THEATRE GOSSIP # 459 - The Beanie will Make 'Em Cry! Make 'Em Sigh! (but not as intended) Edition

(Yeah, I know. It's not great. Come for me, queens.)

That'll do, pig.

TITANIQUE!

And thank you for actually linking to this from the last thread!

Love the title OP. And thanks for being brave enough to start a new thread.

Referring to a post at the end of the last thread Funny Girl already has a short prologue where she goes into the theater looks around stares at herself in the mirror sits and everything in the entire movie and I assume the entire show already is in flashback.

OP, you suck.

Has anyone here seen Paradise Square?

Is Mr. Saturday Night a 5 character chamber musical? I thought it was a full show.

What the hell is The Little Prince and who do they expect to go to it?

Is Mockingbird coming back?

[italic] I'm trying here. There are things to talk about other than Lea Michele, Beanie, Lauren Ambrose and Imelda's Sally. Come on qweens, we can do it./ [/italic]

Even more interesting is the chatter coming out of previews of Macbeth. Like Sam Gold's King Lear - only worse!

I can't believe "Girl From North Country" is coming back. I guess on Beanie's Bway, anything is possible.

Jenny Slate is NOT a singer.

More about MacBeth please!

[quote] Even more interesting is the chatter coming out of previews of Macbeth. Like Sam Gold's King Lear - only worse!

r9 do tell or link! I fucking hate Sam Gold and want him to go away he is bullshit

Jenny Slate isn't much of a draw as a performer, either. Her style was effective in Parks and Rec, as the spoiled brat Mona Lisa Saperstein, but when I saw another show of hers (stand-up, I think?), it seemed like that's how she really is in a way. She came off like a girl who'd been told by her parents all her life that she was the prettiest and most talented little girl ever and she still believes it.

My favourite comment on the MacBeth previews this far: “I thought the “Witches” were making tacos at the start of the play…”

Someone posted this on BroadwayWorld, but it was lifted from Show Score.

Audience abuse See it if you crave a parody of a pretentious, derivative junior college project, (or parody of a REHEARSAL of same), headed by a movie star.

Don't see it if you take it personally when a director hates a play illuminating fascist brutality so much he seems on a mission to mock and destroy it.

Also I know this play, seen several productions, close reading at Cambridge, etc., but tonight I had no clue who was who, what they meant to each other, their objectives, what they were doing or why, or where. Nothing to inform us of anything: rehearsal furniture on a bare stage, random rehearsal clothes from Banana Republic or Express. Tho mic'd, 1/3 the dialogue is inaudible or unintelligible -- the latter often due to a directorial choice to suck the music & sense out of the text by "acting". every. word. and pausing to "act" between the lines, usually for a cheap laugh; by the end of a speech you forget how it started or what it was about. A whole lotta stage lights and practicals aimed deliberately to blind us -- including a high-beam l.e.d. lamp held close to the face in Lady M's sleep-walking scene (here a sleep-rolling-around-on-a-folding-table scene). The movie star has presence, but little sense of how to follow a character arc over what should be 2 hours but here is closer to 3.

Thanks, r7! Wouldn't be a Theatre Gossip thread without it!

Sam Gold used to be a good director. Once upon a time. But he fucked up King Lear and Glass Menagerie. Did anyone really expect the Scottish Play would be the exception? Especially with Daniel Craig, who sucks all the air out of a theater the minute he steps onstage? What happened to Joe Mantello? Is he content to just sit it out in Pam Springs counting his Wicked residuals while bad directors torch Broadway?

Gold's direction of FUN HOME was brilliant. Lear, not so much. Didn't see "Menagerie"

POTUS.

I thought his Menagerie was strangely and unexpectedly powerful. Not always successful, but made me think of the play in new ways. Also loved his work with Annie Baker. Didn't see his Othello, though, but wish I had. All in all, I'd take a chance on the Scottish play.

Gold's collaborations with Annie Baker have always been brilliant.

[Quote] She came off like a girl who'd been told by her parents all her life that she was the prettiest

I bet that came in handy while dating Chris Evans.

[quote] ehearsal furniture on a bare stage, random rehearsal clothes from Banana Republic or Express.

[quote] A whole lotta stage lights and practicals aimed deliberately to blind us -- including a high-beam l.e.d. lamp held close to the face in Lady M's sleep-walking scene (here a sleep-rolling-around-on-a-fold - ing-table scene)

Oh fuck you fuck you fuck you Same Gold

Pam Springs - new drag name - called it!

Company last night was really fun. Understudies were generally as funny as original actors. As a whole, there was better chemistry, like they all seemed like old friends who knew each other, not just knowing Bobbie. I really wasn't expecting that and the audience was loving it.

I hope Nikki can keep doing it for awhile, even though I have enjoyed Katrina as Bobbie too. The weirdest thing was I think the sound was kind of low volume overall and I was in the orchestra.

*I was in orchestra seating.

Also I am pretty sure Larry Owens (Strange Loop) was chatting with friends nearby after the show.

r16, Show Score isn't showing any reviews for MacBeth. I wonder if they pulled it for some reason?

[quote]I can't believe "Girl From North Country" is coming back.

Some people, including you, seem to have missed this, but the show is coming back to Broadway for only a very limited run, April 29-June 11. Makes perfect sense in terms of refreshing people's memories during awards season, and then the show will tour.

When, other than the freakish exception of FUN HOME, did Sam Gold ever prove to be a "good director?" And as for the ridiculous comment that his GLASS MENAGERIE made someone "see the play in new ways" -- well, when you present a play with off-the-wall casting and an idiotic production concept, OF COURSE that's going to make people "see the play in new ways," but that doesn't mean the experience is enjoyable or even bearable, and of course it's tremendously disrespectful to the playwright.

No one wants to see the big ass black queer musical. Truly.

McB will be on TDF before you can say "out, out, damn Gold".

[quote] [R16], Show Score isn't showing any reviews for MacBeth. I wonder if they pulled it for some reason?

Show Score will sometimes filter out or take down extremely negative reviews, especially at an early juncture. But there are other posts on that BroadwayWorld thread, including the one about the witches making tacos.

Can we have a moratorium on references to The Scottish Play? That’s too pretentious even for this place.

Telecharge's website is showing Lenk as out of Company through Friday, April 8. Wonder if Daniels will get to play it the whole time (a la Simard as Joanne) or one of the other understudies will get a shot.

Short clip of Daniels doing the title number:

Could we at least spell it right? It’s Macbeth. The B is not capitalized.

You're correct, of course. To be safe, we should probably go with the preferred name: ThE ScOtTisH pLaY.

Daniels sounds so square in that excerpt.

I call it M.Beth-Miller.

Beanie could be Bobbie?

[quote] by "acting". every. word. and pausing to "act" between the lines

Jesus, that wouldn't even be acceptable in a high school Shakespeare production.

[quote] It’s Macbeth

Ah! Hot potato, off his drawers, Puck will make amends!

[quote]I'd take a chance on the Scottish play.

Oh, honey. You're not in the Royal Shakespeare Company. Give your pretensions a rest.

[quote] We need a revival of After Play

Any interest in a revival of Slave Play, the most-Tony nominated show ever?

I'm awaiting Dungeon Play.

So can we dump for good the extra #457 and #458 threads?

[quote] Can we have a moratorium on references to The Scottish Play? That’s too pretentious even for this place.

Did you know that Lady Scottish Play's name was Gruoch?

Will the SJW/Cancel Culture mavens be incensed that the role of Lady Macbeth is being played by a Negga?

It looks like folks have. Very few responses there.

OP / R17, I thought I’d get it in early.

I just realized Nikki James and Nikki Renee Daniels are two different people.

Thank you, R7. I'm usually the "this title sucks" guy, but I slept in this morning.

Nikki, please

R18, what else have you seen of Craig’s stage work? Did you see Betrayal or Hatful of Rain or whatever?

I saw him in 1997 at the Old Vic in London in a production of Hurlyburly as part of a Peter Hall season, I believe, directed by Wilson Milam. Craig was cast in the Christopher Walken role of…the other casting director…Mickey, and he had white blonde hair. This was after he’d had some success on British TV in a series called Our Friends In The North which was a huge success at the time but is hard to find these days. The production starred Rupert Graves in the William Hurt role and Andy Serkis in the Harvey Keitel role and featured a post-Trainspotting Kelly Macdonald as the young girl and a very pre-Downton Elizabeth McGovern in the Sigourney Weaver role of Darlene, the photographer. Sounds good on paper, doesn’t it? But it was pretty much a wash with a British cast doing David Rabe, which demands such strong subtext. Craig made no impression at all - it wasn’t until I found the programme years later that I even realised he was in it. It wasn’t a particularly good piece of casting anyway. I just remember that Andy Serkis was so OTT that the scenery shook and looked like it might fall over when he was going off.

I believe Craig last appeared on the British stage in 2002 at the Royal Court premiere of Caryl Churchill’s A Number with Michael Gambon. The most I heard was that Craig looked gorgeous in a tight white t-shirt.

My title was going to be

THEATRE GOSSIP #459- If We Flick the Beanie, Who'd Do Fanny Better? Edition

Sorry I was late too.

I liked Gold’s collaborations with Annie Baker and LOVED his Glass Menagerie, even if it didn’t fare very well on Broadway. It was still a great production, far better than that nonsense with the sofa that the leaden Cherry Jones was involved in.

I loved the Cherry Jones production. The only bomb in that was the always shitty Celia Keenan-Bolger, who can't fucking act for shit.

The casting for Gold's Glass Menagerie was great, but the concept didn't work and it distracted from the performances and text. The only person I didn't care for was the girl playing Laura. I don't remember her face ever moving. She was so blank and unexpressive.

But Celia Keenan-Bolger is so good doing absolutely nothing of interest in THE GILDED AGE, like a lot of her Bway colleagues.

Nikki Renee Daniels seems to be broadway’s go-to understudy - the new Maureen Moore. It feels like she’s been in everything over the last twenty years.

[quote]My title was going to be: THEATRE GOSSIP #459- If We Flick the Beanie, Who'd Do Fanny Better? Edition

Why would you admit that?

I would have gone with "Should We Send Fanny Packing?"

Celia K-B was excellent in TKAM, and deserved her Tony. Plus she has a cute gay brother with a hot body and girthy dick.

[quote]Plus she has a cute gay brother with a hot body and girthy dick.

Does she include that important fact in her Playbill Bios?

If she was, it would be the first time she ever was. I tend to doubt it.

[quote] Does she include that important fact in her Playbill Bios?

No, but he does.

I just had to get it out r61, and release it to the universe and the theatre gossip thread.

Why does she keep getting cast? She has an interesting face, at least.

[quote]I just had to get it out and release it to the universe

Pics please.

Nikki’s hubby Jeff Kready is an understudy in Company and was on yesterday as well. He stood behind her during the curtain call and he was beaming. So sweet.

Celia KB in MOCKINGBIRD was upstaged by the sofa.

[quote] Beanie could be Bobbie?

Bobbie could be Lucy

Lucy could be Gary

If Beanie and Bobbie and Lucy and Gary could only combine

I could tell you someone who would finally feel just fine.

R53, I saw Daniel Craig and his tight white t-shirt in A Number at the Royal Court in 2002. He was very good (as was Michael Gambon) and did indeed look sexy as hell.

[quote]I liked Gold’s collaborations with Annie Baker and LOVED his Glass Menagerie, even if it didn’t fare very well on Broadway. It was still a great production, far better than that nonsense with the sofa that the leaden Cherry Jones was involved in.

And it's precisely thanks to idiotic, taste-free reactions such as yours that we will keep getting more abominations like Gold's GLASS MENAGERIE. You must be very proud of yourself, you asshole.

I don’t care how big AKB’s dick is; it’s connected to a woodland dwarf.

This BrodyFosse person on BWW -- I don't read there that often, but he seems like he is bipolar in his first praising and overlooking Beanie and basically giving her participation awards for a while, and now, concurring that other actors' faces on stage look like they know Beanie's voice isn't up to the task (he uses stronger words). Is he one of the ringleaders/influencers over there?

Who cares? This is not BWW.

Nikki will be on for the rest of this week and next Thursday and Friday. Assuming one of the other two understudies will be on Tues and Wed. Lenk has Covid.

