Theatre Gossip #559 Illinoi’ed by Justin Peck sliding in.

I'd let Justin Peck slide into me.

Same r1

Now why did Robbie Fairchild not come into town with it?

R3 he’s doing something else in London but I fear that was a mistake as this would have helped his career

Robbie is in Paris doing a musical of The Artist the silent film that won an Oscar for Jean Dujardin.

Having seen Robbie in ILLINOISE I would not say it would have helped his career. He didn't speak or sing in it, and did nothing he hasn't done on ballet stages for the past dozen years. And he was noticeably older than the other dancers and looked a bit out of place. And it wasn't a lead either. Ricky Ubeda and Ben Cook are the male leads.

Uncle Vanya got the crap reviews it deserved. Carell comes off worst. He's like watching a piece of wood try to float.

I wonder who's sliding into Robbie in London while his cheating boyfriend is here in NYC.

[quote] Uncle Vanya got the crap reviews it deserved

Too bad this thread title hasn't yet.

Ricky Ubeda is fucking dreamy.

Why don't more danseurs go into porn?

Awful thread title (as well as being unnecessary since we already had a thread chugging along).

You suck, OP.

Looks like half the cast of Hell's Kitchen were out yesterday, at least for the matinee?

R13 only the Ali character was out. The rest of the principals were all in at the matinee.

R8 that is mean unless you know it to be true. If it is true, poor Robbie

R13 I counted 6 understudies, including Ali and "Knuck"

R11 - I may be misremembering this, but I feel like there was a theatre actor (who may have done Broadway) who fully transitioned into being a fairly successful OnlyFans model -- doing full-on porn, not just "artistic" poses. Very cute, white guy with dark blond or light brown hair, moderately hairy, late 30s. Sorry I can't for the life of me remember his handle.

R17- Yes. Rudy Vallee.

Oh Voh Doh Dee Oh Doh!

Terrible thread title and (lack of) formatting.

I am just so tired of hearing about all these actors who are constantly taking performances off because they just don't feel like doing their jobs.

[quote] He's like watching a piece of wood try to float.

Wood does float, doesn't it?

Not Natalie Wood.

R23 - Christopher Walken

r14 two leads were out - Maleah Moon (Ali) and Chris Lee (Knuck) as well as 3 ensemble members

r20 agreed. not my best.

From an upcoming Dutch musical called 40-45, which refers to the years the Dutch were under occupation by the Nazis. The song is a somewhat generic love ballad but it has its moments. And the two performers are rather attractive. The guy has the amusing name of Soy Kroon (pronounced “crone”):

r27 her voice is stunning . He is a mess.

Haha, R28. Her name is Gaia Aikman and she’s been starring in Aida for the past year in The Netherlands. I gather Kroon is a very popular actor who also does a lot of hosting on “light entertainment” programs.

*

**

***

These are about as fascinating as the thread title.

Deadly dull —amirite?

Frozen:The Musical is finally premiering in The Netherlands. This bitch ain’t bad.

Elsa: 50 and fat! ^

At least I made an effort, r33.

You have to endure about 75 posts telling you how bad the thread title is, r37.

I'm not the OP, r38.

The Cliff in Cabaret is dreadful. He was also a horrible HAMLET in the part. I truly don't understand casting sometimes. There are plenty of young, black actors who are fantastic on stage (William Harper Jackson, for example) yet this guy has been given two lead roles now in a short period of time, none of which he could handle. How does that happen? (I'm asking a real question.)

5 people out at Hell's Kitchen tonight apparently including the leading lady still. Is Eden back in Lempicka? There is a nasty cold going around apparently.

In what universe is she fat and 50 r36?

At Cabaret tonight. The roles of Frenchie and Rosie are played by understudies.

R41: She’s in tonight but you can tell her voice is completely fucked. They worked her ass to the extreme nonstop all throughout previews and it’s starting to show.

R42 in Elsa’s world.

That is awful r41 . I am big fan of Eden's and I hope she can modify or get keys changed or something to get through.

[quote]They worked her ass to the extreme nonstop all throughout previews and it’s starting to show.

Why do composers write scores that cannot be sustainably sung?

Didn't Patti say ALW hated women?

I never understood what LuPone’s problem was. As a teenage gayling, I sang the Evita score everyday in my bedroom.

Oh, Karenina!

Hedda Get Your Gun

I wonder what R27 posted. I rarely block anyone... just racists and right-wing loons, really.

R47, many modern composers write scores that cannot be sustainably sung because they don't know how to create musical interest or excitement; so they resort to tons of high belting.

Take this Gershwin song for instance. The melody is simple, but the subtly shifting harmonies in the chorus perfectly set up the tonic chord at the start of the bridge.

Also since someone posted that AI pic, I'll just say Anna Karenina is my favorite novel and the musical was AWFUL.

r52 somehow managed to find a way to be more tedious than the posters who just post the number of whoever they blocked

Matt Gould is an untalented composer…and a narcissist. Those keys should have been changed.

Wait r55 do you know him? Is he actually a narcissist or are you just joking ? He seems very kind (albeit intensely passionate) in interviews

Oof those Gatsby reviews.

As expected R57. How long until closing? Do they make it to the Tonys?

Glad Jeremy got good notices.

[quote] Didn't Patti say ALW hated women?

My memory is that she called Evita “a misogynist show by a misogynist man”.

So the best overall reviewed new musical of the season is..."Heart of Rock N' Roll"

So the worst overall reviewed musical revival is "Cabaret."

And last week, three new American plays opened on Broadway that were all NYTimes "Critics Pic."

What planet is this?

r48

[quote]"I didn't like the music," she says. "And I thought Andrew Lloyd Webber hated women. . . . It was where [the score] was pitched. I thought, 'What are you trying to do -- kill us all?' Everybody who did it got knocked out of the part. In fact it's a terribly difficult part in those keys. I could sing it now in those keys, but I couldn't then. I got through it on sheer willpower -- and fear. Every night I went onstage panicked. If I hit the first D the wrong way, it would affect the rest of the night, which would affect the rest of the week. And how many D's are there? . . . And the part goes up to a G." She pauses. "Mean."

[quote]She's still thinking of Lloyd Webber, but her face brightens. "And didn't he look charming last night at the Oscars?" She cackles in delight. "All bloated!" The laugh subsides and she murmurs ruefully, "Forgive me."

NYT reviews "Mother Play":

Is “Mother Play” the white version of “Slave Play”?

R61 I’m with you. But I think the BEST reviewed was Hell’s Kitchen no? The worst Lempicka.

With that said Cabaret has the highest grosses and sales of any musical opening this season and Heart of Rock and Roll lowest.

The notices don’t seem to matter.

Uncle Vanya was not trashed in the Times; it was given a kind of tepid but trying-to-be-warm notice that's so typical of Times reviews when a big star and theatre are involved.

R65 I think people realize that the critics don’t matter like the used to. It’s not 1987 and Jesse Green isn’t Frank Rich.

The NYT changed starting in 2016 with their coverage of Hillary and Trump and truthfully I don’t give the paper the weight I used to.

You could say “what does politics have to do with theatre?”

Cabaret explains that.

Ermengarde, stop sniveling, you'll cry on the valises.

Ambrose, let me hear that tonic chord!

Lovely, you're improving

Now get all eleven pieces

We're 7 minutes late!

All aboard! All aboard!!

ALL ABOARD!!!!

Rule of thumb: if a show can’t even summon a Critic’s Pick check mark, then it sucks.

So what are the plays that will be Tony-nominated? Stereophonic, Prayer For The French Republic, maybe The Mother Play? What else is there?

Btw, The Mother Play is another example of the Times genuflecting to stars and the theatre involved in giving it a "good" review. You can read between the lines it isn't. Dancing cockroaches? Oh, Paula...you're a hack and always have been.

[quote]So what are the plays that will be Tony-nominated? Stereophonic, Prayer For The French Republic, maybe The Mother Play? What else is there?

Mary Jane.

Dyke hack!

Rachel will win a Tony

Sarah Paulson will win.

It’s a TIE! —Ingrid Bergman

WTF is Mary Jane?

You aren't one of the cool kids, are you, r76?

[quote] With that said Cabaret has the highest grosses and sales of any musical opening this season and Heart of Rock and Roll lowest. The notices don’t seem to matter.

You're looking at grosses from before the reviews came out for these shows.

R77, I'm a grown up.

R78 yes but Cabaret has a good advance I don’t think we effects from the reviews just yet. I do wonder if Heart of Rock n Roll gets a bump.

^ We will *see* effects

Jessica Lange

Rachel McAdams

Sarah Paulson

I would bet on Lange.

How a Broadway Theater was remade into a queer Cabaret:

Do I need to see Illinoise? It seems like it’s going to be a chore. Am I missing out?

THR reviews "Illinoise":

Deadline:

I don't think I've ever seen Broadway reviews released in the middle of the afternoon before.

Lange already got her pity Tony for Long Day's Journey into Blanche DuBois. They won't waste another on her.

I loved the Sufjan Illinoise album and would love to see the show. It does have a few very emotionally intense songs, for sure.

[QUOTE] Lange already got her pity Tony for Long Day's Journey into Blanche DuBois. They won't waste another on her.

What a stupid comment. That was not a “pity Tony.” Lange was extraordinary in the show and fully deserved to win that year.

It's still Paulson's year

Illinoise is going to do very well at the Tonys . Just wait.

[quote] You aren't one of the cool kids, are you?

This is Datalounge. You're kidding, right?

Jen Cody leading the cast of Noises Off at Bucks County. Marilu Henner and Richard Kline in support

Forbidden Broadway canceled. I guess those presales weren't gangbusters.

Illinoise may get raves and Tonys but it will surely disappoint hordes of theater goers (and not just the tourists) who attend expecting to see a Broadway musical.

[quote] Lange was extraordinary

R90, she was not extraordinary. She couldn't be heard for most of the play, and I was sitting in the middle of the orchestra.

If Sarah P has any competition it's probably Rachel McAdams. I hope Corey Stoll's beefy ass gets an honorary Tony.

If you mean gut & fatty ass—no.

I have been very surprised at Rachel McAdams' raves about her performance. I thought Paulson had it already engraved but....

I just saw an ad for LEMPICKA that reads, "Broadway just gained another great dame." I would say "another Great Dane" would have been more accurate, because damn, that show is a dog!

R97, she was quite audible both times that I saw her in the part (once from the orchestra, once from the mezzanine). More than one notice, as I recall, wondered (as I did at the time) whether she had some amplification; if so, it was perfectly done.

