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Theatre Gossip #428-The “I Have Done” Thread

Let’s continue tearing cutesy British colloquialisms (and Andrew Lloyd Webber) to shreds. With a soupcon of Follies, of course.

by Anonymousreply 601July 31, 2021 1:04 AM

I will do, and have done!

by Anonymousreply 1July 21, 2021 12:46 AM

Let's crack on!

by Anonymousreply 2July 21, 2021 12:55 AM

I'll be in the stalls reading the programme I had to pay for!

by Anonymousreply 3July 21, 2021 1:16 AM

“Could we discuss Follies?”

“Could do.”

by Anonymousreply 4July 21, 2021 1:23 AM

At sixes and sevens with you.

by Anonymousreply 5July 21, 2021 1:43 AM

Broadway needs revivals of the following:

Mass Appeal

The Runner Stumbles

Same Time, Next Year

Gemini

Norman, Is That You?

by Anonymousreply 6July 21, 2021 1:46 AM

r6, I know you are being sarcastic, but your post reminded me that I saw a very strong production of THE RUNNER STUMBLES produced Off Broadway by The Actors Company Theater. The play was creaky, but the production was excellent. I miss TACT, they did some really great work for a few years there. Lost in Yonkers was very well done with Cynthia Harris and LOVERS that same year by Brian Friel. But I digress...

by Anonymousreply 7July 21, 2021 1:55 AM

Also we need a production of “Everybody Loves Opal.”

by Anonymousreply 8July 21, 2021 2:03 AM

Done, John, done.

Carrying over from the previous thread....I think those lines of Petra's were cut for good reason: why should she be overlooked in a tally of the moon's fools? She's not the Sage of the Scandinavian Isles. Her ambitions and hopes are just as foolish as the rest. In fact, in SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT, the cook chastises her for throwing herself at Henrik. And it's clear what her intentions are: if she became "gravid" by the Master's son, she'd be set up for life. So, IMHO, THE MILLER'S SON is not some life-affirming summary of the evening's themes but just one more notch on the moon's belt.

by Anonymousreply 9July 21, 2021 2:11 AM

I was lucky to see the Broadway production of The Runner Stumbles. Sloane Shelton gave such a splendid performance that I have never, ever, forgotten it. I was fortunate to see her in several more productions and she was always a standout. She was not really a star, but she was a damned fine working actress.

by Anonymousreply 10July 21, 2021 2:25 AM

DL fav Jeremy O Harris is being dragged on Twitter for defending DL fav Lena Dunham (she set the trend for the past decade of television, apparently). The oddest thing about all this is the tweet he initially responded to wasn't even criticising her. This led to this response from Harold Perrineau - father of Aurora, the woman who accused a writer on Girls of raping her, and Lena defended the writer, despite having earlier said to believe all women.

[quote]@jeremyoharris Shut your FUCKING MOUTH! After introducing 2 teenage girls to 35 year old Murray Miller and lying right to my face that night?! Nobody wants to hear from you!!! The safety of Black women has NEVER been important to you!

The commenters at ONTD may hate JOH more than DLers do

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by Anonymousreply 11July 21, 2021 2:39 AM

Get a fucking haircut and see an orthodontist

by Anonymousreply 12July 21, 2021 2:50 AM

Who's up for a revival of Sleuth?

by Anonymousreply 13July 21, 2021 2:57 AM

R10, on a trip to London in 1989, I got a front row seat to SINGLE SPIES and ended up in the front row seated next to Sloane Shelton. I had met her in New York but didn't know her well. We had a good time. She was a very nice woman.

by Anonymousreply 14July 21, 2021 3:04 AM

Sloane Shelton

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by Anonymousreply 15July 21, 2021 3:10 AM

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka in Same Time, Next Year.

by Anonymousreply 16July 21, 2021 3:29 AM

How comes y’all never announce and post the next thread at the end of the other one? There’s always plenty of room filling it in to end it, that could be put to good use. It seems like bad thread etiquette.

by Anonymousreply 17July 21, 2021 7:14 AM

Because you're lazy and we hate you, R17.

by Anonymousreply 18July 21, 2021 7:38 AM

From the last thread:

[quote] Others here are coming up with odd equivalents "I have sufficient" (What does that mean in context? She is not eating a large meal--and other than that when you would say something like that?)

Oh, poor child. "I have sufficient" is one of Vivian Vance's most famous lines from I Love Lucy. New here, are you?

by Anonymousreply 19July 21, 2021 7:47 AM

If they do require that theatergoers be vaccinated (and I hope they do) I can’t wait to see the drama in the lobbies as they deny entry to unvaccinated patrons who are holding tickets. The fights will probably be more entertaining than most of the woke shows that are coming to Broadway.

by Anonymousreply 20July 21, 2021 9:32 AM

Barbara Cook as a seductress. Or at least attempting to be one.

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by Anonymousreply 21July 21, 2021 10:05 AM

From Olivier Awards. Julia won well deserved Olivier over LuPone (Sunset) and Paige (Piaf). Wonderful and fresh performance. (ALW didn’t allow Patti to perform anything from Sunset. She had to watch Betty Lynn singing parts of With One Look. One more humiliation from ALW to Patti.) Patti said Julia was wondeful and deserved the award. And she really is. Sorry for bad quality of the video.

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by Anonymousreply 22July 21, 2021 11:54 AM

I love Julia McKenzie, but I never really warmed to that performance. It feels coarse and screamy, although I give her credit for going in a different direction.

I do love the orchestra reduction that Tunick did for that National Theatre production. It's really well done, and those charts are notoriously difficult. He gets a lot of sound and detail from something like 9 or 10 musicians.

by Anonymousreply 23July 21, 2021 12:21 PM

She also sang the wrong lyric. “These have got to be the worst pies in London”…? Please fix.

by Anonymousreply 24July 21, 2021 12:28 PM

Revolting.

by Anonymousreply 25July 21, 2021 12:46 PM

If that's how McKenzie starts the evening... what happened at the top of the 2nd Act when the crowds appear, Sweeney is killing with frequency, the Beggar Woman is prowling around, and things are getting difficult to manage?

I love the character she created and, God knows, the woman has voice to burn, but gah! That's a big start to a long evening. Even if her voice was not exhausted by the end, I think I might be.

by Anonymousreply 26July 21, 2021 12:58 PM

Second Stage did a revival of GEMINI in the1990s with Linda Hart of Hairspray and Anything Goes fame as Bunny. She was great though I remember very little else about the production.

by Anonymousreply 27July 21, 2021 1:02 PM

What do Sharon Stone and GREASE have in common?

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by Anonymousreply 28July 21, 2021 1:07 PM

[quote] Second Stage did a revival of GEMINI in the1990s with Linda Hart of Hairspray and Anything Goes fame as Bunny. She was great though I remember very little else about the production.

Same, though I can remember Hart bringing down the house with a line reading: at one point, she took a withering glance at her dimwitted son, and said something like "Take a look at the fruit of my loins."

by Anonymousreply 29July 21, 2021 1:15 PM

Is the Equity thing going to get its own thread?

by Anonymousreply 30July 21, 2021 1:43 PM

More on the Williamstown story. Ashley Lee's LA Times story on it that's going around might be paywalled if you've read other stories there lately.

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by Anonymousreply 31July 21, 2021 1:50 PM

Julia McKenzie, in that production of Sweeney Todd, gave one of the greatest performances in a musical I’ve ever seen.

Sloane Shelton was a good actress but miscast in All That Jazz as Joe Gideon’s mother. He describes her as “sexy” and Shelton was a character lady and not “sexy” at all.

by Anonymousreply 32July 21, 2021 2:00 PM

[r31] thanks for sharing! That sounds like a terrible experience :(

“the company did not do enough to research and prepare for the day-to-day difficulties of mounting shows outside. That led, he said, to safety risks and problems that could have been anticipated”

by Anonymousreply 33July 21, 2021 2:11 PM

Here's the LA Times. Some interesting Twitter chat about this.

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by Anonymousreply 34July 21, 2021 2:15 PM

It's about time Williamstown was called out for its shit pay and working conditions. Only the starry playwrights and actors get anything there, and everyone else is slave labor. And even the stars have shitty housing....Why do people put up with this?

by Anonymousreply 35July 21, 2021 2:18 PM

Matt seems sweet guy

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by Anonymousreply 36July 21, 2021 2:20 PM

I'm of 2 minds on Williamstown. I worked there for slave wages and bad housing for several years way back in the late 70s and 80s when everyone, including the youngsters who apprenticed and interned there, felt the crazy conditions were a kind of rite of passage into the professional theater world. Even stars like Blythe Danner, Frank Langella, Olympia Dukakis, Ken Howard, et. al. trooped through productions with little luxuries and low pay.

Though they were very tough summers, I learned more about the art, business and life of the theater profession at Williamstown than any of the other theater experiences of my youth and made friends and professional connections that have lasted a lifetime.

Still, in this new day and age, I'm impressed and thrilled that the Festival will finally be called on to make some much-needed humane changes.

by Anonymousreply 37July 21, 2021 3:10 PM

Broadway’s Reopening Fears Amid COVID-19 - “There’s So Much We Still Don’t Know”:

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by Anonymousreply 38July 21, 2021 3:51 PM

Paging Jeremy Harris-your 15 minutes are up.

by Anonymousreply 39July 21, 2021 4:07 PM

R30 Here's the Equity thing thread.

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by Anonymousreply 40July 21, 2021 5:13 PM

Rick McKay's long volleyed about sequel "Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age" is FINALLY seeing the light of day on PBS on August 14 via Great Performances. Apparently his team completed the final cut of the film, though all those patrons who donated to the GoFundMe (Kickstarter?) campaign haven't heard so much as a peep from anyone involved.

Glad it's finally getting out there but a bit shitty/shady not to rope in the hundreds of people who helped it get across the finish line (though I do imagine PBS gave them the last bit of funding that allowed it to get completed!)

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by Anonymousreply 41July 21, 2021 6:03 PM

Moulin Rouge reopens in September.

Any word on the new Saltine?

by Anonymousreply 42July 21, 2021 6:10 PM

20 years ago Carolee Carmello would've made a killer Kidman-esque Satine. I always felt Olivo was completely miscast...even vocally it never felt quite right.

by Anonymousreply 43July 21, 2021 6:36 PM

Kidman wasn't any great shakes vocally. Just adequate really.

by Anonymousreply 44July 21, 2021 6:39 PM

"Paging Jeremy Harris-your 15 minutes are up."

I'm winning all 12 Tonys, fucker. I'm a genius... so suck me.

by Anonymousreply 45July 21, 2021 7:28 PM

Lillian: I'm famous. I buy mayonnaise and I'm famous. Get letters from people in Idaho. I don't even know where Idaho is. You're not listening to me.

Dash: I'm listening to you, Lilly.

Lillian: Dash, I don't want you to think I just care about sable coats.

Dash: I know that, Lilly.

Lillian: You've been famous a long time, Dash, and it never seems to bother you. Ohh.! Aargh! This is a dopey conversation!

Dash: It's only fame, Lilly. Just a paint job. If you want a sable coat, buy one. Just remember, it doesn't have anything to do with writing. It's only a sable coat and doesn't have anything to do with writing. (Alvin Sargent, JULIA)

by Anonymousreply 46July 21, 2021 9:26 PM

R45: sucking JOH sounds truly repulsive

by Anonymousreply 47July 21, 2021 9:44 PM

M and G in a revival of Sleuth. They can switch parts every other night.

Box Office Baby!

by Anonymousreply 48July 21, 2021 10:01 PM

[quote] I love Julia McKenzie, but I never really warmed to that performance. It feels coarse and screamy

Coarse and screamy?? That's MY routine!

by Anonymousreply 49July 21, 2021 10:16 PM

I love that black twitter is going all in on that asshole Jeremy O. Cancel him, ladies.

by Anonymousreply 50July 21, 2021 10:30 PM

The term BIPOC has now been canceled by the ultra-woke. The new term- BBIMP.

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by Anonymousreply 51July 22, 2021 12:15 AM

Arsenic & Old Lace, r48.

by Anonymousreply 52July 22, 2021 12:52 AM

"melanated"? Did Sondheim come up with this?

by Anonymousreply 53July 22, 2021 1:58 AM

.....your ignorance is showing, r53.

by Anonymousreply 54July 22, 2021 2:04 AM

your ridiculousness

by Anonymousreply 55July 22, 2021 2:06 AM

Wokesters are so obsessed with race/skin color -- it is the first (and often only) thing they notice about a person -- yet they accuse everyone else of being racist.

by Anonymousreply 56July 22, 2021 2:53 AM

Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman star in "Man of La Mancha!" With Kristin Chenoweth as Sancho Panza

by Anonymousreply 57July 22, 2021 3:20 AM

Soooo....McKenzie or Kahn?

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by Anonymousreply 58July 22, 2021 3:55 AM

It's always a mistake to judge a musical theater actor's performance by them doing a number from their show on an awards show or talk show. It's an awkward thing asking an actor to perfectly recreate the energy and intensity of a performance created during the actual full performance of the entire show in a 5 minute snippet on the telly. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I'm loving the power of McKenzie's voice in that clip but the performance really does feel rushed and without nuance. And, considering it was an award winning and highly praised performance I'm guessing the "magic" didn't happen for Julia McKenzie that night.

I noticed something similar with Tracie Bennett when she did "I'm Still Here" on the Oliviers. I think she's terrific in the full length recorded production of Follies telecast as part of the Live National program but on the Oliviers she seemed too loud and shouty; I really didn't care for that specific performance yet I much admired her work in the full production.

It's live performance. It's going to vary from night to night.

by Anonymousreply 59July 22, 2021 5:06 AM

Was 20th Century a hit in London?

by Anonymousreply 60July 22, 2021 11:49 AM

"It's live performance. It's going to vary from night to night."

You bitches never saw me on stage!!

by Anonymousreply 61July 22, 2021 12:12 PM

[quote] Was 20th Century a hit in London?

It ran about five months. It's never really been a hit anywhere.

by Anonymousreply 62July 22, 2021 12:37 PM

20th Century is a crass and charmless musical that was gussied up by Robin Wagner and Florence Klotz's brilliant designs and Kevin Kline's supporting performance. I've never understood its popularity. I'd say the same for City of Angels which had the same design team and some good supporting performances.

Both musicals composed by Cy Coleman who served Sweet Charity, Little Me and even Wildcat and Seesaw so much better.

by Anonymousreply 63July 22, 2021 1:14 PM

20th Century is a total delight but expensive to produce. And the audience it's intended for is nearly gone, as r63 shows. A wonderful show for those who can appreciate it.

by Anonymousreply 64July 22, 2021 1:20 PM

r43 & r44, I didn't love Olivo either and think she was vocally wrong for the part, even if she's a stronger singer than Kidman.

I hadn't seen the movie since it first came out, but after being severely underwhelmed by the musical, I listed to some of the soundtrack on Youtube, and immediately thought it was better. Kidman and McGregor's voices weren't as strong, but they were better actors so they could convey emotion and heart in their voices--they were two people singing TO each other, which made the love story believable. Just listening to it, that came across on the recording. Olivo and Tveit have stronger voices, but they were two people singing AT each other, throwing the typical musical theater flourishes at one another while belting...and there was no connection or real emotion there, just loudness. (In Olivo's case she may be a lot better at anger and hardness than the openness and vulnerability the part requires at times.) Hopefully whoever they replace Olivo with (I thought Tveit was dreadful and should be replaced, though that's likely not happening) will have both a strong instrument and the acting skill to convey true emotion and passion in that voice (though, given the "more is more" mentality of the show, that may not be what they care about).

by Anonymousreply 65July 22, 2021 2:33 PM

Perhaps one of Aaron's twinks could play Satine.

by Anonymousreply 66July 22, 2021 2:52 PM

[quote]In Olivo's case she may be a lot better at anger and hardness than the openness and vulnerability the part requires at times.

Now, there's the understatement of the millennium! But, of course, what she's really best at is not showing up at all.

by Anonymousreply 67July 22, 2021 3:00 PM

It's the only show I've ever seen her in, so I was hedging my bets. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

by Anonymousreply 68July 22, 2021 3:01 PM

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 2004, "The Frogs" opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre.

by Anonymousreply 69July 22, 2021 3:14 PM

I saw the original FROGS at the Yale swimming pool with Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver part of the croaking chorus. I remember almost nothing except the steamy smell of chlorine. Poor Larry Blyden did all he could to keep the dire proceedings going.

Still, at least I could say, I was there! I was there!!! And I'm still here.

by Anonymousreply 70July 22, 2021 3:42 PM

I'm one of those people who gave money for "Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age" and never heard a peep from them, even before McKay passed away. I was supposed to recieve both DVDs and another with the outtakes. Ah well...

ALso, I concur about Julia MacKenzie in SWEENEY... one of the greatest performances I've seen in the theatre and the rightful winner of the Olivier. The other great performance was the guy who played the Beedle. Because they cast a fat Pirelli, the Beedle was small and creepy, and he played it like Uriah Heep. Wish I remembered his name. I'll have to look it up.

by Anonymousreply 71July 22, 2021 3:54 PM

I thought it was more or less official that Deborah Cox was replacing Karen Olivo in Moulin Rouge? Boring choice, but there it is.

by Anonymousreply 72July 22, 2021 5:52 PM

"Cy Coleman who served Sweet Charity, Little Me and even Wildcat and Seesaw so much better."

