THEATRE GOSSIP #596: The "Izzy's Too Dizzy To Go On Tonight" Edition

Discussion continues from prior thread

It's GYPSY vs IZZY - which will be the first to post a closing notice ? I say IZZY.

I have a feeling she will be fine by Emmy time.

Maybe Smart and MacDonald can switch roles for the summer to try and save each other's shows? Smart in 'Gypsy' and MacDonald in 'Izzy' ???

How does a stage toilet look so dirty?

And Here We Are!

They let Amex cardholders use it during the pre-show.

There's still an original cast member of HAMILTON???!?!?

Some people like steady employment.

[quote] Listen to the multi part podcast about Sunset Blvd productions through time. The podcaster explains why RUG has such a terrible reputation (and why Lupone specifically added financial penalties if RUG fired her)

what is the name of the podcast?

Two Shits With Sarah Brightman

Why are so many Billy Porter performances on TDF? I thought he was brought in to save the show.

[Quote] she has no clue about what's damaging to a voice and what isn't. Just about every singer and vocal coach I know will tell you that continually switching back and forth between a raw belt sound and singing in head voice/soprano is FAR more damaging to a performer than singing an entire role either in the belt register or the soprano register. And in Audra's case, the damage is greatly compounded by the fact that she does so much screaming and shouting and sobbing in at least two of her big numbers, regardless of where the notes should lie.“

I’ll trust Audra’s knowledge about her own voice over yours

Remember at the beginning of Audra’s run, someone on her exclaimed that Audra’s voice was being shredded and she wouldn’t last much past Xmas?

Well, her voice seems to be doing just fine

I think it would be fun if Hannah Einbinder filled in for Jean while her "knee" healed, or even her mother, Laraine Newman.

I'm well enough now to knee OP right in the nuts.

Let’s see how this is woven into next season on Hacks. Too ripe to use?

They can get the gay show creator who pretends he's straight to play "Izzy." I'm sure he'll look fabu in that McCrory's wig.

From the previous thread:

[quote] Balgord was Glenn Close's understudy (November 1994 - June 1995) and did get decent reviews when she covered Close's multi-week vacation in March, 1995 (though the box office nose-dived).

Linda Balgord never understudied Glenn Close and never played Norma Desmond on Broadway. Karen Mason understudied Glenn Close in L.A. and on Broadway and filled in for Glenn's vacation.

The Groff/Radcliffe/Mendez "Merrily" will screen theatrically in December.

R19 I was NEVER in the chorus!

Audra may be fine, but she's OUT again tonight: 7/16/2025

As if...

Is Paul Downs actually gay? Or just an effeminate straight man?

Both.

R12. Billy Porter was brought in to close the show. Not save it.

R22. Really? Tryphena hasn't posted anything or sent out a ROSE alert.

The current Broadway revival of Gypsy, starring Audra McDonald, will end its Broadway run on August 17 after 28 previews and 269 regular performances.

Well, there we go. Gypsy said uncle before Call Me Izzy. But I suspect Izzy will close sooner.

CHAMPAGNE FOR EVERYONE!

[quote]The Groff/Radcliffe/Mendez "Merrily" will screen theatrically in December.

At least those audiences will be assured of seeing Mendez.

[quote]The Groff/Radcliffe/Mendez "Merrily" will screen theatrically in December.

Good news for those of who will be dead before the movie is released.

This will be the shortest run of Gypsy since the Angela Lansbury revival in 1974-75, which was a planned limited engagement.

Yikes. Even Bernadette ran longer.

YIKE!

I just went to Lupone's house to break the news to her about GYPSY's early closing. She gave me a cold stare for fifteen seconds. She then turned to the window and said with a smile, "Isn't it a beautiful day ?"

[quote]With an Asian Tony, it becomes more complicated, because an Asian boy is still an outsider to thearks.

Why do people like you who are obviously devoid of imagination even bother going to the theater, an art form that requires it? "An Asian Tony takes me out of the story, but I have no problem with gang members executing sophisticated choreography."