Covid is about to wreak havoc on NYC again. But they won't shut down.

Sam Gold is that rare director who's better doing original works. Maybe it's because the author is the room, tying his hands. But give him a classic and Jesus Christ what a shitshow. Why do they keep hiring him to do revivals?

Sam Gold's Hamlet was pretty good, especially because he had the sense to get Oscar Isaac out of his pants very quickly.

[quote]Covid is about to wreak havoc on NYC again. But they won't shut down.

Go to hell.

Can you not handle the truth, R81?

Someone said Jane Lynch is a knock for the Tony nomination. Could she usurp the fabulous LuPone and deny her a third?

No word about American Buffalo? I saw the original production and remember nothing about it except the set and the swearing. I had to look up who was in it -- Robert Duvall, Kenneth McMillan and John Savage.

I saw that Hurly Burly in London mentioned upthread but on the West End, only because I was in love with Rupert Graves who starred in it, But he and the revival were awful. I'll have to find my program to find out who else was in the cast, especially if it included Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis and Kelly MacDonald, all of whom I wouldn't have known back then. I'm sure Elizabeth McGovern wasn't in it then because I knew who she was and would remember that.

The BWW chat on Craig, Gold and Macbeth is brutal! Worse than Beanie, Mayer and FG.

Why is Broadway theater so awful these days? Where is the talent? Where are the standards? Sad.

No one wants to give Jane Lynch a Tony.

The B.A.2 variant is indeed poised to hit NYC hard, peaking sometime in May/June. This will definitely cause an impact. Perhaps even force a Tony Awards postponement?

Not even figs… raisins.

I think it’s hysterical. There so many articles about how theatre would be changed forever because of the pandemic and it’s worse than ever. Bad ideas don’t magically go away just because you are stuck at home for two years

If anything, they fester. I can't imagine a worse time for theater than the present. Trite, pandering, mediocre. And the musicals? Fuhgeddaboudit.

Where's passion in the art? Where's discretion of the heart? Where's craft?

I for one welcome a little discussion about ANYTHING besides showtunes.

I mean, Christ.

That's the spirit r61

What about Ruth Negga -- and G-d forbid automatic spell check kicks in on her name. Or someone's pronounciation.

R84 I've read good reviews from people who have seen it on forums. Especially for Rockwell. But that's the showier role, isnt it?

La-la-la, we can't hear you, R88 ...

Not to mention, R90 and R91, that the actually process of going to a Broadway theatre is pretty subpar right now. It’s like going through TSA to even get in the show. Some of the staff are pleasant, but I’ve been to a couple where they are outwardly rude and in weird shower power trips that seem to go well beyond COVID protocol. By the time I get to my seat, I feel like I’ve fought a minor war to get there. It’s fairly unpleasant.

But, nevertheless, Broadway box offices are raking in the millions every week now so don't look for the quality of production to improve. Why risk that?

[quote] in weird shower power trips that seem to go well beyond COVID

So know you have to take a shower to get into a Broadway show? God, where will it end?

When I was in NYC for a couple months last Fall, I saw some of the Covid safety checkers act like assholes (and some who were very nice and polite) but it didn't seem any different to me than the security people they've installed to poke through people's bags over the past decade or so. Or ushers for that matter.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1987, a revival of "Blithe Spirit" starring Richard Chamberlain and Blythe Danner opened at the Neil Simon Theatre.

My niece has already been to two Broadway shows since they reopened and said "they're not playing" where it comes to COVID. Obviously everyone's terrified of getting shut down again and not taking any chances.

Page's last, r102...

NY theatre is not playing with COVID.

Restaurants are over it, gyms are over it, bars are over it. Theatres are the last place left in NYC requiring vaccination and masks.

Is it a pain? Of course. Will it keep NY theatre running through the next COVID surge? Sure hope so.

I can’t believe you girls are going to actually make me go look at BWW

Can you imagine the poor audience being bored not only by Richard Chamberlain but also Blythe Danner? No wonder Geraldine Page died right after, carrying that show on her back. And I'm sure Judy Ivey was no help.

R85, Craig and McGovern didn’t do the commercial transfer to the West End. McGovern was replaced by Patsy Kensit. Don’t think Macdonald transferred either.

The opening scene was also restaged with Rupert Graves passed out on stage with his pants down exposing his ass to the audience. They didn’t do that at the Old Vic. Not sure if it helped much.

Well, it couldn't hurt.

[quote] And I'm sure Judy Ivey was no help.

In her defense, that’s a thankless role. About all the actress can do is look young and dewy and watch everyone else walk away with the show.

LOL look at the sad neurotic introverts rooting for more COVID

R110, you do know Blithe Spirit, right? Ruth Condomine is a great role-and I’d hardly describe her as “young and dewy.”

And, R102, last week it opened in Sydney with drag act Courtney Act as Elvira. I'm seeing it soon. I like Courtney's persona but I'm not sure any of the cast are cut out for Coward's snappy, brittle dialogue, which requires timing akin to Wilde's.

R110, I thought Isla Fisher made Ruth at least as memorable as Elvira in the recent movie. It's intelligent to cast someone with charisma as Elvira but a real comedic actor as Ruth. Coward always said that nobody ever did as good a Private Lives as the original because he knew to cast actors as strong and attractive as Laurence Olivier and Adrienne Allan as Victor and Sibyl, while later directors never saw the significance. I think the same goes for Ruth, and to some extent also Charles, which though a leading role is really a straight man (in the comedy sense) to all the frenzied female characters.

From ATC concerning FG:

"Is there a listing of dates somewhere when the standby will perform?? I'd rather give her a shot at the role."

"Do you get your money back if you paid to see the understudy and Beanie shows up and goes on?"

This could be good.

Geek Chorus or Greek Chorus?

What date is it?

Wow! I'm so excited for that Spider Man reboot. I hear Maggie Smith will be playing Ariadne on a bungee cord!

Beanie’s standby has three scheduled performances at the end of this month or next. Not sure of the dates. And I thought Judith Ivey and Page walked off with Blithe Spirit. Danner was Danner but Richard Chamberlain was awful.

THEATER MANAGER: "At tonight's performance, the role of Fanny Brice will be played by Beanie Feldstein."

AUDIENCE: [goans followed by a stampede to the lobby to get refunds]

Great goans, beautiful goans.

r108, Rupert Graves' bare ass is about all I remember about that West End Hurly Burly mess. And Sir Ian McKellan in the audience and my worries for him over what he'll have to say to Rupert after the show.

And yes, Ruth is the engine that propels Blithe Spirit (esp. Act I) but it is nevertheless a rather thankless role in that the audience will always be enamored with Elvira, as it should be.

Nonsense. Constance Cummings and Claudette Colbert disproved that notion. Hermione Norris was also well reviewed in one of the recent revivals.

I'm not talking of reviews, r123, I'm speaking of audience adulation.

Thumbs up to R122 who managed to include a reference to the musical "High Spirits" as people post about "Blithe Spirit." I love the score to that show.

` you need no drinks, you need no smokes, you need no aspirins in your cokes, no benzadrine in your - Ovaltine

Speaking of High Spirits, Louise Troy was perfection as Ruth.

Thankless roles don't get good notices for the actors playing it, over and over.

[quote]LOL look at the sad neurotic introverts rooting for more COVID.

Exactly. Pathetic, isn't it?

I'll confess I gasped at the "news item" at R115, but then I immediately remembered today's date.

[quote] No wonder Geraldine Page died right after, carrying that show on her back. And I'm sure Judy Ivey was no help.

Page didn’t carry the show on her back, she was one of the problems. Judith Ivey, on the other hand, was a terrific Ruth, and the best performance in the show.

Page, by the way, died during the run, not afterward. Her body was discovered after she missed two Saturday performances. Her understudy, Patricia Connolly, played the final two weeks of the run.

Charles Isherwood is the new Wall Street Journal critic and he still writes badly now in a bigger medium.

The story goes Geraldine Page missed the Saturday matinee. Someone was sent to her Chelsea apartment. Her son yelled out the window his mother wasn’t feeling well. It turned out she had died in her sleep and the poor kid was waiting for Rip Torn to come back later that day from a trip.

Anyone know anything about her sons? The daughter we know has maintained her mother's memory in a number of ways.

1986 Tonys

I saw Daniel Craig in Angels in America at the National Theatre back in the day. He was superb.

Why would the son pretend she hadn't died?

The son was, shall we say, developmentally challenged. All that apparently was in his head was wait for his dad and he’ll deal with it.

Plus, she was famous, you dont blurt it out for fear of the news spreading until those that need to know are notified.

[quote]Charles Isherwood is the new Wall Street Journal critic and he still writes badly now in a bigger medium.

I did not know that. Very sorry to hear it.

DeuxMoi is reporting that Paradise Square is a “dumpster fire behind the scenes” and “a serious lack of funds are bringing into question if the show will even be able to open.”

That was the story three weeks ago, r140, but then there were all sorts of denials.

Every little breeze seems to wheesper...

I don’t under the insistence on making this the antique theater thread.

R143 Are you new here?

Nothing is new here

[quote]I don’t under the insistence on making this the antique theater thread.

I'm over it.

Slowly I turned, step by step ...

Someone said Stephen Sondheim was sick. Has anybody heard anything?

Poor Malcolm.

yes, r148...hes on the roof and we cant get him down.

Faster than...

Four more weeks until the end of the season.

Why did Larry not go to Broadway with A Strange Loop?

Can Beanie sing this?

So what do we think about Beanie and the nomination. I think the season is so slim Pickens that she will likely be nominated despite shiteous word of mouth and ho-hum reviews

Do they have to fill out categories?

I don't understand, r155.

Ariana Debose and Rachel Zegler apparently unfollowed each other on IG and Twitter

Thanks, r154. That was a treat.

Oh God, WTF with giving Isherwood a platform? he was so tired and bitchy at The Times, and now we have to read his crap again. He gives whole new dimensions to words "jaded queen." And its pretty obvious he has no honor or class; wasn't he emailing with Rudin about giving his shows good reviews, and The Times found out? And The Wall Street Journal hires him with so many other interesting writers out there? Christ...

Rachel Zegler gives me bad vibes for some reason. Maybe Eve Harrington vibes.

R144 - R146... it's really that Everything Old is New Again.

And wow, Isherwood is no Terry Teachout... do you think he'll travel the country reviewing shows as Terry did?

But they were so lovey-dovey at the BAFTA awards!! Ariana called Rachel and Mike Faist "my babies."

Ariana seems really genuine, but she's also ten years older than Rachel Zegler - plus, she's been working professionally for years. Been there, done that. I think she's just more grounded than Rachel Zegler. Hopefully they make it up.

Yes, it was a thrill to read Teachout's report on My Fair Lady by the Cree Indian Marching and Chowder Society, with a cast of eight accompanied by a tin whistle and three kazoos and learn that this was the greatest theatrical experience of the century.

[quote]I don’t under the insistence on making this the antique theater thread.

People complain because we're talking too much about Beanie. People complain about the discussions of old musicals.

"Isherwood is no Terry Teachout"

Neither was Terry Teachout. A tone-deaf tin-eared critic when it came to musicals.

[quotes]wasn't he emailing with Rudin about giving his shows good reviews, and The Times found out?

That's what made it into print but the rumors were even worse.

[Quote] the rumors were even worse.

And they would be…………?

What happened to the young actress who played Guinevere in the 1980 revival with Richard Burton? It was a “Do Not Talk About” thing in my neighborhood in high school. I moved there a few years after the fact - she had been a “hometown Leading Lady” and there was a lot of excitement. At the last minute Christine Ebersole replaced her. Nobody really mentioned it after that.

[Quote] Ariana Debose and Rachel Zegler apparently unfollowed each other on IG and Twitter

Is it related to that tweet r158? How do you know they unfollowed each other? I think de Bose is trouble

DeBose seems like a real phony cunt to me. I don't necessarily condone the behavior Zegler exhibited about being invited to the Oscars, but I also wouldn't be surprised if it was cooked up by her publicists or a publicist from the film. I know nothing about Zegler except her performance, which was 100x better than DeBose's.

R171 Fuck off Rachel, you are shit, and your final scene was shit.

