THEATRE GOSSIP #383 - Separate Tables Edition

Well done, OP.

If a Broadway show opens with a thud but there's no one to hear it, does it make a sound?

Good times and bum times, I've seen 'em all

And, my dear, I'm still here

Flush velvet sometimes

Sometimes just pretzels and beer, but I'm hereI've run the gamut, A to Z

Three cheers and dammit, C'est la vie

I got through all of last year, and I'm here

Lord knows, at least I was there, and I'm here

Look who's here, I'm still here

Plush, not flush, R1

OP What number thread is this?

A post at the end of the last thread mention seeing a midnight show at the Grand Finale.

I loved that place, I haven't thought about it in many years.

[quote]OP What number thread is this?

I'm not the OP, but it's #383, and we have two of them.

Oh fuck. Not two threads at the same time again. Can't you people do a simple search?

Let's use this one, i think its a better title

I'll second that. And it is a better title.

This One.

Skylight Act One.

This thread, I meant.

Skylight Act Two.

Oh, how I love you and adore you, Mr. NTLive

R12 Ha, my pleasure.

I got into a discussion awhile ago about the lead of Kinky Boots in London. I found him plain and chunky, but think people should decide for themselves.

[quote]Oh fuck. Not two threads at the same time again. Can't you people do a simple search?

I did a search before creating this one. The other poster and I must have been creating at the same time.

This is the OBC of West Side Story....and they are the Von Hoe redux.

Speaking of Ivo van Hove, I see he's developing a stage version of The Shining. I wonder who he'll get to play the roles? Stars or unknowns?

^ Well, that ruined my day. Although his adaptation of 'The Damned was better than any of his other work. But then, his All About Eve is a fucking disgrace.

Back in 2016 the Minnesota Opera staged an opera version (obviously) of The Shining

Christine Baranski and Frasier Crane doing A Little Priest.

I know Grammer likes to bang on about how his lack of success post-Frasier is some despicable anti-Republican plot, but maybe it's more to do with the fact he's seemingly only able of ever playing Frasier Crane, no matter the role? Also, is Baranski wearing fake teeth or something here?

Skylight? I saw it recently and it seemed pointless until the last few minutes showed how the power imbalance of inter-generational sex perpetuates itself.

So two-plus hours for a simplistic psychological point that a daytime talk show could cover in ten minutes.

Another meandering David Hare play with less content than meets the eye.

Speaking of Hare - if anyone here saw I'm Not Running: are we meant to think that the main character is an idiot? She has that speech about how if circumcision were happening to men then it'd be banned immediately - ignoring the fact it obviously does, and isn't.

R21 I posted Running on the last thread.

Patti as Norma from 1993

Fuck, posted this on the wrong thread. Fucking two thread hell.

Agrippina.

Mr. NTLive,

Most of 2020 has sucked major arse, but you and your wonderful posts have been a bright spot in the darkness.

Thank you! You are beloved by me and by many others, I'm certain.

Mr. Rock Follies, are you there? Did you post a separate thread with links to episodes?

I think Broadway Annie looked like a damn cute show.

R26 Ha, sweetie, JUST posted it.

I was going to go see Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center next week. Ah well... I wonder if Ricky frequents the DL?

THANKS, R27!

Ricky Ricardo?

Ricky Ian Gordon R30. Mr National Theater Live/Valens - may blessing rain upon you and a petit request: Do you have "The Winter's Tale" from 2015 with Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench? Possibly the "Macbeth" with Branagh and Alex Kingston? We love you! Thanks!

^ I lost lots of my Shakespeare in a drive collapse, and also have not posted much Shakepeare here as was not sure if it was appropriate,as I do have quite a few. Do you want Shakespeare.

Think I have that MacBeth, not sure about Winters Tale, not sure if it was captured.

Whoever posted the Separate Tables at the top of the thread, have you (or anyone else) ever come across a copy of the Broadway on Showtime production of Gemini with Scott Baio as Francis? I never knew this existed. It's from 1982, which was a couple years after the feature film version. It has some of the original Broadway cast (Danny Aiello, Anne De Salvo).

I can't imagine Baio playing this character.

Does anyone have the Showtime "Dirtiest Show in Town" with hottie John Wesley Shipp?

I have it on DVD, but it's a terrible copy and it's an even worse show.

I'm shocked that nobody has the Andrew Scott Present Laughter. That's the one I really want to see.

I saw the Frank Langella Present Laughter. That was enough.

I saw the broadcast of Present Laughter. It was surprisingly bad. In the first act it was full of the kind of hammy, funny voice and mugging performances that the Brits find so delightful. The second act was better but as a whole, it really was not worth seeing.

Theatre World Awards moved to fall:

But SKYLIGHT had Carey Mulligan. She was magical.

Interesting interview with the Come From Away producers re the shutdown.

No Theater? No Problem. Plays and Musicals Switch to Streaming:

Broadway stars raise money for furloughed actors in viral hand-washing challenge:

Did Elaine pay cash money for those gloves?

Gotta love Elaine: the triple-process hair, those gloves, the Goth lipstick. That JACKET.

She remains true to her brand.

Perhaps Elaine Paige's most manic episode? A little levity for our dark times.

Bitch be cray-cray, R47.

If Jelani Alladin really wants to raise money he should release better versions of his jerk off video

If there were a time for a revival of ANNIE...

Marry me, Dame Judi.

She loves to laugh 😂 R47

Thanks for that, Elaine! You made me laugh. Imagine if she heard that Dick van Dyke's name really means "Penis von Lesbian"!

Obsession - Jude Law - Von Hoe directed.

Kellie in South Pacific.

Patti in hostess pants...

You can’t keep a Timothee Chalamet play down:

[quote]Patti in hostess pants...

For all those chic dinner parties she'll be giving.

Dear god, R56... my eyes!

How many shower curtain liners had to die for Patti's outfit?

r49 say what?

PATTI LuPONE America Kicks Up Its Heels '83 (Audio)

Poor Patty reminds me of Lens in R47.

R58, those weren't hostess pants, they were the housecoat over pants, the way Lucy Ricardo used to do. But it doesn't look good on Patti because of her short legs.

Merrily

Will Swenson, Patrick Wilson streaming The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues - anyone know how they are getting around union stuff?

No disrespect to Will Swenson--he and Audra are a cute couple.

But remember back in the days of the HAIR revival? 2008-2009. He was gonna be a huge Bway star.

Swenson just misses being hot in my opinion.

He's hotter in person/live onstage.

I don't think it translates to TV/film, which would have helped his career a good deal.

He has a timid penis. That's why it never happened for him.

[quote]No disrespect to Will Swenson--he and Audra are a cute couple. But remember back in the days of the HAIR revival? 2008-2009. He was gonna be a huge Bway star.

He never had a great voice, not even from the beginning. It wasn't that obvious in HAIR because of the style of music, plus his character didn't actually sing all that much in that show. And unfortunately his singing only seemed to get worse over the years -- SERIOUS pitch problems. The low point was probably his big number in SUPERMAN at Encores! Painful to hear. I'm sure that had a lot to do with halting his progression. Too bad, because I've always thought he's one of the best looking men in the theater, and his acting is excellent, and from all accounts he's a really nice guy.

Will is very...limited.

Anyone think the Tonys could be pushed all the way to the fall?

I’d like that, R72. Actually I’d like them to be on the week before Christmas.

Fuck the Tonys: we need a little Christmas NOW, Auntie Mame

Jason Alexander sings a song from PIPPIN, just for us trapped indoors.

What say you, DL?

I still want to know what r49 has

Yeah, Swenson is sexy. He photographs well. I can't see why he can't at least get a procedural.

For no reason, Vivien Leigh in "Tovarich," the musical she did four years before her death.

Tony Awards Schedule In Doubt:

Virus pushing small theaters to the brink:

Waiting for the remake of WSS I've been delving back into the original.

This is video is about the score and the musical themes Bernstein wove into the composition.

It's not quite the same thing, but the other night TCM showed "The Diary of Anne Frank" to commemorate the approximate (they don't know exactly) anniversary of Anne's death. I guess now, since they were all hunkered down inside in hiding, one can get just a small measure of what they were going through. Instead of hiding from Nazis, we're hiding from a virus. Great movie and Anne's writing was inspiring and very moving, of course.

Plus, Richard Beymer, who played Tony in "West Side Story", played Peter, the young son of the other family in hiding, in "Diary of Anne Frank", too.

Thanks for that hot clip of Swenson, R77. I remember when I saw him in MURDER BALLAD Off-Broadway, I thought he was one of the sexiest, most beautiful men I'd ever seen on stage.

Everybody's Talking Bout Jamie.

Laurie in Long Day's Journey Into Night.

That opening number from "Everybody's Talking about Jamie" is really terrible. Does it get better?

No, R87. It’s one of the most overrated shows of all time. And Dear Evan Hansen really exposes it for the piece of shit it is. Jamie is “fabulous” because he’s flamboyant and wears bright clothes. The songs are all as generic as it gets.

R88, I haven't seen JAMIE, but can you explain why you're comparing it to DEAR EVAN HANSEN, of all things?

I agree about the general worthlessness of Jaimie, but I do think the first song is decent. It is all downhill from there. I abhor the drag culture, and the way people think they're fabulous because they're flamboyant. It is tiresome, narcissistic, and uninteresting. It has been a while since I've seen the show so I don't remember specifics, but the whole subplot with the older drag queen -- I forget his name, but I think it was a pun on Coco Chanel or something? -- was laughably bad. And, what? We're supposed to think Jamie is something great just because he wears drag? That kind of thinking gave us Billy Porter.

Another one

The big letdown in Jamies is that you never get to see him actually perform in drag. Act 2 opens the night after his performance and everybody talking about how amazing he is, but the only real drag you see him in is in the formal dress at the end

[quote]The big letdown in Jamies is that you never get to see him actually perform in drag. Act 2 opens the night after his performance and everybody talking about how amazing he is, but the only real drag you see him in is in the formal dress at the end

Why the hell did they write it that way? Sounds really dumb.

Everybody's Talking About Jamie is the non-binary version of We Will Rock You.

Once Upon A Mattress on CBS 1972

Starring Carol Burnett, Ken Berry, Jack Gilford, Jane White, Bernadette Peters, Wally Cox and Ron Husmann with Lyle Waggoner as Sir Studly.

The book of Jamie is a complete disaster. Do like the Beautiful song in Act 2, but so much misery.

Speaking of drag, that's Jane White at r95 in her "white person" drag.

MERMAN Person to Person

I'd never heard of Jane White until the watched those clips at r95.

Her delivery and speech remind me of Jennifer Lewis.

She's sash 1932, r99.

It was quite a thing when Jane White got the part in the original Broadway production of Mattress in 1959. Having a black woman portray a white woman (essentially in white face) was controversial. Luckily, they did cast her, as no one has played it better.

Can we talk about Ken Berry? Why the fuck did he have a career? He was on EVERY variety and talk show when I was growing up, and even as a kid, I knew he was talking wonder bread? Tell me data loungers! Why was he everywhere?

Sash 1918 at R100 is Marni Nixon!

[quote] as no one has played it better

Including Carol herself, who wasn't particularly good as Aggravain in that Tracey Ullman version of "Mattress."

Preach, r102!

