Theatre Gossip #416 - The "Do You Know the Way to San Jose FOLLIES" Edition

"There's a s--- It's terribly messy!"

Previous Thread (Now Paywalled).

Yay! A new Follies I haven't seen.

Pay the two bucks, ya cheap slag.

I'm still waiting for the girls upstairs

San Jose needed Miss Warwick as Carlotta.

[Quote] Pay the two bucks, ya cheap slag.

Sling yer 'ook!

Can we discuss They’re Playing Our Song here or do I have to go to the They’re Playing Our Song thread? Asking for a friend.

Sure. It's thee ay tur.

for the die hard fan.

This is the brilliant thread title you couldn't wait to foist upon us, OP? I hope you're blocked forever from being able to start new threads, because you fucking suck at it.

One of the die-hard Sondheim fans on twitter reposted a tweet purporting to contain a porn star's "diary" entry describing in pretty detail his sexual encounter with the man....only the first page, and there must have been more, but unfortunately the tweet and the responses were taken down fairly quickly. Pity.

A current porn star or someone who tricked with Travolta in the '80s?

Jeffrey Seller seems quite slappable.

Not current, r13. The journal entry, or whatever it was, was typed on an IBM selectric with an italic font.

Were there any typos?

A sexual encounter with Sondheim? Was there a dungeon involved? I'll be really disappointed if there's not.

Nope

Well give us a summary!

A lot of making out, then proceeded to the bedroom....average size cock---and that was the end of the page. We'll never know what was on page 2.

Santorum.

Sondheim is now 91 years old. I doubt his sex life is much beyond a kiss and a cuddle

Is his dungeon mechanically kitted out? I presume he just presses buttons.

Since nobody has used a typewriter, much less a selectric, in many years, I'd guess this was an encounter in the 70s or 80s.

It's a very short road From the pinch and the punch To the paunch and the pouch and the pension It's a very short road To the ten thousandth lunch And the belch and the grouch and the sigh

[quote] Is his dungeon mechanically kitted out?

These days it's more like knitted out.

I wanted to post this old, old clip from Chuck Barris' primetime variety show, "The Rah, Rah show". On the Gong Show, he had these three doing "Chatanooga Choo Choo", calling themselves the Pointless Sisters. I remember one of the judges was Rex Reed who said he was willing to undergo psychological tests, but he thought the act was sensational. Apropos to this thread, he noted that it was like "Broadway's Follies on acid." Especially watch the completely all out and over the top performance of the lead singer. Ethel Shutta, take note.

[quote] Sondheim is now 91 years old. I doubt his sex life is much beyond a kiss and a cuddle

That's only after he finishes screaming "plow me in my shitpussy!"

Isn't he a dom top?

like anyone on DL can answer that question from personal knowledge.

I love old musicals. They have something special in them

Dance a Little Closer had 25 previews and closed at the opening night.

Young Rita Moreno in Gantry. Had 31 previews and closed the day it opened. Rita had beautiful voice but it didn’t save this show in early 1970.

Joan Diener singing very beautifully. Yul wasn’t playing in one musical only. It got just 12 perfomances, last one was its opening night.

I am no Peters fan but I think young Bernadette was rather ideal for this role. She has childlike mannerism like Giuletta had, althoug Giuletta was superior to Peters. Nevertheless the show was a short running flop running only two weeks. The movie La Strada is my top 5 movies.

Why are you spamming the thread?

R36 Who? Me? You get to decide what to post here? We can only post certain musical clips? Are you aware all of these short lived Broadway shows? Are we supposed to talk same old things thread after thread? Is this spamming? I don’t think so. I just want to post different stuff. This is theater thread and I am posting theater clips. What’s the problem? Don’t read nor open any of these if you prefer to talk about Follies.

This is from Ed Sullivan show in 1953. The shortest running musical to win Tony for best musical. Just 6 performances. But those men were handsome.

Any Dolores in that clip?

^^ Sorry, won best actress in a musical

One more at this point before more people will get angry. I just wanted to post perhaps a bit unknown Broadway history. I am not trying to make problems. Sorry. Joyful Noise lasted two weeks and closed right before Christmas in 1966 and after hearing the song I can imagine why.

Go on, let the Follies discussion roll on and on and on.......

The only issue with many posts from the same person in one thread is that it skews the ratio of posts to posters, which is what causes a thread to become paywalled. It's an antispam measure on the part of Muriel.

I love Karen Morrow's little anecdote about her flop nonmusical play in New York. After the show, a queen patted her hand and said "you shoulda sang, honey."

I mean... if you are going to post about A Joyful Noise, at least post an entertaining number. Choreography by Michael Bennett, with Tommy Tune, Baayork Lee and Leland Palmer, among others.

If you post endless youtube videos Muriel will put the thread behind a paywall.

[quote]It's an antispam measure on the part of Muriel.

And paying your fucking measly 2 bucks a month is the anti-anti spam measure.

[Quote] And paying your fucking measly 2 bucks a month is the anti-anti spam measure.

I don't wholly disagree, M. But paying puts you in the pen with some bitter motherfuckers.

Karen Morrow has one of the greatest belting voices of all time, but she's not much of an actress. It's a shame, too, because she has the voice for a whole bunch of great roles and could have probably sung them better than anyone, but I saw footage of her in Gypsy somewhere in stock and she's an awkward, stilted actress.

I couldn't actually get through this. Even for playing an unsophisticated character, the performance is tasteless.

There was a Merv Griffin "Broadway Belters" (well, "Broadway Belters and Ann Miller") episode on YouTube. Morrow came across very callow and she must have been well into her thirties at the time. The other belters were Ethel Merman and Dolores Gray.

Morrow does quite a lovely "It Never Entered My Mind" here. It's not unusual for performers who come up through musical theatre/variety to err on the side of schtick.

It's not even that Morrow does schtick - it's that she hardly registers as a performer. She has a great voice, but it's not enough to make her compelling or competent enough to watch for over 2 hours.

I find the same thing true of Betty Buckley. She always makes me sleepy when she's doing anything but singing on stage, but to her credit, she's very good on film. Seems odd that she'll be more remembered as one of the great Broadway belters when many of her best performances have been on film and not stage.

Thanks so much for all these wonderful old video clips.

As Long as He Needs Me.

Morrow was an absolute hoot as Aunt Minerva in the short-lived '70s series Tabitha.

I Want My Hat Back.

Karen as Mrs. Sally Adams--

Karen is fun in that Madam clip. She does less well with "I Don't Want to Know." She sings it so damn straight.

This is probably one of Dolores Gray's last performances. Betty Garrett can be seen at the end.

Carnival in Flanders

The Babylove Miracle Show

[quote]The only issue with many posts from the same person in one thread is that it skews the ratio of posts to posters, which is what causes a thread to become paywalled. It's an antispam measure on the part of Muriel.

Oh, is THIS why so many of the theatre threads got paywalled? I always figured it was because the theatre threads are some of the most popular and enduring threads, so it's a good way to get posters to pay up. For the record, I had a good year, so I'm paying my dues to Muriel and her gang.

[Quote] Oh, is THIS why so many of the theatre threads got paywalled?

Yes. When Richard Madden was revealed to be living with that twink, a thread filled up in a single day. There were many posts but also many posters. At not point was the thread paywalled. The theatre threads have a lot fewer posters.

*At no point

I loved that Gantry clip. Not that it was particularly good, but I’ve never seen nor heard anything from the show before. Moreno had a gorgeous voice back then. And how genuinely weird to see Robert Shaw in a musical.

There have been other attempts to musicalized Elmer Gantry, right? Have any of them been any good?

I still think there’s a terrific show to be written about Aimee McPherson (the model for Sister Sharon), but I imagine Kathie Lee's show salted that ground for good.

Moreno's "Some People" is shockingly amateurish.

Why don’t they give Follies! the “Hamilton” treatment and update it for today’s Broadway?

So with all this rare footage, where the hell is Darling of the Day?

Onslow is sat on it.

I thought Karen Morrow sounded pretty good with the book songs that were cut from Ballroom. She sang them on one of the Lost in Boston cds.

I didn't realize In & Of Itself was on Hulu. The last time I was in NY, a friend was desperately trying to get us tickets. She was so forlorn when we were unable to get them since the run was ending that month. She looked at me with... almost pity because I'd never get to experience this groundbreaking theatrical experience that she'd seen twice already. I was also disappointed.

Until I watched the show tonight. Jesus Christ. What a load of crock.

Boo hoo. Emotionally stunted magic nerd had a dyke mom, met a drunk stranger in Europe who stared into his soul and played a few cons on cardsharks so now he's going stare pensively into the horizon while you, simple audience members, just try and comprehend what it's like to be such a tragically gifted philosopher-cum-illusionist.

Get outta here.

R57, can you please attempt to explain what the hell you mean by your comment that Karen Morrow's performance of "I Don't Want to Know" is "so straight?" If you mean that you don't think she sings it with as much sadness, regret and even anger as one might want to sing it in the show, perhaps you should consider that she was singing it out of context in a concert.

Karen Morrow was a regular on Jim Nabor's tv variety show along with Frank Sutton, who had played Sgt. Carter on "Gomer Pyle". Morrow was fun in sketches, and of course, her voice was marvelous. Another really good belter who doesn't quite get her due is Joanne Worley.

Remember a couple of years ago when the NY Times was going to run a series about Broadway abusers but legal problems caused them to kill most of the stories? Allegedly they killed a big story on Rudin but maybe now the dam is breaking. I just posted this Hollywood Reporter story on another thread:

^ And I just posted in yet another thread that the according to local NYC news, the first off Broadway show reopened last night. Don't remember the name and sorry it's after 2am, I'm too sleepy to search.

I don't think it was "legal problems" that caused the Times .to kill that series. That's what was said but I think it was serious threats of getting all their Broadway advertising pulled. Like all newspapers, The Times runs on a shoe string these days and the financial loss would have been significant if not devastating.

R67 There have been music from it before. Pat Routledge sang the songs beautifully.

Worley was not good as Miss Hannigan. You almost expect her to say "was that a chicken joke?" None of the timing or sadistic joy that Sally Struthers brought to it.

Neil Diamond jukebox musical opens next year in Boston.

The music for Darling of the Day has never been obscure or hard to find. RCA Victor put up a substantial amount of the original production costs, partially to secure its rights to make the OBCR, which is easy to find. But there is little if any video.

Isn't Not on Your Nelly on video or is it just stills along with the recording? I thought I saw it once.

There's a youtube video of Not on Your Nelly but the audio is Routledge on the OBCR with a production photo her and Price as the video.

Just stills, R80. "Not On Your Nellie" was performed by Patricia Routledge and company on Ed Sullivan on February 11, 1968, but the video has never turned up. It's a Holy Grail for show queens.

I saw one of the York's incarnations of Darling of the Day. It's a smart, tuneful and charming show that just has this flop energy about it, so it never quite lifts off.

Didn't DOTD have many problems out of town, going through multiple directors and book writers? Sounds like there was quite a bit to like but they never got it quite right.

Yes. Also title changes. I think it was variously titled Alice Chalice, Married Alive, Buried Alive, and The Great Adventure along the way before the not especially meaningful Darling of the Day stuck. (Married Alive is probably the title that makes the most sense with the plot, though none of them are really great).

Jule Styne and Yip Harburg kept writing songs at the request of an ever-changing creative team. Final book writer Nunnally Johnson removed his credit before the Broadway opening, so no book is credited in the Playbill. It opened at the George Abbott Theatre on West 54th, known as a notorious house of flops. Although several major critics liked it, it got a typically stupid review from Clive Barnes in The New York Times, and that was that. Even with Vincent Price croaking his way through the score, and a clunker song or two, it still has quite a bit going for it on disc - with Patricia Routledge at the top of the list. She is so charming and winning.

In the York version, I felt like the show just needs a really good edit. The songs, good as they are, tend to run too long. The book that exists is somewhat slow and laborious. The plot is clever and also touching, so you just want the pace to be quickened and to get on with it. But it's one of the few flops of which people say "there's a good show in there" where I would agree,

Jesus, if ever there was an unofficial theme song for DL it would be "Not on Your Nelly."

Andy Mientus and friends are here to prove they're still the wokest!

[quote]We’re going to make theater this summer. Real, in person theater. Immersive theater, devised democratically by a diverse company. It’s going to be out of this world. I hope you’ll come see the maiden voyage by @ForestofArdenCo, ALIEN/NATION

It sounds...bleh

[quote]The third show, “Alien/Nation,” is a world premiere immersive production that asks audiences to journey through Williamstown by foot or car and “plunge themselves into the center of stories inspired by real events that took place in Western Massachusetts in 1969,” according to a news release. Scheduled to run from July 20 to Aug. 8, it is the brainchild of the Tony Award-nominated director Michael Arden and a company called the Forest of Arden, who devised it along with the playwrights Jen Silverman and Eric Berryman. Early last summer, Arden and some of his collaborators created a similar, experimental piece called “American Dream Study” in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Is Michael Arden still fat?

