THEATRE GOSSIP # 502 - Bajour, My Fair Reba

Previous Thread

Is this where you go to talk about triple-threat Karen Ziemba?

R2 it’s to talk all things Annie Get Your Gun & Reba.

Who knew Reba and Rosie O’Donnell were BFFs? Apparently they were.

Bringing this over from the last thread, because this one needs more about the hunky Mr. Szot.

With his partner

Hot

Sounding great even when singing Backstreet Boys songs

Woof. Papi has competition.

Mark your calendars. Tickets for Shucked (which started out as a Hee Haw musical, but no longer seems to be?) go on sale in two weeks.

This description from the current production, in Utah of all places, doesn't seem that promising...

[quote]What do you get when you pair a semi-neurotic, New York comedy writer with two music superstars from Nashville? A hilarious and audacious farm-to-fable musical about the one thing Americans everywhere can’t get enough of: corn.

[quote]Shucked is the new musical comedy that proves sometimes tearing down a few walls, rather than growing them, is the only way to preserve our way of life. With an outrageously funny book by Tony Award®-winner Robert Horn, an irresistible score by Grammy Award®-winning songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, and direction by three-time Tony Award®-winner Jack O’Brien, Shucked is about to turn Broadway on its ear and offer a kernel of hope for our divided nation.

Sounds like it's going to be preachy, doesn't it? A show that needs Reba to save it, though she certainly doesn't need it.

What is their business?

"K-Pop" will not survive, because true K-Pop fans ( pretty much their demographic) will be turned off by the sloppiness of the dancing. True fans will be disappointed by how horrible the choreography is.

Contrast this with the real thing. Dance practice, choreographed by a young woman from Los Angeles and a member of The Lab.

Hey, OP!

Fuck you and fuck this Loon Thread!

Enough of the Loonacy.

A fresh start:

I have to laugh at people starting alternate threads in anger at other people who have started alternate threads...

Well, someone needs to do something to stop the Fucking Loon from taking over the theater threads again.

It's so obviously our old Loon back to his old tricks.

The meds must be off again.

Was Reba ever seriously considered for anything after Annie?

r18: A rewritten MOLLY BROWN.

R15 is off her meds. No one is using that thread, doll. It’s obvious you’re trying to derail and take over the chain of threads.

R19 she was the original MB in Titanic before Kathy Bates

Says R17 who has been spamming the perfectly good 501 thread

[r19] thank you!! I could totally see her in that role years ago…maybe too old now. Funnily enough she would probably make a great Aunt Eller in a traditional Oklahoma

Dumb question perhaps, since both OP and r15 in their new thread say we're discussing Broadway: are we really only supposed to be discussing Broadway? Seems like these threads have always been about more than that, and theatre in general?

Reba for Gypsy! She'd be a fabulous Miss Cratchit

Reba wanted to replace Bette in Hello, Dolly! but Jerry Herman refused to allow someone with a southern accent to take on the role.

He had no problem with Carole Cook playing the role.

Carole Cook could speak without an accent when she wanted to, as in 42nd STREET and some of her other work. Reba apparently cannot do so, and despite what some of her fans will tell you, she was all wrong for Nellie Forbush in that SOUTH PACIFIC concert, because Nellie is NOT supposed to sound like a hillbilly.

I don't know Hello Dolly that well. Is there something in the text that indicates Dolly can't have originally come from the South (before she moved to Yonkers, married, and was widowed?).

At least it was Jerry Herman who talked her out of it and not Gary Morton!

[quote]I don't know Hello Dolly that well. Is there something in the text that indicates Dolly can't have originally come from the South (before she moved to Yonkers, married, and was widowed?).

As far as I remember, there's nothing in the text that addresses this issue specifically, but there's just something about the way Dolly's dialogue is written and the things she says that makes it sound like she's a lifelong New Yorker. And by the way, I'm pretty sure we are supposed to think that she lives in New York City, not in Yonkers -- she's just spending time there because she's working for Vandergelder, who lives and works there.

CLOSE

THIS

THAT

BY

THREAD

Bette & Reba have been friends for decades. I remember Bette talking about in her Diva Las Vegas special.

A

WAS

STARTED

Like it OP ?

LUNATIC

R43 projecting much?

Something tells me the producers of Kimberly Akimbo, and Some Like It Hot, and New York, New York, are not worried about 'shucked.'

[Quote] Reba wanted to replace Bette in Hello, Dolly! but Jerry Herman refused to allow someone with a southern accent to take on the role.

Is that really true?

What should we title 503? It should be Reba themed since it seems to irk the 3 little trolls, who can’t stand losing control of the theatre threads, which they act like they own.

Maybe ‘Phantom of the Reba’.

[quote]What do you get when you pair a semi-neurotic, New York comedy writer with two music superstars from Nashville?

A 32 performance run and a non-equity tour.

When will all of this " I don't like the title of the theater thread, so I'm going to start a new one so I can show how truly clever I am " shit be over?

R49 have there been any clever ones yet?

Nope.

Which thread title out of the 500 or so has been best? In everyone’s opinion…

r47, there's no point having that discussion. Whoever starts the next one will just ignore it and post what they want.

[quote]These fights over the best thread titles and which thread to use are such a waste of fucking time. So, having said that, I'll at least try to continue a discussion about something worthwhile:

Anyone hear of any interesting blowback that the unhinged Tonya Pinkins has received for her rant about RAISIN IN THE SUN?

I just saw an ad on TV for the tour of "Mean Girls," where they said it was from "Tina Fey, the creator of Saturday Night Live." Has anyone alerted Lorne's attorneys?

Re: Pinkins. Does anyone have an explanation for the remark found on ATC? And you wonder why the theater queens are so laughable.

[quote]And I found the larger textural and directorial/interpretative analysis of Raisin, a play I know well, a stunning read. So much rich historical explication here to absorb, independent of the narrower critique of Green (which by the end, frankly didn't interest me even half as much, as newsworthyas it may be as the letter's raison d'etre). I hope people who who admire the iconic play will read the entire letter. It's quite a piece of annotating scholarship, whatever one feels about specific grievances toward the NY Times's reviewers' prism.

In an attempt to seem erudite, the writer added an 's to "Times," which would make the pronunciation " Times-ez." In addition, Mr. Green is a singular person, so the "reviewers' prism" is also incorrect.

No explanation possible, R56. And what the pathetic Singapore/Fling wrote about Green's "Raisin" review is something he (or she, or it) would never have had the nerve to write if he/she/it weren't able to post anonymously. What a coward.

Seen in the audience at a recent performance of ONLY GOLD: Charles Isherwood. Remember him?

[Quote] And what the pathetic Singapore/Fling wrote about Green's "Raisin" review is something he (or she, or it) would never have had the nerve to write if he/she/it weren't able to post anonymously. What a coward.—Anonymous

Irony.

But in this case, R59, you have one anonymous person trashing another anonymous poster, whereas in the case I cited, you have an anonymous poster trashing a New York Times critic by name. See the difference?

No one cares.

Who’s Gavin Creel fucking these days? What happened with his one-man project at the Metropolitan Museum?

They saw his hair and said, try MOMA

Tonya Pinkins and Debra Winger

*In*

Deuce

6 weeks only!

Any word on OHIO STATE MURDERS with our dear Audra?

I can assure you that SHUCKED is just HEE-HAW, THE MUSICAL with a new title. There have been no extensive re-writes from the workshops and there is no law suit from the Hee-Haw TV producers. The producers and director Jack O'Brien simply felt that HEE-HAW, THE MUSICAL was simply too grotesque and off putting, even for the current Broadway climate and fly-over tourists' money.

What is the holdup with Amber Riley appearing on Broadway in Dreamgirls? In the last thread someone was saying that she's been trying to get the London show to transfer to Broadway for the last few years. Aside from covid, what could possibly be the holdup? I'd imagine she has even more fans here because of Glee than she does in London.

Any word on Phantom extending beyond Feb 18th?

Was Isherwood texting Rudin telling him to transfer ONLY GOLD?

Amber Riley was recently in "Single Black Female" for Lifetime. She's not a name that could get financing.

[quote]Was Isherwood texting Rudin telling him to transfer ONLY GOLD?

Ha! If that's what he was doing, it's very poor advice indeed.

I saw KPOP when it was OB.

Everyone in the audience was split into four groups. Amber Gray was in mine.

The groups were then led around, and had different scenes in different places, and it all ended with everyone coming together again for the big concert finale.

It was fun, and I was charmed, but I don't remember anything about it other than what I described. Obviously the show has had to be totally reconstructed for Broadway, but based on what I saw, there wasn't enough substance for a Broadway show.

Then again, SHUCKED is coming, so the bar isn't particularly high.

,,,corn?

Speaking of Chita...Bustle Fluffah, written by Andy Karl. during the run of the Drood revival.

Featuring Betsy Wolfe, Jessie Mueller, Will Chase, Robert Creighton, and Stephanie J Block.

R65 I saw Ohio State Murders tonight. Audra was unsurprisingly excellent, and the show itself is well worth seeing. I went in blind, and was struck by just how dark and heavy the show was, not your typical Broadway fare. You could feel the tension in the audience throughout, and the staging was spare but very effective. It's a short show (75 minutes or so), but doesn't feel it. Closest thing I could compare it to in recent years would be The Sound Inside.

I loved The Sound Inside.

Thanks, r75. This sounds right up my alley.

Black women are untouchable r54

Oh, yeah. Pinkins is really untouchable... Mother Courage to Raisin book end a decade of SFA.

OklaReba. A Little Night Reba. The Reba’s visit. ChiReba. Hand to Reba. Rebator/Rebatoria. Reba on the Roof.

[quote]there wasn't enough substance for a Broadway show. Then again, SHUCKED is coming, so the bar isn't particularly high.

No substance? Didn't you read the press release, r72? SHUCKED "proves sometimes tearing down a few walls, rather than growing them, is the only way to preserve our way of life"! It's going to "offer a kernel of hope for our divided nation"!

Bleh.

That said, as promotional stunts go, giving out corn in Times Square is kind of endearingly silly (rather than embarrassingly silly like, say, Bad Cinderella's announcement a while back).

I would loved to have been a part of the discussion that made the decision to hire Jack O'Brien to direct a musical based on Hee-Haw.

"Who'd be willing to dress in the corn costume?"

"O'Brien."

"Done."

They were going to hire Rob Ashford, letting all his choreography workshops, all the ears of corn ended up inside the ensemble boys’ assholes. Choreography was just too busy.

I saw the first reading of Hee Haw and it was surprisingly good. The problem at the time was that they had a producer from Nashville (some Grand Ol' Opry manager-type) who had no idea how to develop a show. They actually did the reading without a director and then hired someone after that to do the show in Texas. FWIW, there was a song in that reading called "Shucked", so I imagine what ends up on Broadway is either the same show, or one made up of reclaimed parts.

Well [italic] someone [/italic] is humble-bragging

Big surprise, r86.--that's her default setting.

[quote]whereas in the case I cited, you have an anonymous poster trashing a New York Times critic by name

Because that never happens on DL

That Johnny Behlmann is just so damn cute. I may have to see SHUCKED just for him.

Will Beanie be back on Broadway as Mary in the revival of Secret Garden?

