Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner

[Snow Apple]

Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson performing "All I Ask of You" (from Josh's album "Stages").  I love Kelly, but I don't think Broadway is her forte.

 

Josh and Kelly have such different styles that it's not meshing very well, but they both sound fine on their own. Josh needs a classical singer to sing this song with, and Kelly needs a pop or country singer (hey, that may turn out to be an interesting version if arranged correctly). But she tried to match Josh's style so I give her an "A" for effort, bless her.

[aradia22]

I saw Sylvia again tonight. I think it was a combination of knowing what to expect and there being a different energy with the actors tonight. And also sitting a different place (I was in the front of the mezzanine tonight instead of the back of the orchestra). The sound was also better from that location. Anyway, I still don't think it's a great play but it was more charming. I think the actors stumbled over their lines more and maybe omitted a bit but their energy was up. Annaleigh stole the show quite a bit the first time but tonight they felt like more of a company and Broderick felt better. He seemed more engaged, if still not giving a great performance. I had a pleasant night.

[aradia22]

TNR is up. Highlights.

• STRESS. So many openings. Thank goodness I don't want to see all these shows. I'm kind of interested in Gigantic and Astronaut Love Show.
• The Lion King digital lottery (YAY!)
• Patti Lupone and Christine Ebersole will star as rival cosmetics entrepreneurs Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden in the world-premiere musical War Paint.
• Phylicia Rashad will head the cast of Tarell Alvin McCraney's Head of Passes, directed by Tina Landau. The new Off-Broadway drama is inspired by the Book of Job. Performances will begin March 14, 2016.
• Encores Lady Be Good album released 11/13 (Someone let me know how Danny Gardner sounds.)
• Casting has been announced for Jose Rivera's Another Word for Beauty, a show about a prison beauty contest inspired by true events, at Goodman Theatre in Chicago, IL. The production runs Jan. 16-Feb. 21, 2016.
• REMINDER: Set your DVR for First You Dream November 20

http://playbill.com/news/article/why-a-boston-director-said-she-will-never-produce-another-all-female-outdoor-show-again-371037

[aradia22]

I checked off my second NY Pops concert of the season tonight. This one was much better. Montego Glover, Sy Smith, and Capathia Jenkins celebrating Billie Holiday and the other great ladies of jazz. It was a good program of mainly standards with the exception of a dull lullaby arrangement. This is the first time I have found the lack of diversity in the NY Pops jarring. I could go into the numbers but suffice it to say, they could be doing a lot better. That's not necessarily related to my issue with the way they played but even though I was happy to hear music focusing more on the brass and percussion (I find their string sections disappointing... at least where I sit), it was too clean for me. I couldn't help but compare it to the amazing band at After Midnight. The only ones who seemed to be having fun were the performers, Steven Reineke, and the percussion section. I'm going to pay more attention to the percussion section next time. They made me chuckle a few times. The Pops did try to drown out the singers at times but these ladies were up to the challenge. They were brilliant. Capathia Jenkins' rendition of Summertime was perfection. Montego Glover was amazing. I've wanted to hear her live since listening to the Memphis album. Sy Smith was like this amazing combination of Dinah Washington and Diana Ross with maybe a touch of Fantasia.

 

The encore of "Get Happy" was a perfect way to end what has been a scary and sobering night elsewhere in the world. I hope everyone out there reading this is healthy and safe tonight.

Edited November 14, 2015 by aradia22

[aradia22]

Saw First Daughter Suite. Go see it if you can before it ends its extended run 11/22. $20 rush tickets (not student or age specific). In my mind, it was very Sondheim influenced (which is good because I like Sondheim) but lacking the depth and storytelling. Still there were a lot of strengths in the material. The promo clips don't do it justice. There are actually some really nice melodic moments they're hiding. The score is challenging to sing (and there were times I found it Evita/The Last 5 Years shrewish with the subject matter and also forcing the actresses to sing at the top of their range like that) but beautiful for the most part. I think it will make a great album and if they don't put it on Spotify I will buy it. I enjoyed the injections of humor but the story did not work. Too much fantasy. Why so many ghosts? It was like he was afraid to tackle something more real. There were dramatic moments but they felt hollow because they didn't offer any real meaningful insight into being part of the first family or even mother/daughter/sister relationships. I did enjoy myself though and the talent on that stage was staggering. More thoughts to come.

