THEATRE GOSSIP #599: June Squibb - so young!

Continued from prior thread:

"Match Game" only uses the BIGGEST stars.

Brava, Miss Squibb!

I pray to God that there isn’t a strike as I have tickets to 4 shows in late November

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1983, “La Cage aux Folles” opened at the Palace Theatre.

Gene Barry never got enough praise for his La Cage performance because hammy George Hearn got all of the attention and awards. Barry was dashing, warm and very sexy as Georges. Yes, the original cast two straight men in the leads and there was little affection between them but you believed there was love there and they were a family. The two Broadway revivals were messy.

Speaking of which, what's Daniel Davis doing these days? Elsbeth?

I can't stand Cynthia Nixon and that fat little ginger boy she's married to.

[quote]Barry was dashing, warm and very sexy as Georges.

Yes, he was.

I'm hearing conflicting things - is this LCT revival of Ragtime going to be more of a concert, as it was at Encores? Or will it be a full production with real sets?

R9 R6 also according to Harvey Fierstein and his memoir, Gene refused to ride a crowded elevator with the gay actors in La Cage for fear of catching AIDS. So no doubt he would appreciate your warm words, but would prefer you say them from afar and not too close!

Why hasn't Jesse Williams, who made such a HUUUUUUGE impression in the Take Me Out revival, not been on Broadway since? Or anything of note?

r4 - what potential strike are we talking about here?

R12 - Jesse Williams' incredible piece lives rent-free in my mind. I mean, the DICTIONARY definition of pendulous. And when that thick stream of water started streaming off of it? FORGET IT. Instantly should've won a Tony.

R11. That's very disappointing but he still gave a lovely performance. PS he also mentioned his wife about ten times in his bio but things were different back then and he was afraid of being labeled gay. I mean fucking Rock Hudson turned down the part because he was afraid of people thinking he was gay and he was!

"I got naked for this?!"

I'd MUCH rather reminisce about Jesse Williams than Nicole & Audra. Broadway is a small community... did anyone here work on Take Me Out? It's absolutely wild to me that Jesse had (obviously, visibly) fluffed right before his shower scene. I mean, I get it, if I were that incredibly gifted and blessed, I'd give the people a show, too. I forget where that scene flows in the sequence of events in the play. Would he have time to go into a dressing room to prep or was he just in the wings getting primed?? That backstage crew... so blessed!

Live theater, baby!

R13 the last thread ended with an Equity March led by Brooke shields, talking about how they are fighting already with negotiations in September.

Sag went on strike, as did WGA years ago.

Beanie!? Is this where I can find my dear, unappreciated Beanie?

[quote]Ramin Karimloo is singing with Laura Osnes.

Did they drum her right out of the rodeo?

She was singing at some dinner theater in Nashville last I heard of her.

Marjorie Prime already available on Today Tix.

Is June Squibb the oldest person to perform on Broadway in a leading role?

Anything for Holland?

Broadway can’t afford a strike. They’ve barely made it out of Covid alive. It would be incredibly stupid for any of the unions to strike right now for an extra fifty bucks a week deposited into their shitty pension schemes.

Beanie was in this production of SPELLING BEE when it played at the Kennedy Center. If it had transferred to Broadway and she had come with it, that might have been a smart way to ease herself back into the Broadway community, in a featured role in an ensemble piece. But of course the show is actually coming to Off-Broadway, so maybe Beanie thought that would have been perceived as too much of a come-down from the starring role in FUNNY GIRL on Broadway, no matter how that turned out.

R26. Pension fund. It’s a FUND.

Fierstein in his memoir also said that Laurents felt the show could only work if both La Cage leads are gay. Harvey disagreed, until one of the subsequent productions boasted a gay duo.

R27, she was also terrible.

[quote]Fierstein in his memoir also said that Laurents felt the show could only work if both La Cage leads are gay.

So, does that mean Laurents felt the original Broadway production didn't work? What a nasty, sour SOB he was.

He was a mean fuck!

In this case, only a metaphor. $10 says he was lousy in the sack.

Oh, that whiny little girl in that last thread railing on Billy Porter's slip up just made me howl with laughter. God this generation needs to get its shit together. Their continued outrage over silly things is mind-boggling. And she's a "theatre historian" too!

[quote]Did they drum her right out of the rodeo?

Be nice, it was her first time there, fellas.

Touché

Beanie is about to make a big comeback. She plays a major part in the new season of Only Murders in the Building. And she's in the upcoming Meet the Parents movie next Thanksgiving playing Ben Stiller's daughter(originally played by Barbra Streisand). Plus, she's in the upcoming Merrily We Roll Along movie.

I was alway big! It’s the parts that got small.

Ben Stiller's daughter(originally played by Barbra Streisand)…

I’d pay extra for THAT!

Upcoming “Merrily We Roll Along” movie??? The one that will be released in 2035?

Clearly, someone discovered ChatGPT.

Hedda?

Wtf?

I know this is a crazy longshot, but does anyone know anything about a bootleg version of Izzy?

I would at least like to read it.

It’s just for Jean.

R36, I always thought this was the type of career Beanie was meant to have. I can understand why she wanted to be a leading lady especially if she admired the show or the movie since she was a kid, but it just wasn’t the right fit and the producers should’ve stopped it before it happened.

Those couple of years after Covid were wild.

So, that’s the wild lez take on Hedda I’ve been seeing on Oscar prediction lists.

I don’t know if that’s going to work, but it looks entertaining.

Lainie doing operetta???

Linklater's Merrily is set for 2040. Deadline interview confirms it.

[quote] Pension fund. It’s a FUND.

You call it whatever you want, honey.

Only Murders is well past its peak R36, Meet the Parents may or may not be successful - but it certainly won’t have anything to to do with her, and Merrily won’t be seen for another fifteen years (literally 2040) and that’s IF Linklater (who has never directed a musical or theater production in his life) survives.

I hope for her sake, June isn’t playing Cynthia’s lover.

That appears to be a career-killer, no matter how amazing, talented and desired you are as a performer (note I did not say [bold]actress[/bold]).

R47 pray tell—what was this peak?!

[quote]Those couple of years after Covid were wild.

Thank all the gods it's gotten saner since?

[quote] I was alway big!

So big, you must have sat on the s.

Beanie on Match Game is the career she would have had if she'd been a 'star' in the 1960s...modest entertainment world success with some supporting work in film and a star turn on B'way (that didn't lead to much) followed by a career as a game show regular with an occassional guest spot on episodic tv. Oh, and dinner theater work in things like "6 rms rvr vue".

It still boggles my mind that Michael Mayer and Sonia Friedman cast Beanie in Funny Girl after hearing her sing the score. Or even more mind-boggling -they hired her without hearing her sing the score.

[quote]Pension fund. It’s a FUND.

R28 - I assume R26 is British. They use the term "scheme" differently than us. In the U.S. "scheme" has all kinds of negative connotations, but, for whatever reason, the British use it as an innocuous term to describe a lot of government, union or organizational plans/programs. Like they might refer to social security in the U.S. as a "scheme", but there's no negative connotation.

Again, that's assuming R26 is British. I, too, found the usage a bit jarring at first when I lived in England.

Good for Beanie. I've always found her funny and charming in film and TV roles. Funny Girl was as massive a blunder as imaginable, but she deserves to move on from it. But, I agree with others, she's not a musical theatre leading lady.

r54 Reminds me of another thread where a British (presumably) poster used the word "graft," which in Britspeak is a verb synonymous with "work." But in the US, of course, it's a noun with a decidely less favorable connoation.

Beanie is a modern-day Peggy Cass.

I haven't heard this much about Beanie in years.

I have. The half life of her grating performance in Hello, Dolly is more than ten years.

Beanie should go on tour with Plattypants.

I saw “Purpose” tonight and thoroughly enjoyed it. As good as Kara Young is, I was really impressed by LaTanya’s replacement Brenda Pressley. The cast clicked on all cylinders. A much better show than Appropriate.

R54–no shit. I was mocking that very fact.

R61 - interesting. LaTanya was the one weak link in that otherwise fabulous cast. At the least the night I saw the show back in June. She gave a respectable but surprisingly stiff performance. I almost felt like she was a new actor dropped into the cast for a rehearsal.

I kind of didn't love all of the lead character's asides to the audience. Show don't tell, right? I think Appropriate is a better play overall, but, Purpose was still thoroughly entertaining and engaging. And, damn, that Kara Young lives up to the hype. Was my first time seeing her. Fabulous actress. As was the actress in the smaller (but incredibly fiery) role of the sister in law.

r62 - uh huh. Just take the "L" and move on.

[quote]I always thought this was the type of career Beanie was meant to have. I can understand why she wanted to be a leading lady especially if she admired the show or the movie since she was a kid, but it just wasn’t the right fit

In so many ways.

lol take what L? No one cares.

The following quote is by R158 from the previous thread, but I've been MIA for the past week, so bear with me:

[quote]Don’t know why my post didn’t go through above, but that link shows that Sunset lost 6 mil, and Cabaret will lose 25 mil, surprising no one. UK producers need to stop bringing their shitty mid revivals here. Countdown to no one going to see the hated Rachel Zegler in that Evita she is currently faking her way through in head voice.

OMG I recently came upon a bootleg of "A New Argentina" on YouTube and it looks atrocious! The staging, choreography, costumes, etc. is just terrible all around. Like, WTF am I even watching? This EVITA will definitely flop if it transfers to Broadway.

Also, why is Peron so young? He was 48 and she was 24 when they met; 57 and 33, respectively, when she died. Were they afraid to cast an age-appropriate actor?

R67. I saw that clip. Eva looks like she's teaching a spin class in her sports bra and bike shorts.

Beanie is an average talent with incredible show business connections. I will never forget seeing her cuddle and "rock" Ben Platt in her lap like a baby during the rehearsals for the COVID Tonys -- 2021? It was so bizarre, and went on for like 10 minutes.

I saw a High School production of EVITA that used those same hand-waving flags at the end of Act 1. Only their choreography was better.

Stepinac High School

Just the idea that any high school, much less a Catholic school in White Plains (!), would pick Evita as a school musical fills me with laughter, dread and incredulity.

God bless suburbia!.

Incidentally, I really enjoyed this EVITA production from this Pennsylvania high school.

I came across it 5 years ago during Covid lockdown, when it showed up on my YouTube recommended.

I thought "What the hell?" because I was desperate for something to watch and was surprisingly impressed.

You surprise easily.

My school’s senior Fall play was…M*A*S*H, a PG-13 version of the film script. On a lark I tried out, and was cast as Col. Blake. They spent days picking the fishing lures for my bucket hat!—oh, we had a bomb threat on opening night. And an itching powder “incident” on the third night.

R 67. sure, it will flop! LOL.

A friend of mine is up for Beanie’s body double in Meet the Parents 4 aka Focker-in-Law. She apparently has to be proficient riding a bike for certain bits shooting on Long Island over several days next month. Let the snark about Beanie’s inability to ride a bike commence.

I saw the Arena Stage production of Sweet Bird of Youth with Liz Ashley and Michael Hayden when I was a gayling. Hayden was out and his understudy went on, and he appeared nude in one of the scenes with Ashley. The understudy had a lovely dick and a great ass but to this day I wonder what I missed. Don't recall the actor's name but I guess I thought enough of his cock to take a picture of his headshot from the lobby. Just found it. Ah, youth.

Dolls I just saw Grease at the Carnegie in Cincinnati and Paige Davis (of Trading Spaces) was Miss Lynch.

This was the best sung version of the show I have ever seen.

There was a lot of talent on that stage.

For those of us who live in the middle of nowhere, good theatre exists, you just have to look for it!

