THEATRE GOSSIP #513: Give us some Sugar

Previous thread

The real question is who is playing Nancy in the Encores Oliver?

Heather Headley?

Lena Dunham?

Billy Porter?

85-year-old vampire Barbara Sharma!

Sutton Foster is Nancy and they're replacing As Long as He Needs Me with Forget About the Boy so Sutt can tap her little heart out.

[quote]85-year-old vampire Barbara Sharma!

"As long as she bleeds me ... "

Norbert is a brilliant guess for that blind item! Bravo to the poster in the last thread who offered that.

Following up on item from late in the previous thread . . . IIRC, in Eddie Shapiro's NOTHING LIKE DAME, Donna Murphy explained that she paid a private acting coach to direct her in KING AND I, with Christopher Renshaw's tacit approval or at least acceptance. Bizarre.

Murphy was fantastic in King and I. Oddly it doesn’t seem like that difficult a role. Why would she need an acting coach

And she won a Tony, too!

Is Encores suddenly doing Herman shows because he’s dead? I heard he had blocked Mack and Mabel until near his death. Was Dear World also blocked?

[quote]Murphy was fantastic in King and I. Oddly it doesn’t seem like that difficult a role. Why would she need an acting coach

Did Marie Osmond need one?

When I first saw Cheno in Charlie Brown, I thought it's the second coming of Barbara Sharma!

r602 in the last thread:

[quote]Jerry Herman did not know how to dramatize with song.

Time Heals Everything? If He Walked Into My Life? I Am What I Am? I Don't Want to Know?

Donna Murphy won the Tony thanks to the egregiously stupid Julie Andrews.

[Quote] The real question is who is playing Nancy in the Encores Oliver?

Who’sFsgin? I bet there’s a black Bill Sikes because diversity. And racism.

sorry — Who’s Fagin?

and a little Latinx Oliver who will sing ¿Donde Esta Amor?

I just got tickets to Dear World. I like Jerry Herman and am looking forward to seeing Donna Murphy, who is great in everything she does

Zach Sayles is becoming Nancy

Who's going to do The Tea Party with her, r18?

[quote]IIRC, in Eddie Shapiro's NOTHING LIKE DAME, Donna Murphy explained that she paid a private acting coach to direct her in KING AND I, with Christopher Renshaw's tacit approval or at least acceptance.

Then, in my opinion, she DID NOT get her money's worth. As I wrote above, her performance was far too heavy and entirely humorless -- PLUS her vocal quality and singing style are all wrong for that role.

Thanks to whomever posted the front row TAKE ME OUT VIDEO in the last thread. Thanks to the shameless, brave queen who filmed it.

My hope of hopes is that he also filmed the earlier shower scene, so I can finally get some footage of sexy hottie Tyler Lansing Weaks!

Billy Porters playing Ragon.

[quote]Thanks to whomever posted the front row TAKE ME OUT VIDEO

Oh, dear.

Please repost it here

Hmmm. Why would Ramin need one of his old Phantom masks?

I see this criticism a LOT on Datalounge that “so and so was humorless” in the role.

Betty Buckley in Gypsy

Donna Murphy in King and I

Bernadette Peters in Follies

Does everything have to be a laugh riot? Hearing Betty Buckley belt the score to Gypsy for me would be worthy of a ticket price over an actress who can’t sing that makes jokes. But that’s just me.

It's not about "making jokes". It's about acting the role. Are you dumb?

Hearing Donna Murphy was humorless in King and I isn't that surprising considering I saw her replacement and she was humorless too - and it was Faith Prince!

You can’t have a black Bill Sykes because the SJW’s will lose their tiny minds about a black rapist.

Musical version of The Time Traveler’s Wife opening in October at the Apollo (aka The Ap) Theatre in London. Here we go again.

Kelli O'Hara was a laugh riot as Mrs. Anna and was awarded a Tony for her hilarious performance.

r22 He didn't, he said he only recorded the Jesse scene

some like it hot had the lowest % capacity and the lowest average ticket price last week

That didn’t stop them from having a Black Billy Bigelow

SLIH still sold 8,422 tickets last week

For all the acclaim hurled at Murphy in Wonderful Town and Tony nominated Westfeldt, I found replacements Brooke Shields and Jennifer Hope Wills to be far more funny and winning, and believably sassy, especially after they'd been in the show a while and made it their own. The orchestra had been downsized by then, but they were so much more energetic and spontaneous and spot on. And Wills didn't need to option down on Conversation Piece.

Murphy did a "wacky" period voice for the show.

[quote]some like it hot had the lowest % capacity and the lowest average ticket price last week

[quote]That didn’t stop them from having a Black Billy Bigelow

Some Like It Hot has a black Billy Bigelow?

Apparently the rest of the cast for "Dear World" was briefly posted on the City Center website before being take down again—Brooks Ashmanskas, Andrea Burns, Ann Harada, Christopher Fitzgerald, Kody Jauron, Philip Johnson Richardson, and Samantha Williams.

R33, God bless his soul.

That is quite a list of competent, utterly unexciting performers for "Dear World," R39.

I'm figuring Ann Harada and Andrea Burns for Donna's fellow madwomen.

I'm still looking forward to it, anyway.

I think we're not discussing this project enough.

I liked (didn't love) the movie back in 2016 but was always shocked how quickly it seemed to vanish from the scene after the Oscars debacle. I never heard the songs or the soundtrack anywhere afterwards. The music theatre kids never seemed to embrace it the same way they did other movie musicals.

What do we know about Justin Hurwitz, the composer?

I swear, if you put a gun to my head I couldn't recall a single plot point of La La Land except for a traffic jam at the beginning.

If the Tony Awards are smart, they will already lock up Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway to present Best Musical the year La La Land is eligible.

This description of Oliver on the Encores site

[quote] Bart’s coming-of-age classic finds new life in this landmark Encores! revival that invites you to “consider yourself one of us!”

It's not a coming of age story

inviting you to consider yourself one of us makes me scared Lear is going to add some community chorus again.

My friend saw Pictures From Home for the second time (what??????) last night and swears Danny is wearing a new, less fake looking, hairpiece. She said whatever they did it's alot less distracting.

Chuck Cooper as Fagin!!

If I were Norbert Leo Butz, I'd hate Neil Pepe, too. He's a terrible director, despite last season's terrific American Buffalo. He should stick to Mamet.

WOLF PLAY at MCC is a huge surprise. Great play, impeccable staging, and oh, that actor/puppeteer!

Anderson Cooper *IS* Fagan

[quote]Kelli O'Hara was a laugh riot as Mrs. Anna and was awarded a Tony for her hilarious performance.

Your sarcasm is unwarranted, because that's not what I meant when I described Donna Murphy's performance as humorless. I'm sure you know this and you're just trying to be an asshole (and succeeding brilliantly).

That said, although I think Kelli had a fair amount of humor in her portrayal of Anna, I would say Marin Mazzie had more and gave a better performance overall.

I don't know what all this is about the cast of DEAR WORLD being posted and then taken down from the City Center website, but here's what was announced:

"Alongside Donna Murphy (previously announced as Countess Aurelia), the cast will also feature Brooks Ashmanskas (President), Andréa Burns (Constance), Christopher Fitzgerald (Sewerman), Ann Harada (Gabrielle), Kody Jauron (Artiste), Phillip Johnson Richardson (Julian), and Samantha Williams (Nina)."

[Quote] Does everything have to be a laugh riot? Hearing Betty Buckley belt the score to Gypsy for me would be worthy of a ticket price over an actress who can’t sing that makes jokes. But that’s just me.

Then put on "GYPSY In Concert" but otherwise, GYPSY has book scenes. Buckley's depressed take brought the energy down. It made the night mostly a slog.

The 1776 tour is offering bargain prices!

Because Superbowl/Eagles fans are just stoked for this non-traditional production!

So, I've somehow never seen a Bock & Harnick show other than Fiddler and She Loves Me. Which of their other scores are worth checking out?

Donna Murphy can be very funny onstage: Song of Singapore, Anything Can Whistle at Encores, Wonderful Town, and, yes, King and I. Mrs. Anna is not exactly a laugh riot, but I thought Donna found all the humor (and warmth) in the role when she played it.

Tenderloin, Fiorello, The Rothschilds . . . oh hell, even The Body Beautiful has a few worthy songs. They were first class.

S of S

Whistle

One more vote for Donna's onstage humor. Of the divas who played Dolly in the last Broadway revival, Donna was the only one of the three to get a laugh from the audience when the curtain at the top of the stairs opened up and she struck one of the most fabulous poses I've ever seen, as in "Here I am boys, you better get ready to adore me." Bette found every other bit of humor in the role (Bernadette not quite as much), but only Donna got that big laugh before the title number.

[quote] Hearing Donna Murphy was humorless in King and I isn't that surprising considering I saw her replacement and she was humorless too - and it was Faith Prince!

the role isn't funny

[quote]the role isn't funny

I imagine Elaine was dryly so, r61.

The role isn’t funny, per se, but it can be performed with warmth and a twinkle in the eye, especially the scenes between Anna and the King.

R58, R59--thanks for posting those. more proof of what a fantastic artist Donna Murphy is

Don't forget her Phyllis!

R56, I agree that Donna Murphy can be and has been very funny in all of those shows you mentioned except THE KING AND I, which of course calls for a different, far more subtle kind of humor, but it DOES require humor. I do think she projected warmth in the role when necessary, but for the most part, she played Anna as a very serious woman, almost depressed. You can even hear it a little on the cast album, for example in the dialogue before "I Whistle a Happy Tune" and "Getting to Know You." Plus, as I said, she chose to belt in some very inappropriate places, such as the ending of "Hello, Young Lovers."

That Anyone Can Whistle clip is a riot. Sorry I missed it!

Christ on a cracker! Of course the role of Anna in THE KING AND I doesn't require the performer to be funny in the manner of a Neil Simon comedy or THE PRODUCERS or HAIRSPRAY. But there is lots of humor in the scenes between Anna and the king, and if that humor is not there, the actors and/or the director are at fault, and those scenes suffer greatly.

So... why is the cast of Sweeney Todd so unhappy?

R69, I spit my water out laughing so hard!

Prime time

And why the hell does Daniel Torres think he can act like a diva?

Broadway rhythm it's got me....everybody sing and dance!

I was funny! Fuck you!

Patti's...

[quote] although I think Kelli had a fair amount of humor in her portrayal of Anna, I would say Marin Mazzie had more and gave a better performance overall.

I agree. Marin Mazzie was a better Anna than Kelli and as I think I've written before, even made "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" work, which can be kind of a dud in the wrong hands - or even in generally capable hands.

r74 "Original?" Hardly.

Irene Dunne...is she really finished?

[Quote] as I think I've written before

I’m sure you have

For me, Donna's Ruth Sherwood was one of the great performances I saw in that era.

As for her Mayoress, she looks for all the world that she's channeling Lypsinka. Which is a good thing. (In fact, Lypsinka would have been great in the role.)

Primetime's over?! Why didn't I write down all the questions/comments I've had for the last few weeks? Sigh... All I got is WHET Jonathan Cake? Oh, and is Gavin Creel really dating Taylor Trensch?

