Theatre Gossip #415 - The 'LuPone's Triumphant Return To Broadway - Unless OK Boomer Gets Picked Up' Edition.

Last thread.

We need Flahooley now more than ever...

I think despite all its flaws (I saw it in London), COMPANY will be a huge hit in New York, just because it feel like the most amazing event after Covid. And I'm not sure it will need tourists to pack the houses. I think even PLAZA SUITE may be a success. Both classic New York stories. The critics are sure to be kind.

FLAHOOLEY deserves an ENCORES production, at the very least. Consider some of the other crap they've exhumed over the years.

R3 Is Plaza Suite coming back? Will Follyfoot have time to do that and the SITC rehash?

From the previous thread:

[quote] interspersed with scenes from Sondheim teaching his class at Oxford. Be interesting to know if any of that class went on to any success in the theatre

Well, one of them wrote the English language lyrics to Martin Guerre, so...no.

[quote]I think even PLAZA SUITE may be a success.

Don't forget--pre-quarantine, PLAZA SUITE already sold out its entire NYC run well in advance of the first preview (that didn't happen).

I think the whole evening sounds dire, but obviously I'm in the minority. And it makes no difference what kind of reviews it gets.

That can't be true, r7.

The entire run sold out?? Just.....no.

PLAZA SUITE was a limited run, and yes, it sold out the Bway run, at least pre-COVID. I will find a link.

PS: count on Sarah using any success/media attention for PLAZA SUITE as a naked opportunity to shill for SJP, her shoe store, and the SATC reboot on HBO.

Trust me. If you're not already sick of hearing about those.... you will be, shortly.

Matthew Broderick for 'Dear Evan Hansen' when Broadway reopens.

MUSIC MAN will also probably be a hit for as long as Hugh and Sutton are appearing.

I watched the bootleg going around of Company and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. My only major issue was that Lenk's Being Alive felt underpowered. I also don't think Matt Doyle was all that funny during his scene. He was getting laughs, but more due to the script than anything he was doing with his performance. Maybe I'm just used to seeing that role get cast with wonderfully hammy women who make the most out of every line.

^ Or Jonty Bailey. Sigh. How proud I am of him. And we spotted him years ago.

[Quote] How proud I am of him. And we spotted him years ago.

Are you a casting director?

So glad “Jonty” is showing his ass a lot in Bridgerton, but since the new one focuses on him, he needs to up his game and do full frontal.

How many previews did Company get in before it was closed down? Can't be more than 2 or 3, I think.

I was invited to the final dress of Plaza Suite but it was canceled for Covid.

^ Enough that someone got a copy.

No. It was Lenk. She didn't play the role in London.

So who did Sondheim do for his birthday?

R18 The only time these threads have made me feel dirty was the time I posted the Dear Evan Hansen handbag. I so hate them, but I happened to have it, and some hot thristy twink begged me, so I complied...It was a good handbag but the show is so bizarre. So, that is my confession.

And as penance...Betty!

and Harvey!

[quote] How many previews did Company get in before it was closed down? Can't be more than 2 or 3, I think.

"Company" played from March 2 through March 11. "Mrs. Doubtfire" only got to play three previews.

handbag??

R23 = Lady Bracknell

[quote]We need Flahooley now more than ever...

Sadly, Yma Sumac died in 2008 and won't be available for a revival.

Mitzi Gaynor is still with us. Perhaps someone could bring back the revised version of "Flahooley," which was retitled "Jollyanna."

Zombie Yma will be there with bells on, r25!

What's the chances of Mrs. Doubtfire coming back?

Mrs. Doubtful, R28.

Mitzi might not be a great talent, but she's a hell of a broad. Do broads with her sharp and unapolgetic sense of humor even exist anymore?

I'm hoping for Chita in the Mae Questel role in "Bajour" with Scott Jacoby in the Herb Edelman role.

How about Jodie Foster playing Mr. Eddie's Father in a remake of "The Courtship of Eddie's Father"?

[quote]I think despite all its flaws (I saw it in London), COMPANY will be a huge hit in New York, just because it feel like the most amazing event after Covid.

Why do you say that? Why would that particular show, of all shows, feel like "the most amazing event after COVID?"

"Company" isn't exactly a happy-go-lucky jaunt like, say, "Me and My Girl".

Music Man will be a more amazing post-Covid event than the self-indulgent Company. Boo- hoo, I can't find the right woman, or in the politically correct version - man.

[quote]"Company" isn't exactly a happy-go-lucky jaunt like, say, "Me and My Girl".

And Katrina Lenk isn't exactly a barrel of laffs as "Bobbi."

Admittedly, the only production of Company I've seen is the star studded NY Phil production, but I found it VERY entertaining. Honestly, Bobby, to me, is the least interesting character. It's all about the married couples (and the girls he dates,) but it's one funny (and, occasionally) touching vignette after another with a pretty damn flawless Sondheim score. It's hardly Passion.

[quote]Well, one of them wrote the English language lyrics to Martin Guerre, so...no.

He obviously didn't pay much attention.

What exactly does Alain Boublil do for these shows? Obviously I know he did the original French lyrics for Les Mis, but not the English, and there was no French version of Miss Saigon or Martin Guerre first.

R12 Doyle seems to have been hired just because Marianne knew him from War Horse. She called him in. It'd probably be better for everyone if he stayed retired from acting and carried on working at Barry's Bootcamp as a "personal trainer". Still hasn't got that thing above his eye removed, either.

R38 is G, apparently. You don’t pay much attention.

Other cooks in that kitchen, darling. (Not a lab.)

Instructively, John Dempsey (weht) did the Pirate Queen rewrite in the kitchen, which contributed to ending the careers of Claude-Michel and Alain Boublil on Broadway. A brilliant talent wasted on a shitty show a half assed score (intended for Michael Flatley to choreograph and figure into) and a producer who ultimately was not into making it work.

That said, Martin Guerre was a better show, even the original west end version, than Pirate Queen

As for Pirate Queen versus MG: both have exquisite moments, neither is a good show.

Don't think Sutton's leaving MM before Hugh would have absolutely no effect on the show's popularity. He's the draw.

Rethink your overuse of negatives in that sentence.

I can see where someone might think COMPANY was the perfect celebratory, post-COVID show, after a year of us distancing from friends, families, loved ones. It's been uniquely difficult on single folks who live alone (like Bobby). "Someone to hold me too close," has an added poignancy.

I can understand this POV and yet not agree. I think we need another revival of COMPANY (particularly this one) like we need new strains of the virus, but to each his own.

Just think of the pleasure Lenk's performance will give DLers in ripping it apart.

I'll stick with my memories of Dean Jones in the original production, thank you.

All I can tell you is the London production of COMPANY was a giddy super event back in pre-Covid days. I've seen lots of London theater in the past 10 years and never experienced the anticipation and excitement in the audience (mostly Brits, of course) as that beeping phone signal started as the lights went down, from myself as well. It felt like an opening night, yet was just a regular week night performance.

It was really more in hindsight after the performance that I started thinking more critically about what I saw . And it's by no means an awful production. There are just lots of strange choices in casting, design and staging but it's, nevertheless, a fun and joyous evening. Just what NYers will need and want this spring.....and IMHO far more personally affecting than a night with River City yokels will provide for us natives.

.....what NYers will need and want this FALL (not spring).....

Is there any video of the original Company?

They really missed a trick with not making Bobbi a mug cradler on the poster. I'd also have put her in an oversize knit sweater,

You queens are talking inside baseball, what with the themes and meanings of the show. It's a contemporary NYC story and a new smart-sounding NYC theater piece with a legend and an acclaimed newcomer. Sounds like good candidate for a post-COVID choice for the PBS and NPR crowd which could be a lot of the early goers.

mug cradler?

handbag?

G, apparently?

in the kitchen?

What the hell are you all talking about?

Is it a contemporary NYC story? Women approaching middle age are treated differently than men. The gender switch is a facile concept.

[quote]It's a contemporary NYC story and a new smart-sounding NYC theater piece

It's from 1970, almost exactly 51 years ago. Sondheim has updated some of the lyrics--and the reaction has been quite mixed.

I love Sondheim, but a lot of theatregoers under age 50 associate his work with PBS pledge drives and, frankly, their own parents.

I saw the Company boot (with Lenk--the weak link, but not completely awful). I thought it worked very well with the gender swaps, and I enjoyed the whole thing. Not as much as the original, but as much as the Esparza/Doyle version. It has a lot of energy and a lot of wit...and it has that score. What's not to like?

I saw the London COMPANY and thought it good but certainly not transcendent; Patti did her Patti thing but that casting is less than inspired. I doubt that the NY iteration would be all that even with a stronger lead.

Well, suit yourself, r55. I was prepared to loathe it and I quite enjoyed it.

Do we think a revival of "Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death" has any hope? I saw the original. There's a reason it's been forgotten. I can't imagine who would buy a ticket for this unless they got some real marquis names.

[quote]I can't imagine who would buy a ticket for this unless they got some real marquis names.

How about the Marquis de Lafayette?

[quote]What exactly does Alain Boublil do for these shows? Obviously I know he did the original French lyrics for Les Mis, but not the English, and there was no French version of Miss Saigon or Martin Guerre first.

I've always wondered about this as well. I believe he either crafts the songs in French first and then then other people write the English versions based on that, OR he theoretically works with other people in crafting the English lyrics from scratch. There was/is a book about Boublil and Schonberg that I read years ago, but it was such ridiculous hagiography that it made me really angry, so I've forgotten most of what I read in it.

Sondheim shows tend to do well for 10 or 12 weeks when the zealots are flocking to them, but then quickly fall off a cliff once that audience has been exhausted. I don't know that this Company will be any different, even with raves.

I'll also speak up in defense of The Music Man. I don't care much about this new production on the way, but the show is much more than 'River City yokels.' It's an incredibly idiosyncratic bit of writing all throughout. I'm hard pressed to think of any show that opens with a number as strange and inventive as "Rock Island," while also providing the set up for the show's title character (as well as his reveal). Willson finds music in everything - a piano lesson, gossiping townswomen, the warring councilmen. There is nothing home spun or apple pie about the way the characters interact - there is bitter friction in how they all deal with each other, until they come together, falling under a charlatan's spell. The ending is a shrewd observation regarding human nature. Another clever bit in Willson's writing: the two leading characters belong together because their songs ("Goodnight My Someone" and "76 Trombones") are actually the same song, and fit together. And as far as affecting, Winthrop's delight in his cornet and suddenly speaking and singing excitedly is about as moving an Act One curtain as any show out there.

[quote]All I can tell you is the London production of COMPANY was a giddy super event back in pre-Covid days. I've seen lots of London theater in the past 10 years and never experienced the anticipation and excitement in the audience (mostly Brits, of course) as that beeping phone signal started as the lights went down, from myself as well. It felt like an opening night, yet was just a regular week night performance.

Not surprising, seeing as how Brits tend to have a disproportionately positive reaction to Brit reimaginings of classic American musicals. Plus COMPANY had a major American musical theater star in a juicy featured role, along with several Brit names among the rest of the cast, plus Sondheim was directly involved in rewriting the show to accommodate the (stupid) new concept, plus the director's career is currently considered very hot (some would say without good cause). I could be wrong, but I anticipate that if the show ever does open on Broadway, it will receive a far more mixed response than it did in London -- sort of like THE INHERITANCE.

[quote] I saw the original. There's a reason it's been forgotten.

Your age, I imagine.

[quote]I'll also speak up in defense of The Music Man. I don't care much about this new production on the way, but the show is much more than 'River City yokels.' It's an incredibly idiosyncratic bit of writing all throughout. I'm hard pressed to think of any show that opens with a number as strange and inventive as "Rock Island," while also providing the set up for the show's title character (as well as his reveal). Willson finds music in everything - a piano lesson, gossiping townswomen, the warring councilmen. There is nothing home spun or apple pie about the way the characters interact - there is bitter friction in how they all deal with each other, until they come together, falling under a charlatan's spell. The ending is a shrewd observation regarding human nature. Another clever bit in Willson's writing: the two leading characters belong together because their songs ("Goodnight My Someone" and "76 Trombones") are actually the same song, and fit together. And as far as affecting, Winthrop's delight in his cornet and suddenly speaking and singing excitedly is about as moving an Act One curtain as any show out there.

I agree with every word of this. For such a popular musical, it's a weirdly underrated.

