THEATRE GOSSIP #569: The Move It Along, TUTS Edition

I am ready to spend whatever it takes on chorus boy dick.

Chorus boy dick is why the song “What I Did For Love” exists.

I don’t read these threads because I’m not a theater gay, but I do love that they exist.

NPH is negotiating to appear in a big Broadway show in the Spring.

Matthew Broderick and Neil Patrick Harris in “The Roommate: The Male Edition.”

For those not in the know, "chorus boy dick" refers to post 524 from the last thread. The DL stagedoor Marys had narrowed down the dressing room location to either TUTS or UNT and, possibly, the actor/dancer's name to being "Tyler".

This is much more fun than that Sondheim mystery play.

[quote]NPH is negotiating to appear in a big Broadway show in the Spring.

If it's not a new show, I'm guessing CABARET.

NPH, Jonathan Bailey, and Jonathan Groff in "The Odd Throuple."

[quote]Cute! I like it, [R-596]. As an uncommitted delegate, I will commit to giving you a WW.

Shouldn't the WW belong to R-580 in the previous thread?

(I deliberately inserted the hyphens so that it wouldn't try to refer to a nonexistent post in this thread.)

Yes, here's a shout-out to R580 from the previous thread :-)

R9 - history is written by the victors. I have dispatched my WW to the OP of this thread. The die is cast.

If NPH wanted to be a replacement, why would he do Cabaret? It’s not seem as a success, the production is tied to another actor, and the role is physically demanding. He may as well play Hermes in Hadestown.

R12 - perhaps he's think of the Lea roadmap here. The analogy doesn't EXACTLY hold because Redmayne HAS been selling tickets. But he's also been dealing with critical indifference and outright pans of his performance across social media. Perhaps NPH thinks he could come in, keep the box office humming along AND get much better reviews for his performance.

That said, perhaps it's a bit unusual to have one of the stars of the prior revival join this production?

{quote} NPH is negotiating to appear in a big Broadway show in the Spring.

I wish it was Tammy Faye.

What a trajectory that would be ... Eddie Redmayne to Adam Lambert to Neil Patrick Harris.

NPH would be more likely to star in Floyd Collins. Unlike Lea Michele, he has no need to try to turn around a stagnant revival.

Is there a role for a 51-year-old in Floyd Collins?

R16, although I despise the current production of CABARET, it has been a big hit so far and may continue to be with Adam Lambert. As for FLOYD COLLINS, I'm not sure NPH's voice is quite good enough for that score.

I don't kneel, it bags my nylons.

Folks, NPH already played the Emcee in the Mendes production. He was one of many replacements during that production's 6 year run.

So unless you're saying he'll be taking over for Bebe Neuwirth as Fraulein Schneider, it's likely not Cabaret.

R20 who is taking over for Bebe when her contract ends? It would be a great role for women of a certain age.

Barbara Walsh

Christine Ebersole

He’ll, even DL fave and sometime villain Karen Ziemba we would be fine in the part.

[quote]who is taking over for Bebe when her contract ends?

Tuesday Night Donna Murphy

Does this Schneider woman tap?

NPH already played the MC as a replacement in the Mendes production. Seems very unlikely.

You DON'T say, R24!

No...

Am I r580 from the previous thread? I was the poster who first brought up TUTS.

However, now that I've zeroed in on the Playbill covers, I think it's unlikely it's TUTS because they don't do shows like Antigone, Seven Guitars and The Book of Will. It's strictly musicals and very light fare. A college might very well do those shows though.

But if it's a college dressing room, would they really have official Playbills?

Here's some (minor) theatre gossip that I don't think's been announced yet:

MCC is producing a new musical version of What's Eating Gilbert Grape? this coming season, directed by its original author/screenwriter Peter Hedges (father of Lucas).

Also, Ethan Hawke, Lily Rabe and her husband, Hamish Linklater will be the stars of LCT's Ghosts at the Mitzi Newhouse. Directed by Jack O'Brien, if Patti and Mia don't kill him.

Floyd Collins is a very good guess for what NPH is considering. The show is anything but audience-friendly, so a huge star with the chops to pull it off and put asses in seats for an obscure title (albeit brilliant) would be best bet for producers. If NPH can do Hedwig as well as he did, certainly adjustments could be made to the vocal requirements and make it work. Nobody cares if he’s a bit too old because nobody knows the source material and actual real-life story anyway.

Neil Patrick Harris *IS* George Surat

Solea Pfeiffer *IS* Dot

Also, NPH performing “How Glory Goes” (certainly the only take away tune for the masses) along with cutesy late night TV interviews would definitely sell the show well.

I said it before but I left at intermission during the current production of Cabaret. Eddie was pissed at me but he'll get over it. That birthday hat and jodhpurs were just too much, not to mention that maze they created in the theater. What a mess!

Hard to believe NPH puts any asses in seats these days. Does he really? He wouldn't play Floyd, would he?

[quote]Hard to believe NPH puts any asses in seats these days. Does he really? He wouldn't play Floyd, would he?

Maybe he's going to play Roxie in "Chicago."

He's taking the Vincent Price role in Darling of the Day with David Burtka in the Patricia Routledge role.

One of the actors in The Wiz brought her tablet out onstage for the curtain call. She was obviously face timing with someone who was visible on the tablet. She held it up so they could see the audience. WTF. That kind of behavior might be acceptable at TUTS but this is Broadway.

r32 How do you know Eddie was pissed if you left at intermission??

Because R32 was playing Sally Bowles, R37.

R27, it’s definitely UNT. No other theatre has done those shows. And I assume he’s college age and not older, in case they rent space out to touring productions like some universities do.

To paraphrase a favorite 1980s miniseries:

“All right. Which one of you bitches went to UNT?”

First graduating class of UNT College (aka CUNT).

There are dozens of university theaters with white-painted cinder block dressing rooms who do those kinds of shows. Why must this one be UNT?

R28-Is Hamish Linklater playing the son????

Sorry, don't know the play well enough to answer that, r42.

What's the scoop on "Maybe Happy Ending"?

Maybe Never Happening.

Ironic that 'maybe' is in the title.

Maybe...this time?

NPH + David Burtka in a revival of "Puppetry of the Penis."

Well, R48, at least ONE of them would be great casting in that :-)

David Burtka will never work in this town again since he skipped out on the Tyne Daly show several years ago!

[quote]David Burtka will never work in this town again since he skipped out on the Tyne Daly show several years ago!

He is a louse!

From all reports, R50, he behaved like an absolute shit on that show. FWIW, he did appear in an Off-Broadway production of THE GOD OF CARNAGE last year. His acting was okay in it, no more and no less, but now that he is losing his looks, there doesn't seem to be much gained by hiring him over anyone else.

[quote]he behaved like an absolute shit on that show.

Tyne should have kicked him in the cuntbone.

When it was announced that he had left the show, we here at DL speculated that Neil had wanted to head to the Hamptons and gave David an ultimatum.

Were it the “me too” era way back in the late-90s, David was aggressively sexually propositioned by Edward Albee as a struggling actor auditioning for The Play About The Baby. He agreed to do fully nude scenes and “audition” (aka be naked) before he was even cast, and he was… those who remember may know there was an animatronic actual baby robot and more nudity for “The Boy” played by David in previews before Albee finalized the script. He did a brilliant job in an excellent play.

I loved THE PLAY ABOUT THE BABY, R54, but hot as Burtka was in it, I'd scarcely have called him "brilliant" in it or anything else. Kathleen Early was also a non-event as his opposite number. It was all about Brian Murray and the fabulous Marian Seldes, and of course Albee's wonderful writing.

R54, at the time it supposedly happened, I had heard exactly the story you tell about Albee going after Burtka during the "audition" process.

Well, R55, as with Tony nominee Billy Magnussen in Durang’s Vanya &… etc., who has done it better since? Sometimes the hot young thing roles are written in a time and a place by the authors for a specific actor and can’t be bettered.

If you’re not Arthur on this thread, then who the fuck ARE you?

Hear, hear, r57!

MOAR chorus dick. Please.

Burtka's production of God of Carnage was some zero budget vanity production that no one went to or cared about.

r54, how do you know this? You tell the story as if it were fact.

True, R61, but I was still surprised to see him back on stage in NYC.

David is a horrible actor. He's a much better housewife. And he can cook, too.

[quote]And he can cook, too.

David Burtka IS Brunhilde "Hildy" Esterhazy!

Broadway for Harris:

R66 Laura Osnes will show up, vaccinated and looking for work. Hey, even she knows when enough is enough.

[quote]Broadway for Harris:

How gratifying!

I just don't get Albee's appeal or genius. Sue me.

Hell's Kitchen not sold out last week. Outsiders and Hadestown (after 1500 performances!) were.

Someone recently wrote somewhere that THE GREAT GATSBY is "dying" on Broadway? Any evidence of that? Though I HATED the show, I know it started out very strong, but maybe that only lasted as long as all the Jeremy Jordan fans were buying tix.

Mighty ‘The Wiz’ Skips Away With Hefty $2M In Weekly Ticket Sales – Broadway Box Office:

r71 You can quite easily look up the grosses yourself

R73, I had already done so, and what I read certainly doesn't look to me like the show is "dying," so I was wondering why someone posted that. Maybe they just don't know what they're talking about.

R6 The naked dancer was identified at LPSG as Marty St. Pierre, apparently around the time he was doing the Nutcracker last December in Richardson, Texas. (You can see the red coat hanging in the back closet in the photo.)

He's with Ballet Papillon in Dallas, Texas. Someone wrote that he quit some socials previously (and may have had an Only Fans as well?), but his instagram now is: marty.stpierre

Nutcracker, indeed.

Just to add ... The Only Fans account is where the "Tyler" comes from. St. Pierre uses an alias there and goes by: TylerBlonde12. The account is still there, but he hasn't put anything up since February. Because of this, there are other nudes out there.

Dick 10

Face 5

Marty’s more recent facial hair does him no favors. Blond beards Frequently make one look more waged out and bland. Good body and dick though.

Is Marty straight?

If there’s a dick to find, DataLounge will crack the case.

The actress at the WIZ closing was holding up a FaceTime of the actor playing Evilene (Melody Bets) who was out sick,. It was thoughtful.

What's Matthew Morrison doing these days?

