Theatre Gossip #406: The "Another Winter in a COVID Town" Edition

Link to previous thread

And will Plaza Suite ever reopen?

Who’s difficult to work with? Who’s hated by fellow cast members? Let’s dish

Thanks, OP.

R2 She doesn't call herself Sarah -- it's always Sarah Jessica.

To answer 600 in the last thread - yes, there will be some performances during the parade. They've all been pre-recorded

[quote]Mean Girls: Reneé Rapp, playing the stung queen bee Regina George in Tina Fey's high-school musical, belts out the James Bond theme song–like "Someone Gets Hurt," joined members of the company.

[quote]Ain't Too Proud—The Life and Times of the Temptations: The five triple threats (that's a quindecuple threat in total!) playing the most famous lineup of the Temptations—Nik Walker, James Harkness, Jawan M. Jackson, Matt Manuel and Jelani Remy—perform a medley of the Motown hits "My Girl" and "Get Ready."

[quote]Hamilton: Eighteen cast members of Lin-Manuel Miranda's history-making musical sing "The Schuyler Sisters"—which includes a paean to NYC as "the greatest city in the world"—with Joshua Henry as Burr and Jennie Harney and Krystal Joy Brown as Anjelica and Eliza (and Alysha Deslorieux as Peggy).

[quote]Jagged Little Pill: A dozen cast members sing the Alanis Morissette jukebox musical's finale, "You Learn," including 2020 Tony Award nominees Elizabeth Stanley, Celia Rose Gooding, Derek Klena, Sean Allan Krill, Lauren Patten and Kathryn Gallagher. (The cast will also reunite on Sunday December 13 for Jagged Live in NYC, a concert of songs from the show.)

They're actually having a parade tomorrow?

This will never go away.

BAJOUR!

No actual parade. Some pre-taped performances on NBC and CBS and other Reduced features.

The CBS performances include come from away. Will Chad kimball be appearing?

Chad’s busy singing for Jebus

I have to say, Grey Gardens was *not* the musical from the 2000s I expected would have such a polarizing response. Looking at you, Wicked.

We see you Grey Gardens... The revival better be BIPOC Gardens

Grey Gardens was okay, certainly better than I ever imagined a musical of that story ever being. But when you see it outside that original cast and original production, you realize how rickety it actually is. But Ebersole and Wilson were pretty glorious.

War Paint was dross. Too clever by half yet not nearly interesting (or moving) enough to satisfy.

Jesus Christ. Broadway is truly dead, even without the pandemic, if Jagged Little Pill is the best they can do. That parade performance would actively keep me away from the theater. Jukebox musicals are the death of musicals in the first place, but that was atrocious.

Grey Gardens allowed Jackie On Assistance to come to the rescue. If it hadn't been for the documentary, Jackie wouldn't have bothered and her relatives would have been living in a house where the roof caved in and the walls blown down.

Jackie cleaned it up before the documentary.

[quote]Jackie cleaned it up before the documentary.—you sound stupid

No she didn't and obviously you haven't seen the documentary. There's holes in the roof, they are confined to one room and there's a raccoon wandering around.

Please god that Michael Jackson jukebox show never makes it to Broadway. That fucking enabling family doesn’t deserve a fucking dime.

[quote]Chad’s busy singing for Jebus

Chad’s busy superspreading for Jebus

R17 You embarrass yourself.

For that matter, I could live without the Brittney Spears princess show.

Yeah these are not the shows I'm eager for but right now I'm ok with any show that can push forward and actually happen

Damn, I hate it when people insist they're right about something and argue with each other, when the fact is that each of them is only partly right. As per Wikipedia, re Grey Gardens: "In the summer of 1972 Jacqueline Onassis and her sister Lee Radziwill provided the necessary funds to stabilize and repair the dilapidated house so that it would meet village codes." BUT, of course, the house wasn't completely renovated and not all of its huge problems were fixed immediately, so it was still in pretty terrible condition overall by the time the Maysles filmed their documentary.

Now, can we move on to the next pointless argument?

Will 2 character shows be popular once theatres reopen? Mass Appeal. Same Time, Next Year. I Do! I Do! Owl and the Pussycat. Talley’s Folly. So many gems to choose from.

Did anyone on DL ever see Little Edie during her "cabaret career" post-GG at Reno Sweeney's or elsewhere? We're talking late 70s.

(And yes, I believe this is actually a photo of her, not a male impersonator.)

For the record, I loved singular moments of the GG musical and loved the 2 leads. The two act structure (past and present) was a terrible idea. It should have been more like FOLLIES, with the ghosts of the past bleeding into the present day.

Sorry, but no one cares that "Jerry Loves My Corn."

[quote] The two act structure (past and present) was a terrible idea.

Especially since most of their character arcs happened during intermission.

Doug Wright, who wrote the not very good book for GG, wrote the slightly worse book (IMHO) for WAR PAINT as well. Apparently, he and composer Scott Frankel went to Yale together.

(Are Frankel and lyricist Michael Korie still working together after WAR PAINT? I read about Korie working elsewhere but don't know the details.)

Wright wrote I AM MY OWN WIFE, which I thought was great.

[quote] It should have been more like FOLLIES, with the ghosts of the past bleeding into the present day.

I think goes without saying on DL that EVERY musical should be more like FOLLIES. Do try to keep up.

Wright is a one-hit wonder. After [italic]I Am My Own Wife[/italic] (overrated), every musical called on him and he did [italic]The Little Mermaid[/italic], [italic]Hands on a Hardbody[/italic], [italic]War Paint[/italic] and [italic]Grey Gardens[/italic]. Impressive, huh?

[quote]For the record, I loved singular moments of the GG musical and loved the 2 leads. The two act structure (past and present) was a terrible idea. It should have been more like FOLLIES, with the ghosts of the past bleeding into the present day.

I think the best structure would have been to have most of the show set in the time period of Act II, with a few (but not many) flashbacks to the earlier period, but of course, it would have been impossible to do that without having different sets of actors playing the Edies. At any rate, I don't think we needed the equivalent of a whole act about their earlier lives.

who the [bold]fuck[/bold] cares

R24, Deuce allowed me to utter the word "cunt" on a Broadway stage.

Michael Korie wrote lyrics for FLYING OVER SUNSET to Tom Kitt's music. (I actually had tickets to a preview cancelled the week after quarantine.)

Looking forward to seeing that, eventually.

[quote]Now, can we move on to the next pointless argument?

I'm sorry, but we haven't spent even 1/10th of a Follies on Grey Gardens.

Huge meltdown over Twitter over how the film of The Prom imagines Broadway. Wicked is at the Majestic?

The theatre kids on social media are starving for a fight, now that the convo over WE SEE YOU/BIPOC has quieted down considerably. And everyone has rightfully pissed all over Chad Kimball.

Expect THE PROM to be equally adored/ripped to shreds when it drops.

[Quote] Now, can we move on to the next pointless argument?

Um, you seem to be missing the point of DL

I was bored to tears by I Am My Own Wife, and by Jefferson Mays, who has always resembled a tranny serial killer, no matter what he does. I remember seeing that and the equally dull The Invention of Love at the Lyceum in nearly the same seat (I got walked in to both) in the back of the orchestra, which was a blessing since no one was bothered by my snoring.

Jagged Little Pill was horrible, it was painful watching how they shoe horned those songs into that bad script. As singles on the radio those songs were barely passable as anything enjoyable to listen to, the musical shined a big bright ugly light on how bad they are.

Maybe original musicals need to start including at least one song suitable for radio airplay. Broadway needs to start attracting new people so maybe it's time to roll things back to the time people learned about shows by hearing songs from shows on mainstream airplay.

JLP is an abomination. I feel bad saying this but that's one show that I wouldn't mind seeing not come back.

[quote]Maybe original musicals need to start including at least one song suitable for radio airplay. Broadway needs to start attracting new people so maybe it's time to roll things back to the time people learned about shows by hearing songs from shows on mainstream airplay.

Bring back tv variety shows. In the 1970s, every single one had someone singing "Send In The Clowns."

[quote]I was bored to tears by I Am My Own Wife, and by Jefferson Mays, who has always resembled a tranny serial killer,

So "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder" -- typecasting?

He was the victims in Gentlemen’s Guide, not the killer

Gentleman’s Guide was fantastic.

I detested I Am My Own Wife

Betty Lynn's Norma...

HAIR

If it took a pandemic to close Jagged Little Pill, then I support it.

I was re-listening to the Gentleman's Guide OBC recording the other day and was reminded what a very charming show it is. Those two girls were both out of this world. The songs are clever and melodic. It doesn't seem to get much love here.

Actually Jefferson Mays played a cross dressing serial killer on Law and Order SVU - he appeared in a bunch of episodes as the character.

r46 Barbara Dickson? Is she Brendad's long-lost sister?

We don't need variety shows r41 there are still plenty of talent, singing and dance competition shows to expose popular tunes to audiences.

Those "talent, singing and dance competition shows" *are* basically variety shows.

No compared to the kind I used to watch.

Yes, r53, we know that they can't be compared to the likes of the old Ed Sullivan, Garry Moore, Dinah Shore and Perry Como variety hours.

Stella Deems on a variety show!

The new Anyone Can Whistle recording is really great. The lead performers and the orchestra are wonderful, and it makes the best case possible for the show that one can imagine. I still hold out, despite its dated weirdness, that a smart director somewhere could make it work onstage.

There is also something surprisingly poignant about listening to a ‘new’ recording that was recorded almost 25 years ago. Julia McKenzie, Maria Friedman, and John Barrowman seem to be at the top of their game, but none of them have those pipes anymore.

Adam Guettel went to Yale with Frankel and Wright. Yale mafia!

Has any hot musical been forgotten sooner than SPRING AWAKENING?

Yes. THE PRODUCERS.

I'm not sure who is asserting that SPRING AWAKENING is "forgotten," even a little bit.

The original Bway production ran for 859 performances, and swept the TONY awards, winning Best Musical, Book, Score, Director, and Choreography. The show was revived just 6 years later in a highly regarded production by Deaf West Theatre. It's been produced regionally and internationally pretty regularly.

SA was composer Duncan Sheik's first musical and he's gone on to write half a dozen others. More than that, the score is well known to younger theatergoers. Anyone with a connection to theatre students can attest that those songs are heard constantly in auditions (and in online cover versions, piano bars, karaoke, you name it).

You may not care for SPRING AWAKENING (I don't love all of it) but it's not even close to being forgotten by those active in musical theatre.

Someone in the last thread mentioned a bootleg of the new Company (but I couldn't post at that time). I don't suppose any kind soul has a link?

Hearing Harry Chapin's Cat's in the Cradle, I was wondering if anyone else saw the Broadway show based on his music The Night that Made America famous. I found it pretty fascinating as a kid. First, it was actual pop music on Broadway being performed by an actual pop star. Chapin was in it although I thought his brother who was on the kids show Make a Wish was far dreamier. The show had giant screens onstage where the performances were shown. Kelly Garrett who was a Johnny Carson favorite was in it and got a Tony nomination as did Gilbert Price who had one of the most amazing voices I'd ever heard onstage. Delores Hall who would later win a Tony for Your Arms Too short to Box with God was also in it. It was a failure but perhaps a sign of the jukebox musicals to come. I think Garrett and Price were pretty fantastic although Chapin was essentially boring and not charismatic at all.

This one should be revived somewhere.

r59: You see something I don't.

I'm really surprised by all the hatred for JAGGED LITTLE PILL. I personally liked it a lot, but even if someone didn't like it, I can't understand such deep hatred for a show that certainly isn't even in the same universe of "bad" as the worst Broadway musicals of recent years.

[quote]Huge meltdown over Twitter over how the film of The Prom imagines Broadway.

How do you mean?

I'm catching up on Great Lord Bird over the holiday (which is great btw!) and wow Daveed Diggs is astonishingly bad as Frederick Douglass - like high school play level bad.

Spring awakening has already been forgotten.

Just as had that Elton John musical about the dancing kid , whatever that’s called.

The bootleg Company was on YouTube but I believe it’s been taken down.

R65 he was pretty bad in his three-episode stint on THE UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT.

David cannot act but is rumored to be hung huge.

Daveed not David, autocorrect, you bastard.

R69

Diggs is insanely charismatic onstage; he was electric in HAMILTON. But he’s not a trained actor and suffers on TV and film when he tries to be anyone other than himself.

I saw Diggs in some forgettable cable show. He was terrible. Where was the director? How did this happen?

