phrasing is a red flag. It's not bloody likely that she would leave the show "to pursue television work," rather than for a specific project -- especially not so abruptly.

[quote] But it stole from the story. I saw the show several times, with Verdon, Rivera, Reinking, Nemetz and on tour. I enjoyed it greatly but the revival pulls the story centerstage, not the staging

You're the first person I've ever heard who liked the revival better. I saw it several times in the original run (I saw it on tour, too, but in LA when Verdon and Rivera went in, so I didn't see Penny Worth or Carolyn Kirsch). The original was one of the best musicals, and stagings, I've ever seen on Broadway. I'm not sure what Fosse's said that indicated he didn't like the show, but he never conveyed that in the pre-opening PR blitz. In any event, the revival deadens the show to my mind. Making the whole thing black and white, when it's written as faux vaudeville, really put a damper on it. I understand the choice for Encores (particularly in 1996), but not as "this is the way the show is done now." I think it's ugly and diminishes the show.

The original was plenty sexed up, r520.

[quote]It's not bloody likely that she would leave the show "to pursue television work," rather than for a specific project -- especially not so abruptly.

Yeah, no one leaves in the middle of the week unless they are suddenly fired.

Roxie taps!

[quote]I think "Chicago" revival took off because they sexed it up and the movie was a smash.

When the movie came out at the end of 2002, the revival had already been running for six years (which was already more than twice as long as the original). The fact that it has lasted as long as it has probably has something to do with the exposure the movie got, but it had nothing to do with the play's original, long-running success.

What makes me most angry about the revival of Chicago is that, now, every community and regional theater feels the need to ape that concept for their productions. I'm sure it saves them a lot of money on costumes and sets. It really must be the least expensive production to keep running on Broadway right now.

The movie of Chicago has, without a doubt, helped it continue to run since its release, but I think the cheap operating cost, slew of stunt casts, and general good word of mouth helped it out for a bit before then. It no longer has the good word of mouth and the stunt castings have taken a dour turn as of late, but it still probably costs next to nothing to operate every week, so I doubt it'll be going anywhere anytime soon. At least it's got a better book and score than just about anything else on Broadway right now, although, the last time I saw it, the cast seemed tired as hell. They could use a Hal Prince to come in and fire all the people who look like they're sleepwalking through it.

At least we didn't drive a cast member to suicide.

Does a nervous breakdown count, r530?

The original Chicago was Bob Fosse on too much cocaine. As Arlene Croce aptly observed, he was trying to force an analogy between Chicago and Nazi Berlin. Of course, there was no connection, but he was familiar with the era because of Cabaret. As such, he did weird shit like making Amos up to look like Emil Jannings in "The Blue Angel" during "Mr. Cellophane". With Fosse out, the entire feeling was excised and the show correctly became about corruption in the US.

Also remember, Fosse didn't want to do Chicago. Gwen had been asking him to do a musical version of the movie for years and he kept putting her off.

I wanted to add that the sets for the original Chicago were ridiculously stylized. It was very much like the Follies set. There were some backdrops but many of the numbers took place against the black of the bandstand. They'd roll in flats, chairs, etc. but it wasn't like it was full blown scenery.

[quote]With Fosse out, the entire feeling was excised and the show correctly became about corruption in the US.

That's a bit heavy for a musical comedy. All our show was about was growing tits, hitting puberty and wishing our acting teacher was dead. It's what we did for love.

Who knows how true it is, but in both ATJ and in the Fosse biopic, it's made to sound like he is somewhat forced into doing the show for Verdon. Verdon was maybe 20 years too old for the part at this time but because she was getting a piece of the show, it would guarantee her and their daughter financial independence.

[quote]They'd roll in flats, chairs, etc. but it wasn't like it was full blown scenery.

Our set was just a piece of tape on the floor. And we had the shortest overture in the history of musical theater. Seven notes and you're into the show.

I’ve seen just one production of Chicago, in London 22 years ago. Ute Lemper played Velma. Many people don’t like her voice and think she is unsuitable for the part. I remember loving the production and thinking how great she was. She is German and that’s why her accent is what it is but she is famous cabaret singer in Germany.

Cell Block Tango's set was the Merry Murderesses carrying around sticks made to look like prison bars.

When I was a kid, I remember a cut-down, cleaned-up version of that commercial at r524 playing constantly when the tour came through our city. Every time it ran, I hushed the rest of family and sat there glued to the set, my mouth hanging open.

My poor parents; that was probably the last time they ever thought I might be straight.