BTW, Day is now scheduled to fill in through Sunday at the very least for 'Izzy'. There is equity rule that states if the understudy goes on for more than two weeks, the role becomes theirs, if they choose. Next Wednesday marks 'more than two weeks' - so we can probably bid adieu to Jean Smart at this point.

Aside from the fact that this was a mediocre production with a divisive lead actress choice, the producers of this Gypsy really failed. From not having enough understudies ready in December to branding the show "Audra/Gypsy" when Audra misses way too many performances - there is a masterclass in how NOT to produce happening at the Majestic Theater through Aug. 17.

R31, and they’re gonna be wildly underwhelmed.

R37 that is wild.

R40 Yup. Smart has been out since July 8. I believe Day stepped in on the 9th. So actually, Thursday the 24th will be over 2 weeks, and the role has to be offered to her.

No, it doesn’t. I don’t see any such provision anywhere in the Production Contract. If it’s there, provide a quote or citation.

I think Day will cover the weekend and then Monday they'll announce closing.

I don't understand a situation in which Smart could miss all these performances and then still contractually be paid for the weeks she missed. But isn't that what some of you yammered on about in the last thread?

[quote]I’ll trust Audra’s knowledge about her own voice over yours

Except she has had many unscheduled absences since the show opened, in addition to the scheduled ones, so it seems clear that the role is too vocally taxing for her because of the way she has chosen to sing it -- or shout it and shriek it and sob it, in the case of "Rose's Turn" and some of "Everything's Coming Up Roses." So it seems that neither you nor she know as much about maintaining vocal health as you pretend to.

R45, your take is plausible, but scarcely dispositive. McDonald notoriously missed performances of RAGTIME and PORGY AND BESS, neither of which seemed the wrong fit vocally (and of course she was younger then).

When I saw her do it a few months ago, I was (1) surprised how much she actually did sing in chest voice and (2) worried whether she could sustain the emotional intensity of what she was doing over a regular Broadway schedule. So it's also plausible that the role took so much out of her emotionally that she felt the need to call out a lot. (You don't have to have liked her performance to find that believable.)

Bottom line: no one here really knows. Stop presenting your own thoughts as fact.

[quote] There is equity rule that states if the understudy goes on for more than two weeks, the role becomes theirs, if they choose

Is this true? I’ve worked on Broadway for 40 years, and never heard this.

Another flop for Kirdahy.

R46. I'm not presenting my thoughts as 100 precent fact, I'm presenting them as educated and experienced guesses. Ironically, though the tone of your post makes it sound like you're arguing with me, I think we basically agree about what's going on with Audra and her voice.

For example, you wrote that when you saw Audra in GYPSY, you "worried whether she could sustain the emotional intensity of what she was doing over a regular Broadway schedule.." If you modify that a little so it reads "the emotional and vocal intensity....," the answer has proven to be "No, she can't." Audra has missed quite a few performances over the course of the short run. I don't know if she has made any statement on the reason for any of those absences, but I'd be willing to bet the real reason was vocal fatigue.

As for your comment that "McDonald notoriously missed performances of RAGTIME and PORGY AND BESS," first of all, she shouldn't have and wouldn't have called out from RAGTIME so often if she didn't insist on singing much of "Your Daddy's Son" in a wild ,searing, almost out-of-control high belt. In my opinion, that number was thrilling when delivered that way, but I think it did cost Audra vocally. And as for P&B, no singer should EVER be contracted to sing either of those leading roles more than or three times a week a most, let alone eight times a week.

[quote]I don't understand a situation in which Smart could miss all these performances and then still contractually be paid for the weeks she missed. But isn't that what some of you yammered on about in the last thread?

You never heard of paid sick time at a job ? Seriously ?

She's out with a physical injury (which she may have sustained 'on the job'). She gets paid sick time. I think even Starbucks gives their baristas paid sick time these days - never mind an $8M Broadway production in which she is the star of the one-woman show.

At this point I would be shocked if Jean came back. Would audiences come back with her? I doubt it.