[quote]But he’s not a trained actor and suffers on TV and film when he tries to be anyone other than himself.

Plus, doing historical tv and film are difficult. Americans never do it very well. They always bring modern behavior into it.

R74 Please! 🙄 Daveed is just a sucky actor.

r71 am I missing something?

newp

[quote]Spring awakening has already been forgotten. Just as had that Elton John musical about the dancing kid , whatever that’s called.

Are you joking? If not, you're dead wrong on both counts.

[quote] Bring back tv variety shows. In the 1970s, every single one had someone singing "Send In The Clowns."

And not one of them was as bumblingly literal with the song as Madonna was by actually dressing as a clown to perform it. When Florence Henderson did it, she only sang it to clowns, though.

R78, I remember being totally underwhelmed by Billy Elliot on Bway.

People on ATC were going on and on about how it was an automatic classic.

Haven’t heard a thing about it for a decade. maybe Encores will revive it in another decade.

[quote]Huge meltdown over Twitter over

This is where I stopped reading.

Stop trying to make Daveed Diggs happen!

R66 and R80, BILLY ELIOT was a very difficult show to do because of all the work and money involved in finding and training all those boys to play Billy. And the show had a great run in London, on Broadway and elsewhere, plus the Broadway production only closed eight years ago, PLUS a video of a live performance from London is commercially available. If you were expecting that there would already have been a revival of the show, that's ridiculous, but that doesn't remotely mean that the show is "forgotten."

[quote]because of all the work and money involved in finding and training all those boys

It was exhausting, but I soldiered on!

A crew friend told me on set of SVU Wednesday Raul Esparza was coughing to an alarming degree. There was speculation he’s getting the ‘Rona. One of the costume guys died from it back in March.

I’ve done background work on a few NYC shows over the past few months and I can tell you Covid precautions are sometimes very sloppy. Social distancing is nearly impossible and I was sent to the set twice without temperature checks because some assistant assumed I’d had one until I corrected them. I know they’re trying but it’s difficult.

R56, The Encores! production of Anyone Can Whistle with Donna Murphy, Raul Esparza and Sutton Foster was outstanding.

WE SEE YOU HALF WHITE DAVEED DIGGS!

R67, A friend gave me a DVD copy, but it was so poorly shot, even for a bootleg, I could barely get through it.

Matt Doyle's "Getting Married Today" stops the show.

R83, I can’t even name a single song from Billy Elliot. Hardly anyone can.

Does any small local theater do it? Schools? Doubtful.

It’s not ever even mentioned whenever I hear either friends or pundits talk about Bway.

Forgotten

[quote][R65] he was pretty bad in his three-episode stint on THE UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT.

He was equally bad on "black-ish."

r59 It was also the subject of the short-lived NBC series, "Rise," with Josh Radnor.

The Porchlight Theater in Chicago did Billy Elliot in 2017. It was excellent. I do not understand the dislike for this show. The music works in the context of the show.

Was there ever a cuter Billy?

Good god, R94, Tom Holland was 84 kinds of adorable.

[quote] Yes, [R53], we know that they can't be compared to the likes of the old Ed Sullivan, Garry Moore, Dinah Shore and Perry Como variety hours.

GET OFF MY LAWN YOU JUVENILE DELINQUENT!!

" It was also the subject of the short-lived NBC series, "Rise," with Josh Radnor."

When I saw him naked, Josh had a small penis peeking out of a forest of pubes.

I don't remember him being unhung. In fact, I remember both he and NPH (in The Paris Letter at the Kirk Douglas in LA) were both pretty floppy.

floppy dics...

NPH was, Josh not. Maybe it was cold that day.

[quote]I can’t even name a single song from Billy Elliot. Hardly anyone can.

"Electricity" is a great song. Agreed that there are few standout, stand-alone songs in the score, because it's not that kind of show. But that doesn't mean the show is "forgotten."

[quote]Does any small local theater do it? Schools? Doubtful.

I would think it's VERY obvious why the show isn't done more often on the amateur and school level, and it's NOT because the quality of the show itself is lacking. I'm not going to bother to explain the real reason to you, so if you can't figure it out for yourself, maybe you can ask a friend who's smarter than you.

[quote]It’s not ever even mentioned whenever I hear either friends or pundits talk about Bway. Forgotten.

Well, I guess that depends on who you talk to. Anyway, the show is not "forgotten," it's fondly remembered by lots of people.

^ It is so fucking long. And the score of forgettable. And the story seems unfocused and zips all over the place, but doesn't service any of the characters.

[quote]Wicked is at the Majestic?

Those all seem to be parody titles. And we can’t really see that it’s Wicked, just the “W.” And it’s at the Broadhurst.

R101, sorry to break it to you. No one remembers or cares about Billy Elliott

Yes, it’s very tough to do in a nonprofessional setting, which will just mean it will never be done anywhere.

West Side Story is done all the time in community theater, colleges and even high schools in spite of the intricate and strenuous dancing. Not to mention the difficult casting requirements.....

This is sorta good.

R105, Now that the expectation is that actual Latinx performers be cast, we will see fewer productions of WSS.

R104 For a show so forgotten you're sure having to go on about it a lot.

R105 I didn't realise West Side Story had 12 year olds doing those dances.

Not 12 year olds but 16-18 year olds. "High school" age, like I said, r108.

R108, I’m willing to bet this is the first time Billy Elliot has been mention in a last 50 threads on DL

If the last revival of WSS was any guide, we don’t need any more versions

Billy Elliot was a very, very good movie and a completely uninspiring and boring stage musical with a lousy score.

R110 A quick Google search shows you'd lose that bet.

"Shine" was kind of a fun number in "Billy Elliot", but that's about it.

Is Billy Elliot gay in "Billy Elliot?"

No. He likes cunt.

I'm having my doubts about this new production of Evita. Is it British? Like that avant garde Cat On A Hot Tin Roof?

R117 At least that disastrous Cat had chav cock.

Jagged Little Pill is such a cheap, pathetic excuse from the musical. It's literally just Next To Normal's book (with a few tiny little changes, just enough to not get sued) set to Alanis Morisette songs. It's just a blatant attempt to jump on the jukebox musical trend that is quietly killing Broadway. There's no art in it, no soul, no creative vision. It's just an attempt to make money.

*For a musical, not from the musical. Autocorrect sucks shit.

How do I unblock a poster I previously blocked?

TIA for any helpful info.

[quote]How do I unblock a poster I previously blocked?

It involves Muriel, a bottle of Tequila and a weekend in a Holiday Inn Express. You don't want to know. (shudder)

[quote]How do I unblock a poster I previously blocked?

What if the only person who can tell you is the person you blocked?

Grey Gardens will never be revived, except at Encores! in about 20 years. And for the one who asked, yes, I did think the film (which I saw after I saw after the musical) totally took advantage of two mentally ill women. And its weird why so many gay men celebrate these two sick women.

R121 Go to ignored, click the cross up the top next to their names.

R124 Mentals are funny...

[quote]And its weird why so many gay men celebrate these two sick women.

No, it's not because they are exactly like them. A middle-aged no-talent who still lives with their mother and an eldergay waiting for the Grim Reaper while mentally living in the past. It's too bad Mr. Rod Serling is not still alive to produce a show about them.

[quote]West Side Story is done all the time in community theater, colleges and even high schools in spite of the intricate and strenuous dancing. Not to mention the difficult casting requirements.....

Thanks for schooling me, but that's NOT the same as a school or amateur theater group having to find AT LEAST two adolescent boys who can dance ballet well enough to be believable in the role of Billy Elliot. (I say at least two because there has to be at least one alternate or understudy, otherwise you'd have to cancel the show if the main boy got sick.)

^ And children that can stay awake for the 2 hour 50 minutes running time...

Difficult to work with = Papi, Natascia Diaz, Lea Michele (supposedly her behavior during SPRING AWAKENING make her antics on GLEE look amateurish), Barrett Wilbert Weed, Ben Platt...

These are the names I remember off the top of my head from friends who are company managers, asst directors, etc...

[quote]Lea Michele (supposedly her behavior during SPRING AWAKENING make her antics on GLEE look amateurish)

You should have seen what a brat she was in Ragtime. She kept stealing Audra's Chipotle Preferred Customer cards. Audra never did get her 11th meal free.

"SA was composer Duncan Sheik's first musical and he's gone on to write half a dozen others. More than that, the score is well known to younger theatergoers. Anyone with a connection to theatre students can attest that those songs are heard constantly in auditions (and in online cover versions, piano bars, karaoke, you name it)."

Case closed.

"The music works in the context of the show."

A chair "works". Art should transcend.

[quote] (Doug) Wright wrote I AM MY OWN WIFE, which I thought was great.

Wright wrote I AM MY OWN WIFE, which I thought was a heinously over-praised "school field trip theater" outing! I have no freaking idea what it was supposed to be about, and that distracting Louise Nevelson-inspired crappy set was hugely distracting.

I'll never get over the swooning for it, or the sort of embarrassing "guy in drag" performance given by the unappealing Jefferson Mays, that was thought to be so "brave". I found it your basic yet earnest trannysort of effort. We were supposed to find it very "important", I believe?

R124 Anybody who finds it weird that gay men celebrate mentally ill women is clearly not a gay man. Our whole culture is centered around celebrating mentally ill women. All of the gay icons are mentally ill women. You must be new here.

Has Aaron Tveit made room on his mantle yet for his Tony Award?

Has Aaron Tveit made room in his tight little ass for my cock yet?

^ When the fuck are the Tonys?

I auditioned once for a role that would have a big bunch of scenes with Aaron Tveit. They were likely to go with an actor with better credits than mine, but I was thrilled to be considered and by the fantasy of surely becoming best friends with Tveit and then dropping all my "Well, when I worked with AT, he was all like..." stories here forever.

I suppose I should have focused on the script and being talented more than all that, but I'm only human.

Gee, Aaron appears to be smitten by his dresser.

All this talk of Billy Elliot has negated any talk about the " musical that shall not be named."

[quote]Difficult to work with = ... Ben Platt

Any stories? Could always do with more reasons to dislike him.

R109 But the lead (and a large part of the supporting cast) in Billy Elliot is not high school age. Hence my comment about 12 year olds. So you likening it to WSS being performed in schools was just...bizarre.

The mention of Diaz reminded me of Every Little Step and the Cassie callback. It was Charlotte, Diaz and two or three others. That’s the best they could come up with? And isn’t there a story about Diaz going to a deli in full costume during a performance of La Mancha?

I was in an audience once with Diaz - Off, off bway show. Small theatre, three quarter set up, so the audience was visible to each other. I don’t even remember a damn thing about the show, all I remember is her sitting in her seat over emoting to every emotional beat in the play. Open mouth gasping, holding her hands up to her open mouth, clutching her breast, weeping. It was all too much, I felt bad for the cast because they were definitely upstaged that night.

[Quote] Thanks for schooling me, but that's NOT the same as a school or amateur theater group having to find AT LEAST two adolescent boys who can dance ballet well enough to be believable in the role of Billy Elliot.

The problem with staging Billy Elliott isn’t just the boys; it’s that no one actually wants to see the show.

"I was in an audience once with Diaz - Off, off bway show. Small theatre, three quarter set up, so the audience was visible to each other. I don’t even remember a damn thing about the show, all I remember is her sitting in her seat over emoting to every emotional beat in the play. Open mouth gasping, holding her hands up to her open mouth, clutching her breast, weeping. It was all too much, I felt bad for the cast because they were definitely upstaged that night."

And that show was " The Play That Goes wrong." Imagine what she would have been like had the show been a drama.

R117, when I visited London in 2019, I saw a fantastic version of Evita in Regent’s Park—I was sexier, grittier, and seemed more current that the original production. I thought it was slated to transfer to the West End prior to Covid

R136, I was just wondering about that the other day. We've had several award shows happen over the last few months (including the Emmys), so the Tony organizers have had plenty of examples on how to pull off an awards broadcast during a pandemic, so what are they waiting for? Is it really taking that long to pull the show together or did they decide to postpone until after the vaccines?

[quote]The problem with staging Billy Elliott isn’t just the boys; it’s that no one actually wants to see the show.

Right, just like nobody wanted to see it on the London stage during its 11-year run there, or during its three year run on Broadway -- and no one went to see it in all those touring productions, or in Australia. The producers just kept it open all that time even though there was no audience.

