Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner

[aradia22]

This is so difficult for me. I love the adorable human muppet that is Andrew Rannells. I still resent Jimmy Fallon. What to do...

[Browncoat]

That was awesome!

[Snow Apple]

I was watching the Best of Broadway One Night Only show yesterday and Aaron Tevit looks very thin. I hope he's ok. I know he had Covid but that was a while ago. I don't know the recovery period though.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

London Theatres Will Shut Down Once More After Tuesday Evening Performances

Theatres across the West End had begun reopening just last week, with Six being the first musical to reopen after being closed since March.

Julian Bird, Chief Executive of Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre has released the following statement following the Government announcement that London will enter Tier 3 of COVID restrictions from Wednesday 16 December:

"Today's Government announcement placing London in Tier 3 from Wednesday is devastating news for the city's world-leading theatre industry. The past few days have seen venues beginning to reopen with high levels of Covid security, welcoming back enthusiastic, socially distanced audiences. Theatres across London will now be forced to postpone or cancel planned performances, causing catastrophic financial difficulties for venues, producers and thousands of industry workers - especially the freelancers who make up 70% of the theatre workforce. We urge Government to recognise the huge strain this has placed on the sector and look at rapid compensation to protect theatres and their staff over Christmas in all areas of the country under Tier 3 restrictions."

Cameron Mackintosh has released the following statement:

"The sudden volt face by the government in deciding to immediately put London into Tier 3 and shut down the West End is devastating for both the theatre and the economy. Even worse it smacks of panic and makes all our considerable and costly efforts to ensure the safety of both performers and audiences alike, widely praised by the health authorities, seem worthless - breaking any sense of trust between us as an industry and the government departments we've been trying to build a rapport with. The commercial theatre has had virtually no support from the Treasury, apart from the offer of quite expensive loans - which we, unlike the subsidised theatre, have been asked to give personal guarantees to repay. A lot of us do not want to go into debt to pay for losses caused by diktats completely out of our control. The constant changes of rules and advice we have received is impossible for any business to react to. A private company behaving like this would be subject to legal charges from its investors. Yet the government seems to play with our rights and liberties with impunity. We have almost 100 mostly self-employed performers and staff working on Les Misérables - The Staged Concert at the Sondheim Theatre. At a stroke, this government has tipped them into unemployment just in time for Christmas - Bah Humbug to the Prime Minister and the men in white coats. We will have to disappoint thousands of patrons over the next few weeks who were booked to safely see Les Mis over the holidays. We intend to continue performances in January as soon as we are allowed to and demand clarity of a date as soon as possible. Where is the leadership this government promised? All we have is empty words and empty chairs!"

[aradia22]

Very sad. Along with the rest of her legacy, I think she's hugely responsible for giving us the revival of Chicago and even the movie (though, obviously Rob Marshall played a bigger role there). But I don't think there would have been the renewed interest in the show without her work on the revival.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Breaking-Tony-Winner-and-Broadway-Legend-Ann-Reinking-Passes-Away-at-71-20201214

[ElectricBoogaloo]

This weekend's free musical is Kinky Boots!

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Leslie Odom Jr isolating from pregnant wife after potential exposure to COVID 19 from Ellen Degeneres

[DisneyBoy]

It was nice to rewatch Kinky Boots, and while I appreciated the book more, I still found it kind of half baked. Too much of the entertainment value rests on Lola's shoulders. The would-be girlfriend mugged too much to get the audience laughing and it felt out of place...like Glinda floated in from Oz. It's just one of those shows where one character stands out and the others just exist.

I didn't hate this Lola but didn't love her/him either. Billy Porter was great, but I didn't think there'd be trouble finding dazzling replacements. Did anyone see Toddrick Hall? He seemed vocally stunning...no idea how he was performing live on Broadway eight shows at week. Was he a competent actor?

This UK Charlie was vocally shaky at times (nerves over the filming perhaps) but I liked his look and energy. Nice to see a more 'average' build on a leading guy. Beard worked too.

...does anyone else find the faux-Whitney ballad at the end pretty weak? They set it up as this huge moment but there's no song there.