If the producers don't kill off IZZY by tonight's performance, they need to be charged with fraudulent behavior by their investors. To quote one DL poster who frequently posts here: "They're delusional."

I'm wondering who the audience for the filmed Groff/Mendez/Radcliffe Merrily at the local cineplex is going to be? Millennials thinking its part of the Potterverse? The small segment of the population that kept Glee aliive past its expiration date? Octagenarians hoping for an old fashioned MGM musical?

r53 How about "people who would have loved to have seen it on Broadway but couldn't"?

Kirdahy has plenty going on what with Just In Time, Hadestown, Ragtime, and the Kiss Of The Spiderwoman movie .

Why do people blatantly lie about things? Someone wrote elsewhere online about Audra's most recent absences from GYPSY, over the past two days, "This is unsettling, and we can all hope she's well. I've seen every show she's been in on B'way, save Shuffle Along, and her attendance has been exemplary, even when playing Bess, the McDonald performance that shook me to my toes. We can assume the decision to close in mid-August is the result of soft sales for September. But it's very sad indeed to learn that she's been unable to perform the last 48 hours.."

First of all, Audra's attendance record during PORGY AND BESS was far from "exemplary." And as for her GYPSY absences, there is a big difference between being "unable to perform" and calling out because your voice is a little tired, which Audra herself has said she will do. If every major star of a Broadway musical called out whenever they felt their voice was only at about 80 or 85 percent rather than 100, the Broadway model would become unworkable -- at least, for shows with major stars whose names actually sell tickets, as compared to say DEATH BECOMES HER, where apparently the frequent absences of the two leads has mattered very little at the box office.

[quote]The current Broadway revival of Gypsy, starring Audra McDonald, will end its Broadway run on August 17

August 17 will be the last time that Gypsy is ever performed on a Broadway stage.

Agreed, R57. Unless maybe Lady GaGa wants to do it -- as Louise sometime soon, or as Rose later in her career :-)

Lady Gaga as Rose is definitely happening at some point in the 2040s.

R39 Luckily we have a thread for that.

Are we really going to spend the next few days endlessly speculating about Jean Smart and Izzy? YAWN. Let's gossip: Anyone else hearing who some of next season's announced shows are suddenly having serious problems finding investors? Why is Michael Paulson trying to save Williamstown? Let it die. Is The Broadway League going to be able to stop a casino in Times Square, and why did Equity sell out to a possible casino? And then that announcement about Caesar's Palace offering $5 million for LGBTQ+ "health care." You think Trump wouldn't stop on the instantly? What other shows will close before Labor Day? Stranger Things? Hadestown? Cabaret? Speaking of Cabaret, lots of rumblings about how the investors were screwed but Jujamcyn made millions on the liquor. Lot's of rumblings that the "Dolly" musical made a huge mistake debuting in Nashville. The locals had no idea of how much skilled labor is needed for a new musical, and none of it is in Nashville. It's just a concert town. How much more face work is Chenoweth going to have before "Versailles"? Is the "shuffling" of Jesse Green the end of theatre criticism at The Times as we know it. Looks like he was done in by his all out rave for "Smash."

R20 I can't wait to miss it!

We’re getting closer to “Kim Carnes: The Musical!” every year.

I’m Every Woman. The story of Chaka Khan is coming to London in 2026. I love Chaka, but this is sounds so D list. Think it’ll make it to Broadway?

Poor Jean. She’s being offered so much at this stage of life and it’s hard to say no, but her body is. That must be frustrating.

The hills are alive. Again.

Izzy just extended through Aug 24th. Bring me my smelling salts!!!!!

Madeline Ashton would never be this fat.

YAY! More time to see Jean Smart on a dirty toilet!!

[quote] Izzy just extended through Aug 24th. Bring me my smelling salts!!!!!

Now THAT's hutzpah!!

So, The Shed is charging $299 for the extremely limited Orchestra seats for Tom Hanks in The World Of Tomorrow, to $110 for the sides in the back of the house. Obviously, they're holding back a lot of Premium seats.

[quote]The hills are alive.

