Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner

[Silver Raven]

OMG, Carolee Carmello is starring in Gypsy next week in Sacramento!

[aradia22]

Quote

Mr. EB was unfamiliar with all of the performers in the show, but he said he liked her the best.

Haha. #RelationshipGoals

I don't have set rules for jukebox musicals. I like a biomusical if it's well done... which it rarely is. I feel like movie biomusicals do OK because they feel less pressure to be 2 hours with intermission and cram all the songs in. Like Coal Miner's Daughter or even the cheesier stuff like that Celine movie. But Jersey Boys made for a fantastic soundtrack. Even though the rise to fame is more interesting and flounders in act 2 (haven't seen the movie yet) I kind of like the approach of having the songs be more like performances showing that their life experiences may have influenced their songwriting or been tangentially related vs. forcing existing songs to do the work of storytelling and character development like an On Your Feet where you're just supposed to ignore where the song doesn't quite fit. As for the unrelated story jukebox musical, I do like Mamma Mia. I have a soft spot for ABBA. And Good Vibrations was fun in the way they totally forced the songs to work. I will never forget "Help Me, Rhonda." Whether the shows are commercially successful I think the success or failure of the musicals as an artistic project depends in part on the original songs. Sometimes they're vague enough to work how you want them to but then you end up with a bland musical full of unspecific love songs. Sometimes they're too specific and you end up with a silly show trying to wrap around all these references.

[ebk57]

Saw "Dave" the musical tonight at Arena Stage.  A totally charming show - just like the movie.  The updates to the book work really well.  The staging on the tiny Kreeger stage was amazing.  The cast it pitch perfect.  The songs are... fine.  Not bad, but not memorable.  I don't think I'll be buying the cast recording.  However, I would see it again in NY if there are discounts, if only to see if anything is changed.  It's a very enjoyable night. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

David Cook And J. Harrison Ghee discuss Kinky Boots (the interview begins at the 12 minute mark):

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Daveed Diggs wrote and stars in the new movie Blindspotting. His Hamilton castmate Jasmine Cephas Jones costars in the movie. She talks about Daveed and Rafael:

 

She briefly discusses life after Hamilton:

 

Full interview (which is mostly about Blindspotting):

 

Daveed's BFF and cowriter/costar Rafael discusses Blindspotting:

Edited July 23, 2018 by ElectricBoogaloo

[PRgal]

I was in New York this past weekend and saw My Fair Lady.  I REALLY LOVE this production!  The stage isn't big and we didn't have the most central seats, but the way the stage is built makes it easy for everyone to see all the actors (even if it's their backs).  I thought they did a good job commenting on the social climate of Britain at the time - more than any production I've seen (I've seen two other ones (besides the movie), including a high school production).  For example, I don't recall seeing marching suffragettes during "A Little Bit of Luck" (I'm sure this production isn't the FIRST to do it, as that was what was happening during that period)...

[dbklmt]

On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 9:06 PM, Silver Raven said:

OMG, Carolee Carmello is starring in Gypsy next week in Sacramento!

Is this the weekend that you see her?  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about this production.

[Silver Raven]

4 hours ago, dbklmt said:

Is this the weekend that you see her?  Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about this production.

Yes, I'll see her Sunday.

[dbklmt]

Silver Raven  here's a little taste of Carolee Carmello as Mama Rose.  Lucky you! I wish I could see her!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/VIDEO-Curtain-Up-Carolee-Carmello-Prepares-to-Take-the-Stage-in-GYPSY-20180723

[aradia22]

I got home from This Ain't No Disco a little while ago. All the spoilers. You've been warned. 

You know how sometimes a show is so bad it's good? This wasn't that. It also wasn't so incompetent that it was just bad and boring. It was in another category where it was pretty entertaining if you just let it play out... while being not at all good. 

Spoiler

I don't have a great grasp of the 70's besides a little of the music. As far as movies, fashion, world events, etc. it's a huge blindspot for me. Still, I could definitely tell where they failed to achieve what they were going for. There were a bunch of signs that were supposed to give you an impression of pre-Giuliani New York. Seedy, dangerous, sex for sale... But it wasn't really reflected by what was on stage. On stage I was getting a lot of Glee and at best RENT in terms of authenticity. It was all too clean. There was nothing lascivious or threatening except for a tiny bit of audience interaction for the front row. But you'd have to be conservative to be offended. There were very muscular boys dancing in their underwear. But nothing about the depiction of sexuality or sexualized bodies felt all that subversive. It was too close to the typical musical theater ensemble. It needed some edge. And also... this sounds weird, but it wasn't gay enough for me. I'll get into it more later but while there are a lot of gay characters, there isn't a lot of gayness or gay relationships depicted.

