THEATRE GOSSIP #404 I Can. You Can. Can Can. TUNA CAN!!!

If you would someone tell our dear friend Valens to check out this link.

I wish we could vote out these past few thread starters. Positively from hunger.

Patti performed a special concert to support those out of work in theatre community

Is this the main thread? (I wish people would link the next thread at the end of the previous one.)

Back to 1994 once again. Glenn Patti and Sarah B for some odd reason. When listening to Glenn and Patti it is easy to hear how beautifully Patti sang those big Sunset numbers.

This is a podcast with Kim Criswell. She talks about working on NINE as far back as the workshop. There is also some Betty Lynn talk and Criswell mentions that a friend of hers understudied Betty Lynn in CATS (and that Betty Lynn was almost replaced in the role for poor attendance etc.). There is also some talk about Georgia Brown.

[quote] Is this the main thread? (I wish people would link the next thread at the end of the previous one.)

I'm sure they would if we had actually GOTTEN to the end of the previous thread and were not still in the 540s.

[Quote] I'm sure they would if we had actually GOTTEN to the end of the previous thread and were not still in the 540s.

I take your point but the person who ends the threads habitually closes out the thread with nonsense posts ("Whoop Up!"), which often precludes linking to the next thread.

The previous thread isn't in the 540's, it's at 587 and counting, albeit slowly. The problem is Muriel locks down the thread when it gets into the 500's and most people are unable to post so they move on to the next thread before the current one is full. To be honest, I we should abandon whatever the current thread is as soon as it gets locked down. Just my two cents.

[Quote] To be honest, I we should abandon whatever the current thread is as soon as it gets locked down. Just my two cents.

I agree but there are some very "get off my lawn" posters that are determined to close out the thread. Best to leave them to it, probably.

Bajour!

[quote] The previous thread isn't in the 540's, it's at 587 and counting

It was in the 540s when this thread was created, which was my (very clear) point.

The theater thread is the only one which is judged by the cleverness of its title. So, the self-appointed theater geniuses try to outdo each other in coming up with witty titles. That's why new threads are begun well before the previous one is over.

They should stop since we haven't had a clever title since B.C.

R14. B.C.=Betty Comden

I always suspected she was a DLer!

The National Theatre will reopen in February with Dominic Cooke directing The Normal Heart with Ben Daniels as Ned. I’m guessing in the Olivier so social distancing can take effect?

But will Ben get naked with a leopard in The Normal Heart?

We can only hope and pray, r17.

I wish it were Ben Whishaw.

Ben Daniels is one of my favorite actors. Check out Flesh and Bone on Amazon. He’s mesmerizing.

R16 It's actually already reopened with Death of England: Delroy, and they're staging Dick Whittington this Christmas. And yes they've remodelled the Olivier into an in the round format, pic at link.

Les Mis is going to be back this Christmas at the Sondheim with that staged concert thing again.

And there's something interesting going on between Cameron and ALW about Phantom in London. Her Majesty's is undergoing refurbishment, and Andrew is promising that when Phantom re-opens it will be the same as the original production - Cameron, meanwhile, isn't making the same promise. It has the Phantom fans rather upset that they think Cameron is going to put the tour version in, like he did with Les Mis.

R5 "Patti LuPone will not comment on this" Oh ho ho, just you wait, 1994 guy.

R9, the problem is that those who know the thread is locked down, cannot post to tell us. And those of us not affected cannot tell that it is locked down.

Who Can? You Can, OP !!

R23 It's fairly obvious when the post rate suddenly drops off sharply.

R25 Pay the two bucks.

ALW Cinderella

[Quote] And those of us not affected cannot tell that it is locked down.

It couldn't be more obvious - the lag between posts, a surfeit of YT clip posts etc.

Meh it never happens til the 500s so I never notice. How trashy you are.

It's trashy to use "meh" in a sentence.

Not starting out well, this thread.

It is a cheap whorehouse.

Emily Skinner should be a much bigger star.

Well, she was a great big fat person at one time.

I don't understand why some people care too much about the thread title. I only care about the content within.

Oh to have the snappy wit of r34

R35, because theater queens are vacuous.

I love Georgia Brown stories.

Interesting how Brown and Betty Lynn reportedly suffered from the same problem.

R27 Michael Ball hasn’t aged well

and that logo is terrible, trying too hard to have Miss Saigon's helicopter

How about Georgia Brown songs?

I’m glad it’s Ben Daniels and not Ben Whishaw. The latter is too twitchy and wormy and needs to take a break.

I am a can of tuna...

Ben Daniels has a huge dick.

Wow, these Theatre threads have gotten so awful since there’s no theatre

Yes, R46, let's go with that. Let's blame it on the closing of the theaters.

The other choice is we’re a bunch of retards

Or maybe, just maybe, these threads would be twice as awful if there WAS theatre, given the state of the art.

The "Today" show celebrates Broadway for Halloween. Check out Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart at 1:25 in the video:

Speaking of bad... thoughts?

Bad Lloyd Webber. Or is that redundant?

Good lord, Lord Lloyd Webber, that is shite on toast.

The chorus is a direct steal from "In My Old Little Corner" from the R&H Cinderella...I assume that's deliberate.

Wicked does the same thing with Wizard Of Oz songs, though more wittily.

My OWN little corner.

Arggghh...sorry about that

Yikes, I could only make it through half of that Cinderella song.

I'll admit to not having a great musical ear. Where does [italic]Wicked[/italic] do it?

[italic]PS: Good on the Today show for giving Bway some love.[/italic]

That weird "UnLIMited" thing that Elphaba sings is built around the first notes of the "Over The Rainbow" melody. It’s meant to be clever.

I don't hear it... : (

Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou rehearse SWEENEY TODD (Broadway, 1979)

Was theatre really in such a bad place in 79 that people thought it was dying?

R50 So is this that NBC special celebrating Broadway they were talking about months back?

r61 Does EVERYTHING have to be about "Follies?" (See the logo in the upper-right corner.)

Yes.

Everything *was* possible, r64...

R63, no, that was just how the "Today" show chose to handle Halloween this year, by making it a tribute to Broadway. Like R58, I actually thought it was a nice thing to do given that some of the other morning shows that usually dress up every year for Halloween decided to just skip it this year. "Today" instead of skipping it used it to uplift the community, so hats off to them for that.

Isn't Carrie Hope Fletcher a little rotund for Cinderella? Are they also forcing us to suspend disbelief when it comes to weight? These SJWs just want us to suspend all disbelief, which is insane! Once you do that, it just becomes crazy. Well, they all are.

[quote]But will Ben get naked with a leopard in The Normal Heart?

Ben has done nudity several times. He showed peen in the tv show "Flesh and Bone". If you want to see it, I would suggest checking one of those nude actor pics sites because having to watch that insipid piece of crap is something I wouldn't advise anyone to do. It made Glee look like Shakespeare.

[quote]Was theatre really in such a bad place in 79 that people thought it was dying?

Yes. There was a change in audience. The blue haired ladies who lunch wanted old fashioned musicals like Oklahoma. The British "rock" musicals were starting to pick up steam and the crime in NYC was still bad. The 80s were terrible for Broadway.

r48 and r68, you both need to grow up

R71 No! SJWs need to get a grip on reality. There is such a thing as miscasting.

La Cage and SITPWG beg to differ, r70.

The stepmother and ugly stepsisters have been made feeders to Cinders' gainer.

r51 I don't have a problem with it, Webber is obviously writing for a younger audience and it fits right in with the previous youthful female lead musicals Legally Blonde and Mean Girls.

Can't expect the old barnacles in this thread to see beyond their cataracts. They have no love for Webber (except Patti in Evita) you won't get a thoughtful or balanced response here.

But if you're just looking for hate and snark then you're in the perfect place.

Theater was not dying in 1979. Tourism and theater had actually picked up in NYC by then thanks to, among other things, the very successful I Love New York campaign and commercials. When Koch took office, he busted his ass to get tourism levels up.

R76, the truth is that theater was BEGINNING to show signs of SLOWLY starting to come back in the late '70s, and yes, partly due to the "I Love New York" campaign. But then the AIDS crisis dealt the theater a terrible blow, on top of all the problems that already existed. As late as 1995, SUNSET BLVD. was the ONLY show nominated for Best Musical, which is certainly not a sign of a healthy theater industry.

[quote] [R76], the truth is that theater was BEGINNING to show signs of SLOWLY starting to come back in the late '70s, and yes, partly due to the "I Love New York" campaign. But then the AIDS crisis dealt the theater a terrible blow, on top of all the problems that already existed. As late as 1995, SUNSET BLVD. was the ONLY show nominated for Best Musical, which is certainly not a sign of a healthy theater industry.

Wrong. Sunset Blvd was the only show nominated for Best Score. The other shows were revues or jukebox musicals. If you're going to come for me, bring someone who knows something.

FOLLIES!

"FOLLIES!"

Sucks!

[quote]If you're going to come for me, bring someone who knows something.

I just love when old theater queens pretend to be all tough.

R78, I mis-typed: SUNSET BLVD. was the only musical nominated for best score (AND for best book) that year, and the only other show nominated for Best Musical was SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE. Despite my error, my point still stands that having a season in which only one show is nominated for Best Score and Best Book, and only TWO shows are nominated for Best Musical, does not indicate a healthy theater industry. So thanks for the correction, but now please quiet down and admit that the point you were trying to make was pointless.

Well when every show that's nominated has a lousy book and score that's not a heathy theater either.

Koch busted his ass to destroy midtown and succeeded. He would have happily razed every theater. Fucking nasty troll.

R75 Fuck, you seem nice.

[quote]Webber is obviously writing for a younger audience

Yeah, ALW truly has his finger on the pulse of a "younger audience".

I love New York!

I'm quite fond of #2...

Please do not post them all. We all know how to use Youtube.

Oh, don't worry your sweet little head, r88, I won't...

Love, Cecil.

Eastland.

The Grinning Man.

r91 What? Where were Natalie, Jo, Tootie and Blair?

I respect this woman for everything she’s been through for the past several months and I admire her for keeping her husbands legacy alive but c’mon...

