THEATRE GOSSIP #485 : Mary Rodgers and Steve: Side By Side By Side By Side

Thank you OP. I had anxiety about (1) the long span without a thread and (2) the possibility of my feeling the need to create one!

Just because we need to get it over with: OP, that's a weak title for the thread. Hope someone else comes up with a better one so we can all post there.

It's fine, r2. Drink your Possum and stop making trouble. Multiple threads with the same number is miserable.

So, predictions on who wants what at Prada? Does Lady Elton want the whole thing to go away rather then endure more criticism? I predict if it [italic] does [/italic] move forward, newbie Weatherhead gets the axe. It surely does sound like Shapiro should go to. Whatever was she doing directing a musical, especially [italic] this [/italic] musical in the first place? I don't think [italic] anything [/italic] begs for Casey Nicholaw, but this one might. Shallow, dance-heavy, and a bitchy sensibility.

Or get that Jerry Mitchell fellow! He could direct and choreograph and we'd save a little money right there.

I don't see Prada working without Elton collaborating with the rest of the creatives and that queen has a reputation of not cooperating with anyone.

Just know there will be hell to pay if any women on the "creative" team are replaced by men!

Amanda Green is available.

Amanda Green is ALWAYS available!

And speaking of Green, does anyone have the Mary Rodgers book yet?

Awaiting my copy today, r9, pre-ordered on Amazon!!!

Me, too. Kindle postponed its release by a month--very annoying, since I'd otherwise have been reading it since midnight!

Wow, R3, you don't have a clue.

Jane Lynch leaving Funny Girl even earlier than expected. Final performance on Sunday.

Elton and Britney are releasing a collab, so his attention will be with that for the foreseeable

R2, OP's title makes more sense if you have read the relevant passage from the book.

But still not clever or funny, R15. A much better title was even suggested in the last thread:

Call Me When He's Dead!

Hope you meant Postum, r3. Drinking Possum sounds icky.

Has anyone read the Mary Rodgers book yet? Anything juicy other that what’s already been reported?

r9: And speaking of Green, does anyone have the Mary Rodgers book yet?

r18: Has anyone read the Mary Rodgers book yet? Anything juicy other that what’s already been reported?

r19: Yawn.

Prada needs to recast Jackie Hoffman in the lead.

Hoffman's a bit old for the Anne Hathaway part, don't ya think?

Seriously, one of the criticism's of the PRADA musical is that Miranda is NOT a lead player in this version. And I shudder to think of what a designer-chic Jackie Hoffman would look like.

PRADA is as good as dead. Forget Bway. It doesn't salvageable, even if they recast and/or redesign the entire thing.

^ doesn't sound salvageable

There you go. Jane Lynch is leaving FG to take over the Miranda role in TDWP. And they're bringing Beanie in as the Eiffel Tower!

More like the Louvre, R23.

So who is the understudy for Lynch that will do the part until Vulva takes over?

[quote] Prada needs to recast Jackie Hoffman in the lead.

As what, the handbag?

The Funny Girl contracts are the weirdest I’ve ever heard of.

Does the entire cast just use a Lazy Susan and hope of the best when picking exit dates?

I'm the one who usually complains about the titles and I don't think there's anything so bad about this one. Leave the criticisms to me, R2.

The contracts and how they are being handled are some of the most unprofessional behavior (ON ALL SIDES) that I’ve ever seen happen. It’s really unbelievable.

[quote] So who is the understudy for Lynch that will do the part until Vulva takes over?

all the articles say, you lazy bitch. Taboo's Liz McCartney

I believe what's happening is Jane Lynch is taking advantage of a two week vacation she was due but never used.

No drama here at all!

[quote] Wow, [R3], you don't have a clue.

Care to give me one? WTF are you talking about?

How is a show open for 4 months and you get a two week vacation?

Anna Shapiro is not beloved in Chicago circles.

I bet there's a lot of schadenfreude.in the Windy City today.

I'd pay money to hear Paul Rudnick's take on all this.

Exactly R33.

[quote]Drinking Possum sounds icky.

Besides, I don't think the Clampetts even owned a blender.

r29 Give us the details then

Why the hell did every major national critic go to Chicago to see PRADA? Were they invited? WTF was that thinking?

r38, you're living in the past. There is no such thing as "major critics" anymore. The profession is dead. What few papers are left have cut them, and the rest are on their way. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi.

[quote] you're living in the past.

isn't that our motto?

Possum is greasy enough that a long braising simmer leaves it pretty much mush, if you find a younger female (or two).

Meat goes through the hand sausage grinder set extra fine, and the rest gets pushed through a sieve. You then combine the two, reheat, season to taste, and add to a nice big mug with the handle still on it, so you can sip and rock and think about the hills of your first home.

Chris Jones from the Trib on Prada

Jackie Hoffman would kill as Miranda Priestly. Her scenery chewing is the only thing that will save this turkey.

Favorite line from Mary's book so far-

"Talent excuses almost anything but Arthur Laurents".

YES I MEANT POSTUM

YOU CALL THIS POSTUM??!

Hadyn Gwynne has the look of a Miranda Priestley.

Jane Lynch jumping ship now.

This doesn't reflect well on Lynch.

Critics knew not to wait until Broadway for Prada because they knew it won't likely get there. And if it does, how fascinating it'll be to write about all the changes since Chicago.

From all reports, the characters of Miranda and Andi don't have a song together and they should, at least one in each act. Miranda also needs a strong song in each act that gives us insight to her behavior. From all reports, this Miranda (Beth Leavel) is just not bitchy enough. The scene in the film where she is caught looking like hell after getting news of her divorce is not a sung moment but is a good dramatic scene; if it's not in the musical, it should be.

Giving Nigel a number about his growing up gay has nothing to do with the story, especially by the time it comes in Act Two. We know he's gay so just move on. A good song moment would be when he is re-dressing Andi. We'd get his love for his job and his knowledge of fashion.

I don't think this one is headed to Broadway unless they revise the entire book and they provide better songs.

" Funny Girl" is significant in that it has set precedent for stars to leave the show early and break their contract if the show isn't a smash or they don't get an award. For that, it's memorable. Congrats to the production team.

Maybe they could change it from gay to poz.

Didn't Carol Burnett leave Fade Out, Fade In early.

[quote]Giving Nigel a number about his growing up gay has nothing to do with the story, especially by the time it comes in Act Two. We know he's gay so just move on.

Who's in the audience? Gay men. This is a bone for them. Much like the number in " The Prom." They hope more gay men will flock to the show because their life story is on stage.

Younger audiences will watch a big musical number about a middle-aged man who is an editor at a woman's fashion magazine.... and guess what? He's GAY.

To quote Miranda Priestly: groundbreaking.

[sound of crickets]

Now that he's dead, they should write Andre Leon Talley (or composite) into the show. How fat is Titus Burgess at the moment?

LOL

I offer a special thanks to my current scene partner Julie Benko and will be back to see my friend Lea Michele light up the lights

????

Darling do try to keep up

I'm wondering if that's a joke or Jane Lynch snapchatted that on her "an" Onlyfans.

[quote]Didn't Carol Burnett leave Fade Out, Fade In early.

Yes, and Lucille Ball left Wildcat early. But both are long, complicated stories.

OP, you suck but you knew that.

Carol Burnett is not a long complicated story. She was fornicating with a married man. She got pregnant. They put the show on hiatus until after she gave birth. She didn’t want to finish her contract. They tried to put someone else in the show, but it flopped.

Carol said, “This is my day, I’m on my way, I’m going Hollywood.”

Ball's story wasn't all that complicated. She tried hard but the show had a difficult time out of town and Ball's years of heavy drinking and smoking had left her unequipped to lead a big musical eight times a week for weeks on end. She actually passed out onstage at one point.

The cunt was only 49. FORTY-NINE!

Jeremy Piven left that Mamet play early because of mercury poisoning. Nobody believed he got it from eating sushi as he claimed.

They should write Andre Leon Talley into "Prada" but make him a total pussy hound.

Plot twist!

The Devil Wears Caftans

More accurately, Piven was able to leave the show because he got a doctor to say he had mercury poisoning. That isn't actually the same thing as having it.

Mamet said at the time that Piven left the show to start a new career as a thermometer.

Prada doesn’t make any sense as a musical. Streep was the only interesting thing in it and the Andi character was only interesting as a foil for Miranda - the whole thing is just Miranda setting impossibly high standards that Andi continues to meet. Anything outside of that, esp. her boyfriend and friends is dire. Two good supporting roles.

But the entire film is mostly montages - how do you adapt that on stage? The montages are what gives the film its energy and even then only about a third of it works.

They could turn Andi into an Eve Harrington type character, then you retool to have All About Eve set in the fashion world.

Has Beanie read the Mary Rodgers book yet? How does Beanie feel about Jane Lynch leaving Funny Girl? Will Beanie see Prada?

[quote] But the entire film is mostly montages - how do you adapt that on stage? The montages are what gives the film its energy and even then only about a third of it works

but that's exactly the problem. They should be inspired by the story of the film (and book) - not adapting the film itself. Montages are, mostly, are movie technique. But look at the "Tonight" quintet in West Side Story and the whole "Ladies in Their Sensitivities" sequence in Sweeney. Montages, in musical theater terms. "A Weekend in the Country" from a show adapted from a a film.

Forgive me if this is old news but I just read on Broadwayworld.com that Robyn Goodman is producing a new Broadway musical based on....Working Girl! With music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, libretto by nobody's fave Theresa Rebeck and direction by yet another hack Christopher Ashley (known in the biz as Crashley).

Who needs this? If the show is set in the 1980s it will seem horribly dated and misogynistic. If it's set in the present, the story makes no sense in today's world. Are any of them or their investors reading those Chicago reviews of The Devil Wears Prada?

What is wrong with people??

Montages, when created with talent, can highly theatrical.

David Burtka left that comedy starring Tyne Daly where he played a young man getting married.

Gossip on the street was that Neil wanted to vacation in the Hamptons and gave David a “Broadway or me” ultimatum.

However, Tyne’s ex husband was a fine looking black man and I think he came to see the show and David gave him a come hither look. Tyne called Neil and said, “Get your bitch out of town or there will be consequences.”

Company is nothing but montages.

The Nanny Diaries: The Musical starring Beanie Feldstein as the nanny, Hugh Jackman as the investment banker father and Laura Benanti as the cold, society mother. Plenty of room in the chorus for black, Hispanic and Asian au pairs!

[quote]This doesn't reflect well on Lynch.

Nor does it reflect on her badly, r49.

"It will seem horribly dated and misogynistic"

Says who? It's a Cinderella story with a working-class character who aspires to a better life, and occasionally makes poor choices along the way...like millions of people do every day. It's called life. Being human.

What IS objectionable is the lack of imagination and poverty of ideas that have become de rigueur on Broadway.

Prada has to be worst produced musical ever. They had all of COVID shut down to rewrite and get it better, and this turd ends up on stage in Chicago. Does anyone know how to produce anymore?

