Some like it...not!
THEATRE GOSSIP #518: The "I Shucked You Once in Silence" Edition
by Anonymous | reply 600 | March 20, 2023 9:34 PM |
I recognize that song. It's from the great American musical Cameltoe.
by Anonymous | reply 2 | March 12, 2023 4:15 PM |
here we go!
by Anonymous | reply 3 | March 12, 2023 4:26 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 4 | March 12, 2023 4:30 PM |
zzzzzzzzzz title, OP
by Anonymous | reply 5 | March 12, 2023 4:30 PM |
I like the thread title!!
by Anonymous | reply 6 | March 12, 2023 5:11 PM |
[quote]I like the thread title!!
Me too :-) One of the better ones.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | March 12, 2023 5:18 PM |
Really want to see PO now that I learned that Ethan Heard directed. He did great work in NYC at Heartbeat Opera.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | March 12, 2023 6:02 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 9 | March 12, 2023 7:06 PM |
Bravo on the title OP. Brevity is indeed the soul of wit.
by Anonymous | reply 10 | March 12, 2023 7:18 PM |
Yes, great thread title. Well done, OP.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | March 12, 2023 7:47 PM |
SOME LIKE MY TWAT!
by Anonymous | reply 12 | March 12, 2023 9:19 PM |
But is that fucking whistle back in Sweeney Todd? And will they replace Fisher before it's too late?
by Anonymous | reply 13 | March 12, 2023 9:52 PM |
This East German judge gives this thread title a 9.95.
by Anonymous | reply 15 | March 12, 2023 10:40 PM |
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
by Anonymous | reply 16 | March 12, 2023 11:27 PM |
Is Timothy Hughes shirtless in ST?
by Anonymous | reply 17 | March 13, 2023 2:35 AM |
Does anyone know if that kooky "1776" production is still planning to terrorize theaters on a national tour?
by Anonymous | reply 18 | March 13, 2023 3:55 AM |
You can catch it in Des Moines this week, R18!
by Anonymous | reply 19 | March 13, 2023 4:21 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | March 13, 2023 6:33 AM |
[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'.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | March 13, 2023 7:13 AM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 22 | March 13, 2023 9:38 AM |
Plus think of all the local PF Chang’s managers nationwide Sarah could meet while on the 1776 tour!
by Anonymous | reply 23 | March 13, 2023 11:49 AM |
Sarah didn’t tour with 1776 because she will tour with Fanny Brice in Funny Girl
I would seriously put NOTHING by Michael Mayer
by Anonymous | reply 24 | March 13, 2023 12:51 PM |
Who's she playing in Henry IV? Falstaff?
by Anonymous | reply 25 | March 13, 2023 12:51 PM |
[quote]Who's she playing in Henry IV?
Henry the Third.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | March 13, 2023 1:21 PM |
[quote] Henry the Third.
Is it because she only gives three fourths of a performance?
by Anonymous | reply 28 | March 13, 2023 1:55 PM |
In her next cabaret act, Sarah will put a new interpretation on the song “50 Percent” from the Broadway musical Ballroom.
by Anonymous | reply 29 | March 13, 2023 2:14 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 30 | March 13, 2023 2:17 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | March 13, 2023 2:45 PM |
Roundabout should move the Pacific Overtures production to Broadway.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | March 13, 2023 2:51 PM |
Roundabout should burn in Hell.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | March 13, 2023 3:01 PM |
Hasn't Roundabout already done Pacific Overtures?
by Anonymous | reply 34 | March 13, 2023 3:31 PM |
Sarah couldn't tour because she would only do 75% of the cities.
by Anonymous | reply 35 | March 13, 2023 3:44 PM |
How was Jessica Chastain at the Oscars? Did they cancel the matinee? I long for the days of Anne Bancroft...
by Anonymous | reply 36 | March 13, 2023 3:59 PM |
[quote]I long for the days of Anne Bancroft...
But not so much in the movie of Torch Song Trilogy.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | March 13, 2023 4:20 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | March 13, 2023 4:32 PM |
I was hoping Joan Crawford was sitting in Jessica Chastain's seat.
by Anonymous | reply 39 | March 13, 2023 4:42 PM |
WHET Sara Porkylobe?
by Anonymous | reply 40 | March 13, 2023 4:42 PM |
The 1776 tour is mostly she/hers, a few them/theys, a couple of she/thems, and a few it/its.
by Anonymous | reply 41 | March 13, 2023 4:45 PM |
I admired Anne Bancroft but also did not care for her performance in TORCH SONG TRILOGY.
by Anonymous | reply 42 | March 13, 2023 4:55 PM |
Anne and Mel are brilliant in "To Be or Not To Be..."
by Anonymous | reply 43 | March 13, 2023 5:51 PM |
Saw The Coast Starlight at the Newhouse yesterday. I can only hope it wins the Pulitzer for Drama next year. Extraordinary play, great production.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | March 13, 2023 6:04 PM |
I agree R44. One of the best plays I’ve seen in a while. Excellent acting too.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | March 13, 2023 6:41 PM |
Is it a sequel to "Murder on the Orient Express?"
by Anonymous | reply 46 | March 13, 2023 6:51 PM |
Porkalob has guaranteed her place.
As a minuscule footnote to be forgotten forever.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | March 13, 2023 6:54 PM |
re Sara Porkalob, you can bet Roundabout will think twice about setting up a big press interview with an unknown actress again.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | March 13, 2023 7:02 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | March 13, 2023 8:44 PM |
Anne Bancroft got a Best Actress Oscar nomination for AGNES OF GOD (1985).
by Anonymous | reply 50 | March 13, 2023 8:53 PM |
What is The Coast Starlight about?
by Anonymous | reply 51 | March 13, 2023 9:24 PM |
Why wasn’t Beanie casted as the Macy’s day float in Parade?
by Anonymous | reply 52 | March 13, 2023 9:26 PM |
[quote]Macy’s day
Oh, dear.
by Anonymous | reply 53 | March 13, 2023 10:00 PM |
Oh, dear re “casted.,” while we’re at it.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | March 13, 2023 10:04 PM |
No matinee of Dolls House yesterday and Jessica was masked for most of her time at the ceremony to help her stay healthy.
by Anonymous | reply 55 | March 13, 2023 10:17 PM |
[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?
by Anonymous | reply 56 | March 13, 2023 10:24 PM |
[quote] Anne Bancroft got a Best Actress Oscar nomination for AGNES OF GOD (1985).
And?
by Anonymous | reply 57 | March 13, 2023 10:33 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 58 | March 13, 2023 10:39 PM |
Has Patti LuPone commented that both Topol and Paul Sorvino have died?
Not that she’d see it on the Oscar Memoriam.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | March 13, 2023 11:35 PM |
I thought Bancroft was also dreadfully hammy in the film of 84 Charing Cross Road.
Is that the correct address, lol?
by Anonymous | reply 60 | March 13, 2023 11:48 PM |
[Quote] As I've said previously
Always a good hint to STFU
by Anonymous | reply 61 | March 14, 2023 12:18 AM |
Chicago had it's highest grossing non holiday week last week grossing over $900k. All thanks to Jinxx.
by Anonymous | reply 62 | March 14, 2023 12:53 AM |
They would really have allowed an Italian to play Golde in Fiddler?
by Anonymous | reply 63 | March 14, 2023 12:56 AM |
Who are these people who are shelling out Broadway prices to see some gimmicky non-talent do a supporting role?
by Anonymous | reply 64 | March 14, 2023 12:56 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | March 14, 2023 1:14 AM |
Anne Bancroft became a Broadway star playing Gittel Mosca, her religion very much Jewish.
by Anonymous | reply 66 | March 14, 2023 2:02 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | March 14, 2023 2:22 AM |
^^ Sorry, R66. I thought you were saying that Anne Bancroft's religion was Jewish. ^^
by Anonymous | reply 68 | March 14, 2023 2:26 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | March 14, 2023 2:26 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | March 14, 2023 2:27 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | March 14, 2023 2:53 AM |
[quote]They would really have allowed an Italian to play Golde in Fiddler?