John Behlman was even a good reason—but maybe the only one—to see that truly dreadful Tootsie. Fortunately, aside from being so damn cute, he’s had some luck in getting good shows, not much (Significant Other?) but some (Important Hats of the 20th Century, which was Pure Delight). There are some very nice shots of him near naked in Vanya (the Durang one) in which he made an unusually lanky Spike. He’s a dreamboat.

r91, good call. Some nice shots here. (The one of him with Sands at the end...yes, very nice.)

Hard to believe that Stark Sands is 44.

Is Stark in that 2011 link?

Stark's butt at its finest.

I've seen that clip compilation, R95, but thanks for posting it here. Damn, Sands was beautiful in that movie.

I saw a SHUCKED reading. They've changed the wallpaper, but its still the same house that was HEE HAW.

"Get a FREE cookie"! Are they already there?

R56, perhaps that poster was taught to follow Strunk & White's The Elements of Style.

"Stark Sands" sounds like the name of a mobile home park in Desert Hot Springs.

It sounds like a nudist colony.

I'd be naked with him.

I remember him from an episode of Six Feet Under.

surprised you remember anything r103

Found this interesting. The character Spahn usually plays is the main character's daughter's boyfriend, but I can't really imagine Urie believably playing straight, so does this qualify as a spoiler that the character really isn't?

Also wondered if this might give the show a box office boost, but the Ticketmaster page has been giving an error all day, which may be the answer I was looking for.

Oh, never mind. Evidently it was Taylor Swift who crashed Ticketmaster today.

This is nice. Maybe the Grammys were embarrassed by that Bridgerton TikTok musical winning last year?

The nominees:

Caroline, or Change, John Cariani, Sharon D Clarke, Caissie Levy and Samantha Williams, principal vocalists; Van Dean, Nigel Lilley, Lawrence Manchester, Elliot Scheiner and Jeanine Tesori, producers; Jeanine Tesori, composer; Tony Kushner, lyricist (New Broadway Cast)

Into the Woods (2022 Broadway Cast Recording), Sara Bareilles, Brian d’Arcy James, Patina Miller and Phillipa Soo, principal vocalists; Rob Berman and Sean Patrick Flahaven, producers (Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist) (2022 Broadway Cast)

MJ the Musical, Myles Frost and Tavon Olds-Sample, principal vocalists; David Holcenberg, Derik Lee and Jason Michael Webb, producers (Original Broadway Cast)

Mr. Saturday Night, Shoshana Bean, Billy Crystal, Randy Graff and David Paymer, principal vocalists; Jason Robert Brown, Sean Patrick Flahaven and Jeffrey Lesser, producers; Jason Robert Brown, composer; Amanda Green, lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Six: Live on Opening Night, Joe Beighton, Tom Curran, Sam Featherstone, Paul Gatehouse, Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, producers; Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, composers/lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)

A Strange Loop, Jaquel Spivey, principal vocalist; Michael Croiter, Michael R. Jackson, Charlie Rosen and Rona Siddiqui, producers; Michael R. Jackson, composer and lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

Rocky Horror opened 21 years ago today, I think.

Both Jessie’s are out of Take Me Out tonite.

Williams is out until Saturday, so he'll have been out for a week, I think. (The understudy first went on last Friday.) Haven't seen explanation given.

Ferguson will be back Thursday. His new baby arrived.

[quote]Mr. Saturday Night, Shoshana Bean, Billy Crystal, Randy Graff and David Paymer, principal vocalists; Jason Robert Brown, Sean Patrick Flahaven and Jeffrey Lesser, producers; Jason Robert Brown, composer; Amanda Green, lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)

I never miss a David Paymer musical.

I hope Into the Woods wins. I also hope there's a proshot in existence, but if not, these videos from the recording session are so charming.

What about a David Pevsner musical, r112?

They play do you hear the people sing before Trump came out tonight

R110 / R111 - Any word on Jesse Williams' understudy? Does he give as... impressive a performance?

Why don't they do a televised In The Woods with Bareilles?

From the Playbill article at R105: "Drama Desk winner Michael Urie, most recently on Broadway in Chicken & Biscuits, will step in for Spahn; the two actors have been dating for over a decade."

"Dating" for over a decade? Do they go to Mr. Morgan's drugstore for strawberry phosphates, like George and Emily in "Our Town"?

I'd think, if crazy and loathed Lea Michelle gets standing ovations for mimicking a legendary Broadway performance in Funny Girl, wouldn't lovable belter Amber Riley get at least the same in Dreamgirls?

Amber killed it in London vocally.

I've seen way too many productions of Into the Woods, and only Sara Bareilles has come close to equaling Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife.

Wasn't Riley often out?

[quote]They play do you hear the people sing before Trump came out tonight

Ironic when you remember that Victor Hugo was a socialist. And Boublil and Schoenberg are old school Jewish European liberals, well aware of the dangers of creeping fascism. I’m sure they despise Trump and his ilk. (Cameron Mackintosh used to be very liberal. But these days…?)

[Quote] only Sara Bareilles has come close to equaling Joanna Gleason as the Baker's Wife

And the grosses dropped when she left.

What other shows should she do, since she has passed DL inspection, and actually sells?

Amber Riley isn’t nearly as famous or liked (yes, liked,) nor does she have any kind of fan base that can open a show, much less keep it running.

Cynthia Erivo could open a production of DREAMGIRLS but she's probably lost to Hollywood for the next few years.

The two actors have been giving each other sloppy blowjobs for over a decade. Better?

[quote] The two actors have been giving each other sloppy blowjobs for over a decade. Better?

Huh?

Casey Nicholaw moved on from Dreamgirls to Some Like It Hot and is still busy putting up Mormon, Aladdin, and Mean Girls in other places. He is set for life and can choose to do only what he wants. Dreamgirls also probably has inclusion issues now - white book writer, white songwriters, white director. Yeah, that'll go well.

R127, I believe r126 is responding to r118's snarking about Urie and Spahn being described as "dating for over a decade."

[quote]Cameron Mackintosh used to be very liberal. But these days…?

He's become more and more right wing since around 2000 onwards (when the Mayor of London introduced congestion charging), culminating in him supporting Brexit. He also did some pathetic interview where he fawned over Boris Johnson.

thanks, r129.

[quote] They play do you hear the people sing before Trump came out tonight

I remember during the 80s, when the Repugs were shitting on gays left and right, and telling us we deserved to die of AIDS.

Then at the climax of their convention, the played “The Best of Times is Now” from La Cage.

The Nazis have no problem using our culture while shitting on us. Fuck them.

r116, there's a dick report in the other thread from someone who saw it last night. The understudy is described as dull "and no, not hung."

Didn't "The Life" have a white creative team? Bring in Billy Porter to fix Dreamgirls!

[Quote] "and no, not hung."

I recommended him for the part.

[quote] ere's a dick report in the other thread from someone who saw it last night. The understudy is described as dull "and no, not hung."

We must never let there be multiple contemporaneous theatre threads again. . THEY want you to be confused. THEY are taking away your rights to coherent theatre gossip. THEY are letting immigrants take over these threads Make DataLounge Great Again

With all due respect to the current understudy, I wish the one from the Hayes run had continued with the new one. Ryan Broussard is incredibly hot, and he never got to go on for Williams during the first run (he went on for the non-nude role of Davey Battle once or twice). If he was still in it, I'd go again (especially with Ferguson, who I didn't care for, being out).

Broussard (who seems to have booked a new show on Fox).

Broussard was a real sportsman.

[quote] Wasn't Riley often out?

Wasn’t she scheduled to only perform something like four shows per week?

Riley apparently contracted pneumonia at the beginning of her run. She was contracted for 7 performances a week. And for some reason, she had "annual leave" two to three days a month...

Why have you put annual leave in quotation marks?

[quote]Dreamgirls also probably has inclusion issues now - white book writer, white songwriters, white director. Yeah, that'll go well.

Good point, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem as long as the creative team of the new production was all or mostly black, especially the director and choreographer.

Why all black? Just do the same damn show Michael Bennett did, pretty much. It worked.

That London Dreamgirls had several problems, Riley included. She sort of smiled her way through it, and sang the role very cautiously. You want a performer who takes it on with total conviction. There were other problems with casting to the point that the Lorell and Jimmy were the only ones who seemed suitably cast. The production was otherwise pretty well paced and the set was sort of a newfangled homage to Robin Wagner's original. But it all felt a little small and meek, compared to the original. London responded to it, as the show never played there before, but It all needs a rethink if it were to come here.

Could the Michael Bennett staging be done now? Or is it like the Follies OBC staging, i.e. too expensive to pull off in present day.

[quote] Good point, but I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem as long as the creative team of the new production was all or mostly black, especially the director and choreographer.

but then wouldn't the narrative be that they fired Casey to hire black folks?

A new creative team would denote a new production, no? Fantasia would probably kill as Effie... if she could be relied upon to show up.

Amber Riley wouldn't sell on TDF.

Tonya knows more than the author about their intentions, the dumb cunt.

I'm so tired of hearing about this cunt. Why is she still being hired?

Excellent question, R151. I guess maybe part of the reason is that, while the Public Theater and Robert O'Hara may have expected that Pinkins would make a ruckus of some sort, as always, there is always the theory that there is no such thing as bad publicity. I myself do not subscribe to that theory, but I know many people do.

She's mouthed off enough that I'm actually turned off when I see her name on something. I know I'm going to get two things from Tonya Pinkins-

A- A shmacktacious performance that doesn't even come close to approximating an actual person.

B- Pinkins invariably turning on the production or complaining about something, to which I have to wonder- well, dear, if it's so horrible, why are you still there, and more importantly, why should anyone bother to go see it?

R153, I have very similar feelings regarding your point B. But in this case, she has not turned on the production -- at least, not yet. She has vilified the critics, and one in particular.

Tonya must not be getting all those standing O's she was promised during rehearsals.

Barry and Fran are proud to announce a limited run of

Tony Pinkins and Rosie O’Donnell

in

Marvin’s Room

Directed by

DEBRA WINGER

Behind the scene documentary filmed for HBO Max.

Did you work on that all day, r156?

Tony. Lol

Didn't TP have some sort of issue with Dianne Wiest or Cynthia Nixon (or both) on “Rasheeda Speaking” ?

“PANAMA REBA”

Attend the tale of Reba Todd

Her twang was hick and her hair was odd...

Leah announced that they’re going to be releasing a FG ‘cast album.’ Details on the Today Show tomorrow.

[quote]And the grosses dropped when she left. What other shows should she do, since she has passed DL inspection, and actually sells?

Would Sara B be a good Dot in Sunday?

No. she can’t act.

How about Sara P?

She just sounds a bit like the original Baker's Wife, vocally-speaking, but I question her worthiness otherwise. She seems like a Linda Eder type who emotes through songs more than plays a character fully.

R145 nails it. London had never seen Dreamgirls before, that’s why they gave Riley an Olivier. It wouldn’t impress New Yorkers who saw the original.

I love the way Lea described it as “original Broadway cast”. It burns!

I shall dim the lighthouse for Beanie and me.