I agree. Scoring 20th Century as an operetta as opposed to slam-bang thirties musical comedy was a mistake of conception, IMO.

by Anonymousreply 73July 22, 2021 7:22 PM

"... as opposed to slam-bang thirties musical comedy was a mistake of conception, IMO."

*

That's probably what you would have gotten if they'd cast Bernadette, r73.

by Anonymousreply 74July 22, 2021 7:27 PM

I have to disagree about the 20th Century score. I though writing it as operetta was an inspired choice. The alternative was to write everything in a 20s "flapper" style, which would have been obvious and boring.

by Anonymousreply 75July 22, 2021 7:56 PM

[quote]Aaron's Twinks

Is that the name of the new reboot of "Charlie's Angels"?

by Anonymousreply 76July 22, 2021 7:59 PM

I agree with R63. The 20th Century score is fun as a recording. In the theatre, that exaggerated, outsized style become so relentless, it quickly wears out its welcome. The show was beautifully designed and produced though.

I like City of Angels more than R63, but it also behaved strangely in the theatre. SO clever, but not that engaging. It beat Grand Hotel for Best Musical, and Angels is probably the better musical as far as its writing, but Grand Hotel provided more musical theatre thrills.

by Anonymousreply 77July 22, 2021 8:43 PM

"...but Grand Hotel provided more musical theatre thrills."

*

Thanks solely to Tommy.

by Anonymousreply 78July 22, 2021 8:58 PM

Sutton's Anything Goes opens in London tomorrow -- who's going?

by Anonymousreply 79July 22, 2021 9:12 PM

I'm washing my hair, r79.

by Anonymousreply 80July 22, 2021 9:24 PM

I’m trying to remember exactly what the musical comedy “thrills” were in Grand Hotel. “We’ll Take a Glass,” I guess.

by Anonymousreply 81July 22, 2021 9:38 PM

I love the score to “On the 20th Century.” I thought the whole thing was dazzling. Not so much in the revival, though. You need some real comic actors, though

by Anonymousreply 82July 22, 2021 9:40 PM

R71, the Beedle was Barry James.

by Anonymousreply 83July 22, 2021 9:47 PM

Polly was there

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by Anonymousreply 84July 22, 2021 10:08 PM

Polly and Hermione Gingold hated each other during First Impressions. Farley Granger didn’t care much for Polly either.

by Anonymousreply 85July 22, 2021 10:20 PM

[quote] I’m trying to remember exactly what the musical comedy “thrills” were in Grand Hotel. “We’ll Take a Glass,” I guess.

Of course that number and the rest of Tune's work, but I'd add: David Carroll's vocals, especially "Love Can't Happen," Jane Krakowski's numbers, the wonderful Michael Jeter, the ghostly ballroom couple, the really gorgeous design by Tony Walton, Santo Loquasto and Jules Fisher, and Peter Matz's sensational orchestrations. Here's 10 minutes of it. Considering how bad new musicals are, it looks pretty good by comparison.

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by Anonymousreply 86July 22, 2021 10:21 PM

Another vote in favor of the 20th Century score. I love it.

Did the revival get a production in the UK? I didn’t care for the recent Marin Mazzie (RIP) or Kristin Chenowith productions in NY. It’s pretty much an operatic farce, and honestly, the US doesn’t do farce nearly as well as the Brits. Madeline Kahn and Kevin Kline are unicorns amongst American musical theater performers when it comes to farce.

by Anonymousreply 87July 22, 2021 10:31 PM

R87, really? I thought the staged concert of OTTC with Mazzie, Douglas Sills, Christopher Sieber, etc. was excellent in every way. And I saw the original production -- with Judy Kaye, not Madeline.

by Anonymousreply 88July 22, 2021 10:33 PM

I saw 20TH Century early in the run with Judy Kaye on for Kahn. Loved it. Kline was extraordinary. Great fun. Saw it again a few weeks before it closed. Dull. Kline was gone and his replacement was meh. Cullum, Kaye and Imogene looked bored. There were issues with the scenery which wasn’t aging well. Audience response was tepid.

by Anonymousreply 89July 22, 2021 10:41 PM

[quote] I thought the staged concert of OTTC with Mazzie, Douglas Sills, Christopher Sieber, etc. was excellent in every way.

To be fair, I only saw it via proshot bootleg, so maybe it was better in person. The broadness just seemed to forced to me. Madeline could have the audience in stitches with just a subtle look. Marin and Doug also sang nearly a quarter tone flat for most of the show I watched, too. I’ve enjoyed those cast members in other shows, but they didn’t do it for me in 20th Century.

by Anonymousreply 90July 22, 2021 10:45 PM

What did you think of Judy Kaye that first time you saw it, r89? I can imagine her being pretty good in that role even if she was no Madeline.

by Anonymousreply 91July 22, 2021 10:47 PM

I have a friend who saw both and preferred Judy, r91.

by Anonymousreply 92July 22, 2021 10:53 PM

R91. I thought she was very good. Funny. Landed all the laughs. I hadn’t heard Kahn on the cast recording yet and, truthfully, when I did I preferred her to Kaye. Kahn had more character in her voice but that’s what made her unique and special. I’d never been a Cullum fan but I thought he was appropriately hammy. Kline was just spectacular. But, like I said, seeing it again near the end of the run was disappointing. I had the same reaction when I returned to Gypsy the week before it closed. The cast, especially Patti, had gotten sloppy and were fishing for cheap laughs. Sad.

by Anonymousreply 93July 22, 2021 10:55 PM

I saw Grand Hotel with David Carroll twice early on. He was terrific, but he and Liliane had no chemistry, she just looked old next to him. Then I saw it later with Brent Barrett, and they were dynamic together. Suddenly it made sense that Tommy had hired her.

I didn’t realize that David C was actually able to come back after his early departure and play the role for another couple of months.

by Anonymousreply 94July 22, 2021 10:57 PM

Madeline Kahn was a comic genius. Judy Kaye knows how to be funny but she’s not inspired as a comedienne.

by Anonymousreply 95July 22, 2021 11:07 PM

[quote] Madeline could have the audience in stitches with just a subtle look.

When she could be bothered.

I saw it once with Kahn walking through it and twice with Kaye going on all cylinders. Kahn could be brilliant but Kaye brought the show home despite being a lesser talent.

And I love the show. A great treasured memory for which there is no longer an audience.

by Anonymousreply 96July 22, 2021 11:11 PM

I don't think Judy's a lesser talent, r96, she just lacked the star quality of Madeline.

by Anonymousreply 97July 22, 2021 11:15 PM

When Grand Hotel premiered the joke was that it was a musical about chairs.

by Anonymousreply 98July 22, 2021 11:18 PM

R97. Exactly. Judy has the misfortune of having to fill Kahn’s shoes but many others have had to fill Judy’s shoes in Phantom but she’s still the definitive Carlotta.

Did anyone see Ebersole when she went on for Kaye in 20th Century?

by Anonymousreply 99July 22, 2021 11:19 PM

How clever, r98.

by Anonymousreply 100July 22, 2021 11:21 PM

I certainly didn't mean to denigrate Judy Kaye at r96. If that was the impression I left, I apologize. I'm a great fan.

But still wish I could have seen Kahn when she was "on" as opposed to what I saw.

by Anonymousreply 101July 22, 2021 11:27 PM

I know, r101, what made Madeline's talents singular was she herself was singular.

by Anonymousreply 102July 22, 2021 11:35 PM

I saw Kahn as Amalia in concert version of She Loves Me at Town Hall in the 70s. She was far too arch for that part and although she got laughs, it didn't work.

But as she was singing Will He Like Me? my boyfriend slipped a tricolor gold friendship ring from Tiffany's on my finger. One of the greatest nights of my life.

by Anonymousreply 103July 22, 2021 11:42 PM

Theater Twitter seems to have one question on its mind lately: when will Audra do Mame or Gypsy?

by Anonymousreply 104July 22, 2021 11:45 PM

[quote] I saw Kahn as Amalia in concert version of She Loves Me at Town Hall in the 70s. She was far too arch for that part and although she got laughs, it didn't work.

Amalia definitely requires a bit more of a Pollyanna sweetness for it to work.

by Anonymousreply 105July 22, 2021 11:46 PM

She really isn't as good a match in the role as you'd expect, r103.

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by Anonymousreply 106July 22, 2021 11:47 PM

I had expected it to work, r106, but it didn't. So affected, so many, many stolen laughs that weren't intended. The audience loved her.

No, the ring was stolen years later. And he died in the first wave of the plague. I move on but damn it gets harder.

by Anonymousreply 107July 23, 2021 12:03 AM

[quote]Theater Twitter seems to have one question on its mind lately: when will Audra do Mame or Gypsy?

Never and never. She doesn't have the sophistication to play Mame and she doesn't have the drive to play Rose. Unless you meant she'd play Herbie, then she'd be terrific!

by Anonymousreply 108July 23, 2021 12:19 AM

I’d rather see an all-male [italic]Gypsy[/italic].

by Anonymousreply 109July 23, 2021 12:37 AM

Hugh Jackman IS Papa Rose! Zac Efron IS Dainty Jim.

by Anonymousreply 110July 23, 2021 12:39 AM

How does Mame even happen now? The big Act One finale - with *the* big number - takes place at a Southern plantation. The whole title song is about a return to the old days - “this time the South will rise again!” I don’t see how that works now, with or without a black Mame.

by Anonymousreply 111July 23, 2021 12:42 AM

[quote] I don’t see how that works now, with or without a black Mame.

"Mame" doesn't work now, period. Its day has come and gone, and no amount of "reimagining" is going to make it play for a contemporary audience.

by Anonymousreply 112July 23, 2021 12:46 AM

The heads of the ultra-woke would literally explode if they saw a production of Mame.

by Anonymousreply 113July 23, 2021 12:50 AM

Which in itself would be fun ...

by Anonymousreply 114July 23, 2021 1:22 AM

[quote]Marin and Doug also sang nearly a quarter tone flat for most of the show I watched, too.

I really don't think that's true. I'm glad the video does exist -- and it's not a bootleg, it was filmed and sold by The Actors' Fund -- so people can judge for themselves

by Anonymousreply 115July 23, 2021 1:23 AM

What’s happening with The Devil Wears Prada musical? On hold indefinitely? I hope they come up with a better idea for Miranda. I cannot see Beth Leavel and her bag of tired tricks in the role.

by Anonymousreply 116July 23, 2021 1:24 AM

I feel like a show about an awful boss probably isn't going to do so well on Broadway right now ...

by Anonymousreply 117July 23, 2021 2:10 AM

And I wish to God someone would produce a major Broadway revival of MAME so everyone can see how horribly the humor has dated (never mind the un-pc problems throughout) and we can all then move on and never hear about MAME again.

by Anonymousreply 118July 23, 2021 2:21 AM

Polly's I'm Still Here was excellent. Didn't she turn gay in later life?

by Anonymousreply 119July 23, 2021 2:26 AM

No, r119, she turned into a turtle.

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by Anonymousreply 120July 23, 2021 2:31 AM

Polly was always a lez-been.

by Anonymousreply 121July 23, 2021 5:00 AM

[quote]But as she was singing Will He Like Me? my boyfriend slipped a tricolor gold friendship ring from Tiffany's on my finger. One of the greatest nights of my life.

And later that evening, did you give up your precious flower to him for the first time?

by Anonymousreply 122July 23, 2021 5:15 AM

[quote]And I wish to God someone would produce a major Broadway revival of MAME so everyone can see how horribly the humor has dated (never mind the un-pc problems throughout) and we can all then move on and never hear about MAME again.

The Kennedy Center produced "Mame" back in 2006 with the hope of a limited Broadway run to follow. Christine Baranski was Mame and Harriet Harris was Vera. I saw it, and, trust me, it was obvious 15 years ago that the book and the humor had not aged well at all. Plans for a Broadway run were canceled, supposedly because the cost would have been prohibitive, but I'm guessing there was more to it than that. The musical was 40 years old then, and it looked it.

by Anonymousreply 123July 23, 2021 5:28 AM

Susan Hayward would have made a great Margo Channing in Applause.

by Anonymousreply 124July 23, 2021 5:42 AM

Mame also looked tired and dated in 1983 when that undernourished national tour limped into town. I saw it at a poorly attended Saturday matinee. I'm not exaggerating when I say there were 100 people in the audience at the Gershwin. It was the emptiest Broadway theatre I had ever seen. But I won't forget Angela Lansbury still giving it her all as if it were opening night in 1966.

by Anonymousreply 125July 23, 2021 10:37 AM

[quote] And later that evening, did you give up your precious flower to him for the first time?

Nope, we just fucked each other like rabbits all night long like we'd been doing for months. We were both sleep deprived at that point.

by Anonymousreply 126July 23, 2021 10:52 AM

^ Young, horny and in love. Ah, youth.

by Anonymousreply 127July 23, 2021 10:56 AM

Devil Wears Prada would need a star … or at least Donna Murphy.

by Anonymousreply 128July 23, 2021 11:57 AM

You know, after watching Ted Lasso, some of us were looking to cast Hannah Waddingham in something. THAT'S a Miranda Priestly. Catherine Zeta Jones could also do it... when she gets a little older.

by Anonymousreply 129July 23, 2021 12:04 PM

Good idea, r129.

by Anonymousreply 130July 23, 2021 12:14 PM

[quote] Christine Baranski was Mame and Harriet Harris was Vera.

I think that production didn’t come to Broadway because Christine Baranski is not really a Mame. She lacks the warmth to pull off “If He Walked Into My Life”.

The musical version of Mame is difficult to cast because the actress needs to be madcap and zany but yet has to have a warm side as well as project sophistication.

by Anonymousreply 131July 23, 2021 12:38 PM

Everyone knows Baranski is a Vera, not a Mame.

by Anonymousreply 132July 23, 2021 12:41 PM

Christine Ebersole also played Mame at Paper Mill. She would seem to have the right ingredients, but yet that didn't work either.

by Anonymousreply 133July 23, 2021 12:45 PM

[quote] Mame also looked tired and dated in 1983 when that undernourished national tour limped into town.

Lesson on the mistakes of greedy producers. Opening in the middle of Summer in the largest Broadway house with the revival of a golden age musical in an era when Cats was dominating the Broadway scene.

If they had waited and opened in September, they probably could have had a respectable run through Christmas. At least it would have given the gays time to get back from Fire Island and Provincetown.

by Anonymousreply 134July 23, 2021 12:49 PM

There's a good full boot of that '83 Mame tour and bits and pieces of the original. It's obvious how tired that tour was. How lucky Angela was to get Murder She Wrote just a year later.

by Anonymousreply 135July 23, 2021 12:56 PM

It was more than luck. Angela got Murder She Wrote after everybody the producers wanted turned them down. The pilot was written for Jean Stapleton after she left All in the Family but nobody said yes until it was offered to Angela. Shades of Mame.

by Anonymousreply 136July 23, 2021 1:01 PM

[quote] Opening in the middle of Summer in the largest Broadway house with the revival of a golden age musical in an era when Cats was dominating the Broadway scene. If they had waited and opened in September, they probably could have had a respectable run through Christmas. At least it would have given the gays time to get back from Fire Island and Provincetown.

Yes, but the original La Cage began previews in early August, just two weeks after the revival of Mame opened, and was a smash, with or without the Fire Island and Provincetown gays. Part of the problem was the revival of Mame was rushed into town to try to ride the coattails of Jerry Herman's comeback with La Cage, after word of mouth on La Cage was so strong out of Boston. But Mame ended up looking so threadbare next to La Cage.

by Anonymousreply 137July 23, 2021 1:05 PM

So is it true that Aaron Tveit presents his hole in the Schmigadoon! episode being dropped today on Apple TV +?

by Anonymousreply 138July 23, 2021 1:14 PM

Is Aaron Tveit even aware he has a hole?

by Anonymousreply 139July 23, 2021 1:15 PM

Schmigadoon! is so smug and witless. Case in point: Alan Cumming's closeted mayor is named Manlove. This is humor? The satirical musical numbers are sort of meandering and toothless. I've enjoyed Kristin Chenoweth giving it her all as the repressed wife of the town minister, but that's about it.

by Anonymousreply 140July 23, 2021 1:34 PM

Satire is dead, r140.

Especially in the American theatre.

by Anonymousreply 141July 23, 2021 1:40 PM

Saw the Brian Stokes Mitchell al fresco concert at Lincoln Center last night. A good mix of standard Broadway fare but some or the arrangements were a little too Sunday jazz brunch and boy does the man love to talk (I'd say, it was a healthy 80 minute concert that stretched to almost 2 hours with his patter). Highlights for me included "I, Don Quixote" (partly sung in Spanish), "Waters of March," a solo "Wheels of a Dream," and "Stars" (this was a lovely surprise, did Stokes play Javert at some point?)

by Anonymousreply 142July 23, 2021 1:42 PM

Ebersole played Vera opposite Michelle Lee’s Mame st the Hollywood Bowl with Ben Platt as young Patrick.

by Anonymousreply 143July 23, 2021 1:48 PM

[quote] Christine Baranski was Mame and Harriet Harris was Vera.