Alright, already--so call a policeman! Alright already, it's true; so nu?

You really just take any headline at face value don’t you?

I love this. Dutch musical theater star Vajen Van Den Bosch singing “Let It Go” with a child violinist prodigy at an outdoor concert in Amsterdam today.

R80 Well, she just ended any and all chances of having a professional theater career.

Maybe she can tour with our beloved Sara Porkalob?

[quote]A friend of mine is up for Beanie’s body double

PLEASE tell me there will be no Beanie nude scenes!

Ciara Renee is a nightmare to work with, and everyone knows it. She gets bounced from everything. She was bounced from that 2 hander lesbian musical that started in San Diego and played at MCC.

Beanie Feldstein’s body double might be the worst job in America.

It’s not really the job you want to be in the running for.

RE: Ciara Renee, if I'm not mistaken, if the prior production was under a certain type of contract (someone here will have to confirm), Equity cast members have to either be given an offer to transfer or receive some minimal type of compensation (something pretty moderate... obviously no where near the ridiculous amount she's suing for.) Even if that IS the case and she's technically in the right here, she should have tried to handle it quietly. I agree with others... she's only confirming what is apparently her difficult reputation and almost guaranteeing no one will want to hire her again. So shortsighted. But some people can't get out of their own way. She's like the Monique of the theatre, I guess.

Yeah, the non-balcony costumes we've seen from the London Evita are... atrocious. But, have to say, Zegler sounds fucking sensational as far as her vocal performance goes. I liked her in the West Side Story film, but had no idea she had that much power.

[quote]Well, she just ended any and all chances of having a professional theater career. Maybe she can tour with our beloved Sara Porkalob?

Or do "Side Show" with Laura Osnes.

R89. Zegler is indeed astonishing in Evita and so is Diego Andrés Rodríguez as Che. Truly two incredible performances.

Ciara Renee needs to hire Patti Lupone's attorney from 1994-95. Maybe she can get a swimming pool, too.

Didn't Ciara Renee play Esmeralda opposite Michael Arden in that Disney HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME that also played Paper Mill but never found its way to Broadway?

Anybody see that/her?

[quote] Maybe she can tour with our beloved Sara Porkalob?

Excuse me, I should be the STAR of the Unemployable Difficult Bitches tour!

I think Karen Olivo is in a different category than those two. Sure, lacking in self awareness and perhaps a pain in the ass, but also undeniable star quality and talent.

R95 that should be KO’s bio in their next playbill!

God, I had forgotten all about Karen Olivo. And was happy for it. May the cunt who brought her back to consciousness never know a satisfying bowel movement.

R87, if there’s running involved, they don’t stand a chance to be considered as Beanie’s body double.

R97 💩

R95 see also:

Betty Buckley

Patti LuPone

Lauren Bacall

Elaine Stritch

Carol Burnett would have made a great Mama Rose.

Vicki Lawrence playing Mama Rose as 'Mother Harper' would be even better!

If Audra MacDonald can play Mama Rose as 'Moms Mabley' - why not Mother Harper ?

Or even better - Harvey Korman playing Mama Rose as Mother Marcus!

So many interpretations...

So would have Debbie.

R102, your racism is showing. And fuck you for it.

R103. Well, Debbie was announced for Gypsy in LA but it never happened. Too bad. As for Carol Burnett, I remember when the Tyne Daly revival opened they were toying with the idea of bringing in big names like Carol and Bernadette Peters to replace her for very limited runs but it was probably just talk

I remember when Liza was saying that Arthur Laurents wanted her to replace Daly in 'Gypsy' but then they went with Linda Lavin. Laurents insisted Minnelli was never even thought of for the role.

R105 - really? Bernadette was being considered for Gypsy in 1990? I guess she WAS in her early 40s then. She was definitely much better suited for it in her 50s.

R107 Liza, Bette Midler and Peters all were 'rumored' to be Laurents first choice before Daly came along. Then when she left they all said they were being considered for the replacement until Lavin was named. When the CBS movie came out with Bette, Laurents denied he ever considered her or the other 2 for the 1989 production.

R106, Liza was offered GYPSY before Tyne. When she responded favorably and made her salary requirements known, the NOTORIOUSLY CHEAP Weisslers were so shocked, they never even responded. They just immediately started looking elsewhere.

Liza had priced herself out from the get go. And we were robbed of what would have been, truly, one of the greatest musical comedy performances of all time.

Liza? A replacement? The idea. Only as a favor to Kander, Ebb, Fosse, Verdin, and Chita did she step in to Chicago for the month.

Verdon. Sorry.

Didn't Faye Dunaway turn down Gypsy in LA?

V/V, r109?

Oh, JESUS! I forgot about that! And, having seen it (!!!!), I can tell you: so did Liza.

Thanks, R112. Man, those 7 years were rough!

Liza wasn’t a replacement in V/V. She took over for a month during Julie’s vacation. Julie came back after that.

Lucy would have been an incredible Rose. No joke. Okay, her singing would have been impossible to listen to, but she seems to be the closest to Rose than anyone, even Merman. If Lucie played Louise and Gary played Herbie, that would have been DL catnip. I can already hear the dressing room scene between Lucy and Lucie.

The problem with Beanie isn’t just that she’s grotesquely fat — she is also incredibly ugly. It’s not a pretty family, and though a career in show business may have always been a top option, she should have chosen a career behind the scenes. WAY behind the scenes, in management or publicity, where being a fat, ugly woman isn’t necessarily a hindrance.

Debbie wanted Carrie to play Louise. Brother Todd could have played the rear end of Caroline.

[quote]r113 = Liza wasn’t a replacement in V/V. She took over for a month during Julie’s vacation. Julie came back after that

And Liza wasn't a replacement for Gwen.

[quote]but she seems to be the closest to Rose than anyone

In what way, r115?

Or maybe DL icon Vivian Vance could have played Rose in a production of Gypsy. She did understudy Merman for some show in the 30s or 40s, I think.

Viv is a Tessie Tura. Not a Rose.

Bye Izzy! I hope you go out with a great big flush today!

I remember when Liza took over in VV, someone said that in drag, shelooked like Mr. Moneybags from Monopoly.

No one said she was R118. WTF?

Bill is a lineless Mr. Goldstone,

R109 Bruce Villanch explains how Daly got the role of Mama Rose in 'Gypsy'. The revival was built around her from the start.

[quote]Carol Burnett would have made a great Mama Rose.

Sure she would have. She could have brought all the insufferably hammy shtick that makes most of the sketches from her variety show unwatchable today.

I saw Liza in Chicago twice when she subbed for Gwen and she was sensational. But that was way back in 1975. By the time of that Gypsy revival 1989 I don't think she had it in her any more to be sensational, especially in the taxing role of Rose. Loved Tyne! Glad they went with her from the beginning.

The original offer was made to Liza. The production would then have been built around her.

They went with Tyne and built the production around her.

And WHY did they approach Liza first? Because of this, in 1987, just under 2 years before the production landed in New York.

Sure, R128, she wasn’t sensational. You’re a fuckin’ idiot.

R126, even Tyne says they offered it to Liza (and Midler!) first. She’s wrong when she says Liza didn’t want to do 8 shows a week. It’s a nice cover story for the truth: she wanted that part, bit priced herself out.

And Tyne is being adorable when she says they toured first because the producers wanted their money back.

Riiiight. Tyne was an unknown Broadway commodity carrying one of the biggest shows on her back. Let’s get her her sea legs by letting it play across the country first before the NY critics see it — and if she sucks, we up our money and get Minnelli back on the phone.

Hey! What about meeeeee???

Sure, R128. This was 1987. She wasn’t sensational anymore. Jackass.

This is why gay men love Broadway.

You can have 5 different people, on record, in video interviews, ALL telling a different story about how a casting decision came to be.

Would anyone know the truth?

Arthur Laurents, Sondheim and Jule Styne are dead.

Liza is not a reliable witness and is known to say 50 different things about the same subject.

That leaves Tyne (who also seems fast and lose with facts)

And Bruce Vilanch, for some reason.

Liza used to sing "Some People" so quickly in concert I always thought she could bring the show in, in under 95 minutes.

You also have R128, who puts vodka in his Ensure.

It's 88 lousy bucks!

[quote]Would anyone know the truth? Arthur Laurents, Sondheim and Jule Styne are dead.

In an interview Laurents did before the Midler movie 'Gypsy' was scheduled to air, he said point blank he never, ever even thought of Midler, Liza, or Peters for the 1989 revival. He didn't know how those rumors were started. His recollection matched up to Villanch - that a friend of his saw Tyne Daly singing on a variety show, and the friend called Laurents and said 'I found our Mama Rose if your serious about a GYPSY revival.' Daly came out to NYC, she auditioned one afternoon, and by the next morning he offered her the role.

Laurents also said around 1988, Streisand had called him and said she was interested in re-doing the movie version of 'Gypsy' IF she could produce, direct, and star in the movie. (This was after 'Nuts'). He half-jokingly asked her if she'd do it on Broadway, because he was thinking of doing a revival. She said no, and he told her if the revival falls through, she could do the movie. (Streisand never mentioned that in her memoir).

Do you think Madeline Kahn could have played Mama Rose?

R139 The acting of it, yes. Would her soprano have worked in that role? Hmmm.......

Goodbye, Jean. We hope there’s a next time and it’s better.

She must be relieved!

R138 but apparently according to this interview that is posted on Broadwayworld, Patti LuPone begged him to let her do it in 1989, before he cast Tyne.

Liza did "Some People" in concert for the first time in 1973 in a tribute to Jule Styne at the Palace Theatre. She performed it perfectly and at the right tempo. The audience was on their feet, screaming at the conclusion. I was there that night, and that's when the Liza as Madame Rose (someday) murmurs began. She was way too young at the time, but it was evident it was a role she could play.

Remember that Tyne was a beloved household name in the late 1980s coming off of Cagney & Lacey. Big box office!

Several very....bulgy actors in this....including Marc Singer.

r126 - what a fun anecdote! Also... I NEED that "Alice in Chains" t-shirt that Bruce is wearing! 😂

[quote] Remember that Tyne was a beloved household name in the late 1980s coming off of Cagney & Lacey. Big box office!

She was an Emmy winning TV star. That's a far cry from 'beloved household name'. If you didn't watch C&L you had no idea who she was.

Lucy was a TV star who became a 'beloved household name' but not Tyne.

R147. Damn right!

I seem to remember that “Cagney and Lacey” was popular in the ratings, but I considered it the Dyke’s Delight and avoided it like the plague.

I did know Tyne Daly’s TV work and considered her a good. no-frills actor whose brother got all the looks in the family. Years later I met her through a friend and found her completely unpretentious and friendly and very happy to talk about her father when I mentioned about how much I had liked him on “Medical Center” when I was a kid. James Daly’s career took precedence in the family, so the mother’s career went by the wayside and everything revolved around him, for good and mostly ill. We did not talk about her father’s‘coming out (maybe because I still couldn’t believe she wasn’t a lesbian so I didn’t want to hit a nerve). But she was just as direct and no-nonsense off-screen (and off-stage) as on. And that’s what she brought to Mama Rose, a fine performance if not as musical or starry as it might have been.

I never thought C&L was the "dyke's delight" but then again, I was a teenager. Just seemed like another cop workplace drama, but with women.

[quote]I did know Tyne Daly’s TV work and considered her a good. no-frills actor whose brother got all the looks in the family.

Yeah, the genetic lottery is quite the crap shoot. He's getting a bit crusty now, but in past decades, Tim Daly was ridiculously beautiful. As a kid I used to insist the family watch Wings so I could catch Tim Daly and Steven Weber's sexy mugs. My parents always wondered what I saw in that terrible sitcom.