[quote]WHET Jonathan Cake?

He dropped the e.

The Wonderful Town revival was a lot of fun and Donna was hilarious especially when she was tackling a pullout sofa. Even dull as dishwater Greg Edelman loosened up and was endearing.

R83, Didn’t Brooke Shields receive praise as Donna’s replacement?

Welcome to the theatre!

I'll add my vote to those saying Donna is funny. I think she is, too, her Dolly was my favorite, by far. Hilarious. And warm.

R84. Brooke got praise AND her own WT CD and she sounds surprisingly good.

Audience behavior is worse because people’s behavior is worse.

See news articles about airports, airplanes, hospitals and restaurants.

Theatre is no different.

2016 really changed the country in ways people still don’t admit.

[Quote] The Wonderful Town revival was a lot of fun and Donna was hilarious especially when she was tackling a pullout sofa. Even dull as dishwater Greg Edelman loosened up and was endearing.

So Kathleen Marshall is a [italic] good [/italic] director?

R88, and yesterday, I was on the NY subway in the middle of the afternoon, around 3:30. The car was crowded, and believe it or not, there was a guy lying on the floor, stretched out, and SMOKING. Someone asked him or told him to stop smoking and stand up, and his reply was "Suck my dick." Then he started ranting about racism. (The guy was black.) I guess this post is somewhat OT, since I highly doubt this guy ever attends the theater, but what he did is emblematic of the more general problem.

R49, is the cast/staging of Wolf Play very different from Soho Rep?

I did not love it there, but I cannot imagine it working in a more formal space.

I saw WOLF PLAY at MCC. A manic over-directed mess of a show IMHO that willfully obscures any emotion that might have been found in the very simple heart-rending story. Was it trying to be very Brechtian in its constant alienation of the audience? But I guess I can see how younger people might be into it. And it was good to see so many younger theater-goers in the audience.

That playbill article is depressing but I did love naming the anonymous managers and ushers interviewed after the orphans from Annie.

I ordered the published version of THE MINUTES last May - it's not going to be published until THIS May.

Why does Tracy take such a long time to write a forward?

Little victories....

SUGAR DADDY....

Anyone seen it?

Donna was a great Phyllis - the only person who has really tried to rethink the role instead of just playing Alexis Smith playing Phyllis

News has just come that Tonya Pinkins will be featured, along with Tony Shalhoub and others, in a private industry reading of a play titled PLEASE LEAVE, directed by Bob Balaban.

What an appropriate title for a project involving Tonya Pinkins.

Look for an announcement soon on Joe Mantello's latest Broadway project, GRAY HOUSE, with Stephen King-ish horror elements.

[quote]with Stephen King-ish horror elements.

Not since Carrie...

R99, maybe Tonya Pinkins can be in that one, too. "Stephen King-ish horror elements" sounds about right for her :-)

I'm sure more than one company has wanted to hobble Tonya Pinkins after a couple weeks of rehearsal.

Every Broadway house should adopt the same policy as "Take Me Out". All phones in Yonder pouches. Oh, and ban the sale of all alcoholic beverages. Sell lemonade and pretzels instead. If you need to get drunk to enjoy a show, stay home and watch reruns of Seinfeld. This way you won't have to get dressed and you can yell at the tv all you want.

Maybe you should stay home and enjoy your pretzels and lemonade.

I guess that 4k video was taken before the pouches.

Pretzels are crunchy but loud -- that's why less intrusive-sounding popcorn was a much bigger seller and perennial at the movies

Maybe they meant soft pretzels, r106.

After a few days in rehearsal with Tonya they'll be changing the name o' that play to GET THE FUCK OUT, BITCH.

R108 = Jesse Green

A few threads back someone said Cameron McKintosh pissed off/screwed over Michael Crawford badly, so he'd be unlikely to attend the closing of Phantom in April.

PLEASE SPILL THE TEA.

I haven't been able to post on this crazy site in WEEKS and now for whatever reason it's letting me. This has literally been driving me batty since I read it. What happened? I'd heard they'd treated Christines poorly (Caine in particular) but Michael...? News to me.

I'm willing to bet that one of the major reasons for the recent rise in horrible theater etiquette has to do with more black audiences in attendance. Broadway has been on a mission for several years to court more black people to come to Broadway. Anyone who's ever had black neighbors or been to the cinema knows they are generally loud and unruly. Now add 'woke culture,' which pretty much dictates that criticizing/admonishing black people is akin to racism, and ushers et al. are less willing to intervene and blacks feel entitled to continue to act out.

[quote] I'm willing to bet that one of the major reasons for the recent rise in horrible theater etiquette has to do with more black audiences in attendance.

Always with the racism

[quote] I'm willing to bet that one of the major reasons for the recent rise in horrible theater etiquette has to do with more black audiences in attendance.

I've seen it alot with Russians. You know, like you.

When Millie first opened, was there any blowback about how weird it was to have a white actress mimicking an Asian?

Granted, the show is quick to point all the jokes in Daisy's direction. The gag is "look what a lousy actress she is!" but some of the laughs were about her accent.

It's a great show and I like it but I wonder if it's now considered "racist!!!" or maybe I don't get how uncomfortable it would be for Asian audiences.

Curious if there were complaints then.

Asians hated it the stereotypical portrayal as a "Chinese dragon lady," but Harriet Sansom Harris , who portrayed her, said specifically she tried to make the role as stereotypical and cartoonish as possible.

I'd say the most unruly audience members are white trash from Long Island and Jersey (I'm white btw). They are impossibly entitled and love to mouth off with the slightest provocation.

R81, isn't Taylor Trensch still with Ben Levi Ross? Don't recall hearing about any break-up.

[quote]It's a great show

Said almost no one else ever about Thoroughly Modern Millie. Or, as Forbidden Broadway put it: “The worst Best Musical EVER!”

Contact was the worst Best Musical

[quote]Contact was the worst Best Musical

It was?

While bad behavior in the theater has grown exponentially - especially during/after Covid - I would argue that it's always been around in some form. Alcohol and drugs, and mental health issues can be causative, but you never know who will explode and for what reason.

Back in 1980, at the Lunt Fontanne Theater, a fistfight broke out right behind me during the Act 1 finale of a musical. The instigators were a young couple who aimed their fury at the theatergoers around them, who were shushing them because of their constant, loud conversations during the show. The person who most angered them was a young gay guy sitting next to them whose arm was in a sling. They beat him mercilessly, and when others jumped in to protect him and break up the fight, they also set their pugilistic wrath upon them. The theater's management did not immediately intervene because I'm not sure they realized what was happening. After all, a big Act 1 finale number was going on, and most of the audience was applauding. It was loud all over the theater.

But as soon as the lights came up, a squad of ushers and security descended on the couple and dragged them out of the theater. The anti-gay verbal tirade from the couple that followed as they were escorted up the orchestra aisle was painful but not surprising. What was surprising was that during the second act, the couple returned to the front of the theatre and began banging loudly on the doors that exit to 46th street, screaming, "WE'RE GONNA GET YOU, FAGGOT!!!" over and over again. Very unnerving.

Of course, this story is so sad and ridiculous because the musical being performed was the Jule Styne, Comden & Green's version of PETER PAN during the Act 1 finale when Sandy Duncan flies out over the audience. We missed all of this by ducking down in our seats to avoid the blows.

I always wondered if Sandy Duncan could see the fight as she flew overhead...

For all you cheap queens waiting to post a comment, pay the damn low LOW fees! What are they....$2/month?? And DL makes it super easy to renew or discontinue your monthly fee each month.

I don't miss that money a bit and enjoy the pleasure of posting whenever I feel like it. And starting threads, too. Please join me.

[quote]I always wondered if Sandy Duncan could see the fight as she flew overhead...

She only saw half of it.

R123 I'm going to hell.

First preview of Gypsy with PLP: during the overture woman shushes angry man seated behind her and he tries to strangle her. Katharine McPhee, who is seated nearby, runs up the aisle to find an Usher. All is well by the time the overture ends.

R121, holy fuck! That really happened??

LOL, R109. I hardly think Jesse Green is the only person with very strong negative feelings towards Ms. Pinkins, although of course, he has even more justification than most others for said feelings.

Thank you, Aurora...

I love Liz's voice.

The Look Of Love clip is surprisingly good!

[quote]I always wondered if Sandy Duncan could see the fight as she flew overhead...

[quote]She only saw half of it.

Very funny, R123; I cackled as well.

As a follow-up to my story at R121, I emailed my two friends who were at that performance of Peter Pan with me. They added a few more details that I didn’t remember:

- The gay guy with his arm in a sling was a porn actor. I’ll never know how we knew that since none of us ever watched porn LOL

- After the police dispersed the couple pounding on the door during the second act, the management was still afraid they might lurk around waiting to get revenge once the audience exited after the show. So, they had some stagehands escort the gay guy to the subway to make sure he would get home okay.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress...

Police dispersed the couple? Why didn't they lock them up?

Good question. I don't know, but I'm guessing that the police didn't know the whole story about the fight, just the banging on the door.

[quote]The gay guy with his arm in a sling was a porn actor.

I can't decide which retort to go with.

I love you, BillyBoy.

[quote]I've seen it alot with Russians.

Oh, dear.

[quote]The Look Of Love clip is surprisingly good!

Agreed. That show was SO awful overall that I guess I forgot it had some gems in it. The biggest surprise of that clip is how good the orchestra sounds, especially for a Roundabout production. Although I guess those must have been synthesized strings.

Deadline reviews "Pictures From Home":

Billy Porter could plays Phillis in Follies

[quote]You can’t have a black Bill Sykes because the SJW’s will lose their tiny minds about a black rapist.

I'm about to lose my tiny mind about the revelation that Bill Sykes WAS a rapist. I don't recall THAT in my Dickens, nor in a 1960s West End musical. A card-carrying domestic violence exponent, certainly, but get a grip.

I could see both being POC. Like Joshua Henry as Bill Sikes and Joaquina Kalukango as Nancy.

Who will play the dog?

Oh my gosh. That wig on Danny Burstein.

More PICTURES reviews are in, if you're curious...

What do we think of Sir Andrew's song for BAD CINDERELLA?

Will the scene where Bumble sells Oliver to the highest bidder and sings BOY FOR SALE now be considered controversial?

Consider yourself at home!

Consider yourself one of the family!

In Wonderful Town, Donna Murphy gave one of the single greatest musical comedy performance I have seen. It’s up there with Lansbury’s Mame.

And, yeah, I know: MARY!

Man, Jesse Green labored hard to say anything good about Pictures From Home. I'm starting to prefer the Post's Johnny Oleksinski.

R143, from what I can see in the photos, there's nothing wrong with Danny Burstein's wig in this show. I would guess the only reason you have such a negative reaction to it is that you're not used to seeing him wear a wig, and also, it's not that common to see men wearing wigs onstage in non-period pieces. But obviously it was felt that a wig was necessary for him in this role, and I think it looks just fine.

I've seen him wear a wig before, so there goes that theory.

Is Danny playing someone of Asian heritage?

