Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: Aw, hell. I have nothing else to do during the commercials. DB, The Visit is open-ended at the moment. We'll see what happens after the Tony's. 

 

The Party’s Over (CLOSINGS)

• Terrence McNally's It's Only a Play plays its final performance June 7 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.
• Lisa D'Amour's Airline Highway plays its final performance on Broadway June 7.

A Foggy Day in London Town (UK NEWS)

• The Tony Award-winning production of John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch will open in the West End, Mitchell revealed on Tony Awards Sunday.

Stop! Wait! What?! (EVERYTHING ELSE)

• With their wins for Best Book of a Musical (Lisa Kron) and Best Original Score (Jeanine Tesori and Kron) for the groundbreaking musical Fun Home, these writers not only take home some of the first awards of the 69th Annual Tony Awards, the two women are also the first all-female writing team to win a Tony Award for a musical's score.

[Rinaldo]

Anyone else skipping the Tonys on purpose? I haven't seen ANY of the shows and kinda of want to watch it after I have, so I won't be spoiled by the performances between the handing out of the awards.

Good luck with that (though I don't understand the concept -- I don't think of performances as being spoilable, but to each his own), but people are bound to discuss the awards themselves here.

[Milburn Stone]

I never watch the Tonys--not because I don't want to be spoiled but for the opposite reason. I wish the excerpts of performances presented on the telecast captured the shows well enough to "spoil" me. But they never do. Far from taking away the pleasure of seeing shows by giving me too big a taste of them in advance (which is what spoiling is all about), they fail to do justice to the shows and make them seem entirely missable when in some cases they aren't.

 

That said, I've read about the results this morning, and I have to wonder, not entirely facetiously or purely out of vicarious bitterness, whether there is a vendetta among the Tony voters against On the Town. I did not see the other nominees in the On the Town categories; but I do know that On the Town was the best thing I've seen in years, maybe decades. Do vendettas against shows (or particular people in shows) exist among the Tony voters? Is Joshua Bergasse, John Rando, or Tony Yazbeck just not well-liked enough as a human being? Are the producers reviled? 

[Charlie Baker]

Maybe it's less of an anti-On the Town bias than a pro-Lincoln Center/Bartlett Sher/R and H/Kelli O' Hara bias?

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: So my newest priority (which has been my priority for a while but then I got sick) is seeing The Visit before it closes.

 

The Party's Over (CLOSINGS)

• The Visit, the new Kander and Ebb musical that stars two-time Tony winner Chita Rivera, will end its run June 14. The musical debuted on Broadway March 26 at the Lyceum Theatre. It officially opened April 23.

Come to the Cabaret (CABARETS/CONCERTS/ETC)

• Bombshell is presented June 8 in a one-night-only Broadway concert reuniting cast members from Smash. Christian Borle, Will Chase, Megan Hilty, Katharine McPhee and Debra Messing are among the stars.
• Jenna Ushkowitz ("Glee"), Alexandra Socha (Fun Home) and Ben Moss (Brooklynite) have been added to the line-up of Spring & Summer: The Spring Awakening Cast Reunion, which will now include a third, newly added late-night concert on June 9 at 54 Below.
• Broadway Unplugged, featuring a host of theatre favorites performing without amplification, will return to The Town Hall stage July 20 at 8 PM. Written, directed and hosted by Scott Siegel, the evening will feature the voices of two-time Tony winner Michael Cerveris; Tony nominees Stephanie J. Block, Carolee Carmello, Marc Kudisch and Vivian Reed; along with John Easterlin, Matt Cavenaugh, Jenny Powers, William Michals, Christopher Johnstone, Molly Pope and Bill Daugherty. Ross Patterson will be the musical director for the evening.
• The cast of Honeymoon in Vegas performs a reunion concert June 8 at SubCulture, as part of JRB's year-long residency.
• Cast members from The Toxic Avenger reunite June 8 in concert at 54 Below.

One Song Glory (ALBUMS)

• The deluxe CD/DVD edition of Pete Townshend's "Classic Quadrophenia," featuring Les Miserables' Alfie Boe, is released in the U.K. June 8 prior to a U.S. release June 9.
• The critically acclaimed West End iteration of Kander & Ebb musical THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS is currently playing and a brand new West End cast recording is now available to order.

Let Me Be Your Star (TV NEWS)

• Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced, which ended its Broadway run March 1, will be seen on screen. The playwright told the Chicago Tribune that he is currently working on a screenplay for HBO.

Stop! Wait! What?! (EVERYTHING ELSE)

• A complete list of the winners of the 69th Annual Tony Awards, representing the best of the 2014-15 Broadway season. Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori winning speeches
• New York City Center's Encores! Off-Center series, running June 24-July 18, will be accompanied by a series of free pre-show events.
• The creative team has been announced for the forthcoming new Broadway musical Allegiance

Edited June 8, 2015 by aradia22

[Rinaldo]

I've read about the results this morning, and I have to wonder, not entirely facetiously or purely out of vicarious bitterness, whether there is a vendetta among the Tony voters against On the Town. I did not see the other nominees in the On the Town categories; but I do know that On the Town was the best thing I've seen in years, maybe decades. Do vendettas against shows (or particular people in shows) exist among the Tony voters? Is Joshua Bergasse, John Rando, or Tony Yazbeck just not well-liked enough as a human being? Are the producers reviled? 

I agree that presentation on the televised Tony awards leaves, as a rule, everything to be desired, and this year may have been the worst in such respects in a long time.

 

As to your question, I don't think it's anything that complicated. I suspect that the Tony people saw On the Town last fall after it opened (for months, there was little else new to tempt the playgoer), liked it fine, and would have given it the win had awards been held right then. But in April/May, it's a distant memory, while The King and I is a recent one. That always gives the advantage. Sad but true.

[aradia22]

"We have a lot of amazing, talented people who just don't have a platform," Miles said of the community of Asian actors. "They don't have an opportunity. But they are working. They are going to class. They are hitting those auditions and doing readings, and they are striving and working so hard. But there's no place to practice, which is on the stage. There aren't enough roles. There aren't enough opportunities."

 

"I hope my daughter will be able to see shows starring Asian people that has nothing to do with an Asian story," Miles said. "She's part Korean, of course, and she's doesn't necessarily look like me. If she's an actor, she probably won't have the same difficulties that so many Asian actors have had. But I hope more than that that she will see diversity onstage in a way that will tell American stories. Not Asian stories, but American stories with Asian actors."

 

-Ruthie Ann Miles

[DisneyBoy]

That's the sad truth, ain't it? I've spoken with people with firsthand experience of how hard it is to break into Hollywood simply because of their Asian heritage. It's as though casting directors just don't see them as leads. Very strange.