RUN!

I can't believe they actually extended IZZY. I thought for sure it would close prematurely.

I can still close prematurely.

2008 Gypsy ran longer, 332 performances.

Patti LuPone won a Tony Award.

Audra played a week or so of Gypsy then went on vacation.

Closing after a handful of months.

Audra didn't win a Tony for Gypsy.

[quote]Audra didn't win a Tony for Gypsy.

Neither did Ethel or Bernadette.

Maybe Jean plans on coming back to finish her run. Or doing extra shows to make up for her absences.

Reading some of these posts, it's kind of amazing what passes for professionalism in today's theater. I remember poor Carol Burnett getting blacklisted from Broadway for decades because she couldn't do Fade Out, Fade In. Andy Gibb got fired for bad attendance during Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Merman did Gypsy for two years and 700 shows without breaking a sweat, and Channing 1,000 of Hello Dolly!

If Audra (or any theater star for that matter) takes off nights because her throat isn't up to par, then they should get an lead co-actress and that alternate should be heavily publicized as much as the main star is. Same with not going on because the house is half full.

Lazy excuses and if they thought Lupone was a bitch, Stritch would have PLENTY to say about it.

I hate to say it, but this all played in Patti's favor big time. Where were all these people who defending McDonald on social media? All the actors who wrote that open letter? She's so beloved then why did this show flop? Make a big stink only for the show to get cancelled a month later. I would be embarrassed if I was her.

[quote]Maybe Jean plans on coming back to finish her run. Or doing extra shows to make up for her absences.

Of course, that's the plan, as it says in the press release and the news items. The plan is that Smart will return to the show on July 22.

[quote]I remember poor Carol Burnett getting blacklisted from Broadway for decades because she couldn't do Fade Out, Fade In. Andy Gibb got fired for bad attendance during Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Carol Burnett broke her contact with FADE OUT FADE IN to appear in a TV special produced by her husband. I don't know if she actually got "blacklisted from Broadway," but that's why there was so much bad feeling towards her. Andy Gibb may have been fired partly for bad attendance, but I believe also for the fact that he was sometimes obviously under the influence or drugs or alcohol or whatever while onstage.

Why aren't we talking more about Megan's Trog?

[quote]Poor Jean. She’s being offered so much at this stage of life and it’s hard to say no, but her body is.

It's the Prime of Miss Jean Smart!

[quote]Stritch would have PLENTY to say about it.

When DIDN’T Stritch have plenty to say about anything?

Thank you, R75. Also, the McDonald GYPSY won't have closed "after a handful of months" -- it will have run 8 months, to LuPone's 9.5. Wow. Such a victory for Patti. (And take a look at her Tony rivals: Kerry Butler in XANADU, Kelli O'Hara in SOUTH PACIFIC, Faith Prince in A CATERED AFFAIR and Jenna Russell in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. Hard to imagine that anyone other than O'Hara was much competition that year.)

So her (and Wolfe's) take on the show wasn't to every taste, or the stuff of smash hits, or whatever. Life goes on. She's a great performer who wanted to play this part, and this was her time. I'm glad she did it, and I'll be thinking about her bold and rich performance for some time.

R53 Uh, the same audience that goes to see the National Live theater broadcasts from London. They're very popular and do well at arthouse cinemas.

[quote]YAY! More time to see Jean Smart on a dirty toilet!!

Judy Garland died on the toilet.

R83, is correct. We live in a world where this has its own Wikipedia page.

Death doesn't care where you are or what you're doing, r83.

For some reason Izzy cancelled both of Saturdays performances.

R81 You’ll be the only one thinking about it

R83 From the looks of that prop poor Judy may well have died on THAT toilet.

I heard from a savvy theater friend who lives in DC that the Kennedy Center is reeling in financial loss from canceled shows, and many of those shows have moved to DC's National Theatre. Hopefully, someone here can confirm this.

The new Kennedy Center season veers on pathetic. Non-union tours, no original programming, and The Outsiders. The Opera season has some interesting, but most of us have zero desire to go in that building. Or even drive past it with its hideous new red white and blue lighting.