Although things were a little too neat, the storytelling was very amateurish. I get the rock opera so I'm not mad that it's mostly sung through (with what feels like weird spoken word poetry for the dialogue) but you can do an opera and develop the characters. So much of this story was stuff happening without giving you time to care about it. There were no stakes. I had a tenuous grasp of each character's motivation. And then stuff happened that just didn't make sense. Example 1: Two of the lead characters are each separately introduced. I think they see each other but I don't quite remember. Then ages later they see each other outside Studio 54 and the guy recognizes the girl. Not as his long lost best friend. Just as a girl he went to school with who was older than him. She had leads in the school musicals and he was in the chorus and she remembers he's gay and he suggests that she was kind of nice to him... except she didn't know him and he never came out to her and it doesn't seem like they were close at all. But now they're best friends and they're going to continue to be in each other's lives from now on... because there are only a handful of characters and everyone must interact. Compare this to RENT where they were all already friends or Glee which gives the characters a reason to interact. Example 2: There are two lesbians who run the coat check. In the middle of a scene or the beginning of a scene one of them suddenly has a drawn-on pencil moustache and announces that she thinks she's a guy. Her girlfriend is cool with it. Way to do right by your trans character, play. WTF? These two continue to be throwaway characters who never get proper development. Example 3: What do the characters want? Main Girl introduces herself by saying she's into the Ramones. I think she says she's a punk but I don't remember. The show also throws a lot of musical exposition at you and if you're not focused (or if the sound isn't great for a moment) you lose important details that are not mentioned again. What she actually acts like is a spoken word poet. But oh wait, Andy Warhol decides he sees something in her and now she's a pop star. WTF? Main Guy is a hustler who wants to be famous/maybe be an actor. A PR person gets a hold of him and decides he should be an artist. He does graffiti. His art career fails. He ends up taking care of Main Girl's kid. Also, Main Girl was apparently good in school? She never mentions an ambition to go to college or anything. Once she's a singer she sticks with it because she's a success. Because you never get a sense of what the characters want and they just keep falling into things nothing holds any weight. Example 4: When one character's life falls apart for a very dumb reason, he prostitutes himself for money. He has friends who have their own place and another friend who incredibly successful. He does not go to any of them before returning to prostitution... until later when the plot is ready for him to come back. There's a lot of writing like this where it doesn't make sense why the characters are acting the way they are, especially at the moment, except that the plot is not ready for them to be involved until X happens. Example 5: This stuff didn't happen out of the blue but they were a little too casual about the rape baby, hustling, cutting, and diet pills (probably some version of speed) so it didn't hold any more weight than an after school special. Actually the diet pills made me think of the "I'm so excited" scene from Saved by the Bell.

The music was enjoyable but not great. OK, I need to unpack this more. In general, it was not a great pastiche of 70's music. I kept listening for something. Sometimes there was a dance beat or a riff but it general I think they mostly lucked into it. Main Girl and Main Guy sang songs that were either contemporary musical theater (in the Pasek/Paul way, not the Jason Robert Brown way) or generic pop. This made them seem more like the 2D Glee characters that they were. Eddie Cooper basically sounded like Audrey II every time he sang. Chilina Kennedy sounded incredible but I have no idea why she was cast in her part or what her character was doing in the show. She had one song towards the end that sounded kind of 80s and that was a little fun out of context. I can see "I can, I will, end of story" on T-shirts. Some of the lyrics were cringey or too earnest but the music was generally enjoyable. It was just tough for anything to stick with me. The songs were either very repetitive and a bit grating after a while or full of exposition. There were some catchy songs but nothing that was more than generic pop. Picture Lady Gaga's The Edge of Glory.

So what do I mean it wasn't gay enough? Well, there were the throwaway lesbians/one lesbian and one transman character. I think the lesbians in Falsettos had more relevance to the plot. Steve Rubell is a character and he is skeezy towards another character but nothing actually happens between them. Chilina's character Binky ends up "seducing" the same character, who is gay by the way, with the promise of fame and a fake marriage. Also, Binky is inexplicably a tiny sexpot when she does not need to be. There's a number when the muscular go-go boys are dancing around... and it's for women. That was just a poor staging choice. In more poor staging, there's a time when couples are dancing at Studio 54, and except for one it's all M/F pairs. There's a mayor character who is fooling around with his assistant and at one point gives him a blowjob. This is the kind of throwaway joke I'd expect in a show written by straight people. Our lead gay character's story eventually gets tossed aside as the focus shifts onto Main Girl.  

There were some nice costumes but overall I didn't feel like the costume designer really leaned into the time period. There were sparkly sequin dresses that could have been from any time. The Steve Rubell suit and Binky costumes weren't bad. There were ensemble costumes here and there. But it was just a little too generic. Also, Andy Warhol is a character and he has an inexplicably terrible wig. The other characters weren't really channeling 70's with their hair at all. Well, maybe Main Guy since his was long-ish.