I love them both but.....that sounds terrible. Their personas are so similar.

by Anonymousreply 144July 23, 2021 1:55 PM

[quote]The musical version of Mame is difficult to cast because the actress needs to be madcap and zany but yet has to have a warm side as well as project sophistication.

Thanks, doll.

by Anonymousreply 145July 23, 2021 2:23 PM

"Ebersole played Vera opposite Michelle Lee’s Mame at the Hollywood Bowl with Ben Platt as young Patrick."

Here they are.

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by Anonymousreply 146July 23, 2021 2:44 PM

Lucy wasn't bad as Mame. She was too old, but there's not much she could do about that. Theodora Van Runkle's costumes sometimes complimented her, but sometimes straight-jacketed her. Gene Saks should have looked at the costumes for 'Bosom Buddies' and dismissed them.

The big problem was Paul Zindel's script. Warner's wanted to make an "important" film with MAME, so they hired Paul Zindel who had a rosy glow from the success of "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds." Yes, for a moment, he was an 'important playwright' but he produced a script that smelled to high heaven.

If Lucy actually failed at any point in the production, she failed at not recognizing that the script was shit. She failed at not throwing it across the room and going back home until it was fixed. NO ONE could have made a success with that script.

by Anonymousreply 147July 23, 2021 2:45 PM

Here's Ben Platt in " Mame," closer in age to Evan Hansen than he is now.

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by Anonymousreply 148July 23, 2021 2:45 PM

Hermoine hated pretty much everyone. She was once at a pool party with the cast and their families during the ALNM run. Children were running around being children, and Hermoine loudly announced, "Whom shall I pay to drown the little bastards?".

by Anonymousreply 149July 23, 2021 2:46 PM

"Hermoine hated pretty much everyone. She was once at a pool party with the cast and their families during the ALNM run. Children were running around being children, and Hermoine loudly announced, "Whom shall I pay to drown the little bastards?".

What? I never said that! I just mentioned that I didn't care for Slytherin.

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by Anonymousreply 150July 23, 2021 2:57 PM

There's a story that may be apocryphal, that Hermione met her grandchildren for the firsst time when they were able to walk and talk. When she arrived, they ran up to her squealing, GRANNY! She supposedly turned on her heel and walked out.

I knew her late in life (hers, not mine) and she was a hoot. Not surprised she hated kids, though.

by Anonymousreply 151July 23, 2021 3:32 PM

I wonder what Hermione and Sondheim made of each other.

by Anonymousreply 152July 23, 2021 3:38 PM

Baranski in D.C. "Mame"

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by Anonymousreply 153July 23, 2021 3:48 PM

Michele Lee looks like she's never been on a stage before in that clip! I mean, really.

by Anonymousreply 154July 23, 2021 4:02 PM

Why do people think the title number in Mame is so problematic? I can understand some idiot on Twitter who doesn't understand context thinking that, but anyone with half a brain can see that it's a number about Mame showing small minded folks that not everyone from up north is worthy of scorn. There's nothing racist about it. I don't seem to remember a chorus of slaves coming out and doing a kickline. What the hell are you people talking about?

Now, the whole character of Ito would probably need to be scrapped altogether.

by Anonymousreply 155July 23, 2021 4:07 PM

You'd have to cut about a quarter of MAME for it to work today.

by Anonymousreply 156July 23, 2021 4:08 PM

[quote]Why do people think the title number in Mame is so problematic?

Because that incessant straight-forward rhythm produces the effect of being repeatedly beaten in the head.

by Anonymousreply 157July 23, 2021 4:15 PM

R155, the song takes place on an old family plantation in the south. Today it is hard to watch that without thinking about the slaves on whose backs the family fortune and property was built. That makes it hard to accept the number as carefree.

The number is performed by people who are dressed for a foxhunt, which is an upperclass activity, which again brings to mind the people on whom the wealth is built. I think you could watch a European foxhunt without such images in mind, but for something set in the American south---how can you not?

We just cannot watch this in the same way.

It is hard to take the number as joyous, because it incorporates so many tropes that are now seen as malign.

by Anonymousreply 158July 23, 2021 4:15 PM

What that little Jewish boy Ben Platt doing singing to St. Bridget? He better have sung We need a little Hanukkah later in the show.

by Anonymousreply 159July 23, 2021 4:19 PM

[quote]Everyone knows Baranski is a Vera, not a Mame.

Baranski wasn't ideal casting. She didn't have the necessary warmth, But she wasn't the reason "Mame" didn't work in 2006. The smell of mothballs permeated the theater.

by Anonymousreply 160July 23, 2021 4:27 PM

I'd love to see a production where Ito is turned into Cousin It (RIP, recently) from "The Addams Family". Of course, someone would complain that they are then denying an Asian a role (even a not-really-intended to be, but still racist) role.

by Anonymousreply 161July 23, 2021 4:28 PM

[quote]Lucy wasn't bad as Mame. She was too old, but there's not much she could do about that.

Well, except that "Mame" is a musical, and her singing sounded like she was being dubbed by Everett Dirksen.

by Anonymousreply 162July 23, 2021 4:34 PM

"Why do people think the title number in Mame is so problematic?"

Because it was not written by Sondheim and featured in " Follies."

by Anonymousreply 163July 23, 2021 4:51 PM

R158 nails it. The title song of MAME arguably shouldn't be a problem today in that, of course, it was meant ironically, but there's too much baggage attached to allow people today to enjoy it -- and it sure doesn't help that it contains those lyrics where all those white Southerners sing to Mame, "you've given us the drive again to make the South revive again!" That number, plus the way Ito is written AND the off-putting subplot about Gooch's unwanted, unwed pregnancy, are sadly more than enough content to keep this show from ever being revived again.

Re Christine Baranski -- just because she is most famous for playing a character that had no warmth, some fools insist that the actress is unable of playing warmth. In my opinion, she was very warm when she needed to be in MAME, and as someone else said, she was not the problem with that production.

by Anonymousreply 164July 23, 2021 5:02 PM

The best version of Mame (unfortunately marred by opening with blackface).

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by Anonymousreply 165July 23, 2021 5:09 PM

R154, she is warmer than Meryl in Mama Mia.

by Anonymousreply 166July 23, 2021 5:14 PM

What I can't figure out is why Baranski is still -- in EVERY interview -- bringing up that production of MAME and her leg injury and how they made her dance on that "huuuuuuuuuuuge" staircase. She just won't let go of it.

by Anonymousreply 167July 23, 2021 5:39 PM

At this rate, I suppose we can't stage shows about people from the south anymore. It's very hard to care about Blanche DuBois when she came from a plantation home that probably once housed slaves as well. Cancel her!

Problematic elements aside, Mame's book has always paled in comparison to the original stage play. Would it be possible to do a complete overhaul on the book and keep the songs?

by Anonymousreply 168July 23, 2021 5:46 PM

What's so wrong with Gooch's pregnancy subplot? That Mame and Vera pushed her into fucking some random guy and are responsible for her situation? At least they help her through it. At that time in history, a woman like Gooch would have been shunned by most everyone around her.

And please don't say The Upsons are problematic, too, because they always have been. The play is making fun of them for being close minded bigots. If people aren't smart enough to figure that out, they don't belong in a theater.

by Anonymousreply 169July 23, 2021 5:50 PM

Thank god they cut Nora from the musical!! She was always a slur to hard-working Irish immigrants everywhere.

by Anonymousreply 170July 23, 2021 5:54 PM

Why don't they build up the Ralph Devine character? "Mame" could use more nudity; I'd love see if Jerry Herman had a song called "Fish Families" in his trunk!

by Anonymousreply 171July 23, 2021 6:07 PM

I do miss Nora. The musical has too much Gooch.

by Anonymousreply 172July 23, 2021 6:17 PM

Remind me never to complain about Follies ever again.

by Anonymousreply 173July 23, 2021 6:17 PM

Here ya go FOLLIES fans....A new video from an exciting new musical that is sure to warm your hearts!

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by Anonymousreply 174July 23, 2021 6:18 PM

R168, I do not remember if Belle Reve was a plantations, but Williams often used plantations (like in Cat) as a sign of inherited baggage of various sorts, so he seems close to how we see things now.

Blanche and Stella do seem to be dealing in different ways with some inherited burden based in guilt, so the association of southern wealth with slaves seems to be on target--no problem at all.

by Anonymousreply 175July 23, 2021 6:29 PM

[quote]Blanche and Stella do seem to be dealing in different ways with some inherited burden based in guilt, so the association of southern wealth with slaves seems to be on target--no problem at all.

LOLOLOLOL.

by Anonymousreply 176July 23, 2021 6:31 PM

Christine Baranski in BLANCHE! THE MUSICAL.

by Anonymousreply 177July 23, 2021 6:54 PM

Everybody wants to do a musical, r177...

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by Anonymousreply 178July 23, 2021 7:06 PM

51:35 to 58:35...Faith's *Men* doesn't disappoint.

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by Anonymousreply 179July 23, 2021 7:25 PM

Men was a great number, the only good one in the whole bunch. Prince should have also been nominated for Featured Actress for this.

by Anonymousreply 180July 23, 2021 7:28 PM

That's why I zipped to it, r180. It's the only one on the CD I liked.

by Anonymousreply 181July 23, 2021 7:30 PM

I also remember a musical number where they all kicklined Lorraine's dead body downstage, but I'm not sure when that happens. It was the only other clever part in the show.

by Anonymousreply 182July 23, 2021 7:38 PM

Hit it, Lorraine.

by Anonymousreply 183July 23, 2021 7:56 PM

Actually, Prince was the best thing in the show and the best number was "A Busy Night at Lorraine's." but the only actual moment that stayed with me (as mentioned above) was the kickline where everyone was kicking Lorraine's dead body towards the footlights. Wish the rest of the show was an eighth as good.

by Anonymousreply 184July 23, 2021 8:40 PM

I did headsets in college for a while at the theaters and got put into the Marquis for a weekend at Nick and Nora. It took me three shows to get through watching the whole thing, that's how boring it was.

by Anonymousreply 185July 23, 2021 9:06 PM

I saw one of the first previews for "Nick & Nora" before Jossie de Guzman was fired. Never understood why she was fired because hers was a small role that had no effect on an obviously sinking ship. I went back near the opening and they had changed Christine Baranski's song, but the obvious problems with the show were never addressed. Talented cast, but when the dog gets more applause, you know something is wrong.

by Anonymousreply 186July 23, 2021 9:12 PM

[quote]What's so wrong with Gooch's pregnancy subplot? That Mame and Vera pushed her into fucking some random guy and are responsible for her situation? At least they help her through it. At that time in history, a woman like Gooch would have been shunned by most everyone around her.

What's wrong with her pregnancy is that she gets pregnant while she's drunk, the pregnancy was completely unplanned and unwanted, and she was abandoned by whoever the father was -- Brian O'Bannion in the original play, some unidentified guy in the musical. Gooch is not happy about the pregnancy, and if she didn't have Mame to fall back on, she would be in desperate circumstances, because as you say, at that time, a woman in her situation would have been shunned by society. Where is the humor in all that?

[quote]And please don't say The Upsons are problematic, too, because they always have been. The play is making fun of them for being close minded bigots. If people aren't smart enough to figure that out, they don't belong in a theater.

I don't think the Upsons are problematic at all. The scenes involving them have aged very well and don't seem dated at all, as compared to some of the other material in the play and the musical.

by Anonymousreply 187July 23, 2021 9:41 PM

Why didn’t anyone tell me Perfect Crime has reopened?

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by Anonymousreply 188July 23, 2021 9:43 PM

[quote]I saw one of the first previews for "Nick & Nora" before Jossie de Guzman was fired. Never understood why she was fired because hers was a small role that had no effect on an obviously sinking ship. I

Because, clearly, she was the innocent scapegoat targeted by the evil, despicable Arthur Laurents, who in his youth has a lot of talent as a writer but who never, ever displayed any talent as a director.

by Anonymousreply 189July 23, 2021 9:43 PM

Wait until R187 reads Macbeth.

by Anonymousreply 190July 23, 2021 9:44 PM

[quote] Wait until [R187] reads Macbeth.

Speaking of which, what do we think of the new movie starring Denzel and Frannie and directed by a single Coen brother and filmed in black and white?

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by Anonymousreply 191July 23, 2021 9:49 PM

[quote]Wait until [R187] reads Macbeth.

Well, this comparison of the flawed, dated script of MAME with the acknowledged all-time classic MACBETH may just possibly signify a new low in stupidity among DataLounge posters. And that is quite an achievement.

by Anonymousreply 192July 23, 2021 9:59 PM

I’ll never forget the crowd at Radio City hooting in derisive laughter at that absolutely ridiculous shot of Mame and Young Patrick sitting on a construction plank near the top of a skyscraper. Or whatever it was.

by Anonymousreply 193July 23, 2021 10:03 PM

[quote] Arthur Laurents, who in his youth has a lot of talent as a writer but who never, ever displayed any talent as a director.

I don’t think that’s true. La Cage and the two productions of Gypsy with Angie and Tyne were great.

by Anonymousreply 194July 23, 2021 10:06 PM

R193, I believe they are actually sitting on the Statue of Liberty's crown!

by Anonymousreply 195July 23, 2021 10:07 PM

You believe correctly, r195.

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by Anonymousreply 196July 23, 2021 10:23 PM

Lucy demanded they shoot on location. She had to get the kid wasted to coax him out on that crown.

by Anonymousreply 197July 23, 2021 10:28 PM

r192 I was mocking your pearl clutching at how an unwed mother is portrayed. But yeah, sure, murder is fine. Puritanicals always gasp over issues involving sex but have no issues with violence.

by Anonymousreply 198July 23, 2021 10:31 PM

Just make Beauregard and his family black.

by Anonymousreply 199July 23, 2021 10:33 PM

R199's idea is really very good. At the least, it would made the presentation of that dreary title song EXTREMELY interesting.

by Anonymousreply 200July 23, 2021 10:37 PM

An Invitation To Take A Breath: "You Are Here" at Lincoln Center Combines Sculpture, Sound, and Dance:

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by Anonymousreply 201July 23, 2021 10:39 PM

Have Beauregard's family mistake her for Dolly Levi and have them sing "Hello, Dolly!" instead. There's practically the same song in intent.

by Anonymousreply 202July 23, 2021 10:44 PM

Have Beauregard's family mistake her for Mabel Normand and have them sing "When Mabel Comes in the Room" instead. They are practically the same song in intent.

by Anonymousreply 203July 23, 2021 10:47 PM

Contrast and compare, r202

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by Anonymousreply 204July 23, 2021 10:48 PM

Jenifer Lewis for Mother Burnside!

by Anonymousreply 205July 23, 2021 11:03 PM

re: Schmigadoon. I keep watching, though I'm not getting much out of it. I enjoyed Ann Harada's song in today's episode, almost entirely due to her and not the aiming-for-but-not-nearly-as-clever-as-it-wants-to-be song. I also got exactly one laugh out of it--when Cecily Strong tries to reassure Keegan-Michael Key that no one dies in a musical...except Oklahoma...and Carousel...and South Pacific...and West Side Story ("That sounds like all the musicals!"). Sigh. I really wish it was better...or good.

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by Anonymousreply 206July 23, 2021 11:42 PM

Mame and Vera should sing Bosom Buddies topless.

by Anonymousreply 207July 23, 2021 11:45 PM

Mame and Vera should sing Bosom Buddies topless while giving each other breast exams

by Anonymousreply 208July 23, 2021 11:54 PM

Which theatre is the Lens Dunham “ Cinderella” going in to?

by Anonymousreply 209July 23, 2021 11:58 PM

There’s no indication that Gooch doesn’t want her child. In fact, the lyric of Gooch’s song points in the direction of her being happy she’s going to have a baby. Since Brian is cut from the musical, we never see the man who got her pregnant or the scene of them on a date.

Incidentally, they ruined the “Burnside Gooch” joke in the movie. Instead she sings “I had too much gin, and I found my prince, and have I been nauseous ever since!”

by Anonymousreply 210July 24, 2021 12:05 AM

Fagnes Hooch

by Anonymousreply 211July 24, 2021 12:06 AM

Hagnes Cooch

by Anonymousreply 212July 24, 2021 12:09 AM

Why?

by Anonymousreply 213July 24, 2021 12:21 AM

In retooled revival Mame and Vera can give Gooch an at-home abortion during a reprise of 'Bosom Buddies.'

by Anonymousreply 214July 24, 2021 12:24 AM

You coax the fetus out of the womb, Ma-a-ame!

by Anonymousreply 215July 24, 2021 12:26 AM

Hah, R195, thanks, of course that’s where they were. So stupid. The crowd at Radio City expressed how stupid it was.

by Anonymousreply 216July 24, 2021 12:37 AM

GYPSY

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by Anonymousreply 217July 24, 2021 12:51 AM

I only just now thought about it, but did COVID put a cap on Mousetrap being the longest running show in history or had it ended before?

by Anonymousreply 218July 24, 2021 12:54 AM

Isn't The Mousetrap coming back? I think everything counts, there's just been a long "intermission."

by Anonymousreply 219July 24, 2021 12:57 AM

I’m surprised Erik’s book GYPSY AND ME was never turned into a musical or a movie. A younger Geena Davis would have made a wonderful Gypsy.

by Anonymousreply 220July 24, 2021 1:15 AM

ALW’s Cinderella is coming back… but not until August 18. Is there some reason he chose that date?

by Anonymousreply 221July 24, 2021 1:36 AM

Aren’t all the remaining restrictions in the UK being lifted on August 16th?

by Anonymousreply 222July 24, 2021 2:05 AM

A question about Cinderella: how come in their kingdom, Cinderella is the only woman with that size foot?

