Theatre Gossip #570: The "September Song" Edition

Do we know anything about the musical NPH will be starring in? Or is he waiting for "The Greatest Showman"?

Who's going to see Mia and Patti THE ROOMMATE? I'm hearing the play is inept, but the stars deliver, anyway.

OP, the thread should by all rights close out with Mr. Huston's version.

[quote]This thread has been a grind.

But no one bumped it.

With or without a trumpet.

I was ready to start the next thread. I had a significantly better title.

This thread is Hundekacke!

DVR Alert: Patti and Mia are being profiled on CBS Sunday Morning tomorrow morning at 9am EST.

A couple of friends went to the first preview of THE ROOMMATE. They were surprised by how slight, old-fashioned and short the play was, and they were even more surprised to discover that it’s Farrow’s show, with LuPone good but rather recessive in support of Mia (Ronan Farrow’s voice is heard in a phone message to mother Mia).

But they had a decent time and they thought Farrow was rather adorable and terrific.

R8 that happened with The Anarchist too. Lupone kind of faded when Debra Winger took command.

Maybe LuPone does better with men?

I know I do!

It's a long long way from May to December......

How about this thread stays limited to gossip about this century?

Fat chance, r11.

That would give us about three memorable shows to talk about, R11. If that many.

The CBS Morning profile of Patti and Mia makes me want to see the play. Patti admitted Annette Bening was first choice for her role and Mia even touched on her films with Woody. There were brief glimpses of the play and they just look wonderful together.

That CBS Morning segment will indeed attract a lot of ticket buyers. It looks like great fun, if slight.

I love Mia Farrow! I hope this gig brings her a career resurgence (though it doesn't necessarily seem like she's looking for it).

I saw Mia in Love Letters. She was excellent which was kind of a surprise.

R15, it doesn't bother you that apparently she's an insane harpy?

She seems anything but, r17.

Did you happen to watch the CBS Morning segment? Not that it alone would change your fractured mind.

[quote]How about this thread stays limited to gossip about this century?

You should be thankful that we only go back as far as the 20th.

I saw Mia in Romantic Comedy (1980?) and she and Tony Perkins were great together. Another slight comedy but they brought so much to it. I remember her being funny, charming and endearing on stage. She also looked about 16 years old. That's around the time she met Woody.

Somethin’ WRONG with insane harpies? (Broadway would be nothing without them.)

Next up in our long-forgotten Broadway musicals is Mail! Written by and starring Michael Rupert (Falsettos, Sweet Charity) and his co-writer Jerry Colker (3 Guys Naked From The Waist Down).

R20, I also saw Romantic Comedy with Farrow and Perkins. I actually got his autograph after the show - Mia disappeared quickly after the curtain we were told.

I remember enjoying the show (I was in high school - what did I know). I do remember being shocked by Tony Perkins being nude (from the rear). Mia seemed very natural on stage. Glad I saw it. I think I have a copy, I may read the play this afternoon.

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

Trust me, Ben wasn't the only one.

This century?

How will we ever talk about FOLLIES?

You know it’s bad when you are getting Annette Bening’s sloppy seconds!

[quote]Did you happen to watch the CBS Morning segment? Not that it alone would change your fractured mind.

Or, one could say the fact that she came across well in the CBS Morning segment certainly doesn't mean she's not an insane harpy, especially not when stacked up against all the evidence that she is..

P.S. I personally think she's very talented and I've enjoyed much of her past work, I was just asking whether or not her real-life behavior -- specifically what she did to BULLETS OVER BROADWAY -- was bothersome to you.

I know that when I can't get Annette Bening for a role, I immediately turn to Patti LuPone.

It was probably more like this:

Actresses who turned down The Roommate:

Annette Bening

Meryl Streep

Glenn Close

Jessica Lange

Nicole Kidman

Diane Keaton

Kathy Bates

Cherry Jones

Christine Baranski

Tyne Daly

Bette Midler

Sarah Jessica Parker

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Michelle Pfeiffer

Mary Louise Parker

Phylicia Rashad

Sandra Oh

Zoe Wanamaker

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Lindsay Crouse

Tonya Pinkins

Hey, Mr. Producer, Patti LuPone picked up the phone!!

On the list after Patti LuPone:

Dianne Weist

Debra Monk

Faith Prince

I almost choked when Mia said in the interview that Sicilian Frank Sinatra had a temper but Patti doesn't.

R29, that's only further evidence of Mia's insanity.

I wish there could have been live reaction shots from old co-stars when Mia said that Patti didn’t have a temper!

So sorry you're "old", Sherie Rene.

[quote]I wish there could have been live reaction shots from old co-stars when Mia said that Patti didn’t have a temper!

The stage manager from Evita

The stage manager from Noises Off

Andrew Lloyd Webber

The backstage staff of Sunset Boulevard

The person at Gypsy who took a picture

What happened to Sherie Rene Scott? Did she call it quits?

What "specifically" did Mia Farrow do to Bullets Over Broadway, r27?

Please don't tell me you're blaming her for that hot mess?

Michael Rupert = Complete and total babe

^ not in years.

Compared to Bacall’s expert delivery in “The Grass is Always Greener,” Raquel Welch is a total bore and Barbara Eden (sadly) is clueless. But to my surprise, Debbie Reynolds is almost as secure with her delivery as Bacall was, and scores most of Tess’ laughs (although it’s really Jan’s song).

Debbie was supposed to be good in the role.

Bacall was at least a good sport in WOTY. In addition to having to watch Cooper steal "The Grass Is Always Greener," she almost gets upstaged by the cleaning ladies in "I Wrote the Book."

Waiting in the Wings was a COMPLETE BORE. And everyone looked "period" except for Bacall.

I can't defend WAITING IN THE WINGS artistically, but it was delightful, thanks to the great Rosemary Harris and a battalion of wonderful character actresses: Patricia Conolly, Bette Henritze, Dana Ivey, Rosemary Murphy, Helen Stenborg (Tony-nominated for this) and (first among equals) Elizabeth Wilson. It was my only live experience of Barnard Hughes, and he was charming.

Speaking of those wonderful Broadway character actresses, does anyone else have fond memories of 1985's short-lived THE OCTETTE BRIDGE CLUB by PJ Barry, about 8 middle-aged to elderly sisters in the 1930s? Nancy Marchand, Anne Pitoniak, Peggy Cass (!), Elizabeth Franz and Lois de Banzie were all just superb but the play, a hit at the annual Actors Theater of Louisville Humana Festival (with a different cast and director), only lasted a few weeks on Broadway.

I'll never forget Nancy Marchand sniping at one of her sisters: "Oh, go sit on a tack!"

The Octette Bridge Club was the play that John Simon called "faggot nonsense," which got him in a lot of hot water at the time.

Has anyone seen Tyne Daly recently? Or is she still in a round rubber room?

In the CBS interview, I was glad to hear Mia say she doesn’t believe people should refuse to work with Woody Allen. Even if it did have an air of “my work is done here.”

The Farrow family has gotten a lot of mileage out of those allegations and it’s about time she shut up about it.

I heard that Tyne simply couldn't remember her lines on DOUBT and thus, was suffering terrible stage fright. No illness or other sickness.

Uh, r46, you might remember, Mia did not bring up Woody in that interview. And I thought she answered the questions about him simply and with dignity.

[quote]and it’s about time she shut up about it.

She was asked, r46.

Oh please, R49. She’s been going on about it since 1992.

I agree, R48. As I said I was glad to hear her say it. Even it was about 7 - 9 years late.

Daly turned 78 around the time DOUBT went into rehearsal. For every Lois Smith or Rosemary Harris who keeps working onstage for years after that, there are dozens more without the good luck to remain able to do so. I'm heartbroken for her -- one of the most thrilling actresses I've seen live.

Is Casey the Twink (in BACK TO THE FUTURE) playing matinees and otherwise showing up regularly? I want to go see Casey the Twink, not the Undertwink.

[quote]How about this thread stays limited to gossip about this century?

No thank YOU! As a geriatric millennial, I don't always get every reference, but I love hearing gossip, reviews and remembrances from the eldergays. Without this oral history, so many of these obscure stories would be lost to time.

WEHT Elizabeth Franz?

Just googling Elizabeth Franz, I see she's still with us and 83, so perhaps she's retired. Worked with her a few times over the years, a very gracious lovely lady and a great actress. I hope she's enjoying herself whatever she's doing.

I couldn't believe the CBS Sunday morning interviewer made LuPone talk about not being the first choice, What the fuck was that? They should fire their press person. That was pretty gross.

Did anyone on Datalounge see this production of TPOS? Looks amazing!

[quote]Looks amazing!

My opinion differs.

^^^ Sonia played by "Maria Couch" - don't tell JD Vance!

Franz did a podcast interview in Nov./21; it's short, about 10 minutes from 1:34 at the link (I had to sign in to listen to it). She still sounds OK; she says she can't eat sugar, so I wonder if she's diabetic and that has slowed her down in terms of being able to work. She says she preferred doing theater rather than movies and TV, and when she left "Roseanne" to do a play in New York, on opening night Roseanne sent a cake with an image of a penis to the theater with the message "It's all for Art's sake!" (Art was the name of Franz's character's husband on the series).

MikeR had a framed Playbill from Death of a Salesman, autographed by Lizzy Franz up in his dressing room, backstage at the Center for the Performing Arts in San Jose. I remember him trying to draw my attention to it one time when I walked in on him nearly elbow deep into the assistant choreographer of How to Succeed.

He always had such nicely manicured hands.

Elizabeth Franz always had that "long-suffering" thing down to perfection.

Franz played a truly memorable evil kook on Another World and I'm shocked to see it was one of her first roles (circa 1982). She was great even then.

Franz was married to 1950s/60s character actor Edward Binns. I can only think she must have been his child bride.

22 year difference

As the threads dwindle down....

Poor Elizabeth Franz.

DL thread killer

R53 I believe he’s scheduled for 8 shows a week and haven’t heard any chatter about him having a ton of absences. But he was out unscheduled when I saw the show on a Thursday in January.

Who are Farrow's and Lupone's understudies?

Each other

They share one understudy. Can't remember her name, she's not a star, but I guess they figure if both Patti and Mia are out everyone would want their money back. It's too bad Marsha Mason, the ass't director couldn't be persuaded to understudy both ladies.

So you’re at The Roommate. Mia is out? Do you ask for your money back? What about if Patti is out?

You text Liz Franz, silly.

If LuPone is out, they should totally get Annette Bening.