Beanie would have been good for Once Upon a Mattress and other such wacky comedianne roles. Hello Dolly?

The problem is Funny Girl is so closely related to a powerhouse singer that it’s what people demand

Tyne Daly gave one of the greatest performances ever to grace Broadway in Gypsy. She was everything Rose should be. I wish she had stayed with the production longer but I think she was going through a divorce at the time (as was Linda Lavin who replaced her).

Liza, at her legendary concerts at The Beacon (around the time of Daly’s Rose) sang a few Gypsy songs as if she was auditioning. Even Rose’s Turn. She was fantastic.

Not sure she was disciplined enough a performer at that time to carry off 8 performances a week

R151-Honey, Tim Daly still looks terrific. He's been seen in restaurants on the Upper West Side with Tea Leoni a lot lately, and even though he's ten years her senior, they both are perfectly matched and look damned good together.

R102, what "racism" is involved in the comment that Audra played Rose in GYPSY as Moms Mabley? Seems like a clearly factual statement to me.

Tim Daly is in that Leanne sitcom. Genetic lottery indeed.

I saw Tyne's Gypsy at The Muny in its pre-Broadway tour, and it's a night I'll never forget. Thousands came in to see their favorite tv cop, and we left knocked out by her performance and the show. Her Rose's Turn that night will never leave me. I once called The Muny to see if they had any sort of archival video or audio, and they said they didn't do them in those days. Oh well...

[Quote] what "racism" is involved in the comment that Audra played Rose in GYPSY as Moms Mabley? Seems like a clearly factual statement to me.

Does your Black friend agree?

R158

DL Queen: “Hi, is the Muny? Do you have audio of Tyle Daly singing Rose’s Turn from the pre Broadway tour of Gypsy on April 14, 1989?

19 year old answering phone at the Muny in between scrolling instagram: “What?”

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1980, “42nd Street” opened at the Winter Garden Theatre.

[quote] Do you think Madeline Kahn could have played Mama Rose?

Depends. Was Judy Kaye available to take over the role just weeks after opening night?

R162. Didn't she play Rose? Oh. Wait. That was Bernadette Peters.

No, that was Maureen Moore R163.

I think r163 is making a joke playing on the rumor that Hal Prince accidentally cast Madeline Kahn when he really meant to cast Bernadette.

[quote]THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1980, “42nd Street” opened at the Winter Garden Theatre.

Triggered.

[quote]—Zombie Gower Champion

Fixed it for you, r166.

[quote]Honey, Tim Daly still looks terrific. He's been seen in restaurants on the Upper West Side with Tea Leoni a lot lately, and even though he's ten years her senior, they both are perfectly matched and look damned good together.

Oh, he remains a very handsome, distinguished senior citizen! Absolutely. But, damn, back in the 90s... he was sex on legs.

I never heard this apocryphal story of Prince mistakenly casting Kahn in place of Bernadette. I don't even care if it's just the figment of some long gone eldergay's Harvey Wallbanger-addled mind. That's hilarious! Where else but Datalounge are we going to hear shit like this? This is what keeps me coming back, girls!

r168 -

[quote]Explaining why she wasn't at the nuptials, Tyne says, "They only had people that they gave birth to or people who gave birth to them," seemingly implying that Tim and Leoni only invited their parents and children.

I remember that Saturday night in May, 1991 when my friend and I were staying at the Marriott Marquis. We went to the theater booth in the lobby to try and buy tickets to 'Phantom' which was completely sold out (remember those days?). The agent - who could've passed as Joan Rivers' double complete with gold gaudy jewelry - told us to buy tickets to 'Gypsy' as we were trying to choose something else for that night. We both shrugged our shoulders and made a face - Tyne Daly in 'Gypsy' ? (My friend didn't even know who she was, as he rarely had time to watch TV those days).

"I'm telling you boys - you won't regret this. Take my word for it - go see GYPSY tonight. Trust me. I got two excellent tickets on the aisle. Trust me on this." She had that husky voice like Rivers, too. I thought, how can I not trust this nice Jewish woman who looks and talks like my favorite comedienne ? So we bought the tickets. She gave me her business card (she worked for the ticket agency, not the hotel) and told us to let her know if we liked the show or not - she'd refund our money ! Her name was 'Dee Dee'.

As Streisand sings in 'Yentl', 'there are moments you remember all your life' - having Tyne Daly stand next to me in the aisle, twelve inches away, shouting "Sing out, Louise! Sing out!" Actually, this wasn't Tyne Daly at all. It wasn't MaryBeth Lacey. This was 'Mama Rose' standing next to me, and captured everyone's undivided attention for the next two hours. It was that performance that made me a life-long Broadway musical fan at the age of 27. (Before that, my only B'way musical was a year earlier snoozing through 'Aspects of Love').

The next afternoon, we stopped by the booth to thank her and tell her we had the best time. She was genuinely touched. She said she loved her job - helping people like us tourists, and guiding them to a great Broadway show. She worked every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. She told us to hold on to her card, and next time we're in NY and want to see a show, call her before we get here and she'll take care of everything for us. "Trust me," she said. I gave her an envelope with $25 in it (that was half the price od a ticket back then !) which she was grateful for.

I called her in August of that summer (our next business trip out there), she remembered us, and said "I'm putting two front row balcony seats aside for 'City of Angels'. You'll love it, and you need to sit up in the balcony for this to see everything on the stage. Sure enough, she was 100% correct. (I slipped her another envelope when I picked up the tickets). I went to her every time I was in NYC for the next few years (I went three times a year for business). The last time she helped us was in August, 1996 - front row seats for 'Sunset Boulevard' starring Betty Buckley.

When we returned to NYC in January , 1998 after skipping 15 months (it was very last minute, so I didn't get a chance to call ahead), I went to the ticket booth at the Marquis to see her in person and see what she suggested. She wasn't there so I asked for her by name. The young man behind the counter said, "I have some bad news. Dee Dee passed away unexpectedly a few months ago." I was completely heartbroken. I think of her often - dressed in black, the gold necklaces around her neck, the broach, the rings on her fingers - she was always dressed like she was going to have fun for a night on the town, when in fact, she was making sure others were having that fun while in town.

Okay, since you guys brought it up. I HAVE to ask those of you who saw Tyne in person, is this representative of her performance? Because... honestly... I don't get it.

It feels so... frantic and confused -- all that 100 MPH shuffling back and forth like a Hanna Barbara cartoon cartoon character. It's like she doesn't trust the material. This can't be a one-off, because there are also excerpts from B-roll and from the NY Public Library archive video of the production showing her giving a similar performance.

Seeing things like this makes me wonder how much... haze there is in some of these fondly recalled eldergay memories of some of these supposedly titanic performances of the past.

Don't worry, I value my life, I won't question whether the Loveland sequence in the original Follies was as life altering as you all claim!

R171 - Aw. That's a lovely story. You and I were posting at the same time, so I didn't mean for my post to come off as some callous dismissal of your particular memory of that NY experience. I LOVE LOVE LOVE stories like that. Dee Dee sounds like she was in the right line of work!

Tim and Tea have three previous marriages between them. They didn't need a 'big ceremony' and invite everyone. What they did made sense.

R172 Thank You. I knew her very briefly, but she made a big impact on me - and I carried her 'customer service' lesson to my store for the next 20+ years. I always remembered what she said.

R154 she couldn’t even sit up straight on a piano. LOL

R171, it's so disarming when someone shares a genuinely touching story like that amidst all the bitchery. Thank you.

She was an impressive Rose, r172. She made the piece feel a bit fresher as she wasn't known as Broadway musical performer. That's my memory.

Also, the Loveland sequence was hardly life-altering. What it was, was a brilliant coup de theatre utilizing practical effects - no projections.

Where was the genuine part?

We tourists. Us may only only work without a modifier.

Real NYers do not depend on the kindness of strangers. We want something, we go get it!

R131 & R144 exactly, CAGNEY & LACEY ran for 7 seasons on CBS and had just ended the year before the GYPSY revival premiered on Broadway in late 1989.

Also, Tyne Daly was Emmy-nominated 6 times for C & L, winning 4 times, including for the last season.

Thus, she was not some unknown stage actress.

In fact, they were definitely counting on her celebrity to sell the show.

[quote]Thank You. I knew her very briefly, but she made a big impact on me - and I carried her 'customer service' lesson to my store for the next 20+ years. I always remembered what she said.

R174 - She certainly made an impression on you. I don't know why it is, but it does seem that gay men can make these very special bonds with older women -- even in brief encounters. Though perhaps not as meaningful as your connection, it did made me think of this elderly woman who sat next to me at the oyster bar in Grand Central about 10 years ago. We had both come from the theatre and with our Playbills by our side. I turned out we were at the same show -- On the Town. I was enjoying an oysters + fries dinner before heading back to my hotel to prepare for a meeting and she was waiting for her train to take her back to her daughter somewhere in the suburbs. She must have been in her 80s and she said she used to come into the city every month to see theatre, but, now that was becoming less possible and her daughter was helping her find an assisted living facility, after which she may not be able to come to NY to visit at all. But, her eyes lit up when talking about all the shows she'd seen over the past 50+ years. Like me, she'd absolutely adored the On the Town revival. She told me it was her favorite show that season other than Holler If Ya Hear Me (something I did not expect her to say!)

My work would often bring us to Midtown East and I'd think of her whenever I'd see Grand Central and wonder if she even survived the pandemic if she were still around.

I gotta tell you, R172, she looks pretty terrific in that clip to me.

Agree, r183. Angry, bitter, sarcastic. Not a madwoman.

[quote] Thus, she was not some unknown stage actress.

She had a very brief run in 1967 in a short-lived play, "That Summer, That Fall". It was a limited engagement and ran for a matter of weeks. She returned to the stage 22 years later in "Gypsy". Yes, she would be considered an 'unknown stage actress'. Again, an 'Emmy winning' TV actress does not translate to 'a known stage actress'.

And keep in mind, in those 7 seasons C&L aired, it cracked the Top 25 in only one season (Season 3). It was not exactly a 'highly-rated, popular show'. It did not attract a large viewing audience by any stretch of the imagination. (In five of those seasons, it didn't even crack the Top 30).

Geez.

When I returned home from my trip to NYC and told family and friends I had seen Tyne Daly in 'Gypsy', the majority of them said 'who ?' because none of them watched 'Cagney & Lacey'.

Tyne still hasn't recovered from her meltdown, has she?

*wasn't

R171 thanks for sharing that heartwarming story. In retrospect, I wish I could've seen that GYPSY revival and CITY OF ANGELS, but I was only in elementary school at the time and not yet into musical theater.

Your story reminded me of a similar thing that happened to me in the fall of 2006. I was in my early twenties and had started posting on BroadwayWorld that summer. There was a thread about PASSION and people began discussing the production with Patti LuPone, Michael Cerveris, and Audra McDonald that had aired on PBS in 2005.

One woman wished she had seen it and was kicking herself for having missed it. YouTube was only a year old then, so it had not yet been uploaded, and it wasn't available for sale. I had watched and recorded it the night it originally aired and told her I could make her a copy. She was so grateful, she offered me free tickets to see CHICAGO if ever I was in New York. She worked at the Ambassador. In fact, I was planning to visit a friend that December and took her up on her offer, because I'd enjoyed the movie and the revival was celebrating 10 years on Broadway at the time.

Unfortunately, we never got to meet, because she wasn't working the day my friend and I saw the show, but she had set two tickets aside for us to pick up at the box office. I don't even know what she looked like. She wasn't a regular poster on BWW and then she just stopped posting altogether.