One must also question how willing Lola's club girls are to pop up at a moment's notice in full drag, always in different outfits and in various locations...without getting paid LOL.

 

[bosawks]

Rebecca Luker succumbed to ALS at the age of 59.

I'll always remember her in the bloom of youth as Lily in The Secret Garden.

RIP.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The a film adaptation of the musical version of The Color Purple will be released in movie theaters in 2023

Quote

“The Color Purple” is being adapted from the Tony-winning musical and 1985 film. Blitz Bazawule is directing the upcoming version, which will be produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg. The film, which has yet to be cast, tells the story of Celie, a Black woman living in the South in the early 20th century who learns her self-worth through the help of two friends.

Spielberg directed the original film adaptation of “The Color Purple” in the ’80s, which starred Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg and Winfrey. The coming-of-age story, adapted from Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, was turned into a Broadway musical in 2005.

 

[DisneyBoy]

On 12/23/2020 at 12:23 PM, bosawks said:

Rebecca Luker succumbed to ALS at the age of 59.

I'll always remember her in the bloom of youth as Lily in The Secret Garden.

RIP.

This breaks my heart. She seemed so kind.

Have they said what happened exactly? Did she end her life on her own medically or was it a sudden complication...?

[bosawks]

6 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

This breaks my heart. She seemed so kind.

Have they said what happened exactly? Did she end her life on her own medically or was it a sudden complication...?

From what I've read she had an extraordinarily aggressive form of ALS and passed away in the hospital.

It was barely a year from diagnosis to her passing away, just awful.

[DisneyBoy]

I know nothing about the end stages of ALS - do people go into cardiac arrest suddenly...or it is more that she became so immobile she could no longer live at home and was brought to hospital..?

I know Danny had Covid and was her only caregiver, so my first thought was that maybe she'd caught it when I read the news of her passing.

Of course, they're entitled to keep the details under wraps. I'm just....stunned it happened so fast. After watching her concert earlier this year, I thought she had maybe two more years or something. 

...its just awful. 

 

[theatremouse]

My first thought when I read she'd passed was that just because she told the public about her diagnosis in January (?) doesn't mean she didn't have the disease for a whole lot longer than that. So it only seems sudden to us.

[Quof]

I believe the narrative the family has told is that is when she was diagnosed. 

[DisneyBoy]

Is it morbid to want to know how it ended for her? Its none of my business but....I'm just left with questions. Yeah, I guess that sounds selfish. Its just that "she's gone" is so vague.

She seemed so genuinely nice.

[aradia22]

I have yet to watch The Prom but yikes

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/dec/09/james-corden-the-prom-netflix-proves-straight-actors-playing-gay-should-think-twice

[DisneyBoy]

And here's the explanation. She really did decline that fast. It wasn't an assisted suicide or something pre-emptive. She fought to the end. This is....just heartbreaking. 

I appreciate that Danny wrote this though.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/danny-burstein-on-the-devastating-loss-of-his-wife-fellow-broadway-star-rebecca-luker-guest-column?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social

 

[aradia22]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_(2021_film)

I keep forgetting that this is a movie that will eventually come out. That is a wild cast. Just completely unpredictable on whether this will be great or terrible.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Even with Idina Menzel and Billy Porter, I don't think anything can balance out the presence of Camila Cabella as the lead.

[bosawks]

5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Even with Idina Menzel and Billy Porter, I don't think anything can balance out the presence of Camila Cabella as the lead.

But the world is full of zanies and fools
Who don’t believe in sensible rules
And won’t believe what sensible people say

And because these daft and dewy-eyed dopes
Keep building up impossible hopes
Impossible things are happenning every day!

[Dr.OO7]

On 4/20/2018 at 12:38 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

I know, right? They thought they could just send her some money every month and that would suffice so they could tell themselves that they were doing the right thing while remaining on their moral high horse about how they couldn’t allow Kim to “give away” her child (as if Tam living with his father was a ridiculous idea).

Let’s be real - neither of them wanted to deal with explaining to all of their friends and family that Chris knocked up a hooker while he was in Vietnam. For both of them, looking at Tam would be a daily reminder of Kim and who wants to deal with the guilt (not to mention the judgmental neighbors)? It’s so much easier to just send her a check every month and have bio kids who look like you! 