Gooning is his latest thing, apparently. And Andy has gone from describing himself as a top to vers. So they've had a productive lockdown.

[quote] Jesus, if ever there was an unofficial theme song for DL it would be "Not on Your Nelly."

It should be! It's a hell of a song. The one true showstopper in the score. But I am sure you are celebrating it for the meaning of nelly around these parts.

The expression, "not on your nellie," incidentally, originates from Cockney rhyming slang. It means "not on your life," The origin of the expression in late 19th century UK appears to have been "not on your puff" (for the intake of air your breathe in order to live), which in Cockney rhyme, for some unknown reason, became "not on your nellie duff" and then shortened to "not on your nellie."

And this is more about Darling of the Day than I ever intended to write at this hour of the morning.

Is Michael Arden still into piss play?

Still, R73, you've got to admire someone who can achieve this (from the linked article):

[quote]The HR person left in an ambulance due to a panic attack. That was the environment.

That Karen Morrow clip of Hostess with the Mostess is amazing in her ability to find ways to vary what's ultimately a pretty monotonous string of verses - the distinction may be that she was great at acting *within* a song but not when not singing - also check out her I'm Still Here vid from Long Beach ...

DOTD might have worked with a leading man to match. Routledge. I think Alfred Drake was considered. But it also was a bit out of step with its time. Barnes hated it, but Kerr followed up with a glowing review. Btu too late. This was the HAIR era, and ersatz rock scores were the darlings of the day.

Thank you r73. I was amazed this hadn't hit DL and I was gonna post today if it didn't. A sign of the times (and perhaps the decline of DL) that it took so long to show up here. But of course, there's [italic]Follies[/italic] and [italic]Darling of the Day[/italic] to talk about.

Anyhow, who here has first-hand Rudin experiences to share? Gossip, people. He's hung up on my twice, and I was once in the office for one of the rolling 7AM calls, and the assistant panicked when I actually answered.

r77 do you have a favorite or complete Struthers video link?

There's an active DL thread about that story, R94. Darling of the Day makes a nice respite.

I really liked In and Of Itself (the movie, didn't see it live). I felt DelGaudio took a while to warm up in front of the camera and the whole Rouletista story fell flat for me because of his performance, but after that, it was smooth sailing and I found the illusions to be fascinating. I'm not a huge magic fan or anything, but this worked for me. However, I can completely understand why someone would have the opposite reaction.

R73 The Rudin stuff reminds me, WEHT William Ivey Long? Is he going to be welcomed back when Broadway reopens?

Welcomed back? He never left.

This happened last year, just after the pandemic hit, and got lost in the Broadway diaspora.

[quote]He's hung up on my twice

I shudder to to imagine what he did to your once.

[Quote] Is Michael Arden still into piss play?

No. He's had sufficient.

It's about fucking time someone exposed Scott Rudin. He's the biggest asshole I've ever met, and I've met Jeffrey Seller and Bernie Telsey!

William Ivey Long is a pig, but you can work for him without fucking him.

"But of course, there's Follies and Darling of the Day to talk about."

You were sneering when you typed that, weren't you, r94?

This thread is in bad need of Lola Falana.

What's the deal with Bernie Telsey? He has tons of young guys and girls working in his casting office, most of whom are scared of or have no idea what to do with a big legit voice when they hear one.

Did someone just mention "Follies"? This video pieces together the entire show from clips, photos and a complete audio track.

[Quote] What's the deal with Bernie Telsey? He has tons of young guys and girls working in his casting office, most of whom are scared of or have no idea what to do with a big legit voice when they hear one.

Are shows written for big legit voices nowadays?

William has always been a treat to know. Rudin came at me once, but a very powerful agent squelched it, and I quote, "Stop it."

[quote] DOTD might have worked with a leading man to match. Routledge. I think Alfred Drake was considered. But it also was a bit out of step with its time. Barnes hated it, but Kerr followed up with a glowing review. Btu too late. This was the HAIR era, and ersatz rock scores were the darlings of the day.

Clive Barnes did not review "Darling of the Day" on opening night; he left it to second-stringer Dan Sullivan, who didn't like it. Walter Kerr in the Sunday Times liked it, and Barnes mentioned it favorably in a subsequent column. But Sullivan's opening-night review killed it.

R109 Some revivals are for legit voices, also some newer ones like "Light in the Piazza" as well as some others that place in the past. The jukebox ones, no.

Seems like the Rudin expose is resounding with a thump. Hasn't been picked up by other media outfits, lots of silence from the powerful people he worked with, and even people who love to tweet (ie the Jen Tepper crowd) are quiet.

He's honestly so insane people have fear

And yet, Telsey & Company casts fucking EVERYTHING.

R95, Sally has been doing the role since Nell Carter left the touring production so more people have seen her than probably any other Miss Hannigan. She's really, really good. She adds a lot of '70s schtick, like Lily Tomlin's Ernestine laugh or a Mae West interpretation when she's flirting with Bundles.. I really like how she looks like she could be an orphan herself.

[quote] Why don’t they give Follies! the “Hamilton” treatment and update it for today’s Broadway?

Because Hamilton sucks and Follies rules!

“Is Michael Arden still into piss play?“

Honey, he ain’t playing.

This thread is piss elegant.

Sally doing Ernie Flatt...

Thanks r116

I've seen Struthers in several workshops and readings, and she's always really good. I feel bad she's rarely cast. She should have had a better career on Broadway

I've heard Sally is one of the nicest folks in the biz.

r121

I went to see Sally in Hello Dolly in Ogunquit with 100% intention of saying I saw what I thought would be a train wreck BUT she was funny , great stage presence and the audience LOVED her... I was happy to be mistaken

I wondered what it would be like to be vaccinated and back in a theater. My panic lifted as soon as the lights went down:

Uggh, can’t these people wait until September to premiere their precious, pretentious works of art?

that photo at r124 looks like what would happen if Norbert Butz got really realiy fat on cortisone

Sally seems like a great gal. Always entertaining.

Isn't Sally one of those "singers" incapable of sticking to the key the orchestra are playing?

[Quote] Some revivals are for legit voices, also some newer ones like "Light in the Piazza" as well as some others that place in the past. The jukebox ones, no.

When former boybander Matt Morrison was cast to sing "Younger Than Springtime," I knew it was over for legit voices - yes, even with Paulo Zsot as Emile.

R129 I though Szot was better in his acting than his singing. He hasn't the biggest voice, even though he sings opera, as he does the more lyrical repertoire, but in "South Pacific" he really didn't sell the the curtain ending "Never let her go!" at the end of Act 1 nor did he sing out quite as legit as Pinza on the recording. I'm not sure if the director told him to hold back. Hell, that same director had both Lauren Ambrose (on the recording) and Laura Benanti, who I saw, hold back on "Show Me" probably Eliza Dolittle's most thrilling song in "My Fair Lady".

I wasn't impressed with Szot at all when I saw him in London. The Nellie was not even community theatre level quality singing.

Isn't more likely that Ambrose and Benanti held back to protect their voices. Neither is known as an eight show "slave."

FYI William Ivey Long was banned from participating in the Netflix filming of his show DIANA and he is unlikely to be offered any decent Broadway work once Broadway comes back. Word is out among his union as well as Equity and SSD&C and The League. He's over.

Can anyone tell me what DARLING OF THE DAY is about? Just a couple of sentences will do, TIA!

Ambrose hadn't done a run before like anywhere, but she has a lovely voice. Benanti has, though she has a spotty reputation for canceling. Both probably were aware that Julie Andrews ran into vocal troubles with the role which Julie first did as a lass of 21. But "Wouldn't It Be Loverly", is a charm song, "Just You Wait" -- ok, angry, harder sing, "I Could Have Danced All Night" totally legit, only goes to F at end, "Without You" mostly middle voice and sung passive-aggressively, are Eliza's other songs. "Just You Wait" and "Show Me" are big powerhouse solos. Granted, Eliza has to do the whole of "Pygmalion" in her book scenes, but I was rather disappointed even on the recording Ambrose holds back (that's probably how she did it in performance). Benanti is capable of a gutsier performance, though, in "She Loves Me" she got right off the high B at the end of "Ice Cream", so I guess she is conscious of not overtaxing her instrument.

Plus "The Rain in Spain" is an easy sing too - to complete Eliza's songs in "My Fair Lady".

Bart Sher is a total hack whose entire fame is based on directing perfect big musicals with big budgets like South Pacific, My Fair Lady and The King and I but totally fails with new material and even some other classics (Fiddler).

R128 Sally has good intonation (sings in key) in that "Annie" video. Very funny, too! She was very pretty back in her "All in the Family" days.

[quote] Can anyone tell me what DARLING OF THE DAY is about? Just a couple of sentences will do, TIA!

I tried to do it, but it is quite intricately plotted. So here is the synopsis from Wikipedia.

"In 1905 London, Priam Farll is an artist, brilliant, unconventional and shy, although he can be violently outspoken. He once offended Queen Victoria and was exiled to the South Pacific (shades of Gauguin), but Edward VII has succeeded to the throne, and Farll has been recalled to London to receive a knighthood. Appalled by "society's" expectations of its "darling of the day" (a common Victorian/Edwardian term meaning something like "fashionable celebrity") Farll seizes the chance to "get out of the world alive" when his faithful butler Henry Leek suddenly dies, and their identities are confused by an official. Instead of correcting the error, Farll quietly assumes the identity of the deceased, and Leek's corpse is officially buried in Westminster Abbey as the famous artist. He soon finds himself married to Alice Challice, a bright, well-to-do widow who had been corresponding with the real Henry Leek – and settles down to a happy "upper working class" existence. Farll continues to paint, and when his wife runs into financial difficulties he sells a few paintings. Complications naturally ensue, and his "cover" becomes increasingly flimsy. Just as it looks as if he will be compelled to resume his real identity, a piece of truly Gilbertian nonsense brings all to a satisfactory conclusion, and he is allowed to stay plain Henry Leek after all."

I should have read it more carefully. As I remember it, SHE sells the paintings, and the art world, recognizing his distinctive style, discovers that Farll is alive. The "Gilbertian nonsense" referred to is the song, "Butler in the Abbey," where Farll posits that if it became widely known that a butler is buried at Westminster, it would lead to England's shame and ruination. (It sounds crazy, but the Yip Harburg lyrics are pretty sensational).

How many DUIs does Sally have? Just the one, dear?

How many DUIs does Sally have? Just the one, dear?

Speaking of Sally, do any elders have memories of the female production of The Odd Couple? Was it just a gimmick production or did it speak for itself pretty well?

Loved the female Odd Couple. Sally was fucking hilarious. Wasn’t crazy about Rita Moreno but went back to see Brenda Vaccaro who was every bit as funny as Sally. Lewis J Stadlen and Tony Shaloub were great as the male version of the Pigeon sisters. I’m usually more of a silent laugher in the theatre but I burst out laughing several times. MARY!

Darling of the Day is based on a novel called Buried Alive

I could swear I saw the actual video of Not On Your Nelly quite a while ago. Could it have been posted and then got pulled for rights reasons? Like some of the stuff on bluegobo?

Can someone put the TV performance of Susan Johnson's "Almost Like Being I Love" back up on Youtube, thankyouplease.

Romeo and Juliet with Josh O'Connor.

The Portrait of Dorian Gray with Dame Joanna Lumley.

Alfred Enoch is playing whom?

Three Sisters.

R149 This.

Maybe I never did see it. I'm trusting my memory less and less.

r145, if you did see it after the original, you're a rare bird. I saw it first run because a friend was in the chorus singing behind Ms Routledge. This was WAY before VCRs, so no way I could have preserved it. But she was a hoot.

You would think with Routledge's increased profile via Alan Bennett, Victoria Wood, Hyacinth etc. that the BBC would have recorded her in the role for their musicals in concert series. It would have made more sense than Diana Rigg in A Little Night Music or Kim Criswell in Call Me Madam.

Ambrose had a lovely voice as Eliza and could easily handle the score, but she had a weird quality when she sang. It was almost like she was stepping out of character to deliver the songs and go right back in when it came time to do another scene. Very odd. Didn't seem to know what to do with her body during the musical numbers. It was awkward, but something a director should have caught early on.

^ She looked bizarre.

I'm confused. Alfie Enoch is playing Three Sisters?

Why does Dorian Gray have such bad skin?

And why doesn't Russell Tovey appear in the trailer?

I call bullshit!

Moss Hart is famous for spoon feeding Andrews the role. And this was in the original production where there was no precedent. I guess Sher is no Moss Hart. We have pretenders.

I'm confused. Enoch Snow is playing Alfie Boe?

[quote]Isn't Sally one of those "singers" incapable of sticking to the key the orchestra are playing?

Totally inaccurate. Next question? (But please don't bother if it's going to be such a stupid one.)

Who needs questions...