The set consists of a lot of scaffolding and many screens with small set pieces (bed, toilet, lights, etc.) coming in as needed. Scaffolding sets are not my favorite but it helped here to have levels. I could have used some more glamour from Studio 54 and more of a sense of place in general. This should be a period piece, not a piece that exists out of time. But it wasn't firmly rooted in 1979 as it should have been. At times the screens were useful but for the most part there were other things to pay attention to and having screens mimicking porn shop signs or whatever else was not enough to give me the seedy old NY vibe I wanted. It's difficult to read all the signs while paying attention to the actors and the action on stage. I would have preferred a more glamorous Studio 54 set and then simple stuff for the character's homes and whatnot. I've seen good sets at The Atlantic so I know they could do it in that space.

Edited July 24, 2018 by aradia22

[Silver Raven]

27 minutes ago, dbklmt said:

Silver Raven  here's a little taste of Carolee Carmello as Mama Rose.  Lucky you! I wish I could see her!

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/VIDEO-Curtain-Up-Carolee-Carmello-Prepares-to-Take-the-Stage-in-GYPSY-20180723

Yeah, that's the Music Circus, you can see how they can raise the stage at different points.  My seat is just to the left of where the camera was.

[aradia22]

This Ain't No Disco Actor Breakdown... even more spoilers

Spoiler

Theo Stockman- When will someone give this man a good part? He's brilliant and wonderful. Yes, he's camp and a stereotype but he's so committed and clearly having so much fun and he does show off his voice a little. I think it helps that he and Chilina have the two "character actor" parts so he has something to really play. He gets to do a voice and chew the scenery. And act high on cocaine. He is so funny and talented and has such star potential I just want him to get a better show. But the parts when he's on stage are some of the best parts of the show. 

Peter LaPrade- He plays Chad who is temporarily a graffiti artist named Rake. He's attractive and has a good voice. He's not quite as bland as a Glee boy and he does his best with the material he's given. He has a couple of songs that just sound earnest and moving if you close your eyes and don't listen to the words. But you have to listen to the words because they're full of so much information. I don't know. It wasn't a bad performance. I just wasn't that interested in the story of this boy whose father kicked him out (and wouldn't pay for college???) so he ended up turning tricks and hustling until he ended up at Studio 54. And then Steve was nice to him and apparently never propositioned him until Chad's dad died. But it's cool, because nothing happened. And then since both his parents were dead, Chad got the house and the store which he promptly sold. Then he goes back to Studio 54 and happens to see Sammy outside, remember her from high school and make her his new best friend. Anyway, all the money he got was wasted for him by Binky who spent it all on bad PR stunts until cashing in some piece of art or the wedding ring (got lost here) so she could get a TV show. And then instead of going to his lesbian friends or his on the rise famous singer friend, he goes back to being a hustler for no good reason. And then he just takes care of Sammy's son. We never really know what he wants. Based on the colleges he got into, he could have wanted some kind of education but at the end of the show, he's not pursuing it. He did plays in school and he mentions LA or acting at some point but he never does that. Binky tells him to be an artist and he does some graffiti and some DIY on his clothes but he doesn't pursue that either once it fails. Btw, how does his art career fail? Well, no one shows up to his first gallery showing. And then at Studio 54, the sign with his name RAKE, burns out to read FAKE and this is so embarrassing that he runs out and is a laughing stock. No, I'm not describing Stephen King's Carrie or an episode of Glee. We're supposed to believe this as serious storytelling. So he ends up at the very end of the show taking care of Sammy's son Charlie and fairly content living with them and the lesbian couple. I guess. He never mentioned wanting a family all along. He doesn't even express any particular happiness at the end and the realization that this is more fulfilling to him than chasing fame. Because why would he do anything so logical? Oh, also by the way, when Binky wants them to get married, it's not just a stunt. They made an agreement that she would be his beard... something something about being in the closet and not being true to yourself. Doesn't matter and it's never delved into that deeply. You can't just introduce random information and expect the audience to care.

Samantha Marie Ware- I remember her from Glee. She was a 2.0 and wasn't given much to do. She has a killer voice. Clear and solid on the basic stuff but she can also wail. Some of the songs she got could be fine generic pop hits. But it was also hard to care about her character. So yes, Ramones, punk?, spoken word poetry... Then Andy Warhol takes a liking to her character (named Sammy) for no apparent reason. Picture the kind of nonsense writing that had everyone so enamored of Kat McPhee's character on Smash. Very Mary Sue except blander because Sammy wasn't laden with special attributes. Sammy's mother's boyfriend raped her one night and she ended up pregnant. She dropped out of high school and has managed to take care of her son, Charlie, by working at Chock Full O'Nuts. Don't ask how this pays for an apartment and baby sitter even in 1979 Forest Hills. Sammy has a box she keeps in the bathroom with shards of glass that she uses to cut herself. There was a song where Sammy and Chad were both on stage and I was more focused on his verses than what she was doing so I missed this and spent a chunk of the show debating if she was a cutter or a drug addict. I feel like drugs would have made more sense. Anyway, Chad shows up at Studio 54 one night and gets her through the door in spite of her hat. They're besties now despite barely knowing each other in high school and they even go on dates sort of. I get what they might have wanted to say about platonic friendships but what they delivered instead was basically a romantic relationship but between a straight woman and a gay man. If Chad had been straight, you would barely have to change the story. This is what I meant about it not being gay enough. So Andy Warhol talks to her and for no goddamned reason he decides he must hear her voice and then turns her into a pop star. As I previously mentioned, this has never been something she said she wanted. She's more of a spoken word poet up to this point. There's not even an indication of what genre of music she would sing. She becomes a pop star but this takes her away from caring for her son. Andy gives her diet pills (again, strong implication it's some kind of methamphetamine) and eventually she takes too many at the height of her success and almost dies. Chad comes back in time to take care of her and Charlie and move them to the lesbians' apartment. She continues with her music career. Cool, I guess. 

