THEATRE GOSSIP #518: The "I Shucked You Once in Silence" Edition

Previous thread:

I recognize that song. It's from the great American musical Cameltoe.

here we go!

Since all the major critics were in the audience for Parade last night, and the performance was cancelled, do they all go back this week, or will they just run the City Center reviews again?

zzzzzzzzzz title, OP

I like the thread title!!

[quote]I like the thread title!!

Me too :-) One of the better ones.

Really want to see PO now that I learned that Ethan Heard directed. He did great work in NYC at Heartbeat Opera.

The segment on SLIH on CBS This Morning was very well-produced, even if all the scenes from the original film outshone the show. I'm not a fan of the show but if you didn't know anything and were a prospective tourist ticket buyer, you might be impressed. It'll never look better than it did on TV this morning. If that didn't move some tickets, nothing will.

Though I was really pissed by hearing Casey Nicholaw talk about how so much in the film wouldn't fly today. So, Casey, why make a musical based on this material you hold it in such contempt?

Bravo on the title OP. Brevity is indeed the soul of wit.

Yes, great thread title. Well done, OP.

SOME LIKE MY TWAT!

But is that fucking whistle back in Sweeney Todd? And will they replace Fisher before it's too late?

*

This East German judge gives this thread title a 9.95.

I rewatched the concert dvd with Patti LuPone yesterday. I was struck by how funny she was in it. I know the Doyle production was played as a dirge…but she was funny in the concert

Is Timothy Hughes shirtless in ST?

Does anyone know if that kooky "1776" production is still planning to terrorize theaters on a national tour?

You can catch it in Des Moines this week, R18!

It's coming to the Kennedy Center in June, R18, although in the smaller Eisenhower Theater, not the Opera House, where the tour of "Into the Woods" is currently playing.

[quote]Really want to see PO now that I learned that Ethan Heard directed. He did great work in NYC at Heartbeat Opera.

R8 - I'm not familiar with Ethan Heard's work, but I saw Pacific Overtures this weekend. I would say Heard made excellent use of the space with a thrust stage that also rotated. The production felt appropriately epic one moment and very intimate, the next. Great touch with the comedy, the drama and the... poetic.

I thought it was very well cast. In fact, were it to ever transfer, I would hope it would be with the lead actors who play the main samurai who rises through the ranks of Japanese civil service and the fisherman who becomes his friend (sorry, I don't recall the character names... but they're the ones who sing There Is No Other Way, Poems, A Bowler Hat.) They both sang beautifully and gave richly drawn performances. In fact, the whole cast, a mix of DC and NY actors, all sang splendidly and balanced the presentational and naturalistic styles equally well. Most female roles were played by women, except for the Shogun's Mother who is still played 'in drag'.

Meanwhile, DL fave Sara Porkalob ISN'T on that national tour of "1776".....she's getting ready to open in a production of Shakespeare's Henry IV with a minor theater company and in a supporting role. In Seattle. Her hometown.

When she originallly announced her big "break" of getting the 1776 gig she said she was doing the tour.

So, did she can canned from the tour, for flapping her big mouth and pissing off people, or did she quit the tour since she hated the show? Because a tiny gig in a minor provincial theater is a better gig than doing a national tour of a Broadway revival that flopped?

Plus think of all the local PF Chang’s managers nationwide Sarah could meet while on the 1776 tour!

Sarah didn’t tour with 1776 because she will tour with Fanny Brice in Funny Girl

I would seriously put NOTHING by Michael Mayer

Who's she playing in Henry IV? Falstaff?

"1776" tour schedule.

[quote]Who's she playing in Henry IV?

Henry the Third.

[quote] Henry the Third.

Is it because she only gives three fourths of a performance?

In her next cabaret act, Sarah will put a new interpretation on the song “50 Percent” from the Broadway musical Ballroom.

I don't know the specifics re: Porkalob's reversal in plans to participate in the 1776 tour.

I do know that she is despised industry-wide by many, many fellow actors as well as much of the 1776 cast and crew. Her interviews and social media posts violated every trust of the rehearsal room and the theatre-making process.

So yes--I think it's safe to assume 1) the decision to not participate in the tour was not Porkalob's alone and 2) she has limited her own opportunities as a stage performer of any real note.

r21, your review makes me want to hop on Amtrak to DC. Unfortunately, can't do it. Hope it will transfer, knowing full well it probably not turn a profit as a Broadway production.

Roundabout should move the Pacific Overtures production to Broadway.

Roundabout should burn in Hell.

Hasn't Roundabout already done Pacific Overtures?

Sarah couldn't tour because she would only do 75% of the cities.

How was Jessica Chastain at the Oscars? Did they cancel the matinee? I long for the days of Anne Bancroft...

[quote]I long for the days of Anne Bancroft...

But not so much in the movie of Torch Song Trilogy.

Anne Bancroft was something special in TORCH SONG TRILOGY. Not too many Italian-Americans playing Jews. Usually, it's the other way around. Case in point: Estelle Getty, who was Jewish and originated the mother part in TST on Broadway, is best known for playing Sicilian 'Sophia Petrillo' on GOLDEN GIRLS.

I was hoping Joan Crawford was sitting in Jessica Chastain's seat.

WHET Sara Porkylobe?

The 1776 tour is mostly she/hers, a few them/theys, a couple of she/thems, and a few it/its.

I admired Anne Bancroft but also did not care for her performance in TORCH SONG TRILOGY.

Anne and Mel are brilliant in "To Be or Not To Be..."

Saw The Coast Starlight at the Newhouse yesterday. I can only hope it wins the Pulitzer for Drama next year. Extraordinary play, great production.

I agree R44. One of the best plays I’ve seen in a while. Excellent acting too.

Is it a sequel to "Murder on the Orient Express?"

Porkalob has guaranteed her place.

As a minuscule footnote to be forgotten forever.

re Sara Porkalob, you can bet Roundabout will think twice about setting up a big press interview with an unknown actress again.

[quote] Anne and Mel are brilliant in "To Be or Not To Be..."

That was one of the last performances Anne gave that had any notes of subtlety in it. After that, she was a huge hamola. Not that she never gave another good performance, but it was always tinged with over the top theatrics. I thought she was wonderful in Night, Mother, even though she was horribly miscast.

As for Torch Song Trilogy, when you're working opposite an even bigger hamola like Harvey Fierstein, you have to match him pork butt to pork butt or you're gonna get left in the dust. Annie was no fool.

Anne Bancroft got a Best Actress Oscar nomination for AGNES OF GOD (1985).

What is The Coast Starlight about?

Why wasn’t Beanie casted as the Macy’s day float in Parade?

[quote]Macy’s day

Oh, dear.

Oh, dear re “casted.,” while we’re at it.

No matinee of Dolls House yesterday and Jessica was masked for most of her time at the ceremony to help her stay healthy.

[quote]Estelle Getty, who was Jewish and originated the mother part in TST on Broadway, is best known for playing Sicilian 'Sophia Petrillo' on GOLDEN GIRLS.

No BREAKING NEWS preface?

[quote] Anne Bancroft got a Best Actress Oscar nomination for AGNES OF GOD (1985).

And?

As I've said previously: For many years during what should have been the prime of her career, Bancroft said "no" to lots of offers that would have been great for her. (The only one I can think of immediately was the offer to play Golde in the movie of FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, but there were many others.) Then, at some point, for some reason, she suddenly decided she wanted to get back in the game, and she pursued or accepted offers of a whole bunch of parts in which she ended up overacting shamelessly, as if to make up for lost time and lost opportunities. I for one think her performance in TORCH SONG TRILOGY is borderline ridiculous.

Has Patti LuPone commented that both Topol and Paul Sorvino have died?

Not that she’d see it on the Oscar Memoriam.

I thought Bancroft was also dreadfully hammy in the film of 84 Charing Cross Road.

Is that the correct address, lol?

[Quote] As I've said previously

Always a good hint to STFU

Chicago had it's highest grossing non holiday week last week grossing over $900k. All thanks to Jinxx.

They would really have allowed an Italian to play Golde in Fiddler?

Who are these people who are shelling out Broadway prices to see some gimmicky non-talent do a supporting role?

[quote]They would really have allowed an Italian to play Golde in Fiddler?

The movie was released in1971, long before there were headlines that began "Twitter outraged over . . . " Maybe an Italian playing Tevye would have drawn some criticism.

Two roles originated by Gertrude Berg were later played by Catholic actresses: Rosalind Russell did the movie version of "A Majority of One," and Kaye Ballard (sorry, Kay Ballard at the time) played the title role in the flop musical "Molly," based on Berg's radio and TV character Molly Goldberg.

Anne Bancroft became a Broadway star playing Gittel Mosca, her religion very much Jewish.

Anne Bancroft was of Italian descent and was a practicing Catholic, but feel free to make up shit, R66. You don't know what you're talking about.

^^ Sorry, R66. I thought you were saying that Anne Bancroft's religion was Jewish. ^^

R67, I think R66 meant that the character Gittel Mosca is Jewish. And I think she says in the show that her full last name is Moscowitz.

r31 - don't get me wrong, I don't think the production is perfect. At times, the production / scenic design is almost too spare, but other moments create some lovely images on stage. And, while the 11 piece band played Tunick's reduced orchestrations very well (and didn't make me miss a full orchestra as much as I thought they would,) some songs needed the fatter sound and bombast of a full orchestra. Please, Hello just doesn't have the same comic heft when played by a small chamber band and Four Dragons isn't as thrilling without that orchestral power. And perhaps SOME of the comedy was played just a touch broadly. Nothing egregious, mind you.

All in all, though, those felt like quibbles. There was much to admire and although I'm too young to have seen the original production (other than the Japanese television broadcast), it's hard to imagine a more emotionally resonant production. In fact, because the director brought some more... humanism and naturalism to the production (without abandoning the presentational Kabuki'esque elements entirely,) I was surprised to find myself tearing up more than once.

I know Someone In A Tree was Sondheim's favorite song. While I've loved this score since I first checked out the CD from the library when I was in middle school, that's always been more a song for more to admire, than love. But the three actors who sang the main parts (the old man remembering being in the tree, his younger self in the tree and the man hidden beneath the floorboard) sang with such emotional honesty (and beautiful tone) that I reached for my hanky. Same with the lead samurai and fisherman singing Poems -- just gorgeously delivered without gilding the lily, without oversinging and with great trust for the material.

You could tell these were actors who had been waiting for such richly drawn material to showcase their talents and you got the sense there was palpable joy in the air that they were cast in such richly drawn roles not in spite of, but because of their shared heritage.

Anyway, if this helps, the $30 rush tickets were easy to come by just a few minutes before curtain and I don't think there's a bad seat in the fairly intimate house.

Thanks, r70. I’m seeing this next week and have high hopes, though I have been disappointed by Signature’s near misses.

It sounds like you may be too young to have seen the Sondheim festival at the Kennedy Center? Their import of a Japanese production of Pacific Overtures (mostly performed in Japanese) was one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

[quote]They would really have allowed an Italian to play Golde in Fiddler?

Oy.

" Someone in a Tree."

Thanks, r70, but I didn't take from your review that the production is perfect. But good stagings of PO are very rare indeed and any chance to see one even moderately well done should be seized. I was lucky enough to see the original twice and will never forget the experiences,

R71 - not technically too young. I think that played Lincoln Center in the early 2000s? But, I was a poor college student in So Cal at that time and had never been to NY. There's a full bootleg video of that production on YouTube. As there is for the shortlived 2004 revival. I haven't sat down to watch both of them in their entireties yet, though. Got them bookmarked for a rainy day.

R73 - oh, nice! I hadn't seen that posted yet. Yes, those are the same actors I'm referring to, of course. The song is beautifully performed and Tunick's use of the percussion instruments makes the reduced orchestration interesting in its own right, rather than just being a 'smaller' version of the original arrangement.. but seeing it in person, in context was especially moving for me.