Got a song for that, Mr. Andrew Lloyd Webber?

by Anonymousreply 223July 24, 2021 2:13 AM

R223 You do realize that the story goes back to China and is connected with foot binding. So one assumes her father as a merchant traveler traded through the Asian markets and brought the idea home with him and decided to conduct a rather sick and twisted experiment with his own daughter.

by Anonymousreply 224July 24, 2021 2:25 AM

LucyMAME screenwriter Paul Zindel also wrote the teleplay of the 1985 TV miniseries musical version of [italic]Alice in Wonderland[/italic], aired on CBS the same year Lucy herself was in [italic]Stone Pillow[/italic] and Lucie Arnaz’s sitcom failed.

by Anonymousreply 225July 24, 2021 2:26 AM

[quote] A question about Cinderella: how come in their kingdom, Cinderella is the only woman with that size foot? Got a song for that, Mr. Andrew Lloyd Webber?

That plot hole has been there since day one. Neither Walt Disney nor Rodgers and Hammerstein nor the Sherman brothers did anything about it. Why would Lloyd Webber?

by Anonymousreply 226July 24, 2021 2:27 AM

Speaking of, when is someone going to do a revival of Effects of Gamma Rays?

by Anonymousreply 227July 24, 2021 2:28 AM

[quote] You do realize that the story goes back to China and is connected with foot binding. So one assumes her father as a merchant traveler traded through the Asian markets and brought the idea home with him and decided to conduct a rather sick and twisted experiment with his own daughter.

Julie Andrews never told that part of the story.

In the Grimm fairytale version, one of the stepsisters chops off part of her foot to try and get the slipper to fit.

by Anonymousreply 228July 24, 2021 2:31 AM

R196 also explains why they cut the “fall off, fall off” song while Mame is on that horse.

by Anonymousreply 229July 24, 2021 2:33 AM

[quote] a new multimedia work at Lincoln Center that incorporates sculpture, a soundscape, and dance is inviting people to reflect on what it was like to live in the city during the pandemic.

Reflect on what is WAS like?? We're still fucking living through it. What a load of horseshit.

by Anonymousreply 230July 24, 2021 2:34 AM

Foot binding was never exported to France.

The Disney animated version also says in the opening narration “the stepsisters squandered the family fortune“ so that explains why they would be so desperate to marry a prince.

by Anonymousreply 231July 24, 2021 2:37 AM

I saw audience footage of the first Anything Goes preview in London. Full house. No masks. And they wonder why Covid is spreading?

by Anonymousreply 232July 24, 2021 2:39 AM

John Stamos IS Mame!

by Anonymousreply 233July 24, 2021 2:41 AM

One cut off her toes, r228, the other cut off her heels.

by Anonymousreply 234July 24, 2021 2:51 AM

[quote] John Stamos IS Mame!

I’d pay to see his manboobs in Bosom Buddies.

by Anonymousreply 235July 24, 2021 2:52 AM

Person to Carol...

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by Anonymousreply 236July 24, 2021 2:58 AM

r219 I think it would have to be called an interval.

by Anonymousreply 237July 24, 2021 2:58 AM

r236 Her husband's name was AXE?

by Anonymousreply 238July 24, 2021 2:59 AM

[quote]I was mocking your pearl clutching at how an unwed mother is portrayed. But yeah, sure, murder is fine. Puritanicals always gasp over issues involving sex but have no issues with violence.

Umm, the huge, tremendous, epic difference being that the murders in MACBETH are not played for comedy, you flaming asshole. Honestly, I didn't think you could write anything more incredibly stupid that the post I was responding to, but you have outdone yourself.

[quote]There’s no indication that Gooch doesn’t want her child. In fact, the lyric of Gooch’s song points in the direction of her being happy she’s going to have a baby.

Completely incorrect. True, she doesn't sing anything like "Oh my God, I'm going to have a baby and I don't want it!", but neither does she express anything like happiness over her impending motherhood. Instead, she repeatedly keeps asking Mame, "What do I do now?" And in a subsequent scene in the play, Gooch starts crying when she's asked who the father of her baby is -- and in the musical, or at least in the movie version of the musical, she says (or almost says) "My baby is going to be a little bastard."

by Anonymousreply 239July 24, 2021 3:22 AM

You don't understand Gooch at all, R239. Your analysis comes to nothing much and it certainly does not support your conclusion.

R210 is correct in his assertion regarding Gooch and her incipient baby. She eats well and she's already picked out a name.

by Anonymousreply 240July 24, 2021 3:28 AM

For chrissakes, Gooch is from the pen of Patrick Dennis, not Fannie friggin' Hurst.

by Anonymousreply 241July 24, 2021 3:38 AM

Colbert is coming on and his guest tonight is Baranski.

by Anonymousreply 242July 24, 2021 3:38 AM

[quote]Colbert is coming on and his guest tonight is Baranski.

Will she still be talking about having to dance on that staircase in "Mame"?

by Anonymousreply 243July 24, 2021 3:46 AM

It's a repeat from last month.

by Anonymousreply 244July 24, 2021 3:57 AM

R219 It's already reopened.

R222 Yes they are, which really goes to show how ridiculous the man is. He could have waited two months and avoided all of this, but no, he had to rush it back and then whines when that results in something entirely predictable.

Of course, this is the same man who wanted to reopen last year, banging on about Phantom in South Korea having some kind of anti-bacterial misting system - completely ignoring the fact they also had a fully functioning track and trace programme in place.

by Anonymousreply 245July 24, 2021 4:20 AM

Lansbury did NOT get Mame because everyone else passed!

by Anonymousreply 246July 24, 2021 9:24 AM

Sheridan Smith will play Mame at some point.

by Anonymousreply 247July 24, 2021 9:25 AM

Is Derek Klena a good performer or am I just blinded by his virile masculine beauty? What say you theater thread?

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by Anonymousreply 248July 24, 2021 10:13 AM

Jeremy Jordan Is unquestionably the king of the 2010s tenors but these other boys are fine for what they are…

by Anonymousreply 249July 24, 2021 11:30 AM

r210 and r240 are wrong and r239 is right, at least basically. Gooch's song is built [italic]entirely[/italic] on the [comedic?] premise that she followed all that advice and got herself in BIG trouble.

[quote] Instead of wand'ring on With my lone remorse I have come back home To complete the course

However, the critical question is: Who had a bigger dick: Beauregard or the guy who knocked up Agnes? ("Would I recommend you, and how!" The sex was good.)

by Anonymousreply 250July 24, 2021 11:34 AM

"Would I recommend you and how!" is sung to Mame about how she advised Gooch, not in reference to the man who knocked Gooch up.

She sings: I traveled to hell in my new veneer And look what I got as a souvenir But still, I'll defend you As guide and instructor Would I recommend you and how! Although I was leery I thrived on your theory That life can be a wow!

by Anonymousreply 251July 24, 2021 11:51 AM

[Quote] "I have sufficient" (What does that mean in context? She is not eating a large meal--and other than that when you would say something like that?)

"You can never have enough hats, gloves and shoes"

by Anonymousreply 252July 24, 2021 12:05 PM

yes but NO r251: It means she loved the sex and it was worth it. It was probably her first. Now she has problem, though. Getting fucked was worth everything, even with the consequences. (Remember, it was written by a gay man.)

by Anonymousreply 253July 24, 2021 12:27 PM

Gooch is our reminder of the real world. Mame is an idealized version of who we want to be. Glamorous, fun, and above the rules. Mame escapes all consequences.

Gooch is who we really are. Mame's approach doesn't work for the rest of us. By the end of the evening, Gooch is all about the consequences. As are we all, really. Wir sind alle Gooch. And that's what makes Mame special.

by Anonymousreply 254July 24, 2021 12:40 PM

In the retooled revival Mame will build an abortion clinic next door to Upson Downs.

by Anonymousreply 255July 24, 2021 12:43 PM

[quote] yes but NO [R251]: It means she loved the sex and it was worth it. It was probably her first. Now she has problem, though. Getting fucked was worth everything, even with the consequences. (Remember, it was written by a gay man.)

I don't think that line is about sex at all. I think that line and the last section of the song is sarcasm, pure and simple, directed at her mentor's teachings, and their unexpected repercussions.

by Anonymousreply 256July 24, 2021 12:45 PM

Ewwwwww! Gooch knows nothing of sarcasm.

She means everything she says. Sincerely. Innocently. She takes stenography lightning fast and she means well. That's most of it with Agnes Gooch. Sarcasm? NEVER. Nothing about her character would work if she was knowing enough to be sarcastic.

by Anonymousreply 257July 24, 2021 12:50 PM

Meanwhile the WSYWAT folks are back, cheering BIPOC walkouts for fall shows. To promote public actions (and thus accompanying unemployment, and potential hobbling of many new BIPOC shows) from under the veil of anonymity is the height of chicken-shit advocacy.

by Anonymousreply 258July 24, 2021 1:02 PM

Since we’re talking Mame, I’d like to post this British production that is set in the theater lobby. Poor Tracie Bennett. What did she do to deserve this?

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by Anonymousreply 259July 24, 2021 1:02 PM

Is Harriet Walter a Gooch?

by Anonymousreply 260July 24, 2021 1:18 PM

Thorpe! Harriet Thorpe!

by Anonymousreply 261July 24, 2021 1:19 PM

[quote] Is Harriet Walter a Gooch?

No, Harriet Walter would be a Mother Burnside.

by Anonymousreply 262July 24, 2021 1:31 PM

Barbara Walters, back in the day, would be a Sally Cato.

by Anonymousreply 263July 24, 2021 1:37 PM

No, Diane Sawyer would have been Sally Cato.

by Anonymousreply 264July 24, 2021 1:39 PM

Governor Kay Ivey would make a great Mother Burnside.

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by Anonymousreply 265July 24, 2021 1:43 PM

[quote]In the retooled revival Mame will build an abortion clinic next door to Upson Downs.

Oh, how GHASTLY!

by Anonymousreply 266July 24, 2021 1:49 PM

[quote] Ewwwwww! Gooch knows nothing of sarcasm.

Respectfully, I disagree. Jane Connell tears into the line "would I recommend you and how" with mockery and coarseness. I'm not sure how to describe it exactly, but I was always struck by how she delivers it. Connell had the upper register to do anything she wanted, so it's a character choice to belt it in the ugly way she does. I think the Gooch of Auntie Mame is much more of an innocent, even after she gets pregnant. The Gooch in the musical seems more knowing after her transformation and return. The way the song starts and ends and its more intricate and internal rhyming even feels like she's been thinking of this conversation she was going to have with Mame about the predicament she's in. That whole intro "With my wings resolutely spread, Mrs. Burnside, and my old inhibitions shed, Mrs. Burnside, I did each little thing you said, Mrs. Burnside..." has a deliberateness and contemplative quality to it. I don't think there is the same innocence to the character. There is an anger to "Gooch's Song," that is very different from her two bewildered lines in the original screenplay, "I lived! I gotta find out what to do now!"

by Anonymousreply 267July 24, 2021 2:02 PM

R266 I guess we now know what's wrong with Muriel Puce...

by Anonymousreply 268July 24, 2021 2:24 PM

I listened to the Covington Evita, and while the meaning of “I have done” is quite clear, why can’t they decide whether or not to pronounce the S in descamisados?

by Anonymousreply 269July 24, 2021 2:25 PM

The answer is obvious, r250.

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by Anonymousreply 270July 24, 2021 2:25 PM

Great take r267. And the character shift is the sign of a smart adaptation. It suits the world of a musical better Not sarcastic. Facetious, maybe? But she’s definitely pissed about the pregnancy but loved the D.

by Anonymousreply 271July 24, 2021 2:26 PM

Excellent r270. Even the horses look jealous of Forrest. Or at least impressed. Who’s that with him?

by Anonymousreply 272July 24, 2021 2:30 PM

You'll notice that Mrs. Forrest Tucker had a hard time walking in that "I Love Lucy" episode.

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by Anonymousreply 273July 24, 2021 2:35 PM

Shame, shame, shame, r272.

by Anonymousreply 274July 24, 2021 2:49 PM

I reread AUNTIE MAME the novel recently and the Gooch is a very different character. She's always horny as hell and gets drunk and tries to get young Patrick out of his pants in the back of a taxi. She's also described as attractive, even without her makeover (no role for Peggy Cass then).. Mame tries to hide Gooch at Patrick's college—where he's dating a local "tart" named Bubbles— when her baby is due. Gooch ends up marrying one of the college teachers (described as "an old-maidish man of 40) and he adopts the baby., named Mane Patrick Dennis Burnside Pugh. Oh, and Mame stats screwing one of Patrick's college buddies. A book crowded with incident bearing little resemblance to the play.

by Anonymousreply 275July 24, 2021 3:41 PM

"Is Derek Klena a good performer or am I just blinded by his virile masculine beauty? What say you theater thread?"

You decide for yourself. He enters at 1:06.

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by Anonymousreply 276July 24, 2021 3:58 PM

Despite the plethora of stars, viewers gasped at the sight of Klena.

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by Anonymousreply 277July 24, 2021 4:00 PM

People, anything can be funny - murder, abortion, rape, incest - if the authors are talented enough to make it land. The book of Mame is notoriously lousy. Maybe that's the issue.

by Anonymousreply 278July 24, 2021 4:03 PM

[quote] [R210] and [R240] are wrong and [R239] is right, at least basically.

Bullshit. You should’ve continued the quote - “would I recommend you? And how! Although I was leery, I thrived on your theory that life can be a wow!” What comes next is the “gonna name him Burnside Gooch” line. Agnes is thrilled at the world Mame opened up for her.

by Anonymousreply 279July 24, 2021 4:13 PM

[quote]R27 Second Stage did a revival of GEMINI in the1990s with Linda Hart

I would prefer Linda Hunt.

by Anonymousreply 280July 24, 2021 4:15 PM

[quote]R44 Kidman wasn't any great shakes vocally. Just adequate really.

She was perfection. But it’s hard to tell what someone’s voice is really like after they’ve put it through a million dollars worth of processing.

(It is funny how the music practically walks up the stairs for her, though.)

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by Anonymousreply 281July 24, 2021 4:26 PM

Linda Hunt - now there’s a Mother Burnside.

by Anonymousreply 282July 24, 2021 4:30 PM

It’s clear it that Jerry Herman intended that Agnes was actually singing about the time she was molested repeatedly by an uncle as a child of ten. She is furious at Mame for having reawakened all that trauma. The original ending was that Agnes would pull out a butcher knife. Ito: “Missy Gooch go off her locker!” The police are called and Agnes is hauled off to a padded cell. THEN the Upsons and Gloria arrive.

I’m shocked more of you aren’t hip to this.

by Anonymousreply 283July 24, 2021 4:46 PM

Pre-Chita...

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by Anonymousreply 284July 24, 2021 4:54 PM

Person to MARY!

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by Anonymousreply 285July 24, 2021 5:13 PM

Speaking of concept albums, The Who's Tommy went from concept album to movie to stage musical.

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by Anonymousreply 286July 24, 2021 5:23 PM

[quote]Oh, and Mame stats screwing one of Patrick's college buddies. A book crowded with incident bearing little resemblance to the play.

Patrick Dennis credited Lawrence and Lee with finding the "heart" in Auntie Mame in their stage adaptation.

by Anonymousreply 287July 24, 2021 5:25 PM

I wonder what it would be like to see the early AIDS plays again that, unlike NORMAL HEART, haven't been revived regularly. AS IS for example, I remember seeing it at Circle Rep and was incredibly moved. I also saw it when my husband was working at the Cleveland Clinic in the 80s. We subscribed to the Cleveland Playhouse production of AS IS and I remember it being very powerful, and surprisingly the acting was notably better than the original. I wonder if the play holds up, or if it was just of its time. There was also a play at the Public PATIENT ZERO but I didn't see it.

by Anonymousreply 288July 24, 2021 5:25 PM

Peggy Cass

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by Anonymousreply 289July 24, 2021 5:27 PM

As I've posted before, r287, the book's Mame Dennis would 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 have an *If He Walked Into My Life* moment.

by Anonymousreply 290July 24, 2021 5:33 PM

[quote]I wonder what it would be like to see the early AIDS plays again that, unlike NORMAL HEART, haven't been revived regularly. AS IS for example,

There are several plays like that which I believe are probably time capsules that may not play as well. That's the sadness of losing off-Broadway in that we don't get to see the more experimental shows as we once did.

I've often wanted to see a production of "Jerker" about two gay guys having phone sex. I've seen the movie version, but it's a bit static and I think it probably plays better as a live production.

by Anonymousreply 291July 24, 2021 5:35 PM

[quote]Patrick Dennis credited Lawrence and Lee with finding the "heart" in Auntie Mame in their stage adaptation.