Which flop will be the last straw in the “take a movie, throw in some songs, and call it Broadway” trend?

Look at it this way, Encores won’t be shutting down anytime soon.

Season 55: Mrs. Doubtfire, The Devil Wears Prada and A Strange Loop.

r84, it will if they keep rewriting shows in horrific ways and audiences get fed up enough. Can you imagine the rewrite Mrs. Doubtfire would get with the Billy Porter's future equivalent? "“The comedy is doing the storytelling a disservice! It's really the story of a married man coming out as trans!" Shudder.

Wasn't the Mrs. Doubtfire mess McCollum too?

Yesindeedy

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 2012, a production of "Into The Woods" opened at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

Does anyone know how much a director like Jerry Zaks is getting every week for his crappy direction of a smash hit like The Music Man whose success he has nothing to do with?

I assume Zaks is part of the creatives' royalty pool (along with the estate of Meredith Wilson), sharing in points of the gross profits each week.

I don't know the specific breakdown, but it could mean 20%/25% of that pool, which could reach up to 1/3 of the gross profits.

We're talking huge money, potentially.

PS: their box office was down last week, but TMM has been grossing in excess of $3 million each week.

Cha-ching.

What is Rudin making?

License plates, r92

Meredith Willson, r90. Oh dear.

I wasn't even alive during the golden age of Broadway, but I sure do miss it. All the creativity on display. Sure, there were a fair share of flops at that time, too, but it was a much more interesting landscape. If I were to plan a New York trip for later this year, I wouldn't even know what to go see. I wish off-Broadway was more viable these days. So many great and interesting voices got their start there and it's a wonderful way to workshop new shows and new talents.

Speaking of A Strange Loop, it's had at least 118 non-preview performances to date. In order to not hold the record for shortest-running Tony winner for Best Musical, it needs to surpass Passion's "grand" total of 280 non-preview performances. What do we think? Can ASL last at least 162 more performances? At eight shows a week, the threshold would be crossed at Christmastime.

Looks like they’re barely above their pre-win grosses. It’s a big fat queer ass FLOP

Somebody jokingly said Tituss as ALT but Tituss would give that limp fish of a musical some jolts of energy.

Well R74, the montages in Prada are like Miranda dropping her coat on the desk 20 times or Andi walking to work in progressively better clothes 20 times. Not exactly the stuff of counter melody quartets. But good luck with that.

The Devil Wears Prada is a Faust adaptation. Andi is lured in by the opportunity (I'll do this for a little while and get great contacts), then because she's a bright, efficient girl her sense of excellence is challenged by Miranda's standards so she gets more and more sucked in, and before she knows it she's part of it: putting down or neglecting her partner and friends and ultimately betraying Emily for no better reason than that she is becoming Miranda's mini-me.

That is the proper through-line for a musical. It's essentially a high-fashion Damn Yankees. If you start going off on tangents you're done.

[quote]The contracts and how they are being handled are some of the most unprofessional behavior (ON ALL SIDES) that I’ve ever seen happen. It’s really unbelievable.

Agreed. Maybe this has something to do with the fact that one of the producers is an inept, incompetent taste-free turd who somehow keeps failing upward.

I think they'll run A Strange Loop through the end of the year even if it's running to the ushers and the bartenders only. They want to save face. They'll make all their millionaire celebrity investors who bought themselves Tony Awards keep shoveling money into it.

Jerry Zaks might be a hack, but he’s an incredibly rich hack.

Mack & Georgia

Oh i wish I could have heard Brown sing that back when she still had a voice.

And if you've only heard Bernie sing it on the OBCR, which is great, but still check out her later performances, both legit and boots. Her performance improved and grew and deepened immeasurably over the years.

[quote]I think they'll run A Strange Loop through the end of the year even if it's running to the ushers and the bartenders only.

And blame it on the inherent racism and homophobia of Broadway.

I love Georgia Brown.

She sang “Time Heals Everything” on the Mack & Mabel In Concert cd. I’m not sure if that’s still in print, but I think it’s all on YouTube. That was the performance where for some reason they had Tommy Tune play the Lisa Kirk role.

I love Georgia Brown’s version of The Saga of Jenny. She recorded an album of Gershwin songs and an album of Weill songs and in the 90s, they combined them onto one cd.

[Quote] one of the producers is an inept, incompetent taste-free turd who somehow keeps failing upward.

So hard to choose. Sonia, Landis or Babani. Which inept, incompetent taste-free turd who somehow keeps failing upward do you mean?

Kim Criswell painted a not so flattering portrait of Georgie Brown. The impression was that she needed a whipping boy and Criswell became hers.

As we know Criswell had no filters. If you piss of Sondheim, you’re really a piece of work. Georgia Brown probably wanted professional. Plus, she was dying of cancer, so she may not have been in the best frame of mind.

What show did Brown do with Kriswell?

My copy of SHY arrived yesterday. Once I started reading it after dinner, I couldn't put it down and read 80 pages. It's remarkably entertaining, very conversational, totally engaging. There are anecdotes to discuss here for decades.

[quote]There are anecdotes to discuss here for decades.

If you do, please start a separate thread, so we can avoid another " Follies" fiasco.

Threepenny Opera. She talks about it from about 36:00.

Def agree with r113 and there's a thread already - although it could be confusing considering the title of this thread.

You think we can avoid Follies in a Theatre Gossip Thread?

Did anyone consider Laura Benanti for Miranda? She seems so right and it would have helped to distinguish the musical from the movie to have a middle aged rather than elderly Miranda.

A red wig was a nice try, but age could have done it.

Is it just because of Streep that it feels that Miranda needs to be slender and angular? Is she described physically in the novel?

Benanti wouldn’t have uprooted to Chicago. She seems to have her hands full lately with Jersey blues, Covid, and a newborn.

[quote]You think we can avoid Follies in a Theatre Gossip Thread?

No, but we can hope to avoid every theater gossip thread being hijacked by Rodgers discussion, as has been the case with " Follies."

[Quote] Is it just because of Streep that it feels that Miranda needs to be slender and angular?

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

[quote]You think we can avoid Follies in a Theatre Gossip Thread?

Truthfully, R116, I wonder what gay theatre fans gossiped about in the 1960s, before they could truly raise their Standard and unite behind it. (Or at least, be united in arguing about it endlessly.) It must have been a Babel: like Rick's Cafe Americain before Victor Laszlo got them all started on La Marsellaise.

I expect there was a lot of back and forth over Ethel in GYPSY vs Mary in The Sound of Music.

[quote]buck a nun!

Cheap at twice the price.

R122, they talked about Lucy's inability to keep WILDCAT going, as much fun as they had at the show. They argued about who actually saw ANYONE CAN WHISTLE during its short run and also argued about who Really saw Lainie Kazan go on for Barbra in FUNNY GIRL.

They hotly debated whether Kaye Ballard was considered for any part in MAME, let alone the title role.

Is SeatGeek the worst service to get tickets?

R118, I think it is more because Anna Wintour is slender and angular.

"Is SeatGeek the worst service to get tickets?"

I had no problem with it. And I absolutely LOVE that you can transfer tix to another party for whatever reason.

One of the Devil cast members said THE SHOW WILL BE GOING DIRECTLY TO BROADWAY on Instagram. Bless his heart.

For those that have seen Prada, does Michael Tacconi take his shirt off ?

Queen reviews Prada

All of STRANGE LOOP's celebrity producers didn't put a dime into the show.

I know we're all sick of Funny Girl by now, but the MARYS over at Broadway World are killing me:

[quote] I think Beanie took a day off when Julie was down with covid so Ephie could take the lead for one show before she left. A little friendly actor taking care of another actor business.

What kind of enchanted wonderland do these people live in where actors do things like this?

I was rolling my eyes at the first few seconds of the queen at R132 but DAMN if Miss Girl didn't pretty much nail the entire cluster of issues in a nutshell!

Prada’s design can be fixed, the show tightened, and characters deepened before Broadway

But what the fuck are they going to do about that score?

Prada's design can be fixed but but will cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Even a simple dress made in a union costume shop these days can cost at least $2500. And new set pieces? Forget it!

[quote]What kind of enchanted wonderland do these people live in where actors do things like this?

Oh c'mon, r134, Beanie, by that point, was *over* it. She was just counting the days and Ephie was no competition to her. She is to Julie, though.

The fact that they shortchanged their costume budget because they thought that:

A) Designers would lend them couture

and

B) Said couture would last being quick-changed in and out of for 8 shows a week

… is insane.

Did I miss something, r139? The couture *wasn't* built by costume shops?

Did anyone catch the All That Chat thread on Laura Osnes before it was removed?

All the enraged queens came out to play, smearing everyone they could. I have friends who won't go to that site even if they themselves are mentioned, because there are so many self-righteous freaks there now.

It went on for quite some time before Ann pulled the plug. I was surprised, though, at how long she let it run. Maybe she wasn't reading it at the time. I know she has a lie, even kids to raise, I was told.

I felt the tone of the place changed when she let the despicable Ryhog take over the site. And when he was joined by Singapore etc., the site was beyond saving. We used to complain about Bruce Memblatt and others such, but they were irritating, not destructive. And there were some who were thrown off the site really for being pathetic and needy and talking too much.

It's odd how Ann decides whom to coddle and whom to bash.

^^^ I know she has a LIFE, not lie.

R25 I don't believe Kim Criswell ever was a "Broadway star" like that description of her in the video. If I recall, she had a chorus role in "Nine" as one of the ladies (maybe she was an understudy) and she was like a background voice in "Baby". She apparently must met someone in the UK who advance her career, since all of a sudden there are CDs and things with her name coming out of England. Is she box-office there?

oops, that was to R114

DL fave Max von Essen hears the sound of magic feet...

And Elizabeth "Downton Abbey" McGovern as Ava Gardner?

Ummm. Sure, why not?

[quote] All of STRANGE LOOP's celebrity producers didn't put a dime into the show.

They are there as endorsements/influencers and to get Tonys. The first part didn't work - or didn't work enough - and the second part did. EGOT is ever-more meaningless, although it actually always was. In our sound-bite world it's treated like an actual accomplishment

No one cares R141.

Kim Criswell was a star in the John McGlinn universe, nowhere else.

She was Olivier nominated for "Annie Get Your Gun." She was good in the clips I've seen as Margaret White in a London "Carrie" from a few years ago.

I agree with R148. No one here cares about drama on ATC.

[quote]Did anyone catch the All That Chat thread on Laura Osnes before it was removed? It went on for quite some time before Ann pulled the plug. I was surprised, though, at how long she let it run. Maybe she wasn't reading it at the time.

[quote]No one cares [R141].

Don't speak for the rest of us, r148 and r151. We don't need hall monitors here. A seemingly much-beloved poster here (c-list actor) posts on ATC on a near-daily basis.

It's odd what Ann allows and doesn't on All That Chat, and for how long, r141. The Osnes thread, mostly about how she "vanished" after hiding the fact that she was unvaxxed in the early days of Crazy For You, and Tony Yazbeck's part in outing her, was interesting.