 

Good luck with that (though I don't understand the concept -- I don't think of performances as being spoilable, but to each his own), but people are bound to discuss the awards themselves here.

 

Well I ended up watching the opening monologue (if that's what we're calling it) and the winners of best leading man and woman in a musical. I didn't care for Kelli's speech, though I think she's amazingly talented. I felt lousy for Chita - I thought she had this in the bag, it being her last go and all. But Kelli certainly has earned this.

 

So...I have a problem that's resurfaced. And it is Dreamgirls. I am once again re-listening to Jennifer Holliday's two big songs from the show practically every day, and I can't help it. Have you guys heard her final broadway performances of "I Am Changing" and "AIATYING"? They're incredible. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any other soundboard recordings or broadway bootlegs. I hate the cast album - everything is so truncated. Has anyone here seen any OBC soundboard bootlegs or audience-recorded bootlegs? Please let me know. Need some variety here :) And being able to listen to a good quality full version of Steppin' To The Bad Side with Ben Harney would be great. Say, has anyone seen a bootleg video of the OBC (or one of the other casts from the 80s) that provides a clear view of what's going on during Steppin'? The only bootleg of the original cast up on YT isn't from an angle that really allows you to understand what's happening with the performers on the bridges/ramps. This commercial gives a slightly better look, but it isn't much:

 

 

Man, I love that funky bass during the "Dreamgirls" tune.

Edited June 9, 2015 by DisneyBoy

[janeyjay]

That's the sad truth, ain't it? I've spoken with people with firsthand experience of how hard it is to break into Hollywood simply because of their Asian heritage. It's as though casting directors just don't see them as leads. Very strange.

 

I was able to see The Heidi Chronicles before it closed (early) this past spring. A wonderful Asian actress named Ali Ahn played Heidi's best friend Susan -- a nice bit of what might be called "untraditional" casting and a good example of an Asian actor in an American story. Hopefully this will continue.

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: Now, I don't want you to panic. I'm just floating the idea out there. I might not be doing the TNR for much longer or I might move it to my personal blog. I love doing it but it's a lot of work with the two shows I'm recapping (Food Network Star and Curvy Brides) and work and trying to get out of the house once in a while. And I still don't have a new laptop but eventually I'm going to want to get back to tending to my personal blogs and my fiction writing. 

 

By the way, my choice today is listening to Ragtime for the first time. It was probably not the best choice because there's so much exposition in the opening number. The opening's also giving me a bit of a Chicago vibe. ...I eventually had to just stop it because I couldn't pay attention to two things at once.

 

Another Op’nin, Another Show (OPENINGS)

• Rattlestick Playwrights Theater will present Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, America, Kuwait, written and directed by Daniel Talbott. The world-premiere play, which opens June 9, tells the story of two soldiers waiting in the desert in a world ravaged by war. The play began performances May 21 and continues through June 27 at the Gym at Judson, with an official opening night slated for June 9.

The Party’s Over (CLOSINGS)

• Gigi will play its final performance on Sunday, June 21 at the Neil Simon Theatre. The production, which began previews March 19 and opened officially April 8, will have played 20 previews and 86 performances.
• Disenchanted!, the Off-Broadway musical that pokes fun at the world of fairy-tale princesses, will close Sunday, June 14 after 30 previews and 139 regular performances.

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• Betsy Wolfe and Matt Bittner will topline Up Here, the new musical by the songwriters of Disney's blockbuster "Frozen," having its world premiere production at La Jolla Playhouse this summer.
• Jason Alexander replaces author/star Larry David in the Broadway hit Fish in the Dark starting June 9. Actress Glenne Headly also joins the cast the same night, the role created by Rita Wilson. David finished his scheduled run on June 7. The production, which had been scheduled to close on that date, is now scheduled to run through July 19.

It’s Only a Play (PLAYS)

• New York-based theatre company Ego Actus will stage the world premiere of Penny Jackson's I Know What Boys Want, in which a prep school girl discovers a sex video of herself has been leaked online. Performances will begin July 16 at Theatre Row's Lion Theatre, with an official opening night slated for July 18.

They Mean Chicago, Illinois (CHICAGO NEWS)

• The 42nd annual Jeff Awards were presented June 8, celebrating non-union theatre in Chicago.

A Foggy Day in London Town (UK NEWS)

• London's Tricycle Theatre will present Ben Hur, a stage adaptation penned by Patrick Barlow, playwright of The 39 Steps. The production will boast 3D technology stage combat, a real chariot race and a sea battle featuring real water. Helmed by Tim Carroll, Barlow's Ben Hur is adapted for the stage from General "Lew" Wallace's novel of the same name. Performances are set to run Nov. 19, 2015-Jan. 9, 2016.

I Want to Go to Hollywood (MOVIE NEWS)

• Michael J. Roth and Steve Longi have acquired film and TV rights to Zombie Prom, which debuted Off-Broadway in 1996 at the Variety Arts Theatre.

Stop! Wait! What?! (EVERYTHING ELSE)

• Make Music New York returns with a mix of free outdoor concerts on June 21, celebrating the first day of summer. As part of the event, a special inaugural Pop-Up Musicals Project will bring seven classic shows to iconic parks and locations throughout Manhattan.
• The New Ohio Theatre in the West Village presents its 22nd annual Ice Factory Festival this summer in which seven new theatrical works will be staged over seven weeks, with six of the seven slated to be directed by women.
• The new musical Something Rotten!, which was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, has reacted with humor to losing the evening's top prize.

[aradia22]

I'm continuing to listen to the Ragtime album (not checking wikipedia yet). The inclusion of all the historical figures (J.P. Morgan, Harry Houdini, etc.) is a bit weird. I don't know if it's just that they're picking up on the same themes/influences but I'm getting a lot of Kander and Ebb with a little bit of Sondheim, specifically Assassins. I find Marin Mazzie's voice a little hard/harsh which has tempered how sympathetic I've found her performances when I've heard bits of them (mainly the concert version of Camelot).

 

Also, baby Lea Michele's voice is so sweet.

 

OH MY GOD, Audra is STUNNING on Your Daddy's Son.

Edited June 10, 2015 by aradia22

[Milburn Stone]

I'm continuing to listen to the Ragtime album (not checking wikipedia yet). The inclusion of all the historical figures (J.P. Morgan, Harry Houdini, etc.) is a bit weird.

 

aradia, what you find "weird" was a keynote of Doctorow's novel, upon which the musical is based. When it came out it was greeted as a major and pioneering work, in no small part because of its intermingling of fictional characters with actual personages, and the feeling this created of ordinary individuals caught up in the swell of history.