R74 - I'm not one of those jabronies always complaining about Follies remembrances on here. But, for a change, it would be fun to hear from those of you who saw the original Pacific Overtures. Hell, I wouldn't even mind hearing from those of you who saw the 2004 revival (the short run seems to indicate not many of you did!) It is quite remarkable that such an unconventional, decidedly uncommercial and authentically cast all Asian musical blending kabuki theatre and a blending of western and eastern influenced music was commercially produced on Broadway.

Who knows, if Lincoln Center is willing to burn money, like they did with The Skin of their Teeth, maybe, one day, they'll mount a full production of Pacific Overtures, with a full orchestra. Until that unlikely outcome, if you can see this production, I would!

[quote] casted

There is NO SUCH WORD

They're well aware of that, r76.

[quote]that's always been more a song for more to admire, than love.

I've always loved it, r70.

I’ll plant my own tree, and I’ll make it grow

r70 r75 TL;dr

"Jabronies"? New word for me. Looked it up. I like it.

[quote]Who knows, if Lincoln Center is willing to burn money, like they did with The Skin of their Teeth, maybe, one day, they'll mount a full production of Pacific Overtures, with a full orchestra. Until that unlikely outcome, if you can see this production, I would!

I don't think it's unlikely. In fact, I think that's a great idea.

Jessica Chastain Praised for Masking at Oscars Amid ‘A Doll’s House’ Broadway Performances:

Did she leave the stage by the back door?

R58, Anne Bancroft was at the peak of her popularity after the success of The Graduate, yet curiously did not appear in another film for five years after its release (1972's Young Winston). Her biggest professional mistake was probably turning down Nurse Ratched in Cuckoo's Nest, but she was also attached to Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore before Ellen Burstyn and had to decline The Exorcist due to pregnancy. Without any of those films on her resume, the '70s was a quiet decade for her.

"Making up for lost time" is an interesting way of looking at how her acting style had changed by the mid '80s; she wasn't afraid to overdo her performances, and though it sometimes counted against her, it also made her indelible when she was on. Her son recently revealed that she had survived an unpublicized battle with cancer during this era that perhaps incentivized her to work as much as she could while she was still able.

^ Interesting, r85, I never realized there was that five year gap.

I think Bancroft gave one of her best (and most restrained) performances in The Turning Point. She was entirely believable as an aging ballerina facing the end of her dance career.

SHUCKED!

[quote] I thought Bancroft was also dreadfully hammy in the film of 84 Charing Cross Road.

In her defense, the source material (which I consider excellent) really didn’t lend itself to a movie adaptation. The two leading characters never meet and only communicate through letters. Perhaps Bancroft felt she needed to be bigger because there was nobody to play off and there really weren’t any high stakes or conflicts for her to play.

[quote] She was entirely believable as an aging ballerina

Nobody believed Bancroft as a dancer.

Wasn't I the first choice and turned it down?

R90. At least she didn't fart in your face

I love PACIFIC OVERTURES. Happy to hear it's gotten a good production, R21, thanks for sharing.

A big Lincoln Center production of PO would be unbelievable. I doubt it would happen though, that show doesn't sell. Funny that LCT hasn't done much Sondheim, just THE FROGS, I think. A really sparkling NIGHT MUSIC would be wonderful there, as would a really decked-out FORUM.

Didn't Bancroft also have a baby within that 5-year gap after THE GRADUATE?

LCT is embarrassed that their sister had to be the one that produced that wonderful A Little Night Music years ago.

For all it’s stature in the United States, Lincoln Center doesn’t produce much good theater. They should at least be on par with London’s National Theatre.

Yes, that would explain why she turned down The Exorcist due to pregnancy.

Had Bancroft done only The Miracle Worker in her career, I would worship her forever.

Now it makes sense. She seems like she would have wanted to take some time off for motherhood. Her TV credits started in 1951.

Unfortunately, Lea Michele is under the weather and will be out tonight, Tuesday, March 14th. She will also be out for both performances tomorrow, Wednesday, March 15th.

Julie Benko will be your fabulous Fanny both days, and through the end of the week (Sunday, March 19th), as previously scheduled.

Previously scheduled? Wasn’t Lea just out for a week?

R94, Bancroft's only child, Max Brooks, was born in 1972, the same year Young Winston (her first film since The Graduate) was released. She then took a break until 1975's The Prisoner of Second Avenue and The Hindenburg; The Turning Point (1977) was her final film role of the '70s.

[quote] SHUCKED!

Plucked!

Max Brooks wrote the novel World War Z, which inspired the Brad Pitt zombie-apocalypse film.

I say "inspired" because the movie follows the novel very loosely at best.

R102 which is better?

[quote]LCT is embarrassed that their sister had to be the one that produced that wonderful A Little Night Music years ago.

Are you referring to the New York City Opera production? I've never thought of NYCO as the "sister" of Lincoln Center Theater.

R103: It's very hard to say, because they're so different.

The novel is made of first-hand reports from various people, none of whom is actually in the movie. They're very disconnected recollections.

Whereas the movie pursues a consistent plot with new characters, and of course there is a lot of excitement in seeing hordes of the monsters racing around. These zombies are extremely athletic. A good sample is the first reel (on YouTube), in the traffic jam in Philadelphia. It's quite ferocious.

And for you gay fans out there, James Badge Dale (son of Grover Dale and Anita Morris) plays a very hot Army sergeant in it. He's really masculine.

LCT doesn't get 1/50th the same amount of government subsidy that The National gets....Not a realistic comparison.

Sally Ann was *not* an ideal Desiree.

No theater anywhere gets more private funding than LCT.

[quote] LCT doesn't get 1/50th the same amount of government subsidy that The National gets....Not a realistic comparison.

$$ doesn’t always = excellent work.

Off-Broadway produced a lot of excellent work, and sent some good stuff to Broadway, on shoestring budgets.

SHUCKED didn't even hit $300,000 its first week. Guess the corn isn't popping...

SWEENEY nearing $2,000,000

R111 Aren't we calling it SWEENEY lite?

When Omar Sharif was cast as Nicky Armstein there was actually an understandable hubbub. As Barbra herself said “You think Cairo is upset? You should listen to my Aunt Rose.”

I love Anne Bancroft in “The Pumpkin Eater,” and it got her a second Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

"For all it’s [sic] stature in the United States, Lincoln Center doesn’t produce much good theater."

I've had countless experiences via LTC that I'd call (at least) "good."

At the Vivian Beaumont: DINNER AT EIGHT . . . HENRY IV . . . BARBARA COOK'S BROADWAY! . . . THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA . . . THE COAST OF UTOPIA . . . CYMBELINE . . . SOUTH PACIFIC . . . THE KING AND I . . . MY FAIR LADY . . .

At the Mitzi Newhouse: THE TIME OF THE CUCKOO . . . ELEGIES: A SONG CYCLE . . . HAPPINESS . . . WHEN THE RAIN STOPS FALLING . . . OTHER DESERT CITIES . . . BLOOD AND GIFTS . . . VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE . . . NIKOLAI AND THE OTHERS . . . OSLO . . . THE WOLVES . . . THE HARD PROBLEM . . . GREATER CLEMENTS . . .

And those are just the shows that I personally have seen there in the past 25 years. I've missed any number of highly admired productions in that time too.

Lea also got sick before her scheduled vacation last month. She has a few more scheduled absences between now and September.

Will those who come to see Sweeney for. Groban, care if he's "lite" compared to previous Todds? Didn't matter to Jackman fans that he was not the ideal Harold Hill. I think the show will do just fine as long as he stays.

Musical 'Bonnie & Clyde' leva ação e paixão ardente para o palco.

Here are a few memories of the original Broadway production of PACIFIC OVERTURES:

I saw it twice - once during previews and once during its short run after opening. Loved so much about the production. The music is lovely, but staging it in a way audiences can appreciate can be difficult. SOMEONE IN A TREE is an outstanding piece of music but can seem tedious to an audience watching it.

Boris Aronson's set was terrific. To me, Company, Follies, and Pacific Overtures were the perfect trifecta of sets. In particular, the transformation of the "dragon" into the sailing ship was beautiful.

During the preview I saw, there was a bomb threat. The show was stopped, and the theater was evacuated until the building was checked and deemed safe. Remember, this was in 1976 when bomb threats were a rarity. Although I never believed there was a real threat, sitting in the theater was a bit disconcerting.

The ending (at the time) felt like a real copout. Sondheim and company have difficulty with endings (or second acts), and this one felt obvious. In later productions, like the one at the Kennedy Center and at the York Theater in 1984, the ending bothered me less, perhaps because I knew it was coming.

I loved seeing the men play the female parts ( the onnagata). The final scene had real women, so several women were in the cast.

Mako, the actor who played the reciter, was not a good singer, and during the opening number, you could see him counting the beats. However, his acting more than made up for that slight deficit. I can remember another actor struggling with Sondheim beats during a preview. During previews. Angela Lansburyof SWEENEY TODD visibly counted beats for "The Worst Pies In London." Later, she used her meat cleaver as a way to mark the time.

There is one incident that I'll never forget (and I've shared this story before on DL). During previews, there was a scene that used a beautifully painted Japanesque scrim. In front of the scrim, hanging from the rafters, was a collection of kites "flying" in the wind. At the end of the scene, as they raised the scrim and the kites, one of the kites became detached and entangled in the scrim. The lower corner of the kite ripped the entire scrim from top to bottom in slow motion. It was like watching the Mona Lisa being slashed with a knife. The sound alone was horrifying.

When I saw the production again, I carefully looked at the scrim to see if I could notice a repair, but I did not. So they must have replaced the whole thing.

[quote]Sally Ann was *not* an ideal Desiree.

Regina Resnick was the perfect Madame Armfeldt.

[quote]Will those who come to see Sweeney for. Groban, care if he's "lite" compared to previous Todds? Didn't matter to Jackman fans that he was not the ideal Harold Hill. I think the show will do just fine as long as he stays.

No, they won't care, and yes, the show will do just fine as long as Josh stays.

Signature Bank Collapse Sends Shockwaves Through the Broadway Industry

The bank is one of the two main financial institutions that works with Broadway productions.

R119 i love you Billy Boy.

[Quote] $$ doesn’t always = excellent work.

No!

Who's got tix for DEAR WORLD at Encores?

See ya tomorrow night!

I’m a little late to the party, but I was watching Evil on Paramount+ and John Glover as Scott Rudin is pretty hilarious. I’m amazed at how blatant the references to him were, down to listening to Hello Dolly! at one point.

I'll be at DEAR WORLD tomorrow night! Cannot wait to hear "The Tea Party" in person for the first time!

Shucked is like a 21st century version of a tired businessman's show. And that’s not a bad thing. It gets the job done and entertains a potentially broad audience. I have a sneaking suspicion it can become a word-of-mouth hit and grow its box office. Unlike SLIH.

r125/r127 - make sure you each wear a big DL on the front of your shirts. I'm thinking...kismet!

[Quote] SHUCKED didn't even hit $300,000 its first week. Guess the corn isn't popping..

Stupid comment, you’re obviously not with standing. They only had five previews last week.

* Your obvious glee, notwithstanding

R93 - YES! Love the idea of full-orchestra, rich production values Night Music at LCT.

R119 - thanks for sharing those Pacific Overtures memories. Do you recall the audience reaction? Did they 'get' the show? I'm guessing preview audiences are generally more receptive, but perhaps that's a more recent occurrence?

I recall all of the previews of Sondheim's shows were like an afternoon on the docks at the end of Christopher Street. There was more cruising going on in the audience of Pacific Overtures than I'd ever seen in the Bloomingdales tea rooms. Everyone knew each other, much hugging and kissing and crying, it was hysterical. The same thing happened during previews of A Little Night Music and Merrily.

