THEATRE GOSSIP #560: The "Stereophonic - as an extra tonic" Edition

ATTN: Alison Pill will not be Tony-nominated tonight.

R1, you seem a bit confused....

Let's get this over with now, so we can all move on to real theater info: "OP, that is the worst title for a theater thread in the history of mankind. A rabid dog could come up with a more clever title. I would have started a thread which would have been much more creative, but I am too cheap to subscribe...but it would have been much better than your drivel.. Someone should start another thread with a much better title." Ok, that's done; now it doesn't have to be repeated over and over at the expense of real issues and discussion.

Oh relax, r3. Who cares what the title is?

Clearly, the concept of irony is completely foreign to R4.

This insatiable whore is now a Tony nominee.

He looks like a 1970s-era pimp.

By the way, re Stereophonic, does anyone have a guess as to why that title was chosen for the show? The action is set in a recording studio in the mid 1970s, by which point stereo sound was old news. I could see Stereophonic as a title if the action were set in the late 1950s or early '60s, but I don't get the significance of the title as it is.

R2, it’s a DL inside joke about Pill not signing Playbills at “Three Tall Women.”

R8:

stereophonic: (of sound recording and reproduction) using two or more channels of transmission and reproduction so that the reproduced sound seems to surround the listener and to come from more than one source.

Totally accurate foer the play to be titled that.

r6 StereoPHINIC?

I can see that, R10, but the title still seems a bit anachronistic to me, given that the action is set in the mid 1970s. Everyone was talking about stereophonic sound in the late 1950s and early '60s, but by 1976, I would say it was taken very much for granted.

R12, I don't think it was obsolete technology by the 1970s.

Maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like they now consciously wait until a few days-one week after the Tony nominations before the first closure announcement comes. I swear I can remember closure announcements used to happen on nominations day.

Even if it's a bit anachronistic, I suppose he took some poetic license since the title can also refer to the multiple transmissions of personalities and egos in the play.

The title's phine.

Of course not "obsolete" by the 1970s, R13. Quite the opposite, it had become standard, which is why I said it was taken for granted by then. To me, this would be like doing a show about the TV industry set in the 1980s and calling it "In Living Color."

Zzzzzzzz....

Has "Lempicka" taken out a priority loan? How have they not announced a closing date?

Special Tony Awards will be presented to comedian Alex Edelman, sound designer Abe Jacob, and hair/wig designer Nikiya Mathis.

To be completely honest, I thought the production of Stereophonic was a lot better than the play itself. It reminded me a lot of Hurlyburly, which got worse and worse after that original cast departed. Susan Anton? Please. These are characters I couldn't give a shit about.

This production is totally dependent on what it is right now. An average play in a superb production in a season of dismal tripe that 30 years ago, would have never been nominated for anything. What's up there at the Golden is a rare piece of ensemble theatre that comes along very seldom. Everything comes together beautifully, now if there were only a raison d'être.

BTW, who decided to put a 3 1/2 hour play into a theatre with bathrooms the size of the average studio apartment closet?

R21, I think it's better than being an average play. I agree the ensemble and production values enhanced it, but the play itself is better than you're describing, imo.

I guess now the backlash kicks in here. Doesn't matter--it will clean up at the Tonys.

From William Goldman's THE SEASON - a very good book about Broadway's 1967 season.

Two men at the Palace Theatre in the lobby - Judy Garland At Home At The Palace. Their wives are in the restroom. Looking at the audience, they have decided not to venture into the Men's Room.

One: I don't know.....is it theatre? Two: It's gotta be. One: Whadya mean? Two: It sure as hell ain't singin'.

Alex Edelman's Tony is a baffling joke.

So, R23, they're homophobes and they thought Garland sucked? Was that the takeaway?

R24. I agree, I wonder why....

I think Stereophonic is a great play as a really interesting character study of people trying to work together artistically while their personal relationships are really messed up. And yes, it's enhanced by truly great, naturalistic acting, but I would imagine there are quite a lot of actors who could perform very well in that style, so I don't think this will be the only successful production and cast for this show.

[quote]Alex Edelman's Tony is a baffling joke.

You've got a lot of nerve responding in such an insulting manner, especially when so many people loved the show. You could have just expressed your personal opinion that this show was not for you and left it at that, but I guess you felt you had to go the extra mile and be a nasty, insulting bitch about it. Mission accomplished.

[quote]Of course not "obsolete" by the 1970s, [R13]. Quite the opposite, it had become standard, which is why I said it was taken for granted by then. To me, this would be like doing a show about the TV industry set in the 1980s and calling it "In Living Color."

IN LIVING COLOR was a '90s show.

"Stereophonic" was great. "Illinoise" was...not.

[quote] I don't think this will be the only successful production and cast for this show.

R27, I actually don't think this play will be easily produced, not regionally, anyway, with different casts. They need to find actors who can act, sing, and play musical instruments.

R19: Moreover, it only got three nominations: lead actress musical, featured actress musical, and scenic design. I don't think it's winning anything so it's going to be awfully hard for the Lempicka producers to limp to Tony night. They can hype the shit out of the Eden and Amber nominations but most of the tickets will still be comped and it will still lose money every week.

I bought a ticket for The Roommate with Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow in October. It’s not…selling well.

I hope it doesn’t shudder before I see it.

[quote]I hope it doesn’t shudder before I see it.

Many people shudder at the prospect of Patti and Mia on the same stage.

The difference with Hurlyburly is that original production was cast with big stars and when they were recasting I guess they felt a need to replace with star names (if not big stars), hence the lack of talent in the replacements. If Stereophonic decides to keep running and recast, there will be no obligation to replace with star names because the show isn't presented as being dependent on it.

COLLIES!

[quote]IN LIVING COLOR was a '90s show.

But that title was a pun

[quote]I don't think it's winning anything so it's going to be awfully hard for the Lempicka producers to limp to Tony night. They can hype the shit out of the Eden and Amber nominations but most of the tickets will still be comped and it will still lose money every week.

And the fact that Espinosa will almost certainly keep missing performances, since her role is unsingable eight times a week, is going to make it even harder for the show to survive.

Apart from the fact that Eli Gelb is straight, since when would anyone on DL object to him being an ‘insatiable whore’?

And by the way, his is a fantastic performance, subtle despite his importance in the play. I think Will Brill will get the Tony — and he’s very funny, skillful and even touching — but Gelb’s unflashy work is impressive, and as the article above remarks, his character is the audience surrogate.

And the play is a marvel — When I first saw it off-Broadway I was with a friend who was quite exasperated at intermission — “But what is it ABOUT”? he kept saying, while I, who was in heaven at the incredible tightrope act that was going on said “It’s about fucking everything!” — Art, love, sex, work, talent, manipulation, neediness, ego, soulfulness, hunger — Adjmi managed to get lightning in a bottle.

So the next day, this friend who didn’t get it and I were having lunch with a third friend who wanted to know what it was about, and we went back and forth about it and I said, “We’ve been talking about this ‘nothing’ play for 15 minutes so there must be something there,” which stopped him cold.

But I realized some people will just not get how unique and wonderful it is. And yes, part of the miracle of it is that it’s the perfect cast in a perfect production. But I think the play and the music are strong enough to survive a more mundane production. Time will tell.

I had no idea Mia and Patti are friends. They're both batshit crazy so the working relationship could go either way.

Back to Roger Bart for a moment (if we're done debating the title of Stereophonic, of course) -- inventive uncanny comedy performances are often underrated. That he makes humor truly out of nothing, crap material is worthy of a Nobel Prize and a genius grant, not just a Tony nomination.

[quote] Apart from the fact that Eli Gelb is straight, since when would anyone on DL object to him being an ‘insatiable whore’?

R39, since when are insatiable whores exclusively gay? No one was saying he wasn't straight (that was already established on another theatre gossip thread), merely that he gets around. And who here said that was a bad thing?

Playing drunk believably is quite difficult, which is partly why I'm rooting for both Will Brill and Kelli O'Hara. They did it superbly, among the many other layers to their performances.

[quote]Back to Roger Bart for a moment … That he makes humor truly out of nothing, crap

The dick! Let’s hear about the dick!

R41, would you really describe the writing of BACK TO THE FUTURE as "nothing, crap material?" Even if you hate the songs, it seems to me that the "booK' of the musical is the screenplay of the film virtually verbatim, line for line, and I don't think people generally considered that material "crap" when Christopher Lloyd had to play it.

R40 the problem is when LuPone and Debra Winger worked together on The Anarchist….that could have filled 40 DL threads for months…instead, there was no drama, no ticket sales, closed early, and no nominations.

I fear this will be the same

When did that unholy production take place, R46? I never heard of it.

Why no ticket sales?

[quote]Clearly, the concept of irony is completely foreign to R4.

And also to R2.

I hope Stereophonic goes to London, same cast, at the National. The Lyttleton would be perfect. And then we get a broadcast. R39 said that Adjmi managed to get lightning in a bottle. It needs to be immortalized with this cast.

R38: At the performance I attended, she was visibly and audibly unwell. The score is incredibly difficult and they worked her ass nonstop during previews.

R50, I agree that it should move to London with the Broadway cast.

[quote]I had no idea Mia and Patti are friends. They're both batshit crazy so the working relationship could go either way.

In the sequel to her memoir, Patti will recount the harrowing night during the run of "The Roommate" when she fought with Mia, the producers, the Executive Director of Actors' Equity, and the audience member chewing gum in Row C, and then, still enraged, returned to her deluxe dressing room and destroyed it.

the songs, r45, the songs. They're new and boy oh boy, are they crap. And he makes them work and even be funny.

. . .

So is Stereophonic a shoo-in for Best Musical? Best Score?

Sorry, I see no ironic humor in the post "Alison Pill will not be Tony-nominated tonight." Can you explain?

On the subject of Roger Bart and women, he dated YouTuber Trisha Paytas for a while, and she publicly detailed what a shit he was:

[quote]They've been seeing each other for 2 and a half years. He's had a girlfriend for the past 5 years, and hit on one of her make-up artist.

[quote]She confronted him via e-mail. He replied, "Hey Trish, do yourself a favor and never contact me again."

My friend sucked Roger Bart’s cock in WeHo. They met on Grindr.

Perhaps Stereophonic will be the first in a trilogy with the other two parts entitled Technicolor and Cinemascope

Who's Jonathan Groff taking to the Tonys? Is he seeing anyone or his is mom his date? (Nothing wrong with that.)

[quote]Perhaps Stereophonic will be the first in a trilogy with the other two parts entitled Technicolor and Cinemascope

Don't forget us!

Signed,

Cinerama, Todd-AO, VistaVision, Metrocolor, Superscope, Cinecolor, Warnercolor, Eastmancolor, and Kodacolor

Roger Bart comes from a family of shits. His uncle Peter Bart (who worked at Variety for a long time and also produces) is a major a-hole and homophobe.

"Lempicka" closing on May 19th.

Lempicka little run a little...

[quote]But I realized some people will just not get how unique and wonderful it is. And yes, part of the miracle of it is that it’s the perfect cast in a perfect production. But I think the play and the music are strong enough to survive a more mundane production. Time will tell.

Part of the brilliance is in the performances, and part of it is also the direction. Daniel Aukin is insanely good at subtle, detailed, low-key direction.

DOLLIES!

I can't decide if I love or hate the AI pictures troll. Perhaps I'm just ambivalent.

Well, we've had Collies... maybe we'll get Fillies next.

Fine, I'll stop.

[quote]"Lempicka" closing on May 19th.

I'm shocked.

Oh, dear R70 don't stop! I still need to make up my mind about you.

[quote]I'm shocked

Many of us are shocked that it lasted that long.

I’m shocked it’s not closing until May 19th.

1. The direction sucks. After iterations at Williamstown and La Jolle, they had plenty of time to make necessary changes and didn’t.

2. It’s way too long and should’ve been cut by 25% during previews.

3. The ending doesn’t work. It feels more like a history lesson than a playful and mysterious conclusion.

4. It needed a stronger lead. Eden Espinosa was flat and pitchy. Even the child actor outacted her.

All right, r72.

TROLLIES!

Lempicka gets an F in music, direction, choreography, costumes and performances.

R76 don't forget that awful title.

Oh hon, no. Just noooooooo.

