THEATRE GOSSIP #456 - The Why didn't LANA CANTRELL ever star in FUNNY GIRL? Edition

How did Michael Urie not get cast as the gay accountant in the Take Me Out revival? He plays every other gay role in NYC.

And, frankly, he'd better than what we got, even if no one can compare to Denis O'Hare.

Was anyone's name ever bandied about for the movie of "Funny Girl" besides Barbra? How about as Nicky?

Frank Sinatra was considered for Nick but ultimately turned it down when he wasn't given top billing or more songs.

Beanie's Funny Girl begins tech rehearsals today. Delis of Broadway welcome Beanie!!

The name Beanie sounds like she eats a lot of chilli.

Why haven't they just taken some of the gambling stuff from the second act of Funny Girl and put it in the first act and moved the success part in the first act to the second?

Easy peasy.

If Funny Girl were to be filmed today, you can bet that it would star Jennifer Hudson.

[quote]How did Michael Urie not get cast as the gay accountant in the Take Me Out revival?

I like Urie and would have been curious to see what he did with the role. Instead, we get Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who I find limited and a bit tiresome. I imagine producers thought JTF would be a box office bonanza, based on the huge success of MODERN FAMILY. But I don't think it's translated into ticket sales.

Maybe JTF will surprise me and be wonderful.

r7 what is the point of your post? Why don't you find some site that accommodates like minded individuals and complain there?

I think they'd have done better if they cast Sophia Vergara as Mason, some non-traditional casting perhaps?

Beanie reminds me of Lena Dunham. So it’s like a Lena Dunham “Funny Girl”

But I think Beanie's kept her clothes on, unlike Lens. That's a plus in her favor.

Beanie is a nepotism baby and a media darling, much like Lens--as well as a dubious talent.

At least Beanie seems genuinely nice and eager to please, in contrast to the increasingly self-absorbed and deluded Lens.

Media darling? I never heard of this pig until you guys. You guys all secretly love her. You won't stop talking about her. It's pathetic.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1987, "Starlight Express" opened at the Gershwin Theatre.

There's a sameness to Urie's performances that I've grown tired of. Might be good for him to avoid gay characters for a while.

And by the way, thanks also to Broadway Briefing because that is where they come from.

The Sondheim concert which Cameron Mackintosh is putting on has caused some unhappiness - lots of people trying to get tickets, none to be had except the most expensive - priced £1250 (~$1600). On the plus side all profits go to the Sondheim Foundation.

[quote] I never heard of this pig until you guys.

r14 I'm not woke or politically correct or any of the other things. But you are just rude and sophomoric and - biggest offense of all - not witty or bitchy or any of the other things we treasure. Do better or be gone.

R19 Are you the hall monitor you old fat queer! STFU.

Agree re: Urie's performances. He's been on autopilot since the Streisand thing, and he's in serious danger of becoming a permanent caricature.

Beanie would make a better Miss Marmelstein.

Beanie would really be better cast as Tracy in a revival of "Hairspray". Her voice sounds something like Marissa Jaret Winokur's. Was Marissa up for Fanny? I don't think so... Unless Beanie shows up having coached and taken lessons with a big booming voice rather than the rather girlish voice on some of those videos on the web, I fear she's going to savaged by the critics.

That Beanie article from THE CUT doesn't do her any favors. She's sounding like she thinks she is Streep.

Broadway singing coach dies:

^^^Damn. that's so messed up.

I hope they find the tranny who killed her.

When JTF was cast in TMO, the announced star was Jussie Smollett. But then Broadway shut down for Covid and Jussie had, um, personal problems.

Marissa Janet Winokur is almost 50. She could play Beanie’s mother.

We should say something nice about Beanie.

Beanie is nowhere near as horribly untalented as Marissa Jaret Winokur.

There, that should suffice.

BEANIE FATTIE BEANIE FATTIE BEANIE FATTIE

That gassy smell emanating from the Berkshires this summer will be the Daniel Fish "Most Happy Fella/Gal" showing up in Williamstown. And they're only doing 3 MainStage shows.

^Yes, that announcement surprised the hell out of me. Who wanted this thing reprised?

It probably costs little to mount. Isn't it a concert version of the show?

Maybe they could get Jared Leto to play Tony in The Most Happy Fella.

I'd rather see Monica Lewinsky in Funny Girl.

In that Cut article about Beanie they described Book Smart as her "breakout" role. Doesn't a movie need to be seen in order to provide a breakthrough?

Sad about Williamstown Theatre Festival but it's clear without their mammoth unpaid apprentice program, they haven't yet figured out how to produce anything but staged concerts and the most minimalist of plays. I well-remember the days of Blythe Danner, Frank Langella, Olympia Dukakis and Christopher Reeve in sumptuous productions of Chekhov, Rostand, Brecht and Noel Coward..

[quote]I well-remember the days of Blythe Danner, Frank Langella, Olympia Dukakis and Christopher Reeve in sumptuous productions of Chekhov, Rostand, Brecht and Noel Coward..

...performing on ratchet sets built by high school students in 48 hours under extremely unsafe work conditions.

Pretty sure Fish’s fishy FELLA got lousy reviews at Bard last summer.

It got slammed and everyone hoped it would disappear without a trace. Thanks, Williamstown.

I'm sure that Fish has continued to work on this project and I'd bet that what will be seen at Williamstown will be considerably different from what was seen at Bard. Maybe or maybe not improved.....but different.

Perhaps it's just me but I'm absolutely fascinated to know what Fish has done with the piece. Are none of you even curious?

I'm just gonna guess that Rosabella's water breaks on stage and she walks around with a baby hanging out of her crotch for several scenes while her inner thighs are awash with blood. And then they'll serve pie at intermission.

FISH pie!

I look forward to hearing their rendition of Big "T".

I think The Most Happy Fella is a masterpiece and it bums me out to think that the next revival will be this shit show.

R42 Sounds just like Singapore Fuckin'/Fling

I love The Most Happy Fella and was disappointed with the two-piano reduction Broadway revival--and THAT production was beautifully performed and staged. I actually did like Fish's Oklahoma, but I really need the operatic orchestrations for Fella.

That CUT article is typical west coast Hollywood delusional prattle. And her reviews for the Monica thing were dismissive at best.

[quote] Are none of you even curious?

After reading the reviews for thd Bard one, no, I’m not curious at all.

Actually, I AM curious as to why on earth Emily Loesser is letting this thing continue.

You asked for woke you got it. Stop complaining.

Because nobody can afford to produce a fully orchestrated and brilliantly cast Most Happy Fella, r50. I'd even say that there aren't many theater companies or opera houses that have the interest, much less the dough to produce the show. Sad to say but who would be the audience for it these days but diehard theatre queens?

So I'm sure the Loesser heiress is looking to revive some interest in it, even if it means allowing a radical re-interpretation.

Fish gotta swim...

Daniel Fish gotta destroy classics...

Paradise Square. Got your ticket?

[quote] Paradise Square. Got your ticket?

Was it just the one got sold, dear?

It could be worse. It could be...

Roller Derby on Broadway!

r28, that keeps being repeated, but it's not true. It was only announced that Jussie Smollett read for the part after his legal problems; he was never officially cast or announced in the role. And it was Zachary Quinto, not Ferguson, who participated in the reading with him.

r16, I believe Urie is playing straight in his latest show (if so, I agree it's a welcome change). He's playing Shakespeare (unless they're making Shakespeare gay).

Lana '62

Gossip Time!

So... A friend and colleague just got back from the Invited Dress of "The Life" at City Center, the second show of the Encores season, and said it is beyond awful, that it's actually shameful and embarrassing.

There was an article in the Times today (linked) about how director Billy Porter wanted to address the wrongs of the original, which he felt had too many laughs. Red Fag Flag!

Apparently Porter has managed to strip all the humor out of the show and has replaced it with sermonizing. The former Pray Tell has actually added preachiness to the show, from top to bottom. "The Oldest Profession" has been moved to Act II and is interrupted with text so the number no longer builds like it used to. And Act II begins with characters donning Trump and Trump Jr. masks. Lest we forget, this show takes place in the early eighties.

Porter did a reading of The Life back in the day and was never asked back because he was found wanting. He's exacted his revenge. And I've also learned why Harvey Fierstein didn't mention Porter once in his new bestseller in the "Kinky Boots" chapters: Porter couldn't land the jokes. So they were cut. Porter doesn't understand humor. And that's likely why he has done his damn best to erase any from "The Life."

All the theatre pros at the Dress tonight were horrified. Apparently what Porter has done is so mortifying that Encores has sunk to a new low, and we all know that bar is pretty deep already. Why is he directing this piece? He is right about one thing: Everyone who attends will be gagging.

Re: Funny Girl.

I don't know a soul who's thinking or discussing this show outside of DataLounge. Not one. I'm 51 and that show was even before my time, and the movie is not one of those classics that is beloved by new generations, and mainly because it's just okay with some decent songs. I think the producers are soon going to discover how limited the audience is for this show. And Beanie is, of course, no Barbra.

r61 - please Lawd I hope everything you say is true!

I'm the only person I know who actually liked The Life in its original production. Flawed but there was much to enjoy there. Some very fine talents giving it their best.

r64 I agree. I saw the original and enjoyed it. I can't imagine sitting through the new version, given what r61 said.

Sounds intolerable. But I can't stand Porter anyway so that just adds to my disdain.

I once had drinks with Porter and a mutual friend, pre "kinky". It was an hour long. I never spoke, nor my friend. She's......a lot.

If The Life has to die so that Lear DeBessonet can be exposed once and for all all, it will be a worthy sacrifice.

Cutting all the humor from a show ALWAYS works well

Not to mention the Sweeney movie r68.

Isn't this exactly what they did with TAP DANCE KID?

I just finished the unabridged audiobook of Harvey’s book, read by Harvey himself, and he blatantly says that Billy Porter - mentioned by name, repeatedly, R61 - was instrumental in the initial success of Kinky Boots, but it was not until Wayne Brady took over that Harvey felt the show truly connected with middle America-type audiences. I’ve seen it said here multiple times that Harvey eschews “any mention” of Billy Porter in his book and that is wholly untrue, at least as far as the unabridged audiobook is concerned.

He basically said that the character is supposed to be a straight cross dresser, and that never came through until Wayne Brady took over. I saw the show early on, and never got that at all.

r61 you done good. Will be eager to hear more from others. The pity is, I've heard about Ledisi wanting to do theater and I hope this doesn't scare her away.

r71 good on you too.

This is good (and, wait for it, [italic] current [/italic] theater gossip!!! Yay!

I have tickets to see Into the Woods in May. Hoped the brilliance of Heather Headley will soothe any other misgivings

Fuck. I'm seeing THE LIFE on Sunday. Never saw the original production (I was in high school) but love the sdtk. Met Billy Porter once and he was a smug asshole. Now I'm already regretting this. It's my first show since the pandemic too. Last one I saw before the shutdown was DIANA the musical. That was hot garbage too. UGH.

If sdtk is short for "soundtrack", please show yourself out.

Or we will be only to glad to assist you out.

R76 Seems like you understand just fine you old dweeb. Haha. R77 haha. You botched that little bitchy retort didn't ya! 😂🤡

What about Paradise Square? Was anyone there last night?

nope. no one.

R78, there never was a soundtrack (or sdtk) of THE LIFE because it wasn't a film.

we all know what sdtk means you fucking fussy showqheens. the kid made a mistake for fucks sake.

Uh, oh, the theater twink is growing his baby claws. Jungle Red!

Saw TAKE ME OUT last night. It's not a great play, and not a great production, though it's still early and I think there's time for them to grow and fix things (with the production; there's only so much they can do with the play itself).

For those simply going to see Williams naked, you won't be disappointed. He has a big dick, hanging long and thick (I don't know why I was surprised, but I was). That actually kind of worked from a character perspective, since it gave another reason for the character's confidence/cockiness. I think it was the biggest one on stage, though Ramos came close. The rest of the cast tended toward the average side, the kind of dicks that will have size queens screeching "Small!" but for those who've seen more than a few normal dicks, they were fairly typical grower cocks. Honestly, I was more impressed with how great most of their asses were (there was a lot of turning around in the shower scene). Most of them were really fit. Adams was the exception. He seems so tall and lean when clothed, but was surprisingly doughy. Not fat, just dad bod. I was also impressed that the nudity didn't feel all that gratuitous. It felt natural, even though it really is the main thing the play has going for it. Staging the shower scenes right at the front of the stage did feel a bit gratuitous though.

Ferguson was doing the same character he always does and was pretty annoying. It felt like he was in a different play entirely from everyone else, one I wasn't interested in watching.

Didn't love it, didn't hate it. It was fine.