Installing aluminum siding.

In Murietta Hot Springs

Melody Betts was also out of THE WIZ when I saw the show early on. I wonder what her general attendance record was?

R85. Better than Desert Hot Springs.

I stole Marty St. Pierre's dance card after an audition. You know what it read?

Cock- 10

Looks- 3

I miss all the gossip and scandal on Broadway. I used to be so deeply involved in the industry and so connected. Then one day I realized it was so shallow and back stabbing and I just didn't want that anymore. Maybe it will come back to me. The whole business is teetering on the edge. The cost of tickets, the cost of producing a show. It's not sustainable. Everyone clawing for every nickel and dime.

R80 Don't know.

Marty was also working as "Tyler LaBare" at LaBare, a "Las Vegas style" male revue show catering to women in Dallas - a girl's night out party club.

His Instagram for that is: tyler.oflabare

He may not doing that type of dancing any longer, though, because he's not listed with the dancers at the club's homepage, and his last video of performances there was up July 2023.

Why wasn't Jon Ossoff with the GA delegates if Rafael Warnock was?

Ooops, wrong thread ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Rafael Warnock would make an excellent Billy Flynn.

[quote]I miss all the gossip and scandal on Broadway.

[quote]Then one day I realized it was so shallow and back stabbing and I just didn't want that anymore.

Well which is it?

The fact you were "so connected" and yet now apparently everyone you were once connected to has cut you off says quite a lot.

R94. Laurette Taylor, he's not!

[R89] - Hi Scott

R91 he was lookin’ for a Nutcracker online!

His is the Nutcracker Sweet.

R60 Las Vegas style review? Looks more like a slightly tricked out VFW hall that Tyler.oflabare was working.

Why would they xtend the Broadway run of Hadestown with Jordan Fisher and Maia Reficco? It's not as if the tickets are selling out with them in it.

[quote]I had already done so, and what I read certainly doesn't look to me like the show is "dying," so I was wondering why someone posted that. Maybe they just don't know what they're talking about.

That NEVER happens on DL!!!

R75 - My goodness, look at you, Miss Marple! That's indeed him! I'm usually a big fan of beards on men. In Marty / Tyler's case, I think he looks much better without it. Beards often make plain looking AWGs look hotter. Weirdly, in his case, I think the facial hair downgrades him. He looks quite dashing on that Nutcracker poster.

Fat whores rejoice:

[quote]Ian McKellen says fat suit saved him after ‘horrible’ stage fall

Datalounge Fat Whores scoff at puny Ian McKellen's fat suit.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1986, "Rags" opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre.

[quote]THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1986, "Rags" opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre.

And at the end of the curtain call, they were told the show was closing.

I’m actually surprised this show got a cast recording since they only performed 4 performances and a few previews.

It also seems strange to open in the middle of August. Couldn’t they wait until after Labor Day?

If you're planning on entering the lottery for Water For Elephants, be aware you'll be buying partial view seats, something which is NOT stated on the Telecharge Lottery site. You only find out after you've paid for the tickets.

[quote] Why would they xtend the Broadway run of Hadestown with Jordan Fisher and Maia Reficco? It's not as if the tickets are selling out with them in it.

Hadestown has been playing to 100% capacity since June, r100.

Sure it has.^

Well, RAGS got sort of a cast album. Negotiations broke down with leading lady Teresa Stratas to appear on the recording.

Teresa Stratas was fine in Rags. Nothing more. I was happy Maryann Plunkett won the Tony that year.

Stratas

R110 I thought I was the only Diva who always was stymied by “negotiations broke down”

Charles Strouse is a bit of a puzzlement. I sometimes feel bad for the guy. Very talented. Had a couple of hits in the 60s and, of course, the massive success of Annie in the 70s, but, in-between and since critical and financial flop after flop. I wonder if he ever felt a tinge of jealousy watching some of his contemporaries -- like Sondheim, Kander, Lloyd Webber -- have more frequent successes.

I mean, I'm sure he's never wanted given his Bye Bye Birdie and Annie royalties, but, still...

Just got a notice about an upcoming production of "Waitress" at La Mirada. I was surprised to see that Cleavant Derricks is playing Joe. (Apparently he also played it at Ogunquit recently.)

It’s so sad that the author of Waitress never saw how successful her story became. Her death was tragic.

I’ve met Charles Strouse (did a couple of workshops of his musical version of Marty.)

Lovely man, and yes, Annie and Bye Bye Birdie brought him enormous wealth (and Applause was a bit hit at the time, albeit tricky to revive).

But here’s the thing about him. He’s NOTORIOUSLY cheap. I went to his apartment to sing through the score of a new show he was working on, and told the other actors and me that dinner would be provided.

When we finished, out came the jar of Skippy, a loaf of Wonder Bread, and a bag of potato chips. True story.

R116. Beautiful, heartbreaking documentary

[quote]When we finished, out came the jar of Skippy, a loaf of Wonder Bread, and a bag of potato chips. True story.

It's the hard knock life, bitches. That's more than Hannigan gave us.

r117 - that's hilarious! Shame he hasn't had more successes, but nice that he'll (hopefully) be around to see ANOTHER Annie revival on Broadway this coming season.

R120-WRONG. 50th anniversary is 2027.

When I performed on the Tonys, one of my castmates brought a phone onstage and called friends during the performance.

R121 - isn't the Whoopi Goldberg production coming sooner than that?

R122 / Patti - where'd you bury the body?

Catherine Cox did a favor for Charles Strouse singing on some demos. They went out for lunch afterwards . Charles mentioned at lunch that the movie rights for Annie had just been sold for more money than any other theatrical production in history. They then split the check.

[quote]When we finished, out came the jar of Skippy, a loaf of Wonder Bread, and a bag of potato chips. True story.

Not even jelly? Cheap!

Nicholas Strouse, Charles’ son, was taking over from Matthew Broderick in Brighton Beach Memoirs. He was miffed that he and his wife Barbara weren’t given comps. So they bought standing room.

You can tell so much about r121's personality by that "WRONG"

I have no tears for Strouse. Many composers would kill for his track record. ANNIE and BIRDIE would make anyone proud. Not to mention parts of ALL AMERICAN, SUPERMAN, and most of what I think is his best work, GOLDEN BOY.

[quote]SUPERMAN

Well, except for casting Linda Lavin.

Hey, r130, she knocked Possibilities right outta the park.

R130. "It's a bird, skiddlily, skattilly, scoot...it's a plane, ba bum bum fa fum....it's...."

R127 Sorry but you're very wrong. It just so happens that I was there standing in the back with them. They were too nervous to sit.

Jason Graae did it better.

R88 "But I wanted mine in proportion".

I heard that, you bitch!

Nice, R130 -- perpetuating one of DL's most tiresome trends, namely that Linda Lavin is some kind of hack/fraud/self-regarding joke. She's a thrilling stage actress who has sustained a career of many decades, but her detractors here only know ALICE and Andrea Martin's impersonation of her on SCTV. Yawn.

Strouse also composed "Those Were The Days," the song which opened every episode of All in the Family.

That must have been a good chunk of change right there.

But speaking of also rans, Martin Charnin had no other mainline success except Annie.

Well, compare with Harnick & Bock.

Graae has a huge dick.

R137. Insert eyeroll emoji here.

Derricks played Joe at The Muny this summer. I saw it, he was great. Jessica Vosk was a revelation in the part. Best I've seen...

R108 Not even close. Seats always available and revenue dropped in June and continues to go down.

So you're trying to pretend they're lying about the grosses rather than admit you're wrong?

Seagull with Blanchett directed by Ostermeier in London in the Spring.

Documentary on the Canadian production of Godspell.

[quote] The documentary will follow the original cast, which includes Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Paul Shaffer, Andrea Martin and Dave Thomas

[quote] Also included in the documentary will be audio recordings that Short made of the musical and intimate parties where the cast drank, partied, and perhaps fell in love during intimate gatherings.

Were Victor Garber and Eugene Levy doing it?

Eons ago, the very mention of Graae's name on DL would cause an eruption of negative posts.

[quote]Eons ago, the very mention of Graae's name on DL would cause an eruption of negative posts.

Why?

Vosk is not a revelation in…anything.

What a revelatory post, r149

Not sure, r148. Just a lot of posters hating on him.

Working Gurl

Dang. Who's spilling outta that speedo? 👀

[quote]Margaret Leighton, Bette Davis, and company during a rehearsal for THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA at the Royale Theatre in 1961.

When I saw that photo on Bygone Broadway in a thumbnail I thought it was a production of South Pacific. Just imagine Bette warbling Honey Bun.

[quote]Margaret Leighton, Bette Davis, and company during a rehearsal for THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA at the Royale Theatre in 1961.

Bette couldn’t handle herself around the men so I had to take over.

Work Hard Or Die Trying, Girl

I find that Night of the Iguana photo funny because it was probably taken during dress rehearsals before laughing Bette realized it wasn't her show and she would be eclipsed by Margaret Leighton, even with her orange wig.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1935, "Smile at Me" opened at the Fulton Theatre.

Smile...

Avis Andrews

[quote] Strouse also composed "Those Were The Days," the song which opened every episode of All in the Family

And that’s not the only TV theme song he did. He also did some film work, including scoring the original film of “The Night They Raided Minsky’s,” which included at least one theme which later wound up in Annie.

[quote] Graae has a huge dick.

Not as huge as Howard McGillin’s, though.

R162, that’s true! Plus he’s got a big ol’ Prince Albert in it!

I wonder whatever happened to the stage musical of The Night They Raided Minsky's which was done at the Old Globe and (I think) was directed by Casey Whathisname? I assume Strouse wrote the music.

Fun source material (not too well-known like SLIH) and nifty idea for a Broadway musical but then, I'm old. I think Casey also directed the musical of Robin and the Seven Hoods that also never left Sand Diego.

Boy this thread is crashing. Lol does anyone have any gossip or pointless bitchery?

Eh, not all gossip threads have to be over and done in a week. This one did shoot itself in the foot with "Move it along" in the title.

r165

who are you blowing lately BL?

r164 Do you mean "Minsky's"? I saw it in LA and thought it was Broadway-worthy. Lyrics were by Susan Birkenhead; book by Bob Martin of "Drowsy Chaperone" fame.