Look up Glenn Close's name in a dictionary and the one-word definition you will find is "delusional."

“With one look I’ll be MAY!”

"Sunset" is to delusional G as "Master Class" is to crazy Faye. I only hope this ridiculous fantasy project doesn't leave G impoverished in her fast approaching dotage! If she isn't careful she will end up living like Norma, not playing her...

I'll be in NY for a few days in late June. I already have plans to see the Mingus Big Band and the Follies concert (of course!) I'll have four slots open and I won't be back in NY before September. Note: I'm generally not a fan of new musicals -- well, specifically, I'm not a fan of the SCORES of 95% of new musical scores. They just don't make 'em like they used to. Would you replace anything on this list? (I'd LOVE to see Oh, Mary, but I'll be there after the Off-Broadway run ends and before Broadway previews begin)

****DEFINITES****:

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG

STEREOPHONIC

APPROPRIATE

------------------------------

****SHORTLIST FOR 4TH SLOT:****

HELL'S KITCHEN

ILLINOISE

AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE

MOTHER PLAY

MARY JANE

Seth Meyers must love Merrily, he's had Radcliffe and Mendez on, and Groff was on last night

R82 Hell’s Kitchen - I would skip it unless you like jukebox musicals and American idol Illinoise - is a limited run which may weigh your decision (it’s lovely) An Enemy of the People - I have not seen cannot say Mother Play - unless you are a big Lange fan would skip Mary Jane - is very good and McAdams is stellar but it’s extremely sad

r39 is the.Bav. I recognize the awful writing.

Groff reminds me why I haven’t dated an actor since 1987.

Bav = Kevin Sessums

[quote] I'll be in NY for a few days in late June.... I'll have four slots open

What's your room number?

Since we’re on the subject…is there another stealth Bav thread?

Lousy fruit!

Kill the actors!

You ever eat with one?

R86 why not?

r69...

FILLIES!

1. To the poster from that last thread who guessed that I, white gay playwright who saw KC in STEEL PIER and A NEW BRAIN, am in my 70s, that is incorrect. I am 54. I've just been in NYC a long time.

2. I didn't know that Roger Bart is Peter Bart's nephew. But I did know that Roger is bi, at least on some level. I have friends of both genders who've sucked his big cock. And yes, he is working miracles with that material he's been given in BACK TO THE FUTURE; his Tony nod is deserved.

3. I loved Alex Edelman's play and am delighted he's receiving an honorary Tony Award for it.

4. With that voice and presence, why has Kecia Lewis not had a breakthrough career moment till now? No right parts for her? She is amazing. I'm sorry it's taken so long for her to get a Tony nod, but good on her.

5. STEREOPHONIC is a bit of a miracle. As others have said, lightning in a bottle. After what happened to him last year with GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR, I couldn't be happier for David.

6. HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES at NYTW is getting lost in the spring show crush, but it's stunningly good, and succinct. Moises Kaufman is often hit or miss, but here he's on target.

7. Another show getting lost in the crowd, GRENFELL at St. Ann's Warehouse, is also terrific, from what I'm hearing.

8. A friend in SF is seeing GALILEO this weekend. I'll share the report once I get it.

9. No one on DL can be surprised that LEMPICKA is closing first. What's next? The Huey Lewis show?

10. I heard that Playbill had a round of layoffs. Anyone know how many employees got the ax?

Kecia

[quote]"Sunset" is to delusional G as "Master Class" is to crazy Faye. I

And "Gypsy" is to ridiculous Barbra.

You lost me at "Moises Kaufman is hit or miss." Kaufman hasn't hit in 25 years. He's a horrendous director.

R39 is not Kevin Sessums, I’m R39. I worked with Kevin a number of years ago when he was much less of a needy, pretentious asshole than he is now, so I feel insulted, frankly.

Oh, and sorry you hate my writing, R85, but I recommend you not try writing style recognition as a profession.

I did not care for the script of STEREOPHONIC. The production is so elegant, the acting is so subtle, but the text is a bunch of self-flagellating claptrap. Not a second of complexity or sophistication in the whole thing. Clearly Adjmi had a great idea for a theatrical event, but the mere fact that it's so popular with pseudo-intellectuals should clue you in to how broad and unbearably sincere the whole thing is.

You are so off-base, R98, it would be hard to know where to begin.

Let’s just say you don’t get “Stereophonic” and move on. Your insults to people who appreciate it betray your insecurity and defensiveness, which I assume was not your intention.

You are more than entitled to your own experience with the play, R99 — there's no shame in pretending to be smart. As for insults, isn't that why we're all here?

I'm with R96. I would say Kaufman has only had hits -- and then only two or three total -- when the good or great work on his shows has been done by others, and that definitely includes GROSS INDECENCY, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, and I AM MY OWN WIFE. He's surely one of the biggest frauds ever to achieve any kind of a career as a theater director.

[quote]As for insults, isn't that why we're all here?

No. But you seem to think so.

[quote]I did not care for the script of STEREOPHONIC. The production is so elegant, the acting is so subtle, but the text is a bunch of self-flagellating claptrap. Not a second of complexity or sophistication in the whole thing.

This proves that you just don't "get" the show. I think those of us who love it feel that way because it's so brilliantly written to give a very real, naturalistic picture of how people would talk and behave in the situation depicted. That was the goal of the script, and it has been achieved brilliantly, with the help of great acting.

If there were anything more "complex" or "sophisticated" about the script, it would ring false as an ultra-naturalistic portrait of a bunch of people in a studio trying to make a record. It's fine if you don't like this kind of play, but it seems clear to me that you're criticizing STEREOPHONIC for not being something it certainly isn't trying to be.

[QUOTE] 10. I heard that Playbill had a round of layoffs. Anyone know how many employees got the ax?

Maybe Alison Pill was behind the layoffs.

[quote]Not a second of complexity or sophistication in the whole thing.

Were wearing a caftan, smoking a Virginia Slims and petting a Shih-tzu while you wrote that? I mean fucking Christ.

[quote]Maybe Alison Pill was behind the layoffs.

Many people are saying.

This Alison Pill nonsense has already become one of the most unfunny memes in DL history. PLEASE lay off.

We're sorry, Allison! Can I have an autograph?

[quote]This Alison Pill nonsense has already become one of the most unfunny memes in DL history. PLEASE lay off.

Eat shit and die, r107, you humorless cunt.

[quote] This Alison Pill nonsense has already become one of the most unfunny memes in DL history.

Not while the AI Follies idiot lives and breaths.

I do and I do, r110!

TROLLEYS!

I get the star spot in that one

Add me to the Moises K haters and I've worked with him. Until I didn't. He was so obnoxious I had to quit a show he was directing. With no regrets.

Anyone who has been waiting for an Illinoise discount code, I just received an email from the Park Avenue Armory—20% off performances through May 17th with the code BUTTERFLY.

*

R110, I said ONE of the most unfunny, and I stand by that opinion :-)

r110=Kelly Osbourne

Kelly Osbourne was in Follies?

r118 Oh, dear.

Frankly, gentle r119, I am blissfully thankful that I have no fucking idea what the hell you are talking about.

Jesus, are some of you newbies?

For you, r120.

Thank you, r122, I have sufficient.

[quote]Who's Jonathan Groff taking to the Tonys? Is he seeing anyone or his is mom his date?

Will his mother wear her Amish garb to the Tonys or does Jonathan insist on her wearing modern clothes?

R117, I am "Oh, dear-ing" myself.

[quote]i cant even breath right my now...

You can't spell either, Kelly.

Groff's mother is a Methodist, r126.

It’s time for a revival of Rags!

Give Teresa a call.

It will not be hard to find discount codes for ILLINOISE. And they've been at the booth. They made a huge mistake rushing it to B'way. They assumed they wouldn't have any competition for Best Musical, and now the competition is fierce and ILLINOISE has no hope at winning anything except maybe choreography, but that category is heavily competitive. The fast transfer means they have no advance, and now they're trying to sell in the barrage of all the other shows with stronger messaging and more Tony noms. This should be a case study in bad strategy and management.

The Alison Pill “meme” is funny because she had the gall to have that announced (by a backstage person) in front of her co-star, Glenda Jackson, who then continued smoking her cigarette and proceed to meet with every single fan at the stage door and sign their Playbills and pose for pics.

I hope Mia knows how to ad-lib. Patti is a known cue misser.

*proceeded

I love that Glenda went back to acting at the end and got a nice bit of glory on her way out.

And a Tony! Glenda was epic in that production but Laurie Metcalf almost stole the show with her big monologue. Wow, that was a ferocious moment of theater.

I heard from a wise canary,

Trilling makes a fellow willing

[quote]It will not be hard to find discount codes for ILLINOISE. And they've been at the booth. They made a huge mistake rushing it to B'way. They assumed they wouldn't have any competition for Best Musical, and now the competition is fierce and ILLINOISE has no hope at winning anything except maybe choreography, but that category is heavily competitive.

I wouldn't say the competition in that category is so fierce, BUT the people behind ILLINOISE knew they'd be up against HELL'S KITCHEN, and they should have realized there's no way their show would win against that.

I will never forgive Moises for what he did to “Bent” in LA

[Quote] I love that Glenda went back to acting at the end and got a nice bit of glory on her way out

And in her second career she was also a formidable, well-respected MP. What a life.

Speaking of Metcalf, I have tickets to see her new play this summer at Steppenwolf. Hope it’s not a real shitshow

Bring Back Quilters!

Bring back "Early Shaker Spirituals"!

Quilters is a running joke among many theater folk.

Bring back Tintypes with all trans people!

Thanks for that clip, R137 — I remember that as a high point in the Encores! version of “The Boys From Syracuse,” the audience went wild for it. And though encores for the song were built into the number when they moved to Broadway, it didn’t have the same zing and sense of delightful discovery.

I think the arrangement for that song in the original production was by Hugh Martin, who had been petitioning for Broadway to begin to use swing arrangments in their scores. He was given the assignment to arrange Sing For Your Supper and it stopped the show every night, giving his career a boost.

[quote]I will never forgive Moises for what he did to “Bent” in LA

What did he do?

He bent it all out of shape. Duh.

Quilters with an all-male cast ...it's only fair.

R147 They better not have cut the cocks.

Moises also fucked up one of the most well-made plays ever written, THE HEIRESS.

Was Sing For Your Supper cut from an earlier Rodgers & Hart show? Spectacular as it is, it doesn't seem like it could have any appropriate place in The Comedy of Errors. But then, I've never seen The Boys From Syracuse.

But how does it fit into the plot of The Boys From Syracuse, Mr. Wikipedia?

The question: Was Sing For Your Supper cut from an earlier Rodgers & Hart show?

The answer: No.

[quote]Will his mother wear her Amish garb to the Tonys or does Jonathan insist on her wearing modern clothes?

[quote]Groff's mother is a Methodist, [R126].

It is Groff's dad who is Mennonite (i.e. quasi-Amish) so Groff grew up in Pennsylvania among the Amish.

Back at Adriana’s house, Luciana cries and confesses that Antipholus said he loved her, not Adriana. Adriana brushes it off while Luce also complains about her strange-acting Dromio. Together, the three ladies commiserate over the sweet-sounding song they sing to keep their marriages pleasant (“Sing for Your Supper”). Dromio S., exhausted, rushes in and retrieves the money before and hurrying back out to save Antipholus E. from being arrested.

TALLIES!

[quote][R147] They better not have cut the cocks.

What do you mean?

Jessie & Phillipa

[quote] What did he do? (re: Bent in LA)

He slowed the pacing to a crawl, and added as much bullshit as possible

For example, I saw it twice, once during previews. The first time, the actors did not have a curtain call. We were left applauding air. The second time, he “fixed” this by having the actors come out, glower at the audience, not actually bow, then go off stage.

He took a masterpiece of a play and made it boring and pretentious, and completely lost its impact

But, yes, the cock was magnificent

[Quote] Hugh Martin, who had been petitioning for Broadway to begin to use swing arrangments in their scores. He was given the assignment to arrange Sing For Your Supper and it stopped the show every night, giving his career a boost.

Toldja they should have swing Lempicka

R161, Indeed it was.

Hugh Martin was also the person who got many celebrities hooked on drugs according to his own oral history during a documentary on Judy Garland.