R272, I’m with you. I don’t think she’s bad, but she plows through the lines.

That said, video can’t capture a live performance. I watched a bootleg of Bernadette Peters’ Rose because I couldn’t pin down what has been so compelling when I saw it live. The video didn’t hint at the connection between her performance and the audience. Bernadette was riding on (sometimes pushing against) the audience’s energy, - and you felt you were a part of that. When she finally surrendered in defeat, the audience was there with her.

I felt the same with Audra, but in a different way. I thought her choices were smart and went deep. But her maternal instincts played for real, especially tuned to the experience of a lot of black audience members. I saw the closing between two young black people, with Oprah and Gayle a few rows ahead. The experience was far more than what could be captured on a video.

So, I heard so many people say Tyne was great that I will believe them.

Speaking of Ethel...

That's the problem with live theater being filmed. Actors in live theater are playing to the live audience in a large space. Performances need to be "bigger" for lack of a better word. But, that level of larger than reality intensity for a camera is too much for anyone watching on a screen. And, some actors are better than others at modifying live performances for the camera.

Imelda Staunton is someone who is VERY bad at this.

Tracie Bennett was fine for the broadcast of the National's production of Follies. It's a "big" performance but it's that kind of role. But, then when she did "I'm Still Here" at the Olivier's she was WAY too big and over the top. Maybe it was nerves.

And, then there's Audra who was famously way too over the top at the Tony's this year.

[quote]And, then there's Audra

Who?

[quote] And, then there's Audra

That uncompromisin', enterprisin', anything but tranquilizin'

Right on Audra!

[quote]That's the problem with live theater being filmed. Actors in live theater are playing to the live audience in a large space. Performances need to be "bigger" for lack of a better word. But, that level of larger than reality intensity for a camera is too much for anyone watching on a screen. And, some actors are better than others at modifying live performances for the camera.

Here's the thing: Most of these theater performances taped for television or streaming are filmed in front of a live audience. The actors have no rehearsal with camera. The director and his team watch the show for about a week and plan the shots. The cameras are in the house at the same distance or greater from the stage than the audience. The actors have to make a choice: Play for the live audience in attendance OR try and modulate the performance for cameras. The later is nearly impossible because (unlike film and television) you don't know the position of the camera or how far back it is, or how much of you is in the shot. It's a fucking lot to think about WHILE you are performing for a live audience. Talking about Great Performances and other such broadcasts of live theater.

No matter how big the performance is on tape, as long as it's grounded and honest, it will still work. That's why it's shocking when people say that Imelda Staunton's performance as Rose was so good in the theatre, as she's SO over the top on the video.

I loved Tyne's performance as Rose in the theatre, except for her two big numbers. It looked like Laurents directed her to keep moving constantly, to mask the fact that her voice wasn't up to it. When I saw a bootleg a couple of years later of her Rose's Turn, the camera stayed on her the whole time, so you couldn't tell how busy the choreo was. And so she came off great in it.

R195 - are you talking about the same video posted at R172?

R191 - yes, of course it's true that no bootleg video is going to capture the feel of the performance in the theatre, but I also don't know that we can always claim they're totally unreliable documents of the performance. I mean, to use your example, I've seen several bootlegs of Bernadette's performance over the years that I think actually capture what you describe in her performance. We always focus on the big Styne/Sondheim songs, but someone smartly uploaded the final book scene with her and I thought she was magnificent there, too. In fact, that scene perfectly aligns with your remembrance of the qualities of her performance.

So... it's hard for me not to remain skeptical of Tyne's reported brilliance when I see clips of her scurrying across the stage on every other syllable in Rose's Turn. But, you're right, I wasn't there, I'll never truly know.

Did you see her do it live? r196

If not, then you really can't say she wasn't good in a live performance, can you?

I saw Tyne’s Rose (by the time I got a chance, it was at the Marquis). She was terrific. A genuinely exciting evening!

But Peters and MacDonald were next level.

The less said about that unfunny cow in 2008, the better. She missed ALL the humor and did some maniacal laugh during Rose’s Turn.

Supposedly she was better at Encores, r198.

I’ve only seen Audra live but I wish I could have seen LuPone, Peters and DL fave Betty Buckley

Her bootlegs are thrilling!

Betty Lynn '92

[quote]Supposedly she was better at Encores, R198.

And supposedly Imelda Staunton was brilliant if you saw her live.

Speaking of Imelda GYPSY, why was the staging so cramped?

I felt claustrophobic watching the BBC broadcast.

[Quote] And, then there's Audra who was famously way too over the top at the Tony's this year.

Audra seemed over the top to white audiences. Black women often act the way Audra’s Rose did when angry and frustrated—overly emotive and dramatic.

Nicole S gave a very restrained performance on the Tonys, nothing like what she does in the theatre. Unfortunately it’s not a record of her Sunset Blvd performance at all. It’s just her singing that song

R84, she’ll save those for “Flicking the Beanie,” coming in 2027 to an empty theater near you.

[quote]Debbie wanted Carrie to play Louise.

Ain't that the truth.

Until Carrie did. Anyone who saw Debbie interviewed around 1978-1986 saw the green-eyed monster within Rose well and truly on the prowl.

Proving that Nicole S. has good instincts R204, something that Audra can lay no claim to.

[quote]When I returned home from my trip to NYC and told family and friends I had seen Tyne Daly in 'Gypsy', the majority of them said 'who ?' because none of them watched 'Cagney & Lacey'.

That's anecdotal R185

R185, that says a lot more about your white trash family than Cagney & Lacey's popularity.

I saw Imelda onstage as Rose. She was terrific, but fell short for me because she had everything but charm.

Nicole on the Tonys was exactly Nicole in the theater -- a bland, howling stick figure who just blared the notes with no connection to character or lyric. One of the most embarrassing things I've ever seen.

R,202. And, don't forget, Bernadette was brilliant late in the run of Gypsy. PS. She wasn't.

To a degree I haven’t seen in other performers, Bernadette’s performances continue to grow over time.

In the case of Follies, likely because of the hack director, her performance grew in really ineffective direction - all weepy and depressed. But I saw her in the 2015 mini-concert of Into the Woods and she found truly astonishing takes on material she had done for almost 30 years. Sitting on an armchair, she put on a rubber nose and brought the house down with the Witch’s Rap.

I’m happy to hear Bernadette apparently grew during the Gypsy run because she was absolutely terrible at the beginning.

Bernadette has been croaking during her singing for at least 15 years at this point.

The only time it made sense was in Follies

Yes, video clips of a live Broadway show aren't a full picture of what a performance was like - that's why we also have contemporaneous reviews (at least for now). Tyne got pretty much universal critical praise for her Rose.

Very critical!

/j

As long as we're discussing over the top performances of musicals captured on film let's not forget Betty Bacall 's play to the balcony performance in the tv version of Applause. Ok, between Broadway, tour and London she had been playing Margo in some big theaters for more than three years but why didn't anyone tell her to pull it back a bit.

I was in my early 30s and had seen a lot of theater, but I'd never seen Gypsy, either on stage or the movie (I know, Turn In Your Gay Card!). I knew some of the songs, of course, but not the show itself. I saw Tyne Daly at a Saturday matinee (center orchestra at The James) and was blown away, by both her performance (I'd maybe seen three episodes of Cagney and Lacey, so I knew who she was, but that TV show wasn't really my jam) and the show itself. When she sang Everything's Coming Up Roses, a song I'd previously heard only as a jaunty, confidence booster (probably on variety shows back when TV still had them) I reared back in my seat trying to get away from Rose, she was so maniacal and bull-headed. (That production also had the best Tulsa and best strippers I've seen.) I also saw Imelda Staunton's Rose and have to agree with R210; she was terrific, if short on charm (alas, the physical production was very community theatre).

Interestingly, I though Lupone’s Rose had the perfect combo of humor and charm

R206, the real problem was that Carrie had just hit it big with Star Wars. If she just had Shampoo on her resume, it's more than likely she would taken the part.

I would say the Daly Gypsy also had the best Dainty June I've ever seen. She played June like a mature adult who wanted to be a star. I hate when an actor plays June as bratty in a high pitched baby voice.

With Angela you got Miss Mary Louise Wilson as Tessie.

R223. Cunt

Mary Louise Wilson went on as Rose for Lansbury just once. It was a planned absence in LA. I would love to have seen that.

I want to see the best of DEAD Bway. Pleeze! Is that too much to ask?

R225, actually she went on twice. There was such demand for matinee tickets that they added a Thursday matinee. It proved so popular that they added another one right before the engagement ended.

Lansbury's Gypsy included the worst Louise I ever saw in Zan Charisse (daughter of the choreographer who reproduced Robbins' choreography) and a horrible Herbie in Rex Robbins. However, it had the absolute best Baby June in Bonnie Langford. She originated the role in London and when they were going to transfer, the producers hired her. Equity flipped out saying that the role must go to an American. After they auditioned over 300 girls, they agreed Langford was indispensable and let her have the role. Maureen Moore was Dainty June and I almost don't remember her at all.

Speaking of MLW, boy was she DOA in “On The 20th Century”! Should’ve been Burnett.

To each his own, r227, but I thought Rex Robbins was sexy and had great chemistry with Angie.

MLW really didn't do "daffy", r228.

And bc should never have been cast.

Mary Louise Wilson was also the most memorable Miss Cratchit ever seen in a Gypsy revival.

An eldergay friend of mine was friends with her in the early 70s and told me stories she told him about appearing in that 1973 Broadway revival of The Women as the writer Nancy Blake and how Rhonda Fleming as Miriam Aarons insisted on stealing several of her best lines, with the director's approval.

Mary Louise Wilson only impressed me in Grey Gardens. Her work in On the 20th Century and especially Cabaret were weak links. She’s now 93 years old!

Billy has been out of Cabaret since last week and he's out again tonite. Is his knee ok?

Grosses for Cabaret hit another new low, but only $25k less without Billy’s glimmering performance. What an embarrassing end to this run.

What's tourism been like in NYC this summer?

R236. I've heard tourism is down but DAMN the streets are filled with tourists just like they are every summer. Bless their hearts for still wanting to come here and spend money.

Tourism is not down on NYC. There are too many!

[quote]Billy has been out of Cabaret since last week and he's out again tonite.

Do you think he's embarrassed about the grosses?

It's been reported on another forum that CABARET is 'heavily papered' this week. Look for it to drop further in next week's report. Another person went to the show this weekend and said the theater was 'noticeably empty'. The mezz was empty. Ushers were trying to move everyone 'close to the stage' to make it look fuller than the theater actually was.

October 19 is a long way off with grosses dropping lower and lower every week. They didn't gross much more than Izzy last week.

One member on the other forum said they must be making bank on the alcoholic beverages at the show for them not to pull down the final curtain yet. Where does that money go to - the theater owner, the food service company, or the producers of the show ? Or split among everyone ? Anyone know ?

It doesn’t feel like tourism is down here at all. The streets and restaurants are packed.

"From what I hear, Dolly Parton’s new musical is going to need to be worked on 24/7, 365 to be remotely ready for its planned Broadway bow next year.

The opening-night Nashville audience’s teeth were gnashing, all right.

But not those of national critics. We were barred from reviewing “Dolly,” which tells the beloved 79-year-old country singer’s life story from her poor Appalachian upbringing to global superstardom.

I was crushed. I had to unpack my cowboy boots and blond wig.

But thankfully my spies stumbled outta bed and tumbled to the theater for me.

“Instead of Broadway, the better move is for it to run in a drag bar in Vegas,” said one unimpressed wag.

“Granted, they’d still have to cut two hours.”