I guess I have a different opinion of Donna in Wonderful Town. I thought she was technically perfect, as if she spent 2 weeks perfecting just the right Ohio accent, but it still felt small to me, rather than larger than life, which is what that part needs. And I saw her both at City Center and on Bway. I really liked Jennifer Westfeldt though, even more than Benanti. Hey, just my 2 cents.

Benanti did Wonderful Town?

R154

I think she did it when I was at encoreS

Why didn't she transfer?

From the Deadline review of PICTURES FROM HOME:

[quote]Unlike the men of the family, she has absorbed a sense of guilt over her very successful career, a guilt reinforced over the year’s by Irving:

[quote]The challenge proves a bit too tough even for the indefatigable and always appealing Lane, whose left to fill the holes with high-volume point-making.

I guess some of these websites/publications really don't have proofreaders or editors anymore, do they?

If Rounds was still in business, with that wig, Nathan would be the luckiest eldergay in town.

R156

I think it was because she was going in to nine

Danny is wearing a much more realistic looking hairpiece now. The first one was awful and distracting. How on earth did they let him go on stage with that dead rat on his head.

Did anyone see Chip Zien on "Ghosts" last night getting turned on by the OCR of "La Cage Aux Folles"? Pretty funny.

R160, is the wig/hairpiece in the production photos the one you think looked ridiculous, or the one you think looks much more realistic?

Actually, I believe the wig on Danny as well as the wig on Nathan, were both replaced after the productions photos were shot. Or perhaps, Nathan's original wig had some hair thinned out of it. That's usually the problem with bad wigs, they have too much hair in them.

Gotta say I'm another big fan of Johnny O's theater reviews in The NY Post. He tells it like it is, not attempting to intellectually please the woke culture.

R160. Danny's wig in production photos looks terrible. R163 is right. They must have gotten him a new one or thinned the other one out after pics were taken.

Nathan appears to be channeling Charles Nelson Reilly.

R166-They were both bottoms until Nathan's closed in protest.

So did it get thumbs up or down?

Nathan's ass? Just the one thumb.

Very mixed reviews with most liking the actors but not the script or direction. Bart Sher, you in danger, girl. Better get cracking with that revised Camelot.

Bart is also directing the stage version of "La La Land".

Revolution complete.

A stage version of Lalaland. Hope it includes the moment when they go, “Moonlight. You won.”

If you can do it...

[quote]Will the scene where Bumble sells Oliver to the highest bidder and sings BOY FOR SALE now be considered controversial?

Especially with the addition of a Bryan Singer character as one of the bidders.

In his name-dropping novel “Up With the Sun,” Thomas Mallon fictionalizes the minor career and tabloid murder of the Broadway actor Dick Kallman.

R175, Who else remembers him starring in the television series “Hank”?

I remember that series, R176. It ran only one season.

Seriously - no details on Crawford's beef with the Phantom team?

Bumble selling boys has nothing on Fagin collecting them and forcing them to work for him. Talk about trafficking.

I think you mean “grooming” R179.

I mean he forces them to work for him and skims their takings in return for keeping them secreted in a not very comfortable den.

[Quote] [R175], Who else remembers him starring in the television series “Hank”?

The way I know about Hank is my dad bought an album for a dime at a yard sale called “Dick Kallman Drops in as Hank!” I played it on the record player constantly as a gayling. It’s how I first encountered many of the classics like “Come rain or come shine.”

It was only on DL 30 years later that learned about what happened to Kallman and his wife.

Thanks r175. Just bought the book.

R182, There was no wife for Kallman. The book chronicles his close friendship and business partnership with Dolores Grey. He was murdered with a young boyfriend.

R184, for years I thought he was killed with his wife! It was only just reading the review of the book that I learned it was with a guy.

He was gay??

From wiki:

Kallman had from youth exhibited an appreciation of fine antique furnishings and an acumen for business.[1] Kallman formed a music publishing company in 1966.[3] By the late 1970s, he had retired from show business and was a wealthy antiques and art dealer and living with Stephen Szladek, his life partner, in a Manhattan apartment.

Kallman and Szladek were murdered by three intruders in 1980 during a robbery of the art, antiques and jewelry in their apartment.[7][8][9] The killers later were caught and convicted.[8]

Kallman was never classically handsome, but kind of appealing as a young man.

Channeling Dobie Gillis pretty heavily here.

Is Dolores Gray featured in this? Dick Kallman was her walker.

Here he is with a young Dyan Cannon. I guess this is before he (allegedly) broke her finger on the set of HOW TO SUCCEED.

She should never have allowed him to sit on it.

In HALF A SIXPENCE (as a bottle blonde).

“Hank” opening credits.

I'm reading the Dick Kallman book, now about 2/3 through and can't put it down.

Though not great literature, it's eminently readable, with hundreds of references about the minutiae of show biz from 1950-1985. Everyone from Bess Myerson to Mike Connolly to Margaret O'Brien to Paula Stewart to Sophie Tucker to Lesley Gore to Peter Noone is referenced, and Dolores Gray, Robert Osborne, Carole Cook, Kenny (Boys in the Band) Nelson and Lucy Ball are major characters, all interacting with Dick. It's amazing how Thomas Mallon researched his life and was able to connect all these personalities.

Highly recommended for all DLers!

R190, Dyan began dating Cary Grant around that time.

It's stereotypical, but I've always wondered how a production of Oliver! would play with the subtext that Fagin has molested at least Dodger.

R196 again -- I'm also reminded of a high school production of Annie I once saw, where Annie and Miss Hannigan were both played by seniors and thus looked about the same height. That created some odd associations in my mind.

The surprise of the book for me was Kallman's longtime crush on Kenneth Nelson; they appeared together in the musical SEVENTEEN. However, Mallon at the beginning of the book says it was "inspired by actual events that were considerably altered by the author's imagination." So who knows?

Yes, r198, I would hope to read an interview with Mallon in the near future in which he talks about what was invented and what wasn't.

Was Dyan Cannon well-regarded in her day, or was she just famous for dating famous men?

R196 shut up and drink your gin.

I saw her in How to Succeed with Kallman, r200, and she was wonderful in it. But she was not very well known until a few years later when she did Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice.

R202, And received an Oscar nomination.

I'm reading it now. It's a campy hoot.

So gang what are the Tony front runners in May gonna look like this year? Any predictions?

Jodie Comer will win Best Actress In A Play.

R205, Will Swenson

No one from Pictures From Home.

Lea will get a Special Tony for saving B'way.

And Beanie will present it.

She won’t perform except at dinner

A regular Mary.

Fingers crossed for a Best Musical award for Kimberly Akimbo.

A Strange Loop is rumored to be going to London for 12 weeks this summer.

R214-Good God, WHY?

[quote]It's stereotypical, but I've always wondered how a production of Oliver! would play with the subtext that Fagin has molested at least Dodger.

It wouldn't make sense. The song "Consider Yourself" would have to be reimagined. Dodger is happy to be part of Fagin's gang. It's where he feels he belongs. If he had to put out sexually for Fagin, he would be looking to find another gang to join and that's not the story that is being told.

Billy Porter IS Norman Desmond!

Not necessarily. People who are molested don't always seek escape.

Worst thread ever?

[quote][R214]-Good God, WHY?

Revenge for the War of 1812.

what is happening at Sweeny Todd?

I have had it. Officially.

Strange Loop in London? If you thought tix were cheap and easy to get in New York wait until you see all these empty seats!

I wouldn't assume that, R223. If the reviews are really bad (which would be delicious), then your assumption may be correct.

Fine. Let Billy Porter ruin Sunset. Unlike The Life, there’s not much more harm that Porter can inflict on Sunset since the original shoe is so crappy.

[quote]the original shoe is so crappy

Pics please.

Playbill took down the article on post-pandemic audience unruliness, which is perhaps the first instance of the new EIC's editorial interest running up against Playbill's business interests.

With a limited run in London, Strange Loop will do

Just fine

Coming soon:

"Che Diaz: The Musical"

[Quote] If the reviews are really bad (which would be delicious)

Wow you’re a cunt even by DL standards

R178, I adore your persistence! Not exactly what you’re looking for, but directly related, Cameron has ALWAYS had a love/hate relationship with The Phantom of the Opera, it wasn’t “his baby” and that has always irked him, always.

As long as Hal was alive Cam was never able to meddle with it too much, but once the great Mr. Prince started to decline, Mack the Miser got started cutting back here and there, gone was the old school Hal team, enter the MacKintosh cronies who slowly, and not so gently started to dull out the original creative teams directives and designs so once Hal Prince passed away, all that OG energy could be culled so Cameron could cut out the various estates and grab more Phantom cash. Andrew doesn’t care about anything but whatever new baby he has, Cameron has taken over casting nods and keeps the Phantom role track pay LOW, no Star salary there.

From the start he let Crawford know the show wasn’t a Star vehicle, fate had other ideas, MacKintosh was very rude over the years to the original stars, little slights, refusing to fly them in for anniversary events and determined to cut their royalties to zero. That’s what’s happening now, once Broadway shuts down, no more original creator estates get a cent. All about the cash, it’s over now the music of the night indeed…

Look for skullduggery in the next month or so as well, the Phantom has some drama yet…

What royalties would original stars get? Cast recording royalties?

How long before stories of Lea’s behavior backstage at Funny Girl come out?

[quote] and keeps the Phantom role track pay LOW, no Star salary there.

To be fair, the Phantom is only onstage for a total of 18 minutes.

[quote]It's stereotypical, but I've always wondered how a production of Oliver! would play with the subtext that Fagin has molested at least Dodger.

It wouldn't play well at all. Doing what you suggest would be far too creepy and disgusting for a musical, especially one that has gained a rep as a family show. Stupid idea.

[quote]Playbill took down the article on post-pandemic audience unruliness, which is perhaps the first instance of the new EIC's editorial interest running up against Playbill's business interests.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what happened.

Playbill is a joke, as always.

I think Lea is smart enough to behave herself. FG threw her a lifeline and she's not going to fuck it up.

That explanation of the Phantom situation is riddled with misinformation. For one, original stars don't get any royalties. Jeez.

[Quote] stories of Lea’s behavior backstage at Funny Girl

There are none. She’s fine and company is happy

Damn, I wish someone had copied and pasted that unruly audience article posted at r85.

Why do we think it was taken down?

[Quote] I've always wondered how a production of Oliver! would play with the subtext that Fagin has molested at least Dodger.

You’ve [italic] always [/Italic] wondered that? Ewwww

r239

I agree... she's on her best behavior

Or maybe she’s just nice

Here you go, R242

Thanks! I wonder why it was removed.

[quote] I've always wondered how a production of Oliver! would play with the subtext that Fagin has molested at least Dodger.

This is from a troll. It's too idiotic to be taken as a serious notion.

That article is spine-tingling. But why were all the ushers given ANNIE orphan names?

As said upthread, no actors are paid any sort of royalties ever. Obviously, star might get get a cut of the week's profits in addition to their salaries, but no money is due them after they leave.

Directors, composers, writers, choreographers and designers of Broadway productions are contractually paid royalties on any and all companies produced under the auspices of the original producers, and often percentage points on those companies' profits, as well. Cameron cannot simply decide to cut those payments as they are all part pf the original union-sanctioned contracts of those artists. Even if an artist dies, the payments must be paid to their surviving spouses.

