THEATRE GOSSIP #454 - Mrs. 'Arris Goes to Paris and Mrs. Doubtfire Goes to London Edition

This thread is not coming up in search on the DL site.

I found this by searching on the google

oh i like this very mid-20th century title topic very much. Dietz and Schwartz may be rolling in their graves, but they did very well before they kissed the world goodbye. Raise your hands if you know what the hell I (and the thread title) refer to.

Oh for fuck's sake. We have another thread and it's been going for over 100 posts. Idiot.

r3, in OP's defense--no, there's a duplicate 453, which that thread's OP originally said people should abandon when the first 453 took off, but then was picked up again when the first 453 hit 600 posts.

On the other hand, OP couldn't bother to link to either of them, so may not deserve defending.

453 #1:

453 #2:

OK, r2, I'll bite. "Before I kiss the world good-bye" is a Dietz/Schwartz song from JENNIE, starring Mary Martin, but was first intended for a Mrs. 'Arris musical.

Extra credit: The song had a lyric Martin refused to sing because she thought it sounded dirty. And yet in the same show she performed a song, "Lonely Nights," about a frustrated harem girl who wasn't getting enough cock. Please explain.

Explanation R6: Mary was a little something of an idiot. You, otoh, pass with flying colors.

I always wish Dietz and Schwartz had abandoned the dreary Jennie and instead finished Mrs. ‘Arris as a musical vehicle for Margaret Rutherford (who, for all I know, probably couldn’t sing at all). Before I Kiss is, after all, the best song in Jennie and it would have been nice to hear it in a less lugubrious context.

Wasn't Lansbury at one time considered for Mrs. 'Arris? Can't even conceive of Rutherford in a musical, however much I love her.

Lansbury did Mrs. 'Arris as a TV movie. Regarding Mary Martin, I think it was a little bit of flexing her muscle, regardless of whether or not it was in her best interest.

According to Dietz's book, which I read years ago, Mary had taken up with some nun during The Sound of Music and had gotten very, not exactly religious, but uptight, and was always looking for aproval from the nun. So, for some reason, she hated the lines, "Before I meet my maker, I'm going to use the salt in my shaker" or something close to that.

But the nun didn't disapprove of, "I yearn for him/I burn for him/but I have to wait my turn for him"? Maybe the nun told her the song was about Jesus.

I tried to ask the nun myself about that, but she won't answer my calls...

Sounds like that would be great if Charles Busch ever does the book for a musical version of "The Nun's Story".

The nun was Sister Gregory Duffy at Rosary College (now Dominican University) in River Forest, a wealthy suburb of Chicago. Sister Greg, as she was known, taught theatre history and was smart and well-liked (I have a friend who studied with her there). She was on the Jeff Committee (Chicago’s equivalent of the Tonys) and was pretty worldly in her way. She wrote Martin to say that convent life had humor and warmth and that should be reflected in SOM. That does not mean that she might not have been a prude around sexual matters. She gave Mary spiritual credibility while allowing MM to engage in visions of the bliss of an all-girl world.

Did Sister Greg ever meet Janet Gaynor?

That I don’t know, but I always wondered if they discussed the church’s views on sapphism.

Wait, they made Mrs. Doubtfire into a musical? I thought it was a play adaptation. Does he/she sing in a British accent when dressed as the housekeeper?

I have to say, I'm kinda impressed that we're mostly waiting our turn with this thread. I guess it helps that the back and forth over the last Oklahoma! revival is resulting in a lot of posts, so it's not like the other #453 will be open for that much longer.

Seems to me that neither of the currently open theater threads is getting much commentary.

Has theatre died, it has seemed to be in death throws for months if not years?

R20, don't forget to blame Moulin Rouge and it's 10 bogus tony awards. An industry that celebrates trash has become trash.

"death THROWS"...?

Did anyone else watch the Broderick/Parkers on CBS This Morning discussing their Broadway comeback with Jane Pauley? The clips of the Plaza Suite look fascinatingly awful like it not takes place in 1964 but was produced and directed in 1964. I guess one could say it's authentic but it looks grotesque. I'm sure it will be a big hit.

R23 I swear they did a similar segment just before Covid, once was enough for promotion of that dog and pony show, especially because the dog and pony are now two years older.

Yeah, they showed clips from the pre-Covid interview, too.

I hope someone remembers to link this thread when the impostor thread 453 is closed.

I’ve got tickets for MLP in “How I Learned to Drive” in April. So excited.

Some of the performers for Miscast were just announced via YouTube.

[quote] I’ve got tickets for MLP in “How I Learned to Drive” in April. So excited.

I'd rather have tickets for mlop in “How I Learned to Drive.”

mlop does tell great stories about some of the celebs she's photographed over the years.

UK Fansies it's time to celebrate!

NEWSIES will finally make its long-awaited London West End debut in 2022!!

And Wayman just booked his hotel and airline tickets.

*

Ugh.

Actually just heard through the grapevine that this London Newsies is not being produced by Disney (only licensed by them) and will be a new production. Disney just never had faith in Newsies because they didn't originate/produce the Paper Mill production and they were so obsessed with betting Aladdin off the ground.

Sorry to break your heart, Wayman.

But. they will cast attractive young men yes?

Who is mlop?

She's a professional photographer, most of theater and music, who's actually very nice, but is prone to writing lots of unintentionally funny things in rather garbled English and malapropisms on ATC (All That Chat).

mostly, that is

and she had access to the Beatles at Carnegie Hall years ago as she will tell you, in detail ....

"How I Learned To Drive" is one of those powerful shows that can have impact the first time you see it, if you see a well done production, but once you've seen it, there's not any need to see it again.

On second viewing, it's just an ooky show about a super creepy family and molestation.

If you're gonna choose a Paula Vogel play about car rides, I say go with The Long Christmas Ride Home. That one is a gem.

Is mlop a Sally or a Phyllis?

Does she pronounce it Em-lop or M'lop?

mlop is more of a shorter Ethel Shutta

and younger... though she's been around

She pronounces it Maryann Lopinto, and she's hoot. Her ATC posts used to be quite the thing on DL once upon a time.

Mlop wear wonderfully tacky Christmas sweaters. All year round.

I’ve never seen Mary-Louise Parker on-stage so that’s why I purchased tickets. As a teen gayling, I was obsessed with Fried Green Tomatoes and her humane performance as Ruth. So this is a dream, a long time coming.

My friend saw her in The Sound Inside pre-pandemic and I’m bringing him.

Speaking of MLP, whet became of Craig Lucas, I thought she was his muse and he’d at least always be writing plays for her to be in?

A Margo Channing/Lloyd Richards thing?

I saw Slave Play in LA

Not nearly the horror show I was expecting from what I had read on here.

Not great, but a good roller coaster

Not deep, but picked a few cultural scabs worth picking.

I found that final sequence in Slave Play with the banked mirror incredibly disturbing when I saw it last November. I also didn’t think it was as awful as has been portrayed in these threads.

I’ll never be able to hear that Rihanna song in quite the same way.

R52 The song of hers Chris Brown would play really loud to hide her screams when he was beating her?

Yeah, R53, well, that makes it even more fitting.

[Quote] He used to be with Cynthia Erivo but they broke up

Well, she's out now. Maybe he will be too.

He's an absolute twat for pairing his glistening torso with that Inspirational audio.

Whatever that liquid is, I’ll lap it up

Craig Lucas is doing quite well without the musings of nut job MLP. He has a new play, as well.

He’s insane or drugged out or both, isn’t he?

When will we see The Gilded Age: The Musical?

R58=Neither.

Has Ruthie smoked parts of her voice away or what?

Hi Craig

Charlie Williams is choreographing something with a bunch of Broadway boys in it on tonight's SNL.

I hope it's to this.

R63 GASP> Charlie Williams is my BOYFRIEND.

THE Boyfriend!

The last thread somehow debated the issues with BLB’s career and voice without ever mentioning the word coke …

Patti was out of Company today for the Matinee and evening show. Does anyone know what’s wrong?

She was here talking trash about BLB and lost track of time

r21 Moulin Rouge is a pile of crap which is unfortunate because in the right hands it could have been a great musical.

[Quote] Patti was out of Company today for the Matinee and evening show. Does anyone know what’s wrong?

Sniff sniff?

I've been getting some frequent recommends of videos featuring Ariana DeBose on youtube lately. Was not very familiar with her until WSS but I'm impressed with her as she not only is a triple threat but can pull off real emotion in her portrayals. I wonder how she would do as Jenna in Waitress? There have been many Jenna's that have done a great job singing the role but none that, for me, break your heart with their acting. Ariana has a good voice, can she pull off the powerhouse vocals?

R72 I watched WSS. She underwhelmed me. They all did.

I agree the new WSS was underwhelming, in fact I hated it, but Ariana’s talent is evident.

I loved the new WSS but felt Ariana was somewhat robbed of a few of the great moments Rita got in the original film. Sitting in a church with a prayer shawl over your head does not compare with sitting on a sexy bed putting on your silk stockings.

Alas r73 such drear it is to be you

I saw Ariana in The Prom and wondered what all the fuss was about. I'm expecting to be completely underwhelmed when I finally get around to watching WSS.

Agreed, R70. Though without an original score I'm not sure it would have ever been great.

R75 I loved they utterly threw his script away. That would have driven fuck face cunt Laurents crazy. But I feel they went too far in inventing a completely new story....did anyone really need the Chino backstory? Starting America with Anita hanging our washing?

R77, not as underwhelmed as the young Duane Reade delivery boy will be when your caftan just happens to slip open as he hands you your generic Metamucil

I really liked Craig Lucas' last play that was at Playwrights Horizons in 2018. I Was Most Alive with You.

The last time LuPone was out she tweeted about her toilet. Are we prepared for round two?

[quote] [R77], not as underwhelmed as the young Duane Reade delivery boy will be when your caftan just happens to slip open as he hands you your generic Metamucil

Oh, my sides! Boy, you really got me! Who writes your material? You couldn't have come up with that on your own. It's TOO hilarious!