I saw Lange's Blanche (from the balcony, where it had to have been 100 degrees) and don't remember having any problem hearing her. However, her performance was so slow I thought she might be drugged. Someone would say a line and you'd wait for her to say hers. Possibly in Lange's defense, I saw a Saturday evening performance so maybe she was exhausted. Anyway, Alec Baldwin (who took his shirt off five times, I believe) for the win for that production. (My matinee show that day was Gypsy with Tyne Daly. She was NOT tired. Or hoarse -- they saved that for the cast recording.)

Lange was completely audible to me in Long Day’s Journey as well.

Everything is amplified on Broadway and off Broadway.

My memory of Lange's Blanche was her entrance in the first scene utterly exhausted and defeated. I said to myself, where does she have to go from there? It was a long night. She never summoned any energy. A broken victim from start to finish.

What I loved about Patsy Ferran in last year's London Streetcar revival opposite Paul Mescal and directed by Rebecca Frecknall was her youthful feverish energy. While maintaining a necessary Southern ennui, she drove the play from one reckless electric moment to the next. She was thrilling, and I've seen many, many Blanche's over the years going back to Rosemary Harris (who was brilliant in an entirely different way) at Lincoln Center in 1973.

I keep hearing Illinois won't win because it's a "dance musical." But Hell's Kitchen is a Jukebox musical, a tough genre to win with.

Contact, a dance musical, won Best Musical. I enjoyed it, but a lot of people had seizures about it winning.

[quote]She was thrilling, and I've seen many, many Blanche's over the years

Oh, dear.

R109 Susan is Satan.

Rebecca Frecknall Is dead to me

Lange will take the Tony, while Paulson lisps her congratulations and thanks to Lange for giving her a career.

Paulson can go to bed on Tony night lisping Holland Taylor.

Momentum for Illinoise was killed by that dance review in the Times. Hell's Kitchen is good and will win.

Don’t rule out Suffs r114. There may be a push to reward the ladies. 🤷‍♀️

You know Sarah Paulson wants this BADLY. She is the modern-day Eve Harrington and this is her MOMENT.

I think Sarah Paulson gets it r116 and lisps her way through the acceptance speech. But I still think Illinoise wins Best Musical.

It’s a sibilant S, not an actual lisp.

Like SJP r118. Well she is great in the show nonetheless.

[quote]It’s a sibilant S, not an actual lisp.

Thanks, I've made this point before, but some people can't seem to hear or understand the difference.

I too think Sarah Paulson will win the Tony. Actors really like her and industry people like her. She has the “cool” factor that the industry likes to reward.

Jessica already won before and Rachel will be nominated, which will feel like a win for her.

Has this been the first year where there have been 400 productions and yet so little, deserving nominees?

Is Paulson heading for an EGOT?

I'm surprised Rachel McAdams is not bringing in the crowds.

MARY JANE has only been grossing around $300k.

Meanwhile, THE NOTEBOOK, the musical adaptation of one of Rachel's most beloved films, has been grossing around $800k.

Two things, R123: Obviously, MARY JANE is a play, not a musical, and they almost always tend to sell fewer tickets than musicals. Also, perhaps word has gotten around that MARY JANE, though beautifully written and performed, is a very sad play.

Oh, and also, the Friedman (622 seats) is a far smaller theater than the Schoenfeld (1,080 seats). So, given all of that, your surprise is surprising.

Plus it’s a Manhattan Theatre Club show, so subscribers pay less to see it.

So no one here thinks Sarah Pidgeon of “Stereophonic” will get a Tony nomination for Lead Actress in a Drama? She’s good, undergoes a transformation in confidence during the course of the show and sings wonderfully. Sean Hayes won a Tony for playing the piano for Christ’s sake.

I was thinking Pidgeon and Tom Pecinka might get nominated in the lead categories with Will Brill and Eli Gelb in supporting. Juliana Canfield in supporting if they were feeling generous. Would this be more likely if Adjmi wins a Pulitzer?

Or will the Tony committee give the cast special Tonys for Best Ensemble so they don’t have to deal with them individually?

No one is beating Kara Young for Best Featured Actress in a Play, especially once Purlie Victorious airs on PBS.

Papi Esparza and Jeremy Kushnier sing a song with no rhymes from Galileo

[quote]Or will the Tony committee give the cast special Tonys for Best Ensemble so they don’t have to deal with them individually?

That's a very interesting thought, and it would be a wonderful way to honor that cast and that show.

A singer that dances...

CONTACT won Best Musical in an incredibly dismal season. The other nominees were THE DEAD, SWING! and THE WILD PARTY. (The nominators had stupid snubbed AIDA -- still a lot of anti Disney bias at that point -- which is the only musical from that season that's had any sort of subsequent life.)

There's too many musicals with full, new scores and books and originality for ILLINOISE to win, imho.

R129 Why don't they just give everyone participation trophies?

That Galileo promo clip is another example of why people are walking away from LORT theaters in droves. Don't lecture me on how I'm supposed to understand a work. Just do a great work, and I'll discover what it is. So annoying. The show may be great, but that promo makes me roll my eyes.

[quote]A singer that dances...

She TWIRLED!

Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe Help Lindsay Mendez Get Married:

Is Groff going to sleep with the groom on their wedding night, since he's clearly a major queen?

Lindsay is on her third marriage. Third time is the charm. They seem happy and he is handsome. I wish them well. She is also pregnant no?

So she managed to show up for her wedding?

“R129] Why don't they just give everyone participation trophies“

R132 : Very glib.

Have you seen “Stereophonic”? They are excellent individually and as an ensemble. It’s hard to envision the show without any one of them. That’s how it feels when you see it, they are that tight.

Of course it will eventually be done with replacements and a different cast. But not easily.

Wearing white lace at your third wedding is a bold choice!

No dice, R126. They've already ruled on this. Everyone in Stereophonic is Featured.

[quote] I was thinking Pidgeon and Tom Pecinka might get nominated in the lead categories with Will Brill and Eli Gelb in supporting.

I think that yes, any or all of those actors could get nominations.

Is that actually a new category, Ensemble? The cast of Stereophonic would have that in the bag. And no to the cunt who called it a participation trophy.

So will be the full list of Tony nominations for Best Play?

Will Miss Adjmi get the Tony and the last laugh after being humiliatingly taken advantage of by Sean Hayes and being replaced by Doug Wright?

I already have a Pulitzer AND a Tony

Miss Adjmi needs to remove her sunglasses. You're not a rock star, dear: you're a fat gay Jew middle-aged playwright.

Yes r133. So annoying to hear artists telling us how relevant and timely they are. You’re doing a show about a 15th century astronomer. It’s either defensive or arrogant. Tell us what’s cool about the show. Nobody wants to see a musical because it’s relevant

Yeah, that Galileo clip came off rather self-righteous.

I thought Ella Beatty was quite good in Appropriate. She’s beautiful - looks like a cross between a young Annette and Shirley MacLaine.

Very average play though. Nothing like being lectured by a bunch of people screaming about the racist South 😑 Paulson, Corey Stoll and Natalie Gold were all hoarse from the endless screaming.

Stereophonic should get all the awards. It is a great, great play and Pidgeon is incredible. Best performance in a long, long time.

It's not a great play but it's the best play currently on Broadway, and everyone in the ensemble are all Tony worthy.

*and everyone in the ensemble is Tony worthy.

R149 agreed. She’s brilliant in it.

Pidgeon will no doubt be nominated and will probably win.

FOLLIES!

R141: Thanks for the intel, had no idea. I guess I can see how they’d all be considered in the ‘featured’ category. But I still think they should get special Tonys as an ensemble.

Peggy Noonan destroys CABARET in today's WSJ. When's the last time a musical made the opinion section of The Wall Street?

I'm asking again: is there an Ensemble Tony category?

No there isn't, R157. And R153, Pidgeon will lose to Kara Young.

Brilliant analysis of the new CABARET in the WSJ:

[quote]I go to the new “Cabaret.” Who doesn’t love “Cabaret”? It is dark, witty, painful, glamorous. The music and lyrics have stood the test of time. The story’s backdrop: The soft decadence of Weimar is being replaced by the hard decadence of Nazism. It is Kander and Ebb’s masterpiece, revived again and again. And this revival is hideous. It is ugly, bizarre, inartistic, fundamentally stupid. Also obscene but in a purposeless way, without meaning.

[quote]I had the distinct feeling the producers take their audience to be distracted dopamine addicts with fractured attention spans and no ability to follow a story. They also seemed to have no faith in the story itself, so they went with endless pyrotechnics. This is “Cabaret” for the empty-headed. Everyone screams. The songs are slowed, because you might need a moment to take it in. Almost everyone on stage is weirdly hunched, like a gargoyle, everyone overacts, and all of it is without art. On the way in, staffers put stickers on the cameras of your phone, “to protect our intellectual property,” as one said.

[quote]It isn’t an easy job to make the widely admired Eddie Redmayne unappealing, but by God they did it. As he’s a producer I guess he did it, too. He takes the stage as the Emcee in a purple leather skirt with a small green cone on his head and appears further on as a clown with a machine gun and a weird goth devil. It is all so childish, so plonkingly empty.

[quote]Here is something sad about modern artists: They are held back by a lack of limits. Bob Fosse, the director of the classic 1972 movie version, got to push against society’s limits and Broadway’s and Hollywood’s prohibitions. He pushed hard against what was pushing him, which caused friction; in the heat of that came art. Directors and writers now have nothing to push against because there are no rules or cultural prohibitions, so there’s no friction, everything is left cold, and the art turns in on itself and becomes merely weird.

[quote]Fosse famously loved women. No one loves women in this show. When we meet Sally Bowles, in the kind of dress a little girl might put on a doll, with heavy leather boots and harsh, garish makeup, the character doesn’t flirt, doesn’t seduce or charm. She barks and screams, angrily.

[quote]Really it is harrowing. At one point Mr. Redmayne dances with a toilet plunger, and a loaf of Italian bread is inserted and removed from his anal cavity. I mentioned this to my friend, who asked if I saw the dancer in the corner masturbating with a copy of what appeared to be “Mein Kampf.” That’s what I call intellectual property!

[quote]In previous iterations the Kit Kat Club was a hypocrisy-free zone, a place of no boundaries, until the bad guys came and it wasn’t. I’m sure the director and producers met in the planning stage and used words like “breakthrough” and “a ‘Cabaret’ for today,” and “we don’t hide the coming cruelty.” But they do hide it by making everything, beginning to end, lifeless and grotesque. No innocence is traduced because no innocence exists. How could a show be so frantic and outlandish and still be so tedious? It’s almost an achievement.