Re “Nellie” the previous week, Sullivan introduced Pat Routledge from the audience and said she would be back the following week to sing from her show. THAT episode was on YouTube for a while, but not the one with her doing the number.

Back when all those Sullivan clips were making the rounds, the man who.controlled the rights had a hissy fit when he found out. He went on the warpath and got them mostly pulled. Then he put out a volume of the Sullivan Broadway clips on dvd, figuring there was a fortune to be made. It bombed so there was never an incentive to release any more. Whether the “Nellie” episode exists in the official Sullivan archives or whether it’s just permanently lost is unknown. It

There's been a lot of Sullivan clips uploaded on their official channel. Perhaps it will turn up.

Is there a way of finding out who else performed on that show?

Yes. That info is readily available.

Summary: Music: Roberta Peters (soprano) - "Shadow Song" (from Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera "Dinorah"); The Lennon Sisters sing "California Dreamin'" & "Where Are the Words?"; Broadway: Vincent Price and Patricia Routledge perform a scene from the musical "Darling of the Day" (which ran on Broadway from Jan. 27 - Feb. 24, 1968). Segment includes Patricia Routledge singing "Not On Your Nellie."; Comedy: Morey Amsterdam, Totie Fields, Hendra & Ullett (comedy team) . Jimmy Nelson (ventriloquist). Also appearing: Eddie Albert (actor) - recites excerpts from Carl Sandburg's writings on Abraham Lincoln. Vaughn Bullivant (water skiing champion, appearing on film?). Les Dollies (unicycle act).

When I saw Pirates at the Delacorte I had no idea who she was. She knocked me out and I thought Who is this lady? It is so unfortunate she did not come to Broadway. Parsons was understudy level. At the Delacorte it was quite the event with the audience building into a frenzy and practically roaring after With Cat Like Tread. I went twice and got seats front center both times. This was at a time when if you got there early enough you got terrific seats. I believe that changed and all those seats went to sponsors after Papp's death.

I understand there is a new video of the Delacorte far superior to the one that has been making the rounds for years and which I found a real disappointment.

I should mention that the audience was brought to a frenzy with the one two punch of Rose's I am the Very Model at the end of act one and then Tony Azito's performance at the beginning of act 2 of When the Foeman Bares His Steel. This was already an embarrassment of riches. Then came With Catlike Tread and it was too much and the audience turned to bedlam.

[quote] I understand there is a new video of the Delacorte far superior to the one that has been making the rounds for years and which I found a real disappointment.

Yes, that video was posted here on a prior thread. While still not perfect, it was vastly better than what was commercially released.

I only saw it indoors, but agree that Pirates was absolutely delightful. My understanding is that Patricia Routledge had committed to a project in London (was it Noises Off?) and couldn't or wasn't willing to continue. Too bad, as it would have been the one hit of her snakebit Broadway career.

Damn I [italic]glanced[/italic] at that Struthers [italic]Annie[/italic] clip above, and now YouTube is serving me [italic]Annie[/italic] after fucking [italic]Annie[/italic]. Who is Hannigan in this one, you old queens?

Patricia in Pirates.

R171, that is the film that has been going around for years.

I always thought it was pretty good, but now I want to see the newer found one that R167 spoke about.

"When former boybander Matt Morrison was cast to sing "Younger Than Springtime," I knew it was over for legit voices - yes, even with Paulo Zsot as Emile."

Matthew James Morrison (born October 30, 1978)[1] is an American actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter. Morrison is known for starring in multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including his portrayal of Link Larkin in Hairspray on Broadway, and for his role as Will Schuester on the Fox television show Glee (2009–2015). Morrison is signed with Adam Levine's 222 Records and received a Tony Award nomination for his featured role as Fabrizio Nacarelli in the musical The Light in the Piazza. From March 2015 to January 2016, Morrison starred in the lead role of J.M. Barrie in the Broadway production of Finding Neverland.

Don't see any boyband mentioned. Although this version is more poppy than bombastic.

R172 Ha, fucking posted the wrong one. Duh!

Pat blah blah

[quote]Moss Hart is famous for spoon feeding Andrews the role.

That's hardly what Moss Hart is famous for, R159. What a silly thing to say about a man with Hart's rich and accomplished career.

He was MFL's director. Andrews was the show's leading lady. She was only 21 years of age and he directed her.

Thinking about Pirates of Penzance and some of its showstoppers made me wish Graciela Daniele had had a better Broadway career. She's one of the Bennett and Fosse disciples who has choreographed and/or directed some great work (as well as her share of clunkers). But her work on Pirates, The Rink (except for the shitty Act 1 Chita gang rape), Drood, Once on This Island and Ragtime had quirky and idiosyncratic ideas and the knowledge of how to build an exciting number that would delight an audience.

She got royally screwed when James Lapine prevented her Hartford Stage Falsettos from coming in. Her production was the first to pair March of the Falsettos/Falsettoland into one evening, to incorporate "I'm Breaking Down," and to add a true coup de théâtre at the end that is still talked about after 30 years. Needless to say, it was a thousand times better than the Lapine version that came to Broadway. She might have had better luck if that hadn't happened to her.

[quote] a true coup de théâtre at the end

What was it?!!?

Hartford Stage is a thrust theatre with an enormous upstage wall. The two acts had these different curtains masking the wall. For Falsettoland, it was a sort of crudely drawn American flag. After Whizzer dies, you at first saw his name flicker through the curtain. Then, the whole American Flag curtain disappeared, and you saw that where your eye was trained to look was just one of many squares of the AIDS quilt, stretching up into the flies and filling the entire wall. This was 1991, and the moment was incredibly powerful. I hope I did it justice, as it still moved me as I wrote these words trying to describe it. (MARY! I know).

r173

It was mentioned by the Boyculture blog, which is run by a novelist who also wrote for teen mags.

Simmer down R176. What R159 probably meant to write was that Hart famously spoon-fed the lines to Andrews.

Agree R179. That was an incredibly powerful moment. Many in the audience were sobbing when the show ended.

Am I crazy or are those two Penzance performances on YouTube that were just posted exactly the same?

R173, Matthew Morrison did have some brief experience in a boy band that went nowhere, which I assume is why that's not in his bio. I would say his rendition of "Younger Than Springtime" is fine overall EXCEPT for the high notes, which do sound way too "pop" for the style of the song (and the era of the action). From WIkipedia, re MM's boy band history:

[quote]In 1999, while still at NYU, Morrison appeared on Late Show with David Letterman and Total Request Live as one of five members of the fictional parody boy band "Fresh Step", an act that was conceived by several Late Show writers. The choreographer hired for "Fresh Step" was also the choreographer for the Broadway musical Footloose, and helped Morrison to get cast in Footloose later that year. Morrison dropped out of NYU to begin appearing in the show.

[quote] In 2001, Morrison was recruited to complete the quartet for the band LMNT. Morrison was replaced instead by Jonas Persch by the time its first album was released. Morrison commented in an interview about his experience in the boy band by remarking, "It was the worst year of my life. You know when you're a performer and you're out there on stage and you're embarrassed that you're doing something wrong. It was pretty bad."

On another note, are we sure there are two versions of the Delacorte PIRATES video, and that one is better than the other? I saw a clip or two from the version that's supposedly better, posted on DL, but it wasn't noticeable to me. I think the truth is that there's one existing video, and it looks a lot better in some scenes than others. For some reason, the color in some of the shots is so faded that it almost looks like a black and white videotape, whereas in other scenes the color is fine. I'm sure this could be fixed if someone put enough money into it, but that's unlikely given the potential market for something like this.

There is a streaming version of the Delacorte Pirates on BroadwayHD and that is also the same as what was commercially released on DVD. And it looks much worse than either of those YouTube links. It has almost no color at all, and the warping at the end is noticeably worse, as if it was from a third generation master of the same video.

oh, i see. thanks for clarifying. i thought they were saying that the two youtube links were somehow different.

I think I was confused because a poster here made me think there was a THIRD video.

There was a commercially released video that was terrible. Then about 10 years ago, this other one showed up with better camera work and color. This other video got posted all over.

When someone here said a "new" video better than the one that made the rounds, I thought he meant newer than the one seen about 10 years ago and ever since.

r179 that's cooler than anything Lapine did in his combo production--without taking anything away from what Lapine did with the originals.

[quote]There is a streaming version of the Delacorte Pirates on BroadwayHD and that is also the same as what was commercially released on DVD. And it looks much worse than either of those YouTube links. It has almost no color at all, and the warping at the end is noticeably worse, as if it was from a third generation master of the same video.

I have the DVD, which I purchased years ago. I just took it out, skipped around and reviewed the final few scenes. I see no "warping" at all, but as I said, the color saturation varies greatly from one shot to another, for some reason. You can see this happening very noticeably in "With cat-like tread...." If you're referring to the YouTube links that are posted in this thread, I think they're from the same source as the DVD -- probably FROM the DVD.

Can you please identify where you see "warping" in the DVD video that has also been broadcast on Broadway HD?

Listen to the audio in the finale when they are in the "Poor Wandering One" reprise. It's sounds like you are listening to a partially melted LP.

Kevin Kline was perfect in "Pirates"...

And in Phoebe Cates.

Nice hair, Matt...

The girl playing Annie in R170 looks more like Pete from [italic]Pete's Dragon[/italic]. It's just as well since Jo Anne Worley was playing one of [italic]The Wuzzles[/italic] at Disney around the same time.

I actually met Roger Perry before he died. Class act all the way.

Here's some news from this century...

[quote]Here's some news from this century...

About a show from the last century.

That shows just how much the quality of Broadway shows have degenerated. The budgets have gotten bigger but the music and lyrics have gotten dumbed down along with the rest of popular music.

Music Man without Jackman? Bring back Dick Van Dyke!

Bring back Daniel Radcliffe and make him huff and puff his way through dance heavy routines just like in "How to Succeed"!

I think in the new WOKE Broadway, it will be Lea Delaria.

Hugh Jackman invited Ivanka and Jared to his birthday???? What a fucking asshole. Damn, I loved him.

[quote] That was an incredibly powerful moment. Many in the audience were sobbing when the show ended.

Howard Sherman, who was Hartford Stage's PR director at the time, writes a little more about the Graciela Danielle production of Falsettos here, particularly the ending. Quoting the following paragraph:

"While the quilt at Hartford Stage was not part of the real quilt, it replicated panels from that extraordinary expression of loss that once covered the National Mall in Washington. Because members of the company had been asked if they had family and friends who they had lost and wished to see included, audience members who worked in theatre quickly discovered they knew people on the Hartford quilt facsimile. While much of the audience was in tears, those who saw the names of those they loved and lost were often overcome."

I'd go see a Lea Delaria Music Man.

This does bring up an interesting issue - what's going to happen to The Music Man? This was going to be the next big Broadway hit to bring in the tourists and god knows Broadway needs one after this last year of being shut down. Can they replace Rudin as a producer and keep the rest of the creative team or will they have to cancel it and start from scratch?

Someone said the Rudin article wasn't gaining traction. Has there been a turnaround?

"A turnaround"? WTF does that mean. Twitter and Instagram is going crazy over this.

Not everyone uses Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for the information but you may drop the attitude.

[quote]Someone said the Rudin article wasn't gaining traction.

That person is delusional, or maybe has an agenda.

R201 He even defended his friendship with them saying he values loyalty over politics. Yeah.

R203 Barry Diller and David Geffen are also producing TMM, so I'd say there's a good chance they force him out if it gets to that.

Howard Sherman is great when writing about his own personal experience.

But when reporting on other stuff, you have to be cautious in reading him. He does not correct factual errors he makes the way a journalist would. But so many read him as if he was a journalist since newspapers and periodicals have disappeared.

So now we have online writers who are not journalists in practice or ethics, but get treated as if they were.

I would assume if Hugh leaves Music Man that will kill the project. Although maybe Sutton could play Harold Hill since she doesn’t have the voice for Marian.

Hugh will not leave Music Man. He won't be responsible for putting so many out of work.

I'm shocked PLAYBILL would have the guts to do this article. All their content is basically dictated by press agents.

Rudin is having the author of the article KILLED.

That makes sense, r211. I wonder if he might try to talk Rudin into dropping out?

'That's hardly what Moss Hart is famous for, [R159]. What a silly thing to say about a man with Hart's rich and accomplished career.'

No that's the only thing he is famous for. Directing Andrews in MFL. Nothing else.

And you must be famous for being a silly dimwit.

R215 Funny.

Mosquitoes.

Joanne Worley in Pirates of Penzance on Merv Griffin. Andy Gibb starred in the touring company with Pam Dawber who had left when this was taped. Barry Bostwick was the Pirate King and Gibb looks like a wimp next to him. Poor Joanne seems like Jean Stapleton in the she became famous for a certain personality and then played it in everything she did because it was all she could do.

Off-topic

On-topic

Colette might have sucked, but the artwork was fantastic.

