Marla Mindelle's BIG GAY JAMBOREE at the Orpheum Off-Bway, produced by Margot Robbie. Fall 2024.
Jul 11
2024, 05:37:19 PM
More like a musical version of Christopher Durang's The Actors Nightmare, in which accountant George finds himself onstage in an ever shifting play. Durang, in the short play that was sometimes the opening act before Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All to You, manages to parody Hamlet, A Man for All Seasons, Private Lives, and Endgame.
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Stephen Pasquale to star in NINE at Kennedy Center
May 23
2024, 08:54:30 AM
Any idea if this production is with or without Germans?
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John Napier's Brilliant Set Designs for the original SUNSET BOULEVARD
Apr 16
2024, 05:05:35 PM
BorisTomashevsky said: "Nightly during the show, the mansion would be lowered behind the Car Chase scene and hidden by scrims, and then Norma would climb up the backwhen it was sitting at ground level.
For the Tonys she must have been up there the entire time."
I believe she became engaged to stage carpenter Steve Beers (though never married), who would take her each performance to the top of the set.
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Show That Have Sat Down
Mar 25
2024, 05:45:24 PM
If I remember correctly, Wicked in Chicago was a strange situation, with the first national tour booked for a very limited run (which may have been due to several previous big touring shows under performing, especially Sunset Boulevard)--when the show sold amazingly well, the run was turned into a sit down production. The original tour cast went on with scheduled tour and new Chicago based cast was hired to take over the show. Not 100% sure--but I think the set stayed in Chicago and a n
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Show That Have Sat Down
Mar 25
2024, 10:21:53 AM
Phantom had a sit down production in Los Angeles. After it closed, the physical production moved to San Francisco for an even longer run. I believe each of these productions were produced under the old production contract with Los Angeles and then San Francisco being the home city. As I remember, the Equity production contract used to allow a production to choose one of four home/base cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Having a production based in one of these cities al
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Non Equity Tours
Jan 29
2024, 04:52:05 PM
BETTY22 said: "Can the authors stop these tours?"
For newer shows, probably only if they made it a requirement of their agreement with the original producers--who usually license the show to another company who specialized in these tours. (I can't image many authors who would risk loosing a Broadway production over this.)
For older shows that the original producers no longer control, The discission to allow a production or not usually f
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Non Equity Tours
Jan 27
2024, 04:40:05 PM
I’ve done a non eq tour and we had a A B C and D version of our set. At the worst of times we only could use the chairs and tables and no actual set pieces."
I would love to have you elaborate on the differences of the versions.
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Broadway Production Costs versus Tour Cost.
Nov 25
2023, 10:52:27 AM
As for costs, while it doesn't happened often, a national tour can cost more than Broadway production. Way back when, I remember reading that the Phantom of the Opera national tour cost more than the Broadway production with an almost exact copy of the original sets and costumes with additional cost relating to making it able to tour, including duplicating part of the set for advance load-in.
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Dance of the Vampires Revival?
Oct 25
2023, 09:34:12 AM
I loved the European productions I've seen videos of--but always had the suspicion that the show is better in German (a language I don't speak) but less so with the English lyrics. It also takes a long time to get to the castle in the show (basically the entire first act). Also any revival will be incredibly expensive because the lavish sets and costumes are critical to the show (as well as a sizeable orchestra).
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Has
Aug 12
2023, 11:04:04 AM
Not really a new thing. William Goldman in the book The Season describes how Peter Masterson playing the title character in "The Trail of Lee Harvey Oswald" in 1967 was on stage, silent for 2 hours from house open, through the first act, intermission, most of the second act before having his first (and I assume only) line--a 20 minute monologue. As Goldman writes "Masterson was seated on stage as the audience entered, which was someone's literary notion . . . It sounded log
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Revisal of GOLDEN RAINBOW!
Jul 18
2023, 08:33:57 AM
verywellthensigh said: "They will never, ever capture the restraint and elegance of the original.
GOLDEN RAINBOW 1968 Tony Awards - YouTube"
The opening number is one of my all time favorites. It is just so 1960's Las Vegas, made all the better by featuring future Gilmore Girl grandma (and Chorus Line Tony Winner) Kelly Bishop and that boa. It is even more amazing that the Tony's were held at the Shubert that year so the stage mechanics of the numbers are preserved. In days before modern stage automation I have to wander just how many crew members it took--especially how many were on the fly deck for the final fly moment of the two showgirls (one on a horse!) and at least 3 electrified sets of signs.
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Documentary on Sondheim: A Musical Tribute benefit from 1973
May 3
2023, 06:39:48 PM
Wonderful documentary about the landmark 1973 Sondheim benefit. It just showed up on my youtube feed yesterday and I am sure others on this board will find it interesting. (I have no connection with the documentary--I just enjoyed watching it.)
On the Steps of the Shubert March 11, 1973
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri3SDi0pdHI
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Most Elaborate/Technically Advanced Scenic Designs
Apr 20
2023, 04:54:24 PM
While the actual sets where not that elaborate--the quick changes of scenery in Yerma were a technical marvel.
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Question about Anita Morris
Mar 7
2023, 08:53:46 AM
I do not know about Anita Morris on Johnny Carson, but you may be thinking about Karla Tamburrelli who played the role of Carla in the national tour of Nine and appeared on the Johnny Carson show singing a special version of Call From the Vatican.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te3KrlYCrUQ
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Few Wednesday Matinees
Feb 13
2023, 11:09:24 AM
Looking at the current weekly Broadway schedule only 7 of 22 shows have Wednesday matinees. Isn't that a really low percentage? Any thoughts?
Also A Beautiful Noise is doing a Wednesday matinee but no evening show, when has that happen before?
https://playbill.com/article/weekly-schedule-of-current-broadway-shows
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Best use of a revolve?
Jan 16
2023, 04:50:52 PM
previous thread on revolves
https://www.broadwayworld.com/board/readmessage.php?thread=932804
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Best use of a revolve?
Jan 15
2023, 05:24:09 PM
Certainly the Lord of the Rings musical in Toronto (2006) and London (2007) has to be one one of the most complicated with a 42' revolve with16 hydraulic scissor lifts and a center lift. The staging and tech of the battle scenes must have taken forever.
My personal favorite is the Shaw Festival 1995 production of Noel Coward's Cavalcade, especially the final moment with the cast of 46 in a revolving montage of 30 years of history.
As for current productions, Awak
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Broadway Casts/
Dec 28
2022, 04:48:34 PM
I believe there were 3 occasions when the current cast of a Broadway show were the musical guest on Saturday Night Live:
1) Most recently David Byrne and the cast of American Utopia were the musical guest. David also appeared in the Airport Sushi sketch.
2) Jennifer Holiday was the musical guest at the height of Dreamgirls popularity. She sang the songs in a concert setting not recreating the staging of show.
3) Most of the cast of the revival of Pirates of Pe
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Legally Blonde Non-Equity Tour
Sep 3
2022, 06:51:32 PM
While I can't comment on the physical production as I haven't seen it. But it is interesting that the tour is starting at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville Arkansas who's subscribers just got the national tour of My Fair Lady with the Moulin Rouge tour playing in February. Those audiences are bound to notice a difference in quality of the physical production (though to be fair the theatre's top ticket for Moulin Rouge is twice as much as Legally Blonde). I would actually
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