THEATRE GOSSIP # 495: The "Who The Fuck Thinks They're a Gussie?" Edition

Previous Thread.

So what the fuck is the Good Night Oscar news?

The grosses....

They've replaced Sean Hayes with Patton Oswalt.

Dreadful title, OP. But I suppose we had to put something.

Gussie is a terrible person. Why anyone would want to emulate her is incomprehensible.

[Quote] (I found the Inheritance's first act end more affecting than the similar moment in Longtime Companion--maybe because I was younger when I saw that movie and deeply in the closet.)

I suppose the dresses obscured your view.

Stunning and brave.

Doesn't she wear some beautiful gowns? That's probably what the poster on the last thread had on his mind.

r8....I will never forgive Lin Manuel Miranda for introducing this shit...and the fact that people eat it up like its daring.

Goodnight,Oscar sounds like a 5 week wonder. Open. Slammed by NY critics. Close.

It won't be slammed by NY critics. Chris Jones already raved about the production and performance in Chicago, so it's clearly of some quality. But whether it will sell tickets or generate a lot of interest, I can't say.

Has Ryan Murphy or anyone stepped in with funding for the halted LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT movie in Ireland?

Honestly, Sybil.

[quote]R6 Gussie is a terrible person. Why anyone would want to emulate her is incomprehensible.

I think she’s tremendous

NY critics are going to be wetting themselves over this dreadful DOAS. The actors playing Biff and Happy are completely out of sync and sit-com bad. Maya Phillips is sure to embarrass herself with her review if her ridiculous Cost Of Living rave is any indication.

[quote]r12 It won't be slammed by the NY critics.

I want to be slammed by the NY critics.

Personally, I adore vulgarity.

Thanks OP. I fucking LOVE the title.

From the previous thread: "Michael Ball to Star In Reimagined ASPECTS OF LOVE West End Revival"

Will it be called "Bad Aspects of Love"?

Re Michael Ball having. An affair with Prince Edward.

Yes. It happened.

In response to R589 in the previous thread: There are many examples of gay audiences having supported films and movies with gay subject matter that are acknowledged as good or excellent by reviewers and other audience members. Several of these were mentioned in the last thread, so I can't imagine why you challenged me to name them again, but one more example would be the original production of TORCH SONG TRILOGY.

[quote]I will never forgive Lin Manuel Miranda for introducing this shit...and the fact that people eat it up like its daring.

There is virtually no comparison between HAMILTON and what has been done to 1776 in the current production. And if you are too stupid to realize the huge difference between the two, I'm not going to bother explaining it for you.

I see so many plays and musicals that years later, I have to ask my husband "did we see that"? I saw both parts of THE INHERITANCE and I will not forget it. Same with ANGELS IN AMERICA.

George Wolfe's original production of Angels In America was a mixed bag at best early on. Real life gays such as Ron Liebman were perfect, as was Mantello and David Marshall Grant, but it took a lonnnnnng time during previews to get Part 1 right. The first time I saw it I hated it. After it opened, it had changed so much and I was in love with it.

If any show needs to be reimagined it's " Aspects of Love." It needs to be totally scrapped and allow the audience to imagine anything they want. It will be better than the show. But these days," reimagining" usually means putting black people or non-binaries in the principal roles and call it " brave" and " daring."

I met a future boyfriend when I went to see Part 1 of AiA. I had a student ticket in the balcony and he was two seats away in my row. We struck up a conversation during the 1st intermission, then again during the 2nd intermission. We both really loved the show. The guy sitting between us figured out we might actually be into each other and graciously offered to swap seats with one of us so we could sit together for the third act. He then walked me home all the way to the East Village, but did not come upstairs. We dated that entire summer, but I started grad school in the Fall and tossed him away.

I got a standing room ticket for Part 2 that December and I fucking hated it. I was so disappointed. Thankfully, there were two seats in the back row that were empty during the first act. The woman standing next to me and I boosted ourselves over the back wall and sat in them for the rest of the show so we could at least get off our feet. I always wondered if the guy I met during Act 1 ever saw it and what he thought.

[quote]Gussie is a terrible person.

I'd probably be a terrible person if I had to live with the name "Gussie."

Since when is Chris Jones the bellwether of what will be successful in NY?

Have you thought of reconnecting to discuss the second half? Do you have a contact?

[quote] Real life gays such as Ron Liebman were perfect

Ron Leibman wasn’t gay. He was married for nearly forty years to Jessica Walter (Arrested Development) who didn’t suffer fools and would never have married a gay man. Before he was married to Jessica he had been married to Linda Lavin for over a decade.

Who the fuck is “Chris Jones”?

Jessica!

r31...

Is Death of a Salesman a limited run?

That's not Tony Nominee Michelle Pawk. That's Tony Nominee Elizabeth Stanley.

Leibman rumored to have been hung huge

R34 Yes, it's only on until January and is billed as a "strictly limited engagement"

R30-I beg to differ. Ron was a fixture at late-night sessions at the old Hudson Street and West Street clubs. He would show up in his red leather bomber jacket and kick up his heels. Married to Linda Lavin and Jessica Walter. Doesn't that tell you something right there?

Yes, that he was straight.

Listening to the new Into The Woods on Spotify and laughed out loud when Little Red sang one of her lines in the introductory scene through a mouthful of pastry. And laughed again when she did it once more later. Clearly, I am seven and easily amused.

We've always connected with our many gay fans, but these stories about Ron are new to us.

r22....Dont you have someplace else to be Lin ? ...you started all this shit and you know it.

Goddamn. I just dug into the new "Music Man" cast recording... PEE-YEW!

That has to be the WORST version of "Trouble" I've ever heard. A deadly tempo, a barely passable American accent and a reedy, thin, overly cautious voice trying way too hard to be likable.

The orchestration is also doing the track no favors. Where's all the low brass figures? It's all flutes and woodwinds accenting moments. It's all very twee. No swag, no swing, no CON!

Hugh's a talented guy, but boy oh boy, did he lay a massive turd with this one. I think he would've been massacred all the more in reviews if he's skillful hoofing didn't save him.

Mary Rodgers wouldn't suffer fools. How many gay men did she marry again?

I don't disagree about Hugh's thin, reedy, nasal voice. But I thought the orchestrations sounded much better on the recording than in the theatre, and I thought they had a lot more color than the Don Walker originals. If you listened on a computer or something smallish, try to hear it on a proper sound system. I generally think Tunick's best days are behind him, but he did a good job here. Also the excellent Doug Besterman did a few charts, I understand.

All of them, r44, if you believe the stories about Hank.

R19 He was perfect for the part in 1989 but now too fat and old. I wish he would start to work out. Aspects is not a good show. Modest hit in West End with 1500 perf. and a flop in NY.

And that doesn't count the ones she wanted to marry (or in her telling, almost married).

Roger Moore was originally hired but he withdrew because he felt his singing wasn’t good enough for the part. He is a rare recording of his singing.

[quote]He was perfect for the part in 1989 but now too fat and old.

That's okay r47 since he's NOT playing the same role.

[quote] Before he was married to Jessica he had been married to Linda Lavin for over a decade.

The man deserves a medal!

R45, I'm nearly through the album, and I will say that the orchestrations for the remainder of the score and instrumentals are actually quite excellent. I suppose I jumped the gun with "Trouble" (which I maintain lacks the oomph and pizazz necessary. The '62 film orchestration definitely improved on Walker's original) Besterman really is quite exceptional...you can hear the Ralph Burns influences (he was a mentor), which is never a bad thing.

Roger Moore sounds just fine. Shame he withdrew during rehearsals.

Everyone I knew who saw Aspects of Love thought it was a major bore

More Jessica and Bette...

Sarah Brightman was quite good when she stepped in as Rose but, yeah, the production was too big and it was dull.

Streamed a bit of Music Man. The [italic] Strident and Shrill [/italic] Music Man. All the voices sound harsh and shrill. Pass.

The [italic] Nasal [/italic] Man.

The [italic] Shrill [/italic] Librarian.

[quote]Roger Moore was originally hired but he withdrew because he felt his singing wasn’t good enough for the part.

[quote]Roger Moore sounds just fine. Shame he withdrew during rehearsals.

Maybe his singing *wasn't* the reason he withdrew.

r51=Polly Holiday

[quote]Leibman rumored to have been hung huge

Bobbity-bop!

The new Into the Woods recording is indeed gorgeous, and captures some of the production’s nice directorial touches.

A minor but very moving touch: the elongated pauses between the Baker’s sentences at the beginning of Children Will Listen.

More like Bobbity-bobbity-bobbity-bobbity-bobbity-bobbity-bobbity-bobbity-BOP!!!, r61.

[quote] Maya Phillips is sure to embarrass herself with her review if her ridiculous Cost Of Living rave is any indication.

That COST OF LIVING review was awful, wasn't it? She writes like a high school student. But I'd be surprised if Jesse doesn't review SALESMAN himself.

I too was horrified by the new Music Man Revival cd. Is the Winthrop that annoying on stage as he was on the recording?

[quote]That has to be the WORST version of "Trouble" I've ever heard.

Did you ever hear Mandy Patinkin’s version on one of his albums? He plays Harold Hill like he’s on crack.

Baker's wives...

To be fair when is Mandy NOT manic on his records?

My favorite comment about Mandy was whoever wrote that in Evita he came across as “a pissed off choir boy.” Was that Frank Rich?

I would love a music man revival with Usher as Harold Hill and Toni Braxton as Marion the Librarian.

re: Roger Moore. He said he was nervous about performing with an orchestra because he was inexperienced at it, and that's why he pulled out, not because he couldn't sing it. Sounds like stage fright/being afraid of performing live. (Whether that's true...only he and Webber know.)

R32 - Holy moly! George Maharis was gorgeous!

At least Roger admitted he was in over his head and left the show on good terms.

Yes, he was, r72.

George Maharis and Jessica Walter? What is this, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Season 4?

Indeed, r72. He was indeed.

George M

Where’d those pics comes from?

George Maharis caught having sex in public bathroom

Did George Maharis have bathroom sex with his wig on or off?

Between the profane title and these photos...

This thread has taken a most untoward turn.

I'm wearing my Flaming Agnes hat, r81.

Could Julia Andrews play Mme Armfeldt somewhere soon?

Who would believe Andrews as a faded whore? She’s too starchy and prissy.

She didn’t even play young whores.

Whaddya mean, r84?

I think her boobies are da bomb

R86. Me, too!

She has to be amongst the least sensual performers ever. She doesn’t even have enough eroticism to play Anne.

Fredericka, maybe.

I'm now laughing at the idea of Julie Andrews as Petra had ALNM been written in the '50s.

But Julie would have been a terrific Liza Elliott in "Lady in the Dark" had she done it in the 1970s or early 80s. Or Anna in "The King & I".

[quote]Who would believe Andrews as a faded whore? She’s too starchy and prissy.