So perhaps he should have done lest swing music to stop the show…and done more research at a pharmacy

Hugh Martin took more and more credit for the Martin and Blane songs as time went on.

Then when Blane finally died, Martin made it sound like the only song Blane had written was "Shady Lady Bird." And the only explanation was "We were established as a team and didn't want to break up the partnership." There had to be more to it than that, as they wrote separately or with other collaborators outside the partnership plenty of times.

Was he gay? He ended up a very religious Christian.

If you wonder why theater feels lackluster lately, remember that production of Three Tall Women if you were able to see it. Despite the plot of a woman facing her impending death and the disappointment of life, the acting and direction never begged for the audience’s sympathy and pity. And the very tired “strong women” character trope was 100% earned. The end of that show felt like the end of a very human journey.

Many shows now either beg for your pity, or try to present strong feisty characters without doing any work to flesh them out. It’s theater that looks showy, but doesn’t draw you in.

If all three merrily leads win, Sarah Porkchop should present Lindsey‘s, and it should be 70% the size of the others.

( or approximately Daniel’s actual height. ).

Or the size of Jonathan’s Amish schnitzel.

The Encores! BOYS FROM SYRACUSE "moved to Broadway," R146? No way. There was a disastrous revival (with a book by Nicky Silver, of all people) in 2002, but it had no connection in any sense to the brilliant Encores! presentation.

R165, Yes, Hugh Martin ended up very Christian (a Seventh Day Adventist), and yes, the consensus seems to be that he was probably gay, though even at a time when gay male careerists were very circumspect about their private lives, very little is known about his.

Blane’s contention that he and not Martin wrote melody as well as lyrics for their songs because he was an “atrocious” businessman is bizarre. But I guess we’ll never know the truth of it. Martin did a lot of musical arranging throughout his career, it was how he started on Broadway, so he presumably had enough musical talent to come up with a tune. Did he become ultra-Christian because he felt guilt and imposter syndrome? Who knows?

My mistake, R170. I knew it opened on Broadway in a ponderous production that soon closed and that it came after the delightful Encores! version, so I connected the two in my mind.

But wasn’t Rebecca Luker and others in the cast in both versions?

That Broadway revival of Boys From Syracuse was produced by the Roundabout so it wasn't exactly Broadway Broadway.

[quote]But wasn’t Rebecca Luker and others in the cast in both versions?

No.

P.S., for R173 and others, please understand that you can refer to ibdb.com, which is FREE, for answers to lots of questions about past Broadway shows.

It’s like gay Google

[quote] Martin did a lot of musical arranging throughout his career, it was how he started on Broadway, so he presumably had enough musical talent to come up with a tune.

Hugh Martin wrote 3 Broadway scores completely on his own: Look Ma, I’m Dancing, Make A Wish, and High Spirits. Ralph Blane wrote Three Wishes For Jamie. They’re all a bit middling, but have their moments.

A dear friend of mine was good friends with Martin (she played Frankie in his musical version of The Member of the Wedding called Wedding Day which never went anywhere). Consensus - probably gay but confirmed bachelor gentleman was the preferred euphemism

Don't rule out OUTSIDERS for the Best Musical trophy. I know several voters who loved it.

R93 here.

I didn't say Moises Kaufman was a great guy or a great director. I said he's hit or miss, because like him or not, GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE and THE LARAMIE PROJECT were absolutely hits, and this new play is done in a similar style, with the Tectonic Project, and co-written by Amanda Gronich. Plus it has Kathleen Chalfant.

A fellow playwright insisted I see it. And I'm glad I did, especially considering the overwhelming amount of musical dross Broadway has put out the past few weeks.

Agree with R179.

The stakes of HELL'S KITCHEN are so ludicrously low it's laughable. Plus Alicia Keys and company didn't open up producer spots like almost all the other shows do. It's been mostly a closed shop, and all those producers who wanted in don't take kindly to being excluded.

As for ILLINOISE, the whole first half is at best mid (I'll tell my story, then you'll tell your story, then you, and you, and... ), with the first 15 minutes ludicrously confusing. The show finds its footing (no pun intended) at the halfway mark, and the music is lovely, but it's telling that none of the dancers got nominated for Tonys. Justin Peck will win for choreography, but that might be it except for orchestrations.

R178 Don't forget his big London Hit, Love from Judy, a musical version of Daddy Long Legs that's infinitely more pleasing than that two-person version every small regional theatre does.

[quote]Adriana brushes it off while Luce also complains about her strange-acting Dromio.

Luce, you got some 'splainin' to do!

HELL'S KITCHEN, however well crafted, is another Broadway Pop Star vanity project, no different in intention than the Neil Diamond thing. I refuse to go see them.

It’s not well crafted. It’s just shiny.

F Jasmine Adams was another musical based on Member of the Wedding. There's even a cast recording.

[quote]I didn't say Moises Kaufman was a great guy or a great director. I said he's hit or miss, because like him or not, GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE and THE LARAMIE PROJECT were absolutely hits, and this new play is done in a similar style, with the Tectonic Project, and co-written by Amanda Gronich. Plus it has Kathleen Chalfant.

I didn't realize Kaufman's new show is with the Tectonic Project. That plus the fact that there is a co-author greatly increases the chances that it's actually a good play and production, because as I noted above, all of Kaufman's few past hits seem to have been thanks to the work of others, NOT his own involvement.

Stereophonic orchestra seats in early June $175

But is the Tectonic Project, whatever that even means any more, composed of the same people that collaborated on The Laramie Project? I thought most of those actors abandoned Moises years ago. Or left the business.

Maybe I'm cynical but I wouldn't be surprised if the box office grosses in the next few weeks don't play a large part in determining which show bored voters throw support for Best Musical and maybe even some of the other categories. When the options are so ho-hum, I think voters will tend to follow the money to help create a hit.

If Hell's Kitchen, or The Outsiders or whichever show, rises most above the other challengers in revenue, it will be sending a message to voters.

All of Illinoise is stunning. How is it ludicrously confusing - a gay guy gets up and goes to a camp fire where people are telling different stories they’ve written, and then he tells his story (which is the second half). The lights they are waving around when the show opens seem to represent ideas for his writing or memories - open to interpretation - but how confused can you be by that?

The music is gorgeous and the dancing is incredible. When I saw it, the audience went crazy for it.

That and Stereophonic are the best shows I’ve seen in a very long time.

I can get behind that idea, R190. For what it's worth, Hell's Kitchen grossed nearly $1.3 million the week before the nominations, followed by Water for Elephants, The Outsiders, Illinoise and Suffs.

There are like 6 weeks to go. Lots of favorites will ebb and flow, probably some grosses will ebb and flow, and opinions and favorites will constantly change Oh It’s a long long way from May to June 16th

Follow the money.

I at first thought DL fave Robbie Fairchild did a supreme fuck up by not doing the Broadway run of Illinois…but I don’t think he would have been nominated for the Tony had he done it so maybe he made the right choice?

I join the chorus in saying what an untalented fraud and intellectual thief Moises Kaufman is.

Muffs for Suffs !

Just rewatched Fame. I realize there was a crappy stage version of this years ago with a mostly different score and characters but couldn’t it be resurrected but this time have it follow the film a lot more closely? Or is Michael Gore and the original team stubborn old farts when it comes to mounting a decent adaptation? This is a film to stage musical which could actually be a huge success worldwide, not just Broadway.

We did Fame as our Spring musical in high school in 1986. I was the student director and the script pretty much followed the film's story except it took all the salacious stuff out of it (Montgomery's homosexuality, the ballerina getting pregnant and having an abortion, the rape of Ralph's sister, etc.) and of course all the language. And the music numbers were pretty much the same as the ones in the film. I am trying to remember if they had augmented the score with any other songs, but I don't think they did.

I hope this scene stays in the Fame stage version.

Sadly, it was not in the high school version. However, that didn't stop me from reciting it verbatim during every rehearsal.

I’ve seen all the nominees for best musical except for Hell’s Kitchen. I know this is a minority view, but I think the best one is Water For Elephants. I’m heartened by the grosses shared by R192 that it’s number two.

Thanks to the poster on the previous thread who recommended the grubby noir movie Repeat Performance on the Criterion Channel. It’s got Broadway and murder, and it’s a hoot. It also has Ethel Merman’s pal Benay Venuta, who always seems to be looking for a glass of sparkling burgundy in the movie. Was sparkling burgundy a thing in the 1940s?

R203, It also has Tom Conway, brother of George Sanders.

[quote]Was sparkling burgundy a thing in the 1940s?

Everything old is new again.

I realize I am very late to the discussion. Stereophonic sounds like an exciting show, but the person who was sceptical about the title's currency was right.

The Big Thing in the early 1970s was Quadraphonic. Dark Side of the Moon and Bridge Over Troubled Water were both recorded in quad mixes. We were also very excited about the new Dolby.

Robbie couldn't do the Broadway run of Illinoise because he had already committed to The Artist somewhere in the countryside of the UK. Bet your ass if Illinoise wins Best Musical and The Artist flops, he'll be back playing John Wayne Gacy again.

CRAWLIES!

R191,

I beg to differ. All of ILLINOISE is NOT stunning. The first halfway borders dangerously on trite most of the time, and before the dancers settled down for campfire story time, I had no idea whose story this was, or why this show was even existing.

The book is mid at best and terrible at worst, but, to be fair, I think the playwright did her best with an almost impossible assignment. I'm thankful the Tony nominators had the good sense not to nominate that book.

The dancers all move beautifully, but some don't have the acting chops to sell the story. Justin Peck's choreography is often wonderful, but not always so; I'm in agreement with much of that damning NYTimes review from the dance critic. And anyone who's seen Peck's work in the COPLAND DANCE EPISODES for NYCB will not be so bowled over by much similarity to what is seen in ILLINOISE, different as these pieces are. Nonetheless, Peck will win the Tony Award, and deservedly so, for at least he is ambitious even when not fully successful.

The second half of the show is far more effective and features the three best dancers. And I did love hearing the music live.

I've seen far better constructed dance pieces to go apeshit for ILLINOISE. I like it, and it's laudable, but it AIN'T ALL THAT.

With all this talk of grosses, maybe someone who is a Broadway insider can answer something I have wondered about: when they changed the calculation of how the grosses are reported a few years back, isn't the number reported as the gross actually inflated by about 10% or so of what the production actually takes home by surcharges?

Even with my limited knowledge, while high grosses are always good, isn't it true that the real measure of quick recoupment and making money is having as wide a gap between what the show costs to operate each week and what it's grossing (weekly net profit)? That's what made Evan Hansen and Come From Away such money printers, being so cheap to run but still selling out at the same or greater prices as bigger budget shows.

So a big show that costs more than the average musical to run may have a gross that is a high number, but it's actually barely making any progress to recoupment and being a true hit because it costs so much to operate.

[Quote] Bet your ass if Illinoise wins Best Musical and The Artist flops, he'll be back playing John Wayne Gacy again.

Illinoise is a limited engagement, and there are no signs that that will change. Sunset is taking the James, and while I suppose they could change theaters, it seems unlikely that Illinoise will be doing that kind of business

I imagine Illinoise to be like the series of videos Jungle did last year for their new album, starting with the song Back on 74. They were all lengthy dance pieces shot with a steadicam and no edits. The first video was innovative and fun to watch, but every week they released a new video and it was pretty much the exact same number. After the third video, they were a chore to sit through.

If it's making money for someone, Illinoise will move to another theater.

ILLINOISE also suffers from some really ugly costumes. I get that the dancers are supposed to look like ordinary young people but must the clothes be so dreary and lacking in style? Ugly silhouettes and dull colors.

Ricky Ubeda must be a saint to have accepted the awful canvas jacket and khaki shorts he's saddled with for most of the show, hiding his beautiful body and those those shorts - they keep riding up his muscular thighs and just stay there.

And there are those ridiculous ghoul costumes of famous historical figures that are so abstracted they give no hint as to who the dancers are portraying.

R214 the historical figure reveal was hilarious

“CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS”

R206 quadraphonic sound is a form of stereophonic sound.

And who would choose Quadraphonic as a title, only to be confused with Quadrophenia? No one, thats who.

The Illinoise costumes were so unflattering I'd even go so far to say they played a part in keeping the lead dancers from getting Tony nominations.