England on another national lockdown on Thursday untl December 2nd so theatre is screwed even further.

I enjoyed hearing this from a Dutch production of Falsettos which has now been pushed to May. They were just a few days from opening in Amsterdam before their lockdown #2 was announced:

Belle of 14th Street

[quote]Was theatre really in such a bad place in 79 that people thought it was dying?

Which character in Chorus Line says she's so tired of hearing about Broadway dying because "I just got here!" That was four years earlier.

r85 didn't say anything about pulse I said he's writing to appeal to younger theater goers.

You got an intelligent reply or just that poor attempt at being snarky?

Jagged Little Pill is another female lead youth oriented musical. It's horrible, it was torture watching it until the end.

Aw hell, we haven't made fun of this in a while...

[quote] The blue haired ladies who lunch wanted old fashioned musicals like Oklahoma.

At least they got to see Joel Higgins as Curly. Their granddaughters and grandsons got Woklahoma!

Did anyone ever do Joel Higgins? He was hot back in the day.

1995 was an anomaly. Broadway started its recovery from around 1990/1991 onward.

[quote]At least they got to see Joel Higgins as Curly.

Only after my contract was done.

[quote]Did anyone ever do Joel Higgins? He was hot back in the day.

Joel Higgins was in the original Broadway cast of Shenandoah. All the sons in that show were hot!! I bet chorus boy Craig Lucas was sniffing all of their dance belts.

The Fields Of Ambrosia/Where ever'yone knows ya...

Len Cariou reveals stories & mishaps from Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Applause & more

London was a complete mistake for the Southern Gothic material of The Fields of Ambrosia and the director was a disaster, but if someone trimmed back some of its excesses and absurdities, there's a good musical in there. It's pretty compelling on disc.

Why wasn’t Christine Andreas a bigger star?

I'm not fond of her vibrato.

She was lovely but kind of generic.

Sopranos don't usually become Stars, Misses Jones and Andrews notwithstanding.

[quote]Sopranos don't usually become Stars, Misses Jones and Andrews notwithstanding.

I beg your pardon?

I’ll also beg your pardon.

[quote] [R78], I mis-typed: SUNSET BLVD. was the only musical nominated for best score (AND for best book) that year, and the only other show nominated for Best Musical was SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE. Despite my error, my point still stands that having a season in which only one show is nominated for Best Score and Best Book, and only TWO shows are nominated for Best Musical, does not indicate a healthy theater industry. So thanks for the correction, but now please quiet down and admit that the point you were trying to make was pointless.

Except you were wrong about everything you wrote. 1995 was an exception. Theater in the 80s and 90s was incredibly robust and successful, beginning with Dreamgirls and Cats, continuing through Les Mis, Phantom, Miss Saigon Crazy for You, the '92 Guys and Dolls revival, Tommy, Beauty and the Beast, Smokey Joe's Cafe, the '94 revival of Grease,Rent, The Lion King, the '98 revival of Cabaret, Contact, on through The Producers and into the 21st century. And those are just some of the musicals, and not even mentioning successful plays, of which there were many. Even when there were dips in production of original works, the industry itself was doing incredible business. You have no fucking clue what you're talking about. I worked on Broadway for 13 years, from the late 80s to 2000. I was there through every season as part of the largest theater landlords in NYC.

Contact? Are you drunk?

Contact had a very successful 2 1/2 year run AFTER moving from its run off-Bway. But fine, if you need to, then sub in Fosse. Either way, they both had lengthy, successful runs. Oh, I also forgot Chicago in '96.

How come EVITA (1979) isn't considered the start of the British invasion of megamusicals on Broadway? It's entirely sung, had spectacle, and was a huge hit worldwide. It was the most-talked about show of the season. Not to mention, it won several Tonys, including Best Musical, Director, and Book. In fact, it was the first British import to win Best Musical.

But CATS is often given that distinction. 🤷‍♀️

Also, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" was covered by many popular singers at the time (e.g., Karen Carpenter, Olivia Newton-John, Joan Baez), as "Memory" would be.

[quote]Why wasn’t Christine Andreas a bigger star?

Christine Andreas has a special needs son and I think that limited the work that she could accept.

R117, because the director and choreographer were American.

How many watched the premiere last evening of "One Royal Holiday" on the Hallmark Channel starring Aaron Tveit, Laura Osnes and Victoria Clark?

In 1989, the Mark Hellinger theater, one of the crown jewels of Broadway theaters, was sold to an Evangelical church. Anyone who tells you that Broadway was great in the 1980s is lying.

And if you need further proof, go to ibdb.com and look at the attendance record of the Nederlander Theatre. With the exception of Lena Horne's Las Vegas style show which ran a year, the Nederlander couldn't hold a steady tenant from the late 1970s until Rent came along in 1996.

R120 But when it comes to films, they do like to take full credit for co-American/British productions. For instance, in recent years, the BAFTAs have nominated BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, AMERICAN HONEY, THE DANISH GIRL, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, and GRAVITY as Best British Film.

She also has a son with a learning disability and spent a lot of time being a mom. I'm generally not a big cabaret fan but her shows are wonderful.

sorry r119 didn't see your post

R117 Was Evita a megamusical though? It has elements, so perhaps a fore-runner, but not quite in that Cats/Les Mis/Phantom bracket.

R123 Was the British invasion (in Broadway terms) a British claim then? I always assumed it was something Americans coined, rather than Andrew/Cameron declaring a new invasion themselves.

" Memory" makes so much more sense out of context than does " Don't Cry for Me, Argentina."

[quote]In 1989, the Mark Hellinger theater, one of the crown jewels of Broadway theaters, was sold to an Evangelical church. Anyone who tells you that Broadway was great in the 1980s is lying.

One of the sadder aspects of that deal is that Cameron Mackintosh lobbied aggressively to buy that theatre. Whatever one thinks of his output as a producer (Miss Saigon offends me on an almost molecular level), he's a terrific landlord. His theatres in London are kept in stunning shape.

R127 Out of context, "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" sounds like she's singing from the grave, but it works, IMO.

I'll start with Gertie, r113. The divine Miss Lawrence was indeed a Broadway Star of the first magnitude. Both musicals and non. But let's be real, her magic on stage had little to do with her singing voice. And her film work is negligible.

*

r112 - Miss Cook was in *one count 'em one* hit musical. In my heart she is a Broadway star...but realistically you couldn't sell a show on her name. Again, a very slender screen resume.

*

Broadway musicals changed decades ago in the business end and the form of the product. We have *names* now, not *Stars*. Perhaps, Nathan at one time and Hugh, because he's a movie star. But the last two women who were Broadway stars who translated that into movie stardom were belter Barbra and soprano Julie.

[quote]Miss Cook was in *one count 'em one* hit musical.

If she hadn't died, that show with her in her wheelchair on moving platforms would have been a real winner. Think Grizabella riding the tire to the Heavyside Layer.

Was Marilyn Miller a soprano?

Jesus Christ Superstar was also a popular 70's musical no?

You are right, R133. Jesus Christ Superstar was the first of the British megamusicals of that era. Evita came many years later.

Someone on the Rocky Horror thread said the Aussie stage director directed the original London EVITA. Hal Prince did the show on both sides of the Atlantic, no?

I think the original JCS wasn't considered a hit until the movie came along. The original Broadway production ran a year and a half. Andrew Lloyd Webber really didn't become successful until the Evita/Cats/Phantom trifecta.

Jesus Christ Superstar got very mixed reviews, only lasted 1 1/2 years on Broadway, and was not nominated for any top Tonys except Best Featured Actor. The other nominations were for Score, Scenic Design, Costume Design, and Lighting Design. It won none.

On the other hand, Evita ran for four years and was nominated for 11 Tonys, winning 7, including Best Musical.

Furthermore, JCS was not staged as a megamusical; it was all avant garde.

Yes, Hal directed both London and Broadway original productions of Evita. In ALW's book, he says that he loved Cabaret and liked that Prince gave Evita the same black box approach.

R126, you are correct that the British invasion was an American journalistic term.. That R123 tries to make it that some unnamed British org akin to the BAFTAs made the claim is just ridiculous.

Miss Miller also had that terpsichorean thing going for her, r132.

Beg pardon, R135. Jim Sharman directed the original London productions of Superstar and Rocky Horror, but not Evita. My bad.

She surely can can-can

She surely can can-can

Re JCS: It was originally staged on Broadway, so it wasn't a British invasion property.

Was JCS a London studio cast recording first?

Yes. Financing wasn’t available; so Andrew released it as a 2-lp rock album first. Mega hit. The stage versions followed.

Now he’s doing the same thing with his quirky approach to “Cinderella,” though due more to delays from Covid.

R148 It was a mega hit as an album, but it did not take Broadway by storm. Evita, which also started out as a concept album, did.

I guess the narrative of the Brit Mega Musicals ruining Broadway isn't as clear cut as some sell it...

JCS was following up on the Joseph...Dreamcoat model. Joseph was done as a short program for a local school. It then took on a life of its own. They chose the story of Jesus thinking they would follow the same path.

Television is trying to give aid to Broadway.

Here is SNL's - New York Musical from last nights show.

The latest Brit shut down effectively kills anything live for this entire year. They won't be able to rehearse to make any December ideas. It's done.

And that Cinderella song is pathetic. ALW should just stop and revel in his glories. He bludgeoned us enough with that God awful School of Rock.

She certainly has the can for it, r143.

Did any of you see CAN CAN with Miss Karen Morrow and Miss Joey Heatherton?

[quote] I guess the narrative of the Brit Mega Musicals ruining Broadway isn't as clear cut as some sell it...

They had plenty of help from Americans.

Miss Saigon was initially going to be staged on Broadway, but they couldn't find a venue, so it went to London instead.

The lovely Miss Miller was supposed to have been a foul mouthed holy terror who made Patti look like Lillian Gish.

OMG, Trump's rally in Iowa blaring out Betty Lynn's Memory???

American Moor.

Collisions.

Daddy Long Legs.

I haven't seen this version of Daddy Long Legs, but in general I find that story beyond icky.