I feel like we need a whole new thread for that Noonan column.

Tony nominations announced on Tuesday morning.

Stereophonic actors will clean up.

No one wants to see Stereophonic. But nice try.

A curious statement, R163. Care to elaborate?

Corey Cott is a dark horse for Best Actor in a Musical.

Orchestra seats for Gatsby being advertised for $94.00.

[quote] No one wants to see Stereophonic.

That doesn't reflect ticket sales.

R164, yes, it's three tiresome hours.

The time is the issue? Did you actually watch the play?

Sarah Paulson (with Holland Taylor) was in the audience the night I saw Mother Play.

[quoteThe soft decadence of Weimar is being replaced by the hard decadence of Nazism.

The Weimar Republic (1918-1933)) was hardcore decadent, not soft.

R170 So was John Waters. I met him. Very nice man. We were at a sold out show, toots!

[quote]No one wants to see Stereophonic. But nice try.

If you were in the packed theater for this past Saturday's matinee, or had to try to get to the restroom through the unbelievably crowded lower lobby during intermission, you wouldn't make such a ridiculous statement. No one here has to "try" to frame this show as a hit.

I was at the Matinee yesterday too, and it was easily the best thing I've seen this season. I kept thinking, "how are they going to do all that again tonight!" And yes, I thought, they should have an ensemble award just for them.

R174 did you see the celebs in the audience? :-)

If STEREOPHONIC is such a hit, why has it only been grossing around $300k and is closing in August?

I was't really paying attention, r175. I think I might have been sitting next to one. Who was there?

That’s a really great review of Cabaret.

[quote] Here is something sad about modern artists: They are held back by a lack of limits. Bob Fosse, the director of the classic 1972 movie version, got to push against society’s limits and Broadway’s and Hollywood’s prohibitions. He pushed hard against what was pushing him, which caused friction; in the heat of that came art. Directors and writers now have nothing to push against because there are no rules or cultural prohibitions, so there’s no friction, everything is left cold, and the art turns in on itself and becomes merely weird.

A brilliant assessment of the current state of the art, both on Broadway and in my neck of the woods. Is this really Peggy Noonan? She’s a monster, but she’s absolutely correct about everything in this review.

R176, the fact that you can't figure out the answers to your questions on your own demonstrates that you're one of those "know-it-alls" who really know nothing.

[quote]A brilliant assessment of the current state of the art, both on Broadway and in my neck of the woods.

Agreed, but also, this excellent point has been made for years. For example, critics and others have pointed out over the decades that many films made since the 1960s, at a time when full-on sex could be and has been quite explicitly shown on screen, are far LESS sexy than, say, films from the 1930s, in which they couldn't show anything more explicit than deep kissing. See, for example, Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable in those kissing scenes in GONE WITH THE WIND.

I found the current CABARET not sexy in the least, because it's so over-the-top, disgustingly, in-your-face vulgar.

There are most definitely limits on artists right now, but they are limits that are difficult or undesirable to oppose.

I thought this CABARET was worse than a few college productions I've seen. It really mystified me how empty it was. It guts a masterpiece.

Get a load of some ATC wag's thoughts on LEMPICKA:

[quote]I loved Lempicka and I have seen in three times now. I just don’t understand all the hate.

And I just don't understand how you could possibly NOT understand the hate.

[quote]I found all the performances powerful not just Eden. George Abud, Natalie Joy Johnson, Beth Leavel and Amber Iman get their own solos and all are great artists.

"Eden" is at sea, Amber Iman is giving a performance that has nothing to do with her character, and George Abud's performance is so outrageously overacted that he was specifically called out for that by more than one reviewer, which is quite rare.

[quote]I wouldn’t know the first thing about how to create art deco choreography but Kelly has designed some moves and ensemble numbers that give me goosies.

So, because you yourself wouldn't know how to create the choreography, that makes it great?

[quote]I could just imagine “Perfection” performed at the Super Bowl half time show.

Ah, at last, the true measure of a great Broadway musical production number!

[quote]For art, entertainment and love I’m heading back to Lempicka again as I patiently wait for the cast recording.

Sounds like a quote from a shill.

[quote]or example, critics and others have pointed out over the decades that many films made since the 1960s, at a time when full-on sex could be and has been quite explicitly shown on screen, are far LESS sexy than, say, films from the 1930s, in which they couldn't show anything more explicit than deep kissing.

Well, they were wrong then, weren't they?

In your opinion, R184. Many would agree, but many others would not.

Has anyone seen stereophonic both off broadway and now on? I loved it at Playwrights Horizons - is it worth seeing again on Broadway?

Noonan's take on Cabaret may be accurate (I haven't seen it) but her take on Ripley is all wrong, IMHO. I thought it was splendid, as was the Minghella version. She just seems to want her psychopaths cheery and in color. (She is monstrous, in general.)

She’s a no neck Monster!

But I chuckled at her take on Cabaret—who knew she had it in her?

The reason for Forbidden Broadway's postponement makes me LOL. A "crowded" season? More like "who wants to pay Broadway prices for this warmed-over shit?".

So did The TIMES elect not to re-review ILLINOISE at The St. James?

Noonan’s essay just makes her seem like a cranky reactionary across the board. And she is so dead wrong about RIPLEY — which is an excellent adaptation of Highsmith and one of the best things on TV in the last few years — that the fact that I agree with much of what she says about this production of “Cabaret” makes me embarrassed.

I didn’t get to “Purlie” much as I wanted to and Kara Young may have been marvelous but doesn’t the Tony usually go to someone running in a current show rather than a show that has closed?

[quote] "who wants to pay Broadway prices for this warmed-over shit?".

Forbidden Broadway belongs off-Broadway, preferably in a cabaret setting where you can order drinks. And I still think Oh, Mary should have stayed downtown.

Noonan's piece hits a nerve. Everyone I know who has seen CABARET has had a negative/ambivalent reaction. Seeing it in June, but now not looking forward to it...But my husband bought the very expensive tickets.

I'm one of the few people who thought the Mendes production of CABARET was too "obvious" - this one always seemed like it was trying to top the Mendes production and indeed it seems to have succeeded.

Noonan needs to get out more.

[quote]The reason for Forbidden Broadway's postponement makes me LOL. A "crowded" season? More like "who wants to pay Broadway prices for this warmed-over shit?".

You know, many foods take on added flavor when they're recooked. I'm quite sure of it. I've given it plenty of thought.

I was looking at the $40 lottery for Little Shop of Horrors, and decided to check out the website; I could not believe that they are asking $170 for a ticket to an off Broadway show. Has the world gone mad?

R196, Lasagna and baked ziti are always better the second day.

For all the old fucks on here who don't seem to grasp the time value of money and are constantly bemoaning the price of Broadway tickets, a $40 ticket in 1982 is the equivalent of $130 today. It's called math.

[quote]I could not believe that they are asking $170 for a ticket to an off Broadway show.

Oh, Mary!

[quote] a $40 ticket in 1982 is the equivalent of $130 today. It's called math.

That's delightful, dear, but Off-Broadway tickets were not $40 in 1982. They weren't even $40 for Broadway.

The math ain't mathin'!

No need to be a bigot—you could easily have made the same point as R201 did, but differently.

And, before you reply: Taraji’s point about salary, still valid, is completely unrelated to the point just made about inflationary ticket prices. Your gratuitous mention of her name was bad work on your part.

If Ripley was so abhorrent to Noonan, why did she endure every episode, or at least seem to have?

[quote]Noonan’s essay just makes her seem like a cranky reactionary across the board. And she is so dead wrong about RIPLEY — which is an excellent adaptation of Highsmith and one of the best things on TV in the last few years — that the fact that I agree with much of what she says about this production of “Cabaret” makes me embarrassed.

Do you really not understand that it's very possible to completely agree with someone about some things yet strongly disagree about others? How old are you?

I haven't seen a single episode of RIPLEY but I have seen the trailer, and even from what little I experienced of the leading man's performance in those brief clips, I felt he was telegraphing the fact that the Ripley character is a sociopath SO obviously that this would be clearly evident to anyone from a mile away. So that very much accords with what Noonan wrote about how producers and directors think everything has to be made very obviously dark for modern-day viewers, with no room for subtlety or subtext.

Ripley is great. They just went a different direction with the character. Plus the black and white cinematography is stunning. So she’s wrong about the series being ugly. I saw Joel Grey do songs from Cabaret at an equity benefit. He must have been 80 and was fantastic. They need to stop doing revivals of the show for a while because no one can top his performance. That includes Alan Cummings who I also saw in the role. ER seems like a disaster in the part from the reviews.

Ripley was a massive flop for Netflix.

The best Emcee I've seen, aside from Grey, is Michael C. Hall right before he did Six Feet Under. Creepy, funny, weird, seductive and dangerous.

Joel Grey as the son of a famous Yiddish actor also brings Jewishness to the role. That gives it an extra edge and irony which I haven’t seen any of the other versions.

When Ripley picks up Emmys and other awards it will not be seen as a flop. It’s one of the few excellent products Netflix has put out.

Joel's dad...

R210, Mickey Katz

I thought Matt McGrath was wonderful in the Mendes production. Saw him with Gina Gershon, who was not terrible.

[quote] When Ripley picks up Emmys and other awards it will not be seen as a flop.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Netflix is happy to let this one fade into the ether and won't be spending much money trying to push it for awards, not when they have other, better reviewed, more watched series.

R211, “Maestro” was another.

[quote]with Gina Gershon, who was not terrible.

*There's* the pull quote!

Okay see you around Emmy season. Ripley will get nominations in multiple categories., At least that’s my prediction.

Looks like most of the Lempicka tickets are comped/freebie.

Here's the actual, official statement from the would-be producers of FORBIDDEN BROADWAY ON BROADWAY:

[quote]"We made the difficult decision today to postpone the upcoming Broadway production of Forbidden Broadway on Broadway: Merrily We Stole A Song," say producers Ryan Bogner, Victoria Lang, and Tracey McFarland in a joint statement. "The Broadway landscape is enormously crowded at this moment, and while we adore Forbidden Broadway, we are disappointed that the show will not open at the Hayes on Broadway this summer."

