THEATRE GOSSIP #469: The Out of the Woods? Edition

Saw Tootsie on tour in LA.

Just another “we have a sellable title, so we can just produce a mediocre show and it will still sell tix” musical. Everything creative (score, book, design, etc.) was very average, as if they didn’t care very much.

Theater was only half full, on a Saturday night. Serves them right.

Title is... not bad, OP.

And you linked the previous thread right in your post. Smart! Points for innovation there.

Now, back to cunting.

[quote]Am I correct in guessing that DTE means "down to earth?" Whatever it means, why the hell couldn't you spell it out? Too much trouble for you?

Yes, "DTE" was short for down to earth. Sorry -- thought that was a fairly familiar abbreviation on DL.

[quote]the Sondheim townhouse is not listed for sale in any public listings.

It would be the ne plus ultra of Tasteful Friends thread.

Of course it could change hands via private sale. Whether it could change hands at all depends on who currently owns it: the hubs or the estate.

I imagine the deed on the townhouse was changed to a joint tenancy with a right of survivorship with some entity and it was not put into the estate. Most likely inheritor is Jeff. He's likely to keep it and live there, at least when in town. There's also the Connecticut house.

r3 Am I correct in guessing that DL means "DataLounge?" Whatever it means, why the hell couldn't you spell it out? Too much trouble for you?

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1972, "Don't Play Us Cheap!" opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.

I'm inclined to agree that the deeds to both properties were likely amended at the time of their marriage or before.

If Covid shuts down more and more Broadway shows in the coming weeks, will the Tony Awards go on as scheduled, or will they postpone the ceremony until they're sure as many voters as possible can see all the nominees?

I'm one of the usual title cunters on here and I don't hate this, OP.

I don't love it, but I don't hate it.

There's not a chance in hell they'll delay the Tonys.

I would love it if the Sondheim townhouse could become a museum, like the Dickens home in London. (And please, no tacky jokes about a dungeon.) It's a fascinating place (I've been there) and as the wellspring of so many creative achievements, it would stand as the perfect tribute to his genius. I know zoning laws would make this impossible, but a guy can dream.

Barring this, why not recreate his studio at the Smithsonian, like Julia Child's kitchen?

What do we think of the facade, Tasteful Friends?

Why not recreate Sondheim's dungeon in the Smithsonian?

Oh, fuck off with that tired old gossip.

If you don't like tired old gossip, you're the one who needs to fuck off.

Has anyone found out what Beano's Participation Tony will look like?

Funny Girl is filling at least 90% of their seats.- so as long as Beanie is getting people in seats. She not going to get replaced - no matter how bad the reviews have been

Yes Ben. we heard you the first time

r7 you are unnecessary here. Move on.

The dungeon was a real thing. Julia McKenzie told me this herself at tea at the Savoy.

So with what money did he buy his townhouse? I heard it was when Funny Thing turned into a hit. Or was it the movie sale rights? I heard Kander got his home in the Hamptons when they sold the movie rights of Cabaret.

R22-Oh, sure it was. And they let Kate Hepburn out every December 25th to celebrate Christmas Day.

[quote]Sorry -- thought that was a fairly familiar abbreviation on DL.

Abbreviations have gotten a bit out of hand on DL. Reading a post shouldn't be like trying to decipher a code.

R25, I think we reached peak that when someone used AJLT for “And Just Like That…”

I've spoken to 2 colleagues working on "Paradise Square" and neither has been paid for their production work. WTF?! Why did The Shuberts allow this bullshit to happen. We all knew where it was heading....Is this just the old boys club protecting the old boys club? And now they're trying to bend the law to increase the capitalization?

Call me crazy, but I have an idea. Unlike the rest of social media everywhere that's making everyone horrible, why don't we limit this theatre gossip thread to theatre gossip - as bitchy about theatre as you want - and skip the shit towards one another (including calling me a 'hall monitor')? This site used to be entertaining not toxic.

In one of the Sondheim books, he was quoted as saying that the Gypsy movie sale financed his Turtle Bay home.

I would guess that there is a lot of old money in that area that would NOT be thrilled to have tourists traipsing through their neighborhood to gawk at a Sondheim museum. The residents would probably know how to squash any such plans.

I don’t like the idea of someone “limiting” the scope of what we’re allowed to discuss on these threads. Each Theatre Gossip thread evolves in its own way, all without you, yes, “Hall Monitoring.” Why don’t you go create your own special thread that is your own personal fiefdom with your own special rules for posting, R28?

So is HARMONY moving to Broadway in The Fall?

charming r30 just charming.

Moving on. Did Rob McClure clinch the Tony by doing such heroic work through all of Doubtfire's openings and closings to no effect whatsoever. My heart bleeds for him, truly.

As talented as he is, Rob McClure just can't seem to catch a break.

I hope that Jaquel Spivey wins.

I’m voting for McClure. The less said about Loop the better.

I don't think McClure will win, but I wouldn't mind if he did. I said before I feel like this whole year ought to just be forgotten, but it would be a great season to hand out some well deserved careerist awards (Winningham, O'Connell, McClure, and Day and Pendleton if they'd only been nominated).

"Fat Ham" at the Public contained some of the most amateurish writing I've ever seen on the stage. They should have just given the Pulitzer to "A Strange Loop" again if this was their other option.

Does anyone else mind if we pepper theatre threads with shirtless pics of Scott Bakula?

^^A beautiful hairy chest and BDE for days.

That underwear shot puts to rest any possibility of his having a BD.

I knew Fat Ham would be garbage.

😮

Of course Sondheim had to live in the house with the ugliest facade in the neighborhood. This will mean, even centuries from now, laws will prevent being able to knock that turkey down.

I heard Bebe stepped into The Bedwetter at The Atlantic on very short notice but that Linda Lavin will play the part if it moves to Broadway.

In decades past Manhattan townhomes were seen as dusty, old white elephants requiring a lot of upkeep, no doorman, and you had to shovel your own stairs. If Sondheim bought his in 1960, he likely didn't pay all that much for it even considering inflation.

Wouldn't it be refreshing if Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster both lost on Tony night?

Drama Desk Awards just announced, if you were black you got nominated. Surprise they didn't find a tranny to add to the mix.

Even though not nominated, might Beanie, Ramin and Jane be Tony presenters?

I remember the ovation Dustin Hoffman received in 1984 when he appeared onstage as a presenter, even though he had been snubbed for Death of a Salesman, displaying his good sportsmanship.

There is no way Beanie won’t be presenting at the Tonys. I wouldn’t be surprised if she presents Best Actor in a Musical.

Little love for Skin of Our Teeth over at the Drama Desk. Did A Case for the Existence of God not make the DD's cutoff?

Beanie will be at The Olive Garden that Sunday night. It's her ritual.

[quote] I remember the ovation Dustin Hoffman received in 1984 when he appeared onstage as a presenter, even though he had been snubbed for Death of a Salesman, displaying his good sportsmanship.

Don't forget Nathan Lane co-hosting the Tonys the year he was snubbed for Love, Valor.

So did Linda Lavin drop out of The Bedwetter so she could do her lounge act at Crazy Coq’s in London?

And who can blame her, R51.

I can't picture Lavin and Bebe doing the same role. yes, they're both cunts, but Lavin is 190 year old whereas Bebe is only 70.

No love for "Suffs" from Drama Desk, just a lonely nod for Best Lyrics.

I can see Bebe playing the mother in Broadway Bound.

I meant the same role at the same time

I'll ask again, as I had previously asked on a previous Theatre Gossip thread: why does OP get grayed and lined out immediately after?

And if we knew, we'd have fucking answered you.

Drama Desks: No Hugh, Sutton, Katrina or Beanie. Only JTF (!) for leading actor from TAKE ME OUT. WTF!

From what I'm hearing of The Bedwetter it doesn't seem likely to move. Not a disaster by any means but not right for Broadway.

How is that James McAvoy wasn't nominated for a DD for CYRANO? The only nomination the show got was Best Sound Design.

What the fuck is a “drama desk” anyway? Does it have drawers? Stupid name for an awards presentation.

They have them at West Elm. The shop bottom there can direct you, with flair, to the private collection. There is also a Sarcasm Armoire and a Vanity Vanity.

Well, seeing as it's voted on by critics and the like, I'd assume it means the drama desk at a newspaper, as opposed to the foreign desk or the city desk.

R61, JTF's handsome, albeit murdering, husband must have offered his orifices to the nominating drama critics.

[quote]From what I'm hearing of The Bedwetter it doesn't seem likely to move. Not a disaster by any means but not right for Broadway.

Worst title for a musical since "Urinetown."

So the lead from Diana got a Drama Desk nomination but Beanie didn’t?

[QUOTE] JTF's handsome, albeit murdering, husband must have offered his orifices to the nominating drama critics.

Murdering? What?

Handsome? What?

Husband, what?

You just know Debra Messing is FUMING at these lack of nominations.

Yep, and Megan Mullally is laughing her ass off.

$76 for STANDING ROOM? No thanks.

[quote]So the lead from Diana got a Drama Desk nomination but Beanie didn’t?

I have no problem believing that she gave the better performance, even if "Diana" was a steaming pile of shit.

She was universally praised, even though the show was not. And despite the stupid agenda the Razzies had.

$76 for standing room for a huge musical with Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster and cast of 40 and a full orchestra is absolutely fair. When are you kids every going to grow up about theatre pricing?

The Producers really fucked up Broadway. By demanding such high prices, it changed Broadway in a way that’s never been fixed. Normal people can’t afford tickets

For those wondering about Jesse Tyler Ferguson's lethal husband ...

The only way I’d pay $76 to stand at Music Man was if Hugh was kneeling in front of me.

I watched some NBC special on Sunday morning (Waiting in the Wings?) and they profiled Music Man. I had no desire to see it before and even less desire to see it now. It looks like a big bore.

Who’s had Rob McClure? Size?

[quote]See how dumb you sounded, 589?

Are you people really going to insist that "DTE" is a well known, familiar abbreviation for "down to earth?" Obviously, it's not as clear as you think, seeing how someone in the previous thread said it could also mean "down to everything" (whatever that means).

P.S. Up yours, R7.

Does JTF's husband know Matthew Broderick?

Ouch R85.

[quote]The Producers really fucked up Broadway.

Because it swept the Tony Awards even though it's basically a piece of crap?

Did schomone shay crap?