Then we could see the production’s original wishes and intentions.

They’re completely different but The Roommate seems like a vehicle similar to James Kirkwood’s Legends. Just an excuse to get two famous actresses on stage. Years from now it’ll be produced with a drag cast.

No, r76, it isn't camp. It's more A Couple of White Chicks or West Side Waltz.

Or that tennis thingy Angie & Mar did

That's MISS MARIAN SELDES to you, you pissant!

[quote]Who are Farrow's and Lupone's understudies?

Christine Ebersole and Soon-Yi Previn Allen

McNeal starts previews on Thursday. I wonder if we'll get any good dirt from that production.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1968, "Pantagleize" opened at the Lyceum Theatre.

To R8-My friends and I are coming to NYC in 3 weeks to see "The Roommate". 2 of my Broadway Gays have seen the preview show& were surprised how they liked it. Both gays told me Mia is really good& Patti is too, in a supporting way.

We now know what NPH's next project is. I'd wager there'll be a Broadway transfer in the spring.

NPH has joined the cast of Shit. Meet. Fan. at MCC, along with Jane Krakowski, Debra Messing, Constance Wu and more. Not a musical.

Oprah is vacationing with Isaac Powell and his new? bf.

What an odd vacation group

Could Broadway ever do a totally nude show like Oh Calcutta! again? I think Take Me Out was close but nudity, especially male nudity seems so taboo on the Great White Way.

NOOOOdies!!!!!!

The Roommate has been SRO since starting previews last Thursday. This might turn out to be a great big fat hit. Could it be that this is what audiences are craving?

It'll be interesting t see if that other boulevard comedy (sorry, forgot the title) starring Julianna Margulies and Peter Gallagher also takes off.

Who would have ever thought that was trend we'd see make a comeback?

[quote] Could it be that this is what audiences are craving?

Two noteworthy stars live onstage in an accessible comedy? Ya think?

Except Left on Tenth sounds maudlin, and Roommate sounds fun.

I agree. Left on Tenth has FLOP written all over it.

Directed by Susan Stroman. Even more so.

r87 Unlike most DLers I don't hate ink, but good god that tattoo on ICP's boyfriend is embarrassing. As if the fact that he's a rolfer. I guess Oprah still loves her quacks.

For all his faults, I bet Wes is bitchily hilarious when talking about this guy. So much material.

^^^^Holy crap, are those also little tattoo marks that look like moles or pimples on the side of his face? Or does he just have really bad skin?

Where is Stedman??

Only gays on this trip —no Stedman.

How the hell would a B- Broadway actor like Isaac Powell meet Oprah? Wtf?

R98. Well somebody had to stay home and water the plants.

Ooof this was interesting.

1) Chris Harper and Jack O’Brien dispute LuPone saying Annette Bening as first choice and basically call her a liar.

2) LuPone is still not a member of Equity and gleefully has not rejoined the union.

3) she cried herself to sleep over lost roles (mentioned is Martha in in Who’s Afriad of Virgina Woolf- Edward Albee personally banned her)

4) Mia admitted she is agoraphobic

5) LuPone is still friendly with David Mamet despite his politics

[quote]LuPone is still not a member of Equity and gleefully has not rejoined the union.

Fuck her.

SO much bullshit in that LuPone/Farrow interview. For example:

[quote]Farrow has become a familiar presence on social media, posting her Wordle scores and spontaneous reactions to world events. LuPone has mostly retreated from such platforms, from which she once provided instant-legend, antic tours of her basement during the pandemic.

[quote]“There’s no mystery left in our stars,” LuPone said. “And everybody has permission to take issue. And it’s never kind. Why? Why are we exposing ourselves when our job is just to play a character?”

[quote]Farrow picked up the cue: “As we speak to a person who is interviewing us for our thoughts on all these things. How crazy is this? We’re contributing to a problem that we cannot solve, ever.”

R103 I do think her not joining equity publicly will hurt her in the industry. Its a very pro-union town, and I think she cut herself out of a possible nomination

^^^It's not that she declined to join Equity, what happened was that she very publicly quit the union after being a member for decades.

To R97, that is the "stupidest tattoo in the fucking world"& they are moles on his/her face.

Orca& GAYle are awful people.

[quote]How the hell would a B- Broadway actor like Isaac Powell meet Oprah? Wtf?

A B-actor with an A+ ass.

Yes, R108, but I hardly think Isaac's ass is the primary attraction for Oprah....

This exchange brought me such joy:

[quote] Farrow “never made a professional decision without checking with Steve,” she said. When Edward Albee, after seeing Farrow in “Virginia Woolf,” proposed she do his famously abstruse “Tiny Alice,” she called Sondheim, who told her, “‘Absolutely not.’”

[quote] “Well, I had an interesting experience with Edward Albee,” LuPone said. “Liz McCann” — the producer — “was after me, for Martha, in ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ So all of a sudden he decided I was too completely on the nose for it. Go figure that out.”

[quote] “And now he’s completely dead,” Farrow said sweetly. “So you can do it.”

[quote] “Now he’s completely dead,” LuPone echoed. “How can an actor be too on the nose for a role? I thought, ‘What the [expletive].’ Whatever.”

And then she says actors have no mystery! Pot, kettle.

But the idea of Sondheim snarking on Albee made my day.

The more you know💫

r100 The boyfriend is a "rolfer" which is an 'alternative medicine' (so bullshit quackery) which basically believes painful massage can solve not just physical issues but also mental and emotional ones.

Wikipedia tells us Oprah had Mehmet Oz on her show in 2010 to promote it, so I'm speculating the bf is linked to Oprah through this nonsense, and ICP is tagging along. Hence why in all the photos he has that awkward 'rent boy with clients in public' look.

Denzel & Jake are coming to the Ethel Barrymore.

These young kids telling us about Rolfing! 🙄

Now tell us about EST and TA, please!

Well I'd never heard of it, but I suppose I should've expected DLers to be up on their quackery.

The boyfriend's name is Tate Justus, which means the tattoos aren't the worst thing about him. And here he is 'dancing' in tighty whities and a wig

Casey Likes profile:

Justus served. 15.005 on the beam.

r115 ignorance of the law is not an excuse. —Justus of the Piece

My hunch is Oprah, Gayle, ICP and Tate are doing a Last of Shiela remake.

Taint Justice is more like it. I don’t believe he went to the University of Chicago.

He went to the student bookstore

After seeing "The Sound of Music" movie, I would have enjoyed a good Rolf-ing.

Poor Tate's tattooed arm looks like an IBM card!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised but many of my FB actor friends made lots of disparaging remarks about Patti today re her Equity status.

It’s a legit complaint, if the story is accurate.

I don't really get what Patti's specific grievance with Equity is at this point in her life. And at the age of 75 she must be taking her pension which is probably pretty substantial considering all the dues she paid over 50 years.

I'm exhausted by LuPone's insistence on casting herself as the suffering victim every chance she gets. She says that Annette Bening was the first choice for the part (quite possible) as if it's so painful, so shocking, so personally devastating. Bitch, please -- to whatever extent your name sells tickets, it's in musicals, not plays, and in any case it's hardly an insult that they went to a multiple Oscar nominee with legit stage credentials before you.

'After seeing "The Sound of Music" movie, I would have enjoyed a good Rolf-ing.'

I agree.

But in the many many SOM reunions through the years why was Daniel Truhitte never included? He's very important in the film and he's so winning despite turning into a Hitler youth. Like on DL that would be a problem with such a hot ass.

[quote]I don't really get what Patti's specific grievance with Equity is at this point in her life.

Neither does she. She still hasn't given an even remotely decent reason for her quitting Equity.

Why do some people become more and more bitter as they find more and more success? It's so pitiful.

[quote]Neither does she. She still hasn't given an even remotely decent reason for her quitting Equity.

Didn't she say it was because, when she was on the phone with Equity one day for some reason, the particular person she was speaking with didn't happen to know who she was? Typical LuPone.

Aren't Oprah, Gayle and ICP on David Geffen's yacht?

r131 She did, but the problem is that her story there doesn't make sense:

[quote] "They accepted my resignation and told me that if I ever wanted to rejoin, I'd have to be approved," says the three-time Tony Award winner, who most recently finished a run the revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company. "And it's the perfect reason I withdrew from Equity. Fifty years to this year ... I've been a card-carrying member of Equity, and they don't know who I am basically," LuPone continues. "They just said, 'Fine, but if you want to rejoin, we're going to have to approve you.' "

So her reason for why she left Equity is the response she got...after she submitted her resignation from them? Is Patti a time traveller?

The only other 'reason' she's come close to giving is that Equity didn't issue some kind of statement telling people not to talk about her when the Lillias White thing happened.

It's in the same realm as the Hamilton cast being warned by Equity that agreeing to do a lab instead of a workshop would mean they don't get royalties, agreeing to do the lab anyway, and then shitting on Equity for not "protecting" them when they didn't get royalties.

I agree with R127. When they offer it to Sara Porkalob first, then she can complain.

Annette needs to show up on opening night and give Patti 10 pages of notes on how the role should really be played.

I also found Patti not comprehending why Edward Albee would say she was "too on the nose" for Martha in Virginia Woolf rather ingenuous.

Patti, Edward meant everybody, even the Darfur Orphan, knew EXACTLY how you'd play the role, much like your "interpretation" of Momma Rose.

Patti, I think you'd have been an amazing Martha, subtle and haunting!! And please tell your sweet co-star that if she needs another orphan, I could be her new real life roommate once the run of your play ends!!!

Too bad Patti never did Mame. I would have given anything to see her do Mame. That's the revival we should have had. Patti as Mame and Baranski as the role she should have played, Vera. And no you would not have had two Veras. A good director could have pulled the warmth out of Patti for the role. And Mame does have her bitch side in any case.

Oy, I meant disingenuous, not ingenuous (which Patti has never been).

If anything, Bernadette should have been Mame and Patti should have been Vera.

[Quote] She says that Annette Bening was the first choice for the part (quite possible) as if it's so painful, so shocking, so personally devastating

Except she didn’t. She just stated it on Seth and moved on.

They’re both Italian girls from Long Island. Neither should be anywhere near Beekman Place…

The role of Mame Dennis requires one quality above all others -- charm. LuPone, for all her considerable gifts, has never displayed an ounce of that.

Patti will steamroll her way into our hearts.

[quote]Yes, [R108], but I hardly think Isaac's ass is the primary attraction for Oprah....

Who cares? I posted it because it's what I ( and, I'm sure many) find primarily attractive.. I mean, look at it.