 

No reason you have to agree with that assessment, of course. For myself, however, when I find something "weird" that the culture recognizes as great, I sometimes find it helpful to get outside my own subjective reaction and begin from the presumption that the culture is not always wrong; I attempt to understand the reasons the work has received acclaim. In such cases, I recognize that my own subjective reaction is not necessarily all that interesting.

[aradia22]

@Milburn My initial reaction was just the slight disorienting factor of having so many characters because I was just listening to it as an album without any plot context. I know everyone introduced themselves at the beginning but the voices weren't distinctive enough for me to differentiate between all the characters. Having finished the album, I'd stand by that initial feeling that having all of those historical figures strains credibility. Emma Goldman was alright but already pushing it but to throw in Booker T. Washington and Henry Ford and especially JP Morgan playing the role that he did... it feels very constructed. People are introduced to present an ideology and serve as symbols instead of being actual characters. I'm not placing a value judgment on that but it's not what I was expecting and it contrasts a bit oddly with the high melodrama of the rest of the story. I mean I love my melodrama but for a 1975 novel it's full of cliches. Again, I feel like the characters are just there to reflect ideas. That's a kind of storytelling, just not one I respond to as well. 

 

It took me a little while to warm up to the album but once it really hits its stride, I'd say around What Kind of Woman, it was undeniably winning. I'd have to listen to it a few more times to really critique the melody and lyrics and such but it was just... good. There are just some things you respond to immediately. I do think it's a bit heavy on exposition but that makes sense with so many stories to tell.

 

If they could find a good cast, I'd 100% see this if they revived it again. Though that probably won't be likely for a while given the short run of the last revival. 

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: Listening to Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. The Prologue was so long and repetitive it almost made me angry. I don't know if it was supposed to be irreverent or they really had no faith in the audience... or themselves as storytellers. The rock vibe is not working for me and some of the singing is... ugly. It also feels kind of like they're making it up as they go along because the lyrics often don't rhyme or fit the meter... it's just rambling set to music. Is this even exposition? I don't know if any useful information is being communicated to me. It's... inelegant. I do like the Russian influences in the music but the slight tinge of Queen is almost more annoying than positive because it's so watered down.

 

"Moscow" is still all over the place but it's better. If I didn't like Fiona Apple and Kate Nash and Regina Spektor I think I'd have turned this off. 

 

Another Op’nin, Another Show (OPENINGS)

• Soho Rep presents the world premiere of 10 out of 12, by Anne Washburn, writer of the critically acclaimed Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play. Her newest work officially opens June 10, following previews that began May 26; a second extension was recently announced.
• The Barrow Group's staging of Craig Wright's The Pavilion, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, begins performances June 10 at TBG Theatre.

The Party’s Over (CLOSINGS)

• Dan Lauria's new comedy Dinner with the Boys, which officially opened Off-Broadway May 4, has announced that it will close June 28.

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• Steven Pasquale will star as the jealous Burrs in the Encores! Off-Center staging of Andrew Lippa's Wild Party, which will feature Sutton Foster as Queenie. New casting also reveals that Brandon Victor Dixon has replaced Joshua Henry in the role of Black. (Hmn.)
• Gabriel Ebert and Judith Light, along with Matt Ryan will join Keira Knightley in Helen Edmundson's new adaptation of Thérèse Raquin. The production arrives on Broadway Oct. 1.

Come to the Cabaret (CABARETS/CONCERTS/ETC)

• Broadway Sings for Pride will present Roar, the fifth annual benefit concert featuring stars from the world of pop, Broadway and television. The event will see the musical reunions of the companies of Rent and A Chorus Line. The one-night only event, hosted at the JCC Manhattan on June 22, will feature songs that embody gay perseverance. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Tyler Clementi Foundation, an organization dedicated to ending bullying for LGBTQ youth.

It’s Only a Play (PLAYS)

• Manhattan Theatre Club will stage the world premiere of Prodigal Son by John Patrick Shanley, playwright of the Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning Doubt and the Oscar-winning film "Moonstruck."
• Off-Broadway's Attic Theater Company will stage John Patrick Shanley's The Dreamer Examines His Pillow at the Flea Theater in New york this summer, the first official revival of the play since its premiere in 1986.

We Open in Venice, We Next Play Verona (TOURS)

• Tony Danza, who starred in the Broadway premiere of the recent Jason Robert Brown musical Honeymoon in Vegas, will headline the North American tour of the production, which will begin in 2016.

I Want to Go to Hollywood (MOVIE NEWS)

• Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies are planning to screen the sing-along version of the 1978 movie "Grease" in 500 theatres across the U.S. on Aug. 16 and 19, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Let Me Be Your Star (TV NEWS)

• "Smash" showrunner Joshua Safran will pen the script for reboot of "Fame," which has been picked up by Lifetime, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

[DisneyBoy]

Okay: question time.

 

For those who saw The Visit - is it absolutely worth going out of your way to see? Is the singing amazing? I read a review (The Guardian?) that said the piece isn't 100% there yet. For me, if the singing isn't out-of-this-world-gotta-see-it and the story/script could still use a polish, then it wouldn't be worth it, to me.

 

Example - the new production of Side Show. People were raving like mad about how it was "must see!!!" when it clearly wasn't. A good show? Yes. A show that's not likely to pop up again on Broadway? Definitely. But not a religious experience, or something really moving and well-done. (<- open to debate, I know, but honestly, there was plenty of fat in the show and choices made simply to be different.)

 

Chita's voice, from what I remember, isn't exactly in the best shape. If there aren't some amazing singers/songs and the story could be improved upon, someone here please tell me so I don't go nuts trying to see it before it closes.

 

Much Obliged!!

Edited June 10, 2015 by DisneyBoy

[Wilson Cat]

Anyone have inside scoop on what Broadway project Megan "Ivy Lynn" Hilty is working on?  She's been open about her dream of playing Lorilei Lee in a full Broadway production of "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".  She got rave reviews when she did that role in the Encores production two years ago.  Know she also did a workshop of "The Honeymooners" so maybe she's working on that?  Too bad someone doesn't write a book for "Bombshell".  Still hope someone out there knows of musical theatre in Paris?  I'll be there for just a week in November, and would love to take in a show.  Any show.  J'apprends la Francais.....