Re Boublil: [quote]I've always wondered about this as well. I believe he either crafts the songs in French first and then then other people write the English versions based on that, OR he theoretically works with other people in crafting the English lyrics from scratch.

The later, as I understand it. Boublil speaks English fluently, but needs a co-writer for flow, accent, rhyme, that sort of thing.

r63, how can a musical that won the Tony over West Side Story, had 3 or 4 major Broadway revivals with a new one on the way, was a major motion picture and also been filmed in a new version for network TV....and even had its hit song covered by no less than The Beatles at the height of their fame be considered UNDERRATED?

Whether younger people today are not so invested in it as a property may be another question.

r63, please define "underrated."

Never mind, I'm sure you will.

I meant underrated in terms of theatre people's opinions of it. I honestly think it gets a lot of shit in loftier circles because it won the Tony over WSS and because of its embrace of Americana. I just feel that unlike other giant hits (like, say, the Frank Lesser and R&H catalogs), it's never gotten its artistic due. Just my opinion.

R64 and r65, you’re being pedantic. The show is generally and unfairly not thought of when people name the “masterpiece musicals” like Gypsy and Fiddler and all Sondheim. Its writing is not held in the esteem it deserves. It’s thought of as popular but not genius. but you knew that.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1955, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" opened at the Morosco Theatre.

R68 WE SEE YOU WHITE BEN GAZZARRA AND YOUR MUMBLING

WE SEE YOU WHITE BARBARA BEL GEDDES IN YOUR WHITE SLIP!

One thing that the new COMPANY production gets right is capturing the claustrophobic New York City apartments (which it milks for some humor). While I loved Boris Aronson's original set, it was more about stark glass towers for the wealthy, not about where real middle class New Yorkers live.

IMHO

I so disagree with r67. MUSIC MAN is revered and is often considered in the top tier.

[quote]Is there any video of the original Company?

Other than the famous documentary about the making of the cast album, the only other major capture I know of is the last performance of the first national tour, videotaped at the National in DC. Filmed by TOFT, it was their first recording of a Broadway musical.

According to notes at OVRTUR, the tour opened at the Ahmanson in LA with the original elevator sets and many members of the original cast, including Stritch, with George Chakiris as Bobby. But by the time the show hit DC, the production had been greatly downsized, the elevators were gone, and there had been many cast replacements, including Stritch and Chakiris.

I saw a grainy B&W copy on youtube years ago but it's long gone from there. I don't remember the cast.

Meredith Willson never capitalized on the success of his show with anything that came close.

[quote]Meredith Willson never capitalized on the success of his show with anything that came close.

It wasn't from a lack of trying, R74, but he had worked for many years on "The Music Man" before it was produced. Maybe that's why nothing he did afterward even began to match its quality.

Willson wote over 40 songs over the course of working on TMM. Less than half are in the final version. Two or three ended up in Molly Brown, including "I've Already Started Out...."

Dolores Gray saw to it that Willson's subsequent trees bore no fruit.

Franklin Lacey collaborated with Meredith Willson to write the libretto of THE MUSIC MAN.

^ I've Already Started IN...."

I wrote the defense of The Music Man at R60. I wasn't the poster who called it underrated, but I know what he means. You mention The Music Man and some people roll their eyes or dismiss it as some cornball piece of Americana. Hokey, old-fashioned etc. But in the shape and guise of a Golden Age musical, it pretty much celebrates subversiveness. Perhaps because Willson had never written another musical, the score is wildly inventive, crazy and singular. He might have blown his creative wad on The Music Man, but what a way to go. It's also one of the rare musical comedies of that era that is genuinely funny.

It looks like Donna McKechnie went back into the COMPANY tour for the three-week DC run. Obviously it must have been Michael Bennett’s request. I wonder if it was because of the impending Chicago run (which was canceled because of the poor box office in DC & poor advance in Chi), or because Bennett wanted her to dance Tick-Tock for the TOFT video?

Has anyone ever danced Tick-Tock nude?

Only in Cherry Grove, R82.

"Whether younger people today are not so invested in it as a property may be another question."

Who cares what no-nothings think?

I think THE MUSIC MAN is only considered "underrated" by non-theater people and non-theater aficianados.....in other words, average audiences (who may have only seen bad productions of it). People who know about the history of musical theater value it highly and give the musical its due place.

Isn't the term "know-nothing"?

The Music Man is so good that one can’t really begrudge its winning the Tony for Best Musical over West Side Story. They were both groundbreaking musicals.

"I think THE MUSIC MAN is only considered "underrated" by non-theater people and non-theater aficianados"

Exactly the opposite. You ask people outside the theater (or the tri-state area) which musicals they like (and I have reason to) and inevitably THE MUSIC MAN comes up. It's mentioned with the greatest affection and as one of their favorite shows. And you know who likes it best? Straight white men (they identify with Harold Hill, or rather, Robert Preston).

"Isn't the term "know-nothing"?"

Not in Gen Z's case.

Updates on movie musicals in production. I hadn't realized DEAR EVAN HANSEN had wrapped and was in post-production, coming in September. Or that TICK TICK BOOM was in post as well.

And some still in development I didn't know of at all:

GUYS AND DOLLS

BARE

BE MORE CHILL

SOUTH PACIFIC with Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, and Justin Timberlake?

Let's see how many of these actually, umm, see the light of day.

PS: Michelle Williams and Justin Timberlake are both 40 (to Hugh Jackman's 52).

How old are Nellie and Lt Cable, again?

Just wondering.

R90 Urgggh, Michelle Williams gives me thrush.

Michellr will play Peggy Lee and Steven Spielberg’s mother before heading off to play Nellie.

Also, how does Hugh Jackman plan on playing Howard Hill on Broadway and Emile de Becques on film at the same time?

This project has Michael Mayer attached as director, but otherwise sounds like wishful thinking.

R89 So LMM is a director now (for those who didn't click the link, he's apparently directed Tick, Tick...Boom)?

It should be pointed out, the last news on this South Pacific film was 2013.

Diana Rigg did The Avengers during the day and Shakespeare at night - I think it was Twelfth Night.

r93 HOWARD Hill?

OMG Hugh’s thin voice doing Emile’s songs?

That reminds me of the recent tenor version I heard of "This Nearly Was Mine."

There is the reunion concert of Company with the OBC on youtube

I can't believe the film version of WICKED appears stuck in development hell. Love it or hate it, WICKED is incredibly timely, with it's "outsider" feminist heroine (of another skin color, no less) and the strong female friendship at its center. It was smart to film DEAR EVAN HANSEN (a similarly timely, youth-oriented show).

I think it's a missed opportunity for the creators of WICKED, one they may regret.

Is WICKED no longer a successful stage property?

WICKED is an incredibly successful stage property.

I'm not convinced that successful film versions cannibalize the box office for stage shows, if that's what you're suggesting. Look at CHICAGO, for one.

I can only imagine that the pre-production on a film of Wicked would take lots longer (maybe years?) than the prep on a film of Dear Evan Hansen. It'll happen soon enough. Just think of all the little baby girls born during our Covid year who will be primed for it in a few more years.

WICKED has a younger audience.

Olivia Rodrigo is probably the frontrunner for Elphaba.

[quote]OMG Hugh’s thin voice doing Emile’s songs?

Michelle Williams' much thinner voice singing Nellie's songs? It would be like casting Connie Stevens to play Nellie in the 1960s.

[quote]WICKED is an incredibly successful stage property.

Well, it's no "Avenue Q."

I agree that "The Music Man" does tend to get dismissed as being cornpone Americana like "Our Town" and Frank Capra films. Which is a mistake because they're all terrific.

Well, not ALL Frank Capra films.

The Music Man really is an almost perfect show; it has great songs carefully integrated into the story which is charming but has bite. And, the characters are engaging and charismatic and appealing. West Side Story is also a classic piece of musical theater but while it has a more beautiful score than TMM, it also has a weaker book and terrible dialogue that hasn't aged well.

Lookin' at chu, Arthur Laurents, you old cunt, you.

I think some take 'The Music Man' for granted given how seamless (perfect, really) a performance Robert Preston delivered as Harold Hill. And that entire show hinges on Hill. Older friends who saw Preston do it on stage said he was a total marvel -- and that a lot of that magic (thankfully) translated to the film version. But it ultimately comes down to that casting. Dick Van Dyke's 1980 revival was DOA by all accounts. And while many have chalked that up to Dick's alleged drinking, his failure in the part always surprised me as he seems like ideal casting. But it's a tricky role to get right. He can't be JUST a charming snake-oil salesman. Craig Bierko was perfectly fine in the 2000 Stro revival but his performance also borrowed heavily from Preston. Robert Sean Leonard and Eric McCormack brought more unique takes to the role, but weren't 'star turns' either. Jackman has the ability to make this a great star turn (a la Bette), but I think it'll also come down to Jerry Zaks' direction and the chemistry he has with Foster.

[quote]What exactly does Alain Boublil do for these shows? Obviously I know he did the original French lyrics for Les Mis, but not the English, and there was no French version of Miss Saigon or Martin Guerre first.

I can't comment on the other shows, but since Les Mis is sung-through he obviously developed the book (ie the underlying structure), which is a huge contribution.

Also, I don't know whether this has been discussed long ago, but Boubil's French lyrics for Les Mis are infinitely superior to the sentimental dreck of the English version. Gavroche is positively scary in the original, and Eponine is not someone you want to tell to get a life.

[quote]You mention The Music Man and some people roll their eyes or dismiss it as some cornball piece of Americana. Hokey, old-fashioned etc.

True, and that is such an idiotic opinion. It's like some fools thought about the show for half a second and felt prompted to say, "Well, it's set in Iowa, so it must be corny and hokey!" Stupid turds.

[quote]Since Les Mis is sung-through he obviously developed the book (ie the underlying structure), which is a huge contribution.

But was that Boublil's contribution? Les Mis started out as an album with no story arc. When it was expanded into the musical we now know, how much of a hand did Boublil have in that? Or was it mostly Herbert Kretzmer's contribution, maybe with help from Trevor Nunn? These are honest questions, as I have no idea of the answers.

The French album is the full show, R111, as we know it now except with better lyrics and some of the songs given to different people. I assume it is the OBC (as it were) of a French production, but if it's a concept album then it's as complete as JC Superstar.

[quote]I can only imagine that the pre-production on a film of Wicked would take lots longer (maybe years?) than the prep on a film of Dear Evan Hansen.

Wicked has been in pre-production for years. There's been more than one creative team announced and then changed as time has gone on. Likewise for the proposed cast. Check IMBD.

Sadly, R113, those are all probably indicators that it will, in Sweeney Todd terms, "arrive overdone".

Even a bad film won't necessarily kill a show otherwise [italic]A Chorus Line[/italic] would have closed in 1986.

[quote] Dick Van Dyke's 1980 revival was DOA by all accounts. And while many have chalked that up to Dick's alleged drinking, his failure in the part always surprised me as he seems like ideal casting. But it's a tricky role to get right. He can't be JUST a charming snake-oil salesman.

That probably cost him [italic]Bring Back Birdie[/italic] which was dodging a bullet.

Did any of you see Ruta Lee's Mame?

[quote]I can only imagine that the pre-production on a film of Wicked would take lots longer (maybe years?) than the prep on a film of Dear Evan Hansen

Plus they had to rush the DEH film along before Platt ages even further.

Yes, one more year and they would have had to do "Irishman" level restoration on Platt's face and hairline.

Marc Platt is trying his damnedest to’Mama Rose’ his kid to an EGOT.

Although I still find the Emmy questionable.

Platt will never get an Oscar. He can't act.

[quote] Yes, one more year and they would have had to do "Irishman" level restoration on Platt's face

He could have borrowed my Mame filter.

"Les Mis started out as an album with no story arc..."

I beg to differ.

I was delighted last night to find this link to b-roll from the original Jerome Robbins' Broadway - particularly the segments from "On a Sunday By the Sea" from High Button Shoes. This includes the beginning and end of the ballet, starting at 6:40. Quality is not great, but who cares. It has all of the manic energy that was missing from the Encores! recreation two years ago. Just reminded me that you can recreate steps, but it takes a genius like Robbins (no matter how much of an asshole he was) to make the thing fly.

Jerome Robbins was one sublimely talented asshole.

One of the other great lesser known numbers from Jerome Robbins' Broadway, "Charleston" from Billion Dollar Baby, has been on Vimeo for years, but here it is for anyone who has never seen it. There are also boots of "I Still Get Jealous" from High Button Shoes, "Comedy Tonight" from ...Forum, the On the Town sequence and "Mr. Monotony" out there as well.

