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Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner

aradia22

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unicorn23

unicorn23

So last night, finally got a chance to see Nicolette in Waitress and, holy smokes, I was blown away. All of the praise that's been heaped on her regarding her turn as Jenna is so spot on and so well-deserved. I thought no one could beat Jessie as Jenna but Nicolette sure came close. Her performance of She Used To Be Mine was an absolute showstopper. You could hear a pin drop when she hit those last two notes. I think everyone in the audience were stunned that she did that and I LOVED the raucous applause a few seconds after the song ended and the cheers lasted pretty long, too. And of course, I don't think there was a dry eye in the house after this performance. Wow. If you haven't seen Waitress yet, now is the time to go before Nicolette ends her run November 18th. I definitely would want to buy tickets to her last performance just so I can experience it again.

My friend and I stagedoored after the show and got to meet her and she was the sweetest (as sweet as Christy Altomare). We told her that we saw the show on Saturday and then bought tickets to last night's show again because we wanted to see her and she thanked us for coming again and apologized for being sick and missing the show to begin with. I was like "You have nothing to apologize for!" and told her that I was glad she was feeling so much better. Watching her perform, you wouldn't even have thought that she was sick.

Definitely a whirlwind few days seeing all these shows and meeting all these lovely Broadway folks. Vacation is now over and it's time to go back to reality. I am afraid to look at my credit card statement!

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aradia22
aradia22

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/theater/stephen-sondheim-final-interview.html I am glad he got to see the opening of this revival of Company and seemed to be living his best life 'the the end,

aradia22
aradia22
Bethany
Bethany

Just read an article about how this has "sparked a debate about theatre going etiquette".  My mind is boggling that there even needs to be a debate about this.

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aradia22

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I saw Fireflies tonight at the Atlantic. I missed Sugar in Our Wounds but I think a play should be evaluated on its own terms even if it's meant to be part of a trilogy. I had problems with Fireflies. I've been thinking it over since the play ended and I just have to be fair even if I'm sympathetic to the subject matter, it's flawed. It has basic structure and storytelling issues. It's a two-hander with a husband (Charles) and wife (Olivia). The play takes place over 4 days in 1963. September 15-18. You know that because the characters mention dates in diary entries, letters, etc. A whole lot of stuff doesn't happen but a lot of secrets come out. The way they are revealed is a problem. It's not quite a kitchen sink play but there are too many revelations and the play ultimately seems more interested in the drama of the revelations that in unpacking what they mean for the characters. Spoilers.

Spoiler

I don't remember the exact order of the revelations. But he's a preacher/pastor of some sort and she's the one writing his speeches. Obviously this isn't a secret to the two of them. Nor is the fact that she's having a baby. But he doesn't know that she doesn't want the baby. But she knows that he's been cheating on her because of something about a cigarette (not important for me to explain) and because someone sent her a cassette recording of him having sex with another woman. But he knows that she's been emotionally cheating by writing letters to another woman. But he doesn't know that that woman has been dead for years and that they only met once. Also, he doesn't know that she's been praying to God to take away the baby and has finally decided to get an abortion. Also, we the audience learn in the middle of their fight that he drinks too much and hit her once and is maybe violent but that bit is messy and unclear. 

Ultimately it just feels like the playwright doesn't have a good handle on the characters are human beings. He wants to have them as mouthpieces for his arguments and layer on certain identities in order to build sympathy but he hasn't built up a depth to the intersectionality of their identities. It's all revelations and not enough time lived in these bodies. Also, it may be easy or difficult to guess future revelations in a play but in hindsight things should make sense and in a good play, later knowledge can further illuminate things that happened earlier. Not so here. The later revelations feel completely inconsistent with the way the characters behaved at the beginning. I know the 50's and 60's are ripe for a breakdown of the seemingly perfect veneer but it all felt so inconsistent. The revelations came out of nowhere in an unfair way. They would have been just as shocking without being contradictory to what we had just seen in the play. 

I did tear up a little towards the end when 

Spoiler

Charles is killed

so I will give the play credit for moving me emotionally even if I thought the bulk of the play was inaccessible. 

I also just had a problem with the dialogue. It was very clunky at times in addition to the structural problems of the revelations. It wasn't building tension properly because it seemed like the playwright was keeping all these secrets so you would keep switching sides in the argument. It could never build because at any time the playwright could just make up something and you'd have to run with that new piece of information. 