Indeed, “Dolly” will likely not make it to Broadway by the spring"

ATG Entertainment owns the August Wilson, and their producing branch, ATG Productions, is one of the producers of Cabaret. So they're getting a cut of the bar profits, but I doubt those are enough to justify keeping a show open - even when buying a drink is encouraged as part of the experience.

I'm surprised that the grosses are so low and continue to fall further. After the closing notice was posted, I would have expected them to at least stabilise and then rise a little as the closing date approaches.

[Quote] Grosses for Cabaret hit another new low, but only $25k less without Billy’s glimmering performance. What an embarrassing end to this run.

Be honest, ALL runs ends like this.

If anyone can turn this show around for the next six weeks, it's his friends Whoopi, Ana, Sara and Sunny ! I say bring him on The View when it returns, and let them praise him as the 'best ever' they have ever seen in a revival. Sara can say "I'm hearing 'special Tony' buzz for your performance". That will make everyone run to the box office.

Surely you jest.

MLW was a brilliant Sister Mary Ignatius.

R246. Not usually. Gypsy picked up quite a bit once the closing was announced. Even Smash had a great final few weeks. Cabaret is grossing less than half with the new stars and the crash started right after they took over. This is not the norm.

I have a weird fascination with Tyne Daly's next Broadway stop after GYPSY -- a 1992 production of THE SEAGULL spawned by Tony Randall's well-intentioned but consistently misguided "National Actors Theatre." Check out the cast:

Arkadina: Tyne Daly Treplev: Ethan Hawke [understudied by Bill Camp!] Nina: Laura Linney Trigorin: Jon Voight Masha: Maryann Plunkett [understudied by Elizabeth Marvel!] Dorn: Tony Roberts Yakov: Danny Burstein

You can sort of see how each of them was cast, and in a good production at least Daly, Hawke, Plunkett and Roberts might have been excellent.

Frank Rich: "The classics may be the mountains of the theater, but you don’t climb them just because they’re there. This is the lesson that seems sadly lost on the well-meaning but floundering National Actors Theatre . . . the results achieved in this Chekhov production, as directed by Marshall Mason, are superior to last season’s only in the sense that mediocrity is superior to catastrophe . . . Neither [Voight] nor anyone else has been integrated into a mutually supportive acting ensemble that might convey the subtle dramatic undercurrents that animate Chekhov’s intensely neurotic provincial household . . . Ms. Daly is completely miscast in the role. The fading grandeur and vulnerability of this vain 19th-century Russian woman are replaced by a vulgar, 20th-century American brassiness. (Her matching costumes give new meaning to Arkadina’s line “My wardrobe alone is enough to ruin me.”) . . . her terminally sensitive son . . . is acted by the promising Ethan Hawke with an arm-waving display of unfocused nervous energy. Laura Linney . . . may be the most commanding actor of the lot, but her bracing, unmodulated vitality, so appropriate to the mature Nina of the final act, seems out of sync before then . . . Maryann Plunkett . . . and Tony Roberts offer sardonic poses whose potential for depth is left unexplored."

Some day I'll learn how to format on DL.

Arkadina: Tyne Daly

Treplev: Ethan Hawke [understudied by Bill Camp!]

Nina: Laura Linney

Trigorin: Jon Voight

Masha: Maryann Plunkett [understudied by Elizabeth Marvel!]

Dorn: Tony Roberts

Yakov: Danny Burstein

I wonder whether this is how future spouses Marvel and Camp met.

This production had lots of problems.

1) Billy Porter is divisive, even on a good day

2) He did press that made no sense about his take on the role, that many found off putting. Everyone can do their own thing with Cabaret, but he was proud of his lack of respect for the author’s intentions.

3) his voice is mostly gone

4) Marisha is unknown in the United States. She has a powerful voice, but her acting performance has been very mixed. It was not a star making performance.

4) Billy Porter’s careless remarks about how blacks have replaced the Jews in a production that is all about Jews.

Speaking of (the great) Elizabeth Marvel...

The photo at R244 is giving Willam Belli at the honky tonk.

As I remember, Tony Randall's well-intentioned National Actors Theatre was a series of expensively produced and impressively cast disasters. A study in just how poorly American theater artists can destroy classical theater, even classics written by American playwrights. Most of those complex large-cast period plays need actors, designers and a director who have worked together for years to create a cohesive ensemble. Those productions always seemed to be guided by an "every man for himself" aesthetic.

r254, that all sounds highly unpromising.

[Quote] Gypsy picked up quite a bit once the closing was announced. Even Smash had a great final few weeks.

Both had their originals casts and hadn’t run that long. Cabaret is on its third cast. Those who wanted to see it already have. Any show like that has a pathetic final few weeks

It doesn't seem possible that any theatre-going adult hasn't seen a production of Cabaret at least a couple of times by now. For show that (thinks it) has to thrive on shock value, that's a tough sell in 2025.

Plus, white people just don’t go to shows with Black stars. They just don’t

Tell me about it, r260!

Funny coincidence about our leading lady, June Squib. Last night in my insomnia something made me look up "The Happy Time" a Kander and Ebb musical that opened in 1968. And guess who was in it, along with Bobby Goulet? June Squib! That was 57 years ago!

[Quote] Tell me about it, [R260]!

Denzel seems to be the only exceptional likely because he’s the biggest Black movie star.

I remember back in 1996, Tyne Daly's name had come up as one of the actresses ALW was interested in to replace Buckley in SB,I didn't believe it at first, but in an interview around ten years later, she said it was true. He didn't go as far as offering the role to her, as she clarified, but he did talk to her to see if she had any interest in playing the role (and then it would move on to an audition).

She said that even though five years had gone by since 'Gypsy', and she wanted to say 'yes', her almost 50 year old body said 'no'. She still remembered her aches and pains from that musical, and she couldn't imagine taking over the role in SB and running up and down that staircase in that heavy costume in each performance. She thanked ALW and told him why she was refusing. His response was 'Yes, that costume is dreadful, from what I hear.' He made so many changes to the score and the set design to accommodate his leading ladies, he couldn't make changes to the costume ?

[quote]he couldn't make changes to the costume

A tricot peignoir would have made navigating the stairs easier, r254, but ya know, it's gonna look like a tricot peignoir.

^ r264

R266 What about just a simple black negligee ? Huh ? Did anyone think of that ?

Nicole S. with my Tony in one hand as I type with the other

R242 read the thread. For this production the lead producer is also the landlord.

Yea. I went to Purpose lat Friday and the only white person I saw was me, in a mirror!

🥸

R260. Clearly black people don't go to shows that have black stars either.

[quote]Funny coincidence about our leading lady, June Squib. Last night in my insomnia something made me look up "The Happy Time" a Kander and Ebb musical that opened in 1968. And guess who was in it, along with Bobby Goulet? June Squib! That was 57 years ago

Oh, dear x 2. Her name is SQUIBB.

Wow. The House of McQueen is a fucking mess. The kid is unwatchable and can't speak properly, the rest of the cast just flops around on stage speaking the most idiotic dialogue in NYC. The production is ugly and there is nothing that even resembles designs by McQueen. The "new" theatre is badly designed, the seats looked like they were carried out of an old porno house in Passaic, the direction is hardly there. And more than half those porno house seats were empty.

Tragic Fail.

[Quote] Yea. I went to Purpose lat Friday and the only white person I saw was me, in a mirror!

You mean that massive hit that will run for years and years?

[Quote] Clearly black people don't go to shows that have black stars either.

A show cannot run for a significant time with just a Black audience. Bway has been a white audiences’ entertainment. Why would you suddenly expect Blacks to show up just because a show has Black people in it?

Tyler Perry would like a word with you, R274.

[quote] Tyler Perry would like a word with you

The esteemed assistant lighting designer of Miss Saigon?

A.K.A. the only Tyler Perry in the Internet Broadway Database.

You sort of prove my point, r276.

Tyler Perry toured Madea plays for years but never brought them to B'way because....why bother? It's a black character for black audiences so he took the show TO the audiences.

Black audiences will very much support black centered/created art and without the need for white audience approval.

[quote]Wow. The House of McQueen is a fucking mess.

You mean there's competition for my musical, 'Dolly' ?

With the enormous flops of the new Dolly Parton musical in Nashville and the new Adam Guettel musical in Atlanta will Bart Sher be allowed to direct below the Mason-Dixon Line again? A lot will be riding on his direction of the new opera of Kavalier & Clay, opening the Met season early this fall.

Oh, please. Kavalier and Clay is one of my favorite books. Not much is riding on this opera one way or another. It will either lose a larger or smaller amount of money, and it will either be produced by a handful of opera companies or a couple of handfuls of opera companies.

r280, you're wrong. I think Bart Sher's reputation is very much on the line and whether or not he'll continue his relationship with LCT which is very tenuous at this point in time.

Talk about moving the goalposts. Sher won’t be able to direct in the South! Everyone is watching a new opera at the Met! No, he’ll be kicked out of the theater heck just resigned from!

Even if all this happened, he’ll be fine. He directed the only post-pandemic hit at LCT, even if you roll your eyes at Robert Downey Jr. While Michael Mayer and other hacks continue to direct, Bart Sher will always have a job. If he even wants one.

I think the bigger problem is not Bart Sher, but the fate of new operas at the MET. They have all lost a ton of money except for "The Hours."

Tyne Daly pretty much disappeared after dropping out of Doubt but she showed up at an event last week and looks terrific.

Does anyone know what the medical emergency was the made her drop from Doubt?

Diarrhea?

I saw the first act of that Bart Sher musical in Atlanta, and I thought it was awful. We fled at intermission. A mediocre score, bad book and talent-free child actors.

R286-You mean the new Adam Guettel musical, don't you?

If DOLLY continues, Bart will not be the director. You read it here first.

[Quote] Does anyone know what the medical emergency was the made her drop from Doubt?

Wasn’t it some emotional, near-suicidal breakdown?

Billy out of both Cabaret shows today and he's very quiet on social media. Me thinks an announcement is coming.

For someone who complained in print about not being called in to audition for this role in the earlier revival, he certainly is proving their wisdom.

What a fiasco.

I almost feel bad for Billy.

Almost

Tyne Daly had some kind of arrythimia or other heart problem which caused her to drop out of “Doubt.”

And frankly, I don’t think she looks good in those pics at all. Despite the tan, she seems very aged.

[quote]she seems very aged

She's 79, r293. She looks fine.

And she's not wearing a drop of makeup!

Get used to it, fellas!!

IMHO we’ve seen plenty of Cabaret for the time being.

She’s 80 R293. You will hope you aren’t six feet under at her age.

[quote]IMHO we’ve seen plenty of Cabaret for the time being.

More like unintentional parodies of "Cabaret."

Any reason why Porter keeps missing shows ?

R299 I think R239 has it right.

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH....

Rumors on B'way are that Porter has been filming scenes for the new 'Hunger Games' movie which he was contracted for before offered the role in 'Cabaret'. Producers knew all about this.

Others are saying he's taking his annual 'end of summer vacay' in P-town.

[quote]Any reason why Porter keeps missing shows ?

He hasn't been the same since that accident with the horse.

I don’t think it’s a terrible idea for the Emcee to be a Black American. However throwing in Billy fucking Porter along with his horrendously overindulgent antics was.

tdf has a ton of available dates but $60 still seems too expensive.

I am SICK and tired of you queens shading Billy Porter. He is the most important star of his generation. A once in a lifetime talent. And he has TRANSFORMED Cabaret. Kander & (the late) Ebb should be thanking him for adding such verve and vitality to their work.

That’s a respectable Billy impression.

