THEATRE GOSSIP #526: The "Sure, It'll Be a Big Success on Tour!" Edition

Previous thread:

Among & Juliet, Some Like It Hot, Kimberly Akimbo and New York, New York, I feel like & Juliet has the best chance to grab a mass audience.

r2, of that bunch, I agree, but I think Shucked has a shot too (more than KA, SLIH, or NYNY).

Will Betty Buckley lead the Kimberly Akimbo tour?

Bajour!

Weak thread title.

Maybe, but it was three hours after the last thread closed before anyone started a new one, so this is what we get. And at least the OP properly capitalized it and remembered the "Edition," so points for that.

Thanks for starting a new thread OP!

I'll admit it, titles aren't my strong suit. This was more just to follow protocol and avoid a duplicate situation. Thanks for the kind words and/or not flogging me too much.

You did just fine, OP.

Betty Buckley as the title character in Kimberly Akimbo? Charm and warmth onstage aren’t exactly Betty’s strengths.

Kimberly Levaco would be a great role for Celia Keenan-Bolger in a few decades.

So, will I be awarded a special Tony on June 11th or not?

Wow I’ve seen more than one suckup social media theater “influencer” saying they didn’t like Days of Wine and Roses - it must really be bad

There's not a tune you can hum...

Thanks, OP. Good job.

It'll be interesting to see if Once Upon a One More Time cuts into & Juliet's audience this summer.

Anyone see Jeanna de Waal's Lovett?

r17 - agreed. These shows seem too similar to not be direct competitors for audiences. I also think there's some overlap between them and Moulin Rouge with their modern pop catalog scores. Obviously, Moulin Rouge is on a bigger scale (in virtually every sense) but I have to imagine there's audience overlap.

Kimberly Akimbo was wonderful. Hope it wins.

I'm an enormous Adam Guetel fan, so I bought tickets for Days of Wine... I thought the production was impeccable, very strong performances by the two leads. Unfortunately, it's not a movie I enjoy...incredibly depressing, and the score was a major disappointment... it all sounded like recitative. Still glad I saw it.

If KIMBERLY AKIMBO loses the big Tony and all of its investment will it caution producers not to move DAYS OF WINE etc.... , another small depressing intimate musical from the Atlantic?

I hear word that THE BEDWETTER, one of the worst new musicals I've ever seen, which also, maybe coincidentally, began at The Atlantic, is foolishly eyeing a Broadway run. Big mistake!

How many days til the Tonys?

[quote]I hear word that THE BEDWETTER, one of the worst new musicals I've ever seen

With one of the worst titles.

[quote] I miss pre-2010 Viola Davis. I was rooting for her to win the Oscar for DOUBT. Then went to see the FENCES revival with Denzel for her and was ecstatic when she won the Tony. But somewhere in the 2010s, she morphed into an insufferable bore, as [R588] noted.

Awards on the mantle don't pay the rent. Pay her what the guys get and she'll be happy.

AKIMBO is not depressing in toto.

One of my favorite comic strip character names is Legs Akimbo.

Seriously, who keeps trying to push the "Kimberly Akimbo is a downer" narrative?

So, Sterling K. Brown will play McMurphy and Laura Benanti will play Nurse Ratched in an upcoming reading of ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, with an eye on Broadway. To which my reaction is: Can you imagine the uproar that would result if this were cast with a white actor as McMurphy and a black actress as Ratched? But, of course, that would never happen.

It is true that Jeanine Tesori is a very banal composer.

"New York, New York" - which got mixed reviews - is heading to tour in the 2024-25 season.

It's not that KA is a downer or depressing in performance, but just try and sell it to non-theatre people when they ask you: "What's it about?"

r26 and r28, how do you describe it to friends who know nothing about it, don't see much on Broadway but are looking for an evening out?

That's why it's losing buckets of money every week.

Well, it gets to say "Straight from Broadway" so who knows?

Lord knows not many of us are "straight from Broadway."

Every musical has to say it will tour for the Tony vote - let’s see if it actually happens!

[quote]Can you imagine the uproar that would result if this were cast with a white actor as McMurphy and a black actress as Ratched?

Not really.

CUCKOO's nest is a great play for simply casting actors in roles regardless of skin color or national origin.

Lorraine Toussaint as Ratchet - yes please!

John Leguzaimo as Cheswick - works for me

Sterling K Brown as McMurphy - go for it

etc...

I'm still quaking (not in a good way) at the idea of a Cumming/Chenoweth SWEENEY. Then I thought of a worse possibility: Bill Porter and . . .?? Patina Miller? Heather Headly? Eeek.

Have you seen them on Schmicago, r38? I like both, but would have laughed this casting off until I saw them play basically Sweeney and Lovett. Chenoweth would fit this production well, but bring a little more vocal power. Cumming wouldn’t sound as good as Groban, but could bring a lot more color to the acting. I enjoyed Groban and Ashford, but would pay to see this again.

Sadly, R32, I completely agree. Everyone seems to love the show when and if they see it, but it can be very difficult to get non-theater people to buy tickets for it in the first place. A very strong argument that. nowadays, rave reviews don't necessarily mean anything to the general public, especially not if there isn't also some major hook about the show that makes them want to see it.

I passed on KA at the Atlantic because it seemed depressing. I didn't buy tickets until a friend told me it was very funny. The Tonys would really help this show if it won a bunch of awards and/or got to perform a song.

Well, r41, I'm sure that's what KA hopes but I don't think any single number in the show, taken out of context, is gonna sell it to tourists and Middle America. Especially compared to the extravagance of a SLIH, NY NY or even &JULIET in a single number.

Well, R42, they might do one of the numbers set at the roller rink, or they might do the last song in the show. But yes, of course, none of that is equivalent to a production number from those other shows.

I saw KA at the Atlantic and on Broadway, and I can’t muster much more than gentle appreciation. I didn’t dislike it, though some of the performances tried way too hard for my taste. But I also wouldn’t recommend to someone who had other options. It’s a good show to be gently surprised by, but not really a must see.

To quote myself from the end of the previous thread:

[quote]Minority opinion, probably: I think SHUCKED should win Best Score over KIMBERLY AKIMBO, another score I admire very much. But SHUCKED is more consistently tuneful and satisfying. And genuinely funny.

Jeanine Tesori is a hard-working, committed composer but she usually only lands a couple of good/great songs in her shows. Thinking of FUN HOME (and "Ring of Keys"), CAROLINE OR CHANGE. There's nothing not to like in KIMBERLY AKIMBO, but only "Anagram" and Bonnie Milligan's numbers really stood out for me. Those were great.

I wish someone would record THE BEAUTIFUL LADY, the Elizabeth Swados show at LaMaMa. It's unusual but worth a listen, and the performances are terrific.

Swados was always a mixed bag, but I think her music is underappreciated. She wrote a lot besides RUNAWAYS.

It is very bad form on the DL to quote yourself…it’s a red flag

R37-BD Wong as the Chief.

[quote]The Other Muriel

THERE IS NO OTHER FUCKING MURIEL!

I may have or may not have seen the Wicked CinemaCon footage.... and.....

Shaun Tossell:

H-O-L-Y........... S-H-I-T 🤯🤯🤯

I'm not ready. You're not ready. WE'RE ALL NOT READY! ! ! 🥹

It looks INCREDIBLE - Even better than you're imagining - I'm seriously impressed 💚💖

How the F*CK are we supposed to wait until November 2024?!? 😭 X x x

[quote]I'm still quaking (not in a good way) at the idea of a Cumming/Chenoweth SWEENEY. Then I thought of a worse possibility: Bill Porter and . . .?? Patina Miller? Heather Headly? Eeek.

Billy Porter IS Mrs Lovett!

Lea Delaria IS Sweeney Todd!

Kristi Dawn as Nurse Ratchet!

The Mirror has Two Muriels, it seems.

Shaun Tossell sounds like the very definition of a YASSSS KWEEEEEN!

I doubt the voters would give Robert Horn a second Tony -- there was huge buyer's remorse over TOOTSIE, which closed quickly on Broadway and is tanking on the road. He writes jokes, not books for musicals. And the thinness of the story makes Shucked nearly impossible to enjoy. I did feel like I was watching an episode of "Hee Haw."

I had no idea Patti performed this song at RVP. She played in a short running version in 1984 and Cameron talked to her about Les Mis during the run.

I wish there were more pro shots of Patti in her prime. When she was at her best, she was truly out of this world!!

Patti LuPone was all types of wrong for Nancy, who is hard on the outside but vulnerable inside.

Patti was good as the whore in The Cradle Will Rock.

And she sang in what sounded like an alien language

I've never understood the appeal of The Cradle Will Rock.

Well, I don't get Pal Joey, so...

Looking forward to the sequel to The bedwetter - The bedshitter.

[quote] I've never understood the appeal of The Cradle Will Rock.

It was very much of its time. It made an impact because it was shut down shortly before it opened. In the cast were Howard Da Silva and Will Geer (Grandpa Walton).

It was revived on Broadway with Will Geer, Alfred Drake, Jack Albertson and our Vivian Vance.

[quote]Well, I don't get Pal Joey, so...

A great score by Rodgers and Hart might have had something to do with its success.

The WigShitter starring Lea Michele!

Instead of going after trans-critical posts, I wish M-uriel would ban all the wigshitter posts. That ceased to be funny years ago.

Ah, r64, but it *wasn't* originally. I get that it has a few classic R&H tunes, but I don't find the characters either compelling or fun enough to enjoy the show.

The score of PAL JOEY is mostly glorious, and always fun. But the book is a bit of a mess. And no one's ever been able to really fix it.

THE CRADLE WILL ROCK is all of a piece. It's agitprop theatre. And you're either along for the tide, or not. It's not a cast album favorite of mine, but I've seen it staged well and I find it fascinating.

"Pal Joey" was one of the first anti-heroes as a lead in a Broadway show. He's a heel, a womanizer, a liar and just not a nice guy generally. Also, Verap Simpson is also a user, a wealthy society woman looking to do a little slumming and get some sex and kicks from a "bad boy" who is apparently good in bed. It's just hasn't been easy to cast. Sian Phillips and Denis Lawson in London were very good, though he wasn't really a dancer in the Gene Kelly/Harold Lang/Bob Fosse mode as the role had been cast on stage in NY. But it still worked. NY hasn't been very lucky for many years in getting a fine Joey-Vera combo.

"Vera", that is

The ENCORES production of PAL JOEY was really well cast: Patti Lu as Vera, Peter Gallagher as Joey, with Vicki Lewis and Bebe Neuwirth. (Let's forget about Daisy Prince). The cast wasn't the problem--it's the damn book.

They recorded it on CD, so you can judge for yourself.

[quote]The score of PAL JOEY is mostly glorious, and always fun.

Sorry, the recording I had just never did it for me.

Combine the Vivienne Segal/Harold Lang tracks on one with Helen Gallagher/Elaine Stritch from another.

Oh, I liked Froman's voice just fine, r73.

R71 - I LOVE Patti's Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered. She sounds positively fuck-drunk on the song.