[quote]Theater in the 80s and 90s was incredibly robust and successful, beginning with Dreamgirls and Cats, continuing through Les Mis, Phantom, Miss Saigon Crazy for You, the '92 Guys and Dolls revival, Tommy, Beauty and the Beast, Smokey Joe's Cafe, the '94 revival of Grease,Rent, The Lion King, the '98 revival of Cabaret, Contact

R114, you really should not think of yourself as such a know-it-all, because you and I are using different criteria to judge the health of the theater in those days. Of all the musicals you mention above, several were revivals, and ONLY TWO of them -- DREAMGIRLS and RENT -- had a new score. As someone else wisely pointed out above, the state of Broadway theater was still so bad by 1989 that the fool Nederlanders sold the Mark Hellinger to a church. And really, how ironic that you would even mention CONTACT as part of your argument, as many people consider that Best Musical win a sad indication of how the health of the theater in some respects was still not great even as late as the year 2000.

R161 Ha, was going to say the same, but rather would not comment on the videos.

Musical theatre was fucked when scores stopped crossing over to pop music. It wasn't a dead halt, of course, rather a decline.

Hopefully, after Tuesday Trump will be a memory. A bad one.

R165 what does that have to do with musical theater?

[quote]Miss Cook was in *one count 'em one* hit musical. In my heart she is a Broadway star...but realistically you couldn't sell a show on her name. Again, a very slender screen resume.

When was the last time the word "slender" was used in connection with Barbara Cook?

R166. That’s probably in reference to the above post about Memory sung by Ms Buckley at Trump rallies.

WTF do songs like “Memory,” “YMCA” and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” have to do with US politics, anyway?

I wonder how Betty feels about it, r168.

Funny I should ask!

Well what did Camelot and Hello Dolly have to do with US politics?

And the final Jeopardy answer is....Kennedy/Johnson.

Memory seems like a very strange song for a campaign rally. The lyrics are pretty depressing.

More like "Some People"

[quote]Memory seems like a very strange song for a campaign rally. The lyrics are pretty depressing.

Agreed, but on the other hand, it fits in perfectly as a choice for a Trump campaign rally song in that it's trash. Anyone who would choose it proves that they have horrible taste in music, and that they equate popularity with quality.

Memory

All alone in the moonlight

I can dream of the old days

Life was beautiful then

I remember a time I knew what happiness was

Let the memory live again

Using "Everything's Coming Up Roses" would have given Sondheim a heart attack.

No joke's about Sondheim's mortality, please. 2020 has been rough enough as it is.

[quote] No joke's about Sondheim's mortality

Oh, dear.

Well, there's this, below.

I could have sworn that Ethel at one point sang "Everything's Coming Up Lindsay" for the then Mayor's re-election campaign but i couldn't find anything about that on google or youtube. I

Carol Channing famously sang "Hello, Lyndon!" at the 1964 Democratic Convention and a commercial recording was made with Ed Ames that can be found on youtube. But since it was Ed Ames, I can't be bothered to search for it and link.

Whattaya know, I found it!

Eithel singing "With Lindsay It's Comin' Up Roses."

[quote]When was the last time the word "slender" was used in connection with Barbara Cook?

When Stonewall called last call the night before the riot.

Nope, she was fat back then, too.

My mom has always mangled performers’ names, show titles, whathaveyou.

Today she brought up CARMEN JONES and her favorite song in it, “Tickty Tack Along the Crack.”

I just stared at her. Then thought of DataLounge.

r186 Your mom must have seen the Leslie Uggams version.

Speaking of Barbara Cook, when and why did "Ice Cream" become "Vanilla Ice Cream"? I vaguely remember this be discussed a long, long time ago. Was there ever an answer?

^ being discussed

Hal Prince also directed Phantom and that is considered part of the British megamusicals.

And Evita. Which makes me wonder why he wasn't asked to do Sunset. Maybe he was and declined? Whichever, is there a story there?

[quote]R174 [“Jesus Christ Superstar] was a mega hit as an album, but it did not take Broadway by storm.

It needed Elaine Stritch as Mary Magdalene.

[quote] And Evita. Which makes me wonder why he wasn't asked to do Sunset. Maybe he was and declined? Whichever, is there a story there?

Wasn't he working on Showboat?

Lest we forget, ALW got Hal to direct the out of town tryout for Whistle Down The Wind in Washington, D.C. relatively shortly after Sunset, with a Broadway theater booked, even though the project was written as a movie musical for Steven Spielberg, who chose to do Schindler’s List instead once Kubrick had given up. Screen tests were done with Jared Harris and Kirstin Dunst, among others. Perhaps Prince appreciated to be first choice after Spielberg were it to be done onstage. Obviously, though, Prince did not have control of the material or a “look” and ALW acquiesced to Jim Steinman, who only trolled Prince, demanding more special effects, a darker edge and onstage motorcycles. Ultimately, the show ran for nearly 3 years in the West End and yielded the most successful song from a musical in Billboard history. But, Prince perhaps could have made it something better.

[quote]yielded the most successful song from a musical in Billboard history

Wait, what? In all of Billboard history? More than Hello, Dolly (to name just one Broadway song that topped the Billboard chart)?

Perhaps Prince knew that ALW was going to pull the LuPone/Close switch and wanted to stay far from that trainwreck.

Isn’t “Whistle” the song where ALW changed a note because he realized he’d written “Moonlight in Vermont”?

Apparently Prince owned the rights to Sunset and was planning a film remake with Angela Lansbury playing a fading musical comedian, to be scored by Sondheim, at least according to Wiki. This is separate from Sondheim's plans which he scrapped after Billy Wilder said it needed to be an opera.

Whilst on the topic of Sunset - I read somewhere it was originally meant to be have it's world premiere in Los Angeles, but ALW felt that the refurbishment work he demanded of the Shubert wasn't going to be complete in time, so it opened in London. Ironically, the Shubert work was completed in time, whereas the refurbishment work at the Adelphi took longer than planned and delayed the London opening. Anyone else hear anything like that? The place I read it provided no sources or anything.

With one look, eighteen hundred people fell apart!

Speaking of ALW, he had written another terrible song, and in this one, has the audacity to rip off/"sample" Rodgers & Hammerstein. He just needs to drink himself away at this point...

Which R&H song did he sample?

R200, so this is groovy cinderella?

It sounds like the Disney pop music my niece listens to.

In My Own Little Corner, r201. I think it’s discussed a bit upthread. I hope his quote is intentional, but ya never know with him.

[quote] It sounds like the Disney pop music my niece listens to.

Whereas Walt Disney's [italic]Cinderella[/italic] had one tuneful song after another, as did Rodgers and Hammerstein's. Even the Sherman Brothers' [italic]The Slipper and the Rose[/italic] was better than this.

My, how our standards have plummeted.

By the time theatres re-open, ALW will be using a walker.

But it will be a very expensive, well-designed walker.

I'm usually the first one to notice and call out ALW for his "borrowings" of other composers' melodies, but in that CINDERELLA song, I would say there's only one brief section that sounds a LITTLE bit like the main melody of "In My Own Little Corner" -- but not really. It's definitely nowhere near as shameless a "borrowing" as most of his others.

And now, the cool, pop stylings of....

Mr. Relaxation.

I commented earlier on the clunkiness of that "ER" slipper in the logo. The upside-down heart skirt is pretty weak too. London show art is usually better.

R200 bad song, and I don’t like singer’s voice

Wait in the Wings a YouTube channel

Theater history and analysis for the modern theater lover.

Is Betty Bacall taking part?

^No. Thank Goodness.

Speaking of...

R208 Yeah, I don't hear it. The song's terrible though (and I am typically an ALW fan!), it would've been better if it did rip off In My Own Little Corner and people would've just taken it as "homage".

When Bacall started singing in that clip I heard Merman scream JESUS in my ear.

ALW owes the Puccini estate a shit ton. Except that Puccini is all now in public domain with the exception of Turandot. Half the Phantom score is out of Fanciulla del West

Can-Can!

ALW actually settled with the Puccini estate, presumable for a lotta £s

What does 'whistle down the wind' even mean? It's not an American phrase I've heard, but doesn't the show take place in Louisiana?

I don't know, but I assume it's based on the film of the same name, which is set in Yorkshire.

That Tony Charmoli could sure pick 'em.

I absolutely do not get “My Own Little Corner” out of that Cinderella song

Did Carol Arthur replace Marilyn Cooper in "Woman of the Year"?

We need to have a talk with the casting director of that new hallmark xmas movie who cast midwestern frau vicki clark as a british queen and future tony winner aaron tveit, looking like an emaciated tweaker in need of a haircut, as her suspiciously unmarried british prince son

Carol Arthur subbed for Cooper during her vacation.

Thanks, r228.

[Quote] We need to have a talk with the casting director of that new hallmark xmas movie who cast midwestern frau vicki clark as a british queen and future tony winner aaron tveit, looking like an emaciated tweaker in need of a haircut, as her suspiciously unmarried british prince son

This is the DL Theatre Gossip Thread. You should be thrilled that an acting job was taken away was taken away from a Brit, not once but twice.

I' m so sick of American white liberals being ashamed of being American.

I am so sick of American white conservatives being proud of being American when this country’s existence is an outgrowth of British imperialism.

R232 Most Americans are of German descent.

Good ol' Carol Arthur...

That explains why they are racist deplorable trash.

White liberals are the most un-American people I have ever met. They constantly talk down about the country and go out of they way to show everyone how much they hate it.

If it wasn’t for white liberals, you wouldn’t be here.

R257 I have been welcomed most among whites than blacks or Asians, the latter which are hard to penetrate through.

Congratulations Guatemalan with U.S. citizenship!

You are the first person on a Theatre Gossip thread that I have awarded with an F&F.

Just a friendly reminder, theatregossip.com is available. You can stop spamming this site, nutcase.

That’s because Asians must have tighter assholes than white people.

Don't. You'll summon the Telly Leung troll.

please stay on theatre (even Follies, if you must) and not politics here. One of our few respites from the chaos out there.

Escape for 40 minutes with Miss Foch...

The "In My Own Little Corner" quote is around the :28 mark in the song. The melody on the lyric "Call me 'Bad Cindrella'" is essentially the title hook from the R&H song. It may or may not be intentional, but I'm not the only person I know who's remarked on it. I suspect ALW is trying to be clever there.