[Milburn Stone]

Saw First Daughter Suite. Go see it if you can before it ends its extended run 11/22. $20 rush tickets (not student or age specific). In my mind, it was very Sondheim influenced (which is good because I like Sondheim)...

 

Not commenting on First Daughter Suite, because I haven't seen it, but way too much musical theater today sounds like reheated Sondheim. To me, Sondheim is (yes) a god, and one of the things that makes him so is that he writes his own way. 

[aradia22]

[aradia22]

George Takei response to ignorance about Japanese internment

Edited November 20, 2015 by aradia22

[aradia22]

TNR is up. Highlights...

• REMINDER: First You Dream 9pm on PBS
• $20 onstage rush tickets for A View From the Bridge
• New York Theatre Workshop has announced that a limited number of extra tickets, as well as $25 CheapTix will be available for Lazarus
• Tickets on sale for West Side Story March 4-6, 2016, at the Knockdown Center
• Tickets on sale for The BAM winter/spring season and the 2016 American Songbook series at Lincoln Center.
• Kelsey Grammer will begin a seven-week return engagement at Finding Neverland Jan. 19, 2016, continuing through Feb. 28.
• Casting for A Christmas Story at Papermill
• The Lena Horne Tribute Show, a benefit concert for Schools That Can, will feature Audra McDonald, Barbara Cook, Billy Porter, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Lindsay Mendez, Rebecca Naomi Jones, Telly Leung, and Justin Guarini, as well as two school choirs from VOICE Charter School and the Newark Boys Chorus School.
• The National Asian Artists Project is hosting a program of four staged readings of new short musicals Dec. 7
• Unattached at 54 Below 2/3/16-2/6/16 featuring Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner
• Holiday Inn, The New Irving Berlin Musical
• "The Woodsman, the untold story of Oz's Tinman and the woman he loved, will receive a new Off-Broadway staging at New World Stages in January 2016.
• Manhattan Theatre Club has announced two productions for the 2016-2017 season: Vietgone, by Qui Nguyen, and Sarah Jones' Sell/Buy/Date.
• Roundabout announces Love, Love, Love and a Steven Karam adaptation of The Cherry Orchard
• "Lincoln Center Theater's LCT3 production of Preludes, the new musical by Dave Malloy, is being recorded by Ghostlight Records for release in digital and CD formats Jan. 8, 2016."
• "New York City Center has partnered with The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space to present City Center Encores! Unscripted, a new "live-streamed series of conversations and performances about the glorious, complicated legacy of the Broadway musical.""

 

I'm most interested to hear if anyone's going to try to see A View From the Bridge, Lazarus, West Side Story, or A Christmas Story. The Lena Horne Tribute Show sounds like a fabulous event but it's not in my budget. Neither is Unattached at 54 Below. Any thoughts on Holiday Inn? Did anyone see The Woodsman? Would you recommend it? Finally, let's watch Encores! Unscripted and discuss. Who's with me?

Edited November 20, 2015 by aradia22

[ratgirlagogo]

 

George Takei response to ignorance about Japanese internment

One of the things that always kills me about this stuff is that the people who have emigrated from the country in question -are going to be, overwhelmingly, people who OPPOSE the regime currently in power back there.  If they liked it so much they'd still be living there.

[Amello]

 

Ever since this was posted here awhile back I've been obsessed with it. However, can someone tell me the title of the song and where it comes from that she sings around 2:26?

[aradia22]

@Amello It's Memory from Cats

[DisneyBoy]

Wow - thanks for posting that video of Prince of Broadway. Really don't want to see it! Love seeing Yazbeck up there but geez...feels a little community theatre variety night, doesn't it? Love Prince, of course, but this isn't my cup of tea show-wise.