Thanks for the Ethel interview! She seemed to love that her son shoots at innocent owls in the back yard!

Whatever set designer made those poor ladies descend that rickety fire escape in the "Follies" video at R100 should have been shot.

Everything about that 2001 production was soooo ugly: sets, costumes, Blythe and Judith's singing....

Jimmy Awards canceled:

I had the biggest crush on Ken Berry when I was younger, and, the more i saw him, the more I wanted him. I knew even then that he was Wonder Bread, but, dammit, that was the kind of bread I liked. I know he was married a few times, but I always wondered if he was gay. Any stories?

Ken Berry was apparently straight, despite being a dancer.

Wow. Ethel's memory has a serious lapse in that clip. She's standing in front of a picture, which she says is herself "in Panama Hattie. If folks remember that, I co-starred in it with my good friend Bert Lahr."

WRONG, ETHEL!

You solo-starred in "Panama Hattie." The show with your "good friend," Bert Lahr, was the year prior: "DuBarry Was a Lady."

Somebody ask for a coup de théâtre?

Well, speaking of coup de theatres, now that The Inheritance has prematurely bit the dust now we can discuss the conclusion of the first play? I ugly cried way too much seeing all those young men suddenly appear out of nowhere. How much did they get paid and were any of them friends/partners/tricks of the main cast?

I liked it better when it was in LONGTIME COMPANION.

John.

Leslie Caron is class. Always forget she was married to Peter Hall.

Patti....on the verge.

Here are some snippets of Christine Baranski as Mame.

Kennedy Center 2006

That kinda stank, r119.

Quite a long 8 minutes, that.

Hangmen ain’t resuming performances. I bet Beetlejuice won’t, either.

Diana going down also...

R122 First of many.

[quote]That kinda stank, R119.

But if you had seen it in the theater, as I did, you would have realized that . . . yeah, it pretty much stank.

[quote]Well, speaking of coup de theatres

I believe the plural should be COUPS de theatre.

[quote]Diana going down also...

Just like old times ....

In non-COVID news...

OMG, someone please tell me that Deb Messing and her play will be okay!

For the love of god...

R128

That William Ivey Long story is getting so very tired. The kid should have established his boundaries — but instead, sought out repeated encounters. Hogwash. Show business is transactional. If someone makes a pass at you, either say NO THANK YOU or do it. But don’t do it, and then kvetch about it years later.

Ivey Long is talented, but hardly a genius. I'm not sure why directors and producers would still seek him out when there are so many rumors about unprofessional and/or abusive behavior. There's no shortage of talented designers (including women with impeccable reputations).

[quote]When #metoo stories started popping up on Facebook, I wrote a brief post, not mentioning the circumstances, but acknowledging that I too had a story. I was surprised when no one named the man.

And yet, this person is STILL not naming the man. Instead, he's writing a long and detailed expose about him without naming him, accompanied by some barely obscured pix of the man. If his story is true, he should have no reason to hesitate to name the man -- he would need to fear a libel suit only if it could be PROVEN that his story wasn't true.

On a related note, I wasn't sure how this had played out, or IF it had played out, until I looked it up.

132 sounds like he would say the name if there were others who would say it with him, he doesn't want to be out there all by himself.

Diana's gone to the wall?

[quote]R132 sounds like he would say the name if there were others who would say it with him, he doesn't want to be out there all by himself.

Still, what is the point in writing that long, detailed article WITHOUT naming the name? And coyly including barely obscured photos of the man in question? He's a coward. Also, while the perp's behavior was reprehensible, the "victim" bears responsibility for his own actions at age 19 -- which is very different from age 10, and even quite different from age 16. The liquor was not forced down his throat, nor was he physically restrained in order for the perp to have sex with him.

Oh, and YEARS after all of that molestation or abuse or whatever, he went to a party at Sardi's to celebrate the perp -- because he wanted to see if he could get past it all? Holy.....shit.

At least he picked a slow news day to spill the tea. 🙄

Riedel: For once, Broadway isn’t going to quickly bounce back:

Mr. NTLive....Thank you very much for your contributions to this post. There was one play (with music and dancing) that I tried to see in London and during the broadcasts but I failed. You are a GOD.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is officially cancelled and won't come back in April.

Sad. I had tickets for this show.

At least we're being spared Katrina Lenk's Bjork Bobbie.

Here's what artistes do when in quarantine.

Sharing my Ken Berry-Dean Jones perplexion.

Glory Day, opened and closed the same day.

Long way from Les Mis and Miss Saigon .... to this, 85 perf on Broadway

It might have worked better as a gay porn movie. What a title!

Some idiot at ATC thinks Andrew Lloyd Webber should cover the Phantom costs.

It'a not an idiotic concept. ALW is a billionaire because of Phantom. $1 million or so to help his companies won't make a dent in his lifestyle. The system is structured that producers/rights holders/creatives make the most money with a smash hit, and no one is arguing that. But when things go into the shitter, there will be enormous capital needs for re-start ups, and the only people who can provide that are 1) the government, and/or 2) Billionaires. The top 1 percent has had a great 25 years. If they want to see a next 25 without chaos, they will need to give a lot. A lot.

ALW should give a lot. A LOT.

"Phantom" has been running since the Earth's crust was still warm. Who the hell cares if it has to close?

So when a show closes in this particular situation, what has to be paid, what doesn't and what's covered by insurance? Does anyone know? Earlier in the week someone posted that the Shuberts were fighting with producers over wanting them to pay rent while the theaters are closed. How and why would they do that? It's not as if the theaters can be used for anything else while this is going on. Yes, the Shuberts are losing money, but they likely couldn't get it anywhere else.

And the employees are all on unemployment, I'm guessing. It's not the production's place to pay them full salary while this is going on. And wouldn't insurance help cover that? There are no royalties going out. So what are the big costs happening that are causing shows to close?

I understand that someone like Laurie Metcalf probably has other work scheduled, but who knows where we'll be when that's supposed to happen. And shows like Hangmen, which don't really rely on a name cast (I know Dan Stevens THINKS he's a name), couldn't they just recast when the time comes if actors are unavailable?

[quote]Shuberts were fighting with producers over wanting them to pay rent while the theaters are closed.

Aren't the theater owners still responsible for what's in the theater? Sets, costumes, any personal property left in dressing rooms? Once this is over, the producers are expecting to come back to a set that was exactly like when they left.

here's the story no one has the courage to write about, and r150 hints at it. In this situation, the theatres don't have insurance (standard thing; same as restaurants) but the shows do, even though for most there is like an 8 week cap. So the theatre owners are asking the shows that are sitting in their theatres to pay rent, threatening if they don't they'll invoke a stop clause and make them load out. (This is why the two shows have closed already -- the producers refused to pay rent during this insane period).

So the theater owners who for the past 10 years -- including the "non profit" Shuberts -- have been making gross profits, and also buying into the scalpers systems (Broadway.com, all the Ticketmaster uncharging systems) and now crying "poor." Hopefully this will open the whole situation up to an anti trust investigation. The WSJ's recent article on Broadway Across America was basically a road map on how corrupt it all is.

[quote] Aren't the theater owners still responsible for what's in the theater? Sets, costumes, any personal property left in dressing rooms? Once this is over, the producers are expecting to come back to a set that was exactly like when they left.

But again, so what? No one is doing anything. The theaters can't be used for something else. And I'm pretty sure that Smaug looking creature who was playing Honey in Virginia Woolf has crawled back to her own cave and isn't hunkering down in her dressing room at the Booth. Shows having been loaded into the theaters at point in time are not causing the theaters to lose money. The absence of ANY business happening in the theater industry is the culprit there.

[quote] And shows like Hangmen, which don't really rely on a name cast (I know Dan Stevens THINKS he's a name), couldn't they just recast when the time comes if actors are unavailable?

Oh please don't tell us you are one of those Theater Queens who don't understand there is life off W45th ST? Dan Stevens is known all over the world for "Downton Abbey"

Some fun early Metcalf...

[quote] Oh please don't tell us you are one of those Theater Queens who don't understand there is life off W45th ST? Dan Stevens is known all over the world for "Downton Abbey"

Yet he has never been able to "open" a movie or sustain a run in theater based on his name. In fact, everything he's done in film has barely gotten a theatrical release or gone straight to streaming/DVD. Hangmen was on TDF pretty much every day during its short preview period and future selling dates. And the less said about the most recent revival of The Heiress, the better.

Mary Kay LeTourneaux is known all over the world, too, but casting her as Mama Rose isn't gonna produce a hit run of Gypsy.

Thanks for the latest uploads: I look forward to seeing GLORY DAYS and PIRATE QUEEN!

I saw HANDS ON A HARDBODY and liked it, particularly the score, more than most people (more than the critics, certainly).

Does anyone have the professionally recorded version of BANDSTAND from several years back? I've been searching for that for some time.

Stay safe, musical lovers.

r157 Wasn't "Bandstand" recorded for and shown in theaters? Or on PBS?

Lots of small local non-profit theater companies are facing financial hardship due to cancelled performances. Consider donating to help them if you can.

Yes, R158, I believe you're correct, but it's not anywhere on PBS streaming. Googling it hasn't uncovered the complete broadcast recording.

R157 You can find the entire shows of them from youtube. I thought now would be good time to re-visit those short running shows we don’t talk when theaters are open.

Gavin Creel just stated (in a live webcast) that he is quarantining himself at home: he has not been tested, but he has symptoms, and someone in the cast of WAITRESS has the virus.

Scary shit. I've been going over my most recent theatre dates (as an attendee, and not at WAITRESS) recently and wondering about the incubation period.

[quote]he has not been tested, but he has symptoms

symptoms are cough, fever, tiredness

Any smoker chorus boy could have those but not have the virus.

I sincerely hope Creel does not have the virus.

As a TONY winner, he probably shouldn't be described as "any smoker chorus boy." He's talented and seems like a really good guy.

[quote]As a TONY winner, he probably shouldn't be described as "any smoker chorus boy."

But how many smoker chorus boys has he had in his apartment in the last month?

I could think of a few tired smoker chorus boys who deserve Tonys over the blandness that is Gavin Creel.

Fiddler documentary

War Horse = Act One.

War Horse - Act Two.

[quote] he has never been able to "open" a movie or sustain a run in theater based on his name. In fact, everything he's done in film has barely gotten a theatrical release or gone straight to streaming/DVD

Yeah, Beauty and the Beast barely got a theatrical release. Only long enough to earn 1.26 billion.

He’s got three movies in post, and his post-Downtown resume is quite long. You may hate him, but you’re irrelevant to him or his career. Your ridiculous ramblings sound like you think he shouldn’t be offered work at all. Clearly, no one agrees with you. You’re an idiot.

R165, Less than Nick Adams.

[quote]I could think of a few tired smoker chorus boys who deserve Tonys over the blandness that is Gavin Creel.

Oh shit, we've got one of the "bland" trolls in this thread. I don't know how many of them there are, but there seem to be several trolls who, when they don't like a performer but don't have the smarts or vocabulary to articulate why, ALWAYS fall back on "bland." It's at once tiresome and very annoying.

Sheparate Tablsh!

Awww...Ruthie Ann Miles announced on Twitter she’s having a baby this spring. Not the absolute best time to have a kid, I guess, but still this is wonderful news.

R174, indeed. Best news on these grim days.

What will she do if her TV series is renewed?

R176 think it has been. Her character just got a boyfriend, or they can write it in. Or hidden, which has been done many times before.

All Rise is ok, but Lindsay Menedez is trying so hard, is she that desperate on stage?

So sad that without theatre, these theatre threads just limp along

R174, hopes she looks at both sides of the street before crossing

R178 Thanks for your contribution...

[quote]So sad that without theatre, these theatre threads just limp along

They limped along plenty when there was a lot of theater going on.

Creel left the West End cast of Waitress last Saturday - a week early so he could get home. Fair enough. If he has symptoms though he likely passed it on during the flight home to New York.

R181 They last few have actually rocked along.

[quote]hopes she looks at both sides of the street before crossing

Maybe it would be more appropriate to hope there aren't any mentally impaired drivers taking a detour onto the sidewalk.

There's some irony here: when new shows were opening and current plays and musicals were playing nightly, there were always posters here who only wanted to discuss shows from 40-50 years ago. Or 20-30 year old revivals of classic musicals. Endlessly. Because everything new was just garbage.

Well, you've got no competition now. None. There's nothing new happening, and nothing current playing, and there won't be, possibly for a very long while. So please carry on with your discussions of the definitive revival of GYPSY. Or that FOLLIES recording that puts all the others to shame. Knock yourself out.

R185 is triggered.

[quote]—new shows and plays are always discussed honey.

And "Follies" and "Gypsy" will never not be discussed.

How many Broadway shows are already cancelled and won't come back even if they can reopen next month? Woolf must be quite a loss. Pre production, rehearsals, rent etc. and only 2 weeks previews till the closure. Do they have to pay the actors or will they all lose their income this year? Is something like this crisis covered in standard contracts?

[quote]hopes she looks at both sides of the street before crossing

Are you really that cruel?

R176, the way it looks now All Rise won’t go back into production until July or August at the earliest. She’ll be fine.

I love Gavin Creel's voice but when I saw him in HAIR, he was bland. Will Swenson had miles more charisma. I've seen Creel have plenty of charisma in concert, though.

Creel was charming in DOLLY. In the first production with Channing, they went for eccentrics for the romantic pair (Reilly and Brennan) which no doubt worked. When Crawford tried the same thing in the movie, it was just embarrassing--you thought maybe Irene WOULD be just as well off with Horace. In the Midler revival, they cast likable and attractive folk as Corneliys and Irene, each on the verge of middle age. Greel's Cornelius was an innocent, but one with physical appeal, while Kate Baldwin's Irene was an experienced woman, but still with the capacity for the excitement of romance.

Sorry, but I've watched several episodes of All Rise hoping it would get better, but it's shit.

Yes, Champion deliberately went for eccentric casting with Brennan and Reilly in the original Dolly. But Herman always wanted those parts sung straight out and well. In Channing's last tour/New York revival in the 1990s, that guy had almost no professional experience and it showed but he was sincere and had a wonderful tenor voice and I loved it. Just loved it.

[quote] Yeah, Beauty and the Beast barely got a theatrical release. Only long enough to earn 1.26 billion.He’s got three movies in post, and his post-Downtown resume is quite long. You may hate him, but you’re irrelevant to him or his career. Your ridiculous ramblings sound like you think he shouldn’t be offered work at all. Clearly, no one agrees with you. You’re an idiot.

Are you fucking high or just a Dan Stevens loon? I never said anything of the sort, you fucking moron. I said his name doesn't open anything. Show me an example of where it did and I'll admit I was incorrect. You can't possibly hold up Beauty and The Beast considering its IP is such that your crazy cunt could have starred in it and it would have made money. No one went to see that for Dan Stevens. His entire post-Downton career proves that. It's not an opinion or a slight against him, it's merely a fact. The overwhelming majority of actors can't open a film or bring box office to a show. You're the one who got your ass all out of joint.

I don't give a fuck about Dan Stevens one way or another. I'm not even sure I've ever seen him in anything. My initial comment didn't even mention him, just that Hangmen was an new play that wasn't and didn't need to rely on stars so it could easily re-open in another season with a different cast, whereas the production of Virginia Woolf was cast specifically with Laurie Metcalf as a draw (who as far as I'm concerned is diminishing returns considering she's done a show every season for the past four years and two others not too long before that) so there would be less reason to bring it back if that cast wasn't available.

Goddamn, nothing worse than really stupid people who post first and think never. Just stop posting if you're really that dumb.

You haven't seen "The Line of Beauty"?

R194 here. Eileen Brennan, who created the role of Little Mary Sunshine off Broadway, had a lovely trained alto/mezzo voice. Her performances on the cast albums of Little Mary Sunshine and Dolly are wonderful. But Herman had written the part for a soprano.

[quote] You haven't seen "The Line of Beauty"?

You know, I can't actually remember. I feel like I might have, but I also might be confusing it with Christopher and His Kind.

r195 time to renew your prescription

Hilarious, R199. I think I speak for everyone when I say, "My sides!"

[quote]You know, I can't actually remember. I feel like I might have, but I also might be confusing it with Christopher and His Kind.

Line of Beauty takes place in London in the 1980s. Christopher and His Kind takes place in Berlin in the 1930s.

If Gavin Creel becomes an unwitting Super Spreader does that make him as bad as Jan Maxwell when she was living in subsidized housing?

[quote] Line of Beauty takes place in London in the 1980s. Christopher and His Kind takes place in Berlin in the 1930s.

Hahaha. I know. It's just that both were quite a while ago and I remember the experience as being somewhat underwhelming, so that could likely be either.

I did see a great miniseries called Don't Ever Wipe Tears Without Gloves about the early days of the AIDS crisis in Sweden. Very well done.

Nothing is as bad as Jan Maxwell living in subsidized housing! It's just rude!

Who knew we'd be envying Jan Maxwell this week.

Fun fact: Matt Smith was supposed to appear nude in Christopher and His Kind, but he was still under contract playing Dr. Who and the producers of that show forbade him from appearing nude. Nobody was going to upset their franchise.

In Line of Beauty, I like the all male swimming area. I want to go there.

Smith’s tush still looked swell in The Crown.

Some of these theater school kids are absolutely gaga about stuff like "Mean Girls", "Legally Blonde", and "Shrek". I mean, they ok, just ok, but hardly classics. It seems like they only are really interested in classics if they see them revived in a big production. Frankly, looking for audition material from contemporary musics is something of a chore, since a lot of it is pretty substandard (i.e. crap).

musicals, that is.

Matt Smith almost showed peen in MAPPLETHORPE, plenty of ass.

[quote]Eileen Brennan, who created the role of Little Mary Sunshine off Broadway, had a lovely trained alto/mezzo voice. Her performances on the cast albums of Little Mary Sunshine and Dolly are wonderful. But Herman had written the part for a soprano.

Irene Molloy, like many musical theater roles, is a soprano role but not particularly high by any means. Really more of a light mezzo role. And anyway, as I hope you know, voice range descriptions such as "soprano," "alto," and "tenor" originally come from opera and classical music, so it gets confusing when you try to apply them to musical theater roles, which tend to have far more limited ranges.

R195, please calm down, really. I agree with a lot of what you wrote, but the only time it's appropriate to discuss whether or not an actor is a star who can "open" a movie is when that actor is the clear, undisputed star of a big movie (not an indie), for example, the star of an action flick that's part of a huge franchise. As far as I know, NONE of Dan Stevens' movies fit that category, so it's completely pointless to argue over whether or not he can "open" a movie. All of that said, it was wrong of you to not even mention that he was the male lead in one of the most financially successful films of all time, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. I certainly think that's germane to his viability at the box office, even if he wasn't the star of that movie in the sense that Tom Cruise is the star of his movies.

R211, when you know how the entertainment business works in terms of bankable people, then you can run your mouth. Clearly you don't.

R212, please explain what's misinformed about what I wrote in my post at R211. I stand by my comment that none of us have any idea EITHER WAY if Dan Stevens can or can't "open" a movie, as he has never been cast in a role/movie to which that kind of discussion would be applicable.

As to whether or not Dan Stevens is "bankable," that's basically another way of saying the same thing. He WAS the male lead in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, so that must have been a huge boost to his career in terms of name recognition, even though he was not the star of the movie in the same sense that Tom Cruise is a star of his movies. Also, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is a very unusual case in that Stevens spent about 95 percent of the movie in heavy makeup that rendered him pretty much unrecognizable.

Anyway, to help keep this thread on topic, I'm really sorry we're not going to get to see Stevens in HANGMEN. I didn't like his stage performance in THE HEIRESS, but that was under an incompetent director, so I expect I would have enjoyed him much more in HANGMEN.

The Jan Maxwell jokes weren’t funny in 1990 and seem especially lame now that she’s been dead more than 2 years.

It's Sondheim's 90th. And...

[quote]The Jan Maxwell jokes weren’t funny in 1990 and seem especially lame now that she’s been dead more than 2 years.

Agreed, AND especially lame during the current crisis. I'm all for retaining a sense of humor during the crisis, but that doesn't include "joking" about someone who died an early and painful death, and anyway -- as you said -- there was never any "humor" here in the first place.

Dan Stevens was great in Hangmen. He would have gotten a Tony nomination for sure.

Happy 70th birthday, Steve. Here are six for you.

Sunday In The Park With George.

70th? For the 20th time? He's 90 today.

Curtain call

R220 ....you hateful sow.

Who's watching the Rosie special?

I just started watching....rather listening.

So far it's very gabby.

I’m watching!

So far its bad.

I have never made a Jan Maxwell joke but her sad death has no bearing on the welfare queen joke.

I forgot about Rosie's show. Did I miss anything?

Not really, r229.

Was Jeffery Self present?

I'm not one of Rosie's fans.

R195, who wounded you, honey? You're such a nasty, vile little thing with a hair-trigger temper, someone must have done something to you as a child. We you forced to service men while they were watching "Mary Poppins"? Were you forced to watch "Star" with your eyes taped open so you couldn't avert them?

And for the record, you mention Stevens yourself. Every time someone says something about him or one of his plays or films, you find it necessary to make a negative comment about him. Sounds like you're obsessed. Go back & read your own posts, you'll see.

R233 The Loon troll has always been a loon.

The Rosie Actors Fund Benefit is full of great Bway actors Skyping in.... losing audio. It's kind of a technical shitshow.

Rosie is getting visibly cranky.

It's fun to see who has a really drab apartment/house. And Idina Menzl without any makeup is.... well.

God bless them, though. They're raising money and it's a good cause.

I wanna go play at Patti's!!!

Oh, there's a thread...

The Rosie Show.

Stop all the shit, it's 2020 and no actor can open a movie anymore, those days are gone.

What about Trans Maxwell?

[quote] And for the record, you mention Stevens yourself. Every time someone says something about him or one of his plays or films, you find it necessary to make a negative comment about him. Sounds like you're obsessed. Go back & read your own posts, you'll see.

Now you're just making shit up. This is completely untrue. There's been you and one other person and it's all been part of the same single conversation.

Sorry you lost your argument and it bothers you so much.

And for the record, look in the mirror and look at your own posts if you want to call someone a nasty piece of work. You're garbage.

OH MY GOD WOULD YOU TWO STFU ABOUT DAN FUCKING STEVENS.

I would much prefer to hear about Connie Stevens. Really.

I would much prefer to hear about Connie Stevens. Really.

Hey Girls,

So, a hot guy was asking if there was a 1080 of the NT Follies.

I found this 2.2 giggawatt copy. Hope that is gig enough.

Just in time for Steves' birthday.

Thanks for the Follies!

I'm getting a Google error when I try to go to the link at R245. Anyone else?

Got to Datalounge "Settings" and turn off "Link Previews."

OMFG!!!!! Thanks, Thanks, Thanks. Such a great production.

Thanks R248, that worked! And thank YOU, R245! So happy to have this!

Has Connie Stevens ever played Sally?

I hope not.

I wish Dusty Springfield had played Sally. Would LOVE to have heard her version of "Losing My Mind."

[quote]Has Connie Stevens ever played Sally?

No, but Stella Stevens played "Dee Dee West" for Repise.

I would like to hear about Izzie Stevens.

Aaron Tveit!!

How about Risë Stevens?

R256 So was he the one Riedel was talking about?

Kelli O'hara was the star of that Rosie show. Her "Take Me To the World" was astounding, even surrounded by the best of Office Depot.

Totally agree, R259. Gorgeous.

I love the songs from EVENING PRIMROSE. They deserve to be better known.

Chita needs to drop the jet black hair, only makes her look even older than her 87 years.

Has Chita ever gone blonde?

She would look lovely with silver.

[quote]Kelli O'hara was the star of that Rosie show. Her "Take Me To the World" was astounding, even surrounded by the best of Office Depot.

That is one ugly melody.

[quote] That is one ugly melody.

It's Sondheim. Did you expect something hummable?

As seen on TV: Charmian "Liesl" Carr and Anthony Perkins singing "Take Me to the World" in "Evening Primrose."

I listened to a minute of Kelli’s song from last night on YouTube and my ears still hurt an hour later.

In that case, I strongly suggest that you not listen to Charmian Carr's version, R267.

Fun fact: Charmian Carr's singing in The Sound of Music was dubbed by her sister (who did not appear in the movie).

My country is going into lockdown for 4 weeks. Shit , my balls.

People...People Who Need People...

The Bennett play, ignore Thatcher, eeek.

Gavin Creel has to be cast exactly right. He was fine in Hair, but Will Swenson was who you looked at. He was totally miscast as Kodaly in the recent She Loves Me revival (sang it well, but he's no cad). I enjoyed him in Dolly!, but he was fantastic as Elder Price in Book of Mormon.

She's a smoker, r257, we should probably check up on her.

[quote] Charmian Carr's singing in The Sound of Music was dubbed by her sister (who did not appear in the movie).

Not quite. Charmian Carr’s sister is Darlene Carr, who had quite a TV career in the 1970s, including as Karl Malden’s daughter in “Streets of San Francisco.” She sang for the kids in SofM, but she didn’t dub her sister. She sang in all the group numbers because she had a strong voice, but she didn’t dub Charmian.

[quote]The Rosie Actors Fund Benefit is full of great Bway actors Skyping in.... losing audio. It's kind of a technical shitshow.

I watched the first two hours of the show, then caught up with most of the rest of it later, and there were only a few audio problems that were fixed fairly quickly. Hardly "a technical shitshow."

[quote]Kelli O'Hara was the star of that Rosie show. Her "Take Me To the World" was astounding, even surrounded by the best of Office Depot.

I adore her, and her voice is always gorgeous, but I didn't love her rendition of that song because both she and the accompanist really played with the rhythms, and I think "Take Me to the World" needs a very simple, pure, straightforward performance. Oh, and you people here who think the melody of that song is ugly must have shit stuck in your ears.

[quote]Charmian Carr's singing in The Sound of Music was dubbed by her sister (who did not appear in the movie).

I have NEVER heard that, and I'm glad someone else here set you straight. Charmian Carr's voice in TSOM sounds the same as the voice in EVENING PRIMROSE, and she's obviously singing live in the latter. On another note, that EVENING PRIMROSE clip shows what a horrible writer James Goldman could be. Before the song and during it, the Perkins character adamantly refuses several times to escape with the girl from the store, then she says one line ("If you love me, you'll do it," or something like that) and then he says, "Alright, we'll leave tonight!"

[quote]Before the song and during it, the Perkins character adamantly refuses several times to escape with the girl from the store, then she says one line ("If you love me, you'll do it," or something like that) and then he says, "Alright, we'll leave tonight!"

I hate all that dialogue that he has while she is singing. It's so annoying. Were they experimenting with form when they did things like that? Trying to do something like counterpoint (is that the correct term?) like Merman does in the song "Just In Love" or "Old Fashioned Wedding"?

WHAT'S HAPPENING ON BROADWAY! Imagine someone's been in a coma since Hadestown won Best Musical, and now they're just waking up. What's hot this season? What's not? What was flopped when it should have hit? What hit when it should have flopped? Best performance on stage thus far? Most overrated?

Please educate me, DL. You're my only hope.

"That is one ugly melody." "It's Sondheim. Did you expect something hummable?"

A tin-eared know-nothing and his Sister Sue.

I would like to hear about Iggie Wolfington.

I just watched Dick Cavett. 30 minutes with Sandy Duncan, 30 minutes with June Allyson. It was nicely escapist.

A bad eye and a weak bladder.

Iggie Wolfington?

Methinks Patti found some cocaine in the desk she bought with Mamet at the Armory.

I'm about halfway through the Kinky Boots video, poster upstream. I agree with others that Charlie is chunky and unattractive, but i also think he is adorable and perfect for the part. If he were a generic Broadway pretty boy, I would feel less interested in his story and evolution. He gives the part some gravitas and humanity. The music, though? It is garbage. The melodies are lazy, and the lyrics are beyond banal. I've always thought that Lauper was an overrated writer, and my opinion has not changed.

I kinda agree with about the score to KINKY BOOTS. It's pretty terrible. I grew up loving Cyndi and figured it would be full of fun, poppy, earworm confections--it was never gonna be Sondheim--but it's incredibly lackluster.

Our biggest pop songwriters: Elton, Cyndi, Bryan Adams, Paul Simon, who else? have given us some of our weakest scores in recent memory.

Kinky Boots has always been an enormous piece of shit; top to bottom, left to write, beginning to end.

"Stop the World, I Want to Get Off "...watched the movie version a few years ago. It's just to quirky for it's own good. Scolari was adorable and Stephanie Zimbalist was gorgeous and they did well with what it is. I'm guessing Broadway was wowed by Anthony Newley's quirky as well star power at the time.

This is dreadful.

I hope Michelle Williams' marriage isn't going to lead to more Broadway musical roles for her.

R256, if the show were running, he’d probably still be calling out less than Karen Olivo.

It was also among the very first "concept" musicals, r286, along with THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT-THE SMELL OF THE CROWD (my fave of the two). But they never receive much credit--or love--from musical theatre historians for it.

Neither show is held in high regard, but they both produced some songs that have become standards.

- Gonna Build a Mountain

- What Kind of Fool Am I?

- Once In A Lifetime

- A Wonderful Day Like Today

- Who Can I Turn To?

- Feeling Good

I saw Kinky Boots during the Chicago tryout. It was a mediocre musical with a pedestrian score (it made HAIRSPRAY sound like a masterpiece in comparison). I was surprised it was that successful on Broadway.

[quote]I kinda agree with about the score to KINKY BOOTS. It's pretty terrible. I grew up loving Cyndi and figured it would be full of fun, poppy, earworm confections--it was never gonna be Sondheim--but it's incredibly lackluster.

It's not a "great" score, but I find it very enjoyable, and as far as I'm concerned, it does have a number of fun, poppy earworm confections :-)

[quote]I hope Michelle Williams' marriage isn't going to lead to more Broadway musical roles for her.

As I recall, while she didn't get rave reviews for CABARET, her performance definitely wasn't considered to be a disaster. That said, I do think it seems like this is a marriage primarily for business/career purposes, but of course, only those two know for sure.

Williams has been engaged and married twice within two/three years. She must be going through a midlife crisis. She's about 40, no?

[Quote] while she didn't get rave reviews for CABARET, her performance definitely wasn't considered to be a disaster.

It wasn't interesting enough to be a disaster. Ditto Sienna Miller.

[quote]Williams has been engaged and married twice within two/three years.

Damn, I didn't even know about her marriage to that Phil Elverum guy. Apparently, they were married only about six months before they separated, and then divorced. I wonder if she and Kail would have gotten engaged if she hadn't gotten pregnant?

I'm curious about the casting of Kinky Boots. Did they hire drag queens to play the drag queens, or standard chorus boys, who then dressed in drag?

R285, Amen.

I'm really surprised at all the hate for KINKY BOOTS. Again, not a great show, but highly enjoyable and much better than the huge majority of new musicals. I'd say the only real flaws in it are some of Fierstein's adaptation, but nothing so bad as to really impair the show.

Kinky Boots is fun until the first act finale, which just lays on the stage like a turd.

Then, the first two songs of the second act are horrible, especially the boxing scene (which should probably have been played off-stage, and definitely shouldn’t have been musicalized)

But then it picks up again and the ending, shamelessly sentimental as it is, is a lot of fun.

Kinky Boots was fun on stage. Billy Porter was great on Bway. That said, it had nothing more than a nice positive message.

LCT has made it official-Flying Over Sunset and Intimate Apparel are pushed to the fall.

Terrence McNally dead from coronavirus

link

No disrespect, but that is THE PITZ.

Sadness.

A shame... I was surprised at how many of McNally's shows I'd seen -- The Ritz (with Rita Moreno), The Lisbon Traviata, L!V!C! (both with Nathan Lane), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Chita), Master Class (DL fave Faye Dunaway!) and Frankie and Johnny. RIP

He survived Albee...

He survived Albee...

He vas my BOYFRIEND!

Angela made him stop boozing.

Every Act Of Life.

[quote] has audra commented yet

neither Audra nor her elastic leather pants have commented as of yet

He was a terrible writer, but this is still sad.

What's sad R314 is you will never be mourned.

[quote]I saw Kinky Boots during the Chicago tryout. It was a mediocre musical with a pedestrian score (it made HAIRSPRAY sound like a masterpiece in comparison). I was surprised it was that successful on Broadway

The score, as well as the show is a masterpiece,there is not a weak song in the show. Broadway, movie, live TV and played all over the world from The West End to highs schools.

This is a high school in Jersey and they are fabulous.

[quote]He was a terrible writer, but this is still sad.

Frankie & Johnny in the Claire de Lune is pretty good.

The rest of his work: meh!

Has Frankie & Johnny ever been done with two men?

More Broadway stars test positive for COVID-19:

[quote]More Broadway stars test positive for COVID-19:

I'm here! Just call on me, kids. I'll be there to entertain!

^ Not my Chaddy!

Rare clips from Master Class with Patti. I saw La LuPone in West End and she was sensational.

Love the way all these young, Broadway actors with "mild symptoms" can get tested, while most people need to be practically at death's door.

R322, If they're currently on Broadway, as Tveit, Doyle and Kimball are, I'm sure their producers had a hand in getting them tested.

R321 I forgot, written by late McNally, rip.

So it's possible Max Clayton was the cast member of "Moulin Rouge" that Riedel was referring to, not Tveit.

But with two cast members testing positive, isn't it likely other "Moulin Rouge" members will come down with the virus? And what of Danny Burstein, whose wife, Rebecca Luker, has a horrible underlying condition (ALS)? She's not over 60, but she's only a year way from it.

And now Matt Doyle from Company? One would think there will be other "Company" cases as well. At the very least Etai Benson, who played his hubby-to-be and held hands with him during the curtain call every night.

Is there a part two of McNally vid? Thanks!

R326 Um no that is the full film.

From Here To Eternity - Act One.

ok, thank youR327. There was a "1" in the title which made me think it was part one. Im looking forward to watching it.

I enjoyed many of McNally's plays. In earlier times, he was rather cute. He even posed nude for "After Dark" magazine back in the day. Rest in peace, and thanks for those enjoyable plays and musicals, including "Ragtime", "Full Monty", "The Lisbon Traviata", "Master Class", etc.

R329 Enjoy!

R328 From Here To Eternity - Act Two.

R329 Enjoy!

R328 From Here To Eternity - Act Two.

Audra!

[quote]Has Frankie & Johnny ever been done with two men?

Why should it?

[quote]And now Matt Doyle from Company? One would think there will be other "Company" cases as well.

PATTI!

Dorothy...losing her mind

Young Terrence McNally, baring almost all for After Dark.

Was McNally a top or a bottom?

Well, he's a bottom now.

No surprise-it’s been announced that the Tony Awards have been pushed from June 7th to a date to be determined.

Red.

Documentary on SADUSEA.

To whoever is posting those videos, if it one person or several, THANK YOU.

Yes, many thanks.

Yeah, a big fuckin' thanks!

Cheers.

Deep Blue Sea.

Terrence liked anal.

Young Patti on Merv Griffin in 1980. Beautiful guiet rendition

I cannot understand a single word.

Whatever happened to Mark Lamos? Is he still directing?

Rare video from 1981. Broadway salute with Patti and her sensational performance BUT also Sammy Davis Jr ”With a Song in My Heart”, Nell Carter ”Wild Women Don’t Get The Blues” and Jim Dale ”There’s A Sucker Born Every Minute” (Not that’s a name for a gay anthem!) and David Merrick talks about 42nd St. Enjoy!

Terrence McNally was a lung cancer survivor. According to his husband, he had half of one lunch removed and 3/4 of the other lung removed. Plus he was 81. Poor guy didn't stand a chance.

*now that’s a name

Although it got middling reviews, I really loved Terrance McNally’s play Some Men (from about a decade ago) about the evolution of gay relationships over the last 50 years

R351, what happened to the other half of his lunch?

Miss Dunaway threw the other half of his lunch onto the floor.

R291, you forgot about "The Joker" (from Roar of the Greasepaint).

Ancient Broadway query: has anyone ever seen a bootleg of original Camelot with Julie and Burton?

There is likely a bootleg audio, but the most you would find from that far back, r357, would be if someone shots some quick film clips (like Ray Knight did for years) - but there weren't video bootlegs of whole shows then.

Why was the London "South Pacific" filmed/taped?

R357, Weren't lengthy scenes performed on Ed Sullivan?

Here's "What Do the Simple Folk Do?" from the Sullivan show.

R360, yes, but the specific question was about bootlegs. There were no bootleg videos back then, only bootleg audio, and those were few and far between. The Sullivan show was an aired segment, it wasn't a bootleg.

I guess a lengthy clip from the Ed Sullivan Show is about as close as we are going to get to sampling the sight of an original production from (way) back in the day...

Wasn't there just a conversation about "Top Banana"?

You know, re: thread title/play, are tables ever anything OTHER than separate?

It's the people who are on separate tables, dum dum.

Exactly, r366. People: can't live with 'em or without 'em.

That Sullivan show aired well over a half hour of excerpts from the original Camelot. It was unusual back then and thank God it all survives.

^ It was close to 45 minutes and most of the show's episode that night. It was wonderful, it all still exists but only some of it is available on youtube.

The audio bootleg of the original Camelot is charming. The whole piece is played lightly and briskly; as someone said, it's like a Noel Coward play. Over time it got weighed down by pretension and solemnity. Doesn't make it a great musical, but a less pretentious one.

It's definitely not a great musical.

Camelot is a fantastic show. One of the great ends of Act 1 in all of musical theater.

Our favourite poster is going to have competition! The National Theatre is going to start streaming some of its titles on YouTube

[quote]From Thursday 2 April, a number of productions previously screened in cinemas globally as a part of National Theatre Live will be made available to watch for free. The first will be Richard Bean's One Man Two Guvnors featuring a Tony Award-winning performance from James Corden. All the productions will be free and screened live every Thursday at 7.00pm and will then be available on demand for seven days on the NT's YouTube channel. On 9 April there will be a streamed performance of Sally Cookson's Jane Eyre, Bryony Lavery's Treasure Island adaptation starring Arthur Darvill on 16 April and Twelfth Night with Tamsin Greig on 23 April. Further tiles are to be announced.

I bet the bastards don't put This House up.

And the James Corden bashing begins in three....two.....

[quote]It's definitely not a great musical.

"Camelot" has a gorgeous score, but the book is a clunker. Pellinore is an unfunny bore in the first act, and Mordred is a cardboard villain who turns Arthur into a passive figure instead of a heroic one in the second act.

Dear God, More CAMELOT and FOLLIES analysis. Give me the damn virus and end this now...

[quote]All the productions will be free and screened live every Thursday at 7.00pm

In what time zone?

[quote]Dear God, More CAMELOT and FOLLIES analysis. Give me the damn virus and end this now...

Terribly sorry. Have we been ignoring "Gypsy" recently?

Very sad to read about Mark Blum’s death due to coronavirus. A real New York actor who did a lot of theatre here.

Oh no! In addition to his stage work, he was so good as Roseanna Arquette's husband in DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN.

69? Way too young to die.

He also memorably played the dad in "Lost in Yonkers", among many other roles.

[quote]Give me the damn virus and end this now...

Consider your doorknob licked.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR "Little Foxes"

[quote] Why was the London "South Pacific" filmed/taped?

Far more London versions of shows get filmed than Bway versions. Maybe it's costs or union restrictions. Not sure why

Because in the US things only have value if they can be monetized.

Wow, that clip of the Little Foxes is appalling. Austin Pendleton is a rancidly bad director.

Jerome Robbins documentary.

Driving Miss Daisy.

Funny Girl.

[R360]: Like you, I am not aware of any videos of Broadway shows until, essentially, the advent of the computer age. Before that, it was all occasional home movie excerpts, and audio recordings, on lp, or cassette and reel-to reel tapes.

It also seemed to be fairly tolerated, to the point where there was actually a store in Manhattan that specialized in these things. Music Masters was on W. 43rd St. between 5th and 6th Aves. There were bins filled with lp’s in plain black jackets, with paper printed labels listing the contents.

There was also a catalogue, with lists of what complete audio recordings were available. Copies of these could be made on cassette or reel-to-reel tapes, and purchased for $30, as I recall. This was very expensive in the 70’s and 80’s. So it was a special event for me to actually buy something.

I did manage to obtain some of them: “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Carmelina,” “Dance a Little Closer,” and, for some reason, “Pippin.”

All gone now. I have no idea what I did with them.

R377: The National Theatre streams start at 7:00 p UK time but are available to stream any time for a week on the NT's YouTube channel.

Laura Bell Bundy has it

I continue to love you, Valens (whoever/wherever you are). Keep posting.

[quote] Like you, I am not aware of any videos of Broadway shows until, essentially, the advent of the computer age. Before that, it was all occasional home movie excerpts, and audio recordings, on lp, or cassette and reel-to reel tapes.

Except, of course, the four Sondheim ones from the 80s

I have the Sunday and Into the Woods DVDs, R394. In fact, I watched Act One of Sunday last week. I had to change the aspect ratio on my TV for the standard format, and, geez, it's a bit jarring to watch something not in HD, but I'm very glad I own the discs.

The first show that was bootlegged via video camera was, I believe, "Over Here". I saw it and was almost shocked that something like that existed. That was, what? 1973? Others, like Follies excerpts existed via home movie cameras but this one was the complete show.

I know there's Sunday, Into the Woods, Sweeney, the concert of Follies, plus the 2006 Company with Raul Esparza. What other Sondheim shows have been filmed live?

[396] The black-and-white tape of the final matinee of "Over Here!" was shot from the mezzanine on a tripod; those involved knew it was being preserved that day, so it doesn't quite qualify as a bootleg. Before "Over Here!," major portions of the final performance of "Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen" were taped in black-and-white; it's not clear if those involved knew about the taping. Actual bootlegs begin in 1980; early examples are "Evita" with LuPone, Sandy Duncan in "Peter Pan," Angela and Len in "Sweeney," "They're Playing Our Song" with Tony Roberts and Stockard Channing, "Camelot" with Burton and Ebersole, and "The Music Man" with Dick Van Dyke.

[quote] I know there's Sunday, Into the Woods, Sweeney, the concert of Follies, plus the 2006 Company with Raul Esparza. What other Sondheim shows have been filmed live?

There’s an OBC of Passion, and at least One other Sweeney and two other Companys.

Except for Assassins and the early stuff, pretty much everything.

Maybe Ken Mandelbaum will expire from the coronavirus and somebody can promptly get his clutches on his video bootleg of Carrie: The Musical.

Maybe Ken Mandelbaum will expire from the coronavirus and somebody can promptly get his clutches on his video bootleg of Carrie: The Musical.

Excuse me, but what we REALLY need in these difficult times is a rebroadcast of the only-aired-once “After the Fall,” starring [italic]Our Faye.[/italic]

Sign the PETITION, people!

I think there’s some copyright issue....

In olden days, how did bootleggers record without being caught? My father had a Super 8 movie camera in the 1960s and it would have been very noticeable if he had hoisted it up to film. Did they sit in the first row of the mezzanine and rest the camera on the balcony ledge or did nobody care to report someone with a camera? Or did they got to a Wednesday matinee where there weren't as many people in the audience? How did they get footage without getting caught?

R403, Also, the 1968 television production of "Laura", starring Lee Bouvier(Radziwill), Robert Stack, George Sanders, Arlene Francis, Farley Granger, etc.

It only aired once, to savage reviews, but very high ratings. Producer David Susskind was so embarrassed, he never allowed it to be aired again.

I think those are both archived at the Paley Media Center(s) - Museum of Broadcast (or whatever it’s called) in L.A. and NYC. Currently closed.

I’m not suggesting a break in, but...

Funny FAT Girl, r389.

Who did Arlene Francis play in "Laura"? The Agnes Morehead role?

R410, The Judith Anderson role.

Woulda been a helluva lot more entertaining had Arlene played Laura!

Arlene Francis is a DL icon. We must band together and demand to see her in "Laura."

Princess Lee and noted homosexualist Farley Granger in "Laura."

Was Little Edie her understudy?

Lee Bouvier, George Sanders and Arlene Francis, a party scene from "Laura".

Arlene had that certain something.

Sheridan Smith gave it her all but, I don't know, perhaps a little [italic]too much[/italic]? Brice was very "broad" on stage but Smith's mugging came off as a neediness. The director should have dialled it down a little.

Unfortunately Smith's voice is merely pleasant (or undistinguished) and those songs need vocal power to really land.

[quote] The director should have dialled it down a little.

Well, some of you queens loved Imelda. I can't please everyone!

Sheridan Smith was hopelessly miscast in "Funny Girl" and vocally inept.

Rose, dear, R406, that is why they were saying there are no bootlegs from the 60s and only a few from the 70s.

r416 Is this what caused George Sanders to kill himself?

R422, His suicide note . . .

Well, he WAS married to two of the three Gabor sisters. That alone would justify taking one's own life.

He has very nice handwriting, doesn’t he??

[quote]Sheridan Smith was hopelessly miscast in "Funny Girl" and vocally inept.

Just stop.

Frankly, I’d prefer Lynne Trans-Smell Esmeralda as Fanny Brice rather than the inadequate “Shed” Smith.

I saw a bootleg of a wonderful Funny Girl. I can't remember who played Brice, but she was terrific. I can not remember a thing about the production, other than it was well-reviewed, and produced in a respected theater in the LA area maybe 10 years ago. It was wonderful, and I wish I could remember the specifics. Perhaps someone here remembers it?

Pia Zadora?

Elaine Giftos?

Bonnie Franklin?

Linda Lavin?

Joyce Bulifant?

Joyce DeWitt?

Rita Moreno?

Barbara Cook?

Oh, wait, that was in stock back in the '60s.

Lanie Kazan?

There's quite a bit of Patti Page in a 1966 production of ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

Are you all trying to figure out who played Fannie Brice? It was none of them. It was not an actress I was familiar with, but she, apparently, has done improv and is known in the comedy and theater world. And it was within the last ten years.

Andrea Martin?

[quote]apparently, has done improv and is known in the comedy and theater world.

Rita Rudner?

[quote]r439 It was not an actress I was familiar with, but she, apparently, has done improv and is known in the comedy and theater world.

You are thinking of Suzanne Somers.

Sandra Bernhardt?

When will Broadway see a revival of "A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking"?

That L.A. "Funny Girl" was Nicole Parker ("Mad TV"), and she was surprisingly excellent.

Didn’t Nicole Parker from MadTV do Funny Girl? Is that who you’re thinking of?

Bingo, R446! That sounds right. She was wonderful, and the production was very good. Thank you.

Law & Order SVU is doing the ballet scandal tonight. They’ve added the Peter Martins bit to the “emailing videos of ballerinas having sex” part. Amar Ramassar is probably just as happy not to have to go to work tomorrow.

Nicole Parker in Funny Girl

Plaza Suite will never open.

As far as audio bootlegs, there's a complete performance of "Kean"in 1961, and "Nowhere to Go But Up" and "The Student Gypsy" in 1963. There are parts of a performance of "Hazel Flagg" in '53, after Tony Bavaar took over the male lead. And some songs from "Panama Hattie" in 1940. Plus a few others, like Something for the Boys, that are taken from radio broadcasts. Those are the earliest, before things were routinely recorded both through the sound board and by audience members.

Sarah has said that Andrew is a kind man (Patti would surely disagree!) and he seems to be based on his two videos.

Here’s the latest one. The first was All I Ask Of You. I am sure you’ll find it on youtube if you like to watch it.

Poor r428. Dementia?

Barbra has released some remastered material from 1962 to youtube. Check it out.

Before Miss Marmelstein she recorded Pins And Needles

[R446] Other early audio bootlegs: National tour of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" (Channing & Shirl Conway, recorded through the sound system); "Shinbone Alley" (Broadway Theatre, Eartha Kitt, sound system); "The Body Beautiful" (Broadway Theatre, sound system); Mary Martin in "The Sound of Music"; and of course original cast "Camelot," final performance of "Gypsy" with Merman, and final performance of Barbra in "Funny Girl"

Love Shirl Conway...

There's this footage of Funny Girl...

Barbra Streisand returns to her Broadway dressing room

[quote]"Camelot" has a gorgeous score, but the book is a clunker. Pellinore is an unfunny bore in the first act, and Mordred is a cardboard villain who turns Arthur into a passive figure instead of a heroic one in the second act.

Agreed. I've always said the true hero of CAMELOT was Frederick Loewe. His music is SO great that it lifts even the worst among Lerner's lyrics, and it goes a long way toward lifting his execrable book as well -- but it couldn't quite manage that, which would have been a miracle. Aside from the problems you noted above, Guenevere is written as a horrible, self-involved bitch, Merlyn is also a terrific bore (but at least he exits very early on), and in general, the show is a huge freaking mess that doesn't know if it wants to be a high comedy, a low comedy, a spoof, a romance, or a serious drama -- so it keeps going from trying to be one to trying to be another, ALL NIGHT LONG for what seems like four hours.

In Toronto, it WAS four hours!

Can anyone comment on how the movie of Camelot differs from the stage show?

Well, the actors could mostly sing in the stage show.

Just for starters.

"The Lusty Month of May" is staged as a flower children spectacle in the film, as befitting a movie made in 1967. Other songs from the stage version were cut, Merlin is dispensed with sooner and, as noted above, Vanessa Redgrave is no Julie Andrews in the singing department. She is quite striking looking, however, Franco Nero's singing was dubbed. I do like the "If Ever I Would Leave You" montage. And even though the movie was directed by a stage veteran, Joshua Logan, there are way, way too mane extreme close-ups for a musical that really needed to be "opened up" for the screen. All the nostril shots did nothing for me.

It was said that Camelot was John F. Kennedy's favorite Broadcast Cast album.

And ya gotta admit, her pumpkin seed wedding gown was pretty spectacular.

Waiting for Godik.

The Birthday party - 1975.

R465 I think all that's accurate except I think Merlin is actually in the movie a little more than in the show. He's only in the first two scenes of the show, I believe. The direction of the movie is horrendous, and Richard Harris's performance is so over the top that it's almost unwatchable, plus I can't believe they let him wear that much blue eye shadow in a movie. IMHO, Franco Nero, dubbed and all, is actually the best thing in the movie, aside from his breathtaking beauty. (Redgrave obviously agreed, I believe she got pregnant by him during the filming or shortly thereafter.)

"Fie on Goodness" and "Take Me to the Fair" were both cut from the show when Moss Hart finally got back and could do some more work on it. "Take Me to the Fair" was added back for the movie.

R471 and I think there were other cuts as well, but I'm not sure if he cut that unbearable Morgan Le Fey scene and song.

[quote]It was said that Camelot was John F. Kennedy's favorite Broadcast Cast album.

Jackie revealed this after his assassination, and it gave rise, in retrospect, to the whole "Camelot" myth/metaphor of JFK's not-quite three years in office.

[quote]"Fie on Goodness" and "Take Me to the Fair" were both cut from the show when Moss Hart finally got back and could do some more work on it.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company in D.C. mounted a production of "Camelot" in 2018 that was critically acclaimed and the most popular show the company ever produced. (It was extended.) Cuts were made in songs and book scenes to shorten the running time. "Take Me to the Fair" was cut, but "Fie on Goodness" was restored, and it shouldn't have been. Moss Hart was right to cut it when he returned. It makes no dramatic sense that the cardboard villain Mordred (still cardboard in this version) can so easily persuade the Knights of the Round Table, all drawn to Camelot and King Arthur by their idealism, to suddenly turn to the dark side. Restoring that song just underscored the book problems that "Camelot" has always had, and continued to have even in a staging that was quite good in many ways.

For absolutely no reason...

You mean The Persuasion, R472, and it was never cut during the original run. I saw the show twice, the second time near the end of the run, and it was still in it.

It's one of the few Camelot numbers--Lancelot's sonnet-like intro to If Ever Would Leave You is another--that has never been commercially recorded, though the original LP release of the cast album listed The Persuasion in the songlist, on a blue insert pasted into the inside of the album, one of those Columbia "butterfly" issues.

Added to the Broadway Coronavirus list - Danny Burstein, back home after two weeks in the hospital (he had it bad), and Laura Bell Bundy.

Thanks, R476.

[quote]Lancelot's sonnet-like intro to If Ever Would Leave You is another

R476, do you mean the "Madrigal" that Lancelot sings right out of the entr'acte and before "If Ever I Would Leave You"? It's on at least one recording, the 1982 revival with Richard Harris - I think it was recorded when he took it to London. Robert Meadmore sings it.

You're right, R479. I've been laboring under a misapprehension for decades. I just pulled out the LP and listened. They even included the original entr'acte and the curtain-up music. Meadmore sings it very well, too--more nuanced than we normally hear.

I think I was so irritated by R Harris that I never played Side Two, so I never heard the scene. And, yes, it's called the Madrigal.

[quote]Added to the Broadway Coronavirus list - Danny Burstein, back home after two weeks in the hospital (he had it bad)

Riedel did say in his column that "much of the cast" at MR had it. Glad to hear Burstein is doing better.

Camelot - with Gabriel Byrne and Marin Mazzie.

[quote] Added to the Broadway Coronavirus list - Danny Burstein, back home after two weeks in the hospital (he had it bad), and Laura Bell Bundy.

Danny wasn't in the hospital for two weeks, he was just staying away from home because of Rebecca.

Donna Murphy has come up a lot on the roles actors turned down thread and got me wondering what the real deal was with her and Wonderful Town. Similarly what was up with Bernadette and Gypsy? I guess I was lucky I saw both of them when I went to see WT and Gypsy

I grew up listening to and loving the Camelot OBC album. I finally saw a touring production when I was in high school. Wow, it was slow and boring!

Not truly a boot, since it was officially recorded by R&H on a day off during the London production to archive the original staging, but here is Mary Martin in South Pacific. The R&H organization kept this under total lock & key for decades but it's been pretty easy to find for several years now. I wish the R&H Org would go back to the original 16mm negative and give us a visually and aurally decent version. It's certainly not going to cut into the show's commercial value at this point.

I would love to see a restoration of the 16 mm film, it can look really great, as they did with the Jane Marple BBC series, the 16 mm looks lovely.

Rebecca Luker confirmed on Twitter that Danny Burstein is home from the hospital.

Best wishes to both of them.

The rest of the cast of MOULIN ROUGE must be freaking out about possibly having been exposed. And other shows as well (WAITRESS on the West End, for one).

[quote]Similarly what was up with Bernadette and Gypsy? I guess I was lucky I saw both of them when I went to see WT and Gypsy

That revival of Gypsy had a lot of drama going on. Sam Mendes was the director and he was going to give it a whole new interpretation, like he did with Cabaret. Arthur Laurents then got wind of what he was doing and put a stop to it. So the whole concept for the show had to be retooled at the last minute.

Additionally, during previews Bernadette was sick. I think they gave the excuse that she caught flu or something. But Bernadette has never had a solid vocal technique and I bet it was voice strain. Gypsy is a tough sing for those who don't have a strong, healthy voice.

R486 here. I posted the South Pacific archival video on youtube above . When I just watched it, the video blanked out about a quarter of the way through, although the audio remained That didn't happen when i first watched it a couple of years ago. I reloaded a couple of times but the problem remained. Does anyone else have the problem?

In the chorus of that London South Pacific were Millicent Martin (understudying Nellie) and a young, hot Sean Connery.

R489, I've seen a boot of that production. The sets were minimal, to say the least.

Yeah, that Mendes revival of Gypsy was famously troubled due to Laurents' interference and Bernadette's health problems during previews and the early part of the run. I think she was really sick, not just suffering from her vocal technique.

But by the end or the run my friends told she was remarkable and her Tony performance seems to confirm it. One of the best Rose's Turns ever.

R491, it's true that Sean Connery, after being an amateur bodybuilder, got his show business career start by being cast as a SeaBee in South Pacific. But he only played in regional UK productions, not the original one in London, as often reported. I was surprised to learn that after all I had heard.

Have same problem with South Pacific video—mainly blank but sound okay

I liked Bernie's sexy, softer version of Rose. But that production had a LOT of directorial problems. So much of it just felt like a blank.

All of you should thank your lucky stars that Laurents did intervene. One of the original ideas was that at least one of the strippers was going to do "Gotta Get A Gimmick" topless. Nobody wanted to see some woman's droopy, ancient funbags flopping around.

The original idea was that all the offstage scenes would have minimal drab scenery and that only the onstage scenes would have full sets and full color.

As a concept it makes sense. But Laurents demanded changes so you got a half-assed version of the design concept.

Same thing with the performances. Some great touches remained (like June sneaking a cigarette in the If Mama Got Married scene). But the coherence of the directions was compromised you got half-assed interpretations with hints of what it could have been.

I don’t know if that would have worked or not, r497, but it’s not a ridiculous idea to actually show a stripper strip. Especially since the whole point is that Gypsy does *not* strip like the others.

I really enjoyed it, and felt there were nice directorial touches like the cigarette, the ghost light at the opening of the show, and the use of Rose “in the wings” while the kids did their act. I though it was far superior to the LuPone version, though I liked a few of those actors a lot.

[quote] The original idea was that all the offstage scenes would have minimal drab scenery and that only the onstage scenes would have full sets and full color.

That is the sort of non-idea idea layered on top of a show that thrives these days. (Wow do I sound old and bitter) I just watched the Jerome Robbins doc r387 posted above and it makes it clear what a non gimmicky emotionally based idea used to be able to do. Like when Austin Pendleton talks about how the bottle dance makes us feel (feel, not think about) the risk of that wedding.

Bernadette has famously had ongoing respiratory health problems over the years, like Donna Murphy. I don't think it is a question of her vocal technique. And that Tony Rose's Turn is wonderful.

Damn, re-watching some of that New York Philharmonic CAMELOT, I'm reminded that it was one of the absolute worst things Lonny Price ever directed -- and that's saying something. Gabriel Byrne seemed out of it and could barely sing in time with the orchestra, plus that punk conception of Mordred as played by Bobby Steggert was totally ridiculous, and there were so many other things wrong with the direction, the casting, etc. that even Marin Mazzie as Guenevere and Nathan Gunn as Lancelot couldn't save it.

In my memory, the wing activity was integrated into the production’s view of Rose as a someone who really could have made it. She was engaged and involved with the children as though she was on stage.

It was devastating when Peters let it sink in that she had lived through her children and got nothing. That’s a literal interpretation of the character, but most actors scream the way through it all.

Mendes gets a reputation for layering concepts on Top of the show, but they usually are just thinking through what is implicit in the show and combining that with history.

r502 Was that the one with DL icon Fran Drescher?

Yes, R500, but I am sure that there were some people who said, "Robbins is doing this gimmicky dance with bottles on their head to try to insert the illusion of stakes into a wedding scene that he cannot make happen emotionally in the performances ."

Well, with all the legitimate complaints about the Camelot broadcast listed above, it still features Loewe's gorgeous scored played by The New York Philharmonic Orchestra and sung by several wonderful voices. I'll take it over the film, despite its few occasional delights.

Wasn't there a video of either Burton's or Harris's Camelot revivals, maybe shown on PBS? I saw them both with various degrees of boredom and enjoyment but I think I saw one repeated on TV.

Well, with all the legitimate complaints about the Camelot broadcast listed above, it still features Loewe's gorgeous scored played by The New York Philharmonic Orchestra and sung by several wonderful voices. I'll take it over the film, despite its few occasional delights.

Wasn't there a video of either Burton's or Harris's Camelot revivals, maybe shown on PBS? I saw them both with various degrees of boredom and enjoyment but I think I saw one repeated on TV.

Richard Harris Camelot Act 1

Richard Harris Camelot Act 2

Thanks so much, r509!

Fuck! Thoroughly Modern Millie has been cancelled. I was really looking forward to it.

Redgrave was the sexiest Guenevere ever. Someone you'd want to start a little war for. (Although she made sure that lyric was not in the film.)

USE THIS LINK FOR RICHARD HARRIS ACT 2 CAMELOT

Sorry for the mess up.

Oh, let's watch the mirror number again!

Actually, the Mendes production was originally supposed to be done in London. He wanted Patti, but Laurents, who hated Patti at the time, pushed him to use Bernadette. Then, somehow, it ended up in New York instead.

[quote] Fuck! Thoroughly Modern Millie has been cancelled. I was really looking forward to it.

Said no one ever.

r516=Erin Dilly

Elaine Stritch - At Liberty.

Hal Prince documentary.

The only decent Live, At Lincoln Center.

[quote]In my memory, the wing activity was integrated into the production’s view of Rose as someone who really could have made it. She was engaged and involved with the children as though she was on stage.

I don't remember how much acting out in the wings Peters did in GYPSY, but the idea of Rose doing that goes back at least as far as the movie. Rosalind Russell does it very obviously at one or two points in the "Dainty June and her Farmboys" number. and I seem to remember seeing some of that in other productions previous to the Mendes/Peters one. I have no idea if Merman did it in the original.

The NY Philharmonic CAMELOT did indeed have wonderful voices for Guenevere, Lancelot, and Nimue, and the beautiful sound of that score as played by a symphony-size orchestra was a given. But I don't think any of that forgives the horrendous direction or the fact that, as I said before, Gabriel Byrne could hardly sing in tempo with the orchestra -- and, for that matter, he seemed uncomfortable and flat in some of his dialogue as well, probably because he was so terrified about the singing.

The Philharmonic and everyone but Byrne sounds so good in CAMELOT, it's disturbing. There was even extended applause for a song. Never seen a nervous, offbeat performance in a musical, even local productions.

What exactly happened? Why do some of you blame Price?

NT poster, thanks so much for this stuff!

R522 I had to post it as Gabby is just so very bad. Unbelievably off point. What were they thinking shit.

Bernadette completely sucked in Gypsy. Face it.

Kewpie plays Gypsy will never work

R518, this is different from the version on the DVD, right? That one is spliced horribly with scenes of NYC

Commercial break...

R525 No. Is just the show, filmed at The Old Vic in London.

[R525] There are three versions of the video known as "Elaine Stritch at Liberty." The first commercial release, on DVD from Image Entertainment, offers the whole show, 146 minutes, and the version posted above by [R518]. There was also an HBO version that ran 95 minutes and alternates between scenes from the show and backstage/offstage documentary footage (and this has nothing to do with the later "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me" feature-length documentary). The second commercial DVD release of "Elaine Stritch at Liberty" is on the Kultur label and I believe features an abridged version of the show.

HBO did the documentary because they held rights to the show but felt the actual total concert was unairable.

I do wonder what Mendes' full vision of Gypsy would have been like. I was a big fan of his Cabaret and Gypsy could benefit from a similar take, but what we ended up getting felt like a weird mix between Mendes trying to do something different and Laurents' more traditional staging and, like all dishes made with too many cooks in the kitchen, it wasn't very memorable or interesting.

Does anyone know anything else he had planned? I'd heard about people smoking and having sex in the wings of the burlesque house and Rose smearing her mascara during Rose's Turn, but that's about it.

In Peters' defense, she seemed torn herself. I wouldn't be surprised if Mendes gave her a direction and then Laurents went behind his back and gave her a completely different direction, causing her to not make much of an impact in the role. Later in the run, she finally starting coming into the role a bit more and, by the end, she was pretty damn good. This video comes from way later in the run and her version of this scene is, in my opinion, one of the best. She's heartbreaking and still manages to land laughs I didn't even know one could land from this scene. It's terrific work.

Compare the video at R530 to the video of the same scene from an early preview here. Peters definitely grew into the role and, by the end, she was really terrific. That said, she's awful in this video from start to finish. Everyone complains about Imelda Staunton screaming her way through every scene, but Peters does the same thing here for the most part and it's about as exhausting.

Clips starts at the 2hr and 30 min mark.

Several costumes were re-designed and a great deal more scenery was added during previews (and after the video at [R531] was shot.

Oddly enough, that little clip at r530 brought a tear to my eye

The video at R530 is easily one the best versions of that final scene that I've ever seen. I'd love to see more from the performance where this originated from.

[quote]Does anyone know anything else he had planned? I'd heard about people smoking and having sex in the wings of the burlesque house and Rose smearing her mascara during Rose's Turn, but that's about it.

He woulda got a "cease & desist" if Rose showed her panties during Rose's Turn.

Thanks, r530. I've long been a BP basher, but that scene was very fine.

Peters is excellent in that clip at R530. Way better than when I saw her in previews. Makes me wish I'd gone back to see what else she discovered along the way. This might be my favorite version of the final scene. What a lovely surprise.

For what it's worth, both Funny Girl and Funny Lady are on tonight, on movies!, which has commercials but I'll still record it and speed thriugh the ads.

So is "Letter to Three Wives" with Ann Sothern, Linda Darnell, Jeanne Crain, Kirk Douglas and unbilled, for fuck's sake, the great Thelma Ritter, with Celeste Holm as the narrator/writer of the letter.

[quote]Danny wasn't in the hospital for two weeks, he was just staying away from home because of Rebecca

You're wrong, r483, according to Rebecca herself, who tweeted this yesterday: "My sweet husband’s home from the hospital and doing well. Thank the lord!"

R539, There's also a very good print of "A Letter to Three Wives" on YouTube.

Bernadette was fantastic in that clip. She is a god-damned national treasure!

I saw a Saturday matinee about three weeks before it closed and Bernadette Peters was easily my second favorite behind Angela Lansbury. And like most here I’ve seen the major incarnations except Merman, who I doubt came anywhere near the artistry of Lansbury but who I don’t doubt ultimately was quite moving.

[quote]Kewpie plays Gypsy will never work

Obviously, you didn't see it. She did nothing "kewpie doll" in the part at all. I agree with r543, Bernadette was the best Rose after Lansbury. She was great, far better than Harpy LuPone, who played it exactly like everyone thought she would play it, very one note.

LuPone's biggest issue was that she was surprising. It was a role she was born to play and a good fit for her, but there wasn't much that was revelatory about her performance and nothing that really took you by surprise.

All the best Roses bring something surprising and different to the role. Peters had a sexuality that I'd never seen before and, for once, you could understand why someone would want to hang around her for longer than necessary. It also helped that John Dossett, her Herbie, was a hot daddy (probably the hottest Herbie). You could picture them actually having a sex life. You saw that Peters' Rose was still very much a child herself and her Rose's Turn is one of the best I've seen. A lot of actresses peak too soon with Everything's Coming Up Roses (or if you're Imelda Staunton, you peak with your first entrance), but Peters built the entire evening around leading up to that song and it was very powerful.

Whoops. LuPone's problem was that she WASN'T surprising in the role.

R543, I saw all those you mention and Merman as well. She was the best, because she was the only one to present an indomitable natural force yet be charming as well. Her charm is her most forgotten quality today, because it doesn't seem to go with that powerhouse voice.

I thought all the Broadway Roses were excellent, each in a different way. And I seem to agree with everyone here, that Peters showed unexpected resources, including a sexy quality, and that LuPone (whom I always enjoy seeing) played it very much as you expected her to, without any shocks. Lansbury was of course terrific--and got more laughs than anyone but Merman. I just think she's too smart to play Rose properly; her intelligence just keeps slipping out. And Tyne was so appealing, really.

I even liked Linda Lavin, because she made such odd choices. It wasn't a correct Rose, but it was, if nothing else, fascinating for the wrong reasons.

[quote]It also helped that John Dossett, her Herbie, was a hot daddy (probably the hottest Herbie).

He was indeed and such a hot daddy when he replaced Marc Jacoby in Ragtime that the part finally made sense.

R520, you are right. This is one great one-hour concert. She is perfection and absolutely delicious.

I still wonder what the hell happened with Linda Lavin as Rose. She seemed like a better match for the role than Daly did and, yet, she was sort of boring in the role. She just came across as shrill, whiny, and bratty with zero charm.

r550

Linda Lavin as Rose has always fascinated me as she was the only replacement Rose and by all accounts was not a good fit for the role. Since she was a replacement, was Arthur not involved casting/directing her or did he give her bad direction?

[quote] You're wrong, [R483], according to Rebecca herself, who tweeted this yesterday: "My sweet husband’s home from the hospital and doing well. Thank the lord!"

I didn't say he wasn't in the hospital, I was just merely correcting the previous poster who'd said he was in the hospital for two weeks.

[quote]Since she was a replacement, was Arthur not involved casting/directing her or did he give her bad direction?

Arthur may have been *giving* direction, but that doesn't mean Linda was *taking* direction.

[quote]Her charm is her most forgotten quality today, because it doesn't seem to go with that powerhouse voice

Merman's charm isn't readily apparent in her film and TV work, either. She really seems like kind of a bulldozer, and comes off the best in situations like "Mad Mad World," where her own persona, or perceived persona, is a good fit with the part. She's really good in that movie, and very funny.

R554, Did Merman have an issue playing Edie Adams' mother in " . . . Mad, Mad World"?

They were 19 years apart in age.

^^ Probably not as big an issue as Anne Bancroft had saying "I'm twice your age" to Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate." She was 6 years older than he.

I thought LuPone was incredible as Rose because she was both funny and sexy. I never found Daly, Lavin, or Peters sexy.

Granted, I only saw Peters at the start of her run and found her the worst Mama Rose in my experience.

Lavin was interesting mainly because I finally got the tunes and nuances to many of the songs. Used to the Merman OBC, I only knew the blaring way Merman sang them.

R555, Merman didn’t play Edie Adams’ mother. Adams was Sid Caesar’s wife in the movie. Merman’s daughter was played by Dorothy Provine, who was 26 when they filmed.

[quote]The Philharmonic and everyone but Byrne sounds so good in CAMELOT, it's disturbing. There was even extended applause for a song. Never seen a nervous, offbeat performance in a musical, even local productions. What exactly happened? Why do some of you blame Price?

I don't really blame him so much for Byrne's performance, I thought the whole thing was misdirected, and that conception of Mordred alone would have been enough to sink the show, in my opinion. But also, Price does bear some responsibility for Byrne, because Price is a starfucker, and if he weren't, maybe he and the music director would have been more careful about making sure Byrne could handle the singing, rather than just hiring him for his star name.

[quote]I do wonder what Mendes' full vision of Gypsy would have been like. I was a big fan of his Cabaret and Gypsy could benefit from a similar take, but what we ended up getting felt like a weird mix between Mendes trying to do something different and Laurents' more traditional staging and, like all dishes made with too many cooks in the kitchen, it wasn't very memorable or interesting.

At the time, I was surprised that Laurents had THAT much pull to insist on so much control over the production, even as the writer. Maybe his argument was that some of what Mendes wanted to do actually went against his writing? I wonder if he got the Dramatist's Guild involved, or if the production just made changes in deference to Laurents and because they didn't want him badmouthing the production to the press -- which he wound up doing anyway!

[quote]I still wonder what the hell happened with Linda Lavin as Rose. She seemed like a better match for the role than Daly did and, yet, she was sort of boring in the role. She just came across as shrill, whiny, and bratty with zero charm.

That doesn't accord with my memory of Lavin's performance. I recall her having lots of charm and humor when needed, but then she was really nasty when appropriate. I specifically remember there were one or two moments in the show when she very sarcastically imitated other characters' voices when they said things she didn't agree with, in a really nasty and whining tone. I hated the character in those moments, and I think I was supposed to.

Byrne just looked scared up there when he had to sing, with some missed musical entrances, backphrasing, etc. when I saw this on tv. The guy playing Mordred, who used to have tongues wagging on ATC till he aged out of the teeny-bopper fanatics there, was costumed quite bizarrely.

Merman is very charming and funny in "Call Me Madam", probably the best film which captured one of her star stage performances. She's actually kind of adorable melting to George Sanders' wonderful singing voice and telling Donald O'Connor about him.

Merman's best performance on camera was, sadly, The Love Boat, where she was relaxed and charming but damn, she was ugly. Theater was meant for faces like hers.

I thought she was just terriffic...!

Merman looked okay when she was young. Not beautiful, exactly, but attractive. She hardened pretty quickly, though, in her early 30s around the time of Panama Hattie. Those 40s hairstyles did her no favors.

Ethel Merman on "Person to Person" in 1955, when she was Mrs. Bob Six and living in Colorado.

They divorced five years after this broadcast. Six then married Audrey Meadows and Merman married Ernest Borgnine.

I started listening to Take Me to the World at R266's clip.

I got as far as "where I can walk for miles and miles" and thought - that song is gonna have a whole new relevance after we've all been locked down for a couple of weeks.

R559, Laurents always claimed any directorial or casting choice he disagreed with went against "the writing." The Dramatists Guild had no reason to get involved--or for that matter any power to get involved. (Can you imagine Laurents asking the Dramatists Guild for legal assistance?)

Laurents just used his contractual power and psychological game playing to get his way.

He was unsuccessful in getting his way during the original production because Robbins was a bigger bitch than he. So in retaliation he tried to erase much of Robbins direction (keeping only the choreography) in subsequent productions and overriding any strong director wanting to touch the material.

Listen to the bootleg audio recording of Merman in GYPSY and you'll find her getting laughs where few others did. Of course, it was written specifically for her. But she wasn't a huge for decades because she was charmless.

Merman is also great in the dressing room scene, pre-"Rose's Turn." She gets oddly vulnerable and childlike. For all of the insults Sondheim and Laurents hurled at her acting abilities over the years, she's making really interesting choices throughout. And as R568 notes, she gets laughs where no one else did.

The Merman bootleg has to be a closing night performance.

With all the make up and retouching in the world, Merman was never attractive.

Is that really Ginger Rogers on the left?

It does look like Rogers, if you squint a bit.

Another photo of Ginger Rogers during the Broadway run of Girl Crazy.

Another photo of Ginger Rogers during the Broadway run of Girl Crazy.

Think about all those great theatre ladies who shone onstage but never really had substantial (or any) film careers:

Mary Martin

Eva Le Gallienne

Tallulah Bankhead (pretty much just "Lifeboat")

Ethel Barrymore

Tammy Grimes

Who else?

Gwen Verdon

Chita Rivera

Jennifer Holliday

Ethel Barrymore appeared in some movies early on, but remained primarily a stage actress. Late in her career, however, she appeared in character roles in several well-known movies, winning a supporting actress Oscar for playing Cary Grant's mother in "None but the Lonely Heart." She was also the mother of Joseph Cotten in "The Farmer's Daughter" and the art dealer in "Portrait of Jennie."

[quote]Tallulah Bankhead (pretty much just "Lifeboat")

How can you forget "Die, Die, My Darling"?

Can someone explain the Megan Hilty thing to me? She was a Glinda replacement, had a flop show (9 to 5) and a flop tv show (SMASH) and she's treated like she's this huge Broadway icon. From what I can tell, she mostly does the same symphony concerts around the country every one else does (Audra, Patti, Sutton, Kelli) to earn her way. But hasn't really accomplished anything of note, has she? What am I missing?

Getting a multi-year TV show makes you a “name,” even if not a star.

Salome.

[quote]From what I can tell, she mostly does the same symphony concerts around the country every one else does (Audra, Patti, Sutton, Kelli) to earn her way.

You forgot me you fucker. And I even did the Christian Women's Conventions circuit. And I tried to sleep my way to success by dating that guy that created The West Wing.

Thanks, R567, that explanation sounds perfectly reasonable.

[quote]For all of the insults Sondheim and Laurents hurled at her acting abilities over the years, she's making really interesting choices throughout. And as [R568] notes, she gets laughs where no one else did.

I think part of the reason why Sondheim and Laurents and others badmouthed Merman as an actress was that, while she was GREAT when she was on, apparently she did have a penchant for becoming kind of robotic -- or, to put it another way, "walking through" performances -- as her long runs continued. There are two lives tapes of her in HELLO, DOLLY! that I know of, and she sounds a lot more engaged in the final performance than in the one recorded earlier.

Still, whatever, I think the badmouthing is inappropriate and distasteful. I don't own the CD of the LuPone GYPSY, but I got to look through the booklet once, and I remember that someone (either the author of the notes, or Laurents, or both?) badmouths Merman RIGHT THERE IN THE NOTES for the recording as a way of praising the star of that production (LuPone) at Merman's expense. I thought, "What a shitty thing to do."

Kristi Dawn was on yesterday's episode of the Trisha Yearwood cooking show on Food Network. Does she even EAT?

Sorry ... put the link in the wrong box.

[quote]Does she even EAT?

Tic Tacs and Diet Coke.

Jeez, that pic at r586. That is a LOT of tits.

I was disappointed in Annaleigh's material, r549. But she did get a chance to introduce the name Miss Kit Andree to a wider audience.

It was a bit pervy when she came out in the rompers at the end of Charlie Brown r588. It didn't look like they did anything to disguise them and it looked kind of...pervy.

Somebody starting a new thread?

[quote]Kristi Dawn was on yesterday's episode of the Trisha Yearwood cooking show on Food Network. Does she even EAT?

Clearly not nearly as much as Trisha does.

R580, She lived with Steve Kazee for years. He just had a baby with Channing Tatum's ex.

R580, She lived with Steve Kazee for years. He just had a baby with Channing Tatum's ex.

Bajour!

New thread, was an extra 383

I thought the Merman bootleg was from Los Angeles? At least, the one I have is. She's singing in the lower keys, I think, as opposed to the higher keys she used through the opening and on the album.

Well, gotta fill this thread up...

THIRD MIDNIGHT!

Turned loose...

CAUSE NOTHING'S GONNA

STOP MEEEE

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!