THEATRE GOSSIP #595: The "Montego's Turn" Edition

Here's the previous thread.

DEI hire.

I guess they want to keep the rear mezz and the rear orchestra closed off for the summer on Sundays. Maybe they're saving on electricity if they don't have to run the AC as often with a fraction of the audience sitting in the theater ?

Will Izzy make it off the toilet for an early closing?

It’s kinda funny that Jean Smart gave lots of interviews about turning down Follies and Sondheim and she just “didn’t like the role” and yet she chose this play that is bombing, and ending her stage career literally on the shitter.

To be honest, I'm kind of there with Jean. I know this is sacrilege to the eldergays. The Sondheim score is incredible, but the book/premise feels horribly dated. Yes, it's written in and about a very specific time, but these bitter, miserable people are tiring. Just get a fucking divorce and move on. In terms of book/structure/story, I think it ranks as one of the worst in the Sondheim canon alongside Merrily We Roll Along and The Frogs. Thank God for that gorgeous score.

Is LaChanze too old for Rose? I mean... on paper she is... but how does she 'read' on stage these days? I imagine she could have given a very powerful performance as Rose and, unless I'm mistaken, would have had no issue belting that score.

But, who am I kidding, short of an A-list movie/TV/music star taking over, this production is closing when Audra leaves.

I don't think Follies is dated at all.

It's a show about aging and regret and middle age. About pining for our pasts.

Which we all do at some point.

Doing a one person show where you get to come in at leisure and slip into a plaid flannel shirt, a dirty wig and sit on a toilet is a lot easier than bumping into chorus boys nightly in a corseted evening gown and heels.

Will producers be more wary of starring Audra on Broadway again?

I wouldn't hold my breath for any more shows with Audra as the ONLY name on stage.

Very talented actress.

Not a seat filler.

R10 we said that after

Porgy and Bess

Shuffle Along

Lady Day

Frankie and Johnny

So….im thinking not.

Let's not kid ourselves: of course Audra will get another chance, if she wants one.

People are all upset about the return of Scott Rudin. I'm glad he's back. He's a great producer, he picks smart work and puts together a great team. What was he supposed to do, crawl into a hole and die? Broadway is better with him producing. He didn't kill anyone...

R14 …that we KNOW of.

Just noticed on TDF that Johanna Day is on for Jean Smart in IZZY at least thru Thursday, 7/10.

Laurie Metcalf isn't the big box office Rudin thinks she is. Audiences are going to respond to Rudin's return by choosing to not spend a fortune on tickets.

Allegedly, they pursued Keke Palmer for Louise. Too bad they couldn't get her because they needed another name in the cast. Sorry, Danny.

Do you really think audiences know/care that much about Scott Rudin, R17? In any case, the play (which I adored at its final performance in Chicago) is on its own a tough sell -- unsentimental, intimate, with minimal scenery or other visual distractions.

Bernie and Marty. This is very cute. Also LOVE that "was she nominated?" line from Bernie! Ha!

Audra is a wonderful actress. There’s a moment in kast night’s episode of The Gikded Age where her character processes in her head what a cunt Phyllicia Rashad’s character is and she moves her head ever so slightlly. Wonderful work.

Our Queen Returns To The Stage!!!!!

I get KeKe and NeNe confused. Which one would be the better Louise?

from previous thread:

[quote]Things like this make me think of Sondheim's comment “The sad truth is that musicals are the only public art form reviewed mostly by ignoramuses.”

What a self pitying Debbie Downer. He must have been a barrel of laughs to be in a relationship with. Uggh.

Oh well, nowadays all public art forms are reviewed by ignoramuses all over the internet, so chin up.

Is that supposed to be witty, R23?

I saw the Steppenwolf play that Rudin is producing. It is not very good.

I thought I remembered hearing not great things about the Steppenwolf play, too, when it was produced there. Both word of mouth and reviews which seemed to say the play was very slight, saved only by Metcalf's performance.

R22 I’m surprised she is reviving this show for her comeback. She’s doing it at Carnegie Hall too.

It didn’t get great reviews the first time.

She does not sing career songs in it.

No:

Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, nothing from Gypsy, and no Ladies Who Lunch.