You could always count on Hilary Knight, r220. HIs poster for the megaflop DR. JAZZ is the most beautiful Broadway poster ever designed.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1972, "Sugar" opened at the Majestic Theatre.

Please report any attacks of flying baked potatoes in the work place here in this safe space.

You might have mixed up your Cyma Rubin musicals, R221. Raoul Pene du Bois did the art for Doctor Jazz. Knight did the (fantastic) art for Rubin's No No Nanette.

So all of you here who've been vaccinated -- and with some theaters now reopening -- are you comfortable with the idea of going to sit in a theater again? Or do you still want more time?

NOPE

Here she is boys...

OMG, I'm so embarrassed, r224, you are absolutely right (and you even kindly posted a link). If I'd looked at that poster myself before posting I'd have remembered that it was Raoul. I stand humbly corrected.

So this thing with Rudin is complicated because he is entwined with other powerful people in the Broadway community and the eventual question will "why didn't anyone do anything sooner" I would look for him to be quietly pushed out of any visible role in upcoming projects, but I don't see him disappearing completely unless his name on production affects ticket sales. That is not out of the realm of possibility. Rudin's problem is he has literally no defense and nobody believes he is anything short of a monster. Jackman isn't pulling out of The Music Man, he is signaling to the productions other producers that he doesn't want to be sandbagged by this press around Rudins behavior.

Rudin has been behaving this way for decades and everyone knows it. The people who enabled him are afraid not just of him, but of their past associations with him when it was common knowledge Rudin was a class A abuser.

Sunset Boulevard with Patricia.

Patricia Routledge? Morison?

Waiting for the Divine Miss M (and former Dolly Levi)to comment on bullying.......

This is in the Rudin thread:

"Barry Diller, David Geffen and several others are already involved as co-producers. The worst that will happen is that Rudin steps back from any public participation or public credit but retains his financial interest. But I doubt even that will happen

Hugh Jackman in The Music Man? The show must go on!"

For some reason though I might have missed it nobody mentioned that Easter this year was on the exact same day in 1971 exactly 50 years ago.

April 4 1971 was Easter Sunday and I remember switching back and forth between the news channels for their reviews on Follies(mixed) which opened that night.

R230 Patricia who? I’ve watched it before and it’s Patti as Norma.

Jesus, some of you really need blowjobs.

R230, her name is not Patricia. It actually is Patti. She is related to the 19th century diva, Adelina Patti< (who is mentioned in Dorian Gray), and named after her.

Patricia Routledge married Matthew Morrison and then starred in Kiss Me, Kate.

Was that before or after Dressed to Kill, r238?

Patricia Morison was lesbian, yes?

If you made it to 236 you clearly need one as well.

R240 Yes.

R201 Inviting Ivanka and Jared Jackman's birthday is almost akin to Mel Gibson's sins in this woke atmosphere also with regard to honoring a contract with the latest Hollywood scoundrel, Scott Rudin. They'll flip over at ATC over this! Dramedy better have his dropsy cure at the ready.

Yes, both Patricia Routledge and Morison are family. Though confirmation of the latter only seemed to emerge after her passing.

All the many Hyacinth lovers would be dismayed. Well the straight ones.

R215 I am full vaccinated and I am 100% fine with the idea of sitting in a theater.

I am not fine with sitting in a theater in a mask for two and half hours. I get masks, I get why they're important, and understand science. I am just saying for me - I would be completely uncomfortable and all I would not enjoy the experience.

Frankly, sitting in a theatre is not comfortable, period. I feel claustrophobic in those seats, unless I'm on an aisle, so if I had to choose between wearing a mask while sitting in a seat with noone on either side, or packed in as I would be normally, I'll take the mask.

For the past 30 years, or so, every time a Broadway theater has been renovated, the seats grew more narrow, as did the leg room, and an additional row or two of seats were installed. The theater owners went to great trouble to make their theaters LESS comfortable, but more profitable for them.

Well, profitable for them until Covid came along. The theaters are more crowded and less comfortable because of the theater owners' greed. And now, they are less safe, too.

I’m seeing Absinthe in Las Vegas next month; socially distanced seating and masks required. It’ll be about a month after my second shot and I’m feeling okay about it. Mind you, I wish my first show back was something a bit meatier (where’s a revival of Follies when you really need one?), but I’m excited to be sitting in an audience again.

R248 I don't have much positive to say about ALW or Mackintosh, but at least when they refurb their theatres they actually remove seats to (somewhat) improve the seating. If only they were able to make some kind of hostile takeover of Shubert or Nederlander.

r248 and didn't they extend the orchestra seating and thus reduce the space in the bar area-creating that insanely airport-like logjam in the back of every auditorium? I never can believe that people who paid that much for their experience are then crushed in a Walmart-on-Black-Friday situation when they enter, during intermission, and when they leave. Broadway treats its patrons like shit.

[quote]The theater owners went to great trouble to make their theaters LESS comfortable, but more profitable for them. Well, profitable for them until Covid came along. The theaters are more crowded and less comfortable because of the theater owners' greed. And now, they are less safe, too.

And I guess now we'll have to fear, if they remove seats to make theaters safer due to COVID, that they'll jack up the ticket prices to cover lost revenue from those missing seats.

Dick van Dyke is too old to still be Harold Hill even if he's managed to sober up since then.

He can still play Mayor Shinn.

Does anyone know what happened with the WSYWA group? They posted a big "mea culpa" on their instragram, and there's all sorts of controversy, but I can't tell what its about. Anyone know?

Dick Van Dyke was terrible as Harold Hill the first time around. Really not good.

He was better than Tony Randall who I saw do it in stock. That was just bad.

Dick Van Dyke should have been really good as Harold Hill, but his energy was low and something was off. I don't know if it had to do with alcoholism or other personal problems at the time, but it was a huge disappointment. Fortunately, he's still with us and must be about 95 now. Forrest Tucker was supposed to have been very good as Harold Hill.

Okay, so now we're talking about Forrest Tucker? In what universe is this "Theatre Gossip"?

He had a big dick. Plus he did theater = Theatre Gossip.

Dick Van Dyke's persona seems too nice to be Harold Hill. It's why Broderick was so wrong on that crap TV version, too. Hill is a con man and a rake and a scoundrel whom Marian and the kid tame and should have some edge or danger. I'm not sure if Jackman can do it either. He's got the requisite BDE but not sure about the edge.

The Music Man is cornball crap imagining an America that never was. Could not sit through it, even with Jackman.

[quote]Dick van Dyke is too old to still be Harold Hill even if he's managed to sober up since then.

Dick Van Dyke is 95 years old. Can't put anything over on R253!

Could Marilyn Maye sing Marian?

Marilyn Maye can sing the phone book.

Went to see The Music Man twice at the Walter Reade in Lincoln Center. The print was gorgeous and was in stereo. How did Preston not win an Oscar? Don't need to see it on stage again. Saw some of the Broderick on TV. Lousy community theater. Why do people even try?

Because Mr. Peck did, r264.

Today on Saturday morning cartoons...

Our man, Van Johnson played Harold Hill in London. It's hard to tell how effective he is from the OLCR, but I imagine if Forrest "I'll take just enough out to win" Tucker made it work on the road, Van would have been a solid MGM style Hill.

Did Alfred Drake ever play it?

I was a teen when I saw Tucker. Thought he was wonderful.

Harold Hill should be sexy. DVD is not.

I believe the quote above about "just take out enough" was said about Milton Berle. But maybe it's always been apocryphal.

I do believe The Music Man was right in the midst of Van Dyke's alcoholism. He's mentioned it before. That'd probably account for his low energy. He does still seem a bit too nice for the role.

I always thought Seth McFarlane would be a great Harold Hill. Has the voice for it and just enough smarmy to pull it off.

Some people just own roles.

[quote]Does anyone know what happened with the WSYWA group?

How annoying of you to ask a question like that using an acronym, you lazy lout. I'm not even going bother to ask what WYSYWA is, so please don't bother to tell us.

[quote]The Music Man is cornball crap imagining an America that never was. Could not sit through it, even with Jackman.

This statement indicates that one of two things must be true: (1) You never actually saw THE MUSIC MAN on stage or film; or (2) you are so incredibly stupid that you somehow missed the entire point of the show.

I'd rather see a younger and sexier Harold Hill like Stephen Pasquale or Andy Karl or that Kazee guy from Once (WEHT?) than Preston (who was probably younger than all of them when he created the role).

I'd like to see Steven Pasquale or Andy Karl take out just enough to win.

How out of it are you, r 272. WSYWAT = We See You What American Theatre. If you don't know what that is, go back to your bootlegs of The Grass Harp and leave us all alone.

You couldn't even get it right, r275.

Ladies, stop fighting over typos. To the question: Does anyone know what happened?

They held a town hall lately around the attacks on the AAPI community, and it basically devolved into division between black attendees and AAPI attendees, the former demanding that "anti-blackness" in the AAPI community be addressed, the latter asking where the black community was when it came to standing up for AAPI people. Also a lot of anger that there was a specific AAPI town hall, but not a specific black town hall, Hispanic town hall, etc.

There's now a sort of conspiracy theory going around that WSYWAT is actually headed up by white people trying to create division between minority groups (though the evidence seems to suggest white people are hardly needed to achieve that). This is aided by the fact that no-one knows who's behind WSYWAT. A couple of the people who co-signed that original We See You post are pissed because people think they're associated with it - when in reality they were just idiots who signed something without knowing who was organising it.

[quote]There's now a sort of conspiracy theory going around that WSYWAT is actually headed up by white people trying to create division between minority groups

Just like Antifa stormed the Capitol Building carrying Trump flags.

What, American Theatre...indeed.

[quote]I'd rather see a younger and sexier Harold Hill like Stephen Pasquale or Andy Karl or that Kazee guy from Once (WEHT?)

Sadly, it appears "that Kazee guy from Once" is not quite right in the head. Which I guess answers your WEHT question.

I wonder how Barry Bostwick would have done as Harold Hill BITD.

Preston was 39 when MM opened. Pasquale and Karl are in their mid-40s, so they could work.

Asian American Private Investigator community?

The list of demands in that WSYWAT manifesto were insane. Almost as ridiculous as those woke RADA students attempting to restructure their classical theatre curriculum (ie. removing Shaw's name from the theatre, banning playwrights, getting rid of traditional voice-and-speech and Received Pronunciation because their everyday voices 'were enough'). It was basically these students throwing away any notion of what it means to be trained actors... ie. playing people OTHER than themselves! Completely moronic. The worst bit is that RADA actually caved to the pressure of these ignorant, bratty 20 somethings.

This radical authoritarian approach is NOT the way to rectify these perceived inequities. Its inherent antagonism (and arrogance) turns off even its likeliest supporters from having any rational, productive discussion. But then you quickly realize that these anonymous groups don't actually want any unifying, healing discussion! Creating and maintaining this greater division is too profitable for all involved. I've always been a super progressive liberal, but this woke shit is toxic. And decidedly illiberal.

James Corden as Harold Hill? Or Tevye?

Phil Hartman would've made an interesting Harold Hill. Definitely could've handled the slick/sexy/sincere demands of it. Probably would've evoked a lot of Preston actually.

George Clooney can't sing, can he?

I assume he can do a passable Botch-A-Me, r288.

Richard Gere after Pretty Woman, anyone?

Botch-a-Me? Really?

r291 doesn't have a clue how to solve the swingin' Riddle.

It'll never happen since he's canceled or whatever, but Kevin Spacey would have been a great Harold Hill.

A Kevin Spacey-led Music Man would have led to the first time anyone fearing for the safety of Tommy Djilas.

We See You WAT lost me when they asserted that being on time and tech rehearsals and 6 day work weeks were white supremacist constructs.

[quote] Phil Hartman would've made an interesting Harold Hill.

Monorail, monorail...

R294, it's just the shot of electricity this old war horse of a show needs.

I just watched a movie with Rupert Graves. Wasn't he one of the objects of Spacey's unwanted affection?

Debbie Reynolds as Bobbi Adler as Professor Carol Hill.

I love Botch-A-Me!

Mitch Miller gave Rosie Clooney all these Italian novelty numbers to sing as part of her contract. She sold 'em well, though I think she didn't really like doing them. But they are lots of fun. I wonder how George would sound doing them?

I prefer her duets mit Marlene...

Nelson Riddle did some new arrangements of her hits for her TV show. There was a CD of them several years ago.

Ooooh....a Gretchen Wyler/Barbara Sharma Dames at Sea...

A lady never starts fights. But she can end them.

Yes, R298. They were in The Iceman Cometh in London and Spacey stalked him, followed him to his house and would sit in his car for hours. When the production got a NY transfer Graves declined because of Spacey’s unwanted attention. The role was played by Robert Sean Leonard.

Botch-A-Me is worse than AIDS...

Nothing was worse than AIDS. You are trying to make a joke about something that killed almost all of my friends and my partner who died in my arms. The years go by, the pain doesn't go away.

You must be very young.