I think was really makes WICKED timely -- and I've always thought underrated -- was all the characters are in the midst of a government and political environment where they are not sure who's telling the truth, and who they can really trust. Talk about relevant. Its what the adults get out of the show.

I saw Wicked as a full-grown adult, and at a certain point just saw colors and shapes.

Ain't drugs wonderful r128?

Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs.

thanks r126. I didn't know there was good stuff on Vimeo

Does anyone have any dish on the worst stage managers on Broadway? Cam Mac's shows have had their share of them (like the infamous Richard Jay) but I've heard Peter Von Mayrhauser was a nightmare at Phantom (he apparently left the production a few years ago)

Disher extraordinaire Lee Roy Reams didn't have many good things to say about his time doing 'Beauty and the Beast' OR 'The Producers' for that matter. During the LA run, he said it got so tense that Marty Short and Jason Alexander gave Stro's stage management an ultimatum, basically saying "this is OUR show now. No more notes!" Mel apparently intervened and no more notes were given. (Btw if you want some GREAT dish, check out his appearances on the 'Behind The Curtain' podcast!)

Hamilton In OZ. The Burr is spitting anger everywhere.

Bless you, R124, for the Jerome Robbins' Broadway clips. I saw it on Broadway, and it was utter bliss. I've been trying to think of a great show to revive when Broadway comes back, and now I think it's Jerome Robbins' Broadway. Yes, I know it would cost a *fortune* to produce, but it would put so many people to work and bring such joy to audiences.

Wasn't there a revival two or three years ago that played at MUNY and a couple other places?

r128 = Joey Luft

[quote]One of the other great lesser known numbers from Jerome Robbins' Broadway, "Charleston" from Billion Dollar Baby, has been on Vimeo for years, but here it is for anyone who has never seen it. There are also boots of "I Still Get Jealous" from High Button Shoes, "Comedy Tonight" from ...Forum, the On the Town sequence and "Mr. Monotony" out there as well.

R126 - this is genuinely STUNNING. I'd never even heard of High Button Shoes before and, probably like most people, associate Robbins with his iconic balletic West Side Story choreography above all else. So, what a treat to see such a dazzling and humorous number. I had to rewatch it right away. The frantic rhythms, the way he captured barely-contained-exuberance, the way he built and built and built that energy. That could have just been "light entertainment" and instead it's a work of art. Sorry for being such a MARY! but I'm totally knocked out.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1984, "Glengarry Glen Ross" opened at the John Golden Theatre.

The problem with Billion Dollar Baby is that the score is tuneless dreck.

The CHARLESTON dance arrangement almost makes up for it, though.

I'm so glad, R137. Just to clarify, the "Charleston" number I posted at R126 is from Billion Dollar Baby (1945), a follow up musical from the On the Town team, minus Leonard Bernstein and well, you can guess how well that worked out. Still, it's a hell of a number. Composer Morton Gould also did most of his orchestrations as well.

High Button Shoes (1947) has what is Robbins' comic masterpiece, "On a Sunday By the Sea," also known as the Mack Sennett Ballet or Bathing Beauties Ballet. The whole thing used to be on YouTube but was removed at some point. I keep hoping someone will repost it. In the meantime, the beginning and end of the ballet is in the link I posted at R124. It involves a stolen bag of money, a con man and his henchmen, five Keystone Kops, six bathing beauties, a family of crooks, two sets of identical twins, a life guard, a naked girl in a towel a gorilla, and multiple cabana doors.

Robbins' Mistake Waltz

Couldn’t spot Man 6 at r133.

^ He is crying in the lobby.

I'm watching Dick Cavett interview noted Betty Lynn understudy, Miss Janet L. Hubert.

How long did Betty Lynn do the show?

What show are you talking about, r145?

And why would Dick Cavett be interviewing Janet L. Hubert?

The Now and Forever one, r147. He's interviewing her because she's on one of the new season's shows. Something called Fresh Prince of something or other.

Did anyone catch Bernadette's Norma?

Oh yay, another untalented gay wannabe actor boring the masses on IG by doing drag.

Inappropriate Patti is a HOOT.

Cole Escola's Bernadette is hilarious, too.

NYC here. De Blasio gave a presser today announcing his plan to get Broadway open again by September. It's been all over the local news. I'm too tired to write much about it, but will start with getting all of the theater community -- actors, stage workers, front office -- vaccinated so they can get back to work. Audiences are a different story, with the head of the Broadway League pointing out that shows can't afford reopen at 30 or 33 percent capacity as currently allowed. The many different options for addressing that is what is too complicated for me to write about tonight. But still greet news.

^ great news.

R112, I don't know what "French album" of LES MIS you're referring to, but I'm talking about the concept album, sung in French, which is far shorter than the English version. In fact, even though it's spread over two CDs, I think there's only about 90 minutes of music in total. That version doesn't have a prologue, and the songs do not tell the story of the novel in any kind of a linear fashion. So, are you talking about another, later French recording? Or do you just not know what you're talking about?

[quote]"Les Mis started out as an album with no story arc..." I beg to differ. -- VICTOR HUGO

Sorry, Vic, but what I meant was what I wrote, that the concept album of LES MIS has no story arc. I wasn't dissing your MASSIVE novel, which if anything has TOO MUCH story.

Well, if Mayor De Blasio says it then it must be a way for his grifting cunt wife to make money off of it.

[quote]I'd never even heard of High Button Shoes before

Bitch.

Watching the number at r124 made me wonder- How can hacks like Casey Nicholaw and Kathleen Marshall even have the same job title as Jerome Robbins??

The original pre-Mackintosh/Kretzmer/Nunn/Caird version of Les Miz was more concert than show. It followed the tradition of the French "tableau musical"; a collection of famous scenes from a famous source rather than a linear narrative. I think it was Mackintosh who heard the music and brought in a team to turn it into a more traditional musical.

Babs...

Anyone know anything about TOMORROW MORNING?

It never played New York and I hadn't heard of it before now.

Always nice to see a movie musical, anyway.

I'm sort of getting over Sondheim. Sure, his songs are great but I only need to see one or two productions of each of his shows and I'm good for life.

Thanks for the update, R164

[quote]The original pre-Mackintosh/Kretzmer/Nunn/C - aird version of Les Miz was more concert than show. It followed the tradition of the French "tableau musical"; a collection of famous scenes from a famous source rather than a linear narrative. I think it was Mackintosh who heard the music and brought in a team to turn it into a more traditional musical.

Yes, thank you. I'm glad SOMEBODY posting here knows what they're talking about.

Encores High Button Shoes...

I'd like to be seeing [italic]this[/italic] tomorrow morning.

Encores! did a faithful recreation of the ballet in High Button Shoes, but it was dutiful. They are doing steps. It was good to see it again, but it didn't lift off. (And Encores! fared really poorly with the rest of that show, which can be a lot more fun than it was there). If you compare the excerpts of the ballet in R167 to the manic edge it has in the link at R124, when it was under Robbins' eye, there is just no comparison.

Well, how could it be a comparison. Robbins is dead and the Encores cast had a fraction of rehearsal time.

And the production was also hampered by a grossly unfunny Michael Urie.

Karimloo ruined his body by building up too much muscle and adding those ugly tats.

And not having a zesty Nanette...

OK, Janet Weiss at R171.

He didn’t bulk up FOR YOU!

I suddenly have a craving for some Ramin noodle....

Mmmmmm. Spicy, delicious, filling.

Damn, there were some real fatties in the chorus of the Encores High Button Shoes. No wonder it didn't take off.

Ramin Karimloo and Samantha Barks starring in a movie?! The roll call of people who turned the parts down must be as long as Arthur Laurents' shit list.

Thanks for telling me that was Ramon. All those steroids and spray tan confused me

Yikes! That Encores' High Button Shoes footage looks like a bad high school musical.

Fully designing them with sets and costumes only seems to make them look worse. A waste of money.

That Charleston number from Billion Dollar Baby y'all been talking about is killer. Beyond the the brilliant Jerry R choreography, I LOVE the orchestration/arrangement. Pauly G has that orchestra SWINGING. I know this is kinda random, but can y'all recommend other particular recordings (specific tracks) that have a similar sound. There's something kind of intoxicating about how that big orchestra manages to be so in the pocket -- with those strings and woodwinds just so precisely swirling under the syncopated rhythm section and brass. It actually makes me think of Bernstein and On the Town.

So going back to Vanya etc. from the previous thread, the problem (among others) with this show is Masha doesn’t work. Sigourney famously got shit for her not-nominated performance, but I’ve never seen anyone make that role work. It’s like a character from a different play than the one Vanya and Sonia are in.

Karimloo’s Canadian accent is appalling. Dude can’t act. He was awful on an episode of SVU.

He should just sing. And strip.

I always wondered if Weaver moved to broadway with Vanya.... as a favor to Durang. She cannot have been happy saddled with that crappy role.

I wondered the same, R183. Weaver had already paid her dues to Durang by doing Sex and Longing, which was unspeakably bad. Masha is a really strange role - so stilted, self-absorbed and affected, and then a character turnaround that is really forced and quite unbelievable. She was not given a comic or dramatic set piece like Kristine Nielsen, David Hyde Pierce and Billy Magnussen all received. Even Shalita Grant in that other terrible role got to do more. Maybe she just wants to work?

WHET Shalita Grant? An undeserved Tony nomination and then.....

She's off in LA doing TV work.

Vanya moved to broadway quite unexpectedly. It was supposed to be a limited run at Lincoln Center but the reviews were good and a theatre became available so they brought it in quickly. I suspect if Weaver had declined the show wouldn’t have gone to broadway. She was the biggest name in the cast and finding and rehearsing a replacement would have taken up valuable time. I hope when she left she wrote PAID IN FULL on her dressing room mirror.

A lot of projecting going on here about Sig's state of mind and opinion of the piece. Maybe she liked doing it. Maybe her taste isn't the same as yours. ([italic]Quelle horreur![/italic], I know.) As a longtime Durang friend and co-conspirator, she probably likes his work. Ya think?

I think Sigourney was happy to do some live theatre. She's got deep ties, being married to director Jim Simpson who used to run the Flea, and yes, she's still pretty tight with Durang, I believe.

I like Sigourney but it's not like she's constantly turning down A-list film and TV offers. Much like Susan Sarandon, she should have projects coming to her instead of hustling for Meryl's castoff scripts.

Maybe she was fucking the blond.

can you blame her r190?

His face does nothing for me but the body can't be denied.

Her husband is ok but given the opportunity....

It's now too late to have Sigourney's Phyllis and Meryl's Sally.

They don't look very different to Alexis Smith and Dotty Collins in 1971.

And they could pretend it was a Yale reunion.

Yes, because they were soooo close back at Yale Drama!

Ask Siggy about that one sometime.

Similar but different dynamic, r197. Instead of Ben, it was roles. And instead of Phyllis getting them, it was Sally.

[quote]So going back to Vanya etc. from the previous thread, the problem (among others) with this show is Masha doesn’t work. Sigourney famously got shit for her not-nominated performance, but I’ve never seen anyone make that role work. It’s like a character from a different play than the one Vanya and Sonia are in.

I don't agree. I think the problem was in the acting, not in the writing. The only other production of the show that I ever saw had Sean Young as Masha. She was far superior to Sigourney, and in that production, it did not seem like her character was from another play. Also, people here who saw Julie White as Masha liked her performance very much, as well.

"Sean Young played it better." Not a sentence uttered very often.

Pia strikes me more as a Mrs. Van Daan, r200.

Did Janet L. ever go on as Grizabella?

Janet H, hon.

Beg to differ, r203...

She's no Marie L.

Weaver and Streep were never close at Yale School of Drama because Streep rightfully got all the major roles.

Weaver was a jealous bitch

Excerpts from the LBCLO production of Chicago. Choreographed by Ann Reinking and directed by Rob Marshall. Bebe stepped into the production when Ann backed out. Overall, fascinating and interesting to see what Reinking did with this production and what she would do with the Encore version. Watch for Jennifer Nairn Smith as Go To Hell Kitty and Cheryl Clark as Hunyak. The Me and My Baby also has the chorus boys dressed like babies, which was an audience pleaser.

when I Left the Long Beach production, so many people were saying how amazingly Prowse looked, especially since there was probably 20 years between her and Bebe and watching them dancing next to each other, Prowse still came out on top.