[Rinaldo]

I certainly have no inside information about what Megan Hilty's up to, but I've been hoping that it is indeed an actual production of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. That would be a treat (I fervently recommend the recording Sony made of the event), although I fear that economics would trim away what made it special: the full orchestra, the full choral forces for Hugh Martin's stupendous choral arrangements, and so on. But one can hope. The Act II dance specialty, "Mamie Is Mimi," for three secondary characters, was pretty much the most stupendous 10 minutes I've experienced in all of Encores' history. It's not unusual to look back on an experience and think that, but while it was happening, I realized what bliss I was experiencing, and that if some SF demon condemned me to a 10-minute time loop where I had to sit through that number for all of eternity... I would welcome that.

 

As for Ragtime: The book is one of my favorite reading memories, and the intermingling of fictional and historical figures is one of its chief and most distinctive pleasures. But I do feel that neither the movie nor the musical (and I was a big fan of the latter) really got at its essence. Both turned it, to a great extent, into the story of Coalhouse Walker, whereas Doctorow wrote it as a tapestry of many stories, among which Walker is important certainly, but not as dominant as that -- he doesn't even appear till more than halfway though. People say that this is the only way you can dramatize it, but I'm not at all convinced of that. But I don't suppose there will be any more attempts.

[bosawks]

I thought the revival did a good job of making it less "Coalhouse's Story".

Although, in retrospect, it became somewhat of "Mother's Story".

Christiane Noll was fantastic as Mother, still annoyed about that Tony loss.

[Milburn Stone]

As for Ragtime: The book is one of my favorite reading memories, and the intermingling of fictional and historical figures is one of its chief and most distinctive pleasures. But I do feel that neither the movie nor the musical (and I was a big fan of the latter) really got at its essence. Both turned it, to a great extent, into the story of Coalhouse Walker, whereas Doctorow wrote it as a tapestry of many stories...

 

I don't disagree that the novel had more sense of tapestry, nor do I depart from you in being a big fan of the musical. (One thing the musical gives us by focusing on Coalhouse is the magnificent "Wheels of a Dream," which is worth any distortion of the novel.) I do feel that if one has a problem with mixing historical personages with fictional ones, such that one finds it "weird," the solution is simple: Don't go to a production of Ragtime and don't listen to a cast album of it. Life is too short.

Edited June 11, 2015 by Milburn Stone

[caracas1914]

I do think the novel "RAGTIME" is one of those works of art that is beyond challenging to transpose to another medium. As someone said, all those historical figures interweaving in and out was so so much part of the book. Very difficult to translate that to film or stage without looking gimmicky or a bit jarring.

[aradia22]

 

I do feel that if one has a problem with mixing historical personages with fictional ones, such that one finds it "weird," the solution is simple: Don't go to a production of Ragtime and don't listen to a cast album of it. Life is too short.

You seem terribly fixated on my word choice. I've already expanded on my opinion but of course, I'd go and see a production and listen to a cast album. The music is great. Just because I critique one aspect of a production it doesn't mean I don't/can't enjoy the rest of it.

[Milburn Stone]

You seem terribly fixated on my word choice. I've already expanded on my opinion but of course, I'd go and see a production and listen to a cast album. The music is great. Just because I critique one aspect of a production it doesn't mean I don't/can't enjoy the rest of it.

 

 

It's not the word choice so much that I'm fixated on (I repeated "weird" only because it was convenient shorthand); if I'm fixated on anything, it's my inability to understand a mindset that doesn't attempt to meet a work on its own terms. To find fault with Ragtime because it blends fictional and real personages is analogous to finding fault with My Fair Lady because it doesn't make sense to you that anyone would care about language so much. Or to find fault with Finian's Rainbow because leprechauns aren't real. These are the premises one has to sign on to in order to engage with the work. No law says you have to sign on to them, but if you don't, you'll only be wasting your time.

[Rinaldo]

I do think the novel "RAGTIME" is one of those works of art that is beyond challenging to transpose to another medium. As someone said, all those historical figures interweaving in and out was so so much part of the book. Very difficult to translate that to film or stage without looking gimmicky or a bit jarring.

There was talk some time back (shortly after the musical opened, if I recall right, which makes it all seem even more improbable) of making a miniseries from the book, for cable. It's even possible, unless my memory is totally scrambled, that Robert Altman was mentioned to direct it. That dramatic medium might the one that would allow it to flow as it should, with characters appearing in one episode but maybe not in another, and Altman's mastery of multistory-telling would be just right for it. (He was first announced to direct the movie back in 1981, but then fell out of favor in Hollywood.) Or, as someone would be perfectly entitled to tell me, leave in its original book medium, where it works.

 

I do think a couple of choices were made in the musical's original development which hurt it somewhat. One would have been made by anyone, me included: building up the part of Sarah way beyond what her importance merits and taking up time much needed by lots of other stories. But obviously if you can cast an Audra McDonald, you do; and once you have her, you don't keep her offstage for all but 15 minutes of a long show. Still...

 

The other point was made by the original musical supervisor (not the composer or orchestrator) when they developed it in Toronto: to end Every Single Song in a loud insistent way. More variety in the routines would have allowed an audience to feel the real variety and inventiveness that Flaherty & Ahrens put into their work, and would have forestalled the complaints that "all the songs sound the same" -- they definitely don't, but their endings do. An occasional choice of understatement would have worked wonders. But what's done is done, and I'm just an amateur carping from the sidelines.

[bosawks]

Finian's Rainbow because leprechauns aren't real.

Wait, Leprechauns aren't real?!?!

May my Irish ancestors come down and smite you where you stand!

[Milburn Stone]

Wait, Leprechauns aren't real?!?!

May my Irish ancestors come down and smite you where you stand!

 

You misread me! :) I maintain that for the purposes of engaging with Finian's Rainbow, one must be open (for the space of three hours) to the premise that leprechauns are real. Just as one must be willing to engage the premises of any work, or save one's money, time, and breath.

 

Now, if the execution fails to charm, or fails to convince, that's another matter. But rejection of the premise a priori makes criticism an irrational act.

 

Please intercede with your ancestors before they smite an innocent man. (You see, I believe in their existence, too.)

[bosawks]

Message received.

The smiting is off ;-)

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: Hello, all! This would have been posted sooner but I trekked out to Brooklyn only to find the venue far too small for the crowd. I did get to take one of my favorite subway rides above ground over the bridge (during the sunset!) so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Also, it's my birthday. I'm going to do my best to see The Visit tomorrow and I have another voice lesson so that'll be fun.

 

Another Op’nin, Another Show (OPENINGS)

• Graham Russell, one half of the duo that makes up the popular soft-rock band Air Supply, has penned the music and lyrics to Devil and the Deep, a new musical reimagining of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island." The show opens June 11 at Theater East, Off-Broadway, following previews that began June 10. Devil and the Deep also features music and lyrics by Katie McGhie, with book and additional lyrics by Melissa Bell. Lisa Devine directs with choreography by Sarita Moore.