Moose Murders killed all of my friends.

Stomp stomped on all my hopes and dreams.

I've been through Brenda Frazier before the lyric change and I'm here!

The Producers pulverized my mussy, but I’m here!

Cats clawed out my eyes and ears!

We need a palate cleanser...

Has Michael Hayden been in a musical since? How disappointed I was after having grown up listening to John Raitt's performance on the OCR and Gordon MacRae in the move.

Wasn't that one of the first revival-revisal-whatever-the-fuck-they-call-them to hire someone who couldn't sing the damn thing in the name of "authenticity"?

Why doesn't Davis Gaines work more?

Bob Mitchum should have done a calypso musical!

[quote]Has Michael Hayden been in a musical since?

I saw Hayden play Franklin Shepard in the Kennedy Center's 2002 production of "Merrily We Roll Along," produced as part of its Sondheim Celebration. He was okay, but overshadowed by Raul Esparza, who was terrific as Charley.

I thought Hayden's casting made sense in one respect; he brought sex to the table. Every production I'd seen before then (all regional) had some fat, old baritone hitting all the notes but making Julie's desire for him laughable.

Just a pity he couldn’t really nail his big notes.

Michael Hayden was also one of the Cliffs in the Roundabout "Cabaret," when the other leads were Susan Egan and Michael C. Hall. Of course in that version Cliff has almost nothing to sing.

R317, Gaines comes from an extremely wealthy family (the Gaines Food Company the created the dog food Gaines-Burgers) fand doesn't need to work. Also, the ridiculous vibratto and hammy acting.

Davis Gaines also has some of the worst plastic surgery of all time (which is saying something). It’s extreme and extremely unsettling.

The wife confirms.

Forrest Tucker was married to Andrew Lloyd Webber?

Forrest Tucker was married to John Kenley?

John Kenley fervently wished that he was married to Forrest Tucker.

Forrest Tucker was married to Geraldine Fitzgerald?

That reporter at r324 seems like a real asshole

R322 - thanks for the insight. I recently heard him on Alec Baldwin's podcast. It was a good interview though it got a bit sad when Gaines admitted he'd love to do more film/tv/stage but didn't have any management. You can tell Baldwin was a bit taken aback by the admission.

[Quote] Gaines admitted he'd love to do more film/tv/stage but didn't have any management.

Is there a story behind this?

And Orfeh as Widder Paroo!

Davis Gaines fucked himself out of a career with that awful plastic surgery. No one wants to look at an elderly burn victim.

I don't think face work affects stage employment.

[quote]Michael Hayden was also one of the Cliffs in the Roundabout "Cabaret," when the other leads were Susan Egan and Michael C. Hall. Of course in that version Cliff has almost nothing to sing.

And therein hangs a tale. Apparently, the took that job -- as a replacement in a long-running musical, in a relatively thankless role, knowing that he would almost certainly get no reviews or publicity for his performance -- and in so doing, he turned his back on a major regional classical theater that had been planning to build an entire season around him. So I guess, aside from not being able to sing very well, he's not that smart when it comes to career choices.

[quote]I don't think face work affects stage employment.

It can when it's THAT bad.

He doesn't stand out here.

Bad face work can look worse on stage since you are seen at close range by a number of audience members and you do not have the make-up and angles that can fix things on camera.

He was a great Phantom, once upon a time. But, yeah, that plastic surgery is tragic.

Nowadays, he could almost play the phantom without makeup

If Hugh pulls out...

But by taking the CABARET gig Hayden was paid 3 times as much as the regional job and was able to remain home with his wife and daughter. As well as make to auditions in NY for other work.

The face worked just fine for Davis's Nostradamus.

[quote]But by taking the CABARET gig Hayden was paid 3 times as much as the regional job and was able to remain home with his wife and daughter. As well as make to auditions in NY for other work.

Someone who I suspect knew more about the situation than you did had a very different interpretation of it. I was told that the wife and the daughter would have been well accommodated in D.C. Also, news flash, working in D.C. does not preclude auditioning in NYC. And not only did taking the replacement job in CABARET do absolutely nothing for Hayden's career, it may even have damaged it, as in: "Oh, so the guy who got all that publicity for originating the male leading role in that hit revival of CAROUSEL is now replacing people in other shows, but at least in this part he only has to sing a few lines."

Michael Hayden was excellent in Edward Albee's The Lady from Dubuque at Signature about 9 or 10 years ago. It's the last major production I saw him in. (I didn't see the recent All My Sons revival - just have seen that play so many times already). Lady from Dubuque is about many aspects of death and dying, but I remember his performance really vividly, especially how Brantley describes it here toward the end of his review. Carousel was too big a sing for him, and I do wonder if it adversely affected his career, but he is a really strong dramatic actor.

Davis Gaines and Joanna Gleason in Mummenschanz!

Hayden was also in "Enchanted April" on Broadway, but with Elizabeth Ashley and Molly Ringwald in the cast and Michael Cumpsty baring his butt, not too many people noticed Hayden.

Password Plus just began. Miss Joyce Bulifant and Dick Gautier.

Hayden was so handsome in ENCHANTED APRIL and also very sexy in the AR Gurney play FAR EAST (one of Gurney's best plays IMHO) at LCT's Mitzi Newhouse theatre. And come to think of it, he was really hot as Prince Hal in LCT's HENRY IV opposite Kevin Kline's Falstaff - that was a gorgeous production.

I can't really blame him for wanting to act in NY instead of DC. More of a mystery to me, with his looks, that he hasn't done more film and TV.

With Broadway Theaters Still Dark, Some Performers Turn To Singing Telegrams:

If it was good enough for C.C. Bloom ...

Who the fuck wants some germ-spreading chorusbottom showing up at your door, spraying Covid in your face?

Read the article -- it's telegrams over the phone.

[quote]and in so doing, he turned his back on a major regional classical theater that had been planning to build an entire season around him

Are you referring to the Shakespeare Theater of DC? Speaking strictly from a career perspective, it could be great for the art, but that won't advance your career in NYC much and shlepping from DC to NY for tv auditions would be drag.

I was actually involved in that production of Coriolanus in DC that Hayden dropped out of and, believe me, he made the right decision. Or, let's just say, he didn't miss anything.

I saw Tony winner Boyd Gaines as Cliff in Cabaret. At the time I assumed he needed the paycheck. His co star in She Loves Me (Diane Sutherland) was Teri Hatcher’s standby in the road company.

Whatever happened to Willy Falk? And why did he call himself Willy?

Ooooo, I made a lot of money back in the 70s doing singing telegrams.

Wait I thought we were talking about DAVIS Gaines? Not Boyd.

Why not both?

How is Boyd nowadays, anyway? I vaguely remember conflicting reports that his health's awful.

Ditto M. Getz.

The Boyd Gaines is ill troll seemingly died.

[quote]Carousel was too big a sing for him, and I do wonder if it adversely affected his career.

I would say it did. Just look at his Broadway credits post-CAROUSEL., nothing but flops and limited runs. And his last Broadway role was Jim Bayliss in ALL MY SONS, for pity's sake. (I'll save you the trouble of looking it up, that's a minor role. And that show was also a limited run of a Roundabout production.)

[quote]Are you referring to the Shakespeare Theater of DC? Speaking strictly from a career perspective, it could be great for the art, but that won't advance your career in NYC much and shlepping from DC to NY for tv auditions would be drag.

Playing a lead in a solid production at a major regional theater, and hopefully being well reviewed for it, would probably have advanced his career in general at least as much as replacing in a relatively thankless role in a Broadway musical, and not being reviewed for it. As for "shlepping" from DC to NY for auditions, it's really not that much of a shlep, and anyway, how many auditions do you think would have come along for him during that period?

If he coulda been, he woulda been.

Hayden was plucked right from Carousel into a lead role on a network series for two seasons. He's moved from NY theater to television, back to NY theater (with a Tony nomination), regional and abroad, and back to television for a 25+ year career. He's a working actor and has nothing to apologize for.

[quote]Whatever happened to Willy Falk? And why did he call himself Willy?

Not unlike Hayden in Carousel, Falk's big break came because Nicholas Hytner was besotted with him. No one but Hytner was happy with his performance in Saigon. Hayden couldn't really sing Billy Bigelow, but at least he could act it. Falk came up short in both departments (though, admittedly, he was working with crap material).

Willy Falk and Hytner (or was it Cameron?) were actually fucking. That was not the case with Michael Hayden and anyone.

...Imagine... casting an actor just because he sucked your cock? Or because you wanted him too...

[quote]casting an actor just because he sucked your cock?

That's the classic British way.

Here we go...word is out that when Phantom resumes performances in London this summer the orchestra will be reduced from 34 members to 17.

But each of them will play two instruments simultaneously r371.

So I guess it's dead dead dead on Broadway. I bet Prince thought it had a number of more years before he died. But he died shortly before covid started spreading.

How does reducing the orchestra in London equate the show being "dead dead dead" on Broadway?

That said, I hate the reduction of Broadway orchestras. Some shows with pop scores don't need 25+ pieces. But when they do shows with the traditional Broadway sound and you have eight players and a Casio keyboard tinnily trying to assimilate the sound of the real thing, it's just no comparison. It happened as a result of the reduction in house minimums in 2003, which Local 802 never should have allowed. They are generally one of the toughest unions, so I always wondered what the hell happened at the negotiating table.

[quote] I always wondered what the hell happened at the negotiating table.

Not enough donuts.

Broadway is so short-sighted. High prices, rampant discounts, diminished experiences like smaller orchestras add up to crap. A few giant hits that run on reputation and 'event status,' and otherwise a wasteland. I'm scared for its future.

It's time to burn it all down. Start with the League and go from there.

Freddie Fox doing the M.C - Kills it. Nails It. beautifully real.

And doing Somewhere in front of The National.....make me cry harder.

Not sure the suicidal theme was a positive choice, but the opening and closing are very good.

Thanks again, Valens!

Can a trans actor play a pre trans role?

This is the play in question. The role is written for a man, not a tranny. This casting outcry annoys me, you need the best actor for the role, and who wants a real tranny and all that self obsessed madness in a rehearsal room.

Love the play. That beautiful, movement based opening...

It's true that both Boyd and Malcom are unwell, although with different serious issues. Haven't you noticed that both have disappeared from the scene over the past few years? It will be revealed in time,

Stars in the House reunited the cast of The Heidi Chronicles for a reading last year and Boyd was as wonderful as he was when he originated the role.

Thanks to the person upthread who posted the London Sunset Blvd video. It's a shame it's all in B&W, but having never seen the original West End or Broadway productions, it's fun to see a "full" production. The only version I saw was that lousy tour with Petula Clark and a very reduced set. I've only watched 1/4 so far, and though it's still clearly not a great musical, the entire opening sequence from the walk through the Paramount backlot to the first entrance of Norma's palatial mansion are really impressive and cinematic.

[quote]Playing a lead in a solid production at a major regional theater, and hopefully being well reviewed for it, would probably have advanced his career in general at least as much as replacing in a relatively thankless role in a Broadway musical, and not being reviewed for it.

Respectfully disagree. Out of town reviews have little impact on the perception of you in the business. Staying in town, working on a show Carnahan & company cast is better business than going to DC. Your take might have been true 30 years ago when agents and casting directors were more theater astute and actually went to regional theater productions.

Hauling ass from DC to NY for an audition during a run isn't much fun.

r386, you're living in 1992....The internet has changed the impact of working around the country. Actors and good notices are just a google away, and they have a definite impact. I've been cast in NYC because of something someone read of my regional work. You need to work at certain level, and a theater with a respectable profile, but it can work.

[quote]Can a trans actor play a pre trans role?

oh for fuck sake, this nonsense is grating. Will these SJW's go fuck off. Will painters only be allowed to paint their backyard for fear of appropriation cancelation?

These anti art bullshit SJWs are ruining culture

If your regional production is a big hit with the major newspapers, then you're blessed to be appearing in it. Much better than being ravaged or ignored in a show in NYC.

And if the reviews on the regional production are good enough, chances are strong that it will be presented in NYC. Producers love the 'insurance policy' that strong reviews provide.

The NYC failure or near-miss... just closes.

Agreed, r386, especially when the work out of town is at the Shakespeare Theater, not like doing a new play or musical at Arena Stage, La Jolla, The Old Globe, The Goodman, etc.

I'm not saying doing the classics at good regional theaters is unworthy, but for someone of Hayden's reputation, it's not going to advance his career.

I saw Michael Haydn in a play (about a mother and daughter with eating disorders) at the Signature in NYC a couple of years ago. He played the dad and he was just... fine. I would never have picked this nondescript middle-aged guy out of a line-up as leading man material.

Other than the reference to CAROUSEL in his credits, I had no idea he had been some big deal. I'll have to check out his IMDB credits.

^ It seems some people are obsessed because Michael Haydn was in THAT production of Carousel. And that production seemed to be AMAZING.