Illinoise is not selling.

I forgot ST is closing today. Bye gurl.

Street Therapy, R219?

ShiTe!

[quote]I forgot ST is closing today. Bye gurl.

More like it's ending because Foster and Tveit's contract is up.

They were only scheduled for February 9 to May 5.

The show has consistently grossed on average $1.3 million since they took over.

Last week, it was $1.5 million.

I guess the powers that be couldn't find big names to replace them, so decided to close it.

The grossers were pretty dire (below $1 million) with the understudies after Groban/Ashford left in mid January.

I don't know why Foster chose not to extend, but Tveit has a concert tour this summer.

[quote]I guess the powers that be couldn't find big names to replace them, so decided to close it.

George Santos and Brenda Dickson were available!

Patti leaving Lempicka.

Didn't Richard Rodgers say something like, "A good title is the title of a hit show,"

No. He said any hit show had a good title.

[Italic] Les Misérables [/italic]

R225, Do I Hear a Waltz? was a good title?

It wasn't a hit show, r228.

[quote]He said any hit show had a good title.

Oh! Calcutta!

He was saying if the show was a hit, it didn't matter what the title was.

If the show was a flop, it didn't matter what the title was.

Duh.

Mary the Pedant!!

[quote]If the show was a flop, it didn't matter what the title was

So, " Follies" was a bad title?

The Illinoise haters can continue to bitch and moan about how mediocre it was and how ugly the costumes were and the NYtimes dance critic said blah blah blah.

Everyone I know who has seen it - loved it. We all loved that album in our early 20s and it is quite moving to now see the music turned into such a beautiful show. Especially given Sufjan’s health issues and his partner passing away.

Plus it features a gay couple dancing to the Predatory Wasp of the Palisades… which was incredible.

Gay wasps?! Where are they on the newly expanded rainbow flag? 😵‍💫

LMAO at this Deadline comment:

"Did Patti glue her Equity card back together for this?"

I looked upthread to see if this was posted and did not see it.....my deepest apologies if this was already shared.

Edgar Lansbury has died.

Not that the Lortel Awards necessarily mean much of anything but STEREOPHONIC lost most of the many categories it was competing in to plays I've never heard of, including Best Play and Best Director. I think Eli Gelb in Featured and Sound Design were its only wins tonight.

Of course, it won't have the same competition for the Tonys.

Such an interesting family, r237.

[quote]Quadraphonic sound is a form of stereophonic sound.

Not really. Stereophonic sound has two channels, quadrophonic has four.

R234,

You talk as if we who are criticizing the show haven't seen it, unlike everyone you know who has seen it and loves it. But I do think you've hit on something: Superfans of the album like you are really loving this show, which I get. It must be thrilling to see this theatrical interpretation of music you care about so deeply.

And we're not ILLINOISE haters. We just don't unequivocally love this deeply flawed show. I'm even recommending the show to certain people, with caveats. And I've wanted to listen to the album since seeing the show.

R214 and R217, totally agree with you re: ugly costumes. Ricky Ubeda was punished the most in that regard.

LORTEL AWARD WINNERS

Outstanding Play WINNER - The Comeuppance, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins Plays for the Plague Year, by Suzan-Lori Parks Primary Trust, by Eboni Booth Stereophonic, by David Adjmi Wet Brain, by John J. Caswell, Jr.

Outstanding Musical WINNER - (pray), by nicHi douglas, with music by S T A R R Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis Buena Vista Social Club, book by Marco Ramirez, music by Buena Vista Social Club Dead Outlaw, by David Yazbek, music and lyrics by Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, book by Itamar Moses Hell's Kitchen, music and lyrics by Alicia Keys, book by Kristoffer Diaz Teeth, book and music by Anna K. Jacobs, book and lyrics by Michael R. Jackson

Outstanding Revival Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Play Hooky Productions, Seaview, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Jayne Baron Sherman, Stella La Rue, Roth-Manella Productions, Sony Music Masterworks, Jillian Robbins, David Binder, Folk Productions, Antonio Marion, Daniel Schwartz, Wessex Grove, Stephanie Choate, Hillary Wyatt I Can Get It for You Wholesale, Classic Stage Company Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Irish Repertory Theatre Company Sunset Baby, Signature Theatre Company WINNER - Translations, Irish Repertory Theatre Company

Outstanding Solo Show WINNER - All the Devils Are Here - How Shakespeare Invented the Villain, written and performed by Patrick Page I Love You So Much I Could Die, written and performed by Mona Pirnot Make Me Gorgeous!, written by Donnie with additional material by Wade McCollum, performed by McCollum Sorry for Your Loss, written and performed by Michael Cruz Kayne Triple Threat, written and performed by James T. Lane

Outstanding Director Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic David Cromer, Dead Outlaw WINNER - nicHi douglas, (pray) Eric Ting, The Comeuppance Dustin Wills, Wet Brain

Outstanding Choreographer Camille A. Brown, Hell's Kitchen Graciela Daniele and Alex Sanchez, The Gardens of Anuncia WINNER - Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club nicHi douglas, (pray) Raja Feather Kelly, Teeth

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Play Christopher Abbott, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea WINNER - Gabby Beans, Jonah William Jackson Harper, Primary Trust Nicole Ari Parker, The Refuge Plays Josh Radnor, The Ally A.J. Shively, Philadelphia, Here I Come! Paco Tolson, The Knight of the Burning Pestle

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play Arnie Burton, Dracula, A Comedy of Terrors WINNER - Eli Gelb, Stereophonic Carmen M. Herlihy, The Apiary Florencia Lozano, Wet Brain Julio Monge, Wet Brain Bubba Weiler, Swing State Frank Wood, Toros

Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical WINNER - Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw Santino Fontana, I Can Get It for You Wholesale Priscilla Lopez, The Gardens of Anuncia Alyse Alan Louis, Teeth Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen

Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical Shoshana Bean, Hell's Kitchen Rodrick Covington, Rock & Roll Man WINNER - Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen Jessica Molaskey, The Connector Steven Pasquale, Teeth Mel Semé, Buena Vista Social Club Thom Sesma, Dead Outlaw

Outstanding Ensemble WINNER - (pray) - Ariel Kayla Blackwood, S T A R R Busby, Ashely De La Rosa, Tina Fabrique, Satori Folkes-Stone, Amara Granderson, Taylor Symone Jackson, Ziiomi Louise Law, Aigner Mizzelle, Gayle Turner, Darnell White, D. Woods The Comeuppance - Brittany Bradford, Caleb Eberhardt, Susannah Flood, Bobby Moreno, Shannon Tyo Flex - Brittany Bellizeare, Christiana Clark, Eboni Edwards, Renita Lewis, Erica Matthews, Ciara Monique, Tamera Tomakili

Outstanding Scenic Design Jason Ardizzone-West, shadow/land Arnulfo Maldonado, Buena Vista Social Club Arnulfo Maldonado, Dead Outlaw WINNER - Kate Noll, Wet Brain David Zinn, Stereophonic

Outstanding Costume Design Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic Linda Cho, The Half-God of Rainfall DeShon Elem, (pray) WINNER - Lux Haac, Manahatta

Outstanding Lighting Design WINNER - Amith Chandrashaker, The Comeuppance Jiyoun Chang, Stereophonic Jen Schriever, Spain Cha See, Wet Brain John Torres, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea

Outstanding Sound Design Tei Blow & John Gasper, Wet Brain Jonathan Deans, Buena Vista Social Club Palmer Hefferan, The Comeuppance WINNER - Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic Mikaal Sulaiman, (pray)

Outstanding Projection Design 59 Productions, Corruption WINNER - Nick Hussong, Wet Brain Jared Mezzocchi, Poor Yella Rednecks Jared Mezzocchi, Russian Troll Farm Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew, The Connector

Stereophonic sound has two or more channels

But not more than 2 Lortel Awards.

A performance from Stereophonic tonight on Fallon.

Saw The Wiz. Did it always end so abruptly? She is magically wished back home with no explanation, we see a quick glimpse of Kansas, and then curtain. Don’t think I’ve ever known a show to end like that.

It's sort of like the original movie, R247. Dorothy has to learn something before she can return home. In the movie, she has to learn not to run away from home when troubles arise (or something like that), In THE WIZ, she has to learn to believe in herself. Glinda's song "If You Believe" does contain the line "click your heels three times," but I don't recall if they made much of that or even had Dorothy do it at all in the current production.

Yeah, she does click her heels. I saw a Glinda understudy. Maybe her closing song was less effective or something.

In the original movie the entire Oz journey is depicted as a dream Dorothy has had while unconscious, knocked out in the tornado. In the dream, she saw everyone she already knew, but in a new light. In so doing she learned good midwestern values, such as focussing on and defending the love of your family and friends, and not dwelling on their deficiencies or any peripheral threats. That is made clear in the sequence back in Kansas when she comes to, and without it the whole thing is just an LSD trip.

R250, do you think you're telling us anything we don't already know?

That whole explanation did seem weirdly schoolteacher-ish.

r249 r250 The 1939 version is not "the original movie."

"Comeuppance" is a far superior play over "Stereophonic". Look for it crammed in somewhere next Spring.

You are correct, R253, if rather pedantic. I should have written "the 1939 movie."

I do beg your pardons, the Critics' Circle at 251-253.

R248 said "Dorothy had to learn not to run away from home when troubles arise (or something like that)". My aim was just to add to that. Everyone was talking as though the last sequence of the movie barely existed, so if you knew all about what I said you weren't showing any sign of it.

I will be more careful in future. I wasn't aware that by posting here I had to impress the Algonquin Round Table.

Sorry to offend you, R256, but what on earth would make you think anyone posting here would "not be aware" of the last sequence of the 1939 movie THE WIZARD OF OZ?

THE WIZ sucks; very disappointing, except for the voices.

Here's how "Lempicka" can still win the Pulitzer today— (part 1/45)

R254,

Nyet.

I liked COMEUPPANCE a lot, but its 2+ hours sans intermission was pretentious and annoying (especially since there is a hugely obvious place to have an interval), and it amounts to a great deal less than it purports to be when all is said and done, especially since one critical character is underwritten.

Whereas I think a lot about STEREOPHONIC, I almost never think about COMEUPPANCE.

I expect STEREOPHONIC to win the Pulitzer today, and COMEUPPANCE to end up as one of the nominees. But the committee might feel that BJJ is due and give the award to him.

[quote] I wasn't aware that by posting here I had to impress the Algonquin Round Table.

Well, you were wrong then, weren't you?

[quote] In the original movie the entire Oz journey is depicted as a dream Dorothy has had while unconscious, knocked out in the tornado. In the dream, she saw everyone she already knew, but in a new light. In so doing she learned good midwestern values, such as focussing on and defending the love of your family and friends, and not dwelling on their deficiencies or any peripheral threats. That is made clear in the sequence back in Kansas when she comes to, and without it the whole thing is just an LSD trip.

In the original book (the real original), it is made clear that it is not a dream, that Oz is a real place, and the farm house actually flew there

None of that dream bullshit

R262 do you think you're telling us anything we don't already know?

This is the Theatre Gossip thread, not the Let's Restate the Obvious thread.

For fucks sake.

If restating the obvious was banned on these threads we'd be on #100

Is Stereophonic a musical?

Yes, R266, it is. And Kecia Lewis Evans wrote it. She's the big thing this year, don'tcha know.

That’s honestly just trolling at this point, R266.

worst thread ever?

Pulitzer Drajma judges often make surprising choices and honor something little-known and woke. Stereophonic is neither of those things.

Top this…

My favorite Broadway star of the 21st century

“Primary Trust” wins the Pulitzer. The other finalists were “Here There Are Blueberries” and “Public Obscenities.”

The Pulitzer for what?

There's always next year.

Told ya.

My memory of quadraphonic in the 1970s was that everyone thought it was going to be the next big thing, and then it just wasn’t. I don’t know if it was because it was too expensive, or that there wasn’t much product. The CD companies were not jumping on the bandwagon for some reason.

I had this quadraphonic album...

That’s because CDs weren’t invented yet. Quadraphonic was mostly for LPs, and the four channels weren’t always apparent on records.

Then it was the LPs that were dragging their feet. Quad was just not embraced for some reason.

