THEATRE GOSSIP #349: "Toot-Toot-Tootsie" Edition

I prefer “Toot-Toot-Tootie,” myself.

The best version of To Keep My Love Alive belongs to Mary Testa!

Please watch, she's really fun here.

Viv & Al.......

Pal Joey.....

I hate what Testa does to the gag on "he's sleeping now all right." She basically ruins the construction of that lyric for a bit of cheap comedy.

What do we know about Travis Kent?

R5 she is not the only one doing that. Stritch does it in the video posted of her and I have heard other singers do it too.

So those skivvies shows are just musical theatre people singing but they take off their clothes?

I think the Skivvies should go full frontal instead.

[quote]The amount of bitching on this board that Sutton could NEVER play Reno....What people forget about her is she's also an amazing actress. It's smart for her.

Which is why she got polite reviews in NY but Rachel York got outright raves for the tour?

[quote] [R5] she is not the only one doing that. Stritch does it in the video posted of her and I have heard other singers do it too.

Stritch can hardly be held up as a model of discipline. Vivienne Segal sings the lyric as a full, unbroken statement, "he's sleeping now all right," which one has to assume is the way Lorenz Hart wanted it. The joke is that the insomniac husband is now sleeping "all right" after being poisoned with arsenic. Not "he's sleeping now...Ya catch my drift?"

R11, we all understand the joke Hart meant. But few people are singing it that way anymore.

Hart's joke is better. But you cannot single out Testa for ruining it, since she is simply imitating what so many others have done with the lyric.

I've seen singers do it completely straight, almost deadpan, including two full productions of A Connecticut Yankee. When the jokes are not being telegraphed from a mile away with leering delivery like with Testa and Stritch, the song still works perfectly. I'd say it works better, since the lyrics seem to catch the audience more by surprise the less you lean into them.

"Gary" is ripping great fun btw. At least a passing knowledge of "Titus Andronicus" and "King Lear" comes in handy, though.

Nathan Lane and dancing dicks, what more could you want?

That's the title you rushed to originate so quickly, OP, that you had to post it before the previous thread was done? Yes, I can see how such wit was just bursting from your seams, begging to shared with the world.

Wow. Just...wow.

It's okay, r15. I mean, it's certainly better than the wretched "Moses Supposes" last title, and the even worse "Sondheim Disses BE MORE CHILL, Seen Wearing Yellow Shoes" of recent past.

The days of truly clever OPs and thread titles seem to be gone with the wind, just like good Broadway musicals.

Here's an idea - why don't you tell us what your title would be? Regale us with your own dazzling wit!

Mary Testa is awful in that clip of that song. But then, she always is.

[quote] It's okay, [R15]. I mean, it's certainly better than the wretched "Moses Supposes" last title, and the even worse "Sondheim Disses BE MORE CHILL, Seen Wearing Yellow Shoes" of recent past.

No, actually it isn't. Sorry.

Mary Testa plays a pretty good Aunt Eller, gets all her laughs, and with some well-timed echoes of Charlotte Greenwood...

Mary Testa is fabulous in that clip, and this is why we can't have nice things. Everyone bitches that theater actors are bland products from University Theater Factories and then bitch when someone truly original doesn't play bland and boring. Mary Testa is a "broad". It makes perfect sense that she should sing the song as a "broad".

Mary Testa is a low comic. Some people like that. I like some low comics. Mary Testa has a certain level of skill but not an individual style--more like a copy of other comedy performers. Besides that, I think "To Keep My Love Alive" works better with a less heavy-handed approach.

R21, I won't argue that Mary Testa is a low comic, but she certainly does low comedy better that most nowadays. She does have an individual style in as much as that is her. She is pretty much the same off stage as she is on. Her stage persona is not a copy of anyone.

So I'm not seen as trashing Mary Testa unnecessarily, she fares better here with "Sing for Your Supper" alongside Rebecca Luker and Audra McDonald (though there's another version with Luker, Christine Ebersole and Debbie Gravitte that is better).

We need to coax the OP of the Treason threads over here, just to come up with funny titles.

"I'd say it works better, since the lyrics seem to catch the audience more by surprise the less you lean into them.

In short, it should be played with total innocence, like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. THAT'S when it's funny, not with a nudge and a wink.

R25, et al, I beg to differ. To me, the "straight" versions sound like singer is merely hitting the notes and not connecting to the lyrics. Grant you, both versions posted are audio only; so, they might play better if one could see the performance. I prefer Mary Testa's version. It works as a piece of theater, rather than a recital.

Does anyone watch Mrs. Maisel? The awful comedienne played by Jane Lynch on the show in a recurring role- reminded me of Mary Testa. Loud, braying and unfunny.

We're now at less than a month left of the Broadway season, assuming you count it closed when the last Tony-eligible show opens. That's Beetlejuice on 4/25.

I'd love to see Testa as Dolly.

She could channel her inner Martha Raye.

Good god please don’t let this thread deteriorateinto an endless, mind numbing debate about the technique of Mary Fuckin Testa.

[quote]"He's sleeping now all right."

I think Hart used "all right" for emphasis, with the meaning "for sure." As one would say, "I didn't used to like booze -- but I like it now, all right!" Maybe that's something of an old fashioned construction.

[quote]I've seen singers do it completely straight, almost deadpan, including two full productions of A Connecticut Yankee. When the jokes are not being telegraphed from a mile away with leering delivery like with Testa and Stritch, the song still works perfectly. I'd say it works better, since the lyrics seem to catch the audience more by surprise the less you lean into them.

Yes, Christine Ebersole sang it that way in the Encores! production, and she killed with it.

[quote] Mary Testa plays a pretty good Aunt Eller, gets all her laughs, and with some well-timed echoes of Charlotte Greenwood...

I'd like to see the old cow kick up a storm like I did

This is more for our dear lesbian readers, but can you imagine if Charlotte Greenwood was able to hold her famous pose like that during sex?

Dear Charlotte. She could always throw her legs in the air higher than anyone.

And wider.

Blossom Dearie has an excellent version of To Keep My Love. And if you like it swingy, try Anita O'Day, Ella Fitzgerald, or DL fave Pearl Bailey.

A movie remake of Guys and Dolls is set to be made by Tristan. Cue the freak out.

Tristan who? Isolde?

I for one wouldn't mind a remake of GUYS AND DOLLS. I don't know what Sam Goldwyn and Joseph Mankiewicz were thinking dumping BUSHEL AND A PECK for PET ME POPPA and I'VE NEVER BEEN IN LOVE BEFORE for A WOMAN IN LOVE. The original score is a classic and I'd love to see it immortalized on film in its original form.

I've been doing a rewatch of the HBO comedy Getting On, which is set in the geriatric ward of a SoCal hospital. Who should show up as a late-stage-alcoholic college literature professor but Betty Buckley? And she was SO much funnier than she was as Dolly, which I saw a couple of weeks ago. As we've stated, Betty should stick to the large and small screens. Alas, her HBO character met a sad, sordid end.

R36, the Blossom Dearie recording is a perfect example of what is wrong with singing the song "straight". None of the husbands have been made real and individual to the singer. The song becomes a repetitive list song. The song need an actress who can make each of the marriages real and the annoyances palpable.

Anyone who doubts Mary Testa’s abilities as an actress and singer should listen to the recording of QUEEN OF THE MIST. I saw the show twice and Testa was absolutely fantastic- loud, brash, funny, and sadly endearing and pathetic. It was a great performance.

[quote]The song need an actress who can make each of the marriages real and the annoyances palpable.

I agree, but I think a light touch is the way to go. I thought Stritch's bug-eyed rendition was awful.

R39 - I may be in the minority, but when Baz Luhrmann was in serious talks to helm a Guys and Dolls remake, I actually thought he might just get it right! The production design/costumes from his wife Catherine Martin would be hard to top. And while he suffers from style over substance -- the substance is THERE with G&D, so they really just need someone to steer into the style and whimsy of Runyonland. The 50s version has always been a misfire for me (despite Viv Blaine reprising her role) with the weaker songs for Sky and that ludicrous 'Pet Me Poppa' and Sinatra's all too goyish 'Adelaide' that kills the momentum.

R43, I posted the Stritch video (also R41quoted in your post.) The Stritch version is just bizarre. It is a masterclass in bad singing and bad acting. It could be a scene from a Mischief Theater Company (The Play that Goes Wrong) production.

That Lynch character in maisel is based on Gertrude berg and Fanny Brice I believe

Betty Buckley is actually fairly good on screen. Somehow, that just doesn't translate to the stage. It almost seems like she had two different acting teachers - one for the stage and one for the screen and the one for the screen is the only one who knew what the fuck they were talking about. I've never been impressed with her on stage (except in the days when she still had that big voice, but that was about all she had going for her).

[quote]The Blossom Dearie recording is a perfect example of what is wrong with singing the song "straight". None of the husbands have been made real and individual to the singer. The song becomes a repetitive list song. The song need an actress who can make each of the marriages real and the annoyances palpable.

R41, your misunderstanding of the song could not be more complete. A large part of what makes the lyrics funny is the idea that it's routine for this woman to have killed all of her husbands. The humor is that the song is a very dry, matter of fact listing of all the husbands she has murdered. Get it?????? I guess not.....

[quote]Anyone who doubts Mary Testa’s abilities as an actress and singer should listen to the recording of QUEEN OF THE MIST. I saw the show twice and Testa was absolutely fantastic- loud, brash, funny, and sadly endearing and pathetic. It was a great performance.

Agreed. Great show overall, as well.

R41, I get it, but the husbands have to be real, regardless of how matter of fact the delivery. It cannot be a singer hitting the correct notes and simply reciting the lyric. There is a difference between dry and robotic. Blosson Dearie could be singing any song with any lyric. Other than a beautiful voice, she brings *nothing* to the song. Now, that doesn't mean the singer needs to be whirling her arms about like a windmill the way Stritch does. There is somewhere in-between.

I guess subtlety is lost on you, r49.

You miss the point entirely, r26, but no matter.

Testa couldn't be more miscast in the wretched Oklahoma.

"Blossom Dearie recording is a perfect example of what is wrong with singing the song "straight"."

Dearie was a singular jazz stylist, not a musical theatre actress. Her intent was to reinterpret the song musically and in the light of her persona, not activate it dramatically. And she succeeds, as always.

Glenda will be winning her second TONY in a row for "Lear". What's next, "Three Tall Women" in the West End next season?

No, R53. She’s retiring for good after King Lear.

Glenda will be playing Sky Masterson in the new movie

Ask Annie is not in a wheelchair!

You know what I mean.

Testa in the excellent QUEEN OF THE MIST made me think she'd be a wonderful Dolly.

As the train?

I don't know what you're on r10, but Sutton got complete raves and a Tony for her Reno Sweeney. Google is your friend...

The “Yellow Shoes” reference was very clever in that one thread title. The Noses one smells like Loon babble.

"Take Me Out" is getting its first Broadway revival.

Take Me Out? Gross. I hated that show. Exploitation wrapped in tedium.

It'll never happen, but would Channing Tatum have worked as Officer Lockstock in Urinetown?

TAKE ME OUT would be worth seeing but it's being directed by Scott Ellis. He ruined the revival of STREAMERS, God knows how he'll fuck this up. But fuck it up he will.

More on the new "Guys and Dolls" movie.

So which big Broadway dicks do we think we'll get to see this time around in "Take Me Out"?

The funniest title on DL right now is "Chrissy Metz Part 3: Not Without My Snack Purse." Who started that one?

Take me out should be all transgenders. Enough cis- male privilege

OMG I am totally good at actoring! More than willing to do some very, very good actoring in Take Me Out. I’ll actor real hard, promise.

I'm not paying good money to see a bunch of naked men with vaginas.

[quote]That Lynch character in maisel is based on Gertrude berg and Fanny Brice I believe

I thought she was more like a Sophie Tucker type.

Next up...Glenda Jackson IS Aladdin!

Glenda Jackson, of course, as Mame!!

Perry Como did it better.

Just because.....

Alice Faye sings According to the Moonlight

Alice Faye from her kewpie doll days.

wow. The Cher show finale. Not for everyone.

You’re not kidding. It’s like a subpar Vegas showroom spectacular. But maybe that’s appropriate.

Blossom Dearie may not have made the husbands come alive, but she is funnier than Testa or Stritch.

Sometimes getting more laughs is enough. Great acting is not needed.

Actually. r77......

I actually like Dick and Mary's version… Short, sweet, and jazzy

[quote] So which big Broadway dicks do we think we'll get to see this time around in "Take Me Out"?