I like DeBose. She’s the real thing talent wise. I think she’s Lso just feeling her oats. To essentially sweep awards season - that’s gotta be a big deal to someone who was in the chorus six or seven years ago.

I love the vintage tidbits and nostalgia here. I would just really like to see it in a vintage theater gossip thread separate from the one discussing and dishing the 15 new shows or so that are coming our way

Can't wait to hear reports on The Skin of Our Teeth which begins previews tongith!

DeBose was sooooooo bad in The Prom. Of course, the entire enterprise was shite.

Isn't this like the first year that two POCs won Oscars among the actors? And Will Smith fucked it up!

R177 And two queer actors.

[quote] Isn't this like the first year that two POCs won Oscars among the actors?

No.

Zegler and Debose both suck. Get em outta here.

Fever

Why did Fenella Fieldng get fired from the London "High Spirits"? It's strange that they brought in a Canadian to replace her.

Is that a new production, r182? They’re doing High Spirits in London?

[quote] Isn't this like the first year that two POCs won Oscars among the actors?

As a matter of fact, it happened last year:

Daniel Kaluuya: Best Supporting Actor

Youn Yuh-jung: Best Supporting Actress

Watch out! Skin of our Teeth began previews tonight at Vivian Beaumont.

Soon to be the most talked about play on Broadway

No. Fenella Fielding was cast as Elvira in the original London production of "High Spirits." Her career was flying high over there at the time. I don't think the replacement performer was known (or is known) there much at all.

[quote] that’s gotta be a big deal to someone who was in the chorus six or seven years ago.

I was NEVER in the chorus!

Marti Stevens, renowned jazz singer and lesbiatrix, replaced Fenella Fielding during rehearsals of High Spirits. No reason was given.

Hugh really needs to put on 10 or 15lbs.

I'm #TeamDeBose.

That Zegler bitch seems shady.

What’s in Beanie’s snack purse?

[r191] Kentucky Fried Chicken all white meat, plus a buttered biscuit

Macbeth was canceled last night after a cast member contracted Covid.

Supposedly the cancellation was only announced to the seated Macbeth audience at 8:15! Why do they wait so long to determine if they're cancelling? That's so rude to the audiences. I really don't get it.

The curse of the Scottish Play.

[quote]Supposedly the cancellation was only announced to the seated Macbeth audience at 8:15! Why do they wait so long to determine if they're cancelling? That's so rude to the audiences. I really don't get it.

I don't get that either. This happened several times at the height of the Omicron variant, and it was tremendously bad press for Broadway that these people don't have proper protocol in place to AT LEAST give several hours notice of a cancellation. I frankly thought Broadway might never recover from such nonsense, and I thought it was over, but every time it happens again, it's very, very bad for all shows.

Seating usually starts at half-hour, which is when everyone backstage is required to have checked in. They probably covid test at check in. So people are seated before they know they have to cancel.

HOUSE MANAGER: "We regret to inform you that tonight's performance of Funny Girl has been canceled due to COVID."

AUDIENCE: [cheering]

[quote]Seating usually starts at half-hour, which is when everyone backstage is required to have checked in. They probably covid test at check in.

That is often the case, r197, except crew is in an hour and a half before curtain. In many cases, actors are as well. Testing is sometimes done offsite preshow. The answer is, imo, not testing earlier in the day, but more understudies/crew subs. Either option is expensive but having more replacements available would assure zero cancellations.

R183 you never have to ask that question, we are [italic] always [/italic] talking about the original production, usually the pre-Aristotle tryout.

The producers of Funny Girl are probably paying for people with Covid to go to Beanie's apartment building and cough on her in the elevator.

I agree that the answer is more understudies and crew subs. However, I understand that understudies are currently allowed to cover more than one show, because the available talent pool is stretched thin. It’s probably the same with crew.

But if the theater wants to test cast and crew personally as they enter backstage (as seems to be the case), half hour is the earliest they can expect full results.

I’m pretty sure that they can’t just call them in early, as half hour is a union thing.

They probably have not had time for understudy rehearsals yet.

Yes, I believe I read (on Twitter?) that since it's their fourth preview, the understudy wasn't prepared to go on, likely not having rehearsed the part at all. They may have been trying to figure out if they could make it work right up until the time they canceled.

Oh, this wasn't the Tweet I saw, but I guess the official production Twitter account said the same thing.

Though, with a positive Covid test in the company, you'd think Craig and Negga would have worn masks to face the audience like Gold did?

When shows are canceled, do people who bought their tickets from a third party for $1,000+ get screwed and only get the face value of the ticket?

Yep r207.

And then it is up to you to hunt down that fucking third party and kill him.

I remember having tickets to Macbeth at the Globe in 1610 or 1611 and there was a bit of nasty plague going around and they did just canceleth the show at the lasteth minute and we bombarded the rogues with melons and mugs of mead. .

[r206] Jesus who got drunk and dressed all three of those people for the curtain speech?

I can't pretend to know what's going on with DeBose and Rachel Whatsername, but I'm beginning to believe that Rachel needs to make friends with the truth. If she gives one more interview talking about her Dear Friend Steve Sondheim who told her she sings "like a nightengale" I will puke. I can't imagine him saying that to anyone. She's at least a shameless self-promoter.

As Sondheim got very old I think he became very generous in his opinions and what he would allow in the staging of his shows so perhaps he did say that.

I agree that "like a nightingale" doesn't sound like Sondheim, even if he may have complimented her. Sounds more like Hammerstein!

Jesus, ladies, calm down. COVID is still a nightmare administratively, and what often happens is a crew/cast member has gotten lazy and not taken their home test, or gone to one of the centers, so the company COVID officer is forced to test once they get to the theatre. If its an antigen positive, they need to do a rapid PCR and the two together can take more than 30 minutes. Plus, the stage management team is concurrently trying to figure out all the scenarios on how to do the show that night, and it's all a clusterfuck. Those Stage managers at COMPANY deserve this year's special TONY, imho. So yes, the audience was seated and inconvenienced, but it's a FUCKING PANDEMIC.

And it's The Scottish Play.

[quote]I agree that the answer is more understudies and crew subs. However, I understand that understudies are currently allowed to cover more than one show, because the available talent pool is stretched thin. It’s probably the same with crew.

I don't think understudies can cover more than one show, r202. I believe that understudies - and definitely standbys - are paid to be available at a moments' notice. I think understudies are already in the show, performing another role, yet prepared to cover another.

As to crew replacements? They are trained, but since they are not paid to be, are not literally waiting in the wings as stand-bys are. They have to be called in.

My Man did not replace The Music that Makes Dance in the film of Funny Girl. It replaced a very defiant reprise of Don't Rain on My Parade which ended the show. This is part of why Styne was so angry. He wanted to end with Fanny as an indomitable survivor not a teary eyed my man is gone now woman. I'm sure he also didn't like it because they ended it with a song that wasn't his. But it IS a great ending.

Still he said it was the best film adaption of one of his shows.

[quote]As Sondheim got very old I think he became very generous in his opinions and what he would allow in the staging of his shows so perhaps he did say that.

Seems to me that Sondheim in his later years would approve and speak well of any productions of his shows, even the weirdest ones, as long as he was involved in or at least approved of whatever production concepts and/or changes to the material were involved. And he began to greenlight even weirder productions the older he got, apparently because having the shows revived at all in major venues was of paramount importance to him.

[quote]My Man did not replace The Music that Makes Dance in the film of Funny Girl. It replaced a very defiant reprise of Don't Rain on My Parade which ended the show. T

That's not completely true. "My Man" replaced "The Music That Makes Me Dance" in the sense that it was one diegetic torch song replacing another, regardless of the exact placement in the show. There is no equivalent to the "Don't Rain on My Parade" reprise in the movie.

But it makes the endings polar opposites.

To anyone suggesting that Sondheim became generous with compliments in his last years May I remind all of you that he told me to MY face during an interview that I am not a star and no one outside of the theatre knows who I am?

Well Patti it's true.

r214, the Company crew has definitely done an amazing job. I just hope they can make it through the next week. Now Lenk, Simard, Sieber, Fitzgerald, Doyle, Benson, and Narayan are all out, plus Dickey from the understudies. They don't have much leeway left if anyone else tests positive.

Patti at R220, Steve simply was not aware of your stellar career in television chasing Corky to remind him to "clean up" after using the restroom.

And then the old fool took my picture with a flash camera!

[quote]Anyone know anything about her sons?

Tony Torn is a terrific NYC downtown theater actor.

[quote] I don't think understudies can cover more than one show, [R202]. I believe that understudies - and definitely standbys - are paid to be available at a moments' notice. I think understudies are already in the show, performing another role, yet prepared to cover another.

Sorry, you’re right. I meant standbys, not understudies

[quote] To anyone suggesting that Sondheim became generous with compliments in his last years May I remind all of you that he told me to MY face during an interview that I am not a star and no one outside of the theatre knows who I am?

He may have been generous with his compliments, but he was still a truth-teller

Yes, he was.

Does anyone remember the show he left at intermission a few years ago? Was it Head Over Heels?

[quote]I don't think understudies can cover more than one show, [[R202]]. I believe that understudies - and definitely standbys - are paid to be available at a moments' notice. I think understudies are already in the show, performing another role, yet prepared to cover another.

[quote]Sorry, you’re right. I meant standbys, not understudies

Standbys are quite literally hired to "stand by", r226. They can be released after the show begins but are occasionally called back in an emergency. Case in point, Nancy Hess had been released when Uta Lemper left CHICAGO midshow. The curtain was rung down for 15 minutes while Hess cabbed back to the theater. I don't see how a standby can cover more than one show. They are in the theater ay half hour.

No such safety net exists with crew. Crew members can sub on multiple shows, but that makes sense, as they are not compensated to be available.

r228, it supposedly happened at Be More Chill.

[quote] I don't see how a standby can cover more than one show.

I swear I read that somewhere around January when Broadway was just opening up, but now I can’t find it. So I withdraw the statement. R202

So despite claiming she wanted to go to support WSS, seems Rachel didn't take any photos with anyone from WSS while at the Oscars - only with her gay boyfriend.

Also, she posted her little Britney skit on the same night Ariana did SNL.

Zegler is a nasty fake cunt who thinks she's a star and yes her boyfriend is as gay as it gets. Do they think they're fooling anyone.

Thanks, r230.

Well, they're certainly not fooling DeBose, R233.

For anyone interested in such things, someone's posting dozens of photos of Sondheim on IG ("Sondheim Photos"), seemingly someone with access to SS's own files. Very generous. Anyone know who?

[quote]I swear I read that somewhere around January when Broadway was just opening up, but now I can’t find it. So I withdraw the statement. [R202]

I think you meant that for r229 (me) and thanks.

[quote][R228], it supposedly happened at Be More Chill.

That must have devastated Jennifer Ashley Tepper

Taron Egerton backs away from Cock.

What is going on with Craig's face in that pic at R207? Looks like all filler w/ pointy cheeks.

Sorry R238, I think you mean, "IN A FIRST, Taron Egerton backs away from COCK."

R238 So in other words the claims of illness and then covid was bullshit

Sa w COCK (better call it COCK TEASE) in London last week with Taron's so so understudy but, even with Jonny Bailey doing yeoman work (he never leaves the stage in an intermissionless and entirely clothed 2 hours) that silly play stinks to high heaven. I think Taron finally realized it and also realized he was just a supporting player in spite of his top billing. I bet it will fold soon, deservedly so.

I asked in the last thread and never got an answer but can anyone tell me if Cornet Man in the stage FG serves the same purpose dramatically as Roller Skate Rag in the FG film, i.e. allowing Fanny to accidentally on purpose upstage everyone and shock them all with her unexpected talent? I could never tell from the OBC recording as the entire number seems to be a calculated star turn on all parts.

TIA!.

thanks for the heads up, r236. Wish they were annotated. I'm particularly interested in finding what he was doing with Mary Martin.

So what you're saying, R242, is that COCK was flaccid?

It sounds like Taron has had his fill of COCK.

Daniel Craig Contracts Covid-19, Cancels ‘Macbeth’ Performances On Broadway:

Is this going to be the excuse for every out-of-their-league actor on Broadway now? "Oh, gee, I'm really sorry I can no longer play Mary Tyrone. I have COVID, you see."

