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Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner


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Wonder if the Goodman production of Brigadoon will be brought to New York?  It hasn't been revived on Broadway in decades.

Both it and Side Show seem like really risky propositions. Although maybe not as risky as Holler.

I haven't seen Bullets and don't know if I will. I like the movie a lot, but I know people have speculated that the creative team just didn't make a case for turning it into a musical with what they put on stage, even if on paper it would seem to have great potential. And would an original score have made a difference?

And on paper, Rocky would have seemed to have a better shot in the current Broadway market.

Except more and more it looks like the "brand name" property principle doesn't mean all that much.

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As a Chicagoan, I was all set to go see Brigadoon...but I'm not happy they revised the book. I don't care if the book is dated, I want to see what Alan Jay Lerner wrote, not what some person who thinks I'm incapable of projecting myself into 1947 thinks I need to hear. I'm very capable of projecting myself into 1947, 1601, or any other year required.

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I'm perhaps even more of a purist (much of my professional life is dedicated to preserving and restoring the scores of older musicals), but if I still lived in Chicago, I'd be there in a flash to check it out.

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I'm going to be in Chicago in early October and am quite sad that this will be long over by then...  

 

I can only hope it finds its way to NY.  Or even DC since that would save me train fare and a hotel.

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Anything's possible of course, but I rather expect that this one will remain local and end when the Goodman run closes. Permission is given for this sort of revision from time to time, for the titles that used to be standard and have slipped out of the circuit, to see if some minor tweaking will make them immediate again. I'm very big on historical appreciation and imagination myself, but I have to concede that live theater is always happening "now" in some sense too; and if a theater piece stops having something vital to say to audiences, it stops being performed (as indeed many are, plays and musicals and operas and all, all the time).

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(edited)

Speaking as a younger audience member (even though I've been feeling rather old lately) my vote is on the side of preservation. Sure, I think productions need room to make smart changes. There's no need to dig out costumes from storage from the 50's just for historical accuracy. But don't make changes on my account. I escape into theatre and old movies because I like the polish. I like scripts that don't talk down to me and assume that I'm stupid. I like performers with training who know what they're doing. I'd like to discover shows as they were meant to be performed. Granted, everything isn't wonderful simply because it's old or traditional and there are shows full of problems. But I'd rather see smart changes that improve a work than misguided attempts to appeal to a younger/modern audience. 

Edited by aradia22
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Idina singing the National Anthem. I'm torn on Idina. Sometimes she sounds amazing. Rent, Wicked, The Wild Party, Glee. Sometimes she sounds terrible. Chess, most times she performs as part of an awards show or television special. I think her high notes and her belting can be incredibly impressive. Seth Rudetsky put up an old video with her singing a song from The Wild Party and it is amazing. But I don't think her technique is totally there because sometimes she just can't hit those notes and all I hear is vocal damage. I think the sound system (reverb on the microphone or something) ruins most of this but that big high note on "free" also sounds kind of strained before she relaxes into it.

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/176724/watch-ifthen-and-broadway-all-star-idina-menzel-perform-at-the-85th-annual-mlb-all-star-game/

 

The plot of this makes no sense to me as described but I'm kind of obsessed with Alli Mauzey now.

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/176749/broadway-alums-josh-grisetti-alli-mauzey-will-star-in-new-york-premiere-of-red-eye-of-love-off-broadway/

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Holler If Ya Hear Me is closing July 20. I forget when they opened but I think counting previews, that's not even two months. That's brutal. I think it would qualify for a new edition of Not Since Carrie.

 

Whoever guessed that Laura and Santino wouldn't perform the entire score of The Music Man was right. They're just performing some of the songs along with other Broadway performers.

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Elaine Stritch has died.  A one of a kind performer, theatrical force of nature.  But also a fine actress.

 

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/remembering-the-life-and-work-of-elaine-stritch/?smid=nytimesarts

 

A dear friend of mine who was the head electrician at the theatre where I worked died this morning.  Then I heard about Elaine Stritch.  It was not a good day...

 

A cliche, but they don't make 'em like her anymore.  She was amazing.

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Idina singing the National Anthem.

At least she sang it in a more or less straight-up fashion minus the American Idol melisma we baseball fans have to suffer through so often.  Much worse was her singing my least favorite Dylan song to "honor" the teachers who weren't even named individually, much less interviewed - in an ASG where Jeter was interviewed before, after, and multiple times during the game. It's such a gloppy song to begin with and the "big" performance just puts all its faults on display.  Not that that is her fault of course.