[quote]The original was plenty sexed up

Yeah but it was smack dab in the middle of the sexual revolution so it wasn't anything special. And as much as they tried, at this point, these two weren't exactly sexpots.

Jeez, take a look at this. This is the sort of costume I'm glad we don't have to see again, at least on this model.

ACL's score was considered banal even way back when (had a discussion with Lehman Engel about it once). And the libretto's everybody's-a-star-Me-Decade sensibility hasn't worn well at all. It was among the last of the backstage show-biz Broadway musicals and, from that POV, seems more dated than a dodo (for good or ill). What continues to astonish is the one-in-all conception of staging, choreography and design. Though other revues and revue-styled shows tried to emulate it, it really was sui generis.

If the Weisslers are still with us, would love to see them do stunt casting with Ann Colter as Roxy, Michelle Malkin as Velma and Bill O'Reilly as the lawyer (with Sean Hannity doing the matinees).

[Quote] with Ann Colter as Roxy

Only if JJ from "Good Times" plays Amos.

Would Alex Brightman really have a teenage girl fired? It must have been seriously ugly backstage.

Relax, R542. That costume was eliminated before the show opened.

Sophie Ann Caruso was the best thing about BEETLEJUICE. I loathe Alex Brightman. He is AWFUL. Ugh.

Is Alex rumored to be difficult to work with?

I saw Ute Lemper in New York opposite DL favorite Karen Ziemba as Roxy,

[quote]ACL's score was considered banal even way back when (had a discussion with Lehman Engel about it once).

I just had to google who the fuck Lehman Engel is. Am I supposed to be impressed you dropped an incredibly obscure name?

Obscure?!

R551 You're kind of an idiot.

r551

R551, Lehman Engel is not obscure to anyone who knows anything at all about Broadway musical theater.

R551: Lehman Engel is not a household name, true. But on a theatre site he assumes some importance because of the BMI workshop in writing musicals. Engel has been a go-to musical director, arguably the best conductor of shows of his generation, but his work in teaching young writers how to make musicals overshadows all else.

And many of his students did go on to Broadway. Wikipedia probably has a list; it's quite astonishing, really. Engel was doctrinaire and had a nasty habit of getting mad at men whose looks he didn't care for, but one learned a lot from him.

I was in the class for two years, and while I went on to another profession, I can say that Lehman really did make a splendid (if unsung) contribution to the Broadway musical. And just as a footnote, there was one day when Richard Rodgers joined us and Lehman had each of us step up to the piano and perform one of our numbers, supposedly because RR wanted to hear the next group of songwriters. A golden day.

[quote] As such, he did weird shit like making Amos up to look like Emil Jannings in "The Blue Angel" during "Mr. Cellophane".

That’s not true at all! Why do you make up shit like that? Amos is very specifically costumed in “Mr, Cellophane” to look like early African-American vaudeville star Bert Williams, and the song is quite specifically a takeoff on Williams’ signature tune “Nobody.” There was no Emil Jennings in Blue Angel there.

It’s also not true that Fosse kept putting Gwen off re Chicago over the years. He wanted it just as much as she did. But Maurine Dallas Watkins would not license the show for a musical. Watkins finally died midway through 1969, and a year later her estate agreed to give them the rights. By that point Fosse was committed to Pippin and already “in the mix” for Cabaret, and he and Gwen agreed Chicago would have to wait till after both those projects. Then he found “Lenny,” & he did push that to the top of the list. That’s where conflict happened with Verdon, who wanted Chicago to go before Lenny.

R557, you're a fucking idiot. Here is Jannings

Here is the beloved Barney Martin in the original.

R557 knows what he's talking about.

I hate how... anemic the music sounds in that Company clip posted up thread. Is that representative of how the show sounded in the theatre in London?

No, R561, it sounded fine.

Wait, R562 - are you saying that in the theatre the orchestra didn't sound as flat, anemic and sluggish as it does in that clip and on the London cast recording? OR, are you saying that you don't think the music sounds bad in that clip?

You’re the idiot, r557, trying to push your loony idea that Fosse was trying to duplicate Nazi Germany in Chicago. It had NOTHING to do BBC with that & everything to do BBC with vaudeville. Look in any bio or musical theatre book you want. Amos Hart is Bert Williams and “Mr. Cellophane “ is “Nobody.” That’s not my assumption, that’s the word of all the creators.

You always do this, put out misinformation and try to push it as the truth. Tell us again about Ann Reinking starring in the tour (that you doubtless never saw).

It ALWAYS comes back to BBC, or at least it should.