Patrick Dennis should have credited Lawrence and Lee with finding the "huge increase" in his bank balance.

by Anonymousreply 292July 24, 2021 5:47 PM

To R288's point, it will be interesting to see in the years to come how many, if any, plays we get about COVID and the pandemic.

by Anonymousreply 293July 24, 2021 5:52 PM

I wonder why Mary Martin never was the Mystery Guest on What's My Line?

by Anonymousreply 294July 24, 2021 6:03 PM

I’d be curious to see the gay play Larry Kramer wrote after The Normal Heart. I’m blanking on the title, but I saw it at the Lucille Lortel, and it featured a young John Cameron Mitchell. I remember liking it a lot.

by Anonymousreply 295July 24, 2021 6:05 PM

Beirut was something I always wanted to see and would like to see a production of it.

by Anonymousreply 296July 24, 2021 6:06 PM

[quote]To [R288]'s point, it will be interesting to see in the years to come how many, if any, plays we get about COVID and the pandemic.

The Brits seem to be ahead of the US on that front.

David Tenant and Michael Sheen in "Staged" was an interesting concept about having to quarantine. The Judi Dench episode was hilarious ("Play a queen, play a spy, play a cat")

James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan did a tv movie called "Together" specifically about a couple dealing with Covid. I thought it was a piece of crap. Very heavy-handed. And a little Sharon Horgan goes a very long way.

by Anonymousreply 297July 24, 2021 6:09 PM

[quote]I’d be curious to see the gay play Larry Kramer wrote after The Normal Heart. I’m blanking on the title, but I saw it at the Lucille Lortel, and it featured a young John Cameron Mitchell. I remember liking it a lot.

The Destiny of Me. I think it was a prequel to The Normal Heart.

by Anonymousreply 298July 24, 2021 6:09 PM

[quote]it featured a young John Cameron Mitchell.

I was in it to, but I guess I'm just chopped liver.

by Anonymousreply 299July 24, 2021 6:11 PM

At this point Piper, you're rotten chopped liver.

by Anonymousreply 300July 24, 2021 6:12 PM

You sure were, at the end of Carrie, r299!

by Anonymousreply 301July 24, 2021 6:13 PM

The Destiny of Me was a tough play to sit through but the ending was beautiful. Of course Jonathan Hadary screamed his way through the role.

by Anonymousreply 302July 24, 2021 6:23 PM

I remember at the time, the critics loved AS IS and really tore THE NORMAL HEART to shreds. I didn't understand it, because I thought NORMAL HEART was extraordinary and AS IS was a piece of crap. Luckily, time has proved me right.

by Anonymousreply 303July 24, 2021 6:26 PM

[quote]Of course Jonathan Hadary screamed his way through the role.

Wouldn't you? You were just the toast of the town in the Tyne Daly production of "Gypsy". Then you have to do a "gay" play downtown in that tiny theater half a block from the Hudson River where every ten minutes you can feel the rumble of the Path train going by.

by Anonymousreply 304July 24, 2021 6:28 PM

[quote]I didn't understand it, because I thought NORMAL HEART was extraordinary and AS IS was a piece of crap.

The Normal Heart is an angry piece. If you're not gay or gay adjacent, it's a difficult show to sit through. When it first appeared, I think audiences were expecting more like "Boys in the Band" or "Torch Song Trilogy" where they have some comedy moments before the audience is hit with a sledge hammer. But Normal Heart is two hours of being hit over the head with a no holds barred sledge hammer.

by Anonymousreply 305July 24, 2021 6:31 PM

Wasn’t Mary Martin neck deep in Janet Gaynor’s vadge half the time? It’s amazing she made it to the theatre every night on the dot!

by Anonymousreply 306July 24, 2021 7:00 PM

Mary Martin had a gown for exiting the theatre each night.

by Anonymousreply 307July 24, 2021 7:01 PM

True, r287, but there's a fair amount of sentimentality in the novels, like the chapter in AROUND THE WORLD WITH AM, where she adopts a small battalion of European refugees after WWII.

by Anonymousreply 308July 24, 2021 7:22 PM

Based on Josephine Baker and her Rainbow Tribe

by Anonymousreply 309July 24, 2021 7:28 PM

The Normal Heart is a long, talky, angry play. I preferred As Is which it was basically a love story between two men who broke up but came together when one was diagnosed with this scary new disease and everyone else in his life has deserted him. It’s a beautiful play.

by Anonymousreply 310July 24, 2021 7:56 PM

The Normal Heart was hard to sit through because it felt like just another one of Kramer's angry screeds put on stage. We were dealing with him in life, so no one wanted to deal with him on stage.

Now that Kramer has been canonized and is no longer screaming at people on the street and in print, it is much easier to take.

Also, the casting of Brad Davis made everyone's eyes role. It was seen as a ridiculous nod to Kramer's vanity and made the whole show seem like a vanity production.

As one person said, "When the set makes you cry and the play makes you sleep, there is a problem." The set was covered with statistics on AIDS casualties that was updated constantly through the run. It was indeed moving in a way the play was not.

by Anonymousreply 311July 24, 2021 8:10 PM

R310, if As Is is such a beautiful play why haven’t there been any major revivals of it? And there have for The Normal Heart?

by Anonymousreply 312July 24, 2021 8:33 PM

Casting Brad Davis made no sense since Ned is described as ‘an ugly Jew.’

by Anonymousreply 313July 24, 2021 8:51 PM

[quote] There was also a play at the Public PATIENT ZERO but I didn't see it.

Zero Positive by Harry Kondoleon, who died of AIDS about 7 years after this play was produced.

Also- Kramer's play after The Normal Heart was not The Destiny of Me. That came 7 years later. He wrote a play that was produced at WPA in 1988 called Just Say No that was a satire about politics and gossip and skewered Reagan and Koch. It was horrendously written and deserves to be forgotten.

by Anonymousreply 314July 24, 2021 10:39 PM

Then why remind us r314?

by Anonymousreply 315July 24, 2021 11:01 PM

Umm, because someone asked and I answered, you asshole.

by Anonymousreply 316July 24, 2021 11:38 PM

I don’t think Mary started munching Janet Gaynor’s muff till much later.

by Anonymousreply 317July 25, 2021 12:34 AM

Have the works of Joan Collins’ ex aged well?

I’ve never seen “The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd” or “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off” and for some reason, I have no desire to.

by Anonymousreply 318July 25, 2021 1:46 AM

Was Harvey Fierstein's SAFE SEX as political as NORMAL HEART?

by Anonymousreply 319July 25, 2021 1:47 AM

R319. No, because, as always, he managed to make all three of the one acts (the play’s format) somehow about his own saintliness.

by Anonymousreply 320July 25, 2021 1:51 AM

One of the playlets in Safe Sex was expanded and went on to be an HBO TV movie called Tidy Endings, starring Fierstein and Stockard Channing.

by Anonymousreply 321July 25, 2021 2:23 AM

Happy Ending!

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by Anonymousreply 322July 25, 2021 2:36 AM

Somehow I don't want Liza Minelli giving me a happy ending. Or David Guest either for that matter.

by Anonymousreply 323July 25, 2021 3:41 AM

Fucked again at r322!

by Anonymousreply 324July 25, 2021 4:25 AM

C'mon Larry, it's too damn long!

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by Anonymousreply 325July 25, 2021 4:28 AM

The Newley shows, in theory, could be revived. Doesn't Stop the World have a cast of only four? But you would need a VERSATILE woman and I could see the ethnic humor not going over so well.

by Anonymousreply 326July 25, 2021 4:37 AM

[quote] Have the works of Joan Collins’ ex aged well?

Weren’t Joan and her husband swingers?

by Anonymousreply 327July 25, 2021 4:40 AM

I was hearing the intro and thought, “Oh, this might be pretty!” Then it got into the actual song and… it sounds like something begging to be cut from your standard show.

(And why is that man naked?? [italic]What’s going on?)

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by Anonymousreply 328July 25, 2021 5:01 AM

[quote](And why is that man naked?? What’s going on?)

That man is Anthony Newley. And for the most part, he's naked because he was such as raging narcissist. OF COURSE, everyone would want to see his naked body. Of course!

by Anonymousreply 329July 25, 2021 11:19 AM

The works of Harry Kondoleon were pretty abrasive and shocking at the time. Wonder if he's worth reviving.

by Anonymousreply 330July 25, 2021 11:28 AM

"Shocking at the time" is a pretty good sign that the plays are worth a new look. It was a shocking time.

by Anonymousreply 331July 25, 2021 11:32 AM

Newley's STOP THE WORLD and ROAR/SMELL have dreadful books. Really difficult to sit through. But I'll play the recordings frequently forever.

Wonder if he had any idea that "Feelin' Good" would have such longevity. It's ubiquitous in moves and TV commercials.

by Anonymousreply 332July 25, 2021 11:32 AM

R312, there have been major revivals. (You do not consider Broadway a major revival?)

That was the point of the discussion. Critics writing about the major revivals have been much kinder to the play than those reviewing the original.

Compare the New York Times review of the original production, then look at their review of the Broadway production. In 25 years it changed from a clunky screed to an effective melodrama. The first review notes how Kramer does not give the non-Ned characters their due. The second talks about how the critic felt for every character.

by Anonymousreply 333July 25, 2021 11:35 AM

R313, it made even less sense in the first London production when Ned was played by the extremely handsome John Shea.

by Anonymousreply 334July 25, 2021 1:56 PM

I don't think Larry Kramer was ugly.

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by Anonymousreply 335July 25, 2021 2:01 PM

I was listening to my OVER HERE! Cd yesterday and was thinking of all the actress/singers who could have followed The Andrews Sisters had the run continued. Martha Raye. Margaret Whiting. DL fave Vivian Vance. Betty Garett. Alice Faye. Penny Singleton. It’s a good show and would have worked without the sisters.

by Anonymousreply 336July 25, 2021 2:04 PM

I saw OVER HERE 3 or 4 times in its original Broadway run. It was the very essence of a Broadway musical that was not technically very interesting yet loads of fun. Most comparable mediocre musicals today pale in comparison in the entertainment quotient.

The young ensemble cast in itself was memorable: Ann Reinking, John Travolta, Marilu Henner, Treat Williams....and April Shawhan and John Driver who never quite attained bigger fame, as well as the wonderful Janie Sell, the sole Tony winner.

by Anonymousreply 337July 25, 2021 2:23 PM

Ugly starts on the inside, R335. Deep down, Larry was a miserably unhappy man and he inflicted that misery on everyone he encountered.

If he had been cute in the fashionable way at the time, he would have gotten all the dates with all the men he so DESPERATELY wanted. And, of course, his book FAGGOTS would never have been written. His biggest problem with all those gay men of the era was that they would not let him into their circle.

That quite a trick for a gay man with an Oscar nomination to pull off. But Larry did it.

by Anonymousreply 338July 25, 2021 2:24 PM

What about Larry's spouse? Glutton for punishment?

by Anonymousreply 339July 25, 2021 2:28 PM

Larry had plenty of fine qualities. But his ego was relentless and his behavior was often barely controlled. Some might opine it was often not controlled at all.

If you could manage that, you could get a lot in the bargain.

by Anonymousreply 340July 25, 2021 2:30 PM

Um, R334, how did it make less sense? I agree that John Shea was very good looking, but also was regarded as a strong actor.

Brad Davis was mostly well-known for being beautiful. And unlike Shea, had build a career on playing objects of desire.

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by Anonymousreply 341July 25, 2021 2:40 PM

Larry Kramer knew he wasn’t handsome and when casting himself always wanted to cast the hot guy he wanted to be.

by Anonymousreply 342July 25, 2021 2:58 PM

R341, one of the main plot points is Ned loses the presidency at the GMHC to Bruce Niles, who’s handsome and therefore more presentable as the face of the organization. Ned is a bulldog and not considered physically attractive to others, as Kramer was. John Shea was not only handsome he was downright beautiful looking. Therefore bad casting. And good actor as he was he never conveyed Ned/Kramer’s bulldog attitude-it came off as whiny.

True, R342-not unlike Streisand who made sure her characters were always desired by men like Redford, O’Neal and Sarrazin.

by Anonymousreply 343July 25, 2021 3:01 PM

r333, r312 was asking why As Is hasn't had major revivals (which it hasn't) while The Normal Heart has.

by Anonymousreply 344July 25, 2021 3:11 PM

But didn't Joel Grey play Kramer?

by Anonymousreply 345July 25, 2021 3:15 PM

r336, many would have loved Viv to return to the stage, but I doubt if she wanted to work as hard as she would have in a Broadway musical. She had sufficient.

by Anonymousreply 346July 25, 2021 3:17 PM

Did any of you see Lillian Roth on stage?

by Anonymousreply 347July 25, 2021 3:21 PM

[quote]But didn't Joel Grey play Kramer?

He was a replacement. Plus he was also miscast. Grey always had a boyish quality which is polar opposite of Kramer.

Probably the best choice for Kramer would have been Ron Leibman. Leibman later played Roy Cohn in Angels in America and his portrayal would have aligned with the Kramer role.

by Anonymousreply 348July 25, 2021 3:25 PM

There's something quite simpering about Kramer in the video above. Obviously, he's presenting himself to an audience but it's telling about how he might act to get what he wants.

by Anonymousreply 349July 25, 2021 3:29 PM

Did Pacino turn down The Normal Heart? I doubt Brad Davis was number one on anyone's list.

by Anonymousreply 350July 25, 2021 3:30 PM

Love the idea of Ron Liebman as Ned. Ah, what might have been. I think Richard Dreyfus did the play somewhere. LA?

by Anonymousreply 351July 25, 2021 3:30 PM

Might Ben Platt essay the role?

by Anonymousreply 352July 25, 2021 3:32 PM

I saw Lillian Roth in I Can Get It For You Wholesale (twice). She was quite good, especially in her bitter final number.

Meanwhile, there's contretemps over at All That Chat, with offending posts removed and a poster named Bway1430 telling off the loathsome Ryhog.

Too few posters stand up to him, despite his abrasive manner and stupid opinions. Years ago, when he first started posting, other posters clearly found him obnoxious. Yet somehow that melted away over time.

Mockingbirdgirl is another jackass who apparently has nothing better to do than shove her oar into everything.

by Anonymousreply 353July 25, 2021 3:32 PM

My friend in high school saw her in "Miss Reardon...", r347. I don't remember what he said about her performance. Getting her to sign his program after the performance, he mentioned her photo on the window card not being a recent one. She replied that it was not. I thought that incredibly rude of him.

by Anonymousreply 354July 25, 2021 3:46 PM

R343, how you can claim casting John Shea in London raised this issue more than Brad Davis in NY did....just do not get it. Never will.

by Anonymousreply 355July 25, 2021 3:50 PM

Didn't Martin Sheen also take part in a reading of Normal Heart?

by Anonymousreply 356July 25, 2021 4:14 PM

R339-Larry's husband, David, openly tricked with every eligible man who said yes. Larry also told people David disappointed him because he quite frankly told Larry he was never the love of his life. But David was a slut and Larry had no choice but to accept it.

by Anonymousreply 357July 25, 2021 4:47 PM

Ryan Murphy announced he would be directing both The Normal Heart and The Destiny Of Me in repertory on Broadway this season. I hope it never happens because a) Ryan Murphy is a terrible director, and b)The Destiny Of Me is a terrible fucking play.

by Anonymousreply 358July 25, 2021 4:50 PM

Your point being, R345? Joel Grey was Brad Davis’ replacement. I saw him play Ned. He was very good and yes, his gnome-like looks fit Ned way better than Brad Davis and John Shea.

Just passed by The Col in Boston. The LED marquee is advertising a production of Fiddler on the Roof for Dec 21-26. Is this a non Equity bus and truck? It’s sadly the only legitimate offering between now and next spring (I don’t count Stomp). I’ll give Kenny G and Leslie Odom Jr’s Christmas tours a pass but might go to Fran Liebowitz In Conversation at the Colonial on Dec 2.

by Anonymousreply 359July 25, 2021 5:06 PM

R355, continue to “not getting it,” then. Narrow minded dolt that you are.

by Anonymousreply 360July 25, 2021 5:08 PM

I can’t believe Joanna Gleason is Jackie Gleason’s daughter.

Why isn’t she fatter?

by Anonymousreply 361July 25, 2021 5:19 PM

She's Jackie Greason's daughter, r361. But there was already a Joanna Greason in the union so she changed the r to an l.

by Anonymousreply 362July 25, 2021 5:32 PM

Not sure if this was supposed to be funny, but actually Joanna Gleason is Monty Hall's daughter.

(But now I realize that sounds like a joke.)

by Anonymousreply 363July 25, 2021 5:35 PM

Posted on ATC. Poor Pamela Myers...

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by Anonymousreply 364July 25, 2021 5:36 PM
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by Anonymousreply 365July 25, 2021 5:52 PM

[quote]I can’t believe Joanna Gleason is Jackie Gleason’s daughter. Why isn’t she fatter?

Because she's Monty Hall's daughter. Jason Patric is Jackie Gleason's grandson. Why isn't he fatter?

by Anonymousreply 366July 25, 2021 5:56 PM

Gleason was the name of Joanna Gleason’s first husband. She kept the name after she dumped the husband.

Her son, singer Aaron David Gleason, is quite attractive.

by Anonymousreply 367July 25, 2021 6:35 PM

[quote]R367 Gleason was the name of Joanna Gleason’s first husband.