[quote]We've had several award shows happen over the last few months (including the Emmys), so the Tony organizers have had plenty of examples on how to pull off an awards broadcast during a pandemic, so what are they waiting for? Is it really taking that long to pull the show together or did they decide to postpone until after the vaccines?

Or maybe the issue is simply that they're having trouble financing the awards show under the circumstances of the pandemic?

No one is in a rush to give Jeremy O. Harris a Tony award.

[quote][R117], when I visited London in 2019, I saw a fantastic version of Evita in Regent’s Park—I was sexier, grittier, and seemed more current that the original production.

Actually, that's a picture of boxer Jake LaMotta.

r148 obnoxious as always

Speaking of difficult personalities, has anyone worked with D’Jamin Bartlett? Her LinkedIn is apparently full of right wing lunacy.

What’s Billy Elliott?

r125 is wrong, r121. It's an X, not a cross.

We call that a St. Andrew's Cross, R154

Slave Play!!!!!!!

Wow. At least the convo about BILLY ELLIOTT relates to a show about a decade old. I'd call that progress, for DL.

What are the best (okay, your best) musical scores of the last decade (2010-2020)? Some of mine:

THE BAND'S VISIT

HAMILTON

THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY

DEAR EVAN HANSEN

WAITRESS

And some runners-up:

ONCE (songs were originally written for the film, though...)

GROUNDHOG DAY

FUN HOME

WOMEN ON THE VERGE

HANDS ON A HARDBODY

r133 Cher and Barbra are mentally ill?

R140 Do you really need stories to prove that Ben Platt is difficult to work with? He's a gay JAP and his daddy bought him the career he has today, it doesn't take a genius to tell you that he's difficult to work with.

There's no question that Ben Platt's producer father bought him the career he has.

But he is talented. And at least some of his Bway colleagues think very highly of him.

R160 Do they really think highly of him or are they just saying that to avoid the wrath of his father, who is the Weinstein of the theatre business?

Ben Platt with his father and brother.

His brother is better looking, but doesn't seem to have any kind of career.

I would like to know which of Platt's B'way colleagues think well of him.

Out of those you mentioned 157 I've only seen Hamilton and Waitress and both were really enjoyable. I was surprised I like Waitress as much as I did because I wasn't a fan of Sara Bareilles' music. She did a great job. I was interested in seeing it after hearing Sara sing on the Graham Norton show. She gave a stunning performance, I needed to see the play after that.

I saw a boot on YT just before we went into lock down with the original cast. I like Jessie Mueller, she's great vocally but her portrayal of Jenna didn't impress me. It was just okay. Then another boot came up in my recommends with Katherine McFee. I'm not a fan of her but felt her portrayal of Jenna was better, she brought vulnerability to the role that Jessie didn't.

Ben and his bestie, Beanie Feldstein.

R160, I do not know who you are talking to, but I have not heard a lot of good about him. And even the ones who think he has chops say he lept past guys with more chops because of his father.

[quote]His brother is better looking, but doesn't seem to have any kind of career.

Is the brother an actor, too? If so, did the father not try to do the same for him that he did for Ben? (Or perhaps the brother is simply not as talented, so any help from Dad still wasn't enough to put him over the top.)

Feldstein is friends with Platt because Platt is a stepping stone for her, although I can't really blame her as climbing the ladder is pretty much the only reason to be friends with Ben Platt.

Ben always looked like a special needs child.

Ben's slobbering throughout "Evan" was embarrassing.

I'd love to see a revival of "Mass Appeal" with Chad Kimball as the bisexual young priest and John Benjamin Hickey as his mentor. They could sell tickets for the backstage show as well.

Ben has a good voice but he cannot act for shit. He and Daveed Diggs are tied for Ed Wood-like acting talent.

That VF interview is just revolting. Beanie F. TOOK FOOD OUT OF HER MOUTH and fed it to Lucas Hedges? Jebus.

Saw Beanie in an indie called How To Build A Girl and she was really wonderful. Excellent Brit accent and it’s a good movie.

I was looking at Ben Gazzara's career. He played Brick in the original "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" but only for six months. He moved over to the original production of "A Hatful of Rain" and stayed with that for seven months.

In Cat, he was with Barbara Bel Geddes. In Rain, he was with Shelley Winters.

R159 Yes, I do. As R160 says, a lot of other actors are very complimentary about him. If it was just because of his father, you'd expect them to just be silent or minimal in praise if he is so terrible to work with.

Besides, why would we not want bitchy stories on DL?

r159 I know plenty of similarly privileged actors (and others) who aren't assholes—and plenty of non-privileged actors (and others) who are giant A-holes. Plus it's DL and as r176 said, this is gossip site so stories and rumors are more fun.

Jonah Platt. Maybe his dad didn't support him because he is straight, although not in this number.

R177, Dina Merrill, for example, came from enormous wealth, yet she wasn't the least bit affected by it and maintained a lifelong reputation as a nice person.

R162, Compared to Ben, his brother is smoking hot.

Jonah Platt did a stint as Fiyero on Broadway in "Wicked," co-produced by his father. Aaron Tveit and Kyle Dean Massey have also been Broadway Fiyeros.

For absolutely no reason...

Articles like that Beanie/Ben crap is why 1/2 the country voted for Trump.

[quote]Ben and his bestie, Beanie Feldstein.

Wait, these two schlubby-faced, overweight [italic]meeskites[/italic] are considered Broadway stars? I guess membership does have its privileges!

Jonah Platt is freaking gorgeous.

R179, Dina Merrill's family was not connected to the entertainment industry and did not make their money there. I am sure her wealth opened doors for her, but it is not quite the same thing.

Dina Merrill was gorgeous and a charming intelligent actress. That didn't hurt either.

Does Ben Platt have an "Andy Cohen" eye?

Anyone watch the NT Death of England: Delroy?

Gabbl, gabble, gabble.

Although I felt it drag a little towards the end of the first half, I thought it was great, R188 - beautifully staged and acted. I’m unsure if it is a play for the ages, but for right now - lockdown, COVID, pre-Brexit, post the summer of BLM - it felt pretty fucking potent.

Also, the type of contemporary political play usually staged by the NT is lazy milquetoast soft-liberal David Hare middle class New Labour Islington dinner party nonsense. This at least felt complex and nuanced and angry.

R189 missed Barbershop.

This article is from the Cyd Charisse thread. I had no idea Gower and Debbie left Jane Powell high and dry when she went into IRENE.

Stage managers are generally responsible for rehearsing replacements.

I just thought there might have been a small level of support, r192. It wasn't like Karen Ziemba replacing Jodi Benson in Crazy For You. I guess I can understand Debbie, but Jane and Gower had been friends. I would have thought he might have understood how daunting it was.

For Debbie to get involved would have been a big breech of protocol (and might even have been a union issue).

While sometimes directors will work with replacements, they are not required to and usually do not. Jane was a pro and should have expected this. If she was a friend of Champion, why didn't she ask him to come to a rehearsal?

That, I don't know, r194.

R194, Those were tough times for Debbie. Harry Karl had wiped her out financially, Carrie's problems were beginning to surface and Todd had accidentally shot himself.

Not to mention her skirt *twirling* up, r196!

Gwen Verdon had a hand in rehearsing her replacements and understudies so I don’t think it’s against union rules. It sounds like Debbie offered no support at all. I remember Jane giving a similar interview while she was in Irene and she implied that Champion wanted her to replace Mary Martin in I Do! I Do! and she turned it down so this was his revenge. She ended up being great in the show, replaced Debbie on tour and played it in stock so it couldn’t have been that awful for her. Was she better than Debbie? No. But she was good.

Jane and Howard Keel in I Do! I Do! would have been lovely.

I imagine Jane was just hoping Debbie would have coffee with her and give her some casual friendly hints about things like entrances and exits, laugh lines and cast gossip, not literally expect Debbie to come in and rehearse with her. Just simply show her some friendly support and respect. Jane would have been rehearsed while Debbie was still performing the show so it's not like she'd left town.

As far as Gower goes, Jane should have absolutely expected him to come in for at least a few days and rehearse with her. While a director doesn't traditionally return for any old cast replacement, when it's a name star whose performance will completely effect box office sales, it's totally reasonable and anticipated to have the director return. But who knows, perhaps Gower was just too busy preparing his next big Broadway hit Rockabye Hamlet?

The stage manager rehearses replacements.

Jane did eventually star in "I Do! I Do!" in stock, opposite DL favorite John Ericson.

Honey West's boy toy?

PS Jane is now 91. God bless her.

R203 Yes. And when he died earlier this year, the headline in the Hollywood Reporter read:

"John Ericson, Actor in 'Honey West,' Dies at 93"

John Ericson dies...

Why didn't Robert Horton do another Broadway musical?

R207 I've also wondered why Robert Horton didn't do another Broadway musical; his singing on the "110" recording is surprisingly strong. He did do a number of musicals in stock opposite his wife.

Robert Horton's second wife was none other than "Carousel" diva Barbara Ruick. His third wife became Marilynn [sic] Horton; they were married for 55 years and performed several musicals together in stock.

[quote]Robert Horton's second wife was none other than "Carousel" diva Barbara Ruick.

Barbara Ruick was married to Horton from 1953-1956. In 1956, she marrred "Star Wars" composer John Williams; they remained married until her death in 1974. Ruick's mother was the actress Lurene Tuttle.

Speaking of 110 in the Shade, why did the bottom fall out so quickly for Inga Swenson? I know she eventually costarred on Benson, but what was she doing between that and Baker Street?

R202, John Ericson co-starred in that 1967 Chicago production of The Philadelphia Story with Princess Lee Radziwil, who the producers billed as Lee Bouvier.

^Radziwill

R212 I WANT HER LAURA.

[quote]I WANT HER LAURA.

Co-starring DL fave Arlene Francis! I want it in the worst way, which I guess is how it was received.

This was a big part of it, R211 mom

Didn't Trevor Nunn fly back from London and spend one or two days working with Bernadette and Elaine after they had been rehearsed for ALNM? As mentioned above, it's not unheard for the original director to come back briefly when there are name replacements. I think Zaks worked with Bernadette on Dolly and god knows Prince checked in every six months on Phantom.

Yes, there's no rule about it but a good director will come back and rehearse with a star replacement. Not perhaps every day of every week but at least a few days to give the star some support and security.

And often the director is a major sharer in the profits so it's only to their advantage to be a presence to insure the show remains at its best. Obviously in shows that run for years and years and it doesn't happen after the first couple of years.

Older than I care to admit but I remember that decades ago Time magazine re-reviewed the original production of How to Succeed a year or two into its run and reported that it was surprisingly better than when it had opened. Meaner, snarkier and funnier. It began "Long runs in musicals can be like long runs in stockings - they keep getting worse."

Sam Mendes came back to the first production of his cabaret revival sometimes to work with replacements. I don’t know if there was any rhyme or reason about who or when.

I just read Arthur Laurents' book Mainly on Directing and enjoyed it very much. I'd read his first autobiography when it came out back in 2000 and I really hated it and him. He came off as (what has always been rumored about him, but I didn't know it back then) a real nasty piece of work, bitter, angry and looking for all the credit. But this book feels a lot less... vindictive? He just comes across much more magnanimously in it and because he seems to have all the axes put away, it really speaks to his director's process.

I haven't read the third book yet. Waiting for it to drop in price a bit on Kindle since it seems a very slim volume.

I read in one book that Horton was gay. Any evidence that you've heard?

Horton Who?

And a director who is not happy with the producer, got bad reviews, does not think the replacement is up to snuff, or just hates the production can also decide not to help out the replacement.

This is why Powell should have asked if Champion was going to work with her before she signed the contract.

[quote] Didn't Trevor Nunn fly back from London and spend one or two days working with Bernadette and Elaine after they had been rehearsed for ALNM?

If he did, Stritch didn’t follow any of the direction.

I believe r222 is asking about Robert Horton.

I remember also hearing that rumor but only after Horton died. It really surprised me because there were always lots of photos of him with his wife and dogs in all the movie magazines of my childhood.....not that that means anything, of course, but I'd just never heard any gay rumors. I'm gonna do some digging this morning and see what I can find....

Rudin deprived of the counterfactual where Tveit loses a two-man Tony race to Isaac Powell

[quote] Rudin deprived of the counterfactual where Tveit loses a two-man Tony race to Isaac Powell

a two person race is still a win for someone!

So happy we're finally getting to the Jane Powell/Gower Champion scandals! Jesus, are we this desperate?