Here's what I'm guessing would have been a far more accurate statement:

"We made the difficult decision today to cancel the upcoming Broadway production of Forbidden Broadway on Broadway: Merrily We Stole A Song. We could issue some bullshit statement about how the show is being 'postponed" because "the Broadway landscape is enormously crowded at this moment,' but we wouldn't insult everyone's intelligence by doing so, because of course we knew very well how enormously crowded the Broadway landscape would be at this moment when we announced the production several weeks ago. Not to mention the fact that the Broadway landscape will be considerably less crowded by the time Forbidden Broadway was scheduled to begin performances in mid-July and to open officially in early August. The truth is, we made the very rash and irresponsible decision to publicly announce this show when we weren't sure we had enough money to produce it. This should not be a big surprise to those who look at our track record and find that, among other things, we were on the producing team for Paradise Square -- a show that has already gone down in history as one of the worst-produced, biggest financial disasters Broadway has ever seen, yet another example of a production that was not sufficiently capitalized, and one whose lead producer actually did jail time for his financial malfeasance on previous shows. So, although we regret that we will not be bringing Forbidden Broadway to Broadway, the truth is that everyone who would have been involved in this show has dodged a bullet by not having us as their producers."

Gina Gershon played Sally as coked up for the entire performance. By the end of the show she was an exhausted mess. I thought it was a brave choice. I didn't like Matt McGrath and I saw him three times (because I went back to see new Sally's and he was still in it).

[quote]Ripley is great. They just went a different direction with the character.

Do you disagree that the lead actor clearly telegraphs the fact that the character is a sociopath, or do you agree but somehow don't think this is a problem?

He doesn't come off as a sociopath till two or three episodes in. He comes off as a con man before that, who is given a chance to better himself. One only thinks of him as a sociopath if you know the story beforehand. (which a lot of people do, because of the earlier films.)

Have they made a musical about Ripley? If not then take it to another thread, toots.

Nobody would be charging $170 for a ticket to an off-Broadway show if somebody wasn't willing to pay that amount.

It's that simple.

Alice Ripley IS Ripley! This fall, at the August Wilson Theater.

Broadway.com

Alice Ropley IS Ripley, in RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT! The Sociopathic musical! See her groom little girls as she sings her heart out! See her hack her rivals to death! Believe it or not!!!

Rs 208 & 215 — This isn’t a “Ripley” thread but I can’t resist — How do you know it flopped for them? it was at various slots in the Top Ten list for its forst week of release and though other series no doubt got more viewings in the U.S. it was unusually well-reviewed, had a tremendous amount of chatter online, and likely did well in some foreign markets.

It was obvious that it was something special from the get-go and prestige items still count even in these penny-pinching times. Netflix can keep doing “Lincoln Lawyer,” “Night Manager,” “The Diplomat” and “3 Body Problem” and still afford to do a “Ripley” once in a while, especially when so many in the business of making film and television were absolutely knocked out by it.

I haven't watched Ripley yet, how gay is it?

[quote]Have they made a musical about Ripley? If not then take it to another thread, toots.

Who died and made you hall monitor, r224?

Ripley is quite good.

I saw the numbers on Ripley, published by Netflix. It only had 2.5m views in its first week. That's a bomb.

Having met and spent time with Gerard Alessandrini at the height of his popularity 25 years ago, he's an asshole of the first water and deserves to be cancelled out on. (And Forbidden Broadway is now 42 years old... and very definitely belongs in a dive club, maybe in rep with Frankly Frank, the Shepard/Kringas show).

r230 too bad it wasn’t you.

Why are your posts so critical and sourpuss, r234?

Alice Ripley calls you guys faggots. True story, fags.

How d’ya like them apples??

What is this? A performance of Merrily??? There’s no Lindsay Mendez!

LEMPICKA!

Drama Desk noms tomorrow.

Tony Noms Tuesday.

I'll predict that the Drama Desk noms will be all over the place because they include Broadway and off-Broadway, and the only consistent nominee will be "Merrily" which has all the hype and the love. Like the Drama League and the OCCs, the Drama Desks will be a wide variety of stuff. Tonys will be their own thing, and the "Best Musical" category is really the brutal one. My guess is this could be another year where they end up with six nominees.

"Merrily We Roll Along" was eligible last year for the Drama Desks, thus it is ineligible this year.

Let’s have a moment for all the performers who are working their asses off to deliver so much crap material this year.

That would take hours…of crap

Has anyone seen Water for Elephants? Any good.

MARY! me if you must, but I kind of liked the idea of Forbidden Broadway coming to actual Broadway in the wake of a Merrily We Roll Along production being a hit.

Water for Elephants is meh all the way around. Other than the some of the circus staging/acrobatics. Those are good.

R248 How is Grant Gustin?

Gustin is dreary not dreamy.

Ripley is genius and will surely at least win design and cinematography Emmys. I do think it’s Andrew Scott’s best work to date. Why hasn’t some producer stuck him on Broadway yet? That Present Laughter he did in London was delightful.

R247, I also liked the idea.

I almost passed out from laughter the first time I heard this:

How gay is Ripley? Not very, certainly as compared with the Minghella version. But the ambiguity of his sexuality is closer to Highsmith's original novel, where he is married to a woman.

This is an insane year for Tony nominations. So many worthy candidates. If nominators go for shows that are closed (Days of Wine and Roses, Here Lies Love....) there's going to be a lot of blood on 45th street. So many shows are just making it.

[quote]If nominators go for shows that are closed (Days of Wine and Roses, Here Lies Love....) there's going to be a lot of blood on 45th street. So many shows are just making it.

Good point. But of course, in a fair world, the fact that a show is closed would not and should not at all hurt its chances for Tony noms.

The other TONY nominations. Damn! Nothing for Cabaret and one nom for The Notebook.

Drama Desk nominations for Best Musical: Dead Outlaw, Illinoise, Lizard Boy, Teeth, The Connector, The Outsiders.

DRAMA DESK nominations...

“Meh” is how I feel about this season in general. Other than Merrily, everything I’ve seen has been fine. Okay. Technically proficient. But none of it great. Water For Elephants is probably the best example, but Suffs isn’t far behind.

Have you seen anything other than musicals, R259?

Yes, R260, and I should have clarified that I’m only speaking about the musicals.

They are re-opening the Mark Taper Forum in LA with a production of American Idiot and a Larissa Fasthorse play. Clearly they’ve learned NOTHING.

Agreed, R262.

R262 & R263 what do you guys mean?

The Taper went under because they fell for the whole "woke theater" bullshit and no one out here was interested. They couldn't give tickets away once the theaters opened back up. So what do they do? They announce a playwright who is the poster child for woke theater and an old musical no one wants to see revived.

Yes, R265 is completely correct.

R257: Suffs snubbed.

R265 & R266 okay, thanks for the explanation.

Yes, that sounds like odd selections.

No, R267. Both SUFFS and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG premiered off Broadway during the 2022-2023 season, so were eligible for Drama Desk noms last year, not this year.

Larissa Fasthoore wrote the tiresome Thanksgiving Play. .

She's about as imaginative with the titles of her plays as she is their content.

Why Male Critics Don't Get the "Cabaret" Broadway Revival (Guest Column):

Why can't anyone just take criticism anymore? Why does it always have to be everyone else's fault?

The whole point of that op-ed piece at R272 is that women have a better understanding than the male critics because abortion. What a nonsensical view. And no, Sally Bowles should not be a woman from 2024. She should be the woman of her era.

[quote]Why Male Critics Don't Get the "Cabaret" Broadway Revival

Didn't the British critics, male and female, raved about this revival?

Meena Harris, whose really stupid op-ed (“live theater. It brings us together, and it makes us feel alive”) is posted at r272, is Kamala Harris’ niece.

CABARET obviously got spooked by all their bad reviews, and got this written over the weekend to influence the nominators.

[quote]They announce... an old musical no one wants to see revived.

In fairness (on DL?), the Taper's American Idiot is a co-production with Deaf West, so, like Spring Awakening several years ago, it at least has the potential to be good & interesting. DOMA Theatre Company (WEHT?) did a terrific Equity-waiver production of AI back in 2015 and showed that it can work really well in a smaller venue. So, fingers crossed...?

On the other hand, the new adaptation of Hamlet by Robert O'Hara (director of Slave Play!) sounds like a trainwreck waiting to happen. "I’m diving deep into my love of Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, Salvador Dali, and Perry Mason to tell this story," says O'Hara.

Okay, R28, I will give you that (re: Deaf West) and I might even consider going to see that because I like their productions, even though I found that show a total bore.

O'Hara is the latest in a series of theatre frauds thriving on being trendy rather than interesting or talented.

R272 Does that mean Peggy Noonan is NOT the Frank Rich for our time? I’m confused.

If Peggy had married Ted Knight...

I hate to be the person to call this out—as I am a proud Cal alumnus and Democrat, as well as a long-time Berkeley resident—but that Variety “piece” was written by Vice-President Harris’s niece.

r276 beat you to it, r283.

R283, meet R276.

R285 my post is the more dignified one ;)

[quote]Both SUFFS and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG premiered off Broadway during the 2022-2023 season, so were eligible for Drama Desk noms last year, not this year.

That's what I thought, but then why did "Suffs" get a nomination for Best Music? Because there are some new songs?

As far as the 'male critics' bullshit, Sara Holder in New York gave it one of the worst reviews.

[quote]The whole point of that op-ed piece at [R272] is that women have a better understanding than the male critics because abortion. What a nonsensical view. And no, Sally Bowles should not be a woman from 2024. She should be the woman of her era.

And ALSO, as conceived by the show's original creators, the title song of CABARET is supposed to be performed by Sally Bowles at the Kit Kat Club in front of a live audience. So on that basis, there is no justification whatsoever for the completely out of control, "I'm having a nervous breakdown" performance of that song by Gayle Rankin in the current production. (Nor any justification for her costuming for that number.)

Sally's costume in the finale makes total sense in the context of the production. Have you seen it, r289?

Would any of you bitches want to be taken to task because of the musings of your niece?

I'm one of, apparently, only 7 people who genuinely likes this Cabaret revival. Well, at least the London mounting. I saw it there last year -- can't speak to how well the transfer compares. And even I know that piece at R272 is absolute nonsense.

Yes, the Cabaret producers are definitely trying to raise the show's profile in the wake of those mixed and highly negative reviews. I can't remember the exact wording, but on their IG this past week, they published a letter from John Kander praising the production.

I saw “Cabaret” in London too, last November — found it glum and thought it was perverse that the Landlady had become the star and breakout performer (though Jake Shears was very good as the Emcee).

