re: Inherit The Wind is comin' back to Broadway Oct 4
2006, 08:02:08 PM
Which parts are they playing? My choice would be Dennehy as Drummond and Plummer as Brady, but something tells me it's the other way around. Anyone know?
The play, by the way, is far, far superior to the movie.
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re: Into the Weeds at the Laurie Beechman Theater Oct 4
2006, 07:14:45 AM
Bill Weeden here, and yes, it's Kabukiman Bill. And any fan of Kabukiman is a friend of mine, so hop on "Into the Weeds"! And be sure to say hello after the show!
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re: Actors that phoned in their performance Aug 23
2006, 03:22:32 PM
Never have seen a less committed (i.e., more phoned-in) performance on Broadway than Barbra Streisand in "Funny Girl" (and not all that late in the run, either). I guess she was saving herself for the movie, in which she was admittedly great. But live on Broadway she was a sleepwalker.
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re: NATHAN LANE ON 'LETTERMAN' ( Brokeback Mountain-the musical) Dec 22
2005, 08:19:36 AM
The good news: it means that "Brokeback Mountain" is definitely mainstreamed enough to merit a musical spoof (SNL also confirmed this).
The bad news: the number was strained, borderline homophobic, and quite unfunny.
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re: Which West Side Story Lyrics Did Sondheim Write? Nov 21
2005, 07:14:35 AM
I have always heard that not only did Sondheim write the bulk of the WSS lyrics, he also wrote the MUSIC for "Something's Coming."
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re: Terrible Songs in Wonderful Shows (or vice versa) Nov 5
2005, 05:08:09 PM
"Where Was I When They Passed Out Luck?" is a great song from "Minnie's Boys." A lot of the score of the misbegotten Lucille Ball vehicle "Wildcat" is terrific, including the standard "Hey, Look Me Over," "Give a Little Whistle," and "Tall Hope." The Harold Rome score for "Destry Rides Again" (which is not exactly a bad show but is certainly less than wonderful) is magnificent.
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re: Has anyone ever met a *nice* Joanna Gleason? Aug 7
2005, 09:03:51 AM
But I agree that her performance in "Boogie Nights" was blindingly brilliant. It's one of the best one-scene performances I've ever seen. (Maybe not coincidentally she played one of the most unbearable human beings ever encountered in the movies.)
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re: Has anyone ever met a *nice* Joanna Gleason? Aug 7
2005, 09:01:02 AM
More often than not, one hears NICE things about actors' offstage personas. But it's true, I have never heard one positive thing about Gleason as a person. I have heard she is absolute POISON to work with, that she is negative and dismissive and obsessed with her own power as a "star." She is, in short, someone I would actively seek NOT to work with.
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re: Sullivan Street Playhouse Aug 7
2005, 08:56:37 AM
I was in the final cast of "The Fantasticks." When we closed in January 2002 there was talk of converting the theater into a restaurant. It seems pretty clear that was all talk and just a way of easing the show out of the theater. "The Fantasticks" had been operating on a very special rent scale due to its position as "longest running show in the history of the American theater," and the landlord was apoplectic. There was some sort of a deal made and the show closed. Now the theater is dark
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re: Andrea McArdle - NYC - In Concert at Joe's Pub March 13th Mar 15
2005, 11:21:57 AM
Her version of "Everybody Says Don't" trumped the Streisand rendition. It was phenomenal. Was deeply moved by her "Beauty and the Beast," and the opening arrangement of "NYC" breathed new life into that chestnut. She also accomplished the seemingly impossible: making me appreciate "Easy to Be Hard," one of my least favorite songs. She's a wonderful person and an endearing personality. Loved that she came on casually dressed: what a surprise and what a wise choice for this very challenging ev
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re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor Dec 10
2004, 08:21:08 AM
Actually I DID see "Hairspray," but after Butler had left for LSOH.