Oh! I couldn't have gotten more of that info wrong, r168. Thanks for the correction and link, it is the production I meant. I did say I was old ;)

Whatta ya got on Robin and the 7 Hoods?

What do we think of Bombshell?

I sense they are aiming Bombshell at homosexuals.

I'm just ready for Smash to finally do what it was supposed to a decade ago, open on Broadway and flop shortly after.

R172 to be fair isn’t that true of everything?

Some Like it hot - bomb

New York, New York - Bomb

Death Becomes Her - probable bomb.

[quote]Dang. Who's spilling outta that speedo?

R153 - could it be Thesus George, who is listed in the IBDB credits as "Hank"? I don't know the play, so not sure how many characters would be seen in their swim trunks? Anyone know? Impressive figure on Thesus, though. Night of the Iguana is his only Broadway credit. Guessing he was hired more for his physique?

And, we apparently lost Thesus earlier this year. He had a hot ass, but....

It's ThesEus!

No, actually the young man in the speedo in that Night of the Iguana photo would be an actor named Bruce Glover who played Wolfgang, the German son who's staying with his family at Maxine's (Bette Davis) hotel. They all appear in bathing suits in one scene (and it may be their only scene).

Hank, IIRC, is the bus driver who drives Reverend Shannon and his lady tourists to the hotel.

Info is courtesy of IBDB.

Bruce Glover is Crispin Glover's father.

.....and, sorry, but Hank never appears in a bathing suit in the play.

Though there are two Mexican beach boys Pancho and Pedro, who work for Maxine and run in and out in all sorts of skimpy clothes. Originally played by DL faves James Farentino and Christopher Jones!

Nevertheless, the only truly great scenes are between Shannon and poet Hannah Jelkes

[quote]the only truly great scenes are between Shannon and poet Hannah Jelkes

Hannah and her hand jobs...

Patti LuPone's favorite fictional "hero" is Neely O'Hara.

I take this as a confirmation that she reads DL once in a while.

I'm very disappointed in you, LuPone.

Patti was 17 when the book came out and I'm sure she devoured every page.

I know the conventional wisdom is that the film of “The Night of the Iguana” is not successful, but over the years I’ve come to like it, especially for the performances of Deborah Kerr (always great), Grayson Hal (who is a hoot and simultaneously very real), and Ava Gardner, who I think gave her best performance in this—her Maxine gets under your skin in good ways. Ironically,, I think Burton’s performance is the least interesting, but may be a function of Williams giving him the most preachy dialogue. I’ve never seen it onstage.

Having done a good production of the play of Night of the Iguana, I'd still say the film is an improvement because it can open up to the real and genuine exotic setting of the Mexican beach resort. It's a play that's not helped by the theatricality/phoniness of a stage set.

I've never been drawn to it. I've seen parts of the movie and the Roundabout production.

Hannah's not a poet, R175 -- Nonno, her grandfather, is.

Oops, you're right, r187. I believe Hannah draws tourists' portraits for money.

Cyril Delevanti was good as Nonno in the movie; he was nominated for a Golden Globe.

R177 / R178 / R179 - Gosh, good detective work! You must be right because even though the pictured actor had a NICE ass, his physique wasn't as muscular as the late Theseus'. It kinda makes it all the hotter, though. Theseus is conventionally gorgeous with an incredible body, whereas Bruce is less conventionally attractive. Am I wrong? I think there's something hotter about someone... less expected suddenly being hot. Like the actor who played the kinda dweeby boyfriend of the ginger dyke on Sex and the City. I gasped the first time he took his shirt off on that show.

So... anyone had Bruce? Aside from Crispin's mother.

Anyone got a Paywall free version of the Patti interview at R181? My usual Chrome plug-in isn't working there.

R153 - is that Hitch with the short grey hair and in the more modest women's bikini?

R191 Can you read the archive.ph version?

R193 - yes! Thanks so much! Will bookmark that for future paywalls. BTW, I'm having trouble picturing what she's describing. Is "egg shell" some kind of alternative name for a trinket?

[quote]a real eggshell with a lighted scene from Anything Goes inside

I think "a real eggshell" is an alternative name for "a real eggshell".

[quote] Patti was 17 when the book came out and I'm sure she devoured every page.

Is that when she developed her taste for chewing scenery?

Apropos of nothing, sharing Instagram links now means that when clicking on the link it creates a pop-up message that identifies the account through which the link was originally copied: ‘[account name] shared this reel with you’.

I think this can be avoided by editing the URL before pasting, but I thought I’d point this out in case anybody’s unwittingly identified by posting what would otherwise be an anonymous link.

R194 I'm guessing she means that she has some kind "Anything Goes" memento that's like a diorama where a scene from the musical is depicted inside a real eggshell, and it can light up. Crafty-people still make such things. (Refer to Etsy, Pinterest, and eBay.) The link below is for a gallery dealer who sells such things. Some items show they are lighted. You can also find large vintage eggshell dioramas made from goose, ostrich, and owl eggs.

By all accounts, she and bestie Mia are still getting along? Will that stay the same when the reviews come in?

The original production got mostly poor reviews in Chicago. I don’t see them improving much here.

Ticket sales are also poor.

I have tickets the last week in October, I hope the play holds on that long!

Thanks for the gift link, R193. I didn't realize the article was paywalled.

Interesting how Patti includes Thomas Hardy as one of her favorite authors. Perhaps Eustacia Vye (and Neely) influenced her performance in Evita.

Would love to have seen this Iguana 7 yrs ago

That's quite the cast, r201!

Heard a rumor yesterday that Maybe Happy Ending fell apart again, and the money needs to be returned, but haven't heard it verified. Anyone with the scoop?

[quote]Perhaps Eustacia Vye (and Neely) influenced her performance in Evita.

She could have been quoting Hardy for all I know--I knew all the lyrics of Evita before I saw her in it, and I could barely recognise any of them.

Yes and Blythe Danner bumped into Follies dancers.

Briefly back to Graae-I remember instantly hating him when he pronounced Sondheim’s name in the song “Everybody Loves Sondheim But Me” as “Sundime.” And he ain’t even British.

Minsky's at the Ahmanson was delightful. I was disappointed that it didn't go to Broadway - it was quality stuff and Rachel Dratch was terrific.

Not to worry, R199, Patti and Mia will book every talk show that'll have them to promote this turkey. I'm sure 60 Minutes is circling the Booth already.

Idina Menzel saw Stereophonic and posed with Eli Gelb. Are those smiles because he fucked her with that big thing in his pants? And what is the deal with that cravat around his neck? Does he use it to chloroform his female victims?

That's a nice hairy chest at R209. Hairy chests usually mean hairy asses. Notice his belt is not all the way in.

I will never understand the gay's obsession with Patti....Everything I've seen her in -- with the exception being "master class" -- she's been a barking away. Didn't see the original EVITA, though...

I thought she was great and fun in ANYTHING GOES. And in GYPSY. Only heard the EVITA soundtrack and she sounded lovely.

[quote]r212 = Only heard the EVITA soundtrack and she sounded lovely

That was Madonna.

R209 - Taye Diggs

“Soundtrack”????

Sorry, original cast recording, Marys.

[quote]Marys

I'd rather be a Mary than ignorant.

Have another drink, darling R217.

What other big dicked Broadway gypsies have our ranks gotten nasty with?

I only fuck women, R219.

Why has no one here ranked the male cast of Stereophonic on sex appeal? You bitches are slipping.

I’d like to see Jon Hamm play Reverend Shannon.

I'd like to see Jon Hamm play with himself.

Btw, he's putting the ham in Hamm. The booze is making him fat.

Re: the Stereophonic men, if it's about looks, Chris Stack wins hands down, with Will Brill and that hillbilly-looking goon in last place. Gelb is in the middle, but a Jew with mutton chops? The other guy is such a prick onstage he qualifies only as a hate fuck.

R224 - Agree on Christ Stack! Still images don't quite capture his sexiness, either. And, as I recall, in one scene, with his shirt open, he revealed a surprisingly nice body. Excellent performance, too...

[quote] he revealed a surprisingly nice body

Not surprising at all, R225.

For r225. Stack has the body. Is Eli Gelb fat?

Big dick energy but a bit of a gut. He's too young for that.

In r227's photo is Stack the shirtless guy on the left or the one with headphones on the right?

Shirtless guy on the left, R229.

That whole Stereophonic cast was fabulous. I wonder if they'll eventually take that cast to London or on tour.

They should bring the American cast intact to London, R231. The Brits do it here all the time.

The Freaking out of Stephanie Blake

Any eldergays remember Party which was on Theater Row in the 80’s? The cast was pretty amateurish and there was only one decently attractive guy in it (David Pevsner) but the bit where the youngest one mistakes soundtracks for cast albums and it gets an over the top reaction from the gangly homely one was funny.

I'm going to be in NY in late September / early October. Any new shows scheduled to open then catching your eye? Thus far, I have some interest in...

THE HILLS OF CALIFORNIA

MCNEAL

OUR TOWN

YELLOW FACE

GOOD BONES

Our Town sounds like a dumpster fire. An updated version? Oh, please.

Our Town is very difficult to ruin, though Jim Parsons will make a valiant effort. The David Cromer version was definitely “updated,” and it was probably the best version I will ever see.

I was reading an old thread about Broadway stars who are supposedly "nice" but are actually two-faced (it included Debra Monk, John Benjamin Hickey, Sutton Foster, Brian d'Arcy James, Kristin Chenoweth...).

Do these claims hold up to this day? Any other names that could fit to be on this list?

Anybody here work with Rachel Roberts? What a tortured soul.

[quote]Any other names that could fit to be on this list?

Petty LuPone

Ben Platt.

We've often wondered exactly why Jonathan Groff is such close friends with Lea Michele, and if it says something about himself.

r238, Hickey and Monk, yes. Both very self-absorbed phonies.

d'Arcy James and Kristin, no, they are both sweet and delightful.

Never worked with Sutton but never heard a bad word about her.

