THEATRE GOSSIP #586: The "Pardon Him for Being Rudin?" Edition

Here's the previous thread.

Good thread title, OP :-)

Yeah, kudos on the title, OP.

Is Real Women Have Curves DOA?

Re Kahn and 20th Century. Hal Prince loved to say that when he cast Kahn he thought he was casting Bernadette Peters. Ouch.

The problem is the Broadway audience is going to easily and rapidly confuse 'Buena Vista' and "Real Women' and not buy tickets to either.

The VULTURE take down of Rudin is pretty funny...

Bernadette could never have sung the 20th Century score.

At least, if there are future victims of Rudin's abusiveness, they'll be encouraged to come forward.

I do wonder who Rudin will hire to direct his next musical.

[quote]Bernadette could never have sung the 20th Century score.

The score would have been written for Bernadette's range, r8. I think Madeline over-estimated her abilities and allowed it to get written beyond her abilities.

Scott Rudin is the ultimate turd in the punchbowl.

The whole conception of the score for ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY was operetta-style, R11. That didn't suddenly happen because they cast Kahn.

Fun fact: Judy Kaye's understudy was Christine Ebersole.

[quote]r13 = That didn't suddenly happen because they cast Kahn.

As I wrote - The score would have been adapted to Bernadette's range, operetta style or not.

Young Christine Ebersole was so much prettier, sexier and funnier than young Judy Kaye, I can't believe they went with Judy as Kahn's replacement when Christine was right there. I would have thought Ebersole's soprano was at least as good, too.

I've never gotten the love for On the 20th Century. Other than the sets, costumes and Kevin Kline's hilariously sexy performance, I thought it was all pretty lame.

I tried to like it again and saw the Chenoweth Roundabout revival but left at intermission. Andy Karl was an overly-broad imitation of Kline, but I did enjoy Mary Louise Wilson (ooh, must add her to the Actors you're surprised are still living thread) who I thought was funnier and more into the period style of the show than Imogene Coca.

Keep spending your money on this Broadway drivel. The producers will love you and keep offering $150 rush seats.

Just In Time delayed their Broadway opening. How is a bio musical about Bobby Darin going by the way of Spider-Man?

Just got back from GLENGARRY. Odenkirk nails it. Culkin is still trying to figure it out. He's got three more previews before opening, IIRC.

I've heard from someone involved that the issues with delaying the Darin musical are mostly about the configuration of seating at Circle in the Square (if that can be believed). Or maybe with cocktail service as the they're turning the theater into a night club.

[quote]“I think Laurie is the greatest actress in America,” Rudin tells the Times. No disagreement there!

Again, she's very talented. But I guess these fools don't realize that in anointing her as "the greatest actress in America," they're actually doing her a huge disservice, because so many people -- even those who really like Metcalf's work -- are going to react badly to such a ridiculous statement.

[quote]She never played Scout Finch, did she?

Scout Finch is the only role where you can be bad from the beginning and be shown with your award before the end.

Laurie Metcalf is "MAME"!

Nathan Lane IS "Mame"!

R18: It will definitely close once Groff leaves the production.

I miss the days when Andy Karl just stood around in boxing shorts.

[quote] She never played Scout Finch, did she?

I could play that role!

Yes, R14, because operetta style just screams "belting ingénue."

R26 - Orfeh

Are you retarded, r28?

Girls! Girls! Please! We’re not even 50 posts in and someone is throwing around the R word. Please!

Not to be pedantic, but we are 351, 630 posts in this thread overall up to your reply..

Correction: only 351,030.*

R32 - Please share your work with the DL.

Yes R32, we’re going to need to see your work.

I want to see an all-female production of Glengarry Glen Ross with Patti LuPone or Sarah Paulson as Shelley Levine and Rosamund Pike as Rikki Roma.

How about an all trans version of The Women?

R37, not a bad idea, actually

I just started to re-watch the movie version of THE WOMEN (the first one) for the first time in many yeas, and I really don't think it would work on stage or screen in today's climate, no matter if it were played by real women, drag performers, trans people, or whatever.

Also, r39, because you could never wrangle a truly all-star cast that could come even close to the performances in that brilliant film. Women and a director who really understood the world of the play (and screenplay).

Not to mention all the extra superb dialogue that Anita Loos and Jane Murfin wrote for the film that's not in the original play.

This coming week ...

MONDAY -- Jonathan Groff on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and Adrienne Warren on Late Night With Seth Meyers

TUESDAY -- Durell "Tank" Babbs (Hell's Kitchen) during the 10 a.m. hour of Today

THURSDAY -- Audra McDonald on The View and Bill Burr on Late Night with Seth Meyets

FRIDAY -- Lea Michele during the 10 a.m. hour of Today (announcement?)

SATURDAY -- Orville Peck on Good Morning America Weekend

Yes, R40, but aside from the performances, I think the characters, dialogue, situations, and world view of THE WOMEN are all so horribly dated that it just doesn't work anymore. I couldn't make it through more than the first 15 minutes or so of the movie, which should at least be easier to take in context because the movie was very much of its time in terms of societal attitudes toward women back then, but I couldn't stand it. I think a new Broadway production with the original script would be a disastrous flop regardless of who they got to star in it.

R42. The Roundabout production from 20 years ago was meh. Cynthia Nixon was dreadful. Rue stole it

They could do a great revival of The Women with drag queens and real women. As long as everyone had a big personality it could be fun. It would have to be set on the 1930s to work though.

Coolidge stole it, not Nixon.

[quote]I just started to re-watch the movie version of THE WOMEN (the first one) for the first time in many yeas, and I really don't think it would work on stage or screen in today's climate, no matter if it were played by real women, drag performers, trans people, or whatever.

One of the many, many reasons to love this movie.

[quote]I think the characters, dialogue, situations, and world view of THE WOMEN are all so horribly dated that it just doesn't work anymore. I couldn't make it through more than the first 15 minutes or so of the movie

What's a sensitive soul like you doing on DL?

I think the film of The Women holds up great. The lead is tough to take but the great supporting cast is amazing. Once they get to the dude ranch the film becomes a hilarious farce. And the message of the film…sex is key in a marriage is pretty modern.

R45. No one said Nixon stole it.

I stand corrected. Jennifer, not Rue, was the only good thing in that show.

There—better?

[quote]I think the film of The Women holds up great. The lead is tough to take but the great supporting cast is amazing.

I think Norma Shearer is the gooey center that makes the whole concoction work beautifully.

Damnit, now I want some cookies ...

r 340 from the previous thread- The director, George C Wolfe, decided to have the Junes specifically cast as lighter skin than the Louises. This does not make me racist. He was trying to make some statement about a lighter skin girl having a better chance of succeeding in showbusiness.

Also- I wasn't disagreeing with the decision. I was simply saying it was an artistic decision that you can disagree with without being racist.

[quote]And the message of the film…sex is key in a marriage is pretty modern.

First of all, I'm not sure everyone would agree that this is the "message" of the film, and even if it is, I suspect many people would disagree with that message.

I’m mystified by Cynthia Nixon’s career.

Any advance word on The Last Five Years? Not a Nick Jonas fan but love Adrienne Warren.

R56 she was excellent as a teen actor.

R58 absolutely. I guess I feel she still has the skills of a very good teen actor.

Cynthia Nixon is like Matthew Broderick. Both great teen actors who aged out of talent.

My town had a special screening of The Women just last month at our little indie movie theater. I hadn't seen it in years, and it held up even better than I remembered. Every detail is just so perfectly observed and performed. George Cukor was a genius.

And there was a gaggle of apparently straight housewives sitting behind us gays who clearly had never seen it before and oohed and aahed and cheered and hissed at all the appropriate moments. It was truly charming experiencing it with them as well as all the eldergays (who could recite every line).

As someone who has shared scenes with both, this is very astute!

[quote]Young Christine Ebersole was so much prettier, sexier and funnier than young Judy Kaye, I can't believe they went with Judy as Kahn's replacement when Christine was right there. I would have thought Ebersole's soprano was at least as good, too.

I was there on the first performance when Judy Kaye was officially announced as Madeline Kahn's replacement. The audience was filled with friends and well-wishers hoping that this would be a classic understudy-transforms-to-star turn. Judy was a little nervous at the beginning, but eventually, her comic chops and big, big voice kicked in. By the time she got to a flawless rendition of BABETTE in the second act, she stopped the show. She was terrific.

I'm sure Christine Ebersole would have been 'good' in the role, but I doubt she could have done the over-the-top diva performance that young Judy Kaye achieved.

IMHO

[quote]I wasn't disagreeing with the decision. I was simply saying it was an artistic decision that you can disagree with without being racist.

It's amazing how many people can't, or won't, understand this distinction, and instead jump to the ugly charge of "racism" even when it's completely unjustified. Of course, needless to say, most of the people who do this are cowards who will only cry "RACISM!!!" anonymously online and would never have the nerve to call someone a racist to their face.

I would have thought LCT's Floyd Collins revival would be the slam dunk that LCT desperately needs. But chat room chatter is not terribly positive so far.

I mean, is anything great or even really good anymore?

I wonder if the people who are negative about FLOYD COLLINS don't like the show itself. Seems like it's very well cast, and it also seems clear that Jeremy Jordan has a large fan base who will definitely pay to see him in it.

[quote] I mean, is anything great or even really good anymore?

This is the key. Since Covid, has ANYTHING been great?

L5Y surprised me. Warren is, as expected, a force, and she's a true musical theater actor. Jonas was better than expected and clearly still finding his way. What they brought to the production that I'd never seen before was SEX. They were hot. The director's "new " concepts work sometimes, are just okay others, but the glory remains the score. They sing it well. I had comps from a friend, so I was pleasantly surprised.

r61, that's because every woman knows a fucking Sylvia Fowler and has been fucked over by her.

Barnabas Collins>Floyd Collins

Floyd Collins > Susan Collins

Tom Collins > Susan Collins

Mary Louise was dreadful in the dreadful 20th Century revival.

It should have been Carol Burnett.

Who was the funny lady in After Midnight? The night club singer who was always performing, regardless of who the guest headliner was. Man, that bitch could SELL a song. What a great entertainer.

Saw GYPSY. one of the two or three best musical productions i have seen in more than 50 years of theatregoing.

Saw OTHELLO. Burn down the theater.

Joan Collins>Tom Collins

Yeah, The Women is still terrific (the original movie). Very, very funny with terrific performances. Really, one of Joan Crawford's best performances but she's playing a version of herself. You'd have to be a twit to not enjoy it.

I saw a good stage production here in Seattle 20 years ago at ACT...a big budget affair where they made a big deal out of getting rich people to sponsor the costumes since it's such a huge show to do. It was well done and very entertaining. I don't think an audience of under 40 year olds would like it much but...they have shit taste.

The main role of Mary Haines is really a dog of a part. She's the gooey center of it all that all the fun orbits around. Everyone else gets to have fun and poor dumb Mary just gets to be self rightous and "proud".

I do think it's a play that won't get produced too much...at least for now. Once the copyright expires in 10 years, it might get done by companies who can now take a whack at adapting it. And, expect more drag queen productions in 10+ years. But, even then, professional companies won't be doing it because of the huge cast...no company that has to pay everyone an actual living wage can afford a cast of 20.

I saw Betty Buckley last night in concert with Seth. It was very interesting. For most of the concert, her voice was mostly gone and she only did 8 songs and none of them were her big hits.

Then she closed the show with Memory and her voice was somehow the voice of 25 years ago, complete with belting the “touch me it’s so easy to leave me” part

Maybe it’s always lurking?

[quote]Not to be pedantic, but we are 351, 630 posts in this thread overall up to your reply...

And 345,000 of them are about FOLLIES.