I cannot stomach Billy Porter. He's a self-aggrandizing little prick, and is especially dismissive to those who aren't BIPOC. I hope this production kills any chance that he direct for Encores, or anything else, again.

And Harvey mentions Billy once in his book, and does not fall all over him, like some do. I hated his performance in KB.

[quote]we all know what sdtk means you fucking fussy showqheens. the kid made a mistake for fucks sake.

And will continue to do so, r82, unless corrected.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1962, "Isle of Children" opened at the Cort Theatre.

Here's Patty who's...

She kinda reminds me of Ben Wishaw in that pic r88.

Is that photo of Porter above showing him in his street clothes? Really?

Harvey also fails to mention losing his HAIRSPRAY role to Travolta.

Billy Porter or Cole Porter, r90?

I thought he did in reference to Estelle Getty, r91? And really, what else was there to say?

[quote]She kinda reminds me of Ben Wishaw in that pic [R88].

How much, r89? Like in...say...cousins? Identical cousins?

r84 thanks for the play and cock review. Just be glad JTF isn't nude. I still remember him and Lea Delaria in Greatest Story and my eyes haven't healed yet.

Word on "The Life" at ENCORES is just as written above. "shit show" is a common description around the Rialto this morning, and it apparently clocked in at 2 hours 45 minutes. Tonight the real audience will be there, and then the gossip will fly.

Too bad that few who post here actually go to any shows.

Another confirmation from friends who saw THE LIFE last night. Apparently there are lots of park-and-bark monologues teaching the audience about the brutal realities. I also heard Billy P. gave a curtain speech about how this is "my story" and "our story." Was he a sex worker??? Or a pimp?????

A lesbian.

[quote]Too bad that few who post here actually go to any shows.

and that would include...you...r97?

I wish we could assign each new show the spring to a different DLer for reports.

so what did Billy Porter do wrong to engender so much dislike? I feel it too but I'm not even sure why.

R102 Every time he opens his mouth, he reveals himself. And. It. Is. Awful.

No, r93, there's only one reference to Travolta, and it's how his Saturday Night Fever character embodied the Bendonhurst neighborhood where Harvey grew up. And considering Harvey's recounting of every slight he's ever received, it seems odd that he doesn't mention that he lost the role in the movie. Or maybe he wasn't even considered?

I believe he refers to knowing how Estelle felt losing her Broadway role in the movie version, r104. I think that's a nice, subtle way of dealing with it in the book. Really, what else would you have him say about it?

I'm so glad I've already seen Most Happy Fella twice. Now I don't feel any need to drive over 2 hours to sit through a production that is a) minimal (at best?) and b) woke beyond the story that the authors told.

The production at Goodspeed years ago was a delightful from start to finish. And the Encores! production was, except for Cheyenne Jackson (remember him/her?) . That man could not play straight hetero male AT ALL. God he was so bad...

Lana C. was too busy trying to get a restaging of that famous musical that originally couldn't make it.

This show looks horrible.

From the bored blonde in the ratty Korean wig, to the airy fairy falsetto, to the ear shattering vibrato to the hesitant choreography.

This show won’t last to the end of the year.

Harvey did get to do Edna from "Hairspray" on the live tv version, so there exists a document of his work in that Tony-winning role of his.

R106 Cheyenne sang the role pretty well. It's just that Shuler Hensley didn't really have a legit voice to do Tony justice.

filming "DON'T RAIN ON MY PARADE"

[quote]This show won’t last to the end of the year.

Sadly God is not a loving God.

My tastes are not popular tastes, I get that. The shows I love rarely run more than a few weeks and the ones I loathe stick around for years. But I have never, ever understood the success of Les Miz.

I can't stand Phantom or Wicked or Rent but I understand their appeal. And when my friends and family come to New York and rush to see them, I shrug and smile. But Les Miz? What the hell is the appeal? The music sounds like piano etudes. The lyrics, like bad Chinese back-translations of of Erich Segal. There is an inarguably good (though hardly great) story at the heart of it all, but it's nothing we haven't heard a million times before. In a generous mood you could call the characters archetypes. In a stingy mood, you could call them cliches. And yes, I've read the novel. The original staging was efficient; I'll give it that.

In the 90s, I got forced to see it over and over, mostly by actor friends who wanted me to see their big second act number. They were usually playing Eponine. God, why couldn't that bitch die in Act I? When the lights came up at the end, I'd be treated to the sight of 1,500 people with tears streaming down their faces and I'd be standing there confused. To this day, I still don't get what's so goddamned moving about that story. I cry at soup commercials. But three hours of that arpeggiated muzak never fails to bore and aggravate me.

Honest to God, I get why people like Starlight Express. Oooh, flashing lights! Roller skates! It's idiocy. But hey if you're an idiot, there's your musical. But Les Fucking Miz is a mystery to me.

On my first listen to the LP of "Les Miz" when it came, I could hear right away that it had some good melodies and some great vocal performances on the recording. Now, some people I'm perplexed by. There was someone who wrote in the comments on a review or PR piece about the Washington D.C. production of "She Loves Me" that the show hasn't any good melodies or songs. I mean, wtf! People may not know the melodies or songs of 'She Loves Me" going in, but I think one can (but not this person) tell that it has a lovely score and lyrics that move the show along splendidly. Of course, most other people commenting love the show. "Les Miz" does have some fine tunes in it, but it's possible some folks just don't like the subject matter or the mostly drab decor of the production as it's usually done.

when it came "out", that is

Why is everything awful this year? Hugh and Sutton are bringing in zillions of dollars but it’s a bad production. All the City Center Encore shows are shit shows. Doubt fire was awful. Beanie Feldstein is doing Lena Dunham as Funny Girl.

Everyone kept saying “We can’t wait for theatre to come back”

Maybe it shouldn’t have…

r84 is Ramos cut or uncut?

Hopefully they are all unshaved down there.

Tyler Lansing Weals is very cute. I hope he's got a big, or biggish, cock. And Julian Cihi, who played the main victim in "Only Murders in the Building," and is quite handsome, is also one of the guys.

I liked Travolta in the movie. Actually I liked the whole movie.

I feel bad for Beanie. Everyone has their claws out already and she has to work up against that dud of a book. It's too much for even the most seasoned Broadway pro. People say it's the ghost of Streisand that kept that show off Broadway for so long, but it's really the book. I think it's probably the main reason why no one wants to revive Mame. Great score, but that book is a stinker and painfully unfunny at times.

Don't feel sorry for Beanie. She believes this is her destiny.

Wasnt the book revised? Or was it minimal?

r116, Ramos was cut, I think.

r117, Weaks was average at best. The thing I found most memorable were his low-hanging balls.

Cihi is standing all the way stage right/house left during the shower scene. He kept his back angled away from the others, which may have been in character, so I couldn't see his front. I think only the people sitting extreme house left toward the front might have. But he looked great from behind and his torso looked great when he was shirtless in the locker room scene that followed.

Sorry, I meant r118, not r117.

Travolta makes zero case for Edna to be played by a man r119...and he looks mongoloid.

Have parts of the AUNTIE MAME stage script ever been added to productions of MAME? Would there be rights issues?

I agree I feel no sympathy for Beanie: she believes this is her anointed time and that HACK Michael Mayer has indulged this delusion.

There will be rave reviews in respectable papers for Beanie and this will create illusion that they pulled it off, but tickets will stop selling after the Tony debacle.

If FG closes fast maybe Beanie can play Toni in Most Happy Fella-identifying.

Are there no other Broadway directors for musicals alive? Why is Mayer getting all this fucking work? Apparently, he ruined Swept Away at Berkeley Rep as well.

[quote]Why is everything awful this year?

R15 because people are not being hired for skill/talent but to fill racial/gender/whatever quotas. Thus, the result is mediocrity.

I meant R115

It's been awful for awhile. Let's be real.

Michael Mayer = ultimate poseur

Mayer is the epitome of failing upward.

Can't wait to see this train wreck. Michael Mayer, et al? God help us. Poor Beanie.

Can't wait to see this train wreck. Michael Mayer, et al? Poor Beanie.

[quote] Travolta makes zero case for Edna to be played by a man r119 … and he looks mongoloid.

Obviously 119 disagrees with you.

And what “case” did Harvey make for Edna being played by a man?

He was a worthy successor to Divine, r137. Travolta...wasn't.

[quote]The production at Goodspeed years ago was a delightful from start to finish. And the Encores! production was, except for Cheyenne Jackson (remember him/her?) . That man could not play straight hetero male AT ALL. God he was so bad...

I've never thought Cheyenne came across as gay on stage, and you wouldn't have thought so either if you weren't so fixated on what you know of his private life. I thought he was excellent in "The Most Happy Fella." He was well cast, and he sang beautifully. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Cheyenne would have made a great Harold Hill. I’ve always loved his goofy sex appeal onstage.

Jackson was terrible in "Happy Fella". He can't really act on stage, and he just posed and sang, and it was painful to witness, compared to all the delightful performances surrounding him. It was embarrassing. Smartly, he hasn't been invited back to Broadway since. I think he's just doing schlock tv.

It's not just NYC theater. Since the end of January I've seen about 10 shows here in Seattle and all of them have been meh.

Everyone forgot how to produce a good play/musical.

Travolta said in the press that he made a point of playing Edna as a real woman. Well then, why not cast a woman? Divine and Harvey played her as a drag queen. It might not be PC, but that was the source of the humor.

It's not as if Travolta, Divine or Harvey are accomplished actors. There isn't much difference between drag/woman in their skillset.

Cheyenne Jackson has a beautiful voice and it was painful for him when he wasn’t nominated for a Tony for Xanadu. I think that was when he decided to leave Broadway for television.

Cheyenne was pretty fucking gay in XANADU. It was embarrassing.

Didn't he refuse to wear his short shorts when performing a number from Xanadu on daytime television?

Hearing the vile Billy Porter talk - boast! - about "reclaiming" The Life is so f-ing annoying. As if POSE was some sort of realistic drama. I was all over the area as soon as I turned 18 - Broadway was never all black drag queens and if businesses depended on their endlessly-broke asses every legal and illegal business on Christopher Street and Times Square would have shut down decades before the city (and aids) killed them.

Delusional Billy Porter so richly deserves his demise.

Finally if Encores has strayed so far from its original mission then it needs to judt stop, altogether. Imagine how bad Encores has become that one longs for the days of Judith Daykin and the smug Rob Fisher?

I also saw the original production of The Life. It was fabulous beyond belief - Lilias White was glorious. Bellamy Young was wonderful as the not-so-naive girl off the bus. The white narrator was perfectly fine - again Broadway had white sleaze bags too, they weren't all annoying black drag queens.

I always felt The Life was an admirable but flawed show. It would have been better had the black bartender (one of the only likeable characters) been the narrator instead of the creepy white guy. But there was plenty of good things in it, including that wonderful short but wide black hooker who almost stole the show from Lilias.

I hardly remember original production of The Life except that we dubbed it "Night of 1000 Cliches".

It really was the last, or near the last, of its kind r151. Until Broadway was saved by Lin-Manuel, after The Life it was mostly Disney schlock and overpriced Sondheim variations. (The exceptions being The Light In The Piazza and Grey Gardens.)

Any reports from The Life last night?

Go to ATC. One poster is calling it "maybe the death of Encores!" The Porter thing is 3 hours long!! The post is a well-written take-down of the production. Sounds worse than we thought.

The reports on BroadwayWorld make the one upthread sound mixed-positive.

In a fair world, this would be a nail in the coffin of Billy Porter's career, Lear DeBesonet's ascendancy and over-wokeness in general. In reality, it'll probably just be a speed bump in the middle one.

Does Patrick J. Adams go full frontal in TAKE ME OUT?

Oh I suspect something will have to change. The renewal rate during Covid must be horrendous.....when will they realize:

1) The "woke" don't show support by buying tickets. Never have, never will.

2) Those who buy tickets are ever more reluctant to venture out of the house.

3) And most importantly- which theatrical rightsholder will ruin their ever-more limited chances of success by letting ENCORES! destroy their asset?

Hmmmm.....let me think for a second about your last question, r157.

Wow, that photo shoot with Beanie Feldstein for NY Magazine is… something else. She looks, um, awful. No amount of lighting or fashion will change that.

Ugh, why do we have to deal with the marginally talented Hills?

I saw The Life on Broadway. It was a shit show cast with excellent talent. The actors did their best with the worst material.

A hooker’s ball? This is the upside of a musical about Times Square prostitution?

The show doesn’t work. They thought they were giving us a new Sweet Charity, but even Sweet Charity had its cringe moments.

[quote]Jackson was terrible in "Happy Fella". He can't really act on stage, and he just posed and sang, and it was painful to witness, compared to all the delightful performances surrounding him. It was embarrassing. Smartly, he hasn't been invited back to Broadway since. I think he's just doing schlock tv.

Errr. the whole point of that character, Joe, in "Happy Fella" is that he's supposed to be a superficial pretty boy with no depth. Jackson's acting in the role was fine, and he sang it very well. His other Broadway roles, in "Xanadu," "Finian's Rainbow," and that flop about porn actors, required nothing more of him than he be charming, funny, and good looking. I have no idea if he could handle a heavier, meatier acting role -- and neither do you.

The ATC post about " The Life":

I wouldn’t have thought it possible in this time, where many are feeling kindly towards theater getting back on its feet, for a show to have worse word of mouth and more ill will out of the gate than The Tap Dance Kid… but this 3-hour production of “The Life”, one which proudly, from the director’s mouth, stripped all the humor from the show, and rewrote the orchestrations so that Cy Coleman no longer sounds like Cy Coleman, seems to have done the trick.

It’s not merely anecdotal either- aside from the people who tried to warn me away after the invited dress (“spare yourself the time and the agony”), aside from the hordes leaving at intermission of the 3-hour show (with a 90-minute first act), aside from the mostly scathing reviews on the other board.. and it really is as bad as all that- it also has one of the lowest ratings I’ve seen on the audience-based Show-Score website… lower than any show on Broadway, and lower than any other currently running show I could find except for “Perfect Crime”. (Multiple reviews use the words “excruciating” and “indulgent”, and one of the more charitable ones calls it “Porterized”.).

This whole new mission was probably clearly a mistake, but maybe it could’ve been implemented better with surer hands, other initial choices of shows and directors, or a different artistic director… but even if they had possibly more intriguing options such as, say, Lila Neugebauer reinventing “Chess”, Liesl Tommy doing “Jelly’s Last Jam”, or Sergio Trujillo finally showing NYC what “The Mambo Kings” would’ve been like – who thought it was a good idea to make such a drastic change coming out of the pandemic, when after years of not spending discretionary income on theater, people are being choosier than ever about what they see?

As far as I know they didn’t commit to this lineup until last spring, so they should’ve reversed course and done a variation of their usual - if not “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “Love Life” with (so-called) non-traditional casting, then maybe a slightly different take on a Gershwin, a Cole Porter, and maybe a Jerry Herman or Kander & Ebb. Those would’ve been easier sells, they would’ve sat better with the long-time subscribers, and they wouldn’t have turned off the new younger audiences as well as the old.

As it now stands, after this disaster and the shambles this season has been - and regardless of how professional and/or traditional “Into the Woods” might be, well-cast as it is - unless City Center does a huge mea culpa and basically says “We made a mistake” (“Our hearts were in the right place but we did too much too soon at the wrong time, and implemented it poorly”)… who in the WORLD is going to resubscribe for another season of this, at subscription prices that average between $300-$400?

[quote]Imagine how bad Encores has become that one longs for the days of Judith Daykin and the smug Rob Fisher?

Why do you praise the quality of the shows under their aegis and then say nasty things about them? Isn't the quality of the shows the only thing that matters? What a weird, bitchy statement. And by the way, it is a statement, not a question, so your punctuation is wrong.

Review

[quote]This whole new mission was probably clearly a mistake, but maybe it could’ve been implemented better with surer hands, other initial choices of shows and directors, or a different artistic director… but even if they had possibly more intriguing options such as, say, Lila Neugebauer reinventing “Chess”, Liesl Tommy doing “Jelly’s Last Jam”, or Sergio Trujillo finally showing NYC what “The Mambo Kings” would’ve been like – who thought it was a good idea to make such a drastic change coming out of the pandemic, when after years of not spending discretionary income on theater, people are being choosier than ever about what they see?

Excellent question, with no reasonable answer.

Lmao. Oh please. Bitches will still subscribe to Encores. An awful shit show has never stopped y'all before. Anyway, is there anyone looking forward to the Funny Girl sdtk with Beans and Ramen?

[quote]Bitches will still subscribe to Encores. An awful shit show has never stopped y'all before.

They MIGHT still subscribe if they thought "The Life" was an aberration, but there's nothing to indicate that this is so. All signs point to more of the same, with maybe an occasional exception.

r156, yes.

Can you imagine, r166? What with the camera adding 10 lbs and all.

R169 There's no camera kid. It's on stage.

Oh please r163. Which of the 2 do you have an association with r163? Daykin or Fisher?

I will say both absolutely cared about the Encores mission and did tremendous work....but it does not make them perfect people. (Come on, at least agree Rob acted like he wrote the scores.)

The entire concept this season is completely misguided, and what will be the most interesting is seeing the New York Times review. I doubt if it will be as fair and honest as the above ATC post.

Yawn. I hope they keep the cunnilingus number.

I wish this DANCIN' revival was using the original Willa Kim costume designs which were so much a part of the (small) pleasures of the show.

Oh, some of Cheyanne's "Forum" freaks have come on here to defend his "talents." In "Most Happy"...Joe does not just stand there and look pretty. He's meant to be a sort of tortured user, a lost boy who presents one thing and lives another. It's a rich, nuanced part and Jackson was laughably bad. I heard a woman next to me say "Was he told to just stand there and stare all night?"

What did Judith Daykin do wrong re Encores?

I miss the early days of tuxed and gowned performers with their scripts in hand and a true and honest emphasis on the original scores and orchestrations. And the cut down librettos.

My favorite Encores! production will forever be the joyful No, No Nannette. Even Rosie was good.

Next up at Encores:

Tony and Tina’s Wedding

Tony, a non-binary, mixed race, atheist transsexual decides to marry his lovable poodle, Tina.

Sparks fly when the two families meet at the wedding! Audience participation is encouraged for the reception which will be catered by “All Creatures Love Tofu”.

[quote]Oh please [R163]. Which of the 2 do you have an association with [R163]? Daykin or Fisher? I will say both absolutely cared about the Encores mission and did tremendous work....but it does not make them perfect people. (Come on, at least agree Rob acted like he wrote the scores.)

I have no connection to either of them, but you seem to have something deeply personal against them, because you praise their "tremendous work" but you keep dissing them because apparently you don't like their personalities. How well do you know these people? And can you point to anything Rob Fisher ever said to support your ridiculous statement that he "acted like he wrote the scores?" P.S. I never said that either Daykin or Fisher are "perfect people," so you really pulled that comment out of your ass.

Let’s acknowledge that Encores was way ahead of the woke wave. For Lil Abner, they cast Lea Delaria in a traditional man’s role.

[quote]Oh, some of Cheyanne's "Forum" freaks have come on here to defend his "talents." In "Most Happy"...Joe does not just stand there and look pretty. He's meant to be a sort of tortured user, a lost boy who presents one thing and lives another. It's a rich, nuanced part and Jackson was laughably bad. I heard a woman next to me say "Was he told to just stand there and stare all night?"

I'm not a member of the Forum, and in fact I have a tremendous hatred for cults like that. You may not be a cult member, but you seem to be a jealous, angry, loathsome piece of work. Your description of Joe in "Happy Fella" is totally off the mark -- he's not "tortured" at all, quite the opposite, more of a happy-go-lucky, irresponsible pretty boy who just goes through life doing whatever makes him feel good. You're just making shit up to justify your irrational hatred of Cheyenne Jackson, who despite his unfortunate mental/emotional issues is and was a very talented person.

Clearly Cheyenne needs his boyfriend here.

Don't know if Rob Fisher is a jerk, but he's the best conductor Encores! ever had.

What are/were Cheyenne's "mental/emotional issues"?

He's a middle aged gay man. What do you think?

Next up for the "MeToo" era -- casting non-talented people as opposed to talented. Hey, everyone deserves a chance on stage, whether they are suited for the stage or not. Try telling that to Bliss what'sher-name diversity person over at Equity.

Good Lord, look at how the posts vanish when you block r163, aka the vindictive bitch who keep scolding posters with an opinion (both mine and others.) Let me go unblock him now to see his diarrhea-like reaction to this post!

^^^I love it! Call that bitch out!

Those reviews couldn't happen to a more deserving non-talent! Congrats, BP!

[quote] Don't know if Rob Fisher is a jerk, but he's the best conductor Encores! ever had.

Rob was good with the ballads, but he really couldn’t swing. He was a bit timid with tempos. I don’t know whether he was always like that or adjusted tempo due to low rehearsal time and actors carrying scripts.

How is Ledisi in The Life?

[Quote] casting non-talented people as opposed to talented.

[quote]What are/were Cheyenne's "mental/emotional issues"?

He seemed to be having a really nice career on Broadway, with some good work on TV and in film as well. Then he broke up with his long-time partner, who apparently is a really nice guy and was a stabilizing influence. Then Cheyenne hooked up with someone who's deeply involved with the Landmark Forum, a notorious cult often referred to as "Scientology light." Then Cheyenne got most of his body covered with hideous tattoos, which is an absolutely idiotic thing for any actor to do, especially one who might be expected to frequently bare his arms and/or his torso. And then, just a few years later, he went through the tremendous pain and expense of having those tatts removed, because he belatedly realized they were hurting his career.

Those sure sound like mental/emotional issues to me. And I'm sorry to say that, because at heart, he always seemed like a good person.

Are we pretending there wasn't an OD situation back in the Altar Boyz dayz?

[Quote] because at heart, he always seemed like a good person.

Gay men always say this about their pin ups.

there were rumors of sex parties at all shook up

Haah. ^^^Right! They don't know that motherfcker from a can of paint.

Didn't Paul Downs Kaletchup write "Cheyenne" into one of his play? I remember Downs in a dance belt as part of skit with Nathan Lane. I guess it was Xanadu era.

*plays

Actually, R196, I do (or did) know him, at least a little bit. So piss off.

Are you Tyler Maynard?

R199 I'm sure he's awaiting your calls! Haha. Maybe we can all do lunch sometime?

R186, the problem with your opinion is not that I disagree with it, but that it's nonsensical. You yourself say that Daykin and Fisher did excellent work with Encores!, but in the next breath you run them down for no good reason other than your lame-brained statement that Fisher "acted like he wrote those scores." There's no value at all in ridiculous posts like that.

^^^IDIOT ALERT. May even be British!

I wonder if there are grownups heading the Encores board who can jettison Lear and the new mission. If not, I'm afraid Encores is doomed. Even the lousy productions (70 Girls 70, DuBarry Was A Lady, Irma La Douce) had their moments. But Tap Dance Kid was one of the biggest duds so far, and this new production of The Life sounds like a total misfire. Encores and "woke" just do not go together. If someone wants to mount a company to rewrite problematic (to today's delicate sensibilities) musicals, go for it. But leave Encores out of it.

It a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPERMAN was a lot of fun.

Crazy ass Tonya Pinkins will be the guest tomorrow afternoon on soap guy Alan Locher’s YouTube channel. I assume she’ll be talking mostly about her days on All My Children and As the World Turns but you never know.

Just so the record shows, R202 Is the same poster going to bat for Cheyenne because he "knows" him or "did". He's the same one who said Cheyenne didn't come across as gay on stage too! 😂 My sides! Also, he's in love with the new WSS film and is ferociously defending it all over that thread. Haha. He couldn't even tell the movie had CGI! What does THAT tell you! Haha. Get your vision and senses check baby!

I want to know who was the idiot who thought Billy Porter had the talent to rewrite and direct a show. Anyone who has ever worked with him could relay that he's a talented actor (he has pretty much destroyed his voice) but there's no way he has the skill and intelligence and experience to direct or write a musical -- especially in 12 days. He worked with Sampliner on that gospel Sondheim show they tried out in Philly a few years ago, so its no surprise he was involved. But no one, at any point, thought - 'wait, this is too much for anyone, much less him?"

I think any series that aggressively tried to rewrite, re-conceive, and recast old musicals to make them "woke" is doomed to failure. Some people seem to feel that this new direction for Encores! would somehow be acceptable if the name of the series was changed, but I don't think that's true, although I will admit that the retention of the Encores! name does rankle.

Cheyenne's performance on the Hotel season of American Horror Story tells you how he handles heavier material...

NY times's review of The LIfe

AND R202 is also R163 that R186 speaks of. It all makes sense! Haha.

[quote] explainy back stories, ham-handed editorializing and numbing lectures

[quote] Sampliner’s formulaic R&B- and funk-inflected orchestrations and arrangements undermine the score’s idiosyncrasies.

[qupte] It’s clear that the series is moving into a new phase, but for many of us longtime fans, it’s also a little sad to lose such a unique showcase.

[quote] For better or for worse — mostly for worse here — Regietheater, the German practice of radically reinterpreting a play, musical or opera, has come to Encores.

[quote] Hopper, who sings in a velvety bass-baritone, has such uncanny abs that for a moment I wondered whether the show was somehow using live CGI.

In regard to R207's post calling me out, can someone be kind enough to explain to me how he or anyone else can identify that certain posts were all made by the same person? I don't know how to do that. Does it have something to do with the f/f icon?

I'm sticking to my opinion that Cheyenne Jackson did not come across as gay in any of his Broadway shows, and I don't think the putz at R207 etc. would have felt that way either if Cheyenne weren't openly gay. Also, I said I knew Cheyenne on a personal level "just a little," which I'm sure is a lot more than this dickwad does or did.

Oh, and based on the reviews, comments online, and award nominations, it sure seems to me that A LOT of people love the new "West Side Story" movie.

^^^Fucking IDIOT. I'm dead. ☠️☠️☠️ And you have the nerve to call other people on here idiots. You're scum.

r214 you block the person (as I'm about to do to you and r215) and then you see all the posts from the person you've blocked. Now you two cut it the fuck out.

It seems like whenever there's a sure flop opening on Broadway, the NY Times sends Elizabeth Vincentelli to pan it. Was their lead critic Jesse Green too busy?

R216 Look at you now getting your panties in a wet bunch! Nobody cares who you're blocking Karen. STFU. haha.

Girls, you're both fat whores!

That NY Times review is delicious. Fuck you, Billy.

Will he? He will probably adore the martyrdom.

If there is an Encores audience talk-back (or whatever it’s calle) for The Life, I hope someone berates Lear for the new direction. Bring back Jack! At least he loved old musicals.

Encores hasn’t been right since Judith Daykin left. Say what you want about the old dyke, but she knew how to produce a show.

Revered Ukrainian stage actress killed in rocket attacks:

By the way, I know the theatre gossip threads are now a welcome reprieve from the Russia/Ukraine threads but I just thought I'd give this lady some props by posting her obit here. May she RIP.

She had a movie star face.

R224 Was she a Phyllis, or a Sally?

With a last name like Shvets, she was a Shutta.

Lear de Bessonet should be drawn and quartered, the talent-free woke hack.

She looked a bit like Melina Mercouri in her prime. Watched "Never on Sunday" the other day; fun film, I can see why they tried to musicalize it as "Illya, Darling!" with Mercouri. But I don't know why they called the film "Never On Sunday" -- granted she hosted parties on Sunday, but I didn't see in subtitles (when they were speaking Greek) any reference to her taking off her turning tricks on Sunday.

Sunday is a day of rest for most, hence the title.

Did anyone see the musical -- or know about its reception - back in the day?

Blame the bad song not Barbara, r191. Her range didn't exceed dumb blond, but she stayed in her lane and was always fun to watch.

Jesus, r207, seek professional help.

Posted this on many DL threads over the years, but I saw Never on Sunday when I was a teenager and had started taking the bus into NY to see Broadway shows. It was the first musical that made me realize they weren't all wonderful. I hated it!

But this was after a year or 2 of Oliver!, Hello, Dolly, Funny Girl, Mame, Sweet Charity and even Golden Boy, On a Clear Day....and Baker Street! I didn't get Melina Mercouri's charms at all.

I did, r231. Out of town in Detroit. It was all about Mercouri, everything created to display her easy sexuality. It was one of those well-made, slick Bway musicals of the era. Pleasant music, excellent choreography (Onna White), great orchestrations (Ralph Burns). Just nothing memorable or first-class, except Mercouri. And the movie had been a big hit, so it had a built-in appeal.

I wonder what the literal translation of the Never On Sunday song is. In the movie and stage show it was sung in Greek.

But how was Orson Bean? Yes, Mary! (It is DL after all)

I hated Orson in the show, too, r236.

Much preferred his appearances on To Tell the Truth.

Agree that Bean was a downer, but I've never liked him very much. And it's a thankless role—whining, pedantic, and not interested in fucking MM.

Jules Dassin is kind of a ineffectual jerk in the movie, too, but he did direct it, so it is the role, too.

Orson is fun on the OCR of "Subways Are For Sleeping" though.

Sure, but did he fuck Phyllis Newman in the shitter?

Not while I'm around, r241.

Thd real asshole is Matt the Fatt, aka the Loon. He’s the one with the hair trigger temper, who keeps trashing people. Of course. He’s mentally ill, but that doesn’t make him any more appealing. He’s been a blot on DL, and often these theatre gossip threads specifically, for five or six years.

THE LIFE at Encores has gotten some of the harshest theatre chat room chatter that I've ever read since the Internet was invented.

Talkin' Broadway loves it.

I can’t imagine that the Encores board wouldn’t be doing some real soul-searching after the horrible reception Queen Lear’s first two shows have gotten. How did she wind up getting the AD job anyway?

And the ironic thing is Lear is the whitest young white woman in NY.

Lear de B. directed WORKING at Encores Off-Center a couple of years back, which was pretty dreadful. She really has no taste and little judgement.

SEND LEAR TO RUSSIA, PRONTO!

[quote] Sure, but did he fuck Phyllis Newman in the shitter?

If he didn’t, he must have been the only one in the cast who DIDN’T get inside Manhattan’s busiest bunghole.

[quote]THE LIFE at Encores has gotten some of the harshest theatre chat room chatter that I've ever read since the Internet was invented.

Quite the accomplishment, when you think about it!

[quote]Talkin' Broadway loves it.

I think, in this instance, I trust the New York Times review a bit more.

ATC does not. Even SingaporeFuckin'/Fling thinks Lear will be fired soon.

Talkin’ Broadway doesn’t have real reviews. It’s just fan girls squealing

Billy Porter is probably reading the reviews and blaming everyone but his own direction and concepts.

He isn’t someone who typically self reflects

Billy Porter needs to take this as a sign to get off Broadway and to get to work on getting his Oscar!

Gurl can't get an EGOT without it!

R197, Nathan Lane and Cheyenne were part of a video series during a long-ago Tony Award season when Xanadu was in the running. The series about Cubby Bernstein (who was an agent? public relations guy?) was very clever

I love Nathan Lane and he's great in this. And Cheyenne is indeed beautiful to see.

Wow it seems like the Lear hate here runs deeper and older the encores. I admit I barely know of her but it sounds like she’s been disliked a long time here.

i'm guessing that Porter will declare that he never reads reviews.

Saw the first act of THE LIFE last night. (Would have stayed but I was starting to get claustrophobic in the mask.) It wasn't good, but it wasn't the worst thing I've seen at Encores. I thought Porter did a pretty good job as director, and had he done the original script as written with the original orchestrations, he would have been lauded for it. However, he should be shot for the rewrites. Awful. The show just meanders, no pacing, because there's no forward movement. And the preaching! Oy. But also, the new orchestrations make every song sound EXACTLY the same. And beyond that, there's no joy in it. Some fine performances, though the guy playing Memphis sang completely off pitch. And the trans actress' singing was a little underpowered. The whole thing makes me sad, as I loved the Encore series. Nothing lasts forever...

You're not serious, r250--Phyllis Newman??

I saw the original The Life and it was so much fun!

It was tongue-in-cheek, joyful, and silly. We all knew it wasn't some deep work but provided great entertainment.

Sad to see it getting such terrible reviews at Encores.

It's because they aren't doing the "The Life" as it was originally written.

The Assassins CSC cast album is available digitally today but isn’t on Apple Music/iTunes? WTF?

I had the ILLYA, DARLING! LP back in the day..... I loved the first side that had the Medea Tango, the title song and especially I'll Never Lay Down Anymore.

The second side was awful......I probably only played it twice. I used to love lip synching to this song as a young gayling in family room - when no one else was home, of course.

Didn't Sondheim have some connection to this production?

Sondheim wrote the opening number. I actually saw the show. It was fun and Mercouri was great. And Despo was wonderful doing the above song. It was my favorite thing in the show, but what did I know? I was 14.

Happy birthday to Johnny Kander! Why doesn't he get the same kind of celebrations that Sondheim does?

How did it happen that Sondheim wrote a number, r267?

Sondheim was brought in to add some material, none of which ended up in the show.

Thanks, r270 (267?)

If I recall it rightly, the story Sondheim tells is that he wrote new lyrics for Piraeus My Love. Mercouri liked them, sang them and received Sondheim in her dressing room after the performance.

So far, so good. But after a night or two, she went back to the old lyrics. Sondheim asked Jules Dassin, the director and husband of Mercouri, why, and rather than say it straight out, Dassin told him to ask Mercouri.

So Sondheim did, and she said she dropped his lyrics because he came to pay court to her only once. He just shrugged and went home (to NY, from Detroit).

In other words, this stupid bitch didn't care about the show, only about being worshiped.

I saw illya, D in Philadelphia, and though it was terrible there were good things in it. By the time it got to NY, everything that was good was gone.

Great story.

[quote] Ilya, Darling

So it's come to this.

Anyone who doesn't love my show is a racist homophobe and doesn't understand my genius.

So that would be everyone then, Billy?

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall has taken over where the blacktress dropped the ball. She is now Royal Patron to The National Theatre.

First production: a revival of Same Time, Next Year!

Meh.

I love the recording of ILLYA, DARLING. Very tuneful. A guilty pleasure. Wish I had seen it.

There’s a really pretty ballad in Illya, Darling called “After Love.”

And ILLYA, DARLING is the first Broadway show to have a WOMAN conducting the orchestra....Lehman Engel who conducted the show out of town was asked what it was about and he said something about "a cross eyed Turkish prostitute" and he got the boot. And Karen Gustafson got the nod......

Melina M doing two numbers from ID on the Sullivan Show w.7

[quote] And ILLYA, DARLING is the first Broadway show to have a WOMAN conducting the orchestra.

No it wasn’t. Liza Redfield took over as the conductor of The Music Man on July 4, 1960. She had several more shows to her credit before Karen Gustafson took over ID. (Liza even appeared on an episode of Whatz’s My Line!)

Liza Redfield, Broadway’s First female conductor, on What’s My Line? (She’s the first guest)

If anyone really cares.

So…. (1) Sutton

(2) Beanie

(3) Katrina

(4) Sharon

Is this the first time at least 4 of the 5 nominees are for revivals?

Joaquina?

Jenna?

I’m not usually a Sutton fan, but she and Winthrop are the best parts of the Music Man revival. I wasn’t crazy about the lowered keys for her, but she gave a fun and lively performance.

[quote] It wasn't good, but it wasn't the worst thing I've seen at Encores.

You wrote that about THE LIFE, and then almost everything you wrote after it makes the show sound absolutely terrible. So, what WAS the worst thing you've seen at Encores! My answer would be THE TAP DANCE KID, but I guess there are a few other possibilities.

Tony Awards Sets Cut-Off Date, plus other determinations made today:

* The projection designers for both Flying Over Sunset (59 Productions) and MJ (Peter Nigrini) will be considered jointly eligible with their scenic designers (Beowulf Boritt, Derek McLane, respectively) in the Best Scenic Design of a Musical category;

* Patti LuPone will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical category for her performance in Company (the ruling leaves Katrina Lenk for the Leading Actress slot);

* Rob McClure and Jenn Gambatese will be considered eligible in the leading performance categories for Mrs. Doubtfire;

* Harry Hadden-Paton, Tony Yazbeck and Carmen Cusack will be considered eligible in the leading performance/musical categories for Flying Over Sunset;

* Myles Frost will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical category for his performance in MJ (Frost portrays the adult Michael Jackson, while other actors play Jackson as a child and as a young man);

* Sutton Foster will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical category for her performance in The Music Man.

r283, you are correct. Gustafson conducted SOPHIE in 1963. Briefly, because it closed almost right after opening night.

Gotta love Onna White's choreography In ILYA.

Liza took over as conductor for The Music Man and Karen was conductor on the Broadway opening night for ID, and someone else mentioned another show she was the conductor of in 1963.....so I guess it's a matter of semantics. I don't know if Liza opened a show on Broadway as the conductor.....but I'm sure you can let me know.

ANYWAY thanks for that clip R282 - I wish I had seen that before doing my own choreography in the family room. And of course both of those songs are on the first side of the LP.

Released by United Artists records - just like all of Patty Duke's records.

Sharon should not be nominated. She consistently sang flat. Meh.

Liza Redfield was also the conductor of DL fave CHARLIE AND ALGERNON.

I'm from NC originally and have never considered West Virginia a Southern state because of the way it came into being.

When Virginia seceded from the United States to join the Confederacy, its northwest counties seceded from Virginia to form their own state so that they could continue to be allied with the Union. It was never a part of the traditional southern states.

^ Sorry, obviously wrong thread.

[quote]Sutton Foster will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical category for her performance in The Music Man.

And yet I won a crummy featured actress in a musical Tony for creating the role. My only Tony, I might add.

I think Sutton will win. Everyone will have forgotten Sharon Clark's performance by June.

[quote] Sutton Foster will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical category for her performance in The Music Man.

Why is this even under consideration? Is it because Hugh forced her name under the title?

She got better reviews than he did, so I guess it's a matter of suck it, Hugh!

Sutton is the closest to the " sure thing" of the season.

No problem^

Yul Brynner won his Tony for Best Supporting as The King but an Oscar for Best Actor for the film.

Back in the day, your name had to be above title or you had to be a star to get in the Leading category.

Tom Bosley was put in Featured for playing Fiorello.

Tammy Grimes was put in Featured for The Unsinkable Molly Brown

And back in the days r305 mentions there were many more shows opening in a season to fill out all the categories very nicely. So actors like Bosley and Grimes weren't really even needed to complete the Best Actor/Actress categories.

But just to show how wacky it was back then, Gwen Verdon tied with Thelma Ritter (also billed above the title) for Best Actress in New Girl in Town even though Thelma's character Marthy would be the very definition of a supporting role.

[quote] Sharon should not be nominated.

Whom would you nominate instead?

Sharon will win.

I would love to see Beanie shut out.

Flings, r306...

Just watched the American Experience on Annie Oakley (narrated by Laura Linney). Such an interesting woman. Annie Get Your Gun is such a cartoon.

[quote]Why is this even under consideration? Is it because Hugh forced her name under the title?

I don't know if he "forced" her name under the title, but her name IS under the title, so she would normally be considered a featured actress unless otherwise determined.

[quote]Yul Brynner won his Tony for Best Supporting as The King but an Oscar for Best Actor for the film.

And I think Viola Davis did the opposite -- she won leading actress at the Tonys for "Fences" but supporting actress at the Oscars for the same role.

Actually, r293, it’s not just “semantics.” Whoever credited Karen Gustafson as the conductor of Sophie was wrong. The Sophie conductor was - you guessed it, Liza Redfield. So she took over a major musical hit (The Music Man) mid-run, and she was the conductor on opening night of Sophie in 1963. When it comes to breaking that particular glass ceiling, Ms. Redfield got there first.

Wow, just back from The Life. Every bit as dreadful as reported. Preachy and awful sound and tepid audience response except for “The Oldest Profession.” The worst Encores production by far.

[quote] And I think Viola Davis did the opposite -- she won leading actress at the Tonys for "Fences" but supporting actress at the Oscars for the same role.

It's clearly a supporting role. And Mary Alice won the Featured Tony for the original production.

Was Linda Lavin nominated for New Girl in Town?

" The Life" seems like a musical version of " Slave Play." The audience watches the director's masturbation for a few hours, then leaves disappointed that there was not a satisfying ending, but no one wants more.

I would not love to see Beanie shit out.

R313 And Mary Alice was still one of the greatest performances I ever saw doing that role in "Fences" in the original production!

I wonder if The Life will transfer to Broadway?

[quote] I would love to see Beanie shut out.

r309 that's pretty harsh even by DL standards. Why?

R322, because he doesn’t belong anywhere near that role

Beanie will win the Tony. I’m calling it now.

[Quote] Tammy Grimes was put in Featured for The Unsinkable Molly Brown

Good.

If Beanie wins the Tony then the Tony has no standards.

Too late.

Thanks, R314, I am reproved.

And of course William Daniels refused a Tony nomination for Featured Actor In A Musical for 1776......so for his ego when his death is announced instead of the headline:

Tony Award Winning Actor William Daniels Succumbs

It will read:

William Daniels, Voice of Kitt, Kicks the Bucket

R328, no it will be " Mr. Feeney Meets The Underworld."

Some theater greats go nuclear...

R322 is the fraulein Karen in love with Beanie. Do you know what site you are on?

No r331 I'm just not an idiot. Any of you bitches talking about Beanie and the Tony now are ridiculous. Let's at least wait for the first few minutes of the first dress rehearsal to trash her performance.

R332 I repeat, do you know what site you are on? This isn't kumbaya Mother Theresa.

SingaporeSling on ATC has the most ass-kissing, hilarious defense of "The Life", including using words like "dude" to attempt to appear young. It only makes him look inane.

Jesus, r334, his "writing"...

For everything Billy Porter does to the show - and Oh, Lord, he does a lot - he succeeds where the original couldn’t, fashioning a mostly cohesive vision of “The Life” as a stylish, sexy, thoroughly campy and always audacious melodrama with a Blacksploitation pulse and stank for days.

*

For a few days, “The Life” has found some life, as glorious as it is bizarre, a bumpy ride whose highs make the lows so down sweeter, with a shattering star turn that reminds us why theater exists in the first place: so we can witness human excellence and shout to the gods that something unforgettable just passed before our eyes.

[quote] [R309] that's pretty harsh even by DL standards. Why?

Because if she gets a nomination, it will purely be for her name value to Broadway and the ceremony (whatever that might bring, as I am still not convinced she's as famous and popular as her publicists would like us to think). I'm not in Hunter Foster/Cuddles Cody territory of hating movie people who come in to "slum" on Broadway for a few weeks and grab awards (Scarlett J, anyone?) but you must admit that the Tony nominating committee has in the past given out some pretty undeserved accolades in order to add some hoped for viewership to the ceremony. (Guess what, it never helps.)

As for not having seen Beanie's performance yet- Yes, you're correct. However, we know she's completely wrong for the role physically. We've heard her sing on many occasions and she's completely not right vocally for the role. And while I have seen her give some moderately decent film performances, I have also seen her be monstrously awful onstage. She was so fucking terrible in the Dolly revival that I wanted to walk up onstage and shove her into the pit. And it was my first time ever seeing her so I had no preconceived notions. I just kept thinking- Who is this awful girl who can't act for shit? I audibly groaned every time she took the stage because I knew what was coming.

Could she surprise us- sure. Anything is possible. But I think most of us on here have seen enough shows to be able to suss out when something is or isn't going to work. And we're usually correct. And it sucks, because deep down, we love theater and we want to go and enjoy it. I spend a lot of money seeing shows every year and I usually come away underwhelmed, but obviously I go in hoping to be entertained, otherwise I'd be a complete idiot to throw that much money away. But this production I'm staying far away from.

but you must remember that her performance - and for that matter - your opinion don't exist in a vacuum and the category is about this season's best performances so who would get nominated instead?

[quote]But this production I'm staying far away from.

How ever will we fill that seat?

Asshole at R338, I didn't say it as a "fuck you" to the producers. I just said it wasn't something I was interested in taking a chance on with my money.

[quote] but you must remember that her performance - and for that matter - your opinion don't exist in a vacuum and the category is about this season's best performances so who would get nominated instead?

If you're saying that she might be nominated just to round out the category (no but intended, but...), yes that's entirely possible, but I believe there are enough other people eligible that she's not a guaranteed shoo-in due to lack of selection. But this is one of the reasons I hate that they expanded the categories from 4-5 nominees. Four is just right for the Tonys. Not only is it tradition, but it's not like there are dozens of nominees to select from. (Of course, had the categories not expanded, then Brandon Uranowitz would never have been nominated for a Tony, let alone three.)

[quote] I believe there are enough other people eligible

But who?

They've been named and discussed in several other posts on this and previous threads. Sharon Clarke, Sutton Foster, Katrina Lenk, the chick from Paradise Square whose name escapes me, the gal from Diana, Jenn Gambatese, Carmen Cusack, and I'm not sure whether they are making it eligible for this season (I assume so) or what category she'll be in, but if lead, then Mare Winningham for Girl from North Country.

So that's 7-8 potential nominees outside of the Bean.

Ok I guess we will see. It would be quite a slap for someone like Gambatese to get the nod over the Beandita but hers is the only performance we haven't seen.

Didn’t see that one coming.

Don't forget, Barbra didn't win the Tony.

R336 speaks (or rather, writes) nothing but truth, and aside from everything else, I'm so glad that he (or she) came right out and stated flatly how unbearable Beanie was in "Hello, Dolly!" I'm sure Jerry Zaks aided and abetted that cringe-worthy performance by allowing or encouraging her to scream most of her lines and to add all of that incredibly annoying fake laughter, but of course, the actress herself bears at least some responsibility for it.

To me, Beanie is one of those people we're predisposed to despise from the get-go because (a) her first name is so ridiculous, and (b) we all know she's in show business mostly because of her family connections. Add the fact that she's very minimally talented, and all the intense negativity towards her is completely understandable, as far as I'm concerned.

So let me get this straight- Slave Play was the highest grossing play in Mark Taper history, but they gave away 5000 tickets? The total capacity for 40 shows in that theater is 29.5K seats. So they "gave away" 1/6 of the total tickets available and yet it grossed more than any other show? I call bullshit from the highest mountaintop.

For the record, for years I thought Cheyenne Jackson was straight. First time he hit my radar was in ALL SHOOK UP, and he didn't ping at all in that. At least not to me or anyone with me. I was delighted to discover he is gay, cause he's sexy. At least he was before drugs and tattoos and Landmark hit him.

Sharon likely has the Tony wrapped up before some of these other shows even open. Does anyone really think Sutton will win her third before Sharon wins for Caroline, or Change? Or that Beanie is going to be all that impressive? If the lass from Slave Play gets nominated for the Garth D. show, maybe those two will divide the votes and someone else will win, but she might be fantastic in it and get all the votes anyway. Sharon's performance was superb, and very different from what we'd seen earlier by the loony-but-talented Pinkins.

[quote] "Slave Play," the most Tony Award-nominated play in history

Have to love how they keep counting this and leaving out that it won ZERO

They should change his name to Jeremy Z Harris

[quote]For the record, for years I thought Cheyenne Jackson was straight. First time he hit my radar was in ALL SHOOK UP, and he didn't ping at all in that. At least not to me or anyone with me. I was delighted to discover he is gay, cause he's sexy. At least he was before drugs and tattoos and Landmark hit him.

Exactly. Nevertheless, the unhinged individual who darkened this thread earlier will keep insisting that Cheyenne is OBVIOUSLY GAY when he performs on stage, and that anyone who says otherwise is a Landmark member defending him.

Ironic if Beanie wins the Tony for the role that Barbra didn’t win for

[quote] Sharon likely has the Tony wrapped up before some of these other shows even open. Does anyone really think Sutton will win her third before Sharon wins for Caroline, or Change?

Did anyone think Audra would win 6 Tonys, most of which were undeserved?

[quote] Ironic if Beanie wins the Tony for the role that Barbra didn’t win for

Not really. Merman didn't win for Gypsy, arguably her signature role, yet the role has won Tonys for 3 of the 4 women who performed it in revivals.

Wasn’t “Girl from the North Country” included in the awards they had last September?

No, it was in that same no man's land as West Side Story in that it had opened, but not enough people had been able to see it before Covid shut everything down, so they deemed it ineligible.

Tonys are way out of line and also a matter of some fortuitous (or very little) competition in certain years when (many times lucky with little competition) Audra has 6 Tonys while Mary Martin and Ethel Merman have 2 each, Barbara Cook has 1 (in featured!), Barbra Streisand only a honorary, and while Marin Mazzie, Rebecca Luker and Julie Andrews have none.

R346, you forgot c)she ‘s FAT and playing a real-life person who was not fat, in a role created by a star who was not fat, either.

As if any of it matters. Streisand didn't play Fanny Brice, a recognizable performer at the time of the original show.

R353, and Bernadette SHOULD have won it for her Rose.

[quote] and Bernadette SHOULD have won it for her Rose.

Completely agree. But every time I mention how undeserving Winokur was on here, I get yelled at.

And Barbra WILL win for her Rose.

[quote] Ironic if Beanie wins the Tony for the role that Barbra didn’t win for

[quote] Not really. Merman didn't win for Gypsy, arguably her signature role, yet the role has won Tonys for 3 of the 4 women who performed it in revivals.

That makes it not unusual but not unironic

Bernadette is famously inconsistent. She is to blame for any of her award losses.

Only during previews, r36:. When she gets a role under her belt, she delivers every time.

And Hairspray was THE hot show that season, so little Miss Fatty Winokur was carried along on that bandwagon, not because of any lacking on Bernadette’s part.

How many previews has Monica Lewinsky done?

Bernadette’s “Rose’s Turn” at the Tonys provided the proof that she should have won that fucking award that night.

[Quote] When she gets a role under her belt, she delivers every time.

Nope. Bernadette always demonstrates that she's not a trained actress by switiching up her line readings willy-nilly. She careens around like a dodgem in the hopes of hitting on a fully realized characterisation.

There are more revivals of DL comments about Gypsy than there are revivals of Gypsy.

[quote] As if any of it matters. Streisand didn't play Fanny Brice, a recognizable performer at the time of the original show.

Not really. Fanny Brice’s major stardom was in vaudeville and radio. She was a minor presence in films and TV. She had been dead for twelve years when Funny Girl happened. And the point wasn’t that Streisand was an exact copy of Brice, but that she looked like her in a general sense, enough to give the effect that she was delivering the Brice of the good old days.

Beanie is almost obese - there is no way to pretend she’s anything like Brice.

Fanny Brice made recordings, dear. And people who heard her on the radio remembered how she sounded.

You’re ridiculous, r367. I’ve seen everything Peters has done except “Sally and Marsha,” and that’s never been the case. You also have no idea what her training is or isn’t. Her stage mother mom had her in classes for everything from an early age. Not that being a “trained” actor means anything these days, when everyone and his brother is “trained” but seriously lacking in star quality and professionalism.

[quote] Beanie is almost obese

Ain't no "almost" about it.

R344 I wouldn't be surprised if the internal accounts there show that those free tickets are paid for by moving money from an internal fund dedicated for that, and so they got to that gross by including those funds. Plus I bet they're including whatever sponsorships they managed to guilt companies into paying for.

But I also wouldn't be surprised if that number was decided upon at the same time JOH grandly announced he was pulling Slave Play until they gave him what he wanted.

[quote] Fanny Brice made recordings, dear. And people who heard her on the radio remembered how she sounded.

Uh, that’s why I mentioned her radio stardom, DEAR. But she did not have the kind of recognizably physical presence that someone with films and/or TV in their credits does. That’s why Streisand didn’t have to be an exact double. She gave the illusion of being tall and she was svelte like the real Fanny. That was enough. Beanie doesn’t have either of those things going for her.

Absolutely those numbers are fudged for Slave Play.

Bernadette came up through musical theatre. She was trained in pulling faces and landing laughs.

I’ll go one farther; Antonio Banderas should have won for Nine over Harvey for Hairspray.

[quote]When she gets a role under her belt, she delivers every time.

I didn't buy what she was delivering as Sally in "Follies."

There is too much professional photographic evidence of Fanny Brice for the suggestion that she was hardly known visually to be at all credible.

She delivered madness in her damn entrance.

Her entrance as Sally was just one big cliche, walking in tentatively, looking around apprehensively, that told us nothing about the character. Dorothy Collins ran onstage. Because that's what Sally would have done.

I must be the only person who liked Bernadette in Follies. I didn't go apeshit over her, but I felt like she, Rosalind Elias and Ron Raines were the only ones onstage who knew what they were doing. I saw it in DC and was absolutely appalled at the entire production, and I blame Eric Schaeffer 100%, so it may have been that Peters and Raines were the least egregious of the lot. Jan Maxwell (who I usually loved) was terrible and had zero sense of humor. Burstein was miscast and was working so hard you could see the flop sweat and his heart beating out of his chest. And the less said about Lavin, Paige and the French bitch, the better.

Vicki Clark allowed that plank of wood Raines to finally let loose. He held back when singing opposite Peters.

As a director, Eric Schaeffer is nothing but a hack.

Antonio Banderas sang very well in "Nine", but you couldn't make out most of his lyrics. And he's not a soprano, who are the only voice type usually exempt (and just for high notes!).

That is, one can't usually make out what sopranos are singing when they sing high notes anyway.

Oh, my sides...if you think Cheyenne Jackson reads as 100% he man straight dude in ANY performance he's ever given.

I like him but...geesh. And, I saw hime LOOOOONG before most of you dumb hos ever laid an eye on him. In Seattle, pre-Broadway days and playing Rocky in Rocky Horror.

So. Very. Gay.

I'm not a huge Harvey fan, but I thought his Tony for Hairspray was very well deserved. Didn't matter that he had a voice that would save ships from crashing on the rocks, he was a perfect Edna and he and Dick Latessa were fantastic together. I'm also thrilled that Latessa got the Tony, both for a delightful performance and a long, hard working career.

R383, would the look Celine Dion gives Tommy Körberg when he lets loose in this clip be what Bernadette would have given Ron? By the way I think Celine’s “look” was totally staged beforehand, I don’t believe Körberg “held back” in the rehearsal.

I wonder who is paying for this huge publicity push for the Beanie? Not so much the current one; that's the producers of the revival, but over time.

Her parents have money, but they don't seem to be hugely rich. I guess a press campaign isn't necessarily something that costs millions.

Maybe Jonah chipped in to help his baby whale, er, sister?

It's such an odd push...."SHE MUST BE A STAR! SHE DESERVES IT BECAUSE SHE'S SO WONDERFUL AND UNIQUE!!!"

A fat, REALLY unattractive girl with very limited talent.

[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.]

Does anyone with an Encores connection know if Jack Viertel was forced out of the Artistic Director position? And is there any talk yet of firing Lear DeBessonet or at least getting rid of the new Encores mission statement?

Well, she couldn't lead people to their seats properly but she sure knows how to use the face app.

Ugh, sorry, DL had a jump and that was meant for a diff thread. Hate when that happens!

I think you're overstating the extent of the machinery behind Beanie. She was in a lesbian indie movie and that Ryan Murphy mini series. And don't forget Broadway almost got Lauren Ambrose as Fanny. Not to mention Lea Michele, if Murphy had gone ahead with it.

Nope, Beanie is the new Great White (Meat) Hope for fat fraus everywhere now that Chrissy Metz' show is going off the air and no one cares about her. She's definitely being pushed (with a forklift).

What else has she been pushed for? She's hardly Zendaya.

She's been being pushed since Booksmart. Go look it up, you lazy cunt.

I know I might get some derision for this but could Idina Menzel make a good mama Rose?

I love stories of fired employees sending a dead rat by mail to their ex-boss. So many of them deserve it so much.

Sorry one more, and could Andrew Rannells make a good Harold Hill?

I want to see a thirtysomething play Rose, for a change.

[quote]I know I might get some derision for this but could Idina Menzel make a good mama Rose?

Probably.

[quote] I know I might get some derision for this but could Idina Menzel make a good mama Rose?

There have been worse, r403.

Indeed, r404.

For being a homely fat nobody and a character actress, she has had a lot of attention/press in the last 3 years or so. Someone is paying for all that attention...it just doesn't happen on its own. Obviously she was able to snag a decent agency/manager via minor movie star brother Jonah...maybe it's just those connections that have gotten her so much press attention.

But, your average homely fat unknown and unrich wannabe actress doesn't manage to get that kind of press.

[quote]I want to see a thirtysomething play Rose, for a change.

Next season, maybe.

[quote]I want to see a thirtysomething play Rose, for a change.

Oh all right. If you insist.

Say you're Melissa Beth Miller without saying you're Melissa Beth Miller, r406.

I listened to the new recording of Assassins. What is the REAL scoop as to why Wesley Taylor and Isaac Powell ended their engagement?

Could it be the May-December factor?

Idina’s too Jewish looking to play Rose.

Oh, that wonderful NYT review of THE LIFE! Delicious and to die for and sooooooo on the money!

"Annie Get Your Gun is such a cartoon." And so are you with your inane opinion. It's not a documentary, darling, but a mid-century musical comedy.

Sharon who? Caroline or what? Why produce a flop once when you can do it twice?

And a Grade B score like Illya, Darling is superior to any new one currently on Broadway. Period. And oh, those orchestrations! Thrilling!

If Leslie Uggams can play Rose, why not Adele Dazeem?

[Quote] Why produce a flop once when you can do it twice?

Quite.

R410-Because Tay-Tay is a whore.

I’d tout for Sutton Foster (especially with all her mommy issues to inform her performance) over Menzel for the next Gypsy revival.

But I’d love to see Idina as Golde to Adam Sandler’s Tevye (Shut up. I think he could be brilliant.)

Jonah Hill will be Tevye before Adam Sandler will.

[qupte]Idina's too Jewish looking to play Rose.

How very DARE you!

[quote]"Annie Get Your Gun is such a cartoon." And so are you with your inane opinion. It's not a documentary, darling, but a mid-century musical comedy.

r413 - AGYG is a classic, well-crafted, tuneful show, muffin. But in comparison to her actual life story...it's a cartoon version. Like Wicked is in comparison to the book. Sorry my opinion is "inane" and not "delicious" or "to die for"!

[quote] I love stories of fired employees sending a dead rat by mail to their ex-boss. So many of them deserve it so much.

Why do you think rats deserve to die just in order to be sent to an ex-boss? What a demeaning sacrifice of life.

It's not hard to find an already dead rat in New York.

R410 Nico Greetham, apparently. Seems he and Isaac got very close while they were making American Horror Story. Nico was also the reason Chris Rice and Clay Thomson broke up for a while after their attempts at a throuple failed

R334 It's SingaporeFuckin'/Fling. He's a white individual teacher of some sort (sorry for the kids) who thinks cause he/she/it has a POC perpetually attached spouse that he/she/it is a POC and speaks for them too. In other words, a real dipshit, who chimes in on practically any subject with their unwelcome agenda.

I liked this take on Porter’s version of The Life that someone posted on ATC:

This production was shameful, vulgar, obscene and a desecration to the loving memories of Cy Coleman, Ira Gasman and David Newman.

If Billy Porter and James Sampliner (the orchestrator and musical director) hated THE LIFE as much as they did, then why the hell didn't they just write an original show of their own?

The amount of utter disrespect Sampliner gave to Cy's music is downright egregious. I'm amazed there aren't lawsuits abound. And what an absolute INSULT to the great Harold Wheeler and Don Sebesky. How could anyone do such a thing to one of the theatre's most legendary tunesmiths? Not only did he NOT "re-arrange", or "re-orchestrate" - he REWROTE and altered and changed Cy's unmistakable harmonic brilliance. The cast could barely keep up - because most of the chord progressions were silenced. Shameful.

And well, there's no doubt that Billy Porter is talented; but a book writer, he is not. His version of "The Life" - is not "challenging" any theatre goer - and in interviews, that seems to be his mission statement. But to whom does he want to "challenge"? He answers: rich, white people.

This is a sad day not only for City Center, but for the preservation of shows that were written in different periods of time. I had always believed that City Center would honor shows. Not rewrite them.

Here's the thing: if you dislike the source material THAT much, know what? LEAVE IT ALONE.

How depressing. My heart aches for those 3 gentlemen up in heaven.

Some guy on a FaceBook group said that all of the negative reviews and comments about THE LIFE were obviously from "hwyte" people who are not woke....he of course LOVED it.

Huh? What are “hwyte” people? I assume that is an insult, but I don’t get it.

So we’ve heard that Wesley cheated on Issac and Issac cheated on Wesley. Surely one of those is true

Couldn't both be true?

[quote] There is too much professional photographic evidence of Fanny Brice for the suggestion that she was hardly known visually to be at all credible.

No one said that. The original comment was that Beanie, who is fat, is playing Fanny, who was not fat. The reply was “It’s not like Streisand was actually playing Brice” and the reply was Yes, but she is svelte like Fanny. Twelve years after Brice’s death, Streisand could easily give the effect of playing Brice, even if it wasn’t an accurate representation. And by the time of the film, Brice was gone 16 years, without any substantial movie or TV legacy to keep reminding what the real Fanny was like (as in the case of, for instance, Crawford or Davis). Streisand was a perfect Fanny even if she wasn’t a particularly accurate one. Unlike Beanie, whose most noteworthy physical feature is that she’s fat, which has nothing to do with Brice.

Around 1968 or 1969 I found the original cast albums of Illya , Darling and Anya in the dollar bin at a local record store. Two bucks for the both of them. They are each highly flawed but highly enjoyable scores that have brought me so much enjoyment over the years.

Plus Barbra had a very nice figure and wore clothes well (her personal taste aside). She made a great hanger for Sharaff's duds.

Is Billy Porter really that talented?

I mean, he's fine as a performer if you're casting for any role requiring a super queeny gay black man but...

What other skills does he allegedly have?

BP is SUPER lucky to have come along at a time when the entertainment world got "Woke". The upside to Woke casting is that lots of talented artists/actors of color are getting seen and getting more work and more stories about people of color are being told.

The downside is, some artists and actors of color who shouldn't necessarily get more work/attention, ARE geting more work/attention when their 15 seconds really should have been up.

In a non-woke entertainment world, Billy Porter would, at best, be doing lots of tours and brief engagements at summer stock venues and maybe a small guest spot on TV here and there and perhaps roles in indie gay films. And, gay cruises.

I personally can't wait for Billy Porter to play Rose in the next Gypsy revival without any of the humor.

[quote] I love stories of fired employees sending a dead rat by mail to their ex-boss.

Those are some of my favorites, too.

It's been done, r434.

I think it was Isaac who cheated. Do you see who he hangs with now? His Instagram is completely different and he ran poor broken hearted taytay off the gram. Haha. Poor guy. There are still old stan pages on Instagram dedicated to their relationship. Haha. Also, Charlie Williams is now hosting on TV? Hosted part of the Broadway preview on ABC tonight. Looks like he got chubby in the middle. Which I love. I'm seeing THE LIFE tomorrow and I'll report back and give it to you guys straight.

[quote]I personally can't wait for Billy Porter to play Rose in the next Gypsy revival without any of the humor.

Been there, done that

R437 if there is an audience talk-back after the show, give Porter hell for his shitty woke rewrite of the show and the godawful new orchestrations. Do it for Cy!

Another ATC post:

Well, if Billy Porter's revision of THE LIFE didn't actually kill Encores, I'm afraid it put Encores in critical condition. Last night's show was by far the worst Encores production in the past 29 years and was also one of the worst musicals I've ever seen...and I saw METRO! I don't blame the performers, many of whom were excellent. I place ALL the blame on Porter. His inept rewrite of the book drained 99 percent of the humor from the show, and in place of humor he inserted countless lectures from the narrator about social injustice. I didn't disagree with any of the points Porter was making, but THE LIFE was not improved by these additions. Did we really need to have the cast put on masks of Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan (or was it Donald Trump Jr.--it was hard to tell) and lecture us about trickle-down economics? The new and vastly inferior orchestrations, with their bass heavy funky 1970s beat, made all the songs sound alike. The sound design was the worst I've heard at City Center and also too loud. I was sorry to see a man in the front row cover a speaker with his coat during the second act, but I understood his pain. He probably should have just moved to the back of the theater, where there were many empty seats after the intermission. And were the original orchestrations by Don Sebesky and Harold Wheeler too much fun for Porter and Company? And why was "Why Don't They Leave Us Alone," one of THE LIFE's most enjoyable songs cut from the show?

If someone wants to fund a new company to present rewritten P.C. versions of musicals for today's delicate sensibilities, I say go for it. But Encores is decidedly not the place for rewritten or re-imagined or re-anything versions of classic musicals. For almost three decades Encores has presented musicals that have great scores and sometimes great, good or troubled books. But the whole point of Encores is to hear the scores with their original orchestrations. Anything other than that is not Encores.

I think that new artistic director Lear deBessonet has made a big mistake with her new Encores mission to include one rewritten show every season. And I really disagree with her statement "Almost zero shows written before the 21st century have a worldview and politics that sit well with a contemporary viewer." So her solution is to rewrite those shows to make them palatable to today's audience? I guess that's the same thinking that gave us a rewritten "Shipoopi" in THE MUSIC MAN.

I really hope the Encores board comes to their senses and jettisons this policy. If there is an Encores audience talk-back for THE LIFE, I also hope someone berates them for this new direction. Bring back Jack Viertel! At least he loved old musicals. reply

Does anyone understand what this woke ATCer is trying to say?

What you describe sounds awful. That said, I disagree with your put down of people’s “delicate sensibilities” and I think political correctness is a good thing. Sounds like something only a white person would say. This is not to say I want shows rewritten.

Here's the question no one seems to have the courage to ask out loud: Who thought it was a good idea to have Billy Porter direct AND write AND control the music? The guy is an actor. He's never written a musical and he sure as hell hasn't directed professionally anywhere. So who was the idiot who gave him this? It just defies any common sense. And with so many amazing directors out there who have never been given their real shot, why an undeserving incompetent like Mr. Porter? Did CAA pressure them into this?

[quote] And with so many amazing directors out there who have never been given their real shot, why an undeserving incompetent like Mr. Porter? Did CAA pressure them into this?

You answered your own question, sort of. Look at all the people who get handed directing gigs with no talent or experience simply because they are the flavor of the month and in a position to make it happen. Billy Porter is directing films now. Based on what experience? Tim Federle, a filed chorus boy and children's book author managed to wrangle himself the directing gig for the adaptation of his book 5,6,7 Nate. Based on what? Talent and ability is the last thing anyone looks at in Hollywood, unless it's a way to say no. (As in, sorry, we've never heard of you, so no, you can't do this even though you've shown ability.)

rupert holmes speaks of his early days in this clip / skip the intro and start approx 3 30

may be of interest

.............................

[Quote] Did anyone think Audra would win 6 Tonys, most of which were undeserved?

I saw every one of those performances and thought they were brilliant. Which one was undeserving and who should have won instead.

Heck, I even thought she didn’t win for one of her greatest performances, 110 in the Shade

[quote]Also, Charlie Williams is now hosting on TV? Hosted part of the Broadway preview on ABC tonight.

Charlie has been doing ABC7's Broadway Backstage specials for a few years now. I figured he would probably be part of this one, too. And yes, I noted the weight gain also but still think he's hot af.

[quote]What you describe sounds awful. That said, I disagree with your put down of people’s “delicate sensibilities” and I think political correctness is a good thing. Sounds like something only a white person would say. This is not to say I want shows rewritten.

Ummm, WHHHAAAAAAAAAATTTT??????

[quote]I saw every one of those performances and thought they were brilliant. Which one was undeserving and who should have won instead?

In my opinion, she certainly didn't deserve to win for "Master Class" or for "Porgy and Bess," regardless of who the other nominees were.

Or Lady Day, in which she was laughably bad. I would say she deserved two awards- Carousel and Ragtime. That's all.

R356 Actually I think Merman only won 1 Tony for "Call Me Madam". "Annie Get Your Gun" was before there were Tony Awards.

I don't know why I always think Call Me Madam was from the 40s. I think I confuse it with Lady in the Dark.

[Quote] Encores is decidedly not the place for rewritten or re-imagined or re-anything versions of classic musicals.

Understandable... but does this person consider "The Life" a classic musical?

R453 I don’t think anyone considers The Life a classic musical, but it has a fun Cy Coleman score with a not great book. I’m sure the only reason Encores did it is because Billy Porter wanted to do it. Instead of making that idiotic decision, Encores should have just trimmed the book (as they usually do) and presented the score as it is.

[quote] Sounds like something only a white person would say. This is not to say I want shows rewritten.

Was that from mlop?

mlop is much classier than that.

Billy Porter can play a queen because he is a queen.

He has NO talent.

Excuse me but having no talent is not enough.

[quote] In my opinion, she certainly didn't deserve to win for "Master Class" or for "Porgy and Bess," regardless of who the other nominees were.

[italic] That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works. [/italic]

[quote] I don’t think anyone considers The Life a classic musical, but it has a fun Cy Coleman score with a not great book

Hence, precisely on mission for Encores until they f'd it up

[quote]His Instagram is completely different

Yeah Isaac seems a lot douchier now, and seems convinced he's some kind of star.

Powell's DAD was hot

Did he die?

Billy Porter was chosen because:

1. He has a name recognizable to the NY theater crowd, which is the primary supporter of Encores

2. He presented a new version of the show and convinced the artistic director that it was a bold concept that would send a resounding message.

3. The artistic director is just another in the line of woke theater people who are invading Broadway with a mission.

4. He's black, which is very trendy amongst liberal circles today.

[quote]I don’t think anyone considers The Life a classic musical, but it has a fun Cy Coleman score with a not great book. I’m sure the only reason Encores did it is because Billy Porter wanted to do it. Instead of making that idiotic decision, Encores should have just trimmed the book (as they usually do) and presented the score as it is.

Precisely.

I do feel bad for Issac that he was cast as Tony in a revival of West side Story and got good reviews and would have surely been Tony nominated but the production was cancelled and didn’t reopen. That had to be difficult. I’m sure he was also at one point in love with Wes and I’m sure that was a bitter break-up as it was SO public

You probably want it to be a bitter break up so you can have a meet cute and console Isaac.

R454, I'm surprised you didn't add #5. He's gay and, shall we say, trans-leaning.

This on top of his having a name recognizable to the NY theater crowd and being pretty famous among the general public -- at least, at the moment. Considering all that, and the woke stupidity of Lear, she probably would have said yes if he had suggested a new production of the musical "Little Women" with all of the girls as non-binary sex workers.

Deluded officials attempt to explain " The Life."

I'd like Encores to do the black Guys & Dolls with the '70s orchestrations.

I'd like Encores to do shows the way they were originally written and fulfill the reason for their existence. Let some other entity do black or woke rewrites of every show written

OBC of " The Life" reunion.

[Quote] In my opinion, she certainly didn't deserve to win for "Master Class" or for "Porgy and Bess," regardless of who the other nominees were.

The Tony Awards are based on comparing actors in a season. Your statement is just silly.

I thought her Bess was searing. Her Lady Day was stunning mainly because she not only mimicked BH’s very individual sound perfectly but was able to give it new life and vibrancy. Sorry you didn’t enjoy those performances as much.

How old is Lear DB? What could she possibly know about musical theater's rich history?

R473, her Bess was ridiculous. Her performance may have reflected exactly what the idiotic "creative team" of that production wanted, but it was NOT what the authors intended. I think ANY of the other nominees would have been more deserving, even though it was a pretty weak year. I guess my choice would have been Jan Maxwell in FOLLIES, or even Cristin Milioti in ONCE despite her baggage. And in the MASTER CLASS year, the award should have gone to Viola Davis for SEVEN GUITARS or Lois Smith for BURIED CHILD.

R461 Yup. R467 Only bitter for Wes. Isaac is just fine. Hanging with models and shit now. He's totally traded up. He was the one out in LA entering new social circles (during a pandemic) while Wes was stuck at home. with the dog. in his living room. posting cringe dance videos on the gram and getting older. R470 That would be cool.

I'd also like to see TIMBUKTU. I can't think of an obvious "Eartha Kitt."

Vanessa Williams probably thinks it should be her.

I've heard Vanessa Williams is another late in life lez. Is that true?

That wouldn't be a surprise considering her photoshoot for PENTHOUSE.

[Quote] it was NOT what the authors intended.

And you know what the author intended?

In fact, this version was a shortened version for Bway that was created long after the authors were dead

It amuses me that someone is suggesting Jan Maxwell's FOLLIES turn when Maxwell was quite adamant about avoiding playing qualities of Phyllis that would put her in a bad light (Ice Maiden etc.). That hardly reflects authorial intention.

[quote]And you know what the author intended?

Yes, based on the original text and stage directions, and what they wrote about the characters and the story.

[quote]In fact, this version was a shortened version for Bway that was created long after the authors were dead.

Exactly.....long after they were dead, so they couldn't do anything about it. But, to add insult to injury, the misbegotten mess bore the title "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess," which was a double insult because (a) that show was nothing of the kind, and (b) it gave NO credit to DuBose Heyward, who wrote the vast majority of the libretto and lyrics.

[quote] And you know what the author intended?

you're just being pedantic and contrarian

I hope Wesley finds a man and a role. He deserves to be happy

He should have his agents put out the feelers for faintly villainous roles.

Hey, Wes, you spent a long time enjoying Isaac's hot body. You've had your share.

[Quote] Yes, based on the original text and stage directions, and what they wrote about the characters and the story.

The Tony voters and the audiences who stood for her nightly disagreed with you

Say more about the Chris Rice-Thomsons. I’m fascinated by their mediocrity and Instawhoring.

Oh really, R488??? I did not know that!!! Thanks for the info!!!!

(Doesn't change my opinion.)

Is Beanie playing Fanny or Barbra?

Since we are discussing breakups what exactly happened with Ashley Day and Robbie Fairchild?

Word from the FUNNY GIRL sitzprobe is that it was....something.

More, please, r493.

[quote] Is Beanie playing Fanny or Barbra?

From that 5 second commercial where she says, “Hello Gorgeous” it sounds like she’s playing Barbra with the Mae West interpretation. That was a disappointment because she could have gotten away with a brand new interpretation.

And now that she has immediate access to video of Fanny Brice, she could mould herself more to Fanny.

[quote] Word from the FUNNY GIRL sitzprobe is that it was....something.

Nobody wants to hear anything about probing Beanie.

Is Funny Girl the first time in Broadway history that two lesbians have played mother and daughter?

R493, something good or something bad?

[quote]Is Beanie playing Fanny or Barbra?

Fanny Farmer, by the look of her.

[quote]Since we are discussing breakups what exactly happened with Ashley Day and Robbie Fairchild?

I think Ashley was a lot more invested in Robbie than Robbie was in Ashley.

Ashley lives in New York now and has a new BF with whom he seems quite happy, judging by his Instagram.

Robbie thought Ashley was spending too much time with Lulu.

Any gossip on who Robbie is dating now?

Gossip? Someone said the bf is on his IG.

So I guess marrying a woman (dancer Tiler Peck) didn't really work out too well for Robbie.

He became a florist. Ol' Tiler never had a chance.

[Quote] So I guess marrying a woman (dancer Tiler Peck) didn't really work out too well for Robbie.

It would be more correct to say it didn't work out for Tyler. Robbie got what he wanted.

*Tiler

When is the dress rehearsal for "Funny Girl"?