Chilina Kennedy- She plays Binky. She's fantastic and I have no idea why this character is in the show. She gets some songs that she sings the crap out of. Though why she would "seduce" a gay male character and her weird quasi-female empowerment anthem are not necessary. She mainly seems there to throw off Chad and have some drama with Andy Warhol. But if she's not based on a real person, then this character should have been used as a plot device and not detracted so much from the main plot. Like Steve Rubell, she's not really an antagonist. She uses people but she doesn't have a strong motivation except getting to the top and surviving. She has no real reason to be involved with the characters the way she is. But Chilina's great. She doesn't quite do a character voice like Theo but it's not quite her own voice either and I think that helps. She's part campy Jewish stereotype/part tiny sexpot/part 80s jokes. She has the most notable shifts in hair and costume during the time period and at one point she channels Joan Rivers, looking like she had plastic surgery between scenes. 

Will Connolly- He plays Andy Warhol who is always called "the Artist." I HATED this character. He's not Andy Warhol except for the terrible wig (and a song at the end where he shares what I assume are biographical details about scarring from a fever) and he's just a weird bad plot device. And also the actor is very bad. He inexplicably takes a liking to Sammy. He's kind of in a contest with Binky but not to the point that it gives the story structure. He doesn't really espouse any particular ideology. He doesn't feel quite good or bad. He doesn't seem to have real motivation or be a real person. Also, in his last song he spouts a combination of lazy Buddhism and self-help guru quotes and I was just like WTF is this... when is this over? There was nothing insightful or meaningful about this character or his contributions. It was just weird and bad and I wanted none of it.  

Krystina Alabado/Lulu Fall- They are both very talented. They were totally wasted as the lesbian characters. They get some songs that don't express much besides that they're also struggling artists and that they love each other. Cool. There's also a weird moment when one of their songs leads directly into another song and it's like... too much. And that second song goes on way too long and is one of the repetitive ones. Krystina can be a little much. She's not quite sharp or shrill but her voice definitely slices through at times. Lulu had the trans character that was just an embarrassment. Have a trans character or don't. Don't half ass it if you're not actually interested in having a trans character. That was borderline offensive. Not in her acting, but from a writing perspective.

Eddie Cooper- He plays a D.A. who wants to run for mayor. He's in the closet I guess but he's pretty open about trolling for trade at Studio 54. He makes suggestive comments towards his assistant and gives him a BJ in one scene. I did not get the point of this character. His last name was Brown. I don't think it was based on a real person. I would assume you'd write a character like this to say something about the hypocrisy of being gay and then criticizing someone like Rubell for degeneracy or whatever word they used. But that was not what happened. He was in and out of the story, sang a little (sounding like Audrey II every time) and then he eventually brought down Rubell for tax evasion and disappeared from the story. They act like he's going to lead some revolution of the common people against Rubell for keeping them outside the club for whatever reason (looks, shoes, lack of fame, etc.) but nope, again, it's tax evasion.

Ian Paget- Shoutout to Paget for being (in my opinion) the hottest of the shirtless go-go boys. I'm not sure it's worth seeing the show for that but I did enjoy it. Another guy was a better/more energetic dancer but Paget had the best body. 

Edited July 24, 2018 by aradia22

[Spartan Girl]

I got my season tickets, which include School of Rock, Love Never Dies, Anastasia, Fiddler on the Roof, Miss Saigon, and HAMILTON!

Unfortunately, the seats aren't as good as they have been in previous years, since this was our first year as subscribers on our own and due to Hamilton coming, a LOT of people subscribed to get first dibs on seats.  We're in rows Q, R, S, T and possibly U, but at least we aren't in the balconies.

[aradia22]

@Spartan Girl Hope to hear what you think of Love Never Dies, Anastasia, and Hamilton. :)

[aradia22]

Quote

Tanglewood's season-long Bernstein centennial celebration will culminate in a gala concert on Bernstein's actual 100th birthday, August 25, to be recorded by Great Performances for an exclusive U.S. broadcast premiere December 28 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). 