I finally saw MHE and get why they want the lead male to be played by an Asian. But I can’t think of too many Asian Americans with star power to do it. They’re lucky Criss is coming back.

Did you like the show, R307?

Has anyone seen Jinkx yet? I’ve been busy but would like to get in before my fall season starts. Is it worth it? I haven’t seen her live and think this would be the right vehicle, but I’m not totally sure…

If I tell you, you owe me a Coke.

I liked MHE but it was a little too long with a muddled ending Otherwise very sweet.

i thought there would be a lot of reaction to Jinx in this play, but far as I can tell, nothing. At least not here or ATC.

R312 - there's probably reaction on places where theatre fans who are too young to have been at Oklahoma's opening night congregate... The Broadway subreddit, TikTok etc.

Totally anecdotal, but a friend who saw it recently said she preferred Cole.

R312 there isn’t much to say. Jinx is doing the role the way you would expect Jinx to do the role.

It’s a good performance, not revelatory.

We like to tear people down here.

See:

Audra

Billy

Betty Buckley

The only non-Cole Mary people have made any fuss about was Tituss.

Reaction has been muted to others.

The show is next when Mary is speechless

R313-Isn't it funny. I thought Jinx was much better than Cole. The problem is, she's being completely overshadowed by the force that is Michael Urie. He is magnificent.

[quote]I finally saw MHE and get why they want the lead male to be played by an Asian. But I can’t think of too many Asian Americans with star power to do it.

Yes, it's too bad Mickey Rooney is no longer available.

I thought Jinkx was not particularly good in it. Nobody was as good as the original cast except for Urie, who really should have played Lincoln. He was kind of wasted.

Heaven help me, but Urie is looking really hot these days.

If Eurasian Will Sharpe (half Japanese but looks Japanese) can play Mozart in an upcoming TV series adaptation of AMADEUS, then I think a white actor can play an android originated by a Eurasian who looks white.

He’s Urfilipino.

Is Cole doing the part in London? I'm hearing it's opening here in the Fall.

Michael Urie should be playing Mary!

Billy Porter out of Cabaret again.

Will he return before closing?

[quote]Will he return before closing?

Maybe if they want to speed up the closing.

[quote] You read it here first.

Thank you, Walter Winchell.

How is a 95 year old going to do eight shows a week? Or does she have the Audra schedule?

In White Lotus and A Real Pain and Too Much I didn't think of Will Sharpe as Asian. At all.

Oh brother

R330 Coincidentally, Sharpe never thought of you as being Asian, either.

R330. My Asian friend said the same thing.

R333 was your friend Cheryl? Does her pussy stink?

Billy Porter aside, I am somewhat curious about Marisha Wallace's take on Sally Bowles. The NYT did a profile on her this past week and she appears to be quite the sensation across the pond (plus the writer said she found her Sally quite fascinating).

[quote]Her Sally knocked me sideways, though, and not only because of Wallace’s thrillingly powerful voice, which has a habit of bringing the house down, and did that night. Until I saw her interpretation of the character, I had never really believed Sally, an English artist living a messy life in Weimar Berlin amid the rise of the Nazis. I had always found her annoying, never liked her, let alone loved her.

Sorry, try this link for the paywall-free version:

I think Sheridan Smith could have been the definitive Sally Bowles but she ended up being miscast as Fanny Brice, instead,

Marisha should have played Rose instead of sally Bowls

[quote]Heaven help me, but Urie is looking really hot these days.

I think he's always been as cute as a button.

Talented, to boot, too.

I saw Urie in The Government Inspector eight or so years ago and he gave a wonderful comic performance.

I love Michael Urie and have seen him in many productions over the years. Happy to say he always delivers a great performance.

You know what, I have to admit, I haven't seen Urie in several years. (I should probably check out Shrinking!), but I kind of get it now. I still think he was ALWAYS cute, but, yeah, he's growing into middle age VERY nicely. I think he's put on a teeny bit more muscle. He looks GOOD filled out.

Urie doesn’t appeal to me at all. He’s fine in things, never extraordinary. More interested in what Jinkx is doing. If he’s overshadowing her, that doesn’t bode well for my interest. Maybe Cole will come back and I’ll wait for that.

Is Cabaret worth the $60 tdf offer?

R343 the rumor on the boards is the next Mary is a former SNL lady.

Make of that what you will.

Anybody catch the first preview of Art?

r345 - Hmmm. Any other hints? There are several former SNL ladies I could imagine having fun with Mary.

[quote]There are several former SNL ladies I could imagine having fun with Mary

Pics please.

Rachel Dratch would be hilarious as Mary.

[quote]Is Cabaret worth the $60 tdf offer?

Is that how much they're paying YOU? Then maybe.

Or maybe Heidi Gardner, who is available as of this eeek.

*week

Kate McKinnon

R342, I’ve always found Urie attractive, but Shrinking is a clunker. It’s getting praise because therapy talk passes for depth now, and because critics will crown anything halfway coherent as prestige TV.

I love Shrinking and I roll my eyes at most "therapy talk."

I didn't realize Evita is closing on September 6th. I'm surprised they didn't extend. Does this mean they're going to try and bring it to Broadway this season with Zegler?

Shrinking is Ted Lasso without the more fun parts.....but all of the navel gazing parts left in.

Evita was always a limited engagement. No possibility to extend at the Palladium (and Zegler must have a very busy agenda). There is talk that it might be coming in Spring or Fall '26. I wish it would come here in the Spring so Zegler would get the Tony.... instead of you-know-who.

R358. instead of you-know-who.

Who?

Léa ain't gettin no Tony!

[Quote] Is Cabaret worth the $60 tdf offer?

Yes. The whole theatre atmosphere is interesting. The show is fine, just not among its best productions

Zegler had a film commitment in the US, something with Marisa Tomei. Plus that balcony stunt they pulled wouldn’t be possible past early September in London.

Zegler is much more hated than Lea. Lea’s controversies are nothing compared to Zegler’s. And Lea is box office on Broadway. After sinking movies in the US it’s not at all clear if Zegler is.

This is posted on the Cabaret website

Due to illness, Billy Porter will not perform Aug 29 - Sep 7. Billy Porter will also not perform Oct 9-11.

How do they already know Billy Porter will have illness October 9–11?

We don't care, r364. What we *really* want to know is - will Alison Pill be signing?

If Billy is ill how does he manage time off for other engagements?

Will CHESS prove to be one of those musicals with an amazing beloved score like HOUSE OF FLOWERS and THE GRASS HARP whose libretto is so awful it ruins the show? Is it unstageable? Can a hack like Mayer make it work?

Our country has gone from CHESS to RISK.

[quote]the rumor on the boards is the next Mary is a former SNL lady.

Hopefully, it's Aidy Bryant.

I saw Marisha Wallace's Miss Adelaide in London. She was a lot of fun - the whole Bridge production of Guys and Dolls was a treat. Can't wait to see what they do with Into the Woods this winter.

I have loved every Hytner show I’ve seen, especially Carousel. But I found his Guys and Dolls frequently over-the-top and sometimes vulgar. The Hot Box girls were flossing their crotches with their minks! And why was Sky dancing with a hot chorus boy in the Havana scene?

[quote]Is Cabaret worth the $60 tdf offer?

Maybe if it includes dinner at a nearby restaurant after the show.

Carmine’s or Applebee’s? Asking for a frau from flyoverstan.

Rumors on another message forum said producers are seriously considering brining in a former 'emcee' to replace Porter and finish the run through the middle of October. When they say 'former' it's not known if that means from the current revival or past productions.

[quote]Our country has gone from CHESS to RISK.

And on to Chutes and Ladders.

Who wouldn't want to see Joel Grey in a tank top and jaunty little cap in 2025?

[quote] Rumors on another message forum said producers are seriously considering brining in a former 'emcee' to replace Porter and finish the run through the middle of October

I will not allow this to happen.

Not sure if he was ever approached or would have been open to it but Joel Grey would have made a marvelous Herr Schultz in the 1998 revival.

If Billy doesn't return by September 7th they may use that as an excuse to close it before October 19th.

If they brought Alan Cumming back, I might go again, as much as I loathed this revival. Honestly, if they had just done the Mendes version on that set, it might have worked to make that version seem fresher.

[quote]Will CHESS prove to be one of those musicals with an amazing beloved score like HOUSE OF FLOWERS and THE GRASS HARP whose libretto is so awful it ruins the show? Is it unstageable? Can a hack like Mayer make it work?

Lea Michelle is more Julie Budd, than Streisand. That by the numbers Babs performance in Funny Girl has convinced people that she can carry a musical.

Michelle would be better off doing a revival of Rachael Lily Rosenbloom. She's too "niche" for Broadway.

[quote]If they brought Alan Cumming back, I might go again, as much as I loathed this revival.

Why? You could watch Joel Grey at home anytime, along with Tim Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Cumming's performance was basically a takeoff of those two anyway.

With the box office in the toilet who on earth would want to step in for Billy?

Well, I saw Joel Grey live and then Cumming three different times, so I’ll have to disagree. So would the Tony Award committee, who chose him over Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Would Jake Shears sell tickets? He did the show in London, and by all accounts was quite good.

I saw Cumming twice and agree with R385. He was brilliant each time. That said, the interview I read with him last year when this latest version opened on Broadway, he was quite clear in stating that he has little interest in “Cabaret” again even as an audience member, so can’t imagine he’d be open to stepping in for Porter.

So after this mess, will Billy flee from the Encores! "La Cage." I can't imagine him selling any tickets now.

[quote]How do they already know Billy Porter will have illness October 9–11?

It's his time of the month.

Callum Scott Howells, the lovely Welsh actor who broke my heart (and a lot of other peoples') in It's A Sin on TV, played the Emcee in London for awhile earlier in its run. He's not a name here in the States, but he's done a lot of theatre in the UK and can sing. I wouldn't mind seeing him. (The first photo in the link is awful, but the other two are better.)

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

Kate McKinnon? Nora Dunn? Laraine Newman???

Why does it have to be a white guy who replaces Porter?

Darren Criss? Taye Diggs? Daniel Dae Kim?

R393. Why did it have to be a black guy to replace Orville Peck?

Jake Shears is the only former Emcee who could move some tickets at that crapfest at this point in time. Broadway wouldn't recognize any of the other names.

I really wanna see Gilda Radner as Oh Mary!!

I was able to see that last 5 revivals of "Gypsy", and they all had their positives...but I have to say Tyne Daly performance that still sticks with me. Her version of "Everything's coming up roses", with the sky turning red, and her tearing into Louise...THAT is an act one closer that I will never forget. She was a monster. Linda Lavin was amazing as well. I can't say I ever liked her in "Alice", but her "Rose" made me a devoted fan.

As for "Oh, Mary" almost any SNL alum would do well in the part. I'd love to see Heidi Gardner!

[quote]Well, I saw Joel Grey live and then Cumming three different times

I can't imagine jerking off to Joel Grey.

It had a song, r391!

I think there would be an uproar if they replaced Billy with a white man.

[quote] I think there would be an uproar if they replaced Billy with a white man.

Is Okieriete Onaodowan available?

Dolls I am going to NY in November. Here is my theatre show list.

Am I missing anything amazing?

Friday: Marjorie Prime

Saturday matinee: Chess

Saturday Evening: Ragtime

Sunday: Queen of Versailles

Sunday Evening: Christine Ebersole 54 Below

[quote]Rumors on another message forum said producers are seriously considering brining in a former 'emcee' to replace Porter and finish the run through the middle of October. When they say 'former' it's not known if that means from the current revival or past productions.