But the Sally and the Cliff were dreadful, she was fat, ugly and horribly dressed. I know that makes me sound like my mother, and I’m sure that’s what that opinion writer would think and just what she is railing against. But I make no bones about my opinion. Talent, stage presence and good looks still pack a wallop, in show business and in life, and certainly on stage I prefer those to spurious ‘authenticity’ any day.

I saw Cabaret in London with the second cast with Aimee Lou Wood and I loved it. I saw it last Thursday and I liked it again. I would say that Redmayne's performance is really out there (was it like that in London?) and that the whole musical seems to be grimmer than I remember from the London production. I really do not understand the criticisms.

You sound just like your mother^

I haven't seen Lempicka, is it worth it just a fun, campy event, like Bad Cinderella? I liked 1-2 songs sung by the understudy on Youtube!

Also, I wonder what other cast or crew will whine about reviews. The number of people "defending" themselves seems unprecedented and . I wonder if someone will do like Julie Andrews and ask not to be nominated if more people from her show aren't nominated (this was for Victor/Victoria).

Like r292 and r294, I saw Cabaret in London and loved it. Aimee Lou Wood was Sally and I can't even remember the actor's name who played the Emcee but he was so made up and wigged and weirdly costumed it could easily have been Eddie Redmayne. It's an extremely energetic, colorful and gaudy (in a good way) production, nowhere near as goth, sickly and dreary looking as the Mendes version. Personally, I think it will quickly overcome the bad reviews and ultimately word of mouth among non-theater people will push it into a financial hit.

Are Cabaret’s PR flaks really desperate enough to target Datalounge? Apparently so. Perhaps the Russians told them about us.

Seems like it's a discussion to me, R298.

Always cast fuckable actors.

Yes— that’s a GEN Z assistant to the Assistant!

Did Josh Logan really say that? Because it seems like really sound advice.

MUFFS!

Are we all getting up at the crack of dawn, brewing a soothing cup of Lady Grey tea with sucralose, and arranging ourselves in our caftans on our fainting couches to watch the nominations at 8:30 AM?

Deadline's Tony predictions:

This Deadline idiot ought to resign.

[quote]Shaina Taub’s brilliant Suffs

Now THERE'S a sentence you don't hear every day!

The Deadline writer is the guy who insists every week that all the shows are selling out. He knows nothing.

Saw Stereophonic and found it a major disappointment. Not engaging on any level. Why all the great reviews?

Because others did find it engaging, that's why, R309.

FALL*IES!

[quote]Sally's costume in the finale makes total sense in the context of the production. Have you seen it, [R289]?

Yes, I've seen it, and it makes no sense to me why she would be wearing that costume while performing in a cabaret. So please feel free to explain it to me as if I were an idiot.

[quote]It's an extremely energetic, colorful and gaudy (in a good way) production,

Seriously, R297. I would describe this production of CABARET as perverse, disgusting, and an offense to the senses.

Does anyone have an extra $300 that I can go check it out for myself

Shaina is too homely for the stage.

R293 - Interesting. I too saw the London production around the same time -- early December of last year. It was during Jake Shears' run, but he was not in for the performance we attended. It's so annoying the way British productions don't do Playbills and there was no cast list posted anywhere, so I have no idea who the actor was playing the Emcee but he was fantastic -- really charismatic. I also don't know if I was seeing the 'main' Sally or an alternate. She was a little thick... not fat... she was very good. Her Maybe This Time was kind of heartbreaking and her title song performance knocked me out -- and I was prepared to hate that very.... interesting choice to make the song so angry. But, YES, the actress playing the landlady (I have a feeling we definitely saw the same one) was stunning. Incredibly moving performance. I WISH I knew her name.

If only there was some kind of website which would have that information

I think you can purchase "playbills" at west end productions.

You can.

^^^ also - you can buy ice cream at the Interval!

R320, Hopefully, one is not allowed to take it back to their seat.

Why don't they give out free programs on the West End?

You can always get a list of the cast, either printed or on a display. Since West End tickets are so much cheaper than Broadway, and the programmes are so much higher quality than Playbills, I don’t mind spending a little money on them.

Because it's expensive and British people are on lower salaries, so they have to keep shows affordable.

The problem is that the UK playbills are not as good as they used to be. I bought the SB last year and it was a piece of crap and I think I paid like six pounds.

It's do or die day for Ms Tamara de Lempicka!

One more from the Dutch Musical Awards Gala which aired last week. The fabulous Pia Douwes in a number from Elisabeth which is being revived over there next March. Check out her last note:

I hope Gayle Rankin gets nominated. I was blown away by her performance. Fabulous.

Gayle Rankin has been nominated. And so has Redmayne.

Proving the Tony nominators are both blind and deaf.

Best Musical nominees: Hell’s Kitchen, Illinoise, The Outsiders, Suffs, Water for Elephants.

Best Leading Actress in a Musical nominees: Eden Espinosa, “Lempicka"; Maleah Joi Moon, “Hell’s Kitchen"; Maryann Plunkett, “The Notebook”; Kelli O’Hara, “Days of Wine and Roses"; Gayle Rankin, "Cabaret"

Best Leading Actor in a Musical nominees: Brody Grant, “The Outsiders”; Jonathan Groff, “Merrily We Roll Along”; Dorian Harewood, “The Notebook”; Brian d’Arcy James, “Days of Wine and Roses”; Eddie Redmayne, “Cabaret”

I am officially baffled, R329.

Will The Great Gatsby be shut out?

Well it's already been shat out

Harewood and Plunkett would've been more likely to win in Featured.

Thank you R138!

At tonight’s wedding, the role of Bride, usually performed by Lindsey Mendez, will be played by …

Loud groaning in the pews.

R333, It received a Best Costume Design nomination.

Geoff's to lose.

R326: All it got was Eden Espinosa, Amber Iman, and Scenic Design of a Musical.

Nothing for The Heart of Rock and Roll.

Best Score is an interesting category this year—Adam Guettel, Days of Wine and Roses; David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love; Will Butler, Stereophonic; Shaina Taub, Suffs; Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, The Outsiders.

Is Daniel Radcliffe’s role really Featured?

Imagine being in Lempicka or Heart of Rock and Roll, just waiting for closing notices. Ouch.

Surprised Lindsay Mendez did enough performances for nominators to see her

So the nominators really just saw "The Wiz" as a tour stopping into town.

R343, The Great Gatsby

Ricky Ubeda should have been nominated.

"Stereophonic" has usurped "Slave Play" as the play with the most ever Tony nominations.

I think it’s interesting that Cabaret got the worst reviews of the revivals but might have the most noms.

I happened to love it…but what the fuck do I know?

Drama Desk nominees.

Why is it taking so long for the featured nominees to be listed?

Tony nominees

Tens of people will be watching the Tony telecast this year.

R349, did you think that one through or just post it? In fact, both the original production and the 1998 revival got one more nomination than the current one.

R349 When was the deadline for the nominations?

Cabaret went into previews April 1, but it didn't open until April 21, a little over a week ago, which is when it got the terrible reviews.

If the deadline was before April 21, perhaps the Tony Committee assumed that the NY critics would embrace the show like the London critics, so they gave them all those nominations.

Did we really need seven nominations for Featured Actress in a Musical?

Cabaret isn’t going to win any of those nominations.

Or seven nominations for all that awful set design??

They couldn't throw Chip Zien a bone?

R357. Fuck you

R355, the nominators make their nominations after all the shows have opened.

The seven cast members of “Stereophonic” had to all be considered for the featured category and five of them snagged nominations.

I think Will Brill is the likeliest win here. When I learned he had also played Roy Cohn in “ Fellow Travelers,” I was stunned — I’d never have made the connection.

I believe the posters here who said Kara Young had featured actress locked up, she got great reviews. But “Purlie Victorious” isn’t running and “Stereophonic” is, so I think Sarah Pidgeon for the win. And her personal story is good (Michigan Farm Girl Becomes Breakout Broadway Star).

R317 - What is the website for West End cast listings? I'm familiar with IBDB.

I almost always buy a programme at West End and other London theaters but they are often not updated with cast changes which happen as frequently there as they do on Broadway.

I am devastated.

r354 I think r349 meant the worst reviews of all the other musical revivals this year, not of prior Cabarets. So no need to be a bitch about it

[quote] did you think that one through or just post it?

Did [italic] you [/ital]?

Will Brill was also great in A Case For the Existence of God.

I hope he wins, but I wouldn't be unhappy with an Eli Gelb win.

Data lounge, thanks for posting the Tony nominations, I have a few questions.

Is Jessica going to win this year?

What is Hell's Kitchen, is it about Alicia Keyes songs& her Hells kitchen past while covering up her "love of Sappho& her slit-slavering loving clam past", plus husbands love of man pussy and cock"

Is Daniel Radcliffe or Ed Redmayne going to win( I do want to fuck both of them). Is Bebe going to win?

what shows are going to win Tony's this year?

Thanks you, I know nothing about Broadway, only ALW & Princess a.

I typed ALW and Princess a^^^^

[QUOTE] Is Daniel Radcliffe or Ed Redmayne going to win( I do want to fuck both of them). Is Bebe going to win?

Radcliffe and Redmayne are competing in different categories.

Radcliffe will win, he has more than paid his dues on Broadway and the West End.

Redmayne, who already won a Tony for “Red,” will not.

I think Will Brill will win also. Although Eri Gelb really holds the play together and he is fantastic in his witness role.

Incidentally, Eddie Redmayne already won a Tony back in 2010 for the play RED, his Broadway debut.

CABARET is his second Tony nod and second Broadway credit.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG is Daniel Radcliffe's first Tony nomination despite already having 5 Broadway credits in the past 15 years, including EQUUS, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS, THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, and THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT.

“Cabaret” has been a very expensive production to bring to Broadway, but was presumed to be a slam dunk. There is a healthy advance but the reviews suck. Time will tell whether good (or bad) word of mouth will help or hurt the show.

But I’m betting that Tony slots were more or less held open for Redmayne and Rankin (and possibly Neuwirth) and while Bebe seems to have earned hers (and she could win,no?) people just checked the other two off by rote. Having it be a conspicuous flop is would not be good for Broadway if their production is deemed too youthful or edgy for audiences.

It will be interesting to see who replaces Eddie and Gayle when they leave. Fortunately, Lea Michelle is pregnant (good for her!) so it won't be her.

I'm available! For either part!

Just the one, dear?

Going category by category, I don't think CABARET will win one award. But we've been there before, with shows getting multiple noms and winning zero.