I'd much rather hear gossip about Jane Powell and Gower Champion than Jenn Colella and Christopher Ashley.

[quote]—Glenn Close, pretending she wasn't always a shoo-in for SB

That 1995 season was a mess. I guess Meghan Mullally couldn't be entered in Lead Actress category for How To Succeed because her name wasn't above the title? She, Vicky Clark and Lillias White were all shut out in favor of three of the women from Smokey Joe's Cafe. And from Smokey Joe's, Pattie Darcy Jones was the only woman not nominated, and while Smokey Joe's was an ensemble show, they could have pushed Pattie into lead.

Neither Meghan nor Lillias deserved nominations, especially Meghan, who was downright awful. I was only familiar with her from having seen her play Marty the year before in the '94 Grease revival (where I thought she was bad, too). Lillias was fine, but didn't do enough to warrant a nod. I thought Vicky Clark was fantastic, though, as well as Luba Mason. I was surprised that after H2$, I never liked another Clark performance.

I never heard Megan was "downright awful".

The Shows Must Go On -- on YouTube presents

An American In Paris full show

Please donate.

I will say she sings well in that clip, but it wasn't her voice I had an issue with. She played Rosemary (at least the night I saw it) very angrily and somewhat annoyed. She just had a very unpleasant demeanor throughout the entire show. I remember really being taken aback by it. I had never seen the show before, but I adored the movie, and I was a huge fan of what Des McAnuff had done with Tommy, so I was very much looking forward to seeing this production, and came away only really liking some of the supporting performances, and not much of anything else

Mullally came off similarly that way in Grease, more bored than angry, like the role was beneath her and she should be playing Rizzo- but the big thing I remember from that was how fucking lazy Rosie O'Donnell was during the dance numbers. The choreography (especially for Rizzo) was not that difficult, and there was a big, fat ensemble chick (who I thought might have been her understudy) who was doing the moves just fine, so it wasn't her size. O'Donnell always seemed to be marking throughout every number where she had to dance.

Did anyone see Rosie when she took over as The Cat in SEUSSICAL?

Rosie did Broadway (and theatre in general) a lot of good on her talk show, but I thank god for never having actually seen her in GREASE, FIDDLER, or SEUSSICAL. Did I leave anything out?

Paris Original...

So why exactly did the OP get grayed out?

^Nancy Drew

Miss Ruick also gave a searing and trenchant performance in...

Miss Ruick had a face for radio. She's like the lovechild of Dinah Shore and Natalie Schaeffer.

Oh, Zombie Debbie, you still haven't changed. For everyone out there (with the possible exception of Zombie Debbie)....

The one occasion where I think Rosie fared well was as Pauline, the maid, in the Encores! production of No No Nanette. The deadpan humor suited her. Pauline doesn't have a song and Rosie just hoofed it a little bit in "Take a Little One Step," when the character has a featured moment.

"Hoofing it" is an apt description of Rosie's every movement.

[quote] John Ericson dies...

Well, looks like I’m going to outlive everybody else from [italic]Bedknobs and Broomsticks[/italic] who was an adult at the time of its production. It’s just as well since I already outlived Jerry Herman and Howard Ashman.

Des McAnuff is so hit or miss. His work creating [italic]Tommy[/italic] was genius, and, say what you will, [italic]Jersey Boys[/italic] was staged very, very well. On the other hand, his attempts to impose video and his "vision" on [italic]How to Succeed[/italic] and, much, much worse, [italic]Guys and Dolls[/italic] were terrible, and really hurt the material (although he didn't steamroll over [italic]How to Succeed[/italic] as severely as Miss Ashford, who came close to killing the material entirely.

It seems like the people who can handle rock musicals can’t really handle the more traditional stuff well and vice versa.

Angie always had those high kicks, didn't she?

[quote]Horton Who?

[quote]It seems like the people who can handle rock musicals can’t really handle the more traditional stuff well and vice versa.

I can handle both well. What I can't handle is all the high school related musicals, movies, tv shows, enough already.

There was a time where young people where expected to mature past adolescence and be able to enjoy more adult stories. As a kid I watching Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart etc. and I appreciated and enjoyed them. Now we cater to juvenile humor and storytelling and no one is maturing past that mind set, not the kids or the grownups. I think that part of the reason storytelling has gotten suck in a rut, no one is growing or wants to change past a certain point.

I'd like to hear a little more about that production of H2S (gosh, what a silly acronym). Did anyone see the replacement actors?

[quote]I will say she sings well in that clip, but it wasn't her voice I had an issue with. She played Rosemary (at least the night I saw it) very angrily and somewhat annoyed.

I wish I had seen Megan Mullally in the role. I saw Sarah Jessica Parker, playing opposite her husband. She wasn't good, and her singing was pretty bad.

I saw Megan, and she was delightful. You felt like you were discovering a major talent. The video is nice, but it doesn't capture how her energy lit up the entire stage. She and Vicki Clark were delicious together.

So did JAGGED LITTLE PILL kill some Tony votes with that parade nightmare? What were they thinking?

I saw both Jane and Debbie in "Irene". when I was kid. Both were excellent. "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" was on the LP, but was cut by the time Debbie opened the show in NY, but Jane sang it beautifully. I recall the newspapers said the Gower Champion had abandoned Jane in helping her in the part, but they did report at the time that Debbie was helping Jane. Jane sounded quite bitter about her Hollywood experience in that article from about 2000 above in this thread; despite her really wonderful accomplishments as a singer, dancer and actress on screen (and stage, tv, etc.), it seems she was pushed into the business by her parents and had a hard time of it in relationships and so forth because of all the pressure. But man, to have co-starred with Fred Astaire when you're 21, and to actually be able to dance well alongside him! I hope Ms. Powell has realized just how special a life she has lived. Her final marriage to Dickie Moore lasted a long time, so hopefully she mellowed out a bit over time. I met her back then at the stage door -- she was a very pretty, tiny little thing about 5 feet tall and very charming indeed!

I believe Jane said she did talk to Gower about rehearsing her and he begged off and apologized. As she considered him a friend she was very hurt as stepping into such a big musical she needed all the support and help she could get.

I'm so happy we're on the Jane Powell beat...

Window card...another I sold on eBay.

Well despite being about as un PC as you can get Seven Brides is still one of the most popular movie musicals to this day. I remember a feminist writing about raising a young daughter to be a strong individual who could do anything but the daughter was obsessed with the musical, played the video constantly and this woman couldn't figure out why. Though Powell does in fact play a strong take charge woman in it.

I’m looking forward to the Debbie Allen documentary on Netflix

I saw Ralph Macchio in the tour of H2S. He was fine and still looked 20 something on stage despite being close to 40. I think Megan was with the tour. She didn't really register. The production with all the video screens was OK and had some cute effects but wasn't really necessary. It was a whole lot better than that horribly over choreographed mess a couple decades later.

At least Jagged Little Pill and the parade allowed us to see Derek Klena.

r260 It is very light.

Yes, r263, Debbie is a legendary...

r258 I never miss a Ruth Warrick musical.

R221, how ironic that Arthur Laurents wrote a book "Mainly on Directing," seeing as how he had almost zero talent in that area. As opposed to writing, an area in which he did have a lot of talent (before it completely dried up in his later years).

[quote]Well despite being about as un PC as you can get Seven Brides is still one of the most popular movie musicals to this day.

This really burns me. Anyone who views that musical as "un-PC" probably never saw it and is only reacting to the broad outline of the plot as they've heard it explained, rather than taking what happens in the movie in context. What happens is that the Howard Keel character obtains a bride (Jane Powell) under false pretenses. When she finds out, she at first bars him from sharing a bed with her, and only reconsiders on her own terms. We also see that all of the women in the town are promised in marriage to men whom they don't love, and that all of them would rather be with the Pontipee brothers. Since they don't have the agency to make their own choices, the brothers make the horrendous decision to kidnap them. But when the brothers arrive home with the kidnapped women, the Jane Powell character berates them strongly and keeps the women separate from the men for the whole winter. It's only when spring comes that the women forgive the men for their actions and really fall in love with them. So, if anything, the movie can be more accurately described as a feminist film rather than "un-PC," especially if you also consider the sexual politics of the time period.

But how to explain the hideous dirndl dresses and Mary Jane flats the Brides are made to wear throughout the film, r266?

I played Dorcas....she was the tall one.

r265 - Fuck off, Sue...

Megan did not do the tour of "How To..."

This BBC Radio 4 play sounds interesting-behind the scenes of the making of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner with Kenneth Branagh as Spencer Tracy and Adrian Lester as Sidney Poitier. I may have to keep tissues on hand for when my ears start to bleed from those American accents, though:

Debbie played the Patsy Kelly role in an Aussie revival of Irene.

[quote] I can handle both well. What I can't handle is all the high school related musicals, movies, tv shows, enough already. There was a time where young people where expected to mature past adolescence and be able to enjoy more adult stories. As a kid I watching Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart etc. and I appreciated and enjoyed them. Now we cater to juvenile humor and storytelling and no one is maturing past that mind set, not the kids or the grownups. I think that part of the reason storytelling has gotten suck in a rut, no one is growing or wants to change past a certain point.

Sweetie, the comment was about directors, not tastes.

R266, I have seen the film and enjoyed it but....the sexual politics of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers stinks. And even thinking of the time, (1954) makes it even worse. The 50s has some wonderfully progressive films/musicals but also some that seem designed to remind Rosie the Riveter that her rightful place is subjugated to a man.

Your synopsis makes the case that this is an anti-feminist film. The idea that kidnap victims can fall in love with their kidnappers if said kidnappers just are patient...not exactly a message I would want to send to young people.

[quote]Debbie played the Patsy

She sure did!

R272, Both were dykes.

I bet you're just absolutely *wild* about Taming of the Shrew, r274!

Heterosexuality is anti-feminist and downright deplorable.

Jane Powell needn't have given Gower Champion a second thought. She is exceedingly talented and experienced and IRENE is such a bit of fluff, she could do it blindfolded.

Of course, she wanted some attention and support. We all do. But it's not like she was taking over the role of Martha from Uta Hagen. It was just fuckin' IRENE.

George S. Irving won a Tony for playing Madame Lucy, the dressmaker, and he was great when I saw it with Debbie. When I went back to see Jane Powell, it was Hans Conried playing Lucy. I was thrilled to see "Dr. T" from the "5000 Fingers of Mr. T" and Uncle Tonoose from "Make Room With Daddy".

"5000 Fingers of Dr. T".

Irene was a huge expensive musical and the title character has the entire weight of that on her shoulders unlike something like No No Nanette. And wasn't this Powell's Broadway debut?

[quote] There was a time where young people where expected to mature past adolescence and be able to enjoy more adult stories. As a kid I watching Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart etc. and I appreciated and enjoyed them. Now we cater to juvenile humor and storytelling and no one is maturing past that mind set, not the kids or the grownups. I think that part of the reason storytelling has gotten suck in a rut, no one is growing or wants to change past a certain point.

I’m younger than you but I noticed that as well. And that all happened around the time that I became an adult. Musical theater has paid a price for that mentality as much as any other medium.

I really blame the downfall of good taste on Rosanne Barr and her sitcom and the glorification of bad working class values. There were popular TV shows about working class families before (going all the way back to The Honeymooners and The Life of Riley) but they always seemed to be striving for something better.

Hated "Roseanne" and Roseanne. Thought it was such low-brow humor and I wasn't shocked when it was such a big hit years ago; the American populace has the worst taste in the world.

[quote] I was thrilled to see "Dr. T" from the "5000 Fingers of Mr. T" and Uncle Tonoose from "Make Room With Daddy".

Hans Conreid was also the voice of and live-action model for Captain Hook in Disney's "Peter Pan."

HAMILTON will re-open on Broadway in July. You read it here first.

The Conners should bring Glenn Close as Memaw on board as a regular, now that Roseanne is gone and Shelley is dead.

Estelle Parsons, though, is still with us.

[quote]Your synopsis makes the case that this is an anti-feminist film. The idea that kidnap victims can fall in love with their kidnappers if said kidnappers just are patient...not exactly a message I would want to send to young people.

That's one interpretation, but AGAIN, you're not mentioning something I specifically pointed out: It has already been established, by that point in the movie, that the women DO NOT want to marry the men to whom they have been promised for arranged marriages. Instead, all of them are ALREADY strongly attracted to the Pontipee brothers, but the women do not have the agency to marry whom they want. So the brothers kidnap the women, which is an oafish and stupid and terrible thing to do, BUT it is the only way they think they have to get hold of the women who want to marry them anyway. So as bad as the kidnapping is -- and the men are punished for it through forced separation from the women for many months -- it allows both the brothers and the women to get what they want, rather than the women spending their lives married to men they don't love. Understand?