As well they should be, r80

[quote]Yeah, The Women is still terrific (the original movie). Very, very funny with terrific performances. Really, one of Joan Crawford's best performances but she's playing a version of herself. You'd have to be a twit to not enjoy it.

Then call me a twit, but I'm standing by my opinion. Yes, most or all of the performances are great, but it's the script that's the problem in that, as advertised, "It's all about men" despite the title. So much of it is unwatchable today, beginning with the main title sequence, where each of the women is compared to an animal -- including one compared to a cow chewing its cud. In my opinion, the only way the movie can be enjoyed today is on a 100-percent camp level in revealingly the shocking misogynist stereotypes of the day.

Which is a perfectly fine, valid way to enjoy it, r82.

You can say that a valid way to enjoy THE WOMEN is as a camp-fest displaying horribly dated stereotypes of women, but I really don't think that was quite the intention of the play's author or the film's creators.

I just saw a tv commercial for Gypsy. No comment.

I saw LOVE LIFE last night at Encores! and was glad I did. ‘Love Song,’ beautifully sung by John Edwards, and ‘Mr. Right,’ Kate Baldwin’s 11 O’clock number, were terrific.

And in Act II, when the whole traveling-through-history conceit is dropped, the show becomes a knowing, satirical and cynical satire of ‘modern’ marriage (circa 1948 the time of the play) and you suddenly see the possibilities opening up to Stephen Sondheim, and to a lesser extent, Kander and Ebb.

It’s an enjoyable, well sung show.

Has anyone seen the TV ad for Floyd Collins? It certainly make one rush out to get a ticket...

Yeesh, even The New Yorker. How bad is this thing?

[quote]And 345,000 of them are about FOLLIES.

Laurie Metcalf is "Sally"!

R79, it’s muscle memory. (No pun intended.)

With the public domain trend we will surely get "Ken Ludwig's The Women" or maybe "Kate Hamill's The Women" with a cast of 6 or 8. Where backstage is more frenetic than anything happening onstage and everyone just runs in mad circles doubling and tripling costume changing and going in and out of wigs like Irma Vep. It'll still be safe for schools and manageable in no-budget community theatres with just furniture for the set and a base outfit plus pieces for costumes. There'll be a note from the adapter encouraging theatres to "use their imagination" with the production and to cast the roles across the gender spectrum.

Except for the heterosexual women who DO obsess over men and getting/keeping one. I mean, most stereotypes have some validity to them.

And, people have ALWAYS watched The Women for its camp value...I mean, it's (mostly) rich women being bitchy and catty wearing fabulous clothes. That's the whole point.

R91 Sadly, you're probably right. If adapted by the right person (NOT ghastly Ken Ludwig or Kate Hamill) it could be a terrific show for very gifted performers. But, I suspect it will be pretentious dreck with a lot of modern shit thrown in. Which doesn't work. It's a satire about bitchy rich women.

Laurie Metcalf IS Mame!

Laurie Metcalf IS Rose!

Laurie Metcalf IS Willy Loman!

Laurie Metcalf is Mary Haines!

Laurie Metcalf IS a Raisin in the Sun!

While I was watching "Grey House" all I kept thinking is I which I was seeing a revival of Ira Levin's "Veronica's Room" with some of the same cast (Laurie and the old woman, Tatiana as the young woman and Paul Sparks as the young man) instead of the pointless, non-dramatic crap that was unfolding before me.

Laurie Metcalf IS Bent!

Laurie Metcalf

IS

Scott Rudin’s Enabler

Next season, 52 week limited run!

[quote]I kept thinking is I which I was seeing a revival of Ira Levin's "Veronica's Room"

I preferred the television remake.

…that show was awful.

R88, that article is generous.

If you want to get a sense of what Denzek is like in OTHELLO, fast forward to about the 2:50 minute mark.

I saw a production of “The Women,” directed by Lilla Heston when I was a senior at Northwestern. Granted, Heston was never much of a director (I was in a pretty of “Alice in Wonderland” she directed—it was leaden. She was a powerful actress, but that doesn’t always translate into directing skill) and most of the actresses (possibly all) were undergraduates, far too young for all but a few roles, as is usually the case with educational theatre, but a number of them had been interesting and showed talent in other productions,. I think it takes a more light-hearted director, gifted, often eccentric actresses, and the movie script (much funnier than the play) for it to work. MGM and Cukor happened on some alchemy with Russell, Crawford, Shearer, and Mary Boland (just to name a few). The characters as written are either venal or banal.

What is it with Jeremy Jordn? Like his looks, want him to be butch, but everytime I see him he seems a bit of a sis and is so twerpy.

[quote] It's a satire about bitchy rich women.

How could that work in this day and age, honey?

Set the Women at Mar-a-Lago amongst the Lara Trump/Kimberly Guilfoyle set complete with the hideous hair, makeup, and fashions...

Ivo Van Hove’s next monstrosity should be The Women reset at Mar a Lago. And someone could staple flowers into the wall live onstage like they did in his production of Hedda Gabler at the National.

WHET Wally Langham and Dan Cortese??

Did you get her innuendo?

Could Sarah Snook do a one-woman performance of The Women?

Could Sarah Snook just go the fuck home?

Pirates! is hanging on for one more month.

A relatively minor annoyance, but still an annoyance, is that shows are announced for presumably limited runs but without a closing date given in the press release.....and then, sometime later, another press release is issued saying that the run has been "extended by popular demand" and giving the new closing date, even though no earlier closing date had previously been given. And this seems to happen with every limited-run show.

Any predictions for tonight's Glengarry reviews?

r113 And that annoys you why?

Reviews for GLENGARRY will be generally favorable with raves for Odenkirk and euphemisms for the little Culkin.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1977, “The Shadow Box” opened at the Morosco Theatre.

I heard Culkin comes off as completely miscast.

Still waiting on confirmation that Max and Matt have had a bust up. And, if so, whether you think Max has realized it yet?

R115, because how can they crow about an "extension" if they never gave an earlier closing date to begin with?

r120 Again, why does that annoy you? Who cares?

The 1939 "The Women" was extensively rewritten for the screen. Both it and the Luce original are classics in their own right. Luce's version deals more seriously with women's topics (including a rather explicit description of uterine prolapse) and is by no means the high camp delight a fan of the film might expect. But it doesn't have the stinking racist interludes, which is a mercy.

[quote]But it doesn't have the stinking racist interludes

Or a fashion show.

R121, I said it was a relatively minor annoyance, whereas you are becoming more of a major annoyance.

All I remember about Roundabout's "The Women" was Jennifer Coolidge stealing the show.

[quote]All I remember about Roundabout's "The Women" was Jennifer Coolidge stealing the show.

Only because the carpet didn't match the drapes.

What racist interludes in The Women? There's no black characters in it except for a couple maids you see for about a nano second including GWTW stars Butterfly McQueen and Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel.

Buzzfeed takes on the " Othello"/Post controversy.

[quote]I also asked Johnny about his experience attempting to get tickets to the Othello production. He told me, "The timeline here is important." "I received my invite, as usual, on March 4. And then, on March 9, I wrote a column criticizing its $921 ticket prices — as far back as Row M and in the mezzanine! — as well as several other shows’ sky-high charges. That piece got a lot of traction because regular audiences have been feeling burnt by Broadway for quite a while.

[quote]I eventually RSVPd on March 12, nine days before opening. At first, a publicist replied, 'Confirmation to come.' Four hours later, a more senior flack reversed course: 'Johnny - Unfortunately, we do not have ticket availability for Othello,' they said. It was my first time in 10 years at The Post (and 14 as a theater writer) of being invited to a show, and then told — my words — 'Just kidding!'"

[Quote] I heard Culkin comes off as completely miscast.

Because he can only play one character

[quote]Because he can only play one character

That didn't hold back Thelma Ritter.

R129. Hold my protein shake

R130, it works for you if you keep playing that one character, as Ritter did.

If you try to show range you don't have, that's a prioblem.

[quote]That didn't hold back Thelma Ritter.

Kieran Culkin is no Thelma Ritter.

Culkin was somewhat miscast but Bill Burr steals GGR.

Next season, Kieran Culkin IS Thelma Ritter in "Everything But the Bloodhounds Snappin' at Her Rear End."

The NYT is pretty negative on GGR and Culkin.

r124 You're the one who posted whining about it, but now can't even explain why.

The Deadline review imagines a proposed all female version and suggests.....PATTI LUPONE?????

The video of Groffsauce at the invited dress pf JUST IN TIME reveals what I suspected: Groff's an incredibly appealing performer, but has none of Darin's rough-edged sexuality. Maybe Groff's appeal will be enough for audiences who don't know or care about Darin. But does JG have much of a national profile?

Careful, you're going to set off the Groff trolls who think he's one of the biggest stars in the world.

Stah! He’s a stah!

Patti LuPone has a long history with Mamet, plus she's more ferocious than anyone cast in the current revival.

R138, I already suggested it, with LuPone, in recent days. Maybe at the end of the last thread.

GGR in the Palace. FC in the Beaumont. What's next? I Am My Own Wife in the Marquis?

R138? Patti WHO? Oh. Her. We'll think about it.

[quote]What's next? I Am My Own Wife in the Marquis?

No, at MSG :-)

The new grosses are in.

THE OUTSIDERS still at over 100% capacity with over $1 million.4 last week.

It’s the musical for straight guys who think they hate musicals. It’s the butchest thing on Broadway, a male weepie in which women are completely tangential. Which — weirdly — makes it pretty gay. Or at least homoerotic.

Plus, R148, THE OUTSIDERS has at least three (depending on personal taste) smoking hot guys in it, who are likely to appeal to a huge percentage of gay men and straight women (and, presumably, some trans people depending on their preference) in the audience.

R147. I gotta say I'm shocked that Gypsy is only playing to 85% capacity after those glorious reviews. Can we finally admit that audiences are all Gyps-eed out.

R147 Gypsy has never been a financial hit and Audra is not a star. Her voice is ill suited for the role and Joy Woods was a shit Louise

This Gypsy is amazing but it’s never been a huge draw. Go see Audra— a once in a Lifetime Rose

[quote]GGR in the Palace. FC in the Beaumont. What's next? I Am My Own Wife in the Marquis?

Wouldn't that be IAMOW in the Marquis?

[quote]The Deadline review imagines a proposed all female version and suggests.....PATTI LUPONE?????

It's a shitty idea no matter who stars. Has everyone forgotten "1776" already?

They're trying to

R154. I remember all but 75% of it

WTF has happened to Nathan Lane? He appeared on Seth last night, and he's gained a LOT of weight. A lot. That, and the obvious hair dye job did him no favors. Nor the ugly sports jacket that looked like it once belonged to Victor Buono. How long ago did they shoot that sitcom? He looks good in that.

R113- it’s called good marketing

R158, I guess it's good marketing towards the people -- and I'm sure there are a lot of them -- who don't realize that a "limited run" show never had a closing date announced in the first place.

Which matters not at all. Due on some other hill.

It keeps you awake at night, doesn't it, r159?

Due, due, my darling R160.

And what keeps YOU awake at night, R159? I shudder to think.

[quote]WTF has happened to Nathan Lane? He appeared on Seth last night, and he's gained a LOT of weight. A lot. That, and the obvious hair dye job did him no favors.

He's almost 70 and has long had weight issues. He was always a homely character actor. Now he's an old homely character actor.

[quote]Groff's an incredibly appealing performer, but has none of Darin's rough-edged sexuality.

I'll have to take your word for that. I'm Forty-Five and I have no preconceived notion of what a Bobby Darin character should be like because I have zero familiarity with Darin. For whatever reason, his imagery/likeness are not iconic and are, with all due respect, meaningless to anyone under seventy. So, if this tanks, I don't think it'll be because he doesn't achieve perfect mimicry of Darin.