Except for Audra, I wouldn't say that production of Carousel featured especially memorable performances. (She was the one everyone was talking about that season. Well, her and Jon Marshall Sharp). It was about the staging, design and choreography. It dealt with the show's cosmic oddness with less of a cutesy-pie factor that can creep into other productions, including the DOA movie version.

WHET Jon Marshall Sharp?

JMS will be 50 this year so I would assume his dance career is behind him.

Nothing on IBDB after Fiddler on the Roof in 2004-2006. (That was the Pottery Barn outdoor catalog Fiddler, not the Red Parka Fiddler).

Wow, that makes me feel old. JMS was quite the specimen when I was a young gayling in NYC.

JMS today

Jonathan Sharp lives very happily and partnered in Palm Springs these days. He is a mentor and teacher to young dancers. A lovely guy.

And still good looking!

Is Jonathan Sharp?

Did anyone else watch that Lincoln Center stream of Vanya and Masha? I didn't see the show live, but I couldn't make it through more than a half hour. Everyone was so mannered and unnatural and it felt like it was shot during a dress rehearsal. The rhythm felt off.

I watched Act 1 (or whatever the break was), R402.

I was astonished how lacking in actual humor it was. I used to really enjoy seeing and reading Durang's LOL plays from the 1980s. What happened to him?

Even the live audience at the taping seemed underwhelmed.

R377 that "burn it all down" thing makes you sound like a lunatic

[quote]Producers love the 'insurance policy' that strong reviews provide.

Strong reviews from regional critics will not guarantee box office in New York. Hell even strong reviews from New York critics (the ones that are left) can guarantee a hit these days.

I can see some people are attached to the idea that Michael Hayden somehow made a critical career error in not accepting a season contract with The DC theater. but there just isn't any support for this theory. I don't dispute that making connections in noteworthy LORT theater can help an actors career in NY, IF the directors and playwrights he/she works with in the regionals also work in NYC.

Btw, Producers are not covering regional theater productions in general for potential moves. If a regional production has "legs" that will be built into the cake before rehearsals begin and it was most likely a production created with a move in mind.

Believe or disbelieve whatever you like about what I am saying, but this is the consensus opinion.

"

405 here: i intended to write " Hell, even raves from NYC critics (the ones that are left) don't guarantee a hit

For all the people talking about how Michael Hayden could have self-taped auditions and people could see reviews on the internet--no. In 1998 none of that was true.

Michael Haydn's abortive stage career is the great tragedy of our time. It's like the death of George Gershwin at age 38, or the destruction of Penn Station!

Yes, this Michael Hayden talk is beyond tiresome. He was hardly Dolores Gray!

Speaking of Gray, I wold love to have been a fly on the wall at the workshop of "Ballroom." It could have been a rather short FEUD special.

I'm surprised (but NOT surprised) to read that Cam Mac has reduced London's Phantom orchestra from 27 musicians to a paltry 14. Obviously he's going to be relying heavily on Keyboards 1, 2 and 3 for various string and percussion samples. Having heard the original tour orchestrations some years ago (scored for somewhere around 19 players) I found even those a bit thin around the edges. I can't imagine how shitty these new orchestrations will sound with 14.

You can *almost* get away with that number for a brassy, jazz/swing influenced score like (The Producers/Gypsy/Guys and Dolls) but I can't imagine how shitty the synth strings and woodwinds will sound with this new lineup.

Especially when it's about the Paris Opera. With this little band, they should change it to [italic]The Phantom of the Bar Mitzvah[/italic] and call it a day.

What's that show without bombast?

R409 Indeed, all this fuss over a fucking out of town Coriolanus.

She may have been involved in feuds with Andy Griffith and David Merrick, but hell, Dolores Gray could really sing incredibly well!

[quote]That said, I hate the reduction of Broadway orchestras. Some shows with pop scores don't need 25+ pieces. But when they do shows with the traditional Broadway sound and you have eight players and a Casio keyboard tinnily trying to assimilate the sound of the real thing, it's just no comparison. It happened as a result of the reduction in house minimums in 2003, which Local 802 never should have allowed. They are generally one of the toughest unions, so I always wondered what the hell happened at the negotiating table.

r374, in 2003, Local 802 struck for a day, then TPTB locked everyone out. Broadway was closed for two days. They were up against the "karaoke machine". They didn't didn't just roll over and accept the reductions. They had little choice. Expect more of that, union givebacks. Just look at what's happening at the Met.

Don't forget Michael Kidd!

I saw a performance of the LCT Carousel where Hayden stepped forward after the bows to acknowledge that John Raitt was in the audience. I remember Hayden saying something along the lines that Raitt was the finest singer ever to play Billy. At the time I remember wondering if Hayden was making a subtle derogatory comment about Raitt not being much of an actor. I turned around to look at Raitt, and he of course had a professional smile on his face as he acknowledged the audience's applause. I'll bet Raitt didn't think that Hayden was the best singer ever to play Billy.

Hayden's singing isn't great on the London or Broadway cast recordings, but in the theater he was so damned sexy and had such a strong stage presence that I loved him as Billy. That production of Carousel was by far the best I've ever seen.

IIRC Michael Hayden's big TV gig after CAROUSEL was the new prestige Steven Bochco series MURDER ONE which got a lot of PR hoopla at the time because it was one of the first series to follow a murder investigation and trial throughout an entire season. Big cast with lots of talented NY theater names. But Stanley Tucci became the cast's "overnight success" in the showy part of the main suspect.

Suck it, R405.

My post was specific. "If your regional production is a big hit with the major newspapers...."

And you tried to substitute "regional newspapers." No.

If the Washington Post and the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal and papers of that stature give a regional production rave reviews, every producer in NYC rushes to see it in hope that it can move.

How I Learned to Drive by Paula Vogel won a Pulitzer. It was developed in Alaska.

Anna in the Tropics won a Pulitzer. It was developed in Florida.

Wit won a Pulitzer. It was developed in California.

August: Osage County won Pulitzer. It was developed in Chicago.

Three Tall Women won a Pulitzer. It premiered in Vienna, Austria.

And yet, Daryl Roth found them all and brought them to New York. There is ample good reason for an actor to work in regional theater on a promising project.

R420 Your tone seems very pointed. Unlike your point, which is hilarious.

r420, all of your examples are of NEW plays, not Shakespeare productions, and thus not relevant to the Hayden discussion. NY critics and producers are not going to rush down to DC to take in a Shakespeare play, no matter how great it is, unless Mark Rylance or Ian McKellan or Glenda Jackson appear in it.

[quote] [R374], in 2003, Local 802 struck for a day, then TPTB locked everyone out. Broadway was closed for two days. They were up against the "karaoke machine". They didn't didn't just roll over and accept the reductions. They had little choice.

The other unions all aligned with IATSE for the 2007 stagehands strike that lasted 25 days. I think if 802 had held out in 2003, they would have had support and leverage, instead of just giving in to the reduction in minimums. The result is a cheaper, shittier Broadway.

[quote] The result is a cheaper, shittier Broadway.

With more expensive tickets!!

[quote]The other unions all aligned with IATSE for the 2007 stagehands strike that lasted 25 days. I think if 802 had held out in 2003, they would have had support and leverage, instead of just giving in to the reduction in minimums. The result is a cheaper, shittier Broadway.

Not quite correct, r423. Only IATSE Local One joined Local 802's strike. IATSE International didn't support them. AEA refused to cross the picket line on the basis that without Local One's presence, the working conditions were unsafe. Then the producers locked everyone out. The League threatened to replace entire orchestras with a "virtual orchestra" if 802 struck. They had them set up, and there were rehearsals with them at many shows. It wasn't as simple as you think it was.

You're also conflating strikes. 2007 was IATSE Local One, and it was for 19 days. The 25 day strike was the musicians, in 1975.

Ok, we need get Michael Hayden back on top. How do we do it?

R420, the plays were developed in the examples you cite--not the productions.

The productions did not move nor did the actors. Producers did not go to see the productions of How I Learned to Drive, Anna in the Tropics, WIt, or Three Tall Women.

The only one they did see was August Osage County.

Not true, R427. Kathleen Chalfant was attached to Wit from early on. And Daryl Roth did indeed go look at the productions that interested her. It's not like money is an obstacle to Daryl Roth.

I would imagine most producers would prefer to at least see a new play on its feet than sit and read a script. I know I would.

Sorry, I confused Wit with Doubt, which was also developed in California.

I never have seen that Lincoln Center Carousel. As a boy I saw it with Constance Towers and John Cullum and it left me so overwhelmed that I have never felt the need to see it again because I would always find it lacking compared to that gorgeous production. The revealing of the Carousel at the beginning was something I'll never forget on a level with the revealing of Loveland in the original production of Follies. And as we all know those two could really sing. The kind of performers Rodgers and Hammerstein were writing for.

But the larger point remains, that they were not rushing to a 75 seat theater in Miami to see what actors they could take to New York if by some long shot, Anna in the Tropics was the second production ever to win the Pulitzer without a New York production.

Chalfant was attached to Wit, but no other element or cast member of that production was moved and it is more likely that MCC simply had Chalfant come in some afternoon for a table read. That would be cheaper than a 5 hour each way plane ride for a play by a no-name writer with a no-name director.

I doubt anyone flew to Alaska for the reading of How I Learned to Drive at the Perseverance.

I saw How I Learned to Drive at the Perse! It was better than Cats!

I saw Side Show at the Dick.

OK, here's some irony for you:

Michael Hayden starred in the play AMERICAN SON at Barrington Stage in the Berkshires.

But when it moved to Broadway (with a new director) Hayden was replaced by Stephen Pasquale. And Tamara Tunie was replaced by Kerry Washington.

So much for working in the regions....

You all are confusing plays with productions.

No one was replaced when American Son moved to Broadway. It was a completely different production. No one was replaced because none of them were ever part of the production.

This is different from a transfer, when a production is brought in. That happens too, but this is not one of those.

I understand that, r436, but my point was that starring in the regional production of that play did nothing to further Hayden's career and perhaps explains to those here who think doing a new play in the regions will lead to a Broadway production.

[quote] Ok, we need get Michael Hayden back on top.

Good luck. He prefers being on the bottom.

"I would imagine most producers would prefer to at least see a new play on its feet than sit and read a script."

Which perfectly explains the current state of producing in a nutshell.

R429, having worked for producers, they would if the production or reading were in New York.

But most would rather skim through a script or hire actors for a table read rather than fly to California, Juneau, or Miami...unless there are other shows or reasons to go.

So they might go to see a show in Chicago that has great reviews or great buzz, they are not likely to fly to see something in a storefront theater in Miami or hear a reading in Juneau. If they want to take a short vacation there, maybe. But most people want to go home at night, not go off to see something that may or may not pay off.

What was the story about Dolores Gray and "Ballroom"? I assume she played Bea in the original workshop, and got replaced by that old hambone, Dorothy Loudon?

Yes and apparently Dot told Dotty about it years later and Dotty said Dot was a cunt.

When Gray left "Ballroom" the excuse was given to the press was that Dolores was not a dancer...

Dot Gray had a face for cave painting.

So part of the WSYWAT controversy was that not one of the founding members was black. It was all women, some of them plain ol white. Oops...

Dolores is hamming it up on TCM right now. ("It's Always Fair Weather.")

So if Willy Falk got Miss Saigon because of some willy, how did Charles West get the tour?

Well, Dorothy sure was, r443!

[quote]Hayden was plucked right from Carousel into a lead role on a network series for two seasons. He's moved from NY theater to television, back to NY theater (with a Tony nomination), regional and abroad, and back to television for a 25+ year career. He's a working actor and has nothing to apologize for.

There's a lot of truth in that, but the fact remains that one would have thought his Broadway career post-CAROUSEL would have been a lot more stellar.

[quote]If your regional production is a big hit with the major newspapers, then you're blessed to be appearing in it. Much better than being ravaged or ignored in a show in NYC.

Exactly. How many people even realize that Michael Hayden played Cliff during the original run of the Mendes/Marshall CABARET? I would say very few, and the reason is that he was a REPLACEMENT, so there were no reviews/publicity for him.

[quote]I'm not saying doing the classics at good regional theaters is unworthy, but for someone of Hayden's reputation, it's not going to advance his career.

It might not advance it very much, but it would certainly advance it more than replacing another actor in a relatively thankless role in a Broadway show that had been running for a while, and not getting any publicity or reviews for your efforts (because you were a replacement). ESPECIALLY since Hayden did seem to want to focus much of his attention on classical theater after CAROUSEL.

[quote]I can see some people are attached to the idea that Michael Hayden somehow made a critical career error in not accepting a season contract with The DC theater. but there just isn't any support for this theory.

I wouldn't say a "critical" error, but a significant one. We can disagree about the wisdom of specific decisions that Hayden made, but if you look at the totality of his career and don't feel it was mismanaged, then we'll have to disagree on that as well.