[Amello]

@Amello It's Memory from Cats

 

Thank you. Simply YouTube-ing it suggests the Elaine Paige version is the definitive version. Is this right?

[aradia22]

I don't know. I've never listened to Cats. Not to fall down that rabbit hole but I'm in the "ALW is a hack who steals most of his best stuff" camp. But I do love Evita and Phantom is mostly tolerable.

[Rick Kitchen]

Elaine Paige originated the role, So she was the first to sing the song.

[Charlie Baker]

 Betty Buckley in the original Broadway cast did a fine job with it, as well as Ms. Paige.

[aradia22]

TNR is up. I listened to Beauty and the Beast (I've already heard it but I wanted to give it another listen through before adding it to my Spotify playlists) after Jekyll and Hyde and then decided to follow it up with Jane Eyre. I think Daddy Long Legs is an improvement on Jane Eyre. Maybe it's because it's less unwieldy and because the epistolary structure excuses some of the straightforward storytelling but I found Jane Eyre (a book I have read way too many times at this point) a clunky way of telling the story of the book. It seemed too tied to the material so we got a lot of narration and "telling not showing" and also parts lifted from the book in an odd way. I don't know if you've seen the Michael Fassbender/Mia Wasikowska Jane Eyre but I think it's a strong adaptation because it makes a choice. You lose a lot of elements of the book but you can tell a clean romance because you clear the clutter and unsavory elements away. The Jane Eyre musical wants to be all of the things. There is some very pretty music (if not entire songs, then at least fragments of them). There are definitely songs I want to learn how to sing. Brocklehurst and Ms. Fairfax were just ridiculous. There seems to be a melodrama at war with this light comedy. Even something like "Poor Sister" has weirdly jaunty music that makes it seem more comedic than it should.

 

Did anyone see it when it played Broadway and can anyone offer an opinion about how well it worked, the staging, etc.? Obviously an album is different from seeing the production.

 

What happened to this style of musical that roughly encompasses The Secret Garden, Jekyll and Hyde, Jane Eyre, and Doctor Zhivago? I don't think they belong with Phantom and Les Miserables as reviewers claimed when Zhivago premiered but there's a vague similarity of sound with the four I named that makes me tie them together. And I feel like that sound had a moment and then went away. It also reminds me a bit of the song "Home" from Beauty and the Beast.

[Rinaldo]

I agree that Jane Eyre is a challenge to adapt -- even as a movie, but all the more so within stage constraints. The miserable-childhood prologue to the main story would ideally be dispensed with, related only in flashback or quick narration, but it's such a familiar and well-remembered part of the book that time always has to be spent on it, subtracting from available time elsewhere. And the whole St. John Rivers business that's the last third of the book... it's essential in terms of a story beat but seldom comes off as more than an obligatory section that we have to get through somehow, with the new characters never coming to life.

 

The musical, which I saw, did suffer on these points somewhat, the St. John sequence seeming especially rushed and perfunctory. I remember mostly three things about it: 1. A marvelous central performance by Marla Schaffel. 2. The orchestrations by Larry Hochman that did about the best job I've heard of tastefully reconciling a rock-type beat with a nineteenth-century story. 3. A truly stunning physical production, with revolving light bridge and set pieces that made atmospheric effects possible that I've never seen duplicated. (Admittedly, I don't see everything.)

 

This is necessarily a matter of individual perception and taste, but all six titles mentioned in that last paragraph occupy roughly the same musical territory for me -- except The Secret Garden, which for me is unique stylistically; I'm sorry it seems to have had no successors. Lucy Simon achieved a great deal in it, and should have written many more stage scores. (I was obsessed with the show: I saw it three times, each coincidentally with a different Uncle Archibald.)

[aradia22]

Saw Therese Raquin tonight. I'm not sure I see this getting Tony nominations for anything but the set design but in spite of the subject matter, I had a very enjoyable night. Well, aside from the seating in the mezz at Studio 54. Even with my short legs I couldn't help but fidget around. And I did feel the 2 hour 30 running time. But the play held my interest (though I didn't think the adaptation was that well written, not bad, but not remarkable) and I enjoyed the performances for the most part. Count me as a fan of the river. While I preferred the first act, a lot of the flashier acting moments happened in the second act and the actors made the most of them. See this production if you can. Sadly the mezz was probably at least half empty tonight. More soon. Well, maybe after the holiday. The TNR will probably resume this weekend as I don't think I'll have internet access at home.