EXACTLY. I really hated them in that scene where they're patting themselves on the back for their supposedly magnanimous gesture when in truth, it's exactly as you described here.

As devastating as it is, I always feel a sense of grim satisfaction at Kim's suicide because now they WILL have to deal with all that.

I can't find the post regarding Margaret Ann Gates, but I would have loved to see her as Ellen, because most critics agreed that it DID drastically alter the dynamic of the show, as it was now pretty obvious that either consciously or subconsciously, Chris married her because she reminded him of Kim. Someone cited this scene as a moment where they have that realization:

And it makes Ellen much more sympathetic too. I've always hated her, but it can't be easy to realize that your husband only married you because you reminded him of someone else.

Strangely, I don't fault Chris for eventually moving on after losing Kim, but I hate how dismissive he is when trying to reassure Ellen--"Eh, it was just two weeks three years ago.", as if it were some meaningless fling.

Dude, you don't wake up every night with nightmares about a meaningless fling.

I could also never understand why Ellen was so upset. This is something that happened before Chris even met her and he didn't know about Tam until five minutes before he told her. I get that it would have been less of a shock if Chris had told her from the beginning, but she spins it as though Chris cheated on her with Kim and has been hiding Tam's existence from her and as though SHE'S the most traumatized person in this whole mess.

I had planned to mark the 25th anniversary of the first time that I saw The Phantom Of The Opera this February, but I'll unfortunately have to postpone it until the summer.

Meanwhile, I'll console myself with various YouTube clips, some of which are titled "Phantom Comparison" and feature a million versions of key scenes.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Dr.OO7

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Original Broadway cast returns to film a live version of Come From Away

Filming will take place in May and the tentative release date is September. It will be directed by Christopher Ashley, who won a Tony in 2017 for directing the Broadway production. He is the artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, where Come From Away did its out of town tryout.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Jon Chu named as director of Wicked movie

His previous projects include Crazy Rich Asians and the movie adaptation of In The Heights. The Wicked movie has been in development so long that it's about 50/50 if it sticks this time. The most recent director named for this project before Jon Chu was Stephen Daldry, who was the director of Billy Elliott. I hope they cast some Broadway people in the leads. I don't want another Les Mis situation. Elphaba and Glinda need to be able to sing!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Some theater related Golden Globe Award nominations!

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY - Hamilton

BEST ACTOR – MUSICAL OR COMEDY - Lin-Manuel Miranda

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY - The Prom

BEST ACTOR – MUSICAL OR COMEDY - James Corden, The Prom

BEST ACTOR – DRAMA - Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

BEST ACTRESS – DRAMA - Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

10 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

BEST ACTOR – MUSICAL OR COMEDY - James Corden, The Prom

What? I thought his performance had been universally panned. 

[theatremouse]

That whole movie was universally panned, but this is the HFPA, whose tastes are often...weird.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Theater related SAG Award nominations!

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries - Daveed Diggs, "Hamilton"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - Chadwick Boseman, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - Viola Davis, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role - Leslie Odom Jr., "One Night in Miami"

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture - "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"

[Spartan Girl]

When are they going to do the Tonys???

[theatremouse]

It's usually a June thing, but who knows if they'll actually do it this year.

[bosawks]

In January 2021 Tony Award Productions made the following announcement: “Voting for the 74th Annual Tony Awards will take place between March 1 and March 15, 2021. We will present the 74th Annual Tony Awards, which were originally scheduled to take place in 2020, in coordination with the re-opening of Broadway.”

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The cast of the 1997 production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella reunited (cast list below) - this production is now available on Disney+

Brandy (Cinderella)
Paolo Montalban (Prince Christopher)
Whoopi Goldberg (Queen Constantina)
Victor Garber (King Maximillian)
Jason Alexander (Lionel)
Bernadette Peters (Stepmother)
Veanne Cox (Calliope)

Edited February 13, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Paramount is planning to make a new film version of The King and I

[Dr.OO7]

I would have attended this week's Wednesday matinee of The Phantom Of The Opera to mark the 25th Anniversary of the first time I saw it.