And, this is not just some ageist remark. Some "icons" from the early and mid 20th century endure. It's why Audra's mimicry in Lady Day was so essential to its success. But, despite sex pest Kevin Spacey's best efforts, Darin has not endured.

Sad that the Lortel Archive (a/k/a the Internet Off-Broadway Database) as given way to whatever the fuck this shit is:

I'm over 70 and a huge Bobby Darin fan but still agree with r164. Though the Darin song hits are "iconic" there's not much of his image or persona that remains with our culture.

I see what you mean, R164 and R166, but even in terms of Darin's most famous audio recordings, he sounds quite different from Groff in terms of style of singing, phrasing, and even his New York accent. So that will probably bother some audience members a lot and others not at all.

I don't expect perfect mimicry from Groff, just a sense of the sexuality and grit Darin brought to his performances. We'll just have to wait to see if he can carry an entire evening on his shoulders. He's not exactly a recording artist. I hope for the best. I like Jonathan a lot.

Floyd Collins is a hard show to love. Saw the preview last night and it's a hard sell to many theatergoers. The woman next to me muttered, "I was expecting more country and western music." The show gets lost in the Beaumont and shouldn't be 2:45 hours long. Jordan is a treat, though, and makes the sublime "How Glory Goes" into a real achievement. "Floyd's Turn", if you will.

R168-Groff is doing it. The audience loves him, he's sexy and charming and all over that theatre space, and all that with a minimum of spit. Plus, he's playing piano, drums, and xylophone. Not to mention getting up close to the onstage tables, sometimes sitting for scenes next to the audience. It's a bravura performance and it was only the second preview.

I'm very happy to hear that, R170. Audiences adore Jonathan, and rightly so. And it seems the show is doing VERY well at the box-office.

There is no chance that this Bobby Darin show is going to recoup. NONE. Groff is much beloved, but few know who the fuck Darin is anymore, and it's doubtful there is a reason for most of us to care.

R172, Groff has definitely become a famous, beloved performer who sells tickets, and again, the box-office numbers for JUST IN TIME so far are very impressive. So I think and hope you will turnout to be wrong about this.

That website at R165 is just awful. I'm also not a fan of the Playbill redesign.

The Playbill website redesign is indeed awful. I think it was probably optimized for mobile and ads, as most things are these days—and so it looks like shit on your desktop.

R173,

I'd actually like to be wrong about this. I'm not one who pulls for shows to fail. And Gross is a gem of a person and performer.

He’s gross!

He certainly doesn’t sell more tickets than I do!

[quote]Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the live stage filming of the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's Merrily We Roll Along. A release date has not yet been set.

Well, at least people who attend this can be sure that Lindsay Mendez will be in it.....

[quote]Plus, [R148], THE OUTSIDERS has at least three (depending on personal taste) smoking hot guys in it, who are likely to appeal to a huge percentage of gay men and straight women (and, presumably, some trans people depending on their preference) in the audience.

Broadway needs to start grooming ATTRACTIVE YOUNG MALE TALENT to be stars.

That's who the majority of theatergoers, women and gay men, want to see.

Cater to them and the industry will revive and bloom!

I guess you're being sarcastic, R180, but casting attractive young male (and female) talent is one way to attract audiences, although OF COURSE you need more than that.

Color me a little doubtful of this claim that straight men under 45 are the reason for The Outsider's continued box office success. Is there ANY musical that could be said of? At the end of the day, women buy the most Broadway tickets, by a mile. Does the Broadway League actually survey audience members on sexual orientation. That WOULD actually be interesting to see.

R182, even if it's true that women buy the most Broadway tickets (and I believe it is true), the point in this case is that the straight guys those women bring to see THE OUTSIDERS are more likely to enjoy that show than many others because of the story and the characters.

^^^ and also, although women may buy the most Broadway tickets, I'm sure the percentage of tickets bought by gay men is also very high.

[quote]The show gets lost in the Beaumont and shouldn't be 2:45 hours long. Jordan is a treat, though, and makes the sublime "How Glory Goes" into a real achievement. "Floyd's Turn", if you will.

Would have been better with the original Floyd.

Hilty and Simard both out of DBH today. They're out alot and they just hired a standby for Hilty.

[quote]...I'm sure the percentage of tickets bought by gay men is also very high.

But, most of those tickets are to see anything Sondheim or shows with Patti or Bernadette.

D186-Do these slags ever do matinees?

R188 -:Audra

These tariffs are gonna kill Broadway.

No London transfers for you!

r190, that's the whole point. Putin wants his Republicans to tear the US down to studs so he can shit in the rubble.

r186 And yet no constant complaining about them, hmmm

The one thing that annoys me about IBDB -- and this is a total First World Problem -- is that The Portrait of Dorian Gray doesn't show up among the "Current NYC Productions." I don't know if it's a tech thing, or what.

The one thing that annoys me is people saying Portrait instead of Picture

Does anyone not demented by now even remember Bobby Darin? Most don’t even know who he is?

Groff will just prove he’s not a big enough Bway name to carry a show

[Quote] Well, at least people who attend this can be sure that Lindsay Mendez will be in it.....

I’m still not convinced until I see it.

Why did they change the name from Portrait to Picture?

They didn't change anything. You, on the other hand...

Why, so you're right. It's always been "Picture." I guess I just figured "Portrait" because it sounded older.

Stoopid

[quote]Does anyone not demented by now even remember Bobby Darin?

You post on DL but aren't even remotely aware of how many people there are with a fairly in-depth knowledge of 20th century popular culture?

He does…all too well. The average American can’t even name their own House member. LOL.

Speaking of The Outsiders - some young girls in the fanbase are getting truly unhinged, following people from the cast and creative crew and getting creepy at stage door. Rumours are that some actors are playing to it - I saw a comment that a phone number was left on a fan letter following a school trip and that the actor text them - shades of James Barbour and Alice Ripley

Since when do new musicals with old familiar songs need a name star to become a long-running hit?

Thinking Mama Mia, Jersey Boys, Beautiful, And Juliet, among others....

ABBA, Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons, and Carole King, have broader appeal than Darin, r205.

The first Darrin or the second Darrin? Who’s playing Samantha?

—Broadway ticket buyer

Reportedly, the young male lead of THE OUTSIDERS was put on hiatus from the show for a month early in the run, but there are conflicting reports on the reason for that.

Groff has no sex appeal & isn’t credible as a pussy-hound like Darin was. He’s also gotten zaftig. A zaftig festgele.

Ooops. Feygele!

More FOH fuckery, this time at Stranger Things at the Marquis. By the time the show was meant to start there was still a large queue both inside and outside in the rain - yet they started the show anyway. Someone there said that they started the show with the house half empty, and they were ushering people in 30 minutes into the show.

Groff is popular. The show has good songs even if half the people going to the show aren't that familiar with them...it's like younger people who got dragged to see Jersey Boys by their parents and ended up really liking the show because the music is great.

I doubt the show will be a huge, enduring hit but well known heterosexualist Hugh Jackman managed to spin The Boy From Oz into a hit for himself when VERY few people in the US were very familiar with Peter Allan. And, Groff has the advantage of better and more well known songs.

We'll see.

I want to meet this unicorn! Where is this special child?

“… like younger people who got dragged to see Jersey Boys by their parents and ended up really liking the show…”

I love Groff, but his stardom cannot compare to Hugh Jackman's. Not saying that with any glee. Hope he has another big success on Broadway.

R211 - that's absolutely insane. I'm not a Karen, but I'd pretty much demand a refund for an experience like that.

R212 Hugh Jackman was already playing Wolverine when he did The Boy From Oz but the audiences for those two things don’t exactly mesh. What got Boy from Oz its success was word of mouth about Hugh Jackman’s performance. I remember a friend of my boss at the time urging me to see it (and she was no Marvel fan; she would’ve been in her late 50s at the time.) She told me “the show itself is crap but you’ve GOT to see this guy Jackman!” So I did, and was so impressed that “Wolverine” had such range. (I myself only knew him from the X-men movie at that point)

The "Wicked: For Good" trailer was shown last night at CinemaCon with full orchestra.

Clark Gregg is spending an awful lot of time “walking his dog” on 9th Avenue (low 20s) these days. He looks decent, but not fooling anyone.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1980, "I Ought to Be in Pictures" opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

[quote]THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1980, "I Ought to Be in Pictures" opened at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

Dinah...is there anyone finer?

My friend is a high school music director. Their show choir travelled all the way to NYC on a bus to see Gypsy. He just texted “ We got to NYC yesterday, I just got to the theater to pickup our group tickets….they found out 20 minutes ago that Audra is out tonight!” FUCK THAT SHIT

R220. That's interesting because her absence hasn't been announced on Gypsy's Instagram page and understudies.com didn't pick it up. But Tryphena posted on Instagram that she's on tonite.

r216

I did NOT think it was a moment... am I alone?

I feel bad for those kids but I know the pain.

I drove from Indiana to Maine to see Kathleen Turner in. A Little Night Music and she was out.

It was bad news bears

You didn’t miss much, r223. She was very bland.

A friend of mine also had a ticket for GYPSY tonight and said he was notified by email about an hour before the show that Ms. McDonald would not perform, this despite the fact that she appeared on THE VIEW earlier in the day and seemed to be in perfect health. No wonder the box-office numbers are not better.

An interesting podcast interview with Eden Espinosa, where she airs some grievances about her time with Lempicka. Here are her quotes from the linked article—

[quote]"I was literally a shell of a human on that stage," she revealed. "I hate to say this, but I would not have made it any longer than that. Like it was not meant to run that long. No one person was meant to do what I was doing in that role because I was afraid to say no.”

[quote]"It's wild to me now that I've looked back and go, 'Oh my God,' just so many things with my journey of Lempicka, just not advocating for myself because this is it. There's not roles like this for women my age. I spent this many years developing this character – when's my next one gonna be? When I'm 60?"

[quote]"When something develops over time and you might not necessarily agree with the way that it's going, so fear of stepping away from it and going, 'I love you guys and I love this. I just don't think that this is the character that we originally signed on for and I wish you the best and I'm going to step away.' That takes a lot of balls and a lot of self-awareness and power. I want everybody to have that in their life.”

[quote]"In hindsight, I'm like, 'Oh my God, I was in fight or flight the entire time.' So not aware," she reveals. "I have learned the lesson of just the only person that matters in this instance is me at the moment. If it's not in alignment with my core values, it's not in alignment with my nervous system, if it's not in alignment with my wellbeing, then the answer is no."

R226. She missed a lot of performances during the brief run.

Are the reviews out yet for Good Night...

I'd love to talk to some actual OLD timers from the olden days of theater when you only called in sick for a show if you were actually hospitalized...or, dead. I'm sure the handful still around must roll their eyes so far back in their head everytime they appear about some 'star' calling in sick for a show.

I mean, it's one thing when dumb 23 year old gypsies call in sick for a hangnail but Audra is fuckin' old. She knows better.

No excuses, lady.

It's why she's not really a star despite all those Tonys.

Broadway doesn’t make stars anymore

They sure are taking their time with the Good Night, and Good Luck reviews. Is everyone frightened of pissing off George Clooney?

Time Out isn't, R231. Maybe a little review doesn't have to be, but Feldman said you could save hundreds and watch the movie, because the play is almost verbatim the movie, line for line.

The Times is respectful but ultimately kinda meh on GNAGL.

Company suck-up and "critic" Johnny Oleksinki bows to Murdoch and employers at The New York Post with his review: "It’s unnecessary and obvious; shoveling textureless meaning into the troth."