R132 I've never seen a Sondheim show (other than A FUNNY THING...) where the audience 'got' the show during previews. Usually, it's after seeing it again, or reading the reviews, or talking with friends, or listening to the cast recording that folks start to really appreciate Sondheim's work. They may 'like' the show but not 'love' it. I saw COMPANY after a good, trusted friend implored me to see it touting it as a new direction for musicals. Yes, I loved it, but I knew what I was getting into. The first time I saw PASSION, I rolled my eyes over the excesses of Fosca in her quest for love. Now, it's my favorite Sondheim.

Preview audiences definitely got Into the Woods, r134/Billy, but it's immediately accessible. I was waiting...and waiting for Fosca to just die already I haven't really been interested in revisiting Passion. It was originally going to be a one-act and I thought it felt stretched. I remember Donna went did to sit down on the wood bench, missing it, landing on her ass. There wasn't supposed to be a laugh there, but...

What Passion gets right is how difficult it is to live with people who are ill. It exhausts you, they can be relentless, and logic won’t make a difference. But there is something profound we gain from these relationships. It’s hard for me to imagine the kind of person who laughs at this, but it seems like a way of distancing from the reality of people getting old or sick.

[quote]Preview audiences definitely got Into the Woods, [R134]/Billy, but it's immediately accessible.

Really? I always hear that there are a lot of first-timers who think ITW is over after Act I.

[quote]Does anyone know if that kooky "1776" production is still planning to terrorize theaters on a national tour?

Just saw the banners up on the light poles here in LA today.

I saw the third preview of ITW and was surprised how messy it was. Too many appearances from the fucking birds. Bakers Wife died offstage. The witches transformation was too slow (they later used a double on stage while Peters disappeared behind a tree and took her mask off). Sondheim was sitting in front of me writing lots and lots of notes. Some people thought it was over after Act 1 and started to leave When I went back a few weeks later they added TO BE CONTINUED for the narrator at the end of Act 1.

[quote]It’s hard for me to imagine the kind of person who laughs at this, but it seems like a way of distancing from the reality of people getting old or sick.

People weren't laughing at Fosca's illness, they were laughing nervously when she began acting like a psychotic stalker.

And when she landed on her ass.

If Billy Crystal couldn't see his tired businessman musical at The Nederlander, I'm not sure Shucked can make it happen. The tired businessmen want to go to strip joints - or the upcoming Times Square Casino.

$287,000 for five shows isn't very promising. If were 8 shows it would have been $480,000 -- tough for any musical.

Gams, dammit, they want...

No gags, no girls, no chance.

Paul Ford interview. Poor taste in restaurants.

No nuns, no Nazis, no show.

R136 thanks, so wonderfully put. I have loved Passion since the first preview I attended. I saw it six times on Broadway, in London, in DC and the concert in NYC. "Loving You" and "I Wish I Could forget You" had an immediate impact on me upon first hearing them. I never understood the trashing of the musical.

Like I said rave reviews for the Hytner Guys and Dolls. So a) can it transfer and b) can Marisha win the Olivier two years in a row?

The London Guys & Dolls has a scene in a gay bar?

[quote] the performing spaces are tiny, so there’s not a lot of fancy stuff (the entertaining brawl in the gay bar is an obvious exception),

The first time I saw Into The Woods in previews, I hated it. The only number that appealed to me was Agony. Of course, I also hated Dreamgirls and La Cage the first time. I haven't changed my mind about La Cage.

"Sue Me."

That actress doesn’t work as Adelaide. We have to believe that Adelaide is naïve and a bit dim.

I know different folks and different strokes but it always amazes me when people say Agony is their favorite song in Into the Woods. I understand it because it always gets a huge ovation when I see the show, but maybe I’m just a dramatic person so I always loved Last Midnight and Stay with Me best?

[quote] That actress doesn’t work as Adelaide. We have to believe that Adelaide is naïve and a bit dim.

What misogynistic crap is that? Adelaide isn't stupid.

The NYT London stringer loves it too. I'm not sure about standing for "nearly three hours." We could do Here Lies Love in the afternoon and then this at night and never sit. And since when is G&D nearly three hours?

Thank you, R155.

Keep your "we" to yourself, R153.

the title of show boys are back

[quote] “Other World” follows two people named Sri and Lorraine as they are transported from Earth to a video game and need to race against time to get back home.

R148, I've also always loved Passion since I first watched the DVD in middle school. I've always thought of it as a look into 3 co-dependent relationships that end in ruin: Fosca's dead, Clara is trapped in a loveless marriage, and Giorgio is left alone and presumably scarred. That said I can see how an inversion of beauty and the beast with a crazy stalker turns many people off.

[quote]Keep your "we" to yourself, R153.

Wait a goddamn minute!

[quote] Adelaide isn't stupid.

I didn’t say she was stupid. I said she was dim. If she gets on a train headed for Niagara with her gambler boyfriend and 14 trips later, he’s still getting off at Saratoga, she’s a bit dim. Sweet, but dim.

From r144's link:

[quote]And last week, as the asbestos curtain was about to be raised on the 1955-56 musical comedy season,

Asbestos curtain?!

Yes, r162...asbestos. You want *your* curtains to catch on fire?

So, it's good? I was brought up thinking asbestos was poisonous and banned in the 1980s.

[quote] If she gets on a train headed for Niagara with her gambler boyfriend and 14 trips later, he’s still getting off at Saratoga, she’s a bit dim.

I don't think she's being literal

[quote]So, it's good? I was brought up thinking asbestos was poisonous and banned in the 1980s

"1955-56 musical comedy season", r164.

[Quote] Anne Bancroft was something special in TORCH SONG TRILOGY.

Sadly I can’t seem to access this movie anywhere

Speaking of Miss Adelaide, I was just listening to Streisand's rendition of "Adelaide's Lament," which was a bonus cut (remember when they added those in the early days of CDs as a way to get people to switch to the new format?) on her first Broadway album. What should have been a slam-dunk for her is a laborious and painfully unfunny number as she over-acts on each humorous lyric.

R166 I saw that.

My point was that it was humorous they were inadvertently using something that was later banned for being poisonous.

Hot ENCORES dish: they're planning on LOVE LIFE (long postponed, much anticipated) and CITY OF ANGELS next season.

Don't think they've made a formal announcement yet.

R170 that was in a NY Times story a few days ago.

Is Jeff Bowen at R158 still with Michael Berresse?

Now *that* sounds like the Encores of yore, r170.

Looking forward to both!

Raul E should be Stine in City of Angels instead of Fagin

[quote]Is Jeff Bowen at [R158] still with Michael Berresse?

Yes, r 172. They are still married.

The NYT review of Guys and Dolls also calls Miss Adelaide a stripper. She is? What's her gimmick?

R177 Som'n wrong with STRIPPIN'?!

R168, the Streisand "Adelaide's Lament" is wonderfully sung which should come as no surprise, but it did always feel like a performance from a middle schooler in their 8th grade play.

Raul is far too old to play Stine.

[quote]That actress doesn’t work as Adelaide. We have to believe that Adelaide is naïve and a bit dim.

Most of the reviews are raving about her performance.

What the hell do they know, we’ve already decided, sight unseen.

I think that performance of "Sue Me" is nothing special overall, and some of it is pretty bad. Certainly nothing to rave over.

[quote] Most of the reviews are raving about her performance.

Brits have never been good at American musicals.

Adelaide is the quintessential example of a role in which the performer tends to be hailed as a brilliant genius as long as she gives even a barely passable performance. That's because the character as written is so fabulous, and the songs and the lines so great. There have been Adelaides who were truly brilliant, including the first one, Vivian Blaine, but they all tend to be lumped together in many people's estimation.

[r185] I agree!

Excuse me?

R187, there is an exception to every rule :-)

Yeah, there are certain roles that are so great, that you have to really miscast them to fuck them up.

Miss Adelaide is a good example.

Effie in Dreamgirls is another. As long as you cast a chubby black girl who can sing That Song, you're fine. I mean, several actresses who aren't brilliant actors have won awards for doing it. It's that Damn Song.

It's another why theater is falling apart. The Woke Brigade insists "ANYONE can play any part" when the reality is, most/many roles require certain types and talents. I mean, is it really a huge surprise that Beanie sucked in Funny Girl and Groban is all wrong for Sweeney?

[quote]Effie in Dreamgirls is another. As long as you cast a chubby black girl who can sing That Song, you're fine. I mean, several actresses who aren't brilliant actors have won awards for doing it. It's that Damn Song.

Prime example being Jennifer Holliday, who couldn't act to save her life.

Jennifer Hudson wasn't even especially chubby.

r189 The actress playing Adelaide played Effie in "Dreamgirls." She was the alternate in the West End production.

Well, maybe we should judge this Adelaide's performance after seeing more than one song—for my money' the worst in the show.

WICKED movie update.

Also in the cast are 2023 Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, and newcomer Marissa Bode as Nessarose, the first wheelchair-using actor in the musical's history to take on the role. Stage and screen star Keala Settle, SNL's Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Aaron Teoh, and Colin Michael Carmichael will play roles new to the musical's screen version, with Settle as Miss Coddle, Carmichael as Professor Nikidik, and Yang, James, and Teoh as Shiz students Pfannee, ShenShen, and Avaric, respectively.

Good interview about the TOFT/NYPL Performing Arts of Bway shows, including my oft-asked question about why can't they just stream the damn collection.

(Answer: it's those darned unions.)

Wicked makes me want to suicidify myself

God, I hate “Sue Me.” “Sue me, sue me, what can you do me”? Really? Horrible lyrics. And that phony as shit gangster stuff. Guys & Dolls sucks.

Guys sand Dolls is the straight man's Gypsy.

There is *no* straight man musical. Well...maybe Ankles Aweigh.

Oh! Calcutta!

AVENUE Q had an enormous number of straight male fans/followers: nerdy Gen Xers/millenials who felt like it spoke to them. Yes, it has gay content, but it's mostly about the straight dudes.

Julia McKenzie and Bob Hoskins were great in the National Theatre "Guys and Dolls" from the 80s.

West Side Story is a straight man's musical.

Even my dad owned the LP from way back in the day.

Only straight men of a certain era, r204.

Back in the day, it wasn't considered somewhat gay to go to see a musical.

Camelot > straighter than straight! Every young, Anglo, married, man & woman had the OBC album—at the time.

One way to look at it: G&D was written, directed, and choreographed by straight men: Loesser, Burrows, Kidd, Kaufman. Its sensibility is very hetero. Gypsy was largely created by homos: Sondheim, Laurents, Robbins. And it is a legendary gay musical, revered above all by the homos.

Evita was for straight men. Donald Trump saw it six times.

Using your own calculus, R208, WEST SIDE STORY is even gayer than GYPSY. It was created by the 3 gay men you named PLUS Leonard Bernstein (vs the straight Jule Stein who composed GYPSY).

And I don't know about EVITA: the original production felt super-gay to me. ("So Christian Dior me....") Whereas the rockier JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR had a huge following among straight men of that generation. ALW and Tim Rice are both straight, BTW.

I think Jerry Herman, Sondheim, and Kander & Ebb all made musicals that much gayer than they had been.

Jersey Boys is for straight men.

Mamma Mia is for straight women without their husbands.

Bad Cinderella is for no one.

[quote]vs the straight Jule Stein who composed GYPSY)

Jule Styne.

Paint Your Wagon is pretty straight. Where else can you see Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood in a musical?

Most commerical theatre is geared toward straight audiences (wicked, Lion King, Phantom, Jersey Boys, Hamilton) it’s why they are super hits.

Follies is geared toward gay men, which is why it ALWAYS loses money

The Book of Mormon is another straight man's musical.

SHUCKED is for non-binary

Wasn't West Side Story considered to be a bit fey by the hairy-chested theater critics at the time?