The full ls from that thread, for anyone that's curious (from 13 years ago):

"Nice Broadway stars that treat everyone well, from a production assistant at the first rehearsal to an on the street encounter with a dresser 5 years later:

John Lithgow Angela Lansbury Cherry Jones Brooke Shields Keith Carradine Judith Ivey Hugh Jackman Allison Janney Boyd Gaines Jan Maxwell David Hyde Pierce Beth Leavel Valerie Harper Gary Beach Judith Light Christopher Sieber Chita Rivera Sandy Duncan Tyne Daly Richard Thomas

You could be their co-star or a cleaning lady, they'll make you french their hem:

Nathan Lane Lauren Bacall Linda Lavin Mary Louise Parker Mandy Patinkin Elaine Stritch Raul Esparza Jeremy Irons Diahann Carroll Liz Ashley Patti LuPone Tovah Feldshuh Joel Grey

And the worst, in my book - the ones who pretend they're super sweet, but are actually completely self-absorbed and always looking over your shoulder for someone who can do more for them:

Debra Monk Brian d'Arcy James Victoria Clark Hunter Foster John Benjamin Hickey Kristin Chenoweth Sutton Foster

Middle of the road people (like Bernadette, who is nice but doesn't particularly go out of her way, or Stockard, who is rather chilly but not poisonous to be around):

Bernadette Peters Stockard Channing Michael Cerveris Norbert Butz Laura Linney Roger Bart Karen Ziemba Roger Rees Audra McDonald Victor Garber

Just bizarre:

Bebe Neuwirth Betty Buckley Frank Langella Liza Minnelli Alan Cumming Christine Ebersole"

I've worked with Sutton twice. She's kind to everyone, and likes to have fun. Sort of a private personality, but she's also a mom and that's clearly a focus.

[quote] You could be their co-star or a cleaning lady, they'll make you french their hem: Nathan Lane Lauren Bacall Linda Lavin Mary Louise Parker Mandy Patinkin Elaine Stritch Raul Esparza Jeremy Irons Diahann Carroll Liz Ashley Patti LuPone Tovah Feldshuh Joel Grey

I've worked with Elaine Stritch and I would put her in the totally self-absorbed category.

She showed up on day one, walked into the rehearsal room, pulled out a brown paper bag and said to everyone who could hear within a 30 mile radius: "I'm diabetic and I need a refrigerator to store my insulin." No "Hello", no "I'm Elaine Stritch" no, "And what's your name?"

I've worked with Kim Hunter. She was very professional. Pleasant woman. Rather quiet. If you engaged her, she would talk but didn't go out of her way to socialize.

Sharon Gless. Sweet but very airheaded. Came in one day and said she slept on top of the bed covers because the hotel staff hadn't been in to turn down the bed.

The list by R244 was invalidated to me as soon as I saw Judith Ivey’s name. The woman is a viper. She actually charged guests to attend an actor friend’s birthday party-at her own home. I think it was in a high rise where she and her well-off husband lived.

[quote] And the worst, in my book - the ones who pretend they're super sweet, but are actually completely self-absorbed and always looking over your shoulder for someone who can do more for them:

Jane Krakowsky embodies this.

French their hem? Typo or glamorous expression?

I only heard the "thin" part, Liz.

Idina Menzel went from scalding hot Taye Diggs to her fellow RENT OBC featured player (and, later) See What I Wanna See co-star, gorgeous Aaron Lohr. It’s debatable who has the more amazing body and/or dick, but at the time of See What I Wanna See when Idina and Aaron “reconnected” their surprisingly explicit sex scenes in the show proved it was more than acting going on and she and Taye broke up shortly thereafter.

WEHT Aaron Lohr?

Never heard of him.

I agree with r244's production assistant's list of all the nicest people. I've worked with many of them. Especially loved John Lithgow, Tyne Daly, Richard Thomas, Cherry Jones, Boyd Gaines and Valerie Harper.

From my experience I would put the late Roger Rees in the category of nicest ever. He could be adorably flirty and make everyone feel sexy. His untimely death was truly tragic.

I found Judith Ivey to be tricky. When she was not happy, it was everybody else's fault. Lots of bitterness there after such a promising start to her career in the 1980s. Raul was another tricky one, he could be so gloomy, but I adored him.

Frank Langella was utter poison, not what I'd call bizarre. I didn't find Christine Ebersole bizarre either, she was lovely and very engaging.

I’ve never heard a bad word against Bernadette Peters but I’ve never heard a good word about Patti LuPone

This man Austin Colby is going on as Gatsby tonight

Dame Angela Lansbury (RIP) and James Earl Jones were/are two of the kindest, generous and most hardworking actors of theirs or any generation. I’m so very glad their masterful Driving Miss Daisy was filmed - they truly adored working with each other and made it a joyous and fantastic experience for everyone involved.

I can only hope his costumes aren't available to him, r255.

Daisy, Jordan and NIck are also being played by understudies tonight.

It's that time of the year on Broadway.

Though it lately always seems to be that time of the year.

It's my night to shine!

Patti and Mia are sharing a standby in The Roommate. Guess the budget is tight.

I’ve found Kate Burton to be warm, friendly, generous, and smart. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is professional, but shy by nature, which can come off to some people as distant.

Will they get more returns if Patti is out or if Mia is out?

[quote]Will they get more returns if Patti is out or if Mia is out?

In order to give returns, the show must first have an audience.

Hi Marsha! @264 sorry we missed your performance in A Little Night Music. We heard it was…off-putting in a “Marsha Mason” type of way

Get ready for a rocky fall on Broadway. Too many shows and not enough audience. Advances no where near what producers/theater owners hoped. Summer not the boon that was anticipated. At some point someone will wake up and get Times Square back from being the shithole it is.

God this has become so boring. What's going on with "Maybe Happy Endings"? Did they find their $?

R266, maybe it’s that tickets are nearly twice as high for shows half as good. Not a big mystery.

[quote]At some point someone will wake up and get Times Square back from being the shithole it is.

What exactly would that entail?

[quote]What exactly would that entail?

Getting rid of the costumed people trying to make a buck.

[quote]maybe it’s that tickets are nearly twice as high for shows half as good. Not a big mystery.

Exactly!

Plus, does premium seating really work? Do people really pay $700 to sit fifth row center?

With a face like Kristin has, for God's sake, one is enough!

One of my first up close celebrity spottings was Cherry Jones at the Equinox on Greenwich Ave on a quiet Sunday afternoon. She and I were sharing a piece of equipment.

When I realized who she was, my eyes bugged out. I had adored her in The Heiress and couldn’t stop staring. She could have gone to another part of the gym floor, given me the stink eye, or said “stop stalking me, you weirdo”. But she didn’t, she gave me the nicest smile, acknowledging that she knew that I knew who she was. I will never forget how kind she was to me that day.

Linda Lavin, on the other hand, humiliated me with her dismissiveness in a restaurant after I complimented a Broadway performance years later.

I’m sure it’s hard for celebrities or well-known people to be nice at work or in public all the time, but it’s amazing how far just a smile or thank you will go.

I saw Linda Lavin in The Sisters Rosensweig -- she gave me a cold shoulder from the stage.....and I was in the 20th row.

Talking of Cherry Jones, I saw her in The Grapes of Wrath at London’s National Theatre this past Saturday night. She’s fine in it, but Christ - what a clunker. I can appreciate how Galaţi’s adaptation might have - and has - worked perfectly well in other productions, but here it felt overlong and shapeless.

I studied with Gslati (one course). His adaptations were brilliant, but they were also highly dependent on his magical gifts as a director—his staging and character were transformative. The magic was not on the page per se.

Linda Lavin once threw a fondue pot at my head while on an Air India trans-Atlantic flight. And I had my sleep mask on!

Melted cheese or hot oil?

[Quote] Getting rid of the costumed people trying to make a buck.

You haven’t been there in a while, have you? Spidey is the last of its problems

Linda Lavin gave me 10 pages of notes! Handwritten!

Is this is same show that Mia and Patti are in? I can not see either of them in either role

Anyone else hearing Rudin is back in the game behind two shows this season?

[quote]Anyone else hearing Rudin is back in the game behind two shows this season?

Yes. He's working on "Gary 2" and "Keep Shufflin' Along."

[quote]What exactly would that entail?

Bring back the Gaiety!

That’s really interesting, R276. Have to admit that I’ve never seen another production of Galaţi’s version, but I felt very much while watching this is one that it’s as good an adaptation as one could hope to get out of the source material. Any missteps were entirely the fault of the production - it contains a number of musical interludes, which are nice enough and performed well, but which stop the drama dead.

Cherry Jones’s eyes are just slits now these days! Perhaps she had too much wrath in her grapes

Is Audra McDonald going to do a one-woman Gypsy? The previews start in November, and we have no idea who her co-stars are!

Hell, I don't think even Audra knows at this point too!

Paul Giamatti is Herbie.

R234, there was certainly more than one attractive guy in PARTY. Here's one of them, as he looks now. Still very handsome.

R289, weren't Gatton, Pevsner and the rest of the cast nude for the entire play, or most of it?

[quote]I was reading an old thread about Broadway stars who are supposedly "nice" but are actually two-faced (it included Debra Monk, John Benjamin Hickey, Sutton Foster, Brian d'Arcy James, Kristin Chenoweth...).

In my experience, that is not true at all of Kristin or Brian. Don't know about the others.

Austin Colby is indeed scorching hot, as per the photo above. He must have gone into GATSBY straight from MIDNIGHT OF THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL. In some video clips from that show, he look absolutely spectacular.

Beanie Feldman is Baby June AND Tulsa.

Here's this week's grosses. Time must be running out for Harry Potter.

‘The Outsiders’, ‘Stereophonic’ & ‘Oh, Mary!’ Sell Out As Other Shows Wilt With Summer Doldrums And Kid Freebies – Broadway Box Office:

And what do those three shows have in common?

They all offer something new, something not overly familiar and safe.

Does Sardi’s get kickbacks? Today I walked past and they had a poster for the Mia Farrow Patti LuPone show in their glass case facing the street.

R297, I very much doubt they get "kickbacks," but I've never been sure how they pick what show poster (actually window card) to feature in that glass case. Maybe it's whatever is the next Broadway show scheduled to open?

Or close— these days could easily be one and the same.

Whatever show has their opening night party there?

These grosses don’t look good. Book of Mormon is making about as much as Suffs, which is not a lot and puts both in the bottom five. It could be a rough fall and winter for both newer and older shows.

"Book of Mormon" is tired. It can't run forever.