But she does sing Last Time I Saw Richard and Alone Again, Naturally.

Is there a proof that Sondheim actually said the words cited in the earlier post? ("Ignoramuses"). I' can be convinced he said it, but not in a formal interview.

Jean Smart injured her knee. I wonder if she'll still be able to sit on the toilet.

Pardon me for asking what could be viewed as a dumb question-do some Sally Bowles in this current production of Cabaret (or the Mendes one) play Sally as American and not a Brit? I would assume that some would not be capable of doing a decent accent. I know Marisha Wallace, the current Sally on Broadway, is American but has lived in London for several years and just got her UK citizenship.

[quote]I get KeKe and NeNe confused. Which one would be the better Louise?

The only role NeNe could handle is Mr. Grantziger's secretary. Maybe.

Grosses are out. Call Me Izzy is more like Call Me A Flop.

Gypsy $293,000 down $700,000. They should have just let Tryphena fill in during Audra's vacation.

I once stayed at the Montego Glover, and it wasn't one of the best Jamaican resorts, to say the least. It was part of a package holiday arranged by the travel agency.

Omg on the Montego Glover grosses. That is awful that her week made $293,000.

Even Jean Smart sitting on a toilet with a bad knee did better!

I can’t believe Jean Smart chose to sit on a toilet for her Broadway return. What must her sons think?

R30, check out page 253 of FINISHING THE HAT: COLLECTED LYRICS (1954-1981)

Hey, R28, maybe do some actual research before posting your vague, fact-free impression? The first 3 reviews I found when I Googled the play's title and "review" were raves.

CHICAGO TRIB: The script to Samuel D. Hunter’s “Little Bear Ridge Road,” a beautifully personal play at Steppenwolf Theatre from one of the theater’s leading chroniclers of the emotionally blocked American, describes the one and only location in the play as “a couch in a void.” Remarkable what the set designer Scott Pask did with just that . . . Within the taut script of “Little Bear Ridge Road” flows many other compelling themes . . . Both halves of his couple are drawn with such loving forbearance that I would be amazed if it were otherwise . . . All of that is in the room in director Joe Mantello’s beautifully calibrated production . . . Few readers will be surprised to read that Metcalf ranges deep into a character with a throbbing heart, but a heart with so many walls around it that no one can hear its cries. So indeed she does. But I was struck here by how much Stock pushes her to go yet further. In my time I’ve watched Metcalf wipe the stage with other actors but not only does Stock hold his own here with one of the best stage artists of her generation, he brings out the best in her . . . I can’t overstate how good it is to see this star, a consummate Chicago-style actor, back in the city that made her famous because it fell in love with her honesty.

NEW CITY STAGE: Steppenwolf Theatre Company retains their title as the gold standard for drama with their new production of “Little Bear Ridge Road” . . . Metcalf’s star power will draw in audiences, but her performance is what will stick with them. Raspy voice, hunched posture and dry gibes . . . she embodies the role of the prodigal hermit with a grace that concurrently steals the show while allowing room for her co-stars to shine. Hunter’s writing is witty, crisp and perfectly paced. The message . . . is a slow burn that intensifies the more you think about it. A brief appearance by nurse Paulette (Gerachis) ushers in a climax that is equally imbued with promise and pathos. The juxtaposition of bitter and sweet crafts a recipe that will have you asking for seconds.

RACHELWEINBERGREVIEWS.COM: In LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD, Samuel D. Hunter has accomplished a rare and magical feat: He’s given us a play that’s mundane and profound at the same time. With Joe Mantello directing, Steppenwolf’s ensemble of Laurie Metcalf, Micah Stock, John Drea, and Meighan Gerachis make the play yet more fascinating and emotionally raw . . . LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD actually represents Hunter at the height of his powers . . . Usually, a play with such little dynamic movement is a recipe for disaster. But this is riveting . . . LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD is a remarkable examination of mundanity and the delicateness and messiness of humanity. And yet Hunter’s playwriting relays this study in the simultaneous bleakness and resiliency of his characters’ lives without getting preachy about it. Hunter lets Sarah and Ethan speak for themselves; they don’t get didactic. It’s in the realness and the rawness and the bleakness of their experiences that the play finds its deeper resonance. And of course it’s so immensely successful because Metcalf and Stock are so good at mining all the deeply human, messy layers of their characters and the hope that maybe, somehow they can kind of connect in the end.