Coming from a feminist perspective, I can't say the writing of the female character is great. It's not terrible. But it's not great. At first before any revelations, she seems like a typical supportive wife character. Emphasis on supportive, as in... not the protagonist. But then we learn about the speeches/sermons. And then all the secrets come tumbling out. And then things are just confusing. Because I don't think all of it made her a well-rounded character. 

Spoiler

Because she's a lesbian with an unconsummated desire. Which btw, kind of felt like bi-erasure. It was a bit confusing what we were supposed to understand about her relationship with Charles. Did she ever love him? They were happy to have sex. And their relationship had really been going on since they were children. And she was not just angry about his betrayal but seemingly jealous about the other women. This was inconsistently portrayed to such a degree that it was difficult to parse whether she was bi and had just fallen out of love with him or if she was a lesbian and had never loved him at all. And also she's neurotic in a way that has metaphorical/symbolic resonance in the play but is not satisfactorily dealt with as mental illness. Basically, she keeps having dreams and waking visions of bombs going off and it feels like anxiety and PTSD and also something like Saint Joan because of how it's tied up in religion. And also this war gets waged over her body because of this baby which is an added complication and yes she ends up keeping the baby because of symbolism and thematic resolution but also goddamn placing that burden on your black female character like that. Also, all the men are terrible to a ridiculous degree like this is a Tyler Perry movie. Not only does the husband have to cheat with countless women (literally, he can't count how many) and drink too much and have hit her and threaten her letters (which are her selfhood/personhood) and beg her to have the baby she doesn't want... but also the abortion doctor forces her to have sex before he'll perform the abortion and then still refuses because we can't visit enough pain and trauma on black women's bodies. She does get her voice back in eulogizing her husband and there's a bit about the baby and a future female generation but it feels empty. 

The play also comes to a unsatisfying end because it wants you to be aware of the present until it doesn't. The play asks for an awareness of the current moment in feeling just how long we've been dealing with the same problems in this country. But then the end of the play places hope on the next generation and on a wave of fireflies as if we don't live in 2018 when there have already been many generations and many fireflies and we still haven't fixed things. 

Personally, I feel like the time period hampered the play with a lack of imagination for what women's lives and LGBT lives and black lives could be even in the early 1960's in America. I think you deny people something when you play into the fallacy that hope is something only for the future and that progress is has a straight trajectory. In truth, progress is made and lost in unequal forward marches and retreats and hope is always necessary and so is the will to fight. 

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aradia22

aradia22

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Original Rent casting director Bernard Telsey compiled the company for the television event, titled Rent Live!, airing on January 27, 2019 at 7:00pm ET.

Dixon (Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert) will take on the role of Tom Collins, with Hudgens (Gigi) as Maureen Johnson, Fisher (Hamilton) as Mark Cohen, Settle (The Greatest Showman) as the "Seasons of Love" soloist, newcomer Brennin Hunt (Nashville) as Roger Davis, pop star Mario (Empire) as Benny, recording artist Tinashe (Dancing with the Stars) as Mimi and celebrated performer Valentina (RuPaul's Drag Race) as Angel.

I'm not a RENThead (as evidenced by the fact that I don't hate the movie) but what even is this cast? The only person I recognize who seems well cast is maybe Tinashe, though I've never seen her act. I guess I'm glad Vanessa Hudgens isn't Mimi but she makes no sense as Maureen. 

https://www.broadway.com/buzz/193826/brandon-victor-dixon-vanessa-hudgens-keala-settle-jordan-fisher-set-for-foxs-rent-live/

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According to the Wall Street Journal, Jim Steinman's Bat out of Hell- The Musical, currently playing in London's West End and touring the United States will hit New York City in 2019, but not Broadway. The paper reports that the musical's tour will instead play a limited 8-week run at City Center from July 30 to September 22 of 2019.

Lulz. It's like the theater gods are determined to have me save money. Which I will, let's be honest, probably spend on My Fair Lady and Moulin Rouge! https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BAT-OUT-OF-HELL-Musical-Sets-8-Week-NYC-Run-at-City-Center-in-2019-20181028

angora

angora

Last week, I had the chance to see Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal in concert together.  RENT was the first musical I ever loved, so I was on cloud 9 for basically the whole thing.