Nina Foch read for the Judy Parfitt role in "Dolores Claiborne." I'm still surprised that role went to a non-star like Judy Parfitt, whatever her acting pedigree. I would have thought the likes of Lauren Bacall would have killed for the role.

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

Well, hubby sure was!

Why is ALW doing Cinderella? A story we've all seen and heard.

Inbuilt audience, dear.

Forgot how sensational Daniel Radcliffe was is "How To Succeed..." Ridiculous he didn't even get a nomination. Watching this last night again and watch when Daniel and the lady are on the table. Both are being pushed side to side and does the guy on the right kiss Daniel? Also in the videos online with Nick Jonas and Darren Cris they don;t get pushed they just stand there watching, why change the choreography, the guys on the sides are doing all the work.

The poor kid is having to dance way too hard while trying to sing. Very poor choreographic choice from Rob Whatever.

[quote]Why is ALW doing Cinderella? A story we've all seen and heard.

Not unlike the bible.

[quote]Most Americans are of German descent.

"Most? " As in more than 50%? I think not.

I saw Carol Arthur in WHOLESALE on tour. As Miss Marmelstein. With Larry Kert. She might have been brilliant, but I sat resentful that I wasn't seeing Barbra.

that was the busiest most cluttered and unfocused production of a book musical I've ever seen. Ashford had zero clue

[quote]What does 'whistle down the wind' even mean? It's not an American phrase I've heard, but doesn't the show take place in Louisiana?

The original short story and movie that the musical is based on takes place in England, in Lancashire. I suspect ALW repurposed it to the American South for two reasons:

1. It's a story about Jesus and, stereotypically, American Southerners believe in Jesus more than anyone else.

2. ALW has always had a fascination with the Everly Brothers and I think his original intent was to "borrow" from their musical style. In the show, there is a short segment of a radio playing an Everly Brothers song. Unfortunately, ALW didn't achieve an Everly Brothers sound, he got lazy and went with his popular genre of rock anthem music. Joseph/Dreamcoat is his only musical where he shifts musical styles and he is successful at it. If only he had tried to get more country/bluegrass/rockabilly music into Whistle Down The Wind, it may have been a more interesting show. Plus, the musical strays too much from the original source material and desperately attempts to create hit songs rather than be a story well told.

Fun fact: The original short story, Whistle Down The Wind, was written by the mother of Hayley Mills. Hayley starred in the movie version.

[quote]The phrase is in fact much older and derives from the earlier 'whistle away', which meant 'dismiss or cast off'.

[quote]The 'down the wind' part of the phrase comes from the sport of falconry. When hawks are released to hunt they are sent upwind and when turned loose for recreation they are sent downwind. Thus, to 'whistle someone/thing down the wind' is to cast it off to its own fate.

Guatemalan with U.S. citizenship who it seems is completely blind to the history of America. I'd say your attitudes might keep you from connecting to anyone Black or Asian unless they are self loathing.

Mexicans and Central Americans have enjoyed a "most favored" place for at least the last 20 years. Cheap labor who, for the most part, is not concerned with educating themselves or truly assimilating into the American culture in any meaningful way. This means an easier to control group of people who will be afraid of authority and will go along to get along. When survival at whatever cost is your main goal then things like civil rights are tossed aside to ensure that survival. This is a disaster for the generations of Americans who have deep roots here and for their ancestors who fought for rights and paid taxes and fought for education.

I never understand in musical revivals when the original choreography is so iconic they go for new. It always looks like busywork with no buildup or payoff. I guess it's to avoid paying royalties but no matter how frantic everyone tries to be it just lays there.

Ignore the DL naysayers about "What the Constitution Means to Me," the off-bway play filmed and now on Amazon Prime.

It's engrossing and very entertaining!

R261 Your daughter stinks.

[quote]The "In My Own Little Corner" quote is around the :28 mark in the song. The melody on the lyric "Call me 'Bad Cindrella'" is essentially the title hook from the R&H song.

Sorry, it REALLY isn't. If you think those melodies are "essentially" the same, your ear for music is so bad that you shouldn't be commenting on such things. Also, please stop being the boy (or girl) who cried wolf. There are MORE than enough actual, real instances of ALW borrowing other composers' melodies that there's no point in making a false accusation, and it only weakens the case against him.

P.S. Leave it to ALW to be clueless enough to take a very British property like WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND and change the setting to America but leave the original title, a British expression that's rarely if ever used in America. A similarly stupid decision was made with the TV series QUEER AS FOLK, but as far as I know, ALW had nothing to do with that one.

Agreed that Ashford's staging of "Brotherhood of Man," and his direction and choreography of HOW TO SUCCEED in general, was truly awful. And I've always thought the reason Radcliffe didn't get a Tony nom was because he was so ineptly directed by R.A.

There is no such thing as "The Puccini estate." He and the heirs are long dead, and the work is all public domain.

DEAD TO ME

[quote] There is no such thing as "The Puccini estate." He and the heirs are long dead, and the work is all public domain.

Does his publisher get the Turandot money?

R251 Fuck the midget twerp, look at Charlie Williams.

Miss Criswell...

[quote][R261] Your daughter stinks.

I thought "What the Constitution Means to Me" engrossing and moving.

Then again, I find that if the Theatre Gossip queens on the Datalounge hate something, it is always worth a try.

I didn't hate it, I didn't finish it. It wasn't a polemic, it played fake as fuck to me.

Now, American Utopia I adored. It was a thing of beauty, and made great points without SHOUTING AT US LIKE THE SLAG IN THE CONSTITUTION.

If you had finished it, you would have realized that the shouting was confined to the first few minutes when she is portraying herself as a 15 y/o girl in a public speaking competition.

Then she drops that act, takes off her jacket and continues to speak as herself, telling stories of the women in her family. How those stories relate to the lack of representation women, people of color, LGTBQ people endure to this day is fascinating.

The final 25 minutes are devoted to a debate with another 15 year old woman who is engaging in the same type of competitions. Although scripted, the intelligence, humor and passion of both women is a tribute to what America can and should be.

Pity you didn't finish it. It might have made your opinion matter.

[quote]Very poor choreographic choice from Rob Whatever

Has Rob "Whatever" Ashford ever made a good choreographic choice?

R271 OK, I shall. On your head be it.

Andre's Mother.

My head can handle it r273.

Amazing what I learned about the 9th Amendment in "What the Constitution Means to Me." The 9th say that every right is not elucidated in the Constitution and that doesn't mean we don't have it.

Which means, when cons say: there's nothing about gay rights or abortion rights in the Constitution. THAT ARGUMENT DOESN'T HOLD WATER.

Apparently Scalia said he knew nothing about the 9th Amendment. The cons constantly pretend it's not there.

Lots of rumors about how The Shuberts "non-profit" status is not helping them with cash flow during this time.

All roads converge: I saw Carol Arthur playing Hedy in HOW TO SUCCEED in Chicago, way back in 1964. She was great and of course ended up doing the movie.

R278 That was Maureen Arthur, not Carol Arthur.

R278, that was Maureen Arthur -- not Carol Arthur -- in the movie of HOW TO SUCCEED. And her incredibly strange Carol-Channing-imitation performance is practically unwatchable. She is a tremendous blot on a movie that's otherwise quite well done except for the fact that they cut too many of the songs.

Miss Maureen Arthur...

I've never heard of Carol Arthur until she died a couple days ago, and when I looked her up, I figured she was an "actress" in that she got her husband to get her roles in his movies or his friends' movies. And now I'm seeing her name all over this thread as though she was Ethel Merman (or at least Benay Venuta).

Word is that Carol dropped dead when someone showed her pictures of her son's old cunt.

Her son is hot. I'd have him.

I have dozens of theatre related books, playbills and souvenir books that I’d love to donate. But how? Who? Where? Suggestions. I’m located in NYC. Thanks!

Housing Works. The Bookstore/Cafe is closed, but the other thrift shops are open and accept books.

R286. Thanks!

R285 If you have the patience for it, you could probably also sell the Playbills and Souvenir Books on ebay.

I very much enjoyed ...Constitution. It was funny, then educational (see above re: the Ninth Amendment), then went someplace I didn't expect it to go (civil liberties). I might have halved the number of audience reaction shots, but that's a nitpick.

Also enjoyed American Utopia for wildly different reasons. I cannot imagine what the tech rehearsals were like -- lighting cues, sound design, precision choreography! Loved the chain-link curtain. I don't remember a lot of audience reaction shots, but every time Spike Lee filmed from the back of the stage and you could see the first couple of rows of the orchestra I thought, "This is the most OK, Boomer audience in perhaps ever." As a Boomer, I am clearly the target audience, but I had a little reactive cringe.

R288. Tried eBay and I do not have the patience :). And I want to avoid the post office. I’d rather just donate them. Thanks!

I like Maureen Arthur in How too Succeed. The film has a couple of Disney origins. David Swift was given his movie career start by Walt Disney and the color design is by Disney great Mary Blair. I'm sure the original prints were eye-popping. Unfortunately all original elements have been lost including the stereo tracks. It's looked a bit washed out since then. Its original opening at Radio City must have been spectacular. Too bad the Coffee Break number was filmed and then tossed before the opening. It was never seen again.

I feel groggy and weary and tragic, punchy and bleary and fresh out of magic. How is everyone else doing? I believe I'm slightly cuckoo but it's dull to be too sane! I think we all probably feel that way.

I presume you mean multitracks.

Was there a link in this thread to watch "What the Constitution Means to Me"?

It's streaming on Amazon Prime, r294

Partly Jane Fonda and partly Jane Austen, r292?

I could swear I have seen “Coffee Break” somewhere. Was it not included as a special feature on the DVD? The one that really hurts is “Paris Original.” They should never have cut that,

R297, do you really think "Paris Original" is a better song and more important to the show than "Coffee Break?" I sure don't agree with that.

R277, what are the rumors?

Apparently r299, the rumors are about how The Shuberts "non-profit" status is not helping them with cash flow during this time.

R300 Thanks, smartass. Obviously I’m asking for elaboration—it’s not clear to me how cash flow issues relate to having nonprofit status here.