Froman is just fine indeed -- they even made a Susan Hayward film about her, but Segal was the original Vera.

Yes, I know, r76. Hart promised Vivienne he would write a show for her.

R73, Harold Lang, who Arthur Laurents described in his autobiography as having the perfect ass for fucking.

He was a dancer, of course he had a great ass.

So much of that Encores! cast for Pal Joey on the CD is marvelous and it's really a great example of Patti performing well. Vicky Lewis is amazing - listening, to her, I kept thinking, "who knew? Why isn't she doing more in NYC?"

How many Encores! productions have been recorded? Must look...

t78

Arthur was a TOP??? I would have bet money that he was a bossy bottom

let me try this again... We need an edit feature!

r78

Arthur was a TOP??? I would have bet money that he was a bossy bottom

[quote] Vicky Lewis is amazing - listening, to her, I kept thinking, "who knew? Why isn't she doing more in NYC?"

She was great in Damn Yankees. She should have done the Anything Goes revival instead of the Foster woman.

A face for radio.

r80, they're marked on the Wikipedia page with "CD" to designate they received a recording.

[quote]Looking forward to the sequel to The bedwetter - The bedshitter.

My chance for a comeback!

Vicki Lewis was one of the best Velma Kelly's I've ever seen.

[quote]We need an edit feature!

What? And miss out on all of you ass holes hilarious mistakes?

Fat fucking chance!

Spellcheck in aisle 2

Arthur Laurents was hateful mess whether he was top or bottom.

I really don't think it's fair to describe the book of PAL JOEY as "a mess," it's just that most of the songs are not as well integrated with the plot in the way that the we're used to in shows from OKLAHOMA! onward.

Vickivelma

Nice find, r92. Lewis was a great Velma.

Dancing back up is an early Velma understudy, Diedre Goodwin.

I have most of those Encores CDs and they're all spectacular, even a little trifle like FACE THE MUSIC.

Vickitrina

The film version of A Chorus Line is on TCM right now. Too many headbands and leggings in the opening number. I'm only watching for Vicki Frederick. Ann Reinking dodged a bullet when they went with Alyson Reed for Cassie.

I saw it in a movie theatre in NYC because I had some time to waste, r96. I remember being underwhelmed and Alyson Reed not making an impression. Anything I see her in since she's become a character actress has impressed me. She's really good.

[quote]A face for radio.

NewsRadio?

The Chorus Line movie is a piece of shit travesty. Wrong, wrong, wrong, in so many ways. Remember when they wanted to make the movie with Travolta as Zach?

I saw Vicki Lewis' Roxie, and she was barely acceptable, dancing-wise. So the Marshall ANYTHING GOES would have had to be . . . reconceived for her.

I'm afraid that I have to disagree with the majority who seem to find Patti LuPone ideal in PAL JOEY. I know that it was her "comeback" after SUNSET BOULEVARD, but to my taste, she's wrong in just about every way -- cheap and vulgar where she should be sophisticated and classy.

Harold Lang was a very sweet man and a terrible drunk. I knew him in California in the 70s. He had a big cock, too, as evidenced in his sweatpants.

As for Patti in Pal Joey, she was miscast. No way she could pass as an UES sophisticate.

I've never seen the film version of "A Chorus Line," so I just turned to TCM for a minute and had no idea Audrey Landers was in it. I also saw Tony, who I believe was a dancer on "Solid Gold" back in the '80s, standing in the line of dancers behind her.

[quote]I've never seen the film version of "A Chorus Line," so I just turned to TCM for a minute and had no idea Audrey Landers was in it.

R102 = Judy Landers

[quote]I'm afraid that I have to disagree with the majority who seem to find Patti LuPone ideal in PAL JOEY. I know that it was her "comeback" after SUNSET BOULEVARD, but to my taste, she's wrong in just about every way -- cheap and vulgar where she should be sophisticated and classy.

I agree that Patti was miscast as Vera in that she radiates suburban Long Island far more than Manhattan society sophistication, but that said, I think she was fine in the role despite not really being right for it.

Florence Lacey did it at Goodspeed.

I didn't see that Encores PAL JOEY but Patti is superb on the recording (she may have been less so in performance) and certainly sounds as sophisticated in her singing as Vivienne Segal does on the original recording.

In the '90s, I used to confuse Vicki Lewis and Kathy Griffin..

It didn't help that they both were loudmouth, curly redheads in long-running, middling sitcoms I did not watch but knew of peripherally

[quote]We need an edit feature!

I remember when YouTube didn't have one for the first 8 years or so. It was maddening!

Then around 2013, they finally added one. Thank God!

Why can't DL keep up?

Muriel is drunk, stones and still shoving a corn cob up her cunt.

R79 Indeed, made for breeding. Close to Cole Porter affairs with Arthur and Gore Vidal and great career on stage.

Boy, some folks here weren’t kidding about Days of Wine and Roses not having a tune you can hum. Not a single one in the whole 90-minute show. Not much rhyming either. The two leads are very good, but the music adds nothing to the story.

Vicki Lewis just finished playing Dee Dee in 'The Prom' at the Jersey shore. I would've gone but I'm scared of tidal waves.

R107, your post made me look up what sit-com Vicki Lewis was on.

She was on Talk Radio--I always thought that Kathy Griffin was on that.

Now I have to look up what sit com Kathy Griffin was in.

When I asked Harold about Gore Vidal, he just shrugged and said dismissively, "Oh, he just liked to bump stomachs.."

[quote]In the '90s, I used to confuse Vicki Lewis and Kathy Griffin..

Vicki is the one with talent.

R113. Suddenly Susan

R113 TALK RADIO (1987) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

NEWSRADIO (1995-1999) was the sitcom with Vicki Lewis.

Kathy Griffin was on SUDDENLY SUSAN (1996-2000), which was about a magazine.

NEWSRADIO more or less ended after Phil Hartman was shot/killed by his wife at the end of Season 4. It lasted just one more season.

SUDDENLY SUSAN more or less ended after David Strickland hanged himself in Las Vegas at the end of Season 3. It lasted just one more season.

Thank you R117. I have seen Talk Radio more than Newsradio, so that is probably why I messed up the title. (I think I saw two or three episodes of the TV show0.

When you described Suddenly Susan, I thought it was the sit com with Laura San Giacomo. But that was Just Shoot Me. I do not think I ever saw Suddenly Susan.

Now you are sending me down another sitcom rabbit hole. Suddenly Susan is standing beside me.

Vicki Lewis vs. Vicki Lawrence . . .

[quote] Harold Lang, who Arthur Laurents described in his autobiography as having the perfect ass for fucking.

I doubt Laurents would write that in his book

How did a meeskite like Arthur Laurents bag so many of the 20th century's most beautiful men?

[quote] How did a meeskite like Arthur Laurents bag so many of the 20th century's most beautiful men?

Laurents was pretty good looking when younger and the arts world is small.

Gossip was also that Laurents was very well hung, which might explain some of his cocky arrogance.

Speaking of male anatomy, who's seen this?

I don't think PAL JOEY's Vera was written to be a cultured woman of old money. She always struck me as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who made a good marriage or two for herself. So Patti seemed like excellent casting. Am I wrong? Does anyone know the original John O'Hara stories?

Also a great Trina!

R120, "Original Story" by Arthur Laurents, Page 47.

Excerpt easily found on Google Books

Direct link

r113 see r98

[quote]I've never seen the film version of "A Chorus Line," so I just turned to TCM for a minute and had no idea Audrey Landers was in it. I also saw Tony, who I believe was a dancer on "Solid Gold" back in the '80s, standing in the line of dancers behind her.

Did you also notice gay porn star Cole Carpenter?

Oh please, OP/R9. You want to be flogged.

Talk Radio did not win the Pulitzer Prize.

Saw Vicki Lewis in "Young Frankenstein." One of the funniest performances I've ever seen...

R133 OMG you're right.

I don't know why I always thought it won.

Just Googled it and it was DRIVING MISS DAISY who won that year.

My fault.

[quote]The film version of A Chorus Line is on TCM right now. Too many headbands and leggings in the opening number. I'm only watching for Vicki Frederick. Ann Reinking dodged a bullet when they went with Alyson Reed for Cassie.

Got to go to the premiere at Radio City Music Hall. Some genius scheduled it the same time as the lighting of The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and the streets were packed. I got to meet Micheal Douglas, Audrey Landers and Sir Richard Attenborough. I had a fine time.

[quote] I had a fine time.

Until the movie started.

Cameron English started doing gay porn before the movie was ever released. One of my regular escorts knew him back then. Is that Cole Carpenter?

Vicki Lewis had three-ways with Davis Gaines and Jason Graae.

No. Cole Carpenter and Cameron English are two very different people.

Perhaps r140, but did they have three-ways with Davis Gaines and Jason Graae?

R141, Davis Gaines has an impressive package. Saw him playing Bobby in Company in Boston years ago and when he disrobed for the Barcelona scene, his boxer briefs had bunched up around a mound that the entire audience could see.

Vicki Carr vs Vicki Barr

I think Jason is hung as well.

‘Leopoldstadt’ may be coming to TV as a limited series:

I hate to say it, but the TV production will probably improve on the stage play.

Why hate to say that, r146?

Leopoldstadt will be updated and re-imagined for a contemporary audience. It will now be the story of a poor black family in 1960's Watts.

R148 fuck off and die…I’d gladly Venmo you $100 to stop with your race shit, but I realize I’ll never have to pay an AAA like You!

Isn’t David Gaines homosexual?

I hope some of the original cast member reprise their roles in the limited series. I know that’s a tall order because they always “star it up” in these adaptations, but Faye Castelow should get to play her role.

She was also unfairly snubbed for a Tony nomination this year.

Is the Kennedy Center SPAMALOT moving to Broadway? I keep hearing rumors...

Who, r150?

[quote] Is the Kennedy Center SPAMALOT moving to Broadway? I keep hearing rumors...

Jesus, please no. What a stupid show

Kathy wants to be Vicki, Vicki wants to be Kathy....

Has Vicki Lawrence ever performed her Mama character on stage?

Jason Graae is extremely well-hung.

Vicki is superb in the Mama's Birthday episode as is Tanya Fenmore as little Eunice.

For the record, Kathy may well have wanted to be Vicki, but Vicki definitely didn't want to be Kathy, and wondered if her character was a ripoff. I remember seeing several quotes from her about that back in the day (or maybe it was on the DVD commentaries). Here's one quote. (And by the way, NewsRadio was a vastly superior show to Suddenly Susan and still has a lot of fans. All of its seasons were released on DVD. Suddenly Susan's weren't.)

[quote]It’ll also take NewsRadio out of the urban office-sitcom market, which has become overcrowded in recent seasons with such inferior product as Suddenly Susan and Working. Vicki Lewis has even wondered aloud about the eerie similarities between her NewsRadio character and Kathy Griffin’s wacky redheaded coworker on Susan (”She plays a character named Vicki — I guess that’s a coincidence”). But Simms isn’t charging plagiarism: ”I can’t claim that anyone copied us when most evidence points to the fact that no one ever saw us.”

[quote] Has Vicki Lawrence ever performed her Mama character on stage?

Unfortunately, yes. Way too many times!

God I'm a dancer! A dancer dances!!!!

Vicki Lawrence is Mame!

Mama Burnside!

Vicki is a Sally Cato not a Mame.

Vicki Lawrence *IS* Mama *IS* Hattie in FOLLIES

About now, Vicki is a Mother Burnside.

Jason Graae looked very good nude (with a top hat covering his frontal) on an album of Charles Strouse songs "You're Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile" probably about 15 years ago.

Try 26 years ago, R167. It came out in '97.

15 years ago, R167? Try 30 (or nearly) . . . that album came out (!) in 1996.

If for no other reason, LEOPOLDSTADT will be hugely improved as a miniseries with closeups, which will help the audience focus on who the fuck is speaking.

R170 LOL Is Leopolstadt like a Robert Altman film? Everyone talking at the same time?

[quote]LOL Is Leopolstadt like a Robert Altman film? Everyone talking at the same time?

Not quite, but in some scenes, there are a WHOLE LOT of people onstage at once, not talking over each other but with the lines sometimes ricocheting quickly from one character to the next.

LEOPOLDSTADT greatly improves as a viewing experience if you read it beforehand. I find that true with all Stoppard plays, but this one in particular because of the sheer number of characters.

It is quite tragic when they are reduced to three people on a practically bare stage at the end.

Stunning, important play.

[quote] I had a fine time. ..Until the movie started.

Not really, I saw the original cast and I don't really compare the two. I still got to see it in the greatest theater in the world, projected and sounding better than it ever will again, surrounded by a star filled audience. Not a great movie but I'll take it over any Marvel movie any day.

Leopoldstadt would greatly benefit from less theatrical performances. On camera it would be beautiful and compelling.

Weren't there some conflicting reports about Davis Gaines proclivities? Some here have said he was on and off with Graae for years, while others have reported he had a thing with figure skater Dorothy Hamill.

r167 - I forgot about that. Never owned the album, but remember being a teenager browsing the musical theatre section at Tower Records near UCSD and quite surprised to find something that (relatively) hot in those aisles. But those were the days in which a kid could still get a thrill browsing all the underwear models in the men's underwear section at Macy's. Kids don't know how lucky they have it today with their Broadway guys on LPSG etc. You can see the cover and liner images here.

I finally saw Leopoldstadt recently. Agreed that the effect of seeing the large extended family reduced to three people on that stark stage was stunning. But inbetween those moments it was very... talky. Is Stoppard always so talky. It was my first time seeing one of his plays.

Davis Gaines never had a heterosexual in his body. He did take a number of homosexual ones in there, however. He was quite the whore back in his Forbidden Broadway days. He and Patrick Quinn often had contests over who could nail the largest number of boys in a weekend.

Davis Gaines has had some unfortunate facial surgery.

At the 3:00 mark, Vicki Lawrence performs the John Foster Dulles song even better than Carol Burnett did originally.

R180 let’s just call his newer face 💩…my god!

[quote]Not really, I saw the original cast and I don't really compare the two. I still got to see it in the greatest theater in the world, projected and sounding better than it ever will again, surrounded by a star filled audience. Not a great movie but I'll take it over any Marvel movie any day.

Would have been nice if you mentioned what the hell movie you're talking about, especially since you didn't even fucking bother to tell us the number of the post you were responding to. People who don't know how to post on chat boards should simply avoid doing so.

I feel like Leopoldstadt having such a sprawling cast is kind of necessary for the ending to have an impact. On the other hand, I'll be damned if I can describe more than a couple characters.

[quote]I feel like Leopoldstadt having such a sprawling cast is kind of necessary for the ending to have an impact. On the other hand, I'll be damned if I can describe more than a couple characters.

Exactly. A better writer might have been able to craft a more focused play and more well defined characters even with so many of them on stage. And also, as in all other Stoppard plays, this one had far too much talk about ideas rather than emotions and real-life details.

“A better writer”??? Yeah, that Stoppard guy is such a slouch..

He's no Jean Kerr!

Oh, that makes me want to grab a rehearsal skirt.

[quote]“A better writer”??? Yeah, that Stoppard guy is such a slouch..

I figured someone would write something like that. I'm well aware of how acclaimed he is, but in my opinion, his writing his tremendously flawed because, among other things, it's so talky. And worse, the characters spend so much time talking about ideas, opinions, etc. rather than living their lives in a realistic and compelling way.

The worst movie musicals made from acclaimed stage musicals? I’d vote for Mame, Man of La Mancha and A Chorus Line.

R190 the thing that puzzled me about that MAN OF LA MANCHA movie was that everyone kept mispronouncing Miguel de Cervantes' first name, including Peter O'Toole, who played him.

They kept saying 'mee-GWELL'

.Why did nobody correct them?

Brits barely speak English…you expect them to pronounce a word in Spanish correctly?

You ever try correcting Peter O'Toole r191?

[quote] The worst movie musicals made from acclaimed stage musicals? I’d vote for Mame, Man of La Mancha and A Chorus Line.

My vote goes to “A Little Night Music”

I vote for A Little Night Music also!

[quote]The worst movie musicals made from acclaimed stage musicals?

Don't forget "Camelot," cast with non-singers and filmed with extreme close-ups throughout.

R196, I remember Rex Reed’s brutal review.

Yikes. I had (mercifully) forgotten A Little Night Music. Need to expand my list to four.

Cats?

Evita was a bad movie. Madge couldn’t hit the high notes.

I rewatched EVITA last year after like twenty years, and I really enjoyed it much more than I remembered.

The costumes, orchestrations, editing, and production design were topnotch.

It felt/looked really epic and majestic, as it should.

And Madonna's performance/singing didn't annoy me. It worked for the intimacy of film.

I think someone belting (which comes off as screaming) in close-ups would be exhausting to the viewer.

A Little Night Music for the win. Into the Woods for honorable mention.

R180 Davis has had some unfortunate facials as well.

For me, Fiddler is the best film adaptation of a stage musical. Actually, I think it works better on film. Topol gave a brilliant performance.

The Producers

R204, That SOB.

The film of Fiddler looks like it was all shot through a dirty burlap sack.

Not from a stage musical, but “Lost Horizon” deserves an honorable mention.

Davis Gaines had had plastic surgery when I knew him in the 80s. I don't know any actual facts, but I wondered if he had been in a car accident.

A few before and after photos of Davis Gaines would aid this thread immeasurably.

I often wonder how much Davis enjoyed his stint on One Day At A Time. He didn’t appear to do a lot of TV after that, so maybe Hollywood wasn’t his thing.

Do you mean DL fave Boyd Gaines, r211?

Oops, R212! Yes, that’s who I was thinking of. My bad. Please ignore. Thanks!

Video highlights from the Kennedy Center SPAMALOT. Good cast.

Yes, someone is beating the drum for a Bway transfer.

I really hated this show in its original run. One joke, run repeatedly into the ground. But whatevs.

Nine is a pretty awful film musical.

Any buzz on the Brittany musical at The Marquis? My hope is that Spears has (another) complete and total breakdown during previews, but rallies to come to her triumphant opening night.

The "Phantom" movie was pretty awful, especially Gerard Butler.

The Sweeney Todd movie is terrible

Should Actors Be Paid for Auditions?

The cast of "Kimberly Akimbo" performs an NPR Tiny Desk Concert:

I guess not technically a Broadway to Hollywood remake, Song of Norway is the absolute worst. I'll take bad over boring any day.

Hair is actually a better movie than its source material. It holds up.

What happened to the FUN HOME movie? For awhile Jake Ghynnehal was saying he was doing it.

The Color Purple Musical Movie Trailer

The Little Mermaid chick is in it!

R224, I think that looks amazing. Can't wait.

‘Shucked’ Grows On Broadway:

Marlo and Phil attended a Shucked matinee.

Pauline Kael said the Song of Norway movie seemed like it was made by trolls.

SPAMALOT: I assume a transfer will come. I saw the DC production and the cast was a great match for it. the production was almost fully staged with the orchestra upstage/partially hidden.

The jokes were very silly/childish. Overall it wasn't very memorable, but still fun.

I wonder about these shows that have this kind of old-fashioned humor, like Spamalot, Producers and Young Frankenstein coming back. The songs are decent to pretty good, but the humor is so childish that you need the perfect cast to pull it off.

ONCE UPON A ONE MORE TIME: Messy with some fun parts for Prince Charming and the Stepmother. I'm glad I saw it but am disappointed as a mild Britney fan.

I usually like fairy tale remixes like Wicked and Return to Oz, so was really interested in this. There was some clunky, girl boss writing that just didn't work and a very rushed ending.

The idea that the average young Britney fan needs Betty Friedan as a godmother is bizarre. It shows the age of the team and is not that clever. As if there are no other feminist role models to mention or involve in a story like this.

[quote]The worst movie musicals made from acclaimed stage musicals? I’d vote for Mame, Man of La Mancha and A Chorus Line.

I would say that, somehow, MAME still works as an enjoyable film overall, despite Lucy's tragically wrong casting, because it's well done in almost every other way, even including the direction. Whereas LA MANCHA and A CHORUS LINE are pretty much total losses -- and yes, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC as well. That last one is SO bad that there has never been a decent home video transfer of it.

SHUCKED has lost money every week so far on Broadway. I love how they're acting like they're a huge hit.

"A Little Night Music is the most stylish movie musical since Gigi."

[quote]Davis Gaines had had plastic surgery when I knew him in the 80s. I don't know any actual facts, but I wondered if he had been in a car accident.

Umm, I really don't think it had anything to do with an accident, just his apparent obsession with continuing to look young as he aged, which caused him to begin plastic surgery and basically destroy his beautiful face many years ago. This is the only evidence I could immediately find of how he used to look before all that, or at least before it got out of control.

For me, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC takes the crown for being the worst film of a Broadway musical*, if for no other reason than that the same creative team was responsible for the movie: Director Hal Prince, screenwriter Hugh Wheeler, Sondheim of course -- along with original cast members Len Cariou, Hermione Gingold and Laurence Guittard. That it could fail so spectacularly really boggles the mind. I blame Liz less than some of these others, especially whoever had the bright idea to change the setting from the perpetual twilight of a summer night in Sweden to regular old Austria. With that one change, you not only lose part of the score but most of its reason for being.

*SWEENEY TODD is a close second.

[quote]SHUCKED has lost money every week so far on Broadway. I love how they're acting like they're a huge hit.

Fake it 'til you make it!

[quote]if for no other reason than that the same creative team was responsible for the movie: Director Hal Prince... That it could fail so spectacularly really boggles the mind.

Prince wasn't a film director, so it isn't all that mind-boggling.

[quote]Prince wasn't a film director, so it isn't all that mind-boggling.

But the only previous film he directed, SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE, is about a million times better than NIGHT MUSIC in every possible way, including his direction. It seems that budget limitations were a significant part of the reason for the utter failure of NIGHT MUSIC, but that doesn't seem like a full explanation.

Agree about ALNM being the worst of these because there was simply no reason for that material to fail onscreen.

R235-I've already seen that video.By then, he was already starting with the surgery. He was amazingly fucking hot once.

Again, Ms. Kael, on ALNM: This picture has been made as if the director had never SEEN a movie.

Errm, Dear Evan H is a pretty darn poor film musical.

Prince's concept was similar to his staging in that he wanted us to think we were watching a play, thus the bizarre long camera shots of Liz with her bank to the camera during Send In The Clowns. The one number he really opened up was a Weekend In the Country and it was by far the highlight of that dismal film.

When your concept is a young man, sitting in a tree, playing a cello, it’s clear you’ve been smoking too many doobies.

"Finian's Rainbow" (the movie) got a lot of negative reviews and wasn't a hit, but I thought I was pretty good.

Numbers are out. Good week on the street last week. Nearly everyone up.

I love movie musicals, particularly the old MGM 1950s classics. But most stage to screen transfers in the past 25 years have been critical or box-office bombs--or both. Hollywood has forgotten how to make a decent movie musical, and audiences are out of the habit of seeing and appreciating them.

I'd actually like to see more original musicals (for adults/mainstream audiences) created exclusively for the screen, myself. A lot of DL disliked LA LA LAND, but it was a serious attempt at something new, at least.

[quote]For me, Fiddler is the best film adaptation of a stage musical. Actually, I think it works better on film. Topol gave a brilliant performance.

I agree that "Fiddler" is a first-rate adaptation and that Topol is wonderful in it. That movie could have gone wrong in so many ways. I think "The Music Man" may be the best movie adaptation of a Broadway musical. I wish "My White Knight" hadn't been replaced with the vastly inferior "Being In Love." I also wish that Barbara Cook hadn't been replaced with Shirley Jones, although Shirley is fine as Marian.

I enjoyed the Mame movie when I was a kid. I'm afraid of watching it now.

I'm not sure I understand the point of Spamalot the musical.

It's the movie literally transferred to the stage, mostly word-for-word.

And the songs for SPAMALOT aren't nearly as clever, funny, and engaging as they think they are.

Having seen it back in the day, I cannot imagine playing the original cast album for pleasure.

[quote]It's the movie literally transferred to the stage, mostly word-for-word.

Yes, but it does add a lot of not terribly funny songs, as R252 noted.

[quote]Having seen it back in the day, I cannot imagine playing the original cast album for pleasure.

That's exactly how I feel about "Something Rotten!" And the confusing "Hamlet" with "omelet" joke was not nearly as funny as its writers thought it was, and yet it goes on and on and on and on . . .

Wasn't it the composer Jerry Bock (FIDDLER, SHE LOVES ME) who told musical writers to make their songs as beautiful as possible, even the comedy songs?

Because once you've heard all the jokes the first time, you still want/need something special to listen to.

He was right.

[quote] bizarre long camera shots of Liz with her bank to the camera

Pics please.

I also don't think Mame is that bad and Lucy is pretty fair after the title number if only because she plays a bit closer to her age. The movie was so old fashioned when it opened that time but you can sort of appreciate it for what it is. And Angela wouldn't have made much difference.

A line used for the TV version is better than the stage line. After Lucy fucks up Vera's show, Vera says disgustedly, "I told you you didn't have any talent when we were in the chorus together".

[quote]And Angela wouldn't have made much difference.

I wouldn't have had to wear ear plugs during her musical numbers.

How America’s Playwrights Saved the Tony Awards:

Kael, with her usual tin ear for music, also shrugged off Sondheim's score for A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC: "Do people really enjoy Stephen Sondheim's sour sentimentality – songs like 'Every Day a Little Death'?”

As I said, Davis Gaines started in with the plastic surgery a long time ago, in the 80s, when he was pretty young.

I really liked Sweeney Todd when I saw it on the big screen, but I haven't watched it since because I know it won't hold up at all.

Helen Shaw in her New Yorker review of the new Sweeney takes a similar swipe, mentioning Sondheim's "sooty, sour-hearted music and lyrics." Would love to know what she means by "sooty."

R257, there is a TV version? When was it made? Who played Mame?

Cher

[quote] Who played Mame?

I did.

[quote]The film of Fiddler looks like it was all shot through a dirty burlap sack.

It was actually a ladies silk stocking.

How the hell were Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen cast in not one but two major movie musicals?

That LES MISERABLES movie was also a bad adaptation.

Terrible singing, except for one or two.

Weak orchestrations and too many damn close-ups, so the film doesn't feel epic in any way.

But it was stolen by the remarkable Aaron Tveit!

Pauline Kael LOVED the FIDDLER movie, interestingly (and/or weirdly) enough.

[quote] How America’s Playwrights Saved the Tony Awards

They shouldn't have bothered.

Yes, Kael said she didn't get around to seeing it onstage. I think Prince said, Yeah, it only ran for seven years.

I remember watching the film version of The Wiz as an adult and really analyzing the shots and the edit and was trying to figure out how such a talented and heralded triumvirate of Sidney Lumet, Oswald Morris and Dede Allen could make such an inert musical. It's pretty much all in wide shots and the camera rarely moves. I was trying to figure out who was to blame. Was it Lumet, who decided on certain shots (and nixed others)? Was it Morris, who Lumet leaned on perhaps a little too heavily due to his inexperience with shooting musicals? Was it Allen who cut better for drama than she did for music? It's hard to say if one person was the culprit, but having seen Fiddler, I'd point to Morris. I find him a dreadful cinematographer of musicals. He's done several and they all looked like shit. How he ever got an Oscar for Fiddler is beyond me. I like to pretend he actually won it for Lolita, for which he was not nominated.

And what's even crazier is Morris was nominated for an Oscar three times, all for musicals, INCLUDING THE WIZ!!!

Tony Kushner "is widely regarded as one of America’s greatest living playwrights" according to the above Times article about saving the Tonys.

"One of America’s greatest living playwrights" based on one really long play? His career playwrighting output has been astonishingly low to have that "title."

R267 6 months after above clip was the fall in Las Vegas....

On September 14, 1972, The New York Times revealed Ann Margret was undergoing surgery for fractures to her face.

The article said: "Ann‐Margret, who was seriously injured in a fall from a stage platform, underwent facial surgery today at the U.C.L.A. Medical Center.

"The operation took about three hours. Hospital officials said a statement on the condition of the 31‐year‐old actress‐dancer would not be made until later.

"Ann‐Margret suffered several facial fractures, a concussion, a broken jaw and a broken arm Sunday when she fell from a 22‐foot‐high platform just before her performance at a Lake Tahoe casino."

R275, I'd say that HOMEBODY/KABUL and CAROLINE OR CHANGE have won enough renown to expand Kushner's list from "merely" ANGELS. But your point is well taken -- even allowing for the time he's given to Spielberg screenplays (MUNICH, LINCOLN, WSS), it's bizarre and depressing how little new work he's produced in the 30 or so years since ANGELS.

I hate to be the cuntiest cunt who ever cunted, but I don’t think the WGA should have caved to the Tonys. They should have been cancelled to prove a point

I agree, R278

What point? They would be punishing fellow union members by not letting them celebrate their achievements.

Which "fellow union members" would have been punished by that decision? Is Tom Stoppard a member of the WGA?

r275 Lake Tahoe is hundreds of miles away from Las Vegas.

So if the strike drags on, will they allow other awards shows to go on? Seems only fair.

"widely regarded" seems appropriate for Kushner. It doesn't say "the greatest." Quality, not quantity. His talent is undeniable even if the output is slim.

Yay! all 9 Tony viewers can now watch the show.

[r285] I agree with this post. I think Broadway Twitter has an inflated sense of what a Tony award does do musicals/plays.

Wicked is the monster hit that Avenue Q isn’t.

R286, Two Gentlemen of Verona.

“Passion” over “Beauty and the Beast”

Passion is a bore of a show about a mentally impaired woman, not passion

I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE coming to CSC in the fall. Really good cast, so I will probably check it out.

Who knows this show? It's never been done at Encores or any of the usual venues, from what I can tell. Is it a diamond in the rough? Or just a dud?

Jewish Rep did it Off Bway years ago, with DL fave Vicki Lewis in Barbra's part. It was okay, but, unfortunately, by the time I saw it, Evan Pappas, playing the lead was out, and the director played it with a script.

[quote]I think Broadway Twitter has an inflated sense of what a Tony award does do musicals/plays. Wicked is the monster hit that Avenue Q isn’t.

It has been demonstrated over the years that a win in the Best Musical category -- and ONLY in that category -- can make a huge difference at the box office, at least in the short term. PASSION was a major exception to that general rule.

If AVENUE Q had not won Best Musical, it almost certainly would have had a far shorter run, and WICKED turned out to be a show for which negative reviews and a lack of awards didn't matter in the least.

I’d kill to see a Jewish Rep production of PASSION starring Vicki Lewis and Evan Pappas.

Vicki Lewis wouldn't need a lot of help in makeup or costuming, R293.

Just saying.

WHOLESALE has a very fine score, but may well be better served by a concert version with a slimmed-down book. I once heard Laurents (the original director) refer to the show as "boring." Still, I'm interested in seeing this forthcoming revival.

For the life of me I don't get why Kimberly Akimbo is the frontrunner. The production has never made one million dollars, the songs are forgettable, and the story is a convoluted mess with different themes and genres all over the place.

Anyone else expect a SHUCKED upset? Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score.

Just putting it out there.

Kimberly Akimbo is the front runner once you've seen Some Like It Hot, Shucked, & Juliet, and New York, New York.

R297: For better or worse I think KA will likely take Best Musical but I think Annaleigh Ashford will be the upset and beat Victoria Clark.

[quote]But it was stolen by the remarkable Aaron Tveit!

Them's fightin' words!

I don't care who wins Best Musical. All I want is for Jodie Comer to beat Jessica Chastain.

Jodie Comer, in the play most of us can't afford to see.

R302. Special matinee this Friday with Jodie's standby. Tickets are free.

R302, I think you've posted that information repeatedly here and elsewhere. Prima Facie has a weekly $10 digital lottery, $32 mezzanine seats and a $45 daily rush policy. You just have to work a little bit. But as one of the few shows commanding healthy full price ticket sales, why begrudge it for being successful?

Hee-Haw!

When it comes to the Tony Awards that SHUCKED show is gonna be the first hog to the trough.

Broadway Weekly Box Office Up 5% To $33M In Final Week Of 2022-23 Season:

Even without Lea Funny Girl still grossed over $1 million.

How many performances did Lea miss?

Kimberly is a hard show to like

I wonder if Lea is missing all these performances lately because of her disappointment in not receiving a special Tony? Or do we think she may still get one as a surprise that night?

R311, I think you have Lea confused with Beanie.

R310: KA is unique to say the least.

I found KA sweet and charming, when I saw it Off bway. The music was servicable, and the parents songs felt shoved in to give them something more to do. That said, it was still much better than most of the crap out there right now,

I genuinely loved KA, which surprised me. I was so-so on the original play.. Insightful, funny, great music. No one's heard of it, but I've sent friends and they've all felt the same.

Lea missed all 8 shows. COVID. Again. It happens. She was back last night.

The Kimberly score is bottom-drawer.

r317=Gloria Upson

Anyone else in love with the new CHICAGO TV commercial? Brilliant ad, it aaaaaaaalmost makes me want to see the show again.

R319, it's very well done, and I had a similar reaction. I did notice that the commercial pointedly features only women, and I was a little surprised at that, as they might have had some sexy male dancers in it as well to appeal to a larger demographic. That said, I wonder if we can assume that none of those women in the commercial are now or have actually been in the show on Broadway?

I noticed the lack of men, too, r320, and wondered why they chose to do it that way. Though it's still sexy.

r316 covid or I’m bored with this?

Who’s still getting COVID?

I just re -watched Original cast album: Co-op and wondered... Did Sondheim ever say anything about the episode?

WET BRAIN (at Playwright's Horizons) cancelled tonight, tomorrow and Friday - any insight?

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1966, "Mame" opened at the Winter Garden Theatre.

Alex Newell performs Shucked's "Independently Owned" on The Voice Live Finale:

Big as a HOUSE!

r326...

That was great R329, thanks! So much more energy than the draggy 1980s revival clips that have surfaced.

Santino Fontana r323. Missed entire run of the tiny goodbye girl.

Goodbye, little girl ...

It also shows how much dancing she did, r330. She was an actual triple threat in the role. Subsequent Mames always seem to be lacking in at least one of the threats.

Wow, Theatre Row and CSC. That Tony Award did wonders for Santino Fontana.

Other than playing the boyfriend of the female star, I don't think TV (and certainly film) has much to offer Santino. And as a true Broadway star, he's simply too dull and ordinary and aging won't help that.

To R246. Petula Clark is just magical in the Finian movie, I never get tired of watching it. The "Devil Moon" number is shot such an innovative way, jump cuts, etc. Coppola really went back to his film school roots. Vastly underrated movie.

The MAME clip once again demonstrated the brilliance of Onna White.

R335, Santino Fontana has a beautiful singing voice and is an excellent actor and a brilliant comedic talent. Even in something like the recent IOLANTHE, he added little bits of comic business that drew big laughs from the audience. Since you find him "dull and ordinary," I won't be paying any attention to any of your future posts.

[quote] Since you find him "dull and ordinary," I won't be paying any attention to any of your future posts.

That’ll learn ‘em!

[quote] Since you find him "dull and ordinary," I won't be paying any attention to any of your future posts.

Christ, what a prisspot!

Your vocabulary is pitiful, R340. There's nothing "prissy" about my deciding to ignore someone who has no taste.

And you don't need to address me as Christ. Jesus will do :-)

R336 we saw Petula Clark in Blood Brothers with the Cassidy boys.....I think it was the Music Box Theatre....or as we in the know call it....the Box.

Anyway we were sitting house left and could see a bit into the wings. Petula stepped to her place offstage and waited with something in her arms....the previous scene ended.....her go light came on...she walked onstage, unrolled the rug she was holding, stood on it and sang her song.....rolled up the rug and walked off.

She was very good in the role! And I guess she joined the stage hands union to handle that rug the way she did.

r327 - Alex Newell can SING! No doubt about that. I have to assume that Shucked will be integrating that number into their Tonys performance. Would be stupid not to.

Can someone post this new Chicago TV spot people are commenting on??

[quote] Alex Newell can OVERSING!

Fixed that for you. He's horrible.

Oh, wait, I found it on Chicago's site. It's certainly dominated by women, but there are some men in it. Yes, I'm curious as well, how many of these dancers are in the actual production?? If they all are, I guess they've cleared house in the ensemble in recent years.

[quote] And you don't need to address me as Christ. Jesus will do :-)

Pretentious much?

Watching Newell in SHUCKED, and how random it was, all I could think of was this...

R346: Completely humorless, much?

I'm curious as to why King James at MTC was practically ignored by the critics. The Times sent a 4th stringer. It's a terrific production and the two actors are wonderful.

That's a longer CHICAGO commercial than the one I've been seeing lately (I think mostly during Jeopardy), even better and with some sexy men. Still pretty certain there are no men in the shorter version. Either way, fabulous!

So does Walter Bobbie still watch over the production or is he now persona non grata? And William Ivey Long? Hasn't he been banned from all Broadway theatres?

R350 - what did Walter Bobbie do? (serious question, I guess I missed it)

Anyone seen Primary Trust at Roundabout?

[quote]New York Classical Theatre Announces All-Women and Gender-Fluid Cast for Richard III

Having seen "1776," I think I'll pass.

[quote]That's a longer CHICAGO commercial than the one I've been seeing lately (I think mostly during Jeopardy), even better and with some sexy men. Still pretty certain there are no men in the shorter version.

Yes, I too am pretty sure there are no men in the version of the commercial that's been running during JEOPARDY! And I highly doubt any of those people are in the show now, though I could be wrong about that.

[quote] Completely humorless, much?

Oh, did you say something humorous?

[quote] New York Classical Theatre Announces All-Women and Gender-Fluid Cast for Richard III

Listen, bitches, this 75% isn't gonna put out for just any show!

Sara Porkalob IS "Richard 2.25"

LOL R357!!

I haven't seen CHICAGO in many years. Are you all suggesting the cast is made up of lot of ogres and gnomes now?

I recognize Jeff Gorti in the 'Chicago' ad, and he's in the show.

I don't believe anyone suggested that, R359. I just doubt that any of those people in the commercial are in the actual show on Broadway, but who knows?

I mean, a little of column A, a little of column B? Haven't some of Chicago cast members been at it for decades?

The Mary Sunshine is new....

The Chicago cast looked reasonably sexy when I saw the show (Jinkx's last performance). R351, the short version is that Walter Bobbie (and others, but I remember Walter getting a substantial amount of blame; then again, this was a short-lived scandal) allegedly harassed the longtime Mary Sunshine, who subsequently committed suicide.

And poor Walter cries every time that royalty check goes into the bank. He's so sorry.

r363 - I think you're joking? R. Lowe has been doing Mary Sunshine for YEARS.

[quote]New York Classical Theatre Announces All-Women and Gender-Fluid Cast for Richard III

Why does anyone still think this is creative, forward thinking, and groundbreaking?

It's like a cross between "Richard III" and "The Women"!

I think it was the Mary Sunshine understudy who committed suicide, allegedly because of harassment by Bobbie and the stage management team who wanted to be rid of him but couldn't fire him. But please correct me if I'm wrong.

Here is an article about this very sad story. Others can be found via Google.

Were any findings from Equity's investigation ever published? I can't find anything online, but perhaps I'm not Googling well.

Apparently Here Lies Live uses no live musicians, even though the Broadway has a house minimum of 20.

WTF?!

Did anyone here see The Front Page? A huge cast including John Goodman, Nathan Lane, Jefferson Mays, John Slattery, Sherie Rene Scott, Holland Taylor, Robert Morse, Dylan Baker. Seems like it must have been quite an 'event play'. I didn't get to visit NY during its limited run, but feel pretty certain it would have been on my list had I done so.

The Front Page is a creaky bore of a dinosaur.

The Front Page is a great play, I've seen a couple of regional productions of it over the years, but that Broadway revival was a huge unfunny bore. I'm not sure why, as the the cast is impressive, yet it just wasn't very entertaining.

That The Front Page production was badly directed and most of the actors performed as though they weren't in the same play. Plus, Redin had so many fucking restrictions about water bottles, returning to your seat if you got up to pee, etc., it felt like a POW camp. Not a happy experience.

After two ‘catastrophic’ years for Broadway, have the Tonys become too big to fail?

[quote]The Front Page is a creaky bore of a dinosaur.

[quote]The Front Page is a great play, I've seen a couple of regional productions of it over the years, but that Broadway revival was a huge unfunny bore. I'm not sure why, as the the cast is impressive, yet it just wasn't very entertaining.

I think the truth is somewhere between the two assessments above, but I tend to agree more with the first one. The play has not aged well in terms of style or content.

Part of the problem is that His Girl Friday is so much zippier.

If you thought the last production was bad, try sitting through the 1974 movie version.

[quote]For the life of me I don't get why Kimberly Akimbo is the frontrunner. The production has never made one million dollars, the songs are forgettable, and the story is a convoluted mess with different themes and genres all over the place.

What the fuck does the gross have to do with it?

That last revival was "Front Page" was Broadway's awakening that Jack O'Brien was losing it. Everyone on stage was in a different play. The best was Nathan doing Mel Brooks, while Sheri Rene Scott was doing Eugene O'Neil. Goodman was just too far gone from his Theater days; he was lost.

And then SHUCKED came along and restored his reputation!!

R382, but SHUCKED is very well directed, so maybe the problem with that FRONT PAGE wasn't O'Brien. Thought I could see why you would think it was.

I think The Front Page is a bore, but there's a hell of a talent chasm between it and Shucked.

Fuck The Front Page. John Guare's adaptation/mash-up of Front Page and His Girl Friday should play the Beaumont. It was glorious at the National on the South Bank and half the cast were Americans. It can play the Guthrie, but not NYC?

And guess who directed it?

Jack.

In the early years of the 21st century, it seemed that Jack O'Brien could do no wrong. Look at this sequence of Broadway productions -- THE FULL MONTY, then THE INVENTION OF LOVE, then HAIRSPRAY, then IMAGINARY FRIENDS, then HENRY IV, then DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, then THE COAST OF UTOPIA. With the exception of IMAGINARY FRIENDS, all received raves and/or major awards.

But then came his follow-up to UTOPIA -- the 2009 disaster that was IMPRESSIONISM, which had star power aplenty (Joan Allen, Jeremy Irons, even DL fave Michael T. Weiss) but couldn't even last 60 performances.

Next up: CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (166 performances), DEAD ACCOUNTS (44), THE NANCE (136) and MACBETH (60). CATCH ME won some awards, and THE NANCE was perhaps a succès d'estime, but DEAD ACCOUNTS and (especially) MACBETH were wipe-out disasters.

Then we got IT'S ONLY A PLAY (a financial success but no credit whatever to O'Brien) . . . and *then* came the disappointing FRONT PAGE.

So I'd say that there were plenty of signs before THE FRONT PAGE that O'Brien's glory days were behind him. (Since then: CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY . . . CAROUSEL . . . ALL MY SONS . . . and now SHUCKED, which may be a surprise smash but certainly received a mixed-at-best critical reception.)

As for John Goodman's being "too far gone from his theater days," he was terrific in the 2009 WAITING FOR GODOT that he did with Lane. But I agree that he didn't make much of an impression in THE FRONT PAGE.

Jack however did not direct the Guthrie's HIS GIRL FRIDAY.

It was directed by Guthrie Artistic Director Joe Dowling but was done in by the starry casting of Angela Bassett and Courtney B Vance as Hildy and Walter, two of the un-funniest actors on the planet. Yes, I saw it.

But it is curious why Jack chose the original play rather than his buddy John Guare's adaptation for Broadway, though I suppose that choice was all Scott Rudin's.

Nathan Lane adores THE FRONT PAGE. I'm sure that he wanted to do the original, not HIS GIRL FRIDAY.

[quote]The play has not aged well in terms of style or content.

That's very surprising for a play first produced in 1928.

[quote] SHUCKED, which may be a surprise smash

Well, if it's a smash, then that's certainly a surprise.

[quote]I think The Front Page is a bore, but there's a hell of a talent chasm between it and Shucked.

Sure, but my point is that SHUCKED is directed perfectly for what the show requires to make it work perfectly for an audience.

R391, your sarcasm is not appreciated. No, it's not "surprising" that a 1928 play has not aged well in terms of style and content. But, on the other hand, and as I'm sure you know, there are far older plays that have aged better.

[quote] Sure, but my point is that SHUCKED is directed perfectly for what the show requires to make it work perfectly for an audience.

So are the shows at any amusement park or in Branson. That doesn't make them feats of directing excellence.

I don't understand your logic, R394. In my opinion, a show is well directed if it is directed in such a way as to get the appropriate response from an audience. If you disagree, that's fine.

SHUCKED was not directed. It was stage managed. And then choreographed.

O'Brien did a great job with All My Sons

R396, that's a silly, nasty comment. A show like that would not be so funny if the actors were not directed to play the humor properly and all in the same way. In this case, incredible as this may sound, there is actually a lot of subtlety in the comedy, rather than it being played very broadly, which would have been a huge mistake.

Oh, I thought that All MY Sons was just dreadful, with that horrible set that looked like they lived in the Garden of Eden.

Nathan Lane is a Bensinger, not a Walter Burns.

I agree that Nathan Lane was not really right for the role of Walter Burns, just as we wasn't really right for his role in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER.

God, that show The Man Who Came to Dinner just goes on and on and on. It's just tedious toward the end. Nathan as Whiteside looks great on paper, but it's just too much of him. I love Nathan, but sometimes a little Lane goes a long, long way.

Nathan sucks.

In the theatre, I've only seen Nathan in big comedic roles, in which he shone. I've seen some of his more dramatic performances recorded - Angels in America, The Nance as well as his TV work. He's rarely worked as a 'dramatic heavy' to me, though I know he considers himself that versatile. Perhaps without even realizing it, tonally/rhythmically he leans into the comedy beats too heavily. That doesn't mean he can't have poignant and moving moments on stage, but, overall, I've just never bought him one of those roles. But perhaps I didn't see the right performance. What do you think is is his most successful dramatic performance?

Nathan was truly brilliant and unforgettable in LOVE! VALOUR! COMPASSION! as the hilarious and tragic Buzz.

But what was the controversy of him not getting a Tony that year? Did he refuse to be put in the Featured Actor category, which John Glover won, playing opposite him in LVC?

r405 - that's a great example of a role that plays to Nathan's strengths (comedic and dramatic), but are there more serious roles that don't really involve elements of comedy in which he's also been successful?

Parade's Micaela Diamond Sings "You Don't Know This Man":

One of the best roles I've ever seen Nathan in was his arc on The Good Wife. He played an accountant who was court ordered to go into the firm and help shore things up (I forget why). It wasn't a showy role at all, in fact it was quite a quiet character, which I think is what impressed me about Lane's performance even more. He was able to play it without all his usual histrionics and when he puts those crutches away, he's actually a lovely, subtle actor.

[quote]WET BRAIN (at Playwright's Horizons) cancelled tonight, tomorrow and Friday - any insight?

It dried out.

[quote]I don't care who wins Best Musical. All I want is for Jodie Comer to beat Jessica Chastain.

Team Chastain here!

Nathan Lane was superb in THE ICEMAN COMETH, which I saw him do both in Chicago and at BAM.

I second the comment about Nathan in The Good Wife. So subtle, none of his usual stuff. Very impressive.

He was also terrific in THE PEOPLE VS. O. J. SIMPSON.

I think Chastain is going to take the Tony this year. And, after her acceptance speech, she's going to walk out the stage door and hop in an Uber.

R414, That sounds more like a Scarlett Johansson move.

With a strong director (and editor to choose takes), Lane can turn in more measured performances in TV/film roles, r408, r412, and r413.

He certainly is capable of doing so live, as r411 says, but I'm with r404 - Lane's tendency to lean heavily into the comedic beats can taint or even ruin his dramatic performances. He doesn't seem able to control that impulse for long on his own.

He was painful to watch in Pictures From Home.

Bernadette is earning very strong reviews for her performance in the Apple TV series High Desert even though the series itself has gotten mixed reviews. If she's ever pondering a return to Broadway, perhaps she'll finally consider a non-musical play. I don't think she could sustain a leading musical role anymore. The voice is going.

It would depend on the role, R418. I thought Bernadette's roles in both A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and HELLO, DOLLY! were perfect late-career roles for her, because in both cases the singing is really not very difficult.

Dolly was five years ago. Have you heard her more recently? I'm actually a little worried for her and her ability to keep up with 8 performances of the Sondheim concert in the West End later this year. Presumably, with fewer big names from the one-night concert, they're going to want her to sing more songs than she did in that televised version.

Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about [italic] Mr. [/Italic] Lovett??

[quote] Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about Mr. Lovett??

You mean Albert?

Lyle?

Julia Roberts IS (WAS) Mrs. Lovett

R424, well done!

IF Night Music is revived again in the not too distant future I'd love to see Bernadette as M Armfeldt.

I think Bernadette will be fine for the Sondheim show. The only song I see them adding for her is “send in the clowns” in Judi’s absence, which she can handle.

So Bernadette’s numbers would presumably be:

I Know Things Now

Children Will Listen

Send In the Clowns

A line of Broadway Baby

You Gotta Get a Gimmick

Losing My Mind

A line of Not A Day Goes By

Bernie can't sing Not A Day Goes By anymore. Her voice has gone bye! And Children will Listen is way too hard for her to mix nowadays.

Had she cared for her voice, she would be able to sing any song.

She's 75, R429. Frankly, it's astonishing how long the voice held up, given the ever-incipient vocal damage evident for decades.

I'll be seeing her in June. I wish it wasn't a Sondheim program. Something more varied would be nice. I'd love to yell from the audience, "Do Chico's Girl!".

WGA asking any Tony nominees who are in WGA not to attend the awards

R432 They mean LMM.

Damn, you all weren't kidding about how bad the choreography is in Sweeney Todd.

Miss Parsons...

Listen to Josh Groban's 'My Friends' From Upcoming Sweeney Todd Broadway Revival Cast Album:

R432 - apparently, LMM is not a WGA member. I assumed he was, too.

r434 - right? Boggles the mind anyone thought that choreography was acceptable.

r436 - sounds fantastic!

Jeremy Strong in a revival of An Enemy of the People. That sounds enervating.

This is actually a new adaptation, r439. When DeSantis and Trump rave about lockdowns and vaccines next year, it’s likely to feel quite timely Since it looks to be a mostly silly season next year, so this is one of a handful of shows I want to see.

It's a new adaptation by Amy Herzog unfortunately. Her Doll's House adaptation is crap.

R440 / or anyone else -- is there a good resource for updated listings of scheduled openings for the coming theatre season?

...sorry, cut myself off there. I was, specifically, asking about NY and London theatre. Not just Broadway and West End but also Off-Broadway Off-West End and/or repertory companies and non-profits in NY and London.

^Google

It’s not too difficult

[quote]It's a new adaptation by Amy Herzog unfortunately. Her Doll's House adaptation is crap.

I thought it was a fine adaptation, regardless of how anyone feels about the production concept. What didn't you like about the adaptation?

This was pretty good.

You thought that was good? It looked incredibly sloppy and out of sync.

Ashford is WGA so I guess we won’t be seeing that choreography at the Tony’s. This prohibits Borle, Platt and Barellis from attending too.

Sean Hayes out of Oscar this afternoon.

R449 platt is not listed in the WGA directory

Why would he be?

[quote]Boggles the mind anyone thought that choreography was acceptable.

Before this revival, I would never have expected to see "Sweeney Todd" and "choreography" in the same sentence.

R452 Platt co-wrote the upcoming movie Theatre Camp (based on Noah Galvin’s book), so I assumed he was WGA. WGA cannot attend the Tony’s. But, he’s not listed in their directory so I guess he’s not?

Didn’t they make that one already / once, or twice…

What about The Mousetrap coming to Broadway? Is that still happening "in 2023'?

So the Tonys are soon but does it matter?

The only people that watch the Tonys would go to the theatre anyway or gay kids in flyover country that can’t afford to go to NY to buy a ticket.

The WGA isn’t picketing…but doesn’t want its members attending and there can’t be a written script.

Sounds like a real shitshow if u ask me.

I hope Patti joins DL's live Tony watch thread from her basement!

R454, I wasn't aware of that, thanks. I looked up the film to see who the producers/production companies were, because if none of them were WGA signatories, then he would not have had to join. But the odd thing is that there are two very high profile companies who produced the film (not Fox Searchlight, who distributed it) that I would easily assume are WGA signatories. They can "hire" non-WGA writers, but if they acquire a script written by a non-WGA writer, that writer (I believe) must then join the guild. It's like Taft-Hartley'ing an actor.

I did notice there are something like five screenwriters on it, all people who are in the movie, so maybe it's more of an improv thing? I don't know. Everything past the actual WGA rules are supposition.

R457, I guess we’ll find out two weeks from tonight.

[quote]WGA asking any Tony nominees who are in WGA not to attend the awards

Yeah, but if the strike settles before the Emmys, the idiots calling for a boycott will be there first out of the limos.

R447 That Tamron Hall performance actually looked great, from costumes to lighting to background. Even the camerawork looked good for daytime TV.

When I saw DANCIN live, I was struck by how bizarre everything looked. Just distracting and off, the dancing seemed fine though. Probably the most disappointing thing I saw in months.

R145 I'm very much looking forward to seeing Leopoldstadt as a multi-part TV drama. I haven't seen the play, but reading posters' descriptions of so many characters onstage at one time, I know it's a work in which I'll probably want to back up and re-listen a lot. So "yay" for video.

I hope there are parts for both Andrew Garfield and Tim O'Tay.

r463 - I wouldn't hold your breath. And... MINOR spoilers ahead....

I can't imagine Leopoldstadt working well as a film or tv series without it being dramatically reconceived. It almost entirely takes place in a single room and the spectacle of seeing such a large extended multi-generational family on stage (a theatre stage FILLED with actors) and eventually seeing that number dwindle to a tiny number of survivors wouldn't have the same impact that it has on stage.

And, candidly, that is biggest achievement of the play. The dialogue itself is VERY talky.

As dialogue tends to be.

The WGA, followed by the SAG strike, will probably play into the Fall and beyond. Fuck the CEOs.

[quote]I can't imagine

Stopped reading. No need to continue.

The incoming artistic director of a major west coast regional theatre company, and pocket gay, is a surprisingly good top.

Well, I'll rule out Chris Ashley at La Jolla and Barry Edelstein at the Old Globe, anyway. Oh, and Pam McKinnon at ACT.

Who's taking over the Taper/CTG?

R464, I agree with some of what you say, but I actually think LEOPOLDSTADT might work much better on screen than on the stage, if only because it will probably be easier to keep track of all those characters in the earlier scenes of the play. And it should be a fairly easy matter to "open up" the script to include various locations. But yes, there will have to be less talk, talk, talk and more visuals interest for the movie or TV miniseries to succeed.

Groban can sing, but he cannot act. It's so weird seeing a Sweeney without danger or menace or anger.

Did I luck out? The night I saw Groban he was surprisingly menacing; much heavier than I expected. And I went in the furthest thing from a Groban fan.

If you look at what actually happens in Sweeney Todd, there are not a lot of moments for the “menacing” characterization Datalounge has been demanding. When he is shaving his victims, he should not be letting on that he is about to kill them. He doesn’t need to threaten Mrs. Lovett or Toby or Anthony. In fact, when he turns on each of those three, it’s supposed to be a shocking twist not something telegraphed ahead.

I apparently also saw Groban on a good night, or maybe just brought an open mind. Unlike Mrs. Lovett, the writing tells you nearly everything you need to know about Sweeney.

I have seen Norm Lewis, Michael Cerveris, Brian Stokes Mitchell and a bunch of other lesser known Sweeneys. None of them sang it better, but I also don’t think they acted it with substantially more skill. The worst Sweeneys are the ones who overact, especially the “danger of menace or anger.” . See George Hearn.

‘I'm very much looking forward to seeing Leopoldstadt as a multi-part TV drama.’

How much cash did I you put up front? For the rest of us: who has planned a TV version?—no one.

R468. Berkeley, La Jolla or Mark Taper-LA?

R473, I agree with almost everything you wrote EXCEPT that I strongly disagree with what your opinion of George Hearn's performance. I think he made the very valid choice that, since Sweeney is basically going mad during the course of the show, there are a few select, brief moments when the character should be very menacing. For example, SPOILER ALERT: during "Epiphany" and at the end, right after the reveal concerning the Beggar Woman and right before Sweeney throws Mrs. L. into the oven. And while it works just fine for the line "At last, my arm is complete again" to be delivered in a near whisper, I think it's also perfectly valid to scream it the way Hearn did.

I'd watch a tv version of Leopoldstadt r474.

Sounds quite interesting to me.

[Quote] If you look at what actually happens in Sweeney Todd, there are not a lot of moments for the “menacing” characterization Datalounge has been demanding. When he is shaving his victims, he should not be letting on that he is about to kill them. He doesn’t need to threaten Mrs. Lovett or Toby or Anthony. In fact, when he turns on each of those three, it’s supposed to be a shocking twist not something telegraphed ahead.

Hence, acting. You need to know there’s a lunatic within. Subtext, darling.

I too was pleasantly surprised by Groban's acting -- very comfortable onstage, and dramatically effective. More a singer than an actor, strictly speaking, but nothing to apologize for acting-wise -- it's just that his trump card is his voice, and very effectively so in this piece.

Darling, the subtext in Sweeney Todd is provided by the chorus. And his coils anyone miss that there is a “lunatic within” after he sings a loving ballad to his razors?

^”and how could anyone miss”

[quote]Subtext, darling.

Condescension and superior attitude duly noted.

"Perhaps today you gave a nod to Sweeney Todd."

Monsters aren't always visible at first glance.

All I can say is that when I saw Len Cariou as the original Sweeney, the scenes of him shaving his victims were spine-tingling scary. Not for the victims, who were blithely unaware of what was about to happen to them, but for the audience who was quite aware. The tension was almost unbearable.

[quote] The tension was almost unbearable.

You should have seen when he would shave my beav!

And mine!

We saw Some Like It Hot and New York New York. SLIH is 1000% better, but this is still faint praise. We were just desperate for a melody, for an interesting story, a funny line, ANYTHING, in NYNY.

I like Coltan Ryan (reminds me of Emile Hirsch) because he is unusual, has humor, and isn't buff. He deserves better.

And mine, too!!!

Hey, I was Len's first wife!

Surely I wasn't THAT hard up!

The great set designer Robin Wagner passed away peacefully this morning at the age of 90.

Among his many credits were A Chorus Line, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Producers, Crazy For You, Jelly's Last Jam, Dreamgirls, On the Twentieth Century, City of Angels, 42nd Street, Mack & Mabel, Promises, Promises, Side Show, The Life, Sugar and Angels in America.

They don't make them like him any more. And yes, you can become a billionaire working on Broadway. RIP

r491 - Robin Wagner was a billionaire??

Wagner always shared in the profits of his Broadway shows per his contracts, not only the weekly royalties which were considerable in themselves. Yes, "billionaire" is an exaggeration, but certainly a mega-millionaire many times over. He also made tons of money designing restaurants and clubs all over the world.

I had no idea Robin Wagner's ex-wife was Paula Wagner, who is Tom Cruise's producing partner.

Robin Wagner is a legend.

*This* is a resume...

50 years on Broadway for Robin Wagner. He's interviewed in this book that was published last fall (I haven't read it yet).

RIP

I believe Robin Wagner was married to Paula Wagner very briefly in the early 1970s, when she was a NY actress. She continued to use her married name, still as a fairly unsuccessful actress for a few more years. What I don't know is how she first became Tom Cruise's manager and then Cruise's producing partner.

Wagner was a brilliant designer. Also ruined by the drink.

Here is Robin Wagner's obit:

I always said Len Cariou made it look easy. George Hearn made it look hard. Cariou was brilliant.

Does anyone know why the original Sweeney was not filmed with Lansbury and Cariou? I've seen the Lansbury and Hearn video and like some others upthread, really don't think Hearn had much range for Todd.

R502, Hasn’t Len Cariou said in interviews that his voice was damaged after singing the score for a year?

The video is of the tour in LA, not the Broadway production. Cariou did not tour. He blamed his vocal problems on inhaling dust from the grave at the beginning of the show.

And Cariou has also said he would have done the tour if he had known it was going to be filmed.

R504, And the reason why he did not tour was due to vocal damage.

Duh!

R506, I didn’t speculate on why he didn’t do the tour, but thanks for the gratuitous dose of nastiness.

On the other hand, he experienced the vocal problems during previews. They were treated, and the dust was changed, but his voice was affected during the recording. He also had been working a lot. It seems unlikely that he agreed to the Broadway run, then declined the tour because of problems in previews a year before. But perhaps you have some additional insight for your “duh”?

And a lot of folks have come back later in a production to do the filming

Or at least Bernadette kept doing it

The only Robin Wagner set I got to see in person was The Producers and I remember thinking it was fabulously lavish. One of those "this was worth the costly ticket" moments. I wish I could have seen the original Dreamgirls set and production, it sounds like it was quite the experience and grainy bootleg videos don't do it justice, I'm sure.

Any favorites from his design work?

[510] I was fortunate to see the original Dreamgirls, and it was pretty effing awesome. One big moment that stands out in my mind is "Steppin' To The Bad Side".. when a catwalk dropped from the flies with dancers on it, already dancing. That moment, and the photo shoot scene at the beginning of Act Two where every time they walked through the rain curtain, there was a costume change were worth the price of admission.

The three women coming down the lucite steps as they lit up at the opening of Act 2 was awesome. Not the best musical I've ever seen, (though pretty damn good) but the best production of a musical overall. The energy never flagged for the entire show.

R507, You’re very fresh!

There's a decent bootleg of Cariou and Angie out there if you can find it.

Eugene and Franne Lee were notorious for using real pieces of buildings, antiques and vintage clothing in their design work in Candide, Sweeney Todd and other shows and much of the materials were dirty, dusty and germ laden. There was a story of Angela Lansbury refusing to wear a Lovett costume because it was covered in century old grime and filth. Brilliant designers but they got away with murder back then.

R515, Just where does one find “century old grime and filth”?

The story about the Lovett costume is that to distress and stain it, Franne threw spaghetti with tomato sauce and cheese at it. Lansbury refused to wear it because it smelled.

r516, a lot of the costumes in Candide and Sweeney were fashioned from real Victorian clothing.

r517, yes that's true but the clothes were already decades old and filled with germs.

Happy birthday to Tonya Pinkins!

I'd send her a birthday wish but she'd probably reply with an eight page rant about how I hadn't sufficiently given her the proper emotional emphasis in said greeting.....

R519, If Tonya Pinkins had married Tony Perkins, she’d be Tonya Pinkins Perkins.

Does anyone know if GREY HOUSE is still opening tonight? Tatiana Maslany has missed the last week with COVID.

The truth is that Len Cariou may have had some residual vocal damage from inhaling dust from the dirt onstage but, as someone pointed out above, he was still able to sing the SWEENEY score very well thereafter. He may have declined to tour in part because he wanted to rest his voice BUT he has said that he would have signed on for the tour anyway if he knew that production was going to be filmed (or, rather, videotaped).

When did Cariou leave Sweeney Todd? Is it possible he got offered The Four Seasons and decided to take that instead of touring? Perhaps he saw this as his last shot at film/television stardom and wanted to capitalize on the Tony.

[quote] And a lot of folks have come back later in a production to do the filming

When Sweeney was shot in the early 80s, there were very few pro shot musicals. I think only Pippin (shot in Toronto with very few original cast members) existed at that point.

There wasn’t a history of people returning to their roles then, because there was very little history of any pro shot video.

r517 - Angie was about to go on when Franne said it needed more and proceeded to wipe the cheesy tomato sauce on her while she was wearing it. She did have to perform while inhaling stinky cheese. Afterwards she let Franne know to *never* do that again.

[quote]There was a story of Angela Lansbury refusing to wear a Lovett costume because it was covered in century old grime and filth

Wrong, r515. Star costumes are built (to last) from scratch.

[quote]Happy birthday to Tonya Pinkins! I'd send her a birthday wish but she'd probably reply with an eight page rant about how I hadn't sufficiently given her the proper emotional emphasis in said greeting.....

And if you're white, the eight-page rant would include her harping on the fact that she can't accept your birthday wish for that reason.

[quote]When Sweeney was shot in the early 80s, there were very few pro shot musicals. I think only Pippin (shot in Toronto with very few original cast members) existed at that point. There wasn’t a history of people returning to their roles then, because there was very little history of any pro shot video.

You're correct that there were very few back then, but PURLIE was another example.

Dearest Tonya -

You live.

You take up space.

That is its own birthday present.

xo Viola

Saw the understudy on for Colton in NYNY, He was fantastic.

Why not name him, R529?

r525, you don't know what you're talking about.

Designers like Ann Roth and Jane Greenwood, as examples of 2 of the bigger names, have used vintage clothing for star costumes on Broadway forever. And Angela Lansbury's original red and black lace Mrs. Lovett Gets Rich dress was originally a vintage dress from 1900 (I worked at the old Brooks Van Horn when the shop had to duplicate it for the tour and Franne was not happy with it).

Jessica Chastain really wants the Tony. She’s done appearances on Live with Kelly and Mark, The Today Show, and the Hollywood Reporter round table. Anything to reach half-way to EGOT.

Jessica will be sorely disappointed when Jodie Comer’s name is called!

I didn't realize there was a replacement for Theater Talk

Wow, nice find, R534. Thanks for sharing!

The "Here Lies Love" bashing is ridiculous. They are allowed to apply for special circumstances. Why the union is getting so nasty so early is stupid.

Is the union getting nasty, r536? I'm only seeing buzz about it on the boards. Nothing from the union nor the company.

I think they are negotiating. Do you have any links of the union getting nasty?

Pics please!

Jodie is great, and she will get the Tony. But the performance above and beyond all the others is Audra.

[Quote] More harmfully, “A Little Priest,” an Act 1 finale for the ages, loses its way in the fussy staging. Rather than leave Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett to their own giddy devices, playing a priceless word game about the people they’ll bake into their pies, Lapine and choreographer Alison Solomon add a cadre of ensemble members to the scene: They drag on body bags and affix them to hooks.

From James Lapine’s niece’s Sweeney in VA

R534, I stumbled onto that show the other day and thought/hoped the same thing. But everyone on it is so bland and uninteresting, it made me yearn for Michael Riedel and crew. (It also made me think of a line from the unreleased GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS sequel -- "Logo? I turned it on once, and the plants left the room."

James Lapine’s niece is, to put it nicely, a stupid twat.

When did Adam Feldman turn into Gomez Addams?

Thanks for that review of SWEENEY at Signature. Glad I skipped it.

Feldman’s frustrated performer status (his cabaret yodeling is excruciating) totally compromises his role as a critic.

[quote] It also made me think of a line from the unreleased GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS sequel -- "Logo? I turned it on once, and the plants left the room."

Will we EVER see this sequel?????

So remind me...what's the story behind that, r540 / r545?

As far as I know, R546, it was shot several years ago (more than a decade ago) and has been languishing in post-production hell ever since. I actually don't know what's holding it up. There was at least one crowdfunding campaign (quite successful) launched to help pay for post. I've read several comments that say the director absconded with the money, but I don't know how valid that is (and I tend to doubt it).

I also know the director had cancer a while back and had to stop post, but all these things happened in the pre-Covid past, so I have no idea what they're dicking around with.

R546 Richard Day doesn't seem to be in an intellectual, emotional or financial state that renders him capable of finishing the movie.

I think there was probably a decent script written and perhaps partly filmed, but the whole thing also relied heavily on a Kickstarter or similar type campaign where one of the promises was that for a certain donation, you could submit footage of yourself and friends (one assumes this is from a smartphone) which would then be incorporated into the film. But I'm thinking that was just untenable to even try to edit or incorporate.

Richard also claims to have had cancer at some point.

He seems to have completely and utterly given up on any pretense that he'll ever finish it. I mean, it was supposed to be released in 2012. That was 11 years ago. At this point he should just hand it off to someone or release the raw footage, but if he's ill (or strung out) even that seems to be well beyond his capabilities.

Richard hasn't done a single thing since, other than make occasional comments on the Evie Harris Twitter account.

Sad for Jack (aka Evie), Varla and Coco, three funny, talented, hardworking entertainers.

That panel show is seriously hobbled by its host. Pacheco is such a dud. At least with the Riedel show, you could count on some genuine conflict.

Let's go thrifting with Coco!

I saw "Sweeney" last week and thought Groban did a fine job. Sure, there are fleeting moments where his lack of polished skill as an actor came through but his acting overall is quite good and his singing was flawless. Analeigh was quite good also as was the actor who played Pirelli who had an absolutely gorgeous voice. At the other end of the spectrum, I agree with others that the choreography is as bizarre as it is awful (are they dancing or heaving?) and while I found Jordan Fisher competent in his role, he did not leave any kind of lasting impression on me. Gaten Matarazzo was also passable but I'm sorry to say he completely butchered "Not While I'm Around" at the performance I saw, though gets points for clearly giving it all he had.

Overall, while not the best "Sweeney" I'd ever seen, I felt it was an enjoyable evening.

"God, That's Good" was one of the most incompetently staged numbers I've ever seen on a Broadway stage.

[quote] The great set designer Robin Wagner passed away peacefully this morning at the age of 90. Among his many credits were A Chorus Line...

Why it was the most brilliant white line ever painted on a Broadway stage.

I think it was the mirrors.

The cast of "& Juliet" performs 'Since U Been Gone' on Good Morning America:

The crowds! The lights! The sound fuck-ups! The cast without any discernible talent! All of what makes Broadway Broadway!

Yeah, the so-called talent on Broadway (and behind the scenes) in the past few years has been rather lackluster.

It's like they give anyone a job as long, as they check off diversity boxes and swear oath to 'woke culture.'

Talent, strong work ethic, and a constitution for the job not required at all.

But something's got to give, because that can't go on indefinitely or for much longer.

It's a terrible business model.

Broadway Box Office at $33M for First Week of New Season:

Drama Desk Awards announced. I'm not a close awards watcher. Do we know how often they align with the Tonys? I imagine they're not a great foretelling of the Tonys given that they jointly consider Broadway, Off and Off-Off Broadway productions.

Could be a good season at Encores.

Once Upon A Mattress, Jelly's Last Jam and Titanic for Encores next year. Plus Ephraim Sykes and Jennifer Holliday in Pal Joey for the November gala. Let the games begin.

Sutton always works better in a hoydenish role.

That looks like a (potentially) strong season at Encores.

Sutton Foster as Winifred in Once Upon A Mattress? Jesus, how ridiculously idiotic is that?

Ya got somethin' against a tappin' Winifred, r564?

And that Paladino woman writing a new concert version! They all gonna be talkin FAST!

From r560's Playbill link:

[quote][Titanic] The musical, which had the unhappy luck of opening in the shadow of James Cameron's blockbuster film version of the story despite being otherwise unconnected, won five 1997 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The Encores! run will be the work's first major NYC staging since the original production and a 2014 Lincoln Center concert reuniting much of the original cast.

That first sentence is an odd one. The musical opened about 8 months before the movie, and the movie's release, if anything, boosted its sales.

The 2014 LC concert was lovely. I look forward to seeing Jelly' Last Jam also.

[quote]I imagine they're not a great foretelling of the Tonys given that they jointly consider Broadway, Off and Off-Off Broadway productions.

Plus the fact that Kimberly Akimbo was ineligible for the Drama Desks this season, as they competed last season.

The Drama Desk awards nominate Off-Broadway shows but they RARELY win if there is a Broadway nominee in the same category.

This year the only 2 non-Broadway winners are: Miriam Silverman, (Featured Performance/Play) The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, Brooklyn Academy of Music (but IS now on Broadway) and Suzan-Lori Parks, (Music in a play) Plays for the Plague Year, The Public Theater (there were NO Broadway nominees).

[quote] Sutton Foster as Winifred in Once Upon A Mattress? Jesus, how ridiculously idiotic is that?

Not as ridiculously idiotic as your post. Do you have a particular point? It's a encore concert, not a production. She's fine.

As per the Drama Desk/Tony differences, besides KA out of the running this year, they gave Jodie Comer Best Solo Performance and Stephen Henderson a Lifetime Achievement Award, allowing Chastain and Sean H undeserved wins.

Annaleigh Ashford just won the Drama Desk as well as the Drama League award last week.

It seems yet again someone ELSE is going to win the Tony for playing a part in a musical that I lost for!

[quote]It seems yet again someone ELSE is going to win the Tony for playing a part in a musical that I lost for!

STFU, Patti.

R555 I would love to see the surviving cast members of ME & JULIET perform 'Since U Been Gone' on Good Morning America

In my opinion, Sutton Foster has always been at her best and most charming on stage in roles that capitalized on her comedy skills. So I could be wrong, but I think she might be very good as Winifred in MATTRESS, and I certainly consider her better casting in that role than as Reno in ANYTHING GOES or Marian in THE MUSIC MAN.

A black-centric Pal Joey, yet they're casting a white woman as Vera? That seems odd. Do we really need to inject a "jungle fever" aspect into the show? I'm sure there are plenty of great black actresses who could play Vera. And Tonya Pinkins.

I'm just relieved Jennifer Holiday isn't playing her. And if Savion Glover is part of the creative team, I would imagine it will be dance heavy, even as an Encores production. I kind of wish Glover was playing Joey and not Ephraim Sykes, even though I know Glover can neither sing nor act. Maybe Glover could play the "dream ballet Joey."

Agreed, R575 -- when I first saw her, in a THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE preview, Burnett was the actress that SF most called to mind (in good ways). I don't see how MATTRESS doesn't make sense for her onstage; yes, she's too old by the calendar, but I think that she looks good enough to pull it off onstage, and she has all the other skills required.

Ruthie Ann Miles out of ST this week thanks to COVID. But at least she's getting that out of the way before rehearsals begin for Piazza.

I'm still available for Jelly!!

And still no Love Life at Encores.

Ephraim Sykes is a superb dancer and far sexier than Savion.

In the press release, didn't it say Jennifer Holliday is playing the club owner? WTF?? The club owner is a small non-singing role. What R&H songs will they import for Jenn to sing? An was it announced who's playing the June Havoc role? She has the best songs (or did in the original).

And how the fuck did Tony Goldwyn come to be directing a Black-centered Pal Joey?

r578 - maybe Ruthie can take some Zoom classes on accent work during her downtime. WTF was up with her suddenly switching to a distinctly Scottish accent in the middle of her performance and then reverting back to [her attempt at] cockney?

New thread for when this one is done

Mattress would be a better match by light years than MUSIC MAN was for Sutton.

Unless she's in the mode that some performers hit where they want to do whatever isn't their forte to "stretch" - even if it fails them miserably (e.g. Julia Roberts in that heinous Irish business).

[quote]What R&H songs will they import for Jenn to sing?

And I Am Telling You Where or When

Can Miss Holliday still sing?

[quote]who's playing the June Havoc role?

Helen Gallagher

Helen Gallagher's busy schedule precludes her participation.

I'm told from someone close to the production that Ruthie's accents are directorial choices. A different one for each appearance. Makes no sense to me.

Just saw Grey House. Excruciatingly bad.

Oh darn, r588.

Wow. That was 70 years ago. When Helen was a mere wisp of a willow at 26.

[quote] Ephraim Sykes is a superb dancer and far sexier than Savion.

Oh, he's a much better fit for the role all around, but Savion is in a class by himself, dance-wise, and we never get to see him perform much these days, so I was just wishing. But Savion would not be the right casting for Joey for sure.

[quote]But Savion would not be the right casting for Joey for sure.

Then Melba it is, r593.

ELAINE.... GO TO NEW JERSEY!

BARNUM

EQUUS

SHENANDOAH

CHARLIE & ALGERNON!

Crikey!