"They're Playing Our Song" Thread #2: Shh, shh, shh. Don't say a word.

I love that logo. Not ashamed to write that....

Same here. It's got the totally right personality. Kind of the graphic counterpart to this classic at exactly the same time.

Here you go..

Lucie said in an interview during the run that she and Klein have different styles of working. She plays to the other actor while he plays to the audience. Ouch! Hence the friction.

Was there much friction between them? They seem so pals-y now doing reunions etc.

That logo looks cheap. Just like the show.

They had a weird relationship. They worked very well together but Klein was unhappy doing the same thing over and over again and it affected their relationship. However he showed up at her final performance and they’ve been good ever since.

"Neil Simon has a new hit. Go see it" at OP is the epitome of "damning with faint praise."

Does anyone know where the car ended up after they closed? And what's with the Tiny pianos curtain call?

I saw the show, it was fine, but I’m astounded by the life of this thread.

[quote] She plays to the other actor while he plays to the audience.

Boy, if that's not the pot talking to the kettle.

When you watch Lucie in "Here's Lucy" -- a mostly painful exercise -- you can tell Momma made sure EVERYONE was standing straightforward and TALKING so they can be HEARD. Lucie could never change that...

I watched Here's Lucy on Hulu a few years back because I'd never seen any episodes. No it wasn't great, but it went down easily enough- except for Lucie Arnaz, who has got to be the first ever example of awful showbiz nepotism. She was so fucking annoying and terrible, mixed with a sense of entitlement and self satisfaction. I would have paid anything to see Gale Gordon kick her in the cunt bone.

But Lucie is actually quite talented, and a MUCH better singer than either of her parents.

Those two quotes in the TPOS ad -- if the best you can do is Gene Shalit and the AP, how do you run for several years?

I keep waiting for the actual evidence that Lucie is so talented. I've never seen any actual proof.

[quote]I saw the show, it was fine, but I’m astounded by the life of this thread.

I saw the show, completely forgot about it five minutes after the curtain call, and am even more astounded. Gee, I can't imagine why it's never been revived in New York.

I saw Lucie in one of those STAGE benefit concerts in LA a couple of times and she was EXCELLENT.

"Just to piss off everyone who hate that we keep talking about this."

"Hates," OP, not " hate." " Everyone" is singular.

She was terrific in "Witches of Eastwick" in London. The show was bleh but she was delightful. I was surprised. "Another Night with Darryl" stopped the show.

Why does this have a 2nd thread? Why?!

Okay, here’s a TSOP story similar to the different performance styles of Arnaz and Klein:

After the show closed on Broadway, Marsha Waterbury (nee Skaggs) did a little summer stock tour in the summer of 1982 with Timothy Bottoms as Vernon. During their two week run at Traverse City’s Cherry County Playhouse, Bottoms wouldn’t even look at her on stage and delivered all of his lines to a sight line just to her left or to the right of her, just to torture her. Waterbury, though always a professional, found this so distressing and likely disappointing, that she would often break down during her delivery of I Still Believe In Love, for which her powerful delivery was already a signature of her performance as Sonia.

^^dyslexia strikes again

Should be TPOS not The Sound of Philadelphia

It's easy to remember that initials. Just think, "That Piece of Shit."

I saw Waterbury in a regional production of "The Heidi Chronicles." She was great.

I wonder why Bottoms was such an asshole.

No pun intended.

Geez, OP, ain't ya forgettin' something? Like....a link to the *first* thread?

r13 - She really wasn't very good. But I think that stemmed from inexperience. It's obvious that she worked at it and improved enough to get the Seesaw tour and TPOS...finally finding her niche (independent of Mom's).

Would seesaw be a good Encores show? I don’t know it at all.

For Thread #2, reposting clips from "TPOS" with Stockard and Tony, plus clips from Reprise! with Stephanie J. Block and Jason Alexander. More footage to come.

I don't know, r29, it didn't come to Denver.

and....

And ya know...Seesaw *was* listed on the Robert S. Garner Season mailers. I was told Lucie didn't want to play Denver.

Do we know what Lucie thought of today's inauguration?

Timothy Bottoms was an asshole. He walked out of Fifth of July on broadway and left everyone hanging. Producers brought his more talented brother Joe in to replace him. And please don’t judge Lucie by Here’s Lucie. Not fair. Viv Vance encouraged her to do theatre if she was serious about acting and Lucie took her advice. She’s terrific.

I would not say Joseph Bottoms was more talented than Timothy. Timothy was the talent in that family, asshole or not. He could outact both Joe and Sam put together.

Why'd Timothy walk out on Fifth of July?

I remember seeing on TV a feature about a production Timothy did of TPOS where he had has three brothers as the voices of Vernon.

Joseph Bottoms is really amateurish in Holocaust with M.

Perhaps the first complete bootleg (everyone knew they were taping) was "Over Here" starring the Andrew Sisters and featuring John Travolta, Ann Reinking, Marilu Henner and Treat Williams. Janie Sell won a Tony for her outstanding turn as a Russian spy. The scenery looks amazingly like Follies (knew we could get them in another thread) and the staging by Patricia Birch is great. The set had a lift where the entire orchestra was raised onto the stage.

The Andrew Sisters came out after the show and did a so-called third act where they did a concert of their hits. It was a huge deal at the time.

[quote] During their two week run at Traverse City’s Cherry County Playhouse

I may have seen this. I know I saw Arte Johnson in Stop the World... there.

R39 Re the "Over Here!" complete video (recorded at the final matinee): It's unfortunate that the first 15-20 minutes of the tape are scrambled and virtually unwatchable. Perhaps it was recorded on 3/4" videotape and the master could not be successfully transferred in full when VCRs appeared.

I remember that day r39. It was a Sunday, kind of cloudy, I wore green socks to the theater.....