Has this ever happened before where a lead of a Broadway musical was sacked and a new lead came on and the second lead was given the cast album? Even Bernadette got the Annie recording (which won a Grammy btw) before Reba got her “sampler”

Dinah Shore got the Cast Album of Call Me Madam.

[quote] London had never seen Dreamgirls before

How did the “stiff upper lip” British react to all that screaming at the end of Act 1?

[quote]“stiff upper lip” British

That audience is gone, it's basically the same as Broadway now with the cheering and standing ovations for everything, etc. Theatre kids ruin everything

[quote]Theatre kids ruin everything

Except for box office receipts.

Sara Bareilles doesn’t hold a candle to Joanna Gleason and she was fucking terrible in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Waitress was dull and unwatchable. Whatever you queens think she’s doing in Into The Woods, she isn’t doing it. She’s a pop singer with a mild interpretative ability who managed to catch the death of a major Broadway composer at just the right time. She is not a Broadway caliber actor. She can get her fangirls to show up for a six month run. Congratulations. Now learn how not to suck.

No one should hold a candle to Joanna Gleason. She might melt.

They begged me to do the OBC but I said no.

JUSTICE FOR BEANIE

Can Tonya play the witch in Into the Woods

I thought her singing voice was shot.

FG cast recording being released digitally at 12:01 tonite.

[quote]Sara Bareilles doesn’t hold a candle to Joanna Gleason and she was fucking terrible in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar.

That's a very small role, first of all, and it requires almost zero acting ability. I didn't see Bareilles in WAITRESS, but her acting in INTO THE WOODS was absolutely wonderful, no matter how loudly you nasty bitches with twisted agendas scream otherwise. And she has proven to have a lot of drawing power at the box office in both of those shows, which would not be the case if she couldn't act.

Finally, although Joanna Gleason was great in the original ITW, I don't quite understand how the legend has developed that it was some kind of supreme, perfect, untouchable, once-in-a-lifetime performance that no one else can ever hope to match.

....because it was, r182.

I'm in the pro-Joanna Gleason camp. First, I haven't seen anyone else nail as many laughs as Gleason did. It was just a great match of her acerbic quality and the role's sarcastic humor. Other productions I've seen - even the original productions with replacements for Gleason and the first national tour - the jokes went whizzing by and didn't land. I think she was also genuinely sympathetic in her quest to have a child, which is higher stakes than what any other character wants in that show, so you naturally gravitate toward her character. Her death in Act 2 was a genuine shock when this material was new. I think even with the multiple deaths in Act 2, it's the one that the audience really feels. There was genuine warmth in her delivery of "Moments in the Woods" and her reappearance in the finale. Now the Baker's Wife is not Dolly or Rose, but I just don't think anyone has been better at delivering all of the role's demands. And of anyone else I've seen, Sara Bareilles came the closest, whether she is an actress or not.

No, R183, it really wasn't. And in my opinion, it's embarrassing for Gleason that all of you keep insisting that it was, because I'm pretty sure she herself doesn't feel that way. It has been proven that even some of the greatest, most iconic roles in musical theatre -- Rose in GYPSY, Tevye in FIDDLER, etc., etc. -- can be very successfully played by talented performers other than the originals, so it's laughable that you say of the Bakers' Wife in INTO THE WOODS (seriously?) that "THE ONLY GREAT PERFORMANCE WAS THE ORIGINAL, AND THERE CAN BE NO OTHER!!!!"

I wonder if some of the Joanna Gleason love is sue to the fact that it was filmed and can be watched and re-watched, searing that performance into people's minds? I agree, it's not exactly Rose in Gypsy. Dare I say it's kind of thin material.

I liked Joanna just fine but don't think the part is some brilliant thing.

I saw the clip of the cast on the View and was shocked at the ugly ass piece of shit purple Party City cape they put Patina Miller in. WTF is that? Bernadette gets this lavish thick and wide cape for swirling and Patina gets...a table runner?

And why is she is a disco jumpsuit? Hideous.

The brilliance of Joanna and Chip were they seemed like Woody Allen New York Jew characters that were dropped in the middle of the woods.

Nobody has matched that sensibility since.

Joanna also had a kind of a Myrna Loy as Nora Charles thing going on there in the woods.

[quote]I wonder if some of the Joanna Gleason love is due to the fact that it was filmed and can be watched and re-watched, searing that performance into people's minds? I agree, it's not exactly Rose in Gypsy. Dare I say it's kind of thin material.

Yes, I think you're right about the filming (or taping), and I agree with the rest of your statement. Again, Gleason was wonderful in the role, and there's nothing negative I would say about her performance, but to insist that no one has matched or ever will match her in that show is ridiculous.

R188, that's a good description of those performances, but of course, those aren't the only possible interpretations of the roles.

If no one's mentioned it, Joaquina Kalukango will be the final witch in ITW for the last three weeks of the run. I never saw her in Paradise Square, but from that one number they kept publicizing, it seems like she should be capable.

As brilliant as Downstate is, I can't imagine any producer who would take a chance at bringing it to Broadway. Who would go?

Mary Gordon Murray was every bit as good as Joanna Gleason but the rest of the replacements and covers for the Bakers Wife on broadway were meh.

I'm with r184.

r186 I don’t know but I will say that I am a huge Patti LuPone fan and saw ITW (in previews btw) and AG back to back and I knew Gleason was going to win the Tony. I didn’t really know her at the time but thought she was that amazing

The other thing is that Joanna was the original. The roles are going to be developed around those original cast members' strengths.

Why has there been no love for Chip Zien's Baker?

Plenty of love, r197, but no Tony.

Wait wait … you’re saying they cast a Black woman as the Witch ???

[Quote] The roles are going to be developed around those original cast members' strengths.

Not always.

Gleason had the edge of having her original performance preserved. Why settle for second rate when you can stay home and watch the original? Having the original cast preserved is both a blessing and a curse at the same time.

I do think the directing of some of the other Into the Woods productions have hurt their performers. That last Broadway revival in the early 2000s had the Baker and Baker's Wife basically at each other's throats the entire time and you couldn't understand why they even wanted to have the baby at all. They needed to divorce, not a baby. Bickering is one thing, but their relationship felt like it was getting close to George and Martha territory at times. Because of this, there was a big gaping hole at the center of the story and it felt like it had no heart.

Bareilles did have some good comedy moments and a real characterization, She may not be Sarah Bernhardt but there are probably good roles for her if she's interested. She's no interloper, and you do yourselves a disservice by treating her as one. She certainly sells to Broadway and seems genuinely interested in and committed to it. That's a good thing, girls, remember?

[quote] Gleason had the edge of having her original performance preserved. Why settle for second rate when you can stay home and watch the original?

but ths produciton at Encores and The James have been successful so people weren't staying home

It's amusing to see the Lea haters complaining that Beanie wasn't allowed to have a cast recording. They really don't get it, do they? I'm not even the biggest Lea fan, but I think just about anyone would rather listen to Lea sing the score than Beanie. There might have been positive aspects to Beanie's performance in person, but none of them would translate to an audio recording.

[Quote] It's amusing to see the Lea haters complaining that Beanie wasn't allowed to have a cast recording.

No one is saying that here so why are you introducing it to this thread? Are you one of those posters who bitches about ATC? Who fucking cares...

[quote]There might have been positive aspects to Beanie's performance in person, but none of them would translate to an audio recording.

That's true as far as it goes, but it's also true that Beanie's complete unsuitability for the role of Fannie Brice from a physical standpoint would not have translated to an audio recording, so at least to a certain extent, it would have balanced out for her. Anyway, I guess the main point is that no one but the most rabid, delusional Beanie fans would have bought that recording.

There should be plenty of love for Zien as the baker. It was a thoroughly charming, endearing--and moving--performance. No one else has touched it.

If Tyne Daly could get an audio recording of GYPSY...

Which if you bought it, she will reimburse you for, r208.

Kay Medford should have reimbursed buyers twice over for purchasing her recording of GYPSY.

[quote]Leah announced that they’re going to be releasing a FG ‘cast album.’ Details on the Today Show tomorrow.

My name is LEA, bitch! Get it right or I'll shit in your fucking wig!

R211. Sorry Leah

It'll be interesting to see if the new recording of The Music Man sells.

Hugh and Sutton did not translate to an audio recording but we still got it.

The recording of the new THE MUSIC MAN is a pretty unpleasant listen.

Ironic that it took so long to negotiate the terms of the MUSIC MAN cast album, and now it seems it would have better if they skipped it entirely. Well, better for everyone except financially for the cast, who got extra money for it, and especially the leads, who reportedly got a LOT of extra money for it.

The Music Man cast recording was so unlistenable that even the star fucking Grammy voters didn’t give it a pity nomination.

Yet they're probably selling boatloads of CDs to all the tourists at The Music Man merch stand.

People buy CDs?

r170, most of these aren't the same situation, but are still interesting.

so what is the drama going on backstage at A STRANGE LOOP?

R221 The lead actor never turns up? Everyone is now triggering everyone else?

& Juliet actually got an okay review by Jesse Green. "So shoot me: I liked it. It felt so wrong; it felt so right. ... What saves “& Juliet” from being a lowest-common-denominator corporate byproduct is something else, something I never expected: wit. The wit operates on many levels in the director Luke Sheppard’s super-poppy production ... Juliet (Lorna Courtney in a blow-you-away performance) doesn’t die but rather wakes up confused and a little emo following Romeo’s suicide. ... It’s Wolfe’s performance — capped with a roof-raising rendition of the Celine Dion hit “That’s the Way It Is” — that gives the show its heart, an organ too often unheard from in musicals entirely focused on the ear. ... Jukebox musicals may still be bottom feeders, but, as “& Juliet” proves, there are sometimes small treasures to be found in the murk."

"The fact that Jesse Green enjoyed something like THAT proves he doesn't have the INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY to appreciate and UNDERSTAND the most excellent work of me, TONYA PINKINS, and the entire company of WOMEN in the revolutionary production of THE LORRAINE HANSBURY'S A RAISIN IN THE SUN, and shouldn't have been allowed to SINGLE-HANDEDLY prevent a BROADWAY TRANSFER of our show!!!"

There's a lot of mean girl bullying going on backstage at STRANGE LOOP. Ugly stuff...

The Times will hire Pinkins to replace Jesse Green next week.

Say what you will about STRANGE LOOP, but it seems like the kind of show that kinda requires an ensemble that can function together.

Strange Loop is a turd.

Multiple reports of Little Shop ending mid-show last night because of Covid and suddenly not having enough people to continue.

Matt Doyle's IG account also seems to have disappeared at the moment.

Lena Hall TikTok:

But Covid is over! This is what

Republican voters told me

Ron Desantis told me

Joe Biden told me

CDC told me

Mask mandates told me

New York Times told Me

Governors told me

The media told me

Yer in the wrong thread, r231

R229 Matt Doyle came on stage during intermission and asked the audience if any of them could play Audrey in Act II.

Jesse Green (and a lot of the critics) have been way too easy on several shows I hated: &Juliet, Only Gold, Camp Siegfried and You Will Get Sick.

Professional criticism is dead.

So they had to cancel the show because of Covid, and then everyone gathers in a tiny dressing room, sans masks, to sing Happy Birthday for no reason in each other's faces.