Did you hear that from a talking salamander, or read it on a gold plate?

It baffles me that anyone who wants to see Book of Mormon hasn't already seen it by now, on Broadway or on tour. And it's not as if there's a new generation of kids who'd be into it, like Wicked.

Enough already! Close the damn thing. Same with Chicago, but that goes without saying.

Chicago and The Lion King will never leave. Wickeds and Hamiltons will come and go, but these two will haunt humanity till the day we are extinct.

I thought the same thing about Phantom, R305.

Chicago is a lot cheaper to run than Phantom and Lion King.

With Phantom, it seemed like some people would go every time they made a cast change to Christine or Raoul, and later the Phantom, after McGillin finally exited.

Notebook, elephants, and back to the future can’t be long for this world, especially the last one which must cost a fortune to run

But BTTF already announced they were closing in January!

Back to the Future's failure suggests you can't turn a profit when you're entirely dependent on tourists (most of whom don't know any better). Though maybe it's raking it in in London for all I know.

Do you have a source on that one, R310? I'm not seeing anything.

Too many shows will close and too many will open and it's going to be the same shitshow as last season. Even "Hell's Kitchen" is declining...They opened in May.

Well, at least we won't have as many shows clogging up the long-runners list.

Someone should do a revival of Dracula and recreate the Edward Gorey costumes and scenery.

It truly amazes me that BOOK OF MORMON has run this long, given some of the content -- like that song whose title is basically translated as "F&#CK God in the ass!" and the bit about having sex with babies to cure AIDS.

I'm not aware that there has been a closing announcement for BACK TO THE FUTURE.

I think we're just naming shows we want to see close.

I'm guessing that the elements that made DRACULA a huge hit would produce yawns today. Even Langella's performance.

If Mormon opened today, there'd be a circle of SJW surrounding the theater trying to conflate Utah Uganda imperialism with Gaza

Some of Broadway is going dark on Election Day:

It seems like the actress playing Tammy Faye wont be doing 8 shows a week

[quote] Joining the company are Autumn Hurlbert as the Tammy Faye Bakker Alternate..... Ms. Hurlbert’s performance schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.

If "Oh, Mary!" runs long enough to replace the cast, who would make a good Mary Todd Lincoln?

Billy Porter

Fally Sield, in a triumphant return to Broadway…in the glow of her smash hits Missabyl, Norman’s Ray and Misplaced in the Heart.

[quote] If "Oh, Mary!" runs long enough to replace the cast, who would make a good Mary Todd Lincoln?

I believe Cole's understudy is a woman. I'll bet they cast a woman replacement to underline that THIS IS A PLAY, not a drag show.

Hannah Solow is listed as Cole's U/S.

Hairspray never allows a woman to play Edna

It’s a drag alright.

I’m surprised SUFFS isn’t on the list of shows going dark on Election Day

Autumn Hulbert was on that Search for Elle Woods reality show and she was definitely a standout. It was down to her and some bland chick who they ended up casting. Autumn was cast as a sorority girl and was an Elle understudy but I don't think she ever went on. She went on to have a very nice career.

I think the Edward Gorey "Dracula" could still work -- given *exactly* the right director and cast. (Same issue with "Hollywood/Ukraine.") I saw "Dracula," and it was terrific (and had a enormous jump scare that made the audience shriek and then laugh for not seeing it coming, myself included). The Gorey production ran for three years and was directed by Dennis Rosa who seems to have directed nothing since, per IBDB.

Brian d'Arcy James is a sweetheart. I've only had lovely interactions. I met him once briefly and we've since talked a few times at parties and openings and he sort of remembers me but will still have a long conversation and give me the time of day (even when I don't ask for it.) I haven't found Norbert to be chilly at all. He's very down to earth and while he doesn't go out of his way to befriend everyone in the room, he is always friendly and makes you feel like you are his equal. He's also somewhat self-effacing despite being an enormous talent.

[quote]Same issue with Hollywood/Ukraine.

Hollywood/Ukraine only worked because of Tommy Tune and the 1930s nostagia craze was just fading out.

Did this get discussed?

NON PAYWALL LINK BELOW

About time.

That's great news about Ivo. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving, more untalented fellow. Maybe now all the dirt will come out about what really happened with the replacement of the performer who was originally cast as Riff in Ivo's despicable WEST SIDE STORY production.

[quote]Hannah Solow is listed as Cole's U/S.

Interesting. I would have assumed having the role played in drag would be essential. Has Hannah gone on before?

(Note: I haven't seen Oh, Mary yet so... perhaps I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.)

Not surprised that THE OUTSIDERS is a hit, saw it at the matinee today.

Forgive me if someone else has had this take on it already, but I think it is one of the most shrewdly-engineered-to-be-a-hit shows I’ve seen in a while. The creators/producers know their audience of thirty and fortysomethings, many of whom read the book when adolescents.

In look and choreography it’s a little bit “West Side Story,” a little bit “Grease,” a little bit “Rebel Without a Cause,” full of beautiful boys who are beautiful losers (two of them beautiful martyrs) until one of them fights his way out to the middle class his audience is already in. The score is lyrically on the nose but serviceable (the “Stay Gold” song is more than that and is the 11:O’Clock number — the 4:20 number at matinees). The lighting is a huge aid to the general mood and cinematic feel of it all.

I think the cleverest thing they did was craft a musical accessible to straight males and one they can enjoy and cry at unabashedly, the theater equivalent of “Field of Dreams.” Because it’s all about “Bro” love — passionate love for ones’ friends and for ones’ actual brothers. But there are enough girleens dressed in pastels to keep it from every seeming gay, even as the constant macho posturing and swaggering is homoerotic for sure. Should make a profit.

R340 - interesting. I wonder if many straight millennial men are going to the show. Presumably, demos haven't changed much and the majority of tickets are bought by women.

(And, of course, we gay men are over-represented in relation to the gen-pop.)

Speaking of "The Outsiders," any gossip on cutie Brody Grant?

Although Brody Grant's body is not really on display in THE OUTSIDERS, it definitely was in the Encores! production of PARADE, in which he played the young soldier at the top of the show. And as you can sort of see in the pic at R342, his body is hot.

r338 What dirt?

R338, wasn't that Ben Cook who sprained bis ankle while dancing on the "rain-soaked" WSS dance floor? He seems to have made a full recovery as he's been performing as one of the stars of this season's Illinoise. Was there dirt besides the slippage?

Not that I'm trying to defend Ivo.

The one thing about Ivo von Hove that actively pisses me off is his absolute refusal to rehearse onstage violence. (insists that rehearsed stage violence doesn't "look real".) And the actors wind up halfway attempting...something because they're terrified of hurting each other and it looks like absolute shit.

Half of his shows I've loved. Half I've left wanting to burn the fucking theatre down. Am I surprised to hear he's an abusive asshole on top of everything else? Nope.

He works well with dwarves —

[quote]Maybe now all the dirt will come out

Well if you know about it, why don't you share it? Are you the same tedious poster who hints at some gossip but then never actually bothers saying anything?

Dwarves are very upsetting.

Yes, R345, it was Ben Cook. And the dirt -- or part of it -- is that Isaac Cole Powell, who played Tony, was also injured during rehearsals (or previews, I forget which) and Ivo waited for him to recover so he could go back into the show, whereas Ben was immediately replaced. Maybe the real story of what happened there will now come out.

Of course, the even worse dirt is arguably that Ivo kept that lengthy rain effect in the show even though more than one performer was injured because of it. He sounds like real Eurotrash scum.

I’m curious how this will impact International Theatre Amsterdam’s repertoire and touring going forward. Some of the van Hove productions have toured internationally for years, and I imagine must have provided a steady stream of income for the company. If they permanently retire all of the van Hove productions, it will leave a gap in their programming and probably a not insubstantial loss of income. (And explains why the problems that have recently come to light were tolerated for so long.)

That's "dirt" now, is it?

It's very clean dirt.

Too bad we never got Ivo's Into the Woods where the ushers spread pitch on the stairs of the theater just before intermission for a more immersive experience

R351 they are bringing Beanie to Amsterdam for FG

R352 and R353, what's wrong with you that you don't think the circumstances of Ben Cook being injured and then replaced in WSS was a very dirty business? I'm sure he would disagree with you, as would anyone else with a heart (and a brain).

P.S. Let's recall that Ivo's WSS was produced by Scott Rudin, which might go a long way toward explaining why any abusive behavior on the part of the director was tolerated.

r356 'Injured actor is replaced' is hardly shocking. They delayed opening night to allow Powell to return because they thought he might win a Tony which would be good for the show. Where exactly is the "dirt" here?

And we might be a little more forgiving if you'd just said all this upfront, instead of trying to make it sound like some kind of mysterious gossip.

No one smelled a Tony out of that WSS

First of all, R358, when I initially wrote "maybe now the dirt will come out," I didn't mean that I had the dirt and was refusing to share it. I meant that, from what I read about Cook's injury and his immediate replacement, I suspect there was dirt involved. And the fact that Ivo is now under scrutiny for abusive behavior gives credence to my suspicions.

And again, it amazes me that some of you people don't see anything dirty about what happened to Ben Cook. It seems like it may have been a far more complicated situation than "injured actor is replaced," and I don't know why you can't see that as a possibility at least.

No where in that Times article does it accuse van Hove of ANYTHING other than leading the organization where things did go down ("an actress shouting at a member of the technical staff after an error" - "an actress said a colleague had grabbed her by the throat").

Yes the buck stops with him, but there are no allegations (as of now) against him personally.

As for me, I like a lot of his work - some of it not as much.

I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at the dirt.

Beanie's on the comeback trail ...

[quote]It seems like it may have been a far more complicated situation than "injured actor is replaced,"

How, though? You've had a few posts on this now and not once have you explained exactly how you think it was a more complicated situation

"Great Gatsby" star Sara Chase reveals cancer battle:

In ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ This Actor Is Above Suspicion:

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1934, "Kill That Story" opened at the Booth Theatre.

Booth Kill: That Story

R364, as I noted, when Isaac Cole Powell was injured, the producer and director of WSS waited for him to recuperate and go back into the show before they opened, but they didn't give Ben Cook the same consideration, even though the producer and director were responsible for his injuries (and Powell's) because of that obviously very dangerous rain effect on stage. You can argue that they waited for Powell because they thought he was more integral to the show, but to me, it's still sounds like Cook was done dirty. You're free to disagree.