Sigourney is wonderful in a little movie called My Salinger Year. She’s Miranda Priestly without the ham.

Janet went on as Grizabella quite a lot.

NO SHE DID NOT!

All this #WorldTheatreDay shit today has been quite tedious.

Boy that Hot Honey Rag choreography is a pale imitation of the Fosse original.

Sigourney was a year or two ahead of Meryl so there really wasn't much competition between them while they were there.

Sorry, bitches!

R207 I'm pretty sure the chorus boys dressed as babies bit was added for the Liza Broadway replacement run, since the number was originally conceived to show off Verdon's dancing. For Liza they converted it to be a lighter Jolson type turn. I believe they went back to the original version (sans baby costumes) when Verdon returned, but I can't remember for sure.

r215 that number was always an homage to Eddie Cantor, not Al Jolson.

[quote] I'm pretty sure the chorus boys dressed as babies bit was added for the Liza Broadway replacement run, since the number was originally conceived to show off Verdon's dancing. For Liza they converted it to be a lighter Jolson type turn. I believe they went back to the original version (sans baby costumes) when Verdon returned, but I can't remember for sure.

Gwen did the Eddie Cantor/babies "Me and My Baby" during the Philadelphia tryout (13: 50 in the clip) which involved singing throughout. For Broadway, the babies and most of the singing were cut and Gwen danced a "strut." The Cantor version was restored for Liza and again when Ann Reinking replaced Gwen in '76.

R217, you can see why they changed the number. Verdon could barely get through it vocally. It's really painful to hear her try it. Fosse made some changes for Reinking like adding tambourines to Roxie and Verdon did it in the touring company.

It's interesting to see a star in the role of Roxie, though that cameraman seems more interested in taping the boys.

I could have sworn Reinking did The Strut. I’m pretty sure she also did it on some TV show., too.

Kander & Ebb hated The Strut and that Fosse cut most of the song. It was their demand that the Eddie Cantor version go permanently back in the show once all the post-Broadway tour was done (Gwen definitely did The Strut for the CA run (and last couple of weeks in Chi). I don’t know if Penny Worth did The Strut or the Cantor version on the rest of the tour.

[quote] It's interesting to see a star in the role of Roxie, though that cameraman seems more interested in taping the boys.

You've got that right. In fact, if one watches the complete performance from which these clips were taken, one becomes aware that the videographer is giving special attention to one member of the ensemble.

R207 - what a TREAT! It's so interesting seeing what made its way to Ann Reinking's work on the revival and what didn't. "Roxie" is quite different. It seems like the boys do more in this version than in the revival version. But I LOVE the movements from about 22:00 to 22:13 with the boys mirroring Roxie and then all of them scurrying to stage right in those tiny movements in unison. Gorgeous and funny at the same time.

R179 you might enjoy this. It’s a Jerome Kern song Harlem Boogie Woogie. I’m guessing it was orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett.

R223 - thank you so much. That's not quite it, though. That London Sinfonietta performance sounds, well, just like what it is. A classic ensemble trying, but not really succeeding, at swinging. If you listen to just a brief excerpt of the Charleston from about 3:45-4:00 you'll hear what I'm talking about. The orchestra is moving as one well oiled machine.... so rapidly, so exuberantly. As though they're almost going to careen out of control, but, of course, they're still perfectly in control. It's a thrilling sound like a swinging big band that added a string section.

This isn't quite what you are looking for - it's only jazzy in spots. But if you want to hear a Broadway orchestra playing an insane orchestration with a unified vision, I present the "Sadie Hawkins Day Ballet" from Li'l Abner. This was kept off the cast album for over 50 years for a few bum notes, but it is really thrillingly played. It always sounds like it is going to careen out of control and never does (credit the steady hand of Lehman Engel). Dance arrangements by Genevieve Pitot, orchestrations by Phil Lang.

OK Julie White as Masha I can see it - too bad there is no vid to memorialize that.

Ann doing The Strut. She's wearing the same costume she wore in All That Jazz.

This was from one of the first tours with Chita as Roxie. She also does The Strut. Although she was 20 years older than Reinking, she demonstrates why she was a star and Reinking wasn't. Annie was more technical, but Rivera creates a character and is much more defined. Kristen Childs is Velma.

Rivera was terrible casting as Roxie. She was just a Velma.

So much fun talking about all these musicals before 1990...

LORELEI!

Not sure if you were joking about Rodrigo as Elpheba but I think Olivia Rodrigo would be a good Cady Heron in the Mean Girls Musical movie, which is also in development (casting?). She has the look to play innocent/sweet but also popular pretty.

Sorry, R228, I agree with R229. While it was, of course, wonderful to see Chita working in her latter career (since she again played Roxie in the revival), she's a Velma through and through and she never worked as Roxie.

Yeah, Chita is way too self sufficient to make a believable Roxie.

Roxie is meant to be, in a way, a wide eyed and naive piece of shit. Chita was only well cast as the tough, world weary piece of shit.

I didn't have a. great seat for this - my parents took me when I was a lad - but it got me hooked on musicals forever.

ENCORES should look into that, R236.

Encores Chicago.

I'm so old I got to see Chita as Charity in the 1st national tour in the fall of 1967 when it came through Boston and I was a freshman there. I had seen Gwen play Charity on Broadway the year before.

Like Roxie, Charity needs a little more vulnerability (probably even more) than Chita naturally brings. But it was a thrill to see her do the role, nevertheless.

R238 No, that's the footage (with time code) shot for Broadway '96. Here's the "Chicago" Encores! reel:

R240 Those bastards lied to me.

No question Rivera was not good as Roxie and she did the revival in Vegas as well. But she danced the Strut with some character, unlike Reinking.

Reinking is a star in the Encores clips. Not generally, though.

R239 I'm so old, that as a kid I got to see Gwen Verdon do Charity on Broadway and could have seen Chita Rivera in Bajour, if my parents had been more on the ball.

I'm so old I got to see Cheets in The Visit!

I got to see Chits lift her leg!

Chita had to be helped down the steps in the revival. You can see that Reinking had no star quality but Melanie Griffith has it in spades.

Rewatching National Lampoon's European Vacation, which has Beverly D'Angelo singing "Big Spender," made me wish she played Roxie at some point. Any thoughts on how she might have done if she pursued more musicals? Yes, I know she did Rockabye Hamlet and the Hair movie ...

I've never understood anyone who can watch Melanie Griffith and see anything but a hole to fuck. She is charisma free and vapid as the day is long.

Beverly D'Angelo was at one point in the "Sunset Boulevard" years strongly considered for Norma D.

Griffith was better at the monologue back when she did the show, understandably.

Lenora Nemetz could do both Roxie and Velma with ease. And had to since those two old women she covered for in the original company kept calling out frequently.

But Lenora found Rose too much?

9 Roxies. Melanie is the best and Reinking and D'Amboise are totally unbearable. Shocking almost.

The original Chicago was such a better show when Reinking and Nemetz took over. So much faster, funnier, meaner and snarkier. With so much more wonderful dancing.

And then it closed.

Harry Hamlin's wife is the worst in that clip.

I wasch Roxie onsch upon a time? Thank you guys, thank you very much.

It surprises me that Chita didn't have them make "My Own Best Friend" a solo in that tab "Chicago." I guess she truly is a team player.

[quote]But Lenora found Rose too much?

It was 25 years or so later. Maybe she did.

I prefer Bernie

Bernie has famously had upper respiratory problems most of her career. And missed lots of previews of Gypsy. I had so many friends who said she just wasn't "there" during the early weeks of her run. But so many other people tole me she really got it under her belt as the show went on. Tell me the below isn't as good as it gets:

Beverly d’Angelo would have made a glorious Desiree. She almost did during that DC Sondheim celebration a few years back but Blair Brown ended up doing it instead.

Oh god, yes, Bernadette was thunderous in that Tony Awards performance of Gypsy. I've always wondered why, if she was performing to that quality by the time the nominations rolled around, she didn't win. Don't most Tony voters wait to see shows until they're nominated so they can go for free? I do that with films, and they are much less expensive. I wait until the awards season rolls around and I watch screeners or go to screenings. The only films I'll pay for are the odd blockbuster I want to see on the best screen possible (i.e. Star Wars movies) or something I really can't wait for.

Just that Tony number alone was better than anything that fat, untalented pig Winokur has ever done in her life. Horrible.

When did Winokur play Rose? I would have paid to see that!

Ricki Lake is so wonderful in the non-musical version of "Hairspray"!

I think I saw Bernie mid-way through her Gypsy run. The night I saw her she was electrifying. Part of the thrill was seeing her succeed in a role that no one would have previously said she was "born to play". Yes, LuPone was good, too, but you just expected that. LuPone made more sense on paper.

Bernie, post Rose's Turn....

CBS News profile of Bernadette's Gypsy which doesn't shy away from the naysayers...

Yup, Ricki Lake was amazing in Hairspray. And she really did not prove herself to be a good actress, but Hairspray was just the perfect marriage of role and actor. She was cute, she was vivacious, and she could really dance.

Winokur was ugly as hell, had zero charisma and couldn't dance for shit. When the other characters were going apeshit over Tracey in the musical, you thought to yourself- WTF is everyone talking about? With Lake, it made sense. Even the has-been who did the movie musical had the it factor for the role.

^ OK, honey, I think your sugar levels are low.

OMG, R269, you're SO funny!!

Just because I’m the janitor at a hair salon in New Jersey doesn’t mean I’m a has-been! I had almost 2 lines on Smash, remember, so there!

Bernadette got sick about three weeks into previews. She returned and rallied for the critic performances and opening but probably came back too soon and again missed performances. She had issues on and off through the month of May when Tony voters were seeing the show. As a result, most saw her at less than her best. After the Tony Awards and for the rest of the run, she really did have the role in her grip. If she wasn't a natural Rose in the Merman mold, she came at it with considerable craft and intelligence and found her way - just too late for the voters.

I don't think Peters is thunderous on that Tony Awards performance. She's so fucking effortful. Maybe she should have done it in the 1980s. That would save us from the Tyne Daly cast recording.

r263 and others, I think shows have to invite Tony voters much earlier than May. They couldn't go see [italic]everything[/italic] in May, and some things don't even run that long. I think they have to invite voters within X number of weeks after opening.

Yes, that's true, R274. But the Bernadette Peters Gypsy opened May 1, 2003 - so voters were seeing it in May and early June.

I saw Peters the week before Gypsy opened and she seemed completely miscast. I keep hearing she got much better as the run went on, but she killed the show at the beginning.

Thank you for those clips of CHICAGO>

Despite all the making fun of this revival, it's an amazing show when all the main actors are on. Heck, even when they're sort of on, the show has so much power.

I've seen it three time and have no need to see it again, but I always came out of that show happy and satisfied--something few shows do nowadays

Is that the case, R274? (And I'm asking, because I really don't know.) Can any Tony voter ask for tickets any time during the run up until the Tony noms (and then once the nominations are announced, only the shows who were given nods)? I thought they waited until the nominations were announced for the general Tony voters.

Winokur wasn’t undeserving of praise or awards. Bernie had the misfortune of performing in a crappy production of a great musical. If Laurents had directed her things may have turned out differently.

Shows all handle it differently, R278. A limited run show in the summer or fall of course has to invite the voters while they are running, or an open-ended show that is failing wants to get the voters in before they close. Fall openings will also sometimes re-invite the Tony voters in the spring when nominations come out, so that their show is on an even playing field with the spring openings. A voter can often ask to be accommodated if they are only going to be in NYC at a certain time of year and most of the time, they will be allowed in.

[quote] Winokur wasn’t undeserving of praise or awards. Bernie had the misfortune of performing in a crappy production of a great musical. If Laurents had directed her things may have turned out differently.

The production was fine. Bernie was crappy. Let's put blame where it's due.

Let's put blame where it's due:

Sam Mendes

Well, if you really want to put blame where it's due, blame Arthur Laurents. Mendes was completely stifled by Laurents, who basically didn't allow him to execute any of his ideas. The production ended up in a creative no man's land as a result, with a few glimmers here and there of what might have been.

Perhaps I'm being over-charitable, but I wonder how much the wrangling between Mendes and the tiny homunculus impacted Bernadette's performance - it can't have made it any easier for her to find her character when the direction of the entire show is in turmoil.

It was not surprising that Bernadette lost the Tony. Hairspray was a sensation on Broadway that season. Gypsy received mixed reviews. She was great on the Tony show performing Rose's Turn.

