Profile for EricMontreal22

The Distinctive Baritone said: "CATSNYrevival said: "I used to enjoy Mickey-Jo's videos but lost interest when he switched to calling himself a professional theatre critic. I consider him more of a social media theatrepundit."

I was also confused by this. His reviews are certainly professional quality, but "professional" means paid, and...who is paying him?"

He is heavily monetized (haven't his New York trips been f

Someone in a Tree2 said: "^Agree with your dismissal of most of the new songs in the 2003 edition, but I hold a special place in my heart for "Ariadne", perhaps the most beautiful song SS wrote in. the 21st century."

Oh, you got me there, and I agree.  That's the one song that doesn't feel more or less like pleasant enough place holding and, while I wouldn't place it as high in the canon as you or TotallyEffed do, I sure do wish more people

I do like it.

Everyone here probably knows that this song (like Maybe This Time--of course not added till the Cabaret movie) was written and recorded before K&E even started work on Cabaret (famously, apparently, it was written on a dare in a matter of minutes on a cocktail napkin--at least the lyrics?) 

But I really wish there was a live audio of Cabaret's previews--there was a brief time (I believe it was in the New York previews, not out of town) where Ha

Musical Master said: "
I wonder if this causes some other movie musical adaptations of Broadway shows toget fast tracked in development. I know we're getting Kiss of the Spider Woman very soon."

Spider Woman has such a different audience (even if I did see and love the Chita tour when I was 13) I don't see it benefiting too directly from all of this  At any rate, they're still looking for a distributor despite all the very positive

I've seen The Frogs in both its 1970s version (I guess the late 70s minor revision which added Fear No More which wasn't in the Yale swimming pool original) and the Broadway iteration, both in solid university productions, and the original just plays much better to me.  I *love* the music written for the original--the chorale work in songs like Evoe/Dionysus especially--whereas the additions to the score are perfectly fine, but are in that post Sondheim style where he always soun

joevitus said: " Only Leslie Denniston is kinda weak. There's nothing technically wrong with her, but I think back to the dispute Schwartz had with Fosse over casting Jill Clayburgh. "

 

You already mentioned this, but at least in the full version we get I Guess I'll Miss the Man.  Out of the myriad cuts, many of them just small bits within a number, that Sheehan made for the Pippin release, that one is truly the most baffling to me as it

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "You know, Eric, the mild expansion required for a TV movie of the week type adaptation of The Baker's Wife might be the only situation where Schwartz would be persuaded to restore "Endless Delights." After all, back in the Stephen Daldry period, he almost put "Making Good" (precursor to "The Wizard and I") back in the Wicked movie..."

WOW, *that* I didn't know.  Do you know if they plann

Voter said: "EricMontreal22 said: "Voter said: "Spielberg I'd let do any musical after WSS. "

Has Speilberg ever done anything that would require the element of stylized surrealism Pippin would probably need?

"

Spielberg has dabbled in just about every genre. Not quite "surrealism", but he also had never done a musical either.He's done plenty of fantasy and scifi though. He'd certainly be up

Owen22 said: "Elibal said: "If I were to choose another Schwartz musical to adapt I'd go for The Baker's Wife. It was adapted from a movie so it should fit the medium, the best parts of the musical are the generally intimate solo numbers which lend themselves well to film and maybe the adaptation could be an excuse to either trim the ensemble numbers or give them some depth and energy with the editing. On the other it has zero name recognition and adultery is not tha

joevitus said: "Auggie27 said: "t’s trapped with a schematic and episodic book - Fosse knew and minimizedit "

Uh, no, Fosse exacerbated it because he had no respect for the material. He made the Lead Player and the acting troupe the main characters and reduced Pippin to a bland, essentially characterless generic seeker. None of the character development the writers wanted was there, nor was the focus on character, against their wishes. Sch

Elibal said: "II struggle to see how Pippin would gain anything from the adaptation. However, I wish they would remaster and release the Fosse Cut of the Toronto taping."

Considering that it wasn't until last year that Kathryn Doby (who was in charge of restaging Pippin for that filming) even had any idea the 20 cut minutes from that Pippin filming existed--I know for a fact from personal correspondence--that some of us (*waves to GDLGI*) have known about for

I don't have much interest in this, though I kinda hope it does really well just to shove it to all the "Disney too woke" people who are so incensed by this movie.

From the trailer my first thought is that they're gonna have a hard time arranging the sound of the classic songs with the new Pasek and Paul songs if the brief snippet we hear of one is any indication...  (Which sounds like a more standard modern Disney I Wish song--nothing like 1937's I'm

Obviously I can't argue with your personal opinion.  But I think the Q of V score is extremely solid, and often very good (granted, yeah, I've had the chance to hear it numerous times due to certain, I guess obvious, reasons...)  Certainly if it was premiering this season it would be a front runner for best score at the Tonys, which maybe isn't saying all that much. 

(And also granted that part of me will always be inclined just to gravitate to a score th

Auggie27 said: "I saw the original Pippin at the Imperial at 19 and have a soft spot for its mutability; it adapts to directorial vision and theatrical conceit. A charming high school production convincedme. But as a rewatch of Fosse/Verdonalso reminded me, it’s trapped with a schematic and episodic book - Fosse knew and minimizedit - and depends on actual live magic to take flight. Because it’s cinematic doesn’t mean it will make a good film. Its

It sounds silly to say now that Schwartz must be one of the wealthiest songwriters in Broadway history, but, despite many issues I do have with his work (usually to do with lyrics) I do feel that Schwartz never quite gets the credit he deserves.  It's amazing to look back at early Wicked reviews that nearly all call the score completely generic and unmemorable.  But then you realize that critics have ALWAYS initially said that about his work--Godspell, Pippin--especially-- Baker

joevitus said: "Thanks all for the info on Weinstein. Musical Master's anecdote about Miyazaki is particularly wonderful."

It always baffles me how Weinstein seemed to feel, almost more often than not, that every foreign film needed cutting.  Of course when Miyazaki signed the deal with Disney, the fact that they could not make the cuts was part of the entire deal (as a teen in the 90s I was kinda Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli obsessed and back then you could o