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• Primary Stages has announced casting for the Off-Broadway premiere of Informed Consent, by Deborah Zoe Laufer and to be directed by Liesl Tommy.

Come to the Cabaret (CABARETS/CONCERTS/ETC)

• Jon Viktor Corpuz, the young actor who plays Prince Chulalongkorn in the Tony-winning Broadway revival of The King and I, will be joined by special guests, including Telly Leung, for Confessions of a Teenage Drama King, a new solo show at 54 Below on June 15.

It’s Only a Play (PLAYS)

• The London production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, which was named Best Revival at the 2015 Olivier Awards, will arrive on Broadway this fall. Young Vic’s production will play Broadway's Lyceum Theatre. Previews will begin Oct. 21 prior to an official opening Nov. 12. The limited engagement will continue through February 21, 2016.

I Want to Go to Hollywood (MOVIE NEWS)

• It looks like the movie musical "Pitch Perfect 2," which sang up $161 million (so far) in ticket sales in the U.S. alone over the past month, is going to get a sequel, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Let Me Be Your Star (TV NEWS)

• An Australian production of Driving Miss Daisy starring multiple Tony Award winners Angela Lansbury and James Earl Jones was taped for TV and will be broadcast in the U.S. July 17 by PBS.

Stop! Wait! What?! (EVERYTHING ELSE)

• Utah's Salt Late Acting Company has announced that its 45th season, which marks a record number of season subscribers, will feature four world premieres

[ebk57]

 

Theatre News Roundup: Hello, all! This would have been posted sooner but I trekked out to Brooklyn only to find the venue far too small for the crowd. I did get to take one of my favorite subway rides above ground over the bridge (during the sunset!) so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Also, it's my birthday. I'm going to do my best to see The Visit tomorrow and I have another voice lesson so that'll be fun.

 

 

Happy Birthday, my dear!!  Hope is was lovely, and that you get to see The Visit tomorrow!!

[Charlie Baker]

Belated birthday wishes, aradia!

[aradia22]

I ignored my alarm and woke up at 9:20 am. I think I'll be safe and just try again tomorrow instead. Also, my eyes are stinging from allergies so I can barely keep them open. That's not what I wanted to talk about though. I forgot to mention that I finished Alan Cumming's memoir, Not My Father's Son. It starts off strong, if incredibly heartbreaking, fumbles a bit in the middle, and then goes on for too long at the end. His relationship with his father is compelling and his grandfather's story is compelling. One problem is that the book is told in a Then and Now fashion that prevents the story from gaining any momentum and ends up putting all this filler in between the two narratives that are of real interest. But I feel like that gesture of undercutting is part of his style. I think he pulls back and downplays a lot of events which is fine but it leaves the book feeling a little flat.

[DisneyBoy]

Bummer. Well good for him for putting pen to paper at least. Couldn't have been easy. Saw an interview with him about the book and it seems like it was a difficult thing for him to do that may have freed him up a bit.

 

So...has no one here seen The Visit, or did I just miss the comments on it? I'm seriously thinking of of going this weekend, but don't want to walk away feeling like I could have skipped it/watched a bootleg (shouldn't really be indulging myself and going in the first place).

[aradia22]

@DisneyBoy You can check other message boards for people's opinions. Aside from the love and hate groups, I think the most reasonable positions I've heard say that it's not quite there yet but there's a lot of good material there and Chita is worth seeing live.

 

The voice lesson went well. Not as well as last time but that's to be expected. I need to work on not tensing up so much. 

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: I'm feeling a little weird. The brief moments I was not in an air-conditioned space today made my brain feel like it was melting. 

 

I Wanna Be A Producer (IN DEVELOPMENT)

• George Stiles and Anthony Drewe have announced that they are writing a new musical based on the book "Becoming Nancy," to be directed in London by American Jerry Mitchell. Terry Ronald's novel is set backstage at a school production of the musical Oliver! with a contemporary twist. David Starr, a working-class lad in 1970s suburban London, gets cast in the female lead, Nancy, in the production.

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• Sierra Boggess, currently on Broadway in the new musical It Shoulda Been You, will take on the role of Rosalie Mullins, the school principal, in School of Rock—The Musical, which is scheduled to begin previews at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre Nov. 9 prior to an official opening Dec. 6. (No word about a closing date for It Shoulda Been You which has not been doing well but is running a lot of commercials.)

I Heard It Through the Grapevine (RUMORS)

• Adam Lambert was offered to the title role in the Tony-winning Broadway revival of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, but declined.

Come to the Cabaret (CABARETS/CONCERTS/ETC)

• Musical theatre songwriter Joey Contreras will offer a concert of his music as part of the 2015 New York Musical Theatre Festival July 16 at The Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center.
• Contemporary musical theatre songwriter Zack Zadek will offer an evening of story-driven synth-pop June 29 at 54 Below.

It’s Only a Play (PLAYS)

• Celebrity siblings the Olsen Twins are the subject of Mallery Avidon's Mary-Kate Olsen is In Love, which is now playing Washington D.C.'s Studio Theatre. The play's central character, Grace, is haunted by the twins in a recurring dream as she struggles with modern-day expectations and a failing relationship.

We Open in Venice, We Next Play Verona (TOURS)

• The Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County, which will launch its U.S. national tour this November at the Des Moines Civic Center, has revealed the initial set of cities on its route.

They Mean Chicago, Illinois (CHICAGO NEWS)

• Chicago's Broadway Playhouse will stage A Charlie Brown Christmas, based on the popular television series, this holiday season.

I Want to Go to Hollywood (MOVIE NEWS)

• Elisabeth Moss will play the lovelorn Masha in a forthcoming movie version of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, according to Deadline Hollywood.

  Broadway's Michael Mayer will direct a cast led by Annette Bening as the theatrical grande dame Arcadian, along with Corey Stoll as the playwright Trigorin, Saoirse Ronan as Nina and Billy Howle as Konstantin. 

Stop! Wait! What?! (EVERYTHING ELSE)

• Stage and screen star Laura Benanti is engaged. (Congratulations to her!)
• Off-Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club has announced a two-week extension of its sold-out world premiere by Simon Stephens, Heisenberg, starring Tony and Emmy winner Mary-Louise Parker and Denis Arndt.

[aradia22]

Have my ticket for The Visit tonight.

[aradia22]

It's too late for the TNR or a review of The Visit. Double stuffed TNR tomorrow. The Visit review tomorrow... maybe.