Is Gbenga Akinnagbe available? Or Juan Castano?

I'm still bummed I missed out on seeing Bryce Johnson in the LA production of TAKE ME OUT. I loved the TV show POPULAR and had a crush on him. But I was still a teenager at the time and on the opposite coast.

Second Stage has another lackluster season. You think they'd learn their lesson after the double whammy of empty seats from Straight White Men and Torch Song. Nobody but nobody is interested in a revival of Take Me Out. It was a dullard of a play back then and we can see dicks way more easily now without paying $150. And good luck with that Tracy Letts play. It was out here at the Mark Taper and they couldn't give tickets away. I must have gotten emails every day with bigger and bigger discounts. I had actually purchased a $25 discount ticket and completely forgot I had and was across the country the day of the show, so I missed it.

Re the new Oklahoma!: In this day and age, how do they deal with the whole subplot of Will Parker trying to buy Ado Annie from her father for $50?

Is the reason Ado Annie cain't say no because she can't walk away?

R81 The first act of "The Cher Show" is better, especially with the much cuter-than-Sonny-ever-was Jarrod Spector. Plus there's a few scenes where they just trot out one after another Bob Mackie dress, each more fun than the last.

[quote]Testa couldn't be more miscast in the wretched Oklahoma.

Clinically obese showtune queens with opinions about [bold]BLOSSOM FUCKING DEARIE[/bold] should be permanently barred from having opinions about American theater.

So, will they make Princess Bride a female empowerment musical so as not to offend the PC crowd?

If they can get Channing Tatum to play Sky that will be a good start ... then Emma Stone as Sarah ...

Head case at r91, please consider going back on your meds.

How nice of you to provide us a textbook example of psychological projection, R94.

Is that Tracy Letts play a revisal of The Minutes? Whatever happened to that one?

I've spent almost my entire life pondering the eternal question "What the hell was The Gold Rush Twins about?".......

They are going to give the Princess “agency” like they foolishly did with Ann Darrow in King Kong. Does no one understand that these characters are classic damsels in distress? We want them to be beautiful, screaming and in need of rescue, not all clever and resourceful and shit. It undermines the whole histiory of fairy tales which survive to this day for a reason thank you very much.

Mary and Dick borrow their rendition of Mountain Greenery directly from the great Jackie and Roy.

Saw THE PROM. Didn't hate it.

High praise.

THAT'S a pull quote if ever I've read one, r100!

So you're the reason that the grosses crept up ever so slightly last week. Brooks thanks you.

Blossom Dearie waa such a stupid name.

House looked 95% full last night. Have no idea how much papering is going on. Saw lots of HS kids entering; maybe their sending comps to local schools. Response was boisterous. Sometimes I felt I was sitting in a great big fat hit.

And, as Marian Paroo, Dr. Sutton Foster.

Any bets on Second Stage getting Darren Criss for "Take Me Out"?

Darren not playing gay or anything remotely gay-ish after GLEE and VERSACE.

He is a happily, heterosexually engaged actor with a beautiful female fiance.

R109-I guess you missed Darren backstage at Boys In The Band.

I can't see this production of "Oklahoma" going over very well with the tourist crowd.

[quote]He is a happily, heterosexually engaged actor with a beautiful female fiance.

Happy heterosexualist Darren married his lovely fiancee last month.

Lots of the characters in TAKE ME OUT are straight. But I don't see him as a convincing baseball jock.

I see him in the Denis O'Hare role. Voila! No nudity.

Darren will take on the title role....

In THE PRINCESS BRIDE!

[quote]I see him in the Denis O'Hare role. Voila! No nudity.

As I recall, the Denis O'Hare character is gay. That's a deal-breaker for our Darren!

I don't really see Darren taking a supporting role in a revival at Second Freakin' Stage, sorry.

An all FTM Trans production of TAKE ME OUT would really have a huge cultural resonance right now.

Not all men have penises, after all.

It's her real name, r104.

In other news, ATC chatters report that Jussie Smollett did a recent reading of Take Me Out with Zachary Quinto.

Scott Ellis is directing. The casting will be for shit.

In that case, Jussie has a shot.

What kind of name is Blossom Dearie? A memorable one.

Yipes, that Cher Show finale is awful; second-rate Vegas (or first-rate cruise ship), indeed. Oh, well, it's giving the cast and crew pay checks. I'm pretty sure I could pick DL fave Charlie Williams out of the male ensemble. I didn't know he was the assistant choreographer of Frozen (and wouldn't have if he hadn't posted about Frozen's one-year anniversary on his Instagram).

Also, Darren Criss is waaay too short to be believable as a baseball player in Take Me Out.

How about Jakey G for one of the leads in TAKE ME OUT?

Seriously. One would call that a home run.

[quote]Yipes, that Cher Show finale is awful; second-rate Vegas (or first-rate cruise ship),

You are too kind. It is tenth rate Joseph Mega Mix.

Sing out, Louise!

What kind of name is Blossom Dearie? A stupid and cutesy one beyond belief.

Okay, let's go after the poor woman for the name her parents gave her. That'll be fun and constructive. Are you the same poster who's been beating this dead horse?

[quote]beating this dead horse?

I beg your pardon?

It's like who'd name their kid 'Whoopi'?

What's it to ya, r127?

From the Movie Dances thread, when was the last time there were dances on Broadway this fast, funny and thrilling?

That was amazing r132.

Well, her full name was Margrethe Blossom Dearie.

....whereas Caryn Johnson anointed herself Whoopi Goldberg.

Here's another, different dance genre, though. (Actual dancing starts around 2:10.) I saw Black and Blue, and it was an absolute treat. I wish I'd seen it more than once.

Oh, let's have a bit o' FOLLIES......

R97 I'd never seen that clip before. Sylvia Lewis is a wonderful dancer. Apparently, she appeared on Broadway in a short lived flop.

For great dance numbers from Broadway shows, don't forget the Clog Dance from WALKING HAPPY. One of my favorites.

FLAHOOLEY!

(It was the original Avenue Q, you know...)

I just read the first chapter of the Arthur Laurents book Mainly on Directing. He spends the whole chapter trashing Sam Mendes for his direction of the Bernadette Gypsy. Scott Rudin and Sondheim get a few potshots too.

IBDB lists Sylvia Lewis was in Vintage '60 (Sept. 12-17, 1960). Her roles consisted of: Second Girl, Raven, Second Stripper, Dancer, Group Member.

Blossom Rock, aka Grandmama.

What's wrong with the name "Blossom?" We're planning to name our first Asian adoptee Blossom Buttigieg.

Blossom Rock was Jeanette MacDonald's sister.

He was such an unpleasant man, r142

Darren Criss played gay for five minutes when he did the gay husband version of “Getting Married Today” in the Broadway Backwards benefit. Or does it not count if it’s just for one song?

Moulin Rouge will make Aaron Tveit the Broadway star he deserves to be.

Thanks, Aaron. Hope rehearsals are going well.

I think Denis O'Hare should play the Denis O'Hare role in Take Me Out. Miss O'Hare is ageless! (And currently living in France, IIRC)

Whitey's Lindy Hoppers were a thing in the 1930s and 40s. They have a great number in the Marx Bros. film A Day At the Races.

When is the Tracey Letts play "The Minutes" coming in to NYC? I heard it was great and am now confused that Second Stage has announced a different Letts play.

It'd be wonderful to see Juan Castano nude again, but he also is too short to be considered as a baseball player. That bat between his legs, however...

I'm happy to see "Take Me Out" again. Better than all the earnest identity-politic pieces coming out of most of the non-profit OB houses...

Saw "Network" today. No way Bryan Cranston isn't winning the Tony for this. It's ALL him. The other actors barely register. I think the show is... okay. It never really builds suspense or tension, but just keeps the sequences coming and coming and coming... That said, at least there are some great, thoughtful ideas at play. There's a paucity of that on the great Broadway right now, so we gotta take it when and where we can get it.

Really, no posts for nine hours?

[quote] It'd be wonderful to see Juan Castano nude again, but he also is too short to be considered as a baseball player. That bat between his legs, however...

Castano lists his height at 5'7".

Houston Astros player, Venezuelan-born Jose Altuve is 5'6" and has been an All-Star 6 times. He was AL MVP in 2017. He let the AL in hits for 4 years straight, 2014-2017. He's batted over .313 the last 5 years.

Seems like he doesn't let his short stature interfere with his stellar performance.

Shortness had nothing to do with it!

You're too short for that gesture...

Besides, it went out with Mrs. Fiske.

Because nobody could improve upon it, r159!

Don't forget me!

Finally...a musical version of The Outsiders is happening. Book will be by Adam Rapp. Who will be Matinee Ponyboy?

Adam Rapp? What a weird and wholly unsuitable choice.

R163 Evening Ponyboy will be Celia Keenan-Ray-Bolger. Andrew will do the matinees and Tuesday nights.

Darren Criss's Getting Married Today should have been rewritten as (Not) Using AutoTune Today. His pitch problems are awful. How does he get work as a singer?

I can't believe we're now posting about Minnie Maddern Fiske. How old ARE all of you?

[quote]I can't believe we're now posting about Minnie Maddern Fiske. How old ARE all of you?

Minnie was my prom date.

Catherine Zeta Jones used to baby sit for Minnie.

Minnie was a hot MILF flapper in the 1920s!

Poor Minnie. She only went home to rest (a role awaited her!), but she ended up taking a dirt nap.

They should cast Brooks in the O'Hare role in TAKE ME OUT.

If they can keep him from oogling the naked baseball players backstage!

An all-fat production of TAKE ME OUT would be fun!

At today's prices, we want hunky ecdyiasts!

I can only imagine how they'll SJW The Outsiders.

Will it feature a multiracial cast despite the story being about Midwestern white trash?

Stay golden, Pony Gender Non-Specific Person!

Dolls do I have a shot at winning the Olivier or is the King and I lady winning on sentiment because of her personal tragedies?

I think it’s about even, Pats, between the two of you. But you’ve been doing so much press about how you love London and love your Brit cast that you probably have a slight edge.

so who planted this. Sherman getting revenge?

It's on discount at TKTS, but so is "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Mean Girls", among some other shows.

I find Patti’s anglophilia to be rather tiresome.

R183, She gave lousy head.

I don't think Keith Sherman planted that story, R181. The news spread pretty quickly when it happened earlier this week, and Riedel loves nothing more than to knock the tar out of novice producers. The show made this change and all, but I think Be More Chill will still get left out of the Tony race. I do think the nominees will be Ain't Too Proud, Hadestown, The Prom and Tootsie, as Riedel lists. The Tony nominators are not teenagers, and I don't think that Be More Chill has any traction beyond its core fan audience base.

so how many staff changes at Be More chill? Management too right?

[quote]I find Patti’s anglophilia to be rather tiresome.

I think she's just paying lip service. I remember after her memoir came out, some of her British LES MIZ co-stars came out and said that she was painting a rosy picture and the reason she didn't do Broadway was not because of the cast but because it was such a small role.

What's BE MORE CHILL about? It looks very SJW. Lately, I've had an aversion to such shows. I want to be entertained, dammit, not lectured!

I think Salazar has a shot at Featured

[quote] so how many staff changes at Be More chill? Management too right?

Yes. They fired John Corker, who is a very experienced general manager, and replaced him with Lisa Dozier King - who has Off-Broadway experience, but this is her first Broadway show. I have no knowledge about what is happening behind the scenes there, but the show has had a lot of press exposure and attention. Quite a bit more than it deserves.

R187, it’s not just that. I have her final Sunset performance on a bootleg and during the curtain call she yelled out “I love London!” several times. Which is stupid and unprofessional. Just bow and smile, bitch.

I went to see Burn This. What a boring piece of crap. What is this story supposed to be about? I was bored from beginning to the long, bitter end. Nothing happens in this stupid play.

Keri Russell talks in a monotone and is emotionless throughout the entire play.

Adam Driver plays Pale as a retarded Jersey guido. Some of his shtick is funny, but it gets old very quickly.

Brandon Uranowitz misses it in the gay role (it's not really written as gay Jewish but he plays it that way). And really, it is a bit stereotypical. A queeny gay man lusting after every man he sees and calling people, "Doll."

And David Furr is the most working class Burton I've ever seen. Burton is supposed to be from a rich family, fratboy type.

[quote] it’s not just that. I have her final Sunset performance on a bootleg and during the curtain call she yelled out “I love London!” several times. Which is stupid and unprofessional. Just bow and smile, bitch.