That would be ridiculous casting.

[quote]Who would believe Andrews as a faded whore? She’s too starchy and prissy.

[quote]She didn’t even play young whores.

I sold flowers; I didn't sell myself. Now they've made a lady of me. I'm not fit to sell anything else.

I always presumed her character in Thoroughly Modern Millie was a whore.

I think I stumbled upon the Oscar Levant play controversy alluded to in the previous thread.

As succinctly as possible—playwright David Adjmi initially gave Sean Hayes the idea for an Oscar Levant play. Hayes' producer optioned Adjmi to write said play. Hayes didn't like the finished product and asked Adjmi to make changes, which Adjmi refused. Hayes and the producer held onto the option for Adjmi's play while simultaneously developing their own new version. Doug Wright, while president of the Dramatists Guild, took the assignment to write the new play, despite Adjmi having informed him of the situation.

Good work r94!

[Quote] But Julie would have been a terrific Liza Elliott in "Lady in the Dark" had she done it in the 1970s or early 80s. Or Anna in "The King & I".

You’re a bloody genius r90!!! (Especially since Julie already played Gertrude Lawrence in the movie STAR!)

Omg writers arguing over credit couldn’t be more boring. This is a nonexistent scandal that will go nowhere once somebody is paid off. No one outside of a tiny circle of people cares about this.

R97, read what Adjmi wrote. It is not about credit at all.

It is such a weird business move and so pointless. If some institutional theater somewhere did mount Adjmi's play, would it really have any impact on the Broadway production?

What the post does is paint Sean Hayes in a bad light. But then again….seems usual.

Don't forget this faded whore!

Is Wendell Pierce leaking this

[quote]Is Wendell Pierce leaking

Pics please.

I read the Adjmi tweets, and while Hayes and his producer sound like assholes if his story actually unfolded exactly as he described it, he's also not faultless. He was commissioned, so he got paid. He signed an option for the play for a certain amount of time. The option holder is free to do (or not do) whatever they please with the play in terms of actively working to produce it or throwing it in a locked drawer to gather dust during that time. They asked him to make changes to the (commissioned) play and he refused.

Pardon me if I've never heard of David Adjmi before, but I'm guessing he's no Neil Simon or John Guare or even Bruce Norris. When you're low man on the totem pole, and you're writing a commission- guess what? You make the changes or you get tossed.

Does it suck that he put in all this time and effort, especially when it was his idea in the first place and they threw him over for another writer? Yes. But this happens every day, and he should have protected himself a little better in his contracts, especially over an idea that was in the public domain.

Again, who is David Adjmi?

[Quote] Again, who is David Adjmi?

I don't know but just don't ask me to introduce him at the Tonys.

From the very beginning, I was shocked by the lack of criticism for the new Music Man cast, even here on bitchy DL. Now that that the album has been released I have to wonder what the fuck the producers were thinking when they cast Sutton Foster in a role defined by a warm, glowing soprano. Yes, she has charisma and is a great dancer but when we're talking about good Broadway singers Sutton Foster wouldn't even make the Top 100. When Barbara opened her mouth on the OTR it was as if the gates of heaven had opened. As for Sutton, shrill doesn't even begin to describe it.

I presume they chose Sutton in the hopes that the show would continue with her once Jackman left, and a Sean Hayes level star took over as Harold Hill.

They should have cast Audra Ann.

Audra is right for Mrs. Paroo.

David Adjimi is a very talented playwright who wrote the Three's Company critique "3C" a few years back. But he is decidedly subversive and "off-Broadway." My guess is Sean Hayes wanted someone with a more polished, commercial appeal -- a writer more adept at realistic character study. Doug Wright is the right choice.

Damn. Whoever got to take those photos of George Maharis was one lucky auntie! Hot as hades!

Thanks, R109. I knew Adimi's name was familiar (that's the correct spelling), but I couldn't place it and I didn't bother to Google. 3C was indeed very subversive and very explicit, which of course doesn't necessarily mean that Adjmi couldn't have written the Levant play in a different, more commercial style, but it would have been interesting to see what he came up with.

That's a boring "scandal."

I wonder if George Maharis took off his wig for sex.

Sutton makes Shirley Jones sound like Barbara Cook.

RE: The David Adjmi / Sean Hayes / Oscar Levant play scandal

The real issue is Doug Wright, full knowing the development background taking the assignment while president of the "Dramatists Guild" - that just pure icky or "cringe" as the kids say.

Palate cleanser:

Sutton Foster was good as Millie…but there is a new trend on Broadway where singers don’t use vibrato and just yell the notes and then use vibrato on every other belt note. I HATE this trend. I know nobody wants to sound like Ethel Merman…but people are ruining the pleasant sound of singing by doing this.

Can’t people just fucking sing the way they used to?

There was a time when men were kind When their voices were soft And their words inviting There was a time when love was blind And the world was a song And the song was exciting There was a time Then it all went wrong

[quote]I wonder if George Maharis took off his wig for sex.

Not if Lea Michele was nearby.

Yes, r115, that's really the key to the Levant play scandal. Doug Wright was the president of the Dramatists Guild as these events unfolded and was thus the very person who should have lead in the protection of a fellow playwright.

It may just seem "icky" to some of you and not very worthy pf a "scandal" but there were hundreds of supportive replies to Adjmi's original FB post from all sorts of well-known names in the NY theater world and will undoubtedly leave a pall over this production. And in spite of Chris Jones' positive review of the Chicago production, there are many who saw the play and thought it was at best a mediocre effort, both in writing and performance.

[quote] there were hundreds of supportive replies to Adjmi's original FB post from all sorts of well-known names in the NY theater world

Of course there were. It's the new national pasttime.

Trying to decide what to see this weekend....struggling.

I don't like Hugh Jackman's voice much and this Music Man apparently has bad directing and sets? And yet I read people saying that they left the theater walking on air because the show is so magnificent...

I realize everybody has different tastes, but I find it really irritating when people give praise like that and yet, the lead in the show is not a particularly capable singer. Also, I love Sutton Foster, but I'm worried I'd find her part underwritten and lame in this show. She's better with characters who have pizzazz. Of course, I'm not familiar with Music Man so maybe I'm underestimating the part.

Is it really as satisfying an evening it out in the theater as I've heard? Or as obviously flawed as yall say?

Then there is Into the Woods which isn't a score I particularly love. Think back to that scene on Gilmore Girls were Paris is trying to torture that kid by repeating the title over and over and over and that kind of sums up my feelings for some of it. Other parts are beautiful and I think I've grown to like the show more and more over time, but I've already seen Stephanie J Block before and I find her a bit tough. Great belt but not the best actor in general. I feel like you need to have an inherent warmth to play the baker's wife and I can already imagine Stephanie playing the part and giving us the same expression she did in 9 To 5 and Falsettoland. If it were Sarah Bareilles I would go for the variety.

Essentially, I don't really feel like I need to see SJB in this part. If anything, I really wanted to see Andy Karl again because he's hilarious and has charisma to spare, but apparently he's not in the show right now and we have Gavin instead.

So, with the very minimalist staging, a show. I don't particularly love and two actors I don't feel inclined to see, having seen them already, I wasn't planning on checking out Into the Woods....but it seems like one of the better options in terms of musicals right now....cause....what else?

Strange Loop I know little about except that it has LGBTQIA representation and yet overwhelmed/annoyed DLers for some reason. Good sets? Good songs? Good cast?

Is Ben Crawford the Phantom right now?

1776 is a no. I just don't care about musical politics. Hamilton too.

Does Chicago have a big star now? Even if it does its tired and minimal...

Wicked I've seen, so no. Lion King no.

Beetlejuice is corny and such a missed opportunity.

When did Little Shop close? I would have seen that....

Is there nothing else? :(

Should I just see a play instead? I love musicals but the pickings are slim....or maybe I'm wrong about MM or ITW?

Thanks for insights

Was Carol Channing a capable singer? Bernadette Peters is unreliable in her singing. The list goes on.... Hugh is not Tyne Daly bad, he's just not blessed with a good instrument.

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS is still running.

Saw Little Shop with that hottie from How to Get Away With Murder and loved it. Still haven't seen Hadestown, but it's on my list. Why not see an opera? The Met has a few good ones running now. Have tickets for Medea next week.

R123 No, Hugh has bad vocal technique - both too nasal and too throaty, either at the same times or alternating. He's very charming, but he seems to be playing Hugh Jackman as Charming Hugh Jackman as Harold Hill. Hill is a richer character, whom the audience sees is trying to make a big score -- both on the town and on Marian. He's not supposed to just be dancing fool of sunshine.

John David Washington is the first entry in the Tony Best Actor race. I doubt Wendell Pierce will be remembered but Washington makes a brilliant Bway debut.

Alfred Enoch?

[quote]From the very beginning, I was shocked by the lack of criticism for the new Music Man cast,

Say WHAT, r105???

[quote] Of course, I'm not familiar with Music Man so maybe I'm underestimating the part.

Seriously? You've never even seen the movie?

"Little Shop" currently has Rob McClure, Lena Hall, Brad Oscar, and Bryce Pinkham.

[quote]But Julie would have been a terrific Liza Elliott in "Lady in the Dark"

However...

Incidentally, George Maharis also posed for Playgirl in the '70s.

r113 see r80

R134 see Rshutthefuckup

Why, r135?

Because your constant posts about people repeating others are boring and repetitive.

Point out where I've done it before, r137.

R120, you keep talking about people like “Chris Jones” and whatever Adjmi like we should know or care. No one on Broadway gives a shit about this complete non scandal in Chicago or wherever. A hundred supportive Facebook comments. Lol. No one uses Facebook except for old people. Gurl, please. Talk to me when there’s a Times takedown about Sean abusing the writer and stealing his play and taking his money. Until that happens, which it won’t, this is a complete nothingburger.

Grow up.

I realize there are others who do that, but it’s stupid and annoying no matter who is doing it

What’s the point? What do you think you add to the conversation with these stupid posts?

I find it odd that it bothers you to the degree that it does, r140.

It’s pretentious and prissy, r141. You’re a little know- it-all scold trying to police people’s posts for repetition.

Let people repeat others without wagging your pointy little finger at them.

Project much, r142?

No, I just call them as they are, r143.

While you're "wagging your pointy little finger", r144.

Well, to be fair r145, your finger is pointy and undeniably little.

I'm sure Broadway Vet Kurt Peterson is not only one to get a life lesson from each of these ladies ....... You DLer's have been around.......please share yours!............"life lessons imparted by 23 of the theatre's most beloved women, including Laura Benanti, Betty Buckley, Dorothy Collins, Yvonne de Carlo, Carole Demas, Patricia Elliott, Katharine Hepburn, Cady Huffman, Angela Lansbury, Rebecca Luker, Patti LuPone, Victoria Mallory, Donna McKechnie, Ethel Merman, Dina Merrill, Bernadette Peters, Faith Prince, Kelli O’Hara, Paige O’Hara, Ethel Shutta, Alexis Smith, Elaine Stritch, and Nancy Walker"

I may regret it, but I want to see the revival of Raisin in the Sun at The Public.