[quote]LuPone tells PEOPLE that AEA doesn't "support actors at all," adding: "They're just not good. And I just didn't want to give them any more money."

But, according to what we're now reading, in order to still perform on Broadway she still has to pay dues to Equity even though she's no longer a member of the union, and the only thing she had to give up was her voting rights in the organization.

[quote]"I've been a card-carrying member of Equity, and they don't know who I am basically,"

So I didn't quite remember the story correctly. Rather, it sounds like she was just making some meaningless, vague statement about Equity not knowing who she is, "basically" -- whatever the hell that means.

She’s such a malcontent, that Patti woman.

It amazes me how so many people have no idea whatsoever of what's required for the role of MAME in terms of type, and therefore suggest or approve such ridiculous casting as Cher, Bette Midler, and Patti LuPone. I will say that Patti is a SOMEWHAT less weird choice for the role than the other two, but not by much, and her lack of warmth would be only a small part of the problem.

That’s what amazes you?

CRISPR is Amazing, to me. The fortitude of the Ukrainian people is Amazing, to me. Lemon meringue pie is Amazing, to me.

[quote] It amazes me how so many people have no idea whatsoever of what's required for the role of MAME in terms of type

Isaac on Daddy Gaffen's yacht makes sense...

Everybody has played Mame. Ginger Rogers, Celeste Holm, Janis Paige, Ann Miller. It becomes meaningless.

[quality]Everybody has played Mame.

But only Roz and Angie did justice to the role.

I meant quote...whatever.

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but how can Patti be permitted to perform on Broadway if she isn’t a member of Actors’ Equity?

[quote]But in the many many SOM reunions through the years why was Daniel Truhitte never included?

Maybe because he got fat and wears a rug.

R156: The crux of it is at the link below.

Some historical background—"Financial Core" derives from the 1963 United States Supreme Court decision, National Labor Relations Board v. General Motors and refers to a legal carve-out that permits workers opposed to participating in a labor union to be employed under the benefits of a union's contracts without compelling them to be a member of that union.

Patti might not quite be a scab, but she's close. It's pretty despicable of her IMO.

Ben Platt and Noah Galvin are married.

I've always thought Diane Keaton would have been a lovely Mame. And she had a notable stage career before going into movies.

[quote]r160 = And she had a notable stage career before going into movies

Oh really?

[quote] But only Roz and Angie did justice to the role.

You saw [italic] all [/italic] the Broadway Mames?

following up on r159, here's Vogue's take

I didn't have to, r162.

welcome home from camp everybody

The Roommate and The Outsiders have both announced they'll be doing Thursday matinees

There's been talk that the producers paid for Patti's Union dues, which sounds even worse.

I wonder why she is being such a stickler with this union thing.

[quote]I wonder why she is being such a stickler with this union thing.

I wonder why any ninny gives a crap.

r163 And here are DLers takes

r169 Yeah why should anyone give a crap about someone who's benefitted from organised labour for decades now shitting on it and undermining it.

[quote]and undermining it.

LoL, sure Jan.

Time to retire the Lucille Bluth eyeroll, perhaps?

Equity should have a picket line outside of The Roommate.

Don't forget your torch, r174.

I had tickets to "Cats" tonight, and it just got cancelled due to cast illness. 😭

[quote]I had tickets to "Cats" tonight, and it just got cancelled due to cast illness.

I hope it's not feline leukemia.

And I have my pitchfork at the ready, R175!

“Witch! Witch! Witch!”

Maybe Patti should do Dolly. Isn't she Carol's age on the last tour?

[quote]I had tickets to "Cats" tonight, and it just got cancelled due to cast illness

Shouldn't that be "... cancelled due to cats' illness"?

This is at least the second performance of CATS that has been canceled due to cast illness. Don't they have enough covers/standbys/understudies at this point in the run?

It's off-Broadway, so maybe not, r182.

R183, if they don't have enough covers/understudies because they're Off-Broadway, that's foolish on their part, when you think of how much money they lose when they have to cancel a performance. Also, especially because of the way this show is staged, I don't think they would need covers for every single track.

Marianne Elliott wants to do a film version of Company.

[quote] I asked Elliott for any update on the idea she and Harper have of making a feature based on Company. “I hope it will happen,” she says. “We’ll see. I think we have to get the rights first, so we have to go to the estate and see. But yeah, I hope so, actually.“

Dear god I hope the estate tells her to fuck off. Is it known who controls the estate when it comes to those kind of decisions?

[quote}"I think we have to get the rights first, so we have to go to the estate and see. But yeah, I hope so, actually.“

Damn, the way she phrases that makes her sound like a rank amateur. "I think we have to get the rights first?" Ya think so??? REALLY????

R184, but all those covers and understudies have to be costumed, rather elaborately and expensively from what I see in photos of the production. That's a HUGE expense for a show, especially an off-Broadway show with tight running costs.

And covers and understudies often aren't willing to be locked into long contracts.

R187, it's not a long contract by any means, and there is a lot more freedom with the costumes in this production than in other shows. And again, whatever expenses they would have for understudies -- which would not be all that great, especially for an Off-Broadway contract -- pale in comparison to how much money they lose when they have to completely cancel performances.

Anyone else see RDJ's show last night?

R189 how was it?

I just got a report from a friend she liked it....RDJ and Andrea Martin were great but she didn't like the guy who played the son......

What is the musical in the MCC season rumored to be?

A new musical based on What's Eating Gilbert Grape? written and directed by Peter Hedges, who wrote the original source material. He's also the father of actor Lucas Hedges.

I posted this as a scoop a couple of threads ago.

So it’s not a scoop.

Lucas hedges who also had never seen a Michelle Pfeiffer movie or a Meryl Streep movie before co-starting with them both?

This Lucas Hedges?

I see the tuchas of Lucas.

That doesn’t rhyme FYI.

Wasn't Lucas Hedges non-binary for a while?

R198 = Stephen Sondheim

[quote]That doesn’t rhyme FYI.

How about mucus?

MJ, HK, & Juliet, pony boy all out tonight on the Broadway

Oh and Orpheus too

Lucas Hedges gives a world class blowjob, or so I’ve been told by someone who would definitely know.

He knows how to use his chest voice—in his throat.

R202, that understudies website could be very helpful, but it would be nice if it somewhere listed the date of the performance its referring to, rather than just saying "today," so there would be no misunderstanding depending on when one logs on.

Lucas Hedges broke my heart in The Waverly Gallery. He and Elaine May, not to mention Joan Allen and David Cromer, looked mortality straight in the eye without flinching. Those were two of the best hours I have spent in a Broadway theater.

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

[quote]Lucas Hedges gives a world class blowjob, or so I’ve been told by someone who would definitely know.

Hope it was Joe Alwyn.

Or, maybe, him?

It was probably Tommy Dorfman who is now a lesbian and married to a woman.

Ick.

My bet is on R210–practice makes perfect.

Kathleen Chalfant (an old favorite on these threads) won an award at the Venice Film Festival.

Patti LuPone found dead on the floor.

Wow! No theatre gossip in almost 24 hours?

I think several of us must have been in mourning over Patti LuPone. Being dead on the floor and all that.

Patti DIED??!?!?!????

I got the red shoes

I got the red shoes

I got the red shoes

I got the red shoes

I got the red shoes

I got the red shoes

I got the red red red

That's what I said

Red Shoes

r214

I'll take Patti's version still... I don't get all the hype over Cynthia Erivo... she's good but not THAT good... she seems exhausting

I was relieved when I saw the trailer for "Wicked." I was afraid that Erivo would insist on wearing that bovine nose ring of hers.

Patti's version sucks. She just bellows with no understanding of the lyrics. Just her usual vocal masturbation.

Not always,r221. She sang it brilliantly in the actual show (check out the original cast CD),

Erivo is the quintessence of meh.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul Achieve EGOT Status With ‘Only Murders’ Emmy Win:

LuPone vs Erivo is a true DL Morton's Fork.

No matter who comes out on top, the bitching will be endless.

Waving through a window Waving through a window

Waving through a window

Waving through a window

Any chance Table 17 will be making the move to Broadway. The Booth would be perfect for it.

How dare you. [Italic] HOW DARE YOU! [/Italic]

John Mulaney Sets Broadway Return:

Intervention in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

Michael McKean Joins ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ Broadway Revival With ‘Better Call Saul’ Costar Bob Odenkirk:

I guess Maybe Happy Ending is going to open after all?

It is. One of its co-producers closed a significant shortfall in the capitalization. But the show has no advance - what they have is not even enough for one week of sales, let alone an open run.

R233, you sure seem to have lots of detailed information on their financing, or lack of same.

r234, do you not realize we have lots of Broadway pros and insiders here at the DL?

^^^....and also a lot of people who think they are, but aren't.

Well, of course Broadway will dim its lights for James Earl Jones. He had a theater named after him, for chrissakes.

Sorry your show is not selling, R234. And tell Jeffrey Richards "fuck you" from me.

^^^I don't know where all that hate is coming from. I merely commented that you seem to have a lot of detailed info about that particular show. I didn't mean it as a negative, and I certainly have no dog in the race when it comes to that show.

Not *my* idea of Norma...

People on Facebook are up in arms that Patti and Mia don’t stage door after the show.

I dare someone to shout “I am Not One of your FANS” at Patti as she rushes to her car after a show

I'm still giggling over a FB Broadway Remembered page member going after Regina Resnik who she approached for an autograph as a young girl. After "signing illegibly" the young fan wanted to thank Regina who shut her up with a "We're done here!" and moved on before the poor young fan could get in another word.

Sad.

R240. Sarah looks very happy and she's been showing up for performances. Is she sucking off stagehands before her entrance? Asking for a friend.

Aurora Spiderwoman has become such a bore. I suppose the treasure trove of vintage material he deigns to share is running dry. I can see all the curtain calls I want on Instagram.

Then you do that, r244.

R244 it’s not Aurora’s fault. The trader community has become unbearable the last few years with “NFT” and then usually “FOREVER”

So you aren’t supposed to gift, trade or buy any more but just know that THEY have a recording that you want but CANNOT ever have!

Unless you have a really big dick.

Is that little Tim Draxl in SB?

More wood for the fire…Jesse speaks out

r246 But it's not like Aurora ever did share his collection, is it? In fact wasn't he the original NFTer?

Agree with you in general about bootleggers though. Whenever challenged they get all high and mighty about how they bootleg to share the show with people who might otherwise not be able to afford to see it, but then limit distribution to other bootleggers.