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I just finished watching this week's On Stage. I didn't realize that Holler If Ya Hear Me had opened cold on Broadway without any out of town tryouts. Maybe it's the Not Since Carrie bias, but that spells doom for me. I have no desire to see Atomic after Roma's review. I'm not really in on historical rock musicals to begin with and nothing about the show sounds too appealing. David Cody just savaged The Long Shrift, not that I have too great of a desire to see most plays.

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Whoever guessed that Laura and Santino wouldn't perform the entire score of The Music Man was right. They're just performing some of the songs along with other Broadway performers.

Where does one find this additional information? I'm keeping track of this event, even if I can't go.

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Rinaldo, they announced it on the Broadway.com show. I'm subscribed to Broadway.com and Playbill on youtube and I read the articles on Broadway.com when I'm bored. I'd probably read more theater news but aside from Broadway.com I find the websites really poorly designed. 

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It doesn't surprise me that it's doing well. It's one of the great shows, and many have liked this production, either this time around or previously. Who's in it at any given moment almost becomes irrelevant.

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I saw Pippin last night for the third time (once at ART), and I think I liked the Broadway version better this time out (could be I was excited to share it with my niece). I definitely liked Kyle Dean Massey's Pippin better than Matthew James Thomas. It was Priscilla Lopez's first night on the trapeze, and she did well (as much as I could see with my eyes half covered). John Rubenstein was great as Charlemagne, and Rachel Bay Jones was on fire as Catherine. Neither Patina Miller nor Ciara Renee wow me as the Leading Player, but Ciara Renee grew on me through the night. The audience loved it. The man next to my niece guffawed throughout the show.

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We're seeing Pippin on Sunday afternoon.  I wasn't keen on seeing it (not because I don't like it, but because I have fond memories of the original) until I saw that John Rubenstein is doing a few weeks.  And now we have the added bonus of Priscilla Lopez!  So glad you think the show is in enjoyable shape now, @Nicole!  We're really looking forward to it.

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Oh, this is interesting. Apparently they're going to film some performances of Of Mice and Men and screen them Met Live in HD fashion. I remember when they showed Merrily We Roll Along and Company (NPH version) and I was like wait, when and where are they screening this? ...and then gave up.

 

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/176829/broadway-revival-of-of-mice-men-starring-james-franco-chris-odowd-heads-to-the-big-screen/

 

In the past couple of months, there have been screenings of Driving Miss Daisy with Angela Lansbury, James Earl Jones and (one of my favorite actors) Boyd Gaines, and The Nance with Nathan Lane.  Both of those will also be shown on PBS this fall (probably with pledge breaks - boo)  I like this trend.

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Idina singing the National Anthem. I'm torn on Idina. Sometimes she sounds amazing. Rent, Wicked, The Wild Party, Glee. Sometimes she sounds terrible. Chess, most times she performs as part of an awards show or television special. I think her high notes and her belting can be incredibly impressive. Seth Rudetsky put up an old video with her singing a song from The Wild Party and it is amazing. But I don't think her technique is totally there because sometimes she just can't hit those notes and all I hear is vocal damage. I think the sound system (reverb on the microphone or something) ruins most of this but that big high note on "free" also sounds kind of strained before she relaxes into it.

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/176724/watch-ifthen-and-broadway-all-star-idina-menzel-perform-at-the-85th-annual-mlb-all-star-game/

 

The plot of this makes no sense to me as described but I'm kind of obsessed with Alli Mauzey now.

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/176749/broadway-alums-josh-grisetti-alli-mauzey-will-star-in-new-york-premiere-of-red-eye-of-love-off-broadway/

 

@aradia22 here is a YouTube clip with Kelli O'Hara and Cheyenne Jackson from 2008(!) doing some of the numbers from Red Eye of Love.  I have no idea how much of this would make it to Broadway, if anything.

 

I liked the tango.

 

 

On another topic, is there a website similar to ibdb.com for West End shows?

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Okay...I know you've all been waiting for my trip report (ha!).

 

Started off in the best possible way with snacks and drinks with @aradia22!  A lovely time was had by all.

 

The first night we saw Lady Day.  There is nothing Audra McDonald cannot do.  The script is a bit thin, but she's a tour de force.  We had seats in the 3rd row all the way at the end, but we were on the side with the piano player and she plays a lot to him, so I don't feel like we missed anything.  I'd advise against sitting at the tables on the floor.  Looked pretty cramped there.