R77 The Prom is another example of a project that did nothing good with the source material. Everybody was meh, in that as well. Murphy is no great director and in film a lot depends on the director.

Does anyone remember the Craig Lucas play from the late 1990s called THE DYING GAUL with Tony Goldwyn (playing gay), Tim Hopper and Linda Emond? I think I saw it at The Vineyard. It was haunting!

Those photos of SJP and Matty B in Plaza Suite look horrible! And that video of the curtain call.....yikes! Check out www.broadwayworld.com

[quote] Does anyone remember the Craig Lucas play from the late 1990s called THE DYING GAUL with Tony Goldwyn (playing gay), Tim Hopper and Linda Emond? I think I saw it at The Vineyard. It was haunting!

I never got to see the play, but the movie version was quite good. Lucas actually directed it and did a decent job. Peter Sarsgaard was excellent as the lead.

[quote]I loved the new WSS but felt Ariana was somewhat robbed of a few of the great moments Rita got in the original film. Sitting in a church with a prayer shawl over your head does not compare with sitting on a sexy bed putting on your silk stockings.

I agree that was one of the very few terrible decisions in the movie, and a friend who saw the movie tonight with me -- he for the first time -- agreed also. I wonder if that was Kushner's horrendous idea, or Spielberg's.

Wasn’t he a chorus boy in Shenandoah?

And now he’s John Turturro

More on Martin and dirty lyrics. She always said that when she was cast in Leave It to Me! she was such a naif that the double entendres in My Heart Belongs to Daddy all went over her head and people had to clue her in to them. There's also a story that it was Sophie Tucker who told her to sing it with wide-eyed innocence, sometimes looking to heaven, which is what she did.

Milly Cavendish was also shocked by some of the lyrics her character Carline had to sing in [italic] The Black Crook [/italic] but one small sip of absinthe, I hear, got her through it ever night. She seemed quite lusty the night I saw it, and that was early in the run.

Patti has COVID. Out until 3/10.

r91, Mary was a young sprout in LEAVE IT TO ME. By 1963, she should have been a lot more savvy about sex.

A THURBER CARNIVAL!

(And yes, apparently this is where LAUGH-IN got the idea for those dancing/one-liner sequences a few years later.)

Could DL fave Deb Messing be any more adorable?

My goodness, r96, she looks so...um...so...wide-eyed.

Dear god, shut the fuck up Deb.

Debra Messing has that uncanny ability to be both annoying and irritating at the same time.

Will Debra Messing be going on for Patti while she is out with Covid?

Was Larry Hagman born before or after "Leave It to Me"?

Before.

Was Larry born before or after Mary started diving for muff?

I NEVER DIVED FOR MUFF!

I slid.

[Quote] Before.

Well then. Mary knew what was what.

Simard went on for Patti yesterday, and rumor has it will today too. Her LWL:

I'd rather Simard do the number as Bernadette Peters.

That laugh... I hate when musical theatre performers go the laugh whore route.

isn't simard something like 30 years younger than patti?

21 years--Patti is 72; Jennifer is 51. (The official Joanne understudy is even younger--she's 38.) Patti's always been older than the role has usually been played, so the others may be more fitting. (Stritch was 45 in the original production. Walsh was 41 in the 2006 revival.)

Why is Jennifer using Patti's crappy intonations? Is she her standby? That would force her to sound like Patti. Who the fuck wants that?

Understudies would have their own take on LWL.

Oh wow, I had no idea Simard was that old. I thought she was early 40s.

r111, it sounds like Jennifer is an unlisted, emergency cover. There's only one official Joanne understudy, and she was scheduled to cover another role (Susan) yesterday. So Simard was called up to to Joanne, and another understudy made her debut as Sarah.

No wonder Julia McKenzie swore off being the "cover" girl. It must be so demoralizing to follow the order of "do it like the star does."

It's gross when understudies are clearly mimicking the person they cover. So phony.

I don’t know why everyone on my Twitter is in an orgasmic tizzy over Jennifer playing the role like she’s Lainie Kazan playing Funny Girl. She seems capable enough but it’s not the second coming of christ

She's no Gretch.

I just saw on TikTok the poster for Funny Girl and it was horrendous! It looked like they were going for a period feel, which period I have no idea. I’ve seen high school productions with better posters.

The scumbags at LCT have done it again. Subscriber tickets for Skin Of Our Teeth go on sale Monday morning at 10am, yet nowhere in their Reminder Alert emails are prices listed, or found anywhere. The disrespect for their subscribers is unbelievable. This shitshow needs a new team and fast. So now they're hiding ticket prices from subscribers.

Dear Andre, you're an asshole.

[quote] It's gross when understudies are clearly mimicking the person they cover. So phony.

r115 It's also gross when talent-free know-nothings have a (boring) critique ready for someone who was just cited as an "unlisted emergency cover." Simard sounds very very solid for someone filling in under those circumstances. You're a bitter fuck. Sorry you didn't get cast in Little Mary Sunshine in high school and had to settle for doing props. Get over it.

Whoaaaaa R120. I wasn't actually addressing this specific situation. I've seen understudies go on who are clearly aping the person they understudy and there's nothing honest about it. And it's sad that this is what anyone would be directed to do. It's very musical theater.

The SNL Broadway skit. I guess they just let Mulaney do whatever he wants.

R120- Whatsa matter, hon? Didn't win the Plaza Suite lottery again?

Is there a non Facebook link for the Funny Girl poster?

another long exhausting day for you r123?

[quote]I just saw on TikTok the poster for Funny Girl and it was horrendous!

I swear it looks like Beanie is talking on a cellphone.

[quote]The scumbags at LCT have done it again. Subscriber tickets for Skin Of Our Teeth go on sale Monday morning at 10am, yet nowhere in their Reminder Alert emails are prices listed, or found anywhere. The disrespect for their subscribers is unbelievable. This shitshow needs a new team and fast. So now they're hiding ticket prices from subscribers. Dear Andre, you're an asshole.

Sorry you had a problem with this, but in the name of all that is holy, why do you have any interest whatsoever in paying good money to see this production? Sounds to me like it will be a debacle of truly epic proportions, so unless you're a connoisseur of that sort of thing, I can't imagine why you would want to attend.

Simard is listed on ibdb as a Joanne understudy. The other understudy may be 38 but she looks 28. Simard is more appropriate and her name may be more recognizable to theatre people who might not feel cheated missing Patti.

Oh, the theater...where we're supposed to believe that a moo cow like Beanie came out of Jane Lynch's dry old waspy lesbian loins.

If that isn't a cell phone in Beanie Fanny's hand, what is it?

r128, IBDB is updated with new information, and since she has now performed twice (almost three) times, it would make sense Simard is now listed as an understudy. But she's not listed on the version of the Company IBDB page that was last captured by the Internet Archive, nor is she listed in the Playbill. It appears to be a very new development, which is why it was greeted with a great deal of surprise on Twitter and various message boards yesterday when news broke she was playing the part.

Simard's IBDB page captured on February 11, 2022. She's listed only as Sarah.

[Quote] Oh, the theater...where we're supposed to believe that a moo cow like Beanie came out of Jane Lynch's dry old waspy lesbian loins.

I guess you haven't heard of Christie Brinkley...

Sally would have been a fun Phyllis.

I was going to post the same question, r130. I looked again and it's the fur collar on the coat...or wrap...or whatever the hell it is.

It's actually a can of yellow cake frosting, R130.

Beanie is rarely seen without one.

The Beanie Feldstein diet plan. Cak and graxy.

It's guaranteed to get you in shape for any leading role.

Ramin looks tiny next to Beanie. They should have cast The Rock as Nicky Arnstein.

And that damn Minnie Mouse bow!

Adam Driver would make sense as Nicky.

Peter Dinklage

Im in shock that Jennifer Simard is in her fifties. She easily plays ten years or more younger.

You know, the other understudy went on when Patti had the runs that time. I wonder if the producers realized she was really just too young, or otherwise couldn’t pull it off, and JS will be going on from now on.

[quote]Adam Driver would make sense as Nicky.

Or Louie Anderson, if he hadn't died.

Beanie is quite the shlubby meskite. Both the real Fanny Brice—and Barbra—had a lot of personal style.

[Quote] Both the real Fanny Brice—and Barbra—had a lot of personal style.

I hated youuuuu!

Fanny Brice wasn't zaftig -- neither was Barbra. Fanny could look rather stylish when she wasn't playing Baby Snooks. I could see Beanie playing Snooks actually -- but that character isn't in "Funny Girl".

Jenny Slate could play Fanny. She couldn't sing Streisand, of course.

Neither can Beanie, dear.

It’s odd that every role in Company has at least two covers but Joanne only had one. Maybe the intention was always to have Simard cover once she settled into her own role or hire a standby for Patti.

What theater did they film the bad Catskills Broadway show in on a recent episodes of Mrs. Maisel? The outside looked familiar and that lobby was stunning, but the only thing I found says it wasn’t a Broadway house? And while I’m asking, what stood in for the Academy of Music in the Gilded Age, unlike The Age of Innocence they didn’t use the actual Academy in Philly?

Jenny Slate would have been a great Fanny. I would have loved Gilda Radner in the 80s

Remember dolls I have quite the reputation for never missing performances.

[quote]Maybe the intention was always to have Simard cover once she settled into her own role

That's my guess.

Beanie is holding a Twinkie.

I had the same question about the Maisel theatre. To my eye, it looked like the Pantages in LA?

This just came from Second Stage. So who is going to find a way around it to get some pics or vids of the naked actors taking showers?

Thank you for purchasing tickets to Take Me Out.

Out of respect and support for our actors and in order to create a phone free space, Second Stage will be working with Yondr for all performances of Take Me Out. Upon arrival at The Hayes Theater, all phones and smart watches are placed in Yondr cases by our staff and will be unlocked at the end of the show. Guests maintain possession of their device at all times.