I fear I've been misinterpreted:

I'm not trying to say Aurora is a bad person, or that I don't appreciate his work and the videos he uploads. I simply find it annoying that he's more or less abandoned posting pristine bootlegs from the 80s and 90s.

As for the NFT thing (and the general toxicity of bootleggers), that has nothing to do with Aurora. When he was actively trading bootlegs with other collectors (40 years ago) no one had ever heard of "Not For Trade."

Elf is playing a Christmas engagement at the Marquis.

Lear deBessonet is the new artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater.

Well, so much for LCT.

Lear is completely worthless, but she certainly is failing upwards. If a white man was saddled with her paucity of talent he’d be Jerry Zak’s assistant.

Lear’s tenure at Encores was erratic, to say the least. Maybe the worst Encores production ever with The Life, as reimagined/destroyed by Billy Porter. But she directed a swell production of Into the Woods.

The Majestic is back, baby.

I hope that orchestra gets another rehearsal or two. More clams than a New England seashore.

[quote]Lear is completely worthless, but she certainly is failing upwards. If a white man was saddled with her paucity of talent he’d be Jerry Zak’s assistant.

And, after the debacle of LCT's CAMELOT, it's astounding to me that the company would keep Bartlett Sher on in any capacity, let alone promote him.

From that Jesse Green article:

[quote]In a way, all warhorses are fables, stories that are roomy enough to let artists of any era maneuver among their archetypes. Today, that often means a wider diversity than the playwrights imagined; what Leon calls identity-conscious casting is taken for granted in all of the fall’s revivals. If the actor playing Norma Desmond in “Sunset Boulevard” is Filipino-Russian-Hawaiian, like Scherzinger, then so is Norma. And if, in “Our Town,” one of the two main families is white (Richard Thomas, Katie Holmes and Zoey Deutch play the Webbs) and the other is Black (Ephraim Sykes, Michelle Wilson and Billy Eugene Jones play the Gibbses) then the play will necessarily consider what it means — to the parents and their children — when the children intermarry.

But....how will "the play" be able to "consider" this when the text obviously doesn't?

On each? Literally, the text is silent. Show us where the text says “white.

The text doesn't say "white," nor does it say "black," and of course there is absolutely nothing in the text that "considers what it means" when there is an interracial marriage, because Wilder wasn't writing about that. That's what I meant. What do you mean, R261?

Visited Dublin last month. Saw Riverdance at the Gaiety (insert joke here, eldergays)…hey, it’s Riverdance. I did see a poster in the hallway for the upcoming Irish premiere of The Ferryman-it starts in January. No cast or director was listed on the poster, though. I also saw Dancing at Lughnasa at the Gate Theater. I’d seen the original cast in London twice and then on Broadway. This was a very solid tevival. The five minute tableaux complete with spooky music could easily been cut down to 45 seconds, though, Good acting and the guy who played the ne’er do well daddy of the kid had a very nice ass. So concludes my Dublin theatre review. Oh, wait, the full Irish breakfast at the Stage Door Cafe was fabulous and the waitstaff totally live up to their rep in terms of bringing the sass. I highly recommend it.

The Lear appointment burned up my phone all day. Not one Broadway insider thinks she's a good choice. Her reputation for chaos and self-aggrandizement is strong. I'd heard stories through the years, but more today. This should be interesting.

Someone on ATC posted:

Lear is not only unintelligent but lacks any artistic skill and is an absolute terror. She is abusive, immature, hateful, and mentally unstable. Anyone who has worked with or been around her knows this to be true and it’s only a matter of time before the people at LCT realize what a huge mistake they’ve made. She should be nowhere near musical theatre and go back to directing children’s bible theatre in a church basement.

Because abusive, immature, hateful and mentally unstable people are exactly the type who should be in charge of children?

[quote]Lear is not only unintelligent but lacks any artistic skill and is an absolute terror. She is abusive, immature, hateful, and mentally unstable. Anyone who has worked with or been around her knows this to be true

...she seems nice.

Broadway Box Office:

I guess, with Lear, it remains to be seen if she would actually direct any LCT productions herself.

Patti & Aubrey!

The name "DeBessonet" always sounds like French for "of bayonet," to me.

The Encores! creatives and casts still do talkbacks after Saturday matinee performances. Does anyone know if they had the nerve to do one for THE LIFE, and if so, who showed up to talk? How did it go?

R154 Wow, you saw them all?

I have a question about colorblind casting. Does anyone else think it's weird that it's acceptable to cast someone of a different color to play a white character (sometimes it's a historical character), but at the same time, the age has to be appropriate? That is, you can cast a black woman as Rose Hovick, who was not black, but you can't cast a 75 year old woman as Laurie in Oklahoma. Isn't that ageism? Why does the age have to be believable but the skin color does not?

Laurey’s character is defined by her youth. Rose’s character is defined by her drive, not her race.

Liza's dream was defined by her father, but her drive was defined by her mother.

Hey, leave me out of this.

Come back to the Five and Dime, Lear deBessonet, Lear deBessonet.

Lear likes to burst into tears. A lot. Good luck LCT.

So she's a manipulative cunt that cries to get her way? Oh, joy.

Is it Bossen-ay? or Bossen-ette?

The correct French pronunciation would be BESS-uh-nay. I think she pronounces it that way, but I'm not 100 percent sure.

R275 So they Rose can be played by a 14 year old who can exhibit "drive".

Once you've cleaned out a few dead friends' or relatives' houses, you'll realize that all of this stuff is just crap. And no one wants any of it.

Sorry! Wrong thread. (Although this could apply to my extensive collection of Playbills!)

I want your Playbills R285!

R283, I’m curious how many 14 year olds with drive have children in their teens and twenties. If the idea of a black woman (who has won six Tonys) playing Rose is so offensive to your fragile sensibilities, just don’t go.

r287 are you the same queen who always tries to start a race-based tiff if anyone insomuch as mentions color? "Offensive to your fragile sensibilities" sounds familiar and tired.

As far as Gypsy is concerned, we should all wait and see what these creative people do. I worry that Sondheim, Styne and Laurents didn't [italic] write [/italic] a musical about race and probably wouldn't have ignored the subject if they had, but Wolfe is a smart man. TBD.

[quote]I worry that Sondheim, Styne and Laurents didn't write a musical about race and probably wouldn't have ignored the subject if they had,

That's one of the major problems with this concept, sight unseen.

[quote]But Wolfe is a smart man. TBD.

No matter how smart he is or isn't, that doesn't change the excellent, overriding point you made above.

Sorry, but the original text or authors is not the only consideration. What is Shakespeare’s take on Jews in Merchant of Venice? Portia and Shylock resonate very differently now than in his time, and it has nothing to do with what Shakespeare wrote, thought, or intended. It doesn’t mean we ignore the text or Shakespeare completely.

I can’t believe anyone is concerned about Audra McDonald as Rose for any reason other than how she will manage the belting. In fact, I can’t think of anyone else who could carry this role on Broadway who isn’t too young or too old. Would you really have us suffer through Sutton as Rose just because she is white?

This is almost certainly going to be an astonishing performance.

I know Audra has six Tony's and she has a gorgeous voice but I think she's a lousy actress. Nothing to do with black or white. I just don't get her appeal. I also don't understand why Sutton Foster has a career so maybe it's me.

Wilder didn't need to specify white because it was automatically understood. Wilder wasn't a drooling moron who belonged safely put away in a straight jacket in an institution far far away like the above poster R261. It was because he wrote Emily as a biological girl not a boy dressed as a girl because he identified as a girl. If the other family had been black it would be an entirely different play with very different concerns as somebody pointed out. The themes he was writing about would have had to have been chucked out the window.

Just a reminder, anonymous message board users have no influence on producers. They're going to cast a show however they want it. Nobody's lamenting if you don't buy a ticket. I'm not at all interested in that production of Our Town, but I'm not going to think it will live or die on my approval.

[quote]Sorry, but the original text or authors is not the only consideration. What is Shakespeare’s take on Jews in Merchant of Venice? Portia and Shylock resonate very differently now than in his time, and it has nothing to do with what Shakespeare wrote, thought, or intended. It doesn’t mean we ignore the text or Shakespeare completely.

I agree with all of that, but it has nothing to do with recasting OUR TOWN as the story of an interracial romance, especially not in a place and at a time where that would never have happened. R292 nails it above.

[quote]especially not in a place

Grover's Corners is fictional, r294.

What an incredibly strange post, R293. People can express their negative opinions on a show without assuming that everyone else is going to think as they do and refuse to buy tickets, or that the show will "live or die on their approval." How did your brain make that huge leap?

But P.S. I know several people who feel THE NOTEBOOK would have had a longer life if it weren't for the nonsensical "color-blind" casting, so I think that's only one example where at least some people did make their ticket-buying decisions based on casting.

R295, I will now explain to you as if you were a child that while the actual town of Grover's Corners is fictional, it's supposed to represent a very specific kind of New England town inhabited by a very specific type of people (rather than a racially, ethnically, or nationally diverse group) during the early years of the 20th Century, Wilder was writing about universal themes but, in the case of this play, he chose to do so with a portrait of an extremely specific and immediately identifiable way of life.

[quote]This is almost certainly going to be an astonishing performance.

I agree, but perhaps not in the way you're thinking.

[quote]r297 = I will now explain to you as if you were a child

LoL, be as condescending as you wish, my point stands. Universal themes in a fictional town where race isn't mentioned. I don't see why you have a problem with diversity casting with this particular property.

Must we have this argument EVERY week?

At least get some new material, constantly calling your interlocutors childish has gotten boring.

Agreed, R300. It's beyond boring.

I blocked r297 several threads ago. Life has been loverly.

[quote]I don't see why you have a problem with diversity casting with this particular property.

Then you don't understand the play. There are lots of other plays that would be open to diversity casting, but not OUR TOWN. And it's certainly not open to casting where one of the two central families is white, the other black, and the romance of their children is depicted as interracial, because that's not remotely what the play is about.

McNeal: I am curious how well this will do long-term. Very little social media impact and some of that sounds like people are disappointed by the trite story about bad AI. Also not much press compared to something much smaller like Oh, Mary!

Regarding LCT, If insiders are grumbling, then who should have gotten to lead LCT? Was someone more obvious passed over?

The dreck that is being produced on Broadway today is abysmal. I'm an insider and my living and social life depend on it but I had to speak out. It was awful just before Covid now it's gone down the drain.