DL, I didn't Redmayne had a Tony (Good), but I would like to see Radcliffe win (interesting character).

Jessica Lange winning, Yes!!! Stereophonic beating "the fish called Keyes"!! ( what are they about anyway)

[QUOTE] I didn't Redmayne had a Tony (Good), but I would like to see Radcliffe win (interesting character).

They are not competing against each other. What exactly are you not getting about that?

Lange won't be winning. It will be Poulson.

Redmayne is definitely not winning.

Radcliffe will. So will Groff.

Bebe is definitely not winning. For her, this time, the nomination is the win.

to R381-I know Redmayne and Radcliffe are in different categories, I read the article twice. Thank You for typing it twice though.

Sorry about Bebe& Jessica, I would have liked them to win! Your customer service skills are on display as always.

I thought that conventional wisdom had Bebe winning. If not, who?

$288,102 last week for "Lempicka." Will the nominations for Eden and Amber make the producers feel pressured to try and hobble along 'til the Tonys? It's sort of a worst case scenario. No nominations would have made it easier to just say fuck it and close up shop.

R386: I'm sure they'll want to try to limp to the Tonys. The word is that most of the Lempicka tickets are comped. For tonight's show, there are offering each staff member/employee of the Longacre two comped tickets.

If Lempicka got into best musical, best book, or best score, I could understand trying to wait it out until the Tony Awards. It will be tough and I just checked Telecharge and there are a ton of empty seats for this week.

I'm sure the Lempicka producers know it won't win any of its categories so what would be the incentive to keep losing money every week?

Very happy for stereophonic. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Hope Pidgeon and Brill win.

Bebe could certainly win. There's no frontrunner in her category.

R389 — So do you think they might close it? Or wait until jist after the Tonys? Can it even make it to June?

I'd really love to know how the nominators determine which plays have the Best Sound Design?

I would say Lempicka's best shot at a win is Eden. She sings the shit out of that score but even that is remote now. It's only craft/technical nomination was in scenic design so obviously there's not a whole lot of support for the show.

[quote] Stereophonic beating "the fish called Keyes"!!

What's all this running and shouting?

[quote]I'd really love to know how the nominators determine which plays have the Best Sound Design?

Just because its a mystery to you doesn't mean it's difficult for anyone else to figure out. And why would it be any more difficult for the nominators to determine best sound design as opposed to best lighting design, for example?

This article spells out who was NOT nominated.

IMHO, it's a travesty that Redmayne was even nominated for that travesty of a performance, but my only comfort is that he doesn't have a snowball's chance in winning over Groff.

which will close first: Lempicka, Heart of Rock and Roll or Great Ghastly? The last one has big-time Korea money and a lot of personal pride at stake

The Steve Carrell snub isn't that shocking. The Tony voters hate when Hollywood stars come to Broadway.

all the design awards and nominations go to the showiest. more lights, more sound, more sequins

R400 - Julia Roberts

r400 what are you talking about

What a bore the nominations were this year. I was forgetting them as I was reading.

AI is writing Variety

[quote] This year’s Tony nominations are anticipated to highlight the musical revival “Cabaret” and the new hit “Hell’s Kitchen.” With 60 nominators participating, they’ll retreat to evaluate which shows deserve to be recognized as the season’s best theatrical productions.

In the realm of plays, David Adjmi’s “Stereophonic” is expected to lead the pack, supported by strong contenders such as the revivals of “Appropriate” and “Purlie Victorious.” These productions have resonated strongly with audiences and critics alike, making them significant contenders in their respective categories.

[quote] Big stars are in the running for nominations, including Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne (“Cabaret”), Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr (“Purlie Victorious”), Emmy winner Sarah Paulson (“Appropriate”), and superstar Daniel Radcliffe (“Merrily We Roll Along”). All are likely to hear their names called when noms are announced.

[quote] The 77th Tony Awards promise an exciting ceremony hosted by the talented and charismatic Ariana DeBose, an Oscar-winning actress known for her dynamic performances.,,, The ceremony is a collaborative effort produced by Tony Award Productions—a partnership between The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing—and White Cherry Entertainment, with Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss serving as executive producers. Weiss will also direct the event, ensuring a night filled with glamour, accolades, and unforgettable performances.

Carell is obviously good for the box office which is why he was cast. His reviews were meh to negative so not really a surprise that he was snubbed.

r396, what was so deserving about the sound design of Appropriate or JaJa's?

Lincoln Center Theatre dominated the Tony nominations (and wins) for decades in all categories.

How the mighty have fallen.

Close Lempicka. Now. You suck.

R403 Daniel Radcliffe was previously snubbed at the height of Harry Potter mania for EQUUS, HOW TO SUCCEED, and THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN.

The latter two got multiple nods, including his cast members, but he was overlooked

MERRILY is his first nomination..

Would think “Stereophonic” has a lock on Sound and Art Direction, but who knows in such a crowded field?

Will Tony voters get behind something like “Stereophonic” across the board? It ticks all the boxes — great reviews, popular with audiences, a dissection of toxic masculinity offsetting an all-white cast which insulates it from fashionable criticism. Might this not be a relief after years of virtue-signaling?

Or will voters feel they need to share the wealth? I’d love “Stereophonic” to win Best Play, Director and have Pidgeon and Brill win. But what’s the feeling on the Rialto?

R411. The feeling on the Rialto is that it is a great play and deserves to win. And it is also a crowd-pleaser.

R400, Not always.

Right, I left that out, it’s a really good play, well-written, humane, funny, popular and well-reviewed. When’s the last time THAT happened?

Don't know much about Sound Design, but in Stereophonic, sound design is almost another character.

R391,

There is a frontrunner if you've seen Kecia Lewis in Hell's Kitchen.

Whatever issues that show has, and it has many, Kecia Lewis is giving the performance of a lifetime. At the performance I saw two weeks ago, Lewis was getting exit applause on every scene, even the ones where she wasn't singing.

She's galvanic, titanic, magisterial.

At intermission I remember pulling out my Playbill. WHO IS THAT?

Yes, Bebe, Lindsay and Leslie are all giving first-class performances (or gave, in the case of Leslie) that could easily win in other years, but this award will most likely be going to Lewis, the center and gravitas of the most-nominated musical this season.

Another reason to celebrate STEREOPHONIC's 13 nominations:

We no longer have to see Jeremy O. Harris spouting off that SLAVE PLAY is the most nominated play in Tony history, an absurdity that only occurred because of Covid coming in and crashing the 2019-2020 season and leaving all the major plays out of contention.

Justice was eventually served when SLAVE PLAY won zero of its nominations, but even in recent weeks Harris has been promoting the imminent London opening of SLAVE PLAY with that Tony nomination statistic.

No more, Jeremy O. No more.

[quote]Would think “Stereophonic” has a lock on Sound and Art Direction, but who knows in such a crowded field?

Art Direction????

r416=Kecia's agent

The single set in “Stereophonic” is a meticulous recreation of a sound recording studio in 1976. It does a lot to immediately set the time and place of the play. The nomination is deserved.

An advertisement for “Stereophonic” came up on my Facebook feed trumpeting the fact that it has received the most Tony nominations ever for a play. The number 13 dominates the image.

R416 Hi Kecia! Welcome to Datalounge!

The winners in musical performance categories will be:

Groff, Radcliffe, Kecia Lewis and either Maleah Joi Moon or Maryann Plunkett.

We have a Kecia Lewis Evans troll. Now I've seen everything.

I cannot believe rotten Celia Keenan-Bolger has yet another Tony nomination.

It must be the same person who freaked out when I posted earlier in this thread asking who Kecia was. No last name was provided nor the name of the show she was in. And the troll was a total cunt about it.

Personally, as much as I wasn't a fan of Days of Wine and Roses, I think Kelli O'Hara and Bran Darcy James gave the musical performances of the year. But, unfortunately, the show was not successful, and closed a while ago. Kelli certainly deserves it more for this than her bland performance in King and I.

It wouldn't surprise me if Kelli won. There is definitely no frontrunner in her category.

O’Hara won for The King & I to make up for her Bridges of Madison County loss. I thought her Francesca was one of the best performances I’ve seen, but she was even better in Days of Wine and Roses, which had nothing like the score of Bridges. She may be the unsurprising surprise in June.

This year's Tony for Actress in a Musical is not going to go to Kelli O'Hara, who has already won one and was in a show that closed months ago, when the voters can give it to the star of HELL'S KITCHEN, a woman of color in a big hit that just opened.

What does her being a woman of color have to do with anything, R430?

Shaina Taub’s best actress snub was surprising to me. I thought she was only okay, but I was sure the voters would throw in.

[quote]R320, Hopefully, one is not allowed to take it back to their seat.

I'm sorry to inform you that theater staff members wheel carts of ice cream directly to you at your seat so that you needn't bother getting up.

r417, marry me.

r431, don't be disingenuous

Thanks, R435, but you're too late :-)

Death Becomes Her starts previews in Chicago tonite. Anyone planning on seeing it during the run? This one might actually be fun especially with Simard, Hilty and Sieber.

Except, r437, Christopher Gattelli isn't much of a director. He's barely a choreographer.

Sarah Pidgeon vs Kara Young is an interesting competition for the Tony. Young is a bona fide stage star, with explosive larger-than-life energy. She's been the best part of every play she's in. But Pidgeon is tragically beautiful and beautifully tragic in the hit play of the season, and that probably wins out in the end. I think Kara Young will keep coming back to do plays every year, whereas Sarah Pidgeon will probably book a big film role or two and go on to actual stardom.

I have little doubt that STEREOPHONIC will ride those13 nominations to a huge victory. Tony voters, weary of all those mediocre musicals, will be eager to canonize something and STEREOPHONIC will be the deserving recipient of their love and gratitude. It will win Best Play, Best Direction, Best Set, Best Sound, probably Best Costumes and maybe Best Lighting. And acting Tonys in the Featured categories.

Has anyone seen AKB in Scarlett Dreams? Were there any reviews?

r432, Maybe the voters thought Taub is getting enough attention for a mediocre musical with nominations for Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score.

R400, you couldn't be more wrong. They live to award them, even undeservedly--Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sean Hayes, Brian Cranston, etc., etc.

By the time I saw PURLIE V, Young had moved her character to the level of cartoon. There was scarcely a human visible there. I know that everything was painted broadly in the production, but she seemed ridiculous rather than funny.

Pidgeon should win for that scene where she can’t hit the right note in the recording booth. She was truly brilliant. And she can sing quite well.