Really, you're grasping at straws here. Pretty pathetic of you, criticizing people based on a bootleg. Why do you even HAVE the bootleg if you obviously detest LuPone so much?

Whoa, R193. Are you for real? Or an All That Chat refugee? If so shut the fuck up.

so much more really lame crude insulting one another on DL lately. Trump wins in insidious ways. I thought DL theater queens were better than that

Should we fill the other thread first and then pick this one up?

R196 Look closely at the numbers -- the other one was a mistake made 6 threads ago.

I loved the original number. It was the first time I ever saw Denis OHare on stage and was immediately drawn to his character, which he played as a lovable guy.

Then there was a talk back with the cast. OHare spoke so eloquently, I found him irresistibly sexy.

Once I saw him walking in Chelsea. I wanted to say hi but he had a bf (and now husband) by then. I would have enjoyed dating him, I think

R198 you mean be in a relationship with him?

I remember seeing the original Burn This on Broadway at a Saturday afternoon. I remember thinking it was an all right way to spend a rainy afternoon in NYC but nothing earth-shattering. For me, Joan Allen barely read on stage and then months later won the Tony. She was quite monotone as well. She and Malkovich (with the wig he kept flipping about like a model in a shampoo advert) managed to create some intensity between themselves. Lou Libertore, of course, was great playing a character as perplexed as the audience. One of the Jonathan’s played the boring part of Burton. It seemed to be more about a lifestyle than anything else.

What was the play where Lou Liberatore did full frontal and revealed a huge Italian sausage?

Tickets for "The Lehman Trilogy" are now going for $425, which will really only be affordable to the financiers who will likely see parts of themselves in the characters being portrayed onstage.

The cheaper seats, the ones high up, are sold out. They were $150.

I saw this show for less than $50 in London last year. And that's how much it was worth. It's good, but the second and third acts don't live up to the first, not by a long shot.

David Furr is a frat boy from a rich family so I blame director Michael Mayer (who is the biggest fraud on Broadway) if David is coming off as anything else in Burn This.

London produces Brilliant directors like Sam Mendes, Stephen Daldry, Nichols Hytner, Marianne Elliott and so many others, and here we are, stuck with Michael Mayer. Do even Joe Mantello or Sam Gold approach the talent of the UK bunch?

I love rich frat boys!

I can't believe that Phoebe Waller-Bridge is pulling in $300 per seat at the Soho Playhouse for 65 minutes of Fleabag.

R201 "Unidentified Human Remains" off-Broadway; I missed seeing it with him though, unfortunately. I recently saw him in "Daniel's Husband"; he gave the Equity Fights AIDS curtain speech, during which he revealed he had been a cancer survivor, which explains how different he looks nowadays; he was very good in that fine play, too.

I was lucky enough to be in London when Take Me Out premiered at The Donmar and I nabbed a last minute ticket.

In that tiny space I felt like I was in the showers lathering up with Daniel Sunjata, Kohl Sudduth, Fred Weller, Dominic Fumusa and...well, ALL of them! I saw it again at The Public and again on Broadway but nothing could beat the intimacy of The Donmar production.

How will that original cast ever be topped??

Whet dL Fave Daniel Sunjata? I used to follow him on Instagram but he deleted his account a while back .

"How will that original cast ever be topped??"

All they'll have to do is present hole.

[quote]TAKE ME OUT would be worth seeing but it's being directed by Scott Ellis. He ruined the revival of STREAMERS, God knows how he'll fuck this up. But fuck it up he will.

Probably a tiled pony wall up front.

I nominate impossibly adorable Neil Haskell for "Take Me Out".

I would think that lots of guys who have been in companies of "Naked Boys Singing" will audition for "Take Me Out".

Once Moulin Rouge opens, will Aaron Tveit resume his practice of taking the cutest twink at the stage door home with him?

I've seen Daniel Sunjata's name on LSA multiple times. I didn't really read the thread(s) because he's straight and he has a small dick, but the main charge seems to be that he's a "love rat" type (as the Brit tabs would say), similar to Idris Elba, I guess - a low class type who likes low class types.

Speaking of David Furr, I just started watching THE HIGHWAYMEN on Netflix, which premieres today. Took a break because I wanted to know who the strikingly handsome man with the sparkling blue eyes working for Katy Bates was. As soon as I saw his name on IMDb, it rang a bell because I had just read his name here on DL before I started the movie.

Anyway, very good-looking fellow! Is he gay, bi, straight? All I know so far is that he's a rich frat boy which is nota deal-breaker with me.

Can we think of something to say about Brooks that doesn't involve his weight?

Riedel is clearly in THE PROM's pocket and I'm OK with that. BE MORE CHILL is dreadful and should be locked out of a best musical nomination.

David Furr is straight and married and a great guy.

I know I'll be embarrassed when I hear the answer but what is LSA?

It's a black gossip site.

r219 Lipstick Alley, now they are really fucking nuts

Any recommendations for theatre on Broadway this coming early May? I am seeing Network, Socrates, and King Lear, and we have time for another play or 2. We live in San Francisco, so we can see most of the shows that rotate through, plus we can see crazy fun shows like "Shesus Christ Superstar" which was excellent by the way. (Saw it twice).

Daniel Sunjata has now become pretty fat.

I saw him in St Joan last year

R199, yes, I would have considered dating him. OHare is just my type— handsome, funny, and cultured

DataLounge fat or really fat, r223?

R224 But are you his type? (Both his long-term partners have been black.)

R226 so he was typecast in THIS IS US when he played the black grandfather's boyfriend?

Sunjata was not small. Maybe by some DL queens' standards. There's even video of the nude scenes from the Broadway production if you look on-line.

Jeremy Sisto was not small either in the LA production.

I have a bootleg of the OBP and Sunjata is not small. Not huge, but definitely not small.

Just got back from My Fair Lady, and I really loved it. So glad I waited for Ambrose and Butz to leave. Benanti is really fabulous, and she acts the role as well as she sings it. Burstein was also really, really good as her father, and it's a shame he didn't play the role initially, as he would not have been afraid to take a featured actor slot at the Tonys (that role is not a fucking lead at ALL) and would have won over the non-performance of the guy from The Band's Visit who was lackluster I can't even remember his name. I only saw Butz's number on the Tonys and I thought he was terrible, the number was terrible and he was miscast, but it really goes over like gangbusters with Burstein.

And I cannot believe Shalhoub won over Harry Hayden-Patton. He was so terrific, and is still giving 1000% more than a year into the show. Shalhob didn't even sing. I would have liked to see Alan Corduner be nominated. His Pickering was just sublime.

Not to dredge up an issue that's so hot button around here, but the only false move was the casting of Freddy Eynsford-Hill. I'm not faulting the performer. He sang it beautifully, and I really hope they cast him because of his talent and not to fill a quota, but man, the minute he and his mother pop up, they stick out like sore thumbs. I understand this is my own issue, and (at least for this show) a suspension of disbelief should be employed, but it just took me right out of the show. Thankfully it's a small role, but it got me to thinking- what if he was playing Higgins? And i felt like that wouldn't work at all, but then I could actually see a black Pickering, someone like the late Roscoe Lee Browne would have been great. And it really took me out of the moment and out of the show.

Anyhow- huge praise on the production as it stands now.

Not to worry, R231, Danny Burstein was outstanding in the Moulin Rouge previews in Boston and will surely win a Tony for his performance at the 2020 ceremony.

[quote]Daniel Sunjata has now become pretty fat. I saw him in St Joan last year.

His greatest talent as a performer was his looks, so I don't think we'll be hearing much or anything from him in future.

This is a small dick. Both he and you can live with that fact.

That dick looks like a grower, for sure

R235, Trust me, it is.

Are they running the prom bc they think it has a shot at best musical ... and is this an actual strategic campaign or just delusional hope

[quote]This is a small dick. Both he and you can live with that fact.

You must be small yourself because those guys like to point and laugh to make themselves feel better. That is hardly a small dick. He is standing on a stage in front of a thousand people delivering lines. He is hardly excited.

I can't believe someone thinks Daniel Sunjata's dick is "small" It's hanging down over his balls and it's thick. It's got to be seven inches hard.

I agree the "he's small" troll must have a tiny dick himself.

There was a smallish dick in the original cast, though. I think it was Frederick Weller's.

Frederick Weller nude. Not quite Princess Tinymeat, but swimming in this waters.

Daniel Sunjata is gorgeous and his dick is beautiful. It’s such a pity he’s straight.

R242 why is that a pity?

Because the world of the heterosexual is sick and boring life, Rose...

Fred Weller is willing to drop trou onstage at the drop of a hat.

He loves showing off those grapefruit sized balls.

Fred in a 2007 interview : " I think the New York theater going audience has seen enough of my dick. "

Jim Borsilman, Christian Borle, these small dick mf's above - DL theatre gossip threads are like the Twilight Zone when it comes to the discussion of attractive people.

The Prom has a chance of winning Best Musical, although it’s growing smaller. It’s following the Gentlemen’s Guide setup of opening early to lukewarm box office but ending up with the best reviews that season and the Tony. It’s between Prom, Hadestown and Tootsie. The last two only started previews this past week and got positive reviews in prior incarnations but not across the board raves. Hadestown sounds like it’s much stronger now and will probably win based on the early buzz. But The Prom producers are not delusional to keep the show open until final show gets reviewed. It’s very high risk but so is investing in a broadway show based on original material in the first place.

Jim Borstalmann used to be scorching hot during his Chicago days.

Poor Jim Borstelmann, no one can even spell his name right. Speaking of poor, as in unfortunate, he now looks like a fat lesbian.

R251 which one is he?

The one who looks like a fat lesbian, R252.

He looks like Sharon Gless circa 2003

The Prom might win, because this season's musicals have been the weakest since Titanic won. It is a mediocre show at best, but sticks out amongst the tragedies that have been foisted on the public this season. Shame that the Broadway musical is on life support.

Will someone post earlier photos of Jim B so we can compare and contrast?

And, personally, I think he looks hot now. He just needs to ditch those bangs.

Tony voters love THE PROM and have a lot of goodwill toward the four leads. Plus, it'll tour.

When you have a show that is the "best" of a bad lot, you come to think of it as good. The Prom is a mediocre musical that just happens to be the beneficiary of a season of disturbingly mediocre waste of money shows. It's not good, but not as much the dregs.

Can anyone describe Hadestown? Is it more Urinetown or Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson?

I think it’s more Great Comet.

Which show will win Best Musical Revival? Kiss Me Kate or Oklahoma?

Should be Oklahoma, for sheer creative imagination and risk-taking while remaining faithful to R&H's intentions.

KMK is the same old KMK.

I thought KMK was completely rethought for 2019.

Will Kelli O’Hara win Tony #2 or will Stefanie J Block win her first Tony for turning back time in bad Bob Mackie knockoffs?

They're not Bob Mackie knockoffs. They were made by Bob Mackie.

Well, let's see: the spanking scene is gone, and "I hate Men" is now "I Hate People." Amanda Green tinkered with dialogue in various places (and did a nice job since the changes are unobtrusive).

"I Hate People"? Hard to believe that's the name of the song now. I'm going to miss this one.

The Memphis year was pretty bad. It would never have won if there had been a worthy alternative.

I think KMK will win, although I think Ali Stroker will win for Featured Actress. The current acting front runners are Santino Fontana, Stephanie J Block, stroker and Patrick Page. On the play side, I would say Bryan Cranston, Elaine May and Celia Keenan Bolger. No clue for Featured Actor.

To the left of Miss Bebe.

Celia Keenan Bolger has been frontrunner several times only to sit with egg on her face on Tony night.

She’s marginally more tolerable than her brother but that’s not much. She’s Ariana and Andrew is Frankie J

THE PROM is currently outselling THE CHER SHOW, KING KONG, and PRETTY WOMEN, at least. And Glenda's LEAR.

It's sung beautifully, r267. Kelli O'Hara's voice in particular is gorgeous in KMK, but to my mind she seemed a little too nice (for want of a better word) for Katharine. Others may have a different opinion.

I've never understood why the guy on Bebe's left was allowed to have such 1980s hair. Obviously, the production was loose about period looks but 1980s hair should have been a no no.

Let's program an all-90s edition of ENCORES!

Choose 3 shows from the following to stage:

THE LIFE

TRIUMPH OF LOVE

THE GOODBYE GIRL

THE CAPEMAN

MY FAVORITE YEAR

ASPECTS OF LOVE

There are some Featured performances in King Lear that could easily win Tonys, most notably Ruth Wilson and John Douglas Thompson. Cordelia/The Fool and Kent are all very showy roles if played well. I think a lot of that will hinge on how well the production as a whole will be received (and I suspect it will be lauded, deservedly or not).