I really miss the theater and the ballet.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Olympic medalist Laurie Hernandez has returned to competitive gymnastics for the first time since 2016 and she has a Hamilton themed floor routine!

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[DisneyBoy]

Anyone else been listening to the Out For Blood podcast? It's so fun hearing from so many of the folks who made Carrie The Musical the amazing mess it was back in the day....I highly recommend checking it out.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Hamilton couple Daveed and Emmy (I'm nosy so I love seeing inside other people's houses!)

Inside Daveed Diggs and Emmy Raver-Lampman's colorful southern California home

[ElectricBoogaloo]

And there's a video tour!

 

[Browncoat]

I love the baskets on the walls!  I wonder how they're affixed such that the baskets don't suffer?  

I am not a fan, though, of the backsplash in the kitchen.  It's just a tad too busy for my tastes -- for a backsplash.  I do love the stair runner and the randomly patterned chairs.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

18 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I love the baskets on the walls!  I wonder how they're affixed such that the baskets don't suffer?  

I am not a fan, though, of the backsplash in the kitchen.  It's just a tad too busy for my tastes -- for a backsplash.  I do love the stair runner and the randomly patterned chairs.

The backsplash was definitely a bold choice but it made sense since they are clearly not afraid of color or patterns.

One of the things I liked about the stuff in their home is that a lot of it is from the mall (anthropologie, West Elm, etc). Often in these home tours, everything is described as "this is a custom piece that I designed with the help of my amazing decorator" or "my designer found this in an antique shop." I'm not knocking people who like unique items (especially since a lot of celebs who do this Architectural Digest tours are LOADED), but I like that Daveed and Emmy have a lot of stuff in their house that is easily found online, isn't ridiculously expensive, and looks nice.

ETA: I have some similar baskets and I haven't hung them up yet because I can't decide where to put them. One way to hang them is to feed some fishing line through the basket (you might need to use a needle depending on how tight the weave of the design is), tie it to make a knot behind the basket, and then hang it from a nail or picture hanger using the fishing line loop. As long as the basket isn't too heavy, it won't damage the weave at all.

Edited March 13, 2021 by ElectricBoogaloo

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Daniel Belnavis talks about his experience as an ensemble member of the Angelica company

He was in the cast of the first national tour for two years 

[aradia22]

Quote

VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE will stream for FREE on Broadway on Demand, beginning Thursday, March 18 at 7pm ET.

I'm excited for this as LCT has good archives. Hopefully the musicals aren't tied up with PBS/Live From Lincoln Center rights. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Grammy Awards!

58. Best Musical Theater Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new recordings. Award to the principle vocalist(s) and the album producer(s) of 51% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of a new score are eligible for an Award if they have written and/or composed a new score which comprises 51% or more playing time of the album.

AMÉLIE
Audrey Brisson, Chris Jared, Caolan McCarthy & Jez Unwin, principal soloists; Michael Fentiman, Sean Patrick Flahaven, Barnaby Race & Nathan Tysen, producers; Nathan Tysen, lyricist; Daniel Messe, composer & lyricist (Original London Cast)

AMERICAN UTOPIA ON BROADWAY
David Byrne, producer (David Byrne, composer & lyricist) (Original Cast)

JAGGED LITTLE PILL - WINNER
Kathryn Gallagher, Celia Rose Gooding, Lauren Patten & Elizabeth Stanley, principal soloists; Neal Avron, Pete Ganbarg, Tom Kitt, Michael Parker, Craig Rosen & Vivek J. Tiwary, producers (Glen Ballard, composer; Alanis Morissette, composer & lyricist) (Original Broadway Cast)

LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
Tammy Blanchard, Jonathan Groff & Tom Alan Robbins, principal soloists; Will Van Dyke, Michael Mayer, Alan Menken & Frank Wolf, producers (Alan Menken, composer; Howard Ashman, lyricist) (The New Off-Broadway Cast)

THE PRINCE OF EGYPT
Christine Allado, Luke Brady, Alexia Khadime & Liam Tamne, principal soloists; Dominick Amendum & Stephen Schwartz, producers; Stephen Schwartz, composer & lyricist (Original Cast