They started out with mostly-separate acoustic sets, Adam Pascal first.  He did quite a bit of rock stuff, including some of his own material.  I wasn't familiar with much of it, but I still enjoyed it.  I really loved the two Broadway numbers he did, "Johanna" from Sweeney Todd (slipped, surprisingly, into the MIDDLE of Jeff Buckley's "Lover, You Should've Come Over") and "Maybe This Time" from Cabaret.  With both, he brought a different feel to them, little changes in tempo and rhythm to give them more of an acoustic rock sound that meshed really well with his voice.

Anthony Rapp had the more crowd-pleasing set for the audience of theatre people, with tons of Broadway.  For shows he's been in, he sang "Origin of Love" from Hedwig and "Happiness" from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and he did an interesting mishmash of other numbers too, including "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" from Jersey Boys and "Falling Slowly" from Once.  He sounded great throughout and had a lot of personal stories and insights to accompany his songs.

They saved the RENT stuff for the end, naturally.  Anthony kicked things off with "Without You" (GORGEOUS) and the "No Day But Today" theme, then started "What You Own" and was joined by Adam after the first chorus.  Adam sang "One Song Glory," which was just incredible, and they ended the show with "Seasons of Love" (Adam took the soloist #1 part, Anthony soloist #2.)  I was basically dying of happiness the whole time - even though it's been a long time and I've discovered a lot of musicals since my RENT-obsessed teenage years, it all came flooding back, and I was just in heaven.  I really appreciated how gracious they were with their time and energy in these songs, not phoning them in or getting them out of the way.  They've sung these songs countless times over the last 20+ years, but they were attentive in giving the audience an experience that was just for them.

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

@angora my friend took her son to see Something Rotten when it was on tour last year. They happened to see it during Broadway Cares week so Adam Pascal sang "One Song Glory" at curtain call. My friend was freaking out and had to explain to her kid that he was getting to see something FUCKING AMAZING!

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aradia22

aradia22

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I got to attend the Only Make Believe 2018 gala tonight. Some thoughts...

I will always love Marc Kudisch. I fell in love with him after the one two punch of Bye Bye Birdie and The Apple Tree. But he's starting to go the way of Norm Lewis and being a baritone who keeps singing in a tenor range and I'm not into it. Also, I kind of want to see that Bob Dylan show (Girl From the North Country). I haven't heard any buzz about a transfer since it was in previews.

Jeanna previewed a song from Diana. 1) She does not look like Diana 2) I get why an 80's sound would fit the story but also no 3) This show seems like it's going to be BAAAAD

Bethenny Frankel accepted an award for her philanthropic work after the natural disasters. Her speech was a little scattered but mostly inoffensive. Her legs are very skinny in person and her cheekbones are crazy. I did think her speech had a nice message about anyone being able to make a difference.

I haven't seen a lot of Joe diPietro shows. I saw Clever Little Lies (bad) and I've listened to Memphis. But I get the impression that they're (at best) lazy and (at worst) problematic. 

They ended with Memphis. Montego flew in from Chicago. She is a goddess and was wasted in Memphis. Someone needs to write her a show. Those high notes! Chad Kimball is... still a mess. Also, I was disappointed that James Monroe Iglehart didn't show up to do Underground which is the one song I unreservedly enjoy from that show. 

The organization at the center of the gala does seem like it's doing wonderful work. https://www.onlymakebelieve.org/

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aradia22

aradia22

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I watched Ordinary Days tonight. It was pretty good but I didn't love it. The set isn't abstract exactly, more minimalistic. It reminds me of the vibe of the recent Falsettos revival but without the pieces changing. It's just a big screen in a cube shape (like the Apple store) obscuring the on stage band and some shallow stairs. There are props but I don't remember furniture or sets. The costuming was fine. For a modern show, it gave a decent sense of who the characters are.

I wouldn't go just to hear the vocals. There are videos floating around online that no doubt have better renditions of these songs. In some ways it's not the easiest score and the actors manage but some just get by and others soar. The actress playing Deb shines the most because she goes for that musical theater belt that fits the score and gets attention. She seems like she's fresh out of school. She maybe over-sings a little and could hit the comedy harder (I kept imagining Bonnie Milligan) but otherwise she came across the best. Whitney Bashor is Claire and she's the second best. She negotiates the score without strain but her moments are more acting moments than magical singing moments. The actor playing Warren has a bit of a weak voice but he has his moments. It helps that the Warren parts didn't sound very complex but just had some high notes. The actor playing Jason did his best but he didn't really rise to the challenge of the score. 