And then there's Julie White in Gary. Though bad reviews for the show could harm nominees.

And Benjamin Walker in All My Sons, though more likely a nom than a win..

There was initially a lot of talk of Joan Allen for Waverly Gallery but she seems like a very distant memory now.

R269 the guy on the left kind of looks like Stephen Schwartz.

[quote]Let's program an all-90s edition of ENCORES!

Why? The shows were terrible. No one needs to revive that shit, even for a one-week concert.

[quote]the guy on the left kind of looks like Stephen Schwartz.

True. The way you can tell it isn't is that Steve Schwartz always buys the cheap wigs. His hair never looks that good or that natural.

[quote]she’s marginally more tolerable than her brother

No, actually Celia Keenan Bolger is a LOT more tolerable than Andrew. She's not an Instawhore, and doesn't crave the spotlight at every second the way her brother does.

R225

Sunjata is fat-fat now

R226, sadly I’m not OHare’s exact type but I do get a deep tan in the summers

I would be kind of interested in seeing "My Favorite Year." I loved the movie, I love Ahrens and Flaherty, and I've enjoyed the few songs I've heard from the score.

It’s not ‘I hate People.’ it’s still I Hate Men But it is, ‘I Am ashamed that People are so Simple’

Is the revival Oklahoma more imaginative than just having minorities in the lead roles?

I recall when they called the classic Carousel revival with Audra “innovative and dark.” In actuality, the only innovative thing was a black woman played a lead. I am always thankful it gave Audra her big break but, other than that, it was a normal Carousel

I think Block will finally win her first Tony. OHare is playing the same role she always plays—nice but feisty woman

^Ohara

I didn't think the Lincoln Center Carousel was a normal one. It was darker and grittier than the show usually is.

My mistake, r283. Thanks for the correction.

And......

"I Hate Men" is perfectly acceptable. As a matter of fact, it is the new slogan of the Democratic Party.

I know I am going to sound like a rube, but after seeing Oklahoma and Network and a couple of other pared-back productions, I'm in the mood for something lush and full, would you recommend My Fair Lady...?

Sure. It's a lovely production, and Benanti is wonderful.

[quote] And then there's Julie White in Gary.

That untalented cunt does NOT deserve another Tony!

I wish Brooks and Beth had more of a shot in their categories. Brooks' performance surprised me; I didn't know he could show that kind of vulnerability. His solo in the second act is a very "blah" song that he turned into something joyful and special.

Beth is just Beth--always glorious. SJB reminds me of Ben Platt--something working very hard to the point that the effort overshadows any actual acting. Not a fan of handing out awards for performances like that.

I'm sentimental and like to see true Broadway vets and workhorses get their due, but I'm not holding my breath. Santino seems like a lock.

I do not get the Celia Keenan Bolger love. I find her a terrible actress, and easily the worst thing in any show she does. I don't think she deserved any of her Tony nominations (though I don't begrudge her the one for Spelling Bee, although for my money, I would have given it to Lisa Howard who did a whole lot of good with a small role.)

She was fucking terrible in Glass Menagerie. I kept wanting someone to stuff her back between the couch cushions and leave her there.

R294 Really?

I don't understand why it would seem appropriate to penalize SJB for a stunning performance in a show with a weak dramatic arc because the audience is aware of how much effort and skill is going into it as long as there is something entertaining about the experience. It is like enjoying 'Julia and Me' because Streep's impersonation of Julia Childs was fun to experience; not quite accurate and not quite camp.

[quote]She was fucking terrible in Glass Menagerie. I kept wanting someone to stuff her back between the couch cushions and leave her there.

That's valid as your own personal opinion, but I thought CK-B was wonderful in that tricky role. I hesitate to ask, but whom did you like better in the part? Amanda Plummer???? Calista Flockhart? Sarah Paulson? Madison Ferris?????

R284 Actually, it was also different from normal "Carousel"s since Billy can usually sing the role well.

No one has ever topped Julie Haydon's Laura!!!!

R285, She wasn't even Tony nominated for her brilliant portrayal of Liza Minnelli in The Boy from Oz.

[quote] That's valid as your own personal opinion, but I thought CK-B was wonderful in that tricky role. I hesitate to ask, but whom did you like better in the part? Amanda Plummer???? Calista Flockhart? Sarah Paulson? Madison Ferris?????

Actually, I much preferred Calista Flockhart's performance, and that production was one of the best I've ever seen of the show. Frank Galati directed his actors beautifully and both he and Julie Harris understood it was Laura's story as much as it was Tom's, but what it's NOT is Amanda's showcase piece.

And stop making excuses for talent-free Celia. Laura isn't a tricky role if you fucking know how to act.

"I am ashamed that women are so simple....." is the only lyric in the show taken directly from The Taming of the Shrew.

They thought they needed to change the words of Shakespeare?

R300

lol - can you imagine if they HAD bumped Chenoweth to supporting and nominated Block for her debut in Boy From Oz?

[quote]while remaining faithful to R&H's intentions.

I’m sorry, but I NEVER intended for Ado Annie to be rolling around the stage in a wheelchair!

But she is, Oscuh.....

A wheelchair you shay? Anyone happen to know who the cashting director for thish production might be? I jusht had a grand idea!

Just got out of Tootsie. My biggest mistake was deciding to stay for Act 2. Well, my biggest mistake was buying a ticket, but I got tdf, so at least the financial damage was mitigated.

SPOILER ALERTS (but not many)

Where do I begin? Is it the sub-pedestrian score? The "anyone can dance and I can prove it" choreography? The borscht belt book? Yes, it's all of those and more. Let's start with the cast. Santino Fontana is NOT a leading man. He has zero star quality, zero charisma and average talent. You wouldn't look at him twice on the street. Big mistake hanging a show on his narrow shoulders. Lili Cooper was actually better than I expected her to be (and had far more talent and charisma than Fontana) but Julie is a complete cypher of a character so the poor woman has nothing to do the entire night. They even try making her a five minute lesbian in order to give the character something to do but it falls flat along with the rest of the script. Sarah Stiles does her regular irritating schtick but here it's less irritating because the character of Sandy is barely there. If this were still set on a soap, she'd be perilously close to an "under 5." Michael McGrath and Julie Halston are given nothing to do and may as well not even be in the thing, and Reg Rogers flounces about the stage all evening doing a horrible Bert Lahr impersonation. I don't know who was playing the roommate Jeff, but he starts out decently and gets more irritating as the evening wears on. He's saddled with a hideous number that opens Act 2 called "You'll Fuck it Up" (or some such thing) and once he finishes you hope he never comes back onstage (no such luck).

The only actor who emerges scot free from this mess is John Behlmann. His role is exactly what it needs to be and he plays the shit out of it. It's nothing you haven't seen before (think Bruce Granite in Ot20thC) but Behlmann hits a home run and ought to have a show built around him and let Fontana go back to web series.

The book is a mess. I'll give them credit for trying to find a way to not repeat the movie, but if they're going to go through the effort of doing that, then why crib so many lines from the original script? They aren't performed with any particular flair and they stick out as glaringly inappropriate.

Oh, and can the fucking musical director. No idea who the fuck she is, but she was racing the orchestra through most of the first act, and the poor actors were always a step behind her, even though they did their level best to catch up. There's no way she didn't realize they were struggling, but she did nothing to help, and it basically rendered the lyrics of three songs unintelligible. She needs to be fired immediately.

But the biggest issue with doing Tootsie and setting it on broadway in 2019 is the conceit doesn't work. Not only is there NO WAY anyone would not be able to tell that Dorothy was a man in a dress, she would instantly be lauded for being a brave trans performer. And if they were going to update it, then at least do this, as annoying as it would be, it would be truthful. But there are just too many trannies running around NYC and the country who barely even try to pass calling themselves women. That none of the characters onstage could even fathom Dorothy could be trans is crazy. And the point the book winds up making supports the crazy trans ideology that the best woman for the job a man in a dress anyway, so why not go whole hog.

Fucking thing was 2 hours and 50 minutes and I felt every fucking moment of it. I hope it flops, but it was sold out and the bridge and tunnel crowd loved it.

Wow, R308. I'm not shocked, but mildly surprised. Thanks for the review.

And more details on the score?

I know I'm in the minority on DL, but I don't care about the movie and never need to watch it again. And I thought musicalizing it in the current climate was a terrible idea.

PS: I'm a David Yazbeck fan--I think he's an incredibly versatile songwriter--but I cannot imagine anyone creating something great out of TOOTSIE.

R301, Laura in THE GLASS MENAGERIE is a very tricky role because it's not easy to project that kind of quiet, introverted, painfully shy personality in a Broadway-size theater. Julie Harris is a great actress who was about 25 years too old for the role of Amanda when she did that production. The show had a limited run of only 57 performances, and my memory of it is that the reviews were mixed. You have weird taste, and thus your irrational disparagement of Celia Keenan-Bolger's talent isn't worth much.

[quote]"I am ashamed that women are so simple....." is the only lyric in the show taken directly from The Taming of the Shrew. They thought they needed to change the words of Shakespeare?

Yes, and they also found it necessary to change the whole conception of the role of Kate in THE TAMING OF THE SHREW -- even though it's set in Italy hundreds of years ago. Now, she's not shrewish at all, Kelli O'Hara plays her as if she's just sort of above it all and very superior to Petruchio and everyone else on stage. Political correctness run amok.

[quote] [R301], Laura in THE GLASS MENAGERIE is a very tricky role because it's not easy to project that kind of quiet, introverted, painfully shy personality in a Broadway-size theater. Julie Harris is a great actress who was about 25 years too old for the role of Amanda when she did that production. The show had a limited run of only 57 performances, and my memory of it is that the reviews were mixed. You have weird taste, and thus your irrational disparagement of Celia Keenan-Bolger's talent isn't worth much.

The Grand Fucking Poobah of Keenan-Bolger has spoken! All bow down.

Asshole.

[quote] PS: I'm a David Yazbeck fan--I think he's an incredibly versatile songwriter--but I cannot imagine anyone creating something great out of TOOTSIE.

I will admit I'm not terribly familiar with Yazbeck's scores.

I never saw The Full Monty or Women on the Verge. I remember enjoying Dirty Rotten Scoundrels when I saw it in LA, but I don't recall the score either way. I recently saw The Band's Visit and I felt like once we got to Omar Sharif, the rest of the show was a variation on that piece of music, and this score had a lot of repetitive melodies, as well. The most painful thing was the opening number is supposed to actually be an inane Broadway opening number in a show-within-a-show, but the rest of the score, which is supposed to take place in the story, never rises above the level of that opening number. And I forgot to mention that the musical they are putting on in which Dorothy gets the role, is so fucking ridiculous and so clearly a flop and a horrible idea, but is treated as though it's genius and will run for years.

I'd like to give you more, but I'm not educated or well versed enough to discuss music to the degree you might be looking for. I'm sorry. : (

Sounds like it was a huge mistake not keeping the 1980s soap opera setting in Tootsie.

Company closed tonight in the West End. I wonder if Patti jumped up and down and shouted “I LOVE LONDON!” like she did at her final curtain call for Sunset?

[quote]I'm not educated or well versed enough to discuss music

Yes, that much was evident from your review.

Why did you even bother going when you obviously hate the source material so much?

Why hasn't Footsteps on the Ceiling ever been revived on Broadway?

I played a Chicago boot of Tootsie this evening for guests after dinner and everyone loved it, especially Santino Fontana's performance.

[quote]r30 Good god please don’t let this thread deteriorateinto an endless, mind numbing debate about the technique of Mary Fuckin Testa.

We had already moved on, r318. Try to keep up dear.

Aw, stick it, ya old bat!

An’ I MEAN it!

[quote] Yes, that much was evident from your review.

Oh, poor you. Not getting enough attention?

[quote] Why did you even bother going when you obviously hate the source material so much?

The film is actually one of my all time favorites. You kind of suck at reading comprehension, so I wouldn't be casting any stones if I were you.

I saw Tootsie and Hadestown in previews.

Prom for the win.

Isn't that cute? We have a "Prom" queen on the thread.

The Chicago Tribune critic liked "Tootsie" a lot, and raved about Santino Fontana.

R308

Thank you so much for the review.

Does Lili have any decent musical moments? Is her role small enough to be considered for supporting?

I really like her voice.

Alex Huntsberger, Time Out: "None of it this would work without Fontana. He inhabits Dorothy with deadly seriousness; she is a true-blue leading lady (and a dead ringer for Dana Carvey's Church Lady). But he doesn't let the selfish Michael off the hook-and neither does the script, which significantly reworks the story's final stretch in one of many welcome updates from the film."