[quote]So her (and Wolfe's) take on the show wasn't to every taste, or the stuff of smash hits, or whatever. Life goes on. She's a great performer who wanted to play this part, and this was her time.

Fine, but if she's unwilling or unable to fulfill the normal Broadway schedule of eight performances a week, she should have figured out something else, like doing a very limited run of a staged-concert version of GYPSY with the complete book and score at a non-Broadway venue. Hell, if she and Wolfe had gone to the people at Encores! and offered to do the show there, I think those people would have jumped at the chance. Of course, then Audra (and everyone else involved) wouldn't have been eligible for Tony Awards....but, umm, guess what?

And yes, I know Patti's GYPSY started at Encores!/City Center, but I'll betcha they would have done it again with Audra.

BroadwaySF has these "events" coming to San Francisco: & Juliet, Shucked, Les Mis and Suffs (and a whole slew of one-night crap like Twilight In Concert, the Music of Led Zeppelin, and a Queen sing-a-long). Yeesh... (Yes, I realize it's not BroadwaySF's fault, just what producers think will sell on the road.)

[Quote] At least those audiences will be assured of seeing Mendez.

Can we? I’m not going to believe she’s actually in it until I see the film

GYPSY had a relatively short run because GYPSY is old and tired. What might have been a “perfect” musical a century ago is creaky now.

Plus, prices are insanely high now. Only a show with a TV or movie star can sustain long runs (or be a family classic like Hamilton or Lion King).

Finally, White audiences don’t tend to come to “Black” musicals, no matter how great they are. Rich, White audiences sustain Bway and they spend their money on White shows

Jeremy Jordan backstage at the Royal Albert Hall for soundcheck, warmups, and the entrance to his solo concert:

Such a casual outfit, Jeremy. Was it a matinee?

Finally, White audiences don’t tend to come to “Black” musicals, no matter how great they are. Rich, White audiences sustain Bway and they spend their money on White shows

That's hilarious. White audiences have made quite a few black shows mega hits. And, sorry, but where are the black audiences and why aren't they coming out to support Audra. They could have made Gypsy a huge success. But they didn't.

[Quote] That's hilarious. White audiences have made quite a few black shows mega hits

Like what?

[Quote] And, sorry, but where are the black audiences and why aren't they coming out to support Audra

Black audiences aren’t any more the traditional Bway consumer any more than White audiences are at gospel shows. Why is it suddenly the fault of Black audiences that they didn’t come out to a venue they don’t normally go to? Why don’t White audiences rush to shows featuring Black characters?

At those prices, I ain't running to see anything.

Grudgingly walking, maybe.

I do want to see the Baltic cities but do I really need to see another palace, church, garden, blah blah blah?

I saw Fat Ham and Jitney earlier this year at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I wasn't counting, but there could not have been more than 10 Black people in either audience (FH was packed, albeit in OSF's smallest house, and Jitney was maybe half full; both audiences were very engaged and appreciative).

[quote]The new Kennedy Center season veers on pathetic.

There's nothing they can do for the next three and half years, they should just book it a Branson East.

R81 Thanks for your thoughtful post, Miss Kecia Lewis ! Audra appreciates you.

R101: “I do want to see the Baltic cities but do I really need to see another palace, church, garden, blah blah blah?”

Is that an obscure Sondheim reference?

R91, the obvious solution, as others mentioned along the way, would have been to have a "matinee Rose." Alas, it wasn't to be.

Interestingly enough, I can't think of a single Encores! show that Audra has done. Odd.

Milo Mannheim could be a big star with the right part. He has more of an IT Factor than Timothee Chalamet, and is much hotter.

Is Milo Manheim a Buddy or a Ben?

With all this talk of actors missing shows for various reasons let's salute Jonathan Groff who has yet to miss a performance of Just in Time.

Now that CBS has canceled Stephen Colbert’s show, I wonder what will they do with the Ed Sullivan Theater? I think they bought it and refurbished it for Letterman’s show, so now that Colbert is out, what will they do with it? I’m sure the community would love for some theater producer to buy it and turn it into a legitimate Broadway house.