Oh FFS, who the hell wants to wait in line to get their phones locked up and unlocked?

If I was actually interested in seeing that bore of a play, I wouldn't be now.

R156, Mrs. Maisel shoots in NY, not LA.

It could have been the King’s Theatre in Brooklyn.

Friend who works on TGA told me the concert scene was shot in either Troy or Newport, she only worked as crew in Queens and Long Island.

There were photos taken of original off-Broadway and videos of Broadway cast of "Take Me Out", as well as a video of one of the casts of "Naked Boys Singing", so I guess the security is trying to come up with something new.

The lobby definitely reminded me of the Kings in Brookliyn

I guess Jesse Williams is self conscious about taking after his white side in some respects...

R159 Yes, you are right, it is the King’s Theater in Brooklyn. The outside looked familiar, but I was most impressed by the extensive paneling in the lobby. Even more so now knowing that the theater lay in near ruins for quite awhile and somehow against all odds it survived and looks glorious. Thank you for teasing that out.

I wonder if some older actresses were wary of returning to work during the pandemic, which might have impacted the list of potential standbys for Joanne.

Broadway lady Ariana DeBose won the SAG award for best supporting actress in a supporting role. Over at the Broadway sub on reddit they don't seem to like Ms. DeBose and claim that "she is notorious on Broadway." They don't say notorious for what so I'm assuming she's a little bitch.

r166 = Lea Michele

r167, I guess you've been over to reddit.

[quote]I wonder if some older actresses were wary of returning to work during the pandemic, which might have impacted the list of potential standbys for Joanne.

What do you mean by "older?" As others have pointed out, Joanne is not supposed to be in her 70s.

[quote] Ariana DeBose won the SAG award for best supporting actress in a supporting role.

As opposed to best supporting actress in a leading role?

We need a revival of KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN with Ariana DeBose!

But who would play the two male leads? They would have to be cast with Latino actors now. Is Raul 'Papi' Esparza too old?

Sad to hear the great Ned Eisenberg has died. A great, underrated actor.

I just read that also, R172. Very good actor. RIP.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 2008, "Passing Strange" opened at the Belasco Theatre.

PS

PS should have beaten In The Heights for Best Musical. That would have changed everything!

Passing Strange was a piece of shit. Time has told. No one misses it.

Yes r170 thank god you picked up on that, you saved the thread.

R166 It's mostly linked to this from an interview:

[quote]“Ialmost didn’t take Hamilton,” admits Ariana DeBose, who originated the megahit musical’s Bullet, a pivotal puzzle piece in the choreographed assassination of the show’s title character.

[quote]She was coming direct from the circus—the one at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre, where she understudied (and briefly replaced for a handful of performances) Pippin’s Leading Player. But the young actor wanted a leading role all to herself.

[quote]“I don’t like being a part-time leading lady,” she says. “I really wanted to know what that felt like to have to do that track eight times a week. I wanted that responsibility. I always felt in my bones that I could handle it, and I’ve always had something to say…which I think is a product of youth. I was—forgive the phrase—young, scrappy and hungry, but every time I was met with a challenge, I would like to think that I rose to it. And, I think that’s why I consistently worked, to be perfectly honest.”

and

[quote]“Ultimately Hamilton was my last, ‘I’m gonna go balls out [in the ensemble]’—forgive the phrase—‘and this will be it. After that, no more.’ I made my partner Jill [Johnson] say, ‘Alright, babe. You’re going to stick to it, so after Hamilton, you’re going to play leads. You have to wait for it; you have to wait for the right one to come your way,’ and I [thought], ‘Alright, I’m going to do it.’ Thankfully, my wait wasn’t that long.”

She made similar comments about not wanting to do ensemble or cover work in a few interviews, and some took that to mean she thought she was too good for it. I don't see it myself, it just sounds like someone determined to move ahead.

She sounds like an insufferable cunt.

Also, that speech sounds like it was written by a publicist.

It is better than saying "I love being in the ensemble, it's more comfortable, less risk." At least she put what she wants it out there.

Numerous performers have talked about setting their sights on leads.

I've worked with DeBose. She's fun to be with and work with.

That positive attitude is what separates the leading ladies from the chorus girls.

[quote]She sounds like an insufferable cunt. Also, that speech sounds like it was written by a publicist.

In other words, her publicist sounds like an insufferable cunt?

That production of The Dying Gaul at the Vineyard was superb. Truly haunting. I'll never forget it.

Have never seen the film.

Most publicists are insufferable cunts, r185. It seems to be a job requirement.

Good, let’s gossip about publicists. [Italic] (Present-day publicists, not Helen Gallagher’s.) [/italic] Who is the most insufferable? Rick M?

I knew Scott Walton back in the day in Seattle before he even went to NYC and into the publicity game. He was a sweetheart then. He got out of it and went to SF.

Getting out and moving to San Francisco is the ultimate loser move.

Rick M is the most unattractive.

Chita!

Liza!

"Mrs. Doubtfire" is reopening on April 14, at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.

[quote] And DL-ers said it wouldn't be back

I think DL-ers actually said it shouldn’t be back

Maybe the West End production got pushed so the schmattas and wigs could still be used for Broadway.

Now that it's in previews what's the word on Plaza Suite?

If you just want one, r197, it’s “shit.”

If you want one R197, it's "hilarious."

I laughed, I cried...

R200 = Matthew Broderick

If Twitter/Instra is to be believed, people are loving it.

Some people love shit if you put a little sugar on it.

Those who shell out big bucks for this are already huge fans of the couple—or at least SJP. So they're predisposed to love it.

[r204] that is such a good point. It’s the same thing with Music Man. People who pay $500-$700 to see Hugh are going to give enthusiastic standing ovations. Vanity projects are hard to measure critical praise

Plaza Suite was not reviewed in Boston.

For those who can’t access the article it says the critics were to come two nights before closing but the performance was canceled because one or both of the stars was taken ill and performance was cancelled. The next night show went on with Parker’s understudy. The next and final day Parker returned but both shows were completely sold out. So no critics.

I hope Sine Like It Hot crashes and burns. I’m fairly sure a lot of its potentisl audience are older and will they really flock to something with such ridiculously woke casting?

Stupid, stupid casting for SLIH. Who's going to pay big bucks to see Christian Borle??????

With mask mandates lifting in NYC, are the regulations the Broadway unions have put in place going to change?

Anybody read/reading Harvey's book yet?

[quote]With mask mandates lifting in NYC, are the regulations the Broadway unions have put in place going to change?

The current theater "rules" are supposed to be in place through April 30th but I wonder if they will rescind them sooner?

The shock of white hair suits Harvey.

NYTimes critic not down with masks down in London theatres. Can't say as I blame her.

Also from London, the Woke Category Awards:

He needs to work on the Stanwyck attitude, r213.

What was Harvey's suicide attempt over?

R211-I'm reading it now. He takes a knife to Arthur Laurents, but the nasty old queen deserves it. Has anybody ever said anything good about Arthur as a person?

Arthur Laurents is dead. Good.

I'm going to guess that at least half of what's in Harvey's book is embellished, to say the least.

It makes me laugh that every new musical seems to be adding a POC to its creative team, no matter what their experience.

Paradise Square added some woman to "augment" Craig Lucas' book, and from what I hear, he's pretty much nowhere to be found aince they announced Broadway.

Cort to be renamed the James Earl Jones.

It just rolls off the tongue.

The JEJ!

I think Jones is wonderfully talented, but I could think of dozens of people who would be more deserving of the honor.

Paradise Square is gonna bomb really bad. The irony is the audiences don’t give a flying fuck about the racial or gender make-up of the creative team. At. All.

Production staff on Paradise Square are starting to freak out because they're not getting paid. One department had to threaten suit to get paid for work they did months ago.

Why isn't there an Ethel Merman Theatre?

Because then there'd have to be a Mary Martin Theatre.

oh, just make it the Merman/Martin Theater, and let's have a Verdon/Fosse one too (with Gwen getting top billing like she did in her shows!)

The M&M!

I'd prefer the Martin/Channing Theater which only hosted revivals of Legends.

[quote]Cort to be renamed the James Earl Jones. It just rolls off the tongue.

A lot easier than the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre does.

Agreed, R232. But that's MTC for you.

You can’t keep a good bitch down-Rebecca is opening in Vienna in September.

[quote]Who's going to pay big bucks to see Christian Borle??????

ITA with R209, but there was that period after PETER & THE STARCATCHER and SMASH on TV when the powers that be were convinced he was a megastar in the making. (Borle also had odd fangurls on DL at that time raving about him and his alleged sex appeal.)

Then SOMETHING ROTTEN, FALSETTOS, and especially CHARLIE & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY spelled it all out. Borle is moderately talented, capable, and funny, but not a star leading man, now or ever.

SOME LIKE IT HOT is already being slow-roasted on Twitter. Broadway simply doesn't need/want one more musical about men in dresses.

With the coup de théâtre, r234?

[quote] SOME LIKE IT HOT is already being slow-roasted on Twitter.

Links are always nice.

Tootsie / Mrs. Doubtfire / Some Like It Hot -- men in dresses isn't that funny anymore nor was Victoria/Victoria when done as a show in the opposite direction, though I forget if they got Tony Roberts in a dress at the end like Robert Preston in the movie (but that wasn't funny either).

The problem with this upcoming Some Like It Hot isn't that it's men in dresses, it's they're trying to appease the Woke Gods by making one of the roles trans. If you're gonna do Some Like It Hot, do Some Like It Hot. Otherwise just do an original story.

Oh, Amber from Seth Meyers' show is one of the writers. At least she's not in it -- she seems like a pushier, much less funny Wanda Sykes. I don't know why Meyers gave her so much screen time.

R240 Is he Singapore Fuckin'/Fling?

Actually, I don't think S/F uses the word "y'all" much in his posts, and he does read as a bit older and actually more literate.