 

Sunday afternoon was Pippin.  I wept when John Rubenstein came out.  And when Priscilla Lopez did her number.  Because I'm old and sentimental.  Which is probably why the circus acts were wearing thin for me by the second act.  I have rose-colored memories of the original show and this was just a bit ... too much.  I also felt that Ciara Renee was way too harsh as Leading Player. However, all in all, I did enjoy the afternoon.  I do love the show.

 

Monday evening we say Patti Lupone at 54 Below.  What a great show.  Patti is in fabulous voice and seemed to be having a wonderful time, which meant all of us had a wonderful time.  And the food there is even good!  It's a lovely venue and I hope to see more shows there.

 

Tuesday we saw Violet.  I really didn't know what to expect, but I loved the show.  Small show and quite powerful.  The performances were stellar.  I thought the absence of the scar makeup worked well.  Sutton really put the emotions across.  Joshua Henry was fabulous.  I think it was my favorite of the 3 shows we saw.

 

All in all a marvelous trip.  Looking forward to January/February!

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When I get back from Ireland this fall and see what state my bank account is in, I am hoping to go see some shows here in Chicago.

In the past, I have been fortunate enough to see some really wonderful actors, some past their prime (Rex Harrison in MFL, Yul Brynner in King and I), some that were just starting (I saw a pre-Broadway You're a Good Man Charlie Brown in Schaumburg with Anthony Rapp as Charlie Brown, BD Wong as Linus [these two were why I went], and the two big discoveries of the night, Roger Bart as Snoopy and the actor we left saying that she was going to be huge someday soon, Kristin Chenoweth as Sally--she was in Wicked a few years later). I even saw a production of Pirates of Penzance with Peter Noone from Herman's Hermits and Jim Belushi, when he was just John's kid brother.

The play I really want to see someday is Assassins, which was just playing locally this summer, but I didn't get a chance to see it. Actually, I would love to play Sara Jane Moore: "I got this really great gun / Shit, where is it?"

@Rinaldo, as a teacher of Broadway history, are you familiar with Sheldon Patinkin's book on the Broadway musical No Legs, No Jokes, No Chance? I love it--it's a really great, comprehensive history on the subject (and massive!).

Edited by Sharpie66
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I don't get to shows often, but one of my great memories was seeing Pirates of Penzance both in the park and on Broadway. Honestly, I would have never pictured myself having to choose between Robbie Benson and Rex Smith, but they were great productions. Plus, swashbuckling Kevin Kline (sigh).

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.. I even saw a production of Pirates of Penzance with Peter Noone from Herman's Hermits and Jim Belushi, when he was just John's kid brother.

 

 

Oh my...  this show played the theatre where I worked about 2 weeks after John Belushi died.  Jim was a maniac.  Really.  It's amazing that he made it through the tour.  He came back to visit us a couple years later and couldn't have been sweeter.  It was a tough time for him.  

 

Peter Noone was lovely.  I did love the show...saw it in Central Park with Kevin Kline (swoooooon), Linda Ronstadt and Rex Smith.  Lots of fun!

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The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is doing an all-female version of Two Gentlemen of Verona on their outdoor stage this summer.  I love OSF for its diversity and clever casting choices.  

 

OSF commissioned and premiered All the Way in 2012, which went on to receive a little attention at the Tony Awards this year.  The Great Society, the follow-up to All the Way, is in rep this summer.  

 

Ashland is a beautiful place to see good theater.  

Edited by Phebemarie
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Aw, I'm still on vacation (I finally found a free wifi connection) but it's so nice to check in and see this thread is still lively. I'm about to run out but I'll reply back as soon as I get the chance. I've missed you guys!

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Oh, no! I just checked when Lady Day and Violet are ending their limited runs... and did I miss Violet? Sadness...

 

Also, in an interesting bit of casting news... Kiki Palmer and Sheri Shepard will be the newest replacements for Cinderella and the stepmother.

Edited by aradia22
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I know nothing about Love Letters but after Brian Dennehy and Mia Farrow depart, Alan Alda/Candice Bergen and Anjelica Huston/Martin Sheen will apparently be their replacements. That's enough star power to make me sit up and take notice... even for a play.

 

The Broadway.com show also mentioned some shakeups for the Barbra Streisand helmed movie adaptation of Gypsy. Now, I love Barbra but she is way too old for the part of Rose. Putting that aside, the news is that Julian Fellowes (creator of Downton Abbey) is no longer the screenwriter (why they even need to bother is beyond me because Gypsy has a fine book). He is being replaced with Richard LaGravanese who wrote the screenplay for The Last Five Years... and The Mirror Has Two Faces. I have obviously not seen The Last Five Years yet but The Mirror Has Two Faces had a terrible script. Of course, people can improve. 