Hey, Cranston earned his awards.

R446, he might have, but not many of the rest of them.

R445. That scene at the top of act 2 is really unbeliavable. I was wondering how she can do that every night. But she is spectacular throughout the play, all those changes, sadness, fury.... pitch perfect. I was in awe. And the scene with Pecinka should be filmed for posterity. I wanted to go on stage and slap him.

Does anyone else thing the quality of theater has drastically dropped since Covid? Or is it just moi?

We don't have brilliant creators, r449.

It was before Covid. Long before, like 1973.

1973? Please.

Haven't seen SUFFS, have idea if it's any good but I look at that commercial and think WTF?! Who do they think would want to see anything like that? It looks horrible and certainly doesn't give off any HAMILTON vibes if that's what they're supposedly aiming for.

Would Stereophonic make a good film?

Broadway needs more of me!

Will " Suffs" be given the Tony because it's produced by Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai?

The last great Broadway musical was OVER HERE!

The last great Broadway musical was Dreamgirls.

I loved Here Lies Love at the Public I was very disappointed that it didn’t translate well to Broadway. I really thought it was great in its original production.

[quote]Does anyone else thing the quality of theater has drastically dropped since Covid? Or is it just moi?

That's because in rash response to the George Floyd riots (also in 2020), 'woke' Hollywood (i.e. California) and Broadway (i.e. New York) fired a lot of white, male writers/creatives and replaced them with women/POC.

The fact is, white men are the real talent/innovators in theater/film.

I haven’t seen Merrily We Roll Along. Was Lindsay Mendez chronically absent?

New here, r461?

R460: Also, in response to the George Floyd riots, woke Broadway initiated a push to make theater audiences more diverse. The reality is it will never work because the demographic for Broadway audiences has always been white people of a certain age. It would be like trying to make NBA teams more white.

Nobody is willing to say the quiet part aloud but nobody wants diversity and nobody means it when they say diversity is our strength. When black women in corporate affairs are made DEI managers, they only hire and want to work with black women just like who’re people only want to work with white people.

R461. She sure was

White people only want to work with white people.

Why wasn't Stereophonic a musical? It would have made an amazing musical.

Because it's an excellent play, R466. It would not have been a better musical.

Some people just can’t resist an opportunity to bring up DEI and denigrate women and non-whites. The simple fact is that most of the biggest commercial hits right now preceded George Floyd’s murder, and are woke by whatever yardstick you choose.

I agree that the current crop of musicals is weak. But it’s because the artists are inexperienced, lack vision, and dramatize stories that lack much impact. R460 says the vile subtext out loud, which is basically advocating for white male supremacy in theater..

Some incredible recent work by white males: Bad Cinderella, Grey House, Back to the Future, the Camelot revisal, The Shark is Broken. Do you really want to go down this path?

[quote]Why wasn't Stereophonic a musical? It would have made an amazing musical.

Been there, done that.

I think the best way to film or video “Stereophonic” is to make a visual record of the show in real time the way Great Performances and National Theatre Live does.

Part of the joy of it is that it sustains itself as it goes on, the singing and musicianship, the ever more intense emotional interactions, the tension in the air from stuff left unsaid as well as the stuff that is blurted out — shooting it onstage with an audience is the best way to try to simulate seeing it in a theater.

It doesn’t require standard movie treatment which wouldn’t do the whole experience justice.

Marry me, R468!

Traditionally, theater has reflected the culture and history in which it was performed. That's why currect Broadway is fucked.

I didn’t know, until today, that the basic plot or story is a thinly/veiled look at Fleetwood Mac’s dynamics around the time of Rumours.

So, George Floyd death killed creativity on Broadway because diversity is biased towards white men.

Thanks George.

I've been away for a while. Is DL all creepy racist trolls now or is it just the same few posters over and over?

It's not Summer yet? Give it time R475.

Maybe they need more coffee in the morning to perk them off& make them Happy!!

r475 - unfortunately, being part of one minority does not preclude (SOME, not all!) elderly, white gay men from being inherently racist and completely blind to their privilege. Nothing new here. I've been visiting DL since I was in college more than a decade ago and they've always been here. It's probably true that the rise of Trump emboldened them. And, yes, the racists and xenophobes can be theatre queens, too!

r468 - I love you! Thank you for that post.

It begins with the word and it grows from there. You have to have a compelling story as a foundation.

R475 It is fine. Colour blind casting has always been discussed since it started with the silly casting, of black actors in roles not suited for them.

[quote]Hey, Cranston earned his awards.

Agreed.

So Stereophonic has a scene with a singer having problems in the sound booth.....does she have a breakdown like Daisy Clover? If so, I'm in.

"Stereophonic" is, among other things, a lovely example of theatrical photorealism. I'm guessing it would transfer to film rather easily.

[quote] Do you really want to go down this path?

You do. You live for it. You come on here and wait for any excuse to rub your puny cocklet while telling whitey just how horrible he is.

R417, here's hoping Stereographic, with the most nominations, gets zero wins.

R484, you're going to be sadly disappointed because it will walk away with mostly everything it's been nominated for, including Best Play.

[quote] Stereographic

Oh dear, R484.

[quote]But Pidgeon is tragically beautiful and beautifully tragic in the hit play of the season, and that probably wins out in the end.

Pidgeon also benefits from hers being a leading role, yet competing in the featured category.

I wouldn't say hers is a leading role, but certainly the flashier of the two female parts, with a very crucial scene later in the play.

The decline of Broadway has a parallel track in the decline of critical writing. I go through those review round-ups and keep thinking Who Are These People (and what the fuck is Theaterly?) Say what you will about the critics of the past, but the era of Rich, Kissell, Barnes, Simon, Winer, etc. created an intelligent, experienced core of experts who were also highly readable. I even miss Ben Brantley. I'm liking Helen Shaw and the two critics from Vulture, but beyond that . . . How I miss the old view, Georgy.

Here’s Helen Shaw’s astute observations on Stereophonic and Cabaret. I think she’s currently the smartest theatre critic we have.

Agree, and wish she'd cover more shows. Her deputies, like Vinson Cunningham, are good but so far not up to her level.

I'd heard Eden Espinosa is a huge diva bitch behind the scenes.

Yeah Paulson has this. I don't get the great reviews for Rachel McAdams. I saw Mary Jane during previews and she gave a bored, uninspired performance. I also don't get the love for Jessica Lange - she's played this character a million times before.

The so-called "love" for Lange is sentimental: the old, former movie star appears on stage and reviwers genuflect out of affection.

Lead Actress Play is Sarah Paulson

Lead Actor musical seems to be Jonathan Groff

Supporting Actress musical seems to be Kecia Lewis (if the troll is to be believed)

Any other sure bets?

I think Sarah Pidgeon will win, and I think Tom Pecinka deserves it but I would be fine to see either Brill or Gelb win, otherwise. I dso think Stereophonic will win both featured actor/actress categories.

[quote]Any other sure bets?

Billy Porter will weasel his way onto the stage to present an award.

I had come here to quote from Helen Shaw’s mostly-a-pan of “Cabaret” from The New Yorker, but a helpful poster above has linked to it.

I will merely quote from her conclusion: “I have never felt so far from other audiences as I did knowing that this incarnation was beloved in London. Perhaps British viewers, familiar with stylization from Christmas pantomimes and music-hall tradition, enjoy a broader mode of performance than I do.”

All I want is for Suffs to be shut out completely on Tony night. I don't want to see that fat, incompetent bitch Hillary pandering on stage.

Yes, Paulson, who I don't always love, is fantastic in this. She deserves the Tony.

R500: I agree about Sarah and I think Appropriate overall is very overrated. Totally average play.

I loved the first act of Appropriate, but was disappointed with the second.

Come on Lempicka producers - the writing is on the wall.

R501, I agree that the play is very overrated. It's highly entertaining insofar as it's always fun to watch members of a dysfunctional extended family sniping, bitching, insulting, and yelling at each other onstage, but as far as I'm concerned, there's no real meat to the play, and even the racist history angle is handled superficially.

r492 simply not true. Quite the opposite actually.

There are other diva bitches on Broadway right now though. Always ask the dressers - they know it all.

r495 Maria Friedman for director, Daniel Radcliffe for Best Featured Actor

Best Actress in a Musical up in the air for sure

"MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN"

R495, Chita Rivera will be the final entry on the In Memoriam tribute.

R499

I would have been much more warm-hearted toward Lange in this play if she hadn't portrayed so many neurotic/grotesque versions as part of the Ryan Murphy repertory company,

R449 here again. Another post-Covid issue is the over-praising of average work. Obvious train-wrecks are getting panned, but everything else is a Critics' Pick!

[quote] Another post-Covid issue is the over-praising of average work.

That's been going on long since before Covid, R511.

As long as I can remember that's been going on, R511.

Any word on Buena Vista Social Club coming to Broadway? That was my favorite show last year. It would require a restaging, but Circle in the Square could be great. Or maybe the Booth now that Kimberly Akimbo has cleared out.

THE BOOTH IS BOOKED!! SORRY!!

Maybe not for long, Patti Lu!

I saw the investment papers for The Patti play. The numbers are insane. Broadway is dead.

How is Stereophonic in the play category when it's clearly a musical?

Is The Wiz that bad that it was completely shut out of the nominations?

thanks R517

it would be of interest if you could explain a bit more....basically a bloated budget that would be unlikely to ever make a return to investors?

[quote]Is The Wiz that bad that it was completely shut out of the nominations?

Ask Sunny.

R517 how do u see those? I’d love to read that!

Speaking of La LuPone, she is the next featured guest on Ben Rimalower’s Into the Woods podcast.

[QUOTE] How is Stereophonic in the play category when it's clearly a musical?

Can you stop asking that? It’s already been addressed in this thread multiple times.

Are Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow being paid exactly the same amount?

I still can’t believe they are casting two outspoken victims in the same play.

There are casting notices out for Buena Vista Social Club.

Apparently Timothee Chalamet was at a performance of Mary Jane last week. He wore his usual hoodie and mask in the hopes of nothing getting recognized. As soon as he took the hoodie and mask off, people recognized him. Moreover, Steven Spielberg came to Mary Jane last night with an entourage of security.

ATC is eviscerating MOTHER PLAY and the cast this morning. I had thought I might want to see it but not any more.

And BWW is having a field day over the first preview of DEATH BECOMES HER in its Chicago tryout.

R523 are you sure Stereophonic isn't a musical? You seem to be the queen bee around here!

[quote]And BWW is having a field day over the first preview of DEATH BECOMES HER in its Chicago tryout.

Mostly positive I see.

So Radcliffe is the frontrunner for Featured Actor in a Musical? Does that mean he's finally caught up with the orchestra during Franklin Shepard Inc?

This production would not have happened without him, r530.

Though I’d still put my money on Bebe, I think Lindsey winning is also quite possible if voters decide to put a check next to every box they see with the word “Merrily” next to it in all the musical acting categories.

Are they doing a 50th anniversary production of A Chorus Line next season? I thought I heard someone say that in an earlier thread. It has been almost twenty years since the last revival.

It was nice to see Natascia Diaz (“Every Little Step”) as one of the Kit Kat girls in this new production of Cabaret.

[quote]are you sure Stereophonic isn't a musical? You seem to be the queen bee around here!

There's only one Queen Bee around here!

How many times will Sondheim’s name be mentioned on Tony night?

[quote] This production would not have happened without him

So what? That doesn't automatically mean he deserves a Tony. He's terrible.

And we've had this conversation before on here, so there's no need to re-tread it, but Radcliffe is hardly the reason it's a success.

[quote]Radcliffe is hardly the reason it's a success.

He is one of three major reasons why this production of MERRILY is a success, and if you think otherwise, you are a fool.

Merrily was a success in London without Radcliffe.

He’s also getting a lot of bad press recently due to having to defend his position concerning J.K. Rowling. It wasn’t enough for him to say, “I don’t comment on her views” he actually came out against her. He says he supports all LGBTQ. All she’s saying is if a chick has a dick, it ain’t a woman. All she’s doing is trying to protect women-only spaces.

Whatever, r538, have it your way. All I said was that this production would not have happened without Radcliffe, which is a fact.

R538, He’s too short for that comment.

R539, this production was unnecessary. Better to watch the superior London version with a Charley who is actually appropriate for the character.

R541 Their Franklin was more fuckable as well.

The BWW chat room comments on Death Becomes Her begin with a few outsized fan boi raves but then, as is the custom on so many Chicago try outs, several more posters chime in with how horrible the show is. And this is all after just the first preview.

Shades of The Devil Wears Prada and so many other film to stage Chicago try outs.

[quote][R541] Their Franklin was more fuckable as well.

And their Mary actually showed up to perform.

R544 She also shouted alot.

[quote]She also shouted a lot

That was her idea of a lesbian New Yorker.

You mean Mark Umbers, R542. Yeah, he’s a cutie. I remember his bf (vapid blond twink) in the audience at the Menier Chocolate Factory loudly declaring them a couple. Something tells me they didn’t last long.

I feel like any momentum that ILLINOISE had at the Armory has evaporated. I thought it could have been a contender for Best Musical, but I'm not thinking that any longer.

If you've seen a lot of modern dance, it's really not that special. Trust the NY Times dance critic on this one. And the book is laughable.

Although Stereophonic is a lovely play with quite a few songs, it's not really a traditional book musical.

Because it'a not a fucking musical. It's a play with music.

R649 So, nothing I couldn’t have enjoyed at the Joyce, and called it a night?

Say Darling, r551

[Quote] It was nice to see Natascia Diaz (“Every Little Step”) as one of the Kit Kat girls in this new production of Cabaret

She’s Kost, not a club girl

Right, R554. I realized that right after I posted and then forgot to correct myself. She was great as Kost.

She's a Kost *and* a Sally!

[quote]It's a play with music.

Umm, that's the definition of a musical.

Radcliffe is the reason that Merrily sold out. He still has a rabid Harry Potter fanbase. Flyovers sure aren't coming to NYC to see Groff and Mendez. The London versions of Merrily and Company were better than their Broadway counterparts. The Brits do Sondheim better than Broadway, or at least the actors are better.

Natascia is Kost, Fritzie AND understudies Bebe.

Yikes, r557, are you serious?! COMPANY was so much better on Broadway than in London. Just having American actors play the roles made so much difference. Patti did go way overboard in NY, I'll give you that.

[quote]Umm, that's the definition of a musical.

No, it is not.

A play with characters who dance in a scene is not a ballet.

A play with a character who winds up naked onstage is not a porn movie.

A play with food served onstage is not a cooking show.

A play with music bridges between scenes is a play with music bridges between scenes.

I did a search and I could find no mention of this in past Theatre threads.

I just found out the Steven Lutvak, composer of GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE died in October .

He was only 64. Pulmonary embolism in his studio.

R416 here.

I am not Kecia. I am not her agent. I am a white male playwright who begrudgingly saw HELL'S KITCHEN when a friend came in from out of town and asked to see it.

I had never even heard of Kecia Lewis before the show, but I know it now. Moreover, I don't think the show is particularly great; the stakes are comically, ludicrously low.

But Ms. Lewis... HOT DAMN.

It reminds me of when Kristin Chenoweth exploded on the scene in YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN, and Lillias White in THE LIFE. Undeniable scene stealers.

[quote]It reminds me of when Kristin Chenoweth exploded on the scene in YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN,

Actually, Chenoweth exploded on the scene in Steel Pier.

R416 once more.

1. I am not the Kecia Lewis troll. Does one really exist? I just think Lewis is a standout in an overcrowded season.

2. STEREOPHONIC is in every way a play, and a brilliant one at that. It just happens to be a play about musicians.

3. BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB is definitely transferring to Broadway. As is THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE. Heard about that from a producer a few days ago. And based on MRJ's tweets, I am wondering TEETH is transferring also.

4. There's a lot of talk about snubs in the musicals, but I think the biggest snubs happened on the play side: Will Keen and Francis Benhamou in the featured actor categories.

5. Also, did anyone else see Roger Bart's hilarious tweet in response to someone being shocked he got nominated for BACK TO THE FUTURE? Lawd have mercy, gurl. Get some thicker skin.

R563,

Chenoweth was great in STEEL PIER, but I wouldn't call that an explosion. The part was too small and the show too unsuccessful. I liked her in A NEW BRAIN too. But the KABOOM for her career was CHARLIE BROWN.

[Quote] Also, did anyone else see Roger Bart's hilarious tweet in response to someone being shocked he got nominated for BACK TO THE FUTURE? Lawd have mercy, gurl. Get some thicker skin.

Link, dear?

Seriously, R563? Certainly she must have been thrilled to have Kander & Ebb write a number tailored to her, but . . . come on. Even future Chenoweth-droolmeister Ben Brantley didn't mention her in his STEEL PIER review.

I agree r562. The show is MEH but she is the reason to see it. except Ms. lewis has been in the industry since she was in the original Dreamgirls. A LONG TIME. She is way overdue for recognition.

Re Bart

R562 “ It reminds me of when Kristin Chenoweth exploded on the scene in YOU'RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN, and Lillias White in THE LIFE. Undeniable scene stealers” - I’m guessing by this you are in your early 70s, so I’m going to suggest you are Tony Kushner?

The tweet didn't even tag him, so I guess we can assume he was searching for his name.

Chenoweth's career may have exploded with Charlie Brown, but it's been pretty much a fizzle since Wicked.

[quote]but it's been pretty much a fizzle since Wicked.

She had BIG plans. She’s going to play Dusty Springfield, Tammy Faye Baker and Lotte Lenya!

[quote]She’s going to play Dusty Springfield, Tammy Faye Baker and Lotte Lenya!

All in the same show!

[quote] Radcliffe is the reason that Merrily sold out. He still has a rabid Harry Potter fanbase. Flyovers sure aren't coming to NYC to see Groff and Mendez.

Right, that's why all Radcliffe's Broadway shows have been massive hits.

Oh, wait.

Roger Bart should have taken the highroad and either responded humorously or not at all. And, if you're that sensitive, stay off social media.

[quote]Broadway stars are made of Teflon and aren’t impervious to stinging social media posts.

It's incredible what a bad writer that Chris Peterson is. Also, obviously, a terrible editor/proofreader of his own work.

I guess Roger Bart would die a thousand deaths if he checked out ATC tonight and saw a long thread entirely devoted to who should have gotten his Tony nomination.

If you cut an actor, does he not bleed?

Didn’t I read on Datalounge that Roger Bart is an entitled asshole, that he has a big dick and that he’s a dog with women?

R580. Yup

Though her "bravura" 17 minute monologue might have been deemed by the critics as a highlight of Prayer For the French Republic, Franicis Benhamou probably alienated more Tony nominators (and audiences in general) than enthralled them. It's not really her fault. The monologue should have been cut way down.

Play or musical, Stereophonic is overrated.

The nominators were idiots to miss the power of this WIZ. It's a bold interpretation, and it's very funny, and I had a smile on my face the whole. Truly fun. Makes sense that it's selling so well. Singing was thrilling.

Hang on. Roger Bart is straight?

Erm, okay.

The Wiz is a bargain basement attempt to reinterpret a classic musical, but offers nothing except excellent vocalists. It could ( and should) have been a jaw-dropping spectacular, a joyous retelling of a great story. It falls short in just about every sense.

I ran across an old film on the Criterion Channel that sounded intriguing called "Repeat Performance." Started watching it and one of the supporting players is none other than Benay Venuta. Christ, what a mug on that one!

Repeat Performance

I enjoyed "Stereophonic," but I think the hype had me expecting something a bit more revelatory. It didn't really say anything new, but the way it said them was cool and worthy of a few Tonys.

Benay had a way with a tune...

The last thing the Wiz needs to be is a jaw dropping spectacular. The original Wiz had basically no set. We have Wicked and Lion King and Aladdin for the spectacular shit. This Wiz had real story and heart.

Benhamou was good but her big scene was better Off-Broadway

Roger Bart is the Jamie Lee Curtis and America Ferrera of this Tony Awards season.

[quote]Benhamou was good but her big scene was better Off-Broadway

Better in what way?

[quote]Roger Bart is the Jamie Lee Curtis and America Ferrera of this Tony Awards season.

Jamie Lee's dick is bigger.

R594, the scene's intensity got diluted when she had to play it out to a larger space

[quote] Jamie Lee's dick is bigger.

Not really. Roger Bart is known to have a huge dick, and he has happily allowed the occasional gay to feast upon it.

Teeth ain’t goin nowhere.

[quote]This Wiz had real story and heart.

Nope... it was a nice try, but it fell short of truly being memorable. High school productions had better chemistry between its main characters. In this production, they were cast for their voices ( spectacular) rather than their acting ability.

BAJOUR!