But still quite detestable.

Fuckin' trannies and enbys ruin everything.

Bloggers and self-proclaimed theater critics are, uniformly, losers who were never talented enough to do what they wish they could do.

And here I always thought that those who can't do, teach!

[quote]Tootsie / Mrs. Doubtfire / Some Like It Hot -- men in dresses isn't that funny anymore nor was Victoria/Victoria when done as a show in the opposite direction, though I forget if they got Tony Roberts in a dress at the end like Robert Preston in the movie (but that wasn't funny either).

Tony Roberts previously wore dresses in 1972's "Sugar," the first attempt to musicalize "Some Like It Hot."

R251 It's been a mystery how he got so much work. Only thing he was really reasonably good at was "Victor/Victoria", though there rumors those jokes about Woody Allen's penis envy might have been about Roberts.

Robert Preston in a dress at the end of "Victor/Victoria" wasn't funny in the least, in part because the material sucked, but mainly because he played it like "I'm Robert Preston wearing a dress" rather than the character he had been playing throughout the movie.

Are they making the Joe E. Brown character trans?

Oh God, Chris Peterson is such a pompous asshole. “We didn’t ask for this musical, whine whine whine.” No one cares! Are musicals only supposed to happen when Chris Peterson approves them ahead of time?

And SLIH is a 1959 movie, not 1954.

[quote] men in dresses isn't that funny anymore

Trouble is, nothing is allowed to be funny anymore

R28 I'd cosine on your comment, but that would probably get me on a tangent.

Look at it this way. Once Some Like It Hot crashes and burns, no one will ever put up the money to put on the SMASH musical.

Neil Meron is a freak

Does he have a dungeon too?

Definite pedo vibes

Oh Christ, now people are actually quoting and linking to stuff by the vile, despicable, Idiotic, pretentious shit-stirrer Chris Peterson. Another sign of the apocalypse.

P.S., dear Chris, its's pronounced Marc SHAY-man, not SHY-man.

Peterson is such an idiot, but he finds other idiots to support his idiocy.

I was listening to his podcast (don't ask why). He and the other host were seriously debating options for how to applaud West Side Story's curtain call while showing disapproval for Amar Ramasar. Because it really mattered to them that they register their disapproval while "showing respect" to the rest of the cast.

I thought they were trying to be funny....but no...they were serious.

It thought it was Shaym'n.

Peterson is really unfortunate looking. Does he actually have a following?

R263 and R265, yes apparently he has some sort of following among people who are walking parodies of wokeness.

In that ridiculous video blog posted above, he goes on and on about how shows like "Tootsie," "Mrs. Doubtfire," and presumably "Some Like It Hot" are offensive to trans and non-binary people, when of course those shows have NOTHING TO DO WITH trans or non-binary characters. So the whole thing is a total waste of time for him and anyone who listens to it, myself included.

I can see how Man In a Dress "hilarity" would be offensive to trans people. They shouldn't worry too much. Those shows will have short lives. And Broadway itself is pretty much a dinosaur.

[quote] I swear it looks like Beanie is talking on a cellphone.

Why does she have Sutton Foster’s face?

I thought how you dressed did not determine your gender or sex. Oh wait, I mean, I AM OUTRAGED THIS IS LITERAL VIOLENCE!

As witty as ever, r269.

Readin Harvey Fierstein’s memoir and it’s interesting what’s missing:

1) Does not mention Billy Porter at all despite a huge chapter on Kinky boots (meow)

2) The Birdcage

3. John Travolta or the movie version of Hairspray

4.) Arthur Laurent’s passing and how the relationship ended

In Harvey’s autobiography, does he talk about gay sex in the 1970s? I’ve heard him talk about it in interviews so I was wondering if he added anything else.

Yes, it really matters what people on twitter who have never seen the show write about "some like it hot". The producers and writers and designers and actors should all pay attention to what twitter is saying because it really, really matters. It does. No really, it does. Everyone on Broadway, please listen to twitter.

[quote]I can see how Man In a Dress "hilarity" would be offensive to trans people.

Please explain why. But that might be very difficult or impossible for you to do, since the reasons for men doing drag in "Tootsie," "Mrs. Doubtfire," and "Some Like It Hot" are very, very different, so lumping the shows together is a pretty stupid thing to do in itself.

Well, what about the drag characters in Hairspray and Kinky Boots? Are they approved by the woke crowd?

[quote] Does not mention Billy Porter at all despite a huge chapter on Kinky boots (meow)

In an interview Harvey talked about how much he liked the show when Wayne Brady was in it because Brady understood the character was a straight transvestite

And how are all these bloggers different from the book banners down south?

Why should Harvey have something to say about The Birdcage? He had nothing to do with it.

[r278] well he has one line that says because of the stupidity of the producer of La Cage it cost his millions when they made Birdcage.

So I guess in today’s woke society, there will never be a production of Charley’s Aunt?

Gender swapping and mistaken identity is an old theater plot device.

It seems like the soul criterion anyone has for a show now is whether it is acceptable or cancelable

sole. Damn it

I guess we can never perform Twelfth Night or A Midsummer Night’s Dream any longer as well.

We See You Binary Theater

But We Won't Watch You

[quote]I guess we can never perform Twelfth Night or A Midsummer Night’s Dream any longer as well.

For some reason which I'm sure they wouldn't be able to articulate, I'm guessing that a lot of these woke warriors would have no problem, or far less of a problem, with a woman dressing as a man as in "Twelfth Night" or "As You Like It" than with a man dressing as a woman in "Charley's Aunt" etc. Although, come to think of it, they'd probably insist that the woman actor be a trans.

I would truly love to hear Chris Peterson respond to the Shakespeare heroines who dress as men.

I just heard that the great stage and film designer Tony Walton has died. Among his many stellar credits were the set and costume design for A Funny Thing...., Murder on the Orient Express and the original Mary Poppins film. RIP

[quote] I just heard that the great stage and film designer Tony Walton has died. Among his many stellar credits

Also ex-husband of Julie Andrews.

And he was the father of their daughter Emma.

Allan Carr was just an overbearing queen with money and no business sense. I could never stand to hear his voice.

Any word on how Beanie is doing with the "Funny Girl" score?

I woke up this morning to the sad news of the passing of Tony Walton on Facebook. He was such beautiful man, I met him once in the early days while Julie Andrews was in CAMELOT. and then in at least ten years ago I got to know him seeing him at many events I was at or photographing and the last time he came to see a friend of mine, I don't recall who, at 54 Below just before the pandemic. He would always stop me and we would talk.

He was so very talented. He used to do tons of illustrations for Playbill and when I was given a lot of old ones years ago I enjoyed that. Many Broadway posters have his illustrations on it. He was a fabulous costume designer designing the costumes for the movie MARY POPPINS, and many broadway shows such as A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, GUYS AND DOLLS, to name just two and sets for numerous Broadway productions, GUYS AND DOLLS, GRAND HOTEL, A FUNNY THING all his credits are too numerous. He will be missed by so many. He was 87 years old. RIP.

[quote]I would truly love to hear Chris Peterson respond to the Shakespeare heroines who dress as men.

I would truly love to never hear Chris Peterson respond to anything!!!

Jesus, she is such a poor writer. I can't get past the fourth paragraph the writing is so awkward and convoluted. Are there NO editors anymore?

Why is the song "Rock Island" called that in "The Music Man"? It's not in the lyrics. Does the libretto talk about Rock Island as being one of the stops? Are there seals on the island?

[quote] Why is the song "Rock Island" called that in "The Music Man"? It's not in the lyrics. Does the libretto talk about Rock Island as being one of the stops? Are there seals on the island?

It was the name of the train line.

R297 Thanks!

Bway is BACK, baby!!!

This sounds... interesting.

Was Jeremy full-frontal in "Choir Boy"? Looks cute.

r295 you ain't kidding

[quote] In this “Merchant,” Antonio, the title character, and Bassanio, the best friend to whom he offers his fortune and very nearly his life, are lovers. The women — the heiress Portia, her maid Nerissa and Shylock’s daughter, Jessica — are married in the end, as is typically the rule in Shakespeare’s comedies, but are unhappy and wise to their husbands’ misogyny and other faults.

The women are married in the end to each other? The sentence leads you to think so until it doesn't. "as is typically the rule" is also a great phrase of high school redundancy

Also, I hope that reviewer doesn't think this production is making some profound and new statement in the three unhappy marriages at the end of MERCHANT. Any decent production in the last 400+ years would have made that pretty clear.

I guess there will never be another production of The Mystery of Irma Vep.

Time to do "The Enchanted Pig" and "Gallas" instead. They should do more of Ludlam. And "Bluebeard" has a famous nude scene - who should do it?

Maybe Christopher Meloni? Or maybe someone else we haven't seen naked yet.

Galas was so overrated, but Irma Vep was really good (if overlong). Ludlam's version of Medea was very good.

[quote]SOME LIKE IT HOT is already being slow-roasted on Twitter. Broadway simply doesn't need/want one more musical about men in dresses.

Then perhaps it should star women, playing men, playing women in dresses.

[quote]In an interview Harvey talked about how much he liked the show when Wayne Brady was in it because Brady understood the character was a straight transvestite

I'm embarrassed to say I had no idea.

The character Lola self-identifies as a “drag queen”, distinguishing it from “transvestite”

[quote] Irma Vep was really good (if overlong)

Ludlam nailed the Rebecca parody. I never saw his version, but the productions I have seen, the actors have to keep moving. It’s a face paced show on par with farce.

Charles Ludlam wrote some great stuff which should be done. Is Black-Eyed Susan still with us?

Black-Eyed Susan is very much still with us! So is Lola Pashalinski!

I believe Everett Quinton is still with us.

r310 i don't remember if he said "transvestite" or "drag queen" in that interview

Everett Quinton was fabulous in Movieland (1994).

R304 We just had a "woke" Irma Vep in Seattle.

