THEATRE GOSSIP #496: The Come Back to Broadway, Reba Mc, Reba Mc Edition

Previous thread:

Ignore the other one. I created it and was too slow on the draw. Sorry and MARY!

Bernie and Patti are in their 70s. Let's see....what roles have there been for older actresses in the past...

Hag mash is what I serve my mother on Tuesdays.

No problem, r2. And if everyone prefers yours, I don't mind. It had just been over a half hour since the last one closed, so I figured we needed something. (I'm not claiming this title is great, but it is, at least, something.)

R4 😂

The one thing I will say is that Lea and Ramin have REAL chemistry and bring a lot of sexiness to the show. Their make out scenes are hot and you can definitely believe that those two people would be attracted to each other.

Whereas Beanie and Ramin had all of the chemistry of a bucket of cold fish.

I could see Patti as George, Bernie as Childie, and Betty Lynn as Mercy Croft.

Actually, had she not died, I wonder how an Anne Heche-led production of The Killing of Sister George would have gone.

BREAKING: Ms. McEntire will make her triumphant return to NYC on April 15th, 2023 at Madison Square Garden.

Lally Bowers, Eileen Atkins, Beryl Reid and...?

Good for her, r10!

Reba has an engaging quality to her, a sort of Lucille Ball-type enigma, with a great and very unique voice. Lea is a wood block with a good voice, but it like she’s the best singer in her community college theatre program. Some uppity queens here are just put off because Reba is from Oklahoma and didn’t drop her hick accent to aspire to appear as an aristocrat like they did with their Jersey twang. She’s had a nearly 50-year career in entertainment and not even Cher or Dolly can match the consistency of her resume and work ethic, she’s has put out a new album, movie, book, tv show, tour and/or other project every single year she’s been in the business. Lea’s ambition far outweighs her talent and there really is no comparison between her and Reba.

Honey. We worry.

More straitforward & better play on words: Come Back, Little Reba.

*straightforward

To R499 on the previous thread, marveling about the depth and complexity of Reba's performance:

Annie Oakley ain't exactly Medea. It was written for Merman. She basically enters and sings. Duh.

r15, you are correct, of course, and I am suitably chastened.

R15 if the reba discussion can make it another 550+ posts then that’ll be the name of the next one

With all due respect to Ms. McEntire, if the Reba discussion lasts that long, the "Worst thread ever?" troll might actually have a point.

"Reba, Don't Let Me Down"

R20 Agree.

Gypsy with Reba as Rose, Lea as June, and Beanie as Louise.

Reba would have made a great Broadway career except a lot has changed in the country since 2000 when she did it.

9/11 and Trump have done a few things:

1) her country fans are red staters who wouldn’t fork over thousands of dollars to fly to New York to hang with groomers and watch Reba play Molly Brown.

2) Reba’s acting is elementary at best.

Could you wait over there somewhere Betty?

R24 see R10 concerning her selling tickets in liberal hot zones

[quote]and Beanie as Louise

AGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Bette & Joey & Karen...

I realize that the Beanie mentions aren't going to end anytime soon, but posts suggesting casting Beanie in unsuitable roles certainly have limited entertainment value.

Beanie as Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun

Why not a musical version of 'August: Osage County' for Reba?

Someone with modest acting chops should play Violet?

Love that you think Funny Girl is disappearing in January. You’re cute. Lea ain’t going anywhere.

This bizarre obsession with the mediocrity that is Reba Mcenwhatever just proves that this shithole has been flooded with stupid tasteless Trumpies. The bitch isn’t even Barbara Mandrel for fucks sake. You can continue to post your ridiculous diatribes about her and wit and wisdom yourself, I’ll just block your moronic troll ass and continue on my merry way. She made little to no impression when she was here. Don’t give a fuck what you say. No replacement Tony talk ever really got off the ground for her. She’s not part of the Broadway conversation for a five month replacement that was thoroughly mediocre and has largely been forgotten. But, go right ahead and die on this hill tasteless fools.

You have *way* too much time on your hands, r33.

I refuse to believe eight people have WW'd r33 in eight minutes timespan.

[Quote] die on this hill

You grew up with GLEE, didn't you.

r33...you truly are delusional. Barbara Mandrel...seriously ? Lea is superb, but so was Reba, who became the toast of Broadway. She blew everyone else who played the role out of the water, and for you to think otherwise shows youve never seen it.

Why engage, r37?

Lea is not superb.

Shocking as it may be, there have been at least two good replacements in Broadway musicals in the last 22 years.

More Reba "Annie"

[quote]if the reba discussion can make it another 550+ posts then that’ll be the name of the next one

Here, I'll help you...

Reba McEntire in FOLLIES.

You enjoyed Marin Mazzie in "The King & I" and "Next to Normal", didn't you.

Brent Barrett was also an improvement over Tom Wopat in the '99 revival.

I LOVE aurora

Marilyn Michaels has a gay son too.

Michaels sounds under the weather in that clip.

R33 has stated her boundaries.

Michaels sounds terrific in that boot, even within the context of a summer stock production. Interestingly, she uses a truncated DROMP like Barbra did at certain performances.

Here's a great clip of her on the Hollywood Palace impersonating Babs, Merm, Judy and Connie Francis.

Marily Michaels tried for pop stardom but her style was out of style.

Donna Loren's style was also too cabaret.

[quote]R33 has stated her boundaries.

R33 has stated his aching need for Metamucil.

[italic]Metamucil: The Musical!

The intermission bathroom lines are gonna be a disaster r53.

[quote]Gypsy with Reba as Rose, Lea as June, and Beanie as Louise.

Beanie as a stripper? Well, since the majority of the audience will be gay men, it probably won't matter.

R33 is the deranged troll who goes bat shit anytime “Reba Mcenwhatever” is mentioned, oh you forgot her name? Sure, Jan. Yeah, yeah we know your spill: “talentless, redneck, Republican, homophobe”. She just so happens to have supported gay marriage publicly (before Dolly even), has walked her gay friends down the aisle, and in the 90s was one of the only mainstream artists to release a single directly dealing with AIDS. Yeah, yeah we know she was friends with George HW and she’s not a militant liberal nut like Patti or Madge, so we’re supposed to hate her. Got it.

R43-Marin was just ok in N2N, but she kicked Donna Murphy's, Kelly O'Hara's, Maria Friedman's, and Faith Prince's collective asses in The King And I. I've yet to see a better Anna.

Eldergays, any thoughts on Constance Towers or Mary Beth Peil as Anna?

Bite me, R58.

R58 And Patricia Morrison.

Beanie’s costumes must all be sleeveless in Gypsy!

Only one r.

Did any of you see Virginia McKenna in The King & I?

If u read Barbara Cook’s memoir, she fancied herself the second coming of Christ when she played Anna in The King and I at City Center

Did William Ivey Long send an abused intern to costume Reba in AGYG???

Audra for Annie Get Your Gun! Opposite Jussie Smollet

Box office baby, I'm tellin' ya!

The first musical I saw on Broadway was Reba in "Annie Get Your Gun".

The next Broadway musical was "Urinetown".

[quote] Did any of you see Virginia McKenna in The King & I?

Yes, opposite Yul B. at the London Palladium. She was quite good, and managed to get the Best Musical Actress SWET/Olivier Award over Carol Channing's first London Dolly.

Anyone remember McKenna's 12-inch LP of four songs from "The King and I"?

In terms of London Annas I caught, McKenna was not as wonderful as Sally Ann Howes at the Adelphi, 1973.

It's not that hard to find a link...

Towards the end of the red carpet for the Death of A Salesman revival, Richard Ridge from Broadwayworld tries to talk to Patti LuPone and she literally says “NO” to him and walks away… leaving Richard to cut to a pre-taped segment.

What was that about? Is Patti in an active feud with Broadwayworld?

timestamp, r70?

Patti's a cunt. Nothing more needs to be said.

[quote] Marin was just ok in N2N

You're trolling, clearly.

Marin...

Sudddnleee Si more is styanding byside me, dun't give me odors, dun't con de scents

Today is Marin’s birthday. Gone much too soon.

An older lady friend used to say "Jesus Reba, find the note already"

She really was, r76.

Deadline reviews "Death of a Salesman":

NY Times:

Is "Sales of a Deadman" the true revitalization?

Of course they're all going to give it good reviews. Don't they have to?

Actually, if you read all of Jesse Green's review, there's quite a bit he didn't like about the production, direction, performances and design. He somehow manages to couch his criticisms in the frame of a rave review, but it's hardly that, in spite of it being a Critic's Pick.

A very weird write up, if you ask me.

[Quote] A deeply original work that is also deeply influential may yet in time be trite. What once opened eyes comes to seem preloaded behind them, as if part of the general human inheritance.

WTF

R10, I'll be there in spirit.

meow

No, Patti is just a bitch.

How did Reba end up on a POS TV show like Big Sky?

R87. So is Richard Ridge.

These critics were taking great pains to avoid offending anyone with their DOAS reviews. The production is a directorial disaster and boring as shit. As for Jesse calling Andre's performance "terrifying", he at least got that right. Andre is terrifying for all the wrong reasons.