Two many fucking names, Kurt. Pick a handful on which the hang AND sell the show.

R132 Yes, Julie did "The Saga of Jenny" in a wildly overdone, but still enjoyable number by Michael Kidd (usually wonderful) that most likely could not be done 8x a week in a theater. But the role of Liza is quite different from the bitchy and rather badly written Gertrude Lawrence in "Star!" anyway. If you can see Ann Sothern doing a terrific job in the 1950s tv version, you could get an idea of what Julie might have done with "Lady in the Dark".

Julie wasn't a romantic lead, really.

Since the topic of the thread is Gussie, isn't there some Neil Simon play where someone moans about someone named Gussie Guler? "Gussie Guler, Gussie Guller!" Is it "Promises, Promises" or "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" or something else?

R151 Well, both Richard Burton and Robert Goulet wanted to bed her.

That was before Julie's roles became virgins. Guenevere was pretty hot to trot.

And Julie never was. Well, backstage with some chorus girls, maybe.

JULIE ANDREWS DOES NOT TROT!

I don't watch Matlock. But it opened with an onstage musical court room number, so that kind of hooked me. Joel Grey, Tony Roberts and...a certain Miss Lauren Mitchell.

Did Joel Grey turn down Promises, Promises? Bacharach obviously liked him enough to have Grey guest on Burt's single of "What's New, Pussycat?"

[quote]But Julie would have been a terrific Liza Elliott in "Lady in the Dark" had she done it in the 1970s or early 80s. Or Anna in "The King & I".

She did a studio recording of "The King and I" with Ben Kingsley in 1993 that used the orchestral arrangements from the movie version.

Did she speak her way through it?

[quote] Strange Loop I know little about except that it has LGBTQIA representation and yet overwhelmed/annoyed DLers for some reason. Good sets? Good songs? Good cast?

Yes, excellent to all. It has a real emotional corps and makes the audience think deeply.

Loved Strange Loop. It totally deserved its Best Musical win

Emotional core?

Re Ben Crawford. He’s either on vacation or temporary leave from Phantom. Two or more of the understudies are covering for two weeks. Playbill online is very good about cast updates. If the playbill has been changed then it’s reflected online.

Hello...

R122 I thoroughly enjoyed A Strange Loop, and thought the music and cast were excellent. The sets are minimal but fit the show.

As R124 already posted, Little Shop is still running and I loved the production when I saw it pre-Covid. Haven't seen it with this cast so can't comment on the current actors.

R122, my insight is that your reason for not wanting to see this production of 1776 is.....interesting.

I would have loved to have seen Julie Andrews in a stage production of THE KING AND I but that recording is deadly dull.

It became clear early on that Joel Grey lacked warmth onstage. He was a great Emcee, but not a very likable George M. Goodtime Charley didn't require warmth either. So PROMISES wouldn't be a good fit; you really need to like Chuck for that show to work.

Sir King Bensley!

Angie...

R152 Aunt Gussie is discussed throughout Come Blow Your Horn, and IIRC her appearance (no lines) at the very end is the button gag on the whole play.

Don't forget about me!

[quote]Strange Loop I know little about except that it has LGBTQIA representation and yet overwhelmed/annoyed DLers for some reason.

Everything annoys DL-ers, and there need never be an actual reason.

[quote] Now that that the album has been released I have to wonder what the fuck the producers were thinking when they cast Sutton Foster in a role defined by a warm, glowing soprano.

They needed someone tall enough to play opposite Hugh.

[quote] A hundred supportive Facebook comments. Lol. No one uses Facebook except for old people. Gurl, please.

it's on Twitter, sweetheart

Ben Crawford is a really terrible Phantom. He's a talented performer but completely miscast here.

Interestingly, he wound up marrying his Meg Giry, Kelsey Connolly. I recall seeing Crawford in that understudy documentary with a wife and kids. Was there a Jacoby/Luker affair afoot at Phantom?

His original post was on Facebook, R175. Someone else screenshot it and put it on Twitter.

[quote] I recall seeing Crawford in that understudy documentary with a wife and kids

Was that the one with poor, departed Merwin Foard?

Jacoby/Luker affair was at "Show Boat". An usher friend of mine who used to work there said everyone, including front of house, knew about it. When Mrs. Jacoby found out about it, apparently, those Mr. Jacoby and Ms. Luker were separated by a national tour, if I remember correctly what she told me.

Anyone see Almost Famous which just opened? I have been in love with Chris Wood for a long time wonder if he’s good in this.

Saw it three years ago at the Old Globe. It stinks.

Ok, I'll be honest...I don't get the title of this thread.

Who the fuck is "Gussie" and what is this a reference to?

R181 Waiting to be cast as the theatre tech above the proscenium in the musical version of "Citizen Kane".

"Merrily We Roll Along" is about a woman named Gussie.

It's a minor character in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, R182. The OP's desperate bid at humor.

R14 had it right.

Despite being a minor character, the second part of 'Growing Up' that Gussie sings is one my favourite parts of Merrily, and seems to distill much of what the show is about.

'Growing up means admitting the things you want the most...'

R178 - Yes, "The Standbys". Merwin was a lovely guy.

Also, I've heard that 'Mrs. Jacoby showed up at the theatre screaming!' story retold so many ways...it almost feels apocryphal!

Well, Gussie technically IS the second female lead.

Jacoby was sent to the Toronto company.

lea michele's stage rendition of people. Wow!

She doesn't have the lower range for these songs.

Thanks for the info.

I'm a Sondheim fan but I've never seen any production of "Merrily". I listened to the cast album in my youth and it never "took" with me.

To be honest, it's just a meh show.

Also, a terrible title/theme for this thread. What the fuck does it have to do with anything we've been discussing of late?

r190...can you imagine Ramin lip locked like that with Beanie ?

Great overture. I love Sally Ann Triplett's rememberance of hearing the overture played at a Sunday benefit and he Follies co-star, Dolores Gray, exclaimed: "That's BROADWAY." And Dot would know.

Shut the fuck up about Beanie.

*her "Follies" co-star

r195...Fuck off Ben...dont you have a half filled concert somewhere ?

r197 Half-filled is generous

[quote}I'm a Sondheim fan but I've never seen any production of "Merrily". I listened to the cast album in my youth and it never "took" with me.

[quote]Also, a terrible title/theme for this thread. What the fuck does it have to do with anything we've been discussing of late?

Gee, r192...who knows?

I thought Rebecca Luker was the one who was shipped back to Toronto, switching places with Patti Cohenour, who took over NYC till Sarah Pfisterer came in?

What a Who's Who of Who Cares!

Pfisterer? I didn't even knower her!

[quote]Grow up.

Says the adolescent who doesn't think theater outside of B*R*O*A*D*W*A*Y or gossip outside of the NY Times is worth mentioning?

How ironic.

Damn, every clip I see from this new production of Funny Girl has the audience over-reacting so loudly, whooping and hollering mid-song and even when Fanny kisses Nick. It’s enough to keep me away from seeing this production.

Look for a concerted effort to change the Tony rules to allow a nomination for Lea.

r205 Over my dead body.

R111, Adjmi's best known play Stunning, is fairly commercial. Even Elective Affinities and Marie Antionette show that he could write a play that could connect with audiences as a commercial play needs too.

Of course nothing illegal was done. What was done was just irregular. Exercising an option on a play you already passed on is not usually done. And for the president of the Dramatists Guild to go along with this....well the Guild rank and file will not be pleased.

(By the way, I disliked the portion of Adjmi's script that was published. It really tries way too hard.)

R186 - The fact that you think "Growing Up" belongs in the show, much less a highlight, reveals how little you understand the material.

The Maharis Playgirl spread. Hot. His pubes are perfectly grown and shaped. Surprising in the era before trimming. Too bad he's coy with his cock. The majority of the shots look like transmanvag.

[quote] Also, a terrible title/theme for this thread. What the fuck does it have to do with anything we've been discussing of late?

Someone mentioned in the last thread that one of the reasons so many people love MERRILY is that they think they're a Gussie. A dimwitted observation.

In his original Facebook post, Adjmi never said that anything illegal occurred. My take (and this is just my take) was that he was just hurt, shocked, perhaps appalled, that another playwright, and one who'd been elected by his peers to protect his rights would betray him. And there were almost 500 love, like and care emojis supporting his take, as well as hundreds of supportive comments, by some very famous names.

I imagine it was therapeutic for him to make his case and hear from his friends, nothing more. I know him (just a bit), I'm a big fan of his work, and I can't blame him.

NO. ONE. CARES. SWEETHEART. R175.

FUCK. OFF.

NY Times is now reporting the Doug Wright v. David Adjmi dust up:

In other news, TheaterMania calls the 1776 revival "Terminally Woke"

And still no one cares R213 and it will amount to nothing and Adjmi will be written off as a complainer.

That review is pretty much what we expected.

Is Sean Hayes posting here or something? A certain poster seems a bit too angry about Adjmi

Adjmi has no case. He was commissioned, compensated and then dropped. Happens all the time.

I love R218 's strategy. He is trying to make it sound like Adjmi is making a case. But he has been very clear that he never claimed anything was illegal.

Just unusual.

But since Williams' actions are undeniably unusual, he has to make it seem like Adjmi is making other claims.

[quote]But since Williams' actions are undeniably unusual, he has to make it seem like Adjmi is making other claims.

Who's Williams?

Jesse on 1776: "That the production is instead so overpumped and overplayed as to be hardly comprehensible is the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of the musical, "

More from Jesse: "But underlining one’s progressiveness a thousand times, as this “1776” does, will not actually convey it better; rather it turns characters into cutouts and distracts from the ideas it means to promote. The musical even shows us that. It’s only when Adams stops yelling and starts plotting that he begins to turn the tide toward ratification. Just so, theater makers should have enough faith in the principles of equity and diversity to let them speak for themselves. Are they not, as someone once put it, self-evident?"

R220. Beth Williams the producer last represented by Diana, Hands on a Hardbody, Margaritaville and Tuck Everlasting. Infallible instincts for hits. She was also involved with Promises with Hayes.

She’s an idiot.

Williams is Beth Williams, the lead producer of the Levant play who with Sean Hayes, commissioned the original draft from Adjmi.

The reviews for 1776 are actually quite divided down the middle.

Somehow I missed this during quarantine...I LOVE it! I even enjoy Billy Porter's focused performance.

Two questions. Do any of you know the identity of the guy with the yellow turban and the spectacular tank topped hottie at 1:10?

TIA!

Barf

Deadline review - "1776":

Damn I am sure 1776 will sell out like Hamilton. Now I'll never be able to get tickets!