They didn't do it after every performance, r40.

Arte Johnson?

Yep, r45. 1977 season.

Didn't Robert Klein say that Lucie Arnaz did not like him at all when they did the show together but then ended up marrying a man who looked like him? I think Klein and Arnaz made up later.

R47 Yes, he absolutely did say that. And we know that they made up because they performed a 40th anniversary reunion concert two years ago.

r46 - I noticed that Miss Nancy Dussault got her act together and took it on the road in 1984.

Nancy was no Libby Wolfson.

How could we have missed Jamie Farr in My Fair Lady?

[quote]But Lucie is actually quite talented, and a MUCH better singer than either of her parents.

It's not hard to be a better singer than Lucille Ball.

Reinking, Travolta and Henner are not in that bootleg. They all left before it closed. Maxine said in an interview that they did their sister act after every performance even though it wasn’t in their contract. Audiences expected it and they felt obligated.

Klein told that story about Lucie on The Tonight Show. I remember it well.

I recall a rumor that Lucie Arnaz was not a fan of her "Witches of Eastwick" leading man, Ian McShane.

The feeling was mutual. McShane loathed Lucie. She said in an interview that she had no idea who he was. He ended up leaving Eastwick before his contract was up. Prior to that he and Lucie has a head on collision and she called in sick until he was gone. Not pretty.

Good stuff r55. That’s what the Gossip thread is missing. Just sayin’.

You mean actual theatre gossip?

Does anyone have the inside gossip as to why Over Here never toured? It seems like a natural show for touring.

'Tis said that Patty and Maxene were not getting along well by the time the Broadway run ended. And the show really only existed as a vehicle for The Andrews Sisters. In fact, the plot revolved around the search for a third voice for the act, just as the actual sisters were now without their third voice.

Of course other performers could have tried it, including several who would soon be seen in "Four Girls Four." But in those days they knew better than to send out an iffy tour of a semi-hit.

^^ The Andrews Sisters, Patty and Maxene, loathed each other. Their Broadway success only worsened their long-time sibling rivalry. (The third Andrews sister, Laverne the peacekeeper, had died years before.)

Maxene Andrews was one of the first name entertainers to live openly as a lesbian.

The tour was booked and set to go. Patty refused to sign. Maxine gave a scathing interview to Rex Reed at the time blaming the amateurish producers for the tour not happening. Maxine did a production with Margaret Whiting but it wasn’t the same.

R43 I got you and LOVE you!

Why...?

Laurence Luckinbill was the star of Simon's Chapter Two when Lucie was appearing in TPOS. That's how they met.

Seems like a happy marriage. I saw her in concert once and she kept looking at me and smiling a lot. Sort of made me self-conscious. When it was over I stood up and turned around and noticed Luckinbill was sitting right behind me so it was him she was looking at a lot.

It was a complicated situation. The two remaining Andrews Sisters didn't negotiate or sign together, they negotiated separately. Patty had a much better agent and got a slightly better salary and all kinds of perks that Maxene didn't get (limo service to and from the theater, dinner delivered from a good restaurant, etc.). Maxene resented it all very much. Then during the run of the show, Maxene quietly came out as lesbian, going to girl bars after the show and hanging out with people like Patsy Kelly who was in No, No, Nanette. Fundie Christian Patty was horrified and the two sisters didn't speak for years, although they did have a reconciliation before their deaths.

Sorry, too tired to write more details but back in the 90s the National Enquirer did a full exposé of the situation and got most of it right.

I saw the show and Patty was the star. Maxine was good but Patty had the ‘it factor.’ She nailed every laugh and the audience loved her.

Meanwhile, back in Quogue....Does anyone know of any songs "cut" from TPOS? Were any of the songs in TPOS Hamlisch "Trunk" songs...

Luckinbill was in the middle of divorcing Robin Strasser who he was co starring with in Chapter Two when he met Lucie.

Do we need a separate "Lawrence Luckinbill" gossip thread?

very impressed by the Cherry County Playhouse...Abe Vigoda! Never knew he did theater.

A short but interesting Broadway resume, r71.

So Luckinbill and Strasser were divorcing but still starring in the same play together?

Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens were embroiled in a very nasty and vicious divorce while performing Private Lives in London. Those must have been interesting performances. When Smith did the show a year later on Broadway, Stephens wasn't involved.

[quote]Do we need a separate "Lawrence Luckinbill" gossip thread?

No, but we could have a LAURENCE Luckinbill thread.

John Standing was opposite her when I saw it in Denver, r74.

[quote]John Standing was opposite her when I saw it in Denver, R74.

He also co-starred with Maggie when I saw "Private Lives" on Broadway in 1975 at the 46th Street Theatre.

Wasn't she fabulous, r77? So adept at at Coward...and Shaw...and Shakespeare...

One at.

I saw Maggie in "Private Lives" when the production was still on in the West End, and by the time I caught it (summer 1973) John Standing had already replaced Robert Stephens.

Angela was starring in "Gypsy" just down the road---good times.

Angie got to Denver as well, r80. Yes....very good times.

[quote]Wasn't she fabulous, [R77]? So adept at at Coward...and Shaw...and Shakespeare.

Fabulous indeed. I remember her performance in "Private Lives" as being quite broad. Her vocal delivery at times almost reminded me of Paul Lynde. And yet it all worked wonderfully.

I should have worn green. Oh. I wore green the last time.

So back to TPOS... Did anyone ever wonder what "Leon" was like?

Well, r82, I wouldn't say Paul Lynde (that would be Alice Ghostley). I call it more quintessential Maggie Smith broadness that she alone possesses. And such timing. I still remember how laugh out loud funny she made the line: "I believe there was a stillborn one in 1902". I mean, how do you do that???

Don't know about Leon, but I do remember that a Natalie Klein saw the show and threatened to sue.