 

I know Disney was interested so for now I'll just say that I thought it was absolutely worth the $30. Is it perfect? No. But I think you can tell by now that I don't think any show is perfect. It certainly wasn't a trainwreck. It's no Chicago or Cabaret but there's a lot of good there. There are a lot of jokes in the book and some land harder than others. At times it felt a little forced because it was more wit than laugh out loud humor but people were laughing anyway. I feel like I didn't get a good sense of the staging because I was trying to take in so many other things. You do feel the touch of K&E's past shows. There's a tableau vivant (not really what it actually means) and a choral homecoming song and a song played straight out the audience that's sort of show-within-a-show. The cast is strong. Chita is fantastic and I'm always going to be happy that I will now be able to say that I've seen her live. The younger couple is good and they were one of the most effective devices in the show. Tom Nelis is good. Jason Danieley is almost too good as the schoolteacher. The set is lovely. The music is good but not as stand-alone as their other work. Given a couple of listens to the album I could memorize the songs but I wouldn't call them hummable. I think the part that affected me most was not the mystery/tragedy but the love story in the beginning. I'm a romantic and this has been a season of disappointing on stage romances for me (Zhivago, King and I, OTTC, Ghosts, etc.) This one worked. I teared up.

[aradia22]

Random: A butterfly/moth flew out 2 or 3 times and I didn't know if that was part of the show or not.

[Milburn Stone]

... I'll just say that I thought it was absolutely worth the $30. Is it perfect? No. But I think you can tell by now that I don't think any show is perfect.

 

You're right, I can tell from your writings that you feel no show or production is perfect, and this is one of the areas I'm quite grateful we disagree. Some shows are awful, some shows are mostly good or mostly bad, and some shows and productions really are perfect--or so nearly perfect that they might as well be called perfect. Or at least that's been my experience. I'll name the first few that come to mind from a lifetime of theatergoing. The original Broadway production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. The original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd.  The 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls. The 1994 Goodman Theatre production of A Little Night Music. The 2008 production of The Music Man at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. The 2009 Broadway revival of Finian's Rainbow. The current Broadway revival of On the Town (maybe an example in which a production's few weak spots are so overwhelmed by its strengths as to make the weaknesses irrelevant). 

 

So much of your life is theatre, and you attend so much of it, that my wish for you is that you be transported by it as I have been on these and other occasions. Truthfully, if it weren't for transcendent experiences every few years that prove to me what is possible, I don't know that I would keep going to theatre. You must find something else in it motivates you, but it doesn't seem to be ecstasy.

[aradia22]

 

So much of your life is theatre, and you attend so much of it, that my wish for you is that you be transported by it as I have been on these and other occasions.

I won't deny that I sometimes take a more academic/critical approach but at the core of it I just want to have a good time. I hope to love everything. Those truly transcendent experiences are rare but more often than not I get what I'm looking for if a show can just give me goosebumps. I had a good time at The King and I. Doctor Zhivago was a lot of fun. I'm analytical by nature but it doesn't mean I don't enjoy the things I'm talking about. I'm sorry if that doesn't come through.

 

I went back to the stage door for The Visit today. Chita never came out but it was still a great experience and two of the people I met last night came back as well so we had a great talk. Tommy Tune came out and John Kander came out and that was exciting. But my real celebrity sighting was Robert Osborne. Maybe I should put this on the TCM thread but I was so shocked and happy to see him. Only 2 or 3 of us recognized him but he was very gracious and took a photo with me. I will treasure it. 

 

Thoughts on The Visit will be delayed because I have a headache from the heat.

 

The DCINY concert I went to this afternoon was not great. The middle section with the older students/adult ensemble was good but the younger students in the beginning and the very children at the end were... the less said the better probably. 

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: Not So Stuffed Double Stuffed Edition (6/13-6/14)

 

Another Op’nin, Another Show (OPENINGS)

• The Off-Broadway premiere of Bruce Norris' The Qualms, in which various couples attend a swingers party, officially opens June 14 at Playwright Horizons. 

The Party’s Over (CLOSINGS)

• The Visit, the final Broadway musical written by the Tony Award-winning team of Kander and Ebb, ends its run June 14 at the Lyceum Theatre.

They Mean Chicago, Illinois (CHICAGO NEWS)

• The Lyric Opera of Chicago's recent production of Richard Rodgers' and Oscar Hammerstein II's Carousel is broadcast internationally by The WFMT Radio Network and heard locally in Chicago on 98.7 WFMT June 13 at noon. (Did anyone listen?)

[adam807]

I have to wonder, not entirely facetiously or purely out of vicarious bitterness, whether there is a vendetta among the Tony voters against On the Town. I did not see the other nominees in the On the Town categories; but I do know that On the Town was the best thing I've seen in years, maybe decades. Do vendettas against shows (or particular people in shows) exist among the Tony voters? Is Joshua Bergasse, John Rando, or Tony Yazbeck just not well-liked enough as a human being? Are the producers reviled? 

 

Late to this but I've only just discovered this thread here. Hi! I don't know any of them personally but as far as I know Bergasse, Rando and Yazbeck are all delightful humans. People just LOVE The King and I. And I know several people who definitely don't share your opinion of On The Town. People tend to assume the Tonys are more political than I think they are. It's a logical assumption, given how small the community is, but in the end I think it really just comes down to genuine differences in taste and people liking different things.

[Rick Kitchen]

So I saw my first performance of the season at the Sacramento Music Circus today - My Fair Lady.

 

Starring Paul Schoeffler as Henry Higgins - http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=59313

Glory Crampton as Eliza - http://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Glory-Crampton/

Stephen Berger as Alfred Doolittle - http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=79725

Jason Forbach as Freddy - http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=495868

William Parry as Colonel Pickering - http://ibdb.com/person.php?id=74035

 

Schoeffler and Berger were the stars of the show.  Glory Crampton has a lovely soprano, but I thought she was too old, or at least looked too old, for the part.

 

The actress who played Henry Higgins's mother, Toni Sawyer, was horrible.  Very amateurish.

 

Overall, a good performance.  And the costumes were lovely.

 

Sacramento Music Circus is theater in the round, they have to do blackouts and rush set changes in the dark.  And there are a lot of set changes in MFL.  It was a lot of work, but they pulled it off.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Rick Kitchen

[Milburn Stone]

I won't deny that I sometimes take a more academic/critical approach but at the core of it I just want to have a good time. I hope to love everything. Those truly transcendent experiences are rare but more often than not I get what I'm looking for if a show can just give me goosebumps.

 

I'm glad of this.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by academic/critical approach (by this I mean I know you mean something, I just don't know what it is), but my experience is that knowledge works in favor of an emotional response, not against it. We tend intuitively to think of knowledge and emotion as opposites, but that's not true. The more I bring to a work--the more knowledge I have about its background, the historical context in which it was first created, the other works by the same creators, their musical and lyrical or choreographic trademarks, etc.--the more it is able to move me. Thought and feeling reinforce each other, rather than working at cross-purposes.