[quote]How did Reba end up on a POS TV show like Big Sky?

$$$$, silly.

I refuse to see DOAS unless they cast Asian transgender performers as Biff and Happy.

It was sad to watch Richard Ridge get shut down by Patti LuPone in that video posted above. She’s not a CUNT to him but she’s not friendly either. It was definitely a “I don’t want to talk to you” vibe.

R93, You'd think Patti would have welcomed a chance to call Trump a motherfucker again on a "live" broadcast.

GYPSY starring Beanie Feldstein as Caroline!

Singapore Sue

better that than Singapore/FuckingFling

Marilyn Michaels has responded to the FG YouTube clips posted above . . . she will not be ignored!

See Marilyn’s comments here:

For the person in the last thread who said they'd want to see a one night only staging of Dude, 54 Below is doing a "54 Sings Dude" show this Sunday.

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

They have the old lady in the wheel chair in "A Little Night Music" to look forward to.

Lea and Groff as Tony hosts!

R102 Groff would actually make a fantastic Tony host.

You tell 'im, Doris LaChat!

Groff is too milquetoast to host.

R105 He’s one of the few young Broadway actors that actually has a personality, especially when compared to his bland contemporaries like Aaron Tveit and Jeremy Jordan. Watch any interview with him and he is immensely charming, chatty, warm, and personable. “Milquetoast” definitely does not apply to him.

Well, r104, I mean come *on*...

It is quite a hideous recording. I'm surprised Marilyn Michaels hasn't uploaded some audio herself. If the sound guy at Les Mouches gave Patti LuPone a shit ton of tapes, surely someone gave Marilyn a decent bootleg over the years.

R55 this would be Beanie as Gypsy. 😂

[quote]The intermission bathroom lines are gonna be a disaster [R53].

Like at Wokelahoma! where they inexplicably served chili to the audience. 🤔

That's what I was thinking, r108. I thought about asking her that. I assume she may have recorded some of the FG songs, it would be interesting to hear a *much* better bootleg. She's right, that one is beyond primitive.

R80 What does that New York Times headline mean anyway?

[quote]In a New ‘Salesman,’ the Lomans Look Like All of Us

Isn't it an all-black cast?

The U.S. population is around 60% white (70% if you count white Hispanics)

Overall, Latinos are around 18%. Blacks are 12%. Asians are 6%. Mixed are 3%. Native Americans are 0.6%. Others are 0.4%.

Are you really that obtuse, r112?

R64, Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times thought so too:

In the past, Barbara Cook has been playing provincial maidens--playing them especially well. As Anna, the English woman who flounces into nineteenth-century Siam, she is now playing a cultivated woman of maturity. It is the best performance of her career.

Her voice has not only purity, as we all know, but now it also has a weight that gives musical importance to "Hello, Young Lovers!", "The Royal Bangkok Academy", "Getting to Know You", and "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You"--all of them memorable songs. As an actress, Miss Cook's familiar candor also gives Anna a cool dignity that adds a little more stature to the part than it has had before.

But what did he say about her Fanny, r114?

What song is "The Royal Bangkok Academy"? And no smart replies about Arthur Hill - mind your manners!

No, it is not an all-Black cast.

Read before you think. Better yet, just stop with the lame bigotry.

Babs Cook couldn't even do a convincing accent as Mrs. Anna.

R113 you are being kind when you call R112 obtuse. There a few choice words for his way of thinking.

R115, Cook played Fanny in both FANNY and FUNNY GIRL but not on Broadway so Brooks Atkinson would not have reviewed those productions.

This seems like a perfect cuppa tea for regulars on this thread!

Why didn't Florence Henderson get more ingenue roles after her "Fanny" on Broadway? It took a while till "The Girl Who Came to Supper", and while she's good on the recording, it flopped, and Tessie O'Shea stole the show. My folks saw Henderson on Broadway, but said her voice didn't carry too well; of course, maybe that's in contrast to Ezio Pinza, a full-fledged opera star and maybe not too fair to Flo, who was like 18 at the time.

I know, r120, I was just referring to the poster who always says she got *rave* reviews in FG...without ever posting one.

It's not an Anna song, r116...

Those "representation" stats are bullshit. You should look at the metro area of New York, not the nation. Who the fuck cares about Idaho?

[quote]Who the fuck cares about Idaho?

Potatoes?

The 5 members of the Lohman family are cast as Black, not the entire cast. There was apparently just one change in the script (about Biff’s scholarship hopes)—clearly there was room in this play to take another look at some important questions without any detrimental alterations. That makes it an interesting production, and worth seeing…your mileage to the Waffle House differ.

I saw Florence Henderson in the 1966 Lincoln Center revival of SOUTH PACIFIC and absolutely loved her in it.

As for not working more on Broadway in the late 50s and 60s, I believe she quite was busy raising a family at that time.

Heavens to Betsy.

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

[quote]They have the old lady in the wheel chair in "A Little Night Music" to look forward to.

Not if I get there first.

Betty Lynn was on Sondheim's DNU list, outside of concert presentations.

Sondheim is dead, as well as his list.

The Widower Sondheim remains.

Next to Normal is finally getting a production in London next summer at the Donmar Warehouse. Jenna Russell is rumored for the lead.

Will her voice hold up?

Has Lena Hall done "Next To Normal"?

[quote] "There is a growing interest in narratives that include or center Trans, Nonbinary, and gender expansive people," says Lee.

No, actually there isn't. It's a delusion. Just like you thinking you can be a woman.

R70, Patti does not like the online Message Boards. She hates them, Richie works for the website with the biggest one out there. Bad blood.

[bold]#Justice4Patti

I had no idea these threads included waffles, r127.

R127 August Wilson disagrees with you.

I saw Flo Henderson in South Pacific from the first row and I thought she was cutsie and awful. DIfferent strokes...

Sondheim's estate controls the rights (which may or may not include casting input), not the widower. It remains to be seen how much interest he'll take in those matters.

R140 traveling salesman, roadside food, less-than-stellar pun. You would have got my drift.

I hate Flo's two voices, which were not compatible. Her chest voice was quite ugly.

All the Beanie posts are really ruining these threads - it's old news and no one has anything funny or witty to add.

r129 She looks like DL fave Joyce DeWitt there.

Show me the clit of Joyce Dewitt!

Not for nothing re Sondheim's DNU list, he wasn't in his grave 5 minutes before Betty Lynn released her new Betty Lynn sings Sondheim (or whatever) compilation CD.

"new"

It would have been fun if Patti had screamed at Richard “Your website is trash” and walked away. Instead she comes off as a bitch by just saying “NO” and walking off.

Clearly Richard was hurt and thrown by the exchange.

[quote]Instead she comes off as a bitch.

FTFY

She isn’t mean about it in the clip, she just continues merrily along like someone going in to see a play.

Bye, gurl...

R151, Everyone knows and loves that Richie is a Rain Man with Jazz Hands, his interviews are tragic! But what’s better? Sweaty Paul Wontorek shitting his pants with every word? Or Frank DiLella cotton mouthwashing his every query? They all are AWFUL!!!!

Awww, Richie is a sweetheart.

Our modern day Winchells

So August Wilson sees the story of Death of a Salesman as being one that only could have happened to a white man and his family? I'm not being obtuse, I just honestly am surprised at what he said.

Maybe what he said is short hand for "My plays are better and are written for Black people. Fuck Willy Loman."

No, he said don't shoe horn black actors into white stories. he said write black stories and allow black performers to tell their own stories.

I know a cast album isn't the best way to judge a show, but after listening to A Strange Loop's, part of me wonders what Michael R. Jackson could be capable of if he had a MUCH better support system growing up. That Tyler Perry spoof was hilarious, an oasis of comedy amid a lot of (understandable) angst.

R129 - Those Sunday boots are fascinating for a couple of reasons: one, I'm struck by how much Betsy Joslyn sounds like Bernadette in certain passages, two, as admirable as both Betsy and Robert seem they don't seem to have that undeniable electric spark that Bernie and Mandy had together and, three, it's kind of odd to see that that curtain call kiss and hug between two leads is actually staged, and, four (I have no idea why I've numbered this), how GORGEOUS does that orchestra sound even on a low res bootleg? Honestly, Jonathan Tunick (rightly) earns a ton of praise, but Michael Starobin deserves a ton of credit for his Sunday orchestrations. How on earth did he make a 12 piece band sound so lush when I hear 20-piece orchestras who sound puny in comparison. That's real talent.

[quote]I'm struck by how much Betsy Joslyn sounds like Bernadette in certain passages

Maryann does a bit as well...

Where did Barbara Cook do Fanny? Doretta Morrow did the tour that played LA and SF.

Abba Agnetha played Mary Magdalene in Swedish production of Jesus Christ Superstar. Here is her Swedish version of Everything’s Alright from 1972.

This one has been here before but this is with short introduction.

I don’t think I’ve ever read a better review of anything before. Do Kennedy Center performances ever get Broadway transfers?

Guys n Dolls was only on Broadway a few years ago, no? Mary Testa etc.

If you consider a flop run in 2009 to be few years ago, sure. Kennedy Center always eyes Broadway, but this concert series has not yet transferred anything. This might be the one.