Oy.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | March 14, 2023 2:56 AM |
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,
by Anonymous | reply 74 | March 14, 2023 3:01 AM |
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!
by Anonymous | reply 75 | March 14, 2023 3:16 AM |
[quote] casted
There is NO SUCH WORD
by Anonymous | reply 76 | March 14, 2023 4:22 AM |
They're well aware of that, r76.
by Anonymous | reply 77 | March 14, 2023 4:31 AM |
[quote]that's always been more a song for more to admire, than love.
I've always loved it, r70.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | March 14, 2023 4:34 AM |
I’ll plant my own tree, and I’ll make it grow
by Anonymous | reply 79 | March 14, 2023 6:13 AM |
r70 r75 TL;dr
by Anonymous | reply 80 | March 14, 2023 7:14 AM |
"Jabronies"? New word for me. Looked it up. I like it.
by Anonymous | reply 81 | March 14, 2023 12:04 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 82 | March 14, 2023 2:02 PM |
Jessica Chastain Praised for Masking at Oscars Amid ‘A Doll’s House’ Broadway Performances:
by Anonymous | reply 83 | March 14, 2023 2:13 PM |
Did she leave the stage by the back door?
by Anonymous | reply 84 | March 14, 2023 3:20 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 85 | March 14, 2023 4:07 PM |
^ Interesting, r85, I never realized there was that five year gap.
by Anonymous | reply 86 | March 14, 2023 4:20 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 87 | March 14, 2023 4:21 PM |
SHUCKED!
by Anonymous | reply 88 | March 14, 2023 4:30 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 89 | March 14, 2023 4:32 PM |
[quote] She was entirely believable as an aging ballerina
Nobody believed Bancroft as a dancer.
by Anonymous | reply 90 | March 14, 2023 4:33 PM |
Wasn't I the first choice and turned it down?
by Anonymous | reply 91 | March 14, 2023 4:35 PM |
R90. At least she didn't fart in your face
by Anonymous | reply 92 | March 14, 2023 4:39 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 93 | March 14, 2023 4:55 PM |
Didn't Bancroft also have a baby within that 5-year gap after THE GRADUATE?
by Anonymous | reply 94 | March 14, 2023 5:12 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 95 | March 14, 2023 5:12 PM |
Yes, that would explain why she turned down The Exorcist due to pregnancy.
by Anonymous | reply 96 | March 14, 2023 5:18 PM |
Had Bancroft done only The Miracle Worker in her career, I would worship her forever.
by Anonymous | reply 97 | March 14, 2023 5:24 PM |
Now it makes sense. She seems like she would have wanted to take some time off for motherhood. Her TV credits started in 1951.
by Anonymous | reply 98 | March 14, 2023 5:32 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 99 | March 14, 2023 6:02 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 100 | March 14, 2023 6:05 PM |
[quote] SHUCKED!
Plucked!
by Anonymous | reply 101 | March 14, 2023 6:10 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 102 | March 14, 2023 6:10 PM |
R102 which is better?
by Anonymous | reply 103 | March 14, 2023 6:20 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 104 | March 14, 2023 6:29 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 105 | March 14, 2023 6:57 PM |
LCT doesn't get 1/50th the same amount of government subsidy that The National gets....Not a realistic comparison.
by Anonymous | reply 106 | March 14, 2023 6:58 PM |
Sally Ann was *not* an ideal Desiree.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | March 14, 2023 7:02 PM |
No theater anywhere gets more private funding than LCT.
by Anonymous | reply 108 | March 14, 2023 7:13 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 109 | March 14, 2023 7:37 PM |
SHUCKED didn't even hit $300,000 its first week. Guess the corn isn't popping...
by Anonymous | reply 110 | March 14, 2023 7:38 PM |
SWEENEY nearing $2,000,000
by Anonymous | reply 111 | March 14, 2023 7:42 PM |
R111 Aren't we calling it SWEENEY lite?
by Anonymous | reply 112 | March 14, 2023 7:49 PM |
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.”
by Anonymous | reply 113 | March 14, 2023 7:49 PM |
I love Anne Bancroft in “The Pumpkin Eater,” and it got her a second Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
by Anonymous | reply 114 | March 14, 2023 7:54 PM |
"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.
by Anonymous | reply 115 | March 14, 2023 8:06 PM |
Lea also got sick before her scheduled vacation last month. She has a few more scheduled absences between now and September.
by Anonymous | reply 116 | March 14, 2023 8:07 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 117 | March 14, 2023 8:12 PM |
Musical 'Bonnie & Clyde' leva ação e paixão ardente para o palco.
by Anonymous | reply 118 | March 14, 2023 8:41 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 119 | March 14, 2023 8:43 PM |
[quote]Sally Ann was *not* an ideal Desiree.
Regina Resnick was the perfect Madame Armfeldt.
by Anonymous | reply 120 | March 14, 2023 9:08 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 121 | March 14, 2023 9:16 PM |
Signature Bank Collapse Sends Shockwaves Through the Broadway Industry
The bank is one of the two main financial institutions that works with Broadway productions.
by Anonymous | reply 122 | March 14, 2023 9:35 PM |
R119 i love you Billy Boy.
by Anonymous | reply 123 | March 14, 2023 11:17 PM |
[Quote] $$ doesn’t always = excellent work.
No!
by Anonymous | reply 124 | March 14, 2023 11:21 PM |
Who's got tix for DEAR WORLD at Encores?
See ya tomorrow night!
by Anonymous | reply 125 | March 14, 2023 11:59 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 126 | March 15, 2023 12:37 AM |
I'll be at DEAR WORLD tomorrow night! Cannot wait to hear "The Tea Party" in person for the first time!
by Anonymous | reply 127 | March 15, 2023 12:43 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 128 | March 15, 2023 12:49 AM |
r125/r127 - make sure you each wear a big DL on the front of your shirts. I'm thinking...kismet!
by Anonymous | reply 129 | March 15, 2023 12:59 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 130 | March 15, 2023 1:00 AM |
* Your obvious glee, notwithstanding
by Anonymous | reply 131 | March 15, 2023 1:01 AM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 132 | March 15, 2023 1:20 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 133 | March 15, 2023 1:35 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 134 | March 15, 2023 1:57 AM |
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...
by Anonymous | reply 135 | March 15, 2023 2:10 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 136 | March 15, 2023 2:20 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 137 | March 15, 2023 2:30 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 138 | March 15, 2023 2:34 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 139 | March 15, 2023 2:42 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 140 | March 15, 2023 3:03 AM |
And when she landed on her ass.
by Anonymous | reply 141 | March 15, 2023 3:09 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 142 | March 15, 2023 3:35 AM |
$287,000 for five shows isn't very promising. If were 8 shows it would have been $480,000 -- tough for any musical.
by Anonymous | reply 143 | March 15, 2023 3:51 AM |
No gags, no girls, no chance.
by Anonymous | reply 145 | March 15, 2023 3:58 AM |
Paul Ford interview. Poor taste in restaurants.
by Anonymous | reply 146 | March 15, 2023 4:37 AM |
No nuns, no Nazis, no show.
by Anonymous | reply 147 | March 15, 2023 5:01 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 148 | March 15, 2023 9:31 AM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 149 | March 15, 2023 10:17 AM |
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),
by Anonymous | reply 150 | March 15, 2023 11:21 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 151 | March 15, 2023 2:03 PM |
That actress doesn’t work as Adelaide. We have to believe that Adelaide is naïve and a bit dim.
by Anonymous | reply 153 | March 15, 2023 2:54 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 154 | March 15, 2023 3:38 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 155 | March 15, 2023 3:44 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 156 | March 15, 2023 3:46 PM |
Thank you, R155.