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/PBS-Will-Broadcast-Tanglewoods-Bernstein-Centennial-Audra-McDonald-Jessica-Vosk-and-More-to-Perform-20180724

[Silver Raven]

NBC will be airing a live production of Hair next May.  One wonders if they will include "Sodomy" and live nudity.

[Silver Raven]

Bette Midler will be returning to Hello, Dolly on Broadway.

[Spartan Girl]

3 hours ago, aradia22 said:

@Spartan Girl Hope to hear what you think of Love Never Dies, Anastasia, and Hamilton. :)

Count on it!

[Rinaldo]

2 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

Bette Midler will be returning to Hello, Dolly on Broadway.

Actually she returned last week, beginning July 17. Again the fabulous Donna Murphy will be doing one performance a week until the production closes on August 25.

[ancslove]

Hair is an odd choice for NBC.  I mean, it probably won't be as weird as that Network Primetime sanitized Rocky Horror Show, but still, odd. 

I can't believe Love Never Dies has finally made it state-side!  I saw it in London, before they retooled it.  Some of the music is really great, and some of the lyrics are laughable (hello, Beneath a Moonless Sky), and all of the characterization is questionable, at best.  But it was really fun to watch!

[aradia22]

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Nicolette-Robinson-to-Show-Broadway-What-Baking-Can-Do-as-Next-Jenna-in-WAITRESS-20180725

Quote

Waitress announced today that Nicolette Robinson will take over the role of Jenna in the smash hit musical on September 4 and will be in the show through October 28.

I know I keep saying I might make a return trip to Waitress. Really, I've only gone the two times. Once with Jessie and once with Sara. But this is definitely interesting casting to me. I vaguely remember liking her in Invisible Thread. I'm curious to hear how she does in the role.

[Silver Raven]

Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams will star in an FX miniseries based on Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon. One does wonder how much dancing will be involved.  Can Michelle Williams dance?  Can Rockwell?

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Sam-Rockwell-and-Michelle-Williams-Will-Lead-FX-Miniseries-Based-on-the-Lives-of-Bob-Fosse-Gwen-Verdon-20180724

[bosawks]

I think Rockwell is a good enough actor that he can make me to believe he can dance......

[aradia22]

I've never liked Michelle Williams but maybe this will change my mind. Gwen Verdon wasn't the best singer so it's not like that will hinder my enjoyment.

[Rinaldo]

31 minutes ago, bosawks said:

I think Rockwell is a good enough actor that he can make me to believe he can dance......

As Roy Scheider did in essentially the same role in All That Jazz.

More critical is Michelle Williams, as Gwen Verdon pretty much set a new standard and defined a new type as a dancer-comedienne who's also a singing-actress leading lady with a personality unlike anyone else's. Williams has done musicals and no doubt done her stretches of training to "move" convincingly, but that still leaves her short of the Verdon level. They could just skip over any "in performance" sequences, but that will leave us with a thoroughly inadequate picture of her. They could try to cover it with clever framing and editing, but to my mind that can take you only so far.

We'll see, I guess. This may work, or it may be remembered as an embarrassing misfire, as so many telebiopics have been.

[aradia22]

Anyone up for seeing another production of Oklahoma?

https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/rebecca-naomi-jones-ali-stroker-cillian-murphy_85970.html

[bosawks]

I loved Gwen Verdon's speaking voice with it's quivers and it's quavers and it's breathiness and it's deepness.

I wonder if they'll try to approximate it?

[aradia22]

Quote

More critical is Michelle Williams, as Gwen Verdon pretty much set a new standard and defined a new type as a dancer-comedienne who's also a singing-actress leading lady with a personality unlike anyone else's. Williams has done musicals and no doubt done her stretches of training to "move" convincingly, but that still leaves her short of the Verdon level. They could just skip over any "in performance" sequences, but that will leave us with a thoroughly inadequate picture of her. They could try to cover it with clever framing and editing, but to my mind that can take you only so far.

Well, for the dancing they could always go the I, Tonya route of pasting her face onto someone else's body. Or some creative editing to achieve the same purpose with a body double. My bigger issue is that I find her dull. Admittedly I didn't watch that Marilyn movie but I wasn't nearly as taken with the clips I saw of her. She has never had that magical spark that separates an actor from a star. It's the thing that makes you care about them and find them captivating. The charm, the winsomeness. Spitfire, firecracker, diva... these are not words I would ever use about Michelle Williams. 

[Silver Raven]

4 minutes ago, aradia22 said:

Well, for the dancing they could always go the I, Tonya route of pasting her face onto someone else's body. Or some creative editing to achieve the same purpose with a body double. My bigger issue is that I find her dull. Admittedly I didn't watch that Marilyn movie but I wasn't nearly as taken with the clips I saw of her. She has never had that magical spark that separates an actor from a star. It's the thing that makes you care about them and find them captivating. The charm, the winsomeness. Spitfire, firecracker, diva... these are not words I would ever use about Michelle Williams. 