She was MARRIED to Jackie Gleason (??)

by Anonymousreply 368July 25, 2021 6:43 PM

It was annulled, r368.

by Anonymousreply 369July 25, 2021 6:46 PM

No mention of DL fave Raul Esparza essaying the role of Ned Kramer?

by Anonymousreply 370July 25, 2021 7:06 PM

How many members of the COMPANY OBC are still (being) alive? They better hurry on opening that revival ...

by Anonymousreply 371July 25, 2021 7:42 PM

Barbara Barrie, Cathy Corkill (?), John Cunningham, Carol Gelfand (?), Charles Kimbrough, Merle Louise, Donna McKechnie, Teri Ralston, Marilyn Saunders (?) and Dona D. Vaughn (?).

by Anonymousreply 372July 25, 2021 7:52 PM

[quote] Did Pacino turn down The Normal Heart? I doubt Brad Davis was number one on anyone's list.

Pacino seriously considered playing Ned and was dissuaded by his reps who thought it would be bad for him to play another gay role, especially with the shape his career was in at that point. It took Pacino 10 years to climb out of his slump, which went from early 1980 with Cruising and did not end until the end of 1989 with Sea of Love. Pacino wanted to do the role and drove the production crazy with his wavering before finally passing.

Brad Davis was the only name (at that time) who would do the role, and Papp and Kramer knew they needed a name. Some on the production didn't want Davis, but they knew they had to take him. It wasn't because he wasn't a good actor, rather I believe for the reasons speculated on above- his physicality.

Grey saw the play in previews and went crazy for it and told Papp, if there's any way I can play this in the future, I'm in. So when Davis left, they went to him.

by Anonymousreply 373July 25, 2021 7:56 PM

Ron Liebman really would have made the perfect Ned. I also think Robert Walden, another homely looking actor, would have been a good choice but I don’t think he did much theater.

by Anonymousreply 374July 25, 2021 9:11 PM

If anyone from Broadway Briefing is reading this, please stop with the asinine cutesy fucking blog posts at the beginning of every email. I don’t give a shit what event you took selfies at or how much you want to suck Disney’s cock. Is this a newsletter for professionals or a goddamn Tumblr account?

by Anonymousreply 375July 25, 2021 9:58 PM

One Broadway credit, r374. As an understudy. In a most unfortunate show.

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by Anonymousreply 376July 25, 2021 10:02 PM

After Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, Dan Dailey, etc.. etc, etc. all turned them down they actually considered Jackie Gleason for Harold Hill before they started auditioning the B List and found Robert Preston

by Anonymousreply 377July 25, 2021 10:14 PM

R372, you forgot Pam Myers

by Anonymousreply 378July 25, 2021 11:19 PM

Robert Walden was kinda cute on "Lou Grant".

Ryhog, Singapore/Fling and Mockingbirdgirl are among the biggest jerks over at ATC.

"Roar of the Greasepaint" especially has a fabulous score, and "Stop The World" has some great songs in its score. I saw a rather bad tv version of the latter some years ago with a not very effective Peter Scolari and Stephanie Zimbalist.

by Anonymousreply 379July 25, 2021 11:28 PM

To tie in with another infamous thread Robert Walden starred opposite DL fave Marilu Henner in the Burt Reynolds dinner theatre production of They’re Playing Our Song.

by Anonymousreply 380July 25, 2021 11:32 PM

I never miss a Joan Collins musical. Or an Anthony Newley nudist musical.

by Anonymousreply 381July 25, 2021 11:32 PM

"STOP THE WORLD and ROAR/SMELL have dreadful books."

Another statement of remarkable nonsense.

STOP THE WORLD and GREASEPAINT are two of the most innovative and original musicals ever to grace the stage, with remarkable scores to boot. Conception through execution are brilliantly accomplished and make better use of theatrical metaphorical than just about anything on Broadway in the last twenty-five years.

by Anonymousreply 382July 25, 2021 11:34 PM

Stop The World with Sammy and Marion.

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by Anonymousreply 383July 25, 2021 11:37 PM

My favorite nudie musical is Bruce Kimmel's with the chorus line of dancing dildos.

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by Anonymousreply 384July 25, 2021 11:45 PM

I think Anthony Newley had a very cute ass. I wish he had offered full-frontal nudity! He was a really cute guy in his own way, and he had a really wonderful voice (with a singular kind of technique and presence). But also a cute ass!

by Anonymousreply 385July 25, 2021 11:53 PM

Newley had no kind of vocal technique whatsoever.

by Anonymousreply 386July 26, 2021 12:10 AM

Well, it was a weird vocal production, but he had a naturally fine voice. The lack of a real technique is probably what led to a decline in his later years and not being able to hit high notes. More recent case: Betty Buckley had a powerful metallic belt for years, but it seems to have finally blown out most of the rest of her voice judging from those clips of her in the "Hello, Dolly!" tour.

by Anonymousreply 387July 26, 2021 12:15 AM

Newley used to creep me out when I was a kid. He was all over TV and he embarrassed me. The only thing that embarrassed me worse was the bearded guy in the Ernie Flatt Dancers.

by Anonymousreply 388July 26, 2021 12:18 AM

Watching him opposite Sandy Dennis in Sweet November is painful. They’re both trying to out-quirk each other.

by Anonymousreply 389July 26, 2021 12:32 AM

I don't think they had to try -- they were just naturally quirky, but probably on the big screen it was overpowering. On stage, she got Tonys, and he had 2 musical hits.

by Anonymousreply 390July 26, 2021 12:37 AM

He was my favorite, r388! You sure do embarrass easily and for no reason.

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by Anonymousreply 391July 26, 2021 12:38 AM

He was an embarrassingly narcissistic amateur. No appropriate training. Thought he he was too talented to need all that. That's why his voice gave out so early and ruined his career.

by Anonymousreply 392July 26, 2021 12:47 AM

I think he had something of a comeuppance after the failure of "Heironymous Merkin" -- perhaps that humbled him a bit? he was still trying to get a musical "Chaplin" to work in a few out-of-town tryouts, though it never came to Broadway. I think he may have had a modest hit in London with "The Good Old Bad Old Days". Plus he made a lot money from his songs, which are still used in commercials. I don't think Joan Collins spoke too negatively about him; it seems like she really liked him for a while when they were married.

by Anonymousreply 393July 26, 2021 12:51 AM

I'll give Newley points for writing the music for "Feeling Good", but not much else.

by Anonymousreply 394July 26, 2021 12:59 AM

To be fair, between the two shows, there's also "Gonna Build a Mountain," "Once In A Lifetime," "What Kind Of Fool Am I?," "A Wonderful Day Like Today," "The Joker," "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me."

by Anonymousreply 395July 26, 2021 1:04 AM

I saw CHAPLIN in LA r393. It's the only time I've gone to the Dorothy Chandler. All I remember is Newley being Newley and the number at the end of act one came out of nowhere and was big and brassy and overblown. The only thing I liked was your Miss Andrea Marcovicci who was a lovely stage presence.

by Anonymousreply 396July 26, 2021 2:09 AM

R 372 Dona D Vaughn is very much alive. We're good friends. She's the head of the opera program at Manhattan School of Music and married to Ron Raines

by Anonymousreply 397July 26, 2021 2:41 AM

Say what you want about Newley's vocal affectation or lack of training, but vocally he was David Bowie's primary inspiration. Listen to any early (even later) Bowie and you can't un-hear the influence. And given Bowie's decidedly a genius, Newley can't be all bad.

Hell, he co-wrote 'Goldfinger' which still remains a banger. Take a listen to his subversive, underplayed demo of Goldfinger (recorded just before Bassey went in and recorded her version for the ages)

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by Anonymousreply 398July 26, 2021 6:33 AM

Didn't Bassey sing the wrong notes on the single version of "Goldfinger"? How did that happen? She held the ending longer than the soundtrack version, though.

by Anonymousreply 399July 26, 2021 6:49 AM

Julian Ovenden is singing Emile in South Pacific? Has his voice dropped that much?

by Anonymousreply 400July 26, 2021 8:41 AM

Ah! Sweet Mystery of Madeline!

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by Anonymousreply 401July 26, 2021 10:48 AM

Since James Barry was involved with "Goldfinger" it's likely that Newley only contributed to the lyrics (with Bricusse).

by Anonymousreply 402July 26, 2021 11:49 AM

r382, you're the one spewing nonsense. If these shows were so innovative, why haven't there been any major revivals? STOP THE WORLD is beyond twee (the clown make-up!) and ROAR/SMELL is cringeworthy and lasted a very short time on Broadway, despite a great score and the Newley/Ritchard star power.

by Anonymousreply 403July 26, 2021 11:58 AM

I saw a revival of Greasepaint at Goodspeed just a few years ago. It was in their smaller space and I don't think it was ever reviewed. A fascinating attempt to do something different with the show but very wrong-headed....it all had a grey dystopian look, no circus feeling, very Waiting for Godot with a touch of Steam Punk.....probably sounds more interesting than it was.

The chorus roles were all cut and the sole woman in the show sang all their parts as well as the role of The Girl (My First Love Song). The black character was played by....wait for it...a white trans actor. The book is a huge problem, it's very tedious and predictable. But the score is still fabulous and I wish there was a way the show could work just to feature those songs.

by Anonymousreply 404July 26, 2021 12:14 PM

[quote]very wrong-headed....it all had a grey dystopian look, no circus feeling, very Waiting for Godot with a touch of Steam Punk.....probably sounds more interesting than it was.

No. No, I think not.

by Anonymousreply 405July 26, 2021 12:21 PM

Yes. It's called a concert.

by Anonymousreply 406July 26, 2021 12:21 PM

I played in the orchestra for a production of Roar. It was an absolute blast to play. Deceptively difficult musically, and also because the scores were really hard to read. But it has some swinging Phil Lang orchestrations.

by Anonymousreply 407July 26, 2021 1:15 PM

Thank you, r401, at long last!

by Anonymousreply 408July 26, 2021 2:07 PM

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 2018, "Head Over Heels" opened at the Hudson Theatre.

by Anonymousreply 409July 26, 2021 2:28 PM

John Barry.

by Anonymousreply 410July 26, 2021 2:29 PM

"Merry Wives" at the Delacorte Theater cancels third performances after COVID-19 case:

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by Anonymousreply 411July 26, 2021 2:29 PM

Brad Davis was the perfect actor for Ned in "The Normal Heart". His Felix, D.W. Moffat, wasn't. When Joel Grey replaced Davis, a new Felix, Donald F. Berman, was hired and he was so much better than Moffat. Don't know what happened to him, but last I heard, he was teaching improv in L.A. after a serious bout with substance abuse.

by Anonymousreply 412July 26, 2021 3:53 PM

R411-Unless Broadway theater owners and producers mandate proof of vaccination and mandatory mask wearing during performances, this is going to be happening once Bway re-opens but to a much higher degree. And without unvaccinated bozos in flyover states, there won't be enough people to fill Broadway houses.

by Anonymousreply 413July 26, 2021 3:58 PM

Oh boy. Prymate. I can't believe I sat through that piece of shit. The only show that was worse for me was Dance of the Vampires.

by Anonymousreply 414July 26, 2021 4:04 PM

r370 I thought Esparza and Gleason and that company were terrific. The Felix was a little weak but got better later in the run. Kron wasn't a great replacement. Wasn't the original director replaced? l liked the energy and tension of that production much better than the more lauded Mantello revival on Broadway which was slack and bored me, the only time a George c Wolfe show has been that lax in my opinion.

by Anonymousreply 415July 26, 2021 4:07 PM

[quote]R404 the score is still fabulous and I wish there was a way the show could work just to feature those songs.

I’m not averse to a pastiche musical (like CRAZY FOR YOU) that recycles the better songs from all his shows with a new book.

NEWLY NEWLEY, anyone?

by Anonymousreply 416July 26, 2021 5:46 PM

Fuck PRYMATE. I saw Eddie Albert, Nanette Fabray, and Stockard Channing in "No Hard Feelings".

by Anonymousreply 417July 26, 2021 6:06 PM

Andre de Shields was actually very good in PRYMATE, especially considering his role. He made his character seem almost sympathetic and noble, incredibly. James Naughton gave his usual performance, even in flop.

by Anonymousreply 418July 26, 2021 7:09 PM

We need a revival of Blood Brothers. I know people always argue that is doesn't play well in the US because the US doesn't have class systems, but I think it would ring true on an economic level. Megan Hilty could play the mother. Or maybe cast it with an all black cast and see if Willy Russell would change "Marilyn Monroe" to "Billie Holiday" and make a few lyric adjustments.

by Anonymousreply 419July 26, 2021 7:21 PM

Billie Holiday is not the black community's Marilyn Monroe. Dorothy Dandridge is probably the best approximation.

by Anonymousreply 420July 26, 2021 7:25 PM

[quote]Dorothy Dandridge is probably the best approximation.

But her name doesn't fit the scan.

by Anonymousreply 421July 26, 2021 7:26 PM

[Quote] I’m not averse to a pastiche musical (like CRAZY FOR YOU) that recycles the better songs from all his shows with a new book. NEWLY NEWLEY, anyone?

"What Kind of Fool Am I?" is already featured in LUCKY BITCHES. Maybe they could expand it with other Newley numbers?

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by Anonymousreply 422July 26, 2021 7:27 PM

I, for one, cannot feel bad about PRYMATE.

I sat through CHARLOTTE.

by Anonymousreply 423July 26, 2021 7:45 PM

"Prymate" was indeed bad but at least my ticket was free. "King Kong" was a POS that I actually paid money for.

by Anonymousreply 424July 26, 2021 8:14 PM

I'll see your Prymate and raise you a Wrong Mountain.

by Anonymousreply 425July 26, 2021 8:31 PM

ALW whining again, now saying unless he gets government help he'll need to sell his theatres. Well that's the free market Andy, isn't that what you and your Tory pals worship? Maybe if you hadn't loaded yourself up on debt to buy said theatres you wouldn't be in such a position. Besides, you got paid more than £10 million last year in royalties alone - not bad in a year when theatre didn't exist - so stop trying to play the pauper.

by Anonymousreply 426July 26, 2021 8:48 PM

When a show with as good a score as Greasepaint flops, you're looking at a really atrocious book.

by Anonymousreply 427July 26, 2021 8:52 PM

Oooo, I kind of liked WRONG MOUNTAIN. At least, I liked some of it and otherwise appreciated what it tried to do.

But, certainly, it was not perfect. Nor commercial.

by Anonymousreply 428July 26, 2021 9:00 PM

Emilio Sosa Named New Chair of American Theatre Wing. First time I ever saw him was back when he was a contestant on Project Runway.

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by Anonymousreply 429July 26, 2021 9:02 PM

More black representation! MORE! MORE!

by Anonymousreply 430July 26, 2021 9:21 PM

Madeline Kahn was terrible as Amalia in She Loves Me. Sounds like she wasn’t much better as Dolly.

by Anonymousreply 431July 26, 2021 10:04 PM

r415, Baywatch's Billy Warlock played Felix in the Raul Esparza NORMAL HEART. He was adorable, if lacking in some depth, but certainly heart-wrenching as the dying boyfriend.

I don't think Lisa Kron ever get to go on as the doctor....wasn't the run abruptly and and mysteriously canceled after she'd been announced?

Raul was spectacular. Really one of the best performances he's given in NY. He had the anger and abrasiveness the character required and yet was still empathetic.

by Anonymousreply 432July 26, 2021 10:15 PM

She's a soprano, r431. Her voice fit Amalia but her personality didn't. I'd say the opposite was true with her Dolly except after finally hearing it, I think her voice worked just fine with at least that one number.

by Anonymousreply 433July 26, 2021 10:31 PM

If memory serves the run was extended but Joanna Gleason had another commitment and had to leave. The show shutdown for a few weeks while Lisa Kron rehearsed but by the time it reopened momentum was lost and it abruptly closed. Kramer being Kramer blamed Joanna Gleason for the closing and wrote her a very nasty letter.

by Anonymousreply 434July 26, 2021 10:35 PM

"Dance of the Vampires" was actually a fun flop to sit through -- audience members at intermission were looking a bit like the folks in the original film of "Producers" after the "Springtime for Hitler" number, until some of us cracked up, leading to some more spontaneous laughter. Michael Crawford really didn't know what to do with his role. His performance was so bizarre that he never came back to Broadway since.

by Anonymousreply 435July 26, 2021 10:42 PM

the finale

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by Anonymousreply 436July 26, 2021 10:46 PM

[quote]R434 If memory serves the run was extended but Joanna Gleason had another commitment and had to leave.