[quote]So back to TPOS... Did anyone ever wonder what "Leon" was like?

Not for a moment. For some reason, every mention of "Leon" annoyed me. I guess we were supposed to find the name funny in and of itself. Typical lazy Neil Simon shtick.

There’s only one performance of “They’re Playing Our Song” that matters, and it’s MINE!!!

As long as he needs Ellen...

R85, lets not forget that Maggie Smith and Alice Ghostely were lifelong friends. They appeared together in New Faces.

Alice accepting Maggie's Jean Brodie Oscar...

Can someone answer the question about cut songs/trunk songs? I'm actually interested in that -- with all due respect to Dame Maggie.

Leon/neon/Freeon/be on/pee on/Dionne... The possibilities are endless.

[quote]lets not forget that Maggie Smith and Alice Ghostely were lifelong friends. They appeared together in New Faces.

They both appeared in "New Faces," but not together. Alice was in "New Faces of 1952" (which was filmed, as "New Faces"), and Maggie was in "New Faces of 1956."

[quote] Can someone answer the question about cut songs/trunk songs?

If you check out the Reprise! L.A. video at R32, you'll see a song called "If You Remember Me" performed in place of "I Still Believe in Love." It's possible that that was a song cut from the original.

Alice Ghostley was said to be heavily influenced by the style of Paul Lynde. Maggie Smith often mentioned famed UK comic Kenneth Williams as a major influence on her comic delivery.

I saw a stock production of TPOS that had a different ending. Instead of Sonia saying ‘I’m so lucky’ the phone rang and it’s Leon who ended up becoming friends with Vernon. Leon is going through a bad breakup and Vernon says ‘I’ll be there in half an hour’. Blackout. A friend told me that’s the ending they used in London.

[quote]Alice Ghostley was said to be heavily influenced by the style of Paul Lynde.

And Paul Lynde was said to have been heavily influenced by the style of Alice Ghostley. They were in "New Faces of 1952" together.

I had a friend who had a theory that Leon was actually dead, and it was all in Sonia's crazed mind. Seriously...

Over Here was enormous fun. I enjoyed it tremendously and it was staged better than Grease. Janie Sell was wonderful.

And it is the only thing I ever saw John Travolta in. Seriously.

Our own Erna was in the chorus of "New Feces of 1973."

Birdland posting Lucie now

Those Over Here clips looks wonderful and Janie Sell was just great.

I always thought Leon was some big black guy.

I guess he thought Quogue was funny because it has a “k” sound

It wasn't. The K sound thing had died out by then...

Just how much did this show break out into the public consciousness? I noticed in the Tony Roberts-Stockard clips, the title song gets applause as soon as the chorus begins, as if it's a familiar hit song. That surprised me.

I found that curious too, r106. My guess is its because they saw it on the Tony Awards broadcast. It never made Top 40, or anything like that.

Lucie can’t even hang on to her own thread.

[quote]Lucie can’t even hang on to her own thread.

Well, to be fair, it is Part 2 of a thread from 2015 about an inconsequential musical from 1979 that has never been revived on Broadway.

OMG. Those Tony Roberts/Stockard Channing clips are gruesome! They look totally trapped in this shit show. I'll bet they still have nightmares about matinee days during their run of TPOS. Fucking awful.

Speaking of Tonys, I think that they are not having them this year in order for the whites in theater to deny me my numerous Tony awards!

Just so you will STFU already.

I wish Terence McNally was still here instead of Jeremy O. Harris.

R106 and R107, the show got lots of exposure on local TV shows and it was usually the title song which was featured. More importantly, it was featured in the TV commercials which were run constantly in the NYC area. I think there was more than one version of the commercial but am open to correction.

^ Like I said I think were other versions and some were longer. Still open to correction.

I would love to see some Brit director have a go at it, and re-invent it, ala Cabaret or Carousel.

That tv commercial plays like a SCTV parody of a Broadway tv commercial...

That tv commercial doesn't mention Neil Simon. What was that about?

How would TPOS be different if it was directed by Jeremy O. Harris?

r199,. may I have your babies?

And now for a word from our sponsors...

The audience is eating it up in the Roberts/Channing clips. Seems like a crowd pleaser of a show.

Only in the hands of engaging performers, r122.

Whatever Happened to Rhonda Fherer?

What ever happened to class?

I'm always shocked that Stockard Channing has done as many musicals as she has. Her voice is tolerable in the right role, but she's never been much of a powerhouse singer. She managed to replace roles originated by Lucie Arnaz and Liza Minnelli on Broadway. How did that happen?

No mention of Neil Simon in that commercial? Was he not box office at that point?

Well, she seemed to display a lot of verve in TPOS that compensated for her lesser vocals, r126.

r126 Stockard actually started in musicals. He first job was Two Gentlemen from Verona.

She was a big star from Grease when she replaced Lucie. She had been groomed for two sitcoms both of which flopped. She did TPOS on her hiatus but then the sitcom got cancelled. She still left though. Lucie was supposed to return after Stockard's run but for some reason didn't hence them putting understudy Rhonda Farer in (she's listed as Ronnie Farer on imdb and seemed to work a little bit after the show.)

Lucie was actually the first choice to replace Liza in The Rink but she wisely decided not too. Stockard was in a rough period around The Rink. She had two plays flop that season that were thought to be hot properties. Then she went into The Rink and it quickly closed without Liza there to sell tickets. Who knows why she accepted The Rink. May have needed the money or thought it would continue on because of Chita's Tony win.

[quote]I would love to see some Brit director have a go at it, and re-invent it, ala Cabaret or Carousel.

Good luck, is all I can say. "Cabaret" and "Carousel" have depths to explore and first-rate scores. "They're Playing Our Song" has Neil Simon one-liners and songs that go in one ear and out the other.