Patti Lupone threw shade at Bernadette many times in interviews during her Gypsy run.

[quote]Patti Lupone threw shade at Bernadette many times in interviews during her Gypsy run.

Are you sure? That's so unlike her.

Did she then wonder aloud about why people think she's a bitch?

This episode just ended.

Are Merman and Bernie the only two OBC Mama Roses to not get the Tony?

Chita did Roxie in Vegas, not on tour.

I thought Merman did get the Tony?

Then why did Patti make that crack about the only good Rose's were the ones who won Tonys? Did she dislike Merman as well?

Nope, Mary Martin's middle-aged novice took the prize. LuPone probably never saw Merman.

"You can't buck a nun"

[quote] Chita did Roxie in Vegas, not on tour.

Chita did Roxie in the revival in Toronto (with Ben Vereen and Ute Lemper), Las Vegas, and London.

She hadn't the guts to come to Broad Way?

[quote]Well, if you really want to put blame where it's due, blame Arthur Laurents. Mendes was completely stifled by Laurents, who basically didn't allow him to execute any of his ideas. The production ended up in a creative no man's land as a result, with a few glimmers here and there of what might have been.

Absolutely correct. Of all the hateful, bitchy, selfish, egotistical things Laurents did during his lifetime -- especially the latter half of his lifetime -- I think his meddling in the Mendes production, even while trashing it, was one of the worst. If I recall correctly, he felt he had the legal right to throw his weight around through the Dramatists Guild, or whatever, because he wrote the book for the show, but of course, it's HIGHLY unusual for an author to meddle in a new production like that. The problem was that once Laurents' talent as a writer dried up, he began to fancy himself more and more as a director, even though he was TERRIBLE at that. I'm sorry that Mendes and the powers that be of that production paid any attention to him whatsoever, but I guess they felt they had to.

[quote]Then why did Patti make that crack about the only good Rose's were the ones who won Tonys? Did she dislike Merman as well?

I think the comment was more along the lines of, "If you play Rose on Broadway and you don't win a Tony, there's something wrong." And "why" did she make that remark? See you next Tuesday.....

Mendes should have done GYPSY in London first.

I saw Patti at the beginning of her Gypsy run when she was quite good and at the end of the run when she was hammy, played to her adoring screaming fans in the audience and had zero respect for her fellow actors. No respect for the bitch.

Patti being her usual generous self

Merman lost to Mary Martin for The Sound of Music and Lansbury said that while Merman was always cordial to her, she felt resentment from her that she got the Tony award that Merman should have gotten.

R297, I think the Mendes production was originally intended for London.

[quote]I think the Mendes production was originally intended for London.

That's what Patti Lu says in that silly Andy Cohen thing linked to above. I don't remember the details of how it wound up happening on Broadway instead, nor does Patti get into it.

LuPone had already flopped in London with Master Class. And Bernadette has never established herself on the London stage. I don't think either would have been a good commercial choice.

Griffith has star quality, yes. If only she’d been able to sing, dance, and act, she’d have been a dynamite Roxie.

[quote] If Laurents had directed her things may have turned out differently.

Yes. It would have been the same old tired take on Gypsy that Laurents forced on Lansbury, Daly, and LuPone.

Laurents made Mazeppa, in the Tyne Daly production, a Texan. Which was a singularly bone headed idea.

For all of LuPone's showboating, Rose didn't come so easily for her. She had Ravinia and City Center to try to get it right before Broadway and even then...l'm not so sure it was the Rose of my dreams, though she sang it well. Merman had a pre-Broadway tour. Lansbury had London and a US tour, prior to Broadway. Daly had Laurents screaming at her for a year on the road before Broadway. Only Peters had to learn how to play the thing in front of NYC audiences in a production that was ever changing, and a theatre industry salivating for her to fail. And even without a Tony, her star power kept her production open longer than LuPone's.

Peters had appeared in it when she was a kid...

Bernadette got around as a kid...

What were some of Arthur & Sam's battles over?

Lupone can say whatever the fuck she wants. Hers was the best, most realized Mama Rose I’ve seen.

R310 Arthur is a car wash cunt for the ages.

Are we allowed to like both? I enjoyed both Bernadette and Patti's Rose.

Question for those with great memories: back in 2002, Patti stormed out of Noises Off for a few performances due to her issue about the Broadway Cares seasonal fundraising. She yelled at the stage manager and I remember a story where he said something absolutely caustic to her - one of the few times where someone really called her out. Does anyone remember what he said to her? I thought Riedel had reported it, but I couldn't find that part of the story.

[quote] And even without a Tony, her star power kept her production open longer than LuPone's.

That's an unfair statement. Lupone's was hurt by being so recent after the Peters production. Five years is too soon to bring any show back and expect a long run.

Well no, it's exactly what she and Arthur deserved for their spite production.

With Patti's "Rose" you just hated the woman. She was an egotistical Gorgon. With Peters (and Lansbury whom I also saw) you got Roses who were deeply flawed women.

Patti’s run wasn’t helped when she had to wear slippers for a couple of weeks and the press about her screaming at the woman taking pix. I know someone who did the show with her & just hated her because she was so awful, especially to the two little girls.

[quote] Peters had appeared in it when she was a kid.

So what? She didn’t play Rose, and it was almost fifty years earlier. She had to learn the part in front of audiences.

Also the woman taking pix was actually a man for New York magazine whom Patti forgot about. (She, of course, had approval.). The entire production lied and covered it up...

[Quote] She had to learn the part in front of audiences.

Care to point us to evidence that other Roses learned the part in front of audiences? Betty Lynn played the role in Texas around 1992. She still stunk when she played it at Paper Mill (1998, IIRC).

Isotoner slippers are responsible for Gypsy’s run being cut short?

Patti only missed 3 performances of Gypsy which is a miracle considering her spotty attendance record.

[quote]Isotoner slippers are responsible for Gypsy’s run being cut short?

And her bunions.

R307, Merman and Peters had about the same amount of time before their Broadway opening nights. Bernadette's production of GYPSY played 33 previews. The original production played only Philadelphia for about a month before New York where it had 2 previews--and it was a new show with changes happening so there were far fewer performances of the frozen production than Bernadette had.

Bernadette flailed about it FOLLIES and she had the Kennedy Center run to find the characters. The woman is not an actress.

Gypsy was shaped and molded around Merman's talent and ability. It didn't fit Bernadette the same way and it does take time to figure out how to get through eight a week of that show, no matter who you are. Merman burst a blood vessel singing it and was out for a few shows and the keys were lowered when she returned. Lansbury reportedly struggled with it and had shows with little to no voice left. Daly could barely got through the recording. Betty Buckley, old Leather Lungs herself, also lost her voice doing it and missed a week at Paper Mill.

That doesn't account for Bernadette's acting.

The trickiest vocal element to Rose is not the singing but the shouting. Bernadette shouted her head off.

Merman had no body mic.

I know Arthur was a cunt, R312, and we could leave it at that, but I wanted some Gypsy '03-specific examples. I was imagining something like him throwing his weight around, demanding exact elements from the '59 production.

And Merman played the role from April 1959 to December 1961.

Alright R331, the big one is that he demanded that they abandon the scenic concept. The idea was that the sets would be drably minimal except for the colorful onstage performance numbers. Arthur demanded that more scenic elements be added to the off-stage scenes which made them look weirdly under-designed. The original designs were more minimal, but you got the idea. With Arthur's interference it just looked like they did not have enough budget for a full set because there was no clear concept.

Also, he trashed Mendes to the cast while they were in rehearsal.

[quote]Lupone can say whatever the fuck she wants. Hers was the best, most realized Mama Rose I’ve seen.

Then I feel sorry for you. The first time I saw LuPone, at City Center, she hadn't worked out the character of Rose. The second time, on Broadway, I felt like she had decided to play Rose as Patti LuPone, plus there was a lot of overacting, because that's what the idiot Arthur Laurents likes.

[quote]It's exactly what she and Arthur deserved for their spite production.

Yes. Because it was indeed a spite production, I'm glad the show had a short run, even if Patti did win an undeserved Tony.

R314, I don't remember the details, but I seem to recall the issue was that Patti felt strongly that the actors shouldn't ask for donations to BC/EFA after performances, and she went ballistic when some of the other actors in the show did so without her participation. (At least, that's my memory of what I heard had happened.) But apparently, after the story got out, Miss Patti was made to understand that it WOULD NOT be good for her career if she was perceived as being not fully supportive of BC/EFA, so she then went out of her way to make a big deal of supporting them in other ways.

[quote]The woman taking pix was actually a man for New York magazine whom Patti forgot about. (She, of course, had approval.). The entire production lied and covered it up...

Yes, they certainly did cover it up. The true story did seep out to a certain extent, but got no coverage. It's too bad the media didn't make a big deal about the truth, which would have thoroughly embarrassed and humiliated Patti, just as she deserved.

Thank you, R333. I guess I have to ask -- why the fuck did they even let Arthur be around the production? Maybe I'm being naïve, but just give him a whole bunch of money and some virgins to drain the life force out of to go away.

^ Indeed. He should not have been allowed humans, the destructive prick.

R336, I'm not sure, but I think it was a combination of Laurents making demands for changes based on what he felt were his rights as the author of the book -- although I can't imagine the Dramatist's Guild or anyone else would have argued for his right to demand changes in the scenic elements -- and also maybe Mendes and company felt they should defer to him as a co-author of the show, at least to a certain extent, even though they didn't have to.

You're all a bunch of amateurs if you really believe Mendes could have literally barred Laurents from rehearsals. Mendes could have requested that of Laurents but if Laurents insisted on sticking around, there's nothing that could have been done....especially with the bad publicity it would have inevitably generated with the likes of Michael Riedel lurking around Shubert Alley. I imagine Laurents stayed away for days at a time initially, but then, when he returned and didn't see what he liked he wouldn't go away.

[quote]You're all a bunch of amateurs if you really believe Mendes could have literally barred Laurents from rehearsals.

GYPSY was written and first produced more than 40 years before the Mendes production. When producers revive an old musical, especially a very old musical, I'm pretty sure the original writers are not expected to be directly involved and present for rehearsals unless that has been specifically worked out as part of granting of rights for the production to go forward, and any such provision would be highly unusual. (Though there have been some exceptions, like the revisal of DAMN YANKEES, which I believe had George Abbott directly involved to some extent.) You talk as if GYPSY were a new musical and the writer of the book had been barred from rehearsals, which would indeed have resulted in bad publicity. But that was not the case at all, so I think maybe you're the amateur who doesn't know what he's talking about.

There was only one cast member of Nick & Nora who came out of that experience unscathed by Arthur Laurents, & that was because she grew up with a rageoholic father & was unfazed by Arthur’s vitriol. Even Charles Strouse got it - Arthur humiliated him in front of the cast so badly that Strouse went to him and told not to EVER speak to him like that again, whether it was in front of anyone or not.

"Arthur Laurents?

Call me when he's dead."

(actual quote from Mary Rodgers, one of the nicer and more sensible people in Sondheim's/Laurent's social circle. I have no idea when/why exactly she fell out with him but would love the details, if anyone knows)

He died and Mary never spilled, that cock teasing bitch.

[quote] I'm glad the show had a short run, even if Patti did win an undeserved Tony.

I didn't see Patti's Gypsy, but the woman was way overdue for another Tony Award and should have won for Anything Goes and/or Sweeney Todd. She was getting this one no matter what.

[quote]Michael Riedel lurking around Shubert Alley

Pics please.

R293 not to be a pedant, but Maria was not a nun; she was a postulant. She never took her vows.

Reinking was an annoying Roxie because she was aping Verdon, whose granny voice I never cared for, anyway. WTF was that all about? I can't listen to the revival recording because of her.

[quote]not to be a pedant

Correcting a Merman quote from over 70 years ago? Sorry, you’re a pedant.

Arthur Laurents outlived Mary Rodgers, I believe.

^^^. Oops, double checked, I was wrong. Arthur passed in 2011, Mary in 2014.

So she had three years in which she could have shared stories . . . damn.

I love the way people are trying to rewrite history here. No, Mendes and company were not defering out of respect for Laurents.

While authors of older plays are not expected to take an active role, if they choose to do so, you cannot stop them. They hold the rights. They own the play.

Remember ART's Endgame? An author who never even saw the play, hated the set, hated the mixed-race casting, hated the addition of music, and hated that it used text changes which he had made when he directed the play.