Bravo to BruceInIthaca for calling out asswipe SIngaporeFuckin'/Fling on ATC

Ashley has been dating Adam Kaplan who was in Newsies and A Bronx Tale.

[quote]When is the dress rehearsal for "Funny Girl"?

Friday, I'd think. Whether they open it up to anyone is another question.

How long into previews did David Merrick close "Breakfast at Tiffany's"?

[quote] Word from the FUNNY GIRL sitzprobe is that it was....something.

r493 = the guy on Grindr who promises 8½" but has no pix and is afraid to meet up.

Why did Lea Michele sing with such hostility when she sang "Don't Rain on My Parade" at the Tonys years ago? She actually had the right voice for the role, if not the humor.

It played four preview performances...then closed... r512.

R515 Thanks.

Sally & Faith

[Quote] Why did Lea Michele sing with such hostility

Go with what you know.

I want to hear more about the new Some Like It Hot musical adaptation. Can't find anything about it other than the composers and book writer.

Have they cast anyone yet?

There was a recent presentation of "Some Like It Hot," so obviously there was a full cast for that. I don't know if there are any definite plans for the future as of yet.

Is KingSpeed the wingman (or bf) of obnoxious Singapore/Fuckin'Fling? Sure acts like it.

I don't understand talking about ATC threads on DL. Were you banned from there or something?

Keikaze also took on Singapore Freak, but then the disgusting Ryhog joined in on S/F's side.

All the worst people on that site agree with one another.

Maybe Robbie Fairchild and Wesley Taylor can hook up and this thread can kill two birds with the same stone

I love that Isaac dumped Tay Tay. He's a miserable, untalented prick.

[quote]I don't understand talking about ATC threads on DL. Were you banned from there or something?

I was.

You are no one if you have NOT been banned from ATC.

[quote] In fact, this version was a shortened version for Bway that was created long after the authors were dead

Well, the Theater Guild Broadway original was an abridged version of the grand opera Gershwin actually wrote and when they revived it in 1940 with most of the original cast, they abridged it even further, basically turning it into a musical, not an opera.

Gershwin received two offers to produce Porgy and Bess, one from The Met, to do it as written but with white singers in blackface. He refused to consider that. The Theater Guild offered to do it on Broadway, with reduced musical forces but they promised to use an all black cast. He took their offer.

r521 you've posted 5 or more times about Singapore whatever. Cut it out.

[quote] a new production of the musical "Little Women" with all of the girls as non-binary sex workers.

Thanks for the idea! Do you want to direct? No experience necessary!

[quote]a new production of the musical "Little Women" with all of the girls as non-binary sex workers

I can only imagine what Beth dies of.

Timothée could play Beth this time.

Beefcake break!

When scholars/musical historians went looking for Gershwin's original score in the later 40s/early 50s for proposed revivals, they were astonished to find something more akin to Verdi and Wagner than Jerome Kern.

[quote] How old is Lear DB? What could she possibly know about musical theater's rich history?

Believe me, I know plenty about rich history! The Astors, the Rockefellers, the Whitneys / go ahead, ask me about any of them!

Funny girl begins this Saturday

Or as they called the Pia Zadora production: "Girl."

Not to change the subject, but is Maria Friedman a big star in the UK? I see she has her own concert slot at the Chocolate Factory that's been extended a couple of times and so has run a couple of months, I think. What were her big roles on the London stage? Why have we not seen her on Broadway (or have we and I missed out?)?

Stardom is different in the UK. Friedman is a theatre name but she's not a household name. She's not known for TV work, like many Brit stage performers are.

Maria Guerre

Friedman played Dot in Sunday In the Park With George. She was the narrator in the filmed Joseph. She played Liza in Lady In the Dark. She opened The Woman In White. She sang Back to Before in Ragtime. She was the first replacement Roxie Hart in "Chicago."

I think she might be better know, or rather, more talked about if she had more of a razzle dazzle voice, like Ruthie Henshall did.

*known

Friedman's "Little Priest."

The only person I ever recall being banned from ATC was the notorious Chekky.

Thanks for all the Maria Friedman posts and info. So, if she played Roxie Hart, she is/was also a dancer?

Wow. Just in from the POS that was "The Life". Who the fuck allowed Billy Porter to rewrite the book to fashion his own agenda? I hope this gets Lear DB kicked out on her ass, and prevents Billy Porter from ever directing anything professionally again. You have to really work hard to ruin "The Oldest profession". I know she could have sung it, but the glitter queen had to prove otherwise.

Was there a talk back for The Life today and who dared to sit onstage and take questions form the audience?

I believe Friedman did the simplified/Marilu Henner track when she did Roxie. I saw her; she was very good, but not an A+ dancer or anything.

Judge for yourself, r545...

When will we witness the first “woke” masterpiece of musical theater?

Talkbacks at Encores! are on Saturday afternoons. I would have loved to have been there to watch Sam Harris bitch-slap Billy.

A friend saw a run-through performance of SOME LIKE IT HOT and said it was fun but was indifferent to the songs. Christian Borle was the only performer she recognized. Ugh.

Fame whore, a few stars, and a whole slew of Broadway performers, unknown outside NYC, will participate in a telethon for Ukraine. I'm sure they'll feel good about themselves.

I hope Billy has The Life cast do a medley on that telethon.

R549... that was terrible... I made to "I'm older than I ever intended...:" could not keep watching.

[quote] Was there a talk back for The Life today and who dared to sit onstage and take questions form the audience?

Billy sat upon the backs of the cast and spoke for an hour about his superior vision for the show. The doors were barred. And while the audience was forbidden to speak, they were allowed to approach the stage and leave small gifts of thanks.

Maria Friedman always sounds like she just finished a nice cigarette before she sings

Ruthie would probably still have a singing voice if it weren't for cigarettes.

Friedman also played the Audra McDonald role in the UK TV broadcast of "The Sound of Music" with DL fave Julian Ovenden.

R559 You mean the Patricia Neway role for which she won the Tony.

How many Tonys does Patricia Newley have?

One in which she won in a very competitive Tony race. That Tony you won for "Master Class", was against 2 or 3 other black woman in actual dramas, but you were the only one people heard of and voted for since you had won one already and they knew your name. So says a black friend of mine who was Tony nominated herself (not that year).

Has anyone been to Birthday Candles yet? What's it like?

I'm not racist! I have a black friend!

American Buffalo starts previews Tuesday. I know we're all dying to see Darren Criss do a Mamet play.

No, the black friend thought another sister should have won.

I haven’t seen Debra’s new play.

Who's Patricia Newley, r561? I've never heard of her.

A section of the FG overtire from the sitzprobe was posted on Instagram. Even if everything else sucks it’s a pretty great overture.

Saw THE LIFE. I'm gonna catch heat but I didn't completely hate it all. Haha. I never saw the original show so I don't know the book. I only know the cast recording. Some of the songs sound completely unrecognizable. My two favorites "Use what you got" and "Easy Money" were completely destroyed. Both messages of the songs completely lost. They turned "Easy Money" into a silly disco anthem. Horrible. Some of the orchestrations were an improvement on goofy songs like "Hooker's Ball" and "People Magazine". But overall the music sounded very commercial and Disneyfied. Like 1990s pop/r&b. A lot of character and poignancy were stripped. I didn't know a transexual was playing Queenie. Maybe I missed that mention. Anyway, it didn't bother me at all like I thought and it was actually used as an integral part of the show as a big reveal/secret in Act 2. The two worst moments were "Mr.Greed" and the finale. "Mr. Greed" was turned into the political Trump/Reagan thing for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Stupid stupid masks and a desperate ploy for relevancy. Then the big transexual speech came in the finale. Oh boy. "Black trans women are killed everyday and because of that she has the right to carry per her second amendment rights and has every right to protect herself". The crowd cheered! Haha. So cringe. A lot of people left at intermission from where I was sitting (orchestra). I heard one lady say "nothing against the performers". And the cast really were all talented. Someone upthread asked about Ledisi, and she was fantastic. Just great. Natural, funny, and she sang. She got some standing O's after oldest profession. The actor playing Memphis was incredible. Especially considering he is so fem in real life. The show was not dreary as reported. Lots of humor and if anything they made the music too joyful. It wasn't politically correct either. Tons of nigga bombs, "tranny!", "fuckin tranny whore" and lots of explicit sex talk. It was basically turned into a 1970s tranny pimps up hoes down blaxploitation saga turned musical on stage. Lots of good things and then of course the dumb stuff. If they could find a middle ground it could be really good. It's definitely a bold new take on it and felt very urban. I didn't hate it though. 🤷‍♂️ And the narrator was whatever when we weren't being lectured to and given a bible study and history class.

^^^Also, they changed the order of the songs. I think for the better. Honestly, it sounds like the community is hating a little bit.

I’m sure they have tickets available. Let’s all go to funny girl next Saturday together. Can we huh can we please?

Fatty Girl!

TON-NY GIRL.

Boy that FG orchestra is pretty small.

[quote] Who's Patricia Newley? I've never heard of her.

She’s Tony Newley’s younger sister.

Maria Friedman is really awful as Roxie. Not a laugh to be had.

I think Maria's movements killed the laughs, like when she was travelling across the stage during the fooling/screwing line. She did a lot of SUDDEN movements that put the audience on edge.

I think just for laughs and giggles Ruthie Henshall and Maria Friedman should team up for a concert together where they sings songs in original keys with no intermission.

Friedman was Mother in the UK premiere of Ragtime. Excellent reviews for that.

Lots of performers seem to lose the run of themselves doing the Roxie monologue. Melanie Griffith was easily the best of those I've seen.

Gershwin lived in Paris awhile in the 1920s. While there, he visited Ravel and asked to be taken on as a student. Remember that Gershwin at that point was already a successful Broadway/Tin Pan Alley composer. Ravel asked how much money Gershwin had made from his music the previous year. When Gershwin told him, Ravel replied "Maybe it is I who should ask to study with you."

570, agree on weirdly harsh reviews for THE LIFE. the estate approved everything so the Billy Porter hate is at best misplaced.

I thought it was funny, daring, and a little too preachy and clunky towards the end (Mr. Greedy song is boring and masks didn't help). I have only heard a few of the original songs and enjoyed the new orchestrations. They reminded me of some Stevie Wonder songs and Dreamgirls, especially percussion and keyboards. Maybe people who hate disco or 80s R&B aren't right for this?

I also noticed lots of walkouts after the first act, never seen that before despite seeing plenty of shows. So it is divisive, but worth seeing.

The dialog was more shocking than I thought it would be for an old white composer, then I remembered that the estate gave the team a lot of leeway to revise. I think some people are used to stories about prostitution being cleaner and sweeter than this. No one ends up married in a stable relationship. I wouldn't be surprised if this version of The Life becomes more common.

Lots of good songs and costumes, especially for the pimp chorus and Memphis!

[quote] I wouldn't be surprised if this version of The Life becomes more common.

Can't wait until it hits the high schools in the same season as " Slave Play."

Composers don't tend to write dialogue...

Who here can confirm why Tyler Maynard has been banned from NY theatre? I heard he was stealing from dressing rooms at the St. James while preforming in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Is this the reason?

Does he claim that he's been banned?

Okay, work with me here:

Billy Porter rewriting and directing a "reawokened" production of "Fiddler on the Roof".

(all nonbinary black cast)

He should redo "The Inheritance." With Jesse Williams.

That might actually make The Inheritance watchable R589.

"The dialog was more shocking than I thought it would be for an old white composer, then I remembered that the estate gave the team a lot of leeway to revise. I think some people are used to stories about prostitution being cleaner and sweeter than this. No one ends up married in a stable relationship."

I get that you're trying to give Porter all the credit and diminish the original work of the actual creators, but who ended up in a stable relationship in the original version?

And just because an estate looking to cash in approved something doesn't mean a production should be exempt from criticism, just like that terrible On a Clear Day revision.

Porter is not a writer and he's certainly not a director. Like most performers, he is a trained seal. And trained seals shouldn't be the ones tossing the fish.

Did the estate actually approve the changes, or did they just give permission for Porter to do whatever he wanted?

Did the estate just want the money because they know The Life is not a hot property?

Will we get a Broadway revival with Beanie F. as the head prostitute? Hugh Jackman as Memphis?

[quote]Agree on weirdly harsh reviews for THE LIFE. the estate approved everything so the Billy Porter hate is at best misplaced.

Your "logic" here is what's questionable, "at best."

R583 AGREED.

the lack of a big orchestra was the buzz from the FG sitz. Everyone (But Ramin) realized there were thin singers on top of a thin orchestration.

[quote]there were thin singers...

And on the other hand...

Just the one dear?

Kill me now. Ivo van Hove to direct a stage version of "The Shining" in 2023 in the West End with Ben Stiller.