You don't think "Fill In The Words" is first-rate?

for Gawd sake folks, it's a minor musical entertainment, not even close to Cabaret or Carousel....

"Fallin'" is a very good song, and very good first number in a musical. Not a classic "I Want," but the want is implied. And the notion of starting with a ballad was smart for a small musical. Again, before the nay-sayers pounce, I'm [italic]not[/italic] saying the show is in any ways a masterpiece, but it's better than haters say.

Was "Fallin" in the LA production, or was that written for New York?

I think a director could "Meta" the show, and expose its emptiness as sort of a new dramatic fuel.

Or at least, eliminate the car.

How about TPOS...on Ice!

[quote][How about TPOS...on Ice!

How about TPOS -- ALL NUDE!

Having done the research, not sure I need to see Rhonda Feher nude...Nor Tony Roberts.

They could set it in the frigid tropics!

LUCIE ARNAZ SEESAW AUDIO

Can you imagine how great TPOS might have been if Cy Coleman wrote the score? Wonder why Simon asked Hamlisch...

My memory is the idea for TPOS came from Simon listening to Hamlisch go on and on about his relationship with Carol Bayer Sager, and it struck him to write the show.

Simon should have been less impulsive, R142.

It was their story not Simon’s

On a hot summer day in 1978, Neil Simon called. He had his sights set on turning his play “The Gingerbread Lady” into a Broadway Musical. (An unlikely idea, but who was I to argue with Neil Simon?) He had already written hilarious books for the musicals “Sweet Charity”, “Little Me”, and “Promises, Promises.” It never dawned on me that my stories about Carole Bayer Sager and me had started the Simon creative juices flowing. I was puzzled when one day, a few months later, Carole and I received a brown envelope from Neil. I couldn’t figure out what was in it, since by then we had abandoned “The Gingerbread Lady”. We found a typewritten manuscript inside…

It's a much more entertaining show than the "Let's take a movie we've all seen 10 times and put some songs in it and call it a musical" thinking that has become what Broadway is.

Keep it closed. We aren't missing much.

Oh Dear....Robert Klein going solo. How could anyone watch this? How could anyone do this 8 times a week. WTF?!

It will take a few years for broadway to rebound. I predict very few shows will reopen but off and off off broadway will thrive thanks to smaller theatres and crowds. The era of the big glitzy overpriced musicals is over for now. Time to revive Same Time, Next Year and (dare I say) TPOS.

I think its the exact opposite. The big ones will return and thrive; the smaller, independent will wither.

Who "choreographed" that Tony Randall video?

I haven't seen mugging like that since Dana Plato held up a video store.

Debbie Shapiro!

the closed caption in that Tony Randall video labels Robert Klein as Richard Kline (Three's Company)

Elaine Zayak skated to They're Playing Our song..

God bless Elaine Zayak. God bless.

More Hamlischian skating

Here's Tom Conti on the London cast...He makes Klein seem like Hugh Jackman.

I've generally heard people liked Conti in the show

How could they like any musical with that voice in your leading man...

Conti and Paulette Collins did the West End production of Romantic Comedy in the '80s. Anthony Perkins was in the Broadway production (of RC) and had musical experience. He'd have been rather old for Vernon, but maybe it could have worked opposite Anita Gillette?

And now that I've looked it up, Anthony Perkins was 48 in the fall of 1980. Anita was 44. Tony Roberts was 41.

Any relation to PauLINE Collins, r160? Who, by the way, turned 80 this past year.

D'oh! Speaking of older actors joining established shows, did I Love My Wife do any sort of adjusting when the likes of James Naughton, Joanna Gleason, Ilene Graff and Lenny Baker and their replacements (30ish or thereabouts) were succeeded by the Smothers Brothers, Barbara Sharma and Janie Sell (~40)?

Miss Barbara Sharma!

Romantic Comedy should have run longer. Perkins and Mia Farrow were great together but business fell off sharply during the run. Karen Valentine and Keith Baxter played the final month on broadway then took it on tour where it flopped.

Sharma was obviously a good Fosse dancer. I wonder why she didn't do Chicago. I could absolutely imagine her doing Roxie. It would have been the right time in her career as well.

I also wonder why Romantic Comedy didn't have a longer run.

R116, have you lost your mind? Trevor Nunn is just what this show deserves.

Besides, it was revived in London about 10 years ago or so at The Menier Chocolate Factory with some reality tv star. It got TERRIBLE reviews.

R168 I had quite forgotten about that revival. Connie Fisher won the TV competition "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?," which got her the star part in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2006 London revival of "The Sound of Music." She won acclaim for that, but had much less luck with "They're Playing Our Song" in London and "Wonderful Town" on a UK tour

[quote] D'oh! Speaking of older actors joining established shows, did I Love My Wife do any sort of adjusting when the likes of James Naughton, Joanna Gleason, Ilene Graff and Lenny Baker and their replacements (30ish or thereabouts) were succeeded by the Smothers Brothers, Barbara Sharma and Janie Sell (~40)?

Yes, Rose, the two male characters no longer kissed each other because they were brothers.

Did anyone see Donna as one of the Sonias?

Donna is one of the Sonias in the footage at R30. But the photographer didn't know that Donna would become a two-time Tony winner, so he never zooms in on her.

You sure? I tried to recognize her

R173 Donna is in the cast list as a Sonia in the Playbill for the TPOS performance captured in that video. Of course, there's always the possibility that a slip announcing a swing on for Donna could have fallen out of the program. But I think I found her among the Sonias.

Around the 4:25 part in the video at r30 it sort of sounds like Donna when the backup singers come in really loud.

Tom Conti sounds awful on the London cast recording. Did they change the nationality of the characters in the London version or was Conti's ghastly performance his dreadful attempt at playing an American? He should have been slapped viciously and prevented from singing or playing an American ever again.