Sounds about right.

I agree R234. I think we’ll see the full death of criticism within the next decade, maybe quicker. It’s basically dead already at regional outlets.

It's not surprising- the death of cinema criticism occurred about 20 years ago. Now everything is "an instant classic." Mediocrity has been elevated to the level of genius.

Remember, mediocrity is not a mortal sin.

Nor a ringing endorsement.

Yes it is.

An actress from Mean Girls alleges on TikTok that Kate Rockwell was an absolute miserable cunt and bully to her.

Not Mean Girls, R241, Bring it On. She wasn't in Mean Girls.

So the likes of r234 think "Professional criticism is dead" because critics didn't have the same opinion as them. Quite the ego.

Well, have you seen those 4 shows, r243? What did you think of them?

Are you planning on declaring me dead if I have a differing opinion too? You've already shown yourself to be the kind of idiot who thinks your opinion is the only right one, I suggest you stop digging.

Matt Doyle's Instagram is back. As noted before, he's missing the weekend shows (if there are any at this rate) for a concert and a wedding. The fact that they had him start this week just to do 3 (or 2 1/2) shows is so weird.

I welcome any critical opinions of those shows. Please share!

[quote]Matt Doyle came on stage during intermission

Pics please!

Criticism is not dying because the critics have bad opinions. Criticism is dying because the writing quality and the quality of thought has gone down the tubes. Since Teachout died, Helen Shaw is the only one left even trying to be a real critic. Everyone else is just calling things "good" and "bad — or "layered as a lasagna".

I like lasagna.

Lea Lasagna? I loved her as Mrs. Saigon!

Krupin doesn't say a name. How do you know what it is....And Krupin has crazy eyes in this...

Broadway has exactly the kind of critical community it deserves.

Every critic at The NY Times is a hack. They display no educated writing ability, have no notion of the concept of wit, and obviously just copy the press packet to write their reviews. I would never see a show based on any of their opinions.

R249, your comment may have some truth to it, but it's a ridiculous over-generalization and therefore kind of worthless. At least R254 limited his blanket statement to critics who write for the NY Times.

I feel like a big part of the problem is critics who should know better (hello, Jesse!) are lowering their standards in fear of being perceived as not liking anything. I don't know how else to explain some of the recent raves. Frank Rich, Vincent Canby and Walter Kerr had no problem delivering constant pans if they were deserved.

The only sensible solution for this is to have Tonya Pinkins be the new NY Times Critic.

Only she could save the Times

Face it Tonya, you'll never be as pretty as Esther Rolls.

So now that Lea has an "Original" Broadway Cast album, how long before she gets a Tony nomination? You know they're going to petition the Tony nominating committee. They'd be fools not to.

The Son is the worst thing to happen to Hugh Jackman since he zip-lined onto the Oprah show. Poor Hugh can't get any Oscar traction.

I think the fact that there is precedent -- Larry Kert instead of Dean Jones having been ruled eligible to be nominated for COMPANY, and then receiving the nomination -- would certainly bolster any case the FG producers might make for Lea to be nominated instead of Beanie. Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Timing is different, r261, not the same.

[quote] Timing is different, [R261], not the same.

Especially since it would be two different seasons. The show’s only eligible for nominations once.

Oops! Of course. I'm embarrassed and ashamed to say that I had forgotten FG was already eligible for Tonys last season. My only excuse for forgetting is maybe because the only nomination it got was for supporting actor,

Under those circumstances, Lea's only chance for a Tony this season would be a special award, and I HIGHLY doubt that's going to happen under all the circumstances.

Lea’ special award is her cut of the box office she takes home every night.

Lea's special award will be the Grammy she gets next season for Best Original Cast Album. Sorry, fat beans.

[quote] "The fact that Jesse Green enjoyed something like THAT proves he doesn't have the INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY to appreciate and UNDERSTAND the most excellent work of me, TONYA PINKINS, and the entire company of WOMEN in the revolutionary production of THE LORRAINE HANSBURY'S A RAISIN IN THE SUN, and shouldn't have been allowed to SINGLE-HANDEDLY prevent a BROADWAY TRANSFER of our show!!!"

Way too coherent r224

Ha! True that, R267!

Will Sia write Leah a new song for the FG soundtrack?

Well Sia did GREAT new songs for ANNIE!

R268, what "soundtrack?" Do you think they're going to make another movie of FUNNY GIRL with Lea Michele?

Also, not to beat a dead horse, but Dean Jones didn't stay in COMPANY long enough for the nominators, let alone the voters, to see his performance. It's nothing like Beanie/Lea.

Lea doesn’t sound bad on the FG recording save for the overuse of a sob in the throat to convey intensity. A good director would have slapped that out of her.

Maybe she can do Connie Francis next.

why do people like the men at r241 feel the need to post all their damn feelings? OK so you had a bad co-worker. Even a bully. Grow the fuck up. Instead you publish a video about how you [italic] feel [/italic] . Grow the fuck's fuck fucking sake UP.

I just watched the current Audrey's (Lena?) Suddenly Seymour video and Ellen's back to back and.....DAMN. You can't better her performance. She IS Audrey. Take a bow Ellen G, you are amazing.

[quote]Maybe she can do Connie Francis next.

A stage musical version of "Where the Boys Are"! What a brilliant idea! I can't believe no one has thought of it until now!

[quote]A good director would have slapped that out of her.

Pics please.

[Quote] A stage musical version of "Where the Boys Are"

Is there a part for Lorna Luft?

Ellen Greene is so annoying as Audrey.

[quote]Lea doesn’t sound bad on the FG recording save for the overuse of a sob in the throat to convey intensity

It came to our attention many threads ago, r273, that that is referred to as a glottal attack.

Whatever you call it, it makes me want to punch her in the throat. I do like her high notes—she sounds very sweet up there. The recording as a whole is much more listenable than the horrible new MM recording.

How is the orchestra on the new FG recording? How is the overture? Did they beef it up with more pieces?

Orchestra sounds a little bigger on the recording. I don't think they are as exciting to listen to as the orchestra on the original recording - Dick Perry, the lead trumpet player for both the original Gypsy and Funny Girl orchestras, is especially missed.

Who is the bully at A Strange Loop?

OP suffers from a chronic case of Lunacity.

R280 is stupid as fuck. Please die.

[quote] I just watched the current Audrey's (Lena?) Suddenly Seymour video and Ellen's back to back and.....DAMN. You can't better her performance. She IS Audrey. Take a bow Ellen G, you are amazing.

Lena’s problem is that she’s trying to sing it like Janis Joplin. Suddenly Seymour is not a rock song. I think the original stage directions say “gospel fervor” and that’s what Ellen Greene delivers. I saw both performances and Ellen Greene set a very high bar.

Excuse me...ex-c-u-u-s-e me...

[quote]Is there a part for Lorna Luft?

Lorna's still waiting for them to do a stage version of "Grease 2."

At last #501 is dead. We are all here together, my chickens

Darren Criss, Lena Hall, Ramin Karimloo, and Solea Pfeiffer Will Star in Benefit Chess Concert on Broadway

Is this the TG thread with nice people or the bitchy mean people?

I would actually like to those performers in CHESS. Not a great or even good show, but some of the score is terrific.

I cannot STAND Ramin.

Everyone obsesses over his body, himself included, and he isn't a great actor. He can sing ok, but he REEKS of smugness.

Stripping as Jean Valjean? Boasting of his lack of training? (ha!) Milking the role of the Phantom for every drop of fangirl adoration he can get?

So, SO sick of him.

I can already hear his belted "Ne-VEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!" and want to barf.

You know him so well, r295.

R293, sadly there's no longer any difference. As r291 noted, we're all together now.

[quote]I would actually like to those performers in CHESS. Not a great or even good show, but some of the score is terrific.

I saw Ramin in a Kennedy Center semi-staged concert version of "Chess" in early 2018. It was part of the KC's "Broadway Center Stage" series, which recently did "Guys and Dolls." Co-starring with Ramin were Raul Esparza and Karen Olivo, who now calls herself R2D2 or some other cockamamie name I can't recall.

It’s pretty perfect casting for Chess at this moment in time. I presume with Mayer directing and using the new Danny Boyle script they tried out at the Kennedy Center that this could likely lead to a full scale production if it works. Is Darren Criss enough of a name to headline a Broadway run, TV awards notwithstanding? Hedwig was a replacement gig, quite a few years ago.

[quote] I presume with Mayer directing

How in the world did Michael Mayer become the go-to director of musicals on Broadway?

[Quote] Please die.

Said someone to Ellen's career.

Not that it's much of a role, but why Solea Pfeiffer for the Russian's wife? (For that matter, when will Lena Hall go back to being Celina Carvajal and be forgotten again?)

Chess is a partially amazing score and a partially good score, peppered some dull numbers, but the book (and all its iterations) is pure garbage. But every time they dredge it back up to try to make it fly, they dilute its strengths, usually through casting and the need to "American Idol" up the vocals. You will never hear the roles sung better than (in a combo of) the first two cast albums, most especially David Carroll.

Why cast a former Eva Peron as Svetlana?

The main problem with Chess’ book is that the story demands a tragic ending and they always tack on a happy one.

This was a perfect opportunity for Beanie to stage a comeback. Why isn’t that happening?????!?!?

Chess needs a sequel. Chess:Rematch the Musical because everybody deserves a second chance.

Will Chess be sensitive to pronouns in Someone Else’s Story?

[quote] Karen Olivo, who now calls herself R2D2 or some other cockamamie name I can't recall.

Cockamamie? Cock-a-mamie? Did you say 'cock' to me? That is sexist abusive harmful antigender antiwoiman anticis antitrans anti-BIPOC anti-Eden bullying, I am [italic] NEVER [/italic] returning to Broadway until I return to Broadway, I swear. I still still can't dance.

Last season had huge revivals

Funny Girl The Music Man Caroline or Change Company

This season has

Into the Woods Camelot Sweeney Todd

Anything else??

[quote] This was a perfect opportunity for Beanie to stage a comeback. Why isn’t that happening?????!?!?

I was first in line when they had try-outs but I thought the sign said 'Cheese.'

Has Barbra Streisand been tempted to give Lea's cast album a quick streaming listen?

I seriously doubt Barbra gives any singers a listen these days--besides her old self.

There was a gossip item a decade or so ago that described Barbra wandering around her giant Malibu property, listening to her old albums at top volume all night long (with her state of the art audio system that filled every room). Very Norma Desmond-like and a little sad, frankly.

[quote] There was a gossip item a decade or so ago that described Barbra wandering around her giant Malibu property, listening to her old albums at top volume all night long (with her state of the art audio system that filled every room). Very Norma Desmond-like and a little sad, frankly.

Yes that's very likely to be accurate. 🙄. And it's likely someone else is there who could report it out. 🙄

Streisand is way into herself, but not really her singing. I’ve never heard her voice anything but frustration over listening to herself. Now if you get her talking about not having a father or politics or directing movies or interior design, she goes on and in.

[quote]I cannot STAND Ramin. Everyone obsesses over his body, himself included, and he isn't a great actor. He can sing ok, but he REEKS of smugness.