Well, can a non-profit ask for govt. relief in the same way a business can?

R302, it depends on the particular program, I guess, but generally yes. The Fed’s Main Street lending facilities, for example, are open to nonprofits.

Is the Shubert organization non-profit? That surprises me. They certainly weren’t in the days of Lee and his brothers.

Is t his strictly for Broadway? How is the West End dealing with all this?

R304, in later years, the Shuberts were not so smart, which is why they were picked off so easily by Shoenfeld and Jacobs.

They were brilliant to figure out how to use the non-profit foundation as an umbrella for the business as a whole and maximize the amount of dollars coming through.

Has any other business entity in any other field worked on a similar scheme?

Paris Original is such a fun number, r298...

R306, many large hospitals and health insurers are nonprofits. Commercial news media outlets are increasingly organizing themselves as nonprofits, too.

Health insurers were not allowed to be for-profit till the 70s, so I guess some just stayed nonprofit.

The Shuberts have been, and will always be, a commercial enterprise in execution. They hide behind the "Foundation" to mask the multi millions they are all rolling in.

Or were...

I never liked the Coffee Break number in How To Succeed. Maybe the original worked, but none of the Broadway revivals staged it in a way that was fun.

I guess I'm always expecting something like Michael Bennett's "Turkey Lurkey Time" which takes the most mundane event and turns it into an eye popping, high energy production number. "Turkey Lurkey Time" is so stupid and yet the staging raises it from stupid to fun.

[quote]The Shuberts have been, and will always be, a commercial enterprise in execution. They hide behind the "Foundation" to mask the multi millions they are all rolling in.

All people with money, whether an organization or personal wealth, do this now. Anytime you see a Hollywood star create a charity, it's to launder money. They make themselves head of the non-profit charity, pay themselves a large salary, see to it that their money goes to a charity that they want to support and they take a tax write off. They can ride around in cars purchased by the foundation, live in homes purchased by the foundation and live large on the tax-free foundation.

The fact that it's inane works in its favor, if you have the brilliance of Bennett. It's about nothing *but* the choreography.

Shubert Alley is always lined with the limos for all The Shubert execs. "Non Profit." Right.

Well, it IS their alley r314.

Just a reminder: The National Theatre's One Man, Two Guvnors is airing on PBS this Friday at 9:00.

Audra and Kim Criswell singing about deplorables

Cute, r317. Too bad they didn't throw her around like Roz....

R312, It is not the same thing. The Shubert Foundation owns the business arm.

So would be as if the studios paid the Angelina Jolie Foundation, which then put her on salary.

Most people take the money themselves and funnel it into a charitable foundation---they do not set up the foundation as their "boss."

As I understand it - which is not much - non-profits are limited in their actions to their core mission, which means they're limited in how much revenue they can raise, etc. Hence creating a wholly owned corporation, the profits then going to the non-profit.

Either way, whoever first posted on these alleged rumours needs to expand on them.

What is amazing to me is that the Shubert Foundation gives more money to the theater than any other organization in America.

Yet, they only give the minimum percentage of their income necessary needed to maintain their Foundation status.

It's a silly tune but it's supposed to be. And it gives the orchestrators a chance to let Bennett let loose with inventive Hullabaloo antics. What is lost is that Promises had wonderful staging throughout. I had listened to the obc a lot and when I finally saw the show I was knocked out not just by Turkey Lurkey but when you listen to A Fact Can Be a Beautiful Thing the song trails off like a pop record but I was astonished when I saw the show that it turned into another sensational number in a very packed bar. And the staging for the middle aged execs for Where Can You take a Girl brought the house down. NOBODY has this kind of talent anymore. It was what made Broadway thrilling for me as a boy. Down the block was Fiddler at the Majestic and across the street was Ethel Fucking Merman in Hello Fucking Dolly.

You can't imagine.

Or as it's known now 'Follies!'

"Turkey Lurkey Time" is not just a success because of the choreography. The music helped Bennett.

Bonnie Langford has a fun story about Jule Styne after about 28:00.

I saw Bonnie play Baby June. Boy do I feel old.

So did I, R326. The year was 1974. I was a mere child, of course.

Angie gave Bonnie a black eye and they tried to blame it on Cassius Clay!

It sounds like Bonnie has a good book in her about the making of CATS. Get Ted Chapin's ghost writer!

The Shuberts don't really want anyone looking closely or talking about their non-profit status. It was a hidden secret for years until The Times did an expose and Jimmy Nederlander Sr. went insane. Non profits don't pay taxes; the Nederlanders and Jujamcyn do. Think about that.

R328. Sure it was t Yul Brynner?

Bonnie also mentioned that she did CHICAGO not that long ago with her understudy from GYPSY. I looked it up and the understudy was CHICAGO mainstay, Donna Marie Asbury (then Elio).

R285, you can donate clothes, books, magazines, CDs, DVDs at St. Luke's Church at 308 West 46th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 11am & 2pm. There is a theatre there too.

R333. Thank you! That’s what I’ll do. Much appreciated.

There should be a musical version of M. Butterfly. I think it's time.

[quote]There should be a musical version of M. Butterfly. I think it's time.

By ALW, so that he can lift the big melodies from Puccini again.

My homophobic boss asked me to get him tickets to M Butterfly because his wife was dying to see it. He knew nothing about it. He later told me he had no idea BD Wong was a man and was totally caught off guard. He was a dope but I loved his innocence. BD Wong was extraordinary and fooled a lot of people. Lithgow was good but his replacement David Dukes was fucking hot.

When I saw M Butterfly early in the run, we were in house seats, something like the 6th or 7th row on the right side of the orchestra. We had a perfectly good view of the stage and the first couple rows of the center orchestra. Every time John Lithgow came to the front of the stage to speak, he would shower the first few rows with copious amounts of spittle. Those poor theatergoers were literally flinching every time he got close to the lip of the stage. It got so bad that it was distracting the audience and there was laughter where there should not have been. During intermission, I said to my companion- Instead of playbills, they should have given out those Japanese paper umbrellas.

American Utopia.

The 'Rocky' thing.

The 'Rocky' thing.

R337 I also saw David Duke’s as a replacement, in Amadeus – and he was both hot and excellent Pity he died so young.

David Duke's what?

Would some say BD was flower-like, r337?

sorry r343 I dictated that and Siri caught "Duke's" and I posted without checking.

[quote] There should be a musical version of M. Butterfly. I think it's time.

[quote]By ALW, so that he can lift the big melodies from Puccini again.

Or Schonberg. Bring Him Home from Les Miz is basically the Humming Chorus from Butterfly with different lyrics.

Doing a musical version of M Butterfly without heavily referencing Puccini would be stupid.

M. Butterfly needs no music.

[quote]M. Butterfly needs no music

Or a rewritten revival directed by Julie Taymor apparently.

[quote] Bring Him Home from Les Miz is basically the Humming Chorus from Butterfly with different lyrics.

For the record, the only lyric in “The Humming Chorus” is “mmmmmmmmm”

Well, at least it rhymes r350.

[quote] Or a rewritten revival directed by Julie Taymor apparently

With puppets?

R352 I saw it and can’t remember much about it. There may have been puppets. Everyone had high hopes for the production, but the reaction from most was “meh.” I think it closed early.

Someone posted that photo of Gloria Swanson standing amid the ruins of the Roxy in a Trump thread and was congratulated for winning DL by combining Follies with the election.

Has Trump ever been that thin?

No, but he's currently that delusional. This was posted first:

My post credited that poster (who re-posted 3 times) thusly, r356. And whoever posted that I won DL....what the hell do I win???

"This Gloria photo also serves metaphorically, R 10, R 11, and R 12"

All good for you kids to keep politics on the political threads.

What about poker, r358?

You brought her, you poke her

Hoary old chestnuts, r360 -- They were has-beens when your grandmother fell off the high-wire.

R361, do regale us with more fascinating reminisces from your remote youth

After watching a video about "Spiderman Turn Off The Dark" on YouTube (and a mention at r349) I got curious about what Datalounge theater mavens think about Julie Taymor.

So what is the consensus on Julie Taymor? Talented? Talented but limited? Cunt?

One-trick pony maybe, R363? Lion King was amazing. Has she come close to that success in any of her other projects?

Taymor's stage productions of Titus Andronicus and The Tempest were amazing. Juan Darien was also awe-inspiring and amazing.

Nothing since Lion King has been as good. I often think that if she went back to smaller projects with limited budgets she might again become a great director. But she is not at this time.

Her film Titus is terrific as well

Is that a biopic of Burgess?

No a deeper dive into the world of Andromedon.

Trump is acting like Al Jolson today. Jolson, also noteworthy for having a huge ego, would turn the water faucet on in his dressing room to keep himself from hearing applause for others; that's what Trump is doing by being on a golf course today away from tv and crowds. Ultra-jerk.

What thread were you hoping to post that amazing bit of information to 369?

Gosh, some people are a little ornery about politics behing mentioned in the theatre gossip thread (that rarely has any gossip). Interesting...

*being

It's called the THEATRE GOSSIP thread.

Where's the gossip?

Thanks r369. I think your post is great.

Theater is currently comatose.

I am thrilled that we finally have a president who just might do something to bring it back.

There are thousands of political threads.

Get over your cheap self r376.

Oh, please. A pertinent similarity about two egomaniacs, one of a theatrical singing legend, the other a disgraced and pushed out failure, is very dramatic actually. Since there's no theater going on, this qualifies. Or even as Jolson might sing about applies to Twitler now: "Toot, toot, tootsie, goodbye!"

[Quote] can't we have one space free from politics, just one

Must be nice.

Not really 378.

You're asking for a return to the status quo and you can't even quote a post correctly?

You can't scroll up two replies 381?

This House.

Does "Call Me Madam" have a playable book or has it aged badly?

The latter.

The Bridge Midsummer...

R384 The move of "Call Me Madam" is great, with Merman giving the truest idea of what she was like on-stage in one of her big hits, the marvelous Donald O'Connor and Vera-Ellen dancing up the standards of Astaire and Rogers together, and George Sanders sexy and displaying a gorgeous singing voice. It's fluff, but with a fine Berlin score and a great cast.