And it doesn't seem that Gemma Craven had much of a West End career after TPOS either...

R177, according to Wiki she won an Olivier for TPOS. Wtf?

[quote] In London's West End, she starred opposite Tom Conti in the musical They're Playing Our Song for which she won a Laurence Olivier Award for her performance, the lead role in South Pacific, and in Noël Coward's Private Lives opposite Marc Sinden, Tony Anholt and Anholt's wife Tracey Childs which toured throughout 1991 and into 1992. She also played Josie in Boy George's Taboo and features on the OCR singing "Independent Woman".

Craven will always have a place in American filmgoers hearts for her performance in Slipper and the Rose.

Oh, R175, did you hear someone singing flat?

[quote] Craven will always have a place in American filmgoers hearts for her performance in Slipper and the Rose.

Honey, even Richard Chamberlain doesn't remember that movie.

R181, that's funny. A good friend was working for William Morris and was making a delivery to his house. She broke protocol and asked him to reenact the last scene from Slipper and the Rose. He laughed, rolled his eyes and said that was 20 years ago, how did you expect me to remember that.

How could anyone think someone named Gemma Craven could have a career in showbiz. Maybe porn.

I saw The Slipper and the Rose at Radio City the week it opened. My partner and I thoroughly enjoyed it and applauded at the end with the rest of the audience. Not a great film but a real audience pleaser. Gorgeous physical production and cinematography with a cute Sherman Brothers score and such likeable performances.

I'm probably overpraising it but Gary and I had such a nice afternoon. I miss that Manhattan.

Old show queen

I saw Donna as one of the Sonia’s. Very round face and a little chubby. I think she either dropped out of college or had just graduated when she got cast. Andy Roth who played one of the Vernons was adorable.

You type that like it's a bad thing, r184.

Murphy is in the clip at r30.

Someone asked her on twitter and she said yes.

R187 Love it! Thanks for letting us know.

Donna as Sonia would actually make me sit through the show again...

I worked with one of the musical directors from TPOS and he thought Anita Gillette was the best “Sonia” of the bunch.

Well, r190, Anita has *verve*. You can never go wrong with *verve*.

Anita morphed from leading lady on stage to character actress in film and tv beautifully. She doesn’t have a lot to do in Moonstruck but she makes every second on screen count.

I love that TPOS was a WALLOPING hit... We really don't use the word walloping enough, I think...

Watched an old L&O with her the other day, r192. She really is a fine actress...

Well, it *can* have a negative connotation, r193.

"Walloping" from Gene Shalit didn't mean much to anyone with a brain...

Serious question: Whatever happened to Robert Moore? Who was he that he was directing such a high-profile musical? I'm new to musical theatre history, but I have never heard him mentioned anywhere in the books I've read.

R197 Robert Moore was first a Broadway performer then a terrific director of such hits as "The Boys in the Band," "Deathtrap," and Neil Simon's "Promises, "Promises" and "Last of the Red Hot Lovers," all prior to "They're Playing Our Song."

R197, Robert Moore also directed a few movies, including Neil Simon's "Murder by Death." His acting roles included Phyllis's gay brother (who she thinks is dating Rhoda) on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." He also played a disabled gay man opposite Liza Minnelli in "Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon." Moore died of complications from AIDS in 1984. He was 57.

Here he is!

He looks like one of Vernon's "boys"

Here's Gemma in "She Loves Me"

Murder By Death gave us this very useful gif, r199...

Lorna and Richard can be yours for $9...Which is probably what a ticket cost on their tour....

His name was "Dick Ryder"? I guess that makes him a bottom.

Why is Tom Mallow the producer and Manny Azenburg?

R205, I knew Richard Ryder. He always went by "Richard" and not "Dick."

R206, Tom Mallow produced tours.

There’s Ellen Greene, Lorna, Rhonda… How many tours were there?

According to IBDB (which is getting better at this sort of thing), two. Looks like the first one, which started with Victor Garber and Ellen Greene, had more extended engagements. Also, Victor did the tour for more than a year longer than Ellen. He ended up acting opposite Marsha Skaggs. Anita Gillette ended the tour, opposite Ray Buktenica and then Dick Latessa. The second tour, with Lorna Luft and John Hammil, ended up with Richard Ryder and for Sonia, June Gable and Dawn Wells.

Wow...Two tours for a mid-level show? Did the turntable tour?

It obviously was a cheap show to tour, r210. O/T, but it just struck me that I saw the Raisin tour and remember absolutely nothing about it.

I saw the tour with Lorna and Ryder at the Milwaukee PAC. I remember the papers made a big deal that one of Vernon's boys was from Milwaukee. Those were the days...

is it too boring to cast a new production here? How about Michael C Hall and Danielle Brooks?

Someone must have broken into Elaine Joyce's house. Simon's original script is on eBay.

If you're looking for musical tour info, this is a great site.

Have we talked about how there was supposedly going to be a movie adaptation (produced by Ray Stark, natch) in the early 80s with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John? They ended up making Two of a Kind instead.

[quote]They ended up making Two of a Kind instead.

Apparently they were holding out for even worse material.

The script read like a talky musical that two Jewish New Yorkers like Elliott Gould and Barbra Streisand might have been cast in if it had been produced in the early 60s.

I saw Susan Anton as Sonia in stock. She looked like Malibu Barbie.

I think "With One Look" is one of us! The Australian TPOS just posted to youtube! Thank you "With One Look"!

My pleasure. Not the greatest recording. LP is a little scratchy. Not sure if there’s a cd out there. Enjoy :). And thank you to whoever posted the 1980 video clips. I enjoyed them very much.

If anybody’s the real star of the show, it’s Ralph Burns.

Really great work

It had a summer stock tour starring John Hillner and Lauren Mitchell.