R228 Is that Whoopi Goldberg in the center?

R180 I just saw Almost Famous, and it's enjoyable if you love the movie (which I do) but nothing spectacular. The book is very directly lifted from the film at a lot of points, and the new music is serviceable with nothing that was bad but almost nothing that was memorable either. Anika Larsen as the Mom is the best cast member and has the best new song near the start of Act II. No one else really stood out as being particularly good or bad, it's not really a showpiece for any of the performers (I was hoping Solea Pfeiffer would've been better as Penny Lane since I enjoyed her in the City Center production of Evita, but her songs just weren't strong enough). It felt like a flaw in the casting/direction that most of the actors sing in the modern musical theatre style instead of something closer to classic rock vocals since I think that would've helped establish the setting/tone of the show better.

R122 here.

Yeah I find politics a weird subject to musicalize. Evita, Hamilton, 1776....meh. I have to be in the right mood.

Thanks for reminding me Little Shop was open! Lena Hall is Audrey though and sounds....unpleasant? She can sing...she just doesn't seem happy if that makes sense. Audrey just makes me happy (thanks to Ellen!). I need her to sparkle a little.

So Ben doesn't get the Phantom then? I heard someone say he's too bro-y....true?

I love the show and want to see it again before Cameron closes and guts it....but I was hoping Ben would play the title role well enough. He has a good voice. What's wrong about his performance?

Opted not to see Music Man or Into The Woods. And no, I haven't watched the MM movie. I try to save some classics for myself so when a good live production comes up, I can go in fresh and clueless and be surprised. That's partly my problem with Into The Woods. I know it too well. Every joke, etc.

Why is Strange Loop good? Catchy tunes? Great handling of gay subject matter? Honestly I have little idea what it's about...I just saw a large black gay man and thought "oh boy...is this going to be Titus the musical or something?" But maybe it's great..? I welcome insights.

Has anyone seen Death Of A Salesman? I'm curious and don't know the story (no spoilers please!) but only if this is a good cast.

[quote]I'm curious and don't know the story (no spoilers please!)

The fucking name of the fucking play is Death of a Salesman. Just what spoiler are we supposed to protect you from?

[quote]The reviews for 1776 are actually quite divided down the middle.

That sounds about right. Very predictable that at least half the critics would fear a backlash if they came across as too critical of such a super-woke production.

Half of the critics believe reviews must be social justice movements and not critiques of the art that we consume.

[quote]In other news, TheaterMania calls the 1776 revival "Terminally Woke"

My, how the worm begins to turn!

When will the Democrats ever learn?

[quote]Look for a concerted effort to change the Tony rules to allow a nomination for Lea.

They could give Lea a Special Tony Award to honor her Broadway achievements/contributions. A sort of Homecoming Tony, too.

They did the same for Barbra in 1970 when they awarded her a Special Tony Award subtitled "Star of the Decade." She had lost her two previous nominations for I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE (1962) and FUNNY GIRL (1964).

The difference between the two is that Lea (a child/teen Broadway actress) has returned after a 14-year absence. Barbra never did and only has those two Broadway credits.

Lea is loathed. And she's not successful enough to want to keep her sweet.

[quote]Has anyone seen Death Of A Salesman?

Read the damn thread. Someone gave a great review of it.

Papi Raúl, just because.

R240 I saw that tour as a teen in Boston at the Colonial Theatre in July 1999.

It was a carbon copy of the original except the gimmick of Hispanic/Latinos in the major roles and pronouncing Argentina as 'Ar-hen-tee-na' which was just grating. But all in all, I liked it.

Unfortunately, it was a matinee so I missed out on Natalie Toro and instead got her alternate Ana Maria Andricain who just screeched her way throughout., Horrid.

On the other hand, Raul (my first exposure to him) was fantastic and received the best reception during curtain call. How embarrassing for Andricain, I remember thinking.

Year later (December 2006) I caught the John Doyle COMPANY and afterward the friend I was visiting wanted to stage door so I got to briefly meet Raul. Since he was right there, I told him that I had enjoyed him as Che in that 1999 tour, which he appreciated. I also wanted to ask why it never made it to Broadway, because that was the original destination, but though better of it. 😂

Beanie as Fran in Promises. Thoughts?

Beanie in Violet?

[Quote] Beanie as Fran in Promises. Thoughts?

Our [italic] thoughts [/italic] are that you’re an asshole

[Quote] my problem with Into The Woods. I know it too well. Every joke, etc.

[Quote] Has anyone seen Death Of A Salesman? I'm curious and don't know the story (no spoilers please!)

So you know every line of Woods and not even the premise of Salesman. You’re not, by any chance, oh, I don’t know, maybe, gay, are you?

Yes, Ben doesn't get the Phantom then.

She’s not loathed by producers R238, and that’s all that really matters.

Oh, please. No one was writing shows for Lea Michele...

I don’t think Lea is loathed, but I also don’t think she’s liked enough for a special award or rule change when it comes to the Tonys.

Lainie!

Lena Hall can't be as bad as Tammy Blanchard in in Little Shop. She's charming and beautiful but croaked her way through that role. After Ellen Greene, it was a shock.

The definitive Anna IMO:

And again, 30+ years later.

Did no one tell Babs the character is British?

[quote]The definitive Anna IMO:

I beg your pardon!

The idea of a "replacement" Tony award has been bouncing around for years. It may happen this year. And from what I understand, it would be gender non-specific, so that's trendy right now.

[quote]The idea of a "replacement" Tony award has been bouncing around for years. It may happen this year. And from what I understand, it would be gender non-specific, so that's trendy right now.

Fingers crossed!

R254 I think she was going for the same "upper class European girl" accent she perfected in Candide.

[quote] Has anyone seen Death Of A Salesman? I'm curious and don't know the story (no spoilers please!) but only if this is a good cast.

This poster is either at 14 year old, or a parody of one.

^a (not at)

[quote]Has anyone seen Death Of A Salesman? I'm curious and don't know the story (no spoilers please!) but only if this is a good cast.

Rosebud's the sled.

Solea Pfeiffer is being managed and agented like she's a major star, and she's....not. She's solid but nothing more. She's the Gretchen Mol of Broadway.

I love Lena, but she's not an Audrey. I did see Tammy Blanchard, and to be honest I don't really even recall her performance (it was over 2 years ago). I saw the original production at the Orphem in 1981? and still to this day remember Ellen Greene. It's just one of those lightning in a bottle moments. Like Barbra in Funny Girl, it's such an iconic performance that although people keep trying to recapture that moment, it was once in a lifetime performance.

I saw Ellen Greene at that LITTLE SHOP performance at City Center a few years back. Lord, she was electrifying. The tone of the piece and the character's quirks are so specific and, all these years later, she nailed it. She ran circles around the miscast and mastubatory Jake G.

[quote]mastubatory Jake G

Pics please.

[quote]R237 They could give Lea a Special Tony Award to honor her Broadway achievements/contributions.

Can they also rig a “Star of Tomorrow “ award for Julie Benko? That is of greater importance to me.

[italic]” The first time Julie Benko played Fanny Brice on Broadway was also the day of her one and only rehearsal…”

[quote]Has anyone seen Death Of A Salesman? I'm curious and don't know the story (no spoilers please!) but only if this is a good cast.

The ship sinks.

It’s one of the lesser musicals. Skip it.

[quote]Beanie as Fran in Promises. Thoughts?

I think we've had far too many thoughts about Beanie as it is.

[Quote] I went to see the tour last night as I'm in orlando and loved the album , and tickets were from $2 online I wasn't that cheap and spent a whole $14 for 2 , its was about 40% full lots the whole top blacked out , the lower section had 4 blocks with people in and the side section were fullish ,and people getting upgraded including myself, now onto the show , aly and aj killed there voices together are like honey really something special, now onto Ben, there is literally no production it's some school play blocks a net curtain and some lights , he is a natural on stage but this show seemed like it was cobbled together in 5 days , it didn't flow his tangents about having a fucking sparkling bedazzeled water cup , then to cap it all off he says we have a few more songs to go perfumes one more shouts orlando, buggers off for 5 seconds and does one more song , this was the florida energy all In 70 minutes

I'm one of the Loesser musicals.

R232, Ben Crawford, and no doubt he’s been directed this way since the Covid reopening, is playing The Phantom like the character is a junior high school linebacker from Iowa, there isn’t an inch of grace or elegance in his portrayal. He doesn’t use his hands or body to any theatrical effect, he plods around the stage like he’s still playing Shrek. He also over sings every note, employing some odd Scottish accent to add further confusion. It is sad, as when he first took over the role he was very good. That hack resident director ruins every production he touches. AWFUL!

Seth Sklar-Heyn Is the hack director by the way, awful, has the job because he has no gag reflex for when Cameron comes to visit.

That's Seth for ya!

Jason Gotay.

Who's his boyfriend?

R272 - the direction of PHANTOM has suffered majorly since Prince's death. Zero mystery, zero eroticism, zero stakes.

Jason Gotay has a husband, doesn't he? One of his own, I mean.

Stop trying to make Jason Gotay happen.

Yes. They got married last year.

R276, yes indeed, in the early years the show actually had some suspense. Now it’s like Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Meet The Phantom of the Home Room!

Christ, those two are insufferable. Jason clearly is the top. Michael looks to be Connie Wong-sized.

Howard McGillin was the last great Phantom on Broadway. He was the perfect age and his voice had the right amount of seduction and menace. There are a couple people on here who find his sound a little 'hoot-y', but I actually think that mix-y tonal quality worked exceptionally well for the ol opera ghost.

R239 Liar, they found this production of Salesman fucking awful.

I didn't know Jason Gotay married Carmen Ghia

r270 it sounds like mlop saw Ben Splatt

mlop usually gets industry comps - she's a professional photographer

[quote]Has anyone seen Death Of A Salesman? I'm curious and don't know the story (no spoilers please!) but only if this is a good cast.

Here is the story:

It is 1971, and the iconic Weismann Theater, now a crumbling shell of its former glory, is about to be demolished to provide precious New York City parking space. Broadway impresario Dimitri Weismann arranges a reunion of the actors, singers, dancers, and personalities who peopled his famous Follies in the years between the World Wars, as a farewell tribute to the doomed building. In a shabby yet sparkling atmosphere of bittersweet nostalgia, a wide variety of faded glamour girls -- the famous Follies beauties of years gone by -- laugh, reminisce, brag, boast, express regret, and perform the musical numbers which made them famous, trailed by the ghostly memories of their younger selves. Against this volatile atmosphere of drunken remembrances, a decades-old love quadrangle receives a revival when Follies dancers Sally and Phyllis, and their respective husbands, Buddy and Ben -- who used to hang around backstage, waiting for their girls -- meet again. During one night of romance and regret, two crumbling thirty-year-long marriages are put to the test. With the endless variety of Stephen Sondheim’s score, a loving and brilliant pastiche of show music from the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, and the time-travel trickery of James Goldman’s book, Follies is a glamorous and fascinating peek into a bygone era, and a clear-eyed look at the transformation of relationships over time. This show features the wistful torch song “Losing My Mind,” the wry showstopper “I’m Still Here,” and “Broadway Baby,” that determined ode to making it in show business.