I have difficulty recalling all of the songs that well but it felt very contemporary musical theater. It sounded most like Jason Robert Brown but also some Robert Lopez, some Tom Kitt, some William Finn, at least one Sondheim-y song. I can definitely hear that it was written around 10 years ago. It's not quite melodic all the time which I get as a choice to reflect conflict or a character being unsettled or whatever. But it has songs (mostly for Warren) where the underscoring stays mostly the same and the character is just rattling off information without much sense of meter or musical resolution and I hate those songs. I don't mind a chatty song but if you don't do that kind of thing well, the information just breezes past you which is bad if there are important details in the song. I did like the orchestrations including winds (sax, flute, clarinet). Even though there are benefits to presenting the show this way, I think it might actually work better as a concert with breaks for applause. 

I feel like the show is best evaluated by tracking each character's story so... spoilers now.

Spoiler

I don't think she's the most original character but I connected the most with Deb. She's from a suburb of a suburb but she's become a New Yorker and her anxiety about her life and the various stresses of the city was the most relatable to me. The comedic songs, the belting... she's easily the most accessible. Even if her millennial problems are well-traversed ground. I didn't love how her story wasn't completely resolved. Yes, she's friends with Warren and she gives up on a dissertation she doesn't believe in. But is she still in grad school? If not, then Warren's message doesn't really suit a character who is used to giving up and moving on whenever she's unhappy where she is.

Claire was the next most interesting character. She's a bit of a cold fish, though that may have been the way she was dressed and how Whitney played her. She was a little uptight. But maybe that's the character. Do normal people argue about cabernet and riesling? I don't drink. Anyway, I could tell she was thinking about an ex but I didn't see the 9/11 thing coming. I still don't know how I feel about that as a twist. And her feeling that her dead husband was finally allowing her to move on. I did like the depiction of her relationship problems with Jason but I don't think the resolution sorted through all of it. Yes, she was holding her heart back but they seemed to have other issues. They didn't seem the most compatible and for someone who was so in love with her, he didn't seem that attentive and was unnecessarily combative. Also, in the song where she talks about John, it's VERY confusing who she's talking about since Jason mentions that he first meets her when it's snowing. 

Played by a better actor and singer, Jason would have been more interesting but not by much. He's into Claire. We don't get that much more insight. He doesn't seem like the most interesting person outside of their relationship. He's got a drafting table... so an architect?

Warren was the character I had the most difficulty with. I didn't find him offensive but he made me uncomfortable and I think it's an issue to wrap up so much of the show's message in this character without refining him a bit. In the first song when he was going on about being seen and a manifesto I was worried he was going to shoot someone. It was that level of entitlement. And while he did email Deb and give her back the notebook, the way he drew it out made me resentful. Like, cool, you see the world in the different way but if you were actually a good person with empathy you would be responsive to this other person's stress and anxiety. There's an easy reading here where you can see how the composer might have seen himself in this character. But there's a difference in composing a musical and in taking the quotes/paintings of a trust fund hippie artist and xerox copying them onto flyers as your grand artistic statement. If Warren was an art critic or even just an amateur tour guide at the Met, I would have had more respect for him. But he was like... a worse version of Maureen from RENT, except we were supposed to take him completely seriously. He could have used his own words. He could have been a photographer if he wanted people to notice ordinary beauty or stop and take some time to look around. At least he wasn't too self-righteous but having this character argue the show's main ideas felt off. Also, while his big moment is pretty as a stage picture, I just kept thinking... you're littering. 

ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

Everyone's Talking About Jamie is in theaters this Sunday and next Wednesday. This was recorded live in July. You can find theaters and show times here!

Layton Williams will take over the role of Jamie on January 29, 2019. I remember him as Kylie from Beautiful People but he also starred in the West End production of Billy Elliot and he played Angel in the 20th anniversary UK tour of Rent.

ebk57

ebk57

On 11/10/2018 at 3:27 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Everyone's Talking About Jamie is in theaters this Sunday and next Wednesday. This was recorded live in July. You can find theaters and show times here!