Stop kicking me!

A chorus horse

A chorus boy

A hung like a horse-chorus boy

r367...

R370, someone asked me to explain my feelings, and now that I've done so clearly, I don't need to do so again.

P.S., are you the diseased cow lying next to the dead horse?

Two Cigarettes in the Dark

R371-A chorus line on a smooth surface. SNORT.

A theatrical love letter to stage legend - and DL icon - Linda Lavin.

Dear Linda,

Thank you for not being Bonnie Franklin.

Love, DL

[Quote] Presumably, demos haven't changed much and the majority of tickets are bought by women.

Yes, but many of those women have to take men – and they’d rather take them to a show they’ll enjoy.

it's Sheree!

Undoubtedly, Ben Platt or his dad had something to do with the Kennedy Center production. Beanie and Noah?

r378 - is that the case? It's not a rhetorical question. Does the Broadway League or, in general, producers have access to enough demo information of ticketbuyers? It would be interesting to know if the majority of two-or-more parties are couples or friends. Either way, I agree, it's smart to create shows that can appeal to that demo -- women who sleep with men.

I would have waited for Ben Cook.

Beanie Feldstein as Olive Ostrovsky makes perfect sense. Fanny, no. But I actually think that this looks a pretty strong cast overall.

It’s not selling well. The Kennedy Center has jacked up prices on this series and got their ass handed to them with half-full houses for Nine. They are super ambitious now, with Mamma Mia and Clue following up the tour of Back to the Future.

Interesting, R384. I didn't realize they had jacked up the ticket prices. Mamma Mia! and Clue sound like bad choices, but we'll see.

Tonight is the first preview of the Roommate!

Are any of you queens going?

[quote]Tonight is the first preview of the Roommate!

Linda Lavin will be in the audience taking notes so she can decide if she wants to do the HBO movie version.

[quote]Linda Lavin will be in the audience taking notes so she can decide if she wants to do the HBO movie version.

I heard she wants to wait for the musical.

R388. Only if I can work in a bunny suit and gangster drag.

r369 and whoever else needs to hear this: Ben Cook's ankle/foot was seriously injured. That's not something a lead dancer playing Riff can recover from in a matter of days, weeks or even months. Clearly, he had to be permanently replaced. And we'll never really know if there was an open invitation for him to return to the show when he completely healed.

Isaac Cole Powell's illness or injury was mendable. And he was apparently giving a spectacular performance as Tony. So, of course, there was no need to replace him.

Very simple. No subterfuge. Once again, I'm not defending Ivo; he wanted a rain-soaked floor, after all. Just explaining some facts.

Apparently? Not.

You didn’t even see it, did you.

R390 Spectacular....oh bless.

Actually, r391 & r392, I saw that WSS with Isaac's understudy, who I thought was wonderful.

I've not been a fan of most of Ivo's productions, but I did love that WSS. It was the first production of many WSS (going back to the mid-1960s Lincoln Center revival) in which I felt genuinely moved. I came into it very skeptically but was really won over.

Why did I think Ivo van Hove was Asian? Who am I thinking of?

[quote]apparently

I saw Isaac and he was fantastic. With all due respect to Tveit, I really think had the production stayed open, Isaac would have won the Tony that year.

Speaking of West Side Story, I recently read that in the movie version Marni Nixon had to sing both Maria and Anita at the end of the Tonight Quintet because Rita Moreno had a cold.

She approached the producers about getting royalties off the cast album and they turned her down. So Leonard Bernstein gave her a quarter of one percent of his royalties.

Thanks for that info, R390. Assuming it's true that Ben Cook's injury was far more severe than Isaac's, that would obviously a good reason why Ben was replaced by Isaac was not.

But yes, as you noted, it was still indefensible for Ivo to insist on that lengthy rain effect when it was obviously so dangerous.

r395

I love that video for 2 reasons

1. He sings it great

2. His over(bad) acting always makes me laugh

Did Natalie get royalties for the soundtrack, r397?

He's much more reserved here

I think lvo's a dirty business

Isaac’s career really cooled lately. 2020 was 4 years ago. On the cusp of stardom. A role on a Ryan Murphy show. Happily engaged.

Now bupkiss

Ye reap what ye sow.

Powell was excellent in West Side. The full nude picture that circulated was also excellent.

One of those performances was not like the other. His dick pic may have been Tony-worthy, but his acting wasn’t.

Speaking of West Side Story, why was that 1980 revival so poorly received. Granted, I was in 8th grade, but I thought it was great!

Oh, I had forgotten about the Isaac Powell nude...

Can't believe that he was once engaged to TayTay.

R407, there was some very bad casting in that production, and it wasn't well directed even though it was directed by Robbins. I guess maybe he was just too old.

[quote]Oh, I had forgotten about the Isaac Powell nude...Can't believe that he was once engaged to TayTay.

And they made such a big deal about their romance and their engagement in the press. I always cringe a little when new couples do that, because I think how embarrassing it's going to be if they don't last long, which was certainly the case here.

[quote]Speaking of West Side Story, why was that 1980 revival so poorly received.

Debbie Allen as Anita. Black women playing Puerto Ricans wasn’t going to fly.

Because there no Black Puerto Ricans? What an asshole @ 411

r411 is just being snarky, r412. That was Debbie's breakout role.

No he’s an asshole.

And Debbie Allen won a Tony Award for that role, so I hardly think she was the problem with that production of WSS.

Yeah, r414, that too.

Debbie didn't win, Priscilla Lopez got it for Hollywood/Ukraine, which was a makeup for ACL.

Ironically Debbie nearly got Morales in the first replacement Broadway company of Chorus Line. I think her very fat and unattractive legs hurt that. Lisa Mordente also wanted Morales but since she can't sing, dance or act, it would have been the ultimate nepo move. Bennett hired Barbara Luna who was fired within a week.

Debbie Allen was the best Anita I've ever seen. Best acted, danced and sung. A true triple threat. Sorry, Rita. But Lopez did deserve the Tony. Her 'Best in the World' song in act 1 and her hilarious Harpo in act 2 were fantastic.

Lisa Mordente played Anita at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre.

Lisa often performed with mom on Merv Griffin and she was cringe every time.

R415. She was nominated. Didn't win.

My mistake, Debbie Allen won a Drama Desk Award for WEST SIDE STORY and was nominated for the Tony but did not win.

[quote]Bennett hired Barbara Luna who was fired within a week.

Why was she fired?

R423. It's alright! No harm, no foul!

Barbara Luna was fired for her hideous French

R424 she was Bennett's pal from Hullabaloo so he wanted her and Barbara Monty in the replacement cast. Barbara was said to have given a terrible performance and she radiated glamour, which is not Morales. He told her to say she had a horseback riding accident in Central Park so she had to withdraw. Interesting video with Bennett, Mckechnie (Dean Jones pronounces it Ma-Ketch-nee, although he probably got it right during Company) and Suzanne Charney. Monty is also in it and Bennett cast her as the replacement Val.

Last night on Kojak:

*A Wind From Corsica*

[quote]An escaped convict's brother catches a deadly communicable disease. Kojak: Telly Savalas. Dominic: Joseph Hindy. Nina: Suzanne Charny. Dr. Lang: Milt Kogan. D'Amato: George Garro.

Barbara Luna was never a Hullaballoo dancer.

I saw the 1968 and 1980 revivals of West Side Story, both directed by Jerry Robbins, and they were both dull and disappointing. Much like that Chorus Line revival, they were museum pieces with no life, no freshness, no danger.

Barbara Luna didn't need no stinkin' Hullabaloo. She was making movies with Keir Dullea gone tomorrow.

Barbara was in West Side Story at Lincoln Center with Victoria Mallory as Maria and Kurt Peterson as Tony. I think Rita Moreno said she was considered for both Maria and Anita in the movie version of WSS.

And she was a dreary Anita, a surefire role, in that 1968 revival.

Shatner acted her off the screen

To bring it full circle, Bennett strongly considered Mallory for Morales in the first company. Her real name is Vicky Morales.

That’s a curve not a full circle.

Mallory was too squeaky/chirpy soprano for Morales. It would have been like casting Jane Powell in a Judy Garland role.

Sarah B or is it Wayland Flowers as Norma

How was her dancing, r433?

Dreary, r439. She was very beautiful; I'll give her that.

That was pretty bad

[quote]Mallory was too squeaky/chirpy soprano for Morales. It would have been like casting Jane Powell in a Judy Garland role.

She might have had an alto belt register as well. I have no idea, if that's true, but it's certainly possible.

So, who attended the first Roommate preview?

Funny you should bring up Jane Powell in a Judy Garland role, R437...

Patti gets the last bow

r438 - No brass in that voice.

Victoria Mallory was famously cast as Maria (WSS), Anne (A Little Night Music) and Young Heidi (Follies). Not exactly the resume of a belter.

Before she was on Broadway, Victoria Mallory was working for the children’s theater Prince Street Players.

Morales would not have been the same part with Vicky. They didn't write Nothing or What I did for Love until well into the process with Priscilla already cast.

A high school friend of mine saw the Priscilla Lopez/Larry Kert *Irma La Douce* tour.

What kind of revisionist history is going on here? Debbie Allen was a spectacular Anita.

This look on Patti is a hoot. I will say, she's been looking VERY healthy and well-rested lately. She could easily pass for being 10 years younger.

Maybe letting go of all that bitterness and resentment is keeping her skin smooth.

Someone on ATC said The Roommate is "boulevard fare". That must mean something to the eldergays? I Google and got no results and I'm coming up empty. But, i was born AFTER WWII.

R453, a “boulevard comedy” is from the French, meaning appealing to the broadest swath of the masses.

Playwrights like Friday, with comedies dealing with things like adultery and simple misunderstandings; their subject matter usually steers clear of politics or serious issues. Some of the biggest hits on Broadway of the 1960s were in this vein; plays like “40 Carats”and “Cactus Flower”; even “Barefoot in the Park”.

“Boeing, Boeing” is a perfect example.

If you want to see a rudimentary television version of the formula, it’s “Three’s Company”.

Sorry, “Feydeau” got autocorrected to “Friday”. My computer flunked Theatre History.