SOFT POWER
Francis Jue, Austin Ku, Alyse Alan Louis & Conrad Ricamora, principal soloists; Matt Stine, producer; David Henry Hwang, lyricist; Jeanine Tesori, composer & lyricist (Original Cast)

[aradia22]

I was SO confused when I saw Amelie. I've never noticed the London casts getting nominated before. Also, cool, now I know that Soft Power recorded an album. It's on Spotify. Though I haven't really listened to theatre albums in quarantine. Too depressing.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

23 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I was SO confused when I saw Amelie. I've never noticed the London casts getting nominated before. Also, cool, now I know that Soft Power recorded an album. It's on Spotify. Though I haven't really listened to theatre albums in quarantine. Too depressing.

I had the same reaction to the Amélie nomination. I distinctly remember being disappointed and underwhelmed by the music when I saw the show.

From what I remember, Soft Power only had one or two good songs (and I might be remembering the costumes/sets/performances being good rather than the actual songs).

[aradia22]

I looked at the wikipedia page out of curiosity. They did nominate Jesus Christ Superstar on NBC but other than Kinky Boots 2017, it seems like they've always had enough American shows to not nominate any of the London/West End productions in the 2010s. I didn't look into the earlier years as everything isn't tagged with OBC, OLC, etc. so I couldn't do any easy find and search.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Musical_Theater_Album#2020s

[Silver Raven]

"Company" has announced it will be opening on Broadway, but no date yet.  Starring Katrina Lenk as "Bobbie".

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Watch-COMPANY-Confirms-Broadway-Return-with-New-Promo-Video-20210322

 

[ebk57]

1 hour ago, Silver Raven said:

"Company" has announced it will be opening on Broadway, but no date yet.  Starring Katrina Lenk as "Bobbie".

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Watch-COMPANY-Confirms-Broadway-Return-with-New-Promo-Video-20210322

 

As long as Patti is coming back, it will remain on my "I think I want to see this" list. 

[aradia22]

It sounded like a good cast across the board (though I've only listened to the cast album so I'm not familiar enough to know who is playing which parts with the gender-flipped roles). For shallow reasons, I'm hoping Claybourne Elder and Bobby Conte Thorton are still attached.

[aradia22]

Quote

PLP: You have to have a bit of a cold heart. You have to be completely emotionally open, but not let it take over your life. The roles I’d love to go back to are Nellie in Sweeney Todd and Rose in Gypsy. It was incredibly difficult, physically, to do Gypsy. Boyd Gaines would come off stage panting. It doesn’t let up. In musicals, you’re stronger at the end of a run than you are at the beginning. The strongest voice is on Saturday night; the weakest is Monday night because you had a day off. What I love about a long run is the muscle you develop, the physical technique, the mental strength. We’ve all been off stage now for almost a year. I am questioning whether I have the ability to rev up that energy again.

PLP: Before the show, I like to look at the audience. I want to know who I’m playing to. I want to find the guy who is least interested in being there, and that’s the guy I’ve got to get to that night. It is necessary for our culture to continue to be expressive – it’s the soul of a nation. In America, the entertainment industry was left out of the two original stimulus bills and my community is decimated. I’m not just talking about actors. I’m talking about drapers, stitchers, costume houses, scenic shops, the ushers, porters, box office people, the delis, restaurants, all of the people who support and make a living from our theatres. All of them decimated. Why are we considered in my country to be third-class citizens? My entire career it’s been like that. Especially for a stage actor.

PLP: We were days away from opening when there were rumours that Broadway was going to shut down. We thought we’d be back in two and a half weeks. We were allowed to go back in the theatre, and I went to clean out my personal stuff and put my costumes in garment bags. There was just the ghost light on stage. I realised on my way home to Connecticut I was saying goodbye to my life in the theatre and I burst into tears. It’s been close to 50 years in theatre. It was scary and heartbreaking. There was a silver lining because in my career I had not spent that much time with my family. I just went home and saw spring and summer, and it was beautiful to be at home and live in life.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/mar/16/patti-lupone-meets-jonathan-bailey-youre-the-biggest-star-in-the-world

A recent Patti Lupone interview