I didn’t like Dorothy Loudon in Ballroom. There. I said it. I would love to have seen Dorothy Collins when she did it in stock.

I wonder, did they try to get Bea Arthur? Maybe she couldn't handle the dancing, but she did just fine with "Fifty Percent."

Being in a regional theater, you get the reviews but you probably won't get seen.

Being a replacement in NYC, you don't get the reviews and you probably won't get seen.

Its really just a wash.

R450 I would have loved to see Dorothy Collins too, but thought Dorothy Loudon was surprisingly touching and honest in the part.

[quote]My point was that starring in the regional production of that play did nothing to further Hayden's career and perhaps explains to those here who think doing a new play in the regions will lead to a Broadway production.

But your point could also be interpreted as follows: Hayden had done such a poor job of capitalizing on his CAROUSEL notoriety to become a theater star that, when AMERICAN SON came to Broadway, he presumably wasn't asked to recreate his role, and instead they got Steven Pasquale

FWIW, I heard that American Son was better at Barrington.

It was a racist play at Barrington and it was a racist play on Broadway.

But how many plays have that good a part for a middle-aged black woman.

Did they ever try to build a Broadway bound musical around Bea Arthur?

Yes. The 1968 road closer, A Mother's Kisses, which has a pretty entertaining score.

They sure traded down when they swapped out Hayden and Tunie for Pasquale and Kerry Washington. Washington especially is a shit actress.

Arthur also played Lucy Brown in that Marc Blitzstein version of 3PO that ran for several years off Broadway in the 1950s.

Carol Channing and Pearl Bailey On Broadway.

More importantly, is Michael Hayden a "Ben" or a "Buddy"?

Didn’t Hayden play Roy Cohn in the original production of Angels In America? Was it at NYU?

Neither, r462. He's a Phyllis.

r386: [quote] Respectfully disagree

420: [quote] Suck it

Discourse on the DL.

It was at Julliard. He was pudgy and blond.

Elizabeth Marvel, Michael Stulbarg, Robert Sella, and Enid Graham were also in the cast.

It was a very odd production. Big laugh of the night was a set change where the weak, emaciated, Prior got out of bed to push his bed upstage (by himself) during a scene change. His hospital gown gapped as he moved revealing purple and yellow bikini briefs.

The angel was a Bottecelli angel, not a gothic one.

was that the one with Debra Messing?

Who played Prior, R466?

R468, it was Robert Sella.

It was the first Millenium Approaches to be seen in New York and it was pretty badly directed.

Elizabeth Marvel was the stand-out. Like she has been ever since.

Debra Messing was the original Harper in the very first production of ANGELS ever (only the 1st part) at NYU when she was a student. Directed by Michael Mayer.

Actually no, R470.

Debra Messing was in the workshop of Part 2 at NYU. The play had already been produced in part or whole in LA and London (and at Juilliard in NYC).

If you read The World Only Spins Forward, you can get the exact chronology.

I stand corrected, r471. Do you know who directed the Juilliard ANGELS? Was it Mayer?

And now Michael Mayer is directing the Neil Diamond bio-musical headed for Broadway.

Are we sure that the world only spins forward?

Michael Mayer also directed the first national tour of AiA, which I thought was superior to the Broadway production in a lot of ways. It was certainly subtler than what Wolfe did, but then how could it not be?

Dorothy London was dealing with a nasty flu bug during Ballroom but I don’t think her standby Julienne Marie ever went on. The night I saw it she was clearly ill and they cut her first solo (A Terrific Band....). I didn’t think she would finish the performance but she did.

If Broadway decides to come back complete with lower production values and higher ticket prices, then Broadway is doomed. Nobody can afford it, and no one will come. Well, Scott Rudin will still cum.

[quote]So part of the WSYWAT controversy was that not one of the founding members was black. It was all women, some of them plain ol white. Oops...

I'm not surprised. White liberal women tend to be the worst SJWs. They're SO desperate to be seen as woke. It's embarrassing.

[quote]Dorothy London was dealing with a nasty flu bug during Ballroom but I don’t think her standby Julienne Marie ever went on.

Her sister Julie wasn't her standby?

Please. Wolfe nailed AIA r474.

[quote]Arthur also played Lucy Brown in that Marc Blitzstein version of 3PO that ran for several years off Broadway in the 1950s.

But did she ever play Lucy Van Pelt in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"?

Song from A Mother's Kisses...

More...

R445 Are any of them linked to theatre/of any interest? Or just random woke Karens?

This is nice news. The virtue of that show is how luxe it is. I'm glad that Broadway audiences will at least get the full experience, as originally staged and produced.

Did anybody else see Perestroika at NYU? I though it was incredible. So beautiful and the performances stunning. One of the great theatrical experiences I've had.

When I saw the film I was stunned how in comparison it was so grotesque and melodramatic. Nichols did a horrible job. I couldn't believe this was done by experienced professionals.

R485, I agree with you about the film. By far the worst production I have ever seen of Angels. All the humor, queerness and humanity drained out of the play.

They both reached for the пистолет...

I did think Mary Louise parker was the best Harper I've ever seen, though.

Does anyone know if there's tape of that NYU production of Perestroika?

Does anyone else follow Bygone Broadway on Instagram? Some great nostalgic photos. (Including DL fave Lenora Nemetz.)

R484 Does anyone know why the disparity? Are there co-producers of the Broadway version preventing Cameron from doing what he did in London? Assuming that's not the plan - maybe when they start looking at the set they'll realise some "problem" which means it has to be replaced - which is what led to what's going on with the London production.

Lincoln Center is going GREEN!:

OMG. I love (naturally) green spaces, but....

Covering the Lincoln Center plaza in astro-turf?

WTF.

Another one who mostly hated the Mike Nichols ANGELS IN AMERICA for TV. I've never understood why critics were so hands-off/worshipful re: this botched translation.

The good stuff (most of Meryl, Jeffrey Wright, etc.) is solid, but there's so much bad and wrong (the rest of the cast; the Angel encounters, now merely silly; the ponderous scenes in heaven). I re-watched it a couple of years ago, and yes--much of it still sucks. The score is good.

Worst of all, Nichols managed to make it boring.

Patrick Wilson was bad?

Actually, I thought Wilson was just okay. He's the right type for Joe.

I did not care for Pacino's Cohn or for Ben Shenkman or Justin Kirk at all. A missed opportunity when any number of other actors could have brought so much more.

I thought Mary Louise Parker, like Meryl, had moments. Emma Thompson ruined every single scene she was in, IMHO. I hated her Angel so much, though I blame a lot of that on Nichols. What did he think those scenes were about?

"The GREEN” will be open May 10 through September 2021, 9 a.m.– midnight."

Mercifully, it is at Lincoln Center for a limited run.

[quote]Another one who mostly hated the Mike Nichols ANGELS IN AMERICA for TV. I've never understood why critics were so hands-off/worshipful re: this botched translation.

Why? Because in actuality it was very well done. Maybe you should consider that the problem here is that you have terrible taste.

"... in actuality...."

The loser argument of all time. Right up there with "...technically...."

Sorry you didn't like my phrasing, so let me try again: In my opinion, and the opinion of many others, the TV film of ANGELS IN AMERICA was very well done, so anyone who feels otherwise should at least consider that the problem may be simply that he/she/they has/have terrible taste.

No R497. I'm the one who saw the NYU production. Nichols film was a travesty. If that was my only experience with the piece I would have thought it was nothing but pretentious twaddle. Pacino alone gave one of the most embarrassing performances I have ever seen. He needed to be shot with a tranquillizer gun. The guy at NYU was genuinely chilling and his death scene with with Ethel Rosenberg was extraordinary. And Harper's speech about all the souls rising and holding hands was incandescent. In the film it goes for nothing.

R500, the guy who played Cohn at NYU was Ben Shenkman who play Louis in the HBO Angels.

And he was also in the first reading at the Eureka!

If there is a video of the NYU Perestroika it is in the hands of Meyer or Kushner. Remember that it was in a studio with an audience of 20 or 30 (if memory serves).

[quote]Another one who mostly hated the Mike Nichols ANGELS IN AMERICA for TV. I've never understood why critics were so hands-off/worshipful re: this botched translation. The good stuff (most of Meryl, Jeffrey Wright, etc.) is solid, but there's so much bad and wrong (the rest of the cast; the Angel encounters, now merely silly; the ponderous scenes in heaven). I re-watched it a couple of years ago, and yes--much of it still sucks. The score is good. Worst of all, Nichols managed to make it boring.

Yet he could make [italic]Annie[/italic] work.

All this time, I thought the Nichols film was beloved by fans of the show and I was just someone who didn't "get" the appeal of the piece. Maybe I should try to catch a production of the play sometime.

The NT Live production has its issue, but it is ten times better than the Nichols version.

Nichols productions was just not funny and just not gay.

I think Debra Messing's eventual husband played Louis in that NYU production. Spacing on his name but he gave up acting, divorced Deb and became a TV writer producer. Anyone remember him?

And....does anyone happen to have a full cast list of either the Juilliard or NYU productions of Angels? There must be lots of famous and semi-famous names in those casts.

R506, The names of the best known Juilliard actors are given above. The NYU cast I do not think had other big names.

Remember, there are only 7 actors in the play.

If you want to know more read The World Only Spins Forward. It goes through all the early productions and is an entertaining read. Better than most such books.

Here is an excerpt about the NYU workshop

I remember really liking the HBO film but had never seen the play on stage at the time I saw the movie. Now that I've seen it onstage in the years since, I'd be interested to see the movie again to see if my opinion of it has changed.

I always found the play art wank, and Tony a pretentious, and tiresome man.

NYU and NYC theatre acquaintances tell me that Kushner is basically a nice guy. He's also convinced of his own genius, which I guess is not a bad trait for an artist.

Of course, that was before he "went Hollywood" and became a screenwriter.

Screenwriting suits Kushner more, because if a film flops, no one cares and they forget after about 2 months. Have a play that isn't well received, and no one ever shuts up about it. Even major writers should be allowed their misses, but that's not really allowed anymore. Hollywood is easier that way...

Even ze orchestra is bee-you-tiful (if potentially seizure-inducing)!

R512 - that is WONDERFUL. Thank you for sharing!

But Tandy Cronyn as Sally? HELL to the No!

Where the hell is the legendarily vivacious Miss Gillette???

I know there's another thread on this but it's quiet. So how are we not talking about Karen Olivo quitting MR and saying she wants an industry that matches [italic]HER[/italic] integrity. Talk about LMFAO

She rarely showed up for performances anyway. I hope they give the role to her standby.

So in other words we can expect an imminent announcement about her booking a TV show?

Well, she barely showed up before the shut down...so other than some virtue signaling what's the point?

She’s so tiresome.

This just in - Laura Benanti will also not be showing up to performances for...uh...political reasons. Yeah. That's right. Political reasons.

Jesus Christ, does Olivo hope that the producers of Moulin Rouge will beg her to come back? You were drummed out of BroadWAY once before, Karen. No one was looking for you to come back.

r521, Benanti had a major injury that her producers essentially forced her not to discuss, ages ago. She had a very good record after that.

Her attendance record at MFL where she got to play her dream role sucked.

So where can these records be viewed? Or is it just reliant on rumour?

Brave of Olivo to take a stand but I don't get why quitting Moulin Rouge needs to be part of the deal. If she's taking ML producers, creative team to task, why not name them?

I worked on My Fair Lady, r525. No idea where r524 gets that information. I'm r523.

I think benanti missed a lot of she loves me performances. She was out the night I went

Benanti did only six shows a week...

In Olivo's Instragram post she takes a barely veiled shot at Sutton -- "to protect your concert career?". I'm surprised she left Jackman alone...

I don't go to Broadway but I like to keep up with the gossip. Wasn't Benanti famous for missing performances of She Loves Me?

A friend caught her in it. It's one of his favorite musicals. He said she was terrible.

Benanti suffered spinal injuries during Into The Woods severe enough to require surgery. The producers forced her to hide it.

Benanti was pregnant during She Loves Me and she was out a lot.

Why the fuck should anyone make themselves an example and stop working with Rudin? These stories are not new and they are common fucking knowledge. If you're going to shame people, there's a long line. Why go after Sutton and Hugh? All this is just a lot of virtue signaling. Like Kate Winslet and Timothee Chalamet, et al getting on their high horses about Woody Allen a couple years ago. Those accusations are almost 30 years old and have never stopped being talked about. Your hindsight doesn't mean shit. So if Olivo is so wracked by guilt and anger, then she should have never started working on Broadway to begin with, since Rudin's behavior pre-dates her shitty career,

[quote]Benanti did only six shows a week...

Yes, r529. During My Fair Lady (which, if you were well informed, you might have mentioned?), Benanti contracted for 6 shows a week. One never really recovers from spinal injuries, plus, she had a young child. . I'm r523. I worked on the show. I don't recall a single show show she missed that wasn't contracted.