*

I love Anita!

If he had a gorgeous singing voice why does he speak sing this way through this?

Anita's Sally...

R390 Sanders was actually on the verge taking over for Ezio Pinza in "South Pacific"; even Dolores Gray is holding back in that number, hardly one which singing full out is in the style of the song.

I can't find video for the scene, but here's Sander singing from the soundtrack of "Call Me Madam". Very beautiful voice. Ethel rightfully practically swoons for him during the number on-screen.

Yes, but Dolores still manages to show off her voice. His vocal performance is rather dull.

IIIIIIIIII was de world's FIRST Anita!

Is it true Chita can't go to a casino, because if someone says to her "Chita" they call the house managers on her for cheating..

Just being silly, of course. Chita's a doll.

Actually, she's a bear...

I'm not Chita. I'm Lenora Nemetz, dammit!

A message from Elaine Stritch

Sanders and Gray would reunite many years later in SHERRY! For a short time at least.

Friends who saw Spider-Man on Broadway in previews when Taylor was still director, felt it was a darker, better version. They say it again after the show opened and so much of what made the show interesting disappeared and just was spectacle

I saw both versions of Spider-Man and I’d largely agree. Not that version 1.0 was good. It wasn’t. It was awful, just awful, a staggeringly incoherent mess. But it at least tried to do something unusual, even if it failed miserably.

Version 2.0 made sense from a commercial perspective, if nothing else. By that point, I imagine they were just scrambling to put anything on the stage that was competent and safe - metaphorically and literally.

There was something electric in the way Brad Wong said "cappuccino". I get hard just thinking about it.

[quote] There was something electric in the way Brad Wong said "cappuccino". I get hard just thinking about it.

Pics please.

R390 = idiot who has no conception of the fact that different styles of singing are appropriate for different types of songs.

I believe the general opinion of Taymor is that she's great -- sometimes -- when it comes to visuals, whether on stage or film, but severely lacking in every other way, including the way she deals with people and her inability to tell a coherent story.

Another unimpressive Sanders performance.

That's lovely, actually. The poster must think Eminem and Jay-Z have powerful vocal instruments by contrast.

Men don't have to belt at the top of their lungs all the time; a lovely legato is sometimes quite welcome.

Legato?

In her case, that's wobble or tremolo now.

Taymor treats her actors like props. And you can't let her be in charge of story (like [italic]Spider Man[/italic] and her proposed 2nd act of [italic]Lion King[/italic] she describes here)

I'm switching back and forth between Joan in Queen Bee and this...

I don't understand why the producers of "Spiderman" didn't just take it to Vegas, which they mentioned in the YT video I watched. It makes no sense to retool an entire theater when you can go to Vegas and find a venue that has exactly what you need.

I kept thinking how great it would have been to have some of the Cirque experts help with the all the wire work. Why not take advantage of that? It just didn't make sense.

I don't know anything about Taymor but I work in Hollywood and you can't expect everyone to be adept at knowing how to work well with people or care about it. Sometimes you just have to show up and do your job and leave your personal feelings about everything at home. But this is the age of political correctness where we all must say the right things and be the perfect version of ourselves lest it trigger somebody.

[Quote] But this is the age of political correctness where we all must say the right things and be the perfect version of ourselves lest it trigger somebody.

It isn't, though. It's swings and roundabouts. There are still assholes gainfully employed. They haven't all been thrown to social media cancellation.

R414, because the show was a dud

I'm all right with that r415 because if we have to silence everyone then soon telling inconvenient truths or uncomfortable truths won't be allowed either because they upset someone.

We need more truth not less and we need to cultivate the strength it takes to hear an insult or hostility and not have it harm us.

I have had my share of brutality from other people all my life, starting from when I was first in an all white school. It difficult as a child to digest cruelty and hostility that you have no understanding of why it's happening but I am grateful for the strength I have and the growth I continue to experience. Nothing is better than the feeling that negativity cannot pierce you.

But sure, we can go ahead and keep feeding people the mental gruel that no one should ever trigger them for any reason if it contains hard truths.

[Quote] we can go ahead and keep feeding people the mental gruel that no one should ever trigger them for any reason

But that's all talk. Trump has been declared no longer useful in his previous capacity but the likes of Murdoch is still in his place of power... Rest assured, shitheads will still get ahead if they make the right connection and your abhorred snowflakes will write comments and not much else.

Stephanie as Marilyn

Ethel going from an equally sensational I Got Lost to Gabriel at 45:30

A shame there was no proper recording of Gray's Annie, only some song medleys.

R414, the venues in Vegas are usually either purpose built for the show or hugely redesigned.

And they did use experts who had worked in Cirq shows, which may have been part of the problem. The safety standards on Broadway are pretty strict. The minor injuries that are accepted in Vegas and Cirq shows get union attention in NYC.

No one died in Spiderman, but it still got more media attention than the death in Vegas' show Ka did, because it happened blocks from all the big media outlets offices.

R422 And let killing actors and dancers not become acceptable. Anywhere.

Agreed.

And starring Miss Cynthia Nixon...

I wish instead of the disco album, Ethel Merman would have recorded some of the Beatles songs. Her choppy way of singing would have done wonders for "Strawberry Fields Forever."

It's bewildering that EMI had Merman record "Annie Get Your Gun" for a third time, especially as it was the 1970s and the title would hardly add much to the coffers.

Lucy looked much better in Mod than Ethel, r426.

[quote]It's bewildering that EMI had Merman record "Annie Get Your Gun" for a third time, especially as it was the 1970s and the title would hardly add much to the coffers.

Ethel needed the money. Alimony to Ernie Borgnine didn't pay itself. And a girl's gotta eat (and boy could she!)

I know why Ethel did it. I was bewildered why EMI (the record label) paid for it.

Especially when the Ethel Merman Disco Album was out there!

SPIDER-MAN! SPIDER-MAN! HE EATS PUSSY LIKE NO ONE CAN!

The 2.0 version of Spiderman was directed by a guy whose name a can't remember but had directed several tours of the Ringling Bros. circus. At that point they were hoping for a version to tour indoor stadiums and arenas. He was actually a really good choice for that. But the endless financing finally fell through and the whole project was shut down.

Philip Wm. McKinley. He also directed Boy From Oz.

The 1970s revival recording of Annie Get Your Gun is the best one out there and Ethel was at the height of her vocal power. It also has Bruce Yarnell and Jerry Orbach, two decided pluses. Having grown up on the Doris Day/Robert Goulet studio recording of the 1960s, I was pleasingly shocked at the difference in energy and fabulousness.

That studio recording isn't very good, r435. I don't think the songs fit her voice very well. O.K., I just looked, it's not just that. It's the *new* orchestrations. This has such a bouncy beat...and that's about all. And Doris really doesn't have a belt.

r436, the only thing I love about the Doris recording is the very cute song "Who Do You Love, I Hope?" which is sung by some young couple and isn't heard on most (any other?) ANNIE recordings. Have those characters been cut from all revivals? They weren't in the MGM film either.

Tommy and Winnie were in the otherwise horrible 1999 Broadway revival, and "Who Do You Love I Hope?" was included.

Yes...

[quote]The 1970s revival recording of Annie Get Your Gun is the best one out there and Ethel was at the height of her vocal power. It also has Bruce Yarnell and Jerry Orbach, two decided pluses.

It wasn't the 1970s, that recording was made in 1966. As it was, people made fun of that production as "Granny Get Your Gun," because Ethel was so old.

[quote]The only thing I love about the Doris recording is the very cute song "Who Do You Love, I Hope?" which is sung by some young couple and isn't heard on most (any other?) ANNIE recordings.

Ironically, as abbreviated as the original Broadway cast recording of AGYG is, "Who Do You Love, I Hope?" is included there.

Reba was pretty terrific in that "Annie Get Your Gun". I'm surprised they didn't try to hire Donna Douglas, since Bernadette Peters was trying to simulate Elly May Clampett for the most part. [Give her a Tony anyway, instead of when she deserved it, like for "Sunday in the Park with George"]

[quote]Bernadette Peters was trying to simulate Elly May Clampett for the most part.

Fuck, Bernadette can stimulate me any time she wants!

I saw Granny Get Your Gun and it mattered not a whit that she was old. She owned the stage and had the audience in the palm of her hand.

[quote] Give her a Tony anyway, instead of when she deserved it, like for "Sunday in the Park with George"

Best Actress in a Musical is littered with make-up awards. Or career achievement. Ask Kelli O'Hara.

Arts Organizations Celebrate Biden-Harris Victory:

Was Kelli eve really deserving of a Toni?

She seems more of a Lilt girl, r446.

I’d love to see Toni Collette win a Toni.

Or at least a Toni doll, r448!

DL question for you friendly theatre people:

When I click on a W&W icon to express I like it, it then disappears. This is true for me whether or not there's already a number of likes on it. Is that the way it's supposed to work? TIA!

Yes

Taymor culturally appropriated every trick in in The Lion King from Asian puppet theater.

WE SEE YOU WHITE ASIAN PUPPET THEATER

Trump announcing he'll run for President in 2024 is like every Broadway flop announcing they'll be sending out a national tour in the fall.

"Taymor culturally appropriated every trick in in The Lion King from Asian puppet theater."

Just as Hal Prince "appropriated" Meyerhold and Reinhardt, Kazan Strasberg, and Peter Brook Joan Littlewood. Any artist is free to choose any influence and express themselves in any manner as they see fit.

If you ask me, the look of "The Lion King" was heavily borrowed from the Broadway classic "Timbuktu" ('78).

I saw Kukla, Fran and Ollie myself. I never could figure out why that lady who was featured on commercials is singing "Das Be Danya" though at the beginning. Maybe Putin invested in the show?

"Any artist is free to choose any influence and express themselves in any manner as they see fit." Yes of course. But they don't get to be called geniuses in originality

There isn't any kind of "Asian puppet theater" that approaches the depth and scale of what Taymor brought to The Lion King.

And, all created art contains elements and inspirations from the artist's surroundings, knowledge and world view. That's how great art is created.