I'd like to see it set at a high school or college reunion and make it more universal.

[quote]I'd like to see it set at a high school or college reunion and make it more universal.

Death of a Salesman?

[quote] mlop usually gets industry comps - she's a professional photographer

Or more accurately in mlop's case, a person who owns a camera.

R289 FOLLIES, but you knew that. I guess it'd be a fun spin to have Willy Loman at Career Day though, with Biff and Happy as assistants extolling the virtues of being a saleman.

He married a little person? Kudos!

Attention! Attention must be paid…to the gentle person above wanting to know about that Salesman’s Death.

Attention! Attention must be paid to the younger person wanting to know about that Salesman’s Death.

This thread has turned so late Friday afternoon...

R295 is that a good thing, or not so good?✌🏼

mlop also owns some natty xmas sweaters.

Is it better during the actual show?

Don'tcha think if the first Fanny in this revival could really sing this song well that they'd have booked her to do it on TV, rather than trying to promulgate what was a Broadway Ponzi scheme (of there not being much there there -- at least in talent)?

r299. It's over. It's done. She's gone. Move on. Live your life. Learn some grammar. Study your English and brush up your writing skills. Find another website. Find another home. Find a purpose. Find another life. We all know she couldn't song well. The WORLD knows it. Why. Were. You. Born????

now that that's out of the way, can we talk about those poor chorus folks who Michael Mayer left to make stand and make awkward quizzical faces at each other? And get up at 4AM to do it on national TV?

seriously... what the fuck is this?

Thought the same thing, r301. But they do get paid, so that's something.

DEATH OF A SALESMAN is about a salesman who dies. It's very depressing. Of course, one of his son's name is Happy. Unfortunately, he's not.

Beanie looks like she just smelt corn in that photo on [r302]

Beanie has 1 expression. Sad for a song that claims 36.

[quote] I guess it'd be a fun spin to have Willy Loman at Career Day though, with Biff and Happy as assistants extolling the virtues of being a saleman.

See, now that would be a true reworking instead of the lazy, now overused substitution of women, blacks, and trans for roles meant for white men.

Lea on GMA. Fabulous.

Exactly, R205. The producers would be FOOLS not to try - it'd be TONS of free publicity.

And my high school drama teacher taught us Biff is fib spelled backwards. Whatever the fuck that means.

[quote]Beanie as Fran in Promises. Thoughts?

Beanie as Fran would significantly lower the capacity of the elevator.

[quote]Whatever the fuck that means

r310, it's like when someone says that agabatur is rutabaga spelled backwards.

Did Beanie sing ‘10 American beauty toes’ or ‘10 American beauty ROLLS’.

you all pathetic. bye.

I long for the days when we endlessly discussed Follies rather than Beanie.

Is this Camelot or Bali Fucking Ha’i?

Gentle reminder that along with the brilliance, Broadway always also had schlock.

Was that ever in question r317?

*mites

Thank you r319. I feel validated and vindicated.

And ever so slightly moist.

For no reason...

There are ALWAYS reasons for a Dodie doll.

[quote]Liar, they found this production of Salesman fucking awful.

Apologies, R283. I meant that the review itself was great, not that the review said the show was great. Terrible phrasing on my part, but in my defense it was early in the morning.

"Why. Were. You." so upset?

Not exactly great grammar either, Lima-Beanie.

[quote]Lea on GMA. Fabulous.

Mostly because the audience wasn't shrieking throughout the number.

That clip is the first time I've heard Beanie sing a full song from the show and it was worse than I imagined. It doesn't even sound like she's trying to act the song and win the audience over with her comedic skills. She just sounds flat and bored and like every nasal high school theatre student out there right now. There's no power in her voice or her performance at all. This will end up being one of the great WTF moments of Broadway history.

My Amazon Fire tablet just popped up with a recipe for "Aunt Gussie's Pound Cake."

[quote]That clip is the first time I've heard Beanie sing a full song from the show and it was worse than I imagined.

It really does sound like a high school performance, except that a high school student would no doubt be trying a lot harder than Beanie seems to be.

Beanies lost a ton of weight and she looks really different. Glad FG is still open.

Worst thread ever?

and KI thought that THIS was the worst rendition of " I'm the Greatest Star." Silly me.

Newp.

On another topic: Is 1776 a good show? A positive show?

Who would have been weirder to fuck- Carol Channing or Ethel Merman?

It's a very good show, r333.

as traditionally done, yes.

The movie version is pretty good, too.

This thread could use some Vanita Smythe...

Biff spelled backwards is Ffib Fib spelled backwards is Bif

Your teacher was useless…

The Notebook got raves in Chicago. Nederlander in the Spring?

Jason Gotay and his husband are the sweetest. Met them at a party, and they were charming and fun.

I thought Shucked had the Nederlander.

WHET the revival of Fosse's DANCIN'? Still happening?

What’s going to go into the Winter Garden?

Who is Kathleen Chalfant's GF?

[quote]What’s going to go into the Winter Garden?

What do you think, r344?

Should we ask Kathleen's husband of 56 years, Henry?

Phyllis...

Is Alexis Smith a Phyllis or a Sally?

I liked Jason Gotay in Call Me Madam. I wish there were more of the song "It's a Lovely Day Today" in this video.

Beanie was so very terrible. Perhaps one of the worst Broadway performances in the last fifteen years, anyone trying to say she was good didn’t see her. She was horrible.

[quote]Beanie was so very terrible. Perhaps one of the worst Broadway performances in the last fifteen years

In what was a rare move for Beanie, she bit off more than she could chew.

Yet in that pretty feeble attempt at "I'm The Greatest Star" with her, the audience cheers at the end. Don't audiences know what is quality anymore or have any sort of standards, just because she's a semi-name?

Santino has a nice bulge. Who's had him?

It seems like there are way too many new musicals opening this season. How is there enough audience for all of them?

ALMOST FAMOUS & JULIET K-POP KIMBERLY AKIMBO BACK TO THE FUTURE ONCE UPON A ONE MORE TIME A BEAUTIFUL NOISE SOME LIKE MY TWAT BAD CINDERELLA NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Unfortunately as far as discussion of Beanie, we probably aren't talking about it enough. Truly one of the most astonishingly arrogant and spectacularly awful performances in Broadway history. The first revival in 58 years in the shadow of a legendary singer, and a painfully bad actor falls flat on her face in song after song after song after song. The only possible explanation I can think of is that somebody out there absolutely hates her and wanted to publicly humiliate her. Sure, it's kind of funny for a few minutes, but by the time The Music That Makes Me Dance came around, I had moved past my suicidal (later homicidal) boredom into a deep overwhelming sadness that nobody cared about her deep down enough to tell her to just fucking stop singing. Do you know how many songs Fanny Brice sings in FUNNY GIRL!? Oh my god do I remember every single note of every single goddamn song she squealed out.

To save you time ... MARY!!! — Hey, it popped into my head more than a few times during Act Two.

I knew the FANnies wouldn't leak Beanie bootlegs until Lea had taken over the role.

[Quote] Who is Kathleen Chalfant's GF?

It's "Katheleen Chalfant, who's her gf?"

R354, Who hasn't?

Apparently, R351 did not read my rave review.

^Yours truly, Rex Reed.

The funny thing is that the audience are enthusiastic at the end of that Beanie performance. It's not much different to the Lea audience reaction. Those people are high on the property (the movie, I guess) and not bothered about what they're seeing in front of them.

[quote]The idea of a "replacement" Tony award has been bouncing around for years. It may happen this year. And from what I understand, it would be gender non-specific, so that's trendy right now.

I remember they announced a Best Replacement category in the summer of 2005 but did not utilize it for the 2005-2006 season for whatever reason and then they just got rid of it after the 2006 Tonys, inexplicably.

They got rid of something they never awarded?

R256, Couldn't Mary Tyler Moore's 1980 special Tony for Whose Life Is It Anyway? be considered a Best Replacement Tony?

R364 I found an article about it.

[quote]Back in September 2005, the Tony Awards Administration created a new Tony category: the Best Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Recreated Role. Less than a year later the category, which was never awarded, is gone, according to The New York Post.

[quote]This year was the first year any performer was eligible to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Recreated Role. The category was instituted on a trial basis, only to be in effect the 2005-2006, 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons unless adopted permanently. The award was to be chosen by the Tony Awards Administration Committee a group comprised of 24 members and winners were required to obtain a minimum of 16 votes to pick up the prize. Fiddler on the Roof's Harvey Fierstein and Dirty Rotten Scoundrel's Jonathan Pryce were contenders, but neither received the necessary votes. Thus, in a controversial move, the Tony Awards Administration opted not to give the award. Pryce publicly stated his displeasure with the process.

[quote]The Administration Committee voted unanimous to abandon the category last week. It is possible in future years there could be special awards given to replacements, but there is no longer an official category in which they fit.

[quote]Couldn't Mary Tyler Moore's 1980 special Tony for Whose Life Is It Anyway? be considered a Best Replacement Tony?

Sure, but I think she made more of a splash because she was a woman replacing a man which was maybe a first, and she was also great in it.

[quote]I'm one of the Loesser musicals.

It's Feuer, not Loesser.

I'm suspicious of people who attend concerts dressed in business suits.

Sorry, wrong thread.

[quote] Sorry, wrong thread.

Oh you're right r370 but not for the reason you think. But it is very sorry and very wrong.

So if Lea gets the cast recording (happening, trust me) AND a special Tony, Beannie will....

[quote]So if Lea gets the cast recording (happening, trust me) AND a special Tony, Beannie will....

^not ever be mentioned here ever again?

[quote] The only possible explanation I can think of is that somebody out there absolutely hates her and wanted to publicly humiliate her.

Or, as has been mentioned many times before, Beanie's family connections and/or perceived entertainment value as a film performer were given more value by the producers in this process than any actual singing ability.

(Yes, she was in DOLLY, and couldn't sing there either. But there's she's a momentary trifle, whereas Fanny Brice IS the whole enchilada, as it were.)

Sorry, but I have to say that the GMA Parade performance is not good. Yes, she has a big voice, but she's trying too damn hard and seems (IMO) to be desperate, not determined. Wouldn't want to rush out to buy an album of LM singing Broadway hits. Better than Beanie is not good enough.

The problem with a Replacement Tony is they would have to find 4 nominees.

I finally saw Hadestown—it was fantastic!! I don’t know why I avoided it for so long. Truly one of the best experiences I’ve had on Bway

I think I’m hitting a financial wall when it comes to theatre tickets.