Keep your "we" to yourself, R153.
by Anonymous | reply 157 | March 15, 2023 3:50 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 158 | March 15, 2023 3:52 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 159 | March 15, 2023 3:53 PM |
[quote]Keep your "we" to yourself, R153.
Wait a goddamn minute!
by Anonymous | reply 160 | March 15, 2023 3:54 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 161 | March 15, 2023 3:59 PM |
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?!
by Anonymous | reply 162 | March 15, 2023 4:14 PM |
Yes, r162...asbestos. You want *your* curtains to catch on fire?
by Anonymous | reply 163 | March 15, 2023 4:16 PM |
So, it's good? I was brought up thinking asbestos was poisonous and banned in the 1980s.
by Anonymous | reply 164 | March 15, 2023 4:28 PM |
[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
by Anonymous | reply 165 | March 15, 2023 4:37 PM |
[quote]So, it's good? I was brought up thinking asbestos was poisonous and banned in the 1980s
"1955-56 musical comedy season", r164.
by Anonymous | reply 166 | March 15, 2023 4:42 PM |
[Quote] Anne Bancroft was something special in TORCH SONG TRILOGY.
Sadly I can’t seem to access this movie anywhere
by Anonymous | reply 167 | March 15, 2023 4:58 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 168 | March 15, 2023 5:04 PM |
R166 I saw that.
My point was that it was humorous they were inadvertently using something that was later banned for being poisonous.
by Anonymous | reply 169 | March 15, 2023 5:07 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 170 | March 15, 2023 5:07 PM |
R170 that was in a NY Times story a few days ago.
by Anonymous | reply 171 | March 15, 2023 5:09 PM |
Is Jeff Bowen at R158 still with Michael Berresse?
by Anonymous | reply 172 | March 15, 2023 5:10 PM |
Now *that* sounds like the Encores of yore, r170.
by Anonymous | reply 173 | March 15, 2023 5:15 PM |
Looking forward to both!
by Anonymous | reply 174 | March 15, 2023 5:23 PM |
Raul E should be Stine in City of Angels instead of Fagin
by Anonymous | reply 175 | March 15, 2023 5:27 PM |
[quote]Is Jeff Bowen at [R158] still with Michael Berresse?
Yes, r 172. They are still married.
by Anonymous | reply 176 | March 15, 2023 5:31 PM |
The NYT review of Guys and Dolls also calls Miss Adelaide a stripper. She is? What's her gimmick?
by Anonymous | reply 177 | March 15, 2023 5:42 PM |
R177 Som'n wrong with STRIPPIN'?!
by Anonymous | reply 178 | March 15, 2023 5:44 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 179 | March 15, 2023 5:55 PM |
Raul is far too old to play Stine.
by Anonymous | reply 180 | March 15, 2023 6:15 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 181 | March 15, 2023 6:37 PM |
What the hell do they know, we’ve already decided, sight unseen.
by Anonymous | reply 182 | March 15, 2023 6:39 PM |
I think that performance of "Sue Me" is nothing special overall, and some of it is pretty bad. Certainly nothing to rave over.
by Anonymous | reply 183 | March 15, 2023 6:50 PM |
[quote] Most of the reviews are raving about her performance.
Brits have never been good at American musicals.
by Anonymous | reply 184 | March 15, 2023 7:00 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 185 | March 15, 2023 7:08 PM |
[r185] I agree!
by Anonymous | reply 186 | March 15, 2023 7:12 PM |
Excuse me?
by Anonymous | reply 187 | March 15, 2023 7:14 PM |
R187, there is an exception to every rule :-)
by Anonymous | reply 188 | March 15, 2023 7:25 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 189 | March 15, 2023 8:19 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 190 | March 15, 2023 8:23 PM |
Jennifer Hudson wasn't even especially chubby.
by Anonymous | reply 191 | March 15, 2023 8:25 PM |
r189 The actress playing Adelaide played Effie in "Dreamgirls." She was the alternate in the West End production.
by Anonymous | reply 192 | March 15, 2023 8:28 PM |
Well, maybe we should judge this Adelaide's performance after seeing more than one song—for my money' the worst in the show.
by Anonymous | reply 193 | March 15, 2023 8:31 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 195 | March 15, 2023 8:33 PM |
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.)
by Anonymous | reply 196 | March 15, 2023 8:36 PM |
Wicked makes me want to suicidify myself
by Anonymous | reply 197 | March 15, 2023 8:37 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 198 | March 15, 2023 9:13 PM |
Guys sand Dolls is the straight man's Gypsy.
by Anonymous | reply 199 | March 15, 2023 10:13 PM |
There is *no* straight man musical. Well...maybe Ankles Aweigh.
by Anonymous | reply 200 | March 15, 2023 10:24 PM |
Oh! Calcutta!
by Anonymous | reply 201 | March 15, 2023 10:38 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 202 | March 16, 2023 12:03 AM |
Julia McKenzie and Bob Hoskins were great in the National Theatre "Guys and Dolls" from the 80s.
by Anonymous | reply 203 | March 16, 2023 12:09 AM |
West Side Story is a straight man's musical.
Even my dad owned the LP from way back in the day.
by Anonymous | reply 204 | March 16, 2023 12:11 AM |
Only straight men of a certain era, r204.
by Anonymous | reply 205 | March 16, 2023 12:12 AM |
Back in the day, it wasn't considered somewhat gay to go to see a musical.
by Anonymous | reply 206 | March 16, 2023 12:13 AM |
Camelot > straighter than straight! Every young, Anglo, married, man & woman had the OBC album—at the time.
by Anonymous | reply 207 | March 16, 2023 12:20 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 208 | March 16, 2023 12:21 AM |
Evita was for straight men. Donald Trump saw it six times.
by Anonymous | reply 209 | March 16, 2023 12:23 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 210 | March 16, 2023 12:26 AM |
I think Jerry Herman, Sondheim, and Kander & Ebb all made musicals that much gayer than they had been.
by Anonymous | reply 211 | March 16, 2023 12:28 AM |
Jersey Boys is for straight men.
Mamma Mia is for straight women without their husbands.