There was a three day period when the ATC board was completely overtaken by the Alice Ripley "grooming" scandal. Three days in a row, the entire page was filled, then deleted. It was nuts.

[quote]I think Beanie took a day off when Julie was down with covid so Ephie could take the lead for one show before she left. A little friendly actor taking care of another actor business.

[quote]What kind of enchanted wonderland do these people live in where actors do things like this?

I have no personal knowledge of that specific situation, r134, but I've worked on Broadway for decades. An actor showing another actor a kindness in that way is not at all rare, especially when it is easy to do so.

[Quote] A seemingly much-beloved poster here (c-list actor) posts on ATC on a near-daily basis.

O.... K.... And waddya want me to do about that?

[quote]So hard to choose. Sonia, Landis or Babani. Which inept, incompetent taste-free turd who somehow keeps failing upward do you mean?

Well, I personally am familiar with the incompetence, ineptitude, and tastelessness of of only one of them -- Babani -- so that's whom I was referencing specifically.

[quote]A seemingly much-beloved poster here (c-list actor) posts on ATC on a near-daily basis.

[quote]O.... K.... And waddya want me to do about that?

Why nothing at all, r153, except for you understand that while you want to limit what people here can talk about, some of us will discuss whatever we choose to.

Yazbeck and Berresse.

[quote]DL fave Max von Essen hears the sound of magic feet...

That should have been "DL fave Max von Essen hears the beat of dancing feet," but thanks for trying.

Kim at The Proms

[quote]No, but we can hope to avoid every theater gossip thread being hijacked by Rodgers discussion, as has been the case with " Follies."

Why would discussion of Mary Rodgers' memoir be considered "hijacking" a theater thread -- especially when, apparently, the book is filled with gossip and fodder for gossip? I guess you're one of those dreaded hall monitors, but I hope you understand that we don't have to listen to you.

It sounded like the went back to some of the original keys and arrangements for Margaret's songs when Criswell did Carrie. They're much more thrilling that the other recent versions. It also probably helps that she's a physically imposing Margaret who looks like she could really beat the shit out of her daughter. She's not the best actress in the world, but she's got a great voice.

I think the original production of Gypsy was shut down for a few days because Ethel burst a blood vessel in her throat. No way would Ethel permit an understudy.

And we all know the Call Me Madam story where Ethel told Stritch, “Go to New Haven and sing the fucking song.” Stritch knew she could collect two paychecks because The Merm never missed.

Mary Martin broke her arm rehearsing Peter Pan but still did The Sound of Music.

Taron Egerton left Cock in London just this year for Unknown Reasons.

Ethel burst a blood vessel and Jane Romano went on. She did well, it went to her head and she ask for a raise. It was denied and she left the show. Poor Jane died relatively young. Ethel writes about it in her book.

Vanessa Redgrave dropped out of MFL in London. First Covid and, after that, I’m guessing a slow recovery from Covid at her age. God bless her.

Mitzi Green was the second major Rose Hovick, right? There's some of her TV work on YouTube. She's quite likeable in a way many period performers aren't (cough-Betty Hutton-cough).

They should get Linda Thorson.

[quote]I guess you're one of those dreaded hall monitors

Where, oh where are these dreaded halls of the Datalounge?

Just follow the smell of Ben-Gay, cheap gin, and menthol cigarettes, R166.

They should get Linda Thorson for what?

How thrilling to hear that OKLAHOMA finale at r157 sung full out with gusto like R&H intended it. I'd kill for a major revival of it in a traditional staging just to obliterate that last horrid revival out of my mid and heart forever. Who was the other guy on stage with Julian Ovenden? Powerful sexy voice!

Also, why all the constant DL hate for Kim Kriswell? What's that all about?

I will be forever beholden to ryhog @ ATC for constantly holding that pompous ignoramus NewtonUK (aka producer Martin Platt) to the fire for all his idiotic posts and opinions.

No motherfucker R152. It is literally in the guidelines of this website that you do not bring bullshit from other forums here. People have been redtagged and banned for less. You have been told REPEATEDLY to knock it the fuck off.

So shut your fucking trap and galavant off to your other little website THAT NO ONE HERE GIVES A FUCK ABOUT.

You stupid fucking cunt.

R169, that's Rod Gilfrey.

Should be Gilfry.

[Quote] They should get Linda Thorson for what?

MFL. Thorson has a shock of white hair. Plus, she'd be following Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg into a production of MFL.

24 likes in 8 minutes?!

R171 CHANGE YOUR FUCKING BLOODY FUCKING TAMPON, YOU LUNATIC CUNT.

[Quote] Also, why all the constant DL hate for Kim Kriswell? What's that all about?

She auditioned for Sondheim and when told that revisal of "Merrily" was on the way, she remarked that show certainly needed it.

*a revisal

Sondheim rang her agent to complain. And her agent rang DL, or faxed DL. I can't remember.

Thank you, R171. You're completely correct.

And others should feel free to F&F R152, the Uber Hall Monitor who accuses others of hall monitoring. I just did, and it felt good.

Namaste.

Girls! Girls!

You're all cunts!

I would have thought Ms Kriswell's actions would have gained her great love and admiration here on DL, where we always tell it like it is.

Sondheim was extremely thin skinned. I know of several men who had mail correspondences with Steve when they were young, exchanging their thoughts and ideas about musical theatre and Broadway, but as soon as they began to really let loose with their opinions, especially about his work, he would cut them off.

I know of several men who had frequent meetings with him, at his home, to discuss his work and other subjects. He was generally very open to it unless someone was inexcusably rude.

Just men?

[Quote] I would have thought Ms Kriswell's actions would have gained her great love and admiration here on DL, where we always tell it like it is.

I think Criswell is perceived as an honorary Brit. And we know how the DL Theatre Gossip Thread feels about Brits...

[Quote] Just men?

Funny that.

Perhaps someone might start a separate chat related to ATC bitching? Or would Muriel not like that?

Separating threads out is a good way to get the entire umbrella removed by Muriel.

I don’t think it’s correct that Taron Egerton left cock

[quote]How thrilling to hear that OKLAHOMA finale at [R157] sung full out with gusto like R&H intended it.

Modern composers have forgotten what melody is.

Taron did withdraw.

[quote]Taron did withdraw.

Pics please.

[quote]I'd kill for a major revival of it in a traditional staging just to obliterate that last horrid revival out of my mid and heart forever.

Surely you can't mean " Wokelahoma"?

[quote] A seemingly much-beloved poster here (c-list actor)

Beloved?

Most of us have never even seen "Bones: Doggie Investigators" or whatever it was called.

If only they didn't pronounce it "OKLAHOMER".

All the chorus boys used to call it Oklahomo.

How hilarious.

[quote]How thrilling to hear that OKLAHOMA finale at [R157] sung full out with gusto like R&H intended it

Here's the whole concert.

[quote]She auditioned for Sondheim and when told that revisal of "Merrily" was on the way, she remarked that show certainly needed it.

That's a well known story, and I wonder what her tone of voice was in delivering her comment. Because it's true that MERRILY certainly needed a revisal, and the fact that Sondheim was in the midst of preparing one means that Criswell was only agreeing with him. But if she made her comment with a nasty tone, then of course we can understand why Sondheim would have reacted badly. There's also the fact that, presumably, she and Sondheim weren't the only ones in the room when she said what she said.

But also, on a related note and in regard to R183 and R184, Sondheim at least once came right out and basically stated that the creations of a living, working artist should not be criticized -- or, rather, that the artist himself or herself should not be subjected to such criticism, even though of course it's going to happen anyway. Jason Robert Brown's story of his falling out with Sondheim bears this out, although Sondheim's reaction in that case might be understandable because the show in question was in the midst of being born at the time. Anyway, it really does seem as if Sondheim felt that the only criticism of his work should come from himself, and he did in fact make many critical comments about his own work over the years.

ATC can have c-list actor.

No one here cares. Fuck off, already.

Did anyone see Wokelahoma in London? I love Liza Salovey but can’t totally see her as Aunt Eller.

[quote]I don’t think it’s correct that Taron Egerton left cock

Though on occasion, cock leaves him.

I saw it at the Young Vic, R203. I loved it. It was beautifully sung and played; the ending was a real gut punch. When they reprised the title song at the end, they performed it the same as they did earlier only by then they all seemed like savages. It was really good.

Also, I used to know Kim Criswell. She's a total sweetie.

Kim Criswell was interviewed by Skip E. Lowe. It's on the YouTube.

Alas! THE UNOFFICIAL BRIDGERTON MUSICAL may be unofficially dead.

What streaming series shall they rip off next?

[quote]some of us will discuss whatever we choose to.

Did someone call me?

Yes r209. The sun comes up, I think about you.

Oklahomo! was gay porn video from the 90s. It was about cowboy Curly and rancher Jud both vying to take farmhand Laurie to the "box" social. Instead of musical numbers, it had sex scenes. I still have the VHS tape in the back of a closet somewhere.

Would someone share the details of Jason Robert Brown's falling out with Sondheim? I'm not familiar with that story.

The Daniel Fish OKLAHOMA! was superb. Very interesting and innovative. And the performances were terrific.

You even liked the dream ballet, R212?

I loved Daniel Fish's "Oklahoma!", all but the dream ballet which completely bewildered me.

R119, you left out The Gilded Age. Benanti is a recurring regular in Season 2 which finishes shooting in November.

"The Daniel Fish OKLAHOMA! was superb. Very interesting and innovative. And the performances were terrific."

Aww, prairie shit.

How come Harry Groener isn’t more well known? He had an interesting Broadway career but is largely forgotten.

I remember him from Buffy. He was very good in that role. Not a leading man type, I would think.

R216, give R212 a break. He's woke, as is Broadway.

The people in this thread who actually LIKED the reprehensible, despicable Daniel Fish production of OKLAHOMA! are a pox on us all, because their approval might spur more such productions.

And that includes you, R212. I would have been happy to detail JRB's falling out with Sondheim for you if you hadn't described Fish's OKLAHOMA! as "superb," "interesting," and "innovative," but since you did, I don't consider it worth my time to do so.

[quote]The people in this thread who actually LIKED the reprehensible, despicable Daniel Fish production of OKLAHOMA! are a pox on us all, because their approval might spur more such productions.

Cry harder, princess.

[r220] thank you Paul Ford for entering the chat. 🙄

"If I whine loudly enough only ultra-Orthodox productions of classic Broadway musicals will be allowed!"

Good luck with that, caftan-wearing 400-pound showtune queen.

here you go.

[quote]Taron did withdraw.

I think when referring to cock, the correct expression is "pulled out."

Thank you, R224.

And FUCK YOU, R220.

To be fair, the Dream Ballet in Oklahoma has always been a slog to get through. It's far too long and simply tells us what we already know, but in dance form. Considering this and Show Boat were the first real classic American musicals, it's understandable that they wouldn't have it down to an exact science yet. I think the same about the brilliant, but unnecessary Broadway Rhythm section in Singin' in the Rain. It's an excellent sequence and very entertaining, but it stops all forward momentum of the story.