More than one person on Reddit claims that Caruso and Brightman had an argument that ended with Caruso giving the ultimatum "it's me or him." What could they have argued about? She's barely an adult. He's a grown man.

Are either of them known to improvise on stage?

In happier times

Apparently none of the cast have mentioned her leaving on social media, and there's unfollowing of various cast members and Caruso, so seems like they're siding with Brightman.

Another vote for our right to love A CHORUS LINE and CHICAGO both. Separately but equally.

I didn't see the ACL Bway revival because I didn't want my heart broken (like the movie did). I saw the original as a kid sometime around 1978 and it no less than changed my life.

I've seen CHICAGO first at the ENCORES revival, then shortly after on Bway, the movie version (which I liked very much), and a small college production which I also enjoyed. I maintain that CHICAGO does not often get its due on a writing level: it's a smart, well-constructed, funny book. The songs do everything they need to do, and they're almost all winners. And yes, it's an opportunity for fabulous dance.

I think Kander & Ebb are underestimated simply because they are not Sondheim, and I don't think they ever intended or desired to be.

R595, is that the best you can do, idiot? I posted the side by side comparisons of how Amos was dressed. I challenge you to post a photo of Bert Williams that is close to the costume that was worn by Martin. Now the song itself may well have been modeled on Williams. I think even Sammy Davis did the number as an homage. But Fosse went in another direction and visually crafted the song in the manner of Jannings, not Jennings as you so brilliantly wrote. I seriously doubt you've ever seen The Blue Angel but Fosse even put out a publicity photo that was an exact replica of the Dietrich pose.

Marlene

And that's what made Fosse's version so disappointing. In all his shows, the visuals, the images are the thing. When he keeps trying to give you images from pre-Nazi Berlin, you know what he's getting at, but Chicago late 20s was nothing close to that. If Fosse wanted us to respond most to staging (and his antagonistic relationship with writers and his abandonment of them in his later works definitely suggests this), when you have a stronger show with good writing, the show collapses under its own weight.

Very sad that the lackluster Encores! Mack & Mabel will kill the shows chances of ever getting a Bway revival.

Jerry Herman desperately wanted another Bway run to prove to the world how great this show apparently was.

[Quote] Jerry Herman desperately wanted another Bway run to prove to the world how great this show apparently was.

What a shady sentence.

Saw "Mack and Mabel" tonight -- very enjoyable, especially Socha as Mabel. Sills is fine when he sings a ballad, but keeps barking and shouting through his up-tempos which is annoying. Musical numbers are fabulous. Second act's second half is a downer, but has a fun Keystone Kop ballet to inject some comedy, and "Time Heals Everything" was gorgeously done. Plus the entra'acte/overture was so well done it sounded almost exactly like the recording, but live. I think the show was stage-worthy. Scores of this quality are very rare nowadays.

R566 where are these broadway reddit threads? Thanks!

Whatever happened with the chicago director and music director regarding the cast suicide?

Team Brightman. He's a hot bear.

R571, you need to chill out. You are making caustic broadsides that you do not support. Bob Fosse did not design the costumes for CHICAGO. That was Patricia Zipprodt. She was undoubtedly working at his direction, and it seems clear that someone involved saw that photograph of Emil Jannings. But if it came from Zipprodt's research or from Fosse's, we are not likely ever to know. It works for the song and it works for the character and it works for the abundantly theatrical staging of the original production. To view that over-sized collar as an invocation of the Weimar Republic is a huge stretch. But, kudos to you for noticing the costume in the Jannings photo and making the connection to the original production of CHICAGO. Yes, it seems someone filched it. But who? You have offered nothing to support your contention that Fosse did it. And he was not the costume designer.

As for the photo of Chita Rivera, Bob Fosse almost certainly did not "put out" that photo. Publicity photos are the property of the producers. In this case, five of them. Martha Swope has the photo credit. She or one of her assistants took the photo, usually in a long, long on-stage photo shoot that takes most of the day and is supervised by the company's press agents. Hundreds and hundreds of set-ups are photographed by the photographers. In the days before digital photography, piles of contact sheets were printed and then studied by everyone involved. Including five producers. Some are blurry. Some have eyes closed. Some are obviously great. Then there is photo approval to contend with. Those contractual prerogatives must be honored. In the end, the process produces a set of photos that will be used to publicize the play. But it is unlikely in the extreme that Bob Fosse saw your photo of Marlene Dietrich and deliberately instructed Chita Rivera to copythat pose and instructed Martha Swope to take the photo and then pushed the whole thing through to publication.