Not that there can't/won't be drama at PHANTOM, but that won't be part of it.

Do you know if that i is the same in London, r250?

[quote]With a limited run in London, Strange Loop will do

And Phyllis Newman will have to do as Hattie.

Stella, r252...STELLA!

Arrived late to this thread, so please forgive me for referring to older comments. Did not at all enjoy Pictures From Home. Thought it was a thin play, humorless ( though the audience laughed a lot) and had a rare, bad performance by Nathan Lane. I am looking forward to Dear World. I hope Miss Murphy has learned to sing in tune. Her singing in The King And I was painful. Never got to see her in Wonderful Town, in which she was, by all accounts, wonderful. Ben Brantley, writing in the NYTimes said. “On your knees, citizens of Broadway. A superwoman walks among you,

Goldie’s face

Donna Murphy is terrific, and yet . . . there is just a heaviness of spirit and presence about her which works against some of the parts she’s played, even when she’s been good technically.

[quote]there is just a heaviness of spirit and presence about her which works against some of the parts she’s played,

Lenye? Fosca?

It's not actually the case, but in the photo, Goldie looks a little like she's mocking being there.

Goldie’s face is mocking her body by being there!

R 257: I was thinking more along the lines of Dolly Levi, no need to get defensive. There’s just something tight and guarded about her no matter how good she is.

I'm not defensive, r260, I know the role you would have meant.

Stop putting a space between R and the reply number, please!

[quote]Stella, R252...STELLA!

Aughh. I can't believe I did that. Thank you, R253.

r232 thanks for the reply! Were you the one in the previous theatre thread saying to count out Michael Crawford?

You are quite right about Cameron telling Michael it wouldn't be a star vehicle. He said it in a Behind The Mask BBC special years ago, adding "if you don't understand that now, we're going to have terrible rows!"

And it's also been stated by others - not Michael as far as I know - that even when it opened on Broadway, the leads were reminded that they could easily be replaced for less money (likely not Sarah, for obvious reasons), which is pretty awful considering the show had just opened and the cast and company were all getting praised to the heavens by everyone.

There's the fact that Michael never got to do the film version - which was seemingly promised to him from the get-go - because everything dragged on for so long that Sarah and Andrew divorced and Webber then had to get control back from...WB was it? Anyway, I could see that still bothering him...

...BUT Michael has appeared in the past for big Phantom events to get some cheers and take another bow, and this is the last big one in America. If only to remind everyone he's the OG, I could see him popping up at the very end, during that final weekend. They're doing a charity show the Friday, two public shows on Saturday, and the invite-only finale on Sunday. Whether or not Cam is his best friend, I can't imagine they'd leave him out of it, or that he'd refuse to attend. Phantom, as you pointed out, very much was his star-making role, and reprising it in New York took him from London Famous to Famous Famous in a huge way.

If he wasn't there it would have to be because of something more than just getting attitude from Cam back in the day or missing out on the awful movie version, which couldn't even have been saved by his presence in it. So...IS there something bigger between Crawford and Cam, or him and Webber?

Yes, it is heartbreaking seeing the show get whittled down to keep the profits up (like Cam really needs it), but I didn't realize the current cast aren't paid especially well. I suppose I should have...but it's still a big deal show, as is evidenced by the ticket sales these last months. Why not pay them well? That said, I've heard several actors openly joke/bemoan "nobody knows or cares who is inside the mask."

Now I'm curious who the best-paid Phantoms were. Michael? Howard? Hugh? When did it start to decline?

Cam is obviously trying to cut out the estates of Maria, Hal and Gillian...though it's interesting how in all casual interviews, the cast members, past and present, are always quick to mention their love of those three specifically and rarely say anything about Webber or Cam, unless required to.

What kind of skullduggery do you anticipate? I'm not even really sure what that means in this context, LOL, so I'm curious. Obviously, there's the question of what will happen with the sets, but other than that, are there really loose ends that could be interesting? Aren't they just going to do the last show and pack everything up and say bye? Or is there some "exit clause" or payouts or something?

I just hope that whatever it is they do to mark the closing, they bring back some vets and allow the paying public in that final week to have some contact with them, photos or Q&A or something. It's sad to see that Wicked had a whole televised event for it's birthday, but Phantom's 35th was crickets.

I guess you're right about Andrew's focus being elsewhere. God help us if he tries to bring in Paint Never Dries. Cinderella will, I suspect, prove a flop. It would be nice for him to focus on Phantom's future.

Speaking of which, once Webber and Cam are no longer with us, who controls Phantom's destiny?

I’m sure I remember reading years ago that per Crawford’s original contract, as the first Phantom he was deemed to have been an original creative and had negotiated a 0.25% share of all profits for all stagings of the original production. Which doesn’t seem that implausible, as he was a big star in 1980s - especially in the UK.

It’s a tiny fraction as a percentage, but - if true - it’s a substantial amount of cash when we’re talking about a property that’s grossed several billion dollars.

He deserves it. He really helped create that character and did so beautifully. Others who have gone bigger with the part really undermined the show. There's a reason some refer to the Phantom as having "Drag Queen energy". I've seen some painfully wild Phantoms.

The Phantom cast is not paid badly. Their pay is commensurate with other actors in long-running musicals (Wicked, Lion King, Chicago). Michael appeared at Phantom celebration long after the movie came and went, so that is not an issue.

I don't think the post upthread was referring to the Gerard Butler movie. Crawford can't have expected to play the part by then, can he?

Crawford was prominently featured in the Phantom 30th Anniversary Gala in London in 2016. Nothing that has been posted here about him is accurate.

[quote]I don't think the post upthread was referring to the Gerard Butler movie. Crawford can't have expected to play the part by then, can he?

Maybe you should try reading that paragraph again:

[quote]There's the fact that Michael never got to do the film version - which was seemingly promised to him from the get-go - because everything dragged on for so long that Sarah and Andrew divorced and Webber then had to get control back from...WB was it? Anyway, I could see that still bothering him...

r264 when is your book coming out?

[quote]That explanation of the Phantom situation is riddled with misinformation. For one, original stars don't get any royalties. Jeez

Well go on then r240, if you're so knowledgeable about the situation tell us what actually is happening

[quote]As said upthread, no actors are paid any sort of royalties ever. Obviously, star might get get a cut of the week's profits in addition to their salaries, but no money is due them after they leave.

Well that's just utter bullshit, r250. See the link.

For those who missed the Playbill article before it got yanked, there's an archived copy at the Wayback Machine.

R265 you are correct. Crawford did indeed negotiate those terms. Negotiating the original deals in 1985 were very different than what’s become of theatrical salaries in 2023.

I’m sorry to inform some of the MacKintosh apologists who spread on here, he is CLOSING the show. He is not trying to “cut out” royalties while it’s running. The Broadway version is over, Hal’s original direction will NEVER be seen again, it’s a different show without that specific pacing, go watch it in the UK. The original production contract stipulations become null and void, this is what he recently did in London. This is also why he commissioned the horrific Larry Connor tour mounting, a pale comparison to the original and MUCH CHEAPER TO RUN.

R267, of course the cast is paid according to Equity contract levels. The role of The Phantom however, originally, was highly paid, once an actual star, Crawford, exited the role, it was capped, which kept away any other big name replacements, not that the show ever needed that. David Bowie was eager to take it on in the late eighties, but that never came to be…and Crawford came to the 25th because Sarah and the original London cast were set, he came over after Wizard of Oz, very different from being flown in for an event.

R264, you are very informed for sure, I think there will be some surprises that final week, and having Michael Crawford there would seem a “must”, we shall see. Pretty sure all principle contracted Broadway Phantoms get a few cents under 10K weekly for the role. McGillin was a tough customer regarding his compensation negotiations. Good for him!

Cameron MacKintosh is a vile man at his core, it’s not even about money or power to him, he just seems to like to break things at this point.

Let’s not forget that Michael Crawford was not the first to be considered for Phantom. It was written with Colm Wilkinson in mind.

I wonder if CamMac held that over Crawford’s head? “Really, Michael, we may just wait until Colm is available.”

Some truth to that R275, Cameron always complained about the level of professional ownership Crawford was given in London in the early days. He usually was “The Boss” and let that be known during Les Miz, with Phantom not so, he wasn’t particularly respectful of Hal Prince either, he even “fired Hal” at one point in the pre-production phase. Colm btw did get VERY well compensated for his Toronto Phantom stay, but Garth was “paying” that bill.

Crawford did Les Miz?

No, Cameron.

I can see your confusion, the shift between the two sentences was slightly misleading, but Michael never did Les Mis. He was referring to Cameron's attitude during Les Mis.

No R277, Les Miz was always Cameron’s baby, The Phantom was his halfmasked stepchild.

Big love letter to SLIH in Sunday NY Times reveals what’s at the root of our disappointment in today’s design work. Every creative talks about the historic examples they sought for inspiration (or is it imitation?). It’s design in the internet age where research stands in for creativity

[quote]Pretty sure all principle contracted Broadway Phantoms

Oh, dear.

[quote]Cameron MacKintosh is a vile man at his core, it’s not even about money or power to him, he just seems to like to break things at this point.

This comes across when he says weird things like he 'discovered' Alfie Boe, or when he insulted musical theatre singers (y'know, the ones who made him a billionaire) as screechy. It's just him insulting people who rely on him for work.

I've asked before why Sondheim would've been such good friends with someone who cares so little about art, maybe it's just the nastiness and bitchiness they shared.

He reminded me of my mother.

R280, Boris Aronson - one of the finest Broadway designers ever - also researched for inspiration. Some Like It Hot’s design is the very least of its problems. If that show is the yardstick (it is not), I’d be more concerned about the state of directing, performing, writing, and composing.

Funny, I was just about to ask the same thing. I can't imagine a basis for that friendship.

Cameron knows how to treat those he may respect, but overall his default is to beat down and conquer, at his worse he enjoys anxiety and fear to be the overall temperature. Very cunty, very rich. He also hates queeny behavior, if an actor is too swishy they are usually “gone girl” very quickly, let us not forget the LES MIZ MATINEE MASSACRE of 1996…

Whaaaaat?

Do tell! Never heard of that....

re Dick Kallman, when I was a young gayling just arrived in NYC, I went to my first gay bar alone, Uncle Charlies (38th and 3rd?). Dick Kallman picked me up an took me home. We were off and on fuck buddies for three years. He was a very kind and gentle soul, and loved to live with beautiful things, including the bodies of young men.

The year before he was murdered I entered a monogamous relatiionship and stopped seeing him. A year earlier, I could have been the young, dead, naked "assistant"

r287, Which part are you asking about, the queeny actors getting fired or the Les Mis massacre? The latter was big enough to hit the press.

Oh..I'm asking about both!

Didn't DLers claim that the original male lead in Miss Saigon was queeny onstage?

The one who got the part because he was sleeping with the producer?

Sometimes you have to sleep with the writer...

Willy Falk is as manly as they come!

Was it Daniel Torres and Jordan Fisher who got into a screaming match during ST rehearsals? Or were they both yelling at someone else???