For r40 and anyone else judging Bakula by r38's photo, it's a fake. He's wearing jeans in the original shot. In the supposed briefs shot his arm is pretty obviously and badly photoshopped.

From the same set

This is a theatre gossip thread, r89 / r90. NOT a dream shattering thread.

Has anyone tried to steal anything off the American Buffalo set yet?

R91, r40 claimed r38's "underwear shot puts to rest any possibility of (SB) having a BD." Pointing out the shot is a fake should keep the dream alive, not shatter it, no?

Scott Bakula played gay quite effectively in the HBO series.

He played gay in “American Beauty” as well.

He played Mary Jo's ex-husband on DESIGNING WOMEN, which is pretty gay.

I've never seen DTE in mt life and certainly NEVER on DL. Now only that but how is it an expression used frequently? The poster is an idiot. Probably imitating other idiots.

So….there is a thread on Broadwayworld where posters were claiming contracts got sent out for the ITW transfer but then it became no Heather Headley, No Cinderella, and no Neil Patrick Harris. Now they are saying a transfer may not happen.

What’s the real scoop?

Yeah I heard about a possible ITW Broadway transfer but find it hard to believe that that talent would sign on. I loved the production but would I be arsed to see it with no-name talent? Probably not.

[QUOTE] Scott Bakula played gay quite effectively in the HBO series.

What series?

The Scotty! Show

R100, "Looking".

If they are seeking a Little Red Riding Hood, I perhaps could make myself available for a limited run.

Jokes aside, CZJ would be an amazing Witch. She definitely has the star power and the range to soar in the role.

The Piano Lesson starts at the James in September so this was only ever going to be a brief transfer for a few week not an out and out revival

Apparently it'd being suggested NPH can't do the ITW transfer (confused yet, r84?) because he's going in as a replacement to another show. Vacation cover for Hugh, King George in Hamilton and Hermes in Hadestown have all been suggested

NPH as Hermes is ridiculous. I'd rather see Heather do that.

R107 what are you, prejudiced or something?

I don't see why Headley's absence or NPH's should sink a limited run. I'd miss Denee Benton, though.

Deneé doesn’t do autographs. Sorry, R109…

The Gilded Age Season 2 just started shooting, so presumably Benton will be busy with that.

NPH not being in it would be a plus.

How long does it really take to stand there like a statue and be dull? Surely her nights would be free.

All the new "musicals" are strictly Amateur Nights in Altoona , without a single song of distinction among them, and the revivals are unnecessary. Time to pack it in, Broadway. Talk about a loss of faith.

[quote]I've never seen DTE in mt life and certainly NEVER on DL. Now only that but how is it an expression used frequently? The poster is an idiot. Probably imitating other idiots.

You can barely compose a sentence and you're calling someone else an idiot? That's like Tucker Carlson calling someone else a white supremacist. Please fuck off.

And you can barely speak english if you find that sentence incomprehensible. You should fuck off to whatever third world shithole you come from where you learned english as a second language from someone who learned it as a third.

Now that he's left Moulin Rouge, what's next for Aaron Tveit?

What's the matter, R116? You can dish out the nastiness but can't take it when someone gives it back to you? Gee, what a surprise.

What did you give to me? The knowledge that your reading comprehension is nil? So go ahead and use DTE and better yet use acronyms for everything you write because it's all nonsense anyway.

I just bought tickets for A Strange Loop. I hope it's good.

I over-did theatre prior to the pandemic, to the point that theatre wasn't so interesting any more. I'm trying to return to theatre more selectively.

r119 DTE isn't an acronym

Oh, gawd. Ben Platt will be playing Leo Frank in Parade at City Center for its annual gala. Let us pray Beanie won't be playing Lucille.

WHET Tony winner and hottie Steve Kazee?

Parade will co-star Micaela Diamond from The Cher Show as Lucille and will be directed by Michael Arden. Nov. 1-6.

Steve Kazee is waiting tables at Olive Garden.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick on Life in New York and Sharing Top Billing: “We’ve Never Spent This Much Time Together”:

I can see NPH as Hugh’s vacation replacement. You know they’re not going to put an understudy on for an extended period of time.

r/97/r115/r116, see r28

[quote] I don't see why Headley's absence or NPH's should sink a limited run. I'd miss Denee Benton, though.

r109, Without Heather or NPH, what do you think the draw would be. Just Bareilles? Is that enough?

[quote] The Piano Lesson starts at the James in September so this was only ever going to be a brief transfer for a few week not an out and out revival

Do they really think The Piano Lesson is gonna fill the St. James? Have they looked at the past season?

Poor Sarah Jessica. No matter what she tries she always comes a crossed as desperate and wanting in interviews.

Without Headley, Harris, and Benton, what's the point? It was the chemistry between everyone in the show that made it work so well, and the three of them were a huge part of it. Glad I got to see it.

Now The Fantasticks is gay. They should renamed it The Fabulouses

Try to remember when you sucked a member...

That sounds like a really stupid idea.

Is the Rape song still in The Fantasticks?

[quote]The Fantasticks Creator Tom Jones Rewrites Classic Musical as Gay Love Story

Tom Jones is 94 years old.

[quote]Is the Rape song still in The Fantasticks?

The lyrics have been revised and it's now called "It Depends on What You Pay."

"An abduction that's emphatic. An abduction that's polite. An abduction done with Indians: A truly charming sight . . . "

Next up: Michael and Arthur in I DO! I DO......GURL! Wake me up for Stanley and Vernon in They’re Playing Our Song.

From a link at r132’s link, in what universe is The Fantasticks “A modern twist on Romeo and Juliet”?

Also from that article - "“I knew that to be done properly it would require a lot of rewriting, especially of lyrics."

Uh-oh.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1979, "Murder at the Howard Johnson's" opened at the John Golden Theatre.

Was the murder a trans woman of color? If not, we don't care.

[quote]Without Heather or NPH, what do you think the draw would be.

The show is a draw in and of itself. People in their 30s grew up performing it in high school. They love it and will bring their kids.

It'd be like Chicago. Tons of stunt casting but hey - maybe it'd work.

There's a wide variety of roles - older dame, ingenue, hot boys, old man, put-upon everyman (and woman)....

Agree the show's a draw, but also that this cast seemed to have a particularly good chemistry. Still, any number of actresses have put their stamp on the witch so I don't think Heather's an absolute necessity ( full disclosure: I didn't like her fierce take).

I'm so bummed about Platt getting cast in Parade that I can't concentrate on ITW.

In other news, the Lea Michele renaissance is officially happening. She just announced she’s going on tour.

R143 Ten bucks Platt snot cries THE ENTIRE SHOW.

One of Scott Bakula’s sons, Owen, is a very feminine dancer.

It's not like "Parade" is that big a draw anyway, being quite a downer of a show.

R122 The real Leo Frank was a million times better-looking than Ben Platt.

A young Matthew Broderick would have been ideal.

I (mostly) love THE FANTASTICKS, but so much of its charm is that it's so old-school looney tunes "downtown" that striving for relevancy is pointless.

I'm glad they cut the rape song, anyway. Wish they'd rethink "The Indian."

A Strange Loop, Company, and Mr. Saturday Night got some nice bumps last week. For Colored Girls and Girl from the North Country also saw nice increases percentage wise, but their numbers were already so low they're still below $300k.

After all the hype about the leaks, Take Me Out saw a 9% increase in capacity, but still couldn't sell out, only hitting 90%. But the price hike helped them rake in $125k more last week than the week before, and that's probably all they care about.

With the latest NYC COVID news, its not going to get any easier for most of these shows, except for the big, big hits.

Not sure anyone cares about the Outer Critics Circle Awards, but congrats to the vocal Ferguson and Doyle stans from the past several threads. Their faves both took their categories.

Everybody's a million times better looking than Ben Platt, r148.

I still want to fuck his dad twenty ways to Sunday.

[QUOTE] It's not like "Parade" is that big a draw anyway, being quite a downer of a show.

The 1988 TV mini-series “The Murder of Mary Phagan” which tells Leo Frank’s story, is quite good if you’ve never seen it. I remember watching it as a kid.

Even though everyone hates Cathy Zeta Jones, she'd make a great Witch. She can actually sing.

You're all talking about what a meeskite Ben Platt is for Leo. Keep in mind Brent Carver played him originally, and made Ben look practically teen idolish in comparison.

I'm sure that Beanie will be announcing soon that she will be playing Mary Phagan in "Parade."

Lea Michele can go on tour. Get back to me when they announce the grosses

I’m assuming Groff will be there for a couple numbers.

Who the fuck is Chris Colfer?

R78, you're full of shit. $76 to stand for 3 hours is not fair--it's vile price-gouging. I don't do standing room, anyway, but the idea is that it's for people who don't want to or can't pay the full price for ticket that leads to an actual SEAT, and are willing to stand for $20 or $30. Or for someone who wants to go at the last minute to a sold-out show. Why should someone pay close to a hundred bucks when you know damn well most non-premium orchesta seats can be had for a $100-150. Who'd pay $76 just to stand directly behind them?

If Beanie is appearing in the revival of PARADE, it could only be in the title role.

Let's face it, Hal Prince was responsible for the failure of the original production of Parade. His direction was shit. I look forward to seeing what Michael Arden can do for the piece.

R162, Where exactly do standing room audience members stand?

Michel Arden got lucky exactly once, and that was Once on This Island. Everything else he's done has been somewhere between misguided and painful.

[quote]you're full of shit. $76 to stand for 3 hours is not fair--it's vile price-gouging.

Standing room doesn't cost much . . . I manage.

I liked Michael Arden as Kate Hudson's gay in BRIDE WARS (with Anne Hathaway). He was adorable in that movie. I think he was like 25.

Oh, wait. He wasn't gay, because he hooks up with some chick at the end of the movie. But he is Hudson's assistant who she asks to be her maid of honor male equivalent.

Arden can take the piss out of any show.

Is the Tom Jones of The Fantasticks the pop singer Tom Jones?

I loved the original Parade! Unfortunately Ben Platt is wrong for the role

R165, usually standing room patrons stand just behind the orchestra section.

Years ago, in college, I spent my spring break in NYC. I saw a show every night with standing room tickets—$10 each!

I want a gay Same Time Next Year with NPH and Matt Bomer.

Same Time, Next Queer

Same Time, Same Rear

I also want Matt Bomer to star in Whose Ass Is It, Anyway? as a male prostitute suffering from bowel cancer, campaigning to be euthanized.

The Ass Menagerie, a bold take on Tennesse Williams concerning Laura's collection of erotic art.

What about if Michael Arden directed a revival of Golden Rainbow?

Parade wasn't killed by Prince's direction; the book is soggy and the lyrics constantly condemn the audience. It's a tough story with no laughs

Judy!

[quote]Arden can take the piss out of any show.

I thought she was fabulous.

So Ben's going play Leo Frank as an adorable aspie, right? I mean, that's pretty much the only crayon in his box.

Michael Arden should direct a revisal of LaChuisa's The Highest Yellow.

It speaks to the greatness of Joanna Gleason’s talent that not a single Baker’s Wife has ever neared her performance. And Sara Bareilles is nowhere near equal to the role. BW is the emotional center of the show, and if you can’t cast that role, the show just doesn’t work as a whole. It’s a real shame that so few working Broadway ladies have the charm Gleason did.

Ew. That list of talentless nobodies attempting to celebrate Judy is downright repulsive.

Charles Busch will be fun.

Agree about Gleason, although I admired Imelda Staunton's take on the role in the original London version. This was well before she played every role imaginable.

Once again, City Center's upcoming roster of musicals help to keep my money safe in my wallet.

I actually thought Sara was the best wife since Gleason.

How come I wasn't nominated for the 2002 revival? But Cinderella was?!

[quote]I actually thought Sara was the best wife since Gleason.

Agreed, I thought it was a wonderful performance.

Mr Saturday Night has 8 people onstage, 6 (count 'em, [italic] six [/italic] ) people in the 'orchestra' (and, yes, they are listed as the 'orchestra'), and 27 producers above the title, including the owner of the theater.

It's also dreadful despite Mr Crystal's charms and skills.

Skylar Astin looks like the first perfect actor - at least visually - to play Seymour in the Michael Mayer production off Bway. Is the production any good, I still haven't seen it after being burnt by the last bad Broadway version

I have to admit I'm not that familiar with Neil Diamond. Does he have enough of a fan base to support this?

[quote] Mr Saturday Night has 8 people onstage, 6 (count 'em, six ) people in the 'orchestra' (and, yes, they are listed as the 'orchestra'), and 27 producers above the title, including the owner of the theater.

Anybody in the audience?

Skylar Astin is SO cute and adorable on Grey’s Anatomy right now.

(I know, I know, I’m the only one still watching it.)

I need to get tickets to see Skylar Austin in LITTLE SHOP.

If musical theatre were actually flourishing, he should/would have a much bigger stage career: he's got presence, a voice, acting chops, and sex appeal. He was the reason I watched ZOE'S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST (which should have been better but was still a lot of fun).

Mary Gordon Murray was every bit as good as Gleason who, yes, was brilliant. MGM played the role on broadway then took it on tour. Someone named Cynthia Sikes was dreadful and had no business being in the show. Terrible. Kay McClelland was Joanna 2.0. It was a carbon copy of Joanna’s performance.

Understand there's a jukebox Johnny Cash musical on the way. When will it stop?

I hope they get Joaquin Phoenix to reprise his role. Easy Tony win for him.

I thought Sara was great at the Baker's Wife, and I saw JG do it way back when.

[quote] Understand there's a jukebox Johnny Cash musical on the way. When will it stop?

Another one? I saw Ring of Fire on Broadway years ago. As jukebox musicals go, it wasn’t terrible.

Girls! Girls! You're both pretty!

[quote]Girls! Girls! You're both pretty!

Pics please.

R184 boy are you right! When Platt was in his early months of DEH I had thought his performance was fantastic, but then about a week after seeing the show I ended up at a party where he was also attending. He was exactly the same as his Evan Hansen, there wasn’t any difference, Platt wasn’t acting on that stage, every since quirk and tick was his 100%! Seeing the show much later, with an age appropriate DEH was a totally different experience, and very telling about dear Ben.

Ben Platt also gave a very, very similar performance in 2 of the Pitch Perfect movies (along with hottie Skylar Austin).

R196, Will childhood friend "Barbara" Joan Streisand appear in the musical?

[quote] Mr Saturday Night has 8 people onstage, 6 (count 'em, six ) people in the 'orchestra' (and, yes, they are listed as the 'orchestra'), and 27 producers above the title, including the owner of the theater.

The 27 producers is why tickets are crazy high prices

[quote] Platt wasn’t acting on that stage, every since quirk and tick was his 100%! Seeing the show much later, with an age appropriate DEH was a totally different experience, and very telling about dear Ben.

He's just a brilliant actor!! He's stays in character at all times!!

[quote]I need to get tickets to see Skylar Austin in LITTLE SHOP. If musical theatre were actually flourishing, he should/would have a much bigger stage career.

It never ceases to amaze me how some people claim to adore certain performers but can't even bother to spell their names correctly.

[quote]The lyrics have been revised and it's now called "It Depends on What You Pay."

The song has always been called “It Depends on What You Pay.” It’s had various lyric rewrites to try to address the problem, and for the movie version they wrote a new song called “Abductions (And So Forth)” but most stage productions now use the revised version of the original song.

[quote]I need to get tickets to see Skylar Austin in LITTLE SHOP. If musical theatre were actually flourishing, he should/would have a much bigger stage career.

It's Skylar Astin.

Platt (well, his daddy no doubt)just paid $3.5 million (and $300k over asking) for a house in LA, so fingers crossed that means he stays away from Broadway for the long term

3.5 mil and no pool!!!!????!!!

Supposedly the Cash musical is "Johnny and June" and will include his wife. Des McAnuff is supposedly involved.

So a redux of “Walk the Line”? How unnecessary.

I love when DL hacks say "supposedly" as if they have some secret insider 4-1-1

Adrienne Warren IS June Carter Cash

Lesley Ann Warren IS Grandma Carter.

Des McAnuff IS a lech.

Broadway Actors, Stage Managers in Multiple Scott Rudin Shows Released From NDAs:

It's like R&J, alright. Absolutely tragic.

Hello Phyllis!

"I actually thought Sara was the best wife since Gleason."

Better the acting that the songwriting.

Diller is actually not bad at all in that clip. And that's just some supper club.

Just because they *can* speak now doesn’t mean they will.

The aborted West Side Story revival seems an odd choice of all his productions to be released. Was that situation especially heinous?

Timberlake? No thank you.

Also, guess that Take Me Out bump didn't last long. It's back on TKTS (but this time at $122/40% off thanks to the price hike).

Justin Timberlake at Harold Hill? OK! Lizzo would be the perfect Marian!!!

[quote]The aborted West Side Story revival seems an odd choice of all his productions to be released. Was that situation especially heinous?

As I recall, the set was considered very dangerous because of all that rain on stage. Both Isaac Powell (Tony) and the guy playing Riff were injured, and Rudin waited for Powell to recover before opening the show, but the Riff was replaced. Also, presumably some of the other actors might have a lot to say about unsafe working conditions, as I believe the whole cast was affected by the rain.

[quote]Lizzo would be the perfect Marian!!!

She could play the entire library.

If Timberlake goes into the show, this will be the first production where Marian is old enough to be Harold Hill's mother!

I would assume they'd replace Foster too when Jackman leaves? If not, she's only 6 years older than him....

Then after Timberlake, they'll hire Bowen Yang as Hill.

I'll always find it a bit sad that that production of WSS had to be delayed, and then was ruled ineligible for awards because it only played three weeks before the pandemic shutdown. I didn't see it, but I have to believe Powell was more deserving of the lead actor Tony than Tveit, who didn't deserve that at all. (At the same time Powell seems kind of insufferable, and winning a Tony probably wouldn't have helped with that.)

[quote]I have to believe Powell was more deserving of the lead actor Tony than Tveit, who didn't deserve that at all. (At the same time Powell seems kind of insufferable, and winning a Tony probably wouldn't have helped with that.)

Agreed on both counts.

Wow, I stand corrected R235. I thought she was much older. I guess I'm remembering him from his teen idol days.

I saw it (reluctantly) and Powell was terrific in the role. And yes, if the show had been eligible, he absolutely would have won the Tony and deservedly so.

His teen idol days were 25 years ago, R239

It was a weird timeline. He gets the lead in West Side Story then:

It closes and doesn’t really-open

Not eligible for Tony awards

Loses his role in Sex and the City (though never addressed except for a brief Instagram story citing “scheduling issues”

Ends his engagement in a bitter breakup with Wesley Taylor

[quote]Loses his role in Sex and the City (though never addressed except for a brief Instagram story citing “scheduling issues”

The really odd thing about that is his part was cut because of the death of Willie Garson - ICP's character was part of his storyline. So he could've just said that, but instead went with the "scheduling issues" line, like he's some kind of big shot.

And judging from his recent IG posts, he's becoming even more insufferable. Before it was more of a geeky insufferable, now it's more towards the typical Instaho type.

Speaking of WSS, I'm reminded of a IG story where the cast were getting B12 shots, Isaac has his ass out to get his, and after it's done someone screams out "you just stabbed his brain!"

You left out something major, R242. Powell also became an underwear model for Calvin Klein at some point during that period.

And started dating Nico Greetham

Isn't Sutton ready for Mrs. Paroo?

Maybe Powell said the SATC loss was due to scheduling issues because it sounded nicer than I LOST THE PART BECAUSE WLLIE GARSON DIED. Just a thought.

In terms of mean producers David Merrick was notorious winning Broadway's biggest bastard of the 20th Century prize. But truly Scott Rudin is such a horror he makes Merrick seem like Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.

At least he didn’t say “I lost the role because the pulleys and lifts used to hoist up Cynthia Nixon’s breasts in her finger sex scenes with Che Diaz used the whole budget that was originally allocated to my salary”

[quote]Maybe Powell said the SATC loss was due to scheduling issues because it sounded nicer than I LOST THE PART BECAUSE WLLIE GARSON DIED. Just a thought.

Well, if that's the truth, he could have said so but with more sensitive phrasing than you employed :-)

I just reread Howard Kissel’s quite comprehensive David Merrick biography The Abominable Showman and it is more scathing than I remember (even with that title!) but holy crap is Michael Riedel’s horrifying section from One Singular Sensation even worse. I had no idea Merrick was such a coke addict and so fucked up later in his life… very unsettling and upsetting stories.

[quote] Ends his engagement in a bitter breakup with Wesley Taylor

Do we know it was bitter?

is there any other way to break up with Wesley?

Merrick pooping his pants and ruining his chair cushion during a performance at Goodspeed (?) was tragic.

Can you imagine having to explain that?

Phyllis Diller sounded really good in those clips -- thanks so much! She said she played the role honestly without her own brand of shtick, and so it seems. Her top notes were pretty strong, and the audience seems to really love her. Bet she was great in person.

Phyllis was an accomplished pianist. She played with the Denver Symphony in the '70s. My high school friend Mark went to see her. He went to get her autograph and he mentioned he was taking the piano. They sat in her dressing room and she asked him about his favorite composers and she seemed like a great lady.

A number of years ago I read a lengthy piece about Phyllis Diller. In it you learned how different she was off stage and out of character. A lovely woman, accomplished at the piano, and the mother of six (6) children.

Careers in show business are strange... I think she is noe of a long line of performers who become trapped by the "character" on stage with the crazy, outrageous dress and cackling laugh (hey, it paid the bills better than other opportunities).

The clip of her performing as Dolly Levi shows that she was quite talented without being outrageous.

Does Timberlake have any fans? He's in the weird space where old people (who are wealthy enough to buy the tickets) don't know who he is and young people don't care.

Shouldn’t someone have told us that Amy Adams is starring in The Glass Menagerie in the West End? I love the play and like Amy but that casting doesn’t make sense to me.

Apologies, 260. Here are some photos they released. Adams has always looked so young for the longest time, but between this and the Disenchanted image that was released a few days ago, she's finally starting to look her age (she is pushing 50). Not a bad thing necessarily, just a fact. Age comes for us all.

Now that I've finally seen the Take Me Out revival, I can say that Jesse Williams, though of staggering appendage, just doesn't have the extra special spark that Daniel Sunjata brought to the role. He just lacks the naive and effortless charm and cockiness of Sujata and plays Lemming as more knowing, sophisticated and oddly hostile, which I imagine he and Scott Ellis think is sexy, but didn't work for me in establishing the quirky character of Darren Lemming. Williams is never very lovable.

JTF though funny and certainly an audience favorite, for me plays too easily into the facile goofiness of Mason and, as someone said in an earlier thread, is more a stereotypical gay with a dogette than some anonymous accountant who never could come to terms with his gayness and himself until discovering the joy of baseball.

I found the revival good but not great. Most of the ball players looked too much alike, there was surprisingly little difference in their physiques, coloring, hairstyling, etc. If you've never seen the play, I'd recommend it but those with memories of the original I think will be disappointed.

Tony Awards 2022: Who Will Win (and Who Should):

For Carol Burnett, the Sondheim award is personal:

Against All Odds, Broadway Rose to the Occasion (Mostly):

I am so tired of everyone in this business always caring about what The New York Times writes. It's so small. Jesse has proven a disappointment; jury still out on Maya, although she's a sometimes awkward writer. But really, who reads this stuff outside of the obsessives in the business?

It's literally the only media outlet that covers Broadway that is read by non-Broadway insiders.

[quote]Does Timberlake have any fans? He's in the weird space where old people (who are wealthy enough to buy the tickets) don't know who he is and young people don't care.

Timberlake is 41 and still has legions of female fans around that age. They adored him in NSYNC (and possibly as far back as The Mickey Mouse Club) and have never stopped following him. He's had 4 number one selling albums in the US.

I don't really care for him (or about him), but I think his fanbase would follow him to THE MUSIC MAN. Will he be any good? Who knows?

Given that the bar for "a big star" on Broadway is pretty fuckin low (I mean, just look at who was in Chicago), I'd say that Timberlake is more than famous enough to carry the show.

Can he do it 8x a week tho?

Surprised that Sondheim admired Burnett that much.

Does it matter if he can do it 8x a week? With those prices they'll make more than enough with the performances he does show up at.

Burnett was doing Sondheim on her show in the very early 70s. I remember in '71 or '72 Steve Lawrence singing Losing My Mind. He probably knew her from Once Upon a Mattress if not before. And Julie and Carol were close and Julie's husband designed Funny Thing. George Abbot directed Funny Thing. He had directed Carol in Mattress. A lot of theater insiders closely supporting one another.

Bernadette was a constant guest on the Carol Burnett Show in the 70s. She was a young person doing old people stuff.

R266, from the photos and videos I've seen, Jesse is not small and certainly not a disappointment!

Did you read r264, r272?

[quote]Her first encounter with Sondheim was in 1960. Burnett was rehearsing for a Thanksgiving TV special with Dick Van Dyke — she sang a number as a character who would become her trademark, the charwoman. “And this young man came up to me and introduced himself and said, ‘I’m Stephen Sondheim, and I really liked what you were doing.’ I had no idea who he was.” Only later would she realize that he wrote the musical whose run-through she and other Broadway actors had been invited to the previous year. That show was “Gypsy,” and he was its lyricist.

If you think people outside the theater read the NYTimes... Maybe on the UWS, but that's about it. They've given raves to so many flopping plays and musicals. There is no impact anymore. They have lost their audience by betraying their trust. They've blessed so much mediocre work.

OK fine. Name a mass-market media property that covers Broadway consistently?

[quote]Name a mass-market media property that covers Broadway consistently?

THE FUCKING DATALOUNGE YOU ASSHOLE!

FUCK!

If you think The NYTimes is "mass market"? There is no mass market publication. The closest are those national websites -- Playbill, Broadwayworld, etc...

r274, he meant Jesse Green, not Jesse Williams, of course. (But I'm hoping you knew that and were kidding...)

We must face the fact that the greed-misters at The Music Man have painted themselves into a corner and will have to find replacements for Hugh and Sutton who will justify the obscenely ridiculous ticket prices, and if they can't, they might as well just close the show and still make a profit.

greed-meisters.^

I expect Sutton's replacement will be stunt-casted just like Timberlake for Jackman.

Who's a 90s/00s pop or film or TV starlet who could play Marian?

Could/would Lea Michele play Marian?

Tiffany!

They'd have to change her name to "Miriam"

Lizzo!

Jessica Biel for Marian! That would end their marriage for sure!

Justin's old girlfriend Britney as Marian. There must be a huge market to see them reunited.

Kidding, R280. Thanks for recognizing the possibility of humor which is in short supply these days.

Oh, shit. I just realized Michael Mayer, Superhack, is directing A Beautiful Noise. If anyone could make me hate Neil Diamond, it's Mayer.

How much money can we guess Hugh is making on TMM? IIRC, Nathan and Matthew were rumored to be making 100K a week when they went back to Producers. So.....how much?

"Greed-Meisters". -- yes, yes, money bad! bad! bad! A hit show is bad! bad! Bad! How dare they have created something people REALLY want to see! Shame on them!

You would have thought Sondheim would have met Burnett before 1960, since she was starring in Steve's bestie Mary Rodgers' Once Upon a Mattress.

How many performances of West Side Story did Isaac actually do before his understudy took over?

That Glass Menagerie production has two Toms (old and young) and a black gentleman caller. Because of course Amanda would try to marry her daughter off to a black man when it was illegal to do so.

It seems like there cannot be any all-white casts in this present period. They are somehow (ridiculously) accused of being exclusionary.

I would actually be very interested in seeing an all-black cast of The Glass Menagerie. It's got four wonderful roles that are never played by anyone but white actors. But I find it impossible to ignore the time in which this story is set in order to accommodate color blind casting. Yes, it's a memory play, but casting Jim as black only tells me that Tom was secretly craving BBC.

Into The Woods is still trying to happen.

So Into The Woods, Sweeney and Merrily in the same season?

THE GLASS MENAGERIE with Black casts.

[quote]casting Jim as black only tells me that Tom was secretly craving BBC.

But that’s been obvious ever since the first production,

[quote]Nathan and Matthew were rumored to be making 100K a week when they went back to Producers.

The key is “when they went back.” By that point, the show was a huge multiple Tony-winning hit. Nathan won his second Tony for it. But its vulnerability was showing. It wasn’t doing as well as it should have, considering it was a “big sensation” when it opened. Which was the whole point of getting Lane & Broderick back, to goose the box office.

Hugh is a superstar, and it might be different if the pandemic never happened. But it did, and TMM has suffered because of it. On top of that, the show got middling reviews, even several pans. Jackman has borne thd brunt of a lot of the negativity. Given the perilous times for theatre generally, and the so-so reaction to it (and it will likely lose the revival Tony to Company), it’s unlike Jackman has that huge a payday.

The Music Man hasn't had a week below a $3 million gross, so I don't think it is suffering from the pandemic. It did get middling reviews and will probably lose to Company though. But at $3M a week, may God smite me with such suffering.

R302 But his contract would've been signed well before the reviews or reaction. Hell, possibly even before Covid.

[quote]Now that I've finally seen the Take Me Out revival, I can say that Jesse Williams, though of staggering appendage, just doesn't have the extra special spark that Daniel Sunjata brought to the role. He just lacks the naive and effortless charm and cockiness of Sujata and plays Lemming as more knowing, sophisticated and oddly hostile, which I imagine he and Scott Ellis think is sexy, but didn't work for me in establishing the quirky character of Darren Lemming. Williams is never very lovable.

I strongly disagree. IMHO, Sunjata's performance was a near-blank. I think the only reason he was well received in the part was because he was perfectly cast in terms of type, and also because people responded very positively to his physical appeal. But please note that his career post-TAKE ME OUT has been less than stellar. As far as I'm concerned, Jesse Williams wipes the floor with him.

"As far as I'm concerned, Jesse Williams wipes the floor with him."

As far as I'm concerned, Jesse Williams wipes the floor with his dick.

r294, previews began December 10. Isaac was injured in the December 20 show. He returned on January 17. So the understudy was in for slightly less than a month of previews before Isaac returned.

The show then opened on February 20 (two weeks after the originally scheduled date). The last performance before the pandemic shutdown was March 11. I don't think the understudy went on at all after opening.

[quote]As far as I'm concerned, Jesse Williams wipes the floor with his dick.

Splinters!!!

It is astonishing how smooth and supple a surface can be with a careful application of permacum.

Wait - there's a Sweeney coming to Broadway, too?

The Pasadena Playhouse just announced their new season, titled "Celebrating Sondheim".

Featuring SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE and A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, with an add-on performance of (yawn) INTO THE WOODS.

SITPWG is being touted as "the full-scale production it deserves", while ALM is advertised as being in "its full, original, and soaring orchestration". ITW is for 2 nights only and is being done in partnership with the Pasadena School District. Casting and Creatives to be announced.

The season also features a two-night concert by Bernadette (June 10-11, 2023), with other events to be added.

Nathan and Matthew made 100k a week for their return to The Producers, but others did better. Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig each made a base salary of 40k a week for A Steady Rain, but had a hefty slice of the gross, which usually put them at around 120k per week. Al Pacino made 125k + a small percentage for the Glengary Glenn Ross revival. Julia Roberts supposedly made 150k a week for Three Days of Rain.

Jackman, for TMM, probably has a high base (maybe 80k) + a hefty slice of profits, bring him in around 130k a week while it’s selling out.

SWEENEY will star Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford.

Does anyone still go to the Pasadena Playhouse? I live in LA and I cannot remember the last time I went there. Maybe the first iteration/world premiere of Sister Act back in 2005 or 2006? And I used to go all the time.

Seriously, r313? Ashford will be terrific, although it won't make up for not getting that production of Sunday. Not sure about Groban.

The Pasadena Playhouse had a huge hit with their revival of Ragtime, which was, I think, in spring 2019. I think this might be their first season back since the shutdown. It starts with a couple of straight plays in the fall before the musicals in 2023.

They did? I don't remember hearing one word about it. Not doubting you, R316, but the only thing I've heard about the Pasadena Playhouse in ages was that production of Little SHop they did with the tranny Audrey.

Jackman's profit participation per week is a lot more than $50K when grosses are well over $3 million per week.

Jackman has to be clearing at least $250k a week. At least.

[quote]Who's a 90s/00s pop or film or TV starlet who could play Marian?

Mandy Moore

She still has her fans from her pop tart days.

A WALK TO REMEMBER, THE PRINCESS DIARIES, SAVED!, Disney's TANGLED, and THIS IS US have huge fan bases, too.

Why is there already talk about Hugh leaving The Music Man?

Does he have a previous commitment to make another flop movie?

Only because of the report of Timberlake being courted to replace him. Hugh himself commented on social media that he's not planning on leaving on whatever date they were discussing (October?)

Sorry, Hugh. We’ve negotiated a more lucrative arrangement with a former boyband member. You will be going .

R323, I could make that arrangement even more lucrative for you.

Pasadena Playhouse is big into diversity over talent so I'm curious how these shows will be produced.

Petra will become the designated POC role like Stella in Follies and Marta in Company

I doubt it. Having a woman of color playing the maid would probably be considered too much of a stereotype these days.

Interesting how David Mamet has stopped making Tv appearances to hawk his book. And the advertising for American Buffalo doesn’t even mention in name.

Why not Zak Efron and Vanessa Hudgens for TMM? That might draw a slightly younger crowd. But maybe not at those prices?

Tom Jones and Petula Clark for The Music Man.

Well Anne can’t be a POC or Desiree in You Must Meet My Wife will be protested as racist

[quote] Does he have a previous commitment to make another flop movie?

He probably has a couple of weddings he needs to be at.

Beanie, that joke wasn't funny the first two times you made it.

Hugh will probably be gone in October to begin promoting the film The Son which seems like prime Oscar bait.

"If anyone could make me hate Neil Diamond, it's Mayer."

Other than Neil Diamond, R290? That said, yes, fatty Miss Michael Mayer is indeed a frau hack.

It was a huge hit, r317. Across the board raves. If you follow LA theatre regularly I don’t know how you missed it. I barely got in, it was sold out. Rumors of it moving, but that didn’t happen.

Did anyone here that Jesse Williams had a mishap on stage last night and is out for the rest of the week at least? He tripped on his dick in the shower scene.

I didn't realize Brent Carver had died. He never married. Was he gay?

..or just Canadian?

I just looked up the PP production of Ragtime, directed by David Lee, responsible for many of the execrable productions at Reprise. Now I know you're trolling. Lee couldn't direct successfully if he were inhabited by Pazuzu.

Will Broadway even be open in October now that there's a case of Monkeypox in Manhattan?

Monkeypox in Manhattan, the new musical sequel to Bullets Over Broadway.

What about a black Carl-Magnus and Charlotte?

Desiree definitely likes the BBC

Mary!

[quote]What about a black Carl-Magnus and Charlotte?

They would have been mistaken for the hired help when they showed up for the weekend and too go around back.

[quote]Now I know you're trolling. Lee couldn't direct successfully if he were inhabited by Pazuzu.

Uh-huh. Is the LA Times trolling? Did you even bother to read the review linked? What about all the other raves? I agree that David Lee is responsible for a lot of crap (especially his Camelot and Can-Can) but Ragtime was excellent. All the snide snark in your book won’t change the fact that it was a huge hit with rave reviews (it also won’t change the fact that, as an LA theatregoer, you should have at least heard of it).

If you knew LA theater you'd know that LA theater criticism means less than nothing and always has. Yes, I read the review. Who cares? It was a nothing production starring a cast of nobodies (even for Los Angeles 3rd tier theater) and there was no talk about it moving anywhere. The truth is, it was barely a blip. Just because it meant something in your little world doesn't mean it made a dent in the real one.

You bitter cunt. Do you think any of us want to read your nasty nonsense? Just stop it.

You're a bore, R348. No wonder you love the Pasadena Playhouse.

I’m not r346. I’m just a bored bystander hoping you’ll contribute something worth reading or STFU

San Francisco is doing Follies this summer!!!!

SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just realized after posting that, that Natacia Diaz totally looks more like a Phyllis than a Sally.

Her eyes are really lopsided

As are her eyebrows.

[quote]Her eyes are really lopsided

Sally's lopsided, r353.

[quote]Why not Zak Efron and Vanessa Hudgens for TMM? That might draw a slightly younger crowd. But maybe not at those prices?

I wish people would stop using TMM as an abbreviation for THE MUSIC MAN, because every time I see it, I think of THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE.

Not The Moose Murders?

Well, wouldn't that be more appropriate for those two, r356?

Regarding PARADE: Michael Arden will certainly force feed one of his "concepts" onto the piece. He's unable to just DO a musical. He has to turn it into a community college-level deconstruction that looks smart to the dumb. (Case in point, Ken Davenport cooing over Arden overwrought "vision" for ONCE ON THE ISLAND.)

Oh, that makes me want to watch this...

What was that shitshow thing Arden did in the woods where audience members were attacked by mosquitos?

GNATS...Now and Forever, r361?

Kiss of the Spiders?

Wow, has Natascia Diaz always looked like that or is that the result of some not very well thought out plastic surgery?

[quote] I’m not [R346]. I’m just a bored bystander hoping you’ll contribute something worth reading or STFU

Then mind your own business, asshole. No one asked you.

Natascia '95

I saw Kecia Lewis-Evans play Asaka (and of course she's also on the OCR) and was so charmed and delighted by her. I had no idea that she'd left the show so early. I remember watching the Tonys that year and seeing them do Mama Will Provide and that Lillias White had taken over the role and being so underwhelmed by her, which pretty much began a 30+ year run of my being underwhelmed by her. I just don't get her. I'm not saying she's untalented, but her singing is so abrasive and shouty and overdone. There are so many others who have the goods way better than her who never reached her level of success. I've just always been told how amazing Lillias White is and I've never seen the evidence.

[quote]It seems like there cannot be any all-white casts in this present period. They are somehow (ridiculously) accused of being exclusionary.

It also seems like the UK has fully embraced wokeness. A theatre in England is currently casting for a fall production of Wildhorn's BONNIE & CLYDE. (Not to be confused with the West End production currently playing.) They've included the following on their casting notice:

[quote]We will be applying a non traditional casting ideal to the show, so although historically the ‘Barrow gang’ were all Caucasian, we won’t be looking to specifically cast it this way.

[quote]We are dedicated to diverse casting in this exciting production!

Forgot to post the link:

Yes, r367, I didn't even remember Lillias White doing OOTI. When I saw it, Kecia Lewis-Evans blew the roof off the place in that number. Also, The Human Heart was always my least favorite song in the show until the revival, when Lea Solonga sang it.

No one wants to know that R274. Ew.

I don't get all the love Lillias White consistently gets. Yes, she has a powerful voice, but all the rifting and shouting she does while singing is so off putting. And don't get me started about about her shaking her big ass each time she sings.

Okay, so was Mary Martin a dyke or what? It's been whispered for years, but nobody want's to talk about it.

Has Lillias ever sung the notes as written?

Incidentally, I was watching a few episodes of I DREAM OF JEANNIE. I never realized how handsome/sexy Larry Hagman was in his youth. Beautiful green eyes, too, even in the early black-and-white episodes. Whatever Mary Martin's sexual orientation, she sure created one beautiful man!

[quote]And don't get me started about about her shaking her big ass each time she sings.

A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do to get a vibrato.

"It seems like there cannot be any all-white casts in this present period. They are somehow (ridiculously) accused of being exclusionary."

Why are you making this point? Do you prefer an all-white world? Are you concerned whites are being replaced?

A while back, my trainer and his gf went to see King Kong the Musical and he sorta complained that the Faye Wray character was played by a black actress. It wasn't realistic, he said.

"So, you mean in the musical about a giant ape falling in love with a human girl, it's her blackness that isn't realistic? Hmmm."

R378, that's a familiar argument, but completely beside the point. By that logic, you could do a production of LITTLE WOMEN with all of the cast in scuba gear or a production of RAGTIME with everyone in togas because, you know, musicals aren't realistic anyway.

oh, let's not.

What's the next show to post premature closing? Somehow or other, Paradise Square is going to hobble its way to the Tonys and then not get any bump from the show or the awards it doesn't win and then close, right? Even if Joaquina wins.

Hangmen? POTUS?

Broadway to Keep Audience Mask Requirement Through June:

R379 - It truly isn't beside the point. The skin color of the lead does not distract from the narrative as it would in the extreme examples you cite. The Faye Wray character being Black does not alter the "integrity" of the piece (and YES, "integrity" is purposefully placed in quotes).

[quote]Why are you making this point?

The hypocrisy/double standard. An all-black cast/crew would never be accused of exclusion.

[quote]Do you prefer an all-white world?

Wanting an appropriately cast musical does not mean that one is a white supremacist. Forced diversity is stupid. If some people want to hire their actors/crew via racial/gender quotas, so be it. But others should also be allowed to work with who they want. Otherwise, it stifles creativity. One size doesn't fit all.

[quote]Are you concerned whites are being replaced?

White people, particularly the men, ARE being replaced in the U.S. entertainment industry, in front and behind the scenes. They're anathema to the radical leftists who have usurped Hollywood/Broadway. They want to extend that practice to the real world via federal policy.

R382 the King Kong musical takes place in early 1930s NYC.. It does detract from the storyline when the lead actress, who is plucked from the streets to be the next big movie star, is black. The should have reset it post-1970 (like the Jessica Lange version) or more recently if they wanted to have a convincing black female lead.

Like I said, one size doesn't fit all. Colorblind casting works in shows like R&H's CINDERELLA or INTO THE WOODS, but not in LITTLE WOMEN or THE GLASS MENAGERIE or even KING KONG, which are about a specific time and place in history.

First time I have felt compelled to FF a Theatre Gossip post.

The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.

R383 - Oh boy. Has even the theater gossip thread on Datalounge become home to trolls looking to stir up right-wing grievance? A vocal Replacement Theory supporter right here amid talk about Scott Bakula's hairy chest and Beanie's weight. No space is sacred.

Oh, is that what they meant by Replacement Theory? I didn't look into it beyond a headline or two because the way it had been portrayed in the few things I saw was that black people were literally replacing white people (as in breeding them out and/or killing them). It sounded so crackpot to me that I didn't bother reading further. Thanks, Twitter. I can always rely on you.

I'd say I feel dumb, but I'm going to guess a good deal of right wingers probably think that's what's actually happening.

So we've got Nazi theatre queens here now? Oh motherfucking joy.

[quote][R382] the King Kong musical takes place in early 1930s NYC.. It does detract from the storyline when the lead actress, who is plucked from the streets to be the next big movie star, is black. The should have reset it post-1970 (like the Jessica Lange version) or more recently if they wanted to have a convincing black female lead.

Exactly, and there's really no good reason why they couldn't have updated the action.

The Nazi theatre queens have been here for a while, r390. Matt the Loon is one of them.

KING KONG's flaw is that it was a TERRIBLE musical in book, music, lyrics, and total concept. To negatively focus on the race of the actress playing the heroine is a bizarre obsession in a show with so many other, larger misconceived ideas.

White resentment poisons everything.

Sure, Jan.

Mary!

I saw King Kong. The race of the actress playing the lead was the least of the problems. Kong, however, was wonderful. He deserved a better show. Maybe he can go into Paradise Square

[quote] the King Kong musical takes place in early 1930s NYC.. It does detract from the storyline when the lead actress, who is plucked from the streets to be the next big movie star, is black. The should have reset it post-1970 (like the Jessica Lange version) or more recently if they wanted to have a convincing black female lead.

Ridiculous. It's about a giant ape. Case closed.

[quote] Like I said, one size doesn't fit all. Colorblind casting works in shows like R&H's CINDERELLA or INTO THE WOODS, but not in LITTLE WOMEN or THE GLASS MENAGERIE or even KING KONG, which are about a specific time and place in history.

So it's ok for black performers to appear in fairy tales or as fantasy characters but King Kong is too realistic for you.

[quote]KING KONG's flaw is that it was a TERRIBLE musical in book, music, lyrics, and total concept. To negatively focus on the race of the actress playing the heroine is a bizarre obsession in a show with so many other, larger misconceived ideas.

Agreed to a certain extent, but the casting of the heroine was emblematic of the general ineptitude of the whole project. For example, the fact that they nominally kept the story set in the 1930s but there were so many anachronisms as far as the design, the music and lyrics, the book, AND yes, the casting.

But why so much emphasis on the casting than, say, multiple posts about how the musical did not use authentic 1930s music? People seem to not mind that glaring historical inaccuracy.

Well, I brought up the music, R399. I can't speak for other people. The whole show was a ridiculous mess except for some of the sets and projections and, of course, the way they presented Kong himself.

I adore Mary Martin, but that clip showed her at her worst.

R400 - All of that we certainly agree upon!

[quote]the way they presented Kong himself

Hole?

You take the good, r401, you take the bad...

I saw "King Kong" and sat in bewilderment for most of the evening, due to how bad the whole thing was. The lead actress was pretty awful and very generic. At one point in Act 2, when they were doing the rehearsal of the "big show" which would feature Kong in chains, her character was refusing the say the lines that were written for her, singing "I won't scream----FOR THE MONEY!" as she was screeching at the top of her register. I literally laughed out loud at the absurdity of it, because all I could think was, "But ya are, Blanche! YA ARE screaming for the money!" Between that, and the wretched last song (the dancers were literally dancing around in the clouds--- on top of the Empire State Building!) where she sang something like, "Kong is dead, but it's all okay because he taught me how to love!" I just was slack jawed at the awfulness of the whole thing.

TL; DR The lead actress was t, and awfuler race had nothing to do with it.

R405 here- I must correct what happened in my TL; DR- I meant to write "The lead actress was awful, and her race had nothing to do with it."

‘A Strange Loop’, ‘The Lehman Trilogy’ Take Top Drama League Honors:

So is INTO THE WOODS happening?

Just heard that Hugh Jackman himself and TMM producers said there is NO truth to the rumors that Justin Timberlake is replacing Hugh whenever he leaves.

Frankly, I was always dubious about Timberlake doing 8 or even 6 shows a week. I don't see it. Equally dubious are the rumors about Gaga doing Sally Bowles in the CABARET revival, but then Gaga allegedly really, really wants an EGOT.

When I was on tour with "Phantom" I heard all kind of stories about the Production Manager, Peter von Mayerhauser (who was still there when I was in the show.) Apparently, he had been overheard saying that while HE was still there, he would NEVER have a "black Christine." The whole thing is ridiculous- Christine was Swedish, the show takes place in Paris, and everyone is walking around with British accents, so who really cares what anyone in that show looks like? So I was thrilled when I heard about the casting of Emilie Kouatchou, who was new to me. Alas, I heard some excerpts on youtube, and found her barely serviceable. Her tone was unsteady and screechy and breathy and simply not a very attractive sound. Are you telling me that she was the best in the entire country that they could find?

[quote]I heard some excerpts on youtube, and found her barely serviceable.

Like a chrysanthemum?

r410 what do you think of London’s black Eliza?

[Quote] the 25-year-old has an effortlessly clear, full and expressive singing voice and can be meltingly soft, blazingly furious and beautifully still. She owns the Coliseum stage, and the role.

According to the evening standard

The all-black “Death of a Salesman” in London is supposed to be very good. Isn’t it transferring from the West End?

The Eliza is just fine, from what I heard. She's no Julie Andrews (I am going to "MARY!" myself for saying that) and I heard some slight unsteadiness in her tone, but if she has the goods for the role, and as judged by the reviews it seems that she does, why shouldn't she be Eliza? It's puts a very interesting twist on the whole show. I would have to hear more of her singing to make a more informed judgment on my part.

r414, yes. The people complaining about nontraditional casting already complained about it in one of the last few threads.

That’s not actually true, but I guess if it’s all black it has to be considered good.

Benko posted on Instagram she's on for Fanny tonight. Said she just found out two hours before show time. Will resist tired comment about Beanie's friends having a last-minute elopement...

I saw Pierce and Clarke in SALESMAN in London. A fine production with two tremendous lead performances. I never thought about color once. New York is lucky that it's transferring,.

Is the London Salesman completely cast with black actors or just some?

r418 And so it begins. No Tony nomination, no dedication

Your Klan hood is showing, R417.

R410 You should have heard the screechy sounds Denee Benton let out at Carnegie Hall when she played Mary Turner, first lady of the U.S., in "Of Thee I Sing". She didn't have the notes, yet they cast her. A shame, since Bryce Pinkham was really good.

I sort of want to blow Bryce Pinham

Bryce was about the only good thing in that production of The Heidi Chronicles from a few years ago.

Did beanie get Covid at the wedding?

I'm sorry if it's been told more than once, but what is the Denee Benton autograph story, please?

What kind of ferkakta name is Denee?

[quote] The people complaining about nontraditional casting already complained about it in one of the last few threads.

The people complaining about nontraditional casting constantly whine about it. They never shut up about it.

It’s probably the same people who always have to whine about trans as well. Bunch of babies.

I want to see Jean Smart play Phyllis

Wasn't she supposed to do it at Roundabout?

[r431] yes. Steve wanted her but she ultimately passed.

Rumor was they worked hard to get Sigourney Weaver for Phyllis as well, who passed.

The Encores production heavily pursued Cybill for Carlotta.

Kim Cattrall was cast in the Kennedy Center production as Phyllis but backed out at the last minute.

Beanie was out tonight.

It was pre-scheduled, r433...

She rushed to the bedside of dear friend Ben Platt who was panicking that he’d contracted monkeypox. Turns out it was just the onset of the heartbreak of psoriasis. She’ll be back at tomorrow’s matinee sweating like a pig (it will be 93 degrees in NYC).

The decades long owner of Theatre 80 St. Marks was forced to file for bankruptcy last year and the Bankruptcy Judge has now ordered him and his wife to vacate the theater by August so it can be sold. He says he and his wife will be homeless. It sounds like long and and very sad story involving corporate greed. I will add that I speak from personal experience when I say that the BK courts in NYC are corrupt as Hell.

R427, I am the one who originally posted the autograph story. Here it is:

"I saw Denee Benton in "Natasha, Pierre" near the end of the run, and she was walking through the role. Bored out of her mind, and she bored me as well. She also literally SIMPERED (Mary!) onstage when her character was introduced. Did she think she was Scarlett O'Hara or something? It was awful. After the show, I was waiting with a friend for the music director to come out. (My friend knew him) Ms. Benton came out of the stage door and walked straight to a waiting car. (There was no one else waiting at the door that night) While she was walking, someone from the theater crew who had been walking with her, came over to us and said that Ms. Benton would NOT be signing autographs. Huh?! We weren't waiting for her! It was bizarre, I felt like that old Lily Tomlin skit...... When I see her on this show now, that's all that I can think about- her snobby attitude. I don't think she's that good that she afford to be such a little diva."

Beanie had ANOTHER absence within the month of her opening? WTF?!

Thank you, R437. Good story. : )

Beanie realizes her career is over. Except for the Merrily film we'll get in 20 years, when half of us are dead.

Rumor has it, Beanie got the monkey pox on her day off...

She was maid of honor at a monkey wedding.

[quote]Beanie realizes her career is over. Except for the Merrily film we'll get in 20 years, when half of us are dead.

The lucky half.

PHANTOM's current casting is absolute shit anyway. And has been for at least a decade. The minute CamMac decided to force this notion of a hot, young Phantom on the show (I'm looking at you Ramin)...the core love triangle, the whole fatherly figure subplot and anything else substantive about the show went straight out the window.

The current leads are lightweights, with pleasant enough (ie. trained) voices but making zero emotional impact. The Phantom should be someone in their 40s or 50s. This is why the Howard McGillin / Davis Gaines type of casting worked so beautifully. There was a gravitas, a pathos, and also that layer of a grown adult male in arrested development...acting like a petulant (unloved) child. The show isn't particularly deep to begin with, but Michael Crawford's casting was a stroke of genius and elevated the melodrama into something surreal and romantic.

Ben Crawford is TERRIBLE. And his understudies are not much better. I wasn't a Hugh Panaro fan, but even he brought some deeper shading and creepiness to the proceedings. Phantom has always worked far better with strong ACTORS who are excellent singers. Tara Rubin and Co and the producers / management seem to have lost sight of that.

Who will want to see Merrily in 20 years? Demented Sondheimites(I know, redundant) in nursing homes? And what if one of the leads dies before the film is finished how will they replace them?

Not exactly gossip, but I’m reading an entertaining book about Broadway called “The Playmakers” from 1970. Here’s a funny story on how Vincent Price ended up in a Broadway musical:

“Producer Joel Schenker sought a male lead for his musical, Darling of the Day, in 1968.' "We were offered a real no-draw guy," he recalls, "who had played Henry Higgins in a third road company of My Fair Lady. He wanted $2,500 a week and a percentage; he meant nothing, but he could play the part, so we agreed. Then he asked for free dinners on Saturdays between the matinee and evening performances. We blew the deal. Later we had to settle for someone who got $5,000 a week and wasn't a draw, either. I guess we should have paid for the dinners.”

[quote] what if one of the leads dies before the film is finished how will they replace them?

You are citing Merrily Replacement Theory and this is not the place for that sort of Sondheim supremacy.

In 20 years there will be no Merrily movie, as Gilead will have completely taken over the United States, and such secular films will have been banned.

Interesting that Beanie was at the Drama League awards yesterday before calling out several hours before showtime. (Photo 3)

Is this true? Was she really out of FG again? Was there a christening?

I would imagine her devastating treatment at the those Drama League Awards was what caused Beanie to call out at FG last night.

Wow, JTF looks old.

[quote]The minute CamMac decided to force this notion of a hot, young Phantom on the show (I'm looking at you Ramin)...the core love triangle, the whole fatherly figure subplot and anything else substantive about the show went straight out the window.

Thank you! And that goes double for Valjean in LES MIZ. It was so much better when they cast older, paternal figures in that role and not hot sexy, shirtless model types. Not that I care. And not that it matters anymore. It's a brand name. It doesn't actually matter how well the show works; it's a title people flock to out of habit.

Casting should be completely color blind. We live in a multi-cultural society and that’s how theatre should reflect it.

Yes, that means a multi-cultural Raisin the the Sun, The Wiz, and August Wilson plays too.

People always bring up the “It’s not accurate to the time or to the person portrayed!” BS. Who the fuck cares—either is that person singing and dancing through life but that’s what the show portrays.

No one mentions height or weight accuracy but we’re obsessed with race accuracy??

Can you imagine trying to follow the plot of Show Boat or Ragtime with color blind casting?

Or Hairspray?

So is Beanie melting down?

Thanks for noticing r456, I AM trying to watch what I eat.

CamMac just got older and pervier, and it was his only way to be around younger hotter guys.

Beanie, gurl: that's not your dress.

Uzo got big. Big arms big everything.

I like Uzo (and don't even hate Beanie). But these big girls are not dressing to flatter their body types.

Those body types can't be flattered.

[quote]People always bring up the “It’s not accurate to the time or to the person portrayed!” BS. Who the fuck cares—either is that person singing and dancing through life but that’s what the show portrays. No one mentions height or weight accuracy but we’re obsessed with race accuracy??

No one mentions that because it's not an issue. A 5'1" tall, 250 pound actor would never be cast as a romantic lead in a musical like OKLAHOMA! or CAROUSEL or even RENT, but if that ever did happen, you can bet your ass it would be "mentioned."

And OF COURSE there will NEVER be multi-cultural casting of the RAISIN IN THE SUN or the plays of August Wilson. You are stupidly trying to apply a definite, firm, one-size-fits-all answer to subject where that DOES NOT work, because there are so man nuances and variables involved.

August Wilson, FWIW, opposed color-blind casting. (Look it up.)

But he also would have been the first to call out the cowardly racists on this thread.

R464, so in the SAME POST you mention that August Wilson opposed color-blind casting, yet you also label white people who oppose it as cowardly racists? Or were you referring to other people in that way?

Imagine all of the gifted actresses of color who were either passed over or couldn’t even get an audition for Phantom over the last few decades and now in the age of wokeness an actress is cast because of her race except she’s not so great in the role. I’ve heard an audio of the current Christine. She’s ok but shaky.

Bringing these topics together … I’d love to see Viola Davis in Glass Menagerie.

Is Natascia Diaz a Sally?

Look back to r351 you lazy twat

[Quote] these big girls are not dressing to flatter their body types.

No you don’t understand r461. Today you are supposed to celebrate your big fat unhealthy body. If you could show off your clogged arteries, and your pre diabetic glucose level that would be even better

Besides The Phantom and Jean Valjean, are there other Broadway roles that are now cast sexier than they used to be?

Fanny Brice

R472, I love you :-)

[quote] Besides The Phantom and Jean Valjean, are there other Broadway roles that are now cast sexier than they used to be?

Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors

Does this mean that we will finally get to see the made for tv movie where Joseph Fiennes played Michael Jackson? God, I hope so!

So who's dressed like a giant bottle of Pepto Bismol? And why is Beanie dressing like Twiggy and looking like Tree Trunk?

Diaz has the craziness and vulnerability to play Sally, I guess, but she doesn’t really have the right kind of voice.

[r477] worked for me!

Beanie out again today! Both performances! What a pro!

Has any kind of official reason been given? Obviously we all know the actual reason, I'm just curious as to whether they're bothering with a cover story

Listen, anyone who is upset by Beanie being out deserves what they get.

Shoshana was out of Mr. Sat Night with covid last night. Billy Crystal did a nice job honoring the understudy at the curtain call. Said she only had 2 hours notice, had never done the role before, and they had never practiced together. She did a great job. She didn't have that powerhouse rock voice but a great legit one and she made it work for the score. Scene work was seamless. Impressive.

[quote]Beanie out again today! Both performances! What a pro!

Well, people *do* get sick. Covid or just a cold. Or, given the way she sings, it wouldn't surprise me if she's having vocal issues.

Did Billy actually say "practiced?"

[Quote] Can you imagine trying to follow the plot of Show Boat or Ragtime with color blind casting?

Sure. Just like opera houses all over the world do Otello, Aida, and Butterfly with multiracial casts and no one cares.

The way everyone gets used to multiracial castes is to start doing it now. Within 5 years, it’ll be old news

Eh. I'm inclined to believe that once she was snubbed by the various awards she lost interest in the whole project and won't make the effort to show up every single night.

She’s getting her pussy eaten as we speak

R459, That dress looks like it was found on the discount rack at Lane Bryant.

[quote]That dress looks like it was found on the discount rack at Lane Bryant.

In 1976.

Does anyone remember the frozen treats they used to have on ice cream trucks, the push ups? That's what Beanie looks like. Ironically so.

Anyone else hearing The Drama League lunch may prove to be THE superspreader event of the season?

Beanie ain't spreadin' in that tight dress.

Shoshana and beanie were at the lunch per the pix posted above

One would think after all of the rehearsals, previews and performances that Beanie would have lost *some* weight. Tyne had dropped weight by the time the Tonys rolled around...

If Beanie had tested positive for COVID, wouldn't there have been an official announcement?

Or if they want to sell tickets r495. People are less likely to go home once they are there, but they will stop buying tickets if they hear she is out

By the time Tyne left Gypsy she was so thin her costumes were hanging off her. Eight shows a week plus going through a divorce was really hard on her.

"Skin of Our Teeth" cancelled the matinee today due to "illness.". We know what that means. Will they just close now?

People are so stupid. Of course the drama league was a superspreader event. What the fuck did they think would happen? The Tonys will be worse. Much worse.

I'll eat my hat if they move the Tonys. As awful as it is, the collective response from show business types now seems to be "Eh, what are you gonna do? (Don't actually tell me, of course, cause I'm not gonna do it.)"

I saw the A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC concert version at Symphony Space a few weeks ago and a Black woman played Petra and she was awesome. I really loved the color blind casting in that version.

Denee was fantastic in the City Center WOODS, too. I think she'd make a great Marian in MUSIC MAN.

R443, how incredibly right you are, when we sadly lost Hal Prince, the last safeguard to at least trying to keep the show close to the original intentions was gone. Cameron’s handpicked lightweight Seth Sklar-Heyn , the global Phantom Associate Director, is just disastrous. He directs each Phantom to be ANGRY at every moment, each Christine to be GIRL POWERFUL instead of entranced, and just doesn’t give a shit about Raoul. The current Phantom casting of the Frat Bro Baritone Ben Crawford has just made the whole production an exercise in exhausting and indicating Smacting! London has it worse with the most boring actor to ever essay the role. Killian has Killed any professional energy to be had, awful. At least the West End understudies are good, on Broadway they are hollow and awful. Cammac wants his horrific “new” tour version to eventually replace the original version, that Tour was wretched!

Ben Crawford was cast by Hal Prince.

R503, yes, Prince agreed on Ben Crawford although he preferred another actor, who has not so far, been in the show, Hal always allowed a democratic result concerning the lead choice, but Ben is giving a very different performance since the reopening “tweaks”, he’s camping it up and wildly manic, Prince was reluctant to let the Phantom get too young in the casting/overall performance energy. Unfortunately both ALW and Camac like younger actors for the role. They basically enjoy the movie version dynamic as a default.

I saw Ethel Barrymore Colt in the role on the Kenley Circuit.

R502 how right you are about Seth Sklar-Heyn. He's one of these late-30s, maybe early-40s, prissy, glossy, moisturized, wanna-be powergays who loves being superior to everyone around him. He will not look you in the eye. He approaches his role as holder of the Phantom keys like a lord over a tiny province. He's not about the art, he's about the pretension of power. And he "directs" with that same aloof intent.

So, wait, R506 – do you like him? I cannot tell.

Even with “pre arranged,” for your leading lady of a big Broadway musical to be out six or seven shows in the first month after opening? That’s bullshit. She never should have been allowed the days off for the wedding, because getting sick was bound to happen at some point and she would miss shows from that.

Beanie is out tomorrow, as well, per Benko's twitter.

Friends from out of town who had tickets for Skin of our Teeth tonight were informed at 4:50 via email that tonight‘s performance have been canceled. If LCT had already canceled the matinee, couldn’t they have told people sooner? My friends struck out trying to get tickets to see something else tonight.

Well, no one notified me about the "Skin" matinee being cancelled. I found out when I got to the theater at 1:30!

I'm fully vaxed and boosted. I've been seeing some theatre but in light of the recent CV-19 spike in NYC, I'm taking some time off. There were things I hoped to catch before the TONYS but I don't see myself going back before July.

What was everyone's reaction to What the End Will Be at Roundabout? It's not every day that one of the big not for profits does a show about three generations of a Black gay family.

If only the play were better, R513. It's very by the numbers.

A shame, cause some of the performances were quite good, and the story could have been intriguing. It's a nicely done production, over all.

No one is doing shows with all black casts. I'm glad Roundabout is.

All audiences should probably stay away until Labor Day. Have a nice summer.

[quote]I saw Ethel Barrymore Colt in the role on the Kenley Circuit.

But you decided to post a photo of Margaret Hamilton?

[quote]Friends from out of town who had tickets for Skin of our Teeth tonight were informed at 4:50 via email that tonight‘s performance have been canceled. If LCT had already canceled the matinee, couldn’t they have told people sooner? My friends struck out trying to get tickets to see something else tonight.

Practically every show was at TKTS tonight - how hard did your friends try?

[quote]All audiences should probably stay away until Labor Day. Have a nice summer.

Oh no, not again

I have to imagine that Funny Girl will post a closing notice after the Tonys. Audiences aren't going to want to put up with this shit for much longer. Beanie wanted to be Barbra but instead ... she's Steve Lawrence?!

Beanie being shut out of any and all award season accolades is going to speed up the show’s demise. It is burning through the advance and they have stopped papering with the manic teen “fan beans”, and also you have a lead who is over it already if she can’t get the trophy.

r508 that is really smart. She doesn’t belong here

Has anyone seen Six?

How is it? Worth a visit?

My biggest problems with Six are (a) they really don't give you a moment to catch your breath; it's ALL about the high-energy, so it's much more like a concert than a musical (when I saw the show, a hot guy got up and started dancing along); and (b) the dishonesty in the writing; 70 minutes of (admittedly fun) bitchiness followed by 20 minutes of "But isn't it wrong when we pit women against each other?" is not a good mix. Still, I liked the performances and a lot of the bitchiness is fun. Overall, inoffensive fluff.

It’s funny how Miss Pamela Anderson who has zero stage experience manages to show up and perform eight times a week and not miss when more experienced stage actors can’t. Or won’t. Or have more important outside commitments.

Those Kim girls were so talented...

Steve Lawrence? Beanie is Totie Fields

She's a reguluh Eydie Gourmet, r527.

Ben and Beanie in Golden Rainbow, produced and directed by Ryan Murphy, to be filmed for Netflix.

I have it on good authority that what hastened Sondheim’s death was seeing a rehearsal of the “Merrily We Roll Along” movie.

R528 You are fat shaming and very funny.

Well, now it's official: KIMBERLY AKIMBO is acoming aBroadway.

I liked the show, loved the leads, but didin't think it was really gonna happen.

[quote]No one is doing shows with all black casts. I'm glad Roundabout is.

Umm....what?

I feel bad for Sondheim’s partner Jeff. Could u imagine living with the rage of knowing your husband died after watching Beanie Feldstein croak out “Like it Was?”

what's up with these [italic] Sweeney [/italic] rumors at r299, r310, r313 and in the earlier thread? Who's directing? Who's producing?

Saw Case for the Existence of God yesterday. A wonderful play, and the actors were great, but I was blown aaway by David Cromer's direction, so simple yet impeccable. Not just a beer can cock, folks!

Cromer deserves his career in every way that Sam Gold does not

[quote] Saw Case for the Existence of God yesterday.

What’s this play about?

About an hour an a half.

…about god and a case for his existence

spolier: God doesn't make an appearance

Damn, wouldn't that have been a real coup de theatre.

Sam Gold could've done it.

Tony nom in 2023 for Bonnie Milligan

White Knights: The Broadway Musical

When will it happen? The time has come.

"New York is lucky that it's transferring,"

Didn't they say the same about COC? Audiences shrugged. It came, it went.

"Overall, inoffensive fluff."

It's offensive to us: Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers...........

"We live in a multi-cultural society and that’s how theatre should reflect it."

An Asian Mrs. Anna? A black Emile de Becque? Nonsense that would make hash of the play and the playwrights' intentions., the realization of which should be the primary objective of any production.

"It was so much better when they cast older, paternal figures in that role and not hot sexy, shirtless model types."

And thank you! It's another scourge of our contemporary theatre: the sacrifice of the theatrical metaphor in favor of the mindlessly literal. There is nothing more repellant and antithetical to Victor Hugo's theme of compassion than having Jean Valjean's spiritual epiphany and conversion be reduced to a night at Chippendale's when he bares his chiseled torso. The sheer vulgarity of it beggars belief.

The Kardashians should star in Chicago

They haven't?

Tommy Kail directing SWEENEY.

Kim Kardashian IS Sally Bowles!

Surely that Josh Groban/Annaleigh Ashford SWEENEY TODD rumor is a joke, right?

Wouldn't that just be ridiculous casting!

I love that R546 doesn't understand the "quote" function on DL and then presumes to speak for dead Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, etc.

[quote]I love that [R546] doesn't understand the "quote" function on DL and then presumes to speak for dead Harold Arlen, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, etc.

What the hell does one thing have to do with the other?

"There is nothing more repellant [sic] and antithetical to Victor Hugo's theme of compassion than having Jean Valjean's spiritual epiphany and conversion be reduced to a night at Chippendale's when he bares his chiseled torso. The sheer vulgarity of it beggars belief."

MARY!!!!!!

The Roundabout show isn't all black. Randy (Queer as Folk) Harrison is in it.

Harrison isn't bad. He's a competent, not terribly exciting presence onstage. None of the characters are that well drawn.

I was at St. Patrick's this morning and lit a candle for Beanie.

[quote]White Knights: The Broadway Musical. When will it happen? The time has come.

Because what Broadway needs to shake it out of its doldrums is yet another pallid musical based on a 40-year-old movie.

[quote]I was at St. Patrick's this morning and lit a candle for Beanie.

Would a convent take a Jewish girl?

[quote] "New York is lucky that it's transferring." Didn't they say the same about COC? Audiences shrugged. It came, it went.

"Children of Corn"?

You mean "Carol of Corn", r561?

I thought Taron And Coc weren’t transferring and closed.

I finally saw Come from Away, having known very little about the story. It blew my mind that the role originated by Chad Kimball was a gay man. I thought he was a right wing Christian homophobe. Is he just the first two but not the third, or is he just open to roles that make him money?

A friend saw FG last night. No comment about Beanie’s understudy. His only comment was that the second act was abysmal and that he did not understand what Harvey had done to the book.

Not a single comment about any of the performances, R565?

R565's friend is clearly critically challenged if that's the best he could come up with.

When asked about the performances he said “The understudy was quite good. Nick Arnstein has the handsome part down but lacked charisma. Jane Lynch seemed like Jane Lynch ”

The Groban Sweeney rumor seems almost as ludicrous as Groban in Man of La Mancha.

He's a goofy, lovely guy with a pleasant pop tenor, but dramatic baritone he is NOT. He should be playing Tony Roberts parts.

Jane Lynch performs the role like an elder woman who’s dentures don’t fit. It informs the whole performance.

Josh Groban IS Vernon Gersch. No. Really. He is.

Excellent idea, R571!

R564, the right wing and Christian parts are accurate, but I've never heard CK is a homophobe (though several have said he's a closet case, or bi at least).

I'm starting to think that "They're Playing Our Song" really should be revived, so that DL-ers can finally realize what a crashing mediocrity it is.

[quote] I finally saw Come from Away, having known very little about the story. It blew my mind that the role originated by Chad Kimball was a gay man. I thought he was a right wing Christian homophobe. Is he just the first two but not the third, or is he just open to roles that make him money?

Chad has played gay characters before CFA. I know he was involved in a couple of workshops of shows that didn't wind up going forward where he played a gay character, and he also did one season on a streaming series where he played a gay casting director.

FIRST MIDNIGHT!

Calm down, R576. It's not time yet.

It's high time, r577.

Twenty-two posts until we get to the Chicken Ranch ...

Who's ready to get SMASHED?

Did Anjelica Huston ever sing on Smash?

Here you go, R582.

It's not a great (or even good) voice, but it was actually a very sweet, small moment on SMASH. Her aging character had divorced her husband and she was unlucky/lucky in love.

Shaiman and talentless hubbie Wittman must get hard trying to redo stories that where already major flops. Broadway has already seen the disastrous MARILYN: AN AMERICAN FABLE and SUGAR. Must we now suffer through the gay duo's take on these tales??

Grandpa...

Shaiman's not married to Wittman, r584. Do try to keep up.

Who's watching MISCAST 2022?

R586 - Sue me, prick. I clearly don't follow the love lives of Broadway composers. Delete the word "hubbie" and the rest stands.

FIRST MIDNIGHT!

PLATINUM!

POUSSE CAFE!

[quote] Shaiman's not married to Wittman,

They used to be together. Didn’t they break up?

Wasn't that Theresa Rebeck I saw in the Insta video posted by Marc Shaiman?

If they did a revival of They’re Playing Our Song which of the leads would be black? I’d like to see Renee Elise Goldsberry as Sonia.

I worked with Chad Kimball almost 20 years ago and remember him as a sweet funny flirty talented and very cute young kid. There were rumors that he swung both ways though no evidence I was aware of either way.

I'm very sad how misguided he's become.

Daniel Breaker would be excellent in the Robert Klein role!

GOLDILOCKS!

I’d rather have Covid than suffer through the painful, uninspired turd that is … Smash.

Why doesn't Marc Shaiman know better? I really don't get why he's isn't more savvy about Broadway.

CHARLIE & ALGERNON!

Good Vibrations and Lennon!

Bajour!

Chita!

DUSSAULT!