Bad Cinderella is for no one.
by Anonymous | reply 212 | March 16, 2023 2:30 AM |
[quote]vs the straight Jule Stein who composed GYPSY)
Jule Styne.
by Anonymous | reply 213 | March 16, 2023 2:32 AM |
Paint Your Wagon is pretty straight. Where else can you see Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood in a musical?
by Anonymous | reply 214 | March 16, 2023 2:46 AM |
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
by Anonymous | reply 215 | March 16, 2023 2:47 AM |
The Book of Mormon is another straight man's musical.
by Anonymous | reply 216 | March 16, 2023 3:04 AM |
SHUCKED is for non-binary
by Anonymous | reply 217 | March 16, 2023 3:15 AM |
Wasn't West Side Story considered to be a bit fey by the hairy-chested theater critics at the time?
by Anonymous | reply 218 | March 16, 2023 3:21 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 219 | March 16, 2023 3:39 AM |
It's Guys and DOLLS not Guys and GUYS! Not that there's anything wrong with that.
by Anonymous | reply 220 | March 16, 2023 4:36 AM |
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!
by Anonymous | reply 221 | March 16, 2023 5:10 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 222 | March 16, 2023 10:43 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 223 | March 16, 2023 11:01 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 224 | March 16, 2023 11:04 AM |
The price dubbed JFK’s presidency Camelot after he was dead.
by Anonymous | reply 225 | March 16, 2023 11:11 AM |
Press
by Anonymous | reply 226 | March 16, 2023 11:11 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 227 | March 16, 2023 11:14 AM |
Nicolas Hytner’s 1990s British production of Carousel was phenomenal and restored the reputation of that show.
by Anonymous | reply 228 | March 16, 2023 11:25 AM |
Which one of you girls took a dump in the aisle at SLIH the other night? It was before intermission, apparently.
by Anonymous | reply 229 | March 16, 2023 11:41 AM |
Was it hot, R229?
by Anonymous | reply 230 | March 16, 2023 11:47 AM |
Scat troll at R230. 😂
by Anonymous | reply 231 | March 16, 2023 11:52 AM |
Literal violence!
by Anonymous | reply 232 | March 16, 2023 11:53 AM |
Shipoopi!
by Anonymous | reply 233 | March 16, 2023 11:55 AM |
R231 that cracked me up, too. 🤣
by Anonymous | reply 234 | March 16, 2023 11:58 AM |
Jeff Romney is one of the producers, along with Maria Friedman, of the new Merrily.
by Anonymous | reply 235 | March 16, 2023 1:15 PM |
Er, Romley. And Sonia Friedman.
by Anonymous | reply 236 | March 16, 2023 1:16 PM |
Who is Jeff Romley?
by Anonymous | reply 237 | March 16, 2023 1:29 PM |
^ The Widow Sondheim
by Anonymous | reply 238 | March 16, 2023 1:41 PM |
R238 wouldn't that be widower/
by Anonymous | reply 239 | March 16, 2023 1:49 PM |
Widower Sondheim doesn't scan.
by Anonymous | reply 240 | March 16, 2023 2:00 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 241 | March 16, 2023 2:02 PM |
Italians playing Jewish — Al Pacino, over and over.
by Anonymous | reply 243 | March 16, 2023 2:17 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 244 | March 16, 2023 2:24 PM |
I doubt it, r242. Don't think anyone will deem it a forgotten classic, even if this production is excellent.
by Anonymous | reply 245 | March 16, 2023 2:25 PM |
Saw the final dress of DEAR WORLD. A valiant effort by all trying to rescue a show that can't be rescued.
by Anonymous | reply 246 | March 16, 2023 2:39 PM |
ROOM has just been canceled. Poor Adrienne Warren.
by Anonymous | reply 247 | March 16, 2023 2:41 PM |
R247, I was just about to post about that. Here's a link:
by Anonymous | reply 248 | March 16, 2023 2:56 PM |
In Forbidden Broadway, Rita Moreno told Chita Rivera she could only play "Gypsies, Italians and black Jews."
by Anonymous | reply 249 | March 16, 2023 3:01 PM |
Re: ROOM
Imagine already rehearsing and having the plug pulled on your show?
by Anonymous | reply 250 | March 16, 2023 3:06 PM |
[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
by Anonymous | reply 251 | March 16, 2023 3:09 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 252 | March 16, 2023 3:25 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 253 | March 16, 2023 3:26 PM |
Love the idea, hate the title!
by Anonymous | reply 254 | March 16, 2023 3:27 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 255 | March 16, 2023 3:27 PM |
re: Here We Are!
by Anonymous | reply 256 | March 16, 2023 3:27 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 257 | March 16, 2023 3:29 PM |
WTFTL;DR*
by Anonymous | reply 258 | March 16, 2023 3:34 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 259 | March 16, 2023 3:35 PM |
[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
by Anonymous | reply 260 | March 16, 2023 3:41 PM |
Thanks for posting that R260 - I'd forgotten about that mess.
by Anonymous | reply 261 | March 16, 2023 3:52 PM |
Do we know if Romley has sole discretion as to what is or isn't produced from the Sondheim canon?
by Anonymous | reply 262 | March 16, 2023 4:16 PM |
Please don't quote the idiots from All That Chat here...let's keep the children in their nursery room...
by Anonymous | reply 263 | March 16, 2023 4:22 PM |
Maybe Brokeback Mountain will get a stage version after all.
by Anonymous | reply 264 | March 16, 2023 4:22 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 265 | March 16, 2023 4:22 PM |
SHUCKED! When you absolutely positively have nothing else to do.
by Anonymous | reply 266 | March 16, 2023 4:23 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 267 | March 16, 2023 4:40 PM |
[quote]Please don't quote the idiots from All That Chat here...
Not gonna happen, r263.
by Anonymous | reply 268 | March 16, 2023 5:13 PM |
Do White people go to the Public Theatre anymore?
by Anonymous | reply 269 | March 16, 2023 5:14 PM |
[quote]Imagine already rehearsing and having the plug pulled on your show?
Tell us about it.
by Anonymous | reply 270 | March 16, 2023 5:56 PM |
So the Broadway run of Room has been cancelled. Talk about a whoopsie Daisy
by Anonymous | reply 271 | March 16, 2023 6:40 PM |
There just wasn't room for it, r271.
by Anonymous | reply 272 | March 16, 2023 7:16 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 273 | March 16, 2023 7:18 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 274 | March 16, 2023 7:33 PM |
R253 sounds like a Rex Reed review, and I mean that in a good way
by Anonymous | reply 275 | March 16, 2023 7:58 PM |
R255 It sounds like the emperor has no clothes, but who is brave enough or innocent enough to tell him?
by Anonymous | reply 276 | March 16, 2023 7:59 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 277 | March 16, 2023 8:25 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 278 | March 16, 2023 8:52 PM |
The Sleepy Brigade just makes shit up
by Anonymous | reply 279 | March 16, 2023 8:54 PM |
R278 1776 seemed a good example of that.
by Anonymous | reply 280 | March 16, 2023 9:00 PM |
[quote] 1776 seemed a good example of that.
yes, they literally chose random people off the street to play those roles.
by Anonymous | reply 282 | March 16, 2023 9:03 PM |
It only seems that way
by Anonymous | reply 283 | March 16, 2023 9:06 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 284 | March 16, 2023 9:10 PM |
They already spent money for the marquee for "Room", which was up the other day at the James Earl Jones Theater.
by Anonymous | reply 285 | March 16, 2023 9:19 PM |
There is no room at the Jones.
by Anonymous | reply 286 | March 16, 2023 9:22 PM |
r278 with the typical disingenuous, dishonest deflection.
by Anonymous | reply 287 | March 16, 2023 9:23 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 288 | March 16, 2023 9:29 PM |
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
by Anonymous | reply 289 | March 16, 2023 9:53 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 290 | March 16, 2023 10:05 PM |
Groban out tonight. Let's see how many people stay.
by Anonymous | reply 291 | March 16, 2023 10:43 PM |
R291 - Curious to hear how his understudy / standby is.
