THEATRE GOSSIP #592: Audra Doesn’t Know Her Edition

Last thread

Even a new thread can’t help Oh, Mary. It’s still overripe and overrated.

Grosses are out.

R2: The fact that this overrated piece of shit play is in the running speaks to how dismal this current Broadway season is.

I'm putting my money on Jasmine to swoop in and steal the Tony

When are BOOP and REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES going to call it quits?

R6: And apparently they're not into Floyd Collins and Dead Outlaw either.

Watched the Great Performances/Barbican Kiss Me, Kate last night. The best things about it were the set and a tall, handsome bearded guy in the chorus. Unfortunately, he was in the back most of the time (because: tall). A quick Google search today tells me his name is Lucas Koch. It appears he'll be in Evita with Rachel Zegler later this year.

He’s Cooper’s cousin

Is Andrew Durand gay? In the interviews I've seen or read, his private life never comes up. He did a dual chat with Taylor Trensch who was queer as can be, but Andrew kept his powder dry, so to speak.

R10: I think he's straight. I believe that's his girlfriend at 2:44 in the video. He's not my type though.

Yeah he gave an interview once that talked about him being a straight man in musical theatre.

They are usually the queeniest

I seem to remember Andrew used to date a woman who's quite a well known theater performer, but for the life of me, I can't recall who that is.

R13 was it Kecia Lewis?

I do know that Andrew has a terrible singing voice.

Many people feel Andrew Durand is a good singer with a fine voice, so you shouldn't state your weird opinion as fact.

[quote]A quick Google search today tells me his name is Lucas Koch. It appears he'll be in Evita with Rachel Zegler later this year.

He was also in 2023's [bold]Crazy for You[/bold] in the West End, with Charlie Stemp.

Lame, OP.

What do dl-ers think of John Proctor is the Villain?

I didn't read the other threads. Can someone fill me in on what happened between Patti and Audra?

It was a drug deal gone bad…

John Proctor is a very good play with an excellent cast. Nothing to praise to the skies, but an enjoyable evening.

We had a quarrel, R20, a lovers spat

I write "I'm sorry," but my letters keep coming back

Andrew Durand is cute and seems like a nice guy.

Twirling my projections

in opposite directions

This is kind of funny. Hasbeen Sam Harris inserted himself for no good reason by releasing a video chastising his “friend” Patti LuPone for her words, and people shit on him for equating his gayness with the black experience, so now he had to release his own apology statement where he said he needs to listen more. If he had never inserted himself into the whole thing, he wouldn’t have gotten himself into this shitshow to begin with.

I also think Andrew Durand is quirky cute, and I'm glad he mooned in Ink.

R25, that production of LET IT RIDE also starred a very young George Gobel. He had a beautiful light tenor voice - hard to imagine that he became a well-known comedian. LET IT RIDE is one of my favorite scores.

And he was the first to sing the words "People need people" in a Broadway musical song, not Streisand...

Thanks for this new thread, OP! Will we fill it before the Tonys?

Of course, we will.

A young, cute George Gobel (with Guys & Dolls' Sam Levene).

I assume the SMASH fans ("There are dozens of us! DOZENS!") and/or creatives DGAF about getting shut out.

I think a cute number on the Tonys' would do more to boost Boop's BO than Jasmine winning.

Why did Sarah Snook win a Best Actor Drama Desk Award when there was a category for Best Solo Performance?

[quote] And he was the first to sing the words "People need people" in a Broadway musical song, not Streisand...

Didn’t Babs sing “people WHO need people”?

George Gobel was not that young when he starred in Let It Ride on Broadway in 1961. He was 42 and had already been a big star on 1950s TV. I don't see the "cuteness" others are seeing, even when younger.

I was an apprentice in 1970 at the Ogunquit Playhouse when he came through in a production of Play It Again, Sam. He was always on the phone in the green room with his bookie.

I so Gobel in Last of the Red Hot Lovers with Jane Curtin also in the cast.

[quote]that production of LET IT RIDE also starred a very young George Gobel.

The "very young" George Gobel" was past 40 when he did "Let It Ride" in 1961 and had already headlined "The George Gobel Show" on NBC from 1954 to 1959 and on CBS from 1959 to 1960.

Hello, r37!

I'm afraid that Boop!, SMASH, and DEAD OUTLAW are already goners. Lots of whispers about their Fall replacements, with CHESS set for the Broadhurst.

Are they waiting on renovations to the Imperial, or will that happen after the next tenant? Was that tied to the 780 Eighth Avenue project? Is that even still a thing?