[quote]It had a summer stock tour starring John Hillner and Lauren Mitchell.

And I missed it!?

they were understudies who got promoted to the leads for the tour. He was actually very good. Went on to do a number of shows. She became a producer briefly. (must have married money.)

I think some regional should run "TPOS" and "The Last Five Years" in rep with the same actors. It could be a whole neurotic jewish composers season!

What was the deal with Carole Bayer Sager first getting hitched to Marvin Hamlisch and then to Burt Bacharach? She was a mediocre lyricist, so was she just fucking name composers to get herself nominated for awards and earn royalty checks?

Marvin never married Carole.

Up next: A massive thread about Barnum.

Thank god I'm old. Count me in..

Teri White in TPOS. I'd pay premium.

Terri White!

Paul Simon as Vernon and Carly Simon as Sonia in "They're Playing Our Retirement Song" for nostalgic New Yorkers.

And it is interesting because Neil Simon also collaborated with a woman lyricist, the much more talented Dorothy Fields, on [italic]Sweet Charity[/italic] and collaborated with Burt Bacharach on [italic]Promises, Promises[/italic].

Carole Bayer Sager has written some very good songs including the Gay anthem Come In From the Rain

Carole Bayer Sager is painful to watch in interviews she's had so much plastic surgery. Anyone read her book?

Her book is very entertaining, and she is honest about all the surgery and more...

[quote] What was the deal with Carole Bayer Sager first getting hitched to Marvin Hamlisch and then to Burt Bacharach? She was a mediocre lyricist, so was she just fucking name composers to get herself nominated for awards and earn royalty checks?

It worked. She won an Oscar for the Theme from [italic]Arthur[/italic].

She sure didn't fuck me, r239.

[quote] It worked. She won an Oscar for the Theme from Arthur.

Thanks to my one line!

Ha-ha, beat ya to it!

"Honest about all the plastic surgery"? What's honest about plastic surgery?

And Peter Allen at R241, you stole that line from an announcement made by the pilot of one of your flights. Four damn writers to compose one song and the only good thing about it was still something that someone else came up with.

This is like "Queen Bey" grabbing songwriter credits for just adding vapid lines such as "Ooh yeah" or "Fuck me boo" to her songs.

How cute is this, they're doing the logo!

[quote]How cute is this, they're doing the logo!

The guy appears to be a little reluctant to get too close to someone named Gaby Gasser.

What about his juhnke, r246?

Is there a Harold Juhnke cast recording? Bootleg?

R248 Never fear---there is indeed a German cast recording. I have the LP!

So you have Juhnke in your trunk, r249?

Happy Birthday, Robert Klein.

I miss this thread. Anyone have any stories of doing the show in their high school?

Don't high schools usually like to do shows with bigger ensemble casts, so everyone gets to be on stage?

I suspect Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School staged it with Timmy as Vernon and Lourdes Leon as Sonia.

[quote]Don't high schools usually like to do shows with bigger ensemble casts, so everyone gets to be on stage?

Yes, sometimes even adding walk-on characters not in the original script. "They Playing Our Song" would have no appeal for high schools.

I'm now imagining a high school production where there's an absurdly high number of Voices.

OMG - I'm the original OP. I'm a DL LEGEND!

Not until you hear from Blackglama, r257.

[quote] Have we talked about how there was supposedly going to be a movie adaptation (produced by Ray Stark, natch) in the early 80s with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John? They ended up making Two of a Kind instead.

Meanwhile, Stark gave musicals a rest after [italic]Annie[/italic] and collaborated with Neil Simon on the megabomb [italic]The Slugger's Wife[/italic] instead.

I think there were 10 seconds where Lucie was mentioned as a possible Grace Farrell in the ANNIE film. Marilyn Beck or someone like that printed it, I think...

What about Klein as Warbucks? THAT I'd pay to see...

This thread has finally run out of gas. Like Lucie's career 40 years ago.

Let's stop the Lucie bashing....She made choices...

Almost all amateur and some regional productions have added the chorus to the title number which takes away a lot of the charm. Being a voice must have been the easiest job on broadway.

[quote]This thread has run out of gas.

Then may I present something different. This has been posted at DL before, but for those who haven't seen it, here is Divine in Peter Pan Live! at the Melonville War Memorial Auditorium.

It doesn't run out of gas until *I* say it runs out of gas, r262.

Helen Lawson had an entire chorus line of hunky, high-kicking gas jockeys in her Gulf ads.

Can someone please fill in the words?

The toy piano idea was simple and smart.

R269 = Schroeder

If I had the words, I'd have a song ...

Do you think Marvin ever tried that when he and Carole had a fight? He'd just whip out the toy piano, play a few notes and down come the panties? ("I think I'll wear black now!"

I picture them writing songs with the ease of Ann Sothern and Robert Young in Lady Be Good.

r 273, will you marry me?

Francine and Rodney sing "Right."

I'm obsessed. Who and where and when are Francine and Rodney?

"They Playing Our Song" opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre exactly 42 years ago today, Feb. 11, 1979.

^^ Make that "They're Playing Our Song." ^^

Burn Brae Dinner Theatre, 1987 Ran for 5 months!

This is the understudy Sonia. And apparently they had a matinee Vernon.

For the real obsessives (apparently a lot here) there's a script signed by Simon and Hamlisch available on Ebay.

Well, we could all chip in and buy it for the DL performing arts library.

Let our Troupe entertain your Group!

Some performances sold out!

That's the thing about TPOS....It's a nothing show that, during its day, really sold tickets. Who can figure?

I saw The Slipper and the Rose at Radio City as well. It was the Christmas movie. Yes I miss that New York too.

How about doing it gay with Jonathan Groff and Neil Patrick Harris. They can alternate roles. Vernon and Sonny.

This thread is ovah...

Then, r287, like the phoenix...