Didn't Quad require a fairly sophisticated sound system? Or at least an extra set of speakers? I think that's why I never jumped on the bandwagon.

Mark Rylance is one of the most overrated actors ever.

You wouldn’t say that if you saw him in Boeing Boeing. That was one of the funniest nights in the theater I’ve ever had. He and the entire cast were fantastic.

I saw him in Hamlet at the RSC years ago. He was brilliant. You're wrong, R281.

How can I be wrong? It's my opinion.

He was the funniest Hamlet I've ever seen.

True, R284, it is your opinion, merely that.

[Quote] It was a big night for Ars Nova as they were honored for their Outstanding Body of Work and along with National Black Theatre led the awards with three wins including Outstanding Musical for (pray) created by nicHi douglas, with music by S T A R R Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis.

[quote] True, [R284], it is your opinion, merely that.

And I never claimed otherwise.

[quote] nicHi douglas, with music by S T A R R Busby and JJJJJerome Ellis.

It's almost like they were daring the Lortels to give awards to these dumb ass names so they could prove how woke they were.

R288 is in a minority with that opinion.

And the winner of the Pulitzer is (drumroll…) Something no one’s ever heard of!

I actually saw the Pulitzer winner this year. It was a Roundabout second stage production.

Mark Rylance was the best Olivia in Twelfth Night I've ever seen (sadly, I didn't see him live, only on video). Because he understood every line, you did, too. He knew how to work a gown, and his comic timing was brilliant. I still laugh when I think of his "Malvoli -- oh!"

So much for DL wisdom …

Agree with R293.

I’ve seen Twelfth Night on Broadway, twice. Once starring Helen Hunt, once starring Msrk Rylance. You get one guess as to which was better.

Mark

I also think Rylance is brilliant, but I didn't much care for him in Jerusalem. It was "inventive" to the point that it became show-offy and took me out of the play... (which I didn't like all that much anyway.)

Drawing a blank on which Shakespeare play Rylance played in drag, but he and the production were fantastic!

^^sorry didn’t see the posts above about Twelfth Night.

Primary Trust was really good. I went after it got lots of really good reviews. . If you’ve never heard of it that’s your own ignorance r291

Advice for r299

And I am anonymous in that.

[quote]Didn't Quad require a fairly sophisticated sound system? Or at least an extra set of speakers?

Well, of course it required an extra set of speakers. The whole point was that it was supposed to give you four channels of discreet sound. And it also required a special amplifier or a "decoder."

[quote]I’ve seen Twelfth Night on Broadway, twice. Once starring Helen Hunt, once starring Msrk Rylance. You get one guess as to which was better.

But, just so we're clear, they played two different roles. I actually thought Helen Hunt was fine as Viola. That production was telecast Live from Lincoln Center and is available on YouTube, so everyone can judge for themselves. It's also well worth watching for the rest of the cast, including Paul Rudd and one of the most beautiful and sexy (if relatively unknown) actors I've ever seen on a stage, Rick Stear, as Sebastian.

WEHT to Rick Stear?

I’m not sure if this has been mentioned yet since I’m just starting to read this thread, but Vanessa Williams was on Alec Baldwin’s podcast this week and gave a great and very dishy interview and it ends with her discussing The Devil Wears Prada and how it has been totally rewritten. It tries out in Plymouth in late summer and then goes to the Dominion on the west end at the end of the year. Apparently, Elton John has already written her two new songs and Jerry Mitchell has top to bottom (pun intended) reimagined it, incorporating several runway show sequences with new “techno” music for each. She even sings a big section of her new 11 o’clock song and describes what the sequence will be. Apparently, Elton absolutely hated everything about the Chicago version and adores Vanessa and writing for her but was distracting from working on the show in Chicago due to his endless “farewell” tour. Here’s hoping!

R291 Yes, because NO ONE has ever heard of Our Town, Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Named Desire, South Pacific, A Chorus Line, Picnic, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Rent, Hamilton, or Long Day's Journey Into Night.

R308 That was then.....

r307 - I'm not sure I want to listen to Alec Baldwin for a full hour. Can we get the topline on the tea that Vanessa Williams spilled?

Did you know that there’s a restaurant in Harlem that has a dish named after Jennifer Holliday? Waffles and shrimp.

I agree, Alec Baldwin is pretty much unlistenable at this point but would love any cliff notes of Vanessa’s tea that may not be related to devil wears prada

R312, just out of curiosity, do you mean you now find Baldwin unlistenable because you think he sounds so pretentious, or for some other reason (maybe the involuntary manslaughter charge against him?)

Well, well, well....guess who will receive the 2024 Isabelle S. Tony Award in recognition of his..... LGTBQ+? DL's favorite: Billy Porter

I hope you're joking R314. Porter should have had his equity card taken away for destroying The Life at Encores!

R313 for me it’s the pretention and his temper. I don’t know enough about the manslaughter case to have an opinion.

Closed-minds closing "Opening"?

I read that Guardian article with amusement, as I’m currently in Berlin at Theatertreffen - an annual festival of German theatre. I’m pretty familiar with what constitutes contemporary and experimental European theatre.

Opening Night’s problem that it was ‘too European’? You fucking wish, Rufus. A shit, ineptly-conceived musical is a shit ineptly-conceived musical, regardless of aesthetics. What a tool.

R315. I would never do that....

Blaming your flop on Brexit is a good bit!

Hunter Foster will be directing A Little Night Music in Ogunquit this summer. Will he cast Jen 'Cuddles' Cody as Charlotte or Petra?

Perhaps a dancing birch tree stump?

That Billy Porter Tony Award is a fucking joke and a slap in the face to all those who actually do work tirelessly for the community. Billy Porter has never done anything that hasn't benefitted Billy Porter first and foremost.

RDJ coming to Broadway:

Will we ever see a musical in the Beaumont again?

Wish someone would post the vids of Nathan Lane doing his Isabelle Stevenson impression, complete with the soft focus.

Grosses are out, a week after Tony nomination. Hells Kitchen down a bit, with an average ticket of just $110. Illinoise down $44K, avg ticket of $79. Ouch. Lempicka average ticket price $33. Suffs flat. Stereo up $50K, Notebook down $100K, Outsiders down $29K. Tommy down $154K, Wiz down $152K. Cabaret up $218K (but they had a canceled per the week prior.). Yikes pretty much

[quote]That Billy Porter Tony Award is a fucking joke and a slap in the face to all those who actually do work tirelessly for the community. Billy Porter has never done anything that hasn't benefitted Billy Porter first and foremost.

Sadly, I must agree, as I'm sure MANY people do.

[quote]Will we ever see a musical in the Beaumont again?

Maybe your question was posed to make the point that we've seen a lot of plays in that venue lately, but anyway, I'm sure musicals at the Beaumont are not over. CAMELOT was a horrendously inept production, but I really don't think it killed our chances of ever again seeing a musical there :-)

I saw Robert Downey Jr. in the 80s in something called AMERICAN PASSION, which featured a song with a title like "There Ain't No Virgins in Queens."

Even with the two leads getting nominated and the closing announcement, Lempicka's grosses sank even further. With most of these tickets being free, this show is a certified flop in all regards. Let this be the end of talentless Matt Gould's career on Broadway.

[quote]Billy Porter Will Receive the 2024 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award

No doubt he's already making his own gown!

[quote]Grosses are out, a week after Tony nomination. Hells Kitchen down a bit, with an average ticket of just $110. Illinoise down $44K, avg ticket of $79. Ouch. Lempicka average ticket price $33. Suffs flat. Stereo up $50K, Notebook down $100K, Outsiders down $29K. Tommy down $154K, Wiz down $152K. Cabaret up $218K (but they had a canceled per the week prior.). Yikes pretty much

Also, nice send-off for 'Sweeney' and Foster/Tveit's final week -- $1.7 million !

One redeeming aspect of the Bill Porter award is that the IS trophy is not part of the prime-time show.

But does this make him half an EGOT?

How much do you wanna bet they do televise Billy's special Tony?

So, after all the bashing and bad reviews, CABARET triumphs!

What does it say about the state of Broadway that practically every musical, both new and old, had lower grosses the week after the Tony nominations were announced? Did I miss anything? Could there be a reason for this other than utter lack of excitement/interest?

Why? I love theater, can spend what I want, and get enjoyment out of most shows even if they aren’t perfect. This season finally broke my desire to see everything. The prices are ridiculously high if you want to buy them in advance and have a decent seats. I started going by myself (cutting the cost in half), sitting in less than ideal seats, and just letting go of shows that sound interesting but not $250 interesting. Especially if the stars that drive those prices call out sick.

Broadway Begins Spring Crunch Shakeout, With One Announced Closing And Lower Attendance For Some Newcomers – Box Office:

Getting back to Mark Rylance, I didn't see BOEING BOEING, but thought he was terrific in LA BETE (but then, so was David Hyde Pierce).

But when I saw both TWELFTH NIGHT and RICHARD III a week apart, I noticed something about him that bugged me - he has this idiosyncratic, mannered style of line delivery with halting speech and sometimes rushed lines that he does in every single part I've seen him do (and that includes JERUSALEM, where I didn't think he was ideally cast in spite of the critics' hosannahs). What he does worked very well in the role of Olivia but did not work at all with his Richard, which was underwhelming (Samuel Barnett pretty much stole that show).

[quote]I saw Robert Downey Jr. in the 80s in something called AMERICAN PASSION, which featured a song with a title like "There Ain't No Virgins in Queens."

This is the twenty-first century. There ain't no virgins in any of the boroughs.

I love that Devil Wears Prada rewrite news. I hope it works out; it seemed like a sure bet to transfer until reviews came out last year.

Death Becomes Her musical was funny and I'm glad I booked a trip to it. It's a not direct copy of the film and I think the range (type?) of songs was surprising. There was a creepy lullaby earworm song, Madeline's over-the-top "Everything I Do is for the Gaze", and the "I See Me" song from the film, among some others (no song list).

Hope it comes next season to Broadway. Looks like the new season is going to a big improvement with this, some of Penzance, maybe Chess, maybe Dorian Gray.

That 1998 TWELFTH NIGHT is well worth watching for the feast of character actors, including Max Wright, Brian Murray and the glorious Philip Bosco. Helen Hunt is sing-songy, and Kyra Sedgwick is well out of her depth. (Her delivery of the words "Most wonderful!" in the final scene is down there with Imelda Staunton's reading of "Dear God, it IS tomorrow!" in FOLLIES.)

Helen Hunt in Twelfth Night or MAD ABOUT THOU.

They really are a screw-um when people come to see ‘em.

They really are a scree-um when people come to see ‘em.

[quote] But does this make him half an EGOT?

He already has one undeserved Tony.

Barely talented halfwit Rufus Wainwright needs to GO AWAY. And stay away from my opera houses.

And if we all could spread a little sunshine

All could think before we strike

We all would be a little closer

To the world we'd like

Here's a look at the rehabbed Palace

What a shame its first show won't have many of those seats filled.

A bit on the stately side.

It might just be the photograph, but those upstairs seats seem insanely narrow

I don't know anything about interior design, but those pics are very "gaudy chain hotel" to me.

R347: And one undeserved Emmy.

This is more of a TV comment than a theater observation, but since Helen Hunt was mentioned more than once above . . . She’s in the new season of “ Hacks”on Max — which is good two episodes in — and she manages to look 70 years old (she’s 60), face is as lined as a dried prune.

On the plus side, it is kind of refreshing that she hasn’t resorted to plastic surgery to look like a rubber-faced gorgon, instead she’s aging naturally as an old-fashioned crone, thin and dry as a hickory stick.

Is A Beautiful Noise (or Patriots, or The Heart of Rock & Roll) even going to make it to Memorial Day?

Jessica Lange’s face has become numb looking.

R350, The home of my two Tony winning triumphs.

The cast of Stereophonic performs 'Masquerade' on The Tonight Show.

Masquerade!

Paper faces on parade.

Masquerade!

Hide your face so the world will never find you...

Take a piss on the person nearest to you! 🎶

“Patti LuPone, Broadway Legend/Rejected Cinderella,” the new Into the Woods podcast, is live. Best part is when she seethes at Bernadette Peters getting top billing.

Why would anyone think Patti LuPone would be a good choice for Cinderella?