I really want to see r279 dancing on pianos.

Oh r290 please relax

I'll take care of it, r292.

[quote]HAMILTON will re-open on Broadway in July. You read it here first.

That's probably a safe prediction, since you didn't mention the year.

In later years, Keel and Powell toured in the stage version of 7 Brides and did it regionally. She wasn't a stage novice when she took on Irene.

Fine, r295, Jane was an absolute cunt for expecting any assistance whatsoever from Gower or Debbie.

Hey, I also played Irene on Broadway for a week.

R296, I think it was shameful if neither Debbie nor Gower offered any support whatsoever to Jane when she took over. On the other hand, I wasn't there and have no idea what happened. Maybe Gower and/or Debbie knew Jane well enough to know there was nothing they could give Jane that his trusted stage managers and dance captains couldn't? I'm actually an admirer of the talents of all three of them and my comment at r295 was my first and only comment on the situation.

Were you there? Did you personally see any of this? Or are you relying on 50 year old press reports?

[quote]I can’t even name a single song from Billy Elliot. Hardly anyone can.

[quote]"Electricity" is a great song.

It is not always performed well.

No, I'm relying on Jane's interview comments upthread.

^for r298

I bet that bitch Debbie never forgave Jane for stealing A Royal Wedding from her after Judy got fired and Allyson got pregnant.

Gower probably didn't feel committed to IRENE since it wasn't a project he initiated; he joined the project when John Gielgud turned out be incapable of getting he show together and he didn't choreograph it. Does anyone know what Gower was involved in at the time Jane Powell went into the show?

Oh god I miss follies

Debbie lost a lot of weight while she was doing Irene. It’s a huge role. Jane had been doing summer stock for years before Irene and continued to do stock after Irene. She even played Debbie’s signature role, Molly Brown.

[quote]R221 Speaking of 110 in the Shade...

I just learned this was Lesley Ann Warren’s first Bway show.

R290, do you really not get it? I think you may be trolling since it should be obvious but okay....

--The idea that it is okay to assault women if the women find you attractive sounds like a justification of domestic violence --The idea that women will fall or remain in love with men who assault them (specifically kidnap them) if the men are just patient minimizes the harm assault does. --Your idea that being separated from the victims of your crime is sufficient punishment is just....welll...dumb.

Is that simple enough?

As recognizable human behavior, this does not pass minimal standards.

Love the musical numbers, but.....

[quote]In later years, Keel and Powell toured in the stage version of 7 Brides and did it regionally. She wasn't a stage novice when she took on Irene.

Jane did a lot of summer stock and was in a number of touring productions after her movie career dried up. In 2003, I saw her at the Kennedy Center as Mama Mizner in Sondheim's "Bounce," but the production never made it to Broadway.

R308 Jane Powell did two runs of "Bounce," in Chicago then DC, directed by Hal Prince, and that version of Sondheim's Mizner Brothers musical closed in DC. But the show did ultimately come to NY, in 2008 and under the title "Road Show," at off-Broadway's Public Theater, directed by John Doyle.

In "Road Show," Alma Cuervo played the role of the mother that Powell had played in "Bounce."

According to IBDB Gower went into pre-production on Mack and Mabel (which opened in try outs in LA in the summer of 1974) after Irene opened ion Broadway in March 1973. Nevertheless, I think he could have spared a few afternoons of rehearsal and a couple of performances for Jane.

I wonder if Jane Powell was considered for Sally in FOLLIES? Of course, she could have been quite wonderful in the role, if perhaps a little too sweet.

Was Gower Champion actually an early AIDS victim as opposed to "blood cancer"?

[quote]R311 I wonder if Jane Powell was considered for Sally in FOLLIES?

THANK YOU for getting us back on track!

Gower cast Lisa Brown (soap actress) as Peggy in 42nd Street but replaced her with Rev Wanda Richert before rehearsals began. I always thought that was a scummy thing to do. Brown replaced Richert on broadway and was a huge improvement.

[quote]Nevertheless, I think [Gower Champion] could have spared a few afternoons of rehearsal and a couple of performances for Jane.

Would it have killed him?

R307, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS is a heightened-reality musical fable, which is why it has over-the-top plot points like the brothers kidnapping the women when they can't figure out any other way to get them away from the arranged marriages they're about to be forced into. And, to repeat myself one more time (because you obviously weren't paying attention), at the point in the movie where the brothers kidnap the women, it has ALREADY BEEN ESTABLISHED that the women are strongly attracted to the brothers, rather than to the men they have been promised to against their will, and that they would be happy to be courted by the brothers if they weren't forbidden from doing so. For all of these reasons, it would be ridiculous to judge the kidnapping in this movie the way one would judge a real kidnapping.

[quote]And, to repeat myself one more time (because you obviously weren't paying attention)

And why would anyone?

Gower in his later years became something of a show doctor. It was he who took over The Act (née Shine It On out of town) when the producers finally got wise to Martin Scorsese's incompetence and fired his ass.

What I've never known is, was this before or after Liza ended her affair with Scorsese? They started fucking during the filming of New York, New York and that's how he got the job. Was she pissed off the producers dumped him or relieved?

Didn't Gower fuck Wanda?

R319, Every chance he got.

"Didn't Gower fuck Wanda?"

Huh?

R307 and r316 please relax. Now that you’re using all caps to stress your pedantic little points and stamp your pretty little feet, it’s time To give us all a break.

If Gower was in pre-production and living in California, he probably didn't want to fly to New York for a few days to rehearse Jane Powell.

How can all this fighting be going on over Seven Brides for Seven Brothers without any mention of the fact that it is a modern retelling of a story from Roman mythology about the founding of Rome? It's a story with a history that is thousands of years old which has been told and retold by artists working in every medium. Painting. Sculpture. Film. Dance.

Many artists over several millennia have found the story to be a rich source and have been inspired by it to create major works of art. After several thousand years of retelling, it seems silly to disapprove of it now. That ship sailed. Again and again.

Perhaps the plot points are so broadly stated because... the story is a myth. None of them stand on nuance.

I haven't seen a really good kidnapping/rape musical in far too long, myself.

Didn't the authors of THE FANTASTICKS (a score I love, BTW) get around at some point--finally--to removing any/all references to the "rape" (literally, the carrying away) of the daughter? That was never okay with contemporary audiences, not now, not ever, regardless of whatever myth it's alluding to.

Jesus — naked pics and videos of everyone’s favorite Newsie flying all over and this board is talking about Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Nothing opens on Broadway before September, not even Hamilton. Get real.

link to nude Newsies, if you please....

or at least details r326 ASAP. That sounds like just the GOSSIP this GOSSIP THREAD needs

R317 and R322: Sorry, but I really hate it when people spout party lines like "SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS is totally non-PC" simply because they've heard others say the same thing, and not because they themselves have the intelligence to understand what's going on in the movie (and may not have seen it in years).

[quote]How can all this fighting be going on over Seven Brides for Seven Brothers without any mention of the fact that it is a modern retelling of a story from Roman mythology about the founding of Rome? It's a story with a history that is thousands of years old which has been told and retold by artists working in every medium. Painting. Sculpture. Film. Dance. Many artists over several millennia have found the story to be a rich source and have been inspired by it to create major works of art. After several thousand years of retelling, it seems silly to disapprove of it now. That ship sailed. Again and again. Perhaps the plot points are so broadly stated because... the story is a myth. None of them stand on nuance.

Thanks, R324. I did mean to mention that, but it's what I was referring to when I labeled the movie as a a heightened-reality musical fable. For anyone who's interested, I've included below a link to the Stephen Vincent Benet story that inspired the musical.

[quote]Didn't the authors of THE FANTASTICKS (a score I love, BTW) get around at some point--finally--to removing any/all references to the "rape" (literally, the carrying away) of the daughter? That was never okay with contemporary audiences, not now, not ever, regardless of whatever myth it's alluding to.

Well, I don't think it's true that it was never okay with audiences. When the show opened, people seemed to accept that "rape" was being used in the sense of "abduction," and they weren't upset by the abduction because they understood (as the show makes it clear) that the abduction wasn't real and was being arranged by the fathers as a way of getting their son and daughter together. But yes, the word "rape" in itself has become so explosive to audiences that, understandably, they can't accept any reference to it it anything other than a very serious context, no matter what the exact meaning of the word.

Who was everybody's favorite Newsie?

I had so many.

Coming next season: Whoopi Goldberg in the "Not Rape-Rape of the Sabine Women."

The barn raising dance in 7 Brides very clearly illustrates the brides preference for the Brothers. Anyone who only sees this film in "un-PC" terms doesn't deserve musical comedies.

[quote]Anyone who only sees this film in "un-PC" terms doesn't deserve musical comedies.

It's people like them who are responsible for why so much of modern Broadway is oafish pablum. People are sick of busybodies trying to run their lives and ruin the lives of those who find their tactics bullying.

[quote] Nothing opens on Broadway before September, not even Hamilton. Get real.

You were saying, R327?

Let it stay closed indefinitely then.

So does this mean I can finally get HAMILTON tickets?

(I'll still try the lottery, if they're doing it. But I suspect they won't.)

[quote]Of course, if vaccine rollouts are successful, theaters could be opening much earlier — even before July.

[quote]But under current plans, none will be open before June 1, and The Post has reported that most shows don’t expect to return until the fall.

[quote]Big openings, such as “MJ” and “The Music Man,” planned to open in the spring and summer respectively, but have pushed opening night back to September and December.

OH SNAP!! r327

R337: Of all the shows you could risk infection for…

The naked newsie is A K B. He's running around getting the pics taken down...though it seems like it would have been easier to not take them at all? (And one wonders who he was sending all those brief videos to...)

Who is AKB again?

Oh god. Andrew Keenan-Bolger, faux-naif imp/dwarf/hipster.

Next.

AK-B has a smoking hot body. Would love to see any of those pics or vids anyone can provide.

Debbie really was about the sum of her parts. She was pretty *enough*, danced well *enough*, sang well *enough*. Jane was a better singer and dancer, but it was Debbie who got the film career. What if she hadn't done Singing in the Rain? She was self-aware, though. When asked why she didn't pursue a recording career after her Tammy hit, she said it was because she didn't have a *sound*...

AKB has a nice piece of meat for a smaller guy.

Can we have a musical about the murder of infants? It is from ancient mythology and is part of two Bible stories.

We can give it a happy ending by establishing the the kids are better off dead.

And if you disagree with me on this, I will post three or four posts repeating this same idea.

Agreed. Debbie didn't have "a sound."

She had a look. I'm sure she was a nice person. But she didn't have a sound.

Debbie had charisma on stage and screen. Jane does not. And I’ve seen them both enough to form an opinion.

I remember seeing Debbie in a Saturday matinee of IRENE and feeling she "marked" her entire performance. I was young but seemed to understand that term before I had a name for t. Maybe she was saving herself for the evening crowd but she was very disappointing. I regret not seeing Jane Powell in the show.

R346 = putz.

Jane Powell was excellent on stage and screen and at the start was a bigger star than Debbie, who was supporting cast to her in several of Jane's films. When MGM and the studios were cleaning house and not renewing most of their stars' contracts because of the end of the studio system around 1955 or so, it was the Debbie-Eddie-Liz scandal which garnered sympathy for Debbie and helped her movie career while most other musical stars headed for theater and tv. Jane had been in films from like 1944 until 1958, Debbie from 1948 to 1968, both substantial careers. Jane was by far the better singer and one of the few stars thought of primarily a fine singer who was equally good as a dancer. Both are wonderful to watch!

Such a better 70 GIRLS 70 cast than Encores came up with...

That's a great cast! Was any of it recorded? Dukakis was quite bad -- they should have given the wonderful Anita Gillette the lead in that production.

Per an email I got from the Barbican in London, the Anything Goes with Megan Mullally (and Robert Lindsay, apparently) will be playing there May through August. (Kathleen Marshall still at the helm.)

[quote]R324 Many [bold]male[/bold]artists over several millennia have found the story to be a rich source and have been inspired by it to create major works of art.

FTFY

Did MUSICALS IN MUFTI used to be a bigger deal than it is currently? That 70 GIRLS 70 revival was in 2000 and seems to suggest that. That is a very impressive cast.