Also, though his vocal instrument is very impressive, I hate the way he uses it. He frequently sings in straight tone rather than letting the vibrato come in, which results in him going off pitch quite often, plus he has a lot of other little vocal mannerisms that annoy the hell out of me.

[quote]How in the world did Michael Mayer become the go-to director of musicals on Broadway?

However that happened, one would have thought FUNNY GIRL would have put an end to it. But alas, obviously not....

[quote]This was a perfect opportunity for Beanie to stage a comeback. Why isn’t that happening?????!?!?

In what role? Molokov?

Do we have any reason to believe that Darren Criss has the vocal chops for that role in CHESS? I'd like to think he wouldn't have been cast if he didn't, but....we'll see.

In some productions Svetlana gets SOMEONE ELSE’S STORY so it fleshes the role out a bit more. The original production of Chess was so frustrating because there was so much talent on that stage singing a gorgeous score but stuck in a bland ugly production.

CHESS as a whole is boring as fuck.

[quote]The original production of Chess was so frustrating because there was so much talent on that stage singing a gorgeous score but stuck in a bland ugly production.

And with a terrible book. I'm talking about the original Broadway production, which came after the original stage production in London's West End, which was far superior.

R318 He struggled on Glee even with layers of autotune so all signs point to no.

The entire plot of Chess is just stupid. The music is totally dated at this point.

It belongs on the Encores stage.

It seems to flop every time it’s done anywhere. Isn’t it time we took that as a sign?

Anti-Eden....Espinosa?

^ re r308

Chess is a mess. Melodramatic and thin. The characters aren't relatable and the political situations aren't explored in a way that draws the audience in. It all seems quite silly, even I Know Him So Well. One Night in Bangkok is awkward as hell now.

And it's a tough sing so there's that.

I don't think the Sutton Foster/Julia Murney cast can be bettered in a concert setting though. Wasn't Raul in that one too? He's great.

Who is Criss playing here- freddie?

I thought Solea Pfeiffer was pretty bad in the musical misfire Almost Famous. Totally miscast--and she made me pine for Kate Hudson.

[quote]The entire plot of Chess is just stupid. The music is totally dated at this point. It belongs on the Encores stage. It seems to flop every time it’s done anywhere. Isn’t it time we took that as a sign?

But seeing as how, at least for the time being, this event with Criss et al. is just planned as a one-night-only concert presentation, maybe you can wait a bit before you start getting yourself worked up over all that.

Almost Famous is really sad. If there was a show that probably should have been a jukebox musical, it's this one. Tom Kitt's score just sits there, without a pulse. You get to "Tiny Dancer" at the end of Act 1, and it emerges like an oasis in a parched desert. You're thankful for anything resembling a song. It is actually quite well staged, but there's not enough drama or conflict to engage your interest. It probably went forward based on Charles McNulty's shockingly positive review in the LA Times, but I can't imagine the Broadway production will see 2023.

I don't understand why they keep trying to make Solea Pfeiffer a thing. She's so bland on stage in everything I've seen. Her EVITA was toothless. She's this generation's Shoshanna Bean.

I was the one who reported that the Jesse Williams understudy in TMO was dull and not hung. But I was negligent in not lauding Bill Heck's incredible body. Not hung either, but everything else was "cherce," as Spencer Tracy was famous for saying. Didn't see Patrick Adams in the role, but Heck was very fine in every way.

5 Cool Things To Do In The Broadway Museum

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Apparently, it doesn’t have a Merman Room, a Prince Room or a Sondheim room.

Chess *must* have '80s hair to be truly effective.

Best production of Chess I’ve ever seen.

Tam Mutu was pretty good in the Toronto show ten years ago...but jesus the production was tacky and crude.

[quote]But seeing as how, at least for the time being, this event with Criss et al. is just planned as a one-night-only concert presentation, maybe you can wait a bit before you start getting yourself worked up over all that.

There's a reason it keeps being presented as a one-night only concert everywhere

We need a revival of Oh Calcutta!! (at least at Encores)

This tread is so disrespected to Beanie it needs to be closeded

Beanie starring in Oh, Calcutta!

Oh, I just got a FB friend suggestion....Lainie Kazan! I thought about doing a friend request, but I noticed Dina Lohan was on her friend list and I really don't want to be on a list that has Dina Lohan on it.

Pinocchio the musical and Beanie is the whale

Didn't the Actor's Fund, now the Entertainment Community For Diversity's Sake Fund, do a one night only concert of Chess about 20 years ago? And I can't fucking remember who the hell was in it. Oh yeah, it was Adam Pascal and Josh Groban, 9/22/03.

Doesn't this "fund" have an original idea anymore?

[Quote] Oh, I just got a FB friend suggestion....Lainie Kazan! I thought about doing a friend request, but I noticed Dina Lohan was on her friend list

Were they Rockettes together?

Adam Pascal, Josh Groban, Julia Murney, Raul Esparza, Norm Lewis et al. It was a great staged concert performance.

The most successful presentations of CHESS have been those that have omitted a book completely or almost completely and performed only the songs, sometimes with a just a bit of narration to tie the "plot" together.

I have no idea, r343, and I'm not about to find out.

She always talks about herself as an actress, not a singer. I find that sad.

Who?

I always know that whatever Charles McNulty writes, I'm going to think the opposite. So he's actually a very useful critic to inform what I see.

Equity Library Theatre also mounted a terrific production of "Chess" with J. Mark McVey, a former Broadway Valjean. I would say late 80's, early 90's.

Chess has an absolutely brilliant score. Period. It, however, is impossible to stage and the book is garbage. It has been relegated to concerts and that’s just fine.

Did he play all the roles?

McVey was Anatoly, Patrick Jude was Freddie, Kathleen Rowe McAllen as Florence, Jan Horvath as Svetlana. Patrick Jude also played the Arbiter. Try badly. He screamed the role while invoking the disco era.

I like the Mountain Duet.

And I like the Mountain Diet.

I like the Mountain Dew.

[quote]There was a gossip item a decade or so ago that described Barbra wandering around her giant Malibu property, listening to her old albums at top volume all night long (with her state of the art audio system that filled every room). Very Norma Desmond-like and a little sad, frankly.

This sounds exactly like made-up CDAN bullshit, whether it was a CDAN item or not.

Beanie could be the Uptown 5 train in the revival of “Subways are for Sleeping “!

Is Barbara Dickson Brendad's long-lost sister?

r341 oh you bitch!

LOLOLOLOL

Maybe they can do a dumbed-down version of "Chess" and pair it with "Shucked."

Just retitle it "Checkers" and you'll draw the flyover crowd.

I want John Behlmann to sit on my corncob.

[quote] Last season had huge revivals: Funny Girl The Music Man Caroline or Change Company. This season has Into the Woods Camelot Sweeney Todd. Anything else??

1776

Of course Michael got his preening mug in the pix with Hillary

R364 That is lovely.

Personally, I fail to see what's so lovely about you r364.

Speaking of glottal attacks, does anyone know why Streisand’s resounding crack at the end of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” on the OBC recording was allowed to stand?

Probably the same reason you can hear a dropped drumstick during the overture on the OBC of Gypsy.

And hear one of the Jets sing 'way' instead of 'day' in the Quintet on the WSS soundtrack

[quote]Of course Michael got his preening mug in the pix with Hillary

MICHAEL?

Mayer

Of course Mayer. If it were Michael Arden it would have been his peeing mug.

[quote] Speaking of glottal attacks, does anyone know why Streisand’s resounding crack at the end of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” on the OBC recording was allowed to stand?

I don’t know, but I’ve always liked it. It’s strange, but kind of raw and exciting. I always go to the cast recording instead of the soundtrack, where she’s more polished.

That "resounding crack" on FG was not atypical of Streisand's early recordings of songs like Cry Me a River, Lover Come Back to Me, and Happy Days, which all climaxed with a rawness that her first fans adored but got sanded down with each subsequent year of her singing career.

r372

I love the crack... I love live recording for things like that

[quote]I love the crack

You're one the Theatre Thread, there's no point pretending you're a top

[quote]Does anyone know why Streisand’s resounding crack at the end of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” on the OBC recording was allowed to stand?

I've never heard it as a crack. I'm sure it was an intentional vocal flourish or affectation, if you will. And I have no doubt that if it was unintentional, there would have been a retake. I'm really surprised that anyone would think otherwise.

I listened to the new FG on Spotify and I love it. Never watched Glee so I know very little about Leah but, love her or hate her, the bitch can sing.

Don't forget Channing's early entrance flub on the Dolly! OBC in "Sunday Clothes."

Hugh is out of TMM tonight.

Sutton is also out and has been out all week.

I just saw Funny Girl this afternoon. It was ok. The flaws of the book are amplified, the sets are ugly but functional, and the orchestra is sloppy and rushed. I can only imagine suffering through this with Beanie.

Lea Michele is ok, but my problem with her remains that she is one of the most mechanical performers I’ve seen. It’s like she sees herself as Barbra/Fanny and then does what she needs to do to execute that. Whereas Streisand just expressed her drive and the mechanics fell in place.

Regarding Miss Nettleton...

Very lucky to have seen Nettleton in Streetcar. She really was brilliant, and though I remember little of the Stanley, the scenes between Blanche and Stella were stunning.

He probably chose to forget Period of Adjustment since he didn't write the screenplay.

I saw Rosemary Harris who originated the role of Blanche in that production in which Nettleton replaced her.

Rosemary was INCANDESCENT! One of the most treasured and unforgettable theater experiences of my lifetime. And James Farentino as Stanley was incredibly hot and desirable and even had a brief nude scene.

Erm..........!

Lois Nettleton was Barbara Bel Geddes standby in the original Cat.........

R387 Who understudied Ben Gazzara? And his shitty endless monotone.

And Cliff Robertson for Brick, r387 - r388

[quote]Don't forget Channing's early entrance flub on the Dolly! OBC in "Sunday Clothes."

In Channing's defense, her entrance flub is because there was an edit in the score for the recording right at that point

This Actor's Fund CHESS is an attempt for the very-poorly reviewed Michael Mayer Kennedy Center production with even more terrible new book to get a second chance without the producers having to pay for another production. (Tom Hulce and Ira Pittleman are listed as supporters...). Mayer wants this production to go to Broadway, but the D.C reviews were atrocious so they've done some more "work." This is their chance to see it at a very reasonable price.

I just read the CHESS review linked to by R391 and I noticed that the critic misspelled Karen Olivo's name as "Olivio."

Holy crap! I'll bet she flew into a rage over that mistake. And maybe that's why she changed her name to KO, or K.O., or whatever the fuck she changed it to. That plus the fact that she's batshit crazy.

Let's call her K.Oio

On the cast album for Minnie’s Boys Shelley bellows her first line GOOD MORNING LADIES then clears her throat. Imagine spending a day locked in a recording studio with Shelley Winters?

On the original cast album of BYE BYE BIRDIE, one of the chorus people comes in a beat early on one of the choruses of "A Healthy, Normal American Boy." Also, you can hear Chita almost break down laughing during one of her lines in that song ("That is a lie, a lie through and through....")

Hugh lost his voice. Out again tomorrow.

[Quote](The Oscar-nominated actor was scheduled to appear but was forced to bow out of the presentation after losing his voice following recent work in Broadway’s The Music Man.)