I want to see Dear World and Parade. I want to sit in the orchestra. I don’t want to pay $160 a ticket

No one agrees with you R375.

Can’t wait for Lea to get the first replacement Tony and watch everyone’s head absolutely explode.

[quote] Sorry, but I have to say that the GMA Parade performance is not good. Yes, she has a big voice, but she's trying too damn hard and seems (IMO) to be desperate, not determined. Wouldn't want to rush out to buy an album of LM singing Broadway hits. Better than Beanie is not good enough.

I absolutely hated this production of Funny Girl with Beanie with the heat of a thousand suns, have no affinity for Lea Michele and find her ridiculous and entitled, but thought she did very well on GMA. Contrary to R375, I didn't think she was pushing hard at all, like in her notorious flopsweat performance of "Don't Rain on my Parade" at the Tony Awards. She looked good, she sounded good, and apart from a few affected Barbra-isms in her pronunciations (like "suh"), felt she was making it her own thing. TV appearances for Broadway shows are difficult and usually horrible (Company completely embarrassed themselves on GMA a few months ago), but Lea truly elevated the entire thing. The Funny Girl producers really didn't deserve the bail-out they received by casting her, but Lea is singlehandedly saving their asses.

[quote]The problem with a Replacement Tony is they would have to find 4 nominees.

The other problem is that they would have to choose designated voters for the category, because you cannot expect the whole slew of Toy voters to see a bunch of replacements casts for shows they've already seen on top of all the new shows every season.

[quote]the whole slew of Toy voters

Pics please.

They don’t have to find other nominees. They can just give it to her, which they most likely will.

Lea Michele could get the 1974 Tony award presented to Liza Minnelli for “adding Luster to the Broadway season”

This was a legit award given.

Was 1974 a particularly nonlustrous season?

I tried my hardest, I really did!

Replacement Tony? I’m in!

R385 I wasn't alive then, but I just looked up the Best Musical nominees for 1974:

- RAISIN **winner**

- OVER HERE!

- SEESAW

Best Play nominees were:

- THE RIVER NIGER **winner**

- IN THE BOOM BOOM ROOM

- THE AU PAIR MAN

- ULYSSES IN NIGHTGOWN

There was no revival Tony at the time.

Ralph Carter is delightful on that Raisin album.

Whoever the "worst thread ever?" troll is must not have been around for all the theater threads that devolved into whining about diversity and "woke" theater and the "woke" ruining the theater and so on for hundreds of posts. We had one just a few threads ago. This one, and the last one, is/are nowhere near as bad as those.

R381, it sounds like that's exactly what they did the last time they tried it, according to r366's link.

"The award was to be chosen by the Tony Awards Administration Committee a group comprised of 24 members and winners were required to obtain a minimum of 16 votes to pick up the prize."

Ralph Carter was hauntingly wonderful in DUDE.

[quote]That clip is the first time I've heard Beanie sing a full song from the show and it was worse than I imagined.

Someone put together a comparison clip of Beanie vs. Lea singing "I'm the Greatest Star". The difference is really quite astonishing. Though we don't have the (dubious) benefit of seeing Beanie, you can tell from the vocals just how painfully mediocre she is. Not only in the singing but in the [bold]acting[/bold] of the song. Whereas Lea actually surprised me with how good she is.

R392, if you're serious, tell more.

[quote] I finally saw Hadestown—it was fantastic!! I don’t know why I avoided it for so long. Truly one of the best experiences I’ve had on Bway

I'm sorry you got stuck seeing Lilias White oversing it. Andre was truly wonderful.

Does a replacement Tony in "West Side Story" have a leg up on the Replacement Tony?

[quote]r379 Can’t wait for Lea to get the first replacement Tony and watch everyone’s head absolutely explode.

How will she know to be there? Don’t they send out invitations, and tickets? [italic]She can’t read them.

Is that all you’ve got Beanie stan R397? That tired trope? Really? Try again. Something something something wig shitting. Right? Something something something “she’s a cunt.” Right? Keep trying.

What a horror show that comparison above is. This will follow Beanie to her grave. She’s such a fool.

If Beanie can be a Broadway star, then I can be a Broadway star.................

I think The Notebook will go to a Shubert House. The James Earl Jones? A replacement for "Strange Loop" or "Piano Lesson"? (Both to close in January, right?) Maybe if Kimberly Akimbo goes away (what's with that art)?

R400 Has Strange Loop announced a closing date or are you just speculating based on the box office?

The people who created the poster art for Kimberly Akimbo had to have worked really cheaply. No actual professional would come up with such crap.

ASL announced it would close in January. To make sure everyone who wanted to see it would stampede the box office.

Barbra’s honorary Tony was for something stupid like “Greatest Star in the World”

R403x that’s sad because it’s an excellent show. It has a tons of things going against gaining a big audience—cast a Black actors, about the gay experience, has a vivid sex scene

It's not really sad. They had more than enough time to find an audience. No one wants to see it. How much money should the producers continue to lose to run that thing for the ushers?

Maybe they gave Barbra her Tony as a belated one for FG. Maybe they realized that Carol wasn't an integral component in Dolly like Barbra was for FG.

[quote]Barbra’s honorary Tony was for something stupid like “Greatest Star in the World”

But she was never "Star-To-Be".

[Quote] It's not really sad. They had more than enough time to find an audience. No one wants to see it. How much money should the producers continue to lose to run that thing for the ushers?

No one wants to see it because it has an all black cast, is about being gay, and has an explicit sex scene. Something for everyone to avoid it

[Quote] Maybe they gave Barbra her Tony as a belated one for FG. Maybe they realized that Carol wasn't an integral component in Dolly like Barbra was for FG.

No, probably just because they wanted good TV ratings

Two Stars-to-be...

Oscar Levant introduced George Gershwin and his girlfriend Kay Swift as, "George and the future Miss Kay Swift."

[Quote] Someone put together a comparison clip of Beanie vs. Lea singing "I'm the Greatest Star".

Someone needs a life.

Beanie is the Covid-19 of musical theater. #NeverForgetNeverForgive

She cannot be allowed to take hold.

r395, I've seen a few comments about how De Shields is giving the same performance in Death of a Salesman, so r377 can go see him play Hermes there if they wish.

Is Andre playing Death?

This makes me think of Christoper Durang's The Vietnamization of New Jersey parodying David Rabe's Sticks and Bones, which used character names from Ozzie & Harriet. With Durang, there was Ozzy Ann, Harry and Et. We could have Death, Uva Sales and Man,

Andre is capable of playing only one thing-smugness and unearned arrogance.

Gussie Gooler is the female recalled by the character Harry in Murray Schisgal's comedy "Luv" who broke his heart.

I tried my hardest, I really did.

The most surprising part of the Beanie/Lea recordings is that Lea gets all the laughs that Beanie didn't and I've never found Lea to be all that funny. Beanie wasn't just miscast due to her voice, but due to not being funny.

[quote]Beanie wasn't just miscast due to her voice, but due to not being funny.

That has been mentioned...once or twice.

That must have been in the casting notice. Hence, Lea.

Larry Kert received the Tony nomination for Company after replacing Dean Jones, as did Judy Kaye after replacing Madeline Kahn in On the 20th Century.

Lea sounded pretty incredible on GMA.

[quote]as did Judy Kaye after replacing Madeline Kahn in On the 20th Century.

WRONG

Oy, R417.

Don't quit your day job.

I suppose I could have posted this on the Arlene Francis Gives a Party thread, but there's another Vat 69 ad. Early 1963.

[quote]Gussie Gooler is the female recalled by the character Harry in Murray Schisgal's comedy "Luv" who broke his heart.

Gussie Gooler was no Gloria Goosby.

David Merrick's plugging Tchin-Tchin, the upcoming Funny Girl (at least, I assume that's why Barbra's in the picture) and Oliver!

r428 It was posted in this thread.

[quote]Andre is capable of playing only one thing-smugness and unearned arrogance.

Aren't those TWO things?

D'oh! Thank you, R431.

Merrick did not produce FUNNY GIRL but he did produce Barbra's I CAN GET IT FOR WHOLESALE. This ad would have preceded FG.

What I can't figure out is why Barbra looks so Amazonian in the photo. She seems to tower over everyone with guns of gold.

Nice to see Rita's gams.

[quote] Merrick did not produce FUNNY GIRL but he did produce Barbra's I CAN GET IT FOR WHOLESALE. This ad would have preceded FG.

Merrick was originally going to co-produce Funny Girl with Ray Stark, but withdrew.

D436. Did Gary talk him out of it?

Now that Loretta Lynn is gone, what happened to that Coal Miner's Daughter musical with Zooey?

Faye Emerson is not a name one hears these days.

Faye...

Faye Emerson was once the most beloved female star on TV, more so than even Lucy and Arlene Francis.

The earliest years of TV are riddled with names like hers and Arthur Godfrey, Dave Garroway, Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Wally Cox, Dagmar, Garry Moore, Gertrude Berg, and, of course, Milton Berle, who are all but forgotten today.

How much is it costing Lea to hire all these people to promote her for a special Tony?

Which is, of course, ridiculous.

You need to be actually popular/beloved for something like that to happen.

Lea ain't either. And, she's not getting a Tony for doing a decent job in FG just because the original actor cast was inadequate.

I suspect that by the spring the Lea fanfare will have died down considerably. Not that she's not doing a great job in the role, but all the new shows and their stars will overwhelm FG.

Honey, if they didn't give one to Reba, they sure as hell ain't giving one to Lea.

Exactly!

And, people LOVED Reba!!!

They don't love Lea.

I thought Beanie was absolutely hilarious and delightful in Dolly. Perhaps I’m in the minority here?

Perhaps, yes.

Beanie was truly wonderful in DOLLY. But Minnie Fay is a one-note supporting role with easy laughs.

Beanie's one note doesn't hold up to the juggernaut role that is Fanny. As Minnie Fay, the now infamous Beanie mugging expression of shocked surprise was funny the 3 times she did it. 2 1/2 hours of it in FG got old, then grating, then annoying, then disgusting within minutes.

Oh Georgie, how I long for the old view.

Why the fascination?

Beanie was not truly wonderful in Dolly. She was shrill and horrendous and anyone who saw it knew that casting her as Fanny Brice was a mistake of epic proportion.

And...

I don’t even remember Beanie in that Hello Dolly role

You're lucky. She caused me nightmares for weeks.

I was walking past as she was coming out the stage door and she hit me in the head with a fondue pot.

Anyone doubting Ruby Keeler's stardom in the Hollywood firmament, please note she was billed over James Cagney, Joan Blondell and Dick Powell in Footlight Parade!

Sondra Lee was a fine Minnie Fay but I wouldn't want to see her Fanny.

Ruby

R451 She was not horrendous as Minnie Fay, so stop. The shrill was part of the schtick and worked for that barebones role. And nowhere did I argue that the Minnie Fay role showed she'd make a good choice for Fanny Brice. It's clear she was a mistake from the start.

