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Thoughts on Music Themed Academy Awards
Feb 25
2013, 02:31:54 AM
The theme was music yet the orchestra was playing a mile away at the Capitol Records building. Really?!
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PASSION Off-Broadway Preview Thread
Feb 16
2013, 11:52:26 AM
I don't buy a word of it. Not a single solitary word.
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PASSION Off-Broadway Preview Thread
Feb 14
2013, 05:35:55 PM
Rob Berman is the Musical Director. Jonathan Tunick made new orchestrations specifically for the 9 musicians in this production.
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re: Patrick Wilson's GAP ad - The Boyfriend
Mar 17
2007, 02:58:14 AM
"Oh, Patrick, has it come to this? Hawking Gap pants on TV?"
Are you kidding me? We should all be so lucky!
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re: La Jolla's 'The Wiz'
Dec 19
2006, 02:40:00 AM
"And the point is not just a space but a space that would work with La Jolla's brilliantly immersive production. A traditional proscenium space is pretty much just not going to cut it."
Actually, the immersive set was designed for a traditional proscenium space. La Jolla's Mandell Weiss Theatre has a traditional proscenium. The additional seating is on the stage (patrons had to make their way backstage to get to their seats) and the "yellow brick road" extended out over either si
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Come on and Ease On Down Ease On Down The ROAD!
Nov 12
2006, 02:20:35 AM
"Have you seen The Wiz? It does NOT belong in a small theater, the production is HUGE"
Neddyfrank is right. The set was actually orginally designed for the Hirshfeld when they were going to do it directly on B'way several years ago. The yellow brick road was going to go through the orchestra section as well as in front of the mezzanine level. If you've ever been to the Mandell Weiss Theatre in La Jolla, you know that it is a regular proscenium style house. There would have to be much mo
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re: Color Blind Casting
Oct 29
2006, 05:35:29 AM
"Color-blind casting is wrong and unnatural. The blacks have no business being in "Les Miserables." I won't be seeing the revival, until they cast it correctly."
YEAH!!! I'm with you! White, White, White...I only want to see White on B'way. They don't call it the great WHITE way for nothing. White people can play anything! ANYTHING!!! And only White people! Who needs black people any way? Ever heard of Al Jolson? Bring him back! Asians? Hispanics? White people can do that too! M.A.C.
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re: Trap Door Question
Oct 15
2006, 03:52:14 PM
Elevator type traps in professional productions are always custom designed and custom made for the specific production with numerous safety elements built in to ensure the actor's safety. They are extremely dangerous and many accidents have occured even with the safety precautions in place.
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re: La Jolla THE WIZ - official reviews
Oct 12
2006, 06:20:15 PM
A love letter from Variety:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931842?categoryid=1265&cs=1
By Robert Verini
To call the La Jolla Playhouse production of "The Wiz" a mere revival is to understate the accomplishment of helmer Des McAnuff and his production team. They have rethought, rescaled and reshaped an uneven musical play of historical importance but modest virtues into a joyful, stunningly entertaining circus of spectacle, soul and heart. Despite a few easily fixed opening-night tech glitches, and some less-easy-to-fix weaknesses built into the 1975 original, "The Wiz" will thrill Southern California audiences for the next month -- and don't be surprised to see it ease on down the interstate to a hearty Gotham welcome sometime soon.
The physical wizardry of this "Wiz" comes as no surprise given McAnuff's past mastery at marshalling state-of-the-art technology in the service of an emotional story. (Show makes his earlier techstravaganza, "The Who's 'Tommy,' " look like "The Gin Game.") All of L. Frank Baum's creatures, from witches and Winkies to Munchkins and Kalidas, are sent careening across, around, above and below Robert Brill's exciting full-theater environment, which sends a runway between rows 7 and 8 and places spectators onstage, pulling aud firmly into the action and making it clear we're not in Kansas anymore.
Paul Tazewell's costumes are witty and stylish, and Howell Binkley's rock-concert lighting and special effects are complemented by Michael Clark's evocative projections. And whenever choreographer Sergio Trujillo seems to have reached the limit of variations on hip-hop or breakdance style, he comes up with yet another, culminating in the showstopping "Everybody Rejoice."
But it's the underlying conceptual thinking that serves to make this production so powerful.
Thirty years ago, it was significant that an all-African-American company would be assembled to translate Baum's classic fantasy into the urban black vernacular. Tony-winning tuner brought out themes of self-reliance and believing in oneself that reflected the general assertion of racial identity at that time. Even then, however, the jokes in William F. Brown's libretto were musty and Charlie Smalls' songs left little impression. After a ploddingly literal 1978 movie version flopped, show seemed quaint and dated, and one understood why no major professional company was moved to revisit it.