After her divorce, she should have gone back to her maiden name (Merlin)

by Anonymousreply 437July 27, 2021 12:01 AM

Who are (or were) the worst casting directors on Broadway? I remember hearing some unflattering things about Jay Binder before his retirement. Vinnie Liff was supposedly a mensch. Any dish?

by Anonymousreply 438July 27, 2021 12:04 AM

Wrong Joanna, r437.

by Anonymousreply 439July 27, 2021 12:04 AM

Mark Simon was one of the best, r438. But he is comfortably relocated to LA.

by Anonymousreply 440July 27, 2021 12:11 AM

I read a thing on FB about Jay Binder, and it was several people who had stories. But nothing came of it.

by Anonymousreply 441July 27, 2021 12:32 AM

Joanna Gleason should really be more utilized than she is.

by Anonymousreply 442July 27, 2021 12:51 AM

Why would they need to close down for that long for Lisa Kron and not just put in the understudy or standby in the meantime? It's not like Lisa Kron is such a name.

by Anonymousreply 443July 27, 2021 12:53 AM

R434 Yes. Joanna Gleason had already been committed to Dirty Rotten Scoundrels before taking on Normal Heart, and everyone (Including Larry Kramer) knew it beforehand. But that didn't stop Kramer from blaming and excoriating her in an angry, emotionally abusive letter to her and several others, when she couldn't extend. Anyway, that's my memory of it. I actually loved that production of the play. Raul and Joanna were both great. Billy Warlock was surprisingly good.

by Anonymousreply 444July 27, 2021 12:54 AM

It didn't take reasonableness to have Larry Kramer attack you.

by Anonymousreply 445July 27, 2021 12:56 AM

But in any case Lisa Kron never went on in The Normal Heart.

by Anonymousreply 446July 27, 2021 1:02 AM

Theater performers and artists who deserve a Kennedy Center Honor.

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by Anonymousreply 447July 27, 2021 1:08 AM

Viola Davis? Ummm, no.

by Anonymousreply 448July 27, 2021 1:12 AM

To accept a Kennedy Center honor, you have to agree to show up at the TV awards ceremony to accept it. I'm unaware whether Liza can still do that at this point Other stars have declined for this reason.

by Anonymousreply 449July 27, 2021 1:14 AM

Is Liza really housebound? I realize she may be physically unable to perform but.....?

First time I'm hearing this.

by Anonymousreply 450July 27, 2021 1:16 AM

Does she have another Home Shopping Network appearance left in her? I hope so.

by Anonymousreply 451July 27, 2021 1:18 AM

That production of Normal Heart didn’t have understudies. It had to shutdown to give Kron time to prepare.

by Anonymousreply 452July 27, 2021 1:19 AM

That was short sighted - -

by Anonymousreply 453July 27, 2021 1:22 AM

Liza really deserves a Kennedy Center Honor. She's a national treasure. Couldn't they Skype or Zoom her in from somewhere if she's not up for traveling?

by Anonymousreply 454July 27, 2021 1:23 AM

What major production at a large scale off-Broadway theater such as The Public doesn't have understudies? Is that normal?

by Anonymousreply 455July 27, 2021 2:02 AM

A lot of shows at the Public don’t have understudies. It’s risky but not uncommon. If someone can’t perform they cancel.

by Anonymousreply 456July 27, 2021 2:12 AM

I find it odd that there aren't understudies listed for The Bad Seed.

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by Anonymousreply 457July 27, 2021 2:23 AM

Usually, you do not have understudies till after the show officially opens. But the shows in the park delay opening till shortly before the run ends, so they may not have them.

by Anonymousreply 458July 27, 2021 2:25 AM

IBDB usually does list understudies for anything before 1970.

by Anonymousreply 459July 27, 2021 2:42 AM

Joanna Gleason is married to Chris Sarandon. I wonder if she has any good Susie S. stories.

by Anonymousreply 460July 27, 2021 3:10 AM

I wonder is Susan S has any juicy Chris stories.

by Anonymousreply 461July 27, 2021 3:22 AM

The only good Susie S. story is a dead Susie S. story.

by Anonymousreply 462July 27, 2021 4:29 AM

r447

Liza definitely deserves a Kennedy Center Honor. However, Adam Feldman’s list is idiotic. Even worse, he is a talent-free cabaret singer AND a reviewer. Wtf?!

by Anonymousreply 463July 27, 2021 4:33 AM

Liza was just featured the other weekend at Michael Feinstein's show in Los Angeles. Sadly, she doesn't look well at all. Appears in looks and demeanor a good 10 years older than she actually is, poor thing. Knowing how much of a dynamo performer she was for years, this is a bit tragic to see.

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by Anonymousreply 464July 27, 2021 5:26 AM

Joanna Gleason had too much face work. She's wise to wear those attention grabbing spectacles.

by Anonymousreply 465July 27, 2021 8:37 AM

Agree, r465. She's in her 70s and wants to appear 40. Too bad, because she's incredibly talented.

by Anonymousreply 466July 27, 2021 12:16 PM

Wow. Liza without her false eyelashes.

Never saw that before.

by Anonymousreply 467July 27, 2021 12:18 PM

Liza is more and more morphing into her mother's later years.

by Anonymousreply 468July 27, 2021 12:18 PM

R468 Her mother had no later years, what are you talking about?

by Anonymousreply 469July 27, 2021 12:38 PM

Well... Judy did manage to look 77 when she was still 47.

And Liza is now catching up.

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by Anonymousreply 470July 27, 2021 12:42 PM

I just wish she wouldn't try to sing anymore. There's nothing left and it's sad.

by Anonymousreply 471July 27, 2021 12:47 PM

This performance alone should be enough for a Kennedy Center Honor.

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by Anonymousreply 472July 27, 2021 1:34 PM

David Gest liked it.

And he put a ring on it.

by Anonymousreply 473July 27, 2021 1:43 PM

^ a cock ring?

by Anonymousreply 474July 27, 2021 1:48 PM

r464 does she look suddenly older or is it just as r467 says we've [italic]never[/italic] seen her with so little makeup? My mom ages 10 years on the days she doesn't wear makeup too.

by Anonymousreply 475July 27, 2021 2:10 PM

You just know that Liza’s clitoris is at least twice as large as Gest’s cock

by Anonymousreply 476July 27, 2021 2:27 PM

Does Liza still like Lisa?

by Anonymousreply 477July 27, 2021 2:47 PM

Catching up with the miniseries Halston. Damn, Krysta Rodriguez made a great Liza.

by Anonymousreply 478July 27, 2021 4:29 PM

The Kennedy Center waited too long. The fact that Liza isn't well enough to travel to D.C. and take part in the ceremonies is surely the reason she hasn't been one of the recent nominees.

by Anonymousreply 479July 27, 2021 4:53 PM

That's really such a stupid rule they have about having to appear in person. Or that the artist has to be alive for their existence and achievements to be honored. It's kind of maddening that so many excellent artists' work lives on, but won't be acknowledged or celebrated by the Kennedy Center awards. Didn't President Kennedy get awards in memoriam and honors after he had died?

by Anonymousreply 480July 27, 2021 5:18 PM

If the Kennedy Center Honors were truly interested in honoring outstanding contribution to the arts in the US, LL Cool J would not have been honored. Hell, Snoop Dog has contributed more.

by Anonymousreply 481July 27, 2021 5:23 PM

"no circus feeling"

There's no circus in GREASEPAINT. More like a gameboard than anything else, since the show deals with class structure, man and master, etc. and the way the elite out-maneuver the downtrodden. Very timely, indeed.

by Anonymousreply 482July 27, 2021 5:24 PM

What kind of fool am I?

by Anonymousreply 483July 27, 2021 5:28 PM

LL Cool J has become an all round entertainer. Even with his Martha Stewart collab, Snoop is not on the same level. The former is now a family entertainer, hence the Kennedy Center recognition.

by Anonymousreply 484July 27, 2021 5:30 PM

R480 and R481... the Kennedy Center Honors is a PUBLICITY event. That's why it exists. That's why the artists have to be there. For the pictures. It's all about good pictures appearing in the media, along with the name "Kennedy Center." That's why they spend the money to do it. Publicity.

by Anonymousreply 485July 27, 2021 5:35 PM

R485 It's also a fund raising event. Between ticket sales to the live show and connected parties plus the broadcast payment from CBS, I would guess it supports a good chunk of their overall yearly budget.

by Anonymousreply 486July 27, 2021 5:53 PM

LL Cool J's Kennedy Center Honor forever cheapened the award (followed closely by Gloria Estefan's). Since they're putting on a show and the honorees just sit and watch, I would think the entertainment would mean more than the recipient's presence in terms of selling tickets, etc. I can't imagine they couldn't get a fantastic lineup of people to pay tribute to Liza and either Skype her in or have Lorna accept for her.

The award restriction that bugs me the most is the Honorary Oscar, which has the same restrictions as the Kennedy Center and the fucking thing isn't even broadcast. That they're giving it to people like Cicely Tyson and Samuel Jackson (the former, who barely did anything notable in film, and the latter who still has plenty of career left) or Spike Lee who then went on to win 1/4 of an Oscar the year after, or the biggest joke- Wes Studi, who made a career of playing Indian #1 but who checked a box, but can't honor several actors who already died, or actors who can't be there in person who have had way more notable careers is ridiculous.

by Anonymousreply 487July 27, 2021 6:15 PM

[quote]the Kennedy Center Honors is a PUBLICITY event. That's why it exists.

La publicité!

by Anonymousreply 488July 27, 2021 6:17 PM

[quote] Catching up with the miniseries Halston. Damn, Krysta Rodriguez made a great Liza.

Agreed. Tough to play someone as famous and idiosyncratic as Liza, and she did a great job without going caricature. There are some other great NYC actors in cameo roles. Broadway was well represented in HALSTON

by Anonymousreply 489July 27, 2021 6:19 PM

How many years has Krysta been in remission?

by Anonymousreply 490July 27, 2021 6:20 PM

I think at least 6. She had cancer before I was diagnosed and I'm on year 5.

by Anonymousreply 491July 27, 2021 6:22 PM

Congrats, r491.

by Anonymousreply 492July 27, 2021 6:23 PM

R471: At least she still has more of her voice left than Julie Andrews.

I think she has accepted that her dancing days are over so she has adapted her act based on what she is physically capable of doing now. I expected it to be a lot worse.

by Anonymousreply 493July 27, 2021 7:14 PM

Okay DL: not that it's a popular topic, but who are the legendary lesbians of the Great White Way? We know Mary Martin, Kaye Ballard, Polly Bergen, Holland Taylor, Cherry Jones, Patricia Morison are family. Who else?

by Anonymousreply 494July 27, 2021 7:35 PM

It's pronounced THESPIAN.

by Anonymousreply 495July 27, 2021 7:39 PM

Eva Le Gallienne!

by Anonymousreply 496July 27, 2021 7:39 PM

[quote]Brad Davis was the perfect actor for Ned in "The Normal Heart". His Felix, D.W. Moffat, wasn't. When Joel Grey replaced Davis, a new Felix, Donald F. Berman, was hired and he was so much better than Moffat.

This is the first time I've ever heard those opinions expressed by anyone -- and probably the worst. Just out of curiosity, why do you think D.W. Moffat was wrong for the role of Felix?

by Anonymousreply 497July 27, 2021 7:41 PM

[Quote] who are the legendary lesbians of the Great White Way?

Cheryl Crawford.

by Anonymousreply 498July 27, 2021 7:42 PM

Was Stritch ever confirmed lesbian?

by Anonymousreply 499July 27, 2021 7:43 PM

[Quote] who are the legendary lesbians of the Great White Way?

June Havoc

by Anonymousreply 500July 27, 2021 7:44 PM

Is DL fave Karen Morrow family?

by Anonymousreply 501July 27, 2021 7:45 PM

If you really want to find Broadway lesbians, go to the business offices. Producers. General managers. Company managers.

by Anonymousreply 502July 27, 2021 7:48 PM

And stage managers. I don't think I've ever been in a show that didn't have a lesbian stage manager.

by Anonymousreply 503July 27, 2021 7:49 PM

[quote]I think [Liza] has accepted that her dancing days are over

Ya think?

by Anonymousreply 504July 27, 2021 7:51 PM

I could've sworn I read Marilyn Maye had a female partner a few years ago but can't find any trace of that now?

by Anonymousreply 505July 27, 2021 8:10 PM

Betty Lee Hunt and Maria Pucci. One of the great lesbian love stories of Broadway.

by Anonymousreply 506July 27, 2021 8:14 PM

Maye does.

by Anonymousreply 507July 27, 2021 8:16 PM

Thanks for confirming R507 -- I believe it used to be on her Wiki page. But it seems to have been scrubbed from the internet. Happy for her but unfortunate that someone seems to have erased that fact.

by Anonymousreply 508July 27, 2021 8:21 PM

Bruce Vilanch confirmed that Margaret Hamilton was a latter day "lesbitarian" when he worked with her.

by Anonymousreply 509July 27, 2021 8:36 PM

[quote]R487 The award restriction that bugs me the most is the Honorary Oscar, which has the same restrictions as the Kennedy Center and the fucking thing isn't even broadcast.

When will Shelley Hack get one? The whole thing is rigged, and unfair.

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by Anonymousreply 510July 27, 2021 9:36 PM

Karen Olivo would eat some pussy if it would get her publicity.

by Anonymousreply 511July 27, 2021 9:40 PM

[quote] Karen Olivo would eat some pussy if it would get her publicity.

After going to school with Karen, I can tell you she’d eat pussy even without the publicity.

by Anonymousreply 512July 27, 2021 11:00 PM

When we talk about gay plays, nobody mentions “Norman, Is That You?” It’s a coming out comedy. It bombed on Broadway with only 12 performances. Lou Jacobi and Mo Stapleton played the parents. It played in Feb 1970, only seven months after Stonewall.

Funny though, it was made into a movie with Redd Foxx and Pearl Bailey playing the parents. Is this the only Broadway bomb that was made into a movie? And why was the race of the family changed from white to black? The boyfriend stays white.

It’s a movie of its time. The son’s boyfriend is played as stereotypical limp wrist gay. It features about 10 minutes of Waylon Flowers and Madam. And we can’t have gays living happily ever after so the ending does somersaults to ensure that.

Still, it’s an interesting piece of gay theater history.

by Anonymousreply 513July 28, 2021 12:39 AM

I want a film of Moose Murders starring Toni Collette.

by Anonymousreply 514July 28, 2021 12:48 AM

Norman...

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by Anonymousreply 515July 28, 2021 12:59 AM

Back in the 70s, I saw a dinner theater production of "Norman, Is That You?" I loved it. I knew then that it wasn't a great play. But it was funny. Very funny. The jokes land and there are lots of them. The writing is good from that perspective. Stereotypes abound.

But for me the joy was seeing a gay comedy. Maybe the first one. The straight people had... all of the rest of the comedies. And then there was "Norman, Is That You?" It was silly, but I loved having it in the world. I loved seeing actors playing gay characters on stage, instead of butching it up to pass for straight. It was a great experience, at that time, delivered by a very slight play.

The movie is a very free adaptation. The play is still in there, but it is much tighter than the film. Garson Hobart is just mentioned in passing in the play, but he appears in the movie in a sizeable role.

Not a great play, but for its time... kind of ground breaking.

"Christ, will I be happy when the Shriners come back to town."

by Anonymousreply 516July 28, 2021 1:09 AM

[quote] Garson Hobart is just mentioned in passing in the play,

Garson was in the Broadway version.

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by Anonymousreply 517July 28, 2021 1:17 AM

Staircase, another gay-themed play that bombed on Broadway, was also adapted into a movie, R513. And three more (not all gay themed) from the '67-'68 season: The Only Game in Town, The Seven Descents of Myrtle (as Last of the Mobile Hot Shots) and Avanti!

by Anonymousreply 518July 28, 2021 1:24 AM

Thank you, R517. I have misremembered about the name.

Nevertheless, the Waylon Flowers character does not appear in the play. Just the parents, their son, his boyfriend, and the prostitute the father hires to turn the son straight. The film has a number of small roles that were also added, but most are related to 'opening up' the script.

by Anonymousreply 519July 28, 2021 1:28 AM

Add brilliant Tony Award-winning costume designers Irene Sharaff and Florence Klotz to the lesbian list. And Flossie's partner Ruth Mitchell who was Hal Prince's right hand girl.

There have also been plenty of whispers about Theoni Aldredge, Ann Roth and Jane Greenwood, married though they were.

by Anonymousreply 520July 28, 2021 2:01 AM

[quote] Was Stritch ever confirmed lesbian?

I don’t think she was a lesbian just Catholic sexually repressed. She did marry the Bays English muffin man and she also had an affair with Ben Gazzara.

by Anonymousreply 521July 28, 2021 3:00 AM

Last of the Mobile Hot Shots

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by Anonymousreply 522July 28, 2021 3:11 AM

Maude Adams

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by Anonymousreply 523July 28, 2021 3:43 AM

R513: The show played five years at the Ebony Showcase Theater in Los Angeles, CA with Nick Stewart as the father. The movie copied its staging while using some simultaneously futuristic-yet-outdated tape-to-film process.