With a male-ish actor and a female-ish actor directed by a trans director who made awful "woke" changes to the material allegedly with permission but many of us doubt that really happened.

Super unfunny. Changes weren't fast enough. Added all sorts of stupid bits involving pop culture references including Star Wars. Had no respect for the material.

And, no idea how to stage farce.

I still get nightmares about those Covid crisis online woke versions of classics like Major Barbara, most of which appeared to be directed by David Staller.

I was watching one of Carol Burnett's appearances on Dick Cavett. He asked her what she did about insomnia. She said that back in New York, she'd Glamorene the rug.

Walton did the sets for that early 90s revival of Guys and Dolls but William Ivey You Know Who did the clothes.

Don't get me wrong. He was one of my favorite designers. I loved his Merry Widow for The Australian Ballet.

OK, I'm an idiot. Kill me now. Desmond Heeley did the designs for that Australian Ballet Merry Widow, not Tony Walton. But he used to be a great favorite mine too before my dotage.

Desmond Heeley on designing “Cinderella on Ice”

what's happened to this thread?

It’s fine it sends it’s love!

No tea from Funny Girl rehearsals? Take Me Out? A Strange Loop? Nothing about the next 7 weeks? Did all the theatre professionals who post here leave town? We're reduced to Tony Walton goodbyes?

REALLY?

Curious about the Billy Crystal show.

ATC smackdown: DL fave mlop is smacking down some of the folks there for dissing the idea of a lights dimming on Broadway for Tony Walton -- way to go, mlop!

mlop ALWAYS delivers!

on ATC, that's the one and only mlop! In her own inimitable style yet!

[quote]Did all the theatre professionals who post here leave town?

That happened years ago.

Everyone attending TAKE ME OUT will have to lock up their phones (a la the Madame X tour) so we may not be getting many nudes of Jessie Williams.

STRANGE LOOP sold 4 tickets today.

Audiences will undoubtedly prefer pederast Michael Jackson to annoying mediocrity Michael R. Jackson

[quote]STRANGE LOOP sold 4 tickets today.

That many?

Nobody cares about Funny Girl because nobody cares about Beanie Feldstein. This is the problem. At least with Lea Michele you would have the cunty diva attitude that would create buzz and watching the inevitable Tony loss would be a sight to see

Well, as Beanie herself says "You either want The Bean or you don't want The Bean."

Insufferable. Do not want The Bean.

How do you know how many tickets are sold in one day, r332?

No reports of the Funny Girl producers screaming "no way out" at the bar?

I want the peen, not the Bean.

R293 Yes he was very attractive in the 60s.

Maybe he didn’t want to participate in orgies but Blake Edwards did.

I hope when dear Julie passes on we'll find out why this fair English rose married that appalling, tasteless, slapstick-loving Edwards.

I can't remember - did the Andrews/Walton marriage fall apart because of Blake Edwards or were Tony and Julie already separated by the time she met Blake?

I wonder why the fabulously talented Tony Walton never worked with Hal Prince? Or why he never designed another Sondheim musical after A FUNNY THING.....

[quote]We're reduced to Tony Walton goodbyes?

There are a lot worse things we could be discussing on a theater thread, believe me. Do you even know who Tony Walton was?

[quote]I hope when dear Julie passes on we'll find out why this fair English rose married that appalling, tasteless, slapstick-loving Edwards.

Beard.

Since Dame Julie is a dyke, and Blake was bi at a minimum, what about Tony Walton?

I have a vague memory from the late 60s where they said the marriage broke down because they were working in separate continents.

They didn't have international phone calls then so they sent messages via cassette tape. One of them (I forget which) sent a message saying how lonely the place was at night yet the other noticed they could hear the sound of birds singing on the tape. This deception seemed to suggest the marriage was ending.

As Julie ages she’s looking more Victor and less Victoria.

For those who saw it: was Victor/Victoria snubbed unfairly by the Tonys?

I think Tony Walton's second wife Gen LeRoy was the daughter of Hollywood producer/director Mervyn LeRoy.

There were international calls in the '60s, r347. Also, there wasn't the cassette format yet. Why the fuck would anybody have a problem with Walton getting the honor, r327?

On The Nanny:

Fran refuses to cross a picket line at the reception for Maxwell's musical version of "Norma Rae." Sally Jessy Raphael has a cameo. Fran: Fran Drescher. Maxwell: Charles Shaughnessy. Niles:...

Victor/Victoria could have been successful with a capable director but Blake Edwards fucked it up. It was presentable but dull.

Radio-based transatlantic phone calls started in the 1920s. Cable-based transatlantic calls started in the 1950s.

R351 Wiki says the cassette tape was introduced in September 1963.

R354 I'm guessing Julie and Tony were exchanging some comfort in their loneness rather than transmit vital information.

Furthermore I suspect the cost of transatlantic phone calls might be beyond the ken of a couple raised during the war years and Britain's crippling years of austerity which were as grim as the 30s depression.

By 1960, Julie was very healthy financially. Within a year or two, so was her husband. By 1964, both were wealthy.

I doubt the cost of international calls would have given them pause by that point.

R356 Do you feel equally confidant in making assumptions about theatre workers and their personal wealth today?

I've yet to hear of anyone in the theatre boasting of or displaying their wealth.

When Vera-Ellen joins the dance number at 1:15:15, well...

I love Vera-Ellen! What a dancer!

I don't care for Vera-Ellen!

And I always rely a Russian like Grigory Vasilyevich Ratner (Ratoff) to tell me about life in Costa Rica.

Vera-Ellen made Karen Carpenter look like Mama Cass.

That's 1947 before she was so skinny, r361.

She was a stick.

"Dances by Leonide Massine"!!! And 1940s Fox Technicolor! What the Hell more do you motherfuckers want?! Dick Haymes massive dick deep inside you?

What am I, r364, friggin' chopped liver?

[quote]What am I, R364, friggin' chopped liver?—Miss Celeste Holm

You're a playwright's wife. You're the lowest form of celebrity. Not to mention that your name is Karen.

I want the original Fox Technicolor negatives, not the 1970s safety film copies and third, fourth and fifth generation film elements for prints.

[quote] And 1940s Fox Technicolor!

And it looks like good Technicolor stock.

How I wish it could be used for quality productions (such as Olivier's 'Hamlet' or Carol Reed's 'Outcast of the Islands').

Dick Haymes had a big dick?

Thousands of better looking guys had pleasant crooner voices at the time. Why do you think he got the Hollywood career?

[quote] For those who saw it: was Victor/Victoria snubbed unfairly by the Tonys?

Other than Rachel York, who should have been nominated and likely would have won if she had been, no.

Gertrude Niesen alert at 14:20...

^and Ella Logan at 32:35

"Ella Logan was written out of 'Kelly' before it reached the Broadhurst Theater Saturday night. Congratulations, Miss Logan."

I am not an ageist and I have nothing against eldergays, but especially lately it seems like these threads are polled inexorably into the distant past. I know absolutely nothing good was created after 1948, but when we are only discussing newfangled things like cassette tapes and Technicolor, we need a little nudge, no?

Which is going to bomb first? Paradise Square or A strange loop? Is Beetlejuice really going to be a hit this time around? Or are they throwing bad money after bad? Is Daniel Craig going to be the only success of the spring?

Obviously no one is interested in the things you've mentioned, r375.

R375 no one knows the answers to your questions. Maybe you should just relax and watch a 1940s Technicolor Fox musical.

then for all that is holy does anyone want to discuss anything from this [/italic] century [/italic] ?

R369 that's doubtful. Dick Haymes doesn't give off BDE in any way whatsoever. He always sounds so boring and droning and his acting is antiseptic. Recently someone tried to sell me on his later recordings as being revelatory but they were the same old snooze with uninspired arrangements. He was married six times and had six kids, and none of what drew those women to him translates to the screen.

Didn't Dick Haymes rough up poor Rita Hayworth when they were dating? Or was she one of his wives? He had so many.

VICTOR/VICTORIA was no damned good on stage. I went so I could say I had heard the great voice live (it was still great). Then I left at intermission. Terrible book, meh songs; Julie, no spring chicken, did not at any point convince me that she loved Le Jazz Hot.

The great voice blowing out her middle register, R381. The show was built so she could coast through it, and she kinda did (though she was very professional). It was one of my few times at a Broadway show when it seemed like the star was genuinely and legitimately exhausted and didn't want to be there.

It got better as a show when they shortened it for Liza (though I would have loved to see her doing "Louis Says") and added "Who Can I Tell" to replace the theatrically static "Crazy World." And in some ways Liza's warmer personality helped you care more about the characters. Raquel tried out "I Guess It's Time" to replace "Living in the Shadows" but then went back to "Shadows."

All the keys for Julie Andrews were a step or a step and a half too LOW, low to make it less vocally demanding, one would suppose, but that probably ended up causing some of the damage. The high note capper of Le Jazz Hot was prerecorded.

I would like to see more discussion as r375 suggests. Maybe there needs to be a “Modern THEATRE Gossip” thread.

If you'd like to see more such discussion, r383, then start it.

I'm very curious to read the reviews for PLAZA SUITE. It sounds (from the chat rooms) like it's not very good but I wonder if critics will be kind to SJP and Matty, though I can't explain why I expect they'd be due any particular kindness.

Everything I've read about FUNNY GIRL makes it sound like a disaster. Terrible casting in all the major roles and Michael Mayer is wholly undependable (anyone see his ON A CLEAR DAY...or his outings at The Met?) and inside info suggests the $$$$$ isn't there for the spectacular Ziegfeld numbers.

BEETLEJUICE will run through the summer with the tourist dollars but close up by late fall at a loss. Everyone in NY who wanted to see it, saw it pre-pandemic and no one here was especially enthusiastic.

I think A STRANGE LOOP is the real wild card. Friends who saw it in DC last fall loved it. But I can't imagine it won't be a hard sell to tourists no matter how good it is or how many awards it may win.

And the Daniel Craig MACBETH? Based on Sam Gold's KING LEAR with Glenda Jackson, I'm not expecting much.

I've been watching the new Maisel season and it makes me think, again, that Jane Lynch isn't a good actress. Everything is indicated and broad and her eyes never stop darting around, also in every scene she seems more and more gigantic. I can already imagine how every moment will be delivered in Funny Girl and I already don't like it. It's going to be like [italic] Mrs Brice [/italic] a vaudeville performer, unless that's the concept

[quote] Maybe there needs to be a “Modern THEATRE Gossip” thread.

This is [italic] supposed [/italic]to be it. Maybe there should be a "[italic]Vintage[/italic] Theatre Gossip" thread.

[italic] *that can automatically load in really large type

When and where was Jane Lynch EVER considered a good actress? The only time I can recall her being OK was in that dog lovers film (Best in Show?) and even there she was just in support of Jennifer Coolidge.

I heard she was decent in Annie but this doesn't instill confidence does it? the performance is as gigantic as she is

Liza was a cunt. And I filed complaints.

any details r391?

[quote]Everything I've read about FUNNY GIRL makes it sound like a disaster.

Agreed.

It was well known at the time that Tony Roberts filed a complaint with Equity against Liza about her behavior when she briefly replaced Julie in V/V but the producers paid him off to drop it.

I knew about the complaint and the fight, never heard about the payoff

Jane Lynch stole the focus on GLEE away from the annoying "children" and brought some welcome arsenic to all that pumped-up maudlin. It never would have worked as well without the Sue Sylvester character.

But frankly, she's a rather limited comic/character actress and was never all that great outside of GLEE. I find her tiresome except in very limited doses. (I hate her character on MRS. MAISEL.) She's always playing a version of Jane Lynch.

You're all concerned that Jane Lynch won't be capable of capturing the levels and. nuances of Mrs. Brice? MRS. BRICE?? This is not Hedda Gabler or Mary Tyrone we're talking. about.

no we're concerned it's going to be loud broad and excessive in an entire show that's going to be loud broad and excessive

So what's the issue?

I don’t think anyone would ever accuse Jane Lynch of being a great actress but she’s a very fine character actress and I love her scenes opposite Meryl in Julie and Julia. There’s a fun playfulness and they both look like they’re having a great time.

All I remember about Liza in V/V was that some review said she looked just like Mr. Moneybags from Monopoly when she was dressed up as a man.

You know you are in trouble when the buzz and chatter for a Funny Girl production is about the TV actress playing Mrs. Brice.

I know Ramin is devoted husband and father but has any chorus boy on here who’s actually worked with him gotten close to him?

r401...

Good Christ, Liza IS Judy Pills.

I would pay an absurd amount of money to see Chris Meloni in Ludlam's "Bluebeard."

Didn’t Tony Roberts eventually refuse to go on opposite Liza?

there's a whole thread on this fiasco

The backlash against Beanie in Funny Girl has only just begun. From the first preview on, there will be merciless attacks based on her lack of a belt, needing too big a belt, her eye-rolling hamminess (which may have worked in Dolly, but not here), and even her brother.

Gone by Labor Day.

Roberts was out for a week

Liza held a press conference!

Tony absolutely abhorred Liza. He called her the most unprofessional actress he'd ever worked with.

and he has a big dick and gigantic ears

[quote]then for all that is holy does anyone want to discuss anything from this century ?

These posts are tiresome. If you think you have an interesting topic to discuss, introduce it. Otherwise stop whining and expecting everyone to entertain you. Contribute something.

I'm seriously disappointed in the casting in the revival of TAKE ME OUT.

The original production boasted Daniel Sunjata, Dominic Fumusa, David Eigenberg, Fred Weller, Kohl Sudduth, Neal Huff and those 2 hot Latinos Gene Gabriel and Robert Jimenez. Also that cute Asian guy James Yaegashi. Not to mention the brilliant Denis O'Hare.

This cast looks so blah. Do any of you know these actors? Please convince me I'm wrong.

You're not wrong.

R414 I'm still available. For now.

Did ANYONE see the Some Like It Hot presentation? All the opinions I read about it are from people who haven't seen the show.

Saw Plaza Suite last night. Loved it. Perfect throwback for this eldergay, and seeing "classic" Simon made me very happy given how shitty my day was. They're both wonderful in that "stars doing a show" way. She grew up in the theater, and still understands it and had some great moments. He's still his style, but its perfect for these plays. A nice surprise.

Nice to hear someone say something non-cunty here.

I can see how it might be comfort food, r418.

R420-That's how I used to refer to Matthew.

WHET DL fave Daniel Sunjata? Did he ever engage in the homosex?

He was me dream man for many years

From the Liza-V/V thread...

It's been said here (and elsewhere) many times before but Daniel Sunjata must have had truly terrible agents/managers at the time of TAKE ME OUT if they weren't able to propel him to superstardom on Broadway and even Hollywood with that debut. Besides his incredible good looks and talent, all on fierce display in TMO, he reputedly is/was a very sweet guy and a total pro. I don't get what happened. Or didn't happen. He probably still looks great but I guess the timing is off now.

But as that gay pro baseball star he was so endearing and believable and hot.

Sunjata is now 50.

[quote] Saw Plaza Suite last night.

Were you in the $900 seats? Or the $750 highest balcony seats?

Daniel Sunjata did not age well.

Really, r427?

Sunjata had two triumphs, Take Me Out and a long recurring role on SVU, and then seemed to turn into a bit of a diva.

He apparently got fired from Grey's Anatomy rather abruptly, after being groomed to take on a bigger role.

And he's okay at R428, but he used to look as fine as THIS

Get off it, R426. TodayTix has lottery seats under $40 and there are $99 seats available, often same day. At least there are now. It's the same as most other plays.

The general public is going to love them in this and love the play itself because they'll see themselves and their relationships in the characters and for all the laughter.

Sunjata was also on Rescue Me for many years.

Good looking guy but Sunjata didn’t have the IT factor.

Sunjata has struggled with being in the closet for years. Not sure if that affected his career, but trying to hide while maintaining a public persona can be draining.

[quote] Gone by Labor Day.

You think it’ll last that long? If she really isn’t able to pull it off, I think it’s gone in a few weeks. Or Beanie gets “a film offer she can’t refuse” and leaves the part to someone else.

That said, I can’t believe Michael M would cast someone who really can’t sing it though there’s no evidence she can. And of course, there’s nothing to be done about how physically wrong she is, but if she could sing it and act it, I think people would forgive her girth.

I bet they had a very hard time finding young women of any notoriety who wanted to tackle it. Beanie was probably a last resort

[quote] her girth

Her name, her thickness and her necklessness limits her to play comic roles.

But the sound engineers will need good microphones to cope with that reedy thin voice.

[quote] I bet they had a very hard time finding young women of any notoriety who wanted to tackle it. Beanie was probably a last resort

Um, hello?

[quote]I wonder why the fabulously talented Tony Walton never worked with Hal Prince? Or why he never designed another Sondheim musical after A FUNNY THING.

He did the 1995 revival of "Company"

Hal Prince didn't direct the 1995 revival of COMPANY. He directed the original!!!

So was Tony Julie's first beard?

Not his finest work, r439. But then it wasn't anybody's.

[quote]Hal Prince didn't direct the 1995 revival of COMPANY.

No one said he did...

Sadly for us, Tony Walton never designed another ORIGINAL production of a Sondheim musical after A FUNNY THING.....

What a shame, as I think he might have given MERRY WE ROLL ALONG the look it so desperately needed, Walton had a wit and whimsy unlike most designers of his or later generations.

[quote] wit and whimsy

I'm no expert on theatre decor but I'm trying to think of any theatre set which conveyed these qualities. Most of the sets I've seen over the last 25 years have been stripped back to minimal props.

I thought the major issues would be that they can be lit easily and be moved around easily and that the actors don't trip on anything..

Taron Egerton collapsed onstage tonight during the first performance of Cock in London. Here’s a first hand account:

[quote]Taron Egerton collapsed onstage tonight

He was unable to perform erect?

Hairspray set r445

That's a minimal-looking set shown in the link at R446.

The play is called cock. You are complaining about its set’s [italic] size. [/Italic] Oh Datalounge you never disappoint

I'm seeing COCK in 2 weeks and I hope Taron is fully recovered!

Taron would be the only reason to go see that play.

Is "Cock" the sequel to "Take Me Out"?

[quote]It's been said here (and elsewhere) many times before but Daniel Sunjata must have had truly terrible agents/managers at the time of TAKE ME OUT if they weren't able to propel him to superstardom on Broadway and even Hollywood with that debut. Besides his incredible good looks and talent, all on fierce display in TMO, he reputedly is/was a very sweet guy and a total pro. I don't get what happened. Or didn't happen.

I think he was well received in TAKE ME OUT for two reasons : (1) people were enamored of his looks, and (2) he fit the part so well that most people didn't notice he's a poor, very limited actor. That's my opinion, of course, but it's my explanation for why his career wasn't a lot greater, especially not in the theater. His level of acting talent is fine for TV, but....

[quote]Taron would be the only reason to go see that play.

For you, maybe. I'd be more interested in seeing Jonathan Bailey.

Did Taron injure his face when he fainted?

"Taron faints! Couldn't take COCK!"

Oh Taron Egerton we love you get up!

COCK isn't that taxing of a show. Maybe Taron forgot to eat?

Daniel Sunjata was perfect in TAKE ME OUT. That was his moment.

A STRANGE LOOP is terrific. Is it commercial enough for Broadway? I dunno...

I'm not an Eldergay but I desperately want to see PLAZA SUITE cause I've never seen it. Don't know the piece at all. And a Neil Simon comedy sounds lovely amongst all the woke work being stuffed down our throats. And though it's the opposite of woke, there's no way in hell I'm going to see MJ. Fuck that show.

[quote] A STRANGE LOOP is terrific.