Layton Williams will take over the role of Jamie on January 29, 2019. I remember him as Kylie from Beautiful People but he also starred in the West End production of Billy Elliot and he played Angel in the 20th anniversary UK tour of Rent.

I went to see this today.  It's...sweet.  A life-affirming coming-of-age story with bright, poppy songs.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, especially for movie prices (and not theatre prices...)

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aradia22

aradia22

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A longer, more coherent arc for Ann — in which she really learns something about the cost of human ambition — might have helped to remedy this effect, but Pitts is singing her heart out as the kind of flat Strong Woman, with a very loud capital-S-capital-W, that’s been written by a group of really nervous, well-meaning men. Which means she doesn’t do much growing or changing: She’s just a bright-eyed badass all the way through, a character that has her few moments of weakness not because they actually make much sense coming from the practically perfect wonder-woman we’ve been introduced to, but because the plot requires them. [...] For this silliness to work, we’ve got to believe that this woman has enough of her own weakness, her own frustrated desire and cruel ambition, that she would let out that cry — without which, there is no second act. Without which, the magnificent, innocent beast survives. But Thorne hasn’t written a flawed, conflicted character, and director Drew McOnie isn’t having Pitts play one. Instead, she’s burdened with such fabulosity and uncomplicated integrity from the show’s very beginning that the plot-necessitated cracks in her glowing armor don’t seem real or deeply felt. She only messes up because the plot says she must. Meanwhile, the men behind the scenes keep bending over backwards to show us how totally awesome she is, and how totally awesome they are for knowing that a woman is capable of being totally awesome. [...] 

What hurts in a different way is listening to the song that comes after his death. King Kong is bound and determined to check all the big Broadway musical boxes, which means that we get showgirls and dancing sailors and lots of nods to the magic of NYC — and we get a soaring, hopeful finish. Which just feels flat wrong. After Kong’s demise, as the sun rises gloriously in the background, Pitts has to sing a song called “Wonder,” with lots of lyrics like “Your grace showed me the way” and “I believed, and found my humanity” and “Can you feel the wonder?” Yes, yes we could, and then we killed it. “Wonder” feels like watching a group of people who scaled Everest and then blew it up sing about how much they learned along the way. Cool, I’m glad you found yourselves.

We’re supposed to be dazzled by King Kong—there’s a Giant Monkey vs. Giant Snake battle royale, for God’s sake!—but so much dazzle is almost necessarily blinding. It starts to obscure uncomfortable questions. Like, for instance, what can we make of such a blowout commercial endeavor that effectively condemns commercialism? Is putting this story onstage in a typhoon of living spectacle actually the completion of a strange Ouroboros, where the ideas at the heart of the narrative start to eat their own tails? How much progress does Ann Darrow, 2018 edition—her empowerment brought to us by a male creative team—actually represent? Is there anything truly new or spectacular going on apart from that puppet?

That puppet, though. I mean, the monkey’s amazing.

From the Vulture review of King Kong. I'm thinking Sara might be a worthy successor to Jesse. I hope this means we now have a thoughtful feminist theater critic out there who knows what she's talking about. God knows we could use one.

https://www.vulture.com/2018/11/theater-review-king-kong-whos-there.html

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

On 11/10/2018 at 12:27 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Everyone's Talking About Jamie is in theaters this Sunday and next Wednesday. This was recorded live in July. You can find theaters and show times here!

Layton Williams will take over the role of Jamie on January 29, 2019. I remember him as Kylie from Beautiful People but he also starred in the West End production of Billy Elliot and he played Angel in the 20th anniversary UK tour of Rent.

 

On 11/11/2018 at 3:02 PM, ebk57 said:

I went to see this today.  It's...sweet.  A life-affirming coming-of-age story with bright, poppy songs.  Not a bad way to spend an afternoon, especially for movie prices (and not theatre prices...)

I agree. It was a fun show with a positive message and some good songs (I bought the cast recording version of "It Means Beautiful" plus the version on the concept album by Dan Gillespie Sells). Definitely worth the price of a movie ticket! There is talk of making it into a movie and/or bringing it to Broadway but since that is still all up in the air, I'm glad I got to see the show sooner rather than later.