The original production of CHICAGO did not particularly evoke the city itself, which is fine because it is not about the city. It certainly evoked the inside of a speakeasy during the height of Prohibition, which is much more to the point. If you see similarities to the Weimar Republic, perhaps you will find them there. In a bottle.

As for your Jannings/Jennings 'gotcha.' Can it. Mistakes happen. We cannot edit posts here. Take it up with Muriel.

The Blue Angel photo comparison really do not prove anything.

The large collar, etc look for Jannings and Amos both derive from clowning, burleque comics, and vaudeville. They both draw from the same well, not one for the other. The action of the song is very different from the Blue Angel scene, which makes the idea that the imitation was conscious seem not very likely. The song, the staging, and the lyrics are as close as you can get to Williams without directly quoting. It is unmistakable.

The same thing with the Rivera, Dietrich pose. That position is a trope. You see almost every sexpot do it at some point---and no, I do not think Bette Page was trying to evoke Blue Angel when she did it.

The OJ context is what gave the Chicago revival a relevance it didn't have the first time

I can see Zipprodt using that Jannings clown collar as inspiration. By that point his character is a total cuckold....and so is Amos. That doesn't mean it's meant to invoke the Weimar Republic. It's meant to invoke a similar character from a popular movie from the era Chicago is set in.

R496-GOD, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I sense the presence of Fosse biographer Kevin Winkler on this site. Lordy, how tiring he can be.

Oh, my god! Kevin Winkler is the one who linked Amos to Jannings in his book---which was a stretch.

For those who are seeing Encores "Mack & Mabel" is "Tap Your Troubles Away" sung by a woman or man?

Hmm, I wonder if Caruso was just getting too big for her britches.

Here's the Reddit, for the person who asked. There are a few threads about Caruso.

Actually, Arlene Croce is the one who originally linked Amos to Jannings. It was in her original pan of the show.

Croce also noted that while Ginger Rogers did the exuberant Black Bottom in Roxie Hart, you don't see anything even remotely similar in Chicago because Fosse vision is Roxie as Arturo Ui. Whether or not your agree, I think that is a sound and valid observation about his original staging and direction.

BB

Caruso was the only good thing in BEETLEJUICE. Alex Brightman is not hot. He's a fat hag and a hack. With zero talent.

WTF with this [bold]Forbes[/bold] article on [italic]The Inheritance[/italic]?

The one US critic cited is Robert Hofler in The Wrap, and Its interview sources include "drama critic Michael Portantiere" (from BroadwayStars.com, if you please), "marketing executive Maris Smith" (who has worked in NYC and is currently the director of marketing for Virginia Stage Company), and "Broadway producer and influencer marketing consultant" Sam Maher (whose only Broadway credit is as one of the 25+ producers of [italic]Be More Chill[/italic] and who is the founder of YesBroadway, a wannabe marketing influencer company) -- who argues that influencer content (his business!!) is the most important ingredient of theater marketing.

Didn't [bold]Forbes[/bold] used to contain actual business journalism?

Can someone tell me what "influencer content" is?

I also took Lehman Engel's workshop for a couple of years, but I don't think there was any correlation between his class and the subsequent careers of some of the students. Talent is talent (I can think of at least two writers whose output was far superior to some of the ones who ended up with Broadway careers). What Engel offered, however, was a platform unique to his time, and an opportunity for writers to keep the juices flowing with his unlikely assignments (write a ballad for Blanche in STREETCAR, or a comedy number for Lola in LITTLE SHEBA, for example). Unlike today, where you can't spit without hitting a musical theatre writing course or workshop or program, his was the only kind of venue devoted to the genre. His greatest contribution was the CODING of the classic American musical structure and song forms, and his hypothesis of why successful shows work, which he espoused in his class and published works. Of course one can argue that once an artistic genre can be systematized, it's become a dinosaur lumbering to its death, a museum piece or a coffee table book--and that's exactly what occurred in the wake of Engel's heyday, with FOLLIES as the apogee of self-reflexiveness. And the musical's downward spiral continues to this day.

American musicals are in better shape than they have been for a long time, unless you just instinctively hate anything new. Look back at nominees since Follies and you will see what I mean.

Ginger does the Charleston and Lucy and Lucie do the Black Bottom

R596, I have to say, that's some good analysis. This has been one of the better Theatre Gossip threads.

I think musical director/conductor Lehman Engel must have been jealous as hell that Herbert Greene not only conducted "The Music Man" but was its co-producer as well, garnering lots of profits, since Engel really hates "Music Man" in his books, basically writing it off as a big stereotype. It's not -- it's a masterpiece of Americana with brilliant songwriting.