[quote]I've always wondered how a production of Oliver! would play with the subtext that Fagin has molested at least Dodger.

On it!

You just know that Liza's thinking, "Who the fuck is...Mina?".

After a while Liza's ESCHES sounds like someone walking thru shlushy shnow, R298.

r284 I wasn’t complaining about them doing research, you pedant. I was noticing that they haven’t used that research to inspire really original ideas (perhaps like Aronson’s Company elevator or his Chagall-inspired designs for Fiddler) of their own

R288, Did you know who he was the night he picked you up and brought you home?

I actually wouldn’t mind seeing another vision of Phantom. This one has gone so long

R288:

No,I only knew he was probably rich, from his tailoring, that he bought be drink and dinner, and that he wanted to have sex, as did I. at that point I was so ignorant of theater, that i would not have registered if he had told me his real name.

R300, calm down. You're complaining because the designers did thorough and dutiful research for SLIH and created a "lavish" period set, rather than an abstraction, as if it's some great theatrical crime. As Addison says, "You have a point. An idiotic one, but a point."

Sondheim Letters on Insta has a story that Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga are doing Old Friends in the West End.

I guess Salonga might actually get to do stuff from Pacific Overtures. She wasn’t in the original concert last May.

Boris Aronson didn't merely put big projections of Chagall paintings in his Fiddler sets as some designers today would do. He used Chagall as inspiration and created a world that evoked Chagall.

r304, if you can't see the big difference between what passes for Broadway set design today and the artistry of what often came before, you obviously never saw some of those productions onstage, created by the likes of Aronson, Tony Walton, Oliver Smith, Robin Wagner, Ming Cho Lee, David Mitchell, William & Jean Eckart, et. al.

Aronson's original sets for Cabaret, Fiddler, Company, A Little Night Music.....we have nothing to compare with those with now.

And Eugene Lee. RIP

I like a good ol' Broadway massa-cree!

I don't think you could take Goldie's face at face value because it looks like she only has, erm, one value.

Her plastic surgeon must've been like, "You can either have this expression or the other one."

R306, even Robin Wagner’s train car set in the original Sugar got great reviews!

Too bad Goldie never performed on Broadway. She could have played SUGAR!!!!!

Hmm. A 16 week run for a concert presentation. I wonder if there will truly be enough demand for this. But, speaking of Cameron and Steve, he's bringing the Old Friends Sondheim tribute concert back for a 16 week limited run with Bernadette. Lea Salonga is joining the cast, too.

Did Lea Salonga ever perform in a real Sondheim show?

r313 - she's done his work in concert a lot. Not sure if she's done any full productions of a Sondheim show other than this weirdly stylized steam-punk'esque production in the Philippines and Singapore

Quiet here. You queens all watching the football?

I wrote at on here after the original broadcast, but I thought Old Friends was a misconceived funereal clusterfuck, and as a devotee of many decades standing it pained me to hear Bernadette in such poor voice. By September, it’ll be almost eighteen months since the original concert and she’ll be 75. A 16-week run? In this economy and with that instrument? Good luck, I guess.

But also featuring Lea and Joanna Riding? I’ll be buying tickets.

Lea Salonga IS Mrs Lovett!

R316 - I largely shared your opinion. I was surprised at how much the concert was loved in other corners. Sondheim's 80th Birthday concert with the NY Phil was MUCH better. I just don't think the Brits are -- broadly speaking -- as attuned to his work as NY actors.

Reading the novel based on Dick Kallman. Interesting. I mostly like it, though the jumping between time frames cuts up the momentum a bit.

I'd pay good money never to see Bernadette sing Mazeppa again.

[quote]Cameron MacKintosh is a vile man at his core, it’s not even about money or power to him, he just seems to like to break things at this point.

I've had this feeling about him pretty much since the beginning. I think he and Lloyd Webber, and to a lesser extent Boublil and Schoenberg, were largely responsible for almost destroying musical theater in the 1980s. Glad to see that so many others seem to finally be catching on to Cameron. Better late than never.

Did Sondheim hook up with Cameron McIntosh back in the day? I'm thinking 1980s.

He was sorta cute when younger.

Okay, I LOL'd. The Kallman novel uses the phrase "dead to me."

The author MUST be a DL'er.

r302 Try taking a look at some of the non-replica productions that have existed in Europe, with totally different costumes and sets. You'll wish you hadn't.

Unlike other shows that can be reinterpreted with the changing times, Phantom can't exist in multiple incarnations and work. Maria Bjornson's designs are honestly perfect for the needs of the piece, and beautiful to look at. They can't be bettered.

Did the film version - with different costumes and sets - look better or just as good? No. Did the horrendous "brilliant original!1!" tour CamMack created - with different costumes and sets - look better or just as good? No.

The version of Phantom that's closing in New York is really the end of the show. The mood it created, the transitions from scene to scene...man. It's perfect. The best you can do is imitate it, but you'll fall short if you try to go in different directions.

If Webber and CamMack think the score is enough and people will flock to it if that's the only thing that's the same, they are in for a shock.

...my fear is that part of the reason they're shutting down all the original elements is to remake Phantom's image so they can re-open Love Never Dies and have the two be more compatible together. The original POTO never needed a sequel. They have to bring it down in quality and tweak it to create the sense that the story could conceivably continue.

So here's an audio of Block's version of the last scene in Sunset Boulevard.

YIKES.

She's swinging wildly and giving us ALL the emotions. Makes me love Buckley's restraint even more. Some parts aren't easily reinterpreted. Buckley is Norma. The End.

It's painful to see how other actresses dive into it and turn into sobbing yelling messes.

I'd hoped she be excellent, and granted, this wasn't a long run and she didn't have much rehearsal time, but...I wouldn't be comfortable watching this.

I was one of the last people to see Dick Kallman alive.

It was at a dinner party at Russell and Diantha Nype's, and they had invited Dolores Gray, so Kallman, her usual escort, was there, too.

After dinner, we were in the living room and various guests were singing. I was the pianist, and when it was Gray's turn she barked at me, "Here Comes That Rainy Day," in A Flat, as if we were in a Deanna Durbin movie. I can't play by ear and i really don't even know that number, so she had to sing it a cappella, glaring at me the whole time. Kallman didn't sing. Russell had just come back from a tour of The Music Man, so he sang from that score.

The odd thing is I recently read a story very similar to mine, and I have told my tale online in various places. So I wondered if this was coincidence or...something. But my tale (which I have told here in the past) is authentic.

I haven't read this new novel, but my understanding of what happened to Kallman and his buddy is that some magazine had done a spread on his fabulous art collection, antiques, collectibles, etc. And gave his address. The thugs had it all laid out for them.

Was there ever a fully detailed account of why Cheno and Idina Menzel didn't get along behind the scenes of Wicked?

I know it's really old news and they're okay (ish) now, enough to perform together at events and such, but my understanding was that Cheno bolted from the production after losing the Tony Award to Idina, and that the piece was centered around Glinda more initially, so Idina coming in (to replaced SJB) and the thing getting retooled to be more of a 50/50 split between the two witches was disappointing/annoying.

I rather like Cheno, though and I can't imagine her being difficult just because she'd have to share the show a teeny bit more. So...what's the deal?

They always denied it in interviews, except to say "people have different personalities sometimes!" but it seems like it was more than that. My thanks to anyone who can remember the details.

r323

I never use this expression, but god, that's a punchable face.

Anyone seeing the charity concert of Ragtime? Think Kelli O'Hara will be able to pull off "We Can Never Go Back To Before"?

r328

What I heard from an understudy/chorus member in the show was that Menzel and Joe Mantello were the ones who clashed. Chenowith was just an innocent bystander in the squabbles.. '

(BTW why did Stephanie J. Block not take the role to Broadway?)

In the next thread, can we promise never to speak of fucking Phantom again? I remember seeing it the very week it opened and realising by intermission that it was a cold turd.

All this frau-like bemoaning of its “end of an era” closing 35 years later is a bit much, since to those with any taste in their mouths, it always sucked. Aren’t their already dedicated fan boards for this on GeoCities or wherever?

Well r331 supposedly the producers felt they needed a bigger name to make the show a success, so she got bumped for Idina, who had already had success with RENT, and she ended up in the ensemble. Come the night of the Tony's, according to the video below (10:40) she was drinking with friends and castmates at a bar after Idina won and apparently needed to be told to basically shut up LOL because she was annoyed at what she's missed out on. Honestly, I don't find her as warm as Idina, so I'm glad it went to her instead. Eden Espinosa's my preferred Elphaba anyhow.

Bumping SJB for a bigger name makes sense when you consider they also bumped Morse for Joel Grey at the Wizard, thereby giving the show three Tony-friendly leads (Idina, Cheno and Joel). Although Morse was apparently not great in the part and had personal issues.

But yeah, I definitely think there was stuff going on between Cheno and Idina...this wasn't about Idina and Joe M. Consider: Cheno and Idina never even appeared at the same time as each other on GLEE, and that was not lost on the press who were following the rumors of their feud or whatever it was.

Here's what I found on the BWW message boards:

The screaming fight was apparently because Idina went to Kristin's room at half hour-ish to give her a heads up that she had done an interview (broadway.com?) that could be misread...they asked her if her attendance record (flawless) should be a factor in determining who won the Tony, and she said something like "I hope so." Which is harmless in itself, but could be interpreted as a slam against Kristin, who had missed many shows.

Kristin supposedly interpreted it exactly that way and was not happy.

In fairness to Chenoweth, she did have a lot of injury/health issues during the run--not to mention having to perform sick when one understudy was recovering from a stroke and her standby, Laura Bell, jetted off to LA for an audition without telling anyone. Plus, the vehicle had been created for her, and as they shaped the story, they learned that Elphaba was the more interesting character and Glinda faded a little (I thought both were terrific).

So I guess I can understand why she's be good with putting this one in true rear view mirror....especially since at this point, she's made (and continues to make) a STAGGERING amount of money from having done it. Not to mention that it rocketed her to a new place in terms of what other projects came her way. "Wicked" did far more for her career than winning the Tony did a few years earlier, IMHO.

Ignore this, I'm just posting it to see why I have R328, R329 and R330 blocked. Either they posted something racist in another thread or I accidentally hit the block key (which happens occasionally and it's regrettable that there's no way to undo it!)

You can undo a block. Go to ignored and remove the ones you don't want blocked anymore.

R333 Dumping Robert Morse from "Wicked" for not being "Tony friendly" doesn't make much sense since Morse had TWO Tonys, one for "How To Succeed..." and the other for "Tru".

He was dumped because he was a drunk, no?

Wasn’t he also dumped from Show Boat before it moved from Canada to Broadway?

does any of you have tickets to any of the new spring shows? God there are so many 'big' shows still to come - NYNY, Sweeney, Dancin', Shucked, Kite Runner (is that big?), Parade, BAD Cinderella, Fat Ham, Camelot...................

Kite Runner (which was unspeakable) played last summer. Did you mean Life of Pi?

No one will speak of Life of Pi either.

Don't know what may or may not have happened during Wicked but I've worked with both Kristin and Idina on other projects and I MUCH prefer Kristin who was a total joy. Adorable sense of humor about herself and everything else, sweet to everyone on the crew and a strong work ethic. OTOH while Idina was totally professional, she was always very cold, self-absorbed and shut off from everyone. Not a bitch but just no fun.