I'm not sure how well the show will age because a lot of it is very much of the moment with the slang and pop culture references, but it's definitely a snapshot of what life can be like in this day and age (the possibilities as well as the shitty things). I saw the cast perform "And You Don't Even Know It" at the Oliviers and I wasn't overly impressed so I was pleasantly surprised that I ended up enjoying the show as a whole.

I thought the cast was pretty strong as a whole. I loved Josie Walker (who played Jamie's mom, Margaret). "He's My Boy" was so lovely. Michelle Visage (probably best known for being a judge on RuPaul's Drag Race and a member of the girl group Seduction) is currently playing Miss Hedge but she's leaving before Layton Williams takes over as Jamie.

aradia22

aradia22

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This is either going to be amazing or terrible. Like Smash 2.0

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FX today announced the additional cast that will appear in Fosse/Verdon, an eight episode limited series from award-winning producers Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Joel Fields. Production on the series, now officially titled Fosse/Verdon, is currently underway in New York City ahead of its premiere on FX in Spring 2019.

Joining Academy Award® winner Sam Rockwell and four-time Academy Award nominee Michelle Williams in the highly-anticipated series are series regulars Norbert Leo Butz as Paddy Chayefsky and Margaret Qualley as Ann Reinking. Additional recurring cast members include: Aya Cash as Joan Simon, Nate Corddry as Neil Simon, Susan Misner as Joan McCracken, Bianca Marroquin as Chita Rivera, Kelli Barrett as Liza Minnelli, Evan Handler as Hal Prince, Rick Holmes as Fred Weaver, Paul Reiser as Cy Feuer, Ethan Slater as Joel Grey, Byron Jennings as George Abbott and Laura Osnes as Shirley MacLaine.

Based on Fosse, the BIOGRAPHY written by Sam Wasson, this eight-part limited series tells the story of the singular romantic and creative partnership between Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Norbert-Leo-Butz-Laura-Osnes-Ethan-Slater-Join-Cast-of-FOSSEVERDON-20181119

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angora

angora

I tend to think of LMM as a just-all-right singer (between between a brilliant composer/lyricist and an amazing rapper, SOMETHING'S gotta give, right?), but I saw this yesterday and was really impressed with him.  Wonder if he'd been working on that in preparation for the new Mary Poppins?  Either way, I'm now even more excited to see him in that!

ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

And the music for "Cheering for Me" was written by Tony Award winner John Kander (who is 91!).

20 hours ago, angora said:

I tend to think of LMM as a just-all-right singer (between between a brilliant composer/lyricist and an amazing rapper, SOMETHING'S gotta give, right?), but I saw this yesterday and was really impressed with him.  Wonder if he'd been working on that in preparation for the new Mary Poppins?  Either way, I'm now even more excited to see him in that!

I agree. LMM is amazingly talented but singing is not his strongest suit (he's not terrible but his other skills are much more impressive while his singing is usually fine but not great). When I first heard the song a few days ago, I did notice that he sounds better in this song though.

ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

16 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Did you hear some groups are throwing a fit because they claim the same sex "ruined" what they considered to be a "family program"? Gimme a fucking break.

The hilarious thing is that, in contrast, all of the posts/articles I saw about this performance over the weekend were celebrating the fact that this was the first LGBTQ kiss on the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. The people bitching about it are proving the show's point.

I saw Isabelle McCalla in Aladdin last year (almost exactly one year ago now that I think about it!) so it was great to see her again.

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DisneyBoy

DisneyBoy

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I'm not a RENThead (as evidenced by the fact that I don't hate the movie) but what even is this cast?

Yeah...I'm a little thrown by the Valentina factor. I'm not saying she isn't perfect, beautiful, or looks like Linda Evangelista...or that she couldn't walk out there in a diaper and get complimented for her smile...but can she sing? Or act? The casting on these live broadcasts is often suspect. It'll be interesting to see how this goes. If she knocks it out of the park, it'll definitely open doors for her though.

 

SO!

I watched The King and I at the movie theatre (cause I never got to see it on Broadway) and am so glad they filmed this production. For one thing, the bootleg I downloaded way back when was impossible to watch and Ken's diction was atrocious. Since this was filmed in London after the closure of the Lincoln Centre production, he was clearly much more comfortable with the dialogue. His singing and acting left a lot to be desired though. He wasn't terrible, mind you, but I felt like he was having too much fun with the part and couldn't command authority the way I recall Yule Brenner could. I kind of wish they'd edited down his schtick a little bit. It felt like pulling faces in an attempt to get laughs. I would have preferred a more well-rounded performance (and honestly, a better singing voice).