However, over the same 30 years, pop culture has become a true melting pot: Hip-hop, salsa and techno are no longer "theirs," but part of everyone's beat. And the need to face an uncertain future fearlessly is shared by all. "The Wiz" remains a collage of contemporary slang and imagery, but La Jolla's is a multicultural collage in which Baum's themes speak to the broadest possible audience. Unquestionably, the humor and the heartbeat of the piece remain African-American at their source, but the overall effect is pluralistic and inclusive. In the truest and most positive sense of the phrase, McAnuff's show is color-blind.
Every alteration from the 1975 original, inspired by the central multicultural concept, is salutary. Brown's almost wholly rewritten script is tart and funny at last. Smalls' score -- supervised by musical director Ron Melrose and original orchestrator Harold Wheeler -- sounds fresh and contemporary, with the "Stomp"-like arrangement of "Slide Some Oil to Me," performed by Michael Benjamin Washington's hilarious Tinman, a special highlight. His original first-act closer "What Would I Do?," a puzzling solo that made one wonder why no one else got a song, now takes in the Lion, Scarecrow and Dorothy to become a gorgeous R&B ballad beseeching the Wiz's aid.
Any "Wizard of Oz" stands or falls on its Dorothy, and this production has both a Dorothy and a Toto for the ages. With the voice of an angel and strong acting chops, Nikki M. James is no weepy Nellie, but a confident young lady with good sense. (The satellite dish atop her farmhouse tells us she doesn't have to dream of what's over the rainbow: she's seen it on CNN.)
As for Toto, in a brilliant stroke, arrival in Oz turns the pup into a two-legged street dancer (Albert Blaise Cattafi). He gets no words, and needs none. In this amazing, enthralling performance, his panting and playful leaping embody the self-reliance, courage, and loyalty for which the main characters are all searching.
The witches of "The Wiz" go the MGM version one better. With scatterbrained Addaperle (the amusing Heather Lee), Good Witch of the North, assigned to suggest a trip to the Emerald City, sister Glinda's appearance is held back, as in Baum, to make her the deus ex machina for Dorothy's ultimate return. But Valarie Pettiford, doubling as Aunt Em, is worth the wait as she delivers a smashing pop-diva rendition of "If You Believe."
Poured into a yellow jumpsuit with devil's wings, E. Faye Butler's Evillene boasts the stature of Wanda Sykes and the voice of Moms Mabley. A credible threat to our heroes, Butler may rival and even eclipse the witchery of the sainted Margaret Hamilton once she corrects some inaudibility of lyrics and dialogue.
Most conspicuous symbol of inclusiveness, and most daring conceptual choice, is the Cowardly Lion, whose flouncing gives new meaning to "friend of Dorothy." The movie's Bert Lahr was fey, but Tituss Burgess takes the character toward Angel in "Rent." Still, there is no condescension or foolishness in this turn. When he and Dorothy team on "Be a Lion," climbing the catwalks and gaining courage with each step, it becomes an anthem to human dignity on the order of "I Am What I Am."
Curiously, two strong characters in the 1939 film have the least impact here. The Scarecrow (likable Rashad Naylor) fades into the background once he's introduced in his triumphant "I Was Born on the Day Before Yesterday."
The Wiz himself is more problematic. He first appears not as an enormous disembodied head but as a fairly ordinary fellow who, despite vocal amplification and an imperious air, fails to justify his billing as "Oz, the Great and Terrible," especially as played by the gentle David Alan Grier. It's hard to believe in his iron-fisted command of Emerald City, or the threats that send our heroes off to kill the Witch.
Worse yet, seeing him in human form in the first act diminishes the power of the reveal in the second. Since we've already seen the Wiz for what he is, we don't feel the four friends' crushing realization that they have fallen victim to a humbug. For the only time in this production, one needs to reflect on the MGM movie to tap into the emotionality of a key scene.
"Oz" devotees will appreciate McAnuff's conclusive answer to the most vexing perennial question: Why is Dorothy so insistent on leaving Oz and going back to Kansas? For all its visual and aural delights, McAnuff's Oz is an ominous and unwelcoming place, not unlike the outside world it's meant to reflect. By contrast, Aunt Em's warmth in her opening duet, "The Feeling We Once Had," establishes a bond of love with her niece that resonates throughout the action.
In final tableau, there's nothing much left of the Gale farm. (The house was lost in the tornado, remember?) Dorothy and Toto join her aunt at the water pump, and Uncle Henry (Orville Mendoza) wanders in to envelop them all in a massive embrace as the music swells. Perhaps for the first time ever in "Wizard of Oz" history, we're truly persuaded that there's no place like home.
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re: Neddys Wiz Review *Not Complete* ***SPOILERS***
Sep 28
2006, 03:09:58 AM
"Please Post this from neddyfrank2
on 9/25/06 @ 11:49:51 PM
Sorry, my account won't let me most this right now, but I was wondering if you could post this for me on the thread about my WIZ review.
It is the response to your post:
UPDATED!
Thespinoy- I really didn't try to make it sound cheesy at all. I didn't think it was cheesy when I was watching it, I just guess when you try to describe it, it sounds cheesy.