Michelle Williams was absolutely amazing in both Blue Valentine and Manchester by the Sea.  Her acting was searing in both.

[Milburn Stone]

On 7/25/2018 at 3:35 PM, bosawks said:

I loved Gwen Verdon's speaking voice with it's quivers and it's quavers and it's breathiness and it's deepness.

I also loved how her singing voice was a perfect extension of her speaking voice.

[Quof]

Some people need some home training

[bosawks]

Did anyone else read that Ben Brantley review for “Head Over Heels”?

WTF was that about!

[aradia22]

He apologized. I'm willing to believe he wasn't trying to offend. If you read the rest of it he's in a pedantic $5 vocabulary word mood and going on about other drag/camp/gender-bending shows (I actually appreciated that part since I had no idea that Head Over Heels could be argued as being a more mainstream version of those earlier shows) and it came across badly when he tried to echo a line from the show. But I definitely see the argument that a longtime NYT critic should be above those kinds of gaffs. It's not like he's just gossiping with his friends over drinks.

[bosawks]

I’m not saying the NYTimes critic should be better than that but the NYTimes critic should be better than that...

[aradia22]

I saw a play tonight called Before We're Gone. I haven't done this kind of thing in a while. Gone to a little off-Broadway theater to see a show I know nothing about with actors no one knows. It was not offensive and it was not boring but it was not good. And not nearly as entertaining as This Ain't No Disco. This was more like... why was this written and why was it written as a play? It was not meant to be a theatrical experience. They kept doing flashbacks and weird things that really emphasized that this would make more sense as a movie or a book. Except it would still be a nonsense story that wasn't particularly well written. The playwright clearly wanted to evoke an old school sensibility since he drops the names Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller and mentions Death of a Salesman and A Streetcar Named Desire. He also has the characters mention La Strada and On the Waterfront. I get it. I had TCM too. But nothing he's written matches any of that stuff. This is one of those times I wish I had gone to the theater with someone because I really want to talk about this play but no one else has seen it. It was an older woman/younger man (16 year age difference) romance that could have been The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone or something like that but this play had no point. I fully understood it and it was not saying anything. Rarely is a play so straightforward and obvious and yet unclear about its intentions. It wasn't about archetypes exactly but it definitely wants to take advantage of some fictional shorthand. Except not with enough clarity for me to know what it was doing.

For instance, the lead actress is very beautiful. In the beginning she wears a turban and she reminded me a bit of Vanessa Redgrave but when the play went back into the past, she totally looked like Laura Benanti. In her Vanessa Redgrave look she was kind of Katharine Hepburn-ish. But she wasn't believably older (character was supposed to be 61) or infirm (late stage brain cancer). I thought fine, maybe she'll be better at playing her younger (36) self. In her Laura Benanti phase she was a little Bette Davis (lots of cursing) and Rosalind Russell and a bunch of other actresses. Unclear. But the majority of the dialogue just sounded very naturalistic and modern (she was more like a 70s hippie/bohemian type than an old Hollywood broad) so I had no idea why they wanted it to be a kind of period piece anyway except to mention things like communism and Reno divorces. And I couldn't get a handle on what they were doing with the male character either. He's very tall, very buff but lean (big arms, broad shoulders, but you can see all his ribs) but he's not traditionally handsome. He had a bit of Cillian Murphy in the face but less pretty and a little more nerdy. But I thought... oh, maybe they found the body type they wanted but not the face. Because at first I thought maybe he was supposed to be like a Paul Newman classic leading man. But then he kind of became a little Clark Kent boy scout-ish. And then it turns out he's into theater and also in seminary and I lost all track of what they were going for. It was not a seductive or sexually charged melodrama though they made out a few times. It was not a glamorous old school story full of wit and banter and lines you want to quote. It didn't really muse with any depth on anything dramatically compelling. And then there were the weird bits thrown in there...

Spoiler

We start the play knowing pretty early on that she's planning to commit suicide that day by overdosing on morphine. I'm going to throw this in with all the senility plays I've been watching over the last few years and say that in that company this ranks pretty low in terms of sensitivity and complexity. 

She was supposed to be a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and activist who was blacklisted as a Communist and was against things like Franco's fascism in Spain and the Russian invasion of Hungary but God knows she never really spoke with any depth about those things. The lines were tossed in so awkwardly.

He writes what sounds like a terrible play that includes something that happened in his life where his friend in seminary cut off his penis and jumped off a building because of the "sexual repression" of the church. What in the actual fuck? I thought they were joking but nope.

He flogs himself with a rope over the sexual desire she inspires. We never see this but it's mentioned more than once. Jesus Christ, self-flagellation? Are you joking me? These are not things you just throw into the story like they're totally normal.