R321, those men were able to ruin Broadway back in the 1980's because AIDs destroyed at least two generations of creative, artistic men - and I truly mean "creative" as originally defined, not in the current fashion where it is assigned to everyone, especially those without any creativity at all.

r327, you r anecdote about Kallman and Gray sounds like it could be a scene in the Mallon book. I loved the book. So readable and juicy, Everyone here should read it now!

Phantom was always a first rate production of third rate material. Without the original direction and design, everyone will see it for what it is.

There have been many DL posters over the years who are obsessed with PHANTOM and CHICAGO and their 24th cast changes, whereas most of us would rather talk about new shows. Or FOLLIES.

r339, I may be in a small minority, but I don't really want to see any of those (and so don't have tickets). Camelot is the only one that sort of interests me. If I can get a discount/rush ticket of some kind, I might go.

Pretty sad. I don't know if the problem is the shows or me. None of them seem that exciting.

[quote]...my fear is that part of the reason they're shutting down all the original elements is to remake Phantom's image so they can re-open Love Never Dies and have the two be more compatible together. The original POTO never needed a sequel. They have to bring it down in quality and tweak it to create the sense that the story could conceivably continue.

Interesting, but in what ways do you think they might "remake the show's image" and bring it down in quality? Do you mean that you feel a more spare production would go together better with LOVE NEVER DIES? And do you think they would somehow change the ending of the original PHANTOM?

I had heard, and this makes perfect sense to me, that one major cause of the rift between Cheno and Idina was that the latter was understandably very upset when Ben Brantley's NYT review of WICKED praised Cheno to the skies (she was already a Brantley favorite) but, as I recall, gave Idina short shrift and contained some negative comments about her performance. And though of course this is gossip and may be false, I had heard that Idina had expressed her feelings about that to Cheno in no uncertain terms.

R343, that excellent point has been made before, and I fully agree. Very sad.

Idina can't act.

[quote][R304], if you can't see the big difference between what passes for Broadway set design today and the artistry of what often came before, you obviously never saw some of those productions onstage, created by the likes of Aronson, Tony Walton, Oliver Smith, Robin Wagner, Ming Cho Lee, David Mitchell, William & Jean Eckart, et. al.

Can't speak for other designers, but anybody who studied under Ming learned to not put ANYTHING on stage that couldn't be backed up by research.

Yep.

Regardless of whatever future PHANTOM has in terms of new productions, I wonder if it has occurred to Mackintosh or anyone in his circle to make a high-quality film/video of the Broadway production before it closes, either with the current cast or some replacements in key roles. On the one hand, seeing how some other ALW shows were filmed as stage productions (JOSEPH, CATS, SUPERSTAR), it would be surprising if it did NOT occur to Mackintosh to do this and preserve the original production of PHANTOM as a high-quality video. But maybe he's that stupid.

So the terms weren’t certain, just not uncertain…got it. Glad you were to document these atrocities.

There's needs to be a Dolores Gray biography. If Kay Thompson can get one, why not Dot?

The Mallon book about Dick Kallman practically is a bio of Dolores Gray, too. She's a major player in the story, though as unsympathetically portrayed as he is.

Do they delve into Dolores' background? I've been skeptical about the claims that she came from money.

Brief musical interlude, courtesy of BABY.

Dutch producer Albert Verlinde announced on Insta today he’s producing a revival of Jesus Christ Superstar directed by Ivo van Hove. So those Hosannas about van Hove focussing on film/TV were a tad premature.

Was the story that Dionne Warwick taught the Broadway cast (i.e. Jerry Orbach) how to sing "Promises, Promises" complete b.s.?

Sounds like complete bullshit, R362, because first of all, I'm sure Jerry Orbach had no trouble getting those rhythms down with just the help of the musical director, and also, Dionne did not exactly sing the song in the same style that Jerry did.

R334, I have the same person(s) blocked, so they must have said sometime F&F worthy in the past.

New York Magazine ran the profile of Dick Kallman, replete with photos of his apartment and the beautiful things he sold from it. The murder happened a few weeks later.

She gets a ton of criticism here, but Buckley was brilliant in Sunset Boulevard, far better than Close. And believe it or not, Stephanie Powers at the Ogunquit Playhouse was an excellent Norma.

Paige was better than Close and Buckley. She brought humor without seeming like a cartoon.

Yes, I've always thought some press agent came up with that Dionne "Promises, Promises" story. It's still being repeated by her acolytes.

Finished the Mallon/Kallman book.

Overall I enjoyed it....as I said above it keeps going from "present day" (early 80s, for this narrative) to earlier timelines and it is a bit choppy as a result.....in my humble and unimportant opinion, a bit hard for the story to get a real momentum.

But boy, this would make a great limited series. A cast of hundreds mentioned. Lucy, Margaret O'Brien, Carole Cook, Dolores Grey and Robert Osbourne (!) are just a few.....and the last page was sweet and made me tear up a bit.

[quote] Dutch producer Albert Verlinde announced on Insta today he’s producing a revival of Jesus Christ Superstar directed by Ivo van Hove.

Let's speculate on what he'll do.

Mary might sing 'I Don't Know How to Love Him' while slowly riding the dozing Jesus's cock.

When the nails go into Jesus's wrists, they will spray the entire audience with Campbell's Tomato Soup as a sort of communal baptism.

Jesus will be nude and half-mast the entire time

Played by Jesse Williams, of course

Herod will flash his vagina.

I'll be available for 75 percent of the performances.......or not.

Idina is not as warm and friendly as Kristin…but Idina has also been shit on a LOT and there is a reason why she is so removed.

Kristin, except for her incident with CBS, has always been a critics darling, award magnate and fan favorite.

In many ways they were the Patti LuPone and Bernadette Peters if they had done a show together

R327 nice story. I have ordered the Mallon book.

Parker Posey is a hoot in SEAGULL/WOODSTOCK.

While Christ is dying on the cross, his virgin birth, complete with close-ups, will be shown on a huge video screen.

And Kanye will play Judas.

[quote]Jesus will be nude and half-mast the entire time

[quote]Played by Jesse Williams, of course

AMEN!

What the fuss?

The bottled water you buy at intermission will be converted to wine for Act 2.

that would actually be cool r380 but it's not savage and cubist enough for Ivo.

the grosses come out so much later than they used to. Giving Charlotte more time with her red Sharpie?

Paige was a revelation at the performance I attended in London. She was rushed in to be a temp replacement for Buckley who was having her appendix removed. This was obviously being done as a huge favor to ALW. Anyway Paige was totally doing an imitation of Swanson in the dialogue stuff but that singing voice…gorgeous. And she got a huge laugh on “Now GO.” Buckley hardly even got a titter for that. Paige was flying by the seat of her pants so her performance had a wonderfully spontaneous, free flowing quality. I decided not to see her in NY because I suspected she was overthinking it like she apparently has done with other long runs.

Where did Janis Paige do Sunset Boulevard? I bet she was fantastic!

Anyone know why the Mallon book is called Up With The Sun? I don't remember any reference to it . Googling the phrase gets a few songs with that title, but none that seem to have any reference to the book.

IIRC "Up with the sun..." is part of a lyric in a song that he (or maybe it was Kenneth Nelson?) sung in SEVENTEEN.

sang? sung?

I dunno.....

Well, I actually think JC Superstar is the perfect vehicle for Ivo.

[quote]Where did Janis Paige do Sunset Boulevard? I bet she was fantastic!

Not Janis --- PETER Paige.

I loved Jerry Orbach, adored his singing in The Fantasticks and Carnival, but thought he ruined most of his songs in Promises, Promises. Dionne should have coached him.

According to the new book, Dick Kallman was brutally murdered in one of those yellow upholstered chairs in the photo in that NY Magazine article at r365.

Just ordered the Mallon book from the library and it’s already on its way!

Is Dick wearing a leather vest? And what gay impresario brought him over to the U.K.?

Elaine Paige was also a very funny and lovably loony Norma on Broadway which brought needed lightness to a self-serious and otherwise Great Big Musical. In her acting she knew how to flesh out the book of that kind of show with emotional heft, big emotions to match the hugeness of the production. She was delightful through and through.

I meant to second act her, r394, but I didn't get a chance.

Thanks, r386. I thought that migt be the case. I'll listen to my SEVENTEEN OBC to see if it pops up. MARY!

I was surprised to discover that revue that had a lyric about Dolores Gray being thirtysomething "again." I guess she truly was famous in musical theatre circles once upon a time.

Darren Criss IS Dick Kallman!

Paige absolutely pales in comparison to the powerhouse that Buckley was in the role.

Minorness is a word?

Norma was one of Betty's roles where her somber affect worked. Her Norma was, indeed, tragic. And she had some sex appeal that made their relationship not seem *ew*.

The title references a lyric to the HANK theme song—-as stated in the NYT.

r401 Exactly...she was tragic in the role.

HANK

[quote][R401]Exactly...she was tragic in the role.

Hardly, r403. That would be Faye.

Did Faye ever open? I don't think so.

Are there any pics of '70s Dick?

How about background on 1960s shows "Mr. Terrific" and "Captain Nice" while you're at it? Stephen Strimpell, star of the former, was a noted acting teacher in NY for years.

Your point, r406?

Here ya go!

Here's '70s Dick, in between Dolores GrAy and Miss Ann Miller. Who is the man in glasses? Almost looks like an aged Alain Delon.

Dolores had quite a lot of notables at her opening...

Poor Jane, r411.

^she looks like the only one with her original nose.

Was David Parlour gay?

Peter Guber being cruised...

[quote] Did Lea Salonga ever perform in a real Sondheim show?

She was in the Pacific Overtures revival

R417--oops, I got my Asian shows mixed up. She was in Flower Drum Song, not a Sondheim show

I think Up with the Sun derives from the theme song of Hank, Kallman's TV series.

There's no such lyric anywhere in Seventeen.

Has Bernadette Peters ever had a hit show in London? She's only really done concerts there, right?

Did someone recently mention in a theater thread that Boyd Gaines is ill?

I think it was Malcolm Getz who spilled the beans.

They're both off in some leper colony...somewhere.

Theme song from HANK

He's up with the sun And he's got the college ringin' As he goes upon another swingin' day; With jobs to be done or errands to run He's A-Number one OK.

He'll dry-clean your clothes, Be a butler or a porter If it means another quarter in the bank. He'll get his degree, his Phi Beta Key -- And get 'em both for free. That's Hank!

Apart from being dead, I can't think why Dick wasn't tapped for the Look of Love revue.

Lea doing something by Sondheim.

I had no idea that Lea could move that well. She's very talented.

In London, I saw three Norma Desmonds: Patti Lupone (including her mad scene fright wig), Elaine Paige (subbing for an ailing Betty Buckley and dealing with a too-tall staircase that hid her as she ascended/descended), and finally, Betty Buckley (playing opposite John Barrowman who absolutely adored her). While each had her pluses/minuses. I have to concur that Betty Buckley's performance was the best. IMHO

Unfortunately, in her dressing room, I made the mistake of sharing with Miss Buckley that I had seen ALL of the Normas (because of my work with one of the producers). I'll never forget the chill I felt when she stepped towards me with wide-eyed rage, thundering AND???