Has there been any info on this new OUR TOWN as to what period it's set? Haven't read or seen in it in a long time but I'm not sure (with the most minor tweaks) it couldn't be set any time in the 20th or even 21st century and not necessarily in a particular New England-like town.

I really just don't get the stubbornness and meanness of some of the above posters who would deny this beautiful universal story to all people of color just because it wasn't presented that way originally.

Because their bigotry is peeking out from under their caftans.

Race, schmace, I say, race [italic] schmace [/italic] . Jim parsons sounds like the boringest least interesting Stage Manager casting imaginable. why not somebody actually dead instead. That would be a unique take. Anyone at all, just someone with more personality than mayonnaise. No, not mayonnaise. Miracle fucking whip

And if Kenny is such a star fucker, call in some chits here. Tom Hanks returns to Broadway as the stage manager. Kathleen Turner. Danny DeVito. Matt fucking Damon. John Leguizamo. Dick Cavett even if he is 100 years old. Chip Zien. Joanna Gleason. George Wendt if he can still move. David Hyde Pierce. Absolutely anyone from the cast of West Wing. Just not boring bazinga boy. Iain Armitage. .

[quote]Has there been any info on this new OUR TOWN as to what period it's set? Haven't read or seen in it in a long time but I'm not sure (with the most minor tweaks) it couldn't be set any time in the 20th or even 21st century and not necessarily in a particular New England-like town.

A tremendous percentage of the lines of the play would have to be rewritten for it to be set in any time period other than the very early years of the 20th century. If you don't know the play well enough to understand that, maybe you shouldn't comment.

[quote]I really just don't get the stubbornness and meanness of some of the above posters who would deny this beautiful universal story to all people of color just because it wasn't presented that way originally.

Because, again, you don't understand the play. What you're saying is exactly the equivalent of insisting that the story of A RAISIN IN THE SUN, which is universal in some ways, should not be "denied" to actors who are not African-American.

That’s a laugh!^

R311, be more specific or be silent.

[quote]why not somebody actually dead instead.

I'm available!

1. NOT exactky

2. NOT universal in the same way

exactly!*

Gawd, these threads have gotten so boring.

What are a few of the absolutely unchangeable tremendous percentage of lines in OUR TOWN that couldn't be tweaked to apply to people of color or later than the early 20th century?

Educate me, r310.

I think there was a reason Thornton Wilder demanded his play be performed without a set.

Of all plays, OUR TOWN seems to be the one least affected by colorblind casting. Yes, it’s set in a specific time and place, but its messages are so timeless and universal. If we can believe Emily and George are in their upstairs bedrooms by perching on ladders, it’s no more difficult to believe a Black or Asian using the suggestion of a New England dialect to suggest region and identity. It’s not a hyper-realistic play, for Chrissakes or a play about miscegenation!

As opposed to Gypsy, which was written about a specific industry in a specific time with a specific kind of segregation.

In fact, a black rose is a pioneer woman [italic] with [/italic] a frontier.

Audra may be astonishing, but I got there first.

[quote]Of all plays, OUR TOWN seems to be the one least affected by colorblind casting.

It depends on one's definition of "color-blind casting." I have read that, in the upcoming production, one of the families will be black and the other white, which leads me to believe we are actually supposed to see the CHARACTERS as black or white -- rather than seeing them as characters who just happen to be played by actors of different races, which would be the case if the two families were cast more diversely, e.g. with whites and blacks and maybe also Asians, etc. as members of one family.

[quote]It’s not a hyper-realistic play, for Chrissakes or a play about miscegenation!

Exactly. It's NOT a play about "miscegenation," because that's not what the playwright wrote, but now apparently it WILL be a play about that. In a way. But in another way, of course it won't be about that, because the script is not about that, even if the casting of this production is. The whole concept is enough to make your head spin.

[quote]What are a few of the absolutely unchangeable tremendous percentage of lines in OUR TOWN that couldn't be tweaked to apply to people of color or later than the early 20th century?

A great many of the lines refer to various aspects of life in the early years of the 20th century in New England, and even the way the characters talk accords with that, because Wilder was intentionally writing in that style. There are also references to the time period, including an important reference to World War 1 that comes to mind. So it would require much more than "tweaking" the text for the play to be made to apply to people of color or for the action to be credibly taking place in more recent times. No, someone would have to do A LOT of rewriting, and if that were ever allowed, why even bother to do OUR TOWN?

The musical "Grover's Corners" did change the time from before the first World War to before the second. But that's neither here nor there...

Hollywood Is Heading for Broadway (and Off):

My “little Ivy” small liberal arts college in New England mounted a production of OUR TOWN in 2000 that featured a black George and, I assure you, the world kept spinning on its axis. Nothing in the text itself prevents it and there are no “revisions” that need to be made to accommodate such casting. I was the AD for that production and the director chose Asian-influenced music for the show and had the stage bathed in red during the wedding scene. It was stunning.

These race discussions frequently take over DL and really never get anywhere productive. I’d love to see how old and decrepit the most ardent and vocal detractors are. I always imagine them in their ‘70s with lots of white neck hair and sodden underpants. Unclench, grannies.

[quote]The whole concept is enough to make your head spin.

Your head is the only one spinning, r322.

So is Louise black too? Light skinned or dark skinned like her mama?

Othello tix are $935? Are they fucking insane? This will be the most expensive dumpster fire in Broadway history.

Joseph Papp was doing colorblind casting many many decades ago. But he was a smart producer who did not do it nilly willy just for the sake of it. He was a canny man of intelligence who wanted diverse casting but it had to serve the material just like a specific actor or costume must serve the material. This is why Broadway is so bad today. The canny intelligent directors are a thing of the very long ago past. Today it is a case of throwing shit on a stage and seeing if it sticks.

And a school production is a very different thing. We had a black female lead in Tom Jones in high school many more decades ago than I care to admit and nobody thought anything of it.

There is a Rose in Spanish Harlem…

Early predictions for tonight's reviews of The Roommate?

Real women have curves, directed and choreographed by Sergio T and "produced" by Jack Noseworthy and the Weisslers. Hmmm.

Never look back, r330.

Stop trying to make Sergio Trujillo happen!

JLo had Trujillo fired from the Kiss of the Spider Woman film.

[quote]the Kiss of the Spider Woman film

I wonder when they'll drop a trailer.

[quote] Early predictions for tonight's reviews of The Roommate?

Everyone will say the performers are great but the play is meh. The end.

Any news on who else is in Gypsy besides Audra or is it now a one-person show like Andrew Scott's Uncle Vanya?

Rumors right now are Norbert Leo Butz for Herbie, and the two younger Allies from the Notebook for Louise and June.

[quote]the Kiss of the Spider Woman film

[quote]I wonder when they'll drop a trailer.

Into the garbage can?

Norbert Leo Butz is in VLADIMIR at MTC starting previews in a week or so. I doubt he's Herbie.

These rumors are saying he would do both. It would be a much better fit for him than Doolittle.

So they're going as predicted with a dark-skinned June and a Louise who can "pass"?

Other way around, r344. At least that!’s what the casting notice said. The rumor is Joy Woods as Louise and Jordan Tyson as June. The newsboys are initially black but then apparently get replaced with white kids, since Tulsa is white. I think Wolfe knows what he is doing.

I get it. The lighter June would be a more likely star, but once she runs off, Rose has to work that much harder to make her darker sister succeed.

The Roommate curtain call is up on Instagram. Ronan and Patti's sons presented their moms with flowers. It was actually very sweet.

It would have been sweeter if it had been Moses.

Oops. I meant Mia's son RONAN ......

Deadline reviews "The Roommate":

NYT:

[quote]I get it. The lighter June would be a more likely star, but once she runs off, Rose has to work that much harder to make her darker sister succeed.

As if GYPSY needs another whole subplot dealing with racism in show business laid on top of everything that's already happening in the plot and among the characters.

What do you expect when you bring Audra and George together?

Rose's Turn will deal with the shit a black woman had to deal with in the entertainment business like the nightmares Ethel Waters went through.

Really? Can't wait to hear those lyrics!

Max Cherns......verificatia of sizemeat?

What's John Barrowman doing these days?

Time?

I think he's busy verifying Max Cherns sizemeat, r347.

I want to hear more about JLo firing Sergio T.

Sergio's manager is something else. I bet her pussy caught on fire when he got canned.

I thought Max Chems led to shrinkage

Trujillo had been hired to choreograph the fantasy musical numbers in the Spider Woman film that, of course, star JLo. She was not pleased with his ideas and had him fired. End of story, r360.

Also, didn't that Trujillo-directed Real Women Have Curves musical get horrible reviews when it was done out of town?

As I recall, David Cromer's (rightly) celebrated OUR TOWN eschewed period costumes and accents (until the famous reveal near the end), and that didn't stop the play's power from coming through -- for some, in fact, more so than ever.

Bacon!

David Cromer's "Our Town" was one of the best pieces of theatre I've ever seen. Absolutely stunning. Relatively obscure, average-looking Chicago actors who gave amazing performances.

Our Town was one of the first real plays I ever saw, and I remember it totally devastating my 15 year old soul. That Cromer production managed to resurrect that child in a 35 year old body. With the exception of Cromer, none of those actors has had amazing careers, but the cast’s commitment to the play was incredible. I suppose, like Emily Webb, we don’t realize the wonder of something ordinary until it is well in the past. But that was really something to experience.

I'm going to put this here because I don't know if there's an Emmy thread. I had some ABC thing on about Emmy Firsts that I was half-paying attention to and...Robin Roberts has turned into Barbara Walters. She's going for the...tears. Lovely reactions from Carol Burnett and Meryl.

Speaking of sizemeat.....isn't Cromer in that club?

What was the. “ famous reveal” at the end of Cromer’s Our Town?

They were all at a Denny’s eating Grand Slam breakfasts.

Spoiler Alert, r370!!!

For R369:

The staging was entirely austere, even more so than what is suggested in Wilder’s preface to the play: costumes were not in period, no scenery apart from the usual tables and chairs, actors performed using their own accents (and as I saw the production in London, these were all different regional British accents), props were mimed, lighting changes were minimal and were used to light the space, rather than generate any theatrical effects.

And then, when Emily gets to go and relive her important enough day, a curtain upstage was pulled back to reveal a full recreation of the Webb family’s kitchen. The light in the window made it look like a cold February morning. Mrs Webb appeared in accurate period costume, talking in a New Hampshire accent, and preceded to cook real bacon in a real pan on a working stove.