They need a sequel where Sonia ditches Vernon and marries a philandering narcissist named Burt.

"They're Playing His Song"

WithOneLook (who obvsly is here) just post full audio of the original Broadway cast

YES! YES! YES! Don't say a word now...

Can't wait for the audio of the burn brae production!

Are there really "People who are not afraid to die"? What was Carole Bayer Sager thinking?

she was wishing Marvin Hamlisch's cocklet stretched between the moon and New York City.

I'm afraid to fly. And I don't know why.

r295 = Erica Jong

Miss Ellen Greene

I want to have "With One Look's" babies...

Did Ellen Greene play the part in any other city but Chicago? Lucky Chicagoans...

Ellen only played Chicago. I believe it was a 6 month engagement.

I'm amazed it could sustain a six month run...

...not to mention 1.5 DL threads.

Rewinding to the Simon production before Song, anybody have strong feelings about Chapter Two?

Ask that cunt Anita Gillette.

I saw Chapter Two with Larry Luckinbill and then wife Robin Strasser. I believe the marriage ended during their run. I thought she was quite good. He was fine. The play is too long but it’s not the worst thing he’s written. Anita, btw, replaced Pamela Bellwood during rehearsals.

Sounds like Anita made a career of replacing much younger women in roles she was too old to play.

Maybe Anita's preparing to play Elphaba?

In Carole Bayer Sager's autobiography, she points out that by the time the show was written, she and Hamlisch were essentially over as a couple. She also writes that she thought he was bi-polar.

She also admits because the show was so cheap to produce, it had recouped before they left L.A. Those were the days...

I imagine a lot of those Neil Simon shows recouped quickly.

It's sad that Simon's reputation has diminished so much. Yes, the shows are jokey but funny is funny and no one has really shown up who can write funny for the theater. Most of what passes these days has nowhere near his level of craftsmanship, even if the result is dated or out of fashion. And now with general anti-old-white-man backlash, he may never come back into fashion. Pity.

I think you're right r311, and one of the reasons for maintaining this profoundly interesting thread on TPOS is to keep a public celebration and examination of Simon alive!

Sid Caesar was on Dick Cavett last night. He was doing the national tour of Last of the Red Hot Lovers with Elaine Hyman, Jill O'Hara and Doris Roberts. I saw a summer tour of it with George Gobel. The only performance I really remember is Jane Curtin's.

Manny Azenberg and Morton Gottleib were classy producers and made their investors lots of $$$. Same Time, Next Year has recouped by opening night.

Really, r314? With that enormous cast?

Jane Curtin did Last of the Red Hot Lovers opposite George Gobel?

1972, r316, she played Bobbi Michele. I saw the production here...

R315. LOL. Yes it was cheap to produce but that would not happen today.

I NEVER miss a Jane Curtain comedy!

r319, you ignorant slut.

sic transit gloria mundi...

[quote]sic transit gloria mundi...

Also Gloria Stivic.

Just plain....Gloria.

Gloria!

Ghastly!

Gloria Mundy's pussy stinks!

From LA...

Interesting the orchestration is different than Broadway.

That's what tryouts are for, r328.

They released a single of "Falling"....What could they have been thinking? Wasn't Casablanca primarily a disco label? Maybe the Coke was flowing...

Bump. This. Thread. Not just for tonight.

Sitting in Quogue...Missing this thread.

Towns with a "k" sound are funny.

I Miss the Mountains...

Wrong show...

I thought it was fun when they hired Ted Wass and Diana Canova from the TV show [italic]Soap[/italic]. Are there other examples of shows hiring a "team" that was interesting together, rather than based entirely on their individual draw?

[quote]Are there other examples of shows hiring a "team" that was interesting together, rather than based entirely on their individual draw?

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Sr. were offered the tour, but Gary talked them out of it.

We cannot let the doubters win. This thread must rally. Everyone do your part. Here's where my boys come in!

Did I mention I left during the second act of the original production? I thought it couldn't remain as dull as it had been during the first. I mean something had to happen right? Nothing did and I had gotten to the point of theater going where I just didn't want to waste my time. The large stage of the Imperial was very empty. I also saw the original Chapter Two there. Another truly lousy Neil Simon play that was too small for the theater. But at least that had a sterling cast. At least his biographical plays were good and it's hard to believe now but Broderick was wonderful in two of them.

They're Playing Our Song was the Broadway musical equivalent of Like Cola....(look it up...)

Chapter Two was autobiographical.

No r338 you didn’t mention. Did I mention no one gives a shit?

Not 𝙢𝙮 Like, r339!

I'M. ARAID. TO. FLY.

Do you know why?

I don’t!

The decline of this thread is like when passion turned to pain.

Did anyone here attend the 40th reunion concert? I was hoping a bootleg would pop up. Never did.

Here's a short clip at least

Thank you! Sorry I missed it :)

RIP TPOS thread

Right now my mind is such a mess I hardly knew this thread was here. HEY BABAY!

[quote]HEY BABAY!

Uh, no.

KAREN OLIVIO IS SONIA WALSK!!!!!

[italic]She/They're Playing Our Song[/italic]

Maybe it's time for a [italic]TPOS[/italic] film with CGI-aged-up Ben Platt and CGIU-aged-down Julianne Moore.

I'm so happy this thread is back...I can't WAIT til we get to Quogue!

Dick Van Dyke and Betty White in They're Graying Our Song?

Lame, I know, but anything to keep the thread alive.

Mary Martin and Robert Preston in "They're Decaying Our Song"?

Sweeney co-stars Angela Lansbury & Len Carioiu happily both still alive, reunited in "They're Slaying Our Song"

Sean Hayes and Jesse Tyler Ferguson in They're Gaying Our Song. Or They're Feying Our Song. Or They're Braying Our Song.