Right, sure it's unnecessary--it's not like we have a power-mad liar and dangerous psychopath in public office at the moment, right, Miss Oleksinki?

What was the last thing Johnny liked, anyway? He's not even an entertaining bitch, just a boring one.

What does she even mean by "textureless meaning"? Here's dumb fag Johnny Oleksinki posing, when not appearing on Fox News.

Audra hasn't missed as many performances as Simard and Hilty have. Are they ever onstage at the same time for the same performance?

Miss Johnny Oleksinki, in her element as a stupid cunt.

Because you know Miss Johnny O reads this. Hey, Johnny: go suck a MAGAt dick.

[quote]shoveling textureless meaning into the troth

This is textureless AND meaningless slop, and should be shoveled into the trough.

Johnny O looks like Ryan Reynolds less gay brother.

[quote]Hey, Johnny: go suck a MAGAt dick.

Oh, I will. In fact, I do.

I tend to agree with Johnny's theater reviews more than anyone else out there professionally reviewing Broadway. The fact that he's cute is all the better.

Johnny O. looks like Paul Rudd’s calcium deficient, fetal alcohol syndrome younger step brother.

Someone posted the following on a certain theater chat board:

[quote]I went to "My First Ex-Husband" and the performers (who were excellent) were reading from the script at a lectern. I am amazed that Equity allows this. I take strong exception to this practice, because if I want readings there are plenty of free readings around town -- for forty dollars of my hard-earned money I expect to see a fully acted PLAY. To me this is a reasonable expectation. Thoughts?

My "thoughts" are that this person is a know-nothing who would probably find it very ironic to learn that it's likely BECAUSE of Equity that all of the performers are reading from scripts in this show, as Equity insists that scripts be used in cases of very brief rehearsal periods. This is why all of the Encores! shows used to be script-in-hand, but later, when the rehearsal period for those shows was increased somewhat, the scripts were no longer required and are only rarely used in Encores! shows anymore.

Kylie Minogue and J-Lo spotted at Good Night and Good Luck opening night. Did J-Lo wear something web-themed?

Not to mention acting like forty dollars is a huge amount of money

Right, R247, I had the same thought. A friend of mine who used to work in Broadway box offices always used to say, "The people who pay the least complain the most."

P.S. I'm told that not only did Ms. McDonald call out from GYPSY last night after having appeared on THE VIEW earlier in the day looking and sounding very healthy, but apparently she also said twice during the show that, even though Rose is a very challenging role, she does eight performances a week.....

Everyone knows the Eden is a total pill to work with, which is why she doesn't work often. She's a total narcissist. Everything is ALWAYS someone else's fault, and the reality is she was over her head in every way in Lempicka. And any other Broadway actor of note knew the show stunk and turned down the part.

Interesting perspective, R250. It did seem to me when I saw the show that the title role was written as very difficult vocally, so I assumed that's why Eden was under pitch much of the time at the performance I attended.

r249 Are you always this pompous? "I'm told", "Ms. McDonald"? Get the fuck over yourself.

I'm a Tony winner eldergay (I know, get her!) but I still have total sympathy for the lady upthread who paid $40 to see a play, only to discover it was a reading with scripts in hand. Even if she paid$10, it sounds like the event's advertising is not truthful about what they're selling. Which is bad for our business.

Why would anyone expect a non-theater person to not be upset about this issue?

GAYle King said on her show this morning that she was at the George Clooney gabfast last night and she was so excited.

Knowing she was a BIG part of what the show was about because she is a NEWS ANCHOR herself and could totally identify.....

AS IF she has EVER accomplished anything herself in her entire life.

[quote]it sounds like the event's advertising is not truthful about what they're selling

Is it? I took a quick look at their social media, and there's no mention of it being a play, and the photos clearly show the lectern. And a non-theater person wouldn't be whining about Equity on ATC.

Related question - how does Equity look at shows like this, the Vagina Monologues, etc? Do they insist on Equity memberships for those kind of shows?

[bold]Andrea Bocelli in Hamilton[/bold]

I got an email ad today promoting tickets for "Andrea Bocelli in Hamilton". I tried to imagine what role Bocelli would play in the iconic musical, especially given his voice type and his blindness.

It took me a while to figure out the real story.

The Behar play must be bombing. She rarely refers to it any more.

I'm surprised she doesn't try to get the whole panel to perform her sorry play.

R226, thanks for posting that.

Now we know the truth: Eden Espinosa knew she was starring in a giant turdball.

R252, I used the phrase "I'm told" because I was relating someone else's experience as told to me, and I used "Ms. McDonald" because I don't consider myself to be on a first-name basis with that person, like so many of you bitches do.

[quote]How does Equity look at shows like this, the Vagina Monologues, etc? Do they insist on Equity memberships for those kind of shows?

That partly depends on what theater the show is playing in.

r260 You had no problem referring to her as Audra in the previous thread. Again, pompous.

[quote]I used "Ms. McDonald" because I don't consider myself to be on a first-name basis with that person, like so many of you bitches do.

And yet you feel totally comfortable calling a bunch of gay men "bitches".

Well, she wasn’t far wrong, R263.

Same here, bucko at R263. The crazy thing is that we may actually know each other, but that is too horrifying to contemplate, so if so, better that we never find out.

As for your last comment, your taking offense at someone referring to people who post on the DL as "bitches" is beyond hilarious. For several reasons, primarily the fact that it's not necessarily meant pejoratively.

I'm shocked (and not) that Jesse gave GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK a "Critics' Pick" - everyone I know who saw it said it stank on ice.

Green's "Critics' Pick" is especially bizarre because the review itself is so bland (like the show). God knows I'm scarcely the first person to say so, but post-VULTURE Jesse Green has been such a disappointment.

The Lempicka composer is entirely responsible for setting keys that were simply not sustainable for an eight-show week. He’s a narcissist AND an idiot.

Who was responsible for that horrible title "Lempicka"?

And don't get me started on Lempicka's "director"....What a nightmare.

Don’t Lempicka your nose!

I have to ask, who is styling Lea Salonga these days and what did she do to piss that stylist off? Yeah, she's definitely been sneaking extra lumpia between shows, but she's still a very pretty lady. But, oy, that deeply unflattering butch haircut? It's so... weirdly boyish and not in a cool Brooklyn'y dyke way, but just like... she's getting ready to play Peter Pan. And, God, that black velvet dress she wears in the show that looks like something the shy girl would wear to her high school prom circa 1988? Bitch, you're on stage next to Bernadette slinking around in her sequins, step it up!

[quote]The Lempicka composer is entirely responsible for setting keys that were simply not sustainable for an eight-show week. He’s a narcissist AND an idiot.

....as evidenced by his speech after the curtain calls at the closing performance. Absolutely incredible.

I saw that First Ex-Husband ($38 tdf ) and I didn’t mind the lectern/script aspect. But it just wasn't that funny or insightful. Very meh, but Jackie Hoffman made her two stories hilarious.

Lea has begun to resemble the owner of the White Lotus.

None of the reviews for Good Night and Good Luck made it sound remotely interesting.

Read the reviews for yourself.

Friends visiting from London raved to me about JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN, so I bought a ticket to Wednesday’s matinee, and only after that did I remember I often disagree with one of them about plays. And I couldn’t remember any word or mouth here.

Any word on this play and whether it is a impressive and shattering as presented to me? Anyone here seen it?

I like Clooney, he could have been just a himbo like Mr Blake Lively, but he has done a lot of good with his celebrity, here and abroad and he is now introducing audiences to what real journalism was before CNN destroyed it all.

This coming week:

MONDAY -- The Great Gatsby's 100th anniversary is featured on Today (maybe it will include the musical?)

TUESDAY -- Idina Menzel plugs Redwood on CBS Mornings, Orville Peck plugs Cabaret on The Drew Barrymore Show (second half), LaTanya Richardson Jackson plugs Purpose on Sherri, and Sadie Sink plugs John Proctor is the Villain on Late Night with Seth Meyers

WEDNESDAY -- Ashley Graham plugs Chicago during Today's fourth hour

THURSDAY -- Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren plug The Last Five Years on Today (regular show and fourth hour)

FRIDAY -- Liz Gillies and Milo Manheim plug Little Shop of Horrors on Today (third hour) and Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren plug The Last Five Years on The Kelly Clarkson Show

SATURDAY -- Justina Machado plugs Real Women Have Curves on Good Morning America Weekend

That's a lot of plugging for one week!

The only times I’ve experienced Audra cancelling was when she was actually sick. It’s not like she’s running off to the Caribbean for a three day weekend and calling off her appearances willy-nilly—like, say, Lindsay Mendez, who had time to get divorced, get remarried, and get pregnant but no time to actually appear in her show.

That said, I saw the View, and Audra didn’t totally seem healthy. Her voice was more gravelly that usually—maybe a bad cold/flu/covid was starting?

Nah, r281, it’s the stairs that get ya.

[quote]The only times I’ve experienced Audra cancelling was when she was actually sick.

No, she herself has basically said that she will not perform when her voice is even slightly tired and not in tip-top shape. She apparently does not have to be "actually sick" to cancel. That said, of course there is no comparison with Lindsay Mendez's shameful shenanigans.

[quote]That's a lot of plugging for one week!

Maybe they should try plugging Whoopi's ass so she can implode.

[quote]there is no comparison with Lindsay Mendez's shameful shenanigans.

r284 = broken record

I Audra won't perform unless her voice is tip top, then why should anyone spend hundreds of dollars to see a show which depends on the whims of the star?

^If..

I miss the jokes about Audra and Chipotle. Were those based on reality?

The only real Chipotle rumors I remember involved Wesley Taylor getting the runs after a tainted Chipotle meal in DC.

[Quote] No, she herself has basically said that she will not perform when her voice is even slightly tired and not in tip-top shape.

She actually never said that.

But if her voice is hurting, performing a tough show may damage it more

David Siegel has died. New ending for The Queen of Versailles?

[quote]She actually never said that.

Yes, she did, R290. I recall clearly that she said it some years ago. Will try to find the exact quote, thought that may be difficult.

[quote]If her voice is hurting, performing a tough show may damage it more

But then maybe at least she should not have allowed herself to be contracted for eight performances a week if she finds the role so vocally challenging that she's going to have to call out when her voice is a little tired but she's not actually ill. On THE VIEW the other day, she stated proudly that she does eight a week, but there have already been several weeks when that was not true.

[quote]If Audra won't perform unless her voice is tip top, then why should anyone spend hundreds of dollars to see a show which depends on the whims of the star?

Maybe if there were more general awareness of how often she calls out, people might be more reluctant to buy tickets for her shows, especially if attending involves a long trip from out of town.

[quote]r292 = Yes, she did, [R290]. I recall clearly that she said it some years ago. Will try to find the exact quote, thought that may be difficult.

Because...of course.

Audra has not had a lot of absences. The week before the show shut down, she posted on Instagram (breathing from a steam inhaler) about how she and others in the cast were fighting illness.

The quote was from many years ago, when she said that performers were damned if they performed sick, damned if they called out. Case in point: Bernadette Peters. Cautionary tale: Julie Andrews.

What she is doing in Gypsy is levels beyond what anyone else is doing on Broadway. As an out of towner, I missed her in December and rebooked months later. Just like I also did for Patti LuPone in a much less demanding role.

How quickly you bitches have all forgotten ME!

I predict Audra will win the Tony and immediately scale down to 6 or 7 performances a week.

I predict that if Gypsy continues to falter at the box office the producers will scale back to zero performances a week before the Tony nominations are announced.

[quote]On THE VIEW the other day, she stated proudly that she does eight a week, but there have already been several weeks when that was not true.

And many, many more weeks where it was

[quote]What she is doing in Gypsy is levels beyond what anyone else is doing on Broadway.

This statement alone reveals that you are not looking at the situation objectively. Which is fine, but just so we're clear on that.

[quote]I predict Audra will win the Tony and immediately scale down to 6 or 7 performances a week.

Wasn't that what she did in PORGY AND BESS? I mean, she officially scaled back after winning the Tony, even though she had had many absences beforehand.

[quote]I predict that if Gypsy continues to falter at the box office the producers will scale back to zero performances a week before the Tony nominations are announced.

I think this prediction is well based in the reality of what's happening.

Whoopi is truly the laziest person in show business. She barely learned her lines and blocking as Hannigan in ANNIE. It was embarrassing.

I guess maybe now that David Siegel has croaked then The Queen of Versailles will end with him ascending those big ass white stairs while Jackie warbles “This Time Next Year.” And I once again implore Cheniweth’s agents to put the kibosh on Fucking Murray Abraham’s apparent contract clause which denied her a single curtain call bow in Boston.

r301 Oh yeah?

{R278} - I thought JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN was a thought-provoking, well-directed and wonderfully performed play. I don't think your friends have steered you wrong!

R299, please share who else on Broadway is performing at that level. I’ve seen most of the shows now playing and stand by my statement. Have you seen her in Gypsy?

Nicole Scherzinger in SUNSET BOULEVARD, R305.

And she shows up.

Lea Salonga in OLD FRIENDS, R305.

And she shows up.

Eden Espinosa in Lempicka. And she showed up.

…to bitch

Not seeing it with Scherzinger. People may like the performance more or find it more showy, but it’s the stagecraft that makes her performance. She is certainly not connecting with the material emotionally on the level Audra or showing the technical skill. Plus, it’s strange to say she shows up when she has missed more performances than Audra.

Lea Salonga in a revue. Sure, Jan.

R309. Nicole has missed more shoes than Audra because she's contracted to play 7 performances a week and took a scheduled one week vacation. Audiences have always been made aware when she will not be performing way in advance. When she's scheduled to perform, she's there and her professionalism shouldn't be questioned to make Audra look good when Audra has had a terrible attendance record for her entire Broadway career.

[quote] [R299], please share who else on Broadway is performing at that level.

Sarah Snook in Picture of Dorian Gray. She's not singing, but that might be the most difficult, demanding role on Broadway right now.

R309 says about Nicole Scherzinger [quote]She is certainly not connecting with the material emotionally on the level Audra or showing the technical skill.

WHAT!!! Have you seen Scherzinger's show? With your eyes and ears open?

[quote]Lea Salonga in a revue. Sure, Jan.

Obviously, you haven't seen OLD FRIENDS R309. Salonga brilliantly delivers her songs by both "... connecting with the material emotionally" and "... showing the technical skill". She has earned the well-deserved praise she has received.

R296: Maybe she knows something we don't about that Tony. She's taking off the week of June 30 - July 6.

R172- how on earth could you be wrong? You gave it NO CHANCE to succeed!

The Redwood audience got an extra bang for their buck this week.

Lea Salonga's show just began previews, didn't it? And surely no one would seriously claim that what she's doing in it approaches Madam Rose's vocal/emotional marathon?

In any case, I don't doubt that she's excellent or that she'll miss few if any performances, but come on, now.

R259- did you see it? I liked Lempicka a lot. And the understudy was on.

Boop opens tonite! I can't remember the last time a Broadway show opened on a Saturday night.

I think Boop! will flop! but last longer than Smash!

So, apparently, even though Boop! opens tonight (highly unusual for a Saturday night), the producers managed to embargo the appearance of reviews until Monday morning. I mean, I get that the reviews wouldn't appear in print until Monday but wouldn't it benefit the show for the online reviews to come out on Sunday when fewer people are paying attention?

But then again, maybe you just can't fool people who are invested in getting the info.

Variety (when they used to have fun headlines): "Boop?" Poop!

Yes, R305, I've seen Audra in GYPSY, and to name only one person, I would say Sarah Snook is performing at or beyond that level. Any more questions?

I think both Audra and Nicole's performances are Tony-worthy and whoever wins, it will be well-deserved. If I were a voter, I'd have a really hard time choosing between the two.

R310, you basically nailed it. But to be 100 percent fair, Audra's attendance record was fine when she was in shows that she did not consider vocally taxing, like LADY DAY and, obviously, A RAISIN IN THE SUN. But her record was indeed bad in most or all of her other shows, including RAGTIME, in which she had only one or two vocally taxing numbers in Act One.

[quote]WHAT!!! Have you seen Scherzinger's show? With your eyes and ears open?

I've seen the show and, yes, Nicole is good--still not a particularly emotional performance-- more zany than anything. Audra deserves the Tony hands down. Some Tony voters are going to think that Audra already has too many and will vote for Nicole--but Nicole's show is kind off blah. Nicole lights it up with her two songs, but the rest really drags.

Everyone I know who has seen Boop in previews says it's nice but nothing particularly thrilling or new.

[quote] I get that the reviews wouldn't appear in print until Monday but wouldn't it benefit the show for the online reviews to come out on Sunday when fewer people are paying attention?

Well, that depends on whether they expect positive or negative reviews. What I've heard from the few people I know who've see the show already leads me to believe that it will receive mostly positive reviews, and if it flops, it won't be because of the reviews but because the title and the subject matter are just not marketable to today's audiences.

Who is setting all these "levels"?

Is it human controlled or astrology?

Does Mercury being in Retrograde affect this at awhile? Does Mercury have something to do with Audra's awkward move from chest to head voice?

Saw BOOP at opening tonight. Once again (saw the SMASH disaster yesterday), Bob Martin doesn't deliver, but Jerry Mitchell sure does. The actress playing Boop is a joy to watch and a star. The music is hit and miss. When it's at its best, it's a truly entertaining big old show. But it spends way too much time in act 1 justifying its existence, and Martin seems clueless. The end of act 1 and the top of act 2 are wonderful numberst, and act 2 is much better than act 1 because there's finally a conflict to play. I thought it was far better than the "Hell's Kitchen" crapfest of last season.

R330 - does Act 2 of "Boop" still have a waste management impresario (A Trump stand-in) running for mayor of NYC plot?

That was a big part of the show when it tried out in Chicago - and it was a fucking mess.

R243=Johnny O

How can Sarah Snook be performing at a higher level than Audra, R323, when none of the characters in Dorian Gray has the depth of a postage stamp? It is a showy piece allowing a showy, perhaps exhausting performance, but there is no work for an actor to do except what can be seen with the naked eye. Either you remember the lines and ensure the surfaces of many characters are different for the few minutes you're playing them, or you don't. You don't get to work out how a character gets from who they are at the start to who they are (or what more they know about themselves) at the end, or solve problems in the text through your performance, or highlight ideas in the text that no-one has seen before, as you might in a Shakespeare, a Chekhov or even a Stoppard. To me, that kind of thing is the essence of great performance (and great direction), whereas Dorian Gray is a flashy theme-park ride.

No offence at all to Sarah S, who is well capable of a genuinely fine performance.

Holy crap, Anne Bogart is directing CAROUSEL in Boston! I just looked her up and was amazed to find that she's only 73. She must have been very young when she began her inglorious career.

R333, we're talking about different criteria, but I'm sticking with my comment that Snook's performance is at least the equal of Audra's, and I would say surpasses her, in terms of energy and commitment. Also, one actor playing so many different characters in a show requires a special kind of talent and energy,

Even if several of those roles are nothing more than pre-recorded video?

If I want to admire energy, R335, I'll watch running races, which have a similar degree of subtlety. But art is subjective, so you do you.

Art sure is subjective, R337, as evidenced by the wildly varied reactions to Audra's performance in GYPSY.

There *is* a journey in The Picture of Dorian Gray, and it's Dorian's. He goes from impressionable, beautiful youth to sociopathic madness. Snook is almost always live as Dorian, except for moments where she's Sibyl Vane or Lord Henry. There is also a device in this adaptation of a narrator figure who is slowly subsumed by the Dorian persona until emerging again in the final moments. All of that is for Snook to play and is not the work of the technology of the production. I still think it is enormously difficult for Snook as an actor, and it's a credit to her that she makes it look effortless.

Of course, R339. How sad that someone needs to minimize Snook's achievement in order to pump-up Audra's.

Who are the goons behind Chenoweth and Menzel, stealing focus?

The bitches who donated money to buy them.

How much?

8 grand.

Sorry, bidding started at 8 grand, those two fools paid 16.

[quote]And I once again implore Cheniweth’s agents to put the kibosh on Fucking Murray Abraham’s apparent contract clause which denied her a single curtain call bow in Boston

What's this about?

Bidding for what?

F. Murray just had a smash hit off-Broadway, doing Beckett at the Irish Rep.

He’s fine.

Sarah Snook...SNOOK hee hee hee...

Someone posted this on ATC.

FOLLIES/Time Tunnel

I hated The Pucture of Dorian Gray. SS in huge closeups running around screaming and exhausting herself and the audience. Plus Dorian is beautiful young man not a plump frau. All the homoeroticism was gone. I paid $160 to watch screens and give myself a headache. What a waste of two hours.

Yes, all of the homoeroticism is gone from DORIAN GRAY, and the whole story is treated like a jokey, post-modern camp fest. I guess it's a perfect example of that style of "British humor" that they all find so hilarious but we, umm, don't. Her performance is amazing in terms of talent and commitment and energy, but for me, the whole conception of the piece was confused and muddled and off-putting.

The production, director and star are all Australian. I expect dissent here on the contrarian Datalounge. For me, it was one of the great evenings I’ve spent in a theatre, but I’ve only been seeing Broadway shows since 1972, so what do I know.

Not much?

There's a difference between acting and performance art.

Don’t tell that certain Yugoslav darling of MoMA.

R350 - I didn't know the Event Horizon offered dinner theatre

R353, thanks for the clarification that the creatives of DORIAN GRAY are Australian, not British, but it's still that crazy, juvenile, knockabout, snarky, Brit-style humor on display in the show, and I personally abhor it when applied to subject matter for which it's unsuitable.

r350 - that's... wild.

Yeah, r359, I thought so. All of the European productions seem so...uh...creative.

Yeah, Dorian Gray is a queer masterpiece. It's not a feminist masterpiece.

Stop appropriating our culture, ladiez!!!!

Just watched the Olivier Awards, further proof the London musical theatre has surpassed Broadway in its mediocrity. Benjamin Button for Best new musical and Fiddler for best revival - both seemed pretty dreadful to me.

R262. I just watched the Olivier Awards, too. The ceremony itself was so much fun and I love the way they announce the nominees. Giant won three acting awards and Imelda won for Dolly. And it was so nice to see Lesley Manville win. She's one of my favorite actors. Oh, and Tom Hiddleston looked hot in his little tux. A few political remarks were made with wit and levity but points were definitely made. And I loved the look on Adrien Brody's face when he lost. At least we were spared another 12 minute speech.

Billy Porter being there is a dealbreaker for me.

[quote] Imelda won for Dolly.

Imelda would win if she just came on stage, took a dump and walked off.

Does this mean we'll get "Benjamin Button" on Broadway? Will they get "Oh, Mary" and "Purpose"? Especially after the latter wins Best Play on June 9th?

Unsurprisingly, Billy Porter was absolutely insufferable. Made almost every moment he was onstage all about him.

Jesse Green needs to stop trying to make "nerdical" happen. It's not gonna happen.

Apparently, there are a large number of Filipinos leading Bway musicals—Many Happy Endings, Sunset Blvd, Cabaret, Old Friends….others?

Apparently? And their nepo babies are starting in Max shows.

There are factories in Manila and Quezon City that produce nothing but cruise ship entertainment or pageant contestants. It’s in the blood.

Adam Feldman gets five stars for his scathing bitchery in his review of THE LAST FIVE YEARS:

"Not Since Beanie."

[quote]There are factories in Manila and Quezon City that produce nothing but cruise ship entertainment or pageant contestants.

A perfect fit for modern Broadway.

R365 that's exactly how I picture her playing Dolly.

R353 when did you exactly start seeing shows in 1972? Did you see Follies? If you didn't see Follies you have no worthwhile opinion to offer.

I am so upset

So I fly from Indiana to NY to see Broadway shows but my calendars are limited.

This season I saw Cabaret, Gypsy, Oh Mary, Once Upon a Mattress, The Roommate and Ragtime.

In two weeks I’m going for a couple of days and have tickets for Old Friends, Sunset Blvd and The Last Five Years.

I’m upset because I love the Last Five years and was so excited that it was finally coming to Broadway….however, the reviews from opening night have been atrocious. I don’t want to cancel my ticket because I still like the show enough to see it, but I wish Nick Jonas hadn’t been cast. I also wish I had one more night to sneak in Pirates of Penzance.

Drink a poisoned milkshake and call it a day.

I don’t understand how the reviews for the Last Five Years could be so bad. It’s basically a stand and sing musical. If they just stood and sang, it wouldn’t be so bad

Who had the money to lose by producing" The Last Five Years" it at all? Gone by Tonys.

Johnny O's review.

[quote]But when they’re fused together to tell the womp-womp story of Jamie and Cathy, spouses who barely interact onstage as they loudly belt out their grievances, they make for a whiny bore of a show that manages to be both slim and lumbering. Believe me, despite a short 90-minute runtime, “The Last Five Years” is never “moving too fast.” You’re five years older by curtain call.

[quote]Now, add in woefully miscast leads in Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren and barely-there direction by Whitney White and what you get is the dirge that opened Sunday night at the Hudson Theatre — one of the worst musical productions of the season. It’s appallingly bad.

I knew it would bomb as soon as they announced Jonas. Plus, I think JRB has alienated a huge swath of theatre critics .

[quote]"Not since Beanie Feldstein in the 2022 revival of Funny Girl has the advance skepticism that greeted a Broadway casting announcement proved so apt"

[quote] Brown’s show deserves better than the serial missteps of this 85-minute faux pas de deux."

The problem is Last Five Years is a rather boring show to start with

Dang, Beanie's career is reduced to...."not since Beanie Feldstein"

Clearly only I can save the day!

Does Joe Jonas have a wedding he can go to this weekend?

When it was announced that Nick Jonas was going to be at Miscast this year, someone on Reddit asked if he was going to be singing his songs from Last Five Years

Don't shows close on opening night anymore?

The last time it happened was nearly 17 years ago.

Personally, I'm hoping the Boop reviews are a lot better than the Last Five Years reviews.

As someone who actually saw GLORY DAYS in its original Broadway incarnation, I can attest to the fact that it overstayed its short welcome.

I saw a semi professional production of Last Five Years about a decade ago and I was so fucking bored. Two straights singing dull songs at one another about their bland straight people lives. Agony.

This year, a local LORT did it and it was just a big no for me. To get me to see a production of this show, it would have to have some truly amazing talent in it...like, I dunno....Lady Gaga as the woman? Liza?

The reviews for L5Y are NY queens at their worst. I thought it was fine, often good, and the director was working with the show in a way that was new. Sometimes she succeeded, sometimes she didn't, but it always held. If they had offered the exact same production that had been done for the past 20 years they would have been crucified. And then they were crucified for doing something new. It was the laziest of thinking.

[quote]I think JRB has alienated a huge swath of theatre critics .

For what reason(s)?

Norbert and Sherie were at the opening.

Poor JRB. Will he ever get the Broadway hit he so craves?

Maybe if he wrote songs with melodies.....................

The revival of PARADE at City Center and then on Broadway was about as big a hit as a show of that type could ever hope to be. And anyone who says JRB writes songs that lack tunes should refrain from commenting on such things on social media, because they obviously have no taste or knowledge of such things.

The problem with JRB is that he is not able to see his work from an outside perspective. When he slums it, or fakes it, it usually shows. His songs are some of my favorites, but shows like The Connector and Honeymoon in Vegas and Mr. Saturday Night really make it hard to be a fan.

R399, you thought JRB was "slumming" or "faking it" with THE CONNECTOR?

No, in that one, I thought his rage got in the way of the characters and the stories. I was really disappointed.

To clarify, I just don’t think he is self aware to understand how material affects an audience and adjust accordingly. In the tryout for Bridges, there was a super annoying song about the State Fair that opened the first act. In an interview, he acknowledged that he had to write a new song but got defensive and said it was essentially the same song, dismissing people who got annoyed by the original repetitive lyric that said nothing.

I think if he had some objectivity, or a stronger director, he might have figured out a way to make Bridges rather than doubling down on characters who bored and annoyed most audiences.

I've always said the JRB is a great songwriter but a terrible musical dramatist.

The new grosses are in.

William Finn has died.

Finn was a brilliant, albeit, very strange composer. He wrote brilliant stuff. His advice to his students was, "never afraid to be messy".

Sunset @ 78% and Gypsy at 71%. Ouch. They're in Redwood territory.

I wonder how much the whole Canadian tourist drop has affected grosses......

(no particular proof or data, just musing aloud)

Well, it would have been nice for all 41 Broadway houses occupied, but I suspect that several shows are going to close between May 1 (when the Tony announcements come out) and May 24 (when Call Me Izzy starts previews at Studio 54).

The Olivier Awards got it right. Everyone from actors to playwrights to box office personnel are listed alphabetically. They even included Val Kilmer who had appeared on the London stage and had just passed away.

And there was NOTHING to distract from all the names and images listed. A beautiful perfect way of doing the obits.

Leave it to the Brits.

R407 I think you should change your wording.

Gypsy at 71% is quite a bit lower than Redwood at 79%.

Redwood is almost as low as Gypsy, not the other way around.

Audra doesn't put butts in seats.

Will Real Women Have Curves even make it to the Tony's?

I’ve heard raves (online) so far, but that doesn’t mean a lot when people are paid to spread opinions. Still, I thought they sounded credible enough to swap out Floyd Collins.

[quote]Audra doesn't put butts in seats.

Those potential butts in seats never know when Audra's butt will be on stage.

They also put Gypsy into too large of a theater. If they had put it into an 1000 seat space it would have been sold out for weeks which helps generate interest. "Sold Out' equals "Hit I Gotta See!"

They were stupid to think they would do well in a 1400+ house with an old, too frequently revived show with a lead who doesn't really sell seats.

Nicole on vacation from SB next week.

Audra in Gypsy would have sold out at Joe’s Pub!

Redwood was seen by 7300 people last week and Gypsy was seen by 9000.

R416, there seems to have been a lot of stupidity -- or, let's say, very poor judgment -- involved in the production of this GYPSY.

Old Friends was a critics pick.

I hope Bernadette gets a final Tony nomination for featured actress as like a career acknowledgement.

At 77, she’s unlikely to have another chance and she hasn’t been nominated in 22 years

Excellent article with lots of very strong tea about the Shuberts! (There is a paywall.)

Bernadette is in a class by herself. Give the Tony to another newbie and then let them wait another 22 years for their second nom.

R422 a really well-written and researched piece, that’s a great read.

Bernadette and Lea Salonga have above the title billing for Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, so unless the producers petition, both are eligible for Lead Actress in a Musical, not Featured Actress.

Since neither will win it’s not relevant.

Both leads out of DBH again today. They seemed fine at Miscast the other night. WTF is going on over there?

R428. I am sure that they are bored out of their minds. It is a dreadful show.

Finn e Fin

Very sad about the passing of Willian Finn. I'll never forget seeing Falsettoland in the summer of 1990 on Christopher Street. Not a dry eye in the house.

I thought DBH was fun and certainly doesn’t feel like a boring show for the leads. For Michelle Williams’ role, yes (and she’s so boring in it).

Isn't DBH essentially aimed for the gay audience?

Can someone share the non paywalled version of Bernadette Peters’s Proust interview that just launched today from Vanity Fair?

The Tony rules over nominations being based on billing, is so dumb.

I mean, Dick Van Dyke and Tom Bosley won Tonys in the featured category when they are the LEADS of their respective shows (Bye Bye Birdie and Fiorello).

Idiocy.

Wanna talk Molly Brown and Marian, r435?

R435, this is why the Tony Administration Committee meets to grant exemptions and/or producers petition for actors to be moved up to leading categories.

What am I, chopped liver, R435?

R413: They might be able to limp to the Tonys but who knows. Buena Vista being in the mix sure doesn’t help Real Women’s chances.

R438 - yes William....your upcoming obit could have read William Daniels, Tony Award Winning Actor dies.

Instead it will read: William Daniels, the Voice of Kitt dies.

Followed the next day by a correction: Mr. Daniel’s’ obituary should have referenced KITT, not Eartha Kitt.

Jinkx Monsoon is above the title for the Pirates musical...in this "remake" of the original is her role, Ruth, now a lead? Because it's a supporting role.

She might have a shot at a featured Tony nomination (if it's a good performance) but I don't see much of a chance in lead.

And, for that matter, she's another non-binary. Which side of the binary ladder would Jinkx opt for?

[quote] Daniel’s’

Daniels'!

That’s DL autocorrect…not my fault!

In 1981, Kevin Kline and George Rose were nominated as lead actors for Pirates (as the Pirate King and Major-General, respectively). Kevin won. If he's nominated, this would be Ramin Karimloo's second time at the Tonys (the first was for playing Jean Valjean in the LES MIZ revival; he lost). If he's nominated, this would be David Hyde Pierce's fourth time at the Tonys (he won for Curtains, but didn't win for Vanya, Sonya ... and Hello, Dolly!; he's also got an Isabelle Stevenson Award).

Is that award more a Herscholt or a Thalberg. Or just a Governor’s award?

Both ladies at DBH are missing matinees regularly. Just close the show or hire two competent actresses. This is fucked up.

R447 = Audra Ann

JOHN PROCTOR will be a big hit, I predict. Well cast, nicely directed, and catnip for young women. I had no idea who Sadie Sink is (and I saw Stranger Things) but the screamers outside the stage door this afternoon. seem to have consecrated her. I had a perfectly satisfying experience, especially at TDF prices. Think it could snatch the Tony from PURPOSE and HILLS OF CALIFORNIA.

I wonder if audiences at DBH even care if the leads are out. They're hardly big names. The major attraction here is that it's based on a popular movie.

Did Glory Days involve guys sitting on a bleacher? If so, then I vaguely remember being bored out of my mind.

While not precisely a rave, Jesse Green’s review of OLD FRIENDS made me decide to see it. He got pleasure out of hearing Sondheim’s greatest hits again. And I figure, how many more chances will we get to see Bernadette Peters on a Broadway stage performing Sondheim songs in a glittering gown, looking every inch the star?

JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN is an engrossing, well-observed play with a feminist message, but by the end it transcends being just that and becomes an expression of the rage and frustration at Trump and Republicans (and the Democrats who refuse to battle them) many of us are feeling now, as well as a powerful message about the importance of dissent and protest. This last is by no means explicit, it isn’t spelled out, but it’s very much what I took away from the last scene of the play.

It’s a good production of a good play and well worth seeing, And the timing couldn’t be better.

r452, I didn't get the larger message of dissent and protest, but that's ok. If others like you see coded messages regarding Trump et al, I'm all for it.

"No one is snatching MY Tony for Best Play!"

[quote]I wonder if audiences at DBH even care if the leads are out.

Is DBH a sequel to DEH?

[quote]Enough with the initials

DIAGF

r456 I beg your pardon?

STQIAAAF

KOYAANISQATSI

Why does nobody talk about how The Outsiders is the biggest hit musical since Hamilton? It's been sold-out since it opened.

This is Angelina Jolie hate, me thinks.

It doesn't have the novelty of Hamilton, r460.

The Outsiders needs a gimmick!

I think by Tony time Oh, Mary will seem like the one joke skit it really is. And Cole and his producers can cry all the way to the bank.

And I think the (surprisingly) largely favorable reviews for Boop! will spell even more dire reviews for Smash.

There's a review on YouTube of The Last Five Years headed "Nobody Needs to Go".

Ouch.

[quote]The Outsiders needs a gimmick!

It's not just a song, r462.

I had no idea Bernadette had remarried until I read the Vanity Fair interview. Good for her!

I didn't either, r467! When? Who?

R468. She refers to her husband Tom and his children in the interview. I googled and she's attended events with Tom Sorce. Very handsome man. Maybe he doesn't enjoy being in the spotlight.

Maybe he doesn’t want to be seen out with her.

Thanks, r469. That makes me very happy for her. I usually send a lovely fondue set for a wedding gift but...it's Bernadette.

You go, girl!

He’s a senior hunk for sure, and with a great head of hair. They make a Senior Sexy couple.

There go the lesbian rumors.

He’s tilted.

[quote]And I think the (surprisingly) largely favorable reviews for Boop! will spell even more dire reviews for Smash.

What? "Boop" got favorable reviews?

Wow. That coy Bernadette's been hiding her new hubby under our noses for YEARS. If you Google him, you'll see several red carpet images of them together over the past few years. Something about the way she answered those Vanity Fair questions suggest the nuptials weren't that long ago. Regardless, that's lovely to see. I can't imagine what she went through when her first husband died suddenly in that helicopter crash.

OMG. Cole Escola performing "Iowa Stubborn" from The Music Man as a burlesque striptease number? Genius. Can't wait to watch the full Miscast performance.

Why are Simard and Hilty missing so many performances? It’s really frustrating that they just can’t announce a schedule for these two. Imagine getting stuck with understudies this early in run?

Neither one of them are beloved enough to be that missed. I mean, Hilty has a tiny bit of a name and Simard really has none. DBH doesnt' really need stars. The IP is the star.

It would be funny if neither of them (Hilty and Simard) get Tony nominations because they've been missing too many performances. That's one of the more competitive races this year. I don't think it's necessarily guaranteed they'll both get nominations.

Gold Derby as them at #4 (Simard) and #5 (Hilty) for their Best Actress Musical predictions with Hilty's odds seen as decreasing. Idina is at #6 and the Boop actress at #7.

And, it does seem that Jinkx is competing as a lead actress...dumb. She might have a shot in featured.

Can someone link the non paywalled version of the Bernadette interview?

R478 = Cole Escola

r470=Petty Lapone

[quote]Gold Derby as them at #4 (Simard) and #5 (Hilty) for their Best Actress Musical predictions with Hilty's odds seen as decreasing. Idina is at #6 and the Boop actress at #7.

Just about everything I've read about "Boop" singled out the lead actress (Jasmine Amy Rogers) as being the main reason to see the show. Seems like she should be ranked higher, although she's not a "name" like most of the other potential nominees.

I had no idea that Faith Prince is in "Boop."

I know it's a long shot but I'd love to see Jasmine sneak in and grab that Best Actress Tony.

And the Gypsy recording drops on April 25. Oh, doubters of Datalounge.

[quote]I had no idea that Faith Prince is in "Boop."

Lead gets opening night bouquet and Faith doesn't.

[quote]Why are Simard and Hilty missing so many performances?

They're both obese, which makes doing 8 shows a week almost impossible for them.

Why aren't the producers addressing it?

They pushed the shit out these two up until opening and now crickets. Seems both haven't been doing matinees. I hope they are both Tony snubbed.

A footnote to the passing of William Finn

Is the Hartford Stage 1991 production combining the two separate March/Falsettoland shows for the first time ever spoken of?

I asked a friend of mine who saw the shows and is acquaintances with a few working on it.

He said it was Graciela Danielle's idea apparently to do both shows in one evening,

Mark Lamos green lit it even though it was expensive...

My firend didn't think there was any real awareness about how the success of the Hartford production got everybody on board for NYC in 1992.

Everybody except Danielle. Apparently she had a big moment at the end of the 2nd act where the AIDS quilt descended... it was quite powerful and Lapine asked her if he could use it NY. She refused.

Barbara Walsh moved with the show from Hartford.

see link below

Faith Prince's role in BOOP! is almost completely thankless, so even though it's nice to see her back onstage, she is pretty much wasted in the show.

FALSETTOS is another example of the near talent-free James Lapine glomming onto other people's projects and then getting far more credit that he deserved.

Why didn’t Graciella’s production move?

Because Lapine wanted to do his own production of his own work. Very sad for Daniele..

I'm shocked Erich Bergen, who from my understanding, is a huge plus in BOOP! isn't closer to center at that curtain call.

I wonder if BOOP! can become a hit. It's got the reviews and word of mouth and the b.o. could benefit based only on TV clips which show the production at its best (the production numbers, costumes and tapping).

Alas, for BOOP, no star. A Tony might help.

[quote]I'm shocked Erich Bergen, who from my understanding, is a huge plus in BOOP! isn't closer to center at that curtain call.

I'm surprised if that's your understanding, because his role is also fairly thankless, just another standard issue rich, white, male villain who's portrayed as being a bastard towards his black female associate.

I always thought Erich was glass closeted but then he started posting pics on Instagram of himself with his girlfriend and ever since has been totally openly heterosexual

Erich went through a period where he definitely gave the impression he was bisexual.

Wait, what? I only thought his character was bisexual and he was gold star gay.

[quote]I always thought Erich was glass closeted but then he started posting pics on Instagram of himself with his girlfriend and ever since has been totally openly heterosexual

That would surely be amusing to the gorgeous male acquaintance of mine who was pursued RELENTLESSLY by Erich a few years ago.

Gold Derby's Tony predictions are VERY star heavy which is not always the case with the Tonys. They frequently disdain interloping Hollywood talent on the legitimate Broadway stage.

And, looking at their lists in each category, it's shocking to see how few potential nominees there are in some of them. For Lead Actress in a Play there's only EIGHT eligible apparently. Petty LuPone could sneak in and get a nom with those odds!!!

The Weisslers cock-blocked Danielle and usurped her production. That's why Danielle's production didn't move to Broadway.

They frequently disdain interloping Hollywood talent on the legitimate Broadway stage? NO.

—they love the Hollywood-adjacent glory! FFS, Scarlett J has a Tony (she was least worthy among her cast).

I forgot that it's been 25 years since Christopher Sieber (and others, he's just the one I remember) complained about how the Tonys recognized visiting stars above jobbing stage actors.

Hollywood Royalty Liz Taylor should have won for The Little Foxes. She gave a memorable performance.

R468 in this month's Vanity Fair, she disclosed being "grateful to be married to my husband, Tom" or something like that.

[quote]I forgot that it's been 25 years since Christopher Sieber (and others, he's just the one I remember) complained about how the Tonys recognized visiting stars above jobbing stage actors.

I remember Donna McKechnie was another one who publicly complained, and that Eric McCormack read her to filth for it :-)

Eric: a star in his own mind…nowhere else.

Eric McCormick read Donna to filth?!! He should worship the ground she walks on.

Smash opens tonite.

I have a friend who works the house at Outsiders and it is a huge hit SRO. She loathes the audiences. Lots of school groups. She's been working the Royale for a long time and she for the first time is endlessly bitching about the audiences for a show playing there. Exhausting and it looks like she's stuck with it for a very long time. Then the national tours, the international tours and then the school friendly version. A lot of money in Angelina's already fat purse.

There was the story about the old man who shit in his seat. I was like what was he doing at The Outsiders?

Somehow I missed Eric vs. Donna.

Not sure why they chose that photo, which is neither Eric McCormack, nor Donna McKechnie.

Did the "Give the Tonys Back to Broadway" campaign achieve anything substantial? (Also it happened after the 2010 awards, not before them, like I thought.)

Donna almost got to squeeze a roll of toilet paper in a commercial but lost out in the finals.

I forgot how thin skinned Eric McCormack is.

Then again that article was cunty anyway by referring to Donna as a “one-time” Broadway star…aka no longer a Broadway star.

So really everyone was just a big cunt in those days!

It must be frustrating to be Eric McCormack. He has objectively succeeded, but is not really respected by the industry or followed with much interest by audiences. He’s was overshadowed by at least two co-stars in his own show. He’s just there.

Was Eric McCormack any good in The Best Man?

r513, the novel "The Outsiders" is based on was published in 1967. The old guy may have read it when he was a teenager.

Committee decides Tony eligibility.

Interesting that they opted not to have any of the Glengarry Glen Ross guys be eligible for lead actor in a play.

[quote]There was the story about the old man who shit in his seat. I was like what was he doing at The Outsiders?

He got confused as older people do and thought the marquee read Outhouse.

[quote]Interesting that they opted not to have any of the Glengarry Glen Ross guys be eligible for lead actor in a play.

I always wince when I read stuff like this. The reality is that the producers and theater owners have a lot of influence on what categories their actors will get nominated in. If they think they have a better chance for an award by campaigning for a different category, they go for it. Award nominations, and especially TONY wins, help the box office. That's why the operative word in show business is "business." IMHO

Sometimes, though, the actor is ungrateful about the "win" if it's in the wrong category. Rita Moreno famously won Best Supporting Actress for THE RITZ, a nomination heavily campaigned for by producer Adela Holzer. In her acceptance speech, Moreno tersely pointed out that she was the leading lady of the production, not the supporting actress. "The only thing I support are my beads.”

Who won for Best Actress the year Moreno won Supporting for The Ritz? Would Rita have beat her had she been in the same competition?

I wouldn't be the least surprised if Denzel, Keiran and George were all left out of the nominations, based on their reviews.

For R526. No, Rita would not have won as Best Actress in a Play.

Year Category Nominee Show Nom

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Rita Moreno The Ritz Award winner

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Linda Miller Black Picture Show

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Geraldine Page Absurd Person Singular

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Carole Shelley Absurd Person Singular

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Elizabeth Spriggs London Assurance

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play Frances Sternhagen Equus

__________

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Ellen Burstyn Same Time, Next Year Award winner

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Elizabeth Ashley Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Diana Rigg The Misanthrope

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Maggie Smith Private Lives

1975 Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play Liv Ullmann A Doll's House

They will go wild to give Wilde a Tony for Best Play. It’s better the GB Shaw winning an Oscar!

I saw DBH with Hilty’s understudy and she was amazing. This was a matinee, and Michelle Williams also left the show at intermission.

Dear Bridget Hansen?

That photo at R514 is not in the accompanying article, no idea why it appears as the thumbnail.

WOW! Who won the Tony for Best Actress that year, Billy Boy? Any one of those actresses could have done it (I'm guessing it was Maggie Smith). Rita wouldn't have stood a chance in that category and her rude remark in her acceptance speech seems particularly boorish now.

Jesse Green gives Smash a Critic's Pick!

R533 you guessed completely wrong. Of course it was Ellen Burstyn, with back to back wins at the Oscars and the Tonys.

AI Overview:

Ellen Burstyn won both an Academy Award (Oscar) and a Tony Award in the same year, 1975, becoming the third woman to do so. She won the Oscar for Best Actress in Martin Scorsese's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for "Same Time, Next Year".

In Jesse Green's review of SMASH, Scott Wittman's name is spelled correctly one time, but incorrectly another time as "Whitman."

[quote]And the Gypsy recording drops on April 25

So much for the poster who was insisting Gypsy hadn't been recorded as his friends would've told him if it had

R521 I didn't think of that. You're right and it's very sad. He probably read it as a teen and wanted to see it on stage was at a stage in his life where he was so old he couldn't control his bowels so he shit in a theater seat. And he didn't even report it. it was two young women sitting behind him who reported it to my friend and she had to get the house manager involved. When this happens they replace the seat. Thank goodness.

[quote]So much for the poster who was insisting Gypsy hadn't been recorded as his friends would've told him if it had

I never insisted that, I shared that a friend had reported that someone in the cast of GYPSY told him the album had not yet been recorded. What I found out shortly thereafter was that another cast member had told another friend truthfully that it HAD been recorded. It seems everyone was sworn to secrecy, but the cast member who told the truth had gone rogue.

As to WHY the secrecy, one of the people mentioned above suggested it may be because the recording is going to be on a brand new label, and they didn't want to announce it until they were set up for distribution, pre-ordering, etc. That's the only reason that makes sense to me, because normally, news of an upcoming cast album is reported as soon as the deal is set.

Ah, the story changes. Plot twist!

I am shocked by the NYT’s Smash review. I know multiple theatergoers who I trust fully and who wanted to love it, and they have all said the show is a complete disaster. Dull and boring and a mess.

In the end it's the audiences who will decide if a show is a hit or miss. I just don't see people rushing to buy tickets to SMASH.

Agreed, R543. I don’t think it’ll run, but I am now torn about whether or not don’t wanna see it. I’ve decided I’m too old to see bad theater (had tickets to L5Y this week and didn’t show), but maybe it’s really not bad?

I suspect that Smash will be roundly snubbed by the Tony nominators, good reviews or not. There's going to be lots of backlash and resentment within the industry on that NY Times rave.

I do see Brooks and Kristine getting Tony noms. Just because.

Jesse Green sure does seem to be quite the contrarian lately.

Water for Elephants was also a Critic’s Pick. As were Days of Wine and Roses and the Doubt revival.

R548: So was Swept Away.

I really don’t think people are about The NY Times anymore.

Firstly, people are rightfully pissed about how they constantly covered for Trump in 2016 and now, again.

Yikes about Real Women Have Curves. The Jones is cursed.

What happened with Real Women Have Curves??

r540 You insisted exactly that. I'll quote your entire post - post 304 on thread 584, a month ago:

[quote]How do I know that no cast album of GYPSY has yet been recorded? Because I know people who would absolutely know if it had already happened, aside from the fact that such things are usually announced via press release.

[quote]But if you'd like to believe that the cast album has already been recorded in secret, and no word of it has yet been publicized, be my guest.

So now you're making up bullshit to try and cover up the fact you've been proven to be a liar. Tell me, are these well-connected friends also your black friends that you totally have?

And it's being released by Ghostlight Records, which is very much not a new label. You'd think someone as well-connected as your totally real friend would have heard of them.

As you no doubt hear on a regular basis - I'll pass on the offer of being your guest.

R550. You’re totally mistaken. When it comes to arts and culture in this city—the Times matters more than anyone else.

Here's where things currently stand for eligibility the big four acting categories (with the caveat that there's George Clooney, Sadie Sink, Jonathan Groff, etc. who will be eligible for lead honors but haven't yet been confirmed):

BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY:

Troy Kittles, Home

Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!

Peter Friedman, JOB

Robert Downey Jr., McNeal

Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face

Jim Parsons, Our Town

Peter Gallagher, Left on Tenth

Kit Connor, Romeo + Juliet

Harry Lennix, Purpose

Jon Michael Hill, Purpose

Denzel Washington, Othello

Jake Gyllenhaal, Othello

BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY (again, these are women who are eligible so far, and there's more to come):

Sydney Lemmon, JOB

Mia Farrow, The Roommate

Patti LuPone, The Roommate

Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California

Julianna Margulies, Left on Tenth

Rachel Zegler, Romeo + Juliet

LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose

Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL (Again, this is people who have been confirmed as eligible for that award so far):

Tom Francis, Sunset Boulevard

James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World

Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending

Grey Henson, Elf

John Gallagher Jr., Swept Away

David Cumming, Operation Mincemeat

An entire 12 months—and that’s all there is. It’s like some of those lean years in the 70s or 80s. But still better than the year of Aaron T.

Finally, BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL (Based on current eligiblity):

Sutton Foster, Once Upon a Mattress

Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard

Helen J. Shen, Maybe Happy Ending

Katie Brayben, Tammy Faye

Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her

Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

Audra McDonald, Gypsy

Idina Menzel, Redwood

Natasha Hodgson, Operation Mincemeat

There's still 12 productions that need to have their eligibility determined:

Ones that have opened: Good Night, and Good Luck, Boop!, The Last Five Years, Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, and Smash

Ones that will soon open: John Proctor is the Villain, Floyd Collins, Stranger Things: The First Shadow, Pirates!, Just In Time, Real Women Have Curves, and Dead Outlaw

No, R554, the GYPSY album will NOT be on the Ghostlight label. Where did you get that from? Some of the articles about the cast album don't bother to mention the label, but this one does.

As for the other stuff you quote above, those were indeed my original comments, and I stand by what I wrote then because it's extremely unusual for recording sessions for a cast album to be held more or less in secret, with no publicity at all. But also, I subsequently heard (and posted) that at least one member of the cast who was asked directly if the cast album had yet been recorded said no, it had not --perhaps because everyone was sworn to secrecy, presumably for the reasons I mentioned above in R540. A very unusual situation.

If either of you boys says "Gypsy" just once again, I'll go in the house and slam the door.

Gypsy Wars—coming to Discovery+ this fall!

Rita Moreno was neither rude, terse, nor boorish when she accepted her Tony for The Ritz. She played it for laughs and said the line “I don’t support nothin’ but my beads” in her Googie Gomez accent.

Snook is a lock for Best Actress but I have no idea who'll win Best Actor, all rather weak contenders IMHO.

The lead musical acting categories are far more competitive and, for a change, will be interesting to see the outcome.

It just occurred to me that a very strong contender for the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical will be Andrew Durand for DEAD OUTLAW.

And Rita is correct. Alexander Cohen was an asshole.

Rita was an EGOT when it meant something and people weren't buying awards just to get the honor.

R565: Cole is the frontrunner for Oh Mary. In regards to the lead musical acting categories, Audra is pretty much a lock for Gypsy and Darren Criss (ugh) looks pretty safe for Maybe Happy Ending.

Best Actor will either be Cole Escola or Jake/George.

My money is on Cole Escola and everyone in the media will write that it’s looney liberal, woke Hollywood that Cole beat Jake, Denzel and George

[quote]Rita Moreno was neither rude, terse, nor boorish when she accepted her Tony for The Ritz.

R564, as I've mentioned on DL before, I worked on the original Broadway production of THE RITZ. While the TONY audience may have interpreted Rita's on-air comments as a joke, especially with her Goggie Gomez voice, I can assure you that life was hell for us after that, with her constant bitching about how she had been screwed out of her rightful award. I think she truly believed that she would have won as Best Actress. I was very friendly with Jack Weston and his wife, Marge Redmond, and I know they were both pissed with Rita's attitude. THE RITZ was an ensemble piece - a Feydeau farce. And for it to work, everyone had to work as a team.

r560 You don't stand by your own words at all! You tried to deny them until I posted exactly what you said. You're like the kid at school who lies and then lies again when they're caught out. Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?

At the end of the day you insisted it wasn't possible that Gypsy had been recorded as you would've known, when it had actually been recorded two weeks before you posted that. It says a lot about you that you can't just admit you were wrong.

And Broadway.com says Ghostlight

Variety gave 'Smash' a rave review.

Hold my beer —

R574 - so did The Times. And the show sounds really interesting in that review!

I wouldn't rule out John Michael Hill for Best Actor.

"Boop" got mostly positive reviews, except for Jesse Green's pan. "Smash" got mostly negative reviews, except for Jesse Green's rave.

I could see Audra and Nicole splitting the votes, thereby giving Jasmine Boop the edge.

aka Judy Holliday, r578

I think that’s what’s going to happen, r578. The award will go to Jasmine Boop.

Jesse's review wasn't a rave, it was an orgasm.

Looks like Nicole is out of Sunset tonite.

[quote]"Smash" got mostly negative reviews, except for Jesse Green's rave.

See R573.

A little early, but here's the next thread.

Most of the shows have reruns this week, but ...

MONDAY -- Performances by the cast of Real Women Have Curves on Good Morning America and GMA3, and Sarah Snook (The Picture of Dorian Gray) on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

TUESDAY -- T.R. Knight (Stranger Things: The First Shadow) on Live with Kelly and Mark

WEDNESDAY -- The cast of Stranger Things: The First Shadow on Good Morning America

THURSDAY -- LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Kara Young, and Alana Arenas (Purpose) on Tamron Hall

FRIDAY -- Tom Francis (Sunset Boulevard) on CBS Mornings and Jordan Fisher and Solea Pfeiffer (Moulin Rouge!) perform during the 9 a.m. hour of Today

No way Jasmine Boop is coming anywhere near that Best Actress in a Musical Tony. Stop kidding yourselves

R586, why is it so hard for you to believe that might happen? She got uniformly rave reviews, plus many people feel Audra is miscast. Also, the voters must be aware of attendance problems for Audra and the two DBH stars, and as wonderful as Bernadette and Lea are in OLD FRIENDS, I don't think either one of them has a chance at Best Actress in a Musical.

Wait, how many performances has Audra actually missed? Apart from the death in her family, and the December cancellations (which were not solely because of her), it seems like only one or two.

I don’t seem how Jasmine takes this in featherlight role. I wasn’t a fan of Sunset Boulevard, and thought Nicole was fine but overhyped and far too dependent on gimmicks. But no way is the Tony going to someone other than her or Audra.

You may think Betty Boop is a "featherlight role," but I'm sure many people would disagree with you, and again, uniformly rave reviews for that performance.

Nicole may have a good shot at the award if people have short memories about that MAGA controversy, which I think was made too much of anyway. Audra has has had considerably more than "one or two" unscheduled absences over and above the ones you mentioned, including one recently on the night of the day when she appeared on THE VIEW and talked about how she does eight performances a week even though the role is so challenging.

Care to list them?

R588. Excluding the death in her family and the December cancellations Audra has missed 5 performances. The DBH gals have probably missed about 10-15 each. Nicole has missed one that was not a scheduled absence.

Jesse's review of SMASH was fascinating because he resorted to press agent writing, and it's the first time I can recall where he clearly, actively tried to use his power at The Times to "make" a show, and get it the Tony. He's been so far off lately -- critic's pick for REDWOOD and SWEPT AWAY -- he must now be realizing he'll be relegated to total obscurity if he doesn't "make" a show. Not sure it will work. I saw SMASH in previews and thought it was repetitive and ultimately empty, and I didn't sense a lot of energy from the audience. This will also be a interesting bookmark in the "power" of the Times. I think it's over.

I have not yet been to SMASH, and I'm so curious to see it, because on the one hand there were one or two rave reviews (including Jesse's), but several of the other reviews were VERY bad, as is general word-of-mouth. A friend just told me that a mutual friend of ours, who is normally enthusiastic and non-critical about almost everything, hated SMASH so much that he advised him not to go.

Interesting point about Jesse's review, R592.

I'm sure it's happened relatively recently, but the last time I think of a critic/paper "making" a show was in the days of Frank Rich.

This was probably mentioned in a Meghan Markle thread, but what the hell, we're finishing this one ... she saw Gypsy.

Closing ...

This ...

Thread ...

Out!

BAJOUR!