I love that idea, R110!

What this city needs is one more parking lot.

They should open it as a gay strip club with full-frontal nudity and hard-ons. The city hasn't been the same since The Gaiety closed.

and isn't Milo gay or at least heteroflexible? Didn't he do some weird videos

How many does the Ed Sullivan Theatre seat? Enough to qualify as a Broadway house?

It would be nice to think it could be an off-Broadway house and with that great location might actually house off-Broadway shows that could make a profit. But, perhaps, the unions contracts are already grandfathered in no matter how many seats.

[quote]Interestingly enough, I can't think of a single Encores! show that Audra has done. Odd.

Yes, and Encores! would be perfect for her because she would only have to commit and bring herself to show up for 12 performances over a two-week period. Maybe Audra thinks Encores! is below her? But a friend of mine said today that he thinks Audra will never do another Broadway show -- at least, not another musical -- and I agree with him. So she may have to consider Encores! as an option, as Donna Murphy has done.

Hey bitches, what old show would y'all like to see me star in at Encores?

R115, regardless of whatever status the Ed Sullivan Theatre has had in the past, it certainly could be converted to a Broadway house as long as it has 500 seats or more.

P.S. I just Googled and found this: "The two-level theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp with over 1,500 seats, though the modern Ed Sullivan Theater was downsized to 370 seats by 2015," I imagine it wouldn't be very difficult to re-up the seating capacity.

R117 FOLLIES !

R115, that's why I'm hoping CBS will be willing to sell it. Since they claim they'll be "out of the late-night business" after Colbert is gone, what good will it be to them? Might as well sell it and get their money back for it. And I can't imagine there won't be any theater producers and/or theater companies salivating to get their hands on it.

[quote]GYPSY had a relatively short run because GYPSY is old and tired. What might have been a “perfect” musical a century ago is creaky now.

I can only speak to my experience, but this was my first Gypsy on Broadway. I only started visiting NY in the 2010s. It always amuses me with the dinosaurs on here and ATC comment about Gypsy being revived too frequently when the last revival opened when I was still in college and now I'm MIDDLE-AGED. Not everyone is as old as Methuselah.

But, all that aside, although I was very familiar with the show, I'd never seen a full production before and I was struck by how brilliant its writing and construction remain. Although I had my share of issues with vocal suitability and some of the directorial choices, the show itself did not feel remotely creaky. It was also kind of enjoyable to experience the show with an audience that seemed largely unfamiliar with the details of the plot. I mean... the way the audience literally gasped when Mdme Rose volunteered Louise to step in for the missing stripper was so telling.

I'm positive we'll have another revival within another 10-15 years as long as producers think they have the right leading woman. I don't think anyone goes into mounting Gypsy with the expectation they're going to retire off the profits.

I saw Purpose this week and the theatre was full. I’d say the audience was evenly split between white and black. And everyone seemed to enjoy the play tremendously.

Another black musical currently doing well; MJ the Musical,

I had always heard (don't know how true it is) that as 'a rule of thumb', revivals should wait a span of fifteen years from when the last production opened. So for GYPSY, the original was in 1959, the first revival was 1974, the second was in 1989, the third was 2003 (close to 15), but then the next was five years later in 2008. This fifth was 16 years later (close) so it wasn't really 'too soon'.

Don't forget that when Audra started talking about GYPSY, she said she wanted to do NIGHT MUSIC as the one Sondheim show left she could easily play.. I don't think she has the fragility or hauteur of Desiree. I cast her as Petra if she were younger.

I LOVE Audra, but, no, she's not at all right for Desiree. I agree, she'd have been a great Petra when younger. That said, I DO hope we get a full, lushly produced Night Music on Broadway to erase the taste of those teeny tiny British imports. But, really, LCT is probably the only one who could/would mount it with full production values and orchestra these days.

Have there been any musical revivals announced for this coming season aside from Ragtime?