 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

[aradia22]

Any thoughts on Mark Rylance's criticisms about how Shakespeare is performed and received? While I think that some plays are a bit dense in the information being conveyed (namely the history plays), I think he makes a fair point about the sentiment carrying through regardless of how reverently you speak each word.

[Rick Kitchen]

I can't speak to that, but I just wanted to say that I hope Rylance gets a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Bridge of Spies.

[aradia22]

TNR is up. I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving however you celebrated. Here are your highlights.

• Dames at Sea and Sylvia closing 1/3/16. Not unexpected for either show. I enjoyed both but recognized that they both rested on weak material and strong performers.
• Casting for Marco Ramirez's The Royale. No interest in boxing but I do want to see Montego Glover again even if she won't be singing.
• Hamilton has posted an open casting call on its website, seeking performers for the current Broadway company and upcoming national tours.
• My Fair Lady (directed by Julie Andrews) rumors I do want to see the show on stage one day because I don't like the movie but nothing rumored right now excites me.
• Motown The Musical has booked the Nederlander Theatre
• Grey Gardens will play Los Angeles' Ahmanson Theatre
• Stephen Karam’s The Humans will transfer to Broadway's Helen Hayes Theatre Jan. 23, 2016.
• Sky-Pony will release a new album, "Beautiful Monster," Dec. 4. Looking forward to this. A few of the songs from their past albums have grown on me.
• Gemma Arterton will return to the West End to star in the transfer of Jessica Swale's Nell Gwynn, about the 17th century actress and royal mistress, at the Apollo Theatre.
• "Deadline reports that The CW has picked up its new musical comedy series "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" for five more episodes, bringing the show's first season to 18 episodes. "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" has not yet been picked up for another season." Yay! But I'm definitely waiting on that announcement for season 2.
• "New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission granted permission Nov. 24 for a construction project that will raise the roof of the Palace Theatre (current home of An American in Paris) to accommodate a new lobby, new dressing rooms, elevators, restrooms — plus retail space fronting on Seventh Avenue" Thoughts?

[JustaPerson]

So i saw An American in Paris yesterday. I loved it! Some of the songs felt a bit shoehorned in, but the dance was so gorgeous and fun that I didn't mind. Between this and the clips of On the Town I've seen, I'd hate to have been a Tony award voter last year. Holy choreography! So amazing. The big ballet number did not disappoint. I almost had the original cast too but Leanne Cope wasn't there for the performance. Her alternate (a different girl from the understudy tho) was good but I would have liked to see LC (then I could have seen all four Tony nominated performances!) At least I got Robert Fairchild. He was fabulous! A pretty actor (and singer) too considering he's more of a dancer. He really sold his character's lovesickness and desperation. You could still tell the musical theater actors apart, they sounded a touch more polished. There was an unexpected amount of pathos that I don't remember the movie having. I can see how Max von Essen and Brandon Uranowitz earned their Tony noms -- there were a lot of meaty, emotional scenes for both. Sorry if this ended up more of a review guys! A bit of raving about the show is required -- it was wonderful!

 

Plus I got tickets to see Hamilton, which is pretty much the opposite of AAIP. In April...five months from now. 