Act II is dramatically inert because they sort of bonded in the past (when she was 36 and he was 20/21). But when they finally attempted to consummate the relationship it ended badly and then act 2 (25 years later) is just a bunch of flashbacks of her life and them catching each other up and each revealing that they thought about seeing each other again (she called his parents, he stood outside her apartment, etc.). I had to keep reminding myself he was 46 and she was 61 because I think the actors were a little unclear on what age they were playing. It felt like they were both trying to play older and failing. Oh, yeah, and then they just have sex and he participates in her assisted suicide. Did I learn anything from that? Were there any conclusions to draw? Did the playwright have anything to say? Nope. Play over.

Also what is it about bad/mediocre plays getting their buff actors to take their shirts off or at least show their arms? Also, they smoked a lot of herbal cigarettes (by which I mean stage cigarettes, not pot) and it started to burn my eyes.

Edited July 28, 2018 by aradia22

[Quof]

I'm considering seeing To Kill a Mockingbird, which will be in early days of previews when I am in NYC, so I can't wait for even early word of mouth before booking.  But have they really cast a 40 year old to play Scout?????  Because that's a deal breaker.  It's a challenging role for a child, but there are certainly teens out there who could do it.  

[Rinaldo]

50 minutes ago, Quof said:

But have they really cast a 40 year old to play Scout?????  Because that's a deal breaker.

If it's a deal-breaker for you, then I guess you have to stay away. But I find the idea at least justifiable (it remains to be seen, of course, if it's successful in practice). From references to the adaptation as a "memory play," I would guess that the adult Scout serves as some kind of narrator, framing the action, looking back, and "becoming' her younger self when needed. Other plays have used similar devices.

[PRgal]

1 hour ago, Quof said:

I'm considering seeing To Kill a Mockingbird, which will be in early days of previews when I am in NYC, so I can't wait for even early word of mouth before booking.  But have they really cast a 40 year old to play Scout?????  Because that's a deal breaker.  It's a challenging role for a child, but there are certainly teens out there who could do it.  

The production of To Kill a Mockingbird at the Stratford Festival has two Scouts.  One adult Scout and then child Scout.  

[Quof]

See, that makes perfect sense.   Helen Mirren played the Queen at various ages in The Audience. But she didn't play her as a child. 

[Milburn Stone]

2 hours ago, Quof said:

See, that makes perfect sense.   Helen Mirren played the Queen at various ages in The Audience. But she didn't play her as a child. 

Yet if she had, she would have made it work.

[aradia22]

Saw Fire in Dreamland tonight. It's really solid. By that I mean, it's a totally solid play. Clean, well-executed, thoughtful but not grand. If I described the plot to you, you might think "why is it necessary to tell this story"? But it's an enjoyable theatrical experience (unexpectedly funny... though not an outright comedy, great performances, etc.) and there are things to mull over afterwards though it doesn't create a difficult to parse puzzle or mystery and it doesn't leave you with heavy questions. I felt very light leaving the theater. Rebecca is fantastic as always. It's really her character's story and she does the heavy-lifting well. Enver is great and manages to make what could be a basic con-artist character deeper. You know he's bad news but you're not really sure to what degree and that's not really your focus (it's not like he's Howard Hill the whole time or anything). The other actor was good as well but he has a much smaller part. He is on stage the whole time because of a device in the show. I get what they were doing with it and I admire his commitment (same as Time and the Conways where one daughter had to be on stage not doing anything). I'm not sure it was necessary but it made it feel more theatrical. Unlike last night's play, this one was just really competent and knew exactly what makes a play a play and how to engage with the audience and make things a little meta while keeping you invested. It was an interesting way of managing suspension of disbelief by repeatedly reminding you that yes, you are in a theater watching a story being told. It's not "real"... and yet it is. If I summed up the themes about ambition and finding yourself and other millennial stuff it would sound very bland but it really works mapped onto this story about Coney Island/Hurricane Sandy. If you were being reductive, you could stay stuff about great men or the male equivalent of a manic pixie or supportive girlfriends but this was one of those plays that showed what can be accomplished with basic plot elements if you exercise some sensitivity... like the rare family dramas that do more than the same old shit. I don't think this is a play you need to run out and see but if a ticket's available and you have the time, it's very enjoyable.

And on a shallow note, Enver Gjokaj is so handsome in person... it was not exactly distracting but sometimes I couldn't look him too long for fear of actually being swept up in what Rebecca's character was supposed to be feeling. Like, damn, I might let him charm me too.

[Silver Raven]

Carolee Carmello absolutely slayed in Gypsy.  What a set of pipes.  And what a stage presence.  That's a legend.

David Hess was Herbie, and he brought a lovely poignancy to the role.

Chelsea Turbin as June was very good.

Austen Danielle Bohmer was Louise.  I thought she was rather wooden.  Pretty, but not a great performance.

Cory Lingner was Tulsa, and his "All I Need is the Girl" was a show stopper.