The Kennedy Center Music Man a couple of seasons ago (Jessie Mueller again) should have transferred. It was wonderful.

Seeing this one on Thursday.

Funny how the 92 Zaks Guys and Dolls seem to have changed the esthetic of the show forever. SO many designs since then echo it. The pix of this one look a lot like that one. Designs and choreography and staging.

R170, they also used the Zak's production logo on their show curtain.

When a good show is well cast and well produced…it’s a good show. It’s that simple

When poorly written shows are cast with bad actors and bad singers…it’s not a good show.

Unfortunately a lot of dreck on Broadway is a mix of the two.

Faye Dunaway was right. Bad scripts! Bad directors!

I hope the Kennedy Center Guys and Dolls transfers to NYC.

I saw the Zaks versions and it was amazing. I dragged my partner, who had never seen Guys and Dolls, to the next revival--with the claim that "It's such a great show" and that production was HORRENDOUS--who knew Guys and Dolls could be a slow-moving bore?

I need to see a great version to erase the last memory

Will they have to call it Theys & Thems?

Was waiting for the AntiTrans troll to make his daily appearance

More like hourly.

sorry r175 not anti anything. Just thought in this case the title was open for a joke. Chill.

He ain’t Jonathan Groff but it is nice to hear a bit of “You’ll Be Back” in German.

Just spoke to a friend, whom, with his wife and two kids, makes a family of 4.

He says that, while he wants to expose his children to Bway, to take a family of 4 and watch from decent seats, it's about $600-$700, particularly when you include the ticket fees, parking, and dinner.

THIS is why this generation won't grow up with Bway as part of their lives.

R163, Barbara Cook did FANNY with Giorgio Tozzi in 1962 in Atlanta.

[quote] they also used the Zak's production logo on their show curtain.

Oh, dear.

272, 273 and 276 from last thread: thank you for your assessment of Ben Crawford's Phantom. That really captures it.

I hate when people say "this actor does it wrong" but sahil nothing else.

As for the new director/Cameron McIntosh....I've heard some things about Cam's horndog ways but brushed them off as gossip. Guess not?? What have you guys heard?

*but say

A couple of threads ago someone posted a video of an Hawaiian musical that Joe Layton was working on. I thought the number was called Aloha, America......of course now I can't find it....and a YouTube search hasn't turned up anything.

I must have the title wrong. If someone posts the link, I promised to bookmark it this time!

Lets hope, r184, it's not "Thirteen Daughters!

r179...but people have no problem spending the same amount to go to a baseball, football, or basketball game...and thats for the cheap seats

That's not true. Cheap seats for games for nearly every team can be had for much less than Broadway tickets during the regular season. It's only during playoffs that prices go through the roof.

R184 Here you go.

R185 Same writer.

All about... IDINA!

And all about.... RITA!

Damn, the photographer didn't like that "Rita" actress.

Take the train / subway, and skip dinner for a late snack = problem cut in 1/2…

OMG who the fuck would want to see a doc about Idina Menzel, possibly the dullest performer on Broadway outside of Kelli O'Hara. And at least Kelli had an affair with Bart Sher.

Rita weeps.

Idina is much more interesting than Kristin.

What's that interesting about *either* of them, r195?

"Bloodhounds snappin' at their rear ends"

Is right. I'd rather see a documentary about Thelma Ritter, who said that classic statement. She had a much more interesting and fabulous career.

You bitches called it. A STRANGE LOOP closing in January.

Billy Eichner strikes again!

ASL was so interesting and frightening off-Broadway. The Broadway transfer with the horrible replacement lead was embarrassing.

R200, no he wasn't. He was fine.

The topic is what kept Bway audiences away. Tourists don't want to see a show about the black gay male experience with an explicit gay sex scene in it.

The show itself is incredible and deserving of all its accolades.

Kelli O'Hara had an affair with Bart Sher? When? This is news to me, details please.

I always forget that Bart Sher is straight.

Were they seen out and about canoodling?

R201 I have a white mans' cum in my ass.

I don't understand that ASL article. The January closing was announced weeks ago. Why is it suddenly news?

Four people cannot see a Broadway show, park a car and have dinner in NYC for $700.

[quote] The topic is what kept Bway audiences away. Tourists don't want to see a show about the black gay male experience with an explicit gay sex scene in it.

Do you think tourists have any idea what ASL even is or that it has an explicit gay sex scene?

[quote] Four people cannot see a Broadway show, park a car and have dinner in NYC for $700?

Sure, if they sit in the nosebleeds.

Orchestra seats, at minimum, are $150. 4 people = $600

[quote] Do you think tourists have any idea what ASL even is or that it has an explicit gay sex scene?

If anyone does even the most minimal of research (and when tourists are spending big bucks for tickets, they are), they will see what the show is about.

Even more, there isn't a name star in the show.

Not true. There are plenty of discounts available for orchestra seats. It depends on what show. If you're trying for Hamilton, then no. But if you wanted to see, say, Beetlejuice or Phantom, you could probably get $120 orch tickets with the discount code.

[quote]I have a white mans' cum in my ass.

Worthy of Lorenz Hart!

ASL was doomed from the start. It'll never tour. Jennifer Hudson and her friends lose everything.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

[quote] Not true. There are plenty of discounts available for orchestra seats. It depends on what show. If you're trying for Hamilton, then no. But if you wanted to see, say, Beetlejuice or Phantom, you could probably get $120 orch tickets with the discount code.

Discount codes are for NYers and theatre-aficionados who know they even exist and where to find them.

The typical tourist never thinks about Broadway until they decide to visit NYC. They just look for tickets the traditional way and will pay premium.

[quote] But if you wanted to see, say, Beetlejuice or Phantom, you could probably get $120 orch tickets with the discount code.

Because no one wants to see those shows

You're veering out of the conversation to try and prove some point no one brought up, R214. If you need to be right that badly, then have at it.

R215 Since the closing was announced, Phantom is selling out like a ten dollar whore.

[quote] Because no one wants to see those shows

The question was that someone wanted to get their children into the habit of liking theater. Not what tastemakers go see.

Jesus, you fucking people love to argue for no reason and you can't even follow a conversation.

[quote]I always forget that Bart Sher is straight.

I've been known to forget it myself on occasion.

R213, they hardly lost everything. They managed to buy themselves a completely undeserved Tony for doing nothing. I'm sure they think they got their money's worth.

ASL will go to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago.

What exactly is the "explicit gay sex scene" in ASL? "Explicit" usually means unsimulated sex---I can't believe that would be acceptable in a Broadway show.

[quote]You're veering out of the conversation to try and prove some point no one brought up, [R214]. If you need to be right that badly, then have at it.

I just quoted a friend who said that to get decent seats for a family for 4, it's $600-700.

And then you show me how there are ways to get cheaper seats. Of course there are. He might even murder someone who has four tickets and get them for free. The point is, for most people who don't have time to look around for discounted tickets, a family of 4 will cost $600 for orchestra seats.

RIP Angela Lansbury

And RIP good writing in the NYT

[quote] Yet she appeared on Broadway only from time to time over a seven-decade career in film, theater and television in which there were also years when nothing seemed to be coming up roses.

For shame.

R225 Cunts.

Show this to the New York fucking Times.

Fuck the New York Times!

It's not like they haven't had enough time to work on her obit.

If Angela Lansbury accomplished half the things a BIPOC trans sex worker has, then maybe she'd get a decent obit!

Angela Lansbury threw the first brick at Stonewall.

RIP Angela. One of the last true greats.

Who the fuck is Ritchie?

Lionel Ridge

Wasn’t Angie’s less than successful Mame revival filmed for cable but never released?

Angela raised the first stone at Stonehenge.

She's only remembered because I turned down Murder She Wrote first.

A family of 10 could go see A Strange Loop on B'way and have a nice dinner AND maybe even lunch for $800!!!

Who are these people parking in Manhattan? A tourist is not going to rent a car. Anyone living in the northeast is taking train or bus.

Believe me, if you went to see A Strange Loop, you wouldn't want lunch or dinner.

Andrea Landsbury was a gift, and gone too sooon, she was sweet to my friend.

Has mlop weighed in?

From the previous thread:

[quote]She was not horrendous as Minnie Fay, so stop. The shrill was part of the schtick and worked for that barebones role.

Well, yes, the shrillness and cackling was indeed "part of the schtick" for Beanie's characterization of Minnie Fay, but whether it was her idea or Jerry Zaks' idea, her performance was unbearable in the worst possible "LOOK AT ME!" way.

R243 Unfortunately Beanie’s horrid mugging and screeching is exactly the type of shit Zaks will highlight, inexplicably of course. If he finds it funny for a moment in rehearsals he’ll double down on it, and I imagine Beanie loved to ham it up and “steal” all her scenes. She really is a cloak and dagger cunt, just like her BFF Ben Platt, sweaty and vile.

WigShitter will not be getting a special Tony for this cheap Streisand imitation she calls a performance. Her A list gay friends can call in as many favors as they want, the Theatre Wing will not be bending over backwards for some C list actress whose career was nonexistent before this mediocre revival.

Reba playing Annie Oakley was in a much different category. Reba is country music royalty. WigShitter isn't fit to wipe Streisand or Reba's asses.

What else could Lea possibly do after this run? How many roles are there for a mechanical singer who is completely charm free and devoid of warmth?

Lea is "Mame"....guaranteed.

R193, While she was married to James Naughton's son?

R235, There's a decent boot in circulation.

Beanie is Gooch -- though she is dubbed by Kristin Chenoweth for the high notes -- hell, for all the notes.

Then again, Gooch is supposed to have a great figure under her original look.... nix that.

I'm really, really liking Bad Reba on Big Sky.

Stage Fwight

Imagine if they cast Kay Francis and Marlene Dietrich together!

Angela Lansbury would have said YES to Richard Ridge, unlike that meanie Patti!

R243 - good god, digging up a post from ages ago. Let it go.

[quote]Imagine if they cast Kay Francis and Marlene Dietrich together!

Yes, in " Follies."

A Strange Loop is a shite sandwich.

DL fave Frank DiLella wins big at the Emmys:

Angela Lansbury & Joan Plowright in "A Taste of Honey" (1960)

If people like to see themselves reflected onstage, as we are being told over and over and over again, then maybe a show representing 10% of 13% of the population isn't gonna strike a massive chord?

Wait...Lupone had a fight with Richard Ridge?

[Quote] How many roles are there for a mechanical singer who is completely charm free and devoid of warmth?

The Dolores Gray Story?

R263, Understudied by Jane Morgan.

After her affair with John Lithgow in Sweet Smell of Success?

Kelli O’Whora it seems

[r262] yea it talked about earlier in the thread. Not a fight per se but he wanted to interview her on the red carpet at the Death of Salesman opening and she looked him square in the face, said a firm “NO” and kept on walking down the carpet.

Richard was thrown and had his producer cut in with a pre-taped piece.

You can watch the video on YouTube. It was also linked either in this thread or the last one

I looked up LuPone and Ridge on YouTube. No recent video.

Patti doesn’t fight. She’s a sweet lovely person. And always a victim.

[quote] Angela Lansbury & Joan Plowright in "A Taste of Honey" (1960)

I loved when they sang "Boogie, Oggie, Oggie!"

Patti waited outside the theatre, then she and her evil henchman jumped poor Richard Ridge and beat him mercilessly.

The woman is like a Guest Star Villainess on Batman. What would her villain be called?

[quote] DL fave Frank DiLella wins big at the Emmys:

They must be giving away Tonys of he got one.

Patti declined to be interviewed in what seemed to me to be a matter of fact and polite way. All this talk about it seems like a tempest in a teapot.

Did Lansbury turn down the movie of Taste of Honey?

The local NY Emmy’s are a crock, you basically buy them, which is how sweet, inept, Frank got his NY1 show in the first place. RICH PHILLY MONEY made our beloved bossy Broadway bravoing bottom into the talent free monotone man he is today!

RIP Mickey Calin.

so London has already announced lights dimming for Angie. Crickets from the well oiled machine that is Broadway

Mickey Calin and Michael Callan are not one and the same?

R277, Charlotte St. Martin is too busy deciding which mood wig she’s going to don for her six hour lunch today, fucking preposterous.

ASL will go into the annals of Broadway history as the wrong show at the wrong time. The show is interesting and electric, but not much else. It fails to move the audiences hearts and minds (as the box office has shown) and at its worst, its depressingly self-indulgent. There's no genuine insight into Usher's journey, just a lot of pain and noise but no honest insight. I have never been more excited to see a show and was never more let down. It also happened during a world-wide historic pandemic so the small market that might sample a show like this is even smaller. The Tony Award meant nothing at this moment.

DiLella has 3 Emmys! And teaches theater journalism at Fordham!! Wonder how easy it is to ace that course. Is Frank partnered?

I could not imagine spending money to take a class taught by Frank DiLella

People still pay money to have me teach singing!

[quote]Imagine if they cast Kay Francis and Marlene Dietrich together

And they were interviewed by Baba Wawa!

"WigShitter isn't fit to wipe Streisand or Reba's asses."

I would appreciate a thread on who is fit to wipe, front to back, the asses of Streisand or Reba.

Reading is FUNdamental, r278...

[quote]Known at various points as Michael Callan, Mickey Calin, and Martin Calinieff, Mr. Calin was born in Philadelphia November 22, 1935. A lifelong go-getter, he learned to dance from the artists who would pass through his father's luncheonette, trading free milkshakes in exchange for dance steps. He favored ballet and tap, and later acrobatics, as an outlet for the kinetic energy that simmered underneath his skin, waiting to explode at a moments notice.

R271. She’d be called Patti Lupone. Why bother with invention when the real thing is sufficient?

[quote] trading free milkshakes in exchange for dance steps

I'll bet he did.

The Notebook will open on Broadway this Spring.

Shake-a-shake-a-shake-a, r288!

Who gives a flying fuck?

Hey, Queen Charlotte. Get your head out of your ass and honor Dame Angela. Announce it already, you useless bitch.

[Quote] DiLella has 3 Emmys! And teaches theater journalism at Fordham!!

I laughed twice—once for each sentence

^his brother is much hotter

If no one's mentioned it yet for those who couldn't find the Patti video, r70 posted it, or here it is again. The moment is around 39:45. And r273 is correct--it's such a nothing moment. She simply declined to be interviewed.

If there's something you don't want to do and don't have to do, could you decline better than the video at R295?

Jonathan Groff wrote an op-ed for Variety where he casually reveals Lea Michele’s family has ties to the Italian mafia.

Yes, her "No" was not polite.

thank you r295 for being actually helpful here

She's fine. Please. Smiles, just declines. SHe's allowed.

Pertinent to our interests.

Frank's brother is hotter. And nellier.

Learning that Lea's grandfather was known as Porky makes me happy. Don't know why.

Any real gossip on Frankie D's sexual proclivities?

I think he's gay.

Did Erick Adame win anything?

Just respect from fellow nudists and exhibitionists.

I am keen to lick Chris DiLella’s shitter.

[quote]RIP Mickey Calin.

A.k.a. Michael Callan.

Who knew, r308?

Didn’t Michael Callan pose nude for one of the lesser nudie magazines (not Playgirl) in the early 70s?

[quote]She's fine.

But she does NOT send her love!

Porky & Beanie Together Again

Some online bio says that Frank has a partner but chooses not to reveal his identity. Maybe the guy lives in Canada?

[quote]Didn’t Michael Callan pose nude for one of the lesser nudie magazines (not Playgirl) in the early 70s?

I don't recall that, but I know that some hard-core sex pictures of Callan surfaced years ago. I saw them but don't remember where. They were grainy, and, surprisingly, considering that he had been a Broadway dancer, showed him having sex with a woman.

Chris used to have an older partner. I’m not sure if they are still together

Together again at last!

It’s at least an homage to (if not an outright remake of) The Last Of Sheila.

After wowing audiences with her Funny Girl performances, Lea Michele likes to relax with a cocktail at Thompson Central Park. Their organic gin is made by a patented process where vestal nuns pick the ripe juniper berries with a technique that only certain people can master. Their olives are flown in daily from the finest Israeli olive groves. And their sparkling crystal glasses are handcrafted by a master craftsman at Waterford Crystal, a purveyor of fine glassware to the crowned heads of Europe.

Lea Michele likes TAD'S STEAKS!

Tovah’s in Fiddler. It doesn’t say what she’s going to play.

A panty flashin' Golde is just what this town needs.

Frank has an older partner who lives in Florida. They're very happy!

Does he pay for stuff? Like Frank’s real daddy who bought him his career?

Tovah is a Yente. Will Lea reprise her role as Bielke?

Uh, Tovah's already leaving Funny Girl??

I'm confused by that link. The text is for a seven-week Fiddler engagement, but only one date (Sunday the 30th) is given.

Exactly R326

Why did Monte Markham leave the Broadway cast of "Irene" pretty quickly? He's on the OCR, but Ron Husmann did most of the run with Debbie Reynolds and Jane Powell.

R328. He booked a sitcom and they let him out of his contract early. Same thing happened with Ken Howard in Seesaw.

That one night 92nd St Y Fiddler looks like a panel discussion of the show with some songs thrown in. It’s Tovah’s night off from FG. She’s not leaving the show.

Groff left out the bit where she gave him a personal tour of her vagina with a desk lamp.

Maybe she could offer that as a tourist attraction to further boost the economy in NYC?

Charles McNulty’s review where he claims Lea is giving one of the five greatest performances he’s ever seen is—-EMBARRASSING

Imagine an Amish guy from Pennsylvania being the only one to corroborate how culturally Jewish and “New York” you are.

Pathetic.

r319 I love you r332, curious if you've seen it? The Groff piece on Lea actually makes sense. People are complex. I also believe in redemption and change. Young people who suddenly shoot to stardom sometimes take the wrong approach. How can you hold that against them if they've matured?

Lea Michele was a terror as a child. She was a terror as an adult. There's no indication that she's changed. She even tried to play the gender card, by saying that if she were a man, she wouldn't have been raked over the coals... True or not, that tells you that she doesn't regret her behavior. She feels she was justified in her behavior.

Patti has a face you just want to punch.

R336, Hi Christine Ebersole!

Lol Variety NY power list. Next up, full court press for a Tony. Can’t wait.

I didn't know who Richard Ridge is, don't know what Patti's problem was, but I really enjoyed watching this SAG Career Retrospective with Stockard Channing the last two days and thought Ridge did a great job. Did everything but ask her about The Big Bus.

He deserves the time of day.

Yes r330 looks Like Tovah is moderating or something

[Quote] Joel Grey, Steven Skybell, and Zalmen Mlotek with Tovah Feldshuh

R335 you’re insane

Lear is #7 on the Variety The 53 People on the New Power of New York List list

Jesse Williams in on the list twice.

And there's a nice open shirt pic of Lee Pace's lean muscly torso

From the Jesse interview in that article:

"During the run, phone footage of one of the shower scenes leaked. Are you worried about something like that happening again?"

"Nah, I’m bigger than that."

Truer words, Jesse, truer words.

Damn, Sutton looks terrible in that article.

Her outfit looks like she was going as a country music star and a mob ran her out of town.

Maybe her sleeves were torn off by women trying to get to Hugh Jackman.

Or maybe Hunter tore them off because she wouldn’t sign for his home loan.

Sutton has always looked like a dirty dishrag. It’s part of her “appeal”

Sutton looks too old for that hairstyle. (The lighting in that photo is brutal.) Yes, the dress is beyond hideous.

Time for the glam squad, stat.

Shes getting old...shes not an ingenue any longer.

I know the feeling

[quote]Lear is #7 on the Variety The 53 People on the New Power of New York List list

Norman?

I know there’s a Lear hater here who should go ballistic

I can't believe no mention of The Big Bus, r339 ...

What's a good song in A Strange Loop if someone wanted a sense of the score?

Same question for Hadestown...

Good luck finding a good song in "ASL". It's one of those "we're trying hard not to be too tuneful and accessible" scores...

[quote]Lea Michele was a terror as a child. She was a terror as an adult. There's no indication that she's changed. She even tried to play the gender card, by saying that if she were a man, she wouldn't have been raked over the coals... True or not, that tells you that she doesn't regret her behavior. She feels she was justified in her behavior.

Agreed 100 percent. I was just about ready to give her the benefit of the doubt with her redemption arc and think, okay, maybe she has really matured and changed and improved her personality after very nearly being permanently canceled. And then I read her bullshit quote about how her behavior would not have been condemned if she were a man. No, dear, people really do hate men who behave abominably as much as they hate women who do so. The only difference is that we tend to call those men "bastards" and those women "bitches," although that may be changing with the new attitudes towards gender.

Richie Ridge had the first Broadway based tv show, on community cable, Broadway Beat, he is beloved.

What is the most recent pic of Stockard Channing?

Chris Colfer shades the fuck out of Lea

Anyone have any Jonathan Groff gossip? I am repulsed by his friendship with Lea and would love to know if anyone who has either fucked him or spent time with him in person can confirm if he’s secretly a cunt himself.

Groff is such a cunt he has a prolapsed asshole.

He wouldn't let you eat his ass r359?

Fuck you r359!

I've already seen one vagina. I don't need to see yours.

Drama on theatre Twitter.

So allegedly a cast member from Hadestown (Allegedly it was L.W.) screamed at an audience member to stop recording the performance when in fact the audience member was actually deaf and using a caption device.

Said audience member has reached out to the production team and the production team tweeted back that they are investigating. Other people on the thread are calling for the firing or reprimand of said Hadestown star.

Personally I think everyone looks awful from this situation except for the poor deaf audience member.

FIRE THE BITCH!

I hope this isn’t ruined by woke casting like the film version was.

R360-Oh, I ate it. Unfortunately, my head got stuck inside.

Thanks to the poster who gave me the link to Aloha, Lord!

Much appreciated. Bookmarked so I don't have to ask again! THANKS.

You want to watch that shit more than once r366?

Does Broadway STILL not have a plan to dim lights for Angie? Truly pathetic. Broadway cannot get anything done

No way Lilias White will be fired. She didn’t know what it was and assumed it was a recording device

Playbill article regarding the situation.

R364, neither the book nor the movie makes any sense whatsoever. Good luck to the stage version

Lillias White ain’t no Patti LuPone!

Miss Samantha Coleman sounds like she's trying to make a name for herself.

why does everyone get off going on social media and crying?

Sorry Lillias, time for you to go back to the oldest professhuuuuun

R368 , there are plenty of things for which the ridiculous Charlotte St. Martin and the Broadway League can be criticized, but it's not uncommon that plans to dim the lights to commemorate the passing of a Broadway legend are announced a few days after, rather than immediately following, the person's death. In a way, it's a good thing because it gives people who might want to attend the dinning a little more advance notice, rather than their having to rush out that same evening. So maybe you should take a breath and try to calm down

Jesus, calm down. They're dimming the fucking lights....She already got an Honorary Tony. She's good. And dead.

So has Lilias White apologized?

[quote]She already got an Honorary Tony

Sit back down, r377.

I wonder how many people had to contribute to this genius quote from Charlotte

"“Angela Lansbury was without a doubt one of Broadway’s most endearing leading actresses and her influence in the world of musical theatre will forever live on,”

No "She will be missed"?

Which wig did she wear to issue the statement?

r358 My theory on it is that he gets Lea to do his cuntery for him, and so gets to keep his nice guy image

Two bits from Popbitch, a British media gossip newsletter:

[quote]The "Elephant Love Medley" in the Moulin Rouge musical contains snippets from over a dozen different songs. Those five minutes are the most expensive of the show, costing $5,600 in royalties to perform on Broadway each night.

And:

[quote]Producers of the recent Emily Blunt/Mary Poppins sequel thought it might be a fun nod to the original if Julie Andrews made a cameo at the end of the movie as a balloon seller. Julie was interested but there was a lot of back and forth about how much she would need to be paid. Fee discussions rose and rose until producers made her a final offer of $8 million. Ms Andrews told them it had to be $10 million or she wouldn't do it.

[quote]So they asked Angela Lansbury instead, who gladly accepted. For $200,000.

Who can blame Lilias White for mistaking this woman for someone recording the show?

Actors have an obligation to be able to identify every kind of device which might be required for a disability. If they can't do that, then they need to be fired.

[quote] Actors have an obligation to be able to identify every kind of device which might be required for a disability. If they can't do that, then they need to be fired.

The device in this case is a smart phone apparently.

The deaf person didn't hear her yelling so where's the harm?

She's not deaf, 388. My hearing is fine, but I could have used one of those devices for A Strange Loop.

Really R389? I could have used ear plugs at A Strange Loop.

Surely the right thing for them to do is tell the stage manager who can then pass it on to FOH.

Always been intrigued at how easily cast members can see cameras. I've seen a number of boots where it looks like they're looking right at the camera

I’m always amazed a bootlegs from the 70s and 80s before smart phones. Those cameras weren’t small

I'll be bringing my assisted listening device to Take Me Out and I urge all of you to do the same.

Please no one wants to record Hadestown

[quote]Producers of the recent Emily Blunt/Mary Poppins sequel thought it might be a fun nod to the original if Julie Andrews made a cameo at the end of the movie as a balloon seller. Julie was interested but there was a lot of back and forth about how much she would need to be paid. Fee discussions rose and rose until producers made her a final offer of $8 million. Ms Andrews told them it had to be $10 million or she wouldn't do it.

Sorry, I don't believe that for a second.

Julie doesn't have that kind of reputation. Nope.

Hey! Nobody talks about *my* Mame...

The official line was that Julie didn't want to draw attention away from Emily.

(Not that the official line is ever necessarily the truth, but it does seem more plausible.)

[quote]I’m always amazed a bootlegs from the 70s and 80s before smart phones. Those cameras weren’t small

YES! I thought the same thing. Eldergays, were any of you Broadway bootleggers? How on earth did you sneak in camcorders and shoot these shows without being spotted?

Is Jaquel Spivey (Strange Loop) OK? He misses a lot of performances and has alluded vaguely to some kind of personal/medical issue. Is he suffering from long COVID? He doesn't strike me as the diva type who calls out all the time for bogus reasons (see: Karen Olivo).

oops, sorry for above - wrong thread - should have been on the frugal thread.

nix the above post, too - thanks

Another shockingly bad line from the Times, this time in the review of THE PIANO LESSON:

"The spooky shifts in lighting (by Japhy Weideman) and Boritt’s broken home, like a metaphor brought to life, leave nothing to the imagination."

Like a metaphor brought to life? ... What?

Isn't that a simile? It still sucks as writing.

R392 - ...you're tellin' me!!

But for real, I'm always amazed at the quality footage from a show like ANNIE, circa 1980, they managed to capture. Surely some of those ushers were in on it. Or someone in the cast low key arranged it.

But thankfully, someone DID and now we have Gary Beach, Rita Rudner and Betty Hutton cutting it up for the ages!

Disney is notoriously cheap and always has been....they would have stopped the negotiations LONG before it got into the millions for a Julie Andrews CAMEO in the Poppins reboot.

It was simple, Julies Andrews read the script and saw it was a monumental waste of time and money. Instantly forgettable.

Julie is not getting any big acting paydays in her 80s. I can believe she/her team tried to get 10 million. Alternatively, she may not have wanted to do it and so she asked for too much, knowing they'd go elsewhere.

R404, I thought you were going to point out the use of the word " spooky" in reference to a black play.

Chita got one way cab fare for her cameo in Chicago.

Almost Famous did nearly $700K last week for 7 performances. Color me surprised. Who's buying tickets to that one?

Boomers?

Could The Last Picture Show make it as a Broadway musical? Probably be a show that was too ballad heavy.

Patsy Murin as Jacey.

Florence Lacey as Javert.

Patsy Kelley as Tracy.

r415, whatever you do, don't tell Jason Robert Brown.

Let it be noted for future reference that Maya Phillips did not give Piano Lesson a reflexively positive review

...nor a well written one.

[quote] It was simple, Julies Andrews read the script and saw it was a monumental waste of time and money. Instantly forgettable.

Just as likely she was scared off by that horrible score.

Julie Andrews did S.O.B. Let's not pretend she had high standards.

R396, do you actually know Julie?

This strikes me as very like her. She is very concerned about seeming "nice," (and honestly she is nice anyway), but rather than say no to something she does not want to do, she will sometimes make conditions that cause the request to be withdrawn.

So rather than turn down the role, she asks for so much money that they withdraw the offer.

The only complication here is that the producers leaked that she was offered the part, so Julie needed another story.

Julie is a sweet person, but she really never wants to say no to anything that "matters."

I have so news that I just read on the gossip site. Apparently there will be a new Baker to close out the Into the Woods revival…and it’s a really awful choice.

It’s someone who did the performance on film but not stage according to the source. Well…we know who that is and I can’t stand him.

Oh well I had already bought a ticket for closing weekend…so I guess I can endure.

Seriously though what the fuck are these producers thinking? This is NOT what the people want!

[quote] I have so news that I just read on the gossip site.

What's the gossip site? I thought [italic] this [/italic] was the gossip site?

R397, that Munsel performance really was pretty magnificent

r425

I wonder if this will be kinda an audition as he was supposed to do Forum before he got his late night show

[r428] I think you are absolutely right! I think Into the Woods is a warm up for him to work the musical muscles to prepare for the upcoming Forum.

Gag me for both!

If it's truly James Cordon, he will lead to a surge in ticket buying

Is there a chance Meryl will step in as the Witch?

r429

I don't like him very well(he is almost as fake as Ellen or Rachael Ray) but I might check him out in Forum(if he actually does it)... his hamminess might be ok for Forum

A lot of the those PIANO LESSON reviews are rather mixed.

[quote] A lot of the those PIANO LESSON reviews are rather mixed.

Put this all on LaTanya Richardson Jackson. Exactly three Broadway acting roles ans suddenly a "director". Really, how do you fuck up The Piano Lesson when the cast is getting great notices?

The Times stepped in shit when they gave The Piano Lesson to Maya. Puffed up, haughty bitch can't write for shit.

You people are entitled to your aversion to James Corden for whatever reasons (though you should at least spell his name right), but he got lots of very positive response for his stage work before his late-nite TV show began.

FORUM is steeped in the objectification of women. Doesn't bother me, since it's a farce, but will it pass the WOKE test?

Kimberly Akimbo is absolutely magic, and the best new musical in years. Even you tired queens will like it.

[r438] Hi Victoria! Welcome to DL! I’m sorry Nathan Lane was rude to you during Guys and Dolls!

[quote] Kimberly Akimbo is absolutely magic, and the best new musical in years. Even you tired queens will like it.

Decent seats are $300.

NO ONE likes James Corden. I can’t think of a celebrity more hated. People really dislike him. Openly. A bump in tickets because of him? Lol. That’s not going to happen. He’s no Lea Michele.

Would Julie have any dialogue in Mary Poppins 2 or was it like the bird woman in the original where she would have had to sit there while someone sang over her scene?

If it was the latter, I wouldn’t do it either.

The Dick Van Dyke cameo in MP Returns was pure magic and he stole the movie (which I rather liked).

R436 is right. “One Man, Two Guv’nors” was enough of a crowd pleaser, that it was recorded and broadcast in both the UK and the US.

James Corden is the fat guy from high school who desperately wants to be cool and is delusional thinking he is cool.

R445, which was his character in the very popular “Gavin & Stacey” and was one of the reasons why the US version failed so miserably. Corden made that character lovable and the audience rooted for him.

Maya Phillips is a truly godawful writer. Sad that the Times has put her in a position to pass judgment on plays she doesn't remotely understand.

[r443] yes and the underscoring of “Feed the Birds” during the scene made it even more so moving.

[quote] Puffed up, haughty bitch can't write for shit.

Is she uppity, r435

Leaving all racial issues out of it she is a terrible fucking excuse for a writer, R449.

Looking at the dreary offerings of the major Broadway tours in my southwestern market (Annie, etc.) ...I'm surprised Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 never toured. What was the main obstacle? Just too big a bomb? Is it being done regionally? Thx

Off topic, but when did the word uppity become owned by black people? My white grandmother always said the preacher’s wife at her church (also a white woman) was uppity. And my aunt would say that the white sales clerks in a high end department store were uppity (most of the time because my aunt was trying to squeeze her fat ass into a dress that was too small).

Because long before you knew your meemaw, it was used by whites to describe blacks who “didn’t know their place.” It was standard language used all over the country, by all clases. It is an ugly word.

Tovah says:

[quote] Fanny Brice is the most startlingly brilliant role for a woman in the American musical theater.

And I hate to break it to you, but if your family members used that word so easily with elder ladies—well, we can imagine they also used it for others. Ahem…

Tovah also wanted to do another accent like her Irish Rose.

[quote] I researched on Wikipedia that [Fanny’s mother] came here when she was 10 years old from Hungary. Had I been in the original production, I would have asked to explore the Hungarian accent. But I was a replacement, and to come in with that kind of a change would have been too drastic for the production. So I let it go.

Here *Dolly* used the brogue, r456. Her Rose flashed the panties.

I heard some of the Kimberly Akimbo songs and they are not good.

[quote] .I'm surprised Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 never toured.

Because it was a big fat bore, that's why.

I couldn't believe all the hullabaloo when they decided to replace a Black actor with (I think) Mandy Patinkin. My first thought was "there'll really trying to keep that shit going??"

[quote]NO ONE likes James Corden. I can’t think of a celebrity more hated.

I would think at least some of the million or so viewers of his nightly show and the 28 million subscribers to his YouTube show like him.

I've never watched his show but I don't have any reason to "hate" him.

That Tovah interview is hysterical. She pulls no punches.

Tovah Feldshu has a lot of gall

She said she wants a cast album and she wants a Tony even though she knows they aren’t eligible

They’ll probably get a cast recording, because it will probably make them money.

You can’t blame them, after the costs of keeping the show afloat after Miss Hubris bombed.

[quote]Could The Last Picture Show make it as a Broadway musical? Probably be a show that was too ballad heavy.

Great idea! But they should insert a razor blade into each Playbill.

[quote]r441 NO ONE likes James Corden… He’s no Lea Michele.

He’s not Julie Benko, either.

This week on Jeopardy

Vulva Toadstool is a fucking hypocrite. In the interview she’s basically saying a Jewish actress should play a Jewish mother and then she heaps praise on shiksa movie star Anne Hathaway who plays a Jewish mother (and her character’s daughter) in Armageddon Time. I saw the film last night at a screening and Hathaway is painfully miscast. The role should have been played by Sarah Silverman.

I wasn’t aware that Tovah was a Scot when she butchered the role of Miss Jean Brodie in her brother’s wretched production of it at Cornell some years ago.

I can’t believe Variety didn’t ask Tovah if she was going to flash her panties in THIS Jule Styne production like she did with the last one?

Maya Philips is still a terrible, community-college-level critic, but at least she didn't reference herself in her Piano Lesson review. Usually, she makes some of a review about her and her life experience. Progress, I guess.

r459 Not just any black actor, but a black actor who hadn't bothered to learn the part properly

I’d rather see Ramin flash his manties.

[quote]I couldn't believe all the hullabaloo when they decided to replace a Black actor with (I think) Mandy Patinkin. My first thought was "there'll really trying to keep that shit going??"

And technically, it was just a temporary replacement. The show was dead at the box office. Mandy Patinkin was coming in for a brief box office boost. The black actor was still going to get paid and would return to the role when Patinkin left. It would also give the black actor time to improve the skills needed to perform the role since he didn't have the role mastered at the time he took it over.

Vulva said in her interview that she was the first Jew to play Mrs. Brice on Broadway in 60 years. Amazingly, she is the first, period. Kay Medford, believe it or not, wasn't Jewish. Even in the Actor's Fund Benefit, it was played by Kaye Ballard. Probably the first Jewish actress to play the part was Lillian Roth, on the road.

Who played Mrs. B to Barbara Cook's Fanny?

Jean Stapleton, r476.

Not to be too technical, but Medford's replacement was Fritizi Burr, who went on to play Yente and Golde in Fiddler productions. Suspect she was Jewish.

Andrews' relationships to both POPPINS and SOM are complex. They made her, and they are her legacy, and the source of her success for decades (nothing after them ever achieved those heights) but in time, she became bitter about the hundreds of millions they made but she never received anything more than her original flat fee. That's why she wanted $10 million. In her mind, it was "back pay." With SOM, she waited until a contractual end to their use of her image in advertising, and then (and this was during the DVD age) she made them pay mightily to use her image on covers, websites, etc...By the way, don't waste time on her books. She's not a happy person, nor was she ever one. They are a slog.

Well, here's the interview that will take Datalounge into the next century...Would you ever hire an actor who trashes your production while its running, and admits to giving only "75 percent." Jesus

Wow, what a fucking cunt. I hope she never gets work again.

R480 Heck, even Beanie gave 80%!

Sadly, r482, that was Beanie's 100%.

And I read the interview and thought: WOW! How great that a young actor has the balls to put it all out there and tell us what she thinks. And in terms of her critique of 1776, the original and this revival, I pretty much agree with her.

[quote]Well, here's the interview that will take Datalounge into the next century...

You have to subscribe, no thanks.

Holy fuck that interview was insane. I can’t believe she shit over her own show like that.

[quote] And I read the interview and thought: WOW! How great that a young actor has the balls to put it all out there and tell us what she thinks. And in terms of her critique of 1776, the original and this revival, I pretty much agree with her.

An actor and current employee of said show. She should quit if she hates it so much. A lot of folks are depending on the paycheck that she is so cavalier about. Self promoting fraud.

PS you thought "how great" that an actor admits to giving 75%?

[quote]Not to be too technical, but Medford's replacement was Fritizi Burr, who went on to play Yente and Golde in Fiddler productions.

I would have preferred Fritzi Ritz.

That 75% Porkalob mentions is confusing taken out of context because she's referring to giving 75% of her entire life to the performance, not 75% of her time on stage.

Yes, I know, I probably didn't make it any clearer.

In a couple years, I hope she gives more than 75% to her job as hostess at P.F. Changs in Milwaukee.

Too bad Mary Poppins is just too long. It ALWAYS puts me to sleep. I have never seen the scene with the cartoon dancing penguins.

Bway version was also too long and completely charmless

Jesus Christ, r480, that interview is the very essence of tl:dr...

That Variety list is SO embarrassing. Cobbled together by a bunch of publicists in search of a theme. Why would Ana de Armas come to mind when one thinks of NYC?

I thought "Mary Poppins" wasn't long enough.

"all fro one, and one for.....one!"

[quote]r454 article:

[quote] One thing (criticism about Feldstein’s voice) led to another (Feldstein’s early exit from the show)

… to go to a wedding …

I'm sure the producers of SIX are just dying to cast Sara Porkalob and pay her what she thinks she's worth.

R495. Me, too! I was seven when my parents took the whole family downtown to the State-Lake to see it (that was a big deal for us in suburbia).

“My cast.”

Whatever you may think of Porkalob's indiscretions in that interview, I would be willing to bet that she was welcomed back by her cast tonight with cheers and admiration, as probably most of them don't think much of what they're putting out on that Roundabout stage or their directors.

She seems honest, articulate, and exhausting.

And modest. Don't forget modest.

Hope this hasn't been posted already, Lea and Ramin You Are Woman I Am Man.

LEA MICHELE - Don’t Rain On My Parade (final)

She is far better than I expected her to be so, that's something.

Enough, r505...

Enough?

No such thing.

How does youtube even allow all of these FGM bootleg videos?

All the pearl clutching over a cast member in 1776 being straightforward (and basically correct), reminds me of how little any one cared when Myra Carter would tell Richie Rich or Theater Talk that the second act of Three Tall Women was all wrong. She pointed out that she told Albee how to fix it and he foolishly would not listen to her.

Where Beanie and Lea are concerned, r507...

I think it's all right as long as they are boot clips and not the full show.

"Straightforward" is today's code word for narcissistic, unkind, illogical and petty.

So don't click on the links r505.

Andrew Rannells playing Jim Baker In TAMMY FAYE! Featuring music by Elton John, lyrics by Jake "Scissor SIsters Shears.

Here's hoping it's not another DEVIL WORE PRADA.

[quote]Featuring music by Elton John

WHY GOD WHY??

Maltby & Shire are still at it! Who knew?

I borrowed the OCR for STARTING HERE, STARTING NOW and CLOSER THAN EVER from my library as a gayling show queen. And memorized every word!

Porkyslob is now on my “do not hire” list.

Whatever happened to class

Is current Phantom Ben Crawford mentally ill? I saw some clips of his recent performances and they are almost as bad as Beanie! Hey, why can’t she slip on the half mask and cape?!

Porkoblob isn’t nearly as good in the show as she thinks. Or nearly as good as Myra Carter was in the Albee.

She just has an insidious grin the whole time. Sarah Bernhardt she ain’t. And a sure way not to get a Tony nomination is to say you’re getting one. That and a bad Yosemite Sam drawl.

Wowie! Some real bad creative directions on display here, no wonder the fucking show is closing. Seth the Hack strikes again!

The interview with Myra Carter was fun. I just watched it. She reminded me of Lauren Bacall

Nancy raps!

So let’s be the rolls Sarah and her blazing talent was going to be up for that she now won’t get. 1). The waitress in the You’ll Never Get Away From Me scene in Gypsy. The John Doyle revival of Six were all the queens and a kazoo will be played by one actress. The Norwegian Cruise production of Allegiance with original Broadway star George “Sulu” Takei.

Roles, dammed autocorrect

Where not were too

She's not getting served any rolls, either!

There goes Bloody Mary, r524.

Cancel this twat as well as her molasses. (I’ll keep the rum)

Does the Black Christine rap in Phantom? Seriously asking.

No, but she sings sharp, R529.

You can tell the old farts at All That Chat are biting their tongues on the Porkalob article, knowing full well that the self righteous cunt Singapore/Fling will be quick to reprimand them. And sure as shit, they just chimed in!

"Porkalob is perhaps more honest in this interview than is prudent, but she’s hardly the monster you’re making her out to be. She begins the interview by expressing her respect for the directors, and she’s clear throughout about the logic behind her thinking about the show, its process, and her own priorities as an artist... This response perfectly captures so much of your response to this production: where Porkalob gives nuance and depth, the reaction is histrionic and flattening, painting Porkalob in crude terms and vilifying her for not playing by the theater rules of 1969."

Can someone on there kindly tell this moron to go fuck themselves and recognize that their opinion isn't the only correct one on that board? Or in LIFE? Porkalob IS an entitled, pretentious GIT who doesn't deserve to be gainfully employed after displaying such ego, arrogance and insubordination.

How dumb do you have to be to disparage your directors and the production —WHILE YOU’RE IN THE FUCKING SHOW?!

[quote]She is far better than I expected her to be so, that's something.

The hootin' and hollerin' "Funny Girl" audience drowned out her finale.

I've met her.

She IS exhausting but also very intelligent and quite talented.

Though maybe not quite as talented as she thinks she is.

And, while she is intelligent, she doesn't really seem to have much common sense. One doesn't win a Tony by being brutally honest. You win awards by slyly sucking up to the people who hand them out.

I don’t think I’m a violent person, but I would be so tempted to just smack all of those audience members a-whoopin’ and a-hollering’ at Funny Girl.

Why when I click on “1776s Sara Porkalob Has Some Notes” I get.... You've reached your monthly article limit.You've reached your monthly article limit. I've never been to that site.

Just another proof r536 that most of the fucking world wide web is MUCH, MUCH more restrictive than the Datalounge.

So all of you cunts get over your cheap selves already.

An edit button? Hmph.

R506 R507 Surely you know that on Datalounge we never have ENOUGH.

We have SUFFICIENT.

The Times review of 1776 says ONE THING about Porkalob, which is that she’s Filipino.

What would be the most appropriate theater to stand outside of for the dimming of the lights tonight. The Gershwin, the Winter Garden?

rename Broadway Lansbury Lane

R531. I’ve called him on his hypocritical virtue signaling a number of times and he responds like the viper he is. His ego in clearly over-defended—I can only imagine that his attraction to his POC partner (to whom he occasionally refers) is based on how good he thinks it makes him appear to be a white man who is do enlightened. I’ve given up trying to respond to his insincere posturing—mlop is more sincere, despite (or maybe because of) her amusing mangling of language,

[quote] What would be the most appropriate theater to stand outside of for the dimming of the lights tonight. The Gershwin, the Winter Garden?

The John Golden, outside Topdog Underdog. You'll have the place to yourself.

[quote] I’ve given up trying to respond to his insincere posturing

Now give up trying to bring that trash here and move on with your life.

The Lea clips remain on Youtube because the produers are happy for them to be up there, for the present at least.

*producers

rename Times Square Lansbury Square

[quote]I can only imagine that his attraction to his POC partner (to whom he occasionally refers) is based on how good he thinks it makes him appear to be a white man who is do enlightened.

Well, that and his big fat cock.

That Parkalob person has a stunning sense of entitlement or is it self-sabotage? Who would want to hire someone who admits openly they don’t give the job their all (you CAN do that without being stupid enough to broadcast it to your bosses) and lays out every criticism they have of the show they are currently working on. I can’t imagine the atmosphere in that company now. Chilling.

Anyone who who hires her after this has to know they’re inviting unwanted drama. Plus the fact that some are referring to her as “They;” I’d consider that another red flag. The drama should mostly be ON the stage, not behind it…

R542, and of course, that viper is far from the only one who posts on ATC. Recently, someone actually had the temerity to wonder aloud whether white male reviewers of 1776 considered the "optics" of their writing negative reviews of this production of 1776, as if white men are literally not allowed to criticize work by people outside of their racial, ethnic, and or age group.

[quote]We have SUFFICIENT.

I'm aware of that, r538...

I just don't click on Singapore/FuckinFling's posts anymore and a lot of unwanted stress has disappeared. Mockingbirdgirl is pain in the ass as well, as is ryhog. I've had sufficient a while back.

I'm surprised more women haven't spoken out about the misogynist attitudes behind the scenes at Roundabout. They treat every actor like shit, but the women seem to get the full force of their abuse. Ask Faith Prince why she's never done another show there. Maybe after the NY mag article, more people will speak out. Paging Debra Messing....

Somebody sent me a press release for "Some Like It Hot" and, no joke, here is the bio of one of the ensemble members:

[quote][NAME REDACTED] is a compelling Actress and Singer whose powerful voice and personality leaves her audiences wanting more. [NAME REDACTED] made her Broadway Debut in the Internationally acclaimed musical, CHICAGO, as the iconic "Matron Mama Morton”. She has also toured the US/Canada with Disney’s The Lion King. One of her favorite regional productions was Dreamgirls at the Marriott Theatre, where she was nominated for Chicago’s prestigious Jeff Award for her portrayal of Effie White. [NAME REDACTED] has performed in numerous concerts at the historic Birdland in NYC, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Sony Hall and GreenRoom 42 to name a few. Moreover, she has toured abroad, mesmerizing international audiences in various concerts and performances. Alumna of The University of Michigan, [NAME REDACTED] is also a Wife and Mom to 3 incredible boys. Between her passion, captivating demeanor, and tenacity, [NAME REDACTED] continuously raises the bar with every remarkable performance.

In contrast, here is the bio for Natasha Yvette Williams, who has far more impressive credits:

[quote]Broadway: Tina, The Tina Turner Musical (Zelma), Chicken and Biscuits (Brianna), Waitress (Becky), Chicago (Mama Morton) A Night With Janis Joplin (Aretha, Joplinaire) The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (Mariah) The Color Purple (Sofia). Selected TV/Film Credits: “Partner Track” (Nella), “Run the World ( Aunt Grace), “Harlem ( Rebecca), “FBI ( Mrs. Adamu) “New Amsterdam”(Esther),“The Good Fight”. Some movies: The Historical Thriller ALICE (Ruth) on Prime video and Disney’s BETTER Nate than Never (Principal), Follow insta @Natashayvettewillliams. Proud Black Theatre United and Actor’s Equity Member.

[quote]What would be the most appropriate theater to stand outside of for the dimming of the lights tonight. The Gershwin, the Winter Garden?

I would suggest the Winter Garden. It's where she became a Broadway star.

Yes...

Not to mention...

Ravens White. Why redact when it’s so easy to Google the info?

They really should rename it The Lansbury Winter Garden.

I've done many shows at The Roundabout and while I know they can be cheap and uncaring, despite Todd Haimes' proclamations at every first rehearsal, I've never noticed women being more mistreated than men in any department. Can you elaborate a little, r553?

That's not quite the name, R558, but nice try.

r554 To have the largest unearned ego while being in the same cast as DeMarius Copes is quite the accomplishment

r558 To not give her the attention she obviously craves? Plus if it's so easy to google, why did you spell it wrong?

[quote]They really should rename it The Lansbury Winter Garden.

Will those of us "in the know" call it "The Lanz," or "The Angie?"

Can we call the Gershwin the Nellie?

Then what would we call you?

Sara Porkalob is continuing on Twitter—

[quote]I'm surprised by how hung up people are over my 75% comment. But then I remember: they don't know that my 75% is one of the best things they'll ever see & my 100% is unmatchable.

[quote]For the haters and math nerds here's a breakdown of what the 75% comment really meant: 75% = performing in 1776. 10% = sleeping 5% = eating 5%= pooping 5% = self care aka not devoting my entire life to being a Broadway star.

[quote]People think I should get fired from my job bc I'm being honest. Wait until I tell them that we had a trash reality tv star as our actual president for 4 years.

[quote]One last thought for the haters: I lead w/integrity, not respectability politics. Broadway is lucky to have artists like me & my entire 1776 cast. Y'all are salty bc I'm speaking the truth? Bc I'm actually doing the work you say you want to do? Stay mad.

[quote]Ok this is my last thought 😆 to those who are pissed and saying, "who does she think she is?". Google me, hoes. I've been doing the work, been speaking the truth. I know who TF I am. I do this for the community, for the real ones. The rest of you can choke 💖

What a sanctimonious shit. And to those people writing her remarks are "intelligent", please. She throws out every bullshit academic term (intersectionality...) in a word stew, and acts like it all adds up to anything other than narcissism on parade. Her observations about the directors intents and results are such bullshit. No wonder no one from her cast or crew is defending her.

The co-director Jeffrey Page (A black man, I believe) just posted this:

Dear nameless person, I know that you feel good
about that thing you said….I didn't feel good
about it.
I know you feel like it is now your time in the sun.
You ain't put in the time and you ain't done the
work. You are ungrateful and unwise.
You claim that you want to dismantle white
supremacist ideology…I think that you are the
very example of the thing that you claim to be
most interested in dismantling.
You are fake-woke, rotten to the core, and stuck in
the matrix; I hope that you get that increased IG
following that you so desperately thirst.
SADH (figure that out, trick)

Wow. Can you imagine being backstage today?

R558. That’s so Ravens

........

[quote]For the haters and math nerds here's a breakdown of what the 75% comment really meant: 75% = performing in 1776. 10% = sleeping 5% = eating 5%= pooping 5% = self care aka not devoting my entire life to being a Broadway star.

That is NOT what she meant by that comment. Now she's just out-and-out lying, so we can add that to her list of sins and flaws.

[quote]People think I should get fired from my job bc I'm being honest. Wait until I tell them that we had a trash reality tv star as our actual president for 4 years.

So because Donald Trump was somehow allowed to remain President for his full term -- despite two impeachments -- this deranged person feels she has license to publicly bitch and whine about various aspects of THE SHOW IN WHICH SHE'S CURRENTLY APPEARING on Broadway? Forgive me if I don't understand what the fuck one thing has to do with the other.

That gal is just too big for her britches...

5% eating? Oh my sides!!!!!!!!!

So anyone who disagrees with one’s ( bad selfish self-promoting) behavior is a ‘hater.’ How convenient. That [italic] is [/italic] a trump-like approach. Is it a witch-hunt, cunt?

It seems the witch is coming FROM INSIDE THE THEATER!

Where did the director post that?

The "my cast" reiteration made me laugh.

Is there a link for the Jeffrey Page post?

Vendors outside Roundabout should be selling sharpies and blank scorecards so the audience can give Sara her "percentage given" during her number's applause....

Page posted it on his own Facebook page.

Yes, that's right. Page's page.

I think I saw the poop 5% of her performance

For those who want to see Page's whiny diatribe. (Seriously, Porkanoy may sound like an asshole, but he comes off like a psych o who can't handle criticism. If anything this just tells me she had some valid points about his attitude during the process if this is how he behaves. "You DARE criticize me?! That just means you're ANTI-WOKE! You're white supremacist!")

R582, some people may see it from a different perspective. To put it mildly.

This is what's known as a war of attrition.

Also, she didn't criticize him. She criticized his work. He's the one who launched into a personal attack on her as a person. He's a nutcase.

Her points aren't valid -- they're barely coherent. And to blindside your director with something like this, its just unconscionable. She deserves everything she's getting. And I hope her castmates are shunning her backstage. She/he/They/It deserve this.

Thanks to those who suggested the Winter Garden to view the dimming of the lights tonight. My recently deceased husband always decided where we would be for these events. This will be my first dimming without him. Now what to wear?

Takes some of the heat off me.

DeMarius Copes is a very talented guy, and wonderful to work with.

r587...traditional mourning wear...all black...and don't forget your veil.

Anyone start a new thread yet ?

[Quote] SADH (figure that out, trick)

Suck a dick, ho?

Why does she write like a contestant on Flavor of Love, r566

New thread:

r592, that was my guess too, though I thought the h might be a different insult, like heifer (considering he seems to be a bitchy queen, it seemed possible).

Thanks r594

Remember when it was suggested at the start of the thread that we might still be discussing Reba M at the end? See, Sara Porkonoy's comments provided at least one positive all of us should be able to agree on!

Bye, Reba M. As likely to make a return to Broadway as Sara P.

Bajour!

Bye.

Reba with eyes of cock...