 

Also, ahhh! Laura Benanti is joining the cast of Nashville!

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Isn't Carol Burnett also slated to do Love Letters with Dennehy in part of his run? The play is tailor made for the revolving casts of names--that's how it was done in its original Off-Broadway run.

 

I will believe the Streisand Gypsy is happening when cameras roll.  If only Ms. Streisand had done it years ago.  A major fault of the first movie version with Rosalind Russell was that the screenwriter tinkered around with the original too much.  The Bette Midler TV version has its detractors, but it stuck to the original book, which as you point out, aradia, needs no help. LaGravenese has a long resume, some of his scripts I like, some not. 

 

I hope Nashville proves a better TV experience for Laura Benanti than her other series ventures.  I like that show very much--a good old fashioned soap opera, with notable music.

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I don't think there will ever be a perfect version of Gypsy in my lifetime. And I'm kind of OK with that. I know I'm always harping on actors who can't sing but I kind of love Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood in that movie. The Bette Midler version is fine for me. She's just a bit too loud/broad/brash/whatever you want to call it for my taste. I seriously remember nothing from seeing Bernadette on stage and I missed Patti Lupone but even she was old to be playing Rose. 

 

I don't know if I've admitted this here yet but I totally watched The Playboy Club and Go On for Laura Benanti. She was the only good thing about The Playboy Club and I love that they let her sing. She had the only interesting character. Go On was actually a decent little show full of wacky secondary characters. I feel like they never let her character be as crazy as the others. I had to take a break from my Nashville Spotify playlist but I do love the music from the show. Anything with Hayden or Chip Esten tends to be pretty good. Anything with Connie Britton threatens to aggravate. Anything with the other characters is hit or miss with them running the young cast's plotlines (with the exception of Jonathan and Hayden) into the ground since apparently deciding that just having a simple love story for Scarlett and Gunnar was not edgy enough. I hope they've got a good part for Laura. And that she's not stuck as Will Chase's ex wife or something. I continue to find him shady... both his character and him as an actor. Maybe it's a residual sentiment from Smash.

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I seriously remember nothing from seeing Bernadette on stage and I missed Patti Lupone but even she was old to be playing Rose. 

 

This fall's Chichester Festival has Imelda Staunton as Rose and Lara Pulver as Louise. Assuming it does well, the show will probably transfer to the West End.

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I don't think there will ever be a perfect version of Gypsy in my lifetime....The Bette Midler version is fine for me.

 

I too think this was a fine version. My perception of the "conventional wisdom" on it (to the extent any of us can divine the conventional wisdom) is that it was found wanting, but in this case I find the conventional wisdom wanting.

 

I saw Imelda Staunton as Mrs. Lovett in the West End, and she was a revelation. I expect she will make an equally compelling Mama Rose.

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The Bette Midler Gypsy was about as good as anything we can expect in an imperfect world. A wiser director (I'm thinking of what that old pro William Wyler did for Streisand in her first movie Funny Girl) might have helped her modulate her song delivery (both vocally and visually) just a smidge for the camera (she seems to be selling it to the balcony, though as far as I know she never actually got to play the role onstage), but that's really my only complaint. And in my inevitably inadequate experience, conventional wisdom is rather favorable toward this version. It does stand as pretty much the only film of a musical to be essentially line-by-line note-by-note faithful to the stage script and score (including orchestrations, and re-creation of the Robbins choreography), and it shows that when the material is this good, that's a good thing to do. Despite conventional wisdom that everything needs to be opened out for film. Plus, the supporting cast is a joy: Tony Shalhoub as Uncle Jocko, Ed Asner as Dad, Christine Ebersole as Tessie Tura, Linda Hart as Mazeppa, even little Elisabeth Moss as Baby Louise.

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The Bette Midler Gypsy was about as good as anything we can expect in an imperfect world. A wiser director (I'm thinking of what that old pro William Wyler did for Streisand in her first movie Funny Girl) might have helped her modulate her song delivery (both vocally and visually) just a smidge for the camera (she seems to be selling it to the balcony, though as far as I know she never actually got to play the role onstage), but that's really my only complaint. And in my inevitably inadequate experience, conventional wisdom is rather favorable toward this version. It does stand as pretty much the only film of a musical to be essentially line-by-line note-by-note faithful to the stage script and score (including orchestrations, and re-creation of the Robbins choreography), and it shows that when the material is this good, that's a good thing to do. Despite conventional wisdom that everything needs to be opened out for film. Plus, the supporting cast is a joy: Tony Shalhoub as Uncle Jocko, Ed Asner as Dad, Christine Ebersole as Tessie Tura, Linda Hart as Mazeppa, even little Elisabeth Moss as Baby Louise.