 

Somehow related to this is one of my favorite epigrams, by E. Y. Harburg, in defining what it is that a song--rather than words alone or music alone--can do: "Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought."

Edited June 15, 2015 by Milburn Stone

[Rinaldo]

Sacramento Music Circus is theater in the round, they have to do blackouts and rush set changes in the dark.  And there are a lot of set changes in MFL.  It was a lot of work, but they pulled it off.

I'm absurdly thrilled to hear about this. Almost every city of any size used to have such a summer theater (or several), and they're almost all gone now.  So this is like a bit of living history.

 

Glory Crampton is indeed something of a veteran; she has stage credits going back about 25 years. So does Paul Schoeffer (in fact they're both on the recording of Maury Yeston's excellent Phantom musical), but of course that doesn't contract what we're told about Higgins. (I'm still hoping to find out if he's any relation to the operatic baritone of the same name; at this point I guess I have to assume not.)

[aradia22]

Theatre News Roundup: Hi guys. I really love what we've been creating here for almost a year but I've started to feel like maybe it's not the right place for me anymore. I will of course keep you posted. 

 

Another Op’nin, Another Show (OPENINGS)

• Lincoln Center Theater's LCT3 production of Preludes, the new musical by Dave Malloy, developed with and directed by Rachel Chavkin, officially opens June 15, following previews that began May 23. Performances of Preludes are set to continue through July 19 at Lincoln Center's Claire Tow Theater.
• The Barrow Group's staging of Craig Wright's The Pavilion, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, officially opens June 15 following performances that began June 10 at TBG Theatre.

Closed for Renovations (CANCELLATIONS)

• Tony-winner Kelli O'Hara has been out of performances of The King and I since Friday night due to a severe flu. Her standby, Betsy Morgan, has been playing Anna Leonowens in her absence. They said she plans to return to the show this Tuesday June 16. (I hope she's alright and I wish her a speedy recovery.)

I Hope I Get It (CASTING)

• Ivan Hernandez makes his Broadway debut June 15 in the role of Billy Flynn in the Tony-winning production of Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre. (He's also Javier on Devious Maids.)
• John Benjamin Hickey and Patrick Breen, both featured in the 2011 Broadway staging of The Normal Heart, will lead the cast of Peter Parnell's Dada Woof Papa Hot at Lincoln Center Theater this October. The new work examines the challenges faced by gay parents, as played by Hickey and Breen.
• Matt Shingledecker and Gerard Canonico will star in an upcoming reading of Kevin Ray Johnson's The Unpredictable Times. The one-act play, according to press notes, "surrounds five friends coming back home to Champlin, Minnesota, after graduating college hoping for the summer of their lives."
• Second Stage Theatre has announced that Karen Pittman will lead the cast of the world premiere of King Liz by Fernanda Coppel. Previews will begin July 13. King Liz follows sports agent Liz Rico (Pittman) fighting to stay on top in a man's industry.
• Principal casting is now complete for the Muny's upcoming production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into the Woods. Playing the role of Cinderella will be Elena Shaddow. (She was good in The Visit but there wasn't enough for her to do to really stand out. I remember one big scene with Anton and not much else. She was Anastasia in the recent reading but I don't know if she'll move forward with it if it comes to Broadway.)

A Musical (MUSICALS)

• Robert Cuccioli will lead the cast of the York Theatre Company's world premiere of Rothschild & Sons, a revamped version of the 1970 musical The Rothschilds, with book by Sherman Yellen and music by the Fiddler on the Roof team of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.

They Mean Chicago, Illinois (CHICAGO NEWS)

• Casting has been announced for Chicago Shakespeare Theater's 75-minute version of Disney's The Little Mermaid, a Broadway musical adaptation of the beloved film, which will be presented July 3-Aug. 16.

A Foggy Day in London Town (UK NEWS)

• A group of award-winning actors have been cast in the Barbican Theatre's production of Hamlet, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, in London.

I Want to Go to Hollywood (MOVIE NEWS)

• Just days after filing a lawsuit against the producer of "Julie Taymor's A Midsummer Night's Dream," the plaintiffs announced that they have unilaterally withdrawn the suit. The film's planned June 15 premiere and June 22 nationwide screening go ahead as scheduled.

Stop! Wait! What?! (EVERYTHING ELSE)

• Tickets for the Broadway debut of Dames at Sea go on sale June 15 for Audience Rewards members. Members have first access to tickets through June 21 by visiting AudienceRewards.com. Single tickets go on sale to the general public June 22.
• The Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris has announced its 2015-16 season, which will include three American musicals: Singin' in the Rain, Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate and Sondheim and Lapine's Passion. All three musicals will be performed in English with French subtitles.
• The Illusionists, which played a hit Broadway run last season at the Marquis Theatre, will return for a limited holiday engagement, beginning Nov. 19 at the Neil Simon Theatre.
• Atlantic Theater Company has announced a two-week extension of its world-premiere engagement of Rajiv Joseph's Guards at the Taj, which officially opened Off-Broadway June 11 to rave reviews.

[Wilson Cat]

Thanks Aradia:

 

The Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris has announced its 2015-16 season, which will include three American musicals: Singin' in the Rain, Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate and Sondheim and Lapine's Passion. All three musicals will be performed in English with French subtitles.

Unfortunately the earliest of these shows, 'Singin' in the Rain' will not start in Paris until after I leave.  If anyone hears anything more about musical theatre in Paris in November, give me a shout out.

[mehtotheworld]

Late to this but I've only just discovered this thread here. Hi! I don't know any of them personally but as far as I know Bergasse, Rando and Yazbeck are all delightful humans. People just LOVE The King and I. And I know several people who definitely don't share your opinion of On The Town. People tend to assume the Tonys are more political than I think they are. It's a logical assumption, given how small the community is, but in the end I think it really just comes down to genuine differences in taste and people liking different things.

But how could people not love On the Town more! Seriously, I love the show a little too much and was really rooting for Tony Yazbeck and Joshua Bergasse, knowing King and I basically had best revival locked up. The Imaginary Coney Island Ballet gets to me every time. I just find it so gorgeous, I get emotional watching it.

 

Anyway, in my head, it's not so much The King and I winning over On the Town, it's An American in Paris. Winning the choreography Tony, getting more press, winning at the box office, and even getting prettier merch. I saw AAIP and was completely underwhelmed. Anyone else seen it that can weigh in? I feel like Tony Yazbeck would have killed as lead, but I'm hardly objective...