Oh, never mind ... it's 740 Eighth Avenue, and it's still moving forward.

There's still a planned renovation for the Imperial.

Lots of closing notices next week and not just for this season's new shows.

The tourists just haven't come back.

Wow, “The Outsiders” is still packin’ ‘em in.

The tourists may not be coming back, but "Beetlejuice" is.

Who will win the Tonys.

I wonder how often the costumes were changed in the original A CHORUS LIKE. I don't mean the leotards and tights, which would be easy to replace, but the shirts and pants, etc.

Like, say, Robert Lupone's costume: How many times can you wash a shirt and pair of pants that are danced in every night before they fade and lose their shape? And how similar is the replacement going to be? Did Theoni V. Aldredge buy multiples of stuff as backup when originally putting the show together?

I have never thought of this before and now I'm curious. I wouldn't think anything was built for the show secifically, except the finale tuxes. So, how do they find identical replacements? And when?

How much longer can Cabaret hang on? The current leads are leaving soon and no replacements have been announced. Billy Porter just finished up in London. I wonder if he would come to Broadway.

I still can't believe Darren Criss will soon be halfway to EGOT.

[quote]r48 How much longer can Cabaret hang on? The current leads are leaving soon and no replacements have been announced.

Is Patti available?

She should spin this redemtion arc for all its worth. Publicity's publicity!

[quote] How much longer can Cabaret hang on?

Don’t they make a lot of money through bar sales?

[quote]Andrew Durand is cute and seems like a nice guy.

He is a very nice guy, he is cute, and he's one of those men who has a banging body although you would absolutely never guess that when you see him fully clothed. His body is not big and muscular, but insanely ripped and well defined, as anyone who saw him in SHUCKED can tell you.

More stuff gets built than you'd think, r47.

Is Dead Outlaw worth seeing?

[quote] Like, say, Robert Lupone's costume: How many times can you wash a shirt and pair of pants that are danced in every night before they fade and lose their shape? And how similar is the replacement going to be? Did Theoni V. Aldredge buy multiples of stuff as backup when originally putting the show together?

[quote]I have never thought of this before and now I'm curious. I wouldn't think anything was built for the show secifically, except the finale tuxes. So, how do they find identical replacements? And when?

You really think Broadway costume designers are buying off the rack?

With very few exceptions, all costumes are created by the costume shop

R55 True to a certain extent but ACL was largely costumed with dancer's rehearsal clothes. I mean, they didn't have 30 seamstresses knitting dance tights in a backroom at Barbara Mattera.

[quote]R55 You really think Broadway costume designers are buying off the rack?

But it started Off Broadway.

Cassie’s costume was the only iconic one.

[quote]Is Dead Outlaw worth seeing?

I thought it was great, but if you want to see it, you'd better hurry.

[quote]R58 Cassie’s costume was the only iconic one.

It’s also one of the ones you could but at Danskin.

BUY at Danskin ! !

When are they pulling the plug on Smash?

Dead Outlaw is a great musical. I saw it twice and loved it. It might not be splashy enough for what passes for Broadway nowadays but it is flawless. Also, its main theme, is very much of our times.

I bought at Alexander's. I BOUGHT at Alexander's.

Well, I *shoplifted* at Alexander's!

I would add Morales' and Zach's rehearsal costumes as being immediately identifiable if that's your definition of iconic.

I cruised the tea room at Alexanders.

[quote][R55] True to a certain extent but ACL was largely costumed with dancer's rehearsal clothes.

You obviously don't know how it works, r56.

By the way, Theoni considered ACL her masterpiece.

I also loved DEAD OUTLAW. A true original.

Anyone work with Valerie Mahaffey RIP onstage?

DEAD OUTLAW is original, yeah, and consistently interesting, But it definitely lacks something, whether it is heart, as some have stated, or something else. And the rockabilly/country score is not to everyone’s taste.

But definitely go in the next few weeks and than tell us what you thought.

I worked with Valerie on stage years ago. Loved her.

R65. Well, I *shoplifted* at Alexander's!

- Celeste Holm

[quote]By the way, Theoni considered ACL her masterpiece.

Will forever be thrilling.

Who didn't shoplift at Alexander's, Celeste?

I never liked Zach's original costume. Too matchy matchy. He seemed like someone who would wear jeans and a turtle neck.

[quote]He seemed like someone who would wear jeans and a turtle neck.

Not to Michael and Theoni.

Should Dead Outlaw tried for an Off-Broadway run? Or do only STARS make an OB run work financially these days?

Just give it up already Real Women Have Curves.

Most people who actually have seen Real Women Have Curves enjoyed it, including me. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a shame that a well-crafted book musical can’t have a decent run.

Next season looks very missable. I am looking forward to Ragtime, but the other revivals feel like regional theater.

There hasn't been a big musical since Hamilton, and that premiered 10 years ago. I don't understand why nobody is writing big musicals anymore? We've seen several big plays premiere in the last 10 years, but no big musicals.

We don't have brilliant creatives at present, r81. Who are the visionaries?

R78=The off-Broadway run of Dead Outlaw is what convinced them they just had to play Broadway.

[quote]R76 I never liked Zach's original costume. To matchy matchy.

He was a fag.

No sooner did I wonder when there'd be a Pollyanna musical and I read today that Debbie Allen is producing/directing one called POLLY, based in the Deep South.

I read some of the ACL costume ideas were pulled from what the dancers rehearsed in, themselves. Pamela Berlin wore a pair of sneakers one day with her tights and Michael Bennet liked the look. When Kelly Bishop wore an old, undersized leotard because everything else was dirty he thought it made Shiela look like a “naked, vulnerable child.” Thommie Walsh requested a neckerchief and Donna McKechnie wanted a rehearsal skirt because she knew she looked good in them.

Michael Bennett invited Theoni and her assistants into rehearsals daily to observe and photograph (with Polaroids) what the dancers wore each day.

Of course, this is nothing unusual and what many costume designers might do designing any modern dress play (or musical). Even though the actors are portraying characters and not themselves, great costume designers know the clothes have to be comfortable on the actors and look believable on their bodies to make them work.

Pam Blair, not Pam Berlin who is (was?) a director.

^^ yes, thank you

[quote]R87 great costume designers know the clothes have to be comfortable on the actors and look believable on their bodies to make them work.

It helps if they’re drawn to what they’re wearing, too.

Edith Head wrote, “You can lead a horse to water, and you can even make them drink, but you can’t make actresses wear what they don’t want to wear.”

Real Women Have Curves will have a life after its short B'way run. It's the type of female-centric show that the regionals/community/educational theater loves. There's always more gals than guys in theater.

Dead Outlaw is an arty intimate show with a small cast and it'll get productions.

I don't see Smash doing well.

Ironically, I don't think Death Becomes Her will do as well as other "hits" because it's a tough show to do. All those tricky effects. And, a lack of actual good songs.

[quote]R55 You really think Broadway costume designers are buying off the rack? With very few exceptions, all costumes are created by the costume shop

So, this tee shirt would have been specifically sewn for Pam Berlin/Blair, at the Public Theater? That seems rather expensive to do. And the jeans, tees, and zippered sweatshirt behind her - all custom made?

I’d think they bought what they could, dyeing items if they had to to fit the color scheme, and then once the show was a hit when a piece wore out they would have it copied by a costume house. Then a collection of patterns would begin to build up for replacement performers.

The other consideration is many of those clothes should look broken in… not new. Which goes back to how long did they last, being washed 8 times a week? They would have been DRENCHED with sweat!

[quote]Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach to Headline ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ Broadway Adaptation

[quote]So, this tee shirt would have been specifically sewn for Pam Berlin/Blair, at the Public Theater? That seems rather expensive to do. And the jeans, tees, and zippered sweatshirt behind her - all custom made?

Yes, r92, as has been explained.

[quote]The other consideration is many of those clothes should look broken in… not new.

They're dyed and distressed to look that way.

R85.....

*

If you don't know already and still have cable, CNN is broadcasting the penultimate performance of Good Night, And Good Luck live this Saturday at 7:00 pm Eastern (4:00 pm Pacific). As it's at the Winter Garden I'm hoping the ghost of a Follies showgirl wanders by.

[quote]I'm hoping the ghost of a Follies showgirl wanders by

I'm wondering if that Dog Day Afternoon production won't be highly theatricalized in some weird (probably off-putting) way. Not that a literal recreation of the movie would be welcome.

Polly is a 1989 American made-for-television musical film adapted from the book Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter featuring an all African-American cast (with the exception of Celeste Holm).

I wonder which theater will get Dog Day Afternoon. Rumors are that the Broadhurst has Chess.

One night in Broadhurst and the world's your oyster........

I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine!

Darren is leaving Maybe Happy Ending on August 31.

R97 since it's at the Wintergarden - we'll probably see the ghost of Grizabella.

Is this new production f CHESS known to be a full production and not just a concert?

Though IIRC the only number/scene that wasn't concert-like in the original Broadway production was One Night in Bangkok (was that the song title?), with lots of lascivious dancing and skimpy costumes.