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re: Worst Performances by a gifted actor Dec 10
2004, 08:19:58 AM
The idea that Harriet Harris in "Millie" belongs on a list of bad performances is simply idiotic. Her Tony award was one of the most deserved in years. Her performance was side-splittingly funny and memorable. A posting like that, with no explanation whatsoever for the opinion, is what makes message boards like this seem meaningless and sophomoric.
Meanwhile, I agree that Kerry Butler was unspeakably bad in "Little Shop," but since I didn't see "Hairspray" I have no confirmation that
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Karate Kid musical Dec 10
2004, 07:07:04 AM
I posted about this show a week ago and no one picked up on it.
(My original post: "Saw this new musical last night at its opening at Teatro La Tea. It's very trendy and very hot looking and has a bunch of real good stuff along with some flab. This could escalate into a major cult hit. A terrific cast puts across some funny, hip material in a campy take on the movie. All the male characters--ALL--are gay and more or less out. And the main flaw of the show is its constant reliance on sometimes-funny more-often-lame gay puns and "in" references. And the first act is far too long. But these flaws can be corrected rather easily, I would say. The show has a real future. The bottom line: lunge for tickets.")
Well, The NYTimes reviews it today. Calls it a "raunch-fest" (it is), a "no-middle-ground two hours" (it is), and says people who like their musicals "loud and bawdy and homoerotic" (and who doesn't?) will love it. Here's the link.
http://theater2.nytimes.com/2004/12/10/theater/reviews/10kid.html?oref=login
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re: Worst Thing You Have Ever Seen Dec 5
2004, 11:18:13 AM
Gotham--I had the same reaction to Rich after that Madonna review. For a "class" critic, Rich was quite the star-****er. Never saw Liz Taylor in "The Little Foxes," but always suspected something of the same thing was operating in Rich's rave.
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re: Worst Thing You Have Ever Seen Dec 5
2004, 11:00:51 AM
Without question or even close competition, Madonna's performance in David Mamet's "Speed the Plow." Worse than any community theater or high school performance I've ever seen. To see a performance of this towering ineptitude on Broadway was mind-boggling.
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It's Karate, Kid! Dec 3
2004, 08:26:54 AM
Saw this new musical last night at its opening at Teatro La Tea. It's very trendy and very hot looking and has a bunch of real good stuff along with some flab. This could escalate into a major cult hit. A terrific cast puts across some funny, hip material in a campy take on the movie. All the male characters--ALL--are gay and more or less out. And the main flaw of the show is its constant reliance on sometimes-funny more-often-lame gay puns and "in" references. And the first act is far too
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re: CARLY JIBSON is Tracy Turnblad Jun 17
2004, 07:57:36 AM
I never saw Winokur, but Carly Jibson was phenomenal in the role. I saw it with her and McKean, and the roof definitely came off. It's still a blockbuster show, thanks in gigantic part to Jibson's charm and talent. I simply can't imagine Tracy being played better.
The nasty comments on her performance are totally unjustified in my opinion. And if she was curt at the stage door one night, maybe she had a cold. Maybe it was her time of the month. Can't a performer EVER BE HUMAN with
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re: Tony Lowlights Jun 7
2004, 06:15:22 AM
Guess I should have too. But I'm glad for what I said. I've always been annoyed that McNeil got placed wrong.
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re: Tony Lowlights Jun 7
2004, 12:43:40 AM
Most of your "lowlights" are your own opinion, but just because Claudia McNeil was wrongly placed in the supporting category for the role of the mother in "A Raisin in the Sun" doesn't make the role any less of a lead. The mother is the leading female role in the play, and arguably THE LEAD, ahead even of Walter. Rashad was nominated in the correct category, McNeil in the incorrect one, and if Claudia is spinning in her grave, it's more likely because of the injustice of her own supporting pla
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Cyndi Lauper the next Audrey in Little Shop??? May 26
2004, 12:16:21 AM
"Personally I think an older Audrey is totally OK and adds some interesting dimensions to the show."
This is a fantastic idea. The idea of a younger Seymour and an older Audrey who sees in him her very last chance at happiness adds just the kind of poignance that the current revival so desperately lacks and which in my opinion is the major reason it is so woefully disappointing.
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