RuPaul and Billy Porter in "They're sachey chantey-ing Our Song"

Watch.

I like the rhyming game. And keeping this thread alive because other queens are pissed about that.

They subjected everyone to " Follies," so fuck them.

I LOVE how ugly the set is.

S&M version: They're Flaying Our Song

The Ryan Murphy version starring David Corenswet and Lea Michele: "They're gaying our song."

Chrissy Metz and Chris Sullivan in [italic]They're Buffeting Our Song[/italic], following the tradition of TV co-stars Diana Canova & Tess Wass

"S&M version: They're Flaying Our Songzzzzzzz"

Sorry, that title is already taken

They're Spaying My Dog

Lauren Bacall and Harry Guardino in "We're BRAY-ING this fucking Song!"

r360 did "braying" already r371

Isaac Powell (naked please) in They’re Wes Tay-Taying Our Song.

You win, r373, You win.

This is the commercial for the show at r373

Giada de Laurentiis and Guy Fieri in "They're Sauteeing our Song"

I was playing my "Daily Mix" from Spotify today, and noticed that the title song from the OBC of "TPOS" was grayed out for some reason. Does this means Spotify doesn't have access to it? Obviously it must have at one time or it wouldn't be in my Daily Mix.

The Marvin Hamlisch estate is quite militant -- the widow is a bit much. My guess is they have something to do with it...

God I miss the 70s...

Nureyev and Fonteyn in [italic]They're Balleting Our Song[/italic].

Sutton and Borle in "They're Crocheting Our Song."

Those Real Estate Brothers in "They're Parqueting Our Song"

The cast of West Side Story in "They're Delaying Our Song"

well played r383

The cast of 70 Girls 70 in "They're Decaying Our Song."

Siegfried and Roy in They’re Mandalay Baying Our Song.

R386, please marry me

The ghosts of Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine in "They're Manderleying Our Song."

Sure thing, r387, and we can do this all day.

Secretariat and Ruffian in They're Neighing Our Song.

Just what Broadway needs - a musical about race relations. Look for it to win many Tonys, especially for its felon producer. From The Times:

“Paradise Square,” a new musical that explores race relations in 19th-century New York, plans to open on Broadway next winter, making it the first previously unscheduled musical to step forward since the pandemic began.

The show, which has been reworked and in development for a decade, is about a long-gone slum in Lower Manhattan, Five Points, where, during the run-up to the Civil War, free Black residents and Irish immigrants coexisted until the draft riots of 1863.

“Paradise Square” is a comeback bid by a storied Canadian producer, Garth Drabinsky, who won three Tony Awards in the 1990s but then was convicted of fraud. He served time in a Canadian prison; charges in the United States were later dismissed.

John, Paul, George, and Ringo in "They' Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Daying Our Song."

Two U.N. Translators in "They're Conveying Our Song."

Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick Sargent – or Dick York, doesn’t matter — in “They’re Mr. Bombaying Our Song.”

Technically it would be "They're Dr. Bombaying Our Song" but this clarification doesn't negate the triumph of this one.

Thanks r394. I swear I [italic]meant[/italic] "Dr." and didn't check before posting.

Joe Frazier & Muhammad Ali in "They're Cassius Claying Our Song."

These two in [italic]They're Anime-ing Our Song[/italic].

Ben & Jerry in "They're Sorbet-ing Our Song."

The Delany sisters in "They're Crocheting Our Song"

Bing Crosby and The Andrew Sisters in "South America Take It Awaying our Song."

Zack Weiner and his dominatrix in "They're Fifty Shades of Gray-ing Our Song"

Fat Albert and Mushmouth in "They're Hey-Hey-Heying Our Song."

Jordan Roth and Richie Jackson in They’re Lamé-ing Our Song”

They're Claying My Dong

I love Stockard most of the time but she just ain't got the voice for this.

But she seems decent in these clips. And that title song always gets applause when it start, as if it's a real classic or hit song. What is that [italic]about[/italic]? (And the poster says Donna Murphy is on in the ensemble here.)

Maybe Beanie Feldstein could do the revival? Oh, wait...

WITH Ben Platt since they do everything (except THAT) together. They're the Lunt & Fontanne, the Tandy & Cronyn of the millennial set.

Just imagine: We just booked the Feldstein-Platt Theatre!

I can't wait until they get to quogue.

Still not in Quogue.

Today is the anniversary of the day Tony Roberts stepped in as Vernon, in 1979. Happy Tony Roberts Day!!

Love Tony!!!!!

and his ginormous ears even before he got old

Where are Sonia & Vernon spending the holidays? I'm sure they're boosted and very careful.

Happy New Year from the Walsk-Gersches.

This thread is the biggest embarrassment to DL which is saying something.

say whatever you want r416, I still believe in love, dammit

And after all the tears you’ve cried….

My vibrato and I were robbed of a Tony nomination.

R4, Ethel Merman played to the audience in every show.

[quote] Hence the friction.

They've seemed to be cool with each other over the years, reuniting and stuff.

Me to this thread: Never gonna give you up

Santino Fontana (not that I'm a huge fan but he'd be good in this) and Annaleigh Ashford

Good heavens three days late but HAPPY 43rd ANNIVERSARY to our fav show!!!!!!! Dunno how I forgot. I guess right now my minds in such a mess I hardly know I’m here!

yes thanks for being here r424, I still believe in YOU

We all hate them both but Ben Platt and Beanie could do a charming revival

He’s appropriately neurotic and shes wacky. And they should be forced to perform only with each other to spare others

Beanie I TOLD you you should haven't done TPOS

So...*both* They're Playing Our Song and the Funny Girl revival are...TPOS?

If only Barbra had done it. She would have been a good fit for Neil Simon comedy and I Still Believe in Love could have been a hit single for her

Opposite...who, r430?

Paul Williams?

Robert Klein