Bette Midler contracted 6 shows a week for Dolly. Charlotte d'Amboise when she was asked to re up her contract on the A Chorus Line revival.

Stop talking about what you "hear" if you don't know it.

Benanti was contracted for 7 shows a week during MFL. She skipped Tuesday evenings. D’amboise also did 7 of ACL as did Midler for Dolly.

Why could D'Amboise not do 8 shows a week for A Chorus Line? I've never heard of a Cassie not doing 8 perfs a week. Considering Benanti's physical problems and Midler's age those contracts are understandable.

R537. Charlotte’s daughters were still young. She took Sunday matinees off so she may have just wanted to spend more time with them. She did all 8 shows until she renewed her contract.

Olivo must have realized she's not getting the Tony, anyway, so she figured she'd cause some shit on the way out.

[quote]So in other words we can expect an imminent announcement about her booking a TV show?

Or an imminent announcement of Olivo's entry into an insane asylum. Wherever she ends up, I'm fine with it as long as it's not Broadway, where she doesn't belong.

Also- why put the onus on Sutton Foster? What is she gonna do about it? Worst case scenario- she quits and the project folds, leaving 50+ people out of a job after 18 months of no work in one of the only shows guaranteed to actually generate revenue.

Best case scenario- she's replaced with someone else and she gets a rep for not being a team player because she was willing to risk the employment of all those people.

I'm so goddamned tired of all this armchair bullying.

But, Karen IS Broadway.

Parenthetically, re Olivo: Does anyone have any idea why so many important people have continued to support her through all her surly insanity, including the people who cast her in MOULIN ROUGE and even someone like Lin-Manuel Miranda, whom I would have thought would certainly be smart enough to eventually figure out she's really bad news?

[quote]But, Karen IS Broadway.

She's the biggest Karen on Broadway, as it turns out.

There was a rumor that she wasn't going to be brought back to Moulin Rouge when it reopens due to her attendance. Some are saying this was to save face from being "let go"

It's a protest move I guess she can financially afford to make, but what statement is she actually making? And what exactly are the people cheering her on social media ("Hero!") actually feeling she's doing? Just saying I don't want to be part of the machine?

Ask all the actors supporting her when they'll be quitting too, that should shut them up

The idiots supporting her at ATC are clueless. Or they choose to ignore the fact she’s mentally ill.

I can't tell if Audra McDonald's Twitter/Insta post is directed at Karen Olivo or not. She chastises people for throwing shit at those who aren't ready to speak out about the abuse they suffered.

The minute I read Olivo's excuse for not returning to Moulin Rouge, my immediate thought was no one in the company is going to miss her, and she only shows up when she feels like it, anyway.

Karen's quote was "I want a theatre industry that matches my integrity". I nearly choked on my chicken!

[quote]I nearly choked on my chicken!

Pics please.

I can't believe people aren't talking about the most obvious atrocity of Olivo's video...that haircut. She should have been fired for that...

Today on HAZEL:

After the Baxters' mailman Barney (Robert B. Williams) calls in sick and can't be located, Hazel goes on the hunt for her friend, using an autographed photo of burlesque dancer Boo-Boo Bedoux (Corrine Cole) as her only clue. Turns out Barney went on a fishing trip. Jamie Farr appears as a coffee shop counterman. Miss Corrine Cole was briefly known as Lari Laine.

SO in the issue of fairness, can we now publicly bring up the reason Olivo left showbiz in 2013? She was fucking Will Swenson behind Audra's back and then stalked him when he broke it off? Because it seems like that's a HUGE piece of discovery being left out of the case.

R555, I am going to quit my show because our industry tolerates stalkers and gives them leads in Broadway musicals.

Whoa! I did not know that, R555! That's some good tea.

[quote][R537]. Charlotte’s daughters were still young. She took Sunday matinees off so she may have just wanted to spend more time with them. She did all 8 shows until she renewed her contract.

She took off Sundays and Tuesdays after she renewed her contract, r538. They wanted her back, she wanted time with her kids. That was the compromise. She got 3 full days with her family, and the show got to keep her.

There was a lot of controversy about it at the time, saying she was no longer up to the role. If a performer, particularly a dancer, wanted to lessen time onstage for physical or vocal reasons, they typically take off matinees of a 2 show days..

Then Mario Lopez came in and killed the show.

I went to see the revival of "A Chorus Line" during the time Mario was in the cast. I didn't see him, though, as he called out the day I went. His replacement was fine.

'She took off Sundays and Tuesdays after she renewed her contract, [R538]. They wanted her back, she wanted time with her kids. That was the compromise. She got 3 full days with her family, and the show got to keep her.'

Wasn't there a time this would have been unthinkable? You want to spend more time with your family then find another profession other than appearing on Broadway. And D'Amboise was that special? I'm finding that alone very hard to believe. She was no Gwen Verdon or Donna McKechnie. She would have been their understudy and a very disappointing one at that.

Robyn Hurder did the ACL tour and she was far better than D'amboise.

Did Olivo and Swenson have this alleged affair after he married Audra?

it was going on when they did Murder Ballad together, so it was around the time they had gotten married.

Well then that puts an interesting spin on Audra's tween, which R549 first mentioned, almost certainly aimed at Karen

[quote]Abuse is abhorrent and wrong. Shaming abuse victims to speak out about their trauma is not only wrong but can traumatize the victim even further. The trauma is theirs, not yours. It is up to the victim and not you to decide when and IF they speak about it.

Anyone else wanna comment on her tweet, now?

Mario was not good, r559. He paraphrased lines. He would go outside during Paul's monologue to chat up passersby, and twice had to be retrieved by stage managers when Paul's monologue was over, as Paul was left alone, sobbing. When they finally found the nerve to put a stop to Mario's excursions, he pulled focus by exercising in the back of the house.

You probably saw Grant Turner. He started out a bit wooden, but got quite good with time. He had a lot of time to improve, since Lopez' attendance took a nosedive once the novelty wore off.

[quote]Wasn't there a time this would have been unthinkable? You want to spend more time with your family then find another profession other than appearing on Broadway. And D'Amboise was that special? I'm finding that alone very hard to believe.

Believe it or don't, r560. That's what happened. The show wanted her back badly enough to make that concession. Charlotte isn't much of a singer, and will probably never do Shakespeare, but she is a fine dancer, and Cassie is primarily a dancing role. As r538 said, she did the 8 shows a week prior to renewing her contract. I don't recall her having a single unscheduled missed performance in that time. As to your thinking she should have found " another profession other than appearing on Broadway.", she has somehow managed to have a fairly successful career as a Broadway performer.

Also, it's d'Amboise.

Here she is with her brother, Christopher, honoring their father.

Charlotte's MUSIC AND THE MIROR was horrendous. I was surprised that they didn't change the choreography for her, because she looked terrible doing it.

Charlotte looked like Mario’s older sister. Zero chemistry but not her fault. Restaging Cassie’s monologue with Zach onstage was ridiculous. If Mario wanted more stage time he should have played one of the dancers. Preferably one of the cut dancers in the opening.

I'd heard Karen was pursuing and/or "in love" with Will, but did they actually have an affair? (now [italic]this[/italic] is gossip!)

r566 love your Mario info too. What a jerk. I wonder what they paid him thinking he'd sell tickets

PS r566 it sounds like you were there. Did they cast hate him?

More importantly, who did Mario blow to get into the production?

Mario made Nick Adams wear a hoodie and cover up that gorgeous body. Bitch!

Ryhog is pulling the race card for Karen Olivo on ATC.

[quote]Ryhog is pulling the race card for Karen Olivo on ATC.

Ryhog seems to be an intelligent person but is totally insufferable in his devil's advocacy of even the most idiotic and/or insane behavior.

And did you see his ass?

[quote] Restaging Cassie’s monologue with Zach onstage was ridiculous. If Mario wanted more stage time he should have played one of the dancers. Preferably one of the cut dancers in the opening.

Yes, r568. It also ruined the tension of that scene, Cassie standing on the line alone, as Zach fires question at her. Until Lopez came in, Baayork, Breglio, and Avian were adamant that there were to be NO changes of any kind, however miniscule. After the Cassie/Zach confrontation, Zach always handed off his hat to a hand reaching onstage for it. One night, apparently in the moment, Michael Berresse sailed the hat offstage. There was screaming backstage afterwards.

Lopez comes in, and they changed Zach's costume (the better to show off his biceps), and yes. as r573 says, had Adams put on a hoodie, because Nick's were more impressive. Also had Adams dance upstage of him, so they couldn't tell Nick was a better dancer.

Most egregious of all, was the finale change. Paul is the first to appear, and he is the point of the wedge. Mario took that spot.

[quote]PS [R566] it sounds like you were there. Did the cast hate him?

I wouldn't say they hated him, but it was really hard to respect him, with all of the paraphrasing and especially after twice being late for his entrance after Paul's speech. Lopez also jetted off to the west coast after every Sunday matinee, and very often managed to "miss" his return flight for Tuesday's and sometimes Wednesday's performances. It became a bit of a relief after awhile.

Former cast members were invited to join them onstage after the finale. Lopez first ran into a lighting pole onstage, then stood by himself, while everyone else caught up.

He did, however, impregnate and later marry one of the understudies.

[quote]Preferably one of the cut dancers in the opening.

I always heard he was uncut.

They should have brought Nomi Malone is to play Cassie.

I really like Charlotte. She's a workhorse, a lovely person and while she may not have "star quality" she makes up for it by giving her all in every performance, which is nothing to scoff at. She was one of the best Roxies I've seen, and I've seen her replace in several other roles and never walked away feeling like I saw an understudy performance.

I'm the guy who posted the story about Olivo and Swenson and I had no idea it wasn't better known. I didn't realize I was breaking a story. Go figure.

Thanks, R566. Great info.

I saw Charlotte in Sweet Charity and I really wanted to love her but she just couldn’t carry the show. I returned to see Christina Applegate and expected very little and she was just lovely. Some people have star quality and grab our attention and some don’t. But Charlotte is a great Roxie.

Applegate was terrific. But she was saddled with a terribly miscast Oscar. Denis O'Hare was way too old and gay.

[quote]I'm the guy who posted the story about Olivo and Swenson and I had no idea it wasn't better known. I didn't realize I was breaking a story. Go figure.

It is an open secret on Broadway, r581.

You're welcome, r582

What is the crazy ass parade that's happening next week?

So, that explains the many Tony Awards.

In better times...

[quote]I'm the guy who posted the story about Olivo and Swenson and I had no idea it wasn't better known. I didn't realize I was breaking a story. Go figure.

I had certainly heard some of the story but not all the details. One question, are you sure the Swenson/Olivo liaison took place after he had already begun a relationship with Audra? Or was it before?

[quote]I saw Charlotte in Sweet Charity and I really wanted to love her but she just couldn’t carry the show. I returned to see Christina Applegate and expected very little and she was just lovely. Some people have star quality and grab our attention and some don’t. But Charlotte is a great Roxie.

If you feel that way about Charlotte as Charity, why do you also feel she's a great Roxie? Are you saying you don't think the role of Roxie requires any star quality? Whatever, I saw Charlotte and Christina as Charity, and I think Charlotte was better overall. Her dancing was better, of course, but also her singing, and I would say both women were pretty much equal as far as their acting ability.

Roxie doesn’t carry Chicago. Charity is a big role. I guess what I’m saying is I like Charlotte better in small doses.

I saw d'Amboise in Damn Yankees and I don't remember a thing about her. Did I even see her?

[quote]Roxie doesn’t carry Chicago. Charity is a big role. I guess what I’m saying is I like Charlotte better in small doses.

Okay, fair enough, but that's not what you initially wrote.

[quote]I saw d'Amboise in Damn Yankees and I don't remember a thing about her. Did I even see her?

Really? I thought she was FAR better than the terribly miscast Bebe Neuwirth in that role. I guess I just like Charlotte a lot better than some of you folks.

Indeed he is, r574...

"One thing that is very striking to me in this overall discussion (and I don't mean here and I am not picking on you) is that it seems like the only people who are having issues or difficulty with what she said are white. And although it seems like a lot of white people don't have these problems understanding that seem like a virus here (e.g., all of the unions that have joined together in the last few days, all of whom to the best of my knowledge are run by whites), I think it is pretty clear that the resonance that she sought and of which there is evidence skews heavily to the POC part of our community."

Audra is white now?

[quote] Denis O'Hare was way too old and gay.

There is no such thing as too old and gay on Datalounge.

[quote] I had certainly heard some of the story but not all the details. One question, are you sure the Swenson/Olivo liaison took place after he had already begun a relationship with Audra? Or was it before?

It was not before.

I hated D’Amboise’s Pebbles Flintstone hairdo in Carrie: The Musical. Totally wrong for Chris Hargensen.

It didn't look so hot on Pebbles.

I think Audra met Will when they were both in 110 Shade at the Roundabout. What year was that production?

When did Will do Murder Ballad with Karen? Let's get our facts straight.

Bajour, dammit.