[DisneyBoy]

I wouldn't be surprised if in the original French production, this same stratification of language took place: The elite French characters spoke "the King's French," while the characters from the lower social orders spoke the working-class French equivalent of Cockney, whatever that is.

 

If the show was originally performed in French (and I think I read somewhere that it was...right, Les Mis historians?) then I'd be curious to hear what their version of Cockney English was.

 

I remember Laura using an accent but I can't recall if Jane did.

 

If it was her Descending From the Ceiling in a Bedsheets number, then no...she didn't use an accent, at least when she sang.

 

I didn't really see a change in Fosca so to me it just seems like she wore him down and then when she got what she wanted, she seemed kinder because she had won.

 

I could never decide who I found more gross - Fosca or Giorgio. Everyone just seemed selfish, which is a pretty big oversimplification but still a central part of the show. Each of the three main characters just wants love on their own terms. Fosca is rather grotesque but very compelling. I would have to agree that she probably sweetened up because she got what she wanted. She's kind of like the Phantom, minus the catharsis at the end. He lets Christine go, he lets Raoul go, he stops himself from more killing (though Christine certainly gave him reason to stop). Fosca just...argues her way into Giorgio's pants by prostrating herself before him and refusing to let him leave. It's demented and makes sense given her circumstances, but still - demented and hard to root for or enjoy or find something worthwhile in. At least for me. Honestly, I just don't quite get the appeal of that show. Care to fill me in, or do I basically have it in a nutshell?

 

I was able to buy into the masochistic creepy frame of mind that thinks "If I just stalk and pester this other person enough, they'll see the light and come back to me." But otherwise, in a state of relative mental health, no. I just don't buy it.

 

Okay, then - I have it!

 

I was tempted to see the revamped Carrie with Marin Mazzie but I really don't like her voice (except in very specific instances) and truthfully, I just wanted to see Betty Buckley sing "And Eve Was Weak" after watching Seth Rudetsky's deconstruction.

 

WITH YOU. Buckley is the big reason why Carrie is compelling to me, and here Eve Was Weak is incredible. I'm assuming you've seen this link already, but if not, watch in terror: 

 

 

....and I think I just started replying to comments on Page 1 by accident.  *looks up from reply box*  Whoops!

 

Have my ticket for The Visit tonight.

 

JEALOUS. But you probably guessed that :)

 

Chita is fantastic and I'm always going to be happy that I will now be able to say that I've seen her live.

 

Yay! Glad you got to see her too. I saw her in Mystery of Edwin Drood back in...2012 was it? She was having a lot of fun, but everyone in that cast was. Was hoping to see her in something more mysterious. Thanks for the spoiler-free review.

 

I tend to be picky in my own ways too - plot matters and when something isn't connecting 100% it can bug me.  So I'll just tell myself that it wasn't such a big deal that I missed this show and will catch it later *fingers crossed*. Someone threw out the thought of Betty Buckley doing a version someday. Do you see it, Aradia? I have to admit, Chita looked terrific in her makeup and wig and white outfit from the playbill cover I saw.

Edited June 16, 2015 by DisneyBoy

[DeepPoet117]

If the show was originally performed in French (and I think I read somewhere that it was...right, Les Mis historians?) then I'd be curious to hear what their version of Cockney English was.

 

I found this on YouTube. No idea if the accent's any different, since I don't speak French. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXBATVXw9TA

[aradia22]

 

....and I think I just started replying to comments on Page 1 by accident.  *looks up from reply box*  Whoops!

Ha. I was a little unsure of what was happening. But it's all good.

 

Thanks for the spoiler-free review.

I may eventually post a review with more spoilers here or on a personal blog. We'll see how it goes. Part of the reason I wanted to see this was because I was unsure if I'd be able to follow the plot just by listening to the album. Unless they put in a lot of dialogue, and even then, having seen the show I don't think it will translate. This is an adaptation of something else so I don't want to blame the plot issues on Kander and Ebb/Terrence McNally. As far as the plot goes I will say that my issues were largely about pacing and the stakes. But I can get into that at another time. It's a bit late here now. I am not that familiar with Betty Buckley. When I saw the show Saturday night, Chita was talk-singing through a lot of the songs and at the Sunday matinee I heard her laryngitis was so bad she could barely get through a lot of it. I wonder what she would have sounded like had she been at full capacity. I had no problem with her talking through the songs when I thought it was a choice as I did through the entire show on Saturday. I don't think this is a show that can't be performed by anyone but Chita. But it is a show that takes a star. This is a character who is fully in command and who knows it. There's humor and wit she has to pull off. She has to be able to access her emotions in a way that supports material that is maybe not as strong as it could be. It can't be too subtle but it also can't be too broad given the oddness of some of the production. I didn't touch on this earlier (but I would if I wrote a review) but the show wants to be very sexy in a way that's kind of awkward in context (and which is lampshaded by Anton's wife). It's still awkward but it works because it's Chita who was Velma in Chicago and Nickie in Sweet Charity and to a lesser extent Anita in West Side Story and Rose in Bye Bye Birdie. She not only has to have confidence but a believable sass and sexuality. You have to believe that she used to be a "wildcat."

[adam807]

But how could people not love On the Town more! Seriously, I love the show a little too much and was really rooting for Tony Yazbeck and Joshua Bergasse, knowing King and I basically had best revival locked up. The Imaginary Coney Island Ballet gets to me every time. I just find it so gorgeous, I get emotional watching it.

 

I need to find that ballet somewhere out of context, because I know it's a beautiful piece of dance but the show itself is just not for me (and I feel comfortable saying this here because I'm only throwing shade at people who are no longer alive :) ) and by that point in the evening I was just like UGH not ANOTHER fucking dream ballet! Just get on with the actual story! I have the utmost respect for OTT as a product of its time and I love a lot of the score, but I just can't get into it in 2015. Of course the same can be said of almost any revival, certainly The King and I, which has a ton of issues owing to when it was made! And let's not forget On The 20th Century, which also got a ton of love -- this was just a really strong category. And those are three very different pieces and three very different productions with different sensibilities.

 

More to the point, it was a really strong SEASON. I haven't seen American in Paris yet so I can't address your question specifically, but again, talk about different sensibilities! To have that, Fun Home and Something Rotten as the front-runners for Best Musical? I think that's sort of amazing. Best Play was strong, most of the acting categories had no clear front-runner going in. I LOVE a Tony season like this. It means there's lots of good work out there, and lots of good stuff for audiences with varying tastes to see, and hopefully that got conveyed to the TV viewers at home. I think it's so boring when one show sweeps everything, even when I think that show deserves it. :)