Edited November 29, 2015 by JustaPerson

[Charlie Baker]

Well, of course it ain't anyone's idea of light or holiday entertainment, but I saw A View from the Bridge yesterday.  I hadn't seen any of Ivo van Hove's work before this--it just didn't seem like my taste.  But I didn't see the last production of the play, it's the 100th anniversary of Arthur Miller's birth, and the cast has Nicola Walker, whom I love in Last Tango in Halifax, and I'm at least curious about this director.  The production is very stripped down, played in an enclosed rectangle in the center of the stage, with audience sitting on either side as well as in the house.  Very few props, unspecific costuming, harsh lighting, constant underscoring (which did grate on me at times).  A crucial scene is played with very long "unnatural" pauses to ramp up the tension, I guess.  It's really the only scene in the show done like that, and I'm going back and forth on how effective that is. The rest of it is played very straightforwardly and the cast is pretty tremendous.  Not much of a spoiler to say the ending turns violent and and the production's approach to it is very stylized and conjures a pretty indelible stage image.  Overall, I think the play is treated respectfully and powerfully, but the production is going to get all kinds of reactions, I think. Most of the reviews I've seen have been good.  The audience I was in (I was on the stage and wonder how it plays in the house) seemed pretty rapt.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Charlie Baker

[aradia22]

Question Charlie, do you think I should stay away from any spoilers or summaries of the plot before seeing A View From the Bridge? I'm not a Miller person so I don't know what the story is about. Generally I don't care about spoilers (I enjoyed Therese Raquin fine knowing what would happen at the end of act 1) but with such a spare production I wonder if the dramatic scenes would be more effective not knowing what will happen. Or will it be confusing to go in blind?

[Charlie Baker]

If I were unfamiliar with the play, I would want to go in not knowing much.  That said, I've seen some response around the old net that some may find the ending as presented in this production unclear.  For me I think plot and character are presented very clearly and directly here, even with all the "avant garde" trappings.

Edited November 29, 2015 by Charlie Baker

[aradia22]

I saw These Paper Bullets tonight. It was a fun time but if you were going to go, I'd wait until after previews. It needs some work and I hope it's getting it. Again, it's fun but it carries over some misogyny from Shakespeare and adds a bit of its own. Personally, I thought it needed to go farther in its adaptation. The book needed to divorce itself more from Much Ado About Nothing and the music needed to not be so precious about the Beatles. Not being a Beatles fan myself I don't know if you would enjoy this more being a fan or not being a fan. On the one hand, the mimicry is pretty good but with simple lyrics (that are sometimes unintelligible) and you might either find the songs a pale imitation of The Beatles or enjoy the nostalgia. The cast does do their best but the book is all over the place.

The spy plot should be a combination of Monty Python shenanigans and The 39 Steps

but it's just lightly silly and carried by committed performers. The Shakespeare part mixes oddly with the mod part in the book resulting in a confusing mish-mash of dialogue. It's easy to follow the gist of it but you lose little jokes here and there especially with the actors who don't enunciate enough. One of my favorite parts was

the middle section when Ben and Beatrice get tricked into thinking the other loves them. There's some great humor and physical comedy and Nicole Parker and Justin Kirk play it really well.

Justin Kirk and the actor playing Claude are probably the best singers but I enjoyed all of the performers from The Quartos. I wish they'd taken more of a leap away from the plot of Much Ado About Nothing and taken away more of the misogyny from their own script. And build up the

spy plot

if you're going to include it.

[aradia22]

TNR is up. Normally I'd avoid such a short TNR these days but I wanted to make sure you cleared your schedules for the Daddy Long Legs livestream. Sign up on the website so you'll get the instructions when they go out.

[methodwriter85]

I discovered Next To Normal over the past week. I'm only catching recordings and not a live performance...the closest one is going to be at Bryn Mawr College in a week or two, but I might try and wait to see if it'll be at a regional theater in Philly. I definitely want to see it.

 

"I Am the One" and it's reprise KILLS. KILLS ME.

 

 

 

Here's what I wonder about the show though- I feel like we're supposed to think that Gabe is just a hallucination and a representation of mental illness, and that his growing power is supposed to represent Diana's mental illness taking over, but the "I Am the One" Reprise really makes me think that it's possible that Gabe is in fact a spirit, with his own needs and wants. Although you could take that scene as Dan not actually SEEING Gabe, but saying his name and acknowledging that Gabe existed, and died, and that he's got his own grief to work through.

 

I do think it's interesting if you look at the show with the idea that Dan was also seeing Gabe the entire time, but was denying that he did. That would actually fit in well with the character.