As usual, Redd Foxx was considered the bigger name because of his TV show and stand-up career so he got the movie version. It still flopped, but [italic]Sanford and Son[/italic] had done an episode three years earlier called "Lamont, Is That You?"

by Anonymousreply 524July 28, 2021 3:48 AM

Nick Stewart talks about the show:

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by Anonymousreply 525July 28, 2021 3:49 AM

There is no reason Liza couldn’t get on a plane, sit in a box at the Kennedy Center and beam appreciatively. She seems to leave the house to sing impromptu gigs with Feinstein…

by Anonymousreply 526July 28, 2021 6:26 AM

At least she can still do that and get home safely. Thank God they founded the Betty Ford Clinic in time to save her, even if she never came out of it quite the same.

by Anonymousreply 527July 28, 2021 6:27 AM

R526 You're suggesting she has a choice when it comes to the Feinstein gigs.

by Anonymousreply 528July 28, 2021 7:12 AM

Lynn Fontanne (lavender marriage with Alfred Lunt), Judith Anderson (yes I know she married twice but said the marriages weren't satisfying and I mean really, have you ever seen Judith Anderson?), Katharine Cornell, that bitch Jean Dalrymple, Peggy Clark. Does anybody remember Does anyone remember Jean Dalrymple or Peggy Clark?

by Anonymousreply 529July 28, 2021 8:29 AM

^ And I meant to add I've always wondered about Ruth Gordon. I know she had a very happy show biz marriage to Garson Kanin but that doesn't really mean much, does it? Look at the Lunts.

by Anonymousreply 530July 28, 2021 8:36 AM

Gordon also had an affair with Jed Harris and had a baby from it. I've never heard anything about Ruth before. However, Stritch was definitely a big ole dyke.

by Anonymousreply 531July 28, 2021 11:28 AM

Marin Seldes? Also married to Kanin.

by Anonymousreply 532July 28, 2021 11:57 AM

Marian ^^^^

by Anonymousreply 533July 28, 2021 11:57 AM

Peggy Clark, Jean Rosenthal, Tharon Musser.....Broadway was once lit up by lesbian lighting designers.

by Anonymousreply 534July 28, 2021 11:58 AM

There was a thread on one of those Broadway Remembered type FB pages I follow about Garson Kanin being gay, despite his long relationships with Ruth Gordon and Marian Seldes and the fact that he once wore a green velvet suit (!). But, if there's no evidence of any sexual or romantic relationships with a man, what does it matter?

by Anonymousreply 535July 28, 2021 12:00 PM

TRANS!

by Anonymousreply 536July 28, 2021 4:34 PM

Oh fuck off, r529, I could do glam!

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by Anonymousreply 537July 28, 2021 4:54 PM

I love that about Ruth, r531. Can you imagine having an out of wedlock baby in 1929 and making it business as usual?

by Anonymousreply 538July 28, 2021 4:58 PM

Gee, what about WSS?

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by Anonymousreply 539July 28, 2021 9:47 PM

A father writes to a critic who panned his son’s play. The critic responds:

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by Anonymousreply 540July 28, 2021 10:17 PM

Maude Adams

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by Anonymousreply 541July 29, 2021 12:51 AM

Jane Seymour

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by Anonymousreply 542July 29, 2021 1:02 AM

Lynn Redgrave looks fun in that clip at R522. A script by Gore Vidal based on a flop play by Tennessee Williams! Is the movie any good?

by Anonymousreply 543July 29, 2021 9:50 AM

How about James Lapine's stupid comment in the Hollywood Reporter that when they hired Bernadette for Sunday in the Park, "She was very young. I don’t think she, at the end of the day, had done very many musicals."

By the time Sunday came around, her Broadway credits had already included George M!, La Strada, On the Town, Mack & Mabel, plus The Most Happy Fella and a national tour of Gypsy as a young girl, and getting written out of the road closer, A Mother's Kisses. And Dames at Sea, Curly McDimple and The Penny Friend Off Broadway, plus TV movies of Once Upon a Mattress and George M!, the film of Annie, and however you would classify Pennies from Heaven. Sure James, she was practically a novice.

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by Anonymousreply 544July 29, 2021 12:29 PM

Lapine really sounds like an asshole. OH THAT WAS MY IDEA! THAT WAS MY IDEA, TOO! I saw the original production twice and both times numerous audience members decided not to return for the second act. Lots of empty seats. It was a bore.

by Anonymousreply 545July 29, 2021 1:24 PM

Lapine is always stoned. (Audiences at his [italic]Annie[/italic] wished they were.)

by Anonymousreply 546July 29, 2021 1:34 PM

Ah, Annie. More and more, the 1977 original feels like lightning in a bottle. No other incarnation of it has ever been as good. It's hard to convey just how brilliantly it worked then. I even remember the scenic transitions. I think what has been lost over the years since then is that it wasn't initially viewed as a kid's musical. It was a musical that had kids in it. There was nothing pandering about it. Its reputation has been besmirched by all of the bad productions since then, including the movie versions which are all unsatisfying in different ways.

by Anonymousreply 547July 29, 2021 1:51 PM

Couldn't agree with you more, r547.

by Anonymousreply 548July 29, 2021 2:27 PM

I saw the OBC of Annie and there’s a tiny moment that I’ve never forgotten. When Annie finds out that her ‘real parents’ live in New Jersey, McArdle looked out at the audience and said ‘Wow. New Jersey.’ It got the biggest laugh of the night probably because the majority of the audience was from NJ.

by Anonymousreply 549July 29, 2021 2:32 PM

There used to be a joke that was probably left over from the Goodspeed run. I don't know if it has stayed in the licensed version. But the lead-in dialogue for "N.Y.C." was Warbucks saying something like, "Everything else is Bridgeport."

by Anonymousreply 550July 29, 2021 2:56 PM

James Lapine never had any talent for anything, just a knack for bitching and kvetching and treating people like shit. In the present, I wouldn't believe anything that comes out of his mouth, including his pearls.

by Anonymousreply 551July 29, 2021 3:19 PM

[quote] McArdle looked out at the audience and said ‘Wow. New Jersey.’ It got the biggest laugh of the night probably because the majority of the audience was from NJ.

No r549 it probably got the laugh from people from NYC. Love to laugh at NJ. Especially that earlier crowd that was there during McArdle's time.

by Anonymousreply 552July 29, 2021 4:35 PM

[quote]How about James Lapine's stupid comment in the Hollywood Reporter that when they hired Bernadette for Sunday in the Park, "She was very young. I don’t think she, at the end of the day, had done very many musicals."

Incredible.

[quote]Lapine really sounds like an asshole.

To put it mildly.

Here's my new version of an old joke: A woman is walking near the theater district in NYC and sees a 12-story apartment building engulfed in flames. One man is standing on the roof of the building, with no way to escape. The fire department hasn't yet arrived, and the flames are about to reach the poor man on the roof, so out of sheer desperation, he jumps off the building, even though there is nothing to cushion his fall. But just as he jumps, a big truck with an open back filled with mattresses pulls up right in front of the building, and the man falls into the mattresses and is completely unharmed. The woman rushes over to him and exclaims, "Oh my god, I saw what happened! You must be the luckiest man alive!" And the man replies, "No, that's James Lapine."

by Anonymousreply 553July 29, 2021 4:47 PM

[quote]Couldn't agree with you more, [R547].

Me too.

by Anonymousreply 554July 29, 2021 4:49 PM

The original had Mike Nichols.

by Anonymousreply 555July 29, 2021 5:05 PM

[quote] The original had Mike Nichols.

Since Charnin could never quite duplicate the success of the original production, Nichols HAD to have directed it. No?

by Anonymousreply 556July 29, 2021 5:37 PM

Rumor is the Broadway announcement for the Fall is coming soon: Fully vaccinated (or recently tested) audiences in masks.

by Anonymousreply 557July 29, 2021 6:14 PM

[quote]Since Charnin could never quite duplicate the success of the original production, Nichols HAD to have directed it. No?

I'm just now reading Mark Harris's excellent new(ish) biography of Nichols, and after reading the section about ANNIE, I came away with the impression that Nichols basically did direct the original production to the extent of subtly suggesting/making enough changes and improvements to what was already there in order to make a great show out of one that had lots of potential but also some big problems. Nichols didn't take directorial credit, for whatever reason(s), maybe partly because he didn't want to piss off the minimally talented Martin Charnin, who still would have remained involved with the show as its lyricist. Also maybe because I doubt that Nichols did much or any directing as far as blocking, and of course, he didn't stage the musical numbers. But it seems clear that he directed the show in lots of small but very significant ways, and that made all the difference.

by Anonymousreply 558July 29, 2021 7:34 PM

[quote]Actors returning to work after the pandemic have reported being subjected to discriminatory comments over changes to their shape and fitness, with union (UK) Equity revealing it has seen a surge in complaints as performers deal with increased anxiety over costume refittings and fears that job offers are being retracted.

Though this is from the UK I've seen some Broadway actors make similar comments about how people are just going to have to accept actors put on weight over lockdown. Are they really so entitled to think they can just swan back into their own jobs without getting back into shape? Are audiences also meant to tolerate shitty singing because they let their voice go to hell over lockdown too?

by Anonymousreply 559July 29, 2021 8:09 PM

R559 Part of being an actor is keeping your body in shape. These people seem deluded.

by Anonymousreply 560July 29, 2021 8:30 PM

*Little Debbie* the Musical has been retooled.

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by Anonymousreply 561July 29, 2021 8:49 PM

Exactly, r558. Nichols was happy not to receive directing credit, just wanted to make the show a success. But he is listed as a producer, and I remember that in the bio that he ended up with pots of money.

by Anonymousreply 562July 29, 2021 9:21 PM

So did Nichols step in a s a producer after he saw the show at Goodspeed? How did he happen to get involved? I know he was an early fan of Dorothy Loudon....perhaps he suggested her for Hannigan after the Goodspeed run?

by Anonymousreply 563July 29, 2021 10:30 PM

[quote] But it seems clear that he directed the show in lots of small but very significant ways, and that made all the difference.

Yes r558—in ways that almost no director doing musicals can do today.

by Anonymousreply 564July 29, 2021 10:35 PM

I have two other memories of ANNIE, which I saw just after it opened (I had house seats):

1.) While the deadpan delivery of the NJ line did get a lot of laughs, my favorite was the moment when Annie arrives at Dady Warbuck's Mansion and he asks her "What's the first thing you'd like to do?" She pauses, looks around, and with that same deadpan delivery says "The floors..."

2.) I had an aisle seat in the sixth row and was anxiously awaiting too see this very-hyped musical, when an older woman in big fur coat and a huge blonde wig plunked herself into the seat directly in front of me. I was really worried that I would not be ale to see anything with this blonde, teased barrier, but what could I say? When the show started and I finally heard her outrageous but genuine laugh, I realized it was Carol Channing. She absolutely adored the show - laughed and applauded with abandon - and I relaxed and enjoyed the ride with her. Seeing a show with an appreciative audience really helps.

by Anonymousreply 565July 29, 2021 10:54 PM

[quote]Dady Warbuck's

Double "oh, dear."

by Anonymousreply 566July 29, 2021 10:58 PM

[quote]So did Nichols step in a s a producer after he saw the show at Goodspeed? How did he happen to get involved? I know he was an early fan of Dorothy Loudon....perhaps he suggested her for Hannigan after the Goodspeed run?

Yes to both questions.

by Anonymousreply 567July 29, 2021 11:36 PM

No [R549] it probably got the laugh from people from NYC. Love to laugh at NJ.

To be fair, everyone laughs at Jersey. Even Mississippians.

by Anonymousreply 568July 29, 2021 11:54 PM

Parsippany weeps, r568.

by Anonymousreply 569July 30, 2021 12:00 AM

Jersey's contribution to American culture.

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by Anonymousreply 570July 30, 2021 12:17 AM

[quote] She pauses, looks around, and with that same deadpan delivery says "The floors..."

Isn’t it “The windows. Then the floors. That way if I drip…”

by Anonymousreply 571July 30, 2021 12:21 AM

I suspect Channing was beside herself with joy at any show she attended.

by Anonymousreply 572July 30, 2021 2:42 AM

It's much funnier the shorter way, R571.

by Anonymousreply 573July 30, 2021 4:54 AM

R565 basically has it right. It's "The floors. I'll scrub them first. Then I'll get to the windows." An audience laugh usually covers up everything after "the floors."

by Anonymousreply 574July 30, 2021 11:20 AM

Thank God. Do these people know nothing about timing?

by Anonymousreply 575July 30, 2021 11:25 AM

It works really well. "What do you want to do first?" "The floors." is such a great musical comedy joke - total Tom Meehan humor. The rest of the line is one of those things that continues to fuel a rolling laugh in the theatre. The audience is still laughing at "the floors," but Annie keeps going and it is meant to sustain the laughter. Even James Lapine couldn't stop that line from working and he tried to erase every bit of comedy in his production.

by Anonymousreply 576July 30, 2021 11:54 AM

r571, that was Dawson.

by Anonymousreply 577July 30, 2021 12:26 PM

I was disappointed that in Harris' book he sort of dismissed the impact of ANNIE. He framed it as a money grab, but if you look at its ultimate success and significance, it shaped a whole generation of theatre goers and helped revive Broadway and the American Musical right when it needed it. With its life in school groups and further productions, probably no other musical (until the Disney stuff arrived) opened the door to so many to see a musical. You can prattle on all you want about "The Graduate" but ANNIE has had a bigger historic impact.

by Anonymousreply 578July 30, 2021 3:51 PM

R578-"Annie" helped revive Broadway? Sure it did. Just like "Deathtrap" helped bring back stage thrillers.

by Anonymousreply 579July 30, 2021 4:08 PM

I think Nichols was almost totally mum about his involvement with ANNIE. Wouldn't be able to report on its influence on future musicals if it wasn't clear just exactly what his contributions were.

by Anonymousreply 580July 30, 2021 4:09 PM

R579, ANNIE did help to revive Broadway in the short term and would have helped much more in the long term if it hadn't been for the AIDS crisis.

by Anonymousreply 581July 30, 2021 4:10 PM

I absolutely agree with that, R581. Annie did a lot to up the profile of Broadway, especially with out of towners. NYC was an utter craphole at the time and Broadway needed all the help it could get.

by Anonymousreply 582July 30, 2021 4:49 PM

Michael Eisner cited the success of ANNIE as one motive to make the animated film musical of The Little Mermaid. And that changed everything...

by Anonymousreply 583July 30, 2021 5:03 PM

Annie opened in 1977 and Little Mermaid came out in '89, r583.

by Anonymousreply 584July 30, 2021 5:21 PM

I feel like A Chorus Line (two years earlier) and Cats (three years later) both did a lot more for Broadway than Annie did.

Both had longer runs than Annie did and had a clearer impact on marketing.

by Anonymousreply 585July 30, 2021 9:56 PM

[quote]Little Mermaid came out in '89

Ariel is a DYKE?

by Anonymousreply 586July 30, 2021 10:01 PM

Ariel is a confirmed dyke.

by Anonymousreply 587July 30, 2021 10:26 PM

A Chorus Line and the string of 80s British shows were all bigger hits, it's true. Chorus Line was really the show that started to turn Broadway around after the mid '70s doldrums. Cats, Les Miz, Phantom and Saigon got Broadway through the 80s into the 90s, while the AIDS crisis absolutely ravaged homegrown musical theatre. Annie, though, was embraced as a burst of old fashioned professionalism, and was a sensation in its own right. Completely inescapable. Tons of media coverage, television specials, the song (you know the one) that every young girl was singing. Chorus Line was state of the art and changed the way shows got made, but Annie was a show that made people feel good about the Broadway musical again at a time when it was most needed.

by Anonymousreply 588July 30, 2021 10:30 PM

I think DLers overestimate Annie's impact because it was the first Broadway show they were introduced to as kids. But as someone older when it premiered, it was a hit---but hardly a game changer.

What can you point to that followed Annie's lead?

The biggest impact is that is showed that Broadway could be marketed to a family audience, which had not really happened much before then.

by Anonymousreply 589July 30, 2021 10:41 PM

If anything, ANNIE can be warmly credited as the last of the Golden Age musicals, even if it opened several years after the genre.

by Anonymousreply 590July 30, 2021 11:04 PM

It wasn't a game changer, r589, that's the point. Its impact was that it showed that a charming, old fashioned book musical, done right, could still be a big hit on Broadway.

by Anonymousreply 591July 30, 2021 11:09 PM

R591, but what were the charming, old fashioned book musicals that were big hits after Annie?

I really cannot think of any other than 42nd Street and La Cage. That is not much of a trend.

Instead we seemed to follow Chorus Line into concept musicals or Cats into spectacles.

by Anonymousreply 592July 30, 2021 11:13 PM

Who said it was a trendsetter, r592?

by Anonymousreply 593July 30, 2021 11:32 PM

R591 and R588 have argued that Annie had a strong impact on Broadway shows that followed.

R591 said it showed that a charming, old fashioned book musical could be a big hit. But yet subsequent events seemed to show that such as show would RARELY be a hit.

But I am guessing they will say a show can have an impact without having any effect. That is DL logic.

by Anonymousreply 594July 30, 2021 11:52 PM

This thread is nearly wrapped. Am I safe in assuming that the title of the next one will have something to do with "Annie's" impact on Broadway?

by Anonymousreply 595July 30, 2021 11:55 PM

Remember to include the link to the next thread, if you please.

by Anonymousreply 596July 31, 2021 12:06 AM

If the next thread title doesn’t refer to the Broadway Briefing sucking Disney’s cock, what are we even doing here?

by Anonymousreply 597July 31, 2021 12:07 AM

Theatre Gossip #429-Cecile will pick out all your clothes ...

by Anonymousreply 598July 31, 2021 12:08 AM

Whoop-Up!

by Anonymousreply 599July 31, 2021 12:12 AM

Bajour!

by Anonymousreply 600July 31, 2021 12:20 AM

Well, Ariel’s not getting much from Prince Eric.

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by Anonymousreply 601July 31, 2021 1:04 AM
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