I respect what MUFTI is trying to do--I've enjoyed a couple of their productions more than ENCORES--but lately they appear to have no budget and a limited ability to get really top talent. I've seen some terrible performers there in recent years. Still, more interesting and offbeat revivals there than at ENCORES.

"-but lately they appear to have no budget and a limited ability to get really top talent."

R314, casting often changes before contracts are signed and rehearsals begin. Wanda was a far better dancer than Lisa and that was important to Gower. Lisa did not accept the change gracefully. Gower specifically did not want Lisa to be hired as a replacement later in the run and Merrick knew that.

Wanda was also far prettier than Lisa.

I don't suppose Corey Cott ever took any nudes, no?

R326 He was surely never anyone's favourite!

But, yeah, it's like when the KDM nudes leaked and it was barely noticed here as people were more interested in talking about old shows. And by people I of course mean two, maybe three, obsessive posters.

R360 Nope, he's on the wishlist of pretty much everyone, but alas nothing.

"But, yeah, it's like when the KDM nudes leaked and it was barely noticed here as people were more interested in talking about old shows. And by people I of course mean two, maybe three, obsessive posters."

*

And yet you're perfectly free to post about your obsession with nudes to your heart's content, r361.

[quote]two, maybe three, obsessive posters

And here I thought you looked like four obsessive posters r362.

I saw Lisa in 42nd Street and preferred her over Wanda. She played naive better. Wanda was more of an Anytime Annie to me.

Lisa was a better actress, Wanda was a better dancer.

[quote]Can we have a musical about the murder of infants?

Been there, flopped.

Megan Mullally in Anything Goes? That sounds fun. Will she play Reno as angry as Rosemary? Is she our new Imelda Staunton?

I'll certainly take her in Imelda's roles over Imelda any day of the week.

A musical about killing your children. Hmmm. Let me think about that.

FOLLIES!

"Who was everybody's favorite Newsie? I had so many."

Ryan.

[quote]Did MUSICALS IN MUFTI used to be a bigger deal than it is currently? That 70 GIRLS 70 revival was in 2000 and seems to suggest that. That is a very impressive cast. I respect what MUFTI is trying to do--I've enjoyed a couple of their productions more than ENCORES--but lately they appear to have no budget and a limited ability to get really top talent. I've seen some terrible performers there in recent years. Still, more interesting and offbeat revivals there than at ENCORES.

They have only rarely had name talent in their shows. That 70, GIRLS, 70 was a major exception, and I believe it was presented as a benefit, which helped them secure such a starry cast.

On an unrelated note, as I'm sure many of you know, this John Yap person from JAY records has finally released a studio cast recording of ANYONE CAN WHISTLE that was made 23 years ago (no joke), and he claims the reason it took so long for the release is that he was "busy "with other projects. He also claims "there are at least 12 recorded and fully paid for recordings of some great Broadway musicals waiting for me to finish and release." Anyone here have any idea what's really up with this guy and his company?

He's a...procrastinator?

If we're to be blessed with nude pics of a Newsie, then let it be Jeremy Jordan.

I saw him in Finding Neverland when it previewed in Cambridge, MA and he was displaying an impressive VPL beneath those vintage wool trousers.

There are pics floating around of a bunch of Newsies - AKB, Ryan Steele, Tommy Bracco, Andy Richardson, and a few others I am forgetting. Just have to keep your eyes open.

DL and After Dark fav Karen Ziemba was the best Peggy Sawyer. Triple threat.

a little help here r340 and r375? Be a doll, dolls

I also suspected Gower of being an early AIDS victim. He was definitely bi.

They could rewrite the book of Seven Brides and turn it into a female empowerment musical. The brides will successfully raise, build and finish the barn themselves without any male machismo to fuck it up.

Some of them could even be lesbians!

Gower wasn't afflicted with Kaposi sarcoma or wasting syndrome.

Wanda was also dating Gower's son. She was nicknamed "the breakfast of Champions", at least during rehearsals and previews until Gower died opening night.

Wasn't Gower looking in good health, almost up until the day he died? How did Merrick ever keep his friends and family away from him and yet be permitted into the hospital himself?

Tammy Grimes called Wanda "the breakfast of Champions."

Wait R382! So Wanda was fucking Gower AND his son????????

Yes, R385. She was the Reva Shayne of Broadway.

R383, Gower had been sick for some time but had good days and bad days. He would periodically have his blood changed which gave him energy and the ability to continue.

Gower and Debbie Reynolds both feasted on the blood of newborns regularly until "an anonymous tip to the authorities" put an end to those shenanigans.

[quote]And will Plaza Suite ever reopen?

Let's get back to that. Hadn't the producers pretty much sold out the entire limited run on Bway?

I have no interest in seeing it, but clearly I'm in the minority. It's gonna be a cash cow.

[quote]Gower and Debbie Reynolds both feasted on the blood of newborns regularly...

No wonder they had no time to teach IRENE to Jane Powell.

Gower Champion died April 25, 1980. AIDS was first reported in the government journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on June 5, 1981. That alone does not exclude AIDS. But taking 42nd Street through rehearsal and previews certainly does. He was diagnosed with a rare blood cancer early in 1979.

Very little about this looks like he had AIDS. Very little.

"Hadn't the producers pretty much sold out the entire limited run on Bway?"

Sweetie, you must be new to Broadway. Producers can't sell out anything -- no matter how much they might wish that....

Audiences buy tickets, and then shows sell-out.

Link to AKG pics?

Hamilton will re-open at The Richard Rodgers on Sunday July 4. Bank on it.

Where exactly are the AKB nudie pics?

They were on Male General, but have since been removed. There are people on LPSG who claim to have them but will only trade something for it - which I have nothing anyone wants.

You should have more self-esteem, r395!

[quote]Didn't Gower fuck Wanda?

Everyone fucked Wanda. She had her abortion doctor on speed dial.

Seeing a commercial for Matthew Morrison as the Grinch makes me want to know any goods on him and/or the Hairspray OBC.

[quote]They could rewrite the book of Seven Brides and turn it into a female empowerment musical. The brides will successfully raise, build and finish the barn themselves without any male machismo to fuck it up.

Or they could have the girls abduct the brothers and force them to watch as they take on black foreman Big Sam, while laughing at the brothers' tiny dicks. Seven Brides for Seven Cucks.

R399, you are perverse. Come sit next to me.

For absolutely no reason...

R385, That's disgusting!

Here's David Merrick announcing Gower Champion's death . . .

'Breakfast of Champions'

Tammy must have been channeling Noel.

I saw 42nd Street several times during the run and the one thing that always impressed me was Jerry Orbach. Always hit his mark and delivered his lines and made them seem fresh. He had his performance.and stuck to it but never seemed like he was bored or walking through it. He was a total pro.

R405, Rex Reed never missed an opportunity to bash Jerry Orbach in his reviews, particularly his singing voice.

One evening in a NYC restaurant, Jerry's then wife poured a drink on Rex.

You can bet on Plaza Suite reopening when Covid is over because, honestly, what else do Matt and Sarah Jessica have to do?

I have always felt that David Merrick did not need to do that at the curtain. So unfair to the performers on what should have been their night. The video confirms it.

How naive are you, r408??

Merrick was totally aware of what he was doing.....creating unimaginable publicity for the expensive musical he was producing. And it worked. 42nd Street got far more attention than any opening night raves could ever garner.

Wanda Richert was playing Cassie in ACL on broadway when she got pregnant. She returned to the show as an understudy after giving birth. I would imagine that was a humbling experience and, from what I’ve heard of her antics, I’m sure some people were loving it.

How Merrick managed to keep Champion's death a secret until the curtain call is mind blowing. What time did Gower die? How did Merrick manage to keep it from leaking before the curtain and casting a pall before the overture even started? That man had so much power and gall it's a wonder he didn't become president. There had to be a lot of collusion and money changing hands.

It was easier to keep a secret before social media. Even one that big.

R406, Orbach's wife also tried to start a fight with him at Sardis when he was interviewing Pearl Bailey. Pearlie Mae went all ghetto on her telling her that she had three options: to leave on her back, on her face or in an ambulance.

Wanda was not just an understudy, she was one of the dancers eliminated in the opening number.

[quote]Charlotte Raye

A big "Oh, dear!" from R352's link.

[quote]Wanda was not just an understudy, she was one of the dancers eliminated in the opening number.

Most understudies also play small roles. A standby is on call but doesn't otherwise appear in the show.

"That was never okay with contemporary audiences, not now, not ever, regardless of whatever myth it's alluding to.:

What a humorless, idiotic statement. How many times must it be said that, just because "rape" (or any un-pc value by contemporary standards) is a plot point, it doesn't mean it's being endorsed? How many times must it be said that you mustn't confuse the characters' values with the authors'? And for the record, in the short story THE SOBBIN' WOMEN on which SEVEN BRIDES is based, Milly is the conceiver and executor of the kidnapping!

Wanda wasn’t one of the regular cut dancers but she did fill in when one of those dancers was out or filling in for someone on the line. Eventually she took over as Val.

R412, And there was no TMZ.

Ryan Steele on top in Five Dances.

Steele is a butterface.

David Merrick asked Gower’s wife not to say anything until he made the announcement. He had died the morning of the opening and didn’t opening nights begin their performances earlier back then so that critics could have time to write the review and the cast could have an opening night party? So there were only a few hours between his death and the announcement.

If he died in the morning it was not a "few hours." It was at least 7 (if he died close to noon).

[quote] If he died in the morning it was not a "few hours." It was at least 7 (if he died close to noon).

Who was going to say anything? Anyone in the hospital would have lost their job. Maybe one of the NY tv networks would have picked up the news but they didn’t have time to verify any sources. And nobody outside of the Broadway community would have cared. It wasn’t national news where the country would be called into mourning. It just wasn’t a big enough news story outside of NYC’s theater community.

Amazing that the story didn't leak on Datalounge or All That Chat.

[quote] Amazing that the story didn't leak on Datalounge or All That Chat.

Not really, since it was 1980

R424, Much like the Nick Cordero death watch. For the majority of Americans, it was a "Who?".

[quote]Amazing that the story didn't leak on Datalounge or All That Chat.

You're not a history major, right?

42nd Street opened in 1980. Please go do your homework on the question of how that dates relate to the the development of the internet, especially commercial services designed for wide spread public use.

[quote]Amazing that the story didn't leak on Datalounge or All That Chat.

They were all lined up at The Winter Garden trying to get a glimpse of Tammy Grimes, who recently starred in that blockbuster movie musical “Can’t Stop The Music.”

[quote]Much like the Nick Cordero death watch. For the majority of Americans, it was a "Who?".

And he only got as much attention as he did because of Covid panic. If he had been in his condition due to a motorcycle accident, only Broadway, Datalounge and All That Chat would have noticed, just like Danny Burstein and Rebecca Luker.

r426 and r428 I was kidding. Although maybe we should do a Theatre Gossip Thread as if it were 1980. Who's blowing young Chris Reeve backstage at [italic]Fifth of July[/italic]? Which of the [italic]Morning's at Seven[/italic] women is the biggest bitch? Is Judd Hirsch really as hung as they say...and does anyone care? Debbie "I Still Can't Dance, Peeples" Allen walking in on an orgy with the Sharks and the Jets at the Minskoff?

R429 Can't Stop the Music was a HUGE flop!

R430, Likewise, Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley.

Gower Champion was much more famous and well-known among the general public than any of those Broadway stars. He'd been a presence in movies as a dancer and actor in movies for many years before taking up directing.

[quote]Can't Stop the Music was a HUGE flop!

It was irony, dear. Simple irony. Just like there would be a horde of people jostling for a look at Tammy Grimes.

All of the cast and crew of 42nd Street were busy getting ready for their opening night, writing cards and wrapping presents, entertaining friends and family in town for the opening, grooming themselves for the event. They were easily distracted with their own concerns and nerves about that night's performance. I can see how they wouldn't have been thinking about Gower's health and could have had the surprise of his death sprung on them.

THR reviews "The Prom":

Variety:

[quote] I saw 42nd Street several times during the run...

My God, why did you torture yourself like that?

It's interesting to contrast reviews. Like THR and Variety's takes on Corden: "Corden, whose limited range becomes more apparent with every screen role, is torn between trying too hard and not hard enough as Barry.... Corden channels the mannerisms without the joy. It's a flat performance without much heart." vs. "Corden may be criticized in some quarters for portraying Barry as a gay stereotype, but...he burrows so deeply into the character’s quibbling insouciance that he gives him a three-dimensional essence. He’s soulfully funny and touching."