I don't know what to make of their big queer-ass musical selling line. What did you love about it?

Daniel Sunjata used to have a very active Twitter and Instagram where he would interact with fans and stuff but both are now gone. I wish he was gay IRL

Daniel Sunjata was perfect in Take Me Out. The next time I saw him was in Cyrano on Broadway and he was surprisingly dull and barely up to it. Though to be fair, Kevin Kline who should have been great in the part, was kind of a lump there too. Chris Sarandon, in the not very exciting role of De Guiche was the only one with any style or flair.

[quote]Daniel Sunjata was perfect in Take Me Out. The next time I saw him was in Cyrano on Broadway and he was surprisingly dull and barely up to it

I agree with your second sentence, but I don't agree that he was perfect in "Take Me Out." As I remember, it was pretty much a one-note performance. I'll say again, I think he fit the part so well that most people didn't notice how limited his acting talent was, but obviously, that was not the case in "Cyrano."

The role of Christian in Cyrano is dull...it's the point of the character. He's supposed to be beautiful to look at, nothing more. And yes, that entire revival directed by David Leveaux, whose ineptitude was just discussed upthread (or in the last thread) was unforgivably dull.

[quote] I don't know what to make of their big queer-ass musical selling line.

It reminds me of the tagline they came up with for Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson on Broadway. Something like "Broadway's about to get all sexypants" or something. They went all in, but boy, it really didn’t work.

I saw STRANGE LOOP at Playwrights and I was mixed. A lot of its energy and ideas were exciting, but it didn't really add up to much. The basic story is a lot of artistic, internal navel gazing, which is inherently undramatic. I guess I'm not compelled by "no one understands my art and life" stories whether its Tic, Tic Boom! or Rent. Some of the sex was new to the straight, NYC UWS audience, so that caused a reaction, but it didn't add much to the story. It definitely needed work. For those who know, was it different in DC?

[quote] Tic, Tic Boom!

name for the woke version with a spaz as Jonathan

Surely the fact Sunjata is a rabid 9/11 "truther" impacted his career? Not talented enough to be worth bringing in that level of crazy?

Ironic that Sunjata played the sailor in the last scene of the Sex and the City episode which was a love letter to NYC following 9/11.

[QUOTE] I'm no expert on theatre decor but I'm trying to think of any theatre set which conveyed these qualities. Most of the sets I've seen over the last 25 years have been stripped back to minimal props.

I know this wasn’t Broadway, but NT’s FOLLIES (one of the best shows I’ve seen in the past decade) spared no expense in costumes and set. Except for the Loveland sequence which was too cheap-looking, the rest of the show was a marvel to look at.

I loved the use of the rotating stage.

Sunjata got by in Take Me Out because he was playing a baseball player (duh) and his dick was big. After that, He fell through the cracks. TERRIBLE actor. I would never pay money to see him again, but I would suck his cock.

r470 NOOOOOOO!

R470 ...Sally was wearing Green...did they not actually read the fucking script?

There were some slip-ups (like the green dress) but Imelda wasn’t one of them. She totally worked for me and her “In Buddy’s Eyes” was really powerful. A lot of the old queens who complain about her Sally on these threads didn’t see the performance live.

Josephine Barstow should have won every award there is for her truly unforgettable Old Heidi. The entire ticket price was worth it for that performance alone.

[quote]There were some slip-ups (like the green dress) but Imelda wasn’t one of them. She totally worked for me and her “In Buddy’s Eyes” was really powerful. A lot of the old queens who complain about her Sally on these threads didn’t see the performance live. Josephine Barstow should have won every award there is for her truly unforgettable Old Heidi. The entire ticket price was worth it for that performance alone.

How many dozens of times have you posted these same opinions before? Barstow was everything one wants in that role but there was nothing revelatory in her performance, which isn't surprising, as it's such a tiny role.

[quote] A lot of the old queens who complain about her Sally on these threads didn’t see the performance live.

It's time to retire this bullshit trope that Imelda needs to be seen live to appreciate her performance. It was said about her in Gypsy, too. Yet I've seen her in professional live captures in three different shows so far (as well as clips from a fourth) and she displays the same horrible bad habits every single time. She brays, and screams and screeches. She is a horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE stage actress. If you have to sit at the other end of a football field to not see it, then that's a problem.

Is MLP almost guaranteed a lead actress Tony nod for How I Learned to Drive?

That Glenda Jackson had some very memorable parts even though it was a bit of a mess. Elizabeth Marvel getting fucked and cum in on top of a pile of trash and then standing in such a way to hold his load in, to name one.

Glenda deserved a nod that year, but I was happy to see them nominate Ruth Wilson for her Cordelia/Fool.

I'm sure this has been discussed, but I haven't been able to keep up with the last few threads, so forgive me for bringing up a two week old topic, but I just saw the latest SNL / John Mulaney musical parody. I don't think it was AS hilarious as some folks on Twitter etc. were claiming, but it was a lot of fun. And I loved all the small inside-baseball references and asides. For example, I THINK that's the Nixon's plane landing music from Nixon in China playing as the subway car pulls up! LOL.

Also, Alex Moffatt is fucking adorable. He should've lost the trench coat entirely.

MLP will have some serious competition from Ruth Negga as Lady Macbeth (we see you, white Broadway!) and even Broadway's darling SJP in 3 - count them! 3 roles in a much beloved Neil Simon revival. And if the nominators' memories haven't totally faded, Dierdre O'Connell for sitting around and mouthing the words to another lady's pre-taped speeches. Oh, and there's also DL fave Deb Messing in something called Birthday Candles at MTC (or is it The Roundabout?).

But my question is, can MLP really be nominated again for playing the same character in the same play opposite the same leading man and with the same director?

She wasn't nominated for it before, r479. It wasn't on Broadway.

Ah! Of course, r480. But I wonder if voters will hold it against her anyway, especially if some of those other ladies provide strong competition.

MLP just won her second Tony last year. Her storied performance in HILTD will at least be nominated.

I don't think they'll hold it against her, r481, but it's still a fair consideration.

They didn’t hold anything against the Broadway cast of The Normal Heart in 2011, the year that play received several nominations and (acting) wins even though the play had premiered off-Broadway in 1985.

See also: Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Yes, but those were totally different actors.

That being said, MLP (but NOT mlop) is absolutely eligible for nomination.

Could Matthew sneak in as a Best Actor in a Play nominee?

mlop deserves a special Tony for services to the theater

[quote]mlop deserves a special Tony for services to the theater.

They should dim the lights for her when she goes.

I am not kidding.

At the very least mlop deserves to be made a DL Icon, the only person to ever be given that honor from another chat board.

Who was that other ATCer -- some semi-professional actor in the Bay Area who was supposedly the best lover that someone on here ever had?

Mike Rhone and his powerful thighs.

I am very flustered that I might be dim on Broadway when I go. Chita still sends me some cards on my birthday, and Tonys Walton says hi before I do.

^ singed, mlop

[quote] he best lover that someone on here ever had

[quote] Mike Rhone and his powerful thighs

Details, please? and pics

Mike “Cock du” Rhone

Stunt casting is alive and well: Pam Anderson joins Chicago next month.

That girl and her rock bands, r496!

R496-It's official. Fran and Barry have lost their minds.

R498. I’ll say

I wonder what Fosse would think. He might have loved it.

Honestly, as far as stunt casting, I don't hate it... I could imagine her Roxie monologue being good.

And at this point, r501, does it really matter? Plus she'll sell some tickets.

I'm already laughing at the line about "They're gonna see my boobs." Honey, we already have. That's why you're here.

[quote]Stunt casting is alive and well: Pam Anderson joins Chicago next month

Speaking of stunt casting, Mary Badham has joined the national tour of "To Kill a Mockingbird," starring Richard Thomas.

holy motherfucking shit r503 you are banished, that's not the line. "They're gonna RECOGNIZE my boobs."

I don't care how much cock you've sucked, you are not gay.

The guy with MikeR said they got together a few times over a few months, and that once they did it in Mike’s dressing room at intermission. He said MikeR was the best sex he’d ever had, and that Mike fucked him powerfully . That’s where the comment about his powerful thighs came in. It was probably about five years ago, maybe more.

Midge is back, to save Broadway.

this guy?

Who will Mary Badham play in To Kill a Mockingbird?

Wasn't Mike also deeply concerned about his preparation for an audition for a community production of (of all things, Mary!) Silk Stockings?

Where were all of the details of dressing room sex and Mike R's body parts discussed? Surely not on ATC?

I was never a fan of Pam but became kinda obsessed with her when she did her stint on Dancing With the Stars, in which she really shone. I think she'll be a perfect Roxie and she'll probably be required to do less difficult dancing than she did on DWTS. Since Melanie Griffith/Christie Brinkley (who came first?), they must have the dumbed down version well-worked into the show.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 2002, a revival of "The Crucible" starring Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, John Benjamin Hickey, and Kristen Bell opened at the Virginia Theatre.

No, r511, it was here on DL. Probably five or so years ago. The person also said MikeR had a nice dock, and I think that was it.

MikeR used to be a rather prissy Republican, but he’s turned into a real liberal rabble-rouser now.

So will Maria Friedman bow to pressure to make Mary in Merrily Black Irish?

Mary!

someone find out what they're paying pam.

Is Mary Badham playing a trans Boo Radley?

TRANS!

To Kill a Mockingtrans!

To Mock a Killertrans

Poor Mary Badham. You just know the press person for the MOCKINGBIRD tour is going to make her sit down for an interview with every lame "entertainment editor" in every jerkwater town they play. And they will ask her the same questions over and over.....

But I guess it's PR you couldn't buy.

I've known Mary Badham for years. She's very sweet. I'm guessing she's been bored the last few years and this will liven her life up.

I wish Richard Thomas were doing New York and Talk Soup Man were doing the tour

Exactly R524. It lets Badham have some nice attention, a kind of Mockingbird victory lap, without having the carry the whole show. And I'm guessing she doesn't command any kind of huge salary. She's playing the racist drug addicted hag Mrs. Dubose. They got an NYT feature out of it, among other press, and they made her audition.