It was shut down.

And there are other examples where the producer did not go public with why they were closing...

I think I've read that over time most of Laurents' social circle eventually turned away from him--even Sondheim, who is famously loyal. I would love to know what he did to drive him, and Mary Rodgers, away.

Maybe the show was going badly and input from Laurents was considered potentially useful

R353, why are you making this nicey-nicey stuff up when the people involved have been open about the acrimony and power-plays involved?

Oh I'm not saying it was nice. I've been part of shows that are going badly, and it turns into chaos of people involved giving "notes" and I'm sure Laurents could have been relentless and hard to ignore if things weren't working. Isn't the line "Everybody in show business listens to everybody" from Gypsy?

[quote]While authors of older plays are not expected to take an active role, if they choose to do so, you cannot stop them. They hold the rights. They own the play.

Albee famously nixed having a gay couple as George and Martha for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

And the Rodgers and Hammerstein organization shut down a production of South Pacific that was set in a mental ward. I would have LOVED to have seen that one! Let's strap down Nellie until she stops seeing a bright canary yellow sky.

R351 I always assumed they have a right to approve or deny the production before it starts, but once they gave approval I didn't realise they were allowed to interfere like that on an ongoing basis.

I was in that production of South Pacific. It was at NYU in the mid-80s when no one was taking R&H seriously--mostly it was seen as summerstock and high school fare.

R&H initially encouraged the production as an experiement because they saw it as a way to revitalize their catalog. The production was done as a play-within-a-play performed by patients in a military hospital. The Hammersteins loved it. The Rodgers people did not. I think part of the problem was that Rodgers reps came to a weekday performance in which a large group of college students laughed derisively at the emotional moments, which made the production look campy.

They did not shut the show down. But they did not allow an extension. There had been talk of a move off-Broadway (as there often was at NYU since NYU Drama was trying to establish itself). But that meant it went no further.

Wasn’t there a production of Annie that ended with her waking up in the orphanage and realizing the whole Warbucks thing was a dream? I’ll bet that made more than one kid cry.

I wonder if John Doyle heard about that South Pacific before his Sweeney Todd snoozefest in a mental hospital bullshit.

The shut down ANNIE was at Trinity Rep. Charnin heard about it, drove up, and shut it down immediately. It believe it was when Oskar Eustis was there.

Here's a report...

Meet the director! She has such original ideas...

Someone needs to tell Erin Woulfe about paragraphs

[quote]I love the way people are trying to rewrite history here. No, Mendes and company were not defering out of respect for Laurents. While authors of older plays are not expected to take an active role, if they choose to do so, you cannot stop them. They hold the rights. They own the play.

This is true, BUT....when producers secure the rights to revive a play (or musical), they are usually free to produce it and have it directed and designed as they wish UNLESS there is an attempt to make textual changes or cuts, or a major change in concept without necessarily changing the actual text, as might have been the case in a VIRGINA WOOLF with a gay male couple as George and Martha. Anyway, none of this was at issue in the Sam Mendes production of GYPSY. Understand now?

[quote]I always assumed they have a right to approve or deny the production before it starts, but once they gave approval I didn't realise they were allowed to interfere like that on an ongoing basis.

You didn't realize it because, despite what some no-nothing here keeps insisting, that ALMOST NEVER happens, except in blessedly rare cases involving someone like the spiteful, bitter, egomaniacal POS known as Arthur Laurents.

Here's a youngish Arthur Laurents and his longtime companion, Tom Hatcher.

Arthur looks very attractive and fit here. It's been suggested (at least on old DL threads) that Arthur behaved like a stereotypical small man with a big... appendage. A very, very large appendage. The sense of entitlement, the swagger, the alpha-maleness of it all.... well.

Just a theory. I have no further details.

R359, Charles Strousse loved the Trinity Annie so much that he started working with the director Amanda Dehnert afterward. It was Martin Charnin who hated it.

PS: Laurents was so pleased with that photo that he had it displayed it in his home and included it in one of his books.

Just saying.

Martin Charnin was the Arthur Laurents of lyricists.

Diana musical coming to Netflix on Oct 1 and reopening on Broadway Dec 1

Oooo! Can’t wait to watch Diana on Netflix with my $8.99 month subscription then seeing it live two months later for $200 🙄

Like [italic]Drood[/italic] they should let us vote on the ending.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1980, "Children of a Lesser God" opened at the Longacre Theatre.

Do we have the option of killing her in the beginning of the show, R372?

After the success of "It's a Sin" (and "Tales of the City" back in the day), are the UK Channel 4 going to make a screen adaptation of "The Inheritance"? I imagine what they're asking for the rights has lowered since its utter floppage on Broadway.

Old story from Hollywood. When they were filming "The Way We Were", one guy got so fed up with Laurents that he made some quip (I wish I remembered what was reported) and then proceeded to beat the shit out of him in front of the crew. The next day, he was deluged with Roses from others who had been the targets of his insults.

[quote] I think I've read that over time most of Laurents' social circle eventually turned away from him--even Sondheim, who is famously loyal. I would love to know what he did to drive him, and Mary Rodgers, away.

The story was that Sondheim called Laurents the day after the first preview of Patti's "Gypsy" on Broadway at the St. James to register his complaints about how overdone and underlined everything had become since the earlier Encores! run. And of course Laurents would have none of it.

[quote]Martin Charnin was the Arthur Laurents of lyricists.

Yeah, that pretty much nails it :-)

R377, I didn't know Sondheim had voiced such complaints to Laurents, but I had the same reaction to that production.

Laurents having a big dong doesn’t make any difference to me and I doubt I’m alone. He had a creepy face and I’m sure the moment he opened his mouth (to speak) he was a major turn off.

R379, agreed, although Laurents' speaking voice wasn't so off-putting when he was younger. It was in his later years that he began to sound like a nasty old yenta. In his "narration" on that newly released (but old) recording of ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, he sounds like a caricature of a caricature.

I think Sondheim and Laurents had a volatile relationship always. Laurents dished (by implication) in one of his memoirs (and then there's the story of the fistfight over the birthday party rentboy). Hard to imagine that a lousy production of Gypsy would be the final nail in the coffin.

Laurents wasn't unattractive when he was younger(for maybe that was just a good pic)

[quote]Laurents dished (by implication) in one of his memoirs (and then there's the story of the fistfight over the birthday party rentboy)

What did he dish? And who won the fistfight?

[quote] With Patti's "Rose" you just hated the woman. She was an egotistical Gorgon.

You obviously didn't see her performance

Patti's run was shorter because she had JUST performed it for a run for the Encores Summer Session.

Anyone who saw that (thousands of NYers who thought this was their only chance to ever see her play the role) wasn't going to watch it again.

I saw Patti at Encores and went back to see her on broadway. Wanted to see if she finally got it right. She didn’t.

"I'm pretty sure the original writers are not expected to be directly involved and present for rehearsals unless that has been specifically worked out as part of granting of rights for the production to go forward, and any such provision would be highly unusual. "

It is the author's prerogative and privilege vis-a-vis the Dramatists Guild to be involved as much as he/she likes in any production, revival, revisal or what have you of their work, no "arrangement" required. Whether they take advantage of it is solely up to them. And, yes, George Abbott was involved in latter-day revivals of his shows---as a director.

It was a three-week run at City Center, and tickets were easily had. She's never been much of a box office draw.

r340, you clearly have no idea what you're talking about as others after me have shown you.

R387 But as long as Mendes wasn't changing the book, what right would Laurents have in meddling with the direction of that revival?

[quote] I saw Patti at Encores and went back to see her on broadway. Wanted to see if she finally got it right. She didn’t.

You forgot to sign your post, Ray Charles.

But r389 - r340 is "pretty sure"!

I wouldn't want to live in a world where "pretty sure" is not enough.

[quote] It was a three-week run at City Center, and tickets were easily had. She's never been much of a box office draw.

For EVERY GYPSY revival, tickets are easily had

For the inevitable Sutton revival, tickets will be easily had.

^ .....playing the lamb?

And Sheridan Smith will play it across the pond, on stage AND in cinemas!

Good point r385. It ran like a month and that City Center theater is big.

What difference does it make that City Center is big, when most of the seats were empty?

Arthur L didn't require a big dick to attract a young ambitious actor like Tom. Arthur was rich, successful, wealthy, connected, and could be charming when he wanted to be. Tom wasn't that talented and found himself with quite a prize in Arthur.

As for a fist fight over a rent boy, if you ever met Arthur or Steve, you'd know neither of them could have landed a punch.

As for Mary R's feelings about Arthur, methinks Jesse Green probably knows more than he's let on.

R396 Lest we ever forget. Smith in Funny Girl.

Can we talk about that nightmare guy Arthur left in charge of his estate? He used to torture the West Side Story company with constant rehearsals.

No, R395, that would be Mutton Foster.

[quote]It is the author's prerogative and privilege vis-a-vis the Dramatists Guild to be involved as much as he/she likes in any production, revival, revisal or what have you of their work, no "arrangement" required.

Okay, since you pretend to know so much about this subject, please explain what "involved" means. Are you seriously insisting that, after the rights to revive a show have been granted, the author (or co-author) has the prerogative to show up at all rehearsals and DEMAND changes in the direction and the sets and costumes, even if there are no changes or cuts in the text of the show? I can't believe this is true, and on the small chance that it is, I think it's ridiculous. So unless Arthur Laurents signed off on the rights to GYPSY with a proviso in his contract to the effect that "Mr. Laurents will have final approval over EVERY aspect of the production, including the sets and costumes," I still fail to understand how that situation occurred.

[quote]Can we talk about that nightmare guy Arthur left in charge of his estate? He used to torture the West Side Story company with constant rehearsals.

From what I have heard from reliable sources, that person's nightmarishness has involved FAR worse than that.

Please share r404. This is a gossip site.

R403 I'm not who you quoted, but according to the Dramatists Guild website, authors have the following rights:

The script may not be changed without permission of the author. This includes stage directions, etc.

Along with the producer, the author has the right to approve the cast, director, designers, choreographer, orchestrator, arranger and musical director, and their replacements.

The author has a right to attend castings, rehearsals, previews and performances.

So assuming he already approved the designer and obviously approved Mendes, I can't see how he could demand those changes. It says nothing about revoking permission after it's given. I can only assume they gave in because he threatened to cause a stink, and given his connections he could've at least caused a lot of bad press? Likewise, I don't see how whoever is in charge of his estate could demand rehearsals.

Fortunately we were spared the Betty Lynn/Debbie Gibson Gypsy when Arthur and Steve nixed a broadway transfer.

Authors have approvals (e.g. casting, designers). They don’t have approval over design elements!

Either way, Arthur was a sad old man who couldn't leave 1959 behind.

r383, I no longer have Laurents' odious memoirs and I can't recall whether it was in the first or the second one, but he was going on about Sondheim frequently being spiky with him but then every so often he would get drunk and would come on to Arthur....the example he gave took place in a London taxicab and was mostly innuendo in terms of what actually happened.

As for the rentboy fisticuffs, the story goes that Laurents brought him to a party at Sondheim's house--maybe for his birthday--and Sondheim thought the rentboy should be his. Arthur disagreed and some sort of physical altercation ensued. It may be apocryphal, but I devoutly hope it's true. I can't imagine a funnier scene.

So... apparently... a THIRTEEN year old boy is hosting a 50th anniversary celebration of Follies on YouTube featuring some of the (minor) original cast members, the original casting director as well as Ted Chapin and Susan Schulman. Who the hell is this kid? When I was 13, I was certainly a theatre geek, but I think my Sondheim geekdom was limited to Into the Woods. I don't think I even knew what Follies was back then. The idea of a thirteen year old kid enjoying (let alone being aware of) a show about the dissolution of 1970s marriages of middle aged follies stars is... unexpected.

Source at the link...

I was 15, r411, when I went to buy the vinyl OBC recording the second it came out.

R412 - that's adorable. You were an eldergay in training!

Jessye!

"what right would Laurents have in meddling with the direction of that revival?:

Because it's not meddling. Writers are the creators. Whoever goes through the agony of getting it on the page, gets to see it on the stage. The job of a director is to fulfill the writer's intention. Writers have approval over every aspect of production. Doesn't mean they always get their own way. But if you're a squeaky wheel, you can wield a lot of clout. Or even close the show.

[quote]So assuming he already approved the designer and obviously approved Mendes, I can't see how he could demand those changes.....I can only assume they gave in because he threatened to cause a stink, and given his connections he could've at least caused a lot of bad press?

Thanks you. And yes, I suspect your assumption is correct: That Laurents had no legal right whatsoever to demand changes in the scenic elements (for example) of the Mendes production of GYPSY, but Mendes and the producers agreed to some changes just because they didn't want that despicable old queen to go screaming to the press. Although, as it turned out, I believe he did so anyway, at least to a certain extent.

You whores only have another hour and four minutes to wish DL fave Charlie Williams a Happy Birthday. He claims to be 33, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was shaving a couple years.

He is dreamy.

Arthur Laurents (RIP) wrote an entire BOOK about how he would have done GYPSY differently in 2003, it’s called Mainly On Directing. Sam Mendes had a very worthwhile, valid and interesting directorial conceit - not the same as his CABARET, but flagrantly evocative of it - but Arthur said no. The entire production was fucked cuz Arthur would not allow it. Bernadette was immediately caught in the mix, obviously; since it was previewing fresh on Broadway, with Scott Rudin, Mendes and Laurents vociferously at odds always. Too bad.

Of course, Sondheim gave his blessing and walked away very early on in the process. Why fight losing battles?

Poor Bernie. She deserved better.

[quote]He claims to be 33, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was shaving a couple years.

Pfft. At 33, I had been shaving for a couple decades.

Jesse Green writes the unthinkable in the NY Times today that the Sondheim pastiches in Follies are better than the Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Sigmund Romberg originals they are referencing. All due respect to Sondheim, but ... no.

Broadway Backwards 2021

Someone at the NYT obviously reads DL - they've decided to do an article dream-casting a 2046 75th anniversary production of Follies. To save a click, they have Benjamin Walker as Ben, Ben Platt as Buddy, Beyonce as Phyllis, Ruthie Ann Miles as Sally, Bernadette as Hattie and Justin Vivan Bond as Carlotta.

Does anyone else think Jesse Green has lost his taste, intelligence, and based on R421, perspective?

I used to enjoy his reviews for NEW YORK mag. Since he moved to the Times, almost never. He's become Brantley-lite (shudder). The comment at R421 is meant to be provocative (I guess) but is merely ignorant.

Oh, dear god. Not Ben Platt as anyone in Follies (or any other show).

Re Brantley's comment at r421,Sondheim would be the first to object.

Yes yes yes r424. Green was a great read in New York Magazine and I don't know what happened but I dislike reading his Times pieces and reviews. It seemed sudden, I was excited when he was announced (his being another old-ish white man notwithstanding). And the new Maya chick sucks too, young is OK but she seems like a young idiot.

I think the truth about Jesse Green is that there was definitely some evidence of insanity and/or lack of taste in his New York magazine reviews as well, but y'all have just forgotten that stuff. I can't really blame you, because I think many of us have short memories. In fact, I myself have a vague memory of one specific review of Jesse's in NY mag that honestly made me think he had lost his freaking mind, but despite my strong reaction, now I can't remember what he wrote or even what show he was writing about. Will have to give it some more thought and will report back if it comes to mind.

The 50th anniversary of the opening of "Follies" is this Sunday. Ben Brantley talks about it seeing it when he was 16. He comes off as the biggest musical theater queen who ever queened.

Hasn't Brantley written that same piece before?

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1943, "Oklahoma!" opened at the St. James Theatre.

Yes, r429, he has.

[quote] I think the truth about Jesse Green is that there was definitely some evidence of insanity and/or lack of taste in his New York magazine reviews as well, but y'all have just forgotten that stuff. I can't really blame you, because I think many of us have short memories. In fact, I myself have a vague memory of one specific review of Jesse's in NY mag that honestly made me think he had lost his freaking mind, but despite my strong reaction, now I can't remember what he wrote or even what show he was writing about. Will have to give it some more thought and will report back if it comes to mind.

One I still remember is his rave for "If/Then," which Green found to be a top-level musical.

And he strongly disliked "Hadestown" off-Broadway, but loved it on Broadway. True, there were numerous alterations between the two productions, but his change of heart was unconvincing.

Does The new York Times still have the power it had in the past, as in to make or break a show?

****One I still remember is his rave for "If/Then," which Green found to be a top-level musical. ****

Thanks for reminding me. Yes, that was strong evidence of insanity and/or bad taste. I'll never forget, the friend with whom I attended IF/THEN said he'd have to rate it as the worst show he'd ever seen in more than 40 years of Broadway theatergoing.

Jesus, enough with FOLLIES. Enough.

[quote] Does The new York Times still have the power it had in the past, as in to make or break a show?

No

R453 = Jerry Herman, having drinks with Channing & Merman in the great beyond

R453 has yet to exist...

Wild rumor du jour: Scott Rudin is still squabbling with the Meredith Willson estate, trying to get them to okay using “Being in Love” instead of “My White Knight,” because he thinks it will suit Sutton’s voice better.

R435, not 453

R439, seeing how Willson supposedly wrote all of both songs, I wonder why the estate would argue over this point?

And by the time Music Man actually opens, Sutton’s voice will have aged so much that she’ll be a baritone.

...If it opens.

The boy originally cast as Winthrop is taking driving lessons soon.

You don't even know the half of it, r413. I had a FOLLIES scrapbook.

[quote]Broadway Backwards 2021

Hosted by that great Broadway luminary .... Chasten Buttigieg?

I lost respect for Laurents after seeing his train wreck of a West Side Story.

No wonder the stage version didn’t catch fire; it’s kind of boring

Speaking of West Side Story, any thoughts on its return?

[quote]I lost respect for Laurents after seeing his train wreck of a West Side Story. No wonder the stage version didn’t catch fire; it’s kind of boring

Only when it's directed by Laurents. Or that Eurotrash fraud Ivo van Hove :-)

Like that cunt Kat doddering through my brilliant play on film (rewrites not by me) in “Summertime”. Imagine that dyke getting the big Italian sausage and loving it?! What a farce. The only thing worse was Dick and Steve’s horrible musical version of it... but, they wouldn’t listen to me. What a waste.

Shut up, Dead Arthur L, go back to rhapsodizing over Harold Lang’s arse....

AL seems to have forgotten that he wrote that horrible musical of his own play.

Andy Mientus performs “Some Enchanted Evening” from the new R&H Goes Pop! album:

Why does he sing "never let her go"?

Been there, done that...

You know there are some straight people on Broadway.

[quote]You know there are some straight people on Broadway.

In the audience, maybe.

R454 How else would everyone know he's bisexual?

But he picks up a MAN, r458.

[quote] Andy Mientus performs “Some Enchanted Evening” from the new R&H Goes Piss! album:

Fixed that for them.

By ‘her’ he means guuuuurl.

But fuck me, what a dreadfully asinine cover, as is the accompanying video. I expected better from you, John Cameron Mitchell.

And R&H standards are part of the American Songbook. Their legacy is assured. So I wonder why the R&H estate (or whatever they’re called now) felt the need to throw their weight behind this insipid endeavour.

It's no Ethel Merman Disco Album.

[quote]And R&H standards are part of the American Songbook. Their legacy is assured. So I wonder why the R&H estate (or whatever they’re called now) felt the need to throw their weight behind this insipid endeavour.

Who was the imagined audience for this? Certainly not theater queens, who generally prefer non-techno versions of R&H. And certainly not the youth market, whose members generally show shockingly little interest in Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Skinny Paulo Szot...

Heavy Paulo Szot...

Spotlight on... Paulo Szot

Never noticed before but Paulo Szot looks like Charles Busch on steroids.

Paulo is so freakin handsome.

Busch should be so lucky.

On the one hand, I want to applaud something like R&H Goes Pop!, for giving talented people a gig. On the other hand, *that's* the gig?

My only objection to the R&H Goes Pop vids -- and it's a BIG one -- is that they all seem to actually change the melodies of the songs, at least a little bit, rather than just coming up with new concepts and arrangements. And as far as I'm concerned, that's huge no-no.

I met the black guy in Andy's video a couple of years ago at a play I went to see in Midtown. He's a sweetheart.

‘How do you do, fellow pop music aficionados?’

This whole enterprise is curious. I don’t dislike any of it, but I don’t totally love it either. Perhaps Ted Chaplin and the R&H Org wanted to capitalize on Ariana Grande’s worldwide #1 “7 Rings” which is essentially “My Favorite Things” with a few tweaks... but, that was a few years ago now, wasn’t it? Hmm.

^^ Chapin

I'm just pleased that these R&H songs still have resonance and appeal after all these years. That being said, I'm not at all interested in these versions.

Nothing still compares to Ezio Pinza's original renditions of Some Enchanted Evening and This Nearly Was Mine.

I love pop music -- yes, even current pop music, pearl clutchers. I love R&H. I... don't need the two to overlap, though. Hard pass.

wow r473 spray paint graffiti. R&H Goes Pop in 1978.

Next year:

Jerome Kern Goes RAP!

Victor Herbert Goes Hip-Hop!

DeSylva, Brown and Henderson Go Reggae!

YIKES! Just watched the Broadway on Demand screening of LCT's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and don't think I laughed even once.

Can someone explain how that won the Tony Best Play and was well-reviewed? So much caterwauling......awful performances from everyone.

But Billy Magnussen is hot to death (and actually quite talented), so it’s nice we have an HD version of his copious underwear scenes when he was at his absolute prime, no?

Christ!

It’s odd that Paulo Szot’s career went nowhere after South Pacific

He did The Nose at the MET and then, nothing

To the surprise of no one, Armie Hammer is not returning to The Minutes.

Ugh, that arena tour of Superstar was a shit show, mostly because Tim Minchin was simply atrocious. Even with the autotune in the dvd/blu, he is horrendously bad. Unbelievable ALW went along with his casting, especially with such build up to the tour due to the reality show casting. Ben Forster and Sporty Spice are fine if nothing special. I will say, the new take on Pilate with a brilliant Alexander Hanson as a Wall Street executive going through his day for “Pilate’s Dream” was inspired, as was the new Lady Gaga-esque orchestration for The Temple. That said, the NBC Live! iteration blew this away. At least that was good.

[quote] To the surprise of no one, Armie Hammer is not returning to The Minutes.

And to the surprise of everyone, the producers of The Minutes actually think it's coming back.

TBH, I can't stand most (all?) of the recentish Jesus Christ Superstar productions from the 90s on. What the productions, concept albums and film from the 70s got right was that 70s rock opera sound -- getting that sound right is critical, I think. More recent interpretations have such a cheap, tinny, elderly men's interpretation of what "rock" sounds like. Which is weird, because elderly men were around when that warmer, funkier more authentic rock sound was so prevalent in the late 60s and 70s.

I feel the same way about updates on Company, too. That obviously wasn't a 'rock' score, but it's a score that is SO of its time (late 60s/early 70s) in its sound. It doesn't matter how much Sondheim tinkers with lyrical references, it's like his Bacharach score -- it needs its early 70s setting to work and when updated to a 90s or 2000s sound it just feels completely lacking.

They're doing a Broadway version of Masked Singer for Broadway Cares. Choosing to do something that shows your voice is so indistinguishable that they can make a game show out of people guessing who you are might send an unintended message to casting directors.

Szot was playing Billy Flynn opposite one of the Real Housewives when broadway shut down so yeah his career went nowhere.

The third part of that Deadline Company oral history thing. The main takeaway is that this should've been a single article and properly edited.

Patti mostly brags about how great she is, and then goes on and on about how scared she is. She also says she doesn't think they should go back in the fall - that they should let shows like Hamilton, the Lion King, Wicked, etc open first and see how they fare. Though given their reliance on tourists (Hamilton less so, maybe?) that'd be a pretty unfair experiment.

This from Lenk just tells me she's completely wrong for the part, so little hope she gets better when they do reopen:

[quote]Sometimes I’ll play a game of What would my character Bobbie be doing right now? What’s Bobbie like with Covid? How’s she dealing with all of her anxiety? Would she have a Peloton? Probably not, so maybe she will run up and down the stairs in her apartment building, but then she would get freaked out that maybe she doesn’t have symptoms but she’s a Covid carrier and if she breathes too much in the stairwell the elderly lady down the hall will catch it when she throws out the garbage, and so no running up and down the stairs. She’s probably just wrecked with her anxiety, but also has the relief of, oh, I guess I don’t have to worry about being in a relationship right now because how do you start a new relationship on Zoom? So the pressure’s not there but the clock is still ticking, and she’s wrestling with loneliness and being an introvert. Maybe she’ll get a fish, but then what if she messes up and overfeeds the fish or doesn’t clean the tank and the fish dies? So she won’t get a fish.

I loathe Patti. The only show I ever really enjoyed her in was Anything Goes because she actually seemed to be enjoying herself on stage.

Wow has that series sucked. Agree with r491 that it goes nowhere and in no way justifies three damn parts. In this case, it only means there was no editor saying CUT CUT CUT. Self-indulgent writer transcribing his fanboy conversations with self-indulgent actors. Ah, journalism, we hardly knew ye.

Do we know anything about van Hove's WSS? will it return or not? That must have been one large investment. And, I saw it, and go ahead and shoot me. But I loved it.

Bang-bang, r494.

R494 An ongoing investment too, as I imagine they've had to have someone go into the Broadway at least every week to run the rain effect. I seem to recall the cast were complaining about skin irritations from whatever they were putting in the water. Adding legionella to that seems mean, even for Rudin.

Patti is just so insufferable. I want that production of Company to hope (while Sondheim's still alive), run for maybe a season or less and then we can all go about our business.

*open (while Sondheim's still alive)

Off and off off broadway will flourish in the coming months. Smaller houses, easy to control crowds. Several upcoming productions have posted casting notices for summer runs. Broadway sucks anyway.

Many off-Broadway houses are filthy holes in the wall (looking at you, Theatre Row!), with packed in crowds if fewer people, so I'm not seeing why off-Broadway would be considered a safer haven for audiences.

What does cleanliness have to do with the virus? It does not breed in filth.

The problem with Off and Off Off Broadway houses is that they might be too small to turn a profit given the COVID measures. Today, at that thing at the St. James, what was the capacity 20%? Imagine that for an off Broadway house...3 people?

It is going to be the larger off-Broadway houses that reopen first. If the normal capacity is 299, that means they can have 60 people (at 20%).

What happened at the St. James? Did all of the out of work chorus boys present hole and discount memberships to their OnlyFans?

R504. There was a short scene with Nathan Lane (Rudnick wrote it) and a Savion Glover short performance.

Were only "those in the know" invited to the St. James?

Broadway Reopened. For 36 Minutes. It’s a Start:

Excuse me...it’s known as THE JAMES.

BITD, you probably could see a few Broadway names at THE SAINT.

I wouldn't care if they brought Laurette Taylor back from the dead to perform The Glass Menagerie, I sure as fuck would not have gone to "The James" for that re-opening.

I can’t imagine anything more depressing than that article, except maybe actually attending that “show” in person (and perhaps getting a covid variant as a souvenir, natch).

WOW, Broadway is way more fucked than I ever expected.

Charlotte St. Martin should be burned at the stake for being such an imbecilic clod and doing literally every single thing wrong for the last year (and counting)... what an idiot.

🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱🥱

Man is Michael Paulson boring

Is it true the only reason Charlotte St. Martin is still around is because they think she's a tranny?

She may not be doing a good job, it's hard to tell, but I sure don't envy that job these days

I thought the St. James was turned into a hospital during the pandemic.

Something (possibly) interesting I came across - the 1979 Olivier Awards (before they were known as the Oliviers). Back when they still had a meal, complete with shots of people shoving food into their mouths when showing who's nominated.

The London version of Chicago looks like it was pretty awful. Pity the chorus boy who took a slip almost exactly at centre stage.

Holy crap, R517! That Chicago performance really is all kinds of awful... the ridiculous costumes, the horrible voices, the horrendous choreography, the absurd accents, the terrible arrangement, the charisma-free cast... who was responsible for that dreck? I’d be shocked if Fosse was involved in any real capacity based on that clip, but I could be wrong. Wow.

It was choreographed by Gillian Gregory. Her most notable credit is the London & Broadway choreography for Me & My Girl (vastly better).

Gillian Gregory, Gillian Lynne and Arlene Phillips were all mediocrity personified.

They had nothing on Kathleen Marshall, R520

I’ll take any of Kathleen Marshall’s work over that godawful Chicago presentation. Truly wretched.

Shaky but worth a look--

That's pretty cool, R523. Was all of the original cast still in for closing night? Hard to tell from the grainy footage.

R524 There were a few changes in minor roles, with veterans like Jan Clayton, Marion Marlowe, and Terry Saunders taking over ensemble parts and also understudying leads. And I believe at least one of the young principals had changed. But all of the stars and important featured players remained to the end. Two days after the Broadway closing, the entire company opened for a week's run at the St. Louis Muny, then headed straight to the new Shubert Theatre in Los Angeles to kick off the tour. But business was disappointing in L.A., the tour was cancelled, and the original production ended there (with Janet Blair and Ed Winter replacing Dorothy Collins and John McMartin for the final weeks).

I’d love to have seen Ed Winter in Follies. And then drained his love nozzle in his dressing room afterwards.

I was in SF waiting for the LA cast to arrive, but alas . . . my only chance to see a semblance of the original. Does anyone know how scaled down the touring production was from the Broadway version.? I'm thinking cast, sets, orchestra, etc.

God Gene Nelson was hot.

If Gene Nelson and Harold Lang were working today, would we be seeing their bodies and butts all over Instagram?

If there is a goddess r529.

Which, of course, there is isn't.

[quote]The London version of Chicago looks like it was pretty awful.

I saw it. It was.

And it was on at the Cambridge Theatre, which was ghastly and one of the least desirable in the West End.

Meanwhile, back at Follies. Here's a great pic I've never seen before.

Arthur Kopit died.

r523 - I've always been curious about Yvonne's costume in that footage.

R535 Yvonne's dress had long sleeves in the cooler months and short sleeves in the summer. And of course she was preparing to play outdoors at the St. Louis MUNY two days after the closing.

Ah, r536, makes sense now. The summer version (with straps not sleeves) isn't nearly as elegant. Women of a certain age showing their upper arms can be tricky. The first version of Alexis' L&J costume was a case in point.

R537 Yes, straps---thanks for the correction.

At last! A new Follies topic: Yvonne DeCarlo’s upper arm straps!

[quote]God Gene Nelson was hot.

I had to Google him to remind myself who he was. No kidding! What a handsome and impressively athletic man. Kind of a flat pankcake butt, though.

Actually, r539, Barbara Matera was more interested in Yvonne's brassiere and achieving proper separation.

The next thread better contain an allusion to Yvonne’s upper arm straps. Just sayin’.

Just to be clear, Yvonne had two entirely different dresses for different performances. It was not simply the same dress with and without sleeves.

Another bit of Follies costume trivia: When they first teched the Mirror, Mirror number in Boston, the expensive little faceted mirrors that were sewn all over the ghost costumes reflected so much light that wardrobe people had to run out and buy shower curtains which were cut up into tiny pieces that were then hot-glued over the beading. This was after they tried sanding and spraying them down.

According to Chapin, r543, that was done because the girls were cutting themselves.

LA Stage Alliance closes down because of a mistake in identifying an Asian actress.

R545, I guess you can say that if you ignore their whole history.

Of course, Variety makes it sound like it was just about this one incident.

Care to elaborate r546?

[quote]Kind of a flat pankcake butt, though.

Flat pancake butts were all the rage in the 1950s.

R547, East West Players does a lot of co-productions in an attempt to bring Asian work to new audiences. The awards will only recognize one producer per award and that has never been East West.

They have a history of slighting minority artists--the mispronouncing and showing the wrong photo is nothing new.

There are a lot of other problems which caused staff to leave and which will probably be coming out in the next few days.

Needless to say, if so many companies leave an organization, it is about more than a mispronounced name. It is about years of being unresponsive to justified complaint by producers and artists.

[quote]Flat pancake butts were all the rage in the 1950s.

And then there's Gene Kelly...

Those high waisted pleated trousers were not about showing curves and bulges. And you'll notice, Gene Kelly never wore them.

R545, DRAMA!!

I had tickets to East-West Players production of "Assassins" (all-Asian cast) -- it was cancelled due to the lockdown. I had previously seen their all-Asian "Mamma Mia."

r549 thanks for the info. I was worried that this was being way overblown and causing the out-of-proportion dissolution of an otherwise worthwhile theater-advocacy org in CA.

It was a long-troubled organization...

"Jully Lee, an actor and director, had a bad feeling about this year’s Ovation Awards, the annual competition honoring stage work in greater Los Angeles. She was a voter who had never been told when the ceremony would be, and she learned she was a nominee only when she was given 48 hours to submit a pretaped acceptance speech for use in the event that she won."

From the article...

"A variety of Los Angeles theater industry leaders interviewed Monday said the stage alliance was already in trouble financially before the latest conflagration, and its future had seemed uncertain throughout the pandemic.

And several described a number of grievances with the organization, citing insufficient diversity in its leadership and programming, an ineffective response to the pandemic, high membership dues that made it harder for some theaters to participate, and a “pay to play” system in which theaters were supposed to pay a fee for each production they wanted considered for an award."

[quote] the stage alliance was already in trouble financially before the latest conflagration

Sure, but that's [italic]every[/italic] arts-based org in the last 14 months, so I'm oddly glad to hear the other issues were more fundamental.

[quote] [R549] thanks for the info. I was worried that this was being way overblown and causing the out-of-proportion dissolution of an otherwise worthwhile theater-advocacy org in CA.

It was.

Tony and Olivier nominee Paul Ritter has died. Very funny television actor, too. Just 54.

R559 That's not great and [bold]is[/bold] terrible

That's an old 54.

I was surprised at how young he was, too. I thought he was in his late 50s/early 60s.

For anyone still interested, the "Follies" 1972 closing-night video at R523 has now been expanded into a Playlist with three separate reels of footage from the original production.

I guess you can't post a playlist here, so here are the three reels:

Part 2:

Part 3 (previously posted)

Question. Is that closing night footage dubbed with a soundboard recording from the same night or is the sound from some other random performance? I ask, because, the audience response is rather... polite. Perhaps not tepid, but certainly not what I'd assume an audience full of devoted eldergays would sound like on the closing night of the seminal theatrical event of their lives (judging by the number of Follies threads over the years.)

R567 The closing-night reel is indeed dubbed with a random soundboard recording rather than one from that night.

Dorothy Collins was magnificent.

What's Follies?

why on earth did some fucker start #416 already?

R571, I believe someone said this one has been paywalled.

So what? We aren't here to cater to you motherfucking poors. If you're too cheap to cough up $2 a month, then wait.

Facebook recommended that I join the “Fans of Follies” page.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww

This guy's Vogue video spoofs crack me up. And they're littered with dozens of musical theatre references. He's definitely one of us.

The Lady GaGa one was especially heavy on the theatre references.

FOLLIES...

I have to admit, the CD of that concert was my first exposure to Follies. For me, Lee Remick *is* Phyllis.

And Phyllis Newman will have to do as Stella.

Why do NY theater actors seem to have such bad taste when they glam up? Compared to Oscars, Grammys, Globes, etc., theater events like openings and awards shows seem to sport horribly dressed actors

R580, perhaps it has to do with the fact that theater actors don't make the kind of money that actors in film and TV make, so they can't afford to be dressed by the top designers the way those people can. Just a guess.

Broadway’s Stagehands Struggle to Hold On Until Theaters Revive:

taste and money are two different things, r581. Just like sarcasm and wit.

Hey, r580, shoulder pads were IN!

This is not about taste. The actors who go to the Oscars and Grammys do not pick out their own clothes. They hire stylists who pick out clothing for them.

If stage actors could afford stylists (or if the producers paid for stylists as a promotional expense) , then they would look just as good.

DId you not ever notice that the screenwriters, production designers, sound editors, etc at those other awards do not look as good as the stars? Taste in clothing is not a job qualification for acting. They get help.

with limited guidance and resources, SIMPLE always a good choice they never seem to make.

Indeed, DV...

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1949, "South Pacific" opened at the Majestic Theatre.

And...

^^ I guess Ezio Pinza succeeded in making Mary Martin look young-ish. ^^

Nope. She still looks like an old hag.

R581 A good guess too. A few years ago Anna Wintour bitched about the quality of the red carpet looks at the Tonys and tried to get designers and stylists involved, but it didn't really take. Too little interest compared to other awards shows, and I guess too many actors who don't really know how to play that game properly.

r582 Haven't they heard of OnlyFans and Chaturbate?

[quote]Nope. She still looks like an old hag.

Well, she WAS a Hagman (briefly.)

Bernie usually looks great on the red carpet.

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