[quote]"Oh, gee, I'm really sorry I can no longer play Mary Tyrone. I have COVID, you see."

They're paying to see *you*, Harvey. Now get out there and do your stuff.

R243, don't know for sure but I believe Coronet Man is just a full-fledged Ziegfield number in the show.

Where was the placement of the cut roller skating number?

Cornet Man isn't even listed in the wiki synopsis. A brief setup reads:

[quote]Fanny convinces Eddie she has talent and he Agrees to teach her the specialty for the next Audition. She gets the job.

[quote] I asked in the last thread and never got an answer but can anyone tell me if Cornet Man in the stage FG serves the same purpose dramatically as Roller Skate Rag in the FG film, i.e. allowing Fanny to accidentally on purpose upstage everyone and shock them all with her unexpected talent? I could never tell from the OBC recording as the entire number seems to be a calculated star turn on all parts.

There's a middle section of "Cornet Man" that is not on the recording. I used to have a copy of the orchestral score, and the chorus is doing a fast paced dance and singing something like "chick chicken scramble." I think this is the section that Fanny sabotages, only to then walk off with the big finish of the number.

Oh come on, the headline should be

TARON EGERTON PULLS OUT OF COCK

Taron Egerton's Cock Withdrawal

[quote]There's a middle section of "Cornet Man" that is not on the recording. I used to have a copy of the orchestral score, and the chorus is doing a fast paced dance and singing something like "chick chicken scramble." I think this is the section that Fanny sabotages, only to then walk off with the big finish of the number.

I don't think that's completely correct. Here's what I remember of the sequence, from when I was in a community theater production of FUNNY GIRL years ago: The sequence starts with Eddie Ryan performing a dance to a jazzed up version of, believe it or not, an aria from the opera SAMSON AND DELILAH. Then the chorus girls come on and do a frenetic, up-tempo dance, then the tempo slows drastically and Fanny emerges to sing "Cornet Man," then the chorus girls start dancing again (that's when they sing "chick-chicken scramble," whatever the fuck that means), and then Fanny sings the ending of "Cornet Man." As noted above, much of that was left off of the cast album.

So, to answer the question, Fanny does not screw up during "Cornet Man" in the Broadway show as she screws up the "Roller Skate Rag" in the movie.

Oh, and the person upthread who thinks "Cornet Man" is a Ziegfeld Follies number is very confused. It takes place at Keeney's.

I just saw r2, which completely cracked me up as a reference to our new “greatest star.”

That chicken scramble thing is in the video of the original Broadway production with Streisand that was to be used as reference for the staging of the London production. It is very bizarre in terms of the music and the staging and you can't help but think what the hell is going on? Maybe it played out better if you were watching the production at the Winter Garden.

As described above:

TARON has had enough COCK.

So glad everyone is doing away with the mask mandates and vaccine mandates because Covid is clearly over!

I was coming home on the 1 train about 5:30 pm today and some tourists got on at 50th Street. They were carrying Funny Girl plastic cups. Is this show like a baseball game where if you buy a drink they put it in a team embossed plastic cup?

Don't care how Cornet Man is used. It's one of my favorite songs on the album. And shudder to think how it's rendered by Beanie.

The monaural and stereo LPs had different takes of "Cornet Man."

So, what's going to happen to Macbeth? Will it still make its April 28 opening, or is this production down for the count?

IIRC Nicky Arnstein is in the audience during Cornet Man and comes back stage to meet Fanny for the first time.

"Nicky Arnstein , Nicky Arnstein!

What a beautiful, beautiful name!"

Scene; My first ruffled shirt, etc. etc.

Then:

"Nicky Arnstein, Nicky Arnstein!

I'll never see him.....again."

Etc. etc.

r266, no, Daniel Craig will make a remarkable, valiant and, most importantly, BRAVE return to the stage just in the nick of time for Tony cut-off and win himself a Tony.

It is a terrific song. Funny Girl is on the whole a terrific score and people are fools if they think it only has 4 good numbers.

Unless he dies of Covid R268.

McB cancelled through Thursday.

I'm an older millennial. Never seen the movie or show. Only know of it's legendary status connection to Barbra Streisand. Anyway I put on the OBCR while I did stuff in the house and I thought it was kind of a dud. Barbra is amazing vocalist of course but it didn't sound very memorable. I'm learning about the history in this thread. I know "My Man" and like that song. The original ending does sound more empowering. Can you imagine Beanie butchering that one night after night.

[quote]Funny Girl is on the whole a terrific score and people are fools if they think it only has 4 good numbers.

Not quite. The music is uniformly wonderful throughout the show. Some of the lyrics are fine, but others are piss-poor -- "People," "Don't Rain on My Parade," etc. -- though most people don't notice how bad they are because the music is so great.

I don't see a problem with Don't Rain On My Parade. Could you point out some lyrics are bad? A couple of the other songs have some bad moments but not enough to sink the songs because they also have some wonderful lyrics in them. Merrill did a far worse job in Sugar which is strange because his lyrics can be pretty funny.

I'm not R273, but let's have a look:

Don't tell me not to live

Just sit and putter

Life's candy and the sun's

A ball of butter

Don't bring around a cloud

To rain on my parade

Don't tell me not to fly

I've simply got to

If someone takes a spill

It's me and not you

Who told you you're allowed

To rain on my parade?!

So far, so good. I don't love "sit and putter," but it's fine. Then we come to this:

I'll march my band out

I'll beat my drum

And if I'm fanned out

Your turn at bat, sir

At least I didn't fake it

Hat, sir, I guess I didn't make it!

Err... what? What does "fanned out" mean? Whose turn at bat? Hat, sir... WHAT?

Ooh, life is juicy

Juicy, and you see

I gotta have my bite, sir!

Some of this feels like a "placeholder" (much like Paul McCartney's "Scrambled Eggs" for "Yesterday")--only Bob Merrilll never made the trip back to finish the job.

r237

Jennifer Ashley Tepper is such a meskite she makes Beanie look like Zendaya.

[quote]For anyone interested in such things, someone's posting dozens of photos of Sondheim on IG ("Sondheim Photos"), seemingly someone with access to SS's own files. Very generous. Anyone know who?

"They did WHAT to Bobby??"

[quote]For anyone interested in such things, someone's posting dozens of photos of Sondheim on IG ("Sondheim Photos"), seemingly someone with access to SS's own files. Very generous. Anyone know who?

The NY Times honored Sondheim with a complimentary neck tattoo upon completion of his 1,000th Sunday NY Times crossword puzzle... in ink.

In addition to all the issues pointed out above, it's very hard to sing all those phrases that descend to the basement: "just sit and butter," "a ball of butter," "I've simply got to," and so on. Which is probably why, almost from the beginning, Streisand started to change the melody for those sections and sing very different options. Of course, in fairness, this particular issue is Styne's as well as Merrill's.

As for "People," first of all, Styne and Merrill should never have asked the singer to repeatedly sustain a note while singing the second syllable of the word "people," because that vowel sound is unstressed. Oh, and Merrill should probably have avoided using the expression "single-o," since it was outdated even in 1964, and today VERY few people know what it means.

"People" sounds like a song written at another time and squeezed into the show because they needed another ballad. I remember reading that Styne expected Sinatra to record it, but Ol' Blue Eyes just didn't like it.

R276 Fanned out is another way of saying struck out; it’s a baseball term

That Sondheim photo IG seems to be running out of personal photos and memorabilia. The more recent postings come from stock services or other sources, like Lapine and the NYT. Great while it lasted, though.

[quote]Fanned out is another way of saying struck out; it’s a baseball term

Fine, but those lyrics are still a mess because they're all over the place in terms of references to bands, baseball, food, flying, etc.

"Just take me and Dave

Dave is still her slave."

Who the hell is Dave??

Presumably, Dave is Mrs. S's husband. Though I'm not sure if an old Jewish man living in the 1910s or '20s would have used that nickname.

"Life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter" always struck me as stupid. A hot flaming ball of butter does not sound like something good.

And in another song "Kid, my heart ain't made of marble / But your rhythm's really horr'ble" is one of the worst rhymes in Broadway history.

Isn’t “Don’t Rain on My Parade” a lesser version of “Some People”

“Don’t tell me not to live just sit and putter”

“Some people can get a thrill knitting sweaters and sitting still.”

What is the Sondheim photo Instagram handle?

[Quote] What is the Sondheim photo Instagram handle?

Oh come on, r290. First of all, it’s right in r236’s post—

[Quote] For anyone interested in such things, someone's posting dozens of photos of Sondheim on IG ("Sondheim Photos"), seemingly someone with access to SS's own files. Very generous. Anyone know who?

Or (bear with me here, I’ll go slow) you could just go to IG and type “s-o-n-d-h-e-i-m” then [italic] space [/italic] then “p-h-o-t-o-s” and see what magic happens!!!!

But single o was a term from Fanny's time and I'll bet a lot of the middle aged and older people who were going to see the show in 1964 still knew what it meant. It was also used in Ain't Misbehavin in the 70s and I doubt the creators were worried people wouldn't know what it meant.

Clamma for my drama is I admit pretty terrible. And yeah marble and horr'ble has to be one of the worst.

[quote]I'll march my band out / I'll beat my drum / And if I'm fanned out / Your turn at bat, sir

The jolting shift in metaphors is very sloppy. Anything for a rhyme.

When I saw Streisand in concert at MSG in the 90s she sang Parade(wonderfully) and did not seem to have any problem singing those lyrics to the melody as written. Styne was in the audience.

From time to time, if you tap the circular icon in the left corner of "Sondheim Photos" you'll get easter eggs--old vinyl demos, video snippets, whatever.

[quote]When I saw Streisand in concert at MSG in the 90s she sang Parade(wonderfully) and did not seem to have any problem singing those lyrics to the melody as written. Styne was in the audience.

Incorrect. From the beginning, she has often sung variations on the melody of the sections of the song that accompany the lyrics "just sit and putter," "I've simply got to," "rose of sheer perfection," etc. The most obvious example is how, for the soundtrack of the film, Streisand sang "rose of sheer perfectSHUN!, a freckle on the nose of life's complekSHUN!" I very much doubt that she reverted to singing all of those lines as written in the '90s.

[Quote] if you tap the circular icon in the left corner of "Sondheim Photos" you'll get easter eggs--old vinyl demos, video snippets, whatever.

R295 FYI those are called Instagram Stories. They last 24 hours

[r291] This is Betty Lynn again and as I had suspected, I have been yet again left out of this tribute page as usual. Therefore I am no longer interested in how to find the page. Thank you for your assistance.

I don’t know why I spent all those years recording his songs, only to be forgotten by his fans.

Yes she sang it like on the album but tion sounds exactly like shun when spoken or sung so I'm not seeing a problem. Maybe if you are a musician you have seen the vocal score and where she deviates. Styne did not have a problem with it or he threw up his hands.

Thanks,, R297

Wasn't all of that emphasis on the SHUN supposed to mimic the sound of the train chugging its way to Nicky Arnstein?

If you listen to the original version, she doesn't emphasize the shun, but she goes up, just the way you would say the words. I agree that Merrill's lyrics are pretty bad, but they work for the most part because they sing so well, they flow beautifully. When I first heard the score as a child, I had no idea what most of the lyrics meant but they sounded right.

But why are people who need people so lucky?

People who get understudies are the luckiest people in the world.

$5,000.00 Buy it Now price...

Remembering that time Stephen Sondheim won a Grammy for Song of the Year

Saw Company with Daniels as Bobbie last night. She's very different from Lenk, and while I enjoyed Lenk's take overall, I think I preferred Daniels (and those who had complaints about Lenk will likely find Daniels addresses their criticisms). She's a much warmer, more likable Bobbie, and it was much more believable that she would be friends with all these people (and they would be friends with each other). I would recommend going to see her, though the other understudy is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, and I'm a little concerned whether they'll be able to make it through the next week before the usual cast returns, if anyone else tests positive. It seemed like they were using everybody possible, and didn't have enough New Yorkers to use the letters in "Another Hundred People." They only used the NYC, pushed them into place in the center of the otherwise empty stage, and Conte was left to stand downstage center and sing the number without much movement. None of the New Yorkers were onstage moving around, so there was no one for him to interact with but Bobbie. Not terrible, just a bit sad. Still a strong production and good show.