Mea Culpa.

[quote]Speaking of West Side Story, I recently read that in the movie version Marni Nixon had to sing both Maria and Anita at the end of the Tonight Quintet because Rita Moreno had a cold.

Not exactly. Rita Moreno did her own singing for "America." For "A Boy Like That," she was dubbed by Betty Wand. Marni Nixon dubbed Moreno's high notes at the end of "Quintet" because neither Moreno nor Wand could sing them.

(Maybe Moreno and Wand both had colds that day.)

[quote]For "A Boy Like That," she was dubbed by Betty Wand. Marni Nixon dubbed Moreno's high notes at the end of "Quintet" because neither Moreno nor Wand could sing them.

So she won an Oscar for lip syncing?

And yet I wasn't even nominated for an Oscar for "My Fair Lady" because of lip-syncing, R457.

R457. Well I won a Tony for sorta dancing.

It’s funny to me that LuPone has bitched for YEARS that Broadway dumbed down audiences and then she picks the dumbest play to come to Broadway with.

Worse than La Strada?

The Notebook is closing in December.

Can't believe The Notebook is lasting even that long.

R273, if you watch Nancy Meyers’ The Intern, there’s an early scene where Robert DeNiro gives Linda Lavin the brush off on the street which you might find very satisfying.

I saw Cherry Jones in the West End in The Glass Menagerie and she was an absolutely leaden Amanda Wingfield. I can’t imagine she brings much buoyancy to The Grapes of Wrath.

No idea why the National does this shit anyway - what relevance does a play about America’s Great Depression have in the current UK? It’s like they’re trying to make us (the UK) feel better about our own problems, the same week our new PM announced there’s a £5B hole in the previous government’s Spring budget, just weeks after the country was besieged by race riots. I mean, get crucial, NT.

R464. And, later in the movie, Lavin mouths Fuck You to DeNiro when she sees him with another woman. I like that movie. He and AnnE are good together.

I read R365's post, in which Sara Chase had a massive cancer operation during a break in rehearsals and went on to perform the show while having chemo. She admits that for a while she "relied heavily on understudies".

And I ask--OK, Lindsay, what's YOUR excuse?

[quote]Victoria Mallory was famously cast as Maria (WSS), Anne (A Little Night Music) and Young Heidi (Follies). Not exactly the resume of a belter.

I'm well aware of her resume, but many women who make their careers singing soprano also have workable chest/best registers. Is this news to you?

[quote]No idea why the National does this shit anyway - what relevance does a play about America’s Great Depression have in the current UK?

Are you really so simple and narrow-minded that you think only plays "relevant" to current issues and experiences in particular places should be produced in those places? And do you really feel comfortable in describing those plays as "shit" because they're not "relevant" to your own little life?

Well, there is a point in there. TKAM in London was weak tea compared to Broadway, for one example.

Flip-side: many kitchen-sink drama revivals don’t work well on this side.

TKAM?

TKAM!

The King and Mame?

To Kill a Mockingbird?

I don't see why a good production of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD shouldn't go over like gangbusters in London, anymore than I would be surprised that MY FAIR LADY and OLIVER! were such hits on Broadway -- to cite only two of hundreds of examples.

[quote] But, i was born AFTER WWII.

Wait, there was a [italic] second [italic] one?

[quote] I can’t imagine she brings much buoyancy to The Grapes of Wrath.

Yes, the Joads are illustrious for their buoyancy.

[quote]what relevance does a play about America’s Great Depression have in the current UK?

Starmer wants you to see what’s in store for you. You need to watch it as an instruction manual.

The Notebook had the most irritating non traditional casting in theatre history.

R475 you miss the intent of the earlier comment, which obviously was making a point about the success—or failure—of “uniquely” American stories on the London stage.

Further: to mix musicals and plays in reply to the poster’s particular point seems off-topic.

American in London, offered tix to see Cherry: I won’t be there, Ma.

There was a concert version of Ricky Ian Gordon's opera version of Grapes. It was surprisingly good. And relevant.

Grapes...

No. Just no.

Go feed the birds, Jane.

Ma Joad, for most of Grapes of Wrath is anything but a defeated victim.

She had gumption!

Rosasharn!

[quote]The Notebook had the most irritating non traditional casting in theatre history.

Agreed, and I really think that contributed to its lack of success. I wonder if they ever considered having the female character played by white actresses and the male character by black actors throughout, which to me would have made perfect sense for the story and maybe even made it more powerful.

But also, they should have only two actors playing each character, older and younger, not three. Along with the "color blind" casting, that was another stupid decision, no doubt on the part of Michael Greif, one of the least talented among Broadway directors who have had a number of big hits to their credit. (Michael Mayer is another.)

It also had a nearly unprecedented lack of content in the lyrics, character, and plot - even with the low bar set by Broadway musicals. I didn’t care about the casting, but the movie told far more about these people and their lives.

Interesting, R490. I thought the content was pretty much the same in terms of the characters and plot. Maybe you just liked the movie so much better because of the performances of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams -- and also because they played the two characters throughout most of the movie.

Having not seen or read any of the source material, the lack of consistency in the characters' races as time shifted in The Notebook was so needlessly confusing to me.

Because everything is black and white to you? Or not?

You’re not color blind, are you?

[quote]Ma Joad, for most of Grapes of Wrath is anything but a defeated victim. She had gumption!

I hate gumption.

[quote]Having not seen or read any of the source material, the lack of consistency in the characters' races as time shifted in The Notebook was so needlessly confusing to me.

And had you been familiar with the source material, it would have been only slightly less confusing.

P.S. Let's all ignore that idiotic remark from R493, who will apparently defend even THE most ridiculous casting in the name of "diversity."

No, just calling out the usual shitstorm seen on these theater threads. You be you in your little cave…safe from all those colored folks.

R496 It was stupid casting, having a fucking character change color, for Christ's sake.

Thanks for the effort, R497, but it's useless to try to talk sense to R496, who is obviously too far gone for that.

I mean, really, how offensive and idiotic to make the scurrilous charge that someone doesn't like to see black performers on stage just because they object to a show being cast with actors of different races playing the same character at different ages. It's utter bullshit.

r496 you’re out of line. No one said anything racist and the show is NOT colorblind. It tried an intentional race-forward concept that in truth fought the material. They imposed race on a story and failed. Next question.

Kind of an "exit interview" with Second Stage's departing Artistic Director. Yikes.

Great interview from Rothman! Brutally honest. I've worked a t 2nd Stage a few times over many years and always found Carole highly intelligent if rather cold and unengaging, but she's been a superb AD, the one who literally invented her theater and all it stands for. Shocking that she'd be "negotiated out" as she put it. The last few seasons have been incredibly successful.

I will say though that if she'd allowed guest artists to get to know her as well as we seem to in that interview, she'd have been getting a lot more love these past years.

non paywall link below (carole rothman)

[quote]I will say though that if she'd allowed guest artists to get to know her as well as we seem to in that interview, she'd have been getting a lot more love these past years.

That seems to me such an odd statement. Can you explain?

That article on Rothman identifies Second Stage's Broadway theater at the Helen Hayes, but Second Stage has taken to calling it just "the Hayes," apparently because they've been looking for a big-bucks naming donor and "the Hayes" is considered some sort of weird transitional name.

[quote]I’ve recently had a board member say that the biggest problem with Second Stage was that I wasn’t very nice. I don’t think anybody would say that to a man.

I am so tired of people like Carole Rothman and Lea Michele and Barbra Streisand and one of the several women for whom I've worked in the past making statements like this. I mean, I guess there must be SOME people in the world who feel that nastiness and bad behavior is more acceptable and more to be expected from men than from women, but I for one have never subscribed to that.

Sure, r503. On the productions I did at 2nd Stage, 3 or 4 going back to the mid-1980s and one that Carole directed, I never saw the emotion/passion she expressed in that NY Times interview. Never really got to see much of a personal side to her nor the opportunity to get to know her a little better and care for her. Nevertheless, I admire all she's done there and for the NY theatre scene.

Does that seem odd?

r505, do you really think a board member would have told a male Artistic Director that they ought to try to be nicer? And the board member might have even been a woman.

R507, of course I have no idea what that board member would have done. What I'm saying is that if I were a male or female board member of a theater company and I felt the male artistic director was not nice to the degree that it was an issue for the company, I would not hesitate to say so because they were a man. Also, I can think of at least one male, longtime artistic director of a theater company whom I heard was greatly disliked by many people, but again, I have no idea how many people if any expressed that to him.

Just because...

The Notebook is a far better musical than the Outsiders..

Eldergays, tell us about John Perkins in Wish You Were Here (Broadway, 1952)

I never met her, but from that Times interview alone I'd say she's unlikable at best.

[quote] How did you hit on the idea that your focus would be living American writers?

[quote] I really like working with writers. And I’m interested in living people.

OK....

r508, that's a lot of hypotheticals.

It happened to Carole Rothman.

Carole was a snart but very chilly person even as an undergrad at Northwestern.

"snart" = snotty and smart.

She IS right to be pissed about Second Stage giving up (the poorly named) Tony Kiser Theater.

What’s wrong with chilly? Not everyone is warm and fuzzy. That doesn’t necessarily make them unlikable.

Incredible how some people will make completely ridiculous arguments just for the sake or disagreeing with others -- like, for example, R517.

R516, what do you mean about the Tony Kiser Theater being "poorly named?" Presumably, that was a naming donor situation.

I'm pretty sure posting on Datalounge and critiquing people for being chilly are more or less mutually exclusive qualities.

Carole already has one strike against her because she produced Appropriate, which thrust Sarah Paulson onto the Tony stage!

r519: I rather think they are mutually inclusive.

With plenty of misogyny and bigotry added for good measure.

So, R522, anyone who says anything critical of any woman is a misogynist?

You’re projection, again^^

The post did not say any such thing.

Your*

Not at all, R523. The poster in question responded to a critical comment about a woman with a charge of misogyny.

What was it you JUST SAID about people making ridiculous comments in order to just argue?

I didn’t make a charge of misogyny in reply to a post. I was adding a comment to the reference of the “coldness” of the bitchery on DL.

My general statement stands, in particular to the commentary on the theater threads that often—repeatedly—reinforces outdated notions of women and minorities on stage, and elsewhere, in the theater.