 

Word, as the kids say. I also liked Peter Riegert as Herbie. "You'll Never Get Away from Me" is one of the great theater songs of all time, and any Herbie who is good enough to help put it over is a good Herbie for me. He met that criterion.

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I've seen a number of productions of Gypsy and the two film versions and they all had their strengths.  I did see Patti Lupone, who I thought did very well, and whose age didn't bother me.  I may be old, but I'm not old enough to have seen Ethel Merman.  I was around (If young at the time) when Angela Lansbury did it, and oh, how I wish I could have seen that. Here are some spectacular film clips of her in the role.  Start about the 4:30 mark.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUXakGv1eq8

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I saw Imelda Staunton as Mrs. Lovett in the West End, and she was a revelation. I expect she will make an equally compelling Mama Rose.

To me, she's Dolores Umbridge because I watch a bit of British TV and movies but not that much all things considered. But I trust you Milburn so I'll keep an eye out for her in anything musical that's available stateside.

 

A wiser director (I'm thinking of what that old pro William Wyler did for Streisand in her first movie Funny Girl) might have helped her modulate her song delivery (both vocally and visually) just a smidge for the camera (she seems to be selling it to the balcony, though as far as I know she never actually got to play the role onstage), but that's really my only complaint.

I wish I could hunt down the quote. I think I might have read this in two places. Maybe in a review and then there might have been something similar in Patti Lupone's biography. Basically, there are different ways to play Rose that can make her this tough as nails brash stage mother or give her more depth. And what I like about Gypsy is that every interpretation I've seen so far is just that little bit different and shows how strong the book and score are. With Rose it's not just that being loud and playing it broadly are offputting but that for me it does a disservice to a character who can have more depth if you soften her just a touch in certain scenes. 

 

did see Patti Lupone, who I thought did very well, and whose age didn't bother me.

It's tricky when you're talking about a show (or a movie) that spans a long amount of time. I'm already weirdly critical. Suspension of disbelief is almost not even an issue because in a lot of cases, I'm not immersed in something I'm watching or reading. It's not exactly being superficial but for example, when I read I'm often at the level of the text and not one of those people who imagines a little movie in their heads. I love books but I've never in my memory cried at a book. First person nonfiction can get to me a little but that's a different case than fiction. When it comes to movies and TV and theatre I'm thinking of so many other things while I'm sort of in the moment. I'm thinking of the costumes and the line delivery and staring into someone's eyes and wondering if they're genuinely feeling what they're supposed to be feeling.... basically I'm weird. Anyway, to try and get back on track, even though I don't need something to "take me out of" something I'm not really "in" age inappropriate casting can sometimes be glaring to me. Obviously it's a little different however many rows back in a theatre but still. I think you want to err on the side of caution and cast a little younger for Rose (even though it usually doesn't seem to work out that way). Cast for the Rose who could have a young teenage daughter and I'll believe her as the mother of baby June. Casting for Gypsy's mother is pushing it. Very late 30's to very early 50's seems like a good age range depending on what the actress in question looks and sounds like. 

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This is Imelda Staunton and Michael Ball, I just happened to be watching this a couple of days ago.  From Sweeney Todd.  Though this clip is lip synced.

 

 

Michael Ball certainly isn't the young leading man any more.

Edited by Rick Kitchen
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If you just want to hear her sing she sang a lovely version of The Way You Look Tonight in Peter's Friends. I'll save you from the movie (and yes, her downycheeked husband at the piano is Hugh Laurie).

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On the occasion of Leonard Bernstein's 70th birthday, Stephen Sondheim created a parody of Kurt Weill's "Saga of Jenny" (retitled "Saga of Lenny"), performed by Lauren Bacall with accompanist Paul Ford. I've read about it but never saw it until now. It's brilliant, of course. What, you were expecting chopped liver?

 

Edited by Milburn Stone
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Shows apparently on the horizon... Fun Home, American Psycho, a revival of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Side Show

 

Also, Emma Stone may be replacing Michelle Williams in Cabaret. I've only ever seen her sing in Easy A but if the feedback was good I might consider seeing it. I've still never seen Cabaret (both stage/film versions). 

 

I'm still trying to console myself about missing Violet. This is why I think everything needs to be filmed. Violet and Heathers are my big misses this season.

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