For the same reason Aged in Wood hasn't, r316.

[quote]And I forgot to mention that the musical they are putting on in which Dorothy gets the role, is so fucking ridiculous and so clearly a flop and a horrible idea, but is treated as though it's genius and will run for years.

Spoiler, please.

What is the premise of the musical within, and how much of it do we see?

Everyone keeps orgasming over Joanna Riding as Sally. Had any audio/vid leaked of her singing Losing My Mind for those of us that can’t fly across the pond?

[quote] Thank you so much for the review. Does Lili have any decent musical moments? Is her role small enough to be considered for supporting? I really like her voice.

She does. She sings this torchy R&B number early on in the 2nd act that really showcases her voice. She sounds great on all of the songs she sings, they're just not terribly interesting. I don't think I can fault anyone's singing in the show (outside of Julie Halston, who barely does any and is not a singer, anyway).

I was thinking while watching if she would be considered lead or featured. To me, she seemed to be featured, but if there's a paucity of leading actress roles, I could easily see them sticking her in there. My guess is the noms will fall out as Lead-Fontana, Lead- Cooper, Featured- Behlmann, and if there's a sweep, Stiles and whoever played the roommate for featured actress and actor, as well. Rogers, McGrath and Halston have no "moments" to hang a nomination on, but as Ariel Stachel proved last year, you can ride a nothing role to a win if the momentum is there.

[quote] Spoiler, please. What is the premise of the musical within, and how much of it do we see?

SPOILER ALERT

The musical within is initially called Juliet's Curse and it's a sequel to Romeo & Juliet. Juliet survives the suicide attempt and falls in love with Romeo's brother Max. Dorothy plays her nurse. Dorothy tries to intervene to bring some honesty to the project and somehow the story gets changed that Max now falls in love with the nurse and Juliet's character becomes supporting. They even change the title to Juliet's Nurse. The actor playing Max is a reality star named Max (played by John Behlmann) who is dumb as a post and keeps taking his shirt off during numbers. There's a joke where they say he went out for the role because the character had the same name as he did and he didn't want to confuse the audience (joke fell flat), but I could have sworn someone called his R&J character Craig onstage a couple times.

We really only see a couple of numbers from the show, and most of them are book numbers. Again, everyone is playing it (and it's received) as though Dorothy has taken a disaster and rescued it and it's on track to being a smash hit. Makes zero sense.

Thank you, r331

I seem to remember the majority of Chicago reviews for 9 to 5 were also positive, and we know what a steaming pile of shit that was.

I may have missed something in this thread, but does this R & J thing mean that Dorothy is now a stage actress in a musical rather than a soap star?

The reviewer quoted above did say that this new Tootsie offers what he called "updates" from the movie, meaning "changes."

Is "update" taking on a new meaning generally, or is that simply the reviewer's personal innovation?

Like, for instance, if someone revives Camelot and cuts some songs while adding in other Lerner & Loewe numbers, would that be an "update"?

Book numbers?

Yes, R334, the story has been updated from soaps to theater since the world of soaps is pretty much dead these days. It was definitely a wise decision, but it also bites them in the ass throughout the evening. But I don't really see how they could have kept it a period piece without being condemned for it so it's damned if you do...

One can call the film of Tootsie dated, but really only in the use of soaps and the fact that no one realizes Dorothy is a man. Everything else in it is still relevant today, the sexual politics, the humor.

[quote] Book numbers?

My mistake. I should have said book scenes. Hadn't had my coffee yet. I would say they probably did three book scenes (or pieces of) from the Romeo & Juliet sequel and two pieces of songs, one of which stops so Dorothy can do her big reveal as she does in the film.

It's really starting to sound like Prom and Hadestown are the only real contenders for Best Musical. If anyone had said that Prom had a chance in hell five months ago, I would've laughed. And I liked the show quite a bit.

[quote]R316 Why hasn't FOOTSTEPS ON THE CEILING ever been revived on Broadway?

[quote]r327 For the same reason AGED IN WOOD hasn't.

I heard fusspot Lloyd died of a heart attack yelling at a cast about concertos and such. Then Karen got all emotional and bitter and over-sentimentalized their past ... and she not only refused to have one word in either text altered, and insisted all future productions keep every move in the original blocking, too.

No one would take on either property, or even REMEBERANCE, after that.

Those of us with Vassar educations remember it correctly as "REMEMBRANCE," R339.

R311, the trick to playing Laura in Glass Menagerie is for the actress to subtly use her disability to play her mother and brother. Her disability is her own reaction to their father’s abandonment of the family. Read the Williams biography “Tom.” Laura was based on his actual sister whom he sometimes suspected of playing up her problems to compete for attention within the family. It’s all so obvious, but every director interprets her as a sad sack loser with no point of view. She is potentially the most manipulative of all the characters. Wouldn’t it FINALLY be a relief and fresh revelation to see it played that way?

Here's a question: Is the Ado Annie understudy in this OKLAHOMA! also disabled and in a wheelchair? Or if not, does she play the role in a wheelchair anyway? If this has been discussed before, mea culpa.

Actually they just cast an actress who played Laura in TGM as Ado Annie's understudy and she limps using a leg brace.

It’s really absurd casting all these actors with real disabilities as characters who are not supposed to be handicapped. Political correctness run amok. What’s next? A “differently-abled” Evita or Rose!? Revive Sorry, Wrong Number if that’s your cup of tea.

Karen Richards went to Radcliffe, not a second rate girls' school like Vassar.

What kind of singing and speaking voice is Santino Fontana use in "Tootsie"? Is he singing in falsetto like Tiny Time?

or even Tiny TIm?

At the time she would have attended, r345, Radcliffe was also a "girls' school."

Yes, but as part of Harvard, very first rate.

I don’t know who Karen Richards is but Vassar has been coed for 50 years and was never a second rate girls school.

Mrs. Lloyd Richards from "All About Eve" (Celeste Holm) who went to Radcliffe, and not Vassar.

Sweet Lord, R350...how can you be on Data Lounge and not know who Karen Richards is!

[quote] What kind of singing and speaking voice is Santino Fontana use in "Tootsie"? Is he singing in falsetto like Tiny Time?

Speaking, yes. With a light southern accent (which also makes no sense, since it was adopted for the character of the nurse in R&J) that comes and goes. Singing- Not quite falsetto. I mean he's not doing a Mary Sunshine in Chicago soprano, but he goes up an octave.

R351 you spoiled the fun

[quote]I don’t know who Karen Richards is but

This is a gay forum. Turn in your card on your way out.

R343, Madisen Ferris was really good in the TGM. That was a great production.

[quote]I don’t know who Karen Richards is

We condole you, R350.

Especially since there's a picture of her at r339

She's Mary Richards' long-lost aunt, not the one played by Eileen Heckart.

R350, I'm a playwright's wife. I'm the lowest form of celebrity.

I wonder what kind of act Birdie in "All About Eve" did? She apparently had good billing and placement when she played.

Didn't close the First Act? If not, she should have!

She closed the first act for 11 years! That was a prime spot, probably second to next to last act (star spot) of the second act.

This version of Tootsie always sounded awful anyway. I don't understand why they didn't just do it as a period piece - New York, late '70s, early '80s is a great period, there could've been a few great late disco era/Philly sounding musical motifs, great costumes, etc., it was a great period for New York. Ivo does so much on camera (and has for decades) . They could've done something great with the reveal, like Grandage did with Langella in Frost/Nixon. Who cares if they don't make soap operas anymore, they're still fun! Why do they have to update everything? Nobody updates Guys and Dolls.

Of course, I have no idea what people find so offensive about Tootsie anyway - people are just sensitive for the sake of seeming sensitive. Michael is an ageing, unsuccessful actor desperate for a job - it's a story about actors, a farce of mistaken identities. He has to deal with the consequences of his betrayals - that's where a stage musical version could've really improved upon the original.

As for why anyone thought Tootsie would be good as a musical - for the longest time, Randy Newman wanted to write the score for a musical version of Tootsie. That always sounded really promising to me. But the core of Tootsie is the same as A Chorus Line - it rises out of the same era, about people willing to put themselves on the line and take big risks to achieve success. Sounds like a real missed opportunity. Hope it closes before Labor Day.

I think the era of drag comedies has passed. Although the "Tootsie" movie tried to be woke, to use a word that would not have been used back then, it's still very much of its time. I shudder to think what a new musical based on "Some Like It Hot" would do to update the material. It's one of the funniest movies ever made, yet so much of its humor comes from bygone attitudes that wouldn't play today.

[quote]Of course, I have no idea what people find so offensive about Tootsie anyway

Hoffman's embarrassingly over-rated performance, just to start with.

Tootsie is a combination of Curtains and The Goodbye Girl.

Are there any women (biological women) posting here? I'm male. Just wondering.

Does anyone else find the premise of TOOTSIE dated and misogynist, ie, it takes a man posing as a woman to enlighten those around him about sexism/looksism, etc? That the finest feminist warrior is, ultimately, a heterosexual man?

Even though his struggle is about (drumroll....) self-discovery and acceptance. Or something. Because it's so hard for heterosexual men to find that in an unjust world.

I know most of DL will disagree with this interpretation. But I don't think younger, hipper audiences will.

I don't think it's particularly outrageous nowadays to see guys dressing as women, especially in the theater; I went to see something last week and my usher was most likely someone transgender. No one blinked when dealing with her (never can be sure which pronoun these days).

Ah, all is right with the world

Pantie and Tootsie: now we two are one.

How about the adventures of Tootie from "Meet Me in St. Louis" when she grew up? I bet she's into all sorts of murder and kink. Perfect for a new musical!

[quote]r340 Those of us with Vassar educations remember it correctly as "REMEMBRANCE."

Excuse me, but due to a notorious typo, the original title [italic]was[/italic] REMEBERANCE, and the project was announced and mounted as such. The entire team was so embarrassed they doubled down and insisted it wasn't a mistake.

Karen's refusal to change the spelling for subsequent productions is one reason it's never been revived. Even the overseas rights are frozen.

There have been MANY threads on this.

The simple premise of Tootsie is an eternal one: a man in a dress is funny, period. Twas thus and twill ever be, and no humorless political correctness will ever change that.

Lloyd Richards: That bitter cynicism of yours is something you've acquired since you left Radcliffe!

Karen: The cynicism you refer to, I acquired the day I discovered I was different from little boys!

^^ Who's to say Lloyd isn't PLAIN WRONG, and Karen's got bigger fish to fry than reminding him?

I don't know what hick small town newspaper that obit in r373 is from, but a second, even worse mistake is that his play is entitled Aged in Wood, not Aged in Oak...

I loved many things about that TGM, but the performance as Laura was not one of them. Can't imagine her singing.

[quote]r377 I don't know what hick small town newspaper that obit in [R373] is from, but a second, even worse mistake is that his play is entitled Aged in Wood, not Aged in Oak...

To be fair, it's not today considered one of his better works. Emerson College did a workshop production that addressed some of the structural problems ... though not enough.

A young Mary Kay Adams played Margo's role.

Has anyone musicalized THE GLASS MENAGERIE? It's such a truly terrible idea, I'd be amazed if someone didn't try. Title?

MENAGERIE: A NEW MUSICAL

HEARTS OF GLASS

BLUE ROSES: A MUSICAL FABLE

BLOW OUT YOUR CANDLES!

Jesus H. Christ, I know several star actors who’d love to go back to Broadway in theory, but my lord it’s a docked cruise ship nowadays. Ten foot pole!!

BLOW OUT YOUR CANDLES? BLOW IN THE CROWDS!

The problem with musicalizing Williams is that the language itself is already so lyrical you'd probably only damage it.

R380 That's probably one of Lehman Engel's original exercises over at the BMI Musical Workshops. Don't they also have new folks try to musicalize "A Streetcar Named Desire"?

AS YOU DESIRE ME

STELLA, A STAR!

STANLEY LIVING STON(ED)

[quote]The problem with musicalizing Williams is that the language itself is already so lyrical you'd probably only damage it.

"Cat!"

A New Musical

Lehman Engel' s exercises were limited to: DEATH OF A SALESMAN

THE MEMBER OF THE WEDDING

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

COME BACK, LITTLE SHEBA

There's an opera version of Streetcar by Andre Previn. The original production starred Renee Fleming and although it had many productions after it debuted in the late 1990s, it hasn't really settled into the general repertoire.

Maybe had they hired a singer who could act...

Is the Ali Hakim character in Green Grow the Lilacs? And if so, also based on the Jewish stereotype?

I had no idea about this theatrical conceit of a Jewish peddler type. Wouldn't that idea have been anathema on Broadway in 1943 in a show celebrating American values, created during WWII?

I can't see Renee Fleming being able to pull off playing Stanley Kowalski.

Have you seen it, r388?

[quote]I wonder what kind of act Birdie in "All About Eve" did? She apparently had good billing and placement when she played.

Not sure, but I think it involved ping-pong balls.

r384 It's been done.

Previn's STREETCAR was a pointless, silly endeavor for the reason stated above: Williams provides his own lyricism. Andre's rendering of BRIEF ENCOUNTER is another matter entirely: genuinely melodic, it's quite affecting and should be produced more often.

R390, anti-semitism was acceptable and built into American culture until the late 1940s/1950s. And it is still around. West Side Story was originally titled East Side Story and concerned a Catholic boy in love with a Jewish girl on the lower east side.

I won the supporting-actress Oscar for "Gentleman's Agreement." And I was nominated a couple of years later for my performance as Karen Richards, whom you've all been talking so much about.

Fuck you, Karen.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

For absolutely no reason.....

Renee DuBois.....

R368

I am female. Yes. The fundamental idea that Santino Fontana would be so much better than someone like Donna Champlain to play a Donna Champlain part that Broadway producers would want him is weird as fuck. Especially in terms of changing this to a musical. Then assuming that Fontana would bring so much more to the role than someone like Donna Champlain ever could that the whole musical is suddenly transformed into a hit because the producers had the good sense to cast a previously uncharismatic young man in the role of a bawdy scene stealing older woman is just confusing as hell.

I would buy the idea of his winning the role that a Donna type couldn't manage if the role were all about knee destroying dance. (Because Santino can probably pull off energetic acrobatic dance moves even your most desperate for work broadway diva wouldn't try) But acting and singing? Seriously? There is no testosterone advantage there. Burlesque comedy -- yes -- but that would require them to openly exploit the theatrical nature of drag.

They are also not admitting that drag works for drag reasons and pretending that makes them woke but it really just spells out how much contempt they have for women.

"Wouldn't that idea have been anathema on Broadway in 1943 in a show celebrating American values, created in WWII?

But those ethnic types WERE representative of American values. They were first introduced in early musical comedy in the wake of the many emigrants who flocked to the US during the 19th and 20th centuries, and appealed to these newcomers who, in today's parlance, sought representation in their entertainment. They represented the melting pot of freedom, assimilation, opportunity, etc. From what I've read, characters weren't presented as obnoxious caricatures, but as loving recreations, warts and all, of recognizable New York types (the pushcart peddler on Orchard Street, for example). By the time OKLAHOMA rolled around, they were as familiar and cherished by audiences as any of the other archetypes in the show.

Thanks for posting, R402.

Yes, the premise that the stage is so starved for a mature, unconventional looking, loud and expressive female talent that the straight man takes her place... where to begin?

Musicals have a long tradition of embracing rigid gender stereotypes, but they've also been a form that celebrates women, including older women, large women, loud women, "unfeminine" women, not-postcard-pretty women. Far more so than film.

Shows like PRETTY WOMAN and TOOTSIE are incredibly depressing to some of us. They're not merely bad shows: they're bad ideas for shows.

r401 Sadly, that doesn't sound like a song or an aria. Just rambling bleating : (

Is that recitative ... or, the composer was really trying?

As I said, the Streetcar opera got a lot of initial productions just based on Andre Previn's name as composer, but it it was only modestly received and it doesn't appear it will enter the standard repertoire.

Humourless R364 exaggerates to make a point - Michael Dorsey is the one that is enlightened, it is in Dorithy’s nature to support those around her. We see the seeds of this in the opening montage, in his acting class and with his support of Sandy Lester and with his roommate Jeff. Michael wants to create. He doesn’t do bullshit. All of us, regardless of gender, have masculine and feminine sides - try taking a humanities course. There’s nothing new or offensive about that. It’s what the experience awakens in Michael that makes the story. Feminists have been accused of acting like men and wanting to be men since the beginning of that movement in the ‘70s - that’s not unique to Tootsie, it’s the source of the humour and irony. Michael isn’t the “finest feminist” who ever walked the earth but he is profoundly changed by the experience but at risk of losing the relationship that means the most to him. It’s a great story.

I don’t know why they fucked around with it so much. People still watch Singing In The Rain even though the silent era is long over. They didn’t have to update Good Night and Good Luck to Sirius radio to make it work. Tootsie The Musical couid’ve been a fond look back at the soap opera era - it’s not like people don’t know what tv is. People watch Jane The Virgin and telenovelas. It’s not completely alien.

This is another case of the adapters taking a superficial approach without really understanding the material at its core.

^*Meant humourless R368

[quote]They didn’t have to update Good Night and Good Luck

Bad example. That was a true story portraying real people and a specific event (Joe McCarthy/Edward R Murrow). It could ONLY be told as a 50s era story.

I was born Gertrude Slojinski.

What of it?

[quote]"I think you better go have a look at what Agnes is doing in the basement."

Now that sounds like a really, really bad porn.

[quote]I had no idea about this theatrical conceit of a Jewish peddler type. Wouldn't that idea have been anathema on Broadway in 1943 in a show celebrating American values, created during WWII?

It wasn't a theatrical conceit, it was a historical reality. Jews often were itinerant peddlers in the 19th century. It wasn't an easy life, but they were independent and got to use their theatrical flair to dazzle the rubes. Many earned enough to open their own stores. Levis Strauss started as a peddler as did Henry Lehman of Lehman Brothers.

The peddler "Tateh" in "Ragtime" becomes a movie producer, and MGM head Louis B. Mayer started as a rag-picker himself.

This isn’t giving away a spoiler about Gary, because a promo video shows Nathan dancing with four or five male soldiers, and there’s an ad for the show that mentions “dancing centurions,” but I was surprised that the actors are not listed anywhere in the Playbill. They do come out and take a bow during the curtain call. Isn’t there some sort of Equity rule that their names be listed somewhere? If you watch the video, you can admire their hot dancer asses in tights.

I thought I had seen archival R&H footage of the Oklahoma! dream ballet from the original production on youtube a couple of years ago but it's either been deleted or I was thinking of the below, archival footage of the original Carousel ballet.

For the person who asked above, yes, the Oklahoma! ballet has always closed Act I, flowing from Out of My Dreams. St Anne's has moved it to Act II?

Archival footage of the Hornpipe from the original production of Carousel.

If you search youtube you'll find the same two OBC Carousel dance clips with an orchestra dubbed in instead of piano.

Jesus, the stuff at Hudson Yards’ performance space The Shed sound so artsy-fartsy. Bleccch.

[quote]Is the revival Oklahoma more imaginative than just having minorities in the lead roles?

Yes, Blanche.

I had no idea that Ali Hakim was Jewish. Or, is this just a New York conclusion?

Ali Hakim, Male, (18-35) Traveling peddler who says he’s from Persia (present day Iran). Though we aren’t sure how much of what he says we can believe. He, like Jud, is an outsider to this community but not feared by most. He likes pretty things and women. He pursues Ado Annie and Gertie Cummings.

Yes the dream ballet now opens act 2. This was probably done because people would have fled during the intermission after witnessing the travesty of an angry dyke in a t-shirt stomping around the stage as cowboy boots dropped from the ceiling. What that had to do with Laurey, Curly and Judd eluded me.

So did R&H give Ali Hakim a fake "Persian" name even though he'd be obviously Jewish to contemporary 1940s audiences? Is Ali pretending to be an exotic Mideastern because he thinks it's more seductive to his lady customers? Is that correct? I must be dense or overly-sensitive but I don't see how the character can't be construed as somewhat anti-Semitic.

And learning all this, I'm really surprised that Daniel Fish, the director of this new Oklahoma, hasn't done a more pointed and specific take on the character.

'Ali Hakim' is in the original GREEN GROW THE LILACS play, so R&H didn't invent him. He is also Persian in the play.

R422 Where the fuck did this he is jewish fantasy come from?

I don't watch a lot of TV but is Cheyenne Jackson making a living on a series? He used to be featured on so many DL threads but I never see his name here any more. Is his theater career finished?

R423 -New Yorkers

Lee Strasberg, who is famous these days for being Marilyn's acting coach, played Ali Hakim in the original Broadway production of GREEN GROW THE LIALCS in the early 1930s. He was Jewish.

I never thought of Hakim as inventing a Persian persona to cover his Jewishness, but that actually makes sense. Not saying that’s what the author of the novel (let alone R&H) meant, but it seems like a legitimate interpretation.

R287, it’s was the exactly same script as always. Everyone parties to “June is Bustin out all over.”

How could have been grittier? Darker lighting?

R427 First, Oklahoma! is based on a play, not a novel, Green Grow the Lilacs by Native American and semi-closeted gay writer Lynn Riggs. Ali Hakim was written and played in the tradition of the comic stage Jew, also sometimes a variation of a German immigrant ("Dutch" a folk mistranslation of "Deutsche"). The stock character was a staple of vaudeville and, in the crude stage ethnic identity of the time, one "Levantine" (as Studs Terkel called it--he said directors in early radio drama would use the term when they wanted a "Semitic" dialect) was as good as any other. Ali Hakim was maybe a blend of all the three Marx Bros--Grouchy's verbal humor, Chico's "dealer" con man, and Harpo's libidinous news.

R427 Jeus first black washing, now jew washing. FFS the character is not a jew in any reality

Ha, a lifetime of blood, sweat and tears invested in the legitimate theater, and now chiefly "famous these days for being Marilyn's acting coach."

R415 I never miss a Bambi Linn kinescope.

He tried to take credit for my student Marlon Brando and the Method. And he couldn't act anywhere near as good I could. Plus I studied personally with Stanislavski.

Conducting acting classes in the hereafter on my throne.

And don't forget Hyman Roth, r431.

Exactly, r428. This chest-thumping and self-puffery among critics and directors are too much to bear, like they've discovered something hitherto never perceived in the script and unlocked for our illumination after decades of mystery.

[quote]it’s was the exactly same script as always. Everyone parties to “June is Bustin out all over.” How could have been grittier? Darker lighting?

Christ, what a stupid comment. I would explain to you what made it grittier but it wouldn't be worth the effort.

R414, as you left Gary, they handed out the bios of the soldiers.

MISS....STELLA....ADLER!!!

I think she was billed in movies as "Stella Ardler" though. If you ever catch Sanford Meisner in films, especially some courtroom drama which I forget the name of, he was really good as an actor.

[quote] Michael Dorsey is the one that is enlightened, it is in Dorithy’s nature to support those around her. We see the seeds of this in the opening montage, in his acting class and with his support of Sandy Lester and with his roommate Jeff.

And the musical loses this. Michael in the musical is just an out and out asshole, completely self centered and couldn't give a shit about Sandy or Jeff. Sandy's big scene now is when she tells him off and talks about what a terrible friend he is and how she should stop chasing after him and find love with someone else (in this case, Jeff), and it all falls flat because Sandy, up until this point is barely a character in the show so her epiphany is unearned to a point.

Um....R407...you do realize that Singing in the Rain was made 20-some years after the conversion to sound?

R440, that was his point. Silent movies were as much as thing of the past then as Soaps are today.

And Singin' in the Rain was made more than 30, not 20, years after the conversion to sound. So even more relevant to the point.

Uh, no. First sound picture, 1927, Singing in the Rain, 1952- 25 years.

Zelda, you won't be cut out of THIS thread

I'm reporting you to ICE, Zelda.

Lol, r445.

There are plenty of Persian Jews. If you don't believe me, come to LA.

Why does everyone always act like the role of Amanda in The Glass Menagerie is so great? Have I just not seen a truly great performance of that role yet or something? I mean, it's not a bad role, but it's no Blanche DuBois or Madame Rose.

In the great documentary "Broadway- The Golden Age" lots of Broadway stars say the greatest performance in a play they ever saw was Laurette Taylor as Amanda in the original production of the play.

Or Great Neck, r447.

R447 Jesus , can't Arabs have anything without Jews shitting on it, or stealing it

boo hoo

[quote]I shudder to think what a new musical based on "Some Like It Hot" would do to update the material.

You’ll get a chance to find out soon. Supposedly Marc Shaiman is working on a new musical version of SLIH. But the first musical version still plays great. I saw a production about a year ago. Of course, it’s set in the 1920s, but I don’t think there’s anything offensive in it. There certainly isn’t anything wrong with the film that makes it uncomfortable.