It remains one of my most treasured theatrical memories. And like R366 above, I felt like it did something to my soul. I cried so much that the stranger sitting next to me offered me a tissue.

It was a superlative production; the kind that makes me wonder why anybody feels the need to bother trying to stage it any differently ever again.

I have to wonder if David Cromer has resisted offers of more blatantly commercial material in his career. And for that I admire him. I think his only Broadway musical credit has been The Band's Visit.

But I wonder if he's been offered some of the star-driven Broadway revivals that Sam Gold often directs. Well, actually, he's directing George Clooney now, so we'll see how that works out.

I can’t speak for whether Cromer considers himself a success. However, if he or Joe Mantello are attached to any project, I feel confident it will be really good. To me, that’s success.

I'll be the party-pooper. I didn't like Cromer's OUR TOWN and I consider OT to be one of the greatest plays ever written. But I also loved the Spaulding Gray production, that many hated. OUR TOWN has its "gimmick" written into the play. No additional gimmicks necessary. I rolled my eyes so hard at Cromer's unnecessary addition (with bacon) because he didn't trust the play to work on its own.

Let's not forget he's also had some massive failures: Brighton Beach Memoirs and House of Blue Leaves to name two. Maybe he should stick to new works and leave the revivals to someone else.

R372, your beautiful description of the coup de theatre in Cromer's OUR TOWN accords with my memory except for one detail: I don't remember noticing that the Mrs. Webb suddenly started talking in an obvious New England accent. Are you pretty sure about that? Maybe I was so overwhelmed by the effect in general that I didn't focus on that.

Or as it's known in the Midwest U.S. - Are Town.

Just read that Jason Alexander will be playing Tevye in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at the La Mirada Theatre, directed by.....Lonny Price. So those are two huge, red flags flying over that production.

Jason Alexander will give one of those performances that will be exactly as you know it will be.

[quote] I cried so much that the stranger sitting next to me offered me a tissue.

MARY!

[quote] Jason Alexander will give one of those performances that will be exactly as you know it will be.

For the people who like that sort of thing, this is the sort of thing that they like.

I saw the production of Our Town with Fred Gwynne directed by Michael Kahn a long time ago in Stratford CT. I was completely overwhelmed at the end. I've had no desire to see the play since.

[quote] Jason Alexander will give one of those performances that will be exactly as you know it will be.

He was pretty swell as Tevye in Jerome Robbins Broadway.

I was underwhelmed with Cromer’s production. It wasn’t that earth-shattering to me, maybe because I’d done the play in high school. Also, I love bacon. But it seemed counter-intuitive to the ethos of the play. I mean, is it supposed to be like a Technicolor thing like The Wizard of Oz or like a George Bailey thing? I don’t understand what it adds to the play. But, y’know, he’s the genius not me. And he is incredibly talented and a good egg.

It should be said R375, his Brighton Beach Memoirs was loved by critics. There was just no audience for it or something. It was a financial flop but a critical bit. And audiences lost what undoubtedly wouid’ve been Laurie Metcalf’s great turn in Broadway Bound.

R380 that happened to me when I saw Glenn Close in Sunset…but for different reasons….which are well known to her

*critical hit

R380, I was the guy sitting on the either side of you who said, “Jesus Christ. Rein it in, Mary. Haven’t you ever smelled bacon before?”

The reveal seems pretty obvious to me. The point of the play is that we take life for granted so much that we practically sleep walk through it, missing all of the richness and details. The sudden shift to hyper realism (with smell effects!) made that insight jolting and visceral.

Some people don’t like choices like that, which I get. But the acting was very focused and connected throughout. I remember really feeling for Simon Stimson, maybe because I didn’t understand his inner turmoil when I saw it in high school.

I also remember being fascinated by the women shelling beans in Act One. It must have been so well executed that I somehow reminder there being real beans.

^remember

beans

That smell of bacon instantly transported me to my childhood.

Is the bare stage wall as the backdrop in Wilder's stage directions or did Jed Harris the play's first director come up with the idea?

[quote]2) LuPone is still not a member of Equity and gleefully has not rejoined the union.

Patti LiPone is a FI-CORE SCAB and no union members should reward her by seeing this show, or treating her as anything but a SCAB.

SHAME ON HER!

Can someone stage Cromer’s Our Town this evening so we can all see it and then we can all comment on the fucking bacon?!?

The change to “reality” in the context of the dead coming back to life for a moment is what worked so well.

If ya wanna make an Oz-type analogy, the play was done in Technicolor and the coda was in sepia. A flip, if you will.

That smell and sound of bacon! In a small West Village theater —a brilliant set piece. And consistent with Wilder, all the way.

R390 Glynnis was so good as Emily in that version.

They changed the ending for no good reason, but the film version of the original Broadway show was a master class in character acting. William Holden was the twink of all twinks.

R393, can you or someone else please clarify? My understanding is that LuPone is able to appear on Broadway, even though she has quit Equity, as long as she continues paying her dues despite the fact that she has officially renounced her union membership. Is that true, or is it misinformation? Because if she IS still paying her dues, even though she is officially a non-member, does that really make her a scab?

[quote]I'll be the party-pooper. I didn't like Cromer's OUR TOWN and I consider OT to be one of the greatest plays ever written.

Same here. Cromer was determined to remove the usual twinkly-twee qualities from the production, but in doing so managed to remove all of the charm as well. Hyper real life onstage is like real life, often full of charm and surprise. The bacon gimmick was a cute gimmick. I'm surprised to see it treated like the helicopter in Miss Saigon. It wasn't.

Having a mixed race cast is just producing the play as it never was. How can one be faithful to the author and text by introducing elements that never existed? Kenny Leon is a fantastic director and will get away with this, but the play everyone will be crowing about will not be Our Town, it will be "Kenny Leon's Our Town", and it won't need bacon.

R375's take reminds me of classical music "fans" whose criticism of certain conductors is "They should let the music speak for itself. " The music can't, just as (pace Albee) the script of a play can't. If you feel that a director's (or an actor's) take on the material doesn't work, fine. But don't act as if an innovative/provocative theatrical choice *de facto* expresses mistrust in the material.

My (fairly extensive) experience of Cromer's work suggests that he very much understands and trusts his material and is simply looking for the best way(s) to show that understanding. True, most of his work that I've seen has been of new pieces, and true, HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES was an almost total misfire. But his STREETCAR at Writers Theater (outside of Chicago) was thrilling, including some bacon-esque choices (sure to induce pearl-clutching here) that for me made certain aspects of that great play even more vivid, indeed the best live presentation of that material I've ever seen.

Can you read up thread? It’s all there.

LCT version of the bacon scene(!)

R397: Don’t tou mean William Holden was the twunk of twunks? He was pretty when very young, and though callow, was always butch.

Did anyone see Kate Mulgrew as Emily at the Bard? With the exception of Richard Backus as George, it looks like a fine cast.

I appreciate the comment about the Chicago actors made above. The New York Theater community has lost the thread of stage acting and credible performances and they're all just trying to get noticed for awards and Netflix. No one cares about ensemble work or the idea of craft. It's all this strange search for stardom. When I see plays in Chicago, I'm always struck how everyone is just as talented as the New York actors and they're there for the work. It has so much more integrity. Roundabout has become a joke as an example of this. It's like the Kenley circuit via Amazon Prime.

R404-That production, to this day, remains the finest production of the play I've yet to see. Fred Gwynne was a remarkable Stage Manager and the direction by Michael Kahn was seamless and superb. Mulgrew was heartbreaking in Act Three. Kahn did some of his finest work up there. His "A Winter's Tale" was a revelation, and there's never been a better "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" in my lifetime.

In Kenny’s version, at the end of the play, the mixed-race cast will all file out the stage door and, filmed by Jamie Lloyd, walk over to see the mixed-race Gypsy

The acting in the old film version of OUR TOWN is uniformly excellent, including from William Holden and Martha Scott, BUT those two both look way too old for their roles by any standard. I was astonished to find that Holden was only about 22 when he made the film, but I think he looks at least 30. And Scott was actually about 28 at the time of the filming and looks that age at least. I think it's really important for the story that George and Emily look like late-teenagers.

Speaking of Gypsy, I wish/hope they'd put Momma's Talkin' Soft back in. As Sondheim said in Finishing The Hat, June and Louise "are no dopes." (It was recorded as a bonus track on the LuPone revival CD.)

[quote]They changed the ending for no good reason, but the film version of the original Broadway show was a master class in character acting.

The reason was to give it a happy ending and not have the heroine die at the end. That was fine for Broadway, but not for a movie in 1940.

[quote]And Scott was actually about 28 at the time of the filming and looks that age at least.

Martha Scott had originated the role of Emily on Broadway.

Except for the ending, the film is darn near perfect. The ages of George and Emily didn't bother me in the least.

And of course, it has the great Copland score as well. Can't get better than that.

[quote]the play was done in Technicolor and the coda was in sepia. A flip, if you will.

Don’t you mean it the other way around? The play was done in sepia and the coda was in Technicolor. The movie was as you describe above, in technicolor with a sepia coda (and opening).

[quote]Martha Scott had originated the role of Emily on Broadway.

Who the fuck cares who originated the role?

For Our Town fans, read Tom Lake by Ann Patchett whose main character is a young actress playing Emily. The novel is wonderful!

Does it have 3/4's of a pound of bacon?

R414 I meant what I said: inverse of the Oz conceit.

[quote]The reason was to give it a happy ending and not have the heroine die at the end. That was fine for Broadway, but not for a movie in 1940.

But THE WHOLE POINT of OUR TOWN is that Emily dies young, that some people dying very young is a part of life. And of course there were many movies released before 1940 in which major characters die at the end or during the course of the action, even major female characters. GONE WITH THE WIND,, DARK VICTORY, CAMILLE, and LITTLE WOMEN are four that come immediately to mind.

[quote]Except for the ending, the film is darn near perfect. The ages of George and Emily didn't bother me in the least.

Really? Especially given the fact that the film is hyper-realistic in terms of sets and costumes, it doesn't bother you to have much older-looking actors living at home with their parents and talking like teenagers about school, homework, chores and such?

You know what bothers me? Better folks on here who spew bile IN ALL CAPS at everyone including filmmakers from 1940.

Bitter, not better

R404 Didn't you read my post where I said after the Kahn production I never want to see the play again? Maybe you've put me on ignore for some very stupid petty reason.

Anyway Backus was ideal. An important part of a magnificent group of actors. I will never forget in all my life his visit to Emily's gave at the end. It is seared into my memory.

They should cancel until Mia is able to return which should be Thurs (5 days?)

Is Patti refusing to go on with the understudy??

Understudy has probably not been rehearsed yet. Patti should probably quarantine just to be safe.

R400, you’re right. Cromer’s production of Streetcar was great. The smell of bacon in that production reminded me of the first time I was raped. Genius stuff, that bacon. 🥓

Though Joe Mantello can do great work, he's also come up with lots of stinkers including NINE TO FIVE, The Roundabout PAL JOEY and last season's GREY HOUSE.

Quarantine is not five days any more. It’s when symptoms are improving for 24 hours without medicine. I don’t know what the current Equity protocol is, but the rest of the cast in this show is non-union talent.

Mia's roommate will be down with COVID in 3,2,1...

[quote]Who the fuck cares who originated the role?

Damn right.

Is anyone on here connected enough to know what sales are like for cabaret after this weekend?

Just look on Seat Geek. Not pretty.

I think Cabaret needs a big star to place the emcee.

And Adam Lambert ain't it.

Adam Lambert is B List even on the Gay Celebrity Spectrum.

[quote] With the exception of Richard Backus as George

Somethin' wrong with Richard Backus?

Mia's not a kid. She shouldn't rush back to the show.

Only on the DL could one ever expect to find anyone defending the incredibly bizarre, beyond-idiotic decision to rewrite the script of OUR TOWN for the 1940 film so that Emily lives, rather than dies, at the end.

They really wanted an Emily franchise along the lines of Andy Hardy.

I said I thought Backus was not a good choice based on his TV work where he always seemed fey. They tried on several shows to make him a leading man but he never made that jump.

Mia deleted the tweet announcing she had Covid.

Why the secrecy?

Maybe Mama's Talkin' Soft just doesn't work. You have to wonder why none of the subsequent revivals haven't included it.

Can they do a "Manhattan Murder Mystery" repeat & get Diane to fill in for Mia?

R443, I don’t think there is any need for the song. Act One already has eleven songs, Act Two only has four. The show is as close to perfect as they come.

And here's the song Jule pulled out of his trunk and slowed down and that Steve wrote lyrics for, not knowing it had already been used before. The forrunner to Mama's Talkin' Soft. (This is the second song from 'Ruggles of Red Gap," the first being You'll Never Get away from Me..

There's no mention of today's cancellation or Mia's Covid on The Roommate Instagram page either.

My understanding is that the phrase "trunk songs" applies to songs that were previously written but not actually used in previous projects, and neither of those songs from RUGGLES OF RED GAP fit that definition. It's astounding to me that Jule Styne tried to pass off not one, but two melodies from RUGGLES as new when he and Sondheim were writing GYPSY -- especially astounding since there was actually a cast album of RUGGLES.

r448, you do realize Jerry Herman passed off two trunk songs that became It Takes a Woman and It's Today!

"It's Today" is another example that amazes me, because there was a cast album of PARADE that clearly features the same melody. I didn't know that "It Takes a Woman" was also previously written. Was it used in a show?

Similar to when CHICAGO needed Liza, they've called S. Epatha Merkerson to fill in for Mia in THE ROOMMATE.

The melody "Show Tune" was indeed recycled into "It's Today," but not without changes ("Though it may not be anyone's birthday," etc. has a rather different tune than the equivalent section in the earlier song).

Speaking of Broadway's answer to the Kenley Players, has anyone seen Yellow Face?

A FB friend posted last night regarding Mc NEAL and RDJ: Well, that's 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back.

If S. Epatha can't make it, I'm ready!

I can play the banjo - and Patti can sing!

Well she sings like I play the banjo anyway.

I can play the banjo and Patti can play the tuba.

For some reason, I get Neil Haskell and Haskell King confused.

Understudy on for Mia’s matinee

Hmmmm.......I heard my wish came true and I'm on today fro Mia!

I'm available too!

Interesting, the understudies.org site said the understudy was going on and then updated it to say Marsha is going on

Marsha seems better suited to Patti's role.

Leave it to Marsha to steal a role from an understudy

Marsha Marsha Marsha!!!

Marsha probably knows the part better than the understudy at this point.

Step aside and let the 4-time Academy Award-nominee handle this.

Can I get a refund?

Go, Marsha! Love her. This is her Eve Harrington moment.

On Broadway, a Covid Switcheroo: Marsha Mason in for Mia Farrow:

The name on ev'ry body's lips is gonna be ... Marsha!

[Quote] The show has an understudy, Carol Halstead, but apparently opted to go with Mason, who is far better known, and whose own name recognition might help stanch cancellations by ticketholders hoping to see Farrow.

Was Halstead not ready? Did they pull the rug out from under her? Hello, Equity? Oh, right….

Ultimately, it was not about Halstead being ready. The producers are facing a week of performances without Covid Mia and thus, hundreds, if not thousands of refunds. Marsha, being the associate director, thoroughly familiar with the script and A BIG NAME, was the obvious way to go.

People are talking about Marsha Mason Older than autumn and twice as exciting

jack, mia and marsha are all in their early 80s!

And I'm in the ground.

And I'm in the attic.

[quote]jack, mia and marsha are all in their early 80s!

Marsha Mason is 82. Mia is a veritable spring chicken at 79.

Jack O'Brien is 85. Not mid-80s.

Sorry, I meant not early 80s.

Fuck--I'm drunk. I meant early 80s!

Deadline article on today's performance:

[quote]According to a statement put out by a production spokesperson following today’s matinee, both Mason and LuPone received standing ovations at the beginning and at the end of the performance. Prior to the performance, a spokesperson said Mason would perform at least partially with script in hand.

Unsurprising. Marsha Mason is great.

Mia should be worried, since Marsha is a far better actor.

Scott Eliott and Sharr White have been in a relationship for years. Has no one here known this?

Sam Elliott? Has Katharine Ross commented yet?

I thought Sharr was straight.

R485:

I've never heard this till now.

I hope Quinn Cummings doesn't do a cameo as a voice on the telephone.

but it's not about Esther Williams dammit!

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1976, "Debbie" opened at the Minskoff Theatre.

R492, R491, it was a huge flop. I remember her going on talk shows trying to justify its failure.

I assume it did well on the road, r493.

R494, I think it was done in the midst of one of Debbie's many money problems. Ironically, this was done only a few years after the highly acclaimed Gower champion Annie Get Your Gun in LA. That is what they should have brought to Broadway.

AGYG was in 1977 so it came after the Debbie show. It was said to be an amazing production but Debbie didn't want to bring it to Broadway because she was afraid of having another flop. Big mistake.

You know, in retrospect, Debbie really was a hot mess.

But she was a *fun* hot mess.

Not if you were her daughter, r498.

What about me?

Debbie Reynolds' one woman show was 77 and AGYG was 78 so it is correct that it was after. Ironically, it was for the LACLO but it was a huge box office and critical success. Champion's staging was said to be among his best and Reynolds gave one of her best performances. I don't know about the timing but I think Broadway was always itching for a hit revival. People might not have wanted to see her nightclub act but Debbie in a classic (Irene was not a classic) has appeal.

Debbie also backed out of Gypsy with LACLO. Too bad she didn't do it because she was an excellent actress with the right material (see A Catered Affair). She certainly had the charm to pull off Rose.

Did Debbie back out, r502? Source?

I’m surprised Debbie backed out of Gypsy. Especially as Carrie’s fame grew…that role seemed to have fit her like a glove

Gypsy with Debbie and Carrie would have been fantastic.

What a treat it would've been to have a Debbie Reynolds Annie Get Your Gun cast album. I really wish Betty Garrett had gotten the chance to do AGYG though.

Betty Hutton was great fun in the movie, but I think only DLers would actually enjoy her performance in this day and age.

There probably wasn't a window where Debbie could have played Dolly, was there? Even in the later years of the OBC, she still had some viability in Hollywood. And Carol already reclaimed it by the mid-'70s and never again let it go.

Debbie didn't back out of Gypsy, LACLO went broke before they could do it. It was a great idea because AGYG was a huge success for them. Debbie did want Carrie for Louise but she was busy with promos for Star Wars and cocaine.

Anybody know why Natascia Diaz left Cabaret?

A friend saw the Champion/Reynolds ANNIE GET YOUR GUN from an excellent seat (front row, center mezzanine). He said that Miss Reynolds was unbearable -- cutesy shtick galore, her Zsa Zsa during "Moonshine Lullaby" (!), etc., etc.

At one point, when the turntable completed a revolution, our own Tammy did a "fake dizzy" (um, Debbie, you know that Annie didn't just experience that revolution, right?). My friend had had enough; he leaned forward and cried, "BOO! Get off the stage -- you're an AMATEUR."

R509 wouldn’t you?

So, apparently, Cynthia Erivo (SHUDDER!) has dropped out as the headliner of next week's New York Philharmonic gala concert due to a scheduling conflict, and has been replaced by....Josh Groban! I don't know exactly when Erivo dropped out, but it must have happened VERY recently. Hard to imagine what sort of scheduling conflict could be involved on such extremely short notice, but of course the kicker here is that I'm sure many audience members would rather see and hear Groban anyway. Good for him for stepping up to the plate.

Let the speculation begin regarding Ervio's real reason(s) for bowing out.

Josh Groban is a corny joke.

99/100 Phil subscribers would have preferred Cynthia

99/100 Phil subscribers would have preferred Cynthia as long as they didn't have to look at her.

Josh Groban has a fine voice and was a surprisingly good actor in The Comet

Saw Erivo Saturday night with the SF Symphony. She was pretty great but the voice sounded pretty tired.

R517 sorry, Idina…maybe you will have a cameo in the live action Frozen movie!

I read somewhere that the Mexican performers who played Elphaba and Glinda onstage would be dubbing their original roles for the film. Is this for the songs, too? I thought there was only dubbing for songs internationally if it was an animated film like Frozen. I should think this might get tricky. So for the Swedish, Dutch, German etc. versions would they feel obligated to hire a Black performer to dub Erivo?

No just a green one

[quote]99/100 Phil subscribers would have preferred Cynthia

Assuming you're not joking, what's your basis for this statement?

R509, the official story is “she asked to be let out of her contract”.

The truth lies elsewhere. She was universally loathed by the company, and she had finally gotten to go on for Bebe Neuwirth (she had advance notice, so she promoted it on social media relentlessly beforehand).

Perhaps she saw the writing on the writing on the wall for the show with the terrible word of mouth and the weak advance sales, wanted to bail, and management was only too happy to let her go.