[quote]God, I hate “Sue Me.” “Sue me, sue me, what can you do me”? Really? Horrible lyrics. And that phony as shit gangster stuff. Guys & Dolls sucks.

That's the way those characters would have talked, and it's not the fault of the show's creators that YOU don't understand that.

It's Guys and DOLLS not Guys and GUYS! Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Posters on BroadwayWorld (some of whom sound like very experienced theatregoers) seem to have a consensus emerging on Sweeney...

Groban, still lacking in menace, underwhelming, showing true limits of his acting ability, though some who saw him earlier in previews say he's improving. Maybe he'll win the Tony for most improved / best effort?

Annaleigh seems to get a lot more praise, but she doesn't project enough and/or the sound designer still can't figure out how to have her voice fill the theatre. And, she's apparently a ham -- for some people to distraction. Less about her accent, but those who mention it, don't speak positively.

Gaetan and Ruthie seem to be the most consistently praised. If the Toby and the fucking Beggar Woman are the most highly praised performers in Sweeney... oy... you're in trouble.

Jordan Fisher -- a few folks noting that he's surprisingly good after reading earlier reports of his apparent failure in the role. But perhaps that's the power of lowered expectations. Others continue to say, miscast, vocally on very shaky ground.

While wonderful to have a full orchestra, continued complaints about sound design and hearing the 26 piece band properly. And, perhaps more worrying, multiple comments about -- sound design aside -- how lackluster the music direction can be.

Scenic design has some nice moments, but most people seem underwhelmed.

Multiple people citing issues with pacing (especially act 1), stakes feeling too low, a general flatness.

People really miss the god damn whistle. I think I would, too, but I guess I'll see when I catch the show in the Spring.

Overall it reads like... a missed opportunity. I'm 42. I'll probably be in my mid 50s before we get another 'full' production of Sweeney. It's a shame that -- if these preview reports are accurate -- that the right star and creative team weren't assembled to do this moment justice. Here's hoping for continued improvement!

[quote]Brits have never been good at American musicals.

They can't do the pizzazz nearly as well, but the best English play directors can tangle very productively with the more modern, thoughtful musical. The original Mendes Cabaret was a beauty, and with the exception of the deeply irritating Imelda, the NT Follies was the best in a long, long time.

[quote]Camelot > straighter than straight! Every young, Anglo, married, man & woman had the OBC album—at the time.

I wonder if JFK's seal of approval had anything to do with that?

CAMELOT ran on Broadway from 1960 to 1963.

JFK was president from 1960 to 1963.

The press dubbed JFK's presidency 'Camelot,' because that was the only musical he liked.

However, he was not into the arts at all, like Jackie, but she was always forcing him to go to such events.

[quote]Jersey Boys is for straight men.

My sports nut brother despises musicals with a passion, but he really enjoyed JERSEY BOYS because he likes mafia movies and '60s music.

The price dubbed JFK’s presidency Camelot after he was dead.

Press

[quote]The press dubbed JFK's presidency 'Camelot,' because that was the only musical he liked.

Very much not how I remembered this.

[quote]Don't let it be forgot

[quote]That once there was a spot

[quote]For one brief shining moment that was known

[quote]As Camelot.

Nicolas Hytner’s 1990s British production of Carousel was phenomenal and restored the reputation of that show.

Which one of you girls took a dump in the aisle at SLIH the other night? It was before intermission, apparently.

Was it hot, R229?

Scat troll at R230. 😂

Literal violence!

Shipoopi!

R231 that cracked me up, too. 🤣

Jeff Romney is one of the producers, along with Maria Friedman, of the new Merrily.

Er, Romley. And Sonia Friedman.

Who is Jeff Romley?

^ The Widow Sondheim

R238 wouldn't that be widower/

Widower Sondheim doesn't scan.

Does anyone remember when the Applegate Sweet Charity revival dropped the first few notes of Big Spender from the overture during the tryout but put them back in for Broadway? I have a feeling the Sweeney whistle will be back.

Will DEAR WORLD move to Bway?

Italians playing Jewish — Al Pacino, over and over.

Remember when Anglos and Italian-Americans were playing Cuban immigrants as recently as 1995?

Then the whole Latin Explosion thing happened in the late '90s.

I doubt it, r242. Don't think anyone will deem it a forgotten classic, even if this production is excellent.

Saw the final dress of DEAR WORLD. A valiant effort by all trying to rescue a show that can't be rescued.

ROOM has just been canceled. Poor Adrienne Warren.

R247, I was just about to post about that. Here's a link:

In Forbidden Broadway, Rita Moreno told Chita Rivera she could only play "Gypsies, Italians and black Jews."

Re: ROOM

Imagine already rehearsing and having the plug pulled on your show?

[Quote] Room was to have starred Tony winner Adrienne Warren and Tony nominee Ephraim Sykes

Wasn’t Sykes the original MJ who pulled out during the pandemic delay for a movie that then didn’t happen and the. frost win the Tony? Poor guy can’t catch a break Like David Noroña who didn’t come to NY from CA with Jersey Boys for a TV pilot that bombed

Final Stephen Sondheim Musical, Titled Here We Are, to Premiere This Fall at the Shed

The new musical is inspired by two films by Luis Buñuel, with a book by David Ives and direction by Joe Mantello.

On ATC someone called LikeItLots posted by far the most accurate summing up of the crappiness of Bad Cinderella. Spoilers galore. We left at intermission, so now at least I know the second act wasn't any better!

Part 1

How is it that when musicals cost what they do (to producers AND audience) we live in a world where the creatives seemingly shrug their shoulders and say “good enough” when a book makes ZERO SENSE?

How is it possible for Bad Cinderella to be quite this bad… just on the merits (or lack thereof) of book alone?

For starters, our heroine is “bad” we are told because…. Why? She wears boots and spray painted a statue? That’s it?

We are TOLD that she is a maid, but she seems to spend all of her time out of the house or, while in it, sparring with the stepmother. She doesn’t seem to do much by way of actual housework.

We are also told by the way, that she is plain and without makeup. She is neither. She is merely Latina. And Sebastian the outcast prince is Black. So both of our misfit heroes are people of color and while there is a story wherein that could be the reason they are outcasts, that’s not this story.

The two of them, we are TOLD are childhood friends. How did THAT happen? What makes them friends? They both have disinterest in the things the rest of the characters value, but do they share any values? Art? Music? Books? Animals? Nature? Crochet? Nah. Too much effort to give them actual character traits or anything to their relationship that we might actually root for.

The queen wants a wedding immediately. Why? She is not about to die. The townsfolk seem totally happy. There is not a rebellion brewing, the men aren’t itching to war, the people don’t have a lack of respect for her gender so…. Why? At least in the Disney version, the king was driven by an irrational need of grand kids.

The stepmother and queen have a showdown (oooh, a spark of life in these proceedings) that goes… nowhere. We are told that they both have shady pasts, the specifics of which are too much trouble to explain. How did they get beyond those pasts (marriage, obviously, but how?) What would happen if those pasts were revealed? It matters to the queen for Act 1, but then, magically, in Act 2, she no longer cares. She pulls rank. That didn’t occur to her until the second act? (in fairness, the past of the stepmother seems to be the root of her motivation, but unlike Cate Blanchett’s stepmother in the Disney Live-action, who sees her daughters’ marriage as her only means of survival, this stepmother wants power. What does she want to do with that power? What wrong is she trying to right? Who knows).

Cinderella decides suddenly that she DOES want to be beautiful. The Godmother is a plastic surgeon who dresses like a drag queen. She wants Cinderella’s mother’s necklace. Why? Who knows. But Cinderella doesn’t fight very hard to keep it and the Godmother gives it away pretty damned easily for an item she seems to have wanted.

Love the idea, hate the title!

Part 2

The ball happens. Midnight and the removal of shoes are shoe-horned in (sorry) but there are no real consequences to Cinderella.

Sebastian apologizes to Cinderella bur she’ll have none of it because she is just too hurt at not being recognized when she made herself unrecognizable. She needs to be unforgiving of the person we are told she loves because, you see, otherwise we’re out of story.

Prince Charming has been in hiding because he is gay. But he returns with no fears that his coming out will be bad for him (and he’s right). So if being gay isn’t a problem, why was he hiding? The fact that it isn’t a problem, either for the characters or the audience is lovely, but must it be diminished by naming the boyfriend the Duc du Violette????

Marie, who we have been told is an idiot, manages to come up with an important realization/ plot point: “I guess she heard the wedding bells and thought you were married.” Huh? Where’d she come up with that? Did she read the script?

Sebastian and Cinderella reunite but, as these things go, it takes a good long time for him to announce that he isn’t married.

Oy.

Now add the fact that the costumes are hideous, the music redundant, the lead can’t act (although the script doesn’t help her any), and the large cast is asked to belt the majority of the music at top volume as if they are all American Idol contestants. On the plus side, the sets have whimsy, the cast is working hard and are polished, the orchestra is lush, and the great Carolee Carmello and Grace McClean are camping it up to good effect. But one is left to ponder—how did this happen? Maybe ALW has too much power and too little taste and no one wants to tell him, “No, this isn’t ready yet.” But that’s pure supposition. As always with a big creative belly-flop, It’s hard to fathom how so much effort can go into something that goes so far awry.

re: Here We Are!

According to that book with the Sondheim interview with the New Yorker writer, Sondheim was bitterly disappointed that he didn't finish his Bunuel musical. Did the widow Sondheim decide that it's good enough?

WTFTL;DR*

Isn’t Hunter Arnold a known skeev?

Honestly, should shows be allowed to rehearse and even begin previews without being fully capitalized, money in the bank? Happens way too often.

[quote]Imagine already rehearsing and having the plug pulled on your show?

The last time I can remember that happening on Broadway was NERDS, the Bill Gates-Steve Jobs musical. That was quite a scandal

Thanks for posting that R260 - I'd forgotten about that mess.

Do we know if Romley has sole discretion as to what is or isn't produced from the Sondheim canon?

Please don't quote the idiots from All That Chat here...let's keep the children in their nursery room...

Maybe Brokeback Mountain will get a stage version after all.

[quote] Maybe ALW has too much power and too little taste and no one wants to tell him, “No, this isn’t ready yet.” But that’s pure supposition.

The amazing thing is, this show was ALREADY produced ON THE WEST END, where it was not well received and did very poorly at the box office, but EVEN THAT was not enough to convince ALW that his show was terrible and that a Broadway transfer would be a very bad idea.

SHUCKED! When you absolutely positively have nothing else to do.

Saw PARADE last night. Brilliantly directed by DL fave Michael Arden but, for me, anyway, a messy show that could still use some strong editing and cutting. I'd have rather spent more time with Leo and Lucille Frank in Act I to better establish their characters. I was surprised Leo didn't have another couple of big solos in the show.

And I didn't need those long extended numbers with the Governor and his annoying wife at their tea dance, their Black servants below stairs singing about their take on everything, and the DA and the Judge fishing and singing. Also, didn't get whatever that newspaper editor was about or what his character added to the story that the skeezy newspaper reporter didn't already hit. And what about the shirtless Confederate soldier and his gf that begins and ends the show? Pretty - but WTF?

While I appreciate the attempt to create the post-Civil War Southern world around this tragedy, those numbers that seemed to be extolling the patriotism of Georgians, didn't seem to hit the intended emotions. But Arden did all he could to push the narrative forward in inventive ways and I'll eagerly look forward to his next Broadway show.

[quote]Please don't quote the idiots from All That Chat here...

Not gonna happen, r263.

Do White people go to the Public Theatre anymore?

[quote]Imagine already rehearsing and having the plug pulled on your show?

Tell us about it.

So the Broadway run of Room has been cancelled. Talk about a whoopsie Daisy

There just wasn't room for it, r271.

I would say they're well out of it. When I read the article and it gave instructions about how ticketholders could get their money back, my first thought was- Oh, do they refund comps?

So the new Sondheim show is coming in the fall.

DL fave Bernadette Peters was attached at one point but she will be in London with Old Friends, while this is happening.

Is this BETY BUCKLEY’s chance to shine?

R253 sounds like a Rex Reed review, and I mean that in a good way

R255 It sounds like the emperor has no clothes, but who is brave enough or innocent enough to tell him?

Bigger question is what fools put money into these latest awful ALW shows (esp. when they've already flopped in London)? Or is it all his money?

[quote] The Woke Brigade insists "ANYONE can play any part" when the reality is, most/many roles require certain types and talents

Except NO ONE says ANYONE can play any part. Literally no one.

The Sleepy Brigade just makes shit up

R278 1776 seemed a good example of that.

About...*Woke*

[quote] 1776 seemed a good example of that.

yes, they literally chose random people off the street to play those roles.

It only seems that way

R282 you know, there is such a thing as being miscast for the part, which the woke seem to forget/ignore. Not every actor is suitable for every role. They may be the wrong race or gender. You can only suspend so much disbelief.

They already spent money for the marquee for "Room", which was up the other day at the James Earl Jones Theater.

There is no room at the Jones.

r278 with the typical disingenuous, dishonest deflection.

To whoever asked upthread, I don't think that Romney was given the authority to manage the Sondheim canon. Or not the sole authority, if any at all.

So give us a quote, r287

Show us where people are saying "ANYONE can play any part"

You put it in quotes so you must be quoting someone

I believe r287 is simply misquoting Miss Norma Desmond who said "*I* can play any role." Not only that, the bitch played them all with *one* friggin' look. A narrow lane was hers.

Groban out tonight. Let's see how many people stay.

R291 - Curious to hear how his understudy / standby is.

R292 Isn't he hot and black?

Him.

He's the physical opposite of Groban so it should be interesting.

Gaten was out the other night but I think he's back.

r294 His brother is in the show too.

r294 - even his headshot has more presence than Groban. Will he become the Julie Benko of this production?

(I know, I know... not apples to apples because Groban, so far, is selling tickets.)

Who is Misty Newhouse and why does she has a theater with her name?

I wanna know who the hell LuEsther T. Mertz was.

It's Mitzi Newhouse

Ethel's stage name after Fred died. She still kills with Shortnin' Bread.

[quote] I wanna know who the hell LuEsther T. Mertz was.

You’ll know when you need to know.

It's not the first stage adaptation of Brokeback Mountain. There was an opera about five or six years ago. It wasn't good and it never really went anywhere.

Deadline reviews "Parade":

NYT:

I enjoyed DEAR WORLD, despite my misgivings. It's an odd little show, with a good but not at all great score, and the book is a goofy mess.

But Donna was wonderful, as were her other madwomen (Andrea Burns and Ann Harada), and Christopher Fitzgerald. It really won me over on charm.

Delighted to have seen it, particularly with a smart, appreciative, respectful audience.

Is the Best Actor TONY just waiting for Ben Platt?

Michaela Diamond is really wonderful in PARADE.

[quote] I wanna know who the hell LuEsther T. Mertz was.

And was she related to both Fred Sanford and Fred Mertz?

[quote] Is the Best Actor TONY just waiting for Ben Platt?

Because a 2nd Tony is going to fix everything with his career.

[quote]It's Mitzi Newhouse

I always call it the Mitzi McCall Theatre.

Cameron Mackintosh on the final Sondheim musical: “My last conversation with him was the Sunday before he died," Mackintosh told WhatsOnStage editor Alex Wood. "He asked me to go through the entire score with him on the phone…What was interesting was that Steve had never gone through a full score with me before like that. I think he wanted to reinforce his view with me as to whether or not he was going to complete it, because of the amount of energy it would have taken.”

Mackintosh notes that what he had heard was "50 or 60 percent" finished. "When we went through it, I found so many vigorous tunes, but none that he had fully completed…There was a whole section in the musical that he told me he wanted to be 'wall-to-wall music,' like the Follies sequence. But, sadly, he never got to write that. There was a lot of music within what he'd already written that I'm sure he would have used for that specific section, but he died before he was able to do all that."

What do you want to bet that LMM is going to be the one to finish/rework it?

Lol a pageant of antisemitism

Tony #2 for Ben.

I feel bad for Ben Platt. He is so cocooned by being a critics darling, that it must always come as a blow when his Tv/film/concerts bomb. It probably doesn’t register why he always gets rave theatre reviews and yet….his career outside of niche theatre never succeeds

LuEsther and her husband founded Publishers Clearinghouse. The Joyce Theater?—their daughter Joyce.

*

[Quote] Delighted to have seen it, particularly with a smart, appreciative, respectful audience.

White crowd, eh?

R318. Definitely not a Long Island or Joisey crowd.

R312, I've already heard a rumor that LMM, as Steve's protege and heir apparent, stepped up some time ago and volunteered to finish the score. I hope it's not true, but it seems almost predictable.

Who is Ben's competition for the Tony?

[quote] Who is Ben's competition for the Tony?

Josh Groban

Andrew Burnap and Will Swenson.

Maybe that’s why Bernadette dropped out? She may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but she’s loyal. It might have bugged her to do “Sondheim’s last show” when 40% of it is written by others.

I COULD see Patti doing though…if she rejoined Equity.

I can only assume that if Mackintosh is to be believed, the Sondheim show doesn't sound very promising.

And it's Burnap's Tony to lose and will be his second Tony as well.

(quote)Who is Ben's competition for the Tony? Andrew Burnap and Will Swenson.

#Tonyssowhite

[quote]I've already heard a rumor that LMM, as Steve's protege and heir apparent, stepped up some time ago and volunteered to finish the score. I hope it's not true, but it seems almost predictable.

If that's true, I wonder when/if they'll start crediting LMM in the press materials, etc. I can't imagine he would finish the score without taking some kind of credit, even if it's a relatively small one like "additional material by Lin-Manuel Miranda."

Nobody is giving Ben another Tony so soon. If anybody's going to get one it'll be Mrs. Frank. But I think Soo has that sewn up.

Is it looking like Chastain will be a lock for lead actress in a play? Who would be her chief competition?

Definitely Jodie Comer.

Potentially Laura Linney.

I haven't seen CAMELOT yet, but if what I hear of it is true, nobody involved in that ain't getting no Tony awards.

I think Jodie Comer might take it. I saw it in London and I did not like the play. Her over-the-top performance is the stuff that gets you awards.

Mrs NPH in God of Carnage?

If only Chef David knew how to act, notwithstanding acting like a happy husband for eons.

[quote] Theater Breaking Through Barriers, an inclusive theater company that works to spotlight people onstage and backstage with disabilities, is backing the production.

What's David Burtka's disability?

OMG, they cast Burtka as a straight man???

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I guess I missed the post, what's the David Burtka project?

R335-Pretending to be a faithful husband and father.

God of Carnage would be interesting with more diverse casting like making one of the couples gay or black.

If someone tells me it's a show I have to bring something to, I always bring a book.

What stars who haven’t been onstage or who haven’t been onstage in a long time would you be thrilled to see come back. Jean Smart #1 for me

Adam Guettel would be a more intriguing choice to finish the Sondheim show. Although I guess he would need 10 years or so to do it.

What an odd show for him to return in. What producer is like

“We really need to revive Gods of Carnage. And we REALLY need to put David Burtka at the top of our list for the leads”

[r342] he burned a bridge with a lot of the Sondheim crowd by defending Brett Kavenough on Twitter during the senate trial

Guettel's musical sophistication would be a close match for Sondheim's. LMM's is not even close. How typical of him to anoint himself the heir apparent.

Jason Robert Brown would be a better fit. He’s less musically sophisticated than Guettel, but could match Sondheim’s sensibility. Lin Manuel Miranda seems like a terrible fit, except in his inflated mind.

Has anyone actually seen a show at The Muny? That stage is the biggest I've ever seen for a book show. Can you actually enjoy a show when they have to play it thousands?

You may be right, r346. In any case, it's not likely to have been Guettel for the simple reason that any contributions to the score must already have been completed by now. Speed isn't Guettel's strong suit.

To be fair, speed wasn’t Sondheim’s strong suit, either. Originally announced in 2014.

I remember seeing Jean Smart play Marlene Dietrich in PIAF waaaaaaaaaay back when.

[quote]To be fair, speed wasn’t Sondheim’s strong suit, either.

Well sure, once he was in his elder years—but Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures & Sweeney Todd all within a decade is pretty damn speedy.

[quote]God of Carnage would be interesting with more diverse casting like making one of the couples gay or black.

Black is overdone to the point where it is unimaginative and ordinary. If you really want diversity, look elsewhere.

[quote] To be fair, speed wasn’t Sondheim’s strong suit, either. Originally announced in 2014.

He was busy dating and getting married.

Sondheim always procrastinated, even in the 70s. Hal Prince nearly lost his mind on A Little Night Music, going in to rehearsal with half a score.

Is it correct to call LMM a protoge of Sondheim's? The word suggests to me a far deeper relationship than they probably had.

I think we can give Sondheim a pass for the last 16 months, though.

No, it's not, r355. That's just Miranda's characterization, and he never misses an opportunity to call attention to their connection.

Sondheim judged composers harshly for writing lead sheets. Regardless his public comments about Hamilton or LMM, I can’t believe he had much respect for the music.

Groban out tonite and matinee tomorrow.

This is a bomb?

[quote] Guettel's musical sophistication would be a close match for Sondheim's. LMM's is not even close.

If LMM did it, there's higher change of it having a memorable tune.

Otherwise, we know it's going to be like Bounce and absolutely suck

[quote]Sondheim judged composers harshly for writing lead sheets. Regardless his public comments about Hamilton or LMM, I can’t believe he had much respect for the music.

So, because YOU can't believe it, you think Sondheim was lying? Sorry, but while Sondheim always (or almost always) avoided saying negative things about the work of his contemporaries, I don't think he was the type to praise anyone's work if he wasn't sincere in his feelings.

Do you also think he told Rachel Zegler she sings "like a nightingale"?

SS told Rachel it was alarming how charming she sung.

[Quote] Is it correct to call LMM a protoge of Sondheim's?

No.

[quote]Three days before he died last year, Elliott told Sondheim that Bailey would be starring in “Cock.” Sondheim “literally stopped in his tracks, closed his eyes, put his hand on his chest and said, ‘Be still my beating heart,’” Elliott said.

Everyone seems to have talked to Sondheim just before he died

I talked to him last week

[quote]Do you also think he told Rachel Zegler she sings "like a nightingale"?

No, but that would be an example of Zegler lying or exaggerating, not Sondheim.

I saw this at The Muny last summer and I was about halfway back. It totally worked. You heard every word, and the scope and the performances were perfect. I was surprised. More personal that I imagined.

Remember when all everyone was arguing about was AIN'T NO MORE?! Get ready for the same bs when they all start screaming about how "White Girl in Danger" deserves a longer life than it is going to have.

Michael R Jackson took 20 years to write a middling show about his sad-sack life as a fat gay black man. He has nothing else to say…about anything.

R136- Fosca’s not sick. She’s just in love. In TRU, Truman Capote says that if you really focus on one person, you can get that person. I did it once, actually. 13 years directed at one person and got him to finally proposition me but I ultimately said no. After all that.

I don’t think Adelaide needs to be “dim.” Maybe it’s faith (not prince) that they’ll eventually get married on the 14th trip to Niagara. And after all, they do eventually get married! She needn’t be naive OR dim. And if she DOES need to be dim, must the actress also be dim?

R177- take back your mink!

Hudson absolutely was chubby in Dreamgirls movie

Spamelot was straight man’s musical

R251- fun fact about David Norona. He was Randy Becker’s understudy for LVC. Becker had a seizure during the first act so Norona went on for Act 2 which began with Norona laying completely naked on a deck upstage. So that was how he made his Bway debut.

Initially, Nerds was supposed to come to Broadway around 2008 directed by Jerry Zaks. I had several work sessions/auditions for Zaks to play Bill Gates. There was soon a rumor heard by Richard Kind that he relayed to me that I was going to get the role. I never got a call and it never happened. Then it was done in NC (or SC?) with DL fave Cole Escola in the ensemble. Then they planned a Philadelphia production (without Escola, wtf?) They did a workshop first though and the guy playing Gates couldn’t do the workshop so I got the call. I did the workshop but not Philadelphia. Then I stayed in contact with the NYC producer about playing the role on Broadway esp since I was known for playing a “nerd” on TV. Nonetheless, they decided to go to Broadway without me and then it closed during rehearsals. Final note: I was also called back for the WHEN PIGS FLY revival but wasn’t cast. That show ALSO closed during rehearsals. If I had gotten both and they both closed during rehearsals, I probably would’ve lost my mind so it’s all for the best.

R331- ??!??

You’re all off. Glen Kelly is the best choice to finish Sondheim’s score. He worked on The Frogs with Sondheim. He is a Drama Desk Award winning genius who knows how to write in the style of anyone. He also knows how to structure a show. What he did for Mel’s tunes for THE PRODUCERS was miraculous.

R373 is me

I was about to ask r374. It seemed likely!

R374 Thought so, love ya loads.

[quote]Fosca’s not sick. She’s just in love.

Fosca in PASSION is a sick, unwell woman. It's in the script: she suffers from a neurological disorder (unspecified) that has worsened over time and has seizures.

Woosh!

R377, I'm PRETTY SURE the other poster was merely joking with the line "Fosca's not sick, she's just in love." Maybe you don't recognize that as a reference to a lyric in "You're Just in Love" from CALL ME MADAM

"It says here in this book....:"

Yeah, she's not dumb. Right.

My favorite Effie was Sharon Brown who was quite trim. Does Effie really need to be heavy? When Curtis tells her at the end of Act 1 that she's getting fatter all the time she's actually pregnant. The song Heavy could be a reference to Effie dragging everyone down with her negativity instead of being about her weight.

r374 - Why, Zachary Uriah Addy, as I live and breathe.

r381

short answer no but this is a good thread on the topic

just in case the link doesn't work... try this

FWIW Florence Ballard was ousted from The Supremes, and while less trim than the other 2 gals (what were their names, again?), she wasn't fat.

R385, one of the Supremes was Mary Wilson, but I don't recall who the third was. Must not have made an impression.

R383. Thanks!

I remember now. It was Cindy Birdsong. So the Supremes were Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Cindy Birdsong.

I always thought it was weird in DREAMGIRLS that they all sang a song about sticking up for each other and being a family.......and then two scenes later, threw Effie out of the act.....

r389

and isn't the next scene where we find out that Deena And Curtis are having an affair?

R382- impressed you know the middle name!

It was on a very recent episode, r391, I took note and thought I'd be able to impress you with it on DL at some point. Voila!

Effie has to be fat enough that nobody notices her weight gain when she is pregnant. But that’s the end of Act 1. By the time Effie and Deena meet again, seven years have passed.

And Deena has to be prettier because Effie has the line, “No one can see her (or is it me?) on record.”

Lots of talk on the street today of JRB's curtain speech at the PARADE opening. First, he surprised everyone by stepping forward to speak. Then he proceeded to eloquently thank Rob Ashford and Hal Prince.

But not the director standing right next to him.

Eager to find any reports on the Sweeney understudy

Is there any Moss Hart director today who could take Josh Groban and help him find what’s missing in his performance?

You mean take him to a hotel room for the weekend and act it out for him?

[Quote] Fosca’s not sick. She’s just in love.

That was the whole problem with the show. It’s was a passion; it was a mental disorder.

^it wasnt passion; it was a mental disorder

The word *awkward* comes to mind, r394.

Maybe he was upset because Michael Arden asked if he needed to use the bathroom backstage. With a leer.

Fosca Benanti

I always said that Passion reminds me of FATAL ATTRACTION, except that at the end, Michael Douglas turns to Glenn Close and says, "You killed the rabbit? I think I love you!"

It's funny, but as I looked at the opening night curtain call photos for PARADE this afternoon, I thought it was peculiar the way Jason Robert Brown and Alfred Uhry were taking center stage and hugging everyone and Michael Arden seemed shunted off to the side and ignored and unsmiling. I also couldn't help but notice how much weight Arden has put on. Check it out for yourselves on BroadwayWorld.com

Having just seen the show, believe me, Arden is the hero of the night and Brown should be very grateful.

[quote]I always thought it was weird in DREAMGIRLS that they all sang a song about sticking up for each other and being a family.......and then two scenes later, threw Effie out of the act.....

Right, because stuff like that never happens in actual families. What's really weird is your comment.

[quote]Lots of talk on the street today of JRB's curtain speech at the PARADE opening. First, he surprised everyone by stepping forward to speak. Then he proceeded to eloquently thank Rob Ashford and Hal Prince. But not the director standing right next to him.

Wait a minute.....he thanked Rob Ashford? Who was the ASSISTANT CHOREOGRAPHER of the original production? (Patricia Birch was the choreographer.) Are you serious??? If so, did JRB explain why he felt that no-talent was deserving of special thanks in a curtain speech for this new production that he had nothing to do with? Or did Ashford provide uncredited help in some capacity?

[quote]Having just seen the show, believe me, Arden is the hero of the night

Perhaps Brown realizes that, hence why he snubbed Arden.

Rob Ashford directed "Parade" in London and Los Angeles, and it was during those runs that significant alterations were made that have become permanent.

[quote]Three days before he died last year, Elliott told Sondheim that Bailey would be starring in “Cock.” Sondheim “literally stopped in his tracks, closed his eyes, put his hand on his chest and said, ‘Be still my beating heart,’” Elliott said.

So then, Bailey killed Sondheim?

The new Parade is indeed masterful, one of the finest productions of anything I’ve ever seen out of well over 1000 on Broadway and elsewhere. Arden did a magnificent job and the production is pretty much perfect. That said, JRB’s speech was bizarre and tone deaf in many ways… he is enormously talented but continually comes off as extremely unpleasant and angry. Given his absolutely terrible track record of Broadway success despite his undeniable talent, a little bitterness is justified no doubt but he oftentimes just oozes a severely bruised ego and a gigantic chip on his shoulder.

He seems to be talking specifically about the road to the current production and thanking those who worked on previous stagings. But maybe this clip, which is all I have seen, doesn't tell the whole story.

[quote]Who is Ben's competition for the Tony?

[quote]Andrew Burnap and Will Swenson.

I think J. Harrison Ghee might also be in the running.

You bitches are slipping….where is the good theatre gossip I KNOW someone on this thread knows.

1) Joanne and Bobbi in the Company tour that is launching in a couple months.

2) Fanny in the Funny Girl tour that is launching in a couple months.

3) the leads of the final Sondheim show launching in the fall.

4) any “names” in the pre-Broadway tour/Broadway mounting of The Wiz

You bitches got to me in my sleep last night, where I dreamed that my boss told me to book overflow space in the Mitzi Newhouse for an event we were hosting.

Does that mean we are invited r414?

I have a revolutionary idea for casting Bobbi in the tour of " Company." How about going against modern convention and casting a man in the part and calling him " Bobby"? It just might work.

JRB was explicitly talking about the HISTORY of the piece.

[quote]Rob Ashford directed "Parade" in London and Los Angeles, and it was during those runs that significant alterations were made that have become permanent.

Thanks, I guess I knew that at one point but had forgotten. Now having watched this entire clip, I don't find it quite so odd that JRB didn't thank Michael Arden, as he was focusing on the history of the show. That said, since he did make a point of thanking this production's musical theater director, it would have been wise to also thank the director, who many people feel is the main hero of the production.

I'm guessing Julie Benko for tour Fanny. They'll use all the PR she got in NY to hype her on the road. Maybe get more recognizable names for Nicky and Mrs Brice. They'll ask Lea to do LA stop.

[quote] Maybe get more recognizable names for Nicky and Mrs Brice.

I’m free.

JRB is most unfortunate looking.

But he's hung.

Verificata?

Who cares if it accompanies those teeth?

Another nail in the coffin for Some Like it Hot?

Yesterday (3/17/23) the NY Daily News did a Broadway roundup of about 20 current shows, from & Juliet to Wicked, but did not include SLIH.

(Inexplicably, they did include the long-shuttered Piano Lesson.)

Here’s the article but it’s probably behind a paywall.

Yup R424, paywalled

SHUCKED!

Do you suppose they realize that title rhymes with a really dirty word?

Jeanna de Waal on as Beggar Woman this afternoon.

[quote]Verificata?

It's VERIFICATIA, you fat stupid whore!

"Fuck you" with a smile!

Every time there is a celebrity or quasi-celebrity photo at SLIH, there’s Marc Shaiman, dead center. Is he at the show that often or does he just show up every time there’s a camera?

When does he have time to make the Keebler cookies?

I want to see Jeanna do Lovett.

the finale

I think I saw a few chorus "girl" pubic hairs in there r433.

*Anything* goes in the finale, r434!

I think its wonderful how SLIH producer Mariah Carey is supporting her show and getting all sorts of press for it, and visiting the company, and baking cookies for the crew. What a gal!

No surprise the public was quickly sick of musicals, especially if they were not re-imagined and staged for film.

Thank goodness for 42nd St., which revitalized the movie musical for the next 40 years, until Mame came along and killed it again.

SHUCKED!

Of course, I should have mentioned producer Darryl F. Zanuck, director Lloyd Bacon and choreographer Busby Berkeley; the movie did not make itself.

I don't know who the people in the SLIH photo are at R431's post, but looking at those people, I really wish the program "What Not to Wear" was still on the air. Christ an entire season on worthy interventions could be shot with the crap those people are wearing!

I am still pretty stunned that the authors of the “new” SLIH seem to abhor the source material.

SLIH has the issue of a B+ tier score from Shaiman/Wittman, B+ leads and an overriding whiff of woke pandering. It just never takes off. They needed stars in those lead roles to give it a shot. There's no 'event' aspect to it, regardless of how many NYT/Playbill puff pieces they conjure up. I wish it were better, I wish it were a lot funnier too. It just kind of sits there proficiently enough. And that's not enough to move $300-400 orchestra tickets.

But even the set, while dazzling the first 10 minutes, gets very tiresome by the end of Act One. There's something to be said about old school drops and wagon pieces being pulled and pushed on the stage. You never quite feel transported to the era they're trying so desperately to evoke.

R442, They should have had J. Harrison Ghee play Sugar. That would have made the production more subversive. And because he is a more dynamic performer, one presumes more dynamic numbers would have been provided for the character rather than what she has with the nonentity playing her now..

R444. How awful.

That’s very sad. Didn’t ALW also have pretty bad Prostate cancer? If I were his family I would do genetic testing.

[quote] revitalized the movie musical for the next 40 years, until Mame came along and killed it again.

Don’t put the blame on Mame. Paint Your Wagon, Star, Hello Dolly, Clear Day, 1776, Man of La Mancha - all either bombed big or seriously underperformed well before Lucy’s mess hit the screens.

R442 Is there a free wheeling patio number?

Who should receive the next Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tonys?

From the list: Joel Grey or Estelle Parsons

Gotta go with Estelle.

John Cullum.

r443 so you’re blaming the performer (who you seem to repeatedly love to call a “non-entity“ here) for the fact that they didn’t write better material for the character?

R453 Isn't Sugar a fat pig now?

R449 - is a Lifetime Achievement Tony given out EVERY year? I forget. Most of those are all fine, worthy performers. But I don't think those awards are limited to actors. So, instead, I would choose John Kander, age 96, and with NY, NY, I think he will be the oldest living composer to have a new show open on Broadway.

R455, It looks like it has been given out every year since 1994 { Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy) and is not limited to actors. Kander should be honored.

Maybe I am too cynical, but the Lloyd Webber announcement that he cannot attend the opening of Bad Cinderella due to his son's illness seems timed so that critics seeing his show right now at the final previews will go easier on it.

ALW is also getting a ton of flack in the UK (and elsewhere) for writing Prince Charles’s coronation anthem. That said, his son has been sick for many months and everyone involved is aware of his absence throughout previews, especially with the unreceptive audience every night. It’s a bad situation for all involved.

The first thing that came to mind was Neely O'Hara snarl-taunting Helen Lawson that "The reviews couldn't have been that bad."

Bullshit artist Rick Miramontez does press for both Parade and ALW. Are Nazi protesters [italic] and [/italic] gastric cancer both desperate stunts?

Is the guy in the tight tee one of ALW's sons?

In SLIH, why does the Del Coronado Hotel look like The Cheesecake Factory?

[quote]ALW is also getting a ton of flack in the UK (and elsewhere) for writing Prince Charles’s coronation anthem.

Why? Is Charles SO hated by the general public there that people are going to bash someone for writing his coronation anthem? Seems to me that ALW has done many worse things to be more hated for.

^BY JEEVES, for a start.

"It was NOT a nuthouse!"

DL fave JOH has spoken.

Let me guess, Bathhouse claims that Marsha P. Johnson opened the first location in NYC and we gays have her to thank for our sexual freedom.

Nice moment at the PARADE opening as old Lucille congratulates new Lucille.

That is lovely, r468.

r468 "OLD"? Couldn't you have just said "former" or "original"?

Loved the CBS Sunday morning profile of Josh Groban. He seems like a real sweetheart. Did the ST clips of him and Ashford make me want to see the show? No.

R471, I saw that as well. I really like him also and agree that he appears to be a very sweet person; however, just based on the clips they showed of his performance, I can't say I think he's right for the part of Sweeney. Still, I wish him well and hope he'll prove us wrong in the end.

Here is the interview for anyone who missed it:

That's very nice of Carolee to be so magnanimous considering Michaela Diamond openly cunted her for not being Jewish.

Justice for Beanie! Never forget!!

Who's Beanie?

[quote] That's very nice of Carolee to be so magnanimous considering Michaela Diamond openly cunted her for not being Jewish.

I didn’t like Carolee’s performance because I felt she made the character too stiff. It sort of gave the feeling that Leo fooled around with little girls because he wasn’t getting any love at home, which is the wrong impression to give. There was no warmth in her performance.

I just watched the CBS Sunday Morning piece on SWEENEY TODD, and for the life of me, I can't imagine why some people continue to insist that Groban and/or Ashford are wrong for the roles. Based on those brief clips of them in performance, both seem more than fine to me.

I really think the issue is that some people just don't understand the show and/or are very narrow minded in terms of accepting interpretations difference from Cariou, Hearn, and Lansbury -- including people who keep repeating that they think Groban and Ashford are "too young" for the roles, which shows a real lack of understanding of the show and the characters.

[quote]I didn’t like Carolee’s performance because I felt she made the character too stiff. It sort of gave the feeling that Leo fooled around with little girls because he wasn’t getting any love at home, which is the wrong impression to give. There was no warmth in her performance.

That seems like an interesting point at first read, except the show as written makes it pretty clear that there is not supposed to be much love in the marriage at the start of the action, and that Leo and Lucille only start to become close (again?) when she stands by him and fights for him during his imprisonment.

[quote]That's very nice of Carolee to be so magnanimous considering Michaela Diamond openly cunted her for not being Jewish.

I remember something about non-Jewish performers representing Jewish people, but no cuntery, r473 and I can't even find anything Diamond said about "Jewface" now.

Did she refer to Carolee specifically, and can you offer any links to said cuntery?

I thought that Carolee Carmello gifting Diamond a jar of what might have been watermelon pickles was a nice touch.

It's like this, r477. When I saw Lansbury and Hearn, I was younger than them and so they appeared to have more worldly experience. Now I'm older than Josh and Annaleigh so the dynamic is very different.

Are you in the show, r480?

r480 how do you feel about [italic] King Lear [/italic] ?

No, r481. What does King Lear have to do with it, r482?

R479, it was discussed on here at length, with the interview linked. You want it, go find it.

Hey, can someone please tell me how to un-ignore posters you have on ignore? I'm sure it's simple to do, but I can't figure it out even after having clicked on "Ignored" at the top of the page.

Click the X to the left of your thread watcher.

Click on the X at the right, r485.

[quote] people who keep repeating that they think Groban and Ashford are "too young" for the roles, which shows a real lack of understanding of the show and the characters.

To me, it's not so much a question of being "too young" in Groban's case, but that he doesn't look like someone who has been doing hard labor in Australia for 15 years. As Mrs. Lovett states: [italic]"So changed! Good God, what did they do to you down in bloody Australia or wherever?"[/italic] Sweeney is so changed, in fact, that only Mrs. Lovett recognizes him. Not the Beadle who arrested him, nor the Judge who sent him away, nor the Irish lad who swept out his shop (Pirelli recognizes him because of his razors, not his appearance). And not even his wife, who thinks she knows him but is never quite sure.

Groban in no way, shape of form, looks like someone whose hardship has so drastically changed him. Cariou, Hearn, Cerveris, Secomb all do. To pretend otherwise shows a real lack of understanding of the show and the characters.

Maybe Sweeney was fat. And no he longer is. Or he was slim and latterly fat. Like Michael Ball.

*And he no longer is

It's not a question of their age but their physicality. Yes, you can cast against "type" and sometimes it works, if you have a strong performer and since Ashford is getting some ok reviews maybe she works as Lovett but...

I wouldn't pay money to see either one of those two in those roles. They're not "right" for the roles. It's a Victorian lurid melodrama with some comedic elements. Casting a Barbie doll like Ashford or a Potsie nerd like Groban works against the characters and the material.

This is a main reason so many shows are failing...stupid casting.

If he could sing the score, a terrific choice for Sweeney would be Pedro Pascal. He's only a few years older than Groban but has the acting ability and look to be a great Sweeney.

Really, and again, if they could both sing, the biggest hit on Broadway would be Pascal as Sweeney with Jennifer Coolidge as Lovett.

And, Jinkx Monsoon as the Beggar Lady.

It’s like casting Tyra Banks as Fanny Brice. Why? She can’t sing and she ain’t that funny.

When will producers learn to consult DL before launching their hair-brained productions? It’s not like they don’t know where we are or like we have anything better to do than dole out our wisdom to struggling professionals.

Given how fat Groban looks in that interview, let's go with him being slim before Australia.

Has Mandy Patinkin ever played Sweeney?

Harebrained, r494.

r496

good god

I'm sure Patinkin would have loved to play Sweeney, but fortunately never has.

He’d probably want to play all the roles. A one-man Sweeney Todd.

Patinkin could have made an amazing Sweeney if you look at his performances in Evita, Princess Bride, Homeland, and Sunday in the Park with George. But we all know he’d be serving from the plate of Buddy’s Blues and The Wild Party.

Here is the first preview of "Parade"' curtain call. I have never seen in all my life of theater going a cast ignore the applause and not return, WTF?

And to anyone who has seen this production, why does it seem there is junk thrown about under the stage platform?

The cast must have been affected by the protestors outside the theatre. How could they not be?

Often at the time of the first preview of a Broadway musical, there hasn't been time to stage a finished curtain call. It's just one simple company bow. And yes, with the protestors outside, I'm sure they wanted to wrap things up and get the actors out of the theater with minimum fuss.

But having seen the final preview, this is pretty much what it was, a company bow, except then Michaela and Ben came out together for a final bow alone after the cast exited. And then maybe they brought everyone else back after that (can't remember for sure). But for a show with so many stand out performances besides the 2 leads it was odd that more of the actors weren't given their own bows.

Josh Groban looks like he had that thinning out nose job Santino Fontana and Stephen Pasquale had.

For me. the trouble with this Sweeney is it lacks the Grand Guignol/British Musical Hall gas lit look in the costumes, makeup, hair and lighting that the original had. Even more than the powerful look of Eugene Lee's original sets. It all just looks too genteel and tasteful.

The difference is so clear in the short clips of the original seen in the CBS Groban profile. Lansbury's and Cariou's severe makeup and wigs aged them considerably and gave them much more of a presence and gravitas.

[quote] Bullshit artist Rick Miramontez does press for both Parade and ALW. Are Nazi protesters and gastric cancer both desperate stunts?

It's interesting that the Parade protestors never showed up again after first preview. Surely, they would have wanted to make a second appearance for opening night where they would have received even more press attention? Protestors at other shows like Carousel and The Scottsboro Boys showed much more conviction to their cause.

I don't think Lloyd Webber's son's cancer is a stunt. But I think the timing of it - saying Lloyd Webber won't be attending opening night...in six days - is a bid for sympathy while critics are seeing your show.

[quote]To me, it's not so much a question of being "too young" in Groban's case, but that he doesn't look like someone who has been doing hard labor in Australia for 15 years. As Mrs. Lovett states: "So changed! Good God, what did they do to you down in bloody Australia or wherever?" Sweeney is so changed, in fact, that only Mrs. Lovett recognizes him. Not the Beadle who arrested him, nor the Judge who sent him away, nor the Irish lad who swept out his shop (Pirelli recognizes him because of his razors, not his appearance). And not even his wife, who thinks she knows him but is never quite sure. Groban in no way, shape of form, looks like someone whose hardship has so drastically changed him. Cariou, Hearn, Cerveris, Secomb all do. To pretend otherwise shows a real lack of understanding of the show and the characters.

Despite your bitchiness at the end there, I'm going to say you have a good point, but what it actually does is underline a flaw in the writing of SWEENEY TODD, including the Christopher Bond source material. Namely, that it requires a major suspension of disbelief for the audience to buy it that no one recognizes him from the old days. But also, I must ask, in what way do you think Cerveris's Sweeney looked like "hardship had so drastically changed him?" Do you mean that you think maybe he lost his hair during his time in Australia?

Just before he kills the judge, Sweeney says

[quote] The years, no doubt, have changed me, sir. But then I suppose the face of a barber, the face of a prisoner in the dock, is not particularly memorable.

You’re willing to buy into the cannibal pies, but not this?

Well, how's Sweeney doing? How long is Groban signed up for?

FOLLIES!

R509, we're supposed to buy that Sweeney has changed so much that he's not immediately recognized even by Mrs. Lovett, whose pie shop he lived above, and who was in love with him even back then? Nor is he recognized by the judge or the Beadle, even though Sweeney has returned to the room above the pie shop, the very place where he lived with his wife when the judge and the beadle first saw her and started to covet her? That's a whole lot to swallow. And I wouldn't compare it to the "cannibal pies," because all of that is on another whole level of reality.

[quote]That's very nice of Carolee to be so magnanimous considering Michaela Diamond openly cunted her for not being Jewish.

[quote]I remember something about non-Jewish performers representing Jewish people, but no cuntery, [R473] and I can't even find anything Diamond said about "Jewface" now. Did she refer to Carolee specifically, and can you offer any links to said cuntery?

[quote][R479], it was discussed on here at length, with the interview linked. You want it, go find it.

Thanks, r484, I did do a search here before I asked, and found only discussion in one of the several Theatre #500 threads. There were references to a Playbill article where it seems that Diamond might have been outspoken about the original casting, but I saw no links. A google search does not turn up a Playbill article that shows Diamond being cunty about Carolee. I'm not saying that didn't happen - it wouldn't be the 1st time Playbill deleted or edited an article - but I would like to know what Diamond said that was so egregious, if someone would be so kind.