by Anonymous | reply 292 | March 16, 2023 10:46 PM |
R292 Isn't he hot and black?
by Anonymous | reply 293 | March 16, 2023 10:48 PM |
He's the physical opposite of Groban so it should be interesting.
by Anonymous | reply 295 | March 16, 2023 10:50 PM |
Gaten was out the other night but I think he's back.
by Anonymous | reply 296 | March 16, 2023 10:52 PM |
r294 His brother is in the show too.
by Anonymous | reply 297 | March 16, 2023 11:26 PM |
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.)
by Anonymous | reply 298 | March 16, 2023 11:36 PM |
Who is Misty Newhouse and why does she has a theater with her name?
by Anonymous | reply 299 | March 17, 2023 1:50 AM |
I wanna know who the hell LuEsther T. Mertz was.
by Anonymous | reply 300 | March 17, 2023 2:12 AM |
It's Mitzi Newhouse
by Anonymous | reply 301 | March 17, 2023 2:27 AM |
Ethel's stage name after Fred died. She still kills with Shortnin' Bread.
by Anonymous | reply 302 | March 17, 2023 2:27 AM |
[quote] I wanna know who the hell LuEsther T. Mertz was.
You’ll know when you need to know.
by Anonymous | reply 303 | March 17, 2023 2:31 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 304 | March 17, 2023 2:55 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 307 | March 17, 2023 4:43 AM |
Is the Best Actor TONY just waiting for Ben Platt?
Michaela Diamond is really wonderful in PARADE.
by Anonymous | reply 308 | March 17, 2023 4:46 AM |
[quote] I wanna know who the hell LuEsther T. Mertz was.
And was she related to both Fred Sanford and Fred Mertz?
by Anonymous | reply 309 | March 17, 2023 5:11 AM |
[quote] Is the Best Actor TONY just waiting for Ben Platt?
Because a 2nd Tony is going to fix everything with his career.
by Anonymous | reply 310 | March 17, 2023 5:13 AM |
[quote]It's Mitzi Newhouse
I always call it the Mitzi McCall Theatre.
by Anonymous | reply 311 | March 17, 2023 7:23 AM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 312 | March 17, 2023 9:32 AM |
Lol a pageant of antisemitism
by Anonymous | reply 313 | March 17, 2023 9:35 AM |
Tony #2 for Ben.
by Anonymous | reply 314 | March 17, 2023 10:04 AM |
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
by Anonymous | reply 315 | March 17, 2023 10:42 AM |
LuEsther and her husband founded Publishers Clearinghouse. The Joyce Theater?—their daughter Joyce.
by Anonymous | reply 316 | March 17, 2023 10:53 AM |
[Quote] Delighted to have seen it, particularly with a smart, appreciative, respectful audience.
White crowd, eh?
by Anonymous | reply 318 | March 17, 2023 11:36 AM |
R318. Definitely not a Long Island or Joisey crowd.
by Anonymous | reply 319 | March 17, 2023 12:08 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 320 | March 17, 2023 12:10 PM |
Who is Ben's competition for the Tony?
by Anonymous | reply 321 | March 17, 2023 12:19 PM |
[quote] Who is Ben's competition for the Tony?
Josh Groban
by Anonymous | reply 322 | March 17, 2023 12:25 PM |
Andrew Burnap and Will Swenson.
by Anonymous | reply 323 | March 17, 2023 12:27 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 324 | March 17, 2023 12:58 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 325 | March 17, 2023 1:46 PM |
(quote)Who is Ben's competition for the Tony? Andrew Burnap and Will Swenson.
#Tonyssowhite
by Anonymous | reply 326 | March 17, 2023 1:47 PM |
[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."
by Anonymous | reply 327 | March 17, 2023 2:29 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 328 | March 17, 2023 2:35 PM |
Is it looking like Chastain will be a lock for lead actress in a play? Who would be her chief competition?
by Anonymous | reply 329 | March 17, 2023 2:41 PM |
Definitely Jodie Comer.
Potentially Laura Linney.
by Anonymous | reply 330 | March 17, 2023 2:45 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 331 | March 17, 2023 2:46 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 332 | March 17, 2023 2:52 PM |
If only Chef David knew how to act, notwithstanding acting like a happy husband for eons.
by Anonymous | reply 334 | March 17, 2023 3:53 PM |
[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?
by Anonymous | reply 335 | March 17, 2023 3:53 PM |
OMG, they cast Burtka as a straight man???
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
by Anonymous | reply 336 | March 17, 2023 3:57 PM |
I guess I missed the post, what's the David Burtka project?
by Anonymous | reply 337 | March 17, 2023 4:02 PM |
R335-Pretending to be a faithful husband and father.
by Anonymous | reply 338 | March 17, 2023 4:10 PM |
God of Carnage would be interesting with more diverse casting like making one of the couples gay or black.
by Anonymous | reply 339 | March 17, 2023 4:11 PM |
If someone tells me it's a show I have to bring something to, I always bring a book.
by Anonymous | reply 340 | March 17, 2023 4:13 PM |
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
by Anonymous | reply 341 | March 17, 2023 4:43 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 342 | March 17, 2023 4:45 PM |
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”
by Anonymous | reply 343 | March 17, 2023 4:46 PM |
[r342] he burned a bridge with a lot of the Sondheim crowd by defending Brett Kavenough on Twitter during the senate trial
by Anonymous | reply 344 | March 17, 2023 4:47 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 345 | March 17, 2023 4:49 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 346 | March 17, 2023 4:57 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 347 | March 17, 2023 5:06 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 348 | March 17, 2023 5:06 PM |
To be fair, speed wasn’t Sondheim’s strong suit, either. Originally announced in 2014.
by Anonymous | reply 349 | March 17, 2023 5:26 PM |
I remember seeing Jean Smart play Marlene Dietrich in PIAF waaaaaaaaaay back when.
by Anonymous | reply 350 | March 17, 2023 5:37 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 351 | March 17, 2023 5:46 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 352 | March 17, 2023 5:56 PM |
[quote] To be fair, speed wasn’t Sondheim’s strong suit, either. Originally announced in 2014.
He was busy dating and getting married.
by Anonymous | reply 353 | March 17, 2023 5:58 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 354 | March 17, 2023 6:03 PM |
Is it correct to call LMM a protoge of Sondheim's? The word suggests to me a far deeper relationship than they probably had.
by Anonymous | reply 355 | March 17, 2023 6:08 PM |
I think we can give Sondheim a pass for the last 16 months, though.
by Anonymous | reply 356 | March 17, 2023 6:10 PM |
No, it's not, r355. That's just Miranda's characterization, and he never misses an opportunity to call attention to their connection.
by Anonymous | reply 357 | March 17, 2023 6:12 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 358 | March 17, 2023 6:16 PM |
Groban out tonite and matinee tomorrow.
by Anonymous | reply 359 | March 17, 2023 6:20 PM |
[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
by Anonymous | reply 361 | March 17, 2023 6:32 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 362 | March 17, 2023 6:50 PM |
Do you also think he told Rachel Zegler she sings "like a nightingale"?
by Anonymous | reply 363 | March 17, 2023 7:14 PM |
SS told Rachel it was alarming how charming she sung.
by Anonymous | reply 364 | March 17, 2023 7:16 PM |
[Quote] Is it correct to call LMM a protoge of Sondheim's?