Now we have to hear from Ricky Ian Gordon about *his* disaster with Sondheim, which was about the same work.

A friend of mine told me that both Sondheim and Gordon recounted the grisly details to him, and that each of them told exactly the same story.

So we KNOW THAT IT HAPPENED!

Would you care to fill us in, r228?

Apparently according to her Twitter, Kim Criswell never got the memo to never speak ill of the dead

Steven Sater, who has somehow built a TikTok following by constantly posting videos of Lea Michele, shared an old behind the scenes video of the Spring Awakening rehearsal today where Jonathan Groff can’t even get through the song because he’s crying so hard.

It’s so embarrassing that I can’t look away. Can anyone here who has met Groff confirm that he’s really this big of a fucking crybaby in real life? He really comes across as deeply unwell. I hope he’s in therapy at least.

Wasn't the Sondheim/Gordon flap over MERRILY? That they were getting along famously until Gordon suggested he had ideas on how to "fix" the show? After that, it was bye-bye, Ricky.

The man lived on my street, let me tell.

STOP! I'll tell:

Ricky and Steve were on SS's back porch, overlooking that gigantic back yard the entire block shares. A pause.

Ricky then asks, "So tell me, what went wrong with Merrily We Roll Along?

Thus implying that there was something wrong with it, Ricky broke a cardinal SS rule, somewhat related to the one that Jason Parade broke: You don't volunteer criticism of a Sondheim show.

There were a few more words, but soon enough SS ordered Ricky out of his house. "And never darken my towels again!"

Back porch? Backyard?

Ignore the hall monitors, r170, wretched bunch that they be.

Phuck you, r171.

I thought it was choreographer Ron field who walked into rehearsal one morning during previews saying he'd figured out how to fix Merrily We Roll Along. He instantly became persona non grata to Prince and Sondheim, who thought things were fine. Prince fired him and replaced him with Larry Fuller.

[quote]Jonathan Groff…crying so hard.

Faggot!

I assume he was a good Buddy as he could share the leading man status and he could dance it, r218. They gave him a chance to shine in this episode of Dear John.

[quote] Sondheim was extremely thin skinned. I know of several men who had mail correspondences with Steve when they were young, exchanging their thoughts and ideas about musical theatre and Broadway, but as soon as they began to really let loose with their opinions, especially about his work, he would cut them off.

Calling bullshit. How does one cut someone off via mail correspondence?

a great guy

r240 - how does one cut someone off via mail correspondence?

Gee, I dunno. I guess one writes the other one a nasty letter telling them off and telling them not to reply. You know, like it was back in the old days.

Uh, how old are you?

Oklahomo was also a very funny play from the late 90s by a guy named Justin Tanner who also wrote the wonderful play "Pot Mom" which starred Laurie Metcalf, and was later stolen outright by Jenji Kohan for the show Weeds.

[quote]How come Harry Groener isn’t more well known? He had an interesting Broadway career but is largely forgotten.

I think he did what he wanted, r217. I did 2 of his earlier Broadway shows and he was just a joy to work with. So was Jeffrey DeMunn

[quote]So shut your fucking trap and galavant off to your other little website THAT NO ONE HERE GIVES A FUCK ABOUT.

Maybe switch to decaf?

A trusted friend who saw the 2002 Reprise! FOLLIES reported that the leading men (Mr. Groener and Bob Gunton) were near-ideal but the leading ladies (Patty Duke and Vikki Carr) were far from it.

[quote][R220] thank you Paul Ford for entering the chat.

Ah, that was hilarious. As if Paul Ford is the only person earth who loathed the Fish OKLAHOMA! Actually, we are legion.

[quote]And FUCK YOU, [R220].

Same to you, putz. Seriously , anyone who didn't abhor that Fish fry version of OKLAHOMA! is a taste-free fool with no knowledge or appreciation of musical theater history. And NO, in highly unusual cases like that abomination, it is NOT a matter of opinion, because what was presented was without question a desecration of what the creators of the show intended.

I just watched with real Paul Ford in "Never Too Late" with Maureen O'Sullivan, a too broad Jim Hutton and DL kinda fave Connie Stevens. And I looked it up on IBDB and it ran 1,007 performances on Broadway! The 2nd Paul Ford doesn't have that kind of record.

Wasn’t “Wokelahoma” the last R & H project that Ted Chapin approved and guided before his retirement? Did he ever have to deal with the fallout? Surely he must have known how many people hated it and felt like it was completely at odds with what R & H wrote?

Harry Groener was great in Crazy For You.

What the hell is Glenn Close wearing?

Gee, r246, what a ore you are.

How dare you call him an ore!

Does nobody care about the above post that Kim Criswell tweeted that she didn’t think Stephen Sondheim was in heaven? That seemed a bit harsh even if he banned her from his work.

I don’t think Patti at the height of Arthur Laurents feud would have been like “Well he’s clearly in hell”

Sondheim isn’t in heaven. Because there is no heaven.

So nobody cares.

Patti didn't have to, r252. It was the general consensus...

It's a pretty shitty comment, r252. Probably says more about Criswell than it does about Sondheim

Sondheim doesn't have to be in heaven. He is already one of the immortals, and will be as long as gays exist to carry on his legend. (And all the legends about him that may or may not be true, too.)

As a sidebar, have Jews developed a heaven now? When I read the Bible heaven and hell didn't seem to be part of the Old Testament deal, but who knows what these crazy kids do nowadays.

Mr. Sondheim is quite tasty.

Kim Criswell, many years ago, did a concert performance of PARDON MY ENGLISH in Washington DC, doing a dead on imitation of Lyda Roberti. Just for that, she is forgiven everything.

I'm a mineral myself.

The hysteria on this board about the Daniel Fish OKLAHOMA! is crazier than anything put onstage in that production, as is the relentless pearl-clutching about Rodgers & Hammerstein's "intentions." That attitude is the death of forward motion in the arts.

Love it or hate it, this production ran nearly as long as the Trevor Nunn revival that played upstairs at the Gershwin 20 years ago -- and longer than the even more faithful production at the Palace in 1979-80. It picked up a bunch of good reviews and a couple of Tonys. It's still touring, but once that tour's over, it will be a thing of the past -- part of OKLAHOMA!'s long and storied history, and proof that the piece is resilient enough to absorb many interpretations.

I for one went to it with a raised eyebrow or 2 and was pleasantly surprised by how responsive the material was to Fish's approach. I didn't buy everything (the notorious Dream Ballet in particular struck me as misguided), but I loved the new arrangements (full of touches that paid homage to RRB's originals) and found much food for thought throughout.

Yeah, but your opinion is shit.

I wonder how many posters here are aware of how much they sound like that mod of the Facebook group, just about different topics

If Sondheim killed Criswell's career in New York, I don't blame her for writing that.

She played The Witch in a regional UK production of Into The Woods. She also did Follies In Concert, subbing for Elaine Stritch, and a UK birthday tribute or two to Sondheim. She clearly wasn't banned outright, though she should have been included in the BBC Proms Sondheim Tribute over, say, Caroline O'Connor.

I just noticed that Kim's "Ladies Who Lunch" is no longer on YouTube. I think she did it for a BBC radio concert of "Company" with Julian Ovenden.

What does it matter? He's DEAD.

Which version of Oklahoma did they serve cornbread to the audience? Was chili also served?

Well, aren't we having a gay old time beating these dead horses.

Time for a palate cleanser.

It IS tomorrow!

*This* is a palate cleanser, r268...

Ok - I hope no one minds if I ask again - Why was Pat Carroll I replaced by Harriet Harris in Thoroughly Modern Millie?

Carroll was not well enough to continue.

I remember in Xanadu how they were always trying to cover Olivia's ankles.

"Forward motion" is a jackass's euphemism for wrecking a show that's 75 years old by miscasting all the principals and giving the second woman lead to a talentless goblin who screams instead of sings but can't be criticized because it's in a wheelchair.

[quote] To be fair, the Dream Ballet in Oklahoma has always been a slog to get through.

R227, of course this isn't true. It was revolutionary at the time, and started the craze for dream ballets throughout the 50s and 60s.

[quote] It's far too long and simply tells us what we already know, but in dance form.

Done right, it expands on what we know by offering deeper psychological truths, which was novel at the time. Now that human psychological is more common knowledge, such a dream sequence could feel redundant to us today.

I never met a dream ballet I couldn't sleep through.

DeuxMoi posted another blind item this afternoon about Groff and Mendez being confirmed for the NYTW Merrily production.

Why hasn’t NYTW made an announcement yet? Tickets for fall shows would usually go on sale around this time…

"human psychology"

Am I the only one ho hum about Mendez as Mary? I get they want a POC but… surely she wasn’t the first choice?

Lindsay Mendez is not terribly talented. She won a fat girl Tony.

Lindsay Mendez looks too old alongside Radcliffe and Groff.

[quote]She won a fat girl Tony.

Well Mary is supposed to be a fat girl.

She was playing Carrie Piperidge in "Carousel".

R&H originally told DeMille that they wanted something like a circus dream to end Act I. But she had read the script and seen some early rehearsals and realized the show was in part about a young woman's sexual awakening. She went to work in the basement with the dancers while music and book rehearsals continued upstairs in the theater they were using. Someone finally went to Rodgers told him he and Oscar needed to check on Agnes in the basement. They were flummoxed by what they saw, but intrigued, and decided to let her continue what she was doing.

R107 that's a pretty good version of The Saga of Jenny by Georgia Brown, but it's not complete (she leaves out the "Argentine" and "memoirs" sections) and she has a major lyric screw-up. It should be "Jenny and her saga / Prove that you are gaga / If you don't keep sitting on the fence." Brown sings "If you just keep sitting on the fence." That's the opposite of what Ira Gershwin meant with his lyric. I still haven't heard a perfect and complete version of this song. And, yes, I know that Maria Friedman's version is complete, but I find her acting choices a bit overdone and cutesy.

I watch this dream ballet and an hour later I want to watch it again.

Kim Criswell has a good version of "The Sage of Jenny."

I prefer the Parsley of Jenny.

Ankles aside, my God is Olivia Newton-John gorgeous in that Xanadu clip.

I hoped Ruthie Henshall's version would be good but she stomps around like a teenager.

I enjoy Lynn Redgrave's sadly truncated version.

R285, yes it is incomplete. But I love the little bitchy spoken part at the end. But she sometimes goofed.

I also like her totally 1960s version of Alabama song. If I had been producing Mad Men, I would have found a scene to put it into.

The version where chili and cornbread were served at intermission. You could also bid on sexual favors from the cast.

I bet the theater was rank after all those audiences ate chili and farted through Act 2.

Did someone change Ali Stroker's diaper after she ate the chili?

I prefer Lettice and lovage, r288.

Bock when the Tonys recognized that there were plays other than musicals.

[quote]Ankles aside

It's Ankles aweigh, r289. And regarding Jenny, I'll post it...don't throw stones.

r294 has no idea how the digestive system works, apparently.

[quote] Love it or hate it, this production ran nearly as long as the Trevor Nunn revival that played upstairs at the Gershwin 20 years ago

Nominee for stupidest comment ever? Circle in the Square seats approx 675. The Gershwin seats 2000.

What's taking The Music Box?

What theater was Wheezer doing a residency, and wtf is a "Wheezer"?

I wish I could tell you, R302, but I'm breaking down. Down, down, dowwwwwnnnnnnnnnn.........

Uh oh

I see Whizzer going down

"Circle in the Square seats approx 675. The Gershwin seats 2000.

Not to mention that the 1979-80 revival had a cast of 40 + , the most recent about 17. No comparison in terms of numbers, either in dollars or performances.

What's Julian Ovenden up to these days?

Up my arse r306

Did any of you see him in My Night With Reg?

Yes, Julian went to the trouble of giving the gays what they wanted -full frontal showing off his big dick - and it’s been woefully under-reported on on DL.

Was the show bootlegged?

You rang, r275?

Can't abide Criswell in any register she chooses to sing in. Her belt sounds squeezed and modern for all the vintage material and her acting is vacant. She also lacks a feeling for music (and particularly rhythm) in general, tending to sing everything 'just so' as if she's only a few rehearsals in and hasn't quite found her own stamp on the material yet but is just stabbing at it with generalities and delivering the score as written. There's no question she makes a sound, but it doesn't really ever engage or challenge the audience or dare it to look away.

At the end of this clip, singing live, is a good belty Jenny with a good arrangement. Sothern may be a tad heavy but you don't care as she's a great Liza. Some present day leading ladies could watch Sothern to see how to handle being a person of size playing the romantic lead built on a smaller frame. She's even better on the RCA studio recording of the show's songs.

Julian is currently touring in South Pacific.

I saw Julian Ovenden in My Night with Reg and can confirm that, 10+ years later, the DL should still be talking about his nude scenes and those where he was wearing only white briefs.

Ann is belting in that clip?

Actually, that Ladies Who Lunch performance is still on YT.

Ovenden singing "You're Just In Love."

Ann Sothern was a goddess, criminally underused by MGM.

Check her out on youtube singing:

I've Still Got My Health from Panama Hattie

The Last Time I Saw Paris from Lady Be Good

Where's That Rainbow from 'Til the Clouds Roll By

Isn't Where's That Rainbow from Words and Music?

It's Rodgers-Hart song, and Till the Clouds Roll By is by Jerome Kern.

That Ann Sothern "Lady in the Dark" is a really excellent tv version of the show, also with DL fave and recently departed Carleton Carpenter in the Danny Kaye role, probably the first major gay character in a classic Broadway musical.

Sothern is such an expressive singer in the performing "My Ship", and her "Saga of Jenny" is sexy and exciting. Plus, she's a terrific actress, perfectly cast, in a great role with many layers to it, which has been hard to cast over the years even satisfactorily.

I love the Gershwin lyrics on Saga of Jenny.

In 27 languages, she couldn’t say no.

You can take that to mean she was just incompetent at learning or you can take it to mean she had a lot of sex. Or both!

Yes, r321, yes you can.

I dunno. She'll always be just Susie McNamara to me.

Has anyone ever been to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival? I’d like to go but it looks like it would be a pain in the ass from an eating and sleeping standpoint.

I've been a couple of times. If you book a lot of shows, it's hard not to eat crappy food. I think I saw six shows in one day, so I grabbed whatever I could, food wise.

R325, did you book a hotel a long time in advance? Were tickets hard to get? Can you buy ahead of time or do you have to buy when you’re there?

This is exciting!

[quote]The Last Time I Saw Paris from Lady Be Good

I never miss a Robert Young musical.

Then you should catch the one Robert Young did opposite Jessie Matthews, "It's Love Again". It's quite good, too.

[quote]Love it or hate it, this production ran nearly as long as the Trevor Nunn revival that played upstairs at the Gershwin 20 years ago

[quote]Nominee for stupidest comment ever? Circle in the Square seats approx 675. The Gershwin seats 2000.

Thank you. Amazing, isn't it?

r327, actually Robert Young's duet with Ann Sothern of the title song "Lady Be Good" is one of that film's highlights, showing in a cute tongue-in-cheek manner how the two composers they play come up with the song.

I didn't see the original comment to which R329 is responding -- must be some self-important jerk whom I hid.

In any case, I'm well aware of the different sizes of the theaters in question. My point was simply that its run was not that different *in length* from those of the 2 Broadway revivals before it. In other words, the Fish production had a respectable run.

What's depressing to me is how many people here act as if they know R&H's "intentions." You don't, and I don't. Would they have expected slavish fidelity to every note and every syllable? Prove it -- but be sure to acknowledge that Hammerstein rewrote SHOW BOAT and Rodgers A CONNECTICUT YANKEE. Would they have rejected new interpretations of their work? Prove it -- but remember that Rodgers sometimes requested new orchestrations when his old shows were revived.

Shakespeare and Chekhov and Mozart and Verdi's genius is such that their works can be revived in productions radically unlike anything they could have conceived. It doesn't make those productions great automatically, but the fact that many of those productions have spoken to audiences and shed new light on their texts more than suggests that the effort is worth making.

Conversely, meticulous recreation of these works as originally presented sometimes works (and is thrilling when it does) but just as often makes the works themselves museum pieces lacking the most critical element of the original conception -- call it vitality, originality, freshness.

All that's missing from your post, Ortrud, is a lectern.

So is Mr. Ovenden in the Reichard/Bart XXL size range?

Oddest Bway news item of the day: the retooled Real Housewives of New York will include Orfeh, the actress married to DL fave, Andy Karl.

So that's happening.

Will Andy Randells join RHONY?

I just watched the first season of American Horror Stories, the one-episode storyline version of the show. Gavin Creel guested in the first story. Now I can see why he doesn't do much television or film. He does not photograph well. His head looks very oddly shaped on camera and he has weird proportions. I also think he's getting unwashed again. He had that look of one who's only bathing sporadically.

R324,

I went to the Edinburgh Festival in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Skipped in 2019 cause one of my shows was in rehearsals here in the states, and I still regret missing it, cause we all know what happened in 2020. The festival was a shadow of itself last year, and I imagine it is experiencing growing pains this year.

It's the largest arts festival in the world, and it is an exhausting but brilliant experience. It's downright magical, really. Nothing in the states compares to it whatsoever.

You can attend three amazing festivals simultaneously if you time it right: the Edinburgh Fringe, the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Book Festival. The more you plan, the better, though you also have to leave open spots for scheduling as you start hearing great things about other shows from fellow festivalgoers.

Of course there's lots of crap with the great, but the range of options is so immense that much of the fun is in discovering the hidden treasures. Edinburgh never fails to inspire me with its explosion of talent and ideas.

Right now I'm even feeling a bit heartsick that I'm not there now.

Go. You won't regret it.

[quote]Oddest Bway news item of the day: the retooled Real Housewives of New York will include Orfeh, the actress married to DL fave, Andy Karl.

Anyone whose professional name is Orfeh was destined to end up on a Real Housewives show eventually.

[quote]She won a fat girl Tony.

They give out Tonys for that?

Before this "Orfeh" person becomes really, really 'famous' and botoxed and insufferable by joining Andy Cohen's cattlecar of "stars" in a Real Housewives" series, you can see her actually perform with husband (and future cuckhold - don't all the men from the programs seem flaccid and useless?) Andy Karl in Pittsfield, MA! They're performing a cabaret-type show this month

Lindsey Mendez as Mary? Yikes, what a poor casting choice.

alas, r331

[quote] some self-important jerk

Four long-winded paragraphs later.....

Orfeh barrels through Bee Gees song. She's plastic enough.

Stephanie J Block and hubby will be the new Bakers Wife and Baker. Patina Miller staying on Fri-Sun with Montego Glover as the Witch Tues-Thurs.

at last we'll get to see Mr & Mrs Baker actually MAKE that damn baby

So is it OrFUH or OrFAY?

Rhymes with "meh" r346.

This does NOT look like Miranda and why is Andy dressed as a Catholic schoolgirl?

More importantly: Why does Miranda look like a prison matron?

[r344] I LOVE theatre that pats itself on the back for being “woke” and yet thinks that an audience won’t notice or care that two performers that are not in the same ballpark talent wise are sharing a role…but that it’s totally fine because they have the same skin color. Isn’t that the definition of racism to think that just because two women are black they can share a role and no one will care even though one of the actresses is MUCH more talented than the other?

Isn’t this the same old racist trope of “all black people look the same?”

It’s embarrassing

is she related to Fifi D'Orfeh?

Krysta Rodriguez as Cinderella. I didn't know she was that kind of soprano

Andy Karl as Wolf & Prince for a week in Sept 6–15

Ann Harada back as Jack's mom

R350, more a result of producers saying, " OMG, we need to hire black people,so we aren't called racist. Quick, see who's available." The result of wokeism.

Why are they even accommodating Patina Miller like that? It's not like she's a star

I don't get why a huge hit like this ITW revival can't seem to get any actors, even those who aren't big names, to stay put for more than a month or two. Does no one want to do Broadway any more?

R353 what’s worse now is that they’re now being racist just in a different way. Now that Headley and Miller are the witch in this production they will get flamed if they hire a white witch replacement. Why not keep it fluid and just hire whoever is best and available? Then a new Cinderella could be black. Or a new Baker. Plus they’re [italic] fairy tales.

I get what you’re saying. I’m a Jewish yenta comic type, ala Sophie Tucker. Who do they get for my Tuesday night replacement? The most boring white woman who Sondheim was mad at because she scooped her notes in his musical.

[Quote] I don't get why a huge hit like this ITW revival can't seem to get any actors, even those who aren't big names, to stay put for more than a month or two. Does no one want to do Broadway any more?

While more expensive (costumes & rehearsals) this is smarter. These “stars” Have minimal fan bases who can excite some fangurls (like Jordan) for a week or two but that’s all. Then get another minor BraodwayCon “celebrity”

[quote]Plus they’re fairy tales.

And how many fairies have they hired? Huh?

ITW is using the Chicago casting model. Basically anyone can come in and do the show. I’m surprised some of you haven’t played Velma, Roxie or Mama yet. Just go to the Weissler office and sign up for your weeks on the yellow legal pad in the hallway.

Not really r360. Chicago gets mostly big non-Broadway celebrities, and rarely for less than 3 or 4 months. These folks are really MINOR Broadway names doing 2-4 weeks

[quote] Chicago gets mostly big non-Broadway celebrities,*

*with [italic] NO [/italic] discernible talent

ITW is getting [italic] talented [/italic] people no one beyond Broadway has ever heard of

[quote]I'm well aware of the different sizes of the theaters in question. My point was simply that its run was not that different *in length* from those of the 2 Broadway revivals before it. In other words, the Fish production had a respectable run.

You may be "well aware" of the different sizes of the theaters, but somehow, inexplicably, you don't understand why there is little basis for comparison between a show having a one-year run in a theater that seats fewer than 700 people and a one-year run in a theater that seats nearly 2000.

[quote]What's depressing to me is how many people here act as if they know R&H's "intentions." You don't, and I don't. Would they have expected slavish fidelity to every note and every syllable? Prove it.

I'm sorry you're depressed, but the proof is that, throughout their careers, Rodgers and Hammerstein -- especially Hammerstein -- made many statements of what they were trying to achieve in their shows, and what they said they were trying to achieve in OKLAHOMA! was pretty much the opposite of what came across in the Fish desecration. Also, it's ridiculous of you to compare Rodgers sometimes requesting new orchestrations for his shows with a wholesale reinterpretation of a show that worked against the original theme and concept at every turn.

R361, I guess when you say big you mean the size of their tits? Because that’s the only thing big about Pamela Anderson.

Patina and Montego... Which is the very talented one?

I'm no fan of Pamela Anderson--really--but word-of-mouth was that she did pretty well in CHICAGO, nailing the humor and the musical numbers. She was also a big hit at the box office.

Oh noes.

Weezer is NOT happening on Bway due to low sales.

[quote]Weezer is NOT happening on Bway due to low sales.

Well, maybe we could get "Weezy-The Musical" instead.

R368. Paging Sharon D. Clarke!

From the look of the ITW revival costumes I've seen, it doesn't look like they'll be spending much money or effort in replacing them each time a new actor goes into the show.

I would be quite happy to watch Andy Karl as the Wolf/Prince perform in the nude, frankly.

As a matter of fact, I would prefer it.

Someone posted Pam Anderson audio. She was as inept as one would expect.

Chicago was conceived with a strong dance element. Anyone who “moves well” really doesn’t cut it.

Wasn’t that Pam clip from pretty early in her run, though?

[quote][R353] what’s worse now is that they’re now being racist just in a different way. Now that Headley and Miller are the witch in this production they will get flamed if they hire a white witch replacement. Why not keep it fluid and just hire whoever is best and available? Then a new Cinderella could be black. Or a new Baker. Plus they’re fairy tales.

But, I can imagine the outrage if a traditionally black role were played by an Asian or an Hispanic. The " diversification" of roles only applies to blacks being cast for traditionally white roles.

But what "traditionally black" roles are there that aren’t defined by race in the script? Stella in FOLLIES (now, if not originally)? Judas in JCS?

The "Another Hundred People" gal.

When I saw the 90s Company in London, Bobby was black (Adrian Lester) and one of the husbands was black. And I actually liked that one of the husbands was black because it showed that Bobby had diverse socio-economic friends. Joanne is always played as well off, so there should be one couple on the opposite end of the spectrum. Maybe a couple who work in a diner as a cook and waitress.

I think there are many places where non-white people can play leading roles.

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

Why can't there be a Latina as Dorothy in " The Wiz" on Broadway?

Thank you r325 and r337. I really would like to go to Edinburgh Festival so I’ll look into logistics of attending.

Well, per the draft of The Girls Upstairs that I have, Heidi's assistant is specified as a "negro." So once FOLLIES had an explicitly black character. Sally was also the last person to arrive at the party in the draft I have. James Goldman also repeatedly wrote "couldof" instead of "could've."

Isn't it pretty clear that the draw for Into the Woods is . . . Into the Woods?

In fairness the Witch is now the Black Woman Role and Cinderella is now the Any Non-White Ethnicity Role.

It certainly isn't the hanging wood

Went to see Into the Wood yesterday--and it is indeed the best production I've ever seen, mainly because the acting, so wonderfully executed, ramps up the comedy.

I saw Patina Miller's understudy for the Witch: Felicia Curry. WOW!!! She was fantastic in her Broadway debut.

Sara Bareilles, although effective, isn't as intense an actors as the experts around here--but her voice does produce some stunningly gorgeous tones.

Red Riding Hood needs to actually, you know, be RED.

[quote]Well, per the draft of The Girls Upstairs that I have

Spill.

In the original draft, Buddy was questioning his sexuality. I’m surprised that the newer productions haven’t written in the gay sex talk scene like they have with Company.

Weissman to Buddy: These tit jigglers are too difficult to deal with, my boy. It’s all a folly to have a relationship with a woman. Stick with men. That Ben’s a fine piece of ass.

[quote]I think there are many places where non-white people can play leading roles

Not without DLers whining about it taking them out of the story, or going on about white erasure, like the closet Qanons many of them are

[quote] Isn't it pretty clear that the draw for Into the Woods is . . . Into the Woods?

It will be interesting to see what happens when Bareilles leaves.

[quote] I guess when you say big you mean the size of their tits? Because that’s the only thing big about Pamela Anderson.

r364 your intentional pop culture ignorance is on big display. Come back when you've been in Playboy multiple times, on Baywatch aired internationally, and the subject of a miniseries .

I bet Karl is the funniest sexiest Wolf and Prince. WAY better than Creel

There isn't that much of interest R388. I love FOLLIES but draft for The Girls Upstairs is pretty bad. There was a trio called the rainbow girls, they were cut. The loveland sequence was the originally going to be the focus of the entire second act. Weissman suddenly decides to stage a new follies and the old ladies all join in. There aren't any lost Sondheim lyrics because most of act two consists of James Goldman monologues that would have become songs. Ben and Buddy have a sword fight. I think Sally tries to shoot Phyllis. Everyone makes up in the end. The draft is pretty bad overall.

Thanks r394!

It’s interesting how the Witch is almost always a POC these days. I wonder if Donna Murphy would even be cast these days if the park production was happening now?

The wolf should be played by a straight actor. Still not recovered from Gavin's performance in She Loves Me.

Was just thinking of a scary power couple (possibly) -- did Arthur Laurents and Roy Cohn ever get together? Laurents was actually pretty hot when he was young.

Yeah, but Roy NEVER was.

Into The Woods already looks like the Best Revival winner without even considering Camelot, 1776, Merrily, Sweeney, or anything else that may come in.

Arthur liked shiksas.

Roy Cohn only liked Latino men.

And neither Cohn nor Laurents would even consider another Jew. It was part of their self-loathing.

[quote] It will be interesting to see what happens when Bareilles leaves.

The last time Bareilles had a hit was at least decade or more ago. I doubt she's a draw at all.

Was she a draw when she went into WAITRESS?

Bareilles is probably a bigger draw now. She's really very good in ITW and she's gotten some nice press.

[Quote] The last time Bareilles had a hit was at least decade or more ago. I doubt she's a draw at all.

Check the grosses. Every time she came back they spiked

R406, Every time she came back? ITW only just opened on Bway.

Waitress

Orfeh will not be part of the RHONY reboot. Said she has no idea where the rumor came from.

r408, yes because her replacements were particularly stars either

oh shut the fuck up about Bareilles already

Are you unhinged r411?

In sad twist of fate, DL legend Anne Heche would have made a divine Witch in ITW.

1) She had the “I can play a bi-polar pyscho” down Pat.

2) she would have been beautiful after the transformation

3) She knows when to walk away from a bad situation (Ellen)

I'd be delighted for this Into the Woods to run for years like Chicago with a revolving cast getting to put their stamp on these roles. The show is pretty popular and people have been craving a good old fashioned musical comedy with heart for awhile. I'm only sad that Sondheim isn't alive to see what's shaping up to be one of his most profitable and beloved productions.

I saw Anne Heche in Proof and she was very moving. RIP

Even in a sparkling Into The Woods like the current, the second act just drags.

Who besides Nathan Lane (in musicals), Patti LuPone (in the right musical), Audra McDonald (in musicals) or Hugh Jackman (in musicals), sells tickets on their name alone these days? Not Kelli O'Hara, Gavin Creel, Sutton Foster (though her presence helps), or the others that Tara Rubin, Bernie Telsey and some of the other casting directors routinely trot out first for candidates for roles.

Hello, R417!

Can't speak about Creel in ITW, but Cheyenne was excellent. Andy Karl would be lucky to be as good. (But I wouldn't be surprised if he were; comic vanity is his forte.)

[quote]Was she a draw when she went into WAITRESS?

Apparently, Sara Bareilles was a huge draw when she went into WAITRESS. Like so many people here, R403 is clueless.

My eyes R418! My eyes are burning with pain at that image!

[quote]Who besides Nathan Lane (in musicals), Patti LuPone (in the right musical), Audra McDonald (in musicals) or Hugh Jackman (in musicals), sells tickets on their name alone these days?

Ahem!

mostly as a team - not necessarily as single acts

Richard looks like he woke up in the Public Gardens super hungover after a night of drinking at the Ritz-Carlton across the way. Oscar might be wondering what Filene's is advertising.

Curious about the denizens here. I’m 60. How about the rest of you?

None of your business.

68 r425.

Beanie Fieldstein as the Witch!

Beanie is already playing the cow...

a little north of 68.

How Come Alison Fraser never played Phyllis or maybe the witch or any Sondheim I can think of?

Alison has not been in any Broadway musicals other than Gypsy in the past 30 years for whatever reason.

"Which flop will be the last straw in the 'take a movie, throw in some songs, and call it Broadway' trend?"

I don't know, but the first thing to do is to declare a moratorium on all pop songwriters in the musical theater. Then hire personnel with talent, training and (please, God) taste, who know how to write for the stage, tell a story, illuminate character and communicate nuanced feeling: that is, professional composers with an elevated musical vocabulary and a gift for memorable melody--not hooks, not riffs--who can convey emotion through sound (without having it shrieked at top decibel level) and chart the progress of a narrative through musical signposts of sentiment. Then banish all adolescent navel-gazing and puerile fairy tales (pacem, ITW) and write/adapt stories for adults. Bring back romance and (especially) sex back to Broadway. Once that's in order, we'll deal with the rest.

I always thought Alison should play Desiree in A Little Night Music.

ALNM was exactly the show I was thinking of while reading R433. She described it perfectly.

Those of you in your 60s, were you early adopters of computers/the internet?

I signed onto the web days after 9/11.

You don't include those of us in our 70s online in the early 90s. Usenet, email, bulletin boards. My first browser was Lynx (text only, no multimedia, including images), Mosaic, and then Netscape Navigator 1.1 in an evaluation version because otherwise it wasn't free.

It took forEVER to download porn over 28.8.

And AOL discs were everywhere. You had to endure a high pitched shriek before hearing “You’ve Got Mail.” And I remember my hand hurting because I was continually trying to get into NYCM4M. And hurting even more after getting in and clicking on 25 different profiles to find a compatible hookup.

I just discovered, in looking up something else, that the original Henrik in ALNM also dubbed the Hitler Youth beer garden singer in Fosse’s Cabaret.

Oh, yes, r428, I remember how with those early browsers, you usually surfed the web with image display turned off because of how long it took to download a picture on a 28k modem over copper telephone wire. Unless it was some porn you really, really wanted.

And Betty Lynn dubbed an Asian girl in the movie of HAIR.

I meant r438, not r428, at r441.

Most of the people I knew got those free AOL discs in the mail endlessly and we ended up using them as coasters or Christmas tree decorations.

Romance/Romance

Alison Fraser was so affected in ROMANCE/ROMANCE I wanted to slap her.

Those trees decorated with lights and dangling AOL CDs were often quite pretty.

[Quote] Most of the people I knew got those free AOL discs in the mail endlessly and we ended up using them as coasters or Christmas tree decorations.

I know someone who did that!!

The Globe Theater, which normally revives Shakespeare, is doing a new play about Joan of Arc, where she is androgynous, or whatever the correct term is these days, and she is addressed as they/them. People like JK Rowling are very upset about it but I don't care. My blood pressure is more important at this point.

Alison Fraser singing a song written by her husband Rusty McGee.

[quote]It took forEVER to download porn over 28.8.

Even longer over 14.4

I will be a sexagenarian for three more weeks. And I was definitely an early adopter. Remember Prodigy, CompuServe GE*nie, etc.?

I didn't want to mention everything, r451. Congratulations.

We're still here. Look who's here.

"My blood pressure is more important at this point."

I hear you, r449. At least they're not defiling the Bernard Shaw play, so let's be grateful.

Palate cleanser...

I saw in Ann Reinking in Goodtime Charley! It was during NY previews. One of the advantageous of being an old. I posted in the early net comments.

She was very, very good, Grey was OK, the sets and costumes OK, the score OK although if I remember correctly the show had a lot of problems and the turnover of the other creatives was frequent. Onna White was the final credited choreographer. Lots to enjoy although it didn't work But I enjoyed it. And when i say OK, I mean OK for Broadway, not the Forestburgh Playhouse.

I spilled on The Girls Upstairs, so I might as well spill everything bootleg related I know:

Aurora Spider Woman is Ken Mandelbaum. The odious JordanCatalano of BWW fame is Ken's protege and he taped many of the videos us DLers know and love.

You're Gonna Love Tomorrow is a Sondheim stan obsessed with getting every he can from ATC's AlanScott.

David Hummel and Richard Norton are two of the kindest men I have ever met, but most other bootleggers deserve a grease fire.

I carried around a copy of Mr. Mandelbaum's book on flops for a while as a kid.

Uh...r457...that is sacred text. You *always* have a copy...

Ann Reinking was awesome in Goodtime Charley, although Larry Grossman maintains the definitive versions of Joan’s songs were by Betty Buckley, who was down to the wire with Reinking in auditions .Onna White was always the choreographer.

The same copy is on my shelf now, R458.

As it should be, r460. Now cross yourself and say ten Hail Mary Martins.

I used to carry around a couple of Mandelbaum in my backpack in case I had to use a bathroom that was out of toilet paper.

I've lived in NYC for over 22 years now but back when I was still living in Fort Worth, TX (where I grew up), I used to run every month to the bookstore to buy the latest copy of "In Theatre," which was a great magazine that kept me up on all things Broadway and NYC. I loved it. It didn't last very long, unfortunately, but I think that may be where I first read Ken Mandelbaum's writing.

Oh my Gos, r244! I saw Sleight of Hand. It was really bad. Gregory Peck’s daughter Cecelia played the female, and she was incompetent. Just awful. I know they replaced her before the opening. I think it included Harry G barefoot briefly, didn’t it?

r456 I learned about boots during lockdown, for some reason YT began to put them in my recommends on their main page. I got hooked and went over to Reddit sub for those who booted and you are correct, they are some shitty snobby people, a few were generous but most were assholes.

Ann Reinking was the ultimate supporting performer. The LA Times really nailed her appeal. The dance critic said that she was a star within her limited range. When she's outside of it, she's something of a pain.

[quote]I just discovered, in looking up something else, that the original Henrik in ALNM also dubbed the Hitler Youth beer garden singer in Fosse’s Cabaret.

Mark Lambert.

Lambert married his Anne, Victoria Mallory and their daughter played Anne in the KZJ revival.

The KZJ revival?

r449 The Globe has also decided to regender Elizabeth I (as they/them). You know, the woman who gave a big speech about her being a woman. The way whoever wrote that seems to think being a monarch is an exclusively male trait really does say it all

Speaking of KZJ or CZJ or whatever else she wants to be called, is she ever going to be back on Broadway? Not many people are given the star treatment for the debut (Sondheim blessing, Tony award, bashed by Barbara Cook) but then she never returns???

[quote]The Globe Theater, which normally revives Shakespeare, is doing a new play about Joan of Arc, where she is androgynous, or whatever the correct term is these days, and she is addressed as they/them

...and Billy Porter as Joan?

Funny, r458, I always thought Alan Scott G. was You're Gonna Love Tomorrow.

How did Barbara Cook bash CZJ? I didn’t hear that story.

We saw both of Anne Hache's Broadway performances (replacement for MLP in PROOF and in the Roundabout revival of TWENTIETH CENTURY) and she was quite a talent and had that "thing" that made you not want to take your eyes off her.

Ann Reinking really was great in Goodtime Charley. Vocally, she’d never been better. Thanks to the huge set there wasn’t much room for dancing but she really delivered. Not a perfect show but the pros outweighed the cons and it’s my favorite flop score.

I don't suppose we'll get a revival of The Lark? No? ... No?

Also, GOODTIME CHARLEY had some of the best orchestrations ever.

[r474]

Hey Barbara,

At least I can walk. How about you?

Barbara could be very nasty to other performers. Sorry, worshippers.

Details, r481?

The gender thing [italic] can [/italic] be interesting [italic] occasionally [/italic] but this is ridiculous.

Yes, r478! By Jonathan Tunick.

It's not my anecdote. But I recall reading (on here, possibly) about Barbara C slamming the piano cover down on Wally Harper's fingers when she disliked the way he was playing.

Are we sure it wasn't because she was just hungry?

I heard she sat on him, r485....

For a fat woman, Barbara Cook had a very slender pussy.

Let’s not forget that during her brief run in ALNM, CZJ had scheduled time off to promote a movie plus vacation and missed quite a few performances when she was ‘under the.......weather.’

Dame Angela thinks I'm tremendous!

[quote]Oh my Gos, [R244]! I saw Sleight of Hand. It was really bad. Gregory Peck’s daughter Cecelia played the female, and she was incompetent. Just awful. I know they replaced her before the opening. I think it included Harry G barefoot briefly, didn’t it?

You were one of a few thousand. r464. It only ran 9 performances.

It was a fuck up of Carrie proportions. Groener and DeMunn were heroic. John Pielmeier (Agnes of God) rewrote Act 2 twice during tech/previews/rehearsals. The 1st preview was a total disaster.

[quote]The Globe Theater, which normally revives Shakespeare, is doing a new play about Joan of Arc, where she is androgynous, or whatever the correct term is these days, and she is addressed as they/them.

Stunning and brave.

Was that the same Barbara Cook who was going to do a show where her wheelchair was moved around the stage on moving platforms?

She was just mad because the year CZJ was nominated in lead, Barbara was pushed into supporting.

Yes, r493, another inspired directorial choice by James Lapine.

R485, that is not true.

Just...

I saw Cleo Laine play the Witch in a touring company of ITW about thirty years ago. I had no idea it was such a big deal.

"Stunning and brave."

Exactly. Like producing Sondheim in New York.

I’m jealous [497] I love Cleo Laine and her perf is on YouTube and I’m sure she was great in person.

I saw Cleo in Drood.

Wait I thought only black women could play that part

Cleo Laine is black, R501, and we should treasure everyday she's still alive.

Barbara Cook kicked Viveca Lindfors in the cunt during Something More. That’s why they had to fire Lindfors.

Cleo Laine’s “Cleo Sings Sondheim” album is sublime. But the music videos she made for it are corny. She’s definitely a Carlotta.

I saw Cleo on tour with ITW in San Francisco. It was… not good. She barely made an impression, both on stage and vocally. The person who walked away with the show and had the audience in hysterics multiple times was this tall fat girl who played Little Red. It was such a profound difference from Danielle Ferland when she walked out the audience was kind of shocked. And then she opened her mouth. It was one of the most deadpan and sardonic performances I’ve ever seen in any material anywhere and it was completely brilliant. She did things with the role no one has done before or since. Everyone else was pretty terrible, regional to college level. I think the original Rapunzel’s Prince (Chuck something) great on Broadway, had moved up to Cinderella’s Prince and he was totally forgettable. The production looked super cheap and tired. When the Giant fell they dropped like a handkerchief on stage? Embarrassing.

Cleo Laine as the Princess Puffer............. Thumbs way up.

I saw GOODTIME CHARLEY in its Boston tryout. I don't recall much dancing at all but I don't think the show was ever conceived to be a dance musical, in spite of the casting of Reinking. What I remember most fondly were the gorgeous sets and costumes of Rouben Ter-Artunian and Willa Kim, a lot of which were based on Maxfield Parrish paintings. It was certainly one of the most elaborately beautiful (pre) Broadway musicals I've ever seen. Too bad the show was so dull.

R496 they sent that out?

Andrea McArdle needs to write her autobiography.

I saw "A Little Night Music" in Pittsfield, MA this afternoon. For NYers/Broadway folk here are my opinions:

Emily Skinner does not seem very 'European' in voice or mannerisms for Desiree. She's very much an American in this show. She does sing well and "Send in the Clowns" is excellent.

Sierra Boggess is excellent as Charlotte. The costume designer however, dresses her in an outfit that is a mash-up of Emma Peel and Steampunk for one scene... bizarre, but I'm not joking.

Jason Danieley is very, very good as Fredrik, but he did go up during "You Must Meet My Wife" - yikes! The music continued, Skinner came in on time with her verse and he was right back in the show and song. I felt for the guy (have been on stage and done the same thing), he was doing fine and then poof up, up and away he went.

Mary Beth Peil is wonderful as Madame Armfeldt. She nails "Liaisons" and every other scene and line.

Overall, it's a good show - the quintet are a delight, Julianne Boyd's direction is fine... the show glides along from scene to scene smoothly and the ending between Desiree and Fredrik is wholly satisfying (Emily & Jason really do have a nice chemistry).

You get until 08/28 to see and enjoy.

I think I'll pass, thanks.

But how was the gender neutral Petra?

I shall cohabitate with the Miller’s issue. I shall cohabitate with the person of Wales.

JUST BREAKING:

I saw that tour of Into The Woods in the early 90s as well R505. You're quite right. Little Red walked off with the show. It was a fabulous performance in a rather tired touring production. My husband and I referred to her as Little Red Rambo Hood from then on. I wonder what happened to the actress?

I saw the tour in St. Paul, but Cleo Laine was replaced by the histrionic Betsy Joslyn. The Little Red Ridinghood was Tracy Katz, and she played it three more times between 1988 and 2005 (!). I saw one of those, at the same theater in St. Paul where it had toured, and Brian D’Arcy James played the Baker.

I'n fine...I send my love.

Charlotte Rae was jacks mom on that tour

I love when Broadway singers pretend they’re pop singers. Plus when Gavin creel pretends to be black

Funniest line I heard about Sondheim being dead: I’m not still here.

Went to As You Like It in Central Park tonight. It was actually pretty good. That bitch Shaina Taub actually has some talent-her score is one of the better ones I’ve heard in recent years. Taub is also playing Jaques but a quite capable understudy was on-no doubt because Taub is in Chicago trying to convince Elton John to rewrite SOMETHING.

Shaina Taub is has very little talent indeed. She should write herself a starring vehicle: THE MEDIOCRE JEWESS.

Tina and POTUS close tomorrow.

[quote]R160 Mary Martin broke her arm rehearsing Peter Pan but still did The Sound of Music.

I thought that happened when she was fingering Janet Gaynor.

I saw the Into the Woods tour late in its run and mostly remember Nora Mae Lyng somehow walking off with the show as Jack’s Mother. She absolutely killed with every line. It was illuminating to see how an actor can transform any role.

Martin was rehearsing for the 1960 color taping of Peter Pan during the day and performing The Sound of Music at night. One afternoon, the Foy guy flew her straight into a theater wall, which she struck elbow first, shattering it. The PP production had to be postponed but she never missed TSOM, appearing for several weeks with her arm in a sling. As we all know, Mary was a trouper.

[quote]no doubt because Taub is in Chicago trying to convince Elton John to rewrite SOMETHING.

I doubt John has been anywhere near Chicago since the reviews came out

They're already talking about "Prada" on "Forgotten Musicals." It's dead.

The whole look of "Prada" is just wrong. It looks like a community theatre production.

Beth Leavel looks like middle management.

[Quote] I doubt John has been anywhere near Chicago since the reviews came out

Sir Elton was probably there for a total of 3 hours to see the show smile for 5 pix and get the fuck out, probably on Taylor Swift’s private jet

Mary missed one performance of SOM after the accident. She talks about it in her book. She had the stage manager place a phone receiver near the stage so she could hear the understudy’s performance. After that she did play the role with her arm in a sling.

Please look at this photo array of our creative team so you see we have a minority person and don’t flame our show

Please look at this photo array of our creative team so you can see we have a black person and don't flame our show.

One more week left of The Devil Wears Prada.

Emily Skinner always seems like she's performing in Annie Get Your Gun.

Well, she is a Dolores Gray fan.

I’ve never seen an Emily Skinner where she doesn’t insert a scream at some point. I see Night Music later this month. Perpetual Anticipation.

I am not an Emily Skinner, I am THE Emily Skinner.

[quote]which she struck elbow first, shattering it. The PP production had to be postponed but she never missed TSOM, appearing for several weeks with her arm in a sling.

Had it been *shattered*, r525, she would have required more than a sling.

At the Roxy...

Thank you r510

Anyone who thinks PRADA, Mrs. Doubtfire and other lamentable movie to stage musicals are horrible did you know that out of town there are musical productions of The Karate Kid and Griswalds Family Vacation happening?

The only way it's excusable is if those productions are high camp, REALLY high camp, like so high there is no oxygen up there high camp.

I wonder what Barbara Barrie did to Mary Rodgers that made her despise Barbara with the same intensity as she did Arthur Laurents. It's mentioned once in the book, then dropped.

The new Feud: Mary vs. Barbara!

I didn't realize Mary was so short... is Linda Hunt available?

[quote]I wonder what Barbara Barrie did to Mary Rodgers that made her despise Barbara with the same intensity as she did Arthur Laurents.

Yeah, r542, what's that about?

I saw Cleo Laine and her husband at a jazz supper club in NYC many years ago. It was just before her husband died.

She was already pretty old by then. Her voice was a little shaky for the first few second—but when she hit the first high note—gorgeous.. and got better from there. One of the best concerts I’ve ever seen

Once upon a mattress is terrible. Mary Rodgers was a hack who was only anybody because of her dad, no?

Mattress is a lovely, fun show. Good score. You must have seen the SJP production.

R546, are you saying that Richard Rodgers got her novel Freaky Friday made into a movie?

Stupid question, r546, and her credits are admirable enough if not lofty ones.

MATTRESS is a cute show that relies heavily on the charm and talents of the performers. It's not a great score but a pleasant one. The humor is broad and silly (and a bit dated.)

And yes, the SJP revival in the 90s was laugh-free and charmless and SJP was just terrible in it.

Maybe Barbara had something to say about Richard Rodgers' Casting Couch shenanigans.

No one wanted to "casting couch" Barbara Barrie.

Did Beanie get casted through a casting couch? Will they record a soundtrack album with Beanie? What is Beanie doing next? Going back into Dolly? Did this experience with Fanny Girl make Beanie loose any weight? Will we see her on TV soon?

"I doubt if anybody on Broadway plays as much tennis as Barbara Barrie. Her regular partners include Mary Rodgers (two hours of singles a week) ... "I play for blood." says Barbara Barrie. (1977)

Barbara played for blood, Mary for kicks?

The book says that MATTRESS brought Rodgers at least 100k every year in royalties up until her death. It's popular in community theater and school productions everywhere.

Ingenue Barbara with Robert Stack and DL fave Polly Bergen.

How did they explain Maria Von Trapp's arm being in a sling? Did she fall off her bike or did the Baroness beat her up?

Casted?

R539 So that picture about a Minnesota man so in love with a Mississippi girl that he sacrifices everything and moves all the way to Biloxi finally closed?

[quote]Did Beanie get casted through a casting couch? Will they record a soundtrack album with Beanie? What is Beanie doing next? Going back into Dolly? Did this experience with Fanny Girl make Beanie loose any weight? Will we see her on TV soon?

"Oh, dear" X 3.

Barbara Barrie is excellent in her Cannes Film Festival prize-winning role in "One Potato, Two Potato", recently screened on TCM; the film is one of the first made about mixed marriage and is quite good. She looked attractive in it as well.

One Potato...

Not quite a trailer as marked, more like a pivotal scene, but thanks.

I'm finding that true of a lot of things listed as "trailers", r563. But since it has the dramatic money shot, it's better than a trailer.

I think trailers is the new soundtrack.

The Von Trapp sister they don't talk about.

[Quote] How did they explain Maria Von Trapp's arm being in a sling? Did she fall off her bike or did the Baroness beat her up?

Same explanation they gave for Noah on crutches

Father -- Noah! will you stop ad-libbing. Someone actually wrote a play here.

Cleo was great on the tour

As was ms Katz

But. No one is mentioning Lt tom Paris formerly of the starship voyager as Jack!

[quote]R553 Did Beanie get casted through a casting couch?

Well… if so, it must have been pretty damn big.

(I say this with love. Everyone deserves to be comfortable.)

Ehh, just felt like a little coup de théâtre...

Pia Douwes will be playing Meryl’s role in a Dutch tour of The Prom this fall.

My, how the mighty have fallen…

JLo and JLa(pine) at ITW today .

Velma Douwes

^ Sorry for the shitty boot

Your welcome R540... and to the others who have commented about Emily Skinner's other performances, interesting that she has been similar in other shows.

Hopefully someone else contributing to this or the next thread will see ALNM and post opinion too.

And if you haven't heard, Barrington's new Artistic Director has been named... young guy, Adam Paul. Makes his way to Pittsfield from Washington DC's Shakespeare Theatre Company. Bye Julianne, you've made great decisions over the years and sent some good shows to NYC.

What WOULD a campy version of the National Lampoon's Vacation musical look like? Cousin Eddie and his family are depicted as full-on deplorables? Rusty is played by an Instaho still pretending he's 12? They cast one of the last remaining people from the Golden Age (like Donna McKechnie or Chita) as Aunt Edna?

I loved Mary Rodgers' book but the derogatory comment about Barbara Barrie does seem to come a little out of left field; it's about Barrie trying to get the other Company actors to strike against participating in the Pennebaker COMPANY doc because she felt they weren't getting paid enough. IIRC Mary says she was an ass't producer on the doc. But she never really elaborates re comparing Barrie to Laurents.

Nevertheless, I'm such a fan and believer in Mary after reading her book , I'll take her word for it on Barrie. Also, I worked with Barrie a couple of times and found her rather passive aggressive.

And Cyndi Lauper and Christopher Ashley are now developing a Broadway musical of WORKING GIRL.

I mean, who needs this shit?

Skinner is like Karen Morrow, although she's a better actress. They just have an American by golly gumption thing about them. Emily's a Daisy not a Violet.

For M. Rodgers to describe her former professional colleague Bob Keeshan, the children's advocate, a host of one of the most iconic TV shows in history, a close friend of Fred Rogers, and the gentlest of men as looking "like a little child molester" was unconscionable and cruel. Clearly, she inherited her father's self-loathing but only a smidgen of his talent. And for the Times to use that disgraceful line as a pull-quote in their review is equally heinous. I wouldn't bother borrowing the book from a library, let alone buy it.

R581, I agree about the cruelty of Rodgers' remark about poor Captain Kangaroo, but this non sequitur -- "Clearly, she inherited her father's self-loathing but only a smidgen of his talent" -- makes you look just as nasty.

Oh, Ortrud...dear...sweet ...Ortrud.

You're right, r582. In my umbrage I extrapolated thoughtlessly. Thank you for calling me on it.

"Once Upon A Mattress" is no "Light In The Piazza," now is it?

Sometimes greatness skips a generation.

[quote]"Once Upon A Mattress" is no "Light In The Piazza," now is it?

No, it's much more successful.

IIRC in the book, Mary said that Laurents had some unencouraging criticism of Light in the Piazza he had to share with Adam. No surprise.

Once Upon a Mattress in the Piazza!

Sondheim praised Guettel's music in PIAZZA but told the creative team that the daughter, Clara, didn't seem "retarded enough" in previews.

They followed that direction briefly, then, thank god, reversed course.

Sondheim also suggested retitling it "The Dimmest Light in the Piazza".

I'm...I'm sorry, r589, but your post made me laugh.

Almost the end, so here's the new thread someone (presumably r541) started a while ago:

Stop saying IIRC

FIRST MIDNIGHT!

[Quote] Sondheim praised Guettel's music in PIAZZA but told the creative team that the daughter, Clara, didn't seem "retarded enough" in previews.

What happened to "I loved it... Just that: I loved it."

video of ALNM curtain call

Bajour, Bajour, Toujours, Bajour..

R595, it still stands. I believe r589 was joking.

Where's the link for the next thread?

Bajour!

R599, At r592

Didn't Barbra Barrie have a chip on her shoulder about being Jewish, and observing anti-semitism on Broadway? Anti-semitism on Broadway??

Actually, no R598... Adam Guettel repeated this in a podcast interview. And as I recall, that was the language he said Sondheim used.

To be fair, it was over 15 years ago.