Interesting! I guess we should check Adam Lamber and Orville Peck's schedules, too. Though you know Porter will make such a stink about it if this were true. And he'd milk the bad optics of the first Black actor to portray the Emcee being replaced by a white actor. Ordinarily, I'd agree with that sentiment, but not when the Black actor is the indulgent mess that is Miss Porter.

[quote] Sunday Evening: Christine Ebersole 54 Below

Does anyone here know how crazy Christine is reacting to the Trump Administration? She was already a 9/11 truther and psychic loon over a decade ago, so I'm assuming she's probably gone full in on RFK Jr.

Don't forget the Hippodrome, r403!

[quote]As for "Oh, Mary" almost any SNL alum would do well in the part. I'd love to see Heidi Gardner!

How about Terry Sweeney?

I saw Jake Shears in “Cabaret” in London. Though I hated the production (and didn’t bother to see it here) I thought Shears was terrific.

Any cafe hostesses here?

Jake Shears, a washed up has been from twenty years ago who was incapable of getting his band off the ground in the US and has some popularity only in remote European regions, isn’t selling tickets to anything here.

[quote]With the box office in the toilet who on earth would want to step in for Billy?

I guess Broadway is lucky that actress Lea Michele didn't think about this when she was asked to replace Beanie in 'Funny Girl'. Now she has 'turned the Funny Girl box office around' on her resume.

No one is going to turn the "Cabaret" box office around at this point, R411. The production is played out, with or without Billy Porter.

At this point, it doesn't look like CABARET has to vacate the theater to make room for "Dolly!' since there are serious doubts it will be moving to Broadway. I'm curious if the right actor steps in for the Emcee and box office improves, will it extend its run past October 19?

Isn't the lead producer of CABARET also the lead producer of DOLLY?

[quote]No one is going to turn the "Cabaret" box office around at this point, [R411]. The production is played out, with or without Billy Porter.

Taylor Swift IS the Emcee!

R414 Maybe - but by all accounts, Broadway won't be saying "Hello" to this "Dolly" anytime soon (like the next five seasons).

Speaking of 'Dolly: The Musical" (which ends its run in Nashville on August 31, and never let the press review it), there are those on other forums who said that this production plays as a 'Dollywood' attraction and not as a musical seriously considering a Broadway run. Rather than investing in a move to Broadway (and tryouts on the road until the Broadway debut in the Spring), she'd be better off investing in building a small 500 seater on her 'Dollywood Property' (apparently she bought more acreage around the property during COVID to expand the amusement park) and stage this production throughout the year - her fans will love it. She can stage 'other musicals' she's been rumored to be working on, as well as the Broadway flop '9 to 5' she produced about ten years ago and rotate them in this theater on the property.

It's truly not a bad idea. Her fans may not venture to Broadway to see this crap, but they will venture to Dollywood and buy tickets there.

Dolly deserves better.

R418 No doubt she does (as did Donna Summer, Cher, and Tina Turner). But Dolly has invested in this shit-show and has taken 'producer' credits, so she must be happy with the results.

So Cats will get the Wilson. Which is where it belongs, with a minimum of renovation.

[quote] Lucy would have been an incredible Rose. No joke.

When she read out loud at the end of Act I the letter from June, Lucy would have done "The Spider."

The FG box office wasn't exactly in the toilet when Lea stepped in. The show had never been revived on Broadway and there was a lot of interest. Beanie wasn't (and still isn't) a big name. But, with Lea, it really took off.

Been a while since I've done this:

Tuesday -- Bobby Cannavale, James Corden, and Neil Patrick Harris are promoting Art on Today, then Kumali Nanjiani is promoting Oh, Mary! on Late Night with Seth Meyers

[quote]Kumali Nanjiani

I hope she gets to do Hocus Pocus 3.

Oh, dear. I was so proud of myself for spelling "Nanjiani" right. Kumail, not Kumali.

Didn't Michael Urie do full-frontal in the Angels in America revival several years ago?

[quote]I hope she gets to do Hocus Pocus 3.

The shocker was that Whoopi didn't invite her to be in Sister Act 3.

Is Michael Urie the new Neil Patrick Harris now that NPH has aged out of being NPH ?

R426 he did. They still talk about audience refunds to this day!

They never asked for refunds from me!

Dolly has to go to Broadway. They've spent millions already. There's no way they won't try it.

R431 Are you familiar with Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Whistle Down the Wind" from 1996 ? That 'had to go to Broadway', too. Alas, it didn't.

A friend of mine saw "Whistle Down the Wind" out of town (D.C., I think) and still talks about the "snake dance," which sounded hilarious. Unintentionally so, I gathered.

What happened to Miley Cyrus potentially stepping in as Sally Bowles? Was there any truth to that rumor?

R434, Her sister Noah is rumored to be Lea’s understudy in Chess, which Lea is not happy about because it may take the focus off her.

[quote]Will CHESS prove to be one of those musicals with an amazing beloved score like HOUSE OF FLOWERS and THE GRASS HARP whose libretto is so awful it ruins the show? Is it unstageable? Can a hack like Mayer make it work?

Well they manage to bamboozle the unwashed masses that mega flop "Merrily We Roll Along" was a masterpiece.

R433 Yes, that's where it opened and closed. It was supposed to kick off 'out of town tryouts' IIRC, after Washington DC, Philly, Boston Chicago and LA were on the list before it's planned B'way debut some 7-8months later. The reviews were so scathing and word-of-mouth was so negative coning out of DC that ALW decided to kill it in DC and put it out of its/his misery.

Just open "Dolly!"in Branson.

Or the Kennedy Center’

Or Dollywood.

Or Newark.

Is there a theater available in Branson?

Is the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater still open in Jupiter. FL?

Take it to London. The Brits eat up shitty American musicals with a spoon.

Is Queen Lear going to banish Bart from his comfy perch at LCT?

Well, he hasn't had a good show since My Fair Lady.

“Good” is debatable

[quote]R134 Liza is not a reliable witness and is known to say 50 different things about the same subject.

She’s a goddamn disabled drug addict.

Sher's My Fair Lady was not good. Especially considering the glorious no-fail material.

Cher’s MY FAIR LADY, on the other hand…

She can do show tunes:

R147- I didn’t watch C&L but like most people, I knew it existed and thus, knew who Tyne was. Same with Friends and Seinfeld for instance. Never watched but I know the names of the actors.

For the youngsters in the room, please understand that to not have seen Cagney and Lacey in the 1980s required an aggressive resistance to popular culture. There were only a handful of channels and only so many hit shows. Saying that in the 80s is the equivalent of looking down at smartphones now.

On Dutch TV tonight there was a program called Musical Awards-The Kick-off which features various shows which are currently touring The Netherlands as well as some premiering in the next few months. Here’s the cast of Tick Tick…Boom performing “Louder Than Words.” The two men in the number are actually a couple, the dark haired one played Valjean in London recently and the blond one is a Venezuelan pop singer:

I’ve never heard “Brand New Day” sung in Dutch before.

Or “Tonight” sung in Dutch, for that matter,

[quote]Is the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater still open in Jupiter. FL?

I loved Mr. Burt Reynolds in "Death of Salesman"!

He couldn't hold a candle to Bobbi Adler as Millie Loman.

R449, was that the same "no-fail material" that ran 119 performances in 1981's Broadway revival and 165 in 1993-94's?

I didn't think that Sher's production was perfect (at the time, a smart friend quipped that Nathan "Roy Cohn" Lane and Norbert Leo Butz should switch parts), but it was pretty wonderful all the same and certainly did better at the box office than any previous Broadway revival had done.

r172-So much great live theater looks bad on a computer/TV screen. There's something thrilling about it happening right in front of you that doesn't carry in a recorded video. For instance, I LOVED Nicole S in Sunset Blvd but I can imagine hating the same performance on TV. You truly have to be there.

I think there's a difference between a bootleg and a Tonys/Rosie performance. The bootlegs are badly shot video of an actor giving a live stage performance. Look at the Tyne bootleg. You can't really see her face as it look in person. BUT for the Tonys/Rosie/Tonight Show, there is NO EXCUSE. You know you are performing for a camera and should modulate your performance accordingly. In this case, the film quality will be good so it will pick up everything.

I've been entering the lottery to see Billy in Cabaret and I keep winning but he's not going on so I pass on buying the tickets!

Honey, getting lottery tickets when Billy's out IS the point. You're wining the Jackpot!

R462 You probably keep 'winning' that lottery because you're the only one IN the lottery...

Is this one of those "you had to be there" moments? I hear the eldergays speak of this moment with such breathlessness and... it's a couple of curtains and some flimsy looking backgrounds. Was it REALLY that impressive?

(Or was it more the shock/contrast of this explosive moment between the couples being dramatically cut off with this flowery display? I understand that CONCEPTUALLY... but... the execution doesn't seem THAT dazzling.)

How about Dean Cain for MHE?

r347- Yes! Molly S, Kristen W, and Kate M would all be fabulous and I'd return to see all 3.

Wait, Billy will be sick for over a week? And then sick again in October? Hmmm

r379- Yes, and with Liza as Schneider. It would've been incredible.

I saw "Whistle Down the Wind" in London twice. Loved it. I liked "The Beautiful Game" too. Both should've come to Broadway.

r437- I don't believe that it was about word of mouth. Had something to do with Harold Prince and ALW having behind the scenes disagreements. It was ultimately staged to ALW's liking on the West End and did well.

r459- Doolittle is much to small of a role for Nathan. Also, Nathan doesn't replace. Never has.

r465- it's a terrible recording. You can't see the colors or details or actors' faces. Try to pretend you can and you'll understand.

Much too small of a role for Nathan, I mean

[quote]I've been entering the lottery to see Billy in Cabaret and I keep winning but he's not going on so I pass on buying the ticket=

You keep winning first prize. Second prize is seeing Cabaret with Billy Porter.

My main memory of Sher’s mediocre Fiddler on the Roof revival, was Danny Burstein arriving on stage wearing that Patagonia jacket.

[quote]I don't believe that it was about word of mouth.

I have a feeling the horrendous 'word of mouth' coming from audiences in Washington DC certainly didn't help convince them it was a smart move to carry on with their plans to bring it to B'way. Not sure about the fighting behind the scenes between HP and ALW, never heard anything.

I knew a woman in the cast in D.C. and she blamed the whole debacle on Prince. Then I saw it in London and loved it.

Harold Prince is easy to blame

Isn’t everyone, Patti?

R480 - Mia

R380, according to understudies.org, he isn’t coming back til the 9th.

Many of you are questioning how Porter 'knows he will be ill' in October as it says he will be 'out sick' for his performances for a few days.

Answer: Porter probably scheduled some medical procedure / OP surgery for those days in which he requested 'sick days' in advance (as opposed to 'vacation days'). So when asked, the correct answer is he will be 'out sick' for those days in October - nothing wrong with that. As with many jobs, there's probably a breakdown of how many sick days, vacation days and 'personal time off' he gets, so the funds to cover those days comes out of the correct bank of his 'accrued time'.

It’s Broadway, nog the back office staff of Citibank. LOL ^^

R484 Broadway theaters are a business industry (just like Citibank). Actors (and crew) are employees and still get vacation / sick/ personal time. Knowing in advance he will have a medical procedure, he request they take it out of his 'sick days' accruement.

R472, the point was that Butz would have been as Roy Cohn and Lane better as Dolittle -- i.e., both should have had those parts from the start, not that Butz should have left and been replaced by Lane.

The website says Porter will be out on specific dates in October but nothing about illness. It says the August/Sept absences are due to illness although, a month ago, it just said he would be out for specific dates in August. Nothing about September and nothing about illness.

[quote]My main memory of Sher’s mediocre Fiddler on the Roof revival, was Danny Burstein arriving on stage wearing that Patagonia jacket.