No.
by Anonymous | reply 365 | March 17, 2023 7:18 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 366 | March 17, 2023 7:20 PM |
Everyone seems to have talked to Sondheim just before he died
by Anonymous | reply 367 | March 17, 2023 7:23 PM |
I talked to him last week
by Anonymous | reply 368 | March 17, 2023 7:24 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 369 | March 17, 2023 7:29 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 370 | March 17, 2023 7:51 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 371 | March 17, 2023 7:56 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 372 | March 17, 2023 9:27 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 373 | March 17, 2023 9:40 PM |
R373 is me
by Anonymous | reply 374 | March 17, 2023 9:41 PM |
I was about to ask r374. It seemed likely!
by Anonymous | reply 375 | March 17, 2023 9:53 PM |
R374 Thought so, love ya loads.
by Anonymous | reply 376 | March 17, 2023 9:53 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 377 | March 17, 2023 10:01 PM |
Woosh!
by Anonymous | reply 378 | March 17, 2023 10:03 PM |
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
by Anonymous | reply 379 | March 17, 2023 10:09 PM |
"It says here in this book....:"
Yeah, she's not dumb. Right.
by Anonymous | reply 380 | March 17, 2023 10:27 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 381 | March 17, 2023 10:32 PM |
r374 - Why, Zachary Uriah Addy, as I live and breathe.
by Anonymous | reply 382 | March 17, 2023 10:32 PM |
r381
short answer no but this is a good thread on the topic
by Anonymous | reply 383 | March 17, 2023 10:34 PM |
just in case the link doesn't work... try this
by Anonymous | reply 384 | March 17, 2023 10:35 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 385 | March 17, 2023 10:37 PM |
R385, one of the Supremes was Mary Wilson, but I don't recall who the third was. Must not have made an impression.
by Anonymous | reply 386 | March 17, 2023 11:14 PM |
R383. Thanks!
by Anonymous | reply 387 | March 17, 2023 11:15 PM |
I remember now. It was Cindy Birdsong. So the Supremes were Mary Wilson, Florence Ballard, and Cindy Birdsong.
by Anonymous | reply 388 | March 17, 2023 11:15 PM |
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.....
by Anonymous | reply 389 | March 17, 2023 11:38 PM |
r389
and isn't the next scene where we find out that Deena And Curtis are having an affair?
by Anonymous | reply 390 | March 17, 2023 11:41 PM |
R382- impressed you know the middle name!
by Anonymous | reply 391 | March 18, 2023 2:01 AM |
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!
by Anonymous | reply 392 | March 18, 2023 2:11 AM |
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.”
by Anonymous | reply 393 | March 18, 2023 2:12 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 394 | March 18, 2023 2:23 AM |
Eager to find any reports on the Sweeney understudy
by Anonymous | reply 395 | March 18, 2023 2:24 AM |
Is there any Moss Hart director today who could take Josh Groban and help him find what’s missing in his performance?
by Anonymous | reply 396 | March 18, 2023 2:27 AM |
You mean take him to a hotel room for the weekend and act it out for him?
by Anonymous | reply 397 | March 18, 2023 2:34 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 398 | March 18, 2023 2:37 AM |
^it wasnt passion; it was a mental disorder
by Anonymous | reply 399 | March 18, 2023 2:37 AM |
The word *awkward* comes to mind, r394.
by Anonymous | reply 400 | March 18, 2023 2:37 AM |
Maybe he was upset because Michael Arden asked if he needed to use the bathroom backstage. With a leer.
by Anonymous | reply 401 | March 18, 2023 2:39 AM |
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!"
by Anonymous | reply 403 | March 18, 2023 2:40 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 404 | March 18, 2023 3:00 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 405 | March 18, 2023 3:11 AM |
[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?
by Anonymous | reply 406 | March 18, 2023 3:17 AM |
[quote]Having just seen the show, believe me, Arden is the hero of the night
Perhaps Brown realizes that, hence why he snubbed Arden.
by Anonymous | reply 407 | March 18, 2023 3:49 AM |
Rob Ashford directed "Parade" in London and Los Angeles, and it was during those runs that significant alterations were made that have become permanent.
by Anonymous | reply 408 | March 18, 2023 4:05 AM |
[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?
by Anonymous | reply 409 | March 18, 2023 5:32 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 410 | March 18, 2023 5:36 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 411 | March 18, 2023 5:46 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 412 | March 18, 2023 6:05 AM |
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
by Anonymous | reply 413 | March 18, 2023 11:14 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 414 | March 18, 2023 12:22 PM |
Does that mean we are invited r414?
by Anonymous | reply 415 | March 18, 2023 12:36 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 416 | March 18, 2023 12:47 PM |
JRB was explicitly talking about the HISTORY of the piece.
by Anonymous | reply 417 | March 18, 2023 1:07 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 418 | March 18, 2023 1:30 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 419 | March 18, 2023 1:30 PM |
[quote] Maybe get more recognizable names for Nicky and Mrs Brice.
I’m free.
by Anonymous | reply 420 | March 18, 2023 1:39 PM |
JRB is most unfortunate looking.
by Anonymous | reply 421 | March 18, 2023 1:46 PM |
But he's hung.
by Anonymous | reply 422 | March 18, 2023 1:47 PM |
Verificata?
by Anonymous | reply 423 | March 18, 2023 1:49 PM |
Who cares if it accompanies those teeth?
by Anonymous | reply 424 | March 18, 2023 2:07 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 425 | March 18, 2023 3:47 PM |
Yup R424, paywalled
by Anonymous | reply 426 | March 18, 2023 4:51 PM |
SHUCKED!
Do you suppose they realize that title rhymes with a really dirty word?
by Anonymous | reply 427 | March 18, 2023 4:54 PM |
Jeanna de Waal on as Beggar Woman this afternoon.
by Anonymous | reply 428 | March 18, 2023 4:57 PM |
[quote]Verificata?
It's VERIFICATIA, you fat stupid whore!
by Anonymous | reply 429 | March 18, 2023 5:19 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 431 | March 18, 2023 6:50 PM |
I want to see Jeanna do Lovett.
by Anonymous | reply 432 | March 18, 2023 6:56 PM |
I think I saw a few chorus "girl" pubic hairs in there r433.
by Anonymous | reply 434 | March 18, 2023 7:26 PM |
*Anything* goes in the finale, r434!
by Anonymous | reply 435 | March 18, 2023 7:31 PM |
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!
by Anonymous | reply 436 | March 18, 2023 9:24 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 437 | March 18, 2023 9:25 PM |
SHUCKED!
by Anonymous | reply 438 | March 18, 2023 9:51 PM |
Of course, I should have mentioned producer Darryl F. Zanuck, director Lloyd Bacon and choreographer Busby Berkeley; the movie did not make itself.
by Anonymous | reply 439 | March 18, 2023 10:12 PM |
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!
by Anonymous | reply 440 | March 18, 2023 11:22 PM |
I am still pretty stunned that the authors of the “new” SLIH seem to abhor the source material.
by Anonymous | reply 441 | March 18, 2023 11:36 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 442 | March 18, 2023 11:40 PM |
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..
by Anonymous | reply 443 | March 19, 2023 12:12 AM |
by Anonymous | reply 444 | March 19, 2023 12:53 AM |
R444. How awful.
by Anonymous | reply 445 | March 19, 2023 12:57 AM |
That’s very sad. Didn’t ALW also have pretty bad Prostate cancer? If I were his family I would do genetic testing.
by Anonymous | reply 446 | March 19, 2023 1:02 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 447 | March 19, 2023 2:46 AM |
R442 Is there a free wheeling patio number?