Edited December 1, 2015 by methodwriter85

[JustaPerson]

I LOVE NtN! I have the OBC on my phone and still listen to it. I think Gabe's memory "haunts" all members of the family in a different way. To Diana, he's a hallucination and like you say a representation of her illness but to Dan and Natalie he's more of a ghost. For Dan, who grieved (and still needs to), he needs to be acknowledged and takes on a metaphorical representation at the end (hence his new red shirt) but to his sister who's never met him he doesn't need to be. She's only haunted by his loss, but not actually his memory. IMO of course. 

 

If you decide to just bootleg it (like I did):

Edited December 1, 2015 by JustaPerson

[methodwriter85]

I'm depressed I'll never get to see 25-year old Aaron Tveit doing this live. LOL.

 

Aaron and Curt Hansen (the tour one) do the most for me...Kyle Dean Massey...I'm not sure what it is, but I don't feel it as much with him. Maybe because he doesn't seem like a kid/teenager? He looks like what he is- a buff gym bunny in his late 20's. Don't get me wrong, Kyle does a great job as well, but his very mature look kind of kills it for me.

 

What I really like about Gabe is that you can interpret him several ways. Is he just a sign of mental illness? Is he a personification of grief? Or is he an actual spirit? I loved watching this regional cast talk about what they did with their characters:

 

 

I like the interpretation of Gabe just wanting Dan to see him and love him. Of c

[JustaPerson]

This show is definitely what turned me into an AT fan. I agree about Kyle Dean Massey, tho I just thought his voice was too nasally. At least in the clip I saw of him as Gabe his voice was very squeaky. 

 

[aradia22]

I saw The Great Divorce tonight. I will preface my thoughts/review by saying that I was not raised religious and now when I asked I either say I'm agnostic (if I'm talking to a religious person) or atheistic. I've also never read the C.S. Lewis book the play was based on so I cannot compare the two. But the performers/performances were very strong. The story is told in little scenes/vignettes with the narrator (C.S. Lewis stand in) the only character who is around most of the time so there's no time to really build a character or much empathy for each character. But it's not just flat allegory/philosophy. The actors give it their all and Lewis/the playwright who adapted the book build some interest in each story. That said, if you are an atheist, I don't think this is going to convert you. I applaud them for trying to reckon with some of the more difficult points of whatever Christian doctrine they're working off of (

the most deeply felt scene is the one with a mother who has lost her child and it does the most to grapple with why God allows such unhappiness in the world

) but ultimately it does not have answers that are any more satisfying than what's already found in religious doctrine. It's not "preachy" in the derogatory way that's often meant but it does preach doctrine to you...

Art is heavenly and comes from God so you have to give up your art in heaven because it will only show what's already there. Give up your own self-interest and pride. No one is better than anyone and your own ideas of accounting for sins count for nothing. Individual morality is not equivalent to God's accounting. It's all your choice. If you don't believe in God and give yourself over to God's will and Christian philosophy completely then you don't really want to be in heaven. You have to give up yourself completely and even your love for other people because God's love is the ultimate.

There's an interesting point about the bus stop and the entrance to heaven. The bus keeps going down through the tiny crack in heaven (which seems hopeful) but in the beginning/middle we learn that those long condemned to hell have moved themselves so far from the bus stop that they could not have any hope of finding it... which they don't want... because choice.

[Rick Kitchen]

Telly Leung sings "I Am What I Am/I Who Have Nothing"

 

[methodwriter85]

This show is definitely what turned me into an AT fan. I agree about Kyle Dean Massey, tho I just thought his voice was too nasally. At least in the clip I saw of him as Gabe his voice was very squeaky. 

 

 

He understands characters SO well. I will say that the difference between watching him, and watching clips of other actors, is that he's way more nuanced- like in his "I Am the One"- that look of triumph and "hey, Fuck you, Dad" that goes on Gabe's face when Diana chooses Gabe over Dan. I'm glad Fox is letting him carry Grease Live.