Speaking of puppet theater, did anyone get to see The Long Christmas Ride Home by Paula Vogel? I missed it in NYC but I got to see a production about 15 years ago or so in Los Angeles in this dinky little theater in the Noho Arts District. I thought it was magnificent. Even the company of actors and the puppetry felt NY standard, even though it was just a little local production.

R459, seriously? Most people would say Bunraku goes far beyond.

Or in the west, Handsprung made you really care about that damn horse. Taymor has not been able to do that since Juan Darien.

Well, I cried.

Even as the body and mind deteriorate, eating disorders carry on.

R446, I thought O'Hara was very deserving of her Tony nomination for South Pacific (and my personal pick for the award - sorry, Patti). Also, not that they give out awards for this type of thing, but I have never seen someone consistently have blazing hot chemistry with all their leading men.

I know I'm probably in the minority but I found Kelli to be very bland and boring as Nellie Forbush, no where near the warmth or effervescence I imagine of Mary Martin, Florence Henderson (who I saw years ago in a 1960s Lincoln Center State Theatre revival) or even Mitzi Gaynor in the film.

After the curtain call Kelli made an impassioned speech to the audience for donations to Broadway Cares and I finally saw glimmers of the Nellie Forbush I'd missed in her performance so I blame Bart Sher whose direction was no doubt too controlling.

The ending of DEFENDING YOUR LIFE always makes me tear up for some reason. It’s partially the music...

It’s all so naked and affectionate and desperate!

From the articles at the time, Anthony Hopkins was so fed up with Taymor's direction that he wanted to quit acting. She also called Anthony fucking Hopkins a "one-note Johnny" in Silence of the Lambs.

[quote]From the articles at the time, Anthony Hopkins was so fed up with Taymor's direction that he wanted to quit acting. She also called Anthony fucking Hopkins a "one-note Johnny" in Silence of the Lambs.

She is an extremely lucky person of extremely limited talent and, apparently, an abhorrent individual to work with. Glad she got her comeuppance with M. BUTTERFLY, and here's hoping she works very infrequently (if at all) in the future.

[quote]Glad she got her comeuppance with M. BUTTERFLY,

After the smash hit of "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark"?

Taymor's career has been reduced to nothing but come-uppances since The Lion King.

'Meyerhold and Reinhardt, Kazan Strasberg, and Peter Brook Joan Littlewood.'

I'm not saying you're wrong R455 but I was wondering how many stage productions of these people you got to experience first hand.

Why is it necessary to have seen these productions, r471. In most cases, if not all, the directors in question have acknowledged their debt.

I have a friend who was involved with Ragtime. He told me that the night of the Tonys, many of the cast attended a private party to watch on TV. After Ragtime winning best music, lyrics and book, The Lion King won Best Musical. My friend said there was dead silence in the room until finally a single plaintive voice spoke up and said "We lost to a puppet show."

I guess I just find the word appropriate wrong. But except for Brook I never saw any of their productions. I think influenced and inspired are better words. And the two Brook productions I saw were pretty disappointing though I love his film of Beggar's Opera. I wish I had seen his Midsummer.

Didn't Audra hint at some discord behind the scenes when she won her Tony that night when she said "there's something going on backstage"?

[quote]My friend said there was dead silence in the room until finally a single plaintive voice spoke up and said "We lost to a puppet show."

So did we:

Caroline Or Change

The Boy From Oz

Wicked

Taboo

"We lost to a puppet show."

And well they should have. A puppet show with more brilliance, showmanship, soul and IDEAS than a decade of Broadway musicals combined.

Does anyone know where I can find an online bootleg of the recent LCT My Fair Lady? Thanks.

What's wrong with puppet?

Ragtime is a good show but...so is The Lion King.

As for Wicked and its dumb fans, it's not a good piece of theater. It's just an evening of shrieky songs and cute costume/set design.

And they did not even get a bigger dressing room than the puppets.

The next to last episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent is a wicked send up the whole Spiderman situation with Cynthia Nixon doing a brilliant and outrageous portrayal of Taymor as a drunken lush. It's full of snarky insider theatrical jokes and well worth catching in reruns if you run across it. Icarus, season 10, episode 7.

I was in the wrong thread : (

I wanna see that r481!!

Hey, I pointed that out at r425!

Sorry, r484!

That's o.k....

Most of the music you love in Turkey Lurkey Time is by the great Harold Wheeler, who was dance music arranger.

Won't someone think of the dance music arrangers!

WE SEE YOU WHITE DANCE MUSIC ARRANGERS!

When you used to rent Annie Get Your Gun for high school and amateur productions, you would get the Lincoln Center version that eliminated Winnie and Tommie, along with their two songs, I'll Share It All With You, and Who Do You Love, I Hope? I wonder if the awful Bernadette Peters version is now the preferred version for rental.

The criss cross movement during Turkey Lurkey was awesome. I wonder if any of the dancers ever crashed into each other? And how did they keep from getting a neck ache with those neck movements? You just don't see chorus numbers like this in today's Broadway musicals.

[quote] WE SEE YOU WHITE DANCE MUSIC ARRANGERS!

Harold Wheeler - one of the great orchestrators and dance arrangers - is Black.

Blame all those dancers having to go to their chiropractors for adjustments on Donna's trick neck, r490.

[quote]When you used to rent Annie Get Your Gun for high school and amateur productions, you would get the Lincoln Center version that eliminated Winnie and Tommie, along with their two songs, I'll Share It All With You, and Who Do You Love, I Hope? I wonder if the awful Bernadette Peters version is now the preferred version for rental.

Yes, I remember that at one point you had your choice between the original or the Lincoln Center version.

But I just went looking for licensing rights and they evidently now belong to something called Concords Theatricals. What the Hell is that? R&H produced the show originally and the rights always belonged to the R&H organization. What is going on? And which versions do they license?

^ Concord Theatricals, not Concords. Whatever. Who now owns the rights and what can you license? Why aren't they still with the R&H Org?

[quote]When you used to rent Annie Get Your Gun for high school and amateur productions, you would get the Lincoln Center version that eliminated Winnie and Tommie, along with their two songs, I'll Share It All With You, and Who Do You Love, I Hope? I wonder if the awful Bernadette Peters version is now the preferred version for rental.

Some years ago, my college alma mater scheduled AGYG, and at that time, they had a choice between the 1966 version and the Bernadette Peters version, with that awful rewritten book by the usually reliable Peter Stone. The head of the dept. decided to go with the Stone version, and when she told me that, I made a sour face. I think that shocked her, because she obviously hadn't done her research, in which case she would have found that Stone's rewrite got deservedly terrible reviews.

The Lincoln Center revival eliminated Tommy and Winnie and their songs but added An Old Fashioned Wedding, which Berlin wrote for that production. Why can't you just pick and chose what you want to use like you can with the all various versions of Show Boat?

^ all the, not the all.

I guess it's assumed that no one would want to do the 1946 version of AGYG anymore. One of the two Tommy/Winnie songs, "I'll Share It All With You," was reinstated for the Stone version. That was only one of many bad decisions made for that production.

I disliked the 1999 production from the very beginning, when it opened with the show's most famous song, "There's No Business Like Show Business" as a throwaway generic "opening number" as people were still unwrapping their candy, rather than having it arise organically from the plot, as in the original. Stupid decision.

^ Gower Champion did that in his West Coast 1970s production with Debbie Reynolds which was intended for Broadway but the financing fell through. It's a shame, all the reviews were excellent.

'Sp who actually licenses the rights to Annie, which versions are available for licensing, and why are R&H no longer licensing it? R&H owned it originally.

I thought it didn’t transfer to broadway because Debbie didn’t want to do it.

So who, sorry.

No, r504, she wanted to do it badly, the money wasn't there.

I've always read that the 1970s revival of AGTG was always intended for Broadway and that both Champion and Reynolds were really upset when it didn't transfer. It had great reviews and they both needed a Broadway hit.

A coupla old white chicks sitting around talking...

Eldergays, did anyone think it strange when Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie got married? Did she think it strange when he brought home chorus boys who wanted to "audition" for A Chorus Line?

Happiness!

*

I think someone should do a mashup of Annie and Annie Get Your Gun

Streetwise orphan does a sharpshooting show on the streets of NYC in the Depression era. Billionaire finances her act if he can join the show.

Easy street (bang, bang)

Easy street (bang, bang)

Where the shooters play (bang, bang)

Move your feet (bang, bang)

Or you're dead meat (bang, bang)

When you get there spray (bang, bang)

Everybody found it strange except apparently Donna and Michael. But they were very very close and maybe he wanted with his newfound enormous wealth a bit of 'respectability' and he convinced himself he was in love with her. It is fun to be a couple and go everywhere being affectionate without worrying about being bashed.

I really wish the planned LA production of Gypsy starring Debbie would have happened. I think she would have surprised a lot of people.

[quote]Eldergays, did anyone think it strange when Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie got married? Did she think it strange when he brought home chorus boys who wanted to "audition" for A Chorus Line?

Yes. It was much discussed. The general consensus was live and let live. Things were changing so rapidly back then and nobody knew quite what to think so people let others live their own live and work out their own lives for themselves.

^ sorry for the typos but you all know what I meant.

I did a show with Donna several years ago and have to say she was one of the sweetest and most genuine people I've worked with in over 40 years of my career. I always wondered why didn't remarry, preferably some billionaire businessman. She certainly must have had many opportunities. I don't think she is gay but perhaps she was never a very sexual person and a partnership with Michael Bennett was much to her liking.

I have a friend that worked on a regional production of AGYG with her, r517, and he was of the same opinion.

^ The part about her being a sweetheart.

R517, r518: Never met her or worked with her but that's always been her reputation. Will never judge nor offer an opinion about her relationship with Bennett. Things were very different then and people were still trying to figure themselves out.

I want outta these woods...

[quote]So who actually licenses the rights to Annie, which versions are available for licensing, and why are R&H no longer licensing it? R&H owned it originally.

Click on the link for more info, which you could have found for yourself with incredible ease. I guess you've never heard of one company acquiring others.

[quote]R541 I really wish the planned LA production of Gypsy starring Debbie would have happened. I think she would have surprised a lot of people.