TIA,

r479

Carolee wasn’t that great in the original production. Not much of a thespian, that one—although a real pro.

Looks like DANCIN' got "good enough" reviews, but they have no money to advertise.

Is anyone going to the Ann Reinking memorial tomorrow?

Trans Reinking!

Warning". "White Girl in Danger" is three hours long. I will never get them back.

You all don’t understand my brilliance. I’m a fat, femme, fierce queen.

Would White Girl in Danger be passable if shorter, or is it just not going to work at any length?

R518, Gods, it sounds awful.

White Girl in Danger is awful and beyond redemption. A one-joke stretched to the max, a pastiche of TV shows, old tired jokes, one double-headed dildo, mean girls redux and...... Felt bad for the actors who work very hard but it is awful. Songs that are forgotten the moment they end and lyrics that are difficult to understand. High school production quality. I do not think I have ever seen such a bad musical in my life. Sad but true. It is not even ready for a workshop....who approved this?

I saw a presentation of 3 songs from White Girl In Danger at a work-in-progress event recently. I wanted to like them more than I did. It felt like student-level work (and I frequently felt the same watching Strange Loop).

Michael R. Jackson may have an original POV to contribute to musical theatre, but he's simply not a very skillful or memorable songwriter.

[quote]It's interesting that the Parade protestors never showed up again after first preview. Surely, they would have wanted to make a second appearance for opening night where they would have received even more press attention? Protestors at other shows like Carousel and The Scottsboro Boys showed much more conviction to their cause.

They are a tiny cadre of enormous pussies who got way more than their 15 minutes, r507. They knew if they came back the next or any other night, Broadway and NYC in general would have been loaded for bear, so they ran in just before showtime, ran their (masked) mouth(s) for a couple of soundbites, then ran off to beat their puny cocklets over their great victory.

This is the kind of shit they spew:

[quote]"Hate without violence is also legal; Americans have a legal right to hate anyone they please, especially in the case of the NSM, where we cite the many reasons for this hate."

They are nobodies. Fuck 'em, may they never be spoken of again.

Carolee is wonderful at musical comedy. I did not see her in Parade, so I can't comment on that performance, but I've seen her in everything from City of Angels to Urinetown and she was wonderful in all. She was especially hilarious in Urinetown and did not make me sorry I missed Nancy Opel at all.

[Quote] who approved this?

Please work this into the next title

I want to be overheard saying”who approved this?” as I leave any show I don’t like.

Of course you do. Because you have to make it about you.

DANCIN will quietly and swiftly close after those horrible reviews. And that's just fine.

? I have no opinion on its longterm viability, but the reviews seemed more mixed-to-positive, didn't they?

Very mixed. Nobody cares. Sing it!

The original Dancin' has a very long run due to it's popularity with non English speaking tourists. This revival may appeal to the same audience.

Saw Dear World yesterday. It’s second tier Herman but still have some nice tunes (particularly the title song).

On the way home, I played the OBC and was surprised that all the songs were in completely different order. Plus the first song of the show (which should have been large and brassy to introduce the Countess but was a big nothing) wasn’t even in the OBC. The OBC order was much better actually. How much was the book changed??

The book is too silly and heavy handed but still had great moments, particularly when the three crazy ladies of Paris are together.

Still, it’s always extraordinary to see such highly accomplished theatre professionals give their all.

But Dancin' has that young hot stuff Aydin Eyikan in the cast. It can't fold.

Carolee Carmello has never been a favorite of mine (but I give her points for surviving the Kathie Lee musical). But she was the best Lovett I've seen after Lansbury in the pie shop Sweeney.

Is Beanie in Dancin’?

Better than Julia McKenzie?!

[Quote] Aydin Eyikan

With a name like that, what's his background?

I actually liked McKenzie better than Lansbury.

[quote]I want to be overheard saying”who approved this?” as I leave any show I don’t like.

[quote]Of course you do. Because you have to make it about you.

Any particular reason for that incredibly bitchy response to a funny post, R528?

Weren't they both bitchy posts?

When was bitchy about that shows. The other was bitchy about the poster (me).

One was not when was

[quote]With a name like that, what's his background?

Here.

[quote] Any particular reason for that incredibly bitchy response to a funny post,

You grossly overestimate how funny you are

I'm gonna get crucified for this, but I thought Imelda Staunton was a pretty great Mrs. L. And I've seen many.

It wasn't my post, sweetie. I think it's funny, but I KNOW your response was unnecessarily bitchy.

You know what? Yesterday I restored some posters I had blocked, just to see what was going on -- and, the very next day, your nasty, bitter, bitchy post appears. I'm going to assume you are one of the people I had blocked, and I'll do so again if necessary.

[quote]I'm gonna get crucified for this, but I thought Imelda Staunton was a pretty great Mrs. L. And I've seen many.

Since we are all used to seeing Mrs. L. played very broadly, I can understand why Imelda might not be jarring and might actually be enjoyable in the role. I've always said she does sing very well.

[quote] I'm going to assume you are one of the people I had blocked, and I'll do so again if necessary.

Please do. The fewer interactions with the likes of you, the better.

All about Carolee

Broadway needs at least one show catering to the ESL tourist crowd, and perhaps "Dancin" is that show.

Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges doing a stage version of Brokeback mountain in London. I'm certain Faist will be the top.

r535 here. Didn't see McKenzie, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was great. I did see her Witch in ITW, and was far more effective than Peters, for me.

Is Mike a gay?

I've never sucked his dick, but there are plenty who have.

Imelda Staunton was great in Sweeney in London. I was so impressed by the cast/production that I went back the next day.

Free Beanie!

[quote]Please do. The fewer interactions with the likes of you, the better.

And here, folks, we have the proverbial fly in the ointment. Or, rather, the slug in the apple pie.

[quote]Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges doing a stage version of Brokeback mountain in London. I'm certain Faist will be the top.

Interesting. Lucas was very hot for a while a few years ago, but I haven't heard his name recently, and I was wondering if he had plans to do any more theater as opposed to film.

[quote] And here, folks, we have the proverbial fly in the ointment. Or, rather, the slug in the apple pie.

I thought you were going to put me on ignore, you stupid frau cunt

Figures you’re a liar also

[quote]I'm gonna get crucified for this, but I thought Imelda Staunton was a pretty great Mrs. L. And I've seen many.

But you're not qualified to judge unless you've seen Suzanne Somers' as Mrs. L. at the Mr. Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre.

Here's a link to the story about Faist and Hedges:

[quote]Broadway needs at least one show catering to the ESL tourist crowd, and perhaps "Dancin" is that show.

Chicago has been filling that role, r551, but there may be room for another.

R560 etc: Of course, I can put you on ignore whenever I want, but I thought I'd keep tabs on you for a while and let you expose your true self in the hope that you might get banned from the site.

[quote] Of course, I can put you on ignore whenever I want, but I thought I'd keep tabs on you for a while and let you expose your true self in the hope that you might get banned from the site.

Why don’t you hold your breath while you’re waiting.

You have no power here, frau. You’re going around getting offended on other people’s behalf and then acting like anyone cares if you block them.

You’re just another part of the frau invasion that’s ruining this site. Fuck off, cunt.

Couldn't they find two young sexy actors to play those gay cowboys?

Everyone’s mileage varies, but I find Mike Faist incredibly sexy.

I was at the PARADE opening, and the security was definitely up a level.

Mike Faist is one of those people who could be gay, but probably isn’t, but isn’t traditionally handsome enough for the gays to care either way.

Now if Shawn Mendes did this role…heads would explode

R565, just keep doing what you're doing. Because you do it REALLY well. Admin, please take note.

I think Cheryl‘s back

[quote] Admin, please take note.

News flash: Muriel thinks you’re a cunt too

[quote]Everyone’s mileage varies, but I find Mike Faist incredibly sexy.

I'm with you, although I thought maybe he was a little TOO thin and wiry in WEST SIDE STORY. I think he looked better a few years before that, especially when I saw him in an Off-Broadway show in which he briefly appeared nude and showed off his butt. That was really something to see :-)

R569 and that would just be the beginning!

Hedges has been busy the past couple years testing the waters of his sexuality and thirstiness dragging it up with the very desperate Tommy Dorfman. Let's hope that phase is over and he gets back to doing some actual work.

The “Secret Garden” in LA isn’t selling well

Are they planning on bringing it to Broadway?

well that would be a secret, wouldn't it?

There haven't been many, if any, revivals on Broadway of '90s productions, have there? Off the top of my head, we have Glenn Close reprising Sunset Boulevard and the Falsettos revival from a few years ago. I guess it doesn't help that show many shows from 1990-99 were revivals themselves.

Oh, duh, if we're counting plays, then Angels in America!

Bring back Victor/Victoria!

Once on This Island, Parade, Side Show, Miss Saigon and Ragtime have all had revivals.

Kiss of the Spider Woman could be next.

Triumph of Love!

Oh goodie

I think Cynthia probably called Mindy Kalling and Mariah Carey for tips on being a successful Broadway producer. Good for her!

I imagine Erivo is just lending her name to FAT HAM and isn't actually an investor. But I kind of hope she DID put money in the show, if you know what I mean.

[quote]Cynthia Erivo Joins Producing Team for ‘Fat Ham’ Ahead of Broadway Opening Night

Does a bovine nose ring ever look good on anyone?

[quote]Does a bovine nose ring ever look good on anyone?

Well, I suppose that's a matter of opinion. I assume it's supposed to signify something, and given Erivo's history, I can only guess it has something to do with her race/heritage.

Remember when one of the Jonas Brothers was a producer of CHICKEN AND BISQUITS.

R532, I was at the opening of Dancin’ last night. It’s a mess. And I think Asian tourists are not going to go for it, because there’s a lot more dialogue than the original. Kirsten Childs has written two mini-musicals, with dull dialogue and stock characters. In the first act, a guy comes to the city and gets drawn in by a bunch of seedy New York stereotypes; we get snippets of “Big Spender,” “I Gotcha,” “Rich Man’s Frug,” “Mein Herr,” and “Snake in the Grass” from Little Prince. WITHOUT the SONGS. It’s all done over ersatz facsimiles of the original songs, and the whole sequence makes almost no impression. Then, the last ten minutes of the show are a mini-version of “Big Deal.” It’s far too late to introduce these brand new characters and a flimsy storyline that late it the evening. And the non-binary doing Ann Reinking’s solo is a great dancer, but since he (sorry, THEY) doesn’t have Ann’s long hair, which she used for maximum effect, they give him (sorry, THEM) a chiffon shrug that he (sorry, THEY) occasionally tries to use like Ann did with her hair. And the sequined high heeled boots make him (sorry, THEM) look like a Drag Race contestant without the wig.

R586

God, Cynthis Erivo is UGLY!

The WICKED movie is going to bomb big time, unless they hide her under a lot of makeup.

No one wants to stare at that. I was startled just scrolling down.

Why call it a revival of Dancin' when there's little of the original staging included. But I guess Mr Bojangles wouldn't go over well with today's audiences.

New thread:

Have any of our London DLers seen the immersive Guys and Dolls at the Bridge? If so, report back, ta very much.

R587. You sound stupid. You sound like a bigot. Please fuck off—TIA

Evidently Playbill's corrective to that controversial article about audience behavior is to post an article about life as an usher that says nothing?

Of course, Amanda Bynes' nose ring won't be related to her race/heritage...

R587, please explain what you think is "bigoted" about my having written that I guess Cynthia Erivo's wearing of a nose ring has something to do with her race/heritage, because I meant that honestly and without sarcasm.

I couldn't post at the time, but hopefully r552 saw they were incorrect--Faist is playing the Jack/Gyllenhaal/bottom role; Hedges is playing the Ennis/Ledger/top role.

But yes, it's hard to imagine Hedges as a top. That's going to be some acting job.