[Quote] why are people who need people so lucky?

Because some of them are sexy, needy people.

[Quote] The monaural and stereo LPs had different takes of "Cornet Man."

Dusty Springfield's first LP, from 1964, has this issue as well. Was the stereo version of "Funny Girl" released months later than the mono LP or something?

Betty Lynn, did you forget I asked you not to do my work if you won't do it as I wrote it?

Let's face it. The (many) flaws in those FG lyrics are pretty much negated by Barbra's powerhouse singing. She makes you believe they're just fine.

I hope Egerton isn't seriously ill. He's not known for walking out on productions.

R288 "What will my parents say? How can I go in there and say," - Lin Manuel ("Breathe")

He didn't even try. Haha. Or when he has a DOMINICAN in Washington heights reference Cole Porter. Haha. "Like my man Cole Porter said..."

Apparently, the Funny Girl cast is doing that HIGH-larious encore bit of pretending they think Beanie is coming from the opposite side of the stage after EVERY performance.

Oh, what fun.

It's amateur in every way. Like a high school talent show.

Collins says she wasn't at the Grammys when Clowns won but I was so sure she accepted for him.

They've never even nominated him before, R268, and they've had several opportunities. I doubt he'll even get nominated for Macbeth which is a notoriously humbling experience for actors on B'way. (Yes, we're all looking at you, Kelsey Grammar.)

All of them are easily understood idiomatic phrases.

"fanned out": not up to the job, didn't cut the mustard, so let someone else ("you") take their turn at bat. And you grab your hat as you exit the playing field.

See? Not so tough.

A fine, dynamic and terse lyric. No wonder Styne was inspired.

I used to think the lyric was “and if I’m fanned out” was actually “and if I’m FOUND out” and Streisand was just doing some jazzy vowel thing with it. Plus I’d never heard the term “fanned out” before.

Poor Beanie. She even sings fat.

I assumed it meant that she was on the verge of collapse and had to be removed with people fanning her.

I think the lyrics of "Don't Rain On My Parade" work in context. Fanny is wild again.

[quote]Yes she sang it like on the album but tion sounds exactly like shun when spoken or sung so I'm not seeing a problem. Maybe if you are a musician you have seen the vocal score and where she deviates. Styne did not have a problem with it or he threw up his hands.

You completely missed my point, which has nothing to do with pronuncation. Those lyrics -- "just sit and putter," "a rose of sheer perfection," etc. -- are all written to be sung as descending melodic phrases, with the last note as the lowest. But if you sing them that way, the lyrics at the end of each line tend to get lost, so Streisand devised other ways of singing, or shouting, those words to make them understood. Again, this particular problem was the responsibility of both Styne and Merrill.

[quote]All of them are easily understood idiomatic phrases. "Fanned out": not up to the job, didn't cut the mustard, so let someone else ("you") take their turn at bat. And you grab your hat as you exit the playing field. See? Not so tough. A fine, dynamic and terse lyric. No wonder Styne was inspired.

In order to support your opinion, you conveniently failed to address the messy, willy-nilly mixing of metaphors from one phrase to the next in the lyrics: "life's candy and the sun's a ball of butter," "don't tell me not to fly," "I'll march my band out, I'll beat my drum," "Your turn at bat sir," "My heart's a drummer," and so on. If you don't consider that a flaw in the writing, we'll just have to disagree on that.

P.S. In what sport(s) do the players grab their hats while exiting the playing field? I've always thought it was more a reference to someone being handed their hat when asked to leave a place, but even that's a messy reference because of the way it's phrased. "Hat, sir? I guess I didn't make it?" Really?

"If you don't consider that a flaw in the writing, we'll just have to disagree on that."

It's a list song, darling. And I was referring to any "playing field," not just a baseball diamond.

[Quote] we'll just have to disagree on that.

But do you both have to do it here continually and ad infinitum?

Juice Newton did the same thing on her version of "Angel of the Morning."

R325, what you wrote was, "You grab your hat as you exit the playing field." So I'll ask again, in what sport(s) do players grab their hats as they exit the playing field? And if you're referring not to sports but to "the playing field of life," then the lyric is confusing because it comes right after "Your turn at bat, sir" -- whatever the hell that means.

And I know "Don't Rain on My Parade" is a list song. But in my opinion, if you mix references to food, baseball, marching bands, flying, and so on with no logic or transitions, you have a messy lyric.

Did the understudy go on last night at "Funny Girl"?

Who is the understudy?

I think the main standby is Julie Benko; I've seen some clips of her, and she is really quite good. I'd rather see her. There may be another understudy or standby listed as well.

Oh, yeah. Someone posted her jazz/standards album trailer. It didn't give Fanny.

She does look like a Fanny. Seems rather cookie cutter in her singing.

[quote]Fanny is wild again.

Beguiled again. A simpering, whimpering child again.

Here's Julie Benko doing "Matchmake" -- so singing a song a Jewish girl like Fanny Brice might have sung. She's quite good, and also does some really nice jazz riffing, which could bring a fresh approach to Fanny if she used it judiciously on part of a song or two. She's a much better singer than Beanie.

"Matchmaker", correction

[quote]why are people who need people so lucky?

"People who need people" are "lucky" because they need people and want relationships, as opposed to bitter old hags who are content to sit alone in their caftans writing bitchy things on an anonymous website.

That said, it really is a muddled lyric because it has a double meaning. "People who need people" could also refer to people who desperately want to be with other people but are unable to connect with them, for whatever reason.

If it's a double meaning, surely the "lucky" part ceases to work.

I meant that it's an unintended double meaning, R338. And if that's how you interpret the meaning, then, no, the "lucky" part doesn't work.

I refuse to discuss this show while Elizabeth Greer Feldstein continues to refer to herself as ‘Beanie.’ For fucks sake.

What about from Bye Bye Birdie:

One boy to laugh with, to joke with, have Coke with.

But you have no problem with Totie Fields or Nipsey Russell.

We'll certainly miss your insights, r340!

Here's a swingin' version of 'Parade' by Bobby Darin. Obviously he's no match vocally for Babs, but he sells the shit out of it with that arrangement.

It does reveal how tricky (clunky) some of those lyrics are to put over...but a winning performance!

[quote]That said, it really is a muddled lyric because it has a double meaning. "People who need people" could also refer to people who desperately want to be with other people but are unable to connect with them, for whatever reason.

Also, first we're told that "people who need people are the luckiest people in the world," then we're told more specifically that "lovers" are "very special people, they're the luckiest people in the world." Surely, the wording could have been more clear, less repetitious.

Someone please start talking about Follies.

There used to be a big stage show at Opryland which chronicled historical events. At one point, the narrator said," In 1967 Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed the first human heart transplant." The lights went up on the stage and a young woman began to sing," People, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world." Several audience members laughed out loud at the song choice. Maybe they wanted, " You Gotta Have Heart."

God Darin was terrific. Get his Copa album. His Love for Sale is sensational.

I thought the lyric was “and if I’m panned out” which makes sense, especially for a performer.

Would you rather the lyric be "One boy to laugh with, to joke with, DO coke with"?

[quote] and today VERY few people know what it means.

Well, now’s their change to learn something. Merrill was writing to period in that single-o lyric, and there’s nothing wrong with doing that.

Darin is superb in his Oscar-nominated role in "Captain Newman, M.D.", too.

Saw it. That’s a hard no.

That's the way *I've* always sung it, r350. Along with:

One boy,

one special boy

One boy to thrill me,

to fill me,

to drill me

Do you think about Andy Gibb when you sing it?

There are dicks, just ripe for some kissin'/And I mean to kiss me a few/Man, those dicks don't know what they're missin'!/I got a lot of livin' to do!

KIDS! What the fuck is wrong with these kids today?

[quote] "people who need people are the luckiest people in the world," "lovers, they're the luckiest people in the world."

Make up your fucking mind.

Agreed R348 -- a criminally underrated talent. If he had a better heart, I imagine Darin could've done some real damage on Broadway in a star vehicle.

There was an Australian jukebox musical on his life that got raves...would be interesting to see it come to NYC. Though casting it could be tricky. You don't want any 'legit' contemporary Broadway voices going near his diverse catalogue.

Jonathan Groff did a concert as Darin at the 92nd St Y. He was great as Groff, but he was no Darin.

"Messes and messes of young DDS's" Surely they could have fixed that out of town.

Christ, R351 thinks she's SJP in that Annie documentary.

R360 -- I also saw Groff at the 92Y. I love Groff but he was a TERRIBLE choice to evoke the swag and style of Darin.

Beyond crooners like Sinatra, Darin was inspired by vaudevillians like George Burns, Al Jolson and Donald O'Connor. You need to cast someone who can evoke that kind of old world feel as it's an essential part of Bobby Darin's showmanship.

Groff was too vanilla and couldn't swing to save his life.

A Looney who teaches voice.

[quote] A Looney who teaches voice.

I kill them.

Whatever happened to Bobby Conte Thornton's career? I know he's in Company but I really thought he'd be a much bigger star by now, on Broadway and in film and TV. He actually might make a great showing of Bobby Darin's music.

Ari & Harve....

The best original cast album Grammy category is officially a joke. It didn’t even go to a Broadway musical show and instead when to a Bridgerton special.

Speaking of Bob Merrill and his lack of talent the bluray of The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is spectacular. The original negative was thought to be damaged beyond repair but they managed to restore it to a fare thee well. If you have a large TV watch it in Smilebox meant to give you the sense of Cinerama the three film process it was originally shown in. A must have. People were raving about how it looks and they were right.

30 years ago...

*3* GIRLS *3*

Speaking of dicks, Jesse Williams has a beauty, and he fondled it for a moment, showing it off during his shower scene in Take Me Out today. It looks like it’s 8 to 10 inches.

The show isn't selling?

"Also, first we're told that "people who need people are the luckiest people in the world," then we're told more specifically that "lovers" are "very special people, they're the luckiest people in the world." Surely, the wording could have been more clear, less repetitious.

It’s set up in the verse and completely clear. “We travel single-o,” meaning Nick and Fanny, unlike the denizens of Henry Street, are alone and unencumbered in life. And since the function of the song is for Fanny to reveal her yearning and romantic feelings for Nick, she’s not going to state it up front (would you do that with someone you’re enamored with? Of course not). Theater equals action: she works up to it in the song, laying the groundwork, feeling him out. Finally, in the final stanza, she reveals her true intent: “LOVERS are very special people, etc” She’s sending a message to him: “I’m yours. Take me.”

It’s a GREAT theatre song and absolutely right for the character.

The real Fanny actually just sent Nick a telegram with "Murder my pussy."

Thanks so much for the info about the blu ray of TWWoTBG. I used to hang out at Home Theater Forum, I guess I should go back and take a look at the comments about it.

Bob Merrill had plenty of talent, writing both the music and lyrics for "Carnival!" and "New Girl in Town", among other shows, with 3 Tony-winning roles for actresses in those shows alone.

R371 Well, it's easy to touch it when you're washing off the soap in a shower scene.

Ah, they are raving over the restoration of TWWOTBG over at HTF, which is where you want to go for info on home video releases.

Didn't Merrill also write the music and lyrics for TAKE ME ALONG, another wonderful score?

[Quote] It looks like it’s 8 to 10 inches

Oh come on. Soft? Or is that your mind imagining what a flaccid cock is going to expand to, because, show-ers.

When Dolly was in trouble out of town, Merrick brought in Merrill who added the Motherhood March and Elegance. Jerry Herman then added the counter melody to March and slightly revised the lyrics to Elegance and claimed them as his own. He admits as much in his autobiography. The Motherhood March was left out of the film mainly to avoid paying royalties to Merrill's estate.

Gee, can we have MORE annoying pedantic dissection of the Funny Girl lyrics?!?!?

PLEEEEEEEEEZE?????

Mira

R382 = Bridge & Tunnel

Yes, Merrill could be great, but he could also write SUGAR, HENRY SWEET HENRY, THE RED SHOES, and BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY's.

"If your donut is sweet and your coffee's hot, then you've got as much as any girl's got.

Kafritz

I don’t know about r382 but I’ve been miserable reading this crap all day, and I live here. “I think it’s this.” “INcorrect! It’s that.” “I beg to differ.” “You’re an idiot.” “WRONG!” People, people who prattle on about 40-year-old lyrics ALL DAY, are the most BORING people in the world.

Henry, Sweet Henry had its charms.

[quote] People, people who prattle on about 40-year-old lyrics ALL DAY, are the most BORING people in the world.

That's all that is keeping them from depression and suicide.

Some of you don't realize how ignorant and stupid you sound.

I'll take Bob Merrill's songs over LMM's

r390 no wonder you got dumped.

Tiffany's

"[R390] no wonder you got dumped."

Hunh?

Cartier!

From another thread

[Quote] Having a good cry over a breakup...again.

The only one of Merrill’s musicals that doesn’t have much good in it is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The rest all have at least a couple of good songs.

Nice try, except I'm the one who initiated the split, for reasons of self-preservation, and it grieves me deeply. But thanks for your sympathy.

People bitching about lyric nitpicking really don't belong on this board.

I like some of the songs, r397.

"Her Face" is a great song in Carnival and "Love Makes the World Go 'Round" is effective as well.

Paradise Square opened tonight. So far the reviews are positive on Joaquina Kalukango and the dancing; negative on everything else. Can't see it lasting long (and it was probably an uphill climb even with raves. Without them? Nope.)

R402 It sounds tiresome.

R373, all of your points are very valid, but I still think the construction of the song is not very good, and the word "people" should not have been set to music so that the second syllable, with that unstressed vowel sound, is a held note almost every time it's sung. All of that said, the music and lyrics of "People" still work together far better than the music of lyrics of "Don't Rain on My Parade."

'That's all that is keeping them from depression and suicide.'

Ha! That in includes everyone on DL!

People was and remains a beloved and popular song. People waited for it in the original show, the movie and I bet the current revival. So it needs no criticism or praise.

Were the reviews for Plaza Suite so lukewarm that the only quote they could place on the poster ad was a blurb from Variety?

I tried to give them a quote but they wouldn’t print what I said!

I thought Peter Marks gave PS a good review, too

Mame and Funny Girl aren't strong enough shows on their own. They require the lead to dazzle. So few...dazzle.

Paradise Sq closing notice going up in 3…2…1

Paradise Sq review.

r398 You don’t get sympathy when you call people ignorant and stupid

So who exactly is Ariana DeBose’s tweet about?

Stephen Sondheim, r414. He hasn’t returned a single one of her calls for months now.

Why are there hundreds of posts about old Funny Girl lyrics when the theatre season is kicking into high gear right now? I'm 52 and Funny Girl is before even my time. The show is not that interesting to merit all this attention. I under all the Follies posts, actually, but Funny Girl? (And for the record, I love "Don't Rain on my Parade.") Also, is Beanie really worthy of all this fuss? Nah.

And there is stuff happening that's worth discussing. Paradise Square and the return of Garth Drabinsky, the Covid-ridden companies of Company and Macbeth, Plaza Suite, the new gay play at 2nd Stage, James McAvoy as Cyrano, Birthday Candles (I'm hearing raves), The Little Prince, How I Learned to Drive, the Skin of our Teeth, A Strange Loop (which I can't quite believe has landed on Broadway: go butt-fucking!), Confederates at the Signature (which I liked more than I thought I would), the woeful returns of Mrs. Doubtfire and Girl from the North Country...

I asked about the gay play at 2nd Stage on the last thread and was met with crickets. I think that speaks for itself.

Both Jeremy Jordan and Laura Osnes are currently on Cameo.

Jeremy will record a personalized video for $199.00, Laura will do the same for $89.00 or she will speak with you "live" for $150.00.

I was tempted to see "To My Girls" based on some of the cast members, but haven't heard anything good about it. The reviews on Show Score are decidedly mixed.

[quote]Bob Merrill had plenty of talent, writing both the music and lyrics for "Carnival!" and "New Girl in Town", among other shows, with 3 Tony-winning roles for actresses in those shows alone.

Bob Merrill also wrote two hugely successful novelty songs: "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?" and "If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a Cake."

[quote]Why are there hundreds of posts about old Funny Girl lyrics when the theatre season is kicking into high gear right now? I'm 52 and Funny Girl is before even my time. The show is not that interesting to merit all this attention. I under all the Follies posts, actually, but Funny Girl? (And for the record, I love "Don't Rain on my Parade.") Also, is Beanie really worthy of all this fuss? Nah.

Conversations in these theater threads have always and will always go wherever people interested in Broadway -- past, present or future -- naturally take them, despite the tedious efforts of hall monitors to control them.

r416, because the average age of Datalounge posters is 70.

Any word on Noah Reid in The Minutes? I have little interest in the play, but am a bit curious about how he is in it.

R422, those are the youngsters.

R419 one of the negative reviews featured talks about "white privilege" makes me think i'd like whatever this moron hates.

I'll have you know I am only 68 r422!

Yet, many long time posters and theatre gossip fans are fucking tired of pedantic cunts going on and on about how the so called awfulness of beloved popular songs from hugely successful musicals. I'm guessing it's the same cunt who comes on here every once in awhile to ridicule Sondheim's for his "lousy" songs.

What's really annoying is the fact the asshole who keeps bitching about the Funny Girl songs is an idiot who doesn't underestand the songs or how songs work in shows. Fanny isn't sophisticated...she's a lower class Jewish girl who sings in her own voice. It's slangy and smartass. That's the character and that's why the songs have worked and been popular for the last 60 years.

But, I'm sure Mr. Brilliant Song Deconstructionist knows better.

I knew they'd do Somewhere on the Grammys Sondheim tribute, but I don't think I could have ever predicted Not a Day Goes By ever being performed on the broadcast. A mixed, serviceable tribute, but I suppose we should be grateful he received any kind of tribute on the Grammys.

My favorite DeBose performance.

Another fun one. She is so talented.

R416, a sincere thank you for your post. The musical, "A Strange Loop" - are you interested in seeing it? I didn't know it existed until I read what you wrote. The Wikipedia page has a synopsis and the show sounds exhausting, but it has won a Pulitzer?

The committee, in 2020 said, "A metafictional musical that tracks the creative process of an artist transforming issues of identity, race, and sexuality that once pushed him to the margins of the cultural mainstream into a meditation on universal human fears and insecurities."

Sounds like "blech" to me (but I'm an old, gay, white guy) - are people really dancing to the margins of cultural mainstream and meditations on human fears and insecurities?

NATO was founded today in 1949. Martin Luther King was killed on this day in 1968. And in 1971? On this day, Follies opened on Broadway.

Way to bury the lede r432!

It's a fool's errand to try to tell DL posters what they "must" be discussing.

Excited to see Strange Loop this coming weekend. It’s on TDF which is great.

Listened to the music from the off Broadway production on Spotify and really enjoyed it.

Waiting for the Minutes to show up on tdf (most plays do) because also curious about Noah Reid, but not curious enough to play full price or even TKTS prices for tickets.

When we get into discussions about bad Broadway lyrics, I always console myself with the thought that (if we were stupid) we could be discussing almost any song from the world of pop and rock and the lyrics would be worse.

Part of the reason why the Funny Girl lyrics aren't what we'd like to see to nowadays is that Sondheim hadn't caught on yet. Doubtless our pickiest eldergays were already on the case by the time Funny Girl came out, but surely only the cognoscenti had their expectations set by Sondheim's medium-redefining principles before Company. It took until A Chorus Line in 1975 for the big mainstream audience to hear and enjoy a musical heavily influenced by Sondheim. (For the obvious reason that the creator had just come from working on YOU-KNOW-WHAT.)

I’ve alway had an issue with Meredith Willson’s “Pick a Little” lyric. I know the point of the repetitive “pick a little talk a little pick a little talk a little” is supposed to reflect the chattery effect of these women but I can’t help feel it’s lazy writing. Could he not find a rhyme for “pick” or “talk” to keep it interesting? Also are these women supposed to be actual chickens? Is the onomatopoeia worth the gender-defamation? Have we established the significance of chickens in this time period in Iowa? I was listening to a live capture pro shot of the the OBC (Original Budapest Cast) this morning and I find no character differentiations among the women. Why not one a peacock, one an owl, et cetera? Of course no one made it work better than La Gingold, but perhaps her ornithological research provided a depth of avine representation that overcame the obviously dummy lyrics that Wilson never bothered to polish. If you disagree with me, you are stupid and ignorant. Also personally I had never heard of Balzac or Rabelais and I bet that audiences today are no better read than I was, since I was an advanced and precocious child, despite the fact that I was frequently pantsed walking down the school hallway. Also if we are to believe these women are indeed chickens, would they be so well versed in the authors Marian had introduced? Could chickens even [italic] pronounce [/italic] Rabelais? Is the similarity to “ball-sac” intentional? Perhaps the lyric should be revised to reflect Erica Jong and Harold Robbins, whose works gave me many a young tumescence in my early days.

If you disagree with me you are obviously wrong.

The Grammys Sondheim tribute was terrible, I thought. Platt massacred his solo, and it's so unpleasant to watch his facial contortions when he sings. "Somewhere" is lyric Sondheim never much liked, and he's not the composer anyway.

[quote]Why are there hundreds of posts about old Funny Girl lyrics when the theatre season is kicking into high gear right now?

One explanation is that most of the new shows haven't opened yet, but there are about 100 of them scheduled to open over the next few weeks. I don't imagine the debates over the "Funny Girl" lyrics will continue when that happens, and when "Funny Girl" is discussed, people will NOT be focusing on the lyrics :-)

[quote]I asked about the gay play at 2nd Stage on the last thread and was met with crickets. I think that speaks for itself.

It hasn't opened yet. And how many performances had taken place when you first asked about it in the last thread?

Follies opened on April 4th? What are we doing to mark this holiest of holy days? Fasting? Praying? Sacrificing virgin chorus boys on an altar of original cast LPs?

Virgin chorus boys do not exist. They are a myth, just like unicorns.

[quote]Sacrificing virgin chorus boys

Good luck finding one.

[quote]What's really annoying is the fact the asshole who keeps bitching about the Funny Girl songs is an idiot who doesn't underestand the songs or how songs work in shows. Fanny isn't sophisticated...she's a lower class Jewish girl who sings in her own voice. It's slangy and smartass.

The fact that some of the lyrics are "slangy" is not what's wrong with them. What IS wrong with them has been clearly explained by various posters above. If you disagree, that's fine, but you might want to ask yourself why you get SO ANGRY about all of this.

I think Somewhere is naff too, and also that it's too meditative for those young hotheads. They are not dreamers: they live in the Now and that's how they make the impulsive decisions needed to drive the plot.

There is a BBC series called Shakespeare Uncovered which is designed to illuminate Shakespeare for schoolkids and undergraduates, by including a lot of interviews with actors, directors etc who have done the play they're talking about that week. To my surprise, Sondheim appeared in the R&J episode. He said two things I hadn't specifically heard before: (1) that Laurents, Robbins and Bernstein weren't very interested in the lovers, they were interested in the conflict between the "families"; and (2) One Hand One Heart was originally designed to represent the famous Balcony Scene, but, said Steve, "it was too pristine, not romantic enough to reflect that scene in the Shakespeare, so we wrote Tonight to do that." The episode had already gone into detail about how gutsy the balcony scene actually is, especially on Juliet's side, so he was on the money with that.

Oh great. The Debose stans are here. She's merely another serviceable mediocre chorus girl who got VERY lucky. I blame LMM.

[quote] I think Somewhere is naff too, and also that it's too meditative for those young hotheads. They are not dreamers: they live in the Now and that's how they make the impulsive decisions needed to drive the plot.

The song was originally written and performed as a dream ballet, sung by an off-stage voice.

During this sequence at least, they definitely were dreamers.

[quote]I think Somewhere is naff too, and also that it's too meditative for those young hotheads. They are not dreamers: they live in the Now and that's how they make the impulsive decisions needed to drive the plot

OF COURSE, the concept of "Somewhere" in the original Broadway production of WEST SIDE STORY was that the bulk of the song WAS NOT sung by Tony and Maria, but by an offstage soprano during the dream ballet. Tony and Maria only sang a few lines of intro to agitato accompaniment -- "Somewhere there must be a place we can feel we're free," etc. -- and then, after the end of the ballet, they sang a repeat of just the ending of the song -- "Hold my hand and we're halfway there, hold my hand and I'll take you there, somehow, some day, somewhere." This was changed for the '61 movie when it was decided to drop the ballet, which originally was to have been included.

[Quote] Virgin chorus boys do not exist. They are a myth, just like unicorns.

They must give up the V to [italic] become [/italic] chorus boys.

I have seen it on stage with the dream ballet, which I thought was a huge snooze precisely because it didn't fit the characters or further the plot. And, I've just learned, because Robbins didn't GAF about Tony and Maria anyway.

The way the movie restructured the score is much better than the way it sits in the play, where literally all the good stuff is in the first Act.

[quote]The Debose stans are here. She's merely another serviceable mediocre chorus girl who got VERY lucky. I blame LMM.

If you want to blame LMM for someone, blame him for Karen Olivo, a limited talent who turned out to be a highly toxic presence in the theater community. But maybe she's FINALY done in show business. Here's hoping.

[quote]I have seen it on stage with the dream ballet, which I thought was a huge snooze

Never met a dream ballet I couldn't sleep through.

Who can we blame for Rachel "Steve said I have the voice of a nightengale" Zegler, please?

[quote]Platt massacred his solo, and it's so unpleasant to watch his facial contortions when he sings

But how else will you know just how hard I'...erm, he's trying?

...or the depths of my delicate emotions.

[Quote] Never met a dream ballet I couldn't sleep through.

We’ll fix that. We’ll drop cowboy boots from the flies. Then you’ll be awake to be woke!

All future analyses of "Funny Girl" lyrics must be presented within the context of Critical Race Theory.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Other than Platt the Grammy Sondheim singers were very good. I do question the wisdom of using, " Send in the Clowns" as an In Memoriam number, however.

one-hit (barely)-wonder Ken Ludwig is still milking Lend Me a Tenor

[Quote] Next is the world premiere comedy Lend Me A Soprano by Tony winner Ken Ludwig (The Three Musketeers, Murder on the Orient Express), which runs September 16-October 9 in the Hubbard Theatre. This revisal of Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor is directed by Eleanor Holdridge.

I bet he’s made a small fortune on stock & amateur rights for that mediocrity and the also-mediocrity of his book for Crazy For you.

But, R458, in the hands of the genius, Billy Porter, the show would have new meaning.

R418, Joanna Gleason will do one for $60.00.

R457 because the wors clown? It's a beautiful song about pondering life, right? Also one of his most well known. Why not include it?

*word clown

I'm not a fan of Dream ballets as a rule, but the somewhere ballet is an exception. I think it's wonderful.

Any bets on when Paradise Square will close?

There’s no way they won’t hang on thru Tonys. Nominations will be interesting to see. Are there enough new musicals for them NOT to get a bunch?

Happy birthday, FOLLIES!

I'm partial to the CAROUSEL ballet.

I posted above about Jesse Williams' impressive dick in TAKE ME OUT. 10" was probably an exaggeration, but I was in the 6th row of the orchestra, and I'll stand by my assertion that it was about 8" flaccid, with a nice girth. I don't think he was fluffed, either, as he has a long scene where he is naked in the shower, and it didn't shrink in size at all. Nice ass, too.

Second Stage is indeed having everyone put their phones in those Yondr pouches. But the two people ahead of me in line said they didn't bring their phones, and they were not challenged or frisked. So it would be relatively easy for someone to sneak in a phone and get pics of the two shower scenes. Williams is naked for about 5 minutes or so in the second act shower scene. There are also some nice dicks and many fine asses on display when the actors shower in the first act. The challenge to taking pics or videos is that it is a small theater. Someone managed to get pics from the original production 20 years ago, but maybe ushers were less vigilant back then.

My memories of the original production are somewhat hazy, but I think I preferred Williams to Daniel Sunjata. Jesse Tyler Ferguson is finding all the humor in the role of the accountant, but Denis O'Hare was more moving. And I liked Patrick Adams a lot as the other main ball player. I'm pretty sure Mantello's direction of the original was better, but Scott Ellis' work here isn't bad.

Slaughter...

[quote]I have seen it on stage with the dream ballet, which I thought was a huge snooze precisely because it didn't fit the characters or further the plot. And, I've just learned, because Robbins didn't GAF about Tony and Maria anyway.

When the dream ballet is well performed in a stage production, it's incredibly moving. I have no idea what you mean when you say it doesn't fit the characters, as the WHOLE POINT of the ballet is that it represents an alternate reality in which people love each other despite their differences. Any comments that Robbins "didn't care" about Tony and Maria are ridiculous, and you're a fool to believe them.

How many shows actually had dream ballets?

I know of Carousel, Oklahoma, and WSS. Any others?

Well some of the original WSS dream ballet is available on you tube so why don't you watch it?

The Carousel dream ballet as noted above is wonderful and the film opens and closes it brilliantly and very movingly. Don't think it was done that way on stage. And On the Town has the dream Playground of the Rich ballet which of course is lost but I loved it in the '71 revival by Ron Field.

I'm sure that Sondheim would've forsworn dying if he'd known that Platt, Betty Lynn et al. would come out of the woodwork and presented themselves as "Steve's" foremost interpreter. To say nothing of the Nightengale.

Ucch.

Redhead

I’m not quite sure why you think I haven’t seen it, r472

But thanks for the info on “On the Town”, I had forgotten about that one

I'm not sure if it was in a dream, but Agnes DeMille had several Civil War ballets among other dances in "Bloomer GIrl".

R468 cut or uncut?

Well, a ballet is a ballet, r476. Does it really matter if it's set within a dream framework?

R179 however, there has never before been two black actors that won for the same movie.

R184 I don't think East Asians consider themselves people of color. Yuh-Jung could pass for white if it wasn't for the eyes.

In 2007, Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy almost won for the same move (DREAMGIRLS), but Alan Arkin (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) won instead in an upset.

There’s a sort of a dream ballet in “Tanz Der Vampire” (the German version), but the actor playing the ingénue stays on stage singing her song while a double dances the dream behind her (with a chorus of vampires)

'I have seen it on stage with the dream ballet,' From this I thought you might not have seen the video from the original production but just on stage. I kind of doubt you saw the original production. You'd be older than me! Sorry.

There are also some ballets by Agnes de Mille in "Goldilocks" set to some great music by Leroy Anderson that aren't on the OCR. But they have been recorded elsewhere: the full "Lazy Moon", the complete "Pussy Foot Ballet", "Townhouse Maxixe" and one or two others.

[quote] 'I have seen it on stage with the dream ballet,' From this I thought you might not have seen the video from the original production but just on stage.

That wasn’t me

R477 cut

Desiree: Countess Malcolm, I presume?

Charlotte: You do indeed, Miss Armfeldt.

R482, I saw the original production of WEST SIDE STORY and I am younger than springtime.

R450 Oh she is someone I definitely equally despise. She's awful in every way. There's a lot to blame LMM for. R452 Spielberg duh. Who we can also blame for Jon Chu. Just wait and see how he craps the bed on the WICKED movie. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande? Both are way too ethnic. It must've been before OZ was gentrified.

[quote] [R179] however, there has never before been two black actors that won for the same movie.

And there still hasn't. Smith and DeBose were not in the same movie.

[quote] [R184] I don't think East Asians consider themselves people of color. Yuh-Jung could pass for white if it wasn't for the eyes.

You might think again.

Well, I've always been glad I didn't sleep through the Tony Yazbeck dream ballet in "On the Town."

So some of you have certainly missed out, but hey, gotta catch those naps when you can!

Tony Yazbeck bores me to death. Hot body, sure, but hot bodies are a dime a dozen.

Playwrights Horizons has just announced their new season. Meet one of their playwrights- Agnes Borinsky

Why was Lupita up in the front row? She wasn't in a big movie this year that she was singled out for. I guess maybe if Whoopie had been in Hollywood, if Halle Berry were available, and if Louis Gosset Jr., Hattie McDaniel and SIdney Poitier were alive they'd be up there too. And they'd be very embarrassed by Will Smith. Denzel seems too arrogant, even making himself mentor, giving questionable advice as if he were Devil Washington instead of Denzel.

[quote]Eddie Murphy almost won for the same move (DREAMGIRLS), but Alan Arkin (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) won instead in an upset.

I'm so glad Murphy lost. He immediately walked out. What an asshole.

Ballets, dream or not, were featured in Can Can, Flower Drum Song, New Girl in Town, King and I, etc. Even Li'l Abner's Sadie Hawkins Day dance sequence could be considered a ballet, even if their choreography is not of the classic variety.

Then I guess the Music Man has a ballet too, if dance style doesn't matter.

Traditionally, is the ballet at the end of act I of Pal Joey a dream ballet?

What’s the difference between a dance number and a dream ballet? Does “Once a Year Day” from “Pajama Game” count?

No, but apparently “I’ll Never Be Jealous Again” does

There was the whorehouse ballet in "New Girl in Town" that George Abbott hated and kept try to cut but Gwen Verdon and Bob Fosse kept putting back in the show.

I saw Funny Girl. Beanie has charm, and gets some laughs. But she is never properly fierce, and she can’t do the required singing. She sings like a talented girl in middle school, not a 28-year-old Broadway lead. She better not get sick, because I guarantee her understudy is much, much better.

There were 9 understudies on at Company yesterday. Isn’t that more than half the cast?

Company has a cast of 14, so, yes

Taron’s understudy has some very kind words about Taron

I saw Funny Girl. Beanie has food, and gets some appetizers. But she is never properly fed, and she can’t do the required singing. She sings like a talented girl in elementary school, not a 30-year-old Broadway lead. She better not eat too much and get sick, because I guarantee her understudy is forty pounds lighter and twenty times better.

[quote]What’s the difference between a dance number and a dream ballet?

I would assume, r498, that a ballet is an extended dance number with a narrative...and no singing.

Someone get this racist cristal connors outta here. What a piece of trash. It’s probably the Loon, Matt, with one of his phony identities.

r502, they really are down to their last available person. If one more person tests positive before Sieber/Lenk/Doyle (possibly others) return on Saturday, I'm not sure if they'll be able to go on (unless any of the recent absences weren't Covid-related?). They already cut all the New Yorkers from Another Hundred People and are using only the NYC letters (not enough people to move the others?). If one more female performer goes down, they do have one understudy, but she's already the Bobbie double in certain parts, so not sure how it would work. They're definitely using all their male understudies in principal roles. (I think they had four different Pauls this week--Dickey, Benson, Rodriguez, and Kready.) I hope they can pull it off. This week should be interesting to watch.

A Multitude of Pauls

I really don't think the term "dream ballet" in reference to a musical necessarily implies that the choreography in the ballet has to be the kind of choreography you would see in classical ballet.

Speaking of Matt Doyle, I listened to a few interviews he did recently, around the time of the Spring Awakening reunion, and he seems to really have NOTHING positive to say about the experience of doing Spring Awakening on Broadway. In one interview he called Lea Michele the devil and said that it wasn’t only her, the whole cast was catty and competitive with eachother (except for Groff) and people didn’t get along until much later. He also seems to hold a lot of pettiness that the show did nothing to advance his career the way it had for many others.

Could this just be the point of view of a replacement? None of the original cast, with the exception of Gerard Canonico, ever speaks about the show in such a negative light. It honestly makes me think Doyle is the catty one.

My question is why Matt Doyle is all of a sudden back in the business. Didn't he leave for good to become a trainer? Who the fuck was clamoring for a Matt Doyle comeback?

[quote]He also seems to hold a lot of pettiness that the show did nothing to advance his career the way it had for many others. Could this just be the point of view of a replacement?

I don't know the answer to that, but seeing how he WAS a replacement, it would be far less likely that the show would have advanced his career to any significant extent. That rarely happens to replacements, because there is usually so much less attention given to them.

[quote] That rarely happens to replacements, because there is usually so much less attention given to them.

Tell me about it!

R512 I also was under the impression that he gave up acting, and was surprised to see people casting him again. Guess he couldn’t swing the big bucks as a trainer (does he even have a nice body?).

R514, Lainie wasn't a replacement in FUNNY GIRL, she was the understudy for Streisand. Mimi Hines was the replacement.

R491, He's a prick.

Matt Doyle may not come across all that well in some of the things he posts on social media and in interviews, but he seems like a really nice guy in person. He does have a nice body, and he was very good as Tony in a Paper Mill Playhouse production of WEST SIDE STORY several years ago.

R512 Marianne Elliot it seems, as she specifically requested him for Jamie, after having directed him in War Horse. So if you want someone to blame...

He took to video game streaming during lockdown. He was talking with someone who was just starting in, and told her she'd have a solid career because she looked like a character actor type, whereas with him being a leading man type, it can be more difficult to be cast. Yes, he actually called himself a leading man type.

Though have to admit I'm somewhat biased against Matt, as Max bought him a new puppy, and ever since he's just ignored his other dog in favour of the new one.

R518 Yeah, agreed, a nice body, but it's not like 'I want to take training from him' levels of good. It's average chorus boy with an Equinox membership body.

[quote] [R514], Lainie wasn't a replacement in FUNNY GIRL, she was the understudy for Streisand. Mimi Hines was the replacement.

Thanks, dear. What would we do without people like you who suck out every bit of humor in the place?

Speaking of Hacks, Jesse is really blowing it as chief critic. Insiders are passing around his obit "appreciation" of Neil Simon where he praises his early comedies, including Plaza Suite. His Music Man review showed everyone he completely misunderstands that show, and his Paradise Square review is an exercise in bad labyrinthine writing.

Oh, my favourite bit of him as a streamer is him taking donations from the teen girls watching him to buy a new computer - which he did, right as Broadway started to reopen and he stopped streaming. So he took thousands from them and made - this utterly tacky looking thing.

I've seen Plaza Suite 3 times. The movie twice and once in summer stock with Sheila MacRae and Don Porter(who I believe replaced Scott on Broadway.) I don't remember one funny thing about it. Not a line or a situation. Three failed pilots.

But I hear this is getting a lot of laughs so what do I know.

Full 2018 London Funny Girl with Sheridan Smith

[quote]What would we do without people like you who suck out every bit of humor in the place?

Ha! As if there were any humor in your post to "suck out." There wasn't, dear heart.

On top of that, your post was especially dumb, because not only was Lainie not a replacement for Streisand, but also, she did get quite a bit of attention when she went on for two performances of FUNNY GIRL as the understudy. So: epic fail.

Dumb fuck at R525, if you don't know what I was specifically referring to, then I won't bother to explain it. It's not like it hasn't been discussed here several times, hence the joke.

R526, let's briefly review: I posted that replacements in shows rarely get much attention for their performances (unless they are already name performers), for obvious reasons. You thought it was amusing to comment by posting "Tell me about it!" and signing that reply "Lainie Kazan." I responded that your post was inaccurate on two levels, because (1) Lainie was an understudy for Streisand in FUNNY GIRL, not a replacement, and (2) she DID receive quite a bit of attention when she went on for Streisand, apparently because she alerted the media that it was going to happen. So if there is a "dumb fuck" here, I really think you're more deserving of that label than I am.

I refused to support an adult named Beanie.

R528, On the Grammy Awards red carpet last evening, Ben Platt made sure to tell Laverne Cox that he and Beanie attended high school together and that she is his best friend.

"And another couple people just got off of the train…"

Ben Platt has no redeeming social value.

I'm withholding judgment on Jesse Green until after his as-told-to memoir with Mary Rodgers is published. It's supposed to be beyond dishy; maybe he'll redeem himself.

R468, So, audience members have to wait in line after the performance in order to have their pouches unlocked by a theatre staff member?

Matt Doyle? A trainer? Haha. For twinks? When is Max Clayton gonna dump him and get someone as equally as hot a la Isaac and Wes.

Ben Platt and Beanie desperately want to be the new Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele (they even dressed up like them for Halloween in high school). The only difference is unlike Jonathan, Ben is a stuck up, self-important famewhore, and unlike Lea, Beanie can’t sing her way out of a paper bag.

r524...even though Sheridan Smith does an ok job in the role, she still lacks the vocal and comic timing...it seems forced, and the vocals are good, but lack power. I give it a B.

Ben Platt is just odious. Beanie as well.

Max isn't a genius.

We're pretending faintly villianous Wes Taylor is hotter than Matt Doyle?

Was Hunter Parrish in the show when Doyle did it?

I still wonder what happened to Jonny B. Wright. I think he lives in Seattle and posts music to Soundcloud on occasion.

Why does it seem so many of the Spring Awakening alumni have such illogically high opinions of themselves?

[quote][R468], So, audience members have to wait in line after the performance in order to have their pouches unlocked by a theatre staff member?

Yeah but it was handled very quickly. Probably only added a couple of minutes to the usual exit time. It’s such a small theater.

Why does it seem so many of the Spring Awakening alumni have such illogically high opinions of Spring Awakening?

I find Matt Doyle to come across as self-righteous and exhausting.

Interestingly Matt Doyle and Wesley Taylor famously dated years ago. There is a cute video on YT of them singing Across the Universe.

Tony Yazbeck is hot because he’s straight. If he was gay, he’d fade in with the other gay boys. He’s super Christian so there’s that. But not a fan of Trump and pro-vaccine. So there’s that.

I think Matt Doyle will have a meltdown if he isn’t nominated for a Tony.

At last Fall's Tony rehearsal, Beanie was in the back row with Ben Platt, cradling and rocking him like a baby. Watching Bernadette Peters walk by those two made my year.

did she react, r546?

She blew up, r547.

Looking at the calendar of openings this month, I have to admit there's not much, if anything, I'm excited about. I have a feeling I'm not alone, hence the lack of discussion.

Maybe I'm alone on that though. What upcoming shows are you all really interested in or excited about?

R549 The theater gossip threads seldom actually have any gossip about current or upcoming shows.

It's far more fun to parse every minute detail from the 1927 revival of Chu Chin Chow with Mrs. Fiske and a cast of very well hung chorus boys.

R445- DeBose is a Tony nominee. Not a chorus girl. She played the Bullet in Hamilton. She wasn’t merely in the chorus.

R450- LMM didn’t discover Olivo. She did Rent before ITH.

Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won the same year.

[quote]LMM didn’t discover Olivo. She did Rent before ITH.

I didn't say that LMM "discovered" her, but he did give her a big push in ITH, in a role she deserved and was good in, and also in the Encores! tick, tick...BOOM!, in a role she did not deserve and was not good in. Plus I'm guessing he was partly responsible for her casting as Anita in that awful WSS revival for which she won a Tony even though she was barely adequate as Anita.

P.S. I didn't know, or had forgotten, that this toxic individual known uses "them" and "their" as "their" pronouns. Pardon me while I barf.

For anyone who wants to see the In Memoriam segment from last night - I've only seen it elsewhere cut up into portions. Also interesting that Erivo is the only one of the four who posted about Sondheim last night/today.

And dear god Ben, just because you can sing like that doesn't mean you have to, especially if you need to pull those kind of faces to do it.

How about Binnie?

You shouldn't be doing full nudity on stage in 2022 if you're not prepared for people to sneak pictures, Especially if you're as hung as our horny little poster here has said. What's there to be ashamed of. Grow up and get some balls. No pun intended. R551 The bullet. 🤣 Featured ensemble? Does that make you feel better?

Oh, I don't know, R555--I think Rachel managed yet another post somewhere about her dear friend Steve saying she sings like a Nightingale.

R557- did you watch the video of DeBose singing “Lotta Livin To Do”?

I find it pretty astounding in this age of social media how casts, creatives and staff are able to keep rumors of dysfunction so quiet in the making of Broadway theater. You would think that they're all under the strictest of NDAs and yet they're not.

Perhaps it comes from some place in their hearts in which they don't want to be associated with a flop or a show in terrible turmoil. But I have friends involved with Funny Girl, Paradise Square, Plaza Suite and other productions and none of them even hint about the atmosphere backstage at any of them. And I'm loathe to press them if that's how they're gonna be.

Of course, one of the elements of good old juicy theater gossip that's missing is a major Broadway gossip columnist with a big readership. Oh, for the days of Walter Winchell, Dorothy Kilgallen or even Alex Witchel and (god forbid) Michael Riedel.

Why do you all suppose Broadway gossip columnists have fallen by the wayside?

Spring Awakening had quite devoted fans, for the original cast, at least. I expect the cast thought they were the fucking Beatles.

What did DuBose tweet? Some of you act like we're all on someone's mailing list.

And Yet Spring Awakening couldn't even turn a profit.

Jesse Williams is indeed hung like a horse. The night I saw it, the entire audience gasped when he took off his pants.

Why did they gasp?

R562 It was posted upthread, so try reading.

[quote]It's far more fun to parse every minute detail from the 1927 revival of Chu Chin Chow with Mrs. Fiske and a cast of very well hung chorus boys.

Mrs. Fiske was too short for that revival.

R565, because the cast of Coda popped out, Rose.

[quote]I don't know the answer to that, but seeing how he WAS a replacement, it would be far less likely that the show would have advanced his career to any significant extent. That rarely happens to replacements, because there is usually so much less attention given to them.

Even though he won the Tony, I don't know that I'd say "Spring Awakening" was all that great for John Gallagher, Jr.'s career but then he's also never struck me as being overly-ambitious either, so perhaps he's right where he wants to be.

I would say Gallagher is doing very well. He works on television consistently. He's not movie star or even leading man material. He's a character actor in a somewhat attractive shell.

BFFs Beanie and Ben will sparkle in "Grease" on Broadway.

Ben & Beanie are the new Mack & Mabel!

R572 Which will play which?

Damn that first song Platt sings at The Grammys is an ugly song. When Sondheim failed, he did it spectacularly.

Which song was it, r574?

R555 thanks for posting that.

There’s really nothing to hate there. All four sound good. Platt overwrought but at least he wore black. The other three look like they were desperate to upstage one another in scarlet, bright yellow (really, Leslie, for an In Memoriam?), and more dripping sparklies than a Times Square mirror ball.

Beanie Feldstein *IS* Jafar

I would like all the reviews tonight to assess the cocks and butts.

Look for Ben and Beanie as your 2022 TONY Hosts!

I'm sure Hugh Jackman will be the first choice to host the Tonys.

I'm guessing working actors and theater crews trying to get a show up are probably too busy/tired to do much gossiping.

And, trashing a show you're in is bad form. Not part of the Team Spirit of creating an ensemble.

A show is very much its own private little club and most professional theater people are very protective of that and don't break that "code" unless things are really terrible as in dangerous or poisonously toxic.

Jesse’s dong is really big. And I wasn’t even sitting that close.

"Cornet Man" is more of a honky-tonk Sophie Tucker song than a Fanny Brice song. On the other hand, Brice risked her Broadway debut in the Ziegfeld Follies by demanding that she sing “Loving Joe” in blackface. Imagine that instead of "His Love Makes Me Beautiful"!

R574, you have no taste. Not a Day Goes By is a fantastic song.

If it sounded ugly (and I did have to fast forward), it's entirely because of how Platt sang it.

Here...

This thread went by fast. It's amazing how much space arguing over lyrics takes up.

Indeed. 200 posts in the past 24 hours. Evidently a day does go by.

Well, this thread isn't going to end without another shot of...Cantrell!

Take Me Out is getting surprisingly good reviews. I thought it was perfectly fine, a decent production, but nothing remarkable. Kind of makes me want to go back and see if it's gotten better since the early preview I saw or if I missed something. (But I didn't enjoy it enough to imagine sitting through it again, even with the dicks.)

Jesse Green's NYT review of Take Me Out is positive.

So far the reviews from all the major publications have been positive, and some outright raves. The only negative ones I've seen have been from smaller outlets complaining the show isn't enlightened enough by today's standards.

I like the staging of Funny Girl at r524...its clean. Cornet Man worked better and seemed more enjoyable to me...more camp. The original had a dozen people on stage.

What role was Jussie Smollett supposed to play?

r591 and poorly written. He’s lost any ability he had to write effectively

Someone brave please start a new thread and post the link here. I’m too scared but it should be something about pedantry and funny girl lyrics

r594, he read for the role Jesse Williams is playing.

New thread:

I just watched Funny Girl on Amazon.

I had never realized how Wilder used the "Lucy Mame Lens" on Streisand on ALL of her close-ups.

She was in her 20s, but the frame goes fuzzy every time it is just her.

FIN