Debbie Allen?

It would have been terrifying!

I think she would have been a rather aerobic Rose, r523.

While the actors are out of work for the foreseeable future, does Uberbitch Taymor continue to collect royalty checks for Lion King?

Concord acquired R&H and Samuel French (and possibly Tams), making them a huge player in the licensing market, along with MTI and Theatrical Rights Worldwide(TRW).

R525: Assuming your question is meant to be taken seriously, of course Taymor would not at this time be getting royalty checks for stage productions of THE LION KING that are not currently running, but she would continue to get royalty payments for sales of the video of the movie remake and also I assume a percentage of sales of the original Broadway cast recording and the soundtrack album of the movie remake.

Speaking of aerobic Roses, where's Miss Abdul's Rose's Turn???

I'm watching Miss Plunkett on L&O. I would have liked to have seen her Dot/Marie.

Maryann Plunkett was wonderful in SITPWG. Her casting was a huge surprise to many at the time (especially Betsy Joslyn who had taken over temporarily when Peters left and Patti LuPone who had auditioned) but Plunkett was lovely.

That's what I understand, r530. Bernadette owns the role, but I was curious to see someone in it whose bag of tricks I wasn't already familiar with.

Bea on Perry...

Patti in Sunday in the Park with George is a really terrifying thought. If you think of Bernadette and Patti like Mary Martin and Ethel Merman, Martin could do Merman's roles, but not so much the other way around.

Plunkett was especially great as Marie in Act 2. Bernie was too cutesy old lady.

Could Bernadette Peters have pulled off Norma Desmond? She could have played her like an ancient Mabel Normand.

Old Times.

"Camoflauge" Mame 1966 Angela Lansbury Bea Arthur

The idea of opening Annie Get Your Gun with No Business Like Show Business was Susan Stroman's. She originally going to direct the revival, and had done a lot of work with Peter Stone. She dropped out because of friction with the Weisslers.

"Same Mistakes" - Breakfast at Tiffany's 1966 Mary Tyler Moore

Very sad.

As George C. Scott’s character said in Movie Movie “One minute you’re in the wings, the next minute you’re wearing them.”

[quote]R536 good cast

Our Faye did a production of OLD TIMES in 1972. She played the visitor, Anna. She’s written about it herself, but I wish I could find a review.

“Old Times affected me in a lot of very complex ways. The play itself reminded me during a difficult point in my life that there are a million facets to life. There is never just one answer. Professionally, if I hadn't taken that step to go back to the stage, in a serious way, I think I would have suffered for it."

I was lucky enough to see Maryann Plunkett in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, and I agree that she was wonderful in it. She's also great in a rather obscure 1991 TV movie called DECEPTION: A MOTHER'S SECRET. Don't be turned off by the awful title, it's actually an excellent, heartbreaking movie about a man (Steven Weber) who, after his wife's death in a car crash, wants to adopt her son but then discovers that his wife had kidnapped the boy when he was a baby. Maryann plays the boy's real mom.

Actually r542, the title sounds rather accurate.

[quote]Our Faye did a production of OLD TIMES in 1972. She played the visitor, Anna. She’s written about it herself, but I wish I could find a review.

Ask, and you shall receive R541.

The attached review is from the Los Angeles Free Press, June 2-8, 1972.

"Faye Dunaway, as the crisp and fashionable Anna... uses her voice as an instrument of extraordinary range and finds a very lovely melody in even the most prosaic line. Her coolness and her control only emphasize the suggestion of menace in her voice and there is a frightening edge in the light trill of her laughter. A very handsome performance, indeed."

Thank you, r544 [bold] : )

R543, I guess the title is okay AFTER you've seen the movie, but before you've seen it, I think the title makes it sound like some sort of sexploitation movie.

Patti LuPone in SUNNAYINABARKWIGEORGE!

I watched the episode of L&O:CI with Cynthia Nixon doing Julie Taymor tonight (thanks for the recommendation). Two things stood out-

1- I have never seen an episode of CI before. Jesus Christ, is it awful. And talk about cheap! The whole thing looked like shit. I'm a big viewer of the original L&O, which had really great production value right up until the end. But this thing looks like a web series.

2- I had to look up the actor playing Icarus' understudy because he looked somewhat familiar. It wasn't who I thought it was, but it was Matt Cavenaugh. So Matt is actually straight? Because he pings to high heaven.

Come sit by me, r548.

Was the Cynthia Nixon episode from the latest season of L&O? With Raul Esparza??

If Matt Cavenaugh is in it does that mean he was returning to acting before Covid hit? I thought he'd left the business and NYC.

It's from Law & Order Criminal Intent, r550, featuring the ever self-indulgent (some might say spastic) Vincent D'Onofrio.

And it's from 2011, R550.

And Christ on a bike, R551, D'onofrio was execrable. You haven't even begun to scratch the surface of how bad he was with both of those adjectives,

I was trying to be kind, r552...some might say flower-like.

Isaac Cole Powell cast in the Dear Evan Hansen film. Joins DeMarius Copes and of course Ben Platt in that all three have had their nudes leaked.

No Man's Land.

Oh god, I fell asleep at the screening of that one, R555. What a fucking dull play.

Anybody download Boston Marriage last night?

I saw it last night, but I probably won't download it till the weekend.

It was really very good. And Rebecca Pidgeon was amazing. Her Claire was sort of sociopathic, which was a terrific choice.

Ben PLatt has nudes??

R559 Well just one, but yeah

Was this meant to be public? Or was it leaked by a frenemy? Or Ben himself?

I’d rather see his dad Marc naked.

I saw Boston Marriage at The Public with the glorious Martha Plimpton and Kate Burton. Wonderful production.

I saw Martha Plimpton with a naked Campbell Scott in Pericles. He's comes out of the ocean nude. My friend said the water must have been very cold. I thought he was fine.

Wasn't there a TV police drama which recently had a Julie Taymor-ish type character?

Kate Burton’s Hedda Gabler was marvelous.

R556 Everyone is a critic.

[quote]When I saw M Butterfly early in the run, we were in house seats, something like the 6th or 7th row on the right side of the orchestra. We had a perfectly good view of the stage and the first couple rows of the center orchestra. Every time John Lithgow came to the front of the stage to speak, he would shower the first few rows with copious amounts of spittle. Those poor theatergoers were literally flinching every time he got close to the lip of the stage. It got so bad that it was distracting the audience and there was laughter where there should not have been. During intermission, I said to my companion- Instead of playbills, they should have given out those Japanese paper umbrellas.

I guess they learned nothing from the Splash Zones that are customary at Sea World.

Has anyone watched Annaleigh Ashford's new CBS/Chuck Lorre sitcom? The previews didn't look so great.

She is arch, forced and annoying. So, just like her stage work.

And the central premise is stupid.

Annaleigh is one of those actors who seemed so fresh and different when she first appeared but now is like a bag of tired tricks and tics, the 2000's version of Sandy Dennis.

And like Dennis, brilliant on stage, but that doesn't necessarily translate on screen.

Annaleigh deserves so much better, but you can understand wanting the paycheck. Those Chuck Lorre shows seem to run forever, and she and her hubby have a young kid to raise.

Oh please, what performer *doesn't* have their bag of tricks? Some just may have more tricks in their bag...

Speaking of Annaleigh, this morning I got it into my head to attempt Fox's TV production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I've been having a bit of a Rocky Renaissance after discovering how fantastic the Roxy cast album is, and I re-watched the movie a couple times this week, so I thought I would brave the TV version, at least until Laverne Cox showed up.

JFC- as bad as you think it's gonna be, nothing prepares you for the sheer awfulness. Nothing. Cox should never be allowed to work again, but we're talking about Annaleigh right now. She (and several others in the cast, including Cox) played with such low energy, I wasn't sure if they were bored or sympathetic to Tim Curry and decided to bring their level down to his so it seemed more like a choice instead of a stroke. (And I worship Tim Curry and am not making fun of him, but it was just sad watching him.)

The only person who came close to the spirit was Ryan McCartan (who I had never heard of before). However because he was playing on a different level of tone than everyone else, his performance seemed out of sorts.

^ If you thought that was bad, wait til you see fat pig Peppermint destroy Frank.

Jesus, who's the latino guy playing Brad who clearly had the script shoved under his nose right before the zoom call and can't read English?

R577 Wilmer Valderrama. A name which usually has to be followed by "Fez from That 70's Show" to elicit recognition. And yeah, he was beyond terrible.

That's Wilmer Valderrama?? I always thought he faked that accent.

He seems distracted.

So that thing was done to raise money for the dems? No wonder McConnell and The Senatrice won such landslide victories.

R581 For Wisconsin Dems, so your snide post doesn't really work, does it?

Neither did that fundraiser, I'm guessing.

Neither does r581, I'm guessing.

Betrayal.

Perhaps a piece of Mahler's

I love a good slice of Jewish pastry.

...and a big hi-de-ho!

R575 If you haven't seen it, you might enjoy the Rocky Horror Show that was broadcast live from the West End in 2015.

Because it was a benefit for Amnesty International, they used several different narrators (Stephen Fry, Baby Spice, Anthony Head, etc.) to add some variety; otherwise, it was the same cast that was appearing in the show in London at the time. David Bedella stars as Frank N. Furter and, though he is not Tim Curry (who is?), he has played the part many times and has developed a following of his own. Ben Forster is Brad, Kristian Lavercombe is a terrific Riff-Raff, and Dominic Andersen is sexy as hell as Rocky.

There are several postings of it on YouTube. The one linked to below includes some pre-performance filler, including a chat with Richard O'Brien. The musical itself begins at 15:31.

Awesome, thanks, R589. I've heard about that production. I will watch it today.

I loved the 2001 Broadway revival. I saw it three times. Great cast (except for Joan Jett, who was awful- thankfully I only saw her once. Her understudy was better and then Ana Gasteyer took over the role and she was fab). Tom Hewitt was really, really good.

For absolutely no reason...

New thread #405 is up

BAJOUR!

Maggie talks Judi...

A message from Elaine...

Bajour!

Can-Can!

Time to kill this pathetic thread with its awful title.

It's ALIVE!

Please take your medicine, dear World...