by Anonymous | reply 448 | March 19, 2023 2:52 AM |
Who should receive the next Lifetime Achievement Award at the Tonys?
by Anonymous | reply 449 | March 19, 2023 3:25 AM |
From the list: Joel Grey or Estelle Parsons
by Anonymous | reply 450 | March 19, 2023 3:43 AM |
Gotta go with Estelle.
by Anonymous | reply 451 | March 19, 2023 3:46 AM |
John Cullum.
by Anonymous | reply 452 | March 19, 2023 3:47 AM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 453 | March 19, 2023 4:32 AM |
R453 Isn't Sugar a fat pig now?
by Anonymous | reply 454 | March 19, 2023 4:48 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 455 | March 19, 2023 5:59 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 456 | March 19, 2023 11:49 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 457 | March 19, 2023 12:31 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 458 | March 19, 2023 12:38 PM |
The first thing that came to mind was Neely O'Hara snarl-taunting Helen Lawson that "The reviews couldn't have been that bad."
by Anonymous | reply 459 | March 19, 2023 12:39 PM |
Bullshit artist Rick Miramontez does press for both Parade and ALW. Are Nazi protesters [italic] and [/italic] gastric cancer both desperate stunts?
by Anonymous | reply 460 | March 19, 2023 2:20 PM |
Is the guy in the tight tee one of ALW's sons?
by Anonymous | reply 461 | March 19, 2023 3:06 PM |
In SLIH, why does the Del Coronado Hotel look like The Cheesecake Factory?
by Anonymous | reply 462 | March 19, 2023 3:19 PM |
[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 Anonymous | reply 463 | March 19, 2023 4:17 PM |
^BY JEEVES, for a start.
by Anonymous | reply 464 | March 19, 2023 4:19 PM |
"It was NOT a nuthouse!"
by Anonymous | reply 465 | March 19, 2023 4:22 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 467 | March 19, 2023 4:26 PM |
Nice moment at the PARADE opening as old Lucille congratulates new Lucille.
by Anonymous | reply 468 | March 19, 2023 4:28 PM |
That is lovely, r468.
by Anonymous | reply 469 | March 19, 2023 4:39 PM |
r468 "OLD"? Couldn't you have just said "former" or "original"?
by Anonymous | reply 470 | March 19, 2023 4:53 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 471 | March 19, 2023 5:14 PM |
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:
by Anonymous | reply 472 | March 19, 2023 5:20 PM |
That's very nice of Carolee to be so magnanimous considering Michaela Diamond openly cunted her for not being Jewish.
by Anonymous | reply 473 | March 19, 2023 6:05 PM |
Justice for Beanie! Never forget!!
by Anonymous | reply 474 | March 19, 2023 6:09 PM |
Who's Beanie?
by Anonymous | reply 475 | March 19, 2023 6:10 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 476 | March 19, 2023 6:17 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 477 | March 19, 2023 7:33 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 478 | March 19, 2023 7:37 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 479 | March 19, 2023 7:52 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 480 | March 19, 2023 7:53 PM |
Are you in the show, r480?
by Anonymous | reply 481 | March 19, 2023 7:55 PM |
r480 how do you feel about [italic] King Lear [/italic] ?
by Anonymous | reply 482 | March 19, 2023 7:59 PM |
No, r481. What does King Lear have to do with it, r482?
by Anonymous | reply 483 | March 19, 2023 8:08 PM |
R479, it was discussed on here at length, with the interview linked. You want it, go find it.
by Anonymous | reply 484 | March 19, 2023 8:27 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 485 | March 19, 2023 8:32 PM |
Click the X to the left of your thread watcher.
by Anonymous | reply 486 | March 19, 2023 8:35 PM |
Click on the X at the right, r485.
by Anonymous | reply 487 | March 19, 2023 8:35 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 488 | March 19, 2023 8:36 PM |
Maybe Sweeney was fat. And no he longer is. Or he was slim and latterly fat. Like Michael Ball.
by Anonymous | reply 489 | March 19, 2023 8:38 PM |
*And he no longer is
by Anonymous | reply 490 | March 19, 2023 8:39 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 491 | March 19, 2023 9:15 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 492 | March 19, 2023 9:19 PM |
It’s like casting Tyra Banks as Fanny Brice. Why? She can’t sing and she ain’t that funny.
by Anonymous | reply 493 | March 19, 2023 9:19 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 494 | March 19, 2023 9:23 PM |
Given how fat Groban looks in that interview, let's go with him being slim before Australia.
by Anonymous | reply 495 | March 19, 2023 9:27 PM |
Has Mandy Patinkin ever played Sweeney?
by Anonymous | reply 496 | March 19, 2023 9:29 PM |
Harebrained, r494.
by Anonymous | reply 497 | March 19, 2023 9:31 PM |
r496
good god
by Anonymous | reply 498 | March 19, 2023 9:59 PM |
I'm sure Patinkin would have loved to play Sweeney, but fortunately never has.
by Anonymous | reply 499 | March 19, 2023 10:09 PM |
He’d probably want to play all the roles. A one-man Sweeney Todd.
by Anonymous | reply 500 | March 19, 2023 10:21 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 501 | March 19, 2023 10:31 PM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 502 | March 19, 2023 10:42 PM |
The cast must have been affected by the protestors outside the theatre. How could they not be?
by Anonymous | reply 503 | March 19, 2023 10:51 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 504 | March 19, 2023 11:11 PM |
Josh Groban looks like he had that thinning out nose job Santino Fontana and Stephen Pasquale had.
by Anonymous | reply 505 | March 19, 2023 11:13 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 506 | March 19, 2023 11:18 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 507 | March 20, 2023 12:36 AM |
[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?
by Anonymous | reply 508 | March 20, 2023 2:37 AM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 509 | March 20, 2023 2:45 AM |
Well, how's Sweeney doing? How long is Groban signed up for?
by Anonymous | reply 510 | March 20, 2023 2:48 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 512 | March 20, 2023 3:00 AM |
[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
by Anonymous | reply 513 | March 20, 2023 3:06 AM |
Carolee wasn’t that great in the original production. Not much of a thespian, that one—although a real pro.
by Anonymous | reply 514 | March 20, 2023 3:12 AM |
Looks like DANCIN' got "good enough" reviews, but they have no money to advertise.
by Anonymous | reply 515 | March 20, 2023 3:18 AM |
Is anyone going to the Ann Reinking memorial tomorrow?
by Anonymous | reply 516 | March 20, 2023 3:24 AM |
Trans Reinking!
by Anonymous | reply 517 | March 20, 2023 3:27 AM |
Warning". "White Girl in Danger" is three hours long. I will never get them back.
by Anonymous | reply 518 | March 20, 2023 3:27 AM |
You all don’t understand my brilliance. I’m a fat, femme, fierce queen.
by Anonymous | reply 519 | March 20, 2023 3:36 AM |
Would White Girl in Danger be passable if shorter, or is it just not going to work at any length?
by Anonymous | reply 520 | March 20, 2023 3:41 AM |
R518, Gods, it sounds awful.
by Anonymous | reply 521 | March 20, 2023 3:45 AM |
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?
by Anonymous | reply 522 | March 20, 2023 3:54 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 523 | March 20, 2023 4:01 AM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 524 | March 20, 2023 4:53 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 525 | March 20, 2023 5:12 AM |
[Quote] who approved this?