I froze, not realizing what she wanted, before I finally blurted out, "...and, and... and you are THE BEST, Miss Buckley, you are THE BEST!"

While it was true, I wish I had kept my mouth shut.

Thanks to those who id'd the Kallman book's title! I'm reviewing the book myself so don't read any other takes. Astonishingly, the lyric was written by Johnny Mercer.

R428 I still love you, Billy Boy.

Has Billy Boy met charlie?

Billy Boy, do you still live in London and if so, what is the state of the West End these days?

With all the recent talk about Burt Bacharach's genius, I'm wondering if Sondheim ever talked much about his music on record?

Sondheim didn't really talk about pop music, did he?

except that the Great American Songbook used to be the popular music of the day until sometime in the 60s or so.

I've always been intrigued by what a Sondheim album would sound like - as in if he wrote just an album of individual songs without an interconnecting story or anything.

Well, Burt did write a massively popular Broadway score, r434. But perhaps SS wouldn't talk on record about any living composers.

How many songs did he write for Living Out Loud? *

Playbill's publisher has acknowledged pulling the audience behavior story cited at r85, r227, r237 etc according to The Daily Beast

[quote] Playbill CEO Philip Birsh copped to ordering the article’s deletion, telling Confider on Monday: “We want people to go to the theater. This piece exaggerated the issue in my opinion. I’m a numbers guy. I know numbers. I know that the overwhelming numbers of people at the theater are having an enjoyable time.” Birsh said he first grew concerned about the report after his 22-year-old daughter raised the issue with him, followed by several industry figures who he declined to name. The CEO said he has personally asked Playbill editor Diep Tran and the article’s writer, Margaret Hall, to “recalibrate” the piece. “It was a mistake, and it doesn’t reflect people’s experience of going to the theater,” added Birsh, whose family has controlled Playbill for half a century. “Speaking in terms of clickbait, it’s fantastic but it’s not reflecting reality. It is reflecting a very thin layer of it. It’s not up to my standards. All we are missing is ‘Headless body in topless bar,’” he said, referencing the infamous New York Post headline. Birsh claimed this was the first time he has editorially interfered in the publication, and that he hopes to have the “recalibrated” (read: industry-friendly) version published to the site by the end of this week—after he signs off on it, of course. “I've made years of sacrifice to be in charge here so I do get to say I’d like a do-over. No one is getting flayed here.”

"My opinion means more than the experience of actual front of house staff"

[quote]added Birsh, whose family has controlled Playbill for half a century.

[quote]I've made years of sacrifice to be in charge here

Hmmm

nepo-califragilistic, etc.

Playbill CEO Philip Birsh is a REAL piece of…work, when the online websites started to gain traction, he was a screaming maniac demanding it all “shutdown”, wanting his magazine to get exclusive coverage or else. Of course the industry saw the “writing on the digital wall” and he was forced to compete with a bullpen woefully unprepared for content needs, he’s an elitist prick.

Living Out Loud would make an interesting, small scale musical.

[quote]oops, I got my Asian shows mixed up. She was in Flower Drum Song, not a Sondheim show

Well, well, well, R418! Do we all sound alike to you??!!

(just kidding)

I wish Pat Suzuki had worked more.

Today she would have:

Sondheim did express admiration for the PP orchestrations by Mr. Tunick. They moved him to hire Tunick for Company.

I suspect though that David's lyrics made him cringe.

As a whole, I found the show to be a turkey lurkey.

Turkey Lurkey's lyrics are supposed to be silly. It's a song the gals in the office put together.

"You Could Drive a Person Crazy" is also supposed to be a song some gals put together.

And yet......

Knock, knock!

Is anybody thereeere, erere, ererere?

It's alarming how charming...

When did Sondheim remove “fag”?

I could understand a person If it's not a person's bag Doo-doo-doo-doo doo I could understand a person If a person was a fag Doo-doo-doo-doo doo Doo-doo-doo-doo

With a Schlitz in her mitts down at Fitzroy's bar...

FUCK PHILIP BIRSH!

Because nobody's going to do it with St. Martin.

Who are the Adeles?

TRADING PLACES--THE MUSICAL!

Because... why not?

Will either Astaire bio-pic go below the surface and reveal secrets never known about Fred? Or Ginger?

Is the Widow Astaire dead yet? Didn't she patrol a very heavy censorship on anything Fred she didn't approve?

Jesse Williams is in some Netflix movie with Reese, Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher, and he exudes so much Sex appeal onscreen even before you remember what you know about his cock

It's Turkey Lurkey Time!

Oh dear...

r383 every bootleg video I've seen on Buckley saying "now go!" features a huge roar of laughter afterwards. It's really the perfect line after her incredible belt. She builds that song so much you think her voice is going to tear apart the building with that vibrator and power. The gag worked for her.

...I mean, I wasn't there to see it so many you saw a dozen performances where no one laughed, but I'd have had nervous laughter for sure after hearing her blast me to kingdom come.

I can't get past Paige's imitation of Gloria Swanson - it's too annoying, especially her gestures, which she repeats throughout the show. But yes, Paige has a nice voice. I just found she had a hard time with the range of the score.

...was ANYONE every 100% comfortable with the score? Even Buckley seemed to be belting notes to hit them sometimes. LuPone did her trademark swoop up into notes (wwwwWWWIIIITH wwwOOONE look!) when she needed to. And Glenn obviously was not vocally up to the task, but did what she could well enough (no shade, seriously, I was impressed).

Karen Mason sounded really healthy in the one brief clip I heard of her singing the finale.

That's the thing - if you get a younger Norma maybe the score isn't so hard, but the "aging diva" part doesn't work as well.

God I love talking about this show. I'm such a weirdo. Thanks guy! Nice to have a place for it!

All this to say, I wouldn't put Paige at the top of my Norma list, but she was fine.

"with that VIBRATO"

Stupid autocorrect.

Also, can we please stop with that stupid-ass It's Turkey Lurkey Time song? It's fucking annoying and I hate it. Seriously. Why do you fucking like it? Christ, shut up with your turkey!

Apologies if this has already been posted but I just read that New Ohio Theatre will be closing this summer after 30 years:

Y - O - Y - O - Y - O?

Damn

I am still shocked Cheno didn't win a Tony for Glinda. She was amazing and impossible to replace. It was a one-in-a-career type performance. Idina was good, of course, but not so incredible vocally or as a performer that she deserved the Tony.

Wonder how they'll cameo in the movie (you know they will).

[quote] (Buckley) is going to tear apart the building with that vibrator

Pics please.

[quote] "You Could Drive a Person Crazy" is also supposed to be a song some gals put together.

No it’s not. “YCDaPC” is a book song. “Turkey Lurkey time is diegetic.

I wanted to scoff at Eric at r462. But by the end I was impressed and charmed. Looks like he lives in a dreary suburb though.

Where do you think most chorus people who have aged out of their careers live?

Way up to Washington Heights.

Battery Park is nice, as well.

Eric Sciotto was one of the bitchiest chorus boys I ever worked with. He has a cute husband though.

ATG and Jujamcyn have combined, whatever that means. Does this mean that Fashion Week will now be in the Eugene O'Neill? Is this Jordan's way of finally getting out? He appears more interested in many other things than Broadway...

Oh, no! The dreadful Cornelia Street opens tonight on the same evening as Wolf Play. Any guesses which one Jesse will eviscerate?

R464, I bet somebody added a laugh track to Betty’s “Now GO” in that Sunset bootleg. Or you’re fibbing. She couldn’t land a laugh on that line for shit.

I saw Betty play Norma 3 times in NY. She landed the NOW GO laugh each time. She was 'gloomy Norma.'. Glenn was 'campy Norma.'. Paige was 'Swanson Norma' and Karen Mason was 'copycat Norma' since she gave a carbon copy of Glenn's performance.

So, when is Downstate moving to Broadway? Fall?

Downstate was one of the most uncommercial plays I've ever seen. There's no way a commercial producer would take that insane risk.

[quote]Also, can we please stop with that stupid-ass It's Turkey Lurkey Time song? It's fucking annoying and I hate it.

And we care because...why, r465?

That VIBRATO should be an H cup.

[quote]She was amazing and impossible to replace.

Obviously not, r468.

[quote]Downstate was one of the most uncommercial plays I've ever seen. There's no way a commercial producer would take that insane risk.

I could see it being done on Broadway by one of the non-profits for a limited run, so it can be eligible for awards, but I agree that a commercial production is unlikely.

Crawford will always be Phantom. Cheno will always be Glinda.

R479 as Close's understudy was Mason permitted to give an original take on Norma? I don't think so.

R478 I've only ever seen bootlegs of Buckley and the line got a laugh in every one.

Whhhhyyyyyy?

Give me the Mr Clean musical instead please.

Didn’t Andrew Lippa write a Betty Boop musical at some point? I take it he lost the rights?

Will Cab be in?

Bring back HAZEL, A Musical Maid in America!

per Playbill:

A musical based on the cartoon character has been in the works for several years. In 2004 Andrew Lippa said he was collaborating with David Lindsay-Abaire; Jason Robert Brown had previously been attached as the composer. And, in 2008 it was announced that a Betty Boop musical was aiming for a Broadway premiere during the 2010-2011 season; that production was set to feature music by Foster and a book by Oscar Williams and Sally Robinson.

A sexy naif in 2023? How will that play?

When The Producers was on fire with Lane and Broderick in the leads, and the duo’s ad-libs and laugh breaks were bringing down the house, over at Wicked Kristin Chenoweth wanted to get in on the act, so she started working mightily to get Idina to “lose it” during a scene. Evidently it worked once, organically, but Cheno wanted to keep it night after night, this caused some conflict between them, KC was never entirely happy with the more serious tone the show took on, she missed those earlier Glinda leaning workshops. Unlike the boys over at the St. James, the two leading ladies of OZ were NOT a gifted comedy duo. As we saw with the wretched ad-libbed “laughter” breakup between Hugh Jackman and mug happy Sutton Foster, those suddenly scripted “oopsy” moments can be a trial to witness once you know it’s totally fake. Idina was uncomfortable breaking character and taking the show off course for a cheap laugh or two, I actually respect her for that. KC is a ham, it’s always about the laugh with her, narrative be damned!

Ice Spice for Betty Boop!

Kristin was funny in the short-lived Epic Proportions.

I will say there is a short clip on Twitter going around that is a very dramatic moment between Carole Shelley and Kristin Chenoweth where Kristin confronts her for killing the sister with the cyclone and Carole Shelley is very good and Kristin let’s the drama land without trying for a laugh, so I know it’s in her…but yes…she does enjoy the cheap laughs where as Idina does not.

The argument between Idina and Kristin came about because they had agreed -- or so Idina thought -- that when they left the show, they would leave the show together (ala Lane and Broderick) and then one day Cheno announced her departure (to huge press attention) and Idina just lost it, and then it spun out of control. Months of resentments came out. They eventually both got over it.

R498, Let’s hear it for leaving together.

Idina was incredible as Elphaba, of course. But the Best Actress in a Musical Tony had very very strong nominees that year (2004-yikes, nearly 20 years ago!).

Others included Tonya Pinkins (equally brilliant in Caroline or Change), Kristin Chenoweth (Wicked), Donna Murphy (Wonderful Town), Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Ave Q).

Any of them (except D'Abruzzo) could have won based on merit. I figure that part of the reason Menzel won is she was the only among the 4 top nominees who hadn't yet won a Tony.

[quote]I will say there is a short clip on Twitter going around that is a very dramatic moment between Carole Shelley and Kristin Chenoweth where Kristin confronts her for killing the sister with the cyclone and Carole Shelley is very good

I miss Carole Shelley so much, r497. An incredible actress and a sweet woman.

[quote]Eric Sciotto was one of the bitchiest chorus boys I ever worked with. He has a cute husband though.

...and 2 adorable kids.

R501, The cute husband?

That is a photo of someone smelling an ENTIRE BAKERY of cookies!

So? Cookies smell good.

Don't lay that one on me, r502. That's on r475. I said their *kids* were adorable.

I think the husband was once a chorine also...

I'm sure Philip Birsh will says British producers are just over-reacting

"will make you remain seated in your seat like an adult!"

At a performance of Grease a while back, some Long Island/Jersey type of girls were standing up, singing along, waving their arms, etc., like they were at a concert.

Have you been to MJ?

When I saw the Spamalot tour in SF there was a woman about two seats away who insisted on saying the jokes (at least the ones she knew from the original movie) out loud with the performers. She was shushed several times during the first act but kept doing it. During intermission I bravely and as politely as I could explained to her that we had all come to hear the cast say those lines, not her and that what was perfectly acceptable behavior on her own sofa was not so in a public theatre. Thankfully, she did listened, didn't argue and was quiet for act two.

r511 OMG!

Chicago played to 100% capacity last week thanks to Jinxx. Maybe they should go into SLH next.

During Lea's vacation, Jinxx IS Fanny!

Jinxx Monsoon *IS* Mary Flynn

Not to beat a dead horse, but You have to admit Lea Michele saved Funny Girl. When Beanie was in the role, there was NO promotion such as television appearances, etc. Its like the producers KNEW how bad she was and intentionally kept her away from media. Lea on the other hand has been everywhere singing and promoting the show to generally rave reviews.

R526, The Daily Mail regularly posts photos of her walking to the theatre.

Nothin' goin' on but the grosses.

And yes, Jinkx Monsoon and Lea are both making it work:

Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is bringing in crowds (she calls them "drag happy" crowds) at Broadway's Chicago, which played to standing room only last week. Monsoon joined the company as Matron "Mama" Morton last month, and the show's box office has seen a notable uptick with her onstage. The long-running Kander and Ebb revival filled 100.51% of seats at the Ambassador, making it the week's top performer in terms of capacity percentage. Combined with a respectable $797,240.18 at the box office, it looks like when you're good to Jinkx, Jinkx is good to Broadway.

The $1 Million Club (Shows that earned $1 million or more at the box office):

The Phantom of the Opera ($2.4 million)

Funny Girl

Hamilton

The Lion King

MJ The Musical

Wicked

Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Aladdin

& Juliet

A Beautiful Noise, The Neil Diamond Musical

(11 of 21 currently running productions)

R519, Who knew there were that many Neil Diamond fans?

Who knew there were that many Jinx Monsoon fans???

My niece wanted to see Chicago. I figured I wait until after Jinx was done because I thought she was doing one of the two main roles. If she’s truly doing Mama Morton, that’s fine

[Quote] Who knew there were that many Neil Diamond fans?

Until the next few months, when they’re all going to die of old age

[Quote] Until the next few months, when they’re all going to die of old age

Just like Datalounge

Jinx and Lea prove that audiences want to see "stars" on Broadway, at least in those kinds of musicals. SLIH would do well to recast a few parts.

Yes, it does appear that the lack of a star in SLIH was a huge strategic error. On the other hand, of course, other shows such as & JULIET seem to be doing very well without a star. So, as always, there are many factors that go into what separates a hit from a disappointment or a flop.

R481, and Downstate is also one of the most OBVIOUS plays I’ve ever seen. Chekhov’s gun and all that.

^^ Sorry, R480.

Or both of you.

Good gawd, I’d hate to see what a rowdy audience in Edinburgh is like.

I'd happily go see the show without stars in it...if it weren't another movie-to-broadway adaptation. I'm so sick of those, even if, as in this case, it's an oldie.

I suppose it they'd cast Megan Hilty in the Marilyn role, though, they'd have gotten some buzz, since she played her in SMASH, and again in the special presentation of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes a few years back. She was terrific both times. Wonder if they approached her and she turned it down?

[quote]and Karen Mason was 'copycat Norma' since she gave a carbon copy of Glenn's performance.

"She was just the carbon copy you read when you can't find the original."

R531, the character was specifically rewritten as a Black woman and not a Marilyn type, so Hilty couldn't have done it.

The most recognizable things about Some Like It Hot the movie are Marilyn and men in drag, and the show seemed embarrassed by both of those things and determined to deemphasize them. Makes it strange that they even wanted to adapt the property, but also gives them no recognizable sales hooks (the posters show neither a Marilyn type, since there isn't one, and men dressed in suits...which doesn't really say Some Like It Hot), so they have nothing to sell it on but the title. No wonder it isn't selling well.

Wait....so they don't do drag like in the movie?

Does anyone think Cheno will actually marry her fiancee? They called it off right?

I feel sorry for her. So talented and yet no white knight.

[quote] So talented and yet no white knight.

It’s because they inexplicably lowered the song’s key for her in that awful Matthew Broderick TV production.

r534, they do; the show just isn't using that as a selling point (and one of the writers was quoting as saying they don't find men in a dress funny). But without that and Marilyn...what is the selling point? It doesn't have one. (This is the artwork they've been using on their posters. It's so blah, because they don't actually want to sell Some Like It Hot, the story people actually know.)

[quote]SLIH would do well to recast a few parts.

Kitara Ravache IS Sugar!

[quote]Does anyone think Cheno will actually marry her fiancee?

She's a lesbian?

Who knew? OR Oh, dear.

[quote]Elaine Paige (subbing for an ailing Betty Buckley and dealing with a too-tall staircase that hid her as she ascended/descended),

What does that mean?

R519 so, if PHANTOM had not announced it was closing soon, it would not be doing gangbuster business, and FUNNY GIRL would be the highest-grossing musical currently on Broadway?

Megan Hilty is a middle-aged woman. Her days of playing the hot sexpot are over.

Mandy Patinkin for Sugar?

R542, Is that why Steve Kazee dumped her and took up with Channing Tatum’s ex?

WHET Steve Kazee?

Kazee's wife is actually older than Hilty.

I think the difference with a show like & Juliet and SLIH and Funny Girl is the former seems to be selling something original (even though it's really not) whereas the later two are selling familiar well-worn material, and hence the need for familiar star names to sell it.

And then with something the Neil Diamond show it's just very clear what you're buying into and you don't need/want a star type impersonating Diamond (too confusing!).

Not suggesting it really makes any sense but it's the way lots of potential ticket buyers think.

R546, Only by one year(42/41).

The Neil Diamond musical is drawing all those Jersey Boys fans.

Megan Hilty should have had a bigger career. I don’t know what happened?

Lea will be on vacation next week. Let's see how that affects the box office.

Megan Hilty, where art thou?

Didn't she experience some tragic family incident?

Very recently, I believe Megan's sister was killed in a tragic auto accident.

Liza should fill in for Lea like she did for Julie Andrews vacation in Victor/Victoria.

Only Liza could bring more nuance to Who Are You Now?

Which she'd be singing as Who Am I Now?

Where Am I At?

R496-Of course Cheno was great in Epic Proportions. She was fucking both Marc Kudisch on a regular basis and Alan Tudyk backstage in her dressing room. Marc was probably the stupidest person on Broadway at that point.

Marc Kudisch in the late 90s early 2000s was prime beef. It’s such a shame he never had any homosex

Megan lost her sister, brother in law and nephew in a plane crash. Her niece wasn’t with them, so I wonder if she’s raising her now?

R558-Marc would have bored the shit out of any intelligent gay man by talking about himself and his career while getting fucked. Then he would have lectured his trick on how to do it better.

Marc enjoys his "debates," though.

Kudisch would bore any vagina he encountered, and not in a good way. He could keep a conversation going all night, but not his penis…that could never get started.

He always liked a couple of fingers in his ass, so don't be so sure of anything.

Do you think Marc Kudisch has a butthole?

So does Norbert.

So does John Travolta. Ask any masseur in the greater Los Angeles area.

Who doesn't like a couple of fingers in their ass?

Norbert? For real?

I do not enjoy fingering.

Liza IS Vacation Fanny! Tony Roberts IS Flo Ziegfeld.

Norbert still looks sexy. I'd do him in a minute.

R571, He’s known to have questionable personal hygiene.

You know chorus boys were throwing themselves at Marc during that time and Kirstin was probably in her “aren’t I good?” routine.

I got my Dick Kallman book today, so hopefully I can read it tonight.

Me, too, R571. Norbert is hot.

[QUOTE] He’s known to have questionable personal hygiene.

So does Wesley “Tay Tay” Taylor. There was apparently a “Chipotle incident” in D.C. that occurred while he was bottoming.

That Chipotle can be rough on your system

Insert Carol Channing corn joke.

it looks like CHESS is coming back to New York in a few months. Probably in one of the larger theaters this fall.

Possible trend?: This is one of a few recent musicals that played at Muny and then had a Broadway version come out the year after (Sweeney Todd and Camelot)

I loved the 2022 concert production which had a weird revised book but great performances from almost everyone.

Rah Rah Cold War!

[quote] So does Wesley “Tay Tay” Taylor. There was apparently a “Chipotle incident” in D.C. that occurred while he was bottoming.

This info appears here more often than Gypsy is revived on Broadway.

If CHESS does come back to Broadway, I think it's a fairly safe bet that Darren Criss will NOT be involved, as all reports of his "singing" in the benefit concert a few months ago were horrendous.

Jinxx Monsoon *IS* Florence

RIP Raquel Welch. She would have made a fabulous Sugar.

Once heard, never forgotten.

Will they lower the Palace Theatre in Welch's memory?

OLIVER is absolutely not a coming of age story. Have they read the script yet?

As for being humorless in a musical, you don't have to be a laugh riot to find humor in the role. Even the most serious subjects should have humor in them. Watch the movie "Monster." The subject matter couldn't be more serious and yet Charlize Theron found humor in her Oscar winning performance. Her mockery of "the bar is closed" gets me every time.

They'll be flying two huge balloons above it, r586.

New thread

Instead of a few fingers I'd prefer Tyler Weaks' cock.....

CHESS?

Really?

Ugh.

I really wish the Bacharach/Costello pairing would have yielded some sort of decent musical. The songs, especially the ones from Painted From Memory, are gorgeous.

Bajour!

Bajour!

Toujour!

Bajour!

Simply Heavenly!

Once more with feeling ...

BAJOUR!