A mediocre revival, and Burstein was mediocre in it. The jacket was a head-scratcher, but then so was Eliza exiting through the house at the end of "My Fair Lady." She had already said goodbye to Higgins. Apparently she came back to rub his nose in it and grab a cocktail in the lobby.

Didn't Sher also direct that AI piece of shit with Robert Downey, Jr. last season?

[quote]and grab a cocktail in the lobby

Wouldn't you, r488?

The Nashville cast of "Dolly" was told the show will not be on Broadway this season. Big shocker...

gasp

[quote]Will CHESS prove to be one of those musicals with an amazing beloved score like HOUSE OF FLOWERS and THE GRASS HARP whose libretto is so awful it ruins the show?

Hard to answer that question intelligently, since this version has a new libretto that has only been used once before, for a few performances at the Kennedy Center. And virtually all previous productions of the show have had versions of the book that were quite different from each other in terms of the amount of dialogue and the actual lines.

R481, R480 is everyone who has ever had the thrill of working with her.

The Nashville cast of Dolly was sending texts to their agents after first preview saying "Get me out of this."

R495 made me LAUGH

r493, thanks for trying to answer my question intelligently but what I meant was.....will the libretto for this new version prove that the show, despite a great score, is unsalvageable? I believe that's been the case with every revival of House of Flowers and revisions to its libretto. I don't think a revival of The Grass Harp has been attempted.

I have 2.5 comp days. —I’ll take them next week. —chorus boy.

Don’t come back. —producer

They have to re-write the book every time. What does that tell ya?

R470, what are your feelings about Stephen Ward?

Broadway Fall Preview 2025:

Deadline hates Kristin Chenoweth. Could they have picked a worse photo?

[quote] Could they have picked a worse photo?

Easily.

The photo's fine. Sheesh.

Really, that photo of Kristin is fine. She looks painfully thin nowadays, but not in that pic.

Kristin does have a few jack o lantern faces

I can't believe Cher mispronounced "chaste."

Stephen Ward is the Aids of musicals.

I'm curious if the union members get their unused vacation time and PTO days paid out to them when a show closes and they're out of work ? When you leave a job (quit or get fired) most companies will pay out those banks, but not unused sick time. (At my last jo, as I was planning on leaving for a few months, I started calling out sick on days I wanted off rather than put in for vacation / PTO. If I had a potential job interview at another company I would call out sick that day, rather than request a vacation day. It paid off very well when I finally left - I had a handful of sick days left in my bank (less than a week) and four weeks of vacation / PTO paid out to me.

You sound quite proud of the fact that you defrauded your employer.

R510 Actually, I'm quite proud of the fact that they didn't defraud me and I got what was rightfully due me. Some day if you ever get a job and work in a company which offers benefits such as this, you might do the same. But that's certainly a big 'if' for you.

Yes, working in Big Law in SF and Manhattan has left me bereft of any understanding of comp. 🤓

As just a single example—absent collective bargaining—CA and NYS have very different legal requirements for paying out unused vacation.

Jane Kraskowski is the next Mary in OH MARY!

She’s in until early December boys!

Hmmmmmmmmmm

Jane wasn't exactly an SNL person, though. We were deceived!

[quote]I started calling out sick on days I wanted off

Audra is that you?

Speaking of Audra.....this was kind of lovely.

Hannah Solow, the hilarious Mary standby, will play the role for the two weeks preceding Jane.

I assume Cole will return for Christmas so the producers can charge outrageously inflated prices over what is already an overpriced ticket for a straight play.

Oh Mary! has also been extended through July 2026.

Has it already paid back its investment?

Straight play??!

Is that like cosplay? Comicon play?

Jane as Mary? Major non-event.

R517 Broadway history unfolding in real time…

But the keens here will sing out: how many shows did you miss?!

Kweens^

I only realized it after Ragtime, but I saw her in The Secret Garden, which was her first Broadway gig. Even though the role was small, she lit up the stage.

Is there really someone on a theatre gossip thread that doesn't know what a "straight play" is?

George Sanders knew sarcasm when he read it.

Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Uh, that would be me, r528.

Clearly NOT

[quote]Jane Kraskowski is the next Mary in OH MARY!

Oh Mary! is danger of turning into the Carol Burnett show.

Cole is doing Oh Mary! in London this Fall.

Carol Channing…showing corn

[quote]Oh Mary! is danger of turning into the Carol Burnett show.

Vicki Lawrence IS Mary!

I think Melissa McCarthy will take over as Mary at some point. Now that would be something to see.

R521 Oh, Mary recouped months ago.

At this point, Oh Mary is a cash machine for everyone who has a piece of the action.

Cole Escola is set for life. It's a silly comedy with a small cast. Community theaters and schools will be staging this for the next 50 years.

Hilty, Simard and Seiber all out of DBH tonite.

This guy (George Krissa) has been in Toronto theater, but....oh my, perhaps we should import him.

I never miss a Mirvish musical!!!!

I saw Mamma Mia! in a Mirvish house in Toronto.

Dame Edna, too.

Every queen doing community theater in flyoverstan doing community theater is salivating, as we speak—they will swallow.

I would never…

Every one!

;)

Sorry for the repeat

R539, George Krissa has done one show in NYC, his own cabaret show at Chelsea Table * Stage. Don't know if he has any plans to return.

R538 that’s pretty bad when all three leads are out at the same time.

I know Megan has been vocal about why she is out so much, as is Jennifer but is Ernest really that taxing of a role? Seiber is out frequently because I follow his understudy on instagram and he’s always on for him!

If DEATH BECOMES HER is honestly so physically and/or vocally taxing that it requires the leads to be out so frequently, maybe the show should be closed down by Equity. Yeah, I know, like that's gonna happen....but since it won't, maybe at least alternates for both of the female leads should have been in place from the beginning, or at least immediately after the Tonys.

The problem is that Megan and Jennifer are older and overweight. They are not up to doing 8 shows a week.

Jennifer's big fake tits are exhausting.

I'm very curious about the high school and community theater audiences that will be embracing Oh, Mary!

Chelsea table stage = London Terrace. The Gardens though—not the Towers.

[quote]This guy (George Krissa) has been in Toronto theater, but....oh my, perhaps we should import him.

The tariffs! The Tariffs!

Jane Krakowski irritates me as a performer.

I think it’s time we discuss Tyne Daly in Gypsy again.

Has anyone seen anything at Chelsea Table + Stage. Their lineups always seem rather...poor.

[quote] Jane Krakowski irritates me as a performer.

Jane Krakowski irritates me as a person.

FWIW, I saw alternates for all three lead women the night I saw Death Becomes Her in June. Sieber was in. All of the alternates were fabulous and if you'd told me they'd been playing 8 shows a week, I'd have believed you. I have nothing against Hilty or Simard and would have gladly seen them if they were in, but it was in no way a detriment to have seen their standbys. The producers may have fucked up by not making an alternate schedule official from the start, but, they did a nice job with the casting of those standbys, I'll give them that.

R556, that’s the exact same way I felt about the standby who went on for Helen Chen the night I saw MHE. She was absolutely fabulous and I did not miss seeing Chen in the role at all (which I say with no disrespect intended towards Chen).

FWIW Hilty, Simard and Seiber's absences seem to have no detrimental effect on the box office.

Cabaret went up in gross last week. Billy's absence has had a perfectly marvelous effect on the box office.

Understandable why Krissa gets cast in Hallmark movies......

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1937, “Virginia” opened at the Center Theatre.

Are we allowed to talk about how much Simard has disfigured her face and body. The tits are huge and her face is completely plastic. Sad. Why do people do this to themselves? Is it just self-hatred?

Early closing notice for Cabaret?

OK, I know this is kinda early before the thread ended, but since this was a bit of a milestone thread I wanted to do a little something.....may have been terrible but oh well, I tried.

New thread is here:

Not sure if having F Murray as part of the cast of Versailles is genius or just kind of weird casting.

Try working with her.

That's Chita, not Rita!

Are we putting June Squibb in a plastic bubble and having Rojo Caliente's wife roll her out?

[quote]THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1937, “Virginia” opened at the Center Theatre.

What was opening at the Virginia Theatre?

[quote]R553 I think it’s time we discuss Tyne Daly in Gypsy again.

Audra McDonald made an interesting, unexpected Mama Rose in the most recent revival.

We should discuss that in the next thread.

I think that for better or for worse, Cabaret is sticking to its scheduled closing date. That month-and-a-half is going to dragggg ...

I want to kiss a George Krissa.

R572 Maybe Canada will send him south.

Why do people hate Jane k?

Okay, cut the crap Nederlanders -- evict Jeff Ross.

I hate Jane K.

The bitch ran over my foot in Starlight Express.

I always forget SJP was in Annie.

I'm glad Hannah Solow will get a little mini-run as Mary.

MARY!

Even with the crap numbers, Cabaret will do big numbers its last two weeks. They all do.

Where In The World Is Miss Porter?

Last spring I saw Death Becomes Her, which was garbage in book and score.

I was impressed by the performances, though. Jennifer Simard was out, and her understudy was excellent.

The understudies may be keeping that show in business.

The score, while garbage, seems like it'd be a bitch to sing — it has all kinds of sub-Wicked/American Idol-inspired bland-ass pyrotechnics that are apparently requisite on Broadway these days. It's a lot to ask of two chubby menopausals eight times a week.

[quote]FWIW Hilty, Simard and Seiber's absences seem to have no detrimental effect on the box office.

That was the experience for my performance in June. Interestingly, the show seems to do a good job at pushing tickets week-of. Kudos to their marketing team, I guess? I looked at tickets two weeks prior and there were A LOT of unsold seats. Then, the day before, even with all three female leads out, I got one of the last five or six tickets left in the theatre.

R582 - Huh. Different strokes. I wasn't expecting to like the show as much as I did. I found the book thoroughly entertaining and the score surprisingly tuneful. Hardly a masterwork, but much stronger than I was anticipating -- especially considering (unless I'm mistaken) this was the first Broadway show for all of the writers.

Dang, R560 - woof! He looks great. Though... even now... that face seems to have a pending expiration date. Some pale people age like room temperature milk.

I'll taste his expiration date milk!

Just a reminder, the next thread is already hot and ready to go when this one is full.

r549 I said community theaters and schools; I didn's specify high schools though I'm guessing there are high schools who will perform Oh Mary (obviously more likely to be urban and private schools). Colleges and theaters all over the country will be snapping up rights when they become available.

Again. HUGELY popular/successful comedy with small cast. A bit naughty.

I think you're thinking of "The Raytown Pepper Pot Players" type of community theater....which doesn't really exist anymore if ever.

People, people!!!!This thread needs to be completed before going to #600!!!

And it's still much too soon for a "Bajour!" to start wrapping things up!

Alright, people, we're going to try something a little different, today. We are going to write 10 more posts describing to me who you think you are. And by 10 more posts, I mean 10 more posts. I do not mean "Bajour!" repeated 10 times. Is that clear, Mr. Bender?

That's really what The Breakfast Club was missing, a moment where Ally Sheedy lip synced to "Where Is the Tribe for Me?"

More freewheeling patio numbers need to end with someone's hairy ass cheeks getting taped together.

We tried that, but it didn't go over well with preview audiences.

There's a bright golden haze on the meadow!

And then the murders began.

Maybe far away, or maybe real nearby

He may be pouring her coffee, she may be straight'ning his tie

And then the murders began

On the twenty-first day of the month of September, in the year of a decade not too long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence. And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places.

And then the murders began.

Closing ...

this ...

thread ... out. Here's the new one!

BAJOUR!