 

I'm kicking myself for not knowing about this show when the tours were going on. (They're still having them, but the big wave of tours seems to have been circa 2010-2011.)

[JustaPerson]

I totally understand. I didn't discover the show until 2011 (in time for AT to be in Catch Me if You Can). National tours had died down by then I think (by the time I discovered it the Broadway production had closed as well) but I think regional productions were still around.

Edited December 2, 2015 by JustaPerson

[aradia22]

Saw a matinee of Fool For Love. I've definitely seen worse plays and worse performances but neither the play nor the performances did anything for me. I kept following along but half an hour to an hour in I realized that it wasn't really going to go anywhere meaningful or satisfying. By the last 10-15 minutes I was ready to cut and run and then the play ended. So I'll say that for it. It ended a little after it had become unbearable and I wondered if I would actually fall asleep. The Samuel J. Friedman is a beautiful theatre though. I was happy to be back there.

[methodwriter85]

I totally understand. I didn't discover the show until 2011 (in time for AT to be in Catch Me if You Can). National tours had died down by then I think (by the time I discovered it the Broadway production had closed as well) but I think regional productions were still around.

Yeah, there's this site that lists the current productions...pretty slim pickings but eh, maybe next year there might be more. There's a college production about an hour away at Brywn Mawr, but honestly, I'm leaning towards waiting for a regional production even if it might take a few years. I have an acquaintance from high school who's an up-and-coming theater actor and I almost posted on his wall that he should try to play Gabe in a production of the show. (Not sure about his vocal range, but he'd be a good Gabe, probably also a good Henry.) Now THAT'S when you know you're obsessed. LOL.

 

In the meantime, I've discovered Next to Normal fanfiction. Help me. I'm particular to weird, angsty stories about Gabe being a jealous, crazy ghost. It's also funny that there are quite a few Gabe/Natalie fanfics. The fandom has slowed down but yeah, I really do like exploring Gabe's character more. He was pretty multi-faceted and worked as either an evil character or a poor, misunderstood guy who just wanted to be loved.

 

Anyway local regional theater is showing a new musical Diner, which is based off of the 1982 movie. It might be interesting, although I haven't seen the movie. It's basically trying to see if it can make it to Broadway. The Delaware Theatre Company has a pretty stellar reputation (I saw Our Town all the way back in 2001 and it was amazing).

Edited December 3, 2015 by methodwriter85

[Rinaldo]

Diner is one of my favorite movies; it has the "friends hanging out together, there for each other always... but that was all a long time ago" scenario that I'm always a sucker for at the movies. (Next Stop Greenwich Village, Breaking Away...) But it can be a hard vibe to capture onstage, as well as being the sort of mood piece that maybe doesn't have quite enough plot to sustain a stage show. Music can help with that latter point obviously, but though I wish them well, Sheryl Crow is still a novice at writing for theatrical requirements.

 

It first played a year ago at Signature Theatre (Arlington Virginia). It's kind of a coup for Delaware Theatre Company (which is local to me too) to get it.

[Milburn Stone]

Diner is one of my favorite movies; it has the "friends hanging out together, there for each other always... but that was all a long time ago" scenario that I'm always a sucker for at the movies. (Next Stop Greenwich Village, Breaking Away...)

 

You must love It's Always Fair Weather. (I do.)

[Julia]

You must love It's Always Fair Weather. (I do.)

 

Delores Grey was golden in that. I crack up every time she says "Schenectady."

[Charlie Baker]

Wonder if anyone will attempt a stage version of it? There are possibilities and pitfalls. :-)

[Rinaldo]

You must love It's Always Fair Weather. (I do.)

I do, but it doesn't feel like the same category to me. I love it because it's such a very odd musical for MGM to have made in its heyday: "Let's check back with the guys from On the Town 10 years later; huh, they're all miserable and hate their lives." (Yes, I know it's not literally the same characters.) 

[Rick Kitchen]

Morons are outraged that The Wiz has an all-black cast.