[quote]Uh, no. First sound picture, 1927, Singing in the Rain, 1952- 25 years.

To be pedantic, no. 1927's The Jazz Singer was the first partial talkie to become a mass hit, leading the studios over the next two to three years to adopt overall sound production but it was hardly the first sound film. Experiments mating sound with film dated back to the 1890s and their were even a few commercial releases of films with sound, or sound sequences, between then and 1927.

Here is the first surviving sound film, made in 1894 at the Edison Laboratories in New Jersey. Watch it. It's very brief, fun and unintentionally gay to a modern audience.

^ there were, damn it.

Yes, experiments in sound go back a very long time, but Singing in the Rain is about the 1927-29 period.

Saw Tootsie at the matinee today. It's an amiable mess, and instantly forgettable. Score is weak, Santino is good but no particularly exciting, and the rest of the show is just a lobbing of one-liners, and it gets wearying. Sort of reminded me of 9 to 5 -- a lot of hoopla, but no real show there.

Will the Jews be offended if Ali Hakim is Persian and not Jewish?

R458 There was no matinee of Tootsie today, you idiot. (Matinee performances don't start until next weekend, as is not unusual with previews.) But thanks for your incisive review. You idiot.

Tootsie has a Sunday matinee during previews because there's no Sunday evening performance, which is fairly typical on Broadway, r460. Are you an amateur?

R460 They seem rather angry. And nasty. I like them, cause they were wrong and will be fucking untenable now,

R461 Another idiot heard from. (Or are you the same one?) There was no matinee performance of Tootsie today nor yesterday. As I said matinees start NEXT weekend. Go check their website. Broadway Pro, my ass.

Toot

Toot

Tootsie....

GOODBYE.

Can we go back to wondering who is Aaron Tveit fucking?

R458 is some kind of reverse shill. There have been no matinee performances of Tootsie on Broadway at all. Don’t slam the show if you haven’t even seen it.

I have a feeling r458 is the other poster who said he saw Tootsie (and offered receipts, in the form of descriptions of some of it), wanting to make it seem like everyone shares his low opinion of it.

I thought we already heard who Aaron Tveit was fucking? Someone said he had a girlfriend who came to all the performances of Company in Boston. Named her, too, but I don't remember the name.

[quote]It's really starting to sound like Prom and Hadestown are the only real contenders for Best Musical.

Really? Based on what, the report of one nasty DL queen who hated it? (The second one doesn't count, since he was proved a liar for claiming he went to the matinee).

Hadestown and Tootsie can't be counted out until the reviews come out. Tootsie's reviews in Chicago would have been enough to score it several nominations if those were the NY ones.

Actually, this week and next they're only adding one matinee, on Saturdays, and playing seven performances, not eight.

The second matinee doesn't start until the week of April 15.

[quote]Company closed tonight in the West End. I wonder if Patti jumped up and down and shouted “I LOVE LONDON!” like she did at her final curtain call for Sunset?

Always love Sondheimites bellowing how brilliant (fill in the blank) is, amazing! The best! and yet except for "Sweeney Todd" , none of his shows can eek out more than a few months run.

Eek! It's eke...

Well, it's different in London, r471. They are able to finance shows based only a limited run in some cases. In the case of Company, it was originally scheduled to close in January, although the plan was always to run it longer. It was extended for a couple of months, then another week, and now it's closed. It probably could have run a few more months with judicious recasting as probably would have started happening.

R455 just because there were experimental sound clips since the 1890s doesn't mean it was the norm or that it had been perfected. Television experimentation started in the '20s but the Great Depression and then WWII put a hold on it. That's why it wasn't until the late '40s that television became commercially available, and in the '50s they really took off!

Likewise, sound film was not perfected until the mid-20s. Until then commercial films were silent.

What the hell is going on Stephen Sondheim? Now Merrily We Roll Along will be played in chronological order?

What's today's date, r475?

Oh, Jesus ... I'm a dumb ass.

great video tho

As someone who saw the "darker" Carousel, I wanted to highlight some of the aspects that made the show interesting. I've seen several productions and have acted in the show twice myself.

The opening sequence has always been a problem. Every production I've seen up to that point opened with the Carousel in full swing and they had to have a lot of action to cover the entire Carousel Waltz which is the Overture. This production took a different approach and backed up the timeline. So you saw Julie and Carrie working in the mill with the other factory girls. There was a huge clock projected on the set. And we see quitting time and the girls racing out of the factory and to the fair. It was an exciting opening and it kept the action moving.

The Heaven sequence was dark. All the characters in Heaven were dressed as Puritans. There was a very subtle "hum" tone that ran through the entire scene. Heaven was portrayed as a cold, sterile place.

In all productions I've seen, Carrie was played as a lovable airhead. As we know in Act 2, 15 years passes. Audra was directed to play the later scenes as a shrew and it worked brilliantly. There's a scene where she's talking to Julie and Enoch tells her to hurry up. He says something like "A woman with nine children should have more sense." Carrie responds, "If I had more sense, I wouldn't have nine children." In every production I've seen, that line always got a laugh from airhead Carrie. Audra spat that line out very bitterly. And it was so real and a great contrast from all the lovey-dovey singing she did in Act 1 (His Name Is Mr. Snow). And it showed how relationships can sour over time.

One downside was Shirley Verritt as Nettie. The problem with opera singers is that they don't understand musical theater. Her "June Is Bustin' Out All Over" was awkward. And "You'll Never Walk Alone" was sung nicely, but there wasn't much warmth in her version. There has to be a bit of happy-go-lucky in Nettie, otherwise it doesn't work. And this new trend of casting opera singers doesn't work.

And of course, the biggest issue with this version of Carousel was that Michael Hayden did not have the beautiful lyrical bari-tenor voice that is needed for Billy. "Soliloquy" is a huge song (it's almost an entire act unto itself) and Hayden just didn't have it in him to do the song justice.

[quote] I have a feeling [R458] is the other poster who said he saw Tootsie (and offered receipts, in the form of descriptions of some of it), wanting to make it seem like everyone shares his low opinion of it.

You'd be wrong. I couldn't give a fuck if anyone shares my opinion of it. It's not going to change anything. I saw it, it was shit, it's not the first time it's happened and, unfortunately, it sure as hell won't be the last.

I don't know if Sho-bean in Waitress is going to do anything to the show's box office. But the fans with recording devices are on hand to get dated bootlegs of every optional riff she might throw at the role.

Listening to the audience check themselves when they almost rudely applauded a diva note and then start crying is fun.

R480 is Adam Guettel, still pissed he passed "The Full Monty" on to David Yazbek.

You're right, R482. I guess I'll have to be content living off the royalties of my grandfather and mother.

Santino Fontana *IS* Mrs. Doubtfire. Coming to Broadway, Spring 2021!

Somebody upthread is predicting that Elaine May will win the best actress Tony. Is it remotely possible that she could beat Glenda?

R483 Just more reasons to drink.

Not this year. Glenda is giving the most powerful performance on Broadway.

Not what i read over at BWW

Will there be five Best Leading Actress in a Play nominees or four? I have to imagine it will go Bening, Jackson, May and Metcalf.

Don't leave out Heidi Schreck. She'll be in the mix.

Incidentally, has anyone had Adam Guettel? I think he's cute.

Of course, Heidi Schreck. There we go. There's the five.

Maryann's shoulder pads....

I was going down the list of Tony winners and I discovered that there were no awards given for Best Actor or Best Actress in a Musical in 1985. No nominees. Nada. Does anyone remember this? Why was Mary Beth Peil (The King and I) nominated for Feature Actress? Bizarre.

The score for Sugar is very generic Broadway, not period at all. I guess Shaiman will attempt to take a crack at delivering a Chicago-type period score.

Santino Fotanda IS Tuesday night Harold Hill

R494, if I recall right, 1985 was the last year that billing was the be-all, end-all for lead and featured designation. There was apparently only one woman (Leilani Jones?) who would have actually counted as a "true" Best Actress.

The Associated Press wrote: "For the first time in the Tony's 39-year history, awards in three categories _ best actor and actress in a musical and best choreography _ were scrapped because of a lack of candidates." In a further report, the Associated Press noted: "The award for best actress, musical was eliminated this season because there was only one eligible candidate. The nominating committee declined to give nominations in the leading actor in a musical and choreography categories because they did not consider any of the performances or choreography outstanding or excellent."

[quote]There was apparently only one woman (Leilani Jones?) who would have actually counted as a "true" Best Actress.

Leilani Jones won for Featured Actress. Would they have bumped her to that category or was there someone else?

In 1995, there were only two Best Actress nominees -- Glenn Close in SUNSET BOULEVARD and Rebecca Luker in SHOW BOAT.

Nope, it was Leilani. She was billed above the title for Grind. My second guess was Dinah Manoff, but she was billed below the title for Leader of the Pack.

Good lord, that audio of Shoshana is charmless. Lots of flat notes and she's trying to do way too much.

So we have gone from the 1980s when there weren't enough nominees to round out a category in musical theatre, to the present where there are plenty of nominees but most of them are thoroughly mediocre.

My how the worm begins to turn!

I love Shoshana. But I would never call her charming R502.

What a horrible thing to say about Shoshanna, r504.

Stone Cold

[quote]In 1995, there were only two Best Actress nominees -- Glenn Close in SUNSET BOULEVARD and Rebecca Luker in SHOW BOAT.

Poor Becky didn't have a chance. They even held the awards ceremony in the theater where Sunset Boulevard was playing.

I'm wondering if Heidi Schreck can actually pull off a win for Best Actress over Jackson. Normally I'd say that'd be impossible, but she wrote this play and is getting amazing reviews as writer and performer, plus Jackson won just last year and is difficult and certainly won't be campaigning for another trophy. And for those who don't know her, Heidi is CHARMING and utterly likable on practically every level.

And on the topic of the Tony Awards, it'll be interesting to see how the truly new musicals (Hadestown, The Prom, Be More Chill) fare against all the film adaptations (Tootsie, Pretty Woman, Beetlejuice) and jukebox musicals (The Cher Show, Ain't Too Proud). Of course one horrid original new musical (Getting the Band Back Together) and one jukebox show (Head Over Heels) have already come and gone. I get the feeling that Hadestown and The Prom are gonna march all over these other shows, though Ain't Too Proud is so slick and so brilliantly performed that it will not totally be forgotten come awards season. Be More Chill has an uphill battle here; just getting to Broadway might be its only reward.

As for new plays, The Ferryman and What the Constitution Means To Me will be duking it out. Choir Boy will likely be included in that mix, and that fourth slot... Ink would be my guess. Are the Tony nominators being asked to consider Network and Mockingbird as new plays? If so, and I don't see why that wouldn't be, that will make this category infinitely more competitive and interesting. And I imagine Gary and Hillary and Clinton will have its advocates.

It won't be nominated for Best Play, but if there's any justice in showbiz (and there's very little in supply), Alexandra Billings will be nominated for Featured Actress for her performance as Waxy Bush in The Nap. I didn't know who she was before the play began, but when intermission came I threw that Playbill open to find out who was giving this brilliant, awesome performance. It's a fantastic part, and she made the most of it.

R508, I believe Glenn hosted, as well.

Perhaps Glenn should host the Oscars as well since it’s the only way she will ever get on that stage.

And they wouldn't let Carol come down the damned staircase!

Do Samantha Barks and Andy Karl have a chance at nominations this year? I wouldn't expect wins, but what about nominations?

[quote][R508], I believe Glenn hosted, as well.

Yes, and Nathan Lane was co-host and had the most brilliant line.

At the time, he was doing Love! Valour! Compassion! and one of his costumes was just a long apron around his neck and otherwise totally nude.

He came out in that apron and said, "If I did a cartwheel right now, the ratings would SOAR!"

R514, Gregory Hines was the third co-host.

R509

That is really cool to hear about Alexandra Billings.

Alexandra Billings was terrible in a terrible play. She's a shitty actress. Her line readings were labored and unfunny.

Why would Heidi Schreck (fucking awful name) be considered for Best Actress? She's basically doing the same thing Elaine Stritch and Bea Arthur, et al did in their shows- playing herself. It's not like Lily Tomlin in The Search for Signs. Or even Anna Deveare Smith.

And sorry, but no one will be rushing to give Glenda Jackson two Tonys in a row, especially in a show that's got surprisingly little buzz and poor ticket sales. of course Elaine May is going to win. She deserves to win and Broadway wants her to win. She's been part of the community for over 50 years.

R518, Didn't Glenda win two Oscars in a row?

Yeah, I don't understand this DL reasoning that Glenda Jackson is a shoo-in to win for the second year in a row because the community loves her. If that were true, they wouldn't have let her go Tony-less the first four times they nominated her. Last year was her fifth nod and first win.

R519 Jane Fonda (Klute) and Liza (Cabaret) won betwixt Glenda's two wins.

Didn’t Laurie Metcalf win two years in a row? Will she be nominated this year for Hillary?

I think Glenda's second Oscar for A TOUCH OF CLASS was a fluke.

On the subject of musicals of Tennessee Williams plays, Williams and Jule Styne collaborated on a musical of The Rose Tattoo in the 1970s to be called Serafina.

"The Heaven sequence was dark. All the characters in Heaven were dressed as Puritans. There was a very subtle "hum" tone that ran through the entire scene. Heaven was portrayed as a cold, sterile place."

Which of course makes no sense, given the spiritual resonance and transcendent message of You'll Never Walk Alone.

A leading man who couldn't sing? That's dark, gritty realism!

"The score for Sugar is very generic Broadway, not period at all."

But since a traditional Broadway sound is an inevitable stylistic throwback to earlier decades, it's more accurate in feel than silly contemporary scores that pour piano-pop treacle over everything, regardless of period or place.

"I think Glenda's second Oscar for A TOUCH OF CLASS was a fluke.'

Barbra wuz robbed.

Yikes R517

Sorry, R526, I thought she was awful. She hammered every punchline as though she were performing for a house of blind deaf mutes. And it's got nothing to do with her being trans. John Ellison Conlee, who is normally very good in anything he does, was also pure shite in The Nap. In fact, the whole cast was pretty awful. I blame the director (and the script, of course, but a good director can sometimes elevate material. Dan Sullivan sunk this shit even further.)

1985 Tonys...

I wanted to hear the score of Sugar again and I found this: Brent Barret and Jason Graae. OY!

Thanks R527

I had not heard anything about The Nap. So a random shout out about the show seemed encouraging. I had to trolldar you to realize you just like the review things harshly and that it wasn't a random rant from someone else unfamiliar with the play.

(She is a friend of a friend and that was why I found a positive mention to be encouraging.)

R518, worse than Jennifer Mudge or Norbert Leo Butz or Aaron Tveit??

[quote]On the subject of musicals of Tennessee Williams plays,

How can we forget "Songbird!"

[quote] [R518], worse than Jennifer Mudge or Norbert Leo Butz or Aaron Tveit??

Hahahaha. Aaron Tveit is not bad. When I was at Tootsie this weekend, I saw that Jennifer Foote was in the cast, and then I was researching something and came across the name of another performer, Jennifer Butt. It would not surprise me to see Jennifer Twat showing up in Be More Chill before the year is up.

[quote] I had to trolldar you to realize you just like the review things harshly and that it wasn't a random rant from someone else unfamiliar with the play.

Haha. No problem, but I would like to go on record as saying I don't ALWAYS review things harshly. In fact on Friday night I came home and raved about My Fair Lady. But yes, I'm a tough critic. ; )

Why don't people use stage names anymore? I mean, seriously! There's a British actress by the name of Imogen Poots.

Nobody answered my question way upthread on the whereabouts of Cheyenne Jackson. Is his career over? Or just his Broadway career?

What's the point of not including the hunks' names and bios in the Gary Playbill? They're now featured in a promo video.

Was this a Nathan thing?

Was Cheyenne Jackson's Broadway career ever established? Was Xanadu a hit? That porn comedy certainly wasn't.

Gary is the strangest play I have ever seen. I am not sure it knows what it wants to be. However, Julie White is wonderful while Lane and Nielsen work way too hard. The whole thing about the penis to the right cracked me up. And what was the new genre that Gary invented? I could not understand it.

>>Well, it's different in London, [R471]. They are able to finance shows based only a limited run in some cases. In the case of Company, it was originally scheduled to close in January, although the plan was always to run it longer. It was extended for a couple of months, then another week, and now it's closed. It probably could have run a few more months with judicious recasting as probably would have started happening.

Um, no: it was scheduled to close 22 Dec, got raves and awards (the Evg Standard citations for one) and was then extended immediately to March 30 -- not incrementally as this post above suggests and it was NEVER intended to close in January. It was a 12 week run that essentially was doubled due to good notices.

"Xanadu" was a enough of a hit, but Cheyenne was rarely in it. He had TV outs because he was just "subbing" for the lad that broke his foot. Today Cheyenne works with Ryan Murphy a lot. He also guest starred on "Will and Grace" this season. He is also a dad of twins and husband of a cult member. His plate is full.

Choir Boy and The Nap played the Laura Pels which is off Broadway so out of the Tony race.

[quote] Choir Boy and The Nap played the Laura Pels which is off Broadway so out of the Tony race.

no, they played the Biltmore.

Cheyenne is attached to the Magic Musical, in the Matthew McConaughey role.

[quote]He is also a dad of twins *and husband of a cult member.*

Say what?

Danielle Brooks (Taystee in Orange is the New Black) will play Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing in Central Park this summer.

She's no Kathleen "Helena" Widdoes.....

Dick Cavett starts in five minutes:

Bette Davis discusses what it's like getting pied in the face and Peggy Wood reveals what Oscar Hammerstein said after her audition. Both actresses talk about breaking into acting, what to say after a bad performance and trying to top past parts.

I saw that Much Ado when it moved to Broadway.....gorgeous production! And then I saw it in the Park with Kristen Johnston and Jimmy Smits as Beatrice and Benedick in the early 2000s and they were great. And then I saw it in the Park with Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater a few years ago and they were just OK.

Aren't there a few other Shakespeares the Public could do?

I saw the Keanu Reeves movie.

I left The Nap at intermission and the play was garbage and everyone in it was horrible.

THE NAP was really terrible.

I like Alexandra Billings a lot on TRANSPARENT and really wanted her to be sensational on stage. (She teaches acting, after all.)

She wasn't sensational. She had a few funny lines, but... no.

No one was sensational in THE NAP.

The Nap. Saint Joan. Even that Little Foxes was over-rated.

What's happened to Dan Sullivan??

R554 Was Billings playing a biological woman or a trans character?

[quote] However, Julie White is wonderful

Let me guess, Julie White plays the shouty whiny character she always plays

I've only seen Julie White in THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED and I thought she was hilariously excellent. Tony well-deserved though I had a friend at the time who was really upset about Angela Lansbury losing and cursed Julie to hell.

Laura Donnelly from The Ferryman is definitely getting nominated for Leading Actress for The Ferryman, one of the leading contenders for Best Play. She has the most impact of anyone in the play IMO and she won the Olivier for this role. I think Metcalf and May are locks for noms at this point. So the other two spots are going to Shreck, Jackson, and Bening. Bening starts previews this week. If she shines, Jackson might be odd one out. Preview buzz is that Lear is not well directed, and Jackson is good, of course, but not transcendent as we hoped she would be.

[quote] worse than Jennifer Mudge or Norbert Leo Butz or Aaron Tveit??

Don't forget me!

R558, I'm surprised your friend thought Angela Lansbury was going to win for Deuce. Because that play was awful. Seldes and Lansbury did what they could, but the script was rambling and boring. A bunch of McNallys recent plays are overlong and rambling. McNally has written some wonderful plays, but some of his work over the past ten to fifteen years is really bad and in need of tightening and editing.

R561 my friend was a huge Lansbury fan. Owned all 12 seasons of MURDER SHE WROTE. He was rooting for her to the end. He was equally irate when she lost in 2010 even though she had just won the previous year. But he said he missed out on watching her win her first four Tonys (because he hadn't been born yet) so now he wanted to witness her win as many as possible.

R562 Has he heard about Youtube? All the Tonys are posted

McNally has written some wonderful plays. List please.

[quote]What's the point of not including the hunks' names and bios in the Gary Playbill? They're now featured in a promo video.

I searched through YouTube and could not find the promo video of GARY with the hunks, which is a bad sign An even worse sign is that two of the promo videos I did find through YouTube still have Andrea Martin's name in them. What a disaster.

[quote]McNally has written some wonderful plays, but some of his work over the past ten to fifteen years is really bad and in need of tightening and editing.

Except for some of his musicals, ALL of his work over the past 30 years or so has been godawful.

I stand by my comment about Alexandra Billings. I loved her in The Nap. The play had its problems, but she was superb, and I'm now a fan. (I obviously need to see Transparent.) I will also admit that I tend to love Richard Bean's plays, my favorite being Great Britain, which never came to the states. The Nap seemed like an odd choice for MTC to bring over... Why did that happen?

And on that thought, why didn't McDonagh's The Hangmen ever end up transferring to Broadway? My friends who saw A Very Very Very Dark Matter in London in the fall said it was very very very weird, so I don't expect that to ever cross the pond.

And yes, let's not forget that cast from The Ferryman. Superb. This is when an ensemble award is really needed.

R566 Was Billings playing a female character or a trans woman?

People people.

Joseph buloff was Ali hakim. He was from the Yiddish theatre The dialogue was tailored to his talents. Same with Sancho and Irving Jacobson If you don’t put the Yiddish slant on these roles. They both fall flat.

Same thing with Nathan detroit and sam Levine. If he saint jewish. The part don’t work

It he wasn’t Jewish that is

Saint Jewish is now my official drag name.

The Gary video with the hunks is on my FB thread all the time, r565. Now that you've searched for it on youtube it will probably appear on your FB thread, too.

Who played Ali Hakim in Green Grow the Lilacs? Was he Jewish?

Did Lynne Riggs conceive the character to be a Jewish peddler in disguise as a Persian to woo the local girls? Was that outrageous plaid suit that every Ali Hakim has to wear forever more a symbol of that kind of character? I guess it's like the plaid suit on a used car salesman in later iconography.

JIm Borstelman was the hottest thing on stage in the first years of the Chicago revival. Age is a fucking CUNT.

R573, Lee Strasberg played Ali Hakim in GREEN GROW THE LILACS.

My official drag name is Shalom Ali Hakim.

R573, Ugh, people have no sense of history. The Jewish peddler was a historical reality. It wasn't a stage convention. It wasn't something that was invented. To have Ali Alkim as anything other than Jewish would have have been perceived as a mistake in 1943 (Oklahoma!) and certainly in 1930 (Green Grow the Lilacs).

How about Jill Saint Jewish, r571?

The original 1933 "Three Little Pigs" featured the Wolf in Jewish peddler disguise as the Fuller Brush Man.

The peddler was intended to be Persian but was portrayed more Jewish because the creators were Jews and probably didn't know any Persians. Back then they weren't going to get an actual Iranian or Middle Eastern to play the part.

I didn't know much about Lynn Riggs. So I looked him up on wiki.

He sounds fascinating.

Will Cheyenne's coke dealer be included in his "Magic Mike" contract. Or will he just hang around backstage?

Rigg's first play was 'Knives from Syria' and concerned a Syrian Peddler. Later this character recurred in 'Lilacs.'

[quote]r518 Elaine May is going to win...She's been part of the community for over 50 years.

I get her mixed up with Betty Comden. Didn't they look something alike?

Not anymore.

I guess they do, now that you mention it-although with all due respect to Ms. Comden, Elaine is really beautiful and Betty is....attractive.

FIRST MIDNIGHT!

I think two of Elaine's best movie roles are in "Enter Laughing" and "A New Leaf", though they don't show the latter too much anymore. She was also very good in "Small TIme Crooks", one of Woody Allen's films, though May concentrated more on writing and directing over the years.

[quote]r586 I guess they do, now that you mention it-although with all due respect to Ms. Comden, Elaine is really beautiful and Betty is....attractive.

I mean, if I saw this, I'd couldn't initially say if it was Betty or Elaine (?)

R581 oh, wow. I always assumed that Lynn Rigg was a woman. I thought s/he was like Laura Ingalls Wilder who wrote about her youth in the prairies. Then again, I also though that Meredith Wilson was female.

Another scintillating May performance....

^^^brilliant! Thank you, r591

Wow, that was great!

Another classic.....

SECOND MIDNIGHT!

Ya couldn't link it, r595?

Must one go out of their way to avoid a cow?

It's not like they're city, or even town, dwellers.

Thanks, R596. She cracks me up as Times Square Fosca.

[quote]McNally has written some wonderful plays. List please.

I think that both "Frankie & Johnny" and "Master Class" are good plays. Maybe not *wonderful* but on paper they are good. Now once they hit the stage and directors mess them up, that's another story.

Peepee