Wow. MikeR's a freak in the sheets... and backstage, too? He's the Betty Buckley of Northern California community theatre.

[quote] She's playing the racist drug addicted hag Mrs. Dubose

I love her daughter Ariana!

[quote] I love her daughter Ariana!

That's Anita DuBois to you fags!

[quote]Who will Mary Badham play in To Kill a Mockingbird?

An even older version of Scout than the one Celia Keenan-Bolger played.

What about Allison DuBois?

Why can no one answer the simple question of who Mary Badham is playing in the play? “Mrs. Dubose” is anot a character.

"Badham will play Mrs. Dubose."

I think Richard Thomas will be playing Atticus on Broadway sooner than we think.

Anybody know why Charlotte d’amboise has been in and out of Chicago and is now officially replaced by an understudy until Pam takes over?

Charlotte D’Amboise will be taking over the role of Mrs. Dubose.

She's still gamine enough to do Scout, r536.

[quote]Anybody know why Charlotte d’amboise has been in and out of Chicago and is now officially replaced by an understudy until Pam takes over?

Because she's lost interest in a role that will soon by played by Pamela Anderson?

Just watched Charlotte on a L&O episode.

Charlotte was good in that L&O episode. I'm surprised she didn't get more of a film and tv career out of it.

[quote]Mrs. Dubose” is a not a character.

She may not be a character in the film version of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, but apparently, she's a character in the Sorkin stage adaptation. Do you have some sort of problem understanding this?

Charlotte was my first Roxie way back in the... late 90s, I think? It was either the first or second national tour. She was sensational. A paycheck is a paycheck, but it's nuts to me that she's still playing the role. Loved her in the Pippin revival, too. Smart, funny, moved like a dream.

I thought that as well, r540.

Charlotte was a great Roxie way back when. I was excited to see her Cassie but like so much in that misbegotten revival, not so much.

I don't understand you queens anymore. Dozens of posts on Mitzi Gaynor and Ella Logan - but nothing on the new, complete Patti Lu "Ladies Who Lunch" video. I know, I know, "no one cares," "fishwife," "mushmouth," etc etc but - it's theater's only current diva doing one of the major Diva Numbers of All Time and....crickets.

And now back to our regularly scheduled Gertrude Fucking Niesen programming.

I hate Patti's wig in this COMPANY. It squashes her features down, whereas she needs height. As a poster on ATC said the look is very Bret Somers.

I agree r546, it's also too big and thick (complaints never made on DL about anything else), it makes her look shorter and squatter overall, like a little fireplug waddling around the stage.

but she sure has taken the diction notes over the years. all those clipped T's and D's. A little of the old Patti slur creeps in at 2:16

You also have to give her credit for singing properly all these years, the voice does sound great for 72.

(for 72 with all those killer roles under her belt, too)

Agreed, R546. She's miscast to begin with, and the hair, makeup, and costuming do her no favors.

I know I’m going to sound like a caftan wearing old fart (which I am) but why do audience members insist on screaming and whooping and clapping in the middle of a song. And isn’t that distracting for the performer? It just seems annoying and disrespectful.

R545 Maybe because we've seen it so many times before, even before this version of Company even opened

R550, you didn’t mention her laughable fuck me pumps.

R551, of course it's distracting and disrespectful. It's ALL ABOUT the idiots doing the whooping and screaming, NOT about the performer.

People have a "first look" at Funny Girl rehearsals but it's just a bunch of interviews. Practically every cast member looks like they're ill

So we're not showing Beanie singing?

Ramin could have at least taken his shirt off.

Is this really a great classic musical? Pretty sure it's not. Great songs yes, many of them. But not a great show. If it is, why the need to rewrite?

Exactly right r558 it's just not. It's a [italic] famous [/italic] musical but not a classic I think. They all come across well here, it's the first time I've been a little interested and Beanie seems sweet and looks like she's into it, the choreographers' comments are intersteing too. That poster realliy sucks

[quote] It's a famous musical but not a classic I think.

It's famous because of Streisand. It also has a first-rate score. But mostly it's Streisand.

It’s not good that a first glance at a musical has no singing. I believe the Les Mis movie tried this and there was a reason they didn’t show the singing

Olivier Awards

Do we think Streisand will come to the opening?

r561 this isn't a trailer from a finished movie, it's just some marketing video. They're not ready to show singing.

[quote]Do we think Streisand will come to the opening?

She will not, but will later graciously explain that, although she had been invited, she didn't go because she thought the focus should be on Beanie.

I'll come!

If I were Beanie, I wouldn't want Barbra anywhere near the place. Ever.

Shit, I wouldn't even want Roslyn Kind around if I were Beanie.

Ramin should only sing and take his clothes off. His Canadian accented speaking voice is horrible.

I’m curious which Hamlisch songs she’s including in this. I should hope under-performed ones like “If You Remember Me” and “The Last Time I Felt Like This” are among them.

R564 It bills itself as a first look at rehearsals, so expecting to hear some singing isn't an odd expectation. Most other shows that do these kind of first look things include clips of rehearsal performances

I think it’s really sweet of Harvey to gain so much extra weight so that Beanie will look slim by comparison.

[quote] Ramin could have at least taken his shirt off.

He could have at least taken his PANTS off.

I think Funny Girl with a new book is a great idea. I wish they’d gotten an appropriate Fanny, but I actually hope this turns out to be good.

Beanie is very likable so I’m rooting for her (and the whole production) to work out. She doesn’t have the best voice but maybe they can work on that. Something tells me that Jane Lynch might end up being a highlight of the production at the end of the day.

I went to a private Elton John concert at Green Acres over a decade ago and hung out with Jane Lynch and her wife at the time during the evening. The wife seemed very much under Jane’s thumb. Jane was very nice and engaging (and tall!)

Will Ferrell was there too and he was a complete asshole. Dustin Lance Black acted like he was Madonna.

[quote] Ramin should only sing and take his clothes off. His Canadian accented speaking voice is horrible.

It was only a matter of time till the "Ramin's horrible Canadian accent" troll turned up.

Ramen and Beans for dinner tonight!

Seeing the Maria Friedman - Menier Chocolate Factory show in a couple of weeks and I had no idea it wasn't just a one-woman show, so thanks, r570! I'll report back.

So what do we think of the mucho caliente stud playing Joseph in the new Mexican production? Better voice than many in the role, plus an even better body than most (which is saying something in this case).

I'm betting Andrew posted him to distract us all from the SHUTOUT that Cinderella got at the Olivier nominations

Not quite a complete shutout. It did get a supporting actress nomination.

Still, though, that had to have smarted for Andrew. Any chance of Life of Pi coming to Broadway?

And I'd love to hear more about Dustin Lance Black acting like he's Madonna.

It was the cone bra

i thought for sure the fact that DLB chases after men 30 years his junior and likes to get fucked on camera bareback told us he acts like Madonna a long time ago

I’m neutral on Hugh J but this is one old-looking 53 isn’t it?

Not really.

Hugh looks like an average 53 year old. Doesn’t look younger or older.

Got a ticket to and finally saw MTC's big hit, "A Prayer For The French Republic". I was extremely underwhelmed. A story about the persecution of Jews throughout history should be, in some way, universal to peoples everywhere. Instead, this turns out to be a 3 hour rant ONLY about the Jewish people. It is annoying, one-sided, and exceedingly preachy. All the characters in the present-day are unlikable and shrill, and for the entire length of the production, the audience was silent. As Nathan Lane once described the MTC Stage 1, "It comfortably sleeps 600". Then, at the curtain call, they all jumped to their feet and screamed BRAVO. I understand anti-semitism is on the rise all over the world, but so is the hatred for all who are different. I think Joshua Harmon is a wonderful writer, but all he's done here is reinforce negative stereotypes and sadly, presents a strong case for WHY the Jews are persecuted. The fact that not one critic pointed this out just shows the downside of wokeness. I left the theatre unconvinced there was need to produce such a work, except to placate the subscribers who had been robbed of 18 months of live theatre by giving them something they could relate to and celebrate.

I, however, was unmoved and unsympathetic, and I've been attending theatre for way too long to feel that way. I've sat through plays much worse than this, but have never been left with the feeling the author was manipulating me into feeling sorry for the protagonists by forcing me to despise them. That was an alien feeling to someone who hates no one.

I once saw a community theater production of “The Normal Heart” (in Vermont). They had decided to just do away with the whole pesky business of Emma being paralyzed and in a wheelchair and just had her full-on walking during the play.

[quote]It’s not good that a first glance at a musical has no singing. I believe the Les Mis movie tried this and there was a reason they didn’t show the singing It’s not good that a first glance at a musical has no singing. I believe the Les Mis movie tried this and there was a reason they didn’t show the singing

It's usually trailers for MOVIE musicals that don't include any singing. When a promo video for a Broadway musical doesn't have any singing, trouble is in the air.

I'm sure that their not showing Beanie singing is just to build interest...or curiosity...or suspense... or fear.

[quote]I'm sure that their not showing Beanie singing is just to build interest...or curiosity...or suspense... or fear.

Maybe no singing was shown because all of Beanie's songs have been cut.

Has anyone else seen the hilarious video Claybourne Elder posted of Patti getting clobbered on the head with a bunch of roses at the Company curtain call? Hilarious! She almost lost her bad wig.

Jennifer Simard threw them.

Gay gay gay gay

R589,

I'm not Jewish, nor am I some woke college whipper snapper (I'm 52) but your review of Prayer for the French Republic feels incredibly anti-Semitic. Not because you didn't like the play, but rather for the explanations as to why you didn't like it. You need to examine why you grew to despise those characters so much.

Same, R597. Getting "All lives matter" vibes from R589.

Lincoln Center unveils overhauled Geffen Hall as community-oriented cultural center:

Lights out. Good night....