She just couldn't bring real E.J. Peaker insouciance to the role, r459.

[quote] She was not horrendous as Minnie Fay, so stop.

It must be nice to be so easily amused.

[quote]WHET the revival of Fosse's DANCIN'? Still happening?

Hopefully not, R343. I saw it in San Diego and thought it was an embarrassment. I don't take any relish in saying that; I was genuinely looking forward to this show. I love Fosse and I love dance shows and revues. For instance, I thought After Midnight was wonderful. But, what After Midnight had that the Dancin' revival does not is a cast with talent oozing out of every pore.

To me, the best parts of the show were the band (which had a killer rhythm section) and a couple of the vocalists. If those are the standouts in a dance show, you're in trouble. The show was cast with (mostly) a very young, very green cast. Virtually none of them had that special X-factor you would see in a prior generation of Fosse dancers, including this production's director Wayne Cilento. There is a difference between dutifully following choreography and truly inhabiting character and inhabiting the style of choreographer.

I don't have the Playbill on me anymore, but I distinctly recall reading an interview with Wayne Cilento in there in which he said something akin to... I wasn't a taskmaster with this cast; I let them do their own thing and provided direction where they needed it. Which sounds nice, but it resulted in sometimes surprisingly sloppy, dull and characterless dancing.

I'm too young to have seen the original production, but Cilento is credited with updating the book (there isn't very much dialogue), but I can see where he and his collaborators attempted to, perhaps, update some of the cheesy platitudes from the 70s book. Unfortunately, I think they may have just ended up sterilizing the whole thing and/or making it even cheesier than it was before.

From the design to the performances, the whole thing felt like cruise ship entertainment. I don't think it serves Fosse's legacy to bring this to Broadway, but I guess we'll see...

[quote] This one, and the last one, is/are nowhere near as bad as those.

Lackluster, perhaps, but not nearly as bad as those.

Jonathan Groff was spotted at Funny Girl again tonight, blubbering from the sixth row.

Liza loves Reba not Lea!

[quote]R435 Nice to see Rita's gams.

I saw her in some mod liquor ad, I think early 1970s. But there were just 5 or 6 people in it. So the parties must have gotten smaller?

Gussie > Jussie

(Although I'd rather see Jussie's mussy.)

R441, Faye was once the daughter-in-law of FDR and Eleanor.

R446 Yes, you are, Ben.

[quote=Honey, if they didn't give one to Reba, they sure as hell ain't giving one to Lea.

One major difference between the two is that Lea has several Broadway credits going back to when she was a preteen (latter '90s).

She also originated two roles: 'The Little Girl' in RAGTIME (12 Tony nominations, including Best Musical) and 'Wendla' in SPRING AWAKENING (won 8 Tonys, including Best Musical).

Reba has only one Broadway credit, when she was a third replacement (after Susan Lucci and Cheryl Ladd) in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN for five months... 21 years ago. She did not even finish the run. Crystal Bernard took over for the remaining three months.

Thus, I don't think most people associate Reba with Broadway. Will they even dim the lights for her when she passes?

Also, Lea has singlehandedly saved this FUNNY GIRL revival and doing an impressive job by most accounts. It's been doing gangbuster business at the box office ever since she took over (it was among the top grossers the past week along with HAMILTON, MJ, and MUSIC MAN), which I'm sure is very much appreciated by the industry post-Covid when many people are still reluctant to go to the theater.

This is also Lea's Broadway homecoming after a 14-year absence.

I think she will be commended by the Tony Committee for her efforts.

R470 Oh honey, the Reba stan never needs to be fed, we just laugh at him.

Eldergays, tell me about Bernie in Annie Get Your Gun. I feel like the online consensus was that she was good, but not great and that Reba was a much better fit for the role? I have to say, on paper Reba does seem like a much better fit, but, man, Bernie sounds so beautiful on those Irving Berlin songs. Her voice catches the melody like a moonbeam.

[quote] WHET the revival of Fosse's DANCIN'? Still happening?

[quote]Hopefully not, [R343]. I saw it in San Diego and thought it was an embarrassment.

Both Reinking and Verdon aren't around for the quality control they gave to make "Fosse" a success.

[Quote] Faye Emerson was once the most beloved female star on TV,

And yet her shows didn't run... Was she somebody's mistress?

[Quote] Both Reinking and Verdon aren't around for the quality control they gave to make "Fosse" a success.

Paging Vicki Frederick! Sandahl Bergman!

Why thank you r475. Thank you so much.

I haven't been paged in YEARS!

I hope Sandhal writes a Kiss-n-Tell about her steamy affair with Olivia Newton-John.

[QUOTE]Both Reinking and Verdon aren't around for the quality control they gave to make "Fosse" a success.

True, though, I think the FOSSE show also benefited from having multiple cast members who had danced for Bob Fosse themselves, too.

[quote]multiple cast members who had danced for Bob Fosse

Is THAT what they call it nowadays.

Beanie Feldstein IS Dancin’!!!

[quote]Very predictable that at least half the critics would fear a backlash if they came across as too critical of such a super-woke production.

No critic wants to risk their reputation over a Roundabout limited run.

Wrong. Jesse Green has been very woke since the pandemic in his reviews and his other ‘essays’ and he rejected the wokeness and approach of the production. Unfortunately he didn’t lay all the blame of the bad direction at the feet of the perpetrators- the bad directors. Is Paulus really any good at all? Or just gets by on her copious charm? 😉

Do we think there are any roles on Broadway left for Bernadette or Patti at this stage? I think lead roles in musicals are probably behind them now, but would they be wiling to take on smaller roles at this stage? Arguably, Patti already has with Company, but Joann is still a pretty rich "featured" role.

R483 When they finally get around to creating the musical version of The Whales of August, Patti and Bernadette will have two great leading roles to close out their musical theater careers.

70, Girls, 70.

I danced for Bobby! I’m available!

r470

Did Reba leave early because of her tv show?

lol, people talking about Reba whoever country “star” as if she fucking mattered. No one gave a shit about some washed up hag from the land of musical homophobia. Any talk of replacement Tony with her was just that… TALK. She’s completely forgotten except by two ancient queens here who have glommed on to her as if she did something. She was a middling replacement in a middling production that no one really cared about.

But keep trying to compare this to Lea in Funny Girl, dears. No one cares.

R426, You are correct, my mistake.

Bernie doesn’t have a voice anymore. She needs to retire

Bernadette wasn't bad as Annie. Just miscast.

I can't wait till Lea and Funny Girl disappear from relevance (January?) so the Lea Troll can fuck off.

R488, Barbara Cook said that Reba gave one of the best musical comedy performances she'd ever seen.

R491, And yet, she won a Tony for it.

Glenn Close won a Tony for her singing...

R488 clearly wasn’t around or paying attention at the time Reba took over AGYG.

R491 - I saw Bernadette in concert earlier this year and she sounded much better than I expected. In fact, her voice was much stronger than it was when I saw her in Hello, Dolly! I could see her doing well in a role that doesn't require powerhouse singing.

R482, Paulus does whatever people with "authority" want her to do. When it is James Rado and Karole Armatage telling her what to do, the results are great.

When its the board of ART or some hack producer, the result is meh at best.

Bernadette Peters was excellent up to and including SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. After that, she no longer seemed "present" and her performance in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN was a low point. It felt like she didn't want to be there.

Reba supplied everything (and then some) that was missing in Bernadette's performance. An amazing skilled and alive performance and very surprising from one who had never done a stage book musical.

I brought up Reba originally, and pardon me, but I am hardly a "stan" or even a fan of hers when she took over. r496 is right. It was like the second coming, Reba was a huge Country star and for her to take over and take Broadway by storm was a big deal at the time. I saw both Bernadette and Reba. Bernadette was fine but miscast and Reba was great, but the show wasn't very good otherwise. Peter Stone was one of the great book writers, but his rewrite was terrible.

And for what it's worth, I saw Beanie in Hello Dolly (with Bernadette.) I didn't know who she was at the time and thought she was awful. Bernadette wasn't all that great either. For me, the best things about the show were Gavin Creel and Kate Baldwin.

Bernadette is lovely and looks great, but her voice has never been particularly strong or pretty. Her recent performances have been quite painful to listen to.

And her acting hit a low point with her weepy Follies performance.

R495, Lauren Bacall won a Tony for Woman of the Year.

JEE-zus!!!

Lauren Bacall won TWO Tonys for musicals -- APPLAUSE and WOMAN OF THE YEAR.

Both based on movies.

R487 I think so.

Just looked up her sitcom REBA. It debuted in October 2001, which means it began production in August.

Reba was in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN from January to June 2001. The production closed in September, like two weeks before 9/11.

[quote] lol, people talking about Reba whoever country “star” as if she fucking mattered. No one gave a shit about some washed up hag from the land of musical homophobia. Any talk of replacement Tony with her was just that… TALK. She’s completely forgotten except by two ancient queens here who have glommed on to her as if she did something. She was a middling replacement in a middling production that no one really cared about. But keep trying to compare this to Lea in Funny Girl, dears. No one cares.

Someone woke up on the wrong side of everything this morning. Go back to your coffin, dear.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, 2.0! With Sally.

Who here saw the original on Bway? Thoughts?

And the PHANTOM is killing... at the box office!

I've never really understood why Sondheim was so taken with Bernadette.

Bernadette played one of the leads in the new Sondheim workshop so she's not done playing leads yet.

Kimberly Akimbo and KPOP start previews this week. Anyone going?

Sondheim was a genius but had weird allegiances to some singers and actors. Definitely an odd taste in vocalists, IMHO.

I'm not a fan of a lot of those people who showed up featured/ensemble in the original casts of Sunday In the Park, Into The Woods, or (especially) Passion. (Some of that may be James Lapine's fault, who is not a genius.)

I've heard for decades that Sondheim had a DNU list: actors he would never use in his shows. I'd love to know who was on it (besides Kim Criswell, discussed on these threads already).

I think his allegiances were based on personal affection. I think he just loved her, and her singing was secondary (he has said that perfect singing wasn't his primary interest in a performer).

I wonder if Bernie will stay with Square One, or whatever they're going to call it; Ives said recently that they're looking for a theater so I'm looking forward to a production in the spring.

DNU=do not use, BTW.

And I love Bernadette, for all her vocal idiosyncrasies. But I also agree that the voice is no longer there.

[quote] Kimberly Akimbo and KPOP start previews this week. Anyone going?

Nope.

R505, True, but only the Tony for Applause was deserved.

Saw Lea on Friday night. I went in a skeptic, came out a disciple. She's worth all the hype; a true, goddam old fashioned Broadway star performance. Who knew?

Since Funny Girl never performed at this year’s Tonys, would they ask Lea to come back and perform next year if she’s still in the show?