[quote]Hugh lost his voice. Out again tomorrow.

Not much of a loss.

Mandy Patinkin flubs on The Secret Garden recording.

Ramin also has a serious speech impediment that no one seems to ever speak to. He's Canadian but that ain't no Canadian accent. It sounds like he has marbles habitually in his mouth. This comes across in his shriek-y handling of Phantom and Valjean.

How he's risen thru the ranks as Broadway's leading man is beyond me. Give me a Stokes Mitchell or Howard McGillin any day.

I’m surprised that Hugh hasn’t had serious vocal problems up until this point. He has absolutely zero vocal technique, and has managed to muscle through up until now. TMM is no doubt taking a huge toll on whatever is left of his voice. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t walk away with major damage at the end of the run. He’s likely running on steroids and other injections at this point.

But Ramin just sort of seems to be… filling space, doesn’t he? I mean, he’s slumming in a role that any handsome tv actor could have gotten through. It’s not like anything is being mounted for him. He’s not winning Tonys. No one really seems excited or even interested in him beyond his pale shirtless Insta posts. He’s never really lived up to whatever his potential was.

I haven't seen Funny Girl and I'm surprised to feel that I'm still not interested. I've heard the great things about the Lea but the reports on the production itself and the weakness of the show itself. and my overall aversion to Mayer's work often have conspired to quell my interest. I did just stream the new album and have to say I'm really impressed by Lea, at least vocally. It seems like she has the rare combo of pleasing, beautiful tone in all registers, great range, and good expression. Belting, it sounds like easy power without strain, and surprisingly sweet in upper notes. Ramin sounds beyond neutral to me - capable, fine, generic. I don't think I've ever seen him live and this surprised me.

Band sounds too fast, to make up for being too thin. Whoever wrote the charts deserves a Purple Heart for getting a bar mitzvah band to even approximate the sound of a real Broadway pit - close but no cigar, sir.

Ramin Karimloo is the Marc Kudisch of the 2020s.

On the London cast recording of Gypsy you can hear Angie let out an exhausted sigh after Rose’s Turn. I love it.

That actually seems about right R403.

[Quote] Ramin Karimloo is the Marc Kudisch of the 2020s.

Oh r403 I think Kudisch always was much more interesting and specific at the same type of roles. The slightly tongue in cheek puffed up bluster and real character in his singing voice. He was funny in Millie in a way I don’t think Ramin would have achieved- although you’re right that he would have been casted. 😉

Ramin has really leaned into promoting his body lately. He always had gay fans so not sure why he feels the need to do this so much at this time. Women always flocked to him as well…and I don’t know that they are going to be obsessed with his gym videos

He barley mentions his wife and children anymore

So is K-Pop basically Korean Six?

Is it just me or is Ramin talented handsome and, obviously, really built and yet not sexy?

R409, I’ve seen Ramin walking around the theatre district and he’s sexier just cruising 8th Ave than he is on stage.

I thought the folks at All That Chat were unhinged (they are) but the Theatre Twitter crowd puts ATC to shame.

On the London cast recording of Sweet Charity, Paula Kelly cracks during her "There's Gotta Be omething Better Than This" solo.

[quote] Give me a Stokes Mitchell or Howard McGillin any day.

I'll take them both at the same time!

[quote] he would have been casted. 😉

There is no such word as "casted." He would have been cast.

It's this middle eastern smugness - and I say that based on personal experience. Some of these guys from that type of background get this "oh you WANT me" look on their face the minute you pay any attention to them. Its gross. If you watch Ramin in his Seth interview, he gives VERY direct eye contact purposefully and then plays dumb to people reacting like he's flirting with them. Girl please....

It's a thing I've seen plenty of guys do. Work out, keep the focus on your 'hot body', then say nothing....but still stand there, chest puffed, or sit with legs spread, and lock eyes with people, no blinking. Then act shocked/bemused when they get flustered. Gross.

And its so sad that fans fall for it and cream themselves for what's essentially an act. Ramin is so proud to be this 'sex god' big fish in a small pond and he brings that energy to everything (Phantom, Les Mis), forgetting that a good actor actually disappears into the role.

Without having seen FG, I'll bet his main focus is to be sexy up there on stage by showing off his physical prowess and hit the notes.....not mine the character for anything human or interesting.

He and Lea must be perfectly matched up there in terms of being in love with themselves. I've never seen them not be.

I think Marc K had some self awareness and genuine charm, like he didn't think he's super hot shit.

R402 I'm the same. I'd like to see this classic sung well, but the set looks hideous and the choreography weak and I just would rather wait to see an overall stronger production.

And yes, 'casted' is annoying and wrong so let's stop that, please.

[quote]So is K-Pop basically Korean Six?

KPOP isn't one-tenth the show that Six is, and I don't like Six.

The KINKY BOOTS revival off-Bway no one asked for closes today.

Anyone see this version?

R414, except for "Casted Diva."

How much money did the Kinky Boots lose on this greedy production?

As two posters above have mentioned, Howard McGillin and Brian Stokes Mitchel might be the best male singers in the musical today. Ethan Mordden's Broadway Musicals discography singles them both out a lot, not just for their voice but for their expressive phrasing.

Mordden said McGillin's Mack in Mack & Mabel is even TOO well sung, because McGillin is so into the lyricism of I Won't Send Roses that it's too sensitive for a character who is essentially cold and narcissistic.

Is snyone else today in a class with McGillin and Mitchell? I wonder what either of them would do if cast in Gypsy. Would they have to bring back a cut number? Nice She Ain't? Or something else?

Steven Pasquale exceeds both in my book. McGillin can’t let go of the legato, Stokes is constantly percussive.

Howard McGillan is talented and from the sounds of it, a lovely guy. But he is 69, entirely too old for Herbie in GYPSY and most male lead roles. He was just in the ensemble of PARADE where I couldn't really tell how well his voice has held up.

Brian SM is 65. I saw him in concert over the past year. He looked and sounded great, for someone who recovered from CV-19.

Pasquale is 46, still in the leading man ballpark.

Is Gavin Creel considered too pop as a singer?

[Quote] He was just in the ensemble of PARADE where I couldn't really tell how well his voice has held up.

Is he that desperate for a few dollars?

I think it was more of a prestige thing. There were some terrific people in featured/ensemble roles in PARADE, which only had 6 performances.

^He played Leo's defense attorney.

Three of the four nominees for Best Revival of a Musical will likely be Sondheim:

MERRILY SWEENEY WOODS

I bet the fourth is CAMELOT. 1776 will be left out, I bet.

[quote]He was funny in Millie in a way I don’t think Ramin would have achieved- although you’re right that he would have been casted.

There's no such word. Did you mean castrated?

What is Marc Kudisch up to these days?

He was the rare leading man who could really handle comedy and making fun of himself. I think Howard McGillin was also good at that, at least in Anything Goes. Stokes, OTOH, always seemed so humorless and stodgy (including in Kiss Me Kate, IMHO), even though he has a gorgeous voice and is a good actor in serious roles.

Gavin Creel is just too sleazy and hammy for my tastes.

Is Aaron Lazar underrated?

Kudisch was in Girl From The North Country until he was replaced by Craig Bierko.

Kudisch was quite good in TGFTNC. I think he's a very fine actor.

But he seems like a strange guy. (Thinking back to rumors about him on the Bway Sex Threads of yesteryear.)

What were the sex rumors?

He loves to have a debate.

[Quote] Is snyone else today in a class with McGillin and Mitchell? I wonder what either of them would do if cast in Gypsy. Would they have to bring back a cut number? Nice She Ain't? Or something else?

Why would you look to cast either man you cite as a vocalist vocalist in a nearly non singing role?

Jesus I was [italic] kidding [/italic] with ‘casted’ because it’s been such a DL bugaboo. And y’all got worked up all over again.

(And I was listening to the new Funny Girl soundtrack while typing)

Why would you look to cast Dolores Gray and Ann Miller in a movie with multiple musical numbers and give them all to June Alyson?

R429 Marc Kudisch had an arc on the David Fincher show Mindhunter (starring Jonathan Groff) where he played a principal who liked to tickle children…

Groff did an interview where he said he would grill Kudisch about Thoroughly Modern Millie in between takes and Kudisch told him he didn’t remember anything about the show.

[quote] 1776 will be left out, I bet.

And risk the wrath of the diversity-driven, non-binary, feminist crowd? In other words, risk the wrath of young white women?

Yawn r439

[quote]Why would you look to cast Dolores Gray and Ann Miller in a movie with multiple musical numbers and give them all to June Alyson?

Because only June had the raw sexuality to inspire lust while attired in slacks and a Peter Pan collar.

I don't know anyone, anyone -- male, female, trans, bi, non-binary, whomever -- that I've spoken to who didn't think 1776 was terrible. I've never heard such universal bad word of mouth. God, when Roundabout screws it up, they do it big.

I personally LOVE McGillin's reading of "I Won't Send Roses"...it might be too lyrical and sensitive for the role of Mack Sennett, but fuck it -- it SOARS in his voice. I love me some Bob Preston, and character wise, he's definitely Sennett, but his voice was ragged around the edges by the time M&M came around.

Howard was also one of the last great Broadway Phantoms. Ghostly, fatherly, over-the-top maniacal but still super sexy.

After looking at the horrifying double truck for Kimberly Akimbo today -- and I loved the show -- it finally occurred to me the inspiration for their tragic art and terrible campaign. Anyone else remember "the Magic School Bus"?

How long did McGillin do Anything Goes in London? John Barrowman was cast at short notice, no?

R443: Actually, Mordden loves McGillin's I Won't Send Roses, too. His criticism was mainly aimed at Jerry Herman for writing too lyrical a piece for a character--Mack Sennett-- who's too earthy and selfish to think of expressing himself so openly.

I don't have the book handy now to check, but as I recall Mordden constantly singles out McGillin's participation in various show albums as essential to the success of the CD-- even in Ziegfeld Follies of 1936, which isn't known for the numbers McGillin is in, like Maharanee and that opening piece where the chorus girls crowd him and he tries to fend them off. He's got a great comical side, McGillin.

I only knew Mordden from his fiction (which I loved) and always forget he has a much more substantial career in theater review/analysis/criticism/history.

[quote]1776 will be left out, I bet.

As it should be, not because of any self-aggrandizing cast member, but because it sucks.

In which of his books does Mordden discuss Mack and Mabel recordings?

I wonder McGillin had to let Allen Carr...

*I wonder if

[quote]Why would you look to cast Dolores Gray and Ann Miller in a movie with multiple musical numbers and give them all to June Alyson?

I heard Dolores and Ann had a freewheeling patio number that ended up on the cutting-room floor.

It's in Broadway Musicals on CD, R449.

It just came out a few months ago.

[quote]Ramin also has a serious speech impediment that no one seems to ever speak to. He's Canadian but that ain't no Canadian accent.

I don't know if it's a Canadian accent, but I would not describe it as a "speech impediment," and certainly not a "serious" one. He does speak with some very odd inflections and pronunciations,

[quote]Band sounds too fast, to make up for being too thin. Whoever wrote the charts deserves a Purple Heart for getting a bar mitzvah band to even approximate the sound of a real Broadway pit - close but no cigar, sir.