I don’t see her playing any of the characters in Into the Woods. She doesn’t have the subtlety for fairy tales.

Dolls, she can hear you

I was nice to you, Patti!

R357-Didn't we ask the same question last year?

They would've had to change the birds Cinderella summons to seagulls

R364, they didn’t. Only she did, but she complains that she was not given any material for the audition.

She auditioned for Cinderella and was offered the Witch but turned it down over billing and did Anything Goes. She then was offered the Witch again in the 2002 revival. Turned it down for Noises Off.

I think you all are being way too hard on her, honestly. I listened to the audiobook version of her autobiography and she owns a lot more of her shit than y'all are giving her credit for. She gets she's as human as the rest of us, and that she's a lot.

I will always love her for the Sunset recording. Jesus, she sang the hell out of that show.

[quote]She gets she's as human as the rest of us, and that she's a lot.

Which arguably makes it worse - that she knows "she's a lot" and yet does nothing to change that.

[quote]I don’t see her playing any of the characters in Into the Woods. She doesn’t have the subtlety for fairy tales.

What if they changed the Baker's Wife to the Fishwife?

[quote]She gets she's as human as the rest of us, and that she's a lot.

She’s in her 70s. She hasn’t seemed to self-reflect or modify her behavior in any way.

For example, resigning from Equity. Obviously, she didn’t think that through. For whatever reason she’s lived a charmed life and her bad behavior is always written off as “Oh, that’s Patti being Patti.” You never saw Bernadette Peters or Mary Martin or Ethel Merman acting that way.

And her good behavior is often ignored. Great work ethic, doesn’t miss performances (which other wise is such a gripe here!), still sounds great, and usually a great company leader respected by costars.

Wikipedia doesn't exactly answer the question about why quadraphonic failed, but it does explain why it's not missed now. "Surround sound" is the same effect but achieved through different formats, albeit still with multiple speakers.

[quote]After the failure of quadraphonic audio in the 1970s, multichannel music has slowly been reintroduced since 1999 with the help of SACD and DVD-Audio formats.

[quote]And her good behavior is often ignored. Great work ethic, doesn’t miss performances (which other wise is such a gripe here!), still sounds great, and usually a great company leader respected by costars.

I would agree with all of those things except the last one. Where did you get the info that she's "usually a great company leader respected by co-stars?"

Not really, R374. Quadrophonic sound featured four separate channels of sound in which the sounds of various singing voices and musical instruments would appear to emerge distinctly and directly from one or another of the four channels, including the two rear channels. I think the format died because that sort of soundscape is a gimmick in that live music is never (or almost never) experienced in that way.

Current multi-channel surround sound systems provide much more realistic sound to replicate what one might hear in a concert hall, theater, jazz club, or whatever, with various different levels and types of reverb. But you're not going to suddenly hear a drum or a trumpet coming from behind you, which again would never or almost never happen in a live performance situation.

God the audio production / sound engineering on that Giants in the Sky podcast is terrible and the host is so grating and always sounds so unprepared and unable to have genuine interactions with the guests... but.. will have to give this Patti episode a listen. It's fascinating how bitter she remains over Bernadette's successes, while I've never heard Bernadette once say a negative thing about her.

I was absolutely shocked when she was on Watch What Happens Live and Andy had a play a silly game in which she had to choose her favorite of two Broadway performances of the same role. For The Witch, she actually picked Bernadette over Vanessa Williams for Into the Woods.

I think we can firmly establish that Patti intends to meet her standards and those she respects (kinda, Houseman really went after her for her shitty diction), not yours.

Who gives a shit, R371? You don’t know her, will never meet her, and will never work with her. Your self righteous anger over her so called behavior has nothing to do with you or anyone you know. You just want someone to rage all over with your stupid misogyny. Shut up.

Patti is actually quite light-hearted and easy-going and doesn't sound remotely bitter about anything, including Bernadette, on that podcast. Give it a listen before you assume things.

I'll agree though that Ben Rimalower needs to step up his research and prepare better for these conversations. Or maybe he's just too polite and wary to correct a guest when they spout misinformation. His heart is in the right place but he's rather inept as an emcee,

One of my best friends is–much like Patti–an Italian-American of Sicilian extraction. Believe me when I say her family makes Patti look tame.

[quote]doesn’t miss performances

Well, except when she was pissed off at Andrew Lloyd-Webber and pissed off at Les Miserables producers.

She certainly missed Company on my second unsuccessful attempt to see the show. Apparently, her toilet can confirm this. That said, third time was the charm and I enjoyed her performance a lot.

I started listening to the podcast episode. She even makes fun of herself for wanting Cinderella. She has a gripe about their giving her contractual asks to Bernadette, but it's not personal about Bernadette. Just that they caved on such requests when push came to shove and they needed someone.

But here's the thing. When Patti misses a show it's because she's seriously ill. Not because she just doesn't feel like it that day.

I don't think there's much competition between Bernadette and Patti. They aren't interchangeable vocally or persona-wise. I wouldn't want to see Bernadette's Evita nor Patti's Dot.

R387 They both played Mama Rose.

I had a hard time believing Bernadette as Mama Rose.

So have many other women, r388. Patti got the Tony. The role, like the Witch, offers a bit wider latitude in casting.

Yay for Jason! So happy for him.

When I was in high school, I saw Patti in concert in LA. She was doing a CD signing after the concert and I waited patiently in line. When I was next up, I overheard her conversation with another fan. He told her he'd "love to see her Annie". At the time, I was too young to understand that he was referencing Annie Get Your Gun. Her reaction still makes me chuckle. She said "Do you know who they're giving it to?" He shook his head and she looked around, leaned into the guy and then in the loudest stage whisper said "BUUHHHHN-AHHH-DETTTE" ending with the hardest, most enunciated "t" you've ever heard.

wonderful news, R391. I can't believe it's been nearly SIX years since Marin passed.

Patti even saying anything about Bernadette in Into the Woods is ludicrous. Everyone knows that Bernadette did the show as a last minute favor for Sondheim. It really wasn’t something she actively sought.

And I wonder if they were even seriously considering Patti. The witch is supposed to be beautiful. Bernadette was the correct choice to open the show.

Bernadette was miscast...just as Patti would have been. But hey, both girls can nail the songs.

[quote]I'll agree though that Ben Rimalower needs to step up his research and prepare better for these conversations. Or maybe he's just too polite and wary to correct a guest when they spout misinformation. His heart is in the right place but he's rather inept as an emcee,

R381 - Yes. I also think the fundamental issue with his podcast (beyond the terrible sound engineering) is the lack of preparation with the guests. I get it. This isn't the Tonight Show. He doesn't have a segment producer who can do a "pre-interview" with the guests. But, he's having these people on (a). with the assumption that they're going to have the same level of obsession he does -- for some of them it was just a job. A wonderful job that they'll always treasure, but not something that's top of mind every day, (b). that they're going to remember the most minute details of the rehearsal and development process as if it were yesterday and without the opportunity to 'jog their memories' in advance. If they'd sent the guest's representativess some questions in advance, it might have given them the opportunity to jog their memories. Instead, we got so many "I don't recall" and "that was so long ago" and "if you say that happened, I guess it did" responses. Total amateur hour.

Patti seemed fine the night she won the Tony for Company, and yet, she skipped the following Tuesday night's performance.

[quote]Bernadette was miscast...just as Patti would have been. But hey, both girls can nail the songs.

Not sure which show you’re talking about but that’s the way it was with Annie Get Your Gun. Bernadette was miscast but Patti would have been more miscast. I’m surprised how pedestrian this clip is. I saw Reba do Annie and she really put a lot of personality into these songs. Patti isn’t giving much characterization here.

[quote]I saw Reba do Annie and she really put a lot of personality into these songs

That's what you get when you cast a feminine hillbilly as a feminine hillbilly.

Was at the matinee of “Stereophonic” today, third time seeing the show, first time seeing the Broadway production. The stage at the Golden is much narrower and more shallow than at Playwright’s Horizons, which actually enhances the intimacy of the show. I was every bit as engrossed as I was the st two times. Sound on the music is mixed louder, but sometimes the women’s dialog sounds a bit dead when they are upstage.

Otherwise in every way this transferred beautifully, you felt the audience hanging on every word, got all its laughs, the buzz and noise and excitement from the audience during intermission was palpable, funny how a hit show creates its own energy loop.

The performances are all terrific, Pidgeon is as vocally pure in her singing as she was off-Broadway but her acting is stronger and more confident, Gelb’s even more effective and moving without any loss of subtlety, it’s lovely work. Pecinka is great too, the costume changes since PW make him more of a peacock (lavender suit, emerald green satin kimono) and his discontented Peter fills the stage, they all bring their ‘A’ game for any Tony voters in the audience. Brill as good, as funny as he was, but I’m less sure he will take the Tony, Gelb has to be counted a dark horse though I think Pidgeon has a lock on it.

Adjmi couldn’t hope for a better, more detailed and emotionally intense and immersive production. It is a fantastic theatrical experience.

R372 in fact, "The Fisherman and His Wife" is a German, cautionary, fairy tale about a meek fisherman who one day catches a magical flounder that grants him several wishes if he lets him go, but his overbearing wife gets too greedy and keeps asking for more riches and more prestige until finally they're back to where they started -- a hovel by the sea.

Since Sondheim/Lapine relied on the Brothers Grimm for the other stories, they could have somehow incorporated the fisherman and his wife instead of making up the baker and his wife.

What happened?

R402, maybe somebody broke a nail.

I am traveling to NY in June and have a slot for one more show. Two if I cancel out of Vanya (LCT member).

I haven’t seen any of the best musical nominees. The other choices that I haven’t seen are Patriots, Mary Jane, and Mother Play. Or I could see Laura Benanti’s show.

Recommendations?

I saw Enemy of the People and thought it was disjointed but Strong and Imperioli were good. I found Pedretti hard to hear. What did others think?

r402 - a backstage crew member died. Presumably, this was sudden. Don't believe it happened at the theatre.

[quote] [R402], maybe somebody broke a nail.

When you hear the reason, R403, you'll really feel like an asshole for that comment.

[quote][R402] - a backstage crew member died. Presumably, this was sudden. Don't believe it happened at the theatre.

What ever happened to "the show must go on"?

Their Production Stage manager passed away. PSM is basically air traffic controller calling all of the cues. There probably wasn't anyone else available to do it yet as the show came in so fast. Also...everyone may be extremely distraught losing a company member . A Production Stage Manager is arguably the most important backstage position.

How can a broken nail kill a person?

I'll never forget when Geraldine Page didn't show up for a matinee of Blithe Spirit the performance went on while someone went to her apartment to check on her. She was found dead after suffering a heart attack and the evening performance went on as scheduled. I know the show must go on but I always thought it must have been horrific for the cast to perform that night.

What happened to “the show must go on”?

Humanity.

The Left have become a bunch of softies.

It's unprofessional.

Yes, the Left orchestrated it. Hillary led the vote in favor.

You’re wise to point that out.

Go play in traffic, r413.

Patti would be no more miscast as Annie Oakley than the lady who created the role (and for who Irving Berlin wrote it) Miss Ethel Merman.

She sings a few songs from AGYG on that live in LA concert album and is just fabulous. One of the best live concert albums ever. I envy the upthread poster who says he saw her.

For R408

Thanks r409. Very sad

[quote] I'll never forget when Geraldine Page didn't show up for a matinee of Blithe Spirit the performance went on while someone went to her apartment to check on her. She was found dead after suffering a heart attack and the evening performance went on as scheduled. I know the show must go on but I always thought it must have been horrific for the cast to perform that night.

They didn't wait and announce it to the audience after the performance?

R416, Ethel Merman had crystal-clear diction and straightforward delivery, both of a type and caliber that LuPone has never manifested. Her tone quality is completely different as well. (Toscanini, of all people, said that her sound reminded him of the purity of the castrati he heard in his youth.)

They're only comparable inasmuch as they both belt -- and, perhaps, that their appeal is largely lost on the big screen.

Merman was a bonafide star; Patti, not so much, except in New York.

Oh yawn. Summer reruns already?

'Ethel Merman's voice is remarkable. It is all one register. She has no passagio to worry about. She never has to shift gears.' - Luciano Pavarotti

R409, Thom Gates, their beloved Production Stage Manager (and a truly lovely guy) was struck and killed by a NJ Transit train on his way to the theatre this morning.

That’s horrible.

Thom was hot! And had a good career, always working.

Thom Gates was just the most delightful person and a superb stage manager. Smart, calm, funny, a true leader, inspirational.

His passing at such a young age is truly a tragedy.

Sara bareilles posted about him.

R391, Happily, Jason’s huge dick has found a new home.

How was he struck by a train? How did it happen?

Yes, I’d like to know, too. How DO you get struck by a train?

And he asst stage managed Patti's Noises Off, so there we are.

Getting hit by a commuter train in NJ is difficult unless intended.

R402, they're amateurs for canceling the show.

Yes, how does one get struck by a chemin de fer?

Maybe he was doing research for an upcoming production of Anna Karenina

R411 how could they tell?

Max Clayton will be on for his first and, possibly, last performance as Billy Flynn this Saturday night. He's leaving the show on June 8th.

Will Seer Tower be cut?

Did he jump?

What's the difference between bitchy and actually sociopathically numb to the sadness of a loss of life?

[quote]What's the difference between bitchy and actually sociopathically numb to the sadness of a loss of life?

No difference to the DL theater queens.

Life is Just a Bowl of Salad

Not trying to be numb - it’s completely horrible he passed away. A NJ transit train striking a pedestrian is pretty terrifying if the person didn’t intend it.

RIP.

I’ve known or known of several people who’ve been struck by trains. None of them were struck by accident.

Poor guy.

Yeah, getting hit by a commuter train by accident in NJ? I mean, I guess it could happen, but I’ve never heard of it. People either get pushed or they jump in front on purpose.

I have no idea what happened but I worked with Thom and knew him pretty well. He was a very happy person, long-married to his sweet stage manager husband with a beautiful home in the Jersey suburbs and wildly popular as a stage manager, constantly going from one Broadway gig to the next. I can't imagine it was a suicide. RIP

I had a friend who was killed when he was standing near the edge of a NYC subway platform with his backpack on one shoulder and the express train snagged the loose strap and dragged him off the platform. Horrifying accidents do happen.

There's a GoFundMe for his husband and there's a photo of the two of them on it. They're both super handsome and kind looking men and a sweet looking couple. What a terrible thing to have happened.

He was very handsome

He died on my old line at the South Orange train station and probably lived in Maplewood which is sort of the unofficial gay town in Northern NJ. It would be unusual to die on the line there. The station is safe and the trains would be difficult to access in an unsafe way unless it was on purpose. Did he have a heart attack and fall on the line?

The Playbill obit refers to a "subway" train, which as far as I know does not describe any of the NJ Transit system. So I guess the Playbill obit was simply wrong about that?

R449, Why the need for a GoFundMe?

Maybe the husband wasn’t planning to pay for a sudden funeral or to carry a mortgage alone, etc.

I don’t know how much stage managers make - they probably do okay but they aren’t hedge fund managers.

If it were a suicide, would that negative any life insurance payout? Hence the Gofundme.

^ negate. Autocorrect

He was making low-mid six figures. He was an experienced SM with twenty years. It is not an easy job and takes a lot of time and skill to perfect.

The Deadline article says NJ Transit train, so that would either be in South Orange or when he got on in Penn Station, it was not the subway.

So I guess Playbill screwed up again, R458.

Playbill is 99% unpaid interns.

You can tell my brother, that ain’t grim

Coz if he squeals on me I’ll squeal on him.

r438 Making it all the more puzzling why they made such a big deal out of him joining the cast

I saw the NT Live presentation of The Motive and the Cue yesterday - it was very well filmed. I really enjoyed it but as others have mentioned, it may be a little too “inside baseball” to transfer to NY - though it is a paean to the stage, specifically Broadway, and the art of acting. I found it incredibly moving. It is very sympathetic to Gielgud and very much a play about fathers. Mark Gatiss was, of course, wonderful. Johnny Flynn a bit less so - his voice can be very grating, it’s so throaty and it often sounds like he’s pushing it for effect. I remembered I’d seen him at the Royal Court before in the Bruce Norris play, The Low Road, and his voice was equally grating. It’s an odd match if you’re playing Richard Burton who was, of course, known for his voice. Only occasionally, in the quieter passages, does he sound relaxed. He has no boom, only bust; the gravelly vocal quality is a disappointment here and probably what cost him an Olivier nomination. He should get some vocal training.

The rest of it was all very well done. Pippa Middleton was very strait laced as Liz despite the script’s more bawdy interpretation of her. She’s depicted as an angel when one could imagine her all-consuming love for Burton would suggest voracious needs of her own. She’s definitely depicted as his better half here.

Um, R463... Pippa Middleton does not play Elizabeth Taylor in The Motive and The Cue.

It's that other Middleton, Tuppence.

Is Tuppence Middleton another sister of Princess Kate?

And can she shimmy like her?

I saw Uncle Vanya and enjoyed it. Much better than expected from some comments here.

I think a friend started that GoFund Me. Even if they were comfortable, the husband will have funeral expenses and only one salary going forward - who could blame him if he needs time off. But most GFM's have become people's way of expressing their love and support, not necessarily because of need. So I think the friend just started it as a preventative measure and because she was probably feeling helpless as all of us would when a friend suffers a tragedy. I remember when Ruthie Ann Miles had that terrible accident and lost her child, there was a GFM that was really well-funded into the six figures. Ruthie's husband makes a good living so they probably didn't need it as much (though Ruthie did have hospital bills) and I remember reading that they were going to donate the money they didn't need to charity.

Rest in Peace, Thom. Very lovely man.

Was he hit driving across a street level crossing?

Well, so, in the upcoming Goodspeed production of "South Pacific," the role of Lt. Cable is going to be played by a person of color. Which, of course, completely destroys the whole point of the show, but I guess that's no longer considered of any importance whatsoever.

Has anyone seen this new version of DIAL M FOR MURDER which every regional theater in the US seems to be producing this season or the next?

Is it any good? Apparently there's some lesbian slant to it now (to make it more relevant).

[quote]Well, so, in the upcoming Goodspeed production of "South Pacific," the role of Lt. Cable is going to be played by a person of color. Which, of course, completely destroys the whole point of the show, but I guess that's no longer considered of any importance whatsoever.

Can we not have this pointless discussion for the 2,000th time?

R468, Not to appear crass, but cremations are quite affordable in NYC these days.

[quote]Not to appear crass

You didn't succeed, r474.

[quote]Well, so, in the upcoming Goodspeed production of "South Pacific," the role of Lt. Cable is going to be played by a person of color. Which, of course, completely destroys the whole point of the show, but I guess that's no longer considered of any importance whatsoever.

I think that ship sailed when Brian Stokes Mitchell played Emile de Becque in the concert version.

I think that ship sailed when we became rational adults.

[quote]I think that ship sailed when we became rational adults.

South Pacific is a show that directly confronts racism. How is Nellie supposed to act when she’s falling in love with a black man and then being appalled that he has non-white children? In this specific show, casting white people in the leads is a necessary plot point. Otherwise, it makes no sense.

Perhaps in your tiny little white world, r478.

Jeremy O Harris in charge of programming the Williamstown Theatre Festival

Forget about the DeBecque/Forbush story, the Cable one is what is relevant. The point of South Pacific is to contrast how Nellie (who is from the South) overcomes her racist upbringing while Cable (from Princeton) can not and dies with a broken heart. If Cable is black, that storyline will be challenging to make sense.

If it works, great. If not, the world will continue even with a South Pacific that doesn’t work. It certainly survived that stupid Oklahoma with chili and cornbread.

I guess Cable was "carefully taught" to hate Polynesians back in Philadelphia.

I guess I don't really know South Pacific that well so forgive this (stupid) question: When Cable sings Carefully Taught to Nellie isn't he admonishing her for her prejudice?

He's admonishing Nellie and himself (or at least his family) ... remember that he's decided that he can't marry Liat.

Cable sings “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught” to Nellie, he sings it to Emile. The song is in response to DeBecque’s anger about Nellie rejecting him because of his mixed race children and leads into “This Nearly Was Mine.”

First, the bachelorette parties at our bars. Now, Datalounge is Broadway ignorant. What is next?

^ does NOT sing it to Nellie

Emile seems pretty nelly to me.

Well, I said it was a stupid question. But thanks for the response!

Happily, no one need comment on the pompous blowhard about to ruin Williamstown Theatre Festival.

What's there to say? Jeremy O'Harris is O'ver.

Hmmmmm......a google search brings up nothing about Jeremy O Harris and Williamstown.

As if they didn't already have enough problems up there.

[Quote] With a growing resumé in theater, film and television, plus 185,000 followers on TikTok and 189,000 on Instagram, Harris will aim to attract young and diverse audiences to the Williams College campus.

Although Philip Boroff is a jerkoff.

185K followers isn't shit.

Could we have a white cast of Dreamgirls?

[quote] Could we have a white cast of Dreamgirls?

LOL r434, great idea but lets cast it all with men or nonbinaries..

[quote]Could we have a white cast of Dreamgirls?

Yes

Sara Porkalob can play Lorell. She's only in 75% of the show.

R473, please feel free to explain to us why such a discussion would be pointless. But anyway, if you feel that way, the simple solution is not to participate.

[quote]Perhaps in your tiny little white world, [R478].

No, R479, in the mind of anyone who is still capable of rational thought, and who understands that casting people of color in the roles of Emile de Becque or Lt. Cable in SOUTH PACIFIC is fully equivalent to casting white people in A RAISIN IN THE SUN, PURLIE VICTORIOUS, PORGY AND BESS, etc. In other words, completely nonsensical.

But...the black man who has been cast as Cable at Williamstown does have an awesome body, so I guess there's some compensation on that superficial level.

Julie Benko for Thursday night Effie!

Glenn Close *is* Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun.

Remember when Jeremy O Harris quit theatre? Guess those TV and film projects didn't materialise after all, eh Jeremy?

^^^ His leadership at Williamstown will result in the theater's demise very quickly. Mark my words.

Gwyneth Paltrow *is* Lula in Dutchman at Williamstown Theatre.

Between the apprentices demanding salary and Jeremy O’H, the venerable Williamstown is royally screwed.

The most nonsensical racial casting is having a black woman play Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Hermione is a freaking WASP.

How many times do we have to beat this topic to death?

Can't we just beat r506 to death?

Williamstown has much bigger problems then O’Harris will ever be able to solve with programming. He’ll see what’s going on and flee immediately. It a huge mess. They’re barely able to get together a season this year. They’re just using him for his limited name and likely won’t be able to do or will refuse most of his suggestions.

The Black Cable is in the Goodspeed production. Williamstown is not doing South Pacific, they don't have the money to do The Fantasticks, much less SP.

Also, Lula in Dutchman is a white woman, originally played by Shirley Knight.

^^^ Sorry about that, I originally posted correctly that SOUTH PACIFIC with the black Cable will be at Goodspeed, but then in a later post I mistyped it as Williamstown.

[quote]Williamstown has much bigger problems then O’Harris will ever be able to solve with programming. He’ll see what’s going on and flee immediately. It a huge mess. They’re barely able to get together a season this year. They’re just using him for his limited name and likely won’t be able to do or will refuse most of his suggestions.

Sad state of affairs that so many regional theatres have trusted the stewardship of these organizations to incompetent people, however well-intentioned that might have been. In decdes past, there were famous examples of financial mismanagement that had to be corrected by the new Artistic Director, but by and large the board and the AD ran financially responsible ships.

Whatever gifts Jeremy O Harris may have, he doesn't have any administrative or financial oversight skills and he has never dealt with a board. How can this be anything other than a set up as r509 pointed out. Also,, what evidence do we have that Jeremy O Harris is capable of creating a season, casting and staffing the season and working with the Board to get it funded and supported.

Boards are always a pain in the ass for Artistic Directors, they want to meddle with artistic content which has always been the big problem. However in years past there were always an accountant or a lawyer or some financial person demanding oversight. Days gone by

Why has there been no press release from Williamstown re Jeremy O Harris?

[quote]How many times do we have to beat this topic to death?

We wouldn't have to do so if people didn't somehow keep coming up with more and more ridiculous examples of color-blind casting (f that's the right term for it). The two major plotlines of SOUTH PACIFIC are that (1) the young white Navy nurse Nellie Forbush from Little Rock, Arkansas, loses it when she finds out that the man she's planning to marry has two Eurasian children, the product of his relationship with an Asian woman who is now deceased, and (2) Lt. Joe Cable of the USMC rejects the Asian girl Liat, with whom he's very much in love, because he knows he could never marry her and bring her home to his mainline family in Philadelphia. Nellie, after a struggle with her upbringing, learns to overcome her racism, but Cable does not. For this reason, having a black Cable (or an Asian or black Emile) would completely negate the foundational point of the show.

It reminds me of the thread we had that was a competition: how early in a play or film can you insert a line or an action that totally stuffs up the plot? Well, casting people of any color but white in those two particular roles in South Pacific does it the moment they walk on.

How about we remake Gone with the Wind with black Wilkeses? Assassins could benefit from a black John Wilkes Booth, I reckon.

There are some lines the most woke casting cannot cross without making nonsense of the work. Though I do understand that making sense of the work is rarely the priority on the US stage any more.

[quote]I do understand that making sense of the work is rarely the priority on the US stage any more.

Indeed, that's a huge part of the problem.

It’s always a huge shocks when people who were creatives show up for a job that requires them to administrate R512. Administration requires entirely different talents that creatives almost never have.

That's certainly true, R517. But I wonder, is it possible that the powers that be at Williamstown are bringing Harris aboard only to make artistic decisions, and that the administration of the company will be done by others?

The Self Pacific casting seems pandering at best, but if they can make it about anti-Asian racism, especially during WWI, they could make a good point. Even a black man from Philadelphia can’t be involved with a Polynesian girl. All racism isn’t black.

WWII. Typo.

[Quote] Why has there been no press release from Williamstown re Jeremy O Harris?

They can’t afford carbon paper.

True, R19, but a very important part of Cable's character is that he's from an old-money, mainline family in Philadelphia. There are some references to that in the script, and it's made even more explicit in the song "My Girl Back Home," which was cut from the original Broadway production but restored for the film version and the Lincoln Center Theater revival.

Why would any theatre company want JOH in charge of artistic decisions, unless they just needed someone on whom to blame their demise?

^^^ excellent question :-)

Obviously the reason there's been no press release announcing Jeremy O Harris is that they can't afford internet.

JOH is in no way a match with the general sensibilities of Williamstown Theatre Festival, aka WTF.

This is a crass, cynical approach to making this festival work, a festival that is barely even existing any more, and only existed as long as it did because of the free labor provided by all those interns and apprentices.

It's stunning to me that this mid-level talent gets the amount of opportunities he does. I will tip my hat to his mastery of self-publicity and self-promotion on social media, but that's where the praise stops. Rarely has so little talent gotten so much industry attention.

Jeremy will bring in that massive BIPOC community in the Berkshires.

HAHAHAHAHA, R527!

R527's joke points up what Harris will actually do at Williamstown, i.e., alienate whatever audience the festival has (or had) left. His appointment greatly amplifies the alternate meaning of the acronym WTF.

Of course, the white Berskhires audiences that go to WTF, Tanglewood, and Jacob's Pillow are predominantly liberal and educated.

Philip Boroff is the current Broadway bottom feeder, following in the legacy of Riedel and Alex Watchel. Boroff seems intent on exposing everyone's capitalizations and operating costs, and doesn't do much on personalities like Riedel did. He always takes aim at ATG and The Shuberts "non profit" status. Him reporting on Jeremy O'Harris is sort out of left field for him.

So you seem to think a black person can't be biased/racist against an Asian?

Interesting. I heard O'Harris was up for The Lincoln Center job. This makes more sense.

R530 that sounds like me!

Dorinda Medley

[quote]So you seem to think a black person can't be biased/racist against an Asian?

They certainly are in New York City. There has always been tension between black people and Korean market owners. The black people say that they are tired of being watched when they enter a Korean market and the Korean owners say they are tired of getting ripped off by black people who shoplift.

When I think of Williamstown, I always think of Blythe Danner.

When I think of Blythe Danner, I always think of...

[quote]When I think of Blythe Danner, I always think of...

They had to put a disclaimer in the Playbill: No chorus boys were intentionally hurt in this production.

[quote]So you seem to think a black person can't be biased/racist against an Asian?

No one here wrote any such thing.

I hope everyone here realizes it's Jeremy O. Harris, and are only typing O'Harris as a joke. Or are they confusing him with Robert O'Hara?

Jessica Lange was 100 times more compelling in Mother Play than Paulson screaming her way through Appropriate. That extended silent scene with Lange alone in her apartment drinking and making herself dinner was better than the entire 2.5 hours of Appropriate and its exhausting self-righteousness about the South. I don’t understand the hype.

It might be Paulson’s “turn” to win the Tony, but she’s nowhere near the level of Lange.

[quote] I hope everyone here realizes it's Jeremy O. Harris, and are only typing O'Harris as a joke. Or are they confusing him with Robert O'Hara?

I typed it as a joke and was the first one to do so on this particular thread. I assumed others were just in on the joke.

That extended silent scene made me think Lange had forgotten her lines.

R543. What an amateur

Several shows are on the talk show circuit next week. TODAY's Broadway Week has The Outsiders, Hell's Kitchen, Suffs, The Notebook and The Wiz. Good Morning America is celebrating 30 years of Disney on Broadway on Thursday, so at least Aladdin and The Lion King. The Great Gatsby is on The Tonight Show on Wednesday. Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger are plugging Mother Play on The View on Monday. And The Jennifer Hudson Show has the touring company of MJ on Thursday.

Drew often has on guests from Broadway. Any info on her schedule?

No Broadway guests for Drew next week.

I’m pretty sick of ABC’s constant promotion of Disney. Does NBC do that much for Wicked?

It does feel like ABC is constantly plugging Aladdin and/or The Lion King. I guess that's also a side effect of shows that run for years at a time.

Apropos of nothing, all the performances for the upcoming London run of Slave Play are showing ticket availability to be 'good'. This is even with the presence of Kit Harrington. I'm a little surprised.

Disney has long had a strong cross-promotional strategy.

Almost every hit ABC sitcoms over the past 30 years has done a Disneyland episode. I’m sure the writers hate doing them. Even he mist cynical characters have to be written as Disney fanatics.

[quote]Apropos of nothing, all the performances for the upcoming London run of Slave Play are showing ticket availability to be 'good'.

Perhaps the white audience members are tired of spending hundreds of dollars on tickets to a lecture telling them how racist and evil they are.

And why would UK theater goers care about US slave politics and psychology

And why would they think Kit Harington is a draw? Game of Thrones was five years ago, since when he's done nothing of note.

Because Jeremy O. Harris is a genius, R553

[quote]And why would they think Kit Harington is a draw? Game of Thrones was five years ago, since when he's done nothing of note.

Actually, he was a surprisingly good Henry V. Or is Shakespeare not noteworthy enough?

In terms of drawing an audience to Slave Play? No, it isn't.

He’s famous and was the lead in a water cooler show for nearly a decade. That’s about it.

[quote]Almost every hit ABC sitcoms over the past 30 years has done a Disneyland episode. I’m sure the writers hate doing them. Even he mist cynical characters have to be written as Disney fanatics.

I figured this would happen once Disney took over ownership of ABC, that the network would basically be turned into a 24-hour commercial for Disney and its products.

What the hell happened to my Tony nomination?

Everyone believes Iger's next move it to sell off the network properties -- it's a dying business and streaming is the future. Once that happens, they wont' have an ABC mouthpiece.

Paulson interview.

SLAVE PLAY will be exposed for the limp dick it is in London. There's no wave of wokeness for this overrated mediocrity to ride this time.

I predict NBCUniversal will release a full trailer of Wicked very soon, maybe even before the Tony Awards.

Slave Play bombed in NYC. It bombed in LA. After London, what's next, a sitcom version?

Any guesses whether or not the Wicked film(s) will help or hurt the Broadway box office?

Terrible time to try to sell TV properties.

In addition to the business being in decline, Paramount is already trying to sell its properties.

[quote]Slave Play bombed in NYC. It bombed in LA. After London, what's next, a sitcom version?

"Slave Play, the Musical," silly.

Slave Play: On Ice

The only one I'd go see is "Slave Play - All Nude!"

Naked Slaves Singing

One more week left for Lempicka. I wonder if we'll get another closure announcement this week.

Saw Heart Of Rock And Roll last night. It's next.

I volunteer to personally console Corey Cott.

Saw Mary Jane - it was fine and the cast was great, but sort of a strange play. Slow and sad. I liked it but my friend was bored and I noticed a few people got up and left.

I didn’t realize the playwright is married to Sam Gold. Very sad they had a daughter who was sick and died. I don’t know whether a no-name playwright with no connections would have gotten this specific play to Broadway… but I guess that’s how it always goes.

I have not seen Appropriate but I did see several clips during the Sarah Paulson interview that aired this morning. Does she scream her lines during the entire performance?

Yes r576. She screamed the entire show when I saw it. Her voice was quite hoarse. I assume from all the yelling.

I think she’s a great actor, but this performance felt very one note.

The play was also very preachy and the lines she was screaming were quite cliched, which didn’t help.

I'm getting the distinct impression that the Tony is tilting towards Jessica Lange now.

Will she bring her bag of tricks onstage with her to accept the Tony?

[quote]I'm getting the distinct impression that the Tony is tilting towards Jessica Lange now.

If you're getting that impression based on comments you're reading here, I'm not sure if it's wise to make those your guide.

Jessica really wants that Tony.

Why else would she subject herself to appearing on Kelly and Mark where she was obviously uncomfortable?

R581 I thought the same thing. Couldn't they book her somewhere better?

I'd love to quiz Jessica on Below Deck trivia! She's welcome in my clubhouse anytime!

Parsons and Bolger on The View today. Jessica must have said no,

I'm not a big Paulson fan, but saw her matinee yesterday, and she was very fine. There's a lot of yelling throughout by almost everyone (It's about a family disintegrating befoer our eyes) but her. monologue in Act 2 is masterful, and she will have earned her Tony.

r580, I actually got the impression Jessica Lange will win the Tony from watching Sarah Paulson yesterday on CBS Morning in clips from Appropriate. If those are best clips Appropriate can provide to impress us with her performance I remain unimpressed. I also have this sense of Lange being celebrated in the press and PR for her return to the NY stage, whether it's deserved or not, as some sort of big comeback.

Admittedly, I haven't seen either of their plays.

Both are alumna of the Ryan Murphy Scream Queen Repertory Company. Paulson's performance is in a play with more nominations than MOTHER, so that may help.

And FWIW Jessica Lange just won the Outer Critics Circle Award over Paulson, Rachel McAdams, Jeremy Strong and Michael Stuhlbarg.

[quote]Parsons and Bolger on The View today.

Estelle and Ray?

A group of 5 sitting in front of us at STEREOPHONIC on Friday did not return after intermission. At least we didn't have to duck around their heads to see what was going on. And one of the gentlemen couldn't stop checking his messages every minute or so.

[quote]I volunteer to personally console Corey Cott

His wife and kids will take care of that.

I think Jessica will get the Tony as well.

Sorry Sarah, better luck next lisp

[quote] And FWIW Jessica Lange just won the Outer Critics Circle Award over Paulson, Rachel McAdams, Jeremy Strong and Michael Stuhlbarg.

FWIW? Nothing.

I’d like to be the filling in a Corey Cott and Casey Cott sandwich.

New Wicked BTS video. Full trailer coming on Wednesday.

It looks pretty gorgeous.

I just got the original Illinoise cd album from the library; anything I should be listening for?

Haven't seen Illinoise, but wondering if all of the songs are sung by Stevens, as on the album?

R597. there is a trio of singers that sing the score

[quote] The Outer Critics Circle's membership includes writers working for more than 90 newspapers, magazines, broadcast stations, and online news organizations worldwide. David Gordon leads the group as president, with a board of directors that also includes Richard Ridge, Joseph Cervelli, Patrick Hoffman, David Roberts, Cynthia Allen, Harry Haun, Dan Rubins, Janice Simpson, and Doug Strassler.

enough said.

Galileo. "A Rock Musical."