 

But otherwise - Wow. Kelli O'Hara sounds like she's never sung a wrong note in her life. Effortless and sweet and just wow. Ruthie Ann Miles was brought over to London to reprise her role as Lady Thiang and THANK GOD for that because even without knowing who she was or that she'd won a Tony when I stepped into the theatre, she was the thing I thought about most after leaving the theatre. Her performance was so incredible. She said so much with each of her character's gestures. It was all under the surface there. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to be constantly on the verge of tears and having to smile in spite of your character's deep pain. I didn't get enough of her, really.

The Tuptim and Lun Tha were interesting. She was very thin and had a stunning voice but didn't completely pull me in for whatever reason. He was a bit of a miscast. He sang very well....but he felt like a modern guy playing a part in a show. Maybe his features looked out of place for whatever reason. He also didn't do much with his physicality. Mostly just stood there with an impressive physique. That's not enough to get me to cry over your fate, dude.

I'd never seen the whole show before, so it was interesting how they dealt with the Tuptim subplot. I knew they wouldn't kill her on-stage in an upbeat Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, but they didn't entirely shy away from her fate either. It's a perky show, but there's so much darkness and despair and tough life stuff in there. I kinda wonder what we'd have if this version never existed and someone tried to tell the same story now, with today's audience's sensibilities.

 

Here's my question to those of you who saw it in NY on that unusually-shaped Lincoln Centre stage - how did the columns move during the iconic "Shall We Dance" dance? In this version they slowly slid to the left of the stage as Kelli and Ken had to dance around/between them. Honestly, I was so distracted that they might bump into the darn things I couldn't get swept up in the moment. And weirdly, the columns were the only things moving on the stage at that point. The lightning fixtures and chair didn't budge.  Why bother shuffling the columns around if not to suggest they're dancing over to another space entirely?? I was really taken out of the show by that directing choice and figured maybe it was better staged in NY or something.

Also - was Ashley Park really amazing as Tuptim? I've seen her all over YouTube so she seems to be a thing.

 

I'm curious to hear from those of you who saw the OBC and this London filmed version. Compare and contrast for me :)

 

Lastly, while Kelli was absolutely worth filming, I can't help but wish we'd also gotten a filmed version with Marin Mazzie, who I imagine must have been wonderful. Can't believe she's gone. Who was her King? I would have enjoyed seeing another actor take on that part as well.

 

Hopefully Broadway continues with this trend of filming shows. It was so, SO nice to be able to experience this properly, even if it wasn't live in front of me. Are they filming/have they filmed Hello Dolly? And will this King and I see DVD release? Has She Loves Me? I imagine when putting together the paperwork for a filmed version, the contracts would also allow for DVD release....otherwise these would once again be lost to time...

Edited by DisneyBoy
  • Love 2
Rinaldo

Rinaldo

13 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Hopefully Broadway continues with this trend of filming shows.

Note that "Broadway" didn't do it -- it had to wait for a London production (and possibly different situation contracting with unions? I have no information about that), as did the Kiss Me, Kate revival which ran for years but got video'd only in its subsequent London run.

And is it a "trend" if it happens only once in a hundred times?

13 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

Are they filming/have they filmed Hello Dolly?

No. It closed last August without any of that happening.

13 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

And will this King and I see DVD release? Has She Loves Me?

Who knows. That Kiss Me, Kate did, so it may not be impossible for the similarly London-originated King and I. For She Loves Me, I would say probably not go onto DVD, as a streaming service is offering it now and wouldn't want competition. 

13 hours ago, DisneyBoy said:

I imagine when putting together the paperwork for a filmed version, the contracts would also allow for DVD release....

I believe the opposite is true -- the agreement with all the unions to allow filming may only become possible if the possibility of DVD release is excluded. But again, that's only the impression of an amateur from the sidelines.

DisneyBoy

DisneyBoy

Enjoy eeeeeeeeet! ENJOY IT!

 

Thanks for the reply Rinaldo. Yikes, kinda makes me wish I'd done an audio bootleg of the movie. It's really a beautiful production - I expect it would sell well on DVD or as a streaming experience. And it's an oldie so...why not? Been plenty of film versions already. But then again, the estate might be more picky about that kind of thing now. Who knows.

  • Love 1
aradia22

aradia22

  • Author
Quote

Here's my question to those of you who saw it in NY on that unusually-shaped Lincoln Centre stage - how did the columns move during the iconic "Shall We Dance" dance? In this version they slowly slid to the left of the stage as Kelli and Ken had to dance around/between them. Honestly, I was so distracted that they might bump into the darn things I couldn't get swept up in the moment. And weirdly, the columns were the only things moving on the stage at that point. The lightning fixtures and chair didn't budge.  Why bother shuffling the columns around if not to suggest they're dancing over to another space entirely?? I was really taken out of the show by that directing choice and figured maybe it was better staged in NY or something.

Also - was Ashley Park really amazing as Tuptim? I've seen her all over YouTube so she seems to be a thing.

 

I'm curious to hear from those of you who saw the OBC and this London filmed version. Compare and contrast for me :)

 

Lastly, while Kelli was absolutely worth filming, I can't help but wish we'd also gotten a filmed version with Marin Mazzie, who I imagine must have been wonderful. Can't believe she's gone. Who was her King? I would have enjoyed seeing another actor take on that part as well.

I stand by enjoying Ken Watanabe's performance. What you call "pulling faces" worked really well in the theater. I liked that he didn't ape Yul Brynner. As long as you keep the integrity of the character intact, there should be room for different interpretations. 

From what I remember, the columns did not move or they didn't do so in a way that was distracting (I only remember movement during scene changes). 

You can dig back in this thread but I found Ashley miscast. I saw her understudy on a different night (I saw it 3 times) and she was much better. Ashley had a strong voice but she was far too strident. It didn't make sense for the character. She was already fully liberated before reading any books. I don't know if Conrad was in the London version but he was also slightly miscast. His voice wasn't that strong even though he seems like a very likeable person. 

Marin was fantastic. A bit too old but allowing for that I liked her grande dame interpretation of the character. Very dignified. And of course it was such a triumphant moment knowing she was in remission. She was paired with Daniel Dae Kim. He was alright but it was mostly her show. Again, I think I recorded my thoughts in this thread.

DisneyBoy

DisneyBoy

(edited)
Quote

I stand by enjoying Ken Watanabe's performance. What you call "pulling faces" worked really well in the theater. I liked that he didn't ape Yul Brynner. As long as you keep the integrity of the character intact, there should be room for different interpretations. 

 

Definitely. I found his King very warm and very...stressed out? I think I just needed a bit more of that imposing austerity one associates with Kings to allow for more of an arc. It's like when you watch Beauty and the Beast and you see too much of the soft side of the Beast in his opening scenes, you know what I mean? Anyway, maybe this is always meant to be Anne's show more than his.

 

Has the role of his Head Queen ever been a standout, though? She certainly gets plenty of material so I'd guess it's always been one of those roles that shines. But wowsers, did Ruthie bring her all to it. Horrible what she's been through with the car accident...

 

I just found the live broadcast of Holiday Inn online, so I'll (hopefully) be watching that in the days ahead. Heck, I still have to finish watching She Loves Me!

 

Thanks for the thoughts on Marin. She seemed like such a joyful person.

 

Edit: I just learned Ruthie filmed in London after her accident and losing her kids. The cain was needed and not a character choice.

...damn. No wonder she was so emotional. Brave gal. 

Edited by DisneyBoy
Rinaldo

Rinaldo

On 12/5/2018 at 3:03 PM, Silver Raven said:

A new production of Kiss Me, Kate will be arriving on Broadway on March 14, starring Kelli O'Hara and Will Chase.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Complete-Casting-Announced-for-the-Broadway-Revival-of-KISS-ME-KATE-20181204

This got some discussion here a page or two ago.

Spartan Girl

Spartan Girl

I saw Fiddler on the Roof at my theater today, and it was a great performance. My only little nitpick is the guy playing Tevye was younger than he was supposed to be -- younger than the actress playing Golde.  Don't get me wrong, he was still wonderful, it's just a little distracting. The guy playing the rabbi or Lazar Wolf would have been more age appropriate.

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