I never said that The Feeling WE Once
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re: Neddys Wiz Review *Not Complete* ***SPOILERS***
Sep 27
2006, 02:26:56 PM
"But to be marketable, it has to be reasonably good --
-- and from what I've seen and read, I dont think this thing stands a chance."
I agree with you that in order for a show to have a decent run, it's got to have good word of mouth. And so far, there hasn't been much love for this production...on this board, anyway.
I just find it funny that people are so ready to scrap this production based on a 15 year old's review of a free invited dress tech. The show just barely
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re: Neddys Wiz Review *Not Complete* ***SPOILERS***
Sep 27
2006, 04:29:48 AM
"From the description I don't think you can expect to see this show anywhere near Broadway."
Why the hell not? Did you see Lestat or Good Vibrations? Let's not fool ourselves, today Broadway is a PRODUCER'S MEDIUM. A show doesn't have to be good, it has to be marketable.
Despite the laments from the WICKED fans, I think potential investors will find this show very marketable from the very fact that WICKED is doing so well. Face it, investors aren't that creative and the a
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re: Neddys Wiz Review *Not Complete* ***SPOILERS***
Sep 25
2006, 11:14:05 PM
"I am an awful review writer so I will give it my best shot."
It's actually not as cheesy as Neddy is making it sound. The principals are amazing especially Nikki James.
FEELING WE ONCE HAD is simple and real. Definitely not boring.
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Why Musicals SHOULD be VIDEOTAPED - a year later
Jul 31
2006, 12:11:07 PM
Craig--Don't waste anymore time on this argument. You've made your points eloquently and professionally and it's apparent to anyone reading this thread that you have been more than fair to Mr. USTheater.TV.
USTheater.TV--You have a viable idea that could become very successful but your own tunnel vision and condescending attitude may derail any attempts at support for your vision. Many people get turned off by "hard-sell" tactics. You are coming off very badly on this message board, not
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re: 'The Wiz' Movie and Question
Jul 8
2006, 02:58:44 AM
"If she hasn't become a women by 34, there's a much better story her than her trip to Oz."
Hey, it's not such a long shot. Michael Jackson was at least 34 when HE decided to become a woman.
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re: 'The Wiz' Movie and Question
Jul 6
2006, 11:56:42 PM
Successful or not, I admire what they were trying to do in the movie version of the Wiz. The original conceit of the stage play was to bring an urban aesthetic to the Wizard of Oz story. In the movie they tried to bring it even further by setting it in contemporary NYC (1977 at the time) and by making Dorothy older and putting her in a time of life when she has to decide to cut the apron strings and finally become her own woman. I also liked the choices Sidney Lumet made when he filmed all the d
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re: Casting for A CHORUS LINE revival
Nov 25
2005, 02:06:49 AM
A Chorus Line Revival stunt-cast:
Paul: Jai Rodriguez
Mike: Kyan Douglas
Greg: Carson Kressley
Al: Thom Filicia
Butch: Ted Allen
Richie: Jamie Foxx (OPENING NIGHT ONLY)/ performances thereafter: Hugh Jackman
Connie: Zhang Ziyi
Diana: Jessica Alba
Val: Pamela Anderson
Sheila: Stephanie Powers; & at certain performances: Dame Judy-"May the adults smoke?"-Dench
Maggie: Courtney Cox Arquette (covers Bebe)
Bebe: Jennifer Aniston (covers M
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re: Proud Member of Actor's Equity
Oct 24
2005, 10:00:06 PM
There is an underlying tone in this post that seems to foster the misconception that Equity is this separate elite organization that graciously grants actors with salaries and privilages. In fact Actors' Equity Organization IS THE ACTORS and THE STAGE MANAGERS of the professional stage. All of the officers from President Patrick Quinn to the Counselors are Equity Members and VOLUNTEERS. They don't get a dime from the Union for their work (the only people who get paid in the offices are the staff
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re: Light in the Piazza
May 15
2005, 11:55:34 PM
Went to the matinee this afternoon not expecting too much. I got a huge lump in my throat by the end of the first act and by the end of the show, I was bawling...in a good way. THIS IS A GORGEOUS SHOW AND A GORGEOUS PRODUCTION. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it got me hook, line, and sinker...and I'm pretty jaded. Go see it while you can. The future of musical theatre looks really bright as long as Adam Guettel keeps writing!
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re: Hair CD Has Arrived!!!
May 7
2005, 04:43:58 AM
Hey guys! This disc is AAAAMAZING!!! Wow!!! Personally, I can't stop listening to it. And, well, honestly, I'm biased...I'll leave it at that. But the best part about this recording is that it's a benefit CD benefitting the Actor's Fund of America.
I think the positives out weigh the negatives here. If you're on the fence about buying it, look at it this way: for every CD sold, a portion of the proceeds go to the Actor's Fund of America, an organization that helps anyone who's ever been
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