Is "Woman of the Year" a good musical?

R529 when Lauren Bacall started singing, Ethel Merman shouted “Jesus Christ”

[quote] Is "Woman of the Year" a good musical?

Not great, but at least professional and completely watchable. Even a second rate Kander & Ebb score is better than anything we have today. Bacall brought star power, and her trademark flat vocals. She also got dunked with water at the end of the show, which was kind of unforgettable. There are some fun numbers, especially when Marilyn Cooper came along and stole the entire thing for 10 minutes in Act 2. For that alone it was worth it. I also went back to see Raquel Welch in it, who was better than you might have expected. Never made it in time for Debbie Reynolds!

Love Debbie but let's just say Tess Harding was not a good role for her.

Speaking of, here's Coopie in action.

It won Best Book and Score Tonys, but lost Best Musical to "42nd St."

If Linda Ronstadt had played the Tony game, she might have pulled Best Actress away from Bacall, which would have delighted Broadway.

Bacall and Cooper also won. Ranking the Best Musical nominees that year, for me, 42nd Street was probably the most satisfying, followed in preference by Sophisticated Ladies, Woman of the Year, and Tintypes.

Was there any controversy about Jerry Orbach and Tammy Grimes not getting Tony nominations for 42nd Street, or was it a matter of neither being interested in campaigning?

Orbach and Grimes were really eclipsed by the spectacle (and dancing) of the production. The show ran for years after they left.

I'm surprised Betty didn't have Cooper's big number cut. I woulda kicked her outta my show.

r534 - Love that song. There's nothing like that trademark Kander vampy melody pared with Ebb's wry lyrics. Then you add the contrast of the raspy glamour of Bacall or Welch with the delightful squeakiness of Cooper and you've got musical comedy magic.

[quote]I'm surprised Betty didn't have Cooper's big number cut. I woulda kicked her outta my show.

#MeToo

Not to belabor the 1981 Tony Awards, I wonder if Cooper would have won if Patricia Routledge had moved with Pirates of Penzance to Broadway after the Delacorte run. Routledge finally would have had the Broadway hit that always eluded her. She was also better than Estelle Parsons, who was fine, but nowhere near as funny.

Ooof. Babs Eden wasn't it here.

Debbie!

[quote]Not to belabor the 1981 Tony Awards, I wonder if Cooper would have won if Patricia Routledge had moved with Pirates of Penzance to Broadway after the Delacorte run.

Routledge already had a Tony Award. I wonder if the Tony voters would have voted for Cooper anyway.

Patricia Routledge was brilliant in the Pirates production. She had that specific comedic talent. But it’s understandable. She wanted to return to the UK and she was already slated to do workshops for what would later become Noises Off.

Because it was dropped after the Chicago run, and reminds me a bit of "The Grass Is Always Greener," here is perhaps one of the few comedic (and entertaining) numbers from Kander & Ebb's The Visit (or as it is remembered here The Fucking Visit), the acidic "You Know Me."

Cooper had been around for decades and that point and she was much adored. She finally got the accolades she deserved and the Tony was all hers. She was fantastic and went on to play the role for years on tour and in stock. She even played opposite Elke Sommer as Tess!

I remember Marilyn Cooper popping up for a cameo in the Encores! Do Re Mi and causing total pandemonium. There was a sequence where Nathan Lane's Hubie Cram is auditioning possible new pop music acts. In walks Cooper, dressed in little old lady garb, and she proceeded to growl a Comden and Green novelty rock & roll song in her distinctive adenoidal twang, with lyrics that went something like "Oooh, baby. WOWWWW, baby." Complete chaos ensued. She was one of a kind.

THe first time I saw The Grass is Always Greener was on the Tonys. Marilyn Cooper and Raquel Welch looked like they were in two completely different shows. It was really bizarre.

[quote]My general statement stands, in particular to the commentary on the theater threads that often—repeatedly—reinforces outdated notions of women and minorities on stage, and elsewhere, in the theater.

You're entitled to stand by that comment, and others of us are entitled to strongly disagree that this happens anywhere near the degree and frequency that you imply.

See? Linda lets others shine...

R551 just scroll up and read

Who knows?

And Marilyn Cooper was in the OBC of West Side Story, yet she didn't sing Something's Coming.

No, but she did get to sing "America" opposite Chita!

And she got to play Gypsy Rose Lee opposite The Merm.

R557 I love her but that's horrendous casting, even for an understudy.

I worked on national tour of Death Trap in the 1990s starring Elliott Gould (who was a dear but dreadful onstage) and Mariette Hartley (a sweetheart!) and Marilyn Cooper played the psychic. She was utterly adorable. I'd catch her and Elliott canoodling in the wings sometimes.

You know, he was dating Coopie when they were both cast in I Can Get It for You Wholesale, before you know who got in the way.

Any stories about Doug Wert, R559?

I just saw Chicago to see Robyn Hurder who’s dynamite. Max von E is very good but his mouth is so small you can barely see that he’s singing. I guess Ariana can do a cartwheel because they spit on their hands and then don’t do anything.

Yes, he was your typical soap opera hunk jerk. Sexy body for sure but not very bright or friendly or very good onstage (IIRC he did some sort of undressing scene....maybe getting out of wet clothes from an off-stage rainstorm).

Hard to imagine, R536 -- Ronstadt's reviews weren't at that level. Weak, weak year: the other nominees were Meg Bussert (BRIGADOON) and Chita Rivera (BRING BACK BIRDIE).

Well, if we're to listen to replacement Kay(e) Ballard's complaints about the Pirates of Penzance company, perhaps Patricia Routledge was simply ready to move back home.

R536, she got some very nice reviews, some bad ones but none savage like Bacall. Linda didn't attend any functions for the cast and didn't attend the nomination ceremony or the awards ceremony. I think the Tony Awards would have liked her to win but she didn't give them reason.

[Quote] Well, if we're to listen to replacement Kay(e) Ballard's complaints about the Pirates of Penzance company

Oh good another one of those bullshit posts from useless posters. Oh, please r564 please pretty please please please please share with us the secret information you have so you can feel superior.

R558. I read an interview with Cooper where she said the Louise understudy left a few weeks before the closing so she told the stage manager she knew the role and it was decided she would cover for the remainder of the run. And she, unexpectedly, ended up going on at least once.

Has Max Von Essen always had a small mouth?

Just noting that Marilyn Cooper might not have seemed like a natural Louise... but she was the original Agnes ("Now that I'm an actress, it's Amanda"), for which she must have been perfect.

Miss Bacall’s baritone searches for notes as a searchlight searches the sky.

Miss Bacall's win was the flavorful high point of this year's Tony Awards!

Kander and Ebb wrote two new songs for the tour of "Woman of The Year." That production ended with Bacall making a very messy cake. Whatever..

Something I didn't know until now: there's a scene in Applause where Margo films A COFFEE COMMERCIAL. Talk about your wasted opportunities, that Lauren didn't pull a Carol Channing and revive Applause in the mid-'80s, with High Point product placement.

Hey R559, I worked on that tour too. I'm trying to guess who you are. It was a small company. Are your initials NC?

Cooper also might have been a good Gooch in Mame.

According to IBDB, Marilyn played Gooch for the last few weeks of Mame's original run.

R532, let’s just say the grass is always greener…

You just never know what vintage show the conversation will land on.

Grind!

R566, not the poster but Kay(e) made the remarks in Broadway The Golden Years. She said that the discipline doesn't exist anymore because she never missed a performance but when she did POP, it was a joke how many people were out at every performance.

I hated the gays.

I saw Lauren Bacall in some piece of shit called “Waiting In The Wings.” Christ, what a WASTE of an evening in New York.

And the FREAKS at the stage door, harassing these women who left in turbans. “Can I get a picture??l” “Of course!,” they’d say. Then, from the disabled homosexuals with cameras, “Can you smile??”

I’d sooner sit through “Oh! Calcutta!”

Imagine if message boards were around during Andy Gibb's abridged run in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

R583. Yeah. Imagine that.

Lauren Bacall, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Woman of the Year rehearsal

Billy Flynn in a really fantastic tuxedo still makes no sense.

I saw Bacall play Alexandra del Lago to Michael Beck’s Chance Wayne in “Sweet Bird of Youth” at the Haymarket in London years ago. She was . . . Lauren Bacall and pretty fabulous. I remember nothing else about it.

Nora Mae Lyng – "One Of The Girls" ... the original "Forbidden Broadway"

[quote] Grind!

Ok, Grind was a train wreck, but gorgeously designed, and with a few decent moments. Almost nothing happened in Act 1, and then some racist white thugs smashed up the bicycle of the lead Black stripper's little brother. Curtain. Then, the show completely lost its mind in Act 2. Stubby Kaye played a burlesque comic losing his eyesight, so instead of getting glasses, he kills himself (although it allowed Carol Woods to sing her face off at his funeral with a song called ... "These Eyes of Mine.") Tim Nolen was a drunken neighborhood bum who it turns out had blown up his wife and child when he was an IRA terrorist. (I am not making this up). There was also a genuine comic showstopper where a gargantuan female stripper went down to pasties and a g-string, while Joey Faye, dressed in drag as her grandmother, nearly rocked himself to death. You had to be there. Still, I fondly remember Florence Klotz's fabulous costumes, Clarke Dunham's stunning set (including a moment after the opening number when the entire set spun around in several units and went from the marquee of the burlesque house to seeing a cross section of the entire theatre's backstage at once. Also, a great set of orchestrations from Billy Byers. And the Hellinger.

Ben Vereen walked out on Grind and it closed a week or two later with Obba Babatunde finishing the run.

r566, I am that poster who referenced Kay(e) and honestly thought anyone on a DL Theatre Gossip thread would automatically get what I was talking about. That moment of her dissing the Pirates company on the Broadway Golden Years doc were very memorable and got a lot of play in clips advertising it.

Sorry to have ruffled your feathers.

was not were

R591. I remember Kay(e)'s comment very well. Tgat was a terrific example. R566 is just another tired old queen who feels his/her/their HUGE insight and "encyclopedic" knowledge about "the boards" bests everyone else.

^^^That

The new thread's ready.

Closing ...

This ...

Thread ...

Out ...

BAJOUR!

This thread has been a grind.