[quote]R22 Our Queen Returns To The Stage!!!!!

All of Manhattan theater society will fly there to praise her, and bask in her gentle, rippling brilliance.

[quote]R24 Things like this make me think of Sondheim's comment “The sad truth is that musicals are the only public art form reviewed mostly by ignoramuses.”

So, what is a “private art form”?

R44 Liberace by way of La Cucarachie

What's really sad about 'GYPSY' is that the average ticket price was only $32. I think the last time an 'average' ticket price was that low was 25 years ago.

As the song goes from the musical, 'Some people can't even give it away...' I truly doubt this show will continue past Labor Day. Someone on another forum said so far, this is the least successful run of 'Gypsy' in it's 60+ year history. (The 'Tyne Daly' revival was the most successful, so they said).

R46 the Tyne Daly revival also made a fuck ton of money because it toured before Broadway.

It was also the only revival that made enough money for a replacement star.

The actress playing Mr. Grantziger’s secretary in this revival is terrible. The part gives an actress a chance to steal the scene but this one just hooted a lot and didn’t land a single line successfully.

LaChanze is 63

I doubt that GYPSY will even make it to August. Audra is probably desperate not to return in this July heat.

[quote]So, what is a “private art form”?

Good question. I think we should all face the fact that Sondheim sometimes just spouted whatever came into his head without giving much thought to whether or not it made any sense. Doesn't make him any less of a genius, just a human being, rather than a god whose every word should be taken as gospel.

I wonder if at least some of the investors in GYPSY are furious about how ineptly the show has been produced, not to mention Audra's frequent absences?

Which closes first, GYPSY or IZZY?

I was chatting with a friend who has seen Death Becomes Her four times. She's never seen Hilty and only saw Simard once. She said the audience really didn't seem to mind that they were out and Simard's understudy is hilarious. And their frequent absences don't seem to affect the box office.

I've seen Simard's understudy. She's miles away from hilarious.

[quote] R44 So, what is a “private art form”?

I'll show you later.

How much later?

[quote] Samuel D. Hunter has accomplished a rare and magical feat: He’s given us a play that’s mundane and profound at the same time

I smell box office!

Sondheim was the most hilarious and bitchy conversationalist in the world. I didn’t know him well, but I talked with him occasionally and he was brilliant. Especially when you discussed old movies.

Hilty and Simard are talented actresses but they're not exactly beloved well known stars. Why would they be missed?

Also: will Jean Smart's knee be reason enough to close early?

R61. Yes

Montego's Turn

^ I would describe it as perfectly respectable.

R64 I’m always clamoring for a Rose that is perfectly respectable! 🙄

[quote]R44 So, what is a “private art form”?

[quote]R45 Liberace by way of [italic]La Cucarachie.[/italic]

Maybe it’s when we all used to sing Madonna songs into a hairbrush before the mirror, growing up.

Would you rate it higher, r65?

R67. No…that’s the point. She’s miscast as well, just in a different way than Audra.

George C Wolfe, or whoever cast this shit show, Audra McDonald and Montego Glover, wins the award for finally doing what Betty Buckley, Sam Mendes, Bernadette Peters and Patti LuPone couldn’t do. Killing Gypsy.

No dialect in Glover's version.

Call Me Izzy may be the worst title since Starmites.

R70 starring Johanna Day on the toilet since Jean Smart broke her knee on hers!

She doesn't sound miscast, r68.

Poor Johanna Day. Awful playing to an empty theatre.

I bet you Smart has in her contract that the show doesn't close prematurely while she's in the role. Hence, she goes out sick, her replacement steps in, and they announce the closing while Smart is out.

I read somewhere that a lot of stars have that in their contract that a show won’t close early with them in it.

If you wonder why casts are replaced and then a few weeks later, the show closes

Now Smart is out indefinitely. I'm sure the producers will use this excuse to close early. With those reviews, something had to give.