Bernadette had a lovely send off with Hello Dolly and Patti had a lovely send off with Company…where is God Damn treasure Betty Buckley’s send off?

Her last Broadway credit was Triumph of Love in 1998 and during that year she was shit on by Arthur Laurents and denied a Gypsy transfer.

i THINK A lEA PERFORMANCE ON THE tONYS IS INFINITELY MORE LIKELY THAN HER BEING AWARDED SOME SPECIAL TONY, WHICH SEEMS VERY UNLIKELY.

Oh gosh, forgive the unintended caps lock!

The problem with Beanie in HELLO DOLLY was that she was grotesquely one note the entire time, it became nightmarish waiting for her to come screeching in and out. Her trouble in FUNNY GIRL was should could not even sing one note.

Some things just cannot be forgiven r522.

Bernadette won the Tony for ANNIE GYG, but had almost no competition: Sian Philips for MARLENE, Carolee Carmello in PARADE, Dee Hoty in FOOTLOOSE. All had relatively short runs.

Julie Benko helped keeping "Funny GIrl" open while Beanie was out attending weddings, supposedly getting strep throat (or whatever she called it), and during the whole month or so that Lea had to get ready to perform. Plus she was really quite good as well. Also, she helps give Lea a break by doing Thursday nights. Glad she's gotten some credit, because the show might have closed before Lea had they not had a standby getting such good word of mouth.

And Dee Hoty got nominated strictly to fill out the category.

I don't know what to make of that video of Beanie's closing curtain call. Unless everyone on that stage deserves a special Tony, they all seem sincerely attached and devoted to her. The crew even comes on for chrissakes...No diva sense at all...

[quote]R470 Also, Lea has singlehandedly saved this FUNNY GIRL revival and doing an impressive job by most accounts.

Hold up. It’s MISS JULIE BENKO who singlehandedly saved Funny Girl.

R500. I thought Beanie left Dolly when Bette left. I didn’t realize she played Minnie opposite Peters.

[quote]R482 Unfortunately Jesse Green didn’t lay all the blame of the bad direction at the feet of the perpetrators- the bad directors.

Bad with you, good with others.

[quote]R520 Bernadette had a lovely send off with Hello Dolly and Patti had a lovely send off with Company…where is God Damn treasure Betty Buckley’s send off?

Betty’s career is a reminder of how competitive and capricious life in the arts can be. You can have all the talent in the world and still not get picked.

(Of course, I identify)

Capricious? Betty tried to to get permission to turn up late to the theatre because she'd "do her make up at her apartment." Cuckoo! Cuckoo!

R529 I don't think so. This revival would have closed back when Beanie left in late July, if they had not gotten Lea to star. She is the one bringing in the big bucks and audiences.

Julie's been a trooper, though, filling in for Beanie's many absences, the month before Lea started, and the two weeks that Lea had Covid.

If they were filling the 1999 Best Actress in a Musical category for the sake of filling it, then it's kind of a slap in the face to Faith Prince for Little Me (and to a lesser extent, Cathy Rigby in Peter Pan).

r466, It was in response to r431. She was quite beautiful.

A starship trooper?

[quote]r536 It was in response to [R431]. She was quite beautiful.

[quote]r537 A starship trooper?

Whatever do you mean?

Lea deserves a Tony for showing her vag to a gay

I’m kind of interested in seeing Lea. The reports are that she’s great, of course, but I don’t see any charisma in her televised performances of the songs.

I think R538 is trying to make the point that it's "trrouper" in this context--not "trooper." R538 should probably try to be less of a prisspot.

[quote]Lea deserves a Tony for showing her vag to a gay

Then Groff deserves a Nobel of some sort or another.

Really r523? Is that so? What a fresh take.

Also, who the fuck asked ?

Beanie showed me her vag!!!

[quote] Also, who the fuck asked ?

We found the one Beanie fan on DL.

While Reba was doing AGYG, the Weisslers asked her if she'd consider a revival of Unsinkable Molly Brown. Barbara Cook talked her out of it, pointing out the two roles were pretty much the same.

Oh, I'm sure there are plenty of (well tipped!) Grubhub and Uber Eats drivers on DL.

I had no idea -- and am loving! -- that Barbara Cook took Reba under her wing!

I remember Reba complaining about the "worst pay" she'd ever received (while starring as Annie).

Prince Edward was quite cute.

Barbara developed the same fixation with Reba in AGYG that she had with Hugh in Boy From Oz.

No bad thing if it kept her away from the fridge for a few hours.

So who's gonna see Santino Fontana in "Your Own Thing"?

I think it sounds fun. I really enjoy these concert stagings of shows that will never be revived elsewhere.

Hugh in THE BOY FROM OZ and Reba in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN were two spectacularly accomplished performances with great audience connection. Pretty rare. Barbara Cook really appreciated that.

Leland!

At long last, we can see them do the Hunka-Munka!

was Alfred Wiseman any good in Abie’s Irish Rose?

R520, I would see Betty in a play, but she can't sing anymore. She was wonderful in The Old Friends at the Signature Theatre.

The Beehive of Britain.

Groovy, r556!

I would go see Your Own Thing just to see the show. If I had to put up with Santino Fontana, so be it.

Is Beanie going in to the tour of Oklahoma as the lead dancer?

[quote][R538] should probably try to be less of a prisspot.

Prisspot? PRISSPOT??

Answer me!

I bring you beautiful Rita Gam photos and you treat them like some dishrag! You do! Three hundred dollar dollar studio still on a community forum! We'll see how many we can get in here, we'll see! All of them are coming out! Out! Out! Out! Out!

[quote] Is Beanie going in to the tour of Oklahoma as the lead dancer?

No, Beanie is going to eat all the leftover chili and cornbread so it doesn't go to waste every night.

Other musicals I would like to see one-night-only concert stagings of:

DUDE

VIA GALACTICA

RACHAEL LILY ROSENBLOOM & DON'T YOU EVER FORGET IT

THE MAGIC SHOW

ROCKABYE HAMLET, hosted by Beverly D'Angelo?

I'd like to see Simply Heavenly.

I saw the original productions of DUDE and VIA GALACTICA and there was nothing on those stages worth saving. Except for maybe the trampoline in VIA GALACTICA.

THE MAGIC SHOW, however, was enchanting silly fun.

And I loved ROCKABYE, HAMLET. Now that one, I'd like to see again, though I think part of my enjoyment was the overall staging and esign as well as the original performances.

yes, please, R568!

R546 Reba's great a what she does, but she doesn't really have much range. If she wanted to do another script and some other songs, she probably should have done "Molly Brown". Heck, Barbara Cook was with the producers watching the show herself a few times during previews of the original with the possibility of taking over when Tammy Grimes was looking like she might not have worked in the role.

"Your Own Thing" was actually a big hit off-Broadway, and a studio actually paid a decent amount of money for the screen rights. But as screen disasters like "Doctor Dolittle" and "Star!", etc. soon followed, the film was never made.

Reba was great in the televised concert version of South Pacific. I wished she had done more Bway—but it’s a grueling schedule for low pay, compared to TV

I could see Reba as a hillbilly Liza Elliott in "Lady in the Dark" -- putting a different spin on it.

Reba/MAME!

The whole David Adjmi/Oscar Levant saga is back in the news over at BroadwayWorld.com where they have a long article that takes up where the NY Times wouldn't go, that is in getting a response from Adjmi, as well as emails from both Adjmi and Sean Hayes regarding the development of the play.

This may not be a big "scandal" but, trust me, it will taint the reception of Sean Hayes' performance, if not Doug Wright's play.

Reba would have made a good Desiree Armfeldt circa 2006-2007.

She'd have been a better Anne, r578.

Reba in "I Love My Wife" as one of the wives; they do get do sing "Someone Wonderful I Missed", a country song in Cy Coleman's eclectic score of different styles. Originally sung by DL fave Joanna Gleason and Ilene Graff.

I can see Reba in a revival of Coco.

[Quote] This may not be a big "scandal" but, trust me, it will taint the reception of Sean Hayes' performance, if not Doug Wright's play.

Pretty sure Doug Wright’s writing will taint the play

Reba's a Peggy Sawyer if ever I saw one.

I could see Reba maybe doing "What's New at the Zoo" or "Where Is the Tribe For Me?", taking over from DL fave Nancy Dussault in (it's almost time) "Bajour!"

oops, "What's New at the Zoo" is from another Nancy Dussault role in "Do Re MI", but that's fine, too. She could do "Make Someone Happy" and give some more oomph to "Fireworks".

Here's Nancy Dussault and John Reardon tearing off the roof in "Fireworks".

I fucked Nancy Dussault.

The main problem with Reba is that she's neither a Phyllis nor a Sally.

[quote]Do we think there are any roles on Broadway left for Bernadette or Patti at this stage?

Maybe they could avoid singing altogether and appear as the Brewster sisters in a revival of "Arsenic and Old Lace."

Reba's kind of a Buddy in buckskins.

She's more of a Carlotta Sue, r588.

I remember back in the day, TV Guide did some story on Nancy Dussault and I guess she went on and on about her many, many stage successes and how she didn’t like television.

The next week in the Letters section, someone wrote, “If Miss Dussault loves Broadway so much, why doesn’t she just [italic]go back?”

When she was younger, Reba could have been a fine Babe Williams in "The Pajama Game". The great duet "There Once Was a Man" sounds on the verge of country too.

R589, that would be a good idea only if Bernadette could learn to act and Patti could somehow cultivate a sweet, endearing persona.

I know "unofficial" video recordings aren't an entirely fair way to judge a theatre performance but early in the pandemic, a friend sent me a one hour bootleg of Reba in AGYG and I thought she was wooden and dull. I wouldn't call what she was doing acting. To be fair the performance date is not noted, perhaps, it was very early in her run?

I also thought she was utterly charmless in that South Pacific concert. Maybe I just don't get the appeal.

"Fancy" is a fun song, though.

If someone wrote a GOOD musical version of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane", Bernadette would be a great Jane (especially doing the equivalent of "I've Written a Letter to Daddy" -- if put in a key, on purpose, which taxes her vocal break into head voice switching to lower) and Patti as Blanche in a wheelchair, especially with her milking it getting out of the wheelchair trying to get to the phone (but trying to stick in a show-stopping number en route).

You're right, R594. That was a very bad idea.

Patti is a natural for mature Joan Crawford roles.

I'd like to see MISS SADIE THOMPSON

Bernadette is a fine actress within her persona just as Patti is within hers, r594.

I agree, R595, that Reba was disappointing in SOUTH PACIFIC. She seemed unprepared. She was anything but wooden and dull when I saw her in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN. She was full of life and completely in control of the role and the audience.

[quote]r595 A friend sent me a one hour bootleg of Reba in AGYG and I thought she was wooden and dull. I wouldn't call what she was doing acting…. "Fancy" is a fun song, though.

Damn straight it is!

Reba’s a whore.

New thread: