Theatre Gossip #488: The "But Did Margie Hart Have Hairy Shoulders" Edition

Link to previous thread.

How did Annaleigh Ashford become the go-to girl for prestige Sondheim revival and why was I ALWAYS denied?

Sondheim doesn't go for stagehands getting blown in the wings, Betty!

So how hairy are Ben's back and ass? Does it look like a black shag rug soon to be entirely grey and to be seen on Haulover?

Whoever took that publicity picture of Ben must have worked for After Dark in the 70s. He just had better looking guys to take pictures of.

You don't have *winsome* in your toolbox, Betty @ r2.

Someone on the previous thread posted “Georgia Sotherm’s” autobiography - I thought that I was the only one on the planet who had a copy of it or ever read it. I am sure a lot is made up - it is a great read. She was known for her bright red hair and fast stripteasing to “Hold That Tiger.” I first Read it about 15 years ago - I thought it would make a great HBO miniseries with maybe Kirsten Dunst at that time. The problem was she was about 14 when she started stripping because she was orphaned and I can’t see anyone filming that story now. The character Gillian on Boardwalk Empire reminded me a little of her. ….There was very little written about her in later years - I always wondered if she stayed married to the doctor.

I posted that, r7, and I even wrote her a letter in care of the publisher. I said she should take her book and turn it into a Broadway musical.

[quote]Several of these Broadway composers seemed to know all about strippers.

Somethin' wrong with strippin'?

So why was doing 'scenes' demeaning exactly? And why couldn't you do both?

You were just a feed to the comic.

My bumper ain't bumpin'

Thanks. I never quite got that.

But did Margie Hart dress to the left as Ben Platt seems to in that photo?

It looks to me like poor Ben Platt is trying to find himself. And he hasn't yet.

Why do I think he will be dead soon? Hope not!

Who the hell is Sally Rand?

#8 / That is so interesting - the book was so dishy - lots of gangsters, prohibition- as I recall a lot of stuff in Florida - the whole thing was quite cinematic. To my frustration looking her up online gives me (even though she is Sothern) slot Georgia Sothern Railroad and Georgia Southern University!! Gypsy was a lady - Georgia was a Broad!!

[quote]So why was doing 'scenes' demeaning exactly? And why couldn't you do both?

I’m a strip woman, slob. I don’t do scenes.

Were Gale and Tempest related?

I don’t think I’ve ever witness a more horrific example of nepotistic entitlement and reward than Ben Platt. This is a “meh” persona on every level talent wise and truly repulsive on the physical front, that he’s steadfast in his tragic pursuit of a pop star career shows his level of insulated delusion. It mirrors the Beanie Feldstein FUNNY GIRL misfit dream debacle. Just spoiled children running manic for prestige and applause.

Ben was successful in Dear Evan Hansen.... Beanie in Funny Girl, OTOH...

Margie Hart! And Paul Valentine who played Joe one of Kirk Douglas' loves in OUT OF THE PAST was married to Lili St. Cyr......

Litte known facts about Miss St. Cyr...

I liked a lot of the Company revival and thought the gender change brought some interesting elements to it. You could tell the cast enjoyed working with each other and it got more laughs than just about any other production I've seen. Lenk had some nice moments, but did seem a little too remote and chilly for the role. I usually love LuPone, but she felt miscast as well and I hope it's not her last Broadway role like she's mentioned. It was a fun show in an era with very few.

What’s weird about Company is how much the narrative has changed. I’m the beginning it was being hailed as gorgeous retelling of a beloved classic, with a great gimmick, led by one of Broadway’s biggest stars, sure to be the big hit of the season.

Now it has petered out to be a quickly forgotten flop and the only thing people will remember is the viral video of Patti screaming at an anti-masker

[quote]it was being hailed as gorgeous retelling of a beloved classic, with a great gimmick, led by one of Broadway’s biggest stars, sure to be the big hit of the season.

Not really, r26.

Patty Lapone has always been a hard sell.

I think it is very telling that Ben wanted some bulge in that photo and probably insisted it not be retouched out. Gross and tacky and desperate.

Unless the retouching was done to *add* something that wasn't there.

Patti is not a Joanne. The actress needs to have a bit of Upper East Side matron about her. Patti is Long Island working class. Joanne would think Patti was a manicurist.

Patty? She's gonna be pissed!

Stritch never read as money to me.

Lupone is a good Joanne...hell shes been working the character for years.

[QUOTE]Patty Lapone has always been a hard sell.

So is Sondheim.

What’s weird about Stockard Channing is she has done several musicals in her career and YET the role she was born to play, Joanne in Company, she doesn’t play?

What gives?

The size of the part.

I don’t think Stockard could sing Ladies Who Lunch. Her singing was always nasal and I don’t think she summon up the “thrust” to make the ending thrilling from a musical standpoint.

I saw Debra Monk, who fit the description, but her Joanne was a disappointment.

Pretty much the whole production was bland, r38. One critic saying the original was a gimlet and the Roundabout production a wine spritzer.

Following up on 2 things from the previous thread . . .

-- Judging from her contribution to KINKY BOOTS, Annaleigh Ashford's many gifts do not, sadly, include a functioning Cockney accent.

-- Encores! most certainly has not "sliced and diced every show they've ever done" -- at least not musically. The books have always been trimmed/adapted, of course, and perhaps that what that poster meant. But Encores! has pretty consistently offered the entire original score. (There have been adjustments -- upward transposition for Christine Ebersole's numbers in APPLAUSE and downward ones for Leslie Uggams' numbers in PIPE DREAM, for example, or the rewritten ending of "Lucy and Jessie" in FOLLIES. But slicing and dicing the scores? No way.)

Not even a wine spritzer! Fizzy water. Ah, someone should have taught her.

Encores also stripped the lyrics from All Dark People in Babes in Arms, leaving it a tap number. That's basically what it was originally, with the Nicholas Brothers, but originally it had lyrics.

Saw National Theatre Live's film of the play "Prima Facie" tonight at Symphony Space tonight. If this is coming to Broadway in Spring 2023, jar engrave the Best Play and Best Actress statuettes now.

I think it's great gay men talking about and researching female strippers. Keeping their memories alive for all the straight men who would jack off watching and thinking about them. I mean everybody is dead but why not?

Saw "Prima Facie" tonight at Symphony Space as part of National Theatre Live. This is coming to Broadway in the Spring. Engrave the Best Play and Best Actress Tonys now!

r45 meet r43

How much did it cost to have a raincoat cleaned back in the '30s?

Has anyone heard anything about this upcoming Sweeney Todd being a reimagined take, not set in the classic London period? Someone mentioned hearing that it was going to be different, but they were unsure themselves, oh Lord that would be a big mistake!

Paul Valentine sounds really cute and sexy opposite Jacqueline McKeever on the OCR of "Oh! Captain" doing the duet "We're Not Children". Fun show and score, with Tony Randall, the great Susan Johnson, Ed Platt (the Chief on "Get Smart" who had a fine singing voice) and on the recording Eileen Rogers in for Abbe Lane, who couldn't record due to her own recording company refusing to let her do so.

They're not taking any chances with Annaleigh's accent work so they've moved the pie shop to Colorado.

There's a song called "There's No Place Like London", so it would be a little difficult to put the piece in a different setting. A different period perhaps, but not a different setting.

Wasn't the Michael Ball London production set in the 1930s?

Ok - I don’t know if she would have been able to sing it - at a certain point in her life Suzanne Pleshette would have been a fun earthy Joanne.

What theater is Sweeney aiming for?

I hope they have huge sets like the original did. I'd like to see it done full out like in 1979.

Alexis Smith or Yvonne De Carlo might have been fun.

[R52] It was around that time, yes. Although clearly modernized, it did not make much difference. You can judge by yourself

Pleshette must have sung well enough to be under consideration for Gypsy.

Oh, and it wasn't the critics who thought Margie Hart was utterly utter, it was the natives...

The COMPANY that never was ...

I hope she goes with Kit Andree hair, r50.

Thank you for posting the Jerry Orbach & Mitzi Gaynor clip etc - I thought that Jane Withers was really good …

[quote]Encores also stripped the lyrics from All Dark People in Babes in Arms,

I refer you to R9.

‘Hamilton’ To Donate Financial Damages From Texas Church To LGBTQIA+ Coalition:

[quote]Patty Lapone has always been a hard sell.

And, apparently, a hard spell.

I wish it was Toni Collette as Mrs. Lovett. I think she'd kill in the part.

[quote]I don’t think Stockard could sing Ladies Who Lunch. Her singing was always nasal and I don’t think she summon up the “thrust” to make the ending thrilling from a musical standpoint.

Please, she couldn't be any worse than that caterwauling mess Strich did every night. Tomatoes should have been thrown.

The queens on broadwayworld said the site crashed for members when buying their Merrily We Roll Along tickets.

Will there be seats left for general public?

[quote] What theater is Sweeney aiming for?

Lu Fo

r58

that was interesting

No, r66. None.

The new Sweeney will be set aboard a large space ship called London.

I find it peculiar how Toni Colette's name seems to come up so often as the actress so many want to see starring in a classic Broadway musical like Sweeney or Mame or other shows. Where does the evidence of her talent for this sort of thing come from? Did that many people see her in The Wild Party? I know her mostly from her more recent film and TV work in which she usually plays rather dowdy working class women, brilliantly of course, but still.....I don't quite get the adoration for her in the other medium.

Toni is rather infamous for close but no cigar casting, e.g. Roxie Hart in the movie of CHICAGO.

She was the best thing about Wild Party.

And Mrs. Lovett in the film of Sweeney Todd.

The hairy shouldered guy ( r585) in the last thread was indeed hot. Of course, the visible jockstrap band went a long way in that department.

A new LMM musical! I'm sure DLers will just love this

[quote]Start spreading the news! A new musical loosely based on Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film New York, New York will begin performances on Broadway, theater to be announced, in March 2023. Opening night will be in April, with Tony and Olivier Award winner Susan Stroman on board to direct and choreograph.

[quote]The show — of course it’s called New York, New York — will feature numbers written for the movie by legendary songwriting duo John Kander and Fred Ebb (Chicago, The Scottsboro Boys, Cabaret). Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) will write additional lyrics for new Kander tunes, Deadline has learned.

[quote]Four Kander and Ebb songs were used in Scorsese’s MGM film, including the fabled title track that will definitely feature big in the Broadway show.

[quote]Casting breakdowns for New York, New York were being issued today. The production is believed to have a cast of 31 and an orchestra of 19 musicians.

[quote]Producers Sonia Friedman (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Ferryman) and Tom Kirdahy (Inheritance) have assigned David Thompson, a frequent Kander and Ebb collaborator (he worked with them on The Scottsboro Boys and Steel Pier) to write the book. Sharon Washington will co-write the show; Washington won acclaim for the solo stage show Feeding the Dragon which was subsequently produced as a successful audio play by Audible.

[quote]Other members of the creative team include Sam Davis, music supervision and arrangements; Daryl Waters and Davis, orchestrations; David Loud, vocal arrangements; and music direction by Alvin Hough Jr.

[quote]Foresight Theatrical is handling general management. Casting’s being handled by Jim Carnahan Casting’s Jim Carnahan and Jason Thinger.

[quote]Deadline understands that the characters played by Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli in the 1977 film will not appear in the new iteration. Indeed, our reporting indicates that the new New York, New York will feature little of Scorsese’s storyline.

[quote]It will still be set in postwar 1946, but the focus will be about a city in recovery, plus the casting and story will be inclusive.

[quote]Deadline has been tracking the show for some time; it’s been in development for four years; a fully-staged, hush-hush workshop was done in New York several months ago.

[quote]A Broadway powerhouse who attended the workshop but who declined us permission to use their name told us that the performance was “profoundly beautiful and special.”

[quote]They continued: “It’s about this city; this social experiment of people from all walks of life. Simply put, it’s about New York with a big band, big cast and show-stopping dance numbers. The thing to remember is that it’s not the film, it’s a million miles away from the film, just to be clear.”

It's not the film, we're just using the name and songs from the film, why would anyone think it's based on the film?

Ghastly, just ghastly.

Carrie Hope Fletcher seems to work a lot in the West End. Is she really that great?

[quote]I wish it was Toni Collette as Mrs. Lovett. I think she'd kill in the part.

I had no idea she was a Method actor.

Terrific. Susan Stroman at the helm of the doomed stage version of New York, New York with additional songs by Lin-Manuel. What could possibly go wrong?

New York New York: The New Hit Tourist Trap Musical

From previous thread: I think Ben Platt is sorta cute but that photo of him for his concerts is completely out of character. Someone said "Try to sell this with a sex angle" but he's just not that. He looks uncomfortable and awkward. And it is a bit presumptuous to think he will sell out Madison Square Garden. The only ones who do that are Streisand, McCartney, John, Joel, etc.

As for Andrew Rannells.....ewwww. The guy is too creepy for me and not attractive. I read his autobiography and it was very pity-party and "Ooooo, I'm in love!" with every chorus boy who walks into the room.

I… I don’t understand that horrifying picture of Ben Platt. Whoever approved that needs to be fired and driven out of the business. Also, he actually thought he had a shot filling Madison Square Garden? That’s fucking hilarious.

r78 No, but she has a large social media following

Platt looks like a “before” portfolio photo from someone that does at-home electrolysis and black market silicone injections.

Platt always looks unwashed to me. And he has a weak mouth and beady little eyes. Other than that, though...

More about NEW YORK, NEW YORK stage musical:

"The 1977 film tracks a jazz saxophonist and a pop singer, played on screen by Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli, respectively, whose marriage falls apart after their careers take them on different paths. The stage musical will reportedly not include either of these characters nor much of the film's storyline, though, like the film, it will be set in 1946 New York City."

This, at least, is a wise choice. I really liked Liza in the film, but her character is physically and emotionally abused by the DeNiro character, who is meant to be some tortured soulful jazz artist but is mostly a psychopath. "And The World Goes Round" is a great song.

I saw New York, New York in the theatre when it was first released. Much of the audience expected a happy sappy musical and had no idea an abusive relationship was at the core of the film. I thought it was brave even at 15 years old and DeNiro and Liza are brilliant. And I love the ending. She’d had enough and wasn’t going back.

How silly to expect happy clappy from Scorsese.

I agree. I loved Liza, her big songs, the decor, especially in the night clubs scene really got the time period right. But after De Niro's courtship of Liza, practically every scene he has with Liza was something out of a horror movie. The tone of the movie changed into another genre, and it really was jarring. The musical numbers were great though.

Scorsese was criticized for making Liza up to look like Judy, especially in the nightclub scenes. When an interviewer asked him about it, he said "What can I tell you? Put a wig on her and she looks like her mother."

Scorsese went a little too far with the Mama thing, including that schene where they arrive at the cabins after they get married. It's a direct schteal from the same schene in A Star Is Born.

Don't forget back when Scorcese was "directing" Liza on Bway in THE ACT (while they were involved with one another and with a nonstop coke binge). He was basically fired but retained director's credit, at least on IBDB.com.

I don't understand people who hate everything about musicals and musical theatre who try to make musicals.

Shine It On! was a disaster out of town on the west coast. It ambled on aimlessly over three hours. After the producers paid Scorsese off to go away, they brought in Gower Champion to fix it. He didn't have time to do much but he cut the show in half by cutting most of the book and basically turned the show into a Liza concert with clothes by Halston, so at least the audiences felt like they were getting their money's worth.

Sounds like a good role for Laura Osnes 🫣

[Quote] I don't understand people who hate everything about musicals and musical theatre who try to make musicals.

Ego.

Oh, c'mon. I said it when the movie came out and I'm saying it now. NY,NY is Liza's Star is Born. Barbra's version came out the year before. Liza's/Scorcese's version is just more grounded in reality. Two diverging careers, a realistic ending to their relationship.No big Norman Maine death. Liza's Happy Endings/Born in a Trunk. The problem was you don't really care about the two.

Liza , wig or not, never looked like her mother.

Just now seeing the Ben Platt poster. Good lord, why are they pushing so hard to make him sexy? He's really character-y, and will have a great career. But he's not a leading man in the traditional sense. Good lord.

The Deb Monk recording of Ladies Who Lunch is awful, she just screams it. And I like Deb Monk!

The problem with NY NY is the Robert Dinero character is so unlikeable you don’t root for them to get together.

R100-You mean Bobby Moneybags?

r99 You have no idea how hard it is for leading men types like me and Ben

Girls...girls!!!

Is no one reading that press release on New York, New York??

The musical will only use the film's title, some Kander & Ebb songs and the 1946 period of the film. Everything else, including the lead characters is being rewritten..

[quote]He's really character-y, and will have a great career.

But Ben Platt is not having a great career. He was positioned as a star in the movie of DEAR EVAN HANSEN and it flopped. And he flopped. (I saw him do it onstage on Bway, and thought he was wonderful, FWIW. I also enjoyed him back in the PITCH PERFECT movies in a minor role.) It will be difficult for him to step back into 2nd and 3rd banana roles, assuming he gets those offers, unless his producer father goes on creating endless stage and film projects for him. He's not easy to cast.

He's got some things in the pipeline, including the movie of MWRA, which sounds... godawful. Platt will never starve, but I think he's already peaked.

R104, I'm sure most people read the press release, and/or the discussion here, but they're still allowed to comment on the characters as presented in the movie of NEW YORK, NEW YORK. I only saw the film once, when it was first released, and my main memory of it was that the DeNiro character was incredibly annoying and loathsome from the very first scene, when he won't leave the Liza character alone as he relentlessly tries to get her phone number and won't take no for an answer.

[quote] He's really character-y, and will have a great career.

How do you figure? Character actors are usually hired because they can act. Ben Platt, while possessing a lovely singing voice, cannot act for shit. Couple that with his not exactly being easy on the eyes and an ever-dwindling fan base means there's not much reason to hire him for anything.

I thought it was somewhat amusing that they had to add Sharon Washington (WHO???) as a co-book writer even though all she's done is some solo thing for Audible. Gotta make sure you have a woke hire, and guess LMM doesn't check enough boxes. We see how well that worked for Paradise Square.

[quote]Gotta make sure you have a woke hire, and guess LMM doesn't check enough boxes.

[quote]Gotta have a certain quota of African-American hires SPECIFICALLY -- Asians, Latinos, et al. don't check enough boxes.

That's it! Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein star as Punch and Judy in Susan Stroman's New York, New York!!

I’ve posted this back in various older TG threads about Ben Platt, I thought he was really terrific in DEH, then not long after seeing the show, I was at a small gathering where he was also, and he was EXACTLY like Evan Hansen! What I thought was an inspired performance was actually more of a documentary, he was nothing but odd speech, tics, spit and sweat, it was horrific. It’s more like OH DEAR, BEN PLATT, for me now, especially after seeing DEH again with an age appropriate and wonderful actor in the role. Platt’s turn in the movie exposed everything wrong with him as a talent, nightmarish.

Love Deb Monk. She’s everybody’s girl.

She was nobody's Joanne.

God, "Everybody's Girl" in Steel Pier is just awful... as is that Chenowith number.

Steel Pier, a show with some excellent music but a ridiculous plot.

I saw STEEL PIER in previews on Bway, back where we were all anticipating great things.

I don't recall any of the music being excellent, frankly. It was all underwhelming--and I really like Kander and Ebb.

I saw Steel Pier and that show was dead, as in audience bored out of their mind, until Debra Monk sang Everybody’s Girl. She took that show from zero to 70 in about three minutes. Unfortunately, when she was done the energy faded and the show limped along until intermission.

Steel Pier and Nick & Nora were two shows I saw that had so many advantages with initial premise and turned out to bomb so badly.

If Kander & Ebb had actually gotten the rights to musicalize THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON'T THEY as planned, it would have been a lot more interesting. I don't know if HORSES would work as a musical, but it certainly would been better than STEEL PIER.

Director Anne Bogart created an original depression-era musical called MARATHON DANCING (I think) in the early 90s which was kind of wonderful. It used period era songs and featured couples competing for a cash prize. Victoria Clark was in it. Does anyone remember that?

R117, I wanted to see Marathon Dancing and could never find the time to get there. Didn’t they stage it in a Masonic auditorium, maybe on 23rd Street?

Thee rights to the film of They Shoot Horses, Don't They? have always been a mess because June Havoc sued, claiming the film infringed on her play Marathon 33. This despite the film was adapted from a novel of the same name. The producers finally had to pay her off to go away but the situation was complicated I think the rights are still messed up.

Maybe as Ben Platt ages, he’ll become a producer. Then we’ll see him, Jordan Roth and Billy Porter all trying to outdo each other at the Tony Awards.

Debra Monk hauled out "Everybody's Girl" to every benefit, Kander & Ebb tribute, and shoeshine stand for about a decade. She always acted like it was the CLASSIC and the audience(s) always sat their silent because the song's jokes can be smelled miles away. It was so weird.

Yes, R118, that was the space they used, and it was kind of amazing. I've never seen live performances there since.

Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein should star in every two-hander there is, that way their fans can go and the rest of us can avoid.

Same Time, Next Year, I Do, I Do, They're Playing Our Song, etc, etc...and eventually The Gin Game.

R80, the new songs will have music by John Kander; Lin-Manuel Miranda is writing lyrics only.

R108, Sharon Washington wrote her acclaimed solo play, FEEDING THE DRAGON, and was in THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS so she has a relationship with John Kander and Susan Stroman.

"Very occasionally a production comes along that redefines a classic musical for a generation. After a hugely successful sold-out run at the Young Vic, we’re thrilled to transfer Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! to the West End in its 80th anniversary year and bring the production to the wider U.K. audience it deserves.”

[quote]I don't know if HORSES would work as a musical, but it certainly would been better than STEEL PIER.

I don't see how it would, r117. It's pretty much non-stop bleak. Steel Pier just had a ridiculous premise.

Is NY,NY streamable anywhere. JustWatch doesn't list anything.

I fell in love with Sharon Washington after seeing her in WILD WITH HAPPY at the Public some years ago. She was fantastic.

As for Ben Platt, I saw him in DEH off Broadway and thought he was great in it, and I was happy he got the Tony for it. Unfortunately, it's been diminishing returns ever since.

I was never a big Liza fan earlier in her career. I found her too needy and annoying. NEW YORK, NEW YORK was the first time I liked her, mainly because DiNiro was SO annoying that it made her look good in comparison.

[Quote] KPOP, whose box office opens today, is offering a limited number of $19 tickets, sold in person at the box office for today only, in honor of the 19 members of the KPOP company making their Broadway debuts.

Do we smell a Korean flop?

Poor Platt was also terrible in that godawful Netflix series The Politician which had him as the lead. Surrounding him with more talented actors just made it so much more apparent that he's not that interesting on screen and has very few notes to play. The entire series seems to have been totally forgotten and it would appear everyone involved is thankful.

[quote]What theater is Sweeney aiming for?

The Mu Bo.

"The Last Girl" from STEEL PIER is a very beautiful and moving song, and there are some other highlights in the score, but also a lot of songs that are second- or third-rate.

[quote]Debra Monk hauled out "Everybody's Girl" to every benefit, Kander & Ebb tribute, and shoeshine stand for about a decade. She always acted like it was the CLASSIC and the audience(s) always sat their silent because the song's jokes can be smelled miles away.

Plus, one of the jokes is so vulgar and off-putting, the one that ends "I just can't keep my calves together."

One problem with Steel Pier was Act 1 ended with the entire cast running in a circle.

Note to future theater artists: don’t end Act 1 with something the audience can do in their backyard.

Steel Pier...

I think the OCR of "Steel Pier" is quite listenable -- though I do skip the stupid Chenoweth number. And Debra Monk is too damn over the top. She almost makes Merman seem subtle in comparison.

Oh, Gregory Harrison. So hot, so handsome.

So competent and DULL onstage. Another Treat Williams.

Anyone know why they cut so many songs from this album(the Sondheim scrabble album)?

I found lots of the cut songs on YT so they do exist

A guess, r138, is that a lot of the cut numbers were represented on cast albums, same songs, same performers. So whether it was a rights issues from the cast recordings or just redundancy it seems they cut stuff that was already on record. That said, care to share some links of your finds?

Julie Benko was out yesterday afternoon so the audience got to see the understudy’s understudy.

[quote]Do we smell a Korean flop?

It's just some kimchi that turned.

Julie Benko was never the understudy. She was the standby.

There's only so much room on a vinyl disc, r138.

10 and a Half Minutes of Original Korean Evita Album Highlights

About 15 years ago, I saw a scaled down production of Steel Pier at a little theatre on the Cape. It was clear, the book worked, no dazzle-dazzle, just a simple musical played in a lower key, and I enjoyed it more than the Broadway fiasco.

I agree about “Everybody’s Girl” it’s got a great melody and is hummable…but the jokes are hokey even for elder gays who applaud everything.

I’ve seen the number many times where the audience is stone faced.

What’s sad is it’s a great song in structure and *should* be a showstopper. I think Bea Arthur could have had a hit with it or Elaine Stritch.

Debra Monk played it like dinner theatre though.

I couldn't even get through that 12 minute promo tape of STEEL PIER. True, it's only highlights but was the entire show so relentlessly slap-happy, perky and cheery? Including Ms Monk's "showstopper?" Marathon dances were sordid, gruesome and exhausting, obviously not the material for a fast-paced Broadway musical.

Have you all made the connection yet that the STEEL PIER librettist was David Thompson who's also writing the libretto for NEW YORK, NEW YORK? Kander and Stro must love him, to their own detriment, though maybe Sharon Washington actually will bring something fresh to the project.

I saw a student production of June Havoc's MARATHON '33 at Rutgers U. way back in early 1980s and remember it fondly. As it was a student production it was given the huge young cast and energy it required and I think it was performed in the round, which worked very well for the material.

Paula Vogel's (non-musical) adaptation of "They Shoot Horses" was scheduled to play in London but seems to have been cancelled.

I think the Vogel production was only canceled due to early days of Covid. I hope it happens now.

And the understudy has gone on before, once prior to this.

r143

I get that but there are some great songs they left off sadly

I believe there is audio of the full Sondheim "scrabble" concert in circulation.

r152

you can find most of them on youtube thankfully... this is not the greatest though

I remember seeing Steel Pier, kind of being dragged to it because I'd heard it wasn't very good, and really enjoying it, though I remember very little about it now. The things I do recall:

- It was the first time I had ever seen Cheno and I thought she was amazing, and deserved the Tony nomination much more than Debra Monk.

- Debra Monk was actually kind of terrible, or at least she was not really given anything integral to the story, and I felt like they basically said to her- go out and do that Debra Monk thing you usually do.

- Daniel McDonald was one of the most handsome men I'd ever seen and I was very taken with him.

- Karen Ziemba could sing and dance, but she gave a horrendous acting performance.

I don't think i knew it was about a dance marathon when I went in or I would have been more excited to see it, as I love They Shoot Horses. So once I was in there, I was probably predisposed to be intrigued. Who knows what I would think now. Back then I was young and not jaded.

"Steel Pier" at the Tonys

Steel Pier "Everybody's Girl" Debra Monk, Rosie O'Donnell Show, 1997

The Scrabble album was a two disk set.

Everybody talks about Chenoweth in Steel Pier but she’s not in any of the promo clips.

The Scrabble album was, indeed, a two-record set, but of course, there were still limitations on how much music could be fit onto those two records.

[quote]Daniel McDonald was one of the most handsome men I'd ever seen and I was very taken with him.

Agreed. And a sweetheart, too. Rest in peace.

Kristi Dawn was still a near unknown at that point. It was her first part on Broadway and a small one at that.

Ben Platt is a sexy mofo. But, Andy Randells? Not even in the dark with the lights behind her.

I bought a bootleg of the Scrabble concert (audio) years ago, probably on ebay. It includes all of the intros, as well as the cut songs—lots of gaffes and mispronunciations, as you'd expect for a concert that didn't have a lot of rehearsal time. But it's fun.

I feel bad for Karen Ziemba. She’s just kinda…there. She’s a ship in a bottle. Perfect… yet useless

"In the dusk, with a light behind her," R162.

[quote]and a small one at that.

Whaddya mean by *that*, r161???

[quote]and a small one at that.

She made the most of it.

And such small portions.

[quote]There's a song called "There's No Place Like London", so it would be a little difficult to put the piece in a different setting. A different period perhaps, but not a different setting.

I'm not saying they should, but they could set it in London in Kentucky, Ohio, Arkansas, Texas or West Virginia.

What do we think of this little-known song by the late master, Sondheimites? It's from the score for "For Singin' Out Loud," a movie musical that never got made.

I think the singer is okay, but no better. I'm more interested in what people think of the song itself.

The thing I remember about STEEL PIER was that there was the reality and the fantasy, but the reality Steel Pier looked adorable and fairy tale like, and not sleazy and run down, so there was no differentation between the two. The set designer should have been shot for that. Everybody's Girl, I found forgettable, but I loved Monk's second act number. And yes, Cheno was amazing in her number, and made me take notice. Not much else to notice in it, sadly.

R170, I think Sondheim has written that the song "Sand" is supposed to be a mediocre song in the context of the film.

I thought "Water Under the Bridge" was supposed to be the mediocre pop song. "When it's done, will we still have fun? When it ends, will we still be friends?" etc.

Madonna Sings Sondheim

The amazingly sexy Jim Newman was opposite Cheno in Steel Pier but he wasn't given much to do.

R117, Bogart had wanted to stage Marathon 33, but Havoc (who would not be present for rehearsals) wanted co-director credit.

Miss Harris

I always heard that Adelaide in the 1992 guys and dolls was between Karen Ziemba, and faith, Prince. Would Karen‘s career have gone differently?

Also, isn’t Christopher McDonald of hacks, etc. the brother of the late Daniel McDonald?

R178 Yes, Christopher, (star of Grease 2), is his brother.

Oh yea, Madonna singing Sondheim songs... songs SS wrote for the film "Dick Tracy" (now there's a terrible movie). I bought the cassette of that music, was really, really impressed with her performance of the songs.

But her performance as Breathless Mahoney? And Mandy P as the character 88 Keys? Oy and vey is an understatement AND true examples of 'Things My Brain Retains and I Don't Know Why'.

I can’t even imagine Karen Ziemba in that Guys & Dolls revival. Maybe as Sarah but never as Adelaide. She just doesn’t have the comic chops.

It was down to the wire between Karen Ziemba and Crista Moore for BIG also… though it seems Karen lucked out on that one.

Maybe you're right, r173.

"Water Under the Bridge" has banal lyrics, but it's a catchy hook.

Papermill Playhouse has announced their new season. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. Everything from The Sound of Music to Rent. Who exactly is their subscription base?

Murder on the Orient Express. I never knew this had been adapted to the stage.

"The problem was she was about 14 when she started stripping because she was orphaned and I can’t see anyone filming that story now"

Why not? Welcome to life and the human condition.

"I don't know if HORSES would work as a musical, but it certainly would been better than STEEL PIER."

A musical of HORSES was produced in regional theatres in the 90s. It tanked. One of the reasons being that, like BALLROOM, marathon dancing is not presentational.

[quote]Murder on the Orient Express. I never knew this had been adapted to the stage.

By the shockingly untalented Ken Ludwig. It's now playing at the Cape Playhouse. Someone I know who saw it says it doesn't work AT ALL, because it tries to be a spoof but the real story keeps kicking in.

Paper Mill seemed to be doing so well producing new musicals like Newsies, A Bronx Tale, Honeymoon in Vegas, Ever After, The Honeymooners, etc. Not all made it to Broadway and not all were hits but it was great programming for Paper Mill. I wonder if outside producers became too wary of bringing their projects there because it was too close to NY scrutiny? I worked there and loved being able to live at home in NYC while creating a new show.

They have continued producing new musicals including The Wanderer last Spring and Hercules this season.

PRADA isn't dead yet!

And oh yeah.... it's all CV-19's fault!

[Quote] Company failed because it didn’t work.

Um, I guess that would be every Bway production of Company

No, it's just the gender switch.

Wow, they ought to scrap Prada and just put McCollum on stage for two hours. That was QUITE the tap dance.

In addition to Papermill creating new works, they always had one star vehicle show which didn’t work but gave the audience a chance to see a Broadway star in something they wouldn’t get to do on Broadway.

Chita Rivera in Anything Goes

Betty Buckley in Gypsy

I wonder if The Sound of Music will be this year’s star vehicle. Patina Miller *is* Maria von Trapp.

Sand is a very labored metaphor in that song, R170, and it's not vastly helped by the singer taking a breath in the middle of "Caribbean" to point up the rhyme.

I too prefer Water Under the Bridge, but did Sondheim really intend it to be heard as a pop song in its context? Even though I like it, it's incredibly wordy even for him. The sentiments, though overworked, sound a lot like his own voice when he talks about love. Which is not like the voice of anyone who ever wrote a pop song, nor, I would imagine, appealing to anyone who ever bought one. It's got that Larry David Does Love feel about it.

r191

except the original did actually make money... I don't think the others ever did

Is the NY Post actually interested in Prada or is some publicist pushing the story to keep it alive? Why does the Post have its history of Bway coverage anyhow, from Riedel onwards. It's a right wing Murdoch rag, do its readers or anyone outside the lefty theater industry care about Bway 'scandal'??

The Ludwig "Orient Express" premiered at the McCarter Center (Princeton) with this cast:

Daisy Armstrong - Ivy Cordle; Colonel Arbuthnot/Ratchett - Max Von Essen; Hercule Poirot - Allan Corduner; Michel/Head Waiter - Maboud Ebrahimzadeh; Mary Debenham - Susannah Hoffman; Helen Hubbard - Julie Halston; Monsieur Bouc - Evan Zes; Princess Dragomiroff - Veanne Cox; Greta Ohlsson - Samantha Steinmetz; Hector MacQueen - Juha Sorola; Countess Andrenyi - Alexandra Silber

As you can see, several characters are missing. (SPOILER ALERT: He only gets stabbed eight times.) I saw a production of it a few years ago in California. The train set was the most interesting part.

[quote]Princess Dragomiroff - Veanne Cox

Didn't see that one coming.

Is the Orient Express trying to cash in on the success of The 39 Steps or was it written before?

Bill Kenwright tours an Agatha Christie every year in the UK. Is one of these based on his production(s)?

Paper Mill doesn't do new musicals UNLESS they have outside sweetening.

BILLY PORTER *IS* Mother Superior

Who will sing for Billy? Kathleen Battle?

Bump.

Hasn’t Elton already moved on to his Tammy Faye musical?

Britney as Tammy Faye?

Kevin McCollum has always been a nasty piece of shit, very uninformed, very lucky, abusive and mean spirited.

HAs Joseph ever paid back on broadway? I love the show but it's done everywhere

Mostly positive reviews for the off-Bway revival of KINKY BOOTS.

I found the original a yawn, but I can see how some folks love it.

Dear Stro: Please, for the love of all that is holy, do a jitterbug number in NY, NY to Ralph Burns' thrilling arrangement of Opus No. One from the film soundtrack, which is miles better than the (very good) Tommy Dorsey original. It's nearly nine minutes long and will stop the show, I swear. And no lyrics from LMM needed! You're welcome.

Kevin McCollum is a deluded fool. How the hell does he get investors to shell in more millions to "save" this turkey? Did they not see it in Chicago? Just let it die already.

Wow re that McCarter cast! To go from Wendy Hiller to Veanne Cox, Sean Connery to Max von Essen, Jacqueline Bisset to Alexandra Silber and Lauren Bacall to Julie Halston. And those are the names I've heard of. Yikes! I rather watch the movie on TV, even with commercials.

Let's see, r211...

[quote] Kevin McCollum has always been a nasty piece of shit, very uninformed, very lucky, abusive and mean spirited.

and never ever ever ever ever ever stops talking

He married Evelyn Nesbitt and then produced the Ragtime revival

Can we start spelling it “Patty Lapwn”?

no.

🎶Yes, I can!🎶

I didn't realize Ben Platt is doing Parade at the City Center. His recent photo shoot shows he is far too sexy for the role.

It's a shame Papermill didn't book Armie Hammer.

[quote]I didn't realize Ben Platt is doing Parade at the City Center.

Who is he playing? Mary Phegan? He doesn't have the gravitas to play Leo Frank.

Is that homophobic?

[quote]Is that homophobic?

Is what homophobic?

R221 Actually an open casting call is being held for Mary.

[Quote] Is what homophobic?

Suggesting a gay man is too "light" and would be better suited to playing a woman.

It be your own people.

[quote] Suggesting a gay man is too "light" and would be better suited to playing a woman.

I'm a gay man saying that another gay man is not the correct choice and suggesting, tongue firmly planted in cheek, that he is about as suited for the role he is cast in as playing a gender opposite 20 years younger role.

Homophobic is being afraid of gay people. I'm afraid he's going to make my people look bad.

Fear/hatred, not just fear.

Ben Platt can only play Ben Platt. He has zero range, absolutely none.

Most actors don't have much range. It boils down to whether or not people tire of your back of tricks.

Musical theater actors only know how to act when they are singing. When it's dialogue. it's just line recitation.

Preach, r231

These days, I'd agree with you R231. While there have always been very few Broadway performers who could act and sing beautifully at the same time, it seemed like they were less rare up until the 80's and 90's. Whatever they're teaching these kids in musical theatre training is draining them of their personality. Most of the ones with beautiful voices are competent actors at best who can rarely make you feel anything when they sing. If Carol Channing, Ethel Merman, Robert Preston, Jerry Orbach, or Gwen Verdon walked into a casting session today, I doubt any of them would get a callback.

I don't think that's just down to training. It's also down to the relative lack of importance of present day Broadway in popular culture.

R233 nails it. Any natural "it" factor or persona/personality gets SUCKED out of them at the NYUs, CCMs, Carnegie Mellons. They all become a cookie cutter, assembly line "triple threat" (though more like a "triple shot of vanilla"!)

No one knows how to "perform" or "play out" anymore. No sense of style or size to the performances. And these ghastly, angsty "contemporary" shows like Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal are all one note. They all have an 'orchestra' of 5-6 pieces, so tonally they all sound the same. Whiny pop tenors and shrill belters. Lots of bad acting and "indicating". Very little JOY on stage in the way those old school stars had it (even in angsty roles!)

But you're right, those stars would never have a chance in today's Broadway...even if those shows were being revived or done for the first time. I blame the casting directors for not taking bigger risks as well. Where's the next Nathan Lane? The next Patti LuPone? Hell, even a real matinee idol like Kevin Kline? Some of it is definitely the type of shows being produced. What would a Nathan Lane star in right now? Or a Jerry Orbach? There's no need for Alfred Drakes, Richard Kileys or John Raitt's anymore.

You've got that right, R231!

Little Charlie Stemp doesn't perform or play out? I thought some of you enjoyed him.

How many people enjoyed Charlie Stemp while he was here? I’ve heard he happily availed himself of the free head available to him.

Who sucked him off?

[Quote] I’ve heard he happily availed himself of the free head available to him.

In a Russell Tovey way or a Matthew Morrison way?

"Karate Kid" is taking The Music Box.

Mana I Want to Sing is taking the Golden with DL fave, Lens Dunham

[quote]Who sucked him off?

Betty Buckley

[Quote] Who sucked him off?

Wayman Wong.

[quote]Who sucked him off? Wayman Wong.

Well, that goes without saying :-)

Wayman wishes!

With those teeth, and his cat food breath? Woe to anyone who had to stoop so low.

More about Russell Tovey getting head, please. TIA!

& JULIET sizzle reel.

Looks like fun.... if a bit busy.

We need a new Sound of Music for our time where every character is transgender

No every character is a drag queen that way you get two for one.

The Sound of Music needs to go darker like Cabaret did. While Maria is singing “The Lonely Goatherd” Rolf is seen giving blowjobs to Nazis.

We need an all-black Von Trapp family.

R251 r252 r253 r254

Are you 5? I don’t particularly care one way or the other but do you think just saying “trans” or “blowjob” or “black” is automatically witty?

R255, I agree those posts are not especially witty, but it's worth noting that all of those elements were ACTUALLY present in the Daniel Fish "Oklahoma!," depending on which production of it you saw.

It's not witty, R 255, just a fact for the new woks Broadway.

Broadway has new woks?

The woks were lining the tables in the recent Oklahoma. Stir-fry for all at intermission

[quote]Woe to anyone who had to stoop so low.

How short IS he?

(And was he manning those woks at Oklahoma?)

The new wok Broadway staging " The Sound of Music."

Did someone say wok?

R255, I’m not trying to be witty. Is irony lost on you?

Did you ever see the Mendes production of Cabaret? It’s much darker and sleazier than the original Prince version. The comparison is taking two musicals about Nazi Germany and giving them equal productions.

But then you already knew that.

DeuxMoi says a Spring Awakening revival is on for winter. Eva Noblezada is leaving Hadestown to play Wendla.

Re: Jennifer Butt’s passing-

She had a great butt but she couldn’t live forever.

WHET to Tyler Hanes? She loved getting fingerbanged at Therapy post show.

You Juilliard graduates get off of my lawn!

Sitting here at the matinee of “Into the Woods” waiting for the show to start. So many of the people around me holding up their Playbills in front of their phones taking a picture of them so they can Instagram it (or Twitter it, whichever) later. I’m not on social media, so I just read mine and put it away in my bag. I’m so fucking out of touch.

By the way, Joshua Henry is out for the matinee. Understudy Jason Forbach is performing in his place.

Forbidden Broadway did a wonderful smash up of TSOM and Cabaret which used to be youtube but now I can only find it on streaming for a fee.

"Children, cover here, away from The Thing."

Wok Broadway presents a new production of Flower Drum Song. With Waymon Wong as Wang Ta, Ariana DeBose as Mei Li, Ali Stroker as Madame Liang, Nathan Lane as Sammy Fong and Billy Porter as Linda Low. (His 'I Enjoy Being a Girl' is a true highlight). Choice of General Tso's Chicken or Mongolian Beef at intermission.

[Quote] & JULIET sizzle reel. Looks like fun.... if a bit busy.

Saw it in London. It’s biggest flaw is that it’s just stupid.

R268, Henry is out all weekend. He's opening for Diana Ross at the Hollywood Bowl. The missing dates were announced when they announced the first extension.

Before Benko steps aside for Lea - is there any video. aside from her performance In the park. I love to see her with Ramin. There is an audio of them now but that will probably be removed soon. I’m sure they will give Lea new costumes. Benko looks like a little girl in a tent in that big red dress.

Lea will certainly be given new costumes but whether they will be new designs is the question.

R268 But if the girl who sat behind you in first grade doesn't know you went to see ITW, did you really see it ?

I saw & JULIET in London pre-pandemic, I guess before it had really caught on because the tix were from the 1/2 price booth and it was only about 3/4 full. Lots of Asian teenaged tourists rocking in the aisles when they weren't texting on their phones.

Anyway, I loathed it. About as puerile as imaginable. Very tacky and cheap design. The cast already looked like they'd had enough and were as bored as I was. I can't imagine it attracting big crowds here except for maybe weekend matinees.

r268 Is not being on social media the reason why you're posting your boring observations on here instead?

[quote] Before Benko steps aside for Lea - is there any video. aside from her performance In the park.

From Julie's first performance at the end of April--

Robert LuPone died. Condolences to Patti I guess...

Sorry you’re stuck in Flyoverstan, R278. I’d be bitter, too, if I was you.

Bob's need for fierce engagement wit the art? Didn't LuPone get in trouble for going off script during his run in "A Chorus Line"?

[quote]Didn't LuPone get in trouble for going off script during his run in "A Chorus Line"?

Did he? I have never heard or read about that.

[Quote] It’s biggest flaw is that it’s just stupid

Its stupid.

It's been mentioned here more than once, r283.

[Quote] LuPone returned to play Zach and liked to improvise during the performance. I heard the cast was not happy about that.

Winner best musical? Broadway is dead

Well, r286, how would you feel about the show if you hadn't seen the movie and didn't have any familiarity with it?

[quote]She loved getting fingerbanged at Therapy post show.

But to be fair -- who doesn't?

I prefer my fingerbanging during the show.

r281 You are bitter though, bitter about people logging onto a website to tell people they're about to see a show, while you also log onto a website to tell people you're about to see a show.

No fingerbanging for me, Cheyenne.

I was at a performance where he went off script and randomly pulled dancers out of the line and asked them questions. The poor kid playing Mark looked terrified. It was during LuPone’s return to the show a few years after he left.

Wasn't a fan of John Simon, but he did make me laugh with this from his Les Miz review: "Jennifer Butt falls behind."

Diana Ross is singing at the Hollywood Bowl? She's 95!!

Close R294. She’s 78.

Good for her!

I feel bad for Patti. People never really get over the death of a sibling. Also given her age, she probably sees death a lot closer because of it.

It's interesting that the & Juliet trailer is a recreation of the original West End trailer.

Or maybe Patti thinks: Fuck him, I would have won the Ted Mack Show as a solo.

R273, nice! I hadn't heard about that. Good for him.

Forbach was excellent.

THR's obit on Bob LuPone:

That was AFTER a nose job...?

Has Donna McKechnie commented?

[quote] LuPone’s first professional job was in 1966, in the ensemble of the Westbury Music Fair’s production of The Pajama Game starring Liza Minnelli.

Liza did stock?

Tuesdays she did.

That thread about A Chorus Line was interesting. Someone was speculating about the change in the script from Cassie not getting the job to getting picked and said the audience had fallen in love with her and were upset to see her fail. I wonder if they had ever considered changing that for the film version since they didn't have to worry about anyone falling in love with Cassie with Alyson Reed playing her.

.....and bonds!

R304, Liza did The Pajama Game (Babe), The Fantasticks (Luisa), Take Me Along (Muriel) and Carnival (Lili) in summer stock. I have the Playbill from that CARNIVAL production that my mother and her friends saw....and didn't take me.

Back in the old, OLD days, apparently summer stock wasn't the joke it became in the old days.

Didn't Broadway shows close down for the summer once upon a time? Hence, "relevant" performers moved to the Straw Hat circuit for a time.

Has National Theatre Live started up in your city ? thanks in advace

Yes, NTL is showing Prima Facie in NYC.

HBO Max is rerunning The West Wing. Will Alison, Kristin and Stockard get residuals?

I can beat that, BuzzedFur. My parents saw Gypsy with Merman and didn't take me. Been in therapy ever since.

Charlie Stemp leading the bows at Crazy for You in Chichester. Awww….

Shocked to read there's a third sibling William Lupone!

Shouldn't it be Billi Lupone, r316?

There's a fascinating article out there on line that someone posted on Facebook on one of those Broadway Remembered type pages which is an interview with Barry Bostwick, who was originally cast as Zach in ACL and then Robert Lupone, 2 months after the show debuted at The Public. Some really dishy info about Michael Bennett and how he created the role of Zach, (somewhat) based on himself.

Sorry, I'd link it of I could but I'm sure it's googleable.

Summer stock should make a comeback. I'm sure there are lots of actors who'd be thrilled for the work and the flyover states get the thrill of seeing the third lead of a TV police procedural playing Mame.

"And these ghastly, angsty "contemporary" shows like Dear Evan Hansen, Next to Normal are all one note. They all have an 'orchestra' of 5-6 pieces, so tonally they all sound the same."

That's because the scores ARE the same: banal and pedestrian

"Did you ever see the Mendes production of Cabaret? It’s much darker and sleazier than the original Prince version. The comparison is taking two musicals about Nazi Germany and giving them equal productions."

No, the Mendes was about playing the show's end from the very beginning so it had no place to go. Instead of being enticed and seduced into the vortex of catastrophe {which is what the song Cabaret is all about}, we were shoved into it from the opening number. Talk about one note.

r271 Now do one for Porgy and Bess

R318, Barry Bostwick never did a public performance; he left during the second workshop and was replaced by LuPone.

LuPone had been playing Al. Don Percassi, who had been playing the dance assistant, moved in to the role of Al and Clive Clerk was hired as the dance assistant. This all happened before the show played performances at the Public.

They might have to settle for the third lead of a 70s sit-com playing Mame!

Dinah Manoff IS Vera Charles.

Mariska Harigaty could play the orphanage lady. (Nora?)

Adam Rich IS Patrick!

Kristy McNichol *is* Woman of the Year!

I’m one of the girls, who’s one of the boys.

I miss summer stock and actors playing roles they were totally wrong for. Just imagine seeing Beanie Feldstein in Funny Girl on the Kenley Circuit. Those were the days.

Barbara Cook in Funny Girl! Now that’s hilarious.

The new Mendez production of Cabaret casted Billie Porter as the Emsee. She’s not very believable in the roll.

Sorry, I should have been clearer in my post.

The article I was yammering about (and really is worth googling) has interviews with both Bostwick and Lupone, done separately, 3 weeks after ACL opened at The Public. Both actors, who were interviewed separately, talk about their different experiences working with Bennett and their separate journeys creating the character of Zach. Bostwick talks about how he and Bennett came to the mutual decision to part ways. And Lupone says, among lots of other interesting stuff, that the Al he played was a very different character than one that eventually was written once it was recast with Don Percassi.

Both actors are surprisingly frank about Bennett, considering the timing of the article. IIRC the article is linked to The Muny website. Why, I don't know.

Beanie Feldstein in My Fat Friend!

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall for Bennett working with Dolores Gray.

I believe Kelli Giddish is available, r319.

Billy Porter plays Billie Hayes as Mammy Yokum in "Yo', Abner!"

But...but, r330, she got *rave* reviews!!!

Wasn't it Dolores' Mom who was the real trouble-maker?

[quote]Shouldn't it be Billi Lupone

IbegtodifferwithyaBilli!

Dolores could not get out of her own way... as her Cole Porter story here illustrates.

R332 can’t find it

Just google: Muny.org All About Zach

Thanks

Looks like the Baker’s wife had some work done. Unrecognizable.

[quote]I was at a performance where he went off script and randomly pulled dancers out of the line and asked them questions. The poor kid playing Mark looked terrified. It was during LuPone’s return to the show a few years after he left.

As I said, I had never heard or read that, and am very surprised to read about it now. I wonder if LuPone got away with such behavior more than once -- I would think the stage manager would have read him the riot act afterwards and told him that if he ever did that again, he'd be thrown out on his ass.

[quote]Looks like the Baker’s wife had some work done. Unrecognizable.

Umm, they both have bright sunlight shining directly into their faces, and they're squinting. You stupid bitch.

[quote]Shouldn't it be Billi Lupone, [R316]?

They could've done a reboot of Petticoat Junction: Bobby Jo, Billi Jo, and Patty Jo.

[quote]I have the Playbill from that CARNIVAL production that my mother and her friends saw....and didn't take me.

That boy ain't right!

Patti Jo, r348.

I love NYC.

Sorry/not sorry for the LMM haters.

Raul

Speaking of Patti/Patty Jo, didn't she replace in Purlie?

#279 - Thank you for the link to Benko’s Parade - I hope there will be more!

Enough with Julie Benko. Enough.

r355, Okay, Beanie.

Schmigadoon! season 2

the show’s second season will see a shift from the parodying of 1940s musicals to a whole new era of the 1960s and 70s. The official log line reveals “having found true love in the town of Schmigadoon, Season 2 will find Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) and Melissa (Cecily Strong) in Schmicago, the world of ’60s and ’70s musicals.”

Schmicago, Schmicago that toddlin town. . .

Will there be nudiddy?

So I guess that means that season 3 would spoof the British super-shows?

Let's hope Season 3 spoofs closings. By being canceled.

Schmigadoon is the level of parody we live with today. Will there be a new Charles Ludlam someday?

When did Charles Ludlam have a network TV show, r360?

I'd settle for a new Gerard Alessandrini. God knows there will never be another Tom Lehrer.

Tom Lehrer is still with us.

[quote]Tom Lehrer is still with us.

My God, I didn't know! He's 94.

Vatican Rag

Schmigadoon had some fun moments, but what a mess.

Keegan Michael Key is community theater level talent.

Gerard Alessandrini was and is a hack who got lucky.

He had a gimmick and he ran with it, r368...

"Mama, she played Dorothy in A Star Is Born!"

"Papa... Gigi, Kismet, Brigadoon... He loved all that French stuff."

Anybody know how I can donate/drop offmemorabilia to the BCEFA flea market happening next month? I sent them an email last week but haven’t heard back.

R371, I'm guessing you haven't heard back because they don't want it. Maybe tweet them?

"Any natural "it" factor or persona/personality gets SUCKED out of them at the NYUs, CCMs, Carnegie Mellons. They all become a cookie cutter, assembly line "triple threat" (though more like a "triple shot of vanilla"!)"

Amen. But it's just as bad, if not worse, for musical theatre writers. Fifty years ago, there was only Lehman Engel assigning his "write-a-song-for-X-character-from-a-classic-play" exercises for budding MT authors and composers. Which at least encouraged singular approaches to the material. Nowadays the pop-crap philosophy promulgated on campuses and theatre-sponsored programs share the same kind of cookie-cutter, assembly-line mentality. The plethora of disastrous, monotonously trite shows are the dire results.

Wouldn't pop-crap at least have memorable tunes?

The Dutch cast of The Prom performed tonight on TV. Jesus, that language is ugly even when sung.

Do they have proms in the Netherlands?

I thought that most Dutch people were pretty fluent in English, so I wonder how well an untranslated version of The Prom would go over.

R372. Thank you for posting that. If I don’t hear back I’ll just donate the books to a library and trash the rest. It sounds like they have more than enough and don’t need my crap :)

R373 I share your despair but there are still a few (very few) glimmers of hope. The Band’s Visit and Kimberly Akimbo were both wonderful. Granted, that’s only two out of…?

the Hayes, the Lunt-Fontanne.....and the Gaiety Male Burlesque!

Billy Porter as Nellie Forbush in the new South Pacific revival.

Billy Porter *IS* as corny as Kansas in August!

And featuring Beanie Feldstein as Bloody Mary?

[quote]And featuring Beanie Feldstein as Bloody Mary?

Get with the times. That would be culturally offensive.

And featuring Beanie Feldstein as Nellie Forbush.

[quote]The Dutch cast of The Prom performed tonight on TV. Jesus, that language is ugly even when sung.

But the song is still great. Best score since "Taboo".

The Prom is a smelly turd, a shite sandwich of a show.

The Gaiety was my absolute Broadway theater.

Indeed, r386...

Didn’t Patrick Swayze dance at Gaiety in his starving actor days?

The first 10 minutes of THE PROM are hysterically funny. Then comes the rest of the show...

[quote]The Prom is a smelly turd, a shite sandwich of a show.

Of course it is, this is Datalounge!

R379 That stairwell up to the Gaiety, where treasures await, God I miss that place

Sweeney Todd in Dutch? Uhhh…OK.

I would love to hear Worst Pies in some consonant heavy language like Dutch.

What’s going into the Gaiety? Can we have a revival of Follies there with the ghost of go-go boys instead showgirls? DL Heaven!

I'd pay good money to see Billy Porter's Mammy Yokum.

Sweeney always wears suspenders (except for John Doyle’s but bleccch)

Agreed R355. Shut the fuck up about Julie Benko. Christ. So fucking annoying.

On the off chance anyone feels bad for Beanie (I know no-one does) here's a clip of her finding it hilarious that her mom was such a raging cunt to the staff that a veterinarian banned their family from their clinic

Of course Beanie Feldstein’s mother is unhinged.

With a daughter like Beanie and a son like Jonah, wouldn’t you cunt with the best of them?

Out of curiosity I just looked at ticket availability at Music Man. a Decent number of orchestra seats still available for this Wednesday evening, and center rear (2 rows from the back) is $246 each. Rear side is $199 each. Row D is $469, with 8 seats in that row still available. Third and fourth row mezzanine (almost entirely available) is $268

They are bastards and Hugh with all his nice-guy shit (and $38M apartment he's selling and the $21M apartment he just bought) should be ashamed.

Are they able to sell all those expensive MM seats by each performance? If they don't, will they be sold much cheaper on that day?

You know what’s really fun? Little Shop of Horrors in German.

Tea gets served. Writer Andrew Bergman on his Broadway 'Honeymoon in Vegas' experience:

[quote] “Except for the breathtaking incompetence of our producers, ‘Honeymoon’ was a wondrous experience,” he said. (There’s sarcasm in there somewhere.)

PS Per IBDB, the producers were Dena Hammerstein, Roy Gabay, Rich Entertainment Group, Dan Farah, Metro Card, King's Leaves, Dan Frishwasser, Leslie Greif/Thom Beers, Susan Dietz & Lenny Beer, Howard Hoffman/Anna Czekaj, Important Musicals, Sharon Karmazin, L.G. Scott and Martin Markinson; Produced in association with Ken Greiner/Ruth Hendel, Krauss Freitag/Boyle Koenigsberg, Rick Steiner/Bell-Staton Group, Pam Pariseau and Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee, Producing Artistic Director; Todd Schmidt, Managing Director); Associate produced by David Goldyn

PPS: Metro Card seems to be Tony Danza

You know what's really not fun? Watching a Beanie interview. Jesus, she's awful.

R404 -- truly the star we deserve in 2022.

Dena Hammerstein was the nightmare, and everyone knew it. Stories were legendary. That was her one and done.

That clip shows how entitled Beanie is, beginning with my nanny... ("My mother worked..."). Lots of mothers work, and they don't have the money for nannies, dear.

I wouldn’t pay $5 to see Music Man or Hugh.

I saw Music Man and had the time of my life. It's joyous and fun, and I needed that. Worth every penny.

The new MUSIC MAN revival is not exceptional, but it's still a terrific musical, with the best love story ever told in musical theatre at the center. I enjoyed it more than almost anything from last season.

It can overcome many obstacles and still be fun and joyous, as the bad direction, overdone choreography, overly presentational staging, miscasting, nasal singing, and odd design conspire to prove.

[quote]with the best love story ever told in musical theatre at the center.

Winthrop and Amaryllis or Marcellus and Ethel Toffelmier?

Plus in that Beanie interview she says Beanie comes from Elizabeanie, which she claims is a British thing - it absolutely is not. I'm guessing they originally used it to mock her somehow, and the nanny came up with the claim it's a British name to cover up

Beanie was MADE to play Ethul Tafflemyer

[quote]with the best love story ever told in musical theatre at the center.

Sorry, but THIS is the greatest love story ever told in musical theater, or literature for that matter.

Beanie was MADE to be a waitress in a diner in Wisconsin.

I challenge you ALL to NOT mention Beanie for the rest of this thread.

Fuck off Ben

Beanie!!!

[quote] with the best love story ever told in musical theatre at the center.

[quote]Winthrop and Amaryllis or Marcellus and Ethel Toffelmier?

Tommy Djilas and Zaneeta Shinn

Tommy D has Zanetta dickmatized. Ye Gods!

I prefer *this* Hunchback, r415...

People on here claim Patti LuPone is past her sell by date but her tickets to 54 Below went on sale today at 12 for general and I was logged in at 11:55 and when 12 hit, she was completely sold out for the whole run…and I didn’t get a ticket…so methinks she still has star quality despite what DL says

People just want Patti to scream at them. I bet that's considered a kink.

[quote] methinks she still has star quality despite what DL says

I think the conversations here were about her general ability to sell to a broader public, not the die-hards who could fill 54 Below, with approx 150 seats, for a week.

Argentina’s brand of STAR QUALITY!!!

I think when you're pretty it doesn't matter how you wear your hair.

Sweetie, no one doubts Patti can sell 50 chairs and a two drink minimum in some grungy basement. She’s been a working Broadway actress for fifty years and has a dedicated (if old) gay NY following. She cannot in her current state however, fill a Broadway house. When she’d leave Company they’d lose maybe 100 - 150k a week. That’s about her worth.

^^^you say that like it's a bad thing, r428.

Patti’s brother Robert had died at 76. Rip.

Another Ben Platt project about to drop...

Between this and PARADE, Ben's keeping busy.

I assume he’s playing the title role.

I hate movies about weddings.

Ugh, written by those two pro-tranny Bob's Burgers cunts. Hard pass.

r 434 you’re [italic] delightful [/italic]

Will there be any straight men in the Patti audience or will it be filled with hissers?

Nothin' wrong with Bob's Burgers, r434.

Tony Goldwyn and Julian Ovenden together in that Bell/Platt film. Two big theatre dicks that have had full exposure onstage! I smell Indie Spirits for all!

And just exactly how do they smell r438?

I imagine they smell independently spirited, r439.

When is Beanie’s 54 Below performance?

For Beanie, 54 Below is the measurement of her gunt.

Careful, R441 and R442. You might trigger the "No more Beanie posts!" guy.

Patti Fan In Texas has joined the chat.

[quote]For Beanie, 54 Below is the measurement of her gunt.

I thought it was her IQ.

There will never be another Les Mouches.

Oh, Patti can try, but it was a different time and place.

ffs, r442, 443, and r445, Give it up!

I wish there was an extension so I could block the name and visage of Beanie like the kitten extension that can be used to block Trump’s image.

It’s nice that Patti is doing a tribute to the music of Bernadette Peters.

“Patti Sings Bernadette: A Retrospective” at 54 Below.

[quote]I wish there was an extension so I could block the name and visage of Beanie like the kitten extension that can be used to block Trump’s image.

I'd be happy if we could just block threads like we used to be able to do.

[Quote] Careful, [R441] and [R442]. You might trigger the "No more Beanie posts!" guy.

Correction: I’m the No More Witless Unfunny Beanie Posts Guy.

Beanie is last month's news. Move on. Really, at this point what's there to say?

[quote]Beanie is last month's news. Move on. Really, at this point what's there to say?

Beanie owes us some fresh material!

I'm sure Lea will provide plenty, r453.

What I love about Patti From a Hat means that the evening will be TOTALLY spontaneous and there is no way the entire evening won’t be planned from start to finish, down to every detail.

Wait, now you’re mad at her for planning her concert?

Is it possible this thread has had no comments for 11 hours .... until this one?

It's possible... for a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage.

It's possible ... for a hateful courtship to become a hateful marriage

You can block threads R450, you probably have blocked the limit, which I think is around 200. You have to go back and unblock dead old threads from your blocklist and then you’ll have space.

In all honesty, what is there to talk about in the theater? Zzzzzzzzzz

r458/r459 I hate you for putting that earworm of a tune in my head this morning.

1776

I still have Zip stuck in my head.

I’ll fix the earworm problem:

I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.

I’m all riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!

Move over, Merm.

Now I'm just hearing a mashup called "I Got Zip in the Morning and Zip at Night."

^Lament: My Day On Grindr

We finally have the answer on The Music Box. A one man play from Edinburgh that no one will see. DANCIN will be taking it in the Spring.

Bway grosses are down, down, down this past week.

BEETLEJUICE, alas, is at the rock bottom. Even KITE RUNNER & FUNNY GIRL are outselling them. I find the continued success of HADESTOWN three and a half years in a little surprising, but good for them.

Beetlejuice rock bottom of what? Funny Girl outselling? BJ grossed nearly $1M, with an average ticket of $107. They had 8,500 people, compared to 7,222 at Funy Girl (who grossed $558K). If you're looking at % of capacity, that's misleading. THey're in a huge theatre for weekend potential.

r358 I'm hoping season 3 will be all Sondheim

[quote]You can block threads

The "block thread" function hasn't worked in YEARS.

The cure for all earworms is a small world, after all.

r433 Speaking of weddings did anyone see It Shoulda Been You starring Tyne Daly?

I saw a boot of it online during lockdown and enjoyed it but could see how it wouldn't grab an audience.

Tyne was fun to watch. She played well off Harriet Harris and Chip Zein. I had never seen Lisa Howard in anything and I didn't care for her at all.

We interrupt this 488th trip down Antiquities Lane to bring up some current news. Murderer Alec Baldwin returns to Broadway in "Art," with John Leguizamo and Tony Shaloub. but there's no producer. WTF. .

[quote] In a highly unusual move for Broadway, “Art” has already secured its venue, stars and director even though it has no actual producer yet. The production, a source said, was put together by Creative Artists Agency, which is fulfilling producing duties for the moment. CAA is said to be “auditioning” New York producers.

Who needs a revival of ART?

What revival does anyone ever need?

SHALHOUB, R 476

From r76 item:

[quote] A new musical loosely based on Martin Scorsese’s 1977 film New York, New York will begin performances on Broadway

That movie has a depressing plot. Who needs that right now? Will there be a ballet sequence where the husband beats the wife up?

Did you miss the word “loosely”?

The CAA production of Art is not that unusual. Many shows go into rehearsal underfunded.

Several years ago, there was a Godspell Broadway revival that started production and they were trying to do an early version of crowd funding. I can’t remember how low each block was, but I think anyone could invest in $1,000 increments.

The odd thing is that an organization like CAA doesn’t have enough contacts to raise the money privately.

[quote]It's possible... for a plain yellow pumpkin to become a golden carriage.

Don't pumpkins tend to be orange?

Perhaps this question belonged in the "Was Oscar Hammerstein II really that mediocre as a lyricist?" thread.

The ART revival sounds doomed to failure.

I think Shalhoub is talented. I have a grudging admiration for Leguizamo, who's smart and entrepreneurial.

But Alec Baldwin murdered one of his employees in cold blood on the set of a film he was mismanaging. And I'm not the only theatregoer to see things this way.

I was hoping Alec’s return to Broadway would have been playing Roxie Hart.

Oh yes we both reached for the gun, the gun…

I have zero interest in seeing the murderess Baldwin in anything at the moment. This is a NO for me.

Beanie cast as Helen Lawson in the Valley musical

[quote]R484 Alec Baldwin murdered one of his employees in cold blood

Mmmm, no. It wasn’t an episode of SNAPPED.

[quote]r123 Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein should star in every two-hander there is … Same Time, Next Year, I Do, I Do

I worked on a production of “I Do, I Do” once and ended up hating it. The score’s completely wishywashy. It resembles a collection of weak songs all cut from other shows.

But when Mary Martin and Robert Preston performed that score it was utter magic.

Would Julie Benko be hailed or blackballed for writing a ruthlessly honest tell-all? STANDING BY FANNY.

(are there better titles?)

So, Lonny Price is taking the Music Box, directing Gabriel Byrne in an autobiographical one man show about Byrne's life growing up. REALLY? THIS is the best they could do? Irving Berlin is spinning in his attic apartment.

Block threads works, like I said R473. There’s a LIMIT to how many threads and people you can block. You’ve overused it and reached the limit.

r493 No, it does not. You can block a thread, but it will not STAY blocked. You can block posters, but not threads (permanently.)

Broadway is dead. Killed by Woke. With a turn of the knife by Covid. And a kick in the groin by cheap unimaginative producers.

[quote] But Alec Baldwin murdered one of his employees in cold blood on the set of a film he was mismanaging

He quite literally did not murder anyone in cold blood.

[quote]R490 But when Mary Martin and Robert Preston performed that score it was utter magic.

We all hated the score so much we had alternate lyrics backstage.

[italic] You make me perform cunnilingus, which I happen to detest / You fuck me up the asshole and you say you like it best / Every night since we’ve been wed, you’ve refused to give me head / Every night beneath the sheet, must you watch me beat my meat???

Well, I just blocked you because you’re fucking stupid AND annoying. Bye!

No offense to Gabriel Byrne--I have no opinion on his acting talent. But he's a perfect example of how deluded Bway producers are.

They think he's a big movie star. He's been doing TV steadily, mostly crap, for decades now. He hasn't had anything resembling a major film career in 25-30 years.

The PR blurb on ATC calls Bryne a "legend". I mean, I understand you can call Julie Andrews, Barbra Streisand, even Tom Cruise (who has been a big movie star for over 30 years!) legends, but Gabriel Byrne? I can't name 2 movies he was in.

R498 Well, if you have me blocked, you won't see this, but I just blocked a new thread and once I refreshed, it immediately came back. And here's what it says when I check to see what I have blocked:

You have 0 recent threads and 74 posters on ignore.

So prove me wrong.

r480 They aren't using the story or characters from the film

Maybe they're counting on all those End of Days fans to show up.

In the Gabriel Byrne autobio, they should have him sing, “Take Back Your Mink.”

Lot o' crazies in this thread.

"I'm the Greatest Standby: My Broadway Triumph!" by Julie Benko

Julie Benko will be on the list of leading ladies to be called in and thought of on a lot of musicals that are being cast, based on her abilities and her saving the show during her run in "Funny Girl".

Hahahaha um no R507.

The only Gabriel Byrne film I can think of is The Usual Suspects and he's the weak link in the cast.

In other news, DL fave Lea Michele continues her transition to BIPOC.

Oh, never mind ^.

That's an old photo, pre-rhinoplasty and Brazilian hair-straightening.

Dame Laura Linney returns to the Great White Way.

M.T.C. said that previews for “Summer, 1976” would begin April 4; it did not announce an opening date or other members of the cast. The organization described the new play as about an unexpected friendship between two Ohio women, “a fiercely iconoclastic artist and single mom” played by Linney, and “a free-spirited yet naïve young housewife.” The characters “navigate motherhood, ambition and intimacy, and help each other discover their own independence.”

Is there a part for Deb Messing?

How about a Follies revival with a cast made up of black, Latino, trans and non-binary actors?

It might be a big folly to invest in that and see how many PIPOC actually buy tickets.

BIPOC, that is

That Benko "Parade" on IG showed that she's not even really a belter. She should stick to cabaret.

Exactly R517. Her “album” is a joke.

[Quote] How about a Follies revival with a cast made up of black, Latino, trans and non-binary actors?

Get a new tune.

Tonya Pinkins and Mo’Nique to star in a revival of “A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking.”

Re [R512]: 1776 and 1976 each on Broadway at the same time? Imagine the confusion on matinee days, when little old ladies and the tourists show up at the wrong theater😵‍💫

God that recent Deb Messing play was poor. Sheesh.

Julie Benko will be the answer to many a trivia question in a few years. She's the millennial Marni Nixon.

The millenial Nancy Hess.

Nancy Ringham opened as understudy-to-leading-lady in TWO Broadway shows - "My Fair Lady" and "Threepenny Opera" (with Sting) and she didn't get as much publicity.

[quote]In all honesty, what is there to talk about in the theater?

[quote]1776

The less said about "1776," the better.

Julie Benko will be the millennial Lenora Nemetz.

Neither of those shows had the problems or history Funny Girl does R525.

Lenora could cook too. Julie can make toast.

R528, Threepenny Opera starring Sting, Maureen McGovern who played Polly had vocal cord injury and didn’t do opening night.

R520 Thirty five years ago I had two students, one a Korean adoptee, the other Samoan, who did the contest circuit with a scene from that play just to see the judges’ faces when they announced the title!

Anyone looking to test the block feature, please test it on r487

R525. Nancy Ringham didn’t have social media accounts like Julie does. Julie promotes herself shamelessly but who can blame her? This is her chance and she’s making the most of it.

Benko delivers one of the "sir" lyrics to a woman... Oy vey.

Isn't that the blocking in the show?

Beanie does it too? Bad blocking.

Will there be an audience for Julie on Thursday evenings when everyone will want to see Lea?

A DataLounger's fever/wet dream.

How can you bitches have forgotten my unflagging understudying??

That ALMOST FAMOUS cast looks rather dire.

Why is the boy being played by someone so old? And what happened to Colin Donnell? Wasn't he in the show in San Diego? Not a good sign.

If Benko can’t do Thursday, I could free up my schedule.

R542. Thanks, Donna. If we need a Thursday evening Mrs Strakosh we’ll be in touch.

Is there any doubt that the next Follies revival will have Groff as Ben? Who would be Phyllis?

Groff really should have done Company on Broadway. Curse those Brits taking away cis male roles.

Groff is a Buddy. And I do not want to see him dance "The Right Girl."

[quote] s there any doubt that the next Follies revival will have Groff as Ben? Who would be Phyllis?

Lea Michelle and instead of a spotlight for her big number she will be only lit with a desk lamp.

FOLLIES:

Ben: Aaron Tveit

Buddy: Ben Platt

Phyllis: Lea Michele

Sally: Beanie Feldstein

Thank God I'll probably be dead before this ever happens.

I guess Covid killed the Last Summer at Blue Fish Cove revival that was supposed to be on Broadway?

No, R548, just lack of interest.

I would like to see Olivia Colman in The Killing of Sister George one day. With Anya Taylor-Joy as Childie and Emma Thompson as Mercy Croft.

I take a hard pass at anything with Leguizamo or Baldwin. The thought of the two of them ruining a funny play like Art makes my stomach churn. Absurd combination, although I could imagine Shalhoub as the perfect Yvan. But he'll probably play Serge. Alec Baldwin IS Marc. That's why I don't want to see him playing himself.

A big Broadway producer is busy trying to lure Olivia Colman to Broadway with a specific play by a deceased playwright.

Finally interesting gossip. Any more specifics R551?

Killing of Sister George is a very unpleasant play. And dated.

[quote]Killing of Sister George is a very unpleasant play. And dated.

You may remember that my wife, the actress Coral Browne, was in the movie version.

R552-Two women are the leading roles.

[quote]Speaking of weddings did anyone see It Shoulda Been You starring Tyne Daly?

R475 I'm not sure about the quality of the boot you watched, but in the theater, IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU was a real treat. Not a Broadway Gem, but a solid, funny comedy with some nice performances. Josh Grisetti was terrific in the two-dimensional lead, while Edward Hibbert as Albert, the Wedding Planner, deliciously ate up the scenery. Lots of Broadway veterans in the cast, including Tyne Daly, Harriet Harris, Sierra Boggess, Montego Glover, and Chip Zien.

Sondheim talks about A Funny Thing, and describes the three kinds of jokes that work well in vaudeville/bulesque: short, medium, and long. In Funny Thing, the long joke is Erronius circling the town seven times.... "that's one!" In It Shoulda Been You, Hubbard has the long joke, with his constant reconciling of each absurd dilemma with "Oh, I saw that coming..." Of course, with the big twist/reveal two thirds of the way through, Hibbert calmly walks down center, turns to the audience and with a vaudevillian's timing worthy of Jack Benny delivers "Well, I didn't see THAT coming!" Probably the longest, loudest laugh on Broadway that season.

I'm surprised it's not done a lot in Community Theater - one set, cast of twelve. But there is a gay sub plot (handled with diplomacy to say the least) so that may explain why it hasn't caught on.

IMHO

R551, Martha in Virginia Woolf?

Will Broadway welcome back Alec Baldwin with open arms?

What a great guessing game for the dog days of summer, r551! Let's see if we can guess this.

Is it a recently deceased playwright? Or older like Williams or Miller? Or even older still like Noel Coward? Or more classic like Shaw or Shakespeare?

If it's 2 lead actresses I'm gonna guess Terrence McNally's A PERFECT GANESH. That would be perfect for Olivia paired with another great British actress like Sarah Lancashire. And Terrence's widower Tom Kirdahy is certainly a big Broadway producer. I hope I'm right, I always regretted that I didn't see the play at MTC in the early 1990s. But it would require some star names to get it to Broadway.

Am I right, r551?

Or with open fire?

It's Deuce.

R561, Then she'll get to say "cunt" like I did.

If "Killing of Sister George" comes back to Broad Way, I'd like to see it star Cherry Jones, Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor.

[quote]Tommy D has Zanetta dickmatized. Ye Gods!

Clyde Alves had everyone dickmatized as Tommy D in the last good revival.

If "Killing of Sister George" comes back to Broadway, I'd like to see Rosie, Beanie, and Miriam Margolyes.

[quote] Groff really should have done Company on Broadway. Curse those Brits taking away cis male roles.

I feel it’s almost certain he will play Bobby in a Company revival within the next 10 years. He’s really perfect for that role. It’s a shame the female version happened now because he’s the correct Bobby age currently, but I think he can still pull it off in the future as long as he’s under 45 as he reads boyish.

Oh my God Patti’s bray is still ricocheting around the theater. Let’s not talk about a company revival.

Sondheim is dead. Beanie is gone. Stop worrying where the fuck you’re going. Move the fuck on.

I guess Groff would be fine since so many people HERE seem to be interested in what he's doing nearly all the time. I mean, he already went full-frontal in a film -- other than hard, there's nothing more to see.

Well, there's always gratuitous presentation of hole.

And full on fucking.

I knew it wasn't only his singing -- though he has a good voice.

Momentarily forgot what thread I was in, because my mind immediately went to a different Tommy D entirely.

What became of the TOMMY revival that was headed for Bway?

I love the music but I didn't love it as a Bway musical the first time.

[quote]a specific play by a deceased playwright

[quote]Two women are the leading roles

It's probably too soon for another LITTLE FOXES, so I guess THE CHILDREN'S HOUR.

Olivia's too old for either lead in The Children's Hour.

Olivia Colman is a bit too old for either of the women in THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, in my opinion.

Seems to be a pretty common opinion (unsurprisingly).

I wonder if The Children's Hour could ever be produced on Broadway again, what with Hellman's and all the other various denials of it being about lesbianism? Would gays be in an uproar? I would, anyway.

Jinx, R575!

I enjoy Olivia C. But she's 47, and curiously enough, reads even older to me.

[quote] Groff already went full-frontal in a film -- other than hard, there's nothing more to see.

[quote] Well, there's always gratuitous presentation of hole.

We’ve seen both.

Pics or it didn't happen...

Agreed, r576, though she'd be a hoot as the slatternly aunt, so memorably portrayed by Miriam Hopkins in the later film.

CHILDREN'S HOUR would be pretty weak tea in 2022, I think.

Weren't there allegations that little old Lillian Hellman plagiarized that, just like she stole the story in the movie JULIA?

R583 = Mary McCarthy

I think Hellman based Children's Hour loosely on a real incident or trial but that's hardly plagiarism.

The was a West End revival of CHILDREN'S HOUR starring Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss, directed by Ian Rickson in 2011.

Yes, Hellman based it on a historical incident.

In honor of the fond memories r438 brought up as the thread draws to a close, Mr Goldwyn in The Water's Edge

I know it’s not from a dead playwright, but I would like to see Olivia Colman in “Doubt”.

Speaking of gratuitous presentation of hole, anyone else remember Hunter Foster in Burning, bending over the couch (or bed?) to offer his ass to his soon-to-be lover? Good times.

Who wants to suggest a new title for the next thread?

Please, god, please: no mention of FUNNY GIRL or anyone who ever has or ever will be playing her. I beg you.

That champagne was flat the first time around,

i got zip.

R588, you need to add "/embed" to Tumblr links so that they don't get converted to safe mode, which requires a login. If you use an embed link, people can view the Tumblr link without loggining in.

Sleep juicy

Slim pickings. We've got Olivia Colman and Jon Groff's hole to choose from.

Don't forget about me, bitches. You know you've missed me!

Thanks for the tip, r593. I had no idea. I don't really use Tumblr. Just found that in a Google image search.

r551 are you ever going to return with more clues??

r596, we wish we could forget about you, Baldwin. Don't get trigger-happy over it.

we both reached for the gun

Bajour!

Bajour?

"Some Like It Shot: Baldwin's Back On Bway" Edition....

Yes, R602. It's a musical.

We know that. It's Bajour time!