[aradia22]

TNR is FINALLY up. Highlights

• Les Miserables closing, casting, and tour announcements
• All-female four person creative team for Waitress
• Fiddler on the Roof celebrations for first night of Hannukah
• Long Day's Journey Into Night has pushed its opening
• Industrial Musicals Film Show: Live! Dec. 4 at 9:30 PM at the Art Theater Co-Op. Tickets are $11. (Someone please go see this because it sounds amazing.)
• Lots of In Development news (Fingers crossed for Bright Star. Curious about Chasing Rainbows.)
• The complete original Public cast of Eclipsed moving to Broadway
• Jonathan Groff returned to Hamilton Dec 1
• Byron Jennings replaces the previously announced René Auberjonois in the Broadway revival of She Loves Me
• Allegiance album news
• Funny Girl, starring Sheridan Smith as Fanny Brice, officially opens Dec. 2 at the Menier Chocolate Factory.
• Cast for Hello Again movie (I know nothing about this show. Do we approve?)
• Deaf West Spring Awakening will be captured by NYPL
• Legends of Broadway video series

[Julia]

Wondering what you theater folks think of this (tl;dr: someone at New York thought the Wiz would have been better with a live audience acting as a laugh track).

[Charlie Baker]

I think these live TV musicals should be their own entity, apart from the kind of PBS Great Performance or NT Live showings shot in actual theaters with audiences.  This probably shows my age, as I think they are the descendants of something like the live TV Cinderella with Julie Andrews or the musicalization of Our Town done in the 1950s.  No, I wasn't there.  Not quite that old. But I've seen 'em. So I'd vote no studio audience. The Wiz, which may be weaker as a piece of material than Sound of Music, seemed smoother and better executed (and cast!) than SOM or Peter Pan, even with the couple glitches.  And this is the basis for a Broadway revival, correct?

 

Meanwhile, China Doll by David Mamet and starring Al Pacino opened and the reviews are mostly not good. 

 

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Review-Roundup-CHINA-DOLL-Starring-Al-Pacino-Opens-on-Broadway-20151203

[Rinaldo]

A 2016-17 revival of The Wiz has indeed been announced, but it's an open question how much it will have to do with the telecast (aside from the involvement of Cirque de Soleil, which is confirmed).

 

Hello Again seems an even unlikelier prospect for filming than The Last Five Years and Lucky Stiff, both of which have happened. It's another derivative of the "La Ronde" premise (we see a couple, then one of its members appears as part of a new couple, then the new member of that couple... and so on, 10 times) with the additional wrinkle that in the musical each scene jumps forward or backward in time to a different decade of the past century, with music and costuming to match. Even though this lets LaChiusa show off pastiche skills in a lot of pop styles, the resultant score has never grabbed me (I've not had a chance to see the show). The original off-Broadway production did have one of those great early-in-their-career casts, including Donna Murphy, Judy Blazer, Carolee Carmello, John Cameron Mitchell, Malcolm Gets, Michele Pawk, John Dossett.

[methodwriter85]

I think these live TV musicals should be their own entity, apart from the kind of PBS Great Performance or NT Live showings shot in actual theaters with audiences.  This probably shows my age, as I think they are the descendants of something like the live TV Cinderella with Julie Andrews or the musicalization of Our Town done in the 1950s.  No, I wasn't there.  Not quite that old. But I've seen 'em. So I'd vote no studio audience. The Wiz, which may be weaker as a piece of material than Sound of Music, seemed smoother and better executed (and cast!) than SOM or Peter Pan, even with the couple glitches.  And this is the basis for a Broadway revival, correct?

 

Meanwhile, China Doll by David Mamet and starring Al Pacino opened and the reviews are mostly not good. 

 

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Review-Roundup-CHINA-DOLL-Starring-Al-Pacino-Opens-on-Broadway-20151203

 

I'm just excited that The Wiz basically proved the viability of the format. After the big drop in viewers and the the terrible reviews for Peter Pan, I bet NBC was looking to see if this was something that was still worth doing, and The Wiz wound up showing that it is.

 

As Jenna Leigh Green said, this is HUGE for theater. It's a great thing, and I'm glad it looks like this might have some staying power.