Please work this into the next title
by Anonymous | reply 526 | March 20, 2023 6:28 AM |
I want to be overheard saying”who approved this?” as I leave any show I don’t like.
by Anonymous | reply 527 | March 20, 2023 6:30 AM |
Of course you do. Because you have to make it about you.
by Anonymous | reply 528 | March 20, 2023 11:18 AM |
DANCIN will quietly and swiftly close after those horrible reviews. And that's just fine.
by Anonymous | reply 529 | March 20, 2023 11:51 AM |
? I have no opinion on its longterm viability, but the reviews seemed more mixed-to-positive, didn't they?
by Anonymous | reply 530 | March 20, 2023 11:56 AM |
Very mixed. Nobody cares. Sing it!
by Anonymous | reply 531 | March 20, 2023 11:58 AM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 532 | March 20, 2023 12:04 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 533 | March 20, 2023 12:07 PM |
But Dancin' has that young hot stuff Aydin Eyikan in the cast. It can't fold.
by Anonymous | reply 534 | March 20, 2023 12:08 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 535 | March 20, 2023 12:18 PM |
Is Beanie in Dancin’?
by Anonymous | reply 536 | March 20, 2023 12:20 PM |
Better than Julia McKenzie?!
by Anonymous | reply 537 | March 20, 2023 12:23 PM |
[Quote] Aydin Eyikan
With a name like that, what's his background?
by Anonymous | reply 538 | March 20, 2023 12:23 PM |
I actually liked McKenzie better than Lansbury.
by Anonymous | reply 539 | March 20, 2023 12:59 PM |
[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?
by Anonymous | reply 540 | March 20, 2023 1:01 PM |
Weren't they both bitchy posts?
by Anonymous | reply 541 | March 20, 2023 1:03 PM |
When was bitchy about that shows. The other was bitchy about the poster (me).
by Anonymous | reply 542 | March 20, 2023 1:13 PM |
One was not when was
by Anonymous | reply 543 | March 20, 2023 1:14 PM |
[quote]With a name like that, what's his background?
Here.
by Anonymous | reply 544 | March 20, 2023 1:15 PM |
[quote] Any particular reason for that incredibly bitchy response to a funny post,
You grossly overestimate how funny you are
by Anonymous | reply 545 | March 20, 2023 1:18 PM |
I'm gonna get crucified for this, but I thought Imelda Staunton was a pretty great Mrs. L. And I've seen many.
by Anonymous | reply 546 | March 20, 2023 1:30 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 547 | March 20, 2023 1:31 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 548 | March 20, 2023 1:33 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 549 | March 20, 2023 1:40 PM |
Broadway needs at least one show catering to the ESL tourist crowd, and perhaps "Dancin" is that show.
by Anonymous | reply 551 | March 20, 2023 2:12 PM |
Mike Faist and Lucas Hedges doing a stage version of Brokeback mountain in London. I'm certain Faist will be the top.
by Anonymous | reply 552 | March 20, 2023 2:17 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 553 | March 20, 2023 2:19 PM |
Is Mike a gay?
by Anonymous | reply 554 | March 20, 2023 2:19 PM |
I've never sucked his dick, but there are plenty who have.
by Anonymous | reply 555 | March 20, 2023 2:21 PM |
Imelda Staunton was great in Sweeney in London. I was so impressed by the cast/production that I went back the next day.
by Anonymous | reply 556 | March 20, 2023 2:24 PM |
Free Beanie!
by Anonymous | reply 557 | March 20, 2023 2:34 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 558 | March 20, 2023 2:38 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 559 | March 20, 2023 2:39 PM |
[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
by Anonymous | reply 560 | March 20, 2023 2:42 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 561 | March 20, 2023 2:45 PM |
Here's a link to the story about Faist and Hedges:
by Anonymous | reply 562 | March 20, 2023 2:45 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 563 | March 20, 2023 2:47 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 564 | March 20, 2023 2:48 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 565 | March 20, 2023 2:55 PM |
Couldn't they find two young sexy actors to play those gay cowboys?
by Anonymous | reply 566 | March 20, 2023 2:55 PM |
Everyone’s mileage varies, but I find Mike Faist incredibly sexy.
by Anonymous | reply 567 | March 20, 2023 3:01 PM |
I was at the PARADE opening, and the security was definitely up a level.
by Anonymous | reply 568 | March 20, 2023 3:06 PM |
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
by Anonymous | reply 569 | March 20, 2023 3:22 PM |
R565, just keep doing what you're doing. Because you do it REALLY well. Admin, please take note.
by Anonymous | reply 570 | March 20, 2023 3:25 PM |
I think Cheryl‘s back
by Anonymous | reply 571 | March 20, 2023 3:26 PM |
[quote] Admin, please take note.
News flash: Muriel thinks you’re a cunt too
by Anonymous | reply 572 | March 20, 2023 3:28 PM |
[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 :-)
by Anonymous | reply 573 | March 20, 2023 3:28 PM |
R569 and that would just be the beginning!
by Anonymous | reply 574 | March 20, 2023 3:29 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 575 | March 20, 2023 3:48 PM |
The “Secret Garden” in LA isn’t selling well
Are they planning on bringing it to Broadway?
by Anonymous | reply 576 | March 20, 2023 4:24 PM |
well that would be a secret, wouldn't it?
by Anonymous | reply 577 | March 20, 2023 4:28 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 578 | March 20, 2023 4:49 PM |
Oh, duh, if we're counting plays, then Angels in America!
by Anonymous | reply 579 | March 20, 2023 5:00 PM |
Bring back Victor/Victoria!
by Anonymous | reply 580 | March 20, 2023 5:01 PM |
Once on This Island, Parade, Side Show, Miss Saigon and Ragtime have all had revivals.
Kiss of the Spider Woman could be next.
by Anonymous | reply 581 | March 20, 2023 5:07 PM |
Triumph of Love!
by Anonymous | reply 582 | March 20, 2023 5:15 PM |
I think Cynthia probably called Mindy Kalling and Mariah Carey for tips on being a successful Broadway producer. Good for her!
by Anonymous | reply 584 | March 20, 2023 7:27 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 585 | March 20, 2023 7:34 PM |
[quote]Cynthia Erivo Joins Producing Team for ‘Fat Ham’ Ahead of Broadway Opening Night
Does a bovine nose ring ever look good on anyone?
by Anonymous | reply 586 | March 20, 2023 7:46 PM |
[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.
by Anonymous | reply 587 | March 20, 2023 7:49 PM |
Remember when one of the Jonas Brothers was a producer of CHICKEN AND BISQUITS.
by Anonymous | reply 588 | March 20, 2023 7:52 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 589 | March 20, 2023 8:15 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 591 | March 20, 2023 9:22 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 592 | March 20, 2023 9:23 PM |
Have any of our London DLers seen the immersive Guys and Dolls at the Bridge? If so, report back, ta very much.
by Anonymous | reply 594 | March 20, 2023 9:25 PM |
R587. You sound stupid. You sound like a bigot. Please fuck off—TIA
by Anonymous | reply 595 | March 20, 2023 9:26 PM |
Evidently Playbill's corrective to that controversial article about audience behavior is to post an article about life as an usher that says nothing?
by Anonymous | reply 596 | March 20, 2023 9:27 PM |
Of course, Amanda Bynes' nose ring won't be related to her race/heritage...
by Anonymous | reply 597 | March 20, 2023 9:29 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 598 | March 20, 2023 9:33 PM |
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.
by Anonymous | reply 599 | March 20, 2023 9:33 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 600 | March 20, 2023 9:34 PM |