Best Theater of 2020:

No fucking way will Hamilton re-open on July 4th.

ABT has just cancelled its 2021/2022 season because its dancers still didn’t feel safe rehearsing in July.

ABT has made a big mistake, and they will spend years recovering. That decision will be reversed.

No, it won’t, R443. Its subscribers have already been notified.

Hasn't everyone seen Hamilton?

I have taken all I can take of it.

Hamilton, like the rest of Bway, won't open until we all have our vaccinations, including all the anti-vaxxes, and tourists decide to return to NYC--not until late 2021.

Watch National Theatre productions from the comfort of your sofa (for a subscription fee). A dozen or so plays are available now, more to be added later (fingers crossed for "Follies," "Twelfth Night" and the Bridge "Midsummer"). Say what you will about the productions themselves (I, for one, largely hated their "Amadeus"), the shows are gorgeously filmed.

Valens, are you still with us? Thanks again for all your NT postings on YT!

....I posted a fuck load more than just NT stuff.

All appreciated! Trust!

R450 All good, and yes Amadeus was a pile of silly shit. Will be cool to finally have the 'lost' productions, (The Kitchen, Mosquitoes') etc

[quote]Hasn't everyone seen Hamilton?

I have sufficient.

[quote] And he only got as much attention as he did because of Covid panic. If he had been in his condition due to a motorcycle accident, only Broadway, Datalounge and All That Chat would have noticed, just like Danny Burstein and Rebecca Luker.

No, he only got as much attention as he did because of his famewhore wife who is still beating that dead horse with Nick's amputated leg.

I have not seen Hamilton. I refused to pay those bloated ticket prices.

When the tour came through Philadelphia, I entered the lottery for every performance, didn’t win.

My interest to begin with was low and now it’s non-existent. Haven’t even watched it on Disney+. Maybe some day, but now - meh.

I think the ABT announcement was premature. Sure, there's every possibility that things will stretch on through the entirety of 2021, but it's too early to call it yet. And there doesn't seem to be a need to do so.

I saw 42nd Street when it opened at the Winter Garden and was a big hit. Gregory Peck was there the night I went. I found it a huge disappointment. A big very busy musical with lots and lots of uninspired tapping. Gower didn't even know how to tap which tells you a lot. But people seem to love that stuff. Never had a desire to see it again. Wanda had to be the most boring leading lady ever. A black hole. You wanted Orbach to shut up and send her back to Altoona on the next train. No wonder she got eliminated at the beginning of ACL every night. Honestly you wanted Ruby's inexplicable yet undeniable charisma very much.

The ABT announcement makes sense because they were to perform in June/July, and that means their rehearsals were to start March/April, and that is probably still too early. Starting rehearsals in June seems to make sense.

"Honestly you wanted Ruby's inexplicable yet undeniable charisma very much"

*

Not to mention Bernadette's, r456.

Blech. Those pickins at the National subscription online are mighty slim. I prefer Valens. I only wish I hadn't sat on so many of his postings before they disappeared. Stupid me.

How did all the online pickens of stage videos get purged? They are having to regroup over at the Broadway reddit subs as well with Mega and google getting raided and shut down. How did this happen?

R460 All is back to normal now. Thank fuck. But loose lips...

[quote]But loose lips...

...aren't that great for sucking.

Why is Rex Reed such as miserable cunt? What was his beef with Jerry Orbach? That he had more talent than he did?

In that case r463, it pretty much explains Reed's problem with literally everyone else in show business.

Rex Reed’s success is one of the mysteries of the 20th Century.

I guess the world was fascinated by someone being semi-openly gay.

Jerry Orbach was a great singer. Very powerful voice. Fuck Rex Reed. Or don't. I don't want anyone getting infected.

Let us not forget Mr. Rex Reed's assessment that "A Little Night Music is the most stylish movie musical since Gigi!"

Did Miss Reed have friends, romantic relationships, etc? Or was he just a parasite everyone endured as a necessary evil?

Rex Reed's first claim to fame was a series of celebrity interviews that were some of the best ever done in print, among them Ava Gardner, Sandy Dennis, Shirley Knight, Angela Lansbury, et. al.....they were collected into his first book called Do You Sleep in the Nude? I realize he's very unpopular now but those interviews are very much worth checking out; he really got his subjects to unload uncensored.

Jerry Orbach, not only had a very fine voice, but was a very consistent performer. I saw him in the original "Chicago" a few months after it opened with Gwen and Chita, and then more than a year later when he was playing opposite Ann Reinking and Lenora Nemetz, and he was still very strong, no coasting or walking through the performance. I think Orbach sometimes had some intonation (pitch) problems on what was a very fine vocal instrument, however. If you listen to the OCR of "Promises, Promises", that's quite a bit of evidence. I'd much rather listen to the cleaned up version that Bruce Kimmel at Kritzerland put out; it cleans up his and some of the other guys' pitches, and it's a much better listen. Orbach was also an excellent actor. I thought he should have been nominated for an Oscar for his great work in "Prince of the City". I also wonder why he didn't have better billing in "Carnival!" since he was the male lead, yet he got like 3rd or 4th billing below the title.

Don’t forget, Rex Reed also got caught shoplifting!

R471, Peggy Lee CDs. When Peggy read that, she sent him some.

Rex Reed purchased an item from me on eBay about 20 years ago. It was a 1970 PLAYBILL that contained an article he had written in tribute to Judy Garland.

R468, Rex had a relationship in the 1970s with British actor Keith Baxter, who starred in the OBP of Sleuth with Anthony Quayle.

R468, I worked with a guy many years ago whose mother cleaned houses in the Beacon Hill section of Boston. She was at one of her regular clients one morning and as he was leaving for work, he mentioned that an overnight guest was sleeping in and could she keep the noise down. About an hour later, the bedroom door opened and out walked Rex Reed.

Did I miss something, R475?

Is the takeaway from your story that Rex Reed once slept with (gasp) another man one time in Beacon Hill?

Orbach was not to everyone’s taste, though. He was slick sometimes to a fault. But it worked for Billy Flynn.

Jerry Orbach had an enviable run of musical hits. First a replacement in the super-long-running off-Broadway "Threepenny Opera," he then created the lead in the record-breaking off-Broadway "The Fantasticks" in 1960. Then on to Broadway, where all his musicals were hits: "Carnival," "Promises, Promises" (his best role and his biggest personal Broadway success), "Chicago," and "42nd Street." Three of those were Merrick shows, and it appears he was mentioned for another Merrick show, "Mack & Mabel"; not doing that one allowed him to maintain his string of musical successes.

Orbach holds the record for most performances by a leading actor in Broadway history.

r479 Yet 95% of people only remember him as Lenny Briscoe.

Well, Angela will be remembered by more people for MSW.

Re: 42nd Street

One of the reasons that David Merrick held back the news of Gower Champion's death was that he needed to get Randy Skinner to sign a run-of-the-show contract at minimum wage. Randy had "covered" for Gower during his absences and, in effect, had choreographed all the tap dancing, which was Randy's specialty. No one knew the show like Randy - even the stage managers who had not really captured all of the choreography and relied on Randy to fill in the gaps.

The day of Gower's death, Merrick approached Skinner on what would have been his last day of work and offered him a run-of-the-show contract at scale to "help Randy out." Randy did not know that Gower had died, and facing unemployment or guaranteed income doing something he loved, accepted the deal. Skinner found out that night, along with the rest of the cast, that Gower had died.

The next day, Randy hired a very good lawyer...

Skinner seems to direct and choreograph every major production over the years. Maybe it's in that contract that he owns the staging rights.

Orbach in PP gave one of the best performances I've seen.

R476, An experience you've obviously never known.

I had the same reaction, if we were supposed to be shocked and even find is especially interesting that Reed slept with a guy who lived in Beacon Hill. But maybe the person who posted that just thought it was a fun small-world coincidence.

R486, It was just an anecdotal response to a post questioning if Rex Reed had friends or relationships.

I’ve posted about this several times on other threads-I had a one night stand with Reed back in the early 90s. My ulterior motive was to see what the interior of the Dakota was like but I didn’t think Reed was unattractive. I thought his lips were quite sexy. He turned out to be a nice man. He mentioned having had a lover who’d died from an AIDS-related illness several years earlier.

r482, what am I missing? How would it would affect Randy Skinner's contract one way or the other if Gower was alive or dead if Randy was always going to be the person to teach the 42nd St. choreography.

It's not like Merrick or Randy would have expected Gower to stick around much after the show opened (as Jane Powell could attest!)

Carrie Snodgress, fresh off Diary of a Mad Housewife told this anecdote about Reed. One of her quotes was used as the title of one of his interview collections, "People are Crazy Here". She said she was talking to him, just like a friend and then realized she might have said something that her family might not have liked. She told Reed about it and he brought over all the galleys and told her that if there was anything that would embarrass her family to tell him and he'd remove it. Snodgress said that, of course, he didn't write anything that was objectionable.

[quote] How would it affect Randy Skinner's contract one way or the other if Gower was alive or dead if Randy was always going to be the person to teach the 42nd St. choreography?

R489 for the creative staff on a Broadway show, their contract end on opening night. From there on, the stage managers and the dance captain maintain the show, train replacements, etc. So Randy would not be the person to teach the choreography going forward.

In this case, there was a second problem. Because Gower had been missing performances, Randy Skinner and Mark Bramble (Gower's other assistant) had been taking on the duties of choreographer and director, making every attempt to do it in a way consistent with Gower's vision. But the stage managers and the dance captain were not marking all of these new actions because it was assumed that when Gower returned, he would create the "final" elements. So, on opening night, you had no director, no assistant director, no assistant choreographer, and no completed notation of what had been done. David Merrick was screwed unless he could find a way to keep the de facto creative staff on salary until the show was frozen and notated.

Merrick thought that getting these folks on minimum salary would ensure the continuity of what he perceived to be a smash hit.

And then she died, R490.

Jerry Orbach really was like the male Angela Lansbury. Years of interesting and diverse musical roles on Broadway and, in the end, he's more well known for a character he could play in his sleep on a TV show. Seems a shame neither appeared to be afforded the same opportunities on film that they were on Broadway.

If I remember correctly, David Merrick was the sole backer of 42nd Street. If it had flopped he would’ve been ruined. This might be why he pulled that stunt on opening night.

Ryan Steele was fucking Charlie Williams until Roberta Ashford stepped in and broke them up.

Angie would have had her Oscar for Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest opposite Jack Nicholson but she turned it down.

We haven’t heard from Ms. Ashford for a while. Do you think we will be spared any more of his creativity? The never-to-happen sunset film notwithstanding of course

I doubt Merrick would have been ruined if he lost all his 42nd Street money. All those productions of Dolly running all over the world for years, selling the rights to Fox for a bundle and then brilliantly being able to legally keep the film from being released while Fox was drowning in debt(especially after the two movie musical Titanics Star! and Dr, Dolittle) until they paid him another fortune.

Will Megan use her Karen Walker head voice while singing Reno? And how would Karen Walker respond nowadays to be called a karen?

[quote]r488 I had a one night stand with Reed back in the early 90s. My ulterior motive was to see what the interior of the Dakota was like

Have we got a thread for YOU!

She'll probably go more with a Bernadette sound, r499.

[quote] If I remember correctly, David Merrick was the sole backer of 42nd Street. If it had flopped he would’ve been ruined. This might be why he pulled that stunt on opening night.

Well, that and the fact he was David Maerrick

[QUOTE] Grey Gardens allowed Jackie On Assistance to come to the rescue. If it hadn't been for the documentary, Jackie wouldn't have bothered and her relatives would have been living in a house where the roof caved in and the walls blown down.

Interesting to note: Julius “Cap” Krug was the married man the Edies make reference to in the documentary Grey Gardens and who was played by Daniel Baldwin in the HBO film. He had an affair with Little Edie in the ‘50s, the end of which the HBO film theorized sent her back to Grey Gardens.

A decade earlier, Cap’s son-in-law, Charlie Grether, lived with his family in the guest house on the Merrywood Estate in McLean, Virginia and was a teenage friend of Jackie Bouvier who stepfather, Hugh Auchincloss, owned the estate. Jackie had a crush on Charlie and they once stole her stepfather’s car and went joyriding. Later in life in the ‘70s, after Jackie and Charlie had both gone through divorces and were living in NYC, the feelings had sort of reversed and Charlie had romantic feelings for Jackie. She helped locate an out-of-print book for him when she worked at Viking but it seemed more of an excuse for Charlie to reconnect with Jackie.

Anyway, first cousins Little Edie and Jackie had relationships of some sort with a man and his son-in-law (respectively), purely by chance.

This is all referenced in a short story called “Jackie and Jerry and The Anvil” in a collection of short stories called At Danceteria. In the story, Jackie accompanies Jerry Torre (“Jerrry Likes My Corn”) to the legendary gay bar the Anvil in NYC. The character of Jackie recounting all of this is quite moving. There’s also a funny scene in the beginning with a cameo from Little Edie where she refers to Jackie as “jolie-laide.”

[quote] Interesting to note

Is it, r503? Are you sure?

Dunno about you r504, but r503 sure bored the fuck out of me.

Yup r505, maybe it was meant for Theatre Pedantry Thread, not this one

Well, it’s related to the thread title and the ongoing “Grey Gardens” discussion and I thought it was interesting in light of the fact that the two Bouvier cousins were both involved with Kennedy brothers (even if Little Edie’s connection to Joe Kennedy Jr. was limited). So they were clearly drawn to the same families. And Jackie was at a legendary gay bar with Jerry which is fun to imagine.

But please, do carry forth with your 800th casting discussion of the film version of Follies.

Sorry, r503/r507, It's just that it was four Wiki-sounding paragraphs and didn't include a link to the AKB nudes

AKB had the pics and videos pulled down rather quickly. I don’t know of a place to link to them.

What are some of the sites that had them and other things like that when they leak? I've never signed up for LPSG, it seems so hard (pun intended) to navigate

Male General is where I found them. He’s on the Do Not Post list on LPSG since the hot dog pics came out, but people there have them and are trading them for other pics.

I have one of the videos and a bunch of stills. The video I have is a shot of his face and a quick flash of his dick. There are 11 or 12 videos, someone offered to sell them to me, but I didn’t want them that badly.

[quote]AKB had the pics and videos pulled down rather quickly. I don’t know of a place to link to them.

Pity :-( In the meantime, there's this -- not fully nude, but one of the hottest pix of him that I've seen.

R511 He has MG locked down too now, he actually got a post deleted, which I've never seen done before, which linked to somewhere off-site which hosted them. He must have lawyers handling this.

A couple of friends and I have been having some back and forth about that Queen of Casa Manana, the vivacious Miss Ruta Lee!

Did she expose her dick? Was it as big as mine?

Can anyone who saw the AKB cock, can you provide details? I can never decide if I think he's sexy or not. Good body, but perhaps overdone. And possible BDF, or maybe just Elfin magic.

R516 It's a good size, but he's small, so I'm not sure if it's average sized and so looks big on him, or if it's actually big, if you get what I mean. Makes it difficult to estimate a size.

His body is impressive but has the look of starting to get to the stage of an older muscled man in says his forties. An impression not helped by him wearing a pair of large grey y-front briefs in one of the videos.

My own thoughts: yeah I'd probably hook up with him, but the sex wouldn't be good enough to balance out the regret of fucking someone with [italic]that[/italic] personality.

great description r517. Do they look like hookup videos? I wonder who leaked them and why!

I always got Ruta Lee mixed up with the recently deceased Abbe Dalton.

R518 They're Snapchat videos or something, from literally a second long to the longest being 10 seconds. I'd say they were sent to someone he was planning to hook up with. Little teases of what's on offer kind of thing. My guess would be a particularly convincing catfish.

For the Hamilton opening in July troll:

[quote]I always got Ruta Lee mixed up with the recently deceased Abbe Dalton.

And you got the spelling of Abby Dalton's name mixed up with that of Abbe Lane.

I watched this last night...

The Andy Griffith Show

SEASON 2 • EPISODE 26 • ANDY ON TRIAL • COMEDY / SITCOM

A vengeful newspaper publisher (Roy Roberts) sends a reporter (Ruta Lee) to dig up dirt on Andy, after Andy tracks him down for a traffic violation. Miss Fenwick: Sally Mansfield. Milton: Robert Brubaker. Commissioner: Byron Morrow. Opie: Ronny Howard...

*

I didn't think Ruta was used to full advantage in this episode. Also, her posing as a "college student" ...well...I'll say no more.

I SEE YOU WHITE NON-COLLEGE AGE RUTA LEE!

How do low tier names like AKB and Colin Donnell manage to have their naked photos/videos scrubbed from the Internet successfully when bigger names like Chris Evans, Hunter Biden, etc. do not?

Is it their talent agency lawyers who do this? They get put back up and then get taken down again.

Ryan Murphy spent six months building Broadway set for ‘The Prom’:

[quote] Jerry Orbach really was like the male Angela Lansbury. Years of interesting and diverse musical roles on Broadway and, in the end, he's more well known for a character he could play in his sleep on a TV show. Seems a shame neither appeared to be afforded the same opportunities on film that they were on Broadway.

Sadly, I have the feeling TV characters will be how Kristin Chenoweth and Audra are remembered too

R525 Either AKB or his husband come from a wealthy family (maybe both?) as I recall one set of their parents bought their apartment and put it into a family trust for them. Even before lockdown, it seems to have been ages since he had a job, so clearly isn't hurting for money. Just seems to spend all his time planning daily themes for his visits to Fire Island.

[quote] Is it their talent agency lawyers who do this?

Can you imagine having to call your agent or publicist or whomever to tell them you have videos of your hard cock that [italic]somehow[/italic] ended up on your phone and [italic]somehow[/italic] got on someone else's phone who [italic]somehow[/italic] posted them online on websites full of other naked men and their hard cocks?

R530 I mean he'd probably just say he was hacked. The real fun conversation was when he had to explain to [italic]whoever[/italic] that he was paid by a photographer to pose with his dick in a hot dog bun with ketchup and mustard squeezed along the length of his shaft.

I didn't realize that when r511 said "hot dog pics" he really meant hot dog pics.

Mike Doyle keeps getting the video of him walking naked on stage in I believe The New Century taken down. I don't see why as he's quite beautiful in every way and its obvious he's completely unembarrassed.

So what's the tea on Seth Sikes? Is he cute and bubbly in person or is it all an act and he's a complete asshole IRL

R532 It gets better. The photo was taken from the point of view of someone looking down at his own dick - so you could only see the dick, and abs. There was another taken from the side, with the dick in a bag, and showing the chest - but again no face. These sat on the photographer's website for god knows how long until someone posted on a website that they were AKB.

The idiot then had them deleted off the photographer's site and had his name added to the do not post list on LPSG - which did nothing but confirm the pics were him. If he just ignored it it would've been one of those "is it really him though?" situations and would've blown over. Instead more people have now seen and shared them because the fool indirectly confirmed they were him.

ICP played it the right way and laughed it off when his leaked.

[quote] Ryan Murphy spent six months building Broadway set for ‘The Prom’:

And five minutes directing the actors.

Seth Sikes is absolutely cute and bubbly in person!

R531, Wasn't that John Barrowman's cock in the hot dog bun?

It was Barrowman's cock in 1992, r538. Try to keep up, dear.

[quote]Try to keep up, dear.

That phrase was tired even in 1992.

I can’t imagine why someone like Keith Baxter in his prime would have been interested in Rex Reed.

Ruta in Witness for the Prosecution...

R541, To be fair, Rex Reed in his prime was no slouch. Rex is five years younger than Keith, btw.

Ruta Lee IS Fanny Brice!

Young Rex. Bleh.

$144 for his signed glossy... maybe he should start an OnlyFans.

Did Jerry like my corn, R503

I'm sure Erna would absolutely LOVE your corn Carol.

Sleeping with Rex at one point in his younger days would have been a good career move, believe it or not. But Baxter's never got very far anyway.

Catching up with Joel Grey:

I got picked up by Baxter in London in the mid 1990s. I was walking around Earls Court late at night and he was in his car. I made the very stupid mistake of telling him I was the lover of an actor he was actually acquaintances with. He dropped me off at the nearest traffic light. And I’m also the one who had the one night stand with Rex Reed!

r551 I really want to hear how he picked you up from his car while you were walking. Sounds fun.

Where are his tits???!!!

R552, are you being a tad snarky? I was strolling around a well known cruising area in Earls Court. Baxter stopped his car and spoke to me.

After all this, I downloaded the Grey Gardens CD and give it a listen.

It was a nice nap.

Jerry likes my corns!

Maybe you'd prefer SMILE, r555. It's...peppy!

R552 no snark intended. I liked the image of the scenario

R558, oh, OK, my apologies, then.

I knew immediately it was Baxter. I was walking around midnight near the notorious Coleherne pub which was renamed and turned into a hetero hangout years ago. I wouldn’t have minded a quick ding-dong in his place out in Surrey or wherever. He clearly got spooked when I mentioned my ex lover’s name

👍🏼👍🏼

[quote]He clearly got spooked when I mentioned my ex lover’s name

I wonder if that was what really spooked him, or maybe it was more the fact that you recognized him.

Maybe he was just out of Ding-Dongs, r559.

So who was the ex-lover, for corn's sake?

Bill Frawley

Probably both, R561.

Keith Baxter was a very well-known actor in the UK in the 1960s-90s so I'd be surprised to hear he thought a handsome young guy might not recognize him. I think he was also always "out" in theatrical circles, which may be why he didn't have a bigger commercial career in film and beyond British TV.

I know him a bit from working with him at The Shakespeare Theatre in DC where he's often acted and directed. Dear man.

He don't knock Smile. That was one of my first shows. That's Howard voice in the intro.

I'm not knocking it, r567, it *is* peppy!

That was added in Baltimore. If forget how Act One ended in the workshop.

Speaking of SMILE...

Jesse Green’s NY Times review of the new Streetcar audio-play refers to Audra as an “ideal star” to play Blanche and even calls her “our leading vocal tragedienne.”

I love Audra, but...wow, really?

The Tines” audraphilia is beyond the pale.

As if they had not learned their lesson from Audra's last outing on Broadway..... Frankie..... she was awful. She should have a couple of Tonys revoked after that.

R573, Did she get nekkid?

completely lots and lots. I'm still gay.

I though Audra only showed her tits?

Peg Murray, who won a Tony as Fraulein Kost in "Cabaret," has died at age 96.

Peg Murray was in the workshop of Grover's Corners.

A conversation with...

Audra would have been great in the soon to be multiple Tony Award winning "Slave Play"!

R577 Peg Murray also played Olga Svenson on “All My Children.”

FOLLIES!!!!!

[quote]Peg Murray also played Olga Svenson on “All My Children.”

She was also Carrie Johnson Lovett on "Love of Life."

Peg Murray uttered the immortal line: "A functional candy box?! How functional?"

Olga’s brother Lars was an ex-Nazi villain or something like that. I can’t remember, did Olga turn out to be a villain as well?

Peg wore big chunky necklaces as Olga. The Nazi storyline offended many viewers and the actor playing Lars quit over it.

Lars? MY LARS?

Olga wasn’t evil. Lars wooed Daisy Cortlandt before going off a yacht after a fight to the death with Palmer. Lars’s son was a boyfriend or husband of Erica. Kent Bogard, I think.

Oh, I wondered why there was a second Lars.

Olga was always inadvertently responsible for Jenny’s death IMO, though, by signing up that Tony Barclay as a client. Tony was the one who caused the jet ski accident meant for Greg. Tony was played by Brent Barrett, who wasn’t good looking enough to play a high fashion model.

The Lars storyline did lead to one of Susan Lucci’s best one-liners-“I’m Erica Kane, I don’t have the time to be chasing down Nazis in South America!”

OMG, I totally remember that storyline! God, I'd love to see that all again.

This is on tonight. I'd like to watch it for Polly Rowles who was Roz's Broadway Vera.

*

*** Vogues Of 1938 ***

A socialite (Joan Bennett) becomes a model after she walks out on a marriage. Warner Baxter, Helen Vinson. Muratov: Mischa Auer. Morgan: Alan Mowbray. Brockman: Jerome Cowan. Sophie: Alma Kruger. Miss Sims: Dorothy McNulty (Penny Singleton). Betty: Polly Rowles...

WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND!

WHOOP-UP!

Everyone at All That Chat is having a nervous breakdown over Nicole Kidman's Zazz number in The Prom movie.

And I can't say I blame them.

Ehhhhhh.....

For no reason...

I have done Bye-Bye Birdie, Chicago...

Bajour!