I haven't heard the album yet. Did they not beef up the orchestra for the recording sessions? That would be foolish and cheap of the producers if they didn't.

Speaking of Lois Nettleton's Blanche, who is the best Blanche you've ever seen and why? What makes a great Blanche?

Joan at r452, could you come here a minute? That's it...

[quote]Actually, Mordden loves McGillin's I Won't Send Roses, too. His criticism was mainly aimed at Jerry Herman for writing too lyrical a piece for a character--Mack Sennett-- who's too earthy and selfish to think of expressing himself so openly.

If Mordden actually wrote that, it's an example of how he's nowhere near as smart or perceptive as he thinks he is. Anyone with a brain should realize that THE WHOLE POINT of "I Wont Send Roses" is that Mack Sennett is expressing his feelings for Mabel by singing a gorgeous, romantic melody to lyrics that very pointedly and clearly state how he's unwilling or unable to show his tender, romantic side to her. The words of the song are the text of what he says to her and the music is the subtext of how he actually feels about her.

So I do wish people wouldn't keep viewing Mordden as some sort of god whose every pronouncement must be taken as holy scripture of the theater, even if he erroneously thinks of himself that way.

Good point, r458.

[Quote] He does speak with some very odd inflections and pronunciations,

Bernadette Peters is his acting teacher.

*read

[Quote] Did they not beef up the orchestra for the recording sessions?

I streamed it so don’t have credits or liner notes

Ramin was born in Iran and raised in Italy before moving to Canada at 12...Im sure his parents had very heavy accents.

McGillin opened Anything Goes on the West End with Elaine Paige and stayed with it less than six months before Barrowman took over.

Quite a lot of assitant engineers credited.

Monochrome Lea against a monochrome background doesn't work for me, even if it makes the flower and lightbulbs pop.

What's up with the tempii? Does Lea have a show to get to at Les Mouches?

Yes, R458, it must be unbearable for you, having to share the planet with people who don't see everything the way you do.

So somebody interprets a Jerry Herman song in a way you don't like? Call out the Marines! Alert the media!

And you're completely wrong about Mordden's view of himself. In his Theater Talk TV shows on YouTube, he's playful and self-deprecating, very live and let live. You seem to be the one who's full of himself, in fact.

And all this over a song from some old musical? Jesus. Go take a nap or something. Your cranky is showing.

[Quote] Your cranky is showing.

Irony.

Oh, please, R467. To repeat, if Mordden actually criticized "I Won't Send Roses" as too lyrical a piece for a character who's too earthy and selfish to think of expressing himself so openly, then he simply missed the entire point of the song as explained in the lyrics, and I don't think that's a matter of opinion. But even if you think it IS a matter of opinion, I'm entitled to disagree with Mordden's opinion without being labeled as "full of myself."

As for my discussing the interpretation of "a song from some old musical," it's quite foolish of you to make fun of me for doing so, since that's exactly the sort of thing we tend to discuss around here -- not to mention that, of course, it's the very thing that Mordden was discussing.

[quote] McGillin opened Anything Goes on the West End with Elaine Paige and stayed with it less than six months before Barrowman took over.

With him being so tall and her being so short, it must have looked like Tommy Tune and Shirley Temple.

[quote] Monochrome Lea against a monochrome background doesn't work for me,

Looks like she got into Lena Horne’s Light Egyptian. I see a Julie in Show Boat in her future. Darren Criss can play Steve, Amber Riley can play Queenie and Chris Colfer can play Parthy.

[quote]To repeat

Ugh, must you?

[quote]Your cranky is showing.

A simple "Your fly's open" would suffice.

Yes, R472. If only to annoy you.

Casted

-Oh Dear

I appreciate both Mordden and R458's analysis of "I Won't Send Roses". I hadn't considered the lush romanticism of the melody/underscoring as an emotional counterpoint to the gruff, emotional unavailability Mack leads with, but that's a great way of framing it.

McGillin has done some wonderful comedic work as a character lead over the years. His Kodaly in the She Loves Me revival was the standout of that production for me. Jack Cassidy is a tough act to follow in that part, but McGillin really hammed it up and played the cad perfectly. He was also winning, foppish Hook in the Peter Pan tour and also saw him play Applegate in Damn Yankees out at Papermill. That production was a little uneven but he was wonderful in the part!

His recording of "All the Things You Are" on YouTube is a real beauty.

Why didn't he ever become a star?

I enjoyed Ethan Mordden's opera books like DEMENTED.

I tried to read his Bway books but, for some odd reason, the prose seems so heavy handed, like he's trying to write extra complex sentences to show he's a deep writer. I haven't been able to finish any of his Bway books.

There's a guy I used to see in the audience at the MET sometimes that I thought might be Mordden but he was pretty fat, very different from what his book jacket pic looks like (it was likely taken at least 30 years ago, of course)

Anyone know if Mordden got really fat?

Walked by the Winter Garden tonight. All 3 leads are out.

Mordden is obese. Google Images is your friend.

I appreciate both Mordden and [R458]'s analysis of "I Won't Send Roses".

Thanks, but in this particular case, I really don't see how Mordden's opinion is defensible. Jerry Herman very pointedly and purposefully chose to write a beautiful, romantic melody for a song sung by Mack Sennett in which he explains how he's unwilling to express his romantic feelings for Mabel, so it's pretty amazing to me that Mordden doesn't get the intended irony of that.

Mordden gets cheeseburgers.

Sorry, that should have been:

[quote]I appreciate both Mordden and [[R458]]'s analysis of "I Won't Send Roses".

Thanks, but in this particular case, I really don't see how Mordden's opinion is defensible. Jerry Herman very pointedly and purposefully chose to write a beautiful, romantic melody for a song sung by Mack Sennett in which he explains how he's unwilling to express his romantic feelings for Mabel, so it's pretty amazing to me that Mordden doesn't get the intended irony of that.

[Quote] Walked by the Winter Garden tonight. All 3 leads are out.

Hugh, Sutton, and….? Winthrop? Eulalie? Charlie Cowell?

I love this

Why?

Maybe the spiral eyes.

It's certainly no...

R485, Marcellus

McGillin was the longest running Phantom, which was a trade off he made rather than trying to become a bigger star. He needed to support his family. It was probably the right choice, since there aren’t many roles during his career that would have made him a star. He still had a career and a level of talent that not a lot of his peers matched.

McGillin has a lovely voice, though with a very hooty quality towards the break/cover area of his voice, which really worked well for the Phantom.

He's worked pretty much non-stop in New York for almost 40 years. How many others can say that?

[quote]Why didn't he ever become a star?

Gay, you know.

[Quote] McGillin was the longest running Phantom

And the longest when not running too

I’m sorry, Lea sounds like every Jewish girl who has ever sung those songs in a high school assembly.

I’m sorry, r496 sounds like every cunt who has ever cunted on Datalounge

Just for the record... Lea's a practicing Catholic, not Jewish.

Per Wiki: Lea Michele Sarfati was born in The Bronx, New York.[1] She is the only child of Edith Thomasina (née Porcelli), a retired nurse, and Mark David Sarfati, a real estate agent and former delicatessen owner.[4] Her mother is an Italian American with ancestors from Rome and Naples, while her father is a Sephardic Jew with Judaeo-Spanish-speaking ancestors from Thessaloniki, Greece.[b][5] Michele was raised in her mother's Catholic faith, and has stated that her father "gladly" attended Mass with them.

Davis Gaines is another blast from the past with a phenomenal instrument, who probably would've had a MUCH bigger career in NYC had he not gone full Wayne Newton in the vanity dept.

He was a spectacular Phantom in Los Angeles for years. I believe he was set to make a NY comeback in ALW's Whistle Down the Wind, but it went bust out of town. This was probably the late 90s?

He seems to have reemerged in recent years doing regional work out in SoCal. He was on Alec Baldwin's NPR show last year and he said he basically had no representation anymore...it was an interesting conversation but a bit depressing to hear!

[quote]Davis Gaines is another blast from the past with a phenomenal instrument

hee-hee

How does DL rate Maria Friedman? I believe the short-running The Woman in White is her only Broadway credit, during which she was battling breast cancer. I know she's considered British musical theatre royalty. Perhaps the biggest British musical theatre actress alive other than Elaine Paige? I only know her from YouTube clips. From the little I've seen she seems (seemed? has she retired from acting to focus on directing, now?) like a very strong singing actress.

Her Merrily was awful. Her Joseph was shit. She has a face like a wash, cloth.

How many tears, Maria...

*3* GIRLS *3*

Sarah Brightman is associated with "Phantom" and still does her quasi-classical-quasi-musical theater-quasi-whatever-they-hell-they-are tours.

Where's *her* Rose, r505?

Perish the thought.

Made ya think, r507!

R500, I saw him as Bobby in Company at the Huntington in Boston in 1997.

When he stripped down for the Barcelona number, there was a massive bulge in his boxer briefs that had some in the audience tittering.

r501, I saw Maria Friedman in her cabaret style show at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London last spring. Her patter was very charming and warm and witty but I thought her singing was rather mediocre. Perhaps her voice has aged out? But she really knew how to work the audience, who all clearly loved her.

She had several young people singing along with her and doing solos at different parts of the show and one of them was her son Alfie, who was adorable and had a gorgeous voice. I think he's not even 20. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him.

Speaking of Maria Friedman, invited dress for her NYTW production of Merrily was tonight, and not a peep from any of you bitches.

Is anyone going to the first preview tomorrow?

Apparently, we weren't.... (sob)... invited, R511.

Speaking of insider Sondheim reports. Were there reports on here for the Sondheim memorial? I don't recall seeing anything, but perhaps I missed it? Any details to share, lucky invitees?

No reports as of yet...though Michael Feinstein was dishing on the Joan Hamburg Show that Sondheim was prickly to him (and others). And that much of this was to blame on the fact he was an alcoholic.

Shots fired, Mikey!

Who wasn’t Stephen Sondheim prickly to?

One of these threads had a copy of the cover of the memorial program

Say what you want, but “the First Lady of New York radio” still gets the dish, even in her dotage..,

[quote]No reports as of yet...though Michael Feinstein was dishing on the Joan Hamburg Show that Sondheim was prickly to him (and others). And that much of this was to blame on the fact he was an alcoholic.

By far the most surprising part of this to me was that Joan Hamburg still has a show.

That Sondheim memorial was the toughest show to get into. Even Bernadette Peters was calling in favors to get a ticket.

I bet the Widow Sondheim papered the house with hot gays.

All the hot gays wore ballgags in tribute.

The Sondheim Theatre was about half full for the memorial. There was plenty of room left for all of you.

Dunno r521. Apparently some of us are quite large.

Paul Ford posted that Patti LuPone was there and was ticked off that she had to wait in a line.

It’s funny I had posted when this was announced that

1) Bernadette was invited and VIP

2) Patti was invited but not VIP

3) Betty Buckley just read about it on Datalounge…

And I believe that’s how it shook out!

I wonder if SS left instructions that the memorial would be private, modest, and tasteful. Seems as if the silence from attendees has resulted from their discretion or that there just wasn't much to report.

[quote] All the hot gays wore ballgags in tribute.

Lol, hot gays wouldn’t know Sondheim if he shoved a traffic cone up their asses.

[quote]hot gays wouldn’t know Sondheim if he shoved a traffic cone up their asses

Pics please.

Lapine arranged the memorial; don't know, obv, whether Sondheim left instructions. Would love to know who spoke, though, esp. whether the hubs did.

There'll be bootleg audio uploaded soon.

....A Thanksgiving blessing!

Thinking about composer Ricky Ian Gordon's comment about Sondheim, " Sure! He opened a door for new musical theatre writers, but he was the only one who walked through it."

I was never sure exactly how to interpret that.

Don't know the origin of that quote, but SS and Gordon supposedly had a huge falling out after being friends for a time. Maybe this was Gordon's parting shot.

The ubiquitous Solea Pfeiffer sings in another new musical, THE VIOLET HOUR.

I say not bad. What sayeth the DL?

Concord Theatricals Launches New Record Label, Concord Theatricals Recordings

All thiese titles apparently now available for streaming

You could also read Gordon's quote another way: Sondheim pointed toward a new direction for the musical theatre, but he was basically the only person to succeed at it, critically and (occasionally) commercially. All the Sondheim would-bes failed just like all the ALW and Boublil&Schonberg imitators. I suspect Miranda will prove to be much the same.

R534, are you saying that Miranda is a Sondheim wannabe who may yet "fail," or are you saying that Miranda's imitators (if there are any) are likely to fail?

As for Ricky Ian Gordon's comment, I'm not sure if I agree with it because, of course, what constitutes a Sondheim wannabe is a matter of opinion. Is Jason Robert Brown a "Sondheim wannabe?"

r533 includes Whorehouse tour with Ann-Margret

[quote]are you saying that Miranda is a Sondheim wannabe who may yet "fail," or are you saying that Miranda's imitators (if there are any) are likely to fail?

The latter. I fear we're about to get a deluge of rap musicals (probably without any of the old fashioned musical theatre pizzazz that Miranda unashamedly traffics in).

Thanks, R537. I hope that doesn't happen, but I guess we'll see.

I think between digital screens, LMM rap lyrics and 5 piece bands...musical theatre is going down the tubes in the years to come.

No grand sets, no grand melodies, no orchestras....? No thanks.

[quote] Patti LuPone was there and was ticked off

You don’t need to be redundant. When you say Patti LuPone, we just assume she’s ticked off.

I didn't realize Sondheim was an alcoholic, but I just listened to the Feinstein-Hamburg interview and apparently it was common knowledge. Feinstein repeated a George Furth story about taking SS along to an AA meeting.

Still, it's a little shitty of Feinstein.

[quote] I think between digital screens, LMM rap lyrics and 5 piece bands...musical theatre is going down the tubes in the years to come.

Don’t forget all the bland performers the schools are turning out and the gender questioning/sexuality questioning performers who want to take the classics and perform roles they would never be cast in and see how far they can run with them.

Oh, and Tonya Pinkins. She will burn down the American Theatre all by herself. Which will set off a reactionary tweet from Patti LuPone that she is really leaving the theater this time and she means it! Then the Tonya fans and the Patti fans will set fire to TKTS, because theater discounts are the straight, white man’s privilege and others shouldn’t have to stand in line.

R541 Jerry and Liza will be so proud of him.

R541, Mikey Feinstein also went on a podcast and revealed how the Academy “sabotaged” Liza’s Oscar appearance by insisting she appear in a wheelchair or she could go home.

A prince among men.

Michael Feinstein being a shitty person? I, for one, am shocked.

Lapine threw out his remarks when it was his turn to speak and instead told peculiar anecdotes about doing pot w Sondheim. 🤷🏻‍♂️

"Doing pot?"

Sondheim loved his weed, apparently, as does Lapine.

R547 More, more!

[quote]Lapine threw out his remarks when it was his turn to speak and instead told peculiar anecdotes about doing pot w Sondheim.

What a putz.

Merrily we roll a joint.

R550, What, no circle jerk anecdotes?

[quote]Paul Ford posted that Patti LuPone was there and was ticked off that she had to wait in a line.

Mayor Shinn?

[quote] Perhaps the biggest British musical theatre actress alive other than Elaine Paige?

Biggest? Not while I'm around, no sir!

Wonder how Groff is finding working with the barely talented Ratcliffe?

Is it some secret that should be kept if Sondheim was an alcoholic?

According to Feinstein, Steve’s favorite meal was vodka, vodka and more vodka.

[quote] Wonder how Groff is finding working with the barely talented Ratcliffe?

Is Radcliffe the new Beanie????

R556, I'm sure some people think that way because they are still so protective of their God, even if they didn't know him at all on a personal level, and even though he is now deceased. They refuse to accept that he was a human being with flaws and issues like everyone else.

I have no idea if Sondheim would actually be classified as an alcoholic, but I do remember someone who knew him telling me that he would sometimes get drunk and then dash off nasty letters or emails to people who said or did things that struck him the wrong way, even if they were longtime friends or acquaintances. That sounded like accurate info, based on anecdotes I've heard from several other people.

Daniel Radcliffe was excellent in THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT on Broadway. I'll admit that his other stage performances were wanting in one way or another, but since he was so good in LIFESPAN, I'm guessing that bad direction was the issue in all of those other shows.

How many famous writers and composers did not have an affinity for alcohol?

I was never an alcoholic.

Alcoholics are people like Elaine Stritch, who go to those annoying meetings (only to disrupt them), then go on drinking in private while they go on and on pompously about quitting drinking.

I was a proud drunkard.

R580 Endgame was fucking awful too, mostly due to him. he just seems wafer thin. His acting and physicality.

No, not some secret to be kept, r556. If anything, it might have one of those things that nobody told you because they assumed you knew. Feinstein gossiping about it during an interview (albeit one very few people listen to) is just cheesy.

What I wouldn't have given to have heard the stories at that memorial. I hope there really is an audio.

Howard McGillin really is a sweet guy, he never “loved” playing The Phantom, but the show was all the better when he was a part of it, he took the production very seriously and gave the role respect.

Sondheim loved his Absolut Lemon. The widow Sondheim loved the blow.

Prepare ye for a very boring Sweeney Todd…

[quote]What I wouldn't have given to have heard the stories at that memorial. I hope there really is an audio.

I'm sure many of the speeches were very touching, and some probably quite humorous, but it sounds like you're expecting that there was a lot of spicy gossip shared at the memorial, and that seems rather doubtful to me.

[quote]Wonder how Groff is finding working with the barely talented Ratcliffe?

Groff being the second coming of Olivier?

Lapine told two very funny stories which you'll hear on the leaked audio.

Not at all, r566. Touching and/or humorous is exactly what I would hope for.

r544 which podcast? I want to hear that. My understanding was that they ambushed her with the wheelchair at the last second...not that they gave her an ultimatum to sit or leave...!

That will always bother me. Honestly, I'm not a huge Liza fan but they did her so dirty. They could have already had her seated on a set piece or something. And where was Joel Grey? Why not have the two of them on stage together? Why Lady Gaga? Fuck her, she had nothing to do with Cabaret...OR Sound of Music...OR whatever other popular famous thing she wants to glom onto. Fuck off girl.

Maria Friedman has an odd voice. I’ve only seen her a couple of times and there were a couple of years in between. An interesting Roxie in London. Not much of a dancer but she did have a certain radiance onstage. Saw her at Cafe Carlyle circa 2003 and in London in 2008. I thought she did the best reading of “Children and Art” I’ve heard. Frankly I generally hate that song but her version live made me reevaluate and hear it in a way I never had before. When I saw her in 2008 her voice was rough but I can’t help but think her cancer and treatment took a toll.

Next thread, 503

Somewhere on YouTube there is video of Sondheim teaching at Oxford, and it includes 5 or 10 minutes of rehearsal for the London production of Sunday--Maria F. was Dot. She was very young and positively radiant (and her voice seemed fine to me). Easy to see why SS loved her.

[quote]Sondheim loved his Absolut Lemon. The widow Sondheim loved the blow.

I would be astonished if SS himself didn't at least try coke in the 70s: all the theatre queens did. OTOH, the idea of SS raging about crazed on a coke bender is pretty funny--and completely out of character.

Didn't someone have a Twitter feed called Drunk Sondheim at one point?

"Even Stephen Sondheim, a composer and lyricist known for his cerebral and meticulous approach to his craft, admitted in a recent HBO documentary that he’d never written a lyric without alcohol. Not so much that he loses his editorial judgment, but just enough to loosen him up."

[quote] Wonder how Groff is finding working with the barely talented Ratcliffe?

What does Groff care? He’s in a high profile, sold out show. All the better if he outshines Radcliffe. This will no doubt generate more opportunities for Groff.

[quote]Guess we’ll continue this thread with a Reba name, since no one else was “quick on the trigger”.

I bet you're quick at *everything*, r572. You just couldn't let the Reba shit go, could you?

Link to the doc r573 talks about

R570, Liza was told she had to appear in the wheelchair or she could not go on.

Liza had not been announced, the Academy would have had Gaga present solo.

For R570 . . .

Maria Friedman was fine when she stayed in her lane. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was not it. Portions of the music sit in her break and she doesn’t move very well between head and chest voice.

Liza Elliot

for r574, Sondheim spoke of his coke use in the Secrest biography. I think he was open about having used it, but eventually stopped having it around because it made him jangly. And there's an old story about Burt Shevelove being handed a framed picture at a SS party and starting to hold it up to get a better view, which would have dispersed all the lines of coke on the glass.

So yeah.

Yes, I was told, for many years, Sondheim couldn't write a lyric with out coke, not alcohol. (And that came from a very reliable source.)

[quote] Wonder how Groff is finding working with the barely talented Ratcliffe?

Groff spent two years working opposite Russell Tovey. I’m sure he’s used to working with talentless Brits.

Booze (within reason) and pot make sense to me for songwriting. I have limited experience with cocaine, but I cannot imagine being able to focus intently on music and/or lyrics on coke.

Can any writers here speak to that?

R586, I'm sure you're right, and that people like R584 are just shit-stirring idiots.

Why? Because booze is more respectable than cocaine?

Booze lowers inhibitions and you're able to say what you've always thought and felt without any censor. Pot opens your mind up to other ideas so far out of left field that you probably would have never thought of them without it.

Writing a first draft drunk or high isn't the worst idea in the world, but it's always important to write the second draft sober.

So many here are speculating on Sondheim's recreational pot and booze habits as if they never indulged. So what if he had an addiction? Still a genius.

[quote] How does DL rate Maria Friedman? I believe the short-running The Woman in White is her only Broadway credit, during which she was battling breast cancer.

I had tickets to Lady in White on Bway with Friedman but she was out for cancer treatments, so I saw her boring understudy. I don't know if even MF could have elevated that crap. I recall when buying tickets that I thought, "Even if it's bad, ALW always writes good, memorable tunes." Turns out I was wrong.

On another matter, I hear from a good source that Jeanna "Diana" de Waal will be Ashford's understudy or stand-by for Mrs. Lovett. Could be interesting.

Don't forget to join us for yet another Reba thread, already in progress.

Fin.