She’s always been a royal pain in the ass, from Carousel to The Capeman to Seussical, three shows where she was such an insufferable Eve Harrington in her understudy roles that stage managers would go running whenever she approached them.

I’ve worked with her once, and she was on her best behavior, because it was a very high profile show.

But everyone else who’s worked with her says the same thing:

“Natascia is talented. CRAZY talented. And the crazy wins out every time.”

I've worked with Diaz in D.C. She was no worse than anyone else.

Everyone on this board keeps acting like this Cabaret is a flop and they're still doing $1.5 million a week. How is this a flop? Those aren't "weak sales."

Advance sales for Adam Lambert are very soft, R524.

Aren’t the weekly running costs for Cabaret astronomical - in the ballpark of well over a million dollars a week?

It also cost a ridiculous amount of money to stage this revival - between $20-25 million. I’m sure I read around the time it opened that it needed to be selling out and shifting a lot of premium seats for at least two years if there was to be any hope of turning a profit.

It can’t survive by merely being a soft hit.

Brie Larson To Make West End Debut In ‘Elektra’ Directed By Daniel Fish:

Fish and Brie, an appetizing combo!

[quote]Aren’t the weekly running costs for Cabaret astronomical - in the ballpark of well over a million dollars a week? It also cost a ridiculous amount of money to stage this revival - between $20-25 million. I’m sure I read around the time it opened that it needed to be selling out and shifting a lot of premium seats for at least two years if there was to be any hope of turning a profit.

Yes. I can't remember where it appeared, but someone wrote a great article that broke down in detail how many tickets CABARET would have to sell and how long it would have to run to earn back its investment, let alone begin to make a profit, And it was a REALLY long time.

Oh, wait....I think this was the article (see link), but you may not be able to read it without subscribing.

Such high praise, R523.

Any word on how Marsha is in The Roommate?

Until someone chimes in here, there might be some info on that in this thread, r531.

[quote] Debbie Reynolds' one woman show was 77 and AGYG was 78 so it is correct that it was after.

You’re off by a year. Her Broadway show was 1976, and AGYG was the summer of 1977, opening in San Francisco, then spending most of the summer in LA.

Fun fact: in the chorus of AGYG was Debbie Shapiro (aka Debbie Gravitte). She was in the chorus, but suddenly, early in Act Two, she was the solo vocalist for “Sun in the Mornin’. It was a little weird because it was out of nowhere. Suddenly this chorus girl was singing a bit number. (The song was moved to the top of Act Two because Champion wanted to make a big production number out of Old Fashioned Wedding in the party scene.) Debbie was very notable in her big moment, and it led directly to her getting the original cast of They’re Playing Our Song a year later.

R533, another fun fact. There's a moment where Annie does her sharp shooting. They set it up and no special effects. Debbie stormed off the stage, slugged the stage manager and had him fired on the spot. He sued. My friend worked at the legal firm that represented Debbie and she came offstage and asked "what the hell happened to the lights" to which he responded "get away from me you fucking cunt". Hence Debbie's fisticuffs.

"Debbie Reynolds was sued for $1.1 million by a stage manager for “Annie Get Your Gun,” at the Music Center. in Los Angeles, for allegedly “assaulting and slandering” him backstage because of a missed lighting cue. Larry Fazio,the stage manager, maintained that the actress attacked him and said “Hey, stupid, you missed the cue.” Also named as defendants in the suit were Gower Champion,the choreographer, and the production company for the musical."

Willemijn Verkaik singing “What I Did For Love” for an In Memoriam at a recent Dutch celebration of musicals. I prefer it to Nicole Scherzinger’s overheated rendition at this year’s Tony Awards.

Marsha Mason is back in the Roomate again tonight subbing for Mia Farrow.

I hope LuPone didn’t catch anything flying cross country attending the Agatha premiere in LA yesterday.

R536. I hope she did catch something!

Broadway Box Office:

Lea Salonga coming back to Broadway in a big role.

[quote]Lea Salonga coming back to Broadway in a big role.

You mean after she does the Sondheim revue with Bernadette, r539?

[quote]Lea Salonga coming back to Broadway in a big role.

Louise?

Tessie Tura?

R540, Yes.

Is it new or a revival, r543?

She's doing Old Friends...which she did in London. So this isn't really "news"...

This was announced months ago...Did we just wake up sweetie?

r543 said *after* that, r546.

Photos: Get a 1st Look at Adam Lambert and Auli'i Cravalho in Cabaret:

That could be my Aunt Yetta playing the Emcee. What's the point of a hiring a "star" and then completely disguising him?

r534's fabulous dish would seem to explain why Debbie Reynolds' AGYG never left LA.

Your Aunt Yetta's a Fraulein Kost, r549.

Marsha on for both performances today. No word on when Mia will be back.

R534 is why I still come to Datalounge.

So, which gets Smash? The Imperial or the Winter Garden?

How long does it take to get over Covid? I got my 1st in 08/22 & day and 1/2 later it was over.

Mia needs to do 2 double shots of 100% Irish whiskey in the evening with decaf tea, fix her right up.

Mia is 79 years old. She's not going to bounce back quickly and she needs to be careful.

Think of (all those) children and their sick mother! Won't somebody please think of (all those) children?!

The curtain call and megamix for the current Dutch revival of Saturday Night Fever. The dude playing Tony looks like a pint sized gay and the wigs are hilarious.

To be fair, Mia Farrow can’t really bounce much of anything these days, except checks

SMASH to the Imperial. Denzel made a play for it, but didn't get it.

Was there any consideration for Othello getting the Jones, seing as James played the role (or was that precisely why it wasn't going to happen)?

Shailene Woodley, Zachary Quinto & Barbie Ferreira Heading To Broadway In ‘Cult Of Love’:

There must be NO work in Hollywood this year, because they're all coming to Broadway. Jesus...

Any of you cunts have any info on Mia’s actual health?

Does anyone actually want to see Smash? Hard to imagine.

R564. It's very mysterious.

Gypsy just posted on IG- “Some sweet news about Her is coming tomorrow. 🍬”. At first I was thinking Wonka but then remembered that Herbie sells candy so it’s no clue at all.

“About Herbie”

R563, the film/tv industry is really dead. Very little is being bought and made. The pig producers with the bucks blame Covid and the strikes, but they're starving the industry. And then, of course, there's AI.

So yeah, now theatre/Broadway is looking very appealing to actors. It's ironically a large source of income.

[quote][R563], the film/tv industry is really dead. Very little is being bought and made. The pig producers with the bucks blame Covid and the strikes, but they're starving the industry. And then, of course, there's AI.

And also, of course, there is the scourge known as "reality TV."

I forgot to mention streaming, and the roller coaster that's Netflix and Amazon and the like. Even podcasts are drying up, and/or being taken over by movie/tv stars.

Are we going to see Dead Outlaw again?

I’m calling Herbie as being

1) Danny Burstein

2) Brian Darcy James

3) Will Swenson

4) Andy Karl

Will Swenson, R573???

Just a hunch -- Rob McClure, who's leaving the Mrs. Doubtfire tour a month early.

That would not be good. He’s specializes as the reigning king of flops.

What’s the big announcement about Sherie Rene Scott tomorriw? Is she gonna stink up another show.

It looks likely, from little shop’s Instagram. And somebody from Hamilton as her costar. Announcement tomorrow.

Rob McClure is half the size of Audra.

PLEASE tell me you're not suggesting Sherie Rene Scott as Audrey in LITTLE SHOP. Aside from everything else, she is 57 years old. And yes, I know Ellen Greene was even older when she reprised the role at City Center, but that's not QUITE the same thing, is it?

The dialects in The Hills Of California are impenetrable. They ruin the entire first act. Laura Donnelly is tremendous, especially in Act 3. Sadly, this is no Ferryman. And who had the lousy idea to put this play about a domineering mother pushing her children into show business right next to the theater where Gypsy will be playing?

The rumor is Sherie Renee Scott for Audrey, Nicholas Christopher as Seymour. She will definitely be an improvement from Tammy Blanchard (47) and Jinkx Monsoon (37), regardless of age. Crazy or not, she nails this kind of role.

Who the hell wants to see some 57 year old broad playing a part written for a young woman?

Rob McClure’s wife has left Doubtfire because their daughter is starting kindergarten, but Tob himself says he’ll be going back out with the show for six weeks ending mid-October - which would take him out of contention for Herbie.

My money’s on Danny Burstein.

As the thread dies down, it's time for "September Song" from the Hustons.

And Anjelica's version ...

I thought it was definitely Butz for Herbie.

Does Audrey in LITTLE SHOP always have to wear that bouffant platinum wig and heavy makeup? That’s why they can get away with casting an older actor as long as she’s kept her figure.

[quote]The rumor is Sherie Renee Scott for Audrey, Nicholas Christopher as Seymour.

Nicholas Christopher gave a truly great performance as Sweeney Todd, but he would be ridiculous casting as Seymour. When will performers and producers realize that just because someone is super-talented doesn't mean they can play EVERY role? And in this case, the casting is especially hard to figure since Christopher is really not a name that can be expected to sell lots of tickets, like Darren Criss, for example.

[quote]Does Audrey in LITTLE SHOP always have to wear that bouffant platinum wig and heavy makeup?

No, she doesn't, and neither of the Audreys I've seen in the current production looked like that.

Danny Burstein just announced as Herbie in GYPSY.

Not terribly surprising.

R584, you are the winner:

Poor Audra with Broadway’s sloppy seconds. Been there, done that!

After seeing Nicholas Christopher as Sweeney and then hear about his Jelly, I'm convinced he can do anything. However I hope this very hot, very good looking, very inherently masculine guy wont' spend all his time "playing" nerd, as opposed to just being Seymour. McClure and Feldman seemed to have been able to just [italic] be.[/italic]

"Oh, Mary!" extends again through January 19th.

Norbert Leo Butz is booked in Vladimir at MTC which doesn’t open till October 16.

I think NL Butz is also physically too small next to Audra. Danny B is the better match.

What sites do you use to get discount tickets in advance? I’ll be in NYC in early November and I’m hoping to see Oh, Mary (probably.no discount seats), Stereophonic and maybe one or two other shows. I used playbill.com and TodayTix in the past but I haven’t been to the theater in NYC since Covid.

If you want the fairest prices, go to the show's official website and go to their official seller -- either Telecharge, Ticketmaster or Seat Geek. Anything else is a re-seller pretending and you'll pay more than you have to. Don't go near Broadway.com. Their fees are ridiculous.