Jackie Piro Donovan as Electra actually made me sad, because the role is so small, and she's bigger than that.

Amy Bodner as Tessie Tura was a comic delight.

[aradia22]

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/AN-AMERICAN-IN-PARIS-Hal-Prince-More-Will-Air-on-PBS-GREAT-PERFORMANCES-This-Fall-20180730

Interested if not thrilled

[aradia22]

Genuinely short thoughts tonight (though I may come back to this later to talk about each of the actors). Took my mom to see Smokey Joe's Cafe tonight. A 90 minute revue with no dialogue was a little jarring to me. It wasn't fully a concert or just like "we're putting on a show" like a bunch of vaudeville numbers but there was no consistent story and no consistent characters. The pacing of the songs also felt a little off (there was no real rhyme or reason to the pacing of uptempo numbers, ballads, story songs, etc.). But the cast is crazy talented and they sing their faces off and are very committed to entertaining the audience. The costumes are meh but otherwise, it's a very professional production. If you like these songs, I highly recommend it. It's a fun time if you're in the city and you don't get home so late (or still get to go out to dinner). 

[aradia22]

Quote

Tootsie, the musical adaptation of the hit 1982 Dustin Hoffman comedy, has announced its opening date and Broadway venue: Director Scott Ellis’ staging will begin previews March 29, 2019, at the Marquis Theatre, with an opening date of Tuesday, April 23.

https://deadline.com/2018/08/tootsie-broadway-musical-marquis-theatre-venue-opening-date-1202443110/

[unicorn23]

Forgot to post this but I saw Mary Page Marlowe last Sunday because of Tatiana and it was just okay. I want to see her again in a more prominent role because this wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy my inner Tatiana fan. Mamie Gummer and Blair Brown were also part of the cast and it was great to see all of them in person. I got an eyeful if Tatiana in her bra and underwear at one point in the show and it brought back a lot of Orphan Black memories when her various characters would wear nothing but her underwear. 

After, I went to the Broadhurst Theater to stagedoor since the last time I saw the matinee show, Christy stopped one person before me to go back in the theater (it was a rare two-show Sunday) and I was gutted. If she had a choice, she would have gotten to everyone on that line but I understand she had to prepare for the second show. 

Anyway, this time around, I finally got to meet her and I’m not exaggerating when I say that she is the most genuine and sweetest person EVER. She sprained her ankle during the show (it was bandaged when she came out the stage door) and was limping when she came out but she was out there in the NY heat for close to an hour talking to everyone and really listening to what they have to say and asking if she can hug them. You can tell she’s one of those people who have nothing but kindness within them and who is just so genuinely sweet and caring.

When I proceeded to take a selfie, my hands were shaking so bad that she helped me hold my phone up so that the picture won’t be blurry. I thanked her and then told her that her Instagram live videos are so much fun and she thanked me for watching them. I can’t believe I met her and this experience wants me to go back and watch Anastasia for a third time. Lastly, she is stunning in person. Pictures don’t do her justice at all!

[aradia22]

I'm too exhausted to blather on tonight but I wanted to jump into the thread to say if you've been sleeping on Hello Dolly!, it's still worth seeing this production. I might have more to say tomorrow but the veteran cast members are still killing it (DHP has only gotten better) and Donna Murphy was fantastic. I think Bette sold the jokes better but Donna is superior in every other respect. And those costumes are still great. The audience was also surprisingly lively so far into the run. 

[aradia22]

Quote

Lastly, she is stunning in person. Pictures don’t do her justice at all!

Did you get the new program? I don't think the design is bad aside from the "A" being cut off in a weird place but I don't think she photographs that well. She is very sweet. I don't remember if I mentioned this but when I stage doored with some girls I met in the rush line that morning she sang happy birthday to a little girl waiting to meet her and it melted my heart.

[Silver Raven]

Today's Sacramento Music Circus production was Mamma Mia! Very much the weakest show of the season so far. 

Francesca Arostegui was Sophie.  She's a Sacramento native and has done a lot of things at Music Circus ever since she was a little girl, but this was her first starring role.  She was not very good, neither singing nor acting wise.

Michelle Dawson was Donna.  Like almost all of the other performers, she does not have a rock singing voice.  None of the up tempo songs were done very well, but she was really good in "Slipping Through My Fingers" and "The Winner Takes it All".  Those were the best moments of the whole production.

April Nixon was Tanya.  Her "Does Your Mother Know?" was a show stopper.

Jodi Kimura was Rosie. Her comedy was good.

Trey Ellett was Harry, Eric Petersen was Bill, and Eric Kunze was Sam.  I've seen Eric Kunze several times, and he has a decent voice, but not great acting chops.  Trey Ellett has a really good voice, and his "Our Last Summer" was great.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Taylor Iman Jones, Bonnie